Chapter 7: Chapter VII – Timely Intervention

Injustice: The Path to Hell

The End of Black Mask

Chapter VII - Timely Intervention

Friday 20th March 2009, 13:25.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
Unknown Location.

Black mask, formerly known as Roman Sions had come from a rich family, a result of his father's legal and illegal ventures. He was surrounded by wealth, but his parents had never been around or cared for him. His mother was a gold digger, marrying his father for the wealth he possessed and possessing numerous partners she kept secret from him. As for his father, Richard Sionis, he was focused purely on expanding his businesses even further.

As many things did in Gotham for those who pushed too far, they often failed.

It was only after his parents died and Roman took over that he learned the financial struggles that had been kept hidden from him. A few weeks later, the companies Roman tried to save from ruin were driven to bankruptcy as a result of external pressure from other enterprises. There had been nothing he could do to stop it and Roman was driven to hiding his behind a wooden mask carved from his father's coffin. Only for that very masked to be seared onto his skin in his first clash against Batman.

But he survived and Roman, now under his father's old criminal pseudonym, Black Mask returned to Gotham with revenge on his mind. His appearance, coupled with his keen intellect and never-ending drive allowed Black Mask to carve out a large criminal empire for himself, eventually rising to the very top of the food chain. Black Mask did what no one else had been able to do, dominate Gotham's criminal underground, forcing even the likes of Carmine Falcone and Salvatore Maroni to submit to his will.

However, such success was not easy to gain and even harder to keep.

Black Mask constantly faced obstacles and downfalls having been toppled from his position at the top time and time again. Each failure and hardship would have driven many men mad and become prone to lashing out in anger. Roman, on the other hand, was not a normal man. The pitfalls and obstacles that stood in his way were viewed as learning opportunities that would ultimately make him stronger.

With each success and failure, Black Mask kept getting stronger.

However, recently things have changed and become a bit more annoying.

Before he knew it, right under his nose, his criminal empire had begun to crumble around, like taking bricks out of a wall. This had never happened before, the structure he had lovingly crafted and improved upon over the years was being destroyed until eventually, there would be nothing left. At first, the vigilante, Black Hood had simply been beneath his notice, only focusing on killing his henchmen.

Hardly anything new or warranting any measure of concern.

Henchmen were easily replaceable and it was not like it hadn't been done before, all it proved to be was a minor inconvenience that was easily rectifiable. But that all changed after the attack on his armoury a week ago and with it, came the realisation of what Black Hood's true goal was. All this time, Black Mask had been too focused on Batman and his criminal rivals encroaching on his territory to see how bad things had become.

People no longer wanted to work for him.

Black Mask would acknowledge the simplicity and effectiveness of Black Hood's plan.

It was hardly anything genius, but he had pulled it off nearly flawlessly.

By targeting his peddlers and henchmen on the street, Black Hood created an image of a vengeful spirit hunting anyone associated with him. Now, no one in their right mind would willingly work for him while Black Hood was still around meaning that every subsequent death was like taking bricks out of a crumbling wall. Each time one was removed, huge sections of it fell to ruin and left the remainder even more exposed. As a result, Black Hood was able to attack his armoury with impunity, and his rivals were now pushing in like sharks that smelled blood in the water.

He was vulnerable and now they were baring their fangs to strike, ready to strike him down once and for all.

This was a deciding moment in his life.

It was sink or swim.

Live or die.

But these moments were nothing new to him.

All he had left now was a couple of millions of dollars, two safe houses and twenty men.

Not nearly enough to save his empire or defeat his rivals, but it was enough for him to eliminate Black Hood once and for all. He had a plan, Black Mask always had a plan and all it required was one simple thing.

Bait.

Chuckling, Black Mask leaned back into his chair, revelling in the knowledge that he was about to get rid of the annoying pest that had ruined him so dearly. All that was required now was setting up things just right and before Black Hood knew what hit him, he'd be dead and Roman would then be free to plot his return.

---

Friday 20th March 2009, 19:45.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
Gotham Heights.

