Dark is the shadow that lay cast over this wretched and dying city.
For so long, a plague has ravaged it.
For so long, death and destruction have caused those who remain to lose all hope.
Since its hero has gone, darkness once again rules over.
Who is to save these poor souls from the evil that befalls it?
Who is to save…..Gotham City?
A small light flickered in the dirty and dank hallway of the apartment complex.
Wallpaper peeling from the walls. Flies hovering around the single, flickering light, casting a shadow on the discolored rugs adorning the floors.
The door slammed opened and the cold, night air snuck in with a dark figure stumbling in.
"Drunk again ye' bastard?! Slam me doors again and I'll 'ave ye' kicked out in no time!" The heavily accented landlord shouted through the walls.
The warning was all but ignored as the dark figure continued on through the hallway until reaching an old, ratty door.
Turning the key, the door opened and in the figure stumbled.
"Long time no see….." A voice said from the shadows.
Quickly, the figure spun around and reached for the lightswitch.
Sitting in the armchair was a rather tall man. Dark hair draped down to his shoulders. A black tattoo on his left cheek. A scar above his left eye.
"Wha…What are you doing here?"
The tall man chuckled to himself.
"Bannon O'Reilly…..You look terrible…" The tall man said, slowly standing and beginning to move towards the drunken man.
"Stop! Don't come any closer!" Bannon shouted.
The tall man sighed.
"Is that any way to treat an old friend?" He said as he continued to move closer.
"I wouldn't call us friends….."
"Now why would you go and say a thing like that? For so long, we worked closely together. For so long, we were damn good at what we did."
"Yeah….Until you went and set that daycare on fire. There…there were children….Innocent little children in there…."
The tall man stopped in his tracks, a look of rage his expression now.
"INNOCENT! NO ONE IS INNOCENT!" He cleared his throat and relaxed himself, regaining his composure before continuing.
"Bannon…..As I have explained before, the burning of that daycare was a necessary step. Who knows what madness those…..children would have wrought upon this city? What they could have grown up to be? We do not need any more martyrs or heroes believing they can save this city. Its day to be consumed by the darkness has long passed. With no one to stop it, this city can be ours for the taking. Remember the dream Bannon…..We were going to rule this city. Unopposed. Unchallenged. Until you had to abandon that dream. And for what? Some children who would have died regardless? If not then, they would die eventually. Better to save them from that uncertainty than allow them to live and never know when they would meet their demise. At least in that daycare, they had a modicum of an idea that their end was at hand."
The tall man reached Bannon and stood in front of him, placing his hands on his shoulders.
"I need your skillset Bannon. You are vital to the plan. Together, we can finally achieve our dream and take this city once and for all. All you need do….Is say yes."
The drunken man looked into the taller man's eyes.
All he saw was black and an emptiness….A void where none dared enter as nothing lived there besides rage, hatred and death.
If there was any man even closely to being wholly evil, it was the man standing before him.
No remorse….No regard for anyone or anything…..Just aspirations for power and for death.
This was someone he could never associate himself with again.
It had been a grave mistake the first time around and he would not make it again, even if it cost him his life.
"I….I cannot….."
The taller man sighed, a look of disbelief on his face.
"That is too bad Bannon…." He was saying.
Bannon suddenly felt a sharp pain shooting through his chest.
Blood began to trickle down his lips.
"We could have been gods. They would have feared us. They would have given us everything. No one would have been able to stop our ascension to the top. But pride….That was always your weakness. A proud man is a weak man. And you have proven your weakness for the last time….."
The room began to turn black.
Bannon coughed and hacked up blood as the knife dug deeper into his chest.
And then…..it was over.
Dark is the shadow that lay cast over this wretched and dying city.
For so long, a plague has ravaged it.
For so long, death and destruction have caused those who remain to lose all hope.
Since its hero has gone, darkness once again rules over.
Who is to save these poor souls from the evil that befalls it?
Who is to save…..Gotham City?