BATMAN: FACE OFF
Chapter 1: Hinder / Help
The chopper flew overhead, on white and one black blade spinning silently. In the stealth chopper Masque stood. His mask was half the moon and half the sun the latter smiling and the former in tears. It was secured on his face, his piercing blue and green eyes glaring out from them. His suit was to one side black with gold cuffs and lapel and a white fingerless glove while the other was white with silver.
"Okay everybody we all know our roles" he called to the others in the chopper. "So lets get two-faced!" With a psychotic cackled he leapt out of the chopper that was painted black and white, a parachute opened and he glided, with his gang in toe, towards the large statue a motorway was built around. "We all wear masks folks, every last on of us. Unfortunately I'm forced to wear mine because it's not PC to be TCP...that's Totally and Completely Psychotic for those of you home schooled". He flashed a grin beneath his twisted mask's face. "HEY I CAN SEE MY HOUSE FROM UP HERE!! ANYONE GOT A FIRE BOMB?" he launched into another crazed laugh as he stabbed a piton into the statues forehead and descended spraying black pain from his cans as others sprayed white on the other side.
"This'll get their attention," grinned Masque in a calm voice before switching to the maniacal snarl. "OKAY BOYS AND GIRLS...HELL, LET'S BE PC AND SAY PEOPLE! WE HAVE A DIARRHOEIC DUO TO DISMEMBER—so make sure you all brought safety goggles".
They descended the front of the statue. Hopping down over the giant's body to land on the roof of the nearest building. It was an art museum. Slipping inside the Masque gang fired their weapons and grabbed hostages.
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Selina and Bruce sat at the computer. "Masque" Selina said coolly. "He's at the Vreeland Memorial art gallery. I'll call the boys in"
"Good idea" Bruce said. "I doubt the authorities can handle him again."
"They couldn't the first time," sighed Selina.
"I know, but I'm trying to be positive"
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Chris was in the bookstore. His silver ring with the ruby in it flickered and caught his attention. "Oi, can't I have one outing that doesn't end in the punishment of criminals? I have to start school next week!"
He grabbed the book entitled "My Life As A Bird" by Oswald Cobblepot and paid for it at the desk, then sprinted out of the shop.
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"In 2004 Harvey Dent had surgery and became an upstanding citizen again after this face and the brain damage were repaired" Matt recited. "He has retired to Cleveland to run a small law firm with his wife Fiona who is a lawyer too. His son Jared disappeared...ummm..."
"We're set on two-face I think" Mary said from the kitchen. "You'll win full marks for this presentation on past villains of Gotham Matt."
"Definitely" Terry said with a smile. Secretly knowing that his brother had left out a grandchild...but that was a carefully hidden secret from the public until they could find a way to get it out without causing a storm.
His watch started to bleep. "Mr Wayne's paged me, I have to go"
"Call me if you'll be back late" his mother called after him as he rushed out the door.
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"Masque?" Chris asked.
"Masque" nodded Terry.
They entered the cave. "Masque's just made an attack on the Vreeland Memorial Art Gallery" Selina said. "And he's got hostages. The security staff were the only ones there, but there was five of them"
"To the Batpoles Batman" intoned Chris removing his red sunglasses with a grin. The pair walked over to the cases and pulled them open. The Batmobile surfaced and beside it the Redwing cycle. The Redwing cycle was long and low on the ground with a red opaque screen over the seat that the rider needed to lie into to ride.
"It's the car, chicks love the car" smirked Terry.
"I want a car," Chris said.
"We've been through this" Selina sighed. "You're too young and when we actually did let you drive the Batmobile you crashed it through a large neon sign"
"Well at least it wasn't a curb," muttered Chris. He climbed on the bike and revved it up. "Don't wait up" he called.
"No stupid risks" shouted Selina. "Unless they're stylish and daring, no risks!"
"Sure lot's of stupid risks!" shouted Chris as he shot off the platform, the wheels of the bike snapped up and a rocket fired. He sped off on the hover bike. Terry sighed and leapt into the Batmobile. He shot off after his partner.
"They grow up so fast" sniffed Selina dramatically. "One minute they're fighting the psychotic son of a nutcase in goggles...the next they're saving the city!"
"Selina" warned Bruce.
"Oh. Pull up the plans to the building and call Babs" she muttered. "She should talk to the boys. We don't have access to police files like you used to we have to co-op with her a little differently."
With a sigh Bruce turned to the computer.
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"Veronica Dominium" the tanned young woman said. "Gotham Times. Commissioner what is going on inside the gallery? Are the hostages in grave danger?"
