Chapter 43: Grew Worse on a Friday

4:00 AM in the morning, all was not well in Gotham City. The words of the GCPD precinct bombing spread like wildfire and the GCPD mobilized. While it was one of the lesser used buildings, it was serious business. It caused many to stand there, and take notice.

Harvey Bullock stood in the midst of the burned out wreck. He smoked a stoogie and looked around, it had been like the aftermath of some grisly occurrence. The hard boiled cop looked around. As far as he could tell, the emergency medical team had come and went, to get the survivors out. Many died on route to the hospital from what he was hearing, others didn't even make it that far. Those who survived could potentially never be the same again.

"What a fucking mess."

Bullock looked around, the aftermath was far worse than the actual event as far as he could tell. The hard boiled Gotham City cop stood around and he saw Montoya doing her job, interrogating witnesses.

"Yeah, he was a bit scruffy, looks like he hadn't had a shower in a couple of weeks, and he was talking about the good lord's work, but…one of the cops said something, I didn't hear anything," the witness said. She was a middle aged woman. "Don't know how he could have pulled it off. He talked about the lord but I tell you, he had the devil in his eyes."

"Looks like we're dealing with some kind of messed up cult," Montoya muttered, taking notes. There had been rumors that there have been a gang of homeless men, between eight and twelve. And with the violence against the homeless and the disappearance of them reaching a fever pitch, it only began to underline how awful this was becoming.

"I tell you again, looks like a fucking mess," Bullock said, as whatever nutjob did this, he was long gone by now.

It was not exactly a secret that some of the homeless in this part of town were ex-cons from Blackgate, having been sent up the river. They were human garbage that was thrown out by the various crime syndicates and then further stomped on.

"What I want to know is how a bunch of bums got their hand on an explosion device and blew this place to Kingdom Come," Bullock growled underneath his breath.

"We don't know it was the homeless," Renee said in a patient voice.

"Yeah, you're right, some kind of frame job, maybe, whoever does this is one sick fuck," Bullock said and he saw. "Well Jimbo and Jones are here right on schedule."

Sure enough James Gordon and John Jones showed up. They swept into the area, business as usual. They had seen some disasters in their time. Sarah Essen followed a short time later.

"They're saying some scruffy man was involved, guy looks like an unmade bed," Bullock said.

It was due to the matter of professionalism that these three professionals had that they didn't say that some gave that comparison of Bullock during his bad days.

"The gangs could be using the homeless as pawns," John said in his reassuring voice.

"Or there is some kind of angle that we're not looking at," Sarah said and Renee sighed.

"I'm getting conflicting eye witness accounts, where it was just one guy, to an army of about a dozen men and women, maybe more," Renee said to her.

"Yeah, there will be devil worshipping rituals and black cats involved any minute now," Sarah said, trying to keep herself even. "We know someone's pulling the strings somewhere."

"Could it be a member of the Mob?" Jim asked.

"I think we can rule it out, the device is rather crude and homemade for one thing," Renee said. "Mobsters would not let themselves be seen by anyone…."

"Seems to me like they wanted to be seen," Sarah said, which meant that they were trying to prove a point.

"So, is it connected to the attack at the Skeevers's night club….."

"If you ask me, the scummy fuck had it coming," Bullock grumbled.

"Bullock," Gordon said in a calm voice and Bullock fell into line.

"And the attack at the pizza palace," Renee said, ticking it off on her fingers.

"Different MO, and different style of attack," Sarah replied but John shook his head.

"We shouldn't rule out them being by the same party," John said.

"And the mob wouldn't be this brazen because they don't want to declare war on the cops, because….." Gordon said and he left that hanging.

"It'd make their lives more inconvenient," Sarah interjected, and she searched around one more time. The smell of decayed flesh still filled the air.

The mob wouldn't do anything like that, because they enjoyed a cordial relationship with the cops. It they broke that arrangement up, then the cops would bring down vengeance upon them with the force of a mighty hammer.

They did understand one thing, war was coming. They couldn't tell when the next shot would be fired but this was the eerie calm before the storm.

