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The South Hinckley Town Hall was bustling with the ruins of the study, a busy MCU unit, and the idle presence of the prison warden herself.
Thanks to Superman’s “fire extinguisher” powers, more than half of the building remained intact. Renee Montoya, a striking and charismatic woman, led the Major Crimes Unit (MCU), which was tasked with evidence collection.
Uncovering the truth of this massive case could require the combined efforts of hundreds of investigators to piece it all together. As for Vivi’s in-game persona, Warden Bella Bettywen, most of her skills had reached level 10, but her investigation skill languished at level 6. Recognizing her limitations in this domain, Vivi redirected her efforts, leveraging her level 12 interrogation skills to extract new leads.
With so many suspects among the captured South Hinckley officers, Vivi targeted only those already confirmed guilty. However, her interrogation style left a lasting impression. During MCU’s breaks, members who had witnessed her techniques began avoiding her altogether.
Occasionally, Vivi overheard their whispers:
“Bettywen really belongs in Blackgate as its warden.” “That technique can’t be natural—how does someone even acquire skills like that?” “Imagining what the inmates in Blackgate go through under her, I could laugh myself awake at night.”
Despite the challenges of trauma and severe PTSD among the survivors, a few, like Jane, were proactive and determined to send the perpetrators straight to hell. Through collaborative efforts over several days, the police made a breakthrough.
From the Smith family matriarch, they learned about a human trafficking ring that traded girls under ten, born to female captives. The buyers were rumored to include nightclubs, although the matriarch wasn’t certain which ones.
At the same time, the MCU discovered that records existed, but the original ledgers weren’t kept in South Hinckley.
Vivi, however, had long intended to crack down on Gotham’s nightclubs, notorious as major consumers of narcotics.
One of her gargoyle spies, stationed at the Rose Manor, delivered a bundle of handwritten notes to the Mayor’s Office. Vivi herself received the papers, scrawled by the gargoyle—a feat that required significantly more of the “fear energy” she used to animate her creatures. This particular gargoyle monitored the Silent Night Prison, and the notes detailed the behavior of those imprisoned within its eerie replica of Gotham.
Vivi’s attention centered on Black Mask, the architect of many schemes, including South Hinckley’s trafficking operations. He remained trapped within the miniature replica of Gotham created by Silent Night. If this eerie simulation mirrored reality, Black Mask’s actions within it could offer vital clues. For example, his chosen hiding spot in the replica might correlate with his actual safehouses.
The lead pointed to the Dealer’s Club in Otisburg.
Vivi forwarded this intelligence to Batman:
“If the Dealer’s Club connects to South Hinckley and Black Mask’s operations, they’re likely managing both trafficking and narcotics deals. With any luck, the ledgers will be there.”
Batman preemptively informed Commissioner Gordon, and by evening, answers were expected.
Meanwhile, Gotham’s three hospitals had completed paternity tests for the rescued children. Given the circumstances, identifying the children’s fathers was a painstaking and difficult task. On another front, police recovered hundreds of shallow graves along South Hinckley’s coastline, uncovering a major forensic effort to catalog the remains.
This was shaping up to be an unprecedentedly heinous case in any city’s history.
Clark Kent was still working on his story, reportedly isolating himself in a hotel room to write. Yet Vivi often noticed Superman lingering in Gotham. Wasn’t it time for him to return to Metropolis?
Meanwhile, tabloids churned out sensationalist headlines, though official channels maintained complete silence.
With answers likely arriving tonight, the city braced for a storm.
Vivi glanced at the clock. It had been three days since the South Hinckley incident erupted. Yet her summoned Doctor—the golden card character, Stephen Strange—was still listed as “in transit.”
Unbeknownst to Vivi, Doctor Strange, Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, had encountered an unusual predicament.
Three days prior, Strange, known for his mastery over time, space, and magic, was drawn into a dimension eerily identical to New York City. Though the streets mirrored reality, Strange’s formidable portal magic failed.
There, he encountered a peculiar cast of characters: a blue-eyed boy with a daffodil pinned to his shirt, a swaggering elderly man in a Red Bulls jersey, and a white stray cat.
It sounded like the beginning of a fairy tale—except Doctor Stephen Strange’s age wasn’t exactly fairy-tale-friendly.
But instead of a whimsical adventure, what greeted him was a warning.
“Creatures of darkness are awakening in Gotham, Strange. You should go there,” the boy said.
“Do not use a portal to enter Gotham. You’ll alert it,” the elderly man added, his tone measured. “Use your human identity—your doctor’s credentials. And if you need help, seek out Vivi.”
The white cat interjected: “White.”
“Vivi White,” the boy clarified, his blue eyes gleaming like the purest sapphires, unnaturally vivid. “You must hurry. Don’t be late.”
With that, the space around Strange shattered. The two figures and the cat vanished, and Stephen Strange regained his ability to move.
Realizing what had happened, he reflected, “That wasn’t spatial manipulation.”
