Post by Batman (Bruce Wayne) on Oct 24, 2015 10:27:22 GMT -5
Batman & Robin: Firestarter
Story By: Batman and Dean
Heroes: Batman, Robin I
Villains: Two-Face, The Penguin, Scarface, The Ventriloquist
“I’m tellin’ you, this town ain’t the same anymore…Maroni and Falcone are no longer in control, GCPD ain’t in control…Nothing but freaks and the Batman!”
“Don’t get started about the Batman, all I ever heard about was Batman this, Batman that…”
“You know if there ever was a man who could take out the Batman it was The Joker - and we see how that went!”
“I heard the Joker let him live, had him dead to rights and STILL let the Bat live. Of course everyone knows Batman almost done in the Joker, too and saved him at the last minute.”
“You think…maybe they’re in it together?”
“That would be some serious conspiracy shit…Like real conspiracy shit.”
“I’ll tell you all this, I won’t ever go back to working for an outfit…for me I’ll stick to the petty stuff. Fuck masks, fuck these ‘super-criminal minds’.”
“Well den I guess I caint count on you’s.” A limp and soft footstep entered the dark bar room of My Alibi. The six gangsters considered themselves retired and now they wanted to relax from a life of crime, only to be approached by a meek man holding what looked like a child. “I need some muscle and you’s guys are gonna do it ‘fer me. Do it right and you’ll be rich, do it wrong and you’s gonna get dead.” One man stood up and growled.
“I don’t know where you think you get the balls to speak to any of us like this, but clearly you’re insane and I’m tired of crazy people trying to--“
~RAK-TAKK-TAKK-TAKK-TAKK!~
Were the sounds of bullets raining out of a classic 1920’s Thompson Submachine gun with a drum roll magazine attached. The man was riddled with bullets dropping his bloody body onto the ground. “Is dere anybody else who’s not lookin’ ‘fer work?” A man raised his hand.
“S-sir…Look, I don’t mean any disrespect. I consider myself retired…I just want to go home to my family…”
“Family?” The baby was now more defined in the dark lighting - he was dressed in a business suit holding the tommy gun. “I’mma give you two choices and let you decide if seein’ family is more important ‘den bleedin’ lead. You’s help me move some product or you’s end up as ‘annodda statistic.”
“I have a question…Mister-uhh…”
“Scarface.”
“Oh…Mister Scarface. What if Batman comes after us?”
“Dun worry 'bout dat. Uncle Scarface has just da' solution 'fer him!”
“Teflon coated bullets. Cop killers are what they’re called on the streets.” Were the words from Jim Gordon as he adjusted his glasses and allowed Batman to examine the plastic evidence bag with the bullet inside of it. “The misconception is that they’re coated with Teflon and that somehow penetrates Kevlar, but it’s---“
“--The chamber of the weapon is coated with Teflon which lubricates the barrel and bullet increasing acceleration. A structural design with two layers meant for impact and another for shredding. I am familiar with it, Jim.” Batman would pass the evidence bag off to Robin for his own examination of the bullet while Jim continued.
“The problem we have is - We don’t know where they’re coming from. So far as we can tell Harvey’s men have military black market weapons from Germany and Israel, Penguin is smuggling weapons from Russia and China with ties from Bludhaven to Metropolis.”
Batman would then infer. “Neither of those specified countries specializes in armor piercing ammunition except Germany.” Jim reluctantly nodded. “So, this must mean there’s a new player in town?” Batman gave no response as he considered the idea.
“The crime families have had armor piercing rounds for years, but they don’t typically use them.”
Gordon shrugged. “With how bad this city used to be in bed with them….There was no reason to equipped yourself with armor piercing rounds. Make a phone call and read about it in the Sunday paper. It was cheaper to buy and use the 9 mill than anything else.” That’s when it dawned on Jim and a legitimate concern came to him regarding Batman and Robin. “They might be gunning for you.”
“It wouldn’t be my first time dealing with an assassin or mafia hitman.” The detective spoke with a deep and determined tone.
Dick took the bagged bullets and looked them over, checking for anything the other two men might have missed, but nothing caught his eyes. “Yeah, don’t worry Commissioner, Batman and I have gotten pretty good at taking down these clowns...and penguins and...we’ll be fine.” The escalation made sense, to Dick at least, Batman and Robin had put the fear into Gotham, dirty cops were growing less and less, which put a lot of cops in the crosshairs, in the days before the Batman it was easier to solve a problem with a paycheck than it was a bullet, now Gotham PD had been cleaned up, for the most part, so criminals had to resort to fighting for their place in the food chain. Armor piercing bullets were a frightening concept to say the least, but at this point, little the criminals of Gotham did surprised the boy wonder. “Well, we know that any guns run out of Germany go through Two-Face, that’s his racket right? Any chance he’s supplying the guy that did all this?” If Two-Face had been involved directly, there would have been some reflection of duality in the play, here it seemed to be a cut and dry murder. Batman had told him to look for patterns, he didn’t see anything here that pointed to Harvey’s M.O, that didn’t mean he wasn’t involved at all, just made it unlikely he had a direct hand in the murder. “It wouldn’t be the first time he used someone else to get at Batman and I.”
“As much as I’d like to pin some of these killings on one man, the Judges and courts are pressuring me to rule this as gang violence with no real proof that it is just that.” Gordon grunted with clear disapproval. “City hall is pushing for more gun control and more police raids in light of recent school shootings.” Jim shook his head. “Politics getting in the way of police work.” A loud squeal and scratchy voice of a police dispatch would ring over Gordon’s radio. “Attention units, we have a multiple gunshots fired at Southeast Airport, units respond.” Gordon picked up the radio and began growling. “This is Gordon, I’m on my way. Surround the place leaving only the north ramp open!” It was in the middle of Gordon’s report that Batman would leave the conversation and immediately take to the rooftops. Simultaniously achieving objectives as in an instant of turning his heel to step away from Gordon, his right hand tapped a button upon his belt signaling the Batmobile to intercept his location.
From two blocks away the Batmobile’s armor shielding lowered revealing a long sleek body that could act as a battering ram or a torpedo. A jet engine upon the back would erupt with a squeal to accelerate the vehicle forward, front and rear tires adjusted within their slots rotating appropriately and dynamically in order to cut an extremely sharp corner that a vehicle this length wouldn’t ordinarily be capable of performing. The Batmobile 89 was Batman’s replacement while the Tumbler was under repairs by Harold. Leaping off the rooftops Batman’s cape snared his fall and allowed him to land inside the cockpit just as the sliding doors opened exposing the interior black design with a green heads up display lighting and red color coded combat controls.
