章節 236: CHAPTER 233
"What did the rogue vigilante want with you?" Gordon curiously asked.
"He said the Outlaws will support me and ensure to keep me safe so long as I continued on this path I have chosen, but if I stray away from it then they would be the ones I would have to fear." I replied, making it sound to him like I didn't have a personal relationship with the Outlaws but they intend of doing what's best for society.
"That sounds kind of like a threat to me." He replied as he light up a cigarette. "Do you smoke?" He asked. "Occasionally, yes." I replied and he passed me a cigarette then lit it up for me.
"Thank you. Who are the Outlaws anyway?" I asked feigning ignorance to the group I had founded myself.
"They are a group of rogues, criminals and mercenaries who aren't trust worthy as we do not know the reason behind their cause. It is really frustrating because we are suppose to have them arrested, but yet it turns out harmful crimes has had a noticeable decrease thanks to them"
"They sound like some revolutionary group." I commented. "Yes, something like that. But they are still criminals, even if they sometimes take down criminals that are of more danger to society." He replied, taking a long drag from his cigarette then letting out the thick foams.
"So, what brings you here today?"
"I heard Scarecrow escaped Arkham." I replied.
"Yes he did, that sneaky bastard." Gordon grunted.
Criminals escaping Arkham was of no surprise as it was the norms in Gotham City, something I was willing to change. When criminals get locked up, they should stay locked up, that's what a prison is for.
"What about him?" Gordon asked, wondering why my sudden interest in a criminal. "What I'm about proposing isn't about him in particular but one that would benefit the police and the people of Gotham City." I teased some more as I piqued his interest in the process.
"I was thinking to myself, once these terrorists gets caught and taken to Arkham, we wouldn't want them escaping like Scarecrow and many others have. That would be too risky, especially since they are likely to want revenge against the police and the city." I elaborated, still keeping him on suspense.
"So what do you suggestion or came up with as a solution?" He asked, wanting me to go straight to the point.
"Have you ever heard of White Torture?" I asked, squinting my eyes a little as I took a drag from my still lit cigarette.
"White torture….What's that?" He asked, confused as were this conversation was leading to.
"White Torture is something far more sinister than you might expect." I replied as I took a pause to knock off the ash from my cigarette onto the ash tray he had placed on his desk.
"It is a type of psychological torture technique aimed at complete sensory deprivation and isolation, a prisoner is held in a cell that deprives them of all senses and identity." With this he seemed even more interested as he leaned in a bit closer upon his desk, locking fingers as he gave me his undivided attention.
"And how did you come about such a thing?" He asked from pure curiosity. "It's something I came across some time ago, and it is used by Venezuela and by most United States intelligence services." I replied.
Upon hearing this, he furrowed his brows as he listened more intensely. Which was perfect because after killing the members of the Sparrows, I would ensure their leader lives a miserable life in jail after his him down.
"The prisoner is deprived of all colours, their cell is completely white, the walls, the floors, the ceiling, as well as there cloths and food. Neon tubes are positioned above the occupant in such a way that that no shadow appears." I elaborated.
"Sheesh, that sounds like some kind of hell." He remarked, just imagining it sounded like it was enough to drive a person mad, rather than reform them.
"That's not all, the cell is sound proof and void of any sound, voices or interactions. The guards stand in silence, dressed in all white and padded shoes to avoid making any noise." I continued, going into more detail.
"The prisoner is served white food, practically unseasoned rice, to deprive them of these senses. Furthermore the walls and other surfaces are really smooth, robbing them of the touch sensation."
"I think that's worst than physical torture, they don't feel pain but would slowly lose their sense of identity." Gordon analyzed, getting a better understanding of the picture I was trying to paint.
"That is why it's a psychological treatment." I replied. "Typically, prisoners will become depersonalized by losing personal identity for extended period of isolation. It is the perfect way to reform criminals and have them completely lose their deranged personalities of committing horrific crimes just for the rush they get from it." I looked into Arkham's current way of doing things and this method would be way more efficient for psychologically unstable criminals like Scarecrow and others who has a bad habit of reverting back to their old ways the moment they get out of jail.
