Season 2 Episode 10: Under New Management

My name is Bruce Wayne. When I was 8 years old, my parents were killed by an evil. And so I made a promise to fight that evil. I traveled the world for 18 years, and returned to Gotham City to protect it. Now I have new allies, helping me in my crusade, but I also have new enemies. New threats have arrived in my city, and I must stop them. I am vengeance. I am the night. I am the Batman.

Previously on the Batman...

The shadow has talked to the Penguin about the next step of his plan

Oswald Cobblepot has attacked Bruce Wayne before

Barbara Gordon now works for Batman

Tommy Elliot and Bruce Wayne are trying to reconnect

During the day recently, Bruce instead wore his spare vigilante suit from before he became Batman

And yes, Batman is STILL taking Venom

Gordon finishes his dinner and stands up from the table.

"Thanks for dinner, Barbara." Gordon thanks and quickly kisses his wife on the lips.

Gordon's daughter, Barbara gets a text on her phone.

"Sorry guys, I've got to go." She states.

"Where do you have to run to every time?" Gordon asks.

"Nowhere. It's just some personal business."

"Okay...stay safe. Oh God, it's not a boy, is it?"

"Dad, would you calm down?"

"Alright. Sorry."

"I've got to go."

Barbara gets up and heads for the front door.

"Thanks for dinner, mom."

She leaves.

"She never answered my question about whether it was a boy or not." Gordon comments.

Barbara walks into the Batcave and sees Bruce standing at his Batcomputer.

"I'm guessing the shadow is still missing." Barbara guesses.

"Yes. We've got to find him before he finds us. You've got to help Dick find him. In a couple days I've got to go back to Wayne Enterprises. They've made a new board decision that I need to know about."

"I help Dick...I have an idea. How about...I become a vigilante alongside you guys?"

"Like a third vigilante..."

"Of course I'll need training, and time. But...when I'm ready...why not? We're up against quite a tough threat."

"I'll think about it."

...

"I've got to go." Bruce states and goes for his Batsuit.

Batman appears in a dimly lit apartment and sees the Venom manufacturer.

"I was waiting for you, Mr...here." The manufacturer says and hands him some Venom pills.

Batman nods, and retreats back into the shadows. Lightning strikes, lighting up the corner, and he's gone.

"Hmph."

The Batman

Gordon's police car drives up to a store being robbed and he steps out. He turns to his new partner.

"Essen, come on!" He orders.

Another cop steps out and they both run into the store with their guns out.

"Stay here!" Gordon orders.

Essen stays in place as Gordon tackles a thug and knocks him out and cuffs him. Another thug bursts out from behind a corner. He fires but misses as Gordon takes cover. Gordon tries shooting a couple times before running up to the thug and knocking him to the ground.

Gordon cuffs him to as he hears a gun being reloaded from behind him. He turns around and sees the last thug pointing a shotgun at Gordon. Then he gets shot through the leg and falls. Gordon looks past him and sees Essen, pointing her smoking gun at the thug.

Back at the GCPD, Gordon and Sarah have gotten into an arguement.

"I told you to stay and wait at the entrance of the store!" Gordon states.

"Yeah, I know you did." Sarah answers.

"So why didn't you listen?"

"Because you needed my help! You were about to be killed! And you would've been if I didn't move!"

"Yes, but it was against my orders!"

"I disobeyed them because the truth is you don't communicate well with your partners! You don't trust me! And because of that, you're going to get killed one day!"

"...I'm done with this crap." Gordon says and leaves.

"Yeah, great talking with you, Gordon!"

Meanwhile, in the GCPD, a Mutant is being escorted down the hall, before falling to his knees.

"Get up!" The cop says.

The Mutant then jumps up, headbutting the cop in the face, stunning him. The Mutant then uses his handcuffs to choke the cop to death. He steals his gun and shoots two cops running towards him from down the hall. He steals the keys from the dead cop and gets out of his handcuffs while also taking the keys to unlock the cells and runs to the holding cells.

He sees the leader locked in a cell and goes to free him. He does so.

"All hail the king."

The Mutant Leader steps out of his cell and smiles.

"Free the rest." The King orders.

Alfred hears a knock on the door at Wayne Manor and goes to answer. He opens the door and there he sees Tommy Elliot.

"Tommy! It's good to see you here again!" Alfred greets.

"Good to see you too, Alf. I don't suppose Bruce is out again, is he?" Tommy asks.

"Um, unfortunately he is. But please, he will be back very soon. My apologies... Dr. Elliot. Come in, come in."

Alfred welcomes Tommy into Wayne Manor as he heads towards the dining room.

"You've really been keeping the place in great condition. Where is everyone? I mean, everyone else. Like I heard Bruce adopted a ward named Richard." Tommy says.

"Yes...he is out buying decorations to make sure Wayne Manor looks good for the festive season." Alfred explains.

