DC: All for One Chapter 14 — Aftermath (Patreon)

Ethan pushed the window shut behind him with one hand while he turned toward the center of the basement. He walked across the carpeted floor toward the bed before he sat down on the edge of the mattress directly in front of her, placed his hands on his knees and leaned forward slightly to meet her gaze. "What do we need to talk about?" he asked calmly, he wanted to observe her reaction before he offered any information that could confirm her suspicions.

Barbara dug the tips of her fingers into her arms while she stared at him, and she shifted her weight in the chair. "I know everything, Ethan," she said as she uncrossed her arms and leaned forward in the chair, her hands gripping the armrests now while she locked her eyes on his face. "I've known for a while now that you've been sneaking out of the house almost every night, and I've pieced together what you've been doing out there. The killings of those gang members, the warehouses that went up in flames, the way Iron Row has been falling apart piece by piece it's all you, isn't it? Why would you do something like this? I thought we had something real here, something that meant we could trust each other, but now I see you've been living this double life, and it breaks my heart because... I... I love you, Ethan, I really do, and yet you're out there killing people..."

Ethan sat there on the bed watching her words spill out. Meanwhile his mind processed the information at a rapid pace; he needed to understand how she had gathered enough details to confront him like this. 

Barbara should've known nothing about his nighttime activities, but apparently she knew everything. 

Had he underestimated her intelligence?

It was possible... but no, making that big of a leap in logic was too far even for a genius of her calibre. 

There had to be another reason. 

He traced back through their interactions to find the thread that connected her to the larger picture. 

Why would she involve herself in tracking his movements? 

He ran through everything he knew about her in less than a second, starting with the fact that she lived as the daughter of Commissioner Gordon, which placed her in close proximity to police reports and investigations that could overlap with his activities. 

She demonstrated a strong sense of justice in their conversations, often speaking about the need to protect the city from those who preyed on the vulnerable, and that mindset aligned with someone who might take action beyond civilian boundaries. 

He recalled the times he had seen her interact with Dick Grayson at Gotham Academy, where they exchanged glances or brief words that suggested a familiarity beyond casual acquaintance, and now that he knew Dick Grayson operated as Robin, the connection extended further. 

Because Dick Grayson served as Robin, he knew Bruce Wayne must lead as Batman, given the resources and patterns that matched the Wayne family's influence. 

Based on this confrontation and her access to details about the killings, it became clear that Barbara must operate as Batgirl, which explained how she could feed information to Batman about his comings and goings without raising suspicion.

All of this flowed through Ethan's thoughts without causing so much as a change in his breathing or a shift in his posture, he maintained complete control over his external reactions while he formulated his response. "What makes you think I'm the person you say I am?" he asked as he kept his hands on his knees and tilted his head slightly to one side, it was better to test how much evidence she held before he acknowledged anything.

Barbara pushed air out through her nose in a huff as she stood up from the chair, she placed her hands on her hips as she looked down at him with her eyes narrowing. "Dont treat me like a fool Ethan, it won't work, I've been watching this unfold for too long to let you deny it now," she said as she took a step closer to the bed and gestured toward the window with one hand. "I set up motion sensors around the house weeks ago, hidden in places you wouldn't notice, and every time they triggered at night, I'd come down here to check your room only to find the bed empty and you gone without a trace."

Ethan nodded as he absorbed her explanation,  he crossed his arms over his chest while leaning back slightly on the bed. 

The motion sensors represented was clever. 

It was an apparosxh that bypassed his ability to avoid cameras. Unless he knew about it in advance there wasn't much he could do about simple laser technology. 

"Where did you go tonight?" Barbara asked as she stepped forward again until she stood directly in front of him. "Did you kill more people out there, Ethan?"

"The path you're on will destroy everything, not just the gangs you're targeting but us, too, and the city."

"You can't just decide who lives and who dies as if you're above the law, that's not how justice works, and every time you pull the trigger or set off an explosion, you're crossing lines that you can't come back from."

