INJUSTICE 2: The Arkham Knight

The Regime and Insurgency

"If you aren't Batman, who are you? One of his enforcers?" Supergirl asked, flying beside me. If she was kryptonian, she should easily be able to fly ahead and save her cousin... but.. is she trying to figure me out? Understand the enemy?

"I'm not with Batman, or the regime." I replied, running a bit faster.

It was clear that my answer confused Supergirl. Clearly she had been fed false information from the regime. No doubt to make them seem like heroes...

"Then why are you here? Why are you keeping my cousin in this prison?" She asked, flying a bit faster to match my speed.

"... I'm here to end this Civil War." I dryly replied, running on.

'I can't tell her I came to assassinate Clark. Not when she could kill me with ease.

She was holding back when we first fought. She had to be. If she shared even a portion of her cousin's strength, she could've beaten me without even trying... She held back to make sure I could answer questions, no doubt.' I thought to myself.

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As Supergirl and I grew closer to the Red Sun holding cell, I began to notice the temperature rise to dangerous degrees... The prison was overheating.

When we both made it to the holding cell, I saw Wonder Woman was preparing to stab Firestorm, who was preparing himself to nuke Metropolis to prevent anyone from escaping...

I reached for my twins to try and stop Wonder Woman, but the sword was knocked out of her grasp by a batarang... One that had to belong to him...

"Firestorm, stand down!" A voice called out from the shadows. Everyone, aside from myself and Nightwing, looked throughout the room to find the source of the voice.

Just then, Batman landed in the center of the crowd, gathering everyone's collective attention.

Before Supergirl could attack, I raised my arm to get her to remain still. What surprised me was that she took the idea, slowly moving around me and towards Wonder Woman, leaving me to stand alone...

The Regime, and the Insurgency... Two groups of the civil war between the Justice League... And here I am in between them.

Batman slowly approached the Regime members, being sure to keep a steady eye on then. I wasn't excluded from his gaze. He most likely assumed I was with the regime, given how our practices may seem similar on paper...

And granted, they have a point, but I'm nothing like them.

As he walked past us, Supergirl stepped into his way with clenched fists, clearly demanding answers from the man she suspected to be her enemy...

"Who are you?"

"Superman's overprotective cousin." She replied, placing her hands on her hips. Damian couldn't help but chuckle. A response that I didn't share as I made my presence more known. "You keep so many secrets, but can't stand when other people keep them from you, can you?"

I walked between Batman and Supergirl, diverting their attention towards me as I readied myself for interaction...

"One of yours?"

"I suspected from his helmet that he was one of yours, Bruce. Another child you drafted into war, perhaps." Wonder Woman stated, preparing her lasso.

"He calls himself the Arkham Knight." Supergirl clarified. "He isn't with either of us."

"Wait, so he isn't on our team?" Firestorm asked. Blue held him back from causing to big of a scene.

"At this moment, We need all the help we can get." Batman stated, approaching the control panel.

"You can't beat Brainiac alone, Bruce." Diana warned. As a silent agreement, Bruce began to press a series of buttons in a pattern before placing his hand on a panel.

Suddenly the cell began to dismantle while the red sun lamps began to turn off, freeing Superman from his prison... a sight that scared me more than I had realized... One that filled me with fear and terror...

The man who killed me... was alive and well, all under my father's care... without so much as a scratch on him... Despite publicly executing me, knowing in explicit detail of what he had been doing... Despite how many heroes, children, he had killed, he was being treated fair better than any Batman's rogues...

These thoughts only pushed my desire for vengeance even further.

As though they sensed my hostility, my hatred, Blue Beetle and Firestorm stood in front of me in an attempt to stop me from getting any closer. The kryptonians and Batman noticed this, but ignored it.

Slowly, Superman approached Batman, having his arms behind his back as though he was prepared to take control of the situation...

"Are you prepared to stop Brainiac by any means necessary?"

"By the means at hand." Bruce replied.

"What's your game? You're always three moves ahead."

"Saving the world is enough for now."

As Batman stopped talking, Superman's eyes began to glow a deep red.. as though he had prepared his heat vision.

Slowly, I felt my hand raise up and graze my cheek through my helmet.. remembering when I was burned all those years ago... the R that had been burnt into my face...

"I'm never going back in that cell." Superman stated. Another thing we agreed on... I won't let him live long enough to be imprisoned.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, the world needs us."

And with that, the Justice League had been brought back to life...

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Meanwhile, within Brainiac's skull ship, the walls were lined with countless ships.

"You summoned me, Brainiac?" Gorilla Grodd asked, approaching Brainiac from behind.

"Superman has been freed. Aswell as something that I hadn't taken account.. There is another Kryptonian." The world collector stated, seemingly indifferent as he gazed upon the countless worlds that he had collected over the countless years...

"Two kryptonians.." Gorilla Grodd mumbled, surprised at the revelation.

"Proceed as usual. But remember. The Kryptonians are Mine."