Happy New Year

Chapter 3

The Friends

Bruce's childhood is complicated, for lack of a better word,being a rich heir like the other children left him with the impression that they only approached him out of interest, this is more evident when he reached adolescence, but he had his parents; Alfred, Leslie and their children, Julia and James, there was also Rachel who unfortunately moved away, but then his parents were murdered and Bruce isolated himself from any kind of relationship;He spent most of his time in fights fighting back against the bullying he suffered for being an orphan. He met Selina Kyle, a smart, determined street girl, a survivor and a fighter. What she experienced made her close her heart and soul to others. Bruce can say that he was the one who came closest. Of course, Selina would deny it to her death, but it was at university that he found true friends; Thomas Elliot, or just Thommy to his friends, his best friend along with Harvey Dent, Thommy.;he lost his parents in several tragedies which Bruce can seethat he got some kind ofhappiness with his girlfriend Peyton Riley; Thommy studying for medicine and Bruce was sure he would be one of the bestdoctors of the world; Harvey, who had to live with the tragedy of losing his mother to cancer and a father with schizophrenia and alcoholism, and fearing that he would suffer the same fate, was studying law alongside his girlfriend Rachel Dawes, his childhood friend, perhaps the only friend he saw as a sister he wanted to have; Bruce was always happy for both of them;Andrea Beaumont, his former girlfriend from his last year of college, perhaps the only woman who could make him give up his career fighting crime, she ended the relationship after his father was murdered and walked out of his life.

Talia who was his first girlfriend in his first year of college only for her to transfer after finishing the year; there was also Harleen Quinzel who was studying psychiatry and Pamela Isley who was studying biology to specialize in botany; Bruce had a group of great friends with whom they had fun and enjoyed those years of their lives until they graduated and separated to each follow the lives they wanted; Bruce returned from his training and had recovered his company and was willing to connect with his friends once again, but, it was not necessary when he answered the door and came face to face with Harvey and Rachel days after taking control of his family's company; Bruce smiled at them and they smiled:

- Bruce Wayne back from the dead! – said Harvey:

- I was only out for three years, Harvey! - Bruce said, rolling his eyes, shaking his friend's hand and giving him a hug with strong pats on the back. Bruce turned to Rachel:

- Hello Rachel! – said Bruce:

- Hello Bruce! – Rachel said hugging him – It's been a long time!

- Yes! – said Bruce – Come in!

They both entered and Bruce closed the door:

- Nothing has changed! – said Rachelreferring to the mansion:

- Some things change; others don't need to! – Bruce said smiling.

They went to one of the mansion's many balconies where they sat; Rachel hugged Alfred as he brought tea and homemade cookies:

- Mr. Pennyworth, I'm sure I'll be back for those cookies! - Harvey said:

- Me too Alfred! – said Rachel:

- I admit I really missed those cookies! – said Bruce:

- It's good to know that you still like my recipe! – said Alfred gratefully – I'll leave you alone to talk!

Alfred left and Bruce was smiling as he took another sip of his tea:

- It's always good to see you guys! – said Bruce – I had plans to go see you, but the company took up all my time!

- I understand Bruce! – said Harvey – It's no different with me at work, something always comes up that takes up all my time:

- Where are you working? – Bruce asked curiously:

- Police internal affairs! – Harvey replied:

- Dangerous work Harvey! – said Bruce:

- Someone has to make sure the cops toe the line and do their job! – said Harvey – The system is dirty and broken, I have to start somewhere to fix it!

- You will have my full support when you run for mayor! – Bruce said smiling:

- That's still a long way off Bruce! – Harvey said laughing:

- And you Rachel? – asked Bruce looking at his friend:

- Assistant District Attorney! – Rachel replied:

- "Prosecutor Rachel Dawes"! – said Bruce – It suits you!

- That's what I always say! - Harvey said laughing as his girlfriend lightly slapped him on the shoulder. Bruce laughed and took another sip of his tea:

- And the others? – Bruce asked – How are the others? Selina? Harleen? Thommy? Pamela?

