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.

"From my own fortune, I am going to establish the Wayne Hope Foundation. This fund unlike the older one will be transparent, accountable, and unwavering in its mission which is to ensure that every orphanage in Gotham thrives and no young citizen has to suffer. It will operate as a charity and accept donations as well. This fund will also have its own board to manage it, with me as its head chairman. At the end of each quarter, it will even publish each and every expenditure it makes or every penny it earns from donations on its own website to maximize transparency." He revealed.

Truthfully, Alfred had already taken control of most orphanages in Gotham City a few years ago under Bruce's orders, so the young billionaire was taking care of most of the city's orphanages anyway. This fund was only meant to make it more official with massive positive PR for him. 

Applause erupted among everyone present and emitted a wave of approval. Bruce's eyes met Alfred's—his loyal butler and confidant who was standing at the very front of the crowd. Alfred's calm and yet optimistic nod conveyed pride and relief that Bruce was doing the right thing.

But the young Wayne still wasn't done. "And now, a revelation that transcends wealth and politics." He leaned closer to the microphone. "Researchers all over the world have been working day and night for years to cure some of the most harmful and incurable diseases that humanity suffers from. Some have succeeded in curing some of those ailments but a lot of them still don't have any cure. But at last, scientists at Wayne Industries have finally achieved the impossible." 

Bruce made sure to let people know that it was his employees at Wayne Enterprises who were responsible for the invention as well as the R&D in the company. He preferred people underestimating him, and making mistakes instead of people completely understanding his capabilities and being ready for him. He knew he would have a much easier time with people planning against his back if people thought of Bruce Wayne as an intelligent guy who was above average but not too much of a gifted genius or something.

Truthfully he wanted to display the persona of a successful businessman whose company excelled in innovation and yet nobody knew if it was because of the person or the company. He wanted critics to argue and debate if he was truly intelligent or just plain lucky, leaving his foes no idea about the capabilities of their enemy.

The entire zone was hushed with silence. "I present to you—the Xenobots." Bruce gestured toward a big 53-inch makeshift screen that had been planted there, revealing microscopic cellular entities pulsating with life.

The crowd gasped not knowing why they were gasping or what they were even looking at. "These tiny marvels," Bruce explained, "are not mere machines. They're living programmable organisms. And their purpose? To heal."

He projected dozens of images on the screen giving a rough idea of how xenobots work as well as their actual purpose, like Xenobots dismantling cancer cells, repairing damaged tissue, and annihilating viruses. "Terminal diseases like Mcgregor's syndrome, Aids, and over a hundred types of cancer will no longer be insurmountable. These xenobots once programmed can both attack viruses, bacteria, and bad cells as well as administer medicine in obscure regions of your body that are hard to reach and heal them faster. They will revolutionize medicine as we know it.

This treatment will very soon be available to the public at very affordable costs, even with options for easy long-term payment methods. And for those who cannot afford this treatment despite those advantages, don't lose hope. I am establishing another half-a-billion dollar charitable annual health fund where this treatment will be given to the people who are in real need of it for free or extremely discounted rates."

Reporters scribbled furiously on their notepads while cameras zoomed in on Bruce to get a clearer picture of him holding a vial of xenobots serum. The area crackled with excitement as Bruce showed a huge victorious smile to everyone there.

"Imagine a world where suffering yields to hope. Where children in our orphanages receive not just food and shelter, but a chance at life... That will be Gotham," he declared, "we stand at the precipice of change. Together, we'll reclaim our city from the darkness and Wayne Enterprises will make sure that we are right there beside you, to support you every step of the way."

There were cheers from houses all around the city who were watching the entire thing life from their homes as people clapped in admiration for the impossible feat that Wayne Enterprises and its owner had achieved. The streets, once plagued by fear, now buzzed with anticipation as hope returned to the people of Gotham.

Something had changed today. Nobody knew exactly what but a lot of people could feel it in their bones. They knew better days were coming.

All the while everyone was cheering and clapping in the excitement of no longer having to die prematurely at the hands of diseases like cancer, McGregor's, and aids, Bruce Wayne, the billionaire playboy philanthropist, quietly slipped into the shadows and left with his butler in his Rolls Royace without much fanfare.

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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