The Gang was overseeing Intergang's elimination protocol in Gotham. Brains and Ms. Mesmer had cleared the way for hypnotized average hitmen and women to be scattered across the city to intercept Lucinda Perez at her campaign stops. Kong and Bulldozer wanted to get personally involved. Brains lectured them on the value of pawns and their use in flushing out prey.
Next, Intergang's meta enforcement squad would commit to a frontal assault while the Gang dealt with Azrael's expected response. If the Avenging Angel of the Order of St. Batman didn't first engage the presumptive Bat-Clan and fall prey to justice and get incarcerated where Emperor Blackgate would deal with their principle target. The easiest path to seemed for now was to converge all of their targets into a single killing zone. So the efforts against Perez would be ramped up in hopes of drawing Azrael out. With patience and luck, the pretender Bat-Clan would also be terminated by the same process.
Brains strategized with Jenny Elsewhere about portaling their people to the necessary location when the time came. Jenny Elsewhere's problem came from Jenny Anywhere.
Where Elsewhere could move to any location in space-time, Anywhere had to choose between space or time. But she was hunting Jenny Elsewhere and Jenny Anywhere was getting luckier at tracking her down. No one knew why Jenny Anywhere felt compelled to kill Jenny Elsewhere. It simply was and was accepted as such.
Using her power seemed to draw Anywhere in better and better with every usage.
So Jenny was being far more conservative in using to now that her life was at stake.
So Brains' ask was a big one.
Thug, Chug, Pug, Jug, and Glug made their report.
Sister Lilhy wasn't terribly surprised, "Rumor had it Bruce Alan and Selina Falcone-Wayne had returned to Gotham for Selina to conduct Five Families business on Intergang's behalf."
"So?" Thug wondered.
"Wayne is this Bat-Man pretender," Jean-Paul Valley growled.
"So the Bat-Man controls Falcone's interests?" Luke Fox asked.
"His wife does," Sister Lilhy was quick to point out, "The Bat-Woman is one Kate Webb, a niece by marriage through Jacob Kane and Bat-Girl is Jessa Carde. A half-Filipina with no record."
"So Kate Webb is related to Katherine Webb-Kane?" Batwing demanded further clarification.
"Precisely," Sister Lilhy smiled. Luke was the other resident genius in the room.
"You may go now, Thug," Sister Lilhy told him, "You and your gang continue gathering intelligence on these people."
"Falcone-Wayne and a Bruce Alan Wayne. Got it," Thug went to gather up Chug, Pug, Jug, and Glug and finish up the evening's bar rounds with pointed questions this time. they were in for a fateful encounter. Kate Webb and Jessa Carde were trolling biker bars looking for them. Crows had spotted the known KnighstQuestors at the scene. Though their Miraclo would've worn off, the two were still formidable opponents without it. Both were willing to rile up an entire bar to find out what Sister Lilhy knew about them.
"No," Bruce Wayne grated from in front of the Bat Computer's screen displays. Ever since he'd retired from being Batman, Gotham had gone to shit. He'd honestly convinced himself that the Masked Leader and Dragon King wouldn't have gained a foothold with him being in the game. A foothold others like Derek Powers and Donald Trump had rolled over and dropped their shorts to give them. Trump already touting Putin's "super genius" at staying in power while superficially obeying the Russian constitution.
Medvedev wouldn't run from president again and Putin was assured victory and longer terms. Not that he honestly would ever run again once he consolidated power back officially into his hands. Trump thought he had that kind of vision and populist charisma. But he just wanted NYC as his kingdom on the Hudson and East Rivers. A kingdom where he paid no one and everyone worked for his table scraps. Where slavery was legalized and segregation a reborn reality.
Trump believed in the servant classes and the master class. he was the master of the master class. It was little wonder the Masked Leader had already planned for Trump's disposal. He was Adolf Hitler's ideological rival. Except for the fact Trump felt it wise to buy the Jewish supporters that he could. NYC had too high of a Jewish population to alienate them outright at first. But given time, he'd betray them too as his white supremacy came to the fore.
Meanwhile, Bruce called Barbara to bitch over her handling of the Bat-Clan's escape.
"Bruce," Babs already sounded weary from more than the late hour.
"So, you're not offering excuses?" Bruce asked tersely.
"For what?" she replied in kind.
"Letting Bruce Alan and his acolytes escape," Bruce got straight to the point.
"They tossed around squad cars and armored vehicles like they were made of paper," Gordon fired back, "And they seemed bulletproof."
"1st Gen Miraclo. Given to Bruce Alan when Rex Tyler first returned from Limbo. It was an addict's paradise in the making," Bruce warned Babs.
"I've read your uncle's rap sheet from his younger days and then he and Selina Falcone vanished. Some said to Europe," Barbara recalled.
"Hunting the Court of Owls. Never realizing the dominant Nest was here in Gotham all along," Bruce told her, "It was all an evasion so they could eventually get their hands on Lincoln March."
"And kill you," Barb did remember it seemed. Even after laying down the cowl and joining the GCPD.
"Doesn't their existence offend you?" Bruce asked, "The affrontry?"
"Last week the rant was about Azrael's new armor and how to loosely resembled your original cape and cowl. Now Bruce Alan openly adopted it. I think you're taking this too personally for it to be healthy," Barbara replied.
"They're defiling Batgirl as well," Bruce grated.
"And Batwoman yet Sonia Alcona, Kathy Duquesne and Rocki Ballantine aren't complaining."
"At least not to you," Bruce kept loosely in touch with Kathy still. Now it was just for the sex. Jaina Hudson, White Rabbit, and Selina Kyle all having moved on and Talia presumed dead.
"That's right, Kathy still futzes you," Barb was coarser than usual.
"My recreation…" he began.
"Is yours alone. But you couldn't make it to Dick and Ulla's wedding yet you cavort around with Kathy Duquesne twice a week. Heart problems are constant, not convenient," Barbara warned him, "Don't think Dick doesn't know."
"After Dick cavorted with Harley Quinn, he's hardly one to judge," Bruce grated.
"Get over yourself," Babs advised him, "Name a super villain you didn't sleep with. And the Joker doesn't count. Just because every occasion didn't yield an Elissa or a Helena doesn't mean they didn't count."
"What name did you just say?" Bruce felt his heart literally skip a beat.
"I know about Elissa. Which means Waller does too beings I found out through Oracle running a weekly update from Waller's personal database," Barbara Gordon warned him about his and Diana's love child.
"No one had dare use Elissa against me," Bruce warned Barbara.
"I'm not the supposed enemy, Bruce. Just the messenger, Elissa is a known factor. If you can, warn Queen Diana," Gordon counseled him.
"How can Waller know?" Bruce was as close to panic as he'd felt since his parent's murder, "She was born on Themiscyra."
"Diana obviously has enemies she's unaware of or courtiers with more than one set of loyalties," Babs explained to him, "Motives 101."
"The new Mercy Graves is an Amazon. She might be the leak," Bruce warned Gordon.
"I thought she was Japanese," Barbara admitted.
"She's a Foundling taken in by the Amazons the same way Aresia Lowell was or Donna Troy," Bruce explained, "Mercy was the Japanese ambassador to Italy's daughter during the Axis Powers alliance. The British sank the ship Mercy was aboard and she washed ashore on Themiscyra."
"Like Aresia," Barbara understood now, "Harboring a grudge for nearly seventy years."
"One she kept hidden unlike Fury until she escaped and joined forces with Luthor taking on the alias of Mercy Graves," Bruce supplied the final piece.
"You think Waller knows?" Gordon asked.
"I think she uses it as currency," Bruce explained, "The names of the officers' descendants in exchange for information regarding Luthor's operations."
"Waller certainly isn't above it," the Commissioner sadly admitted, "And any information obtained would have to be hidden away since the source is tainted as far as any courts of law are concerned. Its purchased with human lives."
"Waller is obsessed with continuing Batman's legacy," Bruce stated.
"Like you aren't?" Barb snorted.
"She supports Azrael and Batwing. Odds are she's behind Bruce Alan's continuing crusade with Kate Webb and Jessa Carde at his side. But all of them displayed a marked improvement in skill in this latest outing. And a relocation from Los Angeles to Gotham can't be coincidental," Bruce told her.
