New York is so much different than Gotham.
True, they both have similar architecture, share important roles in American history, and they even have their own personalities. For me, the similarities stop there. New York is given so much these days, which is what has brought it back from the brink of crime and despair that takes residence in Gotham everyday. New York is run by crime families, but even they cannot compete with the muscle corporations bring in with their money and trumping political influence.
Unlike Gotham, New York is a loved and wanted city by the people in this country. Government funding has been halted on so many important projects in Gotham to ensure New York continues to grow commercially and politically. I know, I've seen the books.
I hate New York.
However, the people of this city aren't to blame for what the city has become. So many people are stepped on here, much like Gotham, but perhaps at an even higher number. To make it worse, I wonder if those people even understand how much they're short-changed. That's the "magic" of this city, I suppose. To love it so much, you don't even care how bad you've got it. As long as your baseball team wins every year, what's the point of having a good life?
These people wouldn't last a day in Gotham.
Maybe I'm being unfair. It took me so long to understand the people of Gotham when I was sure I knew them from top to bottom. Their unpredictable nature became so routine to me over time, how could I even judge people of another city? Maybe my bitterness is lies within the fact that if this country could, it would declare Gotham irrelevant and press on with more important towns that are already overindulged.
Or maybe I'm thinking of all of this because I'm not finding any follow-up leads whatsoever.
I'm tracking a lead back to this city that stem to a series of robberies in Gotham, Metropolis and Boston. Wayne Tech, LexCorp and other research facilities were the targets. Each company indicate that specific equipment was taken from their labs, with even potentially more valuable equipment being left behind. What most of these labs don't realize is that the stolen equipment from each robbery are key components in creating temporal disruptors. I've experimented with the equipment myself, yielding some early results. However, the process is too unstable at this point, with the risk of a horrific incident far to great for me to continue.
That's why I've taken the necessary time away from Gotham.
I could have included others in on this case, but the methods used in the robberies are far too familiar for me to need extensive muscle on this case. More importantly, I need to get this job done with as little attention as possible.
What I've traced back to New York are two different things:
First, ten months ago, the League responded to temporal disturbance directly rooted in Manhattan. More specifically, the tower owned and operated by a business partner of Bruce Wayne's on numerous occaisions, Max Winters, who himself disappeared that night. Reports indicate that the temporal field generated caused a series of unexplainable events in the surround area involving unidentifiable creatures of various sizes. There were prior reports of creatures showing up around the city before the incident, which I assume are related.
Second, there have been reports over the last five years indicating heavy crime activity involving mysterious assailants who are rumored to be responsible for stolen and damaged property. When you look at the evidence, it clearly indicates that these assailants are using ninja tactics. There were reports of hooded individuals gathering at ground zero the night Max Winters disappeared. Even some reports claiming that some form of battle took place involving other individuals who had not been identified.
There are also rumors of even more mysterious individuals who have been operating as vigilantes, opposing the silent crime wave that has unnoticably taken hold of New York's underground.
Information on these vigilantes up to this point remains unproven. However, proof is everything you don't see. Police reports from five years ago indicate mass-arrests one early hour night in the middle of Brooklyn. The reports say that many of the arrested individuals were dressed in dark, martial arts-styled clothing with masks and weapons.
These arrests lead to the seizing of an abandoned factory that was confirmed to be the headquarters of the group responsible for the series of crimes that had hit the city. The factory contained training and weapons facilities located in one of the warehouses by the factory, a stadium-style arena in another warehouse, and a recreational facility. The police were also able to recover over a hundred million dollars of stolen goods, ranging from electronics to tobacco products.
There was a definitive operation taking place in New York, but what they thought was over merely laid dormant.
Tonight, I crouch on the ledge of an old apartment building's roof, listening to the city below me. The area of this town that is heavily Japanese influenced isn't giving up any leads. All I've been able to do is stop a few small crimes while here, which have nothing to do with...
I turn around immediately and still crouched as I hear a footstep directly behind me. Something was able to get close enough to me without making a sound, until it wanted to let me know it was there.
