In an opulently decorated mansion, a gray-haired middle-aged man in a suit and tie was holding a phone and roaring furiously at the person on the other end.
"A damn mob boss dared to challenge me on television?! If we let him be this arrogant, where will the dignity of federal law be? And what the hell is the Federal Bureau of Investigation even for?! What's so difficult about storming in and arresting him?!"
"Have you got it wrong? I'm a senator, not an agent! My job is to keep the government running, not arrest people! Why didn't you go handle crisis public relations for the Federal Government?"
The man took a deep breath, one hand on his hip while the other kept pressing down through the air. Then he said, "Enough, Amanda. I don't want to hear any more of your useless nonsense. If the Federal Bureau of Investigation isn't afraid of losing face over dereliction of duty, then I'll play with him myself! I can't go into his home and drag him out, but I can let him know that neither he nor this rotten city will have an easy time!"
The man angrily hung up, but when he turned around, he caught sight of a blurry black shadow flickering through the darkness behind the curtains.
He twitched at once, turning back and craning his neck toward it suspiciously. With more bluster than courage, he shouted, "Who? Who's there?! Get out here, or I'll call the bodyguards!"
A black figure stepped out of the shadows. Batman looked at Lauder and said, "I'm here to warn you. Don't do anything to Gotham. It's for your own good."
"Batman?!" Lauder cried out in surprise. Of course, he had heard of Gotham's Dark Knight, though not exactly in flattering terms.
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