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Batman: Eternal: Season 3, Episode 10 - The Dark Triad

by Mockingchu

Mockingchu Bruce learns more about his mysterious foe, as well as his henchmen. The mid-season finale is sure to excite!
Bruce’s eyes fluttered open. He was completely unbound, alone in a dark room. In his hand was a thin piece of wood.

“Riddle me this,” a voice crackled over a speaker somewhere in the darkness, “You are in a dark room. You have a single match in your hand. With that match, you must light a torch, lantern, and fireplace. Which object do you light first?”

“Who are you? Where am I?” Bruce ordered.

“If you pass the test, I’ll tell you a little something,” the man teased.

Bruce gripped the match tight. He already knew the answer. He needed to light the match. He reached down and felt a bump in his pocket. A little box to scrape his match against. He held it up, struck the match, and a tiny flame rose. Bruce stumbled forward, bumping into a stand for a torch. The stick had oily cloth wrapped around the end. Bruce dipped the match into the cloth, allowing the fire to transfer. The torch was ablaze immediately, opening up Bruce’s field of vision. Sure enough, he spotted the lantern, as well as the fireplace.

He went around the room, lighting both the lantern and the fireplace. Nothing happened. The room was light, but there was no exit in sight. No trap doors on the roof or floor.

Bruce grit his teeth, and thought harder. If there was no door, he’d have to make one. He walked over to one of the wooden walls, and touched his torch to the dry wood. It caught within seconds, and the fire ate away at the fibers. Bruce stood back, allowing a hole to burn its way into the wall. When it was wide enough, Bruce charged and dove through, breaching into yet another dark room. This one only slightly brighter.

When he hit the ground again, it was cold and concrete, instead of creaky floorboard. He turned around and saw the block he had been contained in go up in flames.

“Thinking outside the box,” the voice mused again, “I like it.”

“Now tell me, where am I?” Bruce growled.

“You’re in my Batcave,” the voice chuckled.

“Excuse me?” Bruce asked.

“You have your Batcave. I have… this place,” the voice explained.

“What do you mean my Batcave?” Bruce questioned, trying to maintain a steady breathing pattern.

“I know your secret,” the voice said, “But don’t worry. Quite frankly, I don’t care. I figured out who was under that cowl of yours long ago. Easy. A child’s first puzzle. Or, their first riddle.

“Hmm. The riddle would go, ‘I wear a mask during the day, and unleash my dark true self at night. The world knows me as a careless boy, but I know myself as a monster toeing the line. Who am I?’. Sound about right?”

“You don’t know a single goddamn thing about me,” Bruce insisted.

“I know more about you than you know about yourself, I daresay,” the voice countered, “I’ve studied you ever since you appeared to battle the League. The timing of your return, coinciding with the appearance of this masked savior. It was quite simple to deduce you were one and the same.”

“I thought you said you didn’t care,” Bruce said.

“I wasn’t finished,” the voice said, dryly, “Once I figured out who you were, I studied both your public, personal, and protector life. I knew the billionaire, I knew the scared boy, and I knew the Bat full of vengeance.”

“Justice,” Bruce clarified.

“Pardon?”

“Justice, not vengeance.”

“Fine. Justice, not vengeance. Whatever helps you sleep at night. Sorry, bad example. You don’t sleep at night. In fact, you hardly sleep at all. Just a few power naps, if I’m not mistaken,” the voice said, “With so little rest, it’s a wonder you’re not dead. Hell, it’s a wonder you’re not dead the moment you step out on the streets.”

“What are you getting at?” Bruce raised an eyebrow.

“Right, sorry. I’ve studied you, so I know how to bring you down. I know how to humiliate the billionaire. I know how to terrify the boy. I know how to break the Bat,” the voice said, coyly.

“You won’t humiliate me. You won’t terrify me. You sure won’t break me.”

“We will see,” the voice said.

