A/N: Again, this its still a shot in the dark, so if someone could tell me whether or not I should continue with this story or try something else. If you like it, please let me know!
Chapter 2: Reborn
Eve watched as Christian put on his gear carefully; making sure everything was perfect. He had spent weeks perfecting the suit. Christian had spent thousands on making his orders as discrete as possible, causing his materials to be practically untraceable. The suit had more padding then the original, as well as a more compact belt with more slots.
"Greaves," Christian told her. Eve handed him the bladed gauntlets, being careful not to cut herself on the three edges that jutted out of the forearm.
She was honestly worried about her boss and friend. He had never joked, never laughed like he used to. The only time he would act like he used to was in front of the public, but she could see right through the ruse. Eve wasn't sure what she would see when he put on the mask, but whatever it was, it would be all that was left of him.
Christian slid his hand down his utility belt, and then snapped it around his waist. He held out his hand once more, and Eve placed the armored cowl in his hands. With his back still towards her, he pulled the cowl over his face and snapped the small neck guards into place. Christian turned around towards her so she could see. Eve stumbled backwards, her eyes wide in terror.
His glare was so intense, so determined, so angry. It was as if he wasn't even human anymore, rather a dark creature of unholy wrath.
"My God…" she gasped, looking at what was now Christian Wayne.
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"C'mon boys, let's get moving!"
The eight mobsters walked over towards the Gotham docks, weapons unconcealed. None of them were worried about being caught; they were rolling with Falcone. Gotham was their oyster and no cops could do shit about it.
"What are you waiting for idiots? Start cracking open the crates!"
The leader of the operation shook his head and lit up a smoke, this was going to be an easy night. They had paid off all the right people, gotten all the right weapons, and killed all the right victims. It would be a walk in the park.
"Hey boss, come look at this!" one of the mobsters called. The leader groaned in annoyance and walked over to see what the problem was.
"Check this out," he said pulling the doors open of one of the metal crates. Instead of the weapons and drugs they were expecting, there was a burning bat symbol.
"What the hell is this, some kind of prank?" the leader growled, clearly not happy that they had missed a crate.
His henchman started to whimper, "do you think it's him?"
The leader snorted, "No one's seen the bat in twenty years idiot. Someone obviously has off'd him.
Suddenly, the two men heard a scream, causing them to whirl around. A few seconds later, they saw one of their men tearing past them, pale as snow.
"What the hell is going on?" yelled the leader, "hey, come back!"
"What do we do?" whispered one of the men, trying to figure out what was happening.
"Get out there and find out what the fuck is going on!" the leader commanded
All the henchmen nodded and went out on a search for whatever was disposing of them.
"AHHHH!" a gunshot sounded, and then silence. The leader whirled around, what the fuck was doing this?
"No, NO!"
Another man down, how was this possible!
"Stay away, STAY AWAY!"
A loud crashing noise resonated through the docks, causing the leader to begin a retreat. His men were gone, all gone, Falcone wouldn't be happy.
WHOOSH
The leader spun around, he knew he heard something. Suddenly, a dark figure passed by him again, diving in-between two of the crates. The leader smiled and started walking towards the crates.
"No where you can run now you bastard!"
When he turned the corner, he dropped the gun in fear. The figure turned around, revealing it's white, penetrating eyes and its angry snarl.
"Who says I'm running," the creature growled, standing menacingly over the cowering man.
"You, you're not real! The Batman is gone!"
Batman picked up the man by the collar and looked him straight in the eyes, "DO I LOOK DEAD!"
"N-no, please don't hurt me!"
"I have a message for Falcone," Batman snarled, slamming the criminal against one of the crates, "stay out of Gotham!"
With that, Batman knocked the man's head against the crate, rendering him unconscious.
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"KARA!"
Kara was relaxing on the couch when she heard Clark call over to her.
"What is it Clark?" she asked, turning towards her retired uncle.
"Kara turn on the news right now," he told her, sitting down right next to her.
"Why what is it?" Kara asked, turning on the tv, "Is our good old friend Lex up to something?"
"No, it's another old friend…"
Kara turned to the tv and gasped when she saw the news story.
