Please Read.
After completing several chapters for the "Season Seven" spinoff, I have felt that it shouldn't have been its own thing. So I hope that you all can understand that those chapters will be reworked into this story and moving forward, all future chapters will be added to this story. Apologies for any inconvenience.
Thank you.
Absolution
- Gotham General Hospital -
1 Month After Knightfall
"Harleen, really I'm fine" Harvey Dent protests, dressed in a white hospital gown. He lies on the bed with bandages wrapped around his face, covering his left side completely. As well his left arm is coated in the same material, along with his lips that are bruised on the left. His left arm was supported in a sling and rests against his chest. His one clear eye was looking to his side and at the woman standing bedside to him "Really, I am feeling a lot better."
"Don't go takin' this the wrong way, but you sure ain't lookin' any better" Harleen stands with her arms folded over "Those bastards beat the ever-loving life outta ya, and Gordon went along with them," she stresses, shuddering as her mind was brought back to that moment. She flutters her eyes and drops her chest, her breaths slow and become more rigid with more weight to them "Harvey... I thought that they were going to kill you... they might have even done so if they weren't stopped by their boss"
"Those people make me sick..." Harvey grits his teeth, being reminded of the events from his own perspective. He flashes back to the strong metallic taste that floods his mouth, the red that poured out of it. The unbearable ringing in his ears and sharp pains in his sides. They all culminated into one experience that fuelled themselves into nightmares, ones that haunts him each and every night. Giving a struggle, he forces himself to sit up.
"Ease up, Harv. You know what Lee said" she scoots closer to Harvey and plants her hands on the man's shoulders and gently pushes him back down "You could very well be still sufferin' from massive trauma, any unnecessary movements are to be avoided"
"I can stand fine" Harvey reminds the blonde "I need some air... being stuck in here all day and night for so long... I think I'm starting to hear voices"
Harleen turns her head towards the windows of the room, seeing the snowfall slowly engulf the city "Eh... unless you have a jacket on you, I ain't takin' ya out there in that weather. At this point, a common cold could be the end for you..." she adjusts her glasses "But I think that there's a nice café down on the bottom floor, well... *nice* as a café can get for one being in a hospital, overpriced and lackin' in options" she shrugs, turning back to Harvey.
Harvey looks to the desk beside him, a bouquet of flowers and a card rests beside it "This from you?"
"Nah, some delivery guy came in with it - I was going to get you somethin' but... eh... I'm barely making by as it is... sorry..." she shyly replies. She sees Harvey pick the card up from the desk. He uses his one free hand to claw at the envelope, trying to make an opening. Harvey slowly over time becomes more and more agitated as his attempts fail, one after another. Seeing the frustration growing on the man's face, Harleen steps forward and eases the envelope out of the man's hold.
"I got it" she chirps, tearing it open with far less concern.
She discards the torn material and throws it into the bin next to the bed. Her blue eyes bloom as they were greeted with the sight of a card that held the image of the Gotham skyline. She opens it and sees a message along with what looked like to be several hundred dollar bills.
Get Well soon, Harv.
- B
"It's from him, isn't it?" Harvey asks.
"Yeah, looks that way" she hands the card over to the man. Harvey reads the insides and is left speechless.
"Even when he's not here, he's still looking out for me..." Harvey sighs, taking the money out of the card "I feel bad for taking this. I hope that Bruce doesn't think that I'm only friends with him because of his money..." he says sorrowfully.
"You aren't *taking* it, Harv. Bruce is giving it to you... because he cares about you... we both do... I just want to know what the hell could be so important, that he can't even find time to come and visit you - I sure hope that Waller hasn't gotten to him too..."
"Bruce isn't like that, Harleen. He is much stronger with his morals, there is nothing that Waller can do that will make Bruce bow to her... plus... he's here in spirit and that's more than I can ask for..." Dent chuckles lightly with a tint of sadness "... Gordon sold us out to save himself... I can't believe it... now I'm beginning to think that the rumours about him and Galavan are true...," he sees Harleen walks around and sit down on the bed.
"What are we goin' to do, Harv? It's like the whole city has gone crazy..."
"Simple, we need to be better than Waller and better than the criminals that she is trying to capture..." Harvey stiffens "... We need to be able to hold ourselves up and not allow us to fall and make moral compromises. After all, being the lesser of two evil doesn't make us right. We need to be compassionate, patient and able to see reason..."
"We need to be better and uphold the laws that Waller and the criminals are all too willing to ignore and shame... we need to..."
Three Months After Knightfall...
Present Day
Overviewing Gotham from afar would have granted you a much different sight a few months back, not one that would flatter the city, but still the overlooking gaze you would give would receive a different skyline, different streets and different people who walk throughout the grounds of the city. The city wasn't perfect back then, not by a long shot. However, compared to what it was now, it was a far better place. Back then, the city itself was full to the brink of men, women and children, but times change... and so do we, sometimes for the better, but other times... for the worse.
Snow pours down onto the dullish skyline and down below onto the streets, like a storm that never quits or shows mercy. Quick flashes of lighting and momentary claps of thunder fill the city's sky, clustering the already damaged grounds of Gotham in their assault. The elements keep their strength up, not faulting or weakening for what felt like hours upon hours, possibly even days. There were breaks between the harsh snowstorms, but the time between them was hours at most and mere minutes if you were unlucky.
