Categories > Movies > Batman Begins > Batman: The Scarred and the Damned
"Okay, so what do we do?" Wintergreen then asked, making Dent mirror his expression as he looked back.
"Before 'we' do anything, I am going to need a suit." he said back, earning bemused look from the lead-Merc in return.
"Excuse me?" he replied in a surprised tone, to which the scarred-Man gestured at his current outfit.
"You don't expect me to keep wearing these prison-rags, do you?"
This gained a shrug from Wintergreen, before he turned and looked at the soldier closest to him.
"Marc, I want you to head out in your civvies and go get our new Benefactor a suit."
The other Man nodded back, while the Leader returned his attention to Harvey.
"You'll have your suit, but it will take at least an hour, maybe two. So in the meantime, if you really need to change clothes right this second, then we have some spare civvies in the back." he added, making Harvey pull out his lucky-coin once more and toss it up into the air with a thoughtful expression, before catching it in his hand with blackened side facing up.
"I'll be fine, for now…" he started to reply, only to stop and look at their surroundings.
"…but if there is some place that I can have some privacy and rest…"
"Of course, there is a spare room just down there, if you need to sleep…" Wintergreen jumped in, as he cut off the former District Attorney. But this made the latter turn and stare back in annoyance.
"I don't need sleep, since I have slept for over a year." he snarled back, earning a surprised and unsure expression from the Merc-Leader, who noticed how tightly Dent was holding his lucky-coin.
"Okay, well it's the third door to the right, back there."
"Thank you." Harvey said back before turning around and heading in the direction that the other guy had pointed in, while the latter looked back at the other Men with a bemused expression.
"Right, let's get back to work." he ordered, gaining nods from them all as they returned to their tasks as he returned his attention to their new Benefactor, as he entered the other room and closed the door behind him.
Away from the crowd, Harvey looked at the surroundings that he now stood in the middle of, noticing that it had a desk and chair on one side, with one single bed on the other. So the scarred-Man sat down on it, leaning back against the cold concrete wall and began to flip his Father's coin again and again as a slight smile appeared on his face, closing the only eye he could as his mind began to wander, while his left eye stared straight ahead as he remembered Rachel once more.
"You're flipping a coin to see who leads?"
"It's my Father's lucky coin. As I recall, it got me my first date with you."
"I'm serious, Harvey. You don't leave things like that to chance."
"I don't….I make my own luck."
Harvey's smile started to widen as he remembered the love of his life, focusing on every detail from the color of her eyes, to the way she smiled when looking at him. Dent could feel his heart warming as sat there and continued to flip the silver Dollar, though it did not last long as his day-dreams turned sour as he once again remembered Rachel's cries over the radio as he was being dragged away at that fateful moment.
"...Harvey!"
The scarred-Man then tightened his hand around the coin as he gritted his teeth, feeling his temper building up while the painful memory replayed itself.
"...I do have an answer for you...and my answer is Yes."
Suddenly Dent opened his eye and narrowed it, while his left remained always the same.
"ARRAAGGHH!" he screamed out before getting off the bed and grabbing it at it's legs, all while keeping the Coin held tightly in one hand. Harvey then lifted the Bed up and tossed it aside, making it break against the concrete wall. He then turned his attention to the desk and picked up it's chair, before smashing it down on the former again and again.
Meanwhile on the other side of the door, the masked-Mercs nearest to it all stopped and looked in it's direction as they heard their new Boss raging behind it for a minute or so, before it suddenly quieted down again.
"Glen, go check it out." one then said to the other standing next to him, making that guy shake his head back in disagreement.
"Hell no! There is no way I am going in there." he replied while slowly moving away from that area, earning a shrug from the former in return.
"...Yeah, I agree. It's not worth the hassle." he said back, before doing the same.
Back in the room, the bed was toppled over and broken at one side of the room, while the desk and it's chair lied in shattered pieces as Harvey sat at opposite it where the former once stood. He leant back against the wall and held his gun to his head, resting it's cool metal barrel against his forehead while moving his favorite Coin in his other hand.
"I miss you, Rachel, so very much. I have to make them pay." he whispered while taking deep calming breaths, while there was nothing but silence around him.
BATMAN: THE SCARRED AND THE DAMNED
In the damp and dark depths of the Bat-Cave, Bruce was back at the Bat-Computer as Alfred entered the area via the elevator carrying a tray with a drink on it.
"That was fast, Alfred." the former said with a humorous tone as he glanced at his older friend, with the latter gently shaking his head as he joined the other's side.
"Considering how many times I have checked your always 'empty' Bedroom, I have decided that the Cave should now be my first stop from now on."
"Better late than never, but before you ask, I have only been down here for say 20 minutes..." the Billionaire then began to say as he got up, revealing that he was already dressed in a suit.
"...since I have an appointment with the Mayor today." he added, earning a nod from the Butler in return.
"I believe that appointment is about your Old Gotham Initiative."
"Yes that's correct, but it isn't the only reason I want to visit the Mayor's Office." Bruce replied as he started to head for the elevator, while Alfred followed behind.
"Oh, what would that be then, Master Bruce?" he said back as the pair approached the opening doors ahead.
"Well, I heard from Commissioner Gordon last night that he is to meet with the Mayor as well…" Wayne started to reply, while looking at his watch as they entered the elevator.
"…in just over an hour."
"And how do you know that." the older Man asked, as they felt the Lift stop and the doors opened up and revealed the interior of Wayne Manor's large Living-room.
"I hacked into the Mayor's schedule earlier and saw that Gordon's name was quickly added before my own, which was done less than an 30 minutes after the break-in at the Asylum…" he replied as they walked out, while the younger Man adjusted his cuff-links.
"…which means they are going to have a conversation that I should really hear."
"And how do you want to go about doing that, considering that meeting will most likely be private and not to mention that the Mayor's Office is checked hourly for bugs." Alfred asked with a curious expression and tone, which earned a mirrored look from Bruce in return.
"How do you know about that?" he asked as the pair stopped in the main corridor, outside of the Living-Room.
"Please, Master Bruce. You do not honestly think that when I am on monitoring duty, that that is all I am doing on the Bat-Computer?" the old Man replied with a knowing smile, making the Billionaire smirk back and nod.
"No, I guess not. But since you asked..." he started to say back, before lifting his arm up to his friend.
