Gotham Avengers (Part 2)

Last night, as darkness fell, Batman stood atop the Gotham Cathedral bell tower, gazing down into the dark alleyway below.

The rain in Gotham, the umbrellas at the Vickin Umbrella Shop, the Court of Owls, the gunshots in the dark alley, the scattered pearl necklace...

Batman closed his eyes, and everything began to connect in his mind, but there were still many vague details that he needed to investigate and explore.

Ultimately, he focused his attention on Louis, the man who had hired someone to commit murder.

From the top of the church bell tower, a dark figure leaped down like a real bat. It darted through countless dark alleyways and, amidst the flickering light and shadow, landed on the window of an attic building.

Looking down through the skylight, the frail and elderly Louis sat slumped in a chair, completely unable to move, barely surviving on the piles of garbage around him.

When Batman entered the room, he had no reaction whatsoever. He was blind and deaf and had no idea that an uninvited guest had broken in.

Unfortunately, Batman got no clues from him. Louis was too old; he suffered from Alzheimer's and was terminally ill, likely not living more than a month. Batman couldn't possibly get anything out of such a person, and the attic had long been turned into a junkyard, with nothing of value to be found.

Batman had no choice but to change his target, and he went to the Edward family's old mansion.

The Edward family was once one of the Four Great Families of the East District, on par with the Cobblepot family. However, unlike the Cobblepot family, they did not decline, mainly because they owned a dock. With the dock as a guarantee, their ability to withstand risks was far superior to that of the other families.

However, they still could not escape the Godfather's pursuit. Old Edward was dead, and Young Edward had been taken away by the Godfather. Now the entire old mansion had been taken over by the Falcone family. However, the Falcone did not value this place, so Batman entered the mansion with almost no hindrance.

The old house of Edward was pitch black, without any lights, but that didn't stop Batman. After a careful search, Batman finally found what he was looking for: an umbrella with the Wiggins emblem.

In his office at Arkham Asylum, Batman placed two parts on the table at the same time, then pointed to them and said to Schiller, "Look here, the same burn marks. The damage to your umbrella wasn't an accident."

Schiller squinted. He realized that Batman was right; the two parts had been damaged in exactly the same way—the threads had burned out.

Logically speaking, an umbrella is not a gun or a cannonball. Even if Gotham is constantly engaged in small-scale wars, the chances of an umbrella being used on the battlefield are practically zero. Therefore, the most likely way an umbrella will be damaged is by a broken frame, loose or detached parts.

However, it is absolutely impossible that a small part of the umbrella frame was burned out, causing the entire umbrella to break.

Since Schiller didn't know much about this, when the back half of one of the umbrella ribs broke, he thought it was just like a normal umbrella malfunction, a problem with the connection.

But now that I think about it, although it rains every day in Gotham, it doesn't actually get very windy, so the parts connecting the umbrella ribs weren't under that much stress, but it still broke completely.

Now, the Truth is laid bare before him: the same umbrellas produced by the same umbrella maker, with the same part failing in the same way, can only mean one thing—it was all premeditated.

"The Court of Owls is far more evil than we imagined." Batman's voice was deep and somber. "They have no intention of leaving any survivors. Everyone in Gotham, whether they didn't get an umbrella or they did, will ultimately meet the same end..."

"And you should also have thought of another fact." Schiller looked into Batman's eyes and said, "Old Edward's umbrella broke, so they went mad, and no one can say that their hiring of a hitman wasn't caused by their madness."

Batman remained silent. He had been thinking about this question ever since he received the umbrella. Schiller continued, "Obviously, you have a new goal, but it's still revenge, isn't it?"

"If it's possible to make them all pay the price, why keep chasing after just one?" Batman muttered to himself.

"So you're planning to team up with Evans and Cobblepot to investigate?"

"They are the ones who want to join forces with me."

"I can understand you and Cobblepot ..." Gordon looked at Batman and said, "After all, you two might have had loved ones killed, but what about Evans? What reason does Little Falcone. have to get involved in this kind of thing?"

"According to him, the death of his older brother, Alberto Falcone, was inextricably linked to the Court of Owls."

Upon hearing this, Gordon was stunned. He thought for a moment and said, "Alberto Falcone? That name sounds familiar. I think I've heard Harvey mention him before..."

He then shook his head and said, "It seems like everyone is very secretive about the Old Godfather's eldest son. Brock only mentioned it to me once, and when I pressed him for an answer, he didn't respond."

"Brock told me that it was a name the Old Godfather didn't want to mention, and perhaps that's why no one else dared to mention him."

"Thinking about it that way, it does seem a bit strange," Gordon said, quite puzzled. "Ten years ago, the Falcone family was even more powerful than it is now. The heir back then should have been better protected, and no one would have dared to touch him..."