"Bruce, I can accept your help...quietly on the side. But this is a GCPD matter. I can't have you running off half cocked to Jean-Paul Valley or Selina Kyle and threatening the backbone of our building case," Commissioner Gordon said sternly, "Oracle already warned me that the Outlaws are coming to Gotham it protect Azrael from the Secret Society and Intergang. I think Lucinda Perez is simply more a side agenda for Intergang than Azrael is at this point."
"Never make that mistake," Bruce warned her, "Intergang may not be employing its best assets to Perez's demise but they still would profit from her death. Blood would garner the increase in votes needed to win the mayoral election by a landslide given Grange's polling numbers. Only Blood's committed opponents would transfer their support to Grange rather than endorse him."
"I have Bullock running down the attempt at murder. But I need more on these 'Heroes for Hire". Their public files are spotty at best. Ace of Blades, Killer Frost and Faye Morgana are known quantities but Blur and Maximum are question marks," Barbara confessed, "My hacktivism is on hold considering the illegality of the searches I'd have to conduct and have to justify later. But an anonymous tip from a private citizen could open avenues of investigation."
"I'll get your answers. You stop my uncle and his cronies," Bruce offered an exchange.
"Have you tried reaching out to him? Again, I mean," Barb asked.
"He's a vain old man who thinks his messianic moment has arrived after decades of failure," Bruce could have been talking about himself in Gordon's opinion, "Our previous discussion fell...flat."
"So send Kate Kane in," Barbara suggested, "She knows the backgrounds and the stakes. Especially since she was one the scene last night to talk down Red Alice. Which by the way, didn't go as planned as seven dead Crows attest to. It took Sophie Moore arresting Kate to get her to leave the scene. We skipped pressing charges and an arraignment."
"I'm certain getting getting Kate's help at this point will be easy enough," Bruce almost smiled.
"Those armored suits were based on your tech," Barbara warned Bruce, "Someone not only copied the Batsuit but they improved it. And Bat-Woman and Bat-Girl are now wearing variants of the same technology. Bruce Alan and Selina Falcone subsisted off of scraps taken from the Court of Owls for decades. Now they have the high finances to re-engineer the Batsuits? I doubt it. Someone is bankrolling them and training them. Kathy Duquesne is already involved with Young Justice so I don't see her or Rocki running rogue. Sonia is on a cop's salary and lives in Chicago so that eliminates her. But some major investor is putting time into this Bat-Clan."
"Someone who gains access to Miraclo," Bruce surmised.
"Rex Tyler is Hourman again," Barbara commented, "I could officially reach out to the JSA and get his cooperation."
"I'd begin there but don't expect miracles. Rex and Bruce Alan went their separate ways decades ago. Rex was already developing 3rd Gen Miraclo back then. The non-addictive multi-use platform Rick used to first become Hourman," Bruce advised Gordon.
"Duly noted," Barbara had been taking notes, "I've got my wish list filled out. Let me know what you find."
Bruce was annoyed that she terminated the conversation before he could. Despite his better judgment, Bruce's first inquiry went to Jaina Hudson. If anyone knew what Intergang and the Secret Society were about to do would be Jaina and the White Rabbit.
"Why Bruce, you're interrupting my beauty sleep," Jaina teased his next video call
"You were hardly asleep, Jaina. Neither was your 'associate'," Bruce replied.
"So matter of fact and formal. I smell a favor coming on. And you've hardly repaid me for the last several," Jaina hardened, "If this is about the Bat-Man you probably know more than I do."
"And the White Rabbit?" Bruce asked.
"We have no secrets. It's impossible and you know it," Jaina told him, "Look elsewhere for your answers. Possibly your Uncle Jacob Kane?"
"Is that a hint or a suggestion?" Bruce asked.
"You're the World's Greatest Detective. You deduce it," she disconnected.
As a control freak, Batman wasn't used to being the one shunted off into electronic oblivion. He was supposed to be the one doing it. Still, Commander Kane was a logical choice. Even if the Crows were obvious, Kane wouldn't be. He'd spent thirty years as a colonel in charge of Special Forces. Lastly with the Delta Force.
He'd turned down dozens of promotions to the General Staff to remain in combat readiness. Kane would've likely been Chairman of the Joint Chiefs before retirement if he hadn't turned down every offer of promotion that removed him from direct counter terrorism activity. Even in retirement he'd founded a security company that doubled as a privatized police force.
The Crows were expanding their model worldwide. Making them alternatives to public policing throughout the planet. That meant a vast pool of active intelligence sources.
Sources unavailable even to the GCPD. Intelligence sources and paid informants the police couldn't afford. Kane had sold his shares of Kane Industries to Derek Powers, giving Powers a controlling interest and relegating the company to being a subsidiary of Wayne-Powers.
Kate was still a minority shareholder. The largest one but Kane had parlayed his shares of Kane Industries into founding the Crows along with the monies he'd received from Hamilton Dynamics as his largest single investor group. Of course, being married to the CEO and owner of Hamilton helped persuade the Board to invest.
Red Alice had killed her stepmother but spared Mary, her stepsister. Making it a choice between them of who would receive the cure to the poison she'd infected them both with. A mother's love won out. But Red Alice had earned an entrenched enemy that day. Mary Hamilton sold her shares of Hamilton to various investors, excluding Derek Powers and including her own father. Mary was now a billionaire in her own right. She used the monies to invest in her underground medical clinic. Something that gave Red Cross pause.
Red Cross, Special Nurse and Triage operating Gotham's premier illegal clinic for the criminally inclined. Mary would still report gunshot wounds and stabbings. They were Red Cross' business model. Peter Hall had been a respected surgeon once before a malpractice suit proved he was libel in leaving medical instruments inside of patients during operations he'd conducted after binge drinking. Myra North had been a nurse practitioner convicted of wrongly prescribing medications that conflicted with one another with lethal side effects.
As Red Cross and Special Nurse they set up their own illegal clinic and served the criminal elements in Gotham for healthy fees for unhealthy patients seeking to avoid getting reported to the police. Discretion was the practice's by-word. It also came at a cost.
Triage had been brought in as a receptionist and triage specialist to sort out the severity of patients' needs. She handled basic first aid for the lower tier patients. Red Cross' practice was situated in Devil's Square with a side offices in the Narrows and East End,
A new branch office had just opened in Chinatown. Bruce was well aware of Red Cross and his partners. He wondered if they were supplying the Miraclo. But if so, they'd be selling to to every criminal element that could pay for it.
So that limited the choices on who would supply the Bat-Man and his cronies. Someone that wanted to see justice done and was willing to outlay serious capital on it. Someone like Jacob Kane? Bruce had to know.
Since the Secret Society for Super Villains had allied itself with the Legion of Annoyance, Libra and Major Disaster had gained insight into Dr. Fu Manchu's machinations through Cluemaster and Nadya Burnett. Most of the Annoyances were well named. The bulk of them being the former rogues' gallery of Plastic Man enemies. But a few had inconvenienced Batman in the day. Cluemaster and Burnett finally outwitting Batman when they'd run the Secret Society. The alliance had been a secret until now. But both Libra and Cluemaster felt the need to exploit their full potential together to eliminate a target like Azrael. A foe like Azrael, with allies such as Batwing and the Order of St. Batman was the stuff of nightmares for most of the Society and the Annoyances. A combined show of strength was needed to allay those fears.
"Intergang is proving to be most accommodating," the new, female Libra admitted.
"Only because they want to use us," Major Disaster was far more cynical. They were being put up in an Intergang owned four-star hotel. The staff took no notice of people in costumes. Big Sir was enjoying ice cream for breakfast thanks to the complimentary room service.
"Big Boss wants this rather badly," Arthur Brown, the failed game show host turned Cluemaster, admitted.
"And Stephanie is no longer in town to interfere," Nadya remarked concerning the former Spoiler. Cluemaster knew Steph had abandoned her Spoiler identity but he thought she was attending MIT with Harper Row not being the new Nightwing.
It showed how seriously communications had broken down between them. Ever since she'd first become Spoiler to thwart her father's criminal plans. Of course, he had ordered his own daughter's death for learning who he truly was. Her own mother had been in on it. So Nightwing was an orphan in every definition but the legal one.
She'd crashed with Harper and Cullen Row while Harper became Bluebird and Orphan stayed with them to become Black Bat. Harper had left the life behind to enroll at MIT while Spoiler became Nightwing. Cullen was dating Marvin White and peer mentoring at Young Justice. Wendy Harris rounded out the support team trio. But it being discovered that Marvin and Wendy were both children of the Calculator by different mothers and siblings to Felicity Smoak. News Felicity had been ecstatic to learn.
