CHAPTER VII
When we arrived at the Batcave, Barbara welcomed us by exclaiming, "Hey!" I recoiled, saying, "Barbara, remember to move the mic away from your mouth." "I'm so sorry!" said Barbara, embarrassed. "Ah, it's okay," said Robin, "I did it my first time with that thing on, too." "All right, come on, Robin," I said, "Help me get this guy out from the Batmobile." Robin walked up to me, helping me out with our limp prisoner. We tied him up to another chair directly across from Athena, waiting for him to wake up. "So, who is this guy, anyway?" asked Barbara quietly. "You don't have to whisper," I said, "But anyway, he's Frenchy Blake." "I don't want to know how he got that nickname," said Robin, shaking his head emphatically, "Not one bit." "He specializes in smuggling jewels, I think," I continued, "Been around for a while." Frenchy began to stir, and Robin almost lunged forward with the chloroform. "No," I said, grabbing his arm, "I want to see what he has to say. Barbara, change into Batgirl, quick!" Barbara ran to another area of the Batcave, coming back a minute later as Batgirl. She ran over to Robin, lifting up her cape and saying, "Richard, zip up my back." Barbara's back was almost completely exposed, and Robin looked towards me, stuttering, "B-but…" "Just do it!" hissed Barbara. "Fine," said Robin nervously, zipping up her suit. "Thanks," said Barbara, "But don't hesitate next time." Robin looked like he wanted to say something, but he refrained.
Frenchy woke up with my face right in front of his. "Had a good nap?" I asked immediately. Frenchy tried to jump, but he couldn't with the restraints we'd put on him. He looked down at his hands and feet, saying, "Well, $%. You've done me up well." "You might have a worse mouth than Deathstroke," said Batgirl, "Watch yourself." I furrowed my brow, looking back towards Batgirl. She shrugged, saying, "Hey, if we just let them curse all over the place, think about what they could start doing next!" I sighed, turning back towards Frenchy and saying, "Sorry about that." "It's okay," said Frenchy, looking towards Batgirl, "A girl that cute can only mean well." He smiled creepily, and Barbara responded with, "Do you know how to scissor kick? 'Cause I do." Frenchy's smile melted, and he turned back to me. "What do you want?" he challenged. "Info," I answered, "What else?" "You going to torture me?" asked Frenchy. "No," I responded, standing up straight, "I bet even if I did, you'd cave really quickly." Frenchy seemed indignant, but he didn't say anything. I continued, "No. No torture. But you know, I hear the Scarecrow runs his field well. The way I see it, to him you're just another feathered pest. You want me to throw you out to him, or the police?" "Police, definitely," said Frenchy frantically. "Then that info I want had better come out quickly," I said intensely. "I get it, I get it," said Frenchy, "What exactly do you want to know?" I walked over to our computers.
I turned them on, pulling up the list of possible suspects for being in league with Athena and Scarecrow. I turned back to Frenchy, saying, "I need you to tell me who's in league with her," I pointed to Athena, "and who's in league with Scarecrow." Frenchy hesitated. I sighed again, saying, "Robin, get him back into the Batmobile. We'll drop him off in an alley somewhere." "No, wait, WAIT!" said Frenchy. I looked him in the eye, saying, "This is the third time. No more chances." "All right," said Frenchy. He told us which ones weren't working with either of them, and those who were just working with one or the other. That left us with about three, and I said, "Good. That's all we needed. And now that that's finished…" I trailed off, turning towards Robin and tossing him the Batmobile's keys. "Really?" he said, widening his eyes. "Yes, really," I said, "But you hit another bird, and never again." "What do you mean, 'hit another'…" began Batgirl. "Nothing," Robin and I said simultaneously. Robin looked at the keys, saying, "Actually…maybe I could just throw him over the back of my motorcycle." "You have a motorcycle?!" asked Batgirl, leaning forward. "Yeah," Robin answered, "Pretty hot, right?" "Only a little bit," said Batgirl, "They're not as safe." Robin rolled his eyes, going over to Frenchy and untying him. I punched Frenchy in the face again, knocking him out. "Help me out here," said Robin, dragging Frenchy by his underarms. I helped Robin lift him up over the back of the motorcycle, laying him down gently. Robin hopped in the front, taking off his mask and putting on his helmet. He sped off, and left a cloud of dust within a few seconds.
I turned towards Batgirl, saying, "You did well today." "Thanks," she smiled, "I'll go change back real quick." She went away, coming back a little later and putting her suit on her suit rack. "So, what are we doing with her?" she asked, looking towards Athena. "We'll keep her here until the rest of her operation is dismantled, then turn her in to the police," I answered, "The last thing we need is to have her operating it from prison." "I hope that disgusting Frenchy guy goes away for a long time," Barbara growled. "You and me both," I said, putting my hand on Barbara's shoulder. "Remember, you're a member of the Bat Family," I reassured her, "You're a big part of this." Barbara looked up at me, saying, "Thanks. I need to go. See you later. Tell Richard bye for me!" "You got it," I said, giving her a thumbs-up as she walked out. I took off my suit and put it on my suit rack, grabbing my cane and heading for the manor. I walked inside, saying, "Hey, Alfred! Is that coffee ready?" Alfred was standing right next to me, and he said calmly, "Master Wayne, I thought you'd known me for a longer time." He was holding a platter with mugs of coffee on it. Relieved, I said thankfully, "You're a lifesaver, Alfred." "If you knew me in my younger days, you'd know just how true that is," quipped Alfred. He looked around suddenly, puzzled. "What?" I wondered. "Where's Master Grayson?" Alfred asked. "Taking out the trash," I answered. Alfred furrowed his brow.
