Chapter 7:
When Dick returned to the campsite the night sky was almost pitch-black, the moon having decided to hide behind a particularly large group of clouds. Everything was silent except for the soft sound of crickets singing to each other. He swept the area quickly with his eyes then darted toward the main building, slipping through the door that he had rigged earlier in the day so he could contact Bruce without having to break a window. He quietly walked to Mike's office and put his ear to the door. It was probably unnecessary – the room was completely dark – but he had to be cautious. Hoping he would be lucky, because picking a lock without his utility belt would be difficult, Dick turned the knob and was both surprised and relieved when the door swung open without a sound. After glancing back at the front room one last time to make sure he was alone, he walked around Mike's desk, picked up the phone in the center and dialed a familiar number. It rang several times and Dick was suddenly worried that nobody was going to answer.
"Wayne Manor," Alfred's voice was professional even at midnight, although it did contain a slight trace of fatigue.
"Alfred, I need to talk to Bruce, now!" Dick whispered quickly, his tone demanding yet slightly fearful.
"Right away, Master Dick," Alfred replied, instantly becoming fully awake when he heard the urgency in the young boy's voice. He put the phone down and hurried to find Bruce, who was in the Batcave as Batman. "Master Dick is on the phone for you, sir, and he sounds rather terrified."
Batman looked up from the Current Criminal Activity Bat-Disclosure Unit in surprise and then worry. He snatched up the receiver to the Manor's phone. "Dick?" he asked and, hearing nothing, said it again a little louder.
"Uh, is this Bruce?" came the quiet voice of his young ward.
Batman didn't know if anyone was with Dick so he instantly changed his voice into the less commanding tone of Bruce Wayne.
"Yes, Dick, it's me. What's wrong? You sound scared."
"It's False Face, Bruce. He's here, at the camp, pretending to be a chef. One of the kids has already died and another is really sick. What do I do? I can't let him kill people one by one, especially not kids!" Dick was speaking as softly and rapidly as possible while still making sure he would be understood.
"False Face!" Bruce exclaimed. He recognized from the words that Dick was by himself so he reverted to Batman. "You absolutely cannot be Robin, do you understand? You are Dick Grayson and you have to remain Dick Grayson. Promise me!" Batman's voice was commanding and, on the other end of the phone, Dick clenched his jaw.
"But…" Dick started but Batman cut him off.
"You don't have a choice, Dick! Give me your word!" Batman demanded again.
"Okay, I promise, but I can't just let him keep hurting people!" Dick was frustrated and was now starting to worry that somebody was going to catch him on the phone at midnight.
"We're taking too long," the teenager said. "I'm not supposed to be here. Just tell me how to help everyone!" he exclaimed quietly.
"I'm coming up there, Dick, and I will be leaving shortly," Batman replied. "Sit tight and I'll be there as soon as possible, okay?"
"Send Batman!" the boy gasped, his tone laced with distress. Dick was no longer alone and was attempting to protect Batman's identity.
There was a long pause, followed by a slight scuffling sound, and Batman became concerned. "Dick?" he said loudly.
"Your ward, Bruce Wayne, has broken the rules and will be severely punished," the voice was threatening as it came through the phone.
Batman knew that voice; False Face now had Dick and was going to "punish" him. How much of the conversation had the villain overheard? More importantly, what was he going to do to Dick?
"I want to talk to Dick," Batman declared as he switched back to Bruce Wayne.
"He has spoken to you long enough," False Face replied, "and I know that he asked you to send Batman up here."
Bruce held back a growl. So that's why Dick had squeezed those last two words out so quickly. He was securing Batman's identity because False Face had arrived.
"Dick Grayson will be dead before Batman arrives," the villain continued, "so you might want to begin planning a funeral instead of a birthday party."
The line was disconnected and Bruce slammed the phone down. He had been right all along. Something bad involving a villain was going to happen at that camp and now "weak and timid" Dick, not strong and fearless Robin, was alone with False Face.
"Let go of me!" Dick was trying to shout but False Face had a strong hand across his mouth and was wrestling the boy onto the ground. Dick was strong – he was Robin, after all – and was putting up a good fight. False Face couldn't keep the kid quiet and tie him up at the same time so he glanced around the small office for something that would be easy to grab and hard enough to knock the kid out. There was a baseball bat leaning against the back wall. It was cliché but it would get the job done so he grabbed it with his left hand and swung it down toward Dick's forehead. Dick saw it coming and managed to get his left arm between his head and the bat before they could connect. The previously injured shoulder protested the hit but Dick was able to shove the villain away and stand up, remembering that he could defend himself as long as he didn't fight too well. False Face had fallen to the floor but was quick to get back on his feet, snatching up the bat he had dropped during the struggle and strategically placing himself between the desk and the office door.
