Chapter 34-Full Counter!

Chapter 34

BRUCE WAYNE

Bruce felt consciousness return to him, slowly as his whole body ached with searing pain. Yet he did not scream nor move as the events of the previous night, about attacking Gambol's lair and then the subsequent ambush by the man named 'Bane' appeared in his mind.

He was tied up, his hands and feet secured through tight bindings, and he felt that he was in a vehicle.

"So you are finally awake?" another voice cut in, the voice grazy and mechanical, the very voice that he had heard last as his eyes had shut.

Bruce realized that there was no use in pretending, so he looked up and found him standing in front of him. He wore a sleeveless jacket, and now, in the light, he could clearly see his bulking body. Bane was a giant of a man, taller and bigger than him; his muscles bulged out, and his face still had that strange mask on it.

"Welcome aboard, Bruce Wayne, or should I say...."

"Batman," he spoke, and Bruce scanned his surroundings and realized that he was on a plane, and still he knew little of this man's purpose.

Yet they were not alone now, there were others present as well, standing behind the masked man in a manner so familiar to him.

"The League," he reasoned out as he realized this man's probable origins.

"Indeed, at least what remains of us after your brother's crusade against us, but that all shall end soon," the man began as he turned away from him and plopped down on a seat by the side, clearing his sight to a TV placed on the isle, with a live news broadcast.

"Soon, we shall use his prowess to rebuild all that we have lost and finish the mission of liberating Gotham. Watch Mr. Wayne as the city you and your brother worked so hard to save."

Bruce's eyes widened as he saw the visuals on the TV. Massive protests were being shown, targeting Wayne Enterprises and the Wayne Manor. The ancient manor was now on fire, along with the various charities set up by Wayne Enterprises, charities, and shelters that were there to help the destitute of the city.

And Bruce's gaze narrowed onto the headlines underneath even as his hands unworked his bindings as stealthily as they could as he used a small laser saw from his utility belt to cut through the metal bindings around his arms and legs.

~Batman's identity revealed: Bruce Wayne, the billionaire~ and he stilled as the clips of the video of Selina playing as Joker had her reveal his identity. And have her blame Thomas for his death~

"Watch it burn. Everything you and your family have built is gone," Bane began, and Bruce could feel him chuckle.

"...gone by the hands of the very people you wished to save," he said as he shook his head.

"Was it really worth defying the League for this city, Bruce Wayne?" he questioned as he looked him in the eye.

"You could have been so much more, yet you chose to give it all up, for this," he said as he pointed towards the screen.

"Yes," Bruce answered, and he meant it as well.

"This is not the city, and this is you. Your lies and your plots have misguided the city, riled them up, and enraged them. Gotham deserves to be saved, deserves to be given a chance, for it has good people in it, people who have remained good despite the darkness they faced. They have remained resilient, steadfast," he said as he looked towards the screen once more and watched as his house burned with a raging pyre.

"We can rebuild the house, we can get back what is lost, but I refuse to give up on the people of my city, and I shall believe in the goodness in their hearts till my dying breath," he said as Bane's eyes narrowed.

"Then so be it. I will not kill you," Bane said as he crouched down and looked Bruce in the eye.

"Watch as I terrorize the city, bring it to its knees. Watch Gotham tear itself apart from the hellhole of despair that shall show you the truth, show you the futility of your will and belief," he said as he reached for his head, and Bruce felt his arms free as he pulled back and headbutted Bane on the face with all his might.

"AGHH!" the giant of a man reeled back as Bruce struck his mask before basking the whole cabin in thick smoke using a smoke bomb from his utility belt.

"Huhhh HUHHH!" the man huffed for breath as he tried to readjust his mask and pointed towards him.

"KILL HIM!" he shouted as the assassins of the league surrounded him. Yet, Bruce did not relent as he let the smoke spread all over before he began to move through the smoke, reaching for the teaching that had been drilled into his bones at the temple as he sneaked behind the assassins and began to dismantle them, one by one.

"AGHHH!" he broke their legs and arms as he moved quickly from one assassin to another before Bane came upon him.

"ARGH!" the giant of a man shouted as he tried to punch him. Bruce leaned to the side as his fist hit one of the seats as he kneed him in the chest, and as his head lowered, he elbowed his back.

"AGHH!" the giant of a man tried to lunge towards him, but Bruce rolled away and watched as the giant of a man stared at him.

"He did say you were his best student," and there was little need to know whom 'he' referred to.

Ducard.

The woman who claimed to be his so-called wife, he had recognized those features at a single glance, and though he could not be sure, he sure recalled seeing her in the temple as well and fighting with her.

How he had missed the resemblance before this was lost to him, though now that he had seen it, he was sure that she was related to Ducard.

"No matter, you will not leave this plane. I will make sure of that," Bane began as he relaxed and took out a switch from his pocket.

"Even if I have to take the whole plane with you," Bruce said, his eyes narrowing on the switch. Suddenly, he felt the cabin doors open, and before Bane could press the button, a whip lashed at his hand, plucking the button from his hand in a near-unhuman expert use of a lasso.

"What..." Bane was surprised, yet Bruce took advantage of the opportunity and pounced on the man, kneeing him in the gut as he winded the giant man before rounding off on his back and locking him in a chokehold.

