Edward vaguely wondered what the Bat would do if he was aware of the meeting which was currently taking place directly under his nose in his own city. The first official meeting of the rogues who had decided to band against Ras Al Ghul had been organised for tonight and they had agreed to meet in this abandoned office building. It was a good neutral ground which everyone had accepted as a suitable place for meeting since it had lain empty for the last two years after being targeted by Firefly and the upper levels had sustained levels of fire damage serious enough for the entire building to be condemned.
To his immediate left, Jonathan was standing patiently as he waited for the meeting to begin while Ivy, Harley and Selina stood on his left. The five of them stood directly in front of a small collection of their fellow rogues; Dent, Freeze, Sionis, Maxie Zeus, Killer Croc and Calender Man stood dotted around the relatively small room as they waited for the meeting to begin. Jervis was also supposed to be present but he cancelled at the last moment. The main reason behind this meeting was to give the rogues a chance to discover exactly whom they would be working and fighting with for the foreseeable future and also to see what possible ideas each person could offer. Edward was hopeful.
"I am certain that you all know why we are here." He began dramatically and he heard Jon make a small scathing noise in his throat but choose to ignore it. "Ras Al Ghul, the Demons' Head and illustrious leader of the League of Assassins has declared war on us and our kind. The reason for this, and I think you all already know, is due to the death of his daughter at the hands of one of our own." Edward paused as each of the rogues nodded to let him know that they were aware of the situation. "If you are here then you have chosen to ally yourselves to your fellow rogues and, as clichéd as it sounds, united we will stand and divided we will fall."
"We have gathered," Jonathan continued, "you all in this building to discuss our plans and attempt to reach a solution which will allow us to deal with the League and survive. The League is compromised of highly skilled assassins who have also developed techniques which make them resistant to traditional forms of chemical influence. As of this moment in time, we do not think that the League is aware of our planned resistance. It is my belief that they would think us too," he smirked and paused, "damaged to work together cohesively."
"Are they wrong?" A gravelly, animalistic voice asked loudly. "Do you think we can all work together without killin' or eatin' each other?"
"For the latter of those two things, the only person I would be concerned about is you Waylon. The rest of us don't really have a taste for human flesh." Edward said lazily while Croc flashed his rows of sharp teeth as he grinned. "But yes I believe that since we are all under threat we should be able to see past our differences and work together as a shaky team."
"I will call down the wrath of the gods to destroy our enemies! You simple people will not be needed for any war." Maxie Zeus yelled pompously and Edward raised an eyebrow at him. He was unsure who had invited Maxie Zeus but he supposed that the team could always use some extra cannon fodder. It wasn't that he hated Zeus but he just did not care for him at all. Mild dislike at best. Each of the other rogues had at least one small feature which interested Edward but the faux-god just annoyed him, he seemed to be the only one who possessed an ego which was bigger than Edwards' own.
Edward bit his tongue a little as he held back a more vicious reply. "Yes Zeus! That would be marvellous. True to tradition, why don't you turn into a swan or a white bull and go attempt to seduce your way to our victory. I have my doubts that Ras will accept your advances but at this point I am willing to try anything. A shower of gold might be a better option though." A few of the rogues laughed at his comment and Zeus glared hatefully at Edward as he realised that he was being mocked.
Attempting to save face, Zeus continued. "We all know that the Joker is the man responsible for our plight. If Al Ghul seeks out Joker then we should offer his notorious companion as a sacrifice and then perhaps he will call off his killer dogs." He pointed at Harley. "Why should we fight when she will settle the debt. I will seize her and deliver her to this Demon personally. I do not fear him. By my right as a god I demand that you all do as I say." He strode towards Harley and went to grab her arm.
