CHAPTER III

I was shocked. They had gotten to him. It was that moment that I realized just how dangerous these people were. Alfred looked on in horror. "Now, who would kill someone in such a monstrous way, and why?" he said. "Dead men tell no tales," I said. I left without saying another word, leaving a puzzled Alfred.

Questions swirled in my mind. How did they get into Arkham? Why did they kill him now, and not before he met with me? Do they need me for something? I had no valid answer.

For some strange reason, this turn of events didn't discourage me. It spurred me on. Of course, I couldn't do anything with a broken wrist. So I waited. Through the weeks that it took for my wrist to heal, the Red Hood got away with more and more robberies. He seemed to be getting better at pulling these things off, but not much better.

Though this irked me, I still had to prepare just a little bit more. After my wrist healed, I got the grappling hook down (I found another warehouse), but I still needed some kind of long-range weapon. I went to Lucius Fox again. When I got there, I asked Lucius, "Hey, do you have any boomerangs, or anything like that?" Lucius looked at me and smirked. "Is this for rock climbing, too, Bruce?" he said. I paused, taken off guard. "Um…" I said. Lucius sighed. "Bruce," he said, "I respected your father and I respect you. That means I won't pry into whatever you're doing with all this." I looked at him. "How could you respect me?" I asked. "You're Lucius Fox, inventor and CEO of Wayne Enterprises. And then there's me, Bruce Wayne, rich but seemingly lazy, and a former drug addict!"

Lucius was even more serious now. "Yes," he said, "But you got past all of that junk. And besides, if you were lazy, how is it that you look like you could snap me in half?" I looked down at my arms. I do look pretty good, don't I? I laughed. I stopped myself and said, "Lucius, even if you're not going to pry, I'm going to tell you. I…am going to try and protect the entirety of Gotham under the guise of a hero named…I haven't decided on the name yet, actually." Lucius smiled, then doubled over laughing. I joined in. Amidst violent convulsions due to this, I said, "Yeah, it sounds kind of stupid when I say it out loud, huh?" Lucius stopped. "Wait, you're serious?" he asked. I stopped too and looked at him a little indignantly. "Well, yeah," I said.

Lucius nodded. "Okay," he said. "Seriously?" I said. "Just like that, you accept that I'm going to be beating up Gotham's criminal underground?" "I may as well," said Lucius. "It's not like I'd be able to stop you." I felt a sense of gratitude toward Lucius. "So," I said, "about those boomerangs." "Ah," said Lucius, "They're not quite like boomerangs, but they should serve your purpose. Come with me." I followed. Eventually we came upon sheets of metal. "This, my friend," said Lucius, "is a modified form of steel that is designed to have virtually no drag in the air. They should help you. You can make them into not a boomerang, but more like a blunt throwing knife. And since you have that grappling hook, I've got something more compact." We walked deeper into the building, shortly arriving at a shelf with a small gun. "The grappling hook you have right now is a bit cumbersome, don't you think?" said Lucius. "Yeah, I guess," I said. Lucius continued, "It shoots individual grappling hooks that can be detached once fired. Do you want to try it out?" "Sure," I said. Lucius handed me the gun.

I found a nice rafter to shoot at. After firing the grappling hook, I successfully swung on it. "There is one more feature," said Lucius. "What?" I asked. "Push the button," he said. He frantically added, "But don't hold on!" I had already pushed the button, though. I found myself being pulled to the ceiling. I swung to a nearby set of shelves and detached the grappling hook.

When I got down, Lucius said, "Now, that's all I can give you right now. It'll take a few days to make something out of that metal. Meanwhile, I guess you could start protecting this place." Lucius smiled.

That night, I decided it would be best to begin, after all. I needed more info before I could start with the Red Hood. I suited up and headed to the police HQ. Not many people were there, so it was relatively easy to sneak through the window in the commissioner's office. Apparently, though, I didn't do a good enough job of sneaking. The commissioner had his gun out. He stepped out of the shadows, and I saw a face that was aged, but definitely the same one as the man who took me home over 20 years ago.

