Doors

[During this, an undisclosed building in Washington D.C. goes up in red and green flames. The smoke tower can be seen clear to Metropolis and Gotham, and thins as the day wears on. News reports do not state what occurred at the facility, though they do confirm that it was a government building that was destroyed, and that there were multiple injuries at the scene. Later that day, grainy footage, of a girl flying out of the building before the explosion, hits the social media networks.]

[During this, Gotham PD is called to the site of an altercation outside soon-to-open Arkham City. Early reports claim that the perpetrator is Kryptonian, and SWAT teams have no luck bringing the girl down. In the end, the news lauds Green Arrow for his quick and decisive action in taking down Supergirl and protecting the city from the threat the Kryptonians present.]

[On Sunday, the newly elected Mayor holds a press conference to inform the citizens of Gotham that the new prison, Arkham City, will be opening its doors on August 1st. Existing prisoners, who had been housed in neighboring boroughs for the time being, will be bused back for the grand opening of the prison. Arkham City, which will span from the old Solomon Wayne Courthouse to the old Ace Chemical Building, and which will sit atop abandoned Wonder City, will boast newly trained TYGER officers to keep order in the free-roaming prison.]

[Over the past few days, every hospital and clinic in Gotham and its surrounding cities has received a call from an individual asking whether they had recently admitted a woman in her twenties with blonde hair, possibly comatose and experiencing symptoms from frostbite and a terminal illness. The voice on the other end claimed alternately to be from the police, the FBI, a private investigator's office, or a loved one seeking someone who had gone missing.
Hospital staff that could be cajoled into providing information saw their hospitals untouched. Hospitals that refused on grounds that they do not provide such information through unofficial channels, as most of them did, saw their paper records ransacked and their electronic records hacked during break-ins. Hospital after hospital, clinic after clinic, this pattern repeated.

Just as police in the various cities began to cooperate on the series of mystery break-ins, reports began to filter out that a man had broken into Gotham General. Unhackable files and no paper records meant that someone was holding one of the doctors hostage until they provided their admittance records. Initial reports claimed biological weapons had been used, with several injuries, but no apparent fatalities. By the time the evening news rolled around, newscasts began showing clips of witnesses. Doctors, staff, and patients alike claimed a seven foot tall man (or possibly robot, depending on the witness) in a metal suit came in through the emergency room entrance, freezing the doors shut with an as-yet unidentified piece of weapons technology. He froze the legs of anyone who attempted to flee, and the hands of anyone who reached for their phones. Once the doctor was done telling him no one of the description he was looking for had been admitted, he left. Police turned up no giant metal man, no robot, and have no apparent leads. Gotham General has been temporarily locked down as a precaution.]

[Midday Monday, in the wake of the Blackgate explosion, the Bat emerges from the sewers with Bane and Deadshot in tow. Both men are unconscious, restrained, and very publicly displayed, before being taken into custody by the police. Measures are taken to prevent escape, and soon afterward the remainder of Bane's forces begin to fall. As the day progresses, more and more men are apprehended, and it becomes apparent that Bane's reign of terror has come to an end-- though not without lasting damage. The roundup continues into the evening, spearheaded by Batman and the other masked vigilantes, as rescue units also continue their efforts.]

[The explosion that rocks Blackgate prison Monday destroys the structure. Survivors climb out of the rubble, but hundreds are either dead or unaccounted for. As rescue units are sent to deal with the loss in a city already suffering, the governor issues an emergency statement about the prison that will rise from Gotham's slums. Jonathan Crane is named as the future guardian of this new Arkham City.]

[The news of a prison break at Blackgate comes in the early hours of the morning. Details are sparse at first, but as time passes, the escaped prisoners are identified as Damian Wayne and Jason Todd. Sources also claim that Batman was seen in the prison and was involved in the breakout.]

[Reports of Batman sightings begin as early as a few hours after Arkham is destroyed, and continue on throughout the night and into the next day. He strikes in areas with the highest concentration of Bane's men, and his attacks are both public and brutal. Nothing, not even bullets, seem to slow him down, and his opponents are left in the street, stripped of their weapons and at the mercy of the citizens they've terrorized.

There is no discernable pattern to his actions, no way to predict when and where he'll strike next. Only one thing is certain; the Bat shows no sign of stopping.]

[The rain isn't his doing, but everything else is. Waiting until Riddler, the self-proclaimed guardian of Arkham, is gone, is easy enough. The man is unpredictable, and unpredictable men never remain still for long. His men break in, and they set the bombs without even being noticed. The distraction of preparations for Blackgate transfers, with the filling of buses and filing of paperwork, is just that - a distraction. The ground is soaked by the time the explosions detonate, and the rain-soaked foundation helps the bombs finish their work. Arkham Asylum explodes, and then it sinks into the gaping maw left behind when the rain-drenched foundation fails. Screams fill the night, along with the smell of charred flesh, but there's no saving anyone inside. Amid the rubble, a message a appears once the smoke clears, one last present from Bane to his adversary, a taunt to come out from the shadows - a Bat symbol in flames in the middle of the debris.]

[Saturday night, the same blonde girl from before, the one in red, blue and gold is seen flying in the sky over the north end of the Gotham perimeter. She leads the guards there on a chase that involves enough firepower to light up the Gotham night, and that lasts nearly a half hour. The fight ends when Deadshot shoots one long distance, very green bullet into the girl. She's seen falling from the sky and splashing into the Gotham River. She doesn't surface, and is presumed dead by the guards, who return to their regular patrols.]

