Father's Day - Falcone's Penthouse - 11:45 PM
Carmine "The Roman" Falcone sat alone in his penthouse, staring at a portrait of his father. The room was dark, lit only by the neon glow of the Gotham skyline.
His empire was crumbling. Maroni was in a coma. His son Alberto was dead. His money was ash.
"Happy Father's Day, Pop," he whispered, pouring a glass of scotch.
DING.
The private elevator at the far end of the hall chimed.
Falcone frowned. He reached under his desk and pressed the silent alarm. Then he pulled a gold-plated .45 from the drawer.
"Who's there?" Falcone shouted. "I have twenty guards in the lobby! You shouldn't be here!"
The elevator doors slid open.
There were no guards. There was only a pile of unconscious bodies stacked like firewood.
Standing on top of the pile was Solomon Grundy. The massive, pale zombie groaned, stepping into the expensive foyer. He was wearing a tuxedo jacket that was three sizes too small, ripped at the seams.
"Grundy... born on a Monday..." the monster mumbled.
Behind him stepped Poison Ivy, trailing vines that slithered across the marble floor.
Then came the Joker, skipping merrily, twirling a cane topped with a skull.
And finally, walking with a slow, limping gait... Two-Face.
Harvey Dent's suit was split—half gray wool, half charred rags. His face was a map of hell.
"Hello, Carmine," Two-Face rasped.
"Dent?" Falcone stood up, aiming his gun. "You're supposed to be in the hospital!"
"Harvey is in the hospital," Two-Face flipped his scarred coin. "We are here to evict you."
"Get him!" Falcone screamed.
From the side doors, Falcone's remaining enforcers burst in. Tommy "The Shark" and a dozen hitmen with Tommy guns.
"Kill the freaks!" Tommy yelled.
"Party time!" Joker laughed, pulling two submachine guns from his purple coat.
The War
It wasn't a fight. It was a slaughter.
The mobsters fired, bullets tearing into Solomon Grundy's chest. The zombie didn't even flinch. He grabbed a marble statue of Venus and threw it, crushing two hitmen instantly.
Poison Ivy raised her hands. The potted palms in the corners of the room mutated, their fronds turning into whips that lashed out, wrapping around the guards' throats and lifting them into the air.
Joker was just shooting wildly, laughing maniacally as he danced on the coffee table.
"Look at them run! Like cockroaches!" Joker cackled.
Falcone fired at Two-Face.
BANG.
The bullet grazed Two-Face's shoulder. He didn't blink. He kept walking forward, the coin flashing in his hand.
CRASH.
The skylight shattered.
Batman and Robin dropped into the center of the chaos.
"Enough!" Batman roared, throwing smoke pellets.
"Oh, goody!" Joker clapped. "The Bat is here! Now it's a real party!"
The Brawl
The room became a swirling vortex of violence.
Robin engaged Poison Ivy.
"You again?" Ivy sneered, sending a vine to impale him.
"You need to weed your garden, lady!" Robin flipped over the vine, landing on the balcony railing. He threw three bird-arangs, severing the stems controlling the plants.
Batman went for Grundy. He couldn't overpower the monster, so he used momentum. He fired his grapple at Grundy's legs, wrapping the cable tight, then detonated a charge on the ceiling to drop a chandelier on the beast's head.
CRASH.
Grundy went down, confused but not out.
"Batman!" Two-Face shouted over the gunfire.
Batman turned.
Two-Face had Carmine Falcone by the throat. He had dragged the mobster onto the balcony.
"Harvey! Don't!" Batman sprinted toward them.
"Stay back!" Two-Face pressed his .38 to Falcone's temple. "This is justice! This is what the law couldn't do!"
"This is murder!" Batman yelled. "If you kill him, there's no going back!"
"We crossed that line a long time ago, Bruce," Two-Face snarled. "When you let Maroni throw the acid. When you chose the mission over the man."
Two-Face looked at the terrified Mob Boss.
"Heads, you live. Tails, you die."
He flipped the coin high into the air.
