Season 2 Episode 6: Shadow
My name is Bruce Wayne. When I was 8 years old, my parents were killed by an evil. And so I made a promise to fight that evil. I traveled the world for 18 years, and returned to Gotham City to protect it. Now I have new allies, helping me in my crusade, but I also have new enemies. New threats have arrived in my city, and I must stop them. I am vengeance. I am the night. I am the Batman.
Previously on the Batman...
The Mutant gang now has Venom
Batman is now taking Venom
Barbara Gordon has found out that Bruce Wayne is Batman
Batman is still healing from his injuries
Batman's line was cut by the shadow following him
The Batmobile drives into the Batcave and Batman hops out.
"Anything?" Robin asks.
"No. I checked everywhere in a 3 block radius and didn't find any evidence." Batman says.
"So whoever cut the line must've covered their tracks. So right now all we know is that someone tried to murder you, and other than that we've got no leads." Robin states.
"I'm afraid so."
"Well, what now?"
"We don't have any leads on that investigation, so let's work on the other one."
"Other one?"
"Yes. The Mutants. They now have unlimited Venom. And we have to stop them."
The Batman
The Mutant leader walks up to the manufacturer.
"How much Venom will this batch make?" He asks.
"N-not as much...as it, was...b-before." He stutters.
"Why not?" He asks quickly.
"Well, I d-don't have enough m-materials! Or chemicals-"
"Then we'll go get them."
"From where?"
"ACE Chemicals. We'll get those chemicals, and you WILL make the Venom."
"S-sure."
The Mutant leader walks off.
Batman and Robin look through the manufacturer's apartment.
"Did you even check the security cameras around the area? Maybe you could've seen something." Robin suggests.
"Dick, now's not the time to think about the assassination attempt. We have to stop the Mutants now." Batman says.
"Right. There's a lot of lab equipment here. This is the stuff he used to make the Venom, right?" Robin asks.
"Yes. He did."
"Well, it looks like he was running out of materials to use. Like chemicals."
"And he was taken without most of this stuff."
"Which means he's most likely ran out of chemicals to make the Venom."
"And we still have time to stop them before they get their hands on it."
"Well, if they can't make anymore, then where will they get more?"
"To make Venom, they'll need chemicals, and the only place to get chemicals...is the ACE Chemical plant."
"That's where they're headed."
Batman and Robin hop back into the Batmobile and drive off. Watching from atop a building across the street is the shadow, stalking them.
"All shall be revealed soon." He states.
Meanwhile, the Mutant leader gathers all the Mutants in one place.
"Listen! We must head to ACE Chemicals to steal the poisons! The potions! That is needed for the Venom! And with the Venom, we may finally take Gotham City as our own! No one will stand in our way! Gotham will be ours!" He yells.
"YEAH!" The Mutants yell.
The Mutant leader starts marching and the other Mutants march after him. Batman walks into the Batcave alone and up to his work desk. He sees a couple pills of Venom there. He takes off his mask and picks up the bottle. He takes out two pills and swallows them. He puts back on his mask.
Back up in Wayne Manor, the doorbell rings, and Alfred answers it. Behind the door is Barbara Gordon.
"Ms. Gordon. Whatever are you doing here?" He asks, politely.
"I'm here to see Bruce." She says.
Alfred looks behind her and around the outside.
"And...why would that be?"
"Well, at the party, I went into the study, and saw some pretty interesting things. I wanted to talk to Bruce about them. Trust me, I'm alone."
"Well, I should contact Master Bruce and see what he thinks of this."
Bruce walks int the main hall and sees them both.
"...you can let her in, Alfred." He allows.
Alfred sighs and lets Barbara into the mansion.
"Thanks." She says.
Bruce and Barbara walk through the halls of Wayne Manor.
"No, I haven't told anyone about what I saw. You...being the Batman."
"Good. But why are you here?"
"I needed to talk about it to someone. I do have a lot of questions. Why did you become the Batman?"
"I can't tell you everything about my operation, Barbara."
"Why not? I kept your secret for this long."
"I can't."
"Who's Robin?"
"Barbara..."
"I'm not leaving until you tell me."
"Right now, I have to go to ACE Chemicals."
