"We're in." The voice of one of the masked men sounded over the other end of the radio.
Jacob, watching the security cameras, leaned back into his chair as he glanced over at the other monitors. Hacking into the security systems of the casino had been easy, it was much like many things when he put his mind to it.
As the masked men rushed into the vault of the casino, piling the cash into bags, Jacob watched as armed guards began to move in on their location. This was not like a common casino, there would be no mercy shown nor any quarter given to the perpetrators. If they were caught, they would be brutally tortured for any and all information they had and then killed.
Unluckily for them, Jacob could not only see their movements, but he also knew that even if by some chance his crew were caught, the robbers wouldn't be able to tell them anything useful. That's how Jacob had set this whole thing up, no one knew anyone's names or what they looked like. No personal information could be shared, every inch of their skin had to be covered, there was to be no trace that could lead back to anyone left behind.
If there was, they wouldn't be able to do or say anything.
The instructions he gave to their meeting points was always different, the location also changing. Members of his gang that robbed these casinos, also shifting and changing each time. All the while he, a nameless and formless figure that simply provided instructions over a radio, the eyes in the skies, the guiding hand of God that led them to success.
There was no chance of this ever coming back to him.
"Three minutes," Jacob said over the radio, the voice modulator changing his voice. "Then the armed guards will have cracked open the door and will have cut off your escape route. If there's anything left after that point, leave it behind."
When Jacob had met with Black Mask that first time, he had masked his nervousness well. But he had been scared and why wouldn't he be? Black Mask was one of the most powerful crime lords in Gotham City. In a city filled with terrifying intelligent and mad criminals that ran rampant, that said a great deal about the man's character.
Ruthless and cunning.
A man who had risen to a position at the top despite all the obstacles that came his way. Jacob had known that before the meeting, had expected the man to hold a certain presence about him. But being there, sat directly across from him, that was something else entirely.
Yet the decision had been made and Jacob had no desire to turn back now. Even if he wanted, that path had been shut behind the moment he pulled the trigger.
So when the task had been given, Jacob didn't hesitate to agree. A mystery though it may have been when he agreed, there was no chance of him saying no, not when his life hanged in the balance.
Turns out, the task while difficult, had also been relatively simple.
Each crime family and organisation had its own casino or casinos to help bring in revenue. They also had their own banks and it was up to him to rob them. But as simple as it was to say it, putting words into action was never such a simple matter.
However, Jacob was smart, a genius as people kept saying and he was never one to back down from a challenge. Surviving up to this point had been difficult, almost impossible as some had said, but here he was, still going. Like always, Jacob put his head down and went to work, making plans and putting them into action to get what he wanted.
First of all, he needed a crew.
Luckily for him, he had access to some of the resources that Black Mask had and used that to gain access to records pertaining to those that had a history of military service. Those with backgrounds in crime and other areas vital for a crew to rob banks, including backups necessary should things go south on a job.
He compiled a list of each and every single person he could ever possibly need and then narrowed it down further to those with secrets that would be best kept secret, debts that had yet to be paid and so on so forth.
He then offered them a job, allowing them to take a cut of the money, the rest, including his cut, going to Black Mask. After that, it was all about putting a system in place and looking at all necessary information pertaining to his targets, including doing some scouting of his own. It was in the casinos that he made a little bit of money on the side, counting cards was easy and while he had to be careful not to get caught, he was not the type to take a needless risk by losing himself in a gambling addiction.
He knew when to quit before things got too dangerous.
So while he had yet to make profits from the actual robberies themselves, he was able to make money from his scouting of said establishments. All of which led him to this moment in his life, watching as his crew moved through the back entrance of the casino, a brief firefight been shared between them and the armed guards of the Lucky Hand Triad casino.
Each of his men making it safely into the truck and sped away.
They knew the drills by this point, even though the teams were constantly changed. Each of the members within it had done numerous jobs with him and they knew what to do when on the roads. He had stressed the importance of memorising cop patrol routes, the surrounding routes from the destination, garrisons of the Lucky Hand Triads and other factors that could possibly affect how this job went.
