Rico watched as a green light appeared next to one of the rooms. "2K to start-" He was immediately interrupted as another light lit up. "5K! We are up to 5K!" Rico could see from his lit up cage as he received offers on a digital pad in front of him. The lights on VIP rooms were just to notify the announcer of the offers.
He switched over to Eagle Vision and could see that all of the VIP rooms had occupants who were making offers. But he would not be the only one sold here. He looked at the other 'products' that would be sold after him.
Some of them were people. A few were animals. The rest were older looking items and military crates.
The people consisted of some fit men, some of which have scars. Others are young women. They all varied in appearance but most of them were clearly foreign.The fighters were definitely all locals.
The animals were all exotic or deformed in some way. He could see a few which were in reinforced cages and laced with Venom. It would seem it was a popular trend among these underground criminals.
He was guessing the military crates contained illegal weapons. Especially since they had foreign writing on it. But most were marked with caution symbols.
Then there were the older items. Some looked like relics or pieces stolen from museums. But there were quite a few old books that were covered in rusty chains.
"25K Going once! Going Twice! Sold!" The auctioneer then waved his hand and a pair of riot armored guards pushed his cage away while another pair brought up an Indian woman that was dressed like a dancer.
He was rolled out of the room and was handed off to a pair of mobsters who started speaking Russian as they rolled him into a room. He recognized some of the words from his youth. Most were curse words.
The room had extravagant paintings and decorations. Along with several other cages and these Russian mobsters moving around the room. The other cages had a few people and exotic animals in them.
He waited for half an hour before someone with status walked into the room. The grizzled Russian walked in with a young woman following behind him. She looked bored out of her mind as she sighed. "Daddy… why can I not go watch the games?"
"Because those people like to start throwing hands in the stands. I do not want you to get hurt." He then focused on Rico. "Ricardo Bell… never thought I would see a still living Bell." He grinned, "turns out according to the prison records you have quite a temper as well." He then waved at the guards. "Your father made my life hell, so it is only right I return the favor. Throw him in with my other Arena fighter."
Rico raised an eyebrow at the Russian mobsters' motives while he was carted off to another location. After a few minutes he soon arrived back under the arena in the animal section. Then they stopped at a solid metal door and threw him out of the cage and into the cell before slamming the door closed.
It was pitch black in the room but after a moment he could feel movement and turned to see a large figure with glowing eyes that were growling at him. Then it jumped toward him with a growl.
—-------------------------
Bruce was sitting at his computer looking over the data analysis of the chemicals used in the fires. He was hitting a dead end on everything he looked at. After a few more minutes he sighed and shook his head, looking over at Damien's murder board where he was working on a different case.
He was currently training him in just about everything he was missing. But he had jumped to investigations the quickest. Enjoying solving the puzzles and mysteries behind such complex events.
"What do you have Damien?" Bruce looked over the board which had pictures and information about the deceased and the suspect that the police had arrested. He had not touched anything relating to it, because he was so busy.
Damien looked over at him then looked at the computer. "Apparently I have more than you do." He then looked back at his board. "The victim was supposedly just the owner of a record store. But he was actually one of many information brokers that are around the city, the police do not know that. Supposedly Ricardo Bell approached him for information then killed him after he did not get it." He then pointed out a pair of pictures. "But these were taken on the same day and he is wearing two different sets of clothes. It is bothering me."
Crunch!
"That is because it is not him." A new voice pointed out after crunching a chip. Causing Damien to jump in surprise while Bruce just kept looking over the board. He had heard Jason move into the cave and sneak up behind them.
Damien looked between Bruce and Jason, tensed up for a moment before relaxing and sighing. "How do you know this Ricardo Bell person is not the culprit?"
"Several things." Jason answered. "First of which is that the 'him' that killed the information broker is wearing an outfit from a few days prior. Another is that Rico is far too careful to get caught on camera so easily. Third and most importantly, during said time Rico was working a job and there is evidence to prove that." Jason explained as he crunched on another chip.
"What type of work does a criminal do?" Damien asked with a scoff.
"He is a mercenary." Bruce answered as he looked over the people he was associating with which were fellow mercenaries. "The real question is why do you know that?" He looked at Jason.
"Because I forced him into the business when I took over the dockyards." Jason answered.
"The dockyards!" Damien jumped in, "that is how I know him. He came to open our cargo containers when I arrived with mother and aunty!"
"Okay…" Jason said then looked at Bruce, "I kinda forced him to work for me. But the dude jumped in and was a natural so I forgot." Jason then looked at Nightwing as he approached speaking of a natural, "he is actually the guy I had you guys fight. Honey Badger or something."
"That is this guy? He did not seem that tough at the docks when I first arrived." Damien pointed out.
"It is because he does not need to be." Dick pointed out as he limped up to them. "His greatest asset is his mind. He single handily kept the rest of us from helping Bruce. Then there are his bombs. He made sure to account for us disarming one of the triggers in his bombs so he had secondary ones and even a third failsafe just in case."
"Soo….definitely not someone caught on a camera while committing a murder." Damien's shoulders slumped. "But then why did he not give his alibi?"
Jason crunched a chip and they all looked at him. He turned slightly and nodded at the batcomputer where Bruce's case was still pulled up. "Only reason no one would. He was committing a crime at the time." Jason answered and the pieces began falling into place.
"Soo…. Does this mean our cases tie in?" Damien asked and sounded a bit annoyed.
"No." Bruce answered, "you can still go ahead and begin solving that case yourself. But alert the police they have the wrong person. Ricardo Bell fits as the culprit for the arson case. But I cannot prove it and it would seem he was pushed into crime." He looked at Jason who shrugged. "Regardless, I need to look through old case files. The name 'Bell' is bugging me."
Crunch!
"There is also another problem." Jason pointed out as he crunched on a chip. "Supposedly he died in prison. But his group had been getting texts and messages from him while he was inside and are still getting them after his supposed death. I would help you but the phone he is using is one of my secure ones. But the one he is using is somehow further modified so not even I can track it." Jason informed them.
"Then how do you know he is still alive after the prison announced his death?" Dick asked as he leaned on the cane he was currently using to move around.
"Because his people are still moving around. Which reminds me. Poison Ivy set up with his mercenaries." Jason told them.
"What is she planning now?" Bruce asked with a sigh as he moved over to the Batcomputer to follow this new lead.
"Aside from setting up some literal and figurative roots? Nothing." Jason answered.
----------------
want more? p.atreon.com/platwolf