Fandom Gotham: Abandoned Hope

[chaoticbards]

There probably wasn't anything of real worth, why he wasn't fighting to get the satchel and his own files back. Or he just had the mocking calm attitude the entire time throughout his life, which might I say, was pissing Mattie off beyond relief. Not to mention the circus comment. "I don't belong in a circus," she mumbled. Mattie mocked him while he talked about her lovely choices, and pondered about what she could do. Jump out a window, or go through the front entrance. Jump out a window, or go through the main exit. Which one would a sane person do? Jump out of a window of course! Again, Mattie's rational thinking never worked well in any scenario.

"I'm not exactly in just a street gang either," Mattie hummed, starting to walk towards the window, only to turn around and mock a wind up toy. Her middle finger being the toy. She held a surprised expression under her bandana, mockingly putting a hand up to her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know how this machine works," she shrugged, 'trying' to push her middle finger down back to her first only for her to spring back up in the 'Fuck you' position. Lovely way to make a new friend! "Thanks, but no thanks. I find my own exits," she said, bowing as if it where a show. She held her hand near her hip as she ran at the window, successfully breaking it, and successfully falling through it with multiple cuts. Mattie ignored the stings and did a couple flips as she fell, taking out a grappling hook like device and shooting at a separate building. This yanked her from falling, and allowed a smooth guide to a separate roof top instead of smashing like a bug on the ground. Yes, she'd probably end up in Arkham for her stunts and crazy behavior. Doesn't strike as a surprise from how much of a lunatic she could be. She didn't trust him either, which adds onto why she jumped out of the window as well.

 

[Pleonazam]

Catwoman



​

Selina smirked as she read the last lines in the article about this mysterious Vanguard: "Others are grateful that at least someone is trying to make the city just a little bit safer." With another sip of her morning tea, she thought to herself "Like anybody could just magically make this city safer."





Looking trough the window, at the streets, she thought about how this is the perfect city for this kind of criminals. But what else could it be perfect for, when even the weather in this place gave the city that dark and dangerous atmosphere. Always cloudy with heavy rains... It was like somebody scripted it. There was no hope for this city. Once beautiful, now is just a place for lowlifes, criminals, murderers... A place that the rest of the world avoided and pretended that it didn't exist. And the police... they can't do anything. Heck, even some of them belonged to this list. Some of them were so corrupted, that she actually understood why people put all of their hopes into some guy who solved a few cases - It was more than the police ever did. But she doubted that he would last long. Eventually, everybody gives up on this city.





And she? Why didn't she simply give up this place and got out of it? Well... because ... she was a part of it. Simple as that. She belonged there. This city made her what she is now, and she didn't think she could find a better place for herself. She already successfully did some jobs for the criminals of this town, and that was her life now.


Putting her black coat on, she got out of the building on the street. She was always in black - it made her feel like she was one with the city... Like she blended in with the walls of the buildings and like she could go on unnoticed. And she liked that feeling.





Tightening the collar of her coat in order to protect herself from the cold, she smiled as she thought: "Maybe he'll try to stop me in one of my businesses. After all, I am a criminal.."

 

[AncientWisemon]

Penguin

​

''Or you could exit through a very expensive window, sure'', Cobblepot commented and put his gun back into place. He stood up from his desk and went to see the the damage done. Butch stormed the office with a machine gun several moments after hearing the glass break, but Oswald soon calmed him. ''All is fine, Butch, thank you. We had a little... pest problem but all is taken care of. Please, close the door behind you'', he said with a smile. Butch, still observing very carefully, nodded firmly and disappeared behind the door. He continued looking at the broken glass as if it were just a temporary bother and not expensive damage, but he honestly didn't bother very much. Sighing because of the works that will have to be done, he returned to his desk and called his secretary. ''Jessica, please, send for Michael to my office later today. I seem to be needing a new window. I want it done today. Thank you'', he hung up. Good thing it wasn't raining. This was a bother to him because he had to waste his precious time on stupid things such as window repairs. ''I honestly hate when such things happen. Not that I get my windows broken quite often, but flat tires, leaking pipes and such are just stupid. One shouldn't have to worry about such things in this age, don't you think?'', he asked his guest, who was looking quite scared.


He then approached him and carefully lead him back to his seat. He offered him a glass of whiskey with ice. ''Please, I don't know if you're a drinker, but this will calm your nerves'', he said, giving him the glass. ''I must apologize for this, this was an incident that hasn't happened here before, but as you can see, this is exactly what we've been talking about. Criminals, no, even street thugs, have become smarter and classical security is just not enough. I must say I don't really know what she took, but if it was anything important, I'll sign all my assets to her. That is not what worries me, Mr. Enfetno! It is the manner... the act itself. One cannot allow for such behaviour in this city. These imbeciles need to be stopped! To repeat again, money is not the issue here; I want something that is impenetrable, Mr. Enferno, I want my buildings to be fortresses and I want to transfer that security system to the whole City so that such freaks never roam the streets freely! I hope your boss will see things eye to eye with me, with us I hope and that the Iceberg buildings will serve as a security prototype for Gotham herself. The safety of our fair city is my priority, Mr. Enferno, and there is no financial obstacle that will stop me in achieving that goal'', Oswald explained firmly, visibly demonstrating his firm stance and determination.


He relaxed a little after that monologue, taking a seat in his chair, still looking at the broken window. He smiled at Dante. ''I am amazed, though, how someone of your stature actually became afraid of such a little being... are you gay, Mr. Enferno or is there something you're not telling me?'', he asked in a friendly manner, joking at his guests' reaction. ''And tell me, since you're a security expert, what is your opinion on the current state of affairs in Gotham? There's this Vanguard fellow that's rocking the criminal milieu and those bombings around town with masked people... I wouldn't be surprised if this little monster was a member of their group... what do you think, where are we headed?'', he asked.

 

[One Mean Ghost]

Dante's face was white as a sheet, especially given Butch, in his rush to get in here, had unintentionally pointed the muzzle of the machine gun right at him. He took deep breaths to try and calm himself down, and with shaking hands took the drink that was offered to him. "th-thank you..." He murmured, taking a rather large gulp of the liquid before covering his mouth, clearly having second thoughts about taking such a large gulp before he shook his head, taking a breath to steady himself after biting off a bit more than he could chew...


As Cobblepot talked, Dante just nodded his head in agreement, about the criminals, about the city. It seemed the young man was fully on Cobblepot's side at this point. So this man wanted his business to serve as a prototype... Awful big aspirations, it would seem.. And then, of course, Cobblepot just had to comment on his cowardice....


"Someone of m-my stature? You mean my physique? You must have the wrong idea... I work out when I'm stressed.... or when I can't get my mind around a particularly difficult problem... And when you're in my line of work with the responsibilities I have... well, you can imagine the pull up bar in my office has gotten quite a bit of work over the years..." his glasses once more fell to the floor, causing him to break from his conversation to feel around for them, his shaking hands finally landing on them as he put them back over his face. "I've never been a fighter.. I'm a scientist! The whole reason I got into security was so I wouldnt' have to deal with psychotic people.... I mean.. that woman could easily have had a gun hidden in her... umm..." He paused, suddenly all too aware his hands were hovering over his chest, revealing the word he couldn't quite get himself to say. He dropped his hands quickly to his lap. "Ahem... on her person..." He murmured as a bright flush came to his cheeks.


Then came the question about the state of Gotham... "Where are we headed?.... If I had to guess, hell..." Dante shuddered. "When you have a murderer going around pretending to be a hero, and the people are BUYING it, we have reached a new low..." he murmured, pushing his glasses firmly on his face just before they could slip off again. "I hope your establishment really will be the start of new security all over Gotham... You will get nothing short of my finest work, especially if there's any chance of such measures being spread around Gotham to cut down on crime..." He looked up at Cobblepot. Clearly, the events of today had worked out in his favor. The young scientist he had requested was clearly incredibly motivated now to give him nothing but the best Security he could conceive...

