Prologue: Cold Heart of Winter (Jonah Hex)

[WildKnight]

This far east, the cities all sort of started to run together. The buildings were too tall, too close together, too full of people. Out west, it was still largely a wide open world, but here in the east, even the cities themselves were so close together it was sometimes hard to tell when you left one and entered another. Gotham made that relatively easy, of course, since it was impossible to enter the city without crossing one of half a dozen bridges. As soon as Jonah entered Gotham, though, he felt something here was different. It was somehow darker, somehow colder. He'd encountered the unnatural before, and there was something unnatural about Gotham itself. The locals probably didn't even notice, like a bad smell they'd gotten used to. As he stalked down the street a pair of police cars roared their way toward him, sirens blaring. Without preamble, they screeched to a halt and four uniformed officers climbed out, using the doors of the car as cover, their sidearms leveled directly at Hex. Another man, presumably a detective, slid out of the back seat of one of the cars. A lanky blonde man with a square chin wearing a cheap suit and ugly tie, which he straightened as he strode purposefully toward Jonah, the detective had the swagger of a man who felt he was in full control of the situation. From the reactions of people on the street, it looked like the Gothamites recognized the man.

"Don't worry Mister Hex," Jonah could tell that the man took great pleasure in revealing he knew who he was talking to, "we're just the welcoming committee. Name's Flass. DETECTIVE A.J. Flass. Major Crimes. My friends and I would like to give you a ride, make sure you get where you need to go..."

[phencerx]

Jonah takes one of the hand rolled cigarettes out of his jacket pocket and lights it up. If there's one the the Apache's he grew up with knew, it was good tobacco. The light of the match lights up his scared and melted face under the shadow of his hat and he takes a hard look at Flass and his "men". Hex takes a long drag and blows the smoke right into Flass' face.

Looking to the two officers hiding behind car, "Welcoming committee eh? That's why those two little pissants got their peashooters trained on me?" Jonah turns his attention back to Flass. "And you think you're something special because you know my name? Got no business with you fancy boy. I've seen newborns tougher than you."

Hex starts to walk forward, continuing his way. "From the looks of this shithole of a city, the "Law" ain't been here in a long time."

[WildKnight]

Flass held up a hand so his men didn't fire. "Unless you're bulletproof, pal, I suggest you get in the car. Next step gets you shot. You can catch a ride in my patrol car or in the morgue truck, either way is fine by me."

[phencerx]

Instinctively, Jonah's hand moves to his sidearm. Before he draws though, he relaxes his hand. Flass had made major mistake getting so close to Hex. It would be easy enough to use him as a shield and plug the other two full of holes. Still though, starting a shootout with the cops of this town upon his entry might not be the best plan.

"You might be a pansy, but you ain't done nothing yet to get ventilated. Yet being the operative word. How about you tell me what this is all about because I don't know you, and I sure as hell don't trust you. And if you try to open fire, you're gonna' to need three more coffins."

[WildKnight]

Flass chuckled. "Hey pal? These guys," he pointed a thumb back at his men, "are Major Crimes. See how they parked they're at different angles. You might be fast, but you're not that fast. You're a tough guy, I get it, but Gotham has a long history of weird nutjobs, and Major Crimes takes that sort of thing very seriously. When someone like you strolls into town, we take 'em for a ride, make sure they understand the lay of the land. You start shootin', you prove us right to be worried about you, town's dangerous enough without another hothead. You come along for a ride, keep your hands to yourself, worst case scenario we drop you off somewhere and tell you not to come back."

Flass paused a moment to light a cigarette, then pointed at Jonah with the two fingers clutching the lit cig. "Best case scenario for you? You do somehow kill all five of us, or a couple of us and get away, and then you're a wanted man in a city with one of the largest police forces in the country."

[phencerx]

The more Flass talked, the more Hex wanted to kill him just out of principal. But the smug son of a bitch confirmed his thoughts. Flass wasn't his target and hadn't gotten in his way yet, but Hex began to really hope he ultimately did. At this moment though, taking advantage of the police to get information about the Bat could help him get out of this fetid, stinking, unnatural town that much sooner.

