Another Bat in the Belfry

"I knew you had it in you, Vale," Harry proclaimed. It wasn't often the Gotham Star's editor smiled. Most times he was scowling and barking orders. Today, however, he had a large, genuine smile on his face.

And Vicki was enjoying every moment of it.

"I know you know this already, since you're conceited." Asshole. "But you're the Number 1 reporter in this entire stinkin' city." Damn straight, she was. "Stories like this prove it. You just get lazy sometimes, so someone—meaning me—has to give you a swift kick to the ass."

And they were back to asshole.

"You say the sweetest things, Harry," Vicki replied, her tone dripping with sweetness. Sarcasm was such a great thing. "And while I would love to keep hearing you praise me, I have to go back to work. There's so much more to follow up on this story."

That got Harry's interest. "There's more?" he questioned greedily. "You were holding out on me, huh?"

"Oh, Harry, you should know that something this big requires more than just one story. I've got an entire series planned."

"You know, if you weren't a redhead, I'd say you were the daughter I never had."

"…you have two daughters."

"And neither of them are like you. Now shoo, I need to organize the templet for the next edition."

Rolling her eyes, Vicki left Harry's office, the clacking of her high heels reaching her ears as she made her way to her desk. The entire trip had people giving her thumbs up, congratulations, and even a hug. Oh yeah, she had missed this attention.

Part of her wondered just how they would react to her real story.

The exposé on Wayne Enterprises was a nice thing. Vicki had been more than ready to stick it to Bruce Wayne; she just needed the right piece to do it. He deserved every bit of blood he was about to let after the shit he pulled on her.

Despite these monster bat-things his scientists had created, the reporter knew this was more of an inconvenience for someone of Wayne's stature. He would weather it like he had many of the other scandals that had rocked his company. She was perfectly aware of just how little he knew about the inner-workings of Wayne Enterprises.

She would have thought that had she not known just who he really was. In Vicki's mind, there was another use for this bat serum Bruce had concocted. With the presence of Superman and the Justice League, people with superpowers were everywhere nowadays. No way would Bruce sit on the sidelines as he was outclassed in every way, shape, or form. He wanted this serum to give himself superpowers, even if it turned him into a giant bat.

If it wasn't for Batman being sighted with the giant bat, she would've thought it was Bruce flying around at night.

Which reminded her, she hadn't heard back from her P.I. in a while. She needed to call him up to see just what was going on with his investigation, if Leslie Thompkins was as neck-deep in the Batman operation, and a number of other things.

Sometimes she wondered just what she paid him for.

That could wait though. Taking a seat at her desk, she lounged in the chair for a moment, collecting her thoughts. She hadn't been lying when she said she had more on this Science-Gone-Mad story. Wu had given her so much material, she wasn't sure what all to do with it. Sure, she lacked photographic evidence, but as of now there would be an official investigation. A call to one of her police contacts had already verified that the GCPD was on the move.

A small smile began to form on her lips. This was only the start of her being a thorn in Bruce Wayne's side. Every article she'd put out would cause another fire for him to put out, leading up to the biggest one of all. Let him scramble around, she would be patient.

After all, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

It was strange being alone. For so long, Batman had company with him on his patrols, be it Batgirl and/or Huntress. Tonight, for the first time in awhile, the Dark Knight was out on his own.

It was soothing.

Huntress hadn't been able to make it. "I've got a lot of papers to grade," she had said, which the vigilante was more than happy for her to handle. Though it was her day job, education was important and she owed her students prompt grades.

Batgirl, on the other hand, was in one of the bunkers—or as Huntress had called it, a Bat-Bunker—he had throughout the city. She was keeping watch on Langstrom, who was hard at work developing a cure for his mutagen. Considering the young vigilante hadn't sent out a distress call, he was assuming all was going well.

Which left tonight's patrol up to him.

Scaling a building, Batman finished the climb and hurried along the rooftop, coming to a stop at a corner. Looking out into the city, he searched for impending trouble, spotting none. Holding his position, several minutes went by without so much as a cry for help. This block was clear.

