A/N: Here's the sixth chapter of my story, hope you all enjoy! I would also like to thank my reviewers, Isaac Clark aka Reven and BatFreak, you guys are a huge help!
Chapter Six: The Courier
Christian pulled the batmobile to a screeching halt inside the batcave then jumped out. Finally, some sort of edge he could use against Identity, someone who had been in direct contact with the man. Holding the sheet of paper as if it was his own child, he sprinted over towards the bat computer, where Eve was waiting for him. She didn't seem too happy; probably because of tonight's events.
"Quite the show you put on there," she told him sarcastically, moving aside so he could sit down at the computer.
"I did what was necessary," Christian answered as he pulled off his cowl and began to look at the sheet.
It mapped out every stop and route the courier took, and when she took them. With this, he could blow the whole Identity organization wide open! Christian activated the computer and typed in all the coordinates, hands jittery with excitement.
"This is the overall route that Identity's courier takes," Christian explained to Eve, pointing towards the different patterns on the screen.
"Identity sure is paranoid about someone tracking him, look at all these different routes! The courier could be taking any of these at any time and we wouldn't even know."
Christian nodded, "Yes, that's why we'll have to keep constant surveillance. We know the courier is a woman, so at least we have some sort of way to narrow it down."
He began typing some codes into the computer, activating some of the street camera taps he had paced. If they kept twenty-four seven watch, they may be able to catch this woman.
"We'll take watches with this. If we each alternate watching and other necessities such as sleeping and eating, we should be able to stay vigilant enough."
Eve's eyes immediately shot wide open, "Mr. Wayne, you expect me to stay down here for half the day watching this screen!"
"I'm sorry Eve, but if we're going to catch this man we have to make some sacrifices," Christian told her, switching the recording function on. He knew Eve would stay; she cared about the cause almost as much as he did.
"What about your company Mr. Wayne? If you haven't forgotten you are the CEO of a fortune five hundred business!"
"I'll take my time off to work on running the company. Please Eve, this is the only way…"
Eve sighed and through her hands up in defeat, "Fine, you go upstairs and eat, I'll take first watch."
Christian smiled; thank God he had Eve. He headed behind the changing board and switched into his sweats and t-shirt, then headed upstairs.
Now with some cold juice and a bagel, Christian sat down on his couch and did something he hadn't done in a while, relaxed. Flipping on the TV, he turned to the GCN channel where he saw them covering his actions last night.
This oughta be good… he thought as he began watching the report.
"For those of you who are just joining us, last night there what may be one of the most public Batman sightings in the history of Gotham," the reporter began, glancing occasionally at his notes.
Good, that meant Identity got his message.
The reporter continued to recite last night's events, showing a video they had taken of Batman holding the man over the edge and shaking him.
"Many are calling these turn of events a violation of the most basic human rights, as Batman pushed the suspect into a fear induced psychiatric breakdown. But what surprised people the most last night was when the Batman threw the man off the Sionis Office Complex and allowed him to fall forty-five stories before catching him. This controversial tactic for interrogation has brought much public scrutiny down onto the head of Gotham's Dark Knight."
Christian couldn't care less about what the public thought of him. He wasn't there to be a celebrity; he was there to fight against Gotham's plague of crime.
The video started to play, showing Batman at the top of the office complex, eyes and chest burning bright red. Christian smiled a bit to himself; it was a terrifying image indeed. He could see the cameraman's breath in the cold night air, as all of Gotham watched his actions helplessly.
"I won't go too far," Christian, told himself, anticipating the climax of the scene.
Batman backed out of sight from the cameras, as if he had given up the interrogation.
"I won't go too far,"
Suddenly, the man flew over the side of the building, and then plummeted towards the ground. The crowd started to scream, while the cameraman made sure he caught every second of it.
"I won't go too far,"
The man continued to fall, as if Batman had actually just thrown him to his death.
"I won't go to far,"
Christian started to sweat as he saw the man continue to descend at dangerous speeds towards the cold sidewalk. Everyone below was now screaming in terror, running away from him, their protector. Had he gone too far?
Finally, the man's decent stopped, and it showed Batman pulling him back up.
"That was the horror that many witnessed last night, all caught on video from an eye witness. The culprit was taken under custody, but will be unable to go to court do to severe mental trauma and suicidal attempts," the reporter announced, causing Christian to spit out his drink.
Suicidal attempts? Christian's conscious could take a couple scared criminals, but if someone died because of him, he would never be able to forgive himself.
