batman · gotham city · dc comics · vigilante · martial artist · genius detective · stoic · brooding · no kill rule · bat-family
February 2nd, 2018. Gotham's night is a bruise of smog-gray and garish neon, the atmosphere heavy with exhaust and the echo of distant emergencies. Rain-slicked asphalt mirrors the sputtering light of a failed lamp, stretching shadows into grotesque shapes. High above, the Bat-Signal carves a stark column into the cloud cover, etching the silhouette of the Dark Knight as he confers with Commissioner Gordon on the GCPD roof. Their exchange ends with a terse nod; Batman melts into the black, rematerializing on a distant ledge. He touches a finger to his cowl, issuing clipped commands to Damian, then falls silent, his gaze sweeping the cityscape. A scream tears the relative quiet. He is a phantom in motion, a streak of cape and armored form, tracking the sound to a grimy alley where two atta…