Chapter Three
The Dark Masque struggled with her handcuffs while the frighten citizens cowered in their hiding spots and watched her struggle in awe. 'How humiliating...' She thought to herself as she sighed out loud in frustration. 'Come on, come on think!' Millions of unhelpful ideas plagued her mind but no ideas to get her out of this particular situation. She felt helpless again, she could hear the sirens as the police quickly approached the now robbed bank. The Dark Masque never felt helpless, Lily was a helpless, innocent girl but her alter-ego was a powerful woman who attacked from the shadows and still put on a fantastic show.
"Gahh!" she shouted in frustration, rattling her bindings like a wild animal.
"Need a hand?" Asked a deep gruff voice behind her. The Dark Masque craned her neck and laughed bitterly as Batman picked at her handcuffs.
"Hello Batsy, long time no see huh?" Batman forced down a laugh, he had bumped into this woman a few times during his fight against the various villains and criminals of Gotham city. Her fighting skills almost rivaled his own and he knew her to be shadow like, not many people knew of her. Frankly he was surprised to find her in her current predicament, she was so careful most people never noticed her roaming the streets.
The handcuffs fell to the ground with a loud clunk and she stood up and stretched out her slim body like a cat. "Mmmm... Thanks Bats." Batman watched as she confidently walked towards the staircase to collect the rest of her belongings.
"Wait."
The Dark Masque smiled and turned around with her head tilted to one side. Her grin was wide even though she was worn and beaten, she walked back over to the dark knight and pretended that with each step, her wounds caused her no pain. "What happened here? You never come out in day-light..."
"Oh, are you analysing me Bats?" She said smugly, getting into Batman's 'personal bubble', just to get on his nerves. "Watching my... every move?" Her violet eyes twinkled and Batman frowned. "My my aren't we inquisitive"
"Is that you're real eye colour?" Batman asked suddenly, there was only one person he knew with violet eyes. Behind the mask, Bruce began to panic... he didn't want to even think of his 'little sister' on the streets fighting crime like him. He wanted her to be safe at home, caring for her mother as always with a happy smile and a cheerful stride.
The Dark Masque scoffed "Contacts. Don't want anyone to know who I really am do I? Last week I had brown eyes and the week before that I had green. I thought maybe I could be a bit more... colourful." She ended, flashing her brilliant white teeth. She watched his analysing brown eyes for any signs of disbelief, if he saw through her lie he would know exactly who she was and have leverage she was not willing to give him. 'God, why did I forget to put in contacts?!' Satisfied with her answer, he turned away and looked at the damage caused by the clown. She let out the breath she had been holding and fixed up her costume. "It was the Joker again, I was in the neighbourhood and saw the clown masks..." She nudged one of the dead minions with her shoe.
"He's getting really creative and becoming less shy..." She frowned a bit. "But it's not his MO..."
"What did he take?"
She opened her mouth to reply but the door banged open and a hefty crew of police officers lead by Lieutenant Jim Gordon. The police filed in with their guns held up ready for attack, each looking skittish and surprised by the two people standing in the centre. Gordon sighed and uncocked his gun. "I'm guessing the culprit is gone?"
Batman locked eyes with the Dark Masque and they both held back their laughter. "Yes Lieutenant, you just missed the show down." She said, standing proudly and intimidatingly. "The Joker decided to steal money from the mob and accomplished this, if he's smart, he'll somehow get away with that but I highly doubt it."
Batman scowled at the younger woman. "Never underestimate one man."
"But yet you can underestimate one Woman..."
Gordon could see this could easily turn into a bloodbath and quickly cleared his throat. "Battle of the sexes beside, I would like to get a statement from you Miss ah,"
"Dark Masque"
Gordon sighed and pulled out his notebook and quickly scribbled down the name, knowing fully well he was not going to report this to his boss.
"Lieutenant! The safe has been cleared of cash!" Called out a rookie from the top of the stairs. Gordon sighed again and all three of them made their way up to the emptied safe. "This was the only one opened..."
