"So as for what we know so far…"

That musing came from Clark, completely clad in his Batsuit save for his hood, typing away at the Batcomputer. It was time for another night of patrol, and this time the dynamic duo had their work cut out for them, not just in apprehending the final main kingpin of Gotham City, but also in merely tracking him down, which so far was proving itself to be the trickiest part.

"Black Mask has no identifiable fingerprints, and no one has seen his face. He's nearly impossible to catch due to how paranoid he is. All of his thugs wear the same mask as him, and he's known to send in body doubles to escape dangerous situations," Clark continued. "Worst yet, nobody knows where he's based as a result of all this."

"No identifiable fingerprints, you say?" Alfred asked, dusting the workbench.

"Nope. Apparently, he originally wore black leather gloves to conceal them, but some freak accident left them permanently burnt into his skin."

"Probably explains the paranoia."

"Most likely, but the only info we haven't accounted for is in the file Gordon gave us," Bruce chimed in, opening the manila folder. Not much was inside it, save for a few photos and hastily written notes, but judging by his widened eyes, that was all the missing information the heroes needed. "Well, it looks like the cops were good for something. One of them managed to find out that Black Mask is none other than Roman Sionis."

"You mean that wealthy windbag we went to school with?" Clark chuckled, staring incredulously at his brother.

"My, it seems this city's criminal underworld has swallowed up multiple old friends of yours… assuming Mr. Sionis' parents weren't already involved in it," Alfred added.

"My money's on Janus Industries being a cover for these arm and drug smuggling deals," Bruce said, donning his domino mask. "All that's left to do now is find Roman and expose his operation."

Clark took a moment to inspect the folder's contents, looking closely at the first picture. He could recognize the man behind the mask, who looked a little shocked that he'd been caught without it. He could only imagine what had become of the undercover cop who'd snapped the picture. But he did take notice of the fact that a window was reflected behind him via the nearby mirror, showing a few of Gotham's rooftops.

"Hmm, judging by that view, he obviously lives high up. Strange for someone who's so paranoid and hard to sniff out," he said.

"Which is probably why he chose the penthouse. It's the last place anyone would look," Robin chimed in. "I recognize those rooftops. They're in the Coventry district, and judging by the angle and the position of the water, there's only one spot that could provide such a view: the top of Lacey Towers."

"Welp, guess we know where we're headed." Clark donned his cowl with a smirk.

"Do be careful, boys. Surely someone like him has some added security measures," Alfred remarked.

"Yeah, and the sky is red," Robin retorted, climbing onto Batman's caped back.

It didn't take long for the Dynamic Duo to fly over towards Lacey Towers' penthouse, splitting up once they arrived in order to cover more bases. Batman used his super strength to open the door as anyone else would, while Robin took a more stealthy approach, lurking above the skylight and staying within the shadows in case anyone was home, which appeared to not be the case.

The apartment was fairly sleek and modern, but its decorations were more vintage. Patterned wallpaper covered each wall, a phonograph with a stack of jazz vinyls rested in the living room, and the master suite contained a waterbed. Peculiarly, if not for the intel from the GCPD, one would never be able to tell that this penthouse belonged to Roman Sionis. Not a single allusion to himself or his background could be found anywhere. Only his villainous persona was represented, in the form of various masks decorating the walls.

"Sionis always said Halloween was his favorite holiday," Batman remarked. "Something about how costumes could act as some form of escapism."

"It could be argued that his usual temperament was a mask in of itself. If I recall correctly, his parents were rather neglectful of him and prioritized their social status over their own son," Alfred replied over the comms. "I say, I don't blame him for wanting to ditch those painful memories… I just hope he doesn't let this new persona consume him and forget his humanity."

"You and me both, Alfred."

Eventually, Batman made it to the same bathroom from the photograph, hoping to find some clues as to where Black Mask had gone. Thus far, the apartment hardly resembled a crime scene; nothing was broken or out of place, and there wasn't a trace of blood to be found. Then again, it had been weeks since that photo was taken.

"Hmm, looks like Roman uses his own merch after all." Batman noted the Janus Cosmetics products decorating the countertops and shower rack. "But if the products are legit, then why would he need them as a cover story? They almost rival Waynetech in terms of profits."

