Holy Hell Batman! What have you done?!?! [CLWC]

Bruce Wayne sat in his rocking chair staring out the window on the city that he had spent a lifetime protecting. Although it had been more than a decade since the last time he put the Batman suit upon his aged and fragile body, not a day went by that he didn't think about what his secret identity had meant to him, and to Gotham City.

As he looked upon the skyline, remembering the rush of emotions that flooded him every time he saw the Bat Signal appear in the clouds, he couldn't help but feel angry that his body would no longer hold up to the rigors of being a super hero. He couldn't even get out of bed without the help of his nurse, so scaling buildings and battling villains wasn't an option these days.

Even though he had attempted to train replacements for his craft over the years, not one of those he had selected had endured the trials of the position. It had been far too long since Gotham City had a protector, and the underbelly of the city was slowly beginning to rise again. This time with no one to challenge it. The only thing that the criminal element lacked was organization and a leader. It was only a matter of time though before an evil mastermind took up the role, and plundered the city for all it was worth.

Bruce new something must be done to deter this from happening, but what could one fragile old man do? He still had nearly unlimited wealth and resources, but with no one to physically accept the challenge of being a super hero to his city, all of that meant nothing. It wasn't like you could just place an ad on Craigslist for heroes. Where was he to find his successor?

Over the course of his lifetime Bruce Wayne had battled more than his fair share of evil. As he looked at Gotham City, every corner reminded him of a bad guy he had taken off the streets and prevent harm to come the city's people. Some of those villains were more dangerous than others, and few where truly evil masterminds. It was in this thought that he found his answer.

The last villain that he had removed from society had also been the city's most dangerous. Even now, his bones ached with the memories of that battle. The villain with no name had nearly destroyed Batman with a form of energy so dangerous that it nearly ripped a hole in time itself. If it were not for Batman's last moment struggle through his pain to disengage the power from the machine, Gotham City would now be flooded with villains from across the rift of time itself. After the villain with no name had been vanquished, the machine had been placed in the Bat Cave, and had sat there collecting dust every since. Perhaps, the machine that once nearly destroyed him, and the city, could now become it's savior.

Bruce called to his nurse.

"Valerie, take me downstairs." Bruce said in a voice more authoritive than had come from his mouth in years.

"But sir, I don't..."

"Now, or I'll crawl there myself."

Helping the old man from his rocking chair into the wheelchair beside him, Valerie couldn't help but reveal a hint of a smile. She had only been allowed downstairs once, and that was when the cave had been sealed up when Mr. Wayne had decided it was time to retire. She wouldn't have even been allowed to see it, but he had felt that he at least owed her an explanation for why should would be working so hard to attend to his broken down body. As she pushed Mr. Wayne into the elevator, she was filled with anticipation and nervousness.

After leaving the elevator, and going through a couple of doors that had been put in place to seal the cave, Bruce Wayne and his nurse Valerie stood in the center of the cave. As with the time before, Valerie was stunned by the things she saw.

"You must dress me." Bruce said to his nurse. As usual, he was mildly ashamed that someone had to do it for him, but had finally come to accept it as needed. "Push that button on the wall there," Bruce said while pointing toward the button. A few moments later, after a decade of hiding, Batman's suit was visible once again.

It was a struggle for Valerie to get it one Mr. Wayne, as the suit was not really designed for easy access. Even though it hung loosely from the old man's frame, she could see the man as he use to be, a hero.

"Now, you must leave me."

"I can't do that Mr. Wayne."

"Leave. What I am about to do, it is too dangerous for you to witness, and you must think of your children. Leave, and I'll have someone else bring me back upstairs."

Confused, Valerie shook her head in acknowledgement, and proceeded back towards the elevator.

Bruce rolled himself up closer to the machine that the villain with no name had created. Although how it worked, or why was beyond him, the controls were simple enough to use. Placing his hand in the slot of the machine, he reached up and touched the button beside it. Instantly he felt a small prick on his finger. After the machine took the sample of Bruce's blood, the screen on the machine began to light up with information. Bruce rolled himself in front of the control panel and looked to the screen.

"When was I at my best?" Bruce asked himself.
"When I finally defeated the Joker. That was when I was at my strongest," came his answer.