At the crime scene when the Batmobile arrived there were Two-Face’s gangsters shooting Uzi’s and M4’s at another group of thugs using forklifts to steal bags of guns. Two Face’s men were still alive despite having many casualties and most were on the ground still bleeding to death from their wounds. The loud screaming of the Batmobile’s tires gained everyone’s attention as the brakes were applied. Gunshots would strike against the Batmobile and perhaps to Batman and Robin’s surprise the windshield would crack with an armor piercing bullet lodged in its design. Consecutive bullets would continue to pound against the thick glass prompting Batman to activate the armor layers blinding the windshield. Tapping a button the cockpit door would shift open - but in a different direction. Typically the door would slide backwards, but given the circumstances Batman switched the door to open up and forward creating a large shield that allowed Batman and Robin to exit the vehicle.
Scarface’s men continued to carry the guns to a van on top of a hill sectioned off by a chained fence they had cut through. Two-Face’s men were ducking behind the control building and hiding within the airport hangars and the empty supply trucks that once carried guns.
Dick’s eyebrows rose as the call came in over the radio, using his own grappling gun, the young man followed the Caped Crusader onto the roof, though Bruce relied on his cape to slow his fall, Dick leapt beside him catching his staff between the rails of two different fire escapes and swinging, his body twisted in the air before he flared his arms and legs out, slowing his fall until the last second when he stowed his staff in the sheath along his back and landed comfortably beside Bruce is the passenger seat. “Aw man, this is going to be awesome!” His feet rocked with restless energy as the batmobile rushed toward the crime scene. “You’re gonna teach me how to drive this thing one day.”
Arriving at the warehouse, Dick’s heart skipped a beat when the bullet cracked the windshield but didn’t penetrate. “Man, they’re really using some heavy duty firepower. If we don’t put these guys down quick, we’re gonna have a lot of trouble on our hands.” As the doors to the Batmobile opened forward, Dick quickly ducked behind his own shield. He was closest to the forklifts taking the weapon containers towards the hill. “I’ll stop the guns.”
He waited for the break in fire that meant the men were reloading before bolting toward the nearest forklift. He was in range just as the man driving reloaded his machine gun. Dick withdrew the staff from his back, using the end of it to knock the gun out of the man’s hand before applying pressure as the tip hit the ground. “You know what they say..” The pole acting as a vault, he leaped, flying forward and then gripping the cage of the forklift, he swung around, extending both feet, one crushing the man’s nose, the other sure to bruise his ribs as Robin knocked him free of the driver’s seat and landed inside it himself. “Two hands on the wheel at all times.”
Robin would break before Batman had time to instruct what to do - but not inflexible, Dick thought he could handle the forklifts then Batman would stop the security force. Batman would charge towards the first of two men and without fear he charged directly into their pointed guns before the first could fire Batman’s shoulder smashed into them throwing them backwards, a batarang shot out from his hand with the flick of his wrist slashing the gun out of the second attackers hand allowing Batman to close distance and deliver a powerful punch knocking out the two-toned face masked man. Three more men approached dressed in orange and purple suits following the two-tone color scheme of Two-Face. Their gunshots rang out and Batman dove into a roll and fell behind some cargo containers within a hanger. He armed three batarangs sliding them out of his cape slot and swiftly hurled them as two men rounded the corner to spot him. He grabbed one and pulled them into the darkness allowing the nearby thugs to only hear their companion grunt before seeing his body drop to the ground. Immediately the gangsters began to retreat.
With the forklifts, Scarface and Ventriloquist watched as Robin thwarted one of the forklift drivers it left only four remaining men to move the product. Ventriloquist would adjust his glasses and slump his neck and shoulders. “Mister Scarface, I think we should consider leaving now.” “What you say dummy? I got Dings under control. Lets up da annie ‘fer dem.” “Yes Mister Scarface.” Arnold stepped out of the van and grabbed hold of a hostage to follow him. Meanwhile two of the forklift drivers jumped out of their vehicles to sling a bag of guns onto their backs and then fire their pistols at Robin, the armor piercing rounds would shred through the forklifts belt splashing metal shrapnel around Robin even if he were to dodge.
Dick could run faster than the forklift could move, as soon as the men turned their pistols on him he leapt out of the side, keeping his body low as the resulting slag and debris rained down. The resulting effect was minimal, a few scrapes and a cut across his chin was the worst of it as he moved into the cover of the industrial air conditioning units. His hand moved to his belt, removing two pellets he threw the first into the open area between the air conditioning units and the storage shed directly in front of the fence line, located at the bottom of the hill. His hope was that the men wielding the guns would see the smoke and assume Robin was using it to make his escape. Which, if they didn’t assume, is exactly what he would do. If the plan worked however, Robin would quickly double back, pulling two batarangs into his his hand and sighting the shooters toss them, aiming them for their gun hands. Then, dropping the second smoke pellet, move closer to the bottom of the hill and the guns that were being stolen. Tapping the side of his domino mask, Robin activated his communicator. “Their using a large panel van to move the guns. Should I disable the van or tag it and let it go?” Robin still hadn’t seen the ringleader and that was the most important part of any mission, cutting the head off the snake, or at least learning who the heads of the snakes are.
If Plan A worked, Robin would again use his staff as a pole vault, performing a quadruple somersault through the air to close the distance and land in between the two men. His hope was to time the landing just after the batarangs had made contact so that their pistols were off balance. With one man on his left and the other on his right, Robin canted his staff and spun, striking the man on the left in the face with the end of his staff, while using the other end to trip the man on his right. “Boy, you guys are almost as dumb as you look.” With the man to his right fell backwards Robin continued around, letting the staff slide between his fingers until it was held like a club and using his momentum to smash the man on his left knee before downing him with a well placed knee to the face. As that man went down Robin brought his foot down on the other man’s nose. “Two down, two to go!”
Two-Face’s gangsters would surround Batman, two out of seven charged at him, Batman grabbed one by the neck and back of the head to twist and slam him into the other. The remaining five charged towards Batman to corner him, but the Dark Knight leapt towards the hanger wall and kicked off it hurling himself towards a roof of a cargo truck that was only six feet away from the wall, the group of men were using it to corner Batman on all sides, but now he was rolling across the roof and sliding onto the other side. As he landed he rolled smoke pellets underneath the truck causing the smoke to explode and immediately blind the men. Police sirens grew closer prompting the gangsters to flee and allowing Batman to turn his attention to find Robin.
