章節 18: Bag O Bones
Gotham City - Sixth Street Laundromat - 06:15 - August 8th, 2004
"Yeah, Rose, Listen, I'm sorry I can't make you breakfast... Yes, I know it's early, but I need you to stay safe, Don't open the door to anyone, Close the blinds and stay away from the windows, Don't worry about our greenhouse, Your safety is much more important... Of course Rose, I'll be home as soon as I can... Love you, take care," I ended the call, placing the phone back in its holder before I turned to the people who stood behind me.
After dropping Vincenzo at his family's estate last night, I drove Waylon back to Tusk's place, only to have to drop him off a few streets away once we saw the police gathering around the Hotel.
Whoever it was that attacked us at Visione Dell'amore had gone to Tusk before he came to us, The question is whether Tusk is under police custody or Dead.
I told everything to Penguin, who pointed me over to stay at the laundromat while he started planning on how to get back at The 100 for what they did.
Which means I'm currently stuck inside a laundromat that's also a front to a smuggling operation.
If everything goes well, The Cosa Nostra should allow us to see the security camera footage from the Restaurant attack and use it to see whoever Tobias Whale sent to try and kill me.
And isn't that a boost to my ego? Tobias Whale himself considered me important enough to Penguin's hold of Gotham's East End that he ordered his men to try and kill me.
Marvel's Richard himself had something similar, a Villain who considered him important enough to kill. Sadly that villain was a crazy lunatic whose sole reason for hating Fisk was because of his connection to Hobgoblin.
Fuck you, Jason Macendale Jr!
Ned Leeds wasn't even the real Hobgoblin!
I'm getting distracted.
Until Penguin gives me the go-ahead, I need to lay low in here, And even when he does, I won't be doing any noteworthy jobs for Cobblepot until the attacker is identified.
Which is both a good thing and a bad thing.
It's a good thing because it means that once I'm out of this laundromat, I'll have a lot of free time to get Rose ready for her first day of school since she entered the Hospital years ago.
The bad aspect of this is that until Cobblepot gives the go-ahead, Rose and I won't be able to see each other face to face, I'm not sure she can take care of herself for more than a day or two, and not being there for her is going to stress me out more than it should.
At least the laundromat has a phone so I can stay in contact with the poor girl, So at least there's something.
All I can do right now lay low and wait for the heat to die down.
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Thorn was smirking as she lay her back on the couch, her arm lazily flopping to the floor as the television on the other side of the living room was playing some cheesy action movie from the 80s.
After Richard called Rose and told her to close the blinds and stay safe, The poor girl started panicking.
"Waah, I don't want my family to die again, Hah! Crybaby," Thorn chuckled to herself as she remembered the thought going through Rose Forrest's head before she took over, an open pack of chips resting on her stomach as she lazily grabbed another handful of the salty snack.
If Richard wasn't busy with all that Gang bullshit going on, he'd probably tell her off about how these potato chips aren't healthy for her.
Well, jokes on him, she doesn't give a fuck. And besides, if these chips are so unhealthy, why did he buy them in the first place? Checkmate, Richard!
Anyway, all she had to do was stay inside, That's perfect!
"Get ready, We have the whole day to train you up," Thorn did not jump in fright as she quickly rolled of the Couch and grab the nearest object she could use as a weapon, which just so happened to be the TV Remote.
With her body crouched low to the floor and the Remote held in her hand as if it was a very blunt plastic knife, Thorn looked like an idiot.
Something that William Cobb took notice of as he threw her the small Talon Uniform he procured for their training.
"How the fuck did you even get in here?!" Thorn asked loudly as she slowly moved the bag holding the costume closer to her, not taking her eyes off the Talon.
"I unlocked the window and climbed inside," William Cobb turned away from her as he moved to check the other windows of the house, noting to himself all the different ways he or someone else could get inside, "Your caretaker, Richard, is currently under orders from his boss to lay low and stay away from his apartment, meaning that he cannot protect you. I on the other hand, do not have such orders, so until Richard Fisk returns here, I am in charge,"
Thorn clicked her tongue as she changed into the Black and bronze Owl-masked costume, Adjusting some of the straps on the uniform to better fit her size.
If Rose could speak to her, she'll probably try and yell at her not to follow the Owl Ninja and to stay inside where it's safe. Screw her, Thorn is in charge now!
"Okay," Thorn said as she put on most of the costume, with the mask still held in her hands, "How long will it take until I'm ready to take down Tobias Whale?"
"At least six months," Thorn did a spit take as she turned to look at Talon, the Ninja busy checking the cupboards and doors of her house.
"Six Months?! I'll die of old age by then!" Not to mention School starts in less than a month, and she won't have any time to train when Rose will be too busy doing Homework and crying about being bullied! Richard will be too busy helping her and Thorn won't have the opportunity to take over and get shit done!
This is horrible!
"Don't be dramatic," Talon said, his voice sounding as if he was rolling his eyes under the mask, "It's Six Months until you're ready to go out and start fighting, It'll take years until you'll be ready for Tobias Whale himself,"
Thorn merely sighed in disappointment, a groan leaving her as she put the mask over her head and followed Talon in sneaking out of the house.
She can't become a Ninja by staying at home all day, can she?
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"Did you capture Penguin's New Lieutenant?"
Inside an old apartment building in the East End of Gotham, A pair of men stood beside a table holding a radio.
