A Bludhaven Knight
A dark cloud hangs over the city of Bludhaven in every sense of the word as a pair of rats ascend from a storm drain looking for food. If they had any sense they would have stayed down in the sewers Batgirl thinks as she sits on the ledge of an abandoned warehouse overlooking her target. A modest looking three story building less then a hundred feet away. From the outside it looks like nothing special. Broken windows, cracks in the wall and overturned garbage cans toward the door. A building that fits in perfectly with the rest of the surrounding buildings. During the day it would be a place no one would look twice at.
Cassandra Cain the current woman to hold the title of Batgirl is not a person that can be described as no one. Some claim she is the best hand to hand fighter on the planet and since she holds a victory over the Lady Shiva all the people who might want to lay a claim to that title now think twice before they get within breathing distance of Batgirl. But it isnt her formidable fighting ability that has her sitting on a ledge three stories above Dixon Street on a dark cloudy night. It is her ability to read body language or more accurately her ability to see beneath the obvious.
Body language is all about the subtle. It is about reading between the lines. It is about knowing where the next punch will be thrown by following a persons eyes. The first thing people notice about the building is the obvious signs. The broken windows and the cracked walls which show a desperate need for repair. Yet that same building has doors that are still on there hinges.
For a few days now Batgirl has heard rumors of something big about to happen in her adopted city. It all started when she broke the leg of a man who used to work for Blockbuster. Ever since Blockbusters fall there has been a vacuum in the Bludhaven underworld and nature absolutely abhors vacuums. So to help fill the void numerous figures in Blockbusters organization as well as his enemies and recent immigrants from Gotham have been working around the clock to stake a claim on this new frontier.
Four days ago the Trolley Stop Bar was one of Bludhavens hot spots. A couple of big screen televisions had the Gotham Knights game on. The pool sharks were out in full force and drinks were being poured in cups and on the shirts of some drunken patrons. From all appearances it was just a normal night at the local bar, but you know what they say about appearances. When she first moved to Bludhaven, Batgirl received audio files from Nightwing on all the players in Bludhaven. One of the players was a man named Victor Cruz who had worked for Blockbuster. Before the gang war Nightwing was planning on putting the fear of God into him or as he said on the file the fear of the Bat.
Nightwings files indicted that he was a rising star who had his fingers in everything from Abduction to Racketeering. Nightwing wanted to deal with him before he started to move up the food chain. That was before the war, now is a different story. Cruz has shot up the ranks of the Bludhaven underworld both in a literal and figurative sense. With everybody paying attention to the moves made by the Black Mask and the fires burring in Gotham he was able to make his move. Now with the Penguin in town his climb has slowed a little but he is still on the move.
Nightwings files indicted that the first place he was going to start with was the Trolley Stop. It is used as a hangout spot for Cruzs friends and makes a logical first target. That night Batgirl landed on the street right in front of the bar. When she was younger one of the lessons her father taught her was to make a good impression. Fighting skills are good for one thing but to have your enemies totally fear you is another thing.
Batgirl landed on the street in front of the door and in front of two large men. She noticed wires hanging from there ears and the telltale bulge of a gun on them. They had a quick look of shock as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere but the look disappeared as there hands went to grab there guns. They drew there weapons in a flash and were about to fire them when they suddenly flew out of there hands and landed on the ground a few feet away. A second later a lightning bolt of pain raced to there bodies as they looked at there hands and saw a black batarang where the guns used to be with blood slowly starting to trickle. They took another look at Batgirl and she leaped high into the air and landed in-between the two of them. A roundhouse kick knocked one of the men down and the other took the opportunity to throw a punch. Batgirl caught his fist in mid air and moved down to his wrist. She grabbed it and twisted and kicked him in the stomach before a scream could escape from his mouth.
He started to hunch over when she hit him with an open handed punch in his mouth which broke his lower jaw knocking him out. A few feet away the other man grabbed a garbage can and threw it at Batgirl. She dodged the clumsy attack and he threw his hand hands up.
"I surrender," he yelled. "Please dont hurt me."
Batgirl said nothing as she walked over to him and kicked the gun away from his slowly advancing hand. She then picked him up and threw him through the front door of the bar and followed him in a couple of seconds later. For the first time in the night the bar was silent as everybody stopped and looked at her.
"I want Victor Cruz," she said.
"Screw you," somebody yelled back as the tension was cut by a pool ball flying through the air. Batgirl caught it and in one smooth motion sent the ball flying back toward its owner. It bounced off his head and landed on the pool table as he fell backwards and crashed through a table. The bar then erupted as chairs and pool balls flew through the air at her.
