Damien investigates Gotham.

In the span of a few hours, Damien had made his way across the city to the scene of the first murder documented by the Gotham police. He wasn’t sure if he’d find anything but at the very least it would give him an idea of what he was looking for. The murder occurred at least 2 months ago, during the night of the last full moon, something that was brought up specifically by the news when the body was found. The alleyway was dark and humid from a heat exhaust from the adjacent building, a steakhouse near the courthouse a block away. Looking around the alleyway, Damien found nothing that had survived the collection of evidence or the local weather. Even the blood stains which forensics claims dosed the entire ground and walls had washed away with the rain. What little signs he did find were strange gouges in the brickwork.

“Hmm, some sort of claw mark…” Tapping the side of his cowl to activate the HUD, Damien took several pictures of the claw marks before bringing his gloved hand beside it to give contrast. Whatever had left the mark had three distinct clawed digits like the talon of an eagle, the marks wide enough that they were four times the size of his own hand. “Apart from this, I’ve got almost nothing else to work with.”

Tapping the HUD of his cowl off, Damien reached into his utility belt and fired the grappler up into the rafters of the steak house, propelling him upwards to climb to the roof and move on to the next crime scene.

*

After two hours spent with the leader of the werecats, Alfred had returned to his parked vehicle, surprised to find it untouched in this end of the city. But then again, Gotham had changed quite a bit. His conversation with the proverbial ‘Cat’ Woman was interesting to say the least, making the man shake his head and chuckle as he opened the door to the classic Bentley and step into the vehicle. He had two more locations to go to tonight; The bell tower and the lounge. Starting the vehicle, he looked up to find Basset at the doors of the museum, waving him off with a cryptic smile as he returned the gesture and drove off.

“Such a fascinating young lady…” The man shrugged, driving out into the streets of New Gotham to his next destination. At night, the city was a very different place than it was during the day. The odd occasion he would stop at a traffic light to see a pack of were cats or were wolves run through the streets as casually as traffic. He had even seen some snakes slither down the streets, what few pedestrians out at night treating it all casually. Finding his down to the far end of Gotham to a very familiar street. Alfred parked his vehicle and looked up at the clock tower in the banking district. Smiling up at the tower, it had barely changed, despite being rebuilt. Tender care having been made into its reconstruction as a city landmark… A landmark that was the center of a massive web that spanned three city blocks in every direction! Thick webbing as chorded as electric cables spanned over the light posts and roofs of the surrounding buildings, the netting so tangled that it almost appeared as if a grey tarp had been draped 30 feet overhead.

Leaning heavily on his cane, Alfred crossed the street and approached the bell tower. Finding the double doors of the building left alone, but when he looked up, he found creatures overhead scurrying just out of sight. Entering the tower, Alfred closed the door behind him and stepped inside to find himself in a cobweb heavy lobby, its furniture layered with silk as if the building had been abandoned, despite the furniture being clean and new underneath all the webbing. Taking a single step forward, his ears picked up the scurrying of dozens of limbs as several giant spiders skittered into view, taking up the archways of the lobby and surrounding the man. Looking around, Alfred found himself almost regretting his decision to enter as he found himself being stared at by glossy black eyes and hissing mandibles.

“Alfred? Alfred is that you?” he heard a deep yet familiar voice when he turned his attention to a large red furred arachnid approaching him, her talons clicking as did her fangs when the spider looked him over. Then her fangs and mandibles folded back into her mouth, giving her an almost humanoid face that smiled back at him warmly. “My goodness Alfred, how are you doing? Do you need help?” She smiled, giving the man a hug that made the old man yelp before she let him go. “Helena! Alfred is here!” She called out loud, looking up to hear the black furred spider scurry down to meet the elderly butler being surrounded by their children. Taking on the same humanoid face as Barbara, Helena Bertinelli smiled as wide as her ears should be before moving up to hug the man, kissing his cheek and taking up his side while Barbara took the other. Resting a talon gently over his shoulder.

“Children, this is Alfred Pennyworth, this is the man who helped raise the Wolf King when he was a young boy and has been our dearest friend for so many years.”

Hushed whispered spread between the spiders for some time before some of the smaller spiders scuttled up to poke the man in the shin to make sure he was real. Looking down, Alfred guessed that despite being the size of a saint Bernard, the brown furred drider looking up at him innocently was a four-year-old child. “Well aren’t you a little…”

Not giving the man time to finish, the spiders scurried off out of sight, climbing up the tower or leaving the lobby to be left unseen. Turning to Barbara, the red furred arachnid woman could only shrug her shoulders. “What can I say, they’re shy.”

“Skittish would be the apt word.” Smirked Helena as she and Barbara guided Alfred up the steps to the top of the Bell tower, helping him with the stairs the entire time. By the time they reached the top, Alfred was guided towards a comfortable chair to rest, sighing while he placed his cane across his lap.

“Just wait here Alfred, we’ll be right with you.” Whispered Barbara, giving the man a kiss on the forehead before she and Helena stepped out of sight into another room. Closing his eyes and breathing in a sigh, he almost didn’t hear another set of feet walk into the room, mostly because it didn’t sound like a spider’s feet.

“Well, well, well, my children told me that the renowned Alfred Pennyworth had arrived, I had SO wished to meet you.” Purred a honey sweet voice that made Alfred open his wizened eyes and sit up. Sitting across from him was a stunningly beautiful woman in a black strapless silk dress, soft and flowing it obscured her legs but exposed her bare arms and neckline, he could just make out silvery coloured outlines that made the drees seem like a well crafted web. Staring back at the man with sparkling green eyes, her silky long black hair flowing down her bare shoulder like liquid while she rested her smiling face in the palm of her hand. Her lips and eyes were given a slight hint of makeup to accentuate her already impressive natural beauty.