"People have families, even the ones in those gangs, and wiping them out doesn't fix the problems it just creates more pain and more cycles of revenge that drag everyone down with them."

"Why is it any more wrong than what you do?" Ethan interrupted.  

Barbara stopped speaking mid-sentence, she pressed her lips together while she took a step back from the bed. "What are you talking about?" she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest again. "I don't do anything like that, Ethan, you're... just... changing the subject because you don't want to face what I've said about your actions."

"As you asked me not to treat you like a fool, I'd ask the same in return," Ethan said as he stood up from the bed and faced her directly. 

"You're Batgirl, Bruce Wayne is Batman, and Dick Grayson is Robin."

Barbara did not say anything at first, she took another step back toward the desk, feeling slightly intimidated by Ethan for the first time. After a moment passed in silence, she pressed her hand against the desk for support. "If you know that, then it must mean Batman was right about you, and you've kidnapped Robin," she said as her voice cracked on the last word. "I didn't want to believe you'd gone that far, if you'd only been targeting criminals I could at least understand... but the fact you know who I am... I can't see any other way you could have figured out those identities unless you've taken his mask off."

Ethan remained silent as he watched her process the implications, but he chose not to confirm or deny her accusations.

She reached forward and grabbed the front of his shirt with both hands, pulling him closer while she looked up into his eyes. "Let them go, Ethan, please, because it's not too late to stop this before it spirals even further," she said as tears spilled down her cheeks now. "You can turn yourself in, explain what drove you to this point... maybe there's a way to make amends without more blood on your hands... we could help you, I could help you, I still believe there's good in you somewhere under all this."

"I'm afraid it is too late, Barbara," Ethan said as he placed his hands over hers on his shirt and gently pried her fingers loose. "This city needs me... can't you see how infected it is? Infected with the kind of rot that spreads from the streets up to the highest offices."

"Batman had the right idea when he started fighting back against the criminals, but he's doing it the wrong way because he holds back, locking them up in places like Arkham where they escape and start the cycle all over again."

"When the body has an infection, the white blood cells don't pacify the bacteria and hope it won't harm the body next time... no, it's eradicated entirely so that the system can heal without constant threats."

"That doesn't make sense, Ethan, people aren't bacteria, and you can't just wipe them out as if they're disposable threats without conscience or chances for change," Barbara said as she wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand. "Batman fights to protect everyone, even the criminals, by giving them a path through the justice system where they face consequences but also have opportunities to reform, and that's what separates heroes from killers, we believe in redemption, in building a better city through laws and compassion, not through mass execution that turns you into the very monster you're trying to destroy."

Ethan shook his head slowly as he turned away from her and walked toward the small window. "What the police or superheroes do isn't enough, Barbara, I've lived through the proof of that every day of my life until now," he said as he turned back to face her. "Even in a world with Batman and Superman watching over us, I grew up with parents who beat me whenever the high wore off, sold my things to buy more drugs, even tried to sell me once to a dealer for their next hit of crack or whatever poison they craved that day, and no one stopped them because the system you defend is too slow, too forgiving, too broken to catch every monster before they ruin lives."

"That pain you went through doesn't justify the death of thousands, Ethan, turning your trauma into a reason to kill makes you part of the problem, not the solution," Barbara said as she followed him toward the window and placed a hand on his arm. "I understand why you'd feel that way after what your parents did, and it breaks my heart to think about the child you were in that house, but lashing out at the world won't heal those wounds, it'll just spread the hurt to more families, more innocents caught in the crossfire, we can find another way together if you let me in."

"Why not?" Ethan replied as he pulled his arm away from her touch and walked back to the bed, where he bent down to pick up his bag from the floor before slinging it over his shoulder. "Killing thousands to save millions seems like a fair trade, even if those thousands were innocent, but in this case, they're not... they're scum, wretched human beings who contribute nothing but pain and decay to the world around them, and removing them clears the path for something better to grow in their place."

