Chapter 10
"Knock knock." Carmine Falcone said as he slowly opened the large warehouse door. Sal Maroni and Arnold Flass stepped into the warehouse right behind him. Rupert Thorne was directing some of his men to put crates into certain piles.
"Who the hell is it?" Thorne shouted. He turned his head and saw his boss. His eyes nearly popped out of his head as he grabbed a Tommy gun, aiming it at him. "Shit boss, you weren't supposed to see any of this."
"Put the gun down Thorne." Falcone said, rolling his eyes as he noticed some of his former men, staring at the leaders in the middle of the warehouse. Arnold Flass closed the door behind them.
"Nah. Nah I can't do that Falcone." Thorne said, filling with adrenaline. Falcone raised an eyebrow, surprised he had the balls to call him by name.
"Listen you little wanna be. I get what you tried to do. I applaud it, but it was sloppy work. Hell, I wouldn't even be mad if you had managed to do it smoothly." Maroni said calmly, being handed his pistol by Flass.
"I'm going to end both of yous right here. Then I'll take your business. I've worked too damn hard for this. I ain't playin' second fiddle no more." Thorne shouted, raising the Tommy gun, keeping it right at Falcone's chest. Falcone smirked and was handed his pistol by Flass as well.
"I liked you Thorne. Maybe in a year you would've earned the chance to run a district here in Gotham. But now, they're gonna have to scrape you off this floor. Every single one of ya." Falcone said. He aimed his pistol at Thorne who's finger slipped and pulled the trigger on the Tommy gun. A bullet flew out and went right into Falcone's chest, who stumbled back a bit. He then let out a chuckle.
"We aren't stupid." Maroni said, opening up his buttoned down shirt to reveal a bullet proof vest. Falcone put his pointer and pinky finger in his mouth and then whistled. As soon as he did, Maroni, Flass, and himself dropped down to the ground and took cover. Bullets began to fly in through the walls of the warehouse. From every direction, every point, Thorne and his men were becoming riddled with bullets from both Falcone and Maroni's men.
Two minutes went on where it was just quiet. The gunfire had stopped and no one had made a sound. Falcone stood up slowly, seeing all the blood from his former men, and Maroni's former men forming a pool of blood. Thorne lied on the ground right in front of them, multiple bullet holes in his chest, sides, and back.
"F..Fal…" Thorne muttered, choking on his own blood. Falcone shook his head and raised his pistol, shooting Thorne in the chest twice and once in the head.
"Let's get the hell out of here." Maroni said, motioning with his head. Flass sighed and opened the warehouse door for the two, and closing it behind them. The sound of sirens soon filled the night air in Gotham.
Earlier in the day, Harvey Dent had been present for a speech outside of City Hall. People were yelling at him, calling him a liar, cheat, and a fraud. The expression on his face was genuine concern, wishing it hadn't come down to rumors to try and stop him. He cleared his throat in the microphone and a wave of "boo's" filled the air. Gotham city police were present in order to keep things in control.
"I know many of you have heard the rumors being spread around." Harvey spoke, seeming calm as he looked over the crowd of people.
"You don't give a damn about us!" someone screamed, throwing something at the District Attorney of Gotham. Security was instantly there to grab the man and carry him away.
"That is not true!" Harvey said, slamming his fist down onto the podium in front of him. "I do care for you good people, but one thing is true. I haven't shown it. I haven't been out on the streets, talking to you. That's what I should be doing. If I become mayor I need to know what you people want fixed about this city."
A few cheers took place and Harvey took a deep breath and smiled. He pointed at someone in the crowd. "What do you want to be different about this great city?"
"I want this gang violence to stop!" the woman shouted, causing everyone to cheer.
"That will be down. Mayor Hill seems to not be doing anything about all this violence going on. I, Harvey Dent, will not stand for it! I will make sure you and your children, and even their children are safe from all this crime. People like Black Mask and Batman won't be able to step outside without being caught and thrown into Arkham." Harvey said. The people began to cheer and Harvey smiled.
"And what about all the fake people?" someone said once the crowd had calmed down. Harvey furrowed his brow and tried to see who was speaking. The man was wearing a large black hoodie with the hood over his head. "You know, all of the people who were masks. Will you help them reveal who they really are?"
"I'm sorry? I don't understand." Harvey spoke, leaning forward.
"You're going to be sorry." the person whispered. They looked up and people began to scream, running away from the person who was revealed to be Black Mask. He held a revolver and aimed it at Harvey, who was in shock.
"People like Black Mask and Batman won't be able to step outside without being caught and thrown into Arkham." Batman heard Harvey say. He was crouching behind one of the gargoyles on top of City Hall, overlooking the night time speech Harvey was giving.