"What other side effects does it entail?" Gordon questioned, wanting every detail before submitting the project to the mayor and having it executed at once for the safety of the citizens.
"Hallucinations and Psychosis." I replied without taking any sort of brief pauses to think about it.
"And how long are prisoners to be subjected to such level of reformation ?" He asked once again.
"Probably eight months to a year, that should be enough to reform them into productive citizens of society as they abandon their life of crime behind."
"Creating neighbours and not pretenders who jumps back into a life of causing others harm once they've been cleared." Gordon mused out loud, nodding his head in agreement to my proposal.
"I have to run this by the higher ups first, but I assure you it's a great idea, implementing this upon certain mentally deranged criminals of Gotham would definitely help avoid the rise of a copycat Joker."
....
Deep in Gotham City was a diner with mixed colours of ambient lighting, it's neon sign attracting those with an appetite for something tasty.
Seated at a table at the far end corner was Bruce Wayne, dressed in a casual brown leather jacket over a beige color shirt. And seated right across from him was a reporter from Metropolis, Clark Kent dressed in a navy blue suit and red tie, topped with his nerdy glasses.
"Gotham has been having a lot of traction on the media lately, what exactly has been going on?" Showing concerns he looked over to Bruce who just let our a sigh before speaking.
"A lot, and I'm doing my best to resolve what's been brewing beneath the surface. The city has become unpredictable, something has changed and this shift came with a lot of surprises." The waiter dropped off a cup of coffee on his table as he reached for it and took a sip.
"Do you need any help? I can understand being the protector of Gotham City is a lot to handle, especially while also protecting the world along side the League. You have a lot on your plate just being Bruce Wayne, now your night life seem to be taking it own toll." Clark stated the obvious so Bruce knows he really does need help, especially being short handed as he no longer had a Robin by his side.
"Nothing I can't handle." Bruce replied with a smile almost creeping across his lips upon seeing how much Big -Blue was concerned for his well being but shrugged it off as usual.
"On the bright side, Gotham's crime rate experienced a twelve percent decrease over the past couple of months. Although the recent acts of terrorism seem to threaten that improvement."
"Yeah, I hate to say it but it seems Red Hood and Ace the Tyrant has a part in that. Jason wants to prove to me that absolute brutality was the only language these criminals spoke, and exercising it upon them was the only way to clearly get the message across to them." His face showed a bit of disapproval but yet a subtle expression of a proud father.
"I know using a brute sense of justice against criminal offenders might seem effective but I'm not in support of that system, it's not what we heroes should stand for." Clark was always against violence whenever he could avoid it, and Red Hood's along with Ace's history showed criminals either ending up in jail badly wounded, or dead before the police arrived.
"I agree with that, and I've tried so many times to teach Jason that it wasn't the right way of handling things but he's way more stubborn than Dick ever was." While he spoke, his expression clearly showed that Jason was quite a lot to handle, especially since breaking free from under his wing.
"Kids." Clark remarked as he shook his head. "Now we are on a man hunt for the terrorists who's been causing the commotions lately, and Jason has turned it into some kind of competition." Bruce said with furrowed brows, letting out a sigh before taking another sip from his coffee.
"He's always been so competitive, even on the field. So what's this project Cyborg has been working on for the past couple of months, I do not like the idea of machines making decisions or given permission to uphold the safety of man kind." Clark's concerns were evident in his voice as he suddenly had on a more serious expression, clearly against Cyborg's current project.
"I gave him a list of reasons why it was a bad idea but he pleaded with me, saying if anything was to go wrong with project he would immediately shut it down and not even think of something like that again. I agreed and he went on with it. It might be the kind of 'out the box' thinking we actually need to save us from ourselves but i still don't trust it." He could only hope that he's concerns does not prove to be true.