Barbara Gordon had classes this morning at GCU and she was on her way to school. She would worry about what she had to do earlier this morning, but she had a hot tip that she had to give to Nightwing.

The computer was pretty awesome, to the point where she almost neglected the other things that came along with it.

The wireless headset for instant, that really was of use for her. It allowed her to drive to school and inform him of some information that she obtained on her way there.

"So….it looks like our mysterious assailant has struck again," Barbara informed him. She whipped up a nice little program that allowed her to keep track of some of the movements of a lot of the big names in Gotham City. Batman and Nightwing were high up, but Black Mask, the Penguin, Maroni, and Falcone were also of great priority as well.

The serial mass murderer who has been plaguing Gotham City hit the news.

"I didn't even hear it this morning, you're on the ball," Nightwing replied and Barbara tried not to look too entirely smug.

"Well, I've been busy, Maroni, Falcone, Black Mask, and Penguin, I'm also monitoring anything the GCPD does involving them, and they seem to turn out fairly early enough, so….this mass murderer was able to get into the program without too many problems," she said excitedly without missing a beat. "He hit a small diner, nothing too major…. Unless you count the low level criminal elements that have been known to frequent around those parts."

"Well, I'd count it well," Nightwing told her and Barbara whistled.

"Right, right….so I'd figured that I'd get this information to you, and I'd figure that I'd get it to you first thing in the morning, you know because I feel that it isn't early enough," Oracle said without missing a beat. "But then again, it's rather late for you."

Nightwing could not resist. "What do you think that I stay up all night fighting crime and then go bed in the morning and sleep all day."

"Well that's what I assumed," Oracle said sheepishly.

"You know what people say about assumptions, Oracle," Nightwing cautioned her and that caused her to go a bit pink around the area of the cheeks. "I do have a light outside of this costume, you know."

"Right, I know, I know," she replied and she could see Harry where she was a bit away. "A friend of mine is nearby…..I have to go….talk to you if something breaks."

'Okay, I'll try not to jumpstart my nocturnal slumber in case you do," Nightwing said and Barbara smiled, as she pulled into a parking place.

Barbara made sure everything that she needed for class was packed in a bag and she exited the car. Keeping her doors locked firmly, Barbara turned around, seeing Harry just getting off of his cell phone from where she was standing.

"Harry!" Barbara cried in an excited voice and she ambled forward, throwing her arms around Harry, pulling him into a tight hug, which got even tighter. Their lips brushed against each other briefly and then they went one step further, sharing a sense shattering kiss.

When they had come down from the passions of that, both pulled apart from each other.

"So, I take it you're doing well this morning, Barbara," Harry said and Barbara sighed. "You got a few minutes before class, don't you?"

"Yes," Barbara responded, both excitedly and quite eagerly as well, as she followed Harry. The two made their way into the café.

After ordering their breakfast and waiting for it, Barbara excitedly told Harry what she was doing.

"Well, you've got a lot on your plate, don't you?" Harry asked.

"Hey, I'm balancing it out, without going insane," Barbara said, ticking things off. "Between finishing up at GPA, classes at GCU, and work at the GCPD…..okay it's a lot of letters still, but you get the idea."

"I have an inkling," Harry replied, with a dry chuckle, drinking his coffee, watching the redhead in front of him. "And your work has increased in the GCPD after the person who you covered for went missing."

"Yeah, I'm kind of an indefinite fill in there," Barbara agreed. "But never mind that fact, you're pretty busy."

Harry smiled, with one of those guilty as charged looks on his face. The fact of the matter was that he was pretty busy.

"I can't argue with that….."

"Busier than I am in fact," Barbara said, with a mock accusatory point. "Speaking of which, did you ever find a personal assistant to ease a little bit of the load?"

"Actually, I did," Harry told her and Barbara corked her eyebrow in a bit of surprise and she smiled. "Tamara Fox."

"Oh….I know her….well actually I kind of know her through Pam, they were in the same year, had some of the same classes together," Barbara said, excitement dancing through her eyes. "Graduated the same year, very different circles outside of class, but I suppose that got along rather well….nice girl, bit of a Type-A personality really, but pretty nice."

