Chapter 1: A City Changed.

Undisclosed Location

Hush: "Haaa… Haaa…"

Sucking in oxygen and exhaling was a man with his face wrapped in bandages and tied to a chair. The room around him was dark with a bright light over him being the only light source. His head felt like it was going to explode out of his skull as beads of sweat ran down his face and groans escaped his mouth. This man was Thomas Elliot or Hush. A world-renowned surgeon who was recently liberated from Arkham Asylum following the recent breakout. But, he was anything but free. He had been dragged deeper into the freezing pits of Hell.

Maniac: "Are we sure that the drug worked? I'd hate for his valuable mind to self-implode on us."

A gleeful voice could be heard in the darkness around Hush. He couldn't even bare to move his head to find it as he was in so much pain.

Emma: "Relax, my sweet. The psychoactive drug I injected into him before I was arrested should start to wear off. It took a little time since Arkham has been dosing him with depressants on top, but he should be able to talk."

A elegant and soothing voice spoke malicious words to the man in front of her in the darkness.

Maniac: "That's good. Is Bane ready?"

Emma: "As soon as we give the word, he'll move in. He's very eager to get underway."

That was when steps began to echo from the darkness. They approached Hush slowly, and soon, entered the light. A man with short brown hair wearing a white suit blazer, purple shirt and slacks with a white tie and black shoes stepped towards Hush. Next to him was a younger girl in her late teens wearing a revealing white corset and white trousers with heels.

Hush: "You bitch, Emma. You can't seem to just leave me alone."

Emma looks down on Hush with a sneer.

Emma: "Call it an attraction of sorts. Think yourself lucky to be considered, Thomas. I don't usually have an interest in mere men."

The Maniac places his hand underneath Emma's chin and positioned her face to look towards his.

Maniac: "That makes me a lucky man, right?"

Emma forced a smile that went undetected to The Maniac as if she was repulsed by the touch.

Emma: "Right."

Hush couldn't help but chuckle at the display.

Hush: "Is it me or have you become so desperate for power that you would lay down for anyone, Emma? So much for the Grace family's standards and self-respect.

Emma made a foul expression as she turned and slapped Elliot with the back of her hand, however that did little to stop the chuckling of the bandaged man.

Hush: "Touched a nerve, did I?"

Emma was about to deliver another smack to the disrespectful Hush, but her arm was grabbed by The Maniac.

Maniac: "Calm down, babe. Allow me to deal with this."

Emma's expression didn't change, but she nodded and walked back into the darkness. Now alone with Hush, The Maniac sat down on the ground in front of his captive and crossed his legs.

Hush: "Who are you supposed to be?"

Maniac: "Right now, I'm the guy who saved you from Arkham."

Hush: "So? Want a thank you?"

Hush spoke fiercely, but that didn't dampen the mood of Maniac.

Maniac: "Kinda. You're quite a legend according to Emma. You once singlehandedly brought The Batman to his knees. Since I now control Gotham, Batman will become a problem. Just like his allies as well."

Hush: "What do you want from me?"

Maniac: "I want everything. You know who Batman is. You know who all of them are. I want their names."

Hush made a pained laugh as even in his situation he found the whole thing funny.

Hush: "You expect me to tell you that information for free? What do I get in return?"

The Maniac rubbed his chin as he gave it some thought. He slammed his fist into the palm of his hand when he figured out his next answer.

Maniac: "How about you get to live?"

Hush felt his sweat turn cold as that threat sunk in. Hearing that from a man with a smile on his face was terrifying, especially in this vulnerable predicament.

Hush: "You must have went to a lot of effort to break me out of Arkham. You won't kill me that easily."

Maniac: "Well… Maybe not. But, I can make it painful for you. It will be fun for me, but for you… How much do you think you can take, Thomas? For how long? Besides, if you don't talk, I may get bored and kill you anyway."

Hush could do nothing but stare into the eyes of The Maniac as he rose from the ground and his face came within inches of his own.

Maniac: "Now, shall we discuss business?"

Gotham City

How are you supposed to feel after your failures? Defeated? Empowered? Maybe a bit of both?

For Riley Rivers, it was hard to tell. But one thing was for sure.

He felt alone.

It was the night and night was when the evil would slip through the cracks, but that was when the guardians would also make an appearance to counter them. What do you do though when the evil is your own flesh and blood?

On top of one of Gotham's high-rise buildings, Avenger stared at a photo of his family. His step-father, Kieran Troy. His younger sister, Charlotte Troy. And finally, his half-brother, Rick Troy.

Avenger: "Rick…"

For Avenger, things went from bad to worse. For the past week, Avenger had been dealing with a new criminal organisation run by The Maniac. A criminal who was actually closer to Avenger than most knew.

