Post by Batman (Bruce Wayne) on Aug 10, 2015 0:29:41 GMT -5
A Story Worth Dying For
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Story By: Batman and V
Heroes: Batman, Vicki Vale
Villains: Mr. Zsasz
Erzebeth Three AM and the tapes continued to roll. "Where the hell are my camera guys? This is forty minutes of film wasted." Vicki cringed as she stopped the tapes herself with a remote. She had been recording a pre-cursor to her latest interview with Victor Zsasz. The script she had made herself reminded her of the countless night she spent researching the criminal. In her head she had come up with various scenarios of how to approach him while in prison. The first scenario was her intentional and most ideal situation, but the look he had given her while in the accompanied conference room had modified the situation. There were nights when she remembered only portions of his body twitching. -c-
Erzebeth Why? Because of the unattractive scarring. The way each tally carved into his flesh seemed to move with his skin had transferred similar scars onto her memories. At the time she had kept her composure though something recent in the news had frightened her. According to Gotham police officials, Victor would be on parole by the end of the night. “Focus. Deep breaths.” One inhale after another. The deep breaths were not the main portion of her calming technique. Instead, Vicki would imagine the way that Bruce used to hold her. Being next to Bruce or even near him was about as safe as she could get in Gotham. -e-
Victor would not be paroled but, it would break out of prison as the paper work regarding the man’s release was mixed up allowing the man to escape killing five guards in the process with a prison made shiv. Zsasz would be placed on an all points bulletin where police vehicles circled around Arkham Island in search for the man who evaded them. Commissioner Gordon would bang upo Vale’s door with Bullock and Crispus behind him. “Miss Vale! Open the door! This is the police commissioner!” Outside the windows there were flashing police lights lighting up the neighborhood and flashing against the blinds of the windows. If she opened the door Gordon would nod to see that she was alright. “Ma’am, with your permission I’d like to have my people search your house for any sign of intruders. We just got word that Victor Zsasz as escaped Arkham and you could be one of his next potential victims. [c]
If you don’t feel safe here, I can bring you down to the precinct or a hotel to protect you until this whole mess is resolved.” Promptly Bullock and Crispus would attempt to walk into the apartment, Bullock would take the lazy man’s route and stand in the center examining obvious signs of intrusion where as Crispus was more diligent and focused on windows or back doors for signs of forced entry before checking closets. If she didn’t give them permission, Crispus would speak up. “Ma’am, with all due respect, Mr. Zsasz is not the kind of person you want to brush off lightly. He is a serial killer that is highly motivated and very determined.”
Erzebeth A knock on the door brought her out of a certain stupor. Vicki answered it reluctantly. “Commissioner Gordon.” Was she surprised by his visit? No. It wouldn’t have been the first time she had gotten herself in trouble with the police. Was she surprised by the intel? Yes. Maybe surprised wasn’t the right word. Annoyed was probably the best way to describe it. Forty hours of material that she hadn’t yet cut or edited was causing her serious consequences. “With all do respect, Officer...Crispus,” Her finger wrapped around her video camera cord with intentions of using it as a restraint on herself “If your fellow officers were the ones keeping an eye on him, I don’t think I’d feel any safer under their care.” It was a low blow, but there was no way she could work on this stuff at a hotel of all places. Slow wifi? No thank you. “I know Zsasz as much as any of you. My current interview with him follows not only your reports, but also his state of psychological well-being. -c-
Erzebeth He wouldn’t bother to stop searching for me even if I’m half-way to Russia.” The camera cord was now tightly wrapped around her wrists revealing true restraint in front of the officers. Vicki was the kind of woman who could wrap her finger around any man standing in the way of what she truly wanted. It was perhaps one of her most upsetting traits to the men she often flirted with. Though, it proved to be one of the most useful for getting business done. And business was her pleasure. -e-
Gordon nodded understanding and it was Vicki’s right to choose, he couldn’t force her to leave. I’ll have guards posted here and downstairs…I would feel safer if you’d at least allow my officers to stay with you inside the apartment, Crispus and Bullock are fine detectives and won’t let you down Ms. Vale.” Crispus would then chime in again, clearly more zealous than Gordon or Bullock. “Miss, the guards at Arkham screwed up and I apologize for that. But mistakes have been made and all we can do now is try to clean up the mess we’re in now.” Gordon would wave his hand. “Calm down, detective. If Miss Vale doesn’t want our help, we can’t force her. Stay here and take shifts until we apprehend this killer.” Gordon began walking down the hallway to head downstairs. Bullock would begin pacing before reaching into his coat to pull out a cigar. [c]
Crispus would growl. “This is the problem with having vigilantes in the city. People can’t trust the police to do our job because they think a vigilante is the answer to all their problems.” Bullock smirked and waved his hand to indicate little effort. “Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad if we didn’t bring it upon ourselves.” “So, what Bullock, a few bad cops spoils the bunch? What kind of ass backwards thinking is that?”
