Battle for the Night
After bumming an earpiece off one of the Birds, Nightwing and Robin were off on their own, armed with an antidote to take down these Man-bat things. At least, Batman claimed this was the antidote. They hadn't seen it work yet and it would be a heck of a time for it to backfire.
Other than that, there was only one other thing on their minds.
"O," Robin stated as the pair traversed over the rooftops. "You think…?"
"She should have come up with a better name," Nightwing grumbled as he leapt off a rooftop without hesitation, landing on the next one without any effort. He waited for his younger partner to catch up before continuing. "Who else do you know who has managed to hack into the mainframe and can monitor practically everything right now? It's Barb, no question."
"What do you think Batman's going to do once he figures it out?" the red-themed vigilante wondered aloud.
"Probably give her the third degree again. Maybe threaten to tell her dad," the older, darker-themed vigilante replied. "Now cut it out. We need to find some bats. Keep your eyes peeled."
"Why not use that earpiece and see if O knows where some's at?" Robin suggested.
"Or we could do that." Thought you were so smart, didn't'cha Robin? Don't get too big for your tights, young man. Raising a gloved hand to his ear, he said, "Hey O. We're on Birch. Where do you need us?"
"Head two blocks to the east, on McClellen. You'll find what you're looking for."
"McClellen, east," he said sharply, taking the lead once more. Behind him, his partner kept pace with him, his game face on.
They found their prey soon enough.
On top of a car, one of the Man-bats was perched on top, a portion of the vehicle's roof ripped off. One of its arms was reaching itself into the car where screams could be heard. High-pitched screams. The kind of screams that belonged to kids.
"Going in, get them to safety." Nightwing didn't wait for any agreement as he leapt off the rooftop, rocketing his way down to the monster below. He gritted his teeth tightly as he managed to nail the giant animal hybrid with both of his feet then jump back off and into a flip as the creature fell back and away from him. Landing on the car roof, he jumped back at the Man-bat, an antidote dispenser in hand.
It was time to see—whoa!
Nightwing tried to slow himself down but was unable to as he was knocked to a side by the Man-bat's swinging arm. It felt like getting hit by a sledgehammer and now he was going in a completely new direction. He tried to flip himself around but only manage to make a mess of things as the pavement greeted his side and he bounced off the rough, flat surface. There was another bounce and then the side of a car made friends with his back.
He was going to feel that in the morning.
Groaning, the young man pushed himself up slowly, glancing down and swearing as he noted the state of the dispenser and how a blue liquid was leaking out of it. That shouldn't be happening, should it? Damn it, it was broke.
Loud thuds reminded him that now was not the time to be in his head. Practically two feet from him was the Man-bat and it was reaching down for him now, snarling with long, vicious-looking fangs looking oh so pleasant. Not.
Suddenly, the monster jerked as a small explosion detonated just above its head. A shrill whistle directed its attention towards Robin who was standing on top of a car.
"Over here! Don't I look tasty!" the masked teen called out.
You gotta be kidding. Still, it was distracting the Man-bat. Time to make up for the lost antidote with this. Getting his feet underneath him, Nightwing pushed upwards and threw himself onto the large, muscled back. With another dispenser in hand, he slammed the thing into the bulging neck, even as it swung its arms wildly, trying to knock him off. The blue liquid slowly vanished until it was all in, and only then did Nightwing push himself away.
This stuff had better work fast.
A long hand with sharp claws swung at him, tearing into a parked car like it was made of aluminum foil, an angry shriek aimed directly at him.
This stuff didn't work fast.
Time for plan B then.
Backing away, he pulled out an eschema stick and held it before him, electricity crackling on its tip. "You want some? Come and get it," he challenged, continuing to put some space between the two of them.
The Man-bat obliged, taking one step forward threateningly before falling to a knee, releasing a guttural moan. Its muscular body trembled as it gripped its own head, almost seeming to shrink in on itself.
Then the hair started to lessen as the bat-like features were overtaken by more human ones. Long brunette hair was soon the only thing that covered anything on the moaning woman's body as she finally collapsed, unable to deal with the trauma of the transformation any longer.
Okay, so the stuff worked, good to know.
"Whoa, that was freaky," Robin remarked, eyes on the woman.
Just as he was about to agree, the sound of bullets hitting next to him sent him diving for cover. "Who the hell's shooting at us?" he demanded as Robin joined him on the deck. Glass rained about them as more bullets tore into the abandoned cars around them.
"Find those punks and give'em what for!" a very human voice called out, followed by the sound of clicking guns.
"O? What's going on?" he hissed, hand on his ear.
"Those look like cops." Even with the distortion to her voice, Barbara sounded just as confused as they felt. "They…they look like they're gunning for you."
Oh great, how perfect.
"What the hell's going on?" Robin asked as the sounds of approaching footsteps drew nearer and nearer.
"Heads up everyone, the cops are not friendlies. I have multiple incidents of cops shooting at vigilantes," 'O's' voice poured through the communicator.
"You don't say," Huntress retorted through gritted teeth.
The sound of bullets ricocheting and blowing holes through steel rang out through the night, making it a wonder that anyone could've heard that message. Of course, this mystery hacker had to announce the obvious ten seconds after a small brigade of armed cops had begun emptying their arsenal at her.
Crouching behind a car that was in for a serious insurance claim, Huntress peeked around the vehicle's trunk, only to duck back as a few shots pelted the taillights. Pieces of fiberglass were sent flying as the lights were destroyed.
"I so don't have the time for this," the purple-clad woman muttered under her breath. How had her night come to this? She had been steadfastly grading papers when she had noticed a sudden uptick in honking horns and screeching tires. Looking out her window, she had been stupefied by the sudden appearance of Man-Bats. One costume change later and she had thrown herself out into the night.
"Conner really needs to work on his punctuation," she continued to speak out loud, even as she pulled out a couple handfuls of H-shaped shuriken. Already she could pick out the misuse of commas in her student's short paragraphs, not to mention the run-on sentences. The boy was really trying, but he needed a bit more guidance.
