It was a night like any other, my parents and I walking home from another Friday at the movies. The date, Friday 22nd, 1973. The year of Vietnam and the fight for equality continued, while the heroes of this world’s focus were on Vietnam, another threat arose. But that day, it was only 3 days until Christmas. My mind didn’t focus on the matter of the world, but in the blink of an eye – my childhood was gone, and my clothes were soaking in my mother and father’s blood. Time stopped for me if the Justice Society were heroes, why didn’t they save my parents? Why was I holding my mother and father’s hands, but they weren’t bare anymore, they were covering in their blood. My mother’s favorite necklace was on the floor, pearls scattered everywhere. That year, my Christmas was a kid my age’s worse nightmare…

I stand up and put some jeans on. I walk up to my mirror and skim the scars marking my right rib. I won’t deny it, it hurt doing that too, but I ignored the pain for now and put a shirt on. I rub my eyes more as I stumble my way into the kitchen. Alfred is making me breakfast too, that’s nice of him. Now that I know he accepts what I do, I’m a bit more appreciative of him being here. I’ve made a lot of dumb decisions in my youth, one of them was firing Alfred. No matter what though, he still stuck out for me and made me breakfast – even after I fired him. Just thinking about it, I wipe a tear from my eye. I was young and dumb, he still treated me like his son and loved me no matter what idiotic thing I did. Always there, always willing to listen. Alfred is a good man.

Behind us the grandfather clock moved to the side, revealing a stairway that was led by lights illuminating the path. Alfred gestured his arm in the doorway, I enter – Alfred entering with me shortly after. I slowly walk down the stairs as Alfred presses a button on the wall next to the grandfather clock’s current location, it moves back to where it was before we pressed the button on the Shakespeare bust. I enter a dark room, Alfred stands behind me and flicks a switch. Lights blare in my eyes, I close them then open them slowly. I look at the ceiling and see bats, my head moves back down and I see a computer and an armory. In the armory is a costume – the Batman’s costume.