The raging storm up high was not the only calamity brewing in Gotham, far, far from it. The rampaging weather that sweeps the city in its gale and force was nothing compared to the dangers of the grounds of the city. The one full roads and sidewalks, the unkept, but welcoming parks used for simple things as picnics and even the buildings across the city which were once used for business were void and emptied of any civilians, as what remained was something else, something far less hopeful and bright.
Down below on the grounds of the city, among the shaking trees torpedoed by the gusts of snow and hurricane-like winds, braving the ice-covered grounds that were slippery and dangerous. The ice blocks the fountains in the parks. Moving down below in the cold, freezing temperature, making any movement around the city was a chore and painful if you were not prepared. The snowstorm had covered most of the city in it, making the roofs of the buildings pure white and the streets white too. The giant ice paths that covered the roads and the walkways were cracked by a large number of boots that run across them, around ten or so.
A small army of men dressed from head to toe in black armour, their chests covered by bulletproof vests. Their helmets black also with a one-way vizor that covered their face. They march through the streets, covered by the white specks that fall down upon them, covering most of them in more of it than their actual uniform. The Checkmate units are equipped with armbands on their left, showcasing a different chess piece in red colour. Most of them had pawns, but the one at the front wore a rook on his arm.
They march further into the blizzard, being attacked from the front by the storm, disrupting their vision and their movement. They still braved on, now slowed but not ready to surrender to the harsh elements. The rook soldier made his way towards one of the abandoned buildings, entering it and taken solace in the cover from the snowstorm. The rest of the pawn soldiers follow suit, entering in a single file line. The Rook takes a radio from his sides and holds it to his mouth.
"Come in, Red Queen. Delta Squad has reached the target's location, proceeding to upper floors, over" Rook heads towards the stairwells, with his men following after. They all carry their weapons ready, using their flashlight to light up the dark floors of the building. The loud sounds of the blizzard from outside vanishes and the units are instead suddenly taken to a new world of pure silences, with only the sounds from their footsteps and breaths becoming the only notable sounds.
"That's a copy, Delta squad. Proceed with caution, Target is to be considered highly dangerous, permission to kill granted - Red Queen out" Waller's voice emanates in static through the radio.
Rook and the rest of Delta Squad bust through into the fifth floor, breaking apart from each other to search through the rooms "Roger that, orders confirmed - Rook, Over and Out" he looks ahead, seeing that one of the windows to the floor is broken, leaving it covered in a few inches of snow. The man's eyes wandered over to a pile of broken glass residing on the floor beside the broken windows. He realized that the way that the windows was broken could only mean that something broke into the floor rather than whatever it was breaking out.
One of the pawn soldiers slowly paces through the floor, holding his weapon up high, seemingly oblivious of the two red eyes glowing from above him. Rook's moves his head towards the corner of the room where a pile of shredded clothes were. Rook makes his way towards the pile of clothes, kneeling down and picking them up with his fingerless black gloved hands. He recognizes that what was left of the clothes as a sort of lab coat. He takes the radio out from his sides and holds it to his face "Delta Squad, remain in radio silences - and only breach if you find Target - over"
One of the pawn soldiers jerks in his stature as he sees something move in the corner of his eye. He beckons the others to his side with a hand signal to get their attention. He begins to tip-toe down towards the edge of the room along with several other soldiers "Possible confirmation on the target, awaiting further orders - over -"
"That's a copy. Proceed with engagement protocols - code red, I repeat, code red, authorization to shoot on sight granted - over-" Rook replies through the radio.
"Roger that" the pawn soldier confirms.
From the ceiling, a creature lurks. Hidden in the shadows as its red eyes track the mens' every move. Each move they made, every quick jolt and step that they took help fuel its vision of red. The creature only sees red through its eyes with the men flashing white every time they moved. It slowly crawls above towards the group of men. Rook follows after his men, a few metres behind. Each step he took sent a pulse outward which contributed to the creature's vision.
Rook paces forward, not noticing the creature slowly descended down behind him. A bat-themed creature, simply inhuman in nature with dark grey skin and black hair, long claws around five inches long each. Its mouth was full of sharp fangs. Rook pauses his movement as he hears something behind him, a monstrous snarl and beastly growl.
Rook turns on the heel of his boots towards the creature, looking straight up into its red glowing eyes. On instinct, Rook begins to unload his weapon and fires away at the beast. Man-Bat screeches as he whacks Rook away from it and across the room. The creature flaps its wings as it sees several more men run back into the room. Sending out an ear-bleeding screech, Man-Bat uses its wings to knock away the pawns. The creature then uses its claws to impale one of the pawn soldier's stomach which coated the floor beneath him in red drips of blood that form into a small puddle in the snow-covered floor.
Man-Bat flaps its wings and launches itself outside into the blizzard storm of the city. Rook slowly gets back up to his feet, rubbing his shoulder as he looks outward at the fleeting beast which vanishes among the white-tinted outside world. He looks back to the downed soldier, and then back to the city.
"Red Queen to Rook! What is the situation? Do you have confirmation on target? I ask again, do you have eyes on the target. Respond" Waller's voice booms out of the radio.
