1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Batman: Eternal: Season 2, Episode 13 - Fear Itself

by Mockingchu

Mockingchu Hoo doggy! I got this one up really early this morning. So, enjoy!

The battle continues against Scarecrow, but first Batman must battle against himself.

Go read Green Arrow: Eternal by @Eeveechu151 it's really ramping up.
Batman entered the chaos that was Arkham Aslyum. Joker had escaped with Quinn, his psychologist. She had adopted the name “Harley Quinn” for reasons unknown to Batman. Dr. Crane had apparently hung himself, and Red Robin wasn’t responding to any attempts of contact.
“Red Robin, respond,” Batman repeated for the umpteenth time.
Nothing.
Batman made his way up to Dr. Crane’s office. The most likely location of Red Robin.
The door to the office was slightly ajar. He threw open the door, and saw Dr. Crane hanging from a rope. The scene was grisly.
The word “Scarecrow” was spelled on the walls in blood. A bloody knife was on the ground near Jonathan Crane. He had cut his wrists and his neck.
But Red Robin was nowhere.
“RED ROBIN!” Batman exclaimed, praying that it would draw him out of wherever he was.
Then, Batman felt a hand grip his leg. He looked down, and saw Red Robin. Yes, it was Red Robin. At least, it was the Red Robin suit. But his face was different. The face of Jason Todd.
A horrid sight. The skin around Jason’s- no, Tim’s- mouth was gone completely, revealing singed muscle and seared bone. What little skin was left around Jason’s eyes was charred black. However, Jason’s green eyes somehow held their hue. They sparkled as if emeralds had embedded themselves into Jason’s skull.
“We’re all the same to you Bruce, right?” Jason/Red Robin said in Dick Grayson’s voice, “Replaceable? Interchangeable?”
Batman tried to scramble away, but was pinned down by Batgirl. She was scarred and burned. Her flesh was held together by stitches. Her skin was a pale gray and had egg-yolk pus spilling from the creases. Gashes and craters dotted her body as commonly as pimples cover a teenager. Her lips were drawn back in a smile. The Joker had gotten to this zombie version of Barbara.
“Let me go!” Batman roared.
“Let him go,” came a cool, deep, familiar voice. A mixture of smooth and sultry, with rough and dark. Batman craned his head and saw Lucius Fox mixed with Jim Gordon. It had Gordon’s stock build with Lucius’s signature nice blue suit. The suit had pieces of steel infused with it, along with blood. His face retained it’s chocolaty color, but took on Gordon’s harsh gray eyes, and large mustache.
“Lucius… Jim…” Batman whimpered.
“Barbara,” the amalgam of voices said, “Tam. They died. Like Jason. Like Tim. You will die too. But first, you will suffer. Suffer like we suffered. We suffered through life, while our family left us for the afterlife.”
“No. This isn’t real. This can’t be real,” Batman stated.
“You will suffer,” Jim/Lucius nodded, “Those that you failed to protect will torture you. Grind your bones to dust. Tear away your flesh. Your soul will exit the mangled pile of meat that was once your body. It is only then that we will allow you to die. After every part of you is broken.”
Jim/Lucius smiled. Lucius’s smile, not Jim’s. His lips tilted farther upward than Jim’s.
“Do you understand?” Jim/Lucius asked.
Batman was silent.
Jim/Lucius snapped, and the world went dark.

