EPISODE 7: A NIGHT ON THE TOWN

Two weeks later Bruce gently landed on the roof of the Cobblepot Shoe Factory. He rose from his knee as his cape billowed in the wind behind him. The full moon lit up his bat suit and gave him a clear field of vision on what was looking to be another cold night in Gotham. Bruce scanned the rooftop for the familiar ventilation shaft he was to enter tonight to learn more about the Penguin's operations. He spotted it towards the corner of the building. He strode over towards the square shaped metal duct as his boots clicked after every step he took. Bruce finally reached the duct, allowing time to place noise cancelling soles on each of his boots to deafen the sound that came from them. The soles were made of a dense, carpet-like material and slid onto the bottom of his boots perfectly as they were custom built to fit on the bat suit. Bruce took a deep breath, pulled the grate off of the top and dropped into the shaft below. This was not Bruce's first time sneaking around the Cobblepot Shoe Factory. He had infiltrated the industrial temple once before, so Bruce made quick work of the journey and arrived at Oswald Cobblepot's office. He gazed down through the slits in the vent and saw the portly man sitting at his desk below. Oswald could have been sleeping for all he had known, he was just sitting motionless at his desk. Oswald shifted his gaze up to his clock on the wall opposite him. It was as if he were waiting on something to start. Bruce took extra care to slow his breathing down. He felt his heart rate slow too. Now was the time to listen.

KNOCK KNOCK.

"Come in, Tracey!" Oswald responded in an excited tone. Bruce heard the door click open and swing across the wood floor of Oswald's office.

"They're ready for you down on the floor, Oswald." Tracey replied timidly.

"I know, I know! I'm so excited. We've got big plans for this company, Tracey. Big plans." Oswald said as he hoisted his large frame out of his worn leather chair. Bruce knew he could beat him to the floor room. It was just a couple of stretches of ventilation away from where he was now, all he had to do was to be careful-

CRACK! Bruce heard the sound of a screw breaking loose on the bottom of the vent beneath him. He could feel the vent slowly giving way underneath. Bruce quickly scurried out into another stretch of metal tunneling before he made too much of a scene. On his way out of the room, Bruce thought he faintly heard laughter and the word 'guest' come from Oswald.

"That can't be good." Bruce mumbled to himself as he crawled towards the floor room. Once he had arrived at what he thought was a secure place, he waited for Oswald to enter. Bruce saw the men arranged in the same manner that they were last time. They sat in chairs before a small stage. But this time something was different. There were fewer men, about seventy sat there now. This was no doubt a product of the last interaction that Bruce had with the Cobblepot Shoe Company trucks. Among the men who were remaining, there was a palpable sense of paranoia. Each one was nervously shooting their head around the room to see any signs of police investigation or even worse, of The Batman. They saw what happened to their friends. And the GCPD did daily sweeps of the factory for any sort of evidence that the illegal weapons business was being run there. Of course Oswald denied the accusations, but even he was taking measures to keep a lid on this secret department of the Cobblepot Shoe Company. Bruce noted that armed men now stood at all of the exit points of the building.

Just as Bruce's mind began to wander, the doors opened slowly as Oswald strutted into the room. Bruce saw him waddling from above until he eventually took his place at the stage.

"My friends, let me remind you that we are doing good work," Oswald began with the same authority as he did the time before. His voice echoed through the vents, and Bruce hung on his every word. "Despite the fact that the GCPD and that dreaded Batman are trying to stop us, we are doing good work. We are defending the good people of Gotham from the corrupt and incompetent police force and the reckless and dangerous Batman. To highlight the importance of our work, I want to bring forward someone you all know. He was in one of the decoy trucks from the last deal. His name is Marty Carlson, and he was three kids and a wife to take care of. Marty, could you come on up?" Oswald motion to a man sitting in the front row. The man stood up between two crutches and gingerly walked to the stage on his right leg as his left was in a cast.

"Marty's leg was broken by The Batman during his assault on our delivery last week. The Batman also knocked out two of Marty's teeth. Marty is a good man. Aren't you, Marty?" Oswald said, motioning to the crowd. Marty nodded.

Bruce was in shock. Could he have done such a thing? His mind immediately went to the other thirty men who were either beaten by him or were too scared to show their faces around this operation again. His mind went to the men in attendance tonight. Perhaps they were too afraid of what would happen if they did not show their faces at the factory again. Bruce's pondering was interrupted by the rest of Oswald's speech.

"But there is no justice for Marty until Batman pays for his crimes. And that means we may have to take matters into our own hands. So I would like to announce our next two big deals. I am splitting this group in half, each half will be responsible for a delivery. The first will be a deliveryon January 26th at 3pm. We'll be delivering the merchandise from here to an up and coming organization in North Gotham, by the old theater. That's all I'll say on that for now. Oh, and one more thing, each and every one of you will be armed this time as to prevent another tragedy like last time. If you see him, shoot him." Oswald looked towards the vents as he spoke and fear shot through Bruce. Oswald continued.

"The second is a direct receipt of merchandise coming here on February 3rd. I am hiring out a third party to deliver the cargo, so I will not put any of you through that again. All you will have to do is safely receive and store the weapons in a part of the factory. There may be unfriendly ears listening tonight, so I will let you know where on the day of. Stay vigilant, and as I said before, if you see him, shoot him. " Oswald chuckled as the crowd erupted into a wave of applause. Oswald walked down from the stage and went back to his office. Bruce quietly waited in the vents until everyone had left the room as he held himself perfectly still.

Bruce crawled out of the vents and back on to the roof. He stretched as sitting in the cramped ventilation ducts for hours made his back and knees sore. Bruce reflected on the dates of the next two shipments. He needed more intel on the first one if he was to get a proper understanding of the situation there. But for tonight, Bruce had all that he needed. And he was certainly to be more careful before his next attempt to break into the factory.