Batman looked up and Willie. With a smile on his face, he crossed his arms.
"This time, King isn't here to stop me." Watt closed his eyes.
Batman felt a small earthquake. He looked out the window. Different types of trees and rocks levitated all around the building.
Batgirl stared at him. This man was unlilke anyone she had seen before. Maybe Barbra and Bruce were right. She didn't know what she was getting herself into.
"Since you like being Batman so much…"
Willie opened his eyes
"Let's see you fight like him."
It began to rain.
Batgirl had only a few seconds to formulate an idea.
Batman tried to stand up
"You're dead!" Willie shouted. He gestured towards Batman.
At first, it looked like nothing happened. Then Batgirl looked out the window. She saw a massive boulder soar towards her. She quickly hit Sable with her elbow and knelt down. The boulder shattered the window and the surrounding wall. The rock flew right over her. However, in a fraction of a second, Sable had Batgirl in a tight headlock and had the gun pointed to her face. She loaded it.
"You really think I wasn't prepared for that?" Sable asked
"No. Just not for this."
Batgirl grabbed tightly onto Sable and quickly turned the dial on her utility belt. The turbo jets on Batgirl's suit kicked in, and to Sable's surprise, both of them were hurled out of the window.
Batman jumped out of the way, and his trailing leg missed the rock by less than an inch. The rock lifted off of the ground again, and flew straight towards Batman once more. This time, he tried to hop over it. But to his misfortune, he didn't make it all the way over. The rock smashed into the side of his shin and sent him tumbling towards the ground. He grabbed his leg in pain. He was getting angry with himself. Was he really this useless without the suit's powers? He quickly got up. It hurt to stand, but the fact that he could meant that nothing was too severely broken. Hopefully. In front of him, he could see the rock heading straight for him once more. This time, he dropped to the ground. The rock cleared over him. He felt like he was in a twisted game of cat and mouse. And unfortunately for him, he was the mouse.
"You're a coward, Watt!" he yelled. "Why don't you come over here and fight me without your powers?"
"As much as I would love to, Batman…" Watt started. Batman reached for a pocket in his utility belt. "I'd much rather not take any more chances."
Watt had grown much more powerful since the last time Batman fought him. He had better control of his powers than he ever did before. But no matter how strong Watt got, Batman forced himself to remember one thing. He was still human. Batman hoped he had reached for the right pocket. Right before the rock blocked his line of sight between him and Watt, he threw a grey sphere. Batman promptly shut his eyes and covered his ears. Watt took the bait like a hungry animal. He dropped the rock right before it hit Batman and blew up the sphere.
It was a flash bang.
Watt yelled as he was temporarily blinded. Batman leaped over the rock and grabbed Watt by the collar and punched him in the face twice. The third time he wound back, and suddenly lost control of his arm. Watt, who had a bloody lip smiled and opened his eyes.
"You're gonna have to do better than that batbrain"
He sent Batman hurtling towards the wall again. Except this time, he didn't risk letting go of him. Batman hit the wall, then the floor, and then hit the other side of the room. The pain batman felt was indescribable. He was no longer a mouse. He was a puppet.
-x-
Batgirl and Sable flew straight up once they left the window. Batgirl tried to grab a hold of the gun, but Sable kept punching her in the face. Sable looked down and waited for the right moment. Once they had just passed the roof of the building, Sable elbowed Batgirl in the gut. Batgirl let go of her go and Sable fell down to the roof and rolled. She immediately got up on her feet and tried to shoot Batgirl.
