Firefly: Return of the Bat
Chapter Three
Inara had been confined to the brig so she couldn't call the alliance. The brig wasn't really a brig, it was just a cupboard that had bars instead of a door. Shepherd Book was standing on guard, since Jayne couldn't be trusted. Mal, Bruce, and Wash stood in the cockpit.
"I need to get to my ship as soon as possible," Bruce said, "It has a cloaking device, but it will lose power in ten hours, then be visible to the Alliance."
Bruce's communicator squawked.
"Sorry, nine hours," he corrected himself
"Just give me the coordinates, and I can get you there," Wash said
"It's parked in orbit around Ariel. If you continue on your present course, then we'll make it just in time."
"OK, can do," Wash said
"So what about the Alliance message?"
Suddenly, the ship shook; a forced docking was occurring. The face of an Alliance officer appeared on screen.
"This is Captain Kernel of the United Alliance Ship Hilton," he said, "we have reason to believe that The Bat is on board your ship."
"I thought The Bat didn't exist," Mal said, "Isn't that what the Alliance parliament ruled? They wouldn't lie to us, would they?"
"Just surrender him to us, and there will be no struggle," Kernel said
******
The seven crew members, and Bruce and Jason, were standing in the cargo bay, waiting for the Alliance crew to board. The doors slowly slid aside, revealing several armed guards.
"Who's The Bat?" Captain Kernel ordered
"I am," Mal stepped forward before Bruce could, "I am The Bat."
"He's lying!" Inara yelled from the brig, "Bruce Wayne is Batman!"
"We're not doing that plan, Robin!" Mal yelled, "Oh!"
Mal covered his mouth, acting like he had said something stupid.
"Take her too," Kernel ordered
*******
The Alliance ship disembarked, and went away. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"You are so lucky that worked," Zoe said
Wash, Jayne, and Bruce stood in the cockpit. Wash was rerouting power to the engines so they would get to Bruce's ship faster.
"If you can get the ship to go this fast today, then why don't you always do it?" Jayne asked
"I always tell Mal that my top speed is at least half of what my real one is," Wash explained, "That way his expectations are lower."
"Uh huh. I'm going to go get my equipment together, work on some of my crime investigations," Bruce said, "Plus I'd better make sure people know Mal's been arrested, otherwise the Alliance might send him to one of their death camps."
"I've already taken care of that," Wash said, "Mr. Universe is making the necessary arrangements."
******
Later…
******
Serenity orbited around Ariel, after a long journey.
"Persephone to Ariel in fifteen hours, good job Wash," Bruce said
"Thanks," Wash said, "So, where do we find your ship?"
"You see that ship over there?" Bruce pointed out the window
Wash saw the ship in the distance, and brought it up on screen. It was a small black shuttle, the kind used for hauling goods from continent to continent, or from ground to orbiting satellites.
"That's your ship?" Wash asked, "From what Jayne's told me about The Bat, this isn't your style."
"It's not what you think," Bruce said
"But I like the way you painted it. The yellow skylights and the metal patch on the back of the roof make it look like a face."
"Wash, the thing is…"
Suddenly, Wash's radar screeched, revealing ten Alliance ships closing in on them.
"No! So close!" Bruce groaned, "What's the ship's top speed?"
"Not fast enough," Wash replied
"OK then. Did I see a torpedo tube downstairs?"
"Yeah, but…" Wash began
*****
Bruce ran to the cargo bay, and shut himself in the torpedo tube. He kicked the launching pad, and he was fired outside into the dangers of outer space. Bruce moved quickly, switching on his gauntlets. His suit and tie disappeared, revealing his Bat-suit. Bruce masked, and breathed in deeply, as the suit changed to meet the environmental standards. Long story short, it gave him air and heat.
About a minute of shooting through space, The Bat touched down on his ship, slowing his descent to a minimal level.
"Activate gravity," The Bat ordered
The ship obeyed The Bat's orders, and a circle of gravity activated around him.
"I just need to find my hidden entrance," The Bat thought
Suddenly, a laser shot fired right next to The Bat. He looked up, and saw United Alliance Space Marines closing in on him.
"No time to find it," The Bat growled
The Bat reached to his gauntlet, and typed in a combination on his keypad. Suddenly, the rest of his ship de-cloaked. It was massive, at least four times as big as Serenity, and shaped like a massive bat.
