Deep in the labyrinth beneath Gotham City, a Meeting was taking place.
"An attempt on the Forrest Girl?! Outrageous!" A Well dressed man with an owl mask exclaimed as he listened to the meeting.
"We need to move her away! For her safety if nothing else!" Another person yelled, hoping his voice would carry over the cacophony of sounds in the underground chamber.
"We can't simply get her out of the city! She's a Gothamite by blood, She needs to stay!" A Lady yelled as she slammed a fist on the table in front of her.
"Quiet Down! Quiet Down!" An old and weak voice cried out hoarsely as a wheelchair was pushed into the room, silencing all the voices of the court present.
"Rose Forrest won't be going anywhere," The Wheelchair Bound Elder said once she had the attention of the room.
"Then what will we do?" A Younger member of the Court of Owls asked, "It wasn't her that was targeted, but her caretaker, it would be much safer to separate the two and let someone responsible take care of the girl, would it not?" The question raised a series of hums and nods from a collection of the court.
"Bah, Don't be daft, The girl and her caretaker aren't going anywhere," The Elder shook her head as the crowd once again quieted down for her, "It's that Metropolis Parasite that needs to go," She barked, gloved fist slamming on her wheelchair.
"Tobias Whale has been nothing but a plague on our city from the moment he decided to branch out," The Elder looked everyone in the eyes, "What we must make sure is that Tobias Whale won't get his hands on any more Gotham streets, Understood?!"
The Court of Owls nodded their heads at the yell of the Old Woman, only for them all to turn their heads simultaneously as the sound of footsteps approached the Meeting Chamber
"Valued members of the Court, Please settle down,"
Through the main corridor leading to the chamber in which the Court of Owls sat, A Lone man walked in, A sharp black suit on his body, A cloak over his head to hide his hair, and a golden owl mask on his face.
"The Judge is here," A Member whispered to another as he settled into his seat, followed by many more whispers from the many members of the Gotham Elites.
Once everyone was settled and silent, the Judge of Owls spoke, officially starting the newest meeting for Gotham's future.
"To start things off, Rose Forrest will not be going anywhere," The judge said, and his words brought no argument.
"Now to the real order of business, Tobias Whale must be taken care of," The judge spoke slowly, his voice echoing around the underground chamber, before he snapped his gloved fingers.
As if out of nowhere, A Talon dropped from the ceiling, placing a chair behind the Judge, and allowing him to take a seat.
"Our Talons are already keeping an eye on him, Should he ever personally leave Metropolis and enter our fine city, he will know pain," The Judge said calmly as he outstretched his hand out, ignoring the Talon that gave him a dossier of papers as he read them out.
And so passed an hour, The Judge of Owls talking about the court proceedings, members of the court bringing up points they believed were important, and discussing the answers to those issues.
"And what shall we do in regards to Batman?" It was soon before the ending statements that a member of the court raised an issue that many thought would be fitting to talk of.
"Batman..." The Judge repeated the name slowly, testing it on his tongue, "Batman..." The Judge tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair as he leaned back, his fingers intertwined as he thought it over.
And so The Judge of Owls came to a conclusion, one which he shared with the members of the jury, who all agreed with his decision.
The Judge is correct, he was chosen to choose.
And should the Judge fail to make the correct choice, he'll no longer be the Judge.
"Court is dismissed,"
......................
Gotham Factory District - 17:30 - August 4th, 2004
Three black vans stopped outside of an old factory, the shade of the neighboring warehouse hiding them from view.
From the vans exited several men, all dressed in the finest black suits they could afford, with a single red rose in their breast pockets.
From the middle van came out a man dressed differently from the others.
"The Tire Painter gang really are small-timers if this is the best they could afford," The man mused calmly, taking in the old building in front of him.
He moved his hand to his suit's pocket, taking out a pistol which he then checked over before returning it to his pocket.
He saw his men do the same with their guns.
He gave his back a stretch before he walked toward the front door of the factory with six other people, the rest of his men walking around to the back.
He pointed at the door of the Factory, one of his men moving ahead to open it for him, pistol in his off-hand in case somebody jumps out.
Seeing as the coast was clear, The men walked inside. Looking at the open factory floor that was remodeled into a Meth lab on one side, and a paint shop for stolen vehicles on the other.
"They're not here," One of the men said after taking they took a look around, "What should we do?"
Their boss only needed a second to think before a plan popped into his head.
He didn't make it big as a crime boss in New York by being stupid, Even if it was arguably in a past life.
"We get ready for them to come back," He said, his head turning to look at the Meth Lab as a small smile graced his lips underneath the purple mask he wore, "So here's what we're gonna do," And so Rose started explaining his plan.
If any one of the people in that old Factory looked up at the open skylight of the factory, they might have been able to notice a thin woman dressed in black and brown crawl silently into the Building, keeping herself hidden underneath her Owl-like mask.
Because while Richard Fisk's Job was to get Penguin's guns back, Mary Turner's job was to keep an eye on Rose Forrest's caretaker.
And as long as Fisk didn't know the Talon was keeping watch, that meant she was doing her job correctly.
Because the Court of Owls always kept their eyes on people of interest. And if Fisk was lucky, The court would lose interest.
Or perhaps it would be luckier if the court kept its interest in the young man? Who knows? Mary wasn't good at thinking about all of these things.
That was what William was good for instead.
All she had to do was watch from afar. Something that she could do easily... Is that a puppy?
Surely the Court wouldn't mind if she left her post for a few minutes... Right?
And so, as silently as she entered, Mary Turner crawled out of the factory and dropped to the street, intent on petting some street dogs.