Batgirl managed to dodge all but one. A bullet scraped her arm. She grabbed her arm in pain as she landed on the ground. This gave her an immediate disadvantage. Sable had already started attacking her. She would just have to ignore the pain and deal with it later. They engaged in a fist fight. Sable tried to use her gun, but Batgirl kept stopping her. Sable managed hit Batgirl on the side of the head with her gun, which caused Batgirl to hit the ground. Batgirl quickly got up and tried to tackle her, but Sable was very fast. She used Batgirl's force against her, and managed to quickly trip her once again right before she hit her back with the gun. Sable dragged Batgirl back on her feet and punched her once more. She tried again, but this time, Batgirl grabbed a hold of her arm and flipped her over. Sable landed on her back. Batgirl tried to attack her, but Sable kicked her over the ledge. At first Batgirl grabbed on with two arms, but the ledge was too slippery from the rain and her wrist was still in pain. One of her arms quickly fell. The other one wouldn't be far behind. Her gunshot wound was on this arm, and it hurt now worse than ever. Sable loaded the gun once more and walked over to the ledge.
"It's over." Sable said
She was almost at the ledge
Batgirl was weak. She couldn't muster the strength to fly right now. She just couldn't. If she were shot just about anywhere it could all be over.
Batgirl suddenly remembered. She had been here before. In the Batcave with Bruce Wayne. This was the reason why her wrist was fractured in the first place. She had no time for this, but still, she couldn't stop herself from remembering.
"When you're hanging off a ledge, you have a special opportunity. You have more time to think things through than ever before. For the few seconds it takes for you to get up, think not only of an attack strategy, but of the consequences that will come with that attack strategy."
It was what Wayne said to her. Honestly, Wayne was the last person she wanted to be thinking about at this moment. But Lord knew she needed his advice now. She tried to take a deep breath and think. That gun was the only reason why Sable was a serious threat to her. If she could just get rid of it...
Batgirl continued on this train of thought. Sable was right over her, and would be ready to shoot at any moment. That meant that she wouldn't be paying as much attention to holding the gun firmly as she would be to finding her. But if she was too slow…
"Okay." Batgirl thought. "I got it."
"What's the matter? Can't climb up?" Sable teased on her way over. "I have to admit. You did put up a descent fight. It's a shame that we weren't able to get a look at your real face. But either way, I suppose you're strong for some idiot who thinks she's Batgirl."
"Now." Batgirl thought
She used all of her strength and did a stunt that she didn't even know was possible. She back flipped high over the ceiling and spread her wings out. The thunder boomed and the lightning showed her in an iconic position right before she released four smoke bombs. As if it were one fluid motion, she promptly pulled out her Batarang launcher. Sable looked up, but by then, it was too late. She had been blinded by the smoke, and before she kew what hit her, a level 6 batarang met Sable's hand that was holding the gun. She quickly dropped it and grabbed her hand in pain. Batgirl landed, picked up the gun and knocked Sable in the face as hard as she could. Sable flew towards the ledge and hit her head on it. She didn't move afterwards. Batgirl walked over and checked her pulse. Sable was unconscious. After staring at her for a long time, Batgirl dropped the gun and turned around. She was not satisfied.
-x-
Batman's body couldn't take much more of this.
"How does it feel when you're not in control anymore Batman?"
Willie couldn't have looked happier smashing Batman to the different corners of the room. Batman tried his best to hold onto his consciousness, but he could feel it slipping away from him. He just hoped that Willie would make one mistake.
"It's okay. You don't need to answer. I'll just assume that the feeling's to die for."
Willie sent him across the room once more. This was it. Now was Batman's chance. He grabbed onto a grappling hook in his pocket and shot it towards Willie. To his luck, he managed to drag himself over to him. Batman grabbed onto Willie as if his life depended on it.
"GET OFF!" Willie yelled.
Willie tried to shove him off with his hands. Batman wouldn't let go. Willie grabbed a hold of Batman's shoulders. He smashed both himself and Batman onto the ceiling and back to the floor again, hoping to budge him. They hit the ceiling once more. On their way down, Batman saw his chance. In mid air, he kicked Watt in the face and sent him to the ground. Batman landed on his feet. Willie rubbed his head. Batman smiled.
"Is that the best you've got…William?"
