DA-KA-KA-KA-KA!
Bruce's eyes shot open as he was startled awake. He tried to move, but couldn't as his hands and feet were bound behind his back with some kind of rope. He could feel the coarseness of the twine digging into his wrists. He and the other guests were pushed against the walls of the foyer, almost shoulder to shoulder.
The loud sound that startled him awake was an automatic weapon being fired into the air, the man with the weapon standing menacingly near the stairs, the mayor dangling upside down from the balcony beside him. Bruce didn't bother struggling to break free, the binds were too secure.
Guards dressed in camo military gear and wearing ski masks were posted in front of the guests, stationed away from each other every 25 feet or so. The nearest one to Bruce was ten feet to his right. The man had the stature of a professional, trained and dangerous. He was holding an assault rifle, and had a knife holstered to his leg.
Chelsea was to his right, still unconscious, and Bruce searched wildly for Linda. When he found her, she was in a far corner of the room, trying to hold back tears, but failing to do so. She looked to him, and he returned her a comforting look, but that's when she started sobbing uncontrollably.
The man next to the mayor, presumably the ringleader, was like something out of a horror movie- or the darkest parts of Gotham. He was missing an ear, had no upper lip, and scars all across his face. He wasn't wearing any military gear, just a plain white robe that was covered in blood stains. The whole right side of his head- the side with the missing ear- was completely shaved of hair, the other half braided and going down to his torso. He was pushing the mayor back and forth like a child on a swing set, while Skowcraft was shouting for him to put him down.
Bruce knew he had to do something, but the first step was getting free of the rope. Behind him was a window, five feet above. What he was about to do next was going to hurt.
Rocking back and forth, he used the little momentum he gathered and the strength of his legs to stand up. The guard whirled around and Bruce braced himself for what was going to happen next. He took the butt-end of her rifle and went to knock Bruce on the head, but Bruce dodged, so it instead crashed into the window behind him, shattering the glass. The guard pulled it out, and like a bat, slammed him in the gut with it. Bruce slid down, coughing as Linda and several others screamed.
"SILENCE!" DA-KA-KA-KA-KA! The man yelled, firing his weapon into the air again.
This time, Chelsea woke up. "Whe-wha- Daddy? Daddy no!" She screamed, beginning to sob and scream as she pieced together what was happening around her.
Bruce fumbled around with his hands behind his back, trying to find a shard of glass from the window. When he did, he picked it up and began cutting at the rope, as the shard dug into the palm of his hand. He could feel his warm blood running down the piece of glass, cooled by its contact with the outside.
"In the beginning, God created the heaven and earth." The mutilated villain continued. His voice was deep, and echoed through the room, despite the slight lisp that was caused by missing a lip. "But God died long ago, didn't he?"
Bruce felt one of the cords break, but there were still several more to cut through.
"While you all drink and eat on the taxpayer's dime, in this home that seems more fit for a King than a public servant, the people of your city are out in the cold. They're freezing under park benches, and rotting in the alleyways."
He was almost free, just a little more sawing.
"Well tonight, that changes. No longer will the people in this room be comfortable with their excess, as mothers die trying to provide for their malnourished children. You've seen our work in the last couple weeks, but tonight we declare war. We are the Gates of Genesis, and starting tonight, none of you are safe."
He spun around and drew a knife from behind his back.
"No!" Bruce yelled, breaking the rest of his ropes and once again standing up, his feet still tied.
The man plunged the knife into the pelvis of Mayor Skowcraft, and pulled down on it as it sliced the body to the throat. There were screams and shouts, some people got sick and Chelsea began screaming louder than ever.
There was a loud shatter from above, as the lights in the manor all went out simultaneously.
"What is going on?!" The leader shouted angrily.
Alfred had sent for help, and it just arrived.
Bruce took the opportunity and cut the rope from his ankles, a task that was easier to do with free hands. He heard some guards shouting to the right, and gunfire. More screams.
She was going to get people killed, drawing gun fire in the dark! There was enough light for Bruce to see, as he was acclimated to the dark. As a nearby female guard ran to assist, Bruce stuck his leg out and tripped her, jumping onto her back and digging his knee into her back.