Firing his grapple, Batman ascended another, taller building, crossing over it and leaping out into the night's air. Activating the glider form of his cape, he soared through the sky until he came to another landing atop another building. Much like before, he made his way to a corner and posted up, searching for trouble.

This time, unfortunately, there was a scream. Immediately looking down, Batman noticed a building across the street from his position. If he wasn't mistaken, it was a homeless shelter, something that caused him to narrow his eyes. Normally the front door was shut at all times, a glass window with its steel security gate blocking view into the place. What was infuriating was that the window was shattered, the gate ripped through.

As if the homeless didn't have enough worry of violence.

Once more activating the glider mode of his cape, Batman descended to the building, landing in front of the open door. He jerked to a side immediately as a homeless man came barreling out, screaming as he fled. He didn't even stop to look at the Dark Knight as he raced down the street.

Watching for a moment, Batman then looked back into the shelter, pulling out one of his bat-shaped shuriken just in case. Cautiously he passed through the doorway.

If he hadn't been angry before he entered, he was now. This homeless shelter had once been a secondhand shop, which meant the first room he entered was large and open. Bunk beds had formed rows across the room to maximize bed space.

That how it should have looked. The beds were all lying against the walls, broken and twisted into unrecognizable shapes. Even worse, there were bodies of homeless men and women, dead from being punctured by jagged metal posts that had formed the beds. Their blood leaked out onto the floor, painting the walls.

However, not all of the bodies had been stabbed. Glancing to one lying on the floor next to him, Batman found himself narrowing his eyes. The injuries on the body were not caused by debris, that he was certain. In fact, if he wasn't mistaken, something had cut this man into pieces.

A sick, wet sound reached the vigilante's ears then. Looking up, towards the corner of the room there was something hunched over, trembling. If Batman wasn't mistaken, he could've sworn he was hearing the gnashing of teeth.

Taking a step towards it, a creaking sound was made as his foot pushed down on the floor. That was all it took for the figure to freeze. A second later, it turned to look towards him.

Whatever this thing was, it wasn't human. It's animalistic face was dripping with blood, predominantly from its mouth. There was something hanging from its rather large teeth too. A quick glance behind the thing revealed a man lying slumped against the wall, his neck ripped out, and face froze in a scream.

Dear Lord, this thing was eating him!

"SSSKKKRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" the monster bellowed before it twisted around and began charging at him. This provided a much better view of it and one that caused Batman's stomach to drop.

Man-Bat!

Now that he had a better look at it, there was no way Batman could've mistaken that bat-like face, the elongated ears, or the winged arms. However, as it closed the distance between them, the dark-clad man couldn't help but note that this one was much, much larger than the one Kirk Langstrom was.

Immediately, Batman sent his shuriken flying at the beast, the projectile colliding with its face. The Man-Bat stumbled as its head jerked back, releasing a monstrous roar. Oddly enough, a tie swung wildly around its neck, beating at a blood-soaked undershirt.

Lunging forward, the Dark Knight extended an arm out, bending it at the elbow. Balling the hand into a fist and clasping his other hand around it, Batman rammed his elbow right into the Man-Bat's throat, knocking it back a step and causing it to gag. Letting go of his hand, he then slammed a fist into its face, snapping its head to a side.

Unfortunately, just like Kirk Langstrom, this one also had a fast recovery time. "SSSKKKRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" it screamed at him, whipping its head back as it sent blood and saliva flying out of its mouth and pelted the vigilante's face. Faster than he could react, the Man-Bat grabbed him by his shoulders and upper arms and hauled him off the ground. With a swing, the Man-Bat threw Batman up into the ceiling.

Instead of smashing into it, Batman burst through it, sending pieces of wood and sheetrock flying in every which direction, but mostly upward. The next thing he knew, he hit some sort of floor, rolling on it a couple times before he came to a stop.