"Never underestimate the power of human desperation, Master Clark," Alfred answered.

Before anything else could be said or done, the vigilante heard the sound of curtains being yanked shut, and the apartment outside of the bathroom went dark.

"Find anything of interest?" a gravelly voice asked from the shadows, revealing its source to be a man in an ebony, skull-like mask in the same shade of black as his suit.

Right as Batman whipped around, the stranger fired a bullet right at his face, but he managed to catch it in his teeth and spat it out. Flinching, the figure was then caught off guard as Robin dropped in from the vent above and tackled him to the ground, beating him up with little resistance as he stayed mostly hidden. The thug's pistol, mask, and a few bloodied teeth slid into the light as his pained cries were mixed in with the punishing thuds. One last spin kick from Robin sent him crashing into a light switch, bringing the room's lighting back to normal as Batman froze him to the wall with his ice breath, leaving only his head and hands exposed.

"Alright, alright! You got me!" the thug shouted. "Now what do you want with this place?!"

"Your boss. Where's he going?" Batman asked in a calm yet foreboding tone.

"L-Like hell I'm telling you that!"

"I'd suggest fessing up soon. Hypothermia is known to kick in within an hour or two, and considering the air conditioner's on blast, it might speed up the process," Robin said, cracking his knuckles.

"Then I guess I'm taking the boss' secrets to the grave. Tough luck, freaks." the thug was then caught off guard by Robin pulling a small, gun-like device and firing a sticky pouch of explosive gel right at his chest, which immediately started beeping upon impact. "Aaaaggghhh, what is that thing?!"

"Still feel like keeping your mouth shut?"

"Fine, fine! I'll sing! Roman's fled underground. He's based in the old ACE Chemicals factory. Now will you please- no. No no no no! What are you-"

Pressing a button on his belt, Robin set off the gel, destroying the ice around his victim's body and leaving him disheveled as he fell onto his behind, scrambling away from the dynamic duo backward on his hands.

"Wh-What the hell-"

"Don't worry. It's a non-lethal explosive," Robin coldly remarked, grappling out of the window.

"Thanks for your cooperation." Batman smiled, giving a two-fingered salute before flying after his partner.

All the poor thug could do was pass out from shock.

Wasting no time, the dynamic duo ventured into Gotham's industrial district, surrounded by slums. The ACE Chemicals plant wasn't hard to find, what with its trio of thick smokestacks towering above everything else in the vicinity and further darkening the night skies with smog. The pair crouched on a couple of gargoyles overlooking the factory, plotting their next move.

"Okay, the apartment was pretty well-hidden, I'll admit, but why would he hide out at a property he owns?" Batman pondered. "Especially since the cops now know who he is?"

"Much like Janus, it's probably a cover story," Robin replied. "The two may even be linked somehow. Maybe it's here where they do the chemical trials for the cosmetics."

"You soon shall see, Master Bruce. I've obtained schematics for the plant, so your search should be a smidge easier," Alfred chimed in over the pair's comms.

"Much obliged, Alfred." Batman nodded, suddenly alerted to the sound of rifles being cocked nearby. "…whoa, were we really that loud?"

"Damn right, B-Man! You and your little sidekick may've tracked us down, but you'se ain't gettin' no closer!" one thug replied, guarding the exterior alongside a dozen or so others.

Without a word, Robin chucked a series of smoke pellets at the goons, disorienting them before firing off an array of shurikens and diving into the fumes for some hand-to-hand combat. Batman flew in right alongside him, fighting with brute force alongside his ice breath and carefully aimed blasts of heat vision. Every last thug unsurprisingly got knocked out, and the last of which got thrown through a side window, allowing Batman and Robin easy access to the building.

The interior was bereft of occupants, but evidence that it was still operational was all over the place. Computers and mini-fridges were still plugged in, and various machinery was still up and running, processing various chemical substances. Robin didn't seem to have a problem inspecting everything to check for Black Mask's whereabouts, but he had to abruptly end his search after Batman used his X-ray vision to locate a small group of thugs, one more burly than the others, tucked away deep in the facility.

