Chapter 5: Justice For All?
"She was there! The Batwoman was there, she didn't stick around to help that girl." A man shouted at a TV camera, a large crowd of protesters gathered at Gotham's city hall early in the morning.
People were angry, tensions were high. The only thing stopping the protests from becoming violent was the large presence of GCPD officers scattered all over the area.
"Excuse me. Let me through." A redheaded woman said, pushing through the sea of people to reach the steps of city hall. "Is there anyone that was there last night?" The woman asked loudly, "Yeah! Back here!" A young man shouted, "Let him through." The woman said.
"What's your name?" The woman asked as the young man made his way up, "Tye Longshadow." The young man said, finally stepping up. "I'm Victoria Vale, Gotham Gazette. What can you tell me about what happened?" Victoria asked Tye, "I can tell you that the Batwoman and Batman don't really care about the rest of us." Tye said.
"The Justice League is safe up in their watchtower. They keep letting people like the Joker run free. They manipulate the government to avoid the death sentence for people like him." Tye said, it was clear that he had been wanting to say those words for a long time.
Heroes never came down to fight the crime in Texas. They didn't give back to people like him. The poor, the ethnic. Superman was all-powerful white guy and was seen as America's great hope. That didn't sit well with Tye.
It was his people who lost their land.
"They're puppets for the corrupt government!" Tye yelled, the protesters cheering along with him. "Okay, that's enough, kid." Victoria said, "No, that isn't enough. Why do we keep letting them lie to us?" Tye asked, "Superman is giving his speech in a few hours."
"He's just going to keep telling us everything is okay. But, it's not okay if the freakin' Justice League can pick and choose when they want to be heroes and how." Tye said, opening his mouth to say more. Before he could get another word out Asami and Jaime were pulling the young man away from the crowd.
"Get off of me." Tye said, shaking the two off. "What are you doing?" Jaime asked, "Getting some justice for that girl." Tye answered, "Deadshot killed her, not Batwoman or the Justice League." Asami told Tye.
"But they leave us to suffer. Stop pretending like the Justice League hasn't been doing this for years." Tye said to the two. "They're too busy with their politics and bringing aliens here to worry about guys like Deadshot, or put an end to guys like the Joker." Tye said, "Man, Superman alone could clean up the eastern seaboard. But, he doesn't. Do you know why?" Tye asked his friends.
"I don't know, dude." Jaime said, "But, they're the good guys. They're doing something." Jaime told his friend, "No, the firefighters here are doing something. The cops. The paramedics and doctors that tried to save that girl. If Batwoman had just killed Deadshot when she had the chance..."
"And what would that do?" Jaime asked, "Would it suddenly stop all the crime down there?" Jaime asked, "It wouldn't, hermano. You can't blame the people trying to help for what's wrong with people like that. We gotta do our part. Superpowers or not." Jaime said.
"Whatever." Tye said, walking away from Jaime and Asami. "Where are you going?" Asami asked, "To mind my damn business. Leave me alone." Tye answered.
Jaime let out a quiet sigh. Tye was always angry, always full of passion. Always volatile. Jaime hated seeing his friend this way.
"We're going to miss class. We should go." Asami told Jaime, pulling the young man along back towards the crowd of protesters. It took awhile and some hard shoving but the two eventually made it out to the sidewalk, both heading for Asami's car.
"Reyes, Koizumi." A woman called out, getting Jaime and Asami's attention. The two turned to see Ms. Bertinelli approaching them, the woman dressed in a black pantsuit. "Ms. Bertinelli, a surprise to see you here." Jaime said, "We were just on our way to the campus." Asami added.
"No need. Class is cancelled for a few days while I handle some family issues." Ms. Bertinelli told her students, "Part of my family issues involve me coming here to meet the mayor and the District Attorney. Telling them everything I know about the Bertinelli family and their deep ties to Stephano Mandragora." She explained.
"Ah, that's rough." Jaime said, "I couldn't imagine." He added, "Yeah. Anyways, you two should head hope. Half the people here reek of booze. Alcohol and tension you can cut with a knife tend to create explosive situations." The University teacher told Jaime and Asami.
"Yeah, we should go, Jaime." Asami said, pulling her friend along towards the car. "We'll see you around, Ms. Bertinelli." Asami called out, Jaime waving to his favorite teacher.
"You make it really obvious." Asami told Jaime, "You're just jealous." Jaime retorted, casting a final glance to Ms. Bertinelli as she walked towards the crowd of protesters.
Ms. Bertinelli was determined, forcing her way through the angry mob to get to the steps of the government building. She cast a glance at the people of Gotham, they were angry and hurt. They had every right to be.
Putting her family's past behind her was more important than sharing in the anger that the denizens of Gothams felt at the moment. Ms. Bertinelli turned from the crowd, making her way into the government.
She jumped through every hoop she had to on her way in calmly and without complaint. What it lead to was worth it. All that she did couldn't be for nothing in the end.
"Right this way, Ms. Bertinelli." A suited man told the woman, leading her up a staircase, through door after door, down hall after hall until finally they reached the mayor's office.
"He'll see you." The man told Ms. Bertinelli, pushing the office door open for her.
"Helena, it's nice to see you again, even under these circumstances." The mayor said. He was an older man, tall, and well-built despite possibly being in his early 60s. His physique giving off the impression that he was once a soldier, but still kept as fit as your average marine.
"Shall we get down to business? Right some wrongs?"