Disclaimer: I do not own the Justice League or any of the characters except for any original ones I make myself. They belong to DC Comics/Warner Bros and their respective creators.

AN: For those of you that read "Baby it's Snowy Outside", and "Meetings of Undeniable Fate", and remembered me saying that they were teasers for another fic? Well, this is the fic I was talking about. Originally I wanted to put this out earlier, but since I wanted to incorporate Chris Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy as well as Superman: The Movie, Superman II (The Donner cut) and Superman Returns in this fic, I decided to wait until DKRises came out so I could get as much reference material from that movie as I could.

Now in no way is this written to take away from what Man of Steel is going to be, or what a possible JL movie could be. This is just me getting a good idea from a really awesome family member and several talented authors here on this site, and just wanting to bring that idea to life.

Prologue

In this vast place that is the universe, there are many stories and legends that people know of, and then there are some that are not so known.

However, on a planet called Earth, there is one constant legend that all sentient beings the world over know of, and it is of two distinct individuals: Superman and Batman, known in some circles as "The World's Finest".

But to truly understand why these two heroes are the great legends that they are, it is best to see where they came from and what were the events that shaped them into who and what they are now.

For Superman, his origin story can almost be likened to that of the story of Moses with a touch of science-fiction and fantasy.

Once, in a far-off galaxy, there was a civilization…much like the ones on Earth. However, this civilization was distinct from Earth in the sense that they had a much greater intelligence, greater powers, and a greater capacity for good.

But even all those traits would not be enough to save them from a fate that many arrogantly felt would never come to pass.

But for one scientist by the name of Jor-El, that fate was indeed coming, and soon. Knowing they had no moments to spare, he tried desperately to convince his peers to realize the horror that was to come and to act quickly to save their civilization.

However, much to his dismay, his pleas were dismissed.

Still determined to not let Krypton die, Jor-El and his wife Lara made the decision to place their only son Kal-El in a spacecraft Jor-El had built and send him off to another world before Krypton exploded.

Naturally, Lara being Kal-El's mother protested to this, believing Earth to be too primitive to send their son there, but Jor-El argued that that advantage alone would be more than sufficient for Kal-El to survive, and that the planet's very ecology would 'sustain him'. In addition, he would be able to pass as one of them easily due to the physical similarities between Kryptonian human beings and Earth human beings.

Lara only replied that even with those advantages, their son would still be treated as an outcast, and as such he would feel isolated and alone, to which Jor-El said firmly, "He will not be alone. He will never be alone."

After giving some final words of paternal wisdom to his son, Jor-El then placed Kal-El in the ship and launched him off into space, just moments before Krypton would undergo its final earthquake that would ultimately destroy it.

Upon crash-landing on Earth (specifically in a field in Smallville, Kansas), Kal-El was found by a kind farmer and his wife (who ironically enough were never able to have children of their own), and was christened the name Clark Kent. But as time would pass and he would learn of his abilities and the fact that he wasn't from anywhere on Earth, Kal-El would then undergo a journey that would ultimately turn him into the greatest hero the world had ever known…Superman.

For a time, it seemed that Kal-El had found his destiny, but things would take an unexpected turn when he finally opened up to Lois Lane, a woman who was not only his co-worker at the Daily Planet newspaper, but was also someone he had grown to love. However, no sooner did he make the decision to give up his powers to be with her did one of Krypton's arch-criminals General Zod and his cohorts Non and Ursa (who were all jailed by none other than Jor-El himself) break free from their imprisonment in the Phantom Zone, and upon quick discovery of their powers, wasted no time in consolidating control. Knowing that only he had the ability to stop Zod, Kal-El returned to the Fortress of Solitude to tell his father Jor-El that he had failed. However, typical of Jor-El even in death, the latter had already anticipated his son forsaking his own heritage for love, and decided that, as he had once sacrificed his own life before to give his son a new life, so he would do so again. The process worked, and Superman was successful in defeating Zod and his cohorts.