Erzebeth “I’ll take your advice and your officers.” After the bit about a vigilante she was reluctant to show them any sort of hospitality. It was time to show the boys their place in her home for the time being. After closing the front door she casually walked up to Bullock once he had managed to get a few words out and lit his cigar. “No smoking in my house.” Her thin fingers snatched the cigar from the officer’s hand and placed it between her perfectly pouted lips. The camera cord whipped Crispus in the leg just enough to startle him as she proceeded back to her chair. It was her warm welcome into the lion’s den. hey were the officers, but anything they said around her could and would be used against them. “Don’t bother me while I work in the den. You can call my cell, but do not shout in my apartment or I will pull the trigger faster than you can say the Flash.” -c-
Erzebeth Her eyes scanned over the hallway to her left containing three doors: one to her bedroom, one to the closet, and one to the bathroom. “I will not lock the inside doors unless I leave the house but that does not mean you can enter my room without permission unless it is an emergency. And please, no camera phones or recording devices. Leave that to the professionals or the paparazzi.” Vicki sat back against the backing of her desk chair and put on her headphones. Forty hours of cutting with an extra forty minutes of no material was not about to edit itself. -e-
Crispus and Harvey would sit patiently, Bullock tapped on the television and adjusted the volume while keenly observing to see if it was annoying Vicki or disturbing her, intending on a volume that was less than intrusive and rather quiet. Crispus would cross his arms clearly not happy about this whole situation. Within Vicki’s bedroom, stood the Dark Knight observing the scene through the walls with the help of his detective vision. He was able to see the three idly waiting for good news or potentially bad news. He didn’t make himself revealed because of Allen’s distaste for Batman rivals that of Bullock’s on and off distaste for The Batman. Furthermore, Batman suspected that whatever Zsasz’s motive for wanting to kill Vale is most likely in her investigation file of the serial killer psychopath.
Erzebeth All sorts of swears and curses were uttered from her thin lips as she rolled about on her desk chair. After about two hours of work she had gotten down to only 35 hours of material. Vicki played back a confession tape from Zsasz’s first interrogation. In the room had been Commissioner Gordon and two officers. Her eyes focused on the amount of scars he had tallied on his bare skin. She then pulled up one of the latest photographs she had annotated noting that this more recent photograph had 144 scars. However, in his first interrogation the Commissioner had recorded only 143 scars. Something was off about the tally marks. -c-
Erzebeth Had Zsasz managed to hide a single tally on his body somewhere? There had to be a body missing. “Holy shit.” There was a body missing in the count. Was this why he had been after her? Vicki turned to look at the officers out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t want to alert them to her finding. This evidence was exactly what she had wanted for her story. Who else could she tell? Or rather, who could she trust? -e-
Bullock would’ve fallen asleep in the time they had spent waiting, Crispus would be scrolling through his phone to read work documents, when he glanced at Vicki to see her still at work, he stood up and began walking to the bathroom. It was in this moment, Batman made his appearance as Vicki would see a shadow approaching from the corner of her eye as black boots moved like soft slippers upon the carpeting. “What did you find?” He was short and to the point, clearly not wanting to waste time as Crispus may have had a short break or perhaps a long one - monitoring the man through detective vision, Batman wasn’t going to waste time either way. His voice was soft and barely disturbed Bullock’s rest from what the Dark Knight could tell.
