Batman: No Sunrise

Chapter One

*This is strictly fan-fiction. This is not licensed by DC Comics or WB and I am not profiting off of this in any way. This is simply a fan made story using comics published by DC Comics.  That being said, vote and comment on anything you liked or didn't like.

CHAPTER 1

The night was very inviting in Gotham, or at least that's what I assumed as I see people running in and out of bars and night clubs laughing and holding one another on a Friday night.  The shops and restaurants stayed open at all hours. No one really sleeps in Gotham.  You can close your eyes, prop your head on a pillow and lay your body on a mattress, but you never really sleep. Your mind keeps you alert, your dreams keep you sharp, your subconscious play scenarios out in your dreams to keep reality secure once you wake. Who knows, I can only assume based on my own behavior, maybe the people of Gotham do actually enjoy a few hours of peaceful slumber, but I don't.

Suddenly I hear screaming.  I lunge off of a perch above the Gotham First Credit Union. It has become instinct; I have conditioned my mind and body to expect everything when gliding to a possibly hazardous situation. My muscles have been molded to this nightly routine, but I enjoy it, the feel of air rushing in my face and the small jet stream that makes its way through my cowl and into my sweat, dampened hair. The sound of my cape flapping in the wind as it catches the air and keeps me afloat high above the streets of this city. I still enjoy the feeling, though sometimes I wonder if a day will come when I no longer feel connected to this obsession of mine; I wonder what would happen on that day. Or night.

"Please just take the purse," she squealed as her body trembled, fingers shaking, grasping loosely on the purse handle.

The man in the ski mask yelled something in return, it was muffled, in reality it didn't matter.  I brought my cape in close to my body and lunged towards him while descending some four feet above him.  His body hit the alley floor hard, the woman ran instantly once I brought the man to the floor, she probably didn't even know what was going on. I liked it better that way anyway. I had the man pinned on the ground, my knee digging deep into his back and his face was half submerged in a puddle of week-old rain water in the alley. He sputtered something through the puddle, once again I couldn't make it out. I thought of just wrapping my arm around his neck and putting him to sleep,  leaving him for the boys in blue, but no, that's never good enough. These petty crooks need to see the man who will come for them when the sun no longer guards this town. I spin him around and grab his collar keeping my index finger along the side of his neck. I let him stare at me, a few moments is long enough for this one, in my index finger I can feel his heart beat raise out of terror. A job well done. I give him a much needed blow to the side of his head and knock him unconscious. A tightly, fastened zip-tie around his wrists should keep him subdued until the police get here. It won't be the jail time that will keep him on a narrow path, it's that glimpse of a monster in a poorly lit alley that will keep him straight. If nothing else, these night terrors may lead him to have just as many sleeping issues as I do. 

Light begins to peak over the skyline in the distance, my work is over for tonight. I swoop through the buildings, finally making it to the alley where I left my vehicle for the night. I say vehicle, but many of Gotham's citizens have become keen to calling it the "Bat-mobile", the name disgusts me. This is a 20 million dollar mobile piece of weaponry, but with one word, it now sounds like a child's toy. My reputation and my tools are meant to instill fear in the minds of my enemies, and the enemies of this city. Although these pet names for my tactical vehicle could mean that this urban legend that I have created has become so known that it has even infiltrated the walls of pop-culture. In that way, I suppose I should embrace the idea of placing "bat" in front of every single one of my gadgets. I still don't like the idea.