Disclaimer: After everything, I've done with these poor characters; you'd think DC would just hand them over but nope.
A/N: Sheesh, I didn't expect so much tension and eagerness for this chapter. I'm glad though! It means I'm doing something right. Well, classes have started once again. I'll try and keep updating on Tuesdays, but if it doesn't work I'll move it to another day. But, I will warn ya guys ahead of time.
Ch. 14 ContactBatgirl finished a forward flip, landing lightly on the roof of a motel. Creeping up to the edge, she peered out onto the street. Anger was building up in her and she was itching for some stupid thief to come out and give her a good reason to vent out her frustration. The red-hair beauty knew that Batman was hiding something from her. Despite everything the two had gone through after Robin left, she thought that maybe the man would open up to her. Alas, that was not meant to be and she berated herself for thinking that the Dark Knight could change. No wonder Robin and him got into so many fights.
Sighing, she looked down into the parking lot. The sky was slowly getting lighter. Soon, she would have to call it a night. Glancing towards the south where Titans Tower was, Batgirl frowned. Unlike Robin, she had to keep up her appearance as Barbara, otherwise her dad; Commissioner Gordon, would find something suspicious and be on her back until she told him a white lie. The door creaked opened and Batgirl darted into a crouch. Her masked eyes widened as she took in the back of a spiked raven hair of a young man in a black pants, his trench coat bellowing slightly behind him. Quickly, a ski mask was pulled over his head, which was soon covered by a helmet.
Batgirl narrowed her eyes. This was strange. The man hopped onto his motorcycle and drove off onto the street. Instincts overrode Batman's order to contact him. Throwing a small tracking device onto the license plate, she quickly leapt over a couple of buildings before landing swiftly into an ally. Running to a dumpster, she threw off a tarp and revved up her own cycle. Punching in a code, Batgirl noticed that the red dot was nearing the outskirts of Gotham City. Picking the shortest route, she zoomed after the suspicious figure.
-Gotham-
Batman crept into the destroyed ballroom, eying the ground for any clues. He walked over to the burnt circle on the wooden floor, where the blast had gone off. Making his search wider from that epicenter, masked eyes scanned. Finally, he noticed a crumpled white paper pushed under the foot of an overturn chair. Kneeling down, he picked up the piece of paper and straightened it. It was a small business card with a motel name and number. On the bottom, written in ink was a room number and phone number. His cloak sent a cloud of dust, covering up any notion that the Dark Knight was here.
-Interstate-
The driver of an ordinary Well-Fargo bank truck knew he should have gone to church this week. But no, he had to whine to his wife about being on the road for so long and wanting just to sleep. Gulping, his mind began to pray, hoping to make it through the night. Next to him was Two-Face, holding a gun to his head. The villain's goonies were in the back of the truck, sorting the money. The disfigured villain tilted his head towards the metal wall, tapping lightly with the gun. A tiny metal door slide open, the eyes of one of the henchmen peering through and his voice spilled out into the front compartment.
"Ya boss?"
"How much money we got?"
"Over $3 million in cash and that's not counting the jewelry and some paper stuff."
"Good." Sliding the door closed, Two-Face grinned at the driver. "Seems like I can retire early."
The driver nodded nervously. His eyes darted to the left side-view mirror, hoping to catch a cop car. Instead he just spotted a dark dressed figure zooming up the left lane. Two-Face shifted in his seat, causing the other man to dart his attention back to the front. The villain didn't seem to pay any heed. His eyes lost focus for a second, as the villain whispered softly.
"I'll go somewhere faraway, maybe settle down in a small town. Buy a nice house, own a store and then maybe she'll come back to me and we'll be happy like we use to be." The two-colored eyes, one large and malformed slide to the right side-view mirror. In a low voice, the crazy man seemed to regain his lost humanity. Harvey Dent whispered, "Maybe this time, no one has to die."
The driver eyed Two-Face, confusion on his face. This couldn't be the notorious Two-Face, who would determine if you lived or not by the toss of a coin. But as suddenly Harvey Dent appeared, he vanished once more into the turbulent Two-Face. Jerking upwards, the villain snarled, "What's a Bat doing way out here?" Cocking the gun, he yelled at the driver, "Floor it!"
The poor man pressed the petal harder, catching a glimpse of a young person in a bat cowl catching up to his right. Batgirl zoomed up the emergency lane. She watched as the dark-clothed man drove up to a Well-Fargo truck, too close for her to assume that he was merely passing by. Instead, it seemed that he was trying to board the truck. Gunning the bike, she caught up to the man. Letting out a sigh of relief, she watched as the truck began to speed up, slowly getting out of reach. Leaning right, Batgirl eased into the right lane, next to the other motorcycle.
