Batman/Resident Evil: The Gotham Protocol

Chapter 13

By: Christopher W. Blaine

e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: Resident Evil™ is a registered product of Capcom Inc./Batman™ is a registered product of DC Comics Inc. Neither of these properties is used here with permission. This original story idea is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.

Man-Bat could sense the door opening and instinctually understood that the others would use their sonic cries to see if there was food about. Man-Bat wasn't sure what he was supposed to do as he was hungry but he also possessed some sort of moral compass that told him not to feed on humans. The three others, his "children", had no such limitations.

The cages were rattling and it was only a matter of time before the flimsy steel bars gave way under the enhanced strength of the others. Man-Bat stood up and shook off the dust of despair; being kept in a cage, unable to fly free had weighed heavily on his primitive brain. He hated those who kept him confined, but he desired freedom even more.

Still, there were images flashing through his brain, a wife here, and a friend there. Man-Bat understood his condition, he knew that he was not a true bat, that he was some sort of mutant, but he constantly fought against that knowledge, refusing to accept it as a definite truth. He did not want to become human again for though he could not remember every specific detail, he knew that humans led oppressive, stressful lives. Instead of hunting, they bartered; instead of conserving their energies for when needed, they pushed themselves beyond their limits until the collapsed.

He only wanted to be free again.

The fire alarm siren was annoying, lacking the evolutionary advancement of his own cry, but he knew that humans lacked the ability to hear the beauty of high-pitched sonics. The alarm indicated trouble, danger, though the exact nature of the problem was not immediately apparent until Man-Bat sniffed the air. Deep in his mutated DNA, as in all creatures, was the fear of fire. Fire was the great cleanser, bringing down animals of all types. Man-Bat knew that if he did not escape, he would die.

His arms bulged with power as he reached out to grasp the bars of his cage. He cast his eyes up to the observation platform, to the office where the human leader of this place, the alpha human, had stood so many times looking down at him. It was that human that had directed the other humans to draw Man-Bat's blood; not that Man-Bat had cared. He had been rewarded each time with more fruit than he could possibly ever eat.

Something inside Man-Bat told him that the humans were not trying to be nice to him and his suspicions were confirmed when the first "child" was put in one of the cages near him. Now Man-Bat had competition for food, he supposed, but when he tried to communicate with the creature, it could not understand him. It was too dumb he supposed.

Then there was another "child" and finally they brought in the female. Her scent even affected Man-Bat and the humans had laughed, elbowing each other and pointing at him like the chimpanzees they were. It was then that Man-Bat realized that he was nothing more than an oddity and the human side of him, buried deep in his altered brain, had felt rage and embarrassment.

Now he just wanted to be free of this place, return to his roost in Gotham City or make a new one somewhere else. He considered taking the female, but as time had passed, he had noted a change in her scent and it was no longer as intoxicating. It reminded him of death.

Batman slammed the door shut and then moved over to Chris. There was blood coming out of his ears and he was out cold. The Caped Crusader checked for a pulse and was satisfied when he detected a good, strong one. He now had to consider what to do next.

Luckily, the answer came with the patter of feet running down the passageway. He looked up to see Jill, Rebecca and Green Arrow coming towards him. Rebecca called Chris's name and was down on her knees, examining him as Batman stood up.

Green Arrow and Jill informed him of the current situation. "Oracle says that if the Calvary does come, it's going to be late," Green Arrow said. He looked around the passageway. "You know we said this place was wired."

Batman nodded. "Then leave; there is something in that room; something that took Chris out without a shot being fired." He looked down at the younger man who was being attended to quite well by Rebecca. It was obvious her ministrations were more than just professional. "Arrow, you and Rebecca take Chris and get out of here." He then noticed someone was missing. "Where is Batgirl?"

Rebecca answered, explaining how the zombie had gotten through Batgirl's costume and infected her and how she had decided to buy them time with Vandross in order to escape. If Batman had any emotional feelings about what he was told, he didn't show it.

Jill watched him and then remembered all of the empty costumes back in the Batcave. How many friends had Batman lost in his battle to bring justice to Gotham City? Was it as many as Jill had lost in her own battle? Even Green Arrow seemed subdued when speaking about Batgirl. "Then let's not make her sacrifice in vain," Batman said slowly.

He told Rebecca that she would have to get Chris out on her own as the man was slowly coming around. She agreed but Batman could see that the young woman did not want to go. "Someone has to help Chris," he told her. Reluctantly, she nodded and started to help him up.

"Arrow, Jill, get ready," Batman said as he approached the door again. He paused for a moment and then reached into his utility belt. He went back to them and handed each a pair of earplugs. "I think I know what hit Chris…sonic waves."

"From Man-Bat?" Green Arrow asked as he put the plugs in. Batman also put his own in, sliding them easily under is cowl. "I didn't think he could do things like that."

"Man-Bat's powers have never been fully documented or tested," Batman explained. "If Umbrella has had him for the past few months and after all that I've seen, I'm afraid of what they may have done to him." He tried to focus on Kirk Langstrom and the pain he must have endured, but his thoughts kept drifting back to Batgirl.

