Chapter 9: Investigation

"Yes Lois, they are fine, but I still have to do some checkups to make sure there are no dangerous viruses or bacteria attached to them, since Superman was in direct combat with the creature. While they don't affect kryptonians, they might harm humans. Therefore, the two will stay in quarantine with me overnight and are expected to leave the Manor tomorrow morning. So don't worry...No you can't talk to them right now. The cell phone would mess up my equipment...Lois they are fine. I have to go now."

Batman just hung up on the upset woman on the other end of the line and sighed heavily. He couldn't just leave Lois in the dark like this while all the night journals were already reporting on the events in Metropolis, even to Jonathan's misfortune. Although he only told her a harmless version of the events, to not worry her unnecessarily. But this was already enough to make the temperamental woman furious.

After all, not only her husband but also her son had been involved in this case and rightly she was worried. So Bruce decided to play the scapegoat and drew her ire to himself.

Clark could think of his own way to resolve this situation in the morning.

The bat put his phone away and entered the destroyed room together with Damian.

Splintered glass and small pieces of concrete cracked loudly under Batman's heavy boots as he and Robin took a closer look at the demolished lab. With all the lights destroyed, it was only thanks to special night vision equipment that they were able to spot and analyze the many pieces of evidence in this darkness.

Damian used one of the crumbled walls as a jump board to reach the white lab ceiling and pulled a long narrow object out of one of the broken light tubes. Examining it, he eyed the sharp solid nib, which looked more like a throwing knife, and turned to his father:

"The monster is sensitive to light. That's why it disabled all white light sources with these projectiles. I assume these are special tail feathers, since the rachis and vanes are centered, and they were used for long-range attacks."

Batman stepped closer to the boy and took the black object.

The feather was indeed very sharp, but something else caught his eye. Batman's brows drew together as he spoke:

"This feather is not only very sturdy, but also has small rakes. When these enter a body, you can't just pull them out again. They get caught like a velcro and would tear everything apart. This also explains why some parts of them remained in Superman's body. They had gotten stuck to the flesh."

Damian listened attentively to his father's words and thought back to the operation half an hour ago. He had not been aware of it before because of the situation they were in, but in fact he had the impression that the individual splinters were literally glued to the flesh. This also explained the fatal extent of the wound and the extremely rapid blood loss. A smooth spike would not have destroyed so much tissue.

Batman stowed the insidious weapon in a sterile plastic bag and continued talking:

"We are lucky that the stab wound was not very close to the heart. Any higher and the damage would have caused instant death and we would have lost Superman. At least this gave him some time."

Bruce tucked the evidence into his belt and now looked directly at Damian:

"Even though I don't agree with your behavior and irresponsibly acts, I still recognize good work when it's done."

Without wasting another word, Batman turned around and started to collect the rest of the feathers, which were stuck in the ceiling like knives. Damian was a bit surprised for a moment, since he hadn't expected to get his father's appreciation after all. In the end, he had received the "look" for this action on the meadow, which meant pure disapproval. Although Damian did not show it, he was inwardly just very happy about this unofficial praise for him. With that, his mood was now a bit better again.

While Bruce was still busy removing the individual feathers, Robin was already taking a closer look at the battered control panel. He strode up to the unit and pulled out a cable from his computer wristband so he could connect the two computers. He checked to see if there was any data left that might shed more light on this matter. And indeed, most of the information still existed. Even if there were gaps here and there, it would still help to answer some questions.

While Damian was still cursorily going through the individual files, he began to download the data material and saved it in a cloud, so they could reconstruct the material in the Batcave. For now, however, Robin told Batman only a brief summary:

"The sudden overload of the system seems to have caused an energetic change of the particles. What consequences this had cannot be explained with the little material i have here. In any case, it somehow brought this creature to our world."

Briefly, the bat nodded and then walked towards the torn open particle accelerator. He looked critically at the peeled open tube and lightly slid his gloved fingers over the sharp metal edges. It was a very thick layer, made of several different alloys, which meant that only something with a lot of force could bend the shell that much, and added to that were the dagger-like claws that had left smooth cuts in the steel.

"It could almost match Superman in terms of strength."

Damian stepped up beside Batman and briefly surveyed the sharp-edged metal under his father's fingers before peering directly into the tube and raising his eyebrows in wonder.

Several rocks and bones, of which he could not make out the nature of their owner, piled up in a small heap inside.

"Batman over here."

Bruce came to Robin's side and took out a pale mandible with jagged fangs. Examining the yellowed piece, he said: "Can you match it to a specific animal?"

