It's been a long time. Too long. But the last few days suddenly seemed like a nightmare. Tim and Damien laid on the tables with their injuries while everyone else gathered in the Manor.

The fire department and the GCPD have moved quickly with putting out the fires and taking everyone to safety. Due to your efforts with the others, things were now calming down.

However, the fight was far from over. You still had three batmen running loose and you only knew the identity of two of them. On top of that, there was apparently a new mastermind at work behind the scenes. A new Black Mask.

Everyone was taking a well deserved break before they were to head back into the city and continue their fight.

Really, none of them could stop thinking about you.

You stood in front of the computer with your cowl off as you looked at the data. Things were looking better. Much better. But they still weren't good enough.

Your wounds were still aching and you could actually feel some blood start to spread from one of your open wounds. And of course, you were still bruised all over.

Jason: He really is hanging in there.

Stephanie: He nedd to be resting. Look at him.

Debra stared at the massive bruise on your neck while Hel silently sat away from the others. Cassandra was leaning against the wall near Terry and Katie. Selena was actually lounging in a space just above the computers.

Y/N: Thanks for helping out, Selena. I really appreciate it.

Selena: Of course. Though, you seem to not care that my granddaughter can see your face.

You looked back to Katie who was talking to Terry. Indeed. Katie was the granddaughter of Bruce Wayne and Selena Kyle. Her mother had pushed the vigilante lifestyle away from her, but Katie seemed to have inherited her grandma's taste for the finer things.

Y/N: As long as she's our ally, I don't care. Besides, if she really is your granddaughter, she's family.

Selena smiled as your eyes fell on the Black Mask file. The original Black Mask, that the old you had locked away, was dead. The new Black Mask, the one causing all of this, was unknown. There there was the person responsible for almost killing you. Terry had discovered the truth behind the kidnapping case involving Bane and Melanie, which shocked you, but the shooter was still missing.

Y/N: You're friends with Ivy and Harley. Do you know anyone who might have access to the same kind of chemicals that made Ivy, well, Ivy?

Selena gave it some thought and hopped down from her spot. She leaned on your shoulder and looked at the screen.

Selena: I do, actually. You think this is all connected somehow?

Y/N: It has to be. Think about the timing. I get sent to the hospital and suddenly, every villian in Gotham knows I'm gone. This was planned. Someone set this up. The kidnapping was a wild goose chase to keep us busy. And it worked.

Selena looked at you with concerned eyes. She had known Bruce for years at this point. She had seen the kind of look he has when he's trying to figure something out. You had that same look.

She didn't like it.

Selena: Look, hon, you should listen to your friends. You're not in the right state to be fighting these people.

You looked at her before looking back to your allies. Everyone was wearing thin now. It had been almost 48 hours since they started fighting. They're reaching their end. That doesn't even account for the two that were out of the game indefinitely.

Everyone was brusied, bleeding, cut, and beaten. You knew this couldn't go on for much longer. This needed to end, and soon.

Y/N: I know. But as long as those three psychos or loose, we can't stop. I can't stop. I already told them that I would rest after I'm done.

Selena: But what about them?

Y/N: Let them rest. I'm heading back out there.

You pulled your cowl back on and started walking towards the batwing. Terry looked over and shook his head.

Terry: Are you going out already?

Everyone looked over at you as you nodded.

Y/N: You guys rest up. Get patched up. Eat. Take a nap. Do whatever you need to.

Barbara: What about you?

Y/N: I have work to do.

Hel: Dad....

Debra: You're seriously going to die if you keep this up.

You stopped and looked back to everyone. It was true that you could feel your body about to break. But still, you couldn't stop.

Y/N: I'll be fine. Rest.

You hoped into the batwing and started it up. Everyone watched as it flew out of the cave.

Stephenie: Wow. He's seriously going to end up in a ditch somewhere.

Helena: Should we go follow him?

Jason: No. There's no point.

The younger bats looked to Jason and Barbara as they looked down.

Terry: What do you mean?

Barbara: He's fully invested now. He's Batman.

Hel: You mean...

Jason: There's no stopping him. At this point, we just have to let him do his thing. He needs to finish this.

Everyone looked at each other.

Katie: Jeez. Fine. Whatever. Let this dude be Batman. What does the rest of us do?

Barbara: We help him protect Gotham. While he's off fighting against the Arkham Knights, the rest of us need to help put a stop to the Underground.

Terry: Right. We need to be the Gotham Knights.

Hel nodded while Cassandra was still staring at the ground. She hated feeling like this. Why were you running around? Why were you still fighting when you should be resting?

Stephanie: You good?

She looked at her friend and nodded. It was the Owls all over again.

Cassandra: I need air.

She pushed herself off of the wall and headed upstairs.
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Jokar: This is going better than I thought.

He smiled at the smoking city with his hands behind his back. His helmet rested on the night stand while his green hair hung over his eyes.

Jokar: To think, it would all start with you.

Jokar looked behind him at his partner who was dressed in a bat uniform of his own.

Nightbat: Are you sure this will work?

Jokar: Maybe.

The batman looked surprised.

Nightbat: You told me...

Jokar: I know what I said. I'll keep my word on our deal. How we got to it, that's my job.

Jokar grabbed his helmet and put it on before he walked past the Nightbat.

Jokar: Make sure your Knights do their part. I didn't spend all that money on their reprogramming for them to mess around. Duke was taken out, don't let it happen again.

Nightbat: They're...killing. This, this isn't...

The batman grabbed his head as he tried to think. His mind was scrambling. Breaking. Jokar looked at his partner and sighed as he pulled out a remote. He clicked a button and the batman stopped.

Nightbat: I'll make sure everything goes according to plan.

Jokar smiled and looked back at the city. His city.

Jokar: Now, let's resume the game.