Rook reaches for his helmet, taking it off and holding it with his left hand while he holds the radio in his right. Jim Gordon continues to look out to the blizzard outside "This is Rook, Target got away, I say again, Target has evaded capture - over -"
"Goddamn, it" Waller growls.
"We have a man down, I repeat we have a man down. He is IN need of medical attention, we are returning back to base" Gordon replies.
"Copy that, Rook. Return to HQ for a briefing for next assignment ASAP"
- Iceberg Lounge -
00: 19
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT THE WEAPONS STASH WAS COMPROMISED!?" Oswald screams as he stomps, flailing his arms in a spasm with a reddened face, he spits with each word he says "You had one job! ONE JOB! HOW THE HELL DO YOU SCREW THAT UP?" he straightens his posture, shaking with rage. Edward Nygma stands next to him, the man in the green suit holds his arms by his sides as he too looks at man standing in front of Oswald.
"It's not my fault, boss! They just blind sighted me and the crew! the man explains in a frantic tone.
"You honestly expect me to believe that?" Oswald holds back a laugh "See... I find it a tad bit funny, that you are still standing right in front of me. Checkmate doesn't leave any person a free man! So there is no way that a buffoon like you got away from them!"
"It-it was-wasn't Checkmate, Mr Cobblepot" the man stutters.
"THEN WHO?" Oswald grins "Batman? News flash" Batman is dead! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD D, E, A, D, DEAD!" he stomps his foot, over and over and he yells. He lifts up a finger "You're lying to me, aren't you?"
"N-n-no, Sir. I would never-"
"Oswald... is now a bad time to bring up that this isn't the first time I've heard about this sorta thing?" Ed interjects.
"What?" Oswald turns to Nygma.
"For a couple of weeks now, I have heard about something similar to this Dumbo's story. A couple of Scarecrow and Bane's men have been taken out by a group of people. Zsasz told me that he even heard that they have also been attacking the Checkmate soldiers" Riddler chimes in.
"Ed.. why is this the first time that I AM HEARING ABOUT THIS?"
"Well... they are just rumours that's all, I didn't consider that such unconfirmed hypotheses would be a wild use of your time" Riddler shrugs.
"WHAT? A WASTED WEAPON STASH SAYS OTHERWISE! Seriously, it would have only taken you like seconds to tell me that!"
"Oswald, remember what the Doctor said" Nygma reminds the shorter man.
"You're right. Deep breaths, deep breaths... deep breaths..." Oswald breaths out "Deep breaths, deep breaths..."
"If I were to put any thought into this, I would say that's it just a bunch of civilians getting desperate for supplies - adding more men to the transport could help ensure that another endeavour won't be compromised like the last one" Ed suggests.
"Or maybe... EVEN MORE OF MY MEN WILL BE CAPTURED!"
"Breathe, Oswald"
"NO!"
Oswald..."
"NO! NO! NO! NO!"
"... Do it..."
"FINE!" Cobblepot takes a gasp of air.
"Better?"
"... Better..."
The man was left feeling unconformable at the two "Hey-uh, I know it's none of my business - but are you two? Are you two... like a thing? Because you sound like an old married couple"
"That's it!" Oswald screams "Cut out his tongue!"
"What?" the man questions as he sees a duo of men approach him, grabbing his shoulders and dragging him out of the room "WAIT! WAIT! I GOT INFORMATION! I GOT INFORMATION!"
"Well then... you can write it down for me... later..." Oswald tilts his head and smirks, turning to face Nygma "I want these instances investigated! No... no one steals from me, NO ONE!"
"I'll look into it..." Ed agrees.
- GCPD -
02: 09
Jim Gordon stands, dressed in his maskless Checkmate uniform alongside the other members of his squad. The seven of them stand in the main hall of the precinct as a woman paces in front of them. She has long black hair loose down to her sides, dressed in a white shirt under a black blazer with a skirt and leggings. The woman was slim in stature and looked to be in her late thirties. Amanda Waller gave a glare towards Jim, one subtle enough for the other members would not pick it up, but still clear enough so Jim would understand her frustration.
"Give me a field report, Rook," Waller asks Jim as she lazily looks through a folder full of files.
"We searched the building as ordered by you, we reached the designated floor and split up to search it. We were expecting a mindless monster as per your intel, however, the target was well above basic intelligence. It was smart to enough to the only attack when I was left alone in the room and to retreat when it was out numbered. We were not prepared for that cognitive capability, as well it injured one of my own men, my concern for his life may have clouded my judgment" Jim calmly recollects the event.
"Oh?" Waller muses "Is that right? Your judgment was clouded,... that you let a dangerous creature such as that escape and probably go off to kill again? Is that what you are honestly telling me?" she lifts an eyebrow and drops the folder onto one of the desks.
"I can confirm that" Gordon replies "I put the lives of my men over that creature's capture"
"Oh... Rook..." Waller holds back a laugh "That's adorable. You are still trying to be a hero in all of this, that is beyond precious"
"With due respect, Waller. I'm not trying to be a hero, just a good person"
"Ouch... I got a feeling that was aimed at me" Amanda scoffs at the man's words "I wasn't ordered to come here on the basis of me being a mother Teresa, I was brought here because I get results and results is what I am going to get" she snaps back "To do your job for you apparently. To contain these sickos that escaped under your watch, to clean up the streets" she makes a play to pick the folder back up.