"Slide your weapon away." Batman growled. The guard did as instructed, and he heard the metal grind against the tile. He took her head, and slammed it into the ground, knocking her unconscious.
All the guards flipped on their flashlights, and for a brief moment, Batgirl could be spotted, before she dropped a smoke pellet, and disappeared as the guards fired into the smoke.
Sirens could be heard fast approaching. Either Barbara or Alfred called Gordon too.
"No, no, no!" Came the screaming and lisped protest of the leader. "We have to go. Now!" Immediately, guards began retreating up the stairs. Bruce could see the flashlights bobbing up the flight.
But he wasn't going anywhere. Bruce sprinted towards the voice and went to restrain him, but slipped in the pool of blood expanding on the floor, and the guard protecting the man punched him in the face, across the cheek. Bruce staggered back, but regained his balance as the guard pointed his weapon and flashlight at Bruce.
"No!" The leader barked. "Wayne's blood is too precious to waste on bullets."
Bruce took the hesitation from the guard as a way to return to the offensive, grabbing the hand guard of the gun and ripping the weapon from his hand, sending his free fist into the man's face. He could feel bones break. Not his own, but their cheek.
Still holding on to the hand guard, he threw the weapon down and grabbed the leader by the shoulders, slamming him into the railing of the stairs.
"Who are you? What do you want?" He yelled.
"That's some impressive strength Mr. Wayne," The man started calmly. "NOW LET ME GO!" He shouted, using the railings as support, to forcefully kick Bruce off, before using the weapon on the ground to hit Bruce over the head. "I am Genesis. And I am coming for you very soon, you greedy pig!"
Bruce was seeing stars, and was trying to gather his wits as Genesis kicked him in the stomach, before running up the stairs with the rest of the guards.
"Bruce, are you alright?" Batgirl came out of the darkness, helping him up. Batgirl wore an outfit loosely modeled after his own. Black instead of gray, and with dark gold accents, the only notable difference was that her red hair escaped from behind her cowl.
"Go home Batgirl, it isn't safe here." Bruce said, clutching the railing.
"Excuse me? I just saved you! You sent the distress call!"
"Police, everyone freeze!" The doors were kicked down, as police stormed into the room.
"You need to go." Bruce said. "I'll go after them." He started up the stairs after them, Batgirl not listening and running up the stairs with him.
All the doors upstairs were closed, except for one at the end of the hallway. As they sprinted into the room that faced the back of the property, they ran to the open window, but it was too late. A zip line had been set up, but Genesis cut it as he reached the ground, moments before Bruce and Batgirl made it to the window.
"I'm going to try and catch them." Barbara jumped out of the window, and glided towards the woods they disappeared into, before Bruce could protest.
"Freeze!" The lights in the room turned on, as two SWAT officers entered, guns pointing at Bruce.
"They escaped, out this window!" Bruce said, putting his hands up and turning around. "Batgirl was here. Batgirl!" He feigned amazement.
The officers escorted Bruce downstairs, where Linda was waiting for him, flying into his arms.
"Oh Bruce, I was so scared. Are you alright?" She sobbed.
"I'm fine, they didn't hurt me." He replied, brushing away the hair that was loose in front of her face.
"How could you do something so stupid?" Linda was now scolding through her tears. "Who do you think you are? Batman?"
"Mr. Wayne, are you hurt? Ms. Paige?" A GCPD detective approached them. It was Detective Charlie Fields. He was one of Gordon's, from the Major Crimes Unit.
"We're fine detective, thank you." Bruce responded.
"May I ask you two a few questions? I know you must be in shock, but I have to get your statements."
"Of course. Ask away."
While Bruce may have physically been present for the interview, with his arm wrapped around Linda, mentally he was not. He was too busy observing the calamity around him. Some of the guests were being treated for gunshot wounds, and forensics were combing the scene. The guard Bruce had knocked out was being escorted out the door, but it looked like the rest had gotten away with Genesis. The Mayor was being cut down, and his daughter was getting sick out front, a female officer patting her on the back.
