And here I am with yet another story. Another Batman story, specifically. I recently beat Arkham Origins and I loved it so much and I had this story accumulating in the mind for a while. But I didn't want to publish it until I beat the game to prevent plot holes.
Needless to say, this story will contain spoilers for Arkham Origins. Readers of Care for a Riddle, don't worry, I haven't abandoned it.
Batman does not belong to me. It belongs to DC Comics and Bob Kane. Enjoy!
-x-
"I've seen your record. Impressive. In a city fill of dirt, you're the only one with a clean jacket."
"I need a trace started!"
"But despite a clean record, you're still just an instrument of oppression at the beck and call of your corporate masters."
"I work for the city of Gotham, not some corporation."
"Are you really so naive? The government is owned by corporate America, the city is owned by Bruce Wayne, and the mayor wouldn't wipe his ass without permission from people like Rupert Thorne. You're a cog in the machine, Gordon. And that machine is voracious. That machine must be stopped."
"So, you're doing me a favor of some kind?"
"That's right. I'm here to help the misguided. Despite your chosen profession, your record suggests you could be reformed. So, a warning: get out, Gordon. Get out while you can."
"Hello? Hello? Did we get the trace? Encrypted? Sunova—"
The recording cut off before Captain James Gordon could get the full swear in.
It had almost been two months since the character called Anarky contacted Captain Gordon. And still, there were no leads on Anarky's whereabouts.
Casey Wilson leaned back in her chair, rubbed her temples, and sighed. She'd listened to the recording so many times she had it memorized. And she was sick of hearing Anarky prattle on about corruption and corporations.
Of course, Anarky's phone call to Captain Gordon wasn't the only thing they had on file. Over the past month, she gathered quite a few video clips of him rallying the young people of Gotham to fight back against Corporate America.
As a senior analyst for the Gotham City Cyber Crime Division someone would think she'd be able to track Anarky down with any of that. But no such luck. Anarky covered all his bases: he kept the phone call short, used a disposable cell phone, and several towers broadcasted the videos and bounced through proxies in different countries, making traces difficult.
Yet she caught a lucky break with one of the video clips and snagged three broadcast signals here in Gotham: the Bowery, Park Row, and Amusement Mile, putting Anarky somewhere in Old Gotham.
But her program was still triangulating Anarky's position by going through each building and individually searching for the signal he used. And that took the most time.
"Where are you, you little bastard?" She sullenly asked the small image of Anarky: a male in a red puffer coat, red hood, and wearing a white mask. As if responding to her, the next video clip in her file began to play:
"Oppressed citizens of Gotham, your cries for help have been heard! I am Anarky—voice of the people—here to save you from the plague of corruption that now infests this once proud city!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Casey snorted and clicked pause. She tugged a hand through her chestnut-brown hair, pulled the elastic band out, and redid her hair back up into a ponytail.
Call her crazy but Anarky's voice sounded so familiar. And it had nothing to do with listening to his voice rant about corporate corruption for four weeks straight.
"Any luck finding him?" Someone asked behind her.
Casey jumped in her seat. "Oh my god Ed! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
Her boss, the head of the Cyber Crime Division, smirked. "I thought you heard me open the door." He plunked a cup of coffee on her desk. "I figured you might need one, seeing as you'll be here all night."
Edward Nashton was a handsome man close to thirty years old (five years Casey's senior) with neatly combed dark brown hair and pretty green eyes. Casey wouldn't say she felt attraction towards him because he was her boss but she still considered him to be good looking. But he was a good boss (if a little aloof but that might be because he was only made head of the division a few months ago.)
Casey groaned. "Don't remind me. And then I have to drive down to my mother's for Christmas." She hadn't expected being at the Gotham City Police Department on Christmas Eve but since she was closer than ever to finding Anarky, Edward ordered her to work overtime until she had a location.
She picked up the cup of coffee and took a sip and shuddered. The precinct's coffee was cheap as hell and tasted worse. You'd think they might be able to afford some decent coffee with being on Roman Sionis's payroll. Casey thought sourly.