"Oswald Cobblepot, Edward Nygma, Jonathan Crane, Ivy Pepper, Jervis Tetch, Victor Fries, Eduardo Dorrance... Jeremiah Valeska..." Waller glares "... Need I say more? They were all broken out and were given ample time for formulating their plans whilst you sat on your ass and allowed for a vigilante to do your job for you" she approaches Jim "Not to mention that there is Roman Sionis, Sophia Falcone and a whole fluster of criminals loose in the city..."
She grabs' the rook's shoulders "So next time you want to fool yourself into playing *the good guy*, just remember that if you actually did your job correctly, there would be no need for me to be here! So please... live with that guilt, because as you should know... I'm not someone you should be testing, far, far from it..."
"If you want someone who will abandon his team in the name of the mission, I believe that you have put your faith in the wrong guy" Jim tells Waller "I cannot do that, I cannot forsake one's life... even if you think that it is for the greater good - that's not who I am"
"Oh, Rook. My faith is not in you at all, you are put on the front line because of... on the board... I need to keep an eye on all my pieces, even more so that my opponent's pieces"
"Are you sure that's a smart move? I have been troublesome for you lately" replied Jim in a cold tone.
"Take my word for it, Rook. The design of this game makes it that you can't get in my way"
- Checkmate Checkpoint-
- 5th avenue -
03: 34
A blockade surrounds the road in the form of a metal fence covered by spikes that curve around. A group of seven Checkmate Soldiers keep watch, keeping their eyes to the one entrance path. The snow kept up its force, hitting down and covering the soldiers in white. The road was covered in both ice and gravel to alleviate its danger.
There were two other soldiers stood above on the buildings above, carrying rifles with them over their backs as they look down to the ground and the other Checkmate Soldiers.
A shadowed figure, covered by the cloak of the blizzard moves behind one of the snipers. The Checkmate soldier brings the radio tied to his leg out and towards his face "This is cover unit, no unusual activity to report, I repeat, no unusual activity to report - Over-" he looks down and sees one of the soldiers below take hold of their own radio.
"That's a copy"
He then turns away and begins to pace around on the rooftop "This whole thing is a mess, why the hell are we even out here? All known civies have been taken into camps and not a single one of those freaks have shown their faces - This whole thing feels like an A.F.W.T"
"Yeah, I hear you man - it's fricking freezing out here"
"Aye-Aye to that one. Why the hell did we have to be stationed here just before a severe winter storm?"
"Why did we have to be stationed here at all, is what I wanna know. This whole city stinks"
"Keep chatter to a minimum" the commander on the ground warns.
"...Eh... copy that" the sniper notes, carrying on his pathing on the rooftop as once again a blurred figure rushes behind him. He returns back to his post near the ledge of the building as he looks down to the Checkmate soldiers. He then looks across to the next building over, quickly becoming confused as the soldier who was supposed be on it had somehow vanished. He reaches for his radio, but before he could establish communication with it, a baseball bat swung from behind knocks out his legs which drops him to the snow-covered surface.
His vizor reflects the sight of the baseball bat being swung again, this time it slams down into his helmet; cracking his glass vizor.
"Report in, cover unit, I repeat, report in, cover unit - why have you abandoned your post?" the commander talks into the radio as he sees the rooftops void of the soldiers. He gestures his men's attention with a hand signal. One that was a clear sign that the need for force was required. They all ready their riffles as they aim them up high at the buildings. The commander looks all around up at the rooftops "Come in, patrol. 5th avenue Checkpoint may be compromised, awaiting orders"
From up high, a small mental star-shaped object was thrown down and into the commander's riffle "What the?"
From behind the commander came a whip which was wrapped around his neck. He was thrown to the ground as Catwoman backflips away and towards the other Checkpoint Soldiers, using her claws to cut through the men's uniforms. She kicks up and her heel cracks the helmet of the man stood in front of her. From up high, Talia drops down holding a katana in her left hand and a four mental stars in her right. She was dressed in a black jumpsuit with the bottom half of her face concealed by a long black scarf that was wrapped around her nose.
She swings her blade at one of the soldier's feet, knocking him off balance and onto the ground. She throws her upper torso forward and hurls the metal stars in her hand towards two of the masked men, hitting them in their vizor's which blinded them. She jumps forward, turning on heels and swiping at their feet with her legs which dropped the two men to the ground. Catwoman backflips, grabbing one of the men's neck in her legs and throwing his front and face hard against the Icey grounds which knocked the wind out of him.
Catwoman kneels over the man's back, she looks up and sees Talia had finished with her lot too. Catwoman's ears prick as she hears a click, turning her head, she sees the commander pointing his gun straight at her head "Oh...crap..."
Before the commander had a chance to fire, a wooden bat was whacked across the back of his head, throwing him sideways onto the Icey road. A red boot was pressed against the man's head, Catwoman and Talia look forward towards the perpetrator. A blonde woman with pigtails, each side having the tip being dyed either red or black. Her face was painted white and she wears a split red and black coloured leather jacket zipped up to her upper chest with a black hood lowered and her sleeves rolled up.
