Welcome to my first story set in the DC equivalent of my Marvel 2043 series. Having just seen The Batman a couple of days ago, I was heavily inspired to write this story ahead of schedule. Much like as I'm doing in my Marvel series, I'll be building my own universe in this alternate Earth within DC, set around the future heroes and villains. Though unlike in my Marvel series, things may not always tie together directly, at first.

Disclaimer: I don't own DC Comics or its characters


Chapter 1: The Watchful Protector

Rain poured down upon the city of Gotham. The skies were cloudy, which only added to the darkness of the onsetting night. The streets, though busy, began to clear with each passing moment. In the Silver Lake Shopping Plaza, many stores began to close down for the night. Many of them boarded up their windows and doors before leaving. As the lights cut out from store to store, only one store remained lit. Rags 'n Tatters, a small antique shop belonging to Raymond Regan.

A group of five thugs, all wearing poorly constructed variations of opera masks, made their way towards the shop. Upon walking inside, a small bell rang to notify their presence. Raymond Regan, a white man of average build with long red hair, walked out from the office behind the counter.

"I'm closing up shop in about 10 minutes. Hope that's enough for you to-"

He paused once he saw the thugs, all armed with pistols. One of them took the lead and would step up to the counter.

"If it ain't our favorite Jew. Payment's past due, Regan," he said, his voice slightly muffled behind his golden opera mask.

Raymond sighed. He steadied his breathing, in an attempt to keep himself calm at the situation.

"I know. Business has been slow, alright? Give me another week, and I'll have the money," he said in a tone that was calmer than anyone else's would be in the predicament.

"Another week?" the thug asked. He looked around at the others behind him, and let out a laugh, which would then be replicated by the rest. "The Trigger likes his money on time, you know that. We can't go back to him empty-handed."

"Please…just one more week. That's all I'm asking," Raymond replied.

The thug chuckled and looked over his shoulder at one of the other thugs, one that had been fidgeting around in place.

"Hey Rook, why don't you show him what happens when you don't pay the Trigger on time?" he said with a slight nudge to the thug's shoulder.

The nervous thug found himself hesitant to make a move of any kind against Raymond. He raised his hand as if he were about to throw a punch, only to hesitate further. The more talkative thug rolled his eyes.

"You'll have to forgive him, he's new," he said before throwing a hard right hook at Raymond.

The punch connected with Raymond's jaw and sent him to the ground. The thug jumped over the counter and proceeded to stomp Raymond in the stomach, chest, and face multiple times.

One of the other thugs took a few steps towards the large window near the door, which had the words "Rags 'n Tatters Antique Shop" on it in gold from the outside. The thug looked through the shopping plaza parking lot, which was empty save for a few cars near other shops. He looked up briefly at the sky and back to the parking lot, only to freeze in his tracks. From behind his mask, his eyes widened. The thug looked back up to the cloudy sky, which had been partly illuminated by the yellow light of the Bat-Signal. The thug backed away and fear and turned back to the thug who had been assaulting Raymond.

"Uh…X! We…we got a problem!" he said, terror covering every inch of his voice.

The thug known as X stopped his assault and looked over with a raised eyebrow.

"What? I'm kinda in the middle of something right now," he said in annoyance.

"It's…it's t-the light. It's his light!" The thug responded. His voice and body trembled with every word.

X's eyes widened once he realized what exactly the thug was referring to.

"Ssshit!" he exclaimed before picking Raymond up by the collar. "The register, open it. Now!"

Raymond, whose face was bruised and battered, coughed up a bit of blood.

"There's nothing in there, you know that," he responded with a measure of weakness.

"Alright then smartass, go open the safe. You get as close as to what you owe Trigger." X said, aggressively shoving Raymond towards the office. He looked to the thug he called Rook and pointed at him. "Get back here and watch him."

X jumped over the counter right as Rook nodded and did the same. Raymond walked into the office and would kneel to begin inputting the code to the safe, albeit not at the fastest of speeds.

X looked at two of the other thugs and nodded towards the door.

"You two go outside and keep watch, just in case," he directed.

"What? Why us?" one of them asked.

"NOW!" X yelled at them, which proved to be enough for them to hastily walk outside.

The remaining thug stood next to X and would hold his pistol at the ready. X glanced at him and chuckled before reloading his own gun.

"You better know how to use that thing," he remarked.

"Oh, I do. Is it uh…is it true about what they say about him? That most guys don't live to tell the tale about meeting him?" the thug asked.

