Chapter Six: Year Five (1943-1944)
"To many, our enemies are the ones who help define us. Those who we oppose and are opposed by supposedly make us the people we are for rising to such challenges. I disagree with this. It is not our enemies who define us, but our own actions and thoughts. As this nation strives to be greater in people and prosperity, everyone will realise that we define ourselves alone."
President William 'Billy' Batson's State of The Union to Congress , 1985
To those who'd survived the Year of Hell, Mayor Reeves bringing in Edward Nygma as a way to catch the Batman struck many as sheer folly, at best. Reeves did have a strategy in mind though, he had spent the Year of Hell hiding from danger and was widely seen as corrupt, the last bastion of Falcone power. His re-election chances were slim at best and with just over a year to turn around his numbers, Reeves was willing to go to great extremes. He started with a campaign to destroy Batman's reputation, hoping that by putting the blame on the Dark Knight for the chaos that had inflicted the city, he'd be able to paint himself as Gotham's true hero.
Nygma was brought in as a high profile way to start this campaign. Although born in Gotham, Nygma hadn't stepped foot in the city for many years, having become famous as a private investigator, solving numerous thefts and high profile murders while consulting with the FBI on numerous cases. Those who had worked with Nygma considered him a genius, but insufferable, his intellect giving him an overwhelming ego. While brilliant, Nygma had no patience for anyone he deemed of a lower intellect, only taking on cases which he felt could challenge him intellectually. Taking on Batman appeared to provide Nygma with such a case and he eagerly arrived in Gotham once contacted by Mayor Reeves.
Making a splash with his arrival, Nygma announced that he would capture Batman and expose his true identity to the world. It was a claim met with some scepticism by the people of Gotham, not least of all James Gordon, who saw Nygma's arrival as a distraction at best. Almost instantly, the two began butting heads as Nygma insisted on getting police resources to aid with his investigation, something that Gordon fought tooth and nail against it. Orders from Mayor Reeves were followed only once they were repeated and forced down to Gordon's office without any chance of misinterpretation or delay.
Smug and insufferable, Nygma made no friends in the GCPD as he tried to find any evidence of the Batman's identity. On a very generous stipend, Nygma went so far as to interview Harvey Dent in his cell in Arkham, a meeting that would gain some infamy as it was Nygma that allowed Dent to regain a coin to flip. Since his capture, Dent had been denied such an aid in decision making, instead being guided by doctors towards all his choices. Getting the coin, Dent was allowed an outlet for his split personality in exchange for giving Nygma information. This would prove to be a cataclysmic mistake as Dent was able to regain the extremes of his personality, something Nygma cared little about. As far as he was concerned, any information about the Batman was worth the price of a single coin.
From Dent, Nygma was to discover the means to contact Batman and how he had operated alongside Gordon. After a month of fighting against Gordon's refusal to help in anyway, Nygma now made his first move against Batman himself, taking to the airwaves of Gotham as he began his scheme. In a speech broadcast over the entire city, Nygma claimed that Batman was indeed the root of all the extreme crimes that Gotham had been plagued by over the last few years, stating that Batman had attracted the likes of Joker and Two Face.
Listing the rise in numerous extreme criminals, also citing Scarecrow as one who had brought terror to the city, Nygma went on to say that by taking down Batman, Gotham would be better without him. Adding his own touch of ego, Nygma gave, what he believed, was an accurate run down of Batman's character, claiming that he funded himself from having stolen from Carmine Falcone and that he continued his crusade to boost his ego. Finishing his speech, Nygma promised to deduce the Batman's identity within weeks and that he would personally drag him in cuffs to court.
Although Reeves had made similar points earlier, his past had made him open to mockery for going against the Batman. Nygma on the other hand, despite his arrogance, was a respected police figure and could make his point intelligently. The fallout of speech was that newspapers in the city actually ran editorials and showed letters questioning just how much truth Nygma's words had to them. Criticism of the Batman was soon being given by ordinary people, those who had dealt with the fear of an attack by the Joker and others of his kind. While the majority of the city continued to respect Batman, the seeds had been planted as to how much responsibility he bore for those who had plagued the city.