The Commissioner looked at the young woman cynically. "Aren't you a bit young for the Times?" she muttered.
"Intern" the girl sighed. "And freelance"
"Go home kid"
Before Veronica could retort the Batmobile descended and the Redwing Cycle pulled up. "Batman and Robin!" gasped Veronica. "Wow!"
The Dark Duo rushed to the Commissioners side. "Masque, right?" Robin asked.
"Got it in one kid" Barbara said. "He's taken the security personnel hostage up there after he defaced the monument nearby. The gallery occupies three floors and has an art collection valued to a maximum of two million for certain pieces".
"Abanda in Repose by Hielle" Robin said. "Made by the artist in 1889, didn't become famous for a hundred years. The Abanda in Repose painting is worth—based on the highest known bid—two million four hundred and twenty eight thousand dollars and twenty three cents."
"Clever kid" Barbara said as she handed the folder to them. "Masque's file. All we have on him: Wade Masters, 21. He used to be an actor until an accident did something to his face a few months. He's been in Hollywood since he could walk and was big on charity work...now he's taken to anarchy and Two-Face style crimes and coin-flipping. He escaped the hospital plastic surgery wing six months ago leaving a doctor dead and two limping orderlies. He snapped the neck of a police officer that tried to grab his mask so---don't touch the mask" she shrugged at the simplicity of the advice.
"Keeping it in mind" nodded Robin. "Shall we?"
"Up, up and Away" nodded Terry. They shot upwards disappearing into stealth cloaking devices as they did. They landed on the roof and peaked in the large window. Inside two guards were on their knees, arms behind their heads. Behind each was a man. The first had dark skin and a white suit; the other was exceptionally pale and dressed in a black suit.
"No sign of Masque" whispered Chris.
"Let's take the elevator shafts in," whispered Terry. "What have we got on the building?"
"Something new on the camera's" reported Selina. "Two hostages, a man and a woman, with Masque in the portrait gallery. He's just talking to them, I pray to God he doesn't flip the coin."
"Let's hurry shall we?" Chris suggested.
"The elevators are still active but I suspect they're booby-trapped" Bruce said. "Check them out so there's an escape route."
"Okay" Chris said. "Found their ventilation shafts" he wrapped his fingers in the metal bars and pulled them off with all his might. "Let's do this". He slipped in and fired a grapple into the roof and rose up to it. "The roof of the shaft is clear for explosives," he whispered into his link.
Terry fired a Bat-grapple onto the wall and turned his thrusters on, slowly he descended. "No explosives on the roof" he said. "I'll check the sides".
He slid down the side of the elevator car and spotted the C4 charges. "When this guy goes this way he goes the whole way," he muttered as he removed the charges and casually attached an anti-detonator to each one.
"I'll take care of them," Robin said. "You scope the halls"
With a nod Batman pried open the elevator doors and slipped into the hall as Robin turned his attention on the deactivated charges. "Gotta love this job," he muttered as he set to work.
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Masque paced up and down the room, the sound of the chopper outside buzzing loudly and the echo of his footsteps chilling in the room. The two Adonis-like twins stood side by side in their half-black, half-white suits. "Tell me Right and Wrong," he sighed to the pair who had perfect blonde hair and blue eyes. "What makes a man a man?"
"Uhh..." the first began
"Let me guess your father never gave you the Talk" the woman sneered; her blonde hair was over her face as she kneeled before Right. Masque flipped the coin. "Heads you live, Tails you die"
The coin landed in his palm, he glanced at it and sighed. "You live...oh well" he muttered.
He paced over to the picture at the centre of the exhibit. It was a woman wrapped in an autumn coloured material lying asleep on a bed of dark flowers. "I never liked Hielle he was so passé in my view...but everyone else liked him and thus I had to. When I was a child I used to wish I could play ball in the park...then my parents said "No you're a star now GO STAND IN A RED HOT AUDITION STUDIO LINE FOR THREE OR FOUR HOURS"---and of course I didn't take it well."
He straightened his mask; his black and white hair was visible just behind it near the bas of his skull under the spot the mask ended. He scratched that spot and turned to face the hostages. "Tell me, do you like Hielle?"
The man (in his twenties, shaking, brown haired and in a business suit) just trembled unsure of how to answer.
"What kind of question is that! ?" exclaimed the woman. "If we answer Yes you'll shoot us for not agreeing with you and if we say know you'll shoot us for agreeing with you!"
"Touché mademoiselle" Masque muttered. "I am impressed, okay I withdraw my question".
