Batman: Right Up The Wall
GOTHAM CITY-1979-It was late evening in Gotham City. Batman and Robin were climbing up the wall of a skyscraper in Gotham, that windy, chilly night. All of the rooftops of the entire city lay below their feet. Robin, as usual, was climbing glove over glove up the batrope ahead of Batman. The cold wind blew his hair over his mask. "Gosh Batman, "Robin said to his partner hanging onto the rope just below him. He allowed a quick glance down at blue and gray garbed crime fighter, then looked right back up again, "do you really think we can catch the Signalman this time? He got away from us so many times in the past, why do we have a chance this time?" Robin's voice had a tone of disappointment. "I...don't know..." "Look old chum," grunted Batman as he pulled himself up the wall on his batrope,"we know from our interrogation with Slow Minded Mel at the police station, that Signalman has his hideout somewhere's in the Kakas Apartment Building..." "Which is why we're climbing up the building right now," interrupted Robin wearily, "yeah I get that." "Well then boy...uh...man wonder, Slow Minded Mel told us that Signalman was getting ready to strand him alone in the desert somewhere's, after he caught Slow Minded Mel stealing all of Signalman's stolen jewels out of that container right in the middle of their warehouse hideout, right in the same room that Signalman and his henchmen happened to be canvassing for any police bugs at the time." Batman was a little out of breath as he explained it all to Robin. "Yeah, and Slow Minded Mel then ran out and away from their hideout and turned himself in. Only when police arrived Signalman and his gang had fled the premise," added Robin tiredly, "we got all that info out of him." Batman chuckled. "I can't forget the look on Chief O Hara's face when he found that Signalman and his gang had left the warehouse and took up residence elsewhere. He was very surprised that the master crook would runaway, after he must have known that Slow Minded Mel would give the police the warehouse address." Robin just shook his head. "Still Slow Minded Mel remembered that Signalman had bragged about another hideout in this apartment building." Batman nodded in affirmation. "So, we thought we'd check this building out. Signalman has this insane psychological temptation to leave all kinds of signs to his whereabouts, or as clues to his crimes." Batman allowed a quick glance below himself, while giving his explaination to Robin. "You know how he is." Robin smiled. "Oh I know," he replied in a shifty kind of way. "I remember that time he and his gang robbed the till in Burger King, and he left a giant plaster gold pained crown in the middle of the street, with the letters BK on it." Robin gulped nervously as he looked upwards. "Commissioner and Chief O Hara knew Signalman had just escaped from jail, but they couldn't figure out what place he'd robbed so they called us..." "I remember," muttered Batman brightly, "or the time Signalman escaped from jail and he and his gang robbed the Gotham Boutique and made off with some jewels worth ten million on the market!" Robin frowned as his face took on a look of recollection. "Yeah," spoke Robin bitterly, "Signalman and his gang were really clever that time! Chief O Hara and some of his men were right outside the boutique, having seen that giant size poster Signalman made of a cartoon building being robbed by some cartoon robbers, with the words: GOTHAM BOUTIQUE AT EIGHT O CLOCK TONIGHT (he taped the poster right on the outside door of the police station), and Signalman and his gang just snuck out of the boutique and got away with all the jewels." Batman just shook his head regretfully. "It wasn't Chief O Hara's fault," Batman excused with a note of disappointment, "he happened to be having a cup of coffee at the time and just missed by seconds, the artful thief escaping." The wind blew his blue cape over his body, as he kept climbing up the side of the thirty story, brownstone apartment building.
At that moment, the window on the wall at the left of Batman whipped open. A rather plump, burly, bald, round faced man in a black business suit and tie, leaned out of the apartment building stared with awe at the two caped crusaders. "WOW! BATMAN AND ROBIN!" The man shouted with glee as he looked up and down at the costume garbed men. "I DON"T BELIEVE IT!" Batman and Robin both stopped their climb and Batman looked at the newcomer, while Robin looked downwards. A smile spread over Batman's fifty something features as he seemingly recognized the man. "I've seen your photo and an article about you in Time magazine, your the movie exec Harvey Weinstein right?" Batman nodded at the man. The man grinned. "In the flesh Batman," Harvey Weinstein confirmed. "A pleasure to finally meet you." Weinstein was a young man...in his twenties. "What brings you to Gotham Harvey?" Batman asked the man in a friendly tone. "Weinstein. Weinstein," Robin kept repeating to himself, quietly, over and over again, "there was a scandal about you once...but I can't recall..." "Forget it old chum," suggested Batman with a smile, "I'm sure it was nothing." Robin looked puzzled. "I never thought I'd finally meet THE BATMAN!" exclaimed Weinstein with a big grin. "What brings you to Gotham Harvey?" Batman repeated politely. "Oh, I'm on a business trip. I'm meeting with some bankers about some financial details about the new studio I'm building with my brother." "Well, Robin and I have to be on our way," concluded Batman as he began pulling himself up the batrope again. "Nice to have met you," waved Weinstein, grinning, as he slowly closed the window, "goodbye." Batman waved to the young man with his left gloved hand, as he and Robin continued their walk up the apartment building, clutching the batrope. "Weinstein, Weinstein," Robin repeated again and again. His face had a very perplexed look. "Wasn't he the one who was seen chasing his secretary all around his office that time." Robin shook his head slightly. He looked very wary. "The security guard, said the young lady was screaming..." "Yes," interjected Batman calmly, "he told the security guard that the young lady had accidently tripped, hit her head on the floor and because of the blow to the head she had this hallucination that she was caught in an earthquake and that why she ran around the room screaming!" Batman recounted the story with a smile. "Oh ok," said Robin.
At that moment, a large group of men and women dressed in strange yellow bodysuits went flying above Batman and Robin, riding small, square shaped, light blue jetpacks strapped to their backs. The jetpacks let off billows of green and white smoke. Batman and Robin both looked up in shock at the gang flying above them
Then, a middle aged man wearing a yellow, skintight bodysuit, a dark red cape and hood and sunglasses came zipping above Batman and Robin on one of the same kinds of jetpacks. His outfit had a dark red circle emblem on his chest. Batman and Robin just stared in shock. The man was moving behind the group. The man carried a dark red loudspeaker in his white gloved hands. "MISSED ME AGAIN BATMAN! YOU'RE TOO LATE TO CATCH UP WITH...THE SIGNALMAN! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" The Signalman's voice boomed out of the loudspeaker. Batman and Robin stopped their climb and just stared up in shock. "Back to the old drawing board old chum," signed Batman.