From the confessions of Bruce Wayne
Somehow, I had known the fiend would show up again. It had always been in the back of my mind, even though I had deceived myself into believing I was finished with the Jonathan Crane business once and for all. Every day the thoughts of his re-emergence crept their way into my mind, and I shied away from them with all my sense of willpower. There comes a point when we can no longer ignore the inevitable, however, and I reached it the morning before the museum’s opening event.
Sitting at the breakfast table on the morning of August 12th, 1939, I picked up the newspaper and immediately saw the headline reminding me about tomorrow’s festivities. ‘Gotham Museum to Host Grand Opening Ceremony Tomorrow Night’, it read.
“Ah, I had almost forgotten! The Museum event is tomorrow,” I spoke to myself.
Alfred, busybodying around the kitchen, had overheard and said, “Right-o, Master Bruce. The gem collection and expansion, it was.”
“Indeed,” I began reading. “What was the expansion, do you recall?”
“Mm,” he thought to himself, ”think it was the gardens.”
“The ga…” my voice caught in my throat, and I felt a surge of adrenaline coursing its way through my veins before the realization had truly reached me. Gotham Gardens… the exhibit Jonathan Crane had helped to launch years prior…
I stood up in utter panic, alarming Alfred and causing him to jump.
“Master Bruce, whatever’s the matter?”
“Alfred… I have a bad feeling. A terrible premonition unlike any I’ve ever felt,” I looked him in the eyes seriously, unable to control my nerves.
“Aye? Spit it out, then! What is it?”
It all flooded through my defenses then. Every intricate piece of the devil’s plot could be seen in my mind’s eye, as if I had been the one to devise it myself. I spoke the words as the details began to align.
“Jonathan Crane was said to play some sort of role in the creation of the botanical gardens, back when he was involved with the University!”
“Not this again!” Alfred looked to the heavens in exhaustion.
“The gas, Alfred! That’s why he was testing the gas! If there are still colleagues of his that he’s wanting to wreak his revenge upon, a good many of them are likely to be in attendance at the event! If he uses the gas on them, they’ll carry out his plot on their own! Against one another!” I began to shout as my thoughts raced.
Alfred, for his part, was stunned at the notion. “Ye… you don’t know that for sure!”
“Think about it, old man! It’s the perfect opportunity, and likely the reason he’s been lying in wait all these weeks. This is his grand plot!”
“NO! Goddamn ye, No! You promised me ye were done with this!” he slammed his fists upon the counter in fury.
“Please… Alfred, there are many lives at stake here. I myself have already accepted the invitation. What would you have me do?”
He peered at me with saddened eyes, “Stay home. Don’t go, Master Wayne. Please.”
“How could I ever live with myself then? Tell me honestly, old chap. How?”
He closed his eyes tightly and sighed to himself, knowing I was right in this. “What do ye need me to do?”
From the personal diaries of Selina Kyle, renowned cat burglar extraordinaire
8-12-39
Dear diary,
Tomorrow’s the big night! Got my dress ready for the event and I am SO ready!
I mean… I didn’t get a chance to scope out the place yet. I tried, believe me, but they won’t even let anyone into the building until opening night. Which means I’m really gonna hafta improvise. And that’s fine, I excel at that. I’ll just hafta keep an eye out for anything I can use as a distraction before making my move to get away from the crowd.
Ya know… I feel better. Having something to look forward to and all has really helped me not think about how bad everything has been. It isn’t much, but at least it’s something. For now.
From the confessions of Bruce Wayne
“Lucius!” I tore into the lab, and my old friend turned his head from his current works to see what the fuss was about. “Lucius, my good fellow, I am in great need of your help. Crane is soon to resurface, and the situation is dire as can be!”
“How do you know?” Mr. Fox leaned against a desk to steady himself, a look of alarm spreading throughout his face.
“It’s all so obvious, if only I had realized before,” I fretted. “I’m scheduled for an event with the Museum tonight, a grand opening of the Gem Collection, and the expansion of the Botanical Gardens. The very exhibit Crane helped to conceive back when he attended the University, as John B. Watson divulged. I should have been planning for it all this time, and now I am left with but a day to prepare!”
“Alright, let’s calm down, now.” Lucius waved me over to look upon his latest experiments. “I had an inkling that we hadn’t seen the last of our nemesis, and -” he half smiled at me, “that you may have a slight change of heart when the time had come.”
“You don’t mean that…?”
“I have yet to do away with your suit, correct. And moreover, I repaired the fiber bonds to the best of my abilities as well.”
“You scoundrel,” I laughed, feeling a portion of the weight on my shoulders lessen.
“Do you have a plan?”
“A budding of one, more like,” I admitted. “I will need to speak with James Gordon tonight, as I will need his help. But in the meantime, I need to know what we have to work with. Lucius, do we have gas masks enough for a rather sizable crowd of people?”