"Some lucky ones get away…the rest get carried out in body bags," X looked ahead and repositioned his grip around the pistol. "I was one of those lucky ones."

"I thought he didn't kill?"

"From what my pops told me...he threw that shit out almost 20 years ago-"

Suddenly, the lights in the pawnshop were shut off, leaving the entire shop in darkness. For a few seconds, nothing happened, but then the shop's emergency lights cut on, leaving just a bare minimum amount of lighting on. X looked back towards the counter.

"How's that money coming along?" he asked.

Before he could even get an answer, the door was burst open almost off its hinges, and one of the thugs came flying through back first. He landed on the ground, groaning in pain. Within a second, the 2nd thug that had been standing watch was sent through the shop window, shattering it in its entirety. The thug slid on the ground and came to a stop at X's feet. The two standing thugs looked down at their fallen cohorts, and then at each other. The thug that had been sent through the door began to stir but was pulled by his foot into the darkness, screaming the entire time. His screams were silenced by the sound of a hard-hitting impact.

The sounds of heavy footsteps were heard somewhere in the darkness outside, getting closer and closer to the door. The footsteps soon began to crunch glass, closer and closer. The thugs looked on in horror at the figure that emerged through the darkness in the doorway. Standing with piercing white eyes staring back at them, was The Batman. This was a Batman different than most were used to, one who wore a tactical dark grey and black suit, but without a cape. Instead of a cape, this Batman wore a black high collar trench coat that was almost vampiric.

By this point, Raymond had stopped his gathering of the money, and knelt in his office, though he kept an on the situation through the office window.

Batman said nothing; his glare spoke volumes. The thugs remained frozen in fear. This lasted a moment before X yelled in what had to be adrenaline mixed with fear. He began shooting at Batman, only for the vigilante to swiftly dash towards the thug next to him, causing the gunfire to miss. With no time to react, Batman grabbed the thug and tackled him into a wall before hitting him across the face with a hard elbow strike. He turned towards X, who shot him in the chest, but the bullet appeared to do nothing to him.

X looked at his gun in shock and confusion before attempting to fire again, however, Batman was far too quick. He swooped in close to grab X by the wrist of his gun holding hand, hit him in the face with a back elbow, and forced his aim towards the third thug, the one that was sent through the window. Overpowering him with his strength, Batman forced X to shoot the thug right between the eyes. The thug's body slumped to the ground, much to X's horror.

Horror was soon the least emotion he felt. In one quick motion, Batman brought his arm up to snap X's arm at the elbow, causing him to scream out in pain. Batman took notice of the second thug beginning to stand up to his feet. He fired a hard headbutt to X before dashing towards the second thug. Acting completely on instinct, the thug launched a punch at Batman, which he ducked under. Now standing behind him, Batman grabbed the thug around the waist and lifted him for a German Suplex right into the wall, the force of which broke the thug's neck with a sickening snap.

Batman released his hold on the thug and returned his attention to X, who was holding his broken arm.

"D-Don't…don't you know who we work for?! He'll kill you for this!" X yelled in defiance.

Batman stared at X for a moment, before rushing towards him. He reached down to his hip, where a sword sat sheathed and drew it to impale X through his stomach. In his last moments, X screamed, only for it to lower to a gasp for life. Batman stared into his eyes, and at that moment he could see that Batman's eyes weren't white from any sort of effect brought on by his mask, they were in reality white, devoid of life.

The vigilante pulled the blade out of X's stomach, which left the thug to collapse to the ground. Batman looked up towards the counter, where Rook stood, frozen in fear.

"Run," was all Batman said in a low, rough voice.

Rook nodded and jumped over the counter. He took a few cautious steps past Batman, before breaking out into a sprint out of the shop. Batman didn't bother looking back to see if he had left. Once Raymond stood up behind the counter, Batman allowed himself to let out a bit of a sigh.

"Intimidation off," he said out loud, seemingly to no one in particular.

Right after he said those words, the color began to fade into his eyes. Where they were previously all-white, his iris' were now a much more normal green. Raymond looked around at the damage the Batman had done, and shook his head.

"Thanks, Batman…but did you have to bust my door? My window too?" he asked.

"You have insurance," Batman asked, though it was said in more of a statement than a question.

"Well yeah I got insurance but–ah, never mind," Raymond said while rubbing his jaw.

Batman flicked his sword to the right in a hard, swift motion, which caused most of the blood to fly off of the blade and onto the bodies of one of the thugs. Raymond grimaced at the sight but didn't comment.

