Ladies and Gentlemen, I bring to you yet another instalment of this ever-progressing story, though not always progressing as fast as I would like it, but never fear I still plan on continuing this all the way to the end. I just ask that each of you be patient and stick with me through the story and I promise to deliver the complete product. Life has been hectic and it only got worse with the holidays, but with that all over I can get back to writing more. I know there are a few of you that always review or PM after every chapter and I really appreciate the feedback from you guys and just want to say thank you to those who do, you know who you are.
Anyway, enough of the sappy stuff, I don't own DC just my brain where this story came from, now onto the story...
Whoops forgot to answer reviews...
Spectacular Webhead 11: Yeah man, loved writing the scene where he got to talk to his mother. It was definitely fun to plan out how that conversation would go.
pokemonking0924: Well I would love to tell you how things are going to go... ugh I really want to spill the beans because I have a lot of things getting ready to be revealed, but I'll hold my tongue. You'll just have to keep reading to find out how those things will pan out.
Diabolos Aides: Thanks for reading
Batrenz: I loved writing how he wants to be like Batman and him flying solo will turn into a turning point lesson for him.
LordSoundwave: Me too cause I have some things planned out but other things aren't completely planned for so I'm too interested to see how it progresses LOL!
XenoLucifer: Since I have some dignity I won't respond as sarcastically like I usually do to failed reviews, but I still need to ask you if you've ever watched Young Justice in your life before cause they lose that fight against Clayface in the show as well because of Aqualad longing for home and not having his head in the game so they all preform horribly during that fight, which sets up everyone's downtime afterwards. I hate stories where the OC is so overpowered that they just walk through every problem that comes their way like its nothing. Characters have low points so that they can learn and better prepare for when that situation comes up again. You just need to keep reading and you'll see that Red Robin gets several wins in the chapters after Chapter 10. Some he wins outright and others are harder for him to do so. It makes the story more real to the reader I think. Hopefully this sheds light on the situation for you. If not, well if you don't like the story don't read it, but thanks for reading to Chapter 10, I appriciate it.
BIRDS OF A BAT
THE MAN WHO WOULD BE BAT
GOTHAM CITY
September 24, 08:30 EDT
Nathan ran through the streets of Gotham finally arriving at his destination. Bursting through the doors, he ran down several halls passing closed doors as he went. As he ran, a bell started going off, causing his heart rate to spike some more as he booked it through the halls till he finally found the door he was looking for and bursted through like a battering ram, causing the door to whip open.
As he finally entered the room he saw the eyes of all his classmates looking at him and Nathan just stood there. After getting over the initial awkwardness of the abrupt quiet and all the stares he was getting, except from one student who chose to continue doing her work that was in front of her, after taking a quick glance to see what the commotion was, before going back to work seeing who broke through the door.
Nathan was so going to repay Catwoman for this. She had frustrated him in particular this morning. After his conversation with her above the ChloroGene headquarters building he had run into her on his patrol, stopping her from robbing the Gotham Museum and then chased her for the rest of his patrol until she was able to escape by making him crash through an unsturdy roof of an abandoned building. He then proceeded to hit the floor and blacked out, which put him in his current predicament.
"Mr. Bowen," came a voice from the front of the class causing the students to get back to work and Nathan to snap from his stupor and look to the front of the class, seeing the back of his professor as she continued to write on the dry erase board in front of her, "Did I not hear the bell that signifies all students should be in class?" she asked, not turning to look at him.
"Yes ma'am," Nathan responded apologetically.
"Please show up to class on time from now on," the teacher reprimanded him.
"I will." Nathan said, before moving to take an empty seat at an unused chemlab table, but before he could sit the teacher spoke again.
"Mr. Bowen, please find a lab partner so that we can get back to the lesson," Mrs. Gibbons advised.
Nathan, slinging his backpack back over his shoulders, he saw now for the first time that everyone around him already had a lab partner, including his usual lab partner, Barbara Gordon, who was partnered with that blond girl that was Artemis' liaison when she first started.
He looked around, a little deflated, but found someone working solo and decided to work with them.
