[Hellfire]

As we prepare for C3G's Anniversary, please enjoy the first of a 4-part series teasing the upcoming Wave.

Originally Posted by johnny139

Spoiler Alert!

GOTHAM CITY
11:34 PM EDT | 4/10/13

Darkness. But that's no surprise.

The rain has held off, despite the overcast midnight skies. Gotham, for the moment, remains unquenched, though the city's madness hangs like a constant hazy drizzle. Things have been quiet since that last drastic summer - the threats have been bigger, more dynamic, but... unplanned. And for the shadow that stalks the streets, irrelevant.

His city is safe. But still he roams its rooftops.

"Anything to report?" grits the voice of a shadow.

"Can't say there is, Batman," answers his ward, in chipper tone. "Huntress moved in on the Joker Goons earlier but they were already taken care of - she said they looked like their souls were ripped clean out of 'em. Not sure what to say about that one... sure hope whoever did it's on our side!"

He's quiet, for a moment, half-remembering another life. "I wouldn't worry ." He swoops down from his perch, walks calmly along the edge of brick and air. "Things seem quiet. You can call it a night."

"Probably will soon, yeah. Business sure has been slow. Last big bust was the Hood's gang back around Christmas, and before that, what, the werewolves on Halloween? I mean, the heavy hitters have had their hands full, but... well, I guess I shouldn't complain. See you at the cave - Robin out."

He was right, of course - things have been quiet. Luthor hadn't made a move since he got his suit. Ra's went down with a whimper when he arrived. The threats had been escalating since Brainiac, of course, but they all seemed so... hollow.

There is a fine line, Alfred must have said, between vigilance and paranoia.

But the think tank in New York, Richards and Stark and Xavier, said something big was coming. And big things kept coming, one after the other. But none of them seemed to fit. When Brainiac appeared, it was like the floodgates had broken around him, but these last threats have been isolated, cut off from each other and, once they'd been cleaned, sealed away in memory. There was no thread, no line. They've been random. Haven't they?

...have they?

He missteps, tumbles, just barely grabs hold of the gargoyle on which he'd held his vigil.

"Alfred, get Daredevil and Canary on call. I'll be in the cave."