With fingerless gloves on, her right being black with a red diamond and her left hand having a red glove with a black diamond. She wears a pair of red and black pants along with a red knee-high boot on her right foot and a black knee-high boot on her left foot. A diamond-shaped belt angled around her waist and she holds her wooden bat over her head with both of her hands. She gives a smile to the two other women. Her top lip was covered by red lipstick and her bottom was covered by black, red eye shadow on her left eye and black eye shadow on her right.
"Nice of you to join us - were you just planning on standing back and letting us deal with this?" Catwoman ascends upward, folding her arms and looking to the woman through her red goggles. Talia walks beside Catwoman as she folds her arms in disproval, she pulls down the scarf covering her mouth.
"If you are really committed to wanting to assist us then I expect you to do your equal share of the work" Talia warns.
The blonde woman rolls her eyes "Chill would ya? I took out the schmuck that was gonna shoot the kitty dead" Harley shrugs, pressing her boot further against the commander's head, crushing his vizor "Now, which one of ya wanna do the dirty work? Cuz I got a real sore spot for these dweebs, I owe 'em big time"
"I can't believe you brought her along" Talia whispers to Catwoman.
"We needed support and she has a grudge against these Checkpoint guys, so I just thought that she could help - plus it could help her sort out those anger issues of hers" Catwoman whispers back. Talia rolls her eyes, turning her head to the other woman.
"For the record, I am fully against this idea"
"Even more reason for me to be for it then" Catwoman looks back to Harley who was humming "Alright, looks like he's all yours. Make him talk... or squirm, whichever. Just get the information out of him"
"Oh, goodie! I love myself a squirmier, I also love a bleeder too! Let's see if I get lucky and win myself both!" Harley grins, her eyes glaring down to the man under her heel.
10 Minutes Later.
"STOP! STOP! STOP!" the Checkmate commander yells in agony as he was lying against the metal fence of the checkpoint. Harley is kneeling in front of him with a grin on her face and a crazed look in her eyes. She wraps her fingers around the man's right index finger. The look in her eye accentuates her eyeshadow, both the red and black shades, her grin widens as she flicks her wrist and breaks the man's finger which made him howl out in pain.
"... This lil' piggy had roast beef.." she repeats the motion, this time breaking the man's middle finger which brings the man to bawl "... This lil' piggy had none..." she nudges her hand towards the man's ring finger which held a golden ring on it "You wanna start squawking now or you gonna let me have more fun here? Cuz right now I am having myself a blast..." she inches closer to him, her unnerving derange look that she has in her eyes unsettles the commander even more.
"Fine! What do you want to know!?"
"What do we wanna know? Well... we wanna know... we uh... we uh..." Harley turns to Catwoman "...Eh? What did we wanna know again? I forgot"
"Huh..." Catwoman heaves "... We've been over this. Get them to tell you what they are planning. Is that really that hard to remember?" she calls back to Harley.
"I told you that we shouldn't have brought her with us" Talia reinforces her position "She is clearly undisciplined and does not have nearly the amount of experience that is needed to partake in such an important task. But no... you just had to feel bad for her and go against my warnings," Talia said with a slightly annoyed tone.
"C'mon, she is not that bad..." Catwoman rests her hands on her hips "Sure... she might be lacking in...well... every department but how is she supposed to get the needed experience if we aren't willing to let her learn"
"I guess that you are right, it could be worse..." Talia admits, turning her head to Catwoman "...She could have stabbed me, that would have annoying..."
"Are you still mad about that? I already said that I was sorry, plus thanks to you... I have enough mental training to fight off that bastards' hold on me..."
"From the tone of your voice, it sounds like you think that I am the one being unreasonable here" Talia rolls her eyes and kicks the pile of snow in front of her feet "And yes, I am still mad, still very, very, very mad at you"
"But you still find the need to talk to me" Catwoman muses.
"Not by choice. We are seemingly out of alternatives, besides us working together - We are the only ones left who have a chance at stopping those checkmate soldiers" Talia looks back to Harley who seemed to still be terrorizing the commander "You know that Bruce would never condone such extreme methods of integrations. He would probably break the man's bones just like Harley, but he would have known when to stop - even if it went against the mission"
"Yeah... Harley sure seems to be enjoying herself over there, a little too much. I know that she has hatred for those Checkmate guys, but damn, she's taking a little too far" Catwoman tilts her neck as she too looks back to Harley "... Bruce sure would have a field day of ringing our necks about letting Harley get this extreme"
"Well... good thing that he's not here, hasn't been for the last three months" Talia narrows her eyes "These soldiers have been trained to be able to withstand basic torture methods... getting a little rough is what is needed for us to get what we need. Bruce could never bring himself to do such things, it's a good thing that we're here instead"
"I would have thought that you league of shadows folks were top-notch in the torture department, I'm surprised that you trusted Harley with this one"
"From what I have observed of her, it seems that Harley's methods are far more... what's the word that I'm looking for? Ah... yes... she is simply more... creative"
"...R-right..." Catwoman and Talia walk to Harley, "Has he started talking yet?" Catwoman asks which gave her the attention of the blonde. Harley excitedly nods to confirm the other woman's question. Catwoman and Talia stand beside each other while Harley stands up and joins them "Listen up, we want information and you want to have some of your fingers intact, I believe that we can both work together to come to some sort of compromise" Catwoman curves her upper body down "... This doesn't need to be any more complicated, just tell us what we want to know and we will be on our way"
Harley shrugs "Hold on, let's not get ahead of ourselves here - I think I can break a couple more bones to reeeeaaaallllllyyyyyy get him talkin'"
"Do your worst" the Checkmate Commander coldly replies through his helmet "I'm as good as dead if I talk, so just get it over with"
"Yippee!" Harley claps before reaching behind her back and bringing out the wooden bat "Say 'ello to mah lil' friend... again, I guess...?"
