Chapter 3: Suit Up!
It had been a few days since Bruce Wayne had returned to Gotham and the whole city was talking about it. Everyone was going crazy over the fact that the Prince of Gotham has returned after traveling abroad for 10 years. Bruce was currently in the living room of his mansion looking through some old photo collections of him and his parents. He didn't look at them and get sad, he instead remembered all the good times he had with his parents before they were killed. He suddenly stopped when he heard a sort of squeaking and flapping in the room. He looked around for the source of the noise, but it was nowhere at eye level. He then looked up and saw a lone bat making noises and flying in a corner. "Oh, dear! I see another one of those damn bats has found its way in here.", Alfred said as he walked into the room carrying a tray that had a teapot with tea in it, teacups, and sugar lumps. "Where are they coming from?", Bruce asked. "I believe they are coming from the cave below the manor. The one that you wanted to set up your base in.", Alfred answered. Bruce then thought for a moment and said, "I'll be back in like 10 minutes.". "Where are you going, Master Bruce?", Alfred asked. "Just a little trip down memory lane.", he answered. Bruce then went outside and made his way towards the hole that he fell into as a child. He brought some rope with him and safely lowered himself down through the hole with it. He was now in the cave and it gave him slight chills to be back here. He saw the hole where all the bats flew at him that one time and made his way through it. He was now in a larger section of the cave which seemed like the perfect place to set up his shop in. He turned on a light to see slightly better and as soon as he did, A huge swarm of bats came out of nowhere and started circling around. Bruce covered himself in fear and protection. But after a few seconds, the fear was gone and he began to feel peaceful feeling the bats flying around him. He then stood up and closed his eyes for a moment of meditation while the bats were still flying. He now knew what symbol he would become to help Gotham. The next day, Bruce had a meeting at Wayne Enterprises to announce that he would become CEO of the company effective immediately now that he is back and is the sole heir to the company. After about 15 minutes into the meeting, Bruce finished it off by saying, "And in conclusion, my goal in summary is to do what's best for this company just as my father would've. And I will make sure that this company does what's best for the city and that I know with all of us working together, we can make both Wayne Enterprises and Gotham better than ever. Thank you for your time. Meeting adjourned.". All of the board members gave a slight round of applause after the short speech that Bruce just gave. Then all of them began to leave the room. Bruce then saw just the man he wanted to talk to, Lucius Fox making his way to the door. "Excuse me, Mr. Fox? Can I talk to you for a second?", Bruce asked. "Why certainly, Mr. Wayne. What can I do for you?", Lucius asked. "I was wondering if you can show me what kind of tech you're working on right now in your department.", Bruce said. "Follow me, sir.", Lucius said. After they got Fox's department, he began to show Bruce some of the things there were which included a line launcher, a Remote Electrical Charge device, smoke pellets, special kinds of high-tech boomerangs, and most importantly an advanced bulletproof suit that was originally supposed to be used for the military, but the project ended up getting canceled. After explaining all of this stuff to Bruce, Lucius asked him, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but what is your interest in all of this stuff, sir?". "I was wondering if I could borrow it?", Bruce asked. "All of it? For what exactly?", he asked. Bruce then was about to answer, but Lucius then said, "You know what, I don't want to know right now.". "I mean as long as it's alright with you if I do, and I would rather that nobody else but me and you knew about this.", Bruce said. "The way I see it, Mr. Wayne. Technically, this all your stuff. You can do with it whatever you with. If you even want to take it home with you, you can. I'm just not sure where you would be able to put it.", he said. "I have space for it all.", he answered. He then looked over and saw a very advanced looking vehicle parked. Lucius noticed that he was looking at it and asked him, "I assume you're interested in taking that with you as well.". "Maybe.", Bruce said with a smile. About a week later, Bruce was pretty much ready to start his crusade against Gotham's underbelly. He had converted the cave into a high-tech base of operations. He put a big computer in it, along with the vehicle which he had painted black and made it look more bat themed and decided to call it the Batmobile. He carved those boomerangs to look more like bats and he decided to call them batarangs. But the most important piece was the suit that he had also painted black and had a sort of utility belt around the waist of it and attached a long flexible cape in the back. He had also put a bat in the center of it to represent his new symbol and he created a cowl with bat ears to make him look like a bat. Alfred was also pretty skilled with technology and was able to patch into the police radio and he just got word that crime boss Rupert Thorne is supposed to get a new shipment of guns and drugs on the Southside docks tonight. After telling Bruce about that, Bruce had decided that tonight was the night to begin. He had almost finished putting on the suit for the first time. He was just about to put on the mask when he saw the fear in Alfred's eyes. "I'll be fine, Alfred. I promise. This is what I want to do. This is what I need to do. This is what Gotham needs me to do.", Bruce said to try to comfort Alfred. "I know, sir. I just worry about you.", he said. Bruce then began to slowly put on the mask. Once it was on, he turned around and Alfred immediately felt a wave of terror come over him once he saw how dreadful the mask made his master look. "My God!", Alfred said to himself. Bruce then slowly walked towards the Batmobile and revved up the engine. The car then took off almost like a jet out of the cave and started to make its way to the city.