Chapter 3: Becoming the Batman
Bruce Wayne threw a fist at the punch bag. Since discovering his father’s secret he had hired a personal trainer to make him strong enough to fight crime in Gotham City. His name was Ethan Bennett, an ex-cop working for the Gotham City Police Department. But decided to give that career up in favour of training others in films etc. Bruce and Alfred had been busy re-decorating the Bat Cave and some of the other gadgets Thomas Wayne used. He was using the same bat-suit on the advice of Alfred, as it was still in good condition and making a new weapon to fight enemies, the Bat-Blade. The Batmobile was also being kept the same, but Lucius Fox, CEO of Wayne Enterprises, was re-designing the secret entrance to the Bat Cave. In the door to it, a wood panel would be able to be slide across to reveal a keypad which would set up a futuristic elevator leading down to the cave. The hill entrance would be kept as a way to get out of Wayne Manor using the Batmobile. Ethan Bennett entered the room.
“Wow Bruce, those muscles are really building up!” He was bald, with very dark skin and an always stern look. He was wearing a white vest and combat trousers. “Now fight me.” Bruce stopped training.
“W-what?”
“Your gonna have to do it some time if your gonna become the Batman! I remember when your dad was Batman. I was a little kid and I remember watching him beat the crap out of gangsters. And him kicking out Hugo Strange.”
“Excuse me?”
“The CEO of Wayne Enterprises back then. It was this scuffle over a power generator powering all of Gotham. Thomas said it wasn’t safe but Strange pursued it, and used illegal stuff like plutonium. So he was publically sacked.”
“But I thought Lucius was the CEO in those days...?” He seemed shocked by this revelation that he had never been informed about.
“No, Lucius was a friend of Thomas and then replaced Hugo. Before that he made the gadgets for your father to use as the Batman.”
“Where is the generator now?”
“Thomas shut it down. The football stadium was built over it.” Bruce was angry. At Alfred and at Lucius for never telling him the truth. Wayne Enterprises had been in association with crime? That’s what upset him the most. First off, he was going to find out about this ‘Hugo Strange’ person, and then he was going to resume training. For all he knew, this could end up being his first major case against crime...
Bruce sat down at the Bat-computer, the latest addition to the revamped Bat Cave. It was a massive computer that would soon be connected to the city’s CCTV cameras to keep an eye on criminal’s latest plans. Google appeared on the screen extremely quickly, as it had the fastest computer processor in the world. He typed in ‘Hugo Strange‘and it came up with 26,000 results, a lot for a scientist in Gotham. Various different news articles from years ago littered the page, displaying headlines such as,
STRANGE FIRED FROM WAYNE ENTERPRISES!
IT’S NOT STRANGE THAT HUGO’S OUT OF THE WAYNE BUSINESS!
STRANGE DEALS WITH SIONIS FOR POWER GENERATOR!
The last headline caught his attention the most. It was referring to Roman Sionis, ex- Crime Lord of Gotham City. Last people lad seen or heard of him, he was battling Batman at a make-up factory and had never returned. It gave Bruce a warm feeling to know that his father had defeated the most important name in Crime in Gotham. He clicked on it. It read:
“This was obviously the last straw for Thomas Wayne. After his very public arguments with Professor Hugo Strange, he has sacked him from his role as CEO of Wayne Enterprises. In a statement, Mr. Wayne said that Strange was head of the Eco-friendly power generator they were developing together, but after he found out that it would be nearly impossible to make it with the limited resources of their time, he resorted to using black market technology to help it develop, such as plutonium. The dealer is thought to be none other that Roman Sionis, #NO.1 on the Gotham’s Most Wanted list, and major Crime Lord in Gotham. Strange has now removed himself from the public eye, and hasn’t been seen since yesterday, which leads many to believe that he has taken his own life. More to come as the story unravels!”
Bruce re-read it 3 times, and felt a patch of sadness. This Hugo Strange had taken his own life because he had resorted to dealing with criminals over a small project. He felt that his father was partly to blame, if he had put an immense amount of pressure on one man to create a power generator that was impossible to make to the technological limitations of his time. He came to the conclusion that he was going to go and train. He needed something to take his mind off of the latest revelations.
A black land rover drove up to an old, decrepit building in the centre of Gotham City. Two men in clean, neat suits exited from the car. The first man had a silver suit, and was bald with a moustache, and the second man had a black suit and tie. He had blonde hair and stubble, with an angry face. They opened the door to the building, and the sound of shouting and arguing poured out. They both went down a rotten flight of stairs and the sight of a long wooden table surrounded by angry, shouting men met their eyes. They were saying that he shouldn’t be back, and that even though he would be a great leader, he would be a selfish one.
