Tim parks his car in front of the bar they go to and walks inside. He finds Bullock there first. They take notice of each other.
"Timmy, over here!" Bullock calls him over to a booth.
Tim sits down next to him. "Where's Renee?"
Bullock shrugs. "I dunno. You tell me,"
The door opens to reveal Montoya as she quickly scans the room for them. She finds them and takes her seat next to Tim.
"If I knew you were so desperate for a drink, we would do this every night." Bullock remarks.
Renne gives him her famous death glare that sends shivers down their spines.
"We talk first, then drink." Her tone of voice was in no mood for discussion or argument. She brings out photographs of Falcone Shipping Yard.
Tim asks, "You've been stalking him?"
Renee answers back. "He's planning something, Tim. His ships have smuggled money, weapons and drugs into the Gotham Harbour."
Bullock takes a look at the photos and recognizes someone. "Hey, is that Salvatore Maroni?"
Tim takes a look at him. "I thought he was a regular business man?"
Renee gives him a pointed look. "Wrong. We thought he was a regular business man but he's been running Falcone's operations since he walked into Arkham."
Bullock and Tin have different reactions; Tim's reaction is self blame and conflicted. He realizes that what he did, did absolutely nothing and Falcone's operations have been going on for three years and he didn't notice.
Bullock's reaction is different. He isn't finding blame and only feels anger rushing within him. He grits his teeth and asks Renee, "Did you get proof of this?"
Renee smiles as she pulls out a tape recorder and a search warrant. "All we need to do is go down to the Precinct and we can end this."
Bullock is ecstatic. "Sweet! I'll call ahead and tell them what's going on."
He gets up and walks outside to make a call as Tim wonders something.
"Why didn't you report this already?"
Renee puts her hands on the table. "Because you needed to hear about it. Because you need to know…that it's time."
Tim's eyes widen as he says in response. "No. I gave that up years ago."
Renee says, "It doesn't matter if you gave it up, you gotta come back. Or at least Batman does."
Tim's eyes widen again and he asks, "You mean I…?"
Renee nods. "I think you need to do this."
Tim places his hands on his head. "That is not my mantle. It was Bruce's and his alone."
Renee rolls her eyes. "You think people are gonna fear the witty and the good cop vigilante? No, people like Falcone and Maroni need to know that Gotham is not theirs." She says, making sure that her voice is lowered.
"Why can't you deal with this? The GCPD is more than capable." Tim asks, looking for a reason to say no.
"You saw how much weapons and drugs were on that dock," She reminds him, pulling out the picture again. "We're going to be overwhelmed to deal with this."
Tim shakes his head. "Renee, I can't. I gave it up for a reason and it's not something I want to live through again."
She leans in to make sure that no one hears them. "Tim, when I found out that Bruce Wayne was, you-know-who, I was speechless but not as much when I found out Jim knew and do you know what he did?" Tim shakes his head in response "He told me not to tell anyone because this city needed him and it does right now. So the question is…are you going to step up or not?"
Tim takes in her speech and struggles to find an answer. He's not able to because Bullock is coming back and they know that they will have to talk about this later since Bullock doesn't know the secret.
Bullock says, "People want to talk to us. C'mon."
Renee nods but Tim stays back since he isn't a police Officer. Renee gives him another pointed look as both Detectives leave without another word.
Tim sighs and ponders Renee's words as they repeat in his head. "Are you going to step up or not?"
As the detectives leave the bar, what they don't see is a white van focusing on them.
"Want us to take the shot?" One man asks his boss, Black Mask, who is sitting in the passenger seat.
"Not until they get to the Police Department." Black Mask says, which makes the goons rethink their life choices.
The driver says, "But there's tons of guys who are ready to shoot us on the fly and I thought you said be discreet."
Black Mask turns to him and says, "We're sending a message. Do it or you're going home with a limp." Black Mask viciously threatens him.
The goon gulps and knows he has no choice but to agree. He starts the car and follows the two enforcers of the law.
Renee and Bullock walk into the Police Department, making their way through the dozens of people going through paperwork, taking calls, eating donuts and doing what any protector of the law would do.