"...tell me what you see?" he carried on, while his friend and Confidante looked at the Cuff-links.
"I do not recall seeing that particular pair, Sir."
"That's because these are special listening-devices developed by Fox and myself, which after being used will self destruct and look like any other kind of Suit-accessory. And it is even undetectable via current means of detection, so there is no need to worry about that. All I have to do is see the Mayor before his meeting with Gordon and plant it there." he replied in a confident tone, gaining an unsure expression from Alfred.
"And how will you see the Mayor before the Commissioner, if your appointment is actually set after?"
"That won't be a problem, since I can be very persuasive." Wayne said back with smile, making the older Man look back knowingly.
"Are you talking about yourself or your alter ego, Master Bruce?"
"Well it really isn't the Batman' style to visit people in broad daylight, Alfred. So I thought I would deal with this 'myself'." the younger Man answered.
"So you are using your Checkbook then, very good, Sir." the Butler said with a pleased tone, before looking at his own Watch as the former started to walk to the door leading to the Garage.
"Well, Sir, you should get a move on. As by my estimates, you have just under an hour now."
"That's why I am taking the Veyron." the Billionaire said back with a smirk as he opened the door and walked through, while Pennyworth nodded back with a smile.
"Good luck, Master Wayne." he replied before turning around and headed back into the inner part of the Mansion. Moments later, a black Bugatti Veyron drove down the winding lane that lead from the large house to it's front-gate, before speeding off towards the City.
Back at the Docks, Harvey was still sitting against the wall, his mind still wandering through the sea of his thoughts as a knock at the door snapped him out of it.
"Mr Dent…I have your Suit." a nervous voice spoke from the other side of the door, making the scarred Man look towards it and then back at his coin.
'No need for that.'
Dent then clenched his hand around the Dollar and then got to his feet, before walking over to the door and opening it.
"Good…" he began to reply, gaining an uncomfortable look from Marc as he saw his scarred face.
"…let me see it then."
"It's over here…" the other Man started to say back with a gesture, with the two then walking over to a table while Wintergreen watched from another just aways.
"...so what do you think?" he asked as their new Boss looked over the suit, taking note of it's sharp looks. If it were not for it's black sleekness, Harvey would have sworn that it was a new version of his old one along with the red and black striped tie.
For what felt like a long moment, Harvey said nothing as he stared down at the suit while everyone watched with confused looks on their faces.
"...um, Mr. Dent, is there a problem?" Wintergreen then spoke up, looking slightly annoyed as he started to approach the pair next to their new purchase.
"It doesn't look right." he replied, making Marc's eyes widen as a look of shock appeared on his face.
"What do you mean? I spent a good amount of our money on this suit, so what could possibly be wrong with it?" he almost snapped, leaving Wintergreen speechless as he was stopped in his tracks by the Subordinate's words. But before he could say anything else in return, Dent looked over at the other guy.
"Relax, it's nothing that I can't fix here..." he started to reply, only to stop and look at their surroundings.
"...I just need a few things first..." he carried on until his eyes focused in on one table in particular.
"...those will do."
Everyone just remained in their places and watched as their new Benefactor walked over to said table and picked up a few of the items that were on it, only for the guy who bought the suit to remain stunned-looking as he saw what the scarred-Man had in his hands.
"What are you going to do with those?"
"I am going to use these to improve the suit." Dent said back as he returned to their table.
"What? With Motor-oil and a lighter!" Marc replied with a growing anger to his voice, that did not go unnoticed by the former who carried on as he unscrewed the lid of the Oil container.
"Wintergreen, please can you deal with this Man..." he started to say, before looking back at the Merc-Leader with a serious expression.
"...or would you like me to?"
This earned a knowing nod from the other guy as he then turned his attention to said person, who was still biting his lips as he watched Dent begin to pour the oil over one side of the suit.
"...stand down, that's an order!" he called out, gaining a look of surprise from Marc, who then saw the expression of Wintergreen's face and realized his mistake.
"Okay..." he said back reluctantly, while Harvey then tossed the empty container aside and activated the Lighter, before gently throwing the device and it's naked flame onto the soaked side of the brand new set of clothing, which suddenly lit it up as the fire spread out over the left side of the suit, burning and crisping up the garments.
A few seconds passed as Dent watched that half of the suit burn, his expression was completely blank as everyone else's attention was focused on the fire that had now engulfed the entire left side as the smell of burning cloth began to fill the room. Wintergreen though managed to move his attention away from the fire and towards the former District Attorney, who he noticed had a slight smirk on the right side of his face,which left him feeling a little uncomfortable.
'Yes, that's the feeling I remember. The heat, the rage that burns more than flesh…' Harvey started to think as he felt the heat of the flames on his face, while never taking his eyes away from the dancing fire that was consuming half of his new suit.
'...this is what I want to share with Gordon and his family. While, Batman too will watch this City share the same fate, because everyone failed Rachel and I, and so deserve to burn as well.' he thought with a smirk, before gesturing to the Lead-Merc with his right hand.
"Okay, put it out." he said, making Wintergreen look at the Man closest to the former DA.
"Marc..." he called, gaining a nod from the younger Man, who then picked up a fire extinguisher from under the table and used it on the burning garments, covering them the white smoke of the CO2 which snuffed out the fire instantly.
Then it once again went quiet as the white cloud began to dissipate, showing the look of the suit to them all. This made Dent's smirk widen as he gazed down on the clothing, though the smile could only be seen on the right side of his face, gaining uncomfortable expressions from the rest of the men there.
"Excellent, now it's perfect." he said with an admiring tone, while Wintergreen took a step toward him.
"Alright, Mr. Dent, you have your suit. So what is our next move?" he asked, which brought a knowing look to the scarred Man's face.
"Very well. But for what I have planned, we are going to need a few things." he replied, making everyone there stare back with curious looks.
"Like what?" Marc replied, voicing the question that was on all their lips before the main-merc could even take breath to speak.
"We are going to need the rest of your Men, the ones who were arrested back at the Asylum." the scarred-Man said back, gaining a surprised look from the younger man in return as he went quiet, giving Wintergreen the chance to speak up again.
"I have been keeping tabs on them and they are currently sitting the cells at the 'Major Crimes Unit', waiting to be processed and then sent on to Black-Gate."
"And who is now in charge of the MCU, since Gordon is the Police Commissioner?" Dent asked with a tinge of curiosity to his voice.