Suddenly, the concrete room was flooded with light. Bruce covered his eyes, and slowly lowered his arm, squinting. He saw several cylindrical, see-through containers with steel caps. There were a few canisters full of Venom- Bruce recognized it from his incident with Jonathan Crane. Against the wall there was a large monitor, similar to the Batcave. It powered on, revealing a screen split between a video feed of Damian and a feed of Tim.

Damian and Tim were hovering slightly above the ground, with their heads constantly twitching.

“Soon enough, their necks will snap. The bones will shatter. Their lives will end. Now, I offer you an ultimatum,” the voice said, “Save one, the other dies. Sound familiar?”

Barbara or Dick. Bruce looked down, then straight back up into the screen.

“I’ll give you five minutes to make your decision… Or possibly formulate a plan to save them both, if you’re smart enough,” the voice explained.

Suddenly, neon lights buzzed on to either side of Bruce. Each was situated above a steel door, and displayed Tim and Damian’s names.

Bruce walked over to Damian’s door, and pushed it open. It gave way immediately. He rushed over to his son’s spasming body, and fell to his knees.

“Up-bup-bup,” the voice chided, “Touch him and Tim dies.”

Bruce recoiled slightly, and examined the room. It was a small cement box, with no discernible features other than the small black rectangles on the floor and ceiling directly above and below Damian. Some yellow rings illuminated on the boxes. The yellow color projected over Damian’s body, jerking it around.

“What sort of tech is this?” Bruce muttered to himself.

“Funny you would ask-” the voice began.

“A.R.G.U.S.? Spyral? Kryptonian?” Bruce continued.

“Kryptonians aren’t the only other ones out there,” the voice said, “It’s a big universe.”

Bruce had no idea how to shut down the devices.

“Simply tap Damian, and he’s free of the device’s hold. It’s simple,” the voice explained, seemingly reading Bruce’s mind.

Bruce ran over to Tim’s room, and saw his partner convulsing violently. There was genuine pain and fear in his eyes. He was dying. But so was Damian, just a room away.

Bruce stood up with tears in his eyes.

“Come up with your plan yet?” the voice asked, “Or have you come to the decision that you will be saving Damian?”

“I’m so sorry Tim,” Bruce whispered. He left Tim behind, and walked over to his son.

Damian was gritting his teeth, with blood streaming away from his mouth. His eyes were bugging out of his head, and veins struggled to escape his forehead.

Bruce lifted Damian away from the device.

“Interesting choice,” the voice cooed, “You sacrifice your trusted ally for the son of a serial killer.”

Bruce heard Tim cry out from the other room.

“You see, Bruce Wayne?” the voice said, flatly, “We have begun to break you.”

Bruce rushed over to Tim’s room, still cradling Damian. Tim was flat on the floor. His eyes were still wide open, bloodshot, and glassy.

“Tim…” Bruce said through choking sobs, “Tim, I’m so sorry.”

There was a small rasping noise that seemed to echo through the room. Bruce immediately laid Damian down, got down on all fours, and put his ear to Tim’s chest.

Thuh… dump… thuh… dump.

Bruce shot back, shocked. He felt Tim’s spinal column along his neck. It was perfectly intact.

The voice had left him alive.

Bruce wrapped his arms around Tim, and continued to cry. A thick arm wrapped around Bruce’s neck, dragging him out of consciousness. He didn’t even struggle.

Damian was another case. As soon as his vision had cleared, he was on his feet, staring down his attackers. Mr. Freeze and Catwoman. The Latin American man from Walgreen’s had Bruce in a chokehold.

“Retreat now, or I will be forced to kill you,” Damian warned.

“I told you, he’s a feisty one,” the man from Walgreen’s said.

Damian charged at Mr. Freeze first, anxious to disable, or possibly use, his freeze ray. Catwoman sprang at him, slashing him with her purple energy “claws”. Damian was shocked for a moment, absorbing the blow. He quickly returned a few strikes of his own. Catwoman easily parried them, then knocked Damian off of his feet with a sweeping kick to his ankles.