Sitting back calmly, looking out onto the busy roads of Gotham Heights, Esau released a low sigh of boredom. Truly, some of the worst aspects of being a hero was the time it took to wait for something to happen. Often it meant arriving hours in advance to ensure they didn't miss something important because it was better to be early than late.

He was dressed in his Black Hood gear and in front of him, was a motorcycle helmet painted black in colour, Esau having decided to go all into his Black Hood persona. The Yamaha YZF-R3, a 'gift' kindly given to him by Black Mask which he had come across by happenstance on one of his raids.

"Right, when leaving the base, move to Safe House Two, keep eyes peeled and inform us if you catch sight of Black Hood or the Bat." A man ordered over the radio. It was something he confiscated off one of Black Masks' bases and was still wired into their radio frequency. It was a shock to him that this had happened, but something he was going to use to his advantage.

"Sloppy." Esau shook his head in amusement as he attached his Heckler and Koch MP5K to his back before leaning down and reviving his bike engine.

Today was the day Esau had been waiting for from the beginning, what everything he had done was working towards. Black Mask had been hit hard and was now running to a new, more defensible location from which he would defend what remained of his territories. But more importantly, he needed to leave his current safe house, a compound that at his current level, was impossible to break through. However, for his enemies, with their larger numbers and resources, would be child's play. Black Mask needed to go somewhere secret, where no one would know his whereabouts.

That first meant leaving his current safe house, leaving him completely exposed. Esau had only this one opportunity to end this fight once and for all because if Black Mask did escape to his new safe house, he would be stuck. He had no means of locating him and no doubt, he would have something up his sleeve at this new location.

He waited another five minutes before three identical black SUVs blurred past the alleyway he was stationed in. With a grin, Esau revved his engine, flicking on his light before racing off, temporarily doing a wheelie at the speed of his acceleration. He zoomed out onto the street, skidding slightly before moving down the road quickly, weaving in and out of lanes and cars.

Despite this though, his eyes trained on the three SUVs moving down the roads like a convoy. Reaching around, he grabbed hold of the submachine gun o her back and opened fire on the back convoy. A few hit the glass but did not shatter it letting him know that it was bulletproof.

Most were aimed towards the wheels though.

His aim was true and with a pop, the back wheels burst and the car drove off courses, brakes screeching loudly before it collided with a street lamp, taking it out of commission. At this point, however, the rest of the convoy realised something was wrong and their speed increased.

Not sparing it even a glance he increased his speed in response and pulled up alongside the side of the middle car, no doubt holding Black Mask. He went to aim at the front car, but quickly swung his gun around and fired into the passenger seat as the window rolled down enough to let the passenger open fire on him. Esau was quicker on the draw and fired riddling the man with bullets and he must have hit the driver as the car swerved off course and smashed into a shop.

Seeing this and hearing the screams of fright from the people, Esau once again fired upon the front car and took out its tires, before spinning around and driving towards the car holding Black Mask. He needed to move quickly, the front and rear would still have guys able to fight and provide backup.

As soon as he pulled up, he jumped off his bike and rushed into the shop as people rushed away from the scene. "Come on out, Black Mask!" Esau called out, his feet crunching upon broken glass and debris. His gun was trained on the door as his eyes flickered around the room looking for any sign of a surprise attack. "It's over."

The door opened and Esau riddled the man with bullets before he could even aim his gun or surrender.

"There's nowhere to run." Esau continued. "So just save us both the trouble and come out and I'll make your death quick." He moved forwards and looked inside to see that Black Mask was slumped against his chair, blood pooling into his lap and onto the floor from a wound to his neck. "Tch." He didn't know how, but obviously one of his bullets must have hit the crime lord without him realising.

He froze when he heard the sound of cars coming to a stop and numerous guns clicking and no doubt aimed at him. "I must say," Esau growled in anger as he heard the voice of Black Mask sound from behind the barricade of cars and goons. "You don't look as intimidating as my men make you out to be. Nor as smart. You fell for my trap quite easily."

It took everything Esau had to not scream and rage at his arrogance. Of course, Black Mask wouldn't be as stupid or careless as to leave his communications on an open channel that could be listened to by anyone who knew how to change a radio frequency.