"This seat taken?" he asked as he approached Artemis, passing by Barbara's table, which was directly behind the table he was now going to work at.
"No, but I'd be better off by myself with your Chem grades," Artemis chided, but Nathan could see the small smirk she was trying to hide.
"Ouch," Nathan feigned, sounding hurt, "Is this because of the picture I took with you at the beginning of the year?"
"No, it's because you have bad Chem grades," Artemis retorted, this time chuckling, remembering the time he and Dick took that photo with her outside on the first day of school.
"Well what if you tutor me?" Nathan asked, "Then I can tutor you in math, seeing as I know that's your worst class."
"How do you know that?" Artemis asked.
"I've seen some of your test scores," Nathan revealed.
"Well you got yourself a deal then," Artemis spoke, sliding her seat down to let Nathan have some room.
Nathan took his seat and he and Artemis began to work on their Chem work, Nathan doing his best since his late arrival and partnering with Artemis put her behind in her work, so he did his best to make up for lost time. Not long after starting their work the two began to joke around as they worked, seeming to catch back up to the rest of the class with ease. Nathan heard what sounded like a snap of a pencil from the table behind him, but he chose to ignore it and continue working and joking around with Artemis for the rest of Chem class.
BATCAVE
September 24, 22:54 EDT
Nathan rode down in the elevator to the Batcave thankful to not run into Dick as he made his way through Wayne Manor above him. He did stop to talk to Alfred who gave him dating advice to fix his relationship with Barbara after the two had spent time catching up.
The elevator stopped and opened revealing The Batcave to Nathan. Nathan stepped out and had a little look around before making his way to the main computer of the Batcave to find Batman in his seat working on a case.
"You wanted to see me?" Nathan asked curiously.
Batman turned around and stood up from his chair, "Follow me," he stated before walking off. Nathan hesitated for a second or two before following his mentor. Nathan followed closely behind Batman as he led him off to a section of the cave that up until recently was sealed off as Batman was working on expanding the cave.
"I expected Dick to be the first one to make the request to leave, but seeing how you made the request I finished this section of The Batcave ahead of schedule. This section will be for you alone," Batman stated as he put his hand on a scanner next to the entrance. Once his hand was scanned the door slid open allowing Batman and Nathan to walk in before closing behind them.
Inside, this section of the cave was set up like a smaller batcave."This small section I had set up to act as its own Batcave with its own computers, work stations, any tools you would need, and a place for a bike or two plus its own entry and exit ramp that will connect with my own when you need to leave on missions," Batman explained.
"Speaking of," Nathan stated, "How would missions work?" he asked curiously, waiting to see how Batman would respond.
"I will screen all missions and information so that we don't interfere with each other. You will mainly handle South and East Gotham which contains the residential area, warehouse district and Gotham Academy and I will handle the rest for now," Batman stated, "Exceptions to this will happen and we will act accordingly." Batman stated, to which Nathan nodded, "I have full override capabilities, but you have all the resources needed for going solo."
Nathan was about to object to the 'override' part but quickly changed his mind as Batman went on, "This will be treated as a test for a period of time," Batman paused for several seconds to let that sink in before continuing, "If the accommodations work then we can revisit your situation at a later time.
"Alright," Nathan nodded, agreeing to Batman's ground rules.
"In the meantime," Batman stated, "I've got a mission for you," Batman said, turning his attention to the computer screen in Nathan's new base of operations, "Meet Dr. Kirk Langstrom, up until recently, he was just a scientist at Wayne Tech until he became Man-Bat…" Batman stated, throwing up a picture of a giant vampire bat on the computer screen.
"Man-Bat?" Nathan asked as he turned to look at the screen, "huh ok, I get it now."
"I have Justice League business to take care of so I need you to handle Man-Bat." Batman stated.
"Sir, yes sir," Nathan stated, "Do you know where he is now?" Nathan inquired.
"Try the Gotham Zoo, animals have been reported missing and some drained dry of blood," Batman stated.
"Yeah that's a good lead," Nathan stated, turning to see his costume on a manikin in a glass case. "Well I better get going then," he stated, moving to change into his suit.