"Well, I think that she's more than qualified for the job," Harry told Barbara and she nodded up and down eagerly.

"I don't think that there's any question about how qualified that she is," Barbara replied and the two continued to make light conversation as they stalled for time before they had to go their separate ways.

The truth was Harry had a lot to do, and a fair bit of that was the lot to do that Barbara undertook. This latest attack made things even more baffling and just when he thought he had an answer, someone kept changing all of the questions.

"It's been a long time," Morgaine commented as she and Harrison entered their castle. It gave them some eerie vibes to be honest. "Much like Peve-Rell's invention, this castle exists between two worlds, the world of the Mundane and Faerie World, therefore I can come and go as I please, often as I wish."

"Fascinating," Harrison said and he could feel the strange and mysterious magical energies flow around him. He would have liked to say it was extremely intoxicating, mostly because he knew that it was. The young man shook his head and cleared his throat.

"I figured that you'd might find it as such," Morgaine commented idly and she got strictly down to business. "We can take one of these paths to the realm, which should bring us close to the palace that Titania resides."

"Would I be wrong in saying that there were more direct paths?" Harrison asked and Morgaine's lips twisted into a smirk.

"Yes, but those paths had been sealed some time ago," she told him. "Never the less, this should hopefully work out nicely."

She pulled open one of the doorways, and the glowing light bathed them, surrounding them. Harrison leaned forward and looked into the light.

One could call it a garden, he supposed, but he decided to call it a wild and untamed hedge maze. That was a more fitting distinction.

"I had forgotten how poorly the upkeep on this place had gotten over the centuries," Morgaine whispered, and Harrison nodded. "The human help had perished a long time ago, and I didn't see the point in replacing them….well let us go…..I do recall the way."

The twisted maze radiated magic; the leaves were a brown dead color. It looked dry and dismal inside the maze.

"Not exactly well upkept like the maze during the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament," Harrison said and Morgaine had half of a smile go across her face.

"Well not precisely for theater like that maze was, but it had a more practical purpose," Morgaine said.

The two walked forward for a little bit until they nearly ran smack dab against a gateway. Said gateway was sealed off and Morgaine smiled as she looked it over.

"Only a small problem, nothing that cannot be solved," Morgaine commented, pricking her finger.

Harrison watched with wide eyes, the blood splashing off against the gate. The blood looked like it had caught fire for a second. It wasn't mundane flames either, it was purely magical fire and it nearly caused him to get spellbound by it.

The gateway swung open and there was a chilling wind that rattled him completely to the bones That was always an ominous sign if he had to say so himself.

"Shall we?"

Harry Potter always had dinner in the company of the finest women imaginable and this was an evening where there was no exception. On this evening, Amanda and Emily were there and for once in their life that they were behaving themselves. At least in a fashion Of course, Rose was keeping a close eye on them, but also she had a few things to discuss to Harry about ongoing projects.

Then there was Lois Lane, sitting there, and if Harry knew her by now, he knew that she had a lot to say.

'She does spend a lot more time at the Penthouse than she does at home, you know,' Kara commented, and she was still sleeping over at Vicki's, half keeping an eye on her.

'Yes, she does seem to do so, but…..having her wander about in Gotham City with all of the trouble that she can get into isn't a good idea,' Karen commented, shaking her head. 'By the way, Faora and I are back in Metropolis, should be back in a couple of days or so.'

With Diana currently working at the Museum, taking a later shift than normal, that was all of the Alphas that were accounted for.

"So, Harry, you know there is a very important event coming up, don't you?" Amanda asked him.

"Yes, the launch of the Red Sun phone on November 5th, for official public consumption, we all know that, don't we, Lois?" Harry asked her.

"Yes, it's going to be awesome," Lois agreed, she was sick of having a crap cell phone that she couldn't get a good reception on when the winded shifted the wrong way.

"Well, there are other events going on there, you know, a bit sooner than that," Amanda said to her.

