Usual disclaimer. I do not own the rights to Batman or any other character from DC Comics. No money was made on this, nor do I plan to. I know that it has been moving slow, but I'm rolling now that the intro information is finally in place. It will hopefully get interesting in the next few chapters, if all goes as I have it planned out in my little noggin. There will be something cool pretty soon, and thanks for sticking with us this far for the meat of the story. Please read and review, let me know what you think!
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Chapter Three – Control
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Batman's patrol was silent that night, both to his help and annoyance. He was convinced that he was just not in the right place, so he went from roof top to the next building, not finding any trouble as far as he could hear or see. Finally Batman and Robin headed back to where they had parked the Batmobile, and slid into their respective seats. Clicking on the police scanner, Batman powered up the vehicle and the two took to the streets.
Robin looked over to Batman. "Silent night, huh Bats?"
"Too quiet." Batman took a look at the scanner again, almost glaring at it for it's silence.
"Hey, does that mean we can head back early? I skipped some studying to make it out tonight, and I really can't fake my way through history class again."
"No." Turning the wheel, they headed down another street. Robin sat back, and glanced at the roof of the Batmobile.
Finally, Robin spoke up again. "Look, there's nothing going on. Nothing on the police channels, nothing out of Arkham, nothing on the port channels, and nothing on the streets. It's just too cold for anyone to cause any trouble, in case you forgot that it's below freezing out there, with a serious wind chill. Even street hoods understand that it's too cold to be bad guys where we can find them."
"It's not that cold, that trouble can't happen out there. We're just missing it." Checking another readout, Batman sighed. "Though I will admit, it is rather cold out there."
Robin looked over to Batman. "A little cold? I'm giving thanks that I'm wearing thermal gloves tonight. And I think my toes went on strike about an hour ago. Let's go home, Bats. There's nothing going on tonight that the regular police can't handle."
Batman turned to say something, when the police scanner started chirping. "Two possibly three gunmen, at Third and Anderson. Bally Jewelry. Advising caution, Swat in route."
Robin sighed, and rubbed his hands together. "Wonderful, there are some goons that have no idea how much I could use a cup of coffee right about now."
Not bothering to answer, Batman turned the Batmobile down a side street, and headed to the scene. The giant tires held their grip on the mounting ice and sleet on the streets, and the two made record time to Third and Anderson. Parking out of sight in one of the ubiquitous alleys that seemed to be everywhere in Gotham, the top of the vehicle slid out of the way and the two headed to the back of the jewelry store. Not bothering with picking the lock, Batman lowered a shoulder and powered through the door, knocking one of the shooters to the floor as the thug was trying to head out of the building. Batman kept coming as the goon tried to bring around his pistol, but there was not enough time to aim. As Batman shouldered the thug to the ground, the pistol went off, the shot shattering one of the lights above.
Robin followed close behind, taking a moment to disarm the goon and cuff his hands behind his back. The others in the front of the store heard the door being busted open and the wild shot, and there was yelling as they pulled out their own firearms. The common phrase amongst them was, "It's the Bat! Get him fast!"
Two of the thugs headed into the conflict, but a third headed for the front of the store, hoping to get gone while the going was good. Robin snapped out a net line, and tossed it at the fleeing thug. The practiced move looked simple to accomplish, but the net spread while in the air, and wrapped around the fleeing goon's legs, sending him tumbling to the ground. As he hit the ground, he lost his grip on the pistol, and it skittered over the floor, ending up well out of hand reach.
As Robin turned back to Batman, he saw that one of the remaining two had already been knocked out, and was out cold on the floor. The final thug was in Batman's hands, and Robin could see that Bruce had the situation well in hand. Turning back to the front of the store, Robin could hear the calling sirens in the distance, as Gotham's finest were arriving on the scene. From behind him though, he heard a sound that more than disturbed him.
Batman was continuing to pound that remaining thug's face into the sheet rock, even though the goon had stopped resisting. Running to stop the taller man, Robin grabbed Batman's arm, stopping the latest swing of the mangled face into what remained of the wall. "Batman, he's out cold! Stop!" Robin reached out to stop Batman, grabbing one of Batman's arms before the next swing that would bounce the thug's head off the wall again.
Batman swung out his other arm and backhanded Robin, sending him to the floor. Batman gritted his teeth and seemed to hiss something, but he stopped pounding the unconscious thug into the wall. He dropped the unconscious thug to the ground, where he lay bleeding from multiple cuts on his face. Batman shuddered for a moment, hands clenching into fists, then stood upright and took a deep breath to calm himself. Reaching out, he offered a hand to Robin to help the younger man back to his feet. Robin kept his mouth shut for once, something close to shock flashing across his face.
The police arrived at that moment, distracting Robin from the strange behavior from Batman. The beaten face thug was loaded into an ambulance, while the other three were loaded into law enforcement vehicles for their trip to jail. Sergeant Bullock walked around the scene, taking notes and bullying the forensics team. Finally he made his way to Batman and Robin.
"Alright, we've got them locked up, except for that one that's on his was to the hospital. Care to elaborate how that guy's face looks like garbage?"
"He resisted."
Bullock shrugged at that. "Resisted is it? You can manage with your nifty belt supplies to knock out the Joker or Harley without a scratch on then, but a goon with a gun needs special attention? Come on, tell me another one, one more believable."
"He resisted."
"Sticking to the same story. Good for on the street, not so good in court. Well, you'd best make yourself scarce, before the lawyers show up. It's only gonna take one word from the right attorney, and we'll have to let them all go. Get out of here, you're taking up space." Bullock pointedly turned his back on the two, and started griping at the forensic team again.
Not saying another word, Batman headed out of the store, back to the Batmobile. With a click of a button on the side of his glove, the top slid open on the vehicle, and the two climbed in. The top slid closed at the touch of another control on the on-board computer, and the engine fired up. Batman steered the car into traffic, and started the drive back home.
"Bats, what the Hell was that back there?"
"What do you mean?" Batman kept his eyes on the road, as they left the city proper and headed onto the tree lined secondary road that would eventually get them to the Bat Cave.
Robin shifted in his seat, looking for the right words. Finally, he spoke again. "I've seen you mad, grumpy, and even pissed off. What happened tonight was none of those. You were out of control. What would you've done to that guy, if no one stopped you when I did?"
Batman sighed, and checked the police scanner in a quick glance. "I've been on edge, that's all. I just need some sleep. It's been a long week."
"Not good enough, Bruce. You were out to kill that guy, and don't think I've forgotten my sudden meeting with the floor. Those were just common criminals, they were out for a quick buck, that's all. You need more than a vacation, if this is how you're going to handle shit like this."
"Watch the language."
"Watch your actions. There are enough people out there in the justice system looking for a reason to shut us down. Don't give them more ammo, alright?"
"I'll get some sleep, later. Problem solved."
Robin turned back to looking out the side window, and shrugged. "And don't bounce me off any more floors or walls, alright?"
Batman sighed. "Sorry."
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