Willie yelled. He opened his arms out wide. Various rocks and parts of trees flew into the room through the window, and some began to puncture the brick wall. And now, all of them were heading straight for Batman. He prepared for the worst. He ducked under the first one, and barely dodged the second one. Batman tried ran towards Watt. For a second he slipped on his bad shin, but he was able to stand up fast enough. He pulled out a batarang and threw it at a branch that was heading for him. The batarang exploded and so did the branch. He had to shield himself from the shattered pieces. Batman saw four smaller rocks head for him. He jumped out of the way and managed to dodge them. Immediately he looked up and saw another gigantic branch head for him. This was ridiculous.
"What are you doing, Willie? You can kill us both!"
"I don't care!" He shouted
"What is it that you have against me, anyway?"
Suddenly everything stopped. The branch stopped inches in front of Batman's face. All the trees and rocks then dropped to the ground. Willie couldn't have looked more disgusted.
"What…do I have against you? Is that some kind of sick bat humor?"
Batman didn't respond. He very slowly reached for the back of his utility belt.
"You took everything from me! My home…my dignity…even my powers. It's because of you that I lost it all. It's because of you that half the people in jail and Arkham Asylum have lost it all! You don't even listen to our side of the story! All you do is fly in, and 'save the day'"
"I'm only trying to help the other people in Gotham…"
"Hello? Newsflash! No one in Gotham ever asked for your help! No one in Gotham ever asked for any Batman's help. But here you are, thinking that you're above us all. That your code of right and wrong supersedes everyone else's!"
Batman had almost reached for it.
"Tell me Batman."
His hand was on it.
"What gives you the right…to interfere with our fates?" Watt screamed. Now was his chance. Batman threw the flash bang. Watt stopped it in midair. But this time, he didn't blow it up. He had a look of disbelief on his face and dropped it gently on the ground. Suddenly, Batman couldn't breathe. Watt floated over to him.
"I can't believe you. You really thought that was going to work?"
Batman tried to gasp for breath
"Don't bother trying to breathe. You won't do it ever again."
Batman tried harder
"It's time for me to do Gotham the biggest favor that it's ever had done. What criminals always failed to do. What the police have always failed to do. I'm gonna remove the Batman for good. The sad thing is that after all this time, you still died a fool!"
Watt squeezed tighter
"I already told you! I never fall for the same trick twice! NEVER!"
Batman tried to speak.
"What?"
Watt let go. Batman softly said three words.
"You just did."
Batgirl came from behind and put Willie in a headlock. She took the tranquilizer out of her utility belt and jabbed it into his chest. Willie pushed her off. Batgirl hit the floor. He took the now empty tranquilizer gun out of his chest and stared at in anger.
"no…"
He said it louder.
"NO!"
He faced Batgirl. Batgirl felt her head hurt. Willie was trying to do whatever he could to kill her, but was now too heavily sedated to do it properly. As much as he fought it, he soon closed his eyes and collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
Batman slowly stood up.
"Wayne told me that it would never work. But in the end I convinced him to let me bring it." Batgirl said
"What did you say to convince him?"
"It was a little something he taught me."
"I hope Sable didn't beat you up too badly"
"She's knocked out. But on a more important note."
She reached in her utility belt and gave him back his chip.
"I found this on the ground. It doesn't look broken."
He put it in. He tested out his wings and they activated automatically.
"Shway."
"You should get Watt to Commissioner Gordon fast, before he wakes up."
"How? They disabled the Batmobile right after they caught me. I don't even know where they kept it."
"You're the Batman. You figure it out."
"Right…"
He picked up Watt and turned around. He thought of asking her once again who she really was, but decided against it. He took off out the window.
After a moment of standing there, Batgirl was suddenly smashed from behind. Sable was standing there with the gun.
"You didn't forget about me, did you?"
Sable tried to hit her again, but Batgirl twisted her arm as hard as she could.
"Are you kidding?" Batgirl said "I was beginning to think you'd never wake up"
Sable yelled in pain. Then Batgirl violently grabbed her neck and slammed her face on the ground. She quickly dropped the gun.
Batgirl took the gun and held it herself. She pointed it at Sable.
"What the…" Sable said in disbelief.
"No more games Sable."
"You can't shoot that…Batman would never…"
"Do I look like Batman to you?"