"Forcefully shutting it down would have seemed like closing the door to a possible reality of peace among man kind." Clark mused, yet still very doubtful.
"Anyway, I have to go now. I have some business that needs tending to." Bruce said to Clark as he rose from his chair, while Clark raised his hand, gesturing for the cheque.
"Don't worry about that, I already paid before you arrived."
"How did you‐‐‐" Clark was cut off before he could finish up his sentence. "You order the same thing everything."
"Even over dinner you have to be two steps ahead." He remarked as Bruce waved him a goodbye gesture without looking his way as he walked out the dinner.
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章節 237: CHAPTER 234
It was valentine and Tom had plans with Rachel for the entire evening. Although she tries not to show her fun side every now and then but Rachel actually enjoys certain activities that amuses kids and teenagers alike.
He took her on a date to a Love Carnival and she had been smiling nonstop, unable to contain her excitement as she occasionally munched on cotton candy.
It was the perfect evening for fun between lovers, at least so he hoped until seeing Dick and his merry crew making their way towards them. "Oh, hey Rae." Gar greeted us as he waved at them with a chummy smile on his face.
"You've got to me kidding me." She remarked, clearly surprised by their sudden appearance. "What the fuck are you freaks doing here?" Tom questioned, making known how unpleasant he found their presence.
Taking a couple of steps forward, Dick reached out his hand as he gestured for Tom to chill while he spoke. "Relax kid, we aren't here to intrude."
"Oh, here's an idea. Why don't you all fuck off and we call it a day. How about that?" Tom couldn't let them turn his date into some groupie hangout session.
"This dude might not be so bad after all." Acqualad audibly muttered with a smirk tugged to the side of his lips like he agreed with Tom.
"Don't encourage him." Connor cautioned, crossing both arms as he exuded some sort of boy scout aura.
"I know it seems like we are crashing your date, but we're not." Kori stepped in.
"That's right. You've had a lot of buzz going on in the city lately and you are helping Gotham in whatever way you can. As someone who grew up in this city, I just want to say, keep up the good work. And we do appreciate your efforts." He extended an handshake of which Tom just stood there, staring at his hand for a couple seconds.
"Sure, I do it because I want to. Not for appreciations or recognition." He replied, responding to his handshake while Rachel still seemed pissed off from their intrusion.
She pulled Gar to the side. "Let's have a little talk, shall we." She said to him as she dragged him aside, leaving Tom with Kori and Dick who seem to have a lot to say to him. All in a lame attempt to actually try getting to be a bit more friendly with him.
"You all tracked me down here didn't you?" She asked with an infuriated tone, seething as to their invasion, interrupting her perfect date that evening.
"It was all Dick's idea and when Kori realized you were at the Carnival, she suggested a team outing and that's how we ended up coming here." Gar replied her with a nervous smile on him. Rachel looked over at Acqualad who was the odd ball among the bunch, cocking up a brow.
"Don't look at me, I was dragged into this. I'd rather spend the evening doing something else entirely." He remarked, clearly against him being there.
Without saying another word Rachel walked up to Tom and grabbed him by his arm, breaking the small talk Dick and Kori seemed to be having with him.
"We'll be going now, do not follow us." She said to everyone before pulling Tom away. "Told you crashing her date was a bad idea." Acqualad commented, clearly stating the obvious to everyone.
….
About half an hour later, Tom and Rachel just got off from the Ferris Wheel and she was currently seated on a bench, eating a snack while Tom went to go get her a drink.
"Hey beautiful." A voice came from right next to her as she noticed two guys approach her. Looking their way, one of them took a seat on the bench, sitting right next to her while the other just hovered around like some wingman.
"It's sad to see a girl seated alone at a Love Carnival, especially on valentine night. Allow me to at least make the night a more exciting one for you." She just stared at him without saying a word, completely dumbfounded. It was either he didn't recognize her as a superhero or he was a dude with quite some balls to be that confident.