Batman lunged.
But Solomon Grundy, recovering from the chandelier, grabbed Batman's cape and slammed him into the wall.
"Grundy crush Bat!"
"Bruce!" Robin shouted, trying to help, but Joker was pinning him down with suppressive fire.
The coin hit the floor.
It spun. It wobbled. It fell.
Tails. Scarred side up.
"Bad luck," Two-Face whispered.
BANG. BANG.
Two shots. Carmine "The Roman" Falcone collapsed. The King of Gotham was dead.
"NO!" Batman roared, breaking free of Grundy's grip.
Two-Face turned. He looked at the chaos. He looked at the dead mobster. He looked at the freaks destroying the penthouse.
"It's done," Two-Face said hollowly. "The Roman is dead. The city is ours."
He raised the gun toward Batman.
"And now... no more witnesses."
He aimed at Batman's exposed jaw.
"Heads, you live. Tails..."
He prepared to flip.
Suddenly, the balcony door exploded inward.
A figure blurred into the room. It wasn't human. It moved like a shadow detached from the night.
SWISH.
A silver tray flew through the air, slicing through the barrel of Two-Face's gun, shearing the metal cleanly in half.
Two-Face stared at his ruined weapon.
"What..."
I landed on the balcony railing. My tailcoat was billowing in the wind. My eyes were burning holes in the night.
"I believe," I said, my voice dripping with demonic authority, "that checkout time is noon. You are trespassing."
"Sebastian?" Batman gasped, holding his ribs. "I told you..."
"To stay away?" I stepped down, dusting off my sleeves. "Yes. But you also told me to ensure the house is clean. And this..." I gestured to the carnage. "...is a terrible mess."
Joker stopped shooting. He looked at me. He remembered the Christmas incident.
"Uh oh," Joker whispered. "The scary butler is back. Run away!"
Joker grabbed a parachute pack he had stolen and jumped off the balcony. "Wheeeeee!"
Poison Ivy saw me. She sensed the necrotic energy I radiated—anti-life.
"Nature doesn't like you," she hissed, retreating through the window.
Two-Face stood alone. He looked at his broken gun. He looked at me.
"You," Two-Face growled. "You're the one who let me burn."
"I am," I admitted calmly. "And if you threaten my Master again, I will finish the job."
I extended my hand.
"The coin, Mr. Dent."
Two-Face clutched the coin. He looked at the dead Roman. He looked at Batman, who was bleeding and broken.
Harvey Dent fought for control. For a second, the good eye wept.
"I can't stop," Harvey whispered. "The coin... it makes the decisions now."
He threw the coin at me.
I caught it.
"Then I suggest you find a new hobby."
Two-Face fell to his knees, surrendering.
Batman walked over. He handcuffed his former friend.
"I'm sorry, Harvey," Batman whispered.
"Harvey's gone," Two-Face spat, his voice returning to the growl. "Two-Face is here to stay."
The Aftermath - Dawn
The police took Two-Face away. The coroner took Falcone.
Batman and I stood on the balcony, watching the sunrise over a changed city.
The old families—Falcone, Maroni—were dead or broken. In their place stood the Arkham inmates. The rules had changed. It wasn't about business anymore. It was about madness.
"You came back," Bruce said. He didn't look angry. He looked relieved.
"I am a creature of contract, Sir," I replied, picking up a shard of the broken skylight. "I go where the soul is."
"I failed him," Bruce said, looking at the police lights below. "I failed Harvey. I failed the city."
"You survived," I corrected. "And in Gotham, survival is a victory."
I looked at Robin, who was asleep in the Batmobile downstairs, exhausted from the war.
"The war has changed, Young Master. The criminals are no longer men who want money. They are monsters who want chaos."
I turned to him, my eyes flashing red for a brief second.
"Luckily for you... you have a monster of your own."
Bruce looked at me. He managed a weak smile.
"Let's go home, Sebastian. I think I need a new suit."
"Agreed, sir. The bloodstains on this one are atrocious."
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