But no sooner had that conflict been resolved did the Hubble space telescope then discover the location where astronomers believed Krypton was.

Determined to see for himself where his homeworld was and see if there were any survivors out there, Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman set off for it, in spite of the protests from his adoptive mother and especially his Dark Knight acquaintance from Gotham city, whom he had met during a case the latter had been working on shortly after Zod's defeat and just before the Hubble's discovery of Krypton's location. Although he understood his comrade's reasoning, Batman still couldn't help but feel that it was a fool's errand. Undeterred, Kal-El set off for Krypton's location.

Discovering nothing more than a graveyard, a disappointed Kal-El then set a return to Earth, where upon returning he had learned that many things had transpired in the five years he had been away. His mother and Ben Hubbard had gotten quite close in a romantic sense, and Lois had moved on in more ways than one. She had finally won the Pulitzer she had wanted, but to Kal-El's shock, it had been on an article on why the world didn't need a Superman. In addition, she had met and gotten engaged to Perry White's nephew Richard, who was slated to succeed his uncle once the latter retired. Not only that, but they also had a child together, which only served to catch Kal-El more off guard than ever before.

And things were only about to get more complicated, for unbeknownst to Superman, Lex Luthor had managed to get released from prison (partly due to Superman's absence) and through a series of events was able to locate the Fortress of Solitude and steal all of the crystals there for yet another diabolical plan of his. This time, it was to re-create the extinct world of Krypton on Earth – a plan that would doom most, if not all of North America, and subjugate the rest of the planet to his whim.

Meanwhile, Kal-El was still determined to try and set things straight with Lois (on a professional level, since he already knew trying to pursue her was pointless), and met with her to explain that even if she believed that Earth did not need a savior, that still didn't mean that people weren't crying out for one. During this Lois had wondered if she ever really moved on from Superman.

Later upon learning that the crystals were stolen from the fortress, and that both Lois and her son Jason were in trouble, Kal-El then managed to locate both thanks to Richard and photojournalist Jimmy Olsen, and after making sure they were safe, he then confronted Luthor on the island the latter had created, only to find out too late that it had been a trap set up by Luthor who had purposely laced the island with Kryptonite, thus allowing him and his henchmen to have the upper hand.

Though he was stabbed with a kryptonite shard and literally kicked off the island left to drown, Kal-El was eventually found by Lois and Richard.

Already formulating a plan to stop both Luthor and keep the island from growing any further, Kal-El then left Richard's plane (in spite of Lois's protests) and headed to the sun to re-energize himself enough for what he was about to do. Although he managed to put as much distance between himself and the kryptonite as possible, Kal-El wasn't able to keep some of the shards from protruding out to where he was as he was trying to lift the island away from Earth and towards the sun (which, even with the extra charge was still an arduous task). As agonizing as it was for him to lift the island with the kryptonite so close, Kal-El managed to summon up the will to push forward, and he succeeded in sending the island on a path toward the sun that would eventually destroy the island itself.

As the Man Of Steel was recovering in Metropolis General Hospital after the police and paramedics found him nearly comatose, Lois managed to go see him alongside her son and told Superman that Jason was not Richard's son, but in reality…he was Kal-El's – something she only suspected, but never really knew for sure, given that she had slept with Richard shortly after meeting him. However, after she had seen Jason push the piano towards one of Luthor's henchmen to save her, Lois's suspicions were confirmed.

