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Chapter Three
Six Weeks Earlier
You know that saying, “You are what you eat”? Well, I wonder if “You become what you fear the most” makes as much sense as that. Ever since I came back to Gotham, I felt like my company wasn’t wanted, even though several people had believed that I died during my exile from the city. I get that impression because I’m fighting for a family business with a man who promised it would be waiting for me when the time had come, right before he left the funeral for my murdered parents. But I didn’t just come back to regain what was rightfully mine; I came back because Gotham needed me…Gotham needed a symbol. What symbol, you ask? Well, let’s just say it should be something for the good to rally behind…and the criminals to fear.
On my third day back in the old manor, I was visited by some old friends, as well as some new ones that they had made. Just when I thought they I left the life I’d lived through my exile behind, here came the four mini-monks and their pet dragon, standing at my doorstep with Count Dracula wannabe, a monster in a trash can, and a detective that I had first assumed was from Gotham (possibly hearing about my return and coming to investigate), but I was relieve when he had shown his Metropolis P.D. badge. Yet the Metropolis detective (who told me his name was “Thomas”—just like my father’s, except it was his
first name) still came to investigate, hearing about my return through Omi, Kimiko, Clay, Raimundo, and Dojo.
“Yes, Detective.” I told him. “I did get trained by a group of men who had planned on destroying Gotham, with me as their leader. But I assure that the threat had been rectified, and the man responsible for my training, Ra’s Al Ghul, is now dead.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that, Mr. Wayne.” Thomas remarked, not seeming to be much pleased, as he stared at me across from the kitchen table that both us and our friends were sitting at as we talked. “But what confuses me is why you decided to come back here, instead of moving on to another part of the world?”
“Well, like I told my friends, Detective,” I began, “Even though Ra’s plan sounded vile and deadly, there seemed to be a reasonable purpose in it. Gotham is decaying…it’s slowly dying…and someone needs to help it get better. I came back, because I’m going to resurrect what my father
literally gave his life to build.”
“Bruce, I understand that the loss of your parents has been a memory that still haunts you to this very day and that guys like Joe Chill still wander these streets, killing the loved ones of others,” Thomas said, “But you have to know that Gotham has changed drastically over the years you’ve been away. Not even Superman can rebuild this city.” It was funny how Thomas mentioned the hero of Metropolis, because that was exactly what I imagined Gotham to have, only less of a boy scout. “I’m sorry to tell you that, but it’s the truth. With Carmine Falcone ruling this city, there isn’t a soul on Earth who can
scare him out of that position.” My head shot up, and my eyes connected directly with the detective’s, when he uttered the word “scare.”
“What has been your greatest fear?” I asked, and Thomas looked at me rather oddly, and so did everyone else, as I turned and asked the same question again. “Anybody? What has your greatest fear always been?”
“Uh…” Kimiko stammered, seeming to be a little sheepish, “I’ve always been afraid of this doll that I’d accidentally broke a long time ago.”
“I’ve always been a little scared of my grandmother and her awful kisses.” Clay said.
“Even though I know they’re not real, alien jellyfish has always scared me.” Raimundo admitted.
“As much as it shames me to admit it, giant rabid squirrels are what I fear the most.” Omi said, looking rather sad as he admitted his fear.
“
Really big numbers.” Count von Count said, and for a while, we all stared at him awkwardly, trying to figure out what kind of fear was that (especially for a guy who loved counting). “What?” Forgetting about Count’s fear, we looked over at Oscar, who just glared at us and kept his mouth shut.
“Well, maybe Oscar doesn’t have any fears, but I most definitely do.” Thomas said, and I listened curiously to him, as he explained. “During my twelfth year on the force, my sister, Lori, decided to become a police officer. I tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted on becoming one, because she looked up to her big brother and wanted to follow in his footsteps. So, she eventually became an officer and assisted me on a few assignments in following two years that she was on the force.” I noticed how the detective then started to get a little emotional, wiping both sides of his nose with his left thumb and index finger and then wiping his eyes to hold back tears. “There was…uh…one night when she…she helped me take down this perk at this chemical factory, and…Oh, god!” The detective was on the verge of a mental breakdown, and before he went on with his story, I stopped him.
“I…I get the message, detective.” I told him. “And I’m sorry.” The detective straighten himself long enough to look me directly in the eyes again.
“Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Wayne.” Thomas said. “I see your point clearly. But there’s just nothing anyone can do…no matter what city you’re in.” The detective might’ve been right on that; but Gotham was too different from other cities. It had fallen too far into darkness and plagued by crime more than any other city. However, that didn’t mean it couldn’t be saved from that darkness and cured by that illness known as crime.
“I want you all to come with me.” I said, as I stood up from the table. “There’s something that I want to show you all.” The detective and the others just gave me that same look, when I asked them what their fears were; but that curiosity in each of them was what got them up from the table and follow me to the backyard of Wayne Manor. I led them up to a well that hadn’t been used for a long time, until at least yesterday when I went excavating in it. “Any of you who are scared of bats may not want to come down here with me.”
