The Rolls Royce pulled into the drive of the Wayne Manor, and while the to-and-from Gotham drive was filled with conversations about the workday, what dinner should be, and more, today it was quiet. Not even the radio was playing, just the sound of the tires on the road and the engine humming. Alfred looked towards the rearview mirror once more to see Ben with his arm perched up to hold his head by his hand resting against his knuckles and his fingers relaxed. Alfred asked those same questions, and if Lucious got his request for new Batarang designs. Both of Ben's answers to those questions were bluntly simple, quick, and to the point. An easy telltale sign that he was upset about something, he has done it ever since he was young. Ben was unusually hard on himself when he made mistakes, Alfred even considered for Ben to start seeing a doctor about it, but believed that Bruce could easily step in and assist him. As the car came to a stop he opened up the garage door, and as he backed it inside he closed the garage and stepped out of the car to let Ben out who had collected his things already. As he opened the back door Alfred had finally taken the chance to talk about what was bothering Ben.
"I'm sorry Master Ben." He said putting the keys away on a multi-peg key holder.
"You have nothing to apologize for," Ben commented as he walked past Alfred.
"I still feel compelled to say something. I know how ecstatic you were regarding completing your first major assignment. I want you to not be so hard on yourself. Even Master Bruce made a few mistakes in his earlier years." Alfred reassured in a more comforting tone.
"Did they ever result in someone losing their life?" Ben asked.
"Sadly, I don't recall. Though Loeb was not exactly an upstanding citizen, to begin with." Alfred replied, trying to use any bit of tiny info to help him comfort Ben.
"It doesn't matter. What's the point of being the Batman when you can't do a simple murder case right and let the murderer get away? What good is a Batman in Gotham who lets people die?" He asked as he turned to face Alfred.
Alfred was sadly devoid of any words to help Ben, whose facial expression could only be described by a single word. Pain. He walked towards the door and opened it to walk through the kitchen once more slowly making his way towards the main hall and up to his quarters in the West Wing. Alfred followed until he got towards the entrance to the large stairs.
"Shall I prepare dinner?" he asked.
"No, I'm going to change and hit the dojo in the cave." He said as he entered his room.
Alfred stood there and sighed in defeat, though he didn't want to take it to heart. Ben was a strong young man, if there is any truth in existence is that life can even bring down the strong. No one should know that better than the Wayne Family. Alfred looked towards the large portrait photo that solidified that statement. A painted photo of the late Thomas and Martha Wayne, with a young 8-year-old Bruce sitting between them. That portrait was made merely weeks before their tragic deaths in Crime Alley. He at times hated it and considered taking it down with all the pain it would sometimes cause, but Bruce would never allow it. Maybe it provided him with some solace of a time that may have been long forgotten, or it was another fuel for the oath Bruce swore. The oath that first gave birth to the idea of Batman. It was a scar on the Wayne family that may never fully heal. His mind snapped back to reality as he watched Ben walk out of his room with athletic clothing on heading to the Batcave walking past Alfred. He proceeded to follow Ben towards the office to the Grandfather clock. Ben adjusted the time again and the clock moved aside. One more try he thought.
"Ben… if you require anything-"
"I will let you know Alfred," Ben replied, shutting the grandfather clock entrance to the cave. Alfred just lowered his head with a defeated expression and walked to continue his house duties.
Kim watched as Global Justice had begun setting up a small command post in the abandoned warehouse. She took note of just how many people had been brought in by Dr.Director, there may have been at least 120 agents. A few technicians and crew to man each station, a couple of pilots, at least 100 agents to help with security and even Team Olympus consisting of prior Team Impossible members Dash DaMont, Crash Cranston, Bern Bernman, and now leading them was Special Agent Will Du, who had gone up a few ranks since Kim's first mission against Duff Killigan. Aunt Caryl had stayed home as she would have been in more danger here. Comm. Gordon had helped with planning the positioning of teams throughout the warehouse. Ron and Rufus were watching all the technicians plug their stations in and watched them come to life. Kim was still stuck in her head.
