Batman Returns (A Sequel To The 1943 Batman Movie Serial) - Part I

by Kirk Hastings

The Batman and Robin, portrayed by Lewis Wilson and Douglas Croft in the 1943 movie serial "The Batman", return in a brand-new sequel to their original 15-chapter adventure! Join them as they continue their unending battle against crime in wartime America!

BATMAN RETURNS

by Kirk Hastings

(A sequel to the 1943 "Batman" movie serial starring Lewis Wilson and Douglas Croft; based on the original screenplay by Victor McLeod, Leslie Swabacker and Harry Fraser. Batman created by Bob Kane.)

CHAPTER 1

"Bullets Of Doom"

Bruce Wayne and his young ward, Dick Grayson, escorted Linda Page home to her apartment in Bruce's limousine, driven by Alfred, Bruce's butler. Linda was still somewhat emotionally fragile after her harrowing experience in the secret underground hideout of Dr. Tito Daka, who had kidnapped her and temporarily turned her into a mindless "zombie" until her last-minute rescue by the mysterious masked crimefighter The Batman. Sandwiched into the back seat of the limo between Bruce and Dick, she held onto Bruce's hand all the way.

Once back at her apartment building, Bruce and Linda got out of the car. Bruce indicated for Dick to stay in the back seat, and Dick obeyed. Bruce then took Linda by the arm and led her up the building's stairs to her door. Once there she handed him her key, and he unlocked the door for her. She proceeded inside.

Bruce took off his hat and followed her, but stopped just inside the doorway.

"Well, if you're all right now, I guess I'll be going," he told her. He turned to go, but Linda stopped him.

"Bruce, I …" she began.

Bruce looked at her. "What?" he asked.

"Bruce, I want to apologize for some of the unfair ways I've criticized you in the past," she told him. "You may not be the most … ambitious … person in the world. But you're almost always there when I need you. And you certainly were there for me today. I really appreciate you going out of your way to come find me in that terrible place down in Little Tokyo. It meant a lot to me that you made the effort to be there."

Bruce smiled at her. "Think nothing of it," he said, trying to sound as cavalier as he could. He had actually been quite worried about her, and was very glad that he had gotten there in time as The Batman to rescue her from the clutches of the Japanese madman Daka.

Linda bent forward and kissed him on the cheek. In response Bruce smiled and took her by the hand. He lifted it up to his lips and kissed her gently on her fingers.

"I'll come by later to see how you are," he said.

"Please do," Linda told him.

Bruce put his hat back on, turned, and left.

Once back downstairs he hopped back into the back seat of his limousine.

"Is she all right?" Dick asked him.

"Yes, I think she'll be fine," Bruce responded. "However, we have one more loose end to tie up before we put this case to bed."

"Those three stooges we left tied up back in the Bat Cave!" Dick exclaimed.

"Right!" Bruce turned to Alfred in the front seat. "Back to Wayne Manor, Alfred!"

"Righto, sir!" Alfred replied.

# # #

After returning to Wayne Manor, Bruce and Dick put on their Batman and Robin costumes, and then proceeded through the grandfather clock entrance in Bruce's den and down the steps to the secret Bat Cave hidden underneath the mansion.

They opened the access door at the lower end of the steps (disguised to look like part of the Bat Cave's rock wall) and stepped into the cavern.

"They're gone!" Robin exclaimed, pointing.

The three chairs where the hoods had been tied were empty. The ropes that had held them were all lying loosely about on the floor.

Batman went over and stooped, picking up one of the ropes.

"They've been cut," he pronounced. "One of them must have had a pocket knife on him and managed to get it out and cut the ropes."

"Apparently they found the secret button that opens the bars on the exit doorway too," Robin added. He pointed to the now-open doorway. "They must have seen one of us use it."

They both raced through the doorway and proceeded through another cavern on the other side of it. From there they followed the short tunnel that led to the outside world.

Dusk was just falling as they exited the tunnel's other end through another doorway that, when closed, was disguised as part of the hillside.

"Apparently they're long gone," Batman said, after a cursory look around.

"Do you think they know whose house they were under?" Robin asked.

"I doubt it," Batman replied. "It's quite a ways through the woods to the nearest road, and our house is way over on the other side of this hill. They'd be lucky to find their way back to this spot again, much less tie this location to the Wayne mansion. We'll probably be able to catch them later." He massaged his lower back as if trying to work the kinks out of it. "Right now I'd like to get back upstairs and get a hot bath and some sleep. This had been a tough week trying to round up Daka and his thugs. I'm still hurting from being thrown down that elevator shaft."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Dick replied. "With all the brawls and fisticuffs we've been involved in recently, I think every muscle in my body aches."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that. If anyone ever finds out how much physical punishment I put you through with this Robin-the-crimefighter stuff, they'd probably lock me up for child abuse."

Before they went back inside, Batman studied the side of the hill, as if he was planning some changes.

# # #

A week or so later, Dick came downstairs one morning and met Alfred in the Wayne mansion's living room. As was his custom, Alfred was laying the boy's breakfast tray onto the low table in front of the couch there.

Dick stopped and looked around.

"Alfred, where is Bruce?" Dick inquired.

"Oh, he's down in the cave," Alfred replied matter-of-factly.

Immediately curious, Dick ignored his breakfast and ran over to the grandfather clock sitting against one wall.

"But sir, your breakfast!" Alfred called after him. He watched Dick open the front of the clock and quickly disappear into it.

At first taken aback by this unexpected development, Alfred looked around, then took a piece of toast from Dick's plate and began to munch on it.

Meanwhile, Dick descended the stairway that led down into the secret Bat Cave that was located underneath Wayne Manor. Once at the bottom of the stairway he pressed the hidden switch that opened the automatic door that led into the cave. He stepped into the dark cavern.

He did not see anyone there, but he could hear noises coming from the secondary cavern that was located beyond the main one. He went over to another doorway that led to that secondary room and stepped into it.

