[ WP ] Batman investigates an incident at Arkham , Massachusetts .

After years of fighting with his nemeses, endless hours of toil, Bruce Wayne had finally stumbled on a strand of information that he believed would finally lead him to understanding. An understanding of their madness. The Joker, the Riddler, Scarecrow, Penguin, even Mr. Freeze all had a peculiar taint of insanity. He thought, nay, believed that this stain might be traced to a single place: Arkham, Massachusetts. Little did he know that his investigations would only lead to the shattering of his mind in the face of a horrors that had lain dormant for eons. This is the record of the end of Bruce Wayne, and his descent into the persona of what we call the Batman. 
 
 It all began with a strange incident in the far away metropolis of Gotham. Bruce had donned his cape and armor to spend the evening brawling with the Joker ’ s latest group of lackeys. Yet, something was amiss. As he slashed his way to center of the gang ’ s headquarters, he noticed that many of the bandits had abandoned their simple clothes in lieu of dark flowing robes that concealed their movement. Within minutes, he found himself in the inner sanctum, at the edge of a circle of men chanting in a language that seemed older than civilization. His mind filled with unimaginable images of terror from beyond this world. A batarang loosed at the time of Bruce ’ s entrance ended the trance, and he saw the leader of the ritual crumple to the ground as his mind again adjusted to common existence. 
 
 As Bruce sifted through the numb bodies of the acolytes, he realized that the leader of the horrific rite came from a peculiar place: Arkham. A town containing the Alma Matter of Mr. Freeze and the Riddler, the whaling business on which the Penguin ’ s ancestors had made their fortune, and the farm on which Scarecrow ’ s relatives had eked out a meager living. It was time. Time for Bruce Wayne to explore the secrets of that ancient seaside town. 
 
 He arrived during a particularly bad winter storm, on a particularly gray and menacing week of the year. A bad omen some would say, but not him. Bruce Wayne was a man of logic and reason, even if he could not quite eliminate the horrors he had seen those months before crawling at the edge of his vision. 
 
 He began with a visit to Arkham University in order to find the root of his nemeses ’ madness. To his surprise, all records of their attendance had been expunged. Yet, it did not seem as though their names been removed by those trying to maintain the reputation of the College. It was though these two men, Dr. Victor Fries and Edward Nashton, had simply never existed. After an exhaustive search he finally found Nashton ’ s undergraduate thesis on the mysteries of the countryside near this portentous town, misplaced in the Fantasy section. It began simply with questions about the history of the region, but quickly devolved into rambling and writing in strange symbols that he did not understand. As he delved deeper into the tome the glyphs became seared in his mind and he began to hear the same chanting he recalled from that ominous day in Gotham. He felt himself drawn to a dark, deep place near the seashore. As he felt his mind unravel, Bruce Wayne shut the book. He knew where he needed to go. 
 
 Days later, Bruce had assembled the supplies he needed for the expedition to Fordwain ’ s Cove, some ten miles outside the village boundary. On a dreary, misty day he made the journey to the overlook. Hours later he found himself drawn deeper and deeper into the complex of endless caverns. He took one turn after another, seeming to lose himself in the cave ’ s passageways. In time, he found that the temperature had grown warmer, the walls smoother than the natural passageways in which he had begun his saunter. In quality they were beyond the work of man, yet lay deeper than human history would allow. What matter of beings had created this place? He had to know to preserve his sanity. 
 
 As Bruce pressed on, the passageways began to glow a faint and wrenching blue-green light. He found himself passing strange shapes and objects floating above the ground, seemingly having no purpose other than to defy reason. Otherworldly diagrams covered the walls. Images that he could not even begin to understand. After what seemed like an eternity, his body reaching past the limits of endurance of an ordinary man, he found himself in the center of a vast amphitheater. As his eyes adjusted, he saw a massive object hanging at the core of the massive space. Yet, it was no mere piece of architecture. To his shock, Bruce noticed huge leathery wings erupting from the mass. It continued to slowly rotate until he spotted a vast and terrible face lining up with his own. One by one the eyes of the massive beast began to open as Bruce was frozen in apprehension of the horror he had awakened. A scream erupted, louder than anything he had ever heard, awakening some primal fear that he had never even knew existed. 
 
 He ran. Back through the passageways to the surface. He heard explosions cracking the caverns behind him, triggered by the tripwires he had set on the way down. One by one, the creature would burst through each new blockage or find a path around it. For what seemed like an eternity, he felt the monster at his heels. He thought that it had began to grasp his ankle as he reached the surface. He would be the first death at the dawn of a new era. An era after the existence of man. To his relief, he felt the last round of explosions sealing the cave for eternity. He heard a feint echoing in the depths as the ground shook. First strongly, then fainter and fainter, as the creature returned to its endless slumber. 
 
 Bruce Wayne rose from the shockwaves a changed man. He had gazed into the abyss, and felt the madness of his nemeses. From this day forward it would not be him who ruled his body and his mind. It would be the Batman. The one who had seen the horrors of the world beyond our own, and lived to tell the tale. 

