Crime in Gotham was at an all time low. It was still going on of course, this was still the most wretched city in the world, but the crime was on a higher level. There weren't one hundred muggings, rapes and thefts a week, but more a few elaborate, theatrical masterpieces of villainy. The minor thefts were still going on, but only by people too desperate or too stupid to know any better. Gotham had turned into a parody of its self from 2 years ago.
Now, Gotham was infested with freaks, not the normal city freaks, like the mad man who tells you of the worlds imminent doom, or the woman who mutters in dark alleys to invisible monsters, but the real freaks; freaks that don masks and capes and linger on rooftops.
This change had of course unsettled the masses. Sure, they weren't getting attacked as frequently but get caught up in one of these new crimes, and you were far worse off.
Normal attacks are traumatic yes, but they're predictable and understandable. These new crimes were seemingly meaningless and bizarre. Absolute chaos! But as the figures and facts showed that crime was down, people stayed quiet and pretended they were happy.
One person however, who most certainly not going to stay quiet was Simon Falcone. Simon was the nephew of the mob boss who had been the first casualty of the freaks. Once the most feared man in Gotham, now a crazy, locked up for his own sake, mind lost. Not only had the Falcone name been ruined, but also almost all the family's assets had gone with it.
Of course, Falcone had been wise enough and rich enough to put money away for his immediate family and they had scurried off out of Gotham on to pastures new. Simon however was not as content to just give everything up like that.
He had returned home after doing his education over seas in Europe to the awaited glory and power he had been promised before leaving, only to find it had all been lost and his name ruined. Furious, he started his own crew and plotted how to re-awaken the fear that the Falcone name had once brought.
Simon was a slight boy with the completion that was associated with someone who hasn't seen a lot of sunlight recently, his skin was pale and ghostly even with his clearly Italian decent. His eyes were a dull grey that seemed to be void of all emotion even when seemingly happy and his hair was dark and lank, slicked back off his wide forehead, which gave him an eerie look.
He was only 18 but thought he was mentally much older. This might be true of his general intelligence as he was top of his school in England and got all the top grades he had planned on getting, but for his personalities sake, he was just a petulant child who had lost something he thought he had the right to and he would throw a temper tantrum until he got his city back.
It had only taken a few months to devise a plan to dislodge the freaks from their perch on the city and Simon wanted to waste no time in putting it into action. Now was time got get what he had waited for.
Simon smiled with anticipation as the sleek black car pulled up outside a derelict yet discreet looking warehouse. This was the first stage of the operation and he couldn't help but feel a buzz. He had longed for this back a school and he was finally getting to live it without any guardian of superior to tell him what to do. It was sort of better than he expected back at school.
He waited for one of the goons that he kept hanging about to get out first and scurrying around to open the door for him, before getting out himself. Act as you mean to go on, was what he always was taught.
He walk in what he hoped was an authoritative manner towards the large sliding doors of the building and then waited for one of his men to heave it open for him.
Light flooded the dark street, elongating their shadows to loom behind them before said man dragged the door shut again after them. The massive, grubby room was mostly filled with large boxed stacked upon each other but in a clearing there was a table and a grouped of more men huddled around it. One of the men was tied to a chair, heaving and covered in sweat, blood and God knows what else. His watery eyes kept darting around to the other men, filled with panic, fear and anticipation. He swallowed nervously when he spotted Simon and his men.
Simon walked purposefully towards the men and allowed his best smirk creep onto his lips. His eyes flickered toward the table were there was a variety of nasty looking equipment that had probably been used on the man in the chair to make him such a quivering mess.
Simon stopped before the pathetic looking man and put on a falsely concerned look.
"Now, I hope my friends here did cause you too much discomfort before I got here but you see, I just really wanted you to know who and what you are dealing with here." He let the smile flicker back onto his lips.
"Now that we have all that unpleasantness out the way I hope you will be wise enough now not to cause you self anymore- but oh how impolite of me, I haven't introduced my self yet! It's Simon Folconey," He extended his hand then chuckling and putting on a mock sheepish look and giggled an apology at the bond man.
"But you can call me Mr Falcone, Mr Reese."
Coleman Reese gulped audibly, sweat trickling down his temple.
