Ch 1

My head bounced off the plaster wall. I returned the hit to my head with a punch to the gut and kicked him in the groin. Taking my chance, I reached the bloody kitchen knife on the ground. Before I could get to it. He grabbed my thin legs and dragged me back to him. He mounted me, grabbing my head, bludgeoning it against the carpet. I reached for anything I could get hold of. A pen was the only thing I could get reached, and I stabbed it through his thigh.

Hearing his scream filled me with some pleasure, but that was short-lived as my head started to throb from the bashing it went through.

Gritting through the pain, I stood back up and grabbed the bloodied knife. I brandished it in front of me, seeing he was ready to attack again.

"Ima kill you, you fuckin cum stain" He pulled the pen out of his leg and threw it on the ground.

"Stay back" I shouted as he started to limp forward.

"Or what, you going to kill me, you don't have the balls kid" He smiled. "In fact go ahead show me what you can do you little fucker."

I knew I couldn't kill him. I was just hoping he backed off and stood down. But he kept advancing to his objective behind me. So I ran towards him hoping my momentum did the job but he just backhanded me into the fridge. I hit my head against it. I tried to stand again but I couldn't stand.

I sat there trying to reach out to him but he kept on pounding his fist against my mother's face.

I faded in and out of consciousness, so when I heard the sirens I didn't know how much time passed. And when he was tased instead of shot I was disappointed. I got carried out of the apartment by ems. I was bleeding from multiple paces from my head and bruises littered my caramel colored skin.

When I got outside it was snowing. Multiple snowflakes melted on my face. And Christmas lights shined in my eyes but I was numb to it. All that mattered was my mother and she was gone now. I knew it, the cops knew it and the medics that tried knew it when they saw her.

On that accursed day, Christmas Eve, at 21:43, an African American woman was pronounced dead, murdered by my father in his drunken rage.

Grace Wilbert was murdered by John Chill, leaving the orphaned son, James Eric Chill, to be lost in the system. Only for his father to spend 12 years in prison and then be offered parole because he was a key witness on a big drug ring bust.

…

Somewhere in Gotham

…

Fleeing from the cops is a lot harder than you think. Most criminals think if you hop a few fences and hide in an abandoned building, then bang your home free; wrong.

That's why you're in the back of a police cruiser, and I'm not.

That's also incorrect, I'm also back here.

"Dumbass thought you could hide in a tree and get away," the officer driving chuckled at his partner. "I bet his nickname in prison is going to be squirrel."

I shifted uncomfortably in the back seat. I was mad at myself and at the cops. I was in the back of a cop cruiser in my black leather jacket, my dark red shirt, my worn blue jeans, and my two year old chucks. I looked out the window, my reflection laughing at me.

I held up a convenience store with an empty gun. Then, one of the customers beat my ass. Running from the store, I ran up a tree house by a dog. With nowhere else to go, I got arrested. I'm not proud of my actions.

Just because I said fleeing from the cops was harder than people thought doesn't mean I know how to.

The cops kept giggling as they pulled into a Big Belly Burger. "You want something squirrel." Sighing in defeat, I nodded my head. "Get me a Bacon Burger with medium Fry and a Coke. The driver nodded and ordered his food and ordered their food as well as mine.

Just as we were going to get our food, a scream was heard, then a crash.

An adolescent was thrown out the drive thru window. But this one was different.

He wore a yellow cap around red tights with a yellow R symbol over his heart. His shorts were way too short for his age and an awful green. He, for shur, needs a new stylist.

But as he bounced off the hood of the cruiser, we made eye contact through his domino mask. He rolled for a little in the parking lot before he performed a perfect kip-up. Rolling to the side, he disappeared in the parking lot weaving through parked cars.

That was Robin, the hero Robin. The kid can beat a mob's ass without a scratch and then take on Killer Croc. And when there's Robin, there's always.

A man dressed in all black with a yellow bat symbol on his chest landed on the hood of the car in a crouch. He saw us and opened his mouth to say something but was stopped when a wall hit him.

