Chapter 1: The Meeting
"Alright! Everybody listen up!" said a man wearing an expensive suit who was obviously in charge. His name was Mario Falcone, and he was Carmine "The Roman" Falcone's only surviving child. Anyone who had dealt with him recently could plainly see that he was desperately trying to reclaim some of his father's former power in Gotham. But the so called super criminals in the city were causing a lot of trouble to his operations, especially one in particular.
"We all know why we called this meeting, it's time to take Gotham back for ourselves!" he proclaimed.
"Yeah and just how do you propose we do that?" asked Sal Maroni. He was the leader of the Maroni Crime Family for the moment. And was a necessary part of Mario's plan to rule the city.
"We have to rule with an iron fist!" Mario said while slamming his fist against the table to emphasize. "First we kill off any one who dares cross us or won't join up! Then we cut off all other business and become the only ones with the goods. We'll be running this entire town in weeks!" he stated proudly for everyone to hear.
"Your forgetting one thing." replied one of Maroni's men. "Yeah, and what's that?" hissed Mario, anger on his face from being challenged.
"Batman…." came the reply. But the man would never say another word because at that moment he was shot point blank in the chest.
"Anyone else got a problem?" said a now satisfied Mario, still holding the smoking gun in his hand.
After a few seconds of silence Mario continued, "Good, now listen, we have a problem we deal with it, got it?" A chorus of "Yes, sir's" was heard around the room. A few minutes passed and almost everyone had left the room except for Mario.
An opening of the door could be heard along with footsteps, but the mysterious figure could not be seen. "Ahh you made it!" said Mario.
"I got your message, now why am I here?" came the reply of the dark figure.
"I know you've had the Batman on your target list for quite some time." Said Mario nervously. One had to be careful not to insult a dangerous person such as this man, but he had hired him for quite a small fortune. He continued, "Listen the best way to rid ourselves of the bat is a distraction." Said Mario. "And what do you have in mind?" came the reply.
"Simple, we cause a distraction, one that will leave Batman on edge. And who better to cause Batman strife than the Joker. Its basic knowledge that when he's lurking about the city other criminals are overlooked, dismissed even." said Mario.
"And..." said the figure. "I want you to target the Joker, I want him dead, understand? Surely that will delay the vigilante for some time. Not only will that give me the time I need to take over Gotham, but it will also give me the reputation.
Deal?" said Mario, a smug look on his face. "It's going to cost a lot more than what you've already paid. The Joker's not an easy man to bump off." said the figure. "Fine, but there's one more thing. There can't be any evidence leading back to me." said Mario after some contemplation.
"No problem, I am the world's deadliest assassin after all." said the figure finally stepping into the light to reveal his true identity.