In the New York Sanctum, he explained to Wong:
“I was drawn into an illusion—a construct far more sophisticated than any spell I’ve encountered. Time itself was frozen. Whoever created it had a mastery of magic far exceeding mine. If there really is a dark entity rising in Gotham, I must investigate.”
As the Sorcerer Supreme, it was his responsibility to confront such threats. But even a powerful sorcerer could face mundane struggles—like funding his travel. Fortunately, the same mysterious forces urging him to Gotham had conveniently provided a plane ticket.
However, en route to Gotham, the plane was hijacked.
Before even reaching Gotham airspace, a group of armed criminals caused chaos onboard. If they damaged the plane, a forced landing in Los Angeles might delay him further. The thought of purchasing another ticket to Gotham was almost unbearable; it had been ages since Strange had to deal with mundane travel logistics.
Given the situation, Strange decided to open a few metaphorical “portals”—on the hijackers’ heads.
After neutralizing the threat, the flight landed two hours late at Gotham Airport, and by then, it was already deep into the night.
As he stepped outside the terminal, Strange looked up—and saw chaos.
In the darkness, shadows writhed. The flowerbeds surrounding the airport exuded malevolent energy; on closer inspection, the vibrant red roses seemed unnaturally alive. Overhead, highway speed-limit signs appeared to be perched on by twisted, otherworldly creatures. Though silent to ordinary ears, their mere presence influenced drivers to slow down instinctively. Glimpses of shimmering lights flared sporadically in the distance, colors shifting unpredictably, their hues laced with an unsettling aura that tugged at human emotions.
Something dark rose from beneath the earth, dissipating into black dust mid-air, sprinkling onto Gotham’s tainted soil. A strange beast pierced the clouds, descending to the city below, clutching peculiar trinkets in its claws. Yet, to the children receiving them, these eldritch artifacts seemed like cheerful, colorful balloons.
Strange blinked.
“Gotham isn’t just off—it’s a full-blown breeding ground for eldritch horrors.”
The most baffling part was that from outside Gotham, even from the air, nothing seemed amiss. Only by setting foot in the city could one perceive its abnormalities.
Taking a deep breath, Strange pondered his situation. The enigmatic figures who orchestrated his trip—did they genuinely want him to resolve Gotham’s dark affliction? Or was there another motive?
Yet as he observed further, he noticed that these dark elements didn’t seem to harm humans directly. Instead, they subtly influenced behavior, such as urging caution without conscious awareness. The darkness seemed less like an active menace and more like a dragon guarding its hoard.
Resolving to find “Vivi White,” Strange’s thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a gargoyle—a living gargoyle—bearing what appeared to be a…flyer?
Closer inspection revealed it to be a crudely handwritten invitation, scrawled in chaotic script:
“Doctor! Get to Wayne Hospital ASAP! The patients need you!”
Strange sighed.
His first instinct was to summon his magic and prepare to combat the animated statue. Instead, he found himself standing still, utterly dumbfounded.
The moment Doctor Strange entered Gotham’s boundaries, Vivi’s in-game map updated, marking his location with a brilliant golden icon. The “transport in progress” status instantly shifted to “arrival confirmed.” As a gold-tier asset, similar to her AI assistant, Strange became an extension of Vivi’s in-game resources.
Curious about her new asset, Vivi immediately accessed his character sheet. Coincidentally, she was in desperate need of a skilled doctor.
Many of the survivors required care for irreversible injuries. The children, born addicted to drugs, were frail and in critical condition. The adults had suffered years of abuse, developing severe PTSD and drug dependencies. Conventional treatments proved slow and challenging—magic seemed the obvious solution. For Vivi, the nature of magic or superpowers wasn’t inherently good or evil; it was the wielder’s intentions that mattered.
And a gold card? That promised something special.
Abilities:
Backstory:
Once a renowned neurosurgeon, Stephen Strange’s career ended after a car accident left his hands shattered. In seeking a cure, he discovered magic, eventually rising to become one of the most powerful sorcerers in existence.
Examining his skills, Vivi was thrilled. This was exactly the kind of expertise she needed to handle the harrowing aftermath of South Hinckley. Strange’s abilities could heal the unhealable, fix the seemingly irreversible, and provide hope to those left shattered by darkness.
With her new ally in place, Vivi’s plans took on a renewed momentum. Strange, however, could only sigh at the growing list of horrors Gotham held in store.
Vivi: “…”
[Since then, he has taken on the role of Earth’s defender and hasn’t stepped into an operating room in a long time.]
Vivi: “?”
What’s the point of all those skills?! Can telekinesis build houses? Can time manipulation heal thousands of people? …Wait, maybe it actually could.
But what Vivi truly needed wasn’t a sorcerer. She needed a medical master capable of performing miracles—someone who could raise the dead and heal the living.
“Fine… let’s just see how this goes,” she muttered, sending a gargoyle to fetch him. “Even if he doesn’t work out, I’ve got Plan C.”
EasyRead[Translator]
Just a translator :)