[Intro - Ambient]
A distant hum, a lamp that breathes, a hush that counts your name.
Tape warble, slow and hollow — the night remembers only blame.
[Verse 1]
The gargoyle stands empty, the cape lies on the floor.
The bat won't rise tonight; he clings to an old wound.
A note, a low shot, a name etched on cold stone,
the vow turned to ash — he walks this dark alone.
The cave lights dim, the machines fall into sleep,
Gotham's guardian counts the syllables of grief.
The mask is cracked; it can't hide the uneven pain,
just the raw, aching scar and the slow, unholy refrain.
[Pre-Chorus]
And the echo of her laugh still lingers in the halls,
while outside a soft dread eats away the city walls.
He watches the window where the storm begins to file,
a hell that kindles slow because his spirit's been defiled.
[Chorus - whispered, with layered distant harmonies]
The mantle is folded... the shadow slips to sleep.
Chaos hums beneath the skin; the night runs long and deep.
A war without banners, a cry without a name,
manic laughter waters a garden grown of blame.
The city keeps burning; his broken heart supplies the flame,
and in his chest a quiet, fatal, dark treason.
[Verse 2]
The alleys are trembling; true justice feels like myth.
Night's pawns move with hungry faces, show their fangs and drift.
A crooked deal in back rooms, a coin that never lands,
riddles left like footprints, leading to unknown hands.
The signal above is fractured; its glow has gone away,
only the ash and dust the long terror chose to stay.
He remembers the flash — that single, crimson flare,
how he chose to hold her shadow and she vanished in the air.
[Pre-Chorus - softer]
"I swore to protect you above the city's plight..."
That vow became a silence swallowed by that night.
What remains is the weight of the last, impossible choice,
the death of a great love that never found its voice.
[Chorus - fuller, with sub-bass push]
The mantle is folded... the shadow sleeps beneath.
Chaos hums, a low refrain, the long, unending wreath.
A war with no banner, a scream that has no shore,
laughter tends the rotten ground and opens every door.
Gotham keeps burning; his sorrow fans the flame,
and in his chest is only one small, fatal, dark treason.
[Bridge - intimate, voice and sparse piano, a minimal vocal run]
They call him coward, say his faith has been erased.
Only he keeps the ledger of the grief he has faced.
A hero without soul is only a man who leaves,
and the price of true love pulls the skyline to its knees.
Thunder in the distance — the sound of his own blame,
lightning draws the hollow outline of a frame.
To return and save them? Or keep his solemn pledge?
The city's brutal breath pushes him close to the edge.
[Instrumental - detuned strings, bowed textures, brushed percussion, sub-bass]
(soft, wordless vocal textures drift; a single high piano motif repeats and fades)
[Final Chorus - stripped gradually to voice and reverb]
The mantle is folded... the shadow folds again.
Chaos hums like a lullaby, a slow, repeating stain.
No banners to raise, no r