When the Joker had killed Jason Todd, the second Robin, Batman had thought he had sworn off partners, especially young ones. It was too much responsibility for him. Over time, however, he learned that age was not a measure of maturity and he had once again opened his heart to let in a select few. Batgirl had been one of them and he prayed he had not made a mistake.

There was a foul taste in his mouth. It wasn't the dry, salty flavor of fear, though more than once in his life, especially when he was younger, he had experienced that particular cuisine. No, now he felt utter disgust, and a slow rage was building inside of him. All of the horror he had witnessed this night, compounded with the realization that it was happening in so many places, was, quite frankly, pissing him off.

And there were not very many things in the universe that were more dangerous than a pissed Batman. "The plan is to go in an secure the area. If Man-Bat is in there, we need to subdue him. There's no time to rig a tranquilizer, so the best bet is to try and wing him and rope him. Jill, your job is to take down any zombies or security. If there are unaffected humans, you can't use lethal force," he instructed.

She nodded. "Unlike Chris, I follow orders very well, Mr. Batman."

"He did well; he even taught me a thing or two," Batman replied with a smile.

Jill visibly brightened at the compliment regarding her friend. She then went to escort Rebecca and Chris out of the underground labs.

Outside they could see that the office building was in full flame. The flames seemed to be following an invisible line to their position and Jill reasoned that there must be some connecting tunnels or passages to the office building that were on fire now as well. Rebecca pointed out towards the barracks and Jill could see several of them were on fire as well.

A single figure, man-sized, was darting through the flames. "Sebastian," Jill whispered. Obviously he had survived the battle with Batgirl. Part of her was secretly relieved; another part was worried about Batgirl. She again turned to the burning building and realized there was nothing she could do.

Rebecca was now crying. "We shouldn't have left her," she sobbed.

Chris grimaced. "She knew the risks…"

"She wasn't a S.T.A.R.s, Chris!" Rebecca cried. "She was just a kid…"

"A kid trained to kill," Jill pointed out. "I watched her go after Vandross, 'Becca; that wasn't just some teeny-bopper with a leather fetish." There was an explosion as one of the barracks offered itself up to the gods of destruction. Jill commented off-hand. "That will probably bring in the Gotham fire department."

"Be careful," Rebecca told her.

"You just get muscles here to the van and wait. If we aren't back in a couple of hours, I guess take it and run." She accepted a 9mm clip from Rebecca as a going away present. "I'd sure like to have a shotgun right about now."

She gave Rebecca a final hug and then put a hand on Chris's shoulder. His skin was pale but there was fire in his eyes. "Don't get yourself killed, okay?" he asked her.

"Why, afraid we won't get to go on that romantic date?" she joked. He wondered if she realized the truth. He only smiled and patted her hand, hoping desperately that this wouldn't be the last time he saw her.

"Worried about the kid?" Green Arrow asked Batman when they were alone. He already knew the answer but he was seeing if his friend wanted to blow off some steam.

"She's a professional, better trained than any of my other sidekicks; she has the best chance of surviving anything." Green Arrow wondered if Batman really believed what he was saying.

"You the father?"

Batman turned slowly back, wondering exactly how to respond. "I'm fully aware of how many children I do or don't have, Oliver."

Green Arrow shrugged. "Just doing my part for the future of mankind."

Jill's return ended the discussion and the three went about checking their weapons. Jill once again reassured Batman that she had no intention of shooting any civilians unless she had to. "I don't care what the government says, I'm S.T.A.R.s," she said.

Batman grunted a reply and they discussed their strategy. Jill was surprised to find out that Batman had a good grasp of S.W.A.T. tactics for room entry. She was even more shocked to find out how easily he disregarded them. "I'll go left, Jill will go right and Ollie will hang back at the door."

"Wouldn't it be better if we all went in together…"

Batman shook his head. "If this were a hostage situation, maybe, but it isn't. We're dealing with something that can fly and perhaps several zombies who's only intent is to eat us. By splitting up, we give them more targets to consider. I want Arrow behind us because he's the marksman."

Green Arrow smiled. "The problem is I'm kind of low on arrows; when I got knocked in the head, some of them fell out."

"I thought they locked into your quiver," Batman said sarcastically.

"I broke it," the other hero said. He changed the subject quickly. "No trick arrows except for my boxing glove arrow."

"That's useful," Jill snorted.

A fire alarm went off in the passageway and Batman saw smoke pouring out the hole in the virus vault. "Damn it," he cursed as he went over to look. He returned, shaking his head. "The ceiling collapsed, this whole place is getting ready to burn down."

"Maybe we should leave," Green Arrow suggested.

"No; for all we know Batgirl is in there or Kirk Langstrom. He would be able to give us the evidence we need to take Umbrella down," Batman reminded them.

There were no more objections and they made their way to the door. Slowly, Batman turned the handle.

Man-Bat managed to squeeze through the bars he had separated, but had to pause. The exertion in the heavy air had taken its toll on him, not to mention having to listen to the others chatter away in their own language. Their sonic cries were also bouncing off of the walls, but they were merely the droning of idiots to him. Their speech had not context, it made no sense. The only thing Man-Bat could get was that they were hungry.

