About 4 years later- October 21st- An old manufacturing factory in North Western Gotham City.

The Dark Knight crashed through the dirtied windows of an old toy factory determined to apprehend two male kidnappers.

"It's the bat!" One of the two criminals yelled out. These two kidnappers were known as Jason Garcia and Joshua Matthews. Batman had recently been on there trail. They covered their tracks well, but they messed up, getting too confident.

In between the two men was a middle aged blonde woman and her young son, both strapped to chair by thick zip ties, with dirty rags tied roughly around their mouths, causing their shouted pleas to came out as muffled noises.

Batman was quick as he dodged several bullets now speeding his way,"Release the hostages!" Batman threw two Bat-a-ranges. both weapons knocking the guns from the criminals hands.

"Damn it!" Garcia attempted to dart away from the scene, but Batman, who had dealt with fleeing criminals before, threw his self-tying rope at the male, the material rendering Garcias legs useless as he fell to the floor.

Soon after that, Batman was sent back as a painful punch was delivered to his face by the other criminal, Matthews.

Batman took no time to knock the man unconscious with two swift punches. The mans body falling the the ground with a thud.

As soon as the two men were taken care of, Batman rushed over to the hostages. The woman and her son were both in tears created by fear as well as relief.

Batman pulled out a knife, cutting the zip ties with ease. He untied the rags from their mouths and helped the two up from the wooden chairs,"Follow me." He instructed,"You both need medical attention." They were cut and bruised up just a bit, but it was better safe than sorry.

The woman stopped in her tracks, her voice shaking,"T-Take my son. M-Make sure he gets to his f-father."

"Mommy... Why aren't you coming with me?" The boy perked up. Batman held the same question.

"Ma'am, what's wrong?"

Tears fell from her eyes at a fast rate,"I'm not meant to make it out of here..."

Batman tensed,"What do you mean by that?"

He began sobbing,"Just take my son!"

"I'm not leaving you here."Batman gripped her wrist,"You need to accompany your son."

"Don't you understand? I'm supposed to die today! He told me that! He said that on October 21st I will die!"

"What? Who told you that?"

Before she could reply, a pain filled cry left her lips. Garcia stood behind her, just now pulling a blade from her back that he had previously impaled her with.

Batman let out a shout before punching Garcia in the jaw. The man was knocked out after the one hit, obviously not used to taking a beating.

"Mommy! Mommy, please wake up!" Batman looked down at the small kid now crying as his mothers life was taken in front of him.

This woman had known she was going to die today...

Someone had told her that she would...

How?

