Chapter 1
"I'm telling you man, this chick, mmmm. If you could only see her."
"Well, considering I don't know what goes on inside your head…"
"I'm telling, she's real! Look, I've even got a photo."
"Dude I don't wanna see a picture of your sister."
"I swear to god…"
The two thugs had been sitting outside of the warehouse for two hours, bundled up in warm clothes. Snow had been falling; not heavily, but a considerable amount had settled on Gotham City. It was predicted that a storm was making its way towards the city, so, in preparation, the city was on lockdown for the evening. This opportunity was perfect for two of Gotham's most powerful crime lords to discuss business.
Oswald Cobblepot had ordered the two thugs to remain outside to look out for his buyer, who had said that he'll be there between a certain time period. This meant that the thugs were forced to stay out in the cold, which had made them bitter towards each other. After another moment of silence, one of the thugs, Jeremy, turned to his friend, Slogs.
"Hey, did you hear about Sammy?" asked Jeremy.
"Nuh."
"Was dealing pot to some kid, right? Got caught."
"So?" asked Slogs. "The guy will get out within a week like always."
"Nah man," muttered Jeremy. "Was found tied to a street lamp outside of GCPD the other night. Busted arm, couple of broken ribs, a few knocked out a few teeth."
"Jesus, seriously?"
"And that's not even the worst part," continued Jeremy. "Had a small bat-shaped knife stuck in his shoulder. You know what that means, right?"
"Bullshit man," laughed Slogs. "You had me until that last part."
"He's real man!"
"Bout' as real as Santa Clause," chuckled Slogs as he checked his rifle.
"You're such a dumbass."
"Because I don't believe in some guy dressed as a bat?" asked Slogs. "Man, you're delusional."
"Whatever, I don't give a shit what you think," said Jeremy defiantly.
As Jeremy finished speaking, three black cars pulled up outside the warehouse. The two thugs stood up and Slogs pulled a mobile phone from his pocket before dialling a number and raising it to his ear.
"Mr Cobblepot, sir, he's here," spoke Slogs with a slight tone of fear present in his voice.
"Send him up," growled Penguin in the other end before hanging up.
At least two dozen armed men in expensive suits stepped out of the cars, each wearing a black mask. One thug opened the passenger seat of a car and a man wearing a white suit stepped out. Like his men, Black Mask wore a black mask shaped like a skull. His eyes looked around before he made his way inside the warehouse, followed by his men, as well as Jeremy and Slogs.
The Penguin was an extremely fearsome man, a man that most criminals sought out after. He was Gotham's top black market dealer. Anyone dealing weapons report back to him, if they liked it or not. However, very few know of his dealings. To most, Oswald Cobblepot was the proud owner of Gotham's most exclusive club; the Iceberg Lounge. No one would expect a Cobblepot to be involved in any form of crime, not willing to tarnish their reputation that had been formed for over a century.
A heavy door burst open and Black Mask entered the top floor, where Penguin was waiting, along with several crates full of weapons and a dozen or so of his own men, none of which were dressed as elegantly as Black Mask's. Penguin puffed on his cigar and chuckled as he saw his buyer approaching.
"Roman Sionis," said Penguin in a rasp voice. "Come to buy off Oswald Cobblepot."
"I don't want to linger, Cobblepot," growled Black Mask. "Not nowadays."
"What, worried about some freak dressed as a bat?" laughed Penguin.
"I'm worried about anyone who can tarnish my empire," said Black Mask. "And anyone who threatens to do so will be dealt by me personally."
"Then you won't mind testing out guns then?" asked Penguin as he pointed to a crate, which was immediately opened by one of his men. "Just something I offer to all my customers."
"Should be reliable enough without testing, shouldn't they Oswald?" asked Black Mask as Penguin waved a machine gun in front of Black Mask.
"You come to me and reject my offer?" asked Penguin. "I'm hurt."
"Give me the damn gun," growled Black Mask as he swiped the gun away from Penguin, who chuckled darkly. The mob boss inspected the gun before he cocked it and fired at one of Penguin's thugs, who dropped to the floor while the other men watched in horror.
"They'll suffice," growled Black Mask as he threw the gun behind him, caught by one of his men.
"Glad to hear that," said Penguin, unfazed over the recent murder of one of his own. "Now, let's discuss payments…"
Suddenly a black shadow crept across the floor. The thugs aimed their weapons up at the skylight, only to see snow falling down on it, the moon sending a beam of light inside.