Robin looked at the bone with interest: "Not an animal that I'm familiar with."

"Neither can I. We'll take some of these with us to examine them more closely later."

Both Batman and Robin proceeded to gather up the pieces of evidence and put them in a sack from Bruch's belt. Everything from supposed ribs, to long thigh bones ended up in the black fabric.

Suddenly Robin caught sight of something that did not belong to the bones and foreign dirt at all. Under one of the skulls a small black object appeared. Damian took the small piece of plastic between his fingers and looked at it more closely. It was encased in a thick layer of dirt and thin long things peeked out at some ends. Robin rubbed the dirt off them with a little more pressure, revealing bright colors. They were wires used in electronic devices.

"This doesn't look like it belongs to the particle accelerator. The dirt crust is too thick for that." Damian handed Bruce the small object and looked up at him, frowning.

Batman also looked at the device with a critical eye before replying:

"It's badly damaged and seems very old based on the wear and tear. Perhaps we can repair it and back up any data. I'll stow it safely so it won't get any more damage."

Batman pocketed the device and then found something else among the bones. Carefully, he pulled out the dirty black fabric. It had many holes and was very brittle, so it felt like it would melt under the fingers at any moment.

"These are things from our world. The fibers are made of carbon."

Astonished, Robin looked up:

"But what is this doing here? I hardly think this creature uses electronic devices and weaves carbon fibers."

Gingerly, he folded the piece and looked to Damian:

"That, we'll have to find out. I think we're done here. The evidence can better be analyzed in the Batcave. We can leave the rest to the officers."

Robin nodded briefly before adding, slightly arrogantly:

"I was able to put a tracking device on the creature, by the way."

"And you're just saying that now because?"

"I've been tracking the monsters flying rod and it's currently residing in an uninhabited nature preserve. So there should be no threat to citizens. Also, I'm tracking it minute by minute, so any new movement won't go undetected and we can intervene in case of emergency."

Batman looked at him very critically at first, but then gave him a task:

"Fine, you'll keep me informed of any suspicious movement until we come up with a plan to take this creature out. Since it could take on Superman, it would be foolish to rush headless into a battle now and risk more lives. We should use the material we have secured and develop strategies. For that we also need Superman's testimony, since he faced that monster in direct combat and knows best about it's abilities."

Robin only agreed and together father and son left the destroyed lab to further tighten the investigation in their Head Quarter.

About 30 minutes later, with the help of another jet, Batman and Robin arrived at the Batcave, where someone very specific was already waiting for them. The two were just getting out when Catwoman also addressed them:

"Well, found something nice boys?"

Calmly, the bat answered her from afar:

"A strange creature and evidence that we still need to analyze. How was the patrol in my absence?"

Selina stepped up to Batman and nestled her graceful arms seductively around his neck as the cat said:

"Gotham purred under my claws like a little kitten. But you weren't gone for long. However, your two super guests did surprise me a bit."

"A security measure."

Batman smiled briefly before closing the distance between them and passionately kissing the woman in front of him, who immediately returned it with relish.

However, Damian could only roll his eyes in annoyance at the sight.

He ignored the two, approached the Batcomputer and began to upload the data material. Although he knew that his father had been meeting with this cat on the rooftops of Gotham for quite some time now, he never expected him to reveal his true identity to her. In addition, they had been patrolling Gotham together for two months and this woman was now walking in and out of the Manor as she pleased.

If Damian didn't had to constantly shuttle back and forth between Metropolis and the Teen Titans, he would have stopped this by any means necessary. How stupid was it to reveal one's identity to a villainess? Especially if you were not only Batman, but also Bruce Wayne. Not only was his entire existence hanging by a thread, but he was also putting the safety of the other family members on the line. Robin had no understanding for this and deeply disapproved of Batman's decision.

Moreover, Damian was sure that the Batman's work would also suffer from this relationship. Feelings like love were never good. Maybe as an office worker, but not on the battlefield.

This will just result in another treachery.

Meanwhile, Bruce spread out all the evidence on a large light table, which were also immediately examined curiously by Selina. Interested, she took one of the weathered bones between her claws: "Some of these are quite old. Where did you get them?"

"From the particle accelerator. I assume they came into this world along with that creature Damian and the others encountered" answered Batman to her, while he took more bones from the black bag and put them onto the table.

Astonished, Catwoman looked at the bat: "So from another dimension?"

"Not necessarily. It could also be from another planet for example, or from another time. So far, in any case, I assume that the problems in the laboratory led to the opening of some kind of portal inside the accelerator, and finally brought forth this creature, as well as these objects. What puzzles me however, is the broken device we found next to the bones. It must also come from the other world but it's origin is definitely from our Earth. You can tell by the parts that were used."

