BATMAN: TARGET
NOTE: Though officially the TARGET prelude, this chapter is also effectively the epilogue of the first short story set after the events of Batman Begins (and the novel DEAD WHITE), BATMAN: LOOSE ENDS.
CHAPTER ONE: Progression
Later, Batman was crouched, unmasked, at a large flat computer, attached to the wall. The computer's screen was missing, allowing Bruce to access wires and circuitry.
This device would soon be an essential tool for his war on crime, or so Bruce hoped. He had it all planned: a tap directly leaking him all information from the GCPD's computer systems and multiple other sources, not to mention his hopes to fix the computer to hack any modern secured system.
He heard footsteps nearby, coming down the stone steps to the cave, and turned hurriedly. Rachel was standing on the Bat Cave's steps.
"Hey," She said, "We need to talk."
Bruce walked over to her.
"Yes?"
"Thank you for saving me, but…"
"What?"
"I'm not sure if I can live happily in Gotham any more. I'm going away for a while, though… I'll be back. Sooner or later."
"Rachel…" Bruce stared into her eyes, "I… I'll be waiting."
"Goodbye, Bruce." Rachel walked away, leaving the cave. Bruce sighed… he had work to do… now wasn't the time to grieve.
Jervis Tetch sat in the back room of a casino, smoking, playing poker with his fellow hired killers: the psychotic butchers Victor Zsasz and Cornelius Stirk; the pyromaniac and arsonist Garfield Lyns; and the infamous ex- director of Arkham Asylum, Jonathan "Scarecrow" Crane.
Tetch scorned his fellows. They were all raving lunatics and, with the exception of Crane, where idiots. But Tetch realised something he doubted the others did- though Crane had discussed it with him. Crane knew. Tetch felt an automatic kinship with Crane- geniuses scorned as lunatics, rejected by society, despite their intelligence. And both realised that Salvatore Maroni had hired them for a reason- how could a madman be used to testify. Tetch was insulted by this truth, but he would never say as much- he wanted his money and, besides, Maroni was not a man to cross…
"You fucking asshole."
It was Lyns speaking. He had no patience, that man… and his pyromania could be a real issue in their job. A fight with Batman was not the time to get distracted by such perverse tendancies. The moron was glaring across at Crane, who had, unsurprisingly, beaten the madman.
"I wouldn't say such things if I were you, my dear Garfield," Crane smiled icily at the arsonist, "They might… come back… to haunt you."
Crane chuckled. Tetch sighed as Lyns rose angrily and slammed his chair under the table, scattering cards and chips everywhere. Zsasz spat and spoke quietly:
"Take Crane's advice, Lyns… irritating me hurts…"
Lyns glared right back at Zsasz:
"You won't kill me, Victor. You wouldn't dare… you're too scared.
"Of you?" Zsasz sneered at Lyns, "You snivelling retard. Why the fuck would I be scared of you?"
"Not of me," Lyns smiled nervously, trying to look confident, "Of Maroni."
Zsasz glared at Lyns and produced a knife- a long, thin instrument, with a blade sharper than any of them had seen before. The serial killer licked slowly along the blade edge, blood running off his tongue and down his chin.
"Well…" Tetch spoke calmly, "We'd better go… it's time."
It was time to trap and kill The Batman…
Zak Somago and Billy Dee were thugs. There was no other word to describe their criminal status. They stood in the shadows of an alley to avoid the rain, sharing their last cigarette from their heist the week before.
"Jesus, Zak, we need money… bad…" Muttered Billy.
"Yer tellin' me? I ain't had a spliff in a couple'a months…"
Then, they heard footsteps… a man in a suit that must have cost more than Zak and Billy's entire accumulated wardrobe walked by. He was old, at least in his mid sixties, with receding grey hair. He hobbled along on a walking stick.
"Hey, Zak…" Whispered Billy, "You think…?"
"Heh. Let's do it, man…"
Zak stepped out in front of the old man, pulling out a kitchen knife- he'd not seen enough money for anything better for months. The old man reeled back, staring in fear.
"Hey, grampa," Grinned Zak, "Nice suit."
The old man tried to turn… to run… but Billy blocked his path, brandishing a metal bar of some kind.
"The money, old man!" Shouted Zak, "Gimme yer fucking wallet!"
"How about 'no'" Came a voice.
"What? Who said…"
A gloved fist shot from the darkness, knocking Zak into the wall. The punk slumped down, unconscious. Billy stared and swung the bar at the old man in his panic. Batman had released a bat- shaped shuriken before Billy could move the bar and the weapon knocked Billy's tool flying aside. The young thug turned and ran, but somehow the dark spectral crusader for justice dropped in front of him and released a savage roundhouse kick… Billy blacked out.
Suddenly, the Dark Knight heard screams. He grappled onto a roof, ignoring the gasping old man to see a huge fire lighting up Robinson Park. He leapt across rooftops and surveyed the park… Wayne Tower was burning, screams coming from the building. Batman grappled into the tower, smashing through a window… and he felt a familiar weapon barrel pressed to his back: an automatic shotgun…
CHAPTER TWO: Hunter/ Prey
"Don't move a muscle," Tetch spoke coldly, precisely, like a teacher explaining the answer to a mathematical equation. The Dark Knight silently cursed his failure to act cautiously.
"Jervis," He said icily, "Put down the gun."
"How about 'no'?" Snarled Tetch and Batman stared as Victor Zsasz stepped from the shadows, holding two of his long knives. Stirk stood behind him, with rusty hatchets that chilled the hero to the bone.