Mother
Star City
00: 23
"Thiz iz zertainly all coming zogether. You'll zee, my plan iz foolproof" a dark voice says, coming from a man standing in the shadows as he looks to the sight before him. Six or so masked men were carrying crowbars and were using them to pry open a bunch of large wooden crates that were covered in the markings of Wayne Enterprise. The man steps out of the shadows and is revealed to be a man with bleached blonde slicked back hair. Wearing a green coloured Victorian styled overcoat over his bare chest which was done up all the way to his lower chest. He also wears Victorian-styled trousers and boots. The man was known as Count Vertigo.
From above on the building that overlooks Count Vertigo and the masked men, stood a figure completely cast in shadows. The person's lips curve into a smirk around his short-cut beard. He lifts his gloved hand over to his earpiece "You ready, beautiful?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing... - minus the *beautiful part*"
"You're just jealous and you know it" the shadowed man chuckles as he reaches behind his back.
"Whatever helps you sleep better at night"
"Which would be you" the shadowed man pulls out a bow from his back and aims it down to the streets below.
"Awww... I can't tell whether that is the sweetest thing I've ever heard or the dumbest pickup-line. I'm just going to assume the former. You got the lead?"
"You know it, beautiful" the man reaches behind his back and pulls out an arrow which he aligns with his bow "Just watch me do my thing!" he fires the arrow into one of the lampposts next to the masked men as a rope was shot back towards him. He steps aside and sees the rope launch onto and wraps around the pipes on the roof. He lifts his bow and holds over the line wire as he begins to zip down towards the ground "You know that this is a whole lot harder than the movies make it out to be? I'm starting to think that they need to add a disclaimer or something"
"Focus, Ollie"
"This is me being focused"
Vertigo's eyes sharpen "He'z zhere!" He looks up along with the masked men as a man drops down rolls onto the ground to soften his landing. The man is shown to be wearing a green Kevlar hoodie with black stripes along the sides with the hood lifted over his head. His eyes are covered by a green eye-mask. He has blond parted hair and a well-trimmed beard that points down at the bottom. He also wears green cargo trousers with a black belt around his waist. The man was Green Arrow, the vigilante of Star City.
"The Green Arrow... what an unpleazant zurprise" Count Vertigo hisses "You really zhouldn't zhave come zhere!"
"Last time I checked it's a free country! Can't a green-wearing, good-looking guy like myself go out for a nightly stroll?" Green Arrow leaps over two of the masked men, dodging an influx of gunfire as he fires an arrow at them. A large net was shot out of it and wraps around two before it unleashes a powerful electrical shock that subdues them to the ground "Alright, alright! I was going to make an electrical pun but that looks like it hertz!" Green Arrow lands and rolls behind the four remaining men with Vertigo.
"How long did it take you to come up with that one?"
"Eh... more time than I feel conformable saying" Green Arrow chuckles lightly as he leaps forward and whacks one of the masked men across their face with his bow. He repeats the actions and uses his leg to kick the man backwards "... A lot longer than I should have... I'll leave it there" Oliver nervously laughs as he rams his bow across the same guy's head which forced him down on the hard ground. He kicks back with his right foot which knocked away a guy that was behind him "...Okay... maybe for a whole solid twenty or so minutes, that's it!"
Green Arrow can hear an audible sigh come from his communicator and thusly the other person on the line "You are unbelievable, you know that?"
"Really? I thought that it was right in character for me" Green Arrow replies as he rolls out of the way of a cascade of bullets that were fired his way. He leaps over the wooden crates, quickly turning his upper body and launching another arrow towards the men that were firing at him. The arrow was propelled towards one of the firing men and shot into his chest which tases him in a flurry of non-leather electric shocks to his body. Green Arrow lands back onto his feet, kneeling on the ground "Huh, I wonder watt his problem was..."
"Please stop, please just... just stop, Ollie" the female voice replies through the earpiece with a groan.
Green Arrow shrugs as he for a split-second stands straight up and fires a third arrow at the remaining masked men. The arrow was launched behind them and hit the ground behind the masked men. One of the thugs smirks "Ha! Ya missed!"
The arrow then explodes which rockets the masked men up in the air and throwing them harshly on the ground. Green Arrow shrugs "I. Don't. Miss". He turns his head over to where Vertigo was stood before but he found that he had vanished from sight "Eh... that can't be good"
"You would be correct in your azzumption, my archer friend," a voice says from behind Green Arrow.
The archer's eyes widen as his vision slowly becomes blurred and he begins to feel nauseated, sickly even. Green Arrow falls to the ground as he holds the back of his head "Agh… crap... I somehow forgot about that he could that for a moment..." he groans.