GOTHAM CITY
September 24,23:03 EDT
Red Robin sped down the streets of Gotham on his way to the Gotham Zoo to see what he could find about Man-Bat.
"This is Penny One just letting you know that I'm at your disposal," came Alfred's voice over Red Robin's comms.
"Hey Penny One," Red Robin greeted, "Got any other interesting Man-Bat news?" Red Robin asked.
"No," Alfred answered, sounding disappointed, "but Miss Gordon came by earlier looking for you."
"Well I am on a mission," Red Robin stated.
"Not that you," Alfred informed the teen hero.
"Oh, me me?," Red Robin, "Well I'm busy currently at the moment."
"That's what I told her," Alfred responded, "She didn't seem quite pleased with you."
"Yeah, tell me something I don't know," Red Robin answered jokingly.
"Well how about Man-Bat being directly to your left."
"Wait what?" Red Robin asked looking to his left and seeing above him flying just above the rooftops of buildings was Man-Bat, "Shit," Red Robin cursed before speeding up on his bike to catch up to the flying bat.
Red Robin took some quick turns and wound up just behind the flying giant bat and saw what its target was. There was a human on the balcony of their apartment with a telescope gazing up at the sky unaware of what was approaching him.
Red Robin set his bike to autopilot and pulled out his grapple gun and launched his grapple to connect with one of the taller buildings and as he ascended he waited till he was above Man-Bat and then detached the grapple gun and descended upon Man-Bat and landed on his back, causing the creature to scream and start to thrash around, but still headed towards its human target.
Red Robin immediately pulled back on the hair… or fur on the back of the creature and also reached around and grabbed the face of Man-Bat as well and pulled up with all his migh trying to force Man-Bat to fly upwards and was finally able to force the bat creature to fly up and away from its human prey.
Man-Bat flew straight up and over the building and then dived down and spun towards a building that was under construction. Red Robin, holding onto the creature with all his strength, realized what was about to happen next. Man-Bat bobbed and weaved through the support beams of the building making Red Robin duck and move around, but Red Robin kept his spot on the back of Man-Bat and with an annoyed screech Man-Bat then flew as fast as it could towards one of the building's walls and crashed through it. Red Robin braced for the impact but he could only do so much.
Red Robin's vision was blurred but quickly realized that he was falling and pulled out his grapple gun and fired. The grapple hooked itself several times around one of the support beams of the building stopping Red Robin's fall.
This however, only stopped Red Robin's plummet for a few seconds as Man-Bat turned back around and flew back towards Red Robin, cutting his grapple line as he did so.
Red Robin began his fall once again, but as he looked down found his way out of his mess, a trash shoot. He pulled his legs together and arms in and disappeared from Man-Bat's sight as he entered the trash shoot. He was unable to tell where the shoot ended or how close the end was coming up as he plummeted down the shoot, but quickly found out when his ride abruptly ended with him hitting and bouncing soundly off the closed trash bin the trash shoot had led to and hitting the ground on his side.
Red Robin stood up slowly from the new aches and pains he just received only to see Man-Bat land in front of him and about to bring a solid blow to his body, Red Robin tried to force his uncooperating body into a fighting stance and attempt to block, but was able to relax and just watch as Man-Bat suddenly halted his attack and tensed up as Man-Bat morphed back into Dr. Kirk Langstrom.
"Surprising that another giant bat in Gotham only garnishes the attention of a robin and not the big bat himself," Langstrom, spoke in a whiny tone as he took in his teenaged opponent.
"This has to end now Langstrom," Red Robin spoke, as he slowly shifted into a more defensive position, "before you start feeding on humans."
"Oh, but I'm so close to my goal," Langstrom spoke excitedly, pulling out a vial with a pink liquid inside, "two more doses of my formula," he continued to monologue, "and the Man-Bat will rule the night forever!" Langstrom exclaimed, popping the lid of the vial off with his thumb and was about to drink his formula when it was suddenly knocked out of his hand by a birdarang and watched as his vial hit the ground and shattered, spewing that batch of formula on the ground rendering it useless.
