Dark clouds marred the memorial, the whole of metropolis had filled city park to mourn the loss of their hero. Young children wore red capes in his honer, their parents lit candles and placed them at the monument. The president gave a moving address, memorialising superman as a beacon of hope and an icon to us all. From the roof of a nearby building Bruce knelt at the edge listening in to the address.

'Its been a long year,' noted Alfred.

Bruces silence was testimony to that statement, the death of superman caused a vacuum, an un-fillable void. Meta-humans were crawling out of the woodwork in droves, meta crimes were only increasing as their numbers grew. He was only one man, doing what he could to keep the people safe, but it wasn't enough. Nothing was ever enough anymore. Bruce looked down his binoculars again, observing the stage. Six members of the secret service stood behind the president, lining the memorial behind him. Security seemed pretty lax, especially considering the local crime boom of late.

The local police guarded the fenced perimeter of the park while Special forces stood guard within the park, only a few postings at either section though. The crowd numbered in the thousands, huddled together rather close considering the parks size.

'Any idea how many people are here Alfred?'

'Not a definite number i'm afraid but officials estimate almost a million people are there.'

'Thats a lot of people in one spot, perfect opportunity for an attack.'

'Expecting company?'

'If history tells me anything, I'd be stupid not to.'

As Bruce made those comments he spotted something unusual. A young man amongst the crowd reached into a backpack and pulled out a white mask. As Bruce scanned the crowd multiple people followed suit and as he panned across the crowd he caught sight of him. A masked figure dressed solely in red with a white A painted across the back of his hoodie.

'Anarky...'

Gunfire rang out across the park and civilians simultaneously began to scatter, authorities reacted but Anarchists began arriving in armoured vehicles. Anarky walked through the fleeing crowds with an armed entourage toward the president who was being evacuated by his secret service. Red smoke grenades filled the air with an eerie taint of crimson.

'The president is almost away,' noted Alfred.

'He's not after the president,' replied Bruce as he leapt from the roof.

Anarky produced his sidearm and followed his entourage to the monument, while the authorities were busy taking care of the reinforcements he got to work. A tall stone statue of Superman stood in front of him, a monument to everything he sought to disrupt. One of his men handed over a satchel, within was a timed explosive. The hairs on the back of his neck began to stiffen and he new what it meant, he placed the adhesive explosive on the leg of the statue and turned around. Thick red smoke filled the air, but within it approached a shadow.

From the smoke lunged Batman, laying a fist into the first henchmen's stomach. The others attempted to shoot the bat but his movements were too fast and unpredictable it proved pointless. Anarky set the bomb and launched a flying kick at batman to be blocked and flung down the stone steps. Anarchists were flung from the monument holding broken limbs and screaming for death. Anarky stumbled to his feet as Batman stood at the top of the steps looking down at him. In the moments gaze between them Bruce produced the bomb from under his cape and Anarchy cursed him beneath his death before taking the butt of a rifle to the head.

Anarky fell unconscious to the ground, looked over by Rick Flagg and a team of special ops soldiers. Flagg looked to the monument to find it empty.

'Fuckin freaks.'

Later that day...

Bruce flung his cowl onto the work bench and slumped into the recliner chair across from Alfred and the wall of computer monitors. Alfred brought up a set of security recordings, a mass of pin striped suits breaking into the Metropolis National Bank. Alfred pushed away from the monitors and let the recordings play out, Bruce rubbed his forehead in disbelief.

'It was a distraction...'

'So it would seem, Anarky must have been paid off by Black mask to take the attention.'

The security footage showed the hostages in the main foyer of the bank, while a trio of black mask henchman guarded an explosive device. Suddenly the main door was turned to splinters and a familiar woman burst into the room. Wonder woman went to work cleaning out the henchmen and disposing of the explosive. But a rear security camera showed a team of men breaking in via the rear of the bank and taking the contents of the vault.

'Black mask owns half the banks in Gotham, why would he need to rob a bank?' asked Alfred.

'Black masks men were in the main foyer, but the ones at the rear aren't identifiable.'

Bruce stood up and focused the monitor in on the rear camera footage, the men that got out were completely dressed in black.

'Maybe our Amazonian friend could be of some assistance?' questioned Alfred.

'Black Masks my problem, I'll deal with him.'

Bruce took his cowl from the work bench and pulled it back over his head, before making down the stairs toward the bat mobile.

'And where are you going?

'To get answers!'

Bruce mantled into the bat mobile and started the engines before speeding from the cave. The black hull breached the waterfall and the wheels squealed as they transferred from dirt to tarmac. The bat mobile sped down the road bound for the glistening city in the distance.

Titles

*JUSTICE LEAGUE*

The night set over Gotham, the whirring of sirens in the distance and blazing city lights blocking out the stars. A leather clad leg kicked open the rooftop window and flung a sack out onto the concrete. From the window climbed a thin woman dressed head to toe in a leather suit topped with pointed cat ears. From a waist belt dangled a rolled whip and a set of brown leather satchels. She lifted up her rose tinted goggles and sat them on her head. The tint of her goggles hid the bannister on the building across the gap. Atop the banister stood the dark night of Gotham, cape flapping in the mild breeze.

She stood a moment almost awe struck by his appearance before turning around and picking up her sack. As she strutted toward the other side of the rooftop the caped defender of the night swung around the side of the water tower and landed in front of her.

'Well, I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me.'

'You couldn't be that lucky Selena, hand over the goods.'

'Its not like you to bother a humble cat burglar, Anybody would think you were spying on me.'

'Whats black mask planning?'

'Oh...Now the truth comes out. What makes you think I know anything?'

'Your small, not tied down. You move in and out of circles constantly, an ear to the ground.'

Cat woman strode toward Batman and dropped the sack of possessions. She wrapped an arm around the dark night and ran a finger along his exposed cheek.

'What do I get out of it?'

'Me not turning you in?'

'Hmmmm … You do drive a hard bargain Bats. Word is Black mask is planning something big, and he's not the only one. '

'Who else?'

'Joker, Penguin, scarecrow … a couple of others from outside the city. They hold meetings at the ice lounge.'

'Whens the next meeting?'

'Not a clue, I only hear whispers.'

'Whispers will do.'

Batman tore away from her and approached the edge of the rooftop. She quickly noticed batman had hold of her sack in one hand and his grappling gun in the other.

'You are honestly deplorable, hows a girl supposed to live if you keep taking her livelihood.'

'Im sure you'll manage.'

Batman jumped from the edge using his grappling hook to slow his descent. Cat woman approached the edge to peak over the edge to see the bat mobile roar to life and break into a fast getaway, roaring up the street and deep into the city centre. Catwoman pulled one of the satchels off her belt and opened it to see the jewellery inside.

'Nice try Batsy, nice try.'