A groan escaped Batman's lips. Was it just him, or was this Man-Bat stronger? He didn't have much time to consider that thought as the beast shot up through the hole it had made, landing heavily on the floor. Letting out another roar, it then lunged towards the Dark Knight, extending both of its massive hands out. Even more importantly, claws that undoubtedly ripped more than its fair share of people gleamed in the night light that poured through the open window.

Despite all conventional wisdom screaming at him to move out of the way, Batman pushed himself up as quickly as he could before he scrambled towards the Man-Bat. That was the only thing that saved him from having those wicked-looking claws rip through his body. Instead they tore into the floor where he had been lying only a moment before.

Now though, Batman was right between the monster's legs and the torn pants that covered them. Continuing to scramble, he finally emerged completely behind the Man-Bat and quickly rose to his feet.

Immediately, he pushed off the floor and rammed his shoulder into the bat creature's back. Though there wasn't as much force as he wished there was, because of the Man-Bat's stooped posture, its balance was completely thrown off. Stumbling forward, it ran face first into the window and shattered it, falling through the window sill.

Shooting both hands out, Batman caught himself by placing his hands on either side of the now-open window. He fully expected the creature to come right back at him, but instead its large, bulky body shot by the opening, instead flying out into the night, shrieking as it flew.

Had he the strength, Batman would've given chase. Instead, he sunk down to his knees, panting heavily.

Langstrom had lied to him. That was the first thought that popped into his head. Considering the multiple times he had come across the Langstrom Man-Bat, he knew this one was different. For one, it was much larger, if not physically stronger. Secondly, it clearly had a taste for human flesh.

Steeling his face, the Dark Knight knew he was going to have another conversation with Kirk Langstrom—and it wasn't going to be a pretty one.

Harvey had been getting ready to leave when the phone rang. Damn it, why did it have to happen now when he was about to go out the door on time for once? Another downside to the job, it seemed.

Giving a sigh, Harvey placed down his briefcase and picked up the infernal phone receiver. In contrast to his thoughts, the attorney spoke in a pleasant tone, "Dent."

"Harvey, it's been a while."

Harvey frowned. "What do you want, Thorne."

That was deliberately said as a statement, not a question.

"That's quite a welcome there, Harv. I'm hurt."

"I don't have time for your games, Thorne. I'm going to hang up now so say whatever it is you want to say while you can." Just hearing that man's voice was enough to put him on edge.

"I think you'll want to stay on the line longer than that. Because what I have to speak with you about is something that you're going to want to stay for."

"So what is it this time? Another deal? I'm not interested," he dismissed.

"Depends on your perspective." There was a chuckle, one that grated on the DA's nerves. "I've been doing quite a bit of reading lately. Riveting stuff."

"You're not about to give me an essay on Shakespeare, are you?" the irritated man cut in. Where was that bastard trying to go with this?

"Ah, ah, you're starting to sound angry there, Harv. Makes me a bit nervous there."

Oh he was making him nervous. Right. Harvey hardly believed that. And why was Thorne calling him Harv? Like they were that close.

"Then again, I have to remember who I'm talking to. I mean, I could be talking to someone other than Harvey Dent."

Christ, this was just another game. "Okay, you've had your fun. I'm leaving now."

"Not so fast. I just need to make sure if I'm talking to Harvey or, what was that name again? Ah yes, 'Big Bad Harv.'"

Harvey froze up. Then he began to clench a fist. "What are you trying to get at?"

"A very important question, Harvey. One that I'd think the citizens of Gotham might want to know. What kind of person are they going to vote for as their District Attorney. Or should I say, what kind of persons?"

He actually had to bite his tongue. Otherwise, Harvey knew he would have said something that would have only confirmed whatever suspicions Thorne had about him. Except, were they really suspicions?

I've been doing quite a bit of reading lately.

Shaking his head in denial of what that sentence implied, Harvey grasped at what he could to try and get out of this situation. He needed to turn this around, get some kind of upper hand over Thorne, or at least make Thorne think he had the upper hand.

"Grasping at conspiracy theories now? You must be desperate," he taunted. "I'll give you points for coming up with a new one."

