Another Dark Knight

Strange how the smallest of actions could completely alter the course of the future.

That's what Mr. Joe Chill was thinking as he sat in the alley outside the Monarch Theater, fingering the gun in his pocket and trying to keep the cold and the rain at bay. He didn't have anything else to do but think, he considered glumly, as he checked his watch and sighed. He was waiting for some people to come out of the theater so he could kill them. There was nothing he enjoyed more than killing people, but there was nothing he enjoyed less than waiting.

His thoughts flicked back to a few days ago, when he had killed someone else with the help of his friend, Joseph Napier. In fact, the reason he was on this hit tonight was because of Napier – Napier wanted these people dead. It was a matter of honor. And so Chill had offered to help his friend out, for a price, of course.

His price had been Napier's wife, Mary. He had come with Napier to his house, and the two of them had had their fun with Mary, after which they had murdered her. She had deserved it too, thought Chill – the little slut had slept with her boss, Thomas Wayne, and had a kid by him. A kid that Napier had always assumed was his, but was in actuality the bastard son of some rich jerk. So the woman deserved to be punished, for lying, and for cheating on her husband. Little actions with big consequences, actions that had altered her future, and that of her son's. The kid was probably dead now too – Napier had said he was going to take care of him the minute he came home. And Chill didn't doubt Napier's word.

Chill checked his watch again. He had been waiting in this alley ever since he saw the Waynes enter the movie theater with their son, Bruce. It had been a while ago, and Chill was getting cold and wet. He had ducked into the alley to avoid the rain, but it didn't offer much protection. And as fun as the killing was going to be, Chill began to wish he'd brought along a drink, or something to keep himself warm. But how much longer could the movie really go on for?

Little decisions with big consequences, he thought, trying to distract himself from the cold and damp with philosophical musings. The Waynes' decision to go to the movie theater tonight would be the last decision they ever made. Didn't seem so big, but it was going to lead to big consequences. And what would be the future of Gotham without its benefactors? The town would probably go to hell, but it was going there anyway, thought Chill. Do-gooder philanthropists like the Waynes could never understand that all their money and good intentions were useless. People were always gonna go bad, and a big city was always gonna have a lot of people going bad. A city would always have violence and crime – that was the destiny of all cities. Maybe the future could be altered by little things, but destiny could never be altered, even by big things.

He shook his head – this was all getting a bit deep for him. Thinking too much was always trouble. It would make you afraid to take any action if you thought about all the ways in which even the smallest thing could influence the course of the future. You couldn't live your life thinking about stuff like that. You just had to act.

And he was going to act right now, he resolved, standing up. He estimated the film had about half an hour yet, and he was going to head to a nearby bar and get something to warm himself up. He was sure he'd be back here in plenty of time, and could do the job he had already taken payment for.

But in this particular reality, this small action on the part of Joe Chill altered the future in unimaginable ways. Chill's decision to go to a bar and order a drink resulted in him ordering another one. And then another, and then another. And his decision to take offense at another patron's remark resulted in him getting into a fight with said patron, which resulted in the owner's decision to call the police. And that decision made Joe Chill clear out of the area quickly before they could arrive, since the cops were the last people a man of his criminal record wanted to encounter.

All of which resulted in Thomas and Martha Wayne returning home safely with their son after the movie had finished. They didn't meet their deaths at the hands of Joe Chill in Crime Alley. And the next day, Joe Chill found out that Joseph Napier had been murdered by the bastard kid, Jack, after he had found his mother dead in the apartment. Chill saw no reason why he should inconvenience himself fulfilling a promise to a dead man. And so Thomas and Martha Wayne lived. Batman was never created on that dark, drizzly night in Gotham City. The future was undeniably different, and Bruce Wayne's destiny was altered forever. Or was it?