He stood a moment in the semi-darkness, looking around. "Bruce?" he called.

Suddenly, the far wall of the room began to move. Where there used to be a third small doorway in the cave that led to the outside world a large section of the wall swung inward, allowing light from the outside of the cave to pour in. Dick quickly backed up as a sleek, two-door black sedan Dick didn't recognize came into the cave and stopped just inches from his feet.

As Bruce got out of the driver's seat of the car the large section of the cave wall swung back into place, just like the opening had never been there.

"Well, what do you think?" Bruce said, coming over to Dick.

"Wow, that new, bigger opening into the cave is terrific!" Dick replied.

"What about the car?" Bruce continued. "It's a 1940 Lincoln-Zephyr V12 Club Coupe. They don't make this particular model anymore."

"It's nice. But, you already have a car."

"Yes. Bruce Wayne does. But this car is for the exclusive use of The Batman. I intend to make a few modifications to it, like putting a small lab setup in place of the back seat and putting a big bat-fin on the back. Then I'm going to call it … the Batmobile!"

Dick smiled, totally approving of Bruce's new ideas.

# # #

Later that day, in a small, dingy room on the second floor in the back of a nondescript row building in one of the seedier areas of downtown Gotham City, three men sat around a rickety table, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer. Outside the sun was just setting.

"Well, we've been under cover for over a week now," one of the men said. "Things should have cooled off a little by now since Daka got it. Now what are we gonna do with this thing?"

The man indicated a large, elaborate-looking weapon lying on a nearby couch.

"We get some radium for it so we can use it, that's what we do," replied the man known only as Bernie, who had been the owner of the Sphinx Club, an underworld dive used by Dr. Daka that was raided in the aftermath of the breakup of his gang. "I went to a lot of trouble to grab this thing before the cops were able to confiscate it from Daka's lab. Now I intend to use it to blackmail Gotham into giving us money. A lot of money. Or I'll blow up their previous city, building by building."

"Yeah, and I'd like to get a chance to use it on that guy called The Batman too," said the third thug.

"You and me both," Bernie replied.

# # #

That same evening, at FBI headquarters in the Department of Justice Building in Washington, D.C., Jim Flanagan, the deputy assistant director of the mid-west Human Resources Branch of the organization, came into the office of J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI director. Flanagan, a short, stocky brute who looked like he could have once been a prize fighter, sat down in a chair in front of the latter's desk.

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Hoover?" Flanagan asked.

"Yes," Hoover replied. He held up a piece of paper. "What's with this report I received today about a new Agent Trainee you recently hired named Bruce Wayne, who was given the assignment of investigating possible sabotage of a newly designed airplane motor of the Lockwood Aeronautics Corporation in Gotham City?"

"Yes, I hired him," Flanagan replied.

"May I ask on what basis?" Hoover asked him, a slight tone of irritation in his voice. "This man has no previous connection with the Bureau."

"I've met him a few times around Gotham. He's a really rich guy that often sponsors local benefits for city organizations like the Gotham police department. He's always giving his money for civic causes like that, and each time I've run into him he keeps offering his services to the Bureau if we ever need his help, pointing out that he has a lot of connections in the city. I did a little digging into his background, and found out that he has a Master's Degree in Criminology. Even though he apparently never pursued it professionally after college, he is amazingly qualified in the areas of Law and Law Enforcement. So when the tip about possible sabotage came up at Lockwood I thought I'd give him a try and see if he could find anything out for us."

"And did he?"

"Yeah, he did. He found out that a domestic Japanese spy by the name of Tito Daka was involved, and shortly thereafter Daka's gang was rounded up by the Gotham police."

Hoover looked at the report he held again.

"It also says here someone going by the name 'The Batman' was involved in Daka's capture?"

"Yeah, that's a strange one. Captain Arnold of the Gotham police department told me this guy that wears a mask and a weird costume that makes him look like a giant bat helped to round up Daka and his gang. And that this guy has helped Arnold round up a number of other felons in Gotham before too."

"So you're saying that this bat person is essentially operating in an unauthorized fashion as a masked vigilante, hiding his identity while he involves himself in police affairs?"

"Yeah, I guess you could put it that way."

"And so far Arnold has been unable to figure out who this guy is, or apprehend him?"

"Yep."

Hoover thought for a moment.

"Then I want you to look into this," Hoover finally said. "See if you can get a lead on who this guy is, and one way or another get him off the street. We can't have people like this going around taking the law into their own hands, and disguising their identity."

"Yes sir," Flanagan replied. He stood up.

"And I don't want you using this Wayne individual for any further assignments without my direct authorization," Hoover added. "Understood?"

"Yes sir."

Flanagan turned and left Hoover's office, feeling a little bit like a high school kid who had just been sent to the school principal.

# # #

"You mean you actually saw this guy, and spoke to him?"

The speaker was Dan Eberly, a reporter for The Daily Record newspaper. He was standing in front of Captain Arnold's desk at the Gotham police department. Arnold sat behind it.

"Yeah, I did," Arnold replied.

"And you let him get away?"

"The guy beat it while I was distracted!" Arnold offered in self-defense. "I was a little busy at the time, arresting all of Daka's men, searching his headquarters and lab setup, and trying to figure out what to do with a bunch of guys standing around that Daka had turned into walking zombies! What did you want me to do, ignore a major nest of traitors, spies, and brainwashed monkeys just to hold onto a masked guy and a kid dressed up in Halloween costumes?"

Eberly sat down in another chair next to Arnold's desk, shaking his head as he did so.

"Besides," Arnold continued, a sarcastic tone in his voice, "This guy has helped the department out more than once. If I lock him up and put him out of business, then you guys won't have any more sensational arrests to write about, and your lawyer buddies won't have anyone to bail out anymore."

An offended look crossed Eberly's face. "Ah, come on, Captain," he said. "You make it sound like all we do is wait around for opportunities to write about these societal misfits in order to make them famous."

"Well, if the shoe fits!"

