It wasn't just the Gotham Police Departnt that Alex drove insane that day.
Every major dia outlet in the city — from Gotham TV and local radio stations to the biggest news networks — seed to go off the rails at the exact sa ti.
Phones rang nonstop. Reporters yelled across chaotic rooms. Editors barked orders over the noise.
Because everyone had just discovered sothing that defied belief.
That day, the number of murders in Gotham had exploded to an absurd and unprecedented level.
Even for Gotham — a city long infamous as a haven for psychopaths and criminals, a place that had learned to live with blood on its sidewalks — the body count that day was staggering beyond comprehension.
And yet, there was sothing even more shocking than the death toll itself.
Every single cri scene, without exception, shared one unmistakable mark.
Burned into the floor, scorched across walls, or carved deep into concrete, two words appeared again and again — like a brand, like a signature.
"Holander."
The connection was impossible to miss.
The man who had gone live on national television, publicly declaring that "no criminals would be allowed in Gotham," had left his na written in fire at the scene of every killing.
Within seconds, every newsroom in Gotham was thrown into a frenzy.
> "Drop everything! All other stories are off — focus on this!"
"Forget the Batman injury report — I don't care if he's in a coma! Get Holander! He's the story now!"
"Pull every other lead. Right now, nothing else matters — in front of Holander, no one else makes the front page!"
"Move! Get his background, his address, his childhood, his blood type — everything!"
Across the city, chaos ruled the dia. Editors slamd fists on desks; producers shouted into phones; journalists ran from one corner to another, frantically piecing together the story of the century.
Every whiteboard in every newsroom had the sa words scrawled across it:
Holander Investigation.
And the deeper they dug, the colder their blood ran.
Fifty-six murders.
That was the official count after the first wave of reports.
In less than twenty-four hours, the man calling himself "Holander" had killed fifty-six people across the city.
By the ti all the data was compiled, the true number of dead stood at one hundred and twenty-one.
A trail of blood that stretched from Gotham's upper districts to its foulest slums.
But what truly froze every journalist in place wasn't the number of deaths.
It was the absence of everything else.
Aside from those fifty-six "Holander cases," Gotham had not recorded a single serious cri that day.
No robberies.
No assaults.
No gang shootouts.
For the first ti in living mory, Gotham — the city of nightmares — was quiet.
There were no cris.
Holander had actually done it.
> "It's true!"
"Everything he said was true!"
"He actually did it — he really did sothing that insane!"
Inside a cluttered newsroom, Emily — the sa reporter who had once interviewed Alex — sat frozen in front of her monitor.
Her hands trembled on the desk, her heartbeat pounding in her ears.
Parker, her caraman, stared at the data sheet in disbelief.
The man they'd both dismissed as a lunatic, a self-obsessed maniac in a red cape, had turned out to be sothing else entirely.
He hadn't been bluffing.
His outrageous claim — "There will be no criminals in Gotham" — wasn't empty talk.
He had made it a reality.
> "Who… who is this guy?" Emily whispered, her voice barely audible.
From that mont, every network in Gotham devoted its full power to one story — and one na.
Screens across the city flickered with the sa word, again and again:
Holander.
---
> "According to incomplete reports, as of this broadcast, Gotham has seen a total of fifty-six murder scenes today."
"Each scene bears the sa mark burned into the ground — the word 'Holander.'"
"Experts have confird that every marking is identical, carved by the sa individual."
"Thirty-two of the fifty-six cases have eyewitnesses. Every one of them identified the killer as Holander — the sa man who publicly declared that Gotham would have no criminals."
"Preliminary investigations reveal all victims were engaged in active cris when they were killed — gunrunning, assassinations, bank robberies, extortion."
"In short, every single person who died… was a criminal."
"We still don't know how Holander managed to cover the entire city and stop fifty-six cris in a single day, but one fact remains undeniable—"
"Today, Gotham experienced no cri."
"Yes — today was the day Gotham had no criminals."
"Or perhaps more accurately… the day Gotham had only one criminal — Holander."
"Holander has done the impossible. He has fulfilled his vow: 'No criminals in Gotham.'"
---
The mont those words hit the airwaves, the city erupted like a bomb.
It was as if a nuclear shockwave had torn through Gotham's heart.
In every neighborhood, in every smoky bar, on every rooftop and penthouse, people froze mid-motion, eyes glued to glowing screens.
> "That's impossible! All the criminals in Gotham… gone?!"
"Who the hell is this guy? How can one man do that?!"
"No way. It has to be fake — it has to be!"
"He killed every criminal? My God… only God could do sothing like that!"
The entire city was buzzing, trembling between disbelief and awe.
Even those who had mocked him, who had laughed at his arrogance the day before, now sat in uneasy silence.
Every major outlet confird the sa story. Every cara showed the sa scorched word.
This wasn't propaganda.
It wasn't a trick.
Not even Wayne Enterprises, with all its money and influence, could stage sothing like this.
---
And while ordinary citizens tried to process the unthinkable, Gotham's other inhabitants — the extraordinary ones — were equally shaken.
Inside the Batcave, Bruce Wayne sat before the massive display screen, his face pale and unreadable.
> "He… actually did it."
"That's… impossible."
For nearly ten seconds, Gotham's richest man — its silent protector — couldn't move.
He simply stared at the report, as if hoping it would rewrite itself.
To eliminate every major criminal in a single day…
Even for Batman, that was beyond imagination.
Just a day ago, he had smirked at Holander's words. He had dismissed the man as reckless, naïve, and dangerous.
Now?
It felt like the universe itself had slapped him across the face.
> "Gotham really has no criminals left," he murmured, his voice flat, empty.
"Who… what is he?"
Nearby, Catwoman sat perched on the edge of the Batcomputer desk, her erald eyes glued to the sa screen.
Unlike Bruce, she had witnessed Alex's power firsthand — his speed, his strength, the blazing fury in his gaze.
She understood, if only faintly, that this outco was within his reach.
Elsewhere, Gotham's most infamous figures — Scarecrow, Ra's al Ghul, Joker, Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, and countless others — sat in stunned silence.
Because what Alex had done wasn't just terrifying for law enforcent or politicians.
It terrified them.
Even the monsters of Gotham felt their blood run cold.
Because for the first ti…
They realized they were prey.
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