"I'm Stephen by the way." He introduced himself as he extended his hand for a friendly handshake, but only got a stare down in response.
"Seems you're really shy around strangers, that's alright because….." Stephen was suddenly cut off by his wingman. "Steph, I think we should get going now."
"Not now dude, can't you see I'm talking with someone." He replied, not taking his eyes off Rachel.
"There's a guy standing right ahead and he's been glaring at you." He informed him as Tom approached them with drinks in hand, rather than stare daggers at Stephen, he had on a more neutral look.
"Here." He handed Rachel one of the drinks, while Stephan decided to act like some dickhead to assert dominance.
"Oh, thanks man." He remarked, reaching to collect the drinks from Tom. "If you like those hands of your, I advice you keep them to yourself if you do not want to lose them." Tom menacingly remarked with clearly audible disdain in his tone, and with his almost glowing crimson pupils which sent chills down the spine of Stephen as he locked eyes with him.
That moment Stephen felt his throat tighten from as sweat dripped down his face. "Come on man, we're out of here." He signaled his wingman and they walked away, looking back to see Rachel smiling gleefully as Tom handed her the drink.
"You didn't have to be a meanie, he was just being a guy." Rachel took a sip from her drink after teasing him, watching Tom take a seat right next to her as she blushed over what he did.
"More like a douchebag." He replied. 'He kind of reminded me of my old self from my previous life.' Tom muttered to himself.
"Did you say something?" She questioned, bringing her face closer into his personal space, acting like a cute girlfriend as she sipped her drink through her straw.
"I was really hoping he would stand up to me, so I let him off with a broken finger or two." Upon hearing this, Rachel let out a small laugh, pleased with how protective he could be over her.
….
At a significant distance from the couple, Fang and Charlotte sat at the front of a shop. He relaxed his back and elbows against the counter of the shop as he made subtle glances at Tom who seemed to be having a good time.
"Poor kid is unaware his life is about coming to an end, killing him at a place like this would just be seen as a successful follow up from the previous assassination attempt on his life." Fang said to Charlotte who just wanted the job done quickly, so they could go on with their lovers night, wanting some intimacy and some good fuck after on.
"Just get on with it already." She remarked while playing a game at the shop, wanting to win a stuffed animal she found to be cute.
"Yeah, yeah, here we go." Fang nonchalantly replied, fondling with a silver in hand until it morphed into the shape of a bullet.
"Here we go." He signaled before flicking his finger and sent the bullet right at Tom, managing to avoid obstacles like a professional sniper.
Taking notice of the incoming unknown object, Tom stretched out a bit, letting out a brief yawn. "That's a first, I've never seen you tired before." Rachel stated.
"No fucking way!" Fang remarked in disbelief. "What? You missed?" Charlotte asked, confused as to the disbelieving expression on his face, something she hasn't seen on him before.
"You should probably join up with your friends, I'm sorry to end our date here but I have to attend to something right now." Rachel seemed to have questions but just held back her tongue and shook her head in compliance.
"It's alright, but you have to make it up to me sometime." She replied in understanding as she gave him a kiss, waved him goodbye before walking away.
Reaching his left arm across his face as if to scratch on his ear while he held a drink with his other arm, he spoke into his wrist watch. "They are here as expected, time to move. Look towards the south east direction from my position and you should spot them."
"Roger that." Leo confirmed, dressed in his signature Captain Cold get up. "Also, heroes are around so we are taking this somewhere else according to plan." Tom informed both of them, wanting to avoid civilian casualties and interruption from the heroes.
"Roger that." They both replied, moving on to the rendezvous point.
"Here we go again." Fang quietly announced to Charlotte before launching another, while she observed Tom to see why Fang previously had an unfamiliar expression on his face.
This time around Tom caught the silver bullet in the palm of his hand, raising up his hand to show both of them as he looked in their direction.
"What in the actual hell." She muttered in disbelief as they both watched Tom complacently get up and walking towards the exit, stopping to look back at them before walking out.
======
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