Yeah, you read that right. He didn't hit a wall. A wall hit him. That's when I knew I was going to have a bad day.

The passenger cop hit his partner and screamed. "Drive, you idiot."

Said officer got ready to, but a hand went through the hood. Damn that hood was getting its ass kicked.

"Born on a Monday!" a deep guttural voice screamed. The hand that was wrist deep in the hood of a four-door SUV got pulled out, but it left with something very important.

"Christened on a Tuesday!" And the hand reared back and threw the engine of the vehicle.

That huge hand was connected to a body that wore a torn suit. And it was disgusting. Tears in its flesh that never healed showed muscle and bone. Some of its gray skin was falling off its face.

"Married on a Wednesday!" It lumbered past us without paying us any attention.

The cops had enough and got out. They started to run, trying to get away. But they forgot one thing. Me, they forgot that I was handcuffed and in their back seat right in the middle of Batman and Robin fighting a big ass Zombie.

I struggled to get out of my handcuffs, but of course, they wouldn't budge. Trying to break the bulletproof window by mule kicking them was a no good either. At this point, I was just flailing around like a fish out of water in the back seat of a police cruiser.

I was definitely not crying.

Instead of trying to escape, I looked towards my only salvation, Batman and Robin. Right now, they were ducking a wild swing from Grundy. Batman dodged a hammer blow that cracked the asphalt by getting close to grundy. Robin did a back handspring to get away. When he came up, multiple birdarangs flew from his hands into the undead's large hands. They blew up into white foam that quickly hardened.

Before grundy could get his hands free with his immeasurable strength. Batman quickly beat his head in. The Dark Knight's gloves looked electrified as blue sparks flew from his fist every time he punched the dead man.

Feeling relieved and banged the window to get their attention. It worked only for a minute, though, as a laugh echoed through the parking lot. I heard this laugh before, but only in my nightmares, though. A pale faced, green haired male walked in front of me. His purple suit fit well on his lanky frame.

He smiled at me from the window waving. His yellow stained teeth looked very unhealthy. His smile was inhuman from ear to ear. When I looked at him, all I saw was an evil incarnate.

"Hello there, little one. Why the long face."

I backed up all the way to the other end of the back seat. I didn't want to be anywhere close to him.

"Are you sad? Well, we must fix that." he pulled a smoke grenade from inside his jacket. It had his cartoon face on it with a thumbs up. "Let's turn that frown upside down." he opened the door and threw in the canister already smoking. I heard a deep yell from across the parking lot. I saw Batman and Robin running towards the Joker, desperation on their faces.

I took a big inhale of clean hair and held it before green covered my view of their fight. I heard somewhere before that the less you moved, the longer you could hold your breath, so I tried to relax against the door and tried to stay absolutely still. The gas burned my nostril and made my eyes water.

I could hear the struggle outside of the car. I hoped that Batman could get to me in time because it was getting harder to hold my breath. My lungs started to hurt. They were on fire begging for oxygen that I couldn't give them. My brain told me to breathe, but I told myself to keep holding it. I've seen what Joker Gas can do to someone, and i didn't want it to happen to me.

I just wanted out of the fucking car, fuck the Joker, fuck the Batman, and fuck the police offircers that left me. I could see out the window. Batman and Robin were defending themselves from a mob of Joker goons. The Joker was just leaning up against the vehicle laughing. He looked at me and looked surprised.

"Well well, looks like our little criminal is still alive" he hackled evilly. "Would you like me to open the door?" I beat up against the window nodding my head. "Nah, you look like you can stay in there." he laughed so hard he almost went to the floor. I looked at Batman for any salvation but he was too busy with a man in a clown costume.

I would give anything to be able to get out of this car.

Anything?

Yes.

Even your soul?

Yes.

Would you kill for it?

Yes

Steal for it?

Yes.

Become my slave for it?

Yes, God yes, anything. I just want to live.

Good, I shall give you the power to judge those who have sinned. Go my Rider!

