Spider-Bat: New Way Home

Chapter 15: Live and Let Die

Bruce Wayne, dressed up as Zorro, amazed the crowd as he swung across the main stage of the Monarch Theatre, acting out the final scene of the play. The scene called for a sword fight between Zorro and the main antagonist, Captain Esteban Pasquale, in order to save Zorro's love interest, Lolita Pulido, who was being played by Mary Jane Watson.

Alfred stood recording the swashbuckling finale, when suddenly he received a call from Thomas letting him know about the potential break-in at the manor. Thomas also let him know that they had left the science exhibit and had also headed for home, hoping that it might only be a false alarm like other times before.

Alfred told Thomas that he and Bruce would head their way as soon as the play was finished. "Please, be safe, Master Wayne," Alfred urged. "If you suspect foul play, just wait for the police to get there. Master Bruce and I will see you soon."

Twenty minutes later, the play was over, and everyone in the cast went back out on stage to take a bow. As the crowd cheered for them, Alfred began making his way towards the backstage area. After making it back there, Alfred spotted Bruce and Mary Jane giving each other a hug and exchanging conversation. He figured he would give them another minute to celebrate before trying to get Bruce's attention.

"Bruce. I need to tell you something," Mary Jane whispered. "I'm thinking about breaking up with Flash."

Bruce's eyes widened. "Really?" he said shockingly. "Why?"

"Because… I like somebody else," she answered back.

Despite Bruce having a good idea that she was most likely referring to him, he still had to ask- "Who?"

Just as she started to move her lips, Bruce noticed Alfred waving towards him from the backstage area. "Hold up," he stopped her from saying anything else. "I'll be right back. My butler is waving me down for some reason."

Bruce quickly made his way to Alfred and asked what the big hurry was all about.

"There appears to have been a break-in at the manor, Master Bruce. Your parents and Peter left the science exhibit early, and they are on their way home now. I told your father we would head that way as soon as possible."

"It's okay, Alfred. I know what happened at the manor," Bruce replied with a frown. "I was having Flash Thompson play a prank on Peter by having him steal Peter's first place science fair prize. I promise I'll get it back for him."

Alfred looked down at Bruce with a scornful stare. "Why in blazes would you do such a petty thing like that?"

Bruce lowered his head. "I was mad because of all the attention Peter was getting… And I thought this was some way of getting back at him for it… But when you told me about why Mom and Dad were doing it, I tried to tell Flash not to go through with it, but he never answered me back. It looks like he must have done it."

"Bruce Thomas Wayne, I am very disappointed in you," Alfred scolded. "Get your things so that we can leave! I will call your parents and let them know it was a false alarm. I really do hope you can start to make better decisions in the future!"

"Yes, sir," Bruce replied, his head still lowered in shame. "Can I say goodbye to Mary Jane first?"

Alfred's eye-brow raised, continuing to give Bruce a mean glare, almost as if to say Bruce was pushing his luck.

Bruce could tell that Alfred wanted him to get his belongings so that they could leave, and that is what Bruce did.

Mary Jane stood waiting for Bruce to come back so that she could continue telling him about her feelings towards him, but the only thing she received was a slight waving of goodbye from Bruce as he and Alfred quickly exited the backstage area.

As soon as Alfred made it out to the limousine he tried calling Thomas to make him aware of what Bruce had told him, however, due to the weather, and the fact that Thomas, Martha, and Peter were probably driving through a dead zone, Thomas didn't answer his cell phone. It would take Alfred at least twenty-five minutes to make it back to Wayne Manor from the Monarch Theatre.

Fifteen minutes later, Thomas pulled into the driveway and opened the main security gate. He then slowly pulled the car up a little closer, but tried keeping it concealed behind the large water fountain in the middle of the driveway. "It doesn't look as if the police have had a chance to make it here yet," Martha said with a trembling voice.

Thomas opened his car door slowly. "Stay right here," he whispered to his family. "I'm just going to take a look around the perimeter."

"Dad." Peter stopped him. "I wouldn't go in there. Something doesn't feel right," he continued, having a weird sensation going off in his head.

