Battle for Old Gotham : Part Three

A large rotund individual sat in a lavish office, behind a big desk that was mostly clean with only a couple of folders on one side and a phone on the other side. He was sitting in a big chair with a high back and in front of him were several smaller chairs that he forced his guests to sit in, to show that they were of lesser importance than he was. His office had a large set of doors on the other side of it and there was an even larger window that looked out all over Gotham City.

In short, everything in the office seemed so large that one would think that he was compensating for something.

He was dressed in a sleek suit, with evenly parted grey hair. He had dark eyes and a darker complexion. He was currently talking to a larger pale individual, who was a few good meals overweight. He made this individual look like a lightweight.

The man behind the desk was Rupert Thorne and he puffed up an imported cigar as he stared down the man.

"So….is that all, Steven?" Thorne asked in his most crisp voice, almost dismissive and the man in front of him, nodded. "We'll hold off on it for now. If anything changes, I'll be sure to inform your contact."

Thorne took another large puff of the cigar and poured himself a cup of vodka, before taking a swig of it as he stared at the man. Cigar smoke filled the office as he puffed away.

"But it is unwise for us to keep meeting face to face like this," Thorne said as he took another swig of his vodka and he put down his cigar, to light another one. "It'd look fairly suspicious."

"Understood," Steven said in a weedy voice as he made his way out of the office, waddling all of the way and Thorne heard his intercom buzzing.

"Yes, Candace, what is it?" Thorne asked as he answered his secretary on the intercom.

"Howard Brandan wishes to speak with you," Candace said to him. "Shall I?"

"Put him on, see what he wants," Thorne said as he drummed his fingers and he figured that he could use an update about what was transpiring over in Old Gotham. "Yes, Brenden, what is it?"

"Black Mask and the Penguin sent their men to attack Falcone's men, Maroni's as well, and….they were sighted," Branden said to Thorne.

"I believe I've made my orders perfectly clear, Brenden," Thorne said as he swigged his vodka and paused. "No one gets in, no one gets out, is that understand."

"I think…."

"Well I'm not paying you to think!" Thorne snapped harshly. "I paid good money to ensure that the SWAT team does their job and don't forget that cushy position can get pulled out of your hands as quick as I put it there. Is that understood?"

Branden's response dripped with agitation but never the less, he answered. "Understand."

The GCPD SWAT was run like mercenaries, at least that's how Branden set it up. The highest bidder controlled the spoils and Rupert Thorne was able to manipulate everything to his liking, as much as he liked.

"No one gets in, no one gets out," Thorne repeated to him. "I want Old Gotham secured and I don't want anyone stepping on my toes."

"Yes, Mr. Thorne, sir," Branden said, it was obvious that the man knew where his bread was buttered or at least Thorne thought so.

Rupert Thorne reclined back as he was only mildly concerned about a couple of urban legends. He was pretty sure that their abilities were greatly exaggerated.

"Mr. Thorne, Councilman Hill and Mr. Schreck are here for their meeting," Candace chimed in and Thorne paused and he gave her the word.

"Send them in," Thorne said firmly and he waited. This was going to be a productive evening, providing Branden didn't screw up.

Despite his initial reluctance to accept help, Batman decided to grudgingly do so. As much as he hated to admit it, this was a situation where he was pretty much in over his head. He had seen plenty of gang violence, it went with the territory in Gotham City, there was no question about that. And there was no question that this was far worse than anything he had ever run across during his short time under the cowl.

He was on the roof, joined quickly by Black Canary and Nightwing. The trio waited for their next move. The gunfire had died down, at least for a few seconds but they could all agree that was not going to last for any substantial amount of time. Nightwing brought up a holographic copy of the map that was down in the lair.

Batman did not say anything but he was impressed.

"It's a rather crude copy, I wish to have something a bit more sophisticated later on," Nightwing said without even looking at Batman although he could sense a few impressed thoughts and the obvious fact that Batman might have wanted one.

'We've got a problem,' Karen popped in through the bond link.

'Yes, what kind of a problem?' Harry asked and Hermione was the one who chimed in. To say she was frustrated might have been putting things mildly.

'Well….remember how we said that we were only seven percent of the way from getting in?' Hermione asked as she sighed. She took her lack of success as a personal insult to her. The brunette tried not to lose her head, even if it was the easiest thing in the world for her to do. She shook her head as she decided to spit it out. 'Well now we're zero percent of the way in, the guy booted us out, and I think that whoever put this program in, he was toying with us.'