I knew that I was scaring my guests straight from the way I was talking to them. But the way they just stood where they were, even after giving them serious caution, told me that they had a lot of courage in them. I gave them each some rope to help them climb down the well shaft and see what I had seen the other day. Once we were all the way down, we each undone the rope and turned to find a dark crevice between some rocks. We each crouched down, pushing into the blackness to crawl through into the caverns.
My friends and I climbed down a jagged rock crevice, with the air blowing in each of our faces. The crevice widened into a low-ceilinged chamber, and we all heard some water rushing, as we crouched and advanced through the chamber. When it turned downwards and got steeper, I help my friends slid carefully on their backs, as we lowered ourselves into limitless black. As we stood, the water had been roaring now.
“What’s this all about, Wayne?” Thomas asked, while panting his lungs out, and I only answered him by reaching into my coat and pulling out a chemical torch. I cracked it and threw the light into a vast cavern that had an underground river and a jagged ceiling.
“This is a waste of…” Oscar said, but before he could finish, bats exploded from the ceiling. Thousands had descended, screeching, obviously attracted to the light. Thomas, Omi, Kimiko, Clay, and Dojo instinctively crouched down, while Oscar’s upper body went right back into his trash can. The only ones who remained standing was myself and Count, who was counting the bats as they flew past him.
“Two bats…Four bats…Six bats…ONE THOUSAND BATS!!!!” Count yelled, and he cackled gleefully, while I was profoundly calm amidst the cyclone of bats that were flying all around myself and my friends.
“This is the symbol I will use to bring Gotham back to life, detective!” I exclaimed. “I will use
my greatest fear to strike fear into those that have plagued our fair city!”
“So you’re gonna become some kind of ‘Bat Man’?” Thomas asked, and all I did was look over and grinned at him, as the bats began to fly away from us and to another part of the cavern.
---------------------
Alfred and I agreed that it would be nice if our guests stayed in the manor with us, while they were staying Gotham. They were now a part of a secret that no one else outside the cavern (that I figured would make a great place to set up some kind of secret lair to keep up with Gotham’s activities) should know about. Count often hung around the caverns, counting all of the bats there to see if they would actually multiply one day. I was a little disappointed that he didn’t come with the rest of us, on the day I took my friends over to Wayne Tower, where I’d be settling some business. I knew there was some business happening there already, with Mr. Earle and Judge Phelan there for a board meeting.
“Morning.” I said to a young, beautiful assistant that was sitting at her desk, as I walked by with Detective Thomas, Omi, Kimiko, Raimundo, Clay, Dojo, and even the sloppy Oscar (who clearly stood out from the rest of us with that trash can of his).
“Sir, you can’t go in there!” She exclaimed, and when I turned to her and smiled, she instantly recognized me and stood there, shocked.
“Yes, we can.” I said, just before I opened the door and noticed Mr. Earle, who seemed to be more annoyed than Oscar was at the time.
“You’ve got to be kiddin’!” The grouch yelled, sticking his head out of his trash can and looking around at Wayne Tower’s board room in disgust. “This upper section of this city looks too…nice! Yuck! Take me down to the lower part again!”
“I’m sorry, can I…?” Earle asked, and when he looked over to see me, he was totally dumbstruck, as were all of the other board members, who turned and stared directly at me. Now I seemed to be the one that stood out further than Oscar.
“Sorry to barge in, but my friends and I were in the areas.” Bruce said, and the room was silent for quite a while, as Mr. Earle got up from the board table and approached me, not taking his eyes off me for a second. He shook my hand and clapped the other on my shoulder.
“My boy!” He exclaimed. “We thought you were gone for good.”
“What can I say?” I asked, with a smile. “‘Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated’.” There were some nervous chuckles, while Judge Phelan sat where he was, looking at me disbelievingly. “I hope no one minds if my friends join me here. They’re a few people that I’ve met during my ‘time off’.”
“Uh, sure. Not at problem.” Earle said. “But can I ask where you’ve been exactly?”
“You can ask…” I said, mischievously.
“Well, perhaps you’ll tell us your plans.” Earle said. “Are you back to finish college?”
“Actually, I thought I’d get to grips with what we actually
do around here.” I replied. “From the ground up…one division at a time.” Earle was taking in what I said, nodding in the process.
“Any idea where you’d like to start?” He asked.
“Applied sciences caught my eye.” I said, and after I said that, I glanced over at Detective Thomas, who gave me a curious look.
“Mr. Fox’s department.” Earle uttered. “I’ll make a call. You can start today.”
“Actually, I’ve got a one o’clock tee-off, and it took me all morning to convince the club to honor my old membership.” I said, and as I grinned at Earle, I couldn’t believe how quickly I was starting to sound like my father. “Apparently, they don’t have to meet the same high standards as you when it comes to declaring someone dead.”
