Chapter 6: Radioactive Bats

Ever since the Civil War started nearly a year ago, Bruce Wayne hadn't been able to be reached by telephone or in person. That's because there was so much crime happening during the Civil War that Bruce had to go out to work as his true identity, The Batman. Nobody had heard from Bruce, and many believed that he could be dead from the nuclear fallout. But, Anthony Holmes wasn't too sure of that. He knew a little bit more about Bruce Wayne than most others knew about him.

Anthony decided to travel to Gotham City, or what was left of Gotham City, to look for Bruce. The city nearly looked as bad as Washington D.C.. Just a bunch of destroyed buildings, burnt trees, and charcoal colored streets. Construction crews hadn't done much for the city. Most people didn't think it was worth revising. But, it wasn't a tour of the city that Anthony was seeking, his main goal was to visit Wayne Manor to see what might be left of it. It was on the out-skirts of Gotham City which meant it might have withstood the initial blast from the nuclear bomb.

When Anthony arrived at Wayne Manor, it looked like most of the security fence had been torn down. The area where the large statue pond used to be had been reduced to rubble. Surprising enough, the Manor was still in decent shape. Only the east side of the Manor had been partially destroyed. Judging by the several footprints leading up to a few broken windows, Anthony assumed that the Manor had been looted at some point. He climbed through one of the broken windows, and then shined his flashlight all around the place. Everything was dusty. He could definitely tell that the place had been looted because the only things that were left in the Manor were old books and furniture. He made his way to the Study. After entering, he shined his flashlight at the bookshelf. He looked for three books called Martha, and then pulled them out. When he did, it caused the bookshelf to open up revealing a staircase. He shined his light, and then quickly made his way down into the darkness. First he checked for high amounts of radiation. After sensing it was safe, he entered into the cave which was below the Manor. It was just as dusty as the rest of the place. He shined his light at the ground to look for footprints. He discovered some recent footprints that hadn't had time to be covered up by the dust. He also discovered a trail of dead mice and other rodents. They had appeared as if they had been used for nourishment due to the bite marks and the torn open skin. Suddenly, he heard a noise coming from the other side of the cave. He decided to walk that way.

"Bruce! Is that you?" Anthony yelled out causing an echo throughout the cave.

He then shined his light upwards. He was startled when he saw something darting very quickly into the shadows. He pulled out his gun for protection. Then he shined his light in the direction of the shadowy area.

A growly voice spoke out. "You shouldn't have come here Anthony! You are smarter than that!"

Anthony shined the light closer causing the person to quickly move into a darker area of the cave. Anthony figured Bruce must have been wearing his Batman costume because he barely got a glimpse of the long pointed ears and the wing-like cape.

"Bruce. It's okay! You can come out! I'm only here to help. Plus, I may need your help as well."

"You can't help me Anthony! No one can! Now leave!" The growly voice demanded.

"Look Bruce, I'm here because I discovered something rather disturbing. Do you remember Bill Newcomb?"

"How could I not! The nuts in this country decided to make him President of The United States! That's when I realized that this place was no longer worth saving! It only took minutes for the nuclear warhead to do what Ra's Al Ghul had tried to do for several years, and that was to destroy Gotham City."

Anthony shined the flashlight closer to Bruce. Something didn't seem right. "What happened to you Bruce?"

Bruce slightly stepped out of the shadows revealing a little more of his silhouette. "When the nuclear bombs were deployed, I was trapped in a fight with Bane and Man Bat. They were both hyped up on a new advanced serum of the venom that Bane used to become stronger. Except this venom did more than make them stronger, it also changed them into a bigger more vicious type of a creature. I was lucky enough to escape and get back to the Batmobile with mere seconds left before the bomb went off. The Batmobile was designed to withstand bullets and small missiles, but it certainly wasn't designed to withstand a nuclear warhead. At that point, my only option of survival was to inject myself with the advanced serum. Instantly, following the injection, I felt the rush of rage and madness surging throughout my body. I believe this specific dose was meant for Man Bat. And when the bomb hit, the bright light from the radiation allowed me to see my bones like an x-ray. They were growing and getting bigger right before my own eyes. At that point my entire existence changed."

Anthony piped up. "You said advanced serum? Was the serum labeled, Moderna X-1 Vaccine?" He asked. "I found broken vials of glass labeled X-1 in the war room that Trump and Bill were located in before the bombs hit."