Erzebeth Oh sure. Hello Bruce. Thanks for scaring me. It’s not like there’s a serial killer stalking me out of my home. Yes it’s nice to see you too. “There’s a miscount on our boy here. The first interrogation with Gordon took place about five years ago where the tally count was at 143, but I found pictures where the count is at 144. Twelve squared bodies has got to make a difference. I don’t know who the extra body is but they’ve got to be important.” Vicki’s eyes peered at the shadow longingly. At least she had maximum security for the time being. “Would I be asking too much if I begged for an anonymous tip on the name once the body is found?” He wasn’t the only one who could get serious about their work. “You’d make me the happiest girl on Earth if you did.”
Batman would dip his head towards the desk she was working on. “I know about the missing body, Ms. Vale.” His words intended to keep things professional between them especially in front of Bullock and Crispus. “I can get you the name of the victim…but I need to know where to start my search. During your investigation was there anything that stood out? An interview, a hint of remorse or regret. Zsasz is a compulsive serial killer -” No doubt, Vicki would be able to understand where Batman was going with his next few sentences.”- With that kind of personality disorder he can’t help but talk to a listening ear…Maybe we can get lucky and he’ll slip up.” It was then a penny sized device dropped down onto her desk and rolled towards her - a black coin shaped device with a red button. [c]
“If you find anything useful you can relay it to me through that. Now think, has he said anything about a crypt or a stash? An incident down at Dixon docks or something that happened at the Aviary. There’s a number of cases the police suspect Zsasz was tied to but nothing concrete.”
Story By: Batman and V
Heroes: Batman, Vicki Vale
Villains: Mr. Zsasz
Erzebeth Three AM and the tapes continued to roll. "Where the hell are my camera guys? This is forty minutes of film wasted." Vicki cringed as she stopped the tapes herself with a remote. She had been recording a pre-cursor to her latest interview with Victor Zsasz. The script she had made herself reminded her of the countless night she spent researching the criminal. In her head she had come up with various scenarios of how to approach him while in prison. The first scenario was her intentional and most ideal situation, but the look he had given her while in the accompanied conference room had modified the situation. There were nights when she remembered only portions of his body twitching. -c-
Erzebeth Why? Because of the unattractive scarring. The way each tally carved into his flesh seemed to move with his skin had transferred similar scars onto her memories. At the time she had kept her composure though something recent in the news had frightened her. According to Gotham police officials, Victor would be on parole by the end of the night. “Focus. Deep breaths.” One inhale after another. The deep breaths were not the main portion of her calming technique. Instead, Vicki would imagine the way that Bruce used to hold her. Being next to Bruce or even near him was about as safe as she could get in Gotham. -e-
Victor would not be paroled but, it would break out of prison as the paper work regarding the man’s release was mixed up allowing the man to escape killing five guards in the process with a prison made shiv. Zsasz would be placed on an all points bulletin where police vehicles circled around Arkham Island in search for the man who evaded them. Commissioner Gordon would bang upo Vale’s door with Bullock and Crispus behind him. “Miss Vale! Open the door! This is the police commissioner!” Outside the windows there were flashing police lights lighting up the neighborhood and flashing against the blinds of the windows. If she opened the door Gordon would nod to see that she was alright. “Ma’am, with your permission I’d like to have my people search your house for any sign of intruders. We just got word that Victor Zsasz as escaped Arkham and you could be one of his next potential victims. [c]
If you don’t feel safe here, I can bring you down to the precinct or a hotel to protect you until this whole mess is resolved.” Promptly Bullock and Crispus would attempt to walk into the apartment, Bullock would take the lazy man’s route and stand in the center examining obvious signs of intrusion where as Crispus was more diligent and focused on windows or back doors for signs of forced entry before checking closets. If she didn’t give them permission, Crispus would speak up. “Ma’am, with all due respect, Mr. Zsasz is not the kind of person you want to brush off lightly. He is a serial killer that is highly motivated and very determined.”
