Fire and Shadows

Margaret sneered. "What do you know?"

She had indeed considered that ten years ago, but back then, her power wasn't strong enough to silence all the witnesses. One of the funeral home workers had even tried to blackmail her.

Of course, that particular worker had ended up as another corpse in the Gotham River.

"I did tell you to burn the bodies back then, but you didn't do it," Margaret said coldly, shooting the man a sharp glance.

The man chuckled awkwardly. "You had me out here, in the middle of nowhere, alone at night. Be glad I managed to bury them at all—let alone set them on fire. What if I'd attracted wild animals?"

"Hmph," Margaret scoffed, unwilling to continue arguing about trivial matters. She folded her arms and stepped aside, tilting her chin to signal them to hurry up.

The man didn't seem bothered by her attitude. Instead, he called his crew over, retrieved shovels from the trunk of the car, and began digging up the buried remains.

It took nearly two hours for them to unearth all the bones. Afterward, they pulled out cans of gasoline from the car's trunk, ready to burn everything to ashes.

"Click!"

The lighter sparked to life. Just as the man was about to toss it onto the gasoline-soaked bones, the sound of a car engine revving nearby interrupted them.

Margaret, who had been standing calmly with her arms crossed, was instantly alarmed. She shouted sharply, "Hurry! Light it!"

But it was too late. A sudden whizzing sound cut through the air, and in an instant, the lighter was knocked from the man's hand, disappearing into the darkness.

Then, a dark figure, moving like a wild beast, charged at them with lightning speed.

"Batman!"

Someone shouted in panic, and the leader quickly realized that Batman's arrival was meant to foil their plans. If Batman succeeded, those who had helped Margaret commit her crimes would certainly face prison as well.

Without hesitation, the leader pulled a gun from inside his coat and screamed frantically at his stunned henchmen, "Quick! Shoot him! What are you standing there for?!"

The henchmen snapped out of their shock and began to draw their weapons, aiming for the shadowy figure of Batman. But before they could fire, everything changed in an instant.

"Crack!"

Another sharp sound pierced the air, and the lightbulb they had set up to illuminate the digging site shattered.

Suddenly, the entire area was plunged into darkness.

No creature thrives in the dark like the bat.

In mere moments, several of the men were taken down, one by one, by Batman, his movements swift and silent. The thugs fell to the ground without making another sound.

The leader clenched his teeth, nervously scanning the surroundings, but saw nothing. He gripped his gun tightly, as if it could somehow provide him with a sense of security.

What he didn't know was that Batman was standing right in front of him, silently observing. By the time he realized it, it was too late—Batman's powerful hand slammed him to the ground, rendering him defenseless.

The gun was pried from his grasp, and a low, raspy voice echoed in his ear:

"Who were you planning to kill?"

The man shook his head in terror before being knocked unconscious.

Batman tossed him aside and then turned his attention to Margaret, who had remained calm, standing quietly in the corner the entire time.

"Do you have nothing to say for yourself?"

His voice, rough and menacing, filled the silence.

"What is there for me to say?" Margaret retorted, then let out a small laugh. "I'll tell you this—you've fallen right into my trap. I've already destroyed my most damning evidence."

"Why don't you take a guess at what I'm talking about?" she teased.

Batman pressed his lips together and slowly uttered the word, "Orphanage."

Margaret Williams couldn't suppress a delighted laugh. "Congratulations, you guessed right. But unfortunately, it's too late now. My people have already gone to the orphanage to destroy the evidence—and they set a fire, too."

"If you hurry, you might still catch the smell of roasted meat."

Had any of the thugs still been conscious, they would have shivered at her description, even though they were no saints themselves.

Batman, however, remained unmoved. "Why would you do this? Aren't you afraid of adding another crime to your list?"

"Who can prove it was me?" Margaret scoffed. If there had been light at that moment, one might have seen a devilish coldness on her face.

Batman didn't answer.

The elderly woman studied him briefly in the faint moonlight before speaking again.

"You're really not going to rush back? I've heard about you—a madman who is trying to change Gotham. Normally, when someone tells you the truth, you'd be sprinting back like a lunatic. Or was all of that just some slogan to win people over?"

"…And who told you I work alone?" Batman responded quietly, then pressed a button on the communication device in his ear. On the other end, Alfred was already standing by, awaiting orders.

[ Can you handle it? ]

[ You can trust your butler a bit more… ]

...

Meanwhile, at the Williams Children's Home in the Upper East Side, the once-proud building was now engulfed in flames. The children had just been evacuated, and only the crackling sounds of fire remained.

Amid the scorching heat and glowing flames, Avery stood over a group of unconscious bodies, all trapped within a massive hexagram drawn on the ground.

These were the arsonists who had come to burn the place down.

Avery crouched, grabbing one of the men by the scruff of his neck with ease, then dragged him out of the burning building.

A large beam collapsed behind him, sealing off the remaining thugs inside, and the hexagram vanished beneath the debris, leaving only faint marks behind.

Outside, Avery, who had already evacuated the children, tossed the unconscious criminal aside, disdainfully removing his white gloves and tossing them into the sea of fire with disgust before putting on a fresh pair.

He dusted off his hands, his tone light and unconcerned. "Oh dear, saving all those children has left me utterly exhausted. Surely no one expects me to rescue the criminals too, right?"

"Although, I would have loved to help, but what can I say? They were just unlucky," he remarked with mock regret before turning around and walking away.