The Bounty

First Half

Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham just shy of 25. Over the years of his travels, he’s designed his armory and artillery with Lucius Fox, who runs the company on his behalf, as he did for his father.

About to turn 25, prodigal son Bruce Wayne has returned to Gotham. Ever since his parents were murdered when he was eight years old, he has kept a low public profile, in spite of the fact that his is the first family of the city. To the knowledge of the public, he's been travelling the world, attending boarding schools, and soaking in the cultures and women. But that's barely true. In reality, Bruce has spent the last seventeen years of his life travelling the world to train his mind and body to perfection. He's studied languages, martial arts, detective work, and various fields of science and academia, all with the singular vision to return to Gotham and make the city a better place by removing its criminal element, whatever it may be. During this time, he has kept in contact with Lucius Fox. Fox runs Wayne's multi-faceted empire, Wayne Enterprises, on his behalf, as he did for his father, Thomas, when he elected to become a surgeon instead of entering the family business. Together, Bruce and Lucius have been designing an artillery and moving assets around for Bruce's planned war on crime.

Jefferson Skeevers

## The Prodigal Son Returns

Since Bruce left the country twelve years ago, the city's situation has only grown more dire. As the police force and the government grew more corrupt, seven warring mob families formed alliances and carved out their stakes in the city, suffocating it in their evil. The most prominent of these mobs is the Italian-Sicilian Falcone Family, led by Carmine Falcone, controlling imports and exports, garbage collection, several businesses, some prostitution, and some drug smuggling, notably cocaine. Marijuana is controlled by the Maroni Family, led by Sal Maroni, who also have ties to construction. The guns in the city are run by Carlton Duquesne, human trafficking by Rupert Thorne, who also has the mayor in his pocket, and Max Shreck profits from money laundering. Olivia Black, known exclusively to most as the Black Widow, leads a secretive group known as The Black Spiders, and her source of power is unknown to all except possibly Carmine.

