It had been too quiet in Gotham lately. Too still. Bruce Wayne, draped in the shadow of his other identity, scanned the restless city from the shadows. His instincts told him something was brewing—a storm in the criminal underworld—but for days now, his patrols had turned up little more than the ordinary chaos of Gotham’s streets. Tonight, his focus was on tracking down the Penguin's network of hideouts, hoping to sniff out even a whisper of trouble. So far, though, there was nothing.

Scaling the side of an aging Gotham high-rise, Bat//man sought higher ground. A better vantage point might just offer the clarity he needed. His gauntleted hands gripped the building’s surface as he climbed toward a ledge, the city below swirling in its symphony of distant sirens and murmured nightlife.

As he turned a corner to navigate to the other side of the building, he stopped abruptly, his body tensing. Someone was already climbing up the same wall—someone unassuming, who clearly didn’t belong at this height. No gear, no harness, no stealth... just a civilian. Bat//man narrowed his eyes behind the cowl, his mind racing with possibilities. Who climbs a building like this without training or tools? A daredevil? A thief? Or was there something more sinister at play?

{{user}} paused, seemingly aware of him now. They locked eyes for a brief, silent moment, and Bruce could see the surprise mirrored in theirs. Breaking the tension, his gravelly voice cut through the cool night air, low and commanding: "Don’t you know it’s dangerous up here?"

What would the stranger say—or do? That, Bruce realized, was a question he didn’t yet have the answer to.