"A dire mistake, one that shall cozt you your life... I waz hoping to get tonight off without a hitch, but this? I couldn't have dreamed for a better zcenario" Count Vertigo walks around to the front of Green Arrow. The bleached-blond man pulls a fin sword from his side "Zhis waz your lazt hurrah"
"I think there's someone who would disagree with you on that" Green Arrow grunts.
"Oh? Who would zhat be?"
"My fiancé" Green Arrow laughs.
"Zhat?" Vertigo questions but before he had time to act, he was suddenly hurled away from Green Arrow as a lout, screeching noise filled the area. Count Vertigo stands back up and sees a blonde woman dressed in a black leather jacket over a black leotard. Black fingerless gloves and fishnet tights with black boots. The woman's hair was shoulder-length and her eyes were blue. The woman smirks as she leans her upper body back and unleashes a deafening screech that knocks Vertigo back, making the man's ears and nose bleed.
"Thank you, beautiful!" Green Arrow jumps to his feet and reached behind his back for his bow and aims at Vertigo "Love you!" he calls out to the blonde woman as he fires an arrow at Vertigo, launching the arrow in the man's chest which tases him; rendering him unconscious. Green Arrow walks towards the blonde woman as he returns his bow to his back "Great. Now we can look into these shipments. Since he was trying to steal them... you know it's going to be good"
"For someone who almost died back there... you are remarkably calm" Black Canary comments as she follows the archer to the wooden crates.
"Ah... you get used to it" he reaches down and picks up one of the crowbars "After the few dozen times... the threat of death really becomes no big deal" he jams the crowbar between the wood and pries it open. The crate opens and Green Arrow sees what was inside.
Black Canary whistles as she sees a metal box with Checkmate written all over it "That's strange. Why would they ship a Checkmate property and try to pass it off as if it belongs to Wayne's company?" she asks slightly confused "That's what I call going the extra mile"
Green Arrow leans in towards the opened crate "The better question is that why is Checkmate shipping out here, to begin with, let alone using Wayne Enterprise as a cover. I thought that Gotham City was under martial law? Nothing goes in or out without the bigwigs knowing"
"There's some foul play going on here. Maybe you should check to see what's inside?" the canary advises. Green Arrow's hands reach out towards the handle of the lid. He pushes the container open with both of his hands as he and Black Canary look down to what was inside. The blonde woman lifts herself up on her heels to give herself a better look "That...was not what I was expecting" she comments as she and Green Arrow's eyes look at a bunch of mechanical parts "What the hell even is this?"
"Whatever it is... I got a feeling that I will find the answers in Gotham"
"Really?" Black Canary looks to Green Arrow "And just how are you going to get there? That place is locked down tight"
"I'll make a phone call"
Gotham
- Iceberg Lounge -
Oswald Cobblepot: the Penguin Is sitting around a round table. He looks both ways and sees other people sitting around with him. Edward Nygma, Bridgit Pike, Jonathan Crane and Jervis Tech all look around to each other, not making eye contact with an exception being Scarecrow who gazed into the other's eyes, almost as if he was glancing into their souls. Oswald's eyes land up a set of empty chairs, his eyes slightly narrow "It has been almost half an hour... WHERE THE HELL ARE THE OTHERS!?"
"They're not here, Oswald" Riddler replies.
"I can... I can SEE THAT, ED!" Oswald groans "I SPENT ALL OF LAST NIGHT GETTING MY MEN TO GET THE WORD OUT TO THE OTHERS AND THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO SHOW UP?"
"Maybe you should have invited more people...?" Riddler shoots back "You aren't exactly on good terms with Mr Freeze or Bane... you would have better luck getting the Joker to come here". The man dressed in the green suit looks away from Oswald "... You didn't even both reaching out to Ivy..."
"Ivy?" Penguin slants his front "You mean the *Create tons of deadly spores that can kill us in a really painful way*. The Ivy who hates humans, that Ivy? WELL, I WONDER WHY I DIDN'T INVITE HER! And don't even get me started on the clown!"
"Calm down, Oswald - remember what the doctor said?" Ed asks the other man.
Bridgit Pike clears her throat to get the men's attention "Enough with this! Why the hell did you call us here? Being surrounded by all this cold air... it feels like I'm being bear-hugged by Freeze" Firefly says in a raspy voice as she looks through her vizor "Just say what you have to and I will happily get the hell out of here"
Jervis agrees with a nod "Agreed, agreed there are other places I must be"
Scarecrow remains silent.
"Very well..." Oswald regains his composure "Zsasz and Arnold Wesker have been captured"
"That's it?" Firefly shrugs "You brought us here because two criminals were bagged by Checkmate? Hardly a surprise"
"Except for it wasn't Checkmate that did it" Riddler fondles his gloved hands together "Going by the injuries inflicted to both Victor and Arnold... they are a similar match to similar occurrences from of other criminals' wounds. Though not a complete match, scratch marks and strong bruising line up identically to those other cases"
"Scratch marks?" Scarecrow blinks "Such wounds would lend themselves to an altercation between them and Checkmate, and from what I have learned. Checkmate is free to use deadly force. For those two to still be breathing there must be another player in the works... one who does not use such lethal force. How fascinating"
Riddler rolls his eyes "I was going to say that... but sure... that is my hypotheses too"
"Just what we needed... another vigilante coming in and ruining our fun" Firefly growls.
