In the Batcave on the medical area, Alfred did an extensive check on Dick's condition after that rather harsh beanbag shot. The only person that was shaking out of existence was Bruce. He had put himself and his partner in danger once again, even after all of those crap that he had to deal with during his years with Dick on the League of Assassins. Even with all of that protective armor, no one is going to protect him of the guilt of letting someone he cared for die again.
Bruce was getting all of the costumes back on its place. All of the body armors and the parts and even the capes had to go with the armor pods just to make sure that they're sterile and ready to be used in the future. Both Batman and Robin had spare clothes in their arsenal. All of their gadgets and everything was also going to be hard to produce. Every batarang thrown was basically throwing another $50 on his enemies, but money wasn't the thing that he's concerned with at this moment.
"He's in good shape, Master Bruce." Alfred said. "It's just a minor concussion. There's no further damage on his body. There's nothing to be worried about."
"Good." Bruce said. "I don't want to make another mistake on the field again."
"Hey Bruce," Dick called. "It's our first year. We'll going to make mistakes."
"We don't want to make one anymore." Bruce said. "This mission is a failure. I didn't get to him on time. Although I doubt that the Killer Croc guy was all entirely Gordon."
Dick chuckled. "I helped a bit."
"No, you helped a lot." Bruce said. "One man almost fell down to his doom, and you saved him. That's exactly why I put you in the costume in the first place. I want you to save people's lives, and what you did tonight was more than enough to convince me."
"So does that mean I'm still Robin?" Dick asked.
"Of course you are." Bruce said, tapping on his shoulders. "But we're going to need a hell of a lot more training and more experience to get this sorted out."
"And we can't get any if we don't want to take risk." Dick said. "You know, the way I see it, I think this mission was just another risk that you took. You knew the consequences, but you take it anyway, and that's how you get experience. So let's not blame each other out. It's not going to help. Let's instead find out how not to make those mistakes again. That's experience for you."
Bruce smiled. He wasn't expecting Dick Grayson to be the one to lecture him, but those words were the words that he would've said if he was about to lecture him. "You're right."
Alfred was not amused in any way, but there was a slight smile on his face. "I didn't know Master Richard was capable of having some wisdom on his little pants."
All chuckled.
"Well, I should get back home." Dick stood up. He put all of his normal clothes back on and began to ran towards the exit of the Batcave, an elevator going straight to the top of the Wayne Manor. "It's late. Someone might be worried. Good night, Bruce."
"Good night, Richard." Bruce said.
Alfred went in closer towards his godson with a hand on his back, smiling as Dick went out of the room. "You know, Master Wayne, after what happened last night, I doubt that you're still on board with the sidekick idea. He's too young for all of this."
"Don't worry. I've trained him enough." Bruce said. "He's 20 years old. He's old enough for this."
##
It's quite disheartening to know that someone in the Squid actually cared for a brief prison fight. The fight between Dick and the Zavimbe guy was one of the most entertaining fights that the prison ever had. It was not too long (about two-three minutes tops), but the amount of moves and techniques that both Dick and Zavimbe had was very fascinating, and it had caused an eruption of excitement that hadn't been felt for years for the prisoners of the Squid.
Both Dick and Jason were riding the elevator towards the owner of the prison itself. He had to give some credits to the architecture. They didn't do a lazy job on making the prison. The elevators looked rusty and uncomfortable, but so are all the things he saw in this hellhole. The prison brought them into a higher level, which lead back to the cafeteria. After the last encounter he had in the cafeteria, he honestly wanted nothing more than just being in his cell again.
"Look," Jason said. "I don't care if people thought that fight you had with Zavimbe was entertaining, but the guards noticed that, and they were lucky to let you go."
"Who was Zavimbe anyway?" Dick asked.
"He was a kid from Congo living mostly in Brazil. That's how he got his Capoeira skills." Jason said. "When he first entered, he tried to escape and took down like five-six guards on his own. He almost managed to reach the outer levels of the prison before the guards got him."
"He almost find his way out?" Dick asked.
"I'm not sure." Jason said. "He tried to get out twice, but he didn't make it. Although Zavimbe is not the only one who attempted escape."
"Who were the other ones?"
"I was." Jason revealed. "I knew how the prison worked from inside out. I recognized all the guard patterns and loopholes. I got out, but I didn't get too far."
"How many times have you tried?"
"Three times, all failed." Jason said. "I'm not sure if I have made it as close as Zavimbe ever was, but if I was, then I'd be very surprised."
Dick nodded, but went confused for a brief moment. "Hey, I thought you said that it's useless to get out."
"I said that after I tried like three times and after Zavimbe tried countless of times." Jason said. "That doesn't matter. What matters is that I know too much to know that I couldn't get out of my way."
