Chapter 6
Shadow Chaos
Batman was flying towards Jezebel Plaza, he would jump away from the place; the jet has camouflage and silent mode, but, he could not hide the air displacement;at the moment he was flying through the snowstorm:
- Base, I have….! – said Batman:
- "I'm tracking it too! It seems that the control towers used for the navigation system are emitting an interference signal"! – said the Base – "Without the towers you won't be able to move around the city"!
- Storm damage? – asked Batman.
- "You'll have to go there and find out for yourself, sir!" – said Base:
- Got it! I'm close to one now! – said Batman.
Batman jumps out of the jet and opens his cape, gliding and going through a skylight, landing on the ground; Batman then began to hear footsteps approaching and hid in the darkness and then he saw armed men; bandits; coming running to check what happened:
- Did the storm break the skylight? – asked the first bandit:
- Maybe so! – replied the second – This is the worst storm we've ever had!
Batman approached the two calmly and silently and then with one movement he hit their heads against each other and the two bandits fell unconscious; Batman turned and approached where they entered:
- I swear we're the only ones here! Look; they called Gotham Optics to complain that the tower was strange and they sent a guy to look, but he didn't even show up! - said a person clearly scared - The slacker must have gone home to sleep and then when he disappeared, they sent us! There's no secret plan, we're just working!
The voice grew louder as Batman approached a wooden wall that was weak:
- Us too! – said another voice – Pay attention, they hired us to make sure no one gets close to the tower!
Batman moved through the wooden wall, putting a tie on the bandit and knocking him out. Still with his detective vision active, he went directly to the ventilation ducts, ignoring the door and taking the bandit by surprise by the feet and knocking him to the ground to be knocked out. He turned to the hostage:
- Call the police! - Batman ordered, immediately entering another duct and following it until he came out in a room with a glass window behind the bandit. Batman quickly grabbed him and brought him into the room and knocked him out with a punch; Batman entered the other room and saw the hostage cowering in fear:
- Get to a safe place! - Batman said, heading to the cargo elevator and with his detective vision he saw a bandit near the place; quickly grabbing the grapnel he fired it and climbed up to grab the railing and with one movement grabbed the bandit's head and slammed him against the railing knocking him out, Batman climbed up and headed to the control room entering it and then saw that there was a body and possibly explosion marks; it was more than clear that a trap had been placed on the door preventing even control of the tower; he activated his detective vision to identify the victim:
- David Shannon; Gotham Optics employee; surely that's the employee the other hostages were talking about! – said Batman, he looked at the scene around the body – Died by impact due to the explosion; the trap set to prevent anyone from reaching the tower!
Batman turned around and saw the access panel with several fingerprints on it:
- They tampered with the panel to trigger the trap when the access card was used and left fingerprints! – said Batman:
- Base; I'm sending fingerprints for analysis! – said Batman:
- "Just a moment, sir!" – said Base – "It seems to belong to a John F. Baker; common criminal, small jobs and curiously he was found dead an hour ago in the Diamond District"!
- Looks like someone is tying up the loose ends! – said Batman – I have to go to the tower, but, I have to fix the access panel with my cryptographic sequencer, but, I need the access card!
- "He must be nearby, sir!" - said the Base.
Batman used Detective Vision and began to reconstruct the crime scene and saw that the card during the explosion fell into an air duct, quickly removing the grate he took the card using the detective vision connected to the sequencer transmitted the codes to it and thus began to use the sequencer and opened the door and entered the room to climb a ladder and upstairs he took a few steps to open a metal door and entered the tower room; here he also took the sequencer to end the jamming signal, but, he managed to hide well when he was caught by surprise with a video call:
-"Look at that"!– said a person who had his face partially hidden by the darkness –"The king of vigilantes himself! I figured it was only a matter of time before you showed up! Forgive me for the confusion down there"!
- Who are you? – asked Batman:
-"Think of me as a great mystery, one you will never solve."!– replied the man in the video:
- Enigma! – said Batman:
Upon hearing the answer, the man starts to laugh:
-"You must think you're very smart"!– said Enigma –"This is intelligence: I control all the towers in the city! With them you can't move quickly with your jet and everything indicates that it will continue like this"!
The video ended and Batman could now work on disabling the jamming signal and reclaiming the Coventry area:
-"Hmm…. Black Mask won't like this"!– said Enigma:
- What are you talking about? – Batman asked curiously:
-"You won't like to know"!– replied Enigma.
Batman still using his sequencerandI was looking at the map of the cleared area and it can detect relays in several parts:
- Base, the relays in the Coventry area and maybe all of Gotham! - said Batman - Black Mask enticed this Riddle to protect something, I don't know yet!
- "Video transmission has been picked up in the Diamond District, sir!" – said Base – "Transmitting exact location now!"