One man instantly rose to Batman's defence, Alexander Knox of the Gotham Gazette started writing articles attacking Nygma's assertions. One of those who had stood with Batman and Gordon as they had fought the Falcone family, Knox had made his reputation as fighting for the truth and against the corruption whenever he saw it. He saw Nygma as tool of Mayor Reeves, attacking both publicly for creating distractions from the true problems facing Gotham.
As the war of words waged on, Nygma continued forward with his deductions. From his diaries, we can tell that he had focused in on the elite of Gotham as prime suspects, believing that they would be the only ones able to find the initial resources to become the Dark Knight. From talking with Dent, he felt justified in his belief that Batman was acting on ego and using the police to cover his own criminal activities. Finally, he eliminated suspects one by one until zeroing in on one he believed to be the most logical choice of the man behind the cowl.
Roman Sionis was from an old family of Gotham. His parents had strong business interests in the city with their wealth being among the highest in the city. With their deaths in 1938 due to a fire which swept through their mansion, Roman had taken control of the business however and proceeded to drive it into the ground. By July 1943, Roman Sionis was ready to declare bankruptcy and had become known for his violent outbursts against his staff, having to pay them off to prevent charges being brought against him.
A desperate man with well known ego problems, tendency towards violence and a lack of money fit Nygma's profile of Batman. He zeroed in on Roman Sionis, tracking him constantly as a means to catch him in the act. This was despite an incident in late June where Sionis, enraged as he was tracked by agents under Nygma, purposefully crashed into one of their cars after leaving work one evening. While the situation easily could have gotten out of hand, it was stopped by an appearance of the Batman arriving in his armoured car. Considering Nygma's pursuit of Batman, it isn't surprising the Dark Knight himself kept an eye on the investigation in some capacity, especially when it focused on an unstable person like Sionis.
Evidently not wanting things to get out of hand, the Batman had been following the investigation and interrupted Sionis before he could attack the drivers of the other car. This just turned Sionis' rage onto the Dark Knight, who swiftly dispatched his attacker with a single blow before the police started to arrive. One of the first to arrive was Nygma, who missed Batman by scant minutes and took the entire incident as a deflection by Sionis, never taking into account that he might be wrong.
Such was Nygma's belief in how right he was, that he waited until Sionis had regained consciousness, berating him in front of a crowd that such tactics couldn't possibly fool him. Claiming that he was getting more and more proof all the time, Nygma then went onto promise Sionis that he would soon send the man to jail, to spend the rest of his life, however short that might be, with those he'd put behind bars. What protests Sionis made were ignored with Nygma simply asserting that his was the greater intellect and he'd prove it once he'd brought Sionis in.
This incident was more than enough to finally break Sionis completely. Believing that he had nothing to lose and was going to prison anyway, Sionis aimed to get revenge on those he'd felt had wronged him. Focusing on the workers at his factory, who he believed were responsible for his failing business, Sionis took a gun into work, opening fire on everyone as they arrived and then taking ten people hostage. Having taken Nygma's comments about not being able to hide behind a mask to heart, Sionis actually donned a black, skull shaped mask, calling it his 'real face'.
When the police arrived, Sionis demanded that Nygma be brought towards him, stating that if he was going to be ruined, it would be for a good reason. With the police surrounding the factory, it was a tense stand off as Nygma arrived, apparently to take control but with Sionis having completely broken down, it was unclear if being talked down was possible, or if he just wanted revenge. The question would never be answered as the Batman intefered just as Nygma arrived. Having infiltrated the building, the Dark Knight had made his way to the room with the hostage and swiftly took Sionis down, the witnesses stating that he had disarmed Sionis with a single projectile before then knocking him unconscious. Much to the annoyance of the hostage who had grabbed the projectile, the police took it for evidence.
With Sionis having snapped and Batman having saved the day, Nygma arrived on the scene to realise that his theory had fallen to pieces publicly and that his credibility was all but destroyed. He was even blamed for Sionis' breakdown as well, pushing an already unstable man past the point of no return. His theory in ruins and his reputation having been badly blemished, Nygma retreated from the public eye, seething, blaming his failures on others and eager for revenge.
After Nygma crashed and burning so spectacularly in public, Mayor Reeves began to grow ever more desperate. With just over a year until the election and his popularity even lower due to his association with Nygma, Reeves began to fear that whoever his successor was would open the books during Reeves' time in office and give the police grounds to arrest him. With his paranoia at an all time high, Reeves felt he had no choice but to resort to desperate measures. Due to his connections with the mob, Reeves had an understanding of contract killers, those who would kill a target if the price was right. In his desperation, Reeves contacted the best he could find, a man named David Cain.
