Earth-62
Batwoman, Volume One
Chapter One: How To Make An Entrance 101
"TIIIIIMMMMMEEEEE TOOOOOOO PLLLLAAAAYYYYYY! HAHAHAHA!" A man in a reinforced dark-purple bodysuit and a bright-green metallic mask with an insectoid appearance screamed at the top of his lungs. His right hand held a pistol which he aimed in the air and fired three shots into the roof of the bank complex. The surrounding people began to scream as they ran for multiple areas of cover, some crouched and covered their heads in fear others laid on their stomachs and cowered in the corners of the room. However, a security officer to the right of the costumed robber began to fumble with his holster that was strapped to the left side of his hip, removed the handgun and aimed it towards the masked man; the pistol shook erratically as he slowly placed his index finger on the trigger.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Another costumed robber yelled as he entered the bank doors, this one wore a black and red cloth costume with a red spider symbol that encompassed a majority of his mask and had an oval-shaped backpack apparatus that had four metallic tentacles with pincers which he utilized both as tools for robbery and instruments of combat. He shot one of the tentacles towards the security officer and latched the pincers onto the hand which held the gun and twisted it causing the man to release the pistol, scream in pain and fall into a kneeling position as he attempted to soothe the injured wrist by rubbing it with his right hand. Suddenly, another tentacle shot out from the villain's apparatus and latched the pincers around the officer's neck and rose him a foot above the floor. The villain chuckled joyfully as he watched the officer struggle against the attack and attempted to pry the pincers from his throat and started to thrash his legs in all directions.
The tentacled robber scoffed as he watched the officer writhe and attempt escape,"I could snap your neck, right here… right no-"
"Put him down Black Spider, he's not what we're here for. Remember the rules, no killing civilians unless absolutely necessary" The last costumed assailant said as she slowly entered the bank doors. She wore a yellow and black armored bodysuit which was outfitted with a cylindrical-shaped jetpack that glowed bright yellow and buzzed when in use, a dark-yellow helmet with red ocular lenses which utilized a built-in heads-up display that assisted in combat and risk assessment and was equipped with a variety of offensive and defensive weaponry that was built into the gauntlets and shoulder blades of the suit.
"Yeah! Yeah! I know the rules! Goddamn it, Firefly! You're always up my ass! When I stole on my own, I got to kill who I wanted! When I wanted! Now, I can't even have a little fun!" Black Spider said as he shot another tentacle from his backpack and grabbed the pistol from the floor while he lowered the guard at the same time. Black Spider stuffed the firearm into the back of his pants as the guard coughed and hacked violently when the pincers released from his throat.
"YEAH! YEAH! WE WANT FUN! WE WANT FUUUUUUNNNN!" yelled the purple suited robber as he hopped on one foot in a circular motion and fired three more shots into the roof of the building.
Firefly groaned and rubbed her head into the palm of her right hand, "Calm down, Killer Moth! You're scaring the people!" Firefly gestured towards the numerous people on the floor who were crying and trying to keep themselves hidden. "Also, Black Spider if you were still stealing solo…. You wouldn't be making near as much as we are now and more than likely you'd be rotting in Belle Reeve for three years once The Batwoman got her hands on you."
Black Spider grunted and began to chuckle as he looked up and shot his tentacles in separate directions, destroying the security cameras that were embedded into the corners of the wall.
However, what he had no idea of was that a miniature bat-shaped recording device was hidden in the crevice of a nearby window and was still surveying the trio and their antics.
A woman adorned a dark-colored cowl with two pointed ears protruding from the top, grey and black costume with a logo of a bat emblazoned on her chest, jet-black cape and a yellow utility belt.
She silently looked at a wrist-mounted computational device and watched live security footage of the insect-themed thieves as they secured the exits and made their way towards the safe. The three of them looked at the safe for a few moments before Firefly rose her arms, initiating two rectangular panels to recede into her gauntlets and be replaced by two small nozzles which shot steady streams of superheated plasma which began to slice through the lock mechanism of the steel security door with relative ease.