Selina put the bone aside and now took one of the black feathers between her fingers. Curious, the cat looked at it as she smirked in amusement:

"I must say, you and your Justice League must get to see a lot. It really makes me wonder why you're still staying in Gotham."

Bruce shrugged imperceptibly:

"If I don't keep order, who will?"

Batman took the feather from Catwoman's hand and placed it with the others. He bowed slightly to Cat as a smirk graced his face. Somewhat playfully, Bruce continued to speak:

"Besides, I would miss our nightly forays Cat. So that gives me more than one reason not to leave Gotham."

Selina also took a step towards her lover and let out something similar to a purr: "Uhh, that makes me embarrassed. I'll go ahead to the bedroom then, since you're probably going to be busy for a while."

The cat turned with one last seductive look and headed for the steel staircase that led up to the Manor. Before she stepped on the first step however, she wished Damian a good night. But the latter just ignored this gesture.

Selina was not stupid. She knew that the little one did not like her being here. The deep wrinkles that formed on his forehead as soon as he saw her were proof enough. But it didn't offend the cat at all. On the contrary, Selina found it rather cute. He was like a little Bruce. Keeping his distance for now, distrusting everything and staring everyone down with a serious look. Just too cute.

In time, he would get used to her. Until then, she respected the distance between them and left the little one alone.

At the bottom of the stairs she still met Alfred, who was just descending the steps together with a tray on which two hot cups stood. She politely wished the old butler a good night before leaving the Batcave for the bedroom.

Batman, however, would have to do some more investigating. He typed a few commands into a machine near the light table so that it would perform a detailed analysis of the recovered items.

Whirring, several lasers ran over the weathered objects, gradually scanning their individual components. Since this process would take several minutes, Bruce went to meet Alfred to take the coffee from the tray. Straining, he pulled his cowl off his head and thanked his butler before taking a sip of the hot beverage.

So quietly that Robin could not hear, Alfred whispered to Bruce:

"Sir, I am glad to see Master Damian visiting us again, but if I may remark, you should not let him work too long. As you know, a child his age still needs adequate sleep and it's already half past two in the morning. Besides, the boy has school today."

Bruce, however, was already aware of this:

"I know Alfred. I'll just have him write a quick summary of the most important aspects and then send him to bed. School will have to be cancelled today. I need Damian's help to come up with a plan against this creature and Jonathan has been very upset by this whole thing. Fortunately, today is Friday, so the boy has a few days for himself. I will write a email regarding this and send it to the school so they are aware of this circumstance."

The billionaire took another sip of the refreshing coffee before asking:

"What's Clark's status?"

"Sir Kent's wounds are already completely healed, however he has not yet woken up. He seems to be still quite groggy and little Jonathan did not want to leave his side. I had them housed together in the guest room on the left side of the second floor. But they're both fine."

Bruce nodded to the butler:

"Very well. Lois would kill me if that weren't the case. Especially after I told her not to worry."

Straining, Bruce leaned his head back and let his neck crack loudly. He had really been busy lately, as several criminal gangs had joined forces to do organized robberies in several places at once. While he had Catwoman to help and also the Batgirls to solve this case, they were not enough to cover every robbery.

So this new case was really more than inconvenient for him.

Batman watched as Alfred went over to Damian at the Batcomputer and offered him tea, accompanied by a polite greeting, before the butler excused himself and disappeared back into the Manor.

Without further indulging himself to his thoughts, Bruce also found himself next to Damian and at first only superficially looked at the saved data, as well as the separate screen on which the creature's position could be seen. Since nothing conspicuous appeared, the man turned directly to his son:

"Did you transfer all the data?"

Emotionless, Robin replied: "In thirty seconds."

"Good. After that, I want you to write a short report on what happened tonight, as well as a profile of this being. Weaknesses, strengths, abilities. Anything you personally noticed and what might be relevant for the next time we'll meet this thing. As long as your memories are fresh, we can gather a lot of information."

Damian nodded briefly to his father as the computer signaled that the download was complete. The boy picked up his cup and rose from the main computer. Robin strode towards a nearby shelf and pulled out his laptop. He wandered on to the stairs and settled down on them to write the required report.

Batman, on the other hand, took his place in front of the Batcomputer. Bruce's fingers wandered fast over the huge keyboard and began to evaluate and analyze the lab's data.

This was going to be fun, telling Damian that this report would be the last thing he would contribute to the case. For now at least.