The rain battered the windows. It was terrible weather to be out in, and awfully distracting to be inside from. The precinct was near-silent and the rain was deafening in that environment. The lift dinged and a drenched Gordon emerged. 'Where's Bullock?' Asked Gordon as he entered the bullpen and took his jacket off at his desk. 'Anyone seen him?' The silence continued. 'Alright. Don't answer me then.' He sighed, annoyed, as he sat down at his desk and turned on his monitor.
The Bat scurried across the rooftops of Gotham as rain battered its masked face. The old harbour was in sight now. It was empty. That didn't discourage the creature of the night though. For there was a large shed at the harbour, and The Bat knew that would be the Ferryman's ideal killing location. It knew that because it'd killed there before, and the body wasn't found until it had started decomposing. A secluded place like that would be perfect. No one to hear the crime being committed. No one to see a body, until its unidentifiable. A killer's heaven.
'34 degrees North. 74 degrees West.' Gordon read out as he tapped the keyboard in front of him, causing a noise to disrupt the rain's monopoly on the precinct's soundscape. As he hit enter, he looked outside. Gordon's leg bounced with anticipation to get back out into the rain. He wanted to get back into the action again. Desk work never suited him. 'Gotham harbour.' Gordon recoiled: confused. 'I suppose that's fitting for a Ferryman.' Said Gordon as he clicked the monitor off and got up. Swinging his jacket back on, Gordon looked around. He scanned the room. No one seemed to notice him leaving. No one cared where he was going to.
The Bat perched atop the brick wall surrounding the harbour. This was it. The Bat's glowing white eyes stared at the shed. The rain hit them and turned to steam, creating a demonic look about it. The Bat lingered for a moment. Silently watching: stalking its prey. The feeling was all too familiar to it now. It had done this for years, but tonight felt different. It felt bigger. Taking a deep breath, The Bat prepared itself for a horror show then moved on the shed. It was time.
Gordon closed the door behind him. As he sat in the driver's seat, his hands gripping the wheel, he paused. 'Dammit.' Whispered Gordon as he began to question himself. He knew that he needed something stronger to follow this lead. He needed his boss backing him up. He needed more. 'Dammit!' Gordon yelled as he smacked the wheel. He always tried to uphold the law. To show what it meant to be a good cop. To follow the rules and prove to everyone that it could be done the right way. He was meant to stand for justice through the proper means. But he knew, as he sat in the car, that he needed to bend the rules this time. 'God...' Gordon murmured to himself as he started the car's engine and pressed down the gas pedal. This was it. It was time.
As it watched through a broken panel in the roof of the shed, The Bat heard a maniacal laugh. A bone-chilling cackle echoing from within. Without much thought, it pulled back the metal roofing and dropped down into the shadows.
The sudden change of temperature and pitter-patter of rain as it tapped the concrete floor was obvious. It alerted the two people inside. For one of them, it brought joy. For the other, it made their heart race faster. Uncertainty filled the room. Who had entered? Who were already inside? What was going to happen when they met?
Gordon's squad car raced down the empty streets of Gotham towards the harbour. A smile momentarily appeared on his face. This was the thrill that he lived for. This. Being outside and chasing down a criminal. This was what he was missing every time he was behind his desk.
Another laugh echoed around the large, derelict building. 'He's here.' The Ferryman chuckled quietly to his bound victim sat before him. 'The Batman has arrived.' In the shadows, lurking and circling around the Ferryman, The Bat questioned how the killer knew about him being likened to a bat. It happened mere days ago, in the company of a mother and her child and no one else. 'Lurking in the dark, he is the shadows. He is the night.' The Ferryman laughed again. 'So, I ask, what happens when day comes?' The Ferryman reached for a nearby switch, attached to wires and a wooden beam, but stopped just before flipping it. 'Are you ready?' Pure silence. The Bat said nothing in response, refusing to entertain such a sadistic individual. Hearing no complaints, the Ferryman flicked the switch up and immediately span around to lock eyes with The Bat, as if he knew all along where it was. Looking at The Bat, staring at it, was a scarred, ill-looking man. Hair falling out. Burn marks along his hands. Scars around the eyes as if someone had dragged a knife around and around, spiralling closer and closer to the eyeball before stopping. Despite having such a disturbing visual suddenly thrust in front of it, The Bat remained stoic. 'Oh how I've been dying to meet you. And I'm sure you've been wanting to meet me.' The Ferryman giggled like a schoolgirl. 'We're friends, you see. Two kids cut from the same cloth.' The Bat slowly moved closer, to which the Ferryman responded by pressing the blade tighter to Bullock's neck. 'Let him go.' The Bat finally spoke. His dark, brooding voice sent the Ferryman into a laughing fit of joy and excitement. 'Let him go.' He mocked The Bat before laughing again. 'No. No, I'm afraid I can't do that.' The Bat stopped where it was and waited for an explanation. 'See, just as you send criminals to the place they belong, I guide the souls of the lost and damned to the place they're destined.' The Ferryman smirked at The Bat with soulless, empty eyes as he slit Bullock's throat. 'Hence the Ferryman.'