Mr. Freeze approached shakily, steadied his freeze ray, and blasted Damian in the back. The ice felt like magma. He struggled to stay awake.

Tim sat up groggily to see the scene play out. He was fully of aware of the choice Bruce had made. But it seemed so… otherworldly. Had Bruce truly intended to let him die?

Catwoman strolled over to Tim, and put her strange claws onto his shoulder. He felt the simmering sensation that he had experienced after battling Mr. Freeze.

“You? You were the one that stopped me?” Tim asked. She patted his face without saying a thing.

“Why not just capture me then?” Tim questioned.

“The Riddler has very intricate plans,” the man who knocked out Bruce said, “We dare not disobey him.”

“So you’re all in some… cult?” Tim said, scuttling away from Catwoman.

“No, no, no, not a cult,” Mr. Freeze insisted.

“A team,” the man smiled, dusting his hands off.

“A Dark Triad,” Catwoman mused before swiping at Tim’s face. Tim leaned backwards, and kicked her in the gut. She hissed before flipping over him, and digging her claws into his back. Tim howled in pain, and collapsed.

The Dark Triad gathered around Tim.

“Riddler- he sure is something,” Mr. Freeze quivered.

“Everything is unfolding exactly as he prophesied,” the Latino man marveled.

“It wasn’t a prophecy,” Catwoman scoffed, “Just a plan. A well thought out plan.”

The Latino man’s face suddenly contorted and turned red. He gripped his crotch. Mr. Freeze and Catwoman looked down to see Damian’s foot right between his legs.

“He didn’t think of everything,” Damian scowled.

“I will destroy you!” the man roared, turning around in immense pain. Damian smirked.

“You look like tomato.”

The man shrieked, and barreled towards Damian.

“Bane! This wasn’t part of the plan!” Mr. Freeze pointed out, worriedly, “Riddler… he won’t be happy.”

“Relax. Let the man have his revenge. This is entertaining. As long as he doesn’t kill the boy, we’re in the clear,” Catwoman said with amusement.

The man, Bane, punched Damian square in the chest with all his might, sending him flying back. Damian groaned as he shakily got back on his feet.

“It is over, child,” Bane growled. He hefted Damian into the air, and marvelled at his body, small, wiry, but also immensely powerful. Despite his anger, he was truly impressed. Not only by the strength, but the nerve and willpower, of this boy.

“Alright, Bane, I think it’s time for this all to end,” Mr. Freeze squeaked.

Catwoman sighed, “It hurts to say this- but I think blue-eyed Louie here is right. Riddler wants them to get home in one piece.”

“Home in one piece?” Damian asked, still in the air.

“All part of the great enigma, niño,” Bane said. He then placed his on one of Damian’s pressure point. But he was prepared after the Walgreen’s encounter.

Damian threw his head to the side, knocking Bane’s wrist hard. He then sprung free of Bane’s grasp, and gave him a quick uppercut.

“We’re gonna have to work together,” Catwoman observed, delivering a spinning kick Damian’s direction. He slid back, dodging her foot. Mr. Freeze iced Damian’s feet over, sticking him to the floor. Bane rushed from behind and delivered a crushing blow to the area just right of his spine.

Everything went black.




THIS WEEK: There's a special new mini-series popping up in the Eternal Universe! GRAYSON: ETERNAL will be gracing your screens until BATMAN: ETERNAL resumes. Get a glimpse into Grayson's life at Spyral, as well as a daring mission to a small town in China! Don't miss it!

Go catch up on other corners of the Eternal Universe!
Green Arrow: Eternal by @Eeveechu151
Red Hood and the Outlaws: Eternal by @HydreigonBorn37
Superman: Eternal by @Generation Sect
Hawkman and Hawkgirl: Eternal by @Ratbag the Coward
...and we've got an upcoming series by @Ry_Burst - no hints as to what it is! It should be ready by at least the end of this season. Very exciting!
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