บท 5: Bruce Wayne
Bruce woke up early in the morning around the same time he usually. Last night he had gone to the GCPD morgue with Gordon to investigate the bodies of the militia men and Morales. But nothing came up. None of the men were in the United States database.
" What does it mean?" Bruce asked. " Would Black Mask go out of the way to hire a completely foreign military company to free one man? No, Sionis is selfish. He doesn't care about anyone but himself. I need to find Wheelan." Bruce stated. His fingers started typing away at his computer keyboard.
He pulled up a file on Wheelan and his known associates and hideouts. Any bit of information he could find would be helpful.
" Hm, nothing. "
" Good morning, master Bruce. Coffee sir?" Alfred asked. He came down into the batcave with a thermos full of black roast coffee.
" No thanks, Alfred. I'm a little busy right now." Bruce told the man.
" And may I ask, what exactly you are searching for?" Alfred asked as Bruce continued typing away on his keyboard.
Bruce grunted and continued typing. " Looking for any clues of Wheelan's whereabouts. So far, he's been but a ghost since the breakout a few days ago. No card transactions, no video footage anywhere, no phone calls from Black Mask. Nothing." Bruce was beginning to feel frustrated from the lack of evidence and knowledge of what was going on in Gotham.
" Could it be possible that Mr. Wheelan is no longer with us sir?" Alfred asked.
" Maybe, but then why go through the trouble of breaking him out, when they could have just killed him in his cell. He was alone and defenseless. Something's missing. And I just don't see it yet. But there is one thing I know. Whatever it is, I think it has something to do with Arkham's new guard."
Alfred poured Bruce a cup of coffee anyway and placed it down next to him. " You mean Mr. North. I must say Master Bruce, Mr. North does have quite the substantial military record, almost as impressive as my own. But after looking at the footage, those men didn't even look at Mr. North until he started firing on them. Do you really think he's connected in anyway?"
Bruce saw Alfred's point. But at this stage in career, nothing was out of place. Nothing was impossible. Everything and anything must be looked at, even if it seems pointless. " I don't know Alfred. Either he's connected somehow, or he just has very bad luck. Anything's possible in Gotham."
" That is true indeed, Master Bruce. Stranger things have occurred." Alfred spoke. " Speaking of which, you've received a message from miss Bertinelli. She's come to Gotham."
Bruce took a sip from his cup of coffee and then turned to Alfred. " So, Helena answered the call." Bruce asked.
" Seems like it, master Bruce and she wishes to speak with you." Alfred said.
" Hm... Tell her, I'll contact her soon. For now, I need to do some more investigating on North. The government is going through a lot of trouble to keep this man's records hidden. Even with everything Barbara managed to dig up, there's more missing. Maybe it's time Bruce Wayne met Mr. North." Bruce spoke.
He walked up the stairs from the Batcave and used the pendulum clock to walk out into his living room only for him to be greeted by Helena Bertinelli herself.
" Hey, bats." Helena spoke. Her hands shifted from the couch and she stood up to greet the man as he exited the cave.
" Helena. Alfred didn't tell me you were already here." Bruce said to the woman. He looked at Alfred out the corner of his eyes and Alfred nodded.
" Sorry, sir. Must have slipped my mind." Alfred told the man.
" Never mind. Helena you're on time. Come with me." Bruce told the woman.
" Hold on, Bruce. Aren't you gonna explain what's going on?" Helena asked the man.'
" I will explain, but first we have someone to meet." Bruce told the woman.
...................
David's morning was just like any other before, but this time, David had a mission to prepare for. David looked at himself in the mirror of his bathroom and her raised his hand to the hair on his shoulder. His hair was a little long, it had grown to his back, it would slow him down and make him more noticeable. " Need a haircut."
David grabbed his hair clippers and a pair of scissors and sat down in front of the mirror and started trimming his hair, clipping away his long strands, until finally they were gone. When he was done his hair was standing in a short taper.