 

[Yoshiro]

Robert "Kirk" Langstrom

''Good morning, Dr. Langstrom, how is Mr. Nasser doing? Well, I trust? Such patients are always interesting. They offer a lot of... perspective... experiment-wise, you know... who knows how we could use their sad fates to better our lives. I trust you have tended to the other ones as well?''

Upon hearing Dr. Strange's voice, Kirk turned around to face the older gentleman. While most complained about how Strange ran the asylum, Kirk was more than happy to work under him. No other man here had such authority or power as he. But Strange, for whatever reason, had always been polite to young Doctor Langstrom, which was always nice in such a hostile environment. "Ah! Dr. Strange, you came at the best possible time. Mr. Nasser is doing quite well, but I wasn't sure what to do with his...erm...'skin condition'. I debated between surgically removing it, or just waiting it out, but in the end I sent him down to solitary so it could work itself out. A nurse is stationed down there with him, along with a few guards just in case. As for the other patients here...." Kirk checked his clipboard of patients, skimming along each one. "They appear to be doing quite well, although one did have a mild case of the stomach flu. She's in decontamination right now, which should be sending me a status update on her condition in just a few minutes. Other than that, it's a pretty normal day in Arkham. " An alert on his watch stole his attention, and he checked it quickly before looking back at Dr. Strange. "I hate to cut this conversation short, Dr. Strange, but I just received an update on Mr. Nasser. He'll need my full attention. Have a wonderful day." Kirk then walked past his superior, hoping he hadn't upset the man. Strange had a bit of a temper, one he was NOT eager to unleash. A few short steps, and Kirk was at the elevator. With a button press, he zoomed down to solitary, where his patient awaited him.

 

[AncientWisemon]

Penguin

​

The entrepreneur couldn't but laugh at his guest's remarks and his blushing excuses for being scared by a girl. It wasn't mockery from his part; he understood the guy, as he had such experiences early in his childhood, but he liked him and he found him genuinely amusing. He was, Oswald was certain, aware of the comical nature of his behaviour, thus not minding such reactions to which he must have gotten used to. ''Oh... so your muscles are a form of stress relief? Interesting approach, I must admit. Whenever I feel stressed out, and it tends to happen more often than not, I just visit the shooting range for some practice or take up fencing. Fencing is my boyhood love; I was the county champion back in the day, but now it's just a hobby. On the other hand, I was never good in hand to hand combat. I'm just lucky that I'm fast and agile, so I manage to compensate some of that. But you should learn how to fight, certainly. It would be a shame if you get beaten by lingerie!'', he concluded with another friendly laugh.


His answer to his last question both did and did not surprise him. He might have expected more optimism, but Dante's crude realism wasn't something he did not ultimately foresee. ''Hell... such a supernatural word for our world, don't you think? We're not any closer to hell or heaven than we are to Wayne Towers; ultimately, it is all a matter of choice and Gotham has, until today, made the wrong one. It seems that someone else must make the right choice for Her and I hope Wayne Enterprises and the Iceberg Foundation do that in the near future'', Oswald said, rather philosophically. ''Now, Mr. Enferno, I would not like to take any of your precious time anymore. I trust we have made an initial deal and the order for those three additions mentioned earlies still stands. I expect to see them by the end of the week, if possible?'', he asked. ''Also, I am entertaining your boss later today in hope of solving our little problem. If everything goes according to plan, we shall see each other very soon. Thank you for your time and I truly apologize for the incident. I, no... we shall see to it that it never happens again'', Oswald said, shaking his hand.


''This went well'', he said to himself with a dose of sarcasm as he observed the window, after seeing his guest out. The girl's appearance obviously helped him, but he was a little infuriated to have entertained his guest in such a manner. ''Well, what's done is done. The window will be fixed today and Bruce Wayne is going to enjoy his stay at the lounge. But, one has to take some extra measures'', he added. Before preparing for his meeting with Bruce Wayne, Oswald Cobbplepot had to make a call. She was someone that could easily blend in with the little monster from before and get him the necessary information. She was - the Cat.


(Note: @Yoshiro - I replied as Strange, but I included the reply in my earlier post, the one in which I left space for you to reply so please check it out )

 

[chaoticbards]

Naomi shuffled her hands through her hair, digging into her scalp as she face planted onto the desk, everything was a complete mess. This was driving the blonde nuts, although that is fairly easy. She had fired four... Five officers who had criminal names still on them, and then three or four detectives who didn't do shit to help with anything. She muttered to herself, standing up and looking at the scattered files. Grabbing four of them, she walked out of the office and started to go over to detectives desks.


"Grimes," she gave the folder to him. "There aren't room for arsonists. Shut them down," she stated, walking onwards before the detective could protest.


"Casteñeto," she tossed a folder onto the detectives desk. "Get this solved," she went over to another section, continuing to hand out the cases. There was real work to be done, and Naomi wasn't going to stand for anything if it didn't get done. Naomi stared at the bold print, labeling Vanguard. She had saved this one for last for a specific reason, thinking that she might take it on herself. Whether he was truly there to help he still killed the criminals, which makes him just as had as anyone. Somehow they would take him down (although obviously never get close, sorry Naomi). Naomi entered her office, to

 

[Yoshiro]

(I see it now, thank you)


Robert "Kirk" Langstrom


Nasser appeared to be fine, which made Kirk feel much better. One less (physically) sick patient for Arkham to deal with. Heading back to his lab, he noticed a new patient unfamiliar to him being wheeled in. The nurses addressed Kirk, before explaining the situation. Mrs. Castar was coughing up some strange liquid, and they just couldn't identify what it was. "I'll need a samp-" Instantly they handed him a jar full of the stuff, as if prepared to hear such words. "Right. Okay, I need you to check in her cell, and the nearby ones as well. This stuff cannot spread before we have a clear idea as to WHAT it is, and how to combat it." Already the nurses scattered, doing just as he had asked. Kirk knew that this needed the attention of Doctor Strange, who he had just sent a message off to, but he also knew that he needed to get to work on it right away. A few scans through his analyzer, and it seemed to contain high traces of some steroid unknown to the computer. The rest was some kind of plant native to Santa Prisca, which meant that this liquid had come from that plant. The plant was a known toxin, used often in poisons and for medicinal uses. But someone had transformed it into a steroid-esque liquid, which had been probably smuggled into the asylum. Kirk took a sniff of it, and immediately wanted to vomit. The stuff was terribly vile, almost nauseating to be near now that he thought about it. Castar's body was rejecting it VERY harshly, to the point where he feared she would die. "Nurse Paulsy! I need someone to help me flush this out of her system, NOW!" Hopefully Kirk would have this under control by the time Strange got here.


@AncientWisemon

 

[AncientWisemon]

prof. Hugo Strange

​

She was friendly as always upon entering his office. Strange had a very frightening effect on people, but she seemed not to be influenced by him. That was good, for her at least, but Strange wasn't all to sure as to which stance he should take. He listened to her answer carefully, with a calm expression, playing with his fingers as he pondered about the newly discovered facts. ''Blue rose seeds? Why would he need that? Hmm, interesting. There has to be a psychological link, a connection between him and those flowers. A childhood trauma? Only such a thing would lead to a man wearing a mask fighting crime and showing such symbolic behaviour... there can't be to many blue roses around Gotham in the positions of a brutish looking man. This will certainly be an entertaining riddle'', he thought to himself as Dr. Isley explained. ''Yes, it seems that is a rather trivial question, Dr. Isley. I would still like you to send me a report tonight about those blue roses. I am not very skilled in botany, with the exceptions of toxic plants, thus, I trust your knowledge will be of use. As to why I am asking, it is just to have control over what is happening in m... this Asylum. We can't have vigilantes running around, can't we?'', he said, forcing another smile. ''That would be all, Dr. Isley, I wouldn't like to take any of your time. I trust you are very busy down there'', he said as he stood up from his seat.