She couldn't help mentally replaying the fight she had with Batman back at the helipad at Blackgate over and over again. What she could have done differently to avoid this entire situation, how she could have beat him. Any weakness she may have missed, any moves she could have tried, gadgets that Wade could have given her to even the odds a bit more in her favor. That defeat was singed into her brain as if It was as if was a chink in her impenetrable armor that the world upheld her too. Something that helped her against villains all around the world. He was the one man that could stand in her way, the one who fought back and won, a symbol for evil around the world that preached one thing without so much saying a word. 'Kim Possible she can do anything, including being defeated.' There was far more at stake than it being a simple rematch. She was so encompassed by this thought that she didn't even hear Ron's question to her.
"Hello? Kim, you there? Kim Possiblé?"
"What? Oh sorry Ron, just got stuck in my head there." She said, shaking her head.
"Don't worry K.P. with Global Justice we got this in the bag. We will have this Batman locked up right before we can order take out at Bueno Nacho!" He said with enthusiasm. Kim just rolled her eyes.
"Ron, we just had Bueno Nacho."
"So?" He said with Rufus agreeing eagerly on his shoulder. Kim then noticed Dr.Director walk towards them with Will next to her.
"Okay, Kim looks like we're ready for the last briefing."
"I hope you have at least improved since you helped me in my last 'investigation' Miss Possible." Will Du said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Twisting an old nerve of Kim's, one that had softened up since they last worked together.
"Very funny Will, still packing that silly taser watch?"
"Of course. Recently upgraded for higher voltage and improved adhesive. You know, standard issue for all-"
"Top agents?" Ron completed with a raised eyebrow and smile.
"You know it," Will said as he offered a high five to Ron who happily took the opportunity. Soon the rest of team Olympus had joined them. Kim noticed they all wore matching Global Justice uniforms, she smiled as they suited them much better than their rather old & tacky Blue and yellow tactical uniforms they wore. Along with some other key differences. While Dash remained relatively the same Crash had cut his hair shorter and left a hard part on his right side and Burn had grown a short beard close to Dashes.
"Dr.Director, we are ready for you all," Dash said with confidence.
"Perfect." Dr. Director asked.
"How's the GJ life treating you all?" Kim asked
"Pretty similar to the old Team Impossible days," Dash said.
"I've started teaching emergency medicine to recruits." Crash commented.
"And I opened up an Accounting office!" Bern said with an exciting grin.
"We don't have much time, it's dark out and our target must be out and about now." Dr. Director reminded the group.
Everyone had walked towards a small circular table that opened up a hologram of the warehouse. It had two main floors. The main open hall was the first floor with multiple open rooms that had been abandoned with many corners and the second floor had a few other hallways and rooms where the farthest back was where the main command post was set up. Kim soon Plugged her kimmunicator into the table and Wade soon was dialed into the table. Where his screen was displayed next to the hologram presented. Dr. Director would then lead the briefing.
"Okay, we all have one goal. Capture Batman. We have several squads ranging from Alpha Squad to India Squad and even Olympus Squad to assist Kim. We have decided on a single agent to try and lure Batman in disguised as a common criminal. Once he is inside the warehouse, we will attempt an encirclement, or circumvallation tactic to surround him quickly. Will and Olympus Squad are going to lead the assault and attempt to put the squeeze on him early. We have numbers on our side, so let's use that to our advantage. Olympus Squad do you accept the responsibility of being the tip of the spear on this operation?" Dr. Director asked.
On cue, Olympus Squad stood at attention with their arms behind their back and spoke at the same time.
"Ma'am, yes Ma'am!" They shouted
"Confirmed. Wade any thoughts"
"Thank you Dr.Director. With our battleground layout, strategic plans, and the sheer numbers we have, I predict a comfortable 83% chance of success. While there may be some unexpected variables thanks to chaos theory, I am not worried about them. Before we continue any questions about the strategy?" No one spoke up.
"Good. Kim, Commissioner Gordon, any last remarks." Kim nodded to Gordon who took the lead.
"First I wanted to thank you all for your service, you make my city proud to stand up to such a monster. I hope to finally put an end to this man's terror once and for all. Remember, I need him alive so no one kill him. I want to see the man behind that mask of his. Once we are in position, I will have some officers on the outside radio for an active shooter. If he has learned the ins and outs of Blackgate he surely could be listening in to our radios. Again I can't thank you all enough for your service." Gordon commented. He took a step back to allow Kim to have her turn. She looked around the room at all the people who were willing to help her, to be the hero along with her. She took a deep breath, stepped forward, and spoke.
