Chapter 5: The Legend Returns
A Month and a Half Later...
ACE Chemicals
Despite the threat of the League of Assassins looming over New Gotham, the city's regular criminals didn't take that as a sign to take a break from breaking the law. In fact, from their perspective, if the city was going to burn, then they might as well have some fun along the way. Besides, with the vigilantes preoccupied with the Assassins, they figured that it would take the focus off of them completely. Oh, how wrong they were.
In the Joker's birthplace at nighttime, Alfred Stryker, an executive of the company, was busy making sure that he would be the sole owner of ACE Chemicals. But instead of simply buying the partners out, he chose to resort to murder. David Lambert and Steven Crane were the first two to die at his hired thugs' hands, now all he had to do was have the last one killed. The man who was about to die was Paul Rogers.
"Listen, Paulie," said the slender, middle-aged, grey-templed crooked executive, "I hope you know that this isn't easy for me. You were like a brother to me."
"I didn't know brothers killed one another," Rogers stated while he was gasping after he had taken a beating from Jennings, Stryker's lead henchman.
"I didn't know you were new to Gotham." Stryker sarcastically replied whilst flashing a smug smile. "Alright Jennings, throw him in."
Before Jennings pushed Rogers into the chemicals below them, the would-be third victim breathed out, "What makes you think you'll get away with this?! You really think the cops won't look into this and put you behind bars?! Bruce Wayne is the one running the force! The days of bribing cops died with Loeb! And that was a long time ago."
Stryker, as well as Jennings and the rest of his army of thugs, chuckled, "Oh, Paulie, that much is obvious. But they can't put my ass in prison if they got no proof. We made Crane and Lambert's deaths look like accidents. And with the cameras not working for some reason, who could possibly say that you didn't trip and fall. Especially with your drinking history. Alright, shut him up, already."
But before Jennings could attempt anything, the lights shut down seemingly by themselves. Stryker was worried, "What the hell?"
"Maybe they forgot to pay the electric bill." one of the thugs suggested.
"Shut up!" Stryker snapped at him.
Then, out of the blue, two of the henchmen were suddenly strung upside down above the rest.
If Stryker wasn't feeling uneasy before, he sure was now.
"No," he begged, "no, no, NO! This isn't happening!" he whined.
Suddenly, from the shadows, three batarangs flew towards them and hit each of their targets, causing them to drop their guns and scream in agony. But they didn't scream for long because the batarangs excreted knock-out gas, from which they almost immediately passed out.
In response to Stryker's pleading, a man with a dark and mysterious voice said, "Oh, but it is, Stryker. Did you honestly think your actions wouldn't catch my attention?"
Stryker, as well as his remaining henchmen searched everywhere to find him.
"DON'T YOU HAVE BIGGER FISH TO FRY?!!" Stryker yelled out.
"I've still got time for that." said the vigilante. "And you'll have plenty of time to think about what you've done in prison."
Suddenly, smoke bombs were tossed towards Stryker and the thugs, who gasped for air as the smoke was released. Most of the thugs fired their guns out of panic.
"DON'T SHOOT!!" Stryker warned. "These chemicals are explosive!"
But it didn't matter what they did or didn't do. Because while they were trying to breathe, a shadowy figure with big pointy ears on his head dropped down, knocked out Jennings with one punch, grabbed Paul Rogers, fired his grappling hook at a good location, and got the man to safety.
"FUCK!" Stryker yelled.
Needless to say, it wasn't over. Because the rescuer returned and, one by one, gave each of Stryker's henchmen a beating they would remember for as long as they lived. 3 of them wound up with broken jaws, 2 with broken legs, 5 with broken noses, 1 got a hard headbutt, and the few that were left were swiftly taken care of with a punch here and a kick there.
Now all that was left was Alfred Stryker, who backed away as the figure walked towards them. "I'm not going to prison." he sneered.
"You could keep telling yourself that," said the vigilante, "or you could just accept your fate."
Stryker kept backing up until his back was against the railings. He looked behind him and saw a giant container filled with a green chemical, and then looked back at the hero.
"So, what?" Stryker asked. "You hide under a rock for years but when a ninja army comes to the city, that's when you start making problems again?
"You're the only one of us that's a problem, Stryker." said the vigilante.
"I guess it was too much to hope that Batman was really dead." Stryker replied as he readied his handgun from behind him.
"I'll always be back." said Batman. "Always."