Just then a uniformed officer opened Captain Arnold's door and rushed in, waving a piece of paper in his hand.

"Captain! Dispatch says there's something funny going on right now out at the Chemistry lab at Gotham University! A silent alarm just went off!"

Arnold stood up. "Well, don't just stand there!" he barked. "Send a couple officers over there right away to check the place out!"

# # #

Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson met Alfred as he came into the living room of Wayne Manor, carrying their Batman and Robin costumes in his arms.

"Sir, I've made the changes in your costumes that you requested," Alfred told Bruce. "I've made the hood of your Batman costume fit a little better. And Master Grayson, you have been complaining about that the fact that your outfit gets a bit chilly in certain kinds of weather because of nothing covering your legs. So I added flesh-colored leggings to your outfit to resolve that problem."

"Thanks, Alfred!" Bruce told him. "And just in time, too! Our police band radio just informed us that an alarm has gone off at the Chemistry lab at Gotham University! That's not very far from here, so we're going over there to check it out!"

"Splendid, sir! I'll bring the car around right away!"

"Actually, Alfred, that won't be necessary this time," Bruce told him, sounding a bit apologetic. "We're going to try out our new car tonight."

"Oh," Alfred replied, a bit crestfallen. "I see."

Bruce and Dick grabbed their costumes, then headed for the grandfather clock that served as the entrance to the Bat Cave below the mansion. When they had disappeared, Alfred slumped down in a nearby chair.

"Drat it all!" he mumbled to himself. "That new car is already serving to curtail the excitement in my life! I don't know if I like this development or not!"

# # #

Once down in the Bat Cave, Bruce and Dick got into their costumes and jumped into the new Batmobile. The car (which now sported a large black bat-fin jutting back from the roof down the rear of the vehicle) was parked facing into the cave, but once inside the vehicle Bruce pushed a button on the dashboard, and the car began to spin around on a turntable that had been installed in the floor to face the cave's outer wall. The press of another button caused the cave wall to open up.

"Wow, Bruce, this new jalopy is a real killer diller!" Dick exclaimed.

The car roared to life and sped out of the cave. Once on the outside the fake cave wall slid closed behind it. The car proceeded along a narrow dirt path through the woods for about a half a mile before coming upon a small back country road. It turned onto this and headed toward Gotham University a few miles away.

# # #

It being long after work hours the Chemistry lab at Gotham University was deserted for the evening, leaving only one security guard, an older man, on duty outside the lab's main entrance. The guard for that particular part of the university was necessary because of the numerous valuable chemicals and radioactive materials that were stored there.

The guard was reading a book at his desk when he noticed three men coming down the hallway toward him. Though they were all wearing white lab coats, the guard did not recognize them as being regular members of the faculty.

"Can I help you fellas?" the guard said, standing up as the men approached.

"Yes," one replied. "We're government scientists from Washington who were hired by the university to work on a special project related to the war, and we need to access some research materials in the lab." He pulled a paper out of his pocket and held it out to the guard. "This is our authorization."

The guard took the paper and started to look at it. As he did one of the other men came up alongside him and pulled a pistol out of his pocket, pointing it at him.

"Hey, what is this?" the guard protested.

"It's a robbery, pops," the man with the gun replied. He hit the guard over the head with his pistol, and the guard collapsed back into his chair, unconscious.

Grabbing the key ring off the guard's belt, the three men found the key they needed and unlocked the lab door and proceeded inside. What they didn't know is that the guard had managed to step on a silent alarm button in the floor under his desk before they had knocked him out.

Using flashlights they pulled out of their pockets, the men searched through the lab until they found what they were looking for – a locked cabinet that had a sign on it that read "CAUTION: RADIUM. RADIOACTIVE MATTER".

"This is it," the ringleader said.

Using a special burglar tool, the men forced open the cabinet and took out the lead box that contained the radium specimen.

Just then two bodies came hurtling through one of the lab's windows, causing glass to fly in every direction. The startled crooks turned, pulling their pistols as they did.

"The Batman!" one exclaimed.

Robin saw the guns and immediately ducked behind a nearby lab counter. Unfortunately, there was no such counter near where The Batman had landed. Three shots rang out, and the costumed crimefighter fell backwards onto the floor.

"Let's get out of here!" one of the gangsters yelled. They all rushed for the lab door.

"Batman! Batman!" Robin exclaimed. He ran over to where his partner lay unmoving on the floor.

From the three bullet holes in the chest of his costume it looked like The Batman had fought his last battle against crime.

CHAPTER 2

"How It All Began"

As Robin bent over Batman's still form he momentarily wondered why there was no blood around the bullet holes. Suddenly Batman began to stir, and before Robin's amazed eyes he slowly sat up, rubbing his chest.

"Batman!" Robin exclaimed. "You're alive!"

"Yes," Batman said painfully. "Thanks to the bulletproof vest I decided to wear under my costume. Unfortunately, I've got some bruises where the bullets impacted, and they hurt like you wouldn't believe."

Robin helped Batman up, and managed to get him back out the lab window and over to the parked Batmobile just as two Gotham police cars pulled up around the front side of the lab. Robin drove the Batmobile back to the Bat Cave underneath Wayne Manor. Once inside the cave he called Alfred on an intercom system located there, and Alfred came down into the cavern.

"Oh, my, sir," he exclaimed when he saw Robin trying to get Batman out of the Batmobile. "What happened?"

"He's been shot!" Robin replied. "Thanks to a bulletproof vest he has on he's not badly injured, but he's hurting quite a bit regardless!"

Alfred started to help Robin half-walk, half-carry the injured crimefighter toward the stairs up to Wayne Manor. Once there Alfred and Robin got Bruce to his bedroom, where Alfred assisted his employer to get his costume off and get into bed.

"He'll be all right after some rest," Alfred told Dick. "Let's leave him alone for a while."

Still somewhat worn out from the previous week's adventures fighting Dr. Daka's gang, as well as from his more recent injury, Bruce almost immediately dropped off to sleep. Alfred and Dick left Bruce's bedroom, and Alfred went back to his domestic duties. Dick went to his own bedroom and got out of his costume. He laid it out on his bed and stared at it.

