Ruben Bailey

Last night I had a dream where I am a superhero similar to Batman. My Batcave is a Penthouse atop a great tall building. The Penthouse I occupy is comprised of several of the top floors. There is no direct access to these floors because they are hidden from the general public.  The secret Penthouse is the launch pad from which I initiate all my superhero crusades. Feeling alone in the world, I want to intermix with the population at large so I create a DaySpa where people can come and enjoy power drinks, exercise and be rejuvenated. The decision to open part of my Penthouse to a DaySpa and grant access to the outside world does pose a significant risk to my true identity as a superhero but I am willing to take that risk because the payoff is potentially very high in that I will be able to influence and enlighten millions who will come through the DaySpa and become members. As soon as I open the doors of the DaySpa many come through. The DaySpa also gives the illusion that you are actually in the Penthouse. Yet those who come are unaware that there are other floors of the Penthouse hidden from view. The fact that the true Penthouse is hidden helps take the focus off the building because there are those enemies who would want to limit my superhuman influence.
 
 There is a secret chamber much like a space capsule the catapults me into the hidden and secured areas of the Penthouse. On this day, I have several men come through who are looking to put an end to my mission. I have to choose an opportune moment to secretly enter the chamber. When the moment is right, I enter the chamber and quickly press the button to close the door behind me. At first the door jams because there is an emergency mechanism to keep the door from closing. I bypass the safety mechanism using the red button and the door quickly closes and rotates the chamber. Inside the self contained chamber are provisions which have been neatly arranged. These are all the things I need for my mission, including insulin to safeguard me against death from low blood sugar. My only weakness, my Kryptonite against my superpowers is my diabetes. Good nutrition is required to maintain a high level of super human powers. This is another reason for the creation of the DaySpa and the powerful drinks offered by the DaySpa to have these things readily available to me in the case of an emergency.
 
 Rejuvenated now with superhuman powers, I set out on my first crusade. I can see that my adversaries have created a rotunda as an optical illusion to entrap me. There are two aspects to my Self. One aspect always remains in the normal world while the super human side of me can venture into other realms. I am now clued into the illusion that entraps me in the normal world. My first crusade is to free my other Self. My first instinct is to follow through the illusion set up by the adversaries. As I travel down the spiral staircase of the rotunda I find that it leads nowhere it is a closed loop that only gives the illusion of going somewhere. Knowing this truth now I jump over the side rails of the rotunda using my super human flying and jumping abilities arriving at the first level of the rotunda which is under ground. This is where the illusion is being mastermind. I can see my other Self entrapped by the illusion matrix above me. The adversaries are using an invisible force field to contain the imprisoned me.
 
 Seeing the source of their power of dominance I unplug their master power cord that supplies power to their force field. This completely cripples my opposition.  At the moment I unplug the power I issue the command “RUN”. My imprisoned Self runs free toward the door closest to where he is at. I want to join him through the door where he exits the illusion but I know the distance I would need to travel to join him places me at greater risk should they manage to reenable power. My safest route is a nearby fire exit. I rush through the fire exit door to find on the other side a series of other doors. I pause for a moment not knowing which door to choose. In this moment of reflective thought I become lucid and a thought comes to my mind, “I have been here before.” In this moment of clarity, a ripple runs through the matrix of illusion. I can see the firedoors in front of me sway as the ripple goes through them confirming the illusion. I have been here before and these doors have all served to entrap me in the past. Instead of choosing one of the doors in front of me, I decide to create a portal using my super human psychic abilities. Meditating I create a stargate that appears in the matrix of illusion in front of me. As the stargate opens on the other side I see a small alien creature. I am drawn to him. He is somehow familiar to me. My heart wants to reunite with him. I cross over and embrace him. In the embrace I somehow know I have reunited with my Self.
 
 The Batman theme in the dream was very strong so I decided to look up Batman on Wikipedia to see if I could glean some insight off the story. Here is what I found.
 
 

Batman (originally referred to as the Bat-Man and still referred to at times as the Batman) is a fictional comic book superhero co-created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger (although only Kane receives official credit) and published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). Batman’s secret identity is Bruce Wayne, a wealthy industrialist, playboy, and philanthropist. Witnessing the murder of his parents as a child leads him to train himself to physical and intellectual perfection and don a bat-themed costume in order to fight crime. Batman operates in the fictional Gotham City, assisted by various supporting characters including his sidekick Robin and his butler Alfred Pennyworth, and fights an assortment of villains influenced by the characters’ roots in film and pulp magazines. Unlike most superheroes, he does not possess any superpowers; he makes use of intellect, detective skills, science and technology, wealth, physical prowess, and intimidation in his war on crime.
 
 In his secret identity, Batman is Bruce Wayne, a billionaire businessman who lives in Gotham City. To the world at large, Bruce Wayne is often seen as an irresponsible, superficial playboy who lives off his family’s personal fortune (amassed when Bruce’s family invested in Gotham real estate before the city was a bustling metropolis) and the profits of Wayne Enterprises, a major private technology firm that he inherits. However, Wayne is also known for his contributions to charity, notably through his Wayne Foundation charity. Bruce creates the playboy public persona to aid in throwing off suspicion of his secret identity, often acting dim-witted and self-absorbed to further the act.
 
 Unlike many superheroes, Batman has no superpowers and instead relies on “his own scientific knowledge, detective skills, and athletic prowess.” Batman is physically at the peak of human ability in dozens of areas, notably martial arts, acrobatics, strength, and escape artistry. Intellectually, he is just as peerless; Batman is one of the world’s greatest scientists, engineers, criminologists, and tacticians, as well as a master of disguise, often gathering information under the identity of Matches Malone. He is regarded as one of the DC Universe’s greatest detectives. Rather than simply outfighting his opponents, Batman often uses cunning and planning to outwit them. In Grant Morrison’s first storyline in JLA, Superman describes Batman as “the most dangerous man on Earth,” able to defeat a team of superpowered aliens all by himself in order to rescue his imprisoned teammates.
 
 
 Batman faces a variety of foes ranging from common criminals to outlandish supervillains. Many Batman villains mirror aspects of the hero’s character and development, often having tragic origin stories that lead them to a life of crime. Batman’s “most implacable foe” is the Joker, a clown like criminal who as a “personification of the irrational” represents “everything Batman [opposes].” Other recurring antagonists include Catwoman, the Penguin, Two-Face, the Riddler, Scarecrow, Mister Freeze, Poison Ivy, Ra’s Al Ghul, and Bane, among many others.