"I'm just going to take a look around, that's all. I'll be right back."

"Please be careful," Martha pleaded.

The silent alarm had originally gone off on the east side of the home, so that was the direction Thomas headed first. When he did, he noticed that the hallway window was wide open. He then sat and listened for any sort of noise coming from within. At first he didn't hear anything, but then a sudden clattering of pans could be heard coming from the kitchen area. At that point he knew it wasn't just a false alarm.

He had a decision to make. Should he go back to the car and wait for the police and Alfred to arrive? Or, should he go inside, hoping he could scare them off?

He chose the latter.

Thomas climbed through the window and made his way closer to the kitchen. He knew about all the sneakiest ways of getting there without getting detected. It was all about staying in the shadows of the manor.

He soon hid behind the main chair of the dining room. From there he could almost see everything going on. It looked as if there was a man with a hoodie trying to look through the silverware drawers, hoping to find anything valuable. It was Joe Chill. He must have accidentally hit his head on the pans hanging above the island counter area. A couple of them had even fallen onto the floor.

Thomas crawled his way towards the kitchen, keeping himself hidden to Joe's backside. He then picked up one of the iron skillets that had fallen onto the floor and slowly approached the thief.

Joe barely caught a glimpse of Thomas through the reflection of one of the spoons he was looking at. He tried to pull out his gun, but before he could-

WHAM! Thomas hit him over the head just before he could get the gun out of his pocket.

Just as Joe's body hit the ground, Flint Marko ran into the kitchen to see what all the commotion was about. When he did, he noticed Thomas was about twenty feet away from him, standing over Joe's limp body. He then quickly pulled out his gun.

Thomas had trained with Henri Ducard while Henri stayed in Gotham, and Henri had always told Thomas to keep his eye on the barrel of the gun. He also taught him how quick he could be as long as he could anticipate the gunshot. And that's what Thomas did.

BANG! The gun went off.

Thomas turned his body sideways just as the trigger was pulled. The bullet missed, whizzing past his ear.

Thomas then moved in closer, keeping his eye on the barrel.

BANG! BANG! Flint shot out of fear.

Thomas managed to evade the bullets once again, though one bullet managed to graze his shoulder.

He then lunged in and grabbed Flint's arm, keeping the barrel of the gun away from his body.

BANG! The gun went off again. And when it did-

There was a sudden thud on the ground.

Thomas turned to see who it was, his eyes widened when he saw that it was his wife on the ground. She must have come through the front door to try and see what was going on. The bullet hit her in her abdomen area.

Thomas continued trying to wrestle the gun out of Flint's hand so that he could safely make it over to his wife, when suddenly-

BANG! Joe had managed to come to and fire off a shot in Thomas's direction. The bullet hit Thomas directly in his back, causing Thomas to slowly fall to the ground.

Flint's face was in shock, looking down at the fallen victims. "Let's get the hell outta here, Joe!" he blurted.

Joe looked down at Martha's pearls which were placed around her neck. He then reached down and yanked them off of her as the two of them ran away.

Peter was waiting outside. He had a terrible feeling something was wrong. That's when he spotted the two thieves dashing out the front door. They quickly hopped over the concrete security wall and headed off into the wooded area.

Peter quickly made his way inside. After making it to the kitchen area, he found his father crawling over towards his mother. His mother wasn't moving at all. Blood was oozing out of both of them.

"MOM! DAD!" Peter cried out. He wasn't sure of what he could do.

Thomas had made it over to his wife's side. He tried to put pressure on her wound, but he barely had any strength himself. Until finally, he fell over, his body going numb.

Peter bent down to try and help him, tears falling from his eyes.

"Peter." Thomas managed to move his arm, grabbing hold of Peter's hand. "Don't be afraid, son… (cough… cough) There is something I need to tell you about your real parents… (cough) You are special… Your parents worked for Norman… Oz…" but before he could get another word out, he died.

"Dad? Dad, wake up!" Peter cried, trying to nudge him. But there was no use. They were both gone.

