Tang Ri Shan
Red Wings
(This is a sequel to Beware the Batman: Conundrum. I suggest reading that story if you have not done so already)
Chapter 4
"What was that?" Bruce asked glancing around the room. He could hear sounds of screaming and things being smashed, and he could see people running in every direction, but he couldn't detect the source of the problem.
"RRROOAARRRR!" The roar came again and Bruce stiffened. It seemed to be coming from behind him. He glanced down when he heard Kathy gasp and saw the woman staring wide-eyes over his shoulder. "B-B-Bruce!" She squeaked, pointing a shaking finger. Bruce spun around, and felt his jaw drop.
Prowling towards him, amidst the remains of two smashed tables, was the biggest tiger he had ever seen. The cat was at least three feet tall at the shoulder. It's striped pelt seemed to gleam in the light of the ceiling lamps and its mouth was open, revealing glistening white fangs. Its eyes were twin orbs of black, and filled with hatred.
Bruce's mind whirred as he watched the tiger stalk towards them. He could feel Kathy trembling in his arms, but couldn't seem to take his eyes off the big cat. What would a tiger want here?
As if reading his mind, the tiger froze, its eyes locked directly onto Bruce, and narrowed its eyes. The tiger let out a growl and then crouched down, its muscles tense, its tail whipping back and forth. Bruce felt himself take a step backwards as he realized what was about to happen. His hand shot towards his pocket, but scarcely had he grabbed his phone when the tiger sprang. Bruce froze, watching helplessly as the large orange-and-black mass hurled towards him, claws outstretched.
Suddenly, a second figure collided with the cat in mid-air, forcing it aside. With a roar of annoyance, the tiger landed on a table, which collapsed under the impact, causing the cat to flounder for a second, enough for the slim black-clothed figure to to get to her feet "Get out of here you two!" She ordered over her shoulder as she drew her swords from its scabbard. "Now!" She swung the blade through the air before pointing it at the tiger, who had regained its footing and was glaring at the swords woman. Katana swung her blade menacingly and the tiger took a step backwards. "That's right. Just stay there!" She ordered.
Meanwhile, Bruce and Kathy had been easing away from the scene. But a sudden creaking beneath their feet made them freeze. Katana glanced back at them, giving the tiger an opening it gladly took advantage of. With a roar, it lunged, knocking Katana over and charging towards Bruce and Kathy. Kathy screamed in horror and Bruce stepped in front of her, to shield her most likely, and glared at the beast as it charged towards them.
Katana leapt to her feet as the tiger leapt at the two figures, but she felt like she was moving through water. Time seemed to slow as she watched the tiger get closer and closer to her employer. Suddenly, she heard a whispered bang over her shoulder and something dark zipped past her ear, trailing something behind it as it flew. Before anyone else could react, the object flew around the tiger's broad shoulders and the line was yanked tight, throwing the tiger off balance and causing it to crash to the floor in front of the stunned pair. Bruce and Kathy glanced up and Katana spun around to see a teenage boy in a red-and-black costume holding the end of a rope that had been attached the the thrown hook and pulling as hard as he could.
As Katana took this in, she heard the tiger roar behind her and the boy was suddenly jerked forward. Straining against the rope, he glanced up at Katana. "A little...help...here...please!" He managed to wheeze as he braced against the floor. Snapping out of her trance, Katana grabbed the rope and joined the boy in pulling the enraged tiger away from Bruce and Kathy.
"Where...did...you come...from?" Katana gasped as she dug her heels into the carpeted floor.
"You talkin' to me, or to Stripey over there?" The boy replied, smiling despite the effort he was exerting.
"To whichever one of you will give me a straight answer!" Katana parred as she watched Bruce and Kathy back towards the nearest exit. Katana tightened her grip on the rope. She knew that tigers were driven by instinct, and the sight of prey fleeing was enough to send one into a feeding frenzy. But to her surprise, even though the Tiger was roaring and straining at the rope it wasn't trying to follow Bruce. In fact, the tiger wasn't even looking at Bruce anymore. It was trying to leap at the ruins of two wrecked tables just behind where Kathy and Bruce had been standing. As Katana glanced at the upended tables she saw what looked like a flicker of movement behind them.
