2012-08-08 A Penny for your Thoughts

The once glorious Gotham Zoo, now a broken husk of it's past glory was lit only by the light of the pale moon. Where crowds of people, men, women, and children of all ages used to file through the different exhibits, now the lanes were sparsely inhabited by drunks, homeless, and even the occasional drug user. It is a sad sight to behold, a testament to the decay and corruption that runs rampant throughout Gotham City.
The still night air is quiet save for the murmuring of the gathered urchins as they pass bottles back and forth over small heaters. Three men stand out from the other patrons. They are all very well dressed, two are tall. The one leading the group through the maze of handrails and sickly animal pens is short though probably better dressed than the other two put together. His metal tipped umbrella clicking with each step as he uses it for a walking cane of sorts.
"Wah, Not much further, boys." He turned to regard his companions behind him, one was his personal assistant and bodyguard, Bossworth. The other a notable face in Gotham, Harvey Dent.. Better known as Two-Face.
Two-Face suggests as they walk, "Think about it, a zoo with a putt putt golf course. It could work. Gives patrons something to do while checking out the animals. It could even be set up so that they could play and look at the exhibits at the same time, a sort of tour type thing." He motions with his hands, gesturing forward in a sweeping motion before adding "The second hole perhaps a mountain to view everything in a sweeping awe." Harvey looks at the Penguin to get a read on how he feels about the idea.
Penguin bursts into a fit of laughter, "Wah wah wah wah!! That's right, Harvey! And when the first kid knocks his ball into the bear exhibit and climbs the guard rails to retrieve it we'll have a law suit on us." His demeanor one of casual conversation, "Maybe we could set up different holes that you play through the tunnels that view the lions? You know so instead of a windmill turning to distract you, the 600 lb. lion beating on the glass will do that for us. WAH WAH!!"
His laugh is cut short as a thought hits him, "I wonder how long it would take to teach the lions to beat on the glass when the little kiddies come through? Might be gruesome teaching that trick."
His stride has not slowed a bit as they pace through the winding alleys and back lanes leading to some destination unknown. At random intervals when the path comes to close bums or boozers, Oswald shooes them away with his umbrella. Swinging it like a sword and even once opening and closing it quickly while pointing it at a group of men.
Two-Face rolls his coin across the knuckles of his right hand. He thought about consulting fate but chose instead to keep walking, business needed attending to. "Well it's still an idea that warrants further mulling over." He thinks things through. "And money, planning, permits..." He decided against it in the end, it would take too much time. "Ah, no matter, so who are we meeting again?"
As the men walked, Two-Face glared at several of the patrons of the night. At one who stared back for too long he stomped his right foot and motioned as if he would charge the man. When he scurried away from Harvey, he chuckled after him, flipping his coin and catching it in his hand. He felt the scarred side dig into his palm. "Lucky," he thought to himself.
"Well, Harvey! Funny you ask." The Penguin eyed Two-Face's coin as it rolled over his knuckles, "We are about to have a business meeting with a Wiley Penny. Several of em to be exact, Wah wah wah wah." That customary laugh echoed out over the abandoned section near the back of the zoo where the bear exhibits were located.
Wiley Pence was not a brave man. Never was. He wasn't a fighter, nor was he that good at running either. The one thing he was good at was talking. And that was the reason he found himself at the rear of Gothams once beloved zoo waiting on two of the most dangerous criminals to call the city home. He wasn't sure what to expect, but he was sure he would could get paid for the information he had to trade.
The Penguin still laughing about his joke stopped mid stride and put a hand to his knee, "Wiley pennies.. gaaaaah." He gasped for breath from the laughing.
Two-Face gazed around at the graveyard of a zoo. "It is sad that this place went to ruin." He shook his head to clear the old thought away. Surprised he was still thinking about it. He kept pace with his associates while his brain did an inventory of the items on his person. "Guns, check." He took a few steps. "Coin," which he flipped,"Check." He thought ahead to the meeting with the contact. "Are we going to rough this guy up?" Harvey hoped so.
Bossworth was quiet as he usually was, but tonight he carried a package under his arm. It was hard to tell what was in that paper bundle. The one clue to it's contents being the wet stains all over the paper.
"Harvey, Harvey. Not every meeting we go to can end in blood shed. It's bad for our reputation as Gentlemen." He was quite sincere when he said this but a wry grin spread across his face showing his pointy teeth, "Good for our street cred, but still. Principles, you know." It was easy to tell that they were nearing their destination when The Penguin's pace quickened as the rounded a bend.
There before them was a tall wiry man of no more than thirty years. His thinning hair was covered with a Gotham Knights ball cap. He was obviously nervous by the way he fidgeted from foot to foot. When he laid eyes on the trio coming his way he gulped and none but the most keen of ears would've heard, 'prrrrrt.'
Two-Face contented himself with rolling the coin over his knuckles. When they met this Wiley it would serve the purpose of intimidation well. That and his ugly face, which didn't change much these days. The left side of his face curled into a grin as they continued forward. "I'm trying to work on that. It's just difficult to be all nice to those random persons." Here he paraphrased a book in a low mutter.
Two-Face whispers "Better to be feared than loved."