Bruce stepped out of the shadows. "Yes. That is exactly what it was labeled. I believe they were experimenting with it to create super-soldiers in order to take over the planet."

Anthony was startled to see what had happened to Bruce. It was very disturbing because it looked as if somehow his Batman outfit had been fused together with Bruce's skin. Probably melted together from the extreme heat of the nuclear blast. Plus, it looked like Bruce had gotten stronger and had also grown nearly a foot taller. His features were more similar to a bat since the serum was designed for Man Bat. The symbol on his chest had been stretched and faded. His larger hands had claws. They had bursted through his gloves, and the same thing had happened to his feet. What used to be pointed ears of a mask have now become actual pointed ears. Strange whiskers had grown around his mouth and chin area.

"Bruce. I believe Bill Newcomb had also taken the serum. We found three dead bodies in the war room. One was Donald Trump. One was General Smith. And the other one was identified as Greg Cole. Greg Cole wasn't in the war room when it collapsed during the explosion. He was one of the workers that was cleaning up the debris afterwards. Another worker thought he saw Greg walking away from the site, but Greg was already dead down in the war room bunker. I believe Bill managed to steal Greg's hazmat suit to conceal his identity, and then left the scene of the crime. Perhaps Bill might have also mutated after taking the serum. It would explain the cannibalism and the larger footprints."

Bruce stepped closer to Anthony causing Anthony's radiation detector to activate. "I won't come any closer," he declared. "If this is what happened to me after being exposed to the X-1 serum and the radiation from the blast, that means Man Bat and Bane would also have the same unique qualities."

Anthony spoke up. "Unique qualities? What type of unique qualities?"

Bruce leapt into the air, and then landed in front of a large statue of a penny which was several feet away. He bent over to put the extremely large penny onto the back of his shoulder and neck area, and then proceeded to lift it up above his head with his bare hands.

"I wasn't able to do that before." Bruce proclaimed.

"Bruce, if Bill has these 'qualities' he could potentially do quite a bit of damage out there. He was already a madman that despised any type of socialism. Now that the United States has signed a new Constitution, I am sure he will do everything in his power to change that. I'm going to need your help with this one Bruce."

"Bruce? Do I look like Bruce Wayne anymore! I will never be Bruce Wayne again! In fact, I haven't been Bruce Wayne since the night that my mother and father were murdered!"

"What do you want me to call you?" Anthony asked.

"I AM THE NIGHT! I AM THE BATMAN!" He declared as he proceeded to spread his wings wide open. Then he leapt into the air, and disappeared into the shadows once more.

*Facebook Headline*

Several Witnesses Have Claimed To Have Seen Large Animal-Like Creatures Wandering The Wastelands.

*Comments*

Kayla Beck: New creatures don't just suddenly appear. They are probably animals that mutated from the radiation of the nuclear bombs.

Dalton Miller: I heard they are people that mutated after taking the latest COVID-19 vaccine treatment.

Michelle Bentley: Dalton Miller, I guess that makes them liberal mutants since we know conservatives always refused to take the vaccine. And, liberal mutants probably aren't so bad lol.

Dalton Miller: That's all we need are a bunch of mutated WOKE liberals running around destroying everything that we just rebuilt.

Michelle Bentley: Oh, come on Dalton, you know people don't start destroying things until somebody else creates civil injustice.

Kayla Beck: Why does every conversation on Facebook end up leading to Civil War? Are we too far beyond the pale of dignity and grace that we would rather insult each other instead of listening and understanding each other.

Fred BeaKman: Dignity and Grace? Is that what you call killing babies, burning down buildings, and getting free stuff? Try working for a living and not accepting handouts. Then we can talk about dignity and grace. Until then, all of you commies need to be extinguished. I hope these 'so-called' mutated creatures take every one of you out. This country wasn't made for your kind.

Michelle Bentley: Apparently it was made for our kind. That's why your kind got blown off the map. Because nobody wants your prehistoric types around.

Fred BeaKman: The nuclear war was a minor setback. But, it has only made our coalition even stronger… in many ways. I hope those foreigners keep coming across the border. That's just more for us to feast on.

Michelle Bentley: You would just lose again. 60 million of you have already lost. How many more need to die before you understand that love trumps hate.

Kayla Beck: Again, here we are at war because we can no longer live together without wanting to rip each other's throats out.

Fred BeaKman: Ripping all of your throats out will be the least horrific thing that we are going to do. If Trump wasn't such a pussy, we would have destroyed you first. But, like I said, that was a minor setback.