Alfred throws Bruce a huge 16th birthday bash. Bruce’s big present is Ford Mustang. A trust fund that Thomas set up for Bruce is now available to him. Thomas trusted that Bruce would be responsible with the thousands of dollars that just became available to him. Bruce gives a thousand here and there to certain charities but gives a big chunk to GCPD to help them get better armor and weapons.
Bruce buys Selina a car. This upsets Tommy because he was planning on buying her a car. Tommy’s allowance increased when he turned 16, a few months prior, but he doesn’t have access to thousands Bruce now does. Tommy has a tough time not blowing up but Bruce is grateful he doesn’t. Strange is happy Tommy hasn’t erupted yet, but cautions Tommy that one day he will have to confront Bruce about his feelings about Bruce feeling he’s better than Tommy.
Into his early 20's Bruce excels in his self-defense training and his dedication to charity and GCPD has raised national and international attention. Whenever he is interviewed he speaks highly and passionately of the charities and GCPD he works with. When his parents' death which seemed to upstart violence in Gotham City is brought up, Bruce becomes sinisterly angry. Because of his young age it seems to be excused.
While Bruce is concentrating on Wayne Enterprises and his training, Tommy and Selina have a more tries at dating. Tommy excelled in his medical studies at Gotham University which caused him to graduate early and first in his class. Just as Bruce was shaping up to be more intellectually superior to his father Thomas, Tommy was also promising to be superior to his father.
Selina is not interested in college or can’t really seem to find a career. She often finds herself feeling like the outsider of the trio, but especially so when she is with Tommy and Bruce’s rich friends. So knows she will never be “good enough” for the posh people so she still picks their pockets and jewels. But no one ever catches her or even suspects her because she is so loved by all.
Meanwhile suspicion of Comm. Loeb seems to rise at the same rate of crime. Falcone always seems to stay one step ahead of the GCPD. Fox encourages Bruce to focus on his studies at school and learn all he can about technology so upon graduating from Gotham University he can work alongside of him.
The general public doesn't really seem to suspect that Loeb and other high GCPD officials are dirty, but Gordon, Bruce and some other by-the-book officers begin to keep an extra careful eye on them. As Gordon flushes out the dirty cops and their criminal allies Bruce wants Gordon to be promoted to the head of the Organized Crime Division while Grogan be promoted to Loeb’s second in command.
This gives Gordon and his trusted men the clearance to look further into Loeb, Mayor Hady and others they suspect are in bed with Falcone. They are also concerned about a new crime boss that is getting notoriety-The Penguin.
The ebb and flow of crime in the streets and within companies has caused a new avenue for criminals to dive into. The heightened security above ground has paved the way for underground hideouts and activity. The Penguin took the lead and is the underground crime boss. Using the sewers and abandoned subways, the more “blue collar” thugs avoid the above ground security cameras all around the city.
The Penguin’s men wear dark hoodies that look like penguin heads. They conceal the hoods until they are about to strike. Penguin’s second in command is Waylon Jones, aka, Killer Croc. Croc and his men wear crocodile hoodies. Croc himself wears a scaly wet suit. He is known as Killer Croc because he drowns his victims in the sewers, much like a crocodile would.
The Penguin actually is Oswald Cobblepot. Oswald owns a chain of hotels in the Gotham area and his crown jewel, The Cobble Hotel is across the street, south from Wayne Enterprises. The hotel has a casino known for its nightclub named the Iceberg Lounge. The Lounge is the biggest front for Cobblepot's organization. If Wayne Enterprises was no longer across the street, a bigger and better Iceberg Lounge could go in its place. Publicity, the clean-appearing Cobblepot has been a rival of the dirty appearing Falcone since the Iceberg Lounge and casino are the main competition of Falcone's clubs and casinos. But behind the scenes Falcone and Cobblepot are close associates.
Bruce, Tommy, and Selina often frequent the Iceberg Casino and Lounge. Selina is a regular singer in the club and her most popular song she does is “The Cat’s Meow.” She gets paid well but uses her earnings to gamble in the casino. On occasion she steals chips and jewelry from unsuspecting patrons. The cameras, victims, Tommy or Bruce have never caught her. She often is seen hanging around cocktail waitress Holly Robinson. The two often hang out after Holly’s shifts. Holly tags along from time to time when Selina hangs out with Bruce and Tommy.
Back to the present, it’s the 4th of July. Bruce rented the Presidential Suite of the Cobble Hotel with roof access. He throws a big Independence Day party for all his friends. Everyone is caught up in the fireworks when Tommy, who is extra hyped because this was his favorite holiday, proposes to Selina during the grand finale of the fireworks. He makes a big, grand scene and everyone, especially Selina is shocked. Selina and Bruce are secretly seeing each other for the past 6 months. Apparently Tommy felt Selina would always choose Tommy over Bruce. Since a girl she always said whoever proposed first with a grand public proposal would steal her away from the other. Tommy is banking on this, but it really isn’t working out for him. Selina had a surprised and even embarrassed look on her face making it clear the answer was “no.”
Bruce feels it was his duty to calmly pull Tommy aside to save what little face he had. Tommy thanks Bruce by punching him through a table. Tommy feels this is the appropriate time Strange was referring to when Tommy should confront Bruce. Tommy spews out jealous lies and rants.
Tommy accuses Bruce of not wanting anyone to be with Selina, even if he is not with her. This is just another example of Bruce thinking Tommy was his sidekick, his right hand man and not his equal. He thinks Bruce always needs a sidekick, someone less than him to boss them around and feel superior.
He claims ever since Bruce’s parents died and he took over their empire, Bruce has thought he was better than Tommy. Tommy thinks Bruce will never bring him in his cooperation like their fathers and Lucius planned. Bruce assures Tommy nothing he was saying is true and offers to have Alfred pick him. Tommy takes offense to that says he has surgery in a few hours so he will drive himself to the hospital and cool down in a rest room.