He spun abruptly and stabbed his twin bladed knife into the frame of the painting. "To destroy...or not to destroy? That is the question I ask...all human's just go DESTROOOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYYYY---am I right or am I right, Right and Wrong?"
"Right boss" Wrong chirped.
"Now...when Flat-man and Ribbon get here I'll have lots of fun with them" he grinned.
"Really? So will I!" the woman asked. "Watching them Kick your ass into grass".
"You'd be surprised at what I can do," snapped Masque. "I'm not just a pretty mask as those Horribly Heroic Heroes will soon find out! They've fought my gang now and again...but this time they play against me!"
The door exploded inwards the batarang hit the guns out of both Right and Wrong's hands. "Guess who's here!" cackled Masque. "Get him!"
Batman leapt forwards from the shadows and hurled the bola's snaring Right in the cords. He ducked a left hook from Wrong and elbowed the man in the side of the face. Wrong staggered aside as two more men came in. The pair he'd spotted from the sky roof had their hostages... guns pressed to the guards' temples.
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"Hey!" someone shouted. The twins turned to see Masque approaching. "Boss!" the pair chorused and saluted. One was dressed in silver and the other in gold. "What's up?"
"The Bat and the Bird are in the building. Watch out they could be anywhere!"
"We're on guard boss!" nodded the silver one. He had Moon embroidered on his jacket while the other had Sun on his coat. "Nothing gets past us," they said turning away from their boss. He placed a hand on their heads and bonked them together.
"I have so much faith," Robin said as he turned off his holographic image display and darted down the hall.
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Raising his gun the first smirked. His black suit and pale face contrasted incredibly, he had "Black" written on his lapel. The other was evidently "White".
"My, My, My" Masque said. "You've not got many choices here...bad guy or a set of hostages...want to borrow my coin?"
"How about not" a voice called. Robin's batarang imbedded itself in the wooden floor and exploded in a bright flash. Black and White shrieked in surprise...and both received a kick to the back of the head.
Terry pivoted as Chris dispatched Black and White. Masque grabbed the woman and hauled her up. She grabbed his hand and twisted it. He yowled in pain as she swung a leg up into his torso. She judo flipped him totally.
"Well that was fun," she said. She brushed her pale blonde hair out of her face. "Melanie Walk...Castle. You arrested me when I was Ten".
Terry gave a stiff nod. Masque vaulted to his feet. "Yowza toots! No bad!" he grinned. Mel leapt away.
"I'm not crazy enough to deal with you" she sniffed. "Uhh...I'll do my part and get the hostages out" she said and ran to the stunned young man and security guards. Guiding them to the elevators.
"I trapped the elevators you sap," laughed Masque as he pulled a small black and white lighter from his inside pocket and pressed down on it. Batman smiled, there was silence and Masque let out a groan. "There goes my fun!" he sighed and pulled a half-black and half-white ball from his pocket. "So...let's play ball!"
He hurled the sphere at Batman, it bounced and split into one black and one white ball, then continued to multiply from there, bouncing around crashing into the walls. Masque watched as the orbs slammed into the pair knocking them about like fists to their bodies.
"I hope it hurts" he sneered.
Robin covered his head, the migraine was unbearable...there was a flash and the spheres fell to the ground limply around them. Masque groaned. "What was that?"
"Sunspots" Robin suggested with a shrug. He charged forwards and swung at Masque. The man dodged aside with surprising speed and darted to the window. "Okay 2 on 1 just isn't fair!" he whined. "Have to go!"
The chopper circled around as his henchmen rose and untangled themselves running for their boss. He raised his hand, a shackle shot out and snagged his arm, and another launched and caught Right's wrist, then Wrongs and then Black and then White's. They were pulled backwards into the air and reeled into the chopper.
"Batmobile" Robin and Batman sighed together.
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The Batmobile sped across the sky after the chopper and along the streets. Terry and Chris climbed out. "I have a feeling we should tell Granddame not to wait up," shouted Chris over the whistle of the wind.
"I'm right here Christopher. I said no stupid risks"
"But this is stylish and daring" he mock-whined.
"Oh, then go for it" Selina sighed. "But NO stupid risks"
"I know, I have to abide by the rules of both sides of my family...nothing stupid," he grumbled.
"I'm surprised you remembered" Bruce said dryly. "You're usually daydreaming when we're talking to you." Chris gave an inclination of his head and jetted upwards, grabbing the tracks of the chopper. Terry grabbed the opposite and they swung in. Masque spun and swore violently.
