Chapter 5: Gotham City

[A/N: This Chapter has scenes of unsavoury things... Please be careful while reading.

And this is a beta chapter since I don't have any betas or editors to tell me how they would feel about this chapter, I initially didn't want to post this chapter but I want your honest opinions.

I am not making light of this very real-world issue but I wanted to show what I think a city as fucked up as this will be like. Where the main villains are not supers but madmen bent on evil.]

The nights of Gotham are silent, the concrete roofs basking under the moon cast a deep shadow on the streets down below, and most choose to stay indoors behind the safety of concrete and steel. Still, some choose to wander the nights. 

"Man, getting the chills here," Markus grumbled as he rubbed his hands together over his slung-over MP-9. 

"Quite yr' bitching," Tyre replied as he leaned over his crowbar leveraged against the electrical box of an apartment. 

Markus shot an annoyed stare at his partner's back but the man was too busy to even notice. 

"Man, what do these folks use nowadays?" Tyre paused as steadied his feet on the cold dirt before pushing with his whole body. Crack! The metal flaps were pried apart. 'That was loud,' he thought as he pulled down the MCB and dove a screwdriver over the top of it, fixing it in place. 

[A/N: MCB=Minature Circuit Breaker, if the switch is down it cuts off the electricity.]

"Markus, let's go—" His kips stopped as he turned around, "Shit," He let out, Markus was nowhere. 

He stepped back putting himself against the wall. The beating of his heart reached his eyes, it was rapid, ready to break into a dash at a moment's notice, but he swallowed and kept himself there, he had been trained to not run and stick to the walls. Running just made them easy pickings. 

Rapidly his eyes switched from one shadow to the next. What next? He was alone, no one even knew something was wrong, and he couldn't even run. 

With a deep breath, he decided. Digging into his pocket, and wrenching out his phone. Two glints of metal flashed as he felt stinging pain rack both his arms, in panic he threw his phone and tightened his grip on the gun. Stabilizing only to see a fist flying towards him and knocking out his saliva as it dug into his stomach, throwing him to the ground. 

"What are you doing here?" The voice was calm, yet carrying an undisguised threat that promised pain and terror if denied. Tyre, tried to move his arms, and aim the gun toward but a dark boot smashed down his attempts just as it did his arms. 

"If you want to keep your bones intact, speak." 

It was a simple warning, a much more blatant promise of pain, turning his head towards the voice he saw it, a thing, no a man, dressed in a dark void-like bat dress staring down at him. Tyre knew who that was, everyone knew who that was, "Ba–Batman!" His voice was out of control. Shaking terribly. Involuntarily he said, "It's a Scare! Just a Scare! Morgan Quintino! I don't know the customer!" 

"Oracle got that?" He said into the microphone hidden beneath the mask. 

"Yeah, let me see... Morgan Quintino, a... gardener?" A voice of confusion came back from his earpiece. Oracle had access to all

"Contact Gordon, I am going in," He said and looked down at the man, "Your friend is in the back alley, take him and get out." 

Tyre was momentarily stunned, but quickly suppressing it he got up and rushed out, leaving the gun there. Batman crushed it under his boot. 

"Red, follow after, I have put a tracer on him, " He said into his microphone. 

"Yes, boss," Tim responded from the other side. 

His cape covered him, leaving only his head out as he stepped over into the apartment. The lights were still out, Tyre had mangled the MCB too much to fix, yet not a single resident had made a peep, "Bruce, the building has just one resident... Morgan, he rents the whole building," Came Oracle's voice, "Officially," he added, he very much doubted that a gardener could afford to rent out an entire apartment building. This was Gotham, and this was expensive, especially here, just a corner from the main artery road. 

"I recommend the rooftop door, Bruce, it wasn't approved for a steel door." 

"Alright, keep me posted," He said as he brought out his grappling hook and aimed over the top of the roof wall. Pulling the trigger the gas piston shot forward striking the hook back cap like a bullet and sending it flying. The hook jumped past the wall as slowly the velocity died and gravity took over, the hook fell back down latching onto one wall in its descent. Then the coil system sprung into action applying incredible force as it jerked Batman upward toward the hook. 

