Chpt. XVI: Blood on Olympus
Dick stared at the holographic screen until he recognized the streets well enough. After a moment of not identifying the landscape, Dick sighed and stood up from his seat. He walked to the hatch & stared at it. He wasn't sure how to open it. He was let in when he was scanned. Maybe something needed to scan him again?
Dick surveyed the walls, hoping to find some sort of activation panel, or keypad, or button. He had no idea what he was looking for. "Am I a prisoner now?" Dick mumbled to himself.
"No," said the vehicle's interface. "There is a hand scanner on the podium to the left of you."
Dick looked down to his left to find, in fact, a podium with a hand scanner. Dick sighed in annoyance. He placed his hand on the scanner, & after a brief moment, the hatched opened.
Dick called back to Roy. "Hey, we're not dead," Dick simply said, then stepped out of the hatch.
Dick found himself in a loading bay of some building. He looked up to find that the building was what he assumed was more than 50 stories tall. Dick whistled in amazement and searched the area to figure out where he was.
Dick looked down at a metal trash can next to him. He noticed a flyer sticking halfway out of the can. Dick slid the flyer out of the can & read it. It was a brochure for the Olympus Hotel, one of Maximilian Zeus' luxurious properties he owned in Gotham.
Dick looked up at the building. "Olympus," he mumbled to himself.
Roy slowly stepped out of the vehicle. "Oh, wow," he said. "Our hi-tech GPS took us to a hotel."
Dick shook his head. "Is this a set up?" Dick asked himself. "Nolan might be waiting for us somewhere."
Suddenly, static emerged from the inside of the vehicle. Through the digital chatter, Dick could make out a voice. He stepped closer to the vehicle, then a voice finally came through, echoing from the inside of the tank. "RICHARD!" said a low, digitized voice.
Dick turned back to Roy, who raised an eyebrow dumbfoundedly. Dick turned back to the hatch. "Um...Batman?"
"Good, you made it safely," Batman said. He said it with a sigh of relief. "You were taken to a hotel,"
"Yeah, Olympus," Dick answered.
"Alright, you will go in & ask for a room under the name of Daniel Barnes."
"Who's Daniel Barnes?" Dick asked.
"Nobody, it's a cover name."
"Is this your Batmobile?" Roy spat out.
The radio signal which Batman spoke through cut off, leaving only static. After a brief moment, the static silenced, with the hatch finally closing on the vehicle. The vehicle's engine then roared, coming to life. The tank slowly rolled backwards out of the loading bay and towards the front of the hotel. It finally sped away, into the traffic of the night.
Dick sighed. "Daniel Barnes," he repeated.
Roy sniffed. "Well, let's get going."
The boys walked into the glamorous hotel only to be blinded by the bright light resembling a sun hanging from the chandelier. Dick tried to look down, only to still be blinded by the reflection of the artificial sun through the glossy marble floor.
Roy had already begun to make his way to the reservation desk. Dick bit his lip, paranoid of being caught alone in the hotel. Dick was sure that Nolan Drake would find him.
Dick turned and noticed a large gift shop. Dick quickly made his way and disappeared in the maze of tacky tee shirts.
Dick stumbled into a rack of sunglasses. Dick glanced at it for a brief moment, then snatched one from the rack. He rushed over to the counter, dropping the sunglasses in front of the clerk & pulling out a wallet Bruce had given to Dick. Dick removed a dollar bill, only to realize it was another hundred dollar bill.
Dick groaned. He looked up at the clerk who grinned. "Don't worry, I have change," the clerk admitted.
Dick purchased the shades & instantly placed them over his eyes. As Dick passed by the doors, he noticed a small mirror in front of a clothing rack. Dick looked at himself in the mirror. His black tee shirt & jeans didn't match well with the black & green shades he had grabbed, but they would have to do.
Dick cautiously walked out of the gift shop, surveying for suspicious activity. Dick could feel his heart pounding heavily. His palms began to sweat. He hated the feeling of nervousness. He hated the paranoia. The constant fear that at any moment, Nolan could have Dick killed. He had men, soldiers, mercenaries, all at his disposal, thanks to one Oswald Cobblepot.