"Okay. Where should I wait for Bruce?"

"Please, the living room will be fine."

"Alright. Thanks, Alf."

Tommy walks to the living room.

"Tommy..." Alfred whispers.

Years and years ago, Alfred remembers walking through the halls of Wayne Manor, only to hear laughing from downstairs. At the bottom of the main staircase, Bruce and Tommy would play chess. Or more accurately, Tommy was trying to teach Bruce how to play chess.

The two boys were lying down on the ground, looking at each other, and were separated by the chess board.

"Checkmate." Tommy said.

"I don't get it." Bruce said.

"Here's a tip about Chess, Bruce." Tommy started. "You always need to think ahead. Try to predict your opponent's move. No offence Bruce, but you're pretty predictable. And because you're predictable, I was able to beat you."

"I am not predictable!"

"I was able to beat you though. Hey, maybe we can play again, but this time, try to do something I won't expect. Gives me a challenge that way."

"Hey!"

Tommy chuckled. Bruce laughed with him and they reset the pieces. Master and Mrs. Wayne watched them from the top of the staircase without them noticing.

"Isn't it great how they don't fight or anything?" Mrs. Wayne asked her husband.

"It's better than great." Master Wayne said.

"But the friends that are this playful, and the ones you never fight with, those are friends for life."

Master Wayne smiled.

"Tommy's a good kid." He said.

Alfred overheard all four of them talking.

Batman drives in his Batmobile towards the GCPD and ejects out. He crashes through one of the windows and heads downstairs. He bursts into the holding cells and sees a huge prison riot. Most of them are Mutants. Batman drops down in the middle of them and gets into a fight During the fight, he gets injured, sometimes stabbed.

Batman brutally beats each Mutant. The King then walks into the room.

"BATMAN! You're back to get your damn ass kicked!" He announces.

Batman growls and charges. The King punches but Batman blocks it with his forearms. Batman grabs King's fist and headbutts him. He grabs his other fist and they struggle. Batman swipes his arm away and upper cuts him. He then punches King repeatedly in the face.

A/N: Yes, I'm just going to keep calling him King. It's better than simply just "Mutant Leader."

Batman swipes his arm across King's face, breaking his nose. King wipes away the blood with the back of his hand and Batman punches him across the face. King elbows Batman in the chest, knocking him back. Batman throws another punch, blocked by King and he pushes him back.

Two Mutants are watching from the side.

"Batman dusted." One says.

"Leader don't Shiv, Rob, you'll see." The other one replies.

King starts throwing punches but Batman blocks them all with his forearms. He dodges out of the way as King turns and throws a couple more punches, but misses. Batman's muscles tighten because of the Venom and punches King across the face. He punches him in his broken nose again, hard. King starts throwing more punches but Batman elbows him.

Batman punches him again and then kicks King to the ground. A couple more Mutants all pounce on Batman, some stab him, but Batman takes all of them, breaking bones and winning the fight, stopping the riot. He felt a huge rush using Venom during this fight.

It begins at the base of his spine. It rises through his chest and lungs, and then he can no longer contain it: The laugh that sounds strangely like a shriek. Batman drives into the Batcave and steps out. Alfred starts treating his wounds as the Venom wears off.

"All those drugs and you still got injuries for me to patch up." Alfred comments.

...

"Okay. That's most of them sewn up. You should be good to go." Alfred states.

"To train." Bruce says.

"To talk to Thomas Elliot."

"What?"

"I invited him in to talk to you, and he's been waiting for your return for nearly an hour now. I suggest that maybe you could reconnect with your old friend. Just an idea, but I would really hate having him wait here for an hour, and then telling him to go back home."

Alfred walks away and Bruce thinks.

He thinks back to when his father and mother were setting up a dinner dance that night.

Bruce walks down the stairs and into the ballroom where all the tables were set up with forks and knives and plates and napkins and small candles. His father and mother had him dress up in fancy clothing for that night.

"Hon, Thomas! There's a stain on your shirt. Here come with me, I'll clean it out before the guests arrive." Mom said.

"I will, just let me see if everything's in order first." Dad stated.

He always liked making sure everything was correct before he let a ball or dance start. There could've been something wrong. He was always a bit paranoid like that.

"Alright. Everything IS in order. Let's go get this shirt cleaned." Dad had said and they both walked past Bruce.

Bruce looked over the tables. Everything looked fancy like it always does. He also heard his parents talking as they walked upstairs.

"Do you think Mr. and Mrs. Elliot will come?" Mom asked.

"No, I think I heard that they canceled." Dad replied.

Bruce was disappointed at that news. Tommy wouldn't be coming. Bruce walked upstairs, passing Alfred who walked back downstairs. Bruce walked into the living room and turned on the TV. He remembered being bored waiting for the guests to show up. Alfred walks back up from the ballroom when he heard a knock on the door.

