219. A Hard Act to Follow part 4

I backed away from the mutant, leather-winged creature that was Dr. Langstrom. The Hyde-esque monster was still chained by his ankle to a metal pipe at the back end of the utility closet. He thrashed about and shrieked his Man-bat snout off. His wings knocked tools and canisters and metal wracks to and fro.

CLASH!

CLANG!

"WRESSSSH!"

"Whoah!" William B. Fox hopped back at the end of his chain. "Hot tamale! Hot tamale squared!"

GRIP!

Bane grabbed Fox with one hand and snapped apart his chains with the other. The tall, beefy mercenary stood up with the son of Lucius Fox slung over his shoulder.

I turned from the lashing Man-Bat and gasped. I made to pounce on Bane and somehow wrestle for Fox back…..

Yeah right.

FWOOOSH! Sp-Splat! A pair of green seedlings flew into my chest. Suddenly, slimy emerald vines sprouted out and started to wrap around me. I gasped and struggled with my arms hugged to my side. I couldn't even reach back to Myrkblade.

"……," Poison Ivy smirked, her body still leaning forward from having thrown the seeds. "Pardon my green thumb, she has a mind of her own…"

She?

THWUMP!

I collapsed on the floor, constricted by a tube of green vines covering my torso and upper abdomen. Like a fly in silk webbing. I struggled and inched about to get loose.

"Pathetic gusano…," Bane muttered. He carried Fox out of the room. "I'll be back to break you….."

"Don't bother," the Clock King smirked. He leaned on his pointed cane and stared down at me. "The perfect foil of a trespassing insect is the insect itself! Like a fly, your days are quite numbered, boy!"

I gritted my teeth and started summoning smoke to somehow strengthen my arms in breaking out of the binding….

The Clock King went on: "Bane, Harley, and even the Mad Hatter to some extent thought Dr. Langstrom was expendable. But Dr. Crane and I insisted that we keep the man for such an occasion as this. You see….the Doctor has suddenly become a very open physician. He's ready for an appointment, and I believe you're his first walk-in!"

"WRESSSSH!" Man-Bat jerked at his chain and slashed and bit at the walls of metal racks. "WRESSSSSSSH!"

I struggled to my knees, smoke pouring out of my eyes as I fought to concentrate.

"An interesting thing that the Scarecrow told us about the Man-Bat's syrum. It takes ahold whenever Dr. Langstrom is agitated. But this time, the Man-Bat is deliciously affected by the Scarecrow's fear toxin. Which creates a paradox, since the Man-Bat is inherently devoid of all fear. So the best thing he can do when imprinted upon an attacker is to transform that fear into a testosterone induced rage….a bloodlust!"

I finally stood to my feet. I took a deep breath….

WHUMP!

The Clock King kicked me in the rear.

"!"I stumbled straight into the Man-Bat's chest. I shoved the two of us back against the pipes he was chained two. Cl-Clang!

With a twirl of his cane, the Clock King tipped his hat as he stood in the doorway and smiled. "I do believe he's imprinted himself upon you. Do play nicely, young chaps. We'll be back after disposing of Fox to collect your bones, Mr. Noir."

SLAM! The door shut loudly behind him.

I turned my head and glanced through the corner of my shades, panting.

"WRESSSSSSH!"

"…..," I gulped. I turned and looked at the creature I was collapsed upon.

Leather wings flapped about me. Man-Bat reared his head, eyes a pale haze. He snapped his jaws at me. CLAP!

I leapt back.

THWUMP! I landed on the floor of the 'closet'.

"WRESSSSH!" Man Bat flapped his wings and 'hovered' at the ceiling of the closet. The chains dangled from his levitating legs to the pipe until he straightened his entire body and flung his sharp talons down at me.

THWOOOSH!

I held my breath and rolled to the left.

Cl-Clack! Sparks flew as some concrete was unearthed.

"WRESSSSSH!" He dove down again.

Bound by the green vines, I rolled to the right.

Cl-Clack!

Man-Bat landed on the floor. CLUMP! He snapped his jaws down at me.

I rolled backwards and awkwardly landed against a pile of paint cans. They rattled and rolled every which way. I winced and struggled up to my feet.

Man-Bat thrashed around at open air. His winged arms and sharp talon feet kicked random metal objects and debris at me under a fountain of shrieks and bellows.

CL-CLANG!

SMACK!

CRACK!

I squirmed my way to the door, slid up to it, and rammed my shoulder into it repeatedly.

THWUMP!

THWUMP!

TH-THWUMP!

The closet door wouldn't budge.

I gritted my teeth, sweating. Heaving.

Okay, Jordan.

Concentrate!

Teleport out of the vines.

Teleport out……of the vines!

"WRESSSSSH!"

I turned. My black eyes widened.

Man-Bat glared at me as if suddenly more sentient than previous. He hobbled back, planted his feet against the pipes, and leapt at me with winged arms wide and a row of razor sharp teeth snarling at my scarred throat.

THWOOOOOSH!

"WRESSSSH!"

