In The Shadow of the Bat
Knightquest
The city of Gotham had it's neighborhoods and territories, just like any other city, but here they were enforced much more stringently. If you were a stranger wandering in the wrong place you could get yourself killed, often with no warning whatever. The gangs once ran whole parts of town, though that thankfully was in decline as the police and vigilantes fought to bring order to the city.
Police Captain Maggie Sawyer sighed as she looked over the city map pinned to the wall of her office in Major Crimes, studying the city. There were pins in the map indicating unsolved murders and other incidents her people were investigating. Red pins denoted murder, blue pins robbery, and yellow pins indicating mask's crimes. She got up, studying the pins, then blinked as she noticed none were in one small section of town.
Out near Crime Alley, over in Old Gotham there was a block or so... with no pins. No unsolved murders, no robberies, no costumed maniacs attacking people. Somehow, that small piece of town was free from the usual chaos that hit the city. Maggie frowned, wondering how such a thing was possible, then decided to find out.
Over the next few days Maggie checked in with the Organized Crime department in the force, with the Fraud team and other departments in the Police, and got similar stories from all of them. Somehow, someone or something was dealing with crime in that little part of Old Gotham, taking down crooks and practically leaving them gift wrapped for cops.
"And apparently no one has any idea who's doing it," Maggie finished her report to her superior, sitting casually in the chair in front of his desk.
"And that really surprises you?" Comissioner James Gordon asked, the gray haired man smiling at her wryly.
"Yes, considering we don't know what's doing this," Maggie answered honestly.
"True," James admitted as he fingered his pipe,obviously wishing he could lite it up in the now smokeless building. "I think the problem is too many officers are too busy dealing with their caseloads," he mused, "they don't have time to look into this crimeless zone."
"I only noticed it myself because we're trying to track more criminals' movements," Maggie admitted as she tapped the desk with her finger. She gave him a thoughtful look, "Would you mind if I do some looking into it?"
"Knock yourself out," James nodded, "as long as your usual work gets done."
"Of course," Maggie agreed.
The next few days she looked into the information available on that part of town, organizing it like she would a subject's background. Old Gotham was under the protection of Catwoman, apparently, though the former villain rarely ventured into the part of town Maggie was studying. It was run down, even before the quake hit Gotham, and not too much rebuilding money had been thrown at the area. The locals had only recently managed to get their church repaired, for instance.
Deciding that a personal touch was needed Maggie let her Lieutenant know where she was going, then Maggie checked out a car and drove out into the Gotham night. The streets were busy with people as Maggie drove, taking in the sights and sounds of Gotham at night. Nightclubs blazed in the night, people walked the streets and there was a party atmosphere, despite the danger that usually lingered in the air.
'Crazy town,' Maggie thought, knowing the crime rates and murder statistics. Then again she figured that even with that danger people had to live, and some of that living included having a good time. She passed a adult movie theater and nodded to the albino girl working the booth, then slowed as she realized she was nearing the part of town she wanted.
Maggie pulled over and parked the unmarked cruiser, getting out as the older woman locked the doors. The buildings were in poor shape, battered like other low rent parts of town, but Maggie quickly noticed differences. The sidewalks were clean, free of litter, and as battered as the buildings were they didn't look neglected. Windows were intact, doors stood straight, and the walls had been washed in the last few days.
'Interesting,' Maggie thought as she set out for a walk, dressed in a off the rack suit and tie.
AS she walked Maggie saw curtains in some of the buildings twitch, indicating people were watching her. Casually she walked along the sidewalk of the crime-free area she had plotted on the map, even as she felt the people's eyes on her. She finished the route then decided to walk towards the center of the block, and the recently repaired church there.
The cathedral had once been Gothic, but much of it had been ripped down in the quake a few years back. Now a smaller, much more humble church was in the square, with a simple almost country design of four walls, tilted roof and a simple bell tower. The doors were also open, and a light shone from inside.
Maggie walked up to the door, hesitated a moment, then walked inside. The interior reminded her of churches she had seen before, with seats in two wings and a center aisle heading towards a simple altar and podium. A young man in the garb of a priest was sweeping, but he stopped as he saw her come in.
"Oh, hello," he smiled, the blond haired man's glasses gleaming as he swept the pile of dust aside. "Sorry, I was just cleaning up," he apologized.
"It's fine," she smiled, "I'm Maggie Sawyer, Gotham City PD."
"Jean-Paul Valley," he offered his hand as he said, "I've been the pastor around these parts for the last year or so."
"Mister Valley," Maggie shook the man's hand, "Or would you prefer Father Valley?"
"I answer to Pastor, Father, Jean or even Hey You," Jean-Paul answered with a slight smile, and Maggie chuckled softly. "What can I do for you?" he asked, gesturing for her to sit down on one of the many benches.
