Ohayho everyone! CJzilla here with another update! In this chapter Dr. Kirk Langstrom is out causing trouble. Batgirl and Robin are in over their head. Enjoy.

As I trash this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love... hate... review.

AN: I own nothing of Mr. Lichtenberg.

"To do just the opposite is also a form of imitation."

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
(1742 - 1799)

Chapter 6

Batty Gotham

Dr. Kirk Langstrom was working late into the night… again. Deadlines were circling his head and robbing him of sleep. His wealthy sponsors agreed to fund his research only if they saw results. Given Dr. Langstrom's reputation, any sponsor willing to support his work was met with open arms. But once inside their little web, he found out that their deadlines weren't the only nightmares. The man was being swiftly pushed to the breaking point, tonight being no different.

The scientist held his overused eyes to a microscope as he applied a small drop of his experimental steroid on a petri dish of human blood. Dr. Langstrom held his breath as he carefully observed the results of this test. The trial steroid held to blood cells for a long second before it savagely attacked it, ravaging the cellular wall and breaching each cell. The blood cells died and the experiment failed. Langstrom growled loudly as he took his tired eyes from the microscope.

"I'm still DECADES away from success!" The frail-looking middle-aged man gritted his teeth as he angrily jumped away from the microscope. Langstrom grabbed wads of his disheveled white hair and pulled. "I cannot complete a usable steroid in just a month! This isn't even fit for vegetables!"

The scientist fell to his knees in the middle of his blank, sterile laboratory. A new, addictive steroid inside the ridiculous time constraints was just beyond his capabilities. Backing out wasn't an option, considering the type of sponsor he was dealing with. If he left now, his sponsors would send someone to make sure he never spoke to the police. Langstrom was in a hole, a deep hole that he himself had dug.

The skinny man gave a weak sigh as he pulled his face out of his hands.

"This is not why I became a scientist." Langstrom looked over all of the equipment in his lab. "I am a man of science, not of criminals. I will not be a source of more pain and anguish in the world and to make my crooked sponsors' pockets full."

Then the last year of his life flashed in his mind like a horrible slideshow. The shady benefactors promising him all the money he needed for his research and only asking that he make them some artificial hormones, chemicals and the like. Thinking back on that, everything that he manufactured could be used to make drugs. Langstrom had found himself deep inside a horrible illegal drug trade; then the reality set in that he was being forced to create new narcotics for innocent people to get hooked on. He turned his head and saw the vials of experimental steroids he'd created. Rage flashed over the small man and he began to tear up his laboratory.

Halfway through his rampage, Langstrom came to his private satchel, where he'd carried some of his most prized research. Storming over to it he raised his foot to crush whatever was inside the bag. But something stopped him. Grabbing his bag from the floor, he set it on the counter and rushed through it. At the bottom of the shoulder bag his fingertips hit a glass vial. Pulling the small, corked bottle from his bag, Langstrom brought it to his face.

It was his Man-Bat mutative serum. There was a whirlwind of pros and cons that flew through Langstrom's head but this was no longer about the temptation to becoming the powerful and evil Man-Bat again. Langstrom saw his way out of his cesspool life. Faster than he thought possible, he uncorked the vial and poured the viscous florescent pink formula into his open mouth.

Immediately the man's fragile looking body convulsed and he fell to the floor. His muscles rippled, he grew three feet taller and his ears exploded into huge, radar-like listening devices. Within mere seconds, Langstrom's body became that of an oversized humanoid bat. Man-Bat once again reemerged from a period of suppressed slumber.

The huge humanoid bat uncurled from on the floor, his massive ears now being fed with every sound inside the building. Man-Bat blinked his beady, nearly useless hot pink eyes; sight was rather useless for him at this point since he could hear and thus "see" everything in the room due of his echolocation. The humanoid bat rolled to his knees and stood. The feeling of Man-Bat was amazing. The strength and tuned senses; he could even hear the copy machine on the bottom floor of this building. Being the ultimate Bat once again, Langstrom never felt more alive. Man-Bat opened his maw and gave a shriek that shook his laboratory. Flicking open his intimidating wings, Man-Bat jumped toward the ceiling. The ceiling, upper floor and roof were no match for the humanoid's immense strength. He flew out into the late night. The darkness once again belonged to Man-Bat.

Flabbergasted onlookers stared in half awe and half horror as they saw a huge silhouette cross the moon's light. It was Man-Bat, prowling the night's sky on the lookout for his next meal: the Batman.