- Have you heard from Talia? – Rachel asked, Bruce didn't show it, but he was taken aback by this question:

- I saw her in Mongolia working in her father's business! – Bruce replied – It was a friendly exchange of words and she sent a kiss and a hug to everyone!

- That's the only news we've had since she transferred! - Harvey said - It's good to know she gave a sign of life!

-At least she gave a sign of life! – said Rachel:

- Who's first name? - Harvey asked:

- Selina! – Bruce replied:

- Of course! – said Rachel – You neverforgot it!

- Don't deny it! – Harvey warned as if he had experience in the matter.

Bruce wouldn't deny it, he also had experience in the matter, Rachel had this strange ability of being able to make a real brute look like a child caught in a prank he committed:

- I won't deny it! – Bruce said. Rachel sighed:

- You know that Selina won a scholarship to Gotham University on the condition that she would be written in the Olympics! – said Rachel:

- Bruce knows this, Selina is physically fit enough to compete in Artistic Gymnastics, a scout saw her in action and wanted her in the next Olympics and she didn't disappoint in 2004! – said Harvey:

- He won individual and team gold in several categories in Athens! – said Rachel – He became a star and earned a lot of money and repeated the feat in China!

- She was on the covers of some magazines and national and international competitions until her manager stole her! – said Harvey.

In fact, Bruce didn't like what he heard, he always knew that Selina had a hard time and just when she was at the peak of having nothing but success in her life, someone came and took it all away from her, if anyone deserved to win, it would be Selina:

- She spent a lot of money on lawsuits to get what she lost back and during that time, the stress of the lawsuits, the loss of trust, paying lawyers, she became addicted! - said Rachel. This time Bruce was really worried, never in his life could he imagine a strong woman like Selina giving in to drug addiction:

- Your sister was taken out of town for treatment, we hear from time to time that she is recovering, maybe next year she will be back to take care of what she built! - said Harvey:

- What did she build? – Bruce asked curiously:

- A company focused on promoting charitable events,a modeling agency and a company dedicated to sporting goods! – Rachel replied – Her sister is taking care of everything!

- Selina has always been suspicious, one of the many lessons of the streets! – said Bruce:

- We taught her to trust! – Harvey said – Maybe that's what almost destroyed her!

- She just trusted the wrong person! – said Rachel – We are partly to blame, just like Selina and the businessman who stole from her, what we have to do now is move on and make sure this doesn't happen again!

Bruce lowered his head in thought:

- You're right! - said Bruce - We'll be by her side from now on, as friends we should be, even if she didn't want it; even if she blames us!

Rachel liked what she heard from Bruce, just like Harvey, they were worried about Selina, they could help, but, they were limited to their jobs to help, they could only advise, but, she didn't see that Selina was very shaken, she saw her manager as a friend, as the guy who had given her a new opportunity in life, had advised her for years and she had never suspected him and now he had stolen from her, but, she had recovered what she lost and ensured that he was rotting in jail:

- What about Tommy? – Bruce asked:

- Medicine! – Rachel replied – He didn't give up on being the best; Harvard!

- After his mother died and he abandoned Peyton! – Harvey said with an angry grimace on his face – I don't expect to see him for a few years!

Bruce knew that Tommy's mother's death was suspicious, especially when the family lawyer was killed the same day, Tommy took all the fortune and left, abandoning Peyton to marry into the mafia and thus she would be incommunicado with the others, he could do nothing, even as Bruce Wayne and as his alter ego who would take over since he would put suspicions on himself, no one in his group of friends liked what Tommy had done and no one could express how they felt about what he had done, as much as Bruce likes Tommy it is better this way:

- Harleen? – Bruce asked:

- Psychologist! – Harvey replied – In Arkham!

- She really took on the challenge! – said Rachel smiling at what she was saying – She wants to save everyone!