"Gordon?" I said, surprised. "Yeah, that's my name," said Jim. "What's it to you?" I thought of an answer, and none came to me. I panicked. I then proceeded to lunge forward, knock the gun from Jim's hand, and punch him in the face. "Sorry, Jim," I said. I searched his office for something, anything, on the Red Hood's operation.

I turned the place inside out, looking over and over again. Jim stirred, and I knew I didn't have much time. I looked one more time, and found a couple of files concerning the Red Hood. I didn't have time to look it over at the police HQ, so I quickly headed home.

Upon arriving, I went inside to see about these files. The first one had info on the Red Hood and his gang. The Red Hood's real name hadn't been found out yet, but there was solid info on his henchmen.

The first one was Masashi Ryukyu. He was a former member of the Japanese gang called the Katana. He was excommunicated from the group after various failings. The second was Harold Barren. He was a former soldier who came back with PTSD. Both of these guys started going around with Red Hood after they all met in a bar. The third was Joseph Wellsley. He was a Brit whose hobby was taking out rich people with a sniper rifle. He got in league with the Red Hood when, after coming to the U.S., was caught. The Red Hood, Barren, and Ryukyu intercepted his transport to Arkham, freeing him.

All these guys were experts, which raised a question: why hasn't the Red Hood and his gang gone for bigger targets? I was bewildered. But I had to take a look at the other file. It contained all the records of his robberies. There were a few injuries here and there, but no deaths. That could've been one reason for his holding off. A smaller and less important building means less people, and less people means fewer casualties. It could've been that the Red Hood didn't want to kill anybody.

The second file also contained details of an undercover cop who was put into the Red Hood's gang 5 days ago. He had recently discovered that the next robbery was going to be a small bank near a chemical plant owned by a company called Augere, Inc. That detail didn't seem significant at the time, but it would that very night: the night of the robbery.

I managed to perch myself on the roof of the bank (after 15 minutes of annoying finagling with the grappling gun; I still wasn't used to it). The Red Hood showed up 5 minutes later, getting in and getting out in 5 more minutes. In that time, the undercover officer stole the getaway car and called the police. I knew they would be there too late. So I dropped down from the roof, just as the Red Hood came out with his henchmen.

The Red Hood just stared at me for a second. He finally said, "Who the heck are you?" I frantically searched my mind for some name, but only one popped into my head. "I'm…Batman," I said. The Red Hood started laughing. "Get him, boys," he said. Ryukyu rushed me, which I responded to with a punch to the gut. At the same time, I nailed Wellsley with a kick in the head. Finally, Barren nearly took off my head with a bullet. I body-slammed him, taking him down and punching him repeatedly. The Red Hood stood there, petrified.

He ran. "Oh, no, you don't!" I shouted. I chased him down the street. Eventually, we came across an alley, which the Red Hood attempted to go through. A car suddenly blocked his path, causing him to go further down the street, towards the chemical plant. Any alley we came across was blocked immediately by a black car. I didn't have time to wonder about these, though.

We ended up at the chemical plant. Vats filled with a strange green liquid were directly inside. I had a bad feeling about them. The Red Hood ran inside. "No!" I shouted. But it did no good. The Red Hood went inside. He slammed the door and locked it, sealing his fate.

I ran in, with Batman standing outside, yelling at me to stop. I didn't. After closing the door, I felt jubilant and triumphant, until I heard someone coming into the room. He was dressed like a preacher and was wearing a gas mask. I heard hissing as well.

The man looked at me and said, "Do you hear that? I know you're wondering what it is, so I'll just tell you. The vats are being rapidly heated, which will eventually cause the chemical inside them to revert to its gaseous state. After that, there is nothing that will stop you from inhaling it. Oh, look at that, it's already there."

I could feel it. The gas enveloped me. I started laughing, without knowing why. I couldn't stop. The man looked on, seemingly satisfied. The last thought I had before blacking out was, Only a clown would laugh this much.