'Obviously,' Donna added but she could almost see Harry give her a look through the bond that now was not the time. The Amazon clammed up for a second as she shook her head. 'So do you have any idea who might be brazen enough to do something like that?'

Karen was only too happy to chime in with an answer of her own. 'Well the man who created the GCPD's encryption, he's called Edward Nashton. Don't know too much about that guy, except for the fact that he's….well he's pretty good at what he does. And he's created the encryption to some of the top companies in Gotham City. Except for RAO and Wayne obviously because we have our own private networks but never the less, Nashton is trying to ensure that no one gets in.'

"We have a problem," Harry said as he got the feed to the computers in the lair and he looked over his shoulder where Batman watched him. It appeared that this cowled crusader of the night was all ears, so Nightwing decided to fill him in. "Well….for lack of a matter term, I can't break into the GCPD communication feeds, came close though but he booted us out."

Batman did not even need to be a great detective to realize that he would have some support.

"I believe I may have a solution," he said calmly as he started to upload a program in the system. He purchased it off of a hacker online known as Oracle. Whoever was behind it, they seemed to be pretty reputable so Batman was banking on it working. Not that he could beat the price.

With the GCPD communications network now compromised, Harry was able to get remote access.

"Orders are that no one is able to get into Old Gotham," a gruff voice said over the communication link.

"There have been…."

"Branden's orders are that we keep everyone out, take it up with him," another member of the SWAT team said as there was more squabble over the radio.

Black Canary let out a prominent sigh; she thought that there was a distinct lack of police coming around Old Gotham, especially based on the levels of violence. Only the police that regularly patrolled the area and from what they could tell over the radio, they were boxed inside.

"Locked out to the outside world, anyone in here, they're a sitting duck," Nightwing said as he confirmed. He wondered what the SWAT was playing at but then it hit him, someone was giving the SWAT team their marching orders.

"We've got a problem," Batman said and there was a moment where Black Canary and Nightwing stared at him but then they nodded.

'Master of the obvious award goes to Batman!' Amanda cheered over the bond link but she remained silent over the bond after she got a stern reprimand from her mother, aunt, and Faora who for all intents and purposes was her older sister.

"Problem, puts things mildly, it's a crisis waiting to happen," Harry said as he pinched the bridge of the nose. "Old Gotham is in the crux of a three way gang war, there's the Penguin, there's Black Mask, and there's the mob."

"The mob is fractured, though," Batman reminded them.

"We could take down the leadership of the gangs that we do know, and hope that they call the goons off," Harry said as he threw his head back. "The problem is, the Penguin is a mystery, isn't he? Unless you know who he is."

"No," Batman said, the Penguin was this mysterious gangster from London. This was the first time that he operated in Gotham City to the best of his knowledge. "We do know who Black Mask is."

"Yes, and if you know who Black Mask is, he's going to be a tricky one for us to get our hands around," Harry said without missing a beat. He was not going to mince his words. "He could be functioning out of Sionis Steel Works, which is a fortress or Janus Cosmetics, which is in Old Gotham, but that may be his two main bases of operations."

"And after he got taken down before, he will be doubly careful," Batman said and Nightwing nodded, there was really no more to say other than that.

Black Canary chirped up with an obvious statement. "Well, there isn't too much that we can do until the situation with the SWAT on the bridge is resolved is to put out as many fires as we can. Because….."

She was cut off by some more gunfire off in the distance and there was a second where they could not hear each other. Judging by the yells down below, things were just heating up now.

"And we need to get access to the communication networks of the three main parties as well," Black Canary said as she looked at the dark crusader in the shadows. "Batman may be the best person for that, while Nightwing and I put out as many fires as we can."

"I'm not so sure….."

"She's right," Nightwing said in a voice that left no room for argument as he cast Batman a glare that left even less room.

"Fine," Batman said and Nightwing held up a hand before placed an access card in Batman's hand.

"This should allow you to do what you need to do, although it will short out if you try and fiddle with it to work beyond your intended purpose," Nightwing said and Batman did not even need to respond with that he knew.

Rather the bat-themed vigilante slipped off in one direction, while Black Canary and Nightwing popped off into the other direction.

