Give Critique and advice!

Chapter 3: Aboard the Car

Bruce Wayne was an excellent liar. Learning to lie was easy, going through High School. Before he even left, in Junior Year, he would lie about his interests, his opinions, his views on people, on gossip, and on his relationship with a world that, in his eyes, God very understandably hated. When he was 15, Bruce started sneaking out to spy on the police, hoping to catch his parents killer, learning soon that the police were deliberately inept. When he was 16, Bruce began to study detective work and martial arts, sometimes neglecting sleep altogether. When he was 17, he stopped putting effort into his studies, even though he was brilliant. Well before he was 18, Bruce was living in Japan, studying Bushido.

His greatest lie? That he was Bruce Wayne. He stopped lying to himself about this a long time ago. Sometime around when he was stabbed 12 times in Syria (long story). He was a monster fueled by rage, but also by justice. A creature formed from what was once a broken man. Two years ago, Bruce gave his creation a name and a symbol: The Bat.

His most recent lie, however, was unique in that how horrifically guilty he felt for it.

"It'll be okay. It was for me."

Bruce had been used to comforting victims as Batman. However, this was perhaps the first time he had to as Bruce, and certainly the first time with a child whose tragedy was so similar to his own. Why did he lie? True, Bruce's personality was fake, but the truth he saw was the same. He grew to be disgusted by people who told him it would be okay all those years ago. Why was he being the same? Why would he be so.. so.. disgusting.

He was going to make this right

Mercy Street Station, North Gotham, One Thirty-Four AM; October 1989

Batman's gloves had an annoying blood stain on them, caused by the interrogation of a local CCTV administer who was known to be corrupt, but was allowed to walk free, as the investigating officers were corrupt, and the Internal Affairs Department investigating them were also corrupt. With a few rooftop presences and the easy job of making a thug or two vanish into the shadows, the Caped Crusader had effortlessly driven the escaping mobsters to the public transit system. Now in the bright lights of the Mercy Street Gotham Rail Line Station, Alfred managed to identify the mobsters as being led by Monty Cora, an enforcer originally from Star City. He and his men had bought tickets to the one thirty departure, likely hoping that Batman was impatient.

No such luck.

At 1:28, Batman snuck atop the car. He watched as, after the 4 mobsters entered, another 5 guests boarded the train. All alone, except for one couple. One of them, who wore a tall hat, had a briefcase. Otherwise, nothing of note. For Batman, this was shaping out to be an easy gig. After finally pulling out of the rail line station, the car sped up. Batman held on, and, at 1:34, as soon as they went over the Finger River, Bruce set a simple charge, and disabled the power. After a screeching halt, the 40-foot-long rail car went dark, suspended motionless 300 feet above the water and 700 from the nearest maintenance stop. The Bat got to work.

He placed a sticky bomb on the front door and then went by the back, his Yellow Bat on the blueish gray chestplate standing out from the pitch black of the rest of his costume and the dark of the night.

pop

"What was that?" Came from Cora, one of the three thugs, and a few passengers.

"Check it out boys. I betcha ten bucks it's the Batman." Said Cora as he cracked his massive, pale knuckles.

The thugs pulled out small machine pistols- not big enough to break through the thickest of his reinforced kevlar, but definitely enough to hurt him and do serious damage to any passengers.

"H-hey, you guys aren't supposed to bring guns on the rail li-" said a man, standing up before Cora pushed him back down.

"Kid, do you really wanna get in a 4 against one fight, with 3 armed, inside a little metal box, a few hundred feet above icy water?" Said the bald, hulking man calmly. The man sat firmly in his seat, looking angry and dejected. "Didn't think so."

Batman silently broke open a window towards the back. A grunt noticed in his peripheral vision, gasping, but feeling satisfied.

Batman too felt satisfied. But he wasn't surprised.

He shot his already aimed line gun to tie the grunt's hands to his weapon, pulled him quickly to the side of the car, and knocked him out. Batman then dropped down out of sight, and then head around to the open door in the back, reaching up to grab a thug's leg as he ran towards his unconscious cohort. He tugged strongly, pulling the thug out of the ground. The other armed one was clearly better trained than Batman expected, or at least less cowardly and superstitious than the average criminal. This setback was minor, as he managed to easily zoom onto the main railtrack, swinging around the car, and tying this second unconscious man to the top of the car.

