Part 7: And Into the Fire
The Antidote had done its work. Within a few hours, the poison was clear of Bruce's system. Caine had done part of his duty. The rest of that duty would be to locate Bruce's ward and bring him home unharmed. Caine felt responsible since Dick had been taken by the Scorpion Clan. He also had his own suspicions in that area. Their curious use of scorpion venom was just too coincidental. Caine was about to leave when a knock on the door brought Alfred to the hall. The figure at the door seemed familiar. Caine stood at the side of the stairs watching. Bruce was still in the batcave.
"May I help you?"
"I'm here to see Mr. Wayne."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Wayne is not available to see anyone."
"He will see me," the man insisted and handed Alfred a note. "It's about a certain . . . shall we . . . investment."
"Very well. I shall let him know."
Caine watched as Alfred went into the study to contact Bruce. It would be a few moments for him to come up from the batcave. Caine allowed himself to blend in the shadows so the man would not notice that he was being observed. He noticed the man wore a large gold cuff on the wrist, just like one of the men had worn at the apothecary shop. That bracelet had been small while this one was wider and the scorpion stood out against the cuff. The other, the image was carved into the metal while the Scorpion on this man's cuff was three-dimensional. Could he be the leader? Caine realized just who had attacked him and Dick yesterday. They may call themselves the Scorpion Clan, but he knew they were much more. The Scorpion Sect was the deadliest of all the sects that had broken off from the Shaolin. Knowing that, he knew just how to deal with them and that was to take out their leader, and he had to do that himself.
Caine moved into the shadows, disappearing as Bruce entered the hallway.
"I'm Bruce Wayne, may I help you?"
The man handed Bruce the bundle he was holding.
"A little reminder for insurance purposes."
Bruce unwrapped the bundle. It contained clothing, and he knew just who's clothing it was, and he hoped no harm would fall to him.
"What have you done with Dick?" Bruce demanded, coming toe to toe, their eyes meeting.
"He's unharmed, for the moment. We have business to take care of. Shall we go into your study?"
"There is no business," Bruce said through gritted teeth. "And if Dick is harmed in any way . . ."
"You are in no position to dictate terms. If you do not do business with us, you will never see your ward, again. You have 24 hours. Good day, Mr. Wayne." The man handed Bruce a scroll, containing the instructions to turn Wayne Enterprise over to the clan, then left. Bruce tore the document up and threw it on the floor.
The look on Bruce's face was one of total rage with a hint of something else. He had no idea where to locate Dick and that left him feeling helpless, which was not a position that Bruce was used to. He held the clothes close to his vest, when suddenly an odd odor reached his nose. It smelled like seawater. The docks?
Bruce raced to the study, opened the secret door and slid down the bat pole to the batcave. Once changed into Batman, he went over to the analyzer and placed Dick Grayson's pants on the panel. He pushed a few buttons and lifted the scope to look at it more closely and made a quick discovery.
'Dick is somewhere along the waterfront. His pants have traces of saltwater.' At least he had a clue to where Dick could be found. Batman swiftly moved to an innocuous looking steel door and went inside. He came out carrying a thick black suitcase then went into the guest quarters. He had one other duty he had to deal with and that was Catwoman.
"You have a deal, Catwoman, but I need a name."
"It's about time you came back," Catwoman purred. "I heard one of the men talking. He said to tell Lo Chang that they would be back with 'her' soon. I assumed it was me."
Batman released the mechanism that unlocked the energy barrier. "Get in the batmobile."
"What about my money?"
"You'll get it, after I deliver you to the airport."
Catwoman did as she was told, then Batman placed the suitcase behind his seat. He pulled out a can of bat sleep and put the villainous vixen to sleep. Climbing into the batmobile, he buckled up then headed to the Gotham City airport. Once there, he gave Catwoman the bat wake and reminded her of her promise. Then handed her a plane ticket and the suitcase. Once Catwoman was taken care of, he headed to Gotham Harbor and hoped he wasn't too late.
Dick Grayson woke once more from his drugged induced stuper. Beside his bedside was another tray of food, this time a glass of orange juice with toast.
'No, I'm not going to fall for that again,' he thought. He would have to ignore his stomach and do what he had to do to escape. Over night, the ship had moved, but Dick wasn't aware of it. All he knew was that he had to get out. Dick reached under the mattress to find the knife and the paper bat signal. His captures hadn't found either one. He grabbed the knife and stood up on the bed. Luckily, the ceiling was low enough to reach and he made quick work of the vent. Once the grate was off, he made sure it was hidden. If he could put the grate back, he would, making it that much harder for them to discover how he escaped. They would know soon enough once they returned to pick up the tray.
Once the grate was completely off, Dick grabbed the bat symbol he created, and with years of acrobatic practice, Dick used the bed as a springboard and launched himself into the vent. Crawling through the vent wasn't easy as it looked. He had to find a way up and out. He also had to be careful that he didn't make any noise as he passed other grates to other rooms. When he finally reached the upper decks of the ship, he could see that everyone was scrambling, 'looking for me, no doubt,' he thought.
Dick finally emerged from the ventilation system making sure the coast was clear. He didn't know how much longer he could evade everyone. He had to find a light to place his bat signal on. It was starting to get dark again. Then Dick spotted the light he was searching for, high up near the bridge of the ship. Dick could hear voices coming. He only had one chance.
"There he is!"
"Stop him!"
"He won't get away, there's no place for him to go."
"Get the tranquilizer gun. If he lands in the water, we can fish him out."
"What's he doing?"
Dick reached the light and placed the bat on its surface then turned it on.
"You can't hold me for long. Batman will get here, you'll see."
"Shoot him now!"
"He's valuable cargo."
"Give me that." The crewmember took aim just as Dick was about to make a spectacular dive into the water. The dart connected and instead of diving, Dick fell, his arms flaying out. Batman arrived at that moment to see Dick Grayson hit the water.
"DICK! NOOOO!"
Continues with Part 8: The Scorpions Tale is Cut