As Robin tried to divert their attention he would actually split their focus as one looked towards the smoke and the other immediately searched for Robin’s current location. “They’re using smoke, I bet they got some high-tech goggles and shit.” One of the men stated. If Robin chose to go with plan A and vaulted into the air to knock out both of them he would only have to avoid a single shooter for but a few seconds until the other turned his attention to Robin as well. Assuming Robin would dispatch the men, Scarface would call out from the smoke. “End of da line, Bat-brat! Drop you’s weapon or else da woman will be less ‘den a living doll.” Scarface wasn’t particularly worried about Robin or Batman, as the remaining two men came towards the girl they loaded up the vehicle and awaited Scarface’s instructions. “Dats it for tonight boys, take da girl into da van.” The smoke would still be subsiding around Scarface but, he didn’t seem to care as he kept his gun trained on Robin. He was planning to use Robin as leverage against Batman. “Don’t try any of dat sneaky stuff. Take off you’s belt and cape. All I gotta do is tell my boys ta shoot and da girl gets it!” Scarface would then shout to his men that Robin had just defeated. “Boys! Wake up, come on, we’re gittin’ out of ‘ere” the forklift drivers would moan and groan before slowly getting up and making their way to the van.
As Dick spotted The Ventriloquist holding Scarface with a gun on the girl, he froze. Innocent lives took priority, his eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to get away with this, Batman will get you.” He smirked, looking to Scarface. “And your little Doll too.” His hand moved to his utility belt as instructed, fingers deftly taking a micro tracker from one of the compartments as he removed it from his waist. He opened it wider than necessary, letting the belt obscure his hand as he dropped the tracker onto the pants of one the drivers. Placing the belt on the ground, he stood and removed his cape, letting it fall to the ground as his hands went up, fingers spread. He took in as many details as he could, the four men, what weapons they were wielding, how many bags they were making off with, the color of the van and which direction they were heading. Dick hadn’t been able to keep track of Batman’s progress, but he had confidence in the man. “So, what’s next, you gonna give me some candy and tell me there’s more in the van?”
Ventriloquist would step closer as his men were safely in the van. The barrel of the gun pointed closer and closer to Robin’s face. “Ain’t nuttin’ like da kid.” Scarface would swing the butt of his gun to smash across Robin’s temple - the blow not strong enough to knock Robin out completely, but it would be enough to dizzy him and render him ‘helpless’ from a criminal’s standpoint. It was at this time Batman arrived and growled. “Robin! Scarface!” Scarface kept his gun trained on Robin and spoke to Batman. “ ‘Ere’s da deal, Batman…You let us go and your lil’ bird lives. Keep ‘em outta my way or he’s gonna get dead. If you try any sneaky stuff, I got anotha hostage in da van! So if you’s want two deaths on your hands, I suggest you take da high ground.” Batman narrowed his while he felt the Cryptographic sequencer vibrating against his back.
“I won’t rest until that girl is out of your possession Scarface.” Ventriloquist began walking backwards to slip through the cut fence and into the side of the van. Scarface continued. “Den I’ll have ta keep a look out for you’s den. I still owe you ‘fer putting my partner ‘ere in Arkham and locking me in dat police locker. Ta ta.” The van drove off and Batman came to Robin. “Where did you place the tracking device?” He pulled out his cryptographic sequencer to begin tracing the signal.
Robin stood his ground as Ventriloquist approached, considering his options. If he managed to break Ventriloquist’s jaw, then he wouldn’t be able to call for his men to shoot the hostage, but there was no guarantee the jaw would break, or that the men weren’t watching, or that Ventriloquist couldn’t shout with his jaw broken. He could have made another play, taken Scarface off of his hand, but the other two options weren’t eliminated. The butt of the gun struck Robin and he fell to a knee, one hand coming to his head as the other reached for his utility belt, snagging a batarangs between his fingers as he waited for the world to straighten, then he heard Batman’s voice and he let the issue drop, no way would Bruce stand there and let him get kidnapped. Ventriloquist backed away and into the van before it sped off.
Dick smirked, turning to Batman, the small cut on his chin had stopped bleeding, and the knot on his temple were Scarface had hit him started, he placed pressure against it with one hand as he stood. “I dropped it on tweedle dum’s pants when loud mouth told me to take off my utility belt. Pretty smart right?” He was obviously proud of himself, his eyes turned to the sequencer briefly. “He’s in the van with him, so we’ll know if and when they stop at least.” Moving back, he retrieved his utility belt and placed it back along his waist, reattaching the cape to his shoulders. He was worried about the woman, for sure, but Batman and Robin were on the case, they’d get her out of there, he had no doubt.
Batman was glad that Scarface didn’t decide to shoot Robin - something the villain wouldn’t have hesitated in doing most of the time. “Scarface and Ventriloquist. That explains the armor piercing rounds. Good work.” Was as simple of a compliment Batman would give, not quite satisfied with the entire situation but he wouldn’t turn down a slight victory if it meant saving someone’s life. “Lets go follow them. The tracer would lead them to a warehouse where the van sat, the men had taken off various pieces of clothes to begin patching each other up. Batman would park the Batmobile two blocks away and move in on foot approaching the loading dock he spotted the van and opened its doors to look inside of it to see it was empty. Inside the warehouse was full of empty wooden crates with crowbars and automotive equipment. A small office room with a front window to examine the warehouse - it looked emptied and it looked like there was no sign of Scarface or the hostage.
Robin: Robin moved as Batman did making their way to the Batmobile. “You’ve been up against Ventriloquist before right? He was in some of those intel files from Arkham you had me read.” As the Batmobile blasted off after the van, Robin was bringing the file back to the front of his mind. “Ventriloquist himself seems rather meek, but his Doll, Scarface expresses the rage and sociopathic nature of the man behind him. Our easiest method of taking him down would be separating Scarface from Wesker, since Wesker isn’t capable of expressing his rage without the use of his puppet?” Bruce’s training was always on his mind and now a woman’s life hung in the balance. The psych profile stated that Wesker had a mental break early on in life that left him repressing his rage and assertiveness, creating a new persona for that side of himself. Dick almost felt sorry for the man, but it didn’t mean he could show it now. Sometimes criminals were victims too, but that didn’t mean that your own sympathies should allow innocent people to get hurt. Robin kept the strategy in mind as he Batman surveyed the outside of the warehouse. Now things were troubling. It would have been a better move to hold on to the tracker and wait till The Ventriloquist got close, then he could have tagged him in stead of one of his flunkies. A lesson for next time. “It looks empty…”
On the ride to the tracker, Batman would explain the biggest problem facing them. “Arnold Wesker is as deadly to himself as he is to others. Separating him from Scarface doesn’t stop Scarface from speaking. Our objective should be to keep his attention and focus on us - that’s why Scarface has a vendetta against me. I did that last time to prevent Wesker from hurting himself…Scarface’s personality is abusive and Wesker can turn that abuse to inflict self pain…He needs a doctor.” Batman stated firmly but, the chosen words would imply a level of sympathy that Robin felt as well. “With that in check…Scarface is very dangerous and learns from his mistakes - like telling you to take off your cape…Whatever he has planned, he’s likely has a trap being setup for us. Stopping him here will hopefully put this to an end.”