A few seconds later, he nodded suddenly, saying with a smile, "Of course. Delivering a newly-beaten scoundrel to the police?" "Yep," I said, "Using his motorcycle, too." "It would seem our young friend is getting into the swing of things as the days roll on," Alfred observed. "Sure," I said, "I'm not sure it's such a good thing all the time, though." "Whatever could that mean, Master Wayne?" asked Alfred. "Dick is getting into the swing of things," I said, sitting down at the dining table, "But when will that stop? Will it stop at all? I mean, being Robin for even a couple years before college might evolve into something else. There might come a day when he tells me he wants to become Batman! And then…" Alfred finished for me, "And then you can't protect him." "…Yeah," I whispered, staring at my coffee. Alfred sighed understandingly, sitting next to me. "Look me in the eye, Bruce," said Alfred seriously. I did as he asked, seeing Alfred's earnest sympathy. "Master Wayne, I know exactly how you're feeling," said Alfred, "And the reason why is because I felt the same way about you. When you turned thirteen, I thought to myself, 'That's it. Before I know it, this young boy is going to be gone, and then he'll have no one to take care of him'. But then I had to take a step back and realize what I was really feeling. I was being selfish, in all honesty. I wanted to be the one who took care of you. But I needed to realize that you would be able to take care of yourself." "I didn't take care of myself all that well," I said. Alfred nodded in agreement.
He looked at me again, saying, "True. But you grew from all that. That's what I needed to know most of all. If I stayed by your side every minute of every day, you'd never grow. You'd never learn things for yourself. It's the same with Master Grayson. You shouldn't worry so much about him. He knows the risk, and he will grow from all his experiences. I say, if he does ask you for the mantle of the Dark Knight, then you may as well give it to him. I believe it would be a sign of growth." Just then, the front door clicked open, and we heard a raucous young voice shout, "That's another one in the joint!" Dick walked over to us, saying, "Hey, Bruce. Thanks for letting me use my bike. It needs some miles on it, and this was a perfect opportunity." "You'll get to do it more, believe me," I assured him. Dick smirked, saying, "I'm going to go play Xbox. Care to join me?" I nodded, saying, "Why not? Alfred, you want to come?" "No, I'm afraid not," replied Alfred, "I have other things to attend to." "Like what?" I asked. As Alfred walked off, he answered, "Netflix, of course. I still haven't finished Breaking Bad." Dick and I both smiled after him, turning and going to play video games.
Meanwhile, Jonathan was angry. He called Roger DeCarlo, saying, "Our last targets from Athena's organization are in jail! Why couldn't you have worked faster!" "Lest you forget, Scarecrow," growled DeCarlo, "we've still got the remaining Falcone family members to take care of! We can't work as fast with two sets of targets!" Jonathan seethed in frustration. He resisted the urge to chuck his phone into the ground. DeCarlo calmed down, saying, "It doesn't seem like a big deal to me. We can just whack them in jail, right? We have connections in there!" "I doubt it," responded Jonathan, "We try to poison them, everyone will suspect several men in comparatively good health just dropping off suddenly. And even if we had good connections in jail, somebody would still be able to trace it back to us. I can't take any risks." "Then why are you so angry?" asked DeCarlo. "Because!" said Jonathan. He sighed heavily, continuing, "Look, just…focus on the Falcone family. I've got another call to make." He hung up without waiting for a response, dialing another number while grumbling, "Insufferable underling, I ought to douse with my cane…" He finished dialing the number, putting his phone up to his ear and listening to the repeating dial tone.
Cerberus finally picked, saying, "What is it this time?" "I need backup," said Jonathan, "Batman is giving me more trouble than before. I need to get to my targets before he does. If I fail at that, he'll stop all my efforts, and Joseph's plan will be defeated." "Joseph's way too careful," said Cerberus, "He has backup plans for everything. But even so, I'm getting tired of Batman too. And despite how creepy you really are, you're an asset to Joseph." "You make me sound like an object," interjected Jonathan. "You're not much of an excuse for a man anyway," Cerberus shot back. Jonathan conceded, "Touché. But anyway, are you going to get that backup to me?" "Fine," said Cerberus, "I guess you'll need it." "I'll be expecting them by tomorrow," Jonathan said, "And don't just throw in those pathetic red units. Send in some gold units, too." "The disciples are valuable tools, Scarecrow," said Cerberus, "I can't just give you everyone of them you want." "Well, then, I guess you don't need my help," said Jonathan. Cerberus said, "All right, I get it." Jonathan hung up. Cerberus sighed, going to get Somnus so he could send the soldiers Jonathan needed, growling curses under his breath the whole way.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I KNOW THAT EVERYTHING HAS BEEN REALLY ERRATIC AND LATE AND EVERYTHING, BUT I HAVE TO SAY THAT I'M TRULY THANKFUL FOR FFN AND ALL MY WONDERFUL FOLLOWERS. YOU GUYS ARE MY FRIENDS (AND MY CHARACTERS LOVE YOU TOO) AND THE REASON I CAN EVEN KEEP UPDATING. NOT ONLY THAT, I'M ALSO THANKFUL FOR MY SAVIOR AND MY CHURCH FAMILY, EARLY COLLEGE, AND THE STRANGE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. SAY WHAT YOU'RE THANKFUL FOR IN YOUR REVIEW, AND HAVE YOURSELF A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON!
