Year Eight: The Bruce Wayne Story

Year Eight: The Bruce Wayne Story
Picking up where we left off, after Bruce Wayne has spent seven years travlling the world, learning a variety of skills, he eventually decided to return to his home city of Gotham - only to find it as desperate and bleak as it was when he first left.

"Year Eight" follows the twelve months from Bruce's return to Gotham, until he finally realises his destiny and dons the cape and cowl that would dominate the rest of his life, becoming the masked vigilante and hero known as The Batman. Other key plot points in the series include the dawn of the Great War of Gotham, a year-long struggle that would transform the city forever from a thriving (albeit corrupt) metropolis, into the dark and sinister world of costumed vigilantes and psychotic villains that we have all come to know as Gotham City.

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Upon Bruce's return to his home city, he is reunited with his family friends, Dr Leslie Thompkins, a former colleague fo his father's and the person to find Bruce immediately after his parent's murder, and his legal guardian throughout his later childhood, Alfred Pennyworth, a stern, ex military medic with a lifelong duty to his adoptive son. Bruce is initially uncomfortable with returning to Gotham, unable to forget his previous experiences there; suddenly hounded by the Press in regards to his unexplained absence, forcibly reminded of his parent's death, as well as other more traumatic events - Bruce visits the grave of Harvey Harris, his first mentor, for whose death he has always felt responsible, and vows that he will not allow the detective's murder to pass in vain.

Bruce is welcomed reluctantly back into his father's company Wayne Enterprises, by its current CEO Ferris Boyle, eager to use Bruce's fame and status to boost the company's popularity. This is especially important at this point in the company's lifetime, as they are currently in the final months of an ongoing war with a rival company, Sionis Industries, headed by Bruce's childhood friend Roman Sionis.

Bruce learns that the rivalry between the two organisations is due to their competition to win the rights to a large US Military contract to create advanced infantry enhancements, resulting in billions of dollars of revenue and an unprecedented boost in stature. Whilst Wayne Enterprises has developed a variety of armour-based defences and weaponry, Sionis' company has opted for an alternative route, by creating a highly advanced serum that would be able to turn any average troop into an effective "super-soldier" by enhancing their speed, stamina, agility and cognitive operations.

Bruce arranges a meeting with Roman Sionis, to catch up on old times, and to discuss their opposing business ventures. Sionis attends the meeting, feigning to be pleased to see Bruce agan after so many years - however as soon as Bruce has left, he curses his former friend for returning to Gotham alive. It transpires that in Bruce's absence, Sionis has enjoyed the lifestyle of the renowned playboy of Gotham, however Bruce's sudden reappearance has stolen his limelight, and he is bitterly jealous, vowing to defeat Wayne Enterprises in their race for the sought-after military contract.

Sionis orders an emergency meeting of his board, and declares that all of the finances in the company will be directed towards the Research and Development division, in an effort to complete their serum development before Wayne Enterprises can finalise their armour and weaponry creations. Despite many compaints from the Board that will could be catastrophic to the company, Sionis insists that the Military Contract is now their highest priority.

Meanwhile, Bruce comes to realise he is struggling to return back to a so-called normal life; after years travelling the world, enjoying relative anonymity, and experiencing the responsibility of a full-scale war, he now finds it impossible to acclimate to his previous playboy image, and his mundane figurehead leadership role. Alfred (unaware of Bruce's activities over the past seven years) grows increasingly distressed with his behaviour - his insomnia and nocturnal habits causing him to grow agitated and paranoid. Alfred calls in a Psychiatrist to provide Bruce with some much-needed therapy, to help him adjust to his "normal" life. The therapist, a young woman named Dr. Harleen Quinzel, begins sessions with Bruce, and, due to Bruce's education in Psychology, she finds him a mental match for her own, becoming more and more fascinated with him, leading the two to eventually start a brief romance - despite Dr. Quinzel's diagnosis of Bruce as borderline personality disorder, she cannot help feeling atracted to him, stating that she must have "a weakness for dangerous men..".

One day at a garden function at Wayne Manor attended by Gotham's elite social class, Bruce becomes startled by the sound of a champagne cork popping and suffers a severe panic attack. After the guests are ushered away, and Dr Thompkins has tended to him, he is left in bed to rest - however as soon as he is left alone, he leaves his bed to sit on the floor (unable to sit comfortably in a bed after years sleeping on a mountain), and begins to meditate - this being the only source of peace Bruce has in his life. It has become clear that Bruce cannot overcome the trauma of the previous seven years.