Weeks before, they had been wanting to mate, but their zealous behavior was more human than animal. Man-Bat wondered if they were like him, hybrids, but it was hard to tell. By design, Man-Bat had very poor eyesight. The sonic picture he received told him nothing, but the smell! Oh, how he was starting to hate the smell!

Flames could be seen dancing at the very top of the room, in the observation platform. The fire alarm was still going off, but it was still only a minor inconvenience. Man-Bat let loose a shriek to get his bearings and noticed that the door was opening again. The picture he got was familiar for he recognized the Batman.

The Batman was a human, an enemy, but not one that wanted to harm him and Man-Bat quickly decided flight rather than fight. Too many times in the past Batman had managed to subdue him and made him go back into the dark place, back into the mind of Kirk Langstrom. Man-Bat just wanted his freedom.

The others screeched at the intruders; Man-Bat could not know that with the deactivation of the security systems, the sonic buffers were also down. The cries of his "children" were powerful enough to harm normal humans. These three, Batman plus two more, did not seem affected. Man-Bat flapped his wings, only to strike them on one of the cages.

The creature inside turned on Man-Bat and was close enough for him to take him in full. Man-Bat took a step back, seeing the damage done to the thing. It was wounded, severely, with flesh dripping off in some places like water. There were exposed bones and this one seemed to have chewed off one of its hands.

It was a bat-like creature for the most part, covered with a dull gray fur, but the wings were stunted, unusable for flight. The creature had a face that was slightly human, with a sneer on its furry lips. It shrieked at him in a display of dominance. Man-Bat had been holding back, not wishing to get into a pissing match over territory, but this was a direct challenge. He took in a deep breath and let loose a cry that made the other creature cower.

Satisfied, Man-Bat looked for a way to get higher so he could fly, but then his mind tried to figure out how he was supposed to get out. As he sent sonic waves around the room to try and find an exit big enough for him, the other creature stepped out of its cage.

The creatures had been allowed to get out when their locks were deactivated, the final part of the Gotham protocol. Because Man-Bat had terrorized Gotham City before, Umbrella reasoned that nobody would even think twice if any of the experiments survived the destruction of the site. For the past several minutes, the creatures had been testing their cages, wanting to get out to hunt down fresh meat. Unlike Man-Bat, these creatures were carnivores.

Only Man-Bat's cage had remained locked, secured with the tried and true method of a key lock, a suggestion made by the Riddler. Man-Bat, while valuable, was simply too much of a risk to allow to be free. If he ever reverted to Kirk Langstrom, he could possibly implicate Umbrella Corporation. Shooting him outright might upset the other creatures some of the scientists had thought, so it was decided that he should burn to death when the lab was destroyed.

Man-Bat was given a reprieve from his death sentence when Batgirl defused the bomb in the chain meant to destroy the site. Man-Bat, however, didn't care, as escape was foremost on his mind.

Batman called out to him, using the name Kirk, but Man-Bat ignored him until he saw the other creature jump Batman. The sound picture Man-Bat received told him that there was another human in the other corner of the room being tracked by the female and that the last male had centered on a human with a bow and arrow.

Man-Bat was familiar with the missile weapon; many big-game hunters over the years had used variations of the bow to try and catch him. Many times it was Batman that saved him. In his animal heart, Man-Bat felt a sort of kinship to Batman, but at the same time, he realized that Batman meant to take away his freedom. Man-Bat wanted only to get out into the night.

Batman went down as the other monster jumped him.

Batman had made the mistake if misidentification.

He put his forearm up against the neck of the creature as its mouth snapped open and shut in an effort to bite his skull. Its breath was a cross between rancid meat and a public toilet and it raised a gore-encrusted stump of an arm to pummel him.

Reaching down, Batman managed to pull his mace from his utility belt and he sprayed a healthy dose into the monster's face. It had no effect and Batman realized that this creature was the animated corpse of a mad experiment gone bad.

Tossing away the mace, Batman punched it hard enough to crack bone. Green gel filled the crack in its face and started to run down, threatening to spill onto his own face. Pure desperation gave Batman strength that Superman would have whistled at. He got his legs under the thrashing creature and pushed it up off of him.

It hit a cage hard and shook it's head. A large section of bone sailed across the room as it did so. A batarang severed the rest of the skull from the body, but the creature didn't go down. Batman looked up to the platform above, wondering where the missile had come from.

Silhouetted against the dancing flames was a pointy-eared devil, a dark god of death staring down at him. With a cry like a dying animal, the figure jumped down to the floor and came down next to the headless monster.

Batgirl struck quickly with two punches that collapsed the creature's chest and then she kicked out to snap a thigh. The body went down, but she didn't hesitate to pounce upon it, grabbing the arm with a hand and twisting it until it popped completely out of the socket. Tossing the arm away, Batgirl jumped away as flaming debris fell onto the body.

Batman started to feel relieved until he saw that the cowl she was wearing had been torn to reveal part of her face. Eyes filled with blood stared back at him and suddenly he felt very, very alone in the world.