Batman dropped from above, and slammed on the street in front of Roman Sionis and his group of black masked villains. Roman shrieked, and stumbled backwards. His perfectly groomed black hair shook out all over the place. Some strands fell over his eyes as he chattered nervously.
“G-Get him,” Roman said, pointing at Batman.
Roman’s men all raised their machine guns, and fired away at Batman. Batman hid behind his cape. Then, Penguin rushed out from an alleyway, and made the grunts into ice sculptures.
“Hey Sionis,” Penguin said, flipping up his mask, “Miss me?”
“You are supposed to be dead,” Roman said, turning from intimidated to angry. His face rippled, and his skin began to disintegrate. Penguin pulled his mask back down, and readied the cold gun. Moments later, Roman was nearly unrecognizable. Where his once handsome face was there was now a black skull, with dark red eyes.
“The Black Mask,” Batman said, grabbing three Batarangs.
“Oswald Cobblepot. You disgraced Roman Sionis’s family name. He hates you for it. But he’s too weak to act. Me, on the other hand, am more than capable of killing you myself.”
“Then why send Deathstroke?” Penguin asked.
“A distraction. My men have already infiltrated every corner of Gotham’s underworld. In the few hours we’ve been here, I have taken over Gotham’s criminal sphere.”
“Even Falcone?” Batman inquired.
“His little organization went first. The coward fled the moment his men started to drop. This has all been too easy.”
“It’s about to get difficult,” Penguin said, firing a beam of sub-zero energy at Black Mask. Black Mask crouched, letting the beam freeze the sedan behind him. He leapt at Penguin, and sliced at his face with a long knife. The blade tore through Penguin’s skin, sending flecks of blood flying. Penguin fired a shard of ice at Black Mask’s abdomen, but Black Mask cut it in half. Batman rushed at Black Mask with a punch prepped, but Black Mask kicked him in the chest, sending him to the ground. Black Mask was a powerful fighter. But Batman was sure that he could handle him.
Batman sprung backwards, while sending the three Batarangs at Black Mask. Black Mask ducked out of the way of one, sliced the second out of the air, and caught the third with his skeletal hand. He then returned the Batarang to Batman with a swift flick of the wrist. The Batarang pierced through Batman’s suit, cutting his chest. Batman tore out the Batarang, and engaged in melee combat, using the Batarang to counter Black Mask’s knife.
By this point, Penguin had recovered. He shakily stood up, and steadied his aim. He let a blast of ice go, and it hit Black Mask in the back. Black Mask collapsed, and skin reformed around him. He became Roman Sionis.
“That was harder than I expected,” Batman admitted. He helped Penguin up. Then, a bullet tore through Batman’s calf. Batman dropped, and craned his neck to identify his attacker. Roman Sionis was standing up, shakily holding a pistol.
“I’ve got this,” Penguin said. He tried firing the cold gun, but it was out of power. Freezing all of the grunts had taken a lot of energy. So he grabbed one of Batman’s Batarangs, and flung it at Roman Sionis. It clattered to the ground pathetically a few feet in front of Penguin. This gave Roman a sliver of confidence, and he fired away at Penguin. Penguin dove out of the way, ducking behind a minivan. Roman smiled, and swaggered over to Batman. He put his pistol to Batman’s head, and wrapped his finger around the trigger.
Suddenly, a young bystander rushed over, and knocked the pistol out of Roman’s hands. She punched Roman in the face, and stepped on his chest.
“No one messes with Gotham’s hero,” the woman said, pressing her shoe down harder on Roman’s chest.
“Thank you for that,” Penguin said, walking out from behind the minivan.
“Anything I can do to help keep criminals like this guy off the streets,” the woman smiled.
“What’s your name?” Penguin asked, kicking Roman in the face, easily knocking him out.
“Stephanie Brown,” the woman smiled.
“Thank you, Stephanie Brown, for saving my life,” Batman said, pushing himself up off the ground, “As for you, Penguin, we need to work on what to do when your cold gun dies.”
“Agreed,” Penguin nodded, helping Batman up.
“Stephanie, you should probably go home,” Batman advised, “It’s about to get messy.”
Batman and Penguin had turned Roman Sionis into the GCPD. Then they had sat down with Jim Gordon to talk about what their next move would be.
“So this guy claimed to have taken over the entire Gotham underworld?” Gordon asked, astonished.
“I think those might’ve been his exact words,” Penguin nodded.
