At A Luxurious Mansion-Somewhere In The Residential District Of Gotham City
Derek Powell, one of Gotham's wealthiest, but also kindest men and a good friend of Bruce Wayne, was sitting in his living room, watching TV, and resting after a hard day at work.
Unbeknownst to him however, a shadowy figure was standing on a building's roof, opposite his estate.
It was a male in a black combat suit, lined with military grade Kevlar, and a face mask. He also had a black belt, just like Batman, which was outfitted with pockets to store knives, smoke grenades, trackers and various other gadgets and weapons.
Firing a grappling hook onto one of the building's support columns, the mysterious person swung onto the roof. Breaking open a roof window with a cutting laser, he jumped in, quickly backflipping away to avoid detection from one of the cameras.
Arriving at the living room entrance, he saw his target watching TV and resting.
"Rest while you can.", He said with a very evil grin.
Pulling out a knife from his belt, the assassin snuck up on his victim and stabbed him in the back. After putting the weapon away, he fired the grappling hook again, swinging out into the night
Down In The Batcave-Underneath Wayne Manor-The Following Night
Bruce was at the computer, monitoring the city for suspicious activity and going over a few notes, and trying to figure out the season behind yet another mistake. His calculations were almost always right. Like when he was trying to save the Dyers Family, when their car crashed on the Gotham Highway, following an impact with a highjacked school bus. The only reason the car loosened from the grappling hooks was due to sloppy engineering.
This time, he had been pursuing this new serial killer. Having shoot him with a dart from his gauntlet, he was weakened. But the bastard had caused a car to spin out of control. This had forced Batman to go save its occupants, giving the Night Shine, as the killer had dubbed himself, the time to escape.
Looking at a newspaper article about the most recent murder, titled: Wealthy Businessman Found Dead In His Home- Is A New Serial Killer Plaguing Gotham City? Bruce sighed slightly.
The citizens of Gotham were waiting for Batman to save them once again. Although, the burden on the Dark Knight's shoulders was great. This new serial killer was by far smarter and more skilled, then any he'd previously encountered, and that was a pretty long list.
He brought up a list of the previously encountered serial killers, with many of them being crossed out, having already been neutralized.
There wasn't a match.
Bruce then thought of something. Having observed Nightshine's fighting style closely, he brought up another list, this time one with the members of the League of Shadows, and cross-referenced it with Nightshine's file, getting a match. He was a member of the League, having been personally trained by Ras for the remainder of his training, due to being so skilled. Nightshine trained with them around the same time as Bruce did with Master Dark Claw and his clan. The Shadow Hunters.
The Dark Knight narrowed his eyes, remembering something important from his fight with Ras.
Flashback-Gotham City-2023
Ras and Batman were fighting in the streets of Gotham.
"We meet again. For years now, you foolishly ignore your own destiny, Al Midrib. You are one of us. Join me, become one of my Shadows.", The Demon's Head offered.
"Never.", Batman growled, firing a dart from his gauntlet.
Ras gave him a look of pure hatred.
"Then die braver than most.", He declared, pointing his sword at him. The Blade of Ras Al Ghul. A weapon wielded by a legendary and deadly combatant. Feared by most, who knew of its meaning.
Backflipping out of the way, the Dark Knight evaded the attack, narrowing his eyes at Ras. For years, his master, Dark Claw had warned him of the League and its legendary leader. Of the horrors they were capable of. He knew exactly who they were. Their ideals were wrong and inhuman. It went against his moral code and everything he stood for. His symbol was meant to terrify his enemies, but also give hope to the innocent people of his city. Bruce knew, he would renounce all of that. Everything he fought for as Batman, during the last 23 years. Every life he saved, would've been for nothing. He had to put an end to this, now.
Taking a deep breath, Batman attacked.
After stabbing Ras, the Demon's Head told him something important with his dying breath. „You may have won this time and defeated me, ...Al Midrib. But.... this is far from over. A threat..., which shall challenge you on every level, shall very soon present itself.