She shifted her body weight and kicked the nearest person to her at the same time grabbing another attacker and throwing him into a group of people. Five minutes later Batgirl was the only person standing amidst a pile of moaning bodies. For one brief instant she smiles under her mask and wonder if her father would be proud of her. That moment ended as she walked toward the person who first threw the pool ball at her. She grabbed a pitcher of liquid from the bar and threw it on him.
He woke up and for an instant she could tell he had no idea where he was by the look in his eyes. A moment later his eyes focused on her and he started to back away from her. He ended up backing into a wall and had no place to go as she stood right in front of him.
"Where is Victor Cruz," she said in a soft voice.
"Screw you," he said as he spit in her face. The spittle would have landed in her eye if it was not for her mask and she kicked him in the leg. The blow landed right below his knee and she heard a loud crack as she wiped the spit from her face. He fell down on the ground and held his leg. She picked him up again and brought his face within an inch of her mask.
"Where is Victor Cruz." she asked again in a soft voice.
"I dont know," he said as tears started to form in his eyes.
She looked in his eyes and saw he was telling her the truth but that he was hiding something. So she took a clue from a movie, Stephanie showed her once before she died. She threw him in one of the few chairs still remaining and grabbed a broken bottle.
"Tell me something interesting," she said as she brought the broken glass to his face.
A couple of days later above Dixon street Batgirl sits waiting. None of the people she spoke to knew exactly what was going to happen but they all knew something big was going to happen. Batgirl thought that might be weird and said as much to Robin a couple of hours ago.
"So you started knocking down Cruzs door," Robin said as he smiled over the computer screen. "According to what I heard it seems like a tornado has been ripping through his operations."
"I just wanted to make a good impression," she said after she paused to think her words over.
"Humor," he said with a good chuckle. "Batman would be furious."
"I wont tell if you, dont Robin," she said with a small smile starting to form.
"Let me guess," he said as he appeared thoughtful for a second. "You picked that nasty habit up from Babs."
"No, Stephanie," she said and then winced when she saw the brief look on his face. He might think he hides it well but to her he is an open book. When it first hit him Batgirl actually felt the pain as she read his body. His trip to San Francisco and the Titans helped a bit but she can still read it in every movement she saw.
"Im sorry," she said.
"No problem Cassie," he said as he put on what Oracle called a poker face. Of course it didnt fool her a bit. "I miss her a great deal, but its great that she managed to teach you some humor. She would have loved to see you make a joke. Cass I need to go bird watching in a bit. It's a stake out so if you need any help just give me a call. Walking into the unknown is always a risk but as a wise man once said "Risk is our business.""
"Who said that."
"Wouldnt you like to know," he said with a smile. "Robin out."
Her mind snapped back to the present as she heard a van start to pull up. She moved deeper into the shadows on her ledge as the van stopped. A minute later five men stepped out with machine guns drawn.
Another minute later a truck pulled up and two of the men opened the back doors. They pointed there guns inside the van and a group of women all poured out. They ranged in age from around 10 to the oldest being around 16. She grabbed a batarang and was prepared to swing over when she saw one of the girls bend over holding her stomach. One of the guys looked like he was about to touch her when another guy grabbed his arm and said something to him. He backed away quickly and the women walked into the building. Now Batgirl may not be half the detective Batman is or Robin but she does match them when it comes to a sense of curiosity and something about that makes her very curious.
After the girls were ushered in the building Batgirl leaped into the air and swung toward her target. As she hit her target a batarang flew from her hand and knocked the gun out of the other guys hand. She grabbed him and threw him into the other guy knocking the two out. She saw a nearby dumpster and imitating a cartoon Stephanie once showed her, she threw the two guys in the dumpster and locked them in with a pair of handcuffs.
The other three guys were in the building and she walked in. It seems that the two she just dispatched were in charge of locking the door. She walked in and the three remaining started shooting. She quickly rolled to her left and threw two batarangs at the attackers. She didnt have time to aim so only one of them managed to hit a gun. She jumped to her left and in a quick motion pulled out a pair of small black pellets. She threw the pellets on the floor in front of the gunmen and smoke poured out. Using the smoke as a distraction she got behind the gun men and hit one in the arm with a hard chop. She heard a crack as his wrist broke and she grabbed his gun and hit another man in the side of the face with it. That just left one more gunner left and she kicked the gun out of his hand.
She grabbed him and threw him against the wall when she noticed that all the women where standing in a plastic cage. All the women were looking nervous inside and Batgirl pulled out another Batarang. She took the sharp edge of it and brushed it against the gunners eye.
"Tell me something interesting," she said as she edged the sharp end of the batarang closer to his eye.