I clenched my eyes shut.

Accepting death….

T-T-T-T-T-T-

Outside the closet door in the zeppelin hangar, Bane carried William B. Fox towards the blimp as the rest of the villains gathered.

"Whoah! What was all the noise?" Harley Quinn frolicked over. "Is the Doc goin' a little batty?"

"Nrgghhh….," Bane hissed. "Get out of my face, mujer."

"Hey!" Quinn frowned and folded her arms as she glared at the back of Bane's meaty body. "Tu es 'misogynist creep', bub!"

Ivy placed a hand on Quinn's shoulder. "Let him pout, Harley. He didn't get to bust a certain swordsman's head in."

"Whoah? That creepy kid from the Gothe Nightclub is here?"

"That he is," the Clock King nodded and passed by. "And by the time we return, he will be in pieces. To the airship!"

"Oooh! A blimp!" Fox remarked as Bane carried him to the piloting bridge beneath the bulk of the dirigible. "Are we goin' on one of them snazzy City tours?"

"We are," Bane said. He opened a metal door with a creak. "You, on the other hand, are going to fall from over fifty stories up into a sea of concrete. He tossed Fox in—"Oof!"—and climbed into the bridge after him. Harley and Ivy were swift to leap up after.

Clock King leaned on his cane and glanced aside at the Mad Hatter. "Jervis….my dear fellow, now would be a good time to take advantage of the long-range transceiver you have installed in the aircraft. We'll be needing your wing boys soon enough."

"Ah…but of course," Mad Hatter half-bowed.

Clock King smiled. He turned and gazed at the utility closet.

"……."

He lifted his cane, twirled it, and climbed up into the dirigible.

"Hrmmmph! His heart would have stopped beating twenty-one and three quarters seconds ago. A pity I could not stand by to see it…."

T-T-T-T-T-T-

"…………………..," I stood wincing. Leaning back against the closet door. "……………"

I opened my black eyes. I was in tact. But how?

"WRESSSSSSH!" the jaws of the Man-Bat howled and snapped right in front of my shades. The length of the chain had snagged, holding the beast at bay by a few mere inches. His lings flapped a warm breeze into my body as he struggled and strained to cross that last sliver of distance and rend me asunder. The base of his chained tether pulled and yanked and groaned at the metal pipe-anchors holding him down.

"……….," I sweatdropped.

If you exist, God, I hope you're a sexy Asian woman.

"WRESSSSH!" Man-Bat stretched and bit at my face. Snap! SNAP! CL-CLAP!

I snarled and flung my foot up.

THWAP! I caught the Man-Bat in the chest. He shrieked and bent over.

I didn't think….

Thwoosh! WH-WHUMP! I head-butted him.

Man-Bat stumbled backwards, shaking his dizzied head.

I teetered, nearly falling over in my green-vine straitjacket.

Yeah……I'm never doing that again.

I shook out of it. I concentrated murk into my limbs. I took a deep breath. Two. I tensed my smoking body and…

FWOOOOSH! POW!

The vines snapped apart as I expanded in a smoking cloud, spiraled, and morphed back into the swordsman.

I exhaled….

Green Peace is going to hear from me about that……

"WRESSH!" GRIP! Man Bat reached a coiled stretch of wing forward and gripped my ankle. He snarled and yanked back.

"!" I fell topsy-turvy.

Aaagh!

THUD!

I landed hard on my back.

SWOOOSH! Man-Bat pounced on me. "WRESSSSSH!" Drooling on top, the creature laid its weight into me and flung its neck down to my scarred throat.

I gritted my teeth, burst murk through my vessels, and teleported so that I solidified on the creature's back. FWOOOSH!

CL-CLACK! Man-Bat's toothy bite sailed into the concrete floor.

I raised a metal hand and brought it down against the creature's neck.

CL-CLANG!

"WRESSSSSSSSSH!" Man Bat pivoted and bitch-slapped me with a reverse wing of leather.

THWAP!

I flew back towards the rear of the closet and landed against a metal rack. WHANG! I winced as paint cans and metal tools littered me from above. But I wasn't half as horrified as when I realized I stood just a foot or two from the base of the tethered chain vibrating beside me.

Which meant……

"WRESSSSSSSSSSH!" the Man-Bat sailed at me with perfect slack to his tether.

I backed up against the pipes, and just as the creature pounced on my body….

CHIIIIIING!

Myrkblade glossed over with black energy.

Man-Bat snarled and brought his fangs down.

I shouted mutely and raised Myrkblade in a horizontal position.

CLAMP!

The serrated teeth closed around the length of the blade as his weight pressed into me. I had only my sword keeping the creature from eating into my chest cavity.

I snarled and struggled with the beast. Murk warbled through my body and billowed out from under my shades. I sweated and struggled. I looked over Man-Bat's hairy shoulder at the door.

There was a sudden vibration emanating throughout the thick structure of the building. Groaning….creaking…..as old as all of Gotham International's abandoned history.

Dammit……they're taking him away!

They're taking Fox to the 'drop-zone' in Downtown!

