Issue# 12, Dec. Yr. 2

Finale (part 2 of 2)
"Endgame"

By Rory O'Sullivan

---

The chemical lab stood as it always had, towering over the dual highway, a
lifeless relic of an industrial age long past. The lab had long been
abandoned, now serving no purpose but to hold solitary vigil over the
traffic below.
Three-Face was outwardly calm as he gazed down from the lab roof on the
highway that had years ago been the site of his disgrace. Inwardly, his
emotions were churning at lightspeed. Every now and again, he threw a
treacherous gaze Bruce's way. The millionaire, bound and gagged to the
building's defunct lightning rod, returned the glares coldly.
Three-Face finally faced his captor. "You call yourself moral, don't you?
Ethical? Compassionate?" He lowered his head. "Where was you compassion for
me? Huh?"
Bruce held eye contact steadily. "You killed a very good friend of mine. I
feel nothing for you."
Three-Face snarled. "Nightwing got what was coming to him, Bats, I
didn't---"
Bruce shook his head. "You killed Harvey Dent."
The air turned icy, as Three-Face teetered on the brink of emotional
implosion. But the frigid pelting of rain settled him, refocused his mind.
He resumed his perch on the lip of the building. "Prob'ly wondering why
you're still alive, huh?" he called over his shoulder. "Simple, really.
There's more to you than just the man, Bruce, I'll credit you that much. I
have to destroy the legend. I have to put Batman to rest."
Bruce squirmed against his bonds, for all the good it would do him. Terry
was a good, efficient fighter. He shouldn't have any trouble against a lone,
maniacal gunman. Still, the former Dark Knight had learned long ago of the
dangers of underestimating Harvey Dent. "He's just a boy, Harvey. This new
kid, I mean. He's in over his head. You shouldn't---"
"And why not?"
Batman coasted down to the rooftop, eyeing Three-Face dangerously. The
villain took a long look at the vigilante, drinking in the defying elegance
of his stance. Then he turned on his heel, and plunged off the building.
Batman cried off, but Bruce shouted him down. "Relax! He's got an escape
plan! He's always got an escape plan."
Batman nodded, for the first time realizing Bruce's predicament. "Damn.
Better get you free before---"
As though Fate's dark sense of humor was kicking in, lightning crackled
overhead. Before either man could attempt to move, it shot downward, Batman
plunged forward just as it connected with the rod, and began coursing toward
his mentor. His gauntlets wrapped around the rod at its highest point,
bathing him in energy. His suit's circuits cried for more, absorbing and
siphoning the particles into its very pores. Finally, he was spent, and he
collapsed back on the rooftop, steaming slightly.
"Terry!" Bruce surged forward, so hard in fact that the pole between his
wrists snapped free of its support bracket, and he tumbled to the ground
next to his stunned apprentice. "Terry!"
"I'm--- all right." Terry lay there for a long moment, and finally rolled
onto his feet. He pulled Bruce up after him, looking the old man over. "So
where do you think Three-Face got to?"
Bruce pointed. Terry stared out across the lip of the roof toward the
highway. A lone figure was sprinting toward the underpass. A smile creased
Terry's featured beneath his mask. "Gotcha." He catapulted into the air.
"No!" Bruce bellowed after him, to no avail. This was too familiar, this
whole situation. But all he could do now was watch.
And pray.

---

Batman touched down uneventfully, starting into a dead run that closed the
gap between himself and Three-Face. The villain glanced back and smiled,
seized in a pleasant sense of déja-vu.
Three-Face wheeled to a stop beneath the underpass, and hoisted a primitive
stick of dynamite in his hand, more for show than for effect. He lit the
fuse, and tossed it haphazardly into the air, standing with his hands on his
hips as he waited for Batman to catch up.
Batman lobbed himself forward, as he went igniting the boot-jets on his
soles. Even as the underpass exploded, and rubble rained down, he shot
through it and seized Three-Face about the waist with enough force to send
them both reeling.
The vigilante alighted nearby, gazing at the collapsing highway, then at
the unconscious villain.
Bruce appeared at his side, out of breath. "I thought--- I thought he'd---"
Batman clapped a hand on his mentor's shoulder. "You forget. I'm Batman.
Let's get you home, okay?"

THE BEGINNING