Author's Note:
This is my first story in my planned Ruins of Gotham anthology. In this story, I will plant the seeds for future stories as well as establish the main characters of the first planned volume. If you like what you read, please feel free to post a review. I will read your stories and review them in return! Anyway, I hope you enjoy your time in my version of Gotham!
Prologue:
Oath of Justice
He didn't mind the rain, but it never was very forgiving. It was June 26th. The time was 10:47 PM. On this day, every year, he would visit the place of his greatest failure, his second birthplace. To him, the cement was still painted with their blood, a blood yet to be washed from his hands. They were the grounds that shaped the man he would eventually become. Every time Bruce entered the alley, he witnessed his parents murder again. The sounds of the gunfire, the rapid beat of his heart thumping against his rib cage, the tears knotting his throat. It was the moment he lived with every donning of the cape and cowl. The constant reminder of a once innocent child, forever gone by the shear tragedy that found him.
The stench of the alley was just as he remembered it. It's sharp, musky, aroma carried through past the theatre that faced him. As Bruce walked down the alley, the scent of fresh urin greeted him as he felt vomit moisten his throat. He could smell the mildew engrossing the edge of most of the surrounding buildings.
He bent down on one knee and pulled out two red roses fom his inner pocket and set them in the center of the alley, one over the other. "I'm sorry" he began to say. "I come here every year, and every year I let you down. It's been twenty years and I still haven't set it right." He rested his hand on the roses. It's damp, yet smooth petals mildly comforted him. But they still were just a reflection of his past. "Every time, I'm reminded of the gulit. Knowing I led you to your deaths." His head sunk. "I thought I could make a difference in a way you could be proud. So you could forgive me." His eyes swelled with rebelling tears and stung his throat. "So I could forgive myself."
His heart throbbed. The moment of his parents murder returned to haunt him like a reoccurring nightmare that he couldn't control. He made a vow, one that he swore to uphold. Not for vengeance, but for justice. On his watch, he would protect Gotham from the crime that it delivered and allow those criminals to fuel his burning desire to set things right.
"Gotham deserves better."