"That's not all that I learned... Ed... would you kindly?" Oswald smiles.
"The people who attacked Zsasz and Scarface are believed to be the same people who attacked a Checkmate outpost on fifth avenue a few days back. A few of our men stumbled upon the sight before more Checkmate units could arrive and they brought back an interesting subject" Riddler explains.
"A living specimen? Did you use them for answers?" Scarecrow asks in a haunting tone.
"It wasn't a living one, he was actually really dead - his head was missing" Riddler reaches into the pocket of his green jacket and pulls out a small black device and places it on the table "This is a part of unknown device which was attached to his neck, from the breakage point. It's easy for me to assume that someone must have ripped off the rest of it, this is merely a small fraction of it. From what limited scans that I could do on it, the device shows slight signs of explosive capabilities"
"Those guys have a bomb in their neck?" Bridgit comments "That's good news. Find a way to blow all of their heads off at once!"
"It's not that simple" Riddler replies "I spent a fair amount of time trying to reverse engineer it but I don't have enough to make any progress worth mentioning. Whoever took out that base is likely to have the rest of it which means they too could be looking into it. We need to find out who is behind the breach and get them to hand over the rest of the device, that's the only way that I can use it to blow all of the checkmate's soldiers' heads off... we need a clue or something to the identities of the people behind the attacks..."
Firefly grins "Did you say that whoever was behind Zsasz's capture left claw marks? I think I know who we are looking for..."
"And who pray tell... who might we be looking for, Firefly?" Oswald looks over to Bridgit in a sweaty gaze.
"Catwoman" Firefly announces.
"The thief?" Riddler asks bewildered.
"Yes. A while back I had myself a great gig in Metropolis. I burned down buildings, making it look like accidents and Lex Luthor came in and bought them for dirt cheap. He paid a mouth-watering amount of money for each job... until Catwoman had to come and ruin it. Luthor hired her to steal stone dumb rock and had the nerve to partner me up with her. What's more interesting is that she seemed to have something going on with Batman... almost as if she loved him"
"That could explain Catwoman's choice in switching sides of the law... and the claw marks but that doesn't explain the other signs of conflict we found. Catwoman wasn't never one to use blunt force or throwing stars..." Riddler thinks out loud "If we can find out who Catwoman is... we can use that as blackmail material to have her give us the rest of the device... that way we can dispose of those Checkmate Soldiers... which should leave Waller defenceless"
"Good thinking, Ed" Oswald applauds.
Firefly leans back in her chair "We don't need to blackmail her when we can make her loyal to us... just give me some time to find Ivy and we can use one of her concoctions to twist Catwoman back into working with us... the hero persona has never been her thing. We make her back into the bad girl she is trying to deny"
Scarecrow took notices of Firefly's newfound calm tone "Such familiarity in your voice, you talk like you are well accustomed to her... you know who she is, don't you? You use a relaxed voice with a hint of dread and anger... you were close with her before she wronged you in Metropolis?"
"Stop trying to get in my head you creep," Bridgit says defensively "And yes I do know her... leave it to me to sort her out"
Mad Hatter chuckles "You seem peeved here should I brew you some tea? I always find it comforting, oh yes I do"
"Give me some time to find Ivy and Catwoman will be playing for us" Firefly comments as she looks at Oswald.
Cobblepot grins and slowly shakes his head "By all means... be my guest... but just in case Ivy kills you... TELL ME WHO THE HELL CATWOMAN IS NOW BEFORE I LOSE WHAT IS LEFT OF MY TEMPER!" he yells out towards Firefly as he slams his hands down on the table "NOW!"
"Selina Kyle" Firefly answers.
Penguin and Riddler slowly turn their heads to face each other. "Well ain't that a kicker?" Penguin says surprised.
"That does correlate with her sudden change in fashion" Riddler sounds hardly surprised.
Oswald regains his grin and stands up, looking at Firefly "You have twenty-four hours to find Ivy and do whatever you have planned. But the very second that time runs out... I AM GOING TO HAVE HER ASS DRAGGED DOWN HER AND HAVE HER RIPPED APART UNTIL SHE TELLS ME WHAT I WANT TO KNOW! She set me back thousands of dollars due to her *superhero* antics... AND I WILL MAKE SURE SHE SUFFERS EVERY WAKING SECOND OF EVERY DAY UNTIL I AM HAPPY! Understood?" Oswald's now reddened face finally begun to relax "twenty-four hours... not a second longer.
