Chapter 22

PALMELLA ISLEY

"I am done," she said to the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, who nodded, and just as he was about to speak up, another massive explosion rocked the whole building.

She ducked down nervously as much of the lab equipment fell and crashed onto the floor.

Her heart, on the other hand, sunk as she realized just where the explosion had come from.

"Thomas," she gasped out worriedly as she looked towards Mr. Fox, who seemed rather worried as well.

"To execute the plan, I need the master key to override the whole rail network," he began, and she questioned.

"Who has that key?" she questioned.

"Thomas, Thomas Wayne," he answered, and she bit her lip.

"One more person may have the spare, and I have called for it…"

"I will go and get it," she cut in before he could finish, and he nodded as he handed her a pager.

"The signals are disturbed. Once you have the key, contact me over that. I will have everything else set up in the meantime," he said as he began to walk away. She made her way to follow him, and when they reached the stairs and were about to separate, he suddenly called out to her.

"And Miss Isley," she turned to face him.

"Do keep an eye on Mr. Wayne for me," he said, and she nodded as she began to climb up the stairs in haste, all her injuries and nervousness long gone as she rushed past floor after floor until she finally reached the topmost floor.

The whole floor was a mess, and there was broken concrete everywhere. The roof had fallen apart in many places, and lights were flickering as she made her way toward Thomas's office, her heart sinking further and further with each passing step.

The office was completely destroyed. From what she could tell, the second blast had completely destroyed everything, and a dust cloud covered everything.

"Thomas! Thomas! Anyone!" she shouted, as she began to cough up, her heart filled with nothing but dread until a voice erupted from one corner of the room.

"HELPPP!" "HELPPP!"

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RACHEL DAWES

Rachel Dawes felt her heartbeat quicken as the lights in the room died down, and the sound of glass shattering filled the room.

"ARGH!" she screamed as a shadowy creature jumped in through the window; his eyes glowed an ominous red as he kicked Crane in the torso, sending his body flying into the wall of the room.

"AGHH!" The Crane grunted in pain as the shadowy figure rounded up on him, and then suddenly, as he was about to pick up the man once more, a thick mist erupted from Crane's arm.

SHHHH!

It sprayed over his face, forcing him to drop Crane as he stumbled back.

"Hahaha," Crane laughed, his laugh sending shivers down her spine as he walked closer to the stumbling form of the redeyes monster.

"So, you are the infamous Batman, the night prowler," he said as he woke up to him, picking up what seemed to be a wreck from one of the tables.

"How do you feel now? Do you feel fear coursing through your veins? Do you feel your heartbeat quickening," he said as his voice began to grow hollower, as she felt her vision shift as the lights began to glare, and his face began to morph.

"It's a little concoction I brewed up years ago to stimulate the fear centers of our brain. Do you feel it, the fear overpowering you," he said as the shadowy monster grunted back before suddenly the man swung his arm as he shouted.

"And now I shall finally see just who hinds behind that mask of yours," and he swung wildly at the man's face, yet stopped it with his hand as the shadowy figure stood up, his eyes red and eery as his black face contorted in the lights making her scream.

"Impossible," she heard Crane's voice gasp as a shudder ran through her spine.

"You are not the only one who knows a little bit of biology," and with that, the monster twisted the arm, breaking it and making the other man scream as he kicked him and hit him on the head.

"ARGH!" she screamed as he turned towards her, his face scary and shaped like a bat's as he came close to her. She saw him take out a needle, and she tried to writhe away as he held down her arm forcefully.

"STOP! STOP!" she shouted, yet her protests were futile as she saw him inject literal fire into her body, and then suddenly, her vision began to settle down; the glare vanished as the man's face shifted from the red-eyed monstrosity into a masked figure of a human.

A masked figure she had seen once before.

"You," she gasped out, her throat raspy as the man untied her, and she saw that she was still inside the little cabin Crane had trapped her in.

"You were poisoned by Crane, some sort of fear toxin. I gave you the antidote, but that was the last shot that I had," Batman told her as she sat up and looked around the cabin, her arms and legs still stung as she felt her vision clear up.

"He plans to spread it all over the city, and if he succeeds, it will cause complete havoc in the city," he said as he turned to face her.

"We should try and stop them?" she said as she looked out the window and saw a literal army loading some crates into the planes.

"I will, but you need to do something more important," he said as he turned towards her and handed her a card.

