I really liked writing this omake. I do think that some POV's at the end are a little bit more shaky than I would like but I do think this omake delivers a lot of good stuff. Hatter's great, Calendar Man is a lot of fun and I dropped a good number of clues as to the identity of the Holiday Killer while hopefully not being too obvious. I have had to somewhat censor both Calendar Man's POV (I write his thoughts but never dwell on his thoughts on who Holiday is in much depth) and what the victim this time saw (there's still evidence but it doesn't give things away immediately how I wrote it) but I think there are a lot of clues for how this mystery is going to play out. If people have any theories or questions they'd like to share I'm always happy to respond to them and I enjoy seeing people try to parse this stuff.
I hope you all enjoy even as this omake series draws ever closer to its conclusion.
The Long Halloween Interlude: Drive Out the Serpents
Batman (February 17th)
Gotham city was sick. The Holiday Killer hadn't been caught after a nearly half a year long reign of terror over the people of Gotham. With every day the killer remained on the loose the more the criminals notoriety stirred the mania and imagination of the people of Gotham. Joker, Zsasz, the Menagerie, the Penguin and more all of them were feeding on the chaos and being pushed to engage in more extreme activities. With the latest killing of his men practically insulting his capabilities Alberto Falcone once more reacted with barely concealed rage and escalated the gang war against everyone and anyone. The Russians, the Triad, Cosa Nostra and more, all of them were suffering hits due to Alberto being convinced that one of them had to be behind it all. In return the other gangs responded with violence while Penguin and the Menagerie fed on the fighting to make an even greater profit. All of this because people had no idea who the Holiday Killer was.
While Alberto was convinced one of his rivals was behind the Holiday Killer, Batman wasn't so confident. He had a good number of other suspects. Black Mask and his False Face society had clearly stoked the fires of the conflict, kidnapping Barbara Gordon and feeding enough misinformation to ensure that all the gangs were destroying themselves but Batman wasn't quite sure what their endgame was. They clearly were planning something and Black Mask could certainly have pulled off this sort of scheme. However without a more solid idea of what they were angling for, pinning the killings on Black Mask and the False Face Society would be preemptive at best. Then there was Harvey Dent. Batman didn't want to suspect his friend but Harvey had both the means and the motive and with the latest killing as well as the constant pressure being put on him as they tried to clean up the city made it seem more and more likely that he was the Holiday Killer. Batman would need to keep an eye on his friend to make sure things were cleared up. Catwoman was also a candidate in all of this. She'd matched the potential profile of the killer, had been sighted staking out various Falcone family enterprises and as a rival gang leader she had the potential motive but something about that didn't quite click either. Batman was confident that she was hiding something but he wasn't clear how relevant it was to the identity of the Holiday Killer. There was of course Scarecrow. He'd been at the party that set this all off and while this was outside of Scarecrow's usual modus operandi of preying on criminals, it did involve causing fear and terror which seemed like what the Scarecrow was most invested in.
Of course there was always the possibility that it was some other individual. Batman's current theories weren't solid and while he was gathering a profile on Holiday, the killer's behavior was incredibly hard to piece together from what he did have. For all he knew everything he'd been looking into was nothing but red herrings. Unfortunately he couldn't focus solely on the Holiday Killer which meant he'd continue to struggle to deduce who they were.
Criminals like Jervis Tetch were still loose in the city, the gangs were at war and most concerningly Calendar Man was loose. Calendar Man wasn't as infamous as the Joker but Julian Day was clever and with his own idiosyncrasies he'd be the most focused on getting involved with the Holiday Killer and potentially make things even worse.
No matter what though Batman wouldn't give up and would continue to fight to see a better tomorrow. He had a plan to cross at least some suspects off the list and begin closing in on the Holiday Killer, slowly but steadily.
Alberto Falcone (February 20th)
Alberto hated all of the dogs and animals that existed in this city. Miserable rabid animals constantly nipping at the heels of their betters, wanting to take their place. It infuriated him. The Falcones ran Gotham. His father had been running an empire. The city was theirs and now others wanted to take it from them.