'Two blocks,' Faora chimed in helpfully and her two cents were appreciated as they kept their eyes pealed and their ears pealed. As it turned out, they did not have to look too hard.

Black Canary and Nightwing dropped down, preparing to engage in battle, but keeping mindful of the SWAT that were prowling in the night as well. While they seemed to be keeping to the bridge, they did not want to take any chances.

A stylish gentlemen turned up, with long parted dark hair and a mustache. He had the demeanor of your average businessman, in fact, if he was a face in the crowd, he would be pretty much mistaken for a banker. In fact, compared to the rest of his family, he had far fewer issues indeed. He tapped his hand on the table. His name was Mario Falcone and he turned to his brother, Alberto. Alberto had his jaw wired shut after his encounter with the demon, or at least that's what Mario was being told.

Mario did not believe in demons but there was someone that he was keeping a close eye out for. He never was all that comfortable with the family business, although he was willing to play along into lessen some of the brutality that the Falcones had done. He was good at what he did, with less issues than his brother or his sister.

He currently sat trying to get news in what was happening in Old Gotham at the beautiful Carmine Hotel, in the Bowery. It functioned as his base of operations, temporary as it would have been. Although it technically was considered to be Maroni territory but his hold on the Bowery was slipping rather quickly due to his incarceration.

It was a hotel that was built by his great grandfather Vito Falcone, sometime during the 1920s and it was a huge part of the Falcone Family history.

The phone, which had been ringing off the hook for the past hour, rang again and as tired as he might have been, Mario picked it up once again.

"You lost….you lost….calm down," Mario said firmly over the phone.

Alberto wordlessly listened to the conversation, not saying a blasted word due to his inability to speak due to his jaw being busted up. He drummed his fingers across the table.

"They've been pushed out, of the Industrial Districts, the Amusement Mile, and the Docks," Mario said to Alberto and Alberto picked up a pad of paper and a pen, before scrawling a message.

'By who?'

"The Penguin, Black Mask, maybe it's that Bat for all I know, he could be involved knee deep in this shit as well," Mario said trying to keep himself calm although his calmness failed him at the moment. His men waited for the order. "Go down….."

The sound of automatic gunfire could be heard from the lobby and that caused both Falcones to stand up straight and nearly trip over their own feet. Mario was the only one who could voice exactly what he was thinking. "What the fuck was that?"

The door was kicked up and Mario got up to his feet, to see one of his bodyguards. He had his hand on a gun that he had concealed on him.

"It's Zucco," one of the bodyguard said to him.

"What….what is he doing here?" Mario asked as he looked over his shoulder. "Fat" Tony Zucco was Maroni's right hand man and the most likely individual to take control of the mob in the man's absence.

"The guy in the lobby, he radioed up here, the line went dead," the bodyguard said swiftly without missing a beat and there was no question about it, Mario was sweating at the pressure he was feeling.

"That opportunist son of a bitch!" he swore, he realized what was happening. He was taking advantage of the chaos to gain complete control of the Bowery and in the center of that was the hotel.

He was even more pissed off when he saw the security camera footage. He saw Zucco and his men storm into the lobby and open fire on everyone there. They were trying to break into the top floor, likely to get out of the Falcones.

"We need to get you out there, sir," his bodyguard said to him urgently, grabbing him by the arm and Alberto scrambled to follow his brother and his bodyguard.

Mario was not about to argue with that point and the group made their way to the elevator leading to the parking garage. Where it was their hope that they would bypass any problems, with things now breaking down further now that the top lead bosses on both side were no in prison.

'Come on, come on,' Alberto said, he could not verbally freak out for obvious reasons but never the less his eyes darted around like a spaz. He was not in the most sound of mind after his encounter with the demon which traumatized him.

"We're almost there," the bodyguard said and no sooner did he step out of the elevator, he was shot down.

A barrage of gunfire met them in the parking garage with Falcone's men pouring out to respond. It was a chaotic scene with both sides shooting at each other, with blood being shed. The loud bang of shattering glass could be heard, with the remaining bodyguards forming a shield around the two Falcones.

"This way, sir, we're almost there," a bodyguard whispered as he saw a glimpse of a rotund figure in the shadows.

"Blow the brains of that son of a bitch out!" grunted a voice from the shadows, but the Falcones were already in the limo and the driver pealed out as fast as he could go, nearly blowing through the door and running over everyone who had been foolish enough to step into the ring.

