Chapter 9: Batman To The Rescue
Batman was currently driving the Batmobile through the streets of Gotham. He was currently on the hunt for Arnold Wesker and his evil alter ego, Scarface and figured out exactly where he and his gang was hiding out after his gang's latest robbery. Batman was getting a call from Alfred on the screen as he was driving. "Master Bruce, the Batcomputer has deduced that this smoke bomb that Scarface's men used in their last heist is a classic magician's trick. And props like this are only made in one place in the city.", Alfred said as he held the used smoke bomb in his hand. "The Holland Magic Shop. It's been abandoned for years after it went out of business. It's a perfect place for Scarface to hide out. Thanks, Alfred. I'm approaching the shop now.", Batman said as he turned off Alfred. Batman stopped the car in front of the shop and got out. He grappled up onto the building so he can get the drop on them. He looked through the glass ceiling and was shocked at what he was seeing. He saw Scarface, the Ventriloquist, Scarface's men, and Jervis and Alice tied to back-to-back chairs, with Scarface pointing his gun at Jervis. "What the hell? Tetch? Alice? What are they doing here?", Batman said to himself. He overheard what Scarface was saying and knew he was about to do Tetch in. Batman made his move and crashed through the ceiling and landed on a couple thugs, knocking them out. This startled everyone in the room and Scarface stopped just as he was about to kill the Hatter. "Put the gun down, Scarface!", Batman ordered. "You ain't the boss a' me, Bats! How did ya find me anyway?", Scarface asked. "Word of advice, don't use smoke bombs from the magic shop you're hiding out.", Batman said. "What do you want with Tetch and his girlfriend?", he asked. "This little prick owes me money, and I don't care if he isn't a criminal anymore, people pay me when they owe me something, and if they don't, there's gonna be fireworks!", Scarface said. "It ends here!", Batman said. "In your dreams! Get him, boys!", Scarface ordered. A couple of goons were about to fire when Batman used a batarang to knock the guns out of their hands. Once they were disarmed, Batman quickly attacked and rendered those guys unconscious. "You're roadkill, Bats!", Rhino said as he was getting ready to charge. He was running towards Batman, until Batman got out of the way and stuck his leg out and tripped the brute. Rhino tripped and fell into a bunch of crates which ended up knocking him out. Batman went over to the captive couple and cut them loose. "Are you guys alright?", he asked. "Yeah, thank you.", Alice said. "So, how did this happen?", Batman asked. "We were just walking home when Rhino knocked us out and brought us here. Scarface wanted me to pay him back some money he loaned me before I changed my ways and was going to kill us for it.", Jervis explained. "Just know that he didn't do anything wrong. It was that puppet and those brutes.", Alice explained. "I know. I'll take it from here, just get out of here quickly.", Batman instructed them. "Right-o!", Tetch said as they made their way out of the shop. Before Batman could do anything more, he got shot in the arm and fell to the ground in pain. Batman looked up and saw Scarface with his gun towering over the fallen hero. "Ha! Now, I have you right where I want you!", Scarface laughed. Jervis and Alice heard the shot and stopped for a moment. Jervis turned to Alice and said, "Alice, go get the police and get out of here quickly.". "Well, you're coming with me. Don't tell me you're going back.", Alice said. "I am.", he answered. "Why?", Alice asked in fear. "To do the right thing for once.", he answered. He looked at her once more before he said, "I promise, I'll be fine. Just go. I'll see you soon.". He then quickly kissed her and went back to help Batman. Alice just did as she was told and left to go get the cops. Meanwhile, Scarface was getting ready to shoot Batman in the head while he was wounded. "I've waited for this for a long, Bats!", Scarface said. "Mr. Scarface, shouldn't we just get out of her before the police come?", Wesker asked his other half as a way to talk him out of it. "Not before we take care of this pest once and for all.", Scarface told his better self. Scarface was about to kill Batman and said, "See ya in Hell, Bats!". Before he could fire, Wesker was taped on the shoulder and turned around and saw Jervis standing in front of him. "Sorry about this, Arnold. I know in a way it's not your fault, but...", Jervis said as he trailed off and then punched Wesker in the face which knocked him out cold. The dummy fell from Wesker's hands and layed lifeless on the floor. Batman was still holding his wound where he was shot when Jervis extended his hand to him to help him up. Batman took it and Jervis helped him back on his feet. "Are you alright?", the Hatter asked. "Yeah. I'm alright. I'll tend to this later. Thanks for saving me. I honestly never thought the person to save me would be you.", Batman said. "Well, you saved both me and Alice tonight, and I am extremely grateful for that.", Jervis said. Both men gave each other a slight smile and then heard police sirens rolling up. Later on, Gordon, Bullock, and the rest of the GCPD were arresting Wesker and his men and put the dummy into evidence storage while Batman, Jervis, and Alice were standing to the side. Gordon went over to Batman who was patching up his wound. "You should really see a doctor about that.", Gordon said. "I've got someone to help me out with this.", Batman answered. "Well, once again you saved the day like you always do.", Gordon smiled at his long time friend. "I can't take all the credit, thank Jervis right here too.", Batman said. Gordon went over to Jervis and said, "That's right. I must say you really got yourself together, Tetch. You even saved the man who put you away multiple times. I'm impressed and grateful for your help too.", Gordon said as he extended his hand to Jervis. Jervis shook hands with the commissioner and said, "My pleasure, Commissioner.". Gordon then walked away back to his fellow officers. "So, are we free to go?", Alice asked Batman. "I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be. Thanks again for everything.", Batman said to them both. "And thanks again for saving us.", Alice said as they both walked away from the crime scene. Once they were back at Alice's place, Alice saw a sad expression on Jervis's face. "Jervis, what's wrong?", she asked him with her hand on his shoulder. "Well, for starters, I almost got you killed tonight.", he said. "What are you talking about?", she asked. "It's because of my past criminal activities that got us abducted in the first place. If I wasn't too stupid to become a criminal, nothing that happened the past few years would've ever happened.", Jervis said. Alice put her hands on his face so she could look at him. "Jervis, what happened with Scarface was not your fault. I don't care whatever you did when you were a criminal. You changed yourself around and I could not be more proud of you for that. If anything, you're just as much of a hero tonight as Batman was. You saved his life and mine. You also got that maniac locked up so he wouldn't hurt anybody else. You did good tonight.", she said as she smiled at him. She gave him a warm and loving kiss to comfort him. Once they were done kissing, he said, "I suppose I was.". "Let's just leave it at that and move forward. Okay?", she said. "Okay.", he agreed. "So, are you still in the mood for some cocoa?", she asked. "Sure.", he said smiling. They then went into the kitchen to go make cocoa.