"Have you ever considered working together?"
"What?" Jason glanced at Dick on that ridiculous circumstances. "Are you crazy?"
"Well, you both were trying to get out of the prison. So why not work together?"
"Speak a word to him and you'll get your ass kicked!" Jason said.
"Hey, I got your back." Dick said. "Besides, how do you know that you'll going to get your ass kicked? You never talked to him personally."
"Urgh... Okay I admit, you're right about me not ever talking to him but... I don't know." Jason said. "Look, he's freaking David Zavimbe. I don't know how to fight."
"Then let me teach you." Dick said. "Okay, we're going to talk to Zavimbe about this and see if he agrees. Then we'll find our way out of this prison. You've done it three times. Zavimbe has done it once. If we both do it, we might have some chance!"
"Dick, you're crazy." Jason said.
"I know." Dick shrugged off. "Look, no matter what happens, we're not going to get out of here alone. We're going to get out of here together."
"It's easier said than done." Jason said.
"God, you're so pessimistic!" Dick said. "Where's your optimistic side?"
"Fine, we'll talk to him. Jeez!" Jason said before noticing something rather odd. "What's up with the elevator? Get us to the cafeteria already!"
"I heard the guards said that there was a power outage." Dick said. "Perhaps it's not going to be enough power to get up."
Just moments later, the elevator bell rang.
##
"Oh hey." As the elevator opened, he encountered Ariana in front of the elevator. It was rather late, half to twelve, but she was still at the Cottage. "Why are you still here?"
"Tim hasn't come yet." Ariana said. "I've called him an hour ago. He said that he'll come back home, but he hasn't."
Dick widened his eyes. "What's going on?"
"I don't know." Ariana said. She crossed her hands with her heads down, wandering aimlessly back and forth, worried. "He said that he was on Stephanie's diner and I'm worried that something might happen to him."
"Don't you suspect that he might be... you know..."
"Don't say that!" Ariana shouted. "He's not that kind of guy."
"How can you be so sure?"
"We've been together for like two years." Ariana said. "If he cheats on someone, I would've noticed by now. He just met Stephanie on the party last week. Why would he cheat on me for her?"
"Okay, fine." Dick said. "If you really do believe it that way, go ahead, but I'm still curious."
"He wouldn't, Dick." Ariana said. "He wouldn't cheat on a girl who is not a virgin and got herself pregnant when she was sixteen."
"Whoa! Wait a second," Dick said. "Stephanie was pregnant, at sixteen?"
"Yes she was." Ariana said. "I took care of her during her pregnancy years... You know what, forget it. I'm going after them."
"Wait." Dick said, grabbing her arms. "I'm coming with you."
Ariana nodded. "Fine, you can come."
The two went inside the elevator. Ariana pressed the button heading towards the basement. As the elevator went down, Dick asked a few questions.
"So does Tim let you borrow one of his fancy cars?" Dick asked.
"Of course." Ariana said.
"Does he have a Lamborghini?"
"He doesn't have a Lamborghini." Ariana said. "Okay he had, but he sold it for a fully customized Mustang."
"Mustang? Cool." Dick said. "So where's the garage?"
"Down the basement." Ariana said. She took out a key from her purse. "I got a spare."
"Great." Dick said. "Should I drive or should you drive?"
"Unless if you know Gotham here and out, I'll drive."
"You point out the directions. I'll drive." Dick said.
"I'm a little tired, Dick." Ariana said. "I just want to find him, get some sleep, and get this over with."
"Well, you're getting tired is one reason to let me drive."
"Fine, you drive." Ariana gave the keys to her.
"Thanks."
##
Gotham in the Midnight were just as busy as Gotham in the dusk especially in the Downtown district. Most of Gotham's successful company's buildings were always lit. The Wayne Tower is a good example. The Wayne Enterprise logo was shining on the night. Not only that, Employees prefer to work until they got it done. Besides the Wayne Enterprise was the Drake Industries, the very company that built him all the way to this day.
"Turn left on the next traffic lights." Ariana said.
"Got it." Dick said. He took his smartphone out and gave it to her. "Uh... can you make a call to Bruce? Put it in loudspeaker."
"Sure."
Ariana did what he ordered.
"Hey Bruce."
"Dick, what's going on?" Bruce asked.
"Tim's not on his Cottage and this is half to midnight." Dick said.
"What?" Bruce's tone was higher than last time. "Where is he?"
"I don't know." Dick said.
"He was supposed to get home at ten." Ariana interrupted. "I called him at 10:30. He answered and he promised to go back home, but he never came."
"Where did he say he was?"
"He said he was at Stephanie's diner where she worked." Ariana answered.