Being satisfied with his new look, David decided it was time to set his plan in motion. He needed to be ready for tonight. The Penguin wasn't a fool. He was a smart man, a businessman of course, but also a very vindictive and vengeful man.
Meaning David couldn't be caught with his guard down.
No, that would not happen. He'll set the playing field to his advantage first.
David dressed himself up, strapped his two pistols to his hip, wearing a baggy shirt to help hide them from sight. He wore a pair of blue jeans and a pair of white Dc's.
Once he was dressed, he was out the door.
" Gonna need some explosives. Nothing too big, and maybe something for gas bombs. Both will do." David muttered to himself. He walked into the hardware store and after thirty minutes, David exited with a multitude of items. Ten Bags of potassium nitrate, baking soda, sugar, celluloid ping pong balls, acetone peroxide, hydrogen peroxide, Phosphoric acid, coal, sulfur, black powder, and some razor blades and rubber, all of which he was now carrying in a large black duffle bag.
Everything he would need to make homemade smoke bombs and grenades.
" Gonna need a place to mix all this. Can't do that at home- ugh." As David was thinking about where to make his explosives, he suddenly found himself running into someone on the street, when he looked up there was a man slightly shorter than him, and a woman. They both had black hair, and blue eyes. The man he recognized, however. " Excuse me, I wasn't paying attention." David told the man.
" No, no. Please. it's alright. I should have watched where I was going. Hi, my name is-"
" Bruce Wayne. I know. It's hard not to know your face. Especially since it's plastered on nearly every billboard in Gotham. David, it's a pleasure to meet you." David told the man.
" Likewise. You know... I think I recognize you." Bruce spoke. " Yeah, you're an Arkham guard, aren't you? I saw you driving by one day in an Arkham uniform. Where you there when all that madness happened a few days ago?" Bruce asked the man.
David's eyes narrowed slightly. Something wasn't right with the way Bruce was questioning him. And even more so, his hands. David's eyes wandered down to his hands. Bruce's whole-body language was off, he let off this attitude of being a nice guy. Pretty much what you'd expect from a billionaire playboy. But his hands and body told a different story. His hands were blistered and cracked.
Hands like that are only built with years of hard work.
" Yeah.... I was." David replied.
" Wow! Were you scared? What was it like?" Bruce asked.
" Nothing, I'm not used to." David told the man.
" Really? Oh hey, David, this is my friend Helena." Bruce stepped to the side and allowed the woman beside him to come forward.
As far as women went, David thought she was beautiful. Her shiny black hair perfectly complimented her beautiful brown skin.
" Hi, I'm Helena. A pleasure to meet you, David. I heard about what happened at Arkham. I'm glad you're okay." Helena told the man. She flashed him a pearly white smile.
David extended his right hand and gripped Helena's hand as gently as he could.
" The pleasure's all mine, Miss Helena. Mr. Wayne's such a lucky man to have a beautiful woman keeping him company. Especially on a day like this." David said to the woman.
" Oh, a gentleman and a charmer? I like this one." Helena spoke.
" Well, it was a pleasure meeting the two of you. But I have some business I need to take care of. I wish you both the best." David said to the two of them. He walked past Helena and gave them both a wave as he crossed the street. Keeping his attention on the both of them until he was certain he was out of their view.
" Well? What do you think?" Bruce asked Helena.
" I think there's something off with that guy. He didn't go for any of the nice guy routine. And that duffle bag, what do you think was in it? " Helena asked the man.
" I don't know. But you're right. Bruce Wayne can't get close. But maybe you can. His guard seemed to relax a little with you. What do you think, Helena? Can you get close to him and see what's going on? Find out if there's anything about him, we need to worry about?"
" I can try, Bruce. But are you sure this guy's involved? I mean being shady doesn't necessarily mean he's a criminal." Helena told the man.
" Maybe not. But we can't rule anything out yet." Bruce stated.
" Alright. I'll see what I can do."
Bruce and Helena shook hands and then went their separate ways.
While David prepared himself to go to war.
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