The shooting slowly died off, which prompted the vigilante to prep herself. "Come on out of there," she heard one of the cops order her, which prompted her to snort in response. "You are under arrest for breaking the law!"
Immediately, Huntress dashed forward, emerging from behind the car long enough to thrown her shuriken one fistful at a time. Not even breaking stride, she took cover behind another car. There were multiple gunshots, which were quickly followed by sharp clashes and cries of pain. Again, Huntress peeked around the car, spotting several of the officers rubbing at their hands from where her projectiles had collided. There were even a couple that had the shuriken embedded in their hands.
Serves them right.
Again, Huntress pulled out a couple more shuriken, noting she was running a little low. Damn. She needed to restock, or at the very least pick up a few of her discarded ones here. If every cop was after her, she needed a surefire way to disarm them.
Her crossbow was out of the question.
Throwing the H-shaped shuriken, she actually watched them disarm two more cops, curses bursting out of their mouths as they immediately made to nurse their injured hands. Unfortunately, this stand-off wasn't meant to last.
Out of nowhere, one of the Man-Bats swooped by, grabbing one of the cops by his shoulders with its taloned feet. The man screamed as he was carried away, the Man-Bat flying higher and higher. Then, for whatever reason, the creature released its hold, letting the cop fly face first into the side of a building. With sickening horror, Huntress watched the man plummet a good three stories down to the ground, where he landed with a sickening splat.
It would've been easy to be lost in that bad scene, but Huntress was a professional. She hadn't failed to notice the Man-Bat had shot up in the air the moment it had let go of its victim, soaring over the building. The cop must've been too heavy for it to carry over, so it had dumped its cargo—a totally instinctive move.
However, this had earned the entire attention of the GCPD. "It got Frank!" one of them shouted before the remaining armed cops took aim. The Man-Bat hadn't vacated the premises, instead swooping around as it came back around.
"Oh Hell," Huntress groaned. These cops were going to ice that thing, not even knowing it was an actual human being. Nevermind they had been trying to kill her too, now she had to stop them and protect that creature.
The glamour of being a vigilante.
Immediately, Huntress shot out, racing towards the cops. With practiced ease she pulled out her bo staff, hitting the switch that caused the ends to extend out. Not even bothering to twirl the staff, her go-to warm-up, she instead used the staff as a bat and swung it into the face of the nearest cop. The blow knocked him right off his feet, sending him crashing down onto the ground unconscious. A step forward and the purple-clad woman crouched down as she did a backswing, knocking out the legs of the next cop as her weapon collided with the back of his knees.
Letting out a cry of surprise, the man dropped to the ground, barely landing when Huntress' foot kicked him against the side of his face, knocking him out as well. That had eliminated the armed cops. All that was left was six more injured ones.
At least, that's what she thought until she noticed they were now running as fast as their legs could carry them. As intimidating as she thought she was, the purple-clad vigilante knew there was something else up. Swinging herself around, she barely got her bo staff in time as the Man-Bat ran into her. Pressing the staff up against its mouth, Huntress stared as sharp fangs were held at bay, drool dripping down onto her.
Gross.
Hitting the ground, Huntress grunted, but held her defense even as the monster above her strained to take a bite out of her. In her current position, there was no way she could hold on while she grabbed her tranq gun without being seriously hurt. Gritting her teeth, she continued to hold on even as the Man-Bat's mouth slide from side to side against her staff.
Wait, she could use that. Slowly, Huntress began lowering one end of her staff, watching carefully for the Man-Bat to slide in that direction, and finding it to be so. She had her window. Dropping that one side until it cracked against the pavement, she quickly reached to her belt and pulled out the tranq gun. Pressing it against the inner elbow, she injected the antidote, which caused the Man-Bat to instantly pull back, screeching from pain or shock, she wasn't sure.
Dropping the gun, Huntress pulled her legs up to her chest before she lashed out with them, her feet slamming into the creature's chest and pushing it back further from her. Her momentum from that move allowed her to flip onto her feet, holding her bo staff in front of her for protection.
Was it her imagination or was the Man-Bat grimacing? Huntress wasn't sure, but she thought it was actually making a facial expression that didn't cry out for blood. Then, she saw the changes. The brown hair receded, the wings folded back into its arms, muscle mass was lost, and eventually an actual human being was standing where the Man-Bat had been.
Then the person dropped to the ground unconscious.
"That's one down," Huntress muttered. "Only a hundred left."
"Uhh, Harper? I think you need to see this?"
"Not now, Cullen," Harper called back, scribbling her pencil on what was supposed to be her homework. She meant supposed considering the worksheet was a joke. She had studied these problems a couple years ago, but apparently the teacher felt like the first three months of school were a review period.
"No, Sis, I really think you need to."
The girl blew a strand of her purple hair out of her face in annoyance. Really, couldn't her brother bother her some other time? "Fine, just make it quick."
Getting up from the rickety chair at their dinner table, Harper walked over to her brother, who was nearly pressed up against the glass of their dirty window. One of these days they needed to clean it, but neither one of them cared enough to do it.
"Okay, what was so important you had to pull me away from my homework?"
Cullen merely pointed a finger to the window. "That."
Feeling even more annoyed, Harper looked out the window, only to have her eyes nearly bulge out of her head.
She had heard about these so-called "Man-Bats." The internet had gone crazy about them. Harper largely ignored the news in favor of a project she had been working on. To actually see Man-Bat after Man-Bat fluttering around outside her apartment window…well…suddenly she found herself believing in them.
"Umm, Cullen," the purple-haired girl said as she slowly took a step away from the window. "I think we should get away from the window."
"Why?" her brother asked, fixated on the sight before him.
There wasn't any chance to reply. In fact, the perfect answer came in the form of a Man-Bat suddenly slamming its face right onto their window, mouth gaping wide and screaming at them.