"You all will be vital in bringing a vicious criminal where he belongs, behind bars. No murderer should be allowed to walk these streets and not face justice. It is against everything that I- no we stand for, and when one of us can't solve the problem we look to those with a helping hand to aid us in working together for the good of all. Now let's bring Batman down!" She said clenching her fist, a fire erupted in her soul and so did a cheer of applause in the room. Kim stood proud for the first time since she was in Gotham. She rallied an army to her cause to achieve one simple goal. Stop the Batman.
"Alright everyone to your positions!" Dr. Director commanded.
The plethora of teams soon moved throughout the warehouse and one particular agent was given an AR-15 Carbine with only a few rounds with it by Gordon who nodded to him. The agent nodded back and left the room to head to a small alleyway close to the warehouse. Pilots began to head to their planes and scatter away from the warehouse to keep the illusion of abandonment. It would take about another 15 minutes for the trap to be set. Ron was performing some action-packed poses with excitement.
"Oh yeah! Time to catch us a big, bad bat!" He said punching the air next to him as if he was shadow boxing with Rufus sharing his same excitement.
Kim just sighed, while she was ready for this operation, she still was nervous. She glanced at Dr.Director and Ron. There was a contingency plan In place. Both women would be leading the strike from the command post. However, should this plan go wrong she and Dr.Director agreed to get involved. To make sure to keep Injuries, and god forbid any casualties low. She took a deep breath, 83% she thought to herself. The odds being in their favor was calming her down, now all that had to happen was to get Batman here. Those nerves shot back up though when she looked towards Ron.
Ron. Ron Stoppable, irreplaceable best friend and best sidekick she could ask for. They have been friends since Pre-K and he had skills for sure. Great at distractions, speed and Rufus was helpful in numerous close calls. But their fighting prowess was lacking, severely lacking. Even with Ron & Rufus being blessed with mystical monkey power, they never used those skills on the regular. A freezing chill ran up her spine, should things go wrong, would he even be safe inside the warehouse? What if Batman…?
"No. Stop it, Kim, stop it." She whispered to herself. She couldn't let those fears come flooding into her imagination, but couldn't stop them. They were already infested in her mind. Flashes of images of Batman standing over Ron's bested body were everywhere she looked. Some even worse. She held an expression of fear when looking towards her friend. Could she allow Ron to step in?
Ben had been at it for almost an hour. Doing intensive training to make sure he felt like his muscles were going to explode. Gritting his teeth with each rep as he felt the large weights and thick iron chains try to pull him back down to earth. He did everything for maximum strength and durability. What once were exercises that made him weak and puke on the dojo floor were now therapeutic. It was like taking the failure and making it energy for his body to consume. After doing many weight and strength exercises he walked towards a single hanging punching bag. He put on his red pair of boxing fingerless gloves and looked towards the bag. He saw himself when staring into that bag. A twisted version of himself who would only fail and make excuses, someone representing a mixture of many of the crooks he took down. He saw weakness, wickedness, and within seconds of that thought his fists were flying into the bag.
Each punch echoed throughout the cave as he growled in anger. His heart pumped rapidly as his body kept up with his anger and self-hatred. His teeth were practically trying to crack each other with his jaw being so clenched. Then his scar on his leg began to act up, far worse than normal, he just kept taking his anger out on the bag. The feeling of his scar got worse and began to pulsate with his rapid heartbeat, it began to flood his memory of what had happened on that cold cruel December night.
"No… please no…" he thought, huffing and puffing as he delivered his anger. Flashbacks of that night began to pour in and he began to try and drown them out with more punches of the bag. But there was no stopping it now. The sounds, the blood, the last thing he saw his mother was…
DEC. 18th 17 years ago…
On the edge of Gotham city, a small sedan was driving through the twists and turns of a mountainside. It was heavily snowing and the visibility was left to be desired. It was already 11:15 at night and a small family of three had stayed out far later than anticipated. A man in his early 30s with dark brown hair and glasses was driving their 2002 Chevrolet Malibu. He wore a dark blue overcoat and jeans with black winter boots while sitting next to him was a woman with short blonde hair wearing a cheetah print jacket and black leggings with her brown duck boots and a small boy in the back. He wore a small blue puffy coat and pants with a small green shirt with a T-Rex decal on it. He kept swinging his little brown snow boots back and forth and held a small plastic dinosaur toy in his hand. They had just left a small private party for the husband's work.
