Fan Fiction: Crossovers
Lineage

  The lights of the police car lit the entire alley in an eerie blue and red glow. The alley had the stench of death in it and was known to Gotham's citizens as Crime Alley. Commissioner Gordon watched the lights bounce off of the blood stained wall in front of him. This was no ordinary bloodstain, this blood stain was in the distinctive shape of a Z. Detective Bullock was organizing the rest of police officers at the crime scene, Gordon was looking down at the body. The bullet holes in the shape of the Z on the man's chest matched the Z on the wall. You know what they say about Gotham, Gordon thought to himself, you're lucky if you survive the night. I guess this fellow wasn't so lucky. Suddenly, something caught his eye. He turned his head to the side and looked into a dark corner of the alley. Gordon watched as Batman strode out of the shadows towards the victim.

  Gordon spoke, "Glad you could make it friend. Frankly I was surprised you didn't beat us here." Batman was already examining the scene. Without looking at Gordon he answered, "I would have been here sooner but I had to break up a mugging on the way." Batman knew sometimes a simple mugging could be looked at as insignificant, but he also new a mugging could create Gotham's next hero or villain. One thing a mugging was likely to create was another dead body, and to him no life was unimportant.

  Removing a scalpel from his belt Batman began to scrape the ground next to the body. Bullock came over shouting, "Commissioner! The Crime Lab boys haven't even made it here yet to tell us what happened and he's disturbing the crime scene?" Again without looking up Batman spoke, "This man was Frank Brock, a mid level member of the Morello family mob. He was shot at point blank range with a fully automatic Uzi 9mm. The angles of the bullet wounds and the Z on the wall suggest whoever shot him was right handed. The bruise on Frank's shoulder shows us whoever shot him held him in place with his left hand. There are small pieces of leather on Frank's shoulder. Don't waste your time dusting for prints whoever did this was wearing leather gloves. He was also wearing leather boots. There is a partial boot print with pieces of leather around it directly in front of where Frank was shot. The blood on the wall and the condition of the body obviously shows the body was not moved post mortem. The condition of the body also shows the time of death was almost two hours ago. The murderer is probably long gone. The murderer is extremely physically strong to be able to hold his arm steady enough to of shot a Z across this man's chest with an automatic weapon. The fingers and shoes of the body are also clean, no evidence of blood, clothes, or hair. Frank did not put up a struggle. He also has a large amount of sweat residue in his hair. Whoever did this was intimidating. Even a hardened mobster like Frank was too scared to fight back." Looking at Gordon, Batman said, "I'll be in touch." He then stepped back into the shadows and disappeared.

  The crime lab people walked up behind Bullock and Gordon. The lead investigator began to speak, "Well I can tell you that whoever shot him was right handed and..." Gordon cut him off, "I know, I know, just write it up in the report so that we have a proper paper trail."

  The Batcave...

  In the Batcave, Batman systematically ran through the evidence he collected, examining each aspect of the crime carefully. He thought, This murder was not a shootout or a quick hit. The murderer held Frank in front of him and killed him in cold blood, purposely blasting a Z into his chest. Frank was dead after the first shot. This was not a mere murder it was an execution. Executions are used to send a message. You don't just kill the person you make an example of them.

  The forensic evidence aside, the main clue Batman had was the Z. He had been working the local mobs and street gangs hard lately, he had not heard of anything that would suggest a new faction forming who would use a Z as their symbol. Furthermore, when Frank was killed he was on Morello family turf. Even if there was a new gang it was unlikely they would have made a hit on staked turf. If this was some foolish new gang trying to make a name for themselves it's likely the Morello family would take care of them before the night was through. Batman thought, It's already 4:00 am if there was going to be a retaliation on another mob it would have already happened. He had been listening to the police scanner since he left the crime scene and had not heard about anything new. This meant the Morello family had no idea who killed Frank.