"Christian?"
Christian turned around and saw Eve standing behind him. Christian gave here an annoyed glare, what was she doing away from the computer?
"Aren't you supposed to be watching for the courier? Your shift doesn't end for another three hours."
Eve gave him a soft smile and said, "Sorry Christian, it's just I thought you might want to talk about what happened with me."
Something about Eve was bothering Christian. He couldn't place his finger on it, but something was just off with her. She looked, sounded, and even stood like Eve, putting one hand on her hip and the other held at her side. What was it?
Then it hit him; it was what she said! Eve almost never called him by his first name, no matter how many times he insisted she did. It was always "Mr. Wayne" or "sir", but almost never Christian. Eve always told him it was to keep from getting too close to her employer, but by now she was pretty much his only friend. Whoever this woman was, she sure as hell wasn't his secretary.
"Who are you?" Christian asked, glaring angrily at the imposter.
She gave him a curious look, and then responded, "What do you mean?"
"I know you aren't Eve, so who are you?"
The woman sighed and took off her glasses, placing them in her pocket. Her skin suddenly turned green as the businesswoman suit melted into her. When the woman's eyes opened, they were not green like Eve's, rather a fiery red.
"Miss Martian," Christian growled, "To what do I owe this honor?"
This wasn't good, if Miss Martian was here, that means his activities had caught the attention of the whole Justice League. While Superwoman was a member, her presence here didn't mean anything because of her personal connections with him, but Miss Martian almost never left the watchtower unless absolutely necessary.
"We've been watching you Christian," she told him, "and we are… concerned to say the least."
Christian chuckled spitefully, "Worried that I'm insane? You're not alone."
"Christian you cannot break a man's mind as you did last night, it's completely inhumane. We cannot have a name that is so connected to the league perform extremely controversial acts," Miss Martian told him calmly
This set Christian off; he couldn't believe what she had just said!
"So this is about the league's oh so precious reputation? Well don't worry, I don't plan on associating myself with any of you," Christian spat.
Miss Martian seemed a little taken aback, but then regained her straight face, "Christian this isn't about reputation. This is you making too many people angry. The subject of Batman is still a controversy, years after the first one quit. All you'll do is reignite their anger."
"If you haven't noticed, I'm not to concerned with how people see me, as Batman and Christian."
Miss Martian sighed as if she somehow knew this plan wouldn't work. "Just please, watch you actions. The league won't be able to decline if people start asking for you to be brought in."
Christian waved her off and said, "Please show yourself out."
Miss Martian nodded and became transparent. She gave Christian a single nod, then fazed out through the roof.
This was a possible threat. Christian's mind began calculating weaknesses and possible tactics against the Justice League. If they were ever to come after him, he had to be ready. Christian decided against putting up to many defenses though, for fear that it may be seen as an act of aggression against the league. Identity was still his priority, not petty squabbles with other heroes. But still, some sort of precaution had to be taken.
-late at night, two hours until Identity's announced attack-
Christian spent the past day and a half searching through all of his father's defense protocol tools. There had to be something, anything, here that he could use against the league in case they tried to take him out. He knew his father, and if he was good at anything, it was being ready. There was no way that he would be unprepared for an attack from the league. Eventually, Christian came across a strange capsule in the bottom shelf. When he picked it up, it was surprisingly heavy for something of its size.
"Lead," Christian said to himself, he knew he had just found the ultimate defense against the league.
He unlocked the capsule and unscrewed the top. When he looked in, he saw a large glowing green rock inside. It was kryptonite, the weakness of the two biggest threats in the league: Conner Kent, aka Superman, and Kara Kent, aka Superwoman. He quickly placed the kryptonite back inside the capsule and put the top back on. Christian knew about the green rock's radioactive properties, and did not want to be exposed to it for too long.
"Mr. Wayne!"
Christian turned around and ran over to Eve, who was pointing frantically at the screen.
"There, that girl has frequented the abandon building you marked on the map as one of Identity's locations!"
Christian smiled as he watched the black haired woman walk out of the building, holding a small bag with a letter barely peaking out the top. She was about Eve's height and wore normal civilian cloths. It was so easy for her to blend into the crowd, she looked like a normal pedestrian!
"Set the computer to locate her face and keep track of her," Christian told her, running behind the changing board with his costume.
As quickly as he could, he put his armor on, strapped his guards on, and pulled the cowl over his head. He had to find this woman fast, and then stalk her until she led him straight to Identity.