Once they arrived Batman took note of no sign of the hostage, tapping his helmet immediately the detective scanner surveyed the area as white lenses folded down over his eyes to examine the warehouse. “4 of them. No hostage and no Scarface. Interrogate them, find out where Scarface is.” Batman would walk through the main door and walk along the walls he pulled off his belt the batclaw and shot out the claw to grapple onto a man’s shoulder promptly pulling the man’s head down into the table of medical supplies.
Robin followed Batman into the warehouse, his logic was sound, Scarface had definitely anticipated their intervention. Still, Bruce had said several times, the biggest asset the two of them had was the ability to continually surprise their enemies. As Bruce fired his grappling gun, Robin moved, rolling in case the men brought their gun up, they’d be looking for someone Batman’s height, which meant the best move was to keep low. He approached the first of the four men stood and reached for his pistol, Dick thrust his bo staff forward, driving it into the man’s gut before spinning and slamming the end against the man’s head. A leap into a somersault, in case the other two had a chance to fire on him, he’d land on the table and sweep his staff across, aiming for gun hands in order to disarm the man. “Howdy fellas, didja miss us?”
Batman jumped onto a container and leapt into the air emphasizing his hulking figure with less focus on agility and stealth and more of a juggernaut approach. The surprise attack prompted the men to jump and reach for their guns before Robin’s entrance to disarm them. One of the thugs would charge forward and smash a baseball bat over Batman’s arm, but instead of being knocked down by the blow, Batman’s forearm absorbed the entire swing allowing the masked man to grab the neck of the slugger while winding up his right hand to palm the thug in the chin before latching his fingers around the top half of the bat for a firm swing. Spinning he smashed the handle of the baseball bat into the same thugs face knocking them backwards and onto the ground and then simply applied equal pressure to each side of the sports tool to snap it into two pieces for discarding. One of the thugs that Robin had disarmed would leap to tackle Robin while the other grabbed onto a chain link to swing and throw it at Robin to sweep his legs.
Robin leapt and tucked his legs into his chest, allowing the chain the man swung to catch the man lunging at him full on in the face. Robin spun backwards, waiting until his feet were pointed down before extending his legs and using his weight to dig his boots into the man’s back, forcing him down onto the table before his left leg swung out and struck the man in the mouth. “That wasn't very nice!” Spinning his staff in hand, he was rather relaxed, with the situation as the man reeled from his kick. “So, are you gonna tell me where your boss and his little friend went, or am I gonna have to beat it out of you?” The staff was ready to block the chain, if the man decided to swing it toward him again.
The one thug dropped leaving the single remainder holding a chain that he was prepared to fight to the death with. He swung the chain that Robin had prepared to block allowing Batman to broadside the man and slam him into the wall. “Answer him! Where’s Wesker and Scarface!” “Jesus! Fuck! Alright! I’ll tell you everything he told us! He said he had contacts in the FBI that he was going to pull some strings to get some information on the Penguin.” “Why?” Batman questioned as he continued to press the man into the wall. “He-…He wants to find Penguin’s money. He wanted us to hold up a bank in these outfits made to look like Two-Face’s thugs…I guess he wants to start a war between the two. That’s all I know! I didn’t want to be involved, Scarface threatened us, killed one of my buddies and would’ve done us too if we didn’t help. Please let me go.” The Dark Knight’s gaze paused a moment before slamming his elbow into the man’s head. “Lets go, Scarface wanted us to find these men. He used them as expendable decoys. He’s planning one step ahead of us.”
Dick watched the man fall to the floor leaping off the back of the other man to land beside his mentor as they exited the warehouse. As Batman spoke, Dick worked over the problem in his mind. “So, Scarface gets these goons to rip off Penguin dressed as Two Face’s thugs, those two have been at the boiling point for a while and that would force them over the edge. So, what, he leaves these guys here to tell us? That doesn’t make sense.” Scarface knew how Batman and Robin operated, Bruce has said multiple times he learned during their last confrontation. “He had to know we’d get these morons to talk, we always do.” He wasted no time, keeping in step with Batman. “So, what, he gives these guys false information? If they’re just the decoys, what’s the real job?” It was quite possible that Scarface wanted to force the competition on against each other. If Two Face and Penguin declared all out war, it had the potential to keep Batman and Robin extremely busy. Still, decoys are used to either throw off the trail or bait the hook, so if Robin was reading this right, that bank was exactly where Scarface wanted them, which meant Batman was going somewhere else. “What’s the play?”
It was a tricky scenario and a puzzling situation as they returned to the bat mobile Batman began using the computer. “Taking a hostage was escape plan 1. Escape plan 2 was luring us to this warehouse to interrogate these thugs - no doubt that Scarface was furthering his plans while you and I were busy dealing with these thugs here.” Typing onto the computer Batman would frown as his computer network didn’t have any information on Penguin’s financials. Up to this point, the Penguin hasn’t retried a legitimate business and kept his operation to working in only the underground. “Finding whatever stash of money Penguin has could effectively manipulate or control Penguin into doing whatever Scarface wanted, combining the power of Gotham’s organized crime…” Batman used the computer to locate the FBI office in Gotham and then moved his hands to the steering wheel. “We need to find Penguin’s bank.”
They arrived on the rooftops across from the building that was only 5 stories in height where they would sit and watch, if Robin questioned why they didn’t move in Batman would explain easily enough. “Confronting criminals is one thing, directly confronting the FBI is something else. We don’t have grounds to investigate or evidence to provide the GCPD of their guilt or involvement. The most we can do is wait for something suspicious or an opportunity to sneak inside.” -Batman tapped his cowl and white lenses folded down and over his blue eyes to activate his detective vision allowing him to scan through the walls of the building to take note of personnel. He began opening his wrist console to adjust his vision to locate cameras, heat sensors, laser sensors, and alarm systems. “Something to note about the FBI, they have the resources to potentially unmask us. I would like to remain off their radar since I’ve been unable to hack into their network and defuse any threat they might pose to us.”