"Get away from the window!" Harper screamed, even as her brother shouted in surprise, jumping backwards only to fall flat on his butt. Even worse, the scary-ass bat pulled an arm back and then slammed it against the glass, shattering it.
"Cullen! Run!" Harper screamed, even as she grabbed him by his arm and dragged him away. To Cullen's credit, he managed to get his legs under him and stumbled his way behind her. Reaching the door to her bedroom, Harper pulled him in after her, slamming the door shut behind him and locking it.
"Harper, I don't think that's going to freaking hold!" Cullen cried out as he shot towards the wall furthest from the door. "Why didn't we get out of the apartment?"
That was a really good question and one Harper would've answered had the door suddenly not crack, the result of the monster on the other side ramming against it. Immediately, the purple-haired girl jerked away from the door before she spun around and scrambled towards her unmade bed. Diving to the floor, she shot her hands underneath it and pulled out a white cardboard box.
Pulling the lid off, even as the door broke more behind her, Harper stared at the long shaft of the weapon within. It was incomplete considering one side of the barrel was missing, revealing all of the inner workings of the device. It was shaped much like a rifle, with a handle, trigger, and sights.
Still, this baby wasn't powered by gunpowder or bullets. "Cullen," she said calmly, even as she heard the wood of the door and doorframe snap. "Next to you on the wall, there's a battery pack. I need you to give it to me."
Cullen jerk his head to a side, seeing the pack in the wall socket. Clumsily he grabbed at it and nearly tore it off the wall. He then tossed it to her, Harper catching it before she gently slid it into the base of the handle.
At the end of the shaft was a switch. Flicking it, Harper could hear a low hum as the weapon turned on. Though incomplete, that was a good sign. She had been working on this baby for quite some time. Aside from that one hiccup where some kid at school tried to bust her—as if she wouldn't have covered her butt already—getting the parts had been a cinch. Who would've thought a high school shop classroom would've had such useful parts lying around?
That was when the door finally gave in, shattering into a thousand pieces. Whipping around, Harper pointed the weapon at the terrifying Man-Bat as it shoved its way through the fractured doorframe. With one hand holding up the barrel and the other wrapped around the handle, she pointed the gun right at the monster and squeezed the trigger.
What was best described as a large bolt of electricity fired from the barrel. The Man-Bat had no time to dodge as the blast hit it on the chest. A high-pitch shriek screamed from its mouth as its body seized. Harper didn't release the trigger, allowing more and more electricity to fire. It wasn't until she noticed smoke beginning to waft from the monster's body that she finally let go.
Though this bat-creature had been grey to start with, it was now a rather charred black color. In fact, the smell of burnt hair and flesh filled the girl's nose. The Man-Bat, on the other hand, seemed dazed, wobbling back and forth on its feet.
Then it fell over backwards, landing hard on its back on the floor. It twitched every so often, but otherwise didn't move.
"Harper," Cullen's voice weakly spoke up. "What the hell did you do to it?"
"Oh, just a little something I made for home defense," she replied coolly. This little gun she had was basically a stun gun on steroids; a taser with about a hundred times the power. Of course there were settings…would be settings, but considering there was a monster just outside of her room, the power setting mattered very little at the moment.
She'd have to tinker with it later.
As he finished off another batch of the antidote, Kirk wiped the sweat off his forehead. Nonstop he had been working, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that there were dozens upon dozens of…of Man-bats in the city. How could this be? And how did his father become one?
As he had worked, he had wracked his brain trying to figure out the mystery. Who would do such a thing? Why create so many and then throw them out into the city? What was the purpose? It was…it was all senseless!
Of the people he could think of, none of them came off as senseless. Even if somehow, miraculously, it was his father behind this, why give himself the mutagen? He was a man that needed control, of everything. The Man-bat brought out the most primal, uncontrollable behavior one could imagine. At least, that had been what he had been told about it so far.
Add to the fact he didn't have any memories of his times as one, that was the complete opposite of control. Could it have been Arthur? Arthur whose career was destroyed due to his duplicity and Lincoln March's thorough termination? He had worked with that man for years! And on top of that he didn't know the formula. Not to the degree that Francine and himself did.
Francine could not be involved with this at all. She had wanted to help him, even went to Batman to do so.
Which left only one person who knew about the project who was not involved with it at all or even had a background in chemistry. That especially didn't make sense. Dr. Erie had been a lifesaver for him, meeting with him at the last moment and helping to manage his anxieties and stress. Why would he be behind something like this?
Except…there was a blank spot. Kirk remembered visiting him a few days ago but he couldn't remember anything about the session other than leaving it really, really relaxed. What had happened during that session? Why couldn't he remember? Something was funny about it, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
Focus Kirk. Now was not the time. You had something important you needed to do.
Thanks to all this equipment and materials, Kirk could make as much of the antidote as he wanted. With that said, there were other chemicals that he had access to, all thanks to Batman. He had to have access to them in order to create the antidote in the first place.
Some of them happened to be the key ingredients for the mutagen.
While whipping up the latest batch of the anti-mutagen, Kirk had done the unthinkable and recreated the mutagen himself. Only a little bit, though. Enough for one injection. It was easy enough to get it into one of the injection guns he had swiped without notice.
Should he do this? Would he really help out there?
Recalling the monster that his father had finally become steeled his resolve.
Yes. It was about time the two of them had a father-son talk. One that was overdue. And since the probability was high that the elder Langstrom wouldn't understand or comprehend language anymore, something else would be needed.
Jabbing the needle into his leg, he pressed on trigger and sent the mutagen on a course through his blood vessels. It would take some time for it to overcome the antidote that was in his system already, so a transformation wasn't immanent. There was also his insight into the process itself that would most likely speed it up.
Time to leave then. Time to let his anxieties take hold of him. Time to walk out into this disaster of his own making.
Time to grasp onto his awakened dark side, and allow its shriek into the night.
