The Once and Future Bat
a Batman Beyond fanfic
by
Mike Yamiolkoski
The top of the north Gotham Plaza Tower was much like the roof of any given skyscraper - gravelly surface, shacks that held air conditioning and water systems, and not much else. Since it was the tallest building in lower downtown Gotham, the tower also sported a large TV transmitter.
Nightwing's initial search turned up little. From the tower roof, he could easily see the ongoing cleanup effort on the remains of Gotham Cathedral in the street below, well enough to confirm Bruce's estimate that the beams came from this direction. The slice into the tower was edge-on from his vantage point.
But nowhere on the roof was there any sign of large equipment having been there, or even footprints - which would have been hard to spot in gravel, but Nightwing knew the signs to look for. While he might have missed the traces of a single person walking carefully about the roof, there was simply no way to have placed something like a weapons-grade laser on the roof without leaving a clue. Yet there was none.
For the sake of being thorough, Nightwing made his way to the TV tower and began climbing. It was fairly easy going, as the tower was designed to be climbed, but again he found nothing remarkable as he neared the top. Sighing, he started back down -
That was odd.
From atop the antenna, Nightwing could see something about the roof that he had missed from a lower perspective. The gravel seemed to have attained an unnatural circular pattern, as if someone had hovered a helicopter just above the roof and blown the gravel outward. It was subtle enough to miss at any angle except directly overhead, but it was unquestionable. And since it had rained heavily two days previous, the pattern had to have been made recently. Someone had been up on the roof.
Nightwing knew this part of Gotham well. There was no genuine reason to fly a helicopter so close to the roof of Gotham Plaza Tower, and none of the nearby buildings were equipped with helipads. Besides, Bruce had said that he had noticed no unusual activity around the towers, and a helicopter would certainly have qualified as unusual. So that theory was out, but Nightwing could think of no other explanation that made sense.
He slid rapidly down to the ground again and examined the circle more carefully. It measured about twenty feet across. It was more or less perfectly circular, though it was hard to judge exactly where the edges of the effect lay so that was a rough estimate. For a moment, Nightwing had the quixotic thought that a UFO had descended on the building, fired a otherworldly ray-gun at Batman, and left behind the urban equivalent of a crop circle, but pushed the notion from his head as being impossible.
Then again, the whole situation was impossible. Maybe he shouldn't be so quick to dismiss such ideas.
Still, Nightwing preferred to remain in the realm of reality for a bit longer. He gathered up two samples of gravel, one from the center of the circle, one from nearer the outer edge. Then, with nothing more to be done, he prepared to leave the rooftop.
Then he saw something that made him stop. The Batsignal had flashed into the clouds.
It seemed he wasn't going home yet.
* * * * *
"Good evening, Commissioner."
Commissioner Gordon whirled around, startled at a voice he hadn't expected. "Nightwing?"
"Yes. I'm afraid Batman is indisposed for the time being."
"Not a good time for it," the Commissioner sighed, and went to turn off the spotlight. "I assume you know why I've called him?"
"My guess would be the Cathedral."
"Of course. The city engineers have looked over the remains to try to find a reason for its collapse, and I've had some outside experts brought in. No one can determine how any building could have failed the way it did, along such a precise diagonal line. Witnesses haven't been much help. The only thing they all agree on was that it happened very quickly. Some have said that it was accompanied by a flash of red light."
"That matches my findings," Nightwing nodded.
"So, can you give us any insight?"
"Not much. Batman's theory is that the building was deliberately destroyed by some kind of high-tech weapon. But that's all it is right now, a theory. I understand there were no fatalities?"
"We can thank our lucky stars for that. It was the maintenance staff's night off, and no one happened to be in the street below when it fell." Commissioner Gordon rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "This theory of Batman's disturbs me. If he's right, it could happen again. The Cathedral might have been a test to prepare for something larger."
"Has anyone claimed responsibility?"
"No one that we can take seriously. So, I hope you'll share any of your findings with us?"
When he didn't get an answer right away, he knew that Nightwing had silently left. He didn't even bother to turn around, but simply walked off the roof, muttering.
* * * * *
Nightwing cruised back through the city, feeling like he'd done a supremely inadequate job but not knowing where to go next. If the gravel bits in his pocket didn't reveal anything, they'd be at a dead end. A building had been leveled, an ancient and important building, and no one knew how or by whom. It was maddening.
He was listening to the police band, more out of habit than anything else, as he drove the motorcycle along the main highway through Gotham. Miscellaneous calls about pulling over drunk drivers, or domestic disturbances, or routine checks. Then, something that was a little more unusual.
"Unit 5-Alpha-40, come in, over."
"This is 5-Alpha-40."
"Please proceed to Third and Main to investigate a possible electrical fire or gas explosion. Fire control units are on their way."
"Ten-four."
Normally Nightwing would have ignored it, but the next exit would take him right there. He decided to have a look.