Story By: Batman and Dean
Heroes: Batman, Robin I
Villains: Two-Face, The Penguin, Scarface, The Ventriloquist
“I’m tellin’ you, this town ain’t the same anymore…Maroni and Falcone are no longer in control, GCPD ain’t in control…Nothing but freaks and the Batman!”
“Don’t get started about the Batman, all I ever heard about was Batman this, Batman that…”
“You know if there ever was a man who could take out the Batman it was The Joker - and we see how that went!”
“I heard the Joker let him live, had him dead to rights and STILL let the Bat live. Of course everyone knows Batman almost done in the Joker, too and saved him at the last minute.”
“You think…maybe they’re in it together?”
“That would be some serious conspiracy shit…Like real conspiracy shit.”
“I’ll tell you all this, I won’t ever go back to working for an outfit…for me I’ll stick to the petty stuff. Fuck masks, fuck these ‘super-criminal minds’.”
“Well den I guess I caint count on you’s.” A limp and soft footstep entered the dark bar room of My Alibi. The six gangsters considered themselves retired and now they wanted to relax from a life of crime, only to be approached by a meek man holding what looked like a child. “I need some muscle and you’s guys are gonna do it ‘fer me. Do it right and you’ll be rich, do it wrong and you’s gonna get dead.” One man stood up and growled.
“I don’t know where you think you get the balls to speak to any of us like this, but clearly you’re insane and I’m tired of crazy people trying to--“
~RAK-TAKK-TAKK-TAKK-TAKK!~
Were the sounds of bullets raining out of a classic 1920’s Thompson Submachine gun with a drum roll magazine attached. The man was riddled with bullets dropping his bloody body onto the ground. “Is dere anybody else who’s not lookin’ ‘fer work?” A man raised his hand.
“S-sir…Look, I don’t mean any disrespect. I consider myself retired…I just want to go home to my family…”
“Family?” The baby was now more defined in the dark lighting - he was dressed in a business suit holding the tommy gun. “I’mma give you two choices and let you decide if seein’ family is more important ‘den bleedin’ lead. You’s help me move some product or you’s end up as ‘annodda statistic.”
“I have a question…Mister-uhh…”
“Scarface.”
“Oh…Mister Scarface. What if Batman comes after us?”
“Dun worry 'bout dat. Uncle Scarface has just da' solution 'fer him!”
“Teflon coated bullets. Cop killers are what they’re called on the streets.” Were the words from Jim Gordon as he adjusted his glasses and allowed Batman to examine the plastic evidence bag with the bullet inside of it. “The misconception is that they’re coated with Teflon and that somehow penetrates Kevlar, but it’s---“
“--The chamber of the weapon is coated with Teflon which lubricates the barrel and bullet increasing acceleration. A structural design with two layers meant for impact and another for shredding. I am familiar with it, Jim.” Batman would pass the evidence bag off to Robin for his own examination of the bullet while Jim continued.
“The problem we have is - We don’t know where they’re coming from. So far as we can tell Harvey’s men have military black market weapons from Germany and Israel, Penguin is smuggling weapons from Russia and China with ties from Bludhaven to Metropolis.”
Batman would then infer. “Neither of those specified countries specializes in armor piercing ammunition except Germany.” Jim reluctantly nodded. “So, this must mean there’s a new player in town?” Batman gave no response as he considered the idea.
“The crime families have had armor piercing rounds for years, but they don’t typically use them.”
Gordon shrugged. “With how bad this city used to be in bed with them….There was no reason to equipped yourself with armor piercing rounds. Make a phone call and read about it in the Sunday paper. It was cheaper to buy and use the 9 mill than anything else.” That’s when it dawned on Jim and a legitimate concern came to him regarding Batman and Robin. “They might be gunning for you.”
“It wouldn’t be my first time dealing with an assassin or mafia hitman.” The detective spoke with a deep and determined tone.
Dick took the bagged bullets and looked them over, checking for anything the other two men might have missed, but nothing caught his eyes. “Yeah, don’t worry Commissioner, Batman and I have gotten pretty good at taking down these clowns...and penguins and...we’ll be fine.” The escalation made sense, to Dick at least, Batman and Robin had put the fear into Gotham, dirty cops were growing less and less, which put a lot of cops in the crosshairs, in the days before the Batman it was easier to solve a problem with a paycheck than it was a bullet, now Gotham PD had been cleaned up, for the most part, so criminals had to resort to fighting for their place in the food chain. Armor piercing bullets were a frightening concept to say the least, but at this point, little the criminals of Gotham did surprised the boy wonder. “Well, we know that any guns run out of Germany go through Two-Face, that’s his racket right? Any chance he’s supplying the guy that did all this?” If Two-Face had been involved directly, there would have been some reflection of duality in the play, here it seemed to be a cut and dry murder. Batman had told him to look for patterns, he didn’t see anything here that pointed to Harvey’s M.O, that didn’t mean he wasn’t involved at all, just made it unlikely he had a direct hand in the murder. “It wouldn’t be the first time he used someone else to get at Batman and I.”
“As much as I’d like to pin some of these killings on one man, the Judges and courts are pressuring me to rule this as gang violence with no real proof that it is just that.” Gordon grunted with clear disapproval. “City hall is pushing for more gun control and more police raids in light of recent school shootings.” Jim shook his head. “Politics getting in the way of police work.” A loud squeal and scratchy voice of a police dispatch would ring over Gordon’s radio. “Attention units, we have a multiple gunshots fired at Southeast Airport, units respond.” Gordon picked up the radio and began growling. “This is Gordon, I’m on my way. Surround the place leaving only the north ramp open!” It was in the middle of Gordon’s report that Batman would leave the conversation and immediately take to the rooftops. Simultaniously achieving objectives as in an instant of turning his heel to step away from Gordon, his right hand tapped a button upon his belt signaling the Batmobile to intercept his location.
From two blocks away the Batmobile’s armor shielding lowered revealing a long sleek body that could act as a battering ram or a torpedo. A jet engine upon the back would erupt with a squeal to accelerate the vehicle forward, front and rear tires adjusted within their slots rotating appropriately and dynamically in order to cut an extremely sharp corner that a vehicle this length wouldn’t ordinarily be capable of performing. The Batmobile 89 was Batman’s replacement while the Tumbler was under repairs by Harold. Leaping off the rooftops Batman’s cape snared his fall and allowed him to land inside the cockpit just as the sliding doors opened exposing the interior black design with a green heads up display lighting and red color coded combat controls.