After he fully recovered, Kal-El then met with Lois and said that he still wanted to be a part of Jason's life, in spite of how things had been left between him and Lois when he left for Krypton. However, he didn't want to have Richard be left out of Jason's life, since the latter did care for the boy for five years along with Lois and as such didn't deserve to be casted off to the side just because of the circumstances being what they were. Lois then pointed out that this would mean that Richard would have to be told of Superman's true identity and everything else, to which the latter had no problem with, since he knew the man was more than trustworthy. Of course, things weren't easy after Richard was told everything and as such things between the three were not resolved overnight, but as time passed things slowly improved, and right around that same time Lex Luthor returned. Having managed to escape the island he and his associate Kitty had ended up being stranded on, and now believing that Jason was indeed Superman's son, Luthor set about coming up with a plan that would not only get rid of the Man of Steel for good, but the boy as well. However, having learned from his previous encounters with Luthor, Kal-El managed to outthink the criminal mastermind and beat him at his own game. In the end, Luthor lost, and not just in regards to having his plan foiled, but he also ended up sealing his own fate when he tried a last ditch effort to kill Superman, which in the end, caused Luthor to be the victim of his own weapon.

Sometime after that, Kal-El and Lois finally reconciled completely, and in no time at all (and with Richard's blessing interestingly enough), they were married.

With Batman his origin story is much darker than his brother-at-arms', but it is no less an epic one.

Born as the son and heir to a couple who were not only people of great influence, but of upstanding morality and selflessness, Bruce Wayne was born to a world of privilege and extravagance that was tempered with a good moral sense and how to be able to overcome adversity regardless of any mistakes made, as his father Thomas Wayne once told him:

"Why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."

Although he had nothing less than a happy childhood, it sadly would not be meant to last, for young Bruce Wayne's destiny would eventually be written in blood…and bullets.

Sometime later, Thomas and Martha Wayne took their son to a theatre to see a show, but due to the characters reminding Bruce of his frightening encounter with bats not too long ago, he asked his parents if they could leave, which they did.

But no sooner did they leave were they then mugged by a street crook named Joe Chill, who then killed both of Bruce's parents after stealing their money.

Although Bruce was not physically harmed, he was emotionally distraught beyond reason and blamed himself for his parent's deaths for a long time until after having graduated college he learned Joe Chill was about to be released from jail in exchange for testifying against Moroni, who was one of the crime bosses in Gotham city. However, one of the crime boss's henchmen killed Chill before he could even do so. Already angered at being robbed of his own vengeance against Chill, Bruce reached his breaking point when he confronted Moroni and realized the corruption had reached even those who were supposed to uphold the law in the city. Making a decision, Bruce then left Gotham to travel the world to understand the criminal element. However, along the way he ended up incarcerated due to ironically stealing from his father's own company, which led to him meeting Henri Ducard, a representative of Ra's Al Ghul, who was the head of an organization called the League of Shadows. It seemed that Ra's had learned of Bruce Wayne being arrested and sent Ducard to recruit him into the League since he was also aware of what happened to Bruce's parents and why their only son chose to leave Gotham.

Making his way to the League's headquarters, Bruce then expressed his desire to find the means to fight the injustice and corruption in his city, a request Ra's granted.

As Bruce trained under the tutelage of Ducard, the former eventually reached the point where he was considered ready to lead a team of the League's best warriors, but before he could, he had to exact final justice on a criminal by killing him, which Bruce could not, and would not bring himself to do, despite his training and his own desire for vengeance. As a result, Bruce and Ra's fought, which destroyed the League of Shadows' headquarters. However, Bruce managed to escape with his mentor Ducard and left him in a nearby village where he would be looked after while Bruce began his way back home.

Although he hadn't met his blood brother Superman yet, Bruce Wayne realized (just like Kal-El did) that the only way to inspire the common men and women to rise from apathy was to lead by example, and in the case of Gotham, it would have to be done in a very dramatic way. And so positioning himself as a public crusader would not accomplish what was needed in Gotham. However, as a symbol…a symbol that could not be corrupted or destroyed…that was what Bruce was looking for.

Deciding to conquer his fear of bats once and for all, Bruce then headed back to the cave where he had fallen in years ago. Once exposing himself to the bats, he then finally conquers his fear, and as a result, decides to use that very element to take down the corruption.

