106 Villains Or Victims? #106

My suspicion soared, and my paranoia reached unprecedented levels as I heard the henchman's words. While it may seem like I'm overreacting, I discovered something yesterday that warranted such an extreme reaction.

Through the many cameras I've installed in the Iceberg Lounge and accessing the ones already there, I've noticed something very suspicious, which immediately raised every red flag there is, was, and will be.

None of the defeated contestants left The Iceberg Lounge. And while it could be attributed to their injuries, some of the victors were equally or even more badly injured, yet they all walked out.

Some through the door, some through more DC comics fitting methods such as the windows, the roof, or simply punching a hole in the wall in Amygdala's case, but they all did, in fact, physically exit the Iceberg lounge, unlike the losers.

I had no idea what The Penguin was doing with the losers, whether it was feeding them to his penguins (I shit you not, he actually did that to someone in the comics), harvesting their organs, or enslaving them to build a giant golden penguin monument; I didn't know or care.

However, I did know that whatever The Penguin was up to, it couldn't be anything good. I couldn't find a single hint, and it wasn't for the lack of trying.

"Lead the way..." I replied after intently staring into the henchman's eyes, much to his discomfort as he awkwardly cleared his throat and adjusted his tie with no trace of yesterday's composure.

Ultimately, I couldn't avoid this mess since I had to defeat Cassandra. Talking to the penguin might help me get to the bottom of what he's plotting or planting some bugs in his office, which I didn't do the first time I was there out of caution.

"This way, please..."

...

Oswald Cobblepot's office

Oswald Cobbelpot gnashed his teeth in frustration as he read the paper in his hand containing the latest instructions from the mysterious organization that coerced him into creating the tournament.

Anyone not privy to how and why Oswald created the tournament might think it was another way for him to rub his status and undisputed position as one of Gotham's most successful crime lords in everyone's faces. However, that couldn't be further from the truth.

Tough Oswald was no stranger to rubbing his success in other people's faces as he thoroughly enjoyed doing that. He preferred other more subtle methods to do it, like social gatherings and the like.

The only reason he'd create something as ridiculous as this tournament is because someone forced him as it would bring too much unwanted attention his way, putting a wedge in his plans.

Oswald had been preparing to take over Gotham's underground for over a year, slowly and meticulously plotting Black Mask's demise by pushing more people to hate him.

He whispered in every listening ear how Black Mask was no good for business, what with his obsession with Batman and his die-hard attitude. He gathered allies and waited for an opportune time to strike.

And that wasn't all Oswald did. He even provoked conflicts between Black Mask and the city's most notorious villains, such as when he bribed some of the latter's men to attack Killer Croc or steal Harley Quinn's hyenas.

And just as he was ready to strike, he found a letter with a USB stick sitting on his desk like it was always there. Surprise, surprise, It had enough evidence to send him to prison for the rest of his life.

It also came with instructions to start the ridiculous tournament and capture everyone who'd lose to hand over to the people threatening him or suffer the consequences.

Oswald had no choice but to grit his teeth and comply or risk everything he'd worked so hard to build suddenly collapsing over his head, and so he did, reluctantly.

The tournament wasn't supposed to happen anytime soon, so Oswald figured he'd hasten his plans and take down Black Mask before that but little did he know.

One day, and for no apparent reason, he found a letter on his desk, instructing him to move the tournament to a closer date, forcing him to postpone his plans and even consider aborting them.

However, in a sudden turn of events, some new vigilante took down Black Mask, kidnapping the latter and using him as bait to lure and neutralize hundreds of mercenaries and thugs.

It goes without saying, Black Mask won't recover from such a humiliation anytime soon, if ever, and the time he'll spend in prison would give Oswald all the leeway he needed to take over Gotham, which he already began before the tournament.

The vigilante known as Wraith was basically a godsend to Oswald, not that he'd ever admit his most recent and impressive successes were in no small part thanks to him.

Even as the tournament started, Oswald's men were covertly taking out small rival gangs one by one and replacing their leaders quietly with none the wiser. However, the problem of the people threatening him still loomed overhead.

That wasn't all as Lady Shiva suddenly showed up before the start of the tournament, demanding that Oswald rig the opponent placement in favor of two people, Wraith and Orphan, who she claimed would join.

And shortly after that, the people coercing him also popped up again, leaving another letter instructing him to contact Wraith to try buying some of his sentry guns.

Another representative from the league of shadows also showed up, making different demands from those of Lady Shiva, prompting Oswald to snap and tell them off.

In other words, Oswald was in the crossfire of at least two organizations with only one thing in common; their shared interest in the vigilante Wraith.

The situation was so funny that Oswald would have laughed if it wasn't so troublesome and thorny at the same time. It was Wraith who took Black Mask. On the other hand, he was one of the reasons the two organizations were toying with him as they did.

Oswald honestly didn't know if he wanted to kiss the vigilante or put a bullet in his head, not that he could anyway, but the idea did occur in his mind on multiple occasions.

Suddenly, Oswald heard a knock on the door, snapping him out of his daze as he cleared his throat. "Come in," he loudly said, to which the door opened, revealing Wraith's form accompanied by Orca.

Wraith naturally moved and sat on the couch as if he owned the place as Orca moved to stand beside Oswald's desk. Of course, she didn't forget to murderously glare at the vigilante for his rude behavior.

"I won't waste your time or mine," Oswald said as he turned to the vigilante staring at him in silence, waiting for the former to start the conversation.

"There have been changes to the opponent placement..." Oswald said, intently watching Wraith as he tried to get a read on him by reading the latter's body language. However, he was disappointed that the vigilante remained motionless without twitching a muscle.

Wraith said nothing either and continued to silently stare at Oswald, which the latter took as asking for an explanation, and he obliged, proceeding to elaborate.

"I was asked to make certain that you wouldn't fight the opponent Lady Shiva wants you to face..." Oswald continued after a second of silence, gesturing to the side.

"I've no interest in being toyed with, so I told them off, of course... but the person who asked was from the same organization as Lady Shiva..." he added, his tone and expression annoyed.

"I don't know what conflict they have, but I can't afford to take sides. The fights will be random originally planned..." Oswald concluded with an Oscar-worthy show of helplessness, to which Wraith barely stopped himself from scoffing.

"No matter. I wasn't expecting you to keep your word anyway..." Wraith blankly said as he got up, pausing to look at the giant humanoid whale who seemed ready to lunge and bit his head off at any second.

"We're done here..." Wraith added as he turned and made for the door, mindful of Oswald's eyes drilling a hole in his back with an unreadable expression as he watched him leave.

...

'What kind of fucking mess is this...?' I silently contemplated as I followed behind the henchman assigned to bring me to my room, as I'd come early today to scope out the situation.

First it was whatever The Penguin was doing to the losers. And now it's another mother fucker from The League Of Assassins middling in the fight.

The cluster fuck kept getting more fucked and clustered with every passing minute, and with every new discovery, I'm beginning to like this situation less and less.

'Good thing I took some precautions...' I had the urge to sigh as I watched the henchman leave after guiding me to my room.

'I just hope Crush buys what I'm selling, or I'd have to fight otherwise...'

...

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