His real name was Rick Troy. After his girlfriend was attacked by The Joker, Rick began to go insane. He was incarcerated in Arkham Asylum where he was aided by Oswald Cobblepot, who he betrayed, and Norman Blake AKA Crimson and escaped. Crimson had craved a bloody pathway through Gotham as The Joker's soldier against Roman Sionis, The Black Mask. This bloody path led to both Joker and Sionis being killed, something that Avenger failed to stop despite his efforts.

Now his brother was in control of Gotham's criminal underworld with people like Emma Grace and Bane at his side as well as Thomas Elliot.

The reality that now Riley must fight against his own brother was a terrible one, especially after what has happened to his family in the past few months since he became Avenger. Like his father.

Michael Rivers was the motivation behind Riley's entire life. His choice to become a lawyer. His decision to become a vigilante following his "death" even now, he wanted to prove to his father that the system works.

Putting away the photograph and placing it into his utility belt, Avenger looked down towards the streets of Gotham. It was time to get back to work.

S.T.A.R Labs

S.T.A.R Labs is one of the world's leading scientific research facilities that operates around the globe, conducting and experimenting various projects for the betterment of mankind. Canada, Europe, Australia, and Japan all have branches of the organisation with them having the central branch in Metropolis. But, Gotham had one of it's own and it was researching something incredible and out of this world…

Lead Scientist: "Careful. We don't want to damage or set off something."

A large metal box was being carried by the interns toward a containment cell that was so large and so thick with pure osmium, one of the world's densest metals, maybe even Superman couldn't break it.

Scientist: "What is inside this box?"

Lead Scientist: "With hope, a key to something incredible."

With that statement, the Lead Scientist watched as the box was being carried carefully towards the cell, but the scientist stopped before he reached the door, causing confusion to appear on the face of the Lead Scientist.

Lead Scientist: "What's wrong? Why did you stop?"

Scientist: "Key to something incredible? I like the sound of that."

Before anyone could react…

BOOM!

The celling above was engulfed in an explosion, creating a hole where three men dressed in black special forces gear consisting of a mask, body armour, and army fatigues descended into the room through the hole on a abseiling rope. All of them carried automatic weapons and, on their body armour, there was a spray-painted white skull with guns underneath.

This team of mercenaries were known as The Bullet Club.

"Go, go, go!"

Quickly and efficiently, they strapped the scientist that didn't resist to an rope. S.T.A.R Security tried to stop them by firing their weapons at them, but they were outgunned and outmatched by the mercenaries.

Lead Scientist: "My God!"

The Lead Scientist dived for cover as the gunfire whizzed past him, doing his best not to get shot. Quickly, he tried to press on a button on the wall, but a bullet narrowed moved past his head and destroyed the console.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

One of the members of Bullet Club aimed their smoking weapon at the Lead Scientist. Another one motioned to the third to approach the Lead Scientist which he did.

Lead Scientist: "W-What are you doing?!"

Terrified, the Lead Scientist didn't resist when he was held at gunpoint and motioned to approach the abseiling rope. As he was forcibly strapped to the rope, he glared at the mercenaries around him.

Lead Scientist: "You all are insane. Do you have any idea what is in that box?! It's not some mere piece of technology!"

Despite the pleas of the Lead Scientist, the traitorous scientist smirked condescendingly at him as he held the box in his hand.

Scientist: "As you said, the key to something incredible."

The three Bullet Club members tugged twice on their rope and the five men were pulled up towards a helicopter that hovered above S.T.A.R Labs.

The two other Bullet Club members served as pilot and co-pilot as the rope was pulling the men below upwards, but disaster struck. The pulley mechanism that controlled the rope stopped.

"Bullet 2 & 6! What's happening up there?!"

The co-pilot left his seat and went into the cargo area, only to see that a collapsable baton was jammed into the mechanism.

"What the?!"

Avenger: "You guys again?"

The Bullet Club member turned to receive a fist to his face, knocking him to the ground. Disoriented by the blow, he looked up to see Avenger there with a stern expression, at least what could be told from his lower face.

Avenger: "I should have known you wouldn't stay in Blackgate. But, you're going right back."

The pilot turned his head to see Avenger standing there. Quickly, he grabbed the radio and began shouting through it.

"Prime Tango has arrived! Avenger is here!"

Delivering the warning to his fellow Bullet Club members, those that were attached to the rope, took a combat knife from a holster on their thigh and cut the rope, falling onto the rooftop. Holding the Lead Scientist at gunpoint, they begun to move down the fire escape.

Back inside the helicopter, the pilot tried to shoot Avenger with his sidearm, but it is kicked out of his hands. With the speed and finesse of an experienced soldier, he pulls out his own combat knife and slashes at Avenger who dodges the first couple of swings before catching his attacker's arm and thrusting his palm into his elbow, almost bending it unnaturally. Crying out in pain, the Bullet Club member drops his knife before Avenger whacks his elbow across the mercenary's chin, knocking him unconscious. The one that Avenger knocked down earlier got back up and tried to sneak up on him, but as if he had an omnipotent sense of his surroundings, Avenger twisted his body and kicked the co-pilot out of the helicopter. Avenger grabs his leg before he fell out and tossed him back inside the cockpit.