"Oh right, Zatanna and I are getting married, on Halloween, she's pretty excited about it actually, even though this only makes it official, official," Harry commented and Amanda was exasperated once again.

Rose was in on the joke, so she decided to stir the embers just a little bit more. "Yes, it really should be fun, you know, the two of you. It'll be a beautiful ceremony."

"I'm sure that it will be," Amanda commented and Emily reached over, patting her counterpart on the arm. She was certain that Harry didn't forget, at least not intentionally.

Rather Amanda Potter was the victim of a very successful trolling effort by her brother and that was really something that was amusing.

Really amusing come to think about it, but that was beside the point.

"Did you hear about the bombing?" Rose asked and that got the rest of the group excited, with Lois being one of them to get the most excited.

"Yes….it's insane….and it's not a coincidence, but I'm sure that Nightwing can really stop whoever is behind this…..when he finds out that is," Lois said and she looked at Harry in an excited manner. "And I've been thinking about Nightwing and I've got some ideas on who he might be, you know."

"Oh, do tell?" Harry asked her, he was always curious to hearing theories, but he acted calm, cool, and rather collected all things considered.

"Well, he might be one guy, but what if there's more than one person under there, because…..well someone who is that active, you got to have people swap out, because you have to have a life outside of the costume," Lois said as she looked at Harry with a smile. "But I think that he's closing in on whoever is behind this."

The twins smiled a knowing smile.

"And I guess Batman is there too….but a lot of people still don't think he's real, Nightwing as well, even though I've seen Nightwing, so if he's real, then Batman has to be real as well," Lois commented without really taking a breath. "And….he'll figure out who is behind this. I'm sure he has some super secret cool lair somewhere, something out of some sci-fi movie."

"Well, he does seem like the type, doesn't he?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, he does," Lois agreed, as she managed to calm down long enough and take a bite of her food. She chewed it up calmly and swallowed it. "But, I guess we're going to be guessing for a long time because he's not going to tell us. What's the point in having a secret identity, if it's not secret?"

"Doesn't seem to be a point, does it?" Rose asked and Lois shook her head.

'I wonder how amusing it will be when she finds out that she's talking to the man himself right there,' Kara thought.

'About as amusing as when Barbara finds out the same thing?' Donna asked her.

'Pretty much,' Kara agreed with a smile.

Harry smiled, it was easy to have a mental conversation with his girls when Lois was going a mile a minute like the chatterbox that she was.

The conversation went in a fairly interesting direction, and they were finishing up dinner before too long. Amanda decided that she would make it her mission to drop some hints that were not so subtle. Harry brushed these hints off like he did, that would build up anticipation quite nicely.

"Look at the time, I've got to go….early class in the morning," Harry told them and he walked over to Rose. "Rose, do you think you can see to Lois?"

"Of course, I will Harry," Rose said, as she gave her nephew and tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.

This allowed Harry to make his way back home.

Harry wasn't home for two seconds and heading to the direction of his bedroom, when a pair of soft hands clasped him around the shoulder and steered him towards the room with determination.

He turned around and saw Zatanna standing there. Her luscious black hair hung down, alluringly covering her breasts. Her flat and toned stomach was on full display for him, and she was completely naked save for a pair of thigh high stockings. Her center glittered with arousal and she backed Harry towards the bed.

Before Harry could question this, not that he would really question it, there was one phrase that popped out of her mouth "pu mih eit dna pirts!"

Harry was stripped completely naked and tied up. Zatanna sauntered forward and placed her hand on his lap, before she began to get to work.

Zatanna wrapped her hand around Harry's thick pole and started to slowly stroke him up and down. Her glowing eyes locked onto him and she smiled, giving him a nice good working over. Harry grunted, pushing his pole up into her grip.

"That's it, oh that's it," Zatanna whispered, using her hand to bring Harry to further pleasure. She kept stroking his manhood which twitched underneath her grip. "I want all of this…..give it to me, honey."

Zatanna used her tongue to pleasure Harry and he twitched as she continued to work him over. Her hot mouth wrapped around his tool oh so briefly.

