Chapter 4
A week later, Bruce Wayne was sitting in the Batcave, as he called the underground place in the Wayne Manor. He was searching for other crimes in Gotham but couldn't find one. He checked his phone.
'Can you come to our set today after lunch?' was Basil's message.
'Sure' was Bruce's reply.
As invited, Bruce went to the sets of the film after he had taken lunch. He drove his Lamborghini, fast enough to reach the set in fifteen minutes. He went inside and met Basil there.
"Hello, Mr. Wayne" said Basil, shaking his hand. "How're things?"
"Absolutely fine" said Bruce. "Anyways, anything new?"
"Yes, yes" he turned away. "Mr Crane!" he called and in response, came a slim man with spectacles walking towards them.
"This is Mr. Jonathan Crane" said Basil, as Bruce and Crane shook hands.
"He is the one preparing chemicals and other alien stuff for our film" said Basil.
"Oh, that's good" said Bruce.
"Nice meeting you, Mr. Wayne. I've been hearing about you regularly" said Crane.
Mr. White cut them in.
"How you doing?" he said, sipping on his coffee. "So, you've been introduced?" he said, pointing Bruce and Crane.
"Yeah" said Basil.
"So, where has the movie come to?" asked Bruce.
"There are just two scenes left to shoot" said White.
Just then, one of Crane's men came in.
"Mr. Crane, where would you like us to keep this potion?" he said, taking out a flask from the box he had in his hands.
"Get lost!" whispered Crane, but it was soft enough to reach his man.
"Potion?" said Basil, staring at the flask, which had a yellow fluid in it.
"Umm… Well, it's a luck potion that I've newly prepared" said Crane, finally forcing the truth out of his mouth.
"Luck potion?" asked Basil.
"Yeah, it's kind of which turns a person lucky" said Crane.
Basil kept staring at it until Crane told his man to keep it away.
It was night time and was time for packup. Bruce, White, Crane, everyone had left, only Basil was left in the set, alone. He was curious to try Crane's luck potion. Slowly, he made his way into Crane's room in the set. He did not have the key of the room but used his secret key to unlock the room.
He entered the room and closed the door. He searched the entire room for the yellow fluid – in every drawer, under every couch, in every cupboard. Finally, he found the flask on his desk, covered with a blue cloth.
"Here it is" he said to himself and took the flask in his hands. He examined the fluid carefully.
"I'm afraid you can't have it" said a voice from behind.
Basil turned back to see a man who wore a scary brown mask over his face. He was looking frightening, with his mouth part being covered by dirty stitched. Behind him were two men.
"Wh-Who are you?" asked Basil, shivering.
"I thought you would recognise me, Basil" said the man. "Anyways, what do you have to do with that flask?"
"I was just examining it" came a nervous reply.
"Well, I don't think an examiner would break into my room without my permission in the middle of night, just to have a look at my potion" said the man.
"Your room? You're Crane?" said Basil.
"I like robbing people. But…" he said, hitting the table aside, "I don't like people who rob me. I'm afraid I have to drug you with my toxins"
"Toxins? You're too a mafia? I'll expose you to Mr. White" said Basil and headed towards the door.
But Crane's men caught his arm. They kicked him on his stomach, making him fall back. Crane took hold of him.
"What do you think? You break into my room at night and I'll leave you alone?" said Crane. "Obviously not"
Crane's men caught Basil as Crane took another flask from one of his cupboards.
"You've got to drink this" said Crane.
"Wh-What's that?" asked Basil.
"Oh, this? My favourite. A fluid that turns man into a monster!"
"NO!" said Basil
But it was too late. Crane had managed to pour the entire fluid into Basil's mouth. Basil went unconscious.
"Throw him into the garbage" said Crane, his men doing what he said. They took him to the nearby dumpyard and buried him under the garbage.
"Debutant Basil Karlo is dead" came the news the next morning, and Bruce Wayne was shocked to see this, that he left the remaining part of his coffee. He immediately dialled White.
