He walked into the pub some time just after nine o'clock. It had an array of people. Some looked like construction workers. Others were enforcers and bruisers for the Penguin's gang, minus their gang regalia. Then there were the other workers and patrons who were joking and watching the television.
The Gotham Knights were on against Metropolis Metros on the television so it would be a big night for football. Seems the game had just begun. They were playing in Metropolis so the chances of the game being interrupted was next to nothing.
But as he sat down at the bar another television caught his attention. This one had the news on it with Vicki Vale. She was broadcasting live from GothCorp's front entrance. Ricky nodded at the bartender. "Water and a beer. Also what do you have for food?" He asked the bartender.
"Fish and Chips, Onion Rings, Shepherd's Pie, Loaded Potato Skins, Chicken Tenders, Fries, Bangers and Mash, that is just about it. Any preference on the beer or house specialty?" The bartender asked in a low baritone voice.
"Let's go with the house specialty and I will take some fries as well." He told the bartender, getting a nod in response. The bartender then wrote something on a sticky note and went to the back. He came back a moment later and started getting his beer and water.
Ricky watched the television and looked at the subtitles. Apparently GothCorp was being investigated by multiple federal organizations. Tonight was supposed to be when a few of them moved in to slay the decapitated snake that was GothCorp. Ferris Boyle had been detained only a few years ago.
He had been detained after several years of prolonged investigation of his involvement in the creation of Mister Freeze. As well as several other human and illegal experiments that were not approved of by the government. Then only a few years ago he was finally charged, he was in prison for life. Which was short because a week inside and he ended up dissected like a fish.
Now his company was discovered to have continued his work. So several federal organizations were in the process of completely dissecting the dead snake. Taking what they could from it for themselves.
As he was watching the television the bartender brought up his water and beer. He nodded and thanked the man before he took a sip of the beer and turned his attention back to the television.
They were talking about the types of crimes that the company was responsible for when Vale suddenly stopped and listened to her earpiece. She looked around and then they pointed to a large armored vehicle. It looked like an APC. But it had the word 'ARGUS' written on the side in letters.
Vale and the cameraman began running toward the vehicle. "Hey can you turn this one up?" Ricky asked the bartender. The bartender looked at the television and frowned before turning it up.
"Excuse me? What are you doing here?" Vale tried to ask as a platoon of armored individuals marched out the back. The last person out was wearing a similar black uniform but he was not wearing a helmet and balaclava. Instead he was talking on his phone.
"We are here now-"
"Who are you people and what are you doing here?" Vale tried to ask again. But instead of responding to her he waved his hand at some of the armored people. They walked upt and took the camera away and the camera turned off.
A moment later the news continued from the GNN's broadcasting facility. "Umm… we apologize for the interruption but it appears something happened with Miss Vale. We will get back to that later." The bartender turned it down again.
"Did they just stonewall, Vale?" Someone asked in the bar.
Ricky was more concerned with why a group like ARGUS was making waves when they are not publicly known yet. They have a heavy involvement with meta humans in the United States. "Seems like it." Ricky nodded then he turned to watch the games since there was not other interesting news on.
But as he was sipping his beer he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out and saw it was a text from Nyssa. [Removing GothCorp from the list.] She did not need to say anything anymore. He understood what she was talking about.
He put his phone away and watched the game for another hour when he heard the door open and heard whistles and catcalls. He turned around and saw it was the woman from the massage parlor. Alice was leading the way in a white outfit that was more formal and less seductive.
The woman spread out into different areas chatting up different people. While Alice sat next to him at the bar. "So what's on TV?"
"Knights versus Metros, and the news." Ricky responded tilting his bear to the televisions before taking another sip.
Alice nodded and handed him a slip of paper. He smiled as he saw the number. He pulled out his phone and put in the number. Making sure to number her as the third 'harem member' just so he could continue the joke.
"Feel free to call on me for a body call whenever you are sleeping alone." Alice told him as she got her usual drink. A bottle of wine with a wine glass. "Don't worry if I am busy I will just set you up with one of my ladies, free of charge."
"Sounds good to me. How about tonight?" Ricky asked with a snide gin.
"I am not busy, but I think we should eat first. Don't you?" Alice pointed out with a chuckle.
"Oh I know." Ricky chuckled just as the bartender dropped off a basket full of fries in front of him. "That is why I ordered some food."
As he was about to take another sip the ground shook. As a large explosion far off occured. Ricky looked out the window for only a second before he turned his attention to the television playing the news. The bartender turned up the volume on that television as well.
It was Vicki Vale again. But this time it looked like she was being streamed on a smartphone. "This is Vale live from GothCorp where a large series of explosions just leveled their building and damaged a few nearby-"
She stopped mid sentence as there was a loud noise followed by the ground shaking. It was so bad they could feel it in the pub. Then the screen shook as they could hear shouting and screaming.
When it was done, Vale was a distance away from the original destroyed building. "The explosion seemed to have an effect on the structures below ground. Where GothCorp once was, there is now a giant hole. We do know a number of executives, agents from various agencies, and those Argus people were onsite when the explosion occurred."
"We should know more soon but it looks like nearby buildings including the one I am in are evacuating in case more of the underground collapses. Back to the studio." Vale's feed then cut off like she was being rushed.
The studio's announcer stumbled over his words as footage of the crater from an aerial view appeared. "Yea-um welcome back? What you are seeing is a clear view of the crater. We are still waiting for responses by the government for what just happened. But we have an estimate of around a hundred for…" It trailed off as the bartender turned the volume down.
"Who sets a bomb off in Gotham?" Alice mumbled, "that is like shining the spotlight on yourself."
"You are right about that." Another guy across the bar agreed. "But there is also Argus. That is a classified US military outfit." He was an info broker from the record shop.
"Should you really be telling us this?" The bartender asked with a frown.
"It does not matter, they are about to become a public organization. They kinda have to after someone hacked their files and began leaking them online." The info broker explained to them.
-----------
Want more? P.atreon.com/Platwolf