“Shut the hell up!” Yelled the blonde man. Everybody suddenly went silent.
“So, I know not everyone here likes what we want to do.”
“Not everybody!” A man with a European accent stood up from the table, wearing a raggedy leather jacket and dirty trousers. “The whole community hates the bloody idea! Chill, you were supposed to resurrect Crime!” This was directed at the blonde man, who in fact was Thomas and Martha Wayne’s murderer. 3 months ago, Joe Chill had been appointed joint Crime Lord of Gotham, along with Ramon Auricular. They had devised a plan together to bring back the old Crime Lord, Roman Sionis, or better known nowadays as, Black Mask. 5 years ago, as crime rates in Gotham were drastically falling, he departed the business altogether and nobody knows where he went. Chill and Ramon thought that they had located him, residing in a small house on the beach, because Gotham was a small, man-made island that used to be connected to it’s neighbour city, Metropolis, but during WW1, it was bombed and it split in the middle, so a bridge was built between them and the new city was named Gotham City. Joe and Ramon wanted to bring the full force of Crime back to Gotham, and that was only possible if their former leader returned.
“Calm it! He won’t be our leader; he’ll be a soldier, aiding us. If he tries to overthrow us, then we will shoot him and he will be gone for good.”
“We can win again guys, and Black Mask can think of plans, to get to people. Make them go crazy, and we can strike fear into the heart of Gotham.” Said Ramon. A black man in a brown, dirty jumper stood up and said,
“So, when are we getting him? Tonight, tomorrow? I would like to volunteer myself for this task!” His name was Blackjack, a well known mobster in Gotham.
“That won’t happen Jack, me and Ramon will find him and bring him to the hideout. Here basically. And, the GCPD are pretty crap so there’s no threat coming from, we can easily shoot their asses off, and then we can regain the upper hand!” This statement was met with a number of cheers from the others on the table. Chill and Ramon set off immediately to the other side of the city, so that they could find the Black Mask.
Their black land rover pulled up to an abandoned diner, the home of Black Mask. The door was locked, and Ramon tried breaking it down, but with no effect. Chill whipped out a gun and shot the doorknob off, and then fired a bullet at the glass as the door came tumbling down.
“That’s how you do it the American way my friend.” The current Crime Lords entered the old shop. There was a smell of stale bread in the air. Suddenly, somebody fired a shot that hit the wood next to them, as woodchips flew everywhere.
“Shit what was that?” Ramon asked.
“The Mask!” Chill said with a gleeful smile. He hurried on further into the shop, Ramon shrugged and followed him. Just then, Chill came flying back and hit Ramon in the chest. He coughed and spluttered.
“Damn, that dick got kick!”
“No shit Sherlock.” A terrifying voice came out of the shadows.
“A dick you say? That wasn’t very sophisticated language for one of my previous clients and Crime Lord of Gotham City!”
“Shared Crime Lord.” Interrupted Ramon. His jaw then dropped. “Wait, you’re Black Mask!”
“No shit Sherlock.” He imitated what Ramon had said earlier. “You don’t sound like a Crime Lord. You sound like a wannabe trying to get with the big leagues.” Black Mask pulled out a revolver from his coat pocket and shot Ramon. He collapsed.
“Mask” Yelled Chill. Black Mask was just what his name made out to be. His face was round and jet black. He was wearing a long brown coat and a black jumper with dirty trousers.
“What? He was pissing me off, and I don’t think he was a good fit for crime, maybe he should be an ice cream vendor? Anyway, why are you here? Haven’t had a visitor since, actually I don’t think I’ve ever had a visitor.”
“We need you back. Crime has fallen and we need you to pick it back up.”
“Crime’s fallen ‘ey? Hadn’t noticed that from my small corner shop. Was it Ramon turning up?”
“Shut the hell up about Ramon!”
“Well, I don’t know whether I want to come back. Not a very nice atmosphere, the underground. People don’t treat you good, food’s fu-“
“What’s the real reason why you ain’t coming back?”
“Ok. I got bored. Simple. There’s no fun in blowing stuff up when the cops don’t give a damn what you’re doing and there’s no Batman to stop you.”
