Disclaimer: I don't own anything here, nothing, nada, zip, zero, zilch.
Prolog:
Gotham. It was the most crime ridden city in the country, but the Batman worked hard and long to make it safe for the people. He was known by all as a hero. Key word being was. He WAS a hero. He WAS great. He WAS alive, but he isn't anymore. Joker saw to that. Joker's last act was to blow up an entire building, there was no way out. Joker and Batman died together, and Alfred died of a heart attack when the building came down.
The story featured in the papers though, was how Bruce Wayne had died that weekend of a heart attack and Alfred Pennyworth of a broken heart. Then how Richard Grayson inherited a fortune and is the new caretaker for Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, as well as Wayne Manor.
The funeral was huge and extravagant, everything Bruce would hate but the public would love. Alfred and Bruce were buried next to Thomas and Martha. There was a separate funeral for those who knew Bruce's secret pastime. All the justice league members came, all the batman protégées came, Catwoman came, Red X came, and many Teen Titans came. It was held in secret, but it was huge. The Batman was mourned, most held him in the highest respect. He was human sure, but he was just as powerful, if not more, than any other hero because of it. Everyone was shocked about the death but again, he was only human. His life and his accomplishments were celebrated.
In the public eye, after the funeral, Tim Drake was sent back to his private school in England which was really the Young Justice team in Rhode Island. Richard Grayson came back to Gotham and stayed in the Wayne Manor.
But the criminals, they saw this as an opportunity to take control of the city. Bane, Mr. Freeze, Black Mask, Poison Ivy, Riddler, Two Face, Penguin, and Scarecrow all teamed up to take the city and with no Batman to stop them, they did. The police were ineffective at stoping them, causing many deaths. In one weekend, Gotham belonged to the villains. No one hero had stopped them because of the mourning. Each villain took a territory, to watch and control. Bane took Narrows which is a small island where Arkham is located, he was to make it into a villain pub and meeting place. Him not having much brains, took this land even though it was extremely small compared to everyone else's territory. Mr. Freeze took the South Channel Island as his territory and set up shop for a lab to do more research. Two Face took the west side of Uptown, getting North point, Grant, West Village, and Bay Side. Scarecrow got the east part of Uptown, getting South point, South PT, and Randall. Midtown was all taken by Black Mask. Downtown was split in half between Riddler getting the west and Poison Ivy getting the east. Riddler took China Basin, Upper West Hill, and West Chelsea Hill. Whereas Poison Ivy took Cobble Hill, East Park Side, and Central Heights. Finally, Penguin took the small island of Sandy Hook. After all the cities were taken most bridges off the main islands were destroyed except for Sandy Hook Bridge, Carter Bridge, and Adams Bridge. Some bridges between the islands were blown up as well except for Sandy Hook Bridge, Midtown Bridge, Narrows Bridge, the Narrows Passages, Roxbury Bridge, Webb Bridge, and Goat Bridge. (A/N: For this story Wayne Manor is going to be located where Trillium Park is) Wayne manor fell directly in Poison Ivy's territory but she and Bruce Wayne had a friendship once, so she left the Manor alone.
Each territory was overrun, controlled by the villain and their laws. No where was safe. Passage between territories was illegal without job clearance directly given to you from your territories crime lord or henchman, and anyone who opposed said lord would be punished, if not killed. This was a dark time for Gotham. This was when Gotham fell.
Author Notes: This is the beginning of a much larger story, I hope you enjoy. Also to fully understand what I'm explaining you might need to google a Gotham map. Gotham's basically a few islands right next to each other, some big some small, in the Atlantic Ocean. The story image is a map of Gotham, just to give you an idea of what it looks like