Chapter 31-Turmoil!
Chapter 31
JIM GORDON
Gotham was a strange city, a resilient city. He had spent nearly all his life in the city and had watched it wade through tough times with his own eyes. He had seen the streets fill with crime and hopelessness, seen the very people sworn to protect the innocents become the very monsters they were supposed to shield the populace from.
Yet the city was resilient, surviving through it all until the times had eventually gotten better. And loathe as he was to admit it, it was change driven by none other than the richest person in the city.
Thomas Wayne had done what he and the law enforcement agencies were supposed to, he had systemically hit the underworld that ruled the city by giving the people a path away from them to make an honest living, and he was sure that the man had done much more, to lessen the influence of the crime syndicates on everything.
And it had worked, people were fired, right people were promoted including him, and the bad guys were prosecuted. Thomas Wayne was no saint, yet to many in Gotham, the man was a hero.
He had misgivings about the man's intentions, yet to this day, he had yet to find evidence about his nefarious intentions, so he would give him the benefit of the doubt, for the man who had changed this city deserved it.
"You have to arrest him," spoke Gotham's DA. The young man, Harvey Dent, had seemed like a ray of light in the darkness, yet as he saw him sit opposite him, Jim doubted that maybe he had been too quick in passing judgment.
"I cannot. There is nothing to arrest him on," he replied, as he had to several others after the infamous video of the Joker began circulating everywhere. Sometimes he felt himself out of touch with everything that went on in the city. It seemed to be getting crazier and crazier.
"How can you say that? The allegations against him are an open secret, and yet you say that there is no evidence to arrest him," Harvey Dent lashed out. It was surprising to see this side of the shining knight of Gotham. However, he believed the men of his department had right of it when they gave him that other nickname.
Two Faced.
"And yet that is all they amount to—allegations. According to the law, there is nothing for me to arrest him for, and the reason you are here is because neither do you," he replied, not losing his cool as they sat in his office, surrounded by piles and piles of files.
"Bull shit!" the blonde cursed, and his eyes narrowed, yet the man continued.
"What about we frame it as protected custody?" came the question, and he chuckled.
"I can assure you, Mr. Dent, his guards have arms more costly than our yearly salaries; he is well protected," he replied, and the man was clearly frustrated. Jim didn't understand him, he was affected as well, and his whole units were now looking for this so called joker.
The truth was that he had reached out to the Waynes through a common friend and had been assured that they were looking into it personally as well. While he was proud of his force and men, he was also aware that the Waynes could devote ten times the resources of the city to this cause, and according to Rachel, they already had.
"I understand your frustration, but the city cannot appear to be buckling to a madman, and that is what this 'Joker' is. Thomas Wayne is a citizen and shall enjoy the rights and freedoms afforded to him by law," he replied, and the man smirked.
"Do not sugarcoat it. Just say that you are in his pocket as well," Dent taunted, and Jim's eyes narrowed.
"Be careful of how you speak, Dent," he warned.
"So, what I do not lie, the man prances around as if he is a hero, yet he is a crook. A smart crook but a crook nonetheless, and he may be innocent of the crime the 'Joker' may accuse him of, but I am sure there are plenty that he is guilty of," Dent answered, and Jim sensed that some part of that vitriol seemed personal, a shame for he had pegged Dent to be a better man.
"Then you may find them and arrest him for that, but until then, he will be a free man," he replied as the two of them stared into each other's eyes.
"That will be all," he finished, for the pile of files was not going to lessen by itself, and his wife and Barabra would be wroth with him if he was late again today, something which was seeming more and more probable by the second.
"So, you won't do anything about him," Dent asked, and he shrugged.
"Bring me a legitimate warrant, and I will give you my men," he answered.
"So, be it then. But I want to meet him,"
"Who?" he asked with a frown.
"Your friend in the Dark! Batman!"
0000
THOMAS WAYNE
Thomas Wayne stood infront of the whole staff of his company. A few cameras were locked onto his face to broadcast the message to the other places as well, where he could not be present at the moment.
"I know all of you must have seen the video circulating everywhere by now, so I will not waste your time by focusing on that but will move on to the reason for which I have gathered you all today," he began, his voice booming across the Hall as Lucius hung behind him.
"Wayne Enterprises has prized itself as the backbone of this city; through tough times and hardships, we have not wavered as a family or a company and have stood tall and proud as the symbol of hope and strength for everyone. And we shall continue to do so for years to come. Some of you may be scared, some of you distraught, but I wish to assure you that we have taken measures to ensure the safety of you and your families," he assured them. He was spreading his men thin, yet he would not buckle down t Joker's level.