"I brought you Tusk, and I managed to track Rose to one of Cosa Nostra's restaurants," A man wearing a salmon pink uniform with blue gloves and boots told the other as he checked over the many weapons he hid on his simplistically designed suit.
"That wasn't the mission, Whale sent you here to bring me the people who are keeping Penguin in power, I need to take Penguin down!" The second man said angrily, glaring at the costumed man as he slammed his fist onto the table.
"And I already told you, I tracked him to the Cosa Nostra, that means that Oswald Cobblepot is trying to make allies outside of East End, and he's sending Rose to make contact with them," The blonde costumed man told the normal dressed man.
"Listen here, Syonide, I don't know what Whale told you when he hired you for this role, but while we're in Gotham, My word is Tobias's word, so I'm in charge here," The normal dressed man said slowly as he glared at Syonide from across the table.
"And when I tell you that I want Rose, then that means that you're going to bring me Rose, Not get our goons caught in a shootout with some fucking Sicilians, not the fat Elephant looking son of a bitch, ROSE! I want Penguin's Lieutenant!" The man angrily yelled, smoke starting to come out of his body as his anger rose and his emotions grew more volatile.
"..." Syonide didn't respond to the Lieutenant of The 100.
Syonide was a tracker, he knew over 100 different ways to track someone down and capture them, that's what he did for a living. From Politicians and CEOs, Syonide tracked them all down, He knew the works of his trade better than almost every other tracker in the World.
"It's because you're weak, Isn't it?" The angry man asked as he tapped his finger on the table, ignoring the singe marks his tapping left on the wood, "You don't want to lower yourself to some common Killer, That's why you brought Tusk alive, that's why you had the goons do all the killing for you, You're weak." The tapping got faster as the man glared at the impassive face of the Tracker.
"Do you know who I am?" The man asked the hired help, "I don't care for your answer so I'll tell you anyway," The man frowned as the smoke wafting from his body started to hide his appearance, small orange flames could be seen through the smoke as the man went through a transformation.
"My name is Ned Creegan, Two years ago I had my own run around Gotham, My powers could destroy all that stood in my way," The burning man, Ned Creegan, took a deep breath to feel the power flow through his body.
"Back then, I went by Bag O' Bones, And believe me, Bag O' Bones ain't even in the same league as the new Identity of me!"
The smoke and flames that covered the man peeled away, Syonide struggling to hide a scowl as he looked at Ned Creegan's new form.
His skin was smooth and green, almost as if it was replaced with a radioactive film, His nose and mouth were gone, leaving his face smooth and green, with only his eyes remaining, Pure white with a glow of yellow energy surrounding them.
"Back when I fought the Batman, I was a real Smalltimer who got mixed up with a radiation scientist and changed into a walking Skeleton!" Ned still sounded normal, as if his lack of mouth was only an aesthetic, and he could still talk normally.
"The only plus to the set-up was what he called 'Static-Electricity' powers, and they didn't do me much good in the long run! Because every time I used them-!" Ned slammed his now smooth green fist on the table, breaking it in half, the radio that sat on top of it now levitating inside a cage of magnetic radiation.
Ned took a deep breath to calm down, "Every time I used my powers, It cost me months of my life..." Ned shook his head at the memory.
"If I was going to naturally die at 90, The usage of my powers lowered that to Fifty-something, and the more I used them the worse the backlash became.
I lost fifty years of my life, just so I could lose to a man dressed in a bat costume and a boy wearing tights!" Ned took another deep breath, feeling the sheet of radioactive energy that covered his body recede, revealing his skin underneath the smooth green.
Ned smiled at Syonide, the Tracker scowling at the sickly man, "But not anymore, The 100 managed to get me an... Early release... And their scientist did a wonderful job on my abilities. I no longer lose months of my life whenever I fight, I am no longer Bag O' Bones!"
Ned stood up, The sheet of green radiation once again burning onto his body as he stood over the Tracker, not because he was taller, but because he was now levitating twenty centimeters off the ground, "I am the most powerful enforcer of The 100, Cyclotronic Man. Thanks to The 100 and Mr Whale, I am going to live for a long time to come, A lot longer-" The wooden pieces of the table started to physically age beneath Ned as he loomed over Syonide, the wood of the broken table turning grey and crumbling to dust as if aged 100 years in the blink of an eye, "-Than any Crook, or Super-Hero, that gets in my way!"
"So when I say I want Penguin's lieutenants, that means I want you to do your job, track him down, and bring him to me!" Ned said, the energy around his eyes glowing brighter as he tried to intimidate Syonide.
The Tracker silently picked up his tools and walked out of the now smoking apartment, If he wanted to keep his life, he had to track down the people working for Penguin.
Closing the door behind him and leaving Ned Creegan to radiate the room, Syonide took one last look at his most important tool in capturing a target.
Not his Hidden Blades, not his Electric Whip, and definitely not his exotic outfit.
Syonide smirked at a small red dart before hiding it inside a pocket of his costume.
Syonide wasn't a Killer, he was a tracker, he tracked his target down and captured them. He was hired to assist The 100 in taking over Gotham City.
And Syonide was good at his job.
"Penguin's Lieutenant, Rose, Where could you be?..." Syonide whispered the question as he entered a car and drove away from the building, getting ready to put his skills to the test.
Hunting down the man who does not exist.
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