As he was shaking Dr. Isley's hand, ready to see her out, Hugo Strange heard rushing female footsteps, deducing it was one of the nurses. He quickly released Pamela's hand and turned a petrified expression, knowing that only an urgent matter would lead to such chaos. Moments later, a nurse Hamilton burst into his office with a look of panic on her face. Catching her breath, she managed to murmur something about Dr. Langstrom, toxins and Mrs. Castar down in solitary confinement. Strange knew very well the gravity of her words. ''A toxin? In his Asylum? IMPOSSIBLE!'', a few surprised and furious thoughts escaped his mind as his lips tightened and his eyes became those of a predator. ''I trust Dr. Isley will be able to see herself out'', he said in a firm tone, adding: ''Nurse Hamilton, summon both Dr. Fries and Dr. Crane to solitary confinement. Their skills and expertise might be of use to us''.


As the nurse confirmed his request, Strange grabbed his notebook and rushed down to the most isolated part of Arkham. Solitary confinement, luckily, wasn't too full, holding only a couple of truly dangerous patients, which resulted in him allowing some less dangerous patients in need of special care to be transferred down there. He was aware that the atmosphere of dark isolation, horrid screams and facing one's self in complete madness wasn't too much of a benefit for the patients, but it was a rational decision based on the conditions he had been left with upon taking office. ''Poor, wretched souls... I hope this doesn't lead to an outbreak'', he thought so himself as his quick steps caused rumbling on the stone hallways of Arkham Asylum.


As he approached his colleague, he noticed his quick reaction and a desolated look on the patient's face. Mrs. Cecilia Castar, the widow of a Mr. Wilbur Castar, who died under suspicious circumstances, was diagnosed with severe paranoid schizophrenia and was deemed insane by the courts and sent do Arkham Asylum. Strange hadn't had much contact with her, she was a patient of Jervis Tetch, but he knew her case well enough. ''Dr. Langstrom, I am here. What is going on?'', he asked, rushing to assist his young colleague. He listened to his explanation while he was decontaminating her, assisting him with his experience. ''I summoned Dr. Fries and Dr. Crane. Their knowledge in antidotes and toxins, respectively, could be of usage to us. But wait, did you say Santa Prisca?'', asked Strange, with a somewhat frightful expression of disbelief. He knew the island all to well, although he had never been there. His studies took him to that place and the dreaded psychological experiments that had (or perhaps still have?) been executed there for years. He was also aware of the toxins and chemicals produced there, many of which had still unknown and untested effects! How did such a thing end up in Arkham? ''To hell with it all!'', he cursed in his head as he quickened Langstrom's work with his intervention. ''Santa Prisca should not be here, Dr. Langstrom, and if she truly is, I fear we might be headed into a completely different realm of our studies'', he exclaimed, continuing to help and waiting for his colleagues to arrive.

 

[Xtremenerd]

Crane had just finished his observations with Dr. Valentin. In which he had not been very impressed or interested in. But he had taken down notes so if Strange ever asked, he had paid attetnion and taken the exercise seriously. Suddenly a nurse ran up to him Frantically shouting, "Dr. Strange Needs you in Mrs. Caster's cell straight away!!!" Crane said nothing and ran toward the cell 'I hope this isn't one of my toxins' he thought to himself as he ran down the corridors toward Mrs. Caster's room. When he arrived he pulled out a notepad. "What is her condition and symptoms?" he inquired, writing down his observations.

 

[TrueBananaz]

Pamela Isley

​

Pamela stared as Strange came over to her. She didn't speak to him very much so she didn't know what to expect from him.


"How may I help you?" Pamela asked.





Apparently Strange wanted to know about what the Vanguard was doing in the Greenhouse. The man did visit the greenhouse often. It was interesting but she didn't think it meant anything.


"All he did was look at the flowers and take some seeds of a blue rose." Pamela stated "Why do you want to know?"


Pamela shook Strange's hand and turned to see a nurse running over to her and Strange. Doctor Isley smiled and nodded to her until she heard what she had said and sighed.





"I'll see it through immediately." She said in an expression even she couldn't understand.


Pamela left the office and started walking away, searching for her father to tell him the news which she heard. She found him lurking over near Doctor Crane's lab. He had a cigar hanging from his mouth which his daughter quickly took from him.


"Mr. Isley..." Pamela said firmly.


"Mr. Isley was my father," Pamela's father joked "Call me dad."





"Not funny." Pamela growled.


"Fine, what is it?" Pamela's father took out a match and cigar which was for some reason in his pocket and he lighted it.


"I heard that there were toxins in the asylum." Pamela stated "Should we worry about that?"

 

[Pleonazam]

She was walking fast and quietly down the street, her usual tempo. Her feet carried her to the familiar place - an animal shelter where she volunteered from time to time.


She walked into the shelter and smiled to the boy who worked there "Hi, John." The boy was covered with scratches. He smiled back and said: "Oh, hi Selina, thank god you're here. I'm having some problems with these creatures.", he said jokingly and showed her the cats in the box. "Somebody left them here, and they're scared. Every time I try to clean them up and put them in a cage, they start to scratch me and hiss at me."Selina looked in the box and found three kittens there. "They're adorable. And you're an idiot", she said, teasing him. "Come on, it's not that hard, I'll show you." She petted them for a while, then, when they were calm, she and John cleaned them and gave them something to eat. "I really don't know how you do it. They hate me, it's not fair!", he said. She laughed and said: "Don't worry, you'll learn. You know that it takes some time for cats to trust someone." The boy shrugged his shoulders and replied: "Yeah, I know, but... I don't think I'll ever be as good as you are with them. Dogs I get, they're easy, but these little monsters... I mean, I love them, but... they don't love me.", he said laughing. "Aaah, the unrequited love...", she teased, "Don't worry, you'll get over it." Since he made quite a mess before she arrived, she helped him clean it up. As she was tiding the place up, suddenly her phone rang. She looked at the screen: Unknown caller. She didn't want for John to hear the conversation, so she got out and answered: "Yes?"

 

[Yoshiro]

Robert "Kirk" Langstrom


The help of Strange was MUCH appreciated, and with Crane's entrance, the situation became more manageable. "As far as I know, this is some kind of unrefined drug barely in its early stages. It's genetic make-up is something far beyond anything I know or understand. Of course, I'm no drug or toxin expert, but it responds violently to bodies incompatible with it. Her symptoms include harsh vomiting, dry coughs, blood draining down the back of her throat, and many more that WILL kill her if we don't find a way to get the toxin out of her entire system." Kirk quickly aided Strange in trying to keep her vitals stable, and kept checking on the pump he implanted into her stomach as to perform the flushing Castar DESPERATELY needed.

 

[AncientWisemon]

Penguin

​

The phone was ringing. ''Yes?'', he heard a familiar female voice. ''Oh good, she replied'', he thought with a smile. ''Cat, how lovely! How are you, my dear? Has life been treating you well?'', he asked, never knowing how she'd react to his friendly demeanor. She had no idea who he was, a fact which might have increased her caution, but it was the same with all his clients. Despite the fact that he was more fond of her than some of the others, he was still just a cartoon penguin on a mobile or computer screen, with a modified voice that was rusty and hight-pitched. The Penguin persona was a mystery and Oswald had every intention of keeping it that way. ''Listen, Cat, I have a small job for you, if you're available? You know how much I pay for my services'', he continued.