"Found 'em!" he chirped, pointing to a seemingly random wall.

"The loading bay, eh? What an odd place to hole oneself up," Alfred remarked.

"Something tells me it's not that straightforward. This is Black Mask we're talking about," Robin said.

Sure enough, nobody was there once they got to the wide-open room. Just crates, barrels, and stationary cranes alongside a couple of large garage doors, most likely to pick up chemical shipments. According to Batman's X-ray vision, the thugs were somehow on their way underground, but the path down there was far from obvious… until he spotted something else peculiar coming from a security keypad on the opposite wall.

"Hmm, it looks like this access panel is connected to something else besides these garage doors," he said. "I can't tell where exactly it goes, though."

"Well, we might not need to. I'm seeing prints on these buttons, and they're pretty fresh, too," Robin noted upon taking a closer look. "Sionis may not have fingerprints anymore, so more than likely, one of his goons pressed these buttons instead. Amazing how sloppy people get when they're paranoid."

With that, he flawlessly entered the code, setting off a buzzer before part of the wall slid upward, revealing a hidden, sloping passageway cloaked in darkness.

"Do be careful, gentlemen. I've no doubt those ghouls heard you opening their secret entrance," Alfred warned.

"Got it, Alfred." Batman cracked his knuckles, leading his partner into the shadows.

It took only minutes to catch up to the crooks, even while trying to be stealthy. It turned out that there were only four targets. The same tall, muscular one was up near the front of the pack, clothed in combat boots and hooded, sleeveless black armor that showed off his bulky arms. A matching glove adorned his right hand, complete with brass knuckles, while a red, cybernetic attachment resembling a sniper rifle replaced his left.

Figuring it would be easier to take out the two normal guys in the back first, the dynamic duo did just that. Batman swiped the first one by zipping by at light speed, silently suffocating him behind a boiler. Robin swung past with help from his grapnel gun, about to knock him out with a clean punch to the face, but froze upon recognizing the familiar African-American male he had caught. The hi-top fade and slightly psychotic grin gave it away.

"Joseph Kurt," he said, trying not to break character. "Didn't we spot you working for Falcone not that long ago?"

"You sure did… before you foreclosed on my workplace! Ah hahaha!" Joe let out another unstable laugh.

That was enough to alert the armored henchman, who swiveled around and scanned the room with help from his glowing red eye-piece. His mask was black like his armor, complete with two vertical blood-red marks, one crossing over each eye. Cautiously and silently, he started to step over to where he heard the noise with his gun readied, but…

"Yo, Anatoli! Where the hell are you?!" a gruff voice called from further down the dimly-lit hallway.

The thug cast one more glance behind him before shuffling off after his boss.

"Well, that's not like ol' KGBeast, haha! And here I thought they didn't even have manners where he came from!" Joe quipped.

"You're better than this, Kurt. You used to be a fun-loving, upstanding young man, now you're caught up with not one but two crime lords," Robin continued, maintaining a death grip on Joe's shirt.

"Hehehe, just who do you think you are, my therapist?"

"Robin, we don't have time for this," Batman ordered, only to freeze up as well upon getting a good look at Joe. "What the-?!"

Grumbling to himself, Robin knocked Joe out with one swift punch across the cheek and stood back up. "Another lost soul."

"Well, think about it this way. Now we've got even more motivation to make Gotham a better place. Just to make sure no more people we care about get swallowed up in this city's strife. Now come on, we're down to our last big target!"

In a wide, multistory room even further underground, KGBeast followed the remaining thug as they both looked around. Large vats and tanks of a bubbling, coral-blue substance occupied a ton of the space, with plenty of room for the people working on it to navigate the sprawling laboratory. As for the thug himself, he wore the same ebony mask as the others, but his three-piece suit was white and pinstriped, worn over a black turtleneck with loafers to match.

"Y'know, it's not often I say something polite, but I do appreciate you coming in on such short notice," Black Mask said with his hands tucked behind his back, continuing to walk. "After those stinkin' pigs located my hideout, I'm taking no chances. Especially since, apparently, they're working with the Bat-Man now. Ugh, why didn't I bother bribing them when I had the chance? Freakin' Falcone had to beat me to it, and look what happened…"

"I am just doing my job," KGBeast replied in an electronically distorted voice, with a coarse Russian accent. "But what exactly is all this?"