"Yeah? WELL LET'S SEE YOU COME BACK FROM THIS!!" Stryker yelled before he brought his handgun out in front of his right lumbar and right inguinal region of his abdomen and fired at the new Caped Crusader.
Alas, it was pointless. Because after firing one bullet, Batman deflected it with the armor on his left arm, causing the bullet to ricochet off him and right into the crooked executive's right shoulder. Stryker was then over the railing and started falling into the chemicals below him whilst screaming for dear life. But just as he was about to have a chemical bath, Batman had already shot his batclaw and caught him by his left leg. He then retracted the batclaw's wire and brought Stryker back to him and put him faced up and layed down with his back on the ground.
The Dark Knight looked into Stryker's eyes and said, "You're lucky that I don't need nor want another Joker running around."
Finally, he knocked him out with a single punch.
Once he was done, he tied up the henchmen and Stryker, quickly patched up the latter's bullet wound after removing the bullet itself, sent the footage from his body camera and the recording of Stryker's gloating (confession) to the police and the media, and got out of there.
Outside of ACE Chemicals, several news outlets surrounded the area as the cops arrested Alfred Stryker and his men. The officers were also getting a statement from Paul Rogers, who explained that, due to the deaths of his partners, he was working late to get things settled when Stryker and a few of his "friends" burst into his office and forcibly dragged him away to where they planned to kill him. Here's a report by the same beautiful, blonde newswoman who reported on the Huntress' bust on the Mutant Gang.
"Hello, New Gotham. I'm Veronica Vale-Ryder from GBC and while I'm sure you've already guessed it, I'll say it anyway. Batman has done it again. It was just a month and a half ago when Gotham's Caped Crusader returned to his home and immediately restarted his mission to protect the city. Ever since he came back, Batman has, so far, taken down bank robbers, prevented suicide attempts, saved civilians from both incidents and accidents, and taken down the Penguin's son and arms dealer, Ethan Copplepot. Now, tonight, Batman revealed that Alfred Stryker, an ACE Chemicals executive, was responsible for the deaths of David Lambert and Steven Crane, two of the three owners of the chemical company that's infamous for the late Joker's creation. Batman, himself, sent video recording to both the cops and news stations, such as ours, that showed Mr. Stryker bragging about how he killed his superiors just as he was about to have the sole surviving owner, Paul Rogers, killed. Batman's reappearance is assumed to be in response to the return of the League of Assassins. If so, then it seems that the Huntress and Black Canary won't be the only vigilantes inevitably taking on the horde. However, there is one thing that's on everyone's mind: Is this the original Batman compensating with an advanced suit, or does New Gotham have a new Batman? We'll see if there is more information as events take place. Back to you, Caleb."
GBC Newsroom
The T.V. screens then switches to the main newsroom of GBC where Caleb Conners and his co-anchor Linda Thomas are sat. Caleb Conners then takes the wheel.
"In related news, Batman's return to our city was predated by a week by the return of Commissioner Bruce Wayne's biological son, Damian Wayne. After his comeback, Mr. Wayne revealed that during the two years he had been away, he had taken over several private companies that apparently belonged to his maternal grandfather before they were shut down for as of yet unknown reasons. While it wasn't too much of a surprise, Damian Wayne's existence was a shock to the public when Bruce Wayne revealed that he had a son that he had no knowledge of before the mother of his child introduced them to each other when the Wayne scion was 8 years old back in 1977. His mother and her family were never made public knowledge, but based on this information, they must have been very well off."
Once he did his part, Linda Thomas was next.
"After Mr. Wayne returned, he revealed that not only had he bought Wayne Enterprises, but he also purchased Wayne Tower and uses it as his living quarters. So it appears that he truly will be living the high life. Plus, recent reports suggest that he and Lucas Fox, the son of the late Wayne Enterprises CEO, Lucius Fox, have been seen together on numerous occasions. Speculators have suggested they may be going into some form of business together despite owning two different companies. Could a joint organization be coming up in the future? More on this as the story expands."
Wayne Enterprises
The Next Day...
In the boardroom, the Board of Directors were waiting for the new CEO to show up and reveal what he had planned to save the city from the League of Assassins. And speak of the handsome devil, here he was. Damian Wayne opened the door to the boardroom and walked in with his red-headed assistant like he owned the place. Though, to be fair, he does.
"Good." he said. "It looks like everybody's here. Now we can get to the business at hand."
"With all due respect, Mr. Wayne," said William Finger, "we've been ready."
Damian nodded, "Fair enough. But, in my defense, with the League of Assassins coming back to Gotham, what I have to propose needs to be thoroughly seen to. Because, if I'm being honest here, you may find it controversial."