"Please, Ethan, think about what you're saying, because this isn't you." she said as tears formed in her eyes once more. "Remember the times we've shared here, the way we connected, didn't it mean something?"

Ethan adjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder. "I enjoyed this experience with you, Barbara, I've never had an intimate relationship before, so it was strange to navigate the emotions and expectations that came with it, I wished I could've explored it some more but overall it's not that much of a loss," he said as he turned toward the window and took a step in that direction. "I'm eighteen soon enough, I can survive on my own until then, I'll be leaving this house tonight to avoid complicating things further for your family."

Barbara grabbed his arm with both hands when he tried to move past her, and she planted her feet firmly on the carpet while she looked up at him with determination in her eyes. "I refuse to let you go, I'm going to bring you in and make sure you face what you've done, but not before you tell me where Robin and Renee Montoya are," she said as she tightened her grip and pulled him back toward the center of the room. "You've gone too far already, and I won't stand by while you walk out to hurt more people... tell me their location now, and maybe there's still a chance for redemption in all this."

"Don't worry about them, Barbara," Ethan said as he twisted his arm free from her grasp. "They'll be released soon enough, with Batman dead, the city will need all the help it can get from people like Robin and Montoya, people like them are important to society."

Barbara froze in place as those words reached her ears, and she covered her mouth with one hand while her eyes widened. 

"I've been mostly keeping them as I wished to remove their knowledge of my identity, but with so little evidence connecting me to anything I doubt even all three of you testifying would get me in a courtroom. That's not even considering the fact Robin wouldn't—"

"What did you just say?" she asked as she lowered her hand and took a stumbling step forward, her voice barely above a whisper as the shock hit her like a physical force.

Ethan paused near the window and turned back to face her. "There is little evidence that—"

"No," Barbara interrupted as she shook her head and raised her voice, her hands trembling at her sides now. "What did you say about Batman?"

"Oh, that he was dead," Ethan said with a nod as he opened the window latch and prepared to climb out. "I'm afraid so, he received a bullet in the head, though officially I'm unsure of how it happened, since the scene will look like part of the larger chaos from the gang violence."

Ethan paused for a moment. "It's a shame really, I was having so much—"

Barbara let out a scream that echoed through the basement, she lunged forward and swung her fist toward his face. Ethan caught her wrist mid-swing as he activated his hyperadrenal, he pulled her closer while he blocked her follow-up knee strike with his own leg,

She twisted free from his grip and spun into a roundhouse kick that connected with his side, the force pushing him back against the wall with a thump that rattled the nearby shelf, she followed up with a series of rapid punches aimed at his chest and head.

 Ethan dodged the first two strikes by leaning left and right, but the third hit his jaw with a smack that split his lip, he tasted blood on his tongue as he countered with a palm strike to her shoulder that sent her flung backward onto the bed.

The sounds of their fight carried upstairs through the vents, and soon footsteps pounded down the stairs while voices called out in alarm. 

Barbara rolled off the bed and grabbed a small baton she'd hidden under the desk and she swung it toward his knee while she pressed the attack, the metal whistling through the air before it cracked against his shin. Ethan hissed from the pain but used his enhanced agility to flip backward over the desk, landing on the other side. 

She kicked the desk forward before she vaulted over the desk after him and landed a kick to his chest that drove him into the wall with a crunch of drywall, she pressed her advantage by flipping him onto the floor with a hip throw and jumping on him with a knee strike. She then launched into a vicious combo of 

 elbow strikes and punches that Ethan only blocked against. 

The basement door burst open at the top of the stairs, and Barbara's mother rushed down while she called out, "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!!?" only to stop halfway when she saw her daughter swinging the baton at Ethan. "BARBARA GORDON YOU GET OFF THAT BOY RIGHT NOW!!!" her mother shouted as she hurried down the remaining steps and grabbed Barbara's arm to pull her back.