Meanwhile, an unmarked moving van drifted through the quiet web of Gotham's premier warehouse district. It stopped outside the large storage units belonging to Wayne Industries. The electric fences were disabled and the gate was opened it the vehicle. The moving van lazily pulled into the warehouse lot and hung a left. The large automotive stopped at the last storage facility at the end of the lot. The doors opened and the vehicle drove inside. Then the garage doors closed and you could hear the van's engine cut.

Dick Greyson and Barbara Gordon both felt the van come to a stop. They sat at the doors of the ventilated storage container, watching the medics care for Bruce Wayne. Their mentor looked like any man would after being in a building collapse: mangled and barely breathing. But his shaky health wasn't the tricky part. The tricky part was that Bruce Wayne was the injured Batman. This was going to be a dangerous juggling act by Dick, Barbara and Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce's butler and close friend. They had to be careful to keep the Batman's identity secret.

Just after the Joker left the hospital and Robin, Batgirl, Police Commissioner Ellen Yin and Police Chief Ethan Bennett came to the decision to move the critically injured crime fighter to a new location, Dick had placed a call to Alfred. Between the two of them, both Alfred and Dick devised a plan to keep Bruce safe but in the spotlight. Using Bruce Wayne's ever philanthropist reputation, Alfred had arranged the Batman to be secretly housed in one of the warehouses of Wayne Industries.

The doors to the moving van were opened by Ethan Bennett, disguised as the van's driver. Dick a.k.a. Robin and Barbara a.k.a. Batgirl quickly hopped out of the vehicle and let the medics unload Bruce. Due to his critical injuries, the longer he was off the big respirator, the worse he would get.

"We need to get him hooked back up to the breathing machine." Ethan looked down at Robin and Batgirl. Time was slipping past them. "Where is Bruce?"

"I am coming, sir!" A voice came from the front of the garage just before a door shut. Ethan, Dick and Barbara raced to the other side of the van and saw Alfred Pennyworth trotting up to them.

Barbara and Dick were very happy to see the trustworthy familiar face but Ethan looked stunned.

"Alfred? Where's Bruce?" The fit black man swept the baseball cap off of his head. The prim and proper butler slowed his gate and stopped before the chief of police.

"Master Bruce sends his deepest apol-" Thankfully something chirped through the air, cutting into the conversation. It was Ethan's police cell phone.

The chief of police picked up his phone and put it to his ear.

"Bennett here." He voiced. Then his face went straight, his eyes wide. "What?"

And then the Bat-Wave chirped on both Robin and Batgirl's belts. Both teen crime fighters picked up their communicators and read off the source.

"Man-Bat?" Batgirl's eyes went wide. "But Dr. Langstrom swore to Batman that he's gone straight!"

Robin's eyes narrowed.

"Well, it looks like he either lied or he's had a relapse." The masked boy glanced at Barbara and then at Ethan. As soon as he was that the chief of police was distracted, Dick looked at Alfred. "We've gotta run Alfred."

The butler's face fell fearful.

"Do be careful, young ones. Man-Bat is ferocious." Alfred looked at the two kids that Bruce had taken under his wing. "Please do not get hurt. There's been too much loss for one day."

They saw Alfred catch a glimpse of Bruce as he was wheeled past him on that hospital cot. Dick and Barbara knew that he saw the many tubes running over the injured man's body. Barbara took Alfred's hand and squeezed it.

"We won't, Alfred." She voiced. "Make sure Bruce is taken care of. Call us if anything happens."

The three close friends shared a moment of unvoiced caring words when Barbara and Dick quietly slipped out of the warehouse and into the night. They were going to take Man-Bat, this time, without any back up from the Batman.

Barbara and Dick bounded from building to building, following the waves of 911 calls that were monitored through the Bat-Wave. So far the bulk of the calls were coming from the northern Gotham. There were lots of businesses, restaurants and people there this time of night. For being mostly bat, Man-Bat wasn't a shy creature. Swinging and bounding over buildings, Robin and Batgirl soon found themselves looking at the northern part of town. Barbara crept to the ledge of the building's roof to get a better look.

"Well, it looks like Gotham P.D. has two cars in front of that ritzy restaurant." She traced the cop cars' spotlights to the roof of the restaurant. "And they've got Man-Bat in their sights."

Sure enough, Man-Bat was hanging upside-down on a horizontal flagpole, almost looking like he was sleeping. Barbara Gordon didn't like the looks of this; it almost smelt like they've been baited for a trap. But then her thoughts were yanked off of Man-Bat as she heard Dick wheeze beside her. Barbara turned to see the sick teen having a hard time breathing because of his plugged nose.