The young magic user looked at Harry. He was hard, she was wet, there really didn't seem to be any point in waiting to see what would happen next.

"I'm ready, Harry," Zatanna whispered, pulling himself up. Her dripping slit was prepared and she grabbed his hips.

"Well there's no need to….oooh wait," Harry grunted, as Zatanna rubbed her hot slit over his engorged tool.

His length was this close to entering her and his cock throbbed continuously at her entrance. Harry closed his eyes, allowing her to slide into him, her flesh sheathed around his tool as she worked around him.

"Fuck," Harry grunted, with Zatanna working her hips around him and she started to slowly ride up and down on him.

"Yes, oh yes," Zatanna whispered, she rubbed her breasts, teasing her husband to be as she bounced up and down, higher and higher. Slick walls caressed Harry's engorged tool as she rode him, slowly at first. She brought herself down onto his balls, bouncing her way up and down onto him.

Harry groaned as her tight center wrapped around him, as she bounced up and down, going higher on him.

She paused for a second, building up the anticipation for both her and him. She was sure that this would normally be the point where Harry grabbed her. And the truth was that he could break the bindings. She was pretty sure that he could but he didn't, because what's the fun in that?

Zatanna slipped herself down onto him, squeezing his massive member between her thighs with one solid push.

"Oh yes, what a ride."

"Let's see if we can speed things up," Harry said, vibrating his cock slightly within her, but not too fast.

"Oh, now that's a fucking good ride."

Zatanna nearly cried out as his large cock stretched her center, and she continued to ride him like there was no tomorrow. She cupped one of her breasts and with a lust ridden grin, she offered him one of her breasts, cupping it teasingly.

Harry took the initiative, wrapping his lips around her nipple, and sucking on it. He closed his eyes, and continued to wrap his mouth around her nipple. Suckling it, he felt a stirring within his body.

"Oh that's it, that's fucking it, more, more," Zatanna whispered, as her lover's tender affections really pleasured her. She almost released his arms.

Almost but she prevented herself from doing so. She rode up and down on him, to the point where she was sure that her thighs would be a little sore in the morning after the adrenaline wore off.

Did she care, not in the slightest? No she just rode Harry for everything that he was worth and his balls slapped against her thighs. The green eyed wizard beneath her was a great prize and she was determined to milk him for everything that he was worth, in every sense of the word.

Harry was not done yet, and that was the way she liked it, that was the way that she preferred it really.

He groaned, longing to touch her body, and sure enough, the ropes relaxed and it allowed his hands free movement.

"Cheater," Zatanna whispered, as Harry ran his hands down her soft face, and then continued his travels around her body, reaching her breasts and squeezing them.

"Well, judging by the sounds that you're making, I don't think that you're complaining about it too much."

Zatanna whimpered in pleasure, she hated it really when Harry was right but that was the truth to be honest.

His hands brushed all over her body and the dark haired magical user continued to pick up her stride. Her slick juices lubricated his journey into her center just a little bit more. She panted heavily, lustfully, hungrily as she came down onto him.

"Ooooh, yeah," Zatanna groaned as she felt him bury himself into her once again and his hands cupped her breasts. She was at the mercy of his tender pleasures.

She felt pleased that she was allowed a dominant position, the juices flowing freely between her legs. If she didn't….if she couldn't…..oh she felt so fucking good that she thought that she was going to explode. His member pushed deep into her insides once again.

Zatanna really lost count of the amount of times that she came from Harry's actions, the fact that he was doing such wonderful things to her nipples using his hands and mouth did not help her predicament any.

She just had to ride him faster, her slick center squeezing him, hugging him. She was this close to coaxing his cum out of him.

"Yes," Zatanna whimpered, and Harry groped her breasts, bringing her hot body down upon him once again.

"Faster," Harry ordered her and she nodded through blurred vision, her lips curled into a smile.

"YESSS!" she yelled, drawing out that moan as she continued to bounce even more, her slick center squeezing him once more.