Although he proposed her the job, he never had the actual intention of waiting for her to accept. That was his relationship with his people - he'd ask, they'd silently accept and he would describe to them the job. It was easier that way, and faster. ''You may not know this, but I had a little predicament today that I would have gladly avoided hadn't it been for a little maniacal monster that decided it was good to interfere with my plans. But, sadly, she was very well hidden so I don't know her true identity. As you presumed, that's where you jump in. I know you have connections in the criminal milieu and I am sure someone will be able to recognize her and provide some information. If you could find her personally and bring her to me, that would be even better'', he said calmly, but in a friendly manner.


Oswald was very good at organising his business and he was very careful that no one could trace his jobs back to him. Certainly, the girl left a mark on his office window, but that problem will have been fixed by the end of the day. He hadn't contacted the GCPD or any of the media, nor has the public been able to witness the events. In that aspect, he was completely secure since no one except the girl actually knew what had happened and she wasn't going to run to the police admitting a robbery just to screw him over. Plus, even if that were the case, the girl would never reach the end of her testimony before being eliminated. As far as Mr. Enferno was concerned, there was no way he could ever come in contact with either the girl or Cat, meaning he couldn't trace his job back to him either. And in the end, there was Cat, who was as loyal as you could be. Not that his clients ever had the privilege of talking about their jobs and their employer, but Cat was one of those that would never use that right even if it did exist. She was a highly valued professional, always quite and always on time. That is why he liked her more than the others. ''I suggest the usual place, someone will be there to pick it up eventually and... by the tomorrow morning, perhaps? I trust you didn't have dinner plans for tonight'', he added finally, waiting for her final confirmation.

***




prof. Hugo Strange
​

Soon after Crane's arrival, there came Dr. Victor Fries, one of Strange's personal friends and most skilled colleagues. ''Hugo, what is going on? She looks dreadful'', he inquired with his unusually deep and cold voice. ''Santa Prisca, Victor. It seems we are dealing with Venom'', Strange replied, observing his colleague and monitoring the patient. One could say that Victor Fries always looked like a machine - rational, emotionless and cold in his demeanor. But, as soon as Strange uttered the name of the island country, Fries' expression changed from surprise and shock to a very strange form of panic and fear. ''If this is Santa Prisca, there is no time! Rush her into my chambers, I shall see if I can mix up a functional antidote. I hope it is not too late. Hugo, if it really is Venom and if it reacts like this, we have to see where it came from. We might even need the help of the GCPD'', Fries said as he was rushing towards his office with the patient. Strange, left alone with his two younger colleagues, was very aware of the gravity of the situation and knew that his friend was right. ''I had not imagined my term starting like this! Whoever's responsible for this shall lose his head!'', he thought to himself.


His anger was relatively visible and he soon forced himself to calm down as he was in the presence of his two pupils. ''I apologize you had to witness this situation. Dr. Crane, I thank you for coming, and Dr. Langstrom, I must praise your quick reaction and your devotion to this job. It was truly marvelous to observe you work'', Strange said calmly. ''As you have heard, we might be dealing with a special chemical from Santa Prisca, quite possibly the one known as Venom. It might be Titan, but I somehow doubt it. These are exceptionally rare and dangerous toxins whose effects have still not been explored fully, which is why they are banned everywhere outside Santa Prisca, where their effects are still being studied. What form of Venom this is... we will know more after Dr. Fries returns with more information. For now, even I don't know very much'', he replied. ''I just hope our reaction was well-timed'', he added finally. He was observing his colleagues for a moment, their surprise and shock, knowing how strange it must be for them to experience such a difficult case at this point of their lives. He himself would have wished for this not to have happened, even to him, who had far more experience with such cases, but everything was done at this stage and there was no way of going around it. ''How much do the two of you know about Santa Prisca and the chemicals produced there?'', he asked finally.

 

[Pleonazam]

The voice on the other side of the line belonged to a man. A man that goes by the name Penguin, to be precise. He started a conversation with a friendly greeting, as usual, and she, as always, wasn't sure how to respond, because, after all, she didn't know him, so she just said: "Life is kind, no need to worry about me. What do you need?", she answered, quickly turning the conversation in the other direction, trying to get to the point of this call. Although he was one of her favourite clients, given that he always respected the deal and that he was extremely professional and ever so clear with his instructions, it was just a business and he was just a voice on the phone, hiding behind a mask.





He continued with his speech in which he told her the details of the job. She thought about how he always had a way with words, telling everything so calmly. What she heard intrigued her. Find someone that basically doesn't exist? Sounds challenging enough for her. Besides, she knew how to get the information. She wasn't worried at all. "Oh, don't worry, Penguin. I'm familiar with the payment." she replied. "You'll have the information in time to read them while you're having your breakfast." she said confidently. "Although, I must say, my admirer will be so disappointed that I have to miss our dinner date.", she added with an exaggerated sigh, clearly joking. "I'll leave the documents there - and who knows, maybe even the girl... If I'm feeling generous. You just do your part of the deal." she finished and hung up.





She got back in the shelter and found John putting the towels away. "Oh, hey, you're back." he said when he noticed her. "Is everything ok?" he asked politely. "Yeah, everything's fine." she answered "Listen, something came up and I have to go. Will you be able to do the work without me?" she asked with concern. "Oh, I'm not sure how will I survive, but I'll try to do my best." he joked. "Very funny. In that case, I'm going, so... see you tomorrow?" she said, taking her coat. "Sure, yeah" he answered, and added: "Do you need help with anything or... whatever?". She looked at him and smiled. She didn't have many friends, but she considered him one. That's why she was sad that she was about to lie to him - she couldn't let anybody find out the truth about her. "No, don't worry, I just have to help my parents with something." she answered. "Ok then, see you." he replied and she got out on the street again. She knew exactly where to go. But before that, she needed to get few things done.

 

[Yoshiro]

Robert "Kirk" Langstrom


"To be honest, Dr. Strange, I've never really heard much word of Santa Prisca. In med school, we reviewed its geography, history, but nothing much on the Venom drug. I had to do my own research on that, and even then there wasn't much the general public knew." Kirk was still young, and he cursed himself daily for his inexperience with these sorts of things. He pulled off his glasses, cleaned them on his cleaner cloth, and put them back on. "Titan is one I've also heard VERY little about. Is it related to Venom?" Again, his inexperience was showing, but he was determined to learn more.

 

[chaoticbards]

// MERRY EARLY CHRISTMAS! I probably won't be on tomorrow or the rest of tonight, which is why I'm saying this! //


Mattie perched on top of a roof, rubbing her temple gently with her index fingers. Her bandana had came off. Stupid and reckless describes it. The blonde groaned, falling back onto the roof. She had to quickly get changed and get back to her job, or she'd be in some trouble with her boss. Mattie leaped off the building, free falling before using some gliders attached to her suit that conveniently slowed down her fall. She used this to get out her grappling gun, shooting at another lower building and heading for an alley.


Once in said alley, she started to change before hearing a woman's scream. Mattie tried to ignore it and continue to change before it turned into a frantic scuffle of sorts. She knew she wouldn't just leave the woman to be robbed or raped for that mater. Taking out multiple knives, she started to walk towards the noises. Three men were cornering a innocent, the woman clutching her bag fearfully. Mattie 'tsk'ed, getting their attention and successfully throwing a dagger at ones throat.


"You men and your stupid pride. Fucking assholes," she hissed, watching as the two remaining scrambled to get a weapon. The other, however, was clutching his throat and choking on the ground in his own pool of blood. "Run," she motioned for the woman to scaddatle on out of the alley, in which the woman quickly obliged. Mattie cracked he knuckles loudly, cocking her head at the two low life's.

 

[Accelerate]

Deathstrike





Two men down 3 more to kill, The Mercenary known as Deathstrike took down all of her targets with ease. Her blade gleamed in the light, she had just finished a high paying job and she had received a update on her cell. 'End the life of the Vigilante Vanguard' She looked at update and was amused by it. She then started gathering all information she could to kill the Vigilante. But that was the thing there was next to nothing about this Vigilante, so she decided to find a small pattern, the type of people who are victims. She smirked under her mask, "oh they will have to pay very well for this job." She said as she she walked away from the crime scene as other guys came to clean it up and handed her a suitcase of money. "It's time for a manhunt."