The location of Enigma's HQ appeared on the map; Batman realized that there was still some time before the Penguin's henchmen met at Jezebel Plaza, so he quickly set out to destroy all the relays in the Coventry area using the Batarang, destroying all ten of them. Walking through this region he was able to prevent some crimes in progress; now he was worried that ten had been placed in each neighborhood of the three main and adjacent islands of Gotham, but there was a way for him to know, he would go through Robinson Park, ending the signal there. The tower was near the Gotham Observatory. When he got there he didn't see any criminals, which became strange and suspicious. Batman approached, entering the building and reaching the control room, heading towards the tower control and using the sequencer, disabling the interference signal, and once again a video call from Enigma appeared:
-"You are in Robinson Park"!– said Enigma –"Surely you suspected that there was no one to stop you! I wanted it that way! Of course Black Mask didn't want it that way, but I want to challenge you tonight and especially with a truth that you already know."!
- All Gotham towers have signal interference and in all neighborhoodswithten relays! – said Batman:
-"Exactly"!– Enigma confirmed, ending the video call
- Base! – Batman called – Whatever Black Mask is doing, Enigma is buying him time!
- "That's bad, sir!" – said Base – "You can't be unlocking antennas and destroying retransmitters all night!"
- Yes! – said Batman – There has to be another way; I'm going to West Central and try!
Batman took out his grappling hook and activated it, being lifted with the momentum and in the air he opened his cape to glide to the west of Robinson Park and Coventry; West Central; he reached the radio tower, this time there were bandits waiting for him, Batman took them out and went to the control room and climbed further up to the tower controls where he removed the signal interference:
-"Well, you got another one"!– said Enigma:
- Not now! – said Batman, hanging up the video call. The relays appeared on the map of West Central and Batman didn't have time to hunt them down one by one, but his thoughts changed when Enigma appeared once again:
-"I will not be ignored by you"!– shouted Enigma –"A monkey full of muscles and no brain"!
- What do you want? – asked Batman:
-"The third one you release in a row"!– said Enigma –"Are you sure you have your priorities right?"?
Enigma turns off the video call and Batman doesn't care what he says, he just goes back to focusing on what he wanted to achieve, destroy the relays and he had the possibility of using the tower to send a signal to them and overload them; still using the sequencer, Batman accesses the controls of the tower that is connected to the relays and sends the signal to overload them and then they disappear from the map; he had found a way:
- Base! – said Batman – I found a way, I overloaded the relays, reinforcing a signal to them!
- "Were they sending a signal to themselves?" – asked Base:
- Yes! – Batman replied:
- "That's good, sir, it will certainly make your job easier"! – said Base – "What are you going to do now"?
- Jezebel Plaza is far away, I have to go now to get there on time! – replied Batman – Upper East Side will be for later! I'll go with the Batwing as far as I can!
Batman called the Batwing and he came, activating the grappling hook and climbing on it and now heading north; for now everything was going well, in the meantime Batman took the opportunity to restock on Batarangs; when he regained control of the Batwing it began to show interference, it was time to jump and that's what he did and immediately stretched out his cape gliding and entering Bowery following for a long time passing by the buildings until he reached Jezebel Plaza; he landed on a nearby building and saw the men gathering; he activated the grappling hook to climb up and find a strategic point; Penguin; Batman knew that this is a man who knows everything that happens in Gotham, he certainly knew where Black Mask is, getting to him is difficult, but his henchmen can be easier.
Batman was on top of a gargoyle looking directly at the people gathering:
- Come closer, guys! Ha! Ha! Ha! - shouted a bandit sitting in Santa's chair. So, little boys! What do you want for Christmas? Don't answer! I already know!
The bandit next to the seated man opened the briefcase, revealing the gun inside, and then the bandit threw another briefcase, which the seated bandit caught in the air and opened:
- I was curious to know if you would be naughty or nice! - said the bandit sitting down - I'm glad to know that you were nice! You'll get your shipment!
Small gold bars were in the suitcase while the bandit took the gun that had been brought and was assembling it; Batman saw everything and had what he needed, he had to finish off this shipment of weapons, but, now he had to get to the man with the Santa hat, he is the boss; Batman was watching waiting for the right moment:
- Where's the rest? – asked the bandit:
- Calm down, buddy; you're negotiating with us! – said the boss – You're also negotiating with the Penguin and this isn't a backyard operation!
- Let's see the rest then! - said the criminal - I didn't come here for just a weapon!
- You're right! - said the chef - But think of it as red wine and me being the sommelier! I want you to try it! I want to make sure you like the weight, the handling, the aim before I fill your glass!
