Chapter 5:
Batman had been pacing in the outer office for nearly an hour, impatiently waiting for Lucinda to return. He was going to call Warden Crichton's house, but apparently it was a very private number. Not even Alfred and the Bat-computer or Bat-index of Gotham City Residences had been able to give him the number. However, the man's secretary would have it out of necessity.
"How on earth did Ned Pucker get in here?"
The Caped Crusader heard the woman's voice before she appeared.
"Murder!" she gasped. "This must be some kind of mistake."
Batman's eyes widened slightly. How, he wondered, did she know why someone was in the State Pen? That was eyes-only information for the warden.
"Where did you get that information?" Batman growled as Lucinda walked into the outer office.
"Oh, you startled me!" Lucinda shrieked as she dropped the papers she had been carrying.
They floated toward the floor and she began attempting to grab them before they landed. Batman, gentleman that he was – although sometimes he didn't show it – began helping. The title of the first paper he read was, "State Pen List of Inmates and Crimes".
"Why do you have this paper?" the Caped Crusader growled at the secretary again.
"I've been trying to tell you all morning. It's not my fault you continue to interrupt me whenever I begin explaining."
"I'm listening," Batman grumbled.
"Warden Crichton has a bad case of pneumonia and, per doctor's orders, will be out indefinitely. I'm Interim Warden. Is your conversation still only for Warden Crichton?"
"I need to speak to Robin. Send him to the visitor area immediately," he commanded. "I'll wait there."
Without another word, Batman strode out the door toward the section where he would be able to check on his fifteen-year-old partner.
"The only Robin…" Lucinda began but Batman was gone before she could finish her sentence.
"…is a woman," she sighed.
She flipped through the three pages of the inmates list, searching for something she may have missed. Nope, the only Robyn was in Cell Block H, in the women's section of the State Pen.
Half an hour later:
"Why isn't he here yet?" Batman murmured.
A burly guard was walking around the perimeter of the visitor area, glancing at Batman every thirty seconds. Who was he waiting for? Batman had been here several times, always to question inmates, so why wasn't there someone sitting in front of him being interrogated?
Standing up, Batman stalked to the guard, stopping the man in his tracks.
"Why isn't my prisoner here yet?" he growled.
"I don't know who your prisoner is, Batman," the guard replied, a little nervously.
"Don't you have a way to look it up? Isn't that part of why you're here?!"
"Yes, sorry."
The guard practically ran to his computer and began typing.
"Um, there's no prisoner listed next to your name, Batman, because your name isn't even on the list."
"How is my name not on the list?!" he roared. "I told that woman half an hour ago that I needed to see Robin immediately!"
"Um, woman? Warden Crichton is the one who gives the green light for a prisoner to be brought down. He hasn't been down here, I haven't even heard from him, and there's no name listed for either visitor or prisoner."
"Warden Crichton is out today," Batman stated angrily, "and Lucinda Martins is in charge. For now," he muttered under his breath.
"Out?"
At Batman's dark glare, the guard timidly declared, "I can call her!"
"THEN DO IT!"
Turning away from the computer, the guard picked up the phone and dialed the number for the warden's secretary. It rang ten times before he replaced the receiver.
"She, um, didn't answer."
"I was just up there! Do it again!"
Batman was roaring every time he spoke and the young guard was now terrified. Picking up the phone, he redialed the number and waited. The Caped Crusader's Bat-glare was intensifying and the guard had no idea what to do. How was he supposed to tell the woman to send whoever it was to the visitor area if she wouldn't answer the phone?!
"Forget it," Batman snarled. "Let me see the occupancy list."
"I'm sorry, Batman, but only the warden…"
"FORGET IT!" the hero exploded, throwing his arms in the air as he turned around and walked away.
When he was out of sight of the guard, Batman began sprinting down the hall toward the stairs that would lead him to the office of Interim Warden Martins.
The bell screamed and the cell block fell quiet. It wasn't dinner time so why had the bell gone off?
"Half hour of rec time," a well-muscled guard called out as he walked down the hallway. "Guess the warden's feeling nice today."
Cell doors clanged open and the inmates poured out, heading for the large recreation room. There was a television, a small bookshelf filled to capacity and many, many board games.
Ned waited until the other villains had all passed before stepping out into the hall. Robin followed and stayed on the big man's heels all the way to the rec room. Fourteen guards were roving around the room and most of the inmates were watching a football game on the TV. Ned sat on the couch closest to the exit and Robin, not wanting to appear weak, leaned against the wall on the other side of the door.