As Overwatch and the CEO and President of Smoak Tech, Felicity aided Oracle in guiding the Outlaws in their various undercover missions posing as assassins for hire. Overwatch was even dating the Arrow. Oliver Queen and Felicity being considered "the" couple of Starling City. Unlike in Seattle, in Starling no took notice that Oliver was a twenty-six year old doppelganger of the deceased fifty-two old Green Arrow.
Because Ollie originated from the destroyed Earth-27 universe and thanks to Rebirth couldn't remember that. All he knew was he was a genetic and physical match for the New Earth's Green Arrow at his own age. Making him the "father" of twenty-year olds Emiko Queen, Thea Queen, and Conner Hawke.
At least according to paternity testing that Oliver hadn't wanted to be a part of because of the questions it would raise. But Emiko and Conner had insisted. Nyssa Raatko knew how it would turn out and used it to bolster Thea's case as Sin petitioned the courts for a share in Queen Consolidated. With Mia Deardon and Conner signing over everything to Emiko and Oliver pleading 'no contest' that left Sin an opening to gain control of the controlling ten percent that neither Conner nor Derek Powers controlled. Conner just had to be disinherited. Or at least his stake handed to Thea. Whether Sin would hand Powers his controlling interest remained to be seen. It seemed Thea was willing to negotiate with both sides. Something Emiko didn't have time to do if Red Arrow was constantly on assignment. Which is how she preferred it.
Streak Carter, the sister to the original speedster, raced into the conference room the leadership was using, "Checkoutthenews!"
When she got excited Streak Carter had a bad tendency to beak in blue streaks.
"Wearen'ttheonlyplayersintown!" she blurted.
"Take a breath," Major Disaster urged.
"Who the hell invited the fake Bats?" Streak Carter managed to ask in a fast but still slower pace.
"But it seems Intergang's false trail operation is well underway," Nadya noted. The scarred former model had turned out to be a criminal genius.
Jenny Elsewhere walked in, "Good. You're all here. Brains has info."
If anyone minded the pink bubblegum hair colored Chinese woman's entrance, no one said a word.
"We have been summoned," Libra simply snarked.
Funky Flashman caught them in the hallway, "I've got news."
"Brains has too as well," Jenny stated, "That's why we're on our way to visit the Gang."
"It can't wait," Funky demanded, "Someone hired the Outlaws to exterminate us. Us!"
"It was bound it happen," Jenny shrugged nonchalantly.
"You knew," Major Disaster realized.
"Knew what?" Big Sir was utterly clueless as to where the conversation had gone.
"Brains has details you'll need," Jenny smirked, "I'd listen like your lives depended on it."
"Very droll, even for you, Ms. Elsewhere," Nadya retorted.
"That's why they pay me the big bucks, here we are. I'll be leaving you now," Jenny ushered them into the Presidential Suite.
"Good," Cluemaster was still bitter. Funky Flashman had decided to join the party out of a sense of self preservation.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, walking land mass, I can see from Mr. Flashman's visage he's aware of the offer made on the Dark Web. Everyone is assuming the Outlaws will be the ones to accept to. But it's an open offer. Others could attempt to collect as well," Brains decided to forgo the pleasantries, "Good news is: Deathstroke and Deathblow are both too busy. Bad news: the Titans aren't. This is Vigilante's stock and trade profile type exchange. I'd expect her to recruit help from Tattooed Man and Cinder, And technically, T-Man is calling himself 'Ink' these days."
"Oh shit! Am I glad I found you!" Mighty Bruce burst into the room, "Cheroot and I found out the Legion is listed on the Secret Society contract."
Which explained why Mighty Bruce, a non-smoker, smelled like cigar smoke. The First Family of Crime: Stogie, Cigarello, Cheroot, and Upweep were all unrepentant smokers even in non-smoking rooms. The highly tattooed Cheroot, like her sister Upweep, wore her hair red and her body covered in art. Cheroot was the technical and computer expert in the family. The even more emo Upsweep was the surveillance and infiltration asset. Cigarello was the desperado-styled muscle and Stogie was the strategist with an Al Capone fetish. Right now Cigarello was standing by while Upsweep "confessed her many sins of the flesh" to Father M'Buttu.
Gotham City Garage, the famed biker garage, was their next stop. Both outlaws would feel far more comfortable there than a church. Which was why the good father felt they should stay with the church gathering. Upsweep shaved the sides and back of her head and piled her long red hair atop it. She was committed to the shaving now that she'd tattooed the sides and back of her head.
Cigarello felt his sisters were just into pain. They'd come for the end of confession so Father M'Buttu closed the booth and went to the rectory, "The girl and her brother were both armed."
"I was aware," Sister Lilhy watched the outer monitors, "Their next stop is Gotham City Garage. I've warned Thug and his boys to be quiet."
"You bugged their van," Father M'Buttu realized.
"It seemed prudent, Batwing pulled up FBI dossiers on them. Upsweep and Cigarello of the First Family of Crime and known associates of the Secret Society," Sister Lilhy told him, "We were a little too public during the Occupation."
"People needed hope. They still do," Father M'Buttu replied. M'Buttu originated from what was now the Iron Country in Africa. Iron Knife, the despotic leader, had killed every person that knew his real name except for Father M'Buttu.
The Catholic Church had sheltered him and he went to seminary as a calling. The Vatican posted him in America to afford him greater safety. M'Buttu had thrown that shroud of secrecy away by aligning with the Order of St. Batman during the Occupation and beyond. Now he had to hope they could keep him safe.
Commissioner Gordon was annoyed to see the CALLER ID BLOCKED on her screen.
technically that was impossible. Only Oracle had the wherewithal to do the job.
"This had better not be you, Jason," she growled into the handset.
"Is that anyway to say 'hello'?" he chuckled back, "Especially after we offed the Masked Leader and Dragon King for Gotham?"
"You'd better not be coming to town," Babs warned the leader of the Outlaws. The only trainee ever rejected as Robin. And the only one ever killed by the Joker. Though the Joker perfected his torturous and mind control techniques that later proved successful with Tim Drake. He'd branded Jason's face and killed Jason for his angry defiance.
Nyssa Raatko's intervention on behalf of her father resurrected Jason and made him the second Red Hood. An identity designed to spite the Joker. But Jason, inspired by Li Harper, adopted his own guise from his rebirth at Arkham. he became the Arkham Knight and she was was now the third Red Hood. The first to abandon the ruby quartz helmeted mask and just use a hood and a domino mask. The twin pistols were required touches for any Red Hood.
"The field is getting crowded, Jason. Hitman signaled his willingness to go up against the Secret Society and Vigilante is flying in with a team of Titans," Barbara warned.
"Give my love to Pat," Jason chuckled again.
"The only people not showing up are the DEO and Andrea Beaumont," Gordon complained.
"Um...about that,,,," Jason hedged.
"Oh God," Barbara groaned, "I've already got a three-way shooting war between Intergang, the Heroes for Hire, and the GCPD. I don't need this bullshit."
"Yet it keeps piling up," Jason snorted, "Look, Perez may or may not be a feint to keep the GCPD on her rather than defending Tricorner."
"Sorry Jason, an Alderwoman warrants official protection whereas a criminal vigilante doesn't. Besides, I'd think you wouldn't want me observing you at your work," Barbara replied.
"Just had to share the thought," Jason told her.
"I suppose Carnes provided you with your way in and your old digs," Gordon was fishing and they both knew it.
"Off the record, Commissioner, and I still can't say," Todd replied and hung up.
"Bastard's taunting me," Gordon grumbled.
"Yo! Commish!" Det. Lt. Harvey Bullock strolled into her office, "Ya sound like ya gottta bad phone call."
"The Outlaws are in town," Babs sighed.
"Throw `em a thank you parade," Bullock chuckled.
"They're here to kill the Secret Society," Gordon grumbled.
"Who ain't?" Bullock asked, "TSA marked former GCPD detective Pat Trayce strollin' through the airport. She had Carla Monetti and Mark Richards wit' her."
"So Vigilante, Cinder, and Ink are on the streets," Barbara groaned, "No probables?"
"Barely any luggage," Bullock replied, "Overnight bags only."
"Did any units pick them up leaving the airport?" the Commissioner asked.