So, taking off his headset, Jacob leaned back into his chair and smiled. 'Another job complete. Just a few more now and I'll have made it clear just how important I am. Then I can start the next step.'
-X- Line Break -X-
Wincing as the bag was ripped off his head, Jacob found himself once again forced to adjust the light that assaulted his senses. But unlike before, the harsh glare from the lights was much kinder than before.
As he looked around at his surroundings, Jacob also quickly came to realise that he was in a completely different place as before. The last time was a blindingly white, barren warehouse. This time though, it was a well-furbished and expensive looking office. Plants, paintings, expensive artefacts such as masks, chairs, counters and much more.
"Thirteen casinos." Focusing upon Black Mask on the other side of the desk, Jacob watched as he read through a file, flipping the paper. "Five banks. Over fifteen point six billion dollars stolen and now going through the correct laundering procedures. Very impressive."
Jacob took some measure of pride in the praise he received, though he knew there was more to this meeting than to be simply told what a good job he had been doing. "There's still two more banks to hit. These are the biggest ones yet, they alone should double the profits of all previous banks."
"Then they must be the banks belonging to the Falcone family." Black Mask correctly deduced.
Jacob wasn't too surprised, Black Mask was an intelligent man, had to be in order to have survived in Gotham under Batman's purview. "That's correct." Jacob concurred.
"Cancel the arrangements." It took a moment for what Black Mask said to register, but when it did, Jacob frowned deeply. One of the first things to run through his mind was the possibility that this could be a test, though as much as he was good at reading people, the mask adorning Black Mask's face made it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"May I ask why?" Jacob asked.
As Black Mask placed the files down on the table, he leaned back into his comfortable leather chair. "Batman is getting close to cracking the case of mysterious robberies." That sparked a reaction, Jacob appearing shocked and also angry.
It was a reaction that made Black Mask chuckle.
"That's not possible." Jacob denied. "My system was...flawless. I covered all my tracks. I-I..."
"It's not the first time Batman has done something seemingly impossible." Black Mask said. "He has earned his reputation as one of, if not the greatest detective in the world. He knows exactly where to look, he knows where we'll be and where we won't. He has developed an instinct for this type of work, but Batman has his limits. Your system was good, very good. You just got unlucky."
"You're saying that luck is the reason Batman has gotten close to catching me?" Jacob's voice was filled with bewilderment. "Luck? Am I expected to believe that?"
"Luck plays an important part in all life. You should know that better than anyone, considering the fact that you weren't meant to have survived to see your first birthday, let alone live to the age of sixteen." Black Mask explained, Jacob going quiet. "Batman is no different, sometimes, even the smartest of men, find great epiphanies in moments where they witnessed something small and minuscule. It was luck that brought them there to that point."
Jacob scoffed, not believing that for a second.
He refused to believe that he could be defeated by something as uncontrollable as luck.
That everything he had done, was all due to luck.
He survived because he made it so.
Because he was smarter than everyone else.
He could and would not believe that luck had anything to do with it.
"I wouldn't get so worried about it." Black Mask stated. "The plans you have for those banks, have taken into account the possible responses that the Falcones could put in place. They would have succeeded and I would be a fool not to recognise your worth. I will be offering you a position as an accountant, for now. Show me that you can be trusted with money, and I'll consider providing you with more responsibilities."
Black Mask opened his blazer, allowing his gun to be displayed, just for a brief moment.
"But know this, I don't trust you. I don't trust anyone. So long as you remain loyal, you'll be provided with money, protection, women, whatever you desire, but only in proportion to the work you do for me. In turn, I expect your absolute loyalty and your absolute best." Black Mask's voice was low and quiet, calm and poised. "Fail me, and I will kill you."
Withholding the urge to smile, Jacob nodded his head. "I can guarantee you, I won't fail you." He answered firmly, everything beginning to fall into place. But the spark that had always been there within him, driving him, now it had erupted into an inferno.
Black Masks words and the realisation that luck of all things could have been his downfall. That had made the spark within him erupt into a burning inferno that almost threatened to consume him.
Jacob refused to let something as uncontrollable as luck be his downfall.