With help from his butler/guardian/longtime friend Alfred Pennyworth, as well as his father's old colleague Lucius Fox, Bruce Wayne then set to work putting together everything he needed to set his plan into action. Once he had all the elements together, Bruce Wayne, or Batman as he was now known in some circles, began his war on crime in earnest, making an ally in Jim Gordon, as well as stopping Ra's Al Ghul (who was in fact Ducard himself; the one killed back at the league's old headquarters had been nothing but a decoy) from destroying Gotham, thus being praised as a hero and finally bringing a sense of hope to a city starved for it. However Jim Gordon pointed out to his new ally that there would be a risk of escalation now that someone like Batman exists.

During this time, Batman at one point found himself making his way to Metropolis to stop one of Gotham's mob bosses from starting operations there, since Batman's appearance in Gotham had begun to unnerve the mob greatly. While this was going on, Batman and Superman met for the first time, and while it wasn't exactly a friendly encounter, it wasn't an antagonistic one either. However, both men quickly realized that they both had a common goal – which was to stop all crime and corruption wherever it was and inspire the common men and women to action – and at the moment, stop a mob boss from creating new operations in Metropolis. Using their respective talents, the two were successful in stopping the mob boss and Superman and Batman both ended up parting ways on fairly good terms, the latter feeling that if the former wasn't based in Metropolis, he would make a good symbol for Gotham in ways Batman could not. However, just to make sure Superman was the genuine article Batman decided to look into everything regarding the Man of Steel since he appeared in Metropolis. Needless to say, Batman was more than impressed with the information he found, as well as having a newfound hope that Superman could bring hope and justice to not only Metropolis, but the world.

One year later, Batman was still fighting the good fight, but now he was searching for an out and hoping that a new symbol of hope (one without a mask) would emerge to pick up the slack and continue what he had started as Batman. For a while, it seemed that the new District Attorney Harvey Dent was that answer, and the fact that Dent himself seemed to understand on some levels what Batman was trying to do for Gotham only made the D.A. more of a worthy candidate. However, a new villain calling himself the Joker threatened to undo all that Batman, Dent, and Gordon were trying to accomplish, and while for a moment it seemed that the makeshift triumvirate had managed to beat the Joker at his own game, in reality the latter had been not one but several steps ahead of them the whole time, and not only did he succeed in killing Batman's childhood friend and Dent's fiancé Rachel Dawes, but he also managed to hideously scar Dent's face. In addition, The Joker even revealed to Dent that the mob had informants within Gordon's own unit that played a part in Dawes' death, which was unfortunately true (even though the Joker expertly deflected any part he played in Rachel's death). This, combined with the Joker's twisted words about how chaos is always fair no matter what the circumstances are, lead to Dent sparing The Joker on a coin toss, escaping the hospital and going after the two informants, who were none other than Detectives Wurtz and Ramirez. Deciding to use chance to determine their fates (since in Dent's twisted point of view, it seemed that it was chance that took Rachel's life), Dent ended up killing Wurtz, and spared Ramirez's life. And for the coup de grace, Dent then went after Jim Gordon's own family. Fortunately Batman had learned of this and tried to convince Dent to only punish the ones genuinely responsible for Rachel's death and to leave Gordon's family out of it, for they had nothing to do with what happened. Agreeing, Dent then flips his father's lucky coin and gets the scarred side, which leads him to shoot Batman (unaware of the latter wearing body armor), but before he can get the coin to decide his own fate Batman manages to stop Dent from shooting himself and saves Gordon's son. Unfortunately, Dent falls several feet to his death. Knowing the people of Gotham would lose hope if Dent's crimes were revealed, Batman decides to take the blame, to which Gordon reluctantly agrees to.