At the crime scene when the Batmobile arrived there were Two-Face’s gangsters shooting Uzi’s and M4’s at another group of thugs using forklifts to steal bags of guns. Two Face’s men were still alive despite having many casualties and most were on the ground still bleeding to death from their wounds. The loud screaming of the Batmobile’s tires gained everyone’s attention as the brakes were applied. Gunshots would strike against the Batmobile and perhaps to Batman and Robin’s surprise the windshield would crack with an armor piercing bullet lodged in its design. Consecutive bullets would continue to pound against the thick glass prompting Batman to activate the armor layers blinding the windshield. Tapping a button the cockpit door would shift open - but in a different direction. Typically the door would slide backwards, but given the circumstances Batman switched the door to open up and forward creating a large shield that allowed Batman and Robin to exit the vehicle.
Scarface’s men continued to carry the guns to a van on top of a hill sectioned off by a chained fence they had cut through. Two-Face’s men were ducking behind the control building and hiding within the airport hangars and the empty supply trucks that once carried guns.
Dick’s eyebrows rose as the call came in over the radio, using his own grappling gun, the young man followed the Caped Crusader onto the roof, though Bruce relied on his cape to slow his fall, Dick leapt beside him catching his staff between the rails of two different fire escapes and swinging, his body twisted in the air before he flared his arms and legs out, slowing his fall until the last second when he stowed his staff in the sheath along his back and landed comfortably beside Bruce is the passenger seat. “Aw man, this is going to be awesome!” His feet rocked with restless energy as the batmobile rushed toward the crime scene. “You’re gonna teach me how to drive this thing one day.”
Arriving at the warehouse, Dick’s heart skipped a beat when the bullet cracked the windshield but didn’t penetrate. “Man, they’re really using some heavy duty firepower. If we don’t put these guys down quick, we’re gonna have a lot of trouble on our hands.” As the doors to the Batmobile opened forward, Dick quickly ducked behind his own shield. He was closest to the forklifts taking the weapon containers towards the hill. “I’ll stop the guns.”
He waited for the break in fire that meant the men were reloading before bolting toward the nearest forklift. He was in range just as the man driving reloaded his machine gun. Dick withdrew the staff from his back, using the end of it to knock the gun out of the man’s hand before applying pressure as the tip hit the ground. “You know what they say..” The pole acting as a vault, he leaped, flying forward and then gripping the cage of the forklift, he swung around, extending both feet, one crushing the man’s nose, the other sure to bruise his ribs as Robin knocked him free of the driver’s seat and landed inside it himself. “Two hands on the wheel at all times.”
Robin would break before Batman had time to instruct what to do - but not inflexible, Dick thought he could handle the forklifts then Batman would stop the security force. Batman would charge towards the first of two men and without fear he charged directly into their pointed guns before the first could fire Batman’s shoulder smashed into them throwing them backwards, a batarang shot out from his hand with the flick of his wrist slashing the gun out of the second attackers hand allowing Batman to close distance and deliver a powerful punch knocking out the two-toned face masked man. Three more men approached dressed in orange and purple suits following the two-tone color scheme of Two-Face. Their gunshots rang out and Batman dove into a roll and fell behind some cargo containers within a hanger. He armed three batarangs sliding them out of his cape slot and swiftly hurled them as two men rounded the corner to spot him. He grabbed one and pulled them into the darkness allowing the nearby thugs to only hear their companion grunt before seeing his body drop to the ground. Immediately the gangsters began to retreat.
With the forklifts, Scarface and Ventriloquist watched as Robin thwarted one of the forklift drivers it left only four remaining men to move the product. Ventriloquist would adjust his glasses and slump his neck and shoulders. “Mister Scarface, I think we should consider leaving now.” “What you say dummy? I got Dings under control. Lets up da annie ‘fer dem.” “Yes Mister Scarface.” Arnold stepped out of the van and grabbed hold of a hostage to follow him. Meanwhile two of the forklift drivers jumped out of their vehicles to sling a bag of guns onto their backs and then fire their pistols at Robin, the armor piercing rounds would shred through the forklifts belt splashing metal shrapnel around Robin even if he were to dodge.
Dick could run faster than the forklift could move, as soon as the men turned their pistols on him he leapt out of the side, keeping his body low as the resulting slag and debris rained down. The resulting effect was minimal, a few scrapes and a cut across his chin was the worst of it as he moved into the cover of the industrial air conditioning units. His hand moved to his belt, removing two pellets he threw the first into the open area between the air conditioning units and the storage shed directly in front of the fence line, located at the bottom of the hill. His hope was that the men wielding the guns would see the smoke and assume Robin was using it to make his escape. Which, if they didn’t assume, is exactly what he would do. If the plan worked however, Robin would quickly double back, pulling two batarangs into his his hand and sighting the shooters toss them, aiming them for their gun hands. Then, dropping the second smoke pellet, move closer to the bottom of the hill and the guns that were being stolen. Tapping the side of his domino mask, Robin activated his communicator. “Their using a large panel van to move the guns. Should I disable the van or tag it and let it go?” Robin still hadn’t seen the ringleader and that was the most important part of any mission, cutting the head off the snake, or at least learning who the heads of the snakes are.
If Plan A worked, Robin would again use his staff as a pole vault, performing a quadruple somersault through the air to close the distance and land in between the two men. His hope was to time the landing just after the batarangs had made contact so that their pistols were off balance. With one man on his left and the other on his right, Robin canted his staff and spun, striking the man on the left in the face with the end of his staff, while using the other end to trip the man on his right. “Boy, you guys are almost as dumb as you look.” With the man to his right fell backwards Robin continued around, letting the staff slide between his fingers until it was held like a club and using his momentum to smash the man on his left knee before downing him with a well placed knee to the face. As that man went down Robin brought his foot down on the other man’s nose. “Two down, two to go!”
Two-Face’s gangsters would surround Batman, two out of seven charged at him, Batman grabbed one by the neck and back of the head to twist and slam him into the other. The remaining five charged towards Batman to corner him, but the Dark Knight leapt towards the hanger wall and kicked off it hurling himself towards a roof of a cargo truck that was only six feet away from the wall, the group of men were using it to corner Batman on all sides, but now he was rolling across the roof and sliding onto the other side. As he landed he rolled smoke pellets underneath the truck causing the smoke to explode and immediately blind the men. Police sirens grew closer prompting the gangsters to flee and allowing Batman to turn his attention to find Robin.