"Except for the Court of Owls."

What are you planning to do?

"We formed a temporary alliance to investigate this mysterious organization from different social classes in Gotham."

Batman's tone finally changed slightly, revealing his helplessness. "When I started investigating, I realized that they were hiding too well. Even with my abilities, I searched the entire Gotham City and found no useful clues."

Schiller and Gordon both knew he was referring to the power of Wayne Enterprises. Given Wayne Enterprises' size in Gotham, the fact that they couldn't find an organization even with all their efforts showed how deeply the Court of Owls was hiding.

"So I have to rely on the strength of other people." Batman explained, "Cobblepot is a criminal, but if he killed someone from the Court of Owls, I'm willing to team up with him temporarily. He knows a lot about the underbelly of Gotham, or some details, hidden in these dark corners."

"The Falcona family has ruled Gotham's underworld for so many years, and every gang member is their informant. Evans may also be able to uncover different clues."

"Once we've found our goal through cooperation, the alliance ends here. I don't need anyone to help me get revenge."

"So what do you plan to call this alliance? Even if it's temporary, it should still have a name, right?" Gordon asked Batman.

Batman paused for a moment, Schiller suddenly had a bad feeling. Then he heard Batman say, "I'm going to call it the Avengers..."

"Wait!" Schiller interrupted him, saying, "I advise you to reconsider; this name isn't very auspicious..."

Batman looked at Schiller, Schiller expression was strange. Batman paused for a moment, then continued, "A name is just a label. I'm not superstitious about anything..."

"But the last organization with this name didn't last long before it split in two."

"We were never a group to begin with, and I have no intention of forming a team with them. This is just a temporary alliance. As for the name..." Batman unusually dragged out the last syllable, saying, "We are all enemies of the Court of Owls, therefore we are all Avengers, so the name is the Avengers. What's the problem with that?"

Batman saw a complex expression on Schiller that he had never seen before, and then he heard Schiller mutter under his breath, "Those who don't listen to advice never end well..."

At the same time, in the ward next to the office, Evans watched Cobblepot fiddling with an umbrella.

"What are you doing?" Evans curiously, sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning over to ask. Cobblepot didn't even look up, only replying perfunctorily, "I'm making weapons."

"Weapons?" Evans was even more puzzled. He asked, "Using an umbrella as a weapon? Can't you just take a gun?"

Cobblepot had no desire to talk to him; he'd had enough of Evans these past few days.

If Cobblepot's experiences over the past few days were written as an article, the title should be "How to get along with someone I completely dislike and who is quite annoying."

Cobblepot had long ago told Schiller that he looked down on the Godfather's son, Little Falcone., thinking he was a complete idiot. But when this idiot was transferred to the same ward as him, he discovered that Little Falcone. was not only stupid, but also very annoying.

Unlike Batman, Evans is more lively and talkative. He wasn't actually sick; he just came to relax. He was in good condition while hospitalized and didn't seem to care about being a patient. He would often grab Cobblepot to chat with him.

At first, Cobblepot was willing to chat with Evans in order to extract some information about the Falcona family, but later Cobblepot discovered that Evans did all sorts of things except for serious business.

Evans had a wide range of interests. He was proficient in art, painting, singing, and playing many musical instruments. His best instrument was the violin, and he was also very good at cello and violin. He also loved opera, and could sing, dance, and act. He would even practice his voice in his hospital room when he had free time.

But when it comes to matters related to family business, according to Cobblepot, Evans was a complete idealistic fool.

After talking with Evans for a few days, Cobblepot gained nothing except for improving his music theory knowledge, which was completely useless in Gotham. So, in the following days, he became too lazy to talk to Evans anymore.

Evans stood up, walked over to Cobblepot, watched him work, and after a while, asked, "It seems you can't modify this umbrella. Do you need any help?"

"No, I don't need it." Cobblepot yanked hard on the umbrella ribs, and a part flew off with a "whoosh." Evans covered his face and screamed in pain. He shouted, "Hey! You did that on purpose, didn't you? Watch out!"

"Damn it..." Cobblepot cursed, "Something's not right with this umbrella."

He picked up the entire umbrella and examined it, then said, "What material is this thing made of? Why are welding and cutting ineffective against it?"

Evans leaned over and touched the umbrella ribs. He frowned and said, "This doesn't seem to be made of steel or anything like that. It looks kind of familiar..."

"Looks familiar?" Cobblepot turned to look at him and asked, "Where have you seen this before?"

Evans stroked his chin, thinking as he said, "I don't remember very clearly, but I should have seen it before. However, if you can't modify this metal, then you probably can't make a weapon."

Cobblepot didn't reply; he stared silently at the umbrella, seemingly deep in thought.