This was just his lucky night, wasn't it? First Thorne calls him up, then informs him about having some very sensitive dirt on him, next cuts a deal for some incriminating books, and now as the attorney was driving through downtown Gotham, a swarm of bat creatures flew down to attack everything that moved.
That included his car.
"Shit!" he swore as he swerved out of the way of one of them that tried to dive bomb him. "Where the hell these things come from?" A honking car honk reminded him he wasn't the only person on the road and now he was swerving out of another car's way.
Keep control, Harvey. Step on the gas pedal and see if you couldn't outrun them.
Not a bad idea except up ahead he could see the beginning of a jam. Some people couldn't drive with bat monsters in the sky, it seemed. And of course it had to block off the most direct route to Thorne. Guess this was why side streets were invented.
Ignoring the fact that there was someone in the next lane, Harvey gunned it and made a sharp turn, probably breaking a few traffic laws as he cut them off and drove down the intersecting street. Okay, another left he'd be getting back in the right direction. And up ahead, it figures that light wouldn't be working with him.
Oh well, what were a few more laws, right? They'd be misdemeanors at best.
Giving a sigh of relief as he made the turn, other cars screeching as they tried not to hit him, Harvey continued on his way down a less traveled road. This ought to speed things up a bit.
A thump on the roof of his car said otherwise.
"Please don't tell me," he muttered to himself.
Confirmation of his worst fear came when that ugly mug peaked out in front of the windshield, upside down, of course, and making eye contact with him.
"I am not in the mood for this shit," he growled as he tried to shake the thing off, jerking the steering wheel left to right. Sharp claws poked through the roof, telling the harassed man that his rider was not letting go anytime soon.
Couldn't this thing bother somebody else?
A sharp car horn blared, Harvey slamming down on the accelerator as headlights flashed from the side window. How he wasn't hit, he didn't know, but because he was still swerving, the DA found himself losing control. Going for the brake, he tried to slow the vehicle down, the wheels skidding against pavement. His hands tightened against the steering wheel, his teeth clenched tightly as he desperately tried to come to a stop.
Then came the pole.
That was followed by the whiteness of the airbag exploding out of the steering wheel, shoving him back into his seat for a brief few seconds until deflating. A light, smoky haze filled the inside of the car, Harvey moaning as he shoved open the driver side door. A daze fell upon him as he robotically pulled himself out, resting against the side of the car as his mind tried to deal with the blunt trauma his body had experienced.
Everything was quiet, only sounds of his breathes giving any indication that he was still alive. Harvey's head fell back, allowing him to look straight up at the night sky. A sound from down the street drew his attention, his head rolling to his right as he spotted the giant bat that was picking itself up further down the street.
That certainly snapped him out of his torpor. He needed to get out of here, now and—the books! Everything was coming at him right now, adding on to the immense stress he felt. Pulling himself back into the car, he searched for his briefcase.
Where was it, where was it? It should have been on the seat—it wasn't on the seat. Where was—floor! There! He grabbed at the handle and pulled it out from the small alcove it had slid or fallen into. In his haste, he ran it against everything from the seats to the center console to the dash and it seemed like it was doing everything in its power to slow him down!
Practically falling on his ass, Harvey finally managed to get out of the car, case in hand. Shooting a look down the street, he could see the monster perk up, spotting him. Oh Goddamn it!
Scrambling to his feet he began to run for his life.
This literally stunk.
Crouching behind a dumpster in an alley, Black Canary couldn't help but wrinkle her nose as the odor of yesterday's leftovers fermented in the giant green receptacle. It was ripe—very ripe. And on top of that, there were police officers shooting at her.
Beside her was Manhunter and Katana, each crouched down as bullets banged off the dumpster. While Katana was calm and collect, there was a nervous energy coming off of Manhunter. She wasn't used to being pinned down—not that the Birds of Prey normally were—and the situation was making her antsy.
And on top of it all, the shrieking of Man-Bats closing in on their location just added everything up into one giant snafu.
"Can't you use your Canary Cry on them?" Manhunter suggested, shifting her weight on her bent legs. "That should knock them out."
"Not necessarily," the blonde replied. "If I'm not careful, I might do more serious damage, like shattering their skulls."
"They're trying to kill us! I'm not seeing many alternatives here!"
Dear Lord, this conversation again? No wonder Huntress left them if it kept coming up like this. "We just need to disarm them before they can kill us or those Man-Bats." Looking to Katana, she said, "Do you think you can do that, Katana?"
The Asian woman nodded sharply. "Need distraction," she replied.
"I think we can come up with something." Eyes darting upward, the blonde vigilante cursed under her breath. She could make out the silhouettes of the Man-Bats above them, which undoubtedly would draw some of the gunfire away from them.
Unfortunately, that increased the chances the cops could kill them, which wasn't a scenario she wanted to play out. Looking back to her comrades, she was slightly startled that Katana was no longer there. She'd worry about that later, for now they needed to stop this firefight.
Naturally, that's when Manhunter came up with something.
Hefting up her staff, she held one end of it out in front of her. "I think if I hit one of the cars, I can catch them off guard," the brunette woman spoke out loud.
And possibly kill whoever is inside the car, Black Canary responded in her head. Yet, there weren't a whole lot of options here. "Aim for an empty one," she ordered. "Once you do, we need to take down the Man-Bats. We just need to get them within range of my Canary Cry and then we can hit them with the antidote."
"Roger." Manhunter then leaned out from the cover of the dumpster, holding her staff up in front of her. Less than a moment later, she fired a blast from her staff, which raced towards one of the police cruisers, hitting it right on the hood—and subsequently the engine. An explosion blasted out, sending a shockwave that knocked several of the armed cops off their feet and sent the partially destroyed car flipping up into the air. It came down seconds later, landing on its roof, flames dancing all over it.
Without a word, Black Canary and Manhunter shot out from their cover, racing out of the alleyway. Despite the destruction, no one seemed to be hurt, though the cops that had been closest to the explosion were clearly unconscious.