"Has the Batman returned?" said the reporter, "last night a weapons and drug cartel was stop cold in its tracks by a mysterious assailant, leaving all the criminals tied up with several broken bones. We now have a birds eye view of his calling card as well."
The screen shifted to an overhead view of what looked like a bat symbol, made up of burning drugs and weapons.
"You don't think…" she said
Clark nodded, "I think you may have to pay our friend Christian a visit."
Kara sighed, she really hoped Christian had not taken up the same warpath his father had many years ago. But she had seen his eyes, seen the hatred and anger that had replaced what used to be happiness and innocence. Her friend was now gone, replaced with the wraith of the Wayne family.
"Clark, what should I tell him?"
Clark thought for a bit, then answered, "He's always seen you as someone special, if he'll listen to anyone it'll be you Kara."
Kara nodded and flew off towards Gotham to confront the new Batman.
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"You made the headline Mr. Wayne," Eve told Christian, tossing him a newspaper. He woke up groggily and took a look at it.
"Eight criminals captured," he read out loud, "Gotham's Dark Knight has returned."
"Yes, it seems you have your father's taste for the theatrics, but wasn't the burning emblem a bit much?" Eve said, opening up the blinds in his room to let some light in.
Christian shook his head, "I need to send a message; I need the criminals to know that they should be afraid to come out of hiding."
"Well just remember you have a company to run still," Eve told him as she opened the door for her boss.
Christian laughed as he walked out, "You basically run it anyways, don't you?"
Eve rolled her eyes, and followed Christian into the kitchen, ready to recite the day's plans.
"You have a meeting at three with the board," she listed off, "Also your friend Ms. Kent is waiting for you in the living room."
Christian nodded as he began eating the small breakfast Eve had prepared for him.
"Some of the new orders you made have come in as well, but if you don't mind me asking, why do you need a red light? I thought you wanted to stay hidden."
Christian swallowed his food and answered, "It's to startle them. I'm going to place the light in my chest so it can turn on when I jump the last man up or when I'm facing off with someone and I still need intimidation on my side."
Eve nodded and walked off with her clipboard in hand, leaving Christian alone to finish his food.
When Christian finished he went to the living room to see what Kara wanted. When Kara saw him, she shot him a winning smile and moved over to make room for him on the couch. Christian just walked over and sat down in the armchair across from it. Kara's smile faltered a bit, but she was still determined that her best friend was still the same.
"So Christian, how have things been going," she asked him
"Things are going fine, thanks. How long are you gonna be in town?"
"Well Jimmy is coming here for that board meeting this week. It's with your company, remember?"
Christian chuckled, "Yeah, I guess it is. I'm sure Eve mentioned it to me, but I probably just forgot."
"Well thank God she's there to keep you together," Kara laughed
Eve walked in and placed a tea plate between them and gave Kara a friendly smile. "Mr. Wayne wouldn't be able to run the business without me."
Christian put his hands up and said, "Guilty as charged. So how long are you gonna stay?"
"Probably until the conference is over, say Christian, would you like to have dinner with us?"
Christian thought for a bit and then answered, "I don't know Kara, ever since my dad died, the company has been a bit more demanding…"
Eve interrupted and said, "I can call you if anything comes up, go enjoy yourself Christian."
Christian shot her a glare; he couldn't have evening plans, not with his new occupation at least.
"Mr. Wayne, you need to have some fun, you haven't done anything since…"
Christian sighed in defeat, "Alright Kara, what time?"
"Meet us at The Rose this evening, don't be late," she told him as she stood and walked out.
"The Rose," Christian muttered to himself, "I'm gonna need a date."
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Christian stepped in The Rose with a beautiful brunette model around his arm, he had to keep up appearances. The waiter guided them over to the table where Jimmy and Kara were sitting dressed in their nicest cloths.
"Jimmy, Kara!" Christian smiled, trying to keep up his act, "How are you two?"
Jimmy shook Christian's hand and motioned towards his seat, "Come, sit Christian, we haven't spoken in so long!"
Christian pulled the chair out for his date and then sat down next to her.
"So Christian," Kara asked, "who's your date?"
"I think her name's, Natalie, but I can never be too sure," Christian said, shooting the bimbo model a winning smile.
The model giggled and answered, "No Christian, I'm Katie. Our red haired mutual friend is Natalie."
