Chapter 17 - When all you have is a hammer

Nicholas stood there for a moment as panic was threatening to take over. There were a number of gods and other supernatural forces who would not be happy with his presence here. Then a flurry of memories started to trickle in. Nicholas was confused for a moment, sense he wasn't sure the memories were actually his. However, they all pointed to one interesting thing about Gotham. It was in a celestial blindspot.

As long as he didn't leave Gotham and no one with a celestial connection came here he would be fine. As he calmed down, Nicholas remembered that this place had a rather convoluted timeline. Even if he sent his crows out, with his lack of interest in the DC universe, he probably wouldn't figure out if there is any plot to deal with.

After letting out a sigh, Nicholas decided to go to the only place that might have an answer, the Gotham City Public Library. After some walking, Nicholas found what he was looking for. It was surprising, the distance between a "good" neighborhood and a "bad" one, was at most a single city block, but it was easily noticed.

As he approached the building, he figured he would see its hours before deciding whether this would be a "B&E" or just a regular vist. To his surprise the library was open. Maybe that wasn't the right word, more like unlocked with no one tending to it.

It wasn't abandoned, but it appears that there was no one on duty. He quickly found the archives and started reading through the headlines.

Batman appears to be working with his actual son at this time, if the fact that there are articles on Nightwing and Redhood is truly accurate. Barbara Gordon was currently in the role of Oracle, but something was bothering him. There was an article on Farmer Brown, the geneticist, and how he was arrested last week.

Nicholas had memories of him, but his appearance was supposed to happen some time ago, before the first Robin became Nightwing. Nicholas decided to have his crows find and observe the known Batman villains. He would try to see who was active, and who was different then what he remembered. He summoned the crows so they would appear outside the building, as to reduce the risk of anyone associating them with him.

As he waited for the results, Nicholas heard the very distinctive sound of a hammer being pulled back and primed. Then he heard a rough voice say, "All right, keep your hands where I can see them and put all your valuables on the table next to you. If you turn around, I won't hesitate to blow your brains out."

Nicholas knew there were no cameras, but he was also aware that Batman could still have some convoluted gadget to recreate the crime scene. So not saying anything, or turning around, Nicholas had the Knight and the Oni, take care of it.

Suddenly, Nicholas heard the voices of two more individuals screaming in terror. When the silence hit, Nicholas turned around to see three mangled bodies. Rifling through their bodies, he found 200 dollars worth of cash. He left the other the other stuff untouched, mostly because they were covered in blood.

Nicholas casually left the building, looking for a more secure place to receive the information. He found it in the form of a 24-hour diner. He decided this would be a unique opportunity to see the effect of eating normal food again.

As the food was place before him, the crows began reporting back what they found. First up was Harvey "Two-Face," it was as expected except that there was two ladies standing next to him. One was blonde with short, curly hair, and wearing white silk robes. The other one had dark hair that went past her shoulders, she was wear black lace with leather accessories.

Nicholas recognized them from the live action movie, Sugar and Spice. The next one was just as confusing. The second one was the Penguin running the Iceberg Lounge. He had five different women with him. The first two were from the Arkham series, Candy and Tracey Buxton. The remaining three were from the animated universe, Jay, Raven, and Lark. As far as Nicholas could remember there was no version where those five were working for Cobblepot at the same time. Bane was in town with his clone/daughter. Joker was with a new girl called Punchline, and Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn were rooming together.

As Nicholas saw how mixed up the landscape was, he got a notice that the anchor had been found in a abandoned theater next to "crime ally." A plan began to form as he realized that if he wanted to move around unnoticed, he would have to let his killers do there own thing.

He sighed and then took a bite out of the cheeseburger he ordered. After he finished eating, he thought, 'Hmm, not bad.'

...

Batman sat in front of his super crime computer. Displayed on the monitor was several grisly crime scenes. Each brutal and unique, but all show the telltale signs of experience killers.

Last night was the first batch, and he doubted they would be the last. Oracle buzzed on the com and said, "Bruce, I've checked the GCPD, there is currently no indications that any of the crime families had a hand I'm this." Batman responded saying, "I didn't think there would be, but it's better to have check just in case."