"Ya'll love dis," Bullock told her, "They hire nine Ubers and rode in three. By the time we got da dispatch records, they were outta sight and probably pickin' up rides wit' Metro."
"So Slade Wilson has a probable safe house in Gotham and we haven't a clue as to where it is," Barbara complained.
"`Bout sums to up," Bullock said dryly.
"Thanks for that, Harv," Gordon said ruefully, "I wonder if Dad had any ideas?"
"Dunno, ya'd have ta ask him that," Bullock shrugged, "Yer dad was smart but he weren't no Bats."
"Harv," Babs chided him, "Did you just compliment Batman?"
"Me? Nope. Never," Bullock smirked.
"And I, of course, have an in with Batman," Gordon exposed his manipulation.
"He were yer ex," Bullock grinned.
"Get out, you sham. You're lucky Bruce called earlier to offer help," Barbara dialed him.
Bruce answered on the first ring, "Bullock talk some sense into you?"
"How did you know….?" Barbara couldn't even finish the question.
"Bullock's a good cop. And he knew your secret life as Batgirl," Bruce replied.
"If I hear either of you compliment the other one again today, I'm resigning," Commissioner Gordon threatened.
Bruce put his Batman hat on and even his voice deepened, "Then we need to find Bruce Alan and Selina Falcone and unearth what their connection to Jacob Kane is. Kane knows more about what's occurring than anyone else in Gotham besides Charise Carnes."
"I can reach out to Kane while you check property registries," Babs offered,
"I'll enlist Kate as well," Bruce counter offered, "I'll also put Veronica Vreeland on the case."
"That'll drive Kane crazy," Barbara gloated. She despised the Crows almost as much as she hated Knightfall.
"The playing field has gotten more crowded than originally anticipated," Knightfall warned the Outlaws in their old Bunker headquarters, re-equipped with everything but Oracle's Data Womb. A satellite network repeater was installed instead. Oracle was on remote listening in through comms back in Chicago. Arkham Knight, Red Hood, and Oracle all agreed Knightfall planned for that event and had her own motives behind it.
"I need Azrael and Batwing left alive just as I need Hellequin, Red Alice, the Wonderland Gang, and the Jokerz left alive," Knightfall announced.
"Why?" John Black Bison asked. The former high school teacher had become the Black Bison full time after being accused of being a super villain while defending tribal rights.
"For the fear factor," Crimson Avenger understood. Lee Travis trafficked in fear as well. They all did. Even the adolescent Protector. Dylan Harris had been a drug addict on the streets when Jason Hart, the original Protector saved him and put him through rehab. At fourteen, with a part-time job, Dylan started day trading and capitalized his wages into a small fortune.
When Protector died, Dylan vowed the work would continue but with a "scared straight" approach. So the new Protector was born. His activities earned him Oracle's attention. Street Avenger and Wild Dog had also earned themselves Jason's attention. The Icelandic demigoddess, Shieldmaiden, had been the only Outlaw other than Red Arrow to directly seek them out. Pagan was the newest recruit and another vigilante from Gotham's streets. Laurel Anne Hardy, Sparrow, had come to them from the Southwest. She'd terrorized cartels and corrupt cops alike before Oracle recruited her.
Squire and Ravager were the other veteran founders of the group. Beryl Hutchinson having earned the title from the original Knight himself in the United Kingdom. Even the new, government appointed Knight hadn't replaced Squire. He'd simply taken on a Page instead. She was in a civil union with Slade Wilson's daughter, Rose Wilson-Worth. Ravager had been disowned for her love for Beryl. Squire's actions as an Outlaw prevented her from visiting her own mum. So both were orphans of one kind or another.
Squire could have become the new Knight but she'd earned her title as Squire and was content with it. She'd even donated the Sheldrake estate and its Knights Cave to the London Metro Police. The new Knight and Page were overjoyed to inherit the super-charged Bentley known as the Knight's Ride. The bulletproof super car had a jet powered booster like a Batmobile. It was also luxurious with every amenity known to auto aficionados.
Rene Ramirez was the second Wild Dog, having inherited the legacy from the original. Street Avenger had been a homeless vigilante supporting his crusade through monies taken from his criminal "victims". Street Avenger strongly believed in redistribution of wealth from criminals back to their homeless prey. He paid for programs to get people clean and sober. He donated money to legal aid clinics. Street Avenger felt preventative measures were the best chance for people to avoid becoming him.
Protector assisted his efforts. Dylan had set up several trusts using stock dividends to fund programs. His Outlaws contracts more than indulging any lifestyle he chose. But he and Street Avenger still gave most of the monies away.
Everyone had their motives. Pagan avenging her sister's brutal gang rape and murder. Black Bison, the injustices heaped upon the Navajo people and his students before he "retired". Wild Dog his wife's murder and to make his daughter safe
Shieldmaiden was the most oblique. Like Ravager she enjoyed a good fight. But like Squire, she had a high minded concept of justice. Crimson Avenger was the closest to sharing any form of ideal of justice beyond Protector. Red Arrow simply wanted to avenge the death of her father Green Arrow and the imminent death of her half-brother, the second Green Arrow and Speedy through Mia's abuse on the streets giving her HIV to begin with. Arrow was fulfilling his father's dying wish to right his wrongs. Sparrow was righting her own wrongs. That left Arkham Knight avenging himself upon the criminal world for what the Joker did to him.
Red Hood's motives had been lost along with her origins on Earth-4. She and Arkham Knight had fought to defend the helpless in a post-apocalyptic Gotham and her parents' deaths at the hands of the Joker. In that history a fourteen-years older Jason Todd had taken in teenaged Li Harper and they'd become lovers and partners in doling out vengeance. In the New Earth Rebirth history they were the same age. In the New Universe, Jason and Oracle were lovers leaving Li as both's best friend. Knightfall knew all of their secrets and they knew hers.
"Black Siren was arrested by the Crows after Hellequin hit her in the head with a baseball bat," Knightfall sighed, "Plastic Woman and Nancy Morgan are affecting her liberation. Meanwhile, the Secret Society had become aware of the contract out for them. My cut out is obligated to pay anyone who collects the bounty. I prefer that be you. But with an addendum. I wan them spared and aware that I bought their lives in behalf of Intergang."
"That's an irritating twist," Arkham Knight complained.
"I need them loyal to Intergang, not rotting in a potter's field," Knightfall told them, "This way if my funding this exercise is discovered by a rival on the 100 then I play it off as a loyalty insurance scheme."
"There's no upside for us," Arrow replied, "To downplays our entire business model."
"The money is still good," Knightfall shrugged.
"Money isn't why we do what we do," Red Hood reminded her.
"But I investigated your finances," Knightfall continued unabated, "After your purchases in Chicago, you actually need the money. Kill the Secret Society and the Annoyances and there's no payout. You pretend to be mercenaries. Play the part to perfection and your mortgage is paid off with bonuses for all of you to continue buying groceries and ammunition in the event Ms. Queen loses control of Queen Consolidated."
"Knight?" Squire asked their leader.
"We do it. But first we make a supply run for vehicles. Fortunately I know the garage that Batman used to have his Batmobiles built. The designer always keeps prototypes of variants on hand. With Batman retired, no one else will be looking it acquire them. Knightfall, you'll front the costs. Consider it insurance to secure our compliance," Arkham Knight decided.
"You think he'll sell?" Knightfall inquired, "Batman inspired fanatical subservience. Look at the Gordons, Azrael, or even Amanda Waller."
"The designer has fallen on hard times without Batman funding him and his compulsion to continue designing Batmobiles no one buys," Arkham Knight told her, "LuthorCorp is being proprietary in equipping Batman Incorporated."
"So why doesn't he stop building them out of pocket?" Pagan asked.
"Why do you avenge the death of your sister?" Sparrow asked, "It's called an obsession for a reason."
"Word is, Batman shopped his flying Batmobile from an alternate vendor," Red Hood added.
"So this inventor might be open to some financial persuasion," Arrow understood now.
"And its his son in charge of the shop, not his dad anymore," Arkham Knight sold the effort.
"So he might not have daddy's loyalties," Red Arrow gleefully speculated.
"Look, I can get you there but then all obvious connections between my public and private businesses have to cease being affiliated with the Outlaws," Knightfall warned them.
"Just get us there with plastic. That'll be enough," Arkham Knight promised.
"Pretty damn convenient that your contact is also the unofficial HQ for a portion of the KnightsQuest," Pagan noted their arrival at Gotham City Garage.