Gordon's car crashed through the gates of Gotham harbour and the car screeched to a halt. Smoke rising from underneath the bonnet, Gordon stumbled out. It took him a moment to come to, but once he was back to knowing where he was, he unclipped his gun from its holster and readied himself.
Having nothing left to lose, with the hostage dead, The Bat threw itself at the Ferryman. The fury of one thousand men, the rage of a child who was robbed of his family, the unrelenting rage of The Bat was unleashed. It started with solid, brutal punches. Nothing was held back. Blow after blow. The Bat never stopped. Even as bones shattered and the Ferryman's face became even more disfigured, it didn't stop. It was only as it felt a sudden sharp, warm pain in its side that it eased up. Looking down, The Bat saw something that had never happened before. The Ferryman's knife was buried in its side. 'Best not take that out.' The Ferryman choked on his own blood as he spoke. He tried to laugh but couldn't. Instead, he coughed up more blood onto the concrete around him. The Bat stumbled off the Ferryman's broken body and fell into a sitting position. Using his last bit of strength, the Ferryman shuffled upright. 'Not going to finish your job?' He smiled, taunting the injured Bat. It stayed silent and simply stared at him. The Ferryman could feel its judging glare and chuckled. 'Don't you see? We're two peas in a pod. Me and you. We're both delusional serial killers with a gimmick.'
'We're not the same.' The Bat groaned as it stood up. 'I kill people who deserve it.' The Ferryman burst out laughing, coughing up more blood as a result. 'You kill. I kill. You dress like a bat. I- I take their eyes so they don't have to see the horrors they're about to face. It's the same story... only a different font.' The Bat stayed silent for a moment, looking the Ferryman over.
'We're not the same. We never will be.' Said The Bat with no emotion in its voice. The Ferryman chuckled and smiled, revealing his missing teeth. 'Oh, but we were. And you can't change that.' As the Ferryman begins to laugh like a maniac, Gordon burst into the building with his guy ready and several officers at his side. In the end, he knew he couldn't go it alone. 'Hands up!' yelled Gordon as he aimed his sights at The Bat, suspecting it to be the killer. 'I am not your enemy.' The Bat growled without turning to face the GCPD. Without further warning or words, The Bat vanished upwards through the gap it had made earlier and into the night. The Ferryman laughed as The Bat disappeared, with only three words to give, 'So long Batman.' Once it had gone, the GCPD were left looking at the scene in front of them. A man beaten half to death and his victim, their police chief, Harvey Bullock. 'Christ...' whispered Gordon as he noticed the body. 'Arrest him.' The GCPD officers moved in on the Ferryman, who went peacefully and laughed the whole way. Gordon, meanwhile, untied his former boss and called for more back up. It was over now, but there was still a hell of a mess to deal with.
Days passed and Gotham reopened. Everything seemed to return back to normality. The streets were full once more. But everyone knew the cost that had been paid to get them back to this point. 'Gotham has and always will be my city. I love it.' Gordon began his speech, having been promoted to police chief, following his arrest of the Ferryman and the passing of their former chief. 'I always have. But my love has not made me blind to its flaws: to its crime. I, along with the rest of the GCPD, will continue to try our best to combat it and rid our amazing city of it. That being said...' Gordon paused. He looked down at the cue cards he'd prepared with his son and took a deep breath. He needed to go off-script. He needed to address this. 'That being said. Perhaps the city's most violent and dangerous criminal - The Batman, who's stayed under our radar due to putting the fear of God into his victims - was instrumental in the capture of the individual known as the Ferryman. Without him, that madman would still be loose and, no doubt, there would be countless more victims. For that reason, The Batman will not be our top priority going forward. Do not mistake that for me telling you the Batman is not a criminal, or that we will not arrest him given the opportunity. He is, and he will be put to justice one day. But for now, for as long as he remains an aid to the GCPD and moves past his murderous ways of the past, The Batman will not be an enemy of Gotham City.' The crowd gathered for Gordon's speech erupted. Half were in support of the vigilante's continued work, and the others were cursing and screaming that any and all killers deserve to be punished, regardless of who they kill. However, one voice amongst the crowd remained silent. One individual watched on without a word.
Bruce smiled as he looked up at Gordon, climbing down from the podium. It felt good to no longer be revered by the police. After all, he'd always considered them to be working side-by-side. As the crowd continued to yell, at Gordon and at one another, Bruce slipped into the shadows. It was almost time to go to work again...
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