Batman and Spider-Man

Chapter 13

Good evening, people of Gotham. It's a pleasure to see you again after so long. As you may all have seen from the recent news reports and information published on the internet, the Wayne name, my name, has been in hot water recently and I was nowhere to be seen, a fact that makes me feel deeply ashamed.

The story you may have all heard from the news channels and the Wayne representatives has been that I was on a trip abroad. It is with a heavy heart that I came here to say that it was a lie.

I wasn't away in the Swiss Mountains or on some exotic trip to the Maldives. I was here, here in Gotham watching as my family's name was torn apart, watching as the city that I was raised in was split in half by a man who calls himself a revolutionary.

And I'm here, not to air out my woes or express remorse and shame, no. I'm here because I've been lying to this city, far too often and far too much. No, people of Gotham, I'm not here for apologies, I'm here to tell you the truth. And the truth... well... the truth hurts.

May Parker was washing dishes behind the counter, her eyes glued on the TV screen. Normally she wouldn't have done so- the trifling and gossip around rich people rarely interested her- but this was big news.

The Waynes were a massive part of the foundation of Gotham that Bruce Wayne coming out in the news like this was big news, even to a lowly cafeteria waitress like her. She even tried calling in Otto who was in the middle of trying to call a business associate, his tone getting more irritated as the dialling tone droned on.

"Otto," May called out. "Otto come on! This is big news."

What Aunt May didn't see was Otto crushing his phone. He whispered out a curse, turning his wheelchair around.

"Sorry," Otto said, hoping his forced smile would quell his anxiety. "Sorry. Just business stuff you know."

"Forget about your business," May said. "Bruce Wayne is about to reveal the identity of that Master Planner hooligan."

Hearing that, Otto paled. He remembered childhood nightmares of being naked in front of a stage of people as they laughed at him, of being exposed and humiliated. That was how he felt now. Not even the Rhino could stand in defiance of Bruce Wayne's mercenary or stooge or bodyguard or whatever the hell the Batman was.

"May," he said, tentatively. "Almost like a child."

I'm here to warn, you, people of Gotham, that the Master Planner is not who he says he is.

"Yes Otto," May said, her eyes still glued to the screen. Please look away, Otto prayed internally to whoever would listen. Please go deaf, please please... just don't let her find out.

He is but a petty, small man. He doesn't care about me or you or the people of Gotham. All he cares about is his personal vendetta against the Wayne Family.

"No matter what happens..."

May turned to face him. Good, good. Turn away. When she saw the paleness in Otto's face, the pleading way in which he looked at her, her expression suddenly became serious.

"What's wrong?" May asked.

All his acts of kindness are just a ruse.

"I just want you to promise me," Otto said. "That no matter what you hear."

A ruse to hide the small man he is. That while the statements he says about my family are true, he didn't do what he did because he cared about the truth. No, he only cared about himself.

May looked perplexed. She was still holding the dish in her hand. "What's wrong? Are you sick..."

Otto raised a hand to stop her. She looked so cute when she was concerned. It reminded him of his mother. "I just want you to promise me that no matter what happens, no matter what anyone says. I want you to promise that you'll still love me."