Meannwhile, Sionis Industries profits have plummeted due to it's CEO's poor financial strategies. The company is in the brink of bankruptcy, and upon hearing of this, Wayne Enterprises step in with an offer; they will buy out the company, automatically absorbing their Research and Development division, thereby eliminating their competition in the race for the military contract. Roman Sionis is outraged by the offer, instead ordering premature testing of the as-yet un-patented Serum. In order to find a suitable test subject, Sionis orders two of his men to journey to a distant island called Santa Prisca, to find a prison called Peña Duro, where he asserts that the corrupt wardens would easily sell an inmate for the right price. Upon seeing the test rats in the R&D laboratory however, with the side-effect of extreme facial scars and bodily deformities, he instructs them to advise their chosen test subject to wear a mask...

Weeks pass, and Sionis has heard nothing from his men in regards to the chosen test subject. Under immense pressure from his board of directors, Sionis is forced to hand control of the company over to Wayne Enterprises, and to his rival Bruce Wayne. Despite Bruce's apologies for publically humilating him, Sionis swears vengeance on his former friend.



Meanwhile, the City has been swept by the excitement of a dynamic election campaign for a new District Attorney - the current D.A. is an aged politician, and former employee of Rupert Thorne, whereas the new, younger challenger for the position has been emerging more and more victorious in the polls, looking increasingly likely to take the title for himself. The challenger goes by the name of Harvey Dent.

At a celebration gala for a recent poll victory of Dent's, Bruce is re-united with the up-and-coming Lawyer, an old friend from College where the two had studied Law and Criminology together. The two spend some time together discussing the state of Gotham City, and Bruce sees that his old friend Harvey has a fierce passion for righting the wrongs of the current system to establish a new order in the city. Harvey in particular has a dedicated stance against Rupert Thorne, the prominent and corrupt councilman that is widely regarded to hold Gotham in his hands, and whom Dent hold responsible for the current dire state of the city. Dent, a working-class man, notes that the class divide on Gotham City is one of the main problems with the social decay, as whilst men like Thorne remain in control of the City, the rich continue to grow richer whilst the poor grow poorer. Dent strives to remove the gap and introduce equality in Gotham City - at any cost.

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Meanwhile Bruce, struggling to re-adjust to his "normal" life, starts spending his sleepless nights riding his motorbike into the city, enjoying the isolation of the dark night and the anonymity of blending in with the shadows in a vast city. Slowly, but surely, an idea has begun to form.



By now having lost the race for the esteemed Military contract, Sionis is publically humiliated by the media. Under scrutiny from his board of directors, who have requested his resignation, Sionis meets iin secret with his soon-to-be successor Elliott Reuben, who has gone behind the back of the Board of Directors to try to gain sole control over the leadership of Sionis Industries, rather than have it fall into the hands of anyone else. Reuben provides Sionis with documentation detailing his handover over the business to himself, which Sionis scoffs at. Reuben advises Roman to sign the papers to avoid further degradation when he is overthrown by the Board in the coming few days, to which Sionis replies "Over my dead body." Reuben, a close associate of Rupert Thorne, agrees with this - threatening Sionis that failing to hand over the Company to him will result in his own death, explaining that it would not be difficult to convince a gullible public that the failed business mogul would commit suicide.

As Reuben prepares to leave, Sionis realises his life is in danger, and suddenly explodes at Reuben in a blind fury. Although Reuben tries to defend himself, Sionis beats him to the floor, and eventually kills him with his bare hands.

When Sionis calms down, he slowly comes to terms with what he has done. At first sickened by his own actions, he gradually accepts what he has become, and embraces his darker, more vengeful side. He walks slowly across the room, gazing at a newspaper on the side table, with a picture of Bruce Wayne across the front and a headline declaring "Hero Wayne Saves Dying Company". Sionis scowls deeply, and slams his bloodstained fist down onto the white paper.



 Over the coming days, Sionis resigns from his position as CEO of Sionis Industries, in the wake of the disappearance of one of his board members. Whilst publicly stating that he felt it was the right time to hand leadership of the Organisation over to others, he has secretly been developing a much more sinister plan to enact revenge upon Bruce Wayne and his company.

Firstly Sionis arranges a meeting with a group of street-level drug dealers, a subsidiary of one of Rupert Thorne’s enterprises, under the pretence of forming a business partnership. When he attends the meeting, he does so wearing a black skull mask, lifted from his deceased father’s collection, stating to the drug dealers that it would be more beneficial for them to be unaware of his identity, so that if questioned, they can maintain plausible deniability. They are instructed to refer to him only as The Black Mask.

