Chapter 23

JAMES GORDON-Assistant Commissioner

Gotham had never been a peaceful city. The city was a chaotic mess, nearly every second of the day with hustle and bustle in each of its corners, yet despite that, today was becoming rather historic.

And it had all begun from right here, as he stood outside the burning building of Wayne Tower. Two hours ago, he had received a warning from an unknown source from Wayne Enterprises of an impending biological attack on the city and, per protocol, had been forced to investigate it, that was until a damned plane had crashed into the building, limiting his very access to the building.

And now, somehow a city-wide warning was being announced for the people to stay inside as sirens rang out all over the city, yet they had little to no answers about what was going on.

"Can we enter the building now?" he questioned the first responder standing by the side and he shook his head.

"We are still not sure about the level of structural damage the building has taken, just give us a little more time," the burly bald man told him making him grit his teeth.

"Do we have any idea about just how many people are still inside," he questioned and the man shook his head.

"Not yet, though according to our estimates, most of the staff evacuated rather quickly, and the only people that we believe are still inside are Mr. Thomas Wayne himself and maybe one or more other people," he announced, and that was the biggest problem.

Thomas Wayne, had more fame than damned celebrity, and when the news of a plane crashing into the Wayne Tower had been received a whole throne of people ahd gathered outside the building to catch a glimpse of the man, many even volunteering to go inside, yet all of them had been pushed back for their own safety.

Suddenly he watched as the commander of the firefighter unit received a message on his walkie, and then turned to face him.

"They have found someone and are bringing them down," he said and he perked up at that. Hopefully it was Thomas Wayne himself.

Yet he watched as a rather familiar face was helped out of the building gate, coughing and watching yet what was most surprising was how the First responders behind him were bringing out several large crates.

"Who's in charge? I want to talk with the one who is in charge here?" the CEO of Wayne Enterprises asked as he looked around and stepped forward.

"I am incharge," he said as he walked forward through the first responders circling him.

The man looked at him and instantly spoke up,

"I need you to listen to me, Gotham is about to be attacked with a toxin," he began repeating the earlier warning they had received.

"How do you know that? Who is the one attacking the city, and most importantly, how many more people are inside the building?" he questioned rapidly, and Lucius Fox answered.

"I cannot answer the 'who' part, but I have reason to believe it Is the same organization that attacked this building," and he had guessed as much.

"When will the attack happen?" he moved on, and the man looked up at the sky, and he stilled as the clouds thundered loudly, indicating an imminent downpour.

And his heart stilled as he realized the implication, for there had been a massive uproar about some unknown planes taking flight in the skies above Gotham.

"From the sound of that, any second now," the words simply confirmed his suspicion.

"Jesus Christ!" he cursed as he pushed back his hair and faced the man once more.

"What can we do?" he questioned, hoping that the man would also have an answer.

"Thankfully, we were able to make an antidote using some samples provided to us by a concerned party," he said as he pointed towards the massive crates the first responders were still bringing out.

"Right there, we have enough of it to inoculate the whole city," the man announced.

"You did that all alone," he questioned, and the man shook his head.

"No, this was done by one of our department heads," came the answer.

"And where are they?" he questioned.

"They are still inside, along with Thomas Wayne," came the answer.

"Shit!" he cursed, as the captain of the first responders immediately moved away and began to issue instructions.

"Now, I have a plan of mass distribution…."

"No! No," he cut in before the man could continue.

"You will need authorization for this, we cannot trust the word…" but the man face shifted as if he was looking at an idiot as he took out his phone and showed him, what seemed to be a signed document by the governor himself.

"That enough for you!" the man said, and he nodded.

"What do you need," he questioned.

"Firstly,…" but they were interrupted by massive shouts of someone.

"LET ME THROUGH! LET ME THROUGH!" and he looked back and saw the police trying to stop a rather familiar face from coming through.

"I am the assistant DA! LET ME THROUGH!" she shouted, and it was indeed Rachel Dawes, the assistant DA of Gotham.