As Robin tried to divert their attention he would actually split their focus as one looked towards the smoke and the other immediately searched for Robin’s current location. “They’re using smoke, I bet they got some high-tech goggles and shit.” One of the men stated. If Robin chose to go with plan A and vaulted into the air to knock out both of them he would only have to avoid a single shooter for but a few seconds until the other turned his attention to Robin as well. Assuming Robin would dispatch the men, Scarface would call out from the smoke. “End of da line, Bat-brat! Drop you’s weapon or else da woman will be less ‘den a living doll.” Scarface wasn’t particularly worried about Robin or Batman, as the remaining two men came towards the girl they loaded up the vehicle and awaited Scarface’s instructions. “Dats it for tonight boys, take da girl into da van.” The smoke would still be subsiding around Scarface but, he didn’t seem to care as he kept his gun trained on Robin. He was planning to use Robin as leverage against Batman. “Don’t try any of dat sneaky stuff. Take off you’s belt and cape. All I gotta do is tell my boys ta shoot and da girl gets it!” Scarface would then shout to his men that Robin had just defeated. “Boys! Wake up, come on, we’re gittin’ out of ‘ere” the forklift drivers would moan and groan before slowly getting up and making their way to the van.
As Dick spotted The Ventriloquist holding Scarface with a gun on the girl, he froze. Innocent lives took priority, his eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to get away with this, Batman will get you.” He smirked, looking to Scarface. “And your little Doll too.” His hand moved to his utility belt as instructed, fingers deftly taking a micro tracker from one of the compartments as he removed it from his waist. He opened it wider than necessary, letting the belt obscure his hand as he dropped the tracker onto the pants of one the drivers. Placing the belt on the ground, he stood and removed his cape, letting it fall to the ground as his hands went up, fingers spread. He took in as many details as he could, the four men, what weapons they were wielding, how many bags they were making off with, the color of the van and which direction they were heading. Dick hadn’t been able to keep track of Batman’s progress, but he had confidence in the man. “So, what’s next, you gonna give me some candy and tell me there’s more in the van?”
Ventriloquist would step closer as his men were safely in the van. The barrel of the gun pointed closer and closer to Robin’s face. “Ain’t nuttin’ like da kid.” Scarface would swing the butt of his gun to smash across Robin’s temple - the blow not strong enough to knock Robin out completely, but it would be enough to dizzy him and render him ‘helpless’ from a criminal’s standpoint. It was at this time Batman arrived and growled. “Robin! Scarface!” Scarface kept his gun trained on Robin and spoke to Batman. “ ‘Ere’s da deal, Batman…You let us go and your lil’ bird lives. Keep ‘em outta my way or he’s gonna get dead. If you try any sneaky stuff, I got anotha hostage in da van! So if you’s want two deaths on your hands, I suggest you take da high ground.” Batman narrowed his while he felt the Cryptographic sequencer vibrating against his back.
“I won’t rest until that girl is out of your possession Scarface.” Ventriloquist began walking backwards to slip through the cut fence and into the side of the van. Scarface continued. “Den I’ll have ta keep a look out for you’s den. I still owe you ‘fer putting my partner ‘ere in Arkham and locking me in dat police locker. Ta ta.” The van drove off and Batman came to Robin. “Where did you place the tracking device?” He pulled out his cryptographic sequencer to begin tracing the signal.
Robin stood his ground as Ventriloquist approached, considering his options. If he managed to break Ventriloquist’s jaw, then he wouldn’t be able to call for his men to shoot the hostage, but there was no guarantee the jaw would break, or that the men weren’t watching, or that Ventriloquist couldn’t shout with his jaw broken. He could have made another play, taken Scarface off of his hand, but the other two options weren’t eliminated. The butt of the gun struck Robin and he fell to a knee, one hand coming to his head as the other reached for his utility belt, snagging a batarangs between his fingers as he waited for the world to straighten, then he heard Batman’s voice and he let the issue drop, no way would Bruce stand there and let him get kidnapped. Ventriloquist backed away and into the van before it sped off.
Dick smirked, turning to Batman, the small cut on his chin had stopped bleeding, and the knot on his temple were Scarface had hit him started, he placed pressure against it with one hand as he stood. “I dropped it on tweedle dum’s pants when loud mouth told me to take off my utility belt. Pretty smart right?” He was obviously proud of himself, his eyes turned to the sequencer briefly. “He’s in the van with him, so we’ll know if and when they stop at least.” Moving back, he retrieved his utility belt and placed it back along his waist, reattaching the cape to his shoulders. He was worried about the woman, for sure, but Batman and Robin were on the case, they’d get her out of there, he had no doubt.
Batman was glad that Scarface didn’t decide to shoot Robin - something the villain wouldn’t have hesitated in doing most of the time. “Scarface and Ventriloquist. That explains the armor piercing rounds. Good work.” Was as simple of a compliment Batman would give, not quite satisfied with the entire situation but he wouldn’t turn down a slight victory if it meant saving someone’s life. “Lets go follow them. The tracer would lead them to a warehouse where the van sat, the men had taken off various pieces of clothes to begin patching each other up. Batman would park the Batmobile two blocks away and move in on foot approaching the loading dock he spotted the van and opened its doors to look inside of it to see it was empty. Inside the warehouse was full of empty wooden crates with crowbars and automotive equipment. A small office room with a front window to examine the warehouse - it looked emptied and it looked like there was no sign of Scarface or the hostage.
Robin: Robin moved as Batman did making their way to the Batmobile. “You’ve been up against Ventriloquist before right? He was in some of those intel files from Arkham you had me read.” As the Batmobile blasted off after the van, Robin was bringing the file back to the front of his mind. “Ventriloquist himself seems rather meek, but his Doll, Scarface expresses the rage and sociopathic nature of the man behind him. Our easiest method of taking him down would be separating Scarface from Wesker, since Wesker isn’t capable of expressing his rage without the use of his puppet?” Bruce’s training was always on his mind and now a woman’s life hung in the balance. The psych profile stated that Wesker had a mental break early on in life that left him repressing his rage and assertiveness, creating a new persona for that side of himself. Dick almost felt sorry for the man, but it didn’t mean he could show it now. Sometimes criminals were victims too, but that didn’t mean that your own sympathies should allow innocent people to get hurt. Robin kept the strategy in mind as he Batman surveyed the outside of the warehouse. Now things were troubling. It would have been a better move to hold on to the tracker and wait till The Ventriloquist got close, then he could have tagged him in stead of one of his flunkies. A lesson for next time. “It looks empty…”
On the ride to the tracker, Batman would explain the biggest problem facing them. “Arnold Wesker is as deadly to himself as he is to others. Separating him from Scarface doesn’t stop Scarface from speaking. Our objective should be to keep his attention and focus on us - that’s why Scarface has a vendetta against me. I did that last time to prevent Wesker from hurting himself…Scarface’s personality is abusive and Wesker can turn that abuse to inflict self pain…He needs a doctor.” Batman stated firmly but, the chosen words would imply a level of sympathy that Robin felt as well. “With that in check…Scarface is very dangerous and learns from his mistakes - like telling you to take off your cape…Whatever he has planned, he’s likely has a trap being setup for us. Stopping him here will hopefully put this to an end.”
