Cypher wants revenge against Batman and his former third Robin. What better way to get revenge than to use the Wayne Family to lure everyone to their doom.
Subliminal Death
By
AJ
Part 22: The Confrontation with Cypher
"So, where do we find Cypher?" Red Hood questioned.
"Tim took my file on Cypher," Batman explained. "That file hadn't been entered into the computer yet; and should have been. Somehow it got overlooked. I do remember what was in there. Cypher worked with music and his last known hideout was in an abandoned music factory."
"Are we going to check that out first?"
"Yes. No use checking out electronic stores at this point. If you work it out logically, Cypher would have stolen what he needed weeks ago. He had been planning this in the years he's been in prison. Cypher would go back to his hideout to figure out his next move.
Red Hood nodded. "Alright, I'm ready."
Batman pulled out two set of ear plugs and put one set in his hears before placing on his cowl. He handed the other two to Red Hood. "If you can't hear his messages, he can't persuade you to do something you don't want to do.
Red Hood put the second set of ear plugs in and then slipped on his helmet.
Batman drove to the location of the music factory that had been Cypher's last known hideout. What were their chances that Cypher would choose this location, again? Maybe there was more to the factory than what they had found last time. Even though Cypher had been caught at the factory, they hadn't found his equipment. Maybe this time, they might get lucky. Batman parked the vehicle behind what looked like a garage for service trucks not far from the main building.
"You take the roof. I'll go in from the front."
Red Hood nodded as he hopped out of the batmobile. He watched Batman head toward the front of the building. He spotted what looked like a fire escape on the side that had a three-story office space. He used that to get up onto the roof. Red Hood started searching for another way inside.
Batman entered through one of the front doors where the hinges were rusted. To the left was a set of stairs that led to office suites. The factory area itself was a large place. Parts of old intruments that had not been assembled were still scattered across the factory floor. The equipment that was used to assemble pianos, flutes, and other wind instruments were silent.
Red Hood found a door to get inside the place. He had to kick it open because something had been wedged between the handle and the doorframe. Once it was clear, Red Hood walked in, gun in hand, and headed down. 'This place is huge. Hope it doesn't take too long to find this guy.'
As Baatman stared his search, he spotted something narrow and long lying on the floor. It was Red Robin's bow staff. He had been here, which was a clear sign they were in the right place. Batman picked up the staff, collapsed it, and placed it in his belt.
Red Hood was rounding a corner and saw a couple of henchmen standing by. They seemed a bit lazy, not really paying attention. If Cypher was on alert. He might have told his men to keep watch for intruders, but since he didn't Red Hood walked up to them without making a sound. Red Hood holstered his gun and grabbed their skulls, bashing them together. They both collapsed in a heap. "That should teach you not to sleep on guard duty."
Batman saw a light coming from a lower level and followed it. The factory had been built on a slop near Gotham River. It made it easy for barges to come in and unload their cargo. 'That must be where Cypher kept his equipment,' Batman thought. 'There must be a ramp leading up to the main floor. If it was closed, the police could have missed that detail.' Batman carefully descended the ramp and spied Cypher working on a computer. His back was to him. "Cypher. Your time is up."
Cypher didn't give any indication that he had been startled by the dark knight's entrance. "Aw Batman, I wondered when you were going to show up. I'm not through by a long shot." Cypher started the subliminal program, but something was wrong. Batman wasn't even becoming remotely hypnotized.
"Is that your best? You can't be serious."
Cypher tried another program on a different frequency. Nothing happened.
Batman gave a smirk. "You're through."
"Not by a long shot. The frequency I just played will be your doom."
Several men came in and surrounded Batman. They all wore guard uniforms. 'He must have hypnotized them.' They had various weapons in their hands. Batman assessed he would have to begin fighting for his life. The best would be to knock out the guards, so they won't be convicted for a crime. They were all controlled by Cypher.
Red Hood made his way through the building. He too was surprised by henchmen, some dressed as guards. He could also tell they had been hypnotized. Red Hood was knocking henchmen out left and right. A few got a couple of good hits on him, but he got back at them. One got a special present from Red Hood, a bullet to the knee. He recognized that henchman as one of Black Mask's False Face former gang members. What was he doing without his mask? Red Hood didn't stop to ask him. He kept going. Red Hood spotted three racing down a hall and heard one of the henchmen say something about Batman being at the lower level. Red Hood followed behind them. The three joined the horde that Batman was fighting.
Batman was fighting for his life; punching and kicking, using what weapons he had at his disposal, knock out gas, bat-a-rangs, and smoke pellets. 'Cypher must have used some kind of trick to get these many scumbags on his payroll.' He spied Jason coming down the ramp. "Destroy that computer of his, it's the source of his hypnosis!"
Red Hood listened to Batman and headed over to the computer. A few henchmen tried to stop him. 'Those three might be the only ones who aren't hypnotized.'
Red Hood pistol whipped them over the head, knocking them out. He went over to the computer. He knew shooting the screen wouldn't do anything. Red Hood started pulling plugs and kicked in some of the equipment. He popped open the CPU to get to the motherboard. He pulled out the hard drive, ripping out other wires and connections in the process. "This is fun."
"NO!" Cypher croaked out until he couldn't scream any more, his voice going silent.*
Red Hood chuckled. It was like telling a rebellious teenager not to do something. Just to be a smartass after everything was destroyed, "There, someone won't be using the internet any more."
Cypher rushed at Red Hooded, wanting to throttle him when Batman threw a bat-a-rang and hit me in the back of the head, knocking him out.
"That's the last time he'll be hypnotizing anyone. Batman zip tied Cypher and noticed he henchmen who were still awake were wandering around in a daze. "Looks like he hypnotized these guys into working for him."
"What are we going to do with them?" Red Hood asked. "Should we leave them until the cops come? I'm pretty sure they aren't going to go anywhere."
"Some of them look like guards, while others may be wanted men. Let the police sort it out. Let's go home."
"Sounds like a great idea." Red Hood stretched and yawned.
Continues with Part 23: All's Well?