"WRESSSSSSH!" a serrated claw flew at my face.

I swiftly ducked it with a smoking blur.

CLANK! The claw ripped into the pipes behind me. A puff of high intense steam shot out and struck the Man-Bat's face.

He leaned back, shrieking.

I shoved him further, wrenched Myrkblade free, dove, slid underneath him, and rolled forward onto my knees. I ran desperately towards the closet door, this time vine-free….

GRIP!

But not bat-free….

THWUMP!

I landed on the closet's concrete floor with Man-Bat's mangy claws around my ankle.

I spun about with my back to the floor, panted, and glanced panickedly at the beast.

He pulled me at him and reared his head to sink his fangs back down at me again.

I had no choice but to fight him off with Myrkblade sailing upwards.

CHIIIIING!

CL-CLACK!

"WRESSSSSH!"

T-T-T-T-T-T-

WHURRRRRRRRRRR!

The loud, rumbling noise vibrating throughout the structure belonged to the huge, gaping doors of the zeppelin hangar opening wide to the amber-bright day of Gotham outside.

WHURRRRRRRRRR…..CLANG!

The doors locked wide open.

The blimp 'came' to life. The turbines on either side of the dirigible spun and swiftly propelled the craft forward. With a patient drift of its immense weight, the airship poured out of the elongated, domed hangar.

Sunlight cascaded over its length of the blimp, illuminating the mock words 'Vreeland Cosmetics'. The airship tilted violently upwards and rose in the air.

T-T-T-T-T-T-

Inside the bridge of the vessel, Ivy was in control of the flying ship. She expertly pulled the throttles for lift and acceleration while maintaining balance and steering.

"Awwwwwww….," Harley pouted beside her. "Pleeeeeeease, Red! Just let me fly it! This once!"

Ivy smirked ever so slightly. "I don't trust the hemispheres of your brain to function as one. Much less your hand-eye-coordination!"

"Hey! You're speaking to a clown girl who can hit a clay dove at fifty feet with a gag spray flower!"

"And if I need you to crash this blimp into a clay dove somewhere schizophrenically affixed to a spot on the Earth in your mind….I'll think about it, Harley."

"Hrmmph! Don't you psychobabble me! I'M the former psychiatrist!"

"Ladies….," Clock King marched over, the cane leaning over his shoulder. "Must you here?"

"Hrmmm…."

Harley grinned. "Feh! What are you, impotent?"

"…………," Clock King glared. He looked over at Mad Hatter. "Jervis?"

The ornately clothed pale-cretin adjusted his hat and operated the controls of a high-tech computer device beneath a viewing window of the bridge. "Soon my entranced valkyries will fly in our name, but the Gotham Airforce will be to blame."

"Whatever gets the choppers covering us, the better…," Clock King leaned on his cane. In approximately one hour and forty-five minutes, we see if Foxes can fly."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask something about that too!" a grinning Fox waved from a metal chair in the far corner where Bane was tying and binding him. "When y'all say that you're gonna drop me fifty stories into a sea of concrete, do you mean to drop me fifty stories into a sea of concrete with a parachute, or are we all just talkin' to each other metaphorically? Hehehehe….."

THWAP!

Bane knocked his breath loose with a fist to his chest. "Para Dios….shut up."

Clock King smirked.

T-T-T-T-T-T-

"WRESSSSSSH!"

Man-Bat slashed, thrashed, and bit at me.

I twirled Myrkblade up. TH-TH-THWISH!

CLANG!

I made contact with his teeth and knocked him back.

I rolled out from under him.

He shrieked and swiped a serrated paw down.

I leapt up from a pulse of murk, spun and dodge his swipe in mid-air, came into contact with a wall and bounced off with my feet, and went flipping over him…trailing smoke.

Man-Bat reached another hand up and grabbed my mid-air ankle.

I twirled and slashed Myrkblade downward.

THUD!

I smacked him clear in the forehead.

He shuddered and stumbled back, shaking his snout and clutching his skull.

P-Plant! I landed by the pipes again.

I panted and looked towards the door.

I got to get out somehow……

"……..," I gazed down.

The chain connected to Man-Bat's ankle rattled and shook from his limping form.

"……..," I eyed where the chain connected to the pipe.

I looked up at Man-Bat again.

Then the door.

"……..," I took a deep breath.

I hope to God I don't get traumatic claustrophobia from this.

TH-THWISH! I twirled Myrkblade and slashed it down.

SNAP!

I broke the chain free.

Man-Bat snapped out of it and looked at me.

I charged him.

He billowed his leathery wings open and readied his jaws.

I held my breath, blurred into smoke form, sloshed around him, and materialized beyond.

I ran towards the door.

Man-Bat twirled, hissing. Clear eyes glaring at me.

I slid to a stop before the door.

I spun and faced him, Myrkblade raised.

"Nrrrrghh….WRESSSSH!" Man-Bat lifted up, flapped his wings, and soared at me.