He thought about how drastically his life had changed in the past couple years, and how he had gone from a successful circus athlete living and working with his parents in a high-wire trapeze act, to a masked crimefighter under the guardianship of one of the wealthiest men in the country. The circus costume that he still wore was just about the only thing he had been able to carry over from his previous life, working as an acrobat with the Flying Graysons. He thought about his parents, murdered by criminals running a protection racket against the circus, and how the mysterious crimefighter the Batman had later helped him to capture those criminals. Still being a minor and having no other relatives to take him in, he had been totally stunned and surprised when Bruce Wayne, prominent Gotham millionaire, had suddenly stepped up and been willing to take him in under a temporary guardianship arrangement. Afterwards, snooping around Wayne Manor, Dick eventually found out that Wayne was the Batman. Badgering Wayne relentlessly about working with him, Wayne finally gave in and allowed Dick to accompany him on some nighttime forays, wearing his old circus costume and calling himself Robin, after his childhood hero Robin Hood. So far the arrangement had worked pretty well, though it was always in the back of Dick's mind that sooner or later, when it might get too dangerous, that Wayne would put an end to their crimefighting partnership.

As Dick put his costume away, in another room of the Wayne mansion Bruce tossed and turned in his bed. He was dreaming about the death of his own parents, when he had been a young boy about Dick's age. One night after Bruce and his parents had come out of a movie a penny-ante thief named Joe Chill had come out of nowhere and pointed a pistol at Bruce's parents, demanding money and Mrs. Wayne's pearls. When Bruce's father tried to resist Chill shot him. When Bruce's mother began screaming Chill shot her too, to shut her up. Then the lone thief disappeared into the night, leaving the young boy alone to grieve the sudden, violent loss of his idyllic childhood.

Suddenly Bruce bolted upright in bed, sweat creasing his forehead. Realizing he had only had a nightmare, he got up and went into his adjoining bathroom and splashed cold water on his face.

Would he ever stop having that nightmare? It had been occurring less frequently in the last few years, but apparently being shot earlier that evening had brought it back to his recollection. How his parents had died was the main reason he had decided never to use a gun when combating his opponents. In fact, his parents' death was the reason he had become the Batman in the first place—so he could fight his own private war against the same kind of lowlife criminals that had taken his parents' lives. One night a bat had flown into his study window, and that had inspired him to become a masked denizen of the night in order to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies.

He went back into his bedroom and sat on the edge of his bed, wiping his face with a towel. He thought about how he had taken young Dick Grayson in under his wing because the boy's tragic circumstances in losing his parents to criminals had reminded him of his own situation. But he was starting to wonder if letting the boy fight lawbreakers with him was a good idea. If anything serious ever happened to Dick while they were trading shots with the denizens of the underworld he would never be able to forgive himself. The boy had proven himself to be an astounding athlete, and amazingly capable—but he was still a minor.

Bruce stood up and began to dress. He had been half-serious when he had remarked earlier about the authorities wanting to prosecute him for child abuse if they ever found out what he was allowing the boy to do. If they were to ever find out just how young "Robin the Boy Wonder" really was, they would certainly not be very happy about it.

# # #

The next evening, as Bruce and Dick were eating dinner in the Wayne dining room, there was a knock at the front door. Alfred went to answer it.

"I wonder who that could be?" Dick remarked.

A moment later Alfred reappeared. "Sir, there is an agent from some organization called, uh, I believe, the F-I-B to see you," he announced.

"The F-I-B?" Bruce replied. He started to laugh. "Alfred, you must mean the FBI!"

"Yes, sir, I believe that is it, sir," Alfred responded sheepishly.

Then Bruce became serious. "I wonder what the FBI wants with me?" he asked, looking at Dick.

"I don't know. Do you have an overdue library book or something?" Dick joked.

The two of them got up and went into the living room where Alfred had left the mysterious visitor. They found him standing there with his hat in his hand.

"Mr. Wayne?" the agent asked.

"That's me," Bruce replied. "Can I help you?"

"Maybe," the agent responded. "My name's Jim Flanagan. I'm with the FBI. Actually, I'm the one who has been contacting you recently by letter from the Bureau."

"Oh, yes, Mr. Flanagan!" Bruce exclaimed. He held out his hand. "Good to meet you!"

Flanagan shook Bruce's hand. "May I sit?" Flanagan asked, indicating the nearby couch.

"Please do," Bruce told him. Bruce sat on the other end of the couch from Flanagan, while Dick sat down in a nearby chair.

"Incidentally, this is my ward, Richard Grayson," Bruce said, indicating Dick.

Flanagan nodded, acknowledging Dick.

"Do you have another assignment for me?" Bruce asked.

"Well, yes and no," Flanagan replied. "Actually, when Mr. Hoover found out I was using your services, he wasn't particularly happy with me involving someone in FBI matters without you being a certified member of the Bureau."

"I hope I haven't gotten you in any trouble," Bruce told him. "I only wanted to help."

"I realize that. But actually, there is something more you could do for me."

"Name it."

"Mr. Hoover is very interested in this local individual called the Batman. He actually wants to know more about this guy. Since you're well-connected in this town, I was hoping you might know something about him."

Bruce suddenly looked a little uncomfortable.

"I'm, uh, afraid I don't know very much about him," he said. "He's kind of a mystery man, you know. Comes and goes in the night like his namesake. … Uh, does the Bureau know anything about him at all at this point?"

"No. All we know is he's a youngish man in good physical condition about 6 feet tall." Flanagan looked at Bruce. "Kind of like you," he added. "He's also got an athletic kid partner that looks to be in his late teens, with curly dark hair," Flanagan went on. He looked at Dick. "Kind of like you," he added again.

Flanagan continued to stare at Bruce and Dick.

"Well, that's not very much to go on," Bruce commented quickly. "There's lots of people that could fit that description."

