56 Pettiness At Work #56

Author's note: still no new ideas so here's another fun fact about DC comics:

Lex Luthor is a key villain in the DC Comics universe, known by many for his striking bald look. However, he originally debuted with a head of ginger hair. It was an artist's error that saw him drawn bald, and Superman's co-creator liked it so much they ran with it!

...

As he frenziedly worked to regain control over his systems, Anarky's expression turned uglier and uglier as he tried to decipher the heavily coded operating system with Gray hindering him every step of the way.

Every time he deciphered a portion of the system, Gray would respond by decoding and recoding a part of it to delay him, and he'd done a pretty good job at that, considering he's been exactly that for the past thirty minutes.

Though Anarky's skill in hacking and programming was clearly superior to that of Grey, the fact he had to battle the latter under such circumstances made whatever aptitude advantage he had nearly null and pointless.

However, despite the constant hindrances, Anarky was nothing if not a master of programming, and he still made some progress, albeit very slowly.

And just as he was about to regain control of the system, the entrance to his lair opened, causing him to frown as he roughly guessed the identity of the person standing behind the slowly opening doors without bothering to look for himself.

He chose a forgotten, abandoned emergency bunker connected to underground tunnels under one of Gotham's central communication towers.

Getting here was no easy task, especially on such short notice.

Anarky could only think of one person capable of such a feat in Gotham, who had an interest in taking him down. One person and several of his sidekicks, in fact.

And sure enough, he turned to the entrance as the shutter doors fully opened and saw none other than Bludhaven's protector, Nightwing, in all of his glory.

"I don't know who you are and what you hope to accomplish, but it's time to put a stop to it," Nightwing stated as he already charged the freedom fighter while speaking, not expecting a reply.

Anarky gritted his teeth as he finally regained control over the lair's exits and unlocked a secret entrance he'd personally installed after making a home out of the abandoned bunker.

Then he reached into his bright red cape and retrieved several throwing stars shaped as circle-A's, throwing them at his computers, destroying the monitors.

He wanted to cut off any possible communication between Nightwing and the person who destroyed his database since he had already destroyed computers' microphones and cameras.

Anarky managed to do it before Nightwing reached him. He quickly took out a detonator with a red button, which he immediately pressed, causing a countdown to appear on the detonator's small screen.

"I have planted bombs in every major corporation in Gotham. They will explode in 30 minutes," Anarky hurriedly said as he threw the detonator to Nightwing, causing the latter to pause as he caught it with a frown.

"You can chase after me or take care of the bombs. It is your choice. Either way, Anarky shall prevail!" Anarky dramatically exclaimed, throwing a smoke bomb into the ground as he retreated toward the secret exit he'd previously unlocked.

Nightwing hesitated for a second, his gaze alternating between the smoke screen and the countdown, but in the end, he turned to leave, retrieving his communicator to contact Batgirl.

Computers were her area of expertise, so he'd leave the heavy lifting to her back in the Batcave to take a direct approach and try to evacuate to the corporate buildings closest to him.

"Batgirl, this is Nightwing. We have a situation here. There might be bombs in every major corporation's building that will explode in about 30 minutes..." Nightwing explained as soon as the call connected as he hurriedly made for the bunker's exit.

"What?" Nightwing exclaimed, halting his steps as Batgirl explained she couldn't do anything about it in time unless she could get direct or wireless access to the detonator.

"Then broadcast the news to every corporation that Anarky might have targeted and make them evacuate all employees by any means necessary," Nightwing instructed with a frown before Batgirl could repeat herself.

"I'll do what I can on my end, too. Nightwing out," he concluded, sighing as he hurried for the exit, suddenly stopping as he noticed one of the bunker's lights flickering strangely.

"Is that Morse code...?" Nightwing remarked as he stared at the light in confusion, and it flickered in affirmation. He hesitated for another second before deciding to see what was going on.

...

Selena's penthouse

I nodded in satisfaction as I got the prompt that Nightwing plugged the detonator into Anarky's computer and started working on tracing the signal.