A nearby police siren went off causing Langstrom to turn and run on instinct and just as he was about to round a corner, found himself getting wrapped up by a bolas from Red Robin.
Red Robin started to make his way over when a flash of yellow light blinded him momentarily and out stepped Artemis in civies.
"Artemis?" Red Robin asked, after checking and seeing Langstrom still on the ground tied up.
"Ah!" Artemis shouted, jerking in Red Robin's direction quickly, "Red Robin," Artemis greeted calming herself down.
"What are you doing here?" they both asked the other at the same time.
"I," coughed Artemis, "am here visiting my cousin," he stated.
"Oh the one Robin told me about from the state spelling bee?" he asked.
"That's the one," Artemis stated, but before Red Robin could answer another person showed up, making Red Robin groan slightly, of course he would chase Langstrom into the busiest alleyway in Gotham which so happens to be the one with The Team's telephone booth in it as well.
"Well isn't this interesting?" came a voice from above Red Robin he knew all too well.
Red Robin looked up to see Batgirl crouched on a roof above them and he quickly went into 'protect everyone's identity' mode.
"You can go, I got this under control," Red Robin stated, looking up to Batgirl, who just smirked down at him.
"Clearly, since your 'damsel in distress' just ran off while you were talking to me."
"That's fine. I got who I wanted." Red Robin retorted, pointing over his shoulder to Langstrom who was still fidgeting on the ground tied up and seeing that Artemis had used his being distracted by Batgirl as an opportunity to make herself scarce.
"Does she know?" Batgirl asked, "You seemed to move on pretty quick," she stated, jumping down to land a couple feet in front of Red Robin, putting a hand on her hip as she locked eyes with him.
"No, she doesn't," Red Robin answered stoically, "and what do you mean moved on pretty quick?" he asked.
"Don't play dense," Batgirl retorted, "I know you can be, but this would be a new high even for you," she stated angrily.
"Oh come on Bar-Batgirl!" Red Robin blurted out, "We aren't a thing!" he defended, but only got the cocked hip and a raised eyebrow in return, "If I recall you broke up with me and found a new chem partner and she was the only one without a partner," he further defended his case.
"You were late to class!" she argued, "what was I supposed to-"
"Oh please," Red Robin spoke, dismissing her question, as a small smirk started to form on his face, "If I didn't know any better," he stated, "I'd say you're jealous."
"Jealous? Jealous!" Batgirl enraged, "Why would I…" Batgirl started to yell at Red Robin, but his attention slowly drifted towards Dr. Langstrom and the completely empty, entact vial that laid beside him on the ground, and immediately began to worry about how he needed to get Batgirl out of here.
"What?" Batgirl asked, apparently seeing the worry on Red Robin's face.
"You need to leave," Red Robin spoke to her, casually placing himself between her and Dr. Langstrom.
"I was following reports of a giant bat in this area, but apparently it's just you," Batgirl spoke aloud, getting ready to leave when Dr. Langstrom started to convulse on the ground and groan in pain, causing her to stop and spin around, "What did you do to him, he's having a seizure?" she demanded from Red Robin as she moved closer to the convulsing Dr. Langstrom.
"Batgirl stop!" Red Robin yelled, but Langstrom broke the bonds of the bolas and finished his transformation back into Man-Bat and grabbed Batgirl and took off into the sky. Reacting fast, Red Robin pulled out a small disc and threw it up towards Man-Bat, successfully placing a tracer onto the giant flying bat.
Red Robin immediately got onto his bike and sped off in the direction of the cave, after seeing his tracker was working. Hitting a button he waited for his response.
"Come on Alfred pick up," Red Robin mumbled to himself worriedly.
"Need I remind you, we are not all creatures of the night?" Alfred responded after he finally picked up, causing Red Robin to let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm on my way. I need you to prepare a few things." Red Robin spoke quickly.
"Something wrong?" Alfred asked in his own worried tone.
"Barbara… she's… in trouble" Red Robin stated as he sped down the streets of Gotham, dodging and weaving around traffic.