"Get off your asses!" someone shouted, a cop with a moustache if Black Canary wasn't mistaken. "They're out in the open! Fire!"
Splitting up, Black Canary took cover behind a nearby mailbox, Manhunter darting behind a car. Though a few gunshots were made, there weren't nearly as many as before.
Of course, that's when Katana made her reappearance.
Dropping out of the sky, the red-and-yellow vigilante landed between two cops. In a flash her sword swung out, the barrels of the policemen's guns falling off a moment later. Without hesitating, Katana sent a kick right into one man's stomach, knocking him backwards. Holding her one-legged pose, her extended leg then snapped to a side, hitting the other cop in his side and sending him stumbling.
Leaping upward, Katana then spun in midair before she lashed out with her other leg, delivering a vicious kick to the side of the stumbling cop's head, effectively knocking him out cold before he even landed on the pavement.
Touching down on the ground, Katana then shot towards another cop, her sword slicing off the gun barrel before she dispatched of the officer. Naturally this began drawing the attention of the other cops.
"Shoot that fucking ninja!" the moustached cop shouted even as he turned his weapon to do as he ordered.
"SSSKKKKRRRRRIIIIIEEEEEE!"
Out of nowhere, two Man-Bat's swooped. Almost as if they were on the Birds of Prey's side, they each grabbed a policeman by their shoulders with their feet and hauled them off into the air. One Man-Bat didn't get as good of a grip though, and its prey slipped out of its taloned clutches, the man screaming as he fell back to the ground. Wincing at the landing, she kept an eye on the man, but it quickly became apparent he wasn't getting back up. Eyes shooting upward, she saw the Man-Bat making a U-turn as he began to glide back towards the fallen officer.
"Manhunter!" Black Canary shouted before she took off running towards approaching Man-Bat. She really hoped her comrade would follow her, but she wasn't going to assume. All that mattered was saving that man's life from becoming bat guano.
As she drew closer to the victim—and subsequently so did the Man-Bat—Black Canary sucked in her breath before releasing her Canary Cry. It was a short burst, not nearly as long as the one she had used on that group of Man-Bats previously, but it did its job in knocking the approaching Man-Bat right out of the air, the creature crashing hard on the pavement.
That was when Manhunter shot by the blonde, her airgun in hand. Reaching the Man-Bat, she jumped right on top of it and pressed the gun up against its neck, injecting the antidote an instant later.
And shortly after that a loud scream rang out, causing Black Canary to jerk her head to a side just in time to see the other Man-Bat victim fall out of the sky and hit the ground with a sickening splat! Staring at the sight for a moment, Black Canary could only feel nausea well up in her stomach, threatening to overwhelm her.
"The freaks are over there!"
Whipping her head around, her blonde hair flying out until it poured over one of her shoulders, the vigilante spotted the other officers turning to look her way. One officer even had his gun raised and was undoubtedly about to fire.
Then Katana rushed him from a side, her sword sheath in one hand, the sword in the other. With her sheath she swung it low, knocking the shooter's legs out from under him at the knees. Swinging the sheath wide and then up, Katana then brought it down, clubbing the man in the face in midair and knocking him unconscious before she darted off again.
This…this was enough.
Sucking in as much air as she could, Black Canary then unleashed a longer, louder Canary Cry. The glass on the police cruisers immediately cracked, some of which completely shattered. Police officers cried out, their pained screams drowned out by the Canary Cry, but rendering them helpless.
Out of the corner of her eye, the remaining Man-Bat soared through the air until he crashed headfirst into the windshield of one of the cop cars, shattering the window as it went limp.
The blonde vigilante took that as a sign to stop her Canary Cry, which she did. Immediately she took off running towards the bat-creature, leaping up on the hood next to it as she pulled out her airgun. Pressing it against the monster's neck, she injected the antidote into it. Taking a moment to stare at it, she then looked up to see many of the police officers lying on the ground, cradling their heads.
It was time to neutralize their threat.
The Man-Bat snarled and hissed, glaring at Batman as it shifted its body to make itself appear bigger. It was an animalistic behavior meant to frighten off predators. That this science-twisted creature viewed him as a threat was rather flattering because of the differences between their strength, speed, and stamina.
Batman edged himself sideways as the gravel from the roof crunched beneath his feet, keeping the Man-Bat's attention solely on him. Behind it was Batgirl, who was slowly creeping up on the monster, antidote in hand. Jerking to one side and back, the vigilante feinted, making sure that the Man-Bat was paying attention.
It was, at least until its body stiffened. Then out of nowhere it swung around, screaming at Batgirl who stopped in her approach.
God damn it.
For a moment Batgirl hesitated, something she was not known for. The Dark Knight had seen the young girl react to multiple unexpected situations, picking a course of action without a second thought, and following through. Instead she stayed still, looking up at the looming Man-Bat.
The bat-creature charged then, causing Batgirl to retreat backwards. Swinging its arms back and forth, the Man-Bat slashed at it with its clawed hands, each swing coming closer and closer to the young girl.
When one swipe came too close, Batgirl ducked down to avoid the blow. That left her wide open for the Man-Bat to attack with its feet, kicking her with its foot and sending her careening backwards.
Running, Batman closed the distance between his protégé and the monster. Pulling out a few smoke pellets from his belt, he threw them at the opening space between Batgirl and the Man-Bat, a large cloud of white smoke immediately filling the area. This caused the Man-Bat to shriek in surprise, shuffling back a step in response.
A moment later and Batman leapt into the air, ramming into the Man-Bat's side, causing it to stumble as he wrapped his arms around its neck. As the monster's body shifted against him, Batman found himself sliding towards its back. Teeth gritted, he released his hold with one hand and reached to his belt, pulling out his tranquilizer gun. Shoving up into the Man-Bat's neck, he squeezed the trigger and injected the blue antidote into the bat-creature, another loud scream ringing out.
