"...WHAT?!"
I came here tonight with the sole purpose of investigating the affairs my potential replacement as Wayne Enterprises' CEO and President. Yet for all intents and purposes, I can't help but find myself gaining somewhat of a demented satisfaction at the look on Nigma's face as he lost the first hand. And the second. I now understand what draws people to gamble... the rush of a cerebral adreneline that comes with a victory in this game.
Understand it. But I don't desire it. I have more important ways to spend my time.
"Mr. Wayne has won.", The dealer informs him, once again, as it becomes apparent that Nigma's on the verge of ripping his hair from his skull.
"But I... I followed every possible strategy given with my hand! I made sure there was no possible way of an overturning! My win was assured, I tell you!", He rants.
I can't help but smirk.
"Maybe you miscalculated, at some point..."
He's quick to turn to me, after that comment.
"I DIDN'T ASK YOU!"
By this point, all eyes have fallen to our table. And Nigma begins to realise this. Straightening his tie and composing his posture, he breathes in, relaxing himself before his body can shut itself down due to the stress. I was taught a similar method in Brazil. Except my stress came from a bit more...
leathiality than the loss of a card game.
"Well, then... I suppose congratulations are in order, Mr. Wayne.", He states, bitterly.
"But mark my words. This will not be the last time we cross paths. I can indeed promise you that much."
He trails away from the table, forcing himself through the crowd. His arrogance got the better of him. Probably why he lost the hand. Then again... I'm not entirely innocent when it came to the game itself. But it doesn't matter to me. My concerns weren't with a victory. They were with the game's owner.
"Thanks. He was getting on my nerves.", I mouth into the piece that connects me back to Alfred, back in the cave.
"Your's and mine, Master Bruce. Though I can't lie and say that I didn't have a bit of fun with that last hand."
I turn back to the dealer, giving him a nod as he scoops my chips away.
"Keep a couple of the hundreds for yourself. You've earned them."
"Yes, sir.", He responds, excitedly.
I place a hand in my pocket, turning back around, and heading for the front entrance, calmly, so as to not draw suspicion. The first phase of the plan was just completed. Now I have to retain my patience. The opprotunity to initiate the second will take time.
It's good that I brought something to occupy that time...
"-I'm afraid I'm not quite sure I understand, Master Bruce..."
I put down the bag I sneaked inside the men's bathroom, and unzip it, undoing my tie.
"It's simple, Alfred.", I respond, opening the buttons of my shirt as I pull out the other jacket.
"One of the chips I told the dealer that he could have was sneaked in during the game. It's outfitted with a microscopic... hold on a second."
I slip the shirt over my head, tucking it into my pants and fastening the tie that's stitched into it. Alfred did a wonder with the disguise, that I'll admit. But he didn't make it nessacarily simple to don, by any means.
"...A microscopic transmitter that beams a signal directly into the earpiece.", I finish, fastening the cufflinks as I grab the vest and put it in my teeth.
"And your purpose for wasting a perfectly good multi-million dollar piece of equipment is, what, exactly?"
"To find the staff area. Zeus, if anything, isn't a complete fool... he's made sure it's well hidden, to avoid any robbery attempt.", I continue, throwing the vest over my arms and buttoning it.
"Once I find the staff area, I find a computer connected to Zeus' company network. I use it to trace back to Zeus' own network."
"A form of computer hacking?"
"Somewhat. Except I'm going to try and go into it undetected. Zeus more than likely keeps a record of his shipping arrangements. It's how industrialists, such as myself, keep track of what's going in and what's coming out of the order. I find the counterfeit crate in the order... and I'll have Zeus right where I want him."
"But this is all based in theory. What if Zeus doesn't keep such a record?"
Pausing for a moment, I place the jacket on as I respond.
"...Then I've wasted an entire evening.", I mention, before sneering at the thought.
"But if Zeus is the criminal I suspect him to be, then he's predictable. Like all of his kind. Let's both hope that theory, if anything, still rings true to form."
I apply the prosthetic nose to my face, after making sure the wig is straightened. I admit that I wasn't originally very... supportive of this method. Using a disguise other than The Batman's to go about achieving my goals within the criminal fraternity. But that didn't stop me from infiltrating Carmine Falcone's organisation as Matches Malone, a few months ago. So I knew if I had to, I'd resort to this method. I can only hope I succeed.
For the rest of the evening, Bruce Wayne is to remain inconspicuous. To the people beyond these walls, he's taken an early leave. Probably to escort one of the Czech actresses' that were in attendance tonight... a theory of which I had hoped to lead them to when I made my exit, looking them over. But I'm not going anywhere until I've learned the truth behind Zeus' operations in Gotham. And to do that, I have to throw myself under the employment of the man that I've come here to investigate.
"Hey! Hey, you! Valet!"
I turn, hearing that as I walk out of the bathroom's entrance. A dealer approaches me, obviously annoyed by the look on his face.
