Chapter 1

Just another normal boring day in my dull life. Another long fruitless lecture to sit through and then having to go to work a boring job right after.

"Mr. Vanidestine"

At least the weather is nice, it's early October making it autumn season here in Gotham. Although if I told anyone else, they would look at me like I had three heads. Looking out the window I can see that the skies of Gotham have two moods, dull and depressed.

"Mr. Vanidestine"

Man, I want to go home and relax on my comfortable twin bed that I got lucky and found online for cheap. It was funny how I got it fro-

"MR. VANIDESTINE!!"

"Huh?"

I look ahead and see my ethics professor glaring at me.

'Oh, great I caught the ghoul's attention' I thought

Professor Locklin, an ethics professor at GSU. A six-foot-tall chubby man with a slightly hunched posture who can mean mug the devil into pissing his pants. A balding head with those narrow angry eyes coupled with those arched eyebrows and deep black eyes would have any student pissing their pants if caught in his stare. Thus, earning him the moniker "The Ghoul".

"Does my class bore you Mr. Vanidestine?"

"Uh ye- NO! No sir it doesn't".

A chorus of chuckles resounds around the lecture hall. I chuckle wryly while looking around only to see the ghoul giving me a glare that could send Batman running with his tail between his legs. 'Does Batman have a tail? I've only seen photos where I can count the amount in existence on my hand'.

"Well since this class is obviously beneath you, tell me, what would you do if you were the priest in this situation?" asked Mr. Locklin with an amused glint in his eyes. Obviously, he's expecting me to give some dumb answer and then berate me on why that choice is flawed.

I look over to the board and see a story about a priest who saved a drowning child.

'Well, OfCourse I would do the same' I thought.

Only to continue reading and see that the child turned out to be Hitler.

'Crap'

I contemplate being in the priest's shoes and think about what I would do in that situation. My face scrunches up in concentration and I notice that Mr. Locklin has a shit eating grin on his face. My immediate answer would have been to let the child drown, but I stop and think about what today's heroes would do. After what seemed like the longest minute of my life, I finally had my answer.

Mr. Locklin takes my silence as a sign to continue his musing. He turns to the rest of the class, "Well, I guess that means that you don't know what t-"

"I would save him" I cut him off

Mr. Locklin widens his eyes at my response and spins back to me. He sees the serious expression on my face and slightly narrows his eyes. "Explain" he said with an emotionless expression.

I looked at him and continued. "I would save the child," I said. I look around and see my classmates looking at me as if I was an idiot. The silent question of 'why would he save Hitler?' was plain to see in all their expressions. All but one girl.

I continued explaining. "If I was the priest, I would be a devoted follower of God and thus a person who wishes to see the light, I would have saved an innocent child no matter how evil they become"

Professor Locklin still had an emotionless expression on his face, but I could have sworn his eyes were those of amusement. "You would save the child even if you knew he would become Hitler and kill millions?" he mused.

"If I knew he would become Hitler, I would still save him from drowning" I said with an unwavering tone of voice

At this point one of my classmates who was a young Jewish girl with brown hair and brown eyes was clearly angry and about to stand up in protest. However, I continued my explanation before she could start an angry rant.

"However, that does not mean that I would do nothing after saving him" I said

At this point I could swear the ghoul looked like he was a child on Christmas. "Oh? And what would you do after saving him?" He asked

"I would stay with him and guide him to the church. I would do everything I could to make sure he stays on a path of righteousness and instill values of love and peace within him to ensure he becomes a good man and not a tyrant who kills millions" I said

After I said this, I looked around to see the expressions of my classmates. I could see that the girl from before calmed down and was now contemplating my words, although you could still see her anger through her eyes. Mostly my classmates had expressions of contemplation and acceptance. My gaze stopped dead in its tracks when it landed on her. She looked at me for the first time and was... smiling?

'Woah Barbara Gordan Is smiling at me!' I thought in utter awe. She was beautiful. That smile that seemed to reach her eyes could clear the dark skies of Gotham in a heartbeat. Barbara Gordan, Daughter of Commissioner James Gordan of the GCPD. A beautiful, intelligent, charismatic, and brave woman who even while in a wheelchair never seems to let that get her down and always keeps her head high. Also, the women I have the biggest crush on... who I have never interacted with.

I mean can you blame me? She is the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on, and I have seen Wonder Woman. She carries herself with this aura of charisma and courage, she's the opposite of me. I'm a 5'8 scrawny 21-year-old with a slouchy posture, glasses thicker than most Gotham residents' wallets and a head of black hair that doesn't know how to stay down. I don't have any friends, only classmates and work colleagues. So, I never really learned how to interact with people with the intention of building some sort of relationship, especially someone who I'm romantically interested with.

"That is a great answer Mr. Vanidestine," Mr. Locklin says, smiling. "I just wish you would pay attention next time, so you're not put on the spotlight again" He finishes with a glare that almost made me piss my pants. Despite his reputation as The Ghoul, Mr. Locklin is a nice man. Just don't slack off in his class or say anything stupid and you will be able to see why his class always has such a high attendance rate.

Before I could respond while still thinking about that wonderful smile from Barbara, I'm cut off by the bell ringing signifying the end of the lecture. I begin to pack my things and head out of the classroom. Before I could fully exit the hall, I heard a voice call out "hey". I turn around and my eyes go wide. 'OH MY GOD, Barbara is talking to me!!!' I thought. 'God she's even more beautiful up close' I thought

I'm broken out of my thoughts by her waving a hand Infront of my face and calling out my name. "Alec?" she said. At this point I realized that I was staring and could feel my face heating up with embarrassment. "w-what's up?" I said, trying to remain as calm as possible.

She looks up at me and with a light smile says, "why did you choose to save and guide the child instead of just letting him drown and saving millions?"

'Huh? Is that what She's curious about?' I thought

"Simple, I just thought about what superman would do" I said

This seemed to shock her as she asked, "why do you think that's what he would do?"

"Well, he's superman, he IS hope and if he were in that position, he would save the child no matter what and if he knew the child would become Hitler, he would surely try to guide him on the right path because heroes don't kill when there's another way" I said knowing that Superman would die before he would kill anyone knowing that there's a way to save them and guide them on the right path.

"Hmm... that's a noble answer Alec, it's never an easy decision to save someone so evil, I admire that" she said looking a bit sad and staring down at her legs for a split second before looking back up at me with that radiant smile of hers. "It was nice talking to you Alec, I hope we can speak again soon" she said before turning her chair and exiting the room.

'Woah... d-did she just say... she admires me? And did she just say she hopes to see me again?' I thought with an expression that was a mixture of disbelief and euphoria. I look down at my phone and notice I'm running late for work.

"Shit, this stupid job, my life sucks" I said broken out of my state of bliss. However, a giant smile seemed to be plastered onto my face and wouldn't come off no matter how much my day sucked.

'I finally have a start' I thought as suddenly the skies of Gotham seemed to clear and I was looking forward to tomorrow for the first time in nine years.