I braced myself. Gripping tightly to my hilt. Smoking and ready to strike…

THWOOOOOOOSH! He sailed at me and crossed the length of the utility closet in a heartbeat.

I took a deep breath, lowered my eyes, and gently morphed into smoke form just as….

"WRESSSSSSSH!"

ZOOOOOOOM! CRACK!

T-T-T-T-T-T-

The door of the utility closet shattered.

Man-Bat slid out amidst the shrapnel spread of door parts. He stirred on the ground, groaning in pain.

In solid form, I hobbled over him and stared—squinting—at the bright sunlight billowing in from the freshly opened hangar doors.

The blimp was flying off and upwards at a steep angle. Turbines propelled it along on either side of the craft. The thing was practically two hundred feet in the air by now.

I shuddered.

Grounded.

Great……

Now what do I do?

"Wressssh……"

"………?" I glanced down.

A wing at my ankle…

Aw criminy……

THWAP!

I was tripped harshly to the ground.

WHACK!

I shuddered, the breath leaving me.

THWOOOSH!

Man-Bat lunged at my body in a full-winded pounce.

Lying on my back, I slashed Myrkblade up.

He absorbed the blow into a winged elbow and then swiped at me madly with both bloody claws exchanging. SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

I snarled and pivoted Myrkblade left and right to block. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

He shoved me across the hangar's concrete floor.

I deflected and slid from him.

He finally leapt up with a flap of his wings and jabbed both of his talons down at me. THRASH!

I backflipped.

CRACK!

Bits of flooring shattered and scattered.

I stepped backwards.

Man-Bat hovered in the air. He shrieked and then flew off in an arc.

I panted. I glanced out of the hangar's 'mouth'.

The blimp floated away….further and futher.

I gulped.

I looked again at Man-Bat.

He swung low, shrieking. "WRESSSSH!"

I spun and twirled to avoid him….

FWOOOOOOSH! SLIIINK!

His talons grazed my shoulder, drawing blood.

I howled mutely in pain and stumbled forwards.

TH-THWUMP!

"……," I looked down.

I was leaning against a conspicuous, pyramid stack of mortar shells.

"WRESSSSH!" FWP! FWP! FWP! The Man-Bat flew around me, wings flapping.

"…….," I glared up at him. A metal hand slowly snaked towards one of the shells.

The mutant hissed, twirled around, and dove down at me again…fangs wide. "WRESSSSSSSSH!"

I gritted my teeth, tossed a shell up, spun, and struck it in mid-air with Myrkblade like a baseball bat.

TH-THWACK!

The shell toppled towards him.

Man-Bat's eyes bugged and he spiraled downward in a last minute dodge.

The shell flew into a wall-face of the large hangar.

Clink! PHOOOOMB!

Fire and shrapnel flew.

I stepped back, shading my face.

"WRESSSSSH!"

Man-Bat dove at me from behind.

I swiftly gripped a mortar by its tail, spun, and flung it at the beast.

He flew up at the last second, chain dragging like a tail.

The mortar flew past him, slid along the ground, and ruptured against a joint in the open door.

POW!

Shrapnel flew. Cracks in the doorframe formed.

Man-Bat flew up high.

I gripped another mortar.

SWOOOOSH! Man-Bat dove straight down at me.

I aimed up at him…..and paused, realizing that if I missed AGAIN the explosive would only come straight down…and hit me.

"WRESSSSH!"

I sweatdropped and dove down at the last second.

SWIPE!

Sharp talons knocked the explosive out of my hand.

At the same time, the dive of Man-Bat tossed the stack of mortar shells over.

CL-CL-CLANG!

A sea of explosive bodies surrounded me.

Th-Th-Thwish! Overhead, the one shell flipped towards the ceiling, paused in midair, and sailed back down as gravity took over.

Back down towards me….and all the other explosives surrounding.

I panted. I looked to my left.

The last of the dragging chain's length slid along the ground and past me.

I didn't think. I tossed my metal arm out and grabbed it.

GRIP!

My whole body yanked and I was dangling at the very end of the metal chain attached to Man-Bat's ankle. And at that precise second, Man-Bat was flying ceiling-ward with a flapping of wings that 'dragged' me up towards the top of the spacious interior and far away from the sea of mortars….

….as the falling explosive fell and burst in the middle of them.

POW!

POW! P-POW! POW! POW!

KABOOOOOM!

I winced all over, clinging hard to the metal chain as a ball of fire exploded beneath me.

Man-Bat shrieked in response to the explosion and seemed to flap his wings and fly and dive and dart all about in the air randomly.

Which wasn't very settling to me. I was yanked and pulled and flung every which way above a growingly hot fireball of mayhem. The entire floor of the spacious hangar had become a virtual lava pit.

I looked up at the hairy, demonesque body flapping leather wings above me.

I took a deep breath. CHIIING! I sheathed Myrkblade, gripped the chain with two hands, and started to 'pull' and 'climb' my way up the length of the chain to the flying form of Man-Bat.

Somehow, when I told myself I wanted to 'meet Batman', this wasn't quite what I had in mind……

"WRESSSSSH!"

