A darker reimagining of the tale of your beloved Superhero

 

The handsome 6 feet tall man walked down the stairs, drenched in blood spilling from the wound in his abdomen. But there was no expression of pain on his face, at least not any physical pain. The long and elegant stairway lead him to a huge hall, lit darkly by small candles and a chandelier standing quite and unlit since years now.

Taking one way through the hall, Bruce was lead to a huge room. Huge because only an empty bed and a chair by the window  were all that accompanied his sight.

Setting his mask on the floor, Bruce slams his tired body down the chair and let his head hang lose , staring at the ceiling. The bullet wound is painful , and it’s blood is dirtying the cloth of the chair he sits on.

From the ceiling, his yes dart to his wound. Putting his two fingers on it, he picks up some blood and his brain pushes him back to a series of memories. Memories he had pushed back.

27 years ago

A 12 year old boy sits crying on his knees as his fingers are dipped in blood and his Father’s head rests on his lap, trying to mutter out his final words. Little Bruce sobs while he sees his Mother staring at him with eyes wide open, yet no life in them and soon his Father gives up too.

The sobs turn to loud screams and the dark alley where his parents got shot by a masked criminal , who managed to get away . Soon the sirens of police vehicles cover the echoes of the alley and Bruce begins to witness the beginning of something within him, maybe someone.

14 years ago

The speeding bike on which Wayne now travelled , approached a heated area. The huge waves of fire were now visible from the distance. The anxiety had now begun breaching Wayne to breath while he sped to the warehouse that was bursting in flames.

Jumping off the bike , before it stopped , Wayne landed on his feet and he threw away his mask back at a distance. Rushing near the fire he could see a crowbar outside the warehouse. The dips of blood on it only made Bruce’s heart throb faster.

He kicked down the door of the warehouse and tried to make his way through the fire.

Fire was of no match to his suit but the sight that awaited  him, Bruce’s heart was of no match to that.

 

His stomach rumbled as he felt a sharp pain through his chest and had a feeling of hurling. He fell down to his knees as he saw a burnt body, tied up , both hands and feet. Only a single part unaffected by the fire.

As Wayne cleared the tears from his eyes, he could see that part. That area of the flesh, uncovered by fire, yet covered with a piece of cloth.

The yellow ‘R’ on the red piece of cloth stuck on the chest of the burnt body , only made his tears worse.

9 years ago

“Ahahahah” the crazy Joker laughed as Bat man stared right into his eyes. “It’s funny this situation reminds me of a joke.” The joker says as Bat man steps towards him.

“Hahahah” The joker starts crackling again , while Bat reaches his neck by his hands and slowly tightens the grip as the Joker continues laughing. Bruce can see himself breaking his rule, of not killing anyone. But he knows, to avenge Robin, he needs to do this.

And as soon as Joker’s laughter nears it’s end, his life does too.

Finally, Bruce lets go of the lifeless clown, who falls on the wet muddy ground. But it’s scary how Bruce doesn’t feel any better, none of his anxiety and hopelessness towards life had been helped.

Throwing away his mask on the ground, he drops to his knees by the wide smiling body. And lets his tears go lose.

4 years ago

The bat lands on the balcony of Gordon’s house. The bat signal had been activated, with no active sign of crime. He sees through the glass door of the commissioner’s house. It’s dark inside and only his own reflection is visible to him.

The knob twists and the door opens to his surprise.

“Commissioner !” , He calls for as he walks across the rooms . At the end of his way he sees only one room is visibly lit , however dimly.

He approaches the room with some caution and at his feet, near the entry , is a piece of paper, saying ‘To the Bat’.

He looks up to see a lifeless body hanging from the fan. He rushes to get it off from the fan but he knows he is too late.

Commissioner Gordon is no more.

He lets out an angry scream for no one to hear. No one but the lifeless body of Gordon. The mask feels heavy on his bed as he reaches for the piece of paper, with wet eyes.

3 hours ago

As a group of goons shot at him and he pranced away from the bullets , he felt a sharp pain shoot through his abdomen. Bruce got shot and fell on the floor in the same alley his parents had gotten murdered at.

As he helped himself back to his feet he tried to make sense of why the goons chose the same street , in which his parents had been killed. Was this some kind of sick joke or some kind of a crazy coincidence.

He stood up, holding his wound. Somehow he forgot to wear his armoured suit, instead he had worn  the cloth one. The blood didn’t stop .

The four goons with Guns surrounded him. They all wore masks and were ready to shoot. Bruce knew that he was a bit too exhausted to fight them and would not be able to take more than 4 bullets.

He silently stared  at them, as a fifth man arrived. He wore a 3 piece suit and funny enough, a batman mask on his head.

“You must be kidding me.” Bruce said out loud.

The 4 goons made way for the 5th man. He seemed like their leader.

“Who are you?” Bruce asked him, while clicking the small yellow button on his utility belt stealthily.

“I am the man who killed your parents.” , said the fifth man in the batman mask.

“Wh..What?” Bruce wayne was taken aback and his heart jolted at this very sentence. He couldn’t confirm whether it was the sentence that shook him, or the eerily similar voice that said that out.

“You can take off your mask.” The man said as he started to do the same, “Master Wayne.”

“Alfred !” Bruce nearly sobbed as he saw his beloved butler , donning the mask of the very entity that haunted him all his life.

“You ! You killed my parents?”Bruce stammered as he took off his mask too. And the four goons stood at ease.

“Let me take you back 70 years master wayne. You must know about your grandfather , Patrick Morgan Wayne and his brother Silas wayne. He didn’t have just two son, no. One marriage, yes , but not two sons. He had 3 sons. I was Patrick and his college sweet heart , Helena’s son. Alfred. I was your father’s half brother. But I knew he wouldn’t give up the family fortune or even a part of it to me. And I wanted what I deserved to have.” , Alfred spoke out the words, Bruce couldn’t believe were his.

“So you killed my Parents !” Bruce shouted with gritted teeth.

“Yes and raised you to be a strong young man.”

“You killed my Parents!” Bruce screamed.

“And now it’s your turn to meet them. I have a family of my own in Smallville. And they deserve the royalty that you have been living.” Alfred said raising his gun at Bruce, while all other goons stood at ease, they knew it was Alfred’s game to play and end.

“I’m sorry Master wayne, no part of your utility belt will work today, I malfunctioned your devices yesterday night as you slept.” He said has as he turned the gun’s safety off, ready to shoot.

Bruce realised, he was powerless, but the rage in him had for once in his life, conquered his logical thinking and he jumped at Alfred, taking another shot under his chest , yet disarming the old man.

Taking Alfred’s gun in his hand and him as hostage he shot the goons that stood now with their weapons aimed at him.

Finally he put the gun against Alfred’s head and angrily shouted at him,

“I loved you like I loved my own Father!” he cried and sobbed and immidietly after, he pressed the trigger against Alfred’s head.

Now

He chugged the whisky straight from the bottle, while putting some on his wound. The pain in his chest , overpowering the two bullet shots he had suffered from.

He threw the bottle on the floor and looked outside the window.

His manor was darker then ever and the winds as still as death.

He felt a piece of him missing. The piece that was snatched away from him by the cruelty of this world, part by part, and today there was none of it left.

Bruce wayne was gone. Dead. Only bat man survived . Only he could.

‘Bruce was never cut out for Gotham, for this world.’ , the 6 feet tall man decided as he walked away from the room , towards the cave , to where he belonged.