Gotham Knights – Chap 4

My alarm for work went off at 7am. I really didn't want to get up. Last night couldn't have gone any worse. I should have sucked up, put on a costume, and gone out into the field. But no! I had to take offense. I had to have my mind race to various conclusions. I had to slap it all in Bruce's face. I started crying in my pillow. Poor Bruce. That face still haunts me. That face of disappointment. I didn't give him a chance to speak, and now I might lose a guy that I really did like.

"Do you even like me, Bruce?" I remembered saying. If I could eat any words, and never have them in existence, those would be it. Knowing my duties, I rolled out of bed, put my work clothes on, and went into the kitchen to make myself coffee. Helen came in, a grimace on her face.

"How are you this morning?" She asked, calmly.

"Fine. Just fine." I coldly replied. I had it in my mind to apologise, but only until I had really understood what was happening.

"Look, if you're still mad about yesterday- "

"It's fine, Helen! I need to get to work." I put my mug in a takeaway flask, got my things together, and made my way to work.

It was hard to concentrate with anything when I got there. It was hard enough to have to write about a charity event, let alone one organised by the guy I was in a fight with. I felt like I needed a break, so I made an excuse for me working in the field, and decided to take a trip into the city to look around the shops. Whilst window-shopping, I found a place called The Ivory. It was a small little bookshop, which looked antique. I entered, and looked around. There were a lot of books around, a mixture of old and new. My hand glided over the books, feeling all of the beautiful covers. No matter the age of the book, all of them were bound in a leather-like cover. Bookshops are one of my favourite places ever, and this was no exception. The beauty of the shop, and the books all around seemed to truly clear my head. One book managed to catch my eye: "The Dark Knight; Gotham Knights, and the Change in his Work". I took out the book, and began to read. It was about the introduction of Batman, his early work, the start of Robin, and eventually Batgirl, and the progression from his solo work, to teamwork. I was getting sucked in, softening my opinion on the whole situation, when screams came from the outside. I put down the book, and ran outside, trying to see what was happening.

Outside, a purple truck was driving crazily down the road, going up on the pavements, and hurling presents out of the top. I knew to stay well away from them – rule of Gotham City: never trust anything. The colour scheme also seemed familiar to me, though I didn't know why…

My instinct was to follow the truck, and find its base. I knew I wouldn't be able to catch up to it by running, but adrenaline took over my body, so I ran and managed to leap onto the back of the truck. I positioned myself very low on the back so that no one would be able to see me, not even other road users.

It was a long drive, and I felt many times like I was going to fall off, but that didn't faze me at all. As long as I knew who or what this car of crazy was doing, I would stick by it. Once it stopped, in a damp, cold alleyway, I immediately leapt off, and scurried behind a giant rubbish bin. I peeked around the bin to see what was going on, and saw two burly men carry a substance in an orange container. Suddenly, something grabbed me by the throat, and yanked me back! Whilst not scared, it did shock me, thinking that my cover was blown, until I saw a familiar insignia…

"Oh, it's you." I whispered at the Bats.

"I'm more surprised to see you here."

"Let's just say my instincts took over." I looked back at the truck, but I couldn't see much anymore.

"That sounds like a vigilante."

"That sounds like persuasion." I snarked back. A faint smile appeared on his face, and he handed me a black bag. Inside, was a suit, made out of latex, and was red and black. I looked up at Batman, still unsure about everything.

"If you want to, it's there." I continued to stare at it, then looked back at the truck. My window of opportunity has opened, and it was rapidly closing. "Help's if you want to be stealthy…" he added. I knew it. He got me.

"Don't look!" I said, sternly. I went behind the building, and changed into the suit. Looking in the window, and gazing into my reflection, I must be honest…I looked amazing! So fierce, I could be an actual bat! But I wouldn't take it as far as Man-Bat! It was weird to step out to show Batman, as it was almost like a second skin, with the way the suit was a cat suit, and therefore very skin-tight.

"Not bad." was all the Bats had to say, but I don't blame him.

"There's worse materials, I guess." I quipped, before crouching in the position I was in before. The goons were talking amongst themselves, something about Rupert Graves, then something called them inside, leaving the truck, and the Bats and I.

"So, what do you think we should do then?" Batman looked down at me, seemingly testing me.

"It would be a good idea to search the truck; we can see any evidence inside, whilst not giving ourselves away by going inside." he seemed impressed at my suggestion, but looked up at the building, with a stern look.

"You can do that. I'll look through the roof at what is happening."