"Pull over right now!"
The helmet tilted slightly to the side. Batgirl pointed her left hand towards the emergency lane. With one hand on the cycle, she was totally prepared when the man jerked his bike towards her. Verging to the side, Batgirl placed her hand on the handle and fought to regain control of her bike. Righting back up straight again, she glanced at the rider. A semi-truck had pulled up on the left side and was attempting to pass them. With the bank truck in front, with no room to pass, a semi on the left and a gaining car behind, the two were trapped. Pulling out a bat-a-rang, Batgirl knew this was the perfect time to take the man out before he caused some real damage.
As if sensing her plan, the man slowed sped up slightly, his head moving back and forth from the front to the side. Batgirl sped up, replacing the bat-a-rang and leaned to the left, trying to reach out to grab the man's handle. Her black fingers only felt the sudden whip of wind. The man turned and drove right underneath the semi-truck. It was a clean cut between the helmet and the underbelly of the truck.
Batgirl felt her mouth open ajar as he clearly made it to the other side, righting up. Pebbles sprung into the air as he picked up speed and passed the semi-truck. The driver in the truck was surprised, for the moment the man made it to the other side, the truck slammed on the brakes. Tires screeching, the air filling up with a smelly smoke, the semi began to jackknife and tilting backwards. Batgirl dodged the truck, her speed dropping drastically, her foot skimming the ground to keep balance. A large thunk resonated in the air as the semi finally fell onto its side. Cars served, horns honked and the crashing of metal was the finishing touch of a multi-car pile up.
Taking in a quick assessment, Batgirl tapped her ear.
"Police."
"There's been an accident on the interstate heading towards Jump City, five miles out. Send medical attention immediately." With that, Batgirl revved up her engine and zoomed after the man. She had to praise Wayne Industries for outfitting the cycle with a more horse powered cycle and in a few seconds she had caught up to the man. She had thought lady luck was on her side, but then she noticed that they once again caught up to the bank truck. Not wasting time, she took out bird-a-rang and threw it at the man. Peering over his shoulders, the man dodged the flying projectile, watching it bounce off of the truck. Gritting her teeth to stop a curse from flying out of her mouth, Batgirl sped up and was neck to neck with the man.
"Stop right now! Don't make me get more serious on ya. You'll regret it."
Yanking his helmet off his head, the man turned his covered face and eyed Batgirl with a cold stare. "No, I won't."
With that, he threw the helmet, hitting Batgirl straight on her head. Gripping tightly to the bike, she shook her head clear of the stars that appeared to be dancing around her head.
Glancing at the man, she snapped, "You were warned!"
The man's only response was to ignore her and crouch on his seat. His body tightened before springing forward. His body flew forward and before he let go totally of the bike, he jerked the handles to the left. The bike served to the left, the tail end crashing into Batgirl's bike, sending her crashing into the road.
Holding her screaming ribs, Batgirl pulled herself from the wreckage and watched as the man landed hard on the edge of the top of the truck. Pulling himself up, he swung out and sent his feet crashing into the door, falling into the truck. The doors slammed shut a second later.
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Two-Face didn't know what to do. He thought he had lost that Bat kid but just like her dear old hero, she kept popping up. And now, someone was in the back of the bank truck. Leaning his head towards the metal door, he listened to muffled screams and smashing of objects. All of a sudden silence reached his ear. Snarling, he leaned back and slide the small door open. Placing his gun in the hold, he began to fire wildly into the holding pen. The driver saw his opportunity. Snapping his seat belt off, he swung up the car door and jumped out of the truck.
"Come back here," yelled Two-Face, which soon turned into a scream of pain when the metal door slide shut on his wrist. Pain shot up his arm, as he felt bones begin to break. His fingers began to spasm, dropping the gun on the floor. Hearing the clanging, Two-Face regained his focues. With his free hand, the criminal pulled the wheel towards him, serving the truck off the road and crashing into a deep ditch. Without a pause, he shifted around and pushed back metal door, freeing his hand. Clutching the bleeding, swollen, broken hand, Two-Face kicked open the door and staggered out into the ditch.
"That son of a gun is going to pay," muttered Two-Face, his eyes full of vengeful lust. Pulling out another gun from his back, he stepped in front of the back doors. "Come out!"
Aiming the gun at the doors, he waited. Then finally, the door sprung open and a person lunged towards him. Two-Face fired, emptying his gun into the person. After the final click, he stared down, smiling a hideous grin. The wide-eyed pale face of one of his men stared up at him, his face forever etched in fear.
