“Look at us,” Jim Gordon said through the tears, “We’re some of toughest people in Gotham. And we’re crying on a rooftop together. How sad.”
“It’s okay to cry,” Batman said, wiping away his tears.
“Alright, Batman. I’ll help you just this once. It’s what Barbara would’ve wanted,” Jim said, getting back on his feet.
“Thank you, Gordon.”
“So what is it you need?” Jim asked.
“There’s a skilled assassin on the loose. Deathstroke. He’s dropped three mafia Dons in Italy already. Now he’s gunning for my partner, Penguin.”
“And why would he be gunning for your partner? Is he a Don?”
“He used to be,” Batman admitted, “But he’s turned it around.”
“So a killer calling himself Deathstroke is aiming to kill your partner, who is also an ex-Don? I can help. First I need to go home.”
“Why’s that?”
“I need a shave,” Jim said, stroking his beard.
Batman smiled, and stepped off of the roof. He glided along the street below, then shot a cable onto a building. He swung up to it, and gazed over Gotham.
“Batman, Penguin is awake,” Alfred’s voice said over the comms. Batman nodded, and nosedived off of the apartment building he stood on, into an alley. In that alley was the Batmobile. He climbed in, and sped back to the secret entrance to the Batcave that was cloaked by a waterfall.
Batman arrived back in the Batcave, and ran over to Oswald. He was spouting words uncontrollably.
“Sionis! Black! Death! Mask! Stroke!”
“Oswald, calm down!” Batman yelled, shaking his friend. This jarred Oswald, and caused him to stop speaking.
“Roman Sionis. He sent Deathstroke,” Oswald said, grabbing Batman’s arm.
“Who is Roman Sionis?”
“The Black Mask,” Oswald gasped, before blacking out again.
“What was all that about?” Alfred asked, concerned.
Batman didn’t answer. Instead he rushed to the Batcomputer, and searched “Roman Sionis”. A few results came up. Roman Sionis was an international ambassador for Italy. One that was engulfed in controversy. Some of his funds managed to disappear without a trace.
“Roman Sionis is a Don,” Batman deduced, immediately. He gave more thought to it, and came up with another revelation.
“Roman Sionis is the owner of the mob Oswald used to run. He wants to off him like he did with the other Dons that he took mafias from.”
“I thought the owner of Oswald’s old mafia was someone named Leo,” Alfred said, “At least that’s what you told me.”
“Leo. Leo the Lion. Roman Gladiators fought lions. It’s a clever codename, I’ll give him that. But he seemed very timid over text… And now he’s sent an assassin to kill Oswald. So is he a coward or a vicious crime lord?”
“Perhaps the cowardice was a facade,” Alfred suggested.
“You could be right,” Batman agreed.
“So Roman Sionis, a vicious Godfather, also known as Black Mask, has sent a trained hitman named Deathstroke to kill good old Oswald?” Alfred asked.
“Another typical day in Gotham,” Batman sighed.
“Is there any information on how Roman Sionis runs his empire that could give us an insight on how to defeat him?” Alfred asked.
“None I can access. But I’d be willing to guess that A.R.G.U.S. has some. Just like they have files on Deathstroke.”
“And how are you going to get this information?”
“Ask politely, of course,” Batman smiled.
Batman did not ask politely. He found the A.R.G.U.S. safehouse he had been brought to, thanks to him staying awake after being dosed with tranquilizer after his escapade with Floyd and Rex. He had been able to see where it was, thus allowing him to find it again. He zoomed towards it at top speed in the Batmobile, and didn’t stop once he reached it. He plowed through the outer wall, and sprang out of the Batmobile.
“Where’s Waller?” Batman boomed. A.R.G.U.S. agents whipped around, and aimed machine guns at him.
“Waller, Batman is here,” one agent said into his radio.
“Yes he is,” Waller said, materializing behind Batman.
“I need full access to A.R.G.U.S. files,” Batman stated.
“And what makes you think I’d give you those? After all, you’re working with a mobster these days.”
