The night was silent in the violent and crime ridden city of Gotham City. All of the residents living in and around Gotham's Financial District were rudely awakened from their slumber however by the sound of a revving engine racing through the streets. The white truck from which this sound originated began to gain speed and then crashed into the wall of the Gotham National Bank. The brick wall crumbled and two men wearing clown masks exited the truck and ran inside. "The alarm just went off. We have a full five minutes before the cops arrive. Let's set the charges!" one of the men said to the other.
They began to plant small explosive devices all over the wall around the vault and then stepped back. "Are we all ready?" one of them asked.
The other one nodded and then used his cell phone to set off the charges. The wall exploded and the vault door came crashing down. The two burglars gasped at the amount of money they were standing in front of. They heard a noise and turned around. "I thought you said we had five minutes," one of them said.
Then, like a figure of the night, a man stepped out of the shadow's, Batman! "Who the hell are you?" a burglar asked.
"I'm the Batman!" he replied with a scowl in his voice.
"Well incase you didn't notice 'Batman', it's two on one and we have guns!" a robber said as he raised his gun.
With cat like reflexes, the Batman pounced and grabbed the gun. With one movement he pulled the gun apart and then knocked the robber out with one punch. As he fell to the ground, Batman pulled the mask off of the man's head and then looked up at the other thief. "I...I give up," he cowered.
"Good choice," Batman replied with a slight grin on his face.
The Batman's vehicle, the Batmobile sped towards his base of operations, the Batcave, which sat beneath the mansion of his alter-ego, Bruce Wayne. As the Batmobile stopped in the cave and Bruce removed his cowl, he was greeted by his faithful butler, Alfred Pennyworth. "Good evening Master Bruce," Alfred said, "how was your night?"
"Eventful," Bruce said as he walked over to the Batcomputer and began to plug in his cowl.
"If you don't mind my asking sir," Alfred asked, "what are you doing?"
"I broke up a robbery this evening and I caught the faces of the men with my cowl camera. I'm going to use Facial Recognition and cross-reference their identities with the GCPD Headquarters."
As Bruce typed on the computer, a search was initiated for the men and their identities were revealed, Jim Luca and Steve Tonio. "Damn!" Bruce cursed, "Just as I feared. The men who robbed the bank belonged to Salvator 'The Boss' Maroni, the second most powerful gangster in the city."
"So why is that such a bad thing Master Bruce?" Alfred asked.
"Because the bank is owned by Carmine 'The Roman' Falcone, the most powerful gangster in the city and if he finds out that Maroni robbed him, we're going to be looking down the barrel of a full scale gang war."
"That is bad news. So, what will you do now sir?"
"I'm going to pay Mr Maroni a little visit."
Two men stood at the Gotham National Bank inside a the police tape that fenced off the area. One of them was the police Commissioner James Gordon and the other was Detective Harvey Bullock. "This is weird," Commissioner Gordon said to Bullock, "everything is set up so weird. It's almost like the guy who set this up wanted them to get caught."
Bullock nodded, "Yeah, weird."
Salvator 'The Boss' Maroni was sitting in the study of his Gotham Hills Mansion. Suddenly, all of the lights in the room went off. Salvator put down the phone and began to reach for the gun under his desk. Then, just as he had at the bank, Batman stepped out of the shadows. "Hello...Batman, is it? How can I help you?"
"Jim Luca, Steve Tonio," Batman said, "do these names ring a bell to you? Well they should because last night they robbed a bank owned by The Roman. Why Maroni?"
"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" Salvator asked rhetorically, "Luca and Tonio came to me a few weeks ago to tell me that they got a better offer. I said fine but if they ever showed their face in this town again I would kill them."
"You're a smart man Sal, I'm sure you kept tabs on them."
"So what if I did. Why should I tell you, convince me."
"If you don't tell me, I'll break your nose!"
"Good convincing," Salvator began, "I watched them for a few weeks. They kept meeting at a warehouse on Third and Bravo, meeting up with some guy. Looked like a clown, wore a cheap suit and makeup."
"Thankyou Sal but mark my words, I will not let what you do go unpunished. You have the largest narcotics ring besides Rupert Thorn in the whole city and I will take you down!"
"Good luck with that hero."
Before he knew it, Batman was driving to a warehouse on Third and Bravo. He stepped out of the car and ran inside to see the man that Salvator Maroni had described. He had ruby red lips, bleached white skin and emerald green hair with a purple suit. "Batman, I've been expecting you," the man said.
"Who are you?"
"You can call me the Joker!"
"So 'Joker', why are you trying to play The Roman and The Boss against each other?"
"I'm what some people might call an anarchist. I want to start a gang war so that I can look at all the dead bodies and say with a smile, 'I did that'."
"You're insane!"
"And you're outnumbered Batman."
Three men stepped out of the shadows, each of them wearing unique clown masks and wielding weapons. Before any of them could react, Batman threw an explosive Batarang, which knocked the first man unconscious. Then he turned to the second man and punched him in the face. As he arched in pain, Batman shattered his knee with a swift kick and the man fell to the ground in agony. The third man began to shake and pleaded for mercy. Before he could finish his sentence, Batman knocked him to the ground with one head but and then turned to The Joker. "Well done Batman, you took out my guys in less than a...," the Batman cut him off with one punch to the head, knocking him out.
Carmine 'The Roman' Falcone sat at his desk, doing paperwork. As Batman stepped out of the shadows, Falcone's bodyguard pulled a gun on him. Batman kicked the gun out of his hand and then elbowed him in the head. "Batman, it's good to see you," Falcone said.
"A few days ago, Salvator Maroni's men robbed one of your banks."
"Yes, thankyou for that. I was just about to put the hit order out on Maroni."
"Don't bother. There was a third party, he's the one who robbed your bank but I've taken him down."
"Thankyou Batman, I will take this man as a token of your gratitude."
"No," Batman said, "I'm going to tell you the same thing that I told Maroni. I won't turn a blind eye to what you do. I will get proof of what you're doing and when I do, I will take you down. I swear!"
And with that, the Batman disappeared as soon as he had appeared.