Chain 205: Batman - The Dark Knight Trilogy

Chain 205: Batman - The Dark Knight Trilogy

Location: The Pit (near Uzbekistan)
Age: 24
Identity: Drop-In
Drawbacks: [+400] The Pit

[Free]      Trained By The League Of Shadows
[200/1400]  Bending The Rules
[800/1400]  The League of Jumper
[1200/1400] Jumper Enterprises
[1300/1400] Blue Flowers
[1400/1400] Import Companions: Demona and the Conspiracy

Powerless again, and in what is assuredly one of the weirder and less secure prisons that exist. The only reason no one tries to get out is because they've seen others try and fail. Oh, it's still a prison, and I've spent some time in them over the millennia occasionally, so the pecking order still exists. But the lessons of Hokuto no Ken are very clear, even if its peculiar feats aren't possible here, and so I made myself known as one who would not take any guff, and who would not give up.

I climbed the wall every other day. Sometimes I made it halfway; sometimes I made it only a short distance. Occasionally I made it a notable length before I would be forced to stop and retreat, or fall. But in each expedition I took, I was careful. The leap that had to be taken to escape hung me up a couple of times... before I realized there was another way. The walls were less sheer than many I'd climbed in the past. And despite everything... a little dust to ensure my hands kept a good grip, and I was able to take a path up that no one expected. Climbing the wall itself instead of going along the path another before me had used.

After I made it to the top, I felt my power return. And after my power returned, I emptied the prison and Obliviated everyone within so that they'd have no idea that I was there, and no idea how they'd all been transported out, other than that they were all enjoying notable hangovers at a city nearby.

After that, though? It's time to mix things up a little. First, let's head back to the United States and- why the fuck is the state of New York called Gotham here. You know what, I'm not even going to try to figure that out. Instead I'm going to sit back and watch Sovereign Enterprises pump money into Gotham while I'm busy making the world a better place, and incidentally nudge things in directions that amuse me simply for the sake of their amusement. For example, the League of Shadows is going to attack the city? Well... isn't it a shame that it turns out that there's some sort of filter in the water supply somewhere that basically prevents any of the crazy juice from actually taking effect? But Ra's al Ghul gets to be saved. Sure, nobody would have really gotten his body back from the wreckage, but I can pull almost all of it out. And then create a Olympic-size Lazarus Pit - thank you, Arrowverse - and dunk him in there to bring him back.

Of course there's more to be read into all of this than would be immediately obvious, because there was no 9/11 here - instead, what they tried to do was the local equivalent, with less police state paranoia but as much armed overseas interventions because League of Shadows are clearly terrorists and etc etc, apparently. Speaking of which, you wanna know how the Joker got his scars? Poor bastard failed as a comedian, went into the army, his squad called him Joker, and guess which of them was the only one that survived an IED and subsequently being beaten and tortured.

On a related note, that poor bastard got the chair, Rachael Dent found out she'd chosen the greater of two evils because her husband-to-be was just as bad as Batman and more willing to cross lines, and Batman's existence helped bring a handful of others like the Joker and the Scarecrow into existence but more or less the city was cleaned up thoroughly over the next several years.

Afterward, apparently Talia and Ra's made up because he came back from the dead, though the League of Shadows had its nice mountain stronghold obliterated by lots and lots of bombs. So it went underground, because they do their best work in the shadows anyway; Bane may have been excommunicated, but Ra's had a change of heart after his return. Or perhaps it was the mind control. Either way... he reconsidered, for Gotham was not the worst of the world's problems by any stretch. Western society wouldn't fall just because one city has an economic depression, anyway, that's stupid.

Also, and did you know Mr. CIA's name was Slade Wilson? Because it was. Not really relevant, admittedly, but let's hear it for Easter eggs?

On a related note, Bane's plan went as scheduled but only until a certain point early on. His hit on the stock exchange... it didn't work, my friend, and two thirds of his men came down with an acute case of lead poisoning after a shootout with Gotham SWAT. Seems they didn't forget all the lessons they learned during the mob wars that erupted after the Joker decapitated the old mob bosses. And though Batman was largely seen as retired... well, his name was never dragged through the mud here, and it seemed he came out of retirement in order to beat Bane senseless while he was busy fleeing from the police as a last hurrah.

You see, Bane thought Bruce fought like a younger man. Mistaken, but admirable; Batman simply boxed him into the right place, before seeing to Bane's downfall. The police pulled him out of that old well shortly after, sure, but even Bane can't fight off a dozen police officers. And Talia cut her losses, because after a certain point, there's nothing to be gained. The planned fusion bomb even turned out to be a dud; seems there was a partnership between Wayne Enterprises and Sovereign Enterprises, and the design no longer had the flaw. Or rather, it could, if someone could completely tear it apart and rebuild it, adding certain missing parts.

After that... well, Bruce ended up retiring as Batman. The world didn't need a dark knight anymore. It felt a bit empty to him, his victory, but Alfred was happy to remind him that any fight you can walk away from is one where you're the victor. The mask became the man; he left Wayne Enterprises in capable hands, and he and his wife Selina proved remarkably capable of evading the paparazzi.

I, meanwhile, made sure to visit Metropolis before leaving. Specifically, Intergang.

"Hello, ugly. You're a hard man to find, some days."
>"Who are you?! How did you get in my house?!"
"Who I am isn't important, Mr. Mannheim, nor is how I got here. The only important thing is that I know who you work for, and I have a message for you to deliver."
>"H-hey, pal, I don't know what you're on about! Intergang answers to me!"
"And you answer to Boss Dark Side, don't you, Bruno?"
>"... I don't know who you are, but you have no idea who you're messing with. If you know what're good for you, you'd walk away."
"No, no. We have history, he and I. Every so often we tussle. Sometimes I win. Sometimes he wins. But like I said... a simple message. Nothing more, nothing less."
>"Okay... okay, what message?"
"Oh, no, you've misunderstood. Bruno... you ARE the message."

Seeing all of Intergang ended overnight is a fairly overt message, after all. And the message sent was a simple one, if a bit bloody, but any gangster or warlord would get it.