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See No Evil: Best Made Plans (ch. 33)
🕑 Added 2021-03-10 15:59:32 +0000 UTCIt was a mass breakout, with emphasis on mass. With the vines that I had given Poison Ivy, she had broken out almost the entirety of Batman's roster of villains.
Harley Quinn, who I'm betting was the real target. The others included Clayface, Mr. Freeze, Mad Hatter, the Riddler, Calendar Man, Firefly, Professor Pig…
The ones on the list that scared me the most were Scarecrow and Victor Zsasz. The former had a habit of going after the entire city… the latter was a mass murderer. Victor Zsasz was criminally insane and serving a life sentence at Arkham for thirty confirmed murders.
Victor Zsasz, in total, had more than two hundred scars on his body. Each a mark tallying one of his kills.
There were others, of course. Arkham didn't just hold Batman's rogues and no one else. There were more than a hundred others, some criminally insane, others just a little insane, or having a bad time in life. And more than half of them were out on the streets. Murderers, rapists, people that couldn't take care of themselves. In the dead of winter.
This was my fault, I thought to myself as I watched the latest update on the news. Batman had been 'seen' chasing after Mr. Freeze. More like evidence of the two fighting was leaving a trail to be followed. I scratched at my cheek, reading the scrawling text on the TV hanging off the wall while I sat on a couch. Word on the others hadn’t made news yet, but that was probably for the worst. They would be going to ground, hiding out, and planning their next move.
This… was a good thing for me.
I never really got why people bothered to break people out of prison or Arkham in comics. Not until now. With a mass breakout, Batman was going to be distracted for awhile. For a long while, possibly. That was time I needed. Time I could use to pull on a few strings, tidy up evidence, and stack the deck in my favor.
The LG had been keeping tabs on the Two-Face Mobsters, so I knew where to find them. I could get in contact with them, arrange for them to become a proxy for me. It also let me prepare for the police investigation that was sure to be coming. The cocaine shipping through Sainthood flowers had to be put on pause. My income would take a hit, but I’d rather take a hit to my income than give Jim Gordon a reason to take me down.
This was a good thing for me. Honestly, this could have only gone better if I had actually planned for this. Instead, I was caught with my pants down. Still, I had to make the most of this lucky break. This opportunity that I set in motion, however unwittingly.
“It’s terrible, isn’t it?” Tifa remarked, stepping out of her bedroom, catching me watching the TV. She wore a white turtleneck sweater and a pair of charcoal black pants.
My head bobbed, “Zsasz is a monster. Scarecrow is going to pull something crazy like poisoning the water supply again…” My first thought was how much this could benefit me, and Tifa’s was how this was terrible for everyone else. I didn’t want to know what she would say if I admitted that I’m pretty sure I was the first domino that set this in motion. I didn't know that this was going to happen… but I sold that seed to Ivy knowing full well what she could do with it. "We need to stay alert. Up the number of LG patrols, make sure everyone has a partner…"
I shook my head, "I want everyone that comes in and out to be frisked down. I want everything that they have triple checked. The bomb… Tifa, if Cass hadn't found it…"
Tifa took a seat next to me, "I know," Tifa agreed with a nod, a coil of anger in her tone. "I know, Vergil."
"Most of the LG are corrupt, incompetent, or both," I dragged a hand over my face before I leaned forward and placed it on my knee. Tifa reached out to place one of her's on mine. I was thankful for the gesture. "We need better screening for who gets in. We need…"
"We'll handle it, Vergil. We just need to take it one step at a time," Tifa advised. "We can't do everything all at once."
She was right about that. Between dwindling resources, and the possibility of the cops moving in…
I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was right. So, what did I need to do right now?
"Tifa? Right now, I think you should head down to keep the peace," I told her, giving her hand a squeeze. "Everyone trusts and respects you. Reassure them that we have everything in hand. Quell the rumors and so on." I decided, earning a nod from Tifa. Keeping the peace was important right now.
At least, in Lowtown it was important.
"Okay, and you?" Tifa questioned as she stood up. I got up with her as I considered that question.