"Right then," Alfred's determined voice came back, "what do you need?"
"Here's what I need…" Red Robin stated as he listed off what he needed for his plan to rescue Barbara from Man-Bat.
GOTHAM CITY
September 25, 06:30 EDT
Red Robin landed atop one of the buildings that overlooked Gotham. Once landing, he checked the tracker on his wrist to make sure he was still going in the right direction and once he figured where he needed to go next. took off from building to building with the help of his grapple gun when needed.
He came to an intersection in Gotham and looked down from where he was perched on a gargoyle and his face became confused. Looking at his tracker on his wrist, it showed he was right on top of Man-Bat, but the big bat was nowhere to be seen.
"So where is the big bad bat?" Red Robin asked himself, as he scanned the intersection below him. Just then the sun hit his eyes and so did the answer to his problem.
"Out of the daylight," he stated, zooming in on the tracker on his wrist, "and in its cave." finding a manhole cover on the street below. Red Robin immediately descended down from the building and made his way over to the manhole cover. Once removing the top of the cover, he dropped down, making a small splash in the murky water below and took off down the passageway.
Red Robin made several turns, stopping momentarily halfway down one passageway to check the tracker on his wrist, before doubling back to take a different route. He slowed to a quieter and slower pace when he saw that the passageway he was now heading down opened up into a wider area ahead of him. He hugged the wall of the passageway and crept to the corner and peered around it and saw Batgirl hanging upside down by some kind of sticky, mucky colored substance, which also bound her hands behind her back and was over her face so she couldn't talk as well.
"Hate to say it," Red Robin stated, pulling out three mini birdarang , "but I'm gonna say it anyway… I told you so," he finished before throwing the three mini birdarang towards the upside down Batgirl. The birdarang hit the substance at her feet that held her upside down, weakening it to the point where it gave way and with a snap, freeing Batgirl but then caused her to fall.
Red Robin rushed forward and caught her in his arms. Using one of the mini birdarang and one of his hands, removed the muck from her face, "you ok?" he asked with concern.
"No, not really," Batgirl responded, giving him a small glare, but the glare faded slightly as the two looked each other in the eyes, before Batgirl snapped out of it and reformed the glare, "you can put me down now though." she said as she shifted in his arms, which immediately made Red Robin realize that while he had tried to catch her under the legs his hand was a bit further up on her body than planned. He almost dropped her in his hurry to put her down and get her on her own two feet. Thanking any deity that his cowl would cover up any blush that made its way to his face.
"Oh.. right, sorry," Red Robin stated embarrassed, setting her down, so she now stood in the murky, sewer water with him. Red Robin then made to turn her around so he could get her hands unbound, but before he could he was interrupted by Batgirl pushing him out of the way.
"Look out!" she yelled as she pushed him out of the way as Man-Bat made his presence in the sewer with them known.
Red Robin stood up to see Man-Bat circling around to make another pass at the two teens, but he sprung into action running towards Man-Bat to give Batgirl time to find somewhere to hide and unbind her hands.
As he rushed towards Man-Bat, he pulled out his grapple gun and shot the line down the hallway beyond the flying Man-Bat and then used the retraction feature to propel himself forwards aiming to intercept the flying fiend. As the two passed each other in the air, Red Robin kicked down at Man-Bat sending the creature crashing into the murky water below him. Red Robin detached the grapple and landed a quarter of the way down the hallway turning back to face Man-Bat, who stood back up from the murky water and roared at Red Robin and took off after him again.
Red Robin readied himself, as the creature got close he propelled himself over Man-Bat with a flip to land on the other side of the creature and made his way back into the opening where he found Barbara to put some distance between himself and the giant bat.
When he entered the area he found himself flanked by a completely free Batgirl. Not choosing to fight both Man-Bat and Batgirl, he decided not to say anything and instead pulled out the device that he had Alfred whip up on his way to the cave.
"Let's see how your sonar likes this," he said to Man-Bat, who was now flying down the passageway back towards the teens. before hitting a button on the device, which emitted a high pitched sound that caused Man-Bat to lose control of his flight and bounce off the sides of the passageway and crash to the ground again, clutching its head as it stood back up.
