Goddess: Descention
Book One: Asylum
Part One: Earthshine
The Eagle
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
Lord Alfred Tennyson
(1809-1892)
Gotham City
Only a sliver of a moon hung over Gotham City but the rest of the dark grey sphere was still visible behind it. Earthshine, is what the phenomena is called, where most of the moon is hidden from the radiance of the sun but lit by the dim illumination of the earth.
If the moon was a conscious entity as it was believed to be by primordial man eons ago then the shining silver crescent seemed to peek down at the world as if it feared to show it's full face… Afraid perhaps of what might look back up at it.
Under that timid moon a shadow moved, but the heavens were not where it's attention was directed. The moon had nothing to fear from this apparition, but the vermin below did. They moved in darkness but the shadow saw. They spoke in hushed voices but the shadow heard. They believed they acted in secret, but the shadow knew them. The vermin of Gotham City kept no secrets from it's shadow-cloaked protector for long.
He could have moved on them as soon as he saw what they planned to trade. Guns, several crates of them stacked in the two black plate-less SUVs they pulled up in. Double parked on the deserted street, they stood around their cars talking quietly. It would be an easy hit, the guns were still locked up in the vehicles but he waited, he wanted their customers too. Crouched on the topmost crumbling balcony of an old tenement building in Gotham's east end he watched and listened and waited, as silent as stone.
He counted six so far and recognized four of them as low level muscle for hire with a long list of violent priors. Below him the four he knew scanned the area with apprehension. They frequently looked up at the tall buildings masked in darkness, untouched by the glow of the sporadic streetlights, with thinly veiled fear. Inwardly the shadow smiled, he knew what scared them. The other two were new to him. He listened to them admonish their hired help for their unease. Judging from their bearing and the lack of concern, they were new to Gotham, new to his city. They'll soon learn to fear Gotham's night.
Batman heard before he saw the white panel truck pull around the corner followed by a black sedan. He watched them park only a few yards away from the SUVs. Several more; three from the sedan joined the others and two from the truck hauled open it's sliding rear door and two more hopped out. Inside the panel truck, stacked on pallets and covered with plastic were hundreds of small green boxes. Seven of the newcomers were clad in black head to toe and moved with an economy of motion usually ascribed to dancers, athletes or martial artists… Interesting. The last was tall but slender, he wore a long dark overcoat and his face was hidden by the shadow of a wide brimmed hat, but Batman did see a wisp of… was that long white hair? Curiouser and curiouser.
He contemplated moving on them now, but he waited and listened intently to their conversation. He hoped to learn more about these newcomers before he attacked. Who was White-hair and what exactly was inside those boxes? Below he heard the two groups exchange strained, nervous pleasantries, White-hair's voice had a distinct accent, Boston perhaps… Then suddenly another voice split his concentration, a familiar voice.
"Sir? A situation has developed you may be interested in." Batman tapped his communicator twice, a signal that meant he heard the communication but could not reply at the moment and that Alfred should continue. They had developed a thousand such signals over the years, he and Alfred, his oldest friend. Sometimes he thought they could literally have an entire conversation without speaking a word, they knew each other so well.
On the street below him he watched as White-hair ripped the plastic wrapping off the corner of one of the pallets, pull out a box and open it, but Batman could not see what it contained, one of the newcomers had moved in to block his view… Alfred's voice continued over the com-system built into his cowl. "There has been an incident on the island Sir, a rather serious incident. I realize you may be in the middle of something so I shall monitor the police bands, shall I also ready the amphibious vehicle?" Single tap; yes. "And reposition the satellite?" Another single tap. Judging from Alfred's tone it was serious. Deadly serious.
Batman was torn. The 'island' was Arkham Island and the incident could only mean the asylum and that meant any number of horrors could be unleashed upon his city. Were a small group of arms smugglers worth it? Damn, he thought, he couldn't just let them go…
Batman slowly stood, poised on the edge of a tilted balcony railing, balancing effortlessly and prepared for his assault. He was tall, well over six feet and his body was encased in dark body armor that fit his muscular form perfectly. A long cape flowed behind him, blacker than night. The pointed mask he wore hid only the upper half of his face and it's brows were furrowed which enhanced his scowl as he looked down upon the men below. He hit a button on his gauntlet that would summon his vehicle, the Batmobile, then he leapt off the railing and into the startled group below. As he fell toward his prey he thought, I'll just have to make this quick.
Batman landed atop the hood of one of the SUVs with a sound like thunder and took out one of the hired thugs with a sweeping kick that caught him in the back of the head. The momentum sent the thug careening into the side of the damaged vehicle, his head cracking the glass of the passenger side window. Silent amid shouts of alarm the Batman vaulted off the car and hit two more before the first thug hit the pavement. They both were reaching for guns but Batman caught their hands at the wrists in a vice-like grip and twisted. Their cries of pain didn't completely drown out the sound of breaking bones. Batman let go their wrists and quickly took the side of each of their heads in a gauntleted hand and crashed them together with a sickening thud. They both fell in a crumpled heap at Batman's feet.