With exception of few (namely Captain Gordon and Casey—maybe Edward, she didn't know) everyone in the police department were all paid off by Roman Sionis, the biggest mobster in Gotham. Their Commissioner was deep in his pocket and, as a result, completely untouchable. And Branden, their recently-appointed SWAT leader, was corrupt as they came.
"What're you working on tonight?" Casey drained her cup and tossed it into the trash can.
"A few projects of my own." Edward said and waved some manilla envelopes at her. "So do not disturb me tonight. These projects need my full attention."
"Not even if I find Anarky?" She motioned to her program, still going through each building.
He gave her a look. "What use would it be to me if you found him? Just go tell Gordon or Branden."
"You're my boss." Casey clarified."Maybe I should, I don't know, tell you first if I found a terrorist?"
Edward let out a bark of laughter. "Terrorist? Don't make me laugh. He's just a punk."
"He's bombed several cars outside important buildings like the bank." Casey countered. "I'd consider that terrorism."
"If you say so Casey." He rolled his eyes. "Just get back to work and don't bother me for anything." He walked away, heading to his office sectioned away from the common area.
"Not even if the building catches fire?" She joked.
He didn't answer her but he shut his door with more force than usual.
"Touchy." Casey muttered and went back to her program. It was almost finished with the Bowery. Thank god he wasn't there. She hated the Bowery. Goons hired by the Penguin, the second most powerful mobster after Sionis, infested the place. But Old Gotham was still more dangerous than New Gotham thanks to the increased gun violence in the area.
In fact, Casey was sure there was nothing from stopping anyone from walking in, shooting her in the head, and walking out. She shivered at the thought and glanced around cautiously, making sure she was the only in the room (as everyone else was off for Christmas—except her and Edward.)
Being a member of the police who hadn't gone on Sionis's payroll didn't exactly make her popular. After she refused the initial offer (given to her by a cop) many criminals who walked through the precinct threatened her with bodily harm and the officers turned a blind eye. Two years ago, her cat went missing and a day later, showed back up at her front door horribly mutilated.
To this day, she still got weepy about Snowball whenever she had too much to drink.
After that, it would've been sensible of her to carry a gun but as she worked in cyber crimes, there was no need for her on the field. And she was a terrible shot. She'd shoot herself first before hitting her target. Instead she relied on a good, old-fashioned pocket knife and—when she got the chance to swipe it from the weapons locker—police grade pepper spray.
However since she was only in the cyber crimes division, she wasn't much of a threat to the mob populace of Gotham—unless any of them were trying to do credit card fraud—they left her alone. Which was fine with her; it allowed her to focus on crimes outside the mob.
Just last year—Casey allowed herself a moment of pride—she busted a pedophile for engaging in web-cam sex with a minor. And with his arrest, he led them to a sex-trafficking ring. It was one of the few arrests in Gotham that stuck as neither Sionis nor Penguin dealt in human bodies (that she knew of.)
"Your program seems a little slow." A voice Casey recognized remarked.
"Hey Barb." Casey didn't even turn around, opting just to tilt her head backwards to look at the teen. "It's going through each building in Old Gotham looking for an old signal that's not in use right now. Of course it's going slow."
Barbara Gordon shook her head and smiled. "Did you program it to search for Anarky's specific signal and triangulate it between the three comm towers?"
Casey scoffed. "Of course I did. However, there's a lot of interference on the signal. I was lucky to find it in Old Gotham at all."
"And lemme guess, there's still interference on the signal even as you're searching."
"Yup. But he's not in the Bowery so I can cross that off. Next up is Park Row and then Amusement Mile."
"Sounds exciting." Barb grabbed and chair and sat down next to Casey. "My dad thinks I'm going to spend my night in his office watching TV. Donut? I swiped them from the break room."
"Ooooh, you shouldn't have." Casey accepted a sticky, glazed donut Every Christmas she was determined not to load up on holiday food but two weeks and three pounds later she was back in the gym, sweating her butt off.
She bit into the donut and let out a moan of delight. "Thanks Barb."