- Whenever we have time, we talk and we always meet at a bar at the end of the day and talk about life, work and many things! – said Harvey.

Bruce smiled that Harleen was working to make her dream come true, her mother had mental problems and both she and her father had to dedicate everything to help her mother and this left Harleen without friends in her childhood, but, it was at university that she met everyone, for the first time she had friends and Bruce could say that he was friends with benefits with Harleen for six months, good months in Bruce's opinion, anyway, Harleen was working to make her dream come true and Bruce would guarantee any means to help her:

- What about Pam? – Bruce asked. Pamela Isley, she grew up with distant parents, few friends in whom she was forgottengoingfor them, but, because she helped them with their homework, they weren't real friends, she only had friends at university, it was no surprise that she got along better with Harleen, they soon became best friends; Bruce dated Pam for a year and they had ended up as friends, best friends and Bruce always encouraged her to pursue her dreams:

- She's a respectable botanist now! – Rachel replied – She dreams of using what she's learned to save the world!

Bruce had no problem helping her with that, especially since she was working at his company, a pleasant surprise, in fact, Earle hadn't changed his will to secure a job at Wayne Enterprises for Pamela as soon as she graduated, but now he had to save that question for last, not that he wanted to explore that part of the conversation, but he needed to let him know that his friends had heard from her:

- Any news about Andrea? – Bruce asked.

Yellow smiles on Rachel and Harvey's faces, Bruce never denied that the reason for his breakup with Andrea was that her father got involved with dangerous people and he paid the price with his life and since then Andrea had disappeared; since Andrea, Bruce had not been expecting much in terms of relationships with women; Andrea had been something wonderful and unforgettable, but she gave up on him, for no reason at all she had ended their relationship and had not trusted him with the truth that he later found out and that really hurt Bruce, he had told her everything and was ready to tell her about his mission and now she had become a ghost in the world:

- No news from her, Bruce, since her father was murdered! – Harvey replied – She literally managed to disappear, I never went any further, but I think all her documents are up to date; I wouldn't be surprised if she came back one day!

- I'm sorry Bruce! – said Rachel:

- Don't be! – said Bruce – We can only move forward now!

- It's not what we have, it's what we choose that defines us! – said Rachel.

It could have come out of context in this conversation, but Bruce knew what Rachel was saying, Andrea made her choice and that defined her in his eyes and in Rachel's. The conversation went on for a long time and soon they had agreed to meet one of these days during the week with Harleen and Pamela; Bruce wouldn't miss this meeting for anything. In fact, he didn't miss this meeting. It was a good meeting to remember and talk about new things and Bruce did this throughout the year, connecting more and more with the friends he had lost. He knew he couldn't tell them about his plans, he knew that by keeping it a secret, they would be in danger because he was Bruce Wayne; he wanted to push them away, but he couldn't, he was used to it and was fine with himself with his friends without his life.

Selfish it may be, but that's how Bruce felt around his friends, a year of renewed friendship and seeing that each of them was trying to change the world in their own way.;it was time for him to make it happen too, to change the world, to change Gotham, in his own way and with all the equipment and training he had obtained; Bruce left the elevator and entered the Batcave, once again cursing the day Alfred gave it that name, which caught on with Leslie, Lucius and incredibly to his chagrin, himself; even worse, he was getting used to that name, reaching the computer Alfred had his eye on:

- Are you sure sir? – asked Alfred:

- Yes, Alfred, it's time! - Bruce replied, quickly heading to the room where his armor was stored, taking off his clothes and putting on the jumpsuit and then the armor, the gauntlets followed, putting on the gloves and then the cape, the utility belt and then the helmet, Bruce left the room and Alfred was watching, after a year of seeing him putting on and taking off the mask, he had gotten used to this fact, now it had become something normal and unfortunately for him he didn't want it to be normal:

- Let's work! - Bruce said activating the voice modulator and then turning his right arm showing behind the gauntlet, he passed his finger vertically and then opened showing keys that pressed in an order would perform a command, pressing some buttons and then the vertical engines of the jet were activated sustaining the Batjet; name that Leslie gave; in the air and it opened at the bottom where Bruce climbed and the bottom part retracted and closed and Bruce was able to position himself where he began to control the jet maneuvering it through the cave until he positioned himself at the opening where he activated the engines and left at full speed:

- And now it begins! – said Alfred turning to the computers:

- Stealth activated! – said Bruce – Where can we start?