See you in hell, Batman.", With that, Ras Al Ghul, the Demon's Head, one of his worst enemies and Leader of the League of Shadows, was now dead
End Of Flashback
Bruce knew that caution was his greatest asset, when it came to the League, or anyone who had undergone their training. He had read about those training methods from the books in his former master's fortress. The seven years he had spent travelling the world, training himself physically and mentally. Bruce had also learned about different plants and drugs, like hallucinogens, and their various deadly effects. In some instances, he'd gone through hell to achieve the needed progress. Confronting his fears to purge his mind of them. All that training had served only one purpose: To forge him into a weapon and prepare him for the burden of becoming Batman.
But the training wasn't enough. To truly embrace his destiny as Gotham's protector, Bruce needed to look into his soul and realize just why he wanted to help his city.
Suddenly, an alarm rang throughout the Cave and a Viper transmission was heard throughout the speakers.
"Attention all available units! There's a 5033 in progress! Report to downtown immediately!", The voice of none other than Viper Commander, Eric Morgan was heard.
"Probability of high casualty count: 120%. Immediate intervention required.", The computer stated.
Bruce walked over to the wall, opening it with his handprint. Now, his main suit was destroyed in a previous fight with Nightshine. He pressed a button, causing the display to turn around, revealing one of his spare Batsuits.
He made sure to have plenty spare suits, should one of his enemies get lucky and destroy the main Batsuit. Which currently was the case. This one, like the previous suit, was all black and equipped with Kevlar armor. It was resistant against bullets, heat and cold, along with acid and a variety of other threats. Bruce put his Batarang and other weapons into the suit's utility belt. All of his suits had the same design and features. This once again showed that Batman always had a contingency plan. Given how many criminals roamed Gotham's streets and that they were always getting better, he too had to improve his weapons and train himself, to always stay one step ahead of his enemies. The Joker was gone, but he wasn't the only danger to this city.
Batman walked over to the Batmobile and got in.
He had the schematics stored in the Batcomputer's archive, should the car get destroyed, which was unlikely, he could rebuild it. Plus, there was also the Batpod, an advanced motorcycle, equipped with the newest and most powerful engine, bulletproof tires, and machine guns, along with missile launchers on the sides. Also, there was the Bat, a high-tech aircraft, with heavy armor and advanced weapons. And there was the recently constructed Bat Thunder. An armor, which had weapons, great strength, and speed, along with flight.
Making all of this equipment cost millions of dollars, but it was for the greater good. Being Batman wasn't easy. But since when was money ever a problem for Bruce Wayne?
Getting into the Batmobile, he activated it and drove full-speed out of the Batcave.
Upon arriving at the location, Batman could see Nightshine standing on top of a building. Firing his grappling hook at a sign, he swung onto the roof and confronted his newest foe.
"Batman.", Nightshine snarled, already sensing the Vigilante's presence behind him.
"It's over, Mark. You won't kill any more people, as long as I'm here."
"Oh, I don't think so.", Nightshine disagreed, clearly hiding his surprise of the Dark Knight knowing his true identity well, before running at him.
But Batman had two advantages: He had been training more and had been active for a longer period of time. And he was fighting an enemy, who was blinded by rage. This made it pretty easy for Bruce to block his attacks. Narrowing his eyes, he fired a dart from his launcher, only to have the assassin deflect it with his retractable blade.
Thinking quickly, Batman pulled out a Batarang from his Utility Belt, throwing it at Nightshine, catching him off guard for a few minutes.
This gave the Dark Knight the time he needed to tackle him and remove his belt, thus depriving him of his weapons. Throwing a punch, he quickly knocked him out and tied him up with a grappling hook for the Viper agents to pick up. Shooting another grappling hook at a building he swung onto its roof.
Batman could hear the noise of engines, as Viper units arrived in black vans.
"Look, it looks like Batman's left us a present.", One of the agents said, causing the Caped Crusader to smirk slightly.
Suddenly, there was a slight 'beep' coming from the earpiece of his cowl.
"Bruce. I just saw Viper arrive at your location. Is everything alright?", Luke asked him over the communicator.
Putting his finger to his earpiece, Bruce answered.
"Yea, Luke. Everything's fine. I left a little present for our Viper friends. Heading back to the Cave now."
Summoning the Batmobile to his location. Batman got in and drove off back to the Batcave, disappearing into the night.