"Do you know where it is?"
"I do." Ariana said. "We're going there. He was working in a drugstore just right near it."
Dick gave a question. "Should we call the police?"
"Not yet." Bruce said. "Go and check both places and then Stephanie's apartment. If they're not in any of those places, call the police. I can't go anywhere at this moment. My back still hurts."
"Okay, get well soon, Bruce." Dick said, playing along on his lies.
"We'll find them." Ariana said before closing off the contact. "Dick, you missed a turn!"
##
Bruce closed off the phone. He was still in the Batcave, conducting investigations on the criminals tied up on Arthur Brown and Zucco. The two had some connections, and he was going to figure it out. But there was a more important duty just called, and he didn't like the sound of it one bit.
"I knew this would happen." He said.
"What's going on?" Alfred asked.
"Tim hasn't come home yet." Bruce revealed. "If he was at Stephanie's diner when Arthur broke out of the prison, then he must got himself captured as well."
"Captured, for what?" Alfred asked.
"If Zucco wants something from someone, he'll get personal towards them." Bruce said. "Of course, he'll get personal towards Arthur. But if he just even scratch his fingers on Stephanie or Tim, he'll get personal towards me."
"Are you going to use the suit, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked.
"Depends." Bruce said. "Ping on both Stephanie and Tim's phone. Then ping on Stephanie's apartment's telephone. I need sonar projections in all of them."
"Okay, Master Bruce." Alfred then began to do his magic on the Bat computer.
He pinged at Stephanie's phone, only to find out that Tim's phone was just right nearby. The ping pointed them towards a familiar apartment somewhere around Newtown, Gotham. After pinging on said phone, he triggered the sonar projector, which is able to project whatever is going on around the phone.
Alfred gave his speculations. "Both Tim and Stephanie's phone are at their pockets, sir. Right now, they are walking in the hallway of Stephanie's apartment being cuffed by what appears to be a police officer."
"He must be a corrupt cop working for Zucco." Bruce said. "They're going to use them as leverage. But I'm not sure why Tim is with them, unless if they wanted some ransom money."
"Then put the suit on." Alfred said. "I'll be on the computer watching your progress. Another thing, be careful."
"Of course, Alfred."
Bruce went to the Batsuit pod. He punched in a few buttons and finally, he is able to get a hold of each components of the suit. He had already too much action going on in one night. He never wanted another more, but this situation left him no choice.
##
He was an MMA fighter. He was built to get pass troubles by fighting and punching people in the face. He couldn't fight back. It was the amount of power that the authorities had, and how much people love to abuse them. This is one of the biggest reasons why Gotham is such a failure of a city in almost every level. He was surprised that the government didn't nuke it up to pieces at this moment.
Both Stephanie and Tim were cuffed in the hands of the corrupt Detective Arnold Flass. He knew Arnold Flass very well thanks to Jim Gordon and word to mouth. He had dealt with asshole cops before, but not Arnold Flass. This man went into the extra mile of abusing powers and authorities. This man does not speak to reason. He does speak to money. At least Tim was aware of that.
"Where are you taking us?" Stephanie asked, cuff still on the back of her hands.
"Isn't it obvious?" Flass said. "I'm taking you hostage."
"At my own apartment?"
"Your mother is waiting." Flass said.
Stephanie scoffed. "Of course."
Tim was actually surprised. Her mother was being put in hostage and she just scoff on that reaction alone. She scoffed after he brought up the topic on teenage pregnancy and rape, and now she scoffed on her mother being held hostage by corrupt cops with handguns. She didn't even scream or whine or even beg for mercy. What is wrong with this girl?
"You're really going to do this, Flass?" Tim said. "You know, you could be a good cop, have a kid, get a wife, or something like that. If you really want to get your stress out, try a punching bag."
"You're going to shut your mouth kid, or I'll throw you out of the window." Flass said.
"Fine." Tim said.
Flass brought them both towards Stephanie's apartment. It wasn't in complete darkness. Two henchmen were already there guarding a tied and beaten up Carol. There was a blood on her mouth and her left eyes were dark black from the result of being beaten up. Tim was even more surprised that Carol didn't even cry. She just sat there with her head down.
"Mom?" Stephanie called. Her eyes widened by the time she noticed her injuries.
"Stephanie, thank god." Carol smiled as she glanced on the sight of her daughter.
Stephanie was thrown right towards her mother. She fell down, slamming her body on the ground. Tim also got pushed down, but this time, it was Flass who personally did that to him. Tim and Stephanie regained control of their body and sat right near Carol.
"You all going to stay here until we made our calls with Zucco." Flass said. "Your daddy is going to work with us. If he doesn't work with us, then we'll shoot either of you."
