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 8
"And Gotham city is breathing a sigh of relief tonight as the serial killer now known as Deathstone, has been incarcerated at Blackgate Penitentiary. In addition to the two unsuccessful murders he attempted here in Gotham, Deathstone has been convicted of multiple homicides in previous years, enough to earn him several life sentences. Commissioner Jim Gordon, while unavailable for a televised comment, was quoted as saying 'I am greatly relieved that this madman has been captured. Gotham city already has its share of jokers and heretics, we certainly do not need any new ones"
"Oh really?" The man squawked before emitting a cackling laugh. "Well, I'm so sorry to disappoint you, Commissioner." With that, the man picked up a phone and spoke into it. "Hello Johnathan? Yes it's me. Yes, it's good to hear from you as well. Listen, are you still looking for test subjects? How does an entire city sound?" There was a pause, then the man smiled in the darkness of the room. "Oh I knew you would be thrilled" He chuckled, and then exploded in another fit of cawing laughter.
Inside Blackgate Penitentiary...
"Seventeen counts of homicide." Commissioner Gordon glanced up from the sheet of paper in front of him, his eyes narrowing as he gazed at the shackled man on the other side of the table. The harsh overhead light of the interrogation room throwing shadows on his face, making the killer look even more dangerous than he was. "That's the problem with you artistic criminals, you like to display your work, which only makes it worse for you when you finally get caught"
The man grunted and stared down at the table surface, not even bothering to comment.
"Clayber Jack Greaves! We know who you are and we know what you've done! When are you gonna get some sense and tell us who hired you?" Commissioner Gordon slammed his hands down on the table in what appeared as a display of intimidation.
"I don't know his real name. I don't ask questions." The man replied, not looking up from the table. "In my business, the curious killers don't last very long"
"But you were working for someone?" Gordon pushed. "You didn't choose your targets?"
"Oh I chose many things about my targets Commissioner" Deathstone finally glanced up and smiled. "But no, they weren't exactly my targets"
"Then whose targets were they?" Jim Gordon leaned down until he was almost nose to nose with the man. "Who would have a grudge against those particular people?"
Deathstone snorted and leaned back in his chair, the motion making his hand and leg cuffs rattle. "Well now commissioner, seeing as how you are the detective, maybe you should try to figure it out instead of taking the easy way." He smiled smugly as Gordon's lip curled.
"This is one tough nut" Barbara whispered to the officer next to her as she watched the interrogation from behind the one-way glass.
"I'll say" Officer Montoya added. "Mind you, he's been like that ever since he learned of the length of his sentence. I guess he thinks that nothing he does will change it."
Barbara sighed "Unfortunately, that makes a lot of sense"
"Look buddy, I'm warning you that.." Gordon was suddenly cut of when Deathstone started laughing.
"You're warning me?" He chortled. "About what? What are you gonna do?"
"It's not what he's going to do." Deathstone laughter stopped as suddenly as it started and Commissioner Gordon whirled around, wide eyed, as Batman materialized behind him. "It's what I'm going to do to you" He growled.
Barbara's jaw dropped, as did her fathers, but he recovered quickly and spoke the very thing on Barbara's mind. "How did you get in here?"
Batman turned his head to look at Gordon. "You should know better than to question my methods by now, Commissioner" He said simply.
Gordon nodded, as if that made total sense. "I'm assuming you'd like to have a few words with this guy" He gestured to Deathstone, who despite his smile, had paled.
"You assume correctly." Batman answered, beginning to move around the table. "If you and your men would be so kind as to vacate the room"
The two officers in the room glanced at Commissioner Gordon, awaiting orders. Gordon glanced at both of them and then nodded towards the door. "You heard him!" He barked. The two officers nodded and headed towards the door. On the other side of the mirror, Barbara felt a smile creep across her face as she saw the looks on their faces.
"Was he always there?" She heard another officer whisper to officer Montoya, and glanced up to see the female office shrug in response. Barbara bit her lip to keep her smile from showing.
"Oh and commissioner" Barbara glanced back to see Batman staring right at her. "When I asked your men to vacate, that would include Officer Renee Montoya and her three colleagues behind the one-way mirror"
Now Officer Montoya's jaw dropped. "How did he-?" She spluttered, flushing slightly while Barbara had to fight very hard to keep from laughing aloud as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. Standing up to leave with the other officers, she glanced back inside to see Batman bearing down on Deathstone, who suddenly looked very nervous.