And who?

~~~

October 23rd- On the rooftop of Gotham City Police Department (GCPD)

"Gordon, there must be a reason you requested to meet up,"Batman said to Jim Gordon, the current commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, and one of the few law officials who was in favor of the vigilantes ways.

"Of course. Do you recall that woman you told me about? The one who claimed that she knew she would die." The commissioner began to power down the bright light that was currently displaying the bat signal across the sky of the city.

"Yes, I do. Why are you bringing her up?" Batman asked cautiously.

"Well, I did a bit of digging after what you told me and apparently she's not the only one who seems to have figured out the exact day of their own death. There have been several reports all over Gotham of citizens who are panicking, claiming that someone told them the day they would die. These people have been taking every precaution to stay alive, to absolutely no avail."

The Dark Knights shoulders stiffened,"How is that even possible?"

"Well, the word is that there is someone who has, let's say a booth, in Northern Downtown Gotham who is just telling people this. Rumor has it that this person has the ability to see the exact moment when a person will die. This person can even tell you the exact date it will happen."

"This person is just going around telling people this?"

"No, they are making a profit out of it. Apparently, certain information like this doesn't come cheap, but I don't know exactly where they're located. I hear it's pretty discrete and you'll probably die before you actually get to see them because of how long the waiting line is."

Batman shook his head.

"I know it's crazy. Who would tell people those things? Even, if you get a good pay. I, for one, would rather not know when I'm going to die. If you ask me, we should try to put a stop to this character. We don't know what their intentions are."

Batman nodded in agreement,"For all we know he could be planning out the deaths rather than predicting them. Thank you for the information Gordon, I'll keep you updated on the case." Batman pulled out now grappling hook.

"Always."

---

October 24th- An old part of Downtown Gotham.

It had taken Batman a while to track down this mysterious person. Many were rather hesitant to give the persons location for some strange reason, but he had eventually gotten it from a few civilians who were easily intimidated by the hero.

Batman also learned that this unknown person was a male, and quite young, Batman decided to assume that he was in his early twenties. Maybe even late teens due to the popular speculation over his age that he had co to notice. This males popularity was growing rather quickly too, but so was the panic of people as they gained vital information about their life, or death for that matter of fact.

Batman made his way through the old parts of the city, his surroundings feeling unfamiliar. He rarely passed through the older part of the city, not finding it necessary since crime was much lower in this area than any other part of Gotham.

"It's Batman." He heard a whisper as he observed the large amount of people that were in the area. He knew he was at the right place because there was no way that many people would be in the part of Gotham otherwise.

"Is he here for the Clairvoyant?" More whispers were heard.

He heard other several whispers, but chose to ignore them, making his way to the location he had been given.

Once there, he saw a long line of people, some standing, many sitting, appearing tired and dirty.

"Shit, its Batman!" A males voice screamed. This caused others to notice the heroes presence, forcing many to flee. Though a few number of people stayed, not really caring as long as they got to see this mystery man.

Batman simply ignored the line of people, passing them up, and makin his way up to the front.

"Hey!" A females voice complained.

"I've been waiting here for three days!" Another high pitched feminine voice called out.

"You can't just cut!" This time a male some.

Though Batman refused to listen to the complaints of the citizens as he examined the booth he found himself at. It was a small structure, with  dark red curtains hiding what was inside, and it appeared similar to a stand that one would see for a Fortune Teller at a carnival, but a bit larger.

Without hesitating, Batman stepped in. He was immediately confused by what he saw. A young boy, not someone in his twenties, but simply in his young teens was sitting on a chair in front of a woman. A table with a purple cloth draping it in between the two.

He was holding the young woman's hand, but what really got Batmans attention was that his eyes were completely black,"Ah, I see, you will live to a decent age, but will not make to become elderly. Then again, most people in Gotham don't, so don't fret too much over that fact."The boy spoke, his young whispered tone surprising the Dark Knight.

"When? How old will I be?" The woman was a brunette and looked as if she had just witnessed a ghost.

"Tsk, you know that costs extra."

The female rummaged though her purse, yanking out a fifty dollar bill.

The teenager laughed,"That is not quite enough."

"It's all I have!"

He sighed before proceeding,"I shall take pity on you, therefore I will give you some information. But do know that I do not do this very often..."

"Thank you so much!"

"You will live to be about fifty-four and will die of an illness that you currently are suffering from. That is all. I won't tell you anymore."

"Wait, what..? I-I'm not sick..." She seemed to pale an entire shade.

"Perhaps you should go to the doctor." The boy lowered his head and released her hand, his eyes returning to normal, with a mesmerizing blue color.

She stood up, her eyes watering,"I see... T-Thank you so much for your time."

"Of course, do tell the next person to not come in right away. I have matters to do discuss with a certain eavesdropper."

Once the woman exited the stand, Batman came out from the shadows since the boy had already made it obvious that he was aware of the Dark Knights presence,"Who are you?"

The boy stood from his chair, his full attire now obvious. He wore a black dress shirt, with dark dress pants and shoes. He wore a small red bow tie and a long black cloak with a dark red coloring the inside of the cloak. He had one glove on, and was currently placing on a second, somewhat frantically. Though despite his outfit, what stuck out the most to Batman was the boys vibrant blue eyes.

"They call me The Clairvoyant, Batman."

"Aren't Clairvoyants all seeing. I hear you can only see when someone will die."

"Take that up with the people. I didn't choose the name. Though don't expect them to change the name. Much doesn't get fixed in Gotham."

Batman sighed,"You're so young."

"Death does not have an age, therefore mine should not matter." He voice was low and sounded as if he were whispering,"Now, I do have to ask, what brings you here Dark Knight? Shall I tell you how you will perish?"

"No, I'm here to put a stop to what you're doing." As soon as the words left his mouth, the lights were cut off. As quickly at they turned off, the turned back on. Batman looked to see that the boy was no longer near the table. 

A dark chuckle was heard, causing Batman to swiftly turn and see the Clairvoyant standing right behind him.

"With what charges? I am no criminal. I have not killed nor stolen, not one single criminal act. I am innocent."

"You're conning these people. Making them believe that you can actually foresee their deaths."

"No, I do not joke about this job. I have never lied to one of my clients."

"If that's true, then you're a monster. People should not be seeing when they will die."

"Monster? No, I am a saint. I am helping these people. I am simply preparing them for the inevitable."

"Humans should not know this information. It doesn't process well in our minds. And if you were a saint, as you so claim, why make them pay you?"

The Clairvoyant scoffed,"Would you prefer me to steal the money? I need food and a roof over my head. I would much rather earn my money than steal it from others. Plus, my abilities are not as simple as they may seem. They drain me of my energy. So once again, I am no criminal and you have no right to be here. Unless you have something else to say, I suggest you leave."

"But you're just a kid."

"What does it matter to you?" His voice seemed to echo off of the walls, a dark aura filling the room.

"It's not right."

"Neither is a killer clown running around the streets or a mercenary snatching up a random kid to use as an apprentice, yet it still happens. I am the least of the your problems in this horrid city."

"If you keep this up, chaos will occur."

"It's Gotham. The city is built upon years of chaos."

"If I I can't arrest you, then I'll have social services come for you. You're a minor. Don't forget that."

The same dark laugh was heard once more,"As I have said many times already, this is Gotham. Social services doesn't give a shit about my life. Truthfully, they would prefer if you didn't notify them of my existence."

Batman remained silent.

"Well, I do hope you see past your ill-tempered mind for I cannot do as you wish... 'Until we meet again, Batman." With a sudden swoosh of his cloak around his slim body, the Clairvoyant disappeared, a small card falling to the ground, being the only trace of the young boy.

"... What?" Batman bent over to pick up the card, reading it as soon as it the text on the white card was visible.

The Clairvoyant.

The Prophet of Death

Gotham City

Imagine if you could know the exact date and way you would die.... Well, I could give you that.