Tim stared back at Flass with furious anger. "You'll going to regret doing this, Flass."
"Nothing personal, kid."
"When it's personal, it's your funeral." Tim said.
Flass scoffed. "What do you know, huh? You're just some rich, motherless brat who got nothing better to do than just sit on his room weeping about her."
Tim widened his eyes. "Don't talk about her."
"Why?" Flass said. "Last time I saw you, you were crying out loud about your dead mother. She was a total bitch, and she'll always die a bitch."
"Hey!" Stephanie shouted. "If you're going to insult someone, you're running out of insults when you're insulting dead loved ones."
If only he could break out of his cuff and grab that smug looking face of his and slam it into a nearby wall, he would be very satisfied by now. Tim's sudden adrenaline was rushing right through his veins. His only desire of getting Arnold's face slammed into a nearby wall could only get stronger the moment he got into his face.
Tim grunted and charged at him, but it was no use. The henchmen already got his shoulder and put him all the way back down.
"I say what I want." Flass said. "Where's your baby, anyway? She misses her mother, you know? You put that poor little thing away from your care because you don't care for her."
"You'll going to regret saying that." Stephanie said, eyes burning with anger and a stare below the freezing point.
"I won't regret a thing."
"Really?" Stephanie grinned. "Just you watch. I keep my promises."
Arnold Flass got called by his superiors. The phone on his pockets just vibrated. He took the phone and answered.
"Hey, Boss." He said. "I got them. Do you want to get him in line? ... Wait a second..." Flass closed off the phone and turned his head towards the three. "I had an important call. I'll be right back."
"I hope you are," Tim said. "So I can slam you down a cold ice and beat your face with a hammer."
"Oh god yes." Stephanie said. "I can't wait for that."
"Dream high, kids."
##
It's fifteen to midnight, and they have yet come into a resolution on the disappearance of Tim Drake. Even Stephanie Brown's disappearance was still questionable. Dick was hoping that whatever they are doing wasn't intimate. He trailed off from that thought as the owner explaining his alibi.
"Her shift ended two hours ago." He said. "She was with a boy and an Asian teenage girl. I think the teenage girl was homeless with that awful garbs she wore, and she eats more food than she speaks words."
"Where is this homeless girl?" Dick asked
"I don't know." The owner shrugged. "She left shortly after, but she might be around. The last thing I know about the girl is that she was given $200 by the other guy."
"$200?" Dick widened his eyes. "That's a little excessive, don't you think?"
"Don't ask me." The owner began packing up and getting his apron off. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go home."
"I'm sorry to disturb you, sir."
"It's alright, kid." The owner said. "At least you're not robbers."
"May I ask something?" Dick began. "Does people often come here after midnight?"
"You might be surprised." The owner said. "You may have late night reporters and news anchors coming here once in a while finishing their late night news that nobody watch." The owner paused for a moment, realizing the person that he was talking to all this time. "Hey, I think I know you! You're that circus kid who came back from the dead!"
"Yeah, that's me." Dick said. "I should've listened to my friend last time. The reporters won't shut up, but thankfully my sort-of dad always give me the best advice: Give them hell."
The two chuckled. It's been a while since he had a normal, pleasant conversation with someone especially in Gotham City. It's rather uncommon to experience something like that.
"Dick," Ariana called from the back. "Are you done?"
"Yeah, I'm done." Dick said. "Let's go."
"Girlfriend?"
"No. My friend's girlfriend." Dick said, leaving the diner as he spoke.
The two went out of the diner and began walking back towards Tim's Mustang. Ariana opened the door into the passenger seat, but Dick wandered off buying some sodas on a nearby vending machine.
"You want some Pepsi?" Dick asked.
"No, thanks."
Two cans dropped off from the machine. Ariana was slightly confused. "Who was the other one for?"
"It's for Tim."
"How do you know Tim likes Pepsi?"
"Last time I checked, he had a Pepsi Vending Machine on his apartment AND he drank a lot of Pepsi on the party." Dick said. "Also he drank a Pepsi when I was on the circus."
Ariana raised her eyebrows. "You seems to know Tim a lot."
"Yeah, the toddler version of him at least."
Ariana laughed. "So what did the owner tell you?"
"He said that they were here two hours ago with a homeless girl. That's all that I could get." Dick said.
"Let's get to the drugstore, then." Ariana said. "It's not too far from here."
The two decided to walk towards the drugstore. The night was cold, but calm and relaxing. If there were any thugs coming on his way, Dick will be ready on that. During the way, he had some questions to ask to her. "Why is Tim working in a drugstore?"