Frowning deeply as Zeus made his small speech, Edward decided that he would not allow a third-rate hack like Zeus to even attempt to make a move on Harley. She deserved better than that. As Zeus marched towards her, Edward swiftly attempted to intervene and defend Harley from the delusional man but was surprised to see that Jon had reacted slightly quicker and had snatched Zeus' hand before he had been able to even lay a finger on Harleys' wrist. Clutching Zeus' hand harshly, Jon was now using his impressive height to tower over him in what Edward could appreciate was a deliciously intimidating manner.
"How dare you mortal! You choose a mere clown over a god?" Zeus boomed.
"There are no gods here." Jon laughed darkly. "Just us criminals and a man with severe delusions and a serious decision to make."
"Oho! A decision eh? You dare challenge me?" Zeus snorted. "And what would this decision be?"
"Either you can walk back to your place with your unrestrained ego only slightly dented or I can put this," Jon pulled a needle from his belt with his free hand and waved it threateningly, "into your system and we will all enjoy watching you scream like a frightened child. Either way you will not be laying a finger on Miss Quinzel. Ras Al Ghul has made his lack of interest in her very clear and even if he had not, she is still worth more than you to many of us here." He paused as he allowed the other rogues to hear his words before turning back to Zeus. "Would you like us all to find out what terrors keep a self-proclaimed god awake at night?"
The entire group had gone silent as they watched Jon face off with the false god, who was now showing real signs of uncertainty as the seconds passed and no one made an attempt to offer their support to him. Eventually reaching a conclusion, Zeus opened his mouth to respond but was instantly silenced as he was knocked off his feet by a large green vine which had slid up unnoticed behind him. Groaning on the ground he attempted to stand up but was forced back down by a green boot which struck him in the chest and knocked him flat on his back again.
Her face full of rage, Ivy bent down and placed one hand around his throat and gave it a small squeeze in warning. "I am not as merciful as the Scarecrow." She hissed as she dug her sharp nails in. "Do not attempt to place your hands on her again or you will lose them." She let go on his neck and sauntered to Harleys' side, placing one of her arms gently around her waist in a obvious show of possession. Realising that they were no longer needed both Jon and Edward walked back to their original positions at the head of the room. Glancing at Ivy again, Jon received a nod in thanks from her and then an odd look came across her face as her thoughts were clearly taken up by something else.
Still spluttering on the ground, Zeus finally stood himself up and his face was a mix of anger and embarrassment. His eyes darted around the collection of rogues as they continued to watch the small scene unfold with various expressions of boredom and mild annoyance. Finally coming to the conclusion that no one else was willing to support him in his cause his face darkened and he snapped his mouth shut as he stormed to the back of the assembled group.
An small silence descended as each of the rogues waited for another to speak. "We should hire an assassin." Freeze offered evenly as he tried to move things past the awkward stage they were currently at. "If we are to be hunted like animals then I suggest that we hire a hunter of our own. We are all killers here but not one of us are professionals at it."
"Speak for yourself..." Jon muttered under his breath and Edward held back a smile as he recalled the tales Jon had shared with him of his early years as a criminal. Continuing in a much louder voice, Jon asked, "Does anyone have any suggestions as to who we possible bring into our services?"
"Deathstroke?" Croc growled out. "He's the best of 'em. Not much he can't do."
"Croc is right," Selina nodded, "Deathstroke would be a great addition to our fight. But..." She trailed off and Edward picked up on her train of through
Edward shook his head. "He is too closely affiliated with the League to be completely trusted. He has worked for them on several occasions as both an employee and also, I believe, as an instructor, and I do not feel that I could depend on his loyalty in this situation."
"What about Floyd Lawton?" Came Black Masks' obnoxious voice from the back of the room. "I've worked with Deadshot before and he is an efficient bastard."
"Lawton could work." Dent chipped in. "I hired him once to take care of an old business partner of mine and he made him money within a day. I agree with Sionis."
"Deadshot is possible." Edward mused as he slid a finger around the rim of his green bowler hat. "I will discuss it with Penguin and see if he can organise a meeting with him and find out his price. A true assassin on our side could be a real benefit to us." He placed the hat back on his head and faced the entire crowd. "I have also decided that we will reach out to Professor Pyg for help. He might be completely insane but he does have a disposable army which we could utilise. Does anyone have any objections?"