“Oz is reformed. But someone’s after him.”
“Frankly, I don’t care. Agents, detain him.”
The A.R.G.U.S. agents began to move in while Waller strutted away. Batman growled, and flung a Batarang at Waller. Then, there was a gunshot, and the Batarang fell to the ground, with a bullet hole through the middle.
A man in a red suit, with a white mask and red eye sight stepped out from the shadows, holding a pistol. With only a pistol, he’d managed to knock a Batarang out of the air. This man was good.
“Oh, I guess I forgot to introduce you to my team,” Waller laughed, “This is Task Force X. The Suicide Squad.”
Suddenly, a massive scaly, green creature dropped from the ceiling. It had massive fangs, and dagger-like claws. Next, a heavily tattooed hispanic man stepped out from behind Batman. He had the word “Diablo” inked on his chin, and his arms were engulfed in flames. Then, a woman with a long green robe and hair floating around her head like a dark halo floated around Batman. Her eyes were devoid of light or emotion. Finally, a tall man with a scruffy beard swaggered up to Batman, holding a boomerang.
“The what?” Batman asked.
“Suicide Squad,” sighed the man in the white mask. Floyd Lawton.
“Floyd?” Batman asked.
“Yup,” the man nodded, “Waller grouped me with these freaks when we got back.”
“I’m not a freak,” the man with the boomerang yelled.
“Shut it Digger,” Floyd snapped, “You use a boomerang to kill. A freaking boomerang!”
“But I still get the job done,” the boomerang man, Digger, beamed.
“You’re a moron,” Floyd said, then turned to Batman, “He’s not even the worst of ‘em.”
“Who is everyone else?”
“That’s Killer Croc,” Floyd said, pointing to the green beast. Then there was the aptly named Diablo, the man with the tattoos. And Enchantress, the creepy woman.
“And you all work together?” Batman asked.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Floyd nodded.
Batman turned to see the A.R.G.U.S. agents just staring on.
“Weren’t you all supposed to detain me?” Batman asked.
They quickly nodded, and refocused their guns on Batman. Batman grinned, and flung smoke grenades at them, blocking their vision. He then shot a cable up to the ceiling, and flew upwards. But Killer Croc snatched him, and yanked him down. He flung him at Enchantress, who held out her arms to freeze him in midair. Then Digger flung his boomerang at him. Once the boomerang reached his face, it unleashed a murky white gas, and returned to Digger. With one whiff of the gas, Batman was drowsy. Enchantress let him fall to the ground. Then, Diablo thrust his arms down on Batman’s suit, burning straight through to Batman’s skin. Batman screamed, and blacked out.
“How rude,” Amanda Waller said as soon as Bruce woke up. He was strapped down to a chair, and had his suit taken off.
“Let me out,” Bruce said.
“You come in here, destroying my walls, and then demand to see our private files. Then you aggravate Killer Croc. We had to tranquilize him. That’s never a fun time. So tell me. What’s so important that you came all the way back here to see little old me?”
“Deathstroke has come to Gotham City.”
“Lord, save us all,” Amanda said, he smug look vanishing from her face.
“So you know about him?” Bruce asked.
“Know about him? We dedicate many of our troops to trying to catch him. They never come back alive. Is he who’s after your friend?”
“Yes. He tried once, but didn’t get the job done,” Bruce said.
“That’s impossible. He always kills his victims on his first try. He’s a killing machine.”
“Well he screwed up this time,” Bruce said, “Oswald is recovering now. But we figured out who hired him.”
“Who? If we find the employer, it could lead us to Deathstroke.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Bruce nodded, “His employer is Roman Sionis. An Italian mafia don, who inherited Oswald’s criminal empire. Now he wants to kill Oswald, presumably to attain full allegiance from Oswald’s goons.”
“Clever one. There’s always a bit of unrest between rival mafias when they’re merged. But by killing Oswald, his soldati will have nowhere to go if they overthrow Sionis.”