Suddenly, the computational device let off a trio of loud beeps and the screen changed to a photo of a an older man accompanied with the words INCOMING CALL. The woman smiled as she pressed a button on the device which initiated a link to the comm in her cowl.
"Ah, Miss Wayne! Have you happened to be watching the news? The Bug-Ey-"
"The Bug-Eyed Bandits… yes, I saw it. Remember? I installed my own personal cameras in Gotham's banks? It was just for this type of occasion."
"Ah, yes. Always the woman who has a plan for everything. I suspect Master Todd is with you?"
Brenda looked over her shoulder and at a male figure in a red and green outfit sitting on a motorcycle which corresponded with his costume colors, he placed his red helmet on his head which had a yellow R emblazoned on both sides and closed the visor as he revved his bike.
"I'll take that as yes. Please, this goes for you as well, tell Master Todd to be careful. I'd like to go to bed early tonight and not have to ruin the rest of this peaceful and wondrous evening by stitching up knife wounds."
"We'll try our best Alfred. No promises. See you in a bit."
Brenda deactivated the communication link and looked over at Jason, who popped his visor open.
"What'd Alfred have to say?"
"Told me to tell you to be careful."
"Yeah. Like that'll happen!" Jason said, he closed the visor and placed his hands on the handlebars as he revved the engine and with the screech of tires, he sped out from the scene of the conversation and towards the robbery in progress.
Brenda rolled her eyes and smirked as she looked to her left towards a large, tank-like vehicle with six wheels, bulletproof windshield and side windows and an arsenal of both defensive and offensive weaponry that was secreted within every nook and cranny of the military-esque transportation that she affectionately named The Batmobile.
The top of the vehicle popped open revealing a single seat, a steering wheel and a variety of digital displays that covered the dashboard. She hopped into The Batmobile and closed the roof.
She smirked once more and pressed a red button on the dashboard which caused the vehicle to roar to life. She surveyed her exit and the area around her for a few moments before speeding out of the abandoned lot in the same direction that Jason was headed.
"COME ON! COME ON! COME ON! HUURRRRYYY UPPPPPP FIIRRREEEFFLLLYY! I WANT THE MOOONNNNEEEEYYYYY! I WAAANNNNNTTT THHHEEEE MMMOOOONNEEEYYY NOOOWWW! RIIIGGHTTT NOWWW!" Killer Moth screeched at the top of his lungs as he slammed his right foot on the ground and smacked his hip with the open palm of his left hand, performing this childish pouting exercise for several moments as he anxiously waited to enter the safe and remove anything and everything that lay within.
Firefly cringed and sneered at the remarks from her annoying compatriot but maintained her composure as she continued to slice through the safe door and its lock mechanism. She turned off the streams of plasma and the nozzles receded back into her gauntlets. She grunted and looked over at Killer Moth and Black Spider, who turned their heads towards her in acknowledgement.
"I suggest you take a couple steps back." Firefly said as she turned her head back towards the safe door and heeded her own words as she took a couple of steps backward, her eyes never wavering from the steel security door. Her partners looked at one another and shrugged their shoulders as they too took a few steps backwards, Killer Moth took cartoonishly large steps backwards putting himself at a considerable distance from the rest of the group and watched the safe door with anticipation.
The large, circular steel door loudly creaked and gave out a violent screech as it fell forward at the trio's feet. The three simultaneously smiled underneath their masks as they saw the absurd amount of paper money that lined the shelves of the safe.
"YAY! MOONNEEEYYY!" Killer Moth said as he ran full speed into the safe and began to gleefully shove massive amounts of cash into his pockets.
Firefly smirked at the scene and gave a small chuckle as she made her way towards one of the terrified hostages that was belly-down on the ground, a woman with golden, hoop earrings and a expensive designer handbag laid beside her. Firefly bent over and picked up the purse.