"Mr. White, Bruce Wayne here. What am I seeing?"
"That's shocking, Mr. Wayne" said White through the phone. "Not even his body has been recovered"
"What?"
"Yes, then how can they pronounce him dead?"
"They had no option, Mr. Wayne. I've just heard that the police were informed about a man being burnt into death, with the man being Basil Karlo"
Bruce shut the phone.
At night, he dressed up as Batman and went to the police headquarters. Since Gordon was not there, he himself set up the searchlight and switched it on. Gordon was walking on the street and he was quick in recognising the Bat-Signal on the skies. He immediately rushed to the headquarters and got onto its roof.
"Wow, this's new" said Gordon. "What's the deal?"
"Were you being informed that Basil Karlo is dead?" asked Bruce.
"Yes"
"Who told you?"
"Well, it was a man in an extremely frightening brown mask, who arrived at the headquarters the previous night and threatened me to announce him as dead"
"How could you believe him?"
"I had no option. He even showed me a photo of Basil Karlo being burnt to death"
"Do you still have the photograph?"
"I had just seen it once, in his hands"
"Damn!" said Bruce. "You don't understand. Basil is not dead!"
"How can you prove it?" asked Gordon, trying to be truthful.
"You haven't recovered the body of Basil"
"Hey Bat, the body had been burnt to ashes. There is no point of recovering it"
Bruce Wayne stood silent.
"Fine, when did this happen?" he asked.
"Yesterday night, twelve"
"You work over the night?" asked Bruce.
"Sometimes" said Gordon. "When cases like this come"
"Okay, bye" said Bruce, as he jumped off the building.
He went to Mr. James White then, undressed as the Bat.
"Mr. White, I've got to talk to you" said Bruce, addressing him into seating. "Can you tell me where was Basil last night?"
"He told me that he would sleep in the set itself, in his room" said White.
"Did he call you the night?"
"Yes, he called me to confirm whether every member of the crew had left the set"
"Which means, he had to do something very secretive and –"
"And in the process he was burnt" finished White.
They exchanged looks.
"Anyways, it's dark outside" said White. "Good evening"
Bruce Wayne waited for White to leave. Then he himself prepared to leave. As he walked away, his bat-knife fell down from his pocket, which he had carried in case of emergency. But, as he went to pick it up, he saw something in the dark. Brown as a gunny bag. The man who had come to Gordon the previous night.
He followed him. He kept walking into the dark. As he went forward, he less heard the sound of footsteps. He was sure that there was someone who had heard their conversation. He tried to get hold of the man. He went forward and heard the sound of a knife sharpening. He threw his Bat-Knife in that direction. He went forward to collect the knife, but found no one there.
Bruce prepared to leave but in all of a sudden, there came a hand from behind him. Bruce turned back and saw a man injecting drugs into him. He injected it right onto his right chest. Bruce was groaning in pain. He knelt down, hurting badly. He looked upward to see a man in an ugly, dirty, brown mask.
"What, you Bat?" said Crane. "You think you can just stealth into my room and rob me?"
Bruce groaned.
"Thinking who I am?" he said. "I am Jonathan Crane, the famous professor in town"
Bruce as shocked.
"Thinking what I did to you? I've drugged you, Mr. Wayne"
Bruce was aggressed. He stood up and punched Crane's face. He took one of his Bat-Symbol and stabbed it in Crane's stomach. Crane screamed in pain, leaving the place immediately, going into the dark. Bruce Wayne managed to get back to the Wayne Manor, though he was partially unconscious.
"Strange Day, Alfred" Bruce said, getting into his bed-slippers.
"I can say it is a strange life, Master Wayne" said Alfred.
"Anyways, I've got work to do tomorrow" said Bruce. "I've put a tracking device on the Scarecrow's coat." He bid goodbye to Alfred, who switched the light off and left the room.