- What are you talking about? – asked the bandit:
- Come on! Try it! Fire a few shots! – said the chief and shots were fired into the air; the wind from the storm was muffling the noise, making it impossible to be heard from far away:
- It's a gun and it shoots! – said the bandit – Now give me the rest before I try it on you!
At that moment, Batman throws a Batarang that hits the gun, which gets stuck in it; making it useless, surprised, the bandit drops the gun; just as everyone present looks around to see where it came from, but, Batman appears falling on top of one of the bandits; he quickly advances, landing a left punch in the stomach of another bandit; the second; who doubles over in pain and Batman applies an elbow to the back of his neck, knocking him out, he advances to the next one, jumping and spinning in the air, applying a kick to the head of the third bandit, taking him to the ground, landing on the ground, spinning and applying a left hook to the fourth bandit and then jumping in the air, spinning horizontally, applying a kick to the chest of the fifth bandit, taking him to the ground; when he returned to the ground he dodged going to the right side of a kick, Batman stretched out his right arm hitting the head of the sixth bandit who spun in the air and fell to the ground then spun applying a kick to the face of the seventh bandit and advanced applying a left punch to the chest of the eighth bandit, another right punch to his chest and then a head taking him to the ground and noticing the movement of the ninth bandit he dodged slightly to the left and then holds the leg of the bandit who would apply a kick with the sole of his boot, Batman with one blow breaks the leg of the bandit who falls screaming in pain.
The fight was over and he turns to the boss who hadn't fought, he was just standing there paralyzed with fear, Batman advances, grabbing his neck tightly and lifting him off the ground:
- I give up! - said the boss, choking; with force, Batman throws him against the chair he was sitting in moments ago; stunned, he reacts late when Batman advances and kicks him, throwing him back and knocking over the chair and then Batman jumps on top of him and darkness covers him - No!
Everything comes back to light with Batman lifting him up by the neck with one hand and the boss trying to free himself, but without success until he turned off:
- Well; you will speak! – said Batman; of course he already knew where the Penguin was, but, entering the Final Offer required a card and voice recognition; he needed the voice of this villain already recorded, now that he had recovered the card; in fact; he knew a way to have a good voice of his recorded.
After a moment when everything was ready; Batman shouted:
- Wake up! – Batman shouted; the villain began to blink his eyes and his head hung so he could look down; still groggy, he didn't realize the situation he was in:
- What happened? - asked the boss, he looked up and saw Batman holding him by his ankle, that was enough for him to start screaming and shaking:
- I'll be direct now! - said Batman - I know that Penguin is on the Final Offer ship, I already have his card, I need access by password of his voice!
- Let me go! – shouted the bandit:
- If you insist! – said Batman, releasing the bandit and he fell screaming until Batman grabbed the rope and he swung, hitting the clock tower; Batman pulled him until he reached his level:
- Please stop! – said the bandit – Yes, the Penguin uses an access card along with voice access, only those under his direct command receive the password, but on special days he allows everyone to enter whenever they want!
- Is this day special? – asked Batman:
- In a few hours! – replied the bandit – The voice password is "The Poor Prince of Gotham"!
- Your usefulness is over! – said Batman, releasing the bandit who screamed and fell on top of the Christmas tree, becoming unconscious:
- Base! – said Batman – I have the means to enter the Final Offer, I'm on my way!
Before heading to the Final Offer, Batman first headed to disable the jamming signal from the tower in Bowery, passing the thugs on the roof he was able to enter through the door and reach the tower controls where he retrieved the signal; Enigma appeared once more:
-"Already deactivated another one"!– Enigma stated –"I guarantee the next ones won't be so easy."!
- Why are you doing this, Enigma? – asked Batman:
-"Straight! I liked it"!– said Enigma –"I'll be blunt then. I want Gotham cleaned up! It's full of brutes who run things with violence and intimidation."!
- You didn't answer my question! – said Batman:
-"Why didn't you let me finish"!– shouted Enigma, but he regained his calm –"I want to get rid of everyone,Batman! I want to improve Gotham's intellectual and moral standards! But I'm not a brute like you; I'm much more refined."!
- What you're doing is the same thing as stealing! – said Batman – There's nothing dignified about it!
-"Predictable response"!– said Enigma laughing –"Goodbye"!