"Keep me updated with her location over the radio," Christian called over to Eve as he jumped in the driver seat of the batmobile.
"Right now she's on… Fourth Street near boulevard, hurry!"
Christian closed the hood of the car and then started up the engine. The batmobile roared to life, the headlights flashing on so bright they were almost blinding. With a load FWOOSH, the car rocketed out of the batcave and out into Gotham.
0000000000000000000000000000 000
Batman hid quietly in the shadows watching Fourth Street like a hawk. He had modified his visor to recognize the woman's face and immediately alert him where she was in the crowd.
"Oracle, any other movement in the other sectors?" he whispered, putting his hand up to his ear.
"No," Eve responded, "Just be patient, she's there somewhere."
Batman grimaced, what could possibly be in that building that made it her most frequent stop? It couldn't be Identity, no he'd be too smart to be tracked that easily. Whatever it was, it was crucial to their operation. Hopefully it was some sort of murder weapon that could be used as evidence against whoever was behind that mask.
Suddenly, he saw a crosshair on his visor zoom in on a dark haired woman in the crowd, heading straight towards the warehouse. It had to be her; it was the courier. Batman swooped over her unnoticed and dropped into an ally. He peeked around the corner carefully and watched as the woman approached the door. Before she opened it, she looked around to make sure no one was following her. As she opened the door, Batman swore he saw her grab an Oni mask out of her bag.
Batman quickly slipped in behind her, taking refuge behind a large scrapped car. He made sure to keep track of her movements through the building, as it was a maze of broken machines and other junk. It wasn't too hard to spot her though; her mask was bright red after all.
As he continued to follow her, he had to be even more careful. The further they went into the building, the more armed guards protected whatever was there. Batman became even more curious once he noticed the jump in security, what was so important? It could have something to do with Identity's threats he made six days ago, promising to bring destruction and a new generation in a week.
He climbed up into the rafters and continued to jump across the top of the roof. As he watched the woman below, he noticed a couple things. One was that she had a "J" burned into her left hand. Another was that she had what looked like a toy radio strapped to her hip, on that none of the other guards had. She also had a strange bounce in her step that he had never seen before.
She reached another locked door and swiped a key card through it, then walked through. Two guards stood in front of the door, both wearing Identity masks and nametags. One said, "Madness," and the other said, "Rage". These must be some of his most elite, seeing as they were guarding something seemingly so important.
Once the door shut with a click, Batman swooped into action. He descended onto Madness, kicking him to the ground. Rage quickly pulled out a large combat knife and swung it at Batman, who barely jumped away in time. As he regained his footing, he saw Madness stand up and shake off the kick as if it were nothing.
"RARRRR," Rage growled as he charged towards Batman. Before he could dive out of the way, he was grabbed with inhuman strength and slammed against the wall, causing the brick to crack on impact.
"Oracle," Batman grunted in pain as he tried to free himself from Rage's grip, "Oracle something wrong with these guards.
Batman looked closely at Rage's face and saw his face looked as if it was peeling away. The guard looked like a monster, a sick monster.
With all his might, Batman kicked Rage's chest, pushing the strange guard away. Madness quickly tried to charge Batman, but this time he was ready. Batman quickly shot his batclaw into one of the bricks, fastening it as tight as he could as quickly as possible. He then rolled out of the way, and then dived behind Madness, causing the line of the batclaw to clothesline the mutated man.
Rage roared again and tried to charge Batman, who was still preoccupied with Madness. Batman saw Rage running towards him, though; and did a backflip over the guard, causing him to trip over his comrade. Batman then pulled out an explosive batarang and through it at the steel rafters above them, causing the beams to collapse on top of them, entrapping the two men.
Just as Batman turned to the door, he heard the roar of the two enraged guards. Suddenly, the steel and debris that had covered them was thrown off, and before him stood two towering fully grown monsters. Their spine seemed to be protruding from their backs now, along with a couple bony nubs that now burst from their heads. Their nails had grown long and almost claw like, and their eyes were glowing a bright green.
"What the hell are these things…" Batman muttered to himself, preparing for one hell of a fight.
Rage charged at him, snarling and swinging his fists back and forth. Batman barely had time to dive away before the giant slammed into him. Madness followed the charge with a couple destructive haymakers, knocking away some of the scrap machinery and other junk. Batman ducked and jumped over Madness' punches, then threw the hardest gut punch he could at the beast. Madness doubled over, allowing Batman a powerful uppercut, causing him to stagger back. While Batman had done some damage, he felt as if he had just punched a thick iron wall. His hand felt as if it where broken, he could feel the warm blood inside his glove already.
