Knight of Vengeance: The AWAKENING
Chapter 1
There was an eerie quietness to Gotham City as it experienced its first hard rain in what seemed like months. It had been nearly two weeks since a bomb set off by the Joker had demolished the Clocktower in downtown. The Clown Prince was still on the loose, resulting in a massive manhunt. Working hastily to clean up the demolition site, the city council already formed plans to rebuild.
On this dreary Saturday night, as the streets of Gotham were littered with activist groups and the common people, an elderly woman forced her way through the crowds after a long night of shopping.
Lost in the multitude of people, she eventually headed towards Crime Alley. Approaching the center of the alley, she grew tense, her body trembling as she felt looming eyes watch her every move. Huddling her bags and purse closer to her, she sped up her pace, trying to find her way out of the darkness.
Instantly, three figures crept out of the shadows, knocking her against the wall. She could tell by the callous stares on their grim faces, that these men were anything but friendly.
Not willing to go down without a fight, she clutched a hold of her bags in one arm and struck the first man in the face. Struggling as one of the thugs wrapped his arm around her neck from behind, another gave the woman a harsh punch to her gut. She gasped for air as she sank to the ground.
Her bags sailed to the ground, along with her Italian purse, landing in a puddle from the recent hard rain. One of the goons quickly grabbed the purchases and leather purse. She watched him through blurry eyes as anger bubbled within. She arose once more and found the strength to kick the armed goon. As she dug her heels in his shoulder, he fell over, sloshing in a puddle.
Losing all her strength after that final kick, another mugger tripped her and gave a swift kick to her gut. Her back arched, she rested on her elbows, breathing deeply as the men towered over her.
Then without warning the back of her skull was struck with a large metal pipe. A loud crack sounded. As she lay lifelessly in the alleyway, the attackers flipped her over on her back as they began to search for more pickings as her body suddenly went into convulsions. Once they realized that they had picked everything of worth off the woman, they scurried away like rats to the edge of the alley, setting atop an old rusted dumpster.
"Not a bad night boys," one of the men said as he passed an accomplice the wallet of the now dead woman that lay across the alley.
"Yep, we got what we came for. Made out good," another laughed, slapping his leg as he watched their leader divide the loot. "Cut it even Brock. I want my share, damn it. Not like last time," he exclaimed, making sure he wouldn't be cheated.
"Yeah, yeah, it'll be even," Brock stated, tossing a pearl necklace into one of three piles. "Well boys, we've got cash, credit cards and jewelry. Ha," he mocked, delving through a Tiffany's shopping bag, "looks like we'll be making a trip to the pawnshop and an ATM," he stated excitedly, tossing a gold watch to a fellow thief.
"Damn, this is real gold too," the third shouted, fingering the watch with grimy hands as his eyes glittered covetously.
"Yeah but we got cash, that's most important," the second grinned, his yellow teeth glowing. "I can't believe that stupid broad was carrying nearly a grand in her wallet. Who would do that? I…" he trailed off, his eyes darting down the dark alley to where the corpse laid. "What the hell was that?" he exclaimed, hearing the noise again on the other side of the alley.
"Just a damn cat or somethin'. Forget about it."
"No, no," the leader stated, jumping from his seat, gripping a concealed gun from his leather jacket. "Somebody's playin' with us," he declared, cocking his nine-millimeter pistol.
As all three men stood on alert, a batarang flew out of nowhere, shattering a streetlight directly above their heads. As darkness fell over the scene, the goons grabbed as much of the loot as they could in their pockets and with their pistols cocked and ready to fire, they waited anxiously to see what would happen next.
Out from the shadows leapt a cloaked apparition, standing tall and more looming than the three could have ever imagined. All the goons could see was an outline of the figure and a pair of glowing eyes, piercing their terrified souls. As the accomplices took a few steps back, they looked to their leader, waiting for his reaction.
Hesitant, fearing of looking like a fool, he ordered his men to fire at the shadow. Obeying, shots rang across the alley as the figure leapt to safety, avoiding every shot, then easily tackling one the goons to the ground from a nearby fire escape.
He leered toward another goon; with a swift hand, he grabbed him, and threw him across the alley into a collection of discarded trashcans. By now the remaining thug was at the other end of the alley. A batarang raced through the air and made sharp contact with the back of the goon's head. With the feel of victory slightly overcoming him, the Dark Knight sneered as he watched the man drop to the ground, only a few feet away from the woman that this clan of street punks had just murdered.
As sirens blared, approaching the scene, Batman instantly scaled the fire escape. Once he reached the top, he climbed to the roof of the building and pulled a remote control from his utility belt. Suddenly the Batmobile sped down the shady street towards the Dark Knight's present location.