"I know, I think you've made that point clear," Harry said, as her breasts pressed against his bare chest and she hugged her arms around his neck.

The two exchanged a searing kiss, grinding their hot private parts against each other.

Zatanna thought that she could feel him twitch inside her. She was about to go for the kill, channeling her magic power into her organs.

"Determined to really work for this one, aren't we?" Harry groaned, as she felt her apply the pressure on him. That lead to more pleasure than he ever could experience.

"Oh yes," Zatanna moaned as she continued to pump his length deep into her and she closed her eyes.

There was a sense that they were going at it extremely hard, and Zatanna was going to burn herself out. But to her credit, she stayed with the course.

Persistence paid off, as sweaty sticky flesh clashed against each other. Her soft walls hugged his massive manhood, bringing him deep into her tight body.

Harry's balls tightened and she bit down on his neck to add to the erotic enjoyment. The two had a very powerful climax together that resounded through the bond and everyone had the bond link open had to dart away to the nearest bathroom or bedroom or just private room for some relief.

Zatanna's pussy milked his gift, as she collapsed on his chest, feeling fulfilled at least for the moment.

"So amazing as usual," Zatanna commented, wrapping her arms around Harry's waist as she rested his head on his chest.

"Yes….I think that it was," Harry told her, stroking his lover's hair and he smiled. "So….you know that I'm not complaining or anything, right?"

"I know," Zatanna agreed with a smile on her face.

"So what brought this up?"

Zatanna responded in what she thought was a blunt and simple manner. "Well, to be honest, I just wanted to have sex."

Harry cracked a smile and it was obvious that sometimes the most simple explanations were amount the most obvious. He held the woman into his chest, wrapping his arms around her tightly as the two drifted off together. There would likely be another round soon, there always was.

Tony Zucco was disgusted by what happened and it was time to show some people where the pecking order lied in Gotham City. Eddie Skeevers stood by his side, as a group of old time gangsters made their way insides.

It was just before sunset, a time where a lot of the mob activity has heightened.

"The trash thinks that they can rise up and take us out," Zucco grunted and the mobsters turned towards him, knowing that if anything but their full attention was him, they were going to be screwed. "Are you going to let them do that?"

The gangsters shook their heads.

"Someone's got them riled up, thinking that they can take back what they assume is theirs," Zucco commented. "But if these fuckers want a battle, then we'll give them a war."

"They sent several of ours to the morgue, I think it's time to return the favor," Skeevers said, after his brother was shot, he wanted revenge. Revenge of the most foul, he smelled the blood, he tasted the blood, but at the same time it was out of reach.

There was a grumbling growl with the entire group of monsters.

"They think they can scare us into compliance, don't they?" Zucco asked and that was a rheortical question. None of them were willing to answer, none of them had the guts to do so. They all shook their heads. "No…..they won't….they can't….we won't let them, now will we?"

The mobsters rustled around and shook their heads. Some of them looked fit to put the screws to other people. This served Zucco fairly well, he had learned a few things from Maroni over the years.

"We've got our new toys, time to put them to good use," Zucco said and he snapped his fingers. "Time to take out the trash boys."

The mobsters clapped and they looked fixing to go. The mobsters weren't the only one, there were a lot of gang bangers, people who were really bad men who were looking for an excuse to kill someone. Zucco thought that this would be the prominent opportunity to give them what they want.

"Let's do this," Zucco whispered, harshness dripping from his voice and they all prepared to gear up for war.

Zucco wanted to get the homeless out of Gotham City. If they pushed him, well he would trample them. He didn't know who would be stupid enough to rile all of those bums up but he was going to find out.

"Ready for this one, Eddie?" Zucco asked and the man in question nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, ready to make some fuck pay," Eddie said. One thing was true in Gotham City, you don't fuck with family.

"Well, don't get ahead of yourself, we got to find the guy who did this….something's going down here….but we got to just keep our wits amongst ourselves," Zucco said, taking a weapon around it. He had two bullets, both in the head, for the mook that did this. "Alright, you know what to do, let's show them that the freaks don't own Gotham City."