“I don’t often find myself pleading for stuff, but come back. We need you. And your telling me that you don’t wanna come back ‘cos of it being boring? We could take over the city with the right direction! Gordon would be at our feet pleading for mercy!”
“Ok, you have persuaded me to return to Crime. But, you have to step down from being Crime Lord and I have to be it, anybody that doesn’t obey me gets shot and you have to be my right-hand man.”
“Agreed.”
“Good! I’ll make my way out now.”
“Don’t you need to get your crap?”
“I don’t have any crap and I don’t need any crap.” Mask then left the shop. Chill just thought that in the years he had spent alone, he had gone completely insane. And he was right.
At Wayne Tower, Lucius Fox was walking into the board room. They were having a meeting about possible projects the company could undertake. He had a plan to leave early to go and help Bruce sort out his hew Bat-gear, but was going to make it stylized. Lucius sat at the head of the table, listening to other people making pointless suggestions. He thought he was going to fire them. He was waiting for the precise moment for it to happen. Suddenly, his phone started to ring from his Bruce on the other end. He was the same speaker on all the other phones but saying different things, such as ‘you are a terrible employee!’ and ‘I’m coming to the Tower soon, get ready!’ The entire board stood up in confusion, as Lucius raced out of the room as fast as he could and jumped in a helicopter that was waiting outside of the building. He was on his way to play.
Instead of the Bat-cave, they had chosen location deeper inside the cave converted into a training ground. Waiting inside it was the Batmobile, some weight lifts and the Batsuit, in a large glass case. It ad a black hood type mask, with the mouth visible. The ears were pointed straight up, with hidden microphones in it to hear faraway conversations by criminals. The body armour was jet black, with muscle imprints and a small, stylized bat logo in the middle of his chest. His trousers were solid and black with air ventilators on the side of his legs and long boots. On his wrists were a series of 3 curved blades, perfect for slashing a cheek here and there. Around his waist was a belt, and where the buckle would usually be was the same bat logo as on his chest, but smaller and inside a small glass sphere. Along the rest of the belt was an assortment of sharp battarangs, tasers and grappling hooks that would come out of a long thin black container at the press of a button, or they could be attached to a battarang to make it look more stylish. The Batmobile was the same one Thomas Wayne had used sleek black with steel arcs. Lucius had designed the new equipment, and he had also designed gadgets for Bruce’s father as well. It gave him a sense of satisfaction knowing that his work was being passed down through the generations. Bruce entered the training ground. Lucius had managed to get Ethan Bennett to come and fight Bruce as Batman for the final part of training.
“So Bruce. When are you planning on putting the costume on?” Stated Ethan.
“I just got here! And it’s not a costume; it’s a symbol of fear to all criminals.” Ethan laughed to himself quietly as the glass case opened so that Bruce could get into character. He didn’t need to undress or anything; it simply went over his clothes in a mechanical way. That was what the ventilators were for, so that he wouldn’t get hot. He was finally suited up and got ready to fight Ethan. His opponent threw the first punch. Bruce deflected it with his hand and pushed it back into Ethan’s face. He stumbled back. Batman made an attempt at punching Ethan, but he grabbed his hand and twisted it. A loud cracking sound could be heard as Bruce screamed in pain. He jumped, kicked Ethan in the face and flipped back to his feet, and then proceeded to kick him in the chest, slam him to the floor and kick him again for good measure. He went in for another punch when Ethan quickly said,
“Hey! That’s enough. You beat me! A professional body trainer and ex-wrestler. I must be good!”
“I think you are now ready to go out into the streets Master Wayne.”
“Think so too Lucius. One question though- when Hugo Strange was CEO of Wayne Enterprises, were you a friend of my dads before Strange was fired?” Lucius seems shocked by this statement and hesitated to answer.
“Well... I was a friend of your father’s. And... We became better friends over time, good enough friends for him to want to offer me the job of running his company.” Bruce didn’t press him for any more answers, he decided that he was going to go out looking for crime, and he told the others this.
“Suit yourself, could have done more training. I’m bored...”
“Or Mr. Wayne, you could check the Bat computer.” Bruce looked up with glee.
“You did it!?”
“All wired up to the CCTV cameras! You can check what’s going on in every corner of Gotham from the comfort of your hideout!” Bruce’s head slowly made it’s way to look at the Bat cave straight down.
“My dad would be so jealous right now!”
Heres the first 2 chapters of 'The Batman'!
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/news/?a=41577 Chapter 1
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/news/?a=41969 Chapter 2