"Mommy, I want to go home." A 7-year-old young Ben said looking out the window.
"Oh, we will be home, tomorrow sweetie," Cadence said, holding her son's left cheek with her hand. Her warm smile made it like she could make any rainy day sunny once again. She looked towards her husband who glanced back at her.
"Maybe we can stop for some late-night snack, or maybe even ice cream!" She said with an excited expression on her face. Which caused Ben to perk up screaming for ice cream. Michael laughed in front. As he looked at both his wife and son.
"Isn't it a bit cold for Ice cream?" Michael said with his hands still on the wheel paying attention to the road ahead. Cadence just shook her head.
"It's never too cold for ice cream. Right, my little sunshine?" She said, making Ben smile even more, almost causing him to drop his toy dinosaur. As Michael laughed he continued to drive in forward taking it slow with every turn as the roads were still slippery and with no traction control too much power would cause a spin-out. As he came around the turn there was a fork in the road demanding that the car turn either left or keep going straight. Michael slowly stopped the car and turned around to face his family. Michael always had a small sense of adventure in him, it was what kept his life interesting from time to time.
"Hmm not sure if we went straight or took a left here."
"You don't remember?" Cadence asked with a hint of concern. Michael just smiled.
"I'm playing a game! See if Ben remembers and if we go left well it's an adventure then! Plus McDonald's is always open. So we have all the time in the world." Michael stated. Cadence just crossed her arms with a sarcastic smile.
"Yeah if their ice cream machine works."
"Pfft. You're right about that. Well kiddo, should we go straight or take a left!" Michael asked his son
Ben leaned up from the back of the car to examine the road more. Straight just seemed to take him along the same mountains as before but so did the road on the left. Although the left took them on a similar path. He tried hard to remember which way they took, he thought hard and scratched his head and closed his eyes, causing his father to lightly chuckle. Ben just went with his gut.
"Go left!" He shouted pointing to the left.
"Alright, left it is buddy!" Michael exclaimed as he slowly pulled the car to the left and went around to its curvy road. They would normally do this back home in Texas, and while it was a long drive from home, the recent September 11th attacks made them very nervous about flying. Plus the sightseeing was also fun for the Dunbar family. As they kept driving for a few more minutes Michael caught a few things. There was hardly any road lighting on this road, maybe one or two street lamps every minute. The ice was more solid on the pavement and he had to try and focus for the Malibu not to spin out. Even Cadence noticed this and watched the road along with her husband.
"Careful hun,"
"I will be. Maybe I can turn around here shortly."
As he took a right corner suddenly a pop sound and a massive escape of air occurred and shook the family car. Cadence had quickly grabbed into the seat belt tightly and Ben had been jerked to his right causing his toy dinosaur to fly from his hand and into the car floor of the right rear passenger. Michael gripped the steering wheel hard as he tried to keep the car going in the direction needed to stay on the road and when he could he applied more force to the brake. Finally causing the Malibu to cruise to a stop next to one of the only street lights available left to them. Michael stepped out of the car and looked at this vehicle to notice the driver's side rear tire had blown. The rubber completely shredded to where the wheel hub was on the ground.
"Blown tire. Shoot. I'll get the jack stand and try to get this changed quickly." Michael said to his wife who just smiled and nodded.
She leaned back and took a deep breath. Rethinking how lucky they were that Michael had convinced her to take the jack stand and spare tire. It took up some room in the trunk, but Michael had convinced Cadence of how important it was to have it in case something were to happen. She looked back towards her son who was trying to reach for his dinosaur toy and distracted herself by unbuckling her seat belt to reach for it. After handing it to him he said thank you in response. Though as she was doing so another car was pulling up towards them coming in the opposite direction.
It was a white 1980 Jeep Wagoneer, the brakes squealed as it slowly came to a stop alongside them. As Michael placed the spare tire kit onto the ground he noticed the jeep along with another man getting out of the car wearing a thick winter overcoat with his hands in his pockets. Thanks to the street lamp it was casting a shadow around the rest of his body and face so Cadence couldn't see what the man looked like. Michael smiled as the man approached, he stood up and walked to greet the man. Michael was not exactly a great repairman, so he figured that maybe he could ask for some help.