The Man-Bat began to struggle then, thrashing its body from side to side. Batman tightened his hold in response, hanging out despite the Man-Bat's best efforts to buck him off. It was because of this he began to notice its body begin the shrink, changing back into the person it used to be. Before long, Batman was standing on the roof, holding onto an unconscious woman. Slowly, he lowered her down until she was lying on the gravel.
"Batgirl," he called out lowly. Soon enough, Batgirl approached him, coming to a stop next to the dark-clad man. "You're still struggling."
She nodded.
"Can't read its body language?"
Another nod.
The taste of bile rose into Batman's mouth, causing him to swallow it back. The acidity of it made him wrinkle his nose. Batgirl's struggles were beginning to worry him. Though her encounters with the Man-Bats hadn't been many, she was still hesitating, which was completely unlike her. It was as if with every surprise she tried to search for more tells and failed. At this rate, she wasn't going to be of any help.
Something had to change.
If reading her opponent wasn't working, then they had to use a different tactic. It wasn't one the Dark Knight wanted to do, but in order to keep the young girl alive, it was something he'd have to give in to. "You're trying to read too much into their movements. Don't." He then sighed. "These things are acting on instinct, so that makes them too unpredictable. You're going to have to follow your instincts, let your training take over. Understand?"
There was a moment were Batgirl stared at him before she slowly nodded her understanding. Batman had to fight back the grimace that was working its way onto his face. He could only imagine the sort of Talon training that would take over. It would be lethal if they weren't careful. Though the Man-Bats had proven to be able to take on physical damage, there was only so much they could take at softer, vital areas.
Hopefully this wasn't a mistake.
"I really don't know why I'm surprised anymore," Bullock muttered. He veered the patrol car around abandoned vehicles and the occasional bystander who was too stupid to, oh he didn't know, stay inside while a flock of bats crashed the wild party that was Gotham.
What was it with people and camera phones and trying to record every little detail of their lives? Hadn't they heard of survival instincts before?
"You and me both, Harvey," Montoya agreed.
"Can't say it's ever boring," he grumbled.
"Uh huh."
"Nice pep talk, let's do it again some time," he quipped as he made a sharp turn. Soon after, he braked and brought the car to a stop. Up ahead he could see other cop cars, a few boys in blue shooting at something. Hard to tell what from here.
"Hope you're armed. We're going in," Bullock stated as he shoved opened the door and left the vehicle, making his way over to where all the action was.
Choosing to bring with him a shotgun, his department-issued pistol safe and snug in its holster, Bullock kept the barrel of the weapon pointed at the street, moving quickly with his body slouched and head ducked so as to not endanger himself. With all that gunfire, he did not want to make a target of himself.
The lieutenant's eyes scanned around for any sign of those freaking bats, but much to his surprise he didn't see one. Yet his fellow cops were still shooting like no tomorrow. What was up?
"Hey! Hey!" he called out to one of the officers. Maybe it was because they guy was still firing off several rounds but the jerk didn't even look over at him. It was like he was being ignored. "What the hell you guys shooting at, huh? Answer me!"
Nothing. Great. Now when they needed to talk with one another, they weren't. Freaking fantastic.
Movement from the corner of his eyes caused him to fall to his knees and raise his weapon up. Was it one of the bats? No wait, something dark was jumping and flipping around cars. Looked kind of familiar…no it didn't. Whatever, he'd shoot it down first and ask questions later.
Now that he was looking for it, when it made an appearance, Bullock's eyes widened in shock. Though wearing a dark outfit, the light from a streetlight showed what it really was, and Bullock would be damned if it didn't recognize it as human. Not a giant bat, a human.
And the shooting suddenly intensified as soon as the guy showed himself.
Looking at the other officers, it all came together for Bullock. They weren't trying to shoot down one of those bats, the things that were attacking the city right now. They were trying to shoot at a person who didn't look that much of a threat. But…why? He couldn't wrap his mind around it.
"Are they trying to kill him?" Montoya yelled into his ear, trying to be heard around all the noise.
"I think so," he yelled back.
"I think he's one of those vigilantes. He certainly looks the part," Montoya continued loudly. "Wait, there's another one!" A swear in Spanish came out of her. At least, Bullock thought it was a swear because it sounded like one. "They almost took his head off! I think they're trying to kill them!"
Even if that wasn't the case, the mere idea made the lieutenant's blood run cold. Even if those mask-wearing crazies were breaking the law, they didn't deserve to get shot and killed for it. Punched, maybe a wallop to the head, but not an insane amount of lead fired into their bodies.
"C'mon you little punk! Come out where we can see you!" a nearby cop shouted. "These aren't your streets anymore!"
Shouldn't there be an option to, you know, give up? Surrender? Come out with hands behind their heads? Where was all that?
"Hold your fire!" Bullock roared as the gunfire reached a lull.
The officer who had shouted, and had obviously heard him, shot him a look of disgust, one that the heft lieutenant knew only too well. "Screw you, Bullock! We're doing what needs to be done, what Gordon should've done a long time ago! We're getting these punks off the streets even if it has to be in body bags—there!"
The gunfire intensified, a specific car being decimated with all the bullets being poured into it. There weren't any windows or a windshield on it anymore. There were so many holes in it that you'd have to be crazy to what to keep using it as cover.
The vigilante hiding behind it had the same idea and tried to escape, most likely to another, less bullet-riddled vehicle. However, he was now in the open and practically target practice.
The cop who had yelled at him moved his lips, like he was saying something. The sound of guns firing covered it up, but Bullock didn't need to hear him to know what he said.
"Got ya now bitch."
Bullock acted.
Raising his shotgun up, he charged at the officer, slamming the butt end of the weapon into the side of the cop's head. With the rest of his body pushing forward, he knocked the schmuck over and onto the ground, but he wasn't done yet. He brought the butt end down on the bastard's face, knocking him out and sending him to lala land.
Quickly looking up, he took a head count and counted five others. No more time to think about it. He charged forward, knocking their guns to a side, punching and knocking their lights out one by one. And he wasn't gentle about it either.