"AGHHH!" Bane grunted as he tried to push away his arms. He fought through the pain as Bane punched him, though his blows grew weaker by the second as his body was deprived of oxygen before. After what seemed like an eternity, the man finally went limp.

"Huh, huh," he huffed as he breathed deeply, and as he was about to get back on his feet, a hand was offered to him to aide him in this, and he looked up and found a woman standing there, dressed in a captain's suit, yet she was no pilot.

Her beauty was one thing, for she looked inhuman and felt so as well. Though the biggest thing was the lasso tied around her side, he had seen glimpses of it, small glimpses on a video once.

A video that he had removed from all other parts of the internet for the sheer implications it held.

He took the offered hand as she helped him up. He was not surprised by her strength. He had expected so.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned, there was no need for introduction on his part for he already knew who she was, and whom she pretended to be.

To the world, she was Diana Prince, the ambassador of an obscure nation called Themyscira, though she had another name, one only mentioned in highly confidential physical files, files that Thomas had been unable to access, though Batman was a whole other story.

Wonder Woman.

"So, you were the one searching around for me?" she questioned. She looked at him, and he was surprised that she knew that someone was looking for her, for he had been very discreet.

"Maybe I was," he said, and then her eyes narrowed.

"Then how did your brother know about me?" she questioned, and he was surprised that Thomas knew of her, for he knew that his search had turned up empty-handed, for his brother was quite lazy.

He had a small blind spot when it came to technology and often failed to look beyond that. Some things are so secret that they never have a digital footprint; such information could only be sought through other channels and ways that he was more familiar with than his brother.

Yet it seemed as though Thomas was not as unfamiliar with these things as it seemed.

"I did not tell him," he said, and she nodded.

"Well, I will just have to ask him then," she said as she looked at him, and his suit was damaged, the cloak torn up, and his mask half broken.

"So, Thomas sent you," he questioned, and she nodded.

"He asked for my help," she said as she turned away from him and led them into the cabin.

"We are en route to Gotham City. We will be there soon," she said as she pointed towards a briefcase by the side.

"He also sent a little gift for you," she said as she pointed towards a briefcase. He frowned as he picked it up and, on unlocking it, found a suit in it, though this was not a Batman suit.

No, it was a tailored suit, a very fine tailored suit, alongside a small jewelry box and a note.

He picked up the note and tried to make sense of it.

~Opearation Grand Proposal is a go.~ 😉

He chuckled as he realized what Thomas was referring to. It was a silly plan they had once discussed over tea, though it seemed they were going to use it.

"So, tell me how a billionaire ends up fighting crime in the dark of night?" she asked as she sat in the captain's seat, and Bruce looked towards her with a raised brow as he pocketed the note.

"How does a simple woman do what you do?"

0000

RACHEL DAWES

Rachel Dawes was filled with worry as he watched the city devolve by the second, losing any semblance of sanity as they burnt Wayne Manor and their other properties. Watching the place she had called as second home, burn away in a pyre nearly broke her, as she watched common people cause such carnage because of sheer madness.

"There is no need to be sad, Miss Dawes," Alfred added from the front as they drove through the city.

"It was just bricks and mortar, our real home is with the people we love," he added in all his wisdom and she nodded, worried for the very people.

"Where are Thomas and Bruce?" she asked again, and Alfred smiled.

"They are fine, just as all this will be soon," he added as the car came to a halt infront of a very familiar building.

"Why are we here?" they had been moving randomly through the city to avoid the crazy mobs for her safety, as her connection with Thomas was known throughout the city.

"You will know soon enough," added Alfred with a smile, as he led her out of the car.

She checked the timer, and a few minutes remained until the Joker's ultimatum ran out. She was worried, even though Alfred had assured her that all would be fine. She was led to the back of the Hall and saw the area filled with lawyers and security agents, as preparation for a press conference were being made.

She looked around and stilled as she saw an all too familiar face in the back. He wore a mask and blended into the background rather easily, yet she would recognize those eyes in her sleep.

"Bruce?" she gasped as she ran towards the figure, who turned towards her and smiled as she wrapped her arms around him. His familiar warmth filled her with assurance and a sense of home in this perilous time.

"What is happening?" she questioned as she looked up at him worriedly.

"Who is that woman, and where is Thomas?" she questioned in a flurry as Bruce chuckled.

"Thomas is fine and will be here soon, and that woman is with the League of Shadows," he told her, and she recognized that name.

"Isn't that the organization that tried to destroy Gotham before?" she questioned, and he nodded.

"They are," he replied as his lips thinned.

"Rachel," he suddenly began in a very soft tone, surprising her as he held her hands.

"There is something that I want to tell you..."

0000

In another part of Gotham, in the house of the assistant commissioner, Jim Gordon watched the news with a heavy heart as his daughter sat beside him in her wheelchair.

"Thomas Wayne killed his own brother because he was Batman," she gasped out in disbelief as the video of the Joker ended.

"I liked him. He seemed like such a good guy," she remarked, sounding betrayed.

"He was..." and then his phone rang. His daughter had bullied him into buying one of the new Wayne touch phones, even though it was too 'new' for his liking.

And he had received a message from an anonymous number, a file.

He clicked it open, and then he found himself staring at their own mayor doing some very questionable and criminal things along with a single message.

~Be ready in 55 minutes~

0000

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