Batman woke up. He was on a large stone platform. Sickly orange sky stretched for as far as the eye could see. At the edge of the platform was a drop into yet more orange limbo.
“Bruce Wayne!” thundered a voice as clear as day. Dick Grayson. Not a twisted version of Dick Grayson. Just Dick Grayson.
“Dick, you have to help me!” Batman pleaded.
Dick pursed his lips. He looked up and down his body. Sleek, muscular, beautiful. He smiled.
“Do you remember this?” Dick asked, “Picture it. Take a mental image. Will you do that for me?”
Batman nodded. Dick pulled his Nightwing mask out of thin air. A blue domino mask with jagged points on either side. A black void surrounded the mask. He placed it over his eyes, and scars started creeping over his skin. Veins started to emerge from his flesh, and bruises clouded his body.
“This. This is what you do, Batman. What you did to Jason. Tim. Barbara. Oswald. Tam. Jonathan. What you will do to Luke. Dominique. Me.”
“Dick, stop,” Batman cried.
“I’m putting a stop to your destructive trail. No one else dies because of you,” Nightwing growled, “I’m the real hero. The warrior. And every warrior needs his army.”
Insidious versions of Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon, Oswald Cobblepot, Jonathan Crane, Tam Fox, Luke Fox, and Dominique Sanchez climbed onto the portal from the endless pit below.
Jason’s was charred. Tim had his neck and wrists slit like just like Jonathan’s, along with a rope dangling from his neck. Barbara was the same sewn together version from before. Oswald was pale and frostbitten. Tam was… shockingly normal. Luke had rods of metal thrust through him. Dominique had burns all over his abdomen, partnered with bullets.
“We are the Fallen. The Forgotten. The Discarded. No more,” Nightwing stated.
A red helmet appeared over Jason’s head. There was a large cut across the middle, scraping away some of the red paint, leaving a steel scar.
Tim’s blocky green mask fell over his eyes, sending a pulse throughout his entire body.
Barbara unzipped the purple jacket she had on to reveal a torn yellow bat symbol.
Oswald’s long, greasy hair turned white. Frost started at his toes, and crept the way up his body until he was crystalline. Pure ice.
Tam Fox started to shimmer, and teleport around the platform uncontrollably.
Luke Fox slowly turned into steel. He turned into the Batwing suit. Except the symbol was dim, and melted.
Dominique burst into flames, and hovered above the platform.
“The Army of the Dead will bring down the Savior of the Living,” Nightwing stated, matter-of-factly. With that, he led the charge against Batman, escrima sticks drawn.
Nightwing made it Batman first, striking wildly with his sticks. Batman dodged easily, and shoved him away.
“That’s it?” Nightwing jeered, aiming a kick at Batman’s head. Batman ducked, and withdrew from the battle. He was met with an icy blast, compliments of Oswald. The shards came straight from his fingertips. Batman tried to move out of the way, but the attack had caught him unprepared. The ice traveled straight through his body, leaving holes in his suit. Dominique shot flames from his fists, searing Batman’s back, instantly cauterizing the wounds.
“You always said we’d be great pair, eh Bruce?” Oswald commented, taking a stand at Dominique’s side.
“Not… Like… This…” Batman growled, flinging Batarangs at them. Luke Fox blasted them, using the pulse cannons on his Batwing suit. They clattered to the ground, uselessly.
Tam appeared behind Batman, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Then, he popped away, through nothingness. They reappeared off of the platform, free falling into the abyss.
Batman shot a line back up to the platform, gripped Tam, and zipped upwards. Tam looked at him, shocked. He had saved her. Maybe…
No. Tam clawed at his face. As soon as they were back on the platform, Batman threw her into the rough cobblestone.
Jonathan Crane started kicking Batman in the shins. Batman pushed him down. Then, the rope around his neck lengthened, and tightened around Batman’s face.
“You always liked masks, right?” Jonathan inquired.
Batman shredded through the ropes with the blades on his gauntlets. He uppercutted Jonathan, and turned to face Jason. Jason opened fire, letting bullets rip through Batman’s flesh.
This was not going well. Batman was holding back. These were his friends. His allies.
But they weren’t. They were fake versions. Versions created out of the fears deep inside his mind.
Batman had figured out that much. This was not reality. This was all in his head. Most likely a result of the fear toxin he had learned of from A.R.G.U.S.
Fovos.
If these weren’t his real allies- not the real Nightwing, Robin, Red Robin, Batgirl, Penguin, Crane, Tam, Batwing, and Firefly- then he could go as hard as he wanted.
Batman rushed at Jason, and gripped his mask in his massive hands. He squeezed, and felt the mask bend. Eventually, it gave way, splintering, and embedding itself in Jason’s face. He threw Jason off of the platform.
“Now it gets interesting,” Nightwing nodded.
Luke swept down, and fired away with his pulse cannons. Batman hurled a shock grenade, that sparked all over the Batwing suit. The interface malfunctioned, causing the entire suit to explode. Batman quickly prayed that the actual Batwing suit didn’t have any flaws that major.
Oswald and Dominique double-teamed him. They created a swirling beam of fire and ice, which somehow didn’t cancel out… because this was all fake.
The beam bolted through the air, and straight for Batman’s heart. Batman vaulted upwards, and ran across the beam as a bridge. His legs were on fire, while simultaneously freezing. He reached the end of the beam moments before he dropped. He sprang up, and punched Oswald and Firefly at the same time. He emptied his can of explosive gel over them, and blew them to smithereens.