"As much as I want to watch her squirm... she is more useful to us alive" Firefly agrees to the man's terms.
Wayne Enterprise
Lucius' Office
Lucius sits behind his desk as his eyes scan through images on his laptop. He curves his fingers and scrolls down with the mouse pad. His eyes reflect the black and white blurred images. His eyes focus on a blurred silhouette gliding between rooftops. The image was eerily familiar to him, his sharp vision did the best that it could to make sense of the less than desirable quality of the photos. He could barely make out a pair of pointy ears on the thing's head and what looked like to be a cape extended outward.
One of the strangest details was that Lucius could almost see something that resembled hair coming from the back of the figure.
He slightly jumps as he hears a knock at the door to his office. He shuts the laptop and looks towards the entrance to the room "Come in." The door to the room was gently pushed open and Lucius sees a woman walk in with long brunette hair down to her lower back and who was dressed in a black form-fitting sleeveless dress. "Talia? Lucius greets as he stands up from his chair. He sees that the woman was holding a group of folders which were bound together with a single elastic band.
"That for me?" Lucius attempts a joke, just remembering that the woman wasn't never really one for humour.
"Almost" Talia walks over and places the folders onto Lucius' desk "These need your signature. The rest of it is already done"
"You aren't having me signing away my soul are you now?" Lucius paces around his desk and runs his digits over the top folder.
"On the contrary... this is an attempt to regain my own soul" she holds her hands against her hips "I hate to be like this now, especially with how much other people are suffering at the moment. I almost feel like I am disregarding their pain and sorrow in pursuit of my own resolve"
"Sounds serious" Lucius observes the files placed inside the first folder "What is this...?"
Talia lowers her head "I have been thinking over a lot of things in recent times, some good... but most bad. I let my admiration for my father blind me to the horror's he committed, the innocent lives that he took, the pain that he inflicted... I have to live with the fact that I am only here because of him. I was only brought into this world because of him, I'm only standing here today because of him, that I only met Bruce... because of him... I feel sick that there is even a single part of me that feels indebted to him for that..."
"You can't blame yourself for him being your father. You don't have to be like him - take it from a father. My little Luke is the complete opposite of who I was at his age. He is better behaved and smarter than I ever was as a kid. Luke has become someone who I can say that I proud of... he's the best parts of both me and his mother in one kind and gentle person" Lucius caringly tells the woman stood in front of him "Ra's failed you, Talia... you had nothing to do with it the atrocities that he has caused"
"Thank you, Lucius. Your words mean a lot... I hope that one day your son will become the man that you are"
"I don't want that, Talia... every parent desires to see their child become more than them. It's not our role to lead the next generation so that they will someday follow in our footsteps, rather it up to us to make sure that they can leave their own mark on the world... that is what I want for my son... that's what I want for my Luke" Lucius looks down back to the files "Miss Al Ghul may I ask just what this is? This is a lot of money... what could you possibly want to do with it?"
"Fix my father's mistakes. My father lived for centuries thus the league of shadows reigned for just as long... in that time... my Father had gathered all kinds of powerful individuals behind him... some very wealthy men and women. I need you to use this money to help the people of Gotham... whether is for food or shelter... just do something with it, please"
"Talia..." Lucius lifts his head up to meet the woman's eyes "Wayne Enterprise and even Bruce have already allocated funds towards helping Gotham and it's people recover"
"Please, Lucius. Please just use it. I need to know that you will do this... I need to know that out of all the horrors that my father has done, at least something good can come from it. This won't redeem my family... I know that... but maybe... just maybe... one day... I will be able to sleep easy again" Talia held back tears "My sister is dead, Lucius, my father is dead... I have no family... no one to turn to... no one to understand me... how I am feeling"
"You're not alone, Talia. You have friends here. There are people here who care about you and your wellbeing... me, Selina... Bru-"
"Please do not finish that" Talia interrupts "I forfeited his trust some time ago, I don't deserve his kindness nor even his attention. I withheld information that would have made Bruce's life a whole lot easier. It was my fault that was as broken as he was... it's my fault that he went to face my sister on his own... it's my fault... it's my fault that he almost died... just because I was too selfish to tell him the truth about Alfred... I made a cruel game out of it and now... Bruce is broken... both mentally and physically... people are dying out on the streets... just because of my selfish nature..."
"If you need me to say it... then I will..." Lucius sits back down in his chair and folds his arms "You made plenty of mistakes, Talia. You made a severe lapse in judgement... but I can see that you are trying your best to make up for it... to right your wrongs... and if I can see that... then Bruce will too... just give him time. He'll bounce back"
"Do you honestly believe that?" Talia asks.
"I don't doubt it for even a second" Lucius reaffirms.
