190 Business As Usual #190

The Diamond District

Iceberg Lounge

Sitting behind his office, The Penguin couldn't help but grin, lighting a cigar as he recalled how smoothly everything was going lately. Batman was nowhere in sight, and there were no more rivals to disrupt his business, which was booming thanks to Nightshade.

His grin deepened as he recalled how the heroine suddenly walked into his life. It was just another day no different from any other. The Penguin was going through his accounts when a black circle materialized in the middle of his office and the heroine walked through it.

Nightshade offered to help him move his "more tame" products across the city in exchange for shelter and keeping her away from the law's watchful eyes, to which he happily agreed.

The Penguin had suspicions, but he eventually affirmed the heroine's intentions after several tests. They had been working together for more than a week, a very profitable week.

Suddenly a loud thud interrupted The Penguin's chain of thought. He raised his head to investigate and raised an eyebrow at the sight of a young man sitting on his sofa.

"Have you been hanging out with Batman recently, kid?" The mob boss jokingly asked as he flicked his cigar to get rid of the ashes before deeply inhaling a puff of smoke.

"No. I prefer to use the front entrance myself. But that wouldn't paint a pretty picture," The young man replied, bitterly smiling as he shook his head, much to The Penguin's amusement.

"Fair enough, I suppose," The mob boss said as he exhaled the smoke in his lungs. "So, what can a humble businessman like myself do for the great hero of Gotham...?" he asked as he extinguished the cigar in the ashtray, getting straight to the point.

"Nightshade. Name your price," The young man replied, straightening his posture as he blankly looked into The Penguin's eyes and got straight to business so as not to waste time.

"Nightshade, eh? And here I thought I was doing a good job hiding the lass," The mob boss said, sounding somewhat surprised at the young man's words as he raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure you haven't been spending time with the bat?" The mob boss jokingly asked after he quickly gathered his bearings and got over the slight surprise.

Still, he received no answer.

"You're no fun, kid. Just like him," The Penguin added, chuckling as he shook his head. "Either way, the girl's been a great help. I can't just let you turn her in prison, now can I?" he asked, his carefree expression disappearing, replaced by a blank one.

"You can't run a business being ungrateful to your workforce. I got a reputation to keep..." the mob boss concluded, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he trailed at the end of his sentence.

"I'm not going to turn her in. I need her to testify against her former boss," The young man replied without letting any of his surprise at The Penguin's words show on his face.

He didn't expect the mob boss to try protecting Nightshade, but it wasn't really unexpected once he thought about it. The Penguin prided himself on being a businessman, first and foremost, one of the few sane criminals in Gotham, so it made sense for him to protect his assets.

"Testify against Waller, you say...?" The Penguin remarked, trailing off as he paused to think. And the young man remained silent, giving him the time he needed to process the situation.

"I see. In that case, I can let you meet the Nightshade. Anything beyond that is up to you and her." The Penguin said after a brief pause, nodding his head at the unexpected, uninvited guest sitting on his couch.

"In exchange for...?" The young man said as he defensively crossed his arms, looking more guarded than ever as he eyed the mob boss, looking him up and down cautiously.

"Squat. This one is one the house, kid," The Penguin replied, chuckling at the young man's incredulous expression as the latter regarded him with an unconvinced look.

"You helped me a lot, kid. Even unknowingly and unwittingly, there's no doubt that you helped me..." The mob boss replied, grinning broadly at the young man as she shrugged.

"And you can't run a business being ungrateful to those who help you," He went on with a chuckle. "Besides, I got a debt to settle with Waller. The sooner she gets into a prison cell, the sooner I'd be able to resolve it," he concluded, his tone growing colder with everyone word he spoke.

"How magnanimous of you..." The young man said, maintaining a blank expression. "Either way, I won't look a gift horse in the mouth," he added, shaking his head as he gestured for the mob boss to make the call.

"As you should," The Penguin said with a chuckle. "I'll call her right away..." he added as he picked up the phone on his desk and dialed a number.

"Eve, darling, you have a guest who needs to see you. Be a dear and get to my office, will you?" The Penguin spoke into the phone as the call connected, his tone strangely kind.

As if on cue, a black circle materialized in the middle of The Penguin's office from thin air as soon as the mob boss finished his sentence.

...

Amusement Mile

"Stop..." Nightwing said, panting for breath as he leaned on his knee with one hand and reached for Batwoman's wrist to stop her from advancing any further with the other.

"The Joker was ready for us... we have to let him go, for now..." He added, shaking his head in resignation as Batwoman turned to him, giving him a puzzled look.

"We're in no shape to bring him in. Not anymore," Nightwing firmly added as he straightened his posture, revealing the numerous cuts and acid burn scars all over his body.

"Are you suggesting we let this lunatic go loose on the city...?" Batwoman asked in a harsh tone, clearly displeased with a disapproving frown visible under her black leather mask.

"No," Nightwing replied, shaking his head. "We just need to recover and catch our breaths," he added as he reached for his utility belt, retrieving a strange device with a flat screen that produced faint peeping noises.

"He won't go far. I already tagged him," he concluded as he presented the device to Batwoman, showing her the green dot rapidly moving away toward the edge of the screen.

"I could use a break..." Batwoman said, sighing as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Fine, we can rest for a while before going after him..." she added, nodding in Nightwing's direction, to which the latter sighed in relief.

"While we're at it, I'll call an old friend for backup..." She said, smiling as she watched Nightwing's confused expression. "Don't worry, he can carry his weight," she assuringly added as she retrieved a cell phone from her belt.

"I suppose you can never be too cautious with someone like the clown... go ahead," Nightwing said as he nodded with a sigh after pausing to think about it for several seconds.

Batwoman said nothing in response, merely dialing her friend's number and raising the phone to her ears.

...

As he walked out of the hotel, The Question briefly turned to glance at the two men lying on the ground in puddles of their own blood, crying out in agony as they bled all over the asphalt.

"Tough luck..." The Question blankly said before shaking his head and walking away, only to halt his steps after a few seconds as his phone started ringing.

He raised the phone to see who was calling, raising an eyebrow at the strange coincidence. "Katherine Kane... just the woman I needed to talk to; I was planning to call you," The Question greeted as he raised the phone to his ears.

"It's the religion. We need to meet. Soon," The vigilante said, pausing as Katherine spoke, asking for a meeting too. "Oh? It's not like you to ask for favors. What do you need?" he remarked as he continued walking, turning to enter a dark ally.

"As in the clown...?" The Question said as he paused for a second before reaching for his mask to take it off. "I've had my fill of lunatics for the next couple of months after the asylum incident..." he added as he pocketed the blank cloth and took off his trench coat, turning it inside out.

"But for the Joker... I can make an exception..."

...

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