"Get everyone in the hall. It would be better if I announce it." Renee tells Bullock.
Bullock agrees and he shouts and threatens and does whatever he can to get them all in a circle.
"Everyone, I have news for all of you that will put an end to the Falcone crime ring once and for all! If I could get your attention." Renee shouts at everyone. Soon, every police officer starts to look at her.
Black Mask's van parks in front of the Department as another white van is trailing them – Another one of Black Mask's crew members. He then orders the driver, "Drive through the building"
The driver again questions him. "But-but this isn't the Batmobile!"
"DO IT!" Black Mask yells at him viciously again. The goon floors with his hands sweating as the car rams through the glass doors and into the GCPD.
Every police officer yells in surprise as fifteen men wearing different sets of masks come out of the van and start firing rapidly in all directions. Police believe they have the upper hand until the other white van comes through the doors as, again, fifteen men wearing different sets of masks fire at the cops.
It's an all out Mexican standoff as officers and goons quickly get shot and killed. Black Mask comes out of the van with an AK47 and fires it at many people that aren't his own men.
He gets one officer on the ground and he quickly starts pleading for his life and raises his hands defensively. "I got a kid! You don't have to–"
Black Mask shoots him in an instant. He fires the weapons at other officers as they try to fight him off. "Who says I had to?"
Tim Drake sulks in the bar as he ponders what Renee said to him. "Are you gonna step up or not?"
He wants to, he really does, but the life of a crusader…broke him. It wasn't memorable or the life of a comic book superhero. He lost things that we'll never get back….Ever.
A memory that he kept at bay for so long is coming back to him, tearing his mind with unpleasantness. He tries to fight it by focusing on his coffee but it's too late…he feels the tears coming up as he remembers that…awful day.
He was in his Red Robin suit, on the pavement as his ears rang from an explosion. He was tied in rope and a drug was put in his system that kept him from beating the crap out of the man who was doing this to him and his partner, Batman.
Batman's suit was the exact opposite of Tim's – His suit was dark and menacing as all of the suit was black and gray as it resembled a, you guessed it, a bat. The chest plate was gray but a bat symbol was at the very center. His combat boots were black as well, along with his gloves but his utility belt was as yellow as Tim's belt.
They saw a building that was labeled Gotham General Hospital collapse into a pile of rubble on the dirty streets. The body count that day was ranked up to two hundred and thirty five. It still strikes Tim's soul with fear and intimidation just thinking about the man who caused the destruction.
He remembered the man who stood in front of him and Batman and the man chilled him to the bone. He was the devil with a twisted sense of humor – The Joker.
He was a terrible excuse for a human being. He killed because he could, because he thought it was funny, a running gag. Tim remembered all the cruelty committed by that rabid dog that was The Joker: The Laughing Fish, The creation of Harley Quinn, placing laughing gas at a funeral, turning the fun fair into his base, every breakout from Arkham, every death, every scream…it was all on him.
He wore a purple suit that stood out in the crowd, a stylish hat that sometimes was stuffed with a dead animal, his hair was green, along with his contemplative eyes that were filled with mystery and allure. His skin was white as milk from a cow, which he had eaten alive before once.
And his smile…oh that smile. It was wide and red with the blood of his victims which was a big number, bigger than Ted Bundy's or Victor Zsasz's or any serial killer you could name from the top of your head.
He stood over them with a crowbar in his hand, practically skipping with glee as he watched the destruction he had caused with that smile plastered on his face.
"Which one was it, Bats? Mercy Hospital or Maybe Gotham General? It's harder to keep the chaos straight this late in the game!" Joker was obsessed with Batman. He even loved Batman more than his own girlfriend. But he was never interested in the man behind the mask since that would ruin the game for him. All that mattered to him was Batman. He did all to get his attention.
Batman and Robin weren't able to respond because of a drug that Joker implanted in them. They were unable to reply.
"Aww. Come on! You have to get into the spirit of this kind of thing to make it right. I made sure that the drugs wouldn't affect your mind and just paralyzed you and your sidekick's bodies."