“Either way, Sionis means business. He sent an international assassin to off Penguin,” Batman explained.
“But no assassin is a match for my cold gun,” Penguin bragged.
“Alright, so we have a kingpin who has taken over all of Gotham’s criminal empire, and an assassin running around all willy-nilly. What else is new?”
“Gordon, this is serious,” Batman said.
“I know that,” Gordon said, striking up a match to light a cigar, “Just trying to lighten the mood. Whaddya need from me?”
“I need all the men and women you can muster. Officers willing to risk their lives for this city. I need all of them ready to take on Sionis’s army.”
“I’ll have them ready in an hour,” Gordon nodded.
Batman and Penguin exited the station, and were greeted by two very professional dressed individuals. One was a tall Asian man with greased back black hair. The other was a pale woman with large lips and flaming red hair pinned up in the back. Both of them had black suits with white undershirts, and black ties. Very typical formal wear.
“Batman, Penguin, Amanda Waller will be here shortly,” the woman informed them.
“Until she arrives, you are to stay here with us,” the man added.
“Why is Waller coming in?” Batman asked.
“Why do you think?” the man sassed.
“She’s bringing in Task Force X to combat the False Faces,” the woman nodded.
“You’re calling Sionis’s army the False Faces? Really?” Penguin asked.
“They call themselves that,” the man said, defensively.
“And what’s Task Force X?” Penguin requested.
“I can answer that,” Batman interjected, “Task Force X is a group of Metahumans and normal criminals that Waller gathered to do her dirty work. They’re an unstable group.”
Suddenly, a dark black car pulled up. Amanda Waller stepped out.
“Hello Batman. Penguin, good to see you,” Waller said.
“I don’t even know you,” Penguin said, incredulously.
“Doesn’t mean we haven’t been keeping tabs on you,” Waller stated, matter-of-factly.
“Big Brother is watching you,” Penguin muttered, looking away from Waller.
“Batman, Task Force X is on their way. What do you need them to do?” Waller asked.
“That’s the problem… I don’t know what they need to do,” Batman admitted, “Sionis claimed to have taken over all of Gotham’s criminal enterprises. I don’t know where to start tearing his empire down.”
“Where’s the biggest concentration of criminal dealings?” Waller asked.
“The Gotham Bay Docks,” Penguin answered, “Even I know that.”
“But that might not be where Sionis’s men are. Hold on. Red Robin, you still there?”
“On the line? Yes. Still paying attention? Hell nah. I got a game of Tetris to win,” Red Robin responded through the comms.
“Pause it,” Batman ordered, “Scan the city for people in black masks.”
“Give me a sec,” Red Robin said. The line was silent for a few moments.
“Red Robin?”
“I got it! Oh, shit. Batman, there’s a massive group of them headed for Arkham Asylum.”
“They’re going to break out the inmates at Arkham,” Batman said to Waller, “Send your team there.”
“Oh, and there’s more at the Falcone Penthouse,” Red Robin said.
“Penguin, you and I are going to Falcone’s Penthouse.”
“I’ll redirect my team towards the Asylum,” Waller said, stepping back into the car, “Good luck.”
Waller sped off, leaving Batman and Penguin alone with the agents.
“Do you want us to come with you?” the woman asked.
“I don’t know if you’ll want to,” Batman said.
“Believe me, we’re plenty qualified,” the man said, taking a machine gun off of his back. The woman drew two pistols, and grinned slyly.
“Alright. What are your names?” Batman asked.
“Agent Kane,” the woman answered.
“Agent Sotaro,” the man seconded.
“Hold on,” Batman said, tapping his cuff. Two and a half minutes later, the Batmobile rolled up.
“Batman, this thing only seats two people,” Penguin scoffed.
“We’re not riding inside,” Batman said, his lips slowly curling into a grin.
“Why? Why do you make me do these things?” Penguin complained.
“Just get on,” Batman said, popping open the doors, letting the agents get in. When the top closed, Batman and Penguin struck their grappling cords into the Batmobile, and pulled them taught. Then, Batman used his cuff to control the Batmobile from outside of it.
“You can do that?” Penguin asked, amazed.
“Of course I can,” Batman nodded.
A few minutes later, they arrived at a luxurious apartment building. Batman let the agents out, and dusted himself off.
“Never make me do that again,” Penguin scowled, sliding off of the car.
“Uh, Batman, looks like the freak squad is having trouble keeping the criminals from reaching Arkham. Get there as soon as possible.”
