Christineoftheopera-It's Batman's fault.
TheGreatHoudini-No more. She's gone and there's no point.
Gotham's nightly news could be a horror film. There's always muggings, Arkham escapes, Batman sightings…
So when the notice runs that 'the following content could frighten younger viewers' the children are immediately removed from the room.
The news crew goes down screaming, but they're dragged away before the self-maimings start. The only person there now is a man, leaning heavily on the desk behind him and holding a limp burlap mask in his hand.
"Good evening, Gotham." Cold blue eyes lock on the camera. "Sorry for the interruption, but do you really need the news to tell you about the murder rate in this city?" He laughs, but promptly cuts himself off with a coughing fit. "You know me, I'm sure. But you don't know why I'm here."
There's a shriek from somewhere off-camera and he turns suddenly, hand gripping the desk. Before anybody can change the channel, he's drawn a gun and fired. Red spatters the carpet near his feet.
"There. Nice and quiet." He turns back and nudges a stray lock of hair back into place. "I'm here because you haven't paid enough. Because the Batman hasn't paid enough. If you're watching, Bats, this is just the beginning. This, Gordon…by the time I'm through, you'll be begging me to put you out of your misery. You and everybody else."
He turns, his grip tightening on the gun, and speaks to someone out of sight.
"We're done here. Get rid of them."
"But boss-!"
He fires again. There's silence, and then there's the sound of gunfire. The screen goes black.
THE END