Rage attempted another charge, to which Batman quickly dived under his legs to avoid. Almost clumsily, Rage slammed into one of the walls, temporarily disorienting the beast. Batman quickly noticed this; the beasts didn't seem to have much control of themselves. Maybe he could use this to his advantage.
Batman dived out of the way as Madness ran at him swinging, then threw a batarang at the disoriented Rage. Once the small metal object hit the monster on the back of the head, it quickly spun around and roared in anger. He then quickly shot the batclaw at Madness, and with all his might, pulled him on the ground in front of Rage. The charging monster did not notice the large obstruction until it was too late. Rage tripped over Madness and went headfirst into the wall, crashing halfway through it. Batman panted heavily as he held his hand in pain, Eve was going to have a fit about this one.
He turned back to the door and analyzed the key card slot. Pulling open the circuit board, he used some of his tools from his belt to reconfigure the lock. After a couple minutes of rewiring and melding, the lock finally opened, allowing Batman access to the room. Batman took a deep breath, and put the pain he was experiencing out of his mind. He couldn't think about broken bones if he was to continue after the courier.
Carefully, Batman opened up the door and snuck inside. He activated his heat signature scan, looking around the room for any sign of the courier. Unfortunately, it seemed as if the young woman had already left, leaving the trail cold.
"Damnit," Batman snarled, "she's gone!"
"Don't loose hope Mr. Wayne," Eve told him over the comm. link, "look around that room and see if you can find anything for analysis."
Batman nodded and activated his detective scanner, searching for any possible evidence he could. As he looked through the blue filter, he saw a strange container near the middle of the room. Cautiously, he approached it, making sure there weren't any traps lying around. Once he got close enough, he deactivated the detective vision and read the label on the container.
"Titan formula," he read out loud, "What the hell is Titan, and what use is it to Identity?"
Batmen climbed up the large cylinder and popped open the top, then looked inside. A strange green liquid bubbled within the container, smelling of chemicals and death. Batman held his breath as he pulled out a beaker from his belt and took a sample of the serum, then placed it back in his belt, deciding to analyze it once he got back to the lab.
"Hey B-man,"
Batman spun around, trying to find where the voice had come from.
"Over here!"
Batman turned again and saw the courier standing in front of him, mask and everything. Was this woman really stupid enough to try to take him on herself? Either way, Batman needed Identity's location, and he was sure it was somewhere on her.
Batman walked straight up to her and stood towering over her menacingly. In the most intimidating voice he could muster, he growled, "Where's Identity?"
The woman laughed, as if she actually thought the question was a joke. Batman grabbed her by the collar and pulled her towards him roughly. Gritting his teeth, he asked her again, "Tell me where Identity is…"
"Yeesh, is that any way to treat a lady?" she responded, pushing Batman off with surprising force, "Ya know you'll never find him right? I'm not squealing, that's make the boss man pretty upset."
Her light attitude made Batman even more frustrated, causing him to lash out and punch her square in the face. The mask immediately broke, revealing her surprisingly pretty face. She stood up shakily, bleeding at the mouth, eyes wide as if she hadn't expected him to actually hit her. Batman grabbed her and snarled, "I can be very convincing…"
"I can see that," coughed the courier coughed, "and I see you aren't a big fan of the mask either."
"Give me one reason why I should be."
She laughed and then said, "Truth be told I don't really like it either, gives me the creeps, but you gotta do what you gotta do I suppose."
This caught Batman off guard. Usually Identity's followers were hopefully devoted to him, why did one off his highest-ranking followers not like his decisions? Something was wrong with the courier, she was somehow… different then the rest.
"Look, I have no desire to be beaten to a bloody pulp by a man in bat pajamas, so if I tell you where Identity is will you let me go?"
Batman gave her a skeptical look, "How do I know you won't just go running to him after this?"
The courier laughed, "Hah, still don't trust me do ya? Well that's fine, but I don't think you really have a choice, do you B-man?"
B-man, what was it about that name that unnerved him so much? What was that nagging feeling in the back of his head that something just didn't fit? Batman refocused his attention on the courier.
"Fine, tell me where he is."
The courier pulled out a map of Gotham and pointed to a circled location on it, as if she had planned this betrayal all along, "See right here, the old Gotham Radio Tower? This is where he's been making all his broadcasts."