Alberto knew that the other factions smelled blood in the water. Maroni was a rat only kept in line due to his love of his father but Alberto was confident he'd turn on them when he could. His aunt was a hag convinced she could do better than anyone else when in reality she did nothing to actually help. Oswald Cobblepot would play at being friendly but the repulsive little man wanted the gang wars to go on forever so he could make as much money as possible leeching off of others. The Menagerie were the literal rats and vultures of the city constantly coveting everything they'd never rightfully earned whilst the other gangs followed suit only they played at respectability. Even the pigs had started to turn on the Falcones, under Dent and Gordons leadership people had forgotten who the city's true master was. Enemies were constantly circling waiting to take what was theirs.
Only his sister could be trusted and with her help he'd make sure that the people remembered why the Falcones ruled this city. He'd focus on killing those who'd visibly disrespected him and as soon as he had enough evidence to catch the Holiday Killer he'd string up the loon that started this whole mess and make an example out of them. Then with that done he'd kill the Batman and no one would ever dare make a mockery of him and his family ever again.
The identity of the Holiday Killer was in part why Alberto had agreed to meet with the latest freak of the week, Julian Day also known as Calendar Man. Normally the little bald shit wouldn't be worth an iota of Alberto's time but with the Holiday Killer on the loose, Alberto couldn't afford to dismiss the offer of help finding them out of hand. After all whatever else the Calendar Man was, he was clever enough to break out of Arkham and covertly contact the Falcone family with an offer to find the Holiday Killer.
The Calendar Man was much less impressive looking than most of Gotham's famous supercriminals. A pale slightly effeminate bald man with a ring of stupid tattoos around his head didn't exactly inspire terror like the Joker or Killer Croc did. Still beggars couldn't be choosers.
"I suppose you'd prefer it if I get straight to the point" Calendar Man "The Holiday Killer is making quite a name for themselves. The Calendar Man is being forgotten and that is simply unacceptable. We've both got reason to kill them and I'm confident that with my talents and your resources we can put an end to the Holiday Killer's long Halloween."
Alberto scowled as he thought it over. What proof did he have that this crook could deliver? What would he have to pay in order to get this freak to find the Holiday Killer.
"Give me a reason to think you can find this killer and I'll give you all the resources I can spare" Alberto eventually conceded. He needed the Holiday Killer dead and even if he had to cut Calendar Man loose more information was almost always useful.
"The Holiday Killer had to use the sewers to successfully get away with killing Angelo Mirti" Calendar Man elaborated "it's the only way to have gotten in and out of the hospital without being detected in time."
Alberto wasn't convinced but the Calendar Man was at least speaking some sense and giving new insight into the case.
"Furthermore the killing on Valentine's day almost certainly required multiple people to be involved to pull it off or a single abnormally powerful individual" Calendar Man elaborated "As such the Menagerie are a prime suspect in figuring out who Holiday really is. Give me money and a few men to use as bait or protection and I'll narrow down my leads even further"
Alberto was convinced. He could spare a few of Maroni's men and it'd let him chase down these leads to get to the bottom of the mystery.
"You've got yourself a deal" Alberto stated and the two of them began to discuss the specifics of their arrangement. Soon Holiday would rue the day they thought they could cross the Falcones and get away with it.
Harvey Dent (February 23rd)
The city and the stress were starting to get to Harvey. Ever since the attack on Gilda, Harvey had been filled with an unquenchable rage. He constantly wanted to break those damn bastards who laughed and jeered as they ruined people's lives. He still tried to tamp down on it to keep control and retain faith in law and order but by god did he want to see those parasites suffer and burn like the scum they were and doing things the legal way oftentimes felt too damn slow.
Still people were picking up on the fact that Harvey was less than stable and off his game. This only compounded his issues when he realized that people, not just the Falcones, thought he might be the Holiday Killer. It disgusted him that people would think so lowly of him but at the same time, when he took a long hard look at himself, he could see where they were coming from.
"You're afraid" A mental voice that eerily reminded him of the Scarecrow's rang out in his head "You're afraid of how much sense it makes and how you oh so very badly want to be the Holiday Killer"
Harvey refused to give in to the temptation. He wasn't going to be ruled by his demons. Eventually though, during one of the meetings he had with Batman and Gordon, he'd been given a way to deal with things.
