Batman walked heavily up to the podium. Countless heroes and villains below watched him in silence.
"Thank you all for coming. Today, I offer these words in atonement for my... friend, whom I even came to regard as my child and successor... the Redeemer. He had many titles: guardian of Gotham City, leader of the Teen Titans, the heart and soul of the Justice League... But his legendary life was about more than a mortal defeating the gods. More importantly, he gave us all a new faith: justice... He made us believe that justice still exists, and he held firmly to that belief until his final moment."
Batman's solemn voice silenced everyone. His gaze drifted briefly to the high-rise across the street, where he saw the figure with a red cross on their chest once again.
The figure nodded to him, took the cross from their back, made the sign of the cross over their chest, and then vanished into thin air, as if they had never been there.
Batman paused for a moment, then his lips slowly curled into a smile. He added, "Even though he is dead, I believe that somewhere, he is still protecting the world he loved."