"You need to warn the police and the other officials about this, warn them about the attack, and get this card to a man called Lucius Fox. He will be waiting for you at Wayne Tower," he said as he handed her a black card.

"What is that?" she questioned as he led her out of the cramped room.

"Something he needs to save the city," he said as he led them out of the hangar, and she stilled as she saw a few of the planes taking off of the runway, taking to the skies.

"But how will I get there," she questioned as he looked around until he turned to face her, and she heard a click sound before an engine's roar made her turn back.

And right there behind her was the monstrosity of a car.

"Go!" he said as he turned away from her, as he was about to run away, and as she was about to enter the car, she stopped as she shouted.

"Who are you?" she questioned and saw him still as he turned to face her. Their eyes met, and even through the mask, she found them eerily familiar.

Yet no answer came as he walked away, leaving her all alone without an answer. The car's obscure door closed off, locking her inside, and she looked around as she tried to make sense of what was what.

In the end, she managed to drive away, and as she was racing away towards the city, she picked up the card he had handed and began to twist it around to look for any sign of just what it was until she spotted it.

Right in the corner, inscribed in small italics, was a name. A name she was all too familiar with.

"Thomas Wayne!" she read, yet it was impossible.

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BRUCE WAYNE

Bruce watched Rachel race away as he clicked on the microphone and whispered.

"Tell Fox that Rachel is coming to him with the master key," he informed Alfred on the other side.

"I will, Master Bruce," came the answer as he looked around and thought of a plan to stop more of these planes from taking off, and it all clicked together.

"Alfred, any news from Thomas?" he questioned as he clicked a button on his arm and threw a small speaker-like device into the hangar with the planes, which began to emit a loud and sharp shrill sound.

"Not yet," came the worried answer, and he watched as the men in the hangar became alert.

"Someone's here," they shouted as they tried to gather up, until suddenly, the sound of flapping wings erupted throughout the hangar as bats began to coalesce around the hangar.

"What's going on? What's happening!" they shouted as bats began to terrorize them all as Bruce reached into his pocket and flung batarangs at the plane that was about to take off.

THING! BOOM!

The engine burst into flames after a second, before the whole plane exploded.

BOOOM!

"Get away!" the men shouted as three other planes exploded, as he rushed into the crowd of men, unseen until he was right behind them.

One of them saw him finally, but it was too late as he hit him in the back of his head, and he dropped down like dead meat. Others tried to attack him as well, yet he made quick work of them all, constantly destroying more and more of planes as he cleared up the hangar.

Suddenly, he saw a few of them brandish their guns, forcing him to jump behind one of the planes as they fired at him. He ducked down as the bullets hit the plane. He looked around and saw a massive forklift right above them. He threw a Batarang at the arm of the forklift, and it broke down and fell on them.

"ARGH!" they screamed as the massive arm fell down and crushed them all. He looked around and saw the men rushing out of the hangar, which was nothing more than a pile of burning metal at his point.

With his mission here accomplished he turned to get out of the hangar when suddenly he came face to face with a man he had thought he would never see again.

"You!" he gasped out as he saw the face of the man he had once looked up to. A man whose life he had saved at great peril to himself.

"Indeed, me!" Ducard replied as he looked him in the eye. He was beaten up, his arm lay limp by his side, his face full of cuts and scrapes.

"Why did you do this, Ducard? Why?" he questioned angrily, and the man simply smiled.

"It was what needed to be done. This city had long lost its soul and needed a fresh start. It is what this order has done so for centuries. When a society reaches the peak of decadence, we come and cleanse it, so humanity can get a new start," he intoned grandly.

"Gotham wasn't beyond saving. My brother had done much to help this city. The city was healing, recovering slowly, but things were changing," he implored, but the man shook his head.

"Your brother was part of the problem. A symbol of the rot that plagued this city and hence needed to be eliminated for the true transformation of this city," he finished, and Bruce stilled at those words as he felt the ground vanish from beneath his feet.

"You can't mean," he gasped out as he stepped forward, and Ducard simply nodded.

"Indeed, it was I who was behind the plane that crashed into Wayne Tower. Though I must say, I was surprised by your brother's resilience. No matter, he shall no longer be a hindrance," he finished, and Bruce's heart raced in his chest.

"You!" he huffed out as rage flushed through him.

"You killed him," he snarled in rage.

"I did what was necessary. Something which you could never understand!"

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