"I hope you don't mind if I borrow this. Get to cracking Spider! We need to get out of here before The Batwoman decides to spoil our fun!" Firefly said as she tossed the handbag towards him, he caught the purse and gave a small nod towards Firefly as he went into the vault and began to utilize his tentacles and natural hands to hastily fill the bag with cash.
Firefly crossed her arms and stood watch as she surveyed the glass panels in the roof and the exits and entrances around her, her uniquely-designed Heads-Up Display incorporated into her helmet allowed her to pick up the slightest movements and detect any minute abnormalities that decided to make themselves known.
Brenda and Jason both screeched their respective vehicles to a halt, their location was quite the distance away from the bank complex, the Batmobile and Jason's motorcycle were hidden by the environmental foliage that they were parked under. The Batmobile's top-hatch receded backwards and Brenda hopped out from her seat, she looked down at her wrist-mounted computational device and clicked through a number of icons and digital applications causing the Batmobile's defensive tactics to go operational, causing a large number of near-indestructible metallic panels to conceal the entirety of the vehicle.
Jason removed his helmet and set it on the seat of the bike. Jason's face was still relatively concealed as he had a stylized red domino mask, which granted a look at a majority of his facial features. He was a black male in his late-teens and had an athletic body-type, bright blue eyes, a red and green outfit comprised of a thin weave of kevlar and two batons along with bird-shaped shuriken and a pistol-shaped apparatus secured within specially-designed compartments on his dark-yellow utility belt. He gave a smirk towards Brenda and tapped the side of his domino mask, activating the white, holographic lenses within the eyeholes.
"Ready to kick some ass?"
Brenda smirked; she tapped the side of her cowl activating her very own holographic lenses, "Always."
Firefly crossed her arms and gave a quick glance towards her thieving compatriots, who were still hard at work with the materials in the safe. Suddenly, a red, rectangular box began to flash within her Heads-Up Display with the words ABNORMALITY DETECTED. Firefly widened her eyes underneath her mask as the noise of glass panels breaking coupled with the warning put her into a sense of high-alert, she turned her head to the source of the abnormality and witnessed both Brenda and Jason gliding towards her at a high-speed with their fists winded up and readied for attack.
Firefly released a gasp before the fists clashed against her helmet and sent her barreling backwards due to the force of the attack. Firefly let out a guttural growl towards the costumed heroes and had the underbelly of her gauntlets recede inwards and be replaced by two large sized nozzles and miniature rocket launchers equipped with six missiles rose from the shoulder blade compartments and aimed towards the dynamic duo.
"OH, NOOO! IT'S BAT BOOBS AND BABY BIRD! NO! NO! NOO!" Killer Moth screeched as he pulled his pistol out and began to fire it at the two, they ducked but they both simultaneously chuckled and stood up as they realized that not a single shot made it's way close to them. He ran towards them at full-speed, Jason smiled and quickly removed a baton from his belt and smashed it against the side of Moth's mask, The force of the impact knocking the thief unconscious as he slumped to the ground.
Black Spider looked down towards his fallen compatriot with a shocked expression but narrowed his eyes and grinned underneath his mask as he looked back up towards the heroic duo and used one of his tentacles to set the handbag down and began to use the tentacles as substitutes for his natural legs and walked himself behind Firefly, crossing his arms as he lifted himself a few feet above the ground.
Firefly grunted, pushed herself upwards and stood up. Her launchers maintained their focus on Brenda and Jason. Firefly sneered underneath her mask and clenched her fist in rage, "GET THEM!"
Firefly fired the full-set of twelve missiles from her shoulder launchers, Brenda and Jason evaded the attack and dove in separate directions causing the missiles to harmlessly fly through the air and blow out a chunk of the wall behind them.
The spectating hostages screamed from the sound and hurriedly fled from the scene through the newly-created exit. The faint sounds of sirens could be heard as an assortment of emergency vehicles made their way towards the bank.
Black Spider quickly made his way towards Jason; his tentacles grasped a collection of objects around the room with his metallic tentacles and flung them in different directions, using this as an act of intimidation towards the sidekick, who managed to avoid each projectile with relative ease.