Cobblepot said that he wasn't working with Drake. He wanted to kill Drake once he seized the city. He was using Drake, like a pawn in a chess game. Dick grinned to himself. This was good. This was very good.
If Dick could find a way to reveal Cobblepot's plans to Nolan, Nolan would have to retaliate before Cobblepot could even make a move. Nolan would have to kill Cobblepot. By doing so, Nolan would have nobody to rely on for finances, or for access to the black market. Their business would be terminated, & Nolan would be weakened.
"Hey!" Roy called, grabbing Dick's attention. Dick appreciated that Roy hadn't called out his name, in case they were really being followed. Dick walked over to Roy, would had swung his hood over his head. They both quietly walked towards an elevator & stepped inside.
When the doors closed, Dick turned to Roy. "The name worked?" he asked.
Roy nodded. He held up a keycard. "Yep, room 6021."
Dick nodded, breathing a breath of relief.
Roy was smirking. "What the hell is up with those disgusting glasses?"
Dick rolled his eyes. "Shut up," Dick mumbled.
The elevator music quietly played as the two rose up through the building to the 60th floor. Once the doors opened to the dinging noise of the elevator, the two stepped out. In front of them was a wide view of Gotham's skyline through the sparkling glass windows.
Dick felt breathless with this sight. He had never seen the city from a overhead view. The city was vast, like an urban kingdom with downtown being the castle. And Dick was the king. Royal.
"Come on," Roy called, breaking Dick from his trance. They walked down the halls of the hotel, passing red doorways. It seemed to go on infinitely, with almost no turns. The halls were curved in such a subtle way that you almost couldn't sense the architectural design. Finally, the two came across room 6021.
Roy slid the keycard through the gold lock on the door. The lock beeped & the red light turned green. Roy turned the long door handle & pushed the door open with ease.
Dick followed Roy into the suite, which was bright like gold with a beautiful glass wall, revealing the night sky & Gotham below. The modern styled furniture had been polished & clean. The three sofas in the center of the room were bright white, forming a square that faced a large flat screen tv, which was installed on a white pillar that had a fireplace at the very bottom. To the right was a kitchen, & to the left, Dick assumed was the bedroom.
"Wow," Dick whispered with a slight grin on his face.
Roy stood for a moment with his hands on his hips. He took a brief moment to think, then walked straight into the kitchen & opened the fridge.
Dick rolled his eyes. He took a seat on one of the white couches. "So what's the plan?" Dick called.
"Are you kidding me?" Roy said, head still buried in the fridge. "You're asking ME? No, dude, no. YOU called me, telling me to get off my ass & help you move your little dipshit of a friend out of an apartment halfway across town. YOU got me tied up by the mafia. YOU got me shot at."
"Isn't this what you signed up for?" Dick called back from the couch. "You told me you'd help me with-"
"I said I'd help you find Cheyenne!" Roy shouted from the kitchen, rising his head from the fridge finally. "I helped with find that psychic who led us to Cheyenne & her hot friends. I didn't expect there to be a British pyromaniac out to kill us. I didn't know what I was walking into. But now I do. But with these guys, Dick, with Rodrick & Nolan & Cobblepot, I don't know what they're capable of! For all I know, they might have more magical hitmen on our asses! Maybe worse! I don't know, anything is possible at this point!"
Dick bit his bottom lip, fighting back his anger. He wanted to say something. He wasn't sure what. But he knew if he spoke now, SOMETHING would come out his mouth. He didn't know what. So he stayed silent.
"I want to help you find Cheyenne," Roy said calmly. "That's it at this point."
Dick shook his head. "Fine. I guess. I need to take a piss."
Dick stood up & walked to the left, behind the fireplace. There was two doors. One was closed towards the right. One was left slightly ajar to the left. Dick walked to the half open door. When Dick walked in, he switched on the light, revealing another freshly polished luxury room. The bathtub was bright & shiny. The glass shower was dry & elegant. The toilet had a set of neatly folded towels, with the toilet seat left open. Dick looked down at the sink to his right…
"Blood?"