"Well, well", it says to me in the shadow of a chimney. "You're obviously new to town."
Whoever it is, he's staying in the shadows deliberately. By the ledge, I'm far more visible than he is, which is something that is making me angry. It's been a long time since someone's been able to get this close to me without me knowing.
"I'm in here on business", I say while standing up straight, letting my cape cover my body.
"Oh really", it says back to me with a strong Brooklyn accent. "Be sure to drop your card at Luigi's on your way out for a free lunch."
I don't respond to that comment as this person makes an obvious huff with his breath. I remain still, waiting to see if he makes a move from the shadows.
"Eh, look pal", he continues. "It's late, and I don't wanna bash some costumed freak before I hit the hay. Whaddya say you take your caped butt offa this roof and back to where you came from, huh?"
I don't do anything.
"Seriously, why do I get the looney toons", he says starting to walk out of the shadow. "Look guy, I ain't got time for rooftop mimes, ok?"
I see him now, and what I've heard about this town in the past few years are confirmed. Mutated reptiles have been seen throughout the city, inciting gang riots and performing vigilante acts. This one is close to six feet tall and has a red mask over his green face.
"I'll leave when I'm done here", I say again. "...Turtle."
I wonder if by stressing the fact that he's a turtle will make him think I don't take him seriously. It works tenfold as walks up to me quickly,grabbing at my cape that is draped over me with both hands.
"Look friend, don't think for a second that I won't mop this rooftop with your pointy-head and cute cape."
He's using his full physical force to tug at me. His strength is normal despite his mutation. He was able to get close to me without notice, letting me know he's well skilled. I think a lead actually found me for a change. I quickly slap both of his hand off of me and move my face closer to his with a glare.
"I'll. Leave. When. I'm. Ready."
I really don't have time for this myself, but this is probably the only lead I'm going to get tonight, and I hate ending patrols with nothing to show for. He continues to stare back, amused that I even laid my hands on him for a second.
"You know something, freak?" he says as his eyes begin to shake with rage. "I'm gonna enjoy this."
He takes a swing at me that I easily block. It was too telegraphed, and he knows it. He tries an obviously more deceptive move, hurling his right knee at me in hopes I'd grab it and he could spring up with is other one. Instead, I slap down both knee strikes and take a knee strike of my own to his midsection. It hits its mark as I wondered if I could find a soft spot on his torso. He is stunned as I stand in front of him motionless again, not dropping a follow up blow.
"N...not bad, bat", he coughs. "I think this night just got better."
He lunges at me with a straight kick out of nowhere. it catches my shoulder as I tried to get out of the way. The forces turns my body enough for him spin a back elbow at my stomach, hitting his mark perfectly. I'm able to regain quickly and respond with a kick of my own to his side as he tries to dodge. I barely catch him, but get him squarely with a roundhouse back kick to his face. I drop him momentarily as he continues to talk.
"Oooo, now you're dead!"
He springs up from the ground onto his feet and pulls out two sais from his belt. His hand-to-hand technique is very good, but limited by his own rage. His eyes look more in control with his blades in his hand. This may get a bit more difficult.
"Gotta say, bat", he says readying himself. "I wasn't expecting something this good."
He doesn't wait for me to say anything as he whirls his sais in his hands and charges at me. I go into defense-mode by dodging, blocking and sliding away from his barrage of attacks. He mixes his weapon strikes with kicks and elbow attacks. Through his freestyle offense and rage, I finally start to recognize a familiar pattern. He doesn't let his skill take command of this fight as it easily could, despite how well trained he obviously is.
He continues some more, then suddenly stops when he realizes I'm staying in defense-mode.
"What happened, bat", he asks in a taunting tone. "Two seconds ago, you had me impressed."
He comes at me again, only to have my gauntlets fling away his sais and I headbutt him directly in his face. He drops to the ground again, on his large shell. I hurt him with that attack, especially since my cowl is reinforced in that area to deliver an effective head butt. I waited for his impatience to take over his ability, and it paid off. If he was more focused, it would not have been this easy.
