| abstract | - Having been captured during the onset of the Crisis, Batman is held prisoner deep within the genetic workshops of the Command-D Bunker beneath Bludhaven. There, Mokkari and Simyan have the Dark Knight hooked up to a device that feeds directly into an expressionless monster named Lump. A telepathic parasite, Lump hides within Bruce's memories, posing as Alfred Pennyworth and walking Bruce through his recollections of the past. The data pulled from Batman's mind, along with his biological material is then stored and sorted on their database. The goal of this twisted procedure is to distill the very essence of the World's Greatest mortal hero and create an army of mindless Batmen to serve the resurrected Darkseid. Starting at the beginning, Bruce shows Lump the fateful night in which he was inspired to become the Bat. From there, Bruce's quest to rid Gotham of crime would take both a physical and emotional toll. His stand-offishness would cost him the love of Julie Madison along with countless other women throughout his career. Honing his body and mind to the limits of perfection, Bruce finds himself at odds with the likes of the murderous clown the Joker, Hugo Strange and the nefarious Ace Chemicals and Apex but utterly alone save for his faithful servant Alfred. Soon enough however Bruce would take on another orphan named Dick Grayson whom he would train to fight by his side as the colorful Robin. Expanding the operation even further, Bruce would join forces and fall in love with the older, wiser Batwoman - Kathy Kane. The two begin a brief romance and for a time it would seem as though Bruce had truly left his darkest days behind him. As his life took a turn for the more colorful so did his arch-nemesis, the Joker. Constantly re-inventing himself, the Clown Prince of Crime also seemed to lighten going from cold blooded killer to wacky criminal savant seemingly overnight. Soon enough however the edges of Bruce's life would seem to darken once more as he watched helplessly as his love Kathy Kane faded from existence, lost to the void. As Dick Grayson matured and took off on his own, taking on the new mantle of 'Nightwing', Bruce and Alfred packed up their belongings and closed the Bat-Cave. Leaving behind the dank and musty cave for the downtown Gotham penthouse, Bruce prepares to open up a new chapter on his life.
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