The large and imposing figure of Tony Zucco stepped out. He was a middle aged gentleman with a bald spot, dressed in a suit. He had piercing eyes that ensured that he meant the business.

"We ran all of the rats out of the Bowery," he told his men. "It's now ours."

Maroni's remaining men cheered although they could not grow too comfortable for they still had to deal with Black Mask and this Penguin. Not to mention the Bat and the ninja, although some of them were skeptical about their existence.

"Finally," Hermione said, there was no mistaking the amount of relief that popped into her voice as she managed to get into the network. Karen smiled as she shared her joy.

"There have been shots at the Carmine Hotel…..I repeat….there have been shots at the Carmine Hotel…."

"I don't care, I given my orders, and those orders that no one gets inside Old Gotham, no matter what, unless Commissioner Loeb or Chief O'Hara contradict them," Branden barked.

"And I thought some of the Ministry employees where idiots,' Nym whispered as she just joined the fun. The girl stood there, dressed in a white top and jeans, with her hair long and dark and she was ready to help in any way that she could. "Situation's getting intense, isn't it?"

"Yes," Diana said briskly, she did not want to say much more than she did.

"Make sure you get the Carmine Hotel on the map, I want a fix on what's going on there," Karen said to Zatanna and Jaime and they nodded, that was something that was a key priority of what they wanted to get up on that map.

"We need to try and cut off the people in charge, but this isn't working out as well as I hoped," Hermione said as she tried to focus and not spaz out when she was trying to get everything in order. Karen stood right beside her to keep her focused.

'We should be getting a fix onto the comm networks of the major parties involved,' Harry informed them all.

'Standing by for that one,' Faora agreed as she and Diana had divided their responsibilities to who kept an eye on what and Nym.

"I just really hope that there's something on our end soon because we're running around in circles," Hermione said as she placed her hand on her head but Karen grabbed her arm warningly. Just when she was about to bemoan how long this was taking, something popped up.

"I want you to get it done," Black Mask grunted over the communication network.

"We'll get it done boss, don't worry," one of the goons said. "Alright, you boys heard him, any of those bastards, start shooting them."

"Yeah, well you heard what happened, some of Maroni's men started going after some of Falcone's or maybe it was the other way around," the goon said as he coughed. "Anyway, the dumb bastards are going to take themselves out."

"Good," one of the goons stated savagely as there was more such chatter over the communication networks.

"Well, shit's gotten far worse, now it's gone from a three way to a four way," Hermione said as she sighed. "This complicates things."

"Yes, it does," Karen agreed.

'Just stay focused, as the other communication links should be popping in shortly, and keep us posted on anything that's happening at the Hotel,' Harry said as he had stomped on the head of another goon, after him and Dinah had put out another fight against some goons.

'You know, the best thing to go in there would be to strike fast and get the hell out of dodge before moving onto the next cluster,' Nym suggested and there were nods of agreement.

'She's got the right idea,' Faora said. 'It's going to be Guerrilla tactics all of the way, you've got to keep getting in there, before they have a chance to see you."

'And try to manipulate your enemies against each other, and just keep moving….to your right,' Diana said and they could see that an intense battle was this close to brewing.

'Yeah, it does make my life easier when they take each other out, but the SWAT kind of evens that out with what they're doing,' Harry said as he watched Dinah knock on of them out.

'There's something going on above you,' Zatanna thought as she chimed in helpfully.

'I don't think they'd see you from your vantage point but at the same time, you should be very careful,' Faora warned them and Harry smiled.

'I'm being careful,' Harry said.

The girls could see a large cluster being knocked down, whether it was from another Canary Cry or from Harry taking them down, it was a lot to figure out.

"Who the hell is doing this, SOMEONE REPORT!" Black Mask yelled over the radio but he calmed himself down after taking a few deep breaths. "Whoever's doing it, I don't care, just shoot those sons of bitches and make sure they stay in the fucking ground."

Black Mask's flustered statement could in fact be heard by all and there were a lot of fires to be put out.

'That's high priority right there,' Diana said as she could see that one would be easier to take out. 'A block west.'

They continued to put out as many fires as they could but there always seemed to be something to do. Especially considering a three way fight had spun into a four way fight when the Maroni and Falcone factions turned against each other.

'The Battle For Old Gotham is heating up,' Hermione thought to herself as she shook her head.