The creature flew higher and higher towards the ceiling, twirling about and trying to shake me from his ankle.

I gritted my teeth and climbed up.

FWOOOOSH!

Man-Bat twirled and glided along the northern wall of the interior.

I twirled and flew straight into the metal. I held my breath, blurred my legs, and kicked against the wall flying beneath me. I 'ran' vertically for a short length before vaulting off, spinning around, and landed squarely on Man-Bat's back.

"WRESSSSH!" he shrieked and tried to shake me.

I merely held on with my legs like a rodeo psychopath and lunged forward to grip his neck. I twisted and pried into his cranium painfully.

He shrieked and twirled about, nearly tossing me off.

I tried to hold onto my breath, his neck, and my lunch….all at the same time.

Smoke and fire billowed beneath us as the flames crept towards the edges of the hangar.

Ah……the glorious razing of a Gotham City villains' headquarters.

I looked up.

I saw a cross-beam of metal flying directly at my face.

I bit my lip.

Any chance Red Aviary can come and kill me now before I burn to death?

FWOOOOSH!

T-T-T-T-T-T-

The streets of Gotham City.

The retro cars on the road and the smartly dressed pedestrians on the sidewalk.

Life bustled to and fro along the feet of the gothic skyscrapers.

Daytime…the only safe harbor of this dark City.

Veronica Vreeland rode a limo through Main Street that late morning. She had the window half-rolled down as the rich redhead frowned and squawked into a cell phone:

"Listen! I have no time for incompetence in the family business! My father and I worked hard to get Vreeland Cosmetics back on a good foot! I don't want some two-bit CEO of mine trying to 'reinvent' the advertising campaign! We had enough trouble as it was making it through the recession without making stupid stunts!"

"……."

"NO! I didn't ask for a blimp to be rented out in our name! What gives you that idea?"

"……."

"What? Now who in the world could possibly…?"

The glass separating the passenger compartment from the driver's seat lowered. The female Chauffer turned her head and uttered: "Uh…..Ms. Vreeland?"

The redhead put the phone down. "WHAT?" Silence. She blinked. She glanced out the window. She looked up, gasped, and dropped the phone.

SCREEECH!

CRUNCH!

Vreeland jolted as her limo collided with another car. The Chauffer shouted angrily at the other driver, but Vreeland was too dazed by what she saw to do anything but stare within the jolted, smoking vehicle.

Outside on the sidewalks, crowds of men, women, and children muttered to themselves and pointed upwards.

A blimp marked 'Vreeland Cosmetics' hovered overhead, looming between buildings. Turbines pumping, pushing the airship along. There was a set of loud amplifiers set along the bottom of the dirigible's bridge. As a feminine voice crackled loudly down into the streets and alleyway of Gotham City, a static broadcast interfered all t.v. channels in the surrounding districts and simultaneously broadcasted:

"Dear Gothamites, the thorns and the rosebuds all the same. What happens when you leave a garden unchecked? Weeds grow. And lately, the biggest weed of all has taken nasty root in this gothic dwelling of ours….."

T-T-T-T-T-T-

Inside the pilot compartment of the aircraft, Poison Ivy leaned over the controls. Smiling. Speaking her Troupe's message into the mic:

"We certainly do not appreciate a hideous, secret wraith haunting our own playground…encroaching on our Act. But most of all, we don't appreciate former rogue allies of ours treating us like dirt for the sake of a new order…."

Harley giggled quietly.

Mad Hatter smiled and clicked a special button on his computer device.

T-T-T-T-T-T-

Atop one of the Gotham Police Department buildings, two pilots were working on an engine compartment of their city-issued helicopter.

The radio besides them crackled in timing with the distant, booming voice of a set of airborne amplifiers far across the rooftops. "Gotham City is like a beautiful field of luscious fruit. The only way to seize that which is sweet and filling is to treat it with expert care. But this new team of powermongerers hae no sense of finesse. Their solution to the land is to slash and burn the farm like pyrotechnic misogynists!"

One pilot gasped. "Ted! You hear that voice?" He stood up and wiped his sweaty brow from his heavy mechanical work with a rag."Doesn't that voice sound like….?"

CL-CLANG! A wrench flew across his skull.

"Ugh!" he fell hard to the ground. THWUMP!

'Ted', the fellow pilot stood with a blank expression on his face. He held the wrench in his hands and looked off towards the horizon for a few seconds until turning numbly, closing the engine compartment, and stepping into the pilot's seat of the helicopter. The rays of morning sunlight glinted off a computer chip flickering just behind his ear.

Beeping.

The helicopter started, rose to the air, and joined a growingly thick squadron of choppers flying from the south to rendezvous with the blimp.

T-T-T-T-T-T-

Flip. Grab. Flip. Grab. Flip. Grab.

Two-Face sat at the chair to his grimy office. Leaning his chin boredly on one hand. Flipping a coin with his mutated one. He glared at a t.v. screen displaying the face of Poison Ivy.