"Holds your horses" Catwoman holds out her arm to block Harley from proceeding "Listen, pal. We want information on Checkmate and your beloved leader: Waller. So I'm going to pretend that I didn't just hear you refute us and thus I will stop her from bashing your skull in... but if you say no again? I'm going to let this hound off of her leash" Catwoman warns with Harley who gives a playful growl and a snap of her jaw. The Commander lowers his head and gently shakes his head.
"You're in way over your head. Waller can't be outwitted or outplayed... she's..." the Commander lifts his head as he hears a beeping noise coming from around his neck "No... No! I didn't talk! I didn't talk! I DIDN'T TAL-" the man screams as his head explodes, hurling red bloodied chunks all around, blood splatters on the three women and their faces. Catwoman and Talia both flinch and immediately go to wipe the blood from their faces while Harley remained calm and not phased.
"Ewwww" Catwoman's vision was impaired by the bloodstains over her goggles "Gross...just... gross"
"I think it got some in my eyes, I think it got some in my eyes" Talia's hands cover her eyes "And in my mouth... yep... definitely in my mouth..."
Harley shrugs, running her tongue over her lips and capturing a small splash of blood "Okay... is it a bad time to point out that if his head hadn't exploded... those calories would have killed him sooner rather than later..."
"A guy's head just exploded, Harley" Catwoman hisses "And our lead is gone, none of the others here would know the information that we needed... great, this whole thing has been one giant waste of time..." her green eyes look over as she sees Talia walk towards the bloodied corpse. Talia kneels down and begins prodding the man's body "Eh... what are you doing, Tal?"
Talia looks at what was left of the man's bloodied neck "His head exploded, but he seemed to be aware that it was about to happen, thus he must have known what caused it - and I want to know what that is... if he had this device then other high ranking Checkmate units would certainly have the same device on them too"
"You sayin' that the schmuck had a ticker on his neck? Talk 'bout goin' out with-a bang" Harley holds the bat over her shoulders "It's kinda funny that it only started goin' off once he actually started talking, eh? What are the chances?"
"I got a feeling that they are higher than we would like to know" Talia's gloved hand reaches down and rips out a small black shard pf metal from the back of the man's neck or whatever was left of it. She holds it in her open palm, looking over it "Waller must have been listening or someone high up in her ranks, whatever this is, it only went off after he began talking about her. It seems that she doesn't want anyone to have any insight on how she thinks, or her opponents more accurately"
"If these *things* are in more of their heads, then that could mean that Waller is forcing them to do her bidding, and with what happened to this guy, I got a feeling that the others aren't exactly swimming in other options" Catwoman holds out her hand "Lucius could give us a good idea on what this *thing* is and how it works. Maybe if we can find a way to naturalize them, we can get those soldiers to turn on Waller"
"It wouldn't hurt to know what exactly that we are dealing with here" Talia agrees as she walks past Catwoman and hands over the device to her "We best head back for the night, there is not much that we can do now, not when we now know that every possible lead that we can get will just be destroyed"
"Yeah... I am slightly tired and in this business… that can end up killing you" Catwoman follows after Talia, reaching behind her back and dropping the device into her backpack "Plus... more of those Checkmate soldiers are bound to come here at any moment and I sure don't want to be around when that happens, especially when we no longer have the element of surprise on our side"
Harley turns back to the slumped over corpse. She kicks the body with her boot several times and spits on the remains "And this little piggy went. *Wee wee wee* all the way home...," she kicks the body one more time, once satisfied she turns and quickly skips after Catwoman and Talia.
Metropolis
07: 34
"Morning to all of Gotham, this is Vicky Vale and you are watching the Gazette news network and a very special episode as we are in our studio in Metropolis" A redhaired woman looks into a camera, dressed in a purple dress and heels. She rests her arms in her laps and smiles "With me is a special guest, a person that has made his disdain for these so-called vigilantes well known. That's right, with us today is none other than the infamous Alexander Luthor himself" Vicky introduces Lex as he sits in a chair opposite to her with his legs crossed.
"Please Miss Vale, call me Lex - everyone does"
"Okay, *Lex*, thank you for coming on the show, I know that you are a very busy man"
"Nonsense, I like to take every chance that I can get to greet the American people" Lex smiles into the camera.