While driving to Gotham General, Tommy gets more and more angry. The more angry he gets, the more he lets the rage he has been suppressing rise to the surface. Why does Bruce think he’s better than him? Tommy is smarter and more talented than Bruce. Tommy’s medical background is more important and needed in society than Bruce’s background which does more to hurt or kill people.
Thomas Wayne was the CEO who really made Wayne Enterprises a global force. Fox is steering away from where Thomas was leading the corporation. Thomas made it a medical first cooperation but Fox is making it a technology first company. If Bruce is to follow in Fox’s footsteps when Lucius retires at 50, the world will need more medical technology than weapons but Bruce won’t recognize that. Tommy should take over Wayne Enterprises, not Bruce.
But what is done is done, right? Thomas died so his mind can’t be changed. He left everything to Bruce. Thomas had more of a fortune that Tommy’s dad has but Roger puts his towards the more important industry. Yet, Tommy is smarter than his dad. He has more potential. Tommy is better with investing. Roger trusts people too much and doesn’t take risks in investing.
Tommy would turn Roger’s hundreds of millions into many billions. Then Bruce wouldn’t be the head honcho, Tommy would. Then no more of this Tommy stuff. The name Tommy is juvenile; Thomas if mature. Thomas Elliot will be better than Thomas Wayne. The only thing slowing that down is Roger and Marla Eliot. Tonight that ends. Selina and Bruce put a stop to Tommy’s future of happiness tonight, now Tommy will put an end to his parents’ future of controlling Tommy.
Tommy parks in his usual spot in the Gotham General Hospital. He goes straight to one of the many staff rest rooms. The rest rooms are one of the only areas in the hospital where the Wayne Security cameras aren’t located since only medical staff has access to them. Tommy lets himself out of a window and ducks into the woods. There are no cameras outside of the building because there are no entrances to this section of the building and the woods is a few feet away.
On the other side of the woods is a parking lot near Wayne Hall on the campus of Gotham University. Tommy spots his parents car. They are celebrating the 4th at a huge ball. Tommy laughs at the fact that his parents will die after leaving Wayne Hall just like how Bruce’s parents died. Conveniently the valet parked the Eliot’s car in the back at the edge of the parking lot near the woods. The cameras don’t pick up Tommy crawling under the front of the car and slicing the brake lines. He has to leave them enough brake power to get off the campus because they wouldn’t pick up enough speed driving through campus.
Tommy then rushes back to Gotham General and lets himself back in the bed. Just as he slips the covers over him an intern named Peyton Riley walks in. She has had a crush on Tommy and saw him walk in about a half hour before. She thinks this would be a great night to make her move. Tommy knows she can now confirm his alibi that he was in bed the whole time. She is talented and very attractive so why not have a serious relationship with her? Selina turned him down. Maybe Riley will turn out to be Mrs. Thomas Elliot and be by his side as he rules Wayne Enterprises.
Roger Elliot gets a call from a concerned Bruce. No one has had to call Roger to calm down Tommy in years. Roger and Marla decide to leave the ball. Roger is going to drop off Marla at home, only 5 minutes away in the hills overlooking the hospital and university, then talk with Tommy at the hospital. The Elliots get to the front of Gotham Medical when a flashing ambulance is approaching the hospital in the opposite lane. Roger starts to add more pressure to the brakes to give the ambulance plenty of space. The brakes work for a couple of seconds but then cut out. The ambulance driver never sees the car because he is trying to get the dying patient into the hospital as soon as possible. Roger sharply turns the car to avoid the ambulance causing the car to flip over. On the second roll, it broadsides the ambulance, causing it to flip.
Tommy’s surgery was in another hour but he is paged to perform life-saving surgery on the patient in the ambulance. Little does he know it was his parent’s car that plowed into the ambulance. He is expecting them to stay a couple more hours at the ball but he sees his dad being rushed in. Why is here now? He was expecting to be notified in surgery that his parents died in a car crash.
Tommy quickly calls Bruce to see if he alerted his parents of his episode. Bruce said, “We all care for you, Tom and want what’s best.” Bruce thinks Tommy is frantic because Bruce told his parents about Tommy’s outburst, but Tommy tells Bruce about the accident. Bruce is shocked but then is beyond shocked when Tommy says, “You did this Bruce, you killed my parents. If you didn’t stay out of my business they would still be at the ball, not dead.”
Of course this is working out more and more into Tommy’s favor. Normally a surgeon wouldn’t be allowed to operate on family but since Roger was so important to the hospital and Tommy was the second best surgeon, even with only 4 years of experience, he is allowed to work on his father. Everyone knows that Tommy is the only one able to save Roger.
Tommy puts on a grand show to try to save his father. Tommy thinks to himself, “Thomas Wayne, look out, I am coming for your company!” But in response Tommy hears Thomas Wayne’s lesson about the fork in the road we all face when facing a decision that will define us. Tommy can hear his father, mother, Thomas and Martha, Bruce, Selina, everyone, plead, “Don’t do it! Don’t allow your own father to die! Save your father! Save him!” But Tommy decides to put a hush to all the voices. He lets his father die. As for his mother, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
At his parents’ funeral, Commish Loeb gives the same robotic sympathy to Tommy as he did to Bruce. Everyone else is genuine. Since the Elliot’s car burst into flames it was impossible to prove the brake lines were cut. Tommy got away with murder. Deep down inside Bruce, Selina and even Gordon thought maybe, just maybe Tommy had something to do with it but instantly don’t give it more of their attention. No one would be capable of doing that. Plus Tommy had a rock solid alibi and his new girlfriend Peyton was able to verify it.