After the meeting, we hopped into the Rolls Royce and headed to the Applied Sciences Division, which was a massive warehouse that was stacked with crates that were oddly shaped under dust covers. There were several different types of lab equipment all around, and in the middle of it all was a black man in his early fifties named Lucius Fox, who led us through the stacks.
“Environmental applications, defense projects, consumer products…” He spoke in calm, knowledgeable tones, “All prototypes, none if production at any level whatsoever.”
“None?” I asked, and he paused for a moment, turning to look at me with a wicked gleam in his eye.
“What did they tell you this place was?” He asked, and before I could answer, Kimiko—for some reason—stepped in and answered for me. Come to think of it, I shouldn’t have been too surprised, seeing as how she had a history with such technological subjects.
“They didn’t say anything.” She said, and Fox just smiled at Kimiko, not seeming to be wondering why a young girl like her would be so interested in their discussion and instead returning his focus back on me.
“They told me
exactly what it was when they sent me here,” Fox said, “A dead end where I couldn’t cause any more trouble for the rest of the board.”
“You were on the board?” Thomas asked, curiously.
“Back when Thomas Wayne ran things.” Fox replied, and I was a little impressed that he did know my father. “I helped him build his train, which was a beautiful project, routed right into Wayne Tower, along with the water and power utilities.”
“I’ve seen old pictures of that train, before it got a little decrepit through age.” Kimiko told Fox. “I think it’s really awesome how someone as great as you built such a cool mode of transportation.” Kimiko batted her beautiful blue eyes in front of Fox, making the old man blush a little, while Raimundo had muttered something under his breath that brought Kimiko to elbow him in the side.
“Ouch, girl!” Raimundo exclaimed. “That
really hurt!”
“Well, next time speak up when you’re mocking me!!” Kimiko yelled, with her angry voice echoing throughout the warehouse.
“Alright. That’s enough, kids.” Thomas said, forcing the two mini-monks to keep silent, much to Oscar’s displeasure.
“Aw, come on!” He said. “Don’t stop the bickering right when it was gettin’ good! These kiddies know kung-fu, remember? If they went further, they would’ve gone into one of those Shen Gong Showdowns…or whatever they call them.”
“Shut up, Oscar.” Thomas uttered, while Fox stopped at a tall crate. After checking the paperwork, he opened the crate and revealed a bodysuit, which was clear silicone over jointed armor.
“Here it is,” Fox said. “The nomex survival suit for advanced infantry. Kevlar bi-weave, reinforced joints…” As I felt the fabric of the suit, I wondered how protective it would’ve been for my body. If I was going to start helping Gotham get back on its feet by fighting the criminals that were bringing it down, I needed to know if I could do it without getting seriously injured (or even killed).
“Is it bullet-proof?” I asked Fox.
“Anything but a straight shot.” He replied, and with that notion rectified, I moved on with my next concern…
“Tear-resistant?” And Fox answered by hacking at the suit with a pen, leaving no marks whatsoever. Out of all of us, Omi was the most impressed with the suit.
“It is indeed more powerful than even the Two-Ton Tunic!” Omi exclaimed, and though Fox had not idea what he was talking about, he was happy that his model could even impress a small child.
“Why didn’t they put it into production?” I asked, which was a question that was more of the business of Wayne Enterprises than my personal business.
“The bean counters figured a soldier’s life wasn’t worth the 300 grand.” Fox replied.
“Pardon me sayin’ this, Mr. Fox,” Clay uttered, “But I reckon that money shouldn’t matter all that much, especially when it comes to savin’ the life of another stranger.” Fox admired Clay’s remark, but the more he glanced at Detective Thomas, Oscar the Grouch, and the monks-in-training, the more he began to get curious (which was exactly the way he looked at me just then).
“The question is…what do
you want with it, Mr. Wayne?” Fox inquired, and I was prepared to answer a question like that, which was why I didn’t hesitate with a proper answer.
“I want to borrow it…for spelunking.” I said, which wasn’t far from the truth. Fox shrugged, putting the lid back on the crate.
“You get a lot of gunfire down in those caves?” Fox asked, and I was once again robbed of the opportunity to give a straight answer.
“Not unless those bats are packin’ heat!” Dojo said, and he quickly covered his own mouth, once he realized that he might’ve possibly exposed my secret plans. However, Fox didn’t suspect a thing, so Dojo was fine.
“Listen,” I told Fox, with a smile, “I’d rather Mr. Earle didn’t know about me borrowing…”
“Mr. Wayne,” Fox interjected, seeming to be one step ahead of me, “The way I see it…all this stuff is yours, anyway.”
“Chilly!” Omi yelled.
“That’s ‘cool’, Omi.” Raimundo said.
“It is, is it not?” Omi remarked, and Raimundo just sighed in exasperation.
END OF CHAPTER THREE
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Give me some time. Lately, I've been juggling with the copy of "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance" (FUN GAME!!!) that I rent this past Saturday and my schooling this week.
And until I get past it, I'll have to postpone the story for a little while.