"Yes, I suppose so," Flanagan replied. He stood up. "Well, if you happen to find out anything, let me know, will you?"

Bruce and Dick stood up too. "I certainly will," Bruce told him.

"I'll see myself out," Flanagan said. He shook hands with Bruce, and then turned and left the room.

Dick stared after him. "Do you think he suspects us?"

"Probably," Bruce responded. "But so far he has no evidence of anything. But he'll probably be watching us for a while—so it's up to us to make sure that we don't give him any evidence!"

# # #

The next afternoon, Bruce Wayne went by Captain Arnold's office to see him, as the two had a relationship based on Bruce's past charity work for the police department. Bruce told Arnold about the visit he had received the night before from Flanagan of the FBI, but he conveniently did not mention his previous contacts with the agent.

"I don't know what in blazes the FBI thinks you can tell them about the Batman, when we don't know anything about him!" Arnold said.

Just then, an officer came rushing in to Arnold's office.

"Captain, the mayor is here, and wants to see you right away on an urgent matter!" the officer exclaimed.

"Well, don't just stand there, show him in!" Arnold replied, standing up.

Seconds later Gotham's mayor came into the room.

"Captain, we need to speak confidentially," the mayor said.

Arnold turned to Bruce. "Bruce, you'd better wait outside," he asked.

"Sure, Captain," Bruce replied. He got up from his chair and went out into the hallway, where he was joined by Dick. Bruce motioned Dick to follow him, and the pair rounded a corner of the hallway. Standing in the shadows and noticing that no one else was about Bruce pulled a small device from his pocket and put an earplug attached to it in his ear.

"I just planted a small listening device underneath the edge of Captain Arnold's desk without him noticing," Bruce explained to Dick. "With it I should be able to hear everything they say in his office." Dick smiled acknowledgment and nodded.

"Captain, this letter just arrived at City Hall. I think you better look at this!" Bruce heard the mayor say.

Bruce heard Arnold begin to read: "To the mayor: We demand one million dollars in unmarked bills to be delivered at a designated time and place to be revealed later - or we will blow up Gotham's city hall with our radium weapon recovered from the effects of Dr. Tito Daka, the Japanese spy who invented it. If you do not agree with our terms, then we will use our radium weapon, powered by the radium we recently stole from Gotham University, to destroy city hall some time during a work day when hundreds of people are in the building. To prove that we can do what we say, we will destroy the deserted warehouse at 512 Front Street at exactly 12 midnight on Wednesday the 12th. If you agree to fulfill our terms, then at 12 midnight on Thursday the 13th, turn the flag outside of the front entrance of city hall upside down. You will then hear from us again within 24 hours afterward on when and where to deliver the money. Signed, The Sphinx Gang."

"Do I understand correctly that the prototype radium weapon that Daka was working on when you broke up his ring wasn't found when you cleaned out his secret headquarters?" Bruce heard the mayor ask.

"Yeah, we never found it. All we found was the smaller version of it."

"Then this Sphinx Gang could very well have it, and pull off their threat."

"If they really do have the radium weapon."

"I don't think we can take the chance that they don't. They know about Daka, and they know about the radium gun, and they know about the robbery at Gotham University. Since the existence of the gun and the robbery at the university wasn't released to the public, we must assume that their threat is on the level!"

"But I don't like being blackmailed by thugs like this!"

"Neither do I, but we can't risk what might happen if we don't comply with their demands! We have to do what they say! I've already spoken to the police chief, police commissioner Gordon, and the Gotham city council about this, and they all agree we must pay the ransom! The city treasurer is in the process of gathering the money now. Our only hope is that these criminals will somewhere along the way leave some kind of trail behind them that we can follow to eventually catch up with them later!"

Outside in the hallway Bruce took the earplug out of his ear and filled Dick in on what he had just overheard.

"Gosh, Bruce, do you think that gang will really do what they say?" Dick asked.

"I don't know," Bruce replied. "But I'll tell you one thing – the Batman and Robin are going to be in the vicinity of that warehouse tomorrow night at midnight, and we'll see if the Sphinx Gang keeps their word or not!"

# # #

The night of Wednesday the 12th was breezy and cold, and a slight fog drifted in from Gotham Bay over Front Street, which paralleled the waterway. Batman and Robin were standing on the roof of another warehouse just down the block from the one that was scheduled to be destroyed.

Robin pulled off one of his gloves to look at his watch.

"Quarter to twelve," he announced. "Where do you think this gang is going to fire their weapon from?"

"I don't know," Batman replied. "But the radium gun puts out a bright beam of energy when it's fired, and it can only fire from so far away from its target. If we can see where the beam comes from we may be able to get there and grab the gang before they can break down the weapon and lose themselves."

Not far away a contingent of police officers under Captain Arnold was also watching the warehouse in question, from an alley a block or so down Front Street in the opposite direction from where Batman and Robin had stationed themselves. Gotham's chief of police and police commissioner Gordon were also in the group.

The minutes passed slowly. Ten minutes to midnight. Five minutes to midnight.

On a small cabin cruiser a short distance out on Gotham Bay, Bernie and his men finished assembling the radium weapon on its tripod stand. Daka had once shown Bernie how the weapon worked, and he aimed the gun at the warehouse at 512 Front Street and adjusted the gun's settings.

"All ready to go," he announced.

As he made ready to fire the weapon, one of his companions, Eddie Kane, was searching the waterfront through a spyglass.

"Hey, there's the Batman!" Kane exclaimed.

"What? Where?" Bernie replied.

Kane handed the spyglass to Bernie. "He's on the roof of that other warehouse just down the block!" Kane said.

Bernie adjusted the spyglass, and focused in on the two dark figures on the rooftop. Suddenly he handed the spyglass back to Kane and changed the direction of the radium weapon.

"What are you going to do?" Kane asked him.

"I'm going to kill two birds with one stone," Bernie replied. "I'm going to give the cops their demonstration, and I'm going to get rid of the Batman—all at the same time!"

