Batman: Knight of Vengeance - The Final Chapter

Part II - Fate

Thomas looks out the main window of the Belfry down at the city below as fires begin to rise and screams are heard in the streets. His fists tighten as he turns back to face his family behind him.

"Someone destroyed Arkham, plotted a breakout and saw it through. We were in such a time of peace it caught us off guard, but now we need to clean it up." He spoke, anger evident in his voice.

"How are we going to be able to contain this, man, this is beyond any breakout we've had to deal with before." Cole chimed in, seeming as overwhelmed as everyone else in the room.

"You've all been able to handle most of these foes before, this is just on a grander scale. We need communication, teamwork, and most of all, focus. Lose your focus and you might lose yourself in the process. Everybody here will see the sunrise tomorrow, trust me on that."

"What about Maximum Security? That was hit too, most of those foes required a lot of help in order to put in there." Harper interrupted.

"I already contacted the rest of the Ternion. They'll be around soon to help me out with those foes once the power in that area goes out."

"Do you even hear what you're saying? This is so bad you need to call in Superman. Superman! You're fucking insane if you think that we even stand a chance against those guys out there." Cole says again, fighting back against Thomas' orders.

"Are you saying you don't trust me?"

"I'm saying I don't trust this situation. You don't even know who did it. What if this is just Crane getting to us and the rest of the city is fine?"

"I've already checked that, it's not the fear gas that's making— "

"Yeah alright, whatever. I've just had enough of listening to this. I'm heading out now to die. See you guys in hell."

Cole storms off, grabbing his gear and weapons before leaving the Belfry.

"Boss he's just having a moment; Bane being released is setting him off...Julia wasn't that long ago." Rose says.

"I know. He needs his space, as long as you all watch him, he's going to be fine."

Thomas turned back to look at the city before glaring back at the rest of the family, seeing most of them stare at him with hopeless eyes, still unsure of how the night will end despite how confident he is that they'll make it out alive.

"Remember, constant contact. Dismissed."

They all started to leave the building as he stayed at his position, watching the city as slowly the feeling of failure continues to try and seep into his heart. This night will test him, in order to keep the family together, but most importantly himself. A trial by fire.

His thought is interrupted by an alert at the war console, with the notification coming up that Arkham has lost power to the maximum security wing. The Batman pulls his cowl over his head once again and glides out of the building, heading in the direction of the destroyed prison.