-"I would advise on small things, Boss Bruce"!– Alfred replied:

- I spent half a year testing the equipment over and over again; I think we can handle big things, Alfred! – said Bruce:

Alfred just sighed:

-"As you wish sir"!– said Alfred:

- From now on, Alfred, in communications, I will be Batman and you will be Base! – said Batman:

-"Understood Batman"!– said Base:

- Send me the Base address! – Batman ordered:

-"Sending the address"!– said Base –"Port Adams; a drug shipment is arriving for the Falcone Family"!

The Batjet flew at high speed over the city in silence, heading for its first mission. Batman was approaching the port and prepared to jump, activating the autopilot, his seat lowered and he moved to the bottom to open and when a green light came on, Batman jumped and the jet followed its path; Batman fell to then open his cape and slow down and glide to then land on top of the roof of one of the many warehouses in the port:

- Base! I'm here! – said Batman:

-"Batman Received"!– said Base –"Satellite and security camera images have been updated and show that the drugs are stored and placed in Warehouse 578"!

- Understood! – said Batman, moving silently towards the warehouse. Arriving at the indicated warehouse, Batman went close to the skylight and watched diffuse movements through the dirty and old glass. He activated Detective Vision and saw through the X-rays several people moving, carrying weapons and carrying boxes:

-"The satellite shows twenty people inside the warehouse"!– said Base:

- They've already unloaded the ship, they're loading it onto trucks to start distribution! - said Batman - Base, use the security cameras and go back a few hours and try to track the trucks that transport these drugs! Where are they going!

-"Understood Batman"!– said Base –"There are twenty targets, you'll have to be silent and pick them off one by one."!

- I already established that Base! – said Batman – I'll start!

Batman silently opened the skylight and entered, hanging from the bare structures of the warehouse; silently following and analyzing the environment and the best moment to start; then he saw a target moving, alone to get more boxes in the back while the others were piled up with countless boxes near the entrance, Batman waited and then silently jumped to grab the thug from behind, covering his mouth and applying an arm lock, suffocating him until he was unconscious, no one heard; Bruce left him on the ground and then hid in the shadows, waiting. A second thug came looking for the companion who had left:

- Hey Charles, is everything okay? – asked the second bandit.

Charles, the first to be knocked down, did not respond and when he entered the darkness of the back of the warehouse, Batman then came out of his hiding place, catching the second thug by surprise who did not react in time, caught by a blow from Batman's left elbow in a cross that hit his temple and knocked him out; Batman caught the body before it hit the ground and made a noise and left it on the ground, Batman headed to a new hiding place and waited. As expected, someone in the group noticed the two who were absent:

- Brian, Charles! – called one of the bandits who was approaching where the second companion was lying – Is everything okay?

There was no response, only surprise when he found his fallen companion, quickly checking if he was alive, the man began to scream for help, the rest approached to see what was happening:

- We have intruders, boys! – said the leader of the group – Weapons in hand, spread out, search and bring them to me; we need to know who it is!

