Batman: Darkest before the dawn.

by **Vigil** Mon Jan 11, 2010 4:13 pm

What's this? Read on to find out!!!

Prologue

Night had fallen as I looked at the bustling metropolis below me. The towering masses of steel and glass stood around me reflecting the ambient glow of the streetlights below me. Just another night on the job. Sat my rooftop perch, next to a fearsome looking gargoyle, made of worn away marble, contorting and disfiguring the creature’s already nightmarish face. I always found it to be a nice metaphor to my evening work. On my lofty vigil I looked down at the streets below. At this hour o the night many had called it a night, while the die hard party goers would continue until the sun rose in a couple of hours. But they were little concern to me, they were merely the prey. I was after the predators, for when darkness entered this city, the scum the rapists the murders and the psychotic crazies came out like a swarm of rats over a decaying corpse.

I saw a nice potential target not two blocks west of my position. I pulled out my binoculars for a better look. The electronic zoom made the large dark blob I had seen that clearer. A mob of 6 men, all in dark hooded tops, all walking in a tight knit group, keeping their hoods up to conceal their faces. Wasting no time, I started to scale down the building, jumping to the nearest rooftop and rolling to cushion the fall. I had been trained to be silent, swift and deadly, and these skills were perfect for my stalking my prey, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, keeping a constant eye of the hooded men. As they walked down the almost deserted street. It was then that they stopped dead and all stared in the same direction, which caused me to stop and follow their gaze.

Not twenty metres was a young woman. She was in his early twenties, with raven black hair and a beautiful body which was wrapped in a black dress. She clutched her leather handbag firmly, and her green eyes kept down not looking at the leering mob in front of her as she tried to walk by. The hooded men weren’t having any of it, as they moved closer blocking her path. From his vantage point two storey above them he could hear them say to the woman, ‘Are you lost darling? Do you need some big strong men to walk you home?’

Another of the men said, ‘Come here princess give us a kiss.’

The woman said very timidly, ‘Please can you just let me past, I don’t want any trouble?’

The hooded men chuckled simultaneously with laughter and just made it harder to pass, drawing ever closer to her, cause her to start backing into a wall.

‘Trouble? Oh no dear, because unfortunately for you you’ve found it,’ one of the men said, as a swift motion he pulled out a thin flip knife and pointed at her, until she was pinned against the wall, with the tip of the blade at her throat.

The woman was crying in pure terror, as the men wrenched her handbag away from her and unceremoniously emptied the contents onto the pavement. Lipstick, perfume and a small mirror clattered onto the ground as they pulled out a small zipped purse and opened it, grabbing its contents and throwing it to the ground as well.

Unfortunately, the contents didn’t seem to abate the woman’s attackers as they said,

‘Man she only has 200 bucks on her.’

‘Well that will never do will it? What the fuck are we going to do with 200 bucks? We need some more……compensation if you know what I mean,’ one of them said suggestively pointing at the woman. They then grabbed her, as she screamed in protest. I knew exactly what they were going to do, and this charade had gone on long enough. It was time to put an end to this.

I aimed my zip line launcher and aimed it at the hooded that figure that towered over the terrified woman. I fired and the rope hooked round his ankle, and I quickly yanked the line back, sending him face first into the pavement. I could hear the satisfying crunch as his nose broke, spraying blood everywhere. The other men whipped around looking for me, but I was already moving, jumping down a fire escape and landing in alley just behind them. I could hear them shouting.

‘WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? Are you alright Reggie? What the hell happened?’

‘I dunno man; it felt like something caught my foot and made me slip.’

‘Do you think it was……him?’ one of the men said in a terrified voice.

‘Don’t be stupid, that’s an urban legend, everybody knows that he isn’t real,’ the man called Reggie said.

They were about to learn how wrong they were. I crept up behind the group while they were still distracted and hit the first man directly in his temples, knocking him out cold before he even knew what hit him. As his limp body hit the floor, the remaining men turned round to face me, and lunged at me.

I dodged the first man easily. I blocked the second man’s punch and roundhouse kicked him in the side, winding him. I saw the next man’s kick and grab holding it, and in a swift and violent motion broke it. He screamed in pain as he fell, as his friends tried to surround me. The hooded figure still carrying the knife jabbed at me, but it was a simple task to move his left as I grabbed his knife arm and bent it behind his back at just the right angle to make him drop it. I then gave him a blow to the solar plexus to make sure he stayed down.

The remaining three men stood in front of me, as they slowly advanced on me. I could see the terror on their faces, as they desperately tired to stop me. They all attacked me at once. I blocked their fists and replied with punches of my own, as I wailed on them, knocking them back until they could not longer bare the beating I was giving them.

The last hooded figure in pure terror started to run from me, screaming in terror. Good. I tackled him to the ground and slammed my fist into his face, knocking him out cold. Satisfied they had been taken care off; I turned round to check on the woman. Her black mascara was stained all around her ears as she continued to cry in fear. I crouched down next to her and said,
‘Are you alright?’

She was silent for a second then looked up at me and said, ‘I’m a little shaken, but I think I’ll be okay. Thank you for showing up when you did, I…I don’t want to think about what they were going to do to me.’

‘Don’t worry, you’re safe now,’ I replied, helping her to her feet.

‘I can’t thank you enough, what ever they say about you, I’ll always be grateful for this,’ the woman replied as she stared directly into my eyes, as a nervous smile covered her face.

‘Somebody has to stand up for the people and to show these punks that this is our city, not theirs,’ I said.

‘Yeah, I’m glad somebody is watching out for us, I’ll be more careful in future, just in case you’re not around,’ the woman replied as she picked up her things and walked down the street at a steady pace. I took one moment to watch her go, just to make sure she was okay.

There were still plenty of hours before daylight, and plenty more scum to clean up in that time. It was my responsibility, my destiny to be a watchful protector, a Dark Knight.

Who am I? I’m Batman.