"I'm going to work on a few projects," I told her. Right now, it was the best thing that I could do. I needed to leverage my cards to buy me more time to set the course back on track. Things needed to improve. Especially with the LG. Quantity was not a substitute for quality anymore. They would need training. And there needed to be consequences for breaking the rules. But that was something long-term. I needed to improve things for the here and now, and prepare for what was coming. "I'll be around town for a bit. I'll take Cass with me," I added when I saw Tifa open her mouth.
She offered a small smile before she leaned over to press her lips to my cheek. "I'm guessing you'll be up all night again?" She asked, and I could only offer a lopsided smile.
"Probably. Too much to do and not enough time to do it," I agreed, not exactly happy about it either. My body hadn't lost its tolerance for running on a lack of sleep, but I was feeling the effects. My brain felt like someone was using it as a stress ball, probably because of all the stress. A low key headache was pounding behind my eyes. It felt like I could sleep for days.
But I couldn't. There just weren't enough hours in the day for me to stop and rest.
"I figured," Tifa said, sounding disappointed but not surprised. I opened my mouth to respond, but there was a pounding at the door.
"Are you two fucking in there?" Revy shouted, seemingly determined to be a cockblock. Tifa let out a huff as she rolled her eyes and we both headed to the door. She swung it open to find Revy, a cigarette in her mouth with Cass was behind her. "No? I was hoping to go three for three," Revy remarked, apparently fully aware and trying to cockblock me. Not cool.
And as heretical as it sounded to a teenager, I was too busy for sex.
"Revy," I started, tempted to fire back with a retort, but now wasn't the time. "Your orders are still the same," I told her, earning a sigh from Tifa and a measuring look from Revy. "There's no better time than now. Hit everyone. The gang war needs to go hot again," I told her.
I was acting like a typical Batman villain, but it was a shockingly good strategy. Batman always prioritized his rogues, especially with a couple of real monsters on the loose. A gang war would just push Batman and his flock away in different directions, giving them so many things to prioritize other than me.
Revy offered a nod, "Sounds good to me," Revy decided with a shrug. "Just wanted to make sure it was still on. Any specific orders?"
I shouldn't.
"Do some damage. Sainthood Construction needs some contracts," I answered, earning a smirk from Revy that promised chaos and destruction.
"Making work for yourself never sounded so smart before," Revy remarked, offering a smile. "I'll go stir up some trouble. Stay out of East End, yeah?" She advised before offering a wave over her shoulder. I watched her go, and I felt another domino fall that would start another chain of events.
When did this become me? When did I become a person that would start a gang war and use an Arkham breakout as a distraction from my misdeeds?
People were going to die. A lot of people. The gang war, before it went cold… a lot of people had died. Murdered in the streets or in their homes. Worse, this time, a gang war would help people like Zsasz just as much as it would help me. They could use the confusion and chaos just like I was planning to.
It didn't matter, I decided, stepping out of Tifa's room.
Lowtown was worth it. It was worth it all. I would make sure of it.
"I'm off, Tifa," I told her, offering a wan smile, knowing she didn't like it, but we both had already decided to swallow the bitter pill. Tifa sighed and nodded, trying to return the smile, but it came out more of a grimace. I didn't expect anything different, though.
"Stay safe, both of you," she said before she closed the door. My gaze lingered on the closed door for a moment before I started walking, Cass close behind me.
>Okay?< She signed at me, looking up at me.
There was no hiding anything from Cass. >I will be. Tired but too much to do.< I signed back to her. I was getting pretty good at sign language. Never thought I'd learn another language, but I think I had a talent for it. Plus, I had good motivation to learn. >I have to work on some projects. Will be cold.<
Cass' head bobbed, showing that she was okay with it.
And with that, we left the building.
…
By the time I reached my first destination, Revy had already started by robbing a gang storage house that we had our eye on. She got away clean, dressed in rival gang colors, with a few other members of the LG. It was too soon to tell if it would spark the gang war that we needed, but it was a start. We would make some funds while I looked after other things.
"Thanks," I said, taking two burner phones that had a hundred minutes each from a gentleman over the counter. He said nothing, likely knowing better than to question why anyone would buy a burner in Gotham city.