The seventh member, a newcomer to the criminal world, is Roman Sionis, heir to the Sionis fortune, who operates all his criminal affairs under the alias of The Black Mask. Sionis's legitimate enterprises are steel and cosmetics, with his criminal activities being more of a hobby-- he leads a group of similar spoiled rich kids known as The Falce Face Society. Other than Black Mask, the mobsters are from family lines that have been involved in Gotham's criminal scene by some time, kept at bay by the altruism of families like the Waynes and those who followed their example. In the time since the Waynes' murder, Gotham's legitimate super-wealthy families turned a blind eye and the police force and the mayor, Hamilton Hill, became corrupted.

~~~~Press coverage and what not, Alfred, Vicki Vale--- Julie Madison

## First Night

Though he has a well crafted plan, Bruce's eagerness overcomes him and he embarks on his first night fighting crime by going incognito in the East End. Disguised as a common thug, he irritates a pimp who tries to peddle a young girl to him. Confident in his abilities, Bruce taunts the pimp and takes him and his crew on in a fight. He had the upper hand on several of them until the girl, Holly, stabs him in the leg. Selina Kyle, another prostitute-dominatrix who looks out for Holly like a sister, watches from the window as she's with the a client and leaps into action when Bruce has the clear upper hand. Bruce notes that she has some formal fighting knowledge as the two spar.

The fighting attracts the attention of the police, who shoot the disguised Bruce and take him away. When Bruce comes to, he breaks out of the handcuffs and forces the crooked cops to swerve and crash. Bruce rescues them from the ensuing fire. Bruce makes it back to his car and barely drives back to Wayne Manor.

There, he sits in his father's study, asking God and his father for a sign. reverberating from the depths of the cave below Wayne Manor comes a strong hum. A flurry of bats fly out of the very mouth of the cave into which a young Bruce fell. A single bat crashes through the window in front of Bruce. He rings the Bell to signal Alfred to patch his wounds.

## Redesigning

With a new found motivation and inspiration, Bruce calls up Lucius Fox the next day.

"Lucius, we're going to be taking a few steps back. We need to redesign... I've re-learned a valuable lesson. I need to be able to strike fear. I'm driving over to the office now."

"... Mr. Wayne, with all due respect... I'm in a meeting right now, on your behalf, and you really don't need to come in until you're a little more.." Lucius looked up past the board in front of him to see Bruce Wayne walking in the door, not on the phone. [fffffffimportant trickery technology for later in the plot. Alfred speaking into a synthesizer that matches his vocal waves.fffffffff]

"Sorry I'm late Lucius. Good news, everyone, work's out early!"

"But Mr. Wayne," a board member interjects. "These numbers need to be rectified."

"You can finish tomorrow. Take the day!" Lucius gives Bruce a stern look as bored members leave the room. One of them whispers to Bruce as he passes him,

"This isn't how the world works, trust fund." Bruce ignores him and continues to Lucius.

"It's going to be like this for the rest of my life, isn't it Bruce?"

"Hopefully you'll outlive The Batman."

"That's what you're calling yourself? 'The Bat-Man?'" Lucius is a little skeptical as Bruce hands him some papers. He unfolds them, revealing a concept piece, not at all unlike the cover of Batman #423, and blueprints detailing how to accommodate modifications from the original armor.

"We can use the ears for combat, as well as to increase communication range. The spines in the cape already provide ideal accommodation for the scallops, and the emblem can draw gunfire to a stronger arrmor plate."

"I get it Bruce, but why a bat? Isn't a man in black scary enough?"

"No. I learned last night... it needs to be a symbol. Something evocative and mystical. Mysterious, and... primal. When you see it, you know what it is and you know it means danger."

"Well... give me a day."

"Thanks, Lucius." Bruce walks to the door to leave.

"Oh, and Bruce--"

"Yes, Lucius?"

"You're going to want all the toys to be like this too, right? The shuirkens are 'Batarangs,' or something, now?" Bruce smiles and nods as Lucius feels the night of work ahead of him.

## First Night, Part II

With a new, temporary costume sewn by Alfred, Bruce was ready to strike fear.

"Sir, are you sure you really want to go back out so soon after being beaten? Much less in what amounts to stagewear?"

"The costume is perfect Alfred. It functions as I need it to function. This is just a first run." Bruce flexed in the suit, testing his range of motion. He had full maneuverability.

"Yes, but perhaps you need to be able to walk before you can run."

"I've got this, Alfred."

"Very well sir. Just know that I'm off surgical duties tonight."

Bruce entered the garage next to the manor. He flicked on the lights to reveal a row of high end cars, but particularly and older red coup. Until Bruce would design a vehicle more fitting for his war, this would do. Fortified for gun fire, a skylight for quick escape, armed with a spike drop, an advanced police scanner, and RFD/GPS tracking, this car would do for the first night.

Bruce flicked on the ignition and hit the peddle. Time to return to the East End.

