Sounds of bats echoed off of the stone cave walls. In between the squeaks, sounds of a water fall and the clicking of a keyboard. A pale blue light lit up John Blake's face. Each monitor in front of him displayed a different image. One was a live feed of the orphanage above him, another two displayed live updates from news agencies, the other two showed schematics and data on the Batman's technology and equipment. John leaned back in his seat, overwhelmed by all of the information in front of him. He set his notebook down on the console and threw his pen at the desk. His eyes drifted back to the monitor showing the kids playing overhead and he felt a slight steadying and calm. He heard footsteps behind him. He stood up and turned to face the person approaching him.
"How was Florence Alfred?" John asked with a welcoming smile.
Alfred's gaze went to the floor as he chose his words. "It was just what I needed to raise my spirits."
John glanced back at the orphanage monitor. "Are you planning on staying? I could use your help." He paused. "You have a lot experience in this field."
Alfred stepped toward the displays and looked at everything he had been working on. "Are you asking me for help because I have experience of raising orphans or stitching cuts and bandaging wounds?"
John gave an exasperated laugh and rubbed the back of his head trying to avoid eye contact. "Both maybe?" He said uncertain. "I could really use your help with the Wayne Orphanage, you know the manor better than anyone. As for the latter, I'm not sure yet. I don't know if I can take Bruce's night activities and just wing it."
Alfred laughed. "Aside from the training he received from The League of Shadows, that's essentially what he did." Alfred walked over to the glass display case that housed the bat suit. He noticed that the cowl and cape were missing and the bat symbol on the chest was replaced by a dark blue chevron that went across the chest to the shoulder plates that were the same dark blue. "I see you've made some modifications. Not a fan of bats?"
John's expression became solemn. "The Batman died Alfred." He could see a slight flicker of pain in Alfred's eyes. "I wouldn't even try to become a faint imitation of what he was. I didn't do it by myself, Mr. Fox assisted. Since my fighting skills are not quite what Bruce's were, he thought it was a good idea to give myself whatever advantage I could get. The elbow and knee junctions of the suit are equipped servo-motorized joints, similar to what Bruce used to aid him in his fight against Bane. My knees aren't as bad but I could use the extra power. The knuckles of the suit have charged panels that act like little tasers. I'm not ninja trained but I should be able to hold my own now with those tools and my police use of force training."
Alfred's expression was a mix of surprise and impress. "So what of the cape and cowl?"
John pulled a black hood from the back of the suit. "I tried moving around in the suit before I modified it. The cowl obstructed my field of vision and it was too hard to look around. This is a ballistic fibre, it doesn't offer much in absorbing a gunshot but it's at least slash proof. As for the cape, I'm not a cape kind of guy. Lastly for keeping my identity, for now I'll use these." He pulled out a small eye mask.
"I see you've thought of everything." Alfred said walking back over to the work station. He looked at one of the screens that displayed a grainy CCTV screen capture of a man. The man was wore what looked like a weathered dark green leather trench coat, black slacks, and a black waist coat over a wrinkled white button up shirt with the collar open. His red hair stood out from the darkness of his clothing. In his hands, looked like an AK-47. "Who's this?" Alfred asked.
John walked over and gave a long, contemplating look at the screen. "I was able to dig up quite a bit on this guy. His name is Roy Riddle. He was originally named Eddie Nigma. He changed it to Riddle in his late teens after entering a boys home. His father was a police officer in Cork Ireland, and was also an abusive alcoholic. His father killed his mother and then tried to kill him but Eddie killed him instead. The courts saw it as self defense and he was sent to Saint Maturinus Boy's Orphanage. When he turned 18 he joined the IRA and quickly proved his worth and talent. He was a brilliant tactician and unfortunately had a perfect success rate for his terrorist attacks. To gain a little extra money on the side he also ran jobs for the Irish mafia. When the IRA found out of his additional activities they tried to kill him. He proved that to be more difficult than they planned. He turned his talents on them and caused enough damage that they agreed to leave him alone if he would leave them alone. He's now a lieutenant of the O'Malley crime family that is operating in Gotham."
"What has our Mr. Riddle been up to in Gotham since I've been gone?" Alfred probed.
"So far he's been doing a few high end jewelry robberies, mostly acting as a hitman though. Bane's action left Gotham in pretty rough shape. The city is slowly rebuilding but the police department is running a skeleton crew after many of them died during the battle. A large group of the ones that survived quit after it was done. I don't blame them, they gave more to this city than what was asked." John replied.
Alfred looked back at him. "Is that why you quit?"
John shook his head. "No, I'm still going to help. I just can't do what they need done as a cop. The crime rate is rising and criminals are starting to gather more power than they had before the Batman."
Alfred headed toward the elevator. "I'll go put my personal effects away and then introduce myself to the lot upstairs. Any idea on where you're going to start?"
John flashed a smirk. "I have an idea."
*I you'd like to read more let me know in the comments*