He aimed the radium gun at the building that Batman and Robin stood on. Then he pulled the trigger on the weapon.

A wide, bright beam of sizzling energy shot across the bay and struck the building Batman and Robin were standing on. The enormous power of the radium weapon caused the building to almost immediately collapse in on itself. The structure crumbled to the ground, throwing a huge cloud of dust and debris out over the waters of the bay as it did so.

CHAPTER 3

"Radium Ransom"

Moments earlier, Batman pulled out a small pair of folded binoculars from his utility belt. He scanned the neighborhood with them. Seeing nothing, he swiveled the binoculars around to look out over the waters of Gotham Bay.

He saw the cabin cruiser floating in the middle of the bay. When he narrowed the focus of his binoculars to the deck of the craft, he could see Bernie aiming the radium weapon straight at the building he and Robin were standing on!

"Robin! Jump!" Batman shouted. Instantly he dove off the roof of the warehouse down toward the waters of the bay. Robin immediately followed him. Just after they both hit the surface of the bay the building they had been standing on fell in on itself, crumbling into a giant pile of wood and debris.

Batman swam underwater toward a nearby dock that jutted out from the shoreline. He popped to the surface underneath it. Moments later Robin followed suit, surfacing next to him. Some debris from the collapsing building was still in the process of falling into the bay, but the floating pair of crimefighters were protected from it by the dock over their heads.

"Wow! That was a close one!" Robin sputtered.

Treading water, Batman watched as the cabin cruiser with the radium gun sped away across the bay.

# # #

Late the next afternoon, in the laboratory room of the Bat Cave, Bruce reviewed a recording obtained from the listening device that he had previously placed under Captain Arnold's desk. The device had not only picked up everything said in Arnold's office since it had been placed, but it had transmitted everything to a receiving device in the Bat Cave, where it had been recorded.

"Anything on the recording about when and where the Sphinx Gang wants the million dollars delivered?" Dick asked. He was standing behind Bruce, who was seated in front of the receiving device with a pair of headphones over his ears.

"Yes," Bruce replied, removing the headphones. "An anonymous phone call to Captain Arnold today specified that they want the money in cash put in bundles inside a white panel truck that will be parked at Front and George Streets at midnight tonight. The truck will say Sphinx Carpet Company on the side of it. The police are then to leave the area, and when the gang consider it safe they will retrieve the truck."

"Then all we have to do is be there tonight and wait for the gang members to come for the truck—and then we can follow them back to their hideout!" Dick said.

"Right," Bruce replied.

# # #

At about 11 PM that evening Bruce was in his study. He had his full Batman costume on, except for the hood. He proceeded to check the compartments on his utility belt to make sure everything he might need in the field was there. Then there was a knock at the door.

"Yes?" Bruce responded.

Alfred stuck his head in the door. "Will you be needing me tonight, sir?" the gentleman's gentleman asked.

"No, I'm afraid not," Bruce told him. "You'll be better off staying here. Read one of your detective novels!"

Alfred frowned, obviously unhappy at this response. But he replied, "Very good, sir."

After Alfred had gone Bruce turned and looked up at the giant portrait of his parents that hung on the wall.

"This one is for you, Dad, Mom," he said, almost in a whisper. "I'll never quit until every single criminal in this town, just like the one who murdered you, is either locked up—or dead."

He grabbed his hood and put it on over his head.

At that moment Bruce Wayne, millionaire philanthropist, ceased to exist.

Now he was The Batman.

# # #

It was about fifteen minutes to midnight when Batman and Robin knelt down behind the parapet of a one-story rooftop overlooking Front Street. A full moon hung overhead, with a few wispy clouds scudding by it. They could both clearly see the white panel truck that was the object of their interest parked just down the street from where they were situated. There did not appear to be anyone in it.

"How long do you think the truck has been parked there?" Robin asked.

"According to what I overheard from Captain Arnold's office, the truck has been there since before Arnold got the call telling him where it was—so they had no way of knowing who left it there, or when."

The costumed pair waited a few more minutes in silence, until they spotted two police officers coming up the street on foot toward the rear of the truck. They were pushing a metal shopping cart loaded with dozens of paper-wrapped bundles.

"There's the money," Batman commented.

The pair of crimefighters watched as the two officers came up to the back of the panel truck. One officer opened the rear doors of the truck, and they both started throwing the bundles of wrapped money into the vehicle. When they had completed their task, they closed the truck's doors and retreated with the basket.

"Do you think Arnold and his men are hiding down the street somewhere?" Robin asked.

"No doubt," Batman replied. "Now comes the hard part. Now we all have to wait until someone comes to pick up that truck. It could be a long wait."

Robin sat down and leaned his back against the roof's parapet, pulling a candy bar out of his utility belt. Batman continued to stand and watch the truck, his batwing-shaped cape blowing in the breeze.

They actually did not have long to wait. About an hour later the engine in the truck suddenly started up, and the truck pulled away from the curb.

Robin jumped up.

"What's going on?" he exclaimed, mystified. "There was no driver in that truck when we got here, and we haven't taken our eyes off it since then!"

Batman watched as the truck proceeded down the street toward them. "Stay here!" was all he said. When the truck was directly below them he jumped up onto the roof's parapet and leaped off the roof.

"Batman!" Robin shouted.

Batman landed on the roof of the truck with a thump. Almost immediately he slid off the driver's side of the roof until his feet landed on the vehicle's running board.

Momentarily he stared into the truck's cab. There was no one there.

He yanked the door open and jumped into the driver's seat. The steering wheel was moving all by itself, guiding the truck down the street. Batman noticed that there was a large, unfamiliar mechanical contrivance attached to the truck's dashboard. Apparently the truck was being remote-controlled from another location, no doubt by members of the Sphinx gang. They had probably gotten the fancy remote-control device from Dr. Daka, their former leader, who had been very well-equipped by his foreign sponsors for his undercover espionage work in the United States.

