CHAPTER 5
The Bat-Man
It didn't take less than five minutes. The smoke cleared out slowly revealing five men knocked out cold on the ground. Joe Chill had never felt this much alive before. Adrenaline kicking in fast and his consciousness blending well with his surroundings. Bob was almost in tears and another guy who went by the name 'Tooth' started firing in the open air.
"Come out you ugly creature", cried Tooth.
The air suddenly turned eerie and sweat crawled on their skin like spider.
"We should better run", said Bob, his voice trembling.
"No. We kill this creature once and for all", ordered Tooth.
"I don't want to get into –"
A swish in the wind and Bob was lying on the ground, unconscious. Tooth got panicked and started firing again. Joe noticed a metal piece in the shape of what appeared to resemble a bat lying next to Bob. Tooth went total barbaric, firing recklessly.
And then it happened. The creature appeared at the top of a container. It had two pointy ears and its whole body was covered by a dark cloth. It was just staring at us.
Joe started firing at the creature.
"What're you looking at? Shoot it down", cried Joe.
Tooth's hands were trembling. He looked at Joe and gathered up courage. Both continued firing till they ran out of ammo. All they did was create multiple dents on the ship containers but no sign of dead creature.
"YOU'RE DONE" said the creature in the most chilling voice Joe had ever heard.
The creature jumped off the container and landed on the ground. Tooth drew out a knife and charged towards the creature like a mad man. The creature didn't even flinch. It twisted Tooth's hand and elbowed hard on his face. It gave multiple punches at his rib and knocked him out cold with a final punch on his face. It slowly turned to Joe.
Joe couldn't move. The creature was agile like a ninja and facing him seemed a bad idea. He dropped his gun on the ground and yielded. As the creature grew closer to him, Joe saw its full face. 'It' was just a man. A man dressed up in a bat-suit. But even that fact couldn't ease off his tension.
"Don't hurt me. Don't hurt me. Don't hurt me", begged Joe.
"Joe Chill", said the man in the bat-suit.
Joe looked startled.
"How…."
The man grabbed his collar and pulled him up off the ground forcefully.
"Look into my eyes and tell me….. What do you see?"
He could see an abysmal darkness that spoke no emotions. Joe gasped. The man choked Joe's throat tightly making him gasp for breath. Joe's face turned red. He then looked into the man's eyes. It spoke something. He could feel the anger channeling through the man's hands wrecking his neck slowly.
"How did it feel when you lost your son, Joe?"
Joe's eyes widened. He realized who the man behind the bat mask was.
"Way -?"
The man furthered his grip on Joe's neck and tossed him on the ground hard.
Joe couldn't feel his legs. He couldn't feel anything. All he could see was the man in the bat-suit standing tall staring at him. Then he left as soon as the sirens approached the docks. 'Why didn't he kill me? Why?' the question pondered his mind as the cops arrested him along with others.
Far away from the docks stood the man in the black suit on a rooftop. His face remained grim. He took a pocket watch from his faded yellow utility belt sporting multiple pockets. His father's pocket watch.
He remembered his father's last words. 'People always make mistakes, Bruce…. Forgive him'
His eyes turned wet. He realized killing Joe Chill wouldn't have given back his parents. 'Am I doing this right?' asked the man to himself. He stared at the dark vast sky as two bright stars shined back at him.
"I am"