"A little…" Sable tried to maintain some sarcasm in her voice.
"Maybe this'll help."
The first thing she did was shoot Sable in the arm. Sable howled in pain.
"An eye for an eye, right?"
Batgirl slowly took of her mask. Sable looked in disbelief.
"Melanie? What are you…."
Melanie put the gun in her pocket and set her Batarang Launcher to 8. She pointed it at Sable's forehead.
"Tell me where King is or you die."
"Why…why do you want to know? You came here to save Batman."
"I have my own reasons."
Sable didn't respond. She was genuinely afraid
She shouted
"Tell me now!"
"My gosh…" Sable whispered
"You're going to kill him, aren't you? Your own father."
A couple moments later, Melanie responded
"That man doesn't deserve to be called my father. He deserves to die."
Sable didn't respond
"If you don't talk now, then you'll be joining him."
"Melanie, please. Just calm down. Put down the weapon." Sable pleaded
"You have five seconds."
Batgirl was ready to release it.
"Plan B. He's doing a plan B."
"Which is…"
"We thought that there was a possibility that Batman might manage to escape, so we came up with another plan just in case something happened."
"WHAT PLAN?" Melanie demanded
"The device that I used to turn off Batman's suit. It's also a miniature explosive."
"What?" Melanie said in disbelief
"We assumed that Batman would have wanted to keep it so that whoever he worked for could make something that can resist it the next time. So we put a bomb in it that King has the detonator to."
Batgirl tried to use the radio to tell Batman. Then she remembered. The battery was dead. His radio was off. If she tried to leave and warn him, it might be too late.
"Tell me where King is now."
Sable closed her eyes as she said the name of the intersection.
Batgirl was about to shoot the batarang anyway, but didn't.
"You're not even worth it." She said. She hit her with the launcher and knocked her out.
She stood up.
"But you are, Dad. And no one's going to stop me from making you pay."
-x-
Commissioner Gordon was collecting paperwork from her office. She was about to leave again.
"Knock, Knock."
Batman was standing in her window, holding an unconscious Watt.
Gordon looked in disbelief.
"Batman? You escaped?"
"And here's your threat to prove it."
He tossed Watt on the ground in front of her.
"Don't worry. He'll be out for hours. You can call off the investigation. I'm okay now."
"Does Bruce know your safe?"
"Now that you mention it, I haven't even talked to the old guy."
He turned on his radio.
"Wayne, are you there?"
"Terry! You idiot!" Bruce yelled through the intercom
He sounded more angry than anything else.
"I miss ya too old man…" Batman teased
"Now's not the time for jokes."
"Would you chill out? Watt's with me, he's completely out."
Barbra interrupted
"What happened the other kidnappers?" She asked
"Batgirl took care of Sable. By the way, we need to talk about…"
"And King…" Bruce said firmly. Batman hesitated. He forgot all about him.
"is…still out there" Batman said
"Worse. You left Batgirl alone with him." Bruce said
"So what?" Batman said, "She'll catch him for me."
"She'll kill him! It was her main motivation for helping you in the first place."
"Wait. I'm not following"
"Are you really that dumb? Batgirl is Melanie Walker!"
It all slowly made sense. Batman couldn't have felt dumber. That was who Batgirl reminded him of! Batman didn't say a word.
"You need to stop her from doing something that she's going to regret for her entire life."
"What about you? Batgirl…she has a radio, right? So you can get a signal to her faster than me!"
"She blocked my transmission the moment after she left! I couldn't say a word to either of you."
"Why would she do that?" Batman asked
"Because she doesn't want me talking her down. You can still trace her, so you're her only hope now, Terry. Stop her before it's too late"
He hung up.
"What's going on?" Barbra asked.
"Get Watt to a more secure place. I've gotta go." Batman said. He took out his wings and flew off
"Batman!" Barbra yelled at him. He was gone. She picked up the phone and pressed a speed dial number.
"I need any and all available units to pursue Batman now. See where he's going. Hopefully he'll lead us to King."
She dropped the phone.