Avenger: "You guys never learnt from the last beating I gave you."

Speaking in disappointment, Avenger walks over to the cockpit. The helicopter was still in mid-air, but it was just hovering. He wanted to land it before it had the chance to crash. So using the stick and pedals, he slowly moves the helicopter towards another rooftop to land it. Looking at the hundreds and hundreds of buttons in front of him, Avenger couldn't help but wonder what each one does, but he knew that this helicopter likely had weapons.

Avenger: "How did the Bullet Club get their hands on a chopper like this?"

He mused to himself as he walked over to the pulley mechanism, pulling out his baton, and, using the rope, tied up the two members that he knocked out.

Avenger: "I don't want you two going anywhere."

Now with the helicopter and the pilot and co-pilot secured, Avenger had to save the Lead Scientist. Whatever the Bullet Club were here after, it wasn't good at all.

GCPD Headquarters

In the office of Commissioner Quentin Harrison, a gruff middle-aged man with a greyed beard and hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a black suit. He was writing on a few documents. Authorisation documents that had to be approved. He put his hand in his drawer and pulled out a small plastic tub filled with a cream, he applied a thin layer of it to his face until it was completely rubbed in.

Quentin Harrison is a former police captain in Chicago that recently replaced James Gordon as GCPD Commissioner after his dismissal. Quentin has since declared a shoot-to-kill order for any vigilantes and has the city in a stalemate with local crime which had decreased drastically since the latest crime lord took charge. It was as if when the order got smarter, so did chaos.

The telephone on his desk rang and Quentin quickly picked it up, placing it to his ear.

Quentin: "Hello, Commissioner Harrison speaking… Why, good evening, Miss Head."

A smile came over Quentin's face as he spoke.

Meanwhile inside the department offices, Renee Montoya was drinking a glass of what seemed to be scotch at her desk. She was somewhat disillusioned by her job now that Gordon was gone. Things were going from bad to worse. She had always had respect for the Bat Family and all those people that put their lives on the line in a world where no one could be considered normal, and now, she was expected to shoot them on sight?

The door opens and Renee quickly puts the bottle away. Stepping through the door is Detective Margret Sawyer. While Renee thought that she had scurried the alcohol away, Sawyer did notice.

Sawyer: "Drinking again, Renee? On the job?"

Sawyer spoke with disappointment evident in her tone and she crossed her arms. Montoya could do nothing but sigh.

Renee: "Give me a break, Maggie. What else can I do when the world is collapsing around us?"

Sawyer: "I know that you're torn up about Jim. But, we still have a job to do. We'll just have to deal with this."

Renee: "Don't give me that crap, Maggie! How many times has Batman saved our asses? Heck, Avenger himself saved the Mayor and the whole city last week from a chemical weapon. And what does Hady do? He fires the real Commissioner and installs one that wants to kill off those same people."

Sawyer didn't know what to say. In truth, she had little faith in the new Commissioner Harrison, but what could she do about it against the powers that be?

That was when there was a knock on the door. It was the Commissioner himself.

Quentin: "Detectives Montoya and Sawyer. We have a break-in report at S.T.A.R Labs."

Renee picked her weapon and, when she picked up her badge, she hesitated. But, she made her way out of the office and Sawyer was about to follow, but she was stopped by Commissioner Harrison.

Quentin: "Detective Sawyer, I have an assignment that requires your attention."

Sawyer made a confused expression.

Sawyer: "What about S.T.A.R Labs?"

Quentin: "We can handle it, but first, I need you to find someone."

Sawyer: "Who?"

Batcave

Underneath Wayne Manor, there were a series of subterranean tunnels that served their purpose, housing the headquarters of the World's Greatest Detective. Sitting at the giant computer on one of the various platforms, Bruce Wayne was typing away, running through the many case files that existed inside this powerful supercomputer.

Walking up the steps behind him, his butler, Alfred Pennyworth carrying a silver tray with a dome lid over it approached.

Alfred: "Still hard at work, sir? Why don't you take a small break?"

Bruce: "You know me, Alfred. No rest for the weary."

Alfred places the silver tray next to where Bruce was working. He takes off the lid to reveal a fine dish of elegant and adequately prepared food.

Alfred: "You have barely rested since your trip to Kahndaq where you and the Justice League narrowly stopped International war."

Bruce: "The reason being that Gotham has changed drastically in my absence. The Joker and Black Mask are dead and, in their place, is a new lunatic at the reigns along with Bane and Emma Grace."

Shortly after the Watchtower exploded during the events of Silent War, Vandal Savage attacked Kahndaq with an army. The Justice League intervened and prevented Black Adam from declaring war. Avenger was left in charge of Gotham during that time while the city was in the middle of a crime spree. Black Mask was killed by Crimson and Rick Troy murdered The Joker.

Alfred: "Yes, but who could have foreseen Deathstroke or Bane's involvement in all this?"

