[Comprehensive British and American] Gotham Nightingale

The boundary between dusk and night.

When the eight consecutive bells in the center of Gotham pierced the sky with the hoarse chirping of crows and birds, the dark night was like a veil, bringing the moist and cold water vapor of the Gotham River.

Reticulate Creek, which circles the Upper East Side and reaches Arkham Asylum, is dark.

Its water body is as cold as the night, but it seems to be boiling at this moment, suddenly gurgling bubbles, accompanied by even more strange whirlpools.

By the stream, a drowsy homeless man who had taken drugs was originally half-hanging on the railing, his eyes were hazy with drunkenness.

He heard strange movements, and subconsciously looked into the dim stream...

"!!!"

The sirens rooted in Gotham people's nerves immediately sounded.

At the moment when he realized that something was wrong with the stream, several possibilities flashed through the homeless man's mind eroded by alcohol: Scarecrow's new water gas, Poison Ivy's aquatic plants, Mudface escaped from prison through underwater mud... and so on.

So his body was faster than his brain, and he immediately rolled and crawled, not caring about the wine bottle, and ran like the wind into the alley away from the stream.

Therefore, he also missed the beginning of seeing all the events of tonight in advance...

Countless long figures that looked like giant fish skipped over the water body densely, so fast that it was difficult to see clearly.

The stench of blood and fish/snake scales permeated the stream, and diffused to the surface of the stream along the rising air bubbles.

Their bodies are faintly glowing with fire—it is a very strange thing for fire to appear in the water—to be precise, it is more like magma.

And it was the high temperature of their bodies that made the water boil.

The circles of strange vortexes come from their long tails, ferocious, powerful, slapping and pushing, rushing towards the final destination like arrows leaving the string.

Arkham.

……

Nighting bar.

It was closed all day today, and the lights around the signboard were not turned on.

On the signboard, golden-green vines intertwine in double strands, encircling a dark blue bird-like pattern with a drooping tail.

Under the bird's slender paws, the cursive words "Nighting" looked a little dim.

This nightingale-owned bar is open all year round, but the door was suddenly closed tonight, making the surrounding residents vigilant.

They are sensitively aware that something big is going to happen in Gotham tonight, and they frantically strengthen the doors and tempered glass windows one by one, and those who originally planned to go out also change their schedules and stay at home honestly.

In the bar, Selena Ritter, a "puppeteer" with a wheat complexion, was lying on her back on a booth.

Her bright green pupils looked at the void without focus, but she described the situation to the other two members in an orderly manner.

"They set out from the MMP base and headed towards Arkham around Miller Bay and Mesh Creek...Jesus Christ, they look really...spicy eyes."

While speaking, she shook her head in disgust and stuck out her tongue, the bright silver nail looming between her lips.

"I'm really glad you didn't project the images for me, Boss, they look like hybrids of murlocs and birdmen that were then poured and glued together by magma..."

Because all eyes were on the fish "doll" in the stream, Selina didn't see Nightingale's absent-mindedness who was sitting on the deck at the other end.

——The puppeteer is not an attack-type mutant. She uses her abilities when she is most vulnerable, so her work is usually carried out during the day, and she rarely uses her abilities when she is alone.

Ryan at the bar leaned towards Nightingale and asked in a low voice, "You seem a little uneasy."

The latter turned his head when he heard the words, rubbed his forehead, put down the communicator he had been holding on to, and smiled: "...Maybe, I always feel that something unexpected will happen tonight."

For the sake of the chaos at night, she changed into dark-colored underwear and military boots that were easy to move, and her long, raven-colored curly hair that was originally loose was tied into a high bun, completely revealing her entire face.

If one ignores her pair of overly clear cobalt blue eyes, Nightingale's face is actually very aggressive, coupled with tonight's sharp attire, she looks more like a killer than an intelligence chief.

"For example—meeting an old friend."

……

The word "old friend" was pressed on the tip of her tongue by her, and her slightly hoarse voice had an indescribable complexity.

There was not only those ten years between her and Alger, but also his "death" and the secret of leaving without saying goodbye.

Although Nightingale has wandered among the various secrets of Gotham for several years, she has never deliberately explored the privacy of those close to her. For example, Selena betrayed her lover back then, and Ryan's childhood past...

But at this moment, the urgency in her heart seemed to be pumped into her veins, oppressing the nerves all over her body.

Alger was one of her deepest love-hates at her most inept.

He and Percy are like the flesh and bones of Little Nightingale.

They are her guides and shapers after she came to this world.

To take them away from her memory would be like smashing her flesh and blood.

While thinking this way, another surname that appeared very frequently during this period of time squeezed into her mind again.

- "Wayne".

Yes, Wayne.

What was Wayne to her?

This surname appeared in her life neither too early nor too late. Little Nightingale's worldview had already taken shape, and the two fetters that bound her were still firmly by her side.

Wayne, it's like a film of light surrounding her transformation into society.

It's the brilliance wrapped around her dark body, struggling to survive the dark streets of Gotham.

If Percy and Alger were the bones and flesh of Nightingale, Wayne was the skin that Nightingale had carefully wrapped around her body.

Which person who grew up in darkness does not have a strong desire for light?

Whether it is love. Lust or desire for destruction, whether it is yearning or destruction.

After Percy's death and Alger's disappearance, Nightingale tore off that layer of skin, and plunged into the darkness without hesitation again...

Her bones and flesh can no longer be returned, but she carefully put away that layer of skin, never put it on again, but took care of it meticulously, like a dragon guarding jewels.

If she doesn't touch it herself, no one else can touch it.

……

Until she discovered that the inside of that white skin was actually dark gray.

……

"whisper----!!!!"

The sharp sirens, accompanied by rumbling earthquakes, suddenly rang through Gotham in the night.

Nightingale, who abruptly pulled back from her thoughts, opened her eyes.

"Let's go-"

Her cobalt blue pupils no longer showed any fragility.

"Go and meet our friends." skbdowngg