That last comment concerned the board.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Charles Dixon asked.
Damian breathed and started his speech, "Ok, I'm not going to beat around the bush, here. But you should know, with an army like the League of Assassins rearing their ugly heads, what I'm about to propose could be exactly what we need to stop them."
Each board member looked at each, worried about what he had in mind. Still, they decided to listen as they felt that, with the city in danger, they would have to keep an open mind.
"Continue." said Paula Dini.
And Damian did so, "If we're going to deal with an army of assassins, we will need an army of our own. Specifically, an army based off of the one man who lead the fight against the League when they attacked Old Gotham. Now answer me this: did any of you think that it was a coincidence that a new Batman just suddenly showed up a week after I came back?"
Each board member's stomach suddenly turned.
"Mr. Wayne," Michael Barr started to ask, "are you telling us that this new Batman is on your payroll?"
"Unofficially." Damian answered. "But with your help, and hopefully with Foxtech's help, we can make it official."
"And what makes you think we will support this?" Gertrude Conway asked. "In fact, why does it feel like you somehow knew that the League of Assassins would target the city?"
Damian sighed, "During my time away, I became friends with a strange man. He was quite interesting, honestly. Though, initially, I didn't realize just how interesting he really was. At the end of my travels, we reconnected when he approached me. It turns out that before and after we met and went our separate ways, he had been dismantling portions of Dusan al Ghul's League of Assassins. He warned me that I had to get back to New Gotham. But before that, he offered to help protect the city and gave me a list of names of people he felt could help us defeat the Assassins."
Though still suspicious of his claim, they decided to keep listening.
Damian continued, "Now, I'm sure you're wondering how he even found out about this. The truth is that this new Batman has a history with the League. Well, the old one, not the one we're dealing with. But, he is familiar with their new leader as well as he was with Ra's al Ghul. He trained under the original Assassins as a child before realizing that their methods for "world peace" was not necessarily the way to go. So, he defected to the original Batman's side and fought alongside him as one of his Robins."
If the board members weren't surprised before, they sure were now.
"Wait a minute," said Thomas King, "not only was he a child soldier for the League, but he was a Robin, too?"
"Yes." Damian bluntly answered.
King continued, "But now that he's Batman, he wants to be payed for vigilantism?"
"It's not what he wants." Damian answered again. "You see, ever since his Robin days, he recognized that no matter how much good Gotham's heroes did for the people of this city, there would still be those who scrutinize them for being outlaws. So, once he came to ask for my help, I came up with a plan to make this type of crime fighting legitimate."
"Corporate-sponsored superheroes." Grant Morrison guessed.
"Exactly." Damian confirmed.
"Do you have any idea what you're asking us to support?" Scott Snyder asked.
Damian nodded, "Yes. I am asking you to support the fight against the League of Assassins. I am asking you to give New Gotham a fighting chance just in case the National Guard can't make it here on time either because the League of Assassins finds a way to disrupt their arrival or because other cities find themselves in need of their help before we do. Because, unless you have forgotten, both of those things have happened before."
Once he had brought those facts up, the Board of Directors looked at each other out of worry that he may be right.
Damian then looked at his assistant, "Melissa, please hand out the folders to our esteemed board."
"Yes, Mr. Wayne." Melissa replied.
Melissa handed each of the board members a folder that contained most of the information regarding the members of Damian's team, including the new Batman.
"Each of these people have years worth of crime fighting experiences." said Damian. "Most of them hail from different countries. Which is actually another part of my proposal."
"Which is?" asked Neil Gaiman.
"Batman, Incorporated." Damian answered. "A group of highly skilled heroes located across multiple countries who have made it their mission to take on any threat, big or small. Especially the threats that the cops are not equipped to handle. Because, let's be honest, during the days of the original Batman, can you honestly say that Batman and his partners weren't necessary when it came to people like Killer Croc, Mister Freeze, and Man-Bat?"
While they didn't answer him directly, they did whisper their agreements to each other.
"Exactly." Damian replied. "And I admit, the League of Assassins are bigger in number. But that never stopped Batman and his family back in the old days. The cremation of Ra's al Ghul's corpse should be your main evidence of that."
"Still," said Dixon, "I am a bit concerned that every one of these profiles, including the one for Batman, have redactions in them."
"Yeah," Snyder agreed, "shouldn't we know who we are working with?"
