DC: I am Bruce Wayne

Chapter 173: Fall of the Black Mask (2)

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"You don't keep a man waiting. The only time you do is when you want to say something. When you want to say f--k you."

- Hoffa, (The Irishman)

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<{Iceberg Lounge, Gotham}>

<(Omniscient POV)>

"Ah, you are finally here, my dear. I almost thought that you wouldn't be coming. But then again, you owe me too much not to help me the only time I ask for your assistance." Black Mask, lounging on a plush sofa in a secluded underground section of the nightclub, feigned emotion in his voice as he gestured for his men outside to lower their guns upon noticing a blonde girl in her early twenties abruptly entering his private VIP booth. 

The woman donned a sleek, jet-black dress reaching up to her lower thighs that highlighted her curves effectively. Her impeccably styled golden hair, which extended to her mid-back, and her subtle makeup made it obvious that she might either be a celebrity or some kind of performer. Yet, the feature that stood out the most in her current appearance was her long legs, which were covered with a pair of fishnet stockings. And even though stockings weren't supposed to go well with the type of clothes she was wearing, for some reason, they only served to enhance her beauty even more. 

Hearing the crime lord's words, the girl couldn't help but frown with clear displeasure as she scoffed at him. "Just don't forget you gave me your word that this would be the last time I would ever have to help you. This... job will clear all the debts I owe you. We are even now. Don't expect me to continue to work for you or do you a favor ever again. Once we are done here, we go our separate ways." She sternly warned with a furrow of her brows before silently taking out her phone and fiddling with it to distract herself from the anger that was slowly building up inside her. 

"Don't be so rude, my dear. Remember, I was the one who raised you when you had no one left after your mother's death. I was the one who picked you up from the streets, fed and clothed you, and gave you a proper roof over your head. You should be grateful to me instead of throwing insults." Black Mask chuckled as if he was mocking the girl. 

"You forced me to become a singer in Falcone's nightclub and spy for you to pay you back for all that. And I am sure you have already made a hundred times the "investment" you made in me by now. Even the last drug shipment you stole from Carmine Falcone that I informed you about was worth millions. Also, don't think for even a single moment that I don't know why you really took me in. I might have been naive then, but now I know for a fact that you only took care of me because you were aware of the... gift that I inherited from my mother." The girl snapped back with a clearly noticeable anger in her eyes.

"Because that is the only thing you are good for..." The masked gangster calmly retorted. "... Singing, I mean. You are a canary, and a canary only sings for others. I did you a favor when I gave you a purpose in your life. In fact, you should be grateful that I decided to make you a singer and not a stripper, little birdie." He mocked before suddenly turning to look at the door. "Ah, there, they have finally arrived. We will continue this conversation later. For now, we have a Falcon to screw." Black Mask said as he casually raised his hand to stop the girl from arguing back with him any further. 

Just as he had finished speaking, the door of the room opened, and three women dressed in business suits entered inside, followed by a group of well-built, sturdy-looking men dressed in black tuxedos. 

However, despite their serious looks, Black Mask noted that none of the men were visibly armed. They didn't even seem to be carrying any weapons with them, making the crime lord ponder whether the Falcones had fallen in power so much that they couldn't even arm their lackeys with actual weaponry anymore. 

'Tch, hiring those extra muscles was a waste. Just a mere dozen of my men alone would have been enough to take care of Falcones tonight... and maybe even the Maronis. There was no need for me to have spent that extra bit of money.' The leader of the False Facers thought with regret hidden behind his mask. 

It was obvious what Black Mask was planning. He knew that the Falcones and the Maronis had grown weak after months of infighting between each other for pieces of the city following the death of the Falcone patriarch. After all, he was the one who had carefully orchestrated some of those fights as a plot to keep the gangs busy with each other. And now, since the two gangs were finally on their last legs, he was ready to fly in and deal the final blow to buy some "street cred" for himself. 