"These men take their jobs FAR TOO SERIOUSLY!" he snarled. He pulled out his pistols, a black one with a white grip and a white one with a black grip. He aimed down and fired. Robin bobbed his head just in time.
"Hey! Watch it!" he shouted.
He swung upwards and slammed a foot into the chests of Black and White. They fell back in surprise. Batman flipped up on the other side and Masque sighed loudly. "I mean REALLY, can't you two take a hint?"
His arms snapped out, the hooks snapped onto the utility belts. The pair weren't fast enough; he leapt and performed the aerial splits, kicking them both out of the chopper. They hung below, trailing in the wake of the chopper. "HEY BOYS WANNA SEE THE SCENIC ROUTE?" he roared down and gave a giggle as he flipped the coin. "Sorry boys! It's the death sentence! FOR BOTH OF YOU"
The chopper swung around and headed for a building, just passing over the roof. The Duo swung at the wall and ran up the vertical surface as the helicopter continued on. They rushed across the roof and swung on...
Terry pulled a buzz saw from his belt and turned it on the cable. The cable sparked under the blade, the strange covering over the cord didn't seem ready to break. "Batman...Batman!" called Robin. "BATMAN!" Terry looked up, the huge neon sign was dead ahead.
"Watch out!" Selina shouted too late. They went crashing through the sign, sparks flying and neon shards crashing downwards as they passed through it.
"Are you two okay?" Bruce exclaimed.
"Get back to you on that one later" Robin groaned.
Terry pulled a batarang from his batbelt and hit the charge button. It was explosive... he hurled it at the wires as Robin flicked a throwing bird. The small explosions blew the steel cords apart.
Masque stared down and abruptly covered his eyes with and arm and shouted "WAAAAH" at the top of his lungs. Then he pulled a Tommy gun from the hands of one of his henchmen and opened fire as the Dynamic Duo shot towards him. They split on either side of the stream of bullets.
Snapping a red wing at the chopper Robin grinned. The projectile landed inside the chopper, sticking from the roof. "This is not good," muttered Masque. The bird exploded into a blaze of light. Terry and Chris vaulted into the side doors. Masque pulled off his black and white sunglasses. "I'm annoyed gentlemen" he stated. He ducked low and hooked the back of Robin's leg knocking him off balance. The Boy Future flipped backwards and helicopter-ed his legs knocking Masque backwards. Terry lunged grabbing the man's wrists.
"You're going to jail" Terry grated.
"You're going out the door," Masque said simply. He rammed a foot into Terry's gut and shoved him backwards with surprising strength. Terry crashed into the corner on top of Chris.
Masque hopped to his feet and pulled on a parachute. "I've targeted the Vanity Fete magazine offices, this bird will launch itself on turbine rockets into the front blowing it off THE FASHION LISTINGS AND STRAIGHT INTO THE OBITUARIES LIKE A GOD DAMN BAT OUT OF HELL, so I hope you brought some sun tan, its about to get hot in here!" He waved and performed a back flip out the door. "Catch you on the flipside" he cackled.
"Terry that building is full of people!" Bruce said. "He's going to kill over 500 people with that helicopter! You have to avert its course."
"The rockets at the back" Selina said. "My guess is that they're hidden in a compartment before use, if you use them early you might be able to divert the course..."
"The controls are gone," reported Robin.
"Locked?" Batman asked.
"No, gone" Robin said pointing into the cockpit. The panel with the switches and buttons was removed completely but for a small screen bleeping red with a 3-D shape on it. The Vanity Fete offices.
"If we blow up the chopper" Terry began
"The debris would kill anyone below but in a wider space," sighed Bruce.
"Chris, anything you can do?" Selina asked.
Chris knelt by the control wires. "Too many wires to connect and not enough time"
"Can you point the chopper upwards?" Terry asked. "While I access the turbine rockets?"
"I get what you mean" nodded Chris. "But you need to enable the rockets fast and get them running if it's going to work"
"On it" Terry nodded. He climbed out the side of the chopper on his metal claws heading for the panel at the back of the chopper. He forced his laser from his belt and managed to fight the velocity of the chopper enough to laser open the lock.
On the roof of a warehouse Masque raised the black and white lens-ed binoculars, which showed everything in perfect colour, to his eyes and grinned. Night appeared on the roof with a tray of snacks. "Pass the popcorn" Masque said politely. "AND DON'T SKIMP ON THE BUTTER!!"
He grinned as the chopper headed for the Vanity Fete offices. They camped out on the parachutes eating cinema treats. "Uh...boss...is the Bat supposed to be doing that?" Wrong asked.