"That would be Capt. Crispin Allen, who was promoted to the position not long after the 'Joker Incident' a year ago."
Hearing that name brought a thoughtful expression to Dent's face as he looked back at the smoldering suit, before taking his Dollar out from his pocket.
'That Clown…' he started to think before flicking the coin and catching it, while the rest of the Men watched him.
"Mr. Dent…?" Wintergreen then asked, while the Scarred-Man looked down at the shiny, clean surface of the coin.
"…Mr. Dent?"
This snapped the former District Attorney out of his thoughts, making him look back as he gritted his teeth.
"What!" he almost spat while clenching his fist around his Father's lucky coin, earning a worried look from the former as he noticed this.
"You had asked about the MCU and Capt. Allen before spacing out for a moment." the Merc replied.
"Yeah, I did…never mind. Okay, I want you to take half of your men here and get the rest back from the MCU." Harvey said back, earning surprised looks from everyone other than Wintergreen, who simply nodded back.
"This could have been a problem…" he started to say back, before looking to another door on the other side of the room.
"Noah!"
This caused the door to open as a spectacled brown-haired, Caucasian Man stepped out.
"You called, Wintergreen." he replied before his eyes fell upon Harvey Dent, making his eyes widen as he found himself focusing on the scarred half of the Man's face.
"Okay…how did I not know about this?" he asked out loud, gaining a chuckle from one of the guys nearest to him.
"That's because you locked yourself in that room with your computers, that's why." he said, earning a glare from Noah as he adjusted his glasses.
"That's enough." Wintergreen then said with a serious tone, before gesturing the new Man to join him and their Benefactor.
"Who is this?" Dent then asked with a curious expression, that could only be read via his right side of his face.
"Harvey Dent, meet ‚Noah Kuttler'…" the Merc-leader started to reply as the spectacled-Man joined them and offered him his hand.
"…who is our Tech-Expert." he finished as both men shook hands, though Noah had to hide his disgust as he noticed that he was shaking the heavily scarred left hand of the former DA's.
"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Dent, though I thought you were dead?" he said back with a curious tone, earning a bemused expression from their new Boss in return.
"It didn't take." was all he would say, before turning his attention back to Wintergreen.
"So what's he going to do?"
"Noah will hack into the MCU's security and make it that much easier for us to get in there and liberate our Men…" he started to say, only to stop as a thoughtful look crossed his face.
"…but why don't you want me to take all of the guys here?"
"I am going to need the rest for something special, which I will tell you once I have a chat with 'The Bird'." Harvey answered with a sinister smile, before flicking his coin into the air once more and catching it.
"So let me just go talk to him and then I will get changed into this mighty fine suit." he added before gesturing to the garments lying on the table next to them, earning a unsure look from Kuttler as he stared at them.
"Yeah, they look very…sharp." he replied before turning back towards his room.
"I will be in my room, preparing for the hack of the MCU." he then said to the Merc-leader, gaining a nod from the other man.
"Okay, Mr. Dent, we have been keeping 'the Bird' in a secure room over this way." Wintergreen then said as he lead the scarred Man away from the table, with both Men heading towards the north end of the building.
BATMAN: THE SCARRED AND THE DAMNED
Meanwhile, Bruce had arrived at City Hall and was met by Mayor Anthony Garcia, who had a surprised expression on his face.
"Good Morning, Bruce…" he said as the two shook hands outside of his Office, gaining a knowing smile from the Billionaire in return.
"…but aren't you a little early, since our appointment is not for another hour?"
"I know Mr. Mayor, but you know how it is. You have plans, only for something else to come up in it's place." he said back, earning a mirrored look from Garcia.
"I understand, Bruce, truly I do. But I really don't have time right now, since my first appointment will be here any moment." he answered, making Wayne look around them in return.
"There is no one here besides the two of us so far, I just need a minute or two of your time and then I will be on my way. Then we can rearrange another date in the future..." the Billionaire said back with an honest tone, before his smile changed slightly to a more serious one.
"...or are you really going to turn away one of this City's biggest Benefactors, if not biggest. Who is also a good friend?" he then asked, which made the Mayor look at the ground and sigh in defeat.
"Okay..." Garcia began to reply, before turning to the double doors and unlocking them with his keys.
"...come on in, but we really don't have time to sit and talk, believe me." he finished as the pair then entered the room, with Bruce inspecting the room with a quick glance while the other guy walked to his desk.
"Oh I do." he replied with a reassured tone while noticing a set of white Kallax shelves with a number of awards standing upon them, before walking over to inspect them.
"Good, so what was so important that you could not simply rebook our meeting?" the other guy then asked as he sat down and began to flip through the files on his desk, not even paying attention to Bruce who smirked in return.
'Good, just keep looking there, Anthony.' he thought before quickly and quietly disconnecting the Cuff-link and placing it behind one of them, before the Mayor then looked up at the Billionaire.
"Bruce, what you doing?" he asked, which made the younger man, in one fluid action, pick up the award next to the bugged one and look at it.
"I was just admiring your Awards collection here, especially this one…" he started to say with a smile, before reading it's engraving with a confused expression.
"Municipal Empowerment Award….what exactly does that mean?"
Garcia then got up and walked over to his Visitor, before taking the Award and placing it back in it's place.
"Come on, Bruce. You didn't come here to talk about my collection of Awards, did you?" he replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice, which made Wayne nod back as he turned away from the Awards, with the Mayor following.
"Of course not, I was just curious…." he started while walking toward one of the large windows, with it's view of the nearby Plaza and the Skyscrapers that surrounded it.
"…but since I had already spoken about my Company's Initiative with you before the big reveal last night…" the Billionaire added, only to be cut off by Garcia as he looked at his watch.
"I hate to cut you off, Bruce, but you need to get to the point." he said with a mix of annoyance and regret to his voice and expression, making the other Man shrug in response.
"Okay, well I think that due to circumstances that are…unfortunately beyond my control right now, that we are going to have to postpone by about a week or so." he replied with an honest disappointment to his voice, earning a bemused smile from the Mayor in return.
"Bruce…you didn't need to come here and tell me this, a simple phone call would have been fine."