"Are you all right?" The red-head girl asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. Dick Greyson looked up at his partner.

"I'b belt better, Mabs." The boy responded, his speech unclear due to his stuffy nose. Barbara shuttered in disgust when Dick wiped his nose on his glove.

Humming her displeasure, Batgirl pointed to Man-Bat as he hung from the flagpole.

"Check this out." Barbara motioned. "Man-Bat is just hanging there. That shouldn't be a very comfy place to sleep because of the noise and lights. What could Langstrom want here?"

"Da foob?" Dick responded before laughing and sneezing. Barbara frowned.

"No. Batman told me that Man-Bat prefers animal blood to crème fresh." She returned, her eyes narrowed. Then she grabbed an unused grapple from her utility belt. "Let's go say hi."

With that Barbara shot the tether into an adjacent building and dove off the roof. The masked red head swung across the road and landed on the restaurant's roof. Running to the ledge she peeked over. Man-Bat was right below her, still hanging there.

"Dr. Langstrom!" Batgirl shouted down to him. "Dr. Kirk Langstrom! I'm here to help you!"

Still nothing out of the monstrous humanoid bat. Barbara watched Man-Bat for a long second before the humanoid suddenly opened his wings. He let out a shriek, his ears and eyes fixing on the masked girl. In that second, Man-Bat shot a big blob of sticky mucus onto Batgirl's face. Barbara reeled with the blow and immediately clawed at the super sticky goo covering half of her face. She stumbled and nearly lost her balance. When Barbara caught herself, she hit a large support bar to the neon restaurant sign. The mucus on her hands and face stuck like glue to the metal support bar. She pulled and thrashed but was not able to free herself without ripping off half of her face.

Then Barbara heard the flapping of Man-Bat's before she felt a large thump on the roof. She knew Man-Bat was gating up to her; she could hear his claws softly scraping as he walked and his menacing growl. In that second, she felt a blast of hot breath on the side of her face. Man-Bat was standing over her, right beside her. The monstrous humanoid bat reached out and ran his taloned fingers through her long red hair, his claws catching the fabric on her back. Barbara was praying for a miracle.

Man-Bat could hear how loud the girl's heart was beating. She was scared to death. He was aware that she and Robin were on the building roof three structures away; he could hear them talking and Robin sniffling. Though Man-Bat had Batgirl in his talons and his stomach rumbled with hunger, he had no intention of hurting the girl or Robin. As the saying goes, make the rabbit squeal and the fox comes running. He was waiting for the Batman to swoop in and save his two sidekicks. Robin wasn't in trouble; at least, not yet. Then Man-Bat heard the Bat-a-rang whistle through the air.

Dick Greyson hurled that Bat-a-rang with all of his might, aiming to take off one of Man-Bat's ears. Barbara wasn't going to be his snack tonight! He watched the weapon whiz through the air and Man-Bat turn to face it. To Dick's shock, the massive humanoid bat caught the Bat-a-rang in his crooked teeth with a shrill ping.

"Holy-!" The masked teen boy awed as Man-Bat crushed the weapon in his jaws and spat it to the ground. Robin was now in the humanoid's crosshairs.

Man-Bat gave a loud yowl before diving at the boy. Dick shot his hand to his utility belt and gripped the sonic disrupter. He managed to press the device's button and give Man-Bat a sonic tsunami. But it was too little too late. Man-Bat was already on him. Dick was pinned to his back by a massive bat wing as he saw Man-Bat crush the sonic disrupter right in front of him.

It took a long second for Man-Bat's hearing to adjust to normal. After a blast from one of the Batman's sonic devices the humanoid bat had to recollect his senses. But when the sonic disturbia cleared, Man-Bat saw that he had Robin under his wing. All of Batman's little sidekicks were incapacitated so where was the crime fighter? Frustrated, Man-Bat leaned down and took a mouthful of the front of Robin's costume.

Dick was plucked from the ground by the front of his costume by Man-Bat's crooked jaws. The Boy Wonder thrashed as the humanoid bat carried him. Dick tried to plant a fist in Man-Bat's sensitive ear but the creature threw him with a flick of his massive neck. The masked teen righted as he came to the ground in front of Barbara. Dick drew his warrior's baton from his utility belt but by then, Man-Bat was facing him. The humanoid bat opened his mouth and spat a blob of his glue-like mucus. Dick managed to dodge most of it but it struck his shoulder. When the boy stumbled back, he tripped onto Barbara and stuck to her. Now both teens were in a pickle.

Man-Bat gave a satisfied growl as he walked up to the two teens. He could hear their hearts going at break-neck speed.