 

[AncientWisemon]

Penguin

​

''Oh, how I love that zealousness of yours. You shall have your money the second you deliver the information, as always'', Oswald said with a smile. The little monster was an enigma, but no one in this town was a complete mystery. She was also, certainly, a member of a gang or organisation, meaning she will have some connections. Somebody must know her. ''Soon, my dear girl, I shall have you in my grasp'', he said to himself as he sent the photos to Cat's mobile phone. Oswald Cobblepot had a very good surveillance system and the cameras in his office were very well hidden, meaning he had plenty of material to make a couple of good snapshots of the girl's physique and face. Certainly, those several pictures he had sent would prove sufficient for Cat; she was good at her job.


''Now that that's taken care of, I should start the preparations for our young Mr. Bruce Wayne'', he murmured to himself as he exited the office. ''Butch, I'm meeting Bruce Wayne tonight. Please see to it that the window is replaced and double the security. We don't want any problems tonight'', he said with a smile as he patted his loyal guard on the back. ''Will do, Mr. Cobblepot'', Butch confirmed firmly, returning a smile.


Oswald walked very elegantly to his penthouse within the lounge, with a cheerful expression, holding his hands in his pockets. His footsteps were calm and almost mute, his demeanor a combination of anticipation and satisfaction and his thoughts completely focused on his meeting. It was an important meeting for him, for his plans and the security of the whole city. He had a strike of luck that Wayne's best (or one of the best) employee witnessed Gotham's chaos first hand and that event was sure to influence Wayne into seeing things eye to eye with Oswald. The deal was exceptionally important; if agreed upon, Gotham would see a security system stronger than any other, a system that would secure both its premises and the people roaming the streets. ''Perhaps we shall be able to rid Gotham of those dreaded monsters... perhaps, She will finally have peace'', he thought to himself as he began the formal preparations. The meals, the atmosphere, the clothing, the business ideas... everything had to be perfect. Young Bruce Wayne was a specific fellow and things had to be absolutely perfect in order for the meeting to go as planned; and if there was one thing Oswald Cobblepot was good at, it was - getting things going his way.

***

​

prof. Hugo Strange

​

The ignorance of his young colleague hadn't surprised Strange, as he was aware that those information were, in fact, quite scarce. He himself learned of the island and the experiments years after his studies, while working in Europe, where limited quantities of Santa Prisca's chemicals had been available in selected laboratories. One of them was the one where Victor Fries and himself had been working for a couple years before the toxins actually arrived. They were a part of a global project to test the chemicals and their effects and Fries and Strange were lucky enough to be able to participate in those projects. Hence, both of them had some knowledge as to how to counter their effects, but, as Fried had pointed out, time was crucial. Strange observed Dr. Langstrom, as he was ready to give his answer.


''I completely understand, Dr. Langstrom. You couldn't have found much information since there aren't many. Most of the data regarding both Venom and Titan have been labeled classified and, thus, hidden from the general public and lecture materials. Dr. Fries and I have had the opportunity to work with them so we know a little more, but even our knowledge is quite limited. What exactly is being done in Santa Prisca is a big mystery to practically everyone, except the people that are actually working there, but their identities are kept hidden and they are not allowed to leave the island. I've heard rumors that they are conducting inhumane experiments on human subjects related to superhuman abilities, but that is just a rumor'', he explained. He tried to sort out all the information he had on the subject before giving a precise answer. He knew the effects of Venom and Titan, but he had not seen them for quite a while and the data was stored somewhere deep within his cortex. He had not hoped to see them in his Asylum. ''I presume you both have heard of the Miraclo formula, a vitamin designed by Dr. Rex Tyler several decades ago? It was said to give people superhuman abilities such as strength and durability, but its effects would only last an hour before the subject was returned to normal. Dr. Tyler experimented with the drug, but he sadly died during one of those experiments as he managed to destroy most of his laboratory, causing an explosion that killed him instantly. The drug was lost, but Dr. Tyler preserved the formula. Nonetheless, our scientists have not used the formula since then as it was deemed unusable, since the brief durability of the drug's effects disabled its practical application in the army and other fields where it could have been of some use. We never found out whether Venom or Titan had been based on Miraclo, but they have very similar effects. Both of them are steroids or, to be precise, super-steroids that enhance one's physical and mental abilities several times. The Titan formula is somewhat weaker, increasing one's mental and physical strength, but without any outward changes. It is also less likely to cause an addiction. It's effects are durable for several hours, but are still limited'', he elaborated further before taking another short pause. ''Venom... Venom is, as we've come to understand, a perfected version of the Titan formula. It has a very similar chemical structure, but the chemical bounds between the molecules are much stronger, which allows for longer durability and stronger effects. The Venom not only increases the same abilities as the Titan formula, but it also induces outward changes, creating a hulking monster from a normal human being or animal. It also causes severe psychological symptoms such as mania, psychosis, amnesia, delusions, paranoia and severe aggression. Basically, Venom turns the subject into a mindless, titanic brute able to penetrate walls. They become extremely dangerous and exceptionally skilled weapons, if used correctly. The only problem is that they are very hard to control when in such a state. Venom tends to cause severe addiction. There has been talk of a hypothetical ability of the subject to get himself under control, but such a subject never appeared. All tests have, in that vicinity, been unsuccessful'', he finished his explanation. ''Oh, there have also been ambitions to combine the Titan and Venom formula into one powerful super-steroid, but that is a completely different matter'', he added.


He then observed his notes on the current case, mulling them over. ''The Titan formula is more friendly towards the human organism, meaning it would not cause such symptoms... or, at least, it would cause them less likely than Venom. Venom is extremely aggressive and if the subject is incompatible with the drug, it will cause severe side effects that will, if not treated on time, lead to the subject's death. Dr. Fries and I have been taught how to create an antidote, but I don't know if we're going to be on time. I do hope so. To be honest, a large number of the subjects have died from being in contact with Venom'', he said afterwards, observing his two colleagues with a worried expression.

 

[One Mean Ghost]

The young scientist nodded at Mr. Cobblepot's request. "I can have a system ready to install in four days. I'll need about 6-12 hours give or take for installation. I wish I could give a more definite timeline, but the installation process is heavily dependent on how well your previous electricians did their jobs. If they did good work, my job will be fast. If they didn't... well I'll be spending a lot of time rewiring and that will slow the process down dramatically. I have a team that helps with the installation, but all of the important parts I handle directly to avoid any issues. I take my job rather seriously..." He sighed as his glasses, once again, fell to the floor and he had to reach around for them before shoving them back on his face. He knew that a rather clumsy scientist handling electrical work would probably not sound like a great idea...


"I assure you, I am more than capable of installing everything. I do it all the time and if, on some off chance, I do hurt myself, Wayne Enterprises has a lot of insurance on me so it won't fall on your head..." he explained sighing softly. Not long after that, Mr. Cobblepot had him seen out, and aside from tripping over a short level change of three stairs on the way out, he made it out without incident.


He slid back into the Wayne Enterprises company limo, relaxing in his seat as he carefully wiped some oil off of the rim of his glasses, chuckling softly to himself. If he ever got tired of being a scientist that moonlighted as a vigilante, he could always get a job as an actor. Oil on the glasses was just one trick he used to keep up his clumsy facade. It made them slide off his nose at random times, and he, of course, played it off like it was unintentional rather well.


