Avenging Justice 2:
Caught Between an Ultron and a Doomsday
Part V
Earth, New Jersey, Gotham City
Dawn was set to herald in an hour or less. The whole night, the Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder had chased Two Face through Gotham. They had gone straight to where his ex-wife lived, and barely missed the villain as he drug her out screaming. Neither missed the chrome .45 caliber pistol, by the looks a converted Desert Eagle. For his credit, Robin had been keeping himself in check.
Batman could see the war going on inside his young protégé, with the angry boy inside wanting to hurt the man who had taken his family, and the man he was destined to become. As they chased the maniac, Robin stopped several times to allow the villain to relax, and then come out in an attempt to separate him from his hostage.
The game had gone on for hours, and Batman was feared that Robin could make a mistake. That or Two Face would, and mistakes like that costs lives. Batman landed on the nearby roof, as Two Face's car slammed into a nearby light pole on the rear passenger side. Beside him Robin, clung to his batarang tightly.
"Wheel well is crumpled," Batman explained. "It won't be mobile after that."
"We get Gilda to safety, then Two Face is mine!" Robin almost growled the last few syllables.
Batman turned, "We stop Two Face."
"One way or another," Robin leapt off his perch and dove. Behind him Batman disappeared into the dark.
"Harvey, stop this, it isn't you!" Gilda tried to reason with the man she barely recognized. "You are a good man, one who would be ashamed of what you're doing now."
"You left us!" Two Face growled back. "It was wrong, and justice must be served."
Gilda screwed up her courage, "I left because of this, your descent. You were dragging me into madness with you, it wasn't healthy."
"You took her from me!" Two Face swung the gun around wildly. "Did you think I wouldn't find out about our daughter?!"
"I was never pregnant, we never had children, Harvey," Gilda screamed back. "What the hell has gotten into your head?"
Two Face took aim, "Crane told us, we know you went to him. Why lie to us?"
He flipped his coin, caught it and looked at the scarred side. Judgement rendered, penalty was death. Milliseconds passed, she saw her life flash before her as his finger tightened on the trigger. Then came the loud percussion, her hearing left her briefly, but her eyes definitely were playing tricks on her. A black flying bat hit Two Face's shooting hand, followed by a blur of red and green.
Unsure of what had just happened, Gilda looked around, finding a dark thing materialize behind her. She screamed despite herself as a black clad arm drug her away. She kicked and fought back, thinking the underworld had come to take her anyway. For her troubles, she was sat down in a nearby alleyway, gently considering the ruckus she was causing.
A phone was pressed into her hand, "Call the number on the phone, the GCPD will be by to help you."
That was all the dark thing said, and it was gone again. Gilda looked at the phone, it didn't look demonic, but she felt her fingers tremble as she activated it. The screen turned on, an old style phone, what many would call a burner phone. True to what the thing said, the only contact was for GCPD. Despite herself, she called the number. Maybe a monster that saves you from another, wasn't to be feared. Fat chance though, it was well past time to move to a safer city.
Robin had his twin batons out, smashed Two Face's gun hand away, and jabbed with his offhand baton. He felt the left hook connect, but he pushed through. Batman had trained him, taught him how to push past the pain. It didn't hurt that he had the anger to insulate him, and he reciprocated with a nasty main hand slam with his baton. Two Face grunted as the baton hit him in the ribs, the sound of something snapping filled the air.
Two Face slammed his ruined face into Robin's, and pulled his gun to get the shot. Despite the young man flailing back, his retaliatory hit knocking the gun out of Two Face's hand. The man attempted to lunge for the weapon, but a falling axe kick had him think better of that. He barely got his hands up to catch the next. He pushed Robin back, and went to strike while the young man was off balance.
Much to his surprise, Robin used the momentum to fall into a back handspring. Coming back up, Robin leapt forward, driving his fist into Two Face's gut. The villain back handed him, and the teen hero took it. Pulling his off hand baton back, he swing and connected to Two Face's knee. Buckling, Two Face could only attempt to dodge the upward rising knee. Instead, it caught him full in the face and he tumbled to the ground.
"The Bat has taught you well," Two Face said, spitting out blood, and possible a tooth. "You're still outmatched, though. Justice can be delayed, but never denied."
Robin's anger boiled and he stepped forward to slam his fist into Two Face, but he hesitated. Something was off, he wanted to get revenge, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong. So, instead he sidestepped just as Two Face brought out a little .22 derringer pistol. He shot, and it missed Robin. The young man didn't miss with his next shot, slamming his baton into Two Face's wrist, and the reward of another snapping sound.
Putting his batons away, he laid into Two Face, feeling all the anger rise up. This was the man who had killed his family, who had taken away his loved ones. Had left him alone in a cruel world, till Bruce had taken him in. He who had lost his parents as well, years ago. They were similar, except for this.
