The Vultures of Gotham

Prologue

On a pitch-black night in Gotham, it was oddly calm with crime quite low despite the Batman and his many partners tackling issues far from the city. Sat on a bench was a man dressed in a brown suit with a lit cigar in his mouth. He smoked and looked around, seeing just how peaceful things seemed to be.

"This is wrong. Good, but wrong" he said before seeing a woman on the other side of the road passing by. The face was familiar to him and with that, he rose from the bench and approached her. "Hello, Serenity" he said to her

"Oh, hi Jim! What're you doing out here so long? Don't you want to enjoy a quiet night for once?" she asked him with a smile on her face.

"I'm far too confused at just how calm things are, so I'm keeping watch. How's the GCPD life treating you?" he asked her, wondering how she was.

"Pretty good! Busted a criminal by myself just last week" she boasted as Jim nodded.

"I'm proud. Enjoy your night, Serenity" he said as she walked past him slowly. As she left, another figure approached from behind him with a rag in their hand. With his guard dropped, the rag quickly covered his nose and mouth. He thrashed and kicked, trying to free himself, but before he could escape the figure's clutches, another unknown person appeared, armed with a lead pipe. The metal was swung and hit the police commissioner in the head, causing the man to drop on the ground before the pair dragged him elsewhere.

"Vultures! For years we have toiled and suffered in the underbelly of Gotham. We are seen as nothing more than the dirt this city has yet to clear, but we are so much more. We have risen from the slums to this, a city of our own underneath the desloate ground of Gotham" called a woman stood behind a podium to a large gathering of men, women and children dressed in rags, hair a mess and faces devoid of joy. "Our goal is still the same. We shall take from them what they know is rightfully ours and we shall start... with the death of this man" she continued as two burly men dragged a man by his arms to her side. His head covered by a sack and the only thing distinguishable was his brown suit and badge. The bag around the man's head was removed and he was stood beside the woman. His identity was revealed as she placed a curved blade to his neck.

"Get off me..." the weakened man said, having sustained a torturous hour of assault from the two men that dragged him to her prior to his arrival. The woman held the blade to his neck and with her free hand grabbed her microphone.

"James Gordon here is the first big step on the road to claiming Gotham" she said before slowly dragging the blade across his neck, watching closely as the life in his eyes began to disapate and fade away. After he had passed away, she dropped his body and stood on his back for a higher elevation. "Gotham is ours! No more being pushed around! No more being overlooked! Tonight is the first step in owning this city!"she loudly proclaimed. "No go, rest for the remainder of the night. Tomorrow, we rise to the surface and begin phase two" she said, watching as her followers left. When the room looked empty, she stepped off the deceased commisioner and knelt by his corpse. "James. You were an undesired target... but a necessary one. When Gotham is ours, we shall martyr you for this sacrifice" she said, looking to his unmoving eyes before rising to her feet, seeing herself face-to-face with a younger woman.

"Ma'am? How long until the GCPD catches on where we are and what we're planning?" the young lady asked before feeling two fingers press against her lips, causing her to go quiet almost immediately.

"Celina. We Vultures have been underneath Gotham for a year now and since then, the only law enforcement to come down here have been the cops that we brought down here and what do they all have in common?" she asked the young female quietly

"They're all dead, ma'am" Celina answered, a slight stutter near the end as she was afraid that her question was stepping over the line, but she was met by a soft smile and a nod.

"Indeed. Now, go and rest. You may be new, but you play your part as well. This can be your initiation" she aswered as Celina nodded and slowly made her way into a room and the woman watched her with a grin