"Major Crimes, now that's a laugh. From what I hear, your town is overridden with psychopaths and all you do is lock 'em up just to break out and wreak havoc again and again. But I'll play along for now only to conclude my business and get out of this cesspool that much sooner."

Hex things about bringing his hand right up under Flass' jaw just to show him that he could have killed him anytime he pleased, but he didn't want to show his hand just yet.

"How about we start this tour at Arkham? I heard your D.A. got himself blown up a little and I'd like to ask him a few questions." He pulls out another cigarette, "Oh, and if you're going to smoke with me, don't insult me with that filtered candy stick you're puffin' on."

[WildKnight]

"Keep it up and you'll get a tour of Arkham alright. Dent is under lock and key for his own protection, but I can take you to the acting D.A, Adrian Chase. I'm sure he can answer your questions."

Flass continued smoking. "These cigarettes are imported from South America, by the way."

[phencerx]

Hex just grunts at Flass' response. The "Detective" leads with that square chin of his and it's just begging to be punched. Hex clenches his fist again then let's it relax. This isn't out west where you could punch out a Sheriff for being an ass and then buy him a drink after.

This whole time, Hex had been sizing Flass up and he finally had him figured out. For all his posturing, the stench of cowardness seeped out of every one of Flass' pores. Hex could almost taste the vile acrid stench. Flass would sooner have a man killed for disrespecting him just to save face, but he wouldn't be the one to pull the trigger. Getting his own hands dirty isn't something he'd risk in case it didn't work.

Hex looks a the four guns trained on him one last time. He lowers his head then raises it back up with a disturbing grin. "Well it looks like you've got me by the short and curlies then. Fine boy, I'll play your game." He takes one last drag of his cigarette and stamps it out under his boot. He might be at a disadvantage, but Hex couldn't completely contain his defiant nature. "Finish your overpriced sissy man smoke and let's go."

[WildKnight]

Flass flicked his cigarette away and stuck his hands in his pockets. If the cold Gotham weather bothered him, he didn't show it. "You're in car two." He pointed to one of the two cars. "I'll be in the other car. We'll be driving behind you, so I can keep an eye on you. You try something stupid, you don't walk away."

[phencerx]

"You invite a girl to the dance and don't want to be seen with her? Now you're just trying to hurt my feelings." Hex laughs and you can hear the scarred parts of his face stretching and popping. He suddenly stops laughing and stares Flass down with that same unblinking eye, "That's fine. But I could say the same thing to you."

This confirmed Hex's opinion of Flass. The yellow bellied son of a bitch would rather sacrifice two of his own if things go wrong than risk being in the same car him. But this also gave him a chance to be alone with two of his men. Flass wasn't going to give up any information without being able to get something in return, but these two might not be so inclined to keep their mouths shut.

With a dismissive wave of his hand to Flass, Hex walks to the second police car. "Come on boys, let's get moving."

[WildKnight]

The two officers all but ignored Jonah's presence in their car. It would be easy for Jonah to make an escape from the vehicle if he wanted to. They joked about the things men like these tended to joke about, things Hex had heard soldiers and peace officers joke about for ages. How much they hated their commanding officer (in this case, Flass). What they were going to do when they retired. Always with a morbid sensibility, an awareness that it was more likely they'd die than actually get to retire. Both of them were Veterans of the Great War, and they had the kind of permanently tired energy that those who'd seen war sometimes carried. The ride took them through some of the worst parts of Gotham, but it was quick, and soon they'd be in front of the new One Police Place, a building donated by the Wayne Foundation from which the administration of all of Gotham's police and legal operations could emanate. It was a modern looking four story building, surrounded by mostly single story, older structures. Immediately next to 1PP was was the notorious Precinct 13, once considered the worst and most corrupt Precinct in all of Gotham, which was saying quite a lot.

[WildKnight]

(And Jonah can head on over to Nightwing's thread!)