"Wha-" Two-Face glanced upwards only to meet a black fist flying towards his face. The fist contacted his nose; a cracking sound followed by a blinding flash of pain became the criminal's existence.
Staggering backwards, holding his bleeding nose, he stared up at the culprit. A thin man dressed in black stood before him. The trench coat was slightly torn at the arms and bottom, but otherwise nothing should a serious wound from the man who had fought six men in a small, enclosed box. Two-Face lunged forward, sending his fist at the man's head. But his fist met air, the black hood that now was pulled up underneath him. The man balanced himself on his two-hands and drove his heavy military boots in Two-Face's stomach. Gagging, the criminal doubled over. The man rolled over and sent a powerful kick into his ribs. Finding himself tumbling to the ground, Two-Face jerked upward and spit out a mouth full of blood. He could feel a couple of ribs stabbing into his lungs. Stumbling up onto his feet, the villain gathered up his strength to strike back but was too slow. The cloaked man jumped into the air and sent a spinning kick into his head. Two-Face went flying into the trees, before slamming into an oak.
Darkness tugging at his eyes, his body began to slump to the ground but to his surprise he felt a strong hand grab his once white jacket and hold him up. Through blurry eyes, he made out two dark blue eyes shimmering beneath the hood.
"It wasn't in the back." A deep, emotionless voice that didn't seem to fit yet did emerged from the blackness that was the stranger's face.
"…wha…" Two-Face couldn't believe that the rasp was his own voice. Then again, suffering two blows to the head and broken ribs poking into his body with every breath could do that.
The man narrowed his eyes, his eyes drifting down to the white jacket. Turning a shade of black, his eyes seemed to glow an unholy light. "Of course." With his free hand, the man pulled out a blue pouch with a serpent seal on it. Taking a step back, the man slides the pouch inside his trench coat. Peering over his shoulder, the man continued, "She's caught up."
Two-Face turned his attention upwards to where the interstate was and saw a dark figure running up to the truck. He never noticed how the man had turned his full attention on the split-face villain. Pulling out a kunai, he threw it at Two-Face's hand, pinning it to the trunk of the tree. Three others soon joined the metal shard, one on the other hand and two in his legs.
Coughing up tears and blood, Two-Face fought to remain conscious, "Who…who…are you…?"
The man before him was twirling one of the metal shards on his finger, the three sixes a blur, catching occasionally the glint of dying moonlight. The black eyes were now regarding him with mirth, tiny streaks of blue in them. "Reaper."
Reaper watched as Two-Face's mind soaked up the word, before the man's head dropped down to his chest. Seeing that the criminal was out of the picture now, he turned and regarded his next opponent.
Batgirl ran up to the crashed truck, holding her chest, scraps littered her torn uniform. She had seen the driver running away from the accident, trying to pull out his cell phone and call the police. Skidding down the ditch, the teen superhero took in the damaged truck. Lying before her was a man, clearly shot dead on sight. And inside…Five bodies were strewn across the floor, their bodies angled in ways the human body is not meant to be positioned in. Her gut instinct flared to life. This was bad, real bad. Staggering back, she tapped her earpiece once more, while looking around to see where the motorcycle man went.
"Batman."
"I need your help right now! I'm on the Interstate 7, heading south to Jump-" The whizzing of a metal zipping by her check, a red cut appearing a second late made her high-strung body twirl around, throwing a smoke bomb behind her. Her hand turned off the communication device before sliding into a defensive stance. In front of her, Reaper stood watching her calmly. The air crackled with tension as the two warrior regarded each other.
"You're annoying," whispered Reaper. And then he made the first move.
-Gotham-
Batman removed his pick, the motel door creaking open. Stepping inside, he took in the two luggages. They were the only items that seemed to belong to whomever occupied the room. Zipping open the nearest bag, he took in the rich clothes and personal hygienic components. Moving onto the next bag, all that greeted his eyes was an old laptop, planner and cell phone. Picking up the phone, Batgirl frowned. The battery was dead and from the backing, it seemed that the memory chip had been removed. Strange. Picking up the planner, he flipped through the pages. It seemed that early this week, the person went to pick up a friend called Seir at the airport. Today' date was circled in red, the day of the ball standing out amongst the other appointments.
"Seir…" Batman's mind racked over the name. Zenari's voice boomed over his calculation. '"Robin. Or wait, I should call him Seir.' That means that this person knew Robin." Hope began to rise in the dark hero; he was getting closer to his lost ward.
"What are you doing here?"
Batman turned around and regarded a young teenager standing the doorway. The blond hair boy eyed the superhero with confused anger. "I said what are you doing…Hey, that's Kumi's belongings!" Grief streaked in his voice, "Get your filthy hands off his stuff!"
