There was a rumor about a man calling himself Anarky, a muse of the people it seemed, who wanted to topple Gotham's corruption. A formidable quest. Bane understood perfectly how devastating corruption in government could be to a country, how corruption hurt the people of Santa Prisca the same way. This Anarky was man of interest to Bane, maybe for a future alliance.
He had heard of buildings being destroyed housing companies that took more than they gave, hacks of data and money from mega-corporations who sold their users' personal information for extra gain, and people of questionable nature seemingly...disappearing. That alone told him Anarky not only did what most weren't brave enough to do but had followers that he inspired not unlike himself.
When he heard of this man, he wanted to meet him. He asked around if anyone knew where Anarky was or better yet who he was and the only answer he got was from a timid masked hire near the Bowery who spoke of the Solomon Wayne Courthouse being Anarky's place of judgement. That was an odd choice for a hideout but it was better than freezing to death in Gotham's winter storms.
With a group of mercenaries including Bird, he treaded to the courthouse entrance when a group of men wearing similar white masks to the informant in the Bowery caught sight of him and stood in front of the entrance.
"Excuse me, sir, but the courthouse isn't operational at this time. I advise looking for a place to rest just down the way over there. It's a church but it's said to be taking people in need of shelter. Other than that, we cannot help you," one masked man said.
Bane couldn't help but smirk, "Oh, I'm not here for shelter, I assure you."
When Bane got close to them, they backed up and one hit his back against the courthouse door with a groan of uncertainty. He slowly spoke up, "Then wh-what are you here for?"
"I am here to meet Anarky. I just want to talk is all and I advise you to contact him or else, I may be forced to do something I would rather not put you through as it would be a very unfortunate waste of energy."
His mercenaries chuckled and most kept their hands close to their weapons just in case the masked men got spooked. However, the ringleader of the masked group nodded quickly and held up a finger.
"Give me a second to talk to him."
A few minutes went by as his men kicked around snow while Anarky's group kept a good amount of distance from them in obvious fear. Then the group leader came back and held the door open this time, gesturing for them to enter.
"He's accepted your sudden meeting request and waiting for you inside. He requests that you don't pull any weapons on any of us and...stay clear of the large rocket-looking objects you see in there. They are, shall we say, very delicate instruments."
Bane scoffed as he entered the courthouse. He expected it to be refined with its polished marble but instead, he found the entire courtroom tarnished, graffitied, and in such disarray that it reminded him of a colorful dump someone tried to make their home. Sheets of some type of material displayed A's that were circled and various anti-government propaganda posters scattered all over the walls.
He expected better but at the same time, this guy was named Anarky so it kind of made sense for the state of this man's home to be symbolic chaos. Then he saw the "rocket-looking objects" the ringleader of the guarding group outside mentioned. They were undeniably bombs and several group members of Anarky's crew were working on them. Where they were going was a mystery for there were so many places such a weapon could be used with Gotham's corruption practically built to the core of the city. Even his own mercenaries held slight curiosity how this man managed to smuggle the parts to build bombs and well over fifteen of them given the charts near one of them.
"Good evening, gentlemen. It's an honor. I take it you aren't against what you see because you too are not fans of Gotham City's fascism and injustice. Or maybe it's something more," a voice spoke from the high balcony. "Your uniforms aren't police and no military has ever dared to set foot in Gotham despite the high crime rates, so you must be foreigners brought here as a private army employed by someone who wants to kill the Bat or you're using someone who is paying you to invade the city and kill the Bat yourself before taking out said employer. Am I close?"
Bane found himself slightly impressed at the detective work as he took in the appearance of Anarky. The man had on a red snow jacket, cargo pants, a backpack, and a white mask with his hood up. However, the mask was up as Anarky smoked a cigarette to where Bane could make out the man's face and it was noticeable Anarky looked a bit younger than he thought. In fact, if he didn't know any better, this was a teenager.
"You are Anarky?" Bane asked, narrowing his eyes.
"What's it to you?" Anarky snarked back, lowering his mask over his face once he disposed of the cigarette.