Erzebeth A knock on the door brought her out of a certain stupor. Vicki answered it reluctantly. “Commissioner Gordon.” Was she surprised by his visit? No. It wouldn’t have been the first time she had gotten herself in trouble with the police. Was she surprised by the intel? Yes. Maybe surprised wasn’t the right word. Annoyed was probably the best way to describe it. Forty hours of material that she hadn’t yet cut or edited was causing her serious consequences. “With all do respect, Officer...Crispus,” Her finger wrapped around her video camera cord with intentions of using it as a restraint on herself “If your fellow officers were the ones keeping an eye on him, I don’t think I’d feel any safer under their care.” It was a low blow, but there was no way she could work on this stuff at a hotel of all places. Slow wifi? No thank you. “I know Zsasz as much as any of you. My current interview with him follows not only your reports, but also his state of psychological well-being. -c-
Erzebeth He wouldn’t bother to stop searching for me even if I’m half-way to Russia.” The camera cord was now tightly wrapped around her wrists revealing true restraint in front of the officers. Vicki was the kind of woman who could wrap her finger around any man standing in the way of what she truly wanted. It was perhaps one of her most upsetting traits to the men she often flirted with. Though, it proved to be one of the most useful for getting business done. And business was her pleasure. -e-
Gordon nodded understanding and it was Vicki’s right to choose, he couldn’t force her to leave. I’ll have guards posted here and downstairs…I would feel safer if you’d at least allow my officers to stay with you inside the apartment, Crispus and Bullock are fine detectives and won’t let you down Ms. Vale.” Crispus would then chime in again, clearly more zealous than Gordon or Bullock. “Miss, the guards at Arkham screwed up and I apologize for that. But mistakes have been made and all we can do now is try to clean up the mess we’re in now.” Gordon would wave his hand. “Calm down, detective. If Miss Vale doesn’t want our help, we can’t force her. Stay here and take shifts until we apprehend this killer.” Gordon began walking down the hallway to head downstairs. Bullock would begin pacing before reaching into his coat to pull out a cigar. [c]
Crispus would growl. “This is the problem with having vigilantes in the city. People can’t trust the police to do our job because they think a vigilante is the answer to all their problems.” Bullock smirked and waved his hand to indicate little effort. “Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad if we didn’t bring it upon ourselves.” “So, what Bullock, a few bad cops spoils the bunch? What kind of ass backwards thinking is that?”
Erzebeth “I’ll take your advice and your officers.” After the bit about a vigilante she was reluctant to show them any sort of hospitality. It was time to show the boys their place in her home for the time being. After closing the front door she casually walked up to Bullock once he had managed to get a few words out and lit his cigar. “No smoking in my house.” Her thin fingers snatched the cigar from the officer’s hand and placed it between her perfectly pouted lips. The camera cord whipped Crispus in the leg just enough to startle him as she proceeded back to her chair. It was her warm welcome into the lion’s den. hey were the officers, but anything they said around her could and would be used against them. “Don’t bother me while I work in the den. You can call my cell, but do not shout in my apartment or I will pull the trigger faster than you can say the Flash.” -c-
Erzebeth Her eyes scanned over the hallway to her left containing three doors: one to her bedroom, one to the closet, and one to the bathroom. “I will not lock the inside doors unless I leave the house but that does not mean you can enter my room without permission unless it is an emergency. And please, no camera phones or recording devices. Leave that to the professionals or the paparazzi.” Vicki sat back against the backing of her desk chair and put on her headphones. Forty hours of cutting with an extra forty minutes of no material was not about to edit itself. -e-
Crispus and Harvey would sit patiently, Bullock tapped on the television and adjusted the volume while keenly observing to see if it was annoying Vicki or disturbing her, intending on a volume that was less than intrusive and rather quiet. Crispus would cross his arms clearly not happy about this whole situation. Within Vicki’s bedroom, stood the Dark Knight observing the scene through the walls with the help of his detective vision. He was able to see the three idly waiting for good news or potentially bad news. He didn’t make himself revealed because of Allen’s distaste for Batman rivals that of Bullock’s on and off distaste for The Batman. Furthermore, Batman suspected that whatever Zsasz’s motive for wanting to kill Vale is most likely in her investigation file of the serial killer psychopath.
