Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or Batman comics or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.
Wayne Manor
"Bruce, do you know anything about this?" Henry asked as he showed Bruce the file.
"The Order of Saint Dumas." Bruce said as he examined the pictures.
"Bruce, if you don't want me involved, I'll understand but at least tell me what's going on." Henry said.
Bruce sighed. "You're right. After what happened with Azrael two years ago, you deserve that much."
Bruce opened the hidden door as Henry and Sara followed him into the Batcave as Bruce turned on the computer.
"As you may know, the Order of Saint Dumas was founded in the 12th century by Lord Adam Dumas as a splinter faction of the Knights Templar during the crusades." Bruce summed up. "All the records I've been able to dig up were scarce and not much is known about them. However, apparently, Theo Galavan and Edward Ruskin were members of the order."
"Any idea why did Azrael kill the Gotham faction two years ago, asides from wanting to get the Suit of Sorrows?" Sara asked.
"There is a prophecy that they were supposed to follow. Gotham burning in ashes, the protector falling and replaced by a new protector." Bruce explained.
"So, what, they thought Azrael was your successor?" Henry realize, where was Bruce going with this.
"More like wanted to force him to become my successor." Bruce said as they realized where was he going with this. "I examined the data from the chip in Azrael's brain two years ago." He turned on the recording.
"Azrael, protector of faith, defender of purity. The Order of Saint Dumas has safeguarded Gotham for over 500 years and it is your sworn duty to continue our legacy. The Dark Knight shall be eliminated. For years, we studied him and he must be removed. The city needs to be guarded with relentless wrath of the God, not misguided crusader. And every member of the Order, who has succumbed to decadence and apathy of Gotham, must be eliminated."
Henry and Sara shivered.
"They may be as fanatic as the League." Henry muttered.
"Maybe even worse." Sara pointed out. "I thought they were all dead. Azrael killed them all."
"The Gotham branch has been wiped out." Bruce corrected. "Who knows how big the Order actually is. I've been trying to investigate them but they're like ghosts."
"Why show themselves now? It's been two years." Henry wondered.
Bruce showed them a book that Henry opened. "There's a prophecy. About dark days coming and that the protector of Gotham shall attempt to stop the gates of Hell from opening but in doing so, events shall occur, with flames raging and Gotham becomes nothing but ruins and ashes. Azrael told me he wanted to prevent it and that the members of the order that he had killed, were in his way, wanting to prevent the prophecy."
"Why would they…"
"Because they were getting in his way. If you remember Galavan's journal, many rich men were members of the order and they wanted to keep control of Gotham and they did not want Azrael to ruin everything they had built." Bruce explained.
"So, one group of fanatics wanted to consolidate their power, while another member of the group wanted to take that power away from them." Sara said. "And here I thought the League's ways were messed up."
"What is Azrael planning now? And who is it now?" Henry wondered.
"I don't know. But we'll get to the bottom of it." Bruce promised.
GCPD
Michael was "working" on Azrael's recent murders as his phone rang and he answered the call. "Yes?"
"Protector of faith, you know what must be done."
Gotham City
A man around 20 years old was entering his apartment, when suddenly, a man in cape, a hood and with a templar cross symbol on his chest, appeared from the shadows, covering the man's mouth and nose as the man passed out.
Elsewhere
Men wearing hoods pulled the bag out of the man as he was on his knees and restrained.
"What the hell is going on?"
"The day of reckoning is coming. The blood of the founders shall cleanse Gotham of sin." The leading man in the hood pulled out a knife.
"No, no, please, no…"
The leader slit the man's throat as his blood poured down onto what seemed to be a rock fountain.
Batcave
"Are you OK?" Sara asked as Henry was researching the victims.
"I'm trying to find out the connection between these people. Galavans, St. Clouds, Trasks… Asides from being rich folks, there's not…" Henry paused as he looked deeper. "Wait a minute."
"What?" Sara asked.
"I think I know the connection between them." Henry said as he typed in some commands. "Two hundred years ago, Gotham City strived and six families ruled over the high society.
The Galavans, which are now dead. The Waynes obviously, the Dumases and the Kanes and the Crownes. I know Bruce has a cousin and one Kane is in the military and then... the Elliots. But we know what happened to the last one."
"You mean Thomas Elliot? The Identity Killer?" Sara asked.
"The Hush." Henry nodded. "I've read about him. He surgically reconstructed Bruce's face and attempted to steal millions from Wayne Enterprises. He's serving life sentence in Blackgate prison nowadays." He pulled out the picture of a man, who looked like Bruce but his facial scars made it look like a jigsaw puzzle.
"What the hell…" Sara whispered.
