"What is God's name is that? You're taking this bat thing too far." Alfred said as he walked into Bruce's bedroom and saw him with a sewing kit, piecing together a cloth outfit with a crude black bat-like symbol across the chest.
"I'm really doing this, Alfred." Bruce replied as he cut a stray piece of string from the costume.
Alfred shook his head as Bruce rose and he put the outfit on his shirtless body. It was a tight fit and the light grey color made his physique show. He put on the bat mask and gave Alfred a look.
"How is it?" Bruce asked.
"Ridiculous. You need a matching pair of pants." Alfred replied, raising an eyebrow as he calmly left the room.
Bruce shook his head and pulled off the mask, looking into the eyeholes. Before he could think, he heard the slight screeching noise of the trapped bat once again inside Wayne Manor. He walked out of the master bedroom and called for Alfred.
"Alfred! How come these bats keep getting trapped?" he asked.
"There's a large cavern about forty feet from the left edge of the Manor. I assume they travel up the shafts built in the late 1800's. Your great-great grandfather made a well from the springs below. The well's been sealed off for decades but I assume there must be small cracks." Alfred said loudly from across the hall as he folded his master's laundry in the other room.
"Hm. How soon can you go out and get some climbing and excavation equipment?" Bruce asked, still looking at the mask.
one day later
"I must say that I'm not a fan of you tearing down the walls your family built, Master Bruce." Alfred said with a wince as Bruce swung a sledgehammer into the hall.
They had moved the family grandfather clock and bookcase and Bruce began tearing up the wall, trying to find the well entrance, referencing the blueprints made over 150 years before. Bruce had bought climbing gear such as gloves, cables, a grappling hook, flashlights, glosticks, and pickaxes. He was preparing to find out exactly what was in the caves and see if it was a place where you could operate without compromising his home. His image was complete but eventually, media and the elite would want to visit his house. He couldn't try to be the dumb billionaire and be a vigilante in the same house. He needed of sorts.
"Don't worry. We can put the clock back in its place. I literally have limitless resources." Bruce said as he swung again, hitting brick behind the main wall.
Alfred and Bruce both looked at each other and Bruce swung again, easily breaking up the brick wall, hearing it shatter on the ground about five seconds later.
"Well," Bruce said while wiping the sweat from his head.
"It's a long way down."
"You ready?" Bruce yelled up as he was halfway down the rock shaft, a cold breeze suddenly making his spine freeze.
"Yes! Three... two... one!" Alfred said, releasing the rope with a two-way motorized pulley, lowering Bruce to the ground as he held onto the shaft with his legs and let the harness lower him fast.
Bruce felt his boots hit the cold rock ground and he motioned his flashlight towards the sound of rushing water. He saw multiple bats fly throughout the huge cavern and every step he took, the temperature got colder and colder. He ran across the damp ground and nearly slipped on the rock as he looked around the cave, dropping glosticks every ten steps he took. He looked at the ceiling and saw bats hanging from the top, silently sleeping. He saw the brief shining of water and motioned back, seeing a giant waterfall about three hundred feet back.
"Holy..." he began before clicking the walkie-talkie in his pocket.
"Alfred! This place is huge. There's bats everywhere and there's a giant waterfall. I think there's an opening that leads to the shores on the Palisades. I'm going over there. If I'm not back in ten..." Bruce began.
"Don't worry. I'll be back."
"Yes, sir." Alfred replied, his voice echoing through the cavern.
Bruce stuck the walkie-talkie back in his pocket and ran across the cave, dropping twenty more glosticks as he ran to the other side of the cave, coming near the waterfall. He looked around and nearly smiled at the sight of the cave. It was immense and the cave floor was unevenly located around the area. Some platforms were over sixty feet up while a few were jutted from the side of the wall. Bruce unhooked the grappling hook from his utility belt and swung it around three times before letting it fly through the air and latch onto the rock on one of the high platforms. He made sure the cable line was strong and he jumped against the wall, slowly walking up it as he barely struggled. As he climbed up the side, he held the flashlight in his mouth, sighing with disgusting as a bat flew straight into his face, making him become off-balanced. Bruce slipped off the damp wall and struggled to keep his breathing under control as he grabbed the cable again, hanging twenty-feet from the ground.
"C'mon..." Bruce whispered quietly to himself.
He placed one foot back against the cave wall and shook his head as he regained concentration.
"This place could use a dehumindifer..." Bruce said.
"Or a hundred."
Alfred stood in the kitchen, watching the T.V. on the tile counter while holding the walkie-talkie in his hand. He eventually took a seat and closed his eyes as the GCN program continued to air.
"The Gotham Rogues have won their third game in a row. Bobby, this season is amazing for them and I really hope- what?" the sports forecaster said to the T.V. as someone spoke to him through his earpiece.
"Okay, ladies and gentleman, we just have a report that the Farland Bank Institute Building is under attack from a shooter nearby. We have reports that six people are dead and two of them are Wayne Enterprises employees. We are going to direct you straight to the live news feed on West Beverly Avenue." the newscaster said before the T.V. switched to the live feed.
Alfred rose up in his chair and stared at the screen, watching the violent horror unfold.
"Oh my God! There's more than one shooter! I can count five, no seven shooters! They just caused the secruivan to blow up and there's people hurt on the street!" a rookie reporter named Vicki Vale said as her cameraman focused on the shooters firing machine guns all over the front of the skyscraper.
Glass fell from the building and screaming could be heard on the streets. Vicki ran across the street and bullets flew all around her, the cameraman getting shot and his blood splattering all over the lens. Her screaming could be heard as the feed was cut off.
"Master Bruce! I need you right now! The Farland Bank is being shot at and many people are dead! Two of them worked at WE! Please hurry!"
"Alright! I'm coming! Go to the garage and start it up!" Bruce said as he jumped from the rock platform and zipped down with the cable.
He unclipped himself and kept the flashlight on as he ran back to the shaft opening. Quickly, he activated the pulley with his foot and stood on it as he flew back up to the broken wall.
"What's in the garage?" Alfred asked.
"Ah, you'll see. Be there in forty seconds." Bruce replied, climbing up the wall and running upstairs to the master bedroom.
"Why doesn't he ever tell me anything?" Alfred said to himself as he opened the door to the giant Manor garage and saw a nice-looking sports car that was completely solid black, had special paint that left no reflection or shine of any kind, and how armor coating the roof, hood, sides, and hubcaps.
He opened the door and noticed how low the car was. He pushed the ignition button and sighed, turning around and seeing Bruce with the bat hood on, the fabric suit that had a layer of Kevlar under it, military style cargo pants with similar Kevlar down the leg pieces, and gloves. It startled Alfred and he winced as Bruce ran in the garage door. Bruce gave him a nod and he jumped inside the car, revving the engine as he rolled down the window.
"What is this?" Alfred asked, almost scared by the absurdity of the situation.
"Don't worry. Just keep watching the news." Bruce said calmly, backing out of the garage as the door opened.
Bruce was going 30 MPH backwards and swiftly turned around, switching to drive and speeding out of the Wayne Manor driveway, heading into a shortcut that led to a quicker way to the main city. Bruce switched gears and swerved past a car at 6 MPH, eyeing the bridge he needed to merge with to get to Gotham City. While watching the road, he took out his phone and set a GPS route to the Farland Bank Building. He switched gears again as he boarded the bridge and slid back his console, seeing the twenty ninja star all neatly organized in a tray and ten glue bombs made from the League recipe in the console as well.
Bruce felt ready. He was sick and tired of being in the dark all his life. Tonight... he was going to become the man he had always strived to be. This city would get the justice it deserved.