"You need some help?" The man asked as he walked closer to the silver Malibu.
"Why yes actually I need to see if this jack should go closer to the bumper or along this metal beam right here under the car."
"The metal beam." He replied quickly.
"Thank you!" Michael said as he got back into the ground with his knees and looked towards the metal railing that held the car's suspension in place. Be slowly stood back up.
"I don't suppose you could help me with changing my tire-"
As he turned he noticed that the same man now had pulled a black .44 Astra Terminator Revolver and was aimed right at Michael. His smile quickly faded as he slowly stood up with his hands up. Unbeknownst to the Dunbar family, the tire blowing was all part of the plan. There was no thick sharp bit of ice that sliced the tire, or some random piece of debris that was on the road that Michael missed, it was a well-placed spike that the car ran over that was half-frozen into the ice, and the Malibu ran right over it blowing the tire completely. Cadence's face went from full of life to cold and full of dread as he saw the stranger pull a gun on his husband.
"Mommy, what's that man doing?"
"Stay down sweetie. Oh God no." She whispered under her breath as her hand pushed down Ben's head to conceal himself from the armed robber. Michael was now fully standing with his hands up.
"Your wallet." He demanded.
"Wait! Please reconsider, I have a family, and my wallet should be in the car okay. Just please don't hurt my family." Michael pleaded, trying to do what any father could do to deescalate the situation.
The Robber looked towards the car to see Cadence staying completely still. Her arm was still on Ben's head keeping him out of sight. Except for the perspective-taking on this situation was against them. While Michael and Cadence knew that only Ben was sitting behind the driver's seat, the robber didn't see him, with his nerves already on edge he assumed the worst that Cadence was not trying to keep her son out of sight, but was reaching for a hidden gun. The robber instinctively locked eyes on Cadence and suddenly aimed for her. The action alone caused Michael to move in sheer panic.
"NO!" He screamed as he reached for the robber's gun. Both men struggled with the firearm in the robber's position as they moved closer to in front of the vehicle. Cadence couldn't watch but hoped her husband would prevail. She told Ben to stay down until she said otherwise. Mentally praying to herself that Michael would somehow prevail, but God was not listening. The Robber soon pulls both his revolver and Michael away. Michael stumbled back towards the railing that was stopping him from falling into the forest below. And as he looked up the last thing he would see on earth occurred. The robber's revolver soon ignited the gunpowder in the killing bullet.
Bang… Bang.
The bullet made a clean chest shot through Michaels's heart. Blood splattered across the windshield of Malibu and the gunshot forced both Cadence and Ben to suddenly hold their ears shut. The last they would see of Michael was a second gunshot to the other side of his chest and forcing his now limb body over the railing and falling into the forest below. After a few short seconds, an audible 'thud' could be heard. Cadence began to cry and scream Michaels's name over & over falling into the driver's side seat, causing Ben to begin to whimper himself. The robber watched as Cadence slowly got herself back up by pulling herself using the steering wheel, and when she finally could see past the blood splatters left by her now late husband the robber's gun was pointed at her.
"Get out of the car and keep your hands up! He screamed.
While her hands did go up as told, Cadence's mind was now gone. Unable to make a solid decision quickly as she looked towards the back of the car at a bow whimpering and crying Ben, and then back to the screaming gunman. He walked closer to the front of the car as he kept his sights on her. Still convinced she was trying to just reach for a gun. As he walked closer he was about to scream his demands once more until Ben no longer obeyed his mother's wishes and raised his small head up from the back seat with watery eyes.
"A kid?!" The robber said confused as his weapon posture lowered, but that instant was all that it took to break Cadence. She just saw Michael die, but Ben?
"NO, YOU CAN'T TAKE MY BABY BOY AWAY FROM ME!!" Cadence screamed at the top of her lungs, nearly rupturing her larynx. Her hands grabbed the steering wheel and her foot slammed in the accelerator of the car. Even with the flat tire, the car spun and screeched right towards the robber who fired two more shots in haste, one missing its mark hitting the hood of the vehicle, the other hitting Cadence in her right shoulder. She yelped in pain as her other arm grappled her shoulder tightly. Suddenly she felt a massive series bump against the car as the Robber was sent underneath the car and was run over. The car's weight crushed his ribs and had a few pierce his vital organs. He would be dead in less than a few minutes.
