Hello fellow comic fans. I haven't written in a long time so tell me how it is. Please read and review. I appreciate the suggestions and complements of my writing. Sometimes I even get great ideas for the next chapter from my reviewers. So please R&R.

Batman 3000:

Dark Heritage

Michael stood in the darkness, alone. He could see nothing, but in the distance he could hear the flapping of wings. As the sound came closer he began to see a shape in the darkness.

It was a bat!

As it came closer, the bat looked to be almost human in size. Fear ran through Michael's body and he started to run away from the predator. As he ran a horrible screeching noise filled Michael's ears as he ran.

BAM! Michael fell to the floor. He picked himself up and felt around. Apparently an invisible wall was in front of him. He turned to his right, but he felt another wall. To his left was yet another invisible wall. He slumped to the floor in terror. The gigantic bat flew closer and closer. The bat flew at him in slow motion now, seeming to tease him by prolonging his terror.

Michael watched as the giant wings covered the bat's body. Then the wings flipped up to keep the monster afloat. Just as it reached him the wings flipped down covering the bat one last time. As the wings flipped up, Michael screamed. His own face had replaced that of the bat.

"Michael, Michael! Wake up!" Michael flew up from his bed. He looked over to see his sister sitting beside him. "You were having a nightmare." Michael Wayne wiped the sweat from his brow.

"I didn't know you were in town, Caroline."

"Had to come and see my little brother in the hospital." Hospital, Michael thought. Sure enough he was sitting in a room with an IV in his arm. "Plus I also had a business deal to attend too."

Michael laid back down on his hospital bed. "How did I end up here?"

"You were shot by a burglar trying to rob a woman."

"The woman, what happened to her."

Caroline leaned her head down. "She was also shot… but she didn't make it." Caroline's head jolted back up and slapped Michael in the face. "You idiot! You could have gotten yourself killed!"

Holding the part of his face where Caroline slapped him Michael said, "What would you have had me done Caroline, walk away."

"Unfortunately, Yes. Now days, criminals run the streets. If you wanted to help than you should have informed the superheroes that patrol in Gotham."

Michael grunted. "You know they only handle supervillains."

"I don't even know why you were walking around at that time of day. You should know better than that."

A buzz went off on Caroline's cellphone. "I'll be back in just a minute. In the meantime Alfred will keep you company." As soon as Caroline walked out the door, Alfred walked in.

"Hello Master Michael, how are you feeling."

"I'm fine Alfred."

"May I ask what prompted you to take such an action, sir."

"The woman was in danger Alfred. I just couldn't continue walking."

"You know sir, you remind me a lot of your ancestor, Master Bruce."

Michael looks up at the robotic butler with pride, "Really."

"Yes, Master Bruce was very concerned about helping the public after the murder of his parents." After sitting in silence for a while, Alfred asked Michael, "Would you like something to eat, sir."

"Yes, if you could." The robotic butler got up from his chair and left. Michael sat thinking to himself. If only I could help the people in the same way my ancestor Bruce did.

After a few weeks Michael Wayne is out of the hospital and back at the Wayne mansion. He is still recuperating from his injuries. The doctors have told him that the wound he sustained from the bullet will heal in time, but he may have to walk with a cane forever. The doctor however, does not know Michael and his will. Michael is already moving fine without his cane.

Currently Michael is at the piano playing Ludwig van Beethoven's Opus 2. The first of Three Piano Sonatas in F minor. The entire time he has spent healing, he has been thinking. What can I do to help the people in Gotham City, in the world? When Michael starts the second movement he makes the mistake of playing the ¾ time lyrical theme in D minor instead of F major. "Damn," he says.

Suddenly he hears something rumbling. He turns around to see an old dusty bookcase shaking. Then the bookcase pushes into the wall, until it begins to slide behind the bookcase next to it. Michael cautiously walks toward the opening.

He looks down the long corridor full of cobwebs. What in the world is this, Michael thought to himself. Just as he begins to walk down, Alfred opens the door to the library.

"Master Michael, what are you doing," asks the butler.

"This bookcase opened and I'm going to investigate what's down this corridor," says Michael.

"Sir, I'm not sure if that is wise."

"Wise or not Alfred, whatever down there feels like it's calling me. I have to go down there."

"If you must go, then I will come along." Michael and Alfred walk down the long, dark, and winding corridor. It seemed as if they had walked forever when they finally reached the bottom.

"Alfred do you see a light? I can't see down here." The robot's eyes glassed over as it enabled its night vision sensors.

"Ah, I found a light switch, Master Michael." The robot flips the switch and power begins to surge through a cave that hasn't been used in almost a thousand years. First a computer with a bat logo comes to life. Michael twists his head to see a massive and weird car gleam in the light. Looking to his left he sees a museum of different objects such as a giant penny, a T-rex, and a weird gun brought out of the darkness by the light. Alfred turned around with a calm look on his face, but when he saw the cavern in the light he looked scared. "Oh, my," the robotic butler said. Then with light emitting from his back Michael turned around.

There before him stood the costume of the creature that had frightened him in his nightmares in the hospital. A costume that was worn by a man that some considered to be a myth, others a legend, and the select few who saw him, terror personified. It was a costume that symbolized hope and vengeance. A costume worn at night. The costume of Batman!