Jim Gordon had seen many things throughout his illustrious career as a mall cop, but the scene before him was unlike any other. Two of the city's teenagers, Edward Nygma and Oswald Cobblepot, were fighting it out in the middle of the Hot Topic.
"You fricking poser!" shrieked Edward, pointing an accusatory finger at Oswald. The tension in the dimly lit store could be cut by a knife. Jim rolled up to the teens on his segway, but before he could say a word, Oswald swung a weak fist at the other boy.
The blow was easily dodged, but Oswald wasn't finished. Stamping his foot on the ground in anger, he screamed at the top of his lungs, "You don't know me!" The other patrons crowded around the quarreling teens, making it difficult for Jim to make his way to the center of the store on his segway.
"Excuse me, mall cop coming through." Jim muttered excuses and pardons under his breath as he attempted to drive his beloved segway through the throng of greasy teenagers who smelled like poor hygiene and teen angst. It took him about ten minutes, but after running into several sets of ankles, the crowd reluctantly parted to allow him passage into the nucleus of the action. "What seems to be the problem here, boys?"
Understandably, the teenagers looked uncomfortable at the sight of the mall cop. Oswald looked especially panic stricken as Jim rolled up to them, which was understandable. His foster mother, Fish Mooney, was the strictest soccer mom Jim had ever seen. On the other hand, Edward looked unbothered by the sudden intrusion. "There's no problem, Officer Gordon." His tone was as lofty as ever, his dark eyes glittering mischievously behind his thick horn rimmed glasses. "Oswald here was just leaving."
To Jim's surprise, Oswald seemed to be even more agitated by the use of his name. He swung his fist yet again at Edward, who easily side stepped the punch. "That's not who I am anymore! I told you guys to call me The Penguin!"
"You can't give yourself a nickname, you stupid poser freak!" Edward frowned at Oswald, who seemed to cower as he was being yelled at. Jim didn't understand exactly what was going on, but these two miscreants were disrupting the peace of his mall. He had sworn to serve and protect the citizens of Gotham, and if they couldn't even shop in peace, he had failed them. This was a mall for families, and it upset Jim to see the place overrun by this obnoxious, loitering teenagers.
"I don't care what you two are fighting about, but I would greatly appreciate it if you would take it outside before I call your parents." This stern warning caused Oswald to go white in terror and he immediately scampered out of the store in an instant. Edward stared coolly at Jim before strutting out, his perpetual smirk on his lips.
A sigh of relief escaped Jim as he swiveled around on his segway, but an unexpected face almost caused him to topple over. Bruce Wayne was smirking with his arms crossed in front of him. Jim didn't know why, but whenever there was trouble, Bruce was almost always there. "Isn't Alfred supposed to pick you up soon, kiddo?"
The preteen scowled at this familiar question. Jim knew Bruce hated being driven around in his father's assistant's minivan, but there was nothing the boy could do about it. "Alfred's running late today, Officer." Per usual, the tone Bruce used was formal beyond his years.
Without thinking, Jim reached out and ruffled Bruce's hair. This earned him an even deeper scowl. "Okay, Bruce. I'll see you around." With a small wave, he rolled out of the Hot Topic on his segway to continue patrolling the Gotham Mall.