The large man glanced sideways at Robin but the teenager didn't make a move. His arms were folded across his chest, his right ankle was crossed over his left and his eyes were exuding confidence. Ned was pretty sure the kid was at least a little scared, but the young crime-fighter certainly wasn't showing it.
Suddenly, the room was plunged into darkness. Joker cackled deviously, Riddler giggled maniacally and all the inmates tried to find Robin in the pitch-black room. He had a lot of enemies; the Dynamic Duo put more regular criminals in prison than they did villains.
Robin felt hands all around him and realized that seeming weak might have been better than leaving himself vulnerable to attack. Ned, still on the couch, recognized that he was going to have to fight his way out of this. Half a dozen men were attacking him in the dark, but he knew he was strong enough to get through them. The one he was worried about was Robin. He knew the Boy Wonder could handle himself, but he was sure that almost everyone in the room wanted revenge on the Dynamic Duo. And since Robin was the only one here, he would be the one accepting the consequences.
The Boy Wonder was also attempting to fight his way out of this. But there were at least eight men working on him and he was trapped against the wall. There was nowhere to escape to, no way to use his speed to his advantage. He was receiving more hits than he was giving and he could already feel his face swelling.
What felt like a stone blade hit him across the chest and everyone heard the Boy Wonder's grunt of pain.
"My hand!" a voice screamed near Robin's left ear.
He flinched at the noise but was relieved that it was only a bony hand and not some sort of weapon. The teenager was also relieved that nothing had been broken, or even cracked. It had knocked the wind out of him, though, and he was distracted from his attempt to defend himself.
A meaty hand slapped itself hard on the side of his head and Robin saw stars. Then he saw faces and sneers and glares and several fists as the lights came back on. He was able to dodge the biggest fist that was flying toward his nose but got caught on the chin with a second, smaller fist. The third one slammed into his solar plexus and the teenager was again forced to fight for air.
Suddenly people were being pulled away from him. Guards were yelling and Ned's face unexpectedly appeared right in front of Robin, his eyes full of concern.
"They got you pretty good, kid," the large man stated quietly. "I'll see if we can get you to the infirmary."
Robin slid to the ground as Ned stood up to ask a guard about the infirmary. His right hand rose to his chest as he gasped for air. By this time the guards had all the prisoners – with the exception of Ned and Robin – either cowering or unconscious on the floor.
The teen tried to slow down his breathing and calm his erratic heartbeat. He knew he had been lucky, this time. It was much harder to find someone you wanted to beat up in the darkness, even if you knew his approximate location beforehand.
"You look a little lost, Robin," Ned said as he crouched in front of the boy.
The Boy Wonder's light-blue eyes were cloudy and his small body was trembling. Ned remembered that Robin hadn't come out from under the bed before lunch. How long had it been since the boy had eaten?
"Hey, you with me?" the man asked quietly, waving his hand in front of Robin's face.
Robin blinked sluggishly several times and then whispered, "Yeah, I'm here."
"Whadda' we got here?"
The same guard that had spoken to Batman was now standing over Robin and Ned, scowling. He hated cleaning up after riots, especially the part where the injured had to be carted off to the infirmary. It was all the way on the other side of the prison and such a long round trip! And sometimes he had to stay there, in case the criminal decided to try to escape.
"Uh, possible concussion, swollen left eye, split lip and breathing hurts," Robin mumbled.
"Nothin' broken?" the guard asked.
The teenager moved his right hand down his chest and wearily probed his ribs. No sharp edges or anything else that would indicate a broken rib. Probably just some deep bone bruises. Breathing would become less painful in a few hours.
"No, I don't think so," Robin replied with a slight wheeze.
"Good, offta your cell then, like ever'body else."
"Have you seen his face?!" Ned shouted.
Robin flinched and the guard put his hand on the nighstick sitting on his hip.
"Yeah. Do you see any bones stickin' outta his skin?" the man replied angrily. "No," he answered his own question without waiting for an answer, "so he can go back ta his cell, like I said. Get going!"
The guard nudged Robin with his foot and the Boy Wonder slowly got to his feet.
"No weakness," he mumbled, and Ned knew exactly what he meant.
"No weakness," the man repeated and dropped his hands, which had been about to grab the swaying body of the boy.
They began the short walk back to their cell, the annoyed guard following closely. Their cell was at the end of the block; they had to pass everybody on the way there. Yelled insults and evil cackles assaulted them on their journey and didn't stop when they arrived. The guard unlocked the door and gave Ned a poke in the back with his nightstick. The big man gently pushed Robin in and was barely inside himself when the cell door was slammed and locked.
"That was the appetizer, Boy Blunder!" Joker yelled out. "It's almost dinner time!"