He rested his head back on the headrest, wondering just how the meeting tonight would go. Although he knew something about Cobblepot was off, he wondered just what the man's angle was. Why would he be so interested in securing the entire city? It all seemed rather 'Big Brother' to do so... Oh well, that wasn't Dante's concern. That concern fell to Vanguard. Dante, meanwhile, had a rather big order to fill. Of course, he had it already 3/4 of the way done. True, he always did his own work, but he also had a habit of having a lot of down time in which he'd get stuff ready in case of potential big orders like this one. It made the clients feel really important when it seemed he rushed a job for them, after all.


When he returned to Wayne Enterprises, he found he had no important missed calls. A few other researches wanted him to double check some numbers, but no big calls like the Cobblepot account... He pulled up his computer, looking over the various formulas and equations, making corrections where appropriate before sending them back so research could be continued. It was nothing major, a few new weapons technologies and a few biochem projects, mostly for medical research. Dante reached under his desk to a convenient mini fridge, pulling out a bottle of water and pouring a bit on the blue rose seeds he had planted before taking a drink himself.


Although this was, of course, Bruce Wayne's company, Dante was effectively the one running it. He had a finger or toe on just about everything that Wayne Enterprises worked on. His title may have just been Head of New Tech Research, he was, in effect, the functional head of the entire company. As such, he reported directly to Bruce Wayne on all affairs when the wealthy heir's judgement was needed for anything, or when Mr. Wayne desired updates on how things were running.


Once he had handled all of the main business of the day, he put in the work order for what he would need for Mr. Cobblepot. Obviously, he wasn't going to assemble every little piece by hand. That's why they had workers. He would just inspect the work for quality once it was done, and then take care of the subsequent installation with his installation team.


The day dragged on for Dante, as he continued his work waiting for the ticking clock to hit 6:00 PM so he could clock off.. twelve hour work days were a bit rough, but it was to be expected for his position, and since he had no dating life to speak of at the moment, he really had no reason to request additional time off. Though, admittedly he would appreciate more than one off day per week...


All he had to do now, really, was wait for the time to pass for night...

 

[Sicarius]

ANARKY

​

Lonnie sat awkwardly in the office chair that was pulled slightly back from the desk in his room. In front of him was his laptop computer.... attached to multiple other wires and input devices via USB ports. Sure, it was rather inconvenient, but it sure did the trick. Trick? Okay, maybe that was a term not to be used in his vocabulary... unless addressing the people he utterly despised. Trickery was not what he specialized in. He wasn't some, irrational public figure! Well, he soon would be a public figure; one that would drag the unworthy into the ground. Those in power today are certainly not worthy of it, and their usage of it is beyond the epitome of sickening. If one had the audacity to rewrite Webster's Dictionary, they would have to spend excessive time on the definition of corruption in relation to modern day politics. Lonnie shook his head, realizing his inner thoughts were stray and rather irrelevant. They had no basis and foundation, and so it was not something to continue dwelling on. Clearing his mind, Lonnie leaned forward in his chair as he placed his right hand on the mouse and left clicked. He put the elbow of his opposite hand on the desk and rested his chin on his left hand. He stared at the screen as he carefully maneuvered the pointer of the mouse around. After a few more minutes of trying to locate what he was looking for, Lonnie smiled and clicked "PRINT".





Shuffling the papers in his hand, Lonnie organized the speech he had prepared. Tonight was a special night, and he wanted everything to perfection. Perfection is not something that can be obtained, but rather, something to strive for. Sure, Gotham may not always be an exact replication of purity, but you can always strive to reach it. That was what Lonnie Machin was hoping to accomplish. To mop up the mess that was Gotham... and to clean up the city! The city had so much depth, so much... potential. There was no reason in the world why anyone would want to not live there, save for all the unsanctioned activities like crime. For some reason, this one thing has held the city back. Holding it back from growth. Back... from perfection. Lonnie scanned the sheets of paper he held in his hand, studying them intently. Yes, tonight was a special night indeed. It was the day that Gotham would make its first step towards greatness, eradicating the black that covered the light from shining through. There is so much... disarray in this city. MY city. I will not allow for it to fall before the people that are in control of it. Gotham deserves someone who is willing to fight for it... and I will fight. Fight, not just by philosophy... but beyond what the justice system can reach! He thought to himself. Society had spun out of control, and it was time to catch it. Satisfied that he was ready, Anarky picked up his cellphone and texted Mattie:





"IT'S TIME."


Once the order was sent, Lonnie turned off the lights in his room. His vision was finally coming clear... real. He pulled out from under his bed the symbol of what he would represent. Smiling, he donned the red outfit and took in a breath. I am Anarky. Voice of the people, the Action of their will. Fixing the webcam into the correct positioning, Lonnie began his livestream recording as his computer hacked into all the TV channels as well as other active computers all over Gotham. Memorizing his lines, as the indicator that he was now live beeped, the self named Anarky began his monumental speech. "Dear citizens, and friends of Gotham. Do not be afraid or frightened. I, am someone who merely wants to stand up for the city he loves and holds so dearly. I represent the will and the wanting of you all. The justice that you all want and most rightfully deserve; I am Anarky, the savior of this city. As you know, this city is filled with the infectious men of power and indecency. They use you... hinder you. Keeping you from achieving what you want in life. I understand you. All of you. I know what you want... what you need. And to show my appreciation AND good will to this city, I will preform my first act as savior! The Salvation State Orphanage is run by sick-minded fiends, who use the children to steal, sabotage, provoke, and frighten those who are less fortunate into meeting the desires of the ones they call their "caretakers". They show no mercy or regard to these children, the generation that is the future of this city! Our children need to be respected and properly cared for, without having the fear of being tortured or brutally punished for not committing unlawful acts that they are not willing to participate in. So as a token of goodwill, I have ordered my faithful followers to escort the children out of the facility, while setting up bombs to take down this monstrosity. After the end of this night, The Salvation State Orphanage will no longer threaten the future growth of this city. The bomb countdown will begin at midnight tonight, and will soon cleanse Gotham from this disease. This is anarchy... I... am ANARKY."

 

[chaoticbards]

"Hey, hey! Stop being so goddamn grabby," Mattie grumbled, kicking at ones chest to gain space. She let one charge at her, smoothly dodging one blow but missing an attack from the other man, knocking her forward. Mattie gritted her teeth, sweeping her leg under the mans feet since she was already close to the ground. Her phone went off, which she groaned from the situation. Mattie crawled on top of the man on the ground, grabbing her dagger and stabbing him directly in the eye. She kept pushing the dagger into the socket, the man flailing underneath her and trying to punch her repeatedly. Mattie did this process again, but to the other eye. Just to make sure if he didn't bleed out, he'd be blind.


Mattie ripped the daggers out of each socket, one at a time to cause more pain. She turned around, facing a panicking robber now running away. Should she even spare him? Mattie shrugged to herself, picking up her pace and easily catching up with the man— who was know heaving with heavy breathes. Mattie took her pistol out, stopping to load it, then aimed. She fired at his upper back and calfs. She hit something, knowing from him dropping straight to the ground.


Mattie chuckled, shaking her head as she maneuvered her way up the fire-escape. She used her flexibility to her advantage as she scaled the building, easily making it to the roof in one piece. Mattie sat near the edge, humming to herself as Anarky pulled up on the screens that normally display news reports orcommercials. Using this time, she also checked her phone. Surprise surprise, a text from Lonnie.


"Kay. Got it,"





She texted back, standing back to her feet once more.

 

[One Mean Ghost]

Tick, tock, tick, tock. That infernal ticking was enough to drive a man insane. Are there really only sixty seconds in a minute? When you're waiting to get off work, that last hour, and those last minutes seem to last an eternity. Did the clock slow down? Surely it can't still be 5:45.... Dante frowned as he stared at the clock. He had already finished Mr. Cobblepot's order and had finished all of the other projects he had set aside for today. His eye twitched as he watched the clock turn over to 5:46 after a small eternity of waiting. Just as he thought his boredom couldn't get any worse, his computer flashed up a broadcast... A hacker? Well well. He'd get to have some fun after all.