That was why he had accepted the Falcone gang's invitation to this meeting in the first place. It was because he wanted to get rid of them for good as long as the circumstances allowed it. Unless the Falcone gang had been hiding some sort of ace up their sleeve, which Black Mask was sure they didn't since he had his own group of insiders and spies that had been informing him of everything going on within the crime family, there was no way the Falcones were going to survive the night.

After he was done with everything, there would be no more Falcones or Maronis left in Gotham anymore, just his False Facers, the most powerful organized crime organization in Gotham, if not the entire country. That was Black Mask's true dream, to build the strongest criminal empire.

Of course, at that time, the gang lord was unaware that his thoughts were indeed partially accurate. The Falcones, Maronis, and many other criminal factions in Gotham certainly were on the brink of destruction. However, contrary to his expectations, it wouldn't be his False Facers who would remain when the dust settled. In the vast chessboard that was Gotham's criminal underworld, Black Mask was not the smart, savvy player he believed himself to be, he was merely just a pawn waiting to be used. 

"Miss Falcone, looking pretty as always. It is always a treat to meet someone as gorgeous as you. It seems your time at Arkham hasn't affected your beauty at all." He greeted the woman standing in the middle with a warm tone in his voice, even though anyone could tell at a glance that he was actually subtly mocking her. 

"Thank you for your kind praise, Mr. Sionis. I am happy to see that your sense of humor is still there behind that mask. I thought you had lost it along with your company. Oh, by the way, I am sorry to hear what happened to your parents' company after they died in that fire. But at least we can all be glad that Wayne Enterprises saved you from imminent bankruptcy with that buyout, right? Otherwise, you probably wouldn't even be here tonight." Sofia Falcone responded calmly with a smile on her lips, not too bothered about being reminded of her wrongful imprisonment in Arkham for the last decade. 

Roman Sionis, however, wasn't too happy at her taunt. After the incident at the mall, he hated the name Wayne with a passion. So, when he was reminded about the time his company, Janus Cosmetics, was bought out by Wayne Enterprises after he had almost driven it into the ground, his mood turned even worse. 

"... Miss Falcone, I must point out that you are awfully late to a meeting you called in the first place. This is not how people like us do business. If I didn't know you any better, I would have almost thought that you were trying to disrespect me." Suddenly, his voice took a sharp 180-degree turn, becoming serious as he gave her an annoyed look, reminding her that he was the one who held the higher ground in the meeting. However, this only lasted for a few moments as the crime lord soon went back to his calm demeanor when he shook his head as if remembering something and turned his attention to the other two women accompanying Sofia Falcone. "And who are these two beauties, if I may ask? Your new attendants, perhaps, or did you hire some extra... muscle?" he asked in a sarcastic voice. 

"Extra muscle? Well, you can certainly call them that." Sofia responded with a small knowing smile. "But the truth is that they are my new business associates. They will be joining us for the duration of this meeting. Perhaps you even know one of them. This is Helena Bertinelli, the last surviving member of the infamous Bertinelli family and my new partner..." She introduced, gesturing towards Helena, "while this is Selin Kyle, a close relative of mine, so close that she is almost family. You can call her my new... sponsor." She pointed at Selina with a smile blossoming on her face.

"Helena Bertinelli? Yes, I have indeed heard of her. As a matter of fact, I have been wanting to meet her for quite some while. It seems lady luck is really favoring me tonight." Black Mask chuckled from beneath his mask before gesturing to his own plus-one, who was silently observing everyone else in the room. "Anyway, since you have already brought two more people with you unannounced, I hope you won't mind that I have also brought someone to this meeting without discussing it with you. This is Dinah Laurel Lance. She is a singer in the Iceberg Lounge and someone I trust very much. She has a good brain on her, so she helps me with some of my financial decisions. That is the reason she will be partaking in this meeting as my advisor." He stated, making it clear that it wasn't up for discussion.

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