Chapter 20 - "A Bat in the Hand"

Emily kept her senses sharp as her group moved down the drainage pipe. The occasional rattling or dripping of water caused a shiver to run down her spine. Something felt . . . off. Not right. But what could it be?

She shook the feeling away. Can't let my nerves get me on edge. I need to be ready for it . . . whatever it is.

Bullock stepped in a puddle, carelessly letting the water slosh against his pants leg. Matt snorted. "Good eyesight."

"Shut it, kid, before I gouge your eyes out."

Matt took the cue to be quiet. Not because he didn't want to retort, but because he knew they had to be drawing near to the creature. It would be unwise to call attention to themselves here and now, especially when they were so close.

Bullock moved along when a low, guttural sound filled the drainage pipes. It sounded like some animal, make a chittering noise. The group stopped, frozen in place, as their heads craned about slowly, uncertain of what made the noise. Emily voiced the question they were all thinking: "What was that?"

"My guess? The bat creature," Renegade said.

"No duh," Bullock snapped. He reached to the cross-draw holster and wrenched his pistol free, checking the chamber. Renegade got a glimpse of it; it was some snub-nose revolver job, maybe a Colt of some sort. He let out a whistle, and Bullock quickly said, "Eyes off. You've got ya own gear."

"Don't worry," Renegade remarked, drawing his dual revolvers. "I'm not jealous."

Bullock's stare seemed to hint he might be.

The chittering noise sounded again, this time closer. It echoed throughout the tunnels, bouncing off the walls as it carried to their ears. The four exchanged glances before Bullock carried forward, his gun aimed ahead. He trained his flashlight down the tunnel, waiting for something out of his worst nightmares to leap out and claw him to pieces. But no such thing came.

They drew to a crossroads in the tunnels, a fork that split off into four separate paths, one the one they had followed. Bullock groaned. "We gotta split up. That thing could be down any one of these paths."

Emily raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "If my judgement of directions are correct, the path to the right will lead us towards the others, meaning one of us might wind up dead if we aren't careful."

Bullock seemed to freeze up, as if he was a bit embarrassed that a girl more than half his age had figured out that little fact before he could. Not letting it stay for long, he snapped, "All right, Miss Prissy, we'll split up into two groups." He pointed down one tunnel. "I'll go this way."

"I'll come with you," Matt offered, stepping towards Bullock.

Renegade glanced to Emily. "Guess that leaves you and me to take the left one."

Emily grinned. "Fun."

Bullock jabbed a thick finger at the two of them. "Now look—you two are going after some bat creature. No funny business, get my drift? Don't go screwing each other or somethin'."

Both Renegade and Emily stood in stunned silence. "Um . . ." was all Emily managed to say, feeling red rush to her cheeks.

Quickly, Renegade said, "Listen, Bullock—that's the furthest thing from our minds. We've got a job to do. We aren't going to do anything . . . foolish."

Bullock chortled. "Sure. Just be ready in case you stumble upon some bat creature and let us know. Got it?"

"Yeah. Got it," Emily replied. Bullock nodded, then gestured.

"All right. Off you go then. Come on, kid. Let's get a move on."

The four men were seated in deep conversation around the round table, smoke filling the air as one plump, stubby individual put out the cigarette he had been smoking. A man slightly older but more far more resolute in stature spoke up. "If you don't do something drastic soon, we're all gonna wind up dead. You realize that, don't you?" He spoke with an accent, and the voice was one known throughout Gotham's underworld, carrying terror with it.

"You don't need to make your hollow threats, Carmine," Oswald Cobblepot murmured with his Aussie accent, a grin on his face. "I've already taken out one City Council member."

"One isn't enough!" another at the table spat, slamming a fist on the table. He was big, sort of a mesh between Cobblepot and Carmine Falcone—he had the height of Falcone, but the girth of Cobblepot. "You need to make even more of a statement. If you don't, our heads will all be on a platter before the week is up! The day, even."