"If you believe in that sort of thing," Black Bison had been on something of a spiritual walkabout lately. Coming to grips with his ancestral animism and modern spiritual frameworks. He found the Order of St, Batman, venerating Batman without worshiping him, refreshing.
"What's the pass code?" Jug asked as the Outlaws made to enter.
"I don't blow your futzing balls off," Arkham Knight pressed his pistol into the biker's groin.
"Close enough," but Jug followed them in. Thug, Chug, Pug, and Glug awaited them.
"If to ain't the Arkham Knight," Thug bellowed to rouse the slumbering members of his gang.
"Good to see you too," Arkham Knight holstered his pistol.
"They oughtta throw you a damn parade," Thug clasped Arkham Knight's forearm in the old style greeting.
"Desmond here?" Arkham Knight asked.
"Yo, Dez!" Thug bellowed again, "Customers."
"You're the Outlaws," Dez was excited, "I could whip up something special in a couple of weeks."
"We'll settle for the Batmobile prototypes you have on hand," Arkham Knight replied, "Batman will never collect them."
"You're certain? I know you raided the Batman, Inc, caches. But Batman is never coming back?"
"Never," Red Hood answered.
"You're the new Red Hood," Dez gushed, "I'm such a fan."
"Then you can help us?" Red Hood asked.
"I had several designs ready before Bruce Wayne subcontracted the last Batmobile out to a supposedly non-existent Wayne Aerospace division," Dez grumbled, "He said it wasn't personal but I wasn't my father. And he found my other clients 'questionable'."
"Sounds like Wayne. Holier than thou," Arrow remarked. Ollie was unaware that Bruce was Batman. Only Jason, Oracle, and Li knew that. Charise had deduced it of course. But Knightfall saw it as leverage to be employed if the day should come if their paths crossed professionally or personally.
"We are talking about a five million dollar investment in parts and labor," Dez warned them.
"Three million and an exclusive contract to maintain our fleet," Arkham Knight countered.
"Cash?" Dez wondered.
"Better, a prepaid black card." Arkham Knight showed him the plastic debit card and then a second, "With a five billion dollar card to set up a secret garage for the fleet in Chicago."
"It'll take more than five million," Dez said.
"I didn't say 'million'. I said five billion," Arkham Knight told him, "We already own the property. It's an abandoned Queen Consolidated paint factory. We just need it refitted to your purposes. And a starting million dollar annual retainer to fly out when needed and stay as long as needed. Complete R&D budget, zero oversight. it's all yours."
"Someone serious is bankrolling this," Dez realized.
"Someone with a common vision and resources to spare," Arkham Knight told him,"Now: in or out?"
"Book me a flight to Chicago and set me up with a Realtor. I'm moving," Dez accepted the debit cards.
"We prefer using Carnes Development. They're...discreet," Red Hood promised him.
"And Queen Consolidated is liquidating properties in the area," Red Arrow told him.
"I'm your guy," Dez promised.
"But Dez…." Chug sniffled.
"It's been great boys but as soon as a clear my work bay, I'm shutting down," Dez had real enthusiasm pouring out of him.
"Now for those prototypes," Arkham Knight refocused him.
"In the back. I'll just be running the numbers up here verifying the funds," Dez sat down at his computer and pulled up the necessary banking sites.
"Holee shit!" they heard him exclaim.
"Dudes! You want paint jobs to go with those?" Dez called after them.
"You owe me a drink," Arrow told Red Arrow.
"I'm not even old enough it buy in the States," Emiko complained.
"Just give me cash," Ollie chuckled.
"You can't bring meta-human bodyguards to an Alderman's meeting!" Blood raged.
"Actually, she can," Commissioner Gordon had the by-laws pulled up on her phone, "These are public hearings and her security detail is licensed by Gotham City so they're free to operate within this city."
"Unless of course you have a vested interest in keeping them away," Gordon finished.
"Now I'm the bad guy?" Blood asked, "I'm the candidate running on a transparency platform."
"Then, for the record, explain to me the Church of Blood," Barbara asked.
"A euphemism. I support neighborhood revivals throughout the Narrows. Several private donors helped renovate churches. They're unofficially known as Churches of Blood. The donors contribute to the Organization. The Organization renovates the churches," Blood explained as he had publicly before, "It's a term of endearment not a freakish cult."
"I never used the words 'freakish' or cult'," Gordon pointed out.
"It was implied, Commissioner," Blood sniffed.
"Like you said, your campaign is above board. Campaign volunteers less so," Gordon continued.
"Most of them had their voting rights restored to them. They're not ballot stuffing," Blood downplayed another accusation that had been leveled.
"Would any of them have current or former ties with Intergang?" Gordon asked.
"Is this an official inquiry?" Blood asked.
n"This is transparency at work, Alderman. Become mayor of the countries third largest city and to only gets worse from here on in," Barbara advised him. NYC and Metropolis being the larger two.
"Why confront me then?" Blood asked, "As you said, I've been beyond reproach."
"You also stand to gain the most votes if Alderwoman Perez dies," Gordon stated, "And you are trailing in the polls and we have days until the primary narrows the field to two candidates."
Everyone looked to Grange.
"What?" she said meekly.
"You stand a chance of staying alive after the primary if Perez dies," Blood said coldly, "And you have known ties with Knightfall who has purported ties to Intergang."
"Not enough support to win a general election. I'm conceding the race," Grange said miserably. Knightfall had become her Achilles Heel and then abandoned her to the wolves. Being the mayor during two occupations by external powers and the Scarecrow's fear toxin cloud had killed any and all real support Grange still had. Hamilton Hill faced scandal after scandal but remained Gotham's mayor for an unprecedented five terms. Hill's retirement resulted in Lincoln March's election. Another one term mayor. A victimizer rather than a leader. It was more than Grange had wanted but she desired to be a footnote in history now rather than a header in how to fail.
Knightfall had restored Gotham's integrity with the Outlaws' murderous participation. Gordon's SRU unit reported sightings of the Outlaws in town. In a string of seeming coincidences, Gotham City Garage was going out of business and selling out. The KnightsQuest was outraged but the Order of St, Batman itself issued no unofficial position. The wisest decision they could have made.
Azrael and Batwing were strangely quiet. But the KnightsQuest was being felt across Gotham. Even Devil's Square had reported altercations between Jokerz and the KnightsQuest. The reports coming from Red Cross and Special Nurse, who dealt with the aftermath on the Jokerz' behalf. Perez wanted to scrap the deal with Knightfall, plunging Gotham back into the days before Batman's crusade.
Azrael and Batwing were good. Damn good. But neither was the Dark Knight and neither had inherited his legacy. They'd merely borrowed it and lacquered a veneer of legitimacy upon it. Exchanging veneration for inheritance. Perez's dream was to uphold the anti-vigilante laws. In the Narrows and East End that didn't sell well after the Order of St. Batman had kept the Nazis and Imperialists from slaughtering the segregated ghetto residents. Two-thirds of a city pushed into two districts.
The KnightsQuest had maintained law and order while Azrael, Batwing, and Sister Lilhy had brought in stolen supplies and even luxury goods taken from the Nazi benefactors living large of off everyone else's stolen largess. They'd supported Chinatown as well given the Imperialists had pushed every non-Japanese Asian resident in Gotham into it.
The Imperial Forces dealt with their captive populace even more harshly than their Nazi allies.
Chinatown's residents and interned citizens were against Perez's planned persecution of the Order of St. Batman and were making their votes known. Tricorner and Otisburg had also benefited from the Order and its KnightsQuest. So Perez drew her major support from the third of white voters who felt displaced after displacing the majority of Gotham's citizens and were returned to their former lives by the Repatriation Council Blood headed up. Given a few sticklers for law and order, especially amongst influential Cherry Hill, Burnside, and Gotham Heights residents and the race was squarely between Blood and Perez. But Asian and Latino voters were split between Perez and Blood, giving Perez a slight lead.
Grange's voters tended to split demographically between the two should Grange be assuredly removed from the race after the primary. Gotham's voting reform laws stipulated should any candidate secure 54% of the vote during the primary, they'd won the general election already and would be seated as the next mayor after the outgoing mayor's term ended. Grange's early exit would make such a victory theoretically possible.
