Survivors of Gotham City

Chapter I: The Weird-Looking Clown or Hooman?

Monday, 7:00 A.M. 

Year: 1981 

Today was much like any other day for Ace, a 4-year-old Bloodhound who had grown accustomed to the everyday life of a street dog on the streets of Gotham City. Ace has his moments when his nightmares would keep him up at night. The brutality of his life as a puppy never once left his mind. He knows what it's like to be an abused house dog, but he never got to experience love and affection. 

At times, he would wake up around nightfall, thinking about his past owners. 

His first one, the Thompson family. 

He has experienced love, care and affection, the main threes a dog needs in a household, but he was just a puppy. As Ace grew older, he became alert and protective of his family, something that he felt was right. The Thompson family grew annoyed with his alertness as he grew wary of friends and strangers. They could not host parties let alone invite their family. The Thompson family did not understand the true meaning of a companion. This was the reason why he was abandoned, left to suffer and die. This experience can cross his mind a thousand times and he would have no answer as to what went wrong. Was it his fault? Was he too much for them to handle? Was I not loved enough? Did I not do the right thing?

Ace will never forget Ethan Bennet, his second owner whom he trusted his life with. 

He was adopted from the shelter and trusted this man to take care of him. He knew about his history: a retired military veteran who will never forget the agonizing screams of his comrades, The Trauma of War. Ace was always there for Ethan when he would have his episodes as he suffered more than two disorders; PTSD, Substance Use Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and Anxiety. He will never forget the times when he would lick his owner's face to wake him up from screaming in the night. He will never forget the times when Ethan will take out his trauma, his anger on him. And like a loyal companion, Ace would not fight him, he would endure the scars it left on him. Ace felt that this was the right thing to do as a loyal dog. 

Oh, those times when he would drink his pain away or pass out from an overdose of cocaine or heroine. Ace felt like it was his duty to be there for him, but he was still learning right and wrong as he was a young pup. The more pain he endured, the more he wanted to escape. Luckily, fate gave him the chance to escape, to be a street dog. He never dared look back, always forward. 

These thoughts would make him hope to find his owner. Any human that would offer him food, was his chance. However, the days turned into years and by the time Ace turned four, his longing for companionship died down the more he understood his past experiences and his current predicament.

Why would any human want to take a slobbery, old street dog? He knew the answer all along. His brothers and sisters told him that we all are born for the streets. We are not destined for owners. We are born for the streets, to live the rest of our days without a companion or a cozy home. 

~

Ace's POV 

The day began much like any other day for me; the life of a street dog had become second nature. I have grown accustomed to the rhythms of Gotham City. I woke up in a cardboard box I found two nights before in an alley. The company I woke up to was the snoring of three homeless men further down the alley and the squeaking sounds of mice searching for scraps. As I stretched my weary limbs and shook off any stiffness, I couldn't help but feel a pang of loneliness. 

My hopes of finding a human have disappeared and yet, I crave for something; companionship. Life on the streets is a constant struggle; looking for food, fighting with street dogs, cleaning my wounds, searching for a place to sleep, and maintaining my place as alpha in the hierarchy of the streets. I finally have the chance to understand what the homeless of Gotham have to endure; I don't blame them for their hatred of Thomas Wayne as I too, hate the man.