Due to his very profession, not much is known about Cain's background. He was born in the late 19th century and joined the army, becoming a decorated veteran in World War One. After that, things become confused as Cain simply dropped off the radar after that, becoming a soldier for hire before eventually turning to assassination. There are stories of his actions in the Chaco War and the Spanish Civil War and south-east Asia throughout the 1930's, but these are hard to verify. All that can be certain is that Cain's reputation as a killer among the criminal world was enough for Reeves to contact him for a contract to kill James Gordon.
Reeves believed that all his woes would end if he could take down Gordon, who he saw as the cause of his fears. He offered a contract of a million dollars for Gordon's death, sending word via his few remaining criminal contacts to Cain who was seen in the city in late August. No one can say for certain when exactly Cain arrived, but he had not gone unnoticed. Evidently, the Batman had either been keeping an eye on Reeves or had become aware of Cain's presence through other means as police were alerted to a gunfight in an apartment in Gotham's Upper East Side on the 25th August.
Witnesses soon gathered to see the Batman fighting through an apartment building with David Cain, the latter having enough ordinance on him to keep even the Dark Knight at bay. The amount of witnesses to the battle, a crowd having foolishly gathered, although certainly adding to Batman's legend, proved to be detrimental to actually helping him as Cain used the people as a distraction. He sent a hail of bullets into the watching crowd, fleeing as Batman stopped to aid those who had been hit. Before this, the Batman had been seen as a fighter, an obsessed crusader and a potential menace. Now, a more compassionate side was shown as Batman stopped in his pursuit to help those who had been injured during the fight. Rather than the relentless hunter he was seen to be, a trace of humanity was also shown through this act.
As soon as the police and ambulances arrived to the scene though, the Batman made certain that the victims got their care before he went off in pursuit. By that time though, Cain had vanished, making it impossible to track down. The Batman soon vanished along with Cain, leaving only questions and the injured behind. Mayor Reeves instantly latched onto this incident as proof that the Batman was a threat to the city of Gotham, something which reignited the earlier debate. Batman's actions, going in without backup, taking on a foe like Cain, who the police had managed to identify through descriptions, and the fallout from the injuries taken by the crowd had led to a rise in criticism.
It was around this time that the debate around vigilantism had really started to spread throughout the country. Outside of Gotham, the Batman was seen in various ways. Whether it be a madman, a hero or even just a myth the police used to cover brutal tactics against criminals, opinions ranged widely with praise and condemnation being raised in equal measures. Delaware Governor Walter W. Bacon even had a private conversation with Franklin Roosevelt over the role of the Batman where Bacon denied any knowledge of the Batman's operations. A Senate Committee was set up to begin an investigation into the role of vigilantism, further exploring its rise over the coming years as the example of Batman was followed by others. While we shall look into this at a later point, it should be noted that others had taken on the garb of a vigilante throughout the war, with it having major ramifications elsewhere in the future.
In the aftermath of the Cain attack, Gordon appeared to be dragging his feet over the issue of Batman. While the Commissioner had continually condemned Batman and any further attempts at vigilantism that the citizens of Gotham might attempt, there had been no major effort in the GCPD to bring the Batman in. Now though, public pressure forced Gordon to act and he created a task force to deal with the issue of the Batman himself. While politically necessary, the task force only paid lip service to its assigned role and it was mostly used to investigate crimes that the Batman had stopped.
As August passed, the manhunt for David Cain continued even as Mayor Reeves tried to ramp up fears of Batman. Reeves' words were rendered rather hollow when Cain struck though, attempting to kill Gordon on the 8th September during a speech at the Peregrinator's Club where he was speaking to the local politicians of the city. As Gotham was trying to emphasise the need for further police resources to help capitalise on the destruction of the Carmine family, he was shot by sniper fire from Cain.
From Gordon's diaries we can see he had been well prepared for this, although he never says why. It doesn't take much to assume that Gordon had been warned by the Batman as to Cain's intentions and had acted accordingly. As a result, Gordon's life was certainly saved by the bulletproof vest he had been wearing underneath his clothing at the time. Although rather rudimentary compared to what would come later for the armour and its designs, it proved enough to save Gordon's life although he had to spend some time recovering from the injury.