"That's rich, coming from you Harvey. Judging by your tone, you still don't believe me. Well, maybe this tidbit will change your mind on that. There are many signatures on these pages I'm looking at. Can you guess what name they spell? I'll tell you. Victor Erie. It's also printed elsewhere, followed by the same signature. That's right Harvey. I have your confidential mental health file. I know everything."

There was a sudden weakness in his knees. He had to sit down. Now. Okay, he was seated now, but that wasn't enough to stop the cold sweat he was going through. No, no, this had to be some kind of nightmare, because Rupert Thorne could not have gotten his hands on that file. He couldn't have!

"It's all here. A gambler of a father who happened to like the bottle more than his family. The mother who never stood up for herself. It must have been hell growing up that way. It was so bad that you started getting blackouts, and these went on so long that someone had to take the driver's seat. And Big Bad Harv was the one to step up to plate."

Harvey could feel the sensation of falling back, darkness clawing at the edge of his vision. No! No, not now, he couldn't! He needed to face this, not disappear from the world.

"I'd think the press would have a field day with all this. And as a concerned citizen of Gotham, I think it is my duty to give it to them. The people have a right to know."

Not when the future of Gotham was on the line. Not when cooperation between the police and the DA's office was at its best ever. Not when it was at this critical point where it could all fall apart, the people did not need to know. Especially when it involved the inner workings of his own head.

Thorne had him right where he wanted him. And the kicker, the bastard could still turn over the file even if he did or agreed to everything that criminal wanted.

Maybe it was by serendipity, intuition, or pure dumb luck but at that moment Harvey recalled that he too had some leverage. The kind of leverage that would give him the upper hand.

"Go ahead Thorne, and maybe I'll turn whatever I have to the police, or better yet the press too. Let's see how well you do."

"Whatever are you talking about Harv? Or is it Harvey? You two look so alike."

"I have your books Thorne. And every incriminating move you made for the past five years. It's the kind of thing I think you'd not want to lose track of. Shall I read out a few names first or are you going to take my word for it?"

There was quiet on the line, the mob boss not saying a thing. Harvey's heart was hammering in his chest, giving him quite a bit of discomfort. Was Thorne going to bite? Not that the attorney was bluffing himself.

"I've been wondering where those things have gone. It's so good of you to find them for me. I think we can work out a deal between the two of us, Dent. Let's not involve anybody else, no commissioners, no cops, nobody. Just you and me. You give me my books and I'll hand over the file and we're back to square one again. I think these terms are acceptable, don't you think?"

He bought it.

"I accept. Shall I go to you or you come to me?"

"Let's meet at a reputable place of business. I know just the place. Thorne Enterprises, tonight. The sooner you come, the sooner we can put this all behind us."

"I'll be there," Harvey stated, swearing it as a promise. Hanging up the phone, he immediately slammed the side of his fist against the surface of the desk.

Goddamnit! God fucking damn it! How did this happen?! How did Thorne—no, it didn't matter how he did it. All that mattered was that he had that file, that incriminating file. The secrets he kept, not just from other people but from himself, was in that smug bastard's greedy little hands. That had to change. Harvey needed to get that file back, no matter the cost.

But would it be such a cost?

After all, the moment he had gotten his hands on those books, he had had multiple copies made of them. So he could still hand these books back to Thorne and continue working on the prosecution. Provided he won the election, but that was an entirely different matter. Something to think about later.

Yes, let Thorne think he was getting one over him. Even better, with the information in those books still in his possession, he would be able to go after him and the only way to prove that it wasn't real was to give up the real ones.

The only flaw would be if Thorne made a copy of his file. He had no idea how long he had it, but it couldn't be risked a minute longer.

With that, Harvey went to work.

With the eyes of Batgirl boring into him, Kirk administered the antidote unto himself. It was a bit tricky to do as the only way to ensure that it worked was to take it while in the early stages of the transformation. If there were no reduction in the physical changes, he would immediately be dealt with by his watchful guardian where he would have to come to before starting again.

