Birds of a Feather (Oswald Cobblepot)

True or False-Face

  After having asked around the girls at Fish Mooney's, I locate Sydney's place to a dingy apartment above a bar in the theatre district. It's dark and small, smaller than even my own apartment, but at least it's clean. Expecting her to be here any moment now, I hide under her desk and lie in wait. Within minutes the door creaks open, and Sydney walks through, carrying a duffel bag. She throws it down on the ground and walks over to her radio, turning it on. The moment the music starts, I jump out from under the desk, rushing her. I tackle her to the ground, she reacts, kicking me in the groin. I squirm, allowing her time to get out from under me. She scrambles to the kitchen, getting out a knife. Clutching

it in her hand, she runs at me, ready to fight. I lunge back, my feet skidding against the wooden floor. Taking out my own daggers, I prepare myself as she attacks me once more. I block her kitchen knife with one dagger and disarm her with the other. Now unarmed, I elbow her in the face, and kick her to the ground, knocking her out.

Walking over to her duffel bag, I open it up to reveal guns and punk-rock clothes similar to those found at the Flea. Is this what Zsasz has his henchwomen wear? Why am I not surprised a guy like him has a leather and fishnet fetish. And if Sydney had these on her, why didn't she use them? Granted, they make a lot of noise, but gunshots are pretty common in tenements like these. I inspect one of the handguns to reveal that they're unloaded. So that's why she didn't use them. I load one of them and

look over at Sydney. Knocking her out isn't enough, she could easily go to Zsasz and tell her I took her stuff. I walk over to Sydney, still passed out on the ground. Aiming the gun at her head, I fire a single shot, killing her. Placing the gun back in the duffel bag, I sling it over my shoulder and walk out the door, closing it behind me.

   In the bathroom mirror, I take the clear mask I'd gotten from Amanda and place it over my head. I knew this would come in handy eventually. My face shifts and contorts until it comes to resemble Sydney's. Even though she's slightly taller than me, I already have a similar complexion and build. Using makeup to lighten my skin, I look at the final picture in the mirror. Not too bad, besides the difference in height, I now look just like Sydney. With makeup I make the remainder of my visible skin lighter, and do my hair into that strange updo she likes. When I open the door, I gasp as I find a curiously smiling Oswald standing by the doorway, slightly hunched over.

"Excuse me, but...can you tell me when Trixie will be home?"

I pause, trying to think something up on the spot, "Uhm...she's...out of town."

"How about Natalie, hmm?" he presses, lifting his eyebrows.

"I...don't know who you're talking about," I tell him.

He cocks his head forward, "...liar. Who are you? What's your association with her?"

My eyes shift around, trying to find an excuse, "Look dude, I, I'm just renting this place while Trixie is out of town. If you really want to talk to her, couldn't you write her or call her or something?"

Pursing his lips, he looks me over, evaluating me, trying to read my expressions. Even though, in my experience, he's never been very good at that, "..fine. You may go."

He steps out of the way of the door, allowing me to pass. I walk out the door and down the hall, while Oswald continues to stare me down, suspicious. By the time I'm down the first flight of stairs, my casual walk has become a sprint as I dash down the remaining staircases. Oswald's looking for me? Hardly a surprise, but why? I would like to think it was for a friendly meeting, but his expression was so bitter. It’s hard to think he was trying to reach me for something friendly.