Tang Ri Shan
Conundrum
(Okay, I think I've kept you readers waiting long enough. Here's the next chapter)
Chapter 11
Commissioner Gordon suddenly felt a warm feeling in his stomach as he drove his cruiser through the dark streets of Gotham, and he knew it wasn't from the donuts he'd eaten a while back. As he turned a corner, he thought back to what Batman had briefly explained to him before running off. Gordon shook his head. He didn't like this feeling of unease, knowing that someone was guiding his actions beyond his knowledge and seemingly against his will. He felt like a puppet on a string, and this 'Question' person was some dark puppet-master pulling those strings. Gordon had no idea what this man's intentions were, but Batman seemed to trust him, and Gordon trusted Batman, so Gordon had agreed to go along with Batman's plan.
"But is this his plan?" Gordon thought as he changed lanes, "Or is this more of the Question's handiwork?"He chuckled to himself as he drove, imagining Batman as another of the Question's puppets, like he was. "Vigilantes, why do they have to be so secretive? Why can't they be more open about their work, like policemen?"
"Because if they were open, they'd be targets" Gordon answered himself, shaking his head as he turned one more corner and found himself driving along the perimeter fence of Gotham's harbor yard. Beyond the fence was a forest of shipping containers, and beyond them, a long row of stone piers, each with a long grey warehouse stretching halfway up each dock. Some of the piers had ships tied to them, others were empty.
Ahead, Gordon saw a small group of cruisers and a SWAT van parked near the entrance gate to the yard. A group of officers were standing at the gate, arguing with the night watchman. As Gordon pulled up, he saw one of the cadets yell angrily at the watchman, who simply shook his head, a smile on his face.
"What's going on here?" Gordon demanded as he got out of his cruiser. Everyone turned to look at him.
"This idiot isn't letting us in sir!" The cadet said, his face flushed with anger, but there was relief in his eyes. Behind him, the watchman, a short but muscular man with white hair and an eye patch, looked smug, taking pleasure in the fact that the police were seemingly powerless against him.
"We'll see about that" Gordon said to himself as he stepped up to the man and pulled out his badge. "I am Police Commissioner James Gordon, and I order you to open this gate!" He announced in a firm voice.
The watchman laughed. "I don't care who yeh are, cop" He replied in a cocky, but evenly firm, voice. "Like I told yer buddies, no one gets in here less you got a warrant"
"Stubborn" Gordon grit his teeth, but was careful not to show it. "We don't need a warrant, now open this gate!"
The watchman's smile faded for a second, but then he laughed loudly. "Ha! Ya think I'm stupid! I'm smart enough to know that without a warrant, you can't do nuthin'." He crossed his hands, grinning smugly as Gordon clenched his fists.
For a minute, Gordon stared at the man, his anger rising. Then he turned to the officer. "Get the rams out, break down the gate!" He ordered.
"Yes sir!" The officer's scrambled to the van and opened it.
"Hey! You can't do that!" The night watchman yelled behind him. "I got special orders from the boss not to let anyone in..." The watchman paused as Gordon whipped back around, his eyes flashing.
"And I have special orders to enter and occupy this storage yard! So you can either open the gate, or get out of the way!" He snapped, glaring at the watchman who returned his gaze. For a few minutes, the two men stared daggers at each other, neither moving, neither speaking.
"We're ready sir!" A cadet finally yelled, breaking the silence. The watchman's eye turned to gaze behind the commissioner and it visibly widened.
"So, what's it going to be?" Gordon asked in the hardest voice he could muster. For a few seconds, the Watchman stared back at him, then snorted and walked back to his guard box. Pulling a lever, he opened the gate. "Wise decision" Gordon commented as he strode through. The watchman grumbled at him from inside the box. Gordon pulled one of the cadets aside. "Keep him here, make sure he doesn't call anyone"
"Yes sir" The cadet turned to stand by the guard box. The watchman within simply scowled as he watched the police drive through the gate into the yard.
Meanwhile
Katana glanced at her watch which showed 5 minutes to midnight.
"Remind me why I'm here?" She said, glancing at Batman, who lay on the cold steel roof next to her, gazing through binoculars at the next warehouse.
"Because you followed me" Batman replied. Katana wasn't sure i he was kidding or not.
"Okay, but why are you here?" Katana rephrased her question.
"Because the Question will be here" Batman answered. Katana glanced at him in surprise.
"What? How do you know that?"
"The message he gave us." Batman answered. "The hydra's house ware, flipped are the signs. Did you notice the word where was misspelled. w-a-r-e, not w-h-e-r-e. Flip house and ware and you get..."
"Warehouse!" Katana gasped as the realization hit her. "But why this one?"
"Remember the second line. Start with a year and add on the lines." Batman replied. Katana's brain suddenly whirred, she glanced at the front of the warehouse, where a large number 37 was visible on the wall.
"Thirty Seven" Katana mused, thinking hard. Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Six! There were six lines in the Question's message! and that to 365, the number of days in one year, and you get 371!"
