2014-03-29 - Cutscene: The Awakening - Shattered Dreams of a Child

There is a buzz at the front gate and Alfred lets a personal delivery service in to accept a package for Bruce Wayne. He knows what it is once he receives it; it is in a brown cardboard tube with white plastic ends on it.

He leaves it on Bruce's desk for when he comes home. When he comes home, he glances up at the Master of the house, his expression sad and a bit grim. "There is a delivery for you on your study desk, Master Bruce." His blue eyes seem weighed.

When Bruce arrives in the study, he picks up the cardboard tube and opens it, sliding the picture out and unrolling it.



He studies the reflection of the boy that was once his ward and now a man. He then turns the shaded drawing and painting over to read the message he saw on the back.

--

Tomorrow, past and future collide, The mirror shatters, The pieces flying, Reflections of a broken soul.

At the toll of the twelfth hour, Where it all began with a spin of the wheel, The dreams of a child were changed, Before they became a nightmare.

What was created and destroyed, It rose from the ashes, To fade once more or seize the future, A new darkness has arisen.

It comes to an end, A final moment of truth, Finally to be released, To be put to rest or freed.

Let justice be done.

--

Bruce presses his mouth into a thin line, his eyes slightly narrowed. He remembers that street he first met Jason Todd, where the young man tried to steal his tires and hit him in the stomach with the tire iron, and then dared to come back and try a second time: the bold imp.

It comes to a close tomorrow night at midnight, and only Batman can end this.