Bruce: "There's also this new Commissioner. Quentin Harrison. A former police captain from Chicago. According to his file, he was known to be a rather impressive officer of the law. His arrest record second only to Michael Rivers."

Alfred: "Oh my. If it wasn't for the shoot to kill order, he would sound perfect."

"It seems like Rivers has screwed up big time."

Entering the Batcave via the stairs from the Wayne Manor was a young child with a clear resemblance to Bruce.

Alfred: "Master Damian, did you have a good time with the Titans?"

Damian Wayne scoffs as he listened to the butler.

Damian: "Fine, but they couldn't keep up. I leave Gotham for only five seconds and it seems like it is moments from implosion."

Bruce: "We haven't crossed that bridge yet, Damian, but we will need to be a lot more careful from now on. Rick Troy is a psychopath with the business connections of Emma Grace and Bane's criminal empire backing him."

Bruce, with a puzzled expression, carefully scans the file he has on Bane. A young boy, forced to serve his father's prison sentence in the Santa Prisca prison, who grew into a hardened criminal with overwhelming strength and genius-level intellect. He is a dangerous opponent that even Batman would think twice before tackling head-on.

Bruce: "Why would Bane work as a hired hand for an unknown like Rick Troy?"

Damian walks up beside his father with his arms crossed.

Damian: "Why else, Father? He wants you dead."

Gotham Streets

After their helicopter escape was foiled by Avenger, four out of the six members of Bullet Club consisting of the fake scientist, who was now wearing a mask and body armour over his uniform, and the three others with one holding the S.T.A.R Labs scientist at gunpoint, made their way across the vacant and dark streets of Gotham.

Avenger: "Let him go, Bullet Club."

Avenger's voice could be heard above them, but they couldn't tell from where it was coming from. Aiming their weapons around and checking every angle, Bullet Club kept moving with one of them focused on shooting the Lead Scientist if Avenger showed himself. As long as they had a hostage, there was still a chance.

"This box better be worth it."

One of them said as they hurried through the streets.

Lead Scientist: "Look, please listen! What's inside that box is too dangerous to just sell on the streets. It can only be safely contained at S.T.A.R Labs, so please!"

The fake Scientist held a gun to the forehead of the pleading man.

"We have our orders. We plan to carry them out."

Avenger: "Even if you end up in prison again?"

BRATATATATATA!

One of the members began shooting in a location where he believed the voice was coming from, but he only hit stone from the building in front of him.

"Cease fire! Are you trying to bring the police here?!"

Quickly, the group move into the alleyway where a black van is waiting for them. They quickly push their hostage into the back and while two get in the back, another two enter the front driver and passenger seats. When the driver tries to start the car, however, it doesn't respond.

"I thought this van was checked and inspected!"

The driver yells out as he continues to turn the key in the ignition unsuccessfully. The passenger gets out of the van and checks underneath the hood of the van. The cables connecting to the battery had been cut and recently as well.

"Avenger! He cut the cables!"

There was no response from the driver. With a feeling of trepidation, the Bullet Club member slowly pushes down the hood of the van, only to see Avenger sitting in the passenger seat with the driver knocked out against the windshield. Raising his gun, he tries to fire, but the vigilante dives through the glass onto the mercenary, delivering a solid knockout punch to the head.

Inside the back of the van, the two remaining members were unsure of what just happened, but either their partners or Avenger had just been taken down.

"Go out there and check, Bullet 3."

One of the Bullet Club spoke to their other. His expression couldn't be seen due to his mask, but his mask was damp with sweat. He knew going out there was like asking whoever was out there to take you down.

"Give me the hostage."

The tension between the two remaining members of Bullet Club was thick with combustible elements as the cohesion between brothers in arms began to weaken. There was a silence between the two, but both did the same thing; eyeing the box that they stole before.

Noticing their gaze, the Lead Scientist tried to struggle free, knowing what they were about to do. He didn't care if he was gonna get shot for struggling, but what was in that box was far worse.

"Stop struggling!"

The door at the back of the van swung open and a baton flew through the opening, rebounding off the steel interior and bouncing off the skulls of the Bullet Club members like a ball before returning from where it came. Avenger appeared at the opening, catching his baton and firing his grapnel gun which launches a hook that attaches to the lab coat of the Lead Scientist. Avenger pulls him out of the grip of the Bullet Club and catches him as he is pulled forward.

"Damn it! Shoot him!"

They opened fire, but the order came too late as Avenger moved away with the Lead Scientist, taking away the only protection that they had against the vigilante.

They now only had one hope left…

Outside, Avenger moved the Scientist to a safe distance, but he was panicked. The fear of demons in his soul.

Lead Scientist: "No! Forget about me! Stop them before they open the box!"

The look of sheer terror in the eyes of the man made Avenger question what they were working on in S.T.A.R Labs, but there was little time to ask about it.