“But I saw texts between Sionis and Oswald, and Sionis seemed… afraid,” Bruce said, “What changed to make him go after Oswald’s life.”
“I’ve got a feeling I know what,” Amanda said, standing up. She then left Bruce alone in the room.
Bruce sat in the chair, and looked around. The room was completely empty except for his chair and the chair Waller had used. The floor was white tiles, the walls were white concrete, and the ceiling was white concrete as well. The door Waller had left through was white steel.
Bruce struggled to break free of the binds that held him to the chair. It wasn’t working. He was bound by his ankles, abdomen, and arms. He craned his neck to get a good look at the chair. Metal seat and back, with metal rods connecting the two. He grinned.
Bruce tapped his toes on the ground, and then thrust upwards. Him and the chair shot up, then clattered to the ground. Bruce wriggled over to the wall like an inchworm, and coiled up. Then, he tucked his head down next to his chest, and swung his body with all his might. This knocked off the back of the chair, taking a sharp bit of the metal rod with it. Bruce then rotated, and pinned the sharp metal against the wall with his feet. He used the metal to saw through the binds around his ankles. From there, he managed to loosen up the straps around his arms by shifting back and forth. They slid on up his arms, and he let them fall around his neck. Then he simply took up the sharp metal, and cut free of the strap around his abdomen. He stood up, and stretched.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Waller walked in.
“Oh. You’re back,” Bruce said, shocked, “I thought you were just leaving me in here, so I thought I’d, you know…”
“Sit back down,” Waller ordered.
Bruce plopped back down on the floor, having destroyed his chair. He knew better than to mess with Waller by now. He didn’t want to deal with the Suicide Squad again.
“I looked into Roman Sionis’s and Deathstroke’s files for you. And I think I know why Sionis switched between afraid and murderous. He calls himself Black Mask. He has Dissociative identity disorder. Two personalities. Without the mask, he’s cowardly and scared. But with the mask…”
“He tries to murder rival Dons,” Bruce finished.
“Correct,” Waller nodded, “However, he has never had any contact with Deathstroke. Our files don’t even show him having any contact now.”
“He flies under the radar,” Bruce commented, “And he does it well.”
“Yes he does. But the fact that Oswald is still alive, well, it doesn’t sit well with me. Don’t take that the wrong way. It’s just that Deathstroke never fails. Believe me. He’s killed four hundred seventy-six people. It’s just that three made headlines. He was responsible for the deaths of even celebrities. But he did it so well that no one knew it was him.”
“So how did you know?” Bruce asked.
“We’re the most elite intelligence group in the entire world.”
Bruce just grinned.
“Now, we already extracted the necessary funds from your personal bank account to fix the damages, so you’re good to go.”
“You what?” Bruce asked.
“Goodbye,” Waller smiled.
Batman was perched on Oswald’s roof. It had been three days since the attack on his life, and he recovered magnificently. Now, he was the bait in a trap to lure Deathstroke to Batman. He was going through the motions of the day like normally, but Batman had been following him. Oswald had a button that he would push the moment he saw Deathstroke. Or the moment that his neck was slashed by Deathstroke’s sword. Either way, Batman was going to catch Deathstroke.
The entire day had passed with no sign of the assassin. The sun had set, and the moon was now rising.
Suddenly, Batman heard a song. “Bad Moon Rising”. It was coming from Oswald’s speaker down below.
“Oswald, do you really have to play this song?” Batman asked through the comms.
“I love this song,” Oswald said.
Batman sighed, and shook his head. He had to remain vigil.
“I thought I’d see you tonight,” came a thick, australian voice.
Batman whipped around to see a tall being in an armored suit. Most of the suit was black, but the shoulder pads and gloves were a dark orange. The mask was split down the middle, with black and orange sides. The orange side had an eyehole, but the black side had no opening. There were two swords strapped across each other on the back of suit, while two pistols were strapped to the suit’s side, and two assault rifles hung loose in the front. A strap of eight grenades ran across the chest. The legs of the suit were pitch black as well, and led into dark orange boots. Two long daggers were sheathed along the legs.