Old school mobsters were a dying art but Zucco was intent to make those bums pay.

The only thing that was annoying him is he felt that he was missing one piece to the puzzle. But he'd have the information beaten out of that trash.

"Let's go….."

They all piled into three limos, with Zucco and Skeevers, along with some of their best men, taking the most extravagant one.

There was really nothing more to say about this, they were just going to get out and do.

Black Canary and Nightwing prowled the streets of Gotham City. Both of them had their plans for tonight. Black Canary was going to pick up the trail that Batman left behind and she hoped that they would have a hot lead. Nightwing on the other hand was going to try and figure out who was behind the attacks. It did seem probable that both attacks could be connected. Maybe it was a coincidence, but it was too weird to be a coincidence.

Right now they had to investigate the source of the explosion at the police station. Hopefully there could be something there that would help them with either investigation, at least that's what they were crossing their fingers for.

"Okay, we're here," Nightwing said as he looked over his shoulder.

"Right, you're here," Oracle said, trying to get her information in order, with a floor plan popping up. "It's guarded, but not too guarded, at least not as guarded as you'd think. There's just a patrol car nearby, it shouldn't be too hard to slip on past it."

"No, it shouldn't, the cop just looks like a clock puncher type," Black Canary said, the two of them moving forward.

They were inside the police station.

"Police have a good idea what happened, some kind of crude explosion device, here's what I dialed up," Oracle said, transporting the information for both of their disposals.

Harry noticed that and he used the HUD device. The gunpowder trails on the floor indicated that there was dynamite that was used.

'A man of simple tastes by the looks of things,' Harry thought, scanning the trail very carefully.

"Dynamite, likely something else homemade for the hell of it as well, but over half of the explosion had to do with dynamite," Nightwing informed Oracle who corked her eyebrow in surprise. That made a lot of sense to her.

"MCU report is accurate then….." Black Canary said but Nightwing decided to cut in.

"It is, but I can't think that we're missing something," Nightwing responded, as he tried to rack his brain for what that might have been. Then in hit him in a burst of divine inspiration. "There should be some security camera footage around here."

"Give me a minute to see if I can bring it up," Oracle said, biting on her lips. She was in a position. The video footage archived from each prescient at a rather regular interval, she just hoped that it archived from this one fairly quickly. The redhead closed her eyes. "And it hasn't been transferred over yet."

"Great," Nightwing commented, dryly. That might have sunk their hopes in accomplishing what they wanted to get done.

"Well, all of the hope isn't lost yet," Oracle commented. "Each place has a server room until things can be transferred over to Gotham Central…..let me bring out the blue prints."

Black Canary shook her head. "That's providing that the hard drive is still intact."

"Let's hope that it is then," Nightwing said and he waited for Oracle to get them the information for the blueprints.

"You're going to have to hope that downstairs isn't blocked off and the blast damage hasn't reached down there," Oracle said, biting down onto her lip nervously and fiercely.

"Okay, we'll do that," Nightwing said and they made their way through the halfway open door. It had been blasted off of the hinges. They made their way carefully down the rickety set of steps and stopped.

Black Canary looked like a deer in the headlights and she mouthed that someone was coming. Right at that second, Nightwing pulled her into the shadows, holding her close against him.

The police officer stood at the top of the stairs, shining his flashlight downwards. Time ticked on by ominously as both of them stood there.

It was almost like he was standing there for several minutes, hoping that someone would slip up, if anyone was there.

"Guess I was hearing things," the officer said, turning around and walking off, sparing one more backwards glance.

'Wait a little bit,' Harry thought to Dinah who nodded. This could have been some kind of swerve to get them to come out of the shadows a bit too prematurely.

When they were sure that the police completely cleared out, Nightwing let his grip go prematurely on Black Canary. She stepped into the dim light of the room.

"Server room is right across the way, behind those doors," Black Canary said, grabbing onto the door handle and pulling at it.

"Problem?"

"Jammed," Black Canary said and Harry didn't want to do anything to trigger a part of the roof to come down. Especially given that the guard might have been upstairs.