"We are talking about Triangular. And we know you are here in this City. And we've got someone you may possibly find valuable in the remote abyss of your mutually numb souls!"

Poison Ivy stepped back. The mounted camera showed the interior of a zeppelin bridge. Fox sat in a chair, a long clownish revolver being held against his skull by a clown girl in black and red. Harley Quinn blew a kiss at the camera. Fox chuckled nervously…sweatdropping.

Flip. CLUTCH.

"……..," Two-Face glared at the screen.

THUD!

The door to his office kicked down.

Killer Croc ran in, huffing and puffing. "Dent! I just got done ruffling the Penguin's feathers! Word is that Fox is being held captive by…."

BLAM!

Two-Face fired a gun into the ceiling.

Killer Croc winced.

Two-Face hissed and pointed at the screen with his smoking pistol. "Quiet while my ex-girlfriend is bitching…"

Killer Croc looked at the t.v.

"Wuh oh….," he uttered.

Suddenly, the image of Fox sitting in the captive chair was replaced by Bane's masked face up close. "Hola, Two-Face. We also know you are watching this. Here is a message for Triangular. Either your conspiratorial team disbands and pays our Troupe double for every spoiled gig we've suffered at the hands of your dominating union…or we'll toss the boy billionaire out the window for some fresh air….all twenty-five falling seconds of it."

"……," Two-Face's human eye narrowed.

"Any interference on behalf of Triangular…or the Gotham City Police…and it's el muerte for the sniveling, overgrown brat. Adios, Gotham City."

Blip!

"Hrssssssh….," Killer Croc clenched his sharp fists and snarled. "That oversized, walking S&M reject! I am SO fixin' to sink my teeth into his neck for what he's done to me. And now that he's barking up our backs…."

"Make a phone call," Two-Face grunted.

"…..," Killer Croc looked over. "Excuse me?"

"Call Wesker," Two-Face fingered his coin. "Tell him to send his best men in. Take that bloated bird down."

"Uhhh…okay, Dent….," Croc blinked. "But….uhh….didn't they just say that if we messed with their blimp at all they'd kill Fox?"

Two-Face twisted his neck around. "Mmmmm….perhaps. But then again…with so many of them villainous morons out there in the open, I'm surprised any of them are gonna survive."

"…………"

"The little Wayne Corp. shrimp is expendable. I don't care what Dagger says. Besides, it looks like the sky will run sooner than sunset…."

Flip.

Grab.

T-T-T-T-T-T-

"I'm sorry to interrupt your proudly broadcasted words…," the Mad Hatter crossed the pilot compartment and gestured with soft hands out the window. "But I do believe you'll soon hear the drone of my birds."

Ivy leaned her head southward and saw four helicopters coming in from the distance. She smiled. "Good work…," she glanced down and blinked. "For a midget."

"Charming," Mad Hatter smiled. "I'm sure."

"Triangular will want to dominate us," Bane gestured. "They operate through implementing a chilling factor. Whatever we're in for, it will be violent and explosive more than likely. If those helicopters don't hold back our enemies, I may just have to break them ourselves."

"Ah, but you forget!" the Clock King shuffled over. "We still have Dr. Crane's fear gas as a backup!"

"Say…where is that anorexic coot anyways?" Harley Quinn remarked.

"He said he was patrolling the airship," Ivy remarked. "'Doing his rounds'."

"Ah….the paranoid mind of a genius," Mad Hatter waved.

The others glared at him.

He merely smiled back.

Ivy groaned.

"So…y'all scientologists or something?" Fox smiled from his chair.

Harley slapped him with a clown glove. THWAP! "ONLY I CAN MAKE THE GOOFY SIDE JOKES!"

"Jeez, girl! Slap me a little lower so then I can have a reason to kick you!"

T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Mugsy!" a heavy, muscular thug ran the length of a plush, gangster apartment and waved a cell phone. "Mugsy, where are you?"

"Over here, Rhino…," a thinner man stepped out of a bathroom, zipping up. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing….just HELL BREAKING LOOSE!" Rhino shouted. He pointed out the slanted window of the top story, highrise loft. "Bane's gang has Fox and they're in a zeppelin downtown ready to drop the shithead!"

"Don't you mean Clock King's gang?"

"No, it's quite obviously led by……Wh-WHAT ARE WE ARGUING FOR? Two-Face called. Get the Boss! We need to give that damn Troupe a message from Triangular they'll never forget!"

Mugsy nodded. "Right away!" He ran down a hallway to a pair of large, gothically adorned double doors and knocked on them. "Hey! Pssst! Boss!"

"Who iz it? Show your lousy face! Id betta be good for tryin' ta distoib me!"

Crrrreak…

Mugsy slid the door open and gazed in. "Boss?" His head looked around. "Boss, where are you?"

"Uz' lookin' at him, ding-dong! How many times do I have ta remind you ta look at my face when you gots somethin' ta say? Want I should pump you full of lead or whats?"

Mugsy sweatdropped. "Er….n-n-no, sir. We just…"

"Time to do some of Triangular's dirty work, huh?"

