[Batman-Centric/Justice League] The Earth

As he passed that little alley, Qiao Joel remembered the memories that belonged to "him," including everything the original "Qiao Joel" had done.

Having awakened the memories of his past life, Qiao would never kill the Wayne couple. He couldn't, even if it meant that in this universe Bruce Wayne would never become Batman.

But Gotham, and this Earth, couldn't last long without Batman. At least in this DC Comics universe, Batman had to exist.

Since he couldn't leave the burden of saving the world on Bruce Wayne's shoulders, he would take Bruce's place and become Batman.

Even if it meant that from then on, Qiao Joel would cease to exist, and there would only be Batman. He would face an endless stream of villains and battles, and he would be injured, bleed, and... die.

But so what? He didn't care. He only wished that, if nowhere else, then at least in this one world, Bruce Wayne wouldn't have to suffer the pain of losing his parents or become Batman to fight for Gotham and the world. He was willing to take Bruce's place and bear all the pain and fear that came with becoming Batman.

"Maybe I'll die right at the beginning, but for Bruce, I think I can hold on a little longer. And I hope that 'a little longer' will be a lifetime."

He endured. He didn't die during his training, nor at the hands of any of the many villains. He even received Bruce's support, and Bruce allowed him to build a Batcave in Wayne Manor.

But he died in the New 52.

Bruce became Batman again, while he no longer needed to exist in this world.

=

When Bruce Wayne woke up in bed at Wayne Manor as usual, he discovered that something about the world had changed.

First, some strange memories had appeared in his mind.

For example, how could the son of Gotham City's richest man have been foolish enough to put on that pitch-black bat costume and fight crime himself?

Second, his parents, who had been at home, had suddenly been teleported abroad on vacation.

Finally, that pitch-black bat was gone.

Only after asking around did Bruce realize what had happened.

In the eyes of everyone else who knew the truth, it seemed that he, the young master of the Wayne family, had always been Batman.

Bruce Wayne, now possessing Batman's memories, calmly accepted the fact.

Then he called the other universes.

"Hello. It seems someone has gone missing from our universe."

"Do you know the Batman from our universe? The one who isn't Bruce Wayne?"

Bruce Wayne, facing a mess of this magnitude for the first time, asked as politely as he could manage.

The only response he received was from another dark-clad version of himself: "There is no Bruce Wayne who isn't Batman."

Your soul will always shine brightly in the eyes of the world.

No matter what hardships you have faced.

This is an old, long-neglected project. I'm currently revising and updating it slowly.

Since I wrote this story a long time ago, it's normal for the early chapters to have some outrageous content and dense formatting that's hard on the eyes.

I'm slowly revising it to fix that. However, some of the early content is so embarrassing to look back on that editing it takes a lot of effort, and I often end up rewriting entire sections. The changes won't affect the continuity of the plot.

For the parts I've revised, those of you who've read them before can pretend you haven't and forget the old versions.

Those were dark chapters from years ago...

I feel like, while writing this story, I keep questioning myself: what kind of person are Batman and Bruce Wayne in my eyes?

And I regret how superficial my understanding was in the earlier chapters.

Each stage of life brings a different understanding. In this new stage, I'm trying to bring my understanding a little closer to who he is.

Theme: Perhaps salvation, but ultimately destruction. That is the dominant tone of that world.