Erzebeth All sorts of swears and curses were uttered from her thin lips as she rolled about on her desk chair. After about two hours of work she had gotten down to only 35 hours of material. Vicki played back a confession tape from Zsasz’s first interrogation. In the room had been Commissioner Gordon and two officers. Her eyes focused on the amount of scars he had tallied on his bare skin. She then pulled up one of the latest photographs she had annotated noting that this more recent photograph had 144 scars. However, in his first interrogation the Commissioner had recorded only 143 scars. Something was off about the tally marks. -c-
Erzebeth Had Zsasz managed to hide a single tally on his body somewhere? There had to be a body missing. “Holy shit.” There was a body missing in the count. Was this why he had been after her? Vicki turned to look at the officers out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t want to alert them to her finding. This evidence was exactly what she had wanted for her story. Who else could she tell? Or rather, who could she trust? -e-
Bullock would’ve fallen asleep in the time they had spent waiting, Crispus would be scrolling through his phone to read work documents, when he glanced at Vicki to see her still at work, he stood up and began walking to the bathroom. It was in this moment, Batman made his appearance as Vicki would see a shadow approaching from the corner of her eye as black boots moved like soft slippers upon the carpeting. “What did you find?” He was short and to the point, clearly not wanting to waste time as Crispus may have had a short break or perhaps a long one - monitoring the man through detective vision, Batman wasn’t going to waste time either way. His voice was soft and barely disturbed Bullock’s rest from what the Dark Knight could tell.
Erzebeth Oh sure. Hello Bruce. Thanks for scaring me. It’s not like there’s a serial killer stalking me out of my home. Yes it’s nice to see you too. “There’s a miscount on our boy here. The first interrogation with Gordon took place about five years ago where the tally count was at 143, but I found pictures where the count is at 144. Twelve squared bodies has got to make a difference. I don’t know who the extra body is but they’ve got to be important.” Vicki’s eyes peered at the shadow longingly. At least she had maximum security for the time being. “Would I be asking too much if I begged for an anonymous tip on the name once the body is found?” He wasn’t the only one who could get serious about their work. “You’d make me the happiest girl on Earth if you did.”
Batman would dip his head towards the desk she was working on. “I know about the missing body, Ms. Vale.” His words intended to keep things professional between them especially in front of Bullock and Crispus. “I can get you the name of the victim…but I need to know where to start my search. During your investigation was there anything that stood out? An interview, a hint of remorse or regret. Zsasz is a compulsive serial killer -” No doubt, Vicki would be able to understand where Batman was going with his next few sentences.”- With that kind of personality disorder he can’t help but talk to a listening ear…Maybe we can get lucky and he’ll slip up.” It was then a penny sized device dropped down onto her desk and rolled towards her - a black coin shaped device with a red button. [c]
“If you find anything useful you can relay it to me through that. Now think, has he said anything about a crypt or a stash? An incident down at Dixon docks or something that happened at the Aviary. There’s a number of cases the police suspect Zsasz was tied to but nothing concrete.”