The bandits spread out across the warehouse, moving around while Batman watched them patiently, waiting for the right moment to act; Batman came out of his hiding place and quickly advanced, delivering a right punch to a bandit's face, throwing him against the boxes next to him, and quickly advanced, delivering a left elbow to another bandit's face. Batman turned around and delivered a one-eighty degree kick, hitting the bandit's head and throwing him against the boxes again, this time knocking him unconscious. Batman quickly delivered a right punch to the other bandit's stomach, who doubled over in pain, and then Batman finished by delivering an elbow to the back of his neck, knocking him out. Batman moved away to hide since he had made too much noise; there were sixteen left. Batman was moving quickly in the shadows. He had made noise to take down two bandits, and that was what he wanted, because the rest would follow in the direction of the noise, and that was how he would catch them. Seeing two more bandits together, Batman went after them and advanced, grabbing one bandit by the neck, bending him backwards, and applying a blow like a hammer to the bandit's chest, then with his right foot, hitting the sole of the other bandit's knee, who screamed in pain. Batman let go of the bandit to deliver a left punch from top to bottom, hitting the bandit's head, who was falling, screaming in pain, and thus falling unconscious. He turned to the other bandit and with a kick to his head, sending him to the world of dreams; there were fourteen left.

Batman took the grenade from one of the bandits, pulled the pin and threw it and stopped it to explode and incapacitate five bandits; nine missing; in the explosion, Batman took the opportunity to use the Batclaw and climb to the roof where he moved seeing the bandits joining in the destruction that Batman had caused to then use the Batclaw and catch the last bandit passing by and leave him hanging upside down; there were eight left and with them together, Batman threw a grenade that fell in the middle of the group and exploded in a large white flash blinding the bandits for a while; Batman fell from the ceiling planting the soles of his boots on the back of one of the bandits sending him to the ground and then with both elbows hitting two bandits who were next to him; then he applied an open hand blow to the throat of one of the bandits and then kicked another bandit with the sole and quickly applied a right cross to the temple of the bandit that had hit his throat and he fell unconscious and immediately applied a left cross to the face of another bandit; two were standing; turning and applying a kick to the face of another bandit and turning around applying a punch to the stomach of the bandit who doubled over in pain and then applying a blow to the back of the bandit's neck knocking him out.

The two thugs who had received elbows were getting up at the same time, it seemed unreal, but Batman tried anyway, advancing quickly and then grabbing the heads of the two thugs and hitting them against each other, the two thugs were knocked out; the thug who had only received one punch came screaming to attack and Batman dodged a punch, applying a knee to the thug's stomach and then applying a blow that broke his knee and amidst the scream of pain, grabs his neck and hits his face against the ground; Batman grabs the leg of one of the thugs and with one blow breaks it and then grabs him and throws him against the boxes with force and falls to the ground unconscious; then he realizes that one of the thugs was trying to escape, but Batman takes his Batclaw and fires it through the leg of the thug who screams and falls, Batman pulls him towards him and then hits him with a blow to his face, knocking him out.

It was finally over; all the bandits were unconscious, Batman walked among their unconscious bodies enjoying what he had done, it was his first time, truly as Batman and he had enjoyed it, maybe he shouldn't have, but he had indeed enjoyed putting pain and fear into the bandits, they were the first of many to fall in fear on him; he knew he shouldn't hold on to these thoughts, it didn't suit him and it didn't suit what he was proposing to be Batman, there was no room for petty thoughts but rather the search for justice and protecting the innocent, that's what he should be focused on:

-"Batman"!– called Base:

- It's over! - said Batman seeing a set of ropes, they wouldn't mind if he borrowed them; it took half an hour for Batman to leave the way he came in, through the skylight after what he had done to the bandits, that would certainly draw the attention of the press:

- Base! – Batman called – Call the police as an anonymous tip!

-"It's already being done"!– said Base:

- And the trucks? – asked Batman:

-"Three trucks in different directions; I sent the location to the jet's computer"!– Base replied:

- Good! - said Batman seeing the jet approaching and opening the bottom; Batman took out the Batclaw and pointed it upwards and fired and was pulled upwards, entering the jet and then positioning himself; the jet engines roared and Batman left for the locations, the first one is on the north island:

-"Three trucks for Gotham's three islands"!– said Base.