“Deathstroke,” Batman said.
“It’s okay to cry,” Batman said, wiping away his tears.
“Alright, Batman. I’ll help you just this once. It’s what Barbara would’ve wanted,” Jim said, getting back on his feet.
“Thank you, Gordon.”
“So what is it you need?” Jim asked.
“There’s a skilled assassin on the loose. Deathstroke. He’s dropped three mafia Dons in Italy already. Now he’s gunning for my partner, Penguin.”
“And why would he be gunning for your partner? Is he a Don?”
“He used to be,” Batman admitted, “But he’s turned it around.”
“So a killer calling himself Deathstroke is aiming to kill your partner, who is also an ex-Don? I can help. First I need to go home.”
“Why’s that?”
“I need a shave,” Jim said, stroking his beard.
Batman smiled, and stepped off of the roof. He glided along the street below, then shot a cable onto a building. He swung up to it, and gazed over Gotham.
“Batman, Penguin is awake,” Alfred’s voice said over the comms. Batman nodded, and nosedived off of the apartment building he stood on, into an alley. In that alley was the Batmobile. He climbed in, and sped back to the secret entrance to the Batcave that was cloaked by a waterfall.
Batman arrived back in the Batcave, and ran over to Oswald. He was spouting words uncontrollably.
“Sionis! Black! Death! Mask! Stroke!”
“Oswald, calm down!” Batman yelled, shaking his friend. This jarred Oswald, and caused him to stop speaking.
“Roman Sionis. He sent Deathstroke,” Oswald said, grabbing Batman’s arm.
“Who is Roman Sionis?”
“The Black Mask,” Oswald gasped, before blacking out again.
“What was all that about?” Alfred asked, concerned.
Batman didn’t answer. Instead he rushed to the Batcomputer, and searched “Roman Sionis”. A few results came up. Roman Sionis was an international ambassador for Italy. One that was engulfed in controversy. Some of his funds managed to disappear without a trace.
“Roman Sionis is a Don,” Batman deduced, immediately. He gave more thought to it, and came up with another revelation.
“Roman Sionis is the owner of the mob Oswald used to run. He wants to off him like he did with the other Dons that he took mafias from.”
“I thought the owner of Oswald’s old mafia was someone named Leo,” Alfred said, “At least that’s what you told me.”
“Leo. Leo the Lion. Roman Gladiators fought lions. It’s a clever codename, I’ll give him that. But he seemed very timid over text… And now he’s sent an assassin to kill Oswald. So is he a coward or a vicious crime lord?”
“Perhaps the cowardice was a facade,” Alfred suggested.
“You could be right,” Batman agreed.
“So Roman Sionis, a vicious Godfather, also known as Black Mask, has sent a trained hitman named Deathstroke to kill good old Oswald?” Alfred asked.
“Another typical day in Gotham,” Batman sighed.
“Is there any information on how Roman Sionis runs his empire that could give us an insight on how to defeat him?” Alfred asked.
“None I can access. But I’d be willing to guess that A.R.G.U.S. has some. Just like they have files on Deathstroke.”
“And how are you going to get this information?”
“Ask politely, of course,” Batman smiled.
Batman did not ask politely. He found the A.R.G.U.S. safehouse he had been brought to, thanks to him staying awake after being dosed with tranquilizer after his escapade with Floyd and Rex. He had been able to see where it was, thus allowing him to find it again. He zoomed towards it at top speed in the Batmobile, and didn’t stop once he reached it. He plowed through the outer wall, and sprang out of the Batmobile.
“Where’s Waller?” Batman boomed. A.R.G.U.S. agents whipped around, and aimed machine guns at him.
“Waller, Batman is here,” one agent said into his radio.
“Yes he is,” Waller said, materializing behind Batman.
“I need full access to A.R.G.U.S. files,” Batman stated.
“And what makes you think I’d give you those? After all, you’re working with a mobster these days.”
“Oz is reformed. But someone’s after him.”