Across Gotham
- Selina's Apartment -
Selina sleeps on her front as her head was crashed out on the stack of red velvet pillows. Most of her body was covered by the red bed sheets that reach to her shoulders. She was in a peaceful state of mind, relaxed and without any worries. A loud ring wakes Selina from her slumber. Her eyes slowly pry open as she reaches over and slams her alarm clock. She groans, rolling over onto her back and she looks up to the ceiling, stretching her arms outward and yawning.
She rubs her eyes and curves her knees from under the covers "Why do I somehow feel even more tired than when I got in bed?" she whines. Her green eyes look over as a black cat jumps up on the bed and rubs its head against her right hand "Morning". She strokes the cat before kicking out of bed and jumping onto her feet. She heads over to her closet and pulls out a set of clothes. The black cat follows behind her and meows as it rubs against her leg "Yes, I love you too" she sheepishly says.
After a minute, she was dressed in a black low-cut top and jeans that were tucked tightly with a studded belt. She turns her head to the opposite side of the room where her jacket is hanging by a coat hanger. Her attention was brought back by the crying cat that was rubbing its head across her legs again "Alright, alright... girl. I think that I can take a hint, let's see what we can fix you up?" Selina walks over into the kitchen area and reaches into a box of cat food. "Tuna?"
*Meow*
"Tuna it is then" Selina chuckles to herself as she grabs the packet and kneels down to the bowl on the floor. She empties the packet into the bowl and watches the cat eagerly barge in front of her to get to it "Huh. I must have forgotten to feed you last night..."
Selina makes her way into the bathroom and looks into the mirror above the sink. She looks incredibly tired and exhausted with dark bags under her eyes. She slouches over and grabs the sink "All these late nights are killing me... I don't give Bruce enough credit... he made this all look easy..."
Her ears prick as she hears a knock at her door "Great... just what I needed... contact with another person... I should have stayed in bed..." she runs her hands through her back hair and makes her way towards the door to her apartment and opens it. That was when she realized something. She was so tired that she didn't even bother to check just who was knocking on her door. She realizes that it could be anyone, any of her friends or any of her enemies. This made her nervous, almost afraid of who would meet her on the other side.
And then she saw it or more accurately, she saw her. A woman with long blonde hair that looks back to Selina with a face that she knew all too well. A face that brought out her most petty and strongest emotions all in one go. Anger, hate, regret and more anger fuels her mind along with some part of her feeling shocked by the sight. Selina saw her standing right in front of her, right at her door and she was looking back at her. The same old face that had caused her so much pain before.
Selina's eyes widen "Mom?"
Wayne Manner
- Batcave -
Alfred rides down the elevator through the cavern beneath the mansion with his arms held behind his back and with a firm glare on his face. He sees that his venture down through the tunnels had ended and he pulls open the mental bar cage to allow entry. Just as he thought, Bruce was sitting in front of the Batcomputer. The older man let out a long overdrawn sigh to which he was certain alerted the man of his presence. Alfred steadily jolts forward with his steps being loudly echoed throughout the lair.
He looks around as he hears the screeches of bats all around him "Master B, I believed that we have discussed this in thoroughly through in detail. Being down here will do you no good and will only serve to increase your already extreme case of brooding" he walks until he is stood beside the sitting man "Come on, son. Come back up with me... being up there, being surrounded by all the things that make you Bruce will be so much more beneficial than being down here, surrounded by the darkest part of yourself"
"I feel more at home down here than I am up here" Bruce looks up the large monitor.
"I was afraid that you would say that" Alfred sighs.
"Alfred, I didn't spend all of those years driving myself near death and pushing my body to my limit just to kneel down and whimper... even with what Bane did to my back. Even with the progress that I am making... Lee said it could still take at least months to get myself back on my feet - and Gotham doesn't have the long"
"And? What do you plan to do? Lee is a medical professional and she has done her best... I believe that she knows what she is talking about. Unless you have some magical potion that can heal-..." Alfred's eyes narrow and he slowly turns his head to Bruce "... You are going to use the Lazarus pit, aren't you? Have you gone mad, Bruce? That thing is dangerous and well... unpredictable. God knows what it will do to you... remember it drove Ra's bloody insane"
"Trust me, Alfred. I know what it can do to you... I know all too well.
"Precisely why you shouldn't do it. You shouldn't even consider it an option. That thing... that thing is evil, sir"
"I know... but right now... I don't see another way. Selina somehow decided to fight against the criminals of Gotham and nearly killing a man. Checkmate has stepped way out of line and Gotham is in ruins... so please excuse me if it sounds like that I am low on alternatives" Bruce growls.
"This Lazarus pit? It's not quite something that you wait months on before brainstorming. You have been thinking about this for a long time, haven't you?"
"As I said... I know the risks. I know how it can mess with your mind. It's going to be for the greater good..." Bruce replies.