Just then, Peter had another terrible sensation pulsating through his head. But before he could act on it, he suddenly felt a tug on the back of his collar, yanking him up from off the ground.

It was Karl Fiers. The only thing Peter could see was his gray suit as Karl put him in a chokehold.

Peter squirmed, trying to break free of Karl's strong hold.

"You don't wanna do that kid! If you see my face, I might have to blast you one! You're lucky you are worth more alive than you are dead!" Karl declared.

Peter didn't know what he meant by that. All he wanted to do was get himself freed so that he could tend to his parents. He also knew that Alfred and Bruce would be getting home soon; and with any luck, so would the police.

Finally, Peter managed to get his head loose enough to be able to bite down on Karl's arm, causing Karl to loosen his grip.

"OW! You sonuva!" Karl bellowed.

Peter then stomped down on Karl's foot, allowing him to slip away. And when he did, he ran off as fast as he could.

"Get back here, you little bastard!" Karl continued cursing.

Karl then noticed Peter dashing out the front door. He quickly made his way in the same direction. When he got to the doorway, he noticed Peter trying to make it to the security gate. Karl knew he couldn't let him get away, so he took out his gun and aimed it directly at Peter's back. Just before he could pull the trigger-

WHOMP! The Scarlet Shadow had come from out of nowhere, landing a blow directly on top of Karl's shoulders, causing the gun to fire off at the ground.

Peter heard the gunshot and turned around. He then spotted the crimson warrior battling it out with the gray-suited man.

The Scarlet Shadow managed to knock the gun out of Karl's hand and also land a couple punches, knocking Karl to the ground as well. "Evil will not exist in my city!" he declared.

Karl quickly picked up his gun and began firing at the Scarlet Shadow, but the bullets almost seemed to pass right through his cloak.

He tried firing again… (click-click-click) but the gun was empty.

Suddenly, sirens could be heard in the distance.

"Screw this!" Karl exclaimed, hopping up from off the ground and making a mad dash towards the road.

Karl wasn't paying very close attention to on coming traffic, when suddenly-

WHAM! A police car accidentally side-swiped him, causing Karl to roll off into a ditch.

The police officer spotted the Scarlet Shadow approaching, so he got out of his car with his gun drawn. "Hold it right there!" he demanded. "Who are you!?"

"I. Am. The Shadow Stranger!" was the response the police officer got as the crimson vigilante escaped into the woods.

The officer almost gave chase, until he heard-

"HELP! INSIDE THE HOUSE! MY PARENTS HAVE BEEN SHOT!"

The police officer took one last look around. He couldn't spot the crimson vigilante or the man he hit with his car. He then made his way inside the house and began doing CPR on Thomas and Martha.

A couple minutes later, Alfred and Bruce finally made it home. Several other police cars had already made it there, along with an ambulance.

Bruce spotted Peter crying near the ambulance. It looked as if a police officer was consoling him. "Geez… it was only a science fair project," he thought to himself.

Alfred had a feeling something much greater had happened as he quickly tried to make his way inside the manor. Two police officers tried to stop him. "You don't wanna go in there, sir. It's not good."

Bruce walked over towards Peter. He could tell Peter had been crying for quite some time. "What's wrong?" he asked, thinking Peter was only going to tell him that someone stole some of his stuff.

"It's mom and dad…" (sniff)

"What about mom and dad?" Bruce retorted, his face growing more concerned.

"They're… (sniff) They're dead."

"WHAT!?" Bruce blurted. He then turned and ran towards the house, but he was stopped by two officers the same way Alfred was. "Let me go! I want to see my parents!"

Bruce then managed to break free of their grasp and make it inside. There, he found his slain parents lying next to each other on the floor, a pool of blood surrounding them.

He dropped to his knees, almost fainting from the sight. He then took out his cell phone and called Flash, still thinking Flash was the one who did it.

Flash answered and started talking right away. "Yo! Bruce! I got the science fair project! But you owe me one for what I had to go through to get it!"

"What the hell happened!?" Bruce bellowed.

"What do you mean? I did what you told me to." Flash replied. "I got in through the hallway window, made my way to your brother's room, trashed it a little, and then made off with his project."

