There
are worlds within worlds, dimenisions beyond and time unknown to mortal
man. As the Time Stream rages, we visit one such world that might have
been...
Just outside of Gotham City is the
Palisades, underneath of which lies the most intricate set of caves
known to man. One man in particular made these caves his home long ago.
That man now stands at the epicenter of a crowd within those caves. His
dark demeanor and forever-serious face gazed upon them, keeping his
stare as emotionless as only one with experience in such matters can.
The crowd themselves stood
surprisingly silent awaiting their host to begin speaking. Although
their paths had all crossed before at one point or another, most of
them had nothing to say to each other. Like children they remained
stubborn in their distaste for each other.
"By now all of you are wondering why
I've called you here. In the end the answer is simple, but that's not
how I want this to begin. First I must admit that I have failed. I've
failed each and every one of you in different ways, and for that I'm
sorry." This was the first time anyone had ever seen the dark knight
sincerely apologize for the wrongs he's made. Most of them didn't
believe it; he had to be playing them for some reason.
"I'll start from first to last, Dick
you were my first Robin. My first partner and I drove you away by
forgetting that you were my partner, my equal, and not my
subordinate. I am sorry Dick and I'm also proud of you for what
you have done as Nightwing," The Batman explained to the now
fully-grown Boy Wonder.
"Next is you Bettie, you were the
first Batgirl. When your Aunt Kate, the first Batwoman was killed, I
was too busy blaming myself. I wasn't there for you and you drifted
away. You've tried to make a new name for yourself, Flamebird, but I
haven't been there to support that either. I hope you can forgive me,
and in the future I hope you will give me another chance." Batman
explained.
"Barbara, my second Batgirl, I know
you don't blame me for the wheel chair. For a long time I blamed me,
and attributed to our drifting apart because I thought you blamed me
too. But the real reason was because while I was out sulking in my own
depression I left you behind alone. I should have been there for you
too, but as the story of my life goes I was too busy with my own
problems. I am sorry, please forgive me."
"Jason, second in line as Robin,
like Barbara you don't blame me for what the Joker did to you. Your
problem is that I let him live after he took you from me. When you
returned I looked at you as an enemy for trying to get revenge. I
should have embraced you and treated you like the brother you always
were. I cannot condone killing, but if I had tried to help you instead
of fight you a lot of damage could have been prevented. If it's not too
late I would like for us to start again."
"Tim, you were the third Robin and
have recently taken on the persona that Jason created, Red Robin. I
failed you by treating you as if you were an only child. You lost your
family and I selfishly tried to replace them myself instead of offering
you the family that Dick and Jason had here in the Bat Cave. If I had
done things differently then perhaps you wouldn't be as dark as I am."
"Cassandra, the third Batgirl, you
were trained from birth as an assassin. I took you in and claimed you
as my own and then right after I sent you away to Oracle. I kept you at
arm's length and then tried to force you to see me as your leader and
mentor."
"Stephanie, you were both the fourth
Robin and now the fourth Batgirl. When you were Robin I basically
ignored you, treated you like you were nothing more than an annoying
teenage girl obsessed with Tim. Now as Batgirl I see you differently.
You are a hero in your own right, and it's time I treated you like one."
"Damien, I failed you by being the
last thing I ever wanted to be, an absent father. You are the fifth
Robin and I have confidence that you will make me proud. But first I
must become a better father in order to teach you to be a better
person."
Batman turned to look at his last
two guests. "Selena, I've run from you every chance I got. One minute
we're on and the next we're done. I treated you more like a plaything
than a lover. But over the years you've proven to be a valuable ally,
and if I ever took the time to look at you in the light of something
other than a criminal or bedroom partner, then I would have seen it a
lot sooner."
"Helena, the Huntress, my daughter
my flesh and blood. Like Damien I have ignored my parental
responsibility. I've known since you were born that you were mine and I
hid from that truth. It's time I right the wrongs, all of them."
"We've lost a lot of comrades that I
still owe apologies too, including countless Batwomen. But those of us
in this room are all that's left of this once great family," Batman
explained. "I'm sure you didn't call us all
here for that," Jason Todd pointed out. "So why are we here?"
