Nobody can stop me from drawing cards in Gotham!

Chapter 14 The End of the Gotham Rat

In the Old Town, if anyone mentions rat-catching services, they will almost always mention one person—Otis Frynigan.

But what many people don't know is that this rat catcher actually doesn't like his job.

"Hey, here's your pay, you stinking rat—if I hear those damned buddies yelling around in some corner again, I'm bringing a bunch of guys to smash your junk car, got it?"

Otis Frynigan heard similar comments several times a day, and they were always pretty much the same.

He hated these comments, but he had no choice but to listen, because they came from the customers who bought his rat-catching services, the source of his livelihood.

Gotham is a ghostly, dark city, and he was born there and lived as a ghostly rat in the streets of that dark city—this was not his own opinion, but rather the view of Otis held by the other people living in the same neighborhood.

After all, in their eyes, Otis was no different from a rat.

He was timid and shifty-eyed, and his whole body was always surrounded by the pungent stench from his rat-catching work in the sewers. Apart from his barely human-like appearance, he was just a big rat at heart!

But Otis wasn't always like that. In his youth, he was ambitious and hoped to get rid of his rat-catching job through hard work and willpower. He tried starting a business and many other trades, but he failed, or worse, he went bankrupt.

Sadly, however, this was not his own doing, but due to other reasons.

At that time, the Romans' rule over Gotham was at its zenith. The Godfather raised the flag of the Sicilians on the distant shore over Gotham, and the shadow he cast was as dark as an abyss, swallowing every Gothamite who was still struggling to make a living by engaging in normal work.

Otis wasn't exactly unlucky; he was just one of the millions swallowed up by the tides of time. There were many others who were far more unfortunate than him.

After all, Otis was able to become a rat catcher in the health department thanks to his unique rat-catching skills, but what about the rest? They actually died in the incessant gunfire at night.

Otis loathed the gunshots as much as a rat loathed the sounds of humans active in the daytime.

He always felt that Gotham was a hopeless city, harboring a group of hopeless humans... He always felt that humans were more like walking plagues than rats, who were accused of spreading disease in the Middle Ages... He always felt that he might never see hope in Gotham City.

But he was wrong. Because one night several years ago, he encountered the legendary bat that was trying to destabilize Roman rule.

He descended from the sky, both from Gotham's perpetually gloomy skies and from the eerie urban legends. He subdued a robber who was trying to steal Otis's wallet, returned it to Otis, and prepared to unfold his cloak and leave.

But Otis stopped him: "You really are...you're the bat those gangsters are hunting...Why are you helping me? Do you want to end Roman rule in Gotham?"

Batman didn't answer; he left.

But this didn't stop Otis from chasing after him, shouting, "I know you can do it, Bat... I'll support you! I'll support you!"

As it turns out, Batman doesn't need the support of a rat to win this battle in a tough tug-of-war.

He won, Bat won, and the Roman era came to an end—before this, no one would have imagined that Gotham City would one day turn a new page, but Bat's image has been firmly etched into the hearts of every Gotham resident over the past few years, becoming a part of the city's very being.

But Otis never had the honor of seeing a bat again until recently.

He saw news reports about the Batman serial killers. Even further, near the third case, he saw a bat with blood on its hands.

The moment Otis saw Batman, he made a decision—no matter what psychological changes Batman had gone through, he would help him!

He can definitely be of help... After all, when it comes to understanding the city's alleys and sewers, apart from the sewer crocodiles, probably no one is more professional than him, the rat catcher.

And he did indeed help the bats. Once, twice... many times.

These experiences, these tangible acts of help to Batman, also brought about a huge change in Otis's mindset.

He is no longer a rat... He is righteous... Those who died at the hands of the bat deserved to die... He is not protecting criminals... He is simply helping a guardian of the city!

Otis was overjoyed, proud, and felt an unprecedented sense of honor welling up within him.

He will tear away that rotten rat skin, and among the bats, he will become a true, respectable man…

Until the "Batman" he trusted, who had saved him from the pursuit of the police and unknowns many times, personally pressed his head against the edge of the rooftop.

"I...I don't understand...why is this?"

Otis's tears streamed down his face; he couldn't care less about anything else. Confusion, shock, and resentment at being betrayed filled his heart. He looked at the bat and said weakly, "I helped you, I supported you... I thought we were comrades..."

In the end, however, the rat was never a companion to the bat.

Otis's body was pushed little by little into the air, with unmoved bats above and a height of more than ten meters below.

He desperately imagined his end. Undoubtedly, he would be pushed off a high building by the Batman who betrayed him, dying from a fall, thus ending the life of Gotham City's lowest rat, a life both pathetic and laughable.

Things should have unfolded as Otis had imagined—if not for a strange voice suddenly sounding beside them.

"Whoosh."

That was the sound of the wind, a sound that was too abrupt and too eerie.

It was only then that Otis and Batman noticed the strangely thick gray fog surrounding them.

And within the mist that had appeared out of nowhere, a huge shadow was slowly emerging.

Otis's eyes widened at this, and something was quickly reflected in them—a grotesque figure that people only saw in nightmares:

"What...what kind of monster is this?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Let's go back five minutes.

"Otis Flanigan, male, 37 years old, a Gotham native, currently residing in the Old Town. A former health department rat catcher who later ran a rat-catching company, he is the best rat catcher in his neighborhood."

Inside the Batmobile, Batman, who had left Parrels Tower before the police arrived, had already located the owner of the white van.

"Do you think this person is the one behind the fakes?" Jaeger stared at the image projected onto the Batmobile. The man named Otis was thin and had extremely messy hair. His eyes were more blank than timid, and he had an indescribable air of despondency.

Before Batman could even speak, Jaeger had already given his answer: "I don't think so. Otis Flanigan is suspicious, but at most he's an accomplice, unlikely to be the kind of guy who would push the imposter to commit murder."

Batman hummed in agreement: "But he most likely possesses crucial information about the counterfeit, so we still need to catch him before the police."

"I have a bad feeling," Jaeger said with some concern. "Although we previously suspected that the person behind the counterfeit might not know about the backup recordings so quickly, what if they're worried about information leaks..."

"You mean, to avoid being exposed, they'll preemptively attack Otis?" Batman said thoughtfully, "and might even be more ruthless—kill him."

“We assume they’re accomplices, but that’s only because Otis helped the imposter escape…” Jaeger’s gray eyes gleamed in the darkness. “What if they aren’t the accomplices we think they are?”

"Once we lose Otis Frynigan, our trail will end here." Batman's lips were tightly pressed together, clearly indicating that he was in a very bad mood.

He hates the feeling that things might get out of control.

As Jaeger pondered, his gaze swept across a certain active skill card on the void card table visible only to him, and an idea suddenly occurred to him.

"You're right," Jaeger said. "We can't completely hand over the initiative to the counterfeiters."

"What are you planning to do?" Batman glanced at Jaeger.

"First, we need to find Otis Frynigan..." Jaeger gave Batman the same sly look he had when he stood by the car asking Bruce Wayne if he could talk, "and give the imposter some little surprises to disrupt his rhythm."

"And to do this is actually very simple, we just need to send out—a letter."