Firefly activated her jetpack which glowed bright yellow and emitted an insect-like buzzing sound as she flew through the air towards Brenda.
Jason pulled the other baton from his belt and prepared himself to perform offensive maneuvers against the tentacled villain. He twirled the batons in his hands and smiled towards Black Spider.
Firefly reached Brenda's location and began to spray large flames towards her via the underbelly nozzles. Brenda rolled out of the way of the incoming flamethrower attack and pulled two bat-shaped shuriken from her utility belt and threw both towards her opponent.
The first deflected harmlessly off of Firefly's armor, causing her to smirk underneath the mask
The second stabbed into the left flamethrower, rendering the weapon useless and causing Firefly to scream from underneath her helmet as she used her jetpack to boost towards Brenda and used her remaining flamethrower against Brenda, "I'M NOT GOING BACK TO BELLE REEVE!"
Brenda used her cape as a shield against the ranged attack, due to the cape being comprised of a weave of flame-resistant material the flamethrower was a useless weapon against it.
Firefly shook her head in anger and flew downwards as she swooped up Brenda from her crouched position, causing an aerial battle to commence.
Black Spider laughed as Jason attempted to outmaneuver him during the physical confrontation, Jason jumped into the air and swung it downwards towards Black Spider who dodged the attack and used one of his tentacles to grab Jason's leg while he was in mid-air.
Jason quickly gasped and felt his body be forcefully pulled through the air in a semi-circle as he was slammed into the tile floor, causing him to let out a painful cry.
Brenda widened her eyes at the sight of Jason and looked angrily towards Firefly who was grasping her tightly and flying her through the air.
Brenda struggled against Firefly's hold.
No success.
Brenda let out a guttural growl and screamed as she smashed her head into Firefly's helmet, Firefly loosened her grip due to the unexpected attack, giving Brenda time to reach into her belt and pull out another bat-shaped shuriken, she looked at Firefly with pure anger and reached towards Firefly's back, "Hope you enjoy the Belle Reeve Infirmary!" Brenda yelled as she stabbed the shuriken directly into the jetpack causing the bright-yellow lighting to slowly dim as the jetpack malfunctioned.
"Whoa! Whoa! Wh-Fuc-!" Firefly's curse was cut off as she slammed into one of the walls of the bank complex. Firefly fell into a state of unconsciousness as the armor absorbed most of the impact but six of her ribs in the right ribcage were fragmented.
Black Spider grinned as he made his way over towards Jason, who was slowly crawling backwards as an attempt to escape from the villainous thief.
"Yeah, boy! Now, you're gonna d- wha! Gah!" Black Spider yelled as Brenda jumped onto his back and executed a move where she contorted her body in such a way that she was able to utilize Black Spider's weight against him and flipped him backwards.
The result of this maneuver caused Black Spider to land on his back with such a force that the internal components of his backpack-like apparatus to broke and shattered into several pieces, diminishing the power in the tentacles.
Brenda smirked towards the downed villain and winded her fist backwards as she prepared to deliver a jaw-shattering haymaker.
"No! This one's mine!" Jason said as he picked himself up off the floor and made his way over towards Black Spider; Brenda let Spider go and stepped to the side as she watched Jason.
"Whatchu gonna do boy? Huh?!" Black Spider slowly reached his right hand behind him and grabbed the officer's pistol he had taken beforehand.
Jason was expressionless as he walked towards Black Spider and stopped once they were face-to-face.
"Choke on this!" Black Spider yelled as he pulled the pistol out from the back of his pants and fired a shot off, the bullet hit Jason in the right shoulder, the armor absorbing most of the impact.
Brenda gasped, clenched her fists and took a step forward.
"GRAHHH!" Jason didn't even register the pain as he screamed and knocked the pistol out from Black Spider's hand and in a few swift movements set Black Spider's arm down on the ground, stepped on the elbow and pulled the wrist upwards causing the arm to let aloud a sickening snap.
Black Spider screeched in pure pain.
