Once upon a time, there was a man with a gun . That's how the nightmare always seemed to begin in his head. Like a black and white horror film that only he was the audience for. Three shadows moving through a fog. They are met by a fourth. Then two explosions.
Bruce's eyes opened. That's where the nightmare always stopped. He sat up in bed and was pleased that it was almost dark out. Time to get back to work.
He got up and brushed his teeth, splashed his face, and slicked his hair. In his bedroom he did a series of stretches. His body was stiff, his muscles sore. They have been for almost four years now. And the scars were growing.
Always, the scars were growing.
Alfred urged him to slow down and take more time off. The body needs to heel. He's right. But Gotham needs to heal too. The city had become an infected wound. And the Batman was there to treat it.
Bruce dressed in slacks and a black t-shirt. Downstairs, coffee and a protein breakfast burrito was prepared for him. Alfred wasn't around; he must be in the cave with Dick. He scarfed the burrito in four bites and walked in the living room area to a large grandfather clock. Holding coffee in one hand, he took his other and spun the hands of the clock until the time read 10:47. The exact time of the two explosions that awoke him every night. The great clock's center popped open like an unlocked door and revealed a dark entrance and a stone case of stares.
The Batcave was built to be the ultimate crime lab. It was here where hundreds of breakthrough leads were discovered in cold cases, or new evidence revealed that was used for convictions. The kind of work that both saved lives and brought justice.
Dick was sitting at the long backed swivel chair in front of the Batcomputer. Alfred was standing to his left. They were going over what they've revealed so far from the Riddler's tape message.
"In Barlow's glory of the snow a midnight fire blooms secrets and mad torenias singing a golden afternoon," Bruce said. "What do we have so far?"
Without a moment of hesitation Dick responded. "Glory of the Snow, Midnight Fire, torenias. All types of flowers. Midnight Fire is a rose. Roses have thorns. Possibly something to do with Rupert Thorne. Torenia, also known as the wishbone flower. No idea who Barlow is."
"Not who. Where," Bruce said. "There's a Barlow street near the east shipping docks by the warehouse district. What else?"
"Singing a Golden Afternoon," Dick said. "A song from an Alice in Wonderland movie. We just dealt with Mad Hatter, but he's behind bars now. Would he still be connected to this?"
"Or perhaps Alice is. Tetch was after Veronica Vreeland, but in his warped mind she was his new obsession. His new Alice. What else?"
"Well," Dick said. "That's pretty much it, I guess. Unless there's another puzzle piece we're missing."
"Did you look for any patterns in the audio? Overlapping messages, codes, irregularities of any kind?"
Alfred and Dick looked at each other.
"Bring up the transverse waves of the recording," Bruce said.
Dick carefully typed a sequence of keys on the custom keyboard. The digital render of the cassette tape appeared on the screen, along with the very sound waves of the Riddler's recording. Batman had left the tape with Gordon, but the high sensitive microphone in his cowl picked up a perfect copy of the audio.
Within the transverse wave transcription of the message there were four distinct spikes of tone.
"There," Bruce said. "Enhance the clarity on these four spots and play it."
In Barlow's glory of the snow a midnight fire blooms secrets and mad torenias singing a golden afternoon played again. This time there were very noticeable pitches behind Riddler's words.
"Whistles?" Alfred said.
"In different keys," Dick added.
They listen to the message again, now enhancing the specific whistles.
"A, B, C and D notes," Alfred said.
"The sound of the A note under the word snow," Dick said. "B note under midnight, C under Golden, and D under torenias."
"Snow," Bruce said. He rubbed his chin. The words ran through his head a dozen times at high speed. He was looking for the pattern. "Something to do with the stolen Freeze Tech."
"Or maybe the Iceberg Lounge," Dick said.
"Or both," Bruce said. He sat his mug of coffee down on the desk and folded his arms. "Let's go take a look at Barlow street. If Thorne is trying to fence the Freeze Tech that's as good a place as any to store it and move it."
"Why is the Riddler so interested in the feud between Penguin and Thorne?" Dick said.
"More importantly," Bruce said. "Whose side is he on?"
"More and more riddles," Alfred said.
"Dick, let's suit up and head out."
Dick sprang from the chair and to the armory chamber where their suits and weapons were stored.
Both of their suits used a triple weave kevlar design that was both sturdy and flexible. Lucius Fox's new 'smart armor' models offered insulation and breathability where most important by using a micro pore design.
Robin prefered a much lighter suit to best fit his acrobatic movability, and a smaller cape. Red, yellow and green colors were a quiet homage to the Flying Graysons. Robin's slim mask included similar tech features as Batman's cowl, like the extra-sensory lenses that can lock on and identify faces, bio-signatures, threats, and various types of energy fluctuations no matter how dark a room may be. It can even work through walls at a short distance, provided they're not especially thick.
Batman's cowl was designed for function as well as fear. The ears of the mask has a built in antenna that maintains contact with the Batcave, and limited communication with the WayneTech satellite. The skull is protected with kevlar around a steel frame and the aforementioned high-sensitive microphone that can pick up a whisper from up to 20 meters when focused properly. Armored gauntlets were useful for close combat, deflecting blade strikes or disarming gunmen. He's mastered maneuverability and combat with the longer cape. It added an element of distraction that made it more difficult for enemies to see his next strike coming. Not to mention the sight of the giant wings gliding between rooftops from the street below added to the myth that he might not actually be human.
And of course, there was the utility belt. Nuff said.
The dynamic duo walked toward the Batmobile platform where it was parked on a rotating dock. Lights illuminated it as they approached. The car remotely came to life, and did so with a growl.
"Can I drive?" Robin asked.
"You're 13," Batman answered.
"And already a better driver than most adults. I've got over 300 hours logged in the simulator, and Alfred has been taking me to the private track. Ask him how I'm doing."
Batman looked at Alfred.
Alfred smiled.
"Maybe next time," Batman said.
The Batmobile's cockpit hatch slid forward. When each man sat in their seat, more instruments became active. Batman set a course for Barlow street and a traffic report appeared on the windshield display, as well as other notifications via a GCPD police scanner.
Batman tapped two buttons on the center control display. "Atomic batteries to power," he said.
"Turbines to speed," Robin replied.
The Batmobile's rear jet turbine barked like the maw of a black dragon, its fiery tongue licking its lips. The car bursted up a ramp that led to the Gotham City night.