Once they arrived Batman took note of no sign of the hostage, tapping his helmet immediately the detective scanner surveyed the area as white lenses folded down over his eyes to examine the warehouse. “4 of them. No hostage and no Scarface. Interrogate them, find out where Scarface is.” Batman would walk through the main door and walk along the walls he pulled off his belt the batclaw and shot out the claw to grapple onto a man’s shoulder promptly pulling the man’s head down into the table of medical supplies.
Robin followed Batman into the warehouse, his logic was sound, Scarface had definitely anticipated their intervention. Still, Bruce had said several times, the biggest asset the two of them had was the ability to continually surprise their enemies. As Bruce fired his grappling gun, Robin moved, rolling in case the men brought their gun up, they’d be looking for someone Batman’s height, which meant the best move was to keep low. He approached the first of the four men stood and reached for his pistol, Dick thrust his bo staff forward, driving it into the man’s gut before spinning and slamming the end against the man’s head. A leap into a somersault, in case the other two had a chance to fire on him, he’d land on the table and sweep his staff across, aiming for gun hands in order to disarm the man. “Howdy fellas, didja miss us?”
Batman jumped onto a container and leapt into the air emphasizing his hulking figure with less focus on agility and stealth and more of a juggernaut approach. The surprise attack prompted the men to jump and reach for their guns before Robin’s entrance to disarm them. One of the thugs would charge forward and smash a baseball bat over Batman’s arm, but instead of being knocked down by the blow, Batman’s forearm absorbed the entire swing allowing the masked man to grab the neck of the slugger while winding up his right hand to palm the thug in the chin before latching his fingers around the top half of the bat for a firm swing. Spinning he smashed the handle of the baseball bat into the same thugs face knocking them backwards and onto the ground and then simply applied equal pressure to each side of the sports tool to snap it into two pieces for discarding. One of the thugs that Robin had disarmed would leap to tackle Robin while the other grabbed onto a chain link to swing and throw it at Robin to sweep his legs.
Robin leapt and tucked his legs into his chest, allowing the chain the man swung to catch the man lunging at him full on in the face. Robin spun backwards, waiting until his feet were pointed down before extending his legs and using his weight to dig his boots into the man’s back, forcing him down onto the table before his left leg swung out and struck the man in the mouth. “That wasn't very nice!” Spinning his staff in hand, he was rather relaxed, with the situation as the man reeled from his kick. “So, are you gonna tell me where your boss and his little friend went, or am I gonna have to beat it out of you?” The staff was ready to block the chain, if the man decided to swing it toward him again.
The one thug dropped leaving the single remainder holding a chain that he was prepared to fight to the death with. He swung the chain that Robin had prepared to block allowing Batman to broadside the man and slam him into the wall. “Answer him! Where’s Wesker and Scarface!” “Jesus! Fuck! Alright! I’ll tell you everything he told us! He said he had contacts in the FBI that he was going to pull some strings to get some information on the Penguin.” “Why?” Batman questioned as he continued to press the man into the wall. “He-…He wants to find Penguin’s money. He wanted us to hold up a bank in these outfits made to look like Two-Face’s thugs…I guess he wants to start a war between the two. That’s all I know! I didn’t want to be involved, Scarface threatened us, killed one of my buddies and would’ve done us too if we didn’t help. Please let me go.” The Dark Knight’s gaze paused a moment before slamming his elbow into the man’s head. “Lets go, Scarface wanted us to find these men. He used them as expendable decoys. He’s planning one step ahead of us.”
Dick watched the man fall to the floor leaping off the back of the other man to land beside his mentor as they exited the warehouse. As Batman spoke, Dick worked over the problem in his mind. “So, Scarface gets these goons to rip off Penguin dressed as Two Face’s thugs, those two have been at the boiling point for a while and that would force them over the edge. So, what, he leaves these guys here to tell us? That doesn’t make sense.” Scarface knew how Batman and Robin operated, Bruce has said multiple times he learned during their last confrontation. “He had to know we’d get these morons to talk, we always do.” He wasted no time, keeping in step with Batman. “So, what, he gives these guys false information? If they’re just the decoys, what’s the real job?” It was quite possible that Scarface wanted to force the competition on against each other. If Two Face and Penguin declared all out war, it had the potential to keep Batman and Robin extremely busy. Still, decoys are used to either throw off the trail or bait the hook, so if Robin was reading this right, that bank was exactly where Scarface wanted them, which meant Batman was going somewhere else. “What’s the play?”
It was a tricky scenario and a puzzling situation as they returned to the bat mobile Batman began using the computer. “Taking a hostage was escape plan 1. Escape plan 2 was luring us to this warehouse to interrogate these thugs - no doubt that Scarface was furthering his plans while you and I were busy dealing with these thugs here.” Typing onto the computer Batman would frown as his computer network didn’t have any information on Penguin’s financials. Up to this point, the Penguin hasn’t retried a legitimate business and kept his operation to working in only the underground. “Finding whatever stash of money Penguin has could effectively manipulate or control Penguin into doing whatever Scarface wanted, combining the power of Gotham’s organized crime…” Batman used the computer to locate the FBI office in Gotham and then moved his hands to the steering wheel. “We need to find Penguin’s bank.”
They arrived on the rooftops across from the building that was only 5 stories in height where they would sit and watch, if Robin questioned why they didn’t move in Batman would explain easily enough. “Confronting criminals is one thing, directly confronting the FBI is something else. We don’t have grounds to investigate or evidence to provide the GCPD of their guilt or involvement. The most we can do is wait for something suspicious or an opportunity to sneak inside.” -Batman tapped his cowl and white lenses folded down and over his blue eyes to activate his detective vision allowing him to scan through the walls of the building to take note of personnel. He began opening his wrist console to adjust his vision to locate cameras, heat sensors, laser sensors, and alarm systems. “Something to note about the FBI, they have the resources to potentially unmask us. I would like to remain off their radar since I’ve been unable to hack into their network and defuse any threat they might pose to us.”