"But it's a glass roof! It may be good for you to see inside, but that doesn't mean you're invisible!" But he still got out his grapple gun, and shot up onto the roof. I shook my head, slightly smiling, and snuck into the truck.

There was a lot of green residue puddles in the back, which I managed to side-step away from to get to the front of the truck. In the driver's seat, there were a lot of breath-mint wrappers, finished cigarettes, and empty cola cans. Everything seemed typical enough. Then, some paper caught my eye. Unsure whether it was something important or just a shopping list for groceries, I picked it up anyway. I wasn't gonna read it just yet, in case something came up behind me, or Batman was needing assistance. I continued my search, opening the glove compartment, and finding different documents. Stashing only the ones I needed, I closed it, and snuck my way out of the truck, and back behind the rubbish bin. However, as I got out of the truck, something fell out of the pocket-a purple notebook, with a green binding. I didn't have time to flick through, so I stashed it as well. Sitting behind the bin, the sound of my breathing was the only thing audible to me. I looked up at the roof, hoping and praying that he would soon return. The sound of gunfire, smashed glass, and grunting indicated that would not happen just yet so, rolling my eyes, I knew that I had to go inside. I found the grapple-gun on my new utility belt, shot it up, and managed to get myself into the building through the broken roof.

At least 5 goons seemed to be attacking Batman; left, right, and centre, and I couldn't tell how or when to jump in and help. Looking up and down my new suit, I noticed something on the bottom of my foot – a detachable stiletto heel. Smirking at the call-back, I removed the heel, and threw it down the hole in the roof. It swung around, and hit one of the goons in the shoulder, causing him to fall on the ground. I jumped down, put the heel back in my boot, and joined the Dark Knight in the fist fight. Whilst brutal, it was exhilarating to kick the crap out of people that desperately deserved it. Once they all fell backwards, like the opening of a flower, Batman and I looked around, and then at each other.

"Right. Onwards then?" I asked, as I moved around him, and made my way to a desk at the back, flicking though the pieces of paper on it, and taking what seems to be important. However, the sound of bullets flying indicate that maybe we should just get out while we still could. Which we did. Running like we were at the speed of light, Batman pulls me into the Batmobile, and we set off into the night.

"So, what did you find?" Batman asked, as soon as we were driving in the clear. I fumbled around with the items I had stashed, pulling out the notebook, the pieces of paper, and documents.

"Doesn't seem much, but you never know." I opened up the notebook. Only a few scribbles and doodles on the first few pages, but then a to-do list appeared. It had a few things ticked off already, like "Collect equipment", "Create havoc", etc. The things that weren't ticked off concerned me, which was "Talk with boss", "Get new task item" and, most shockingly, "Blow up Gotham Plaza", "Create crime city". Seems like the end goal was to make this city into the crime haven it once was. The pieces of paper seemed like ransom squiggles, but after laying them on the dashboard, they seemed to create something like a map. The documents seemed to be part of a legal case, though I would need to examine them more closely to truly understand them.

"A to-do list, a secret map, and some legal documents. I'll need to examine the latter more, but it seems like the main goal is to make the city run wild with crime again. With what, I'm yet to find out." He seemed to stay silent throughout the rest of the drive, which concerned me. I wondered what his thought process was, how he was going to assess the situation. The Batmobile purred along the roads of Gotham City until it turned, and reached back to Wayne Manor, and inside the BatCave. He hopped out first, then I followed suit. He held his hand out, and I gave him the items I collected. He then spread them out on top of the BatComputer, and examined them himself.

"What are you thinking?" I said, finally breaking the silence. Batman flicked through the notebook, then looked up at me.

"I'm thinking someone is up to no good."

"Well, that's obvious." He stared at me, then back at the notebook. "It would be useful to take a handwriting sample, so we can see who has written these notes." I suggested.

"You're getting a knack for sleuthing."

"Hey, I had a hunch about tonight; that doesn't mean I'll continue it." He looked at me, unconvinced by what I said. "I'm being honest!"

"I'm sure you are." He sounded sarcastic, but I wasn't completely sure. I looked over the documents, trying to examine them. They contained information about the construction of the Gotham Sports Arena, as well as the creation of the botanical gardens at the Gotham Zoo. An idea sprung, and another thought, this time a better thought from yesterday rather than the fight we had…

"Hey Batman?"

"What?"

"You didn't happen to catch the news report from yesterday?"

"What about it?"

"Let's just say that this colour scheme and plan is reminding me of someone who had escaped yesterday. Someone who happens to be a clown prince of crime…"