Inside the van, the two remaining members of Bullet Club began to open the containment box that held something inside. Whatever the contents were, it was valuable and powerful to say the least. What was revealed was a dark red and golden cube-like objects with various designs that appeared out of this world. It glistened and glowed as though the mortal eyes of the two men around the cube laid eyes on a jewel from the Gods.

As Avenger ran towards the van…

BOOM!

A sonic boom echoed throughout the alleyway and beyond, cracking and shattering glass which fell to the ground. The force of this boom knocked Avenger down to the ground. When he looked towards the van, he saw a portal that resembled a tunnel. He had seen these before.

Avenger: "A Boom-Tube?!"

The Lead Scientist fell to his knees in horror as he saw the Boom-Tube open.

Lead Scientist: "They opened it… They opened the Fatherbox!"

Avenger had also heard that before. It was an upgraded version of the Motherbox that he used during the events of Silent War to get to the Watchtower. Cyborg has a Fatherbox installed in his cybernetic body.

"Quickly! Inside!"

One of the Bullet Club members said as he motioned to the one disguised as a Scientist to follow, but he didn't move. When his comrade was about to go over to him…

BLAM!

The fake Scientist fired his gun at him. The bullet traveled though his head, killing him instantly. As his body fell to the ground, the fake Scientist didn't seem to mind that he just murdered his brother in arms. He stared at the Boom-Tube as if he was mesmerised by the power he held in his hand. The Fatherbox called out to him in a voice that only he heard. It was whispering in his ear, promising power and glory if he entered the portal.

Avenger got to his feet quickly and ran towards the lone member of Bullet Club as he dove into the Boom-Tube. He fired his grapnel gun which attached to the man's belt and he tried to pull as hard as he could to pull the mercenary out of the Boom-Tube, but the force that was pulling inside the tube was too much for Avenger to overcome. Eventually, the belt snapped off and the member of Bullet Club vanished inside as the tube closed.

Whoever that man was, he just escaped with the Fatherbox. A dangerous object for a single person to wield.

Looking back, Avenger noticed the dead member of Bullet Club and he was reminded of how terrible the past two weeks have been. He failed to save Black Mask or The Joker. These were all terrible men who delighted in murder and chaos, but Riley wanted Justice for these men and the possibility of redemption, not more death.

He couldn't continue to let this happen.

Although one of the Bullet Club were dead, there was still one nearby that was alive and could answer a few questions…

And then the wail of sirens could be heard closing in fast. They appeared as though they had a portal of their own and several GCPD officers got out of the squad cruisers and aimed their handguns at Avenger. That was when Avenger saw him. The new Commissioner of GCPD: Quentin Harrison.

Quentin: "Avenger. I thought that you would be here."

Avenger: "How so, Commissioner?"

Quentin: "I read the file. You're the one who locked up Bullet Club last time."

Quentin shook his head, dismissing his current thoughts. The way he stared at Avenger wasn't the look of a officer of the law looking at a criminal, but a regretful man. For some reason, Avenger felt something familiar coming from this man.

Quentin: "It doesn't matter anyway. Lie down with your hands behind your head or we will open fire. This is your first and last warning."

Behind Quentin were an entire squad of GCPD's Major Crimes Unit, a unit that is often dealing with gunmen and psychopaths. All of them had Avenger in their crosshairs…

BLAM!

However one of them, Detective Renee Montoya, fired a shot. The shot hit the steam pipes, causing the steam to flow out, separating Avenger from Commissioner Harrison. The Commissioner made no attempt to follow and held up his hand, signalling to the officers to hold their fire, much to the confusion of the officers.

Captain: "Why didn't we fire? He couldn't have gotten far."

Quentin: "He won't get far. We have a chopper on him. It would have been a waste of bullets anyway, he was gone the second the steam appeared."

Quentin turned towards Montoya who held a defiant look.

Quentin: "Captain. Place Detective Montoya under arrest."

The Captain was somewhat reluctant, but he did as he was instructed. He forcibly pulled Montoya's arms around her back and handcuffed her hands. She glared at Quentin as he stepped directly in front of her.

Quentin: "Renee Montoya, you are under arrest for the obstruction of justice and disobeying a direct order not to fire your weapon. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will…"

Renee: "I know my damn rights, Harrison!"

Montoya yells into Quentin's face as she is placed into the back of a GCPD cruiser. With her detained, Quentin pulls a radio out of his suit pocket and calls the helicopter that is patrolling the area from the skies.

Quentin: "Dark Sky 5, do you have a visual on the suspect?"

The helicopter uses it's searchlight to look in whatever dark areas that Avenger may have run to, but the pilot couldn't find the vigilante.

Pilot: "Negative. No visual on suspect. He's gone."

Quentin turns off his radio. While his target may have escaped, he didn't seem to be angry about it. He remained calm and composed in spite of this setback.

Quentin: "I would have been shocked if it was that easy."

Quentin turned back towards the police captain.

