Darkness descends in the city, and the rogues come out. They all have one common enemy, a Bat. The rogues rise, they kill the innocent, the Bat catches the rogues, they're put in the Asylum to get help, instead they escape, and the pattern repeats. Every time the Bat fails, innocent die, everytime he let's the rogues live, innocent die, he can put them back in the Asylum as much as he wants, innocent will die.
Alfred glides into the kitchen, giving Bruce the morning paper as he eats breakfast. Bruce's eyes instantly flies to the front page headline: "Twenty Killed During The Joker's Daring Escape This Morning." His eyes grew wide as he turned to Alfred, mouth slightly agape.
"Alfred, wh-"
"This morning, at three am, sir. Two hours after you brought him back to Arkham, came home, and fell asleep. The article also covers your fight from last night," his butler interrupted.
Bruce quickly read the article as Alfred began to clean plates off the dining room table. He flipped the pages, ripping a few, as he went to read the continued article on page ten. "How does this happen, Alfred? I made this my life but still-"
Alfred anticipated what his master was about to say and interrupted him once again. "There will always be people dying, sir. You do a great job trying to save the mass, but you can't protect every single person, no matter how hard you work." Bruce went to say something else but was stopped by Alfred speaking again. "As long as the main factor of the problem still stands strong, it will not be solved."
Alfred left the room, leaving his master alone with his morning coffee to think about what he had said. For the next few weeks he thought about it, those he saved, those he failed to get to in time, and finally the ones who committed the crimes. The villains avoided the electric chair by the declarations of 'insane.' In fact, now when those who were caught by him, they were sent straight to Arkham. If caught by the Batman it was fine to declare insanity, every court in and around Gotham accepted it. It became a dance that repeated itself again and again.
Was it his fault that the innocent were now being tortured for his inability to kill monsters like Jonathan Crane, Edward Nigma, and Joker? Those men knew what they did when they killed. The families they hurt, they knew the big picture, yet they continued to hurt, cripple, and murder. Would it be better if he-no. He was a servant of the city. There were some still rightfully mad, such as Jervis Tetch, but he turned a children's book into a monster of the night. Would the world be a better place if he just...took them out of the equation? Or would others take their place?
Thoughts and nightmares haunted him the next two months. Whispers spread throughout Gotham. The monsters of Gotham were making their move. They were gathering together. Bruce Wayne was reaching a breaking point. He was unable to sleep, his dates with Selina had become more spread out. The rogues of Gotham...what if he died, did that mean they won? Could he be the executioner the city really needed? Could Bruce Wayne become a killer?