Hopefully that wouldn't have to be the case.

As the minutes passed, it seemed as if the worst case scenario was bearing out. His hands were growing, there was an increase in hair, and his face was beginning to elongate. From where she had placed herself, Batgirl was readying herself for her strike.

Then the scientist felt a shift. Releasing a gasp of air, he felt as if he was shrinking somewhat. Hair that had once been sprouting was retreating back into his skin. His face flattened back into humanoid features. His hands returned to their normal state as if nothing had happened.

Taking in deep breathes, Kirk slumped over his work space, recovering from the aborted transformation. It seemed as if he had developed the antidote after all.

Though her eyes never left him, Batgirl appeared to relax. At least, that's what he thought. It was hard to tell to be honest.

What had taken months to do, to formulate, to synthesize, and ultimately developed was now undone in a matter of hours. How long had they spent creating that mutagen? Kirk could not remember anymore. In less than a day, he had managed to create its antithesis.

Maybe that had to do with the equipment in this place. The computer was far more advanced than anything that could be found in Wayne Enterprises. The tools and lab equipment were on a level higher than state-of-the-art, if that was even possible. The chemicals he used were of the highest quality here as well. How was someone like Batman able to get his hands on all this?

With all this at his fingertips, he was able to devise the antidote that was demanded of him. To do that, he had to come up with the faster way to neutralize the serum. Thanks to the resources in this place, he was able to isolate the portion of the mutagen that triggered the transformation in the first place. After that, it was coming up with something that would eliminate that portion and thus reduce the mutagen into a harmless substance. He had probably come up with a few breakthroughs in here but good luck for any of them leaving this place.

"I'm fine," he spoke up through his panting. "You don't have to do what you're planning to do. Okay?"

No answer, but that was to be expected. All this time, his guard had not spoken a word. Due to this, along with the absence of anyone else, Kirk had found himself talking out loud. It was mostly to himself but he found that it was helpful whenever he struggled in his appointed task. He couldn't say one way or the other if it had been helpful or not, so he wouldn't try to determine which it was.

Really, the only question left to him was: now what?

He had accomplished what he had set out to do, so what did he do now? Was there anyway to communicate with the Batman? Tell him that he had synthesized the antidote? Or was he going to have to wait here for who knew how long?

"Langstrom."

Kirk jerked and twisted his head around as the vigilante himself stood behind him, glaring down at him. Without warning, he was grabbed and pulled up so that his face was inches away from the scowling man. Kirk could only stare with eyes wide with fear, wondering what he had done to incur this.

"You lied to me."

That had not what the researcher had been expecting, especially not from someone like this. Quickly, he tried to come to his own defense.

"I've never lied to you! I don't know what you're talking about! What do you mean?"

"You told me you told no one about the mutagen," the vigilante growled.

"I didn't!" he insisted.

"Then why did I find another Man-bat?"

If there had been any wind in Kirk's sails, it was long gone now. "What? How? That can't be possible! I've told you everything!"

"Who else did you tell?" Batman demanded, shaking him slightly.

"O-only the ones that I-I've told you about," Kirk stuttered. "I swear! Only the team, my father, and Dr. Erie knew about the project and only Francine and myself known the actual chemical structure. And Francine would never tell anybody. She yelled at me about it when she found out I was hiding the truth about it. I don't know what you saw, but it could not have been anyone changed by the mutagen!"

Dropping him, the Batman stalked towards a computer and began to type at its keyboard. That was definitely a sign that Kirk was not out of the woods yet.

Once he was done doing what he was doing, Batman stepped away from the computer, making space enough for Kirk to get a look at the monitor. White eyes glared at him with a silent command to move over there and look.

Swallowing, Kirk obeyed the order, knowing he had no choice in this. He was afraid of this masked man enough as it was. He didn't want to give him any reason to hurt him anymore than he already was. Even now he still felt sore from whatever beating he had experienced before being taken here. Now that he was bereft of any enhanced capabilities, there was no way he was not going to feel what would happen if fists became involved.