Kara shot Christian a glare of utter disgust, just the reaction he wanted.
"Ahh yes, Katie, but a enough about me, tell me how business is going."
Jimmy answered, "It's going pretty well, Kara's been working hard to set up our websites and I've been trying to widen our range of readers. Your paper is sure to make some serious cash!"
"Yes I'm sure Wayne En…" Christian's phone suddenly went off, causing the waiter to shoot him a glare.
"Would you excuse me, it seems business calls," Christian said, standing up quietly.
"Are you sure you can't stay?" Kara asked, her eyebrow rose suspiciously.
Christian waved to them as he walked out, "Sorry Kara, maybe another time."
When he left the restaurant, he ran into an ally and answered the call.
"Eve, what's going on?"
"There's a hostage situation down on fourth street, you better get over there quickly," she answered, "I've sent you the car along with the suit."
Christian turned around and the headlights of the bat mobile burst into life. Changing into his suit, Christian jumped into the car and started it up. The engine roared loudly, the car humming with power. He finished changing then sped off towards fourth.
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When Batman arrived at the scene, he saw multiple police cars surrounding a small apartment complex.
He parked the car in the shadows, and then grappled to the roof of the opposite building.
Activating his thermal vision, he scanned the apartment, finding the four armed men on the fifth floor. He decided the best entry point would be through one of the windows on the seventh floor.
It was close enough so he could get to the man quickly, but he wouldn't be able to here it.
Batman spread his cape and jumped off, gliding towards the window. As he glided over the street, he heard people screaming below him and police yelling into their radios.
With a crash, he burst through the window and scanned the floor. He found an abandon elevator shaft, it would be perfect for getting down to the fifth floor. Batman jumped and grabbed the cord and slid down to the fifth floor silently.
When he reached the closed elevator door, he jumped on the small ledge. With little difficulty, he pulled them open and looked through.
In front of him was one of the armed men, completely oblivious to his presence. Batman grabbed him by the neck and chocked him until he fell unconscious, then hung him by the feet from the elevator shaft.
He moved on silently, looking around for the hostages. Another armed man walked around the corner to check up on his friend. Before he could report the man missing, Batman descended onto him from the rafters and knocked him out violently, causing the radio to drop.
"Hello, hello?" one of the criminals called over the radio, "Shit, he's here!"
The two criminals started searching for the unknown wraith ruining their operation. Nervously, one of the men turned on his light, revealing Batman standing right in front of him. The bat emblem started to glow a violent red as he jumped at the gunman, knocking the gun out of his hands before he could do anything.
The gunman tried to punch Batman, but he just grabbed the man's fist and slammed his other hand into his elbow, breaking the criminal's arm.
"I've got you now Bat!" screamed the other man, aiming his rifle at Batman.
The Batman whirled around and tossed three batarangs at him, impaling his hand and causing him to drop the gun. The criminal tried to turn and run, but Batman jumped on top of him. He proceeded to break both the man's hand and his leg, leaving him crippled on the ground crying for mercy.
The threats had been neutralized; now time to find the hostages. Batman walked over to where he found four tied up figures with bags on their head. When he whipped off the bag, he saw that the hostages weren't people, but dolls with bombs strapped to their head. Batman noticed there was a note tied to one of their heads. He opened it up and read it to himself.
"Antonio Falcone says hi," he muttered, then crumpled the card and threw it away.
As fast as he could, Batman jumped through the window, gliding out just as the bombs went off, sending the whole building up in flames.
Kara watched in horror as the building Christian had just went into erupted in front of her.
"NO!" she yelled, flying over towards the smoldering remains.
Kara used her x ray vision to try and find her friend trapped, and hopefully alive, under the wreck.
"Batman, Batman where are you!" she yelled, flinging the remains of the apartment aside. As she continued digging, her super hearing picked up on a silent noise, the noise that wind makes when blowing against loose clothes. She turned around and saw Batman's dark figure gliding away towards the outer city. As fast and silently as she could, she followed him.
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"Mr. Falcone, the Batman won't be a problem anymore," Falcone's messenger told the mob boss.
"Hah!" Antonio laughed, "hear that!"
The mayor of Gotham, Jordan Phillips, nodded and said, "your operations should have no trouble now."