"I have heard about what you've done and I as someone who understands you wanted to meet someone of kindred spirit, if that means anything to you."
"You're an anarchist too, huh? Are you sure you aren't here for a business dispute? I heard Roman Sionis isn't a fan of competition. I haven't done anything to Black Mask's property nor have I ever had any of my followers attack your militia so I say we have no trouble between us...unless you want some, Bane. What about you, Bird? Has the addict's market shut down or is there a new supplier here?"
This caught all of the mercenaries off guard. They stood looking up at him stunned and even Bane was unsure how the kid knew that much information. Perhaps there were spies in their operation and Bane was not fond of dirty rats.
Anarky climbed down and approached Bane fearlessly for someone so young. He clasped his hands together and gestured to the mercenary group, "I can see on your face, you're surprised. Well, I don't know the full story of you but believe it or not, you're one of my inspirations for this. I did enough research to know what your history is and what Santa Prisca's main problem is: drug cartels. A street drug named 'Venom' as I recall."
Now Bane was really intrigued. "Formidable, but you must understand I don't take kindly to people getting into my business without permission."
"It's not personal when everyone knows. We know you fought your own corrupted government for using prisoners of Peña Dura in drug trials and going after the cartels that supplied them. I know how addicting Venom is too, how you're still using it. Like you, I'm fighting the government for change, but I'm taking out the corrupt companies and people who are shoving the citizens of Gotham into the ground for their dirty money. I read about you, your rampage on Santa Prisca's capitol, and your feat of gaining an army loyal to your cause that they would follow you to the ends of the Earth and back. You're a hero to your people."
Bane was slightly humbled by Anarky but frowned, "You have no idea what they did to me in there. You're lucky. If they were to catch you, you would only be prosecuted and imprisoned. In my country, they would kill you. We are not as similar as you think so don't pretend we are. "
Anarky was this time thrown off and turned away. "I was hoping you would understand my vision. If you must know, I'm already filed as a dangerous terrorist so no, I don't think I will be just prosecuted and imprisoned. I will be tortured and then killed for the acts I've done."
Bane stepped forward to stand in front of Anarky, examining him before reaching out and grabbing his mask. He tossed it to the side to the shock of the man and as he confirmed, it was nothing but a teenage boy no older than sixteen.
It dawned on Bane how young that really was and how he himself was almost the same age when he started his career of defying the government and its control. It was the reason he was chosen for the drug trial in the first place, to gain control over him as a drug addict but it backfired. Anarky was just as broken as he was in a different manner, the product of Gotham's failed system of control over its youth to think like mindless drones. He was wrong. They were similar but Anarky's drug was technology and politics.
"Dios mío, eres...tan joven," Bane said in pity. "Why are you doing this?"
Anarky was slightly furious at being unmasked but he pushed aside his rage and huffed, "I think you know why. Greatest country in the world, my ass. Most corrupt city in America, definitely. Someone has to stand up in order to make a change. No else wanted to do it so I took the initiative and made a name for myself in the span of a year. I'm now one of the top ten terrorists wanted in the United States. Made a good impression, don't you think?"
The other mercenaries were impressed and casually roamed around talking to the other anarchists as Bane kept with Anarky. He shook his head, "You realize you took a step into a life you can never walk out on, right?"
Anarky smirked, "Not like I was doing much with my life anyways. Mom was a meth head, Dad walked out on me when I was five for another woman, and I was in and out of juvey since I was eight. I knew I wasn't going to amount to much so I decided that if I'm going to be a problem, I'm going to use myself to try and fix Gotham's problems by using my delinquency to my advantage. I'll either be dead or imprisoned anyway. Might as well make a statement going out."
"You're being foolish."
"I'm doing what's right, and sometimes doing the right thing has to be achieved by being the bad guy. Batman understands that. I just wish he played a little dirtier and went after the real criminals instead of spending his nights defending petty people who don't even like him."
This caught Bane's attention but he didn't get mad, instead he wanted to know why Anarky was defending the Bat. "You...idolize the Batman?"
