"Mom! Dad! What are you doing in Osaka? I was on my way to meet you guys in the place you mentioned in your letter... Gatcha Situ or something?"
"Silly boy, this isn't Osaka, or even Japan! We're in America! Gotham City to be precise, just where you're meant to be! "
"Wow. How did I cross the ocean without noticing it THIS time? ... More importantly, how did YOU know where we are??? You two get every bit as lost as I do!"
"Well, my boy... you haven't seen us for a couple of years, so I guess you wouldn't know. As a matter of fact, the last few years have been good for my career, really good, incredible in fact! I was working for this company, Wayne Enterprises and had been promoted to one of the top executives. And I was really close to the Mr Thomas Wayne himself... he was a good man. We all miss him."
"Was?
"His entire family was killed in a shooting incident... a robbery it was believed. No one was more suprised than I was to find that I was in line to inherit the place. It seems that the Wayne's didn't have that many close friends or relatives, so of all people, they picked me. Well, there's Alfred, of course. Alfred Pennyworth, the butler, he and his family have served the Wayne family for generations. He had been next after Bruce, their son, to be mentioned in the will, but he had protested, saying that he had no intention of being the first in his line to be the Master of Wayne Manor instead of Butler and Custodian. Since the will had included taken his possible retesience into account, it came to us. We've been living here and running things since then."
"Here Ryouga, wear this watch, like the ones we have. It will guide you back to Wayne Manor whenever you get lost. We're still perfecting the technology at Waynetech, at the moment it might take you up to a week to get back home from within a 5 mile radius."
A week! Ryouga boggled... it was... it was incredible! With this device, he would be able to... he'd have a family again! Now he wouldn't be alone!
"Mom! Dad!"
***************
One night, the Hibiki family was out for dinner and a movie together, catching up on all the time they had missed in the passing years. It had been like a magical time for Ryouga. During his childhood, he had spent most of his time alone, rarely seeing his mother and father, with fleeting memories of each of them spending a few cherished moments in between weeks and months of unintentional abandonment. Now... for the first time, they were together, and spending more time with each other than they ever had before.
Out of the shadows of a nearby alleyway, stepped a rat faced man with a pistol. "Okay folks, give me all your money!"
Ryouga tensed, but he hesitated to act while his parents were in danger. They weren't martial artists like he was, and that gun looked pretty dangerous. He noticed his parents nodding and quietly emptying their pockets, and did the same.
"Hurry it up! You rich folks are all the same, always trying to make us middle class have to wait for... hey, that necklace too! Take it off, NOW! And... and those fancy watches you got on, gimme those as well!"
"Ummm... excuse me, but, we need those watches to get home. Without them, we' might wander foreve..."
"YOU'LL WANDER FOREVER IN HELL!!!" The man screamed as he emptied his pistol into them. Ryouga was just a mere instant too slow to react, totally unprepared for the vicious outburst. A heavy impact struck his chest, and he felt a cold warmth spreading over his body. He caught sight of first his father, then his mother falling. Then a bullet struck his head, and he knew no more.
************
Weeks later, Ryouga was back in Wayne Manor, reminiscing about his recent loss. He had been fortunate, the doctors had told him, the bullet that struck his chest hadn't penetrated far, for some unknown reason, and the other had only grazed his skull. Ryouga knew better, of course, and thanked Cologne for the Bakusai Tenketsu training, without which he'd have been dead too, murdered just like... just like his mother. Just like his father. Just like the Wayne-sans, their benefactors.
CURSE these criminals and their guns and petty crime. Ryouga hurled his glass across the room, and was out of his chair and by the windows before the resulting glass debris had even finished scattering across the floor. Looking out, he saw Gotham City spread before him. When he had first arrived, he had seen a town of lights, full of life and hope. Now he saw it for what it was, a haven for criminals and thieves, who preyed on others too weak too resist. Well, he would... he would...
A dark shape descended from above, landing in front of his eyes, throwing him back from shock. It was... it was a bat! Just a bat. And yet... maybe not JUST a bat? Maybe a sign. Yes.
Criminals were a superstitious and cowardly lot. Using this as his sign, his emblem, his edge, he would wage war upon crime. Ryouga soon began his training, his plans to hone his mind and body to the limits of human perfection. He learnt many skills that he thought he would need, chemistry, biology, technology, detection, detective skills... soon, he would be the undergrounds' worst nightmare.
Watch out Gotham City. The Batman is here.
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See other episodes by Jasonred
(Posted Tue, 15 Apr 2003 06:20)
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