Batman turned and glanced back into the bed of the truck.

The bundles of money were gone! They had somehow been replaced by a couple of bundles of dynamite, with the detonation caps already attached to them.

The truck continued down the street. A couple blocks away the road ended at a parking lot. On the other side of the lot a wooden boat dock projected out into the bay.

The truck entered the parking lot and headed right for the dock. Batman tried to twist the steering wheel, but it would not move.

The truck clattered out onto the boat dock. Traveling the dock's length it finally plunged off the end, sailing out over the bay. It splashed down into the water.

The it exploded with a huge fireball.

CHAPTER 4

"Underground Peril"

Captain Arnold and his contingent of police officers arrived at the dock just after the Sphinx gang's truck exploded in the water. They piled out of their police cars and crowded the end of the pier, staring, totally mystified as to how the truck had started up on its own, and why it had driven into the bay and exploded.

"Hey look—it's that guy they call the Batman!" one officer shouted, pointing.

The Batman's head had just poked above the surface of the bay a few yards off the end of the pier where he had jumped just as the truck had barreled off the dock into the water. At the sight of his horned hood, a couple police officers pulled their service revolvers and started firing at him.

"Cease firing!" Captain Arnold shouted, as the officer's bullets plopped into the surface of the water around the spot where Batman's head had just been. But it was no longer there. At sight of the officers Batman had immediately plunged beneath the surface again.

"But Captain!" one of the officers who had fired his weapon replied. "Obviously that masked guy had something to do with this, or he wouldn't have been driving that truck! And isn't he an unauthorized vigilante anyway, wanted by the law?"

"Whether he's wanted or not, I don't want him killed!" Arnold shot back. "At least not until we find out who he is, and what his game is!"

While all this was going on Batman swam away underwater, staying under as long as he could hold his breath. When he was finally forced to surface again he was some distance downstream from the spot where Arnold and his police officers were, and out of their line of sight. He swam over to another small dock and pulled himself out of the water. He lay there for a short while, trying to catch his breath. When he was sufficiently recovered (which was not very long, thanks to his excellent physical condition), he finally got to his feet and pulled out his portable radio device, which was hidden under his cape and attached to the rear of his utility belt. Fortunately, he had had the foresight when he had designed the unit to enclose it inside a waterproof casing. It was also fortunate that tonight he had chosen not to wear his bulletproof vest under his costume. The extra weight of the vest would have made it very difficult for him to keep from sinking to the bottom of the bay.

"Hello Robin," he whispered into the device. "Calling Robin. This is Batman."

After a moment there was a crisp reply.

"Robin here. Batman, where are you?"

"I'm at the foot of Race Street. Get the Batmobile and come pick me up."

"Roger. I'll be right there."

Within a few minutes the Batmobile pulled up at the end of Race Street, where Batman climbed in.

"You're all wet!" Robin exclaimed. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you later. Right now, let's head back to the mansion. Right now I'm ready for a warm fire, and a hot drink."

Unnoticed by the costumed pair, a dark figure crouched behind a nearby building, watching them intently as they pulled away.

# # #

Back at Wayne Manor Bruce relaxed on the sofa in the mansion's living room, dressed in his robe and slippers. A roaring fire was going in the fireplace, and he sipped a cup of hot, black coffee. Alfred hovered nearby, and Dick sat in a wingback chair opposite the couch.

"I don't understand," Dick was saying. "I kind of get the truck being remote controlled and all that, but where did the money go that Arnold's officers loaded into it? And how did the dynamite get into the truck?"

"I have some ideas about that," Bruce replied. "Tomorrow night we're going back to Front and George Streets and do some investigating."

# # #

It was another chilly, foggy night as the Batmobile inched its way up a narrow alley just down the block from where the white Sphinx van had been parked the night before. The powerful vehicle stopped, and Batman and Robin got out. Leaving the vehicle sitting in the shadows the pair stealthily made their way up to Front Street. Since it was now long after midnight, there was no one else about.

"Well, this is the exact spot where the truck sat," Robin explained, looking down at the road pavement. Batman pulled a small flashlight out of his utility belt and shined it on the road's surface.

There was a manhole cover in the street revealed by the light. Taking a tool out of his utility belt that looked like a small crowbar, Batman lifted the manhole cover and slid it aside.

"This is how they got the money out of the truck, and put the dynamite in its place", Batman explained. "No doubt there was also a small door in the bottom of the truck that made entrance into it from below possible."

Batman began to climb down the iron-rung ladder that was inside the manhole. Robin followed him.

They climbed downward a few yards until their feet rested on solid footing again. Batman swung his flashlight around in a wide arc. They were in a sewer tunnel, which had a narrow ledge on its one side for sewer workers to use while doing work in the tunnel.

"Nice smell," Robin commented, wrinkling his nose. "Where do you think they went from here?"

"Unfortunately, they could have gone in any direction. These tunnels go all under the city."

"Then I guess we're stymied then," Robin replied.

"Let's go a little ways anyway, and see if we can't find any clues as to which direction they may have gone."

They started walking, Batman taking the lead. Both of their flashlight beams zig-zagged through the darkness as the two shadowy forms made their way from tunnel to tunnel. After some minutes Batman stopped.

"I don't see anything. I guess we might as well turn back," he said.

But when he turned around Robin wasn't there. "Robin?" he said, looking around with his flashlight.

There was no sign of his companion!

Mystified, Batman started retracing his steps, calling Robin's name. When he got no response, he pulled the pocket radio off of the back of his utility belt and set it to the frequency of Robin's unit. He turned it on and set it to act like a homing transmitter, making it zero in on Robin's radio. As he walked back to where they had both entered the sewer tunnel the indicator on the radio's dial at first got stronger. But then it got weaker again as Batman approached the spot where they had entered the manhole. He turned around and went forward again, and the signal began to get stronger again. At the point where it was at its strongest Batman stopped.

There was nothing but a blank wall next to him on one side, and the sewer channel on the other.

How could Robin have just disappeared here? he asked himself.