[After Jason Todd and Damian Wayne are taken away, and after Wayne Manor is sacked, a dozen of Bane's men remain at the Manor, in case anyone returns. Five planes attempting to take off have been shot down in the past 48 hours, and over four dozen men and women have been killed attempting to enter or leave the city through the perimeter. Those bodies have been left where they fell, as a warning. Blackgate is overflowing, and discussions have begun with Dr. Crane in order to turn Arkham Asylum into Blackgate's "overflow" facility. The number of local citizens joining the teams of "enforcers" is growing on a daily basis. The federal government, notably, is offering no assistance.]

[On Thursday night, Wayne Manor is stormed by Bane's armed guards. After the mansion is ransacked and torn apart, Damian Wayne and Jason Todd are detained and brought back to Gotham. They are charged for stealing from the people and being parasites on Gotham City with resounding jeers from the peanut gallery. The two are uproariously sent to Blackgate to carry out life sentences with the filth.]

[Shortly after this, a blonde girl in red, white and gold is reported as flying through the barricade on on the east side of Gotham. The men at the barricade shoot at her, and a plane tries to take her down, but none of them are effective. When the aircraft tries to pursue her, she throws it into the Bay, which makes for a very unhappy Bane, who turns his attention toward Wayne Manor for retribution.]

[After every powerful person in Gotham is no longer able to serve, Bane steps in. By nightfall on Monday, the entire city has been closed off by violent men taking orders from Deadshot. The airspace is declared a no-fly zone by the new governing body, which consists of just him. Three planes that do not follow the ordinance are brought down by missiles over the bay. Anyone trying to enter or leave is shot dead. The amount of accumulated explosives brought up from the sewers that evening is enough to sink the entire city, but he promises Gotham that it will only be utilized for their protection. Almost immediately, his men put out the fires, round up all off the poor citizens harming themselves due to the toxin, and they help them. Emergency hospitals are opened, and scientists are rounded up and given materials to work around the clock on an antitoxin. Anyone who helps will, of course, be rewarded very nicely. The people of Gotham, unconcerned and unworried, go along with all of it like children being led to the slaughter. He ends the evening with a speech outside city hall, promising to protect the city, to help the people take back what is rightfully theirs. He encourages Gotham's citizens to bring forth their villains, the men and women that oppress them. And, without trial, these citizens are put in Blackgate. There is celebrating in the streets late into the following morning.]

[Message delivered to Deadshot]
Make sure the federal government does not interfere with our plans, my friend.

[Throughout the night and into the morning, twelve of Gotham's most important politicians are shot dead by a sniper. When no one seems to care, investigate or call the Bat, it gets worse. Baseball stars, war heroes, cops, priests, postmen, stage actors and third grade teachers until there isn't a pattern anymore. By morning, the Gotham library is burning. Drugged citizens stand outside smiling and enjoying the smell of burning books. Some of them even casually walk inside the burning building like moths to a flame.]

[In the early-morning hours on Friday, Gotham's new law enforcement team leaves the sewers. There are hundreds of men and women, Gotham's most violent. They're unaffected by Crane's toxin, protected from the first pass in the sewers, and all equipped with re-breathers by the time they emerge. The team protects the Mayor, and they take control of Gotham's perimeter, because no one else seems capable of doing so. Silently, they slide into place. Nothing is closed off yet, and no new rule is established.

The Mayor makes a candlelight statement about the wonderful future of the city, and about how there is nothing to be concerned about. Behind him, a different man in a mask lurks, waiting.]

[Wednesday evening, the first reports of death start to trickle through the news. The victims are five high school seniors on their way back from a sporting event. The vehicle they were traveling in crashed into a concrete divider on the interstate, and crash investigators estimate that the vehicle was going over 100 mph at the time of impact. While their names have yet to be released to the public, initial reactions are shocked. Responsible, hard-working, eager for their college life to begin in the fall, these are not the sort of people who engage in this kind of risky behavior. Officials are waiting for reports from the medical examiner's office before any more information will be released.]

[Early Wednesday morning, during the morning commute, low-flying planes pass above Gotham City. The city is abuzz as to their purpose and who they belong to, but several broadcasts on the news stations ensure the population that the planes are part of an effort in the city to eliminate a certain type of bug that has been threatening the local ash tree population. The chemicals, the reports claim, are an all-natural formulation that poses no threat to humans or animals, so the city is encouraged to continue about their daily activities.

By afternoon, reports of strange behavior start filtering into local police stations, hospitals get their first patients, and reports of unexplained violence start overtaking the local television stations.]

[Gotham's new Mayor is elected on Friday. He's a low-level politician, one that barely anyone knows, but he's handsome and enigmatic, and he can give one hell of a speech, which he does immediately upon taking office. He's full of regret and sadness for the prior Mayor's suicide (as it has been officially ruled by the ME, who is now in possession of a very nice car). He explains that Gotham has experienced a new dawn, and that his main priority will be ensuring Gotham is protected from any outside forces that might prove negative. He begins establishing checkpoints to this end. Crime is almost non-existent by Friday, and even the smaller, domestic disputes have gone quiet. Families have picnics in the park, and they walk to the movies, and they plan holidays. For once, even Metropolis is envious of Gotham's tranquility.]

[During a dinner with fellow politicians and high class society members, the mayor of Gotham is found shot dead in the master bedroom. Authorities initially claimed it a suicide since the gunshot wound was through the mouth, but the lack of a note or motive left detectives scratching their heads. Those attending the party are put through questioning and have hired their expensive lawyers, leaving nothing but intrigue and finger-pointing behind.]