[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [PART 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Don’t Let it Reach the Heart]
Part 4 is finally here!! The last few months got so busy, but I would be lying if i said i didn't spend almost every day daydreaming about/ wishing i could be working on this instead; this project has been such a fun break from work and i feel like each part makes me crazier and crazier as things gets worse and worse (better and better) LOL. The composition has been sooo fun to play with, and I've been having a blast trying to figure out how to write these guys in character despite the angst and chaos :] And, considering this comic project kinda came out of nowhere and disrupted some other comic plans i had for dbhc, finding little ways to rearrange how i'm presenting lore has been really fun >:3
[This comic is part of my dbhc au, following the chaos and panic that ensues after Doc and Xisuma try to get Etho back online at the start of s9 after a very rough s8 finale that leaves him a little. broken. It's set to the vibes of Joywave's Destruction!]
Jason: the Batfam member I see most as my brother is Tim
Dick: What!!! That's no fair, I should be your brotherly-ist brother!
Dick: No offense Timmy.
Dick, turning back to Jason: But I am the one who has been your brother longest, I helped you kill that druglord, I even gave you some of my cookie dough last week!
Bruce: uhhh, back to the druglord thing-
Steph: You shared your cookie dough with him!
Jason: Sorry Dick, but there is one thing that makes you brothers more than anything else, not blood, or time, but...
Jason and Tim at the same time: Contempt
Jason: I have contempt for Tim, like all siblings should. Really the only thing I love more than hating Tim is shit talking other people with Tim. That form of contempt is how siblings bond and I will just say, surprisingly I love bonding with Tim even more than I love terrorizing Tim
Tim: aww, I didn't know we were that close
Jason, panicking cause he doesn't wanna ruin their dynamic: *punches Tim in the gut and runs out*
Tim, shouting after him: You can't take it back now, you ass
Jason: *turns around while running to give Tim the middle finger*
bruce calls a press conference in which he tells the world he's batman. nobody says anything. it's silent. not a single flash of a camera. "no, seriously," he says, "i'm batman."
the press starts yelling and snapping photos and bruce is relieved because for a moment there it really seemed like they wouldn't believe—
"mr. wayne! mr. wayne, is this a publicity stunt?"
"mr. wayne, did you lose a bet again?"
"are you taking the fall for someone? is it your mystery partner?"
bruce just stands there. he tries to form a sentence until dick eventually comes up laughing. "are you still drunk from last night? jesus, bruce!"
•••
he tries again at a wayne enterprise meeting. he thinks that maybe starting smaller is the way to go.
"i'm batman."
"yeah, and i'm superman," someone says. the room laughs (even lucius, the traitor).
•••
he calls the chief of the gotham gazette, refusing to let it go through anybody else. "how about an exclusive interview? been a while since you've had one of those."
the chief says, "mr. wayne, would this exclusive interview have anything to do with batman?"
"...it might. you'll have to find out."
he sighs. "let's talk schedules."
finally, bruce thinks. somebody is taking me seriously.
the headline reads: "prince of gotham genuinely believes he's batman. covering for a special someone?"
•••
several articles follow, attempting to identify the mystery man that bruce has been spotted with prior to the press conference.
•••
he goes out for patrol without his cowl. it's a quiet night. a video goes viral on twitter, and it's of him tripping on his own cape. the caption reads: "he's really dedicated to this whole batman thing💀💀"
•••
his phone rings a few days later.
"this is bruce wayne."
"hi, bruce."
"clark? whose phone are you calling from?"
"police department. i've been arrested under suspicion of being batman."
Men are not a new sensation // I've done pretty well I think // But this half-pint imitation put me on the blink // I'm wild again, beguiled again // A simpering, whimpering child again // Bewitched, bothered, and bewildered am I