The video call had ended and Batman had to continue, but not before sending a signal overloading the relays and destroying them; his work was done when they disappeared from the map; the Final Offer was in the Amusement Mile, but that didn't stop him from passing through Robbinsville and recovering the tower and destroying the relays, repeating the same in Crime Alley; Crest Hill; New Gotham and in the Amusement Mile itself to finally reach the Final Offer ship; with the signal free, he could use the satellite to search for snipers and take them out one by one until the guards were left inside the ship and in that case Batman advanced silently taking them out too and then reached the door and saw the electronic lock, swiped the card and with a voice recorder said:
- "The poor prince of Gotham"! - said the voice and the gate opened and Batman entered and came face to face with two men with knives; they didn't say anything, they just shouted and advanced and Batman walked towards them and quickly blocked the bandit's arm with his left arm and kicked the second bandit in the chest with the sole of his boot; Batman ducked, dodging the knife and with his left hand he grabbed the arm of the bandit who was stabbing him, with his right hand he took the knife from the bandit and applied a knee to his stomach and then dodged, going to the side of a stab from the second bandit and ducked when he made a horizontal cut, Batman immediately applied a blow to his legs, knocking him to the ground and then applied a punch, knocking the bandit out and then went to the first bandit, kicking his face, knocking him to the ground for good.
Batman continued walking through the corridors until he reached theckfrom the boilers where the fight would take place, his detective vision revealed many people:
- Alright, boys! – said a voice that Batman could recognize as the Penguin's – The rest of you future losers will have to embarrass yourself without me! God knows you can do it! I have business to attend to at the office and I don't want to be disturbed! Tracey will take care of the fights until I get back!
Batman was behind the ring hidden in the shadows while everyone was getting ready, here he would have to go to Tracey who certainly knew where the Penguin's office was, but, there were fifteen enemies gathered and more to come, he could go down and draw everyone's attention to himself and take care of them until he got to her; he had no choice and so he jumped landing in the center of the ring:
- Now that's one evil old man! - said Tracey who was wearing a rather revealing white business suit perching on the railing - Evil indeed! And he deserves a proper welcome! Don't you, boys?
Shouts of agreement from the thugs present filled the room; then she turned and pointed at Electrocutioner:
- You saved me a lot of work by coming here, Batman! – said Electrocutioner – I'm going to kill you! Then I'm going to shock your heart and then I'm going to kill you again!
Electrocutioner jumped from the fence into the ring, punching the ground and charging him with electricity that spread and Batman didn't care:
- Are you ready? – shouted Electrocutioner:
- Where is Black Mask? – asked Batman:
- NoI amhere to talk! I'm here to beat you up! – Lester shouted:
- This is your last chance! - said Batman and he approached and jumped, kicking Electrocutioner in the face, who fell to the ground knocked out and those present in the arena were silent, not believing what they were seeing:
- So who's going to show me where the Penguin is? – asked Batman. It was Tracey who took the initiative:
- Okay, you useless bastards; time to earn your dinner! - Tracey said and the men woke up and started jumping in the ring and going towards Batman and then he activated the detective vision and threw two smoke bombs that filled the entire ring blinding the bandits, Batman quickly ran and jumped and stuck his two feet in the faces of two bandits who fell to the ground, with a cut of the left arm hitting the third bandit in the head and then jumping to hit a left punch on the fourth bandit and then take a step to the side spinning and jumping in the air spinning horizontally and hit a right kick on the fifth bandit and then hit a right cross on the face of the sixth bandit and a right elbow on the seventh bandit in sequence, then jumping over the bandit who was falling and making a horizontal cut with his right arm stretched hitting the head of the eighth bandit who spun in the air to fall to the ground and then turns jumping to hit a right kick on the ninth bandit in the head; Batman advances and grabs the head of the tenth bandit and throws it against his knee and turns around grabbing the right leg of the eleventh bandit and lifts him into the air to then apply a hammer blow with his right fist to the bandit's chest.
The smoke is almost disappearing, Batman continues to advance applying a right punch to the chest of the twelfth bandit and pushed him hard against the wall and he fell unconscious; Batman applied a right elbow to the chest of the thirteenth and then a left punch to his head and then jumped applying a kick to the head of the fourteenth and at that moment the smoke had dissipated leaving only one he advanced and grabbed his arm with one movement knocking him to the ground and then placed the sole of his boot on his neck:
- Where's the Penguin? – asked Batman:
- I won't tell! – said the bandit:
- A little more force and I'll crush your larynx! - said Batman - How's it going to be?
- He's in the office, on the other side of the theater, across the casino! – said the bandit – But, he'll have to go through Tracey!
- It's not a problem! - Batman said, taking his boot off his neck and then kicking his head, knocking him out; Batman began to walk past the knocked out bandits and opened a door where there were several weapons hanging on the wall, he climbed the stairs and followed the space to enter through another door, walking down the corridor, turning left and moving forward, turning right and then the speakers came alive:
- "Mr. Cobblepot is going to finish off his guest and he might find out that you useless people let Batman ruin the fights on the Boiler Deck"! – said Tracey's voice through the speakers – "So? What do you think is going to happen? Think about it, boys!"