The red-head giggled. They met when Casey first joined cyber crimes, three years ago when Barbara was only twelve. Casey recognized Barbara's budding talent in computers (today, it rivaled her own and she was willing to bet in a few years time—Barbara would be better than Casey) and they hit it off. She also had a sneaking suspicion Barbara didn't have many friends—with her dad being a cop and all.
"So why're you here and not at home?" Casey asked as she finished her donut.
"Dad said he had a thing to do at the precinct real quick but then he got called away for something at Blackgate. Something with Julian Day. He told me to wait here until he gets back."
That's right, Casey realized. Julian Day's execution was today. He was the famed Calendar Man who killed several women on different holidays for the past year. He was finally caught by none other than the famous Batman—their new vigilante who did not exist (according to the GCPD.)
"I forgot it was today." Casey said. "I suppose Judge Harkness must have had a sense of humor when he sentenced him."
"Yeah." Barbara said. "But do you think it's right?"
"What's right?"
Barbara looked uncomfortable. "I mean—the Batman caught him and didn't kill him but he had the chance to. He turned him over to the police even though the force is corrupt and there was a guarantee he could walk away with an insanity plea. So why didn't Batman kill him?"
Casey shrugged. "I don't know, Barb. But all the criminals he's sent our way, not one of them had been killed. Broken bones, concussions, and internal damage yes, but no one died."
The official GCPD statement was Batman was a criminal and cops had orders to arrest him on sight. Barbara and Casey shared different sentiments. Barbara was ecstatic that someone was fighting against the corrupt system. Casey was relieved that someone was just fighting back. Crime at night had gone down almost five percent because of the Batman.
Captain Gordon, Barbara's father, was adamant in saying Batman was a criminal. And Commissioner Loeb even assigned him as head of the task force that focused on finding and arresting Batman. As a result, his and Barbara's relationship had become severely strained.
There was a beep on her computer. Casey leaned forward, excited—did she finally locate Anarky? No, it was a news alert, Casey realized dejectedly. She clicked on it.
"Police and emergency services are urging Gotham residents to stay off the roads and in their homes tonight in light of the severe winter storm warning." A female voice stated.
"Ugh, it's disgusting out there." Barbara commented. "I don't even know how the police cars can get through."
"Carefully." Casey replied. As a Gotham native, she was used to the harsh winters and terrible driving conditions. She turned to another station to see Commissioner Loeb standing in front of a dozen reporters.
"Oh, this must be the press conference before Day's execution." Casey commented offhandedly. Standing to Loeb's left was Captain Gordon. "Looks like your dad made it okay."
Barbara didn't say anything.
"We put to rest one of Gotham's most heinous and relentless killers—Julian Gregory Day." Loeb was saying.
"Commissioner Loeb!" A reporter held his hand up. "Any comment on the rumor that it wasn't actually the cops who captured Mr. Day."
"Bless Vicki Vale." Casey grinned. She and Barbara high-fived. The reporter Vicki Vale snooped around the GCPD for weeks after Day was brought in. And when she was in the next room trying to get evidence of Batman, Casey and Barbara had a stage discussion about Day's unusual apprehension.
"There is no such thing as a 'bat-man.'" Captain Gordon interjected angrily.
Next to Casey, Barbara let out a huff of annoyance. On TV, Loeb and Gordon refused any more questions and hustled into Blackgate.
And there you have it." Casey said and turned the volume down as the TV faded back to the station.
"They could at least give Batman the credit he's due!" Barbara exclaimed.
"Loeb thinks it'll make him look bad. And he doesn't want to be in trouble with Sionis. I heard he's been breathing down his neck ever since Batman showed up." Casey replied.
"I hope Batman gets Loeb next." Barbara said darkly.
"As much as a huge blow that would be to mob, Loeb is pretty much untouchable. Batman would have to go through a lot of people just to get to him." Casey began to count on her fingers. "He'd have to get stuff on a judge just for a proper trial and ruling. He'd have to find evidence that hasn't or won't disappear. And there's the matter of witnesses and who's willing to come forward if they'll be alive by the time the trial happens. Loeb is just too deep right now."
"Dad could help." Barbara started. "I'm sure he's seen what Loeb does firsthand."