"Plans are already set in motion." Cobblepot tipped up the glass, downing the contents. "You'll have your second death tonight, don't worry."

"And what, exactly, is your plan? Have your madman friend slaughter another councilman and leave some stupid riddle behind?"

"I admit the tactics our compatriot uses aren't necessarily clean, but they get the job done—and that's more than I can say for either of the hitmen you two have conjured up."

The fourth man, who had been quiet up to that point, spoke up next. "It's just a matter of time before your little plans are thwarted. If the Batman shows up—"

"Quiet with your fears about the Batman, Sionis!" Falcone snapped. "He's gone." Cobblepot stared at him, unconvinced. "He has to be! Otherwise, he'd be the one cracking down on our guys—not these new punks that the GCPD has."

"And what of them?" Roman Sionis countered. "They seemed to take care of your little troop quite easily enough. Maybe they're more capable than we initially gave them credit for."

"Perhaps," Cobblepot mused. "And perhaps not. That's only one mission. They've yet to face a true threat."

"And what is this 'true threat'?" Sionis jabbed. "Have you got an Ace up your sleeve?" Sionis leaned forward, the light sparkling on the marble-like black mask adorning his face. "Or should I say . . . a Joker?"

Cobblepot merely chuckled. "Who knows, Sionis. Only time will tell." His grin slowly grew wider. "Only time will tell."

Renegade moved down the tunnel, Emily following close behind. As their feet clopped in the puddled water, Emily cleared her throat. "So . . . you just going to keep your identity hidden this whole time? Not fill anyone in?"

A nervous laugh filled the air. "That's the whole point of wearing a mask, isn't it? To keep your identity hidden?"

Emily shrugged. "I guess. Still, kind of makes it hard to build friends."

Renegade kept moving. "Works for Batman, doesn't it?"

Emily snorted. "Depends on your point of view. I think he has more enemies than he has friends."

"Fair enough."

They continued moving, and a low panting sounded. Emily froze, hearing it first. "Wait—what is that?"

Renegade stopped and listened to the sound. He shook his head. "I'm not sure. It might be the bat creature. Keep on your guard."

"Don't worry. I have been this whole time."

Renegade lowered his dual revolvers, keeping his gaze affixed straight ahead. He cocked his head and asked, "Hey—do you have any weapons?"

The scraping of Emily's stun gun exiting its holster was quickly followed by her lifting it up in the dim light. "Stun gun. And this." She softly patted the collapsed police baton on her hip, taken from one of her . . . missions.

Renegade raised an eyebrow. "Police issue, huh?"

Emily nodded. "Yep. Borrowed, I guess you could say."

"Huh." Renegade stood in silence for a moment. "Does Gordon know about it?"

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

Renegade chuckled. "Looks like we aren't all on the side of the law, are we?"

Emily shook her head before stopping again. "The panting—it's gone." Renegade listened again, and he saw that she was right.

"Keep on your guard."

"Like I said, I have been this whole time."

Renegade stepped further, his foot clomping into the puddle. He bit back a curse; he needed to be careful and watch his footing. If he didn't . . . well, he didn't want to think of what might happen. He just couldn't let it happen. He had to be careful or else—

As he took another step, a roaring shriek filled the air as a massive shape hurled itself forward. Renegade couldn't even yell out a warning to Emily before the massive thing slammed into him, knocking him off his feet. Thankfully, Emily realized it just in time to duck down and avoid the flying vigilante, who landed with a thud in the watery stream.

Renegade grunted as he rolled onto his feet, huffing. The surprise attack had been unexpected; that was the whole point of a surprise, wasn't it? He glanced up to check on Emily . . . but she was gone.

"Emily?!" he called, worried and confused at once.

It's okay . . . just keep calm. Nothing to worry about. I'm still here.

