Batgirl watched from a safe distance as the police paraded the gunmen out of the apartment building. "Another successful run," she mused with satisfaction. Turning away from the scene, she pulled her cell phone out of a pocket on her hip and hit redial. Her father's number blinked on the screen and the phone began to ring through her helmet's built-in Bluetooth earphones.
"Papa, you called?" She had felt the phone vibrate earlier but chose to ignore it due to the lousy reception in the concrete building as well as the gunfire. "I'm fine... No, no... I'm at the park... Sheldon Park... No, I'll be home before then..." She heard sirens rush by a few streets away and groaned internally. "Papa, I have to go..." She started toward her bike as she tried to wrap up the conversation politely. "No, I just want to go for a walk, that's all... Exercise and such." Beneath her helmet, she rolled her eyes. Her father's habit of calling her throughout his shift was annoying. She knew it was likely a way for him to stay grounded amidst Gotham's growing darkness, yet it often proved a distraction for her. She had things to do.
I've had just about enough of this conversation. She saddled up on her bike and drew a small device out from her utility belt. She flipped the red switch on the side of the device and almost immediately her phone signal started to degrade. "Papa... Papa? You're breaking up!" She could barely make out her father's confused voice through the static of the dropping connection but was able to at least make out his farewell. "Alright, bye. Uh-huh... I love you, too." And the conversation was over.
She looked at the phone jammer in her hand and smiled. Though they may have been illegal, the handy device had rescued her from many unwanted phone conversations. She never really was one to talk on the phone. Even a ten-minute call would easily try her patience. Now she could get back to the things that mattered. A dull roar reached her ears and her smile broke into an all-out grin. "Now, that's a call I can't wait to answer." She revved her motorcycle and then shot out of the laneway, heading in the direction of the disturbance.
Goren held the phone to his ear a few seconds longer than needed after the call ended. "What's she doing in Sheldon Park at this hour?" he wondered aloud.
Elden, Goren's partner, took another sip from his coffee before answering. "Isn't this the start of winter break? My niece is marathoning the Wicked Scary movies with her girlfriend." He shook his head. "Won't catch me watching that stuff. I see enough wicked and scary in this job as it is..."
Goren chuckled, shaking his head at Elden's comment. "Heh, you're right. I forgot that her nine-to-five gets more consistent holidays than ours. She's probably out with Mawk," he joked. "Still, our call dropped again... It's been doing that a lot more, recently. What service do you have? I'm thinking about switching providers."
"Lex-Tel, but I don't recommend it. Last few months I've heard they may get bought out. But, hey!" Elden rapped Goren's shoulder with the back of his knuckles. "We could swing by that park if you like. Blast the siren and hit the floodlights to make sure they're not up to no good." He gave his friend a mischievous smile.
Goren considered the idea and was about to reply when the radio in his car crackled to life.
"Attention all units. Reports of gunfire at the Southern Square Plaza. Backup requested." The officer on the other line sounded a bit stressed but did a good job of keeping her voice professional. Before the radio cut off, Goren and Elden heard an explosion in the background. The officer's voice came through again, and this time she sounded frantic. "Officer down! Officer down! Requesting immediate support and medical!" The officer didn't even wait for a response and ended the demand.
"Perhaps later, we have work to do." Goren gritted his teeth and grabbed the squad car's ceiling handle. "Step on it!"
Elden didn't need to be told twice. Hell, officer down? He didn't even need to be told at all to push the car to its limits. With a squeal of tires, the squad car launched from the side of the road leaving behind the sweet smell of burnt rubber. Sirens blaring and lights flashing, their police cruiser rocketed down the street toward the disturbance, a blue and red blur for justice.
Batgirl weaved in and out of the late-night traffic. She was glad that she didn't do patrols during the day. She was already riding without a motorcycle license, she didn't need the added fear of heavy traffic. As she swerved between cars on the road, she approached a very familiar police cruiser rolling Code 3 and speeding in the same direction.
Crap... she thought to herself as she came up along the vehicle's passenger side. She looked to her left and saw her father with a white-knuckle hold on the car's ceiling handle. His partner, Elden, had both hands firmly on the wheel at ten and two. They looked intensely focused and Elden was saying something to her father but Goren's situational awareness was second to none and it didn't take long for him to notice Batgirl.
