Chapter 2: Sionis Resurfaces

After The Lemur went home, Batman met with Gordon back at GCPD headquarters where they were keeping Penguin overnight until he can be shipped to Blackgate in the morning. Gordon was finishing the paperwork for this case in his office when Batman appeared out of nowhere and nearly gave him a heart attack. "Jesus! Have pity on an old man's blood pressure!", Gordon said. "I honestly thought you would be used to this after all these years.", Batman said. "Not all the time. I'm just finishing the work on Cobblepot now. Hopefully, we can keep this bird in his cage this time.", Gordon said. "Let's hope so.", Batman agreed. "I gotta say that despite all the big master plans that have gone down in this city the last 10 months or so, a lot of the crime in this city has become more manageable since Joker died. Not to mention a lot of the other bosses have either been killed or locked up. Now, we have Penguin in our holding cells.", Gordon said. "Yes, it has been a productive year as far as taking down criminals.", Batman said. "It's just still hard to believe how many of all these freaks have popped up ever since Joker showed his ugly face. It honestly makes me miss Sionis.", Gordon said. "What?", Batman asked with shock as to what Gordon said. "Don't get me wrong. I know he was a vicious bastard, but at least he had the fairness of an old school gangster in contrast to whatever the hell Joker was.". "In case you forget it was Joker who ruined his empire and he never recovered from it.", Batman said. "Yeah. Of course, I'll never forget how he often displayed psychotic tendencies. Not surprising since I know the fucker was dropped on his head when he was a baby.", Gordon said. "Anyway, thanks for everything, Batman. I'll see you soon.", Gordon said to his friend. "Take care, Jim.", Batman said as he went out the window. Meanwhile at the Sionis Industries meatpacking building down by the trainyard, Roman Sionis himself was sitting in his office chair looking out on the city that once was his. He had his black skull mask on his desk that was also looking the same way he was. The last decade of his criminal career has been nothing but miserable. It was bad enough he ran his cosmetics company into the ground, even though it had been saved by a buyout courtesy of Bruce Wayne. That only made Roman despise Wayne and if anything was the reason he became a crime lord to begin with. After he did, it seemed like he had it all and had the whole city in the palm of his hand when he became the most powerful kingpin in the city. Then Batman and Joker came along who destroyed everything he built and came crumbling to the bottom. The last 10 years he had spent struggling to rebuild his empire, but to no avail. To make matters worse, recently that Red Hood guy had been coming down hard on whatever operations he had going on. He began to realize Gotham was no longer a place he wanted to have any part in. What he wanted was to go somewhere new and start fresh. About a dozen of his men came in the room who also wore black masks and stood in front of his desk. "You sent for us, boss?", one goon said. Roman turned around and stood up as he began to speak. "Yes, I did. I want to tell you boys something. I think it's best if we leave Gotham behind us.", Roman said. "What do you mean, sir? Gotham's your city.", another guy said. "Used to be. Not anymore it isn't. It's not the Gotham I knew and loved. It's nothing but a breeding ground for all kinds of freaks. Even with that damn clown gone, I know I'll never be able to get back to where I was in the underworld.", Roman said sounding very disappointed. "Don't say that, boss. It's not just Joker that's out of the picture. Now Two-Face, Thorne, and Falcone are all dead. Maroni's been in jail since May and Penguin just got arrested. There's not too much competition left. I have faith you can take back Gotham.", one goon said. "I appreciate the motivational speech, Rick. I really do, but I've made up my mind. Especially since I'm tired of more and more of Batman's little helpers popping up. I want to go somewhere that's hero-free. I just don't know where.", Roman said. "Unfortunately, I honestly don't know where that could be. I mean Metropolis has that flying freak in the red and blue tights, Star City has that green guy with the bow, Central City has that dude who can run really fast. I can't think of too many options where there are no heroes.", a thug said. Another thug then began to have an idea and spoke up. "Well if we can't find any city here, why don't we try somewhere in another dimension?". "I beg your pardon?", Roman said as he looked at guy who said that as if he himself was crazy. "In case you forget, I was with Two-Face's crew before he was killed. I went with him to a really freaky world where there were talking pieces of candy, magic dogs, monsters, and vampires. I thought it was all messed up, but it shows that there are options that are not limited to this world.", the thug explained. "I've heard something about that for a while now. But I don't want to go to any place with monsters or talking food. So, somewhere else.", Roman said. Another thug presented an idea. "I have an idea. You were obviously the king of the underworld for a long time. Well, how about you become a literal king?", he said. "What do you mean?", Sionis asked. "Like Jimmy who worked for Two-Face, I worked for others before I came to you. I was with Scarecrow when he fear gassed the city last Halloween. We also paid a little visit to this kingdom that was also in another world. It's the kingdom that that chick with the ice powers who I'm sure you've heard of rules over. It's called Arendelle.", he said. Sionis thought about that as it was being presented to him. He really began to like idea of being an actual king. Having an entire kingdom at his mercy who would show him respect whether they meant it or not. "I honestly like that idea. But if this place already has a queen, are you saying I should marry the broad?", he asked. "I don't mean that. Especially since I know she's dating one of the Bat's helpers. I guess I mean you can kick her and her friends out while you take the throne for yourself.", he said. "Now I really like the sound of that. As long as it's anywhere but Gotham stinkin' city.", Roman said. "But how are we supposed to get there?", he asked. "If I remember correctly, we have to find some pink crystal or something that can take us there.", a thug explained. "Alright. If I'm gonna start somewhere anew, I'm gonna try out this Arendelle place and become a real king.", Roman said. "But, boss. What about the ice lady. I've seen what she can do and she is not to be taken lightly. She beat the shit out of Scarecrow, Riddler, and Ivy. She also has a freaky talking reindeer and snowman at her side.", one guy said. Roman then put on his mask that he grabbed from his desk. Once he had it on his face, he turned around and the death face of the mask made his men shudder a bit. "I've had my ass handed to me by Batman and all kinds of freaks in the last 10 years. I'm not afraid of what some arctic dame might do to me. I'll melt her and her frosted friends until their nothing but a puddle. Nothing's going to get in the way of the greatness I am destined for! I was robbed of it here in Gotham where I once had it. That won't happen again.", Black Mask said as he was now determined to somehow travel to Arendelle, overthrow its queen and become its new king.