Ethan lowered his arms and touched his split lip with one hand while he straightened up against the wall, he then scrunched his face up and forced himself to cry. "She's crazy, Mrs. Gordon!!!" He screamed using his Vocal imitation to put some some fear and emotion into his voice.

"Mom you don't understand I—"

"I was just messaging a girl from school about tutoring her in physics because she asked for help earlier today, and Barbara saw the texts on my phone when she came down here," he said as he wiped the blood from his lip and shook his head while tears formed in his eyes. "It was completely innocent, nothing more than study notes, but she accused me of cheating on her and started attacking me without letting me explain!"

Barbara's mother turned to her daughter and held her shoulders while she looked between them, her face showing confusion as she tried to process the scene. "Barbara, is this true? You should know better!!! Apologise to him right this instant!!! I'm going to call your father right now!!!."

"Mom! You don't understand! He's lying—

"I can't live here anymore," Ethan said as he picked up his bag from where it had fallen during the fight and slung it over his shoulder again, his voice breaking on the words while he moved toward the stairs. "I'll take my chances staying with a friend until I turn eighteen it's better than dealing with this kind of abuse, I appreciate what you've done for me, but I have to go now before things get worse."

Barbara's mother released her daughter and stepped toward Ethan while she reached out to stop him, her hand grabbing his sleeve. "Wait, Ethan, don't go like this, let me talk to her and sort it out, please we can fix whatever happened here, and you don't need to leave in the middle of the night, it's not safe."

Ethan pulled his sleeve free gently and climbed the stairs two at a time, "No, it's too much I need to get out now," and he reached the top before he pushed through the door into the kitchen, where he grabbed his jacket from the hook and headed for the front door. 

"Ethan please wait!" 

He stepped out into the night air and closed the door behind him with a click, then he walked down the path toward the street while a smile spread across his face. 

The deception had worked perfectly, unlike Barbara he had heard her mother coming towards the basement. He had set things up so it looked like he was getting beaten, not only would this give him a good excuse to get out of there. It also put commissioner Gordon in a difficult situation regarding his daughter. 

With that over now he was free. 

Free to finally bring about a new world.

_____________________________________

Commissioner Gordon stepped out of the police car as the officer pulled to a stop at the edge of the perimeter tape that cordoned off the harbour. 

"My god..." he whispered as he looked over the chaos that had unfolded. He ducked under the yellow barrier as two officers approached him. 

Smoke billowed from multiple points across the yard where vehicles lay overturned, more explosions erupted with a BOOM that sent debris scattering across the pavement. 

"Shit!" Gordon shouted, ducking as he felt the heat from one of the explosions. 

Officers and paramedics shouted to each other while they dragged injured colleagues away from the burning zones, sirens wailed in the distance as more emergency vehicles converged on the area. 

Gordon coughed from the acrid smell of burning rubber and fuel that gilled the air. He was the damn commissioner of the GCPD. How the fuck had this happened without him knowing nothing about it. 

Two officers flanked him immediately as he moved forward into the scene, one on each side while they guided him through the wreckage of police cars that had been flipped onto their sides or riddled with shrapnel from the blasts. "Commissioner, it's still unstable out here, we've got secondary explosions going off every few minutes from the chemicals inside those warehouses," one officer said as he placed a hand on Gordon's shoulder to steer him around a pool of oil that leaked from a crumpled cruiser.

Gordon nodded as he scanned the area. He had no idea what had triggered this level of destruction, the reports that reached his desk earlier in the evening mentioned only a potential raid on Iron Row assets, but nothing aboutm an entire operation at this scale. 

"Get the worst injured out of here now and load them into the ambulances that are waiting on the perimeter," Gordon said as he stopped beside a fallen officer who clutched a leg wound, and knelt down to help the man sit up straighter while another officer brought over a stretcher. "And make sure we're accounting for everyone, call in more units from the surrounding precincts if needed."