“Ah… Officer Alexa Tarvish I presume?” He asked, getting a confused look from the woman before the door where Barbara and Helena went to opened and the two stepped out, in their human form wearing casual clothing, joining the two in front of the coffee table.

“She calls herself Arachne Alfred, I’m afraid there’s still some memory loss from the whole affair for her.”

Looking up at the two women, it made Alfred almost grateful he was the age he was, otherwise if he were a younger man, he would have stumbled out of his chair at the two women’s beauty. Barbara wore shorts and a t-shirt of the Gotham University where she graduated while Helena wore a black skirt and sweater, something the two hastily put on after reverting to human form. Even so they looked vibrant and stunning, lycanthropy giving them the peak of their health and vitality among other gifts.

“My word, you’re human, all three of you during the full moon.”

Giving each other a knowing look, the three women sat and explained. “A lot has happened after the War of the Cycle, after we had our first litter of children, Basset had declared that we could be a part of the Umbra.”

“Yeah, us AND the snakes.”

“The Wolf King granted us the royal gift; we are the Spider Queens now.” Answered Arachne, her voice smooth and seductive even when she was being matter of fact. “No longer bound by the Moon’s call.”

“So, what brings you back to Gotham Alfred? Is Damien here?”

“Yes, yes he is… He’s asked me to speak with you all over the murders.”

*

Four blocks away from the first crime scene, Damien landed on the second crime scene. The outskirts of a park just outside the court district, the scene was in the same condition as the previous one, having occurred the next full moon afterwards. Which was 6 weeks ago. News showed a double homicide where two men had been killed and torn apart; Brian Rufus and Antonio Montino. Both men had criminal records but had very separate careers where one had a history with the gang wars and the other was a former enforcer of the Falcone family. Autopsy reports showed they had been attacked with something with talons matching the marks Damien found on the brick wall, there were bite marks on the corpses that did not match any of the four tribes of lycanthropes. Leading to many news stations making wild accusations, such as more than one lycanthrope being involved.

Unfortunately, this far out in the open, whatever evidence Damien could gather would have been gone. There was one more site to go to that was more recent. Ducking out of sight, Batman moved to the next location where the last murders occurred.

*

Leaving the clock tower and returning to the Bentley parked across the street, Alfred sighed with a smile. It was good to see the two women doing well after what had happened, but now he had one last place to visit, one last tribe to speak to and get answers. Starting the vehicle, Alfred made his way west, towards the harbour of Gotham.

When the city was rebuilt, the serpents had taken possession of a lounge near the harbour apply called the serpent’s den. Parking the vehicle at the lot outside the lounge, the man looked up to the flashing lights of the bar, the sound of music echoing out of the interior. Making his way to the entrance, the man looked up to the front door where a large reptile stood watching the door, hissing his forked tongue at the elderly butler and glaring down with lidless eyes.

“A little late for you, old man?”

“Indeed… I have an appointment with your mistress, if you could hold the door open for me?”

Flicking his tongue, the snake man slithered back and held the door open where the strobe lights and loud music could be heard inside. Stepping inside, Alfred steeled himself and tried to ignore the loud music and club dancing on the main floor of the lounge. The bar was stacked where a reptilian bar tender served drinks and three weresnake women slithered from one table to the next offering drinks and food to the patrons who sat and talked.

“Alfred Pennyworth?” Called out a feminine voice, just loud enough for the man to hear. Turning his attention to the speaker, Alfred found a mocha scaled serpent woman sizing him up and gesturing for him to follow her. Heading up the second floor where the throbbing of the music was deafened by soundproof walls, the elderly man huffed making his way up until the serpent guided him into a large room.

Walking inside and gestured towards a leather chair, Candy slithered inside and closed the door behind her. Looking around Alfred found another weresnake looking down from the one-sided glass wall looking over the dance floor where a blonde scaled snake observed the patrons while writing on a not pad. But siting at the office table and drinking from a fluted glass filled with red wine sat a human woman wearing an extravagantly patterned business suit, almost like the diamond bands of a rattlesnake. Her hair tied back in a ponytail with a golden brooch along with matching earrings, necklace and a ring on her finger. Looking up from her desk the tan skinned woman smiled and stood from her seat, making her way around her desk to see Alfred eye to eye.

“Ah, so YOU are Alfred Pennyworth, welcome to my lounge, you may call me Lamia.” The woman’s voice was smooth and sultry, her presence exuding wealth and prestige, almost like royalty.

“Miss Gina Phines, such a pleasure to meet you.”

Blinking back at the name in confusion, Lamia hid her confusion quickly with a smile, combing a strand of hair out of her eyes and joining Alfred at the artificial fireplace where his seat sat. “If its all the same to you Mr. Pennyworth, that woman died a long time ago, I’m Lamia now, Queen of the serpents.”

“Yes, Arachne explained how master Bruce granted you the royal bite.”

“Mother of three… Basset decided that was proof enough I deserved a place among the Umbral court.” Leaning forward, the woman looked deeply into Alfred’s eyes, her own becoming slit and reptilian as her hypnotic stare delved deeply into his eyes and mind. “So, what would an elderly man want with me personally? I rather dislike being asked questions especially by…” Looking deeply into his mind, Lamia’s smirk faded, sitting up more properly as she truly understood who was sitting across from her. “…Strangers, you know the Wolf King.”

“Indeed, but I’m not here on Master Bruce’s behalf, I’m here about the murders in Gotham.”

Crossing her legs, Lamia looked to her two secretaries who slithered to join her behind the leather seat, the woman crossing her arms and breathing in sharply.

“Ask away.”