This is War

Secret compartments and cupboards all throughout "The Night Life" and the surrounding apartments its girls occupied were thrown open. Guns of all models, ages, and calibers were unloaded and handed off to the waiting women. Others started work on booby traps or even just nailing boards and putting up barricades. All the while, Ana Andreyev flew through the halls, checking progress and lending aid where she could, lieutenants joining her stride to inform her of developments.

"Just got the word in from the Joker. He's not sticking his neck out for us," Jeannie noted.

"Two-Face just flipped. No-go on him too," Grace and Gilda said together.

"What about Riddler? Hatter, Ivy, anyone?" Lucy questioned desperately.

"Not a single one of them," Chase and Alice said together.

"So what do we do?" Lucy asked, and Ana turned to find all of her lieutenants staring at her.

"We fight," was all she said.

"Why?" called out one voice when Ana told the girls her plan. They turned to find an African American woman with her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail standing defiantly before them. "Why should we? She's just one girl. Are we seriously going to risk all our necks because one little got herself caught?"

Lucy flinched and Jeannie brought out a knife, rounding on the girl. "Hey, shut your mouth, you-"

"No," Ana ordered, hand raised and Jeannie scowled but obeyed. Ana lowered her hand. "She has every right to call me out. She brings up a good point. Lucy disobeyed me. She went against my orders and put us all at risk. And she wasn't alone." Ana looked at her lieutenants. "Every single one of you knew and said nothing." They at least had the decency to look sheepish. She turned back to the girls gathered. "So why don't we cast them out for putting us all at risk?" She faced the woman who had called her out. "Tabitha, right?" Tabitha looked startled but nodded. "Incarcerated for kidnapping, torture, and first degree murder. You came in on September 21st, correct?" Again, Tabitha nodded. "You were almost torn apart by the men waiting outside, but my snipers stopped them. They could've left you there. Pretty much anyone in the city would've. But they didn't." Tabitha, realizing her mistake, blended back into the crowd.

Ana paused for a moment, then, after what looked like a great effort on her part, spoke in clear, concise and unaccented English, "We're all that we've got." She looked in the face of every woman gathered before her: thieves, hackers, con-women, murderers, and innocents abandoned by the system. "When family, friends, work, and lovers abandon you, when the structures are corrupted by men like Strange and Sharp, when you have absolutely nothing, perhaps not even the clothes on your back… we have each other. We have this place. And you all have my protection." She stepped down and walked toward the front of the club, crowd parting before her like the Red Sea. Time to get to work.

Hour 1:

The traps were set, the barricades built, the women who could shoot locked and loaded. Just in time too. The Penguin's men were gathering outside. Hundreds of them, all looking armed to the teeth. It was still dark out when they arrived, but with the neon of Arkham City and the light of the full moon, it might as well have been day.

"Ana!" Penguin roared through a bullhorn. Ana Andreyev looked through the boars barring them from the outside, Lucy and Jeannie on either side of her. "I'm giving you one last warning, Ana! Give up and I'll let you lot live."

Jeannie handed her boss a bullhorn, allowing her to respond with. "Funny. I vas just about to say the same thing to you, Penguin." In spite of the situation, or perhaps because of it, the two smirked. If they didn't actually want each other dead, this would almost be fun.

"OPEN FIRE!" both leaders shouted at the same time and then all hell broke loose.

The sound of automatic weapons filled the street. Penguin's men scrambled for cover, before quickly returning fire. Some of them attempted to move in, using riot shields and car doors to block the oncoming bullets, only to get burned by walls of fire that suddenly erected themselves as they advanced, or their limbs shredded to bits in Riddler style rotary saw traps that appeared to spring up out of nowhere. Some men tried cutting through Two-Face's territory to get at them, only to get destroyed by a combination of Two-Face's patrolling men and venus fly traps. Those who tried to enter from the North found themselves caught in cryogenic freeze traps and explosive Joker gags like teeth and jack-in-the-boxes. Things were even worse for the ones who tried the roofs, as they were quickly doused with canisters of Scarecrow's fear gas, leading to them either beating each other to death or running off of the roofs to get away from their imaginary tormentors.

