The End of Knight 2

"No…"

Robin stands at the edge of the cliff, staring down into the darkness. The sound of the sickening thud echoes through his mind, yet he doesn't want to believe it. He doesn't want to believe that his only Father figure is now dead, at the hands of his worse enemy, who also met his end. "No…he can't be dead. He just can't."

"Face it, kid." Harley says solemnly. "The bat's dead. Along with my Puddin'."

"NO!" Robin picks up the Freeze Gun off the ground and aims it at Harley, intending to finish the job and freeze her completely. Harley doesn't even flinch at the sight of it, though.

"Go ahead, kid." She tells him, sounding like she did before she went loony toon. "I got nothing to live for. Just…get it over with."

His finger is on the trigger as the gun trembles in his hand. His mind is full of rage. He wants to make someone pay for Bruce's death. And since the Joker went with him, why not his right-hand gal? But as he's about to pull back on the trigger, he notices the look on her face. It's no longer the look of a psychotic Hench-girl, bent on causing as much chaos & destruction as the Joker wanted her to. No, it's Harleen Quinzel, the promising Psychiatric Doctor, before the Clown Prince of Crime corrupted her. Seeing this is enough to make Robin drop the Freeze Gun, as he remembers what his mentor would've said.

"Bruce wouldn't wanted this." He says to himself. "He wouldn't have wanted me to do this."

An Hour Later…

Police & News crews swarm Wayne Manor. It didn't take long for word to get out about Bruce's secret identity as Batman, and it's now being heralded as the story of the century. Inside, Dick, out of his Robin outfit, sits solemnly & quietly on the couch as the police do their work. Harley has already been shipped off to Arkham, surprisingly putting up no resistance. Alfred's body has also been shipped out. Finally, after a long wait, Dick sees several officers bringing up the bodies of Bruce & the Joker. He gets up and runs over to see them, a small glimmer of hope inside that Bruce has survived, and is just severely injured. When he gets there, he gets an up close look, and realizes that both of them are indeed dead. He sees the Joker's face first. He's wearing his trademark mad grin, wider & creepier than usual. Dick then looks across at Bruce, and notices a peaceful look on his face. Almost as if he were saying, 'Even if I die, I know you'll be coming with me, and Dick is safe.' Dick turns away, just as Commissioner Gordon approaches him.

"Dick." He says. "I can't imagine how hard it is to lose Bruce. He was a great man, both as himself and the Batman. I'm so sorry. Come on, you don't need to be around here. Let's take you over to the station."

"Commissioner?" Dick asks. "Is…is Barbara OK?"

Gordon is hesitant to answer. But feels that Dick is owed a response. Especially after all he's been through. "Barbara's in the hospital. The doctor's say the bullet went through her spine. It's…possible that she could never walk again."

Its just more news that weighs heavy on Dick's heart. But he feels that he has to do this. "Is…is it OK if I go see her?"

"Yeah." Gordon says. "Right now, she needs to see a familiar face. I have to stay here and wrap things up. I'll have a squad car send you over." And with that, Gordon goes right back to work, ordering his officers to wrap up all information on the scene, and keep the press out. Two officers accompany Dick to the door and exit out with him. Immediately, they get swamped by a legion of reporters, photographers & cameramen. The two officers do an excellent job of keeping them at bay, and from forcing interviews from Dick. As they get to the squad car, Dick looks out in the crowd of media and sees some familiar faces…Lois Lane & Clark Kent. Clark sees him and nods his head. Dick nods back, before hopping into the car with the officers. A moment later, the car speeds off, away from the horrific scene.

30 Minutes Later…

"Here you go, son."

The two officers open the door to Barbara's hospital room. As Dick walks in, he sees Barbara lying on the hospital bed, and immediately his heart sinks. The officers leave the two alone, as Dick approaches her bed. "Barbara…I…"

"I know, Dick." She says. "The Doctor's told me. But hey, at least I got my health & good looks." Dick can't bear to look at her like this, so he turns his head. Unfortunately, he sees the TV in the room, and the reports coming in from Wayne Manor. "Ever since it happened, they've been broadcasting it non-stop."

"Barbara, how did they find out Bruce's identity, but not mine?" Dick asks.

"I was able to log onto Bruce's computer and delete most of the Batman files." She tells him. "The police & everyone else will just think he was hiding it from you." She smiles at him, expecting him to turn his head and smile back. But he doesn't. "Dick, what's wrong?"

"I should've saved him." He says, turning to her and shaking with anger. "The cops said Joker had a Joy-Buzzer in his hand. The same hand he reached out to me with, and that's why Bruce punched Joker to make him fall…but I could've found a way to save him. I could've used the Bat-Grapple! Or…or use the Freeze Ray to…"

"Dick!" She yells, snapping him out of it. "We all knew the risk we took when we put on the uniform…Bruce most of all. He did it to save your life. He died…so that we could live safe from that Psychotic Clown's wrath."

"You call this safe?" He says, referring to her being in a hospital bed. "You probably won't be able to walk again!"

"Yeah." She says. "But at least the Joker won't do this to anyone else." Dick wants to argue more, but doesn't want to make Barbara upset, fearing for her condition. Instead, he just sits down on the bed beside her, as she sits up and puts her arm around him, comforting him over this tragedy.

5 Days Later…

"Ashes to ashes…Dust to dust."