"What the hell are you—" BAM!
"You fucker! Wha—" WHACK!
"Son of—" WHAM!
In less than a minute, the pissed off lieutenant had taken down three armed-to-the-teeth law officers with nothing but his fists and a shotgun, said shotgun being used more like a makeshift club than an actual gun. That left two…that Montoya had taken care of, covering his back so that he himself wasn't shot.
Good cop, that.
Breathing heavily, he glared over where he had seen the two vigilantes last and yelled out, "You can come out now! Get your scrawny asses over here!" The lack of anything happening only pissed him off more. "I mean it! No one still standing's gonna shoot you, even if I really want to right now! Show your damn faces already!"
"Think they slipped out while we were busy?" Montoya suggested, her eyes still searching for the idiots and her hands still on her gun. Smart lady, that.
Then two hands raised up from behind a car, followed by the rest of the vigilante. Even from this distance, Bullock could tell it was a he, and that he was a pipsqueak. And what was up with all the red? Stood out more than hid.
"What are you, a kid? What do you think you're doing out here?" Bullock demanded as he stomped his way over. "I don't know if you have a pair of eyes but it's dangerous out here!"
"No kidding," quipped the pipsqueak.
Rolling his eyes, the overweight man snapped, "Put your hands down already. I'd say behind your back but I'm not thinking straight right now." Snapping his head to the side, he glared at the other one that had only now decided to come out too.
Then it all clicked together.
"I know you. What are you doing still out here?" He'd seen the tall one before, alright. Couldn't recall exactly when right now but damn did he recognize him. Tall, dark, and capeless. And he was holding two sticks, kinda looked like batons. Oh yeah, he remembered this one now.
"Trying to save the day," the tall one deadpanned. "And we were starting out good until your boys showed up and started shooting at us."
"I bet." Bullock spit out a wad of spit out in contempt.
"Seriously. Did you know those Man-bats are people?" the tall one shot back at him.
"Man-bats?"
"The giant bat monsters busy attacking Gotham," the pipsqueak explained. "We got one right here. Or, she used to be one."
Bullock followed where the pipsqueak was gesturing and found a half-naked lady on the ground, unconscious. Then, he looked back up at the pipsqueak. Then to the tall one. Then back to Pipsqueak.
"You're telling me these things are people?" Skeptical though he sounded, he was having a problem wrapping his head around this one.
"Science gone wrong. A guy came up with some crazy stuff that changes people into bat monsters. That whole thing," the tall smart-alec supplied. "We have an antidote on us and we're trying to—"
"An antidote? Where from?" Bullock cut in.
"Who do you think?" the smart-alec retorted.
There were a series of guesses running through the lieutenant's head but he only needed one. "The Bat-freak's on the case?"
"Yeah, so let us go so that we can save some lives out there," Pipsqueak argued.
"Why don't you let me have that antidote and I'll handle it from here?" he shot back.
"Can you get close enough to stick this into them?" Smart-alec replied, holding up a smart, weird gun-thing. Looked like there was a small bottle stuck in it with some blue liquid in it. "We got this one. We're going to go try to help as many as we can before they kill more people or get killed by the cops. And we're going to do it whether you like it or not. So let us go?"
"I should take you in in cuffs, asshole," Bullock growled. "That would be the better thing to do. That way you two morons won't risk getting yourselves capped by some paranoid cop. They're aiming for you guys too, not just these Man-bats. They can't kill ya if you're in a holding cell."
"But they're not going to save any lives." Smart-alec was going to follow this to the end, wasn't he?
"Think I don't know that? Bad shit happens to good people sometimes. It's a fact of life." Didn't mean anybody had to like it, though. "Right now I just knocked out a bunch of guys I have to work with. They are going to be pissed at me when they wake up. So, I'm going to look away and you two geniuses better be gone when I look back. Find some place to hide and wait for this to blow over. You get me?"
Smart-alec looked like he was going to say something, but Pipsqueak beat him to it. "We understand."
"And stay off the streets while you're at it," he added as he stomped away. Montoya was giving him a look, one he couldn't really read at the moment but he didn't care what it was about.
Those idiots were two kids trying to play hero and just had a rude awakening. They didn't deserve to get killed. So he'd give them this one time. Next time, he wouldn't be so nice and they would both be taken downtown. Alive.
Because they were better than this. They, the police, needed to be better.
She was getting better.
The place was an open construction site, not all that dissimilar from the one the GCPD had cornered them. Two unconscious people lay on the floor, former Man-Bats that had been injected with the antidote.
Batgirl was backing away, again like one of her previous encounters with the Man-Bats. This time, however, this was a conscious choice, not one forced by her foe.
Batman crouched on the girder above the two, watching with a critical eye. As Batgirl withdrew backwards, the Man-Bat was thrashing its winged arms, trying to hit her. Its grunts were getting more and more fatigued with every swing it made, never once closing the distance between it and the young vigilante.
However, this one seemed to be different from the other Man-Bats. For one, its coat was grey; secondly, it seemed bigger, its chest more barrel-shaped. Its frame was designed for something, that much Batman was certain.
As if to prove him right, the Man-Bat stopped suddenly, Batgirl following suit. The Man-Bat seemed to arch its back, leaning its head back as its chest expanded. Then it thrust its head forward and opened its mouth, unleashing a large stream of flames at Batgirl.
That was telling. This was not Kirk Langstrom's work, that was for certain. He had only made one strain of his mutagen; someone else had gotten their hands on his formula and had made alterations. While many of the Man-Bats were similar to Langstrom's, there were some that were proving to be very different. Once this night was over, Batman was going to hunt whoever was responsible for this down.
In the meantime, Batgirl darted to a side, keeping low as she avoided the flames. Her lithe body twisted as she swung a leg up, her foot kicking the back of the Man-Bat's knee, causing it to buckle. In response, the Man-Bat dropped to a knee, its head tilting up as it fired its flames up into the air harmlessly.