Simon regarded him with some distain, allowing an ugly sneer to twist his face before replacing it with the same false smile.
"Now shall we get down to the business at hand," Simon looked around expectantly and another chair was produced by one of his thugs and he sat down directly opposite Reese.
"I'm sure you can guess why you're here," Simon said, brushing nonexistent dust from his suit trouser leg.
Reese just shook his head hesitantly.
Simon gave him an exasperated look before continuing.
"Oh please Mr. Reese, I'm sure, even you aren't that dim witted!"
Reese just looked around apprehensively at the group of foreboding men surrounding him and shook his head again.
Simon allowed the smile to completely fall from his lips now. He regarded the man before him coldly before continuing again.
"I want to know who the man behind the mask is, the man you unmasked. I want to know who the batman is."
Reese gave a little shiver, glanced around at the men again before whispering, "I don't know who he is."
Simon's face barley changed expression. He glanced at a heavy set man standing just to the right of him and the man strode forward and smashed his fist directly into Reese's face.
Reese gasped and slumped forward, trembling.
"Shall we try that again?" Simon said, every bit the patient host. "Who. Is. The Batman?"
"I don't know! I never knew I was just pretending to get attention!" Reese gushed looking imploringly at Simon.
Simon leaded back in his chair and chocked his head to the side with sigh.
"Please don't waste my time with your lies Mr Reese." He glanced at the same man as before and the man picked up a hammer from the table and turned to Reese.
"Now do I have to break every bone in your body that doesn't control your speech or are you going to stop telling porkies?" Simon said in a condescending voice.
Reese gulped, eyes darting from the hammer to Simon's face.
"Please believe me! I DON'T KNOW!" he wailed.
Simon sighed and gave the man with the hammer a curt nod. The man slammed the hammer into Reese's kneecap.
Reese let out a piercing screech, which trailed of into sobs of agony.
Simon regarded him with the same cool expression.
"Feeling a little more like sharing now?" he smiled after the sobbing had all but stopped.
Reese looked up at him through his sweaty fringe.
"I can't." he whispered.
"Try." Simon grinned.
"He'll kill me."
"What makes you think we wont? Besides that's not how the freak," Simon said the word with disgust, "operates, he doesn't kill people he just sends them to the police. What we do," he gestured to the men around him and himself," is make you wish The Joker had gotten you first to spare you the agony."
Simon flinched slightly at using the clown's name but the effect it had on Reese made the disgust disappear.
Reese remained silent, trembling more than ever in his chair, biting his sweaty lip.
Simon regarded him for a moment then gestured at the man with the hammer again.
"You're really testing my patients Mr Reese." He said in a singsong voice.
The man raised the hammer again and Reese's eyes widened with horror.
"WAIT! WAIT! I'LL TELL YOU!" he sobbed imploringly, trying to get as far away from the man with the hammer that his bonds and shattered leg would allow.
Simon smiled "Alright Mr Reese, I knew you would come around eventually." He leaned forward in his seat, hands on his lap.
"Tell me who is The Batman?"
Tears of terror rolled down Reese's cheeks as he sucked up the courage to utter the man's name.
"Now!" Simon growled.
"Wayne," Reese gasped. "Bruce Wayne."
Simon sat back in his chair, his lips curling up over his veneers into a triumphant smile.
He glanced over at the man standing to the left of him.
"Make the call." He instructed. The man turned and walked out of the warehouse, pulling out his phone as he went.
Simon stood up, the smile still fixed on his face.
"It's time to depart gentlemen." He glanced back once at Reese slumped in his chair, apprehension and fear written all over his face.
"Dispose of him." He instructed to one of the men and turned to lead the others out of the room.
Simon slipped back into his car, feeling very pleased with himself. He was well on his way to ridding Gotham of all those grotesque freaks and restoring the Falcone name to the previous glory.
He watched the warehouse disappearing as they pulled out of the drive and sighed as he heard the muffled shrieks of Reese coming from the building. Just like those incompetent fools to leave a mess while clearing up. He should have just put a bullet through the man's head himself.
No, Falcone's don't get their hands dirty any more. His uncle did, and look where that got him. The nut house. Simon scowled. Thing were defiantly going to be a lot different around here from now on, starting with getting rid of the freaks.