"Because other than listening to Heavy Metal all the time, science is actually his biggest hobby." Ariana said. "So he pretends to be an intern working off at a drugstore. It's a weird thing that he does, but that's just who he is."
"Then why is he graduated in Business Management?"
"Tim is a perfectionist sort of guy." Ariana said. " He's miles ahead to even the scientists in STAR Labs. He's like a walking encyclopedia. He just doesn't show it often."
"Why?"
"Well, because he's not a scientist." Ariana said. "He had all the skills and the talents of being a one, but he has his own company to run on. Without that company, he wouldn't be able to buy that car. Even if scientists in STAR Labs are very well paid, nobody is going to look out for his company. So he studied Business Management."
"So a former High School MMA fighter, a scientist, and a businessman at the age of 19." Dick shook his head back and forth. "I really don't buy it."
"So do I. Perhaps the Boy Wonder title that you got already passed on to him." Ariana said. "He studied Physics, Biology, and Chemistry months, probably weeks way before anyone starting freshman year could. Tim was one of the youngest students entering Gotham University, and for good reason. I barely started the class and he'd jump start about 10 materials. He outsmarted even the senior students. I'm not bragging, but according to the teachers, I was the top student in the entire class, and even then, he still beat me to it. I hate to admit it, but I actually went to him for help."
"Wow, a senior asking a freshman for help." Dick said. "Never thought that would happen."
"Yeah, me neither." Ariana said. "When he started, he was a troublemaker. He got late to school, always quits, and thinks that school is extremely boring. You know, I only thought that he thought the school was boring because he was a jerk who know nothing, but then I saw his presentations and how he owned every student including myself. Honestly, my jaw couldn't drop even harder. I can't imagine how boring school is when they told you the things that you already learned."
"A very smart troublemaker, huh?" Dick said. "That sounds scary."
"He IS scary." Ariana said. "He's not only the smartest student in the class, but an athlete as well. People either hire him to join the Gotham City Knights, you know, the national league Football Club, or get him into some science fair or something. He mostly said no and instead went to the MMA class of all things. He barely knew MMA when he started, but I saw his trainings with Ted Grant, and he's a really fast learner. He even visited an old martial arts master Richard Dragon during his visit to China. During one match, I saw him KO a student in just one hit. By god, he excelled it, and then he won Gold, then he stopped and went to other things."
"He's an over achiever of some sort." Dick said.
"Yeah, he's sort of like that back then." Ariana said. "But the thing is he doesn't like winning one type of award all the time. He likes to win at everything, and he won a lot of things other than MMA, that is except for a few things."
"Like what?"
"For one, there's computers." Ariana said. "Even though Tim is really good at computers, he'll never be as good as Barbara Gordon. If there's someone that is worthy to be his rival, it's her."
"God, now you made me want to see how the two fights." Dick asked.
"Oh trust me. Their fights are anticipated like Christmas." Ariana said.
"So if Barbara is as clever, if not, probably better than him, why didn't he date her instead?" Dick asked.
"Well, for one, he said that he didn't want a girlfriend with the brain of Professor Langstrom." Ariana said. "Langstrom is one of the weird professors in my College years. He was teaching Biology but someone hired him for a government project. So he left. And when I say he's weird, I mean it."
"Maybe it's only her brain that was like him." Dick said. "Maybe her heart is different enough."
"I don't know. I barely knew her." Ariana said. "How about you ask her out yourself? I heard she's still single and Tim said that you have a soft spot for redheads."
Dick blushed. "Yeah, uh... I'll consider that." Moments later, Dick noticed the building that he was looking for all this time. "Is that the drugstore over there?"
"Yeah." Ariana said. "And that's Tim's motorcycle. It's still there. That mini cooper looked pretty familiar as well."
"Isn't that Stephanie's?" Dick asked.
"Actually yes, that's her's." Ariana revealed. "It's open for some reason."
"Thank god no one bothered to steal it, but this probably means that they're in trouble." Dick immediately approached the mini cooper. He glanced around it and noticed something hanging right near the steering wheel. "The keys are still here and they're not inside."
"Shit." Ariana said. "I'm calling the police."
"Wait!" Dick said. "We haven't checked Stephanie's apartment."
"Why would they just walk out of their cars and walk to her apartment?" Ariana pointed. "Her house was like four-five miles from here. If there's a car and a motorcycle that they can use, why walk?"
Dick sighed. "Okay, fine. Go call the cops. But don't blame me if they're practically saying the same thing. I'm going to park the car away so that people can get pass it."
"It's almost midnight." Ariana said. "No one is passing by."
"Well, tell that to the news anchor." Dick said. "I just saw Vicki Vale on the live news during the Blackgate break in."
"A break in?"