Penguin and his lieutenants jumped back as an RPG landed exploded. The gangster winced internally.

This was going to take longer than he thought.

Hour 5:

"Sniper at 10 o' clock!" Jeannie shouted, pinned down outside as she attempted to reset the traps with some other girls. She went to look around the corner, only for the brick right next to her face to shatter as the sniper took another shot."Tracey!"

"I see 'im, I see 'im!" the blonde shouted, readying her rifle and taking aim. Only the sniper heard her exclamation, and turned on her, shooting her through the abdomen.

BANG!

The sniper fell.

"NO!" Jeannie shouted, cradling the injured Brit close. She held her walkie-talkie to her mouth. "I need evac help now, Tracey's down, I repeat, Tracey's down!" Soon enough, Veronica and Candy were helping Jeannie get their friend back inside.

"I have an idea," Ana said. She sent one of her sneakier girls to drop a radio off at Cobblepot's HQ. Once it was delivered, Ana shouted, "Cobblepot! I suggest a one hour truce to resupply both sides and take care of the wounded."

"Not gonna happen whore," the Penguin shot back, some of his officers snickering dumbly in the background.

"You have wounded men, I have wounded women. The church is open to all. I suggest we make good use of it," Ana reasoned.

"I said it's not gonna happen you dumb bitch!" he yelled so loud she could almost hear him without the communicator. Ana hesitated a moment before dropping the bomb.

"Tracey's one of the wounded." He'd had somewhat of a fondness for Tracey, and rumor had it he'd been grooming her to take over his operation back in the early days of the Rogues. Then it turned out he accidentally blew her brother's brains out over a gambling debt and that ended their relationship pretty permanently. But if he wouldn't call truce for Tracey, chances were, he wouldn't do it for anyone. Unfortunately, when he responded a moment later, the latter seemed to be the case.

"You wanna stop the violence? Give. Me. My. Money," he grit out, before throwing the communicator against the wall.

Tracey died an hour later from bloodloss.

Hour 10:

They'd had next to no reprieve for the next five hours after the short truce. Ana's girls, while many of whom were not incredible shots, had the advantage with cover provided by the buildings and traps. But even then, they had limited supplies and their ammo was running low. They couldn't hold out much longer.

Coming up on the eleventh hour, an arrow embedded itself in the man right next to the Penguin. Attached to it was a note with the following words inscribed on it: Parley

Cobblepot grinned savagely.

They met halfway between the end of the road and the Monarch Theater, each flanked by their lieutenants.

"The fighting's gone on long enough, Osvald," Ana stated.

"I agree completely, Ana," he said, taking a drag of his cigar and blowing smoke in her face. She didn't cough. "I'm willing to let you keep the explosives since I'm generous like that, but I'll need something in return, of course." She hesitated but nodded in the end. He grinned crookedly. "So, are you going to give me the girl or the money?" he sneered over her shoulder at Lucy, who managed to remain blank… mostly. Ana stared at him unblinkingly for a moment, before looking down and beginning to take the spectacular diamond engagement ring from her finger. Cobblepot, Lucy, and Jeannie's eyes all widened at that.

"In the outside vorld, it's vorth more than the Krupp Diamond," she stated, finally working it off her finger. She held it out to him, hand clenching when he snatched it from her grasp. "In here… it's priceless."

"Don't I know it," the Penguin leered, before spitting on the ring and shining it on his coat, watching her the whole time. She didn't even blink. He held it to the little light of the overcast winter day, before pocketing it. "Alright then. We're even." Ana turned on her heel, but was stopped by the Penguin grabbing her arm. "I'm still expecting you to have the champagne ready."

She turned back to him and replied emotionlessly, "Of course, Mr. Cobblepot." Apparently satisfied for now, the Penguin released her and let her return to her establishment and girls. They all quickly huddled around her, comforting but not suffocating as they waited for her to speak.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, she spoke: "Ve're going to get out of here."