Slowly and carefully, almost afraid of what he'd see, Masque raised the binoculars to his eyes, munching on popcorn. "What's he doing?" he murmured as the bat crawled along the side of the chopper.
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Chris connected the wires to a small mass of circuitry and touched his mask. "Well?"
"I just have one more wire" Terry grimaced as he tried to steady his hand. The thrusters jutted out from the back of the chopper now and the screen he was working at was blinking a countdown to "PHASE 1".
"It's going to fire the turbines in 60 seconds!" Terry exclaimed. He slammed the bat-bombs into the sides of the chopper.
"Get rising now!" Bruce roared.
"Sheesh! Cool your jets," muttered Chris as he connected the wires and moved the small cyber grid around. The chopper flipped upwards so it pointed at the sky. It spun for a moment like a dizzy child before...
The missile-turbines at the end hissed and blazed shooting upwards. The bat-bombs bleeped and there was a flash as the chopper exploded into an infernal cloud of gold and red high above the city. The two figures dropped away from it.
"I love this job," grinned Chris to Terry...and then they crashed through the windows of the building they'd been trying to avoid.
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"Ms Walker"
"Castle"
"You're Melanie Walker"
"Melanie Castle"
Veronica Dominium frowned and put her digital pad down to her side. "You're Melanie Walker from the Royal Flush Gang, I know who you are"
"Who I was," corrected Melanie as she tried to get past the woman blocking the way off the steps. "Now move"
"All I want is to know what happened up there," Veronica said calmly. "Do you have any details?"
"Two things" Mel said. "And they are: PISS OFF"
Veronica frowned. "Listen toots" she said darkly. "I will get my story, don't make me bring Ten of the Royal Flush Gang into it...coz I will. And it won't get pretty."
"Don't start with me" warned Mel. "I just want peace"
She disappeared past Veronica into the crowd.
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"Honestly how could you miss an entire building?" Selina muttered as she dabbed Terry's back with anti-sceptic. "And get glass in such an inconvenient place? Chris, I have to admit I expected it from you- don't look at me like that, who here decided to go snowboarding blindfolded- but Terry! I thought better of you!"
"Selina, leave the boys alone" Bruce sighed. "I have the files on Masque"
"Finally liberty from the speech" Chris muttered.
"Don't start with me birdie" warned Selina.
"Wade Masters, age twenty-one and height 6 foot 2 inches. He started his career at the age of 5 under the guidance of his mother/manager Geraldine Masters. His first job was as a spokes-child for Tiny Trikes. From there he went into the Children's Channels as a "kidz-newz-reporter" and then became a performer, singing and dancing.
He got a job at 10 in a TV movie for children called "A kid in Ali-Baba's court" then he was in another TV movie called "A Mother's tears", that drama launched him straight into a sitcom called "Blame it on Billy" that ran for three years until two actors died in a fire...a fire that nearly killed him when it made scenery fall on him.
After that he was in the big movies and one of the brightest stars, he did charity work for every cause imaginable and was doing well...up until an accident. It's not known why, but he was at a synthetics factory. There was an explosion and chemicals were spilled. The doctor who removed his bandages after the operation... was found with his head facing the wrong"
"Reads like a fan page" Selina said dryly.
"Part of it was" Bruce said as he rose and walked with Ace (who was ever so aware of Selina and her two Cats Isis and Hecate) to a holographic display of Masque. "If he is like Two-Face then we have a lot to worry about. He's totally unpredictable despite the rather narrow line of crime."
Selina sighed and rubbed her cheek. "I wonder if he has the same left side punch as Harvey," she muttered. "Though, tying him up at the bat signal would be a nice memento of the old days."
"We're Batman and Robin Granddame" sighed Chris. "Not Catman and Robbing"
"He was seeing a therapist when he was younger" Bruce said. "Dr Enid Dartmoor, I'll contact her and see what she has to say about him. Any information will be helpful. Though I doubt she'll give up much. You two should go and rest...I'll call your mother Terry."
He turned to look at Selina. She was gone...
"I never realized how irritating that could be---" he muttered. Ace gave a bark.
TBC
In the next chapter: Introducing Iola Van Drake, a magical assistant who's father taught her everything he knew...now she's out to get Gotham and the world in her grasp...and who better to help then The one and Only Masque?
Veronica bumps into Terry and minor sparks fly. Chris starts school. Mel has a relatively good role and Bruce and Selina probe for information on Masque beyond the fan pages.
Until the next episode...
Same Bat Story
Same Bat Fan Fiction Site!
Ugh that just doesn't run...oh well...put the announcers voice with it and it sounds better.