Oswald Cobblepot was pacing up and down in the manager's office of the Flamingo Paint Factory; his name at the moment according to various legal documents was Dibden Curlew.
The whole Dibden ruse had been created not too long before the whole Arkham City/Hugo Strange business and had for some reason not been found out, so was a very useful way to go into temporary hiding. He'd lost his prized secretary Sharon during that horrendous debacle, and was in the process of finding someone else with the same sort of mindset.
He was currently engaged in a conversation with one of his henchmen, Harry 'Bozo' Phillips. Harry's speciality was espionage: he was very handy for spying on the other criminals and mob bosses around the city and seeing what plans and capers they had on the go. He was also naturally cautious and careful and never rushed into anything. As a bonus he had a sister, Elena, who right now worked as the PA for a rather slimy film producer in Metropolis. If he could persuade Harry to talk her into changing employers then he'd be sorted.
Their attention at the moment however was on the surviving criminal landscape in Gotham.
"From what I can tell, Joker is gone for good. This time it's not a hoax or some twisted joke of his: he's actually kicked the bucket." Bozo stated.
"I think I'll wait and see. You never can tell what goes through the guy's head. What about Two-Face?" Penguin asked.
"He's disappeared. The official word from Gotham PD is there was no sign of a dead Harvey after Strange's bombardment of the city, so it's presumed he's decided to lay low for a bit. Black Mask has similarly vanished, but rumour has it he's left Gotham and had gone to Blüdhaven. I've heard no rumours about Dent at all." Harry responded.
"According to that bimbo Vicki Vale, That screeching harpy Harley Quinn had been grabbed by the police and the Bat and been dragged off to the new asylum near Metropolis. Same story with the Mad Hatter and The Riddler." Penguin stated.
"As for some of the others, apparently Poison Ivy was nowhere to be found, although some people seemed to think she's run off to a greenhouse in Calvin City. That weirdo Ra's Al-Ghul appears to be dead, although with him that don't really mean very much. Catwoman is still around, though her apartment was toast thanks to Harvey: The word is she's hunting down and seriously hurting any surviving members of his crew." Bozo said.
There were a few smaller fish to consider. One of the Falcone family was still apparently lurking about: Mario Falcone apparently owned a shipping business that did mostly legit trade here there and everywhere. Chico Maroni still had a small crew and according to rumours was looking to ditch Gotham.
"What about that knife-wielding maniac Victor Zsasz?" Penguin enquired.
"He made the news this morning as it happens," Bozo replied, "he's holed up in a fish processing plant on the docks and surrounded by armed cops. If he doesn't come out by midday, they're going in all guns blazing."
"I wouldn't be surprised if the Bat poked his nose into it. That's right up his all-action alley." Oswald speculated. "Anything on Freeze? Apparently the clown had his wife in a warehouse in the industrial district."
"Like Ivy and Dent, he's just plain vanished. They found a few of Joker's goons iced solid, but no sign of the walking popsicle." came the reply.
"No doubt we'll see him again. What about that hulking great Titan-addict, Bane? I heard a rumour that the Batman locked him up in some toy factory, and I can't imagine those Tyger people killing him: he's too big and annoying." Mused Cobblepot.
"Yeah, it seems he was in the Krank toy factory during the bombing, but legged it shortly after. According to a guy I know in the Gotham PD, its thought he's hoofed it to Florida."
"You know a guy in the PD?" Penguin eyed Bozo suspiciously.
Harry grinned "Yeah, he thinks I'm just an ordinary electrician, and who am I to tell him differently? Besides, he likes to have a non-cop buddy to talk to. Turns out he's a very...informative person to know."
Penguin smiled, "Ha! I like it. An uniformed informant: every criminal should have one!"
Meanwhile:
Bruce Wayne was in the mayor's office discussing the plans for what was left of Arkham City with a few key members of the Gotham City Council. "Well thanks to Strange, quite a bit of it is ruined beyond repair; those massive surrounding walls took quite a bit of punishment during his bombardment of the place, and I don't think they're safe." Bruce paused, "Besides, they don't give Gotham that friendly look. The Wonder Tower was severely damaged by the explosion at the top and has also got to go. "
The members of the meeting were gathered around a large table which contained a model of Arkham City and its immediate surroundings.
Bernard Quail, interim mayor pointed at the model of the Gotham Olympus, "What about the semi submerged Amusement Mile? A lot of the access to that area was ruined by the Penguin when he blew the bridges."
"A GCPD team has already been there and removed a number of the dead gang members, though they still have several buildings to check out." Wayne indicated Poison Ivy's ex-lair, "and some, as you can guess are more difficult than others. As for the bridges, Wayne enterprises has commissioned a survey team to inspect the remaining structures to see if anything can be reused.