Cadence started to hyperventilate as blood poured through her arm and into her hand, her mind was shattered and a small part of her was fighting to stay calm. She didn't even fully realize she had blood on her hand when she covered her eyes and screamed in agony again forcing her hand to slide back down to her elbow. She looked over to Ben who was now crying from the chaos of it all. Tears ran down his face as he couldn't make a full sentence.
"W-where's D-Daddy," he asked. Cadence didn't even think to try and clean up and just turned around to face her son.
"D-Daddy is, he's fine! Everything is fine! We're going to be alright my little Benjamin, okay?" She said.
While she meant well, her face now covered in her blood, her eyes wide open, her pupils small, her nervous smile on her face only terrified Ben more. It was an image now burned in his mind. Though what was about to come… would be the stuff of nightmares to him. The Malibu was now careening towards the guard rails on the side of the road. Cadence would realize far too late as the car barrelled right through them and went off the edge of the cliff.
The car first slammed its front right bumper corner into the cliff edge, causing it to tumble on its side. Its windshield shattered and bits of glass cut into both Cadence and Ben. As the car continued to follow forward Ben tightly gripped the seatbelt and screamed as the chaos continued, but for Cadence she was tossed around the front of the car as she was unbuckled, hitting her head multiple times as the car defended down the cliff. The car's trajectory had its head straight for a large tree with thick branches on either side with a few more bounces from the car body; it's now crumbled and destroyed chassis finally stopped once the thick branches made their way through the cabin. Prior though the intense forces of the crash allowed Ben's body to slip through the seat belt and get launched outside of the car into the cold snow-covered forest floor. Ben landed hard and with a loud 'crack' sound before stopping on his right side. Ben's eyes were blurred and a high-pitched ringing sound was all he could hear. As his senses came to him his vision returned and the ringing began to stop.
"…m-mommy?"
He coughed for a bit before having to look up slightly where he heard the spinning of a wheel and falling leaves. The Malibu was unrecognizable, scrunched up piece of scrap metal now hanging from some branches above him to his left. Oil dropped down from the engine bay and airbags had deployed after the initial impact of the first cliff. What he saw, will haunt him forever. His mother's body was now lifeless and was impaled by multiple branches of the tree. Her eyes were rolled back and fully dilated, branches were through her torso, mouth, and arms, and blood was pouring everywhere. Ben even found it on his face. In a vain attempt, he tried to get up and reach for his mother but a sharp excruciating pain shot through his leg, causing him to fall to his side. When he looked down at his left leg that's when he saw something poking straight out of his now bloodied red jeans. His tibia had snapped upwards and caused an open fracture in his leg. Had it not been for Ben's body going into shock he probably would have been screaming in pain.
He began to cry and hold himself in a ball as he felt his leg, the reality of the situation, and the cold. He could barely catch his breath as he tried to move. He wasn't sure what it was but something told the young boy to run and try to get some help. He tried again to stand but his now fractured left leg was useless, so he began hopping. For several minutes he kept it up, trying to reach someone or something that could help, and each small hop of his drained his energy and more so much so that the other leg was now fatigued and couldn't bear to move it again forward. His blood left a small trail in the ice-cold snow which did nothing to help the young 7-year-old. He looked up and saw his vision fading again and now his hearing was going too, but off to the distance was a road. His final instincts told him to get to that road. He crawled through the brush, the snow, and the dirt to get to the road. The pain was beginning to be too much for the boy.
Finally After a few more minutes of crawling he couldn't move any longer whilst in the middle of the cold road. Conscience was beginning to slip and for a moment he had given up. No one was coming. This is it. This was the end for him. His breathing was raspy as he just couldn't move anymore. He began to close his eyes as the last of his consciousness began to fade. There was a light that Ben could see as it appeared closer and closer, instinctively he reached for it before going limp and passing out from the trauma and pain though he could still hear a few things.
There was a sudden tire screech and engine noise that came on and an elderly man driving a 1954 Rolls Royce Phantom IV had jumped from the driver's seat. He fell to his knees and examined a now unconscious Ben up close. His British accent was thick and sophisticated. His hair was still partially black and peppered with his full mustache on display.
"My God in heaven!" Younger Alfred spoke. He reached for a small flip phone and dialed a private number. It connects quickly.