As some rushed to Gordon, police officers station around the building were already tracking the shooter. Managing to trace the fire, they were greeted by the sight of Cain actually struggling with someone over his gun on the roof of a nearby building. To the surprise of the witnesses, it wasn't the Batman, but rather, a young woman who was struggling with Cain. As police made their way to the rooftop where the shot had been fired from, both figures disappeared from view, leaving only questions and panic behind.
With both Cain and his assailant gone, the question of who she was went unanswered and continues to remain so to this day. Although later events were able to make us aware that the woman had a connection with the Batman, her actual identity has never been discovered. All that can be said for certain is that she almost certainly helped save Jim Gordon's life that day, preventing Cain from taking another shot.
With the city waiting with bated breath over the health of Gordon and whether the assassin about be caught before striking again, other events came crashing around the city at the same time. The first was that Nygma decided to reclaim some of his credibility after his disastorous attempt at revealing Batman's identity. With the chaos that came from the Year of Hell and the rise in the debate about Batman, a series of burglaries in Gotham's elite apartments and mansions had gone without much notice. The elite of Gotham had found precious jewels being taken from their homes at the dead of night with no clues to be found. The police were too stretched to concentrate on the matter and the Batman himself was dealing with other issues.
As a result, Nygma took up the cause of Gotham's elites, throwing himself into the role as he looked for clues during the summer. The day after the attempt on Gordon's life, he used private security hired by those he was representing to make a citizen's arrest on Selina Kyle, naming her as the culprit. Having looked into each of the cases, Nygma had found similarities to burglary in the spring of 1940, where a single break in had seen some precious jewels stolen from the home of Robert Kyle. At the time, the crime had been blamed on the Batman by an uncaring police force.
With the time and freedom to do so though, Nygma dug into the case, finding reports that Selina had accused her husband of abusing her prior to their divorce in early-1939. Furthering his investigation, Nygma traced Selina's financial records over the years since her divorce and found she had been living well beyond the means that her salary as a worker for a local pet shelter. With his men at his heel, Nygma confronted and then enacted a citizen's arrest on Selina Kyle, causing a search of her apartment that did indeed reveal several of the stolen items.
Rather than shy away from the accusations, Kyle revelled in them, proving to be quite adept at crowd manipulation, listing the luxuries her victims lived in while contrasting it with those who shared her own rather modest apartment building. For a city that had to endure years of violence and bloodletting, a beautiful woman with a taste for tweaking the noses of the rich and powerful came as something of a relief. When it was revealed that Selina had also been donating some of her stolen money to the pet shelter she worked out, her persona took on the role of a Robin Hood-esque figure and sympathy shot up, the judge at her case even allowing her to walk on bail, all a mere week after the attempt on Gordon's life.
Nygma also regained some credibility, cracking a case that the police and the Batman had failed to do so while also gaining the lucrative gratitude of Gotham's upper class. When it came to Mayor Reeves though, Nygma found himself shunned, the Mayor believing that Nygma had failed to catch Batman and was now chasing lowly thieves rather than focus on the main issue. Cain had also gone underground, the failed attempt on Gordon's life forcing him to cut off contact from the Mayor. While a professional and smart move, Reeves just saw it as Cain abandoning him. It was at this point that Reeves, feeling desperate, made his deal with the Devil.
The Joker had been kept in Blackgate Prison since his arrest earlier in the year. Bringing him to trial had been extremely slow due to fears that he would enact a similar scheme to his last one. Added to that was the fear of ordinary people about what he would do to them should they serve on a jury on his trial. An insanity plea had been rejected outright as many believed that the Joker knew the difference between right and wrong, he just didn't care. Private correspondence between the various legal professionals working on the case also reveal that many of them felt Joker was too much of a threat to be placed into an asylum like Arkham and were eager to give him the death penalty.
With his belief that enemies were coming in on all sides and that his few allies were deserting him, Reeves drove to Blackgate prison in the morning of 18th September. Officially, he was there to see how security was handling the Joker, as well as have a conversation to 'gauge the mind of a madman'. In reality, Reeves used his five minutes of privacy with the Joker to slip him copies of the keys to his handcuffs at the doors of the prison. For his freedom, Joker had to agree to killing Gordon and the Batman, to finally free Reeves from their threat.