Raising to his full height, Esau turned to face Black Mask and what must be fifteen guns aimed right at him. All assault rifles and each man wearing a mask of some sort to hide their face.

"Well fuck." He cursed silently.

---

Friday 20th March 2009, 19:50.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
East End.

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Night had descended upon Gotham, casting the city into a shadowed fog. The smoke billowing out from the various power plants scattered around the city, covered the night sky stopping the moon and stars from being seen. It was ominous and the perfect breeding ground for the criminal underbelly to continue growing.

That changed when Batman, Gotham's Dark Knight appeared.

Like a vengeful spirit, he had descended upon the criminals of Gotham and he gave them something to fear.

He had no power, no super strength or super speed.

Just pure human physicality, advanced technology, superior fighting skill and his greatest weapon of all, his mind. Using his keen intellect coupled with his mastery of numerous martial arts, Batman was able to go toe to toe with the worst of the criminals in Gotham.

Tonight, Batman was sitting inside the Batwing – one of the vehicles that allowed him to move across the city with great speed – as he listened to Alfred recount various minor crimes that had begun to take place throughout the city.

"And Black Hood?" Batman growled out in his usual gravelly voice that allowed him to mark a clear difference between Bruce Wayne, the billionaire playboy and Batman, Gotham's Dark Knight. "Any reports on him?"

The Black Hood was someone who interested Batman.

He was a vigilante that had reminded Batman of himself when he first started out as a vigilante in Gotham. Certainly, he had never killed like Black Hood, but he had come close on many occasions. Not only that, but Black Hood was competent, his fighting style was raw and undisciplined, but he obviously had a good head on his shoulders and used that to help him overcome his weaknesses. What made him effective was not skill, but experience and a good sense of his surroundings.

Eventually, Batman planned to actually change the way Black Hood dealt with criminals, killing was very much a possibility. However, it would make them criminals in the eyes of the government, something heroes like himself didn't need to deal with. It was bad enough having hundreds of criminals and police officers trying to figure out his identity, without adding the government on top of that.

It was the reason why he had not followed the League of Shadow's ideology of killing criminals. The government's laws, while vague and exploitable by the criminal element, were the laws nonetheless and Black Hood needed to realise that. Otherwise, he would have a lot of powerful people after him, people who had fewer scruples and morals than even the criminals they fought.

Batman didn't want that.

He didn't know Black Hood's past, but he saw someone trying their hardest to make Gotham a safer place and while he didn't agree with his tactics, it was nonetheless a brave thing to do. Batman planned to provide whoever Black Hood was, with the proper training and guidance just like he had done for Barbara and Dick.

"Young master Dick has just reported in that he and miss Gordon have spotted a car chase in Gotham Heights," Alfred informed him in his rich, British accent. "It involves a certain Black Mask and Black Hood. They are moving to put a stop to the incident."

"Thank you, Alfred." With that, Batman spun the Batwing around and sped off towards Gotham Heights.

---

Friday 20th March 2009, 20:00.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
Gotham Heights.

'You're a fucking idiot!'

Esau cursed himself mentally as he looked at the numerous guns aimed right at him, just waiting for the order to open fire.'How could you be so fucking stupid as to believe Black Mask was beaten like that?!' The blonde looked around the shop and noticed that on the other side of the SUV was a single wooden door, it was caved in slightly allowing him to see a staircase.

"There's nowhere to run!" Black Mask called out as he stared at the Black Hood, the masked vigilante that had almost ruined him.

But now, now there was nowhere for Black Hood to go.

Perhaps if he was Batman or a member of his Bat Family, Black Mask might be concerned about the possibility of them being able to escape this trap.

Black Hood though was not as skilled as them, nowhere near.

"Oh yeah, what makes you say that?" Esau called back, his body pressed against the open door as he unclipped the near-empty magazine of his submachine gun and replaced it with a new one.

Clicking his teeth in annoyance at the bravado shown by the vigilante, Black Mask nodded his head towards his men. "Your bravado proves nothing, but that you are simply scared and too afraid to show it." His men moved around the cars until they stood in a semi-circle around the hole in the shop created by the crashed SUV. "A coward too cowardly to show that he's a coward."