Goren's head snapped in her direction. His eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open in shock. For a split second, she was scared he would have a heart attack; but his facial features settled into a look that mixed the surprise with understanding. His brow dropped and his mouth closed with his lips tightening into a thin, grim line. It was clear he realized they were likely on the way to the same call.
Batgirl only gave one nod of acknowledgment before leaning forward on her bike to speed past them. As they approached the intersection ahead, the police cruiser had to slow as the cross-traffic scattered to get out of the way. Batgirl, though, was on a motorcycle and thus was nimble enough to weave between the panicked citizens of Gotham, leaving her father behind. As she watched their lights recede in her side mirror, she released a held breath. That could have gone so much worse.
Goren Lee's car screeched to a halt and he was out before Elden even cut the engine. "What is the situation?" he called out over sporadic gunfire.
An officer crouching behind a police car for cover looked back at him. "What do you think, Chief? We have been pinned here for ten minutes and the fight is still going on. We've no idea how many men are inside, what their demands are, or even the number of weapons they have!" The cop faced the building again, then popped up to fire off a few rounds before pausing. "What's more is that these guys are nutcases!"
"What do you mean?"
The officer pointed to the right where a burning ambulance lay on its side. "We don't know how, but they somehow got their hands on explosives. They follow that loon, Mr. Death. Witnesses placed him at the scene, skeletal biker gear and all. The first few victims thought—Woah!" More gunfire erupted out from the upper window of the building and peppered the police cars and the barricade outside the entrance, forcing the officers to duck for cover. The cop braced himself against his car. "Most victims thought he was a street performer," finished the officer.
"Mr. Death?" Elden looked at Goren for clarification.
"You were out Monday," Goren replied. "Remember that string of assaults out of South Gotham? Some gang calling themselves The Order took credit. Their leader is some wacko calling himself Mr. Death." He brought up the case file on his cell for Elden to skim. "Wears morbid biker gear with a skull painted on his helmet."
"Looks like he's a bit late for Dia de los Muertos." Elden scuffled to the officer on his hands and knees and looked at the building. "Is there any way to get in there?"
Goren peeked under the car's frame to get a better look as well. "There's a complex on the side of this complex that's been under construction for the last few weeks, right? Have you seen any activity from that side?"
The officer shook his head. "We're not sure, sir. We've been pinned here since we arrived and no one's keen on advancing so long as they may have more explosives." There was a momentary break in the gunfire and the men and women of the law cautiously peeked over their car hoods, guns raised. The officer gestured slightly to the left with his head. "You may be right. To the left, there seems to be a shop undergoing renovations. Perhaps a SWAT team could infiltrate from there?"
"I called for SWAT on the way here," Elden announced. "But they won't be here for another half hour. Who knows how much damage will be done in that time? And that's not even speaking of anyone inside in danger."
"Not to mention what could happen when these lunatics see the big guns rolling in..." Goren sighed before pulling Elden away. "We need to get in there. If anything, we could be the eyes on the inside."
Elden scratched his prematurely balding scalp. "Makes sense... And me without my bulletproof vest," he added with a touch of humor.
Goren nodded at the officer by the car to confirm the plan then turned back to Elden. "You're not the only one." He opened his trench coat and revealed he, too, was just as vulnerable. Just the trench coat and a dress shirt. "Let's try not to get shot, eh?"
Batgirl stood two rooftops away from the firefight. With one ear on the police scanner, she'd only caught the tail end of the plan her father and Elden had arranged, but it was enough to know just how much risk he was taking on. Gotta try and get inside first. Heart pounding, she ran as fast as she could to the roof edge, clearing the space between the two small buildings in one jump and barely grabbing the ledge of the second one after a slip-up. Can't mess up. Not with Papa's life on the line.
After a moment to catch her breath, she stood and looked from her vantage point to the back of the building the gunmen were holed up in. With her father entering from her right side, she had to choose a new point of entry. Originally, she was going to enter through the complex under construction, but now she knew she wouldn't get there before her father would.
By now, a small crowd had gathered around the area. A few nighttime joggers, some teens, and the man in a biker helmet again. She wasn't exactly ready to be observed by the general public, but this was no time to let personal preference get in the way. Without thinking about much else, she jumped towards the target building and grabbed onto the ledge of a second-story window with surprising ease. In another swift motion, she vaulted inside.