The old radio tower, of course! It had the equipment and signal strength necessary to reach out over all of Gotham. Since it was a radio tower, all the other radio stations constantly broadcasting all over Gotham hid the signal. It was hiding amongst the common, just Identity's style.
"You better hurry B-man, Identity's 'symphony of destruction' begins in," she checked her watch and then told him, "fifteen minutes."
Fifteen minutes? Batman checked the clock on his visor and realized she was right; it was almost midnight.
"If you really want to help, call of your guards so I can get to him more quickly," Batman yelled as he began to run out of the building. The courier nodded and pulled out her radio.
Batman didn't have time to hear what she said; he had to get to Identity and fast. As he tore through the building, none of the guards attacked him, just as the courier promised. Batman sprinted towards the exit and kicked down the doors. The batmobile's cloaking device deactivated when he turned on the engine with the mini computer integrated in his gauntlet. He jumped in and sped off as fast as he could toward the radio station.
Ten minutes left, that's all he had. He weaved in-between traffic, being careful not to wreck too many cars. Police sirens began to wail as he started to go above and beyond the speed limit, hitting one hundred miles per hour.
"Pull over!" one of the policemen called out, firing a warning shot. Batman didn't have time for this though. No one could stop him from reaching Identity, not even the police. He flipped a small red switch below the ignition and released tiny explosives from the back of the car. The small grenades exploded, causing three police cars to flip and crash. Batman upped the throttle, he only had six more minutes and the station was on the other side of the city!
"Mr. Wayne, what's going on? Why are you being chased by the police on the evening news?" Eve asked over his radio link.
"Identity is holed up in the old Gotham Radio Tower, which is across the city," I need you to send anonymous messages and try to evacuate all possible target locations!" Batman yelled, swerving around one of the corners. Three minutes was all he had now.
Batman stopped the car with a screech in front of the Radio Tower, two minutes. He broke down the door with all his might, ignoring his broken hand. When he ran in, he noticed that the place was surprisingly unguarded. It wasn't surprising; Identity probably did everything he could to keep this place from being suspected. Batman directed his way through the corridors, and looked for the 'on air' room, déjà vu.
Finally, he came across a large door with a light over it that said, "do not enter, recording in process."
Batman backed up, then kicked down the door and looked around. In front of him was Identity himself, with a detonator in front of him.
"Batman?" Identity said, as if he was surprised the dark knight had found him. Batman shot the batclaw out at Identity and pulled him towards him before the detonator was clicked. Identity quickly pulled out a knife and swung it at Batman when he was pulled into range, catching the caped crusader on the side of the head. Batman grunted and wiped away the blood, readying himself in fighting stance.
"So, the great Batman can bleed," Identity taunted.
Batman lunged forward and grabbed Identity by the head, violently slamming it against the glass divider. Identity wobbled up, bleeding from the cuts the glass had given him, trying to regain his balance.
"It appears you can as well," Batman snarled, letting loose a devastating cross, knocking Identity backwards into the volume controls. It was over for Identity already, this was payback for all the people he hurt.
Identity slashed forward with the knife, but Batman caught his arm and bent it backwards with a crack, causing him to drop the knife. He then swung Identity across the room and into the wall as hard as he could. When the terrorist hit the wall, the impact gave him a concussion, knocking the man out instantly.
Batman stood over him, breathing heavily and holding his face and arm in pain. It was over it was finally over. He walked over to the man crumpled near the wall and bent over to investigate. The police could definitely find enough to convict this man and put him away for life, but there were still two things unresolved. Who was he and how was he able to kill most of his victims so easily with not trace and without even being present? Batman peeled back the Oni mask and took a good look at the man behind it. He had blond hair and blue eyes. There were no facial scars, in fact the man looked about perfect. As if there was nothing wrong, apart from the bruises and cuts from his fight. Batman pulled the man's wallet from his pocket and found that the man was a mere janitor at Ace Chemicals; couldn't even graduate high school. Something was wrong with this, he hadn't given any speech, in fact he had barely talked during their fight.
"You aren't him," Batman growled, throwing the wallet back at the unconscious man.
Suddenly, the speakers around him started to crackle and a small tv that had been placed in the room activated. Batman glared at the screen as Identity's face appeared on it.
"Or is Identity really all of us? Is Identity only one person, or rather every oppressed man crying for justice?" Identity told him.
Batman glared at the tv silently, he had been tricked. He should have never listened to the courier, Identity wanted to distract him.
"Nothing to say? That is quite all right, only I will speak then. The symphony of justice and retribution begins in one minute, so I won't take long."