"H-How did you know?"

"I've got good ears, jucko! What do you thinks stuffed in dis head of mine? Wood! Brains, I tell ya! I figger'd it wuz only a matta of time before thems rats decid'd to bite at our feet! You an' Rhino get da good stuff whiles'I get you-know-who to get off his lazy ass and do somethin' good for a change."

"Uh…y-yeah. Sure, boss."

"Hey! Dummy! Wake up, ya blockhead!"

"Y-Y-Yes, sir?"

"We've got a bunch of chumps ta squash and you're juzt sittin' over there growin' fungus out of your armpits?"

"I-I'm sorry, sir. I was tired, I-I guess…uh…."

"Get over here and help me get dressed, dummy! I need to look good when I'm dishin' out Armageddon on their sorry asses!"

"Y-Yes, sir. Right away sir……"

Mugsy scratched his head as he closed the door. "Yeesh….never fails to creep me out…"

He turned around and was nearly plowed over by Rhino who was hugging a bazooka and a bundle of rockets to his chest.

"Did the boss say he was ready?"

"……..," Mugsy blinked. He made a funny face at the explosives in Rhino's grasp. "Yeah…as soon as you remember to pack the atom bomb you left in the kitchen's sink!"

"…..uhh….."

"God…chill out…," Mugsy marched off towards the front room where his gun holster was. "Everybody in this town just needs to chill out!"

"Ergh…."

"And maybe get a lobotomy….."

"…….all right….."

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Back in Downtown Gotham City….

The dirigible started hovering in a circle around the summit of the R.H. Kane building. Already, police cars were swarming the streets. Officers pushed pedestrians out from the shadow of the stationary airship. Helicopters swam in a circle around the craft…keeping patrol. Although they were marked 'GCPD' on the sides, it was quite obvious that the men inside the pilots' seats were anything but their normal selves. Glazed eyes twitched in tune with the bleeping of chips behind their ears as they circled…circled….and circled.

T-T-T-T-T-T-

Inside the blimp, Ivy looked over at the Mad Hatter. "Are you certain that your buzzing drones are going to keep a good tally on our opposition?"

"Hmm…hmm…hmm….," the costumed villain smirkingly laughed. "My dear…I am not half as senile as I would beguile myself to succeed for our creed. I'll have you in perfect faith that our operation here is quite safe."

"You guys for real? Or am I just lucky?" Fox mused.

"Red…he's starting to scare me…."

"Don't fret…," Clock King looked at his pocket watch and grinned. "For we are exactly forty-five minutes away."

"Away from what?" Fox asked.

Clock King stumbled over and shook his cane in the man's face: "From dropping your shrunken head out of this blimp when Triangular's counter-force is here to see it!"

"Ohhh….," Fox blinked. "Wow…what a rush! You gonna tape it?"

Bane groaned and stared out the window of the pilot's compartment with his arms folded. "Por favor, Dios, how pathetic can this day get?"

T-T-T-T-T-T-

Downtown Gotham City.

The blimp hovered.

The helicopters circled.

The bright November sky snailed towards noon.

……

FWP! FWP! FWP!

"WRESSSSSSSH!"

Man-Bat flew over the rooftops in a downward arc.

And I was perched on top of him, forcing a chain around his neck. Gripping Myrkblade in the right hand. We sailed down towards the elevated scene The cold air blisteringly beat against us. My black hair streamed behind me and the Man-Bat's leather wings whipped.

The freakish Hyde-monster hissed and tried steering left.

I jolted atop him.

Oh no you don't……

FWOOSH! I billowed murk into my sword and smacked the length of Myrkblade back against Man-Bat's rump.

THWACK!

"WRESSSSSSH!" Man-Bat shook and contorted in mid-air and angled himself once again straight in the direction I aimed him.

I smirked.

That's a good freak……

The blimp drew closer.

The air windier as the buildings and alleyways yawned nearer below us.

I have to get Fox out of there alive……

Not that I care much about the moron myself……

But……

He's the source for questioning when it comes to Triangular and the funneling of Terra's essences through Wayne Corp.

Though it bugs me a little that……if Batman hasn't questioned him already by now……

Then does that mean that I'm onto something that the Bat isn't?

That's disturbing……Disturbingly scary.

"WRESSSSH!" Man-Bat tried steering off again.

THWACK!

"WRESSSH!" Straight.

I shuddered.

Guess I'll have to make a name for myself……………again……

There was a loud beating in the air.

"……," I looked to my left.

Two of the helicopters had spun off their path and were zooming towards me. I saw miniguns mounted on the bottom of their bellies. Aiming at me. Beginning to spin.

"WRESSH?" Man-Bat blinked.

I gritted my teeth and sweatdropped.

For every rider, there's a bandit.

I looked ahead. At the blimp.

It was five hundred feet away now.

Better blitz it.

Th-Thwish! THWACK!

"WRESSSH!" Man-Bat flapped his wings madly. FWP! FWP! FWP!

We soared up and arced towards the blimp.

