The slow dripping of water spurred the young man from unconsciousness.
Slowly he sat up, looking around to where he had fallen to.
Where exactly was he?
It was cold, dark and damp. It was almost as if he were in some sort of cave.
But how was that possible? There were no caves in Gotham City….Were there?
Just as the question entered his mind, suddenly a small dark figure rushed past his face.
He ducked down and threw his hands over his hand, shirking away from whatever it was that had startled him.
For a few moments, he remained in that state, unsure whether or not he should look for fear of it potentially being a harmful creature.
After he believed enough time had passed, he slowly opened his eyes and looked out from underneath his hands and arms to see a small bat perched on a rock just feet away from him.
"A ba…."
Before he could finish, his eyes lingered upwards towards the ceiling where what seemed like hundreds of bats hung, some sleeping, some looking curiously at the young man who had stumbled into their home.
He remained frozen, eyes unmoving from the bats above his head.
"You've really gotten yourself into a pickle now Dylan…."
He couldn't just sit there forever. He had to move sometime.
Seizing a quick moment, he shot up and just ran, but suddenly bright lights flashed on, blinding the young man.
When the blinding effect went away, only an expression of shock and awe remained on his face.
"What is this place?" He said looking around at the sight before him.
Various equipment, computers, crates, boxes, littered the cave before him. A large computer terminal was centered in the middle with a largely cracked helipad and rundown….Well what looked to be a tank sitting on a spot just before the cave exit.
Slowly walking forward, he was unsure of just what to think of this place.
He had never seen or even heard of anything like this place as long as he had been alive.
"This.… This is amazing…." He quietly muttered to himself, still in awe of what he was seeing before his eyes.
"It has been a long time since last someone entered this place…" An older voice said.
Dylan quickly brought his hands up and jumped into his best fighting stance.
Standing before him was an elderly man, a bit hunched over with a cane in hand. Wearing a black suit, white shirt and a long black tie with a full head of white hair and squinted eyes behind a set of black spectacled glasses, he looked up at the young man.
"Who….Who are you?"
The older man simply smiled.
"Just an old codger who has been waiting a very long time for someone to finally find their way here. It has been so long since anyone besides myself walked through this place."
Dylan gulped and took a deep breath.
What had happened to the other people who had been in this place? Were they dead? Had this old man killed them?
The young man took a step back, still in fighting stance as he looked over the older man.
"You have nothing to worry about. I won't harm you. I don't think I have the strength to do so anyways. I am far too old to even begin to try and hurt someone. The best I could probably do is hit them with my cane. And that is if I can lift my arm high enough…."
The old man suddenly started…to laugh?
Dylan quirked an eyebrow at the old man.
What in the world was the old man's deal? So weird….. He thought to himself.
"I jest young man….I still have some strength in me yet. How do you think this place stays so dapper and clean?"
A moment passed before once again the older man laughed.
"I jest again. This place is quite a mess. But it is a good thing that you are here. I could use a hand cleaning it up."
Dylan cleared his throat and just stared at the man.
"I'm sorry….What's that now? I don't remember saying anything about staying here."
The older man sighed.
"Your best option IS to stay here. Or would you prefer to take your chances out there where those awful and dangerous looking thugs could still be searching for you?"
Damn…He had forgotten about those thugs. They were the reason he was in this place and in this situation in the first place. He really did have no choice but to stay here….At least for now.
"Fine….I'll stay. But….There are some ground rules. First, don't sneak up on me again. It's creepy and just….Just don't do it. Second, my life is my life. No questions about it. Yeah? I don't know you and you don't know me. We keep it like that. And third? Just don't sneak up on me."
The older man chuckled.
"Alright…Alright…"
Using his cane, the older man motioned for the younger man to follow him.
Dylan just gave him a look.
"You didn't think we'd be staying in this dark, damp cave did you? Oh ho…No no….Come….I will show you where you will be staying." He said as he began walking up the ramp.
After what seemed like eternity walking behind this snail of an old man, they reached an old service elevator and hopped in.
"Going up…" The older man said, pulling down the lever.
The elevator rose and rose, the dark cave being replaced by even darker walls.
Where in the world was he? He couldn't help but think to himself again.
The elevator reached its destination.
"Here we are…"
The old man used a hand to push the wall in front of him open and stepped through.
Dylan followed and what he found on the other side astonished him.
Sitting just through this wall was a fairly large library.
"We're staying in a library?"
The older man snickered.
"The sad truth is few left remain who know what this place is. And just simply a library, it is not. This….Well…Best to keep following me."
And follow the old man he did, through long halls adorned with paintings and other decorations. Had there not been dust and cobwebs, this place would have been a sight to behold.
They soon reached the main hall where the grand staircase sat.
"We…We're in…a mansion?" Dylan asked, looking around at the large entry hall.
"Not just any mansion dear boy….This…Is Wayne Manor."
Dylan slowly looked around, once again in awe at what he was seeing.
His eyes then fell on a statue in the center of the room just by the staircase.
He walked over to it and used a hand to wipe away the dust from the plaque that sat on the front.
"Though wealthy he may have been, humble and generous was he. Where many knew him as a partier, rich, arrogant and otherwise, those that really knew him, knew he was something more. A loving father. A great son. A hero in his own right. In memory of Bruce Wayne."
Dylan looked back at the older man, a puzzled look on his face.
"Bruce Wayne?" He simply asked.
The older man had a somber look on his face as he peered at the statue.
"In the public eye, he was nothing more than the son of Thomas and Martha Wayne. A high class, rich kid with a spoiled life and an attitude to rightly fit it. But to those closest to him, he was something more. And to this city….He was nothing but a savior…A protector…A Dark Knight….."
From what the old man said, this Bruce Wayne….He seemed like a one of a kind person. But still….He had never heard of him.
"How did you know him?"
The older man smiled, a small tear running down his cheek.
"I knew him…as a father….I am his son….I…am Damien Wayne."