Typing a date into the machine, and hitting a few more buttons, the machine began to scan that space in time looking for a match to the DNA that had been submitted. It didn't take long. The Bruce Wayne from long ago had been located. Without a second thought, the old man Bruce hit the activation button on the machine. On a platform next to it, a ball of energy began to form. Within moments the cave was buzzing with it's power.

In a time long ago, Bruce Wayne sat at his desk writing a check to his charity when suddenly he was aware of a glow around him. Before he had a chance to react, there was a blinding flash. A few moments later, when his sight was restored, he was sitting before an old man, an old man wearing his Batman suit.

"Where am I?", the younger Bruce said with just a touch of confusion.

"When would be a better question. Do you not know your own home?", came the reply from the old Bruce.

Even more confused, the younger Bruce just looked at the old man.

"Gotham City has reached a dangerous time, and it's hero is old and worthless to it. As you must know yourself, even at your tender age, a replacement for heroism is not an easy find, and over the years the search has been in vain. The only way to continue it's protection is to restore Batman to his former glory, and you my friend, are the answer. I have brought you, myself, to this time to prepare to fight the battles that are to come, and to take the place of this old man that stands before you. Not many, if any, people get to look upon themselves as they would be this close to death, but here you stand, and always will, the hero of Gotham City.

"And what of the Gotham City I am from?" asked the younger Bruce.

"According to the best of minds our world has to offer, your departure shall create another Gotham City in a parallel world, and without a protector, it is doomed. This is something that cannot be avoided in order to protect the one in which we stand at this moment in time. The decision has been made, and you have no choice but to accept it."

Uneasy about what he was being told, the younger Bruce Wayne shook his head in understanding. He didn't like the situation, but knew that he would do the same to protect his city, and in reality, apparently he had.

"Now, take me back upstairs. I'll have Valerie make us some soup, and we'll talk about the future of Gotham City.

Standing near the elevator, Valerie's jaw hit the ground when the elevator doors opened. Before her was a man that looked just like the picture she had seen of Mr. Wayne when he was a younger man.

Mr. Wayne had some explaining to do.

reply to post by isyeye


Holey Swiss Cheese! Nice way to start off the contest!!! Setting the bar rather high.

reply to post by beezzer


Yeah, but I hear bunnies can jump really high though.


Thanks for the kind words Beezzer....I'm looking forward to your contributions.

...and I have to say...feels good to place an entry this month. I took the last couple months off to work on things in the real world.

reply to post by isyeye


Exceedingly well written, good structure and command of grammar, spelling and punctuation which is something I feel is underrated in these contests. A great entry all round, which will be hard to follow.

But in the interests of constructive criticism, there were a couple of places where you either repeated the same word closely in the same sentence, or within a few of each other. I was always taught to go to great lengths to avoid that unless it was a deliberate attemt at rhythm and verse.

I also strugged with the idea of stealing him from one Gotham to save another. Seems out of character and lacking in any kind of morals and stretches disbelief beyond breaking point for me. And by bringing himself forward he'd make himsel no longer exist in the present and Gotham would have fallen a long time ago. Now if it was the joker who stole himself from one reality to another you've got a great story/film/script (Copyright merkins 2013 )

reply to post by isyeye


Wow!

Really nice writing.

I would still like to resolve the issue of the Gotham left to fall into chaos, though.

Cheers & keep up the great work.

reply to post by merkins


Thanks for the comments, as well as the critisism...I find that important to good writing...and you're point is taken. I had even noticed the repetition of words myself when spell checking, and decided to just role with it anyway. It's something I'll pay a little more attention to in future works.

...as to the moral delima of Batman's decision, I think I wrote it taking into consideration the aging of his mind, and the decline of decision making abilities as happens when people get older. I think it lends a little realism to the story, especially when looking at the pressure he would be feeling to find a replacement for himself before death took him from the decision.

reply to post by chr0naut

I would still like to resolve the issue of the Gotham left to fall into chaos, though.

...that's where Part II comes in...

reply to post by isyeye


Yeh I can appreciate that as someone who has become more critical, grumpy, and cantankerous with age, but not only that, a great deal could be going on in his head that we aren't yet privvy to because you have yet to reveal it to us. Good people can turn and they can become so inflexible that they are no longer really aware of how their actions affect others... It's that second childhood in old age thing.