“First, we’re going to deal with the criminals here,” Batman said, “But we’ll get it done fast.”
“What is it now?” Penguin asked.
“Suicide Squad can’t carry their weight,” Batman sighed, “So we have to go help. First we’re taking out the False Faces that are up in the penthouse. Are you all ready?”
The agents nodded.
“You two take the stairs. Get to the penthouse, and start shooting. When we hear the gunshots, we’ll grapple up to help out. Oh- one last thing. No killing.”
“Are you serious?” Agent Kane asked, “If we don’t kill these guys, they’ll kill us.”
“No. Killing.”
“You’re insane,” Agent Kane spat.
“I dress like a bat to fight crime. Of course I’m insane. But the rule still stands. Do. Not. Kill.”
The agents walked into the apartment building in disgust.
“They’re already risking their lives by helping. And now they can’t kill? Batman, they don’t have cool gadgets like us,” Penguin sympathized.
“Just focus on the task at hand,” Batman said.
Penguin nodded, and fished around in the Batmobile. He pulled out a neon blue cylinder, and shoved it into the top of his cold gun. It was ready to freeze crooks again.
No more than a minute passed before Batman and Penguin heard gunshots from above. They looked at each other, and gave a quick nod. Then, they grappled to the top floor, and smashed through the windows. Criminals in black masks were firing at the agents with machine guns, rifles, shotguns, pistols, anything. One was even loading a rocket into a large missile launcher.
“I got the missile,” Penguin said, turning the tube into an icicle. Batman pierced the majority of the machine guns with Batarangs, and sent one Batarang down the barrel of a shotgun.
Agent Kane jumped up, and squeezed her legs around the head of a thug holding a rifle. She jabbed her pistols into his shoulder blades, and fired away. He screamed out, and collapsed. Agent Kane rolled off of him, and swept the legs out from under another crook. She then fired bullets through the crook’s ass.
Meanwhile, Agent Sataro was firing away at the villains’ legs. Once he had emptied his magazine, he engaged in hand to hand combat, where he easily dropped the malefactors.
In virtually no time at all, Batman, Penguin, and the agents had taken down the small group of criminals.
“Too easy,” Penguin shrugged.
“Red Robin, how many other congregations of these guys are there? No matter how small.”
“Seventeen groups. Three of them are fairly large. Thirteen are pretty small. One is massive. And that’s the one headed for Arkham. If they free the inmates, it could spell the end for Gotham.”
“That’s why we’re going to stop them before they ever reach the asylum. Penguin, Kane, Sataro, let’s get moving.”
“Does this mean I have to ride on top of the Batmobile again?” Penguin asked. Batman nodded.
So the group took off. The agents sat comfortably in the vehicle, while Batman drove it remotely from above, with Penguin shivering next to him. Eventually, they pulled up to Arkham Asylum. Killer Croc, Captain Boomerang, Enchantress, Diablo, and Deadshot were battling the False Faces. A.R.G.U.S. agents ducked behind armored vans, occasionally peeking out to fire at the criminals. Waller was among the agents, giving orders to the Suicide Squad through a walkie-talkie. S.W.A.T. vans were pulling out, and S.W.A.T. officers were firing away at the black masked crooks. But the onslaught kept on coming.
“How many of these guys are there?” Batman asked, rushing over to Waller. Penguin, Agent Kane, and Agent Sataro followed.
“Too many,” Waller sighed, “They’re overwhelming us. Even with S.W.A.T. helping, I don’t know if it’ll be enough.”
“We’ll defeat them,” Batman said, confidently. He rushed out onto the battlefield, flinging Batarangs at every terrorist he spotted. Which was a lot. In little under a minute, Batman had run out of Batarangs. Penguin ran over, and crouched next to him, firing at the thugs. Many of them froze over, but the cold gun ran dry quickly.
“This isn’t going too well,” Batman grunted, narrowly dodging a bullet.
“There’s way too many,” Penguin agreed, “That woman was right.”
“Batman, come here!” Deadshot yelled, taking cover behind Killer Croc. Batman ran over.
“What is it?” Batman asked.
“Back at the Church of Blood. What was it that Brother Blood said to awaken the zombie dude?” Deadshot asked.
“Why would you want to know that? That was all the way in Greenland. There’s no way we could summon him here. And why would you want to resurrect him? He’d just kill everyone. Not just the bad guys.”