"Yeah, haven't you heard?" Dick asked. "I saw it on the news. Anyway, just call the police. The keys are still on the car. I'll park it out."
"Right." Ariana nodded and took her smartphone out to call the authorities.
Dick entered the mini cooper. He turned on the car and raised the window to get some privacy. He took his Bluetooth headset and connected it to his smartphone. He called Bruce to report in what's going on, probably on his duty as the Dark Knight.
"Not now, Dick." Bruce said in his Batman voice.
"What's up?" Dick asked. "Have you found them?"
"Both Stephanie and Tim are in her apartment." Batman said. "And no, they're not sleeping together. Keep your minds in check."
"Christ. I wasn't thinking of that." Dick said. "I found Stephanie's mini cooper opened and unlocked in the middle of the street and Tim's motorcycle parked in front of the drugstore he worked on. Who brought them to her apartment?"
"A bunch of corrupt cops." Batman said. "I think one of them is Detective Arnold Flass. He's Jim Gordon's former partner and is now off of him for a good reason. He's corrupt, violent, and is only working for Zucco's money."
"So you're going to take them down?"
"I'll get a complete blackout on the entire sector, then I'll give the rest of the guards some distraction." Batman said. "There are only five cops in the entire building, but I couldn't see Flass. So it won't be a big deal. Don't call me unless if it's an emergency."
"Okay, just make sure they're safe." Dick said. "Be careful, Bruce."
Dick went out of the car. He went towards where he last seen Ariana. He couldn't be more surprised that there was someone else talking with her. She was a girl, a tall girl with a short black hair and rags with small ripped holes around her. It can be seen that Ariana is struggling to speak to her.
"Oh thank god." Ariana said. "Dick, I need your help talking to this girl."
"Of course, I'll..." Dick then took a good look at the said girl, but there was a noticeable shock on his face. "Oh my god."
##
It couldn't be much easier getting off of plastic cuffs. Richard Dragon has taught him so much to get out of captives. Plastic cuffs are no exception. In fact, it was one of the easiest forms of bondage. He was glad that the cops didn't use metal cuffs. Even if they did use metal cuffs, he could still break fee out of them with just a little force on his hand.
He also noticed Stephanie did the same thing that he did to get out of the plastic handcuff. He couldn't be more shocked knowing that there was a girl almost equal to that amount of skill. Carol was also able to get out of that plastic cuff alone. Shock and confusion couldn't hinder more around Tim's head.
A few moments after they got out of it, a power outage occurred. The room was dark, but it wasn't completely dark. He could still see in it. Tim was trained for this sort of thing just in case if he was facing other opponents as well. There were only two corrupt cops inside the room with them. Tim observed every hand twitching and gestures that they made. Even without observing much, Tim knew that these cops were just a bunch of amateurs.
"Who turned off the lights?" One of them said.
"It's total blackout, I think." Another one replied. "What are we supposed to do now?"
Sounds of windows breaking can be heard from the outside, followed by gunshots and a voice of someone screaming like hell and echoed through the entire building. Not only screaming, but sounds of brutal and violent hits into the wall can be heard as well. It sounded like there was an intense one on one battle that he couldn't see at this moment, even though he wanted to see it.
"What the fuck was that?"
"I don't know. Get your guns ready in the front door. Anything comes and we'll shoot it up to hell."
"Got it."
Tim honestly couldn't even think of how he could hold up with a bunch of dumbasses. He could still see the door from here, and in just a moment later, the door actually opened. The moment it opened, the corrupt cops just downright opened fire at whoever is opening it.
"Hey, uh..." Stephanie shouted. "Need a little help here!"
"What?" Both cops were distracted by her shouts.
"Not you, morons!" Stephanie shouted. "Whoever's behind that door!"
Someone actually broke through the door. It propelled and got loose from the hinge, hitting one of the cops right in front of it. He's knocked out, and his gun dropped out of his hand. The moment it all happened, the other guy already got his gun aimed towards the one who kicked the door in the first place. He wanted to not believe what he saw, but his eyes couldn't lie.
The Batman.
There is no better way to describe what he just saw. It was just a myth, he thought it was just a lie. He thought it was just a lie spread by the people who didn't know any better, but those eyes weren't lying, and his eyes weren't certainly lying on what he just saw. What people have said about him also weren't lies either. His strength was inhuman. One simple kick managed to let loose a door from its hinge.
His swiftness and agility were the few things that he had to see to believe. The other man tried to shoot him with efforts, but every single bullet passed right through him. His reflexes were amazing and he dodged very well. He also managed to completely propel one bullet using the metal thing on his arm, which also extended into very sharp blades on its surface. It won't be a good news trying to punch the guy. He could get cut from those blades easily.