"I'm afraid, should you agree to this," Damian replied, "that information will only be open to Mr. Fox and I. Most of these people have families that they would like to protect. And I'm sure we don't want the people they've pissed off to target them or their loved ones, right?"
The Board of Directors certainly thought hard once he brought that subject up.
"Good." said Damian, "Listen, before you try and vote me out, think about it for a minute. Wouldn't you rather have these people on our payroll than have them work for people you would normally consider shady? It wouldn't really matter if it was by intention or not. Besides, with all of my grandfather's companies added into Wayne Enterprises, we can afford this. And if there are any negative repercussions, then, as long as you and Foxtech leave Mr. Fox be, you can throw my ass to the wolves. I'm the one who came up with the idea, not him."
The Board of Directors pursed their lips and rubbed their heads.
"This is insane." King bluntly stated. "But, if history has taught us anything, it's that we need people just as capable to stop something like the Assassins. And besides, these costumed individuals are a lot more sane in comparison."
Damian smiled, "So? Do we have a deal?"
After thinking about it for a minute, the directors agreed.
"You and Mr. Fox still need to get City Hall to agree to this." Dini stated as a matter of fact. "That is, assuming that Foxtech's Board of Directors agree to this, too."
And as if on cue, Damian got a text from Luke. Based on his smirk, it was good news. He looked back as the Board of Directors and said, "Trust me Mrs. Dini, the latter will not be a problem."
He showed the people nearest to him Luke's text stating that his Board of Directors also agreed to the proposal. The people who could see the message gave the news to the others who were too far to see it.
Damian stood up, "Melissa, call Mayor Akins using Wayne Enterprises' number. Tell him that Damian Wayne and Lucas Fox would like an appointment with City Council to discuss how New Gotham can have a fighting chance against the League of Assassins. Trust me, he will be interested."
Melissa practically gleamed, "Of course, sir." And she hopped to it.
Outside City Hall
The Next Day...
Damian Wayne and Lucas Fox were sitting in the limo as they were being driven to City Hall by Julia Pennyworth.
"For the record," Julia started, "I did not work in Mi6 for years just to be a limo driver. No offense to my father, but I do not plan on being a butler, either."
"Don't worry," Damian assured, "once Batman, Incorporated starts up, you will have your own place on the team."
"You still think the council will agree to this?" Luke asked.
"If they want New Gotham to stay standing, then yes." Damian answered. "By the way, be more confident. It will help the both of us in there."
Luke huffed in response. Then again, he also felt that the former fifth Robin was right.
"Only one way to find out, boys. We're here." Julia let them know.
Damian and Luke braced themselves as they saw the vultures, sorry, reporters, in front of City Hall's entrance from the distance.
"Here they come, folks." said Veronica Vale-Ryder. "Damian Wayne and Lucas Fox are about to pull up at the front and come out of the limousine for all to see. Based on recent reports, Mr. Wayne has big plans for New Gotham. And Mr. Fox has joined in on the action."
"Wayne and Fox's goals seem to be a part of giving this city an extra hand against the League of Assassins." said Sam Troupe. "If that's true, then I guess the recent vigilantes won't be the only ones fighting for New Gotham."
Once Julia parked the car, Damian and Lucas got out of the left side and looked at their surroundings, which included the reporters running towards them. As much as they wanted to do the same, they knew that calmly walking up the stairs was more professional.
"Mr. Wayne, Mr. Fox," said Vale-Ryder, "what are you two planning to do about the potential attack on our city?"
"Mr. Wayne," said Andrew Vinson, "do you ever plan on telling everyone who your mother and her side of the family are? Who was your maternal grandfather?"
But Luke and Damian weren't in any mood to answer their questions. Not yet, anyway. First, Batman, Inc. needed to be approved. So, the new Batman and the former Batwing ignored the reporters, made their way up the stairs, and into the City Hall building.
Inside City Hall
1 Hour Later...
Luke and Damian had just finished presenting their idea to the City Council. Due to the severity of yhe situation, it was decided to keep the press and citizens out of this until promises were sure to be kept. The only "audience" was Julia.
Mayor Michael Akins spoke up, "Okay, after discussing this, I speak for all members when I say that while this proposal seems appealing, we're not too sure that having costumed vigilantes employed as an army is the best option for the city. I mean, what does that say about New Gotham as a whole?"
"It says that you're not afraid to have some backup in case the normal options you have don't work out against an organization that has been around for centuries." Damian bluntly answered. "Even if the members are new, their leader has been around for a very long time."