“We’d convince him to target the False Faces. You’re good at getting to him. And we managed to get him back into the ground before. He might be out only hope. Just remember. What did Brother Blood say?”
Batman racked his brain, trying to remember how Brother Blood summoned Solomon Grundy.
“Jeg inkalder dig!” Batman cried out suddenly. The ground began to rumble.
“Oh boy,” Deadshot muttered.
A crack shattered the ground beneath Batman. Batman dove onto solid ground, taking a bullet in doing so. That was two bullets in one day. Nothing he couldn’t handle.
Suddenly, a pale hand reached out of the crack. Moments later, Solomon Grundy vaulted out of the splinter in the Earth.
“SOLOMON GRUNDY HUNGRY!” Solomon Grundy boomed.
“Pal, you just ate two months ago. How are you hungry again?” Deadshot asked.
“Solomon Grundy remember that voice,” Solomon Grundy grunted, “You bully Solomon Grundy!”
“Nope. Definitely not me,” Deadshot said.
“Solomon Grundy, we need your help. You can save the day. You can be a hero,” Batman said.
“Solomon Grundy? Hero?” Solomon Grundy asked, amazed. Then, he winced. He had been hit with a bullet.
“Wasn’t that mean of them to shoot you?” Deadshot asked, pointing to the False Faces, “Go get them! Go save the day!”
Solomon Grundy let loose a primal roar, and tore through the crowd of False Faces.
“What happened to not killing?” Agent Kane asked, sliding in next to Batman. She turned over her shoulder, and shot at the False Faces.
“Quiet,” Batman grunted, catapulting himself into the air. He landed on Killer Croc’s back.
Killer Croc tried to see what had landed on his back.
“Killer Croc, charge!” Batman yelled.
Killer Croc was nervous. He didn’t want to just run into the chaos. He was content with just swiping the bad guys away as they came. But Batman was digging his heels into his back. Killer Croc screeched, and barreled into the group of False Faces. Batman did a backflip off the beast.
Enchantress sent a deadly spell through the crowd. She had been performing defensive spells up until that point. But seeing Solomon Grundy and Killer Croc gave her the courage to get aggressive. The spell tore through the group of criminals, dropping them like flies.
“Enchantress! Wanna give me a lift?” Deadshot asked. She nodded, and lifted Deadshot into the air with a quick spell. She sent him over the battlefield, and Deadshot fired away from above.
Captain Boomerang shrugged, and rushed in like a badass, chopping away at foes with his metal boomerang.
Batman engaged the False Faces in melee combat, and easily took them down. Agent Kane tossed Penguin a pistol, and they wreaked havoc on a portion of the thugs. Agent Sataro charged in, and sprayed bullets into all of the gangsters.
A few minutes later, all of the False Faces lay in defeat.
“We did it,” Penguin said, exhausted.
“Yes we did,” Agent Kane nodded, smiling in relief.
“This isn’t over yet,” Batman said, walking over.
“Buzzkill,” Penguin moaned.
“I’m serious. Red Robin told me that there were sixteen groups left. Only three of them are large. The rest are fairly small. And there’s still Deathstroke out there somewhere. This is far from over.”
“And there’s still the giant,” Agent Kane said, pointing to Solomon Grundy.
“Right,” Batman nodded, and jogged over to Solomon Grundy.
“Is Solomon Grundy hero?” Solomon Grundy asked.
“Yes. Yes he is. And well fed, I hope,” Batman smiled, “Now he can go back to sleep. Back to sleep Solomon Grundy.”
Solomon Grundy wandered back to the crack in the ground, and fell right in. The crack sealed.
“Wahoo!” Deadshot cheered, “Let’s go Suicide Squad!”
Batman shook Deadshot’s hand, then headed over to Waller. He informed her of all of the areas that the remaining False Faces were located at. She dispatched groups to the locations. Now all that was left for Batman and Penguin to do was find Deathstroke.
NEXT WEEK ON BATMAN: ETERNAL...
“Bruce, something has happened at the police station,” Alfred said, worriedly.
“What? What happened?” Batman asked.
“I- I’m not sure,” Alfred admitted, “But it doesn’t look good. It’s on the news. I’ll transfer it to the Batmobile.”
“I’m more powerful than ever before,” Black Mask growled.
Black Mask lunged at Batman, easily knocking his arms out of the way with a spinning kick. Batman stumbled back, amazed with the amount of sheer power Black Mask possessed. Penguin ducked under a barrage of punches, and pulled the trigger on the cold gun.