"I'm investigating a odd occurrence," Maggie admitted. Not going into the odd absence of crime in the area she merely mentioned a single case where a minor criminal named the Clue was busted nearby. "What we'd really like are witnesses of what happened to him," she concluded.
"I can ask around," Jean-Paul offered, "but I can't promise anything. This community protects it's own." Ruefully he added, "It took months before anyone would open up to me."
"I've had similar problems when I joined the police," Maggie agreed, hoping to disarm the young man slightly. As they talked she continued to get the impression he was hiding something, but what, exactly, she couldn't tell.
"I'm sorry," Jean-Paul finally said, "but the late-evening Mass will be starting soon. I need to make some preperations."
"Of course," Maggie got up politely, "thank you for your time."
As Maggie walked back to her car the oddness around the serene young priest continued to nag at her. She got into her car and used the computer inside to log into the police network, running the name 'Jean-Paul Valley' through the system. Not long after she got a hit, and while waiting in her car she read through the file. It was interesting to say the least...
Jean-Paul first came to the attention of the Gotham PD when his father was killed under mysterious circumstances and he turned up fighting in alleys sometime later. The boy did a fair amount of globe trotting afterward, and was in town during the quake as well as after, during No Man's Land. He also popped up around the hero Azrael, though no one had drawn any connections between them. The file was frustratingly incomplete, but it hinted there was a lot going on under the skin.
Moving her car to a dark alley Maggie treated it like a stake out, waiting patiently to see what might happen. She watched from the shadows as people walked the streets, talked and carried on their nightly routine.
It was three AM and Maggie was dozing a bit when the first cry of alarm woke her. Getting out of the car she quietly made her way up the street, peered around a corner and froze in surprise. The gang of young men looked like they had been planning a robbery, or some such, but they clearly hadn;'t expected what they found.
The young priest Jean-Paul was standing over one unconscious man, and was trading blows with another as the rest of the gang watched in awe. He was like a dancer, gracefully dodging blows as he punched back with incredible force, dropping another boy. With stunning speed he was in the middle of the remaining three boys, striking out fast and furious.
One of the men drew a gun, and Maggie moved as she drew her service revolver. "Drop it!" she barked even as Jean-Paul knocked out another man.
The boy looked at Maggie long enough to give Jean-Paul a shot at him, and a spin kick knocked the last gangster out. Jean-Paul shook his head wryly as he said, "I suppose I should have seen you there, officer. Thanks for the help."
"You're welcome," Maggie put her gun away. "So, I guess you're the reson it's so quiet out here?" She smiled wryly, "What was that, kung fu?"
"Long story," Jean-Paul sighed as they tied up the gangsters. "Want to grab a coffee?"
"Why not?" Maggie agreed as they called the cops to pick up the gangsters then headed back to the church.
Jean-Paul got out some cups from the back room and made coffee, the young man stalling for time as he prepared the drinks. Handing her a cup he asked, "Have you ever heard of Azrael?"
"Superhero who ran with the Bat-clan for awhile," Maggie answered promptly, "the rumor is he was dead."
"Well, that was me," Jean-Paul admitted then smiled, "the rumors of my death were greatly exagerated."
"What happened to you?" Maggie asked as she sipped the remarkably good coffee.
After a moment Jean-Paul said, "What you have to understand is that I never planned to be a superhero." Taking a breath he explained, "From my childhood on I was secretly trained to be Azrael by a mysterious Order, all done via hypnosis. I had no idea I had special takents until somone turned them on a few years ago."
"That had to have been creepy," Maggie noted.
"You have no idea," Jean-Paul agreed. "I ended up joining Batman to try to get control over my abilities, and I became a superhero to try to use my skills to help people."
"So how did you end up here?" Maggie asked curiously.
Jean-Paul drank some coffee as he said, "To be honest, more and more I felt I wasn't helping ordinary people, just fighting other costumed crazies. The more time passed, the more I was wondering what I was doing with myself. So when the chance came I decided to hang up the costume and help people a different way."
"So you became a priest who kicks ass?" Maggie teased, watching the younger man blush.
"Well, the ass kicking wasn't really planned...," Jean-Paul admitted and Maggie laughed. "What are you going to do?" he asked after a moment.
Maggie finished off her coffee then put the cup down. "You haven't killed or permanently hurt anyone doing this?" she asked.
"Broken a few arms and noses," Jean-Paul admitted, "but other than that, no."
"Fair enough," Maggie got up, brushing off dust from her pants, "don't cross any lines where I have to come after you, and I'll leave you alone." She smiled slightly, "Heck, it's nice to have at least one neighborhood I don't have to worry about."
To be continued...
Notes: Jean-Paul's status in DC Comics is pretty much unknown right now. In the final issue of his comic his empty costume was found, and that's the last we've seen of him. A Undead Azrael appeared in Blackest Night, but but it's not known who was in the costume...