The speakers went silent and Batman turned left once more, coming face to face with two bandits in the hallway. He started running, drawing the bandits' attention, and then, when he got close, he placed his left foot on the wall and jumped with momentum, landing and delivering a left punch to the first bandit, then spinning to deliver a right kick to the chest of the second bandit, who also fell. Batman continued walking, turning left, following the directions painted on the ship's walls. The speakers showed signs of life:
- "Come on, you wimps, the intruder is in the corridors, Batman is still on the ship, get him, Mr. Cobblepot wants to take off his mask!" - Tracey said and the speakers went silent once more; Batman went up the stairs and finally reached the Upper Deck, passing through the door and seeing bandits posted in the corridor to the left; with the detective's vision he saw three bandits and one armed; Batman took out three Batarangs and entered the corridor throwing them and hitting the three bandits in the head who fell to the ground; Batman advanced down the corridor and once again the speakers gained voice:
- "Hey! I have a message for Batman! It's from your partner; the Electrocutioner! He's standing and he said he may have taken this round, but the fight isn't over; he'll be back Batman, be smart!" – Tracey said and the speakers went silent once again. Batman cursed mentally, he should have tied up Buchinsky and called the police right away:
- Base! – said Batman – I faced and defeated Lester Buchinsky, the Electrocutioner; he is up and ready for another round!
-"Are you okay?"?– asked Base:
- Yes! – Batman replied – His gloves emit a strong electromagnetic signal! Can you try to isolate the signal so it can be tracked?
-"I'll work on it."!– replied Base –"Where are you going now?"?
- The Final Offer Casino! – Batman replied – Penguin's assistant will tell me where to find your boss!
Batman advanced, opening the elevator door with force only to discover that it wasn't working; of course Tracey wouldn't make it easy, taking out the grappling hook and shooting it upwards. Batman went up a few floors and opened the door to enter a hallway, following it and turning left, coming face to face with a room with a double door. He entered and saw the casino. He walked calmly to the center and then Tracey appeared behind the glass on the top floor:
- But you insist on disturbing me, don't you? - said Tracey - Mr. Cobblepot is not accepting visitors and I won't let you into the theater to talk to him! So please go away!
At that moment, eight bandits emerged from behind the columns. They seemed content, holding pipes and baseball bats. They seemed convinced that Batman would make a point of taking down some of their egos. Batman turned around and saw the first bandit coming, ducking, dodging a pipe blow to punch the first bandit hard in the stomach, which he doubled over in pain, panting. He looked back and kicked the second bandit in the head. He stopped a bat blow from the third bandit, grabbing him and putting him in the right a blow to the head, Batman moved to the side, taking a few steps, jumping, spinning backwards and kicking the fourth bandit who fell to the ground, placing both hands on the ground, gaining momentum, going backwards and planting both feet on the chest of the fifth bandit, standing up he stopped the blow of the sixth bandit with his gauntlet and then hit the seventh bandit with a left elbow to the temple; Batman grabbed the piece of pipe from the sixth bandit and took it out of his way to punch his face who fell; Batman advanced against the eighth bandit, ducking to dodge a blow, hitting a right punch and then a knee to his stomach which made him double over in pain and then a blow to the back of the neck to be knocked out.
Batman looked up and saw that he had been sealed, both the room above and the door he had raised steel bars on; he realized he had to get to the security room before entering the theater, he looked around and saw a ventilation scare and entered it reaching the other side realizing that there was a secret door, Batman entered the elevator and went up, reaching the top floor he saw that Tracey was speaking on the monitor:
- Come on girl, you're on the other side of the theater! - said Tracey - Come out of there for a second and give me a hand!
-"No! I can't! He's doing business! You know what that means?"!– replied the voice on the screen:
- I know! – Tracey replied – It means someone is getting hurt, but we have a serious problem here!
-"Ah! Go! Trace"!– replied the voice on the monitor –"You've got a boatload of brutes! And this Electrocutioner guy? He's tough! He'll be fine."!
- I'm telling you! – said Tracey – He's not some jerk in a uniform! The guy is trouble! He's wiping the floor with our strongest guys! Not that it's a big deal!
-"I don't know"!– said the voice on the monitor screen –"Turn around, friend, he's calling me"!
- Aaah! – said Tracey – Now I'm in good shape! Candy! She's going to get slapped, that's for sure!
Batman approached slowly and silently, standing behind her and she realized:
- It better be lipstick you're looking for! – said Batman.
Tracey was quick to grab a wooden bat and turn to hit Batman, but he grabbed her arm, taking the bat away from her and twisting her arm, placing her in the cell next door and locking it:
- Cobblepot won't be happy when he hears about this! – said Tracey:
- I'll deal with him! - said Batman, deactivating the security system and turning around, taking a few steps in front of the glass and running, jumping and passing through the glass, landing in the casino:
- I knew you didn't have the courage to fight fair! – Tracey shouted.