Popping the boxes open, I traded phone numbers between the two phones. Then I handed one to Cass. She looked down at it questioningly as we stood in a busy mall. Christmas was right around the corner, after all. I think. Honestly, the days have blurred together at this point. I'm just sure the new year hasn't happened yet.
>Take this phone and slip it in the pocket of that man over there. Gray coat, fedora hat< I instructed, inclining my head to him. Cass looked over to the man, who was window shopping with his kid.
The same man that had ruthlessly fired into the back of Two-Face when I called his bluff. William Holden -- thirty-two, married for five years. A father of two -- a ten-year-old from a previous marriage and a newborn from his current wife. A man with something to lose. And a man that had everything to gain.
Cass nodded before she seamlessly blended into the crowd, to the point I almost lost sight of her. She really was a ninja.
I turned away from the vantage point on the second floor, took my place behind a pillar, and crossed my arms while keeping my head low. My expensive suit was gone, replaced with a cheap but bulletproof canvas jacket over a white hoodie. Nothing about me would stand out since neither I nor Cassandra were dressed any better or worse than anyone else.
A minute later, Cass returned and offered a nod. Excellent.
Taking out the burner phone, I called the number that I had programed into my phone. He wouldn't be able to see me from where he was. The phone rang once and I imagined his confusion when he felt it vibrating in his pocket. Then a second time as he debated to answer. Then a third time as he considered his situation. On the fourth, he answered.
"You did say you'd be in touch, but I didn't think that it would happen this fast," he said, jumping to the obvious conclusion that it was me that had called him.
"The loss of Two-Face was unexpected when he went after our dear Saint Vergil," I said, pretending that I was someone else entirely. "Especially on his doorstep, necessitating other distractions."
William was quiet for a moment, "So, what's on the news is you?"
"Could it be anyone else? Much has been invested in Lowtown. Unwanted attention needed to be diverted," I said, my voice low. "As unfortunate as the location was, you have impressed with your willingness to take matters into your own hands."
"How about you stop buttering me up and tell me why you slipped this phone on me?" William rebuked the praise.
"With Two-Face gone, the Two-Face mob will dissolve. Either naturally or by force. The organization that I work for has decided that it can still be of use to us."
"Organization, huh? So, are you Saint Vergil's boss? Fuck, am I talking to the Penguin right now?" There was an edge of alarm in his voice as he realized that he could have been mouthing off to the Penguin. I couldn't hold back a low chuckle.
"Fortunately, you are not," I reassured. "Saint Vergil's is the Penguin's pawn, while the Penguin is ours. Just as Two-Face was meant to be." I started, bullshit flowing from my mouth as an endless river.
This was my form of protection. I just had to lie about degrees of separation until I could pad them out with real proxies. If anyone pulled on the string to unravel the story, the make-believe chain of command would lead them up. First to the Penguin, then a make-believe boss that he had, and so on.
I would create a conspiracy while placing Saint Vergil as an outside force of it. A pawn of a pawn of a pawn that snipped the strings on it. While the role I was currently fulfilling… would be a low ranking member of a currently imaginary secret society.
"An offer is being extended to you, William Holden, to fill the role that Two-Face was meant to," I offered, leaning forward as I spoke carefully.
There was a beat of silence. "And if I refuse?" He asked, a hard edge in his voice.
"Then you refuse. Unwilling pawns have a tendency to bite the hand that plays them," I said, thoroughly butchering that metaphor. "No harm shall come to your family. The offer will simply be extended to another."
I heard a huff, "This sounds like one of those things where I already know too much to be let loose."
I smiled, "But what do you know, William? What can you prove? There is no need to remove you at this stage, because you simply aren't on the board at all."
Another beat of silence, "And if I want to be on the board?" He asked and I could see he was nibbling at the bait.
"Then you shall receive the resources that would have been Two-Face's -- money, safe houses, and connections. The mob will grow under your rule. Currently, the Two-Face mob runs out of the Bowery? In a month's time, you will control it." I told him, overselling myself a fair bit… but I had a plan.