Now Dick was trapped behind the desk but an idea was forming in his mind. There was a closed window on his left that was several inches above his head and just the right size for his small body. If he could plant his right foot on the edge of the desk he would be able to dive through the glass, as long as he pushed off hard enough and calculated the angle correctly. Crashing through the window would do two important and helpful things: the shattering sound would be loud enough to wake somebody up and Dick would have the advantage of a head start to the counselors' cabin. False Face would have to run through the main building in order to get out and, by the time he did, Dick would already be pounding on the door that would give him access to safety. He would have to dive through the dusty square of glass as fast as possible – the length of the bat the villain was holding wouldn't allow him much time to escape before giving him a probable knock-out hit. The thought to shout for help crossed his mind but that idea was quickly shut down with six words:
"If you yell, I'll kill everyone," False Face whispered dangerously.
Dick straightened up and folded his arms across his chest, ignoring the slight ache in his left shoulder and attempting to appear intimidating and unafraid. "Batman is coming, he's on his way right now, so killing everyone is not in your best interest," he declared softly.
False Face laughed quietly, "Batman won't come up here to save a bunch of rich brats; he doesn't care about you! I'm sure there are many other, more dangerous criminals that he would rather capture. A non-violent man who merely enjoys disguising himself and is helping out at a camp is, I'm sure, rather low on his list of 'important people to catch today'."
"Bruce said he would come…" Dick trailed off when False Face laughed again.
"Bruce said he would come," the villain mimicked the young teenager's voice almost perfectly. "Bruce Wayne is more interested in himself than you, circus brat. Who was it…oh, yes, Walter once said that you were only here because the millionaire wanted some good publicity a couple of years ago."
Dick's eyes became dark with fury, "Bruce will send Batman up here and you leave Walter out of this! You killed him, I know you did!" Dick was shouting in a whisper; he was afraid that False Face would make good on his threat to kill everyone.
"No, Dick Grayson, you killed him," False Face replied with a snarl. "You were always watching me, always trying to figure me out. I was going to wait until the end to test you but you were becoming annoying. You allowed him to take a bite of your food, not me."
Dick's blue eyes widened slightly when he heard that. It was true; he had allowed Walter to eat the spoonful of gravy. The only thing he had done was shout at him to stop. He should have knocked the spoon away or done…something. Those thoughts were pushed away as he attempted to focus solely on the situation at hand.
"Test me?" he asked with anger clearly evident in his quiet tone. "Test me how?"
False Face sneered as he watched Dick glance quickly toward the small window. "You and all the other bratty kids at this camp were supposed to be my lab rats. Scarecrow gave me a formula and I've been perfecting it. The version Randy received was better than the one you had – oops, I mean the one Walter had – and I would have figured it out tonight if you hadn't interrupted me!"
Dick was shocked; they were test subjects for one of Scarecrow's toxins?! He narrowed his eyes, "What kind of substance are you trying to perfect?"
The villain rolled his eyes, "So many questions! If you must know, it's a mind control drug and I'm going to use these little rich kids to get whatever I want from the safes in their rich parents' houses. It's quite a simple plan and the Caped Crusaders were not supposed to find out any of it." False Face abruptly changed the subject. "Do you want to know why I'm answering your questions?"
Dick was sure he knew the answer so he ignored the question. If he could keep False Face focused on talking, he might be able to execute his plan before the man realized what was happening. He carefully moved his left foot toward the desk and shifted his weight, freeing up his right leg.
"Because you aren't going to be around to tell anybody about this conversation," the villain continued as if Dick had replied. He saw Dick take a subtle step with his left foot and decided that he was finished with the game. Looking at the ground thoughtfully, he waited for the kid to decide to take a risk and go for the window.
False Face was threatening him but the man's voice was only background noise now as Dick focused his brain on escaping. Suddenly the villain was staring at the floor and the teen was surprised. Deciding not to take the time to figure out why the man had given him such an obvious opportunity, the thirteen-year-old lifted his right leg, planted his right foot on the corner of the desk and dove toward the window.
False Face grinned and swung the bat as the boy took the bait. The window was not far away from the desk and the villain had just enough time to slam the bat into the back of the kid's head before he could crash through the glass. The hit sent the top of Dick's head into the wall and he immediately dropped to the floor, his limp body revealing that he was now completely unconscious. A thin line of blood slid down the back of his neck and a small pool formed under his head. The wounds were superficial, though, and the bleeding stopped shortly after it had begun.
False Face checked his watch – 12:45. The drive to the camp, from the transportation depot where the kids had been picked up, was six hours in a normal car. Gotham City was two hours west of that location so the villain figured he had about six and a half or seven hours before the Batmobile would arrive. He picked up the young teenager's seemingly lifeless form, flipped it over his right shoulder, grabbed the bat in case he needed it later and silently exited Mike's office. Arriving at the front door of the main building, False Face peered through the darkness, carefully searching for any type of movement. Everything was silent and still so the villain quickly strode north and disappeared into the trees. The boy would be out for a while so he had some time to work on the drug. Then, when the annoying brat woke up, False Face would have another chance to test it on the kid who was supposed to be in Walter's current situation – dead.