The kid lit another cigarette and shrugged, "Not really but with the right direction, he could do a lot of damage to Gotham's corruption. If I meet him in person, I'll try to change his mind. Imagine the Batman working with us, not against us. He would be a valuable ally. He's just too focused on thinking all criminals are bad to go after the real threats. Someone needs to show him it isn't just a white and black world. There's a whole stretch of different shades of gray in between and he needs to understand that or he'll have to die."
Giving a genuine smile, Bane said, "Where do you and I lie on the world spectrum you think?"
Anarky smirked back, "Truthfully, you're much more honorable than I am about your situation. You're lighter gray. I'm more of a middle gray but maybe that's a good thing. We both understand the world and how it works where most others would turn a blind eye towards its faults mostly for personal preservation."
"You are a smart kid. But unfortunately, you may not see the Batman after Christmas to change his mind."
That made Anarky suspicious and he didn't like where this was heading. "Wha...like are you going to kill him? Is that why you're here? And here I thought the rumors of Black Mask hiring assassins were just that. I kind of hope I can at least meet him before you guys came in."
Bane began to sigh, placing a reassuring hand on Anarky's shoulder. "On Christmas Eve, you need to stay inside. Things are going to get loco and people will die. Eight assassins will be scouring for the Bat and most will kill anybody who gets in their way. I recommend not pushing your luck because if the assassins find you have taken up hunting the Batman too, they may target you and every one of your followers. The Batman is going to die that night."
The kid scowled, "So, you and your so-called friends are going to just up and kill the Bat leaving no chance for anyone else like hunting game in a forest? That blows but I see the concern. I'll heed your advice to stay more secluded but don't think for a second I won't be active that night. Tell you what, if the Bat stops my bombs on Christmas Eve, meets me here, he doesn't agree to repent and I subdue him, I'll give you a call to come pick him up. Other than that, I'm not backing down from my right to terrorize the corrupt as they deserve, even with assassins around."
The larger man snarled back, "You're being stubborn, imprudente. You have prowess but even you must realize when to back off. I'm trying to save you-"
"I appreciate the warning, Bane, but you're not my dad. You do your thing and I'll do mine. If I kill him before any of you, at least I'll go down with that achievement. I'm not scared of men wielding guns or knives. The Bat is the only person that I fear because he's way different than criminals like us are, but I won't show it."
Unbelievable, this kid. Bane admired the confidence, but the kid was acting on idiotic pride that was going to get him killed or worse. Apparently, that's just what Anarky wanted to do, aware of all the potential consequences as well. For once, Bane didn't want to see that happen to someone he had just met with a mind so promising. But like Anarky pointed out, he couldn't exactly stop the kid and he refused to hurt him to prove a point.
Bane backed off with a disappointed grimace but didn't press the issue further. He eyed the bombs before looking around for his mercenaries, signaling them to get ready to leave.
"Fine then, I will leave you to your devices. But please, try to at least be thoughtful of what you are up against. Very few have my patience and respectful nature, and they would have killed you the moment they came into your hideout," Bane warned.
Anarky grabbed his mask and put it back on before turning his back to Bane and walking away, flicking the cigarette into a stray bucket. "Duly noted. Maybe when this all blows over, I may think about offering you a partnership if I can't get the Batman. Whoever gets to him first though..."
Shaking his head at the boy's bullheadedness, Bane and his crew were guided out into the snowy streets. As they walked to the nearest output of operations to regroup, he couldn't help but think about Anarky the whole way back.
The kid was like him under a different situation minus the addict part essentially unless nicotine counted. Like Anarky, he didn't know his father who abandoned him, his mother was basically a corpse in that prison with him and forgot at one point she even had a son, and they both hated their own governments for the unethical conflicts they had created. Perhaps there would be a partnership in the future. Being so young, he could be a mentor to Anarky.
Of course, that all depended on the upcoming events of Christmas Eve and how they play out. He may never see Anarky again, but at least he met someone he could be proud of deep down.
AN: Bane would make a good father figure if given the chance. Unlike the others in this fic, there is no sexual tension here because Anarky is canonically a teen so no bueno. And Anarky being a little shit works way better than any adult version of him in my opinion.