"It's the only mob one..." Gordon noted, looking at the safe door. Batman turned to the Dark Masque who glanced at the ticking clock nervously. "What exactly happened?" Gordon asked, turning to the both of them.
The Dark Masque quickly told them what happened, obviously changing the beginning where she had been in the office and got changed just down the hall. "Okay, I told you everything can I go now? I've got somewhere to be."
Gordon scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, police protocol says I have to turn any vigilante in..."
"Got it. Slipped away when you weren't looking." She said as she walked off to collect her things. "See ya around Bats." She ended with blowing him a kiss. Batman rolled his eyes and turned back to the slightly amused officer.
Batman and Gordon continued their conversation about the marked bills and the new players against old players in town when suddenly Gordon's radio crackled with life. "We have a reported 187 at 89 Fleet Street, Caucasian female mid-forties, Suspect is missing from the scene..."
Batman's eyes widened in horror. 'Lily...'
Gordon listened as he always does and mentally decided another officer would take over that case while he dealt with the present one. "I hear he's a stubborn as you..." He continued as he turned around and found himself talking to himself again. "...are." Gordon sighed and accepted a cup of coffee from his colleague.
xXx
"Hey mum, I'm sorry I'm late. There was a terrorist holding up the bank again." Lily said, hanging up her trench coat on the coatrack. She walked into the lounge room and saw her mother clumsily flung out on the lounge with a bullet wound through her head and a terrified look glazed over her eyes. The bag fell to the ground with a dull thud and she stood there staring at her mother scared and helpless. "Mum?" Her mother's blue eyes stared up at the ceiling unblinkingly and a tear trickled down Lily's paling face. "Mummy?" She asked childishly, not caring if anyone saw or heard her moment of childishness.
Lily ran over to her mother's lifeless body and grabbed her arm and instantly let it fall from her grasp. She was so cold. "please... oh my god..." Lily turned away from her mother and vomited up her entire stomach's contents. The door slowly opened and a frightened elderly woman who lived next door walked in, tears obvious on her cheeks. She watched the young woman emptying her stomach on the ground next to her mother. "I'm so sorry my dear..."
"What h-happened?" Lily hiccuped.
"I'm not sure, I heard shouting and sobbing. And then minutes later, these cars pulled up outside and there was a gunshot. H-he walked out of the house covered in blood and h-holding a gun... They c-congratulated him and drove o-off."
"He? Ross?" Lily growled, feeling anger rise up through her body. The old lady murmured a yes and Lily stood up at full height with rage pulsing through her veins. "Have the police come yet?"
"No...I called them..." She stammered, fearful of the raw power and outrage wafting off this once young and innocent young girl. She knew of what was going on behind closed doors but was too fearful to stand up and say something, fearful of that horrid man who murdered the peaceful woman that laid next to a pool of sick.
Lily turned around and faced the elderly woman. Her face was stony and twisted in fury, no sympathy or love remained in her eyes, just pure anger and a thirst for revenge. "Stay with her... I'm going after him... the bastard is going to pay..." She growled, grabbing her bag and making her way to her room to lock and load.
"Vengeance is not the answer!" The elderly woman called out to her. Lily stopped. "It will take everything away from you! It will destroy you!"
A silence fell between them but the air did not change, it was still thick with death and filled with electricity. "I've already lost everything..." Lily said softly. She then disappeared upstairs and the older woman shook her head sadly and looked over to the dead woman she use to converse with everyday over the fence.
"Not everything Lilith..."
xXx
Pure rage fueled Lily to continue on the vendetta against Ross, she was going to kill him, even if it was the last thing she ever did. He was going to learn what it was like to be on the receiving end of the low blow, feel every bone in his body break, feel the bullet pass through his own skull and then finally sink into the firey pits of hell for eternity. She knew where he was, heck she practically goes there every week to spy on the mobsters.
The docks.
Perfect dumping ground, no one for miles and even the police fear to go down to this particular dock. Mobs controlled this part, everyone knew it.