"That's good, but I hope that you are aware that I didn't get you on the show just so that you can sweet-talk your way through this interview" Vicky reminds the bald man, lifting an eyebrow and smiling "I have a few hard-hitting questions that the American people would love to have answers to"
"Of course, please go one"
"Lex, you have gone on record of your disapproval of Superman, eventhough he is widely accepted as a hero to the city of Metropolis, can you please tell the audience just what your issues with the Man of Steel are? Does it have anything to do with your alleged underhand criminal dealings?"
"Oh, my. Being as successful as I am, I have made my fair share of enemies and those of which who are driven take me out, by falsifying evidence again me and throwing baseless accusations my way which none have been proven and for a very good reason. I have not broken the law like my detractors like to claim" Lex closes his eyes "No, my *disproval* of Superman is not me critiquing his work because I can clearly see that he has saved a lot of lives and has helped lower collateral damage all throughout Metropolis. What bothers me is what Superman entails for the rest of our country"
"Such as?"
"Well... call me old-fashioned but I remember the good old days where brave men and women had to earn a badge before they could uphold the law and enforce and to be liable if they ever stepped out of line. They make a vow to promote this country's values, but these... vigilantes are doing nothing but undermining those men and women's hard work" Lex leans forward "These vigilantes are clearly operating outside of the law, clear as day and if they were to step out of line or make a poor judgement call? They won't be made liable for that... they don't have the badge, the right to enforce this country's laws, yet they go out in their fancy costumes and beat up criminals with no consequences... how can the American people be okay with that?"
"Maybe the American people find hope in these *vigilantes* and feel much safer knowing that they are around"
"Of course, I am not denying the great work that these outliers have accomplished, they have indeed saved loads of lives and I am forever thankful for that - but they are all hiding behind masks, immature secret identities, their powers to make themselves seem like gods among men, how can that be okay? Like the law doesn't apply to them and they can just go around doing whatever they see fit" Lex adds, "That shouldn't make them exempted from the law that they actively go against, sure you got Superman who has proven to be a great force for good, but of course as one was easily accepted, a whole new batch of these vigilantes have recently surfaced"
"Are you referring to Batman?"
"Yes, him and all the others. Where Superman tries to inspire hope, this Batman relies on fears and mercilessly beats on the mentally unwell people of Gotham... these poor people who have no idea what they are doing or even where they are, yet Batman thinks of himself as an Exile to the law, he justifies his brutal, and outright vicious assaults on these people by hoping for some foolish end goal. That's not the type of person that the kids of this country should be looking up to, not now, not ever"
"I'm not sure if you are aware, but Gotham's crime rate has become so bad, that the government elected to send in an unheard-of taskforce. Are you saying that they are any better than this Batman when there has been footage of them brutally attacking any citizen that refuses to follow their rules?"
"Honestly, if you would have asked me that a couple months ago, my answer would have been different"
"Well, I want to hear your answer as of now" Vicky probes the man's thoughts "You have made your stance of being pro-government widely known throughout your years, has something happened that has changed your mind?"
"These *Checkmate units* are going far beyond extreme force here. I for one am fully aware of the danger of Gotham, but seeing these people just go on in and attack the innocent people really makes me angry, as both some who was in full support of the government and one that despises the use of overly deadly force when unneeded. That is why I have been put in a difficult situation that I am now in..." Lex answers, resting his hands down in his lap.
"Which would be?"
"As much as I dislike this Batman, I feel that I have no other choice but to side with him. One lawbreaker is far more manageable compared to the hundreds that have invaded Gotham. Obviously, I am not condoning his actions either, but I have only the choice to pick the lesser evil in this case... which I know does not make me on the right side"
"If that is the case then do you have a message for Batman? Just in case he happens to be watching"
"Of course" Lex faces the camera and smirks "No matter how black and white you think the world is, just remember that eventually... the only way that you can be on even footing is to wander into a grey area, one where both you and them will be even..."
- Undergrounds -
"Lex sure knows how to work for a crowd" Sophia Falcone comments as she sits next to Black Mask. She drinks from a wine glass, grinning "If we keep this up, then both Checkmate and those Heroes will not be able to do a thing to stop us..."
"Hubris, Sophia - it has always been your blindsight" Sionis looks across the table to Tony Zucco "We are nearly there my friends, soon what he promised us shall come to pass and we will rule Gotham for the rest of time, now all we need is to await his arrival"
"That is if he is really who he says he is" Tony grumbles "How the hell can we possibly take a guy seriously when he claims to be the oldest man on earth? This whole thing reeks of crazy, and not even the fun kind"
"I too found the man's claims... preposterous at first, but he has proven to be the real deal. He knew about the meteor heading towards this city as we speak, he knows tales from all across the history of the world. This man is the real deal and one that you really don't want to be making light of" Sophia rebuttals the man's words.
"Yeah... well he's not here" Zucco shouts back "In the meantime, we need our own plan with dealing with Checkmate and Waller. Their presence in this city endangers everything that we have been working for, you, Sionis and me... we need to get rid of them now! It's even worse that Waller appears to have the commissioner under her thumb, this can't be allowed to continue"
"It won't" Sophia sighs "Trust me, Gordon may be playing nice as we speak, but eventually he is going to wise up and betray Waller... I speak from experience. I roughly give it another four months at most - that is unless she is using his family as leverage… if that's the case... we could be talking about another seven to nine months of him under her orders"
"Batman hasn't been seen since the night of Knightfall so I doubt that he is going to do anything about Waller, Oswald is too incompetent to do anything that can take her out of the equation and don't get me started on the Joker..." Black Mask reasons.
