A/N: Thanks for the review mystery guest reader! :)
Chapter 4:
The man strutted in front of Bruce. "Now that our evening is planned, let me properly introduce myself. I am The Darkling, as I told you earlier. There is no connection between myself and a poem with the same name. I use it as a distraction – people like to look for clues – and it usually works," he laughed. "I'm sure this time will be no different. Anyway, the people of my homeland rejected me when I attempted to become their hero and I was forced to leave. In retrospect, kidnapping people so I could rescue them was not one of my best ideas," he said thoughtfully. "In any case, I began searching for a new place to call home and, after traveling around a bit, I learned of a city that adored its hero. The Batman – he even has his own action figure, did you know that? I am going to rid Gotham of Batman and that boy who was foolish enough to offer himself as bait. The populace will need someone to swoop in and assuage their fears after the death of their champion. I will be that person and I will become Gotham's new hero."
The man started walking around the room, murmuring quietly to himself, "The kid will have to be taken care of quickly, probably even tonight. Batman won't know it, though, until he shows up to rescue him. He will be easy to take down when he sees the boy's dead body. I might not even have to kill the Bat, he might die of grief." He laughed as he wandered back to the desk to adjust his plan. The one for Batman wouldn't work on the sidekick.
Bruce struggled to concentrate on devising a strategy to escape. The man was talking about the death of his partner. He could, unfortunately, visualize himself kneeling next to Robin's lifeless form while his heart shattered into a million tiny pieces. The guy was right; he would be an easy target. So, Bruce just wouldn't let it happen. There was no way he was going to let Robin out of his sight if the exchange actually occurred. Really, though, it was a moot point because he was going to escape, Robin was going to have a better plan (because offering himself as a replacement was the worst plan and Batman would be discussing it with him later) and this "Darkling" would be taken care of before any trade could be made. He knew Robin would eventually link the villain's name to the poem and hoped that he wasn't focusing too much on it since it didn't contain any clues.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he tested the knots again and was frustrated to find that none of them had loosened even a little bit after all the tugging and twisting he had been doing. His arms, from his elbows down to his hands, had gone numb long ago but he continued to pull at the ropes with his shoulders. The movements, though, were nearly imperceptible even when he was straining against the bonds with all the strength he had left in his body. He heard laughter and looked up to see the villain-trying-to-turn-manipulative hero watching him fight to get free. You won't be laughing in a couple of hours. Robin is extremely capable of taking you down and I won't be far behind. Arkham has a vacancy with your name on it. He was unintentionally giving the man the Bat-glare as these thoughts ran through his mind.
The Darkling's laughter ceased as he noticed the ferociousness of his prisoner's glare. None of his other victims had still been fighting this long into captivity. I guess Gotham makes them stronger…. "Just so you know, in case you haven't thought of it, knots are my specialty. Even if you can free your arms, which you can't, they are too numb to do anythin' by now. You will be in the same predicament you are currently in except your arms will be flopping by your sides instead of tight behind your back. It's no use; you might as well give up."
"I'll have time to give up when I'm dead," Bruce shot back.
"That can be arranged. I can exchange you for the baby sidekick and still be able to kill you both. I've heard that he isn't very good at what he does, well, what he's supposed to do. From what I have observed, although I've only seen him on TV, all he does is follow Batman around saying 'holy this' and 'holy that' and punching his hand with his other fist."
"Robin is more of a man than you are and he could knock you out with one punch!" Bruce shouted furiously. Calm down and be careful. He took a deep breath and pushed all the emotions off his face. You are Bruce Wayne; you don't know Robin very well.
"Ah, I see I've hit a nerve. So you've met the lad, then? Tell me, does he look as scrawny and senseless in person as he does in all his pictures?"
Bruce tried to contain his rage as he quietly growled, "I have met him and he is strong and smart. You don't measure up."
"We'll see, Mr. Know-It-All Millionaire, we'll see," The Darkling smirked as he returned to the papers laid out on the desk in front of him.