"You need to leave Gotham for a bit" Batman affirmatively stated "Not only would being out of town during a murder definitively prove you're not the Holiday Killer but it would also let you recover from the toll the city has taken on you"
Harvey protested and fought against such a suggestion, he needed to be on ground zero to make sure the war against the gangs was won, but eventually Batman and Gordon were able to persuade him to take a brief leave of absence for Gilda's sake, so that she'd no longer get caught in the crossfire once more. And on that Harvey caved.
He may have hated the gangs but he still loved Gilda more than he hated. And so the two of them left Gotham for a while.
Black Mask (February 25th)
The pitch of violence and warfare wouldn't end yet. The False Face Society was making waves, this time driving Cosa Nostra into a panic to try and flush out some more supercriminals and further weaken all the gangs of Gotham. Black Mask was on top of the world and he knew it.
Batman had tried to find him, even catching some of his lieutenants but no matter what he did he couldn't find Black Mask himself and every time he brought down one of Sionis' underlings, Batman kicked up a hornets nest behind him.
Carla Viti and the Falcone leadership remained distressingly alive but with Sal Maroni feeding him information from the inside, Black Mask could effectively lead them around by the nose and manipulate them into bringing about their own downfall. The False Face society was steadily growing and by the time this holiday nonsense was all over Black Mask would seize control and become the kingpin of crime. All empires fell and now it was his time to reap the rewards as the conqueror destroying and pillaging his predecessor. All Black Mask had to do was wait and everything would come to him in time. In the meantime though he'd be accelerating the destruction of Cosa Nostra and the Falcones one engineered conflict at a time
Rene Montoya (March 1st)
Rene wasn't easy to shock or disgust. She worked as a homicide detective in Gotham and she wasn't horribly corrupt which meant she saw her fair share of crazy shit. Joker Gas victims, people who'd practically flayed themselves after being on the receiving end of Scarecrow's terror attacks, the floating remains of anyone dumb enough to go after Killer Croc in the sewers and more were all things she'd had exposure to with her line of work.
Still despite it all there was something settling into the Bowery for a patrol tonight. Something deep in her bones was screaming at her that things had gone wrong. Cosa Nostra had been violently clashing with the Falcones and Maronis lately and in all of the chaos people were going missing. Police officers sent to the area would consistently report that they found nothing and then vanish a few days later after taking time off from work. Something fishy was going on here and the Commissioner simply lacked the manpower to investigate it deeply. That's why he could only afford to spare one or two people to look into it and Rene was the best of the best when it came to stuff like this. It was a bit outside of her wheelhouse but she could afford to look into it and she'd certainly get to the bottom of this mystery.
Still a whole week or so of stakeouts had turned up absolutely nothing. She'd occasionally made arrests of crooks who blatantly broke the law but she was no closer to getting to the bottom of the mystery and she'd been starting to get disheartened. Then out of nowhere there was a break in the case when spotted Andrew Kelly, one of the missing officers, in full police uniform walking around.
Rene initially called out to Andrew but he didn't respond at all and instead turned into a dark alley. Rene cursed as she drew her gun and radioed that she was pursuing a suspect. It seemed like Andrew might be leading her into an ambush but she needed to get to the bottom of what was going on here and pursuing her friend might be the only chance she got to do so. As such she cautiously waded deeper and deeper into the alleyway. Eventually she spotted Andrew Kelly standing in the center of a dead end with a dopey smile on his face.
"What's going on here Kelly!" Rene called out trying to see if he'd react or at least answer. Andrew didn't respond at all and the dopey grin on his face seemed to take a creepier connotation.
Rene continued calling out while maintaining her distance and Andrew Kelly continued to not react, remaining placid and unmoving. Rene even fired her gun out into a nearby wall to try and startle him into acting and there wasn't even the slightest hint of a flinch. This meant that something was up with her friend beyond what was natural. Rene slowly approached, looking for a way to identify what had gone wrong with Kelly. She'd heard that the Mad Hatter had done things like this with playing card-like devices placed near someone's head but she couldn't find any on his person from a distance.
She approached steadily and the vacant grin grew almost ominous. She was practically arms distance away when she turned to radio about her suspicions about going on when suddenly with next to no warning, a taser struck her and electricity began to run through her body, causing her to drop to the ground. Swiftly everything went black as Rene cursed that she got taken off guard before her thoughts similarly faded into nothingness.