Bruce turned off the TV and walked out from the living room. Father had said to look professional when guests arrived, even though he wasn't 100% sure what that word even meant. Alfred opened up the door, but instead of seeing a guest, he saw Tommy standing out in the rain.

"Alf..." He started.

"Tommy? What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming?" Bruce asked.

"There was an accident. Something happened."

Bruce walks out of the library and down the stairs to see Tommy.

"Tommy!" He says.

They both hug.

"Sorry, I took so long. There's been a lot of complicated business at Wayne Enterprises." Bruce says.

"Oh, I can imagine." Tommy replies.

"So what brings you here?"

"Oh, well it's a Saturday night and I had no other plans so I thought I would drop by. Didn't expect to be waiting an hour though."

"Hey, Wayne Enterprises man!"

"How many times have you used that excuse on anyone who asks 'what took you so long?'"

They both laugh.

"So how's you and the company?" Tommy asks.

"Well, Bob and Regina Zellerbach have called me back to Wayne Tower. They said they want to talk about a new decision they're making that they need me to know about."

"Ah, what could really be that important?"

"We're dismissing you as CEO."

"What?" Bruce asks, inside his office in Wayne Tower.

"We had an emergency board meeting, and we decided, that maybe it would be best if..." Regina states.

"Why the hell wasn't I invited?"

"You were the topic of discussion. I'm sorry Bruce, but you barely come to any meetings, and the ones you do, you're always late, you barely control this company at all...perhaps it would be best, if we...took this responsibility off your hands."

"But...you can't just do this..."

"I'm afraid the board already voted on this. It's official. ... I know. I'm not the biggest fan of it, either. But maybe...some good can come from this."

"So I'm losing my company. Great. ... Who's the new CEO?"

"Actually, he should be here any minute."

The doors to the office open and the new CEO walks in.

"Oswald Cobblepot." Regina states.

Oswald walks up to the pair.

"Good morning, Bruce! Nice to see you, Regina!" He greets.

"Are you serious? Oswald Cobblepot?"

Regina stays silent.

"It's not so bad, Bruce. I'll make sure I run this company as good as you would. Probably even better." Oswald says.

Bruce clenches his fists.

"Didn't you try to kill me?" Bruce asks.

"Still holding a grudge? Yes, I am sorry for that, Bruce. But I've gone to prison. I've changed. I realized the error of my ways. I did that because I, myself, held a grudge. Once you learn to let it go, life really becomes better." Oswald explains.

"Well, I've got to get going. Don't stay for too long, Bruce." Regina says and heads for the door.

Oswald leans towards Bruce.

"Just think about it, soon enough, it's going to be Cobblepot Enterprises, Cobblepot Tower, everyone will know and remember and love the Cobblepot family, and then there will be no one left to even remember your family. Cobblepot will become the face of Gotham, and Wayne will be cast down and forgotten." Oswald taunts.

Bruce grows angry and punches Oswald across the face.

"Bruce!" Regina calls out.

"What the hell's the matter with ya?" Oswald asks.

Bruce punches him again, to the ground.

"BRUCE!" Regina yells.

Security runs in and grabs Bruce. He gets dragged out of the office as Regina attends to Cobblepot.

Later that night, Bruce is typing on the Batcomputer as Lucius walks in.

"Bruce, I heard what happened at Wayne Enterprises. What are you going to do now?" Lucius asks.

"Cobblepot is the Penguin, and he's working with the Shadow, Riddler, and the Scarecrow. They're all planning something big. And whatever it is, it requires my company. Penguin most likely suggested it: He's not the biggest fan of the Waynes." Bruce explains.

"And what about me, Mr. Wayne?"

"I need you to stay in Wayne Enterprises for me. No one knows you work for me, you can be my mole. I need to know everything that Cobblepot will be working on. With a man on the inside, I can keep up with him, and be able to stop him if he tries anything."

"Good idea. What will you do now?"

"I'm going to find this Shadow."

Bruce walks over to his suit chamber, but instead dresses up in his old vigilante costume. He puts on the Kevlar with the belts and straps, and puts on a ski mask. He jumps from rooftop to rooftop in his vigilante suit.

Back at the GCPD, Gordon runs up to a group of officers.

"We've got a riot, Downtown Miagani!" Gordon announces.

He hops into a police car with Sarah sitting by his side.

"You have to trust me, Gordon." She says.

"Not now, Essen." He answers.

"Yes, now. If we don't handle this now, then we won't handle it later."

"Fine. What?"

"You're the commissioner. You've commanded every partner you had, and they listened. I'm not just going to go down that easy. You need to trust me. That's the entire point of having a partner!"

"Yeah, I know."

"You're not even listening, are you?"

Sarah looks out the window of the car.

