In The Web Of Gotham

The Curtain Rising

A large bald man, bulked to the brim with muscle donned in a white suit with a purple tie exits a limo. His consigliere exiting with him. The consigliere is strong but lean, wearing a black suit with a red shirt and a black tie. A black fedora with a red ribbon. He wears red gloves and wears a peculiar red mask, covering the bottom half of his face with a red domino mask. He hands his boss a tall black cane with a golden topper, as the large man adjusts distinct cufflinks on his suit cuffs.

As you can probably guess, this is Wilson Fisk. A paralegal nearing 7 feet tall. He always volunteers to go to bat when it comes to trials involving organized crime. He muddies the waters of the facts, uses the fact that organized crime has poisoned the well as a way to get the people poisoning the well off scot-free. As he attends trials, he learns how the law works. As he learns how the law works, he learns the ways it doesn't. As he learns the ways the law doesn't work, he learns how he can make the law work for him.

"You believe this man and his people are willing to play ball with us?" Fisks asks his right hand. His voice sounded gravelly, quiet but powerful and solemn. The consigliere answers, a voice slightly modulated through the material of the mask he's wearing.

"You just need to lure him in with a good setup. He'll knock it down with a killer punchline. He won't refuse, not with this," The Consigliere replies.

"You know your people Red. You know them," Wilson says, walking with his right hand man.

They are visiting Amusement Mile. What used to be an endless boardwalk of merriment is now a place for shady dealings, and in even more recent Gotham history. It has become the base of operations for Joker's Jesters. Joker and his gang of murderers, thieves, criminal geniuses and otherwise funny men who believe the clown has the answer to the problems that they never knew they had.

These individuals, who have varying places in Gotham City infrastructure help form the influence that the Joker is able to have in Gotham. Some of his Jester's are accountants, which gives access to an unprecedented ability to get away with bank robberies and be able to make the money they did steal undetectable. Some of the Jester's are former soldiers, whose tactical minds are able to make many of the smash and grab jobs that the Joker wants near perfect. Some of these men are old, but still in fighting shape. Studied in the art of blitzkrieg and its benefits of confusion.

Many more line the Joker's ranks, many more that make Joker so unpredictable. Red knows these things though, Red knows the clown well. Red knows this city, he knows how to twist the strengths and weaknesses of the capos. He knows how to make Gotham City whistle it's tune to him, and he knows how to make the lulls in the tune work together.

They traverse the Mile, heading towards the Funhouse. The central nerve center of the Joker's Jesters organization. A defaced and ransacked Hall of Mirrors, with red onomatopoeias of laughter scrawled on the walls.

In the last few months, they've been making big moves. The Silver Dollar Syndicate and the Iceberg Organization have become suddenly allied by making it seem as though their blood feud has escalated in ferocity, smashing their territories. The Strawmen and the Banedoleros worked together to not just give Dr. Crane a chance to redistribute his network, but also get Bane back into Gotham. All together, it only costs the collective operations access to their resources, and a cut of their collective capital.

They come to the door, Red knocking on the door with a rather aggressive force. A smooth voice that sounds as though it comes right off of a radio show emits from the door as he opens the door. The man wears a comedic cowboy getup, with a purple and green revolver at his hip. It looks like a toy, until one notices that the orange painted tip leads down into the barrel.

"I assume you must be the men who called? Welcome in, I'm Charlie. Charlie Charlie horse. Charmed to meet you gents," Charlie said as he welcomed them in. They were guided to a ramshackle table, mimicking that of a board room table. Red took his seat, Wilson stood at his side. Imposing his size onto the others present.