Intergang was making it so by threatening Perez. Blood knew this and wondered how Knightfall had lost the 100's confidence. Little did he realize that Grange had been planning her abrupt departure form the race for weeks and that Swarm and Jenny Elsewhere had seen early drafts of the speech whereby she withdrew early, before the primary. Big Boss' pollsters showed Perez achieving a 54% majority of votes come primary election day, thus ending the contest. Grange couldn't be propped up so Perez had to be eliminated or discredited.
Intergang's investigators had found Perez suffered from opioid addiction from a back injury some years before. She was also a functional alcoholic. All things Ace of Blades and her Heroes for Hire had discovered. But Gotham was overrun by illicit street drugs. Prescription med abuse and alcoholism were the least of the citizens' concerns. To appeal to Perez's swing voters, Blood had to crack down on Knightfall's license system,
something he wouldn't do. But he would ramp up arrests and prosecutions as well as asset recovery from license breakers.
Knightfall sold that to her criminal contacts but Empress Penguins and the Penguins Gang had to put down a simmering revolt from the Riddler and the Riddles. Vengeance was too consumed with finding the Batman that had broken her father, Bane. No one had ever found Batman and Azrael had taken an interest in Vengeance. Which didn't bode well for her.
She refused to accept the fact Bane broke himself through VENOM addiction and adding Blockbuster serum to to to ramp up its effects. He was a broken carcass of a man living at the new Arkham Asylum. His mind gone to delusional fantasies of ultimate victory over the Batman. He also dreamt of his defeating his pharma rival, Hourman. The revelation that Rex Tyler was a seventy year old man that had continually beaten Bane would further break down his delusional dreams. The Bat-Man appearing on the news had only reinforced Bane's fever dream state.
"I'm withdrawing," Grange suddenly interrupted the debate, "The contest is between you two. If I'm destine d to lose I'll do so on my own terms."
"An...unexpected choice, Marian," Perez saw the potential windfall.
"Are you certain?" Blood, however, was privy to Intergang's gathered intelligence
just as Party Girl, PI had gathered official evidence of Perez's drug and alcohol abuse.
Chelle Parker was the hippest, most stylistic private investigator in the business and she didn't come cheaply. She had a heavy bar tab to pay after all from the clubbing she did between cases and after hours. But she was also the most effective PI in the business and she kept up her tri-state credentials so she could work in Gotham, her native New York City, or Metropolis. Her findings were hitting the news cycle tomorrow.
"Leaked" by a Blood staffer to Summer Gleason and Jack Ryder's Hot Seat program for television viewers. Vicki Vale was in on the print side of the expose.
Elizabeth Boyd, the syndicated Daily Star reporter in Intergang's pocket, had a scathing tell all prepped and ready to run to go even further in Lena Luthor's tabloid styled newspaper than the Gotham Gazette would allow Vale to go. As smear campaigns went, it was well funded and orchestrated. Blood's campaign hadn't even hired Chelle Parker. They'd simply been given the results of her investigation. Blood was willing to wait out the primary. His staff disagreed and went behind him to deliver the goods. Today, the news cycle would focus on Grange's withdrawal.
Tomorrow, the cycle would shift to Perez's capacity to effectively govern given her multiple addictions and whether they created vulnerabilities for any successful mayoral candidate. Projections put Grange's voters leaning hard into Blood afterwards. Making a general election necessary with the defection of key swing voters into his camp as well. Gotham might even see its first runoff election following the general election. A runoff where a simple majority would win the day. But the contest was still too open for Big Boss' tastes, so with the Intergang Director's approval, he'd gone forward with the assassination attempts.
Jacob Kane was still licking his wounds that Claire Montgomery's Heroes for Hire had taken the Perez job away from the Crows. Crows Security or Duquesne Security typically handled such high profile targets in Gotham. Duquesne focusing on high end spenders' security and the Crows their privatized police force. The Batmen being Kane's militarized security unit.
His query now was what to do with the Bat-Man, Bat-Woman, and Bat-Girl. He couldn't hide them away now that they'd received public exposure. Reactions were mixed. Crows Security was obligated to issue a joint statement with the GCPD condemning them. But Kane made certain the Heroes for Hire received the lion's share of blame for killing the assassin. Making motive and potential employers impossible to track down. The SRU and the Crows knew about Intergang's hard on to kill Perez. which is why they'd advised the campaign to hire additional security beyond what the GCPD could traditionally supply a candidate.
Kane was just angry that Perez had stepped outside of Gotham to hire the muscle. Meta-human muscle in addition to it. Kane was well aware of their origins. Which only added salt to a festering wound that the "law and order" candidate, Perez, who campaigned on a platform to increase the Crows' presence in Gotham's streets had turned to rank criminals. Two of them actual Third Reich-era Nazis. The less said about Killer Frost the better.
Kane's hackers had unearthed Blur and Maximum's real names but they were unknowns with no criminal affiliations. Still, despite their non-Aryan backgrounds they freely affiliated with former Nazis and they worked well as a coordinated unit. Which bespoke of Fourth Reich involvement to account for working well with Faye Morgana. Ace of Blades and Killer Frost had at least flirted with the Justice League Unlimited and Homeland Security.
Blur and Maximum, as inconceivable as to seemed to the Jewish Kane, could have been Baroness Blitzkrieg and Baron Blitzkrieg the younger. The power sets matched and the two were never unmasked even before their fellow Fourth Reichers. Blur's Mayan blood and Maximum being Black would have earned them death sentences under the Masked Leader's regime, or would it?
They had obvious connections to the original Baron Blitzkrieg and Von Hoogstraten owed Baron Blitzkrieg for decades of loyalty stretching back to when Hoogstraten was still known by his birth name of Adolf Hitler and well before he became the Masked Leader. Kane's family had fled the Lutheran pogroms of Jews that preceded National Socialism by centuries. The Kane family being major industrialists in Gotham a hundred years before Thomas Wayne married Martha Kane. The Kanes that survived the League of Assassins purge of all things Court of Owls in Gotham sold out to Derek Powers when he moved into Gotham's spheres. Their shares of Wayne Enterprises and Bruce's own stupidity at surrendering his ten percent majority stake leaving him with 45% of the company had enabled Powers to acquire Wayne Enterprises and shutter Batman and Batman Incorporated's funding.
All of Wayne Enterprise's black files became public and the massive R&D budget that funded Batman's equipment become shareholder portfolio fodder. For the five remaining shareholders outside of Powers and Wayne that was. They immediately voted with Powers to weaponize and sell the equipment to the military. Batman's last act had been one of sabotage, destroying the Wayne servers that held those secrets. Batman was now wanted for criminal property destruction and liable for the loss of billions in potential sales.
Kane had managed to reverse engineer most of Batman's equipment before then
combining Batman's fighting style with his deductive reasoning and investigative arsenal with military training had taken elite Delta Force, SEAL, Special Forces, Marine Force Recon, and Airborne Rangers candidates to a new level of expertise. Waller supplied the recruits. Kane managed the training and deployments on Waller's behalf
but she was still obsessed with reacquiring a single Batman recruit. Even as dedicated as the Batmen were, they lacked Batman's obsessive qualities. Therefore failing to reach Waller's demanded, lofty expectations for a Batman replacement.
Even Andrea Beaumont as the Phantasm paled in comparison in Waller's eyes. Phantasm had blinked when it came to killing the Joker and indirectly been responsible for Tim Drake's trauma. The trauma that shuttered the Bat-Clan. Barbara Gordon had retired to join the GCPD. Even Bruce Wayne's natural replacement, Dick Grayson, had retired from being Nightwing, married, and settled into being Bludhaven's DA. His wife, the former Little Mermaid, was a Danish veteran of the original Global Guardians.
Ulla Paske was mother to their daughter, Nori, and the arriving son still in her womb. She was also stepmother to Mar'i Grayson, a surprise from Dick's Robin-era fling with Koriand'r, the Starfire from Tamaran.
Kori had abdicated the throne and taken her daughter to Earth with her. Starfire had died on an Outsiders mission while giving Bill Dunn, the would-be second Superman a blowjob when his ejaculation blew out of the back of her skull. Mar'i, called Mary for consumption sake, moved from Puerto Rico to take up being with her father. Dick had never known about Mar'i until Donna Troy showed up with her. With Kori dead, the time for secrets had ended.
Ulla was the one to reconcile father and daughter with her unconditional love for the new addition to the household. Ulla understood being half-human and half-something else so she embraced the tween as her own. Ulla also could show Mar'i how to fly under her own power.