Given security was one of his biggest responsibilities, it was well within his job description to try and find out a bit more about this mysterious Anarky... He cracked his knuckles, his fingers flashing over the keys as he sought to trace the message back to the source before it ended. That's when he came to realize the person he was dealing with was no amateur. The individual had created what Dante called a 'Transmission Mesh'. In short, the initial computer had sent the video to a group of computers, those computers sent it on to other computers, which in turn sent it to other computers, including ones from earlier iterations of the hacking protocol, including the host computer. It was all but untraceable. The only way to even have a hope of tracking it back to the source would be to unravel the algorithm used to create the mesh, and determine the point of origin from there.


Dante chuckled softly. "You win this round, Anarky, you clever bastard...." He murmured as he scratched his chin. He knew full well even smart as he is, and with the tech at his disposal, he had no chance of tracing the signal to the source before the short speech ended. If only Anarky was a little bit more long winded in his speeches. No, Dante couldn't hope for Anarky to slip up. On the upside, Anarky had given Dante a project for tomorrow's work day.


The clock finally beeped, signaling the hour as Dante logged out of his computer. "And so ends another day of hard labor" Dante laughed softly as he stretched, walking out of his office where his Secretary was already gone. He had come to expect that the instant that clock hit the hour, she was already in the elevator to get gone. Oh well, she got her work done on time and kept his paperwork in order for him, so he didn't complain about her cutting a few seconds off the work day.


He pressed the button and stepped into the elevator, humming along with the music as he was lowered to the first floor, a few people getting in on some floors and giving him greetings. Some kissed ass more than others, given he had quite a bit of clout when it came to who got promotions and raises in salary. Of course, kissing ass didn't work with Dante. He wanted people that got stuff done, if you didn't keep up your workload, he made sure you didn't last long.


At last, he strode out of the building and into the darkness, walking down the streets at a brisk pace so he wouldn't get jumped, mugged or otherwise. At last, he got into his apartment building, and minutes later, he was in his room. He took off his lab coat and hung it on the coat rack by the door. "Now for the fun work" He chuckled softly, pressing the hidden button on the wardrobe to reveal his Vanguard body armor and mask. he got himself changed, hitting the button once more as the wardrobe spun to hide the slot for his armor. He pulled on his mask last, checking his gauntlets and boots to be sure they still had their charge.


He made sure the cameras were 'distracted' before he made his way to the roof. Now it was time for Vanguard to have some fun...

He pulled up the wings on his suit, clicking his boots together as the jets ignited, sending him into the night sky. He would have to check in on Anarky's little party to be sure the kids weren't going to get hurt, but other than that.... Frankly those scumbags at the Orphanage were on his shitlist already, so in a way Vanguard was a bit thankful that some of his workload was taken over for the night. He landed on a roof downtown, an earpiece relaying any police chatter that would give him some idea where to go. Nights always started out fairly quiet, but it never lasted.


He watched the people down below, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Who knows, maybe he'd find that girl that gave him a mini lapdance during his meeting with Oswald Cobblepot. He pressed a button on the side of his mask, the display in front of his eyes scanning the faces down below against the picture he took earlier of the girl without her mask on. If anyone passed by him that matched, he'd notice. Little did he know, that he was not the only person on the lookout for this girl. Odds are, he may just have his path crossed by a certain feline felon....


That is, of course, if a certain assassin didn't find him first...

 

[AncientWisemon]

Penguin

​

[LEAVING SPACE FOR A REPLY BY @Fallacy ]


The discussion with Bruce Wayne went rather smoothly, in his opinion. They'd exchanged opinions and ideas, some jokes to loosen the tensions of your usual business meeting and, ultimately, he was satisfied. Thins were going exactly as planned and he could not shake off the satisfied grin from his face. Since his work was finished for the day, he decided to relax a little and see what the world had been up to while he was busy with his tasks. There was still time until Cat's deadline so he couldn't exactly go to bed, but he was a nocturnal creature anyway so it was nothing out of the ordinary.


He managed to scroll through a couple of global reports, something about a vigilante archer dressed in green appearing in Star City (''It does seem that this disease is spreading throughout the region. I'll have to tighten security there, also'', a thought raced through his mind as he was reading the article) and an article about suspicious dealings surrounding Luthor's LexCorps written by a certain Clark Kent before his computer started to act strangely and started broadcasting a person dressed in red and wearing a white mask covering his face. After a brief pause, the masked figure started talking.


"Dear citizens, and friends of Gotham. Do not be afraid or frightened. I, am someone who merely wants to stand up for the city he loves and holds so dearly. I represent the will and the wanting of you all. The justice that you all want and most rightfully deserve; I am Anarky, the savior of this city. As you know, this city is filled with the infectious men of power and indecency. They use you... hinder you. Keeping you from achieving what you want in life. I understand you. All of you. I know what you want... what you need. And to show my appreciation AND good will to this city, I will preform my first act as savior! The Salvation State Orphanage is run by sick-minded fiends, who use the children to steal, sabotage, provoke, and frighten those who are less fortunate into meeting the desires of the ones they call their "caretakers". They show no mercy or regard to these children, the generation that is the future of this city! Our children need to be respected and properly cared for, without having the fear of being tortured or brutally punished for not committing unlawful acts that they are not willing to participate in. So as a token of goodwill, I have ordered my faithful followers to escort the children out of the facility, while setting up bombs to take down this monstrosity. After the end of this night, The Salvation State Orphanage will no longer threaten the future growth of this city. The bomb countdown will begin at midnight tonight, and will soon cleanse Gotham from this disease. This is anarchy... I... am ANARKY."


It would be a rather futile task do describe all the thoughts and emotions that raced through Oswald as he was listening to the words of this masked dilettante. Mostly it was pity, sometimes mockery or even a sign of interest, but what he thought ultimately can easily be described by his comment, made upon the the completion of this Anarky guy's speech. ''My dear, another masked charlatan! As if this town wasn't already full of them'', he commented, visibly annoyed. This little sermon, as he decided to describe it, proved to be useful in one aspect, as it finally explained the seemingly unrelated but related bombings around the city, which meant that the chances of his plan succeeding have drastically increased. ''First the girl... not this clown... I wouldn't be surprised if they were brother and sister. Stupidity is said to run in the family'', he commented with a smirk as he took his phone. ''This is certainly going to be a long night'', he proclaimed as he dialed the phone. He knew the designated person was going to be in his office and he was certainly correct about that. ''Good evening miss, may I speak to DA Mairre? Tell him Oswald Cobblepot is on the line. I'm sure he will pardon this late intrusion'', he spoke to Robert's secretary with such a polite manner that there was no chance she'd turn him down.

 

[Pleonazam]

While she was walking back to the apartment to get some things, she heard her phone buzzing: message from Penguin. It contained a few pictures of the girl she needed to find. She examined them carefully and the only thing she could see was that the girl was entering in some building trough a window. The pictures were enlarged, so she couldn't see which building it was, but she knew that was made under Penguin's orders. He gave her enough to work with, but he was very careful not to discover his true identity. After she went trough all of the pictures, she frowned - in every picture the girl was wearing a mask. "Well, this should be easy.", she thought sarcastically. But even though finding something about anonymous girl won't be a peace of cake, she was pleased with the challenge.


She got in the apartment and locked the door behind her. She took off her coat and sat on the sofa. She knew she couldn't go anywhere yet, but she needed to make a plan that will be successful, so she wanted to prepare everything.


"Where do you go when you have a young girl in black and red suit, that is breaking into the buildings, and at top of all - a girl that breaks into a building whose owner is a crazy, manipulative and powerful villain.", she asked herself. "Well, there you go. A crazy girl for a crazy guy."