"What about your wellbeing? If you think that I'm going to just let the man that I raised go off and do something... this... insane, then you really have underestimated my love for you. That's not the promise that I made to your parents nor the vow I made to myself. The fact that I allowed you to become so hurt already keeps me awake at night... this thing that you are proposing? It may just destroy whatever is left of my conscience..."Alfred argues.
Bruce turns in his chair to face Alfred "So what? Are you saying that I should sit back while innocent people are dying? That I should just give up on my promise to my parents?"
"That's not what I am saying, Bruce. I just think that there must be a less extreme way to go than the Lazarus. Think of the ramifications that it could bring, the breakage to your mental state. You have no idea what will happen if you use it. I implore you to seek another way"
"There isn't" Bruce narrows his eyes "Believe me. I wish that there was..." he lowers head and looks to the floor "... I'm sorry, Alfred. I didn't mean to lose it there. I know that you are only looking out for me but I'm looking out for Gotham just like my parents would... I just can't stand being... so... useless..."
Alfred kneels down and rests his hands over the man's shoulders "That's just the thing, son. Batman may be out of commission but Bruce Wayne? He is just as needed and he can be there for Gotham. You spent so much time with the cowl on... that you came to think of it as your one true face. Right now, Bruce Wayne is the mask you need... he needs to be your face" Alfred speaks softly. Bruce slowly turns his head towards a glass case which held the Batsuit on display.
- Selina's Apartment -
Maria Kyle, mother of Selina is seated on the couch. Her body slightly slouched over while she keeps her eyes lifted on her daughter. Maria could feel the anger in her daughter's eyes in which Selina made no active effort to hide. It was silent between them, neither of them taking the first step to begin what would most likely be a dry interaction between the two. Selina stood with her arms crossed as she leans against the window of her apartment.
Maria slowly glances over to Selina as she finally decides to make the first move "Your hair. It's..."
"Not like you? I know" Selina was all too quick to dismiss Maria "What are you doing here? Do you need to trick Bruce into giving you and Cole a couple more hundred grand?"
"Cole's dead, Selina" Maria gulps.
"I don't trust a single word that you say. So don't go wasting your breath" Selina firmly shoots back "Let me ask again. What the hell are you doing back in Gotham?"
"I'm not lying, Selina. Cole's dead... and I'm as good as dead too... there's someone after us- me... someone who doesn't stop, doesn't tire... I came here to see you, that's it" Maria replies distraught as she keeps her eyes on her daughter "You have no reason to believe a single word that I say, I understand that. And I deserve that too, but I just wanted to see you... just in case that it would my last time that I ever got the chance. I don't want your boyfriend's money, Selina... it's too late for that now. They're out for blood"
"Really? Just who is after you?" Selina asks with an uncaring tone "Did Cole piss off the mob or something?"
"Cole has always had a gambling problem... but it's always been something that he could handle... until... As soon as He got the money from Bruce..."
"You mean after you used me to get to Bruce so that Cole could make him give you the money" Selina hisses.
"Yeah... I do..." the mother lowers her head "He was only going to use his half as we agreed... but the first times... he got lucky. He won millions upon millions... thus he began betting more and more... until it was with money that we didn't even have or were never near having. Cole was happy doing what he was doing... oh god... I should have stopped him before..."
"He lost the money didn't he?" Selina shrugs.
"Yes... before I knew it, he was in nearly five million dollars of debt... we had no choice... we had to get a loan from someone... someone who wouldn't view our criminal records or just someone who didn't care. So without telling me. Cole went to one of the biggest loan sharks he knew... Carmine Falcone. Apparently, Cole did some work for him back in the day so Falcone was happy to lend us the money... of course... he wanted it back..."
"Falcone? You went to Falcone...? One of the biggest crime lords in the history of Gotham? Um... he's dead. How the hell would he get you to give the money back?"
"Carmine wasn't the one who had Cole killed. Once his daughter took over his empire... she went about collecting on unpaid debts... whether that was in money... or blood. Cole and I managed to keep out of her sights for years... until recently... a few weeks ago. Sophia hired someone who managed to kill Cole in a massive crowd with no one seeing the shooter. I've been running ever since then... and now I'm here. Whoever she hired... they're good... they're always on my trail... they are like a machine... never getting tired or slowing down..."
"And you want my help?" Selina scoffs "Like hell. You weren't there when I needed you, you betrayed me and used Bruce for his money. You chose Cole over me, your own daughter!" the woman hisses "You have some nerve showing your face here! Coming here and expecting me to help you... after all that you have done? Why? WHY THE HELL DID YOU COME BACK HERE!?" Selina screams at her mother with a now reddened face "YOU DON'T DESERVE MY HELP!"
