Passing through the still profoundly unnaturally dirty buildings of the Gotham Industrial Zones that he has recently called home, Ethan marveled at how the Gotham sky was under a nigh eternal overcast as he walked toward his objective. The overhead blanket cast the already grimy city streets an even duller tone that never seems to get brighter as he progresses inward.

He needed to get out of the systems overview. As it is localized to his computer it can't follow him everywhere, allowing for the newest addition to his weekly routine work to act as his taste of freedom just fine.

See, Ethan has become increasingly concerned with how unfit he is. It was one of the many topics that he had contemplated on when he had been on his 'Meditation Week.' All the time before he had done absolutely nothing to improve himself and was doing the lowest amount of exercise as physically possible. Several months of nonstop coding and programming, in the same chair, in the same room as he sleeps and eats so that he doesn't have to move anywhere is extremely unhealthy.

Taking stock of himself, Ethan saw that he had indeed gained weight since he had arrived in this world. While before he was tall and lanky, not necessarily fit though definitely skinny, his baby fat that still hadn't left his teenage self had only become more accentuated. Perhaps any onlookers could still call him skinny, but he couldn't look himself in the mirror without noticing the gut that had developed.

Considering that he still was operating on a frugal budget for his expenses, he didn't particularly want to waste money on more expensive food. Was it the right course of action? Probably not but to Ethan, his economic stability is what will determine his success. Most of what makes Batman so incredibly effective is because he possesses all the funds necessary to make gadgets for any possible scenario. If he didn't have his bank account then would he not be a good hero? No, but he definitely won't be nearly as useful.

His relying on the apartment given to him by the government had taken care of the largest source of his economic drain, but he did not think that would last for long. It will only be a matter of time before his business makes enough of an impact that officials will start to wonder why an orphan who became a millionaire should be living off their wallets.

It was why Ethan had started researching on where he could find a warehouse that could be cheaply purchased. In a large urban city like Gotham there were a bunch of rundown and abandoned warehouses of bankrupted companies that ran afoul of the local crime lord. Happens every now and then, Vicky Vale would be seen for about 5 minutes on the news detailing a gang fight and then the death of a few high ranking members of said company, then leave the employees jobless. The real problem is finding a gang that will let him have his freedom.

Ethan had to expend a deal of his time contacting different lower end gangsters who would be willing to talk about their bosses. Wasn't really that big of an issue, a few drinks was all it cost him to get the mouths moving. His solution?

Near him there was a new, up and coming criminal organization that had presented themselves as the legal criminals. Why is that important? There may not be any truly innocent businesses within this city, but at least there are those who place the majority of their time and effort into cultivating reputable places of business. These groups focus on their money makers, normally casinos.

Stereotypical right? See the three most well known criminal businesses that show themselves to the light of day are their gambling hotels as the house will always win. Even when they lose, they still win. Sadly, these places are scattered throughout the entire city; rich and poor alike were being taken advantage of by these money printing buildings.

Second was easily the restaurants and bars. You have no idea the amount of income that selling good food and tons of alcohol brings in every day. And if there is one thing that you can be certain about any mafia, they have great taste. Wine, beer, vodka, margaritas and anything that can give you a bit of a buzz to drown your sorrows could be found in these places. With everyone drunk in these places no one ever cares about what the actual gangsters are talking about.

Except the police, but the GPD is so corrupt that there isn't any real threat of anyone getting more than a few months in jail. Why worry about low level thugs when they can direct their attention on putting the supervillains into Blackgate Penitentiary.

What Ethan was walking towards at the moment was the third most beneficial business in Gotham for the mob. Gyms.

Most wouldn't think so, but there are various gyms that are seemingly everywhere in Gotham as there is no way anyone would want to close them down. Unlike every other metropolitan city there is an ever present circle of violence that has corrupted every sphere of influence. Sure, cities like New York and Detroit has serious problems with violent crime, but there are at least people within their society that are trying to fix things. Here the ordinary people on have Batman and Jim Gordon.

These gyms are places where normal people can get themselves some muscle and at the very least develop some confidence in themselves when trouble comes knocking on their doors. The gangs even outright encourage ordinary people to train by offering boxing and martial arts training, for a price of course. Every gym has 4 ways that these places get their income; standard membership subscription, personal/group training, and then there are spectator and fighter fees.

See, these places also possess fight rings. Every. Single. One. The only difference between each is based on how close to the official rules they're following.

This particular gang that Ethan is planning to buy a warehouse from happened to have a branch gym located nearby that he had taken to going to. By going to work out at McGilley's Muscle, Ethan is able to get a closer look at the internal culture of how these people interact with their customers and hopefully overhear a few snippets of information. Enough to know if signing anything would trap him in something he couldn't get out of .

The McGilley is an Irish mafia family that was just as likely to buy you a drink as they were to intimidate you out of your money. It was just how they were. Hot headed and bold sure, but not without their principles. They have even been noted to have sent for official UFC inspectors come out to provide legitimacy for their fights and keep is as above board as they could to bring more clients.

And it was working.

Many of their customers had come to watch these totally legal fights in their underground arena. And as with every sporting event there has to be proper amenities to give the viewers an enjoyable and comfortable experience that will have them crawling back for more. A bar in a gym doesn't seem like a good idea, but a bar at a MMA fight? Perfect.

Turning the corner, Ethan arrives at his safe haven. A big neon sign announced its presence to all passerby's.

It was a big building with a cleaner exterior than the surrounding stores, but still fitting in with the filthy streets. Unlike the walls, the places windows were wiped twice everyday to give ample view of all the clients working out through them. A wide table could be seen with a clerk on his computer, probably just playing some games or something instead of doing any work, but no ones going to bother him about it with biceps as thick as a human head.

"Morning Frank."

Hearing someone calling out to him, the dark skinned man popped his head out and smile. "Mornin' kid. You got anything specific you're workin' on today?"

"Nah, thought about to doin a bit of everything today." He didn't have a plan at the moment. Ethan'll just figure it out as he goes.

The bald man hummed to himself as he stroked his stubble. "Well I figured I'd give you a heads up. Garry's entering the ring in an hour."

Oh. Yes.