"Yeah, but we're friends and I felt it would be better to tell you in person. Plus the Mayor's Office is on the way to that really good Shawarma restaurant that just opened a month ago, and I was thinking of buying it so they could deliver their food straight to me whenever I want with no hassle." Bruce said back with a smirk, which gained a mirrored expression from Garcia as he shook his head in a faked disapproving way.
"Billionaires and their eccentricities. You do realise that just being 'Bruce Wayne' would get you no hassle with your orders, right?"
"Yeah, but I have found that places are that much better when you own them." the younger Man answered, which made the Mayor chuckled in return.
"Well thanks for visit, Bruce, even though it wasn't necessary and also for that chuckle, since I doubt that I will be seeing any joy for the rest of the day." he said back as his smile slowly disappeared, earning a curious and concerned look from Wayne in return.
"That sounds ominous..." he then said back with a curious tone, though secretly, he already knew the reason.
"It does doesn't it, but I cannot talk about it Bruce, though you understand why." Garcia replied, before a knock at the door caught both Men's attention.
"Come in."
And then Commissioner James Gordon opened the door and entered, joining the pair as Garcia began to walk toward it.
"I am afraid that you have to leave now, Bruce, since the Commissioner and i have some business to discuss." he added, with the billionaire nodding back in return as started to walk towards the door too.
"Yeah, I understand..." he started to reply, before turning his attention to the older-moustache wearing Man.
"Good Morning, Commissioner."
"Good Morning, Mr. Wayne." the Police Chief replied, trying to sound completely normal, though Bruce could see right through the charade, noticing the slither of nerves that Gordon was trying to hide.
"I'll speak to you later, Bruce." Garcia then said back as the Billionaire left the room, closing the door behind him and leaving his friend alone in the corridor and himself with Gordon.
'Okay, time to eavesdrop.' the Wayne thought as he first tapped his one remaining Cuff-link and then activated his phone, putting the latter to his ear as he walked away from the Mayor's Office.
"Alfred, it's me. The Bug is now on and I am heading down to my Car." he said, before walking through another door and heading down it's stairwell.
"I can confirm that from here, Sir. I can see from here that the device is working at 100% efficiency, so you should be able to listen to their entire conversation." the Butler replied from the other end of the call, gaining a nod from Bruce as he took out a small ear-piece and put it snug into his right ear where no one could see it.
"Okay, I'm ending the call now."
"Very well, Master Bruce." his friend and Confidante answered before the call then stopped, allowing the Billionaire to put his phone away as he reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the Parking-Garage, just as the voices of Gordon and the Mayor could now be heard within his ear.
"So Commissioner..." Garcia started to say as the other man sat down in the only chair facing the desk of the Mayor, while the former walked around him towards his own.
"...do you know what I was doing last night?"
This gained a confused look from Jim as he kept his focus on the City's Leader while sat behind his desk.
"You were at Wayne's Fund Raiser, we were all there." he said back, making Garica nod back in response.
"That is true, until you and my good friend, Quincy Sharp then left the party all of a sudden..." he began to say, before picking up a pen that had been lying on the desk and pressing it's button every couple of seconds.
"...which I could not help but wonder about. So it came as a huge shock for me to hear an hour or so later that Arkham Asylum had been breached, that one of he prisoners had escaped and my friend was now dead." he finished as a pained expression befell his face, making Jim's crack a little, revealing his guilt that could be seen clear as day.
"Look, Mr. Mayor..." he started to reply, but he was cut off as the younger Man continued to speak.
"But that wasn't even the most shocking news, because then I was told that a Man that I and the entirety of Gotham believed to be dead, was in fact alive and now roaming the streets of our City..." he added, while Gordon went quiet, only for the Mayor's eyes to look directly at him with a judgemental look.
"...which I could not believe, so I am going to ask you now, Commissioner..."
This brought an eerie silence between the two as Garcia took a breath, making Jim gulp in return.
"...is Harvey Dent alive and running amok in Gotham?"
The Police Chief could feel his heart-beat quicken, each and every beat pulsing through his body as a small drip of sweat ran down the side of his face.
"...Yes...I am afraid he is."
This made the Mayor look at his desk and take a breath, like he was letting the weight of that realization really hit him hard, before sighing.
"My God..." he started to say, before turning his chair so he could look out of the large window behind his desk.
"...then I guess that means that the Batman is innocent in all of this, in that he didn't kill those people...Harvey did." he added, gaining a nod from the Commissioner in return.
"Yes, that's true, Mr. Mayor." he replied, while the other man kept his back to him as he continued to stare out of the window.
"Do you remember when we were here with Dent and Commissioner Loeb...?" Garcia then started to ask, which made Gordon nod once more.
"Yes, after he and I managed to put the Mob's leadership behind bars. You then asked Loeb and I to leave the room..." he began to reply, only for the Mayor to turn back round and cut him off.
"I told him that if he continued with that risky proposition, then it would all be on him. That everyone who had a hand in the Mob's pockets would be after him, looking for something to pin on him..." he continued before dropping hos pen back on his desk and shaking his head in disgust.
"...well it looks like that will actually happen now. And all the Mob's men that have been rotting in Black Gate for the past year, who were denied a hearing or parole because of an act you had me sign..." he tried to continue, only for Gordon to this time interrupt him.
"With all due respect, Sir, what had happened to Harvey, what he became, was exactly what the Joker was intending. Because he wanted to drag down our City's White Knight and prove to our Citizens that it is all for nothing and that Chaos was the only path. But the Batman chose to take the blame instead, so that the City would be spared that fate. Because if he hadn't, we would be living in War-zone right now." he said back with a controlled anger lining his words, making Garcia stare back with a somewhat thoughtful expression.
"Well that was very...noble of a Vigilante to do that. But in the end, it didn't work that way did it. Because once this comes out, everything is going to fall apart. All those criminals in Black-Gate will be released back onto the streets, with you and me quickly following them."
Meanwhile, Bruce was back in his vehicle and listening to the conversation with a stoic expression on his face.
"Nobody outside of handful of people know about this right now, so it is possible that we can keep this under wraps, but that hinges on is bringing Harvey in and I think to do that we need..." he heard Gordon start to say, only to be cut off by a familiar voice that spoke over his, one that made Bruce's eyes widen as a cold dread crossed his face.
"Did someone mention my name..?"
'Harvey!' Bruce suddenly thought, while Gordon and Garcia remained quiet as the sounds of guns being cocked could be heard over Wayne's earpiece.
