Batman: Beware The Night (An Elseworld's Fan Story)

Chapter III: Fair Warning

December 7th, 

The next morning was the same thing as yesterday. Selina bringing us both coffee, Alfred cooking breakfast, me getting ready for the day and then finally leaving. I drove to Natalie Gavinner's address, it was a home in the Cauldron. Driving through it made me feel somber but my life once more. Every little failure that I had started coming back to me. The death of my father began to play in my mind like a VHS tape rewinding. Seeing my mother beaten and bloodied, waiting for her death as the killer tried to take her life only for my father to come in and both men burst into a fight. He then gets shot in the throat and falls dead. Then, there I was, a little boy, curled up in a ball with my head bloodied from a bottle being smashed on my head.

My mother had gone through unmeasurable pain and suffering and yet, she still held me tightly, protecting me. The man, Derek Powers, he's the reason why I am what I am. He's the reason why I became a monster. After thirteen years, I finally found him last month. The once small-time racketeer turned into a pathetic old junkie. I confronted him but almost as soon as I did, he began to croke on whatever chemical compound was bubbling inside, coke or heroin. He died staring at me as we both sat in the cold and wet alleyway.

I felt the rage build inside; my vengeance was taken from me. I said fuck it and I jumped and beat the man's corpse savagely, practically mauling him like a wolf. All the while, I smiled and laughed at his corpse. I enjoyed every second of it and even now, I still do when thinking of it. He deserved it, he deserved it all. I know that it would never undo the damage to my family or bring my dad back, but I know this, the man who destroyed my family is dead, the blight of my existence is gone, and I don't feel the least bit of sympathy.

I then remembered when Gordon found us and made me feel safe. Made me feel that justice would be served. I was always so fucking naive. The idea that justice could be served in a city without hope. After that, all the older neighborhood tough guys and teenagers began helping my family with anything that we needed: food, money or other. Why? It was out of respect and because Billy Blue declared it so. If it weren't for him, they probably would've had a new reason to rip on me, if my Northern-Irish heritage didn't do that already in a neighborhood full of Dubliners.

I finally got to the location, and I stepped out of my car, walking towards Billy's home. I knocked on the door and his wife, Lillian, came up.

"Good morning, miss. Is Mr. Gavinner here?" She stared at me with a blank stare. Almost wanting to say something but refusing until.

"Billy! Some boy is here!" She yelled,

"Fuckin' Mickey, I ain't got time for yo- Oh, Terry. Sorry about that, come on in." He said before letting me in.

"Sorry for yesterday."

"It's fine, now, can you tell me a little bit about Natalie?" I asked, I could tell that he was going to be having trouble, but he gutted it out and remained strong with his wife by his side.

"What's to talk about? She was a great daughter and a loving person. She was gearing up to go to MIT next spring. Next thing, you know, she was gone before our very eyes." He said, without even looking up at me. I looked around at family photos as they talked. For all the times I've seen the victims as lifeless, it was refreshing to see her life. She was more than just a corpse. She was full of life, a volleyball star, a smart young lady, a caring person, she was Natalie Gavinner and now she's gone and once more, a spark of life was stamped out. A spark of hope, gone with nothing but a whisper. A whisper that said avenge me.

"Do you know of any bad crowds your daughter might've been involved with?" I asked,

"No, except for maybe her boyfriend, Michael "Mickey" McCormick." He said insistently.