The first truck was easy to spot, being parked in a clandestine warehouse of Falcone, he would not get out, he would deal with the Batjet, it was time to test his weapons; Batman was in the skies with the jet's computer indicating, the first truck was on South Island near Miller Bay, stopped, probably in one of Falcone's many clandestine warehouses, quickly, Batman was looking with his own eyes at the warehouse, high walls, many cars, the truck parked and men unloading boxes inside the warehouse; activating the weapons, Batman prepared the aim, he would hit the cars and the truck first, floodgates opened underneath the jet allowing the launchers to descend and then with the aim ready, Batman launched the missiles that hit the cars and the truck causing a huge explosion that threw the bandits to the ground, the explosion of the truck threw the trailer up for a few moments before hitting the ground displacing it from the loading ramp, amidst the smoke, the jet Batman was in descended to the height of the building and dropping a . 50 caliber; Batman fired the machine gun, the bullets were hitting the warehouse from above sparing the bandits; the satellite images showed that there was no one on top and then Batman was using the machine gun to hit the warehouse offices and thus destroy the books and then an explosion happened setting the warehouse on fire:

- Send the police to this Base address! - said Batman:

-"Together with the firefighters"!- said Base:

- Going to the next address! - said Batman putting power to the engines and gaining altitude to then move forward; the next truck was moving on Central Island, Batman quickly reached the target that was moving which would make it much easier for Batman since he wouldn't need much of his arsenal, locking on to the target and then launching two missiles, one exploded in front of the truck destabilizing it and the other hit its side which released the truck's trailer and both fell over; Batman glided his Batjet waiting for the bandits to get out of the truck, but it seemed they were unconscious:

- Send the police to the scene along with the ambulance! - said Batman, putting more power into the jet and moving forward:

-"You have already been warned"!- said Base.

Arriving at North Island, Batman soon located his target who was speeding and crashing into cars. It can be deduced that he had already been warned and was certainly in despair. With the speed of the truck, Batman didn't need much. He locked onto the target and fired the missile. This impact missile hit the truck's engine, which overturned and the truck dragged it to a stop:

- It's done! - said Batman - Send the police to this location!

-"Certainly"!- said Base -"This is definitely a good start"!

- You're right! - said Batman:

-"It will close for today"?- asked Base:

- No! - Batman replied - I want to act against petty crimes!

-"From largest to smallest"!- said Base:

- All crimes will be important Base! - said Batman - I swore I would end them all!

-"Of course sir"!- said Base -"But I must remind you that this is your first night, there will be many more nights to come."!

- I know Base, but, as they say, the night is young! - said Batman putting the jet on autopilot, he moved from the panel until a hatch opened below him and he jumped like a bullet towards the ground quickly while his jet took off, Batman opened his cape slowing down and gliding until landing on the roof of a building - Camera check!

-"Right"!– said Base as Batman walked to the edge –"Convenience store robbery in the north"!

- Going! – said Batman jumping from the building, opening his cape and gliding north.

- Give me the money! – shouted a hooded bandit – Give it now!

- Calm down! Calm down! Easy! - said the merchant who owned the store, taking the money from the cash register and handing it to the robber, who quickly left the store. The merchant was watching when suddenly the robber was hoisted up with a scream of terror and surprise, and seconds later he fell to the ground and fainted. The merchant left the store and saw the same robber who had been targeting his store for three months; unconscious and, for sure, from the height he fell with some broken bones. The merchant looked up and saw nothing; nothing that indicated how the crook had been hoisted up. The merchant went back to the store and decided to call the police, deciding to take advantage of his good luck. Batman, hidden in the shadows, saw everything:

- All good,next! – said Batman:

-"ATM"?– asked Base

- I accept! Where? – asked Batman:

-"East of where it is,Batman"!– replied Base.