The LG splinter group would size East End. The Street Kings the Narrows. The Two-Face mob the Bowery. Counting the Penguin Mob controlling the Docks, that was half of the city either in my control, or an ally of mine. However temporarily.
The Penguin? He told me to sieze East End. The Narrows and the Bowery would be a surprise. My foundation would be three times larger than he expected, so when it came time to snip my strings…
"So long as I jump when you say jump," William voiced, sounding thoughtful.
"No," I began, "By asking how high when I tell you to jump." I corrected him, an edge entering my voice. "You will receive dead drop orders on occasion and you will follow them to the letter. No deviation will be allowed except for unforeseen complications. Any major operations such as gang wars shall be cleared with me first. You will not speak of me nor my existence. Beyond that, you are free to do as you wish."
"Just know that you are a pawn, William. If you wish to be more? Make it to the end of the board," I told him.
William was quiet for a moment, and I wished that I could see him. However, I heard him take in a slow breath.
"I accept," he said and I nearly slumped over with relief.
"Excellent," I said, making it sound like there hadn't been any doubt in my mind that this would happen. "Then go to the layaway station and request an item with the receipt number 1113458989. Your first orders will be located inside the box… and the item inside… call it an early Christmas present."
"Wait!" William spoke up and I thought he would need me to repeat the receipt again. "What do I call you?"
"Knight," I answered before I hung up and broke the burner phone in half. I tossed it into the trash before I began walking, Cass following behind me.
My grand conspiracy had just been born.
Now it was time to begin shopping.
…
Back at Lowtown and in Tifa's apartment, I unsealed a card and revealed a variety of book bags, each filled to the brim with odds and ends stolen via the Henching app. Apparently, it was the Christmas season because there was a surplus of thieves waiting for work. I'm sure they were expecting to steal consoles or phones or whatever, instead, I had them stealing a wide variety of objects.
Like makeup cases, lightbulbs, test tubes, batteries, and so much more. It cost me a pretty penny, but I could afford it. For now.
Revy was due to come back. On the TV, it spoke about how the gangs were using the Arkham breakout as a reason to go hot again. Hopefully, she would come back with plenty of loot. Lowtown needed it. Badly.
Cass stood on the other side of the living room, entertaining herself by effortlessly copying hip hop dances that played on my phone. She still couldn't read or speak, but we would get there eventually. For now, I had to deal with more immediate problems.
They could be broken down into three categories -- financial, security, and secrecy.
For starters, I imagine Jim Gordon is going to have a problem with the massive tunnel system I had built under the city. And I doubt he would accept the answer that 'the Penguin made me do it'. So, I needed to hide it.
I needed more money, so I needed to begin counterfeiting it.
And security… for security, I needed to improve it in a variety of ways. From the LG, to general population control. Especially if people like Zsasz were out and about. If Two-Face targeted me, then why wouldn't Mad Hatter? Or Scarecrow? Or any one of Batman's villains? They could all aim for Lowtown. I wanted to be able to stop them before they ever had a chance.
The first problem I would deal with was money. With more of it, I had more options, like bribes.
Counterfeiting money could be broken down into four separate objectives -- the blend of fabric used to make the bill, the dyes and ink, the detail of the bill, and lastly the holographic strips embedded into the bills for an added layer of difficulty. The US government used a top-secret blend of dyes and fabrics to make counterfeiting more difficult. Just not impossible.
Most counterfeiters didn't have access to my means, though.
To that end, I grabbed a backpack. Inside were handhold hand punchers. A fuck ton of them. The bag was heavy as hell, enough so that I just dropped my card inside and started absorbing hole punchers. By the time all of them were absorbed, I had enough to grind the rank to C.
It would be the base for the instrument, which is why I had three other backpacks filled with them. Another thing that I had learned -- it was just a little bit more efficient to combine three C-rank cards to get a B-Rank. I was basing that off of gacha games, because high-rank cards net you more than shoving a bunch of trash tier ones into a good card. I hadn't ever managed to derank a card before and I really didn't want to. Especially not now.
From there, I went to another backpack. It was filled with PH test strips for a pool. There were a lot of them. A whole lot. Hundreds of the suckers. Combining them all together got me another B-Rank card.