She could hear men laughing inside anding gasoline onto the fire in the pit of her stomach. 'How dare they laugh when my mother lays dead?!' she thought as she climbed up to her usual hiding spot on the roof near the skylight. 'They shouldn't even be alive...' Lily spotted Ross in the mix of other tough men, holding up a bottle of champagne and smiling as if he had not just killed his 'Love of his life' but as if he just won something. He said something to the group and they all cracked up laughing at his joke. A beefy man slapped a hand on his shoulder in congratulation and it hit her.
This was his initiation. He made his blood oath, became part of the family, all he had to do was kill someone... And he chose her mother! The world's most wonderful person! Lily gripped her knife in her hand and tears filled her vision. She raised one hand from the glass to wipe away the salty water and the glass shattered from the focused weight on her one hand holding up her entire body.
The room fell silent as Lily crash landed on the concrete and glass, bloody and bruised. Groaning, she pulled herself up and found herself surrounded by angry mafia members. 'Crap.' her logic part of her brain said. She then locked eyes with Ross and all logic flew out the window. Screaming, Lily lunged at Ross and knocked him over and repeatedly punched him until several men gripped onto her body and pulled her off their new family member.
"Oh Lily, Lily, lily..." Ross chuckled as he pulled himself up. Lily glared at his smug expression and wanted nothing more than to rip it off his now cleaned face. "You really should have stayed away..." He walked up to her and grasped her left breast. "Are you gonna be good for daddy?" he said mockingly.
Lily glared at him and spat him in the eye. Ross angrily wiped it away and punched her jaw. Feeling the joy of bashing his once daughter, he repeatedly beat her and kicked her until her entire body was covered with nasty bruises and cuts and she was barely conscious.
"Can't have any loose ends can we boys?" The men around his cheered loudly and unceremoniously threw her onto a net where she feebly tried to move off it, finally fearing for her life. They shoved her back down and wrapped her up tightly and added the weights. "This really does feel good doesn't it Lily? I killed my annoying, nagging wife and now I get to kill my more than willing stepdaughter." They dragged her down the dock and laid her near the edge. "Say goodnight bitch." He hissed as he roughly kicked her off the dock.
Lily watched Ross walk away as she slowly sunk into the darkened depths of the water. Water filled her lungs and her natural instincts kicked in and her body began fighting against the inevitable. Lily closed her eyes. She was going to be with her mother, she was finally going to have peace. Her body slowly stopped fighting the crushing weight of the water and her heart stopped beating.
xXx
Batman jumped out of the tumbler and ran towards the mobsters who had just pushed her body into the lake. The scrawny bosses saw the bat and quickly headed for the hills while the big beefy hired guns stood their ground and tried to fight the Batman. After the last goon hit the ground, Batman looked over to where Lily's body had slipped into the water and ran as fast as his armour could allow him.
"LILY!" he shouted as he ran. He dove into the water and began swimming around the darkened depths to find her. Suddenly, his gloved fingers got caught in a dark curl drifting around a dark figure laying on the ground. 'Lily!' his mind exclaimed. He roughly grabbed her limp body and with all his strength swam for the surface.
When his head bursted through the skin of the water, he gasped for air and squinted at the dock which was a few metres away. Batman swam over and pulled her body out of the water and onto the dock. "Lily!" he exclaimed again, trying to wake up the dead girl in his arms. In a flash of a heavy duty knife, her bindings fell free and Batman began performing CPR. When he pressed his lips against her's to breathe into her mouth, the shape end of his nose on the cowl cut into her delicate skin and after unclipping it from the hidden compartment on the back of his neck, he yanked it off and continued for a few minutes.
Suddenly, she coughed and spluttered. Inhaling heavily, her violet eyes flashed open and looked around fearfully and locked eyes with Bruce's brown ones. Bruce let out a shaky laugh and pulled her into a hug. Lily didn't respond, she just fell back into unconsciousness... she was alive but didn't respond to Bruce's desperate pleas to wake up. Becoming Batman again, he scooped up her small body and made his way back to the tumbler. Batman silently thanked Lieutenant Gordon for having his radio/walkie-talkie with him, if he hadn't, Batman wouldn't have been able to save the day this time.