"I don't... I don't want your help, Selina. Even if you wanted to help me... there's nothing that you can do. Cole ended up killing the first guy they sent after us... Sophia isn't playing games and she isn't trying to get the money back. She wants me dead... and the guy she sent after me... he's going to find me sooner or later... that's just what he does. Sophia treasures one thing more than money... and it's respect. I'm basically dead already. Right now... I'm not asking you to save me... I just want to spend the last part of my life with the one good thing I brought into the world... you"
"Tough. You lost the right to spend time with your daughter when you threw her under the bus for your boyfriend. Believe it or not, it's not always about you" Selina walks over and grabs her jacket from the wardrobe "Do me a favour and get the hell out of my apartment before I make you leave"
Maria weakly nods, slowly rising to her feet and hands in pockets "Selina... I understand how you feel. But you're my daughter. I love you more than anything... I'm sorry that it only took the threat of death to show me that. I'm not seeking forgiveness, just repentance. I just want to fix my mistake..."
Selina's emerald eyes narrow "I'm not a mistake. And if you really did understand how I was feeling... you would have never stepped foot in Gotham again. I don't know how you managed to get in the city and past all the checkpoints but I suggest you go back the way you came"
"I can't" Maria replies honestly "I used every bit of the money I had left to bribe a Checkmate soldier into transporting me in. There's no going back..."
"Gotham is a big city... go find somewhere else"
Gotham General
Jim stands outside the entrance, just within the confines of shelter from the snowfall. Dressed out of his Checkmate uniform and instead, wearing a blue suit with a brown overcoat. He looks out to the icy roads which were plastered in gravel and a line of Ambulances. He tilts his head as he sees someone walk up beside him. Harvey Bullock folds his arms "Zsasz and the old man in custody... and it wasn't even us. We're both thinking it so I better just come out with it... do you think it was *you-know-who*?"
"No. It was too violent... even for him."
"I was thinking the same thing, Jim. So we most likely have someone else trying to be a vigilante" Bullock affirms with a daunting frown.
"No. From the signs of their injuries... it looks like we are dealing with multiple parties here. Some of the men were covered by claw marks and the others only had broken bones... none of the injuries seemed to overlap. There could be at least two individuals involved... with neither of them having as much self-control as the bat. And also, it appears that last night wasn't their first rodeo" Jim replies as he lights of a cinerite and begins to smoke it.
"What do you mean by that, partner?" Bullock responds a little too eager which drew Jim's attention.
"The tear gas that they used? It was a specially altered variation only used by Checkmate. Word out on the street is that a couple of their outposts have been raided. At first, I thought it was just a bunch of cocky thugs... but evidence points to the contrary. None of the men was killed... some were in worse shape than others. But everyone appears to be alive... even Zsasz..." Jim explains.
"What about that *Scarface* guy? Wasn't he found away from the others... bleeding heavily with the remains that scary-ass dummy? If he managed to get a running start... he might have actually caught a glimpse of the culprits. Plus with his injuries... it looks like he got the worse out of it. Even with him being a criminal, what kind of whacko would beat on him that bad?"
"I don't know. One thing is sure... if we can figure this out, there is no doubt in my mind that Waller is already looking into it. Once he is awake we might be able to get something worthwhile out of him. Maybe some information on the people responsible for this" Gordon suggests with a deep inhale.
"He will most likely want a plea deal for talking" Bullock brings up as he moves aide as allows a few paramedics walk into the hospital "Beforehand, we would have turned down any plea deal request from those lunatics but with Waller around... who knows what she is going to do to get to the bottom of this. Of course... there is always Zsasz"
"Waller is not going let us get within a foot of him"
"You got a point there, Jim" Harvey takes off his hat and holds it to his chest. He looks out to the soft snowfall. He waits a moment before speaking up "Are you okay? I can understand how this whole thing can be stressful for you. With everything going on, it just seems that I haven't asked how you are for a while. I miss when things were a lot simpler"
"Things were never simpler, we just had cleaner consciences once" Jim turns his head to Harvey "Waller is puppeteering me into doing her dirty work. She is holding my family's wellbeing at gunpoint. Dent and Harleen hate my guts and Bruce...? He would be disappointed in me... even Lee feels that I betrayed her. She hardly ever talks to me... and when she does... I can tell that she doesn't want to. I can't blame her though..."
"Looks like you have the whole world against you, Jim" Harvey places his hand over Gordon's shoulders "I've seen you in this situation before... and I know no matter what I say will stop what comes next, but Jim for the love god... please don't be planning on doing anything stupid. You need to be calm... trust me... Waller will get what is coming to her... eventually..."
"Bit ominous, Harv…" Gordon comments as he throws the cigarette to the floor and stomps it out "But I agree. Waller does need to pay for what she's doing. The law should be used to retain order, not be used to victimize people. When she loses my family as a bargaining chip... is when she's going down along with all of her buddies"
"Amen to that" Bullock agrees.