It only took the Batman two seconds to get his grip to the man's neck and lift him off the ground. So far, only three shots were out of the 9mm pistol. Even if it is able to hit the Batman, he doubted that it could penetrate through his rather large armor. The cop didn't give up there. As he was lifted up, he still got his pistol loose. He pointed the muzzle end besides the head of the Bat, but the Bat was quick enough to snatch the gun and threw it away.
It all ended with a huge bang on the corrupt cop. The Batman pinned him towards the side of the wall. In a moment's notice, he then began his interrogation. "What are you going to do with them?"
"Screw you!"
"Wrong answer!" Batman slammed his body down the wall once again, causing him to groan in pain. "Tell me or this will be the last time you will ever feel your leg!"
The voice of the bat was abnormally loud. It was unreal. It not only echoed through the entire room, but it sounded like he was whispering, except it was really loud and he was close to the microphone, if there is actually one on his throat.
The man groaned, but he later proceed to answer the question himself. "Zucco used them as a leverage, an illusion for Arthur Brown so that he would work with him."
"Then why is that boy there?"
"I don't know." The man answered. "Go ask Flass!"
"Where is he?"
"He's outside."
"What's going on here?"
The voice of the detective can be heard just right near the door.
"Get down!" The Batman warned the three hostages.
He threw the last henchmen out of the way. Flass took his pistol, but instead of shooting the Bat, he pointed his direction towards the hostages. Batman immediately ran towards the direction of the gun to take the rest of the bullet by himself. He used his bulletproof cape to shield the rest of the hostages away from the stray of bullets travelling in a speed of light. The bullets were not able to penetrate through the powerful cape.
After his Berretta was completely reduced into an empty magazine, it's Batman's turn to get to the upper hand. He charged towards the bad guy, and Flass was easily defeated. The Batman flew in towards him much faster. He hit him rather hard in the nose, which caused him to bleed out and fell down the ground. The Bat turned his back towards the three hostages only to find something more horrifying.
Despite his best efforts taking the bullet, the first shot actually hit. One of the bullets managed to get pass him, and it hit Carol in the shoulder. There was a noticeable bullet wound and blood coming out of her. It was rather horrifying to say the least.
Carol can be heard grabbing her shoulder in pain. She groaned slightly, but she didn't like scream like most women would. Since all three got their cuffs out, both Stephanie and Tim tried to get Carol to lie down the floor. Stephanie was clearly the most shocked of all. It was a bullet wound in the shoulder. For the record, it wasn't the most threatening area of all, but that didn't mean anything. It's still dangerous.
"Mom, you're going to be fine." Stephanie was clearly panicked.
It should've been Carol who had an inconsistent breath, but it was Stephanie who did. Her breath was really fast, but Carol kept it consistent and controlled.
"Hold on, mom." Stephanie said. "You're going to be fine."
Carol chuckled. "I've been through worse."
"Tim!" Stephanie shouted. "We need to slow her bleeding. Get the first aid kit inside the kitchen counter!"
Tim nodded and turned around towards the entrance door, but what perplexed him was that the sight of the Dark Knight cannot be seen around anymore. The Batman disappeared, and so is the corrupt detective Flass apparently. He stood up and ran towards the end of the door, glancing around at every turn of the corridor and every dark corner of the room, but there was no sign of the Bat.
"Tim!" Stephanie shouted once again. "Hurry!"
"Okay! I'm coming!"
##
"Speak!"
"What in the hell are you?"
"I'm not important." Batman said. "Now you're going to tell me what you're going to do with those three hostages or I'll drop you off in this building."
"You won't."
"I will." Batman said. "By this height, the best thing that can possibly happen to you is you have your leg hurts like hell. The worst thing, I can drop you in here, put you back up and drop you again until every lower bone of your body breaks like how you bite off your potato chips."
"What?" This time, Arnold's face was drenching with sweat. "You're crazy man!"
"Speak!"
"Okay, okay!" Flass said. "Look, Zucco paid me to get Arthur Brown's family to get him to work, and you're late. Arthur is convinced, and he's working for Zucco right now."
"What does Zucco want with Arthur Brown so much?" Batman asked.
"Zucco is dying of the side effects of the Thrill Drug." Flass said. "The new Thrill Drug was based on Arthur Brown's formula. His withdrawal kicked in and he took the wrong drug. Instead of taking the thrill drug, he took a prototype version of the new drug and it caused so much more side effects on him. I don't know what it is, but even our chemist couldn't help. That's why he took Arthur. He hoped that he could heal him."
"Why would Arthur want to help him?"
"I don't know, you tell me!" Flass said. "Now please, just let me go. You're not going to drop me, aren't you?"
