There were three Batman games released for the NES, and the dungeon Chris was currently in was based on the first one, the 1989 movie adaptation. Ahead of its time, the game featured cinematic cutscenes similar to those in Ninja Gaiden and Kyatto Ninden Teyandee, an ambitious move considering the limited storage capacity of NES cartridges.
However, those cutscenes were actually heavily edited versions of their original Japanese designs. During production, the Japanese developers had naturally incorporated classic scenes from the source comics, including a standoff between Batman and the Joker that closely mirrored a famous moment from The Killing Joke.
The result was predictable: a cease and desist letter.
For this Batman adaptation, the biggest headache for the developers had been the roster of bosses.
In the movie, there was only one supervillain, the Joker, and Batman spent the entire film in a deadly game of cat and mouse with him. But an action platformer couldn't exactly have only one boss.
Consequently, the developers took a "loosely inspired" approach, creating a series of original bosses and giving them unnecessarily detailed backstories.
As was the custom, there were significant differences between the Japanese and American versions of these characters.
When Chris heard the thug mention "Killer Moth" and the "Moth Gang," he confirmed that the current dungeon was utilizing the American character names rather than the Japanese ones. Otherwise, he might have been looking for someone named "Sergeant Fred."
Of course, the American names were often just arbitrary labels slapped onto original boss designs, meaning their abilities didn't always match their comic book counterparts.
But the Selection Space had a unique mechanism, a "completion system" that corrected inconsistencies and fleshed out underdeveloped areas while preserving the original game's charm.
This was how the Moth Gang and Killer Moth, who technically had nothing to do with the original movie, had come to exist here.
In the spirit of "the holiday season," Chris intended to squeeze more information out of the two thugs. Unfortunately, they were truly low level garbage. Aside from their gang leader's name, they knew nothing about the gang's core members, giving Chris no opportunity to dig for intel.
Just as the man with the pale skin thought Chris was done with them, the young man spoke again. But his next question was so strange that it left both the man and Bob, who had recently woken up and was busy adapting to, or perhaps ignoring, the stench, completely stunned.
"Suppose a fire breaks out in Gotham. Does insurance cover it?"
"Uh. If the property owner has Wayne Enterprises insurance, they should get a payout, right?"
As a bottom feeder, the man could never afford Wayne Enterprises insurance, but he'd never heard of anyone with a policy being denied a claim.
While Gotham was a hive of scum and villainy, home to the Moth Gang, the Electrocutioners, the Fireflies, and the most feared of all, the Joker Gang, the one entity that reached into every corner of the city was the massive conglomerate known as Wayne Enterprises.
People might curse the rich, but the Wayne group's insurance services were remarkably free of any major scandals that would reach the ears of someone like him.
"And what about the fire department? Are they quick? Is there water in the hydrants? Who pays for the service?" Chris asked in a rapid fire sequence.
"They're pretty fast. I heard some guys from the Firefly Gang complaining at an underground bar that the trucks arrived too quickly, before they could enjoy the blaze. So yeah, the hydrants have plenty of water. As for the money, I think it's all sponsored by Wayne Enterprises."
Perhaps because the tension had broken, the two failed muggers relaxed significantly. The conversation shifted into a pattern of Chris asking, the man answering, and Bob occasionally chiming in. Chris learned quite a bit about the city.
For instance, vagrants like them, nominally gang members but practically homeless, could actually go to shelters established by Wayne Enterprises for help. They were guaranteed at least one free, hot meal a day.
And any unfortunate souls who were caught in the crossfire of a certain bat themed vigilante's "justice" could have their emergency medical fees waived if they could prove the cause of their injuries. Subsequent medical costs were also heavily discounted, all covered by, you guessed it, Wayne Enterprises.
Learning the truth about Gotham felt like a cosmic joke to Chris.
For a long time, many, including himself, had viewed Gotham as a sin city, a place unfit for human habitation. But comparing it to real world examples, Chris felt a sense of "corporate conscience," a phrase he never thought should exist.
As the head of Wayne Enterprises, a man who controlled almost every sector of the city, Bruce Wayne should have been grinding the lower classes into the dust like most of his fellow capitalists. Instead, his greatest hobby was dressing up in a tight suit to wander the streets and beat up criminals at night.
Insurance? Covered!
Fires? Put out!
Homelessness? Helped!
Criminals? Beaten!
'I hereby declare Gotham to be a more livable city than Metropolis or Los Angeles!'
"Hey! Wait! You're just leaving? Let us go!!" Bob shouted. "Yeah, bro! You haven't untied us yet!"
The atmosphere had become so friendly that the two thugs actually thought Chris was going to buy them a drink. Instead, Chris turned to leave as smoothly as if he'd been walking in a park.
The rhythmic tap of his cane on the ground stopped. Chris turned around.
"You didn't actually think a few minutes of small talk would wipe away the fact that you tried to rob and potentially kill me, did you?"
Chris stared down at the two of them, his gaze so intense it made them both swallow hard.
"Regardless of how tragic your lives as vagrants might be, the fact that you attacked me means you've done this before. You're trash. You're scum. And you need to be punished."
"Bro. Are you one of those vigilantes who kills in silence?" Bob's voice held a tremor he couldn't control.
Chris shook his head and gave a reply that chilled them to their bones.
"My friends... the best punishment isn't always death."
Chris gave them a brilliant, beaming smile.
Ten minutes later, a dark shadow descended from the sky, as if blotting out the narrow strip of stars above the alley.
Because of the material of his mask, Batman couldn't turn his neck. He had to face his target with his entire body. When he saw what was in front of him, he visibly flinched.
The two thugs had been bound together in a Taiji Yin Yang pattern, their limbs twisted into unnatural directions.
A wave of pure, visual discomfort hit Batman's brain before any other emotion could surface.
Meanwhile, Chris, dressed as a perfect gentleman, had appeared in a shady underground bar, the very one the man had mentioned.
Sitting at the bar, Chris tapped the counter with his left index and middle fingers. He then spoke a line that made him the center of attention for every patron in the room.
"Bartender. A glass of milk, please."
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]