Bruce walks away.
Barbara walks out to the ballroom and sees the doors to the study.
"Hm..."
The Mutants runs into the plant with their guns and into the factory building where the chemicals were made. They see the criminals and they charge towards them. That's when they rip off their suits and pull out guns. They're secretly cops. Cops burst out from every corner and point their guns at the Mutants.
The Mutant leader runs up to a catwalk over the chemicals. Some of the Mutants run to try and escape but half of them get tackled and arrested. Robin beats up some of the Mutants to help the cops. Batman drops down to meet the Mutant leader.
"Batman! You set this trap! You'll die for this! I'll show you who rules Gotham City!" He challenges.
"Then show me."
Batman and the leader charge and they fight.
The leader throws a punch but Batman holds up his arms to block it. Batman kicks the leader in his side and starts throwing punches. A good few hit the leader in the side and his face and head, but then leader starts blocking the punches and grabs Batman's arm to elbow him in his chest and punch him across the face twice.
Batman blocks a punch and swipes his arms away. He slams his two fists into his ears and the leader gets stunned. He runs up and kicks him across the face. He punches the leader in the gut and then across the face. The leader kicks Batman back and pulls out an injection of Venom. He's about to inject himself when Batman pulls it away using his bat rope.
He keeps the injection on his belt and charges again. He kicks him in the chest but gets headbutted. He dodges the leader's swipes, only from Batman to get a rush of Adrenalin and swipe away his arms. He then punches the leader right in his nose, breaking it and blood pours out. He then takes his arm blades and makes a cut right above the leader's eyes, yelling as he does it.
Blood drips into the leader's eyes and Batman punches him across the face. The leader throws a punch but Batman dodges by turning around and grabbing his arm. He elbows the leader in his belly and throws him to the ground of the catwalk.
The leader gets up to his knee and Batman grabs his arm and breaks it. The leader yells in pain as Batman kicks him back to the ground. The leader slowly gets up, tired, and swings his arm but misses, and Batman folds his hands together and swings it across the leader's neck. The leader falls flat on his face as the cops surround them.
Batman drops down to Robin's level.
"Nice work." Robin comments.
Batman and Robin stand atop the chemical plant as half the Mutants, including the leader, are taken into police custody. The police cars drive off with the Mutants.
"We did it." Robin says.
"Wait..." Batman starts.
Batman squints and sees a building in Gotham across the bridge. Standing on top of it is a man. THE man. The shadow.
"What is it?" Robin asks.
"It's a man. In a strange militaristic suit. Almost imitating my suit." Batman explains.
"So? Maybe it's just a fan."
"They would have to be a big one. I saw this same man at the Halloween ball we held."
"Hm...let's go investigate." Robin suggests and they grapple off.
As they get closer, the shadow turns around and runs off.
"Why would they run?" Robin questions as they get closer.
Batman glides over the rooftops as Robin chases him across the buildings on foot. The shadow jumps and climbs up to a high ledge and onto another rooftop, and keeps running. Robin bounces off of the wall with his foot and uses it to boost himself up to the roof.
He continues chasing the shadow as Batman lands on a higher rooftop to the side. Robin sees this and grapples up to him. They continue chasing the shadow across the rooftops until the shadow reaches a gap between the two buildings. Batman and Robin start to catch up until they reach the same gap, only on a higher level.
Batman and Robin jump and so does the shadow. The shadow turns in mid air with two pistols in each hand and fires at them.
"GET DOWN!" Batman yells and grabs Robin.
He turns his back to the shadow as he falls. He fires his grappling hook to attach to a building and then swing once using the rope like Spiderman.
"Grab onto the pipe!" Batman commands and lets Robin go.
He grabs a pipe attached to the side of a building as Batman grapples up to another rooftop. Robin climbs up the pipe to a rooftop, and are now on different buildings with a gap in between. They turn and see the shadow now running on Batman's side.
"Go!" Robin says.
They chase the shadow when he pulls out a grappling hook of his own and fires it to the top of a skyscraper and zips up to the top.
"This is one hell of a fan." Batman comments.
Both of them grapple up to the top and see the shadow run to the edge of the roof but then stop as he looks below.
"There's no where to run!" Batman says.