Once in, the gunfire was more audible to the point that she had to switch off her radio to concentrate. On the left, she saw two men, both with automatic weapons lazily resting on their shoulders, smoking, while somewhere else a third criminal was blasting away at the courtyard and street below.
Two guys with assault rifles? Phooey. She snuck behind one of the guys and quickly put him in a headlock. Before the second man could react, she pivoted around her prisoner and kicked the other in the gut. That bought me some time. She brought her knee into the first man's chest and then brought her armored elbow in contact with the base of his neck. One down.
"Who the hell are you?" the second man coughed out. He wheezed as he raised his rifle to fire, but Batgirl was gone.
From the rafters above she watched him. I sure hope this works. She dropped down onto the man; both her knees going passed his head, her hips at the base of his neck, and her stomach pressing against the top of his head. The impact made the man stumble forward, but he did not fall as she'd hoped. He managed to keep his balance despite Batgirl on his shoulders.
Nope. Didn't work. Batgirl thought. She put her gloved hand over his mouth to keep him from screaming, then twisted her body to the side forcing him down.
Once on the ground, Batgirl scrambled on top of him before he could recover and finished him off with a solid strike to the bridge of his nose. "Okay, he just needed encouragement." She continued to move through the site.
Goren and Elden entered the construction site with their guns drawn and did their best to keep quiet. It wasn't hard for them to sneak around since the police outside were still trading shots with the cretins holed up in the complex. Even so, they stepped softly on their approach. As soon as they breached the doorway to the joined complex, they saw three armed men wearing bandanas and hoodies taking cover against a wall.
"Hands where we can see them!" Goren's authoritative voice rang out as he demanded the men surrender.
The gang members looked up in surprise at the flanking officers and one of them raised his gun.
"Gun!" Elden read the movement and squeezed his trigger thrice. Two bullets ripped through the man's side and he stumbled back into one of his buddies, bleeding. Elden advanced slowly with his gun raised as his boss circled the room and again demanded their full surrender.
The two left standing wisely complied. It took a few minutes to disarm and bind the men and report the injury to medical but eventually, Goren and Elden cleared the goons on the first floor turning their attention to the second floor. As they advanced up the stairs, they anticipated resistance heavier than that of the first. After all, the second floor and the third were the floors that were in open combat with officers outside. More than likely, they would have to hang back and would only be able to report what they saw.
As they reached the top of the stairs, they were a bit put off by the lack of noise. They'd expected the gunfire to be roaring, even if sporadic. Instead, the other side of the door was silent. The two veterans looked at each other and then mentally counted down before opening the door. They had expected more men, they had expected guns blazing: they had expected the worst. What greeted them instead was the aftermath of a fight.
Two men sat at the center of the room, down and bound, and groggy as if just waking from a light nap. Against the wall lay two military-grade assault rifles with their magazines removed and a few of the bullets lain out like a crude, upside-down W.
"Someone has beaten us here." Goren inspected one of the bound me on the floor with some care. "And beaten them."
Elden inspected the assault rifles and gave Goren a half-grin at the pattern the bullets made. "Wonder who that would be?"
Goren gave Elden a stern look of warning. "Don't you start with that."
"Oh, please! We saw her on the road." Elden grinned. "Besides, who else could it be?"
There was a thump on the floor above them and a cease in the gunfire. "Probably whoever's up there?"
The two officers broke into a run for the stairs.
"Where is your leader?" she growled at the semi-conscious man slumped against the wall.
"I... ugh..."
"C'mon, filth!" She back-handed his face with her thick plastic gauntlet. "Think, if you can!"
"I dun..ugh. I dunno..heseddeath...would..." His words were a jumbled incoherent mess strung together with gurgling and groaning.
I'm getting nowhere, and fast! she thought to herself. Must have hit too hard. What would Batman do? She looked around. Weapons on par with the military were strewn about haphazardly and a used rpg launcher rested against the wall. Four other men lay on the floor as a result of her handiwork but through it all, none of them appeared to be in charge. She had thought for sure their leader would be the man on the mounted gun, but instead, he was nowhere to be found on the third floor. There were just more goons.
"I...want..." He slumped in Batgirl's grasp and she released him in disgust. He fell to the floor with a thud, out like a light.
Or dead. She noticed the rhythmic heaving of his chest. No, just unconscious.
"Some party, huh?"