Quentin: "Take Detective Montoya back to the station. Take The Bullet Club in as well and transport them to Arkham. Call a coroner for the body."

Captain: "Roger that, sir. But… Do you think that it was Avenger that killed him?"

Quentin: "Unlikely. The vigilantes in Gotham are known not to use guns. No, since there are four members of the BC in custody and one dead, I'm assuming that the final one may be our culprit."

A few city blocks over, Avenger peeked out from behind a wall on the rooftop to watch for the GCPD chopper to pass. The last thing he wanted was to be in a chase with the GCPD. However, now interrogating any of the captured Bullet Club was an impossibility.

Avenger could only look at the belt still in his hand. The only clue he had why the Bullet Club was stealing Apokoliptian technology.

Avenger quickly got off the streets. GCPD was in full force tonight, the wail of sirens could be heard from any street in the city. It was something that Avenger actually appreciated, that the police were this productive, although they were chasing vigilantes with a shoot to kill order. That brought up the question as to why Commissioner Harrison didn't open fire on him straight away.

However, the more immediate question was why Bullet Club tried to still a Fatherbox and who were they working for.

Riley managed to get home and enter his bedroom through his window, quickly changing from his costume into pyjamas, locking the suit into one of his briefcases. Going to his window, he peeks out to see his bike had returned to the house thanks to its autopilot system. Pulling a remote of his desk, he aims it at the door and presses a button to open the door and presses the button on his watch to activate the bike and it drives into the garage.

As the garage door closes, Riley stares at the belt that he took from the man who escaped into the Boom-Tube. Chance were that whoever hired the Bullet Club had the Fatherbox and a item as powerful as that shouldn't be in the hands of anyone. He had to find out what was going on and soon…

KNOCK KNOCK

A knock at Riley's door caused him to quickly hide both the belt and his briefcase under the bed.

Kerry: "Riley? Are you awake?"

Quickly grabbing some documents from his drawer, he places them in piles on the desk before getting out of the chair.

Riley: "Yes. Coming…"

Riley unlocks the door and opens it to see his mother standing there.

Kerry: "You're actually here. Normally, you're at your law firm building."

Riley: "Yeah. I managed to make it home for tonight. How didn't you notice me coming through the front door?"

Riley jokes as he speaks. Kerry is unaware of her son's dual identity, so keeping her far away from Avenger was a priority for him.

Kerry: "You probably sneaked upstairs and I didn't hear you."

Riley: "Probably. Is something wrong?"

Kerry: "Nothing. I just wanted to check if you were actually here and if you were okay."

Kerry sat on the bed, facing her son who looked at her with a confused expression.

Riley: "What do you mean?"

Kerry: "That girlfriend of yours, Lauren. Didn't she leave the other day?"

Riley cast his eyes downward. Last week, shortly after The Joker was killed by Rick Troy, Lauren revealed that she had accepted a job at CatCo in National City since her mother was struggling with financial problems. She had recently left for the airport to depart for the new city and her mother and Vicki Vale said their goodbyes, except Riley. Feeling as though he may try to stop her from going, he never actually said goodbye himself but watched from a distance as she entered the airport and left on the plane. Riley felt that a hole had been left by her absence, it was a pain that was foreign to him.

Riley: "She did. I understand why she left, she did it for her mother."

Kerry: "But what about you? You've never had a girlfriend before, Riley, so you haven't had the experience to deal with that kind of stuff."

Riley didn't want to deal with his emotions in terms of Lauren and his breakup. He wanted to focus on something else. Anything else.

Riley: "I'm fine. What about Kieran? How is he?"

Kerry scoffed.

Kerry: "He doesn't look like a man who cares that his son is out there and needs help. He'd rather bury himself in work than try looking for him."

Riley: "What can he possibly do? I don't mean to take Kieran's side, but what can he do? He still has Charlotte to take care of."

Kerry: "You mean I take care of. She spends more time in this house than she does with her father. It feels like ever since I turned out to be Charlotte's mother, he treats me more like a babysitter than the mother of his child."

Kerry spat out her words with venom.

Riley: "At least you get to reconnect with your daughter on a different level."

Kerry sighed at Riley's reasoning.

Kerry: "It's f*%#$€ up though, Riley. How can I possibly be Charlotte's mother and not even know it? How can I give birth to a child and not even know it? No amount of alcohol can do that to a person."

Riley didn't know how to answer that. He knew the reason why, but how can he tell his mother that his father hired Jarvis Tetch, a trained neuroscientist, to alter the memories of Riley, Kerry, and Kieran? Answer: he couldn't.

Riley: "Who knows, Mom. Gotham has a strange way of doing things."

Kerry: "Tell me about it…"

Kerry got up from Riley's bed and walked over to the door, taking one more look at Riley.

Kerry: "Are you sure you don't want to talk, Riley? About this thing with Lauren?"

Riley put on a smile and nodded.

Riley: "I'm sure. I'm fine for the time being."

Kerry: "If you say so. Night, Riley. Love you."