Bruce had to get back to the cave, and stop Genesis before he could hurt anyone else.
"Detective, is my statement sufficient? I need to get going."
"What?" Linda asked, pushing herself off him.
"Of course. If you can think of anything else. please give me a call." Detective Fields handed them both a business card, tipped his hat, and went to the next couple.
"Linda, I'm sorry, I have to go."
"I heard you the first time. Where could you possibly need to be right now?" She stammered.
"Wayne Enterprises could be in danger right now. That lunatic escaped, and I need to let the Board know immediately. He singled me out, Linda."
"Bruce, I can't be alone right now." Linda began crying again. "I mean, I almost lost you because of your foolishness, and now you're just going to run off?"
"Linda, I know you're scared. But I have a-"
"...responsibility to your company, right. I've heard that before." Linda wiped her tears. "For once, I wish you felt a responsibility for me." She shrugged Bruce off, and stormed away to comfort Chelsea, who was back inside and looking as pale as a ghost.
Bruce knew his life as Batman was taking a toll on their relationship, it always did. And if he didn't fix it soon, there wouldn't be a relationship. But there was no time. Batman had never faced Genesis before. He knew nothing about him, which made him even more dangerous. Who knew how long before he struck again? Tonight was brazen, bold. He clearly had the resources to do a lot of harm, and he had to stop him.
Once Bruce was outside, he dialed Alfred on his cell phone.
"Oh thank heavens Master Bruce, are you alright?"
"When I asked for help, I didn't mean involve Barbara."
"I'm glad to hear you are just fine sir," Alfred said. "Am I to assume I should not send Ms. Gordon a thank you card then?"
"The man behind our cannibal murders attacked the mansion tonight, and murdered the mayor. He goes by the name Genesis." Bruce went on, ignoring him. "He put a target on everyone's back there tonight. I need a list of the attendees, and I need Lucius apprised of the situation. I seem to be a "special" target."
"Oh dear." Alfred muttered. "I'll send the Batwing to pick you up once you are in a secure location at once."
Bruce hung up and took a sharp right towards the woods, making sure there were no GCPD officers around. He stuck close to the manor until he was able to dart into the copses of trees, and once he was sufficiently submerged, he activated a homing beacon on his phone.
Not even ten minutes later, Batman was in the cave and suited up.
"I imagine your departure didn't sit very well with Ms. Page?" Alfred asked, as Batman sat down at the computer screens.
Silence.
"Alfred, what did you come up with on that security feed?"
"The video is ready to view sir." Alfred replied, punching a couple of keys and pulling up the window with the video.
"- investigators are still furiously trying to gather evidence at the scene. Witnesses claim the small militia that held them hostage also took credit for the slayings of the Crownes and the Parks."
"Thank you Jennifer. Now to City Hall, where Vicky Vale is on scene as Deputy Mayor Lieberman is being sworn in as the new, acting mayor. Vicky?"
"Todd, there is a lot of chaos at City Hall right now, as city officials scurry to-"
"I can't turn listen to the security video if that is on." Batman growled, as he turned the TV off, turning his attention to the recording.
Thanks to Alfred, Batman could view videos from the lobby, the hallway, and the elevator that opened up to their penthouse. And while he expected to see members of the same, polished militia that he saw at the mansion this night, the three people that entered the elevator from the lobby merely looked like a rag tag group of amateurs. Their clothing was plain, and they were wearing latex gloves and stocking over their heads. No uniform or military equipment.
As one of the suspects entered the elevator from the lobby, however, she pulled the stocking off her face. When she left the elevator to enter the penthouse, it was back on.
Batman rewound the video. "Computer, zoom in."
The picture was grainy, but there was definitely a moment when her face was in full view of the camera.
He rewound again. He had to stop it at the precise moment.
"Pause."
Too blurry. Rewind.
"Pause." Got it. "Computer, zoom in again."
It was too grainy to get a good look, but the computer could fix that.