Batgirl stood and spun quickly to see her father and Elden cautiously stepping over the few criminals that lay on the floor, both had their service pistols drawn. Elden peeked out the window to see what the situation outside was like as Goren approached the young heroine. "Any idea where this 'Mr. Death' is?" He sounded a bit unnerved.
"No." She was nervous as well, she just hoped it didn't show through the layers of dark armor. She moved away from Goren to leave. He didn't notice; he was still looking over her handiwork. All I gotta do is—
"Bat... uh, Batgirl?"
Dammit! Batgirl draped her cape over her hands but nodded for the Elden to speak.
"He's not here, is he? The guy in the skeleton outfit? Thought for sure you'd pin him down. He slip by you?"
Skeleton outfit? Must have missed that part. She stayed silent.
"She must have not known," Goren muttered to his partner.
Batgirl took offense to that. I'm no 'World's Greatest Detective', cut me some slack! I've only been doing this for a few months. "Threat assessment. I was busy saving your men." Maybe a little too snarky. Pull it back.
"But shouldn't all you bat people be amazing detectives or somethi— Look out!" Goren's tone switched from questioning to alert in a split second.
Batgirl turned and braced just in time to be struck in the head with a thick object.
"You misguided do-gooders!" came a slightly high-pitched voice. "Always sticking your noses where they don't belong!"
Another strike to the face and Batgirl remembered why she chose to use a motorcycle helmet as a head covering instead of a cloth mask: She would've been dead by now. The heroine stumbled back, stunned. With her right hand holding her head, her left hand waved out haphazardly on instinct... only to be struck again, this time behind her left shoulder. She hissed in anger and pain.
That's going to leave a mark. Have fun explaining that one, Kim. She bit her lip and fought back tears. Fight back, fight back! She lifted her head in time to see the baseball bat coming down toward her. Screw. This.
Her right arm shot out and managed to catch the bat mid-arc. Once she was sure the weapon was in her grasp, she pulled it in close. The assaulter was caught off-guard and lurched forward: all the opening she needed. She was still clutching the bat with all her might when, with her injured hand, she drew a taser and jabbed it into the man's neck. Electricity coursed through his body and he stiffened like a corpse. With a growl, Batgirl then put her leg behind the spasming man and threw him down. He hit the ground, still twitching from the experience.
"Are you alright?" Elden came up to the hero, but she threw the bat to the side and instinctively backed away further into the shadows.
"I'm sure any one of these fools would be more than happy to answer your questions." And then she leaped out the window and was gone.
"One thing I remember about the Bat-clan." Goren crouched before the taser victim. "They never say 'good-bye'."
Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! Kimber tucked her suit, now back in the duffle, into the spot where the spare tire would go under the trunk mat. She'd already wheeled her bike back to the deserted alleyway and covered it over properly before changing in the parking structure. Now she just had to get home but she couldn't stop replaying the ending of the night in her mind. How could I have been so stupid? She plopped down behind the wheel of her sedan and just sat in thought, forehead resting against the wheel.
She had inspected her shoulder as she was changing and a bruise was already forming. And it was a nasty one. "Chiz, that was bad. The night was so great until that moment... What happened?"
You got sloppy, her mind reminded her.
"Gee, thanks for answering that rhetorical question." She mentally kicked herself as she started the car ride home. "Was it because Papa was there?" Perhaps. Maybe she wanted to prove her dual identity was not only here to stay, but would also be of help. "Instead I made the mistake of not finishing the sweep and getting tunnel vision. Oh, and making an ass out of myself. Can't forget that."
She pulled up to her garage after a long, quiet drive home and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that her father's car wasn't parked inside. Good, he isn't home yet. Not getting grounded tonight, at least.
Kimber stiffly exited her car, closed the garage, and then entered her empty home. From her pocket, she drew out her cell phone and scrolled through a bunch of texts. Most were nonsense but some she did feel inclined to respond to. She opened a thread of messages from Mawk. He was inviting her to a midnight showing of some movie. A glance at the clock informed her that midnight was a mere thirty minutes away. Not happening. I'm beat.
"No thanks," she texted back. "Feelin' tired. Goin' beddy-bye."
The text had not been delivered two seconds before Mawk called. Kimber put on her best impression of a tired soul. "Mm, 'ello?"