The last of the hired thugs was running as one of the newcomers who hired the useless muscle was moving on him from behind. A quick elbow to the face stayed the rear attack as Batman flung a batarang at the fleeing hood. The bat-shaped weapon hit it's mark and the thug hit the street face first and slid a few feet before he lay still, sprawled haphazardly in the middle the road. The batarang flew back to it's owner who deftly caught it as he prepared for five of the black clad fighters that were moving in on him in a combat stance he found somehow familiar. Behind them he saw White-hair swiftly moving around the panel truck with two of the black clothed fighters.
The other newcomer had a gun pulled and was bringing it to bear while his friend, blood spurting from a broken nose, cowered behind him. Without a moments hesitation Batman flung the newly caught batarang at the gunman. The force of the blow sent the newcomer flying backward and his gun went clattering out of reach under one of the SUVs, the batarang then ricocheted off the skull of the now unconscious arms dealer as he fell to the ground and hit his friend on the side of the head sending him staggering into the truck, splattering blood from his shattered nose on the white panel, then he too was on the ground. Briefly Batman wondered where White-hair went, but he didn't have time to ponder, the five dark clad warriors that remained were on him. Now the real fight was on.
Batman heard the distinct sound of the panel truck's engine fire up, as the black-clothed attackers advanced. White-hair was getting away with what ever it was in those green boxes! A guilt-ridden rage welled up, but there would be time to admonish himself later. The five before him were skilled martial artists that used their smaller size and quick movements to their advantage, attacking all at once. They coordinated their efforts, and Batman realized they have fought together before, many times. They were buying the white-haired one time to escape, keeping Batman busy blocking blows from all sides while their leader? Employer? Made his getaway. He didn't have time for this, but finally Batman found an opening; one had slightly over-reached a low body kick. A mistake his friends tried to cover by simultaneous attacks. They were fast but not fast enough. With a swiftness that belied by his size Batman moved into the faulty kick and managed to grab hold of his attackers ankle. This left his back and side open to the blows by the others. But their attacks were hurried and their glancing blows didn't have the impact they should have, still he felt the strikes to his shoulder and lower back and knew if the blows hit their mark and if he wasn't wearing armor the attacks would have brought him to his knees.
Caught like a fox in a trap the black clothed attacker tried to flip and twist out of his enemy's grip, but Batman anticipated this tactic and used the momentum of the flip to redirect him into two of his friends. He was a black blur that spun into the closest of his two allies knocking them both off balance. The others, who were furthest away side-stepped their friend-turned-missile avoiding an impact but forcing them to move further away from the fight. Behind them the panel truck was pulling away, and two of the dark warriors broke off their attacks to perform a running leap inside the back of the fleeing truck.
Batman's last move gave him the time to pull three things from his belt that he hurled immediately at the retreating vehicle. Two of the missiles were small devices he aimed at the rear tires of the truck, but only one hit it's mark, one of the attackers hurled himself at Batman with a flying kick that he easily blocked but it threw off his aim. On impact one device exploded and the truck rocked up and came down with a crash. One set of it's double rear wheels were shredded rubber on bent rims. The other device only barely missed the other set of tires but it did cause the truck to rise up in the back and fall hard back to the road sending the men inside sprawling among their illicit green boxes. The damaged vehicle stopped momentarily but lurched forward again and continued it's escape albeit slower but the sudden jolts knocked the loose green box out of the open rear door and sent it plummeting to the pavement. Batman heard the muffled sound of breaking glass from inside the small box. The other gadget he threw was aimed at the wrapped boxes inside the truck. It was a tracking device he hoped would go unnoticed to wherever White-hair was fleeing to. Batman only hoped he would have the time later tonight to track him because he didn't have the time now.
The only dark clad assailant still standing at the moment revived his attacks while the other two tried to get their feet beneath them. He blocked a flurry of aggressive attacks and spun on the two rising from the ground with a low sweeping kick that knocked them both down again. A solid punch to the jaw made sure one didn't get back up again anytime soon, the other had sense enough to roll away before he too was rendered unconscious. But Batman moved with him and whipped his cape out at the last attacker standing, disorienting him while he grabbed the one on the ground and knocked him out cold with a powerful backhand. The last one standing seemed to act in desperation now as he actually grabbed Batman's cape to pull him away from his friend. Batman turned and pulled the cape back dragging the desperate combatant with it. A quick punch to the temple ended the fight and it took all of thirty seconds.
The Batmobile pulled up as Batman disarmed and secured the last of the criminals. He took visual scans of the two newcomers as well as the three now unmasked, black-garbed fighters to add to his facial recognition database and wondered at their training and who White-hair was to employ such protection. As he surveyed the scene Batman sent out an automated call to the police that would indicate the numbered code and location of the offence as well as the description of the truck and driver that escaped. He also indicated that ambulances would be required.
He found the green box that fell off the truck as White-hair drove away. Inside the crushed box were vials, most were broken and an odourless, clear liquid soaked the inside of the container and seeped through to leave a stain on the asphalt of the street. He counted a dozen in the box but only two remained intact. He left one for the police and took one to analyze himself. Batman contacted Alfred and had him monitor the panel truck and send Nightwing in follow it. He didn't like having to call another in on one of his cases but he had no choice, he had a more pressing engagement; on Arkham Island.
To be continued...