He began to examine the metal wall next to him. He took off one of his gloves and carefully ran his fingertips over it. After a moment he felt a slight crack in the wall. Tracing it with his fingers he found that it had the rectangular shape of a doorway. He began to explore the wall's surface around the doorway until he discovered a small indentation that felt like a button. He pressed it, and the hidden door silently slid open. He flattened against the wall, then cautiously leaned over and peered into the dark opening.

There was another small tunnel inside the door opening. There was no light apparent in it, and Batman swung his flashlight beam into it. The light revealed that the smaller tunnel went some distance. Apparently, at one time, it had been some kind of a service tunnel. Now it appeared as if it had not been used in years. The walls of the tunnel were damp with moisture, and there was green mold growing all over them.

Batman put his glove back on and entered the second tunnel. He slowly made his way along it, frequently checking the dial on his radio unit as he went. The reading on it got stronger and stronger the further he went.

Finally he noticed what looked like another closed door in the distance. It had a small window in it, and a dim glow shone through it. Batman turned off his flashlight and headed toward the door. When he reached it he cautiously peered into the window.

What he saw made his blood boil. He turned off his radio unit and returned it to his utility belt. Then, backing up a step or two, he charged forward, ramming bodily through the wooden door.

The door splintered and fell inward. Inside the adjacent room the three former henchmen of Dr. Daka were just in the act of trying to force Robin to sit in a chair into which they intended to tie him up. Robin was furiously resisting as Batman charged into the room and body-slammed the three gangsters. They all fell together into a pile some distance across the room. Batman was instantly back on his feet, and Robin ran over to join him.

"Missed you, kid," Batman said.

"Me too!" Robin replied with a smile.

Together they hurtled forward into the three hoods, who had by now regained their feet. A furious melee broke out, punches flying in every direction. Batman delivered a sidekick to one gangster, who went flying backwards onto a low table, which caved in under his weight. When he tried to get up Batman delivered a punch to his jaw that sent him instantly back to the floor - and dreamland.

Meanwhile Robin was ducking and dodging repeated punches from a second hood. Finally the young costumed acrobat grabbed a low-hanging pipe and swung both his feet forward, connecting with his foe's chest and knocking him across the room. The man slammed violently into the room's far wall and collapsed in a heap.

That left only the third henchman. He pulled a pistol out of his pocket and leveled it at Batman's chest. But Batman saw the action. Quickly he pulled a small capsule out of one of the compartments in his utility belt and threw it at the gangster. The capsule exploded on the man's chest, causing a cloud of greenish gas to billow up around his face. The man began to cough and choke, dropping his pistol. Finally he fell to the floor, overcome by the knockout gas contained in the capsule.

"You got here just in time!" Robin said.

"That's my job, isn't it?" Batman replied with a grin. "Glad you're okay. Now let's look around. I'm sure we'll find the ransom money and the radium gun around here somewhere."

# # #

Early the next morning, Capt. Arnold's phone rang at Police Headquarters.

"Hello?" he said into the receiver.

"This is The Batman," came the voice on the other end of the line. "You'll find a nice little package tied up for you at the usual place, the corner of First and Maple."

There was a click as the line disconnected. Arnold slammed down the receiver.

"Bad news?" said Eberly, a plainclothes cop sitting in a chair next to Arnold's desk.

"Only for you," Arnold said, as he got up from his desk and put his cap on. "The Batman's been doing your job again!"

Arnold proceeded out of his office. Eberly jumped up to follow close behind him.

# # #

A few minutes later two police cars pulled up at the corner of First and Maple Streets. Capt. Arnold and a beat cop jumped out of the first one. Eberly vaulted out of the second.

Three men were handcuffed to the lamppost there. All three had little bat symbols stuck to their foreheads, and there was a large metal box with a padlock on it sitting next to them. The lock was also handcuffed to the light pole. After approaching the three men Arnold found the usual note pinned to the jacket of one of them. He pulled it off and started to read.

"These three men are what's left of Dr. Tito Daka's gang," the note read. "You know them as the Sphinx Gang. You'll find the key to all the handcuffs in this one's pocket - and the key to the metal box as well. P.S.: Dr. Daka's radium gun has been destroyed."

Arnold dug into the thug's coat pocket and pulled out two keys. With one he knelt down and opened the metal box. Inside was the one million dollars in ransom money that had been previously paid by the city.

Eberly stared down at the piles of cash. "Well I'll be a monkey's uncle," he muttered, half to himself.

Arnold stood up. "You'll be a lot worse than that if you dare to say anything about this to the press or anyone else!" Arnold snorted. "And that goes for you too, O'Malley," he added, looking at the cop standing beside him. "We don't want the people of this town knowing that a masked vigilante and a kid whose names we don't even know recovered this money and captured the extortionists. It would make the entire police force in this city look like complete idiots."

"And of course we can't have that," Eberly snickered, half under his breath.

"What did you say?" Arnold replied, looking daggers at Eberly.

"Nothing, Captain, nothing," Eberly was quick to respond.

Just down the street two masked figures, a man and a boy, peered out of an alley at the scene happening just down the block from them. They both laughed heartily. Then they turned and retreated back to a large black sedan with a huge batfin mounted on the back of it. They both jumped into the weird-looking automobile and backed it down the alley to another semi-deserted road that ran along the city's dock area.

Then the strange-looking auto roared off down the street.

# # #

Not long afterward the very same Batmobile came rumbling down the narrow dirt road that led through a patch of woods to the entrance of the secret Bat Cave located under Wayne Manor. As it approached one side of the huge network of hills that Wayne Manor was located on top of, a large door disguised as part of the hill swung open to admit the vehicle. The car entered inside. Then the large door swung shut again, and no one could ever tell that there had ever been an opening there.

But now someone knew. A shadowy figure stepped out from behind a nearby tree and walked up to where the door had opened, and began to carefully examine the hillside.

Stay Tuned For MORE Serial Adventures Of The 1943 Batman!