Author's Note: Ace is back in the game!

Let the games begin.

The City in Pieces II

Chapter Twenty-Six: Too Many Plots

Ace hunted down the abandoned sniper's car in a parking garage as the alarm at Black Gate was sounded over the PA system, screaming that Ace Leswaae had escaped with an intruder. The shrieking sirens pulsed several red lights to circle the area in angry patterns; metal bars shot out from the ground to enclose around the harmless electrical fences—A flood of security guards flew out from every side of the federal building. Chance and Ace hurdled their bodies into parking garage quickly. Chance shoved Bane's dagger into Ace's grip; the natural locksmith took the handle and shoved the tip of the blade into the driver's door of an old 1992 Ford Escort. Ace jammed the lock wordlessly. She threw open the door; Chance crawled over the stick shift and settled into the floor of the passenger side; Ace entered the car, sliding into the back seat, closing the passenger door vigorously.

As anticipated, a flood of armed officers swept through the garage, searching under the bodies of cars, through the tops of them; even peering through the windows of nearby vehicles. Ace and Chance hid quietly, silent as the grave.

"Hunt them down!" cried out the commander only a few feet away. "They killed the Warden!"

"Sir, they're nowhere in sight! That Ace was never contained, Sir—just stationed in the right place!"

"Shut up, man," said a fellow officer, probably his friend. "We need to get to them before they find other people that Ace doesn't like."

Their commander sounded derisive when he replied,

"You want to know of list of people that Ace doesn't like? Open a phonebook."

"Well, we can't just wait here. They're probably clear across the other side of town by now!"

"Let's move it, men!" the commander shrieked in the garage, echoing loudly.

Chance listened intently as their heavy footsteps started to fade away.

"They're gone." Ace told Chance.

"We can't be sure. I know how these people work, Ace."

"Well, I'm no military genius," retorted Ace sardonically, "but I think I know an empty room when I see it."

Chance quirked her head. She crawled out from under the dashboard to see Ace peering at her from the driver's window. Ace was out of the Ford Escort, leaning in with her arms folded on the dash.

"Ace, what are you thinking?" said Chance incredulously. "You're in the middle of cross-fire if they come back!"

"Oh, lay down, Chance. They're not coming back," sighed Ace. She opened the door to get back in the driver's seat. Chance sat straight beside her, glancing through the windshield to check the visage. Chance searched her purse for the sniper's keys. She observed the selected few. Ace gave her a look.

"Hey," she suggested, "instead of trying to decide which one can start the car, why don't I just try them all out?"

Chance shot an annoyed stare her way before handing Ace a selected bronze key.

"This one's for the ignition," she said.

Ace took it and stuck it in the hole, turning it. Chance was right. The Ford started noisily. Chance leaned back in her passenger seat, sighing, as she observed the dimly lit area. Ace breathed in the polluted air, happy to be back in the state of true Gotham.

"So, besides fulfilling a written promise, Chance," Ace began, setting her hand on the wheel, "why on earth did you risk death to break me out of jail?"

Chance handed Ace a few papers. Ace surveyed them quickly before speaking.

"What's all this?" she inquired.

"I need you to replace my bombs with yours?"

Ace glanced at the schematics.

"I understand under the stadium; your reservoir is quite shameful. You fucked up my bomb. But why through these tunnels? Through here?" Ace drew a finger through the lines of leading tunnels.

"When the football stadium is blown to hell, the concrete that will cave in will black these tunnels." Chance said quickly. "We need stronger similarities around the edges to permanently explode the middle section of the stadium, or else nothing will happen. That's why I needed you out of there, Ace. You're the only one who knows how to make these explosives because you were the one who created the formula."

Ace gave her an appreciative smile.

"Well, Chance, I'm good at doing this, but the time it takes to make these bombs won't accommodate for the time that you need." Ace said. "How much time are we given exactly?"

"Two hours." Chance answered.

"Two hours? Oh," Ace sighed with a simple wave of her hand. "That's easy. I can whip some of these up in about half an hour. Do you have all the supplies there at hand already? It'll take more time to gather them."

"What you need, we already have," answered Chance dutifully.

"Oh, excellent," Ace congratulated her. "You freed me because you needed this done?"

"Actually, I intended to break you out of jail when Bane would blow the prison to hell, but it's so happens that my skill in alchemy isn't the best in the world. Bane ordered me to get you out."

Ace raised her eyebrows, apparently shocked.

"Well," sighed Ace, turning the gears, "perhaps we should get going, then."

As Ace peeled down the road, she questioned further,

"Why do we have two hours? What's happening in two hours?"

Chance looked out the window momentarily.

"Well, you know that bomb I told you about that you found out that's going to blow Gotham to hell?"

"Of course," said Ace passively.

"Okay. Well, it's located under a flood system, in Gotham's sewers beside the river and a junkyard. Wayne Enterprises was intending to use it to make Gotham a better place to live; a doctor created the entire thing for that specific purpose. Well, taking the reactor core from the middle of the machine destabilizes it. After about six months, it becomes a time bomb."

Ace listened quietly, nodding slightly in understanding.

"I know the exact location of the bomb, but we have to be led down there by Miranda Tate and Lucius Fox: the president and the chairman. We need one other member to activate the core. Once it's activated, it actually starts working."

"So it's docile," assumed Ace, threading through Chance's explanation.

"Yes," said Chance.

"So you want me to make the bombs under the stadium so that you can carry me to this meeting about a separate, much stronger bomb?" clarified Ace.

"Yes," said Chance, smiling.

Ace shrugged,

"Whatever. You just tell me what I need to do." Ace shook her head. "I don't like working with Bane, Chance. He's too difficult. Political stances, planning, and even board meetings? It's quite ironic too, I am bored."

"Just get us to the sewers, Ace." Chance sighed.

Ace smirked,

"See, see? I like that plan. Sweet, easy to remember…"