As it stopped directly in front of Crime Alley, Batman jumped from atop the building and landed squarely in the driver's seat. As the access to the large vehicle closed, the Batmobile sped away in route to the Batcave.
Hours passed as Batman nursed a sore arm, resting in the dank Batcave around the computer's center hub. Looking over a report sent in from police headquarters, he read it thoroughly, calculating his next move.
The confidential document confirmed that an unknown assailant had mysteriously murdered five top city officials over a period of days. The worst of it all, Mayor Hamilton Hill was next!
"But why Mayor Hill?" Batman murmured under his breath, rubbing his forehead deep in thought. Leaning back in his black leather chair, he crossed his legs, thinking of a villain that could be the possible suspect. "Who would go after Hill? Not the Clock King, he's incarcerated in Stonegate Penitentiary. Maybe…" he wasn't sure who could be the suspect. The obvious was Temple Fugate, the notorious Clock King, whom vowed revenge on Hill, but since he was incarcerated, Batman couldn't be sure.
Hearing a slight patter of footsteps approaching him, he turned around, greeting Alfred, his loyal manservant and closet friend. "Alfred, I thought you'd be fast asleep by now," Batman started, taking the tray from his arms.
"It's only midnight sir and besides, I thought you might be hungry; men of your stature need nourishment," he announced as Batman took a bite of his turkey sandwich on rye bread.
With a grin, Batman quickly ate as Alfred returned to the study of the Wayne mansion above them.
He decided that it was time to pay Jim Gordon a visit. He jumped in the Batmobile and as the car came to a roar, the Dark Knight sped off. With great ferocity, his prized vehicle zoomed out from the Batcave's hidden entrance and pulled onto the main avenue outside of Wayne Manor.
Moments passed as the Batmobile had finally reached downtown, en route for Police Headquarters. Once the large building came into view, the Batmobile careened through a nearby alley and abruptly halted.
The Dark Knight exited the car and began lurking down the alley. He ceased his pace as he noticed an open window a few stories up. With a shot of his grapple gun Batman ascended. He watched as Commissioner Gordon examined several files on his cluttered office desk. The gray haired man looked deep in thought as he hunched over his paperwork, tapping a pen in his hand hard against the desk with irritation.
"Hi Jim," Batman declared his presence by stepping through his usual entrance. "We need to talk."
Nearly falling out of his chair with surprise of the Dark Knight's arrival, the Commissioner finally replied with a meek Hello as he held his chest. "You've got to stop doing that," he murmured with a slight laugh, straightening his back in his chair.
Not responding to his fright, Batman continued, "I read the report," he informed, his stance constant.
"Yeah, it's strange all right. In just under a week, five of the city's most decorated officials have been murdered in cold blood," declared the first-rate cop.
"Does anyone suspect the Joker?" Batman asked, moving to the front of Jim's desk.
"Well, this is where it gets complicated friend. We don't think it's the Joker. In fact we have a pretty good idea of who the culprit is," he revealed, tapping his fingers on his desk.
"Oh?" Batman replied, with surprise in his voice.
"Yup, we found these at each of the crime scenes," the Commissioner stated, pulling out his desk drawer to expose five small green boxes littered with question marks.
"Riddle boxes!" exclaimed Batman, folding his arms.
"That's right," the Commissioner confirmed. "The Riddler escaped from Arkham five nights ago, poisoning three guards and a doctor in the process with some kind of toxic gas. And that very night, the murders started happening. Our boys have analyzed his clues time and again. We can't figure 'em out."
"Maybe I should take them to examine." Batman offered, studying the boxes.
"Sure thing friend. Maybe you'll have better luck." As Gordon handed the Dark Knight five evidence bags containing the clues, he informed him of something else. "We think he has an accomplice but we're not sure who at the moment. Detective Bullock is following a lead."
"Commissioner, it doesn't make since, what would the Riddler want with these men? His crimes are typically motivated by greed or anger at the corporate world."
"That's why we think the accomplice might be the actual killer. It's puzzling. In any case, we've got to protect Mayor Hill. The problem is, we don't have any idea where the Riddler is or how to stop him or his would be accomplice. On top of it all, this manhunt for the Joker isn't working either. He's stayed quiet since the demolition a couple weeks ago."
"I'll look into these clues for now and see what I can find. As for the Joker, all we can do is wait for him to make his next move," said the Dark Knight.
"Sad but true, I'm afraid. In the meantime, we'll keep our eyes and ears open for whatever we can find. Good night."
"Good night Jim," Batman replied as he jumped out the office window into the night.