Casey shook her head. "I know he realizes how corrupt Loeb is but his hands are tied. If he goes after Loeb, he's going to get a bigger target painted on him."
Barbara was silent. Gordon wasn't popular either. Another cop on the force attacked him before his reassignment to the Batman task force—a move Casey was sure Loeb made so Gordon wouldn't make any trouble and to get Batman out of the way. And Casey knew deep down if Gordon tried to do anything against Loeb, Barbara would be in danger.
But there was another option. Casey shifted in her chair. She hadn't told anybody, not even Barbara because the less people knew, the better. And who knew who was listening in to conversations in the precinct. But for the past year, Casey had been collecting files.
Every night, on her home computer, she'd go through new files uploaded to the GCPD database. Evidence had a habit of vanishing the next day. To counter it, she made copies and saved them to discs. A couple months ago, she noticed the surveillance system was shut down for routine maintenance more often than not and hacked in and discovered Branden's newest ploy with Loeb.
She had enough stuff to put away Loeb, Branden, and even the Penguin. Of course, she never told anyone what she had. If anyone found out, her coworkers would be fishing her out of the bay by morning.
If the balance shifted in the right direction, she could finally come forward and give the evidence to someone who could use it, like Batman.
Just then, Barbara's police radio cackled to life. "All units, all units, code ten at Blackgate Prison. Communication is down. Possible two-eleven." A dispatcher spoke.
"Delta 6-4, en route."
"The hell?" Casey asked as Barbara turned her radio up. "Who would be robbing Blackgate?" What was there to rob?
"Dispatch, 5-9. Confirm code ten—is this a break out?"
"Suspect identified as Black Mask. Repeat: code ten suspect is Black Mask. All unites at Blackgate. Code six. Code six. Commissioner Loeb is being held captive. Repeat. Commissioner Loeb is seven-oh-one."
"WHAT?" Casey and Barbara cried.
"But we just saw him!" Barbara protested.
"It could've been happening inside the prison as they were having the press conference." Casey jumped on her computer and started typing away furiously. "Let me see if I can't hack into their system."
But everywhere she turned, cameras were either shut off or not responding. "Seriously?" Casey shrieked.
"What's wrong?" Barbara leaned forward. She was tapping on her leg as if typing out code on her own—no doubt itching to help Casey.
"I can't get eyes in Blackgate. It's like something's jamming them."
"Are you sure?"
"Ugh. It's no good." Casey scowled and tried to reroute herself into another system. "Someone's disabled the power."
"Can't you fix it?"
Casey let out a derisive laugh. "To do that, I'd have to manually restart the power there. But let me see if I can't reach your dad's cell phone." She typed a few more times and map of Blackgate popped up on her screen. A red dot beeped in and out. "Well the GPS on his phone still works. Did you try calling him?"
Barbara already had her phone up to her ear. "Voice mail," she said after a minute.
Casey sagged in her seat. "Damn."
-x-
For those of you who've read Care for a Riddle, this story does take place in the same universe so that means that Lilli exists during this story. However, she won't be appearing as she's still in high school.
I read somewhere that Origins takes place five years before Asylum and six before City. I thought that was kind of bogus as a lot has to happen in Gotham for Asylum to take place. They have to establish Dick as Robin and then becoming Nightwing. Tim Drake has to come forward to be the next Robin and who knows if Jason Todd exists here. Then there's Barbara being Batgirl and her subsequent paralysis. I didn't realize Barbara was only fifteen in Origins. Meaning, she's disabled by the time she's twenty years old.
Also, there's the question of all the villains coming into Gotham. We've only seen the Joker, Bane, and Penguin, and the beginnings of the Riddler. But Two Face, Poison Ivy, Harley, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze (I know the DLC covers him—have yet to play it,) and so on haven't appeared yet. That is a lot to stuff in in five years.
So, I'm tweaking the timeline a bit. In this story, I'm setting Origins seven years before Asylum (eight before City) in order for more time. It probably won't have much affect except for Barbara's age in City. But I thought I should just point it out (and give myself some time to vent.)
That's it for chapter one! Reviews, favorites, and follows are love! See ya in chapter two!