Dick and Ulla were consultants for the new Justice League Global Guardians. Dick handled legalities and investigative consultations while Ulla focused on the practicalities of being international superheroes after merely being national operatives. The Global Guardians were regionally affiliated to cut down on the small and mid-level crises to free up the shrinking Justice League International for globe shattering events. The Outsiders were domestic US agents and Dark Justice handled occultic threats across the globe. Dark Justice generally operated in secret. The outset of the program had been a rousing success and the permanent members of the Justice League International's First Responders found their work significantly pared down, freeing up more personal time.
Kane's Batmen were busier than ever averting national security crises in the face of Olivia McKay's pissing off over half the United Nations with her refusal to embrace the proposed fascist city-sate Gotham would have become under Luthor's UN leadership. Lex was facing a serious ethics charge though as the USA pressed its claims of continued illegalities on Luthor's part. They had intercepted communiques between Luthor and the Immortal Dr. Fu Manchu, Luthor's placeholder in the Legion of Doom as well as Luthor rallying his loyalists to rebuff Fu Manchu's repeated takeover attempts.
Lena was smart enough to distance herself and Luna from Luthor's legal imbroglio. The Contessa Erica Alexandra de Portenza, Luthor's publicly estranged wife yet caretaker of his heir, Luthor El-Fadil, stayed supportive. Every delegate had been aware of the USA's proof of Luthor's complicity with the Legion of Doom when he escaped impeachment by resigning the presidency. They'd embraced him as UN Secretary-General in exchange for his setting aside all affiliation with the Legion of Doom.
The public scandal was too much for even Luthor's staunchest allies in the Middle East, Central Asia, North Korea, and the Iron Country and its African allies. Only Iran and Algeria stood by Luthor. Iran because it divided public opinion and Algeria because the Pax Mundi was all that stood between Cuba reasserting control over the government and South Africa from overrunning the border.
Dagar the Desert Hawk, the Pax Mundi's supreme commander, was personally overseeing the peacekeepers during this political upheaval. Dagar himself responsible for the invasion of Gotham prior to the fascist occupation on Luthor's express orders.
Orders he'd blindly, and illegally, carried out. Blackening Dagar and the Pax Mundi's eyes. Stormwatch and the Pax Mundi had been dragged into the fray by "peacekeeping" the Nazi and Imperialist occupation of Gotham until the day of the referendum at gunpoint to "legitimize" the regime change.
Only both leaders, the Masked Leader and the Dragon King, were assassinated on the eve of the their triumph and the Outlaws and the Injustice Gang liberated Gotham. The Injustice Gang repaid by licenses from Knightfall to rob the Gotham Federal Reserve. Hellequin and Red Alice's Wonderland Gang took their newfound freedom to rob Intergang's Five Families' inherited banks nominally under Selina Wayne's control but actually operated by Big Boss.
Intergang controlled the Falcone and Familias banks. Selina received a profit but the banks laundered millions of dollars in Intergang's ill-gotten gains and counterfeit currency. They were more profitable than casinos in that regard. Mouthpiece and Assoc. had a whole legal division dedicated to Intergang's collection efforts on defaults in high risk home mortgages. Foreclosures were their specialty next to wage garnishments.
The Mask (Tony Colby), Mouthpiece (Bill Perkins) and Mr. Scarlet (Brian Batler) were all ex-District Attorneys and failed part-time superheroes. Now defense attorneys representing super criminals. the law firm specialized in Intergang related cases. They'd successfully "proven" Charise Carnes and Knightfall were separate individuals and defended a "confessed" Knightfall as she received a federal prison sentence. The woman, suffering from a terminal disease, earned her family a twenty million dollar "insurance" payout prior to her death in prison.
Kate Spencer found the whole prosecution flawed but she was assigned to Los Angeles not New York. So her opinion carried little weight before, during, or after the fact
that Knightfall reappeared after the woman's sentencing. A "new and improved" Knightfall and the woman in prison was already dead in Blackgate's infirmary, just lent credence to Kate's doubts. But Charise Carnes had been legally acquitted and double jeopardy meant she couldn't be charged with those crimes again.
But Manhunter stayed on the case remotely, working with Barbara Gordon's online hacktivist ID, the Commish, and fellow Network hacktivists Cypher and Overwatch to monitor Carnes and Knightfall both. Only Oracle stayed strangely detached from the investigation. Felicity Smoak and Gordon knew what Chloe Sullivan did not. That Oracle was a fixture with the Outlaws, even dating Jason Todd, the Arkham Knight. They'd moved in together they'd grown so serious.
But Lois Lane's less infamous cousin, who also worked the Wall of Weird byline on the Daily Planet staff was left uninformed of that connection. Cypher had betrayed the Network once to Homeland Security and threatened the Outlaws' lives. Babs might disagree with their methods but not their results and Felicity had a vested interest in Oliver Queen. Who she'd figured out was Arrow on their second date.
Chloe was the most engaged in the Knightfall watch. Felicity was distracted by her day job as Smoak Tech CEO and Barbara being the actual GCPD Commissioner. Plus Starling City was just an hour and half by train from Chicago, half an hour by the way Ollie rode his motorcycle, and Felicity saw him more and more in her off hours.
The Outlaws were getting better at working multiple cases at once. Arkham Knight, Red Hood, Squire, and Arrow were all squad leaders. They had the numbers now to divide their forces and engage multiple targets. But a target as large and versatile as the Secret Society and Annoyances required the entire team. Oracle was still back in Chicago prepping real time intelligence packages.
So far, the Societors and Annoyances had stayed off of the streets where the CCTVs could identify them from public arrest records and outstanding warrants using facial recognition software. The Network, Oracle included, was spending their spare time looking up Bruce Alan Wayne, Kate Webb, and Jessa Carde whom they had identified as the Bat-Man, Bat-Woman, and Bat-Girl. Barbara had contacted the Outsiders to brief Batgirl and Batwoman on their copycats.
While she sat in the city council meeting, Bruce was meeting with Jacob Kane. Kane welcomed him in and noted that Bruce seemed fit if tired. He was obviously keeping up with weight training but was he still practicing martial arts? he intentionally "dropped" a glass that Bruce ably caught to confirm that his nephew was keeping in fighting trim despite his life threatening injuries and vow not to return to being Batman.
Kane had the only copy of the security footage of Batman using a pistol to ward off a criminal before unmasking while undergoing a mild to medium intensity cardiac arrest.
Kane had purchased Bruce's medical workup from the next day to confirm the heart attack theory. So Kane understood the why behind Batman's sudden retirement he just just didn't understand the motive behind it.
"So why did you stop being Batman?" Kane asked after the door to his office closed.
"You took in Bruce Alan and his acolytes to gain access to Miraclo and you expect me to apologize?" Bruce asked.
"I'm not looking for an apology, Bruce. I'm looking for motive," Kane explained.
"You have the footage," Bruce replied.
"It's really about the gun?" Kane was disappointed.
"It's only about the gun," Bruce told him.
"I've seen a world where Batman would use guns. It's a safer, saner place," Kane told him.
"The whole idea behind Batman was to never rely on a gun," Bruce explained, "Fear was the control factor. Fear of retribution by a monster from the night."
"But the monster proved to be mortal after all when Deathstroke plunged that sword through you. Do you know Slade Wilson only kept you alive at White Rabbit's specific instruction? Apparently she saw a world where Batman could evolve as well. Perhaps I should thank her for having you removed from the equation," Kane chuckled.
"What have you done, Jacob?" Bruce asked.
"Let me show you," Kane rose from behind his desk, "I think you'll find this interesting."
They went to a private elevator accessible only from Kane's office and descended below street level.
"The troops have their own private access in the underground car park," Kane explained as they descended, "No one understood why the Crows needed a skyscraper built. But this project was the principle reason. Welcome to the Batmen."
The doors opened before a wide training ground of armored Batmen practicing various types of lethal and non-lethal combat.
"You're their inspiration, Bruce. Or, a least Batman was," Kane boasted.
"My God, Jacob. What have you done?" Bruce asked his uncle.
"Purified your vision. Refined it into something usable and practical for the government to support," Kane told him.
"Waller," Bruce growled.
"Before you try to, I can already see the strain this putting on your heart. You're no longer Batman, Bruce. But it's no longer about choice. My Batmen will keep America safe for you to wither away in," Kane mocked him, "And don't think about going public. There's always Dick, Tim, and Barbara to consider. Waller has eyes on them at all times."
