Season One Episode 2: The Corrupt
A door opens up to a beautiful, but empty bedroom. A young boy steps inside and stands in the middle of it. It's Bruce's parents bedroom, with Bruce with his head down after the funeral.
He sees a hairbrush on the desk and picks it up.
"What are you doing in here?"
Bruce turns around and sees Alfred.
"The hairbrush. It was mom's. She would use it to get ready while my dad waited for her. He would always get so mad if she took too long." Bruce explains.
Alfred walks over to the young boy.
"Perhaps...it's a little too soon to be in this area of the house. This room will be well kept." Alfred says.
"What's going to happen to me, Alfred? Are they going to let me stay here with you?"
"I cannot say for certain but it looks that way. I will endeavor in every way I can see to it you are brought up in the same manner your parents would."
"What?" Bruce asks.
"Erm...the way I will raise you, will be the same way as if your parents were here. You have me." Alfred explains.
"I don't see how that can happen." Bruce says.
Bruce turns and looks in the mirror at himself.
"I'm an orphan." He says.
He looks back to Alfred in the empty room.
"I'm all alone now, Alfred." Bruce says sadly, and leaves the room, Alfred not saying a word and letting him leave.
At Wayne Tower, Bruce walks into his father's office, and sees the big room. His father showed him this room about a year ago. Then he talked about how he would have this office when he was not there anymore. The thought scared Bruce. Him not having his father. Thomas reassured him that that would not happen for a long, long time.
And yet here he was a year later.
Bruce sat down at the desk chair. That's when Alfred walked in.
"Master Bruce, you have a visitor." He stated.
A young boy ran into the room and stopped on the other side of the desk.
"Bruce." He says.
"Tommy."
Thomas Elliot. His parents were doctors, just like Bruce's dad. Until they got into a car accident, causing his father to die. But Thomas performed surgery on his mother, saving her life. He and Bruce were friends, before either one of their parents passed. Good friends. Martha did so love how close they were. They barely fought. Almost like brothers.
"We have to be nice to you. All kind." Tommy starts. "Or at least that's what Ms. Hyslop said at school."
"Everyone's being kind to me, Tommy. It's boring." Bruce says.
"I think I get to live with Alfred at Wayne Manor. It won't be the same." Bruce says.
"It never really is the same." Tommy states.
"No it's not." Bruce says, awkwardly and looks out the window at Gotham City, the beautiful city. The city his father helped.
"Is this office yours now?" Tommy asks.
"I don't know. I guess." Bruce answered, unsure.
"I heard some stuff. I think if you want to, you can own the company when you grow up." Tommy says.
"Like a job?" Bruce asks.
"Yeah."
"That sounds really boring." Bruce flat out states.
"It probably would. … But hey, so many other people work in offices and business, maybe it's NOT boring. Or maybe you make a lot more money than regular jobs."
"But I'm already rich..." Bruce starts, but then gets quieter as he's embarrassed to brag about his wealth. "I got the money from my parents..."
Tommy started thinking and spoke up after a few seconds of silence.
"I would've gotten my money from my mom if your dad hadn't saved her from her injuries from the car crash." Tommy finally says.
"I kinda wish my mom was dead, so I could be rich."
Bruce laughs, nervously.
"Yeah, I guess being rich isn't too bad." Bruce says just to reply.
Suddenly he gets hit with a feeling. He misses them. Of course he missed them ever since they were shot a week ago, but he couldn't cry or miss them for the ENTIRE past week. Possibly living with Alfred, or looking around Wayne Tower, or meeting with Tommy took his mind off it. But now suddenly, it hit him again. The sadness.
All of a sudden, tears started forming in his eyes. He looked out the window. Bruce didn't want to cry in front of his friend. Tommy started looking around the room, possibly taking the hint.
"I have to go to the bathroom." Bruce said, as he got up and quickly walked out of the room, not facing Tommy. His head was down as he walked. Tommy looked out the window as well. He then looked at a painting of Thomas Wayne. He stared at it for a long time.
"I need some allies in the GCPD." Loeb says, talking to Luigi in his office. "Like some cops. People I can trust."
"Well, don't look at me. I don't know." Maroni says.
"Damn. Ever since Thomas and Martha Wayne tried to make this city a better place, I don't have anyone in this damned department."
"You could try Gordon. That rookie."
"No. No he wouldn't crack. Or maybe he would, but he's transferring to Chicago soon. It's not worth the effort."
"What about someone impressionable? That rookie Branden, can be useful." Maroni suggests.
"I'll see about that."
Bruce, who is one year older walks down a dark alley at night. He sees the single lamp post in the middle. It was darkness like this that a mugger emerged from, and murdered his parents.
The mugger.
The cruel, unforgivable, murderer.
Bruce looks down when he hears some footsteps ahead of him. He looks up and sees two street muggers. Pointing their guns at him.
"The watch. Any money you have, kid. Now. And we'll leave you alone."
Bruce thinks. About how they think they can rob him. How they think they can kill him, just like his parents. No. No they can't.