While he assisted in lifting the injured officer onto the stretcher, Gordon felt the ground tremble from another distant BOOM that echoed through the night. He m wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand before he turned to a nearby officer. 

He didn't look too injured, but the fact he was injured meant he must've been with whatever raid this was. You! Tell me what happened here and don't leave a single detail out," Gordon said as he helped the man toward a less exposed spot behind an intact vehicle. "Start from the beginning and then lead to why the hell we had so many officers committed to this location without my sign-off."

The officer winced as he adjusted the bandage on his arm, he leaned against the car door while he caught his breath. "It was Detective Bullock's idea, Commissioner he pulled a lot of us aside and said we had intel on that kid Ethan Kane showing up here tonight to hit Iron Row again, so he set up a trap to catch him in the act, he said it was to only way to save Renee," the officer said as he glanced around at the destruction and shook his head. "We thought it would be a quick surround and apprehend, but then explosions started going off everywhere..." 

Gordon felt a surge of anger rise in his chest as he processed the details. "Damn it Bullock..." he said as his fists clenched. "Where is Harvey now, have you seen him?"

The officer shook his head. "I don't know exactly, he was with the forward team when we moved in, coordinating from one of the cruisers, but after the first big explosion hit, everything scattered, and I haven't spotted him since," he said as he winced again from the pain in his arm. 

"Get to one of the ambulances, help anyone if you can," Gordon said as he turned away from the officer and continued deeper into the scene. 

As he walked through the chaos he couldn't help but mutter to himself. "Damn it, Harvey, you always have to play the lone wolf and go behind my back, but this time you've dragged half the department into it." He stepped over a fallen barricade as another BOOM rang out from a collapsing section of warehouse wall, he shielded his eyes from the flying sparks that lit up the night sky. 

BZZZT

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out to see his wife's name on the screen before sighing and pressing the ignore button. He couldn't afford any distractions at the moment. 

This whole operation had turned into a catastrophe that would dominate the headlines tomorrow, he could already picture the mayor calling him into the office to demand explanations for the loss of life and equipment, but those concerns faded from his mind as he spotted a familiar figure slumped against an overturned police car in the distance. 

Gordon's heart sank as he recognized Harvey.

He didn't look good. 

Gordon broke into a run across the debris-strewn pavement, and shouted ahead as he approached the car. "Harvey hold on I'm coming!!!" he called out while he dropped to his knees beside the body and pressed his fingers against Bullock's neck to check for a pulse, but he felt nothing under the cold skin. 

"No, no, come on, Harvey wake up, we need medics over here right now!" He began chest compressions with both hands interlocked over Bullock's sternum, pushing down rhythmically while he counted under his breath, and leaned in to give rescue breaths. 

Officers gathered around as they heard his shouts, and one knelt down beside him while another placed a hand on his shoulder to pull him back gently. "Commissioner stop he's gone, there's too much blood loss, and he has a damn head wound, we can't help anymore," the first officer said as he checked Bullock's eyes with a flashlight and shook his head. 

Gordon continued the compressions for a few more cycles while sweat dripped down his face from the effort and the heat, but eventually he slowed and sat back on his heels as the reality settled in. 

"RAAHHHHH DAMN IT!!!!" He let out a scream of frustration and sadness that echoed across the yard, his fists pounding once against the ground before he pushed himself up and walked away from the body toward a quieter edge of the perimeter. 

He reached into his coat pocket with a shaking hand and pulled out a cigarette, fumbling with the lighter as his fingers trembled from the adrenaline and grief that coursed through him. "Damn it Harvey... why didn't you just come to me..." he squeezed the cigarette until it broke in half which made him then throw it to the ground. 

Right now he wanted nothing more than to go home and fall down on the sofa and go to sleep, but it seemed life had other plans. 

"OVER HERE WE FOUND SOMETHING, Commissioner, you need to see this right away!" An officer called out as he waved from a spot near a crumpled sedan in the loading dock area.