Riley: "Love you too, mom. Goodnight."

Kerry walks out the door, closing it behind her. Riley waited for a few moments, making sure that Kerry had returned to her room before he went back over to his door and locked it. Placing the documents he took out of his drawer back into his desk, he placed the hidden belt onto the desk and shined his desk lamp onto it.

Riley: "Now, let's see if I can find out where you came from."

Inspecting the belt closely, Riley found nothing out of the ordinary. But he took a good look at the logo: a sparkling diamond rose. Quickly using a laptop, he used an encryption code given to him by Harper Row so that no one could trace the IP Address. Searching up the sparkling rose image, he immediately found a business site called "Vider's Buckles", a small business selling belt buckles. Initially this seemed like a dead end, since there wasn't anything overly suspicious about the business… Except the time it was set up. Around the time, Emma Grace was in Blackgate. After her arrest, her businesses' assets were liquidated and the money was given to businesses all over Gotham by the Mayor to help boost the economy.

Vider's Buckles

Antigen Pharmacy

Nore Steel Mill

Dolore Workshops

Aloo Cafeteria

Lajo Spas

That was the public list of businesses that were given money from the liquidation of Grace Enterprises. However, all of their businesses were owned by the same person. A woman named Kayla Frost.

Riley: "Really?"

Riley asked sarcastically to himself. He wasn't buying this. He quickly searched for the name Kayla Frost and again found the list of businesses, but after checking each business website, he found the same introduction to the CEO Kayla Frost. As if, there was nothing about her other than that brief introduction.

As if a Kayla Frost never existed.

Riley: "Nice try, Emma."

Riley came to the conclusion that Emma Grace must have manipulated the money trail for her company's assets to pour into the six businesses and is using the alias Kayla Frost to covertly run the businesses which likely help provide the money for The Maniac's criminal empire.

That means that it was Emma that hired Bullet Club to raid S.T.A.R Labs to steal the Fatherbox, but the question was why?

It was tempting for Riley to suit up and head straight for Emma, but unfortunately, her Manor was burned down before her arrest, therefore he had no idea where to find the Queen of Crime. Not to mention, GCPD were probably looking everywhere for vigilantes. He decided that for now, he would sleep and he would hunt her down tomorrow.

With a large yawn, Riley crawled into bed and turned off the lamp.

GCPD Headquarters

Back at the GCPD Headquarters, Renee Montoya sat in the interrogation room. This isn't the first time she had been arrested. Last time, she was arrested by then Commissioner Harvey Bullock and then suspended. It had been a few months since then… A new record for a cop in Gotham.

It wasn't long till Commissioner Quentin Harrison entered the interrogation room, carrying a dossier folder. Montoya didn't even look at him even when he sat directly in front of her. The silence between the two was quickly broken by Quentin whose expression of all-business didn't change.

Quentin: "Detective Montoya. You seem to have an issue with authority, don't you?"

Renee: "What gave you that idea?"

Renee refused to look into the eyes of Commissioner Harrison as she spoke nonchalantly of her current situation.

Quentin: "You had a problem when former detective Harvey Bullock was in charge and, quite often in the past, you disobey orders from most of your superiors."

Renee: "It often turns out that most of my superiors turn out to be corrupt bastards."

Quentin: "I see. You don't trust me. I understand. A brand new person comes from out of nowhere and replaces someone you respected a great deal. However…"

Quentin takes out some pictures from the folder and presents them to Renee. Each of them were pictures of Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Red Robin, Batgirl, and Avenger.

Quentin: "This is not a society we should be proud of. The one where we have to rely on men and women in masks to deal with injustices that we are sworn by our civil duty to solve."

Renee raised her eyebrow at Quentin.

Renee: "You think we can solve people like The Joker? Like The Penguin? Victor Zsasz?"

Quentin: "Why can't we? These people may be insane. They may not be insane. But, it is our duty regardless, Montoya."

Renee stares at Quentin for a second before she began to snigger at him. Her sniggering turns to outright laughter.

Renee: "Seriously, how old are you? Are you five years old? Or haven't you read up on Gotham before applying for a job here? Gotham isn't the kind of place where people like you live for too long. We wouldn't last without people like Batman. The criminals in this city aren't your normal run-of-the-mill criminals. These are monsters."

Quentin's expression never changed even though he was being laughed at by Montoya. He maintained the serene mind of a veteran officer of the law.

Quentin: "And the solution is to rely on men in capes? How ridiculous do you sound?"

Renee found herself frowning in annoyance in response to Quentin's words.

Quentin: "When men and women begin taking the law into their own hands, they believe themselves above the very rules that are in place to protect them. People like The Joker and Roman Sionis may have been the worst kind of people but they shouldn't have been killed. They should have seen a judge."

Renee: "Roman Sionis was killed by Norman Blake and The Joker was gunned down by an unseen assailant. It's not the fault of vigilantes."