'So, things have really gotten nuts,' Kara said as she jumped onto the bond link.

'More than usual, Harry and Dinah are handling it and then Batman's there, so….hopefully things will be fine,' Hermione said, she was half distracted most of the time.

'I hope that you're right,' Kara said, she was sitting in the fields of Smallville right now, where she could be alone with her thoughts. The Kents had long since been to bed although given that it was past midnight, she suspected that Jonathan Kent at least would be up soon to start his farm chores.

'Harry's got it under control,' Lily said, she was actually as curious as Kara was, perhaps a bit more so and trying to check things out on the bond. The twins had crashed already, after they had taken Lana to the mall earlier for a day out that evening but they would be popping in as needed.

Batman swooped down after managing to get his hooks into Black Mask's radio network. That was one party down but he had a big fish to get his hook into. The Penguin was next up and there was something that told him that it would be a bit harder to get the Penguin's radio network.

The first step was to track down some of the Penguin's gang which was easier said than done. They would be among the stylish lot, although some of them were mercenaries. There was a crackle in the air and more gunshots.

Batman kept moving and dodged up as a couple of men stepped from the shadows.

"Did you hear anything?" one of them whispered his partner and his partner shook his head.

"Not a god damn thing, just keep moving, we've got to be imagining it," one of the thugs suggested and Batman looked down before there was one thought that went through his head.

'They'll lead me to where I want to go,' Batman thought as he moved from lamppost to lamppost, careful not to stay in one spot for too long. He could hear the sounds of combat in the very distance, but he had to keep going towards his target.

He had hit the jackpot with a group of Penguin's men standing around, just talking with each other.

"The boss gives the orders, and we take out any of the Roman's guys who are dumb enough to show their ugly mugs," one of the goons said and there was a lot of nodding.

"Did you see what happened….bunch of guys went down about three blocks from here?" one of them asked.

"Nah, they were being fucking careless, you wouldn't see me taken down that easily," the goon said and no sooner did these words leave his mouth, the back of a knee struck him in the back of the head. He went down and a dark figure went into the shadows.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?" one of the goons asked and suddenly, another goon as dragged into the shadows and slowly beaten.

He stepped into the shadows, nervously. "I ain't fucking around, you better come out…."

A pair of hands muffled his mouth and his head bounced off the edge of a lightpost outside. The clang took him down.

Most frustratingly, this was not the group that Batman wanted to go after but he heard the snatches of a conversation off to the side.

"You guys, still haven't got the casino yet…."

"No, not yet, son of a bitches are holed in there tight," the goon protested, as they held the military grade equipment that they had. The grunts they sent ahead on a scouting mission were not equipped as they were. "They got, must be about four or five guys, or something, guarding all of the entrances."

The first thug shook his head, dread being present in his voice. "Man the boss is going to be fucking pissed."

"Boss is always pissed about something, ain't nothing new," another goon chimed in as he checked the shadows. Their men had been taken down all night.

"Yeah, heard because it because I can't get it up no more, but that's not the fucking point," the first thug said to the other two. "You fuck this up, and he'll send them after you, You know, the Walrus or Mr. Carpenter, and you shitheads want to know what happen the last time he sent them after a person."

There was a pause and the goon continued.

"Tell you want happened, the Walrus beat the ever living piss out of that guy who fucked up with that bat of his. I saw it happen, a bunch of us saw it happen."

"No way, that thing he has, it's a bat?"

"Yeah, for cricket or rugby, or one of those sports they play over there, you need to know what a crumpet is to understand it," the thug said but then he shook off those thoughts. "But that's not the fucking point, the point is you need to take over that Casino and take it over soon."

"How are we supposed to do that?"

"Well, dumbass, the boss sent us over some party favors, so just take a look in the crate, and get your ass over there with some guys, pronto."

'Too well armed for generic thugs, got to take them out,' Batman thought as he swooped down.

The two guards did not stand a chance, one of the weapons that they had was an automatic combat shotgun, but they were knocked unconscious before the thugs got a chance to use it. Two heads clonked together as they slumped to the ground.

Batman had the radio that he needed to patch things through but he saw the crates on the ground, curiosity got the better of him.

Before he got straight to business with that, Batman opened up the crates. What he saw in one of the five crates, it was shopping.

