A gift from a helpful citizen

Half an hour later, the Italian walked out of the hospital room. His underlings had arranged the Mad Hatter's discharge and sent him off in an ambulance.

The police officers also received a call from their superiors: the paperwork was in order, so they were to let him go.

"What the hell is this..." A younger cop watched the ambulance drive away and couldn't help sighing.

"That's Gotham for you. You'll get used to it," an older officer consoled him while idly playing on his phone. "Look on the bright side. We've got the whole afternoon off now."

Meanwhile.

"What? The Roman took the Mad Hatter?" Commissioner Gordon stared at the text on his phone, his temples throbbing. "What are they up to? And what were the cops guarding the Mad Hatter doing?"

"Commissioner Rob probably pulled some strings. He did just receive a donation to the police fund from Carmine Falcone this year."

The speaker was Gordon's friend, the local district attorney, Harvey Dent. A moment's thought was enough for him to work out what had happened. "Looks like the Mad Hatter might have some connection to the Falcone members who died on Valentine's Day."

"Those two deaths have already turned Gotham City upside down, and things are only getting worse." Gordon frowned. "There's something else that bothers me, too. The method is practically identical to that string of holiday murders."

"Do you think it's the same killer, or a copycat?" Harvey asked.

"At this point, I'd say it's the same person. A copycat couldn't know the details that well," Gordon reasoned. "Unless it was someone who'd worked on those cases and knew the whole inside story. Only someone like that could reproduce them so closely."

"I think so, too," Harvey said meaningfully.

"No, we're getting off track. Our immediate priority is to get things under control..." Before Gordon could finish, his phone flashed again.

He glanced down and couldn't help swearing. "Fuck! The Roman bailed out Poison Ivy and the Riddler, too!"

"Damn it..." Harvey's expression darkened. "Does Falcone own Blackgate Penitentiary now?"

"This can't go on. We have to do something." Gordon and Harvey began quietly plotting their next move.

By then, the Falcone family's actions had already thrown Gotham City into chaos.

"Damn it, say that again?" Roland grabbed an old potato farmer by the collar. "You want ten dollars for one fist-sized potato? How about a taste of my potato-sized fist instead?"

"Where else are you going to find potatoes right now? I had to pay off the Falcone people just to get in here and sell these. You think they're expensive? So do I." The old farmer disdainfully brushed Roland's hand away. "Are you buying or not?"

"Like hell I am!"

"Sorry, don't sell that."

Roland turned to leave, then realized something was off. "Since when did the fucking Falcone family start policing produce coming into the city?"

"Hey, hey, you, the religious quack. Yeah, you." A young man whose face was covered in nose rings, ear studs, and lip rings, making him look like one of the Six Paths of Pain, ran up to Roland and held out a hand. "I'm with Falcone. Pay up!"

"Pay for what?"

"Well... quacks like you must just go through the motions when you say your prayers, but your church still takes all those donations. You have to pay our Falcone family an atonement fee." The young man's eyes darted about as he came up with an excuse.

"Amen... Someone actually has the nerve to sell indulgences to me." Roland knocked the young man flat with a single punch. "With Falcone, are you? You look Latino. You expect me to believe you're in the Italian Mafia?"

"You dare hit me? You're dead!" The young man hadn't expected a clergyman to throw a punch without warning. Caught off guard, he was left seeing stars.

"Heh. You tried to extort me in broad daylight, so I hit you. What are you going to do about it?" Roland searched the young man and pocketed all his loose cash. As for the little box of suspicious white powder, he dumped it straight into a sewer.

"I'll take a sack of those potatoes." Having received a donation from a helpful citizen, Roland hoisted a sack onto his shoulder and tossed a handful of cash onto the stall. "Keep the change."

"This isn't enough..."

"Be grateful I'm not asking for change." Roland stuck a cigarette between his lips and walked away.

After seeing how readily Roland had resorted to violence, the old farmer didn't dare stop him. All he could do was spit at his retreating back.

"Boss Roland, you're back!" The children in the church lit up at the sight of Roland returning with a sack of potatoes.

"Yeah. Wash these and cook them. We'll eat them in a bit." Roland dropped the potatoes on the floor. "Hang on. Aren't we missing a few people?"

"Alena and Manuel went out. They said they'd try to find some food to bring back."

"Are they out of their minds? It's chaos out there!" Roland snapped. "It's not like I don't have food. Why would they need to go out?"

"Boss, they're Italian. They'll be pretty safe out there."

"Yeah, we can't keep eating your food for free, can we?"

"And it's not that chaotic outside. Gotham City isn't much more peaceful on a normal day."

"Yeah, before the Riddler and the Joker got locked up, Gotham was way worse than this."

The children all began talking over one another.

"...You really have seen it all." Roland sighed. "I just hope they're all right."

"What's going on out there, anyway? Has the Falcone family gone crazy?" Jason asked. "Why are they suddenly causing so much trouble?"

"It's not just their people. Most of them are thugs running wild under their name." Roland took out another cigarette. "Who knows how long this'll last."

"With how much power Falcone has in Gotham City right now, who can stop them?" Jason shook his head. "And until they stop, the chaos will keep going."

"Well, someone might stop them pretty soon," Roland said after a moment's thought.

"You mean Batman?" Jason asked.

"Yeah."

"Batman's just one guy. How's he supposed to take on an entire mob?" Jason wasn't convinced. "Besides, Falcone's in bed with the authorities. If Batman goes too far, he might end up on a wanted poster."

"You'll see. Batman should make his move before long," Roland said. "And isn't Batman already wanted? I thought he'd been wanted for vigilante violence for ages."