There were a few chuckles from his men at his words.

Esau on the other hand, grit his teeth at the taunting. "Really, I'm the coward." He shot back. "I don't see you standing here killing me! What, you can't be that afraid of me, can you? Afraid I'll kill you without your brain-dead henchmen to protect you!"

"Ha! Once again your false bravado shows." Black Mask laughed before growing serious. "But I grow tired of these games. Kill him!" With that single shouted command the guns trained on the SUV opened fire. In the space of a few seconds, hundreds of bullets ripped through the air and punched into the car door.

Luckily for Esau, none broke through.

Once the firing stopped, no doubt due to the thugs needing to reload, Esau raised his gun while simultaneously spinning round and went to fire. Only to have to quickly duck behind cover once more as bullets cut through the air his head once occupied.

'Shit!' Looks like Black Mask had kept a few thugs back from firing allowing the bulk of his forces to reload while forcing him to keep his head down. 'This isn't looking good.' Crouching down, Esau crawled slowly down the SUV, making sure to keep his head down as he moved around the front of the car, far away from the trunk and the bullets that could kill him.

It also brought him closer to the wooden door due to the angle of the car.

If he could just get a little closer, he could make a run for the exit in the brief interlude it took them to reload.

They would be expecting him to still be behind the door, huddled down and waiting. This would give him the chance to make a break for the door before they realised their mistake. Thus, allowing him the chance to retreat and rethink his strategy.

The firing stopped and Esau didn't waste a moment.

"Shit! He's on the other side!" One of Black Masks men shouted, but it was too late.

Esau had already charged into the wooden door, knocking it off its hinges, it and the door collapsing to the ground. He then scrambled to his feet and rushed into the stairwell, climbing up them two at a time.

"Don't just stand there!" Black Mask yelled, angered that the vigilante was escaping. "Go after him!"

The thugs went to rush into the building when a shadow descended upon them.

They looked up and all one man saw was a black boot mere inches from his face before he was sent unconscious to the ground, Batgirl crouched over him. Each of them took a cautious step back in shock at her sudden arrival, but just as they were about to open fire, they heard something soaring past them overhead.

Looking up, they saw the Batwing coming to a stop, hovering in the air and its pilot, Batman taking a running leap down into the fray. Seen as the bigger threat, many went to turn their guns upon him, but in doing so, made the fatal mistake of forgetting about Batgirl. This cost them dearly as Batgirl charged forwards, taking out thug after thug with practised ease.

Her quick dispatch of the member of the False Face Society was made even quicker when she joined up with Batman. Throughout the course of the short exchange, the two had moved closer together so that they would work in tandem to take out Black Mask's men. Their familiarity with one another and the similarity of their styles allowed them to move in perfect unison, when one would attack, the other would defend.

All the while preparing to attack themselves.

Jumping over Batman's back as he slammed a powerful cross into the face of one thug, knocking him out cold, Batgirl kicked out with both legs in a split kick. The kick was perfectly timed as it struck the two thugs that had rushed Batman from the side with knives in hand. She aimed dead centre and both men stumbled back with bloody noses.

Batman used this opportunity to his advantage by grabbing onto the back of one of the thug's necks and driving him face-first into the ground. While crouched down, Batman swept out the legs from underneath the second while Batgirl spun around, throwing a number of Batarangs at the group of thugs behind them, each who raised their guns. Each one struck true and they dropped their guns in pain, cradling their hands as a Batarang pierced the backs of their hands. But they froze when they heard beeping and looked to see that stick out from the SUV behind them, was another.

This one had a blinking red light upon it.

"Shit!" One cursed, but it was too late as it exploded with enough force to pick them up off their feet and launch them through the air, but not enough to kill them.

All the while Black Mask looked on with outrage. "Get us out of here!" He growled out to the driver while getting into one of the SUVs. "Now!" He shouted and the SUV took off as what remained of his men were been picked off one by one.

So, another chapter is done and I hope you enjoyed it. Anyway, if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.

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