Batman slide the planner back in the luggage, "Easy, kid. Did you know the man who lived here?"
Durin marched into the room and zipped up both luggages. "No. It's just rude of you to go through belongings that don't belong to you."
"But you said his name. Who was this Kumi to you?"
Batman watched Durin's face pale. Clearly the boy wanted to remain quiet, but it seemed that he didn't have enough experience in the art of retaining information. "Look, have you seen anyone with black, hair and slim build?"
The boy's face struggled to hide the emotions that leaked onto his face. Fears, surprise, the twitching of his hands, the licking of lips, all were telltale signs that the boy was hiding something. Ringing echoed down the hall.
Relief spilled on Durin's face, "Um…phone…" Bolting out of the room, Durin ran into his room. He was about to slam the door closed but Batman grasped the edge and pulled himself in. The cold look Durin received made him begin to shiver. Picking up the phone with a shaking hand, he whispered.
"Yes?"
A woman's concern voice boomed from the receiving end. "Durin? Baby, is everything ok?"
Durin swallowed and quickly began to talk in his native tongue. Batman narrowed his eyes slightly. The language sounded like a sister to Russian, meaning that this kid—Durin—came from Eastern Europe. Once again, he was found linked to that region. Turning his back slightly to keep an eye on the boy, the Dark Knight took in the belongings in the room. There were more luggages here, too much for just one child. Someone else had lived in here. Walking over to a small dufflebag, he picked up the bag and noticed that the nametag had a British logo on it. Zenari had told him that Deathstroke had taken Robin to London. Zipping open the bag, he spotted a worn out journal placed carefully on the side. Picking it up, he opened the book. On one side he saw a firmly pressed Teen Titans picture, but what caught his eye was the handwriting: Dick's handwriting.
A vibration disrupted the feeling of awe. Sliding the journal into his cap with reverence, he activated the comm. device.
"Batman."
"I need your help right now! I'm on the Interstate 7, heading south to Jump-" Batgirl's voice cut off, followed by the sound of a hissing smoke bomb.
"Batgirl. Batgirl come in, what's going on?" Static was his answer. Darting to the door, he saw Durin watching him, eyes wide with worry, and the woman still rambling in the background. Slamming the door closed behind him, Batman ran out of the motel and jumped into the Batmobile.
Zooming out onto the street, he ordered, "Fastest route to Interstate 7, locate Batgirl's position."
"Multi-car pile up on Interstate 7, Batgirl a couple miles ahead. Best way, take highway 08 that runs alongside the interstate," commented the computer back in a monotonic voice.
Driving as fast as he could, Batman dialed up Batgirl once more. "Batgirl come in, Batgirl."
His annoyance that the girl had defied his orders was slowly giving way into worry. "Batgirl, report."
Silence.
"Is that concern I hear in your voice?"
The tiny voice that was barely heard shot straight to Batman's core. It was like hearing his parents' voices once more except this time the person talking was not from beyond a grave.
Batman exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding, "…Dick…"
"From what I can remember, you never had concern in your voice before. You must be slipping."
The older man gritted his teeth, "Robin, stay where you are. That is an order."
"I've never followed orders before, why start now."
Something in the boy's quiet voice froze the blood in Batman's veins. "What happened to Batgirl, Robin? Is she alright?"
Silence.
"Robin?"
"So, she's your number one concern. For a second there, I made myself think that you actually cared about me."
"I do, Robin."
"Don't speak the truth, it's unbecoming of you." Robin's voice held a venomous tone to it, but it was so miniscule and well controlled that Batman barely detected it.
Batman struggled to keep his voice even. He couldn't help but feel a bit proud of Robin and how the boy's voice had remained totally emotionless throughout the whole time. He had always tried to teach the boy not to wear his emotions on his sleeve. It seemed now that Robin had become quite the master at it.
"My ride is coming."
"Robin, stay!" Batman felt his mask slipping away, Bruce's worry overriding all logic.
"Batgirl will live. She still has a purpose to serve. But Two-Face, if he lives or dies it makes little difference. His life is in your hands."
"Two-Face?" But Batman's question fell into a sea of static. "Robin. Robin!" Nothing. Batman's exterior shattered. Bruce Wayne screamed into the microphone. "Dick!"
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A/N: Hahaha! Cliffie. Don't worry, you'll see what happened to Batgirl and Two-Face in the next chapter. I had way too much fun writing this chapter. Man, it was a blast writing Batman and Reaper's first conversation. Hope you guess enjoyed it. And I'm excited cause this fight is a marker, telling me that a part that I've been itching to write this whole time is coming up. Be patient, it will come soon. So in the meantime, enjoy this little chapter!!