"Yet I understand that these are unprecedented times, and I shall do right by the people that are Wayne Enterprises. So I make you all an offer. If any one of you finds the times too tough, and so anyone of you who may wish to leave the company will be offered generous terms," and with that he stepped back.
"Now, back to work," and with that, the people dispersed as whispers broke out in the Hall.
"This could cost us a lot of money," Lucius added from the side.
"We can always make more money. Plus, with the economy as it is, few could even risk leaving a job at Wayne Enterprises. No, we will have little to no departures," he replied. Wayne Enterprises was truly a monstrous company; the hiring process was tough for all in Gotham. We knew that once you were hired by us, your life would be made as long as you were willing to work hard.
There were no mass layoffs, no pleasing the investors, for the Waynes decided how the company ran, and the Waynes were royalty to the people of Gotham.
"Any leads on this 'Joker' fellow?" Lucius questioned as they began to make their way towards the elevator.
"Not yet, but soon. I have run a sweep over half the city. I will find him, and then I am going to end this little game of his," Thomas snarled in rage, for truly he was getting tired of all this.
He had made a mistake in allowing all these problems to fester, yet that was over. This was not a game, this was reality, a reality where people's lives were at stake, and he would live it out now with his own rules. Not Joker's, not Batman's but his own.
And they regarded Joker as an existential threat.
Suddenly, just as they were about to enter the private elevator, they were interrupted by one of the staff.
"Mr. Wayne. Mr.Fox, please wait," and he stopped and looked up and found a secretary rushing towards them both.
"What is it, Barabra?" he questioned.
"Sir, a board meeting has been called!"
And he frowned at those words.
"A board meeting, but how?" Fox questioned. For one, it would need substantial holdings in their company to call a meeting, and few had the guts to do so when they knew that all their motions would be denied, for Wayne Enterprises was owned by him and Bruce.
"Sir, it's an emergency session, and the government is somehow involved!"
0000
BRUCE WAYNE
Batman found himself once more in the underbelly of the city, at the base of one of Gotham's biggest crime syndicates headed by Gambol. His men lay around him groaning in pain and agony, for he had little time for patience today, as less than twelve hours now remained in this 'Jokers' warning, and he had to find his location before the man carried out his revenge.
Gambol, the man who controlled a major chunk of the gangs, backed away as he stepped towards him, his eyes bulging with fear as Batman stepped towards him, the broken glass crunching under his feet.
"What do you want?" he asked, his voice quivering as he didn't answer immediately. The man picked up the gun from the ground and began to fire at him. The bullets yet bounced off of his suit like nothing.
And then Bruce kicked at his hand, breaking it as the man groaned in pain, and tried to kick punch him, but he ducked under it and hit him in the gut, making the brass-knuckled roll off his hand and fall to the ground with a thud as he held him by the lapels of his now ruined suit and pushed him against the wall.
"Where is he?"
"Who?" he asked in fear, and his eyes narrowed.
"The idiot you guys let loose. Where is he?" he asked again, his voice thick as he punched the man once more.
"Him! That bastard, I will tell you, just let me go!" and with that, he told him an address, and then Bruce hit him once more, knocking him out, and yet, just as he finished, the lights in the room suddenly went out.
"I am afraid you will not be making it out of this place, Bruce Wayne," a mechanical voice cut across the room. The very presence troubled him as he activated the night vision on his mask.
'How the hell did he know that name'
He thought as his eyes landed on the hulking figure of a man. A mask covered much of his face, and he wore a sleeveless vest that seemed to weigh tons as he stepped out of the shadows.
"Or shall I call you by the name you chose," he continued.
"Batman." He finished with a flourish as he put out his arms, and alarm bells rang out in his head.
"Who are you?" he questioned.
"I am Gotham's reckoning!"
0000
In another corner of the city, Seline Kyle found herself sitting in a place she had never thought she would visit again as she sat opposite the man who had replaced her father, her uncle, as the Italian mob boss.
"So, I am here. Now tell me where I can find this 'Joker'?" she questioned with an angry snarl, for being in this place tore up her insides, yet she was also aware of just how much Wayne Enterprises meant to Thomas, and so if I for him she had to come back to the place that haunted her, she would do it.
"I did not ask for you?" the man suddenly answered making her frown, but before she could say anything, a shot was fired and the whole table was painted red with his blood as his body fell away.
"You did not. But I did!"
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