In the woods of Gotham, in their compound, another meeting of the Court of Owls was taking place. Hugo stood in a circle with the other court members, all of them once again dressed in their ceremonial robes, wearing their owl masks.

Bowing to the high priest, the Mayor of Gotham was jubilant.

"My Lord, you will be very pleased to know that our country will soon be getting far more gold from our trading partner than we have ever previously received."

"Why would more riches matter, if our plans are exposed?"

"...what?" Hugo said, confused.

"Our ally have informed me that you nearly let the Penguin escape, and that they had to take him out themselves."

His pulse quickened when he heard this. He had hoped the Court wouldn't find out about Cobblepot.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"He was headed northeast, very likely to Metropolis. Do you know what would happen to you, to me, to the court, if Batman or the Justice League knew what was going on here? Our entire vision, all of our efforts, was almost compromised last night due to your own negligence."

Hugo felt anger well up within him. He pointed a finger at the high priest.

"Now wait just a moment! There is absolutely no way I could have known that one man would try and escape our land, and it is unfair of you to think that I could possibly watch every single citizen in all of fucking Gotham!"

The high priest was silent, as he slowly reached his hands up to his mask and removed it. He looked at Hugo, and without breaking eye contact, he walked up to him and stared down at him.

Hugo's indignation melted away, replaced instead with fear. He began to shake as he looked up at his Lord's face. He peered into those cold eyes, anxious and unsure of what would happen next.

Suddenly, the high priest's arm shot out, his hand closing around Hugo's neck. He struggled under the cult leader's powerful grasp, his hands grasping at the long arm that held him.

Hugo's vision grew fuzzy as his brain began to get cut off from oxygen. With a desperate sputter, he managed to force a few words out of his throat.

"M-m-my L-L-Lord, pl-please..."

The high priest threw his subordinate, releasing his grip on him in the process. Hugo yelped as his body slammed against a tree. He lay prone for a moment, before he tried to collect himself and unsteadily rose to his feet.

As soon as Hugo was standing up proper, the priest struck him, his sharp nails raking across his face and drawing blood. Hugo gave a cry of pain as he clutched at his wound with both hands.

The high priest grabbed him by the hair on the back of his head and moved his face close to him. His voice lowered as he spoke, in a venomous, hissing tone.

"Your incompetence disgusts me, Hugo. You would do well to remember who it was that ensured you would become the fucking Mayor in the first place. All you had to do was ensure that no one will ever be able to leave this city again. If you do not, you will sorely regret it. Have I made myself clear?"

"Y-yes! Please, just...just don't hurt me anymore!"

The head of the Court of Owls pushed Hugo back to the ground, then turned and began to move out of the meeting place, his small congregation following his lead.

For a full ten minutes, Hugo Strange didn't move from where he was. Instead, he lay in a fetal position, quietly sobbing to himself, tears of pain and humiliation streaming from his eyes.

"Christ's sake, here we go again"

Commissioner Gordon back in the marketplace. The citizens gathered around him, in grim anticipation.

Gordon sighed.

"As decreed by the mayor, henceforth all privately owned seafaring vessels, merchant, leisure, or otherwise, are to become the property of city of Gotham."

Some of the townspeople exchanged looks; some were worried, some were confused. It was an unusual decree, and nobody could figure out the purpose behind it. Had the Mayor gone crazy? Why could he possibly want to own everyone's boats?

A few citizens, who did happen to own ships, were angry over the news. But they all knew better than to speak a single word of protest, after what had happened to the last man that tried.

Harvey Bullock stood at the docks, watching the scene unfold; all of the ships from the people of Gotham had been gathered together in the harbor. Groups of police officers were on board each vessel, splashing buckets of kerosene all over them. When each boat had been thoroughly covered in the heating fuel, they disembarked off of the ships and into smaller dories. After rowing a safe distance away, torches were then lit and thrown onto the vessels. The kerosene ignited instantly, engulfing each ship in flames. Their wooden bodies were easily overtaken by the inferno, and within minutes, there was nothing left of the civilians' property but blackened bits of debris that floated on the water's surface.

"All right men, bring it in!" said Harvey. The officers began to row back to the docks, as he turned to Gordon.

"Unusual command from the Mayor, wouldn't you say?"

"Very. But still, Order are orders. What he says, goes," replied Commissioner Gordon.

"I would like to know what he hoped to gain from all this."

"We'll never know, Harvey. It is probably best not to pry into things not meant for us."

"Yes, I suppose. But it did just occur to me: all the citizens are trapped here now. If some disaster were to happen...most of the people would probably die here. They'd never make it out."

"Perhaps. But, as always, we must trust in our Mayor's judgement."

The officer's were now back on land, securing their dories to the docks. Gordon and Harvey looked out at the water, and quietly sighed as he viewed the burnt remains of what had once been capable sailing ships.

What was going on in the Mayor's mind?

Hugo Strange headed down to the water, carrying a cloth sack. Like last time, the burden was light. He walked into the water until it came up a bit past his knees, and as he awaited his usual visitor, he gingerly reached up to left side of his face, feeling the deep scratches his Lord had inflicted on him, and the numerous stitches that kept the wounds sealed shut.

Soon enough, Aquqman emerged from the waves. Silhouetted by the full moon, it extended its hand, skipping any formalities.

"You do it?"

Hugo obeyed, eagerly awaiting his substantial reward. He handed over the sack, and as the thing snatched it from him, it held out its other hand.

There, lying in its palm, was more gold than Hugo had ever seen at one time. He greedily took it all from the creature's large paw, gathering it up in his arms.

Aquqman opened the sack and looked down it. He reached in and drew out its contents: baby twins, a boy and a girl. They were both small enough to fit into its rather sizable hand.

"Do you like it? Pretty hard to get those two, almost woke up the parents up and everything! They're going to have a nasty surprise when they wake up tomorrow, eh? Heh heh...heh..."

Aquqman regarded Hugo with cold eyes; it didn't appear to care about Hugo. As he turned to leave, both of the small children suddenly woke up; Pyg must not have drugged his victims well enough this time.

The babies both began to give shrill cries, crying for their mother, their father. But neither of their parents would be around to save them, Aquaman closed his hand around them and dove into the water.

In spite of all the horrid acts he had already committed, Hugo couldn't help but feel a slight pang of guilt over what had just happened. He had just sacrificed small children, in pursuit of riches.

But as he looked down at the many shining metal pieces in his arms, any remorse he felt quickly faded. He turned around and hurried back up the hill to the limo.

As Hugo climbed into the back, the driver turned and spoke to him.

"Sir..."

"What?"

"I...normally would not ask this, but exactly what...was going on down there? I heard children crying, and...what did you do?"

Hugo narrowed his eyes and lowered his tone.

"Never you mind. Just drive."

"But what was making that n-"

His temper flared up. He just wanted to get back home and store his gold away.

"I SAID DRIVE! NOW!"

The driver fell silent, slowly turning and settling back into his seat.

They were on their way, leaving the dark ocean behind them.