Santo Cassamento (March 4th)
Santo was a simple man. He was a man seeking to make money in an unjust world and so he had to resort to unjust means. His family had a long and honorable history of being criminals with dignity and so he carried on the traditions of his forefathers.
But things had not been going well for Cosa Nostra. The lunatic boy in charge of the Falcones had been waging war on everyone, jumping at shadows utterly convinced that Holiday was out there wreaking havoc. It was bad for business and while they were fighting back, it was at the cost of a lot of good men and money. The upstart would see them all burn due to his desire to play at being a gangster whereas the Roman knew how to run things civilly. Santo didn't like the Roman but nowadays he missed the man and his practicality.
Of course then there were the freaks. The Catwoman and the Batman and the Crocodileman and the Penguinman and the whole zooful of people in odd Halloween costumes dressing up and making life miserable for honest crooks like him. They constantly wore away at any crook who wasn't at his sharpest and that meant they were always losing number and operating in the red as of late. Holiday only made things worse by preventing any sort of diplomacy and showing the freaks the damage they could do.
Worst of all though was the fact that a group of police officers had gone off the reservation in his territory. Police officers dressed in full uniform, were shooting up anyone who approached an old abandoned warehouse where tea, as well as smuggled drugs, were being stored. Santo couldn't afford to kill the police officers, that would draw too much heat on him, but he still needed to get past them to retrieve his product in order to make a profit. The fact that the cops were smiling as they shot anyone who got close only tipped off Santo that something horribly wrong was going on and he'd have to wait it out while also writing off any shipments of his products in that warehouse. It was utterly miserable and depressing but he could hope that the situation would eventually resolve itself.
No it was just pouring salt on the wounds Holiday and the Falcones had already opened up. But Santo wasn't out of the game just yet and he'd get his chance to make them all pay if he could just play the long game.
Jervis Tetch (March 9th)
Jervis was ecstatic. His new police protectors had proven marvelously adept at following his instructions and keeping him safe. Really if it wouldn't have given away where he was he would've dressed them all in suits and made them his red knights but alas that would make his control of them much too obvious for the Jabberwockies, Bandersnatches and Jubjub birds of the world to identify and then they would wreck his wonderful safe new abode and that wouldn't be very pleasant at all. And so Jervis had relented and he'd ended up having his protectors dress as ordinary police officers. Still they were a talented bunch and they kept him safe.
The real world was a scary and horrifying place. That was why Jervis much preferred Wonderland to reality but as the Batman had so brutally demonstrated to him time and time again, he couldn't escape reality without someone trying to drag him out of Wonderland. And nowadays there was an even worse lunatic then Batman, this Holiday Killer who'd managed to kill criminals throughout the whole year. Jervis much to his disappointment had been labeled a villain and a criminal and there was a holiday on July 4th known as Alice in Wonderland day. As such this meant that Jervis was an ideal target for the Holiday Killer and as such he naturally had to protect himself. And so he took a bunch of police officers and made them into his loyal guardians and protectors. It's not like they were doing anything more important at the time and besides they were so much happier now that they were protecting him.
"You all are quite happy protecting me and Wonderland right?" The Hatter called out to his loyal police protectors. As one they all resoundingly responded.
"Of course Mister Hatter, protecting you and Wonderland is the most important thing we could ever do" in a cheerful chipper tone that really all police officers should take.
"Would you like more tea Mister Hatter?" his newest protector, a dark haired woman whose badge read Rene Montoya politely asked as she held out a teapot.
"Yes thank you I'm famished" Jervis politely replied "As a reward for your excellent service you may pour yourself a cup as well"
"You're welcome Mister Hatter" the woman responded as she politely curtsied before turning to the task of pouring tea first for Jervis and then for herself. She promptly then seated herself at the other end of the table and began to sip on the tea that she'd been rewarded with.
Yes all of the police were much happier under his control. They smiled all the time and they were ever so polite and well mannered and they got to have plenty of tea. Still something was niggling at the back of his mind, making him feel unsafe and in danger. It wasn't over his control of the police as his newly created police caps ensured they were all thinking and behaving properly and it wasn't due to the criminals around him. Still it bothered him like an itch he could never reach or grin without a cat. And so he decided to ask the help for their opinion. After all even if Jervis needed to give them a purpose they were quite good at fulfilling it.