Batman went through the unlocked door and followed a corridor where, not surprisingly, he found four men tied up, but only one awake:
- Who's your boss? – asked Batman – What does the Penguin want with him?
- Alberto Falcone, but I have no idea what the Penguin wants with him! – replied the bandit – I swear!
Batman left him and went down the hallway and entered a side door, going up two flights of stairs and arriving at the room where he silently entered and watched everything in the shadows:
- Where were we Candy? – asked a voice:
- You suggested that Albertinho here…! – Candy replied, approaching the tied man, Alberto Falcone, and winked at him – Hi, dear! …to try to convince his father; to bring forward his retirement. He didn't agree and called you…! – Candy said, taking a clipboard and examining the paper -… Let's see… "Damn psychotic"!
Penguin appeared in Batman's vision with two security guards,holding his umbrella and wearing projection glasses on his right eye:
- No…. No, no, no, please! – said Alberto Falcone. Penguin mercilessly hit Falcone in the stomach with the handle of his umbrella, making him double over in pain and cough, and Penguin laughed at his pain; Penguin handed his umbrella to one of his security guards and picked up a stun baton:
- Now, listen carefully, Falcone! – said Penguin, standing in front of him – Because this is the last time I'm going to ask!
Penguin grabbed his hair and pulled, making Falcone's head rise and look him in the eye:
- What are you going to tell your father? – asked Penguin:
- We're going to get out of the arms business! I promise! – Falcone replied – He'll do it!
Penguin laughed as the bat crackled with electricity:
- Your mouth moves, Little Falcone! – said Penguin – But, that's not what I want to hear!
Penguin gave a feral smile and pressed the baton into Alberto Falcone's body, who screamed in pain as he received an electric shock, but he was interrupted when Batman threw a batarang, disarming Penguin. He and Candy screamed in surprise; Batman came towards them calmly:
- I want him dead! - Penguin shouted - Kill him!
Penguin hid behind Alberto Falcone still tied to the chair and Candy hid behind Penguin's office desk; the two thugs came, Batman hit the first one with the back of his left hand in his face and quickly landed a right punch in the stomach of the second thug and then applied a kick hitting the head of the first thug and then a straight elbow in the temple of the second thug and then Batman advanced towards Penguin:
- Wait! – Penguin shouted beggingly – Wait a minute, damn it!
Batman picked up the Penguin with both hands and threw him across the room, Penguin hit the wall and fell to the floor:
- Okay! – Penguin shouted – I didn't do anything! I'm innocent!
Batman advanced, grabbing Penguin's head and slamming it against the ground:
- Black Mask has put a bounty on my head! – said Batman – Where is he?
- I don't control where these guys go and you're not the most popular of them! - Penguin replied, only to have his head hit the ground once again by Batman, who grabbed the Penguin's neck and choked him:
- Time is running out! – said Batman:
- Wait! – Penguin pleaded – Wait! Lacey Towers! There was a murder! It was your fortress! Your refuge! But something happened and now he wants to take control of the city and end you in one night….
But then a claw appears grabbing his left heel and being pulled free, leaving the Penguin free, Batman grabbed the corner of the door to avoid this, but ended up receivingbeHe kicked and the rope kept pulling until he was hanging, then he saw Deathstroke coming towards him calmly with a sword in his hand, he applied the blow, but Batman defended himself by grabbing his sword and cutting the rope to fall and land on the ground, Deathstroke jumped next and the two were facing each other on the theater floor, Batman threw the sword on the ground and Deathstroke picked up his baton:
- Ready for round two? – asked Deathstroke:
- Let's find out! – replied Batman – Where is Black Mask?
Deathstroke snorted:
- I'll kill you for the money! – said Deathstroke – But, that doesn't mean it won't be enjoyable!
Deathstroke advanced with the first blow that Batman parried and Deathstroke spun to apply another blow that Batman parried once more and as he was close he pushed Deathstroke who, unbalanced, turned to see Batman applying a kick that was defended by his baton going backwards, rolling backwards on the ground and getting up; Deathstroke advanced applying several blows on both sides that Batman defended, Deathstroke spun the baton and applied a horizontal blow that Batman ducked to dodge and quickly applied a punch to Deathstroke's stomach and Batman tries the second punch, but, it is defended by the baton that was moved to defend and hit a blow to Batman's kidney area; Deathstroke moved away and then applied a blow that Batman defended with the gauntlet of his arm; Deathstroke jumped, spinning and applying a blow that Batman defended with both arms, but quickly ducked and applied a blow to Batman's legs, taking him out of the air and quickly hit his stomach in the air and making him fall to the ground with force.
Batman stood up and faced Deathstroke:
- Give up! – said Deathstroke – You won't win!
