ALL NOVEL CATACLYSM: 3/?
Roman Sionis aka Black Mask had built his crime empire from scratch after losing everything. He alone established the false face society but he wanted more and the only ones standing in his way were the Falcone's.
When they were wiped out in the long Halloween he thought it'd be easy to take over and he'd finally have most of the underground crime families under him.
But then she showed up and took it right under his nose. He didn't worry at the time and thought she was new to this game, she'll be history in no time.
He was wrong. He should have worried because she didn't just stop at the Falcone's, she expanded towards his empire and pushed through whatever he threw at her. She was so confident in herself that she even sent him a letter telling him to join her but he declined and even killed the man, who was one of his, who gave it to him.
He was losing and he knew it. It was only a matter of time before she got to him. Then the earthquake hit and he came up with the idea to use the chaos to his advantage. But the men he took with him turned out to be incompetent and now here he was on his knees in front of her.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You should have taken my offer back then Sionis, but you decided to be arrogant and continue a losing war," Angerona tells him as she crouched in front of him, "I guess Penguin is a lot smarter than you are,"
"You listen to me you bitch. I'm going to kill you slow and painfully and I'm going to enjoy every second of it," He says angrily.
She laughs at his empty threat, "You don't seem to understand the situation you're in. Here let me help you,"
With a flick of her hand, two black serrated spikes pierce through his thighs and he screams in pain. She slowly lowers the spikes back down occasionally moving them forward, his jerking around makes them dig into his flesh even more. His blood pools under him from the open wounds.
"You're in no position to make threats here," She looks down at the amount of blood he's losing, "At this rate, you'll die of blood loss. Let's make it faster," She throws a small dagger at his neck which slices through his carotid artery which starts to bleed profusely. He falls on his back not having the strength to hold himself up. She stands up and calmly watches as he slowly dies. When she feels his soul leave his body she walks over and takes his mask.
She turns to her men and starts walking away, "Clean this up,".
~~~~
Wayne manor
Built directly above an extensive cavern network, part of the very fault along which the quake traveled. The manor has absorbed the full brunt and fury of the force unleashed.
Part of the structure, in fact, has collapsed through the thin crumbled crust of its foundation. And now rests as rubble in the main chamber of the cavern system below.
"H-help...," Alfred weakly calls out being under a wooden beam. He slowly turns his head to look around and his eyes land on Damian's unconscious body, also being pinned down, a few feet away from him. He could see that the boy's right hand was facing the wrong way and his head was bleeding from a cut on his forehead. "Dear god...,"
"Alfred?" Batman calls out and he starts using his cape to climb, "I hear you, Alfred. Hold on tight," He hears a ripping sound and looks up, "It may take some time, but I'm..." Seeing the cape won't hold for much longer he reaches for the grappling gun. He fires it just as the cape gives way. Once the cable is tight he reels it back in propelling himself over the ledge. "... Coming,"
"Over h-here, sir... In the former dining hall," He hears Alfred say and runs towards the voice.
"Yes-- I've located you, Alfred...," His eyes land on his son who is not far from Alfred, "Damian," He calls out but gets no response. He looks around seeing all the rubble around them, "How do I dig you guys out without risking further collapse?"
"Don't endanger yourself, sir. If there is no way to--,"
"I'll find a way or make one,"
~~~
Police Headquarters
Everyone is in complete chaos. Some are helping the wounded, others are moving the bodies of the few unfortunate that died, while others are completely at a loss of what to do.
"Wh-what happened?" one asks.
"L-Like the need of the world," Another says.
"G-Gotta get out of here.... Get home...,"
"Yeah... My wife and kids...,"
"Gotta find a way to reach--,"
BANG
A gunshot goes off gaining their attention to Barbara. She hands the gun to the police officer that she found outside.
"If I may have your attention," She starts, "I'm Barbara Gordon, daughter of police commissioner James Gordon, and my stepmother is Lieutenant Sarah Essen Gordon. I realize everyone of you also has a parent, child, or spouse. And I can't stop you from trying to make your way to them. I will point out however, that leaving here would constitute dereliction of duty, and my father would put it a sheer waste of manpower,"
"Yeah," One of the officers says. The others nod as well getting themselves back together.
"The most sensible, if not emotional, course of action demands the coordination of our efforts from right here, starting right now. Ensuring the highest survival rate, given our admittedly limited resources. If we help whomever we can from here. Then the welfare of our loved ones will be entrusted to fate and the efforts of strangers." She sighs, "My final point is this. It was fate that created this situation, and we're all in it together. The moment the earthquake struck the moment we all ceased to be strangers,"
"Wh-What... What should we do Ms. Gordon?" An officer asks.
"Start calling me Barbara, officer. No strangers, remember?" She tells him. He nods. She wheels herself to a radio, "Then hook up an emergency generator to this radio station. There is no power out there, but every municipal vehicle on the street can still catch airwaves,"
"She's right. Come on, Joe. Let's find that generator,"
~~~
Wayne manor
"Man this place is a mess," Angerona says as she walks through the destroyed manor. She stops in front of the Wayne family portrait which is now lying on the floor and smiles. "One of the benefits of seeing the soul of people is they can't hide from me,"
She walks away and goes towards the giant hole in the dining hall. She stands at the edge looking down at the Batcave, "Isn't that right, Bruce?"
She drops down silently and walks around before hearing voices. She walks towards them and sees Batman struggling to get the giant penny free.
She walks in front of him but he doesn't acknowledge her presence.
"I could kill you right here, right now," She waves her hand, and a black obsidian sword hovers over his chest, "And you won't even know it was me," The sword disappears, "But that's too easy,"
She walks away from him. She goes towards the Batcomputer which is encased in Kevlar glass and walks through it. She takes out a flash drive.
"Now then, let's see what more secrets you have," She inserts the drive which starts flashing green.