"You’re here of your own free
will, but I invited you here because it's time we take this city once
and for all and I need my whole family to do it. We're broken, we've
fallen apart, but we're all still here, which means we haven't been
beaten. Most of you will keep your personas however Cassandra I want
you to become the new Batgirl, and Jason I've come up with something
new for you, you will become Arc Angel, if you accept it. Together we
will return Justice to Gotham."
"What's the point? They'll just keep
escaping," Jason interrupted.
"Not this time," Batman replied,
"This time we won't be taking them to Arkham. I've located a planet
capable of sustaining human life far away from here. This planet is
void of human life. I've checked it extensively. There is nothing there
but the bare essentials where the criminals can either build a new
society, or kill each other off until there's nothing left."
"Isn't that the same as murder?"
Barbara asked.
"No," Selina answered for Bruce.
"He's given them every opportunity to reintegrate with society, he's
tried rehabilitating them. But some people are beyond saving. And since
his moral code won't allow him to kill them the only other way to end
the bloodshed is to remove them from the equation. It's actually the
most humane thing left to do."
"What happens when they come back?"
asked Tim.
"They won't, at least not in this
lifetime or even the next one. By the time they can cultivate the tech
required to travel through space all the psychopaths we're sending over
will be long dead," explained Dick.
"The psychopaths WE'RE sending, I
take it that means you're in," asked Bettie.
"I've known Bruce the longest, we've
been through a lot together. I've never seen him like this before. He
was...sincere. And if he's willing to put us all in the same room and
give a speech like that just to make this happen, then I say it's worth
seeing through," Dick replied.
"It is worth it, but let me make it
clear. I'm not talking about stalking through the shadows waiting to
strike. I'm talking about a war against the criminal element. One that
I can't promise we will win or even that any of us will survive it. I
just know that I can't do it alone and, as the past decade has proven
neither can of you. The only solution is to do it together. Are you
with me?" Batman asked of all his protégés.
The room went silent again and each
of the participants looked into each other's eyes. Some of them haven't
looked at each other in years, for others this is the first time
they've ever met. The silence was never broken even as they all began
to nod their heads in agreement.
Sometime later television sets
across Gotham City were interrupted by an important message. At first
there was only static and then Batman came into view. "Good evening
Gotham, for years you have trusted me to clean up this city. You have
trusted me to protect it and defend it. Now I am asking you to trust me
again. As of this night, I am declaring war on the criminal element in
Gotham. It is time for the bloodshed to end. As of right now the
manhunt begins to locate the six top-most at large criminals: The
Penguin, Two Face, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze and The Joker.
The criminals will be sent away for good this time, along with anyone
caught working with them. There will be no psychological evaluations,
no parole hearings, and no negotiations for lesser sentences. If you
are caught with them you will immediately be deemed just as harmful.
This city will no longer stand by and let itself be destroyed by crime.
It all ends now." Just as suddenly as Batman had appeared he
disappeared and the regularly scheduled programs returned. Leaving all
the viewers in shock, afraid of what effects this new war on crime will
have.
Three days after Batman's public
announcement of his war on crime it was only noon in Gotham city but
deep in the Bat Cave you couldn't tell what time of day it was. At
night they hunted, spending every breath tracking their enemies. They
trained during the day, learning to work together all over again.
Building new bonds, some on top of old ones.
Bruce Wayne had spent another
fortune on buying the newest state of the art computer equipment.
Lately he seemed to care less about the money; he was willing to spend
every last dime to win this fight. Barbara and Bruce worked together
building it, spitting out line after line of techno jargon that the
others couldn't keep up with.
Selena and Stephanie ran through the
obstacle course. Selena kept a good lead ahead of the more youthful
Batgirl. "You have to be faster than that," Selena said. She was trying
to sound encouraging but Stephanie took it as condescending. She huffed
as she raced to keep up with the former jewel thief. "That pace may do
with someone like the Penguin but Ivy's branches would have strangled
you to death by now."
Nearby on the weight benches Helena
watched her mother work while building her strength up. Damien snuck up
from behind her. "Are you really my sister," he asked. His tone was
different than what you would expect from him. His typical sarcasm and
angry at the world demeanor was absent. Instead he sounded like a child
his own age. This was the first time he had ever spoken to her, in fact
before now he didn't even know she existed. Most people didn't, she was
a well-kept secret between Bruce and Selina. An unplanned child spawned
from a night of reckless passion years ago.