It was a quiet night in the East End. The police appearance the night before had put everyone on edge, or at least everyone in the know. No streetwalkers tonight. But not a bad time for a burglary. The Batman sat in his car parked in the alley way, tuned to the East End beat. Nothing. Some drunks, and some loitering, but nothing *real*.

"This won't get me anywhere." The Batman ponders. "If I want to fight crime, I need to go to it." The Batman feels a rain drop fall onto his head between his pointed ears. He looks up. Perfect.

Batman gets out of the car, shutting the skylight under him. Sucking the air under him like a vortex, he leaps onto a fire escape and quickly climbs to the modest zenith of the tenement. He looks out onto the cityscape. In spite of her many scabs and scars, Gotham truly was a beautiful city under the fat. He would be the surgeon. Looking over the chasm to the next building, he felt a sense of adventure overcome him. He'd learned Parkour in France and Ninjitsu in Japan; climbed higher buildings and jumped larger gaps. He began to run, feeling free in the tight uniform as if it were his skin, as he leapt the cavern, as if his cape were his wings. He ran the length of that roof, sliding down the diagonal end and leaping onto the next. He stopped to breath. Silence.. interrupted. The sound of glass breaking, a few buildings to his left. He carried in the direction as if gliding on air under the gray sky. Leaping another gap, he reached the edge of the new building, looking down to see his prey. Three men on a fire escape stealing a TV. This was the moment that would define his efficacy. Now to test it. Batman let out a growl from the Bushmen of Africa. The thugs looked up in panic as the terrifying figure landed upon them. As he hit the vibrating iron, one fell off.

"I'm *not* a killer!" the growling voice in his mind howls. He grabbed the boy by his ankle and attempted to pull him up. Before he could, the second crook kicked him in the head.

"Who the fuck?!" the kicking teen wailed.

He must have had some kind of training to deliver a kick like that. Didn't they get that their friend was in danger? They were too afraid. They were not in control of their fears. Batman buckled under the ringing to his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From here, he stumbles upon a human trafficking deal/gang rape, and, standing on stable ground, puts his combat to the test and beats the shit out of them with powerful blows. He is seen from a window by Selina Kyle as she's getting pounded by a john. this will be her revelation. He then finds his car to have been stolen. This is Gotham, after all. Fortunately, he can track it.

Detective Gordon, moving back to Gotham PD after serving overseas (9/11), is weary of the Batman, but finds the corruption surrounding him to be insurmountable.

The Batman roots Gordon out as one of the few trustworthy police and tries to make a pact with him. Gordon insists he’ll bring him in if he must.

Gordon and fellow detective Sarah Essen are pressured by Commissioner Loeb to determine who the Batman is. Loeb lazily hypothesizes it to be Bruce Wayne, who has been using his charitable influence to shed light on trafficking rackets from which Loeb directly profits

This work attracts Kyle to Wayne, and inspires her (through her theft,) to rise social classes, as she uses her Catwoman identity to bust up trafficking rings

The Crime Lords become increasingly paranoid as the vigilantes (though they are less directly aware of the Catwoman,) tear their organizations apart from the bottom up.

As the mob fully presses the GCPD and SWAT upon the vigilantes, Gordon and Essen, who initially dismissed Wayne as a serious candidate, begin to consider him more seriously. One point of interest is his sudden reappearance at the same time as the emergence of the Batman.

Preempting this, Bruce declares that he’s been in Gotham much of this time, leading a private life in therapy to overcome the loss of his parents’ murder-- also potentially closing the trauma loophole

Gordon’s “watchdog,” Flass, appointed by Loeb, has a habit of excivelly beating minorities who commit minor violations or beating those who are completely innocent. When Flass kills an unarmed African American teen, Gordon goes against the force, and publicly speaks out and testifies against Flass. This testimony does nothing, save for Gordon being jumper by cops who threaten his pregnant wife.

Detective Essen patches Gordon up and the share a kiss in a moment of heated intimacy.

Gordon takes his stance, and with his military prowess, kicks the crap out of Flass. Flass won’t be a problem anymore, and Gordon faces the idea that he might have no choice but to accept the vigilante. An ashamed Gordon admits the infidelity to Barbra.

Batman and Catwoman have an accidental rendezvous by which they both spy on Carmine Falcone meeting with Flass, resulting in Catwoman scarring Falcone as vengeance for trafficking, and the duo teaming up to fight their way out, leading into a rooftop chase between the two.

Somewhere around here, a major event occurs in which the mob/cops give Batman a very needed ultimate challenge to Batman and Gordon, for this chapter: In this very '70s New York hell, they orchestrate a city-wide black out (like the event in New York) in which virtually no police will respond to crime. It's up to Batman and Gordon, and the few cops who still fight, to put down the looting and arson. This will show which men Gordon will keep in the force, including Montoya and Bullock.

For his attempts to stand against the police force, Falcone’s nephew Johnny Vitti goes to kill Gordon’s family.

