Synopsis | - In a strange dreamworld, Bruce Wayne's life unfolds as if his parents had never died. As Alfred drives Bruce and his father to visit Martha Wayne in the hospital, conversation turns to a young man who tried to fight crime on his own, and how he was killed by a grinning maniac who was later convicted for the murder.
Time moves on. Doctor Bruce Wayne treats a young woman whom he gives his number to, only to discover that she is the con artist Selina Kyle, and he has brought shame to his father's practice.
A plague comes to Gotham. Thousands die, including Bruce's mother. There was no-one there to stop it.
Bruce fights his way back to his life as Batman. "Alfred" tries to stop him, but Bruce persists - as his memories are spooled out into the army of clones by the Lump, Bruce speeds up the process, highlighting the traumatic memories: the attack of Bane, the crippling of Barbara Gordon, the death of Jason Todd, the earthquake that destroyed Gotham, threatening a crippled Deathstroke with a gun... the clones go mad and begin killing themselves. In desperation, Simyon and Mokkari try to break the process by killing the Lump.
In the dream-world, Batman asks "Alfred" to help him, on the grounds that otherwise, they will both die. In the real world, the Lump sits up and tries to attack the docotrs before dying.
The story continues telling itself. Tim Drake presents himself, Damian Wayne arrives, the Black Glove strikes. The day after Doctor Hurt's curse that "the next time you put on that costume will the last", Batman leaves to investigate the death of a god. And Alfred, smiling, cleans up and goes to write it all down.
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