So this is the beginning of what will be a rather large, ambitious story, so here's to hoping it goes well. Mind you, this is only the prologue, the Marauders will show up in the first chapter, and more and more characters will appear over the course of the story.
I'd love to hear what you think, so please review.
Prologue: Legacy (Anagrams are Always a Good Idea)
"Of course… I should have known…"
It made complete sense in hindsight. Tom had spent so much time looking at the Riddle family history, he'd completely neglected his mother's family.
At least until now.
He deeply regretted not putting more effort into finding out who his mother was before this. Merope Gaunt came from exceptional stock – that is, if by "exceptional", one meant "infamous". The Gaunt family had a long history as direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin, one of the most notorious crime lords of the past century.
Lord Tom Riddle… he thought. The title sounded nice, but Riddle less so, now that he knew what sort of a man his father had been. (Boring, in case you were wondering. Impressively worthless for such a rich man.)
He would need a new name if he was to further the family legacy.
Carefully, he considered his options. Tom and Riddle, and any variants thereof were out of the question. Marvolo was the name of his grandfather… who was almost as useless as his father. The most recent generations of Gaunts had fallen so far from their ancestors' disastrously illegal glory.
Besides which, I will be my own person. I will have my own name.
Which left only one option… make a whole new name.
On the surface, he would have to continue as regular old Tom Riddle, the (in his opinion) handsome, charming, overlooked middle manager, but under cover of darkness (figurative darkness, but occasionally also literal darkness) he would be someone else, someone new and exciting.
He would single-handedly revive the Gaunt legacy.
Or better yet, start his own.
An anagram then, he decided. Anagrams were clever, right? He'd always been quite good at anagrams.
Tom Marvolo Riddle.
Straight away, he pulled out "I am". A good place to start.
I am… Remold Rod Volt? Odd Mover Troll, Drover Doll Tom…
He could do "lord" as well. Crime lord, after all.
I am Lord… Dolt Mover.
He frowned. While an apt description (he was planning to "move" a lot of dolts), it didn't exactly strike fear into trembling hearts and make people plead for mercy.
I am Lord…
Fuck it. He would just be Batman.
Lord Batman.