As it is broad daylight, Bruce, who learned the plan from his espionage, can’t go as Batman. He goes incognito as a motorcyclist (the re-enforced costume being repurposed years later by Jason Todd) to save Gordon’s family.

Understanding that it’s Batman, Gordon and the vigilante team up and follow Vitti and his goons to a bridge. They fight them off, but in the fight Gordon’s glasses fall off and Vitti and Gordon Jr. go over the Bridge. The Vigilante jumps with them and saves Gordon Jr., losing his helmet. Gordon’s suspicions are practically proven, but he remarks that he’s practically blind without his glasses.

The audio of Flass and Falcone is enough to convince Flass to come more or less clean and testify under the heroic ADA Harvey Dent against Loeb, forcing many of the GCPD to resign.

Batman, Gordon, and Dent form a fragile alliance.

Catwoman marks an open case file in the batcomputer.

Second Half

Akin to the final days of the third reich, the mob lords start to fragment and have no idea what to do.

Out from the shadows emerges the freakish Oswald Cobblepot, known as the Penguin.

There will be a scene in which, after forming his posse, the freakish Cobblepot breaks into his old, decrepit family mannor (which he will maybe turn in to the IBL) and examines a display case with his great-great-grandfather's formal wear. He was also diminutive, but he wore it proudly. Oswald will take the monacle, top hat, et al and then face the mobsters. Or whatever. Probably get shot at first.

Cobblepot’s family was an old money Gotham family historically rivalling the Waynes. Ashamed of their hideously deformed son, Oswald’s parents sent him for schooling in England. Instead of attending the preparatory academy, the outcast and marginalized Cobblebot instead took to the Cockney Chav scene and raised hell as a youth gang leader.

Upon returning to Gotham in his twenties some years earlier, Gotham was in his perception an entirely new dynamic. Bruce Wayne was absentee, and the once proud Cobblepots fell out of power. Having a hatred for the fortunate son that was Bruce (the jealousy not starting in their generation,) and having nothing to his name, and being too outlandish even for Gotham, Cobblepot wound up in the sewers, and determined to make Gotham a city for the freaks.

With the upheaval Batman created in the criminal order, Cobblepot’s time to step out of the shadows was nigh. In the sewers he’d found his own kind. The hulking zombie Solomon Grundy. Long wandering the deep sewers since his last battle with The Green Lantern Alan Scott, the wealthy but eccentric Nocturna Nightingale, the rat-telepath Otis Flannegan, and the child enslaving Sewer King, the latter two of which Batman has encountered since the first half. Using Nocturna's social standing, Penguin finds an audience with a begrudging Max Shreck. Cobblebot will use Nocturna's platform to provide evidence against Shreck if he does not give him an audience with the lords.

He proposes they place a bounty on the Batman, each putting their assassin the ring, as well as opening it to anyone else who is willing to take on Batman.

Betting on Batman, Penguin keeps the money via retainer, and when most of their assets are seized at the end of the story, he comes out on top.

Prometheus let's himself get beaten by Batman fairly easily. What are the repercussions from his superiors?

His real name is Wayne Bruce, though nobody else knows this. Obviously he gets beaten up to have his computer integrate Batman's fighting style, something that perhaps the Calculator would do later. He lures Batman by setting a building on fire in the shape of a Bat, like the iconic Dark Knight poster, and that is a guiding aesthetic for the character. His armor, which he invented himself using funds he made traveling the world and learning to kill, is almost exactly like the TDK armor, and he sells it as a modifiable starter armor to other super criminals, such as Wrath. In this way he's similar to Syndrome. He will of course come around as a major threat to the Justice League as well as Midnighter, and specifically Green Arrow, who eventually kills him after deciding it’s the only way to stop him as he presents too much danger to the entire globe.

King Snake's true motive for taking on this job, aside from the glory of besting such an opponent, is to use this to gain a foothold in the Gotham underworld so as to start a three-way opium trade empire with China (where he operates) and Central America (where he's from.)

Falcone hires Deathstroke, Thorne hires Shiva, Shreck hires Deadshot, Black Widow deploys a Black Spider (who we can presume she had killed for failing) Duquesne hires Cain, Maroni hires Copperhead, Black Mask hires King Snake, and Penguin hires Prometheus

Sandman and Sandman (and Sandman)

## Forged in Fire

Prometheus stood on the window washing lift of what would be D'Orterre tower. No one was in the building and nobody would miss it, and the rich old bastard who commissioned it would be able to pay for the damages. Not that any of that mattered to Prometheus. He rolled the finishing touches of the oil pattern onto the surface of the building.

Featured Characters:

Batman, Alfred Pennyworth, James Gordon, Gillian Loeb, Arnold Flass, Catwoman, Sarah Essen, The Penguin, Black Mask, Carmine Falcone, Salvatore Maroni, Rupert Thorne, Max Shreck, Carlton Duquesne, Black Widow, Nocturna, Sewer King, Ratcatcher, Solomon Grundy, Deathstroke, Deadshot, King Snake, David Cain, Lady Shiva, Black Spider, Prometheus, Copperhead, Crime Doctor, Killer Croc, The Red Hood, Colonel Gumm, Freddy the Fence, Ma Parker, Louie the Lilac, Lola Falcone