The ingredients were gathered and combined. Handheld hole punchers, chemical strips, metal composition test strips, saline solution, a laptop, and the code for a facial recognition app.
It shouldn't work. But, I was crossing my fingers that my magic would fill in the blanks.
In the end, I had a B-Rank 'Handheld Composite Identification Device'. Around the same size as the original hole punchers, but the gap that the punched out pieces of paper would go was filled with a pocket of saline solution, while circuitry ran up and down the handle. It looked stupid as hell but I took out a dollar bill and snipped down on it, ruining the bill as a small hole was tucked in one corner.
A screen appeared on my contacts, the device identifying what I had just out in it. It would take some time, so I made myself a pot of coffee and went to work on step two.
It was a far simpler thing to manage. All I needed was a piece of sheet metal and two hundred dollar bills. Combining the two gave me a perfect mirror image of the front and back of a hundred dollar bill.
By that time, the device was done analyzing the dollar bill and I saw a list of exact percentages of what the bill was made of and the ink and dyes used.
"I should have done this at the start," I muttered, taking a sip of my coffee. I was better off in the long run with Sainthood Enterprises, but if I had known I could just print money… now all I had to do was make a device that could produce the fabric and dye… then I would have a proper counterfeiting operation going on.
It might be prudent to hand off the operation to one of my proxies. Give them the machine and templates, and have them print off the money. That way it couldn't be connected to me directly. For now, though, I would have to do it myself, launder the money through my enterprises and just seal away the machine when I was done to hide the evidence.
To that end, I planned out what I would need. The easiest way to get the fabrics would be old clothing. The inks and dyes… a little more difficult, but I could have the bases purchased in bulk. A separate machine would be needed to synthesize the ink. Same with the bills. A third machine would print them.
It wasn't there yet, but I just took a massive leap towards literally printing money. Millions of dollars a day, if I wanted. And I wanted it.
Next up was security. In the end, I was inspired by the airports in the end. Sure, they could be pretty shit, but that wasn't something that had to apply to me.
Metal detectors would be added at every entrance. Then scanners along the way to see what people were bringing in. Facial recognition would be used on everyone that came in -- anyone flagged would be monitored and tracked. More cameras and microphones would be added…
I wouldn't rest until I knew absolutely everything in Lowtown. I would know where everyone was, I would know what they said, and I would learn every dirty secret that they had. Absolutely fucking no one would ever bring another bomb in here again.
Lastly, there was secrecy.
It was difficult to hide massive tunnels, but I would have to. The fact that I wasn't in cuffs right now told me that Gordon didn't know about them. Hundreds, he had said. Not thousands. He was under the impression that Lowtown was a lot smaller than it was. A piece of information that Batman hadn't shared? Or Jason, rather?
He had seen them. I hadn't seen Dick Grayson, again… was Jason hiding the information from Gordon and Batman?
Being on his side in a little family spat sure did pay off.
The simplest solution was to hide them. Sealing them up was an option, but Lowtown would be expanding shortly. The gang war and an Arkham breakout? People would be coming here in mass. We could see another massive jump in population like when the cold really settled in. I would need those tunnels.
Instead of sealing them, I had another idea.
A hologram. In the end, holograms were simple in theory. It was just light bent by mirrors and a projector to display an object. I didn't need anything fancy like hard light, or for it to be interactive.
All I needed was for it to project a wall. A normal mundane wall that no one would think to check. I could put things in front of it to make sure no one ever could. Might do to add some sound pads to absorb noise. Just in case.
Lightbulbs were added together, as were mirrors -- the plan was to place them along the edge of the tunnels, then use them to project the picture of a wall that I would need drawn. Might add a wire mesh, just in case someone does check it out. I've seen Shawshank Redemption, and I didn't want anyone throwing a pebble to figure out the walls were holograms.
However, security came in two parts. The cops weren't the only ones I had to worry about. The second was a general vulnerability that I had to plan for.
What if someone hacked into my contacts? Gained all the information that was at my fingertips? Would I even know? I didn't code or anything so I probably wouldn't.
