Nightmares of the Mind Pt.1

[Wing Zero]

Hey there! Yea I'm kinda new to the board, but I've been reading your fan fics and well, I got inspired to right my own. Although it may not be up to the level as yours, I hope I at least get the point across Currently, this is taking place maybe two or years after the ending of BTAS.
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Bruce finally returned from a night of normalcy on the streets. Robin yawned a bit, "Tired?" Bruce asked as he hung up his blue and grey costume. Dick, doing the same shook his head. "No, just thinking about school makes me feel sleepy." The boy wonder climbed the stone steps and went straight to bed. Bruce, scanning through the 24 hour news channels one last time before also going to rest, stopped pressing the remote, and turned up the volume. "A young boy is now orphaned because of a hideous murdering his parents. Just as the boy and his parents were leaving the Mills department store, a group of gangsters attempted to rob the family. When the father tried to put up a fight, he was shot and then so was the mother. The boy, now safe with the Police, will probably never forget this tragic event in his life." Bruce turned off the TV, and went to bed.

Shadows appeared out of nowhere, surrounding Bruce. A shot rang out, causing someone next to him to fall down, with blood splattering onto Bruce's shirt. A second shot and another figure fell to the ground, then laughter was heard as the people who fired the gun ran away when they heard the police coming. Bruce looked down at the figures, their faces frozen, their eyes still open. "DAD?! MOM?!"

Bruce woke up, sweat streaming like a waterfall down his face. Sitting up, he tried to calm himself. It was all dream he thought, but even though he was awake, he could still see the images of his parents faces, cemented in his mind. The last time he had nightmares like this was when he was a child. When he finally stopped breathing so hard, he went slowly back to sleep.

It was about 10:00 in the evening, Alfred was tending around the house as usual, sweeping and dusting in the living room. Dick, sitting on the sofa, was determined at trying to figure out his Biology studies. "I really hate Biology, you know that Alfred?" Dick said, hoping that somehow, talking would jumpstart his brain. Alfred sighed, complaining about his homework was natural but, a whole month of it was too much. "Yes Master Dick, I know, just like I did yesterday, and the day before that, and the week before that." Dick smirked, "Well there's no reason to get snippy." Alfred rolled his eyes, and walked away, muttering something under his breath.

Moments later, the phone rang and Dick felt a sudden laziness come over him. "Alfred?" he called, looking up, he saw the bathroom light on. "Fine, I'll get it..." He picked up the phone, "Wayne Manor, who might be calling?" Yea he knew it wasn't the proper way Alfred had shown him on how to greet a caller, but it was close enough. A deep voice answered him, "Meet me downstairs in 10 minutes." then the phone clicked. Gee who could that be, Dick thought sarcasticly. Looks like he'll have to wake up early to finish his homework...again. The Wayne butler gently closed the door behind him, just as Dick had put the phone down. "Who was that?" he asked curiously. Dick walked to the grandfather clock and opened the entrance to the cave. "I see" Alfred said, and followed him down.

Minutes later, they were joined by Bruce who had just got back from his Wayne Enterprises office. He looked over at Dick, his back turned to him, who was about half suited up, "It takes you that long to put your suit on?" Bruce commented as he himself put on the Batman costume. As Dick put his cape on, he replied , "Hey, I beat you didn't I?" and turned around to see Batman already finished and heading towards the Batmobile, a surprised look came across his face. Batman hopped in the driver's seat and fired up the engine, flames bursting out from the rear of the vehicle.

Robin, still thinking about his homework, decided to ask a silly question, "Hey Bruce, I've got some Biology homework to do, can I sit tonight out?" he prepared himself for one of Batman's looks. Instead, Batman didn't turn around and simply said, "Fine." and drove off towards the door. Robin couldn't believe it, he actually said yes, but all he himself could manage to say was "whoa." Not the only one surprised, Alfred quietly returned upstairs. "I wonder why he let me go, he's never done that before!" Dick exclaimed as he made his way back up. Alfred was also confused, "Maybe Master Bruce just decided to let you to have a day off." Both men stood there silent for a moment before returning to their work.

The rumbling of the Batmobile's engine died down. The hatch opened up, and a bat-grapple shot into the air, hooking onto a high ledge. Batman flew into the night and then landed on a roof. Searching the streets for any activity, he noticed 2 men in brown jackets searching around themselves, next to an electronics store. One pulled out a crowbar and Batman jumped down onto the street.

"Hey Joey, make sure you don't smash the window too loud ok?" said one of them. The other ignored that remark and swung, breaking the window to pieces. The first thug crawled in quickly to loot as much as he could. The window breaker placed the crowbar back inside his jacket and prepared to crawl through the window himself when a batarang flew past his eyes. He slowly turned his head to see a fist meet his face.

The second thug, still grabbing everything he could was giggling with delight, "This is so sweet! We're going to make a fortune Joey!" when nothing but silence was heard, he stopped grabbing and asked, "Joey?" he walked back upto the window to see his partner down and out. The thug pulled out his gun and backed up slowly, hitting something behind him. He quickly did an about face and was greeted with two narrow-slit eyes staring right at him. "I...I'll shoo-..." he stuttered and before he could finish, Batman threw him out of the store, landing on his friend Joey. Sirens were audible now, and Batman quickly disappeared from the scene. When he was far enough away, he continued his search for more trouble.

Later that night, Bruce returned to the batcave and took off the suit which was extremely beat up, he felt exhausted, but strangely, he wanted to continue fighting. Bruce knew his limits though and slowly made his way to his bedroom.

2 shots rang out, the figure in the shadows laughing and running away. "NO!" Bruce screamed, over and over he heard the shots, and over and over he kept seeing his parents die. Bruce sat up quickly, again sweating tremendously. "Why am I seeing these again?" he asked himself.

Dick had just come home from school "Alfred, I'm home." he reported, then he noticed the grandfather clock open. When he reached the bottom, he saw Alfred staring at the Batman costume. Dick whistled, "Bruce must've really gone after those criminals out there, look at all those rips on his suit." Alfred nodded, it wasn't like Bruce to let himself get cut or scraped, unless he was really mad. "Master Dick, has Master Bruce been acting any different lately?" Dick scratched his head, "Well besides letting me do my homework last night, I guess not." Alfred still had a concerned look on his face. Dick was about ask when Alfred spoke up. "Well it seems he may be in trouble or something, he usually never gets his suit this torn up, and when I was cleaning his bed, it was wet." Dick was still a little lost, "What? So you're saying he..uh...wets his bed?" Alfred's eyes went wide, "The PILLOWCASES Dick, they were wet, which means he's been sweating a lot." Dick, embarrassed beyond belief, "Uh..yea.." he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. God he was an idiot.

Alfred continued, "Which I think means, he's been having nightmares, and bad ones at that." Dick nodded in agreement, "So, if Bruce is having problems, why don't we just go get Leslie?" he asked. Alfred again shook his head, "When Master Bruce is ready to go, he'll go. It isn't our choice to make Master Dick." Dick took one more look at the torn up and mangled cape and tights, he hoped Bruce decided soon.

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So, whaddya think? Good, Bad? Should be shot and spit on? I thought this idea up during school so if some of it doesn't seem quite right, its because I really didn't give it that much time, sorry

[The_NewCatwoman]

Not bad, not bad at all, though you should space out your paragraphs more when they take place at different times, and try to skip a line after somebody talks. I had to learn that one the hard way. It's a little confusing to see everything so jumbled together. But other than that, fantastic!

[Wing Zero]

thx for the tips. Sheesh I really didn't know it came out so long or big as I wrote it in notepad, maybe I should try the preview button next time? hehe