At midnight, Captain George Stacy stood alone on the rooftop of the Manhattan Police Precinct, next to a massive searchlight covered by a rain tarp.
This had been transported by his assistant, Ogg, from the old Manhattan precinct that had long since been destroyed by the Green Goblin, Norman Osborn. It had been installed just over ten minutes ago.
"Everyone stay alert and be ready to evacuate at any moment," George Stacy said, holding his walkie-talkie.
Inside the precinct, Assistant Ogg and the other officers and operators looked at each other in dismay. Ogg hesitantly spoke into the radio:
"Captain Stacy, are you sure we shouldn't have the Major Crimes Unit snipers on standby in the distance?"
"Absolutely not!" George Stacy's tone deepened. "I know this looks like the perfect opportunity for you all to capture Batman, but we don't even know if he's human."
"Cooperate with my operation. Whatever happens, I take full responsibility."
Assistant Ogg still felt the Captain's actions were too risky and tried hard to dissuade him. "What if Batman takes you?"
George Stacy held the radio in one hand and grabbed the rain tarp covering the giant searchlight with the other, yanking it off with force!
With a whoosh, the tarp was thrown back, revealing the somewhat damaged searchlight underneath. Welded to the center of the light was a bat symbol, identical in shape to a Batarang.
"Ogg, do you remember two months ago when we were working overtime at the old precinct, and that Squid-man fell from the sky?"
George Stacy said to Assistant Ogg over the radio, eyes fixed on the bat symbol on the searchlight.
"Of course I remember. That must have been the first time Batman delivered a criminal to the station," Assistant Ogg replied.
"Batman didn't send the Squid-man anywhere else; he delivered him to me," Captain Stacy said. "Even if he just did it in passing, judging by the fact that Batman hasn't taken a single life so far, I don't think he'll hurt me."
"Captain, have you forgotten the murder case involving Batman that happened at Ryker's Island a week ago?" Assistant Ogg reminded him.
"Although there's no evidence, I don't believe Batman did that," George Stacy said. "Maybe it was some other vampire."
"Even so, you have to at least ensure your safety when meeting Batman," Ogg said, fumbling through his pockets but failing to find what he was looking for.
He turned his head and shouted to the others in the precinct, "Who has a cross on them? I need to take it to Captain Stacy."
The officers of the Manhattan precinct shook their heads, but luckily, an operator took a cross necklace off her neck and handed it over. "A priest gave this to me. Make sure you give it back."
Assistant Ogg nodded repeatedly, took the cross, and ran straight for the rooftop. "Captain Stacy, whether Batman will hurt you or not, at least wear this."
George Stacy took the cross, put it in his pocket, and waved Ogg away. "Go back. I only need to be alone here."
Assistant Ogg wanted to stay and wait for Batman's arrival with Captain Stacy, but under the Captain's orders, he returned inside the precinct.
On the rooftop, George Stacy put away the walkie-talkie and touched the cross in his pocket.
Hummm—
He pressed the switch, and the spotlight projected a yellow beam straight up into the sky at an angle.
Hell's Kitchen.
Batman and Venom Robin swung between the high-rises, like two grim reapers ready to descend upon criminals at any moment.
But at a certain moment, Batman landed on a rooftop and stopped swinging. Venom Robin stopped immediately after him.
The two looked simultaneously in the direction of the new Manhattan precinct, where a yellow beam of light was shooting straight into the clouds.
Without the Moon God Khonshu interfering with New York's weather, the nights here weren't as overcast as Gotham's, but clouds were always present.
At this moment, the beam of light hit the cloud layer. Inside the circular halo was a massive bat symbol.
"Someone there wants to see you," Venom Robin said. "Are you going?"
"You stay here. I'll be back in ten minutes."
Batman finished speaking and leapt from the rooftop. In mid-air, he spread the wide cape behind his back and glided toward the Manhattan precinct.
Captain George Stacy stood alone on the precinct rooftop, buffeted by the cold late-September night wind.
He tightened his police uniform around himself, looking up at the bat symbol projected onto the clouds by the searchlight.
Whoosh!
An undisguised sound of wind breaking rang out not far from George Stacy.
When Captain Stacy turned around, he saw a pitch-black figure standing on the edge of the rooftop, more than ten meters away.
The figure's eyes glowed white. He had a pair of sharp, upright ears on his head, and his chin was exposed, making him look like just a human wearing a mask.
But recalling how Batman had once sent the Kingpin—who weighed over four hundred pounds—flying with a single blow at Oscorp, even smashing through several walls...
Unlike most of Batman's operations which took place at night, that was the only time Batman had engaged in combat with humans during the day and with other witnesses present.
Given this display of strength far exceeding the range of normal humans, George Stacy preferred to believe that the deliberately exposed chin was just a disguise, and that underneath the mask might be some non-human creature.
Thump, thump.
Even though George Stacy used to be a frontline officer who had arrested countless criminals, his heart couldn't help but beat violently in the face of such an unknown existence.
He forced himself to steady his mood, stood his ground, looked at Batman, and spoke slowly:
"I know you can hear me. First, I want to thank you personally for helping us arrest those criminals who were at large."
Batman remained silent as a statue, standing motionless at the edge of the rooftop.
He accepted Captain George Stacy's gratitude, but that was not why Batman had come.
"But beyond my private identity as George, I am also the Captain of the Manhattan Police Department."
George Stacy's second sentence went straight to the point:
"Let's skip unanswerable questions like 'Who are you.'"
"I stand here tonight not to judge a ghost in the name of the law, but as the legal guardian of this city, to speak with an immeasurable power. We need to understand each other."
Captain George Stacy closed his mouth after speaking. He slowly reached into his pocket, gripped the cross tightly, and waited for Batman's answer.
The cross was useless, or at least George Stacy thought so.
Gripping it in his pocket now was merely to find some psychological comfort.
The night wind blew, lifting Batman's cape slightly. Just as George Stacy began to suspect that Batman was a creature who didn't speak human language, Batman's deep voice finally sounded:
"Understand what?"
"Phew..." George Stacy let out a breath. The fact that the other party was willing to speak proved that communication was possible.
He composed himself, took his hand out of his pocket, looked at Batman, and said:
"Understand each other's boundaries, and the consequences of crossing them."
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