Renegade was overcome with some strange sensation. The voice—it was unrecognizable, almost as if it wasn't a voice. But all the same, it was there. But who? It had to be Emily—who else could it be? But why was it different from how she normally sounded? And where was she?

"Where'd you go? I can't see you!"

Don't worry. I'll fill you in later. just keep your little friend occupied so I can get behind him.

"Okay," Renegade murmured. "I'll do my best."

Renegade raised his gaze, leveling his eyes on the bat creature. The stories . . . he hadn't doubted their sincerity, as he had seen a lot of things and experienced a lot as well. But his thoughts hadn't prepared him for what it might actually be.

The creature was enormously tall, and the leathery wings, feral eyes, and sharp claws all came together for a menacing sight, straight out of one's nightmares. The creature just stood there, its beady, yellow eyes drilling holes into Renegade. If looks could kill. . .

Slowly, he got to his feet, raising the two revolvers. "Okay . . . let's just do this nice and easy."

The creature lunged forward, and Renegade squeezed the triggers, ducking to the ground. As he rolled, the creature drove ahead and barely flinched as the rubber bullets slammed into its body. When it missed Renegade, the creature turned and stopped, hissing loudly and baring its claws.

"Now would be a good time to step in," Renegade muttered. "My guns don't seem to be too useful."

No reply came. Not verbally, at least. While Renegade stood, a zap sounded as the creature shuddered, letting out a shriek of pain. It turned, and Renegade could see the barbs of Emily's stun gun in his back. He grinned as he holsters his guns and reached for his bo-staff, charging forward.

The creature swatted, clawing away the wire of the stun gun and ripping the barbs from his back. Flecks of blood sprayed, and Emily suddenly reappeared to vision. The creature hunched over and roared loudly as Emily ejected the spent cartridge, her hand flying to her belt for another.

The Bat leapt ahead, arms flailing, when Renegade suddenly lunged forward, his bo-staff coming in front of the creature's throat. Pressing the shaft against the thing's neck, he held each side of it so he had it in a headlock, of sorts. Renegade firmly pressed his boots into the creature's back, holding on tightly.

With a roar of rage, the Bat swung around trying to throat Renegade from it. Seeing its plan did not come to fruition, the Bat seemingly gave a defeated grunt and began to clamber forward on all fours.

Emily dove out of the way, pressing up against the slime-ridden walls of the sewer tunnel. I'm glad this STAR clothes are waterproof, she thought as she imagined all the gunk she might be pressing her back against.

As the Bat moved ahead, Renegade realized that it was planning on escaping with him on its back. Not wanting to let go, he glanced back and yelled, "Get the others! I'll try and keep it around as much as I can!"

Emily nodded as the Bat rounded a corner, taking Renegade with it. She stood frozen in shock for a second, taking in all that she had just seen and been through. Then, shaking her head as if to clear it, she tore off and ran down the tunnels to find some help.

Annalise was sitting on the sofa in the lounge, a youthful, beaming grin spreading across her freckled face. She let out a chuckle as Dante walked past. "What's so funny?"

Glancing up, Annalise tucked a loose orange curl off of her forehead. "Nothing too much—I was just looking at the paper." She crumpled it as she folded it to focus on one page, handing it to Dante. "Have you ever seen this?"

Dante took the paper, skimming over it with his eyes. After reading a bit, he grinned too. "Oh. Gotham's Goons. You haven't seen that before?"

"No," Annalise answered. "What is it, some kind of column? Is it published often?"

"Just about every week. Even more active than that. The guy who runs it—they've got some website they publish daily articles on anonymously. Some of the stuff is pretty funny—and true. The author holds no punches, they'll talk about whoever they want. Recently, the articles have been directed at Falcone and Cobblepot. Some at city officials."

"The name sounds true enough," she said. Dante nodded.

"Yeah. The author just better stay anonymous though. Something tells me that Falcone and Cobblepot aren't two to let their names go on sullied like that."