Naturally, the Joker agreed to this, waiting until Reeves had left the prison before killing the guard who'd come to watch over his assigned meal time and then all but strolling right through the prison doors. Managing to avoid the remaining guards due to a shift change, the Joker made good his escape from Blackgate, but not before stopping on the outside and throwing the keys to the cell of Jonathan Crane. As Crane would later tell, the Joker had no idea whose cell he was throwing the keys to, he just wanted to help create more escapees to help cover his own break out. It was a dark twist of fate that it would be Crane that would get the chance to escape then, having quickly created his own plan mirroring the Joker's.
Crane unlocked his own cell before quickly passing the keys onto other inmates, leading to an entire cell block erupting into a riot that Crane took advantage of, slipping away amidst the chaos. It took two days for the prison riot to be brought to an end, twenty inmates having escaped during that period and many fearing what was about to happen next. The cause behind the break out wasn't discovered until sometime later, suspicion actually resting on potential corruption within the prison itself initially. Mayor Reeves himself was above suspicion simply due to how no one would believe that anyone so high up could help facilitate such an escape.
Needless to say, Gotham was plunged once more into a panic over the thought of the Joker being loose once more. Crane escaping also added a fresh layer of dread over to what he would do if he could get his hands onto the needed chemicals for his gas. With the focus of the police now on a city-wide manhunt, Nygma found his accomplishment forgotten, discarded with yesterday's newspaper as he believed everyone was ignoring his genius for a bunch of circus freaks. Actually contacting the Gotham Gazette over this, Nygma had to endure the humiliation of being laughed out of the building for his presumption.
The final insult to injury came from Selina Kyle actually making a plea bargain with the DA's office to get a suspended sentence in return for giving the location of her remaining stolen jewels. A comment by Kyle about how she was only sorry she hadn't been caught by a real man like Batman only pushed him over the edge. Everywhere Nygma turned, it appeared that his achievements were being ignored, his intelligence belittled and his skills mocked. Having never experienced this kind of treatment before, Nygma became determined to avenge these insults and force people to acknowledge his superiority.
As Nygma made his own plans, the Joker would make his first appearance on the 5th October at Arkham Asylum, his only trip to the institution, despite various attempts by his legal team. He broke into Arkham at midnight and made his way to where Harvey Dent was being kept, giving him the choice to go free. Using the coin given to him by Nygma, Dent made the flip and walked out of Arkham along with the Joker. A second coin flip happened after Dent asked why the Joker had helped free him. Being told "Because it was Twos-Day." Had almost led to Dent killing Joker on the spot, only for the coin to deny him the satisfaction.
The break out from Arkham, as well as the death of three orderlies, pushed the panic in the city even higher. The only positive, it seemed at the time, was that Arkham was put under new, stricter management as Reeves put a controversial doctor by the name of Hugo Strange in charge. A man who had a long history is the field of mental health, Strange nevertheless held questionable views on how to diagnose and treat people. But he was one of the few people willing to take on the job in the aftermath of Crane's crimes being uncovered and the break out by the Joker. At the time, anyone willing to show a strong hand was welcomed and Strange quickly made himself comfortable in his new role.
After the break out in Arkham, the Joker simply wasn't content with that and seemed to feel as if he was on a roll. He decided to strike at the First Bank of Gotham, having lost all his assets in his last arrest and in desperate need of more. With a gang of young and desperate men from Gotham's poorer streets, the Joker made his appearance by ramming a truck into the bank and taking the people there hostage as his men broke into the vaults. Alerted to the situation, the police soon surrounded the bank but the Joker made no move. Rather than attempt a break out, or even make demands, he was content to sit and wait, the reason becoming all too apparent.
The hostages in the bank later reported that the Joker was restless and irritable throughout the robbery until too much time had passed since he had heard from those working on the vault. Instantly, it appeared as if the mood had changed in the madman as he grabbed onto the nearest hostage and shoved them onto the truck. Using the business end of his gun to get his remaining henchmen to start driving without even taking any money. Whatever instinct had been driving the Joker proved accurate as the Batman burst from the doors leading to the vault, just making the leap onto the truck on time before it pulled away.