"I don't mean that!" Bruce cried. "I mean… What the hell did you do to my parents!?"

"Your parents?" Flash retorted. "Nobody was there. I got in and out. I don't even think an alarm went off."

A police officer walked over to Bruce. It was Jim Gordon. He put his trench-coat over Bruce's shoulders. "It's going to be okay, son."

"What happened?" Bruce couldn't hold back the tears as he hung up the phone on Flash.

"Your brother said he heard shots fired inside the house. He then saw two perps running away through the front door. He said there was another perp still in the house when he went inside to check on your parents. The perp tried to grab your brother, but he managed to get away. There was someone else at the scene, a man dressed up in red and black. Your brother said the perp and him fought in the driveway before the perp tried getting away. I think I might have hit him with my car during his escape. The detectives believe they managed to break into the house from an open window near the hallway. I'm sure the security cameras will give us a better look at what happened."

"This is all my fault," Bruce cried. He then stood up and ran out the front door, Gordon's trench-coat falling to the floor as he ran off.

"Wait!" Gordon shouted. But it was of no use. Bruce dashed off past all the other officers, and ran into the wooded area.

Bruce didn't know where he was going. He just wanted to get away.

Suddenly, Bruce stepped onto a few rotted boards, which were covering the opening of a large well, and he found himself falling deep inside the hole. It felt like he was falling forever.

He fell nearly fifty feet down before his body slammed against the bottom.

He tried to move, but he couldn't. He felt completely paralyzed.

At that point, he figured he was going to die. And he didn't care if he did. He completely felt responsible for his parent's death.

As he looked up at the large hole, he suddenly began to hear a noise. He could barely turn his head to the side to see what the noise was. When he did, he saw a giant bat hanging upside-down. This was no ordinary bat though. This bat was completely black, covered in some sort of tar-like substance.

The bat laid his menacing red eyes on Bruce. It then opened its huge wingspan and flew directly at him.

At that moment, Bruce's eyes faded to black, and he fell unconscious.

Despite being out cold, Bruce could see visions of the black tar-like substance crawling up his body, completely wrapping itself around him like a cocoon. He then began seeing images of Peter's parents, though he had never seen them before in his life. He also could see images of the hive-mind on Planet Klyntar.

Moments later, Bruce woke up. And when he did, he noticed someone was pulling him up from out of the deep well. It was the Shadow Stranger.

He placed Bruce on the ground next to the well. Bruce still couldn't move any parts of his body.

The Shadow Stranger took out a vile of liquid and began pouring it into Bruce's mouth. "Drink this. It will help." he insisted.

A few minutes after that, Bruce could finally feel some sensation in his limbs again.

"You were there… You saved Peter. Why didn't you save my parents?" Bruce mumbled through his still numb lips.

"I didn't have time. I had only made it out to your parent's home after they had been shot."

"But you are supposed to be Gotham's protector. Yet, you couldn't save them."

"Your parent's place is quite a ways from the city. I can't be everywhere at once."

"What are you supposed to be, anyway? What is that red cloak you wear?"

"It is a magical cloak. Before I attained it, it was one of the many mystical relics that was in the possession of the Masters of the Mystic Arts."

"Who killed my parents?"

Before he could get an answer-

"Hey you! What are you doing to Bruce!?" someone shouted. It was Alfred. He had found them.

The crimson vigilante quickly ran off, leaving Alfred to tend to Bruce.

Alfred ran over to Bruce's side and asked if he was okay. Bruce began getting more of the feeling back in his body, and soon was able to sit upright. "I think I will be alright," he replied.

"Who was that?" Alfred asked. "What did he do to you?"

"I fell into this well. He pulled me out. He said he's the one who saved Peter. I think he knows who killed mom and dad."

Alfred also had a good idea of who might have killed them, but he didn't mention anything to Bruce at that time. He could only remember how Peter described the man in the gray suit. He hadn't heard of that man for nearly fourteen years.

He helped Bruce up from off the ground, and then helped him make his way back towards the manor. Both were devastated by the awful events that had taken place.