"I still feel peculiarly insecure" Jervis admitted to his tea time companion who put down her drink and proceeded to give his words her full attention "Is there anything you could think of that would make this feeling go away?"
"Well the Batman defeated you every time you previously met" The woman calmly conceded with a beatific smile on her face "so removing him as a threat would likely make you feel safer Mister Hatter"
Yes, yes the Batman was a particularly vexing thorn in his side. Attempting to kill him had always failed thus far and while his police protectors were useful he doubted they'd give the Batman much issue. But if he could turn the Batman into another protector of his then he would be safe from everyone and everything. Yes a plan was slowly but surely percolating in his brain and Jervis felt giddy at having made the breakthrough necessary to bring an end to his fears.
"You may reward yourself with an entire pot of tea" The Mad Hatter promptly informed his loyal protector as a way to reward her for being such a useful sounding block for his concerns.
"Thank you Mister Hatter" She cheerfully responded as her grin widened "Would to like more tea as well?"
Jervis promptly informed her that he would for he needed to plan and the woman curtsied once more and began to pour new cups of tea whilst Jervis figured out how to drive Batman out into the open and through that into his command. He had a lot of work ahead of him.
Batman (March 12th)
The sound of gunfire rang out as Batman nimbly navigated through the rafters of the warehouse to eventually find cover. He had a mission to complete. When Commissioner Gordon had requested he look into the missing police officers of the GCPD, Batman hadn't been expecting to encounter the Mad Hatter once again. Instead they'd managed to lure him into a trap using one of the missing officers as live bait. Batman had promptly punched out the police officer right as the mind controlled minion turned on him but that in turn had caused the remaining police officers to begin opening fire upon him.
"Try not to harm him too badly!" Jervis Tetch gleefully demanded over the radio "After all the Batman would make an ever so useful defender!"
"Yes Mister Hatter" The police all chorused at once in an eerie monotone before they resumed firing. Batman didn't detect a notable difference in how they were firing but it's likely because they couldn't realistically fire at him in a way that wasn't potentially lethal with how he was moving. Still he had to take care of things.
The Mad Hatter's mind control was always reliant upon a device being placed on the subject. Previously that had been through the use of cards but none of his old technology was visible upon the police he'd enthralled. From what Batman knew of the technology, it needed to be placed near the nervous system in order to preempt the control of the individual. This meant that the police caps the mesmerized officers were wearing was likely what was controlling them. This mean that Batman had a path to dealing with this dilemma.
Batman promptly hurled a series of batarangs at the various warehouse lights and promptly activated the night vision in his cowl. The Mad Hatter had ordered his mind controlled minions not to endanger his life if they could help it and firing blindly into the dark but both him and everyone else in the warehouse at risk. As such the police wouldn't fire in the dark unless the Mad Hatter ordered them to and that gave Batman time to act.
He raced out of cover and promptly engaged the officers under cover of darkness. With his advantage of being able to see he was able to get at the caps they were wearing within one or two blows and promptly remove them. The moment a cap was removed from an officer, they crumpled like a puppet with all of their strings cut. Slowly but surely Batman managed to take them all down.
Then he turned and scanned for the Mad Hatter. Jervis was still in the warehouse and had headed to the emergency breaker to turn on some backup lights. Batman flew towards him. Jervis Tetch eventually managed to turn the lights back on right in time to see Batman swooping down upon him. The Mad Hatter let out a panicked scream as Batman tackled him and promptly managed to pin him into place. Batman then set bindings around Jervis to ensure that he couldn't flee. Now he'd be getting some answers.
"Why did you do all of this?" Batman began broadly. It wasn't exactly going to unravel things but Jervis liked to hear himself talk and so giving him chances to incriminate himself and potentially reveal any conspirators aiding him was worthwhile.
"Why does anyone suffer such brutes as the Gotham City Police? I was in fear for my life and needed to protect myself" Jervis angrily protested. Batman decided to try and push on this potential lead.
"Who are you so afraid of?" Batman aggressively fired back "You've never needed police protection from me or the gangs before"
"Why Holiday of course!" The Mad Hatter declared, his eyes roving around the room wildly "He's almost certainly going to kill me the moment it's Alice in Wonderland day"
Batman distinctly doubted that the Holiday Killer would target the Mad Hatter on the fourth of July but the Mad Hatter's reasoning did make sense when viewed through the lens of his own insanity and fixations. Suddenly the Mad Hatter grew calmer and a deranged grin broke out upon his face.