“Now we begin our final battle, Mister Cobblepot,” Deathstroke said, walking towards Penguin.
“G-Get him,” Roman said, pointing at Batman.
Roman’s men all raised their machine guns, and fired away at Batman. Batman hid behind his cape. Then, Penguin rushed out from an alleyway, and made the grunts into ice sculptures.
“Hey Sionis,” Penguin said, flipping up his mask, “Miss me?”
“You are supposed to be dead,” Roman said, turning from intimidated to angry. His face rippled, and his skin began to disintegrate. Penguin pulled his mask back down, and readied the cold gun. Moments later, Roman was nearly unrecognizable. Where his once handsome face was there was now a black skull, with dark red eyes.
“The Black Mask,” Batman said, grabbing three Batarangs.
“Oswald Cobblepot. You disgraced Roman Sionis’s family name. He hates you for it. But he’s too weak to act. Me, on the other hand, am more than capable of killing you myself.”
“Then why send Deathstroke?” Penguin asked.
“A distraction. My men have already infiltrated every corner of Gotham’s underworld. In the few hours we’ve been here, I have taken over Gotham’s criminal sphere.”
“Even Falcone?” Batman inquired.
“His little organization went first. The coward fled the moment his men started to drop. This has all been too easy.”
“It’s about to get difficult,” Penguin said, firing a beam of sub-zero energy at Black Mask. Black Mask crouched, letting the beam freeze the sedan behind him. He leapt at Penguin, and sliced at his face with a long knife. The blade tore through Penguin’s skin, sending flecks of blood flying. Penguin fired a shard of ice at Black Mask’s abdomen, but Black Mask cut it in half. Batman rushed at Black Mask with a punch prepped, but Black Mask kicked him in the chest, sending him to the ground. Black Mask was a powerful fighter. But Batman was sure that he could handle him.
Batman sprung backwards, while sending the three Batarangs at Black Mask. Black Mask ducked out of the way of one, sliced the second out of the air, and caught the third with his skeletal hand. He then returned the Batarang to Batman with a swift flick of the wrist. The Batarang pierced through Batman’s suit, cutting his chest. Batman tore out the Batarang, and engaged in melee combat, using the Batarang to counter Black Mask’s knife.
By this point, Penguin had recovered. He shakily stood up, and steadied his aim. He let a blast of ice go, and it hit Black Mask in the back. Black Mask collapsed, and skin reformed around him. He became Roman Sionis.
“That was harder than I expected,” Batman admitted. He helped Penguin up. Then, a bullet tore through Batman’s calf. Batman dropped, and craned his neck to identify his attacker. Roman Sionis was standing up, shakily holding a pistol.
“I’ve got this,” Penguin said. He tried firing the cold gun, but it was out of power. Freezing all of the grunts had taken a lot of energy. So he grabbed one of Batman’s Batarangs, and flung it at Roman Sionis. It clattered to the ground pathetically a few feet in front of Penguin. This gave Roman a sliver of confidence, and he fired away at Penguin. Penguin dove out of the way, ducking behind a minivan. Roman smiled, and swaggered over to Batman. He put his pistol to Batman’s head, and wrapped his finger around the trigger.
Suddenly, a young bystander rushed over, and knocked the pistol out of Roman’s hands. She punched Roman in the face, and stepped on his chest.
“No one messes with Gotham’s hero,” the woman said, pressing her shoe down harder on Roman’s chest.
“Thank you for that,” Penguin said, walking out from behind the minivan.
“Anything I can do to help keep criminals like this guy off the streets,” the woman smiled.
“What’s your name?” Penguin asked, kicking Roman in the face, easily knocking him out.
“Stephanie Brown,” the woman smiled.
“Thank you, Stephanie Brown, for saving my life,” Batman said, pushing himself up off the ground, “As for you, Penguin, we need to work on what to do when your cold gun dies.”
“Agreed,” Penguin nodded, helping Batman up.
“Stephanie, you should probably go home,” Batman advised, “It’s about to get messy.”
Batman and Penguin had turned Roman Sionis into the GCPD. Then they had sat down with Jim Gordon to talk about what their next move would be.
“So this guy claimed to have taken over the entire Gotham underworld?” Gordon asked, astonished.
“I think those might’ve been his exact words,” Penguin nodded.
“Either way, Sionis means business. He sent an international assassin to off Penguin,” Batman explained.
“But no assassin is a match for my cold gun,” Penguin bragged.
