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Chapter 32: Home Sweet Home
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"My payment before I go?" Ian asked. However, he received no response as Batman just stared at him for a few seconds, "What? I don't swing that way, and I thought you two were together?"
Batman shook his head in exasperation and handed Ian a bunch of documents, "Here is your new ID with the same name, fully legal, and your friend's ID. Now that I gave you this, I'm to a certain extent responsible for your actions, so know that I'll be keeping an eye on you."
Ian nodded knowing it's not time for jokes. Getting an actual identity approved by the government is extremely hard.
The Id he had only worked as a symbol. If anyone really looked into his information, they easily figure out it's fake.
That was one of the reasons none of the Rose family properties are in his name. Everything is in Ralf's name.
Perhaps Ian just trusted him with that, or he just didn't care, but what option did he really have? The only thing that really mattered to him was his babies, the collection in the underground chamber.
"Alright, just contact me if you see value in our collaboration." After which Ian went back home, and he really missed that word after being stuck in a tomb for days.
And that says a lot considering the place he calls home is in Gotham, but it was a breath of fresh air for him... That only continued until a few minutes later when he took a bit more of its scent and remembered just how much of a shithole it's.
"Why? I still don't get what's special about him. Are you actually considering a collaboration with him? You think he's valuable for whatever you're planning?"
Talia couldn't help but question, because he had done nothing to help so far, and there must be something more to him than his charisma and success.
The Bat hesitated for a second before saying, "I've yet to confirm anything, I just deduced something... I am still unsure."
'Oh? He's hiding it even from me? Then he must be quite special.' Talia kept her thoughts to herself and didn't question him any further.
Batman's mask however was hiding a big frown because only a few minutes ago, he received an interesting piece of news... The Sicilian family has fallen.
Batman had a few percussions about what was going to happen while he was away, so he left Nightwing and Batgirl to look after the city in the meantime.
However, what happened was too sudden. He even predicted Ian might be planning something, but he did surpass his expectations and did something he can turn a blind eye to.
Ian walked through Olster street, noticing just how clean it is. There is almost no crime within. It's simply peaceful but prosperous.
However, Ian can sense the tension in the area and he can see the many Rose family workers patrolling around, and he was sure some of them have guns, all due to the charity of the other crime families.
The moment he entered his coffee, he was met with the welcoming head nods of his boss, "Boss."
All as a show of respect, and the customers in the coffee weren't weirded out by that, it was a common thing as pretty much everyone in the street and its surroundings know of the two bosses, Ian and Ralf.
Ian walked directly upstairs to the office where he found the boys already waiting as per his instructions.
He gave each of them a hug before lazily resting on the office couch, "I am really glad to be back. The trip almost gave me PTSD."
"What happened?!" Barney was kind of waiting for that, Ian traveling somewhere means something cool is about to be added to the collection.
"I was stuck in a tomb for like three days... Now that I refresh my memory about it, it was really hellish and boring." Ian responded before letting out a laugh, "But it was worth it."
Barney couldn't help but gulp, "I am sure it was... So what did you get? Please show me!" His thirst seemed to be getting bigger and bigger by the day.
Ian smiled at his never-changing friend and pulled out something from his backpack that made the group almost too stunned... an exquisite golden necklace.
"This is my find, the necklace of a crazy queen that lived thousands of years ago. According to my estimate, it should be worth at least a million due to its age and significance, possibly tens of millions."
He explained as he observed the dark beetle stone on it, something he wasn't able to do on the way due to the watching eyes.
Barney was speechless, but that didn't stop his hands from extending in plead of the necklace, his eyes almost mimicking those of a puppy.
Ian laughed in amusement before handing it to him, "Now, let's get to business. I know nothing of what happened due to my circumstances, so tell me everything."
"You said things may happen differently than you expected, and they did," Ralf muttered before glancing at the silent Mike. He seemed to be absent-minded, something Ian noticed.
"Go on."
"The criminal known as the Penguin followed the script but took the liberty to cause more chaos.
He believed the information we leaked... that the Sicilians were the ones to hire someone to steal the diamond, but that someone kept it for himself.
And as predicted, the Sicilians denied the whole thing, and he didn't believe them thus war started... I don't think he had a lot of henchmen, but he had a lot of bombs that he set off in the Sicilian territory, specifically, the Sicilian properties."
"So what went wrong?" Ian frowned, unsure as everything was predictable so far.
"He started targeting us, as in the Rose family. He started with the surrounding streets we took over and destroyed a few properties and... and Mike used the weapon."
Ralf's lips were almost trembling remembering what's happened, the absolute and terrifying power of the weapon.
"On what?"
"We got word of a scheduled meeting between the Penguin and the Sicilians. I came to the conclusion that perhaps he figured out something, so Mike improvised and used the weapon there and then."
Ian eyed his facial expression, noticing he is not done yet, "However?"
"However, the Penguin survived somehow and sought revenge only to be caught. I don't know how or who caught him but I presume it's Batman?" Ralf made the only logical assumption he could make considering he doesn't know of what Ian was actually doing and his collaboration with the Bat, he didn't know of the Bat's absence.
"The Sicilians?" Ian asked.
"I Have yet to hear of any survivors, from the main family at least."
Ian turned his attention to Mike and asked, "Are you okay?"
He understood that killing tens of people would be a shock and a traumatizing experience for most people, and Mike is still not that used to this lifestyle.
Perhaps greed had driven him to some hasty decisions before, but Ian's words brought him back a bit.
"Yeah, I am okay." Mike instantly responded, seemingly calm but Ian can see more, his words were almost as if they were rehearsed.
"This is a bit hypocritical but it may make you feel better, so hear me out. The crime families have been ruling the underworld for years if not tens of years.
They have very little care for human life and only God knows how many people had died by their hands, but I can assume it's in the thousands if not tens of thousands. Even more lives were ruined because of what they do.
We're nowhere as extreme as them but we might do worst at times for our sake.
At the end of the day, I targeted them not for the people but for myself. Just know that they're not people worth weeping for, I guess we're also like that aren't we?"
Ian really tried to make him feel better, but some words couldn't help but slip out of his mouth, leading to an opposite result of what he desired.
Ian let out a sigh, "I am so bad at this... Just know one thing, you did it for what? For the family and yourself, so we'll bear the guilt with you, the same as you'll bear ours someday, or how you were there for Barney when he had to go through something similar, alright?"
Mike lifted his head and glanced at all of his friends, and seeing their encouraging glances... It was all he needed as he nodded at Ian. The latter of course knew he should still give him some more time to calm down, so he changed the subject.
He stood up and walked towards the object placed on the table, the Kryptonian sword.
"Where did you get that thing?" Ralf couldn't help but ask because that's definitely not something even the military is capable of creating.
"Charity." Ian instantly answered, not willing to delve into the subject in front of Mike. The sword wasn't merely a sword but also a straight-up cannon.
He didn't test it before but the news of the explosion should tell him of its capabilities now, "Ralf, we'll speak more about the matter in a little bit."
Ian then went back to his room after taking back the necklace, he still needs to empty his duffel bags and backpack.
He then put all the new things in the collection room before receiving a message that brought a smile to his face.
He made his way to the roof where he was caught off guard by a tight hug from the cat herself, she spoke with a soft tone, "I am glad you're back."