"Do we need to speak to him?" Ivy asked bitchily.
"Probably not. Even if you did I do not imagine he would respond too well."
"Then I have no objections." She concluded before murmuring under her breath, "And i'd quite like to know how he survived my poison in the asylum."
Leaning close into her Ivy, Harley replied. "Don't cha worry Pam. He's always loopy on his needles and I don't think ya poisons could do much more harm to him." Pam smiled at the encouragement and tightened her grip on Harleys' waist.
"Anyway." Edward said pointedly. "Back to the army of assassins-sized problem at hand..."
x-x-x-x-x
They had been chatting amongst themselves politely for the last while since they did not tend to meet in groups this large very often and many of them actually quite enjoyed getting a small catch-up with the other criminals whom they did not commonly cross paths with. Unfortunately, Edward was forced to admit, it also meant that rogues who did not get on were also put in close contact.
"SELINA!" Edward bellowed as he watched Selina attempt to launch herself at Black Mask who was smirking viciously. She would have reached him but Dent intervened at the last second and pulled her away as she continued to swipe dangerously at her intended victim.
"Let me go Harvey! I'm gonna peel that mask of his face with my damn claws." She screeched. "I'm going to hurt him. Let me GO!"
"What is going on?" Ivy asked dangerously as she entered into the fray.
"I only asked her how her sister was." Black Mask continued to smirk. "She reacted poorly." Ivy narrowed her eyes and Edward could see small vines beginning to creep through the floorboard behind Black Mask and knew that this would not end well.
"Sionis. Leave. Now." Edward spat out through clenched teeth. "These women will kill you and unfortunately you have some valuable assets which we could use."
"Yeah. Don't forget that you NEED me." His smirk turned into a sneer and Edward felt his temper instantly flare. "You all need me. I have power you all desperately crave."
Pointing his cane threateningly at Sionis, Edward spoke calmly but there was a hard edge to his words. "That is where you are WRONG Sionis. We do not need you. Your participation would be useful but do not mistake yourself as being indispensable. You will be annihilated by the League if you stand alone but with us you may stand a chance. So let us not discuss who needs who because it will turn ugly. You NEED us."
Black Mask glared at Edward for a moment before considering his words. As he opened his mouth to respond, Jon cut him off. "Just leave Black Mask. We will inform you of our next meeting and it may be wise for you to consider bringing your assistant. Your volatile personality will get you into trouble here." Snorting, Sionis turned and strutted out the exit door while making a deliberate point to ignore each of the other rogues as he passed.
"Selina dear, could I have a quiet word?" Jon said sweetly, but his mind was a swarm of anger as he did not appreciate the blatant disrespect that Black Mask had shown not only Edward but all of them. That could not be allowed. Selina stopped struggling long enough to allow Jon to whisper something in her ear and her eyes lit up with utter malice as she nodded at whatever he had proposed. Edward eyed the pair with mild curiosity but decided to wait until later to find out the details.
"I would like to cut this meeting short now." Edward announced, deciding to move on from Black Mask and his attitude. He called attention to himself again. "We will meet here in one week exactly, same time as today. By then I want you all to have an accurate figure in your head as to how many henchmen or how many weapons you can bring to the table for us to use."
"What'll you be doin' in the meantime Mistah E?" Harley asked.
"I suppose Jon and I had better make some form of arrangement with Pyg unless one of you volunteer?" Silence met his question. "As I suspected." He sighed. "Oh well, it was worth a try."
"What do you mean you and I will be making arrangements?" Jon inquired suddenly as Edwards' words sank in. "I do not remember agreeing. When did I sign up for that?"
"Jon, I do not even charge you rent to live in our apartment. Do you know how expensive apartments are in our area since we live in one of the least dangerous parts of Gotham? Trust me, this is the least you can do."