  This case looked more like the work of a loner than an orchestrated mob hit. If the Z was not a gang sign then it was someone's personal calling card. The execution style murder, the Z, the dark alley, all were signs of the work of a serial killer. Yet the chances a serial killer would randomly pick a mobster to kill were unlikely. As Batman processed the information, the thought of what the evidence was pointing to angered him. A serial killer who specifically targets a mobster to use as a message? This was not just a serial killer, this was a vigilante. A vigilant killer who was taking out mobsters in his city. A scowl of disgust crossed Batman's face, he would not let such atrocities happen in his city.

  The Z was his only window into the vigilante's mind. Batman had several theories but not enough evidence to support any of them. Not yet.

  One week later, Perro's Bar...

  Paulie Pepoza sat at the bar drinking a scotch on the rocks. He was a member of the Valestra gang on the north end of Gotham City. Paul was in his mid -fifties he was roughly six feet tall. He had black hair that grew from the center of his head to his shoulders and a black mustache to match. He had been a mobster most of his life. He first entered the Valestra mob when he was fifteen years old. Gotham was a tough city for anyone to live in, let alone be a mobster in. Before Gordon arrived the police force was just as dirty as the gangs sometimes running them from inside. Since Gordon had taken over the police have cleaned up and cracked down on crime. Gordon leaned hard on Paulie and Paulie could not take the pressure he would sometimes slip up and give the cops information. It wasn't bad enough the police leaned on Paulie; there was also The Batman. Paulie was terrified of Batman. He would spill his guts whenever The Batman got a hold of him. At least three heists had been stopped by Batman directly due to information he intimidated out of Paulie. Paulie was a nervous person normally but lately, he had been a wreck.

  He ordered another scotch and thought to himself shaking as he brought the glass to his mouth "Two more Z murders since Frank Brock was killed. Each of the other two guys hit was from a different mob family. Only us and the Romero family are left. The guy's coming after one of us next, it's going to be me. I know it is with my luck. Batman, the cops, everyone always seems to pick on me." Paulie was sometimes borderline delusional, but tonight his delusions were about to become reality.

  Paulie finally left the bar at 2:00 am. He walked down the street back towards his apartment. The streets in Gotham were usually empty at this hour but several blocks behind Paulie he thought he saw someone, but he wasn't sure. Paulie began to sweat and his hands were shaking. He sped up his steps. Paulie's heart was pounding. He turned his head again and saw that there was someone behind him, it was dark and Paulie was drunk. He thought he saw a man with a black knee level trench coat on. Paulie was walking backwards as he looked closer he could see the man had what looked to be bandana on his head. Then Paulie looked again and saw what appeared to be the handle of a large knife holstered on the man's back. A look of terror ran across Paulie's face. He sprinted across the street and down the block. As Paulie turned the corner, the figure came falling down from the roof of the building next to him landing directly in front of him. The man was crouched down he had used his legs to brace himself from the fall. The figure slowly extended his legs causing his body to rise.

  The man had a black bandana on that covered not only his head but the entire upper portion of his face. He also had the knee length black trench coat and knife Paulie thought he had seen. His entire body was covered in black aside from the bandana and trench coat he had a black shirt on and dark pants. He had leather gloves on his hands and boots on his feet. The man's slow rise changed into a quick grab as his left hand latched onto Paulie's shoulder and slammed him into the wall. He then through back the right lapel of his trench coat and grabbed an Uzi from inside his jacket pointing at Paulie's chest. Paulie was shaking and sweat poured down his face. He began to scream, but this was Gotham. No one ever answered when someone called for help. The man looked into Paulie's eyes and spoke with a slight Hispanic accent, "Hello Paul. The other people I have visited have told me you have run into The Batman. I want the Bat. How do I find him!" Stuttering, Paul answered, "Ya-Ya-Ya Ya don't f-f-find The Batman, he finds you, and b-b-believe me you don't want Batman to find ya." Coldly staring at Paulie the man said, "This Batman portrays himself as a hero, yet I know the truth. He allies himself with The Demon. This protector role he disguises himself in is to hide from people like me. Violence seems to be what draws out The Batman. Very well then! Since you say the Batman will find me let me send him another message to help him along." The man pulled on the trigger of his gun, his entire body was lit up as if it was being hit by a yellow and orange strobe light as he used his Uzi to carve a Z into Paul's chest.