Cora had now pulled out a small revolver, which he was pointing at a woman, whose head was in a headlock, 's head. The final goon was on alert, observing all doors to the car.

"Okay Batman," came an aggressive growl from Cora, "Disable whatever shenanigans you've got stopping this car, Or the bitch dies. After that. I wanna see you swinging away, back to the main of Gotham, and stopping some muggings. Gotcha?"

Batman walking around, looking for an opening. He'd been in tight spots before.

"Oh, and don't play dumb with me. I know you can get it out because you're a hero," said Cora, dripping with disgust. "You wouldn't leave these poor people here alone for hours after kicking our asses, would you now? But of course, that won't ha-"

Batman let out a smirk as he heard his adversary's monologue cut shot by the removal of two major bolts from the attachment mechanism, which lurched the car down, leaving it uneven. Batman swung down from the top with a whoosh, sliding into the car with three batarangs in hand, which he threw at the goon, incapacitating him. Batman now stood up, mere feet from Cora.

"You were-" Began Batman.

"Oh nuh-uh." Interrupted Cora. His pale, massive form overwhelmed the small hostage. "You ain't dictating our terms of engagement. I hold a hostage. Could probably snap her neck and shoot another one by the time you get to me. So you wanna explain your big plan, or are you just gonna leave?" Cora stuck out his alabaster arm, pointing the pistol at Batman's exposed mouth.

"I'd really rather not." Deadpanned Batman.

He pushed a button on his gauntlet. Another pop could be heard. The car lurched back again. Still, the off- balance Cora let off a shot, which Batman rolled to avoid, and, draping himself in his cape, pushed of the floor, then a seat, and then grabbed the larger man's forearm, ripping the gun out of his hand and breaking his elbow, then kicking the other arm, freeing the hostage. He then knocked down Cora with a single uppercut.

Batman dragged the massive gangster to the end of the car, attached a line to his leg, and dropped him out the door.

"Wait there until you feel like chatting." Said Batman cruelly. He then went up, repaired the rail attachment mechanisms, and turned the lights back on.

He then went back in to check on the civilians. After this, he grabbed Cora's pistol, and walked to the door. Cora was still conscious, fidgeting with his ankles, which were soon pulled up.

"Stop it, you goddamn Bat."

"As much as I would like it Cora, I won't have you drop into the river yet." He pulled out the pistol rounds, lowering his voice. "So these were supposed to kill me. I''m sure You felt real good about yourself then." He dropped the bullets one by one. Whispering now, "Watch as your hopes fall into those icy waters." The mood was ruined when Batman slammed Cora's face into the floor, breaking his nose, and earning a look of agony, but no noise. "YOU'LL BE FOLLOWING THEM IF YOU DON'T TALK."

"Oh please. Th-the bat doesn't kill." Cora stuttered, but growled, hoping he'd still look brave.

Batman stood up and shrugged. "People have survived worse. I've survived worse. Besides, it'll be the water that kills you, not me."

"You're shittin me! You'd have to be crazy to think that'd I'd think that you'd think that that's an excuse."

Batman slammed Cora's head into the floor again, and, looking him straight in the eye, yelled, practically spitting, "DO I LOOK SANE TO YOU?"

He threw Cora off the car. The line, however, was stopped, snapping quick as it halted Cora's momentum.

"AAAHH JESUS BAT, YOU BROKE MY GODDAMN LEG! AGH! FUCK! IT'S DISLO-GODDAMN-CATED!" He gulped as he was painfully pulled up to the car. "O-okay, I'll talk."

'Good. Why was Zucco the most heavily guarded man at the Circus? Did he have anything to do with the accident? And why the hell were there reports of a 6-foor-five pale, muscular man wandering around the circus!"

"I don't know man. I was just there to write up a report for him and make sure the main guys weren't interrupted. I'm not part of Zucco's gang, I'm just some hired muscle, I swears it! I log everything I do. I've got it all in this notebook- oops." Cora's stone-like face smiled victoriously as the small notebook, pulled from his pocket, fell down towards the cold water. Batman had none of it, diving to grab it.

"H-hey. WHAT ABOUT MY LEG. WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT?"