"Just a little thing I like to call 'Splash.' Hell, you might as well call it 'liquid gold.' It's basically the newest opioid on the market, and once I get it onto the streets, it'll give a little ammo to ol' Harv's mayoral campaign. The guy loves to flip-flop, so I can't take any chances. Now, where you come in is that I need you not only as my bodyguard, but also to protect my supply."

"Say no more, Sionis."

Right as Black Mask was about to enter a door at the top of the steps to the upper floor, Batman fired a loogie right at his hand, freezing it to the handle upon impact.

"The hell?! What even…" he whipped around, spotting the dynamic duo standing on the bottom floor, ready for a fight. "You!"

"Worry not. I will deal with these intruders!" KGBeast leaped over the top floor's railing and readied his arm gun, firing off a few rounds that didn't even leave a mark on Batman's torso.

Batman countered with a blast of heat vision, melting the gun and forcing KGBeast to remove it, tumbling and rolling away from Robin's projectiles as he donned another attachment. This one resembled a gatlin gun, which managed to push Batman back from the sheer force of its bullets, even if they didn't wound him. Knowing he wasn't the primary target, Robin snuck around the edges of the room, hiding behind the tanks of Splash and peeking out to fire a pouch of explosive gel right at the arm cannon. As soon as it exploded, KGBeast lost control of his weapon and fired all around the room, unintentionally destroying most of the drug.

"Ey, watch it, Beast! Try and aim for the freaks- aaahhh!" Black Mask freaked out, narrowly avoiding a bullet to the kidney. Grumbling to himself, he pulled a revolver out of his sports coat and banged it on the ice freezing his hand to the door, allowing himself to slip out into the next room.

"He's getting away!" Robin pointed out.

"Quick, let's split up!" Batman ordered, dodging a few more bullets.

Noticing that the gatlin gun was almost shut down, he blew a gust of ice to jam it before flying in for a right hook to the face, knocking the Russian mercenary into the final tank of Splash and shattering it. The gun ended up shattered too, as its owner slowly recovered. Nodding to Robin, Batman flew up to the second floor in pursuit of Black Mask. Remaining in his fighting stance, his partner watched as KGBeast recollected his wits and screwed on another attachment, this one resembling a broadsword, which he swung around effortlessly despite its weight.

Dodging a couple of swings, Robin brandished a shuriken in each hand to clash with the blade, engaging in some close-quarters combat before catching KGBeast off guard with a side-kick to the stomach, making him stumble a bit. Robin thought he could get in another hit while he was stunned, but he got blocked with the flat side of the blade. Kicking off the sword, he backflipped onto the second-floor railing, tossing a few smoke pellets at KGBeast and diving back into the fray for a sneak attack. Unfortunately, the latter was able to spot him thanks to his cyborg eye, smacking him away with a ruthless jab.

Robin broke his fall with a backward somersault, readying his shurikens to counter some more slashes, before getting them knocked out of his hands. Seemingly having the upper hand, KGBeast attempted a downward slash, which Robin barely managed to stop by holding the blade between his armored palms. After a brief struggle for control, Robin prevailed, tossing KGBeast into the wall with an epic grunt. As he slowly recovered, however, he accidentally let the tip of his sword touch a puddle of Splash in close proximity to some exposed wires from a damaged tank and electrocuted himself. Whipping out his grapnel gun, Robin was able to grab the sword and unscrew it from KGBeast's wrist, reeling it in to brandish it for himself.

"Well played, Robin," KGBeast uttered, panting a little. "I can see why Black Mask paid me so much."

Without a word, Robin hurled the stolen sword like a javelin, narrowly missing its owner and wedging itself into the wall. Caught off guard by the maneuver, KGBeast was left wide open for Robin to rush in, punching his face and torso repeatedly and then knocking him to his knees with a leg sweep. One final roundhouse kick into his own sword knocked him unconscious, even managing to crack his cyborg eye.

