Night fell over Gotham like a heavy blanket of smoke and sin. The streets, drenched in fine rain, reflected the dim light of broken streetlights and flickering signs. Cars hurried past, avoiding eye contact with figures lurking in the alleys. High above, on the time-eroded towers, stone gargoyles stared down at the city like eternal witnesses to its decay. Distant screams, sirens shattering the silence, and the muffled sound of a stray shot. Gotham breathed like a wounded animal, waiting for the final blow.
Far away, other cities followed their own rhythm. In Metropolis, the skyscrapers still gleamed, but the tone was different, less hope, more appearence. The Daily Planet lit up the night, but the absence of a certain hero had left the city colder.
Central City was still running, literally. The movement was constant, but even now, the rush couldn't hide the rumors that the times were changing.
In Star City, shadows loomed large in the alleys, and arrows hadn't been seen in years.
National City stood tall, but without the shine it once had.
And across the world, from Fawcett City to Tokyo, from Moscow to Beijing, every metropolis seemed to carry a strange tension in the air.
It was then that everything changed.
Without warning, screens in bars, security monitors, home televisions, and electronic billboards flickered. Cell phones vibrated. Computers crashed. In a matter of seconds, the transmission swept the planet like a virus, impossible to block.
The screen went black.
A dense silence.
Then, a low, deep sound, footsteps echoing.
From the darkness, only a silhouette. The outline of a cloak. A steady breath.
The voice cut through the silence:
"Many believed I was dead forever. That Gotham had lost its protector. That the world had lost one of its guardians. Perhaps they thought the darkness had won... that there was nothing left.
They were wrong.
When the thief hesitates out of fear, that is the effect of what I am.
I'm not a man. I'm a symbol. A warning. And symbols… don't die.
Look around you. Crime has increased. Corruption has spread. The streets are in chaos. You've seen what happens when we let evil breathe freely. No more.
This is not a call for blind hope. It's a command to those who still resist: stand up. Protect each other. Fight.
To those who feed on fear, to those who kill, steal and destroy… know that the night is mine again.
You can run.
You can hide.
But remember…
The Night Isn't Over Yet."
As the words echoed, the video interspersed with real images: criminals caught red-handed, gangs disarmed, innocents saved. None of the scenes showed the man's face, only his cape, his fist, the shadow cast against the wall.
The video was deleted as quickly as it appeared.
Gotham stopped.
In the bars, no one was breathing.
At the police station, officers exchanged glances. At the main station, Detective Ethan Bennett stood motionless, his jaw set, as if a ghost had returned to haunt him.
His new partner, Ellen Ying, let out an involuntary smile.
Outside, in the alleys, homeless people stared at the sky. Drivers turned off their radios. An elderly woman fell to her knees, weeping and praying, unable to believe what she saw.
And then… a beam of light cut through the clouds.
The Bat Signal.
At the top of the police building, Barbara Gordon and Bruce Wayne stood side by side. She pressed the button that activated the spotlight.
Bruce looked at the silhouette in the sky and said nothing. He simply disappeared into the darkness, descending into the streets.
In other cities, the reaction was immediate.
Central City – Wally West watched in astonishment, his smile growing, as citizens chatted in the streets as if they had seen a legend return.
Metropolis – At the Daily Planet, Lois Lane put down her pen, staring at the screen with a serious expression.
"My God… he's back."
She muttered.
Star City – Oliver Queen, hood down, clenched his fist, and Dinah Lance smirked.
Fawcett City – Billy Batson stared at the screen with a mixture of respect and admiration.
National City – Kara Danvers remained silent, her eyes fixed on the video, while Cat Grant sighed and said:
"Now, yes, things will change."
And around the world…
In Japan, young people gathered in the streets commenting on the return.
In China, workers stopped machines to watch the video on loop.
In Russia, military personnel watched in silence, with respect.
In every corner of the planet, the message was clear:
Batman was back.
----
The city was silent.
Not a true silence, Gotham has never known such a thing, but the peculiar silence that falls between two thunderclaps, where the air seems suspended and the world holds its breath.
On screens scattered throughout alleys, skyscrapers, and underground broadcasts, the video appeared.
The symbol.
A voice.
The return.
---
Blüdhaven – Dick Grayson's Apartment.