Tam and Tim charged next. Another tag team. Tam opened portals, which Tim navigated through. Batman first attempted to follow Tim’s movements, but ultimately decided it was futile. He moved briskly over to Tam. Tam freaked out, and teleported herself away, therefore closing all other portals. Tim had been passing through a portal at that moment, and was forever trapped in the world between space. Tam realized what she had done, and became enraged. She opened a portal right under Batman that led to nowhere. Batman shot his grappling line into Tam’s chest, and whizzed over to her. He kicked her into her own portal. The portal snapped shut seconds later.
Then Jonathan Crane approached Batman. Batman swiftly punched him in the jaw, rendering him unconscious. Easy.
“You’ve done well,” Nightwing mused. Only Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl were left on the platform.
“I’ll finish this,” Batman growled. His legs were disgustingly burnt and frozen. Bullet holes left trails of blood running down his suit. His face had rope burns covering it. His mind had been nearly reduced to nothing after nearly vanishing into nothingness. But he was ready. Ready to get out of this hellscape. And beating Nightwing and Batgirl seemed like a good way to do just that.
Nightwing leaned over to Batgirl, and planted a quick kiss on her lips. The stitches and pus disappeared from her body. She was rejuvenated to who she was before she died. Nightwing’s scars sunk back into flesh. They were younger, less damaged now.
“Good luck, Babs,” Nightwing smiled.
“Good luck, Boy Wonder,” Batgirl smiled right back.
They both turned to face Batman.
“It’s time for you to face the consequences of your actions,” they said in sync.
They swaggered towards him, holding hands.
“You denied me all of this, Bruce,” Nightwing said, shaking his head in disgust.
“I- I brought you and Barbara together!” Batman exclaimed, “At least you met her. At least you were able to love her. Yes, she died. Yes, she died for my cause. My crusade. But my crusade is how you met Barbara in the first place!”
“Trying to pull the old ‘Don’t cry because it’s over, be happy because it happened’ trick,” Nightwing scoffed, “Of course you are. Listen, Bruce, that’s bullshit. I met her. I loved her. I was devastated when she died. No burial. No heroic ceremony. Nothing. Just an explosion, followed by grief. That’s all I got, Bruce! That’s all anyone got!”
“There- there was a funeral,” Batman said, remembering the somber day.
“A funeral for Barbara Gordon, upstanding citizen. She was more than that. You know goddamn well that she was more than that!” Nightwing yelled, tears creeping out from under his mask.
“I was Batgirl,” Batgirl insisted.
Nightwing twirled his escrima sticks. Batgirl took a few of her rounded Batarangs.
Funny story about Batarangs- well no. Batman was in the Fearscape. No funny stories here.
Batman raised his fists. He had started with them. He would finish with them.
Nightwing swung at Batman. He strokes were more coordinated this time. Smoother. This also made them more predictable. A swipe to the legs segued into a strike against the temple. A slide backwards forced Nightwing into a quick smack at Batman’s side. Batman caught on of the escrima sticks, and tore it from Nightwing’s hand. He kicked Nightwing back to focus on Batgirl.
Batgirl used her Batarangs as knives, slicing through the air towards Batman’s face. Batman parried, usinghis gauntlets as knives of his own. They had a quick duel. Quick is the perfect word to describe it. After a few jabs from Batgirl, and deflections from Batman, Batman sucker punched Batgirl in between the eyes. She dropped to the ground, and didn’t move.
“BARBARA!” Nightwing roared. He tore off his mask, and glared at Batman with wild, untamed eyes. They were bloodshot, with tears streaming from them.
“YOU DESTROY EVERYTHING, BRUCE!” Nightwing screamed, “EVERYONE. EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE CLOSE TO YOU!”
“You’re wrong,” Batman said, quietly.
Nightwing stumbled backwards, “Excuse me?”
“You’re wrong.”
Nightwing flickered a bit.
“You’re wrong,” Batman said a bit louder.
Nightwing slid backwards.
“You. Are. Wrong.”
Nightwing fell to his hands and knees, and began to crawl towards Batman.
“You! Are! Wrong!”
Nightwing began to glow.
“YOU! ARE! WRONG!”
Nightwing’s body turned into light, and started to drift away.
“I AM BATMAN! THE GUARDIAN OF GOTHAM! THE DARK KNIGHT!”
Nightwing stopped floating away. He froze in midair. Then, he exploded, releasing light that filled the Fearscape. The orange sky was replaced by an assortment of neon colors.
“Looks like you did it, Master Bruce,” Alfred said, walking up behind Batman.
“Don’t tell me I have to fight you too,” Batman said. He was on the verge of a mental breakdown. No more fighting his friends.
“No, sir,” Alfred shook his head, “I’m just here to take you home.”
Batman took Alfred’s hand, and they slowly disappeared.

NEXT TIME ON BATMAN: ETERNAL:

Batman explained, “He utilizes fear toxin to incapacitate his victims. It thrust me into some sort of world created by my fears.”
“You were exposed?” Lucius asked.
“Yes. I made it out. I battled my fears, and escaped. But Tim is trapped inside. And Scarecrow is on the loose.”
“You’re on your own, Batman,” Lucius sighed.

“You found the Beasts,” said a hissing voice. Batman whipped around to see someone with a burlap sack nestled over their face. A thick rope tied it together at the neck. Beneath the neck they were dressed fairly nice. They wore a rolled up white collared shirt. Their pants were black slacks.
“Scarecrow,” Batman growled, “What have you done?”
“Research. I’ve done research. I’ve peered into the human mind, and I’ve seen wonders. Such pain. Such fear,” Scarecrow shivered in ecstasy.

“You’re fighting a battle you can’t win, Crane,” Bruce growled.
“You can’t stop my Army of Fear,” Scarecrow said.
“You’d be surprised at what I can do.”
Tags:
  1. Mockingchu
    Apr 6, 2018
    33v33_lover likes this.