Dick stepped to the counter and stared at the red marks in the sink bowl. They looked as though they were dripped onto the white surface.
"Roy?" Dick called from the bathroom.
Dick waited as Roy finally came to the bathroom, holding a beer can in his hand. "Yeah?"
"There's blood in this…" Dick trailed off, turning to Roy & noticing his drink. "Where did you get that?"
Roy shrugged. "It was in the fridge," he simply said, taking slurping a sip.
Dick stared at Roy. He shoved right passed Roy, shaking his head.
Roy scoffed. "What the hell, man?"
"Hotels don't offer beer in their fridges, Roy. Someone was here." Dick made his way through the living room & towards the door when Roy called his name.
"Dick, calm down, wait!"
Dick had his hand at the door handle when he turned back to Roy. "We need to go!"
"No, dude, stop, no one is coming," he said. "This is my room."
Dick blinked, then rose an eyebrow. "What?"
Roy sighed. "When I came into town, I booked into this hotel. This is my room. I didn't think we should go into whatever room that Bat guy told us to. We don't know him. We can't trust him."
Dick let this sink in. It seemed valid. Roy had a point. They didn't know anything about the Bat. They shouldn't be so quick to jump & do what he says without consideration. Roy had made a safe call.
"So is that blood yours?" Dick asked.
Roy shook his head slowly. "No, my brother cut his finger the other night. He was cutting carrots or something, & slit his thumb I think."
"Oh, so your brother is in town too still?"
Roy nodded. "Yeah, he must be out right now, though."
Dick slowly nodded back, taking all of this in. He felt his panicky heart beat slower.
"So you can calm down, Dick, & let go of the door," Roy finally said. "Take a sit, have a drink, & relax. I'm sure Cobblepot & Drake won't find us here. Like, at all, dude."
Dick sighed. He walked over to the couch & slumped down, staring at the fireplace with a lingering concern on his mind. He reached into his pocket and removed his phone. Roy sat beside Dick as he looked at the time. It was 11:32 PM.
"I'm surprised Bruce hasn't called," Dick said to himself.
Roy took a sip from his beer. "Do you want me to call a cab?"
Dick turned to Roy, to stared back. They both let out a subtle chuckle, shaking their heads.
"I'll have Alfred get me," Dick mumbled. "Just gotta make sure he doesn't snitch on me to Bruce."
Roy let out a chuckle, then took another sip from his beer.
Minutes passed once Dick called Alfred, mentioning to keep Dick's whereabouts in the dark from Bruce. Then it felt like hours passed. Dick had fallen asleep when a knock at the door woke him up.
Dick shifted on the couch he laid on. He reached for his phone that had fallen on the floor and looked at the time. It was 3:17 AM.
"SHIT!" Dick groaned.
Dick rushed up off the couch and ran to the door. Dick fumbled with the door handle before finally opening it.
"Sup, dude," Roy said on the other side of the door. He shoved past Dick holding a white styrofoam box in one hand & a bloody knife in the other.
"Whoa, dude, what the fuck?" Dick asked, gesturing to the knife in Roy's hand.
Roy made his way towards the bedroom, shaking his head. "Yeah, dude, we gotta fucking leave. Drake's men found me across the street when I got take out, & one charged at me with a knife." Roy smirked as he walked through the bedroom door. "He should be fine, he won't bleed out...for a while."
Dick rolled his eyes. "Okay, man, so what's the plan now?"
Roy stayed in the bedroom for a few minutes. After a while, he came back wearing a red leather jacket & red sunglasses. He held a red archery bow & a quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder. "Well, I'm gearing up," he remarked with a slight grin.
Dick stared at the equipment with both confusion & awe. The bow was dark red like blood, & shined as the curves reflected the light. It wasn't plastic, clearly. It was a real dangerous bow. Dick had never seen one up close before, nor did he consider if he ever would. But Dick came to the conclusion that things have happened to him that don't normally happen to other people.
Roy looked Dick up & down. "Still have that gun?" Roy asked, smiling slyly.