Grabbing the grappling hook, Batman fired and fired, then activated the recoil which pulled him up at great speed and launched him into the high, Batman quickly put away the grappling hook and stretched out his cape, gliding towards the robbery, after a few more changes of direction Batman arrived at the scene, an ATM stand, Batman activated his detective vision and saw the armed bandits and explosives being placed in the cash registers, he had to act, he took off the grappling hook and pointed it forward, firing and then being pulled over them and then throwing four Batarangs at the bandits, disarming them and then falling between them, Batman quickly hits the first one in the nose with his open hand, still with his right hand he collects it and then delivers a right blow to the other one's face and then applies a kick to the other one's face, quickly delivers a left punch to the stomach on the fourth guy who doubles over in pain, Batman hits him in the back of the neck with his right hand and before he falls to the ground he jumps over him and kicks the guy in front of him in the face and finishes by hitting the second guy with a left cross and the four are knocked out:

-"The police are already on their way"!– said Base:

- Great! – said Batman, activating the grappling hook and leaving.

The night continued with Batman interceding in several robbery situations, of course he couldn't be in all of them, it was that night that he came across his first murder which he had already solved and the evidence forwarded to the police; this evidence, without question, but at the moment Batman was looking at a situation where he heard screams; female screams in an alley; a man trying to rape a woman, Batman quickly jumped falling on top of the crook and did a spinning jump in the air to fall to the ground standing up allowing the bandit to get up stunned, dark this alley allowed Batman little vision, but he did not want to wait and acted advancing against the bandit and with a movement grabbing his right arm and breaking it, his scream of pain was heard in the alley and then Batman applies a blow with the sole of his boot to the bandit's knee destabilizing him to then grab the back of his neck and forcefully take his head to slam his face on the ground; Batman turned to the girl, right away he noticed that she was dressed like a prostitute:

- Get away from me! – the woman screamed desperately:

- I won't hurt you! – said Batman:

- I don't believe you! – said the woman:

- It's understandable! – said Batman in his modified voice; the woman seemed to calm down a little:

- Who are you? – asked the curious woman:

- A friend! – Batman replied, firing the grappling hook into the air and climbing up to the woman's surprise.

From one of Gotham's many buildings, Batman stood atop a gargoyle watching over the city he swore to protect. He had done enough today and it was time to go home. Now he had to deal with the repercussions. Accessing his gauntlet's laptop, he called the Batjet, which immediately came and stopped above his head. With the grappling hook, he rose and entered the jet, activating the camouflage and heading home, calling it a night. The jet entered the cave and slowly glided to land on the platform. Batman got out of the jet and took off his hood, revealing Bruce Wayne:

- How was it sir? – asked Alfred leaving the computers:

- Helpful Alfred! – Bruce replied:

- Let's see if you'll say that when I look at the injuries you acquired! - said Leslie entering the space:

- I can't wait! – said Bruce:

- Take off the equipment and let's go to the medical wing! - Leslie said harshly, which Bruce did not refuse to obey.

It was soon clear that the armor had absorbed most or all of the force of the blows. Bruce ensured that he took only a few blows, leaving only a significant bruise. In any case, Bruce called it a night and rested for work to see the repercussions of his actions. He went the next morning rested and wearing his suit for Wayne Enterprises, drinking coffee when the newspaper was placed in front of him; of course the highlight was what Batman did.

James Gordon, Captain of the Gotham Police, was not having a happy night, in fact, since he returned from the war and joined the police, few nights were happy, but this one in particular was among the worst; initially it seemed like he would have a normal night like any other, but then he received calls to the port, streets and a clandestine warehouse and several calls throughout the city and they all had something in common, mysteriously the robbers were incapacitated, a dark figure with white eyes appeared and beat the bandits and what he considered best was a jet firing bullets and missiles at trucks and warehouses, but before all this there was the drug shipment that had been seized from Carmine Falcone:

- Gordon! – called a voice that James Gordon certainly didn't want to hear today:

- Commissioner! – said Gordon turning around, they were in the warehouse of Port Adams, the first place to be attacked where most of the drug shipment was:

- What do we have? – asked Commissioner Gillian Loeb:

- Incidents reported all over the city, minor crimes being prevented! - Gordon replied - I sent Bullock to find something in common and according to what he reported, all these crimes had an invisible intervention or a man dressed in black, cape and white eyes who beat the shit out of the bandits; I sent Montoya and Allen to check the trucks and the other warehouse and they reported the same guy!