Why was it getting hot, oh God why is my fucking skin burning. Was this gas acidic? I stopped holding my breath and started to scream. I screamed until my throat started to bleed that felt like I was drowning in lava. I continued to scream, thrashing as my skin burnt off. At some point my head hit the window and cracked it. Why did it hurt so much?

This pain was unbearable why?

Because you were chosen, stop fighting it and let it in.

Why was I chosen?

Because you have sinned.

So has everyone else why am I special?

Because I chose you, be grateful. Would you rather die? Know you can judge others for the actions they have committed. So now go JUDGE THEM!

I sat up and kicked the door which flung off its hinges and knocked three goons to the ground. I stepped out of the cruiser, and everyone stopped and stared.

I looked at my hands. they were on fire, and skin was nowhere to be seen on them, why? I felt my face and all I felt was bone. Looking in the side mirror I saw my head was on fire. No skin to be seen, just bone. I opened and closed my mouth. It looked really weird.

"My my, that is one hell of a light show" the evil cackle that would haunt my dreams rang inside my head. To my right was the clown prince of crime and his hussy Harley Quinn. They were both giggling. How I saw them without eyes or heard them without ears didn't matter. Pointing at the Joker my boney finger blazed with flames.

"You…Guilty."

The word escaped my maw, it wasn't just a word. It was a proclamation to the world, he had been tried and found guilty. I had judged him and knew I had the power to carry out the sentence. And being guilty meant only one thing; Penance.

I walked towards the purple clown. He stopped smiling, his red lips pursed out of agitation. "Harley, show our boney friend how to have a good time" Harley giggled and walked towards me. She wore a red and black jester outfit and held a comically large wooden mallet.

She swung her mallet at me, trying to crush my skull. Holding out my hand it stopped dead in its tracks. Looking into her eyes I saw all the sins she ever committed, most of them were vile, all of them deserved death. But one image made me stop myself. Joker had corrupted her, molded her, changed her to fit his own personal goals. I pointed at her "Innocent." I grabbed hold of her, how I did without burning her I didn't know. I held her aloft by her tights. Her squirming and ponding on my fists didn't help her.

"For it is this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you." The words flowed from my mouth. I didn't know what I was saying but I knew what I was doing. I was cleaning her of her sins. She shall get another chance. If she screws up I'll be back to make her pay.

"Stop, no it hurts please" Harley squirmed in my hold trying to get away but I wouldn't let her go. She was feeling the pain of her sins being cleansed.

"You will be clean from all your sins before the lord." I opened my mouth and black smoke escaped from her mouth. She convulsed and spasmed as the smoke exited her body from her mouth. It raised in the air before plunging into my fiery maw. It didn't taste like smoke, if sin had a taste this would be it. Disgusting, slimy, and greasy, as the last of it entered my mouth I closed my jaw like a steel door. The sins would be burned by my flames never to be seen again.

I dropped Harleen Quinzel, she was free from her past sins. She looked at herself and then back at me. "What did you do to me?" she asked, crying.

"You are cleansed"

Everyone took a step back away from me but I didn't care about them. The biggest sinner here was the Joker and he would get what was coming to him. His smile long gone by now it was a rage induced frown.

"What did you just do to my pet, you walking a pile of bones? '' he reached into his jacket and pulled out a handgun. I knew guns wouldn't work on me. He emptied the handgun into my chest but I kept on walking forward and when the last bullet didn't do anything he threw the handgun at me. It missed me going over my shoulder to clatter to the ground.

He backed himself into the wall of the big belly burger. Grabbing a hold of his purple suit, I held him up against the wall.

"Look into my eyes" the sockets that used to be my eyes swirled with fire much darker than the rest of my flames.

"Come on bones you don't want to do this, i'll give you anything you want." he tried to get away from my hold but just like Harley he couldn't. So instead he grabbed a switch blade and plunged into my shoulder. I didn't feel it go in but when it came out the blade was molten metal that just dripped onto the ground.

"Your soul is stained by the blood of the innocent" he started to laugh as he remembered all of the sins he had done. All of the children he killed. All of the wives he made into widows or the husbands made into widowers. He laughed and screamed at there pain. Convulsing and contorting into himself.