* * * * *
From the roof of a warehouse, Nightwing observed the activity below. There was no fire, but he could detect an unmistakable odor of ozone, like after a thunderstorm. And the alley down below had definitely been the site of something interesting. There was a round crater blasted in the asphalt, with impact waves spread radially outward. Nightwing wondered if the alley had been hit by a small meteorite - stranger things had happened in Gotham.
Suddenly he tensed, ears straining. A noise behind him, like a footstep. Nightwing sensed he was not alone on the roof.
Another footstep, and Nightwing determined the general direction from which the noise came. He dropped and leapt behind a large duct, spinning about to face the intruder and whipping out his own version of a Batarang.
"Show yourself!" he whispered loudly. "I know you're there."
Silence ensued. Nightwing scanned the roof moving his eyes alone, his body tensed for action. If his unseen companion made just one more noise -
There! It was no more than the slight scratching of gravel as a man shifted his weight, but it was enough for Nightwing to pinpoint the exact source. His batarang flew with expert precision. His target moved - fast. The batarang missed.
Nightwing knew at that moment that he was not only fighting an unseen opponent, but an unseeable one. He saw the footprints appear in the gravel as if made by invisible feet. They were running away from him, however, not toward him.
His mind worked quickly. There was no reason for an invisible foe to try to lead him into an ambush. Nightwing followed fast behind his enemy, pulling another batarang, a charged one this time. Whatever technology made a man invisible might be countered with a simple, strong electrical shock. Judging by the path his target was taking, his next step would be - there!
The batarang flew, curved, struck. A blaze of light erupted on the roof and a man-shaped shadow appeared where there had been none before, as well as a very human-sounding scream. Nightwing leaped to the top of a utility shack to have the jump on the man when the sparks died.
Then he pounced.
The figure was visible now, a slim, athletic man dressed entirely in black. Nightwing took him in a rolling tackle and caught the man in a full-nelson, forcing him face-down to the roof. Then he got a shock of his own. His opponent was masked, but not with just any mask. The cowl sported a familiar set of sharply pointed "ears" much like Nightwing's former employer. It seemed there was a new bat in town.
Nightwing made a grab for the cowl, but the figure took advantage of the broken hold and twisted away, flinging Nightwing off his back with surprising strength. Nightwing rolled with the impact, turned to counterattack - but his opponent was off and running again - straight for the edge of the building.
Then he leaped. Red wings unfolded at his sides, and rocket flares shot from the soles of his boots. In a matter of seconds, the pseudo-bat was out of sight.
Nightwing flipped out a small device from his belt. Out of sight, perhaps, but not out of reach. The tracer he'd fired at the man's back as he ran off was sending back a good, clear signal.
* * * * *
"He was invisible?"
"At first," Dick Grayson acknowledged as he and Bruce went over the details of the evening. "I hit him with a shock-batarang, and that disrupted whatever was cloaking him. The shock itself didn't seem to hurt him much, even though it should have been powerful enough to render him unconscious."
"And his costume was like mine?"
"A little different. Darker, more form-fitting, without the cape. Kind of stylish, actually. Are you recruiting more help without telling us about it?"
Bruce glared.
"Guess not. So, where did he go from there?"
Bruce turned to the Batcomputer and called up a map of Gotham. "After your encounter, he seems to have flown straight to WayneTech headquarters, and landed on the roof. From there he flew to the Gotham Cathedral ruins. After spending some time there, he proceeded at ground level to a nearby abandoned warehouse, from which he hasn't moved for the past two hours."
"So, shall we go get him?"
Bruce shook his head. "Not yet. I'd like to have a better idea of what he's up to first. We can learn more by waiting for him to make his next move, then following him."
Dick sat down. "Are you thinking this is the same guy who took a shot at you?"
Again, Bruce shook his head. "No, you would have had more of a fight on your hands if that were the case. Still, he must have some connection with the tower attack."
"Just because he showed up around the same time?"
"There's more than that. The invisibility screen you spoke of speaks of advanced technology."
"It's nothing we haven't seen before," Dick pointed out. "I seem to remember you tangling with some psycho in an invisible suit. Mojo, or something?"
"Yes, but there's also the matter of his escape. If he flew from Third and Main to the top of WayneTech, and from there to the Cathedral, he would have needed at least a two-liter fuel tank to power his rockets. And you said he didn't have one."
"It's hard to say. It's possible that he had a flat tank molded to fit his back, or something."
"But why would he have used up all his fuel in one go? Granted, he had a reason to get away from you as soon as possible, but he had no reason to fly from WayneTech to the Cathedral. Yet he did so, as if unconcerned about his fuel usage."
Bruce turned away from the computer. "We still have a lot of unanswered questions. In the meantime, we'll have a look at that gravel you brought back."
* * * * *
Bruce stepped away from the computer after having scrutinized the small rocks in every possible way. All his tests showed exactly what he'd expected - it was perfectly ordinary gravel.
