City of Gods Chapter 10, a batman begins/dark knight fanfic

AN: This is shorter than the last chapters but I just had to release something, to keep up with my non-existent schedule.

I think I've figured it out. Although I have two reviewers (wonderful little people made of awesomesauce), it's not enough for my ego. I think what's holding back the rest of you 100 or so readers is that reviewing doesn't seem exciting. There's no risk, no reward, no nothing. But if I were to change that, the reviews would flood in.

So, review at your own risk. I am not kidding. I will find you, beat you up, wrap you up in gift-paper and send you Timbuktu in a well-ventilated box(because I want you to live, otherwise the whole trip to Timbuktu would be pretty pointless). I will also verbally abuse you the whole time, calling you names and being generally mean-spirited, making you wish you hadn't reviewed. You can run, but you cannot hide.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two men sat in a spacious office at a nightclub downtown. All the curtains were down, keeping the light out of the room. Soft jazz was playing at a low volume, an extra precaution against curious listeners.

"Is the music really necessary? There's nothing to fear here, I assure you", one of the men spoke. The other answered by scowling at him. The man continued, "I assume you called this meeting for a reason? Now would be the time to speak."

The other man lit a cigar with trembling hands, his mind in a curious state, constantly shifting from paranoia to barely controlled anger. Finally, he spoke, anger having won the battle.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!", he hissed at his companion. "Plastering your face on national television, acting like one of those freaks, raising hell for no reason?! Your money's been helpful, don't get me wrong, but this is going too far! When you said you had deemed it necessary to "take Rafe out of the game", this wasn't quite what I thought you meant! I would never have supported any of this if I knew what you would do!"

The man had listened to all this with a patient smile on his lips. "Yes, yes, very touching. But I told you about the cop right away. Why didn't you object then?"

" I thought you had good reason, god knows pretty much every cop in this city is bent. He was just another casualty, all for the greater good. But Rafe, he was one of us!"

At that, the man chortled. This only served to fuel the speaker's anger.

"If you even think about trying to get rid of me the same way, there will be consequences, you can bet on that. I've taken measures…."

"So I see", the other man interrupted and gestured at the stereo in the corner.

"… I've taken measures against you. If anything happens to me, an unfortunate accident or a frame-up, I'm taking you down with me. All the evidence, everything about our little scheme, everything about you will be going straight to the police."

The man waited for a few moments before speaking, just to make sure the other man had finished.

"That's not much of a problem, I'm afraid", he said with a smug tone to his voice.

"You can't get to me! Not at my home, not at work and especially not here!"

"No wall is so high that a caravan laid with gold cannot cross it. But why, dear friend, would I eliminate you? You still haven't served your purpose, and seeing how Rafe didn't work out, you're going to be even more important. And since Gordon isn't going anywhere, our other friend is hardly going to take over there just yet."

He smiled at the other man. "I will convince him it is in his best interests to become influential at internal affairs instead. Not nearly as useful, but springing some nasty slander at certain individuals at the right time can make the difference between life and death. But what all this means is that you, the soon to be elected DA, have tripled in value."

The other man seemed somewhat calmed, but there was still a hint of distrust.

"But, Edward…"

"Mr. Nigma, if you please."

"Mr. Nigma, I won't be able to hold onto the job for long if I have to turn a blind eye to your… hobby. And there's no way to be certain I'll be elected"

"Firstly, if things aren't going your way in the election, tampering slightly with the results will change that. Secondly, you won't be able to hold onto your job for long if people find out about your affair with a certain… unusual news-anchor."

He handed the other man an envelope. "It would really ruin your reputation as an honest man who believes in family values wouldn't it?"

The soon-to-be DA simply stared at the pictures in the envelope with a numb sense of hopelessness.

"Besides, people are used to ineffectual authorities. You'll blend right in."

"I guess I have no choice.", the lawyer muttered.

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic. You know this is what you've always wanted. You may not be the biggest fish, but you still get to be a big fish. I'm sure Oswald will have plenty of lucrative deals for you down the road. Now why don't you trod on back home, Mr. Danvers?"

Rodney Danvers stood up and left the room, a distant look in his eyes. It always brought the tiniest tinge of sympathy within Eddie's heart when these men had their dreams broken. At first, they thought of this as an adventure. A mysterious benefactor, meetings in poorly lit rooms filled with smoke. Then they saw it as a ticket to power, a way to become someone powerful. Then, inevitably, they thought they actually had that power and had to be brought back down to earth. Like the kid in the candy store suddenly remembered he didn't actually have any money. But they would mostly benefit from this little arrangement, at least the two that still lived.

Shortly after the man had left, Oswald Cobblepot entered the room and took the lawyer's seat. He dusted the ashes from his desk with a disdainful look on his face.

"I feel so mean, Oswald. Like I've just stolen Christmas. But what did they honestly expect? That I was going to put them in power and then leave them alone?"

"Politicians are rarely too smart, Eddie. But they have their uses."

Riddler nodded in agreement. His little triumvirate had not worked out as well as he had hoped, but at least two of them were still ready to do his bidding. Too bad he hadn't found anything to blackmail Rafe with, to keep him from making the wrong choice. Having a Mayor, DA and a Commissioner in his pocket would have been ideal, but he could make do with just a DA and a man of influence to slow down the police if needed.

Then there was the man sitting opposite him. A useful ally, the pinnacle of human ambition. If a man called the Penguin could be respected and feared, it was fairly certain there was something more to that man than met the eye. Short, tubby, very unappealing physically and, if you couldn't live with greed and ruthlessness, mentally as well. He was like some surreal anti-Bruce Wayne.

