studiobondurri Chapter 98: Hope: the Wayne Legacy
Chapter 98: Hope: the Wayne Legacy
Chapter 98: Hope: the Wayne Legacy
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"Great men are not born great, they grow great."
- Mario Puzo, (The Godfather)
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<{In front of the Martha Wayne Memorial Hospital, Gotham}>
<(Omniscient POV)>
In the open air in front of the Martha Wayne Memorial Hospital of Gotham, where hundreds of Gothamites including normal citizens of Gotham and the press from various Gotham News agencies had formed a buzzing crowd, Bruce Wayne, the ever-enigmatic billionaire, calmly exited the biggest hospital of the city and walked up to the podium, his gaze sweeping across the sea of faces. The entire city block buzzed with anticipation and curiosity as everyone wondered about the 'big news' that the prince of Gotham, Bruce Wayne was himself supposed to give today.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Bruce's resonating voice commanded attention. "Sorry for making you wait so long and thank you all for joining me today. We gather here today, not merely to celebrate World Heath Day, but to confront a heavily sour truth that has been haunting our city for far too long."
He had already gotten everyone's attention as every reporter in the area pointed their cameras directly at him, determined not to miss even a single second of his speech and the juicy news of the sour truth he was going to reveal.
Bruce continued, "My parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne had envisioned a Gotham where every child had a chance—a future. They wanted a Gotham without any misled youth. That was why they came up with the Gotham Renewal Fund which was supposed to be a beacon of hope for the downtrodden and needy. It was supposed to make the lives of every orphan in the city much easier... but unfortunately, that dream project of theirs was a massive failure.
The very funds meant to uplift the needy were pillaged by those corrupted with power. They emptied the coffers of the Fund by various illegal means and instead of using it for doing good, they used it to spread their terror and crime all over the city. They used it for their own selfish gains, destroying and rotting the city from the inside for all these years."
Bruce paused as memories of his parents' tragic end flashed before his eyes, memories that were almost foreign to him and yet at the same time belonged to him now.
"Politicians and criminals alike have feasted on this fund's resources, leaving our orphanages destitute. Children suffer while greed flourishes and men like Falcon use this greed to rule from the shadows, details of which were published online a few days, courtesy of an anonymous benefactor of this city who calls himself the Dark Knight."
The crowd leaned in, their curiosity piqued at the mention of the former kingpin of Gotham City and the new urban legend that everyone was quickly coming to believe in.
Everyone held their breath as Bruce's jaw tightened with resolution. "But, that ends today. Tonight, I declare a new era. I have had a talk with the current mayor of Gotham and some responsible and still honest politicians and it has been decided that the Gotham Renewal Fund will no longer be continued..." His words echoed off the stunned silence among the people.
He felt much better than he thought he would. Initially, he had only declared the news about the xenobots after he revealed his parents' failed projects because he thought that the miraculous medical project would quickly grab everyone's attention faster than the former news and would become the main topic of discussion in the news outlets and public, thus making sure that not a lot of people tries to look deeper into the history of his parents. This would minimize the amount of filth that the netizens and news agencies could throw at his parents, thus not dirtying their image much at all.
And looking at the faces of all those people, he even knew that he was more or less successful but those smiles and cheers gave him a strange sense of satisfaction and pleasure as well. He felt a little warmer in his heart for some reason.
"Your parents would have been really proud of you if they were alive today, young master. You made the right choice today." Alfred encouragingly patted my shoulder in the car on our way home.
"Hmm? But, I thought you were against that."
"Me not liking something doesn't change the fact that it's a wise decision, Young Master Bruce." Alfred gave me a kind smile with a nostalgic look on his face at which I could only smile back.
*Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang*
Suddenly, rapid bullet shots were fired from a dozen cars and motorbikes which surrounded us as soon as our car entered a dark tunnel in the city with almost no other car nearby except our own.
The gunshots weren't able to even scratch our car which was completely bullet and missileproof but a couple of well-placed high-caliber bullets were all it took to take out the wheels, forcing our car to come to a halt despite the driver trying his best to steer the car away from danger.
"Young master..., I think they are gun-slinging modern ninjas," Alfred exclaimed after a few moments as he looked at the scene outside our car through the bulletproof windows, his voice sounding like he was doubting his own words.
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/God_Doom