As much as he hated to admit it, Bruce found his mind beginning to drift. He hadn't had any sleep for some time, and not much to eat either. His leg was uncomfortably numb with painkillers, and his arm remained useless for the time being. It would be a minimum of two weeks before he could really go out as the Batman again.
Bruce frowned. That was what was truly bothering him. Not just the fact that his injuries prevented him from performing his sworn duty, but that even if he were fit and healed, he would hesitate. Batman was the target of an immensely powerful foe, one with previously unheard-of forces at his command, and he would cut a path straight through the city to get what he wanted. Until this mystery was solved, Batman would have to stay in hiding.
But Bruce wouldn't.
He pulled up the city map on the Batcomputer again. The tracer remained where it had been for the past ten hours. Bruce wondered if the stranger had fallen asleep, or had found the tracer and ditched it. Perhaps it was time to check out that warehouse.
Bruce got up and went to the disguise room.
* * * * *
An hour later, an elderly, jowly, white-haired man lifted a manhole cover and hoisted himself to the street. He leaned on a twisted cane for support, and his arm was in a sling. His eyes did not match his aged appearance.
The warehouse was just across the street, an unremarkable building that had once held foodstuffs, but was now one of many abandoned buildings in the blighted neighborhood of South Lower Gotham. The entire area was a nest for crime, from petty vandalism to the temporary headquarters of the Joker or Two-Face. At least the latter form of activity had died down in recent years, as Gotham's crime lords had come to realize that it was the first place Batman tended to look for them when trouble occurred.
Bruce pulled a scanner from his concealed utility belt and checked the tracer. His eyebrow raised slightly - it was on the move. They hadn't lost their prey after all.
The tracer stayed in one general area for a moment, then began following a path that matched the stairwell in the building. Bruce limped along the street to the next alley, where he was able to get a better view of the warehouse. From what he could see on the scanner, his target was moving toward the roof.
Bruce took a pair of what seemed to be ordinary reading glasses from his shirt pocket, but in reality served as binoculars of a respectable power. He watched the roof door carefully.
The door opened, and the figure emerged.
Bruce frowned. The man was dressed as Dick had described, in a slightly stylized version of the Batsuit. Not a copy, exactly - the man obviously wasn't trying to impersonate him. But the symbolism was unmistakable.
The figure looked briefly around, then again as Dick had said, spread a pair of wings and rocketed off the roof. Bruce resisted the temptation to watch the man fly off - the scanner would give him far more accurate information. He observed the glowing dot as it passed over Lower Gotham and came to rest at Gotham Plaza Tower.
* * * * *
Bruce rode the elevator to just below the top floor of the tower, watching his scanner carefully the whole time. The man was still on the roof, seemingly walking around its surface and occasionally jetting from one part to another.
The elevator let him off at the second-to-top floor. Bruce stepped quietly into the hall, looking left and right, and made his way to the door at the end. It was an apartment that belonged to one of his executives at WayneTech, one who Bruce knew for a fact was on vacation with his family. The cardkey lock was child's play for the universal card from Bruce's utility belt, and he slipped inside easily. A second device switched off the home security system.
Soon Bruce was on the veranda, facing a two-story climb up the side of the building to the roof. It was something he could do without a second thought, except that he would have to do it with one arm and one leg this night. Bruce didn't hesitate, but gripped the stone column with one hand and started up.
Halfway there, he paused to check the scanner. The man seemed to be sitting at one corner of the roof, the spot where Dick had reported seeing the circular pattern in the gravel. Fortunately, it was at the opposite corner from where Bruce climbed. He would likely reach the top without being seen.
A minute later, Bruce pulled himself over the ledge and onto the roof, dropping soundlessly onto a patch of exposed tar where the gravel had slid away. From there, he was able to get his first good look at his target.
One detail he noticed immediately was that there was certainly no fuel tank on his back for the rockets. The man was too slim for that. And he was muscular, but didn't seem strong enough to be able to throw Nightwing the way he had. He seemed to be scrutinizing the roof surface carefully. His way of moving seemed unfamiliar - Bruce felt that this wasn't someone he'd encountered before.
His face turned slightly in Bruce's direction, and Bruce saw that the mask covered the man's entire face. He also got his first look at the symbol on the man's chest. It was a bat. Dark red, different from his own, but a definite bat.
The man completed his inspection of the roof, but rather than fly away, he seemed to suddenly despair. He sat down on the roof and hung his head, muttering to himself. It was apparent that whatever he was looking for, be it some specific item or simply an answer to a problem, he hadn't found it.
Bruce decided to take action. He stepped from his hiding place.
Instantly the man was on the alert, springing to his feet and whipping around. A weapon flashed in his hand, a curved blade that reminded Bruce of his own batarangs. Bruce palmed one of his own, to be on the safe side, and moved into the light.
Then the man in the suit said the last thing Bruce expected to hear.
"Mr. Wayne?"
TO BE CONTINUED...