Kanana gritted her teeth, then coiled one of her hands around the rope and gripped as hard as she could. Then, with lightning speed, she released her other hand and slapped her ear with it, hitting the speaker button on her earpiece.
"What are you doing?" The boy yelled as the rope jerked forward without the extra weight against it. The tiger surged forwards two feet, and its claws tore through the carpet inches from the tables.
Katana ignored him. "Oracle, come in. I need you to alert Batman. Get him here right now!"
"Already on it" Barbara's voice crackled in her ear.
Outside the Restaurant:
Bruce and Kathy had just passed through the front doors of the building when Bruce felt his phone vibrate. "Excuse me" He said to Kathy as he pulled his phone out from his pocket. Turning away, he answered the call "Bruce Wayne here"
"It's me" Barbara voice sounded urgent. "She needs you in there"
"I see. Tell Alfred I'll be there to help him in a few minutes" Bruce replied, hanging up.
Kathy looked up "Problem?" She purred, slowly blinking her one visible eye up at him
"Alfred's lost his best serving tray" Bruce lied with a smile. Seeing Kathy's eyebrow rise, he quickly added. "It was one of the hand-me-downs his father gave him. He's very attached to it. The last time he lost it, he tore the mansion apart looking for it. I'd better get back there before he wrecks anything valuable"
Kathy just stared at Bruce for a few seconds, then her mouth slowly curved up into a smile. "Very well" She said softly. "I'll let you go, on one condition"
"And what would that be?" Now Bruce's eyebrow rose.
"That when Alfred finds his missing tray, he uses it to serve dinner to the two of us, at your house" Kathy's smile widened and her tone became smug.
Bruce smiled too. "Deal. I'll call you later?"
"I'll be waiting" Kathy blinked prettily at him, then turned and began strolling towards a nearby police car. As Bruce turned to leave, she called after him. "Oh and Bruce, it's considered rude to keep a girl waiting, so don't make me wait too long"
"Wouldn't dream of it" Bruce replied over his shoulder as he broke into a run towards a nearby parking garage. As he did, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "Alfred, I need to you prep the bat-mobile with a few items. Listen carefully."
Inside the Restaurant:
"He's pretty strong" Katana observed as she was dragged forward yet again by the enraged tiger.
"Pretty strong?" The boy scoffed. "This is a fully grown male Bengal Tiger. They can be 10 feet long and weight nearly 500 pounds. Of course he's gonna be strong!"
"You know, your mouth is not helping here at all!" Katana growled, resisting the urge to reach back and seize the boy by the collar.
"Why are we even still holding this rope? All those 'billionaires' are all gone! It's only a matter of time before Stripey turns on us" Katana's eyes narrowed under her mask at the way the boy mentioned billionaires, with disgust. This time, she did glance back, only to see the boy let go of the rope.
"No! Don't let go of the...!" Katana was cut off as she was yanked forward by the now free tiger. With a roar, the beast lashed out, crushing both tables. With a cry of fear, a thin man wearing a brown suit leapt up from where he had been hiding behind the tables and bolted towards the open door, with the tiger hot on his heels.
The boy's jaw dropped. "What the...?"
"Looks like you miscounted" Katana snarled at him before rushing to the endangered man's defense, but paused when she saw that the tiger had taken a big leap and was now sailing through the air towards the unprotected back of the man, paws out to bowl him over, claws extended to rip through his clothing and skin. Katana's mind whirred as she pulled Batarang from her pocket, unsnapped it , and let it fly in a singular motion. The weapon whizzed through the air, clipping the tiger on the ear. As Katana expected, the tiger did not enjoy that and roared angrily, which caused the man to suddenly stop running and drop to the floor, causing the tiger's leap to take the creature right over the man's head and slam into the wall. As the tiger unsteadily got to its feet, the man ran back towards Katana.