It's late morning, around 10am, and thousands have gathered at the Gotham Cemetery for Bruce Wayne's funeral. Everyone from fellow Billionaires, business associates, to even some members of the Justice League have attended. Diana a.k.a. Wonder Woman stands in front of the coffin, shedding tears. She wishes she had taken the time to get to know him better. They both knew that something was there, but neither acted upon it. And she regrets it deeply. Hidden within the large crowd, wearing a mask, is Harvey Dent a.k.a. Two-Face, who has conflicted feelings about this whole ordeal. Half of him is happy, because with Batman & Joker dead, Gotham could easily come under his control. But the other half is grieving, because a dear friend in Bruce Wayne is now dead. Out of everyone here, Dick stands in the front row, as the Paul-Bearers slowly begin to lower the casket into the ground. As he watches, someone puts their hand on his shoulder. He looks over to see that it's Clark Kent.

"How're you holding up?" He asks.

"Good." Dick answers. "They put me up in a Safe House. Say that since I'm not 18 yet, I need to be under watch."

"Yeah." Clark says. " Bruce was a great man. And he did a great job raising you. His sacrifice made the world a lot safer from that Psycho. And don't worry about the criminals who escaped from Arkham. The Justice League has agreed to have some members hold watch over Gotham until they're all caught."

Just then, Diana approaches the two. "I'll be leading the team here, Dick." She tells him. "I won't let madness overrun Bruce's city. Gotham will be safe."

"That's good to hear. It means a lot." Dick replies half-heartedly. He's happy to hear the news from them, but is regretful that this situation even happened. Bruce's coffin is lowered into the grave, and the crowd starts to disperse. Dick starts to make his way over to his police escort car when he bumps into a Funeral attendee. He looks back to apologize, and notices the man…even through the mask he could notice him.

"Two-Face!" He says, silently & angrily.

"Easy, kid." Two-Face tells him putting his hands up, indicating he wants no problems. "I'm just here to pay my respects to the dead."

"That's funny." Dick replies. "Considering all the times you tried to kill Batman."

"That was business." Two-Face replies. "And before I knew Bruce was behind the suit. All I wanted was to run Gotham with an Iron Fist. I never cared whether the Bat was living or pushing up daisies, but he kept getting in my way." He turns away from Dick, and looks at the Gravediggers putting the dirt into Bruce's grave. "Take some advice, kid. Get outta town while you still can. A new regime is coming in…and things might get a little…bloody."

Dick knows exactly what Two-Face means by that. He's battle him enough times with Batman to know what the Mob Boss is capable of. But he also knows its no use in confronting him here. So he turns away, and heads back to the police car. Ready to leave this depressing scene.

Later that night…

"Yeah, I'm OK."

Dick is sitting inside his hotel room at the Police assigned Safe House. He's on the phone, talking to Barbara, who's checking up on him. "Look, you don't have to worry about me like I'm some kid. I'm only a year younger than you. OK, I'll visit you tomorrow. Goodbye." He hangs up the phone and turns to the TV, sitting down on his bed. Seeing the news coming on, he quickly changes the channel, not wanted to hear anymore about Bruce's death. But as he finds something interesting on, he hears a scream come from out his window.

"HELP!!!"

He turns to the window, but then quickly disregards it, thinking it's his mind playing tricks from all the stress he's gone through. That's what he thinks…at least until he hears it again.

"HELP!!!"

Convinced that the voice is real, he gets up and goes towards the window. His eyes dart around, looking for the trouble, until he spots a nearby alleyway below. He sees several thugs surrounding a helpless woman, and one of them is playing tug-of-war with her purse.

"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!!!" She screams.

"SHUT UP & COUGH UP THE PURSE, LADY!!!" The thug says, backhanding her to the ground and snatching the purse away. "It's not like the Batman's gonna save you, tonight."

"Yeah, he's too busy pushing up daisies!" Another one adds. They all start to laugh, as Dick start filling up with rage. He wants to do something to stop them. Batman would. Batman wouldn't hesitate to. But his Robin outfit was thrown out, so the cops wouldn't see it. And two officers are guarding the door. He thinks…and comes up with an idea.

Running over to his closet, he opens the door and picks out three articles of clothing: a Black Sweater, Black Jeans & a Black skullcap. He quickly puts them on, then shuts off the lights to his room. He goes back to the window and looks out of it, to see the thugs still there, and angrier than before.

"37 dollars?!" The leader says. "Oh lady, you can do better than that! Heh, how much do you think her necklace will go for boys?"

"No! Not my necklace!" She says, still on the ground. "My mother gave this to me!"

Dick has seen enough. He opens the window and leaps out onto a nearby roof. His training as Robin the Boy Wonder shines through as he nimbly leaps from rooftop to rooftop, making his way closer to the scene. Once right over them, he leaps off the top of the roof, and kicks one of them in the face. He bounces off of them, lands on the ground and faces them.

"ON YOUR STOMACHS!!! ARMS SPREAD!!!"

"What the hell?" One of them says?

"YOU HEARD ME!!!" Dick says.

"Yeah." The leader says. "You heard the kiddy Batman wannabe. Hey, guys. Lets say we welcome him to Gotham…the only way we can."

The thugs take the command to heart, and charge at Dick, ready to "welcome" him. Dick responds by flooring two of them with a split-kick. One comes up and goes for a haymaker. But Dick easily ducks it and responds with a kick to the gut, then follows with a spin kick to the head that floors him. The last thug grabs a Trashcan lid and flings it at him. Dick, thinking quickly, grabs the lid and flings it back at the thug, cracking him in the head & knocking him out. But before Robin can breathe easy, he hears a gun being cocked. The leader has pulled out his weapon, and intends to use it.

"Let's see if your reflexes are as good as the 'Dead Knight'." He says. Robin stands frozen, not sure if he's quick enough to avoid the bullets. He thinks that this might be the end. But just as the thug leader opens fire, a figure leaps onto Dick and saves him from the bullets. They roll behind a nearby car, and under a streetlight, where Dick can get a clear look at his savior. He looks up to see that it's the last person on earth he ever expected to save him…Catwoman.