"Already?" Mawk's response was quick and incredulous. "Kimmie, it's winter break! Surely you aren't going to bed before one in the morning?" His tone was one of surprise.
Kimber didn't reply right away – she yawned into the receiver and smacked her lips obnoxiously first. "Well, yeah I'm sleepy, bud. I gotta get some beauty rest. How else do I continue to look so youthful?" She joked in a sleepy drawl. The real reason she wanted to sleep? Her father could be home within an hour or two. She didn't feel like being awake with her bruise so apparent.
"I always thought it was your dad's rib soup..." Mawk paused, waiting for Kimber to reply, but when she didn't, he sighed. "Okay, then can we maybe do something tomorrow? Laser tag, mini golf, or something?"
"I dunno, maybe? Will you even have time for me tomorrow if you've got to prep for your winter shindig?"
"Oof, you're right. Totally forgot," Mawk admitted. "And 'shindig'? You're using outdated lingo, Kimber. You are tired." Mawk laughed, but the laugh trailed off sadly. "Get some rest, Kimmie. I will catch up with you tomorrow."
Kimber blew a kiss over the receiver and hung up the phone.
Curtis stood from his chair, closed his laptop, and lay back on his bed. But he didn't drift off to sleep just yet. His mind wandered back to Kimber. Gotham High was a strange place. Here he was, a senior in high school and halfway through the year, and yet he was still meeting classmates for the first time. Then again, he wasn't the most social teen in school, opting for studying over partying. However, Kimber was someone he could have met before. Sure, he had seen her from a distance, but that had always been it: distance. She wasn't rich, spoiled, bratty, or even the president of any club: she was just an average girl.
"An adorable average girl." He smiled as his mind played back the moment she sashayed to Mawk's car. "Pretty cute, Kimber Lee."
Everyone must have made that mistake at one time or another. Her name was pretty odd. It was as if her parents wanted it to be a practical joke she could never live down. He'd never really seen Kimber's mother around, but he knew of her father well enough. The newly minted chief of police in Gotham was something of a small celebrity. After all, the previous chief had never cleared out crime in Gotham – and he had the Bat to help him. By all appearances, Chief Lee was on his own.
"That's one hell of a job. Keeping this festering pit of a city safe. Feh, good luck, Mr. Lee."
But hopefully, he wouldn't be on his own for too much longer. Based on that live broadcast, Batman may have returned. Or at least Curtis hoped he had. Follow-up new segments never reported on the mysterious figure. He even scoured some blogs and conspiracy pages but still found nothing about Batman's apparent appearance. Even the draped man was somehow swept under the rug. "Suppose I am the only one who noticed..."
With his thoughts filled with a superhero and a beauty, Curtis drifted to sleep.
"Six parties in one night. Four of which I was not invited to." Bruce Wayne mechanically sat down on a third-floor master bed as he muttered about the wasted path his night went. After the conversation with the other Batman, he felt the need to distance himself from the cave.
Two days ago, Daggett had told him about a gala being held in Chinatown and though he'd declined that day, one call to Daggett confirmed that he could still show up. So he put on his mask and played pretend. The two rich men hopped from gala to gala, party to party until they'd had their fill – or at least until Bruce could fake having fun no longer. Now he was back in his mausoleum of a manor, himself haunting a room he hadn't been in for a long time.
Come to think of it... I don't think I even remember this room... He knew he must have been in it at some point – there wasn't a room in the manor he hadn't been in at some point – but couldn't for the life of him recall when or why. Not that it mattered. It was one of the few rooms that had no way to access the BatCave. Perhaps that was why he didn't remember it? Perhaps that was also why he'd ended up in it. He would sleep in here tonight: so he wouldn't be tempted to go back down.
"I'm not Batman anymore, am I?" He looked in the dusty mirror and almost didn't recognize the face that stared back. He had shaved the stubble from his chin and had combed his hair down. It was the neatest he'd looked in weeks. Alfred would have been proud of him. "This isn't me. I can feel it. But if I can't be who I am anymore, then I have to be what I am not." That made no sense, Wayne. Get a hold of yourself. Bruce flinched at the thought. Wait... Wayne? He never called himself by that name in his head. Now I know I am going insane...
He kicked off his shoes and socks but made no effort to remove the rest of the expensive suit he wore. He turned on his side and drifted to sleep in the foreign bed. Tomorrow was going to be another long day. He had an appointment to keep.