Gordon ran toward the voice, weaving between the fallen barriers and smouldering debris, his coat flapping behind him as another small explosion popped in the background with a CRACK. He arrived at the site and pushed through the cluster of officers who stood around a figure collapsed on the pavement, and he knelt down to see Batman lying motionless with blood seeping from a wound on his head where the cowl had been dented inward.

One officer tried to help by tugging at the edges of the mask to check for breathing, but the material resisted. "I can't get this thing off it's like it's sealed or armored somehow, and he's not responding at all," the officer said as he stepped back and wiped his hands on his pants.

Gordon felt a wave of disbelief wash over him as he wondered if he was somehow trapped in some nightmare, first with his old friend Harvey and now with the city's protector sprawled out like this. He rushed over and placed his fingers against some exposed skin. 

He detected a faint pulse under his touch, weak but present, and he exhaled sharply as he pulled his hand back. "He's alive... barely, but there's a pulse, we need to get him to a hospital right now and stabilize him before he slips away," Gordon shouted as he supported Batman's head with both hands to keep the airway clear and looked up at the surrounding officers. "Call in the nearest ambulance and clear a landing zone if we have to airlift him tell them it's critical, head trauma and possible internal injuries from whatever hit him."

However, before they could radio for the ambulance or move Batman onto a stretcher, a loud rumble filled the air from above, and Gordon looked up to see a large jet descending toward an open section of the yard nearby. The jet touched down with a whine of engines that kicked up dust and debris, and the ramp lowered with a hydraulic hiss as two figures emerged and rushed toward the group.

To say the police recognised them would be an understatement. 

Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman moved across the ground in mere seconds, their presence drawing gasps and stares from the officers who stepped back in awe while they whispered to each other.

"That's them, the Justice League, right here in Gotham."

"I didn't know they were real."

"Who is the green one again?"

"Yeah thy formed like a year ago after that big alien thing remember?"

Gordon ignored the whispering of his officers and instead faced the two heroes. "What are you doing here?" Gordon asked as he stood up from beside Batman, his hands still stained with blood which he wiped on his coat.

"Batman is critically injured, we detected the alert from his of vitals dropping to dangerous levels," Martian Manhunter said calmly as he knelt beside the body and placed a hand on Batman's chest to assess the damage. "We have much better equipment that can handle injuries like this, far beyond what your hospitals can provide in time, so if it is agreeable we'll take him from here and ensure he gets the treatment he needs immediately."

"But how did you know to come so quickly?" Gordon asked as he stepped aside to give them space.

"Batman has an emergency transceiver built into his suit that links directly to us if his pulse dips below a certain threshold, it activated the moment the injury occurred," Wonder Woman replied as she lifted Batman carefully into her arms with. 

They both turned toward Gordon while Wonder Woman adjusted her hold on Batman, she nodded in his direction. "Gratitude for what you've done here tonight Gotham male, your quick actions likely kept him alive long enough for us to arrive," she said as they began to move back toward the jet. "We'll handle it from here."

Gordon did not argue as he stepped back further and watched them board the ramp, the figures disappearing into the craft while the engines powered up again with a rising whine. The jet lifted off smoothly and ascended into the night sky, leaving a trail of exhaust that dispersed in the wind.

Meanwhile, Gordon could only stand there amid the lingering smoke and watch the ship vanish from view, his mind turning to the uncertainty of what a city without Batman would turn into. 

But mostly his thoughts turned to what caused all of this. 

His thoughts turned to Ethan Kane. 

_____________________________________

Ethan walked along the street with his backpack slung over one shoulder, moving with a slight skip in his step after the events of the night. Never in his life had he been more satisfied than he was in that moment. 

The wonderful night air brushed against his face as he approached a large fence that bordered a sprawling property. He paused for a moment to assess the height before he bent his knees and launched himself upward, grabbing the top bar with both hands while he pulled his body over in one fluid motion. He released his grip mid-air and landed on the grass below with a soft thud.