Luke budged in, "What Mr. Wayne is trying to say is that Dusan al Ghul is older than everyone in this room. The least we can do is legitimize the man who has knowledge of his history and his potential team members so that the amount of scrutiny they could face might be decreased once the war is over. Because, for all we know, law enforcement may still have to track down each of them due to their status as outlaws. Do you really want them to be punished for saving lives and stopping criminals once people with anti-vigilante mindsets decide that they've served their purpose? Because, trust me, it's happened before."
"Besides," Damian continued, "there are threats all over the world that law enforcement are not equipped to handle. And even with crimes that are normal in comparison, if costumed heroes present evidence to the police and the way that evidence was mysteriously brought in becomes public knowledge, they may become dismissible and the true criminals could walk free. At least, this way, the police and vigilante community can team up with a little less controversy and a little more legality."
Akins took a deep breath and looked into the eyes of every council member, who each reluctantly nodded in agreement. He then looked at the two businessmen and said, "I suppose this wouldn't be the first time Gotham has accepted help from vigilantes. And if we can make this global, then that would be one for the history books."
Luke and Damian smiled victoriously.
Outside City Hall
Once the council approved of Batman, Incorporated, Luke, Damian, and Julia walked out of the building. After evading the crowd yet again, they made it to the limo and drove off.
"Now, remember," Damian began, "tomorrow we will make an announcement to share this with the whole city. And, hopefully, they will feel that New Gotham has an even bigger chance of winning than before."
"It still feels wrong to be taking advantage of a massive threat just to create a superhero company." said Julia.
Damian understood, "For what it's worth, this was more out of pragmatism. Back when my father was just starting out, James Gordon suspected that Bruce Wayne was Batman based on the fact that Batman appeared shortly after my father came back from his years of training and Batman's obviously expensive gadgets and vehicles alone. My father tried to fool him into thinking otherwise with the unwitting help of an... overly affectionate date when he and his then wife visited Wayne Manor. The old man made them very uncomfortable."
"And considering the short timeframe that you came back and a new Batman introduced himself to the city," Luke began to conclude, "people would have asked questions sooner or later."
"Correct again, Lucas." Damian confirmed. "But I didn't feel like spending valuable time with women who sleep with every rich guy that gives them any attention, so I came up with another tactic. Plus, I admit, this truly was a convenient opportunity, as Julia suggested. Speaking of whom, how would you like to be the leader of our team's mission support?"
Julia considered it, "I suppose it beats being the limo driver."
Luke and Damian chuckled.
"Guess that's settled." said Luke.
Damian nodded before looking out the window. More specifically, he was looking at the very city that he swears he won't fail.
Author's Notes
Yeah, yeah. I know. You wanted a lot less conversation and a lot more action. That will come in due time. But I didn't want Batman, Incorporated to show up without any buildup. That being said, I have no idea how a superhero company or any real life company/subsidary would be approved of. But because this is in response to an upcoming threat, I decided to use whatever might work. Plus, I wanted to explain why Damian would make a company like this instead of just doing what his father did during his time as Batman.
Also, I know Veronica Vale-Ryder has been used a lot lately, but she's pretty much my character that recaps whatever happens in the story, including the events that I haven't shown, such as the time skip in this chapter. Also, I never really shipped Jack Ryder and Vicki Vale, but I just love the name Veronica Vale-Ryder. It's catchy. From my perspective, at least.
Finally, whenever Damian talks in his Batman persona, the boldened words aren't him yelling. Just imagine Kevin Conroy's Batman voice. May he rest in peace.
DC Universe References:
-Detective Comics #27: In Batman's first appearance, he fought against a corrupt executive of Apex Chemicals Company named Alfred Stryker. Stryker's crimes in this version is based off of what he did in the comic. Batman (Bruce Wayne) killed him by throwing him in the vat of chemicals below them. In this version, I had Damian save him just so another Clown Prince of Crime wouldn't be around. Because I'm not planning on using any Jokers in the present days, okay, he's so played out (in my opinion).
-Waylon Jones/Killer Croc
-Dr. Victor Fries/Mister Freeze
-Dr. Kirk Langstrom/Man-Bat
-Batman: Year One: The scene that Damian was talking about at the end was based on the part of the movie where Gordon and a pregnant Barbara, Sr. visited Bruce Wayne at Wayne Manor to discuss the possibility of Wayne being Batman. I don't know if that's how it played out in the comic, though. I never read that storyline.
-The Board of Directors are named after various comic book writers/artists that were involved with DC Comics, but some of the first names were gender flipped from men to women so the board would have female members.