Then the flames stopped, replaced by a very familiar shriek. Still, Batgirl wasn't finished. Getting her footing, she slid behind the creature before leaping at it. Her hands grabbed onto its ears as she extended a leg in front of her, keeping it bent at the knee. In one smooth movement, she pulled the giant bat's head as her knee rammed into the back of its neck.
On a normal person, that move would've broken the spine. However, because this creature was more monster than man, it could take the dangerous blow, though it was definitely going to feel it in the morning.
Pushing back off of it, Batgirl planted her feet on the floor, just as the Man-Bat dropped forward. It used it winged arms to brace itself, making gasping sounds as it tried to recover from the painful blow it had suffered.
That was the opening he needed. Leaning forward, Batman dropped off the girder, using his cape to glide towards the giant bat. Just before he reached it, he let go of the cape, landing right on top of its back. Quickly, he pressed the tranquilizer gun against its shoulder and injected the antidote. Leaping off, he avoided the sudden thrashing moves the Man-Bat began to make. However, unlike the other transformation, this one occurred more quickly. There was no need to wait as a man emerged from the hair and monstrous features.
Batman promptly ignored the rest of it. See one person collapse unconscious after de-transforming from a giant bat, you've seen them all. There were more pressing matters.
Moving over to Batgirl, he gave her a stern look. "Careful with blows to the neck," he instructed. "I know these Man-Bats can take that sort of blow, but always remember that they're not all the same. Just because one can doesn't mean they all can."
Batgirl nodded sharply her acceptance of his critique. Faintly, Batman wondered if he needed to be telling her these things anymore. She wasn't as reluctant to accept his teachings and was steadily taking them to heart. Perhaps he needed to give her more credit.
"SSSSSKKKKKKRRRRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Batman jerked his head around. A figure flew by the steel frame of the unfinished building, but he couldn't make out what it was. The roar though, he recalled it quite easily.
And then it appeared. Charging in, the large Man-Bat from the homeless shelter closed the distance between it and Batman, not bothering to flap its wings as it soared. It led with its mouth wide open, revealing its large, sharp fangs.
Immediately, the vigilante pushed Batgirl away before he dove to a side, the giant bat zooming by a second later. Going into a roll, Batman ended up on his feet, facing the monster as it flared its wings out, stopping its flying as it landed.
"Stay back," he ordered his protégé. "This one's mine."
"SSSSSKKKKKKRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" the Man-Bat bellowed before it began running at the Dark Knight. Batgirl pulled away, something Batman saw out of the corner of his eye. Reaching to his belt, he pulled out a flashbang grenade, holding it tightly as he held his ground.
At the last moment, the dark-clad man tossed the grenade towards the rushing Man-Bat. He made sure to put it up high, right where it would collide with the creature's face. He was somewhat surprised when the monster caught the grenade with its mouth, its teeth crunching down on it.
That's when the flashbang grenade detonated. Because of where it was, the thunderous boom rattled through the Man-Bat's skull, the flash from the phosphorus burning the inside of its mouth. A wild scream rang out as the Man-Bat began to stumble and then trip, crashing to the floor and skidding on it until it came to a stop.
Immediately, the electrified brass knuckles found their way onto Batman's hands. As the bolts of electricity danced over his clenched fist, he rushed it and grabbed the back of its head by its fur. Pulling the head up, he then slammed his fist against the side of the Man-Bat's face.
Over and over, he delivered punch after punch, causing cries of pain from the creature after each blow. Then, as sudden as he started, he jumped back, just as the Man-Bat lashed out with its arm.
Looking towards him, the giant bat snarled at him before it pushed itself up. It tried to take a step, but it was clear its balance was still off-kilter as it stumbled. The necktie still wrapped around its neck waved about, adding some surreality to the scene.
It was because of this that Batman even bothered to go on the offensive again. Closing in quickly, he threw several more punches into the Man-Bat's unguarded abdomen, pounding at the same spot, which caused the creature to stumble backwards in response.
Instinctively, Batman ducked down, just as the Man-Bat tried to retaliate but swinging one of its clawed hands at him. This left another wide-open strike point on its side. With his raised fist, he threw it wide before arching it inward, delivering a blow just below the monster's crossed arm. The target was just below the armpit, right above where the most visible rib protected the lungs.
A yelp actually escaped the large Man-Bat's voice, its body jerking away from the punishing hit. It even let out a weak whine, its chest expanding and contracting rapidly. It seemed he had been successful in hitting the pressure point there; the force of the blow had affected the lung, which was making it hard for the monster to breath.
He just needed to push his advantage until he could administer the—
Suddenly, someone appeared in Batman's peripheral vision. Head jerking to a side, the vigilante could make out the figure of a person slowly approaching him. "Stop," he warned, holding a hand up to emphasize.
The person did so, but not before Batman caught sight of their identity. "Langstrom," he growled lowly. "What you doing here?"
"I'm sorry, Batman," Langstrom apologized. "But there's something you should know. This Man-Bat you're facing," he paused as he swallowed deeply, "is my father."
Well, that was surprising. That still didn't answer his question. Before he could say as much, Langstrom continued, "And after seeing the footage you should me, I know he's not going to be easy to stop. Which is why I…"
Even though the scientist trailed off, alarms were blaring in Batman's head. That it was foolish for someone like Langstrom to come out of a safe place like the bunker went without saying. A man of his intelligence would know this; so that meant he had something to protect him since he had left. While there were weapons in the bunker, none of them would be accessible to the scientist, so there was no way he had those. In fact, the only thing he had access to was…
"What have you done?" Batman asked softly, warily even.
Even from where he stood, he could see the changes beginning to alter Langstrom's body and face. "The antidote in my system slowed it down, but it looks like it just ran out."
And then the face of the original Man-Bat twisted and replaced the man's kinder one, his shirt ripping to pieces as leathery wings grew out from his arms.
"SSSSKKKKKRRRRRRIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!"