The door to the lounge swung open, and the desk officer stepped in. "Is the Commissioner here?" she asked.

Annalise stood up and followed Dante towards the desk officer. "No," Dante answered, "he's out checking on the giant bat creature. Why, what is it?"

The desk officer's face darkened. "Some woman just called in. Says her daughter is missing."

"Missing? As in ran away?" Annalise prodded.

"No. She says kidnapped."

Annalise and Dante exchanged a glance. "We can take care of it," Dante said, as if to reassure Annalise and to answer the desk officer.

"Are you sure?" the officer said. "I think we should contact Commissioner—"

"Don't worry," Dante affirmed with a grin. "I'll take care of it all." He turned to Annalise. "Go get the others. See if one of them wants to wait around to fill Gordon in on what's happened. I'll try to found out all the details I can."

Annalise nodded. "Will do."

The Bat continued running, Renegade wrapped around its neck. "Why—won't—you—stop—running!" he spat out, occasionally putting pressure on the creature's neck. To no avail, as it would always retaliate by swatting a leather wing into his face.

Up ahead, light broke through the darkness. The entrance, Renegade thought. Maybe the guards can stop this thing. "Hey! Heads up!" he yelled, hoping to get their attention.

He did so, in the worst possible way.

The cop standing guard simply turned and walked towards the tunnel entrance, unaware of what was approaching. He stepped into view just in time to see the Bat soar by, and it hissed. The cop screamed as the creature fell upon him, and Renegade heard the snap of teeth and the ripping of flesh. His face fell into a look of disgust as he ripped one of his revolvers from its holster, slamming the barrel into the back of the creature's neck.

He pulled the trigger, and the rubber bullet bore into the creature's skin—actually, it tore some of it. Blood began to dribble onto Renegade's uniform, and the thing let out a horrid roar. It began to beat its wings, causing Renegade to lose his grip. His pistol fell to the ground and he just barely had enough time to tighten his grip on the staff again, clinging to the creature's back.

"Hold it right there!" a voice called out, and both Renegade and the Bat turned to see a pair of cops run close, rifles in their hands. One dropped to his knee as the other leveled his gun, and before Renegade could warn them to watch their fire, the Bat swept its wings in a massive gust. Suddenly, it was lifted up and off into the air, tearing through the Gotham sky.

The cops fired their rifles, but their shots missed their marks. As the shooting ceased, footsteps came from the tunnel. The two cops turned to see Gordon, Emily, Vermin, Bullock, Matt, Romero, and Nansi exiting the tunnel, and Gordon came to a stop beside the cops. "Was that Renegade on that thing's back?!" he yelled.

Emily nodded. "Yeah. He said he was going to try and keep it around. He must've not had much luck."

Gordon sighed as he turned to the cops. "Get on the radio and have a helicopter down here. We need eyes on that creature, now." The two cops nodded and one reached for his radio, making the call.

Gordon turned and strode towards the downed cop, lying in a pool of blood. He knelt down beside him and looked at the wound in the man's throat. The razor-like teeth had torn through his neck almost instantly, and his eyes were still and dead, just like the rest of him.

Closing his eyes, Gordon sighed again. He got to his feet and lifted his eyes to the direction the creature had flown in. Bullock stepped to him, hands in his pockets. "Don't worry, Commissioner. We'll get that thing—and kill it."

Gordon let out a sardonic laugh. "And how many people are going to die before we do that, Bullock?"

A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay in the release of this chapter, but I've just been pretty busy that last couple of weeks. I'm hoping to get back to working on this consistently now that college courses are winding down, so I'll have a lot more free time to do some work with. Anyways, this chapter got us to see a bit of a confrontation with the Bat, as well as some insight into the villains' plans. Things will continue to ramp up soon. Hope you all enjoyed it! Please leave your thoughts in the reviews, I appreciate them all! And again, if you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to PM me. Until next time.