"Help me! Please!" He begged as he ran.
Katana ran forward, passing the man in seconds, then stopped, standing between the terrified man and the angry tiger. "Just stay behind me sir, and you'll be okay!"
"Gladly" The man sounded relieved. Katana whirled her sword through the air and braced herself as the tiger turned to face her, growling. Just then, something darted in front of Katana, the boy.
"What are you doing?" Katana gasped as the boy held a tablecloth in both hands.
"Tigers hate a flapping cloth" The boy explained, whipping the cloth back and forth in his hands, making the material rustle. "They always slash at it" He added as he began to move away from them. Sure enough, the tiger's gaze turned away from Katana and it began to follow the boy's movement, growling angrily as it did so. "That's right, big guy. Keep looking at me" He coaxed, flapping the cloth. The tiger roared and spun to face him, but the boy didn't flinch, keeping his eyes locked on the tiger. So much so, that he failed to look where he was going.
"Hey kid, watch out!" Katana warned, but too late as the boy trod on a loose piece of wood that skidded out from under him. Crying out in surprise, he fell to the floor, and the tiger pounced, streaking towards the boy. Katana started forward, but she suddenly heard the door behind her burst open and turned to see Batman fling himself onto the rope that was still trailing from the loop around the tiger's shoulders. Yanking hard, he forced the tiger to stop, its claws just missing from the boy's face.
"Not today boy" Batman growled as, with one hand on the rope, he raised one hand up and tossed a small pellet at the tiger. The pellet exploded under the tiger's feet, releasing a small cloud of gas. The tiger stopped growling and began to curiously sniff the air around it. "Katana, hind paws!" Batman ordered as he gracefully flipped over the tiger and twirled the rope so it wrapped around both of the tiger's fore-paws.
"Right!" Katana saw what he meant and pulled a grapnel from her pocket. Aiming at the tiger's back legs, she fired the line, then pulled it back so the line, instead of going straight, wrapped around the rear legs of the tiger.
"Now!" Batman yelled and both of them ran in different directions and yanked. The two ropes tightened and the tiger's legs were yanked out from under it and it fell heavily to the floor. Capitalizing on this, Batman pulled what looked like a dart out of his belt, lunged forward and stabbed the needle of the dart into the tiger's side. The tiger growled angrily, then as whatever was in the dart began to take effect, it's glare softened and its head fell to the floor with a thunk.
For a moment both crime fighters just stood there, panting. Then Katana turned and strode over to the man the tiger had been chasing. "Are you okay sir?" She asked.
"I am now" The man replied, though his eyes never left the tiger. "Whew! Where did that tiger come from?"
"Unknown" Batman replied as he knelt down to examine the tiger. "There's no collar or ID markings." He pulled a small scanner from his belt and held it over the tiger. "No trace of RFID tags either"
"Well it had to have come from somewhere" Katana exclaimed. "Maybe..."
"Hold on" Batman suddenly stood, causing Katana to freeze, which allowed her to hear a tiny beeping coming from the scanner. As Batman moved towards the two of them, the beeping got louder and louder. When Batman was finally standing right in front of the man, the scanner begin emitting a shrill tone. The man looked down at the scanner screen, then up at Batman. He looked nervous. Batman's eyes narrowed and his hand snapped out like a switchblade, his fingers disappearing into the breast pocket of the man's shirt.
"Hey! What are you...?" The man exclaimed, but he stopped talking when Batman withdrew his hand, his fingers clutching what looked like a small radio transmitter. The man's eyes widened. "How'd that get in there?" He exclaimed in what sounded like genuine surprise.
"You mean it's not yours?" Katana probed
The man shook his head. "Heck no! I don't own any kind of a radio!"
"But that tiger wasn't just after anyone, it was after you" Batman countered, staring at the transmitter in his hands. "I wonder..."