Meanwhile, in his panic, Black Mask locked himself inside what looked to be an office in the farthest reaches of the underground lair. He dashed over to his desk, picking up a smartphone, but was interrupted after Batman burst through the door, complete with his usual cereal box smirk and his hands resting heroically on his hips.

"Ah, Batman. Y'know, I appreciate you doing away with the competition, but I'm afraid I'm in no mood to destroy this market completely," Black Mask taunted, readying his gun again.

"Profiting off the suffering of the poor shouldn't be a legitimate business. Is a successful cosmetics line not enough for you?" Batman asked.

"What can I say? Some folks are never satisfied with what they've got. It's a sad truth, and my life's been full of those."

Black Mask then fired off a shot from his gun, which Batman effortlessly caught in his teeth. Spitting the smoking bullet onto the floor, he fought back with a series of punches, followed up with a spin-kick that sent the crime boss into his desk, breaking it in half. He thought he could follow up with a blast of heat vision, but Black Mask deflected it with a hand mirror. Batman ducked under it, but neither was prepared for the wall mirror behind him to reflect it again. Right as he shakily got back to his feet, the beam nailed him right in his masked face, searing his skin through it as he wailed in agony, running about like a headless chicken until Batman knocked him back down with a clothesline, leaving him to writhe about on the floor as he held his cheeks.

"Gordon, send a van to the old ACE Chemicals plant. We've got Black Mask and KGBeast," Batman said into his communicator. "They're down a hidden passageway, so Robin and I will show you where it is."

"Good work, gentlemen. You have done this city a huge favor," Commissioner Gordon replied before hanging up.

"I must agree with the commissioner, old chap," Alfred chimed in. "I may have been skeptical at first, but there's no doubt in my mind now. Gotham needs a hero."

"You said it," Robin chimed in, standing over the still-unconscious KGBeast.

The following morning, the two brothers, now out of costume, lounged in the living room as they watched the news, ignoring Alfred dusting the furniture surrounding the TV.

"And with that, arguably the biggest kingpin of Gotham City's criminal underground has finally been toppled, no thanks to the efforts of Batman and Robin!" Vicky Vale announced from the screen. "Black Mask—now revealed to be Roman Sionis—has been taken to Arkham Asylum. Reportedly, during the scuffle last night, his iconic mask got burnt into his skin and thus irremovable."

"Crikey," Alfred muttered with a grimace.

"In other news, not everyone is pleased with our new vigilantes. Attorney General and mayoral candidate Harvey Dent, has taken to criticizing the dynamic duo at almost every campaign rally over the past few weeks. Currently, he is almost neck and neck with incumbent Hamilton Hill in the polls…"

The TV then cut to a brown-haired man about Bruce and Clark's age, standing behind a podium surrounded by supporters and the press.

"Now, I've made it no secret that as your next mayor, I intend to put a dent in crime. And having knuckleheads like Batman and Robin flying and flipping around the city is counterproductive to that goal," Harvey explained. "I don't know where that freak got these otherworldly powers of his from, but maybe he should think twice about using them again. All it's gonna do is escalate things and prompt the criminals to up the ante as well, plunging our once great city into pure, unbridled chaos."

"Like we should trust anything that guy says. Black Mask confessed to buying his campaign just last night," Bruce commented.

"True, but… that isn't the first time someone's called me a freak because of my powers." Clark looked a little solemn. "Hell, the first one was…"

"Those thugs who took our parents? Yeah, I was there too."

"I strongly suggest not letting those remarks get to you, Master Clark." Alfred set down a vase after polishing it. "Don't think of your powers as a curse, but rather a gift. Even if not everyone else recognizes them as such."

"You're right, Alfred… though it would be nice to learn where they came from at some point…" Clark looked down at his hands.

"And I'm sure that day will come. Now tonight, how about I prepare your favorite smoked turducken to celebrate a job well done?"

"You know what? That actually sounds good," Bruce replied.

"Sure does!" Clark added, scratching his stomach.

As the small family appeared to be in good spirits, especially after making some major strides in saving Gotham, they knew they couldn't hang up their capes just yet. More than likely, those three crime bosses were only the tip of the iceberg when it came to what the city's criminal underworld could send out. The question was who would strike next, and when?