Quentin: "I know. But, we know why Norman Blake wanted Sionis dead. I read the case file you and Sawyer kept on him. He wanted justice for a grave injustice and that resulted in many people killed across the city. Just because a few people in masks don't kill, their actions convince others that it is okay to seek out justice. That was the case with Norman Blake."

Renee: "Look what are you getting at? You aren't gonna convince me of anything. You haven't lived in Gotham long, so you know nothing about what you're even saying."

Quentin stared at Montoya with a rather sympathetic expression.

Quentin: "… Maybe not. But, I'm a quick learner. I've made a decision that, officially, I have to suspend you indefinitely without pay. But, I don't want you to go too far. You're too valuable, Montoya."

Renee: "What are you talking about?"

Quentin pulled another picture from the file in response to Renee's confusion. He placed the file in front of her. It was a picture of a woman in a black Bat suit with a red bat symbol on the chest. Her cowl allowed her pale skinned lower mouth to be exposed with red lipstick on her lips. Her crimson red hair also flowed freely from her head.

Quentin: "Batwoman."

Renee: "What about her? We know less about her than Batman."

Quentin: "I know enough."

Quentin provided another picture. This time of Renee herself with a woman with pale skin and short red hair. Renee felt a slight jolt of worry course through her body when she saw this picture.

Quentin: "This is you with Katherine Kane, ex-military and a wealthy socialite."

Renee: "What is this supposed to prove?"

Quentin makes a wry smile.

Quentin: "Shall I spell it out for you? I know that you and Miss Kane are in a relationship, Montoya. I know that Miss Kane is, in fact, Batwoman."

Renee lost the ability to speak when the Commissioner said this. She tried not to gasp, but it didn't matter. She couldn't protect her love.

Quentin: "I have more than enough evidence to arrest her. But, doing so would only get one vigilante off the streets. I want them all."

Renee: "What do you want from me?"

Renee said that through a sharp tone.

Quentin: "Continue your relationship. Report to me about Batwoman's activities and see if you can find anything out about the other Bat Family members. Keep in mind that this will be an off-the-books investigation, so keep this to yourself."

Renee stared at Quentin as if she couldn't believe what he was saying.

Renee: "You want me to spy on Kate for you? Forget it! I'd rather burn in Hell."

Quentin: "Then you will spend your days rotting in Arkham. And I'll send your beloved Kate with you. At least this way, maybe I can do something for your precious girlfriend."

Renee: "… You heartless bastard."

Quentin: "Looks like I know more about Gotham than you realise."

Quentin gathered all the pictures and placed them back into the folder and stood up from his seat.

Quentin: "This will stay between us. As long as you comply, no one else needs to know. If I discover that you tipped off any of the Bat Family. I will release the evidence to the entire city and I will have the full force of GCPD upon Katherine Kane before she knows what's happening. Trust me. I will find out if you tip her off."

Quentin takes the folder and he walks out of the interrogation room, leaving Renee alone with her thoughts.

Her girlfriend's secret was out and now Renee was going to be used as a weapon against her. Unable to do anything else, she raised her fist and slammed it against the desk in anger.

Blüdhaven

Elsewhere in a bar in the city of Blüdhaven, a rough, large man is staggering out of a bar after the barkeep was standing at the door, wielding a baseball bat in a threatening manner.

Barkeep: "You've had enough, so get outta here before I rough ya up!"

He slams the door as the large man scoffs.

"So much for happy hour…"

His speech is slightly slurred as he makes his way through the streets with his hands in his coat pocket. Just like Gotham, Blüdhaven had a habit of changing it's nature, just like night and day.

Going into a dark alley, the man didn't see another man with a knife approaching him from behind.

Mugger: "Turn around slowly and empty your pockets."

"Ya really wanna do this right now, pal?"

He didn't seem threatened by the mugger behind him and that only ticked off the man with the knife.

Mugger: "Shut up before I gut you! Give me your…"

The mugger got closer to the man which was a bad move as his would-be victim turned around quickly and grabbed the hand which held the knife. The larger man was stronger, so the mugger had no chance to struggle free. With his free arm, the larger man began beating on the mugger, even as he fell to the ground. The mugger was mounted and punched continuously in the face, but unbeknownst to his attacker, another came from the shadows towards him.

KLIK!

The click of a gun could be heard behind the second man who turned his head around slowly to see a woman with short light brown hair aiming a gun at his head.

Sawyer: "Move on. Now."

The second man quickly ran out of the alley. Allowing Maggie to walk toward the large man who had stopped beating the first mugger to see who was there.

Sawyer: "Excessive force? Yep, you're Harvey Bullock, alright."

Harvey Bullock stared in shock at Maggie as she put her gun away.

Bullock: "What are you doing here, Maggie?"

Sawyer: "Commissioner Harrison asked me to find you."

Bullock looked at Sawyer in confusion.

Bullock: "Who?"

Sawyer made a smile.

Sawyer: "Boy, you have a lot to catch up on."

Chapter 1 End.