Guiding the force with his body Batman clambered onto the wall with ease once he reached near enough. His movements and motions left no room for improvement, having repeated this same movement tens of thousands of times, he would be disappointed in himself if he failed. 

His steps were heavy but silent as they reached the door, indeed it was a rickety old door, half rust, and half iron, still, it was perfectly good for an old roof door. He pushed open the door and climbed down the stairs. 

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The apartment was clean, degraded, old but clean, "Batman, these records. They are a mismatch." 

"What?" He said as he pushed into another room, empty.

"Right, so, I just matched these records with bills, electric, internet, phone. According to the papers they should be addressed to the three-year owner Minores Ruby," Her words rang as he caught sight of a dim light at the edge of the eye. 

"But before five months, this was all addressed to Morgan Quintino, and previously, the late widow Giya Quintino, dead in a drive-by, she was the mother of Morgan Quinti—" Batman tuned her out before she could finish, he found himself running as fast at his feet could carry him. 'Damn it,' he cursed as he pushed harder. 

He reached the corridor, sliding into a turn, he ran quickly and slammed down the door to the room from which the light was coming, inside was a boy, a young adult, his messy hair draped over his face. Around his neck was a rope that dug into his skin. His body was lifeless, not even his chest moved. 

The boy had hung himself. 

"Bruce, what happened, I saw your heart rate jump—" 

"Oracle, where is Gordon?" His voice was calm, cold even. 

— 

"Damn, this is sick..." Gordon said as he held the bridge of his nose. 

"Commissioner Gordon, Sir!" Lt. Hill saluted, her voice high as she looked at the man who he called his senior and role model. 

"Hill, what do the reports say?" 

"Defaulter on his bills, no money so he hung himself. His mother was a widow who worked to keep them both afloat, died in a drive-by, unintentional casualty," Hill's voice was even, though she felt a bit of it crack when she remembered the scene inside. 

"Intentional Lt," A deep voice refuted her from the shadow beside Gordon, who also jumped a little when he heard it, though he had heard it a thousand times before, "Jesus! Stop with that shit! And please explain." 

"The bills are paid by the owner, not the renter, yet the bills were paid by one Giya Quintino, the mother of that boy. And after she died in the drive-by, he paid them. But the building is registered to Minores Ruby for three years." He answered Gordon who sighed and gestured him to continue, "Minores Ruby supposedly bought this building from Sky Quintino three years ago at well below market rates. But curiously the money never moved into any account remotely affiliated with Sky. Three weeks later an accident involving drunk driving and he died." 

Gordon nodded, "If it had been brought the bills would have gone to Ruby but they didn't so, someone messed with Government records. And they were murdered." 

Batman nodded, "I believe so." 

Hill knew Batman, and like all honest cops respected him. He was a symbol to them and when she heard it a single thought ran through her mind, "We will get him." 

Gordon nodded, "And we will, let's first see if we can get the boy a funeral." 

Then another figure came out of one of the alleyways that connected that part, it was Red Robin, and behind him were four men being dragged in with ropes trying their hands and gaggers in their mouths, two of them were Markus and Tyre "Ruby's men. Tried to kill those two thugs." 

Batman gestured, "They are yours, Gordon." 

"I will have an arrest warrant..." Gordon said before he stopped himself, with a bitter smile he corrected, "I will try to have an arrest warrant." 

Batman nodded and turned to leave but Hill had one question in mind, "How did they alter the government records?" 

He stooped and said, "Records are maintained by people, they can be bribed, threatened...many ways." And many are corrupt anyway, he kept that last part to himself. 

[A/N: Please try to understand that I wanted to break the fantasy that many Batman fanfics come in with—that in Gotham you deal with supervillains, you do. But more than that you deal with monsters and a corrupt system. 

Corrupt System-Someone took the money and transferred the home of one family to another...why we will see later but thanks for sticking around.

And to that guy who asked about romance. Probably not.

Love you guys, bye.]

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