“Alright, so we have a kingpin who has taken over all of Gotham’s criminal empire, and an assassin running around all willy-nilly. What else is new?”
“Gordon, this is serious,” Batman said.
“I know that,” Gordon said, striking up a match to light a cigar, “Just trying to lighten the mood. Whaddya need from me?”
“I need all the men and women you can muster. Officers willing to risk their lives for this city. I need all of them ready to take on Sionis’s army.”
“I’ll have them ready in an hour,” Gordon nodded.
Batman and Penguin exited the station, and were greeted by two very professional dressed individuals. One was a tall Asian man with greased back black hair. The other was a pale woman with large lips and flaming red hair pinned up in the back. Both of them had black suits with white undershirts, and black ties. Very typical formal wear.
“Batman, Penguin, Amanda Waller will be here shortly,” the woman informed them.
“Until she arrives, you are to stay here with us,” the man added.
“Why is Waller coming in?” Batman asked.
“Why do you think?” the man sassed.
“She’s bringing in Task Force X to combat the False Faces,” the woman nodded.
“You’re calling Sionis’s army the False Faces? Really?” Penguin asked.
“They call themselves that,” the man said, defensively.
“And what’s Task Force X?” Penguin requested.
“I can answer that,” Batman interjected, “Task Force X is a group of Metahumans and normal criminals that Waller gathered to do her dirty work. They’re an unstable group.”
Suddenly, a dark black car pulled up. Amanda Waller stepped out.
“Hello Batman. Penguin, good to see you,” Waller said.
“I don’t even know you,” Penguin said, incredulously.
“Doesn’t mean we haven’t been keeping tabs on you,” Waller stated, matter-of-factly.
“Big Brother is watching you,” Penguin muttered, looking away from Waller.
“Batman, Task Force X is on their way. What do you need them to do?” Waller asked.
“That’s the problem… I don’t know what they need to do,” Batman admitted, “Sionis claimed to have taken over all of Gotham’s criminal enterprises. I don’t know where to start tearing his empire down.”
“Where’s the biggest concentration of criminal dealings?” Waller asked.
“The Gotham Bay Docks,” Penguin answered, “Even I know that.”
“But that might not be where Sionis’s men are. Hold on. Red Robin, you still there?”
“On the line? Yes. Still paying attention? Hell nah. I got a game of Tetris to win,” Red Robin responded through the comms.
“Pause it,” Batman ordered, “Scan the city for people in black masks.”
“Give me a sec,” Red Robin said. The line was silent for a few moments.
“Red Robin?”
“I got it! Oh, shit. Batman, there’s a massive group of them headed for Arkham Asylum.”
“They’re going to break out the inmates at Arkham,” Batman said to Waller, “Send your team there.”
“Oh, and there’s more at the Falcone Penthouse,” Red Robin said.
“Penguin, you and I are going to Falcone’s Penthouse.”
“I’ll redirect my team towards the Asylum,” Waller said, stepping back into the car, “Good luck.”
Waller sped off, leaving Batman and Penguin alone with the agents.
“Do you want us to come with you?” the woman asked.
“I don’t know if you’ll want to,” Batman said.
“Believe me, we’re plenty qualified,” the man said, taking a machine gun off of his back. The woman drew two pistols, and grinned slyly.
“Alright. What are your names?” Batman asked.
“Agent Kane,” the woman answered.
“Agent Sotaro,” the man seconded.
“Hold on,” Batman said, tapping his cuff. Two and a half minutes later, the Batmobile rolled up.
“Batman, this thing only seats two people,” Penguin scoffed.
“We’re not riding inside,” Batman said, his lips slowly curling into a grin.
“Why? Why do you make me do these things?” Penguin complained.
“Just get on,” Batman said, popping open the doors, letting the agents get in. When the top closed, Batman and Penguin struck their grappling cords into the Batmobile, and pulled them taught. Then, Batman used his cuff to control the Batmobile from outside of it.
“You can do that?” Penguin asked, amazed.
“Of course I can,” Batman nodded.
A few minutes later, they arrived at a luxurious apartment building. Batman let the agents out, and dusted himself off.
“Never make me do that again,” Penguin scowled, sliding off of the car.
“Uh, Batman, looks like the freak squad is having trouble keeping the criminals from reaching Arkham. Get there as soon as possible.”
“First, we’re going to deal with the criminals here,” Batman said, “But we’ll get it done fast.”
