Beyond Smallville: Cult of the Jackal
Scene: Gotham City - 1/11/11 11:11 P.M.
Back in Gotham City, things were getting ugly. The Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl all arrived at the Studio 45 Nightclub within Gotham's seedier side. Word on the street was that a gang war had broken out between the five top crime families in Gotham.
The Thorne, Dagget, Zambino, Moran, and McDunna mob families were all fighting over the final acreage of Gotham that wasn't completely under Commissioner James Gordon's top shelf police force's control. The denizens of Gotham referred to this area as The Badlands.
This was a sore spot with Bruce Wayne and his young crime-fighters. They had tirelessly worked hand in hand with the Gotham Police Department for years, to clean up the city. Dozens of psychotic criminals were now locked up in Arkham Asylum. Yet, it still wasn't enough.
The more that Batman and the GPD thinned the mobsters ranks, and reduced their territories, the more desperate the fleeing criminals had become. They committed bigger and more violent crimes, in a last ditch effort to hold onto their bloody, illegal lifestyle. The city was a tinderbox, and all it needed was someone to light the fire.
This also made the mobsters more willing to negotiate with outsiders. More deadly and seedier crime bosses came to Gotham to get a piece of the action. Racketeering, prostitution, drugs, gun running, extortion, etc. became commonplace. This became a fertile playground for the strangers that had worked their way over from Metropolis.
Rupert Thorne and Roland Dagget had reached an uneasy truce. They pooled their remaining resources together to make a stand against Carli Zambino, Tommy Gun Moran, and Ron 'the knife' McDunna. Tonight, Bruce, Dick, Barb and Commissioner Gordon would make a play for Thorne and Dagget. Bruce and Dick were perched atop the Studio 45 rooftop.
Barb was across the alley from them, helping to cover the side exit from the abandoned Warehouse Number 12. "Everyone set?" Bruce spoke quietly but firmly into his Bat Tooth Com Link. "Ready." Came Dick Grayson's reply. "In position." Barbara Gordon confirmed.
"This is going to be tough, everyone." Batman switched to area wide. "These are desperate, heavily armed criminals, and we really have no idea how many men each crime boss has on hand." He sternly warned. "The SWAT team is in position, as are the Gang Crimes Unit, and the regular Beat Officers." James Gordon informed them.
Barb's stomach churned, hearing her father's confident voice on her Bat Tooth Link. Dick shifted his weight uneasily as he checked the parking lot below them. The lot was crowded with the gang's cars, and the GPD had every entrance and exit under surveillance.
"This is likely the biggest gathering of Gotham's crime syndicates in history." Jim Gordon added. His voice transmission was now narrowed to the crime-fighter's Bat Tooths. "It's too big a target for our law enforcement officers to resist. No guts, no glory, I guess."
"We're here, Commissioner." Bruce said confidently. "I feel better, already." Jim Gordon said.
"Good luck, everyone." The Commissioner went back to area wide communications. "Remember, be smart, and be aggressive." It was then that the two mobster cars nearest the SWAT unit exploded, showering the officers with flaming shrapnel. A few of GPD's finest were injured.
"Whoa!" Barb nearly fell off the edge of the rooftop. The twin explosions had startled everyone. "So much for peaceful negotiations." Batman commented. "Come on!" He urged. "Let's go! Spread out!" he fired his bat grappling hook over to the other side of the street. He swung high above the warehouse, hearing the beginning hails of gunfire.
The remaining members of the SWAT team moved in on the crime lords' meeting. They blanketed all sides of the warehouse. Barb and Dick each followed Bruce's lead, soaring and grappling over the melee onto Warehouse 12's grimy, metallic roof.
Jim Gordon's voice boomed over the loudspeaker system. "Hold your fire!" He directed the SWAT team, spying the young crime-fighters aerial attack. "Thorne! Dagget! You can't escape! We have the warehouse surrounded. Give yourselves up." He pleaded to no avail.