"Computer, degrain and run facial recognition." While the program ran, he turned his attention to a different screen.
G-A-T-E-S O-F G-E-N-E-S-I-S. He entered into the computer. The program ran in his database and found no results. No former aliases, locations or terms came up.
"Computer, pull up the mugshots of any male released from Arkham Asylum or Blackgate within the last six months."
It took a moment, but the computer began flashing photos of his request. Many of the men he recognized, because he had put them there, but none looked like the man who called himself Genesis, even if his face hadn't been mutilated.
"Entering from sector beta, Barbara Gordon a.k.a Batgirl, recognized."
"They got away." Came a winded, female voice from behind Batman. He didn't peel his eyes from the screen."
"Ms. Gordon, welcome back." Alfred greeted. "It's been awhile since I've seen you in this cave."
"Thanks Alfred, it's great to feel welcome." Batgirl said, pulling off her mask. Behind the mask was the face of Jim Gordon's daughter, and no, he did not know about her extracurricular activities. Her eyes were a light blue, and her face was soft, like her mother's. "Guess that's why I've been absent these last few months."
"Batgirl, you're not needed here. Go home."
"Our mayor was just murdered by a gang of trained personnel with military-grade equipment, and I'm not needed?"
"It's too dangerous." Batman snapped, finally tearing away from the computer and looking at Barbara. "Gotham isn't the place for kids anymore."
"Uh, was it ever?" She retorted, crossing her arms. "And I'm not a kid!"
"You're young, you're inexperienced. Do you have any idea what would happen to your father if something happened to you?"
"I feel like we had this conversation when I started being Batgirl. It's not his decision, and it's not yours anymore either."
"I have no idea what this Gates of Genesis is capable of. They could seriously hurt, if not kill you. And if it's not them today, it's Penguin tomorrow. Or the Joker. I can't guarantee your safety."
"And I'm not asking you to! I have news for you: this city isn't any more dangerous since it was before he left."
"You're wrong."
"That's not what this is about. That's not what this is about at all."
"Enough."
"You're just using that as an excuse to justify pushing everyone away, just so you don't get hurt again, like he hurt you when he left!"
"Enough!" Batman sprang up from his chair. They were both angry now.
"What does he call himself these days? Nightwing? You're not the only one that loves him you know. Don't you think it hurt me too?" Barbara whispered coolly.
"Get out."
"Fine. You're on your own, just like you want it." She threw down something metallic at his feet. "But next time I save your ass, I hope you can take it better."
"Ms. Gordon!" Alfred pleaded.
She turned on her heels and stormed off, making that the second red-headed woman to burst off on Batman tonight. Like Linda, Barbara always spoke her mind, and was unapologetic for it. However, it took a certain kind of person to be able to look the Batman in the eye, and tell him off like she did.
"I'm sure she didn't mean that, sir." But Batman was sure she did. Was she right? Was that the real reason he was keeping her away?
He bent down to pick up what she had thrown down at him, to find that it was a piece of the zipline Genesis and his men had escaped with.
"Run this through the scanner, and tell me if we can't identify a manufacturer based on the material." Batman said, tossing the zipline to Alfred and heading to the Batmobile.
"And where are you going sir?"
"To go see Gordon."
"But the bat signal isn't…" Alfred stopped mid-sentence as he turned and looked at a tiny monitor that was flashing. Someone had turned on the batsignal.
Gordon had just finished lighting his cigarette, when Batman stepped from the shadows.
"The Gates of Genesis. What have you discovered?"
"I was hoping to ask you the same thing." Gordon asked. "Our perp broke free of his escort and threw himself in front of a car on his way into the GCPD. He's dead."
Silence.
"Luckily, he was in the IAFIS database. Name Jeremy Brewer, former U.S Marine. He spent the last few years as a custodian at Ace Chemicals. He recently lost his small home in a foreclosure, and his wife divorced him last year. Other than that, we don't know much. No criminal history or anything like that. Anything on your end?"
Again, silence. But this time it was because he was gone.
"Dammit. Why do I even bother?" Gordon asked, flipping off the bat signal and stomping out his cigarette.