After the deaths of so many of Gotham's mob leaders, Penguin had gotten a hold of a nice piece of the slice. A money-launderer, smuggler, arms-dealer and more, Oswald was the ultimate shady businessman. But like most people, he always wanted more.

That was where he came in. A sort of a partnership between two very rich men, both having become rich through slightly questionable methods, they traded in favors rather than money. They had both been establishing strings they could pull, on both sides of the law. Not quite kindred spirits but they still respected, and to a certain extent, liked each other. But whereas Eddie had the more valuable strings, Ozzie had the manpower. And the patience for something as droll as managing an illegal empire. But they were both sophisticated men, far above the regular mobsters.

"What unfortunate accident befell you?", the cagey bird asked and gestured at the Riddler's face.

"An encounter with the Joker."

"Do elaborate."

"I was abducted", he said with more than a hint of frustration.

"What did he want?"

"Absolutely nothing. It was all completely pointless, just a random humiliation."

Oswald decided not to press further on the subject. He poured brandy into two glasses and handed one to his associate.

"To better luck", he smiled before downing his drink.

The Riddler merely sipped his. "He didn't show up. Turns out the police did. Cracked almost half of my maze before the countdown shut the whole thing off. Amazing that they made it so far, but still disappointing. I still haven't found out where he went."

"Maybe he figured you were a low priority, now that Joker roams free. I still don't understand why you would want to meet the Batman, but to each his own."

"Two murders, one of those a City Councilman. Actually showing up at a news station and walking away unscathed through a police barricade. How could I still be a low priority? Maybe I need to try wearing lipstick to gain his attention."

"Maybe not a low priority, per se, but lower than Joker. I've got a little problem that might provide the perfect opportunity to get his attention. The Russians are proving to be powerful competitors in the arms-dealing racket. An attack on one of their warehouses and a truckload of missing weapons? He couldn't possibly be unimpressed, nor could he ignore you."

"And you would profit immensely."

"Of course we would split the take. I'll get you some goons to do the dirty work, but do try to keep them all alive. This mustn't be connected to me, so no witnesses, only one of your little riddles, and voilá! Everyone is happy."

"An attack on a small warehouse? It doesn't sound like much of a challenge."

"It is by no means small." Oswald elaborated with an almost apologetic ring to his tone. "Their security is tight, fancy electronics systems to keep people out and lots of muscle. You don't need to sully your own hands if you don't want to, just plan the thing and then sit back and watch the fireworks."

"All right, but this is a favor I expect returned."

"Of course, Edward. It will be my pleasure."

Riddler downed his brandy, stood and gave a tip of his hat before leaving his associate. A rather droll task, but it could be worse. He'd just have to make it interesting.

Jim sat in his kitchen with his two children and wife. He really missed this, just eating waffles with his family, doing nothing apart from enjoying each others company. No thieves, robbers, rapists, murderers, thugs or jokers. Just him and his family.

He turned to his son and ruffled his hair. He rarely ever saw them these days, except when they were asleep. He hated to admit it, but he was becoming a rather neglectful father. But what could he do? He couldn't simply leave things as they were, there was always something which required his attention, always something that was more important than his free time.

His wife probably didn't think too much of him at the moment, and she would be right not to. Only staying with his kids when it was on doctor's orders did make him look bad. But he was going to change. Even if he had to stay at work, he would at least call them, talk to them, assure them he was still theirs and always would be.

For the first time in quite a while, the police commissioner felt hopeful. He might be unable to stop all the horrible things that happened in the city, but he was more than capable of keeping things together on the home front. Nothing was more important than his loved ones. Not even the Joker. And the next two days he intended to spend recuperating would be worth putting his job aside.

Harvey sat at his desk with his head leaning on a pile of papers he should be reading. He groaned loudly. Finding it nice, he did so again. Who needed therapists when you had the brilliant mind of a Bullock to find just the thing to relieve your tension?

"You giving birth over there, Harvey?" Renee smirked at him.

"I wish. How the hell does he does this every single day? Without donuts?"

"Do what, Harvey?"

"Take all this bullshit. Talk ta important jerks, repeating the same dull line about doing everything in our power blahblahblah, file through these tons of reports on important cases, head investigations that are going forward about as fast as a beached whale. And still remain sane, perfect ol' Jim."

"Hang in there, Harvey."

"Get me something ta eat, and I just might."

Batman was in his cave, watching a tape of a session at Arkham earlier that day. The patient was a young woman named Kate, who had gone berserk downtown after being poisoned by Scarecrow's new toxin. She raved on and on about blood raining down, her walking-dead mother, being buried alive and everything her mind had conjured up. But she did say something about a warehouse, which meant that maybe Riddler actually did know where Scarecrow was. Crane was bound to be in an abandoned building, and a warehouse fit the "Carcass of Capitalism" comment. This didn't narrow it down much, but it was a start.

Soon, one of his foes would slip up. And that would be all he needed. In the meantime, rumors were bound to circulate. And Matches Malone just loved rumors.

AN: Riddler's comment about caravans laid with gold is a slightly altered quote from Filipus II, Alexander the Great's father. His friendship with Ozzie has been shown occasionally in the comics, although it isn't much. His comment about lipstick is referring to Joker.

Anonymous reviews are allowed, but don't think that will in any way save you if you review. I'm the human equivalent of a blood hound, and directly related to some sort of stealthy animal(on my mother's side, if you're curious.). So if you are weak of heart, let me know and I will refrain from sneaking up on you when I come to exact my revenge.