"I want two more snipers positioned atop Studio 45 and the warehouse across the alley." Detective Bullock ordered per Gordon's instruction. The fire and rescue team had carefully arrived, and began to put out the smoldering bombed cars.
Deep inside the old, but functional warehouse, Rupert Thorne and Roland Dagget walked through a dimly lit corridor. Both men were now graying, and heavy set. They had been in the crime business for nearly thirty years now. They were surrounded by an army of bodyguards.
"Dagget, I don't like these new players." Thorne complained. "The one that they call Da Saad is too cool, too calm, like a hit man with ice water in his veins." Dagget nodded. "I know. But what choice do we have? Gordon and the bat brats have had us on the run."
"Da Saad spends a lot of time alone." Dagget continued. "He doesn't bother with an entourage of bodyguards like we do. It's like he's not afraid of anything or anyone. I don't trust a man without any fear. Fear is what keeps the gangs in line, and bosses like us in charge."
"After losers like the Joker, Penguin, and that nasty Catwoman, each tried to run our gang, and use them for their own cracked purposes, it's refreshing that a new potential leader like Da Saad keeps to himself, and keeps a low profile." Thorne commented.
"True. Two Face was the only crime boss that was ever able to unite the Southside Families." Dagget remarked as the men reached the entrance to the next level below them. "Give me the good old days, Rupert, before those lunatic Arkham Asylum rejects tried to co-opt every respectable gang in Gotham."
"Yeah Roland, those were the grand ole days, before the Bat, when half the Gotham PD was on the take from us, and we only had to trust ourselves, our boys, and our tommy guns." Thorne replied wistfully. "Yeah, but things change." Dagget said mournfully. "My arrest record would stretch from here to New Zealand." He shamelessly boasted.
"Its enough to make me want to go straight." Thorne chuckled. "I could grab my stash, and head for Fiji, live out my life in retirement luxury." Dagget laughed as they descended towards the basement parking garage. "Tempting, my friend, very tempting." He agreed.
The bodyguards, automatic weapons in hand, staked out positions at the exits. Warehouse 12 had four access points, each led to the appropriate street or alley. The parking garage held no vehicles, and had a vast open area, ringed by four catwalks.
"Did Da Saad say why we were supposed to meet here?" Thorne asked nervously. "No. He just said that we should be prepared to take on all new roles." Dagget replied. "Try and teach us old dogs new tricks, eh?" Thorne chuckled as a door squeaked open near the garage's center.
By now, Batgirl had entered the facility from the roof, and was gingerly making her way along the deserted corridors, occasionally dodging an armed minion or two. Batman and Nightwing were working their way in from the opposite direction. The young crime-fighters ran into surprisingly little resistance. Bruce was already becoming suspicious.
"Are you a little bored?" Dick asked sarcastically as he scrambled alongside Bruce's path, parallel to the main corridor. "You noticed that, eh?" Batman responded cynically. "I don't like this." He admitted. "It's too easy. No alarms to trip, barely any goons, something's not right."
Back in the parking garage basement, Da Saad, and a tall, lanky, shadowy figure had emerged from behind a column nearby. Thorne cocked his head. He hadn't noticed a doorway there before. "Hey, Da Saad!" Dagget bellowed. "Are you sure about this? I mean, what's your plan? Half of the Gotham PD is outside waiting for us to make a move."
Thorne scowled at the mysterious minion that Da Saad had brought with him. "Gordon's out there, and the Bat brats can't be far behind." He added. "They are of no consequence." Da Saad said in a stern, menacing, low voice. "No consequence to whom?" Dagget chimed in.
"No consequence to you." Da Saad replied arrogantly. Behind him and the tall, dark, figure, walked Carli Zambino, Tommy Gun Moran, and Ron McDunna. They were flanked by dozens of their flunkies, most of which, were armed.
"Rupert! It's a double cross!" Dagget shouted and reached for his personal pistol. By now, Thorne had scrambled behind a silver garbage scow, that provided some cover. He dug out his own automatic weapon, and watched as the tall, dark, man edged towards the garage's center. Thorne noted something odd about the man. He was wearing a black, jackal headed mask.