As he continued across the lawn toward the main building, the outline of Wayne Manor came into view. 

He decided to come here tonight because theorised that the chaos he had unleashed in the warehouse district would occupy the police and any remaining allies of Batman for hours, leaving the estate unguarded and giving him the opportunity to destroy any evidence that the Dark Knight had gathered on his activities. 

At the same time, accessing the resources hidden within the manor would allow him to acquire military-grade technology that could enhance his capabilities far beyond what he had so far.

Ethan pulled his mask from the backpack and slipped it over his face while he approached the front door, the fabric settling against his skin as he adjusted the eyeholes to align with his vision. He reached out and pressed the doorbell button, hearing the chime echo inside the house, he waited in silence as seconds passed without any response from within. 

He stepped back slightly and planted his foot before he kicked forward with full force, the sole of his shoe connecting with the door near the lock in a CRACK that splintered the frame and sent the entire panel flying inward off its hinges. Rolling his shoulders he stepped over the threshold into the foyer. 

"I must ask you to freeze right where you are, sir, you have entered private property without invitation, and I am prepared to defend it if necessary," Alfred said as he shifted his stance and held a shotgun towards Ethan. "It would be in your best interest to turn around and leave the way you came, before this escalates into something regrettable for both of us."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, but know that I don't take it personally." Ethan ignored the warning and launched forward in a burst of speed, reaching up to grab the shotgun barrel with one hand and shoving it upward as he drove his other fist toward Alfred's midsection. 

BANG

The gun fired and hit the ceiling, causing plaster and wood to fall down, meanwhile Alfred twisted his body at the last moment to avoid the punch that whistled past his side, he countered by swinging his right arm in a cross that connected with Ethan's jaw in a THUD that snapped the younger man's head to the side. Alfred then dropped the gun and went for another punch. 

Ethan caught the follow-up strike with his free hand and squeezed Alfred's wrist, but the butler kicked off the nearby wall with one foot and tackled him backward, their bodies colliding as they tumbled across the marble floor in a tangle of limbs.

They rolled over each other while Alfred reached for the shotgun that had skittered away during the initial clash, his fingers brushing the stock before Ethan grabbed his ankle and yanked him back with his enhanced strength that sent Alfred sliding across the polished surface on his stomach. 

The butler pushed himself up unharmed and charged again, throwing a series of punches that Ethan blocked or dodged while he circled to the side. "You're not quite the unusual butler, but I wouldn't expect anything less from the Dark Knight," Ethan stated. 

Alfred narrowed his eyes and attacked even harder managing to land a knee to Ethan's thigh that buckled his leg momentarily, but Ethan recovered and swept his arm in a wide arc that caught Alfred across the chest, knocking him off balance and into a nearby table that rattled from the impact.

Alfred staggered but attempted another right hook, only for Ethan to sidestep and deliver a sharp elbow to the back of his head that dropped him to the floor unconscious. Ethan knelt down and pulled rope from his backpack and bound Alfred's wrists and ankles securely, ensuring the knots held tight before he dragged the body into a side room and closed the door behind him.

He tried to make sure the man was as comfortable as possible. He respected him for his loyalty, it was something Ethan wished he could experience himself. 

Sighing deeply Ethan stood up and looked around the expansive, the mansion was massive so it would take a while to locate where Batman concealed his equipment. Hopefully he could find it in the time he had allotted for himself. 

He moved through the ground floor rooms one by one but he found no hidden entrances or unusual features. He ascended the grand staircase and searched the upper levels and after nearly an hour of methodical probing, he entered a study at the end of a corridor and found nothing apart from something that nagged at him.  

He looked towards a grandfather clock that stood against one wall, its hands were frozen at a specific time. Something he found strange for a billionaire who could get it fixed at any time. Ethan stepped up to the clock and lifted it at the sides, only when he tried he noticed it was bolted to the ground and the wall. 