There were three detectives currently assigned to organized crimes. Which not only covers the mob, but his usual sort of super criminals. He trusted their reports. Harvey Bullock, a rough but honest cop. Renee Montoya, willing to do what it takes to catch the bad guys, she's often will to work directly with him and the bat family. Finally, Ellen Yin, like Montoya willing to work with him directly to do her job.

If they say the mob wasn't involved, he can trust them. Barbara asked, "Got any other ideas, cause I got nothing, based of the crime scene data, the killers are rather... well let's just say they are not someone you fail to notice walking down the street. And there lies the problem, all the attacks happened in camera blind spots, and there are no footage of anyone leaving the area. It's like they vanished into thin air."

Batman said, "I would suspect Ra's al Ghul, but this is too small and pointless for them. There is no connection between the victims, other then the brutal nature it all." Barbara let out a sigh and then said, "I hate to even think it, but unless we get some serious help we may have to wait until more bodies drop."

Batman was still for a moment as he weighed his options. Then he said, "I'll call Nightwing and see if he or anyone in his crew can help." Barbara responded, "Not Redhood?" Bruce answered, "I don't want to add to the body count."

...

Around the same time in Metropolis. Lex Luther was sitting in his office, a brooding look was settled across his face. His "assistant" Mercy entered the room and noted the look on Luther's face and asked, "So, what has got you down?"

Luther's gaze looked on to Mercy for a moment, then he let out a sigh. Then he said, "Yesterday, I was testing a new device, that Tala had helped me create to detect magic signatures. We tested it by mimicking the Trigon incident. It was interesting, it worked flawlessly everywhere but Gotham."

Mercy slightly confused asked, "So, you're upset because Gotham was a failure?" Luther curtly said, "Of course not. I fully expected not to see anything beyond the background noise of Gotham. The problem is this." Luther tossed Mercy a clipboard. The technical stuff went over her head, but the graph was simple. A line that went from one end to the other, and in the middle, a small but sharp bump.

It took Mercy a moment to realize the implications. If a signal that mimicked Trigon at the height of his power was drowned out by Gotham's shadow, then how powerful would something have to be in order to get noticed while in it. Mercy asked, "Have you talked to Tala about this?"

Mercy was loathe to ask for that witch's help, but magic was just not her fortay. Luther responded, "No, mostly because most in the magic community would scoff at the idea that my machine could detect something they couldn't. My real problem is, and it pains me to admit this, my connections to Gotham's Underworld don't afford me any favors that won't betray me at the first opportunity, and I can't go myself without Batman noticing. If this "entity" can be of use to me, I don't want to waste my opportunity simply because I was inpatient."

Luther was still for a moment, then he let out a sigh, and then muttered, "I guess I have no real choice." He activated a video phone and contacted two individuals in Gotham. After a few rings, both of the picked up at the same time.

Two different screens appeared side by side to each other. One showed young girl, no older then five. On the other, it showed a woman wearing a blank white mask. Lex could tell, neither of them were happy to see him. Lex spoke first, "Baby Doll, Calendar Girl, thank you for accepting my call."

Baby Doll responded with a voice that didn't belong to a child, "Lex Luther, you got a lot of nerve after rejecting my request. So, skip the formalities and tell me what you want." Calendar Girl was silent, but Lex could still tell tha she was just as annoyed as Baby Doll. Deciding to not waste time, Luther said, "I'll get to the point, it has come to my attention that a deal maker is in Gotham, but my sources were unclear about their location or even their specialty. If either of you could verify this information, I may be able to facilitate the requests that both of you made before."

Both girls were silent for a minute as they thought it over. Then Calendar Girl said, "Fine, but if you try to back out or exploit some loophole, I'll make regret it, one way or another." Baby Doll nodded her head in agreement. Then both disconnected at the same time.

Mercy, who was standing silent, and off screen, said, "You are betting a lot that this mystery thing will actually be of help." Luther gave a short laugh before saying, "Mercy my dear, you of all people should know, one way or another I always come out on top."