Brenda widened and then narrowed her eyes towards Jason.
Jason placed his open palm on his damaged shoulder as he turned away from Black Spider.
The sights and sounds of emergency vehicles could be seen.
"Let's go kid. Alfred probably needs to patch that up."
"He's not gonna like this one bit, huh?"
Brenda smirked, "No… no he isn't."
A bald, black man with a beige coat, glasses and a goatee made his way into the bank through the hole that was blown into it. He was followed by numerous other men and women wearing the traditional blue and black GCPD officer outfits.
"What the hell happened in here?"
"Not now, Gordon." Brenda gestured towards Jason's damaged shoulder.
"Oh! Uh, go. We can talk about this later."
Brenda nodded towards Gordon as she and Jason left the bank complex.
The Batcave, a signature piece in Brenda's wide collection of items and locations that have assisted with her vigilante lifestyle over the last ten years. The interior of The Batcave was outfitted with an assortment of artificial light sources, a one-hundred foot tall robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex that was utilized as a weapon by a former enemy of Brenda's, an oversized penny that was half the size of the dinosaur and other souvenirs from her past crime-fighting adventures.
Brenda, now clad in a plain black t-shirt and jeans, sat within a swiveling chair and narrowed her eyes towards an array of digital displays that were embedded within one of the murky walls of the cave, below the screens was a large console outfitted with a number of buttons, dials and toggle switches which she used to loop through security footage of the bank, specifically the section where Jason snapped Spider's arm.
Seemingly unnoticed, Alfred was in an impeccable black suit and had a silver service dish in his right palm slowly approached Brenda. He stopped and cocked his head towards the screens and winced as the scene played through.
"Something not go according to plan, Miss Wayne? Master Todd go off-script?"
Brenda gave no hints of being startled as she rubbed her chin with her thumb and index finger and studied the clip, "I… I don't know. I mean Jason has always had his inner demons and used them as a tool for combat, but this time it was different. He had this look of almost beast-like rage when he broke Needham's arm. I know I don't have any room to speak about the aggressiveness towards criminals; I've broken my fair share of arms and legs. But, for Jason this… this was different, I can't seem to put my finger on it."
Alfred sighed and set his service tray down as he rubbed his forehead with the back of his left hand, "To be fair, Ms. Wayne, this isn't the first time you've let aloud a voice of concern and doubt towards Jason as a field combatant. I mean when you took him in after the car stealing incident and placed him through a series of physical and psychological training exercises, you said yourself that he would make a much more dangerous Robin then Master Richard ever could. You said that it scared you that he had the potential become a force of nature that's stronger and far more scarier than you. He's been with us a little over a year and there have been more than a few 'coincidental' deaths when you leave him by his lonesome against threats."
Brenda narrowed her eyes and swiveled her chair around, so she was face-to-face with Alfred.
"Number One! I have told you before never to mention Dick again! Not after what he did to the family! Also, Name me once! Jason knows the code! He wouldn't kill, no matter the circumstances!"
Alfred gave a look of surprise towards Brenda's tone but narrowed his own eyes towards her, "What about the sex ring case from a few weeks back? The leader of that horrid place mysteriously fell from the roof of the building, Jason was the only witness."
"Drug analysis showed that the leader had deadly amounts of MDMA and possessed no concept of what he was doing or where he was going. Jason tried to save him but he ran off the roof through the power of some hyper-realistic hallucination due to the ecstasy. I believe him."
"Okay. Ever since you were a child there was no way to win an argument with you, but I just hope that if Jason's true colors come out, it won't be too late… for him or for you. But, there's the chance I'm completely wrong and that's the chance I'm hoping for."
Alfred put a closed fist over his mouth and cleared his throat.
Brenda wrinkled her nose and stayed silent as she swiveled her chair back towards the computers.
"Hope you enjoy the roasted duck." Alfred said as he retreated up a spiral staircase.
The comment went unnoticed by Brenda who continued to watch the looped footage, her eyes never wavering from the screens.