"Let her through," he shouted at his men, who acquiesced and let through the disheveled DA, whose face was rather pale as she rushed towards him and the CEO of Wayne Enterprises.

Yet she moved past him and, with huffed breaths, pointed at the man standing beside him.

"You! You are Mr. Fox, right? Lucius Fox?" she questioned, and the man nodded.

"Indeed, and I believe you have something for me," the man said, and the woman nodded as she took out what seemed to be a key card and handed it to him.

"Thank you, Miss Dawes," the man took it from her hands as she frowned and spoke up.

"Do you know who gave it to me?" she questioned, rather cryptically, and the man didn't answer at once before finally opening his mouth.

"I do," and both of them looked at each other, for a second before she nodded and questioned once more.

"Where is Thomas?" she questioned, and then, before he could answer, they were interrupted by massive shouts from behind. His head snapped towards the source, and he saw the captain of the First responders rushing towards the gate as medics made their way to the gate as well, with stretchers and supplies, as an ambulance rounded up and stopped at the steps of the building.

He saw the assistant's DA's face turn ashen as the whole area was drowned by sounds and shouts as the men rushed out the main entrance holding a stretcher, shouting as the body of Thomas Wayne lay atop, unmoving, unconscious and covered in blood.

"NO!" Dawes gasped as she collapsed on the floor, her hand covering her mouth, and her eyes teared up. He saw Fox's lips thin as well at the scene.

"Gods!" he prayed as he saw them rush him to the ambulance before they dragged out two more people, one of them again lying on a stretcher, this one a female, with black hair and a black suit with, as a redhead woman with a white coat followed them, and rushed towards Fox.

"Here, I found it!"

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BRUCE WAYNE

Bruce felt his world burn at Ducard' words, the very ground slipped from under his feat as his mind took a moment to rationalize what was being said.

"No," he gasped out as he stood face to face with the man who claimed to have killed his brother, as his anger burned.

"NO!" he screamed in denial, which soon transformed into rage as he saw the face of the man who had killed his brother. A man who only stood there because of his own actions.

"You," he said through gritted teeth as he began to move forward.

"I will kill you!" he shouted in rage as he rushed towards Ducard.

He swung his fist at Ducard, who dodged quickly, and stepped back before retaliating with a punch of his own, which hit him in the gut, yet his armor didn't budge, as he rounded up and kicked him in the gut.

"ARGHH!" the man was pushed to the ground as he coughed up as Bruce was quick to follow along, yet Ducard was quick to react as he took out a knife from his pocket and slashed wildly at his face. He pulled back, yet the knife cut through his mask, cracking it up making a chunk of it fall down, as he kicked him and sat down on top of his chest.

"How does it feel now, Bruce? To be alone, to be the reason of the demise of your whole family," the man taunted as Bruce gritted his teeth, and swung his fist.

THUNK!THUNK!

THUNK!THUNK!

Again and again and again.

After a long time, when nearly half the compound had burnt to the ground, he stopped and watched the bloody face of Ducard smiling at him.

"Do it! Do it and have your revenge," he said, and Bruce stopped his words hammering through his head as he huffed.

He was considering it until a voice from the comm finally got through.

"Master Wayne! Master Wayne! I have news!" it was Alfred.

"It's about Master Thomas!"

0000

Deep in the cells of Arkham, the alarms rang out aloud as the Prisoners rushed out of the cells, many flooding to the streets, which were in absolute havoc, yet unlike everyone else, there was little to no movement in one of the cells. This cell belonged to none other than the city's infamous crime boss.

Carmine Falcone.

The man who had once ruled over Gotham lay dead on the floor, his blood drenching the cell's floor as a man sat atop his dead body, face covered in white and red makeup, his hair a disheveled green mess as he studied several photographs in his hand.

Photographs of a certain black-haired female. A female standing by the side of Thomas Wayne.

"Hehehehe. Hahahaha!"

"Interesting!"

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