Retrograde

Volume 2: Reflections

Part 1/4
Bruce hustled through the cave, desperate to reach the utility belt, not knowing where it could possibly be.
He thought about every moment in his life that he spent fighting for Gotham.
Every moment that his parents, Alfred, Barbara, and Dick spent fighting for Gotham.
All leading to this...
He told Alfred once that Gotham was like his child. One that he wasn't willing to put in danger at any cost.
But the truth was that Gotham was like an addiction to him. A constant source of anxiety that could only be remunerated by putting the "bad guys" away.
An addiction that he didn't wanna let go, even after death.
If only he had the sweet blissful gift of immortality.
A gift that would allow him to protect Gotham for the rest of it's existence.
A foolproof gift that would ensure the city was safe forever.
He didn't think at that moment about Alfred, Barbara, or Dick.
It was as if the eternity of Gotham was his responsibility for the rest of it's exsistence.
He felt sick. His throat felt dry, not that he was thirsty, it just felt like it was burning.
He urged to punch the perp in his face. Rip his pale skin into pieces.

Part 2/4
Commissioner Gordon felt a sign of relief as the sudden robberies and the perp in the mask responsible for them suddenly disappeared
He knew that Batman had disappeared too.
But it wasn't his problem, he thought.
It wasn't in his jurisdiction. His city.
If the perp is gone, then finding him is the job for another precinct.
Besides, he had to take care of Joker, Penguin, and the ventriloquist.
It was hard work, he thought.
It was also as if suddenly he had hid behind a mask, hiding from his friendship with the caped crusader.
A mask shielding him from his responsibilities of finding the perp and Batman.
He always recalled that masks were supposed to protect you.
But was it protection that he needed?

Part 3/4
Alfred took a nightly stroll around the exterior of the beautiful 11 bedroom mansion that he, Bruce, and his almost grandson, Dick, shared.
It had been so many years since that night.
The night that he found Bruce weeping at the police station.
He felt the pain in his chest rise. He fastend his pace and started walking towards the 2 dark tombstones, that belonged to the late Martha and Thomas Wayne.
He felt like he suddenly owed them an apology.
He failed his duties as a guardian.
Bruce's dissapearence had punched a hole in alfred's already weak heart.
It was as if he felt the gunshots that Martha and Thomas had felt that night.
Except that he would have to live with the gunshots.
Until Bruce got back home.

Part 4/4
Isabella Marie Swan hurried up to her room.
She smelled dinner cooking when her mother yelled at her to wash her hands.
Her mother had made her a birthday dinner for her 21st birthday. The food was good, but Bella felt the emptiness of having to celebrate her 21st birthday with her mother.
Bella was still single.
Her mother remarried.
She was leaving for Gotham city tommorow where her Father, chief Swan worked and lived the penultimate bachelor life.
She hadn't spent much time with her father.
She wondered how he would judge her.
She was getting older by the minute.
She wondered how the students in the new college would judge her.
If only her knight in shining armor could locate her before her hair turned gray.
If only she had the gift of eternity.