There were four M72 LAW's inside each create. Batman mentally pieced together the math in his head and sure enough, if the contents of the crate were the same, there would be twenty of these dangerous weapons and it was enough to suit the Penguin's gang.

He made plans to destroy the contraband, even if these two would not be able to use it, there were too many gang members that were prowling around. More thugs, no matter on what side, would be able to grab onto them.

Miniature explosive devices were attached to the side of the crates, ready to detonate in the next sixty seconds.

Batman hurled the two goons safely into a dumpster, where they could be protected and also be along with the rest of the garbage.

With another movement, Batman repelled up onto a gargoyle and had the radio. He paused and waited for the telltale signs of an explosion to go off. The explosion went off seconds later and the contraband was destroyed.

Batman had the radio and it did not take him too long to find his way into the Penguin's network.

"Get to the casino, I don't care if it's fifty below zero out there, just get the job done," a garbled voice squawked over the communications link and Batman thought that it could deal with being a little bit clearer but he had an in.

"Alright, we're in the Penguin's network," Batman said to Nightwing. "And I've found something that you might be interested in."

"Boss isn't happy that we haven't gotten into Amusement Mile yet," one of the members of Black Mask's gang stated.

"Yeah, that's the boss for you, we got to go through this creepy fucking place to meet with the others," another thug said as there was shivers that went down his smile. "He'd gut us if we don't do it."

A group of about seven or eight of Black Mask's men were walking through Sheldon Park. There was an eerie fog and since it was a dark night already, that did not improve their nervous moods.

"I've seen horror movies that started like this, I tell you man, there's some messed up shit," one of them said.

"You're just imagining things, can't be that bad, not as bad as what the boss'll do to us, if we fuck this one up," the leader of the pack said as he looked over his shoulder to the men. "We've got to take Sheldon Park or he'll cut someone open…..straight the stomach….and rip his intestines out and skip rope with them."

"That's some fucked up shit," one of the thugs said.

"Hey, you fuck this up, being sick to your stomach will be the least of your worries," one of the men said as he stepped into the chilling mist.

"Fucking freezing as fuck out here," the thug grumbled.

"Ah, you want a bottle and a binky, you big baby?" another thug said but he shivered at the fog and things were getting a bit more chilling and foggy as well as they kept going deeper into Sheldon Park. They were heading in the direction of a large tower. "You want to bitch, take it up with the boss, might be the last worthless breath that you take. He's been pissy ever since Black Canary and that other guy….Wingnut wasn't it?"

"Nightwing?" one of the thugs corrected.

"Whatever, anyway those two fucked up one of his business deal, along with the Roman's little fruit of a son," the thug grumbled as he walked into the mist and they stood outside the tower.

The rustling of leaves kicked up and all of them were on a hair trigger now. They fuck up because they were paranoid, and Black Mask would have their heads. But there was that very real fear in the back of their minds that someone else could have their heads, it was one of those real lose-lose type of situations. The thug closed his hand together and kept moving, but then the leader stopped.

"WHAT?" he yelled a bit too loudly for his own good.

"Thought I heard something, must have been just the wind," the leader said. He heard something but there were no visuals.

"Fuck, we're all going to die lost in the fog if we don't keep moving, likely a cat or something stupid like this," one of them grumbled but he could not disguise how much his heart had been racing, drumming across his chest with a rapid fire beat.

They kept moving but suddenly there was a blur in the shadows, moving faster than anyone could even imagine.

There was a violent slash as an unfortunate thug dropped to the ground. They barely had time to register what happened, their fellow gang member having been cut from ear to ear, his throat sliced open and blood splashing out of his throat.

They barely had any time to register, for they had barely any time to breath because they soon met the same fate. The sword slashed the hand of the man holding a gun off and then plunged into his ribs as the person kept moving through the fog.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?" one of them yelled, losing his head, before that statement became a bit more literally. His head was sliced off, hanging by his shoulder with several gruesome sliced strands of flesh and blood oozing.

The leader of the gang backed off, really wishing he had not brushed the sign off as nothing. He fired two shots into the distance but the third was stopped due to the weapon being kicked from his hand.

His panicked mind made out the figure in the shadows. She was a woman with dark hair and had the eyes of a cold blooded killer, black and lifeless. She had a green cloak on and red and black attire. He could not make out too many more details, because he suffered a series of fatal stab wounds.