The only witness accounts comes from the unfortunate hostage who the Joker had dragged along with him, a man called Charlie Collins. Having been forced onto the truck at gun point, Collins now had to deal with the Batman and Joker facing off against each other while the truck sped through the streets of Gotham. Hampered by the enclosed space and the fact that the Joker had a hostage nearby, the Batman was slow to make a move until he managed to throw a projectile at the Joker, sending the gun from his hand.
After that, according to Collins, was a confused fist fight that swung back and forth as the driver of the truck constantly swerved to avoid police and other cars on the road. While Batman certainly had the skill, he had to worry over the safety of Collins and that cost him as the Joker had little care for his Collins', or even his own safety. Despite that though, and several blows from the Joker, the Batman managed to send the mad man careening back with a well aimed blow to the head. As the Joker stumbled backwards, he managed to fall by his gun but his attempt at a shot went awry as the Batman threw another of his projectiles at him. With the shot going up, it ricocheted into the driver's cabin and killed the driver, sending him swerving off the bridge were on into the river below. By an odd quirk of fate, it was the same Sprang Bridge that the Joker had fallen from during his first encounter with the Batman.
Dragging Collins from the water and making sure he was alright, the Batman then vanished as the police arrived. There was no half-heartedness about the search this time, the police scoured the river for the Joker, but found nothing. Commissioner Gordon refused to take the madman's death for granted and kept a general APB for him, refusing to believe that he was dead until a body was found. There were some who had believed Gordon to be over-reacting, but the Joker's presence had already created a sense of dread in the city and the vast majority agreed with his actions.
Two days after the Joker's disappearance, Commissioner Gordon was to suffer another attempt on his life as David Cain attempted to finish the contract. Having arrived home after a long day shift, Gordon was attacked by Cain, who preferred a stealthy approach as he tried to garrotte the Commissioner as soon as he left his car. Fortunately for Gordon, his daughter Barbara displayed quick awareness as she tried to save her father, quickly getting him to safety as the Batman arrived and fought Cain.
James Gordon and his family lived in a neighbourhood of Old Gotham and the fight soon attracted a large crowd as Batman and Cain struggled with each other. To those who saw the fight, they noted how even it was, the Dark Knight's own hand to hand skills countered by Cain's abilities and the fact he was unconcerned about collateral damage. Willing to use the various weapons that he had carried with him, Cain left the stealthy approach far behind as he started shooting at Batman, who tried to keep himself away from people in case they were caught in the crossfire.
For once, the Dark Knight's skills failed him however and one bullet managed to catch him in the shoulder as he tried to keep Cain's aim away from houses. Sent to the ground, it appeared as if the Batman would meet his end as Cain pointed his gun to finish the job. He was stopped by the timely intervention of Gordon, having recovered from the earlier attack and eager to help his ally. The two struggled until Barbara Gordon stepped in once more, using a tyre iron from her father's car to strike Cain's shoulder, almost breaking his scapula. That was all that Gordon needed to take Cain down to the ground, finishing him off with several well aimed blows before taking the gun away and placing the assassin under custody.
Placing cuffs on Cain and with the police quickly arriving, the danger was over. But, before the Batman could his usual stealthy exit, the witnesses to the fight started to give the Dark Knight and the Gordons cheers and applause for their actions. It was perhaps the only time the Dark Knight received a show of support from the public on such a scale. He showed little outward signs of enjoying it however and indeed vanished, clutching his shoulder as he went off into the night.
With Cain being arrested, it was the sign of a lull in Gotham that actually lasted into the New Year. The Joker had remained underground with hopes of his death increasing daily, Crane had seemingly vanished with rumours that he had fled to the west to get out of Gotham. In reality, he had already contacted the Mayor's office to start a new plan, Reeves' desperation so high at this point he was willing to fund Crane's experiments and let him gather the chemicals needed for more of his fear gas. Given a safe haven by the Mayor, Crane worked away while many wondered where he had gone. Dent himself had also apparently gone from Gotham as well, having not been seen since his escape from Arkham.
Dent had found himself an unlikely ally since his escape. Smarting from his humiliations, Nygma had been busy tracking down Dent. Not to capture him, but to recruit him in his quest for revenge. Giving Dent a safehouse to stay, Nygma started to work on a plan to bring about Batman's downfall. After his breakout from Arkahm, Dent had been at a loss, prone to using the coin for every major decision and had almost returned to custody on numerous occasions. Only the flip of the coin had prevented him from doing so and Nygma soon turned his attentions on using Dent's need for a purpose to his advantage.