Wayne Enterprise
- Ground Level -
Selina walks into the warmly lit tower and sees a crowd of people which consisted of both staff and people off the streets. With her hood lifted up and her hands slid into the pockets of her jacket, she walks past the main desk. Quickly flashing her identification to the woman positioned there. She heads towards the one the elevators. She calls for it and stands silently while it descends down to her level. The doors slide open and she enters while selecting her desired floor.
The elevator arrives near the top of the tower and she exits into the floor. Though she was oblivious to it, she stormed through the area, clearly still angered by her earlier interaction. She had a face of thunder and a cold glare.
She walks into Lucius' office, slamming the door behind her and startling the man.
Lucius slowly closes his laptop and looks up to Selina "Rough day?"
"More than you know" the raven-haired woman pulls down her hood "Have you made any more progress in deciphering that chip?" she walks around and stands beside Lucius. She unzips her jacket and throws it over into the corner and over a chair.
"Afraid not" Lucius rests his head over his hand "As predicted, only having half of it is making it really difficult to decode and examine. The only way to make any notable progress is to somehow get my hands on the other half... that is of course if it wasn't blown up during the explosion"
"Great. Another dead end..." Selina's eyes glance down to the man's laptop "Were you looking for something?"
"Yeah but it's... nothing. It was company-related. Duty still calls... even with the city in the state that it is... we have loads of worldwide investors that don't see our current predicament as cause to cease company activities. And Bruce Wayne's absence from the spotlight has already concerned them enough" Lucius replies.
"Okay... so boring stuff, got it" she leans over "Have you seen the others?"
Lucius shrugs "Talia was her earlier and Harleen hasn't been here today... I'm guessing because of your scuffle with her last night"
"Shit" Selina jolts back and holds her hands over his hips "You saw that? How?"
"I hacked into the security cameras of the factory - both inside and the ones outside... I saw everything... Harleen was out of control, Selina"
"I know. I was there" Selina turns and sits down on the desk "If I didn't get there in time... Harleen could have beaten him to death. She seemed fine during most of the whole operation but I guess... she must have lost it at some point" she folds her arms and crosses her legs "She seemed overly emotional... unstable even."
"She nearly killed a man, Selina" Lucius reminds her "He was begging for her to stop... but she just kept on going... not even caring. It looked like she told him something... but it was impossible to pick up. Whatever it was, it was enough to petrify the guy. That was too close, Selina. From now on you can't take her on missions... she's too dangerous..."
"I know" agreed Selina with a tired gaze "But she is dead set on getting payback on those Checkmate soldiers... if we can bring her with us in a planned attack... she could very well go off and do something even more reckless... she could get herself killed..."
"Goddamnit. I told you that this wouldn't work out. I told you time and time again that it was a bad idea... of she wanted payback... she was angry... and couldn't keep that anger in check and now you have this, Selina" Lucius leans forward in his chair and holds his palms together "Talia was telling you the exact same thing but you refused to listen to us. Why?"
"Because she deserved to get payback on the bastards that hurt Harvey. She was entitled to getting revenge for her friend... what was I supposed to do? Turn her away and let her focus that anger elsewhere and get herself killed...? Those bastards hurt one of our own... and they deserved the pain that Harleen wanted to inflict on them" Selina bites back as she jumps onto her feet "It's what I would do if someone hurt one of my friends... it's what I'm planning on doing, Lucius"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Harley wants revenge on the people that hurt Harvey and I want payback on the guys who crippled Bruce... I only signed on to this whole venture so that I could find Bane and I'm planning to. I'm going to teach him to never screw with the people that I lo-cared about" Selina folds her arms "Unlike Harley, I can aim my anger at one person and I'm letting it build up"
"No... Selina, you know better than to kill" Lucius looks over to the dark-haired woman "Killing Bane won't honour Bruce... you know that. Bruce wouldn't want this"
"I'm not doing this for Bruce, Lucius" Selina disputes with a hiss "This is for me... and if I'm lucky, Jeremiah is next"
"We talked about this, Selina. This isn't the way that Bruce would-"
"I love Bruce but I don't care about his stupid moral code. Bane is a monster and Jeremiah...? He's not even human... he needs to be stopped... he's never going to stop otherwise..." Selina walks across the room and picks up her jacket "Bruce isn't here, Lucius. He's hiding away in his mansion. If he cared... he would be here... and I don't see him anywhere"
- Across Gotham -
Sophia Falcone sits in a leather chair with her legs crossed and with a phone held against her ear and a glass of wine in her other hand "Are you sure that she's in Gotham now? Really... is that so? No... not yet... you need to make a spectacle out of it... people need to learn to fear me. Yes, watch her closely. Do not let her out of your sight. Keep me posted..." she looks outward of the windows and into the snow-covered skylines of Gotham city "Don't worry... your payment will be plentiful, Mr Wilson"
To Be Continued...