"What are you doing, Langstrom?" Robin barked. "You told Batman that you were through with Man-Bat!"

To the boy's accusation, Man-Bat gave a loud shriek. He did swear to the Batman that he was trying to go down the right path but he only landed himself in hotter water. Only the Batman could help Langstrom now. The giant humanoid bat pounced and slammed a taloned hand across Robin's chest. Man-Bat snarled in his face, his fangs dripping with slime.

Then out of the night something struck the humanoid bat's head from behind. A Bat-a-rang. Man-Bat reared and yowled. It wasn't until the creature was off of him that Dick saw a dark figure bolt up behind Man-Bat and grip him in a half-nelson. But it wasn't just any dark figure, it was the Batman. Thunderstruck, Dick's mouth hit the ground as he watched the Batman wrestle with the giant humanoid bat.

With the extra weight on his back, Man-Bat's balance was off and he stumbled backwards and off of the building roof. Now freefalling, the humanoid bat thrust open his wings to catch himself before he and his attacker fell to the pavement below. Air bellowed over the membrane of his wings. Man-Bat and his attacker soared off into the cityscape. Over the wind whistling past him, Man-Bat heard the flapping of fabric. Now he knew who was on his back. The Batman.

Man-Bat yowled and took a sharp turn to the left, trying to shake the crime fighter. He zipped down a road lined with skyscrapers. The humanoid bat flew close to one building and bumped Batman on its brick wall. He heard a grunt of pain and then felt the Caped Crusader drop off of him. Man-Bat was stunned at how easily the Batman was shaken. Then he heard the blast from the crime fighter's grapple. In that second he felt a strong cable wrap around both of his ankles. Man-Bat growled but flew on.

Weaving in and out of the maze of buildings, Man-Bat finally emerged from the crowded city with a battered Batman still hanging onto his tether. The humanoid bat was soaring over the city's park. Man-Bat dove toward the park. Shocked people dove off of the asphalt walkway as Man-Bat zipped right over their heads. The humanoid bat took another sharp turn to the right and was aiming to head back into the city. But just as sudden as a bolt from the blue, Man-Bat was violently jerked to a stop and out of the air. The Batman was swung around a tree and used it to tie his tether to. Man-Bat found himself suddenly still and falling to the ground. The humanoid bat hit the grass with a thick thump. The drop was jarring and disorienting as Man-Bat tried to get to his knees.

Then he felt something wrapped around his neck and then pulled taunt. Man-Bat was stretched out, rack-style. The humanoid bat thrashed, flapping his wings violently. But the harder he flapped, the tighter the cable around his neck became. Man-Bat stopped struggling and caught his breath on his back. In that moment, he heard the Batman stand beside him. The humanoid bat opened his mouth and gave the crime fighter an angry squeal. Then he heard the crime fighter pull something from his utility belt. It sounded like a spray can. The Batman shook it and then a cloud of foul smelling spray washed over Man-Bat's face.

The blast of gas made Man-Bat thrash, trying to clear the stuff from his lungs. Then came the numb feeling all over his body. Langstrom felt his Man-Bat form fade as a horribly painful smile spread over his face. The man was suddenly paralyzed and not able to even to move his eyes. Dr. Kirk Langstrom could only stare into the night sky, frozen. It was only when the Batman looked down on him that he found something was very wrong. Though it was dark, Langstrom saw a big, yellow smile cast down at him from the form of the Batman. It was right then that he knew this man who had sprayed him with this paraplegic gas wasn't the Dark Knight. And then, everything went black.

Joker, who was in his Batman costume looked down at the frail-looking pale man that was once Man-Bat. Dr…. Kirk Langstrom if he remembered correctly from the Batman's heroic escapades that he religiously followed. A big smile spread over Joker's face as he saw his gas take full effect on the man. It always made him happy to see that wide crazed Joker-like grin over his victims' faces. That was one less bad guy on the streets. Not bad for Joker's first evening as a stand-in for the Batman.

Then the Crime Clown heard several footfalls rush toward him. Bringing his head up, he saw the several bewildered park-patrons running toward them. Joker pulled a smoke grenade from his make-shift utility belt and threw it to the ground. No one would see which direction in which he left.

The people rushed up to the scene, only to see who they thought was the Batman, flee in a cloud of smoke. When they approached they saw a small man on his back, loose cables around his ankles and neck with each end tied to different trees. As they came closer, they saw that huge Joker-smile over his pale face.

Kirk Langstrom apparently got his wish to get out of his crooked business deals. He was nothing but a smiling vegetable now.

R&R! LONG LIVE ROCK!