A woman with blonde hair opened the exit door of the Iceberg Lounge, a local nightclub that encompassed the full theme of its namesake and was a dark-blue building with numerous structures protruding from the top and some that followed the walkway path. The building had become a renowned staple of Gotham City and its nightlife.
She moved slowly with each step as she tried to maintain a sober composure and combat the effects that multiple alcoholic beverages were doing to her physical and mental state.
Suddenly, her cell phone began to ring.
The woman shook her head as she searched through her pockets and managed to retrieve her phone.
She blinked as she looked at the caller identification and gave a small smile.
She flipped open the cell phone and placed it against her ear.
"Th-this is J-Jess."
Jess said, she continued to head towards her vehicle.
"Jess! It's Tiffany!"
Jess reached into her back pocket and pulled out her keys and aimed them towards the car and pressed the unlock function, causing the headlights to flash quickly.
"Hi, Tiff! Wh-what's up?"
Jess asked as she reached the driver's side door and opened it.
"Oh, nothin. I was just wondering what happened to you and that able-bodied boy toy, Franklin. I saw that your relationship status changed to single."
Jess sat down in the seat and slammed the door shut.
"O-oh? Franky? Y-yeah. Total l-loser. Found out he st-still lived with his m-mother."
Jess put the key in the ignition and twisted it, the engine roared to life.
"Ooooh! Total deal breaker! Well, do you mind if I take a shot with him?"
Jess shrugged her shoulders towards the question. However, while talking on the phone, she gave no notice to a man in a lab coat wearing a mask pig mask that concealed the top section of his face rise from the back seat.
"Mmm…. I-I don't ca-"
Jess was cut off by the man's hand. She struggled against his hold as she let aloud muffled screams, dropping her phone in the process.
"Shh… it's fine. It's fine. Don't struggle." The man said with a thick german accent as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a syringe filled with a bright, blue liquid.
He jammed the needle into the side of her neck and injected the entirety of its contents into her bloodstream, causing Jess to rapidly lose consciousness.
"Hmm… ugh?" Jess began to stir awake, she attempted to look around the room but the visuals were comprised of blurred movements and the sounds of screaming and maniacal chuckling could be heard.
After a few moments, Jess's senses began to fix themselves as the visuals around her began to take shape. She cringed as the sound of a electrical surgical saw could be heard in the distance, coupled with the sounds of men, women and children screaming at a bloodcurdling pitch.
Jess attempted to gather a sense of her surroundings as she tried to move her legs and arms and realized that thick leather straps bound her to a metallic slab, causing her to let out a groan as she struggled to fight against the restraints.
She screamed as her attempt at escape was unsuccessful and instead examined the environment around her.
The room's walls were comprised of degrading tiles, the floor was a large slab of cracked concrete that had dried blood stains and the only source of lighting was singular dim bulb hanging downwards. There was a series of other medical slabs around her and wheeled trays containing different forms of medical tools.
Suddenly, the stain-covered entrance door opened and a male figure with a pig mask that concealed the top section of his face entered, his hands were concealed in a pair of bright-yellow rubber gloves and he wore a buttoned-up shirt with a dark-red bow tie situated on the front of the collar.
The masked man turned towards Jess's location and slowly approached.
Jess cried and struggled against the restraints as the man approached.
The man stopped as he reached the medical tray that was beside her.
The man licked his lips as he examined the woman's nude body and placed a finger on her lips.
"Shh… Shh… no screaming."
Jess stopped, wet mascara ran down her cheeks as she stared directly into the man's black, soulless eyes.
"Why are you doing this? Who are you?"
"No matter the details of my motives or my identity," The man looked down towards the tray which contained numerous surgical tools. "Ahh, what shall we start with?"
The man glided his fingers over the equipment before stopping and removing a scalpel with a finely-sharpened blade.
The man gave a malicious grin as he made his way towards Jess and smiled down towards her.
"Time to make you beautiful!"
The man screamed and stabbed the knife downwards into Jess's stomach.