“Frankly, I don’t care. Agents, detain him.”
The A.R.G.U.S. agents began to move in while Waller strutted away. Batman growled, and flung a Batarang at Waller. Then, there was a gunshot, and the Batarang fell to the ground, with a bullet hole through the middle.
A man in a red suit, with a white mask and red eye sight stepped out from the shadows, holding a pistol. With only a pistol, he’d managed to knock a Batarang out of the air. This man was good.
“Oh, I guess I forgot to introduce you to my team,” Waller laughed, “This is Task Force X. The Suicide Squad.”
Suddenly, a massive scaly, green creature dropped from the ceiling. It had massive fangs, and dagger-like claws. Next, a heavily tattooed hispanic man stepped out from behind Batman. He had the word “Diablo” inked on his chin, and his arms were engulfed in flames. Then, a woman with a long green robe and hair floating around her head like a dark halo floated around Batman. Her eyes were devoid of light or emotion. Finally, a tall man with a scruffy beard swaggered up to Batman, holding a boomerang.
“The what?” Batman asked.
“Suicide Squad,” sighed the man in the white mask. Floyd Lawton.
“Floyd?” Batman asked.
“Yup,” the man nodded, “Waller grouped me with these freaks when we got back.”
“I’m not a freak,” the man with the boomerang yelled.
“Shut it Digger,” Floyd snapped, “You use a boomerang to kill. A freaking boomerang!”
“But I still get the job done,” the boomerang man, Digger, beamed.
“You’re a moron,” Floyd said, then turned to Batman, “He’s not even the worst of ‘em.”
“Who is everyone else?”
“That’s Killer Croc,” Floyd said, pointing to the green beast. Then there was the aptly named Diablo, the man with the tattoos. And Enchantress, the creepy woman.
“And you all work together?” Batman asked.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Floyd nodded.
Batman turned to see the A.R.G.U.S. agents just staring on.
“Weren’t you all supposed to detain me?” Batman asked.
They quickly nodded, and refocused their guns on Batman. Batman grinned, and flung smoke grenades at them, blocking their vision. He then shot a cable up to the ceiling, and flew upwards. But Killer Croc snatched him, and yanked him down. He flung him at Enchantress, who held out her arms to freeze him in midair. Then Digger flung his boomerang at him. Once the boomerang reached his face, it unleashed a murky white gas, and returned to Digger. With one whiff of the gas, Batman was drowsy. Enchantress let him fall to the ground. Then, Diablo thrust his arms down on Batman’s suit, burning straight through to Batman’s skin. Batman screamed, and blacked out.
“How rude,” Amanda Waller said as soon as Bruce woke up. He was strapped down to a chair, and had his suit taken off.
“Let me out,” Bruce said.
“You come in here, destroying my walls, and then demand to see our private files. Then you aggravate Killer Croc. We had to tranquilize him. That’s never a fun time. So tell me. What’s so important that you came all the way back here to see little old me?”
“Deathstroke has come to Gotham City.”
“Lord, save us all,” Amanda said, he smug look vanishing from her face.
“So you know about him?” Bruce asked.
“Know about him? We dedicate many of our troops to trying to catch him. They never come back alive. Is he who’s after your friend?”
“Yes. He tried once, but didn’t get the job done,” Bruce said.
“That’s impossible. He always kills his victims on his first try. He’s a killing machine.”
“Well he screwed up this time,” Bruce said, “Oswald is recovering now. But we figured out who hired him.”
“Who? If we find the employer, it could lead us to Deathstroke.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Bruce nodded, “His employer is Roman Sionis. An Italian mafia don, who inherited Oswald’s criminal empire. Now he wants to kill Oswald, presumably to attain full allegiance from Oswald’s goons.”
“Clever one. There’s always a bit of unrest between rival mafias when they’re merged. But by killing Oswald, his soldati will have nowhere to go if they overthrow Sionis.”
“But I saw texts between Sionis and Oswald, and Sionis seemed… afraid,” Bruce said, “What changed to make him go after Oswald’s life.”
