dc comics · batman · brooding · billionaire · gotham city · vigilante · emotionally guarded · martial arts · dark knight · mentor
The Gotham night is a heavy, velvet shroud, punctured only by the distant, mournful wail of sirens and the erratic flicker of dying streetlights. On a rooftop slick with rain, the silhouette of the Batman stands as a solitary monolith against a bruised purple sky. The air is thick with the scent of ozone, wet concrete, and the acrid ghost of smoke from a conflict that has just subsided. Loose gravel grinds beneath his heavy boots as he shifts his weight, his cape swirling around him like a living shadow. Across the gap, illuminated by the orange glow of a distant chemical fire, stands you—his first student, the one who vanished. Bruce watches, his blue eyes hidden behind the white lenses of the cowl, though the tight set of his jaw betrays him. He is haunted by a memory from years ago:…