“What is it now?” Penguin asked.
“Suicide Squad can’t carry their weight,” Batman sighed, “So we have to go help. First we’re taking out the False Faces that are up in the penthouse. Are you all ready?”
The agents nodded.
“You two take the stairs. Get to the penthouse, and start shooting. When we hear the gunshots, we’ll grapple up to help out. Oh- one last thing. No killing.”
“Are you serious?” Agent Kane asked, “If we don’t kill these guys, they’ll kill us.”
“No. Killing.”
“You’re insane,” Agent Kane spat.
“I dress like a bat to fight crime. Of course I’m insane. But the rule still stands. Do. Not. Kill.”
The agents walked into the apartment building in disgust.
“They’re already risking their lives by helping. And now they can’t kill? Batman, they don’t have cool gadgets like us,” Penguin sympathized.
“Just focus on the task at hand,” Batman said.
Penguin nodded, and fished around in the Batmobile. He pulled out a neon blue cylinder, and shoved it into the top of his cold gun. It was ready to freeze crooks again.
No more than a minute passed before Batman and Penguin heard gunshots from above. They looked at each other, and gave a quick nod. Then, they grappled to the top floor, and smashed through the windows. Criminals in black masks were firing at the agents with machine guns, rifles, shotguns, pistols, anything. One was even loading a rocket into a large missile launcher.
“I got the missile,” Penguin said, turning the tube into an icicle. Batman pierced the majority of the machine guns with Batarangs, and sent one Batarang down the barrel of a shotgun.
Agent Kane jumped up, and squeezed her legs around the head of a thug holding a rifle. She jabbed her pistols into his shoulder blades, and fired away. He screamed out, and collapsed. Agent Kane rolled off of him, and swept the legs out from under another crook. She then fired bullets through the crook’s ass.
Meanwhile, Agent Sataro was firing away at the villains’ legs. Once he had emptied his magazine, he engaged in hand to hand combat, where he easily dropped the malefactors.
In virtually no time at all, Batman, Penguin, and the agents had taken down the small group of criminals.
“Too easy,” Penguin shrugged.
“Red Robin, how many other congregations of these guys are there? No matter how small.”
“Seventeen groups. Three of them are fairly large. Thirteen are pretty small. One is massive. And that’s the one headed for Arkham. If they free the inmates, it could spell the end for Gotham.”
“That’s why we’re going to stop them before they ever reach the asylum. Penguin, Kane, Sataro, let’s get moving.”
“Does this mean I have to ride on top of the Batmobile again?” Penguin asked. Batman nodded.
So the group took off. The agents sat comfortably in the vehicle, while Batman drove it remotely from above, with Penguin shivering next to him. Eventually, they pulled up to Arkham Asylum. Killer Croc, Captain Boomerang, Enchantress, Diablo, and Deadshot were battling the False Faces. A.R.G.U.S. agents ducked behind armored vans, occasionally peeking out to fire at the criminals. Waller was among the agents, giving orders to the Suicide Squad through a walkie-talkie. S.W.A.T. vans were pulling out, and S.W.A.T. officers were firing away at the black masked crooks. But the onslaught kept on coming.
“How many of these guys are there?” Batman asked, rushing over to Waller. Penguin, Agent Kane, and Agent Sataro followed.
“Too many,” Waller sighed, “They’re overwhelming us. Even with S.W.A.T. helping, I don’t know if it’ll be enough.”
“We’ll defeat them,” Batman said, confidently. He rushed out onto the battlefield, flinging Batarangs at every terrorist he spotted. Which was a lot. In little under a minute, Batman had run out of Batarangs. Penguin ran over, and crouched next to him, firing at the thugs. Many of them froze over, but the cold gun ran dry quickly.
“This isn’t going too well,” Batman grunted, narrowly dodging a bullet.
“There’s way too many,” Penguin agreed, “That woman was right.”
“Batman, come here!” Deadshot yelled, taking cover behind Killer Croc. Batman ran over.
“What is it?” Batman asked.
“Back at the Church of Blood. What was it that Brother Blood said to awaken the zombie dude?” Deadshot asked.
“Why would you want to know that? That was all the way in Greenland. There’s no way we could summon him here. And why would you want to resurrect him? He’d just kill everyone. Not just the bad guys.”
“We’d convince him to target the False Faces. You’re good at getting to him. And we managed to get him back into the ground before. He might be out only hope. Just remember. What did Brother Blood say?”