"What the hell are you doin' off duty? We've got customers out there!"
Clearing my throat, I raise it to the point of unrecogniseabilty. Or at least distracting enough to trail it away from identification with Bruce Wayne's.
"Uh... late lunch.", I answer.
"..."
"It's ten thirty! That's a hell of a time to go out for lunch!"
"Boss said it was alright.", I add, with a shrug.
"You sure about that?", He asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Ya wanna bother the big man to ask him yaself?"
He pauses, obviously mulling it over. From what I've heard of Zeus, he's commanded the respect of each and every one of his employees. That probably comes into good use in the field of counterfeiting and illegal operations...
"-You got a point. Alright, take your damn lunch. But if you're lyin', it's your job. Not mine."
I nod, as he walks off. I can't help but pick up on the irony in the 'it's your job' statement. Because if I fail tonight... I'm losing alot more than a title at Wayne Enteprises. I'm losing my family's legacy. And that's something I'm fully prepared to fight to the bitter end for, no matter the circumstance.
Tapping the earpiece, I listen in for the signal. Seems to be coming from the East. Trailing off into the crowd below, I look around, noticing that no one's looking back at me. A stark contrast to when I entered the room as Bruce Wayne. Guess that more or less validates the credibility of my disguise...
I enter a small, uninhabited hallway as I make my way to the other side of the gameroom. Alot of doors on either side... that could complicate my search. I'm lucky no one's paying attention. Keeping the earpiece steady with one hand, I look around, twisting my head and the signal towards each door. At first, I suspect that the signal may be coming from another part of the building. But that's when I notice an odd creasing in the wall next to me. The signal strengthens.
Curious...
Looking back, double checking to make sure I remain unseen, I tap the creasing of the wall, looking for a possible entrance point. Zeus was smart to keep his casino's earnings hidden. But he could've done better at leading away from a trail of counterfeit bills. That mistake may have just cost him, provided I find the nessacary information to implicate him on printing the bills.
After a minute of tapping, the door slides open. I peer inside, carefully, making sure that I'm alone before entry. I'm greeted with a barely lit room of marble, with bags of money and chips stacked onto a table in the center. Making my way over to the bags, I check the bills for a recurring serial number, or missing fold.
They're genuine. Damn it. I'll need to look harder if I'm going to find any actual evidence in the-
"HEY!"
My eyes widen, as I turn around, seeing the dealer from my table, from earlier. The earpiece goes wild, as I take it, and hide it in my vest before he can notice. He takes out a gun from his pocket, and aims it towards me. I place my hands up in a mocked fear. Truthfully, however, I already have a strategy in mind for disarming the weapon. I just don't know if I'll need to use it yet.
"You aren't supposed to be back here.", He informs me, angrily. "Only the boss and a couple more of us know about this room."
"Uh... well, he told me about it. Yeh. Let me in on it all."
He doesn't buy it. I can tell.
"Right.", He answers, sarcastically. "And I suppose he also told you to look through the money, too."
I look at my hand. It still holds one of the bills I was inspecting. I can see how this appears... a young man he's never seen before, suddenly in a room only he and a select few know of it's location, digging through the casino's earnings. But I'm not here to attempt robbery. I wouldn't even need the money, given that I have at least three times this much in a swiss account hidden in a bank in Russia alone. But from the look on the dealer's face, I doubt telling him that could be of much convince.
"Say... I don't think I ever remember hiring you, anyway.", He says, before raising the gun. "So you
are a thief. And I bet you thought you were pretty cunning with all that James Bond @#%&, didn't you?"
It's now or never.
I rush forward, slamming my elbow into the dealer's forearm before he can get a shot fired. The gun falls, as I kick it away, and knee him in the solar plexus. He kneels over, in pain, as I send a nerve strike to the back of his neck. He falls, instantly out. A harmless strategy. When he wakes up, he won't have any serious injuries of any kind. Just enough of a concussion to permit me the time I need to find the evidence I'm looking for.
"Actually...", I mention, straightening out my vest from the struggle.
"James Bond is an amatuer."
Looking around, I eventually spot what I've been looking for this entire time: A company linked computer. Sitting down at the chair, I reach into my pocket and fish out one of the Wayne Enterprises' pattoned memory sticks. Usually, it'd be used to store information on a computer. After my own modifications, it has quite a different use.
"Alfred, you read me?", I ask, plugging the stick into a USB port.
"The signal's a bit fuzzy, sir, but yes."
"I suspected as much.", I respond, before I begin to type in a confirmation code coming from the stick.
"The signal mislead me into believing the tracer was in here. The walls and ceiling are probably reinforced."
"Why would they be?"
"Because I'm in a room that Zeus doesn't want people like me to find.", I answer, before getting to the main point.
"I'm gonna need your help with this."
"Certainly."