"Master Bruce, get back to the manor now! There's a child with a broken tibia on the road, hurry, I will need a hand if he is to live!"
Present-day.
After punching harder than ever needed to be, the weight of his past was too much and Ben collapsed onto the dojo's floor. Tears began to roll down his face as the trauma revisited him once more tonight. Had he not said left… had he said to go straight, he would have lived a normal life. Not tormented by the possibility that he could be at fault for his own parents' deaths. He smashed the floor with his fists as the emotions came running back to him. Imagining that his parents curse him for choosing the wrong path. He imagines them scolding him for such a disgraceful failure. He curled into a ball, confined to cry, and sat there.
"I-I'm so sorry mom…. I'm so sorry dad… it's my fault." Ben Bawled.
Back in Gotham City, the original Batman with Bruce as the cape and cowl, stood on an extended concrete eagle's head that was on one of the tallest towers in the city. It overlooked everything and was the perfect vantage point for him to take in the first crime he could find. Bruce knew these streets like the back of his hand and didn't need much assistance. Though occasionally Alfred was on the Batcomputer to assist If need be. He watched the city streets become a dancing orchestra of traffic lights and car lights as they all were going about their lives. He had a police scanner ready and waiting for the next crime to be reported, though his mind was slightly clouded with the thoughts of Ben.
Ben was promised to take lead and bring down Black Mask as his first big assignment, he loved proving himself. He thrived on it even to help make what he was working on better for everyone. His mind took him back to revoking that right from Ben because of Loeb's death, his murderer's release, and worst of all being seen fighting Kim Possible. Sloppy was putting it mildly, but Bruce had begun to think that he maybe had gone a bit too far. Ben was just trying to help and take some of the workloads of being the Batman from Bruce and admittingly he was good at it.
He saw it the day he found Ben wearing Bruce's old monastery outfit. It was a late summer evening when Bruce intercepted a call about a possible group of thugs that continued to jump people in the Gotham metro station. Once he arrived he noticed Ben dressed in his monastery uniform trying to fight off 10 of the crooks, and he was losing. He had knocked down at least 3 of the gang members but the other 7 quickly got the better of him and beat him to the ground. Before one of the gang members could strike Ben with a crowbar, Batman struck. He was vicious, quick, surgical, and together it was almost a work of art. Not one of the gang members even got close to touching Bruce as Batman. Once the fight was over he simply walked to Ben and only said one thing to him.
"Get back to the Manor…" he remembered.
Bruce thought of the argument Ben and he had that following morning. He scolded Ben for being so foolish to try and do what he did that night while Ben confessed to finding out that Bruce was the Batman months prior. That he wanted nothing more than to take his vengeance on Gotham's underworld for taking the life of his mother & father. Arguing that his and Bruce's vows were on the same path, just coming from different origin points. He wanted to do what he could to help his adoptive father tackle this huge undertaking, he could avenge his parents and assist Bruce in his war on crime. A war he started at Thomas and Martha's Grave.
However Ben was resilient, he pushed and pushed to aid Bruce without any sign of stopping. He wanted to become a second Batman and in some ways, he already was nearly there. Bruce tried to get him to become something else beforehand, but when training began he knew he was already too late. Before long Ben has his own Batman costume designed and outfitted for him. There was just no stopping him from then on. For years he trained with Bruce, sparring with him, using gadgets, learning stealth techniques, intimidation, and fear tactics. And now this year Ben as Batman was a lot more active in Gotham. Taking on smaller assignments and small-time criminals, now holding the torch with Bruce as Gothams Dark Night.
It also had some tactical advantages. It was easier on both of their bodies as they traded night shifts, while one was out fighting crime the other could rest and get some sleep. Except Bruce hardly slept. If something was happening to Wayne Enterprises one could still be out at night while the other did damage control for the company. Should one of them be discovered as Batman the other could clear his name in the public eye while they both could be accounted for at two different places at the same time. It was a good contingency plan in place, but he always contemplated if he did the right thing. His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden message on the police scanner.
"All units be advised we have a 10-71 in progress by the old Rogue's stadium." Batman stood and slowly walked right off of the stone eagle's head off the tower's side and opened up his arms wide. The memory cloth reacted to a small microcurrent that was in his palms and the cape flew out like bat wings. Batman took flight and flew towards the sound of gunfire by the old Gotham Rogue's stadium.