"Say you're a defender of the people" The Mad Hatter began "You won't let Holiday come and kill me? You're going to protect my life right?"
Jervis wasn't wrong but he clearly missed a lot of context. Batman wouldn't let him die but Jervis wasn't nearly as important or as prioritized as he thought he was.
"You'll be safe and sound in Arkham" Batman rejoined before leaving the Hatter to check on the police officers and destroy the police caps. With the Hatter's technology promptly destroyed and the captured police officers slowly coming to, Batman promptly left the scene in order to not get caught up in any more fights. He'd captured the Hatter but he was still no closer to finding Holiday who had driven both the Mad Hatter's release and his latest fit of madness. Batman was running out of time
Calendar Man (March 15th)
Julian Day, also known as Calendar Man was a meticulous and precise individual. He'd used some of the men Alberto provided him with to lure out Gotham's resident big green monster. Killer Croc wasn't exactly a talkative fellow but what he did say to Calendar Man did reveal a lot about at least one of the Holiday Killers. Some pieces still didn't quite fit in place but the picture was coming together.
Of course Calendar Man wasn't free to investigate as he pleased as Batman eventually showed up to try and capture him and interrupt his work. It was annoying at best.
"Have you been warned to beware the ides of March Batman?" Calendar Man calmly questioned, drawing attention both to the date and his costume, a sort of pseudo-roman armor with plenty of knives.
"I make my own destiny" Batman rejoined, easily picking up on the Shakespeare reference.
"And you interfere in the work of those you do not comprehend" Calendar Man fired back, his hand dancing on the hilt of his knife. "If you weren't so incompetent at catching the Holiday Killer I wouldn't have had to do things myself"
Batman scowled at this and readied himself for a fight.
"What do you know about the Holiday Killer" Batman growled as he tensed for a fight. Calendar Man couldn't help but smirk at Batman's ignorance.
"Plenty" He confidently replied "But if you're looking to find them I'd recommend you check on the Romans"
Hopefully that would tip off Batman as to some of what he'd missed. Unfortunately it seemed as though Batman misinterpreted his hint and decided to take him in due to his being dressed like a roman. Unfortunate but Calendar Man worked around it. He hurled his knife and promptly called in back up to distract the Batman. Calendar Man was coming ever closer to his conclusion and soon he'd know exactly who the Holiday Killers were and he'd be able to make them pay.
Christopher "Blondie" Castillo (March 17th)
Blondie wasn't exactly low on the totem pole in the Falcone family, he was Carmine Falcone's godson for gods sake but at the same time Carmine's flesh and blood family had done their level best to sideline him. They kept him out of the way, out of the chain of command and unable to help the family.
Blondie didn't mind too much but he missed the days when his relationship with Carmine was respected beyond lip service. Nowadays he was stuck guarding some old records Carmine had kept. Nothing of interest happened despite all of the Holiday Killer's actions and it was boring repetitive busywork. Blondie wasn't exactly excited for his job.
So when he saw a figure dressed in a trench coat and fedora that obscured all of their features, who had somehow snuck passed him, he panicked and hesitated due to being out of practice. Before he could make a move the figure rushed forward and promptly knocked him to the ground and sent his gun skittering out of his hands before he could properly draw it.
Prone and on the ground he got a quick glimpse of his assailants face when he suddenly realized that he was also staring down a familiar pistol with a baby bottle nipple on the end acting as an impromptu silencer. This was the Holiday Killer he'd encountered!
Suddenly Blondie's blood ran cold as he realized exactly what this meant for him. He was the next victim of the Holiday Killer. The Holiday Killer asked him a question but Blondie refused to answer out of spite. Hopefully he could last long enough for someone to check up on him. Eventually the Holiday Killer grew fed up with him and shot him, placing a small statuette near him.
As his blood gushed out of his body and everything grew cold and dark. Blondie tried to hold on to consciousness. If he could just stay awake long enough then he could get treatment and he'd be able to tell everyone who the Holiday Killer was, even as the figure fled out of the window of the building. He just had to hold on a bit longer. Still in the end Blondie ended up slipping and ended up giving into the dark and the cold as he reached his final rest with people just about to discover him.
