Part Twenty-Seven

Tik Tok

The sound of the building reverberated as it came down; Batman gripped the wheel as did Joker to the bomb with one hand and the other hung tightly to the pole. The building crashed down crushing the back of the bus slicing it in half. The front part whirled bouncing off another building, and then skidded on its side a few hundred feet before it came to a rest. Clouds of ash bombarded the street, and the ground rumbled followed with another explosion as a gas line had ruptured.

Moments had passed… a coughed came from within the bus; slowly the figure crawled out and staggered to his feet. He stood dazed and stared into blackness, his back pressed against the bus and then covering his mouth as he coughed some more. The dust thinned and gradually dissipated; there stood Batman who was unable to reason as he gaped into oblivion, lost and unaware of his surroundings. Tearing off a piece from his cape, he covered his mouth as he coughed once more.

The beast thundered but Batman could hear nothing but a sharp tone in his ears. Returning to his coherent state of mind, he remembered who he was with. Ducking back into the bus, Joker laid there motionless. For a moment, Batman beheld staring unaware of what to do. His heart raced as he felt worrisome toward his nemesis. The sound of the clock ticking on Joker’s device and the roar of the beast pulled him away from where his mind was going. Batman reached for the device and pulled wincing in pain. He studied the cylinder and looked at the time on the device, 10:42 as it counted down. His head turned toward outside as the beast thundered once more.

 

Batman looked back at Joker and groaned, “I hope you added the kryptonite you old fool or all this would be meaningless.” and he shifted his head upward closing his eyes momentarily.

 

Slowly uncertainty began to unravel within him. Was there time to stall the beast before Superman arrives? Is he at all even on the planet? Was there stopping this menace? The clock was ticking on the device, beaten and with barely enough strength, words from the Flash echoed, 

“There’s no stop to this thing Bruce! We have to get out here… Not even Superman can save us from Judgement day.” 

Clenching his hands into a fist and squeezing through the pain, he shook off all doubt and crawled out from the bus pulling the device. His heart pounded against he walls of his chest as he rose and gazed upon the beast as it thundered in the distance.

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