“Oh, we have plenty of those. How do you plan to sneak them into the exhibit though?” Mr. Fox inquired curiously.
“I’ll have to work out those details with Gordon later. The important thing now is that we collect them immediately. Do you also still -”
“Have the mouthpiece I showed you before? Yes, Mister Wayne, I still have that also.”
“Splendid!” I exclaimed.
“You think he’s going to use gas on this crowd?”
“Likely so. It’s the most efficient way to expose a crowd to his concoctions. It all makes too much sense. This is what he’s been building up to. The reason he has changed his methods for dosing his victims. He plans for the mass hysteria caused from his drugs to bring about chaos. His targets will wipe one another out, and all he need do is watch from the sidelines.”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“You’re thinking the ventilation system, then?” my friend shared my speculation.
“Indeed, it would seem the most logical approach. He’s too careful to risk being seen in the crowd, so even if he is in attendance, he will attempt to break off at the first chance.” I knew Crane was taking a huge gamble, nonetheless, and that he was laying everything he had on the line this time. The man had reached the conclusion of his plans. This was to be his magnum opus, and his victims were the last of those who had done him wrongly.
“Incredible…” Lucius scratched his head. “I hope this Gordon fellow is willing to help.”
“He must, Lucius. If not, then Crane has already won.”
“Will you be needing anything else from me in the meantime?”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “A smoke bomb.”
I struck out with the Rolls Royce later that evening, a favorite of Alfred’s. I told him to stay home for the evening, as I could not risk Gordon seeing him. The gas masks were packed into the passenger seats at the back of the vehicle, and my Batman attire bagged to the side of the driver’s seat. It was late when I entered the residential area where the Lieutenant lived. I did not see any passersby as I tucked my car in an alley not far from his apartment building. I had to be quick, and so garbed myself in uniform and headed towards his residence as soon as I could.
It seemed fire escapes were becoming an unavoidable sort of luxury when it came to getting me to the rooftops. Gordon’s apartment, however, was only on the fifth floor of this building, and maneuvering my way to my destination was not at all difficult. Upon reaching his balcony, I peered through the window to his abode, and saw the man laid up on a couch, the room dark and somber around him. I tapped on the glass, once lightly, a second time louder. He came awake then, and grabbed for his glasses to throw them on.
He appeared quite alarmed when he saw me, but moved for the back door to greet me at once.
“What are you doing here?”
“Crane’s hitting the Museum’s event tomorrow night,” I decided to get right to the point.
“I’m off the case,” he waved dismissively. “And out of a job. You’ll hafta find someone else.”
“There is no one else,” I boomed.
“Go find Merkle. His heart is in the right place, he’s just surrounded by crooks and incompetents.”
“Gordon!” I stepped forward in my intimidating way.
“Oh, what!? What am I supposed to do? The department suspended me without pay, my wife left with the kids to go back to Chicago, I’m working security jobs just to make ends meet… Why the hell should I care about capturing Crane now?”
I studied him more closely now. His eyes were bagged, his skin pale, and he had seemingly lost a significant amount of weight since last we had spoken. He had indeed been suffering.
“I’m… sorry, Jim.”
He turned away from me, grabbing at his pocket for his package of cigarettes. I watched as he lit one up and sucked deeply from its contents. I felt guilty then, realizing much of his current predicament was a result of him trying to save me.
“It’s not your fault. I had an affair… with a woman from my department. Sergeant Sarah Essen.”
I know, I almost said.
“This town… does things to people. Doesn’t matter whether you’re good or bad, it changes you. My wife saw it. Barbara. Kept telling me how irritable I’d become. I lashed out all the time, often in front of the kids. I didn’t sleep. That made me worse. I became so closed off, I didn’t even know how to talk to her anymore. Sarah, on the other hand… she understood. And she’s a big fan of yours,” he looked at me again.
I could only keep to my silence, allowing him to go on. I could see he needed the ear, and I owed him that if I was to ask for his help once again.
“She felt guilty, got a transfer to New York. On the night I was suspended… Barbara was so perfect. Stood by me, assured me everything would be okay… I dunno. I guess the guilt got the best of me too. I confessed right then and there, to all of it. Wasn’t fair letting her stay by my side if she didn’t know the truth.”
I didn’t know how to react to this news. Did this mean he was a good and trustworthy friend after all? Perhaps this meant he was only flawed, much like myself. I couldn’t know for certain, but I needed his help, whether he was the man I’d hoped, or even if he was not.
“She did the right thing, leaving. No one would blame her for that, especially me. I got everything I deserve.”
“I’m not here to judge you, Jim. I’m here because you’re the only one who can stop a terrible catastrophe from occurring tomorrow night. I first came to you because I felt you had Gotham’s best interests in mind. You cared about the people who needed your help. Will you turn them away now, when you’re needed the most?”