"The Identity Killer targeted specific people, cutting their faces off surgically and from the pieces trying to reconstruct another face, like Bruce's. Batman was lucky he caught that bastard." Henry summed up.
"I've read the news but I never thought he'd look so ugly." Sara said.
"No kidding." Henry nodded. "Able Trask had changed his name from Able Crowne. But he wasn't a saint, if I were to judge from his records."
"So, you think Azrael is out for revenge?" Sara asked.
"Where did Bruce leave that journal?" Henry asked as he looked around the Batcave until he found it and opened it.
"The last Azrael was unstable, grown from a test tube. The Order was afraid of him. Centuries ago, the Dumases tried to consolidate more power and rule the city but the Galavans, despite being their allies, were not so happy." Henry read. "Azrael, the champion of the Order of Saint Dumas, fought for the family but they were beaten and wiped out and sent deep underground. They claimed that they wanted to rule the city but it needed to be redeemed by blood of the people who had betrayed them."
"So, that's why Azrael killed those people." Sara realized.
"The Order of Saint Dumas had scattered across the globe." Henry read. "The Gotham branch apparently was done trying to get their hands dirty and instead they decided to rule from the shadows."
"Which cannot have pleased that freak." Sara summed up.
"If he had gotten his hands on the Suit of Sorrows, he'd become dangerous." Henry turned to the armor in a case behind them. "Good thing Azrael cannot get here, whoever he is. I'll take a look in the library, see if there's anything else we can look at."
Henry went upstairs heading to the library but suddenly, the corridor vanished in the shadows and Henry watched in surprise as he suddenly appeared in a small apartment that was very familiar to him.
"I hate this." Gordon said.
"Jim?" Henry said, not understanding but Gordon did not react as Henry realized it was a hallucination.
"Whenever we jail him, I think "Please God, keep him there."" Gordon said, sitting on chair and cutting out a news article with Batman.
"Dad, just once could you leave your work at the office and relax? I made you cocoa." Barbara said, bringing a tray with two mugs.
"Thank you, sweetheart. I'll drink it, when I've pasted this latest clipping in." Gordon removed the news clipping from the papers and glued it onto his scrapbook.
"You know, I found that Catwoman scrapbook you said was missing. It was behind the wardrobe." Barbara said as she put the tray down. "Some day you ought to let me work out a proper filing system, like we used at the library."
"Hmmm." Gordon considered.
Barbara looked closely at the scrapbook as she frowned. "Urrgh. Look, you used too much paste! It's all squidging under the edges of the clipping. You're going to get it in your pants…"
"Barbara, you're fussier than your mother wa…" Gordon stopped when they heard the door knock. "Was that the door?"
"Oh, no, not that, no…" Henry paled, realizing what it was. "Don't open the door, Babs. Please."
"Yeah, it'll be Colleen from across the street. Tonight's our yoga class." Barbara approached the door. "C'mon, Dad… company! Put your scrapbooks away."
"Hey, look at this one. First time they met. Now what year was that?" Gordon mused, as he found an old article, where Batman arrested Two-Face the first time.
"Well, I remember you describing the white face and green hair to me, when I was a kid. Scared the hell out of me." Barbara giggled as she opened the door.
"I thought you'd be interested…"
"Yeah, well, I had some interesting nightmares…" Barbara stopped when she faced the Joker, wearing a purple hat, around his neck a camera and holding a revolver. Barbara did not have time to react, when Joker shot her in the lower abdomen as she slumped back, crashing against the table and groaning in pain as she held her wound.
"No!" Henry exclaimed.
"Barb…?" Gordon whispered, horrified by what just happened.
"Please, don't worry." The Joker said. "It's a psychological complaint, common amongst ex-librarians. You see, she thinks she's a coffee table edition… mind you, I can't say much for the volume's condition. I mean, there's a hole in the jacket and the spine appears to be damaged." The Joker smirked as he poured himself a glass of booze.
"You sick son of a bitch…" Henry growled, glaring at the Joker hatefully, lunging at him but he fell right through him before he realized that it was all in his mind as all he could do was stare in despair at seeing his best friend relive one of the worst and most traumatic moments of her life.
"You, you scum, my daughter, I'll… ugh…" Gordon was punched in the stomach and the face by one of the Joker's henchmen as Gordon fell down.
"Jim…" Henry whispered, not believing what he was seeing.
"Frankly, she won't be walking off the shelves in that state of repair. In fact, the idea of her walking anywhere seems increasingly remote. But then, that's always a problem with softbacks." The Joker took a sip as he smirked. "God, these literary discussions are so dry. When you've finished with the old boy, you know where to take him. And please… do be careful! After all, he is topping the bill." The Joker approached Barbara with his camera.
