ISSUE 6

Red and blue lights flashed against the marble walls of Wayne Manor. The Police had swiftly moved in and the Bat had moved underground to his caves to then be put back in its sealed glass case.

Ryan rolled back his shoulder and adjusted the shoulder holster under his trench coat. He leaned against the far wall as Bruce Wayne, who was now wearing a sharp black suit, was talking to Lieutenant Gordon about the events. He'd watched them talk and had saw Bruce point at him a few times; he could already tell what Gordon was going to say before he said it.

"Well it's been quite the night for you hasn't it Ryan," Gordon said with a slight smile.

"Yeah, it was certainly...interesting."

"Wayne told me the whole story," Gordon replied. "How the Sports Master appeared in the house and tried to kill Wayne. You and the Bat teamed up to stop him, the Bat then left you with rope and you tied them all up."

Ryan stared at the ground, he felt guilty taking the credit but he knew it had to be this way. If the Commissioner found out the Bat had stopped the assassin and that Bruce was the Bat; then the whole of Gotham would be flipped upside down.

"Yeah, it was a difficult night," Ryan lied with a smile.

"Well I think the Commissioner will want to talk to you tomorrow but for now stay here and watch Wayne and we'll have someone take over your shift in a few hours."

"Okay," Ryan replied. Gordon walked off and Ryan made his way over to Wayne who had sat down on the couch. He sat down next to him. "I'm here for a few more hours and we need to talk."

"About what?" Wayne asked, watching as the final Police Officers left his house.

"For example who was that guy in the mask, Gordon called him the Sports Master, what the hell is that about?"

"The Bat isn't the only costumed vigilante around," Wayne explained rising from the couch. "All those myths that you've heard about heroes are real, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Aqua Man they all genuine heroes. And there are also costumed villains and costumed assassins. Sports Master, AKA Lawrence Crock, is one of them. He uses sports equipment as weapons and he was sent to kill me."

"So you're saying that there are actual heroes out there," Ryan said, comprehending Bruce's words. "And with every hero comes a Villain."

"Exactly," Bruce replied, making his way to the alarm clock. He reached around the back and pressed a slight indent in the wood. The button clicked and the clock swung wide open and the dark space behind became illuminated. The two of them stepped in.

"Who's yours," Ryan asked as the clock closed and the floor began to move downwards.

"I don't want to say as you'll hopefully never meet him," Bruce replied as the doors opened up and the two stepped out onto the metal platform.

They walked from the elevator to the large computer system.

"So what are we doing first?" Ryan enquired. "Combat Training, Gadget Training or Detective Skills."

"IT Test," Bruce replied, walking towards the large computer. "After all we'll be spending a lot of time working here."

Ryan felt absolutely knackered as he handed over the keys to the cop car to the receptionist at the front desk. He'd spent hours at that computer, learning things that he didn't even know were possible, and then he swapped over with another officer who he didn't really know and returned the car back to the Station.

The rain had stopped as Ryan exited the Police station and walked down the streets. For the first time in ages he was looking forwards to his bed and the rest of the day off work. If he didn't have to switch shifts with the other office; he was sure that Bruce would have made him stay for more training.

He figured that he would return home feeling like this a lot, knackered and feeling like he wanted to pass out. He turned down towards the alley which lead to his apartment block. Maybe I can get Wayne to get a better flat, he contemplated as he made his way down the alley.

Suddenly a blur jumped out of in front of him and swung for his head. Out of instinct Ryan ducked but couldn't avoid the knee that was rising towards his face. The impact of the force knocked him back but before he could fall a pair of hand grabbed him and lifted him into the air. Suddenly he was moving through the air and he smacked into the nearest wall.

He groaned as he slowly sat up to see a red and black clad figure standing over him.

"Bruce said you were good," the man sighed.

The man wore a black cowl, like Bruce's but without the ears, he had the same white eyes and black cape but he had two golden belts going across him in an 'X' formation. His top half was crimson and his bottom half was black. He looked like a mish mash of two costumes he had seen in the glasses cases in Bruce's cave.

"I guess he lied," the costume clad man smirked.

"Listen, I'm really tired and all I want to do is sleep," Ryan replied wearily.

"He said you'd probably say that," the man smiled. "But he told me to keep pushing you."

The crimson attacker raised his black boot and Ryan rolled out of the way before his head was stamped in. Ryan got to his feet just as the attacker spun around and produced a long steel staff.

"Seriously man?" Ryan asked as the cowl covered man spun the pole of metal.

The unknown attacker brought down the staff, Ryan side stepped it and swung lazily at the attacker's face. Luckily the strike hit and the attacker stumbled back.

"That's more like it," grinned the crimson man, blood coming from his nose and down his cheek.

He came right back and swung the staff left and right, smacking Ryan in the ribs multiple times, with every strike Ryan felt more and more of his limited energy depleting. At the last minute he blocked the staff with his forearm and gripped the metal weapon, which was highly unlikely to happen since you couldn't aim well once your adrenaline rush began. He yanked on the man's staff, pulling him off balance and then he summoned all the energy he had in him and clocked the attacker in the face.

The punch was powerful and the attacker instantly let go of the staff and tumbled backwards to the ground. Ryan swung the staff and then leant on it as his legs felt weak.

"Listen, I'm done here," Ryan snarled. "Please leave me alone."

The man rose to his feet. "Nicely played man," he held out a black gloved hand. "I'm Red Robin or better known as Tim Drake."

Ryan reached out and shook the hand, realising who the owner was. He was one of the many kids Bruce had adopted over the years, maybe Dick Grayson and Jason Todd had all been his partners too.

"Ryan Connolly," he said as they shook hands and then parted. "I'm guessing Bruce set me up."

"Yeah, I owed him a favour and he cashed it in."

"Well tell him to never do that again or next time my attacker will have a bullet in their head."

"That's a starting point," Red Robin/Tim Drake smiled through his black cowl. "He said you were armed and I had to be careful. He also wanted to know if you would use the weapon in the fight. Guns are his one rule."

"One rule?"

"He doesn't resort to guns of any kind," Tim explained. "I think you may have just passed two of his tests."

"Well that's just great," Ryan smiled. "Can I go to bed now?"

"After you give me my staff," Tim joked, holding out a hand.

Ryan tossed him the light shaft of metal, "I'm sure I'll see you around Tim."

"Hey it's Red Robin to you," he joked, dismantling the staff and produced a grapple hook. "See you around Ryan."

Ryan watched as Red Robin shot his grapple hook and rose off the ground and into the sky. One day I'm gonna do that, he smiled to himself as he turned and walked off towards his apartment building, not having to encounter a group of teenager this time.