"...because I am back in City Hall!" the former District Attorney was then heard exclaiming, as Bruce's eyes narrowed in response.
"Before 'we' do anything, I am going to need a suit." he said back, earning bemused look from the lead-Merc in return.
"Excuse me?" he replied in a surprised tone, to which the scarred-Man gestured at his current outfit.
"You don't expect me to keep wearing these prison-rags, do you?"
This gained a shrug from Wintergreen, before he turned and looked at the soldier closest to him.
"Marc, I want you to head out in your civvies and go get our new Benefactor a suit."
The other Man nodded back, while the Leader returned his attention to Harvey.
"You'll have your suit, but it will take at least an hour, maybe two. So in the meantime, if you really need to change clothes right this second, then we have some spare civvies in the back." he added, making Harvey pull out his lucky-coin once more and toss it up into the air with a thoughtful expression, before catching it in his hand with blackened side facing up.
"I'll be fine, for now…" he started to reply, only to stop and look at their surroundings.
"…but if there is some place that I can have some privacy and rest…"
"Of course, there is a spare room just down there, if you need to sleep…" Wintergreen jumped in, as he cut off the former District Attorney. But this made the latter turn and stare back in annoyance.
"I don't need sleep, since I have slept for over a year." he snarled back, earning a surprised and unsure expression from the Merc-Leader, who noticed how tightly Dent was holding his lucky-coin.
"Okay, well it's the third door to the right, back there."
"Thank you." Harvey said back before turning around and heading in the direction that the other guy had pointed in, while the latter looked back at the other Men with a bemused expression.
"Right, let's get back to work." he ordered, gaining nods from them all as they returned to their tasks as he returned his attention to their new Benefactor, as he entered the other room and closed the door behind him.
Away from the crowd, Harvey looked at the surroundings that he now stood in the middle of, noticing that it had a desk and chair on one side, with one single bed on the other. So the scarred-Man sat down on it, leaning back against the cold concrete wall and began to flip his Father's coin again and again as a slight smile appeared on his face, closing the only eye he could as his mind began to wander, while his left eye stared straight ahead as he remembered Rachel once more.
"You're flipping a coin to see who leads?"
"It's my Father's lucky coin. As I recall, it got me my first date with you."
"I'm serious, Harvey. You don't leave things like that to chance."
"I don't….I make my own luck."
Harvey's smile started to widen as he remembered the love of his life, focusing on every detail from the color of her eyes, to the way she smiled when looking at him. Dent could feel his heart warming as sat there and continued to flip the silver Dollar, though it did not last long as his day-dreams turned sour as he once again remembered Rachel's cries over the radio as he was being dragged away at that fateful moment.
"...Harvey!"
The scarred-Man then tightened his hand around the coin as he gritted his teeth, feeling his temper building up while the painful memory replayed itself.
"...I do have an answer for you...and my answer is Yes."
Suddenly Dent opened his eye and narrowed it, while his left remained always the same.
"ARRAAGGHH!" he screamed out before getting off the bed and grabbing it at it's legs, all while keeping the Coin held tightly in one hand. Harvey then lifted the Bed up and tossed it aside, making it break against the concrete wall. He then turned his attention to the desk and picked up it's chair, before smashing it down on the former again and again.
Meanwhile on the other side of the door, the masked-Mercs nearest to it all stopped and looked in it's direction as they heard their new Boss raging behind it for a minute or so, before it suddenly quieted down again.
"Glen, go check it out." one then said to the other standing next to him, making that guy shake his head back in disagreement.
"Hell no! There is no way I am going in there." he replied while slowly moving away from that area, earning a shrug from the former in return.
"...Yeah, I agree. It's not worth the hassle." he said back, before doing the same.
Back in the room, the bed was toppled over and broken at one side of the room, while the desk and it's chair lied in shattered pieces as Harvey sat at opposite it where the former once stood. He leant back against the wall and held his gun to his head, resting it's cool metal barrel against his forehead while moving his favorite Coin in his other hand.
"I miss you, Rachel, so very much. I have to make them pay." he whispered while taking deep calming breaths, while there was nothing but silence around him.
BATMAN: THE SCARRED AND THE DAMNED
In the damp and dark depths of the Bat-Cave, Bruce was back at the Bat-Computer as Alfred entered the area via the elevator carrying a tray with a drink on it.
"That was fast, Alfred." the former said with a humorous tone as he glanced at his older friend, with the latter gently shaking his head as he joined the other's side.
"Considering how many times I have checked your always 'empty' Bedroom, I have decided that the Cave should now be my first stop from now on."
"Better late than never, but before you ask, I have only been down here for say 20 minutes..." the Billionaire then began to say as he got up, revealing that he was already dressed in a suit.
"...since I have an appointment with the Mayor today." he added, earning a nod from the Butler in return.
"I believe that appointment is about your Old Gotham Initiative."
"Yes that's correct, but it isn't the only reason I want to visit the Mayor's Office." Bruce replied as he started to head for the elevator, while Alfred followed behind.
"Oh, what would that be then, Master Bruce?" he said back as the pair approached the opening doors ahead.
"Well, I heard from Commissioner Gordon last night that he is to meet with the Mayor as well…" Wayne started to reply, while looking at his watch as they entered the elevator.
"…in just over an hour."
"And how do you know that." the older Man asked, as they felt the Lift stop and the doors opened up and revealed the interior of Wayne Manor's large Living-room.
"I hacked into the Mayor's schedule earlier and saw that Gordon's name was quickly added before my own, which was done less than an 30 minutes after the break-in at the Asylum…" he replied as they walked out, while the younger Man adjusted his cuff-links.
"…which means they are going to have a conversation that I should really hear."
"And how do you want to go about doing that, considering that meeting will most likely be private and not to mention that the Mayor's Office is checked hourly for bugs." Alfred asked with a curious expression and tone, which earned a mirrored look from Bruce in return.
"How do you know about that?" he asked as the pair stopped in the main corridor, outside of the Living-Room.
"Please, Master Bruce. You do not honestly think that when I am on monitoring duty, that that is all I am doing on the Bat-Computer?" the old Man replied with a knowing smile, making the Billionaire smirk back and nod.
"No, I guess not. But since you asked..." he started to say back, before lifting his arm up to his friend.
"...tell me what you see?" he carried on, while his friend and Confidante looked at the Cuff-links.
"I do not recall seeing that particular pair, Sir."
"That's because these are special listening-devices developed by Fox and myself, which after being used will self destruct and look like any other kind of Suit-accessory. And it is even undetectable via current means of detection, so there is no need to worry about that. All I have to do is see the Mayor before his meeting with Gordon and plant it there." he replied in a confident tone, gaining an unsure expression from Alfred.
"And how will you see the Mayor before the Commissioner, if your appointment is actually set after?"
"That won't be a problem, since I can be very persuasive." Wayne said back with smile, making the older Man look back knowingly.
"Are you talking about yourself or your alter ego, Master Bruce?"
"Well it really isn't the Batman' style to visit people in broad daylight, Alfred. So I thought I would deal with this 'myself'." the younger Man answered.
"So you are using your Checkbook then, very good, Sir." the Butler said with a pleased tone, before looking at his own Watch as the former started to walk to the door leading to the Garage.
"Well, Sir, you should get a move on. As by my estimates, you have just under an hour now."
"That's why I am taking the Veyron." the Billionaire said back with a smirk as he opened the door and walked through, while Pennyworth nodded back with a smile.
"Good luck, Master Wayne." he replied before turning around and headed back into the inner part of the Mansion. Moments later, a black Bugatti Veyron drove down the winding lane that lead from the large house to it's front-gate, before speeding off towards the City.
Back at the Docks, Harvey was still sitting against the wall, his mind still wandering through the sea of his thoughts as a knock at the door snapped him out of it.
"Mr Dent…I have your Suit." a nervous voice spoke from the other side of the door, making the scarred Man look towards it and then back at his coin.
'No need for that.'
Dent then clenched his hand around the Dollar and then got to his feet, before walking over to the door and opening it.
"Good…" he began to reply, gaining an uncomfortable look from Marc as he saw his scarred face.
"…let me see it then."
"It's over here…" the other Man started to say back with a gesture, with the two then walking over to a table while Wintergreen watched from another just aways.
"...so what do you think?" he asked as their new Boss looked over the suit, taking note of it's sharp looks. If it were not for it's black sleekness, Harvey would have sworn that it was a new version of his old one along with the red and black striped tie.
For what felt like a long moment, Harvey said nothing as he stared down at the suit while everyone watched with confused looks on their faces.
"...um, Mr. Dent, is there a problem?" Wintergreen then spoke up, looking slightly annoyed as he started to approach the pair next to their new purchase.
"It doesn't look right." he replied, making Marc's eyes widen as a look of shock appeared on his face.
"What do you mean? I spent a good amount of our money on this suit, so what could possibly be wrong with it?" he almost snapped, leaving Wintergreen speechless as he was stopped in his tracks by the Subordinate's words. But before he could say anything else in return, Dent looked over at the other guy.
"Relax, it's nothing that I can't fix here..." he started to reply, only to stop and look at their surroundings.
"...I just need a few things first..." he carried on until his eyes focused in on one table in particular.
"...those will do."
Everyone just remained in their places and watched as their new Benefactor walked over to said table and picked up a few of the items that were on it, only for the guy who bought the suit to remain stunned-looking as he saw what the scarred-Man had in his hands.
"What are you going to do with those?"
"I am going to use these to improve the suit." Dent said back as he returned to their table.
"What? With Motor-oil and a lighter!" Marc replied with a growing anger to his voice, that did not go unnoticed by the former who carried on as he unscrewed the lid of the Oil container.
"Wintergreen, please can you deal with this Man..." he started to say, before looking back at the Merc-Leader with a serious expression.
"...or would you like me to?"
This earned a knowing nod from the other guy as he then turned his attention to said person, who was still biting his lips as he watched Dent begin to pour the oil over one side of the suit.
"...stand down, that's an order!" he called out, gaining a look of surprise from Marc, who then saw the expression of Wintergreen's face and realized his mistake.
"Okay..." he said back reluctantly, while Harvey then tossed the empty container aside and activated the Lighter, before gently throwing the device and it's naked flame onto the soaked side of the brand new set of clothing, which suddenly lit it up as the fire spread out over the left side of the suit, burning and crisping up the garments.
A few seconds passed as Dent watched that half of the suit burn, his expression was completely blank as everyone else's attention was focused on the fire that had now engulfed the entire left side as the smell of burning cloth began to fill the room. Wintergreen though managed to move his attention away from the fire and towards the former District Attorney, who he noticed had a slight smirk on the right side of his face,which left him feeling a little uncomfortable.
'Yes, that's the feeling I remember. The heat, the rage that burns more than flesh…' Harvey started to think as he felt the heat of the flames on his face, while never taking his eyes away from the dancing fire that was consuming half of his new suit.
'...this is what I want to share with Gordon and his family. While, Batman too will watch this City share the same fate, because everyone failed Rachel and I, and so deserve to burn as well.' he thought with a smirk, before gesturing to the Lead-Merc with his right hand.
"Okay, put it out." he said, making Wintergreen look at the Man closest to the former DA.
"Marc..." he called, gaining a nod from the younger Man, who then picked up a fire extinguisher from under the table and used it on the burning garments, covering them the white smoke of the CO2 which snuffed out the fire instantly.
Then it once again went quiet as the white cloud began to dissipate, showing the look of the suit to them all. This made Dent's smirk widen as he gazed down on the clothing, though the smile could only be seen on the right side of his face, gaining uncomfortable expressions from the rest of the men there.
"Excellent, now it's perfect." he said with an admiring tone, while Wintergreen took a step toward him.
"Alright, Mr. Dent, you have your suit. So what is our next move?" he asked, which brought a knowing look to the scarred Man's face.
"Very well. But for what I have planned, we are going to need a few things." he replied, making everyone there stare back with curious looks.
"Like what?" Marc replied, voicing the question that was on all their lips before the main-merc could even take breath to speak.
"We are going to need the rest of your Men, the ones who were arrested back at the Asylum." the scarred-Man said back, gaining a surprised look from the younger man in return as he went quiet, giving Wintergreen the chance to speak up again.
"I have been keeping tabs on them and they are currently sitting the cells at the 'Major Crimes Unit', waiting to be processed and then sent on to Black-Gate."
"And who is now in charge of the MCU, since Gordon is the Police Commissioner?" Dent asked with a tinge of curiosity to his voice.
"That would be Capt. Crispin Allen, who was promoted to the position not long after the 'Joker Incident' a year ago."
Hearing that name brought a thoughtful expression to Dent's face as he looked back at the smoldering suit, before taking his Dollar out from his pocket.
'That Clown…' he started to think before flicking the coin and catching it, while the rest of the Men watched him.
"Mr. Dent…?" Wintergreen then asked, while the Scarred-Man looked down at the shiny, clean surface of the coin.
"…Mr. Dent?"
This snapped the former District Attorney out of his thoughts, making him look back as he gritted his teeth.
"What!" he almost spat while clenching his fist around his Father's lucky coin, earning a worried look from the former as he noticed this.
"You had asked about the MCU and Capt. Allen before spacing out for a moment." the Merc replied.
"Yeah, I did…never mind. Okay, I want you to take half of your men here and get the rest back from the MCU." Harvey said back, earning surprised looks from everyone other than Wintergreen, who simply nodded back.
"This could have been a problem…" he started to say back, before looking to another door on the other side of the room.
"Noah!"
This caused the door to open as a spectacled brown-haired, Caucasian Man stepped out.
"You called, Wintergreen." he replied before his eyes fell upon Harvey Dent, making his eyes widen as he found himself focusing on the scarred half of the Man's face.
"Okay…how did I not know about this?" he asked out loud, gaining a chuckle from one of the guys nearest to him.
"That's because you locked yourself in that room with your computers, that's why." he said, earning a glare from Noah as he adjusted his glasses.
"That's enough." Wintergreen then said with a serious tone, before gesturing the new Man to join him and their Benefactor.
"Who is this?" Dent then asked with a curious expression, that could only be read via his right side of his face.
"Harvey Dent, meet ‚Noah Kuttler'…" the Merc-leader started to reply as the spectacled-Man joined them and offered him his hand.
"…who is our Tech-Expert." he finished as both men shook hands, though Noah had to hide his disgust as he noticed that he was shaking the heavily scarred left hand of the former DA's.
"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Dent, though I thought you were dead?" he said back with a curious tone, earning a bemused expression from their new Boss in return.
"It didn't take." was all he would say, before turning his attention back to Wintergreen.
"So what's he going to do?"
"Noah will hack into the MCU's security and make it that much easier for us to get in there and liberate our Men…" he started to say, only to stop as a thoughtful look crossed his face.
"…but why don't you want me to take all of the guys here?"
"I am going to need the rest for something special, which I will tell you once I have a chat with 'The Bird'." Harvey answered with a sinister smile, before flicking his coin into the air once more and catching it.
"So let me just go talk to him and then I will get changed into this mighty fine suit." he added before gesturing to the garments lying on the table next to them, earning a unsure look from Kuttler as he stared at them.
"Yeah, they look very…sharp." he replied before turning back towards his room.
"I will be in my room, preparing for the hack of the MCU." he then said to the Merc-leader, gaining a nod from the other man.
"Okay, Mr. Dent, we have been keeping 'the Bird' in a secure room over this way." Wintergreen then said as he lead the scarred Man away from the table, with both Men heading towards the north end of the building.
BATMAN: THE SCARRED AND THE DAMNED
Meanwhile, Bruce had arrived at City Hall and was met by Mayor Anthony Garcia, who had a surprised expression on his face.
"Good Morning, Bruce…" he said as the two shook hands outside of his Office, gaining a knowing smile from the Billionaire in return.
"…but aren't you a little early, since our appointment is not for another hour?"
"I know Mr. Mayor, but you know how it is. You have plans, only for something else to come up in it's place." he said back, earning a mirrored look from Garcia.
"I understand, Bruce, truly I do. But I really don't have time right now, since my first appointment will be here any moment." he answered, making Wayne look around them in return.
"There is no one here besides the two of us so far, I just need a minute or two of your time and then I will be on my way. Then we can rearrange another date in the future..." the Billionaire said back with an honest tone, before his smile changed slightly to a more serious one.
"...or are you really going to turn away one of this City's biggest Benefactors, if not biggest. Who is also a good friend?" he then asked, which made the Mayor look at the ground and sigh in defeat.
"Okay..." Garcia began to reply, before turning to the double doors and unlocking them with his keys.
"...come on in, but we really don't have time to sit and talk, believe me." he finished as the pair then entered the room, with Bruce inspecting the room with a quick glance while the other guy walked to his desk.
"Oh I do." he replied with a reassured tone while noticing a set of white Kallax shelves with a number of awards standing upon them, before walking over to inspect them.
"Good, so what was so important that you could not simply rebook our meeting?" the other guy then asked as he sat down and began to flip through the files on his desk, not even paying attention to Bruce who smirked in return.
'Good, just keep looking there, Anthony.' he thought before quickly and quietly disconnecting the Cuff-link and placing it behind one of them, before the Mayor then looked up at the Billionaire.
"Bruce, what you doing?" he asked, which made the younger man, in one fluid action, pick up the award next to the bugged one and look at it.
"I was just admiring your Awards collection here, especially this one…" he started to say with a smile, before reading it's engraving with a confused expression.
"Municipal Empowerment Award….what exactly does that mean?"
Garcia then got up and walked over to his Visitor, before taking the Award and placing it back in it's place.
"Come on, Bruce. You didn't come here to talk about my collection of Awards, did you?" he replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice, which made Wayne nod back as he turned away from the Awards, with the Mayor following.
"Of course not, I was just curious…." he started while walking toward one of the large windows, with it's view of the nearby Plaza and the Skyscrapers that surrounded it.
"…but since I had already spoken about my Company's Initiative with you before the big reveal last night…" the Billionaire added, only to be cut off by Garcia as he looked at his watch.
"I hate to cut you off, Bruce, but you need to get to the point." he said with a mix of annoyance and regret to his voice and expression, making the other Man shrug in response.
"Okay, well I think that due to circumstances that are…unfortunately beyond my control right now, that we are going to have to postpone by about a week or so." he replied with an honest disappointment to his voice, earning a bemused smile from the Mayor in return.
"Bruce…you didn't need to come here and tell me this, a simple phone call would have been fine."
"Yeah, but we're friends and I felt it would be better to tell you in person. Plus the Mayor's Office is on the way to that really good Shawarma restaurant that just opened a month ago, and I was thinking of buying it so they could deliver their food straight to me whenever I want with no hassle." Bruce said back with a smirk, which gained a mirrored expression from Garcia as he shook his head in a faked disapproving way.