Penguin slows his stride as they come into ear shot of the target of the night's meeting. Coming to a halt ten paces from where the man was now attempting to appear unafraid. He stood there, feet together at a ninety degree angle. The point of his umbrella rested there between his feet, both his hands on the handle, he leaned forward into the light of a still working lamp nearby that his face came fully into view.
In a voice that was neither threatening nor friendly he began, "Good evening, Mr. Pence. I'm Oswald Cobblepot, you may know me better as, The Penguin. From what I hear you have information for me."
Wiley was scared. He could feel his heart pounding out of control in his chest, but he knew these sharks would eat him alive if he showed them any weakness, "YEA! I got something you might wanna hear about, Penguin. But it ain't free. I'm gonna need ta see some bills before I start talking."
Bossworth took a threatening step forward, but was stopped by a raised hand from the Penguin, "Well, of course." He started patting pockets as if he was searching for his wallet. "In the meantime, I'd like you to meet a good friend of mine. This is Harvey Dent. I think his nickname is pretty clear. Bossworth call our friends."
Two-Face stepped forward into the light with his right side facing Wiley. "Good evening, Mr. Pence." He glanced at the Penguin with his left eye and cracked a grin before wheeling around to offer his left hand to the man from his place, still a few steps away. Two-Face looked through him and waited for his reaction.
Bossworth never took his deadly glare off of Wiley as he said in that monotone voice, "Yes sir, Mr. Cobblepot." He pulled the package out from underneath his arm and began unwrapping the paper. All the while he walked right past the now completely unnerved information broker to the handrail nearby. The area beyond was some fifteen or twenty feet down to the enclosure and a sign nearby read clearly, 'Don't feed the Bears!'
Wiley was starting to regret his decision to meet face to face with such notoriously dangerous men, barely able to keep his composure as the mountain of bodyguard muscle paced past him. Only to turn and be face to face with the man of ... Two faces...(Don't judge me)
Wiley backed away from that extended hand, horror clear on his face. His face was ashen with fear /before/ he felt the strong arms wrap around him from behind, pinning his arms at his sides.
The Penguin having given up on his search for his check book finally looked back to the now terrorized man in the grip of his trusted bodyguard. Adjusting his monocle that his beady black eye can see better and in a calm voice states, "I seem to have left my wallet in the car. Harvey, would you mind giving Wiley here a coin or two for his trouble?"
Two-Face smiles at Wiley, which was a horrid site, both sides of his face doing their best to keep as cordial as possible. He had to work on his people skills, which were lacking as of late. Harvey produced the silver dollar and held it up to the light. "I'd be more than happy, Mr. Cobblepot." Harvey placed the coin on the thumb of his right hand and gave it a flick. It spun, almost suspended in flight for a moment before coming to rest in his palm. He frowned. "That's twice in one night." Harvey felt the anger boiling upwards as he stepped forward and planted a clean shot to the man's midsection, partially knocking the wind from his lungs. "Damn. I really wanted to plant a bullet in this guy's forehead. He's just a lucky bastard." He grumbled as he stepped away from the captive Wiley. Harvey shrugged at the Penguin.
Wiley's thoughts were racing, he struggled hard against those arms wrapped around him, but he didn't possess the strength to get away. The 'ting' of the coin flipping through the air brought him back enough that he watched it tumble and land in the palm of the grotesque man in front of him. The punch to his midsection hurt. He didn't have the wind left in his lungs to even begin to protest. The string of words that followed from Harvey sounded distant as he fought to stay composed, his eyes watered of their own accord. A soft whimper escaped his lips a the futility of his situation.
The grin on the Penguin's face vanished in a heart beat, "Oh no. Don't cry Wiley. No, don't do that. You still have a bargaining chip in this. You have the information I want. That /could/ be the very thing that gets you out of here with your life." Oswald came in close to the man no longer struggling against his bodyguard. He placed a comforting hand on the helpless man's shoulder, "Now, did you have something you wanted to tell me?"
Wiley gave into the Penguin's demands, spouting off dates, names, and locations. When it was all said and done Oswald motioned for Bossworth to turn the man loose, "You did the right thing here, Wiley. Now for your payment. Harvey. Pay the man." He took a step back in anticipation of what was to come.
Two-Face produced a .22 automatic from inside his coat. He wasted no time pulling the trigger and blasting rounds into Wiley's legs, to make sure he would not leave before things were sorted out. He took the coin in his left hand this time and brought it up to his thumb, catching it and flipping it over on the top of his right hand. "That's more like it." Harvey walked up to Wiley and put two bullets into his forehead. As Wiley twitched his last, Harvey turned to the Penguin. "I may have to do that more often, results seem to go the way we want then." He laughed as he walked away from the corpse of an information broker.
Bossworth did a good job of stuffing the corpse's pockets with the raw meat left over from the package he had been told to bring from the club. The starving bears had eagerly come out after he threw a few bits into their enclosure and happily received their main course when the body of Wiley Pence was dumped over the railing. The sound of the bears enjoying their meal followed the trio as they began the lengthy walk back to the front of the park.
The Penguin immediately picked up where they left off before the 'meeting,' "Tell me what you know about baseball, Harvey." His casual tone marked to Two-Face that whatever the topic may have been it was all about money in the end.
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