He grabbed Batman by his neck and looked deep in his eyes. Batman's eyes screamed murder. "Look, I know that this must be very hard on you, it's hard on both of us! Do you have any idea how many charts I used to systematically kill an entire city? Well, I guess you wouldn't because that's your one rule, isn't it? No killing, you and your pals?"
It was true. Batman did have a code that prevented him from killing anyone. Truth was, he was afraid. He believed that if he crossed that line, then there was no turning back and you would become just as bad as the monsters he fought.
Joker sighed. "Like good old Jimmy Gordon. Right at the end. I heard him shout it over the radio, over and over… 'By the book. Bring him in by the book!'. Heh…but when I finally got to him…he understood. He knew that I had to go, I saw it in his face, in his eyes! You know, before they dissolved!" Joker laughed a spine tingling laugh that Tim pleaded in the present that he would never hear again.
Both vigilantes mourned the loss of their friend. He was Gotham's best man, their reminder that there are good people in a town with many twisted people. His children were Barbra and James 'Jimmy' Gordon Jr. They both mourned the loss of their father to this day.
That made both Tim and Bruce tilt our heads up at him as he picked up a trench coat and a pipe that held Gordon's favorite tobacco. "He called for his little girl at the end, trying to tell her he loved her. Even though it was hard to make out what he was saying, I understood him making out 'Bar, bar, bar' ha ha ha ha ha. I saved the pipe for you though! It's still warm…"
He kicked Batman back on the floor and brought the crowbar close to his face before both vigilantes saw him getting serious, something he rarely did. "You see Batman…we're running out of time, you and I. We have had lots of fun throughout these wonderful and bleed infested years but we need to evolve, and fast, or we'll miss our chance. There is no 'by the book' anymore. I burned the damn thing years ago, ha ha ha ha ha," He continued with a laugh. "Right now, we need to figure out the breaking point."
He raised his crowbar and swung it, but not at Bruce, but at Tim. He fell to the floor as he pleaded to god that the drugs would wear off soon.
"And this is my breaking point, Bats! It's supposed to be you and me, no one else to spoil the punchline! Birds do not belong in our equation! I barely held it together with night brat and bat chick and I finally lost my patience with Robin the second," That made Batman's blood boil with the reminder of Jason Todd. He was the second Robin and the robin that Joker murdered with that exact same crowbar.
"I thought it would've taught you a lesson on dragging friends into this crazy little game of ours, but it appears it didn't." He caressed Robin's cheek very creepily. "Oh, but don't worry, pretty birdy...Mr. J is going to whack that common scene in his thick skull when I'm through with you, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!"
He started swinging at Red Robin
Tim shakes that memory off with tears in his eyes. He has tried for so long to forget. He's been to therapy and everything but no matter who he went to, no matter what he did, it was still a memory that leaked out of its cell and back into his mind.
Tim goes up to the counter and requests another coffee to shake this off. His attention then switches to a television that has the GCPD on the front screen.
"Hey, can you turn that up?" Tim asks the girl working behind the counter.
She obliges and turns up the TV. Jack Ryder is reporting. "Gun shots have been heard from inside the Gotham City Police Department as this is quickly turning into a hostage situation! It appears to be a gang led by a man who's calling himself The Black Mask. Supervillains are back in Gotham!"
Tim stands up and dashes out of the Stacked Deck and into his car. He starts it and rushes to the GCPD. He doesn't know what he thinks he can change or stop but he wants to do something. No more will Tim sit around, thinking that everything is okay.
"Lawrence!" Black Mask calls for one goon and that goons hands him a megaphone "Attention, Gotham's finest! If you surrender your guns and weapons to me and the Commissioner of this fine establishment comes to me, I promise, no more blood shall be dropped!"
Renee Montoya hesitates before she puts her hands up to where Black Mask can see her.
She could imagine him smirking behind his mask. "Good girl. Hand me your gun." She slides her gun to him. Black Mask grasps the gun and gives her the megaphone. "Call them off and I'll call my men off, Commissioner."
Renee nods and speaks through the Megaphone. "Everyone, this is Renee Montoya, your police Commissioner. Stand down, I repeat, stand down."