The leader fell to the ground, sliced to ribbons and he knew no more as the mysterious figure disappeared into the fog, as suddenly as she appeared.

"The weapons that he had, I'm not surprised, given who we're dealing with," Harry told Batman when he had checked in with the report. "The Penguin, he was always a problem across the pond. One of the most brutal gangsters in the entire United Kingdom, and he's been smuggling weapons for years. Police can't touch him from what I could tell. And he's now deciding to expand his empire overseas and it's no coincidence that with the power vacuum over here, he's seen Gotham City is ripe for the plucking."

Batman's suspicious mind kicked up. "How do you…."

"I know this, because I keep my eye on the news and believe me, the activities that the Penguin gets up to are news," Harry said as he sighed. "Some of us shouldn't have tunnel vision just because it's not happening where we are. And it could crawl onto your doorstep so many times, it isn't even funny. Of course, there are some governments out there who should have understood that."

'Indeed,' Amelia thought as she managed to pop briefly onto the bond to see what was happening but she had jumped right onto quite the situation.

"I should have a fairly good idea why he wants to jump onto Gotham City, although exactly how he's getting the weapons into the country, that's something that we're going to have to figure out," Harry said as he shifted his stance backwards. The wizard's green eyes shifted as his arms closed over his chest and he pondered what was happening. He decided to let Batman in on the good news. "The three way gang fight that we had to deal with, well it was more complicated than that."

Batman decided to ask the dreaded question. "How so?"

"Maroni's men has turned on Falcone's," Harry said to Batman. "So their factions are now shooting at each other, with Black Mask and the Penguin. This is going to get pretty bad really quickly if we don't find a way to mitigate these problems."

"And that's not all," Dinah picked up and she invited Harry to continue with what he was saying.

"The police that are trapped in Old Gotham….well overwhelmed might not adequately describe what they are feeling," Harry said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Dinah and I are doing what we can but we can't be everywhere at once."

'Well technically you could,' Karen suggested.

'Yes, but in a high pressured situation, the dupes aren't the best idea, especially when I'm being shot out, my focus can't be spread too thin,' Harry explained to them and there was some agreement.

'From what we've been able to tell, the Falcones have gone MIA,' Hermione thought to him. 'Tony Zucco and his men are holed up in the Carmine Hotel as well.'

Harry relayed the message to Batman. "Mario and Alberto Falcone are not there, Zucco has taken over the hotel that they were rumored to be holed up. I won't mince words, things are getting bad. It's getting to the point where there are too many fires to be putting out and at the rate they're shooting at each other, we can't afford to intervene too much. So pretty much, it will do jack shit to keep doing anything, but….the fact of the matter is that if we can get the police on the bridge into Old Gotham, we might have a shot."

Batman, who was now standing on the roof next to them, had a brief look of skepticism etched in his eyes. "And how are you going to manage that…."

Dinah decided to break this down for Batman as nicely and clearly as she could. "Well it's actually kind of simple. The lack of cops means that the criminals have pretty much free run of old Gotham. If we mitigate that problem, and send more cops in there, then they will be fighting cops on a grand scale. Such a scale will get the National Guard involved and that's not something that could be exactly ignored. It won't stop the violence completely but it will bring it down to a manageable level."

"So in the end, it won't end well for any of them involved," Harry concluded and Batman nodded, he conceded that despite his initial misgivings, those were some extremely sound points that this plan had.

"So, how are you going to manage to do that?" Batman asked and he waited for the answer. He only had to wait mere seconds to get one.

"Actually it's fairly simple really, all I need to do is make a few phone calls," Harry said and there was no question about that, Batman blinked.

It was well past Midnight but Harvey Dent was busy at work, pouring over files. His wife was out of town, visiting family. Her sister had a baby, which was just fine with him, because he had a lot of work to get done after some recent events in Gotham City. He had the phone in one hand and a file folder in the other hand.

"So what exactly are you working on?" Rachel Dawes asked over the phone. After the scare some time back, she was back to work and ready to go, more determined at her job than ever before.

He saw pictures, pictures of Harry Potter and James Gordon, their recent meeting at a donut shop, along with transcripts.

"A meeting between James Gordon and Harry Potter, extremely curious," Harvey said as he flipped through the transcript.

"Which one are you investigating?" Rachel asked.