"Oh that's fair", he says now holding the middle part of his face with his hands. "Can you get any cheaper?"
He knows I'm not going after him while on the ground, or he wouldn't drop his guard so much. I back away from him to give him room to stand up.
"It's effective", I say back.
He laughs again, picking himself off of the ground.
"I bet", he says. "If I had a nose, I'd have this face all over again."
"Who are you?" I ask him finally.
"What was that?" he asks pretending to be shocked and believing he is. "Are you coming to our city and asking ME who I am? You got some nerve, bat."
He walks closer to me. staring directly into my face.
"We heard about you, freak", he says. "We had you pegged the second you stepped foot in the Apple. We don't need your problems here and we don't need you trying to get involved in ours."
We?
He approaches again, but a series of tiny daggers fills the ground between our feet. We both look up to the slightly taller building next to us, and see a total of eight masked individuals, and one woman. The woman steps foward onto the building's ledge above us and points at the turtle.
"Terrific", the turtles says annoyed. "The freaks really do come out at night..."
"We have come to declare war on you, turtle", the woman says. "The pact we held is no longer recognized by the Foot Clan, and you are declared enemies once again."
The Foot Clan...
"Miss us that much, huh lady?" the turtle says to her. "You guys stay up there for a moment while I take care this pointy..."
The woman notices me finally, and suddenly the confident look on her face is just about scrambled as her eyes shake with disbelief.
"Wh...what are you doing here?"
Her disbelief is suddenly replaced with eyes full of rage. She orders her men to remain where they are with a hand gesture, then jumps down onto the roof with us. She walks towards me, eyes declaring her hatred for me. I know her somehow, or does she have other business with me that I'm unaware of?
"You killed my brother, Batman", she says reaching for the sword behind her back. "Now, I will have my revenge..."
The turtle jumps between us before she gets within ten feet of me. He's still livid with what happened a few moments ago with me, obviously not willing to let her get her hands on me.
"Look Karai, this guy's been in town for two minutes and busted my noggin' on this roof. No way you getting a first crack at'im"
Karai?
I...I remember now.
"No one will deny me vengeance, turtle", she says. "Now begone, our business is not with you just yet."
The turtle looks back at me for a moment, then back to her as a smile was starting to grow on his face. The woman is definitely focused on me, and I think the turtle is amused by this.
"Ok, lady", he says moving out of her way and leaning on the roof entrance door. "I'd like to see what you got."
She does not acknowledge him when he leaves her view. Her eyes are boiling over now, and her men remain on the roof next to us.
I have trained for many years attempting to be like oniisama", she says bringing her sword in front of her with one hand. "You ridicule his life and memory by dawning a ridiculous visage and using the same teachings against our kind. Every breath you take is an insult to his honor."
"Your brother dishonored you by becoming a thief, Karai", I say while remaining statuesque. "Keyodai Ken was nothing more than a man who chose to gain through the loss of others. He dishonored his teachings by using them for his own ends."
"Thief or no thief, he was still my brother", she says now holding the katana with both hands. "And you will die in the name of his honor!"
She lunges at me with a predictable speed, given her body type and estimated ability. The humming of the katana blade surrounds me as she attacks me with a barrage I haven't experienced in a long time. Like that turtle, who seems to be watching us with a bit of enjoyment on his face, she is limited by her rage.
"Watch out, K", he shouts. "This one'll bite you if you're not careful
She tries to hold on to her patience, but it begins to fail she she is still unable to connect with any of her katana attacks. After a few more moments, her attacks become less and less disciplined as fatigue sets in. She comes in closer as I allow her to bring her sword down at me, which enables me to use my gauntlets again tonight to disarm an attacker.
Her katana is flung to the opposite side of the building, too far out of her reach as I wait for her next attack. She stares at me, breathing heavily as the heavy condensation of the early fall morning is visible. She spent herself recklessly with those attacks, and she knows it. She knows that she should have adjusted her attack the second she knew it wasn't working. The turtle even managed to figure that out, who starts to applaud.