A smile spread across his face as his fist impacted the clock again and again until he had all but destroyed it and revealed a secret passage behind it. Ethan stepped and used his expanded vision to scan for security measures, but found none apart from cameras. He continued down the corridor before coming to an elevator, once again he checked for any traps but found none. 

The elevator descended smoothly into the depths below the manor, and in less than a minute Ethan emerged into the Batcave. 

He looked around at the vast chamber illuminated by overhead lights, and he approached a series of display cases along one wall where batsuits hung in glass enclosures, each one varying in design from armored variants to stealth configurations. He ran his fingers along the edges of the cases while he examined gadgets laid out on shelves nearby, including batarangs, grapple guns, and utility belts stocked with capsules and devices.

Ethan activated his vision again to scan for security systems as he moved deeper into the cave, but he detected nothing, he shook his head at the carelessness. 

"Seems not even you could escape your own ego," he muttured as he considered how Batman must've assumed no one would penetrate this far into his sanctuary. 

He opened one case and removed a set of batarangs that he tested by throwing one against a distant wall where it embedded with a THUNK, then he gathered smoke pellets, explosive gels, and a remote hacking device into his backpack. He selected a spare batsuit from another display and folded it carefully before adding it to his haul, using his vision to locate and remove embedded trackers by prying open seams and clipping the circuits.

His path through the cave led him to the central computer console and Ethan sat down in the chair. He smiled at the array of keyboards and interfaces. There was no doubt that Batman had access to tons of data. 

Data that would now be his. 

He attempted to log in by typing common bypass sequences but encountered encrypted barriers that rejected his inputs, he spent close to an hour probing the system with codes he derived. Eventually, a backdoor exploit allowed him to break through the primary firewall. It was lucky that Ethan had the chance to fiddle around with Robins suit before this, otherwise he wouldn't have the first idea of how to bypass the security on this. 

Ethan navigated to the files on Gotham's villains and opened them one by one while he scrolled through profiles that detailed their histories and weaknesses. 

Joker

Harley Quinn

The Riddler

Mr Freeze

Catwoman

Killer Croc

The Huntress

Bane

Ethan Kane

He located his own file amid the recent additions and deleted it entirely, erasing any linked data trails to ensure no remnants remained. 

As he browsed further, he discovered a section dedicated to meta-humans in Gotham and opened it to reveal dozens of entries that cataloged individuals with powers that were directly linked to the Meta-human phenomenon. 

Ethan smiled

He leaned back in the chair and scrolled through the list that extended to hundreds of potential targets, each profile offering locations and power details that could expand his arsenal exponentially. 

ALERT

A sudden alert flashed on the screen as backup security protocols activated without warning, and the files began locking down one by one as encryption layers rebuilt themselves in real time. He typed furiously to interrupt the process by injecting override commands, but the system resisted and ejected him from the interface.

Ethan leaned forward and sighed while rubbing his temples in the frustration. He had only captured the data on a few dozen meta-humans before the lockdown sealed the rest away. 

"Such a waste..."

He stood up from the console and gathered his stolen goods into the backpack while carrying additional items in his arms, then he walked toward one of the Batmobiles parked on a turntable platform nearby. He placed the haul on the passenger seat before he used his tools to hack into the car. He accessed the onboard computer to remove the car from any networked systems and fried the tracking modules by overloading them.

Ethan settled into the driver's seat and gripped the wheel and accelerated out of the cave through a hidden tunnel, the Batmobile emerging onto a concealed road that led back into Gotham's outskirts.

With Batman out of the way. 

It was his turn to remake Gotham. 

(AN: So the first arc is over and now we go into Ethan building his power and eliminating everyone who gets in his way. He has a few dozen targets to steal their powers wnd he has millions in cash as well as weapons.  He has everything he needs to make his own power base. Anyway hope you enjoyed.)