Bruce had only hated the Joker as much as he hated his own uncle right now. It was that inopportune moment that his namesake uncle and Aunt Selina chose to make an appearance, "And why did you choose to steal my identity?"
"Batman's mission wasn't done and you couldn't finish it. I did out of respect, Bruce," Bruce Alan said apologetically, "I'm sorry you don't see it that way. But with Jacob's assistance and training combined with Rex Tyler's 1st Gen Miraclo, I can make that difference that you can't anymore."
"Did you drag Helena into this as well?" Bruce demanded to know.
"Helena is my little Robin. She's training with the Young Justice program and dating Red Robin," Selina told him, "But you already knew that."
"Dick chose poorly when he selected Anarky to be Red Robin. It's a stain on his own memory," Bruce grated.
"Ulysses Armstrong is many things but he's hardly a stain," Kane replied.
"He's playing you," Bruce warned them all.
"I guess we'll see," Kane just smiled.
"I'll keep your secret for their sake's but make certain Waller never does anything stupid or I'll come for her and then you," Bruce headed for the elevator, "I remember where I parked."
"That was too easy," Kane grumbled, "Have the building swept for bugs."
Jessa Carde and Kate Webb joined them and Jessa reported in, "There was a data breach as soon as you entered the facility. To was a wireless connection that overrode our security and copied every file."
"We should stop Wayne," Kate decided.
"No, he may be wounded but he's still the Batman. I saw it in his stances and his physical fitness," Kane warned them, "Even you three together couldn't stop him but you might push him into killing himself through resisting you. He knows we'll discover the breach. He planned it that way. The data is insurance in case we, or Waller, ever deploy the Batmen against Grayson, Drake, and Gordon."
"Waller has to have figured it out," Kate whined, "Grayson and Gordon are prominent law enforcement officials and Drake's guardian is Grayle Hudson, Jack Hudson's daughter. They'd all be considered Intergang hits."
"We're already fighting one campaign against Intergang. We can't afford a war with them. You and the Batmen are surgical weapons not an army," Kane advised her, "But we are exposing the differences between Knightfall and Intergang's directorship. Why else would she hire the Outlaws?"
"You can prove that?" Selina asked.
"Not legally but the money trail seems to stem from Carnes accounts that donate to a super fund that Knightfall's operations draw from," Jessa answered. The Bat-Girl was their resident computer expert.
"If we could split Intergang we might be able to deflect their gang war from Gotham to New York or Metropolis where Knightfall just expanded her program," Kane calculated, "And Metropolis is the Clock's HQ."
"We could always hire the Outlaws to strike out at Big Boss and his operations," Bat-Man suggested.
"I'd never hire those killers!" Kane snarled.
"Pretty hypocritical considering what the Batmen do," Bat-Woman snarked.
"The Batmen are professionals. Not contract killers," Kane began to rage.
"The Outlaws have tallied up over fifty-two super villains or criminal organizations killed or destroyed. Pretty impressive tally," Bat-Girl reminded him.
"Their only tally is mass terror and destruction," Kane wouldn't relent.
"So is the Batmen's," Selina wouldn't back down and Kane knew it. She was a Falcone. Born and raised in lethal power-politicking. Carmine had loved his estranged sister so much he named his illegitimate daughter after her and then disowned her. That was why Selina Kyle couldn't believe Bruce Wayne had done the same to his own daughter by her.
She would have been even more incensed had she learned about Elissa and his arrangement with Queen Diana of Themiscyra concerning their love child. Selina's only gratitude towards Bruce was his sending Alfred Pennyworth and his daughter Sasha Julia Pennyworth Bordeaux to help care for and defend Helena Kyle. There were now mysteriously three Helenas in the Wayne family. Helena Wayne, Helena Kyle, and Helena Lincoln March. No one on the New Earth could seemingly explain the phenomena. But those still blessed/cursed with their Multiversal memories before the Crisis of the Multiverse could easily do so. If they weren't locked away for espousing a state of existence that Lex Luthor had "conclusively" proven couldn't exist.
Ironic considering Luthor had introduced the template Prime Universe with some its worst offenders coming from parallel universes he now stated could never have existed. But Saturn Queen from the 31st Century had revealed the truth to him. A Multiverse had existed before the New Universe. What the people of the New Earth referred to as the Near-Apocalypse of 2009 had in fact been the Final Crisis. The subsequent Zero Hour had erased history. Leaving it open for Glorith's Rebirth to recreate a single universe with a blended history and cast of characters from across the Multiverse and Pocket Universes.
The Pocket Universes included the so-called Angorverse, Dakotaverse, Glorith's own hijacked creation, and others being revealed as time progressed in the 21st Century New Universe. Glorith having saved a second of time from the Prime Universe before the Anti Monitor destroyed it and the Antimatter Universe together insuring his own destruction as well. The fateful trio of Dr. Manhattan, Glorith, and the unkillable Heckler destroyed Dr. Manhattan's quantum stabilization field so that Glorith could use his creative power to expand a second of time into a New Universe worth of history. It cost Dr. Manhattan his life but restored reality. His price was the incorporation of the Minutemen and the Watchmen into the new history.
Which Glorith obliged but fudged on the eras for the villains. They appeared throughout the 20th and 21st Centuries and random intervals. Mime and Marionette appearing decades after the Watchmen disbanded to join the Injustice League. Bruce Alan Wayne and his family derived from Earth-4 but had no idea of that truth. Only Hellequin, Red Alice, Arkham Knight, and Red Hood in the Gotham knew that truth. Red Hood coming from the same post-apocalyptic Earth.
Hellequin came from Earth-2 and Red Alice and Arkham Knight were just crazy enough to remember Earth Prime alongside their Rebirth memories. Jason had just needed to nudge Li's memories with the truth and her recessed memories unlocked. Which is what Saturn Queen had done for the Light's leadership at Vandal Savage's request. Then she'd unlocked the memory caps on Lois Lane, the Kent Family, and Lana Linda Lang
all now remembering their brutal treatment at Lord Superman's hands. Lois and Lana Linda remembering where their Kryptonian DNA spliced powers came from.
Lana Linda still being "Linda Lang" on GBC News rather than confuse everyone with her being an improbably identical "cousin" of fashion mogul, Lana Lang. Lois struck out on her own to kill her husband. Lana Linda moved in to help take care of the five kids and old romances were rekindled. Lois' efforts and Maxima being on Earth were complications. In the end, Lois didn't contest the divorce on grounds of abandonment. Instead she just added Lana Linda to the target list that also included her own children. Even Mia, who was Lord Superman's daughter by raping Lena Luthor.
Mia had turned against the new Earth's Lena to join Young Justice and defend her "father". Clark was more her real father than Lord Superman's DNA would ever prove out. Lois hated Mia for that. Just as she now hated Jonathan, Laura, and the twins Carol and Jane. Even her five-year old daughters rejected her in her hatred to run to Lana Linda when Lois arrived to claim them. Lois' anti-Superman bias affected her reporting and Perry White had to let her go.
She worked for Lena Luthor at the Daily Star now. Perry regretted having to call Cat Grant to warn her off from hiring Lois owing to her lack of objectivity. CatCo's East Coast desk rejected Lois' bid to work for them. Even more disturbing was the fact it poisoned Lois against Clark. Perry had long suspected Clark of being Superman but Lois unreasonable shift towards both him and Superman just confirmed it. The Planet's publisher, Bruce Wayne, asked Perry to sit on the story for the Kent Family's sake. Perry owed both Superman and Clark that much, he'd correctly reasoned. So for the first time in his career, Perry walked away from a viable story of international scope. The price tag for pursuing it was just too high.
Now Kane was being asked to do the same with Bruce by Waller. Waller and Sec. Bones were the United States' meta-human covert ops directors. Neither wanted Batman harmed or otherwise impeded. But as Kane had mentioned, Waller had taken out insurance against a potential leak. Bruce knew she wasn't bluffing. The blood leading back to Waller would've overflowed the oceans faster than global warming.
So Bruce Wayne would watch Bruce Alan and act accordingly. Azrael and his Order of St. Batman just needed a little corrective guidance. So he paid a visit in costume to Father M'Buttu. He and the priest cleared the air and clarified the Order's future missions. Then Batman laid the costume to rest for what he thought was perpetuity. He'd never considered a variable like Terry McGuinness. Or Amanda Waller's genetic manipulations with the ironies of fate thrown in.