In the Batcave...
Barbara yawned as she typed a series of commands into the Batcomputer. After Batman had taken over the interrogation, Barbara had gotten a lift from Tatsu to the Batcave, where she was now in the process of scanning the city with the computer's tracking programs.
"Perhaps your search would go faster if you let me take over" The computer suggested in its tinny voice.
"And what fun would that be?" Barbara joked
"I do not understand the humor behind your statement" The computer responded
"I thought Batman upgraded your software to understand humor" Barbara raised an eyebrow.
"He did. But humor is something Batman doesn't know too much of" Tatsu answered, coming to stand at Barbara's shoulder.
"On the contrary, I believe Batman has a sense of humor, just like any other human. All one needs to do is bring it out" The computer argued, causing Barbara and Tatsu to stare at each other in disbelief for a few seconds.
"I stand corrected" Tatsu replied sarcastically, causing both her and Barbara to chuckle. The computer did not reply. "So, what are you doing?" Tatsu asked, leaning closer to the screen
"Tracking the signal of the tracer I slapped on Red Robin during the attack at City Hall" Barbara replied, calling up a satellite view of Gotham City.
"You what?" Tatsu's eyes widened for a second and then she smiled. "You are good" She commented, which made Barbara glance happily up at her. "What have you found?"
"Well, I think I ..." Barbara started to answer, but then stopped when a light flashed on the keyboard and the screen changed to show a picture of the hydraulic doors that sealed the drive entrance to the Batcave. These doors were now sliding open and Barbara saw the batmobile move across the camera screen and disappear. "Batman seems to be in a hurry" She commented.
"It looks that way." Tatsu reached over and pressed a key. "Alfred? Bruce is back. I think you'd better get down here ASAP" She spoke.
"Copy. I'm on my way down" Alfred's voice crackled from a small speaker in the console. Barbara and Tatsu turned as the Batmobile appeared and growled to a halt next to the little bridge separating the control platform from the cliff. The vehicle had scarcely halted when the hatch opened and Batman scrambled out. At the same time, Barbara heard the elevator doors hiss open behind her, signaling Alfred's arrival.
"Well?" Tatsu probed as Batman walked across the bridge towards them, his face revealing nothing except his trademark scowl.
"Deathstone doesn't know the real name of his employer." Batman said simply as he and Alfred joined them.
"You're sure?" Barbara asked. Batman didn't answer, but scowled at her as if disappointed in Oracle doubting him. "Okay, you're sure. Is there anything you did learn?"
"Deathstone told me his employer went by a code name, The Penguin" Bruce answered as he pulled off his cowl.
"The Penguin?" Tatsu repeated, "What kind of name is that?"
"Seems kinda tacky to me" Barbara commented before turning back to the screen, which was now showing a map of a part of Gotham. A large dwelling on the map was highlighted in red.
"What's this?" Alfred asked, glancing up at the screen.
"Barbara was able to plant a tracking device on Red Robin during our last skirmish with Deathstone." Katana explained.
"Clever girl" Alfred commented, making Barbara grin again.
"Thanks. I think I've got him pinned. According to the computer, he hasn't moved from this house for a few hours." Barbara explained as she pulled up a street address, then felt movement beside her and glanced up to see Bruce staring at the image with a dark look on his face. "Okay, what's with you?" Barbara asked. When Bruce turned to look at her, she added "Your face just got even darker than usual. What's up?"
Bruce raised an eyebrow, then turned back to the screen. "I know whose house this is" He said after a minute.
"You do?" Barbara's eyes widened. "Who's is it?"
"It belongs to Kathy Kane"
"Kathy Kane?" Barbara repeated, "But she can't..." Barbara's voice died as her eyes suddenly became as wide as dinner plates and her jaw dropped. "Richard Grayson! He's Red Robin!"
Bruce nodded. "I had suspected as much, but this confirms it"
"It makes total sense!" Barbara continued, pulling images of Richard and Red Robin side by side. "They're both the same body type, almost the same height" Barbara paused, examining both images closely. "They even have the same hairstyle!" She exclaimed
"Hmmm" Tatsu rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Richard's family were high-wire artists in the circus, right? That would certainly explain Robin's acrobatic skills.