He looked through the floor, so far there was nothing up there, so he relaxed himself, at least slightly.

With one fluid motion, Harry carefully opened the door ,allowing them access into the server room.

"Look," Harry said as he pointed it out, seeing the hard discs on a rack. The latest one must have been placed in the archives just before the explosion took place. That was what he would have called the lucky break. He set up his wrist computer and hooked the disc to it. Dinah looked at him enviously.

"I don't have anything like that," Black Canary said, eying him with a smirk.

"Well, do you want something like this?" Nightwing asked in an absent minded voice and the images flickered to the life. He saw someone approach the station.

"Let me guess, you hit the jackpot," Oracle said, and the feed was being fed to her. "Homeless man, late 30s, maybe mid 40s, if I'd have to guess, although I can't really get a good look at his face."

"The shoes look brand new, though," Black Canary said, pointing them out. "Well, less worn then the rest of the outfit."

That did look curious and it struck him. Something that Veronica told him came to mind. "Deacon Blackfire opened up a church for the homeless of Gotham City and gave them brand new shoes."

"Deacon Blackfire, the name rings a bell," Oracle said, frowning. She heard it somewhere, or read it somewhere.

Nightwing rewatched the footage, seeing the homeless man walking into the lobby, taking off a backpack and walking out. The explosion must have been some time later.

"My brothers, lend me your ear, for I will tell you a tale of the vision that I see. The vision that I have seen after fire fell from the sky. I could have been sacrificed for the lord's vision but I was saved, saved as a prophet. It was on that day that I saw my calling."

He spoke this tone in a low whisper, one had to really listen to what he was saying but they were captivated enough to listen to him.

"You see, people talk often about experiences where they were saved, well the touch of the lord blessed me on that day, and I have begun that crusade," The Deacon continued as he looked at them. "But you see, my brothers, you don't need to experience the hellfire and brimstone, the fact that you almost, nearly die, to be saved. No, to be saved means that you just open your eyes. And all around you, you see kindred spirits, you see kind souls. You see the type of people who you should embrace as your brothers and sisters, and you should never be beyond hope."

The Deacon was gaining fever as his words burned into the minds of all who had hung onto it.

"You see, none of you are beyond hope, none of you are beyond enlightening. All of you need to realize, my brothers that it will take more time. But you see, even that lamb who has stayed from the herd, who thinks he's a wolf, can be brought back home, returned to the herd. And this is my promise to you. Gotham City was once a haven for some of you, but it has become a hell, a hell. The demon from the skies breathes unholy fire down onto you. He has come from a world not known to you, for what he has spawned is truly wicked."

Deacon Blackfire rose his voice a little bit. "And wicked is what will sweep us down. But there is one amongst us that has seen the light. I have been speaking with him, but the truth was that I'm only the vessel. The vessel for him to realize that these truths that he realized a long time ago. He sees my mouth moving, but I'm only a guide to bright enlightening. The entire world, man, has been bathed in fear. But when the fear washes away, there is promise, where the righteous will rise above and all shall be blessed in a new age."

Deacon Blackfire remained silent, dropping to one knee and he made his way into a silent prayer as his two acolytes brought in someone underneath a red blanket.

"Behold, for he has been reborn!"

The congregation looked stunned, as Batman was revealed for them. There were a few difference, his gloves had been replaced with spiked gauntlets and his utility belt had been replaced by a tactical belt.

Silence for a moment, and the Deacon nodded his head once, before they broke out into an applause. Truly, they were willing to welcome Batman into their fold, for the great Deacon Blackfire had got him to see the light.

One of Deacon's recruits, the more vocal of the homeless, burst through the doors. "It's Zucco, he and his men are marching through the streets, taking out the homeless."

Deacon Blackfire was ready to fan the embers of anger that they were stirred up. They were ready to take on the entire world after his speech; all it would take is one more push.

"Do not delay then, go forth and assist your brothers."

His congregation marched out and it left Deacon Blackfire standing alone. A grin spread across his face. All went according to plan.