"Feel their pain" he was howling now. His own body was breaking his bones trying to get away from me. His ears were bleeding and he was going hoarse from all of the screaming. But he continued to laugh and he didn't stop. Even after he was unconscious he continued to laugh.

I let him go and I let him fall to the pavement. He wasn't dead if nothing else he had a strong will. He wouldn't let anyone kill him except for the Batman.

I turned towards the mob, they seemed scared. Even Batman was cautious to confront me. One goon with a weighted chain took a step forward. "Who are you?"

That was a good question: what was I now? A monster, a demon, the devil, I didn't know.

But I did know one thing: I wasn't James Eric Chill anymore. I was so much more, I would punish the guilty and protect the innocent.

Did that make me a hero maybe? But it didn't matter to me anymore.

I pointed at him with my boney flame redden finger at him. "Guilty."

I had a job to do and I would do it. It didn't matter what got in my way.

As I got closer to the henchman he whipped his chain at me. I caught it and he looked surprised.

Looking at it I could feel It call towards me. It felt familiar, like looking at a old friend.

"Nice chain" I looked at him and I could tell he was scared.

"Thank you" He was shaking now.

"Mind if I borrow it" I didn't wait for him to answer me. I yanked on the chain and he came flying off his feet right into my fist that caved his head in. He stopped breathing shortly after falling to the ground.

Looking at the others I wrapped the long chain across my chest. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay."

I ran at them and they ran from me but before I could kill another sinner. Batman threw a batarang at me. I dodged it but the explosion from it knocked me forward into the asphalt.

I got back up but I got a fist across the jaw from the dark knight then battered in the ribs by a kick from his side kick.

"I don't know what you are" a punch to the sternum and a spinning elbow to the nose.

"But here on earth we have a certain way to punish those that have committed "sins"" a kick to my knee , then a knee to my forehead.

Those methods he talked about were ineffective. Going to prison only to break out a month later. If anything it made this world worse. Incompetence I would rectify.

I was battered all across my skeletal body, I didn't feel any pain though. No, it was more of an annoyance. I was thrown across the lot and his protégé was on me before I could catch a breath.

"So what right do you have to judge those methods and decide to enact your own?"

He threw a haymaker trying to knock me unconscious. Instead of connecting to my jaw I caught it. The fire on my head erupted into a darker orange almost red.

"Mine."

I grabbed his elbow and twirled myself, throwing him into a car's windshield. I stood up as he was trying to get out of the car's windshield.

Robin tried to surprise me but I grabbed his leg he was going to hit me with across the chest. Looking at him I saw he was innocent but he was in my way.

"Sorry"

I brought an elbow up and then struck down on his knee, bending it in. His scream in pain was worse than the sound of his knee cap coming out of place. He rolled onto the ground holding his knee.

"Robin!" Batman tried to hit me again. I dodged and kicked him in the sternum making him crash back into the bumper of the same car.

Grabbing a hold of the chain on my shoulder I whipped it out. It made an audible crack.

I flung it at Batman wrapping him up tightly. He struggled to get out but it was useless. He was also innocent but like his protégé in my way and I had a feeling he wouldn't stop unless I stopped him. I wouldn't kill an innocent but knock them unconscious. I could do that.

I spun and yanked on my chain making Batman come rocketing towards me. I followed through with my spin and hit the dark knight with lariat. Since his hands were occupied it hit him so hard that he stopped dead in his tracks and went horizontal and hit the concrete hard.

With him unconscious I set my chain right back where it was. It was time to hunt some sinners and I needed a ride.

Looking around I found a black sports bike that looked adequate. I walked up to it and my foot falls made concrete melt and leave behind flames.

I touched the bike and a demonic roar escaped my lips. The bike revved in response, changing to my liking.

The wheels caught fire, the front formed into a skull and hands reached from the seat to rest on the gas tank. The exhaust pipe spewed flames as I got on.

I revved it a couple times and left behind the parking lot with gusto. Leaving a trail of scorch marks.cI could already hear sirens from other police officers.

It was time to hunt the guilty