44(A/N: I do not own the DCAU. Warner Bros. does. I've always wondered how the episode 'Hereafter' would have gone if the 'victim' in the episode was Batman instead of Superman so this is my take on it. Please enjoy)
It was an all out fight between Superman's enemies and the Justice League. The group of enemies included Weather Wizard, Kalibak, Metallo, Livewire and Toyman. For a little while, they seemed to be winning but Toyman was using his new brand new feature on one of his 'toys'
He had apparently built a dis-integrator within a giant 'toy robot' that was now threatening not only the Justice League but the entire city of Metropolis as well. He had attempted to use it on people all across the city (before members of the League had saved them), leaving several giant holes that lead into the sewer system, looking like they had been clean cut off with a giant knife. The League had done their best trying to avoid it but soon, Toyman had then aimed his dis-integrator at Wonder Woman, who was lying under a pile rubble after getting trounced by Kalibak into a building, tearing it down onto her.
Batman had noticed and quickly moved towards her location. Toyman was beginning to fire another beam at the two. Batman, barely having enough time to get her out of the rubble, quickly put his grappling hook in her hand and pulled the trigger. The hook fired onto a nearby street lamp and the Amazon Princess went flying away towards safety. The Brooding Dark Knight Detective however wasn't so lucky.
The beam fired by Toyman's robot had blasted right into Batman. The Dark Knight screamed as his molecules appeared to vaporize. Soon, the beam faded and there was nothing left. The crumbled building that had once been there before had been obliterated as well.
What followed was pure silence from all corners of the city. People all around looked in shock as the Legendary Batman of Gotham City, the hero famous for overcoming anything and everything against all odds even with no powers, was gone.
Superman, who had been too busy fighting to notice, looked down at the scene. His mouth was wide open, shocked to say anything.
The rest of the League wasn't faring too good either. Flash, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, J'ohn. They all looked about the same.
The silence continued until Diana let out a raging yell and flew towards the robot and smashed inside it. The robot exploded and fell down to the ground. Toyman fell off the robot and fell to the ground just as it was landing. Wonder Woman reached down and grabbed him by the collar. He should have been thankful it wasn't his neck. Her hands with that grip would have cracked it.
"Batsy go bye bye!" Toyman laughed with child like glee. This made Wonder Woman angrier than she already was. Her perfect teeth were gnashing against each other, close to cracking.
"I should rip your chest open and tear out what there is of your heart" Wonder Woman said, tears strolling down her face.
Toyman said nothing. Whether he was scared or happy was hard to tell with his plastic mask.
Wonder Woman held him in her grip until Superman floated down and pressed his hand against her shoulder.
"Diana, stop. This isn't how we do things" Superman said. Although his face seemed all business, his heart was heavy and was close to shedding tears as well
"He killed Batman! He deserves it!" Wonder Woman said, his calming voice failing to soothe her.
"Even so, we must honor his dedication to justice. This isn't what he would want, Diana. Put him down….please" Superman said with regret into his eyes. He agreed with Diana and would love nothing more than to drop Toyman down the tallest building in Metropolis. However, he needed to respect his and his best friend's oath to Justice.
Wonder Woman looked between her friend and the fiend who took her closest friend's life. She shoved him down to the ground. Soon enough, the police came and cuffed him behind his back.
Diana looked down and saw the grappling hook Batman had used to save her life...and sacrifice his. More tears fell down her face as she held it close to her face.
Superman, for what it was worth, put his arms around her to comfort her. Diana cried tears onto the big 'S' on his chest as people around them just watched in pure silence, horrified and utterly speechless about what had just happened here.
The Dark Knight was gone from this world and left some heartbroken and soon to be heartbroken people behind.