The dim light from a lamp barely illuminated the apartment. Dick Grayson sat on the couch, still dressed in a torn shirt and training gloves, his body exhausted from days of trying to keep an entire city afloat.
The sound of the voice in the video made his heart stop for a second.
He closed his eyes.
His throat tightened.
The memories came like punches, the training, the arguments, the cold nights on the rooftops, the weight of the legacy.
When he opened his eyes again, the reflection in his eyes was not just astonishment.
It was something he never expected to feel again.
Hope.
But hope came with something else…
Fear.
Fear of losing that man again.
---
Gotham City – Gotham Whiskers
Between shelves of cat toys and kittens sleeping in makeshift boxes, Selina Kyle held a cup of coffee, casually, as if the world were stable.
Then she saw the broadcast.
The coffee slipped through his fingers without her noticing.
Her lips parted silently. Her heart pounded as if it had been thrown back to the first time he'd surprised her on a rooftop, with that arrogant posture and unwavering gaze.
She laughed, softly, but her eyes were moist.
"Son of a…"
She whispered, and an almost imperceptible smile curved her lips.
She knew he would come back. She always knew.
---
Gotham City – Tim Drake's Apartment
The walls were covered with research boards, diagrams, and old photos.
Tim Drake sat on the floor, surrounded by computers running, codes flashing on the screens.
He froze.
He watched the entire video without blinking.
His mind raced with a thousand theories: imposter, deepfake, hologram, some artificial intelligence, and yet something inside him screamed that it was real.
But he couldn't accept it that easily. Not yet.
"It can't be…"
He murmured.
And deep down, he feared that if he accepted, the weight of all those years of absence would crush him.
---
Gotham University – Pamela Isley
The scent of the flowers she cultivated mingled with the air in the room. Pamela Isley, in a deep green dress, sat at the table, jotting down botanical observations.
When she heard his voice, she looked up.
Her eyes narrowed, a mysterious smile blossoming like a newly opened rose.
"Welcome back, bat…"
The redhead whispered, almost like an ironic prayer.
There was fascination there, but also a dangerous curiosity.
---
Washington DC – Mystery Woman
At the top of a marble building, a woman with a proud posture watched a small screen. Her long black hair swayed in the night wind.
There was no fear in her gaze, just a contained, deep emotion, like someone recognizing a warrior returning to the battlefield.
Her eyes shone almost supernaturally.
---
Decaying Apartment – John Doe
The light flickered on the mold-stained ceiling.
A man sat in front of the TV, his expression neutral.
The video has ended.
He blinked once, as if something had been unlocked inside him.
The first laugh was low… then louder…
Within seconds, he was laughing, and the laughter grew, distorted, became something grotesque.
He laughed as if his very existence depended on it. As if, for ten years, he had saved all his madness just for this moment.
---
New York – Decadent Bar
The smell of stale beer and fried food permeated the air. Leaning against the counter, a man in torn clothes and a cloth mask watched a video on a broken television, the image flickering.
His fists clenched.
His green eyes reflected a pure, raw hatred that burned within. The bat appearance was like salt thrown on a wound that never healed.
And along with the hatred… came the silent promise of violence.
---
Gotham – Abandoned Factory
Between rusted walls and dangling cables, a makeshift laboratory pulsed with cold lights.
Inside a cryogenics capsule, a man lay motionless, ice enveloping his body. Beside him, another capsule held a woman.
Robots moved around the place, taking care of the machines.
The man's eyes slowly opened as the video played on a nearby screen.
There was something new there.
A faint, almost imperceptible… hope.
---
Midway City – Woman with Wings
On the high rooftops, a female figure watched the city. Her red hair and golden wings reflected the moonlight.
She raised an eyebrow at the video.
A strong, admiring smile spread across her face.
To her, he wasn't just a man.
He was a symbol.
And symbols… inspired entire worlds.
---
Batman's return traveled distances no sound could.
Gotham, New York, Washington, Blüdhaven, Midway City…
Wherever his name echoed, the world reacted.
Some with hope, others with fear.
But everyone knew the truth: nothing would be the same again.
A new era had arrived, the world changed abruptly with the presence of a single man.
And in the drenched streets of Gotham, under the light rain and distorted neon lights, Batman was already out there.
The Night Isn't Over Yet.