The jackal guy casually strolled into the middle of the area, his black cape swirling behind him. "Great!" Dagget grumbled. "Another caped, masked, nut ball!" Da Saad stood firmly at the entrance to the garage level, watching the confrontation with interest. Dagget hid behind a post.
The Jackal stopped, and raised his arms high into the air. "Kill each other!" He commanded loudly but devoid of emotion. The huge group of criminals all produced their weapons, and instantly bullets began whizzing in every direction.
Goons, thugs, and bodyguards fired randomly at one another, including their bosses, and superiors. "Crap! Fiji is looking pretty good now!" Thorne muttered as he dove behind the garbage scow. It was the only real form of cover that he could find.
Barb had stumbled onto the chaotic scene, pulling open an old exhaust duct grid. It clattered to the ground, clanging onto the metal catwalk, but no one seemed to notice her intrusion.
Batman and Nightwing had been attracted to the lower level by the gunplay. They were just beyond the walled entrance, when they came upon the grisly scene. "Nightwing! We're in over our heads!" Batman yelled into the Bat Tooth Link. "Where's Batgirl?" He shouted over the din of the firing weapons. "Listen! Batgirl! Abort! Do you copy?" Dick's panicky voice repeated.
Batgirl didn't hear the order to abort. She lurked in a corner of the catwalk. Within five minutes, it was over. Dozens of thugs lay dead or dying. Bruce and Dick ran along the outside walls of the garage. As of yet, no one had noticed them. Barb still didn't answer their calls.
The Jackal stood stoically at the garage's center. Somehow, he'd avoided all of the bullets, despite being out in the open. Da Saad leaned casually against a column. Several bullets had hit near him, but he, as well, somehow came out unscathed.
The guns had now silenced. The garage was filled with smoke, and the putrid smell of gunpowder, burned flesh, and smoldering corpses permeated the area. Barb was in shock, as she viewed the devastation from her perch atop the catwalk. She'd never witnessed this degree of carnage before. Two crime bosses remained upright, McDunna and Zambino.
Moran had fallen at their feet, a victim of multiple gunshot wounds. McDunna and Zambino faced each other, a mere few feet separating them. McDunna held his smoking automatic pistol aimed at Zambino's head, and Zambino held his long barreled pistol aimed at McDunna's.
"Impressive!" Da Saad clapped his hands sarcastically, as he approached The Jackal. "You've maintained control over our thuggish friends. We'll do quite well together." He praised. "The master will be very pleased." With that, The Jackal turned to face Da Saad.
"Listen, Da Saad, get one thing straight. I'm doing this because you and your bosses are paying me handsomely" The Jackal's voice was muffled by the mask, but could certainly be heard. "I belong to no one but myself." Da Saad smirked. "We shall see how you feel after a while."
Jackal glanced back toward Zambino and McDunna. "This is what happens if you cross me, Da Saad." The masked criminal began. He again raised his arms and gestured with his fingers. "Boom!" Instantly, Zambino and McDunna fired their weapons simultaneously. Blood spattered in every direction as the crime lords fell to the pavement.
Barb wanted to vomit, but to her credit, she held onto her wits, though her stomach heaved. She gathered her thoughts and fired the bat grappling hook. It latched onto the rafters, and she began her swing towards Da Saad and the Jackal, metallic Batarangs in hand. In the blink of an eye, as she readied her throw, something grabbed her, and Batgirl appeared to vanish.
Da Saad and the Jackal glanced upwards, but couldn't be sure of what they saw. Bruce and Dick reluctantly scurried up the slight incline that led to the alley way exit. "I hate turning tail and running, Dick, but we were outmatched, and we lost track of Barb." Bruce admitted.
"Let's try again, Batman." Nightwing urged, but a noise distracted them. "Batman! Am I glad to see you!" Rupert Thorne said as he crawled out from behind a set of metal garbage cans. "That's something you don't hear every day from a crime boss." Nightwing quipped.