"HEY! There's someone up there!" All three adults jumped to see the costumed boy throw something at one of the upper windows, a grappeling line. The boy took a few steps back, but Batman's hand whipped up and another batarang flew from his hands, slicing the line in two. "Hey!" The boy exclaimed, whirling to face Batman. "What are you doing? We need to go get that guy!"
"What do you mean 'we'?" Katana asked.
"You're not going anywhere" Batman added, stalking forward. "Not until you tell me who you are"
The boy froze for a second, then he smiled and spread his arms so that the 'feathered wings' of his costume were visible. "Call me 'Red Robin'" He crowed, beaming, but his smile faded slightly when he saw that Batman's expression had not changed.
"Red Robin" Katana repeated, a smile playing across her face. "Am I the only one who thinks that sounds kind of...silly?"
Katana sniggered at the thunderstruck expression that appeared on Red Robin's face as the man they had rescued nodded in agreement with the swords woman. "No!" He exclaimed, his face turning red. "It's an awesome name!" He glared at the man, who moved backwards uneasily.
"Doesn't sound awesome to me" Katana replied, a teasing smile now spread across her face. "Just 'Robin' I could understand, but 'Red Robin'? What kind of name is that?"
"A name you won't be using much longer." Batman answered as he stopped in front of the kid and scowled down at him.
"Excuse me?" Red Robin asked, tiling his head back to look Batman in the eye.
"Let me make myself clear. There is no room in Gotham for any kind of a Robin" Batman said, narrowing his eyes as if daring Red Robin to argue.
Red Robin took the bait. "Seriously? But I just helped save that guy!" He pointed towards the man.
"Yes, and then you nearly killed him and yourself" Katana corrected. "If Batman hadn't had arrived when he did, you would be dead!"
"You were lucky tonight kid. But luck only lasts for so long. Do us all a favor, and go home now, before your luck runs out." Batman strode past the boy without another glance. Raising a grapnel gun, he fired it out an open window. "Katana" He added. "Tell Oracle to meet me at the lair". With that, he hopped onto the window ledge.
"Hey! Don't you turn your back on...me!" Red Robin exclaimed, but his argument went unheeded as Batman flew out the window. Katana, hearing the sound of police sirens approaching, walked up Red Robin and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Don't take it so hard" She soothed. "Look at tit his way. You faced a full grown Bengal Tiger and survived! Not many people can say they'e done that."
"I don't want your sympathy!" Red Robin snapped, rolling out of Katana's grip. "I want to help Batman!"
Katana frowned. "Well Batman clearly doesn't want you" She replied fiercely. "And I think he's right" With that, she stalked past Red Robin to the window, pulling her own grapnel from her belt. "This isn't some kind of game for thrill seekers. Batman and his allies face life-or-death situations on a near nightly basis." She added, firing the hook up at the neighboring skyscraper. She paused, then glanced bay to find Red Robin glaring at her. "You've had your fun, but this isn't supposed to be fun. Quit while you're ahead" With that, Katana jumped out the window. As she fell towards the street below, she tapped a button and the internal winch yanked her up towards the skyscraper roof. As she crested the lip, she glanced back and saw no fewer than five police cars congregate on the street below, along with what looked like an animal control van. As she watched, a winged figure suddenly emerged from the window and fly off in a different direction.
"That boy doesn't know what he's getting himself into." Batman spoke, appearing from out of nowhere at Katana's side, watching Red Robin glide away.
"You think he'll listen?" Katana asked.
"Hopefully, but if not, we'll have to deal with him" With that, Batman turned and sprinted across the rooftop. Sighing, Katana turned and followed him.
And Cut!
It's been a while since I picked this story up, but this is the next story slated for completion, so get excited!
As always, please R&R if you liked this story, have any questions, or are simply in the mood for a spoiler or two (note: that last part may or may not get an answer, but you never know!)
And as always, a special thanks to Superfan44 for inspiring this sequel.
Until next time!