Amusement Mile - The Funhouse - 6:00 AM
The sun was trying to rise, but the smog over Gotham turned the dawn into a bruise-colored haze.
Batman crashed through the mirror maze. He didn't bother finding the path; he smashed through the glass, sending shards flying.
"Joker!" Batman roared. His voice was a ruin. He coughed, blood speckling the inside of his cowl.
"Over here, Batsy!"
The Joker's voice boomed from the loud speakers, accompanied by calliope music.
"Welcome to the grand finale of 'Who Wants to Save a Politician!' I'm your host, the Clown Prince of Crime!"
Batman stumbled into the main circus tent.
It was set up like a grotesque game show.
On the left, suspended over a vat of bubbling green acid, was Mayor Garcia. He was gagged, his eyes wide with terror.
On the right, suspended over a pit of jagged metal spikes, was a yellow school bus. Inside, twenty children—kidnapped from a field trip—were screaming and crying.
In the center stood The Joker, wearing a tuxedo with tails. He held a detonator in each hand.
"Here's the dilemma!" Joker grinned, spinning around. "Bane let everyone out to play, but I realized... we haven't played our game in a while!"
Joker raised the detonators.
"Button A drops the Mayor! Splash! Button B drops the kiddies! Crunch!"
"Let them go," Batman stepped forward. He swayed. His vision doubled.
"You look tired, old friend!" Joker mocked. "Rough night? Did the big bad Bane run you ragged? Poor little bat. But the rules are simple. You can save one. Only one."
"I save both," Batman growled. He reached for a batarang.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Joker wagged a finger. "If you throw a toy, I drop both. If you move toward me, I drop both. You have ten seconds to choose! Who matters more? The elected official? or the future voters?"
The Choice
"Ten... Nine..."
Batman's mind raced. He calculated the distance. The Mayor was closer. The bus was heavier.
"Sebastian," Batman whispered into his comms. "I need a targeted shot. Take out the winch on the bus."
Static.
"Sir," my voice came through, weak and garbled. "I am... docking the Batwing... Conner is critical... interference..."
"Eight... Seven..."
Batman looked at the children. He looked at the Mayor.
He couldn't save both. Not alone. Not like this.
"Six... Five..."
Batman made his choice. He had to save the innocents. The many over the few.
He fired his grapple gun. Not at the Joker. At the bus.
"I choose the children!" Batman shouted.
"Boring!" Joker yelled.
He clicked the button in his left hand.
CLICK.
The winch holding Mayor Garcia snapped.
Batman was already moving toward the bus. He caught the vehicle with his grapple line just as Joker clicked the second button. The bus jerked, swinging over the spikes, but the line held. Batman wrapped the cable around a support beam, his muscles screaming as he held the weight of the bus.
But he couldn't stop the Mayor.
Batman watched helplessly.
Mayor Garcia fell.
SPLASH.
The acid vat hissed. There was a brief, agonizing scream, cut short as the liquid filled his lungs.
Then... silence.
The children on the bus were sobbing. But they were safe.
Batman stood there, holding the cable. He stared at the smoking vat.
"Oops!" Joker shrugged. "I guess he didn't have the approval ratings!"
Joker walked over to the edge of the platform.
"You failed, Batsy," Joker whispered, his voice losing the manic edge, becoming cold and cruel. "You ran all night. You fought everyone. And you still lost."
Batman dropped the cable, securing the bus.
He walked toward the Joker.
Joker didn't run. He pulled a revolver.
BANG.
The bullet hit Batman in the chest. The armor absorbed it, but the impact knocked the wind out of him.
Batman didn't stop. He walked through the pain.
He grabbed the Joker by the throat.
He lifted him up.
"I should kill you," Batman whispered.
"Do it!" Joker laughed, choking. "Do it! Break the rule! It's the only way you'll ever get any sleep!"
Batman stared at the clown. He wanted to do it. God, he wanted to do it.
But he saw the children watching from the bus.
He threw Joker into a pile of hay bales.
"No," Batman rasped. "Not tonight."
He turned away.
He had saved the kids. But he had lost the Mayor. He had lost the game.
Wayne Manor - 7:00 AM
The Batmobile rolled into the cave. It didn't park smoothly; it scraped against the guardrail.
The canopy opened.
Bruce Wayne crawled out.
He didn't walk to the computer. He didn't take off the suit. He just limped toward the secret entrance to the Manor.
I was waiting for him at the top of the stairs, in the library. I looked pristine, though I was internally exhausted from stabilizing the Kryptonian.
"Sir," I said, handing him a towel. "The children are safe. The police have the Joker. You did—"
"I lost him," Bruce interrupted. He pulled the cowl off.
His face was a wreck. Eyes sunken, bruised, dead.
"Garcia is dead. Because I wasn't fast enough."
"You have been awake for forty-eight hours, Sir. You fought an army."
"It wasn't enough," Bruce walked past me. He was heading for the main hall. "I'm going to bed, Sebastian. Don't wake me. Not for the signal. Not for anything."
"I shall lock the doors, Sir."
"It doesn't matter," Bruce muttered, dragging his feet across the expensive rug. "Nothing matters."
He looked broken. Not just physically, but philosophically. The Batman was done.
Bruce walked into the Grand Foyer. The morning light was streaming through the massive windows.
He stopped.
Standing in the middle of the room, blocking the path to the staircase, was a figure.
He was massive. He wore a black tank top, combat pants, and a Luchador mask with red eyes. The venom tubes on his arms pulsed with green light.
Bane.
Bruce blinked. He thought he was hallucinating.
"Bane?" Bruce whispered. "How..."
Bane cracked his knuckles. The sound echoed in the silent house.
"You fought well," Bane rumbled. "You fought hard."
Bane took a step forward. The floorboards groaned.
"But you fought the wrong battle."
I stepped out from the library, seeing the intruder. My eyes flared red.
"You are trespassing," I snarled, dropping the towel. "Get out of my house."
Bane looked at me. He didn't look impressed.
"The Demon Butler," Bane nodded. "I have read about you. You are the shield."
Bane snapped his fingers.
From the shadows of the upper balcony, three figures dropped down. Deathstroke. Lady Shiva. And David Cain. The deadliest assassins in the world.
"Keep the butler busy," Bane ordered. "The Bat is mine."
I prepared to lunge, but Deathstroke's sword and Shiva's fists intercepted me. I was fast, but three grandmasters at once? It would take time.
Time Bruce didn't have.
Bane walked toward Bruce.
Bruce tried to raise his fists. But his arms felt like lead. His legs were shaking.
"I am Bruce Wayne," Bruce said, trying to summon the persona.
"I know who you are," Bane said, grabbing Bruce by the throat and lifting him into the air. "I know your soul. I know your pain."
He threw Bruce.
CRASH.
Bruce flew through the air and smashed into the grandfather clock—the entrance to the cave. The wood shattered.
Bruce lay in the wreckage. He tried to stand. He couldn't.
Bane loomed over him, blotting out the sun.
"I am Bane," the giant whispered. "And I could kill you..."
He grabbed Bruce by the cape and the waist. He lifted him high above his head.
"...but death would only end your pain."
I screamed, parrying a blow from Deathstroke. "MASTER BRUCE!"
Bane looked at me. Then he looked at Bruce.
"Your silence... will be louder."
Bane brought Bruce down across his knee.
_________________________________________________________________________
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