He stared at me in silence for a time, finally dropping his cigarette to the ground and crushing it beneath his shoe. Why was he wearing his…? - it mattered not, at that moment.
“Gimme the scoop.”
I relayed what I had suspected of Crane’s plans in as much detail as I could muster. He listened patiently, and I could see it in his face that he was still conflicted by his emotions, and for his trust in me. He had not fared well by placing his confidence in me so far, and we both knew it. He lit another cigarette when I’d finished my tale, and puffed quietly in thought for a time.
“I have a friend working that expo tomorrow. He actually tried to get me to take the shift from him, but I turned it down. Could probably let him know I’ve changed my mind,” he spoke mostly to himself. “Security is gonna be real tight though, due to those gems. I don’t know how you intend to sneak in there.”
“Don’t worry about me,” I assured him. “The important thing is that you’re able to get those masks safely and securely stashed somewhere near to the exhibit. When Crane strikes, we’ll need to distribute them as fast as we can.”
“Do you think he’ll have help?”
“I don’t know, but we’d do well to expect it.”
“So I suppose in the meantime you’ll be on your way to the finding the ventilation room while I sit and wait to be exposed to this stuff, huh?” he reared annoyingly.
“No,” I breathed. “That will be your job once you’ve made the drop off. I can’t tell you why it needs to be so, but it must.” The truth of the matter was that Crane’s capture was more important now than my revenge. The only way into the exhibition would be to infiltrate the premises as Bruce Wayne, and from there he would be stuck in the crowd. Once Crane made his move, I would initiate my smoke bomb that Lucius was creating for me, masking my identity while handing out the gas masks to my fellow attendees. Gordon would have to be the one to get Crane, and I knew he would be taking the man alive. So it must be.
“Me? So then what are you gonna be doing the whole time?” Jim asked suspiciously.
“If all goes as planned, I will be close behind you. But assuming Crane has help, my time would be best spent tending to his accomplices. Otherwise, we cannot ensure the safety of the people in attendance.” If they were Falcone’s men, they would be armed.
Gordon smoothed his mustache then, thinking it over. He understood I was better equipped to handle those who would be a threat to the crowds, however, and eventually agreed to my plot.
“I’ll be honest with you, I had you pegged for an intended murderer. Somehow I got the impression that this seemed personal to you. Glad to find out I was wrong,” he puffed his smoke. I still knew he wasn’t fully convinced, but I had at least given him a lot to think upon.
“Make sure you get the masks somewhere they can easily be found. I’ll have someone on the inside ready to distribute them when the moment comes.”
“...That could be difficult without raising some eyebrows amongst the other security guards. How clever is your inside man?”
“If there’s a signal, he will find it,” I said, fully confident in my abilities in the moment, despite the sickening feeling it conjured up in my stomach. Everything would depend upon my finding them in time.
“You’re sure Crane will target the gem collection room?”
“It’s the most effective way to unleash his gas. The Gardens are too open, the outside air would lessen its potency. He wants maximum chaos. Death is his ultimate endgame, whether by murderous rampages or by the strength of the chemicals, I doubt it matters to him. He wants his victims to be as afraid as possible when they meet their end. He wants them to die in the worst mindstate possible.”
“Well, it definitely lines up with what we know of him,” Gordon sighed. “Alright, let’s get started.”
I instructed the Lieutenant to stay at the entrance to his apartment building while I pulled the Rolls ever closer to his street. I did not want him seeing it, and I knew I would need to be swift so that it would not be discovered by onlookers either. Luckily, it was late enough that I did not see anyone else throughout the operation.
I carried the first bag to the entrance of his building, and he took it from me. When I’d retrieved the second bag, he had not yet returned from upstairs. The timing was good. When I went back for the third bag, I quickly changed out of my attire and threw the costume at the bottom of the bag, underneath the masks. I put on a ski mask, the one I had worn during my first encounter with Jim, just in case he had happened to catch me upon my final dropoff. He was not there, however, and I dropped the bag on the ground at the doorway for him. I ran across the street and hid behind another apartment complex, watching to ensure that he successfully retrieved the third bag.
So many things had to go right in order for this to work, but at least for this night, everything had been going smoothly enough.
Such was the way it was back then. The Batman was not the cunning demon he would later become, but this was unbeknownst to all, as his trickery and gadgets would become much more elaborate over time. I was still more Bruce than Bat during that first year, and my plans came more from a stance of, what would a mere person do in this situation, rather than what would a symbol of the night do to overcome any given hurdle?
I returned to Lucius’s lab that night, and he had fallen asleep while waiting for my reappearance. Regretfully, I awoke him from his slumber, and he showed me the smoke bomb he had concocted. Everything was set and ready. It was time to put an end to Crane’s mayhem.