"Shit," muttered Black Mask as he pulled a handgun from inside his jacket. "He's here boys. Load your guns and shoot the bastard. I want him dead."
"Well, I'll leave you to it Sionis," smiled Penguin, shaking slightly.
"You stay right there," growled Black Mask. "Or I take those weapons free of charge."
Penguin growled before a scream erupted. Everyone turned, guns aimed, to see that Jeremy had vanished. The thugs looked around as they tried to pinpoint where the intruder was.
"OH SHIT!" screamed Slogs as the attacker dropped down in front of him and elbowed him in the face, knocking the thug out. Black Mask turned and frowned at the attacker.
"Kill The Bat," growled Black Mask. "NOW!
The thugs opened fired at Batman, who darted across the floor and lunged towards a thug, who he grabbed and threw at a group of three. One fired his gun at Batman, only to notice that the bullets had bounced off of his back. The Dark Knight turned his head and stared at the thug, who dropped his gun and attempted to run, only to have Batman fire his Batclaw at the thug and reel him in, punching him into the floor boards, knocking him out.
"Don't just stand there!" yelled Penguin. "Kill the bastard!"
Upon hearing this, four thugs charged at Batman, who turned and began attacking them. Grabbing the leg of one thug, Batman head butted another while snapping the thug's leg. Suddenly a sharp pain pierced Batman's shoulder. The vigilante groaned and backhanded the attacker, who was sent flying into a wall. Batman then pulled the knife from his shoulder and threw it at a charger thug, striking him in the leg.
"Jesus," muttered Black Mask.
Scanning the room, Batman charged at a particularly large thug and jumped before he kicked the thug, spun around in the air and kicked him again and repeated it once more, knocking the thug out. He then proceeded to quickly dispatch a group of five with several quick strikes. One thug roared as he charged at Batman with a baseball bat, only to be disarmed by the vigilante and knocked out.
"Come on boys!" yelled a thug at the remaining seven thugs.
Batman narrowed his eyes, spun the baseball bat in his hand and charged at the eight thugs, swinging the bat at them as if it was a sword, hitting them in bizarre places such as the back of the leg to take them down. The final thug charged at Batman with a knife, only to have his arm grabbed and then pushed up against a wall. The Dark Knight grabbed the weapon and starred the thug down before he pushed the blade into the thug's shoulder
Batman looked around at all the thugs, only to notice that Black Mask had left. Furious, the vigilante approached the thug against the wall and grabbed hold of the knife, digging it further into the criminal, who howled in pain.
"Where's Penguin?" growled Batman.
"He went up to the roof!" said the thug quickly. "I saw him go up there! Please, please don't kill me!"
"You're going to wish I did," growled Batman before he proceeded to snap the thug's arm before knocking him out, sending several teeth onto the ground.
On the rooftop, Penguin burst through the door, panting. A helicopter was due to pick him up, and he hoped that the thugs downstairs would keep Batman at bay for long enough…
A flap of material erupted the silence and Penguin froze. He turned around to see Batman standing before him, a towering mass of muscle. The criminal backed up against a cooling fan and watched in terror as he watched Batman approach him.
"Please… please don't kill me!" squealed Penguin.
"I'm not going to kill you," growled Batman as he picked Penguin up by the scruff of the neck with one hand and took him over to the edge of the warehouse. There he dangled Penguin over the edge.
"I won't you to know that no matter where you are, no matter where you go, I'll be watching," continued Batman. "Consider it mercy."
Red and blue lights flashed in the distance as Batman stared down Penguin, accompanied by sirens. It was obvious that Black Mask had sent an anonymous tip to the GCPD. Looking up at the criminal once more, Batman dropped Penguin, who screamed in horror before he came to a stop, feet above the ground, dangling from a piece of rope attached to his feet.
Several police cars pulled up in front of the warehouse. A grizzled man stepped out, his trench coat billowing in the wind.
"Get in there!" yelled Commissioner Gordon to his men as he pointed to the warehouse.
"Hey Jim, get a load of this," said Harvey Bullock, a beefy man. Gordon approached the detective and inspected Penguin, who looked at the police officers.
"It's a sad day for the Cobblepot family," said Gordon. He had been investigating Penguin for some time now.
"It was him!" said Penguin. Batman! He was here!"
"I have no doubt he was," said Gordon. "Get this scum out of my sight, Detective."
The Commissioner looked up at the warehouse. He noticed that a black shadow was present on the roof top and he watched it quickly vanish.
"Son of a bitch did it again," muttered Gordon to himself with a slight smile on his face.