From what I remember, Dick just stood there. Shocked. Deadshot's henchman dropped their weapons and ran like hell from me. I moved over to Dick, untied him, but he didn't move. He was still shocked.
"You just... what?" He stammered.
"He killed Oracle, Dick." I replied.
"Good," He said. "Now he's dead."
"Change of heart, eh?" I said.
"I guess..." He said. We set off for the Clocktower, over the other side of Gotham. It was a long trek, and it took us thirty minutes. We talked about Oracle, this war against crime and some other topic I can't remember. It was either going to end up with Crane being killed or crime takes over the city. Of course, Bruce was going to try and put him back in Arkham Asylum, which was opened a year ago. Crane let out all the criminals within it's confinement when he took over. When we arrived at the Clocktower, medics were there removing Oracle's body. Bruce had locked down the Clocktower and was informing Commisoner Gordon about what had happened. I raced over to Oracle's body, and Dick followed closely behind me.
"I'm sorry, Barbara. We weren't there." I told her. Dick put his arm around me to comfort me, but it was hard to do at that point. I watched as the medics took her body into the elevator, and disappeared below us. Gordon took the stairs down to see her, and I went to follow, but Bruce placed a hand on my shoulder.
"We'll see her later, Robin. For now, we need to track Black Mask." He told me.
"You're right, Batman." I said. The computers we used in the Clocktower appeared, and on one of the monitors, I saw:
CRIMINALS TO APPREHEND TONIGHT
Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow AT LARGE (Base of Operations: Arkham Asylum)
Edward Nygma/The Riddler AT LARGE (Base of Operations: Unknown)
Jason Todd/Arkham Knight AT LARGE (Base of Operations: Wonder Tower (Suspected), Arkham Asylum)
Garfield Lynns/Firefly AT LARGE (Base of Operations: Pinkney Orphanage (Suspected)
Oswald Copplepot/The Penguin CAPTURED (Base of Operations: Museum)
Floyd Lawton/Deadshot DECEASED (Base of Operations: Unknown)
Slade Wilson/Deathstroke DECEASED (Base of Operations: Wonder Tower (Formerly)
Jeremiah Arkham (Suspect Only)/Black Mask AT LARGE (Base of Operations: Sionis Steel Mill (Formerly), ACE Chemical's building)
Unknown/Bane CAPTURED (Base of Operations: Sionis Steel Mill)
Harvey Dent/Two-Face CAPTURED (Base of Operations: Solomon Wayne Courthouse)
Damian Wayne al Ghul/Black Knight AT LARGE (Base of Operations: Unknown)
I had never known that was there before.
"The activation's complete. Black Mask's at the ACE Chemicals building. We should head there now," Bruce said. "Lockdown Clocktower. Authorization Batman." The computers and monitors disappeared again. The Clocktower changed back into a normal room.
"What about Firefly at the Orphanage?" Dick asked. We seemed to have forgotten about him.
"I'll see if the Birds can handle it," He said. "We need all the power we can get to take down Black Mask, but the Birds can handle Lynns. They just need to stay from the fire."
"Oh nah." I replied sarcasticly. Dick laughed.
"Good one." He said. Bruce contacted the Birds of Prey, and started talking to them. Dick and I just mulled over the details we already had.
"We could try and find the trophies Nygma always puts around the city." Dick suggested.
"It takes ages to find them all." I said. Bruce had told me all about the pain he had suffered finding them all in Arkham City.
"OK. What about info on Damian?" Dick then said.
"We got nothing on him, except we know he fled from the museum when Bluebird took down Cobblepot." I said.
"We'll find him at some stage." Dick said.
"Alright, Dick, Tim. Black mask is definitely operating at ACE Chemicals. The Birds are heading after Firefly at the Orphanage." Bruce told us after a lengthy conversation with Black Canary.
"Great. Which floor?" I asked.
"It looks like the top one, where they keep the most dangerous liquids," He said. "Lockdown Clocktower. Authorization Batman." The Clocktower returned to its usual state.
"Should we head off?" Dick prompted. Bruce was just standing in the middle of the room, mystified by something...
*THE FOLLOWING IS A BRIEF PASSAGE OF BRUCE'S THOUGHTS AT THAT TIME, DONE FROM BRUCE'S PERSPECTIVE*
All I could think about was Oracle. She had risked her life for me, always been at my side, and now she was gone. I couldn't help remembering that fateful day, when Joker showed up at her door and shot her in the spine. It changed her. She always motivated me when I needed it. She was a great helper to have at Arkham Asylum, and evidently, Arkham City and what happened a year ago. She had done so much for me, and I had never even said "Thank you."
*I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS BRIEF PASSAGE OF BRUCE'S THOUGHTS. NOW, BACK TO TIM*
"Bruce, you coming?" I said, bringing him out of his trance.
"Yeah, I'm coming." He said. As we exited, the Batmobile showed up below. Dick and I sat in the passenger seats, and Bruce started driving towards ACE Chemicals.
"Where are we going to enter from?" I asked Bruce.
"We're going to get to the top floor, then find a way in," He instructed us. "Once we find a way in, Black Mask is bound to be guarded by some armed thugs. You guys will take the armed guys out, I'm going to get Black Mask, then we can see if he really is Jeremiah Arkham."
"Great." Dick said as we arrived at ACE Chemicals.
"You know what to do." Bruce said to us. We all grappled up about a quarter of the way up the building. Bruce pointed out the guards all around us, armed with guns. Bruce gestured to us to knock them out. I proceeded to jump to the platform above me, where one was waiting. I took him out silently, as Bruce and Dick took out two others. We grappled up to about three quarters of the way, and saw about six more soldiers. I took out two thugs in one move, and Bruce and Dick did the same. About five metres up, I spotted an open window. I gestured to Bruce about this window, but he was preoccupied with something else. I moved over towards him, but Bruce was knocked down by something. I saw a flash of green, and then a gun. Bruce was knocked off the balcony he was standing on by someone wearing a green waistcoat and brown trackpants. The Riddler.
"NO!" I screamed, but it was too late. Bruce was knocked of the balcony and started to fall. I instinctively jumped off my balcony and chased him in a steep dive. Only, he kept falling away from me... it seemed I would never reach him...