Helena nodded her head yes, ashamed
to know that her father Bruce had never told anyone of her. In fact
Bruce had accepted Damien her younger brother into the family before
her. "How old are you kid," she asked him.
"Twelve," he replied. He wasn't sure
how to act around her, her existence offered him a new kind of family
that he had never known before. She wasn't Ra’s Al Ghul who only
wanted him for violent reasons, she wasn't his mother who was as
equally insane as her father, and she wasn't Bruce whom he harbored
feelings of resentment against for abandoning him to be raised by his
mother and grandfather. This made Helena different, special to him.
"You," he asked again sounding like nothing more than an innocent child.
"Fourteen, I guess that makes me
older then you. That means I'm senior and therefore I'm in charge," she
informed him snidely. "You do as I say, kid, got it?" She hopped off
the bench she was propped up on and stood in his face like all older
sisters do when they want to put their little brothers in their place.
"I got it," he replied. He didn't
know why he agreed like that, it wasn't like him. He attributed it to
being that he didn't know her or what she was capable of. But deep down
inside he knew it was because he found her special and different from
the rest. Helena smiled at him; she didn't understand it either. The
two of them weren't raised together and had never met before, but for
some reason they just fell in place like a family should.
On the other side of the cave
Cassandra and Bettie practiced their weapons training with staffs. The
wooden sticks clanked as they smacked each other’s. Cassandra was
impressed at how well Bettie was able to defend herself against despite
Cassandra's extensive training. Cassandra considered her training to be
an advantage, but Bettie had been in the field for years. She knew how
and when to dodge an attack. Plus Bettie had an odd sense of grace
about her, which she used when she moved.
Cassandra's real advantage came when
she noticed that Bettie's attention had moved away from her and onto
Dick Grayson who was stretching nearby. Cassandra took the advantage
and smacked Bettie in the jaw with her staff. "Pay attention,"
Cassandra muttered. Bettie rubbed jaw and pulled herself together to go
another round against the new Batwoman.
Alfred pushed a cart of food and
drinks in for the group. He wiped the sweat from his brow with his
handkerchief and looked around. He was glad to see that the whole
family was back together again. He kept his fear of the results of this
war to himself. Bruce walked over and grabbed a bottle of water. "What
do you think Alfred," Bruce asked.
"I think we're going to have to hire
another butler sir," he replied jokingly looking around at all the
people. "Or perhaps even two." Bruce laughed and others started to join
him by the cart. That is all except for the three
that had been stretching in the middle of the room. Dick, Jason, and
Tim all stared at each other in stance. Preparing for the free for all
spar that was about to begin. Jason made the first move adjusting
himself so that he stood in between Dick and Tim. He arrogantly thought
he could win this way. He kicked at Dick but was tripped by Tim. Dick
took the advantage and swung at Tim while the falling Jason distracted
him. Tim doubled over, all three of them in Karate gee's and not one
wearing armor. The kick was a powerful one. Jason took that to his
advantage from the ground and pulled Tim's feet out from under him.
Jason and Tim grappled on the ground
using Brazilian Ju-jitsu. Dick just stood above waiting to take on the
winner. Jason struggled to put Tim in a headlock but Tim broke free and
flipped over top of Jason performing an air kick strike to Dick. Dick
was able to thwart the strike sending Tim back to the ground; Tim's
training in acrobatics made it easy to make a quick recovery. Tim
responded to Dick's block by punching him in the chin clearly leaving
an unwanted bruise.
Jason came up behind Tim locking him
in the middle of him and Dick. Tim kicked at Jason's head, Jason
responded by delivering a Charlie horse to Tim's thigh. Tim's attacks
slowed and weakened but the three continued to fight using Aikido close
combat skills. Tim finally rolled around on the ground to behind Jason
and kicked him in the butt pushing him into the middle. Dick head
butted Jason who was pushed forward, Tim flipped on to his feet. More
harsh blows came from either side of Jason from Dick and Tim. Jason was
barely able to keep up and block most of them.
Finally Dick grabbed Jason by the
wrist and spun him around so that he was in the middle. He did better
at blocking the blows from the other two men. He even delivered several
return attacks but nothing worthy of knocking them off their feet. The
longer this went on the angrier and more aggressive the fight got. Each
determined to strike down the other two. This had turned from a
harmless sparing session into a real fight. The others could all sense
it and looked at Bruce to intervene and end it. They anticipated him to
shout at them and lecture them on working together as a team.