Bruce had trained him, taught him how to bring justice to those who were thought beyond it. Their shared pain connected them, but Bruce had never recovered. Now Dick Grayson wondered if he would. As he beat Two Face, he wasn't feeling peace, instead he just felt more anger. Yet, it wasn't anger at Two Face. It was just anger for anger's sake.
He stopped, the bloodied Two Face collapsing beneath him. Robin took a step back, and other memories came flooding in. There was the first time Bruce had taken him to the Cave, the wonder of seeing it all. Then came the first lesson, and how he beat the mat in frustration. However, Bruce gently pulled him up and had him redo the exercise. Later, fully exhausted, Bruce telling him he did good. The man spoke volumes, even when saying few words.
Alfred bringing him cookies and milk, always there to talk to. Despite his stuffy exterior, there was a kind, caring man inside. He had good advice, and many good stories as well. Dick Grayson saw the first time he'd made Alfred break a smile, with the corniest joke he knew. That had been a good day, and everything left Robin.
Two Face saw the young man fall to his knees, and despite there being two of him, went to take advantage. Instead, he found himself on his back, above him stood Batman. Two Face smiled before he was lost to the blackness of unconsciousness. Minutes later he was on his way to the Arkham, both for medical treatment, and for incarceration till his trial.
Miles away, Dick Grayson sat in the Batcave, most of his armor removed. He sat in the chair, as Alfred brought him an ice pack. Across from him was Bruce, who had removed his cowl and cape. Tears flowed down Dick's face, but he was too tired to care. What made him move was a warm hand on his shoulder.
"You did good," Bruce said. "I'm really proud of you."
"I can't feel, Bruce," he admitted. "I'm just completely numb."
Alfred patted the young man on his back, "You just need some rest, Master Grayson. You'll be right as rain in the morning."
Dick allowed Alfred to lead him to his room. As he did, he kept looking back. Was Bruce following? No, that wasn't his style. He was probably back in the cave going over the night. Dick hadn't lied, he couldn't pull up a single emotion.
"Alfred, I wanted to kill him," he admitted. "I wanted him to pay for all the pain he has called."
"You didn't," Alfred responded softly. "That is something to be proud of."
"It wasn't that I felt pity for Two Face," Dick continued. "I started to think of Bruce and you, and the rage left."
Alfred smiled, "Family, as confusing as it sounds, is more than just blood. Family are those people who join you along your journey, those that give you strength for your trials. Get some rest, I'd say you deserve it."
"Why didn't he stop me?" Dick asked.
Alfred, led the young man to the bed, pulling back the covers, "He trusted you to make the right decision. Despite all the pain, he saw something in you, that said you'd do what was right. You proved him correct."
Those words still tumbled around Dick's head as he drifted off. In his dreams, he saw his family again. They were smiling at him, and he felt peace wash over him. They embraced him, and tears fell freely again. They whispered that they were proud of him, and that he had grown into a fine young man. He embraced that dream, wrapping himself in it, and letting it heal him.
At the home of Wilma Anderson, a local actress who had made it big in Hollywood, a lithe woman in black landed. Moving over to the patio door, she pulled on the door, finding it unlocked. You'd think in a city with as many people running on the rooftops, someone would keep these doors locked. She walked into the home, found the hidden safe. Why did everyone put them behind bad paintings?
Seconds later, she had several pounds of jewelry and precious stones, plus about fifty thousand in cash. Leaping of the balcony, the woman in black threw out a line and swung away. Security cameras, that had been showing nothing but static, now showed the lithe figure on her downward arc. Soon, the cops would be called, and a very tired Detective Montoya would be called in.
"I tell you; it was Catwoman," Bullock said, "just look at the costume."
Renee Montoya felt like slapping him on the back of the head, "Yes, but when has she worn something with such a plunging neckline?" Seeing the other detective looking at her for more explanation, "Catwoman prefers full body suits, and doesn't have flair. Her whole thing is getting in, out and not get seen. This perp is dressed like a sexy version of her. See the white, distinguishable fur? That cut, practically shows everything down to her belly button. No, I don't think this Catwoman, I think it's a copycat."
"Heh, you said copycat," Bullock smirked. "You might be right, I've never known our Cat to have white hair. Just what this city needs, more costumes."
"How do you still have a job?" Renee asked before her propriety could stop her.
Instead of being upset, Bullock shrugged, "I do better when the capes and cowls aren't involved. Give me a good mugging, murder or the like and I can find you the perp."
"I'm sorry, Bullock," she began, but he waived her off.
"Nothing to be sorry about, Darling," he replied. "Gordon knows this is more your thing. I'll get some statements, maybe the victim will have crossed a crazy cat person recently."
Renee nodded, found a cup of coffee one of the rookies had picked up. Taking a quick drink, she found herself waking up more, the caffeine doing its trick. She took another look at the photos the cameras had gathered. The face of the burglar wasn't visible, but bits of the costume were. Looking closely, she could make out what looked like claws on the fingertips. The gloves were white though, almost matching the flowing white hair behind the figure. Who was she?