"I have a memory stick jammed into one of Zeus' computers now. It's going to send a signal of information back to the computer there, in the cave.", I begin, before logging onto the internet and accessing Zeus' personal homepage.
"I need you to read off the numbers that come with it. Think you can do that for me?"
"Well, I have been reading off numbers since before you were born."
I roll my eyes at the comment, before continuing. A window comes up, asking for a password. I hit a section of keys that are meant to activate the stick and send the signal, promptly. The download begins, onscreen, as I patch back through to Alfred.
"They should be coming now."
I wait, hearing Alfred type in the confirmation code on the Batcomputer's keyboard. The numbers should be appearing any minute, on that screen.
"Alright. Here they are, sir. I do pray that you're not currently distracted."
I place my hands on the keyboard, in preparation.
"16."
I type the letter "P" into the password space.
"18."
I type the letter "R" into the space.
"15."
I type "O" into the space.
"13."
I type "M" into the space.
"5."
I type "E" into the space. Then I pause, realising something. Taking to the keys, I type the rest of the code out, and hit Enter. Immediately, I'm granted a access to Zeus' confidential buisness records. It was a risk... but it proved to be a rightly taken one.
"20."
"Followed by eight, followed by five again, followed by twenty-one, and finished with nineteen?", I ask.
"..."
"Actually, yes. But how did you know?"
"Because Zeus' password is based off of the Greek mythological figure that stole fire from Zeus, his own namesake. His password was Prometheus.", I respond, as I begin looking at the records.
"Good lord... you're right. But why such a choice in password, do you suppose?"
I raise an eyebrow, looking over one record in particular, and it's title.
"...Because I just found out that's the title of one of his most financially bankrupt projects, at the moment."
Sitting back, I think to myself, for a moment.
This project he's investing in. "Prometheus". Is that why he decided to take over Wayne Enterprises? To finance it solely and rid himself of the debt? But what kind of project would be worth that much of a risk, and that much effort? Zeus is planning something big. And I need to find out what, before it's too late, and Wayne Enterprises is sold out by the project. Because anything that he's willing to overlook that much money for and put that much effort into can't be good.
"Have you found what you needed to, yet?"
"-No.", I respond, getting up and making my way out of the room.
"But I may have found something a hell of alot worse."
I don't need the proof that he has an alterior motive with the takeover anymore, or even the fact that he's the one responsible for the counterfeit dollars. I already know. Now, however, I need to have a chat with the man himself. But I doubt
Bruce Wayne would be very convincing in producing the kind of information I'd need of him for a confession.
This has gone beyond personal. Every one of the employees at Wayne Enterprises are at risk, not just myself. Their futures hang in the balance, aswell as the future of Gotham, if the company is shut down. Now, the time for Bruce Wayne to have a say in the matter is over.
Now, The Batman's involvement becomes essential.
"Alfred, I need you to get an address for me."
The mercedes I drove into town with approaches Gotham Square, as I undo my tie and let my vest fall into the seat to my back. Somewhere in this city, Zeus is up to something. And I intend to make sure he's
stopped, at all costs.
"Find Maximillion Zeus' Gotham penthouse. I'm going to have a little talk with my potential successor.", I state, angrily, as I pull out the folded Batsuit and weaponry that lies under the passenger seat's compartment.
"I shall do so.", He responds.
As I turn a corner, Alfred's voice booms into my ear again.
"Sir, I do hate to interrupt your little vendetta against Zeus when it's reached it's peak, but..."
"It isn't a vendetta, Alfred.", I correct.
"Zeus could potentially cut off the city's industrial resources and render many of it's citizens homeless."
"Very well, Master Bruce... but there may be another matter that needs to be called to your attention."
I raise an eyebrow.
"Can't it wait?"
"I'm afraid not, sir.", Alfred responds.
"It seems there's been a double homicide at the Gotham City Museum Of Historic Arts."
I jam my foot on the brake, as I come to a stop light, almost running into traffic when I hear that.
"What? When?"
"Just this morning.", Alfred responds.
"The museum curator reported a grotesque sight of blood painted all over the walls inside. But what's interesting, sir, is that the blood was painted in various "HA's". And, ontop of that..."
I park into a nearby alleyway, stopping in the darkest part as I grab the Batsuit from the opposite chair.
"It seems a lone Joker card was found at the scene, aswell."
I pause, letting that sink in. My grip on the costume tightens in anger, as I begin suiting up. Only one person could've committed the murders. And convieniantly enough, he still remains at large. Hopefully I can fix that, in time.
"Alright, Alfred. Thanks for the head's up."
"Of course. Do you still need that address, sir?"
"Actually..."
I leap out of the car's sunroof, and land on the hood, before firing my grapnel and taking to the rooftops.
"There's been a change of plans."
Whatever Zeus' schemes are, they'll have to wait. There's a madman loose in my city.
