Hey there Bat fans, I'm sorry for the late/kinda short chapter this month. A lot has happened to me recently, and with school taking up a lot of my time I really wanted to make something before the end of the month to avoid another month delay with the chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it, don't be afraid to leave a comment or share the story around.

Now, onto the show.

{UNKNOWN}

The sound of water dripping on his helmet stirred Bat-Rider awake, groaning as his eyes slowly opened to see a dimly lit bunker with no windows and a single steel door to his right. Bat-Rider grunted as he looked around to find his torso bound to a chair with rusty chains wrapped around him, which he quickly broke through thanks to his augmented strength and the blades on his gauntlets. He huffed while scanning the room, pressing his earpiece to reach the cave, only to receive nothing but static on the other end.

"Damn. Comms must be damaged." cursed Bat-Rider as he moved towards the door and ran a gloved hand against the hinges and eventually the knob noticing a strange resistance upon contact. The door was unlocked but likely boob-trapped; he reached down to his belt buckle, noting the lack of power he felt from it. His transformation wouldn't last long; he needed to hurry and escape this place before he returned to his regular form of Bruce. Clenching his fist, Bat-Rider grabbed hold of the doorknob and readied himself for anything that awaited him on the other side ranging from a bomb to a simple legion of soldiers waiting to jump him.

*KLIK*

He quickly opened the door, only to find an empty hallway with no doors and dim lighting. Raising a brow, Bat-Rider exited the room and began to travel through the hall silently and slowly while noting the scent of seawater and the stone that made up the tunnel. It was easy to piece it together; he was underwater, specifically in the Solomon Tunnels that ran underneath Gotham Harbor and into the city.

'These tunnels haven't been used since the construction of the Gotham Metro System rendered them defunct. No one should have access to them. Not even the GCPD, so how did Lazarus or the Gunmen get in?' Bat-Rider continued his trek down the tunnel, only stopping as he heard something brush against the limestone above. 'I knew it. I'm not alone here. Stay steady, Bruce. You know that they're here. Now you have to find them and prepare yourself.'

Bat-Rider continued moving forward, his hand slowly reaching for the removable emblem on his chest before stopping as he heard movement from above this time. The attacker was preparing an ambush for him; unfortunately for them, he was ready for that.

"RIDER!" screamed Copperhead from above, descending on Bat-Rider with his blades drawn, ready to stab into the hero only to have him dodge the attack easily. "Where am I?! Where have you taken me?"

"I didn't take you anywhere! We've been kidnapped, we need to work-" Bat-Rider's request was interrupted as he blocked Copperhead's dagger with his gauntlets.

"Silence! It doesn't matter so long as I deliver your head to the Doctor!" The villain hissed and opened his jaw to launch an acidic glob at him, but Bat-Rider reacted swiftly as he headbutted Copperhead and removed his cloak from his collar. The reptilian hissed in pain from the attack and prepared his acid once again only for the dark detective to wrap his cloak around the monster's head to blind it before punching his head in several times before kicking him into a nearby wall. Dazed and in pain, Copperhead pulled off the covering to find himself grabbed by the collar by the hero who slammed him against the stone wall once again.

"Listen to me! You and I both know you can't beat me, that is certain. Now, we need to work together. This tunnel sits underneath the harbor of Gotham, meaning that if that ceiling or the wall I'm pinning you against breaks enough water will flood this tunnel to kill us both." yelled Bat-Rider, his anger evident in his tone of voice. But Copperhead just smiled as he looked into his enemies eyes with his fangs flashing under the dim light before a faint green glow shined against the black of Bat-Rider' mask. Bruce instantly realized his plan, as he could feel the bulge building up in his throat of his acid aimed at the ceiling above them and prepared to slam his fist into Copperhead's mouth. "Don't! You'll die too!"

"I'll see you in hell, RIDER!" yelled Copperhead with a sinister cackle in his voice.

*BLAM!*

The sound echoed and bounced off the tunnel walls for what felt like hours, Bat-Rider froze as Copperhead's body went limp as the red blood oozed out of the fresh bullet wound in the center of his forehead. Bat-Rider released the corpse from his grasp and shivered as he touched his bloodