[Generation Justice] With a little help
Sitting in front of the Batcomputer, Bruce thoughtfully rubs his chin; the hard stubble grates the pads of his long, strong fingers.
Two Face escaped from Arkham and suddenly the Falcone gang is in a state of commotion.
It's easy to guess that these two facts are related and that they have to be related to the death in Blackgate of Walter Tumino, as well.
Tumino worked for Mario Falcone, he was one of his Caporegime, a high ranking made member of the gang.
Bruce suspects that, thanks to his connection, Harvey commanded the torture and the execution of Tumino from a distance.
And now Mario has just another reason to want Two Face dead.
Il sangue chiama sangue(1).
Bruce gets to his feet and heads to the wardrobe. He takes off the upper part of his suit, then grabs an awfully gaudy, Hawaiian shirt and puts it on.
Figuring out what Mario's planning to do is relatively easy: an ambush, an attempt on Two Face's life. All in all the uomini d'onore(2) are predictable.
Bruce needs details, of course, the when, the where, the how. But he thinks he can get those pretty easily. With a... little help. He already has everything arranged.
Trying to figure out Harvey instead is harder and more dangerous, something *he* has to take care of.
He quickly wears a pair of black trousers, then moves to the make-up counter and picks up a fake moustache.
Suddenly Alfred materialises in the cave, a silver tray in his hands. "Are you leaving Sir?" He inquires politely, while gathering the leftover of his master's dinner.
"Hm. I'll stay out for a couple of days," Bruce answers in a guttural voice. He sticks a toothpick into his mouth and puts on the shades. Here, Matches Malone is ready.
The butler nods. "Do you have any message for the Young Masters?" He asks again.
"No." Comes the terse reply. "I'll get in touch later".
* * *
"Grandpa?" It's the late afternoon of the next day when Mar'i floats down the stairs that connect the Manor and the cave.
Bruce is not at the computer.
Mar'i frowns and flies over, towards the arsenal of vehicles. Perhaps Bruce is around there, just not answering. The man doesn't particularly like to be called 'grandfather'.
"Grandpa?" The girl calls again; her soft, mauve light glides over the glossy hoods and fenders. She hovers above the cars, counting them. One is missing. "Hm, he must have gone out..." She tells herself in the end.
Mar'i shrugs cutely, then quietly floats to her study desk, where a huge pile of files awaits her.
Ever since her family settled down for good in Gotham, Dick insisted on her daughter training in combat and acrobatics and studying criminal files.
Mar'i likes fighting and training in acrobatics, those things are just... in her genes. But studying criminal files? Oh X'Hal! The greater part of those dossiers make her SO sleepy!
When she told her father that, Dick just laughed and ruffled her hair in response:
I know. They were boring for me too, little tamaranean princess...
With a sighs, the half-alien girl takes the first, bulky dossier. The cover reads: FALCONE
The Falcone clan is one of the most important crime families in the city.
When Mar'i studied the Two Face dossier (it almost took her THREE months to!), she found out that it was Carmine, the former head of the clan, who ordered the disfigurement of Harvey Dent.
The file contains several notes, as if Grandpa had worked on it until a few hours ago.
Now that's weird... she usually doesn't get to study open cases.
Perhaps the record ended up on her pile by mistake? ... no, Grandpa never makes mistakes.
... okay, well, dad says that Grandpa DOES make mistakes and so says mom... but usually this is NOT the kind of mistakes that Bruce makes.
The girl keeps skimming through the dossier.
A note in red suddenly catches her attention. It reads: 'Two Face/possible assassination attempt'.
"... the Falcone's are planning to kill Two Face?" She murmurs.
Mar'i hurriedly turns over more pages and a couple of photographs slip out of the file. They are pictures of a girl about her age. A girl with beautiful, cat-like eyes.
Mar's frowns, she *knows* those eyes!
The caption under the photos states: KITRINA FALCONE.
An ice cold finger runs down Mar'i's spine, then her heart starts beating fast.
"Kitrina? Kitrina Falcone?" Catgirl is the DAUGHTER of a mobster?!
There's another note in Bruce's handwriting under one of the pictures: it's an address. Mar'i knows that district.
The girl gets up to her feet so fast she knocks her chair over, she slams the dossier closed and holds it to her chest.
She HAS to talk to Kitrina. NOW.
----------------------
(1) Blood call to blood
(2) Made men
Two Face escaped from Arkham and suddenly the Falcone gang is in a state of commotion.
It's easy to guess that these two facts are related and that they have to be related to the death in Blackgate of Walter Tumino, as well.
Tumino worked for Mario Falcone, he was one of his Caporegime, a high ranking made member of the gang.
Bruce suspects that, thanks to his connection, Harvey commanded the torture and the execution of Tumino from a distance.
And now Mario has just another reason to want Two Face dead.
Il sangue chiama sangue(1).
Bruce gets to his feet and heads to the wardrobe. He takes off the upper part of his suit, then grabs an awfully gaudy, Hawaiian shirt and puts it on.
Figuring out what Mario's planning to do is relatively easy: an ambush, an attempt on Two Face's life. All in all the uomini d'onore(2) are predictable.
Bruce needs details, of course, the when, the where, the how. But he thinks he can get those pretty easily. With a... little help. He already has everything arranged.
Trying to figure out Harvey instead is harder and more dangerous, something *he* has to take care of.
He quickly wears a pair of black trousers, then moves to the make-up counter and picks up a fake moustache.
Suddenly Alfred materialises in the cave, a silver tray in his hands. "Are you leaving Sir?" He inquires politely, while gathering the leftover of his master's dinner.
"Hm. I'll stay out for a couple of days," Bruce answers in a guttural voice. He sticks a toothpick into his mouth and puts on the shades. Here, Matches Malone is ready.
The butler nods. "Do you have any message for the Young Masters?" He asks again.
"No." Comes the terse reply. "I'll get in touch later".
* * *
"Grandpa?" It's the late afternoon of the next day when Mar'i floats down the stairs that connect the Manor and the cave.
Bruce is not at the computer.
Mar'i frowns and flies over, towards the arsenal of vehicles. Perhaps Bruce is around there, just not answering. The man doesn't particularly like to be called 'grandfather'.
"Grandpa?" The girl calls again; her soft, mauve light glides over the glossy hoods and fenders. She hovers above the cars, counting them. One is missing. "Hm, he must have gone out..." She tells herself in the end.
Mar'i shrugs cutely, then quietly floats to her study desk, where a huge pile of files awaits her.
Ever since her family settled down for good in Gotham, Dick insisted on her daughter training in combat and acrobatics and studying criminal files.
Mar'i likes fighting and training in acrobatics, those things are just... in her genes. But studying criminal files? Oh X'Hal! The greater part of those dossiers make her SO sleepy!
When she told her father that, Dick just laughed and ruffled her hair in response:
I know. They were boring for me too, little tamaranean princess...
With a sighs, the half-alien girl takes the first, bulky dossier. The cover reads: FALCONE
The Falcone clan is one of the most important crime families in the city.
When Mar'i studied the Two Face dossier (it almost took her THREE months to!), she found out that it was Carmine, the former head of the clan, who ordered the disfigurement of Harvey Dent.
The file contains several notes, as if Grandpa had worked on it until a few hours ago.
Now that's weird... she usually doesn't get to study open cases.
Perhaps the record ended up on her pile by mistake? ... no, Grandpa never makes mistakes.
... okay, well, dad says that Grandpa DOES make mistakes and so says mom... but usually this is NOT the kind of mistakes that Bruce makes.
The girl keeps skimming through the dossier.
A note in red suddenly catches her attention. It reads: 'Two Face/possible assassination attempt'.
"... the Falcone's are planning to kill Two Face?" She murmurs.
Mar'i hurriedly turns over more pages and a couple of photographs slip out of the file. They are pictures of a girl about her age. A girl with beautiful, cat-like eyes.
Mar's frowns, she *knows* those eyes!
The caption under the photos states: KITRINA FALCONE.
An ice cold finger runs down Mar'i's spine, then her heart starts beating fast.
"Kitrina? Kitrina Falcone?" Catgirl is the DAUGHTER of a mobster?!
There's another note in Bruce's handwriting under one of the pictures: it's an address. Mar'i knows that district.
The girl gets up to her feet so fast she knocks her chair over, she slams the dossier closed and holds it to her chest.
She HAS to talk to Kitrina. NOW.
----------------------
(1) Blood call to blood
(2) Made men