Batman racked his brain, trying to remember how Brother Blood summoned Solomon Grundy.
“Jeg inkalder dig!” Batman cried out suddenly. The ground began to rumble.
“Oh boy,” Deadshot muttered.
A crack shattered the ground beneath Batman. Batman dove onto solid ground, taking a bullet in doing so. That was two bullets in one day. Nothing he couldn’t handle.
Suddenly, a pale hand reached out of the crack. Moments later, Solomon Grundy vaulted out of the splinter in the Earth.
“SOLOMON GRUNDY HUNGRY!” Solomon Grundy boomed.
“Pal, you just ate two months ago. How are you hungry again?” Deadshot asked.
“Solomon Grundy remember that voice,” Solomon Grundy grunted, “You bully Solomon Grundy!”
“Nope. Definitely not me,” Deadshot said.
“Solomon Grundy, we need your help. You can save the day. You can be a hero,” Batman said.
“Solomon Grundy? Hero?” Solomon Grundy asked, amazed. Then, he winced. He had been hit with a bullet.
“Wasn’t that mean of them to shoot you?” Deadshot asked, pointing to the False Faces, “Go get them! Go save the day!”
Solomon Grundy let loose a primal roar, and tore through the crowd of False Faces.
“What happened to not killing?” Agent Kane asked, sliding in next to Batman. She turned over her shoulder, and shot at the False Faces.
“Quiet,” Batman grunted, catapulting himself into the air. He landed on Killer Croc’s back.
Killer Croc tried to see what had landed on his back.
“Killer Croc, charge!” Batman yelled.
Killer Croc was nervous. He didn’t want to just run into the chaos. He was content with just swiping the bad guys away as they came. But Batman was digging his heels into his back. Killer Croc screeched, and barreled into the group of False Faces. Batman did a backflip off the beast.
Enchantress sent a deadly spell through the crowd. She had been performing defensive spells up until that point. But seeing Solomon Grundy and Killer Croc gave her the courage to get aggressive. The spell tore through the group of criminals, dropping them like flies.
“Enchantress! Wanna give me a lift?” Deadshot asked. She nodded, and lifted Deadshot into the air with a quick spell. She sent him over the battlefield, and Deadshot fired away from above.
Captain Boomerang shrugged, and rushed in like a badass, chopping away at foes with his metal boomerang.
Batman engaged the False Faces in melee combat, and easily took them down. Agent Kane tossed Penguin a pistol, and they wreaked havoc on a portion of the thugs. Agent Sataro charged in, and sprayed bullets into all of the gangsters.
A few minutes later, all of the False Faces lay in defeat.
“We did it,” Penguin said, exhausted.
“Yes we did,” Agent Kane nodded, smiling in relief.
“This isn’t over yet,” Batman said, walking over.
“Buzzkill,” Penguin moaned.
“I’m serious. Red Robin told me that there were sixteen groups left. Only three of them are large. The rest are fairly small. And there’s still Deathstroke out there somewhere. This is far from over.”
“And there’s still the giant,” Agent Kane said, pointing to Solomon Grundy.
“Right,” Batman nodded, and jogged over to Solomon Grundy.
“Is Solomon Grundy hero?” Solomon Grundy asked.
“Yes. Yes he is. And well fed, I hope,” Batman smiled, “Now he can go back to sleep. Back to sleep Solomon Grundy.”
Solomon Grundy wandered back to the crack in the ground, and fell right in. The crack sealed.
“Wahoo!” Deadshot cheered, “Let’s go Suicide Squad!”
Batman shook Deadshot’s hand, then headed over to Waller. He informed her of all of the areas that the remaining False Faces were located at. She dispatched groups to the locations. Now all that was left for Batman and Penguin to do was find Deathstroke.
NEXT WEEK ON BATMAN: ETERNAL...
“Bruce, something has happened at the police station,” Alfred said, worriedly.
“What? What happened?” Batman asked.
“I- I’m not sure,” Alfred admitted, “But it doesn’t look good. It’s on the news. I’ll transfer it to the Batmobile.”
“I’m more powerful than ever before,” Black Mask growled.
Black Mask lunged at Batman, easily knocking his arms out of the way with a spinning kick. Batman stumbled back, amazed with the amount of sheer power Black Mask possessed. Penguin ducked under a barrage of punches, and pulled the trigger on the cold gun.
“Now we begin our final battle, Mister Cobblepot,” Deathstroke said, walking towards Penguin.