"Nice," Batgirl said, impressed.
Red Robin, watched however as Man-Bat stood back up and looked at the two like the device had no more effect on the creature.
"Get ready to move," Red Robin stated to Batgirl, just before Man-Bat lashed out at the two teens, who dodged Man-Bat's attack. Red Robin turned back around when he heard a loud crash, seeing Man-Bat collide into a bunch of water pipes behind them, causing them to burst and start to let out water. He heard more pipes beginning to burst and ran toward Batgirl and seeing an exit above them, threw a birdarang towards the exit hatch, which caused the hatch to explode, giving them a way out. He grabbed hold of Batgirl around the waist and pulled her close to him and grappled out just before the sewers began to overflow with water.
Red Robin and Batgirl appeared back up at street level and Red Robin heard the sound of rushing water nearby and looked over the ledge that was near them to see Langstrom along with a bunch of sewer water empty out of one of the runoff pipes.
He watched as Langstrom stood up wearily coughing up water as police cars began to appear on one of the nearby bridges that overlooked where Langstrom was. Langstrom began to back away from the police and make a run for it, but backed right into a waiting James Gordon, who cuffed the doctor. Looking towards Red Robin and Batgirl and giving a nod towards Red Robin before dragging Langstrom into custody.
"You called them?" Batgirl asked, as she watched her dad put Langstrom in the back of a cruiser.
"Yeah," Red Robin answered, "right after I found you, I hit a button on my tracker and it sent your dad my location to his phone with an alert."
"Why?"
"To rescue you in case I got caught up with fighting Langstrom, but I ended up being able to do both, glad they were able to apprehend him though, saved me the hassle of doing so," he smirked at her, only to get a nudge in return.
"Clever, so now what?" Asked Barbara honestly, unsure of what to do, and starting to feel the awkwardness of being around Red Robin now that the adrenaline of the capture and rescue were fading.
"Now, you go home and get some rest, I finish up my patrol and then report on a successful mission." replied Red Robin.
"OH so you're just sending me off like a child again are you?" Barbara replied with a bit of a snip in her voice, she decided the easiest way to avoid any nervousness was to use her anger.
"No, I'm telling you that the mission is done, you've done enough, and it's always good to rest after a mission, especially ones in which you are held captive." Red Robin tried to reply calmly but irritation set in towards the end, while trying to figure out why she was being so hostile.
"AHH Right because it was only my fault that I got captured you could have told me Langstrom could transform" Batgirl retorted really getting into it.
Red Robin heard some scuffling behind Batgirl, and looked past her to see Commissioner Gordon walking towards them. Thinking quickly he put his hands out and grabbed Batgirl around the waist again and shot his grappling hook flying them to the top of a nearby building. Once they landed Batgirl made an attempt to protest, but Red Robin was having none of it. "You're welcome, your Dad was coming back, and your disguise is good, but there's no way he wouldn't recognize one of his daughter's signature tirades! Look, I'm sorry you got roped into any of this, it wasn't my intent, it was just a case of wrong time, wrong place. Be angry at me if you want, but I am done for the night, my mission is over, the bad guy is caught, the damsel is stressed and the hero is flying off into the sunset." and with that he aimed his grappling gun again and shot it to get away from the explosion he knew was about to occur.
Batgirl stood there agape from what he had just said and watched as he flew off, she let her anger stew a bit before a small smile graced her lips and she pulled out her own grappling gun and made her way home. She didn't like the way he said it, but she really did want to go home and shower and relax, she smelled like a sewer.
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. The next one is currently being worked on and I hope to have that up relatively soon, I also hope to get my lazy self into a regular routine to try and get these chapters out more quickly for you guys cause you deserve it and I enjoy giving you guys these chapters to read.
Thanks again for reading and make sure to leave a review telling me what you guys think and maybe what you guys want to see down the road. Still got some twists and turns coming for you guys so hopefully you all decide to stick around for them. Anyway... thanks again and leave a review and see you all next time... same bat time same bat channel.