"Gordon, he's….he's the newest golden boy of Gotham City after what he did during the riots, but….no one can be this squeaky clean, something's up," Harvey mused as he continued. "Although….the conversation we had…..Wayne and Potter, they keep coming up in it, even though I'm looking at Gordon closely."

"Well they are two of the most popular figures in the news in Gotham City," Rachel suggested but there was a sigh. "Bruce has changed a lot…."

"Yeah, he disappears for almost a decade, half of the people in the city think he died, and returns and takes control of Wayne Industries," Harvey mused as he shook his head. "Don't know what the hell he was doing for the past seven years. He graduated and left town as soon as he could."

"Well, a different man almost has come back in his place," Rachel said and she decided to switch tracks to another point. "Now Harry Potter….he's interesting….."

"Yes he is," Harvey said as he continued to comb through the file that he had on Gordon. There was just something about this meeting that made him interested. There was some oddity to it, something that he could not put behind him. He had to keep looking through it.

"He seems to never be anywhere outside of the company of beautiful women, several at once," Rachel mused and she brought up the next point. "And he leaves them all with smiles on their faces."

"Yes," Harvey grunted in a distracted voice. He was not really that concerned about the personal life of Harry Potter, in fact he was only concerned about what Gordon may or may not be up to. And if Wayne or Potter or both were up to something nefarious, then he would have to deal with them in due time. However while their whereabouts at several points were clouded in mystery, that was not the point of Dent's investigation. "Interesting but mysterious at that."

He could not help but make that observation and Rachel could not help making one of her own.

"Would not mind having him brought in and investigating him thoroughly," Rachel said in a knowing voice. "Given that he seems to leave a smile on the face of every woman that he's with, I'd like to see how he operates."

Harvey scowled as he read between the lines of that statement but there was a call on the other line. "Rachel, I have to go, there's a call on the other line."

"Right, talk to you later," Rachel said in a chipper voice and Harvey picked up the phone on the other end.

"Speak," Harvey said.

"You know who this is," the voice of the mysterious ninja stated. "Listen carefully, we don't have much time. Bring Chief O'Hara to the Gotham Pioneers Bridge. A situation has developed with Braden and the SWAT team that's causing things to escalate out of control."

'Son of a bitch,' Dent thought to himself, Branden and the SWAT team had been a problem for him. Internal Affairs wanted to investigate them but he was being blocked. He was up there with Loeb as far as it goes with dirty cops.

He realized that he was hung up on and he switched back over to Rachel. "Rachel, I have to go, completely, something's come up."

"So, anyway, the story is taking a life of its of its own," Vicki said to one of her fellow reporters. "I don't even know what's going on with this Black Mask thing half of the time, but the GCPD knows something and they aren't saying what they know."

Vicki stopped and stared as a very unflattering person walked in. She had red hair, although there were rumors about it being dyed. She had this false sense of being nice and polite, but she was in it for the ratings and those puff pieces that she did, got ratings.

"Hello, Summer," Vicki said casually to Summer Gleeson. "So another puff piece about some rich spoiled brat who ended up throwing his life away on drugs three weeks later?"

"You're amusing, Vicki," Summer said with a high and fake laugh. "You know, you've been in the middle of things, you better be careful, we'd hate to lose such an irreplaceable part of the team such as yourself."

"I'm sure that you'd be broken up that the person who was closest to getting your top spot is closing in on you," Vicki said as she casually took a cup of coffee and sipped her coffee. "So tell me, what about the Sionis piece, considering that he was caught with his pants down and his black mask on?"

Summer's response was forever left in the wind as a phone rang and Vicki picked it up. The redhead's eyes widened as she listened to the person on the other end.

"Another one of your ninja sightings?" Summer asked to Vicki, skeptical about the ninja and she was even more skeptical about his bat that was lurking around. She would not be surprised at all if Vicki fabricated the entire thing in an attempt to get some attention in the news.

Vicki decided to brush off the words of Summer Gleeson, at least for right now and she turned to a man standing to side. "Get a film crew to The Gotham Pioneers Bridge. There's smoke to all of the fires. If this is true, this could turn out to be the story of the week, maybe even of the year."

Vicki scrambled to her feet but she stopped. "Oh, Summer, don't want to leave without saying goodbye to you, honey!"

Summer looked up as Vicki gave her the middle finger and then turned around to cover a real story and not some latest puff piece mandated by the higher ups to distract the people of Gotham City from the real issues.

Things were about to get hot.