Justice Lords Limitless Act 2: EndWar

Part 1: Chapter 7

Ra's al Ghul sat comfortably in his limousine. To say he was nettled would be an understatement. His most promising wayward student had achieved what he had only dreamed of: peace on Earth. And this peace had been achieved without an excessive show of force, just one death. No extravagant killing, no subterfuge or clandestine operation, just a simple sacrifice for the greater good. Luthor had been killed, the League became Lords, and the Earth began to heal. But it didn't last. The student's flawed conscience must have blinded him, like a bad habit. As a result the Lords fell and the student had willfully handed control back over to the people.

"If you want anything done right," he murmured the adage to himself, "You have to do it yourself." The fingers of his left hand gently flexed around the trigger that would send the signal to put his plan into motion. The second he pulled the trigger, the snowball at the top of the proverbial hill would be pushed and Azra'il would escape Arkham Asylum with the needed agents.

No matter how tempted Ra's al Ghul was to just hit it now, his discipline kept him in check. He was nothing if not patient. He'd waited hundreds of years for all the pieces to be in place, he could wait another hour or two. He had to meet with him. One final chance for his prodigal pupil to recognize the mistake he'd made ending the Justice Lords and join him to take control again.

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Tim had been waiting for months for Barbara to call him. In fact, he hadn't answered any other phone calls the first day he'd brought Batman's return up to her. He just waited for her call; and for every other call that came through, he would immediately decline it once he saw it wasn't her – much to his now ex-girlfriend's displeasure. Days turned to weeks and weeks to months. Eventually, he moved on to other things. Life doesn't stand still, you know. However, every day he would hope and pray that it would be the day that she'd call.

Today was no different; and as Tim sat staring at his phone and ignoring the summer book report he had to write, he twiddled his thumbs anxiously. "C'mon, Babs... I gotta know!" The anxiety got the better of Tim and he stood up and walked to his bed. He got on his hands and knees to pull a small backpack out from under the bed. Inside were a few tokens from the past including a damaged Robin mask, his first bat-a-rang, and a torn piece of cloth from his Robin cape. Small mementos of the most exciting time in his life.

Though he hadn't been The Boy Wonder for too long, he felt that it was his real life; his only life. And that was something he needed. He traced the bat-a-rang with his finger as its edge dredged up memories of fights gone by. Without Robin, he was just "Timothy Drake", that one high school underclassman who makes decent brownies. He was ordinary. He hated being ordinary.

His phone rang, pulling him from his nostalgia trip, and he rushed to answer it without even looking at the caller ID. "Hello? Hello? Barbara!" He couldn't help but exclaim as he recognized the voice on the other line. "About dang time!"

Barbara sighed on the other end, clearly not as enthused about the conversation as he. "It seems to be true, Tim. The Bat is back."

"Yes!" He was sure she was frowning at his exclamation on the other line, but he didn't care. "How long?"

"Dad couldn't say. In fact he didn't outright say he was back, but I figured that that was only because of his job. Plausible deniability. But between some vague news reports I've noticed and my father's avoidance of the topic, I'm sure it's a fair guess that Batman's returned to the night."

The line was quiet for a moment.

"So... Now what?" Tim asked.

"Now nothing," Barbara responded dismissively. "I am going to continue being a librarian. I don't need to be Batgirl. I don't need that other identity to make a difference or to feel special. Sure it was great being Batgirl, but that part of my life is behind me. I've given it up. I recommend you do the same."