Anarky seemed to have missed one of the mics, and I managed to hear his conversation with Nightwing before he fled. And even though I didn't have any way of verbally communicating with the latter, I figured I'd try Morse code.

I've never studied Morse code before, but a quick internet search gave me what I needed, and I quickly figured out how to say, "wait, don't leave; plug detonator into computer," through flickering the bunker's light.

My idea entirely relied on Nightwing understanding Morse code, and Batman's extensive training showed its worth.

"So why are ya trynna save a bunch of corporate ass-creams, by the way?" Harley curiously asked, her gaze alternating between the laptop screen and myself.

"I say let 'em burn, or explode or whatever," she added, grinning as she rested her hands on her hips. "That'll teach the money-grubbing geezers a lesson," she concluded, shaking her head.

"I don't know about you, but I'll do anything to stay on the Bat's good side. I don't need a paranoid vigilante breathing down my neck for the rest of my life..." I replied, shrugging my shoulders. I kept the part where I planned strategically to let several bombs explode to make a profit for myself.

Another reason for my actions was the petty grudge I had against Batman for making me keep Harley in line, but that's another part I'm keeping to myself.

I'd, of course, only let the bombs in currently empty buildings explode and avoid any civilian casualties since I wasn't that big of an asshole. Still, the explosion would cause several companies' stocks to plummet, including Wayne's enterprise.

And knowing Bruce Wayne, it won't take long before the stocks rise back up, but not before I manage to buy some of them for myself for a heavily discounted price, of course.

"Yer no fun," Harley said, turning away with a huff as she walked toward Selena, who was surprisingly silent the entire time, intently watching me work with a hard-to-read expression.

"Looks like the guy who set ya up ran away, Kitty," Harley said with a grin as she stood in front of Selena, causing the latter to sigh as she turned to the crazy blonde.

"How about you an' me blow up this joint an' go hunting for that V-wannabe loser," Harley remarked as she moved to Selina's side, wrapping an arm around the brunette's shoulder.

"I doubt we'd be able to find the guy, especially now that the Batman is on to him," Selina replied with a shrug, shaking her head in dismissal at the proposal.

"I'm sure Gray could find 'em again if-" the crazy blonde remarked as she turned to me with an eager grin, But I quickly cut her off with a gesture before she could finish talking.

"Let me stop you right there," I said, dismissively gesturing to the side with a blank expression. "I only went after Anarky as a favor to Selena and because he made things difficult for me," I added, raising an eyebrow as I turned to the brunette.

"But now, with my name cleared, Anarky exposed and crushed, and Intergang's presence in Gotham almost non-existent..." I remarked, trailing off at the end of my sentence.

"I have no more reasons to provide any more help unless you're willing to pay, of course," I blankly added with a shrug, making a money sign with my right.

Hearing my words, Harley pouted in bemusement at not getting any action after being tied up in my apartment for several hours, while Selena visibly cringed at the mere idea of spending money.

"Forget it. If you're so bored, Black Mask's goons are still out there looking for you," Selena said, immediately cutting off Harley before the crazy blonde could even ask her to spend money.

"Y'all are no fun..." Harley said with another pout as she made for the door with a huff, slamming the door behind her as she exited Selina's penthouse while murmuring curses.

"You still owe me a favor, Selena," I leisurely remarked after watching Harley leave as I turned back to my laptop. "The leak was on your side, and not only did I help you track down Anarky, but I also took care of the Intergang underbosses in Gotham," I added, pausing slightly as several explosions echoed in the distance.

"Weren't you taking care of the bombs?" Selena asked, raising an eyebrow as she turned to the window to gaze at the five smoke pillars rising on the horizon all over the city.

"I'm not a miracle worker. I couldn't disarm all bombs," I replied with a shrug, unphased by Selena's attempt at changing the topic. I'd already made it clear she owed me one, and she'll have to pay me back whether or not she liked it.

"I prioritized the bombs near civilians, so the ones that went off only caused property damage..." I added as I got up, storing my laptop in my inventory.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have places to be..."

...

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