"Yeah, just keep the police useless and I'll keep you rich and powerful," Antonio told him, wrapping his arm around his shoulder, "No lets enjoy this dinner."
The six people sitting around the table began to eat and drink to the Batman's death, who knew it would be so easy?
"So Jordan, we need to talk about this new Commissioner, Ms. Carmen," Antonio said, taking a sip from his wine.
The mayor laughed and answered, "there's nothing to worry about from her, if she steps out of line I'll have her fired or killed in a second."
"Good, because if she gets anything on us, we're both going down," growled Antonio.
Suddenly, as the waiter brought out the second course, the lights flickered off.
"What happened to the lights?' one of the women asked, looking around nervously.
Antonio growled, "I don't know, just get the…"
Three smoke grenades crashed through the window, covering the room in a veil of thick, black fog. Antonio, Jordan, and the four other women were coughing, stumbling around the room trying to find the light switch.
"Ladies, gentlemen," a voice growled from the cloud, "you've eaten well. You've eaten Gotham's wealth, it's spirits, but your feast is over. From this moment on, I have returned to pass terrible judgment upon you all. None of you are safe."
The crowd gasped in horror as Batman emerged from the darkness, his emblem glowing bright red, and his eyes terrifying and angry.
"You, you should be dead!" yelled Antonio
"Let this be a warning to you all, cease preying on the innocent or I will crack down on you harder and faster then anything you've ever seen before," Batman growled.
The smoke began to clear as more armed guards entered the room, but by then the Batman was gone.
"Antonio, we're screwed!" yelled the mayor, staggering backwards. Falcone turned and saw a simple recorder lying on the ground with a note attached to it saying "one more to commissioner Carmen."
Falcone slammed his fist against the wall and yelled out in anger, "After twenty fucking years he has to come back now!"
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Christian parked the batmobile in the large circle that jutted out from the center of the cave and walked over towards Eve, who was standing in front of him with a nervous look on her.
"What's wrong Eve?" he asked, pulling off his mask and placing it on the computer.
Eve swallowed and then pointed over towards Kara, who was standing behind them with her arms crossed and an equally as cross look.
"Kara, what are you doing here?" Christian asked, angry that his secret was already out.
"Why are you doing this Christian?" she asked, walking towards him.
"What do you mean why am I doing this? Kara, Gotham is rotting, ROTTING, from the core and you expect me to do nothing? I'm doing what my father would have done, what he would have wanted me to do!"
Kara placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down.
"Why have you been following me all night?" he snarled, shifting back into Batman mode.
Kara's eyes widened, "How did you know?"
"You wear a white shirt and a red cape, in the dead of night those aren't to hard to spot," Christian told her, "plus only ten minutes on my father's computer told me everything, Superwoman."
Kara lowered her head "you know why I couldn't tell you…"
"I'm not mad that you didn't tell me, but what right do you have to pass judgment down on what I'm doing if you're doing the same thing!" Christian yelled at her, looking her straight in the eyes.
"But Christian," Kara begged him, "you aren't doing this out of the goodness of your heart, this is for revenge and trying to deal with your family's death!"
"Maybe it is, but what does it matter?"
Kara put her hand on his cheek and answered with tears in her eyes, "because I don't want to see you go down that road. I don't want you to become as obsessed and angry as your father was."
Christian grabbed her hand and pulled it away from his cheek, "nothing matters, nothing but the mission."
Christian walked up the steps and when he reached the top he called back down, "I assume you know the way out."
Kara cringed as she heard the door slam behind him. She turned towards Eve, who was clutching her clipboard nervously.
"What happened, it's like he's not even Christian anymore?" Kara asked Eve, who turned to face her.
"What do you think happen," Eve told her angrily, "Ms. Kent for twelve weeks after his father and sister were murdered he was left alone. No one called, not even you, his best friend! He used the only way he thought he knew to deal with it, and that was to become the creature you see now. You were almost everything to him, and you left him!"
"What do you mean," Kara asked
"It doesn't matter now," Eve said, shaking her head, "Whatever feelings he had have died with him. This is all he has left."
Eve followed Christian upstairs, leaving Kara alone in the dark.
"Christian…" Kara said to herself, tears welling up in her eyes.
A/N: Please review, I really need the feedback!