New York City, 2015. Bruce Wayne has returned to America after many years away, seeking to start his crusade to clean up Gotham, once and for all. While he was away, Gotham became part of New York, but the criminal elements didn't change much. They remain a superstitious and cowardly lot, but they are many in number. New York's criminals are a threat too, for they will fill any vacuums he can create. That's where the other man in black comes in.

I felt that Batman as a character has perhaps suffered from being seen as so powerful. I feel he might work a little better more on the level of a (considerably richer) Daredevil as seen in the MCU/Netflix series. Of course, as I'm setting this in the Earth 1226 setting it means it attaches to a cherrypicked treble setting crossover 'verse that currently exists as a timeline and a barely-started-needs-reworked Miraculous Ladybug/Sorta-Spider-Man Crossover story, but this is why I wrote that timeline bit I guess.

My goal is to have a somewhat simplified Batman, no fighting god-like aliens, no magical beings (yet - but keep an eye on Paris and look out for any other long-lost billionaires, just saying...), even toning down a little on some of the gadgetry. I want a Batman who works more in the shadows, who can't just solve every problem with ease BECAUSE HE'S BATMAN, but who needs to start working both as a vigilante and as a newly-returned high profile billionaire to fix his city. And given that it's not even an independent city anymore, I think I've given him quite a task.

I had planned to try doing this as a NaNoWriMo story, which so far has went wrong. This is about the fifth revision, and abandoned a more complicated idea that on reflection wasn't going anywhere, and derailed the idea of a "simplified" Batman a bit in the process.

Anyway, enough rambling about motives, I'd better see where I'm going with this...