On the monitor was a split screen of two images. Both were of frightening-looking creature, each with bat-like characteristics. In some ways, batman would be the better term for them than for the man beside him. With it already taken, Kirk supposed that Man-bat would have to do.

"The one on the left is you," Batman stated, Kirk's attention going straight to the image on the left. Was that what he had looked like? Francine must have been terrified. That was several hundred pounds of mass there with only a pair of torn up pants to conceal its modesty. Completely unrecognizable from the runt of a man that he was.

"The one on the right is the one I encountered only an hour ago." Now directed to the image on the right, Kirk could already spot some differences. This Man-bat was much larger than the one on the left, muscle bulging on its frame. Either a wifebeater or a tanktop was hugging the hairy torso, stained with blood and on the verge of ripping apart. The fashion choice aside, it was easy to tell this one was more of a brute.

Then Kirk's eye caught on to a small detail. There was a necktie around the Man-bat's neck. While some would dismiss that as nothing, Kirk recognized it for what it was.

That was his father's necktie. He'd recognize it anywhere.

"Well, Langstrom?" The deep, demanding voice interrupted the scientist's thoughts, requiring an answer out of him. Kirk was not sure he could give him the answer the vigilante was looking for. Even he was trying to wrap his mind around this because it made no sense.

"This doesn't make any sense," he vocalized his thoughts. "How? I mean, I know they're the same kind of creature, it's obvious. But I don't know what that second one is doing there. I did not tell anyone how they made this."

"Someone did, Langstrom. Think. Who else would know?" The Batman was putting on the pressure, not willing to give up on this.

"Only Francine knows and I told you already, she wouldn't share this information. She knew how important the project was for me." Kirk gripped at his head, fighting off the growing headache within. Then a thought occurred to him. "Arthur is the only one I can think of. Which still doesn't make any sense since he didn't have the same clearance as I or Francine."

"Who's Arthur?"

"A member of the research team. He was caught spying on us for my father," Kirk explained. "Did he return and steal it? Or the formula itself? No, that can't be it."

"I don't have time for this, Langstrom. Tell me who you told. Whoever they are, they've already mutated one person. Who knows if they'll do it again." The impatience in Batman's voice was audible, but for the life of him, Kirk couldn't think of anybody.

The idea that it might be Francine was one he did not want to contemplate. At all. She had been the one to go to Batman and beg for his help. She wasn't some lunatic waiting for the perfect opportunity to do…whatever the person who had the mutagen was planning.

There was so much going on and he couldn't think straight anymore and—

Once again, Batman was pulling him out of his thoughts, grabbing him and pulling him close. "What aren't you telling me Langstrom? Do not test my patience."

"I don't know! I don't…know…" What was the use? There was no way he could give an answer that would please him. Fine, let the blows come. It wasn't like he wasn't unused to them. Growing up the son of Abraham Langstrom was not an easy feat to accomplish and it came with its own hard knocks.

"Pull yourself together," Batman ordered. "I will find whoever is responsible for this latest Man-bat attack and you better hope it's not someone you've ruled out. People have died because of this and I will not accept anymore. If you're not going to give me a name, then you're going to start making more of that antidote. As much as you can. Starting now."

Kirk found himself being shoved back to his workstation, almost in a daze. Yet, he was able to catch himself in the nick of time. He used the counter to steady his balance and eventually stand on his own two feet, though whether he would remain standing was debatable as his knees were knocking together.

That was a sign of fear, wasn't it?

"Get to work Langstrom. We don't know how much time we have. I'll track down 'Arthur' and then pay your father a visit in the meantime," Batman continued. Turning to Batgirl, he issued his next order, "Watch him. Make sure he works. I'll be back shortly."

Stalking out of this place, Kirk was left along with his silent vigil once more. Shivering, Kirk turned to the chemicals, beakers, and filters he would need to use. Now definitely seemed like a good time to whip up as much of the antidote as he possibly could.

And maybe while he was at it, he could figure out who had taken his serum.