Batman advanced applying a punch that was defended by the bat, Deathstroke tried to apply his blow that Batman defended and the same gave him a head that disoriented him and with that Batman applied a kick defended by the bat, but, throwing Deathstroke to the ground; Batman ran as he got up and jumped with his right arm hitting the bat breaking it in half and then giving a left punch tearing off his mask; Batman was looking at Slade Wilson now:
- I'm going to take great pleasure in killing you! - said Deathstroke, throwing the bat on the ground and taking out his sword; both were in position; Deathstroke came first, swinging his katana to the right, defended by Batman, swinging to the left, under defended by Batman; Slade spun, striking with the katana to the left, which was defended by Batman, who retaliated with a punch, and Deathstroke used his blade to defend himself, and both were measuring their strength until Batman moved away and jumped, kicking, and Deathstroke turned his body, dodging the kick and striking with the katana, which Batman defended with both arms, and brought the katana down and struck Slade with a right punch to the chest, making him move away, and Batman took the opportunity to jump and come down with a right punch to Deathstroke's face, who fell to the ground, but recovered quickly.
Batman advances kicking with the sole of his boot and Slade dodges by jumping and striking with the katana which Batman defends with his left arm and then with his right arm underneath and Slade jumps spinning and applying a kick to Batman's chest that sends him backwards with his strength; Batman falls spinning on the ground until he stops and gets up and he watches Deathstroke running towards him and applying a blow coming from the right with his katana which Batman defends with his right arm and then defends a blow coming from the left and Batman quickly applies a kick aiming at Slade's legs who deftly jumps with a backspin and applies a blow with his katana which Batman defends with his left arm and then with his right, twice until Slade jumps spinning in the air applying a katana blow coming from the left and Batman defends with both arms; Batman pushes Slade back and he resumes attacking with the katana, Batman defends to the left and then to the right and Slade jumps spinning applying a kick to which Batman dodges to the right and applies a left punch that Slade dodges; then a right that Slade also dodges; Deathstroke spins applying a katana blow coming from the left and applies a right punch to Slade who is left staggering until he regains his balance.
Slade strikes with a katana from the left that Batman defends with his left gauntlet and then strikes a right hook on Slade and brings his arm down taking his katana from his hands and kicks him in the chest with the sole of his boot and throws him against the wall:
- It's over Deathstroke! – said Batman:
- Are you human? – asked Deathstroke.
Batman doesn't answer him, he just throws the katana that sticks in the side of Slade's head, who only sees too late a right hook being applied by Batman and then a kick to his head knocking him out and thus ending the fight; Batman breathes heavily as he looks at the result of the fight:
- And you? - asked Batman:
- Good to see you, Batman! – said the Penguin from the top of his box – Now you can leave!
Penguin returns to his office with his assistants and Batman could do nothing, he would barricade himself in the office and would have to follow the clues he had given; loophole in the law or not, after what happened the police would seize the ship, he approached Deathstroke and took his applicator and reversed it once again and placed it on Slade's neck taking his blood; it had to be analyzed to see if the serum could be reversed, anyway, finished the job, Batman headed to leave:
- Base, tell the police about the Final Offer! – said Batman – I just defeated Deathstroke, he has to go to prison and I need any reports about a murder in Lacey Towers!
- "Right now, sir!" said Base.
Batman headed to exit the ship, there was nothing left for him in that place:
- "Hmm! Looks like the police are at the crime scene!" said Base. "That's interesting; it looks like they're saying the victim is Black Mask!"
- Black Mask dead? – asked Batman, surprised – I have to see it with my own eyes!
Batman stepped out of the ship into the cold of Gotham, Lacey Towers was in Coventry and he had already released the antenna in the region, he immediately called the batjet that came gliding, with the grappling hook, Batman shot up and climbed, controlling the jet he headed quickly towards Coventry:
- Base; switch to the police frequency, I need to hear what they're talking about! – said Batman:
- "Wait!" – said Base.
Batman jumped out of the jet and then opened his cape and glided smoothly; or as smoothly as this storm allowed, landing silently on top of a gargoyle in Lacey Towers:
-"Radio signal ready sir"!– said Base:
- "Rubio; what is your position?" – asked a police officer:
- "On the balcony for a cigarette with Jimenez!" – Rubio replied; at that moment two police officers appeared on the balcony and he was above them; he had his entrance; Batman jumped, grabbing them and pushing their heads hard against the balcony railing and they fell unconscious; Batman entered and continued down the hallway to turn right and calmly until he turned left and reached the door and entered; the cold wind and snow were entering the apartment:
-"The police believe that the Penguin killed Black Mask, but why would he bring me here if he was the killer?"? – thought Batman –"It doesn't make sense"!