"And being the ward of a wealthy widow like Kathy would certainly give him the budget needed for his suit and weapons." Alfred added.
"I can't believe I didn't see it before!" Barbara slammed a fist down on the console. "I feel like such an idiot!"
"Well, you might have figured it out sooner if you hadn't been fawning over him so much" Tatsu teased, causing Barbara to flush scarlet.
"Excuse me!?" Alfred raised an eyebrow at Barbara's reaction, while Tatsu chuckled, which made Barbara flush deeper.
"Enough" Bruce turned away from the screen to face them. "This boy needs to be stopped before he gets hurt...or worse. Barbara, you know Richard better than any of us. I'm counting on you to make him see reason"
Barbara nodded, now looking nervous. "B-but how exactly am I supposed to...?"
"You could try asking him nicely?" Tatsu jabbed.
Barbara scowled at her. "Oh yeah, because that worked sooo well when you tried it" She shot back.
"We don't mean to put you in a difficult position Barbara" Alfred came in between the two. "But Bruce is right. Right now you're the closest one to Mr. Grayson. Just, show him that there are better things that he could be doing with his time"
Barbara did not look convinced, but she finally nodded. "Okay. I can do that" She said confidently.
The next morning
Barbara tried to look carefree as she sidled up to Richard's locker, her hand slowly withdrawing the folded piece of paper she had hidden in her pocket. Unfolding it, she glanced once again at the message she had written the previous night.
"I know who you are, Red Robin.
Meet me at the lot on 5th and 4th at 20:00 hrs tonight if you want your secret to STAY a secret"
She glanced around to make sure no one was looking, and then quickly stuffed the paper into one of the vents at the bottom of the locker, then backtracked a few feet away to a nearby drinking fountain. Just in time! Barbara felt herself freeze as Richard turned the corner and strode up to his locker. Spotting the paper sticking out of the vent, he pulled it out and unfolded it. As his eyes skimmed the paper, they suddenly widened and he glanced around wildly. Barbara ducked her head and pretended to drink from the fountain. She felt cold water gushing over her mouth, but kept it tightly shut.
"Yo Richard, what's wrong man?" She heard a passing boy ask.
"It-it's nothing Ethan" She heard Richard say as she finally took a sip from the water and heard footsteps walk away. She breathed a sigh of relief and straightened up from the fountain. Turning to go, she found herself face-to-face with Richard, who had an angry look on his face.
"R-richard!" Barbara yelped. "Don't do that!"
"How long were you at the fountain?" Richard asked, his eyes narrowing.
"A-a few minutes." Barbara stammered. "Why?"
"Did you see anyone come by my locker?" Richard continued
Barbara shook her head. "No, I don't think so"
"This is serious Barbara!" Richard leaned in, trapping Barbara between him and the fountain behind her. "I need to know. Did you see anyone?"
"Are you...interrogating me?" Barbara frowned. Like I don't get enough of these from my dad! She thought to herself
"Just tell me if..."
"Hey! Leave her alone!" Both teens looked up to see Dinah standing nearby with a glare on her face. Before Richard could say anything, Dinah walked up and roughly shoved Richard so hard that he staggered backwards a few paces. "What is your problem anyway?" She demanded, standing in between Richard and Barbara.
Richard glared at the girls, his fist clenched. Barbara fought the urge to wince as she heard paper crackle in one of them. "It's nothing" He finally growled before turning and marching down the hall.
"Okay, what was that all about?" Dinah now turned to Barbara, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
Uh oh! Barbara drew on what had learned from Batman's lessons and made her lip tremble. "You're not going to interrogate me too, are you?" Barbara squeaked, making her voice tight. "I get enough of that from my dad already"
Dinah's glare softened and she smiled at Barbara. "No, I'm sorry" Barbara felt hidden tension in her spine release. "It's just, I can't figure you two out, are you two dating or not?" Dinah giggled as a slight flush appeared on Barbara's cheek.
"It's...complicated" Barbara answered as Dinah placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Sweetie, it's always complicated" Dinah laughed aloud as the two girls began to walk down the hallway. As she laughed, Dinah missed the secretive smile playing on Barbara's lips.
And Cut!
The game's afoot! How will the meeting between Richard and Barbara go down? Will Barbara be able to convince Richard to quit his crime-fighting career, or will she fall under his spell? Stay tuned to find out.
Until Next time!