The shadow backs up, and then jumps off the roof. Batman and Robin race over to his side and look over. They see a hook attach to the side of the building, and he scale down the building to an alley below.
"Stay here." Batman orders and drops down.
He uses his cape to slow his fall, and as soon as he reaches the ground, he runs down the alley and out onto the street. He looks around, but due to the huge crowd, he can't find the shadow anywhere.
"Dammit."
Batman and Robin walk down the hall to the Batcave and take off their masks.
"So the Mutant gang is taken care of. There's not that many left, all the Venom is destroyed, and their leader is arrested. There's still the manufacturer who went missing, but that's not important. We still have two other cases. Who cut the line, and who is this new stalker." Robin states.
"I saw them at the party during Halloween. I mistook them for just a guest in a costume, but I was wrong. They're much more." Bruce says.
"They tried to kill us, and were watching us from afar."
"No. They only fired at us one time. And those were just warning shots. Plus, why else didn't they shoot at us again when they had a clear shot, like on the roof. They fled, because they didn't want to be seen. They don't want to kill us."
"How much do you want to bet that THEY were the person who cut the bat rope? No wait, that was an assassination attempt, and presumably this person doesn't want to kill us."
"Unless when the rope was cut, it wasn't meant to kill me..."
They walk into the Batcave, and see Barbara Gordon waiting by the work desk.
"I know you're Batman and all, but do you have name everything around here after a bat?" She asks.
"Um, what's she doing here?" Robin asks.
"I don't know." Bruce replies.
"I decided to stay here and wait for you guys. Weren't you the guy who Bruce Wayne adopted a few years back?" Barbara says.
"Well, actually I was."
"Don't tell her too much about this operation." Bruce warns.
"I just came here because I was curious as to what I would find. So I decided to enter this cave again and look around. Creepy."
The last word she says echoes throughout the dark, empty cave. A few bats fly around.
"Why'd you choose this place anyways? I know bats live in caves, and it's well hidden and just underneath your house but...like, what, are bats your spirit animal or something?"
"We're going to need you to leave." Bruce says.
"Why? I already know most of your secrets and like I said before, I'm not telling anyone. I just have some questions. Like what is this bottle for?" She says and pulls out the empty bottle of pills.
"That's the drug we confiscated from the Mutant gang. Venom. It's a steroid. But we took them down tonight." Dick says.
"Robin..." Bruce says, warning Dick not to let everything out.
"Apparently used. It's been opened." Barbara says.
"Well, I guess the Mutants used it before. No wait a minute, we got that from an unopened crate in Metropolis. Who opened it?" Dick asks and runs up to the desk.
He looks at the bottle.
"There were less in this bottle then there was before." Dick states.
"So you're saying someone took some?"
They both turn to Bruce.
"Bruce..." Dick starts.
"Don't start, Dick. I needed Venom."
"No you don't. We were doing perfectly fine as Batman and Robin without Venom. This is a dangerous drug!"
"Dangerous, Robin? Because without that drug, I wouldn't have been able to defeat the Mutant leader. Without it, I wasn't able to save anyone. That little girl drowned because I wasn't strong enough. Maybe it's for the better because WITH that drug, I was able to defeat the Mutant gang once and for all." Bruce defends.
"But at what cost?" Dick replies.
The 3 of them stand around, all thinking about what just happened.
The Batman
At Arkham Asylum, an inmate is released and walks out the front gates with his bag of stuff. He walks onto the street and looks around. Then a car drives up to him, and the driver rolls down his window.
"Jonathan Crane?" The driver asks.
"Yeah...why?" Crane asks.
"Get in."
Crane steps inside the back seat as the car drives off. He looks across from him and sees a man drenched in shadows. The shadow. He turns his head and looks at Crane.
"Jonathan Crane. I know you want revenge on the Batman. So do I. And so does Oswald Cobblepot. We all want revenge. And I can provide it." The shadow states.
Next Time on the Batman: Addiction (2x7)
Batman finds the manufacturer of the Venom and demands him to make more. As he grows more and more violent with the old criminals, such as the remnants of the Mutant gang and new ones such as the Riddler, the team starts to question Batman's authority, especially on Venom.
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