“I’ve got a feeling I know what,” Amanda said, standing up. She then left Bruce alone in the room.
Bruce sat in the chair, and looked around. The room was completely empty except for his chair and the chair Waller had used. The floor was white tiles, the walls were white concrete, and the ceiling was white concrete as well. The door Waller had left through was white steel.
Bruce struggled to break free of the binds that held him to the chair. It wasn’t working. He was bound by his ankles, abdomen, and arms. He craned his neck to get a good look at the chair. Metal seat and back, with metal rods connecting the two. He grinned.
Bruce tapped his toes on the ground, and then thrust upwards. Him and the chair shot up, then clattered to the ground. Bruce wriggled over to the wall like an inchworm, and coiled up. Then, he tucked his head down next to his chest, and swung his body with all his might. This knocked off the back of the chair, taking a sharp bit of the metal rod with it. Bruce then rotated, and pinned the sharp metal against the wall with his feet. He used the metal to saw through the binds around his ankles. From there, he managed to loosen up the straps around his arms by shifting back and forth. They slid on up his arms, and he let them fall around his neck. Then he simply took up the sharp metal, and cut free of the strap around his abdomen. He stood up, and stretched.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Waller walked in.
“Oh. You’re back,” Bruce said, shocked, “I thought you were just leaving me in here, so I thought I’d, you know…”
“Sit back down,” Waller ordered.
Bruce plopped back down on the floor, having destroyed his chair. He knew better than to mess with Waller by now. He didn’t want to deal with the Suicide Squad again.
“I looked into Roman Sionis’s and Deathstroke’s files for you. And I think I know why Sionis switched between afraid and murderous. He calls himself Black Mask. He has Dissociative identity disorder. Two personalities. Without the mask, he’s cowardly and scared. But with the mask…”
“He tries to murder rival Dons,” Bruce finished.
“Correct,” Waller nodded, “However, he has never had any contact with Deathstroke. Our files don’t even show him having any contact now.”
“He flies under the radar,” Bruce commented, “And he does it well.”
“Yes he does. But the fact that Oswald is still alive, well, it doesn’t sit well with me. Don’t take that the wrong way. It’s just that Deathstroke never fails. Believe me. He’s killed four hundred seventy-six people. It’s just that three made headlines. He was responsible for the deaths of even celebrities. But he did it so well that no one knew it was him.”
“So how did you know?” Bruce asked.
“We’re the most elite intelligence group in the entire world.”
Bruce just grinned.
“Now, we already extracted the necessary funds from your personal bank account to fix the damages, so you’re good to go.”
“You what?” Bruce asked.
“Goodbye,” Waller smiled.
Batman was perched on Oswald’s roof. It had been three days since the attack on his life, and he recovered magnificently. Now, he was the bait in a trap to lure Deathstroke to Batman. He was going through the motions of the day like normally, but Batman had been following him. Oswald had a button that he would push the moment he saw Deathstroke. Or the moment that his neck was slashed by Deathstroke’s sword. Either way, Batman was going to catch Deathstroke.
The entire day had passed with no sign of the assassin. The sun had set, and the moon was now rising.
Suddenly, Batman heard a song. “Bad Moon Rising”. It was coming from Oswald’s speaker down below.
“Oswald, do you really have to play this song?” Batman asked through the comms.
“I love this song,” Oswald said.
Batman sighed, and shook his head. He had to remain vigil.
“I thought I’d see you tonight,” came a thick, australian voice.
Batman whipped around to see a tall being in an armored suit. Most of the suit was black, but the shoulder pads and gloves were a dark orange. The mask was split down the middle, with black and orange sides. The orange side had an eyehole, but the black side had no opening. There were two swords strapped across each other on the back of suit, while two pistols were strapped to the suit’s side, and two assault rifles hung loose in the front. A strap of eight grenades ran across the chest. The legs of the suit were pitch black as well, and led into dark orange boots. Two long daggers were sheathed along the legs.
“Deathstroke,” Batman said.