"Penny-one, I'm heading to the crime scene from earlier tonight. Run the name Jeremy Brewer through the computer, and see if you can come up with anything." Batman spoke as he entered the batmobile. No one should be remaining at the crime scene now. He hadn't received the reports from Gordon yet, but he had assumed if there was anything of note they found, he would have just spoke of it. As he drove to the scene, he reviewed what he knew so far in his head.
Diana and Joseph Parks. Both in their late 40s, and both life long residents of Gotham. Joseph Parks was the CEO of Parks Global, a large investment banking and securities management firm based out of Gotham. They are survived by one son, who is now flying in from Central City. C.O.D appears to be exsanguination, meaning they survived being cut open, and were eaten alive before they bled out. At least, that's what happened to the Crownes.
Both Jonathan and Deborah Crowne were murdered in their penthouse last week. Too paranoid to have cameras in their suite, there was no definitive evidence to indicate there was more than one attacker, but there was definitely enough to make it a real possibility. Deborah was heir to the Crowne fortune, one of the first families in Gotham. Now, the fortune built on real estate will go to their three children, all who remain in Gotham.
And finally, Mayor Daniel Skowcraft. A mutilated man who calls himself Genesis attacked the mayor's mansion this evening, and executed the mayor in front of his guests, declaring war. There was no anthropophagy like the last two, but maybe that was only because Batgirl interrupted, and his men were trained soldiers, not civilian-dressed murderers. However, the manner in which he cut the mayor open was the same. Because the m.o was different, could Batman just be dealing with a dangerous copycat? While he couldn't rule out that possibility, his gut told him the murders were connected, and the Gates of Genesis was responsible for both. He was hoping the crime scene may be able to tell him more.
Batman entered the penthouse by grappling to the balcony, and picking the lock of the doors. When he entered, the smell of blood filled his nostrils. Despite the crime scene clean up crew already finishing, some smells were just too familiar for him to ignore. It always took him back to that night. The smell of gunpowder. The smell of blood.
"Sir, you should know," Came Alfred's voice through his comm link, that while the computer successfully degrained the face, there were no facial recognition matches in any database."
"Send the image to my cowl."
The image flashed across his eyes, revealing not a woman, but a young and unkempt man. Darker skin, maybe hispanic. He looked to be in his late 20s or early 30s, and had black hair and brown eyes. Nothing except a freckle under his right eye made him distinguishing. What interested Batman was that this man didn't appear in any databases, just like Jeremy Brewer. Why were these people with no priors or violent history committing such violent crimes?
Now, he was back to square one. He wasn't looking for any clues to tell him what happened. He didn't expect to find anything the GCPD wasn't competent enough to find in that regard. No, he was looking for something deeper. Why were they cut the way they were? The missing right hand, the vertical incision. Why the cannibalism? And was there anything he could find to give him more insight into the Gates of Genesis?
Batman walked over to the blood stains, and surveyed the area. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, but he'd know when he found it. He looked in their closet, checked under their bed and searched through their dressers. He found nothing out of the ordinary, just like with the Crownes.
He expanded his search. The bathroom, the living room and the kitchen. What connected them to Genesis? What connected them to the Crownes? He continued to have no luck until he entered the study. He had multiple filing cabinets, all which looked undisturbed, and bookshelves with books on finance. And like Bruce Wayne's own desk. it was messy and scattered with various papers and folders. However, a rather thick folder near the edge of the desk stood out to Batman. It was titled: Force Reduction Analysis and Recommendations.
Batman opened the folder and began flipping through the pages. Apparently, Parks Global was going through a bit of a rough time. The economy wasn't great, and thanks to a recent scandal involving their CFO, the company was struggling to retain its investors. To compensate, the company suggested to lay off 200 employees across the city. The profiles of all the employees slated for termination were listed, a dozen photos to a page. Batman kept flipping through the folder until finally, he caught his break. Staring up at him from one of the photos was the cannibal with the freckle under his eye.
"Alfred, give me the last known address of a Alejandro Barbatos."