The police car stops and Gordon runs out with a gun. Sarah follows closely behind him. He fires some warning shots to the ground. Gordon, Sarah, and the rest of the cops surround the riot and apprehend the thugs. Gordon tackles a couple and puts them in cuffs. Sarah knocks a few down and does the same.

One of the thugs starts running from the gang.

"After him!" Gordon shouts.

Gordon and Sarah both chase him as the thug runs across the street. A taxi stops in as he runs and Gordon slides across the hood to get across. The thug runs down an alley and Gordon and Sarah are close behind.

"Stay there!" Gordon orders.

"What?" Sarah asks.

"Just do it!"

"Gordon!"

"Do it, or it's your job!"

Sarah stays put at the end of the alley as Gordon chases the thug. The thug sees a fence at the other end of the alley and jumps up to a fire escape. Gordon climbs up and runs up the stairs after him. The thug reaches the roof and runs towards the edge. Gordon reaches the roof and fires his gun as a warning shot.

"Hands on your head!"

The thug thinks for a few seconds before running to the door leading down to the apartment building. It's locked. Gordon pulls the trigger on his gun, but he's out of bullets.

"Shit." He curses.

The thug turns and then runs past Gordon. He jumps across the rooftops and makes it to the one next door. Gordon follows and jumps as well. He grabs onto the ledge and slowly pulls himself up. As Gordon comes to stand, he gets punched in the face and falls. Gordon looks up at the thug who start strangling Gordon.

Gordon pulls out his taser and stuns the thug. Gordon then throws the thug off the roof and he lands on the fire escape, and falls down the stairs to the next level. The thug gets up as Gordon sits up, massaging his throat. He gets up and then jumps down to the fire escape. The thug makes it back down to the alleyway. He runs towards the fence but then runs the other way to the open end.

As he reaches the end of the alleyway, he gets punched in the face by Sarah. Gordon drops down into the alley and walks towards Sarah and the unconscious thug.

"Was that your plan all along?" Sarah asks.

"Yeah, just needed him to circle back down here, and you block him off."

Sarah half smiles.

Bruce returns to the Batcave, blood staining his suit.

"Master Bruce, what happened?" Alfred asks in worry.

"It's not my blood." Bruce states.

"That doesn't matter. This is going too far, Bruce. The Venom...it's hurting you. You must stop."

"Venom gets results, Alfred. You won't convince me to stop."

"But just for a second, look at what it's doing to you!"

"When I didn't take it, people died. A lot of people died, under my protection. Now I'm saving even more. No one's dying under my protection ever again. With this, I will never fail."

"If you thought failure was never going to come with this job, then you were never ready to become Batman."

Bruce walks past Alfred and takes off his mask. He takes one pill, and goes upstairs.

Later, Bruce goes to Tommy's mansion.

"Nice manor. Almost as good as mine." Bruce comments.

"Y'know, sometimes I hate you, Bruce." Tommy replies.

Bruce chuckles.

"So where's your mother?" Bruce asks.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to tell you for a while now but I never got the chance. I was dating this girl for a few years, we broke up recently, but when I told her, she got up to hug me. Unfortunately she tripped and hit off the desk on the way down. She crushed her windpipe." Tommy explains.

"Tommy...I'm so sorry..."

"Don't be. At least I got the mansion..." Tommy tries to chuckle.

Bruce and him both look down.

Tommy remembers being in the hospital waiting room. Gotham General. He was waiting with Bruce for the doc to finish the operation with his parents.

"So what happened?" Bruce asked.

"It was kind of dark, and rainy. I think the car slipped or the brake broke or something." Tommy explained.

"Well people have said that my dad is a pretty good doctor. They'll be okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Stick a needle in my eye."

Tommy looked down. The doc walked out of the room, looking sorrowful.

"Tommy, I have to tell you something." The doc said.

He kneeled down to Tommy's level.

"I have some good news and some bad news." He began. "The good news is that we were able to save your mom. She's alive, and she's going to be okay. The bad news is that, well...your father was really badly hurt, and..."

Tommy turned to Bruce.

"LIAR! You swore!" Tommy shouted.

Bruce felt even worse and took a few steps back. He wasn't entirely sure how to feel. From that moment on, Tommy lived with his mother.

Later that night, Bruce walks back into the Batcave to find Barbara putting up a small Christmas tree that fits in a pot on the desk.

"Ta-da!" She exclaims.

"Barbara, I've made a decision." Bruce states.

"About what?"

"I've made the decision, that, you're right. We do need the extra help out there to find the shadow. We need you out there with us."

Barbara smiles.

"Let's get you some training."

The Batman

Next Time on the Batman: Blizzard (2x11)

A blizzard reaches Gotham City and coats everyone in snow. As Barbara starts training and learning to become a vigilante, an old foe returns to Gotham. So Bruce, Dick, and Barbara all try to reconcile with the villain, but it may be too late.

EDOOC QDVWB!