"Activate the solar weapon," The Bat ordered into his communicator, "Move the ship fifty-two degrees to the left."
The Bat changed the communicator's frequency to Serenity's intercom.
"Attention Firefly-class ship," The Bat said, "I suggest you cover your eyes or put on solar goggles. If you don't like getting your eyes burnt out."
*******
All of a sudden, on the ship, millions of tiny panels folded over, revealing solar panels. Combined, they took enough energy in from the sun to sufficiently power it. Just as the ship tilted to the perfect angle, The Bat remembered to activate the sun-shields on his mask. One second later, the solar panels switched from take-in to reflect.
"Intensify the light, target the ships," The Bat ordered
The solar panels receded into smaller circles, blasting beams of light at the ships, destroying their engines.
"Good shooting Alfred," The Bat said
The Bat entered his ship through the part that looked like a shuttle, and switched on his video communicator.
"Yeah?" Wash appeared on the screen
"Just wanted to thank you for the ride," The Bat said
"No problem."
"I'll swoop over later to pick up my son when I'll return Captain Reynolds to you."
"Cool. Peace out."
******
After a quick stop on a private moon, The Bat flew his Bat-Ship to an Alliance prison planet, Alcatraz II, and spotted the ship that Mal and Inara had boarded. Slowly, he made his descent.
"Bat-One coming in for landing," The Bat said, "you can either prepare the runway, or I'll blast one with my laser guns."
They complied, and gave him a runway. The shuttle disembarked from the main ship, and The Bat touched down smoothly. He stepped out, greeted by soldiers with guns.
"Don't insult me with those," warned The Bat, "I've come to get Captain Reynolds released."
"You have no authority to do that," the Sergeant warned, "Under section 13 of the Ariel City convention, only Alliance officers may negotiate prisoner release."
"Well if you want to do it that way…Section 29 of the Miranda act says that once a man of obvious conviction turns himself in, then any man who was previously arrested for his crimes will go free. Also, Inara Serra's companion status of course means that she needs at least a level three evidence confirmation before she can be taken into police custody."
The Sergeant thought for a moment.
"So you're turning yourself in?" the Sergeant asked
"Yes, once Captain Reynolds and Inara are released."
"Then get him out here!"
The Sergeant began ordering his troops around, and soon, Mal and Inara were out of their jail cell.
"OK, The Bat," the Sergeant grinned, "Now come with us, or the Captain won't be released."
"Ah, you forgot about Section Two of the Atlantis Act. As you can see, I am not legally recognized as existing, so therefore I can't be arrested. However, I did turn myself in."
"He's got you there, sir," one soldier said
"Shut up!" ordered the Sergeant, "and you do exist, we know that if you're not the captain, then you're Bruce Wayne."
"Someone say my name?" Bruce Wayne stuck his head out of the ship
"I brought Mister Wayne with me so he wouldn't be a suspect," The Bat explained, "And his son. Jason, come on out."
Jason stepped out nervously.
"Need money for college," Jason muttered, "Never enough. Sign up two years. Get you for more…"
"Enough, Jason," Bruce warned
"So, we'll be off," The Bat said
*****
"Hold it!" the Sergeant warned, "If you take Captain Reynolds, then we'll just find him and arrest him."
"What for?" The Bat asked, "Being The Bat? I think it's pretty obvious that he's not. And I urge you not to annoy Bruce Wayne, or his son, because…"
The Bat walked to the troops and said something that Mal couldn't hear.
"What did he say?" Mal asked
"You don't want to know," Bruce replied
******
The Bat walked back onto his ship, with Mal and Inara following.
"Which one of you is actually Bruce Wayne?" Mal asked, as soon as the door was closed
"I am," The Bat said, "This is one of my agents."
The fake Bruce Wayne reached to his face, and tugged at it. His skin peeled off like gum, and then came completely off, revealing the face of Simon Tam.
"Ah," nodded Mal, "Simon, how do you know this guy?"
"I used to be his emergency surgeon; in exchange, he helped me get River out of the alliance academy."
"Is that River as Jason?" Mal asked
"Yeah, it took almost half an hour to get the mask on," Simon groaned, "It was worse than the time Inara tried to give her a haircut."
******
To be Concluded