"No, not that. Please, no…" Henry begged, not wanting to see it and begging to wake up from this hallucination.
"You know, it's such a shame you'll miss your father's debut, Miss Gordon." The Joker giggled. "Sadly, our venue wasn't built with the disabled in mind. But don't worry… I'll take some snapshots to remind him of you." The Joker touched Barbara's shirt, removing it as Barbara was helpless to do anything.
"Wuh… why… why are you… duh… doing this?" Barbara murmured weakly.
"To prove a point. Here's to crime." The Joker toasted as he started to remove her clothes.
"You bastard. You as much as lay a finger on her, I'm gonna kill you!" Henry said, glaring at the Joker hatefully for hurting Barbara like that as he lunged at the Joker and fell down, falling through the psychopath. Henry got up and returned back to the manor as he panted out in horror and confusion.
"Henry. Henry." Barbara held his shoulder as he turned to her and was surprised to see her alright for a moment before sighing. "Is everything OK?"
Henry took a breath before nodding. "Yeah. I'm fine, Babs. Really."
Barbara narrowed her eyes. "You sure?"
"Don't worry about me." Henry said but Barbara wasn't convinced.
"Don't brush me off. Talk to me."
"It's nothing, it's just… bad memories, that's all." Henry said.
"Henry…" Barbara sighed. "Honestly, I'm really worried about you. You shouldn't keep it bottled up."
"Barbara… I honestly don't know what's going on or how am I supposed to deal with it." Henry admitted.
Barbara nodded, understanding. "What were you doing here anyway?"
"Doing a research on the Order of Saint Dumas, see what we can find out." Henry explained as Barbara nodded as they approached the bookshelves.
"OK, let's go take a look, if you're sure."
Gotham City
A man was on his knees, with bruised and bloodied face as Azrael neared him.
"Jimmy the Bat. Not the Batman, the Bat-man." Azrael said mockingly.
"Look, you're making a mistake…" Jimmy said, frightened.
"No, no, no, Johnny Stitches will be very scared of me. And you are my message, Jimmy." Azrael told him and Jimmy paled. "God's justice has arrived to Gotham City."
"No, wait, wait, I'm a cop! Undercover cop! Don't you get it? I've been undercover in Stitches' crew for six months!" Jimmy explained quickly.
"Is that so?" Azrael sneered.
"I don't carry my shield but I can tell you who to call…"
"And ask them what?" Azrael asked, nearing his sword to Jimmy's throat as Jimmy trembled, sweating and panting out. "How many people have you beaten up in the name of your…"
"Listen, you got the wrong idea, I was undercover, please, you need to understand, they were punks and I was just…"
"Your actions were in service to greater justice, is that correct?" Azrael asked and Jimmy nodded frantically.
"There is only one true justice! The Lord's!" Azrael shouted as he swung his sword and Jimmy's head rolled down on the floor, blood spraying from his neck as it toppled down.
Gordon, Bullock, Montoya and Michael were setting up a crime scene as CSIs and detectives came to investigate.
"Blood splatter's the same like the previous ones…"
"What's the point of canvassing, Jim, it's nothing but empty warehouses around here anyway." Bullock said.
"Jim?" Montoya pointed to the message on the wall written in blood.
"Necessary sin that needed to be cleansed." Gordon read.
"I think this freak might be more dangerous than the previous one." Montoya said. "Has anyone seen Michael?"
Michael Lane entered the confessional as he sat down, doing a gesture of a cross on his chest. "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been two weeks and six days since my last confession."
"What sins do you have to confess?" The priest inquired.
"I… am questioning whether I am doing the will of God, Father. I am a policeman and a devoted man… but the people I work with… I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing." Michael admitted. "Gotham is putrid and it needs cleansing… but I wonder whether I am doing the right thing."
"There are many ways to do God's bidding. May I ask for who exactly are you doing the God's work?" The priest asked.
"I… I cannot say, Father." Michael said reluctantly.
"My son, people with secrets may have pure intentions but the way they work… their methods can be questionable. You would be wrong not to question their methods. But you need to ask yourself what does your heart tell you."
"My heart…" Michael said hesitantly. "Says that there may be other ways to pursue justice but I am not sure whether I can follow."
"You need to look deep inside and follow your heart. That is all I can give you." The priest advised as Michael nodded.
"Thank you, Father. May the God watch over you."
"May He watch over you as well, my son."
"I'm here to make sure you make penance for your sins." The assassin said as he jumped down and attacked with his sword and Azrael blocked.
Author's Note:
I hope you liked the reference to The Killing Joke.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.