Bruce gets mad. He grits his teeth and glares at them with hate. He takes a step forward, fearless, ready to fight back.
"Yo, I'm not that desperate Schultz. This kid gonna fight back. Get someone else." One mugger says to the other.
"...fine. Let's go." The other mugger says and they both run off. Bruce looks at where they came from.
They didn't kill him. They didn't mug him. They weren't that DESPERATE. Those men were similar to the man who killed his parents.
The mugger.
The poor, desperate, murderer.
Bruce looks down at his parent's graves. On a hill, close to Wayne Manor. Alfred walks up behind him.
"Is everything okay, Master Bruce?"
Bruce is a bit older now. A couple years older.
"I've thought about this a lot. My parents, were killed by a mugger. A desperate one. It was a crime. This whole damn city is filled with crime ever since my parents died. Gotham City was made a worse place. A good half of the GCPD is corrupt."
"And what is it you're trying to say, sir?"
"…what if Gotham City didn't have to be corrupt? What if it could be great? Shining? Like it was before. It would need a change. But we can't sit back and wait for change to happen, Alfred. We'd need to make it happen ourselves. I need to make it happen myself. I made a promise on the graves of my parents, a promise I intend on keeping it."
"And what is that promise? How do you intend on keeping it?" Alfred asks.
"I can't say. Not right now. But the first step to making a change, I'll start right now. I need to be sent to a boarding school. THAT'S the first step." Bruce says.
Alfred looks at him strangely.
And so I went to the boarding school. For 6 years, I went on. After those 6 years, I looked at Gotham City. How corrupt it was. How men like Maroni, and Cobblepot, and Falcone rise, and rule the city. And so, Bruce Wayne disappeared. For 7 years, Bruce Wayne disappeared. Where did he go?
Bruce is sitting down among almost an army of ninjas with a man in robes standing in front of them.
I trained for the days to come.
Bruce puts on a bunch of armor and sees another woman with a sword, getting ready for a fight. She pulls out a sword and stares at Bruce, with no weapons.
"Shiva." Bruce states as she charges him.
Bruce goes for a punch when Shiva evades and hops over his head. Bruce turns around and swings his arm, but Shiva ducks and kicks him back. Bruce goes in and throws a punch but Shiva grabs his hand and elbows him in the chest. She throws her head back, hitting Bruce in the face.
"Come on! Put in some effort!" She taunts.
Bruce charges and throws a kick. Shiva dodges. Bruce turns around and uses his armor to block some of the sword strikes from Shiva. He blocks one strike and kicks Shiva in her side. He pushes her back. He charges again but Shiva uses her palm to hit him in his face. She pushes him and elbows him in his head. She swings her sword but Bruce barely dodges and falls to the floor.
"Too predictable." She says.
Bruce gets up and starts walking towards her. Shiva backs up until they get near a building with a couple wooden posts around. Shiva stops backing up and holds her ground. Bruce throws a punch when Shiva pushes him back. Bruce dodges her swing and backs up near a post.
Shiva gets closer when Bruce charges and throws a bunch of punches, Shiva ducks and kicks him in the leg, causing Bruce to slip down to his knees. He throws a punch, edging forward as Shiva dodges, and swings her sword.
Bruce then quickly turns around and grabs her sword with his hands, catching her off guard and swiping it from her hands. He punches her in her gut, stunning her, as he takes the tip of the sword and pokes it into the post, stuck there.
He then kicks the sword, and it breaks in half. Shiva looks at him. She lost her weapon. She chuckles.
"Smart." Shiva says as she starts punching and attacking, but Bruce dodges and blocks most of her attacks, but she would get a good hit in. Bruce eventually knocks her arms away when she kicks him. Bruce falls.
"You may have gotten rid of my weapon, but now YOU don't have one." She says.
Bruce reaches over and grabs the sword handle, which still has a bit of a point, and cuts her leg. She yells and steps back as Bruce jumps up and kicks her. She falls to a knee, as he lays the sharp end on the back of her neck.
"What do you call this?" Bruce says.
"Resourceful bastard." Shiva says while smirking.
And I trained. For 7 years, until I knew, it was time. I had to return. Return to Gotham City.
A plane lands in an empty runway. Alfred steps out as Bruce stands there. Bruce hugs Alfred.
"Master Bruce..."
The plane flies through the sky and to the island of Gotham.
From the sky, the view would trick you into thinking it was clean. But it can be clean again. I can make it clean again.
A train stops as Gordon steps out into the crowd. He sighs.
"Jim! Jim Gordon!"
Gordon turns to the sound of the voice and sees a big, bulk man.
"So...you're my partner?" Gordon states.
"Yes. Yes I am. Come on, I'll take you the GCPD. My name's Arnold. Arnold Flass." He says.
Gordon sighs again as he's dragged away by Flass. The plane lands. Bruce steps out and looks at Gotham.
Gotham. It's time to get to work.
The Batman
Next Time on The Batman: I Shall Become a Bat! (1x3)
Bruce has gotten training, and he's gotten enough preparation. He should be ready. But something's missing. He needs to make Gotham a better place. But how?
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