[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/zIDdS0p.jpg[/img][/center] --- [i]"Or because they've moved their operation..."[/i] From the other end of a CCTV camera, Penguin watched the two vigilantes break in and find nothing but an opened, empty crate. Empty, save for a single porcelain figurine of a certain black-and-white bird. Penguin watched as Red Hood toe-punted it, smashing the statue in frustration. He grunted in amusement, and then turned, the semi-smirk quickly fading as he matched his gaze with the obsidian eyes that stared out from beneath the mask. Roman Sionis cast an intimidating figure, stood in the shadows of the grungy metal room. His eyes betrayed no emotion. They were aboard Penguin's ship - the [i]Final Offer[/i] - docked in Gotham Harbor, and Black Mask was a less-that-welcome guest - but invited nonetheless. It begrudged Penguin even more that he now owed Black Mask thanks - and had been saved a large amount of business by the man's 'advice'. It had been 'advice' received on the end of bullying and the threat of more...Penguin was not a physically intimidating man, and Sionis knew this, Sionis knew he was a coward. A scrupulous businessman and a sampler of the finer tastes, Penguin [i]was.[/i] A fighter and one to stand against someone even more brutish than he, he was [i]not[/i]. Black Mask thought that perhaps his empire might not be so hard to reclaim. Penguin's drug trade was minutes away from falling under his hand, and others could simply be bought out with the income Penguin was to kindly forward him - but there were other bosses in Gotham, ones with more loyal followers, ones with no fear of pain and intimidation. Black Mask could think of one right now. Or was that two? "Fine." Penguin said, finally, his voice a rough cockney accent, carrying a envenomed edge. "If your...'Society' can smooth out the smuggling operation, then I'll pass 20% on to you." Black Mask didn't move, but Tattoo did. Coming out of the doorway, he pushed forward and seized Penguin by the fur collar of his coat, pulling the stubby, sneering man up and out of his chair. He raised a fist and brought it down, sucker-punching Penguin in the gut, releasing him at the same time. Penguin fell to the floor onto his knees and wheezed. Tattoo stepped backward as Black Mask finally moved, taking a pace closer to Penguin and bending at the hip, hands clasped in each other behind his back. "That's not what we agreed on, Cobblepot." He straightened up, walking around Penguin to stand behind him and help him up, placing one hand under his shoulder and the other gripping his forearm. "And I didn't save your best dealer from both Blackgate and the [i]Bat[/i] so you could-" Black Mask moved his hands down quickly as Penguin stood and seized the index and middle fingers of his hand, clasping them together and pulling tightly back- "[i]cheap[/i] me out of what is rightfully mine anyway." Penguin yelled and went back to his knees, cradling his now-broken fingers in his other hand. "You're lucky I didn't sink this sorry excuse for a ship with you on it and just...'inherit' your operation. 60% is what I asked for. 60% is what I'll get." Penguin looked up, furious and in pain. He spat, but finally nodded. Black Mask's eyes were still empty of feeling, his heart barely beating. He straightened the sleeves of his suit jacket and buttoned it up, nodding to Tattoo, who helped Penguin up and handed him a splint and bandage for his fingers. "Good choice, Mr. Cobblepot. I'll expect my first share in the morning. Don't try to cheat me." Black Mask and Tattoo left, leaving Penguin alone in the [i]Final Offer[/i], contemplating how he had just lost the majority of the only business he had managed to truly seize as his own in this town. Back on dry land, Tattoo walked slightly behind Black Mask, keeping an eye on alleys and the shadows behind shipping containers as they paced back to Sionis' car, the all-black Bentley that had taken them from Blackgate. They got in, Tattoo sitting facing Black Mask, driving away to the penthouse apartment Black Mask owned under a pseudonym. They were quiet for a time, and then Black Mask spoke. His voice was gravelly, but there was a tone of satisfaction at the edges. "Is the Shark still in Arkham?" He asked, and Tattoo nodded. "Yes, sir. Since his...incident with Freeze, he's been in a solitary cell with regulated breaks. But he's been using the breaks well." Black Mask smiled slightly beneath the mask, turning to the tinted, one-way window. "So I've heard. His rackets will be useful. See to it that we get them. Or him, if not otherwise possible. One cannot build an empire without the currency to fund it, and Penguin's drug trade won't be enough on its own. Not with 60%." Tattoo raised an eyebrow, clearly quizzical. Black Mask waved down the question he knew was coming. "Because he knew I wanted it all, he knows how I get what I want and he knows he's lucky I let him keep his life, let alone the 40%. He's under our thumb, and his men will answer to him more readily than me. For the time being, at least." Black Mask looked out the window again. "Dent is our problem. He can't be bullied like Cobblepot. And his men are loyal to him over money. It'll have to be a...hostile takeover." Tattoo smirked, his hand unconsciously stroking the handle of the pistol on his side. Black Mask felt the weight of his own firearms, two automatic pistols hidden beneath his jacket in discreet shoulder holsters. "Dent and the Bat." He said, almost spitting the word. "And his young upstart wanna-be. The Bat I'll outmaneuver, when I decide to let him know I'm back to business. But if that kid sticks his nose in, call Wilson. I want it cut off and shipped to Blüdhaven." Tattoo nodded. The car drove on.