"What did they want? Just a petty robbery?" Batman asked.

Raymond shook his head, which elicited a slight painful groan from the movement.

"No…no they were here to collect money," he said, pausing. "Money from uh...the Trigger."

"Falcone?"

"I don't like saying his name, man. Nobody does. He's like Candyman out here, you know that," Raymond said with a shake of his head.

Batman took a single step towards Raymond, to where he was now standing inches from the counter.

"You took money from Falcone?" he asked in an accusatory tone.

Raymond raised his hands in defense almost instantly.

"The shop was down bad, okay? In a moment of weakness, I went to him. He told me that he'd take care of it, that he'd make sure business would pick up, and he did. Now as far as payment," Raymond paused and placed both hands on the counter. "At first all he wanted was an old family heirloom of mine. I told him it wasn't for sale, and so he decided that if I wasn't going to sell him the heirloom I was gonna, and I quote, 'sell him, my soul'. Paying him a monthly fee until he felt it was adequate."

Batman listened to the explanation. His face remained in its same stoic expression and didn't change until seconds after Raymond had finished. Batman looked down at Raymond with clear disappointment and turned around to walk towards the broken door. Raymond sighed and rubbed the back of his neck at the vigilante's reaction.

"Look it was stupid, I know! We can't all be Damian Wayne!"

"Next time, don't make deals with mob bosses," Batman responded as he left the store.


The Batcave - 10 PM

Inside the spacious stronghold of the Batcave, the sounds of bats fluttering about were the most distinct sound of any sort of life. This was soon replaced by heavy footsteps colliding with metal. On one of the many platforms in the Batcave, the Batman himself walked towards a workbench. He reached up to grab his mask and would pull it off, revealing the face of Damian Wayne. Over his right eye was a scar, the only sign of his violent past visible on his face.

Damian placed the mask on the workbench, followed by his sword, which still had a bit of blood on it. He held the sword horizontally and would grab a cloth to clean the excess blood off. Once he was done, he held the sword up to see his reflection. In doing so, he caught the reflection of a short-haired black woman with a light skin tone standing a few feet behind him.

"You're back, why didn't tell me?" she asked in a clear English accent.

Damian placed the sword down and took his sheath off of his utility belt. He slid the sword into the sheath, all without looking back at her.

"I wasn't aware I had to always announce my return, Julia," he responded.

The woman was Julia Pennyworth, the daughter of Alfred. She stood wearing a black Gotham Knights football shirt along with a pair of black pajama pants and holding a mug in hand. Julia tilted her head to the side at Damian's response.

"I don't like staying up for you to return any more than I have to. A little common courtesy would've been to call on the comms and say 'Julia, I'm back," she said while walking over to him.

Damian turned around and walked past Julia.

"You're making a conversation out of such a trivial thing," he said in passing.

Damian stepped up to another platform, only to stop as he turned his head towards another. Off to the right was a long platform that held several costumes on display. There was a Batsuit, though it wasn't his own. It belonged to his father. Next to it was the blue and black costume of Dick Grayson, Nightwing. The remaining suits that had been lined up were those of Barbara Gordon, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Kate Kane, and Luke Fox.

The world around him was almost nonexistent to Damian at that moment. His entire focus was on the suits, the costumes belonging to members of his family. He could hear a noise in his right ear, but it was muffled.

"Damian?"

Julia's voice broke Damian out of his trance and caused him to turn his attention to her.

"What? What did you say?"

"...I said was it an easy night?" she responded in a slow, drawn-out manner.

Julia took a few steps towards Damian and reached out to place a hand on his shoulder, but he moved away at the last second. He walked to where his focus was initially, the Bat Computer. While he took a seat at the computer, Julia looked off to where his attention was just a moment ago.

"It was easy, easier than most," he said while reaching a finger up to his eye.

Damian would pull out a contact from his eye, which had a blue ring around it, along with a small microchip. He placed the contact lens down into a case that was built into the Bat Computer desk, before doing the same with the contact on his other eye. The case itself then retracted into a compartment within the desk that closed soon after.

Damian looked up at the computer and began typing away at the keyboard. On the Bat Computer were now four feeds separated onto four different screens. On one screen was the live coverage from the Gotham News Network. The second screen held video footage of Late Night Ryder, the late-night talk show of former reporter Vic Ryder. The third screen showed a profile of Anthony Falcone, head of the Falcone crime family, while the fourth showed a profile of Danilo Maroni head of the Maroni crime family.

