John Blake stepped off the stone platform and onto a steel walkway. Where moments ago it had been pitch black, strip lighting now illuminated his path. As he moved cautiously forward, lights flicked to life all around the cave and brought into stark relief an amalgamation of high technology and rough earth.
To his surprise, someone was sat at a bank of huge screens at the walkway's end. They didn't look away from the monitors at his approach, they continued to diligently sort through a stack of folders. "I was wondering when you'd turn up," Lucius Fox's assuring tone stopped John in his tracks. Lucius looked over his shoulder and smiled at John, "Don't do that, come closer, we've got work to do." John did as he was told and strode more boldly until he was by Fox's side.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Blake. Do you remember who I am?" Lucius didn't stand, he kept tapping away as he spoke.
"You're Lucius Fox, ya run Wayne Enterprises since Bruce Wayne died. I see ya on the news enough, Mr Fox," John replied.
"And since you've found me in this place, you know I was more than just Bruce's CEO?" asked Lucius.
"Ya helped the Batman, right?" John leaned against the counter as he spoke.
"Yes John, and I'm going to help you. Bruce chose you as his successor, he let you find the Bat Cave..." Lucius stood at last and indicated for John to follow. He led him on set of stairs going up from the computer platform, and onto a mezzanine floor where the Bat-Suit stood in a case at the centre. There was far more up here than the Suit but John's world narrowed to this icon of his childhood.
John found himself drawn to the case, he pressed a hand to it and seemed to feel something immense answer his touch. Ever since Bruce had died, the only thing anyone had to remember the Batman by was his statue. Yet here, now, John was inches away from the most enduring symbol of the man's greatness. "Quite the sight, isn't it?" Lucius commented wryly.
"Beautiful," breathed John, barely above a whisper, entranced.
"The Batman was a wraith, feared by criminals and deified by the helpless, he preyed on primal fear to wrong foot his enemies. You're not ready for the Suit, you're not him," Lucius' hand came to rest on John's shoulder.
"I'll never be him, I saw him move, he was like a ninja or something," John knew it wasn't a smart response, but it was the truth.
"You can't be Bruce, but you can learn to be Batman. Bruce wasn't born like that; he was taught by the League of Shadows. Now obviously you can't go and ask the League for reasons that are self-evident. But I've got the next best thing, a teacher," Lucius placed something in John's hand. Blake looked down to see an airline ticket. "You're going to Japan, John."
The flight from Gotham International to Tokyo Haneda passed as a blur for John, surrounded on all sides by endless blue he slept through most of the journey. Once he'd reclaimed his luggage, he searched the crowd at Arrivals for anyone that could help him find out where the hell he was headed. A red-haired man with the sort of jawline you only saw in old noir thrillers appeared seemingly from nowhere next to John. "Are you Robin Blake?" he asked, even his voice was reminiscent of a 1930s private eye.
John managed to not be startled out of his skin as he answered, "I prefer John"
"Well nice to meet you John, name's Vic Sage," Vic offered his hand for the firmest handshake John had had since he'd first met Bruce Wayne, "Let's hurry, I shouldn't actually have left my car where it's parked..."
They walked together out to Vic's car, indeed unattended in a taxi bay. Vic helped John load his bags into the boot and the pair hopped in; on the walk and as the drive began, they didn't speak. John watched Vic, trying to get a handle on the man. "You often get into cars with strangers just because they know your name?" Vic had breached the silence.
"Weirder things happen in Gotham all the time," chuckled John.
"Oh yeah, you people have had some shitty luck these last ten years. Property prices must be always be rock bottom, bet I could buy city hall for eight bucks and a pack of Reece's Pieces," Vic smirked as he spoke, or maybe that was his resting face, a kind of wry scowl.
"So where are you from Vic? And where are we headed?" asked John. He took in the neon energy of Tokyo as they drove past its tempting shopfronts; he had lived all his life in a city, John loved how each of your senses could get lost simply taking in the feel of new one. He hoped they might make a few trips back here.
"Hub City, it's a goddamn mess there too, I'm glad you want to be the next Batman – the world needs more heroes. And we're going to see my teachers at a cute mountainside dojo, so I hope you liking," Vic replied.
Vic hadn't been kidding about the hike. They'd kept going further into the highlands around Tokyo until forced to park up in Tabayama, a little village surrounded by lush mountains. After that, it had been a near vertical trek through sloping forests in the dark, as all the while Vic and John had shared anecdotes about life in two of the worst places to live in the world.
John stopped to catch his breath, he caught sight of Tabayama's lights some miles off in the valley below. "So how much further is it?" he panted. He didn't want to sound like a crybaby but if the walk to the dojo was this hard, training would kill him. Vic gave no answer but instead patted him on the shoulder as if to say 'get moving'. John nodded and did just that. Another mile passed, they came to a poorly trodden dirt track that took them up for another quarter mile until a tall wooden wall stopped them.
"This is it, Tabayama-dera ," announced Vic solemnly. He put down the case he carried for John and knocked on the wall.
"Password?" came a disembodied voice, deep and reverberant.
"Promise your bones will rest with mine," Vic replied. Mechanical rattling signalled the steps slid out of the wall to form a staircase. The pair climbed the steps and found them mirrored on the other side. John really took in his surroundings once they were clear of the stairs. Standing torches lit the temple grounds, there were maybe six buildings from what he could tell in the low light. This was the Japan of storybooks and period dramas, all elaborate roofs and sliding doors. Off to his left was a wheel crank that must operate the wall steps, a serious looking Japanese man leaned against the contraption. There wasn't anything around the man that could have made his voice do what he had heard over the wall. Vic went up and caught the wheel turner in a gruff hug, which brought an unexpectedly bright smile from him. They greeted each other in Japanese, John squirmed in his ignorance until he heard 'John-san'.
"Welcome to Tabayama-dera, John-san, I am Master Jiro Osamu," Jiro bowed, John bowed in kind.
"So...master? Are you my teacher?" John asked, as Jiro took the bags he carried away from him. Vic and Jiro walked off, leaving John unanswered yet again, in the direction of the nearest building.
John caught up with them as Vic opened the door for Jiro, "Well? Are ya gonna say anything?"
"No, John, I am not your teacher. I am a sei-kyoshi of the Order of the Tranquil Sun, I taught Victor, but I will not teach you. The Dragon and The Tiger want to teach you personally," Jiro replied, they had gone through another door into a dormitory.
"Oh wow John, if the roshi and dai-osho want to train you personally, you must be hot shit!" Vic was genuinely impressed, John had no idea what he'd just said.
"You're going to want to get a good night's sleep, John. The Dragon and The Tiger aren't light touches when it comes to breaking in new novices," Jiro added.
"How do I know when we start?" John sat down on a simple bottom bunk, his bags by his feet, "And where is everybody?"
"Oh, you'll know...and they're meditating in the Zendo before bed. Which is where I'd be if I hadn't had to come get you," offered Vic.
"Good night, John, sleep well. Tomorrow, we make you a warrior of the infinite light," Jiro threw back as he and Vic left John alone. Alone, in a strange place, about to try and become a ninja all because of a man he had met fewer times than the hot dog guy outside the precinct he used to work at.