Talia and Batman

A bone cracked into place, the Manhunter readied himself for what must have been his sixth round of combat. His back armour plate, directly within Aaron's line of sight, was exploitable. Batwoman and Batgirl seemed weak but the former refused to give up and shakily stood on her feet.

In the back, the blue machine turned red. There was no indicator of a timer yet it was clear the reckoning was upon them. If they couldn't stop this, then all metahuman powers–perhaps even all magic–would cease to disappear in the world. All that would be left was the original metal and the Manhunter. He who possessed the universe's essence, Element X.

"You WILL not deFeat Me," the Manhunter declared. "OuR teNdRiLs aRe sPrEaDiNg, UnChEcKeD, uNcOnTrOlLeD, uNsEeN. OUr LOVE Is vAsTeR ThAn eMpIrEs, AnD MoRe sLoW. The PRESENCE staNDs WitH ME. I cannot LOSE."

"Batman…" Batgirl called out weakly. Her gloved hand was on the Signal's wrist. His pulse must have been bad if Aaron could sense Batman grimacing under his cowl.

The Manhunter peered over his shoulder, towards Batgirl. The young blonde held her breath. Batwoman glanced between them. Pause. Batman clicked his bat symbol and took out the batarang within. Another pause.

Ziing! A batarang was thrown. The sound of a repulsor came to life.

The next instant, the Manhunter's last remaining repulsor hole was jammed. He had failed to blast Batgirl in time. And now–

"Attack!"

Talia and Batman attacked as a single unit. Their punches aligned even as the weaker Talia couldn't equal her partner's impact. The Manhunter attempted to counter attack but a fatal kick from behind disoriented him. Batwoman had been watching and took advantage of the crack the Cains had made. The buckets of mad-driven hope manifesting into a single gash in the armour. With the last fibre of energy in her body, her boot smashed and ripped into the armour and bare flesh. Electricity crackled. Batwoman recoiled backwards.

The Manhunter tightened up, his limbs suddenly constricted from the spinal malfunction. His head swung in seven different directions as Batman rocked his world with ferocious fists.

Finally, with a fist to the mask, he was thrown on his back.

Grunts of effort echoed. His refusal to lose was deafening. His machinery, his body, rejected his willpower.

Batman slammed a foot into his chest. The Manhunter would not be getting back up.

The laboratory remained red, however, and the noise went wild. The machine's light brightened and then darkened, coming closer to completion. Every second was like a fire growing in rage.

Batman appeared at the terminal faster than Aaron could blink. His fingers tapped at the touchscreen terminal and effortlessly navigated through the copious amounts of informative pages and warnings. A password screen came up. Aaron's stomach flipped. Did he know? Hopefully he knew. He was Batman.

"We have to turn this off," Batwoman said, slouching from injury. "The Signal still isn't getting better. The Manhunter's armour might be done but this thing is now affecting him. He's going to die."

Batwoman pretended to be flat and cool yet Aaron could hear discord in her. Palpable fear. Was this it? Was this the end of metahumans? Of Kryptonians and Amazons? Was this the turning point of history?

Talia hovered over Batman's shoulder. "A seven-digit code…perhaps it is a number?"

No response. Their surroundings turned redder, like blood plastered.

"Uh, Batman?" Batgirl asked, her nerves shifting into a girlish tone. "D-did we ever investigate any kind of code?" Her hand remained on the Signal's wrist. "B-Batman?"

All focus was on the hero of Gotham. All faith was in him, the Batman.

After five seconds, he typed in a password.

BEEP!

A massive wave of relief left everyone in the room as the prompt turned green. The giant machine started to lose its glamour. The jet-like noise died down. It was over.

Silence engulfed the area. Peace. A finale.

In the midst of it, Aaron snuck out. He casted one last look at Cassandra before he slipped into the hall.