Tang Ri Shan
Conundrum
(Personally I love the Beware the Batman series, and I loved the Question from JLU so, why not combine two of my favorite DC characters? Enjoy!)
Chapter 1
Night had fallen on Gotham City. Aside from the occasional growl of a car engine, there was little to disturb the peace that existed between the skyscrapers. While most of the city was ablaze with lights, in parts of Old Gotham, the lights didn't work
BANG! DRIIINNNNNNN!
The peace was suddenly shattered by an explosion followed by the screech of an alarm. Smoke billowed from a Bodega that now sported a jagged hole in place of a front window. Four men burst through the window, causing more glass to break, and took off down the street.
"Come on Moe, move it!" The leader yelled over his shoulder as they ducked into a dark alley.
"I'm runnin' as fast as I can!" The last man called back in between the deep breaths he was taking.
"Shut up, both of you!" A third man rasped as he rat, his feet pounding against the pavement as they wheeled left and raced up a sidestreet. "We don't want him hearing us"
Suddenly something dropped down in front of the robbers, cape whipping in the draft caused by the fall.
"Too late for that" Batman growled, as he rose up in front of the terrified men. He fixed them with a dark scowl, the eyes of his cowl narrowed almost to slits.
One of the men turned to run but there was a metallic whisper and after a few steps he found a sword blade in his face, held by a black-haired woman in a leather jacket and mask.
"Going somewhere?" Katana smiled as she forced the man back to his partners. All four men glanced nervously from the caped man to the sword-wielding woman, as if deciding which of the two would be the least dangerous.
"The money" Batman finally said, holding a hand to Moe, who was utterly trembling with fear.
"Y-you want it? TAKE IT!" Moe whirled around thrust the sack at Katana with all his might. There was a muffled ooofff as the swordswoman, caught by surprise, toppled backwards. With that, Moe bolted, barging past herand into the open street.
"Moe! Get back here!" One of the others yelled, but Moe didn't listen. He just wanted to get away. Batman's scowl deepened and he tossed a batarang at the fleeing hood, but by a sheer stroke of luck, Moe ducked and the weapon sailed over his head.
"You missed" Katana joked. Batman scowled at her. She nodded, and then turned to chase after Moe, still smiling.
Batman turned back to the three remaining thugs. "Hard or easy, you choice" He growled at the three thugs, who turned tail and ran. Batman snorted before giving pursuit.
Moe ran as fast as he could. He could hear Katana's footsteps behind him and that only motivated him to run faster.
He burst from the dark alley onto the street and instantly his eyes were filled with bright light and his ears full of squealing brakes. Moe jumped back as a taxi cab slid to a stop where he had been standing seconds before. Moe spotted the glowing "On Duty" sign and the roof of the taxi and his heart leapt as he wrenched open the door and dove onto the cracked leather seat.
"Go! Go!" He yelled to the driver and the Taxi's wheels spun on the concrete. Katana emerged from the alley just in time to see the Taxi screech away in a cloud of exhaust. She growled in disgust, then reached for her earpiece.
"Oracle, I need an ID on a vehicle"
Moe peaked over the back of the seat as the taxi raced into the night. When he could no longer see Katana, he breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"Where you headin'?" The voice of the cab driver made him turn.
"Take me to 16 S Sturbridge Lane." He replied, then pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. "Boss, its Moe" He spoke in a low voice, glancing up at the driver, who didn't appear to hear him. "Yeah, we had a little setback."
"What kind of setback?" Moe cringed as a growl came from the man on the other end.
"Batman showed, we had to bail!" Moe replied, his eyes darting wildly between the phone in his hand and the back of the driver's head. His eyes widened as the voice on the other end spoke.
"Get over here! Now!"
"Yeah boss, I'm on my way" Moe replied just before he hung up. Sighing he glanced up in time to see a street sign dart by.
A street sign marked Sturbridge Lane.
"Hey! You missed the turn!" Moe exclaimed, whipping his head around to glance at the disappearing street sign. The driver didn't answer.
"Hey, didn't you hear me? Sturbridge lane is back there!" Moe yelled at the driver.
"I know" The driver answered matter-of-factly. But instead of braking to turn around, he accelerated.
"What are you doing?" Moe clutched the seat in terror as the driver zoomed across a busy intersection, causing horns to blare and other cars to screech to a halt. "Are you trying to kill me?"
"Are you sure you want that question answered?" The driver replied as he spun the wheel causing the cab to fishtail as it spun around a tight curve.
"Why are you doing this?" Moe yelled, his eyes wide.
"Wrong question" The driver replied, still in a sullen tone, he suddenly jerked the wheel causing the cab to narrowly miss a large truck.
Who is this guy? Moe wondered. "Look pal!" He leaned forward and grabbed the driver's shoulder. "I don't know what your deal is, but you need to…" His voice faltered as the driver slowly turned to look at him. Moe recoiled in horror. The driver's face was blank. No eyes, no nose, no mouth, no features of any kind. "Who-what are you?" Moe stammered, darting as far back as he could. The driver didn't answer, but he turned back to face the road, then tossed something over his shoulder, a small silver sphere. Moe's eyes widened as the sphere burst open with a hiss releasing a thick cloud of green smoke. Moe choked as the smoke bean to burn his lungs and his vision began to blur. The instant before he lost consciousness he heard the driver say.
"That is also the wrong question".