One could clearly see the burned floor, Sionis's body covered and another body hanging from the apartment's chandelier, using his Detective Mode to examine the crime scene, he first tried to identify the fingerprints, but the weather and certainly the fire that occurred made identification impossible; Batman removed the lining that covered the body and saw that he was wearing a black mask, but he could not confirm the identification without a DNA analysis that he could not do here; Batman turned to the female victim who was hanging and focused his vision to analyze the fingerprints:
- The female victim is Tiffany Ambrose! – said Batman:
- "The files identify her as one of his many girlfriends"! – said Base – "There is a long list of antecedents, but nothing can identify that she is the target"!
- Roman Sionis is indeed the target! – said Batman:
- "The apartment is in his name, sir"! – said Base – "The police will come to the conclusion, if they haven't already, that Roman Sionis is Black Mask"!
Batman looked at the ground, seeing the burn marks and shards of glass; using his detective vision to reconstruct the moment:
- The fire spread caused by a Molotov cocktail! – said Batman – With the clear intention of destroying the evidence!
With Black Mask's body still unconfirmed and discovered, Batman saw a bullet hole:
- The height of the bullet's trajectory indicates that someone as tall as the Penguin fired the projectile! – said Batman:
- "Or someone could have been sitting at the time of the shot, sir!" – said Base; Batman stayed out of the line of fire and walked a little to find grooves on the floor indicating that the chair was tilted back:
- Someone was sitting leaning back! – Batman confirmed – It could be enough to leave doubts about the Penguin's involvement, but never accuse him directly!
Now Batman had to look at Tiffany's body to find the cause of death, gunshot; the angle of the trajectory could be someone as tall as the Penguin, but the gunpowder residue indicates someone lying down; Batman turned to see fingerprints and analyzed them indicating they were Penguin's, but they were over the soot, the evidence that indicates he was there after the murders; Batman touched the ground, moving the soot away a little to see shoe polish marks indicating that someone had been dragged; there were four people at the scene; now he looked around more carefully and realized that where the chair had been, there was a broken glass table and the glass door open behind the chair; someone came in from behind, taking the shooter by surprise and a fight began, the fire extinguished anything that could identify this shooter or whoever got him from behind.
He looked closer where the attacker entered to surprise the shooter and saw white fabric, possibly from a jacket or suit; Batman went to the counter to see if he could find anything else and saw an oxidized blood stain that matched the wounds on Tiffany's head, he went back to the room to take a better look and half hidden by the soot he saw that there was a cell phone, he pressed the button turning it on seeing that it could only be accessed with a password, he removed the cryptographic sequencer and worked on the cell phone managing to unlock it and seeing its messages:
- Base; I'm seeing messages that Tiffany exchanged with Roman, they mention "Joker"! - said Batman - Search the database!
- "Searching"! – said Base; Batman waited – "There's nothing about this "Joker""!
- A new player! – Batman said:
- "That's what we can see"! – said Base:
- Someone killed Black Mask a few days ago, but I saw him today! – said Batman – Is he the killer? Or was there more than one killer? I need to compare the DNA samples with the National Crime Database!
- "The only way to do that is to infiltrate the Gotham Police Department"! – said Base:
- I already have my next destination! – said Batman
- "You will have to physically invade the servers"! – said Base – "It is advisable that you recharge your supplies"!
- I'm going! - said Batman leaving the apartment and following the corridors and returning to the balcony, he called the Batjet and it came, activating the grappling hook and being elevated to enter the jet and continue, but, first he would free some more towers, it would give the police more work by certainly taking out the criminals that were in them and thus there would be less police in the police station, Batman quickly advanced freeing the towers of The Hill, Narrows, Otisburg and Arkham Island, Batman had just freed the towers of Arkham Island when the Enigma returned with the video. call:
-"I see you freed Arkham Island"!– said Enigma –"Ready to join the crazy people over there"?
- Only if we go together! – replied Batman:
-"I'm not the crazy guy who dresses up as a bat just to beat up bad guys."!– said Enigma ending the video call; Batman returned to the Batjet and finally arriving at the Batcave, landing and getting out of the jet walking towards Alfred and Leslie:
- Tough night, sir? – asked Alfred:
- Yes! – Batman replied simply entering the equipment area and reloading on his belt and taking more to the jet; he returned to where the couple was and handed a vial of blood to Dr. Thompkins:
- Blood of Slade Wilson, AKA Deathstroke; let's see if he participated in military experiments or not! – said Batman:
- Of course! – said Leslie:
- Do you have Killer Croc's results? – asked Batman:
- Yes! – Leslie replied – He suffers from Regressive Atavism and won't stop!
- So he's going to become more animal than human? – asked Batman:
- Yes! – Leslie replied – It's genetics!
Batman nodded, looking resigned, and turned to head back to the jet. He had a police station to break into.