Robin stumbled to the ladder that led to the top bunk and attempted to climb up. Again, Ned put his hands up and this time the teenager let him help. The big man carefully pushed him up then helped him lay down.
"Not going to dinner," Robin muttered. "Need to rest for next round. Can't handle a next round yet."
"It will be hard to fight the next round on an empty stomach," Ned replied. "When's the last time you ate?"
"Doesn't matter, I'm fine," the teenager answered with a quiet gasp. "Thanks for the help. I'm fine," he repeated.
Shaking his head, Ned sat down on the lower bunk and began searching for a solution to the newest problem: how to sneak some food back to his cell.
Lucinda wasn't in the outer office and the warden's office was locked. He started repeatedly pounding on the door but there was no sound from inside.
"RIOT IN THE REC ROOM!"
The shouted sentence came from all the way down in the yard, but Batman still heard it. Glancing at the map again, although he had memorized it, he found the rec room and raced away. Guards would be thankful for the help of the Caped Crusader during a riot. Hopefully, Robin wasn't there.
He made it to the door that led to the hall leading to the rec room just as it slammed shut and automatically locked. There was a short, skinny man at the desk to his right, so Batman turned to him and glared.
"Open it up," he commanded.
"Can't," the white-haired guard replied cheerily. "Riot means a lockdown. I don't have the password or authority to unlock a lockdown. It'll most likely be over soon, lots of guards in the rec room. What can I do for you?"
"Tell me who is in the rec room," Batman demanded.
"Oh, let me see."
The old guard pushed some buttons and typed some letters.
"Hm, that's unusual," he murmured.
"What?!" Batman yelled. "What's unusual?"
"Warden didn't give anyone permission for rec time. Must have been a fluke, or a mix-up with the schedule. Can't help you, sorry."
Batman slammed his hand on the desk. The blue-gray eyes of the guard widened.
"I need to see Robin. NOW!"
"Robin as in…your sidekick?" the old man inquired, surprised filling his voice. "I can't help you there, either. I don't have access to the occupancy list of names and why would Robin even be on it? I can tell you that we currently have two hundred and twelve inmates."
"Where is Lucinda Martins?" Batman growled.
"Batman, I have one job. I'm not in charge of lockdowns, or knowing who everyone is, or finding people or even guarding prisoners. I open the door for guards. Nothing more, nothing less. I. Can't. Help. You."
The guard, annoyed with the obviously frustrated hero, stood up and walked away. There was a filing cabinet about three yards behind him and he opened the top drawer and began rifling through it. Batman was not going to tell him what to do.
Taking a deep breath, the Caped Crusader asked, "How long does the average lockdown last? If there's a riot, I mean."
With a sigh of irritation, the old man replied, "Do you really think there's a usual or average amount of time for a lockdown? It'll be over when it's over. Feel free to sit and wait."
The guard returned to his files and Batman ran a hand down his face. It was close to dinner time and he hadn't even seen his young partner yet. What if Robin was in the middle of the riot? What if there were too many for him to handle? There were no friends of the Boy Wonder in the State Pen, of that Batman was sure.
The guards are perfectly capable of stopping a riot in a closed room.
What if they don't stop it in time?
Robin can take care of himself.
Odds are heavily stacked against him in a riot.
He'll be okay. He might get a little banged up but he'll…
"Survive," Batman whispered as he turned and began walking back the way he had come.
The Caped Crusader left the prison and climbed into the Batmobile. Maybe the Bat-computer could give him Warden Crichton's address. Hopefully the man was on the mend because Batman needed him back in charge as soon as possible.
Dinner time came and went while Robin laid on the top bunk. Ned came back with some bread he had stuffed into his pocket. The Boy Wonder accepted it gratefully, but it burned his dry throat as it went down. At least he had been able to eat it. Now if only he could somehow get a drink of water.
Around 8:30, a short but muscular guard arrived at Robin's cell. He unlocked it and motioned to Ned.
"Interim warden wants to see you," the guard stated. "I don't know anything about it, so don't ask."
With a glance back at Robin, Ned walked out of the cell.
"Lt. Copple told me to give these to you, kid," the guard continued as he tossed something on the floor. Then he locked the door and led the big man down the hall and out of sight.
"Interim warden?" the teenager whispered, a little confused. Why would Warden Crichton be gone? Unless…was the man dead?!
Robin stayed awake long into the night, waiting for Ned to come back and fill him in. The lights out bell rang, beds creaked, and snores began wafting down the hall, but Ned didn't come back.
The last thought Robin had before finally falling asleep was:
Batman didn't come.