"Billionaires and their eccentricities. You do realise that just being 'Bruce Wayne' would get you no hassle with your orders, right?"
"Yeah, but I have found that places are that much better when you own them." the younger Man answered, which made the Mayor chuckled in return.
"Well thanks for visit, Bruce, even though it wasn't necessary and also for that chuckle, since I doubt that I will be seeing any joy for the rest of the day." he said back as his smile slowly disappeared, earning a curious and concerned look from Wayne in return.
"That sounds ominous..." he then said back with a curious tone, though secretly, he already knew the reason.
"It does doesn't it, but I cannot talk about it Bruce, though you understand why." Garcia replied, before a knock at the door caught both Men's attention.
"Come in."
And then Commissioner James Gordon opened the door and entered, joining the pair as Garcia began to walk toward it.
"I am afraid that you have to leave now, Bruce, since the Commissioner and i have some business to discuss." he added, with the billionaire nodding back in return as started to walk towards the door too.
"Yeah, I understand..." he started to reply, before turning his attention to the older-moustache wearing Man.
"Good Morning, Commissioner."
"Good Morning, Mr. Wayne." the Police Chief replied, trying to sound completely normal, though Bruce could see right through the charade, noticing the slither of nerves that Gordon was trying to hide.
"I'll speak to you later, Bruce." Garcia then said back as the Billionaire left the room, closing the door behind him and leaving his friend alone in the corridor and himself with Gordon.
'Okay, time to eavesdrop.' the Wayne thought as he first tapped his one remaining Cuff-link and then activated his phone, putting the latter to his ear as he walked away from the Mayor's Office.
"Alfred, it's me. The Bug is now on and I am heading down to my Car." he said, before walking through another door and heading down it's stairwell.
"I can confirm that from here, Sir. I can see from here that the device is working at 100% efficiency, so you should be able to listen to their entire conversation." the Butler replied from the other end of the call, gaining a nod from Bruce as he took out a small ear-piece and put it snug into his right ear where no one could see it.
"Okay, I'm ending the call now."
"Very well, Master Bruce." his friend and Confidante answered before the call then stopped, allowing the Billionaire to put his phone away as he reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the Parking-Garage, just as the voices of Gordon and the Mayor could now be heard within his ear.
"So Commissioner..." Garcia started to say as the other man sat down in the only chair facing the desk of the Mayor, while the former walked around him towards his own.
"...do you know what I was doing last night?"
This gained a confused look from Jim as he kept his focus on the City's Leader while sat behind his desk.
"You were at Wayne's Fund Raiser, we were all there." he said back, making Garica nod back in response.
"That is true, until you and my good friend, Quincy Sharp then left the party all of a sudden..." he began to say, before picking up a pen that had been lying on the desk and pressing it's button every couple of seconds.
"...which I could not help but wonder about. So it came as a huge shock for me to hear an hour or so later that Arkham Asylum had been breached, that one of he prisoners had escaped and my friend was now dead." he finished as a pained expression befell his face, making Jim's crack a little, revealing his guilt that could be seen clear as day.
"Look, Mr. Mayor..." he started to reply, but he was cut off as the younger Man continued to speak.
"But that wasn't even the most shocking news, because then I was told that a Man that I and the entirety of Gotham believed to be dead, was in fact alive and now roaming the streets of our City..." he added, while Gordon went quiet, only for the Mayor's eyes to look directly at him with a judgemental look.
"...which I could not believe, so I am going to ask you now, Commissioner..."
This brought an eerie silence between the two as Garcia took a breath, making Jim gulp in return.
"...is Harvey Dent alive and running amok in Gotham?"
The Police Chief could feel his heart-beat quicken, each and every beat pulsing through his body as a small drip of sweat ran down the side of his face.
"...Yes...I am afraid he is."
This made the Mayor look at his desk and take a breath, like he was letting the weight of that realization really hit him hard, before sighing.
"My God..." he started to say, before turning his chair so he could look out of the large window behind his desk.
"...then I guess that means that the Batman is innocent in all of this, in that he didn't kill those people...Harvey did." he added, gaining a nod from the Commissioner in return.
"Yes, that's true, Mr. Mayor." he replied, while the other man kept his back to him as he continued to stare out of the window.
"Do you remember when we were here with Dent and Commissioner Loeb...?" Garcia then started to ask, which made Gordon nod once more.
"Yes, after he and I managed to put the Mob's leadership behind bars. You then asked Loeb and I to leave the room..." he began to reply, only for the Mayor to turn back round and cut him off.
"I told him that if he continued with that risky proposition, then it would all be on him. That everyone who had a hand in the Mob's pockets would be after him, looking for something to pin on him..." he continued before dropping hos pen back on his desk and shaking his head in disgust.
"...well it looks like that will actually happen now. And all the Mob's men that have been rotting in Black Gate for the past year, who were denied a hearing or parole because of an act you had me sign..." he tried to continue, only for Gordon to this time interrupt him.
"With all due respect, Sir, what had happened to Harvey, what he became, was exactly what the Joker was intending. Because he wanted to drag down our City's White Knight and prove to our Citizens that it is all for nothing and that Chaos was the only path. But the Batman chose to take the blame instead, so that the City would be spared that fate. Because if he hadn't, we would be living in War-zone right now." he said back with a controlled anger lining his words, making Garcia stare back with a somewhat thoughtful expression.
"Well that was very...noble of a Vigilante to do that. But in the end, it didn't work that way did it. Because once this comes out, everything is going to fall apart. All those criminals in Black-Gate will be released back onto the streets, with you and me quickly following them."
Meanwhile, Bruce was back in his vehicle and listening to the conversation with a stoic expression on his face.
"Nobody outside of handful of people know about this right now, so it is possible that we can keep this under wraps, but that hinges on is bringing Harvey in and I think to do that we need..." he heard Gordon start to say, only to be cut off by a familiar voice that spoke over his, one that made Bruce's eyes widen as a cold dread crossed his face.
"Did someone mention my name..?"
'Harvey!' Bruce suddenly thought, while Gordon and Garcia remained quiet as the sounds of guns being cocked could be heard over Wayne's earpiece.
"...because I am back in City Hall!" the former District Attorney was then heard exclaiming, as Bruce's eyes narrowed in response.
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