- What do you think? – asked Loeb:

- It's too early to say, but I think it's a vigilante! – Gordon replied:

- Gotham doesn't need vigilantes! – said Loeb:

- And what will we tell them? – asked Gordon, pointing to a group of journalists behind the containment line:

- Why are they here? – asked Commissioner Loeb, looking worried:

- I thought you knew! - said Gordon in surprise - It's Falcone's drug shipment!

Now Commissioner Loeb was surprised:

- Oh no! – said Loeb and now turning to the journalists – We can't turn aside and forget about this, the damn press will pressure everyone until the end, we're going to have to take all this to the end!

- Gotham doesn't need vigilantes, sir! - said Gordon - I agree with you, Commissioner, but we must choose what to do: we tell the journalists that it was a vigilante who did it and the police are demoralized or we tell them that we carried out a drug seizure operation without naming the owners and we carry it out with all the credit and praise for the police!

Commissioner Loeb was in deep thought deciding what to do, but he made his decision:

- Let's take this to the end! - said Loeb - We take credit and discreetly, you look at this vigilante, in the end I will want to take off your mask for everyone to see!

Loeb said nothing more and turned to reporters to give the official police statement, Bullock, Montoya and Allen approached:

- Jim! – said Bullock:

- Harvey, Allen, Montoya! – said Gordon – So?

- Broken bones, concussions, and a lot of bad guys in the hospital for a long time and then to jail! - replied Harvey Bullock - Some say they were caught by surprise, others say a shadow of white eyes attacked them and others say he has a cape of pointy dark circles!

- Same thing for the other warehouse and the trucks they claim he was on a jet with weapons and missiles! – said Montoya:

- Who has that kind of power to have their own fighter jet? – asked Gordon. He didn't get an answer:

- Are you a security guard, sir? – asked Allen:

- Yes! – Gordon replied – We must approach this discreetly and in absolute secrecy, he is doing police work and the commissioner does not like it; the crimes he stopped will go into the police station statistics and we will take credit for this drug seizure!

- It's Falcone's drugs, Jim! – said Harvey:

- If we say that a vigilante did all this, it will bring discredit to the police! – said Gordon:

- Discredit to Loeb indeed! – said Allen. Gordon did not refute:

- So our commissioner prefers to save face instead of saving his partners' businesses! – said Harvey Bullock:

- Let's use this to prosecute these criminals and get these drugs out before they hit the streets! - said Gordon.

No one said anything, they just accepted it and got to work, Gordon was thinking ahead and he knew he would start counting the costs of the damage, he felt he would see a lot of it yet.

Harvey Dent was watching TV with his girlfriend Rachel for the news of drug seizures in two warehouses, of course the police have not yet given names, but it would not be a mistake to say that the drugs belong to Carmine Falcone:

- They would never do that! – said Harvey:

- What? – asked Rachel:

- The police! – Harvey replied – They would never run over Carmine Falcone and seize almost his entire drug shipment!

- If it wasn't them, then who was it? – asked Rachel:

- Do you think there is a hidden force involved in this? – Harvey asked:

- It wouldn't be a surprise, the police and politicians are in the pockets of the mafias and gangs! - Rachel replied - It would get to a point where someone or a group would take justice into their own hands!

- A vigilante! – said Harvey – Are we that bad to get to this point?

- I can count on one hand how many we can trust not to be intimidated or receive bribes by adding our work! – replied Rachel.

Harvey couldn't refute what his girlfriend said:

- Maybe that's what the city needs; a watchman so thateveryone wake upto Gotham's reality and we can work to change it! – said Rachel.

Harvey wished this could come true, but he knew he had doubts, but he always liked Rachel's optimism and that's what he could work with.