"That's right" Batman agreed. Just then, the radio in his cowl chirped. "Are you in position?" He asked, tapping the receiver.
"We got a little held up at the gate, but we're getting set up." Gordon's voice echoed in his ears.
"Good. Wait for the signal" Batman reminded.
"So who exactly are we going to expect, besides the Question?" Gordon asked.
"Tobias Whale, among others" Batman replied.
"Whale? How d'you figure that?" Gordon sounded as confused as Katana felt.
"The first line of the message. The words Ishamel and Penrod. Both used in the novel Moby Dick written by Herman Melville in 1851. In the novel, Ishmael was a crew member on a whaler called the Penrod."
"Whose captain was searching for a great white whale" Gordon summarized. "I get it" He grumbled, angry for not noticing it himself.
Katana smiled. "So how long do we have to wait?" She asked.
"What time is it?"
Katana glanced at her watch. "Midnight" She answered
"Then not long" He paused, then straightened up. "In fact." Katana tensed up as lights in the dark warehouse snapped on. Batman handed Katana hsi binoculars and she peered through the now lit window as figures began milling around inside the building. One, a stocky man with pale skin, looked familiar.
"It's definitely Whale. You were right" Katana commented. "And...wait...who's that guy?" She handed the binoculars back to Batman
"It's Wesley Farmin" Batman scowled, staring at the white-haired man.
"The mayor candidate?" Katana asked.
"What's he doing here?" Gordon's voice crackeld on the radio. He had been listening.
"Not sure" Batman answered. "There's a third man too, but I can't make out his face from here." He snapped the binoculars away and pulled out a grapnel. "Let's get a closer look". Batman and Katana both fired grapnels and swung onto the roof of warehouse 37. They pried open an upper window and dropped silently inside. As they crept along the catwalks and climbed down a ladder, taking out armed guards in the process, they heard angry voices coming from the middle of the room.
"Look man, I didn't come all the way out here to party with no out-o-towners!" Tobias Whale announced, casting a disdainful eye over Farmin, who glared back at him before taking another swig from his bottle. "This is my city, and I ain't about to share it with no newcomers!" Whale continued, now turning to a shadowy man sitting across from him.
"We're not newcomers" The man replied, his voice a deep growl. "We were born in Gotham".
"He ain't" Whale jerked his head in Fermin's direction. "I can smell out o-townwers and baby, he reeks" Whale made a face and turned away from Fermin, who made a motion to rise out of his chair, but the man gestured for him to sit back down. Fermin fumed, but complied, reluctantly.
"Well, it's a good thing he isn't in charge then" The man continued, turning back to Whale. "We are. This city belongs to us now, and you, Tobias Whale, are either with us, or against us. And moving against us is just the kind of thing that will get you harpooned, Mr. Whale"
"Okay, first, this city already belongs to me!" Whale replied, rising out of his chair. "Second, I ain't takin' no lip from a man who hides his face!" He banged his ring-studded hand on the table separating the three men. "And third, what's with this we stuff, anyway? I ain't agreed to nuttin' yet!"
"It's the perfect plan" The man continued as though he hadn't heard Whale. "With our influence, you will control the city's underworld, while Mr. Fermin, as the mayor, will control the city's government and law enforcement. With both the gangs and the police in our pockets, the four of us will rule Gotham."
"Four of us?!" Whale exploded, "There's only three of us at this table! Baby, you nuttier than a fruitcake! Who are you?"
Fermin suddenly started laughing. Everyone in the room turned to look at him. "Trust me, you don't want to know"
"Shut up!" Whale snapped as Fermin took another swig of his drink. "I asked you a question" He turned back to the man. "Who are you?."
Batman, who was edging behind a wooden crate signaled Katana to hold. The masked woman peered out from behind a beam.
"Do you remember Harvey Dent?" The man finally asked, crossing his gloved hands together.
"The D.A? Yeah, I herd o' him." Whale replied, than he smiled. "I heard he was dead"
"Is that so?" The man was silent for a moment, then leaned forward slightly. "Well you heard right, in a way. We go by a new name now." With that, he leaned forward, bringing his face to light. Batman raised his eyes beneath his cowl and he heard Katana's cry of surprise, which was fortunately masked by Whale's own exclamation.
The man was Harvey, at least, part of him was. The right half of his face looked normal, copper skinned, dark hair, his eye narrowed in anger, but the left half of his face was deformed. The skin was charred and red, almost like raw meat. The lips on the left side of his mouth curled up in a sneer, revealing dirty, yellow teeth. His left eye, pale and almost pupil-less, glared from under a bushy eyebrow that clashed with his perfectly manicured right one. He had no hair on the left side of his head, which was as red and raw-looking as his face.
"And that name" Harvey Dent leaned forward, his voice lowering to a growl "is Two-Face". His good eye narrowed as and he gave a small smile as he took in Whale's shocked face.
My regards to TheFutureKatana for her detective work.
Some clues from my poem have been solved, but can anyone guess what's going to happen next?