"Speaking of which, Joker hasn't been spotted since Knightfall too... I hear that he has his own gang with him now, one that doesn't fool around. Joker is a madman, but he also seems to be too smart for his own good. He is probably our best bet in getting rid of Waller... but getting him on our side is going to be a challenge" Zucco turns to Black Mask.
"Not as much as you would think, he is also a man of opportunity… and if one was to... let's say... present itself to him... well... he would have to be a fool to not take it" Black Mask replies to the other man "As Lex said. This is now a black and white world... and we are heading towards one large grey area... I say we make the most of it"
"Music to my ears" Sophia takes another sip from her glass "But there is one more thing that you should know. Our friend? He's already here... apparently he has a knack for playing *the long game*. And if anyone is going to be good at it, it will be him"
- Wayne Tower -
- R&D -
Selina and Lucius stand beside each other as the man looks through the lens of a microscope with the broken chip below. Lucius adjusts the dial to zoom in and get a closer look "This circuitry... it's not like anything that I have seen before, Selina. This is beyond anything that I have seen before and that's saying a lot" Lucius tells Selina as his eyes were turned towards a laptop beside them with a close-up of the chip "This is only part of the device, the rest must have blown up along with the man's head..."
"Could have figured that one out, I spent an hour last night in the shower trying to get the blood off of me and in cold water too... thanks to Harley..." Selina paces around with her arms crossed "Do you think that there is a way to make some sort of counter-device or signal to stop those things from working? With these things all-around in those soldier's heads, trying to get intel is going to be a pain in the ass"
"Nice to know what your priorities are straight" Lucius moves his hand over to the laptop and zooms in further "This is... going to take time, and I mean time. A few days aren't going to be enough to cut it here, plus with all my responsibilities to this enterprise now that Bruce is... well... not able to fulfil his obligations, Alfred and I have been working double time. I'm afraid that this project could take months to make something that can stop these... implants"
"I don't think that we even have that long..." Selina settles down back next to Lucius "... Have you heard from Bruce lately?"
"Uh...yeah" Lucius confirms "... He's-uh... he's making a quick recovery, he should be back out on patrol soon" he says with a disheartened tone.
"You're lying to me, aren't you?" Selina asks nervously, already knowing the answer for herself.
"... It's not good... he's not good" the man reveals with drawn-out breaths "After Lee helped with his surgery, she said that he would need months... probably years of rehabilitation to learn to walk again, but... Alfred and I think that his back wasn't the only that was broken..."
"How bad is he?" Selina turns to Lucius "Please... tell me..."
"Bad, Selina. He's... not even Alfred is sure anymore"
"Oh..." Selina lowers her head "The last time was talked, we... we argued... I betrayed him... I hurt him... and now... he doesn't even want to see me or anyone else. And honestly... I can't even blame him for that, I can't blame him for not wanting to see us"
"A number of us tried, me, Alfred... Lee. I tried getting Superman to try, but the government had made it impossible for him to even come into this city's boundaries" Lucius looks to the dark-haired woman "I know that you and he aren't on the best terms, but right now... I think that you are the only one who can get through to him..."
"I can't, Lucius. I can't face him after what happened between us... I just can't"
"The only other option is Talia, but Bruce is even more angry with her. Maybe Harleen, but we can't risk her discovering that he's Batman. Or him learning that... you have been taking her with you on life-threatening missions. Shame too, especially with her being a psychologist, Bruce could really use her experience" Lucius replies.
"We can't risk Dent figuring out either, and Gordon? Yeah... I'm not letting him near Bruce not after he let those bastards attack Harvey. We already took a big risk with letting Lee know about Bruce, luckily for us, she is trustworthy enough to keep Bruce's secret under wraps. We can't take that chance with anyone else... this whole thing is screwed up" she leans against the table behind her "Damn, I really didn't give Bruce enough credit when it came to protecting this city... all the sleepless nights sure do like to stack... I only got a couple hours sleep last night..."
"Well, in that case, you need to go and rest. You are not trained well enough to cope with such strain in your body, not like Bruce is. With both Talia and Harleen working with you, you are going to be in your prime to keep things on the down-low, considering how dangerous Talia can be and how... unpredictable that Harleen can be. You are going to need to be with them and keep them grounded, Bruce wouldn't want you and the others to be too extreme when it comes to stopping these Soldiers" Lucius advises Selina.
"Doing things his way is what made things get this bad, Lucius. I promised that I'm not going to kill, but unlike Bruce - when it comes to the safety of my city... I'm not going to be lenient. If I need to make someone talk... the others and I will do whatever it takes, they need to know that we are not going to go easy as Batman did"
Lucius nods "... Bruce would never approve of this, Selina"
"The world isn't black and white, there are always grey areas and to win this war... we can't always be scared to do what is needed. Bruce was fighting his own war, but us? We are the ones fighting off the invasion" Selina jumps forward and slides her hands in the pockets of her jackets "If Bruce really cared for this city, he would be here - doing whatever he can to save it... but we are on our own" she walks forward "Remember, he gave up on us before we gave up on him..."