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[indent][sub][COLOR=BLACK][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [color=lightgray]Gotham City, New Jersey, United States[/color][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=BLACK][b]The Batman: Embers[/b][/COLOR] [color=lightgray]Issue #1[/color][/right][/sup][/indent][COLOR=dimgray][SUP][sub]___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sub][/SUP][/COLOR]

[INDENT][COLOR=lightgray][color=red]“You cannot defeat me, Batman!”[/color] The voice of the Mad Monk cut through the heavy rain like a knife, [color=red]“I am a god!”[/color]

In the darkness of the night, two men found themselves outside the crumbled estate of Cyrus Gold. On one side was a Bat, and the other the supposed son of Dracula.

The masked vigilante was unamused by the theater of his enemy. For months, Niccolai Tepes had preyed on the people of Gotham, indoctrinating women from all backgrounds to serve his cause. A silent prayer left the mind of the vigilante as he jumped down from his perch as lightning illuminated his silhouette in the darkness.

[color=black][b]“You don’t frighten me, Tepes.”[/b][/color]

He was upon the cult leader in seconds.

[color=black][b]“You’re no monster. The only monster here,”[/b][/color] The Batman glared deep into the Mad Monk’s eyes, [color=black][b]“is me.”[/b][/color]



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It had been weeks since the case of The Mad Monk. For years, The Batman had been a brutal force that crept in Gotham City’s shadows and the department still wasn’t sure how to deal with the caped crusader. Official policy was “stay out of the Bat’s way”, though how long that direction would stick was hard to say. The attorney general’s office hated The Batman, most veteran members of the GCPD felt he made the department look bad, and those in the Mayor’s office wanted to make a push against the masked vigilante. The Batman’s crusade had marked Gotham as a destination where lawlessness was allowed and someone can be judge, jury, and executioner. There was something stirring. Psychopaths had replaced mobsters as Gotham’s criminal base and the city was worse off. 

You could feel it, even as two detectives discussed The Batman’s most recent battle.

[color=white]“He killed him with a stake, Azeveda.”[/color] The voice of Detective Trey Hartley remarked as he leaned back in his chair. [color=white]“Who does that?”[/color]

Detective Josh Azeveda shrugged, [color=white]“I mean, everything we’ve been sent over from the county police implies that Tepes believed he was a vampire.”[/color]

[color=white]“How do you think he decides? Whether he’s killing or not.”[/color]

The older detective looked at his partner, [color=white]“Got no way of knowing that. I’m not a psych, got no way knowing how someone like that thinks.”[/color]

[color=white]“You ever seen him?”[/color]

[color=white]“In our department? Get real.”[/color] Detective Azeveda shook his head, [color=white]“We’re in arson, not homicide.”[/color]

The blond detective took a sip of his coffee. He had a feeling that his older partner’s assertion wouldn’t hold if Gotham kept heading in this direction. It would be a thought that would find itself baked in irony, and very soon at that...

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