She then feels something pointing at her back and whispers through the Megaphone. "Do as she says or I'll blow her brains out. And everyone will report to the lobby!"
Renee can feel this maniac breathing down his neck. "You will stay with me. We have some things to talk,"
Outside, Tim Drake's car stops at the back and he gets a good look at what he's dealing with. Dozens of cars consisting of S.W.A.T. Teams, the media, ambulances, and pedestrians that are demanding answers.
He finds an entrance as an officer tries to stop him.
"Excuse me, sir, you can't be back here." The officer tells him.
Tim tries to get past him. "Both of my friends are in there."
The Officer firmly tells him. "And we'll get them out. We just need to be calm."
Tim groans and walks away, exasperated. He needs to get in there to try to do something, so he thinks of a way to get inside. Then, something clicks. When he was Robin, he had to go climb up the GCPD all the time and a plan starts to form.
Back inside, the goons have all the employees from cops to janitors on the floor as hostages except for Renee Montoya, who is in the cubicles with Black Mask.
She hands him the photos of the Falcone Shipping Yard. "Here. Just take them and go."
Black Mask studies them before bringing out the lighter from his coat pocket and setting them ablaze. "Do you make any copies of these?"
Renee shakes her head. "I didn't have time."
Black Mask ponders for a moment. "I see. And did you tell anyone else about this,"
Renee starts to become impatient. "What is this about, you bastard? What do you want?"
Black Mask is slightly amused. He steps forward, backing her into a wall. He puts his gloved hands through Renee's hair, entranced.
Tim Drake climbs out of an air vent that he has used during his Robin days. Batman showed him these for a training exercise. The lesson was to always have an exit strategy.
Tim Drake dusts himself and sneakily makes his way down the hall.
She feels his gloved hand in her hair but also his other hand sliding up her leg. "Stop it." Renee says, gritting her teeth. He doesn't stop and things start to get very uncomfortable for Renee, so she grabs his hand and forces him to remove her thigh. "I said, stop it!"
She twists his hand before punching him in his face with the other hand. The pain she feels in her fists is slightly worse than what she feels when she normally throws a punch since this pervert is wearing a mask.
Black Mask shakes off the nerve and is slightly even more impressed. "You're a fighter, I respect that," He dusts his suit off and resumes as normal. "Y'know, the policing life is a drag. Nothing interesting happens anymore. We could use someone like you in our conglomerate,"
She glares at him, not intimidated by him or his mask at all. She has seen enough of those in her line of work. "You and your buddies out there, you're just thugs who think you own what's not yours. You and Falcone."
He chuckles. "Ah but there's the difference between me and Falcone. I am feared while he is respected."
"Sleepy time," Tim silently says before the thug silently is taken down by Tim Drake. His mask is taken by Tim Drake so his identity is hidden.
"If you have no respect for Falcone, then why go through this much trouble? You could've let us put him back in Arkham." Renee argues.
The gangster scoffs. "And let you pigs take credit? No, I have bigger plans. Humiliate him and then…take control of his empire."
Renee's eyes narrow. "So you're just another fame seeker. Gotham has had enough of those."
Tim engages in another fight with a goon and is able to knock him down but his gun is fired due to accidental firing.
Both Renee and Black Mask jump at the gunshot. He says aloud. "The hell?"
Renee sees that he's distracted and pushes him to the ground. He gets up on his feet but is unable to dodge a throw from a nearby office plant by Renee. He falls on the ground and is dizzy, unable to stop Renee as she searches his coat. She finds a loaded gun and a radio that helps contact his team. She goes for his mask to see who he really is.
But she doesn't get the chance since a voice is heard. "Hey!" A goon with an AK47 fires at her but she frantically dashes away to where she isn't being shot and that's to a different corridor. Instead of going after her, he gets the boss up on his feet. "You okay, sir?"
Black Mask gains consciousness, again, dusting himself off. "I'm fine." He looks around and sees his hostage is gone. "Renee's gone. Spread out and find her!"
Author's Note: Readers, last week, we have recently suffered a loss; Kevin Conroy, the voice actor for Batman in DCAU and three of the Arkham Games, has sadly passed away.