With those responsible for his disfigurement dead, Dent had no focus to turn to as his previous life was in ruins. Nygma, instead of offering help, made Dent focus on his allies instead, shifting the blame onto Batman, who had brought about the desperation in the Falcone family, and Gordon, who had failed to protect him. Already unhinged and his more aggressive personality willing to be pointed towards anything, Dent found himself slowly being swayed by Nygma's words until he was ready to make the flip. The marked side came up, and Batman and Gordon became Dent's newest targets.
The problem for both Nygma and Dent though, was where was Batman? Since his battle with Cain, the Dark Knight hadn't been spotted in a manner that could be verified. Rumours abounded of course, battles in the night, a hunt for Crane and Dent that went across the city, but nothing that was verified. It was much more likely that he was recovering from his wound at the hands of Cain and the reports which followed were people's imagination getting the best of them.
It wasn't even until the 26th March that the Batman was once again confirmed sighted in Gotham, in response to a riot in Arkham. A patient named Aaron Helzinger had attacked the orderlies with the violence soon spreading. The led to a rapid response from police as the thought of the Joker resurfacing was close to many people's minds. The Batman was seen entering the Asylum and quickly helped subdue the riot. Despite several injuries, it was a relatively painless affair with the inmates getting the wind taken from them after clashing with Batman and the police ending the riot in a quick fashion.
The true facts behind how quickly the riot spread weren't known at the time, although the police did start an investigation that turned up little in the way of evidence. Hugo Strange's experiments would not be uncovered for well over a year as he had proved himself able to hide his crimes as well as his predecessor. As the investigation turned up with nothing, the event was blamed on the high tensions in the asylum due to a stricter regime.
As March gave way to April, Nygma had decided to make his move along with Dent. While planning to use the former ally to Gordon and Batman as a mere tool to reclaim his glory, Nygma was happy to stand back and let chaos ensue, for a little while anyway. With money and a willingness to take the fight to the forces of order in the city, Dent struck at the Gotham Municipal Courthouse on the 26th April, the same that had seen his disfigurement at the hands of Maroni. He and a hired gang,assaulted the courthouse, killing six lawyers and setting a fire in the actual courtroom.
The attack caught many off guard and the question of why Dent attacked there hung in the air. Due to the lack of widespread knowledge of mental knowledge in the time period, many could only guess as to Dent's motivations before he furthered it up with an attack on a police car two days later. One officer died and another was severely wounded, being left alive so that he could pass on a message to Gordon that Dent was ready to take revenge against the Commissioner and the Bat. With this news spreading, Gordon was once more placed under heavy protection and the search for Dent was ramped up considerably.
All this turned out to be for nought however as Dent himself stepped out of hiding. Denied a chance to attack Gordon and Batman not being seen, action was called for and it came in the form of a Wayne Foundation fundraiser at the Gotham Civic Centre on the 5th May. With several of Gotham's elite present, Dent and his gang burst into the ballroom where Bruce Wayne was giving a speech thanking those who had donated. Taking the entire room hostage, Dent then demanded that the Batman show himself by midnight, or he would kill everyone present, starting with Wayne himself.
For several tense hours, Dent's gang and the police waited for the Batman to show up with the police waiting for the order to make a move against Dent if they needed to. The tension mounted as midnight got ever closer, the bells just starting to toll when a figure appeared in the ballroom, taking out two members of the gang before facing Dent himself. Despite the hopes of the former lawyer though, it wasn't the Dark Knight who faced him. Although clad in similar garb, there were differences. The cowl covered the entire face and the outfit itself was pitch black, obscuring the person underneath entirely.
Although controversy still comes up when discussing the person underneath the darker cowl, there can be no doubt that on the twelfth toll of the bells, the figure known as the Black Bat had appeared.
Quite a big update this time and slowly getting into the end-game after the next chapter. To those who reviewed:
6tailedninja - Nygma is a fun villain, although can be tricky to write since he tends to be far more intelligent than me. :P Thanks for also letting me know of the issues with the original post.
YoKoChi150 - Yes, there's a fair amount of villains appearing now, some in the background and being quite while the shenanigans take place but will come out once more before too long.
Once again, thanks to those who've commented, faved and followed. Hope you continue to enjoy.