"I saw the bullet hole in your suit," Julia said, now standing next to him. "Just because you can take them, doesn't mean you should. It leaves a bloody mess, both in regards to your body and the suit I then have to stitch up."

"I never ask you to do that. I can sew," Damian said while crossing his arms, his focus intent on the information on the computer.

"I know you can, just not as good as me," Julia said with a slight smirk. "Did the bullet pass or is it still inside?"

"Inside. I can feel it, only minor discomfort. I'll dig it out once I'm done here," Damian paused for a brief moment. "Is Nick here?"

Julia sighed at his stubborn nature when it came to his physical health, but it was to be expected. She could see it coming ever since he was a teenager.

"Yes, sound asleep. He has a big day ahead of him tomorrow. He'll be heading back to the island for more training. You should see him off before he goes," she said. Her eyes drifted up to the Bat Computer, specifically at the profiles of Falcone and Maroni. "What's got your interest back on those two again?"

Damian scrolled through the profiles, which had several notes that he'd made about the two mob bosses. Their family, their areas of operation, known associates, everything.

"Raymond Regan had his shop attacked by some punks who were there to collect money on Falcone's behalf. Regan was dumb to go into business with him in the first place, but that's precisely the problem with Gotham right now. Too many good people are forced to be in the pockets of trash like them. It's past time I take care of them."

Julia raised her mug to her lips and took a sip from it, while her free hand sat at her hip.

"My advice? Let Joseph continue to do what he's doing. He's done wonders as D.A these past four years. If he gets re-elected I have no doubt he'll have those two behind bars. You should bring them up in your meeting with him tomorrow," she said.

Damian paused at the mention of the meeting. He sat back in his chair and rubbed his face, sighing.

"That is tomorrow, isn't it?" he asked rhetorically.

Julia nodded.

"It is, which means you best get a good night's rest. Damian Wayne has a busy day ahead of him tomorrow."

Damian stared at the profiles for just a second longer, thinking about the choices that were on the table to make. He could either finally rid Gotham of the Falcone and Maroni families once and for all, or trust its district attorney to do so in a legal sense.


Thorne Family Clinic, Coventry District - 11 PM

In Gotham's quiet Coventry District was a doctor's office, belonging to physician and surgeon Matthew Thorne. Inside the office, Thorne was wearing a teal surgical uniform that had several spots of blood on it. He stood in his bathroom, thoroughly washing his hands. On the counter was his phone, where he was currently carrying out a conversation on speaker.

"Ghost, I'm telling you, I don't know much longer I can keep this up. I'm happy to fix your guys, but they keep coming at an alarming rate."

On the other end, a masculine voice with a bit of an Italian accent to it would come from the phone.

"I don't know why you're complaining, doc. You're getting business, from me and Trigger. That's money in your pockets."

Thorne shut the water off and dried his hands before picking up his phone. He turned to head out of the bathroom and in the hallway, where behind him stood a shadowy figure. Matthew walked into his main office and closed the door behind him. He took a seat behind his desk and sighed.

"I think I'd much rather the Bat Bitch kill as Batman does," he remarked, much louder than he intended.

"What was that, Thorne?"

Matthew's eyes widened once he realized his remarks were heard.

"Nothing, I didn't…I didn't say anything. Though perhaps could I offer a bit of advice?" he asked.

"I don't pay you for advice Thorne, I pay you to fix up my men, which you will continue to do until I say I don't need you anymore, got it?"

Matthew sighed.

"Yeah, yeah I got it-"

Suddenly, the door to his office was kicked open, causing Matthew to stand in terror. There was no time at all for him to react, as multiple shots rang out. His body was riddled with bullets at an alarming rate. His now lifeless body fell back into the chair he was sitting in. On the phone, the voice of Ghost could be heard in concern.

"Doc? What the hell happened? Doc?"

The shadowy figure walked towards the desk with slow, deliberate steps. A red-gloved hand reached out to grab the phone from the desk. The phone was raised to the figure's head, which was wrapped in bandages.

"Hello…Danilo."


Next Chapter 2: Two Sides To Every Story

A/N: For just a bit more context into the state of Gotham at the moment, Damian Wayne is the lone survivor of the original Bat Family, and has been active as Batman for around 17 years. Things will start to fall more into place as the story goes on, but I hope you enjoyed this first chapter introducing Damian's Batman, which I took heavy inspiration from the Batman #666 - Batman in Bethlehem.