"It appears your friend doesn't approve of the other half of you Master Bruce." Alfred said. Batman put a finger to his ear.
"I don't need to be liked or admired. I just need to make sure my job is done Alfred." Batman responded.
"I know. I know. Justice." Alfred responded with almost despise. Batman knew he had rolled his eyes when he spoke the word. Batman noticed people began to run away from a figure who was pulling out a revolver. Batman stood quickly and jumped from the roof, spreading out his cape and gliding down quickly. He brought his legs forward and kicked Black Mask in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
"Two people on my list, who will be unmasked first." Black Mask said with a smile. Batman had fallen down after taking down Black Mask. He ducked under a punch from Black Mask and responded with a punch of his own to Black Mask's ribs.
"Get out of here." Batman basically growled at Harvey who began to run. An alert came in on his glove. A shooting was taking place near the docks. Batman stumbled back and fell onto his back aftering being punched in the jaw by Black Mask.
"You let him get away!" Black Mask hollered in anger, aiming the revolver at Batman's head. Batman knocked his hand away, causing the revolver to fire right next to his ear. A ringing took over in his ears, and Batman gritted his teeth. Black Mask jumped off of Batman and went for his gun. Police had begun to surround the two.
"Stay back!" Batman shouted at them, standing up and sticking his arm out. Black Mask smiled at him and spun his revolver around his finger.
"You really think they are gonna listen to you?" Black Mask asked. He let out a laugh and began to walk away, the police letting him slip right by. Each officer began to pull a mask out of their back pocket and put it on. Each one was either an animal, a clown, or some type of creepy looking face.
"Looks like he wasn't alone after all." Batman said, feeling something get slammed into his back. One of the masked men had pulled out their baton's and whacked him in the back with it. Batman turned around, blocking a second hit only to be jumped on by another masked member. He felt arms wrap around his neck and he struggled to fight off the first attacker with the second one choking him.
"Master Bruce, what is going on?" Alfred chimed in over the earpiece. Alfred's voice gave Batman a sense of urgency and he flung the man on his back over him and into the first attacker. Two more ran at Batman and he grabbed one and swung him around, flinging him into the other running. He took a deep breath and pulled out his grappling gun.
"Not this time!" one of them screamed, hitting Batman in the back of the head with their baton. Batman stumbled forward, grabbing the back of his head and turning around. He grappled the baton away from the man and spun around, roundhouse kicking the last standing goon.
"He got away." Batman said into his earpiece, grappling away from the knocked out masked men.
"Jesus Christ, it was a Goddamn bloodbath in here." Lieutenant James Gordon said, stepping over one of the dead bodies in the warehouse. Renee Montoya was right behind him. The investigation team began taking pictures of all the bodies and bullet holes.
"James, you should see this." Sarah Essen said, stepping out of the security room. Gordon walked in, seeing some of it was shot up as well, and there was a dead body lying on the floor in there as well.
"Who the hell could have done this?" Montoya asked.
"Them." Sarah said, pointing to the screen showing replays of the security camera. Gordon leaned forward and squinted, trying to make out the faces as best as he could. Falcone and Maroni instantly stood out, aiming pistols at the now dead Thorne.
"Wait a minute." Montoya chimed in. She freezed the recording and zoomed in as best as she could. Gordon squinted more and felt an anger wash over him.
"Son of a bitch." Gordon said, standing straight up. "Montoya, let's go. Essen, make sure this is all cleaned up." Montoya left the room and Essen nodded. Gordon winked at her and gave a small smirk, leaving the room. His anger quickly returned.
The two were quickly right outside the GCPD. Gordon quickly exited his cruiser and stormed through the front doors of the Police Department. Everyone looked at him as he pushed the doors to the squad room open. All the other officers looked back at him except for Flass who was at his desk doing paperwork.
"Arnold Flass." Gordon said. Before Flass could turn around his head was shoved down against his desk. He winced and felt his hands being cuffed behind his back. The Commissioner stepped outside his office to see what was going on.
"What the hell is this about?" Arnold asked, struggling against the force of Gordon.
"Shut the hell up. You're done asshole." Gordon said, lifting him up and pushing him towards the investigation rooms. Gordon and Loeb made eye contact. Gordon stopped walking to stare down his boss, who turned and went back into his office.
Author's Note:
Hey everybody, just wanted to give a little reminder that if you visit my page you can vote on who you think will be the person to fight with Batman in the final chapter of this episode. I know this isn't exactly focusing on just Bruce/Batman but every scene that doesn't involve him clearly affects him in a way. In some way all the characters trace back to Batman. Also, there will be 25 chapters total, so that should give a good idea on when certain things will start to turn out. Hope everyone enjoys, and please leave a review. I want to know how to make this story better. Love you all!