Which is why I had to patch up that vulnerability before anyone was aware of it.
To that end… I bought a security firewall for cheap, and copied and pasted the data a few… a lot of times. Until a thumb drive was filled to the brim with repeating data. The same was done to three other security firms -- the four thumb drives were then combined, giving me a B--Rank Firewall.
However… something I learned over months of using my cards was that my cards, when combining, could pick out an aspect of something. Like Bulletproof from a vest and add it to something else, like a suit. The base card rank just had to be high enough.
So, I combined padlocks to the card. Number locks as well, and each time I focused on the desire for security. Protection. To keep people that you don't want in your shit out of it. The picture of a thumb drive never changed. The only thing that did was it's rank when enough copies of the firewalls and padlocks were fed into it.
A-Rank Firewall.
Taking out my contacts, I dropped them into a card.
A-Rank Optic Contacts.
Taking in a slow breath, I thought about the firewall protecting my connection to the feed that streamed to the contacts. I thought about the feed being so well protected that it was impossible to find. The two cards melded together.
A-Rank Optic Contacts.
A huff escaped me, "What do I have to do to earn an S-Rank?" I wondered as I popped out the contacts and put them back in my eyes. Blinking a few times, I didn't notice any difference. I suppose I wouldn't until someone tried to hack into the connection.
What I did notice was the fact that I had lost about eight hours and it was currently three A.M.
"Fuck," I muttered, rubbing my eyes as I looked over. Cass was passed out on the couch, her face resting on the armrest, Tifa's blanket from her bed draped over her as she seemed to curl up in a ball to avoid taking up the whole couch. A sigh escaped me as I got up, but I should have just bit the bullet and leaned my head back to pass out.
The subtle movement was enough to make Cass' eyes snap open and dart to me, proving herself to be a light sleeper.
>Sorry. Didn't want to wake you up,< I offered, the lights still on so she could see me. With her up, I stood up slowly, stretching a little.
>Fine. I was already awake< Cass signed, shifting the covers so she could communicate. I nodded, not feeling as bad, but I'm pretty sure she was lying. >Done with cards?<
I nodded again, deciding to head to the kitchen. I hadn't eaten since… breakfast? Shit, I skipped meals again by accident. >Did Tifa come by?< I asked, not seeing a light from the bedroom.
Looking over at Cass, I saw her answer. >No.<
She was probably dealing with an influx of people due to the gang war already. There couldn't have been an emergency because no one came to get me. Just to make sure, I checked my phone and saw a single text from Tifa confirming she would be staying late.
Pulling up my camera feeds, I looked over Lowtown and decided to test out the new feature. A picture of Tifa was submitted, and in a few seconds, I saw a tired-looking Tifa as she welcomed people that came down from Stairway, accepting abrasive remarks with patience as everyone was thoroughly searched.
And people called me a Saint.
>Feel like breakfast?< I asked Cass, seeing her nod. Good. Because I was starving and I needed something to keep me on my feet before going down and giving Tifa a hand. At 3 am, most places wouldn't be open. Especially with a gangwar kicking back up. Deciding to check the fridge, I saw that Tifa had the essentials -- milk and cereal.
Though, I'm not sure what kind of psychopath puts the cereal bag in the fridge. I wasn't going to complain. If Tifa could put up with my less than savory side, then I could put up with cereal in the fridge.
Grabbing two bowls, I went about making breakfast. I didn't hear Cass get up, but with her literally trained from birth to be a ninja, I didn't expect to. So, I wasn't shocked to see her behind me.
What did shock me was the fact she was naked.
Comments
Eldar Zecore
I feel that now would actually be a good time to “trim the fat” of Batman’s rouges gallery. Maybe try and take out the “lesser”, but truly irredeemable like Zsasz or Dr. Pig or Mad Hatter
Eliezer
Feeling a little sad that Vergil is turning darker.
Neruz
Presumably that is Cass's way of saying 'notice me senpai!' :V
Caelleh
Cass wants sausage in her eggs lolol. It's fun when I remember that Vergil is legally a teenager, and he's thinking of Cass as a kid while meanwhile Gordon thinks Vergil is a brat.