The helicopters followed, firing.

RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

Bullets trailed after us, sailing through the air….over the rooftops…and eating at Man-Bat's feet. The freakish flier twirled left and right, spun around radio antennas, and dipped under an elevated bridge between skyscrapers once while all the while avoiding the bulletfire. He seemed used to this and I wondered if he really needed me and the chains to manhandle him through the cityscape.

SWOOOOOSH!

We glided over the top of a skyscraper, nearly grazing the gravel of the rooftop.

The helicopters streamed after us, following low. Aiming. Firing.

RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

"WRESSSSH!" Man-Bat flew up.

I twisted my upper body around and twirled Myrkblade in reverse, deflecting bulletfire to give the creature an easy ascension.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

I heard turbine engines.

Sweating, I looked ahead.

We were practically running into the blimp.

The helicopters disengaged, not wanting to damage the craft.

"WRESSSSH!" It soon became apparent that the monster I was riding wasn't about to pull away from the dive anytime soon. We soared straight towards the undercurve of the zeppelin's outer shell.

Man-Bat snarled.

I winced and held Myrkblade in front of my face.

SWOOOOOOOOSH! SMACK!

T-T-T-T-T-T-

RIIIIIIIIIIP!

We made a tiny hole as we punched through. Man-Bat and I went tumbling. We landed hard and rolled across the metal floor of the inner shell. Metal latticework and criss-cross support beams stretched all around us on the inside of the zeppelin. Man-Bat rolled into a pillar (CLANG!) and was out cold. I struggled to get up on my feet, using Myrkblade as a staff.

I think I'll stick to riding ponies from now on.

I stood up….and paused.

"………"

My black eyes blinked under my shades.

I gripped Myrkblade lightly. Cold. Sweating.

"…….."

There's somebody in here……

I turned around.

A brown, crooked skull-mask (face?) breathed into my shades, fogging them: "Boo."

AAAAH!

I teetered back, losing my balance.

Scarecrow raised his pale arms. His skull face (mask?) clattered loudly as he twirled a splintery staff and slapped me across the face with it.

THWACK!

I fell back from the frail man in tattered black.

THWOMP!

Myrkblade went clattering away from me across the metal works.

I winced and tried to pull myself up by a lattice.

"Nnngh!" Scarecrow ran up, the yellow-roped 'noose' around his neck dancing. He flew his scrawny foot into my chest. It had a piercing sensation when it slammed into my ribs. WHUMP!

I bent over, wheezing.

THWACK!

The staff again struck me, slamming down into the base of my skull.

I laid across the metal platform, spititng blood.

"Noir…..the dark Titan….," Scarecrow paced lightly around me. His voice was cold. Vibrating. Like a hollow bell being sung to in monotone and rolled across a cold closet floor. "…or should I say the other dark Titan…."

I winced. I struggled up with shaking hands.

He came to a stop before me. "I sense that you don't want to be here. And the only reason people….heroes and villains alike….choose to be places where they'd rather not be is because fear tells them that their comfort zone only means death."

I sat up. I gazed at him. I looked aside at Myrkblade. "……"

He reached into his dark cloak. His skull (mask? face?) leaned to the side. Two pixel yellow eyes gleamed beneath the shade of his hat. "You must be the most noble Experiment of all. Tis a pity I have not the time to study you…."

I held my breath.

FWOOOOSH!

I blurred past him. I slid across the metal platform, gripped Myrkblade, and spun around to face him with the sword raised…

SWOOSH! SHATTER!

A vial of red gas exploded beneath my feet. I coughed and wheezed. My black eyes watered.

Scarecrow 'bowed' with his staff raised. "But….maybe I can still study you……a little….."

I coughed. I clutched my throat, making a face.

"Heh heh heh heh…."

I felt a boiling in my blood.

My hairs stood on end.

My heart rate increased.

That gas……

"Heh heh heh heh heh!"

I panted.

A chill ran through me.

Not Red Aviary…

But…

But….

The Scarecrow……

Freakin' duh.

He……

I gulped.

I looked in the Gotham villain's direction and horrifically wished I hadn't.

When he finished bowing, he lifted his face up.

The 'skull' contorted. Flesh grew over it. Like leeches of red and brown pulp mixing together. Slimily reconnected with capillaries. Throbbing. But the face didn't entirely reform. It was a butchered, burned, corpse of an expression. And a tattered eyemask hung over it all like a 'surrender' flag.

No……

"What's the matter, Jordan?" Robin limped towards me. The cloak shrunk into a singed uniform of red, green, and black. The skin hung off his arms. Smoke billowed out from his orifices. "Frightened to see me?"

N-No………

"Not man enough to see what happened to me? What happened to the one Titan YOU COULD NOT SAVE?"

I stepped back.

Shuddering all over.

Waving Myrkblade and a metal hand.

B-Back off!

"If I burn……," Robin sneered. He flexed his charred limbs and fire breathed out of him like a balrog. "Then you're going to burn with me!" And he pounced. "YAAAAAAUGH!"

NOOOOOOO!