Batman lifted his face towards Arnold before finally giving a conclusion to his fate. "Why did you shoot Carol Brown?"
"I... Zucco warned me if someone goes in to come, he should kill all the hostages."
"Remember when I say that the best thing that could happen to you is to have your legs hurt like hell?"
"What...?"
"You're in luck."
"Wait... No... NO!"
He dropped him. Just like what Batman said, Arnold is dropped from the ground and he didn't actually kill him in this height. It only managed to cripple his leg, but his groaning was rather quite painful to hear. There was even a bone-cracking noise heard by the time he got into impact. His back was also in pain.
The Batman called the Batmobile, which was in autopilot. The Batmobile came, drifted towards a nearby street and automatically parked right beside the building where Batman was. Arnold glanced at the Batmobile, still seeing quite the unbelievable sight of the menace that was Batman plus the Batmobile that fits with his dark knight motive. Its design was futuristic. The sound of it was not very loud like a simple humming noise coming from a fan, but it is still very menacing. Not to mention the speed of it and the amount of armor and firepower it got.
Batman descended to the Batmobile slowly using his cape. The Batmobile detected his presence. The rooftop pilot entrance is opened and he immediately took position sitting on it. The moment he entered, the Batmobile's engine began roaring and ran away from the area.
"Computer, autopilot to the cave." Batman said. He grabbed the touchscreen and called in Stephanie Brown.
"Stephanie, Stephanie?" Batman took off his mask and spoke to Stephanie Brown with his normal voice.
"Good Evening." She replied. "Who is this?"
"It's Bruce." He said. "How are you?"
"Don't worry. I'm fine." Stephanie said. "I was being kidnapped by a bunch of cops, but you wouldn't believe when I tell you that the Batman just popped in and save the day."
"The... Batman?" Bruce said. "Are you alright? Did he hurt any of you?"
"Not really." She said. "He just came in to save all of us. My mom is injured in the shoulder but we're bringing her to Leslie Thompkin's clinic."
"Good, that's where you should go." Bruce said. "I'll go and check up on you two."
"You don't have to." Stephanie said. "I'm with Tim. He'll get you up to speed. He's fine, by the way."
"I'm going there anyway." Bruce said. "I'll call you later."
"Bruce..."
He then closed off the phone and called in Dick Grayson. "Dick, where are you?"
"Bruce oh thank god. You honestly wouldn't believe who I just met." Dick said. "I'll explain later. Where is Stephanie and Tim?"
"She's in Leslie Thompkin's Clinic." Bruce said. "I'll meet you there. Who did you meet?"
"I'm not going to tell you. I'll keep it a surprise."
##
"Look, I've seen many bizarre things, but this one really takes the cake." Ariana said. "It's a miracle that you just found her all out of the blue and it's a coincidence that she actually talked to him. This is the mother of all coincidences."
"I'm sorry that you were shocked. " Dick said. "Hell, you could put me on electric rails while being struck by lightning and it still wouldn't be as shocking as this one."
"Now let me ask the question that I've been asking since you just hug her out of nowhere." Ariana said. "Who is she and how did you meet her?"
"Her name is Cassandra Cain." Dick said. "She came from a family once, a very happy family. I knew her parents very well. There was some sort of accident with her parents. We both split up and we thought we never see each other again. To see her like that on the streets sleeping with ragged clothes like that is just..."
"Okay, fine. Spare me the details." Ariana said. "So she's a longtime friend of yours. Why was she roaming on the streets?"
"I don't know." Dick said, shrugging. "I mean the last time I checked, I thought she was with her uncle or something. But now that I've seen her, well, I don't know what to say."
Ariana paused, not even trying to think of what to say after all of that.
"But it doesn't matter now." Dick said. "She's a friend of mine, and I can't let her roaming out on the streets by herself, especially the streets of Gotham City."
"So what are you going to do with her?"
"I'm going to give her a place to stay." Dick said. "She saved Tim's life. Maybe he'd consider giving her a room in his apartment."
"I don't know." Ariana said. "This is the first time Tim just gave away one of his apartment rooms and that is to someone close to him and also because Bruce promises that he'll pay for it."
"Don't worry." Dick said. "Bruce knew her more than she knew me."
Another shock can be seen on Ariana's face. "What, she knew Bruce as well? Seriously what kind of coincidence is this?"
"I don't know, a special one that comes once in a while." Dick said. "Like I said, it doesn't matter. Now that she's here, I want to help her."
Ariana sighed. "Seriously, I really want to know what's going on between the three of you."
"It's a long story." Dick said. "But it's not an interesting one, I can tell you that. It only has a bunch of roaming around."
"Fine." Ariana said. "Just keep it to yourself."
"Thanks."