Epilogue: Beginning of the End

Batman and all related and recognizable characters belong to DC Comics, not DC
Luder.

^V^

"I have had a hard life, but my hardships are nothing against the hardships that
my father went through in order to get me where I started."

Bartrand Hubbard

^V^

"The Martian knows?"

"Yes."

"… Shall I--."

"No, Ubu. The Detective is unlikely to tell the others of what has transpired
here… And in the grand scheme, the Martian knows nothing of any magnitude."

"… Yes, sire… A communication is incoming, sire."

"Father?"

"My dear daughter, I expected you to contact me much sooner."

"… Your men nearly killed my beloved. And they slew our child in cold blood."

"A tragic error, daughter, one for which each of them are paying for in the
bowls of Hell, I am sure."

"You ordered them to--."

"May I remind you, daughter that it is under my grace that you are in the
position you find yourself… Talia?"

"… Yes, father. I am thankful, father…"

"The loss of your child was necessary, as was injuring the Detective. Had it not
been the circumstance, the wretched Justice League would have taken the both of
them without hesitation. We would have then lost them,"

"Of course, Father."

"Sire."

"Dr. Weltman."

"All is ready, sire, will you be joining me down on the deck?"

"Yes, I believe I will… Ubu, escort Talia from her chambers to the operation
deck."

"Yes, sire."

…

"I want all weapons cleared from this area immediately, absolutely no armaments
of any kind."

"But what if--."

"Dr. Weltman, this is nothing we haven't dealt with before."

"Of course. Shall I begin, sire?"

"Talia?"

"Yes… Please, father."

"You may commence, Dr. Weltman."

…

…

…

"Vitals are coming through, pulse, temperature, blood pressure…"

"Excellent, Dr. Weltman."

…

"Ubu, prepare yourself."

"Yes, sire."

"And be careful."

"Yes, sire."

…

…

…

"Process is complete."

"Very good, proceed, Dr. Weltman."

"Father… Look…"

"Beautiful, yes… Ubu, go on."

"Grrnt."

"Fr. Frah. Fraaaah!"

"Gentle, Ubu!"

"Yes, oomph, sire."

"Fraaaaaaahhhh! Traaaaaaaahhhh!"

"Dr. Weltman, quickly now."

"It won't take much, but I would rather it be fairly strong…"

"Fraaaaaaaaah-traaaaaaaaaaahhhr!"

"Whatever it takes, it needs to be painless."

"Fraaah-traaahhrrr… Faaah… Faaah… Fr…"

"That should do it."

"Daughter, it is safe now… Go on."

"Are you sure you do not want to--."

"I have all the time in the world… this is your moment to share, as it was the
first time."

"… Thank you, father."

"Frah.. faaah.. fah…"

"I'm here… I'm here for you…"

"Complete success, sire, one-hundred percent normalcy."

"Excellent work as always, Dr. Weltman."

"Thank you, sire."

"Ubu come to me."

"Yes, sire."

"Daughter, do not cry… I promised everything would be all right, did I not?"

"Y-yes, you did, Father."

"That's what fathers are for. To protect you. To save you…"

"He will be back once more… when you are older. When you are wiser."

"Fah- …"

"Rest now, my dear Ibn…"

…

"Fah...ther."

^V^


Fin.

Author's Note

For those unfamiliar with the lore of Ra's Al Ghul (the comics version, not the Batman Begins version) he is hundreds of year old, rejuvenating himself from death with the Lazurus Pit, a lava-esque version of the fountain of youth. Generally, only he uses the Pit but in rare cases, he will choose to use it to revive others, as long as it is in his best interest. When being submerged in the Pit, returnign to life comes iwth the price of temporary insanity, this requiring extreme caution in the first few minutes of "rebirth".

Questions, feel free to drop me a line.