She looked at the pictures on her phone. "One thing is certain”, she thought, “this obviously wasn’t her first time breaking in somewhere, and it certainly wasn’t the last one. You wouldn’t get this kind of badass costume, if you only wanted to steal some money to survive. No, this girl had a plan. Did she worked alone? Or with someone? Or under someone’s orders?” she thought about all of that while she swiped trough the pictures. “I guess I’ll find out tonight.“. Selina knew the girl couldn’t hide forever. Somebody must’ve heard something about her, or saw her, and where better to find out about her than on the streets. People who lived on the streets knew a lot about what was going in this town. When you’re homeless, nobody really pays attention to you, they don’t even notice you. It’s like you’re invisible to them, like you’re a part of that building that they’re passing by. Maybe that’s why most of the people weren’t so careful around homeless people. “We’ll see if this little monster, how Penguing called her, was one of those people.”, she thought. All she needed now was to wait for awhile until it was completely dark outside. So she turned on the TV to make the time go faster, and it looked like she was just in time. It seemed that somebody hacked into all the TV channels, because every single one of them showed the same guy in the mask. Selina listened his speech, unsure if she should take him seriously, or if he was just another one of those lunatics that didn’t really have any kind of plan. But she tensed as she heard these words: “The Salvation State Orphanage is run by sick-mindedfiends, who use the children to steal, sabotage, provoke, and frighten those who are less fortunate into meeting the desires of the ones they call their "caretakers".”


Just hearing the name of that godawful place brought back that sad memories that she wanted so badly to forgot. Is it possible that these guys will finally get what they deserve? She looked at the unknown man, and then it dawned on her. She looked again at the pictures on the mobile phone, then once more at the TV screen, and said: “Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me.”


She couldn’t be sure of it, but she had strong suspicion that these two were somehow connected. She listened to his speech until he finished with these words: “After the end of this night, The Salvation State Orphanage will no longer threaten the future growth of this city. The bomb countdown will begin at midnight tonight, and will soon cleanse Gotham from this disease. This is anarchy... I... am ANARKY.", and then he disconnected. She continued looking at the TV screen. If she could trust his words, then, as of tonight, that place would cease to exist. “Well”, she thought, with a smile on her face, “I can’t miss that.”


***


She looked trough the window and saw that the night finally gripped the city. “It looks like it’s time to go.”, she said to herself. To blend in with the night, and have enough comfort to jump from the buildings, she wore her black leather leggings and jacket. It was her favourite outfit for the jobs that she did. She put on the mask that covered her eyes, to remain anonymous, and climbed trough the window all the way up to the roof. When she got up, she stopped to admire the view. “Ah, how lovely.” she thought. She liked this part of the day the best. Everything looked so mysterious. She examined the building, planning her way. She wanted to go to the part of the city with the abandoned buildings. That was known to be a place where people without homes lived. So she jumped to the next roof and continued her way until she got to the old, ruined buildings. Balancing herself on the edge of the roof, she got to the spot from where she could see what was going on. She crouched, placing her hands between her legs, on the floor, so she could support herself, and looked down. She noticed most of them were gathered around the fire that somebody started in an old, iron barrel. “Nothing unusual.” she thought. But it looked like she was wrong. After she focused her view on the stairs across the fire, underneath them she saw a group of small children. They played some kind of game with their hands. “Kids?”, she tought. “I don’t remember this place being crowded with kids.” And then she remembered Anarky’s words: “I have ordered my faithful followers to escort the children out of the facility”, and she figured it all out. “But how did nobody notice something like that happened?”, she thought. “So, this guy really means serious business. If that is true, maybe these children know something. But I can’t threaten them. I don’t want to. Instead, I need to gain their trust.” She sighed, because she didn’t like what she was about to do, 'cause she knew it will take her some time. She went back, a block away from these buildings, to a small store that she knew worked all night. She jumped in front of the doors and got in. The guy that worked behind the counter watched something on the small, portable TV, and he didn’t even notice her. She got to the section with the food, and grabbed a few things, like packed sandwiches, candy bars, and got back to the checkout. She coughed to get the guy’s attention. He looked up and saw a masked girl in front of him. He started to panic and said “Ok, take what you want, I don’t care, just don’t hurt me.” She wasn’t’ sure what was he talking about, but then she figured out what this must have looked like, and said “Oh, no, no, I’m not robbing you, I just want to buy these things. See, I got the money.”, she said and took out the money from her pocket to show him. The guy calmed down, and started to pack her things, but it was still visible that he was scared. “That’ll be 20 dollars.”, he said, still not sure if she was telling the truth. She gave him the money, took the bag, and got out. “Note to self: Take off the mask when entering the store.” she thought as she made her way back to the kids. When she got there, she jumped from the stairs in front of them and smiled. “Hello”, she said friendly. Kids looked at her with fear in their eyes. She knew that they didn’t like the mask, but she couldn’t take it off, she couldn’t risk anybody finding out who she was. “Don’t be scared, I don’t want to hurt you.” she said. “Really, I just want to help you. See, I got something for you.”, she continued and showed them the bag with food. The children looked inside, but they still didn’t want to take anything. “I promise that it’s just the food. I like to help ‘cause I know what it’s like not to have anything.” she said. One girl got up, approached her and asked: “Who are you?”Selina smiled and answered: “I’m Cat.” The girl continued to look at her, and asked another question: “Why did you bring us the food?” “Well, I used to live on the street. I know that it’s hard sometimes. So I just wanted to make sure you have something to eat.” she replied with a smile and asked: “Can I sit next to you?”. The kids made room for her and she sat and smiled again to them. “Can I ask you something?” she started her questioning, and continued, without waiting for an answer. “How come you guys are here now? Where were you before?”. The little girl that asked her the questions said: “None of us have a home. We used to live in an orphanage. But that place wasn’t nice.” Selina knew she was on the right track, so she continued: “So… Did you escape?” This time a boy with a blue hair and big blue eyes answered her question: “We didn’t escape. We were to scared to do something like that. But… but one night… these people showed up. They started to take us out. We were very scared. “ he paused. “Were they bad guys? Did they hurt you?”, Selina wanted to encourage him to continue to speak. He looked at her and replied: “No. They weren’t bad guys. They didn’t do us anything. They just took us out of that place.” When he stopped, Selina said: “I’m going to show you a picture, and I would be thankful if someone of you could help”. She took her phone out, and show them the pictures that Penguin send her and asked: “Did anybody of you see this girl that night?” They looked at her phone, and the girl that spoke to her first suddenly shouted: “I know her!”. Selina acted surprised and continued: “Really? You do? Do you know who she is?” The girl hurried to tell her: “Well, we don’t know who she is. But she was there that night. She was with some boy. She got us out, and he went somewhere. After that, they met in front of the building and the boy mentioned someone, some other boy, I think. He said that they have to go back and tell him everything. His name was something that started with A, but I can’t remember.” she paused. “Oh, that’s not important.”, said Selina. “Did you see anything else?” she asked her. The girl thought about it, and then answered: “That girl, in the costume, she saw that we were just standing there and came to us. She looked scary, because she had all these weapons with her. But then she told us that she’s not going to hurt us, and that we can go and that we don’t have to come back here anymore. One boy asked her who she was, and she just answered: Wither. That’s all you need to know, kiddo.”, and after that, she just left with her friend.” the girl finished. Selina was happy. She knew who the girl was.


She knew where she can find her. She got up and told the kids: “Thank you, you helped me a lot. Now I have to go, but be sure to eat that food, it’s tasty. Maybe I’ll come back another time with some more stuff. Until then – bye.” She jumped back on the stairs and climbed back to the roof. Now she has the information for Penguin. But before she gives that information to him, she needed to go somewhere: The Salvation State Orphanage. She wasn’t going to miss that night’s spectacle.