Bruce did no such thing. Instead he
started clapping. The rest of the bystanders stood confused, as did the
competitors. The fight seemed to end itself as Bruce continued to clap
and walked in the middle of what was just an arena. "Wow, I'm just so
proud of you boys. Of all of you. Look at you guys," Bruce said. This
wasn't the typical ‘do as I say not as I do’ attitude that
they were used to the Batman having. This, like his apology speech, was
something new. "You three are amazing fighters, I'd like to think that
I had something to do with that. All of you are amazing, I just I want
you all to know that. Save your energy though, we might have found the
Penguin and tonight we go after him. I want all of you well rested, so
everyone take the rest of the afternoon off. Go out see the city, see
your friends or loved ones if you must, go and find that thing that
reminds you why we do what we do. And if you're still with me when the
sun goes down, then I will meet you here."
Moments later a montage began,
Barbara Gordon went to the home of her father Jim Gordon. Then Jim,
Barbara, and her stepmother sat around the table laughing and eating a
delicious dinner. In another scene Cassandra Cain breaks into a loft
owned by David Cain. While there she went through old papers and files
trying to find evidence of her location. She hadn't seen him since she
abandoned him to join the Batman and his team.
Selina and her daughter Helena went
for a picnic. Helena thought the location was a bit odd though. It was
a couple hours away from Gotham, in a nice open field. The only
building in sight was a condemned orphanage a few hundred yards away
from them. The building was old and liable to collapse at any moment.
Helena didn't understand the significance of the building but for
Selena this was where she grew up. This building is what first turned
her into the Catwoman she later became.
Another scene back at Gotham shows
Damien in a phone booth. He had called his mother Talia but when she
said hello he hung up the phone. He noticed some boys his age playing
in the arcade nearby and felt compelled to follow them. He sat at a
nearby table watching the group contemplating what his life would be
like had his parents been different people. Also in Gotham at the city
cemetery Bettie sat next to the small headstone of her aunt's grave.
There wasn't anything special about it; it was smaller than most of the
head stones in the yard. Bettie didn't understand how her aunt, the
first Batwoman and the first of the Batman's family to be killed in
battle could go so unnoticed.
Tim went to the hospital to visit
his comatose father. He held his hand and talked to him, telling him of
all the changes he had undergone since he last spoke to him. Stephanie
walked in standing behind him. "What are you doing here?" Tim asked her.
"Where else was I supposed to go?
Bruce said to go find the reason we became what we are today, and
you're it for me. Where did you think I would go, to see my criminal
father? He isn't why I'm here, you are," Stephanie explained as she
pulled chair up next to Tim. She reached over and put her hand on top
of Tim and his father’s.
"Steph, I...I can't..." Tim started
to say before she interrupted him.
"I know, I'm not asking for
anything. I just want to be here," she replied.
The next scene shows Jason Todd
standing in Crime Alley, the place where he grew up, where Batman first
recruited him. He looked around at all the people nearby. Many of the
faces he recognized from his childhood, those faces where now scared
and looked no different than the criminals he fights. Jason thought
about it and if it wasn't for Bruce he could have ended up just like
these poor fools.
Dick sat on a fence near the
fairgrounds where is family were murdered. Not much went through his
head, mostly just what little memories of them he still carries with
him. Back on Wayne property Bruce found
Alfred getting the new costumes he had tailored for the group in
pristine order. "I thought told everyone to go out remember why it is
we do what we do. That goes for you too old man. You're just as much a
part of this family as anyone else," Bruce stated.
"I know sir, and I am fulfilling
those reasons. It's my job to do what no one else does. I take care of
those who take care of everyone else in this city. And I do it because
I love you, all of you. That's how I started in this mess, and god
willing that's how I plan to end it. So if you'll excuse me, I have
memories I need to reflect upon." Alfred said as he continued to get
everything in order.
Bruce put his hand on Alfred's
shoulder, and then wrapped him in an awkward hug. Something that Bruce
hadn't given Alfred in decades. The memory that Bruce is still like a
son to Alfred is what Alfred really needed and Bruce knew that. It
wasn't long after though that Bruce found himself standing above his
real parent’s grave. He prayed for their understanding and shed a
few tears before excusing himself as the sun was setting.