He lays out the terms of his deal – as a result of a recent crackdown by Dent and his department, a vast proportion of drug dealers have been removed from the streets, leaving the mob desperate, and now waging war on each other to fight for the last few games in town. Sionis explains that he can offer the drug syndicate an array of heavy arms, which he can acquire due to his business contacts – the mob, eager to gain an advantage over the rival Falcone mob, hastily agrees to his prices.

After the meeting however, Sionis makes contact with Johnny Vitti – a lower level employee of the Falcone mob – and it transpires that Sionis has made an identical deal with this mob, as well as with the Maroni mob, the Aquista mob, and the Irish mob – although it is not yet clear what his intentions are. From Thorne’s operation, Sionis acquires a small group of five or six men, that he states he will need to complete the job. It now becomes clear that Sionis’ intentions are to steal the weaponry promised to the mob from Wayne Enterprises.

Sionis has learned the date that the research from Sionis Industries is to be moved over to the facilities at Wayne Enterprises, and plans his attack to coincide with this on the very same night. Whilst the goods are loaded into cargo boxes at Sionis Industries, Sionis himself has ventured over to Wayne Enterprises, under the pretence of overseeing the transfer. However, halfway along the journey, the convoy is ambushed by Thorne’s men as Sionis had planned, with the current drivers and guards being killed and replaced by the criminals. Once the swap has been made, Thorne’s men continue the delivery of Sionis’ cargo to the Wayne Enterprises facility.

Once there, Sionis, who had gained access to the building using his well-known status and charm, encourages the Security staff to allow his men access without ID checks. Under pressure, the Wayne Enterprises employees allow the men to enter. As soon as the gates are closed behind them however, Thorne’s men rush the unsuspecting Wayne Enterprises staff and quickly kill them all before they can raise the alarm, leaving them free to access the Wayne Enterprises facility at their leisure.

Thorne’s men, believing Sionis to be nothing more than an acquaintance to Black Mask, quickly follow his orders, and load the empty van with Wayne-tech weaponry and make their silent escape, with no trace that Sionis was ever in the building. Just as they leave, Sionis gives them an order to meet him at an abandoned warehouse downtown in one hour.



Sionis arrives at the warehouse later that night, in the guise of Black Mask once more. Here, he finds Thorne’s men dead across the floor, littered with gunshot wounds, and a group of Maroni’s men waiting for him. It becomes clear that Sionis had arranged for Maroni’s men to lie in wait at the warehouse for Thorne’s men, so that they could kill them and steal their goods. However, what Maroni’s men are not aware of is that before they ambushed Thorne’s men, Sionis had secretly arranged for them to unload the stolen cargo into a hidden underground compartment in the warehouse, and to replace it with identical-looking crates, with unknown content.

Maroni’s men leave with the unidentified cargo, and Sionis makes a call to Luigi Maroni, head of the Maroni crime family, to let him know that the shipment will be delivered to him shortly.

A short while later, the shipment arrives at a dockyard warehouse owned by the Maroni family. Luigi, the head of the crime family sits in the warehouse surrounded by his men, overseeing the delivery of the goods. Upon its arrival, Luigi sends his youngest family member Umberto to check the contents of the crate. Umberto approaches the first crate and orders his men to prise the lid of the crate open. They do so, revealing inside, not an assortment of machine guns as promised, but instead, a large explosive device, rigged to blow as soon as the lid is removed.

The explosion tears half of the warehouse apart, killing the majority of the men inside. Luigi however has survived, and stumbles wounded from the wreckage, with the help of one of his men. Upon realising that the delivery of the “weapons” was in fact a trap, Luigi Maroni swears vengeance on the Black Mask.

Sionis meanwhile pays a visit to Johnny Vitti, and explains to him that the shipment theft will be going ahead as planned the following night, but requests a group of five or six men to help him. Vitti, entirely unaware of the events of the night, arranges for his best half a dozen men to meet with the mysterious Black Mask stranger the following night to help with the robbery. As he leaves the premises, Sionis pulls a replica of his own Black Mask out from inside his coat, and stashes it into the inside pocket of Vitti’s coat without anyone noticing.

In one night, Roman Sionis has managed to spark a vicious Mob war – leaving the Thorne mob thirsty for the blood of the Maroni mob, who in turn are searching for Black Mask – whom Sionis has now framed as Johnny Vitti of the Falcone mob. By turning each crime family on each other, Sionis has forced the hand of each vengeance-seeking mob to ultimately destroy each other – leaving space for just one Mob Boss to unite Gotham City under his control; The Black Mask.