"Good stuff, guys", he says. "Now let's get this bad episode of Kung-Fu Theater off this roof and back to where..."
"ATTACK!"
Karai motions for her men to come down from their positions, but they hesitate and do not move. One among them begins to speak.
"But Karai, we were instructed only to bring the message to the turtles, not attack them."
She looks back up at them, her anger still present. From what I can tell, they were sent as messengers by someone. Perhaps the person behind the thefts. I need answers.
"Attack the bat!"
She turns back at me, only to see the side of my hand come at her, connecting with the side of her neck. She's out the second I struck the pressure point, and I catch her limp body before it hits the ground.
"He has Karai", the same ninja says. "Ninja, attack!"
They all leap down at me, as the turtle jumps out of the way and onto one of the fans blowing on the roof. The ninjas surround me, all in the same black outfit, bearing the same Kanji lettering on the bandannas around their brows. I put Karai down and move towards them. These have to be the ninjas responsible, and it's my own blasted fault for letting this situation get out of hand. I should not have wasted as much time as I did on the turtle. I needed to gather intel on the ninja crime wave in New York, and I knew he would have had a lot to talk about. Now, the enemy knows I'm here, and the younger sister of Keyodai Ken - the man who knew I was Bruce Wayne - is a leader among them.
They surround me now, one carrying off Karai from harm's way. I now ready myself, trying to figure out the first move the intend to make. They all seem ready for what is about to happen, but their postures indicate that they're second-guessing this situation. The ninja who spoke before speaks one more time.
"Be warned, bat", he says. "You will be hunted down, but only after we are finished with them."
He points to the turtle who was sitting on a fan, and is no longer there. The ninjas failed to notice that the turtle had moved to a higher ground on the roof, directly above us.
"Then get your travel plans, cuz we're about to end this!"
He leaps down and attacks one of the ninja, as the rest make their moves. I turn around and take on the ninja behind us, knowing that he has the ninjas on that end covered for. I dodge and counter attack these ninjas with surprising ease. Their moves are fluid, but lack a crisp excecution that can only be blamed on the manner in which they were trained. A few of the blows I landed caused some of them to whimper a bit, indicating that a few of them are fairly young. I easily take out half of what was up here with us, and I turn around to see the turtle has just finished off what was on his side.
The early morning light starts to glow, as the sun is ready to rise from the horizon. I look down to see if I had hurt these men anymore than I appeared to do so. None of them seem to have any vital injuries, despite the pain their noises are indicating they're in.
"Who the heck hired you guys?" the turtle taunts the defeated ninjas. "I mean, I've played video games harder than this."
I step over a few fallen ninja, who probably wouldn't have the answers I want. Normally, the least skilled of the clan are the ones with the least amount of knowledge. I go to where Karai was laid down, and I kneel down to put her over my shoulder. I stand up to see the turtle standing up straight with his arms folded behind his head.
"You know, bat", he says starting to yawn. "I heard you was good, but man. Nothing beats seeing all of this up close and..."
He turns to look at me, noticing I have Karai over my shoulder and still unconscious.
"Hey wait a minute", he says in a serious tone. "Whadda you think you're doin'?"
He looks at me, in obvious protest of me leaving with Karai. I stare at him coldly as he looks confused.
"I have questions", I simply say. "She has answers."
I turn my back to the turtle, stepping up to the ledge. He has heard of me before, but probably thinks I intend on causing more harm to this girl. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't care if I just left without warning.
"Hold up, freak", he shouts at me. "You can't just..."
"Watch me."
I'm ready to jump and use the grapple mid-freefall. I have to question Karai about what the Foot Clan intends on doing with the equipment stolen from all of the cities. I begin to make my move off of the roof, only to be stopped as more daggers fly between my feet, sticking to the ledge. They didn't come from the turtle's direction. They came down at me from an angle. I look up at the ledge these ninjas had first appeared from, but it wasn't more of the Foot Clan coming as backup. What it really was...was one of those things you could believe, but sometimes you just can't in certain situations.
I count three of them.
Three more turtles.
The sun will have to wait a little longer, my night isn't over yet.