Eight years later, Gotham was enjoying a relative peace (due to The Dent Act, which gave law-enforcement the power necessary to successfully stop organized crime), but it is sadly the calm before the storm, as a new enemy named Bane arrived in the city and began to wreak havoc on Gotham. Although Bruce Wayne had hung up the cape and cowl and was glad that peace was achieved, he still couldn't help but feel broken in every way. The loss of Rachel, along with the injuries he had sustained throughout his time as Batman had begun to take their toll. In addition, his decision to stop a nuclear project at his company that could provide clean energy for the city permanently (but would have also made the nuclear reactor a weapon in the wrong hands) had caused Wayne Enterprises to suffer financially. However, once Bane's existence became known to Bruce (along with learning of Gordon being shot), the latter realized he had stayed retired long enough and suited up as Batman once more to combat this new threat. However, Alfred had a great deal of reservations about his master doing this again, for he had hoped that Bruce would eventually be able to forge a life beyond the cape and cowl, and upon learning of who Bane was based on the information he had obtained, Alfred knew that in his current condition, his master stood no chance at defeating the mercenary. However, knowing that his charge was not going to budge from his choice to be Batman again, Alfred decided to leave once and for all, having no desire to see Bruce get injured more than he already had, let alone bury him along with his parents. Later on what Alfred had feared came to pass, thanks in no small part to the "help" of Selina Kyle – a woman who had stolen pearls belonging to Bruce's mother while masquerading as a maid at Wayne Manor and whom Batman had encountered while the former was evading John Daggett's forces. Having saved her, he convinced her to help him find Bane in exchange for a program called the "Clean Slate" – a program that could wipe out a person's information from every database on Earth, to which she agreed to. Unfortunately Batman discovered too late that it had been a trap set up by Bane, and although he fought valiantly, Batman's efforts were all for naught, and in the end, Bane had succeeded where everyone else had failed up to that point: he defeated and broke the Batman.

But knowing that Batman didn't fear death, and wanting to prolong his foe's suffering, Bane took him to a prison where Bruce would see his city get burned to ashes and be helpless to do anything about it.

"When Gotham is ashes, then you have my permission to die."

Returning to Gotham, Bane began his master plan to destroy Gotham by first trapping all of the police forces underground. Then the mercenary not only destroyed all the bridges connecting Gotham to the rest of the world (save for one), but managed to locate the nuclear reactor Bruce had mothballed and then killed the only nuclear physicist capable of shutting it down. To top it all off, Bane then revealed the horrifying truth of Harvey Dent's crimes by reading the speech he had stolen from Gordon when the latter was captured and shot. As a result of all these actions, all the criminals were released and Gotham was singlehandedly run amuck. And with no police force to stop them, Gotham seemed doomed.

Seeing all this, and having had as much as he could stand, Bruce Wayne – with the help of a fellow inmate – managed to recover from his injuries (as well as learn a bit more about Bane's history in the process) and made his way back to Gotham, and despite his initial disappointment with Selina's betrayal, Bruce still felt there was more to the cat burglar than she let on, and he also knew that Selina saw the Clean Slate program not as a means to an end, but as a means to a new beginning. Beseeching her help once again, to which she grudgingly agreed to (although deep down Selina wasn't as reluctant as she let on), Bruce Wayne/Batman – with help from Jim Gordon, Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Lucius Fox, and Detective Robin John Blake – managed to rise once more to stop not only Bane's rampage, but the legacy of Ra's Al Ghul once and for all…and by making the ultimate sacrifice…The Caped Crusader finally triumphed.

Now after these two stories, one could assume that the epic ends there. However…such is not the case. For although Kal-El had finally defeated Lex Luthor and obtained everything he had desired in life (a new life with a wife and a son), and although Bruce Wayne had at long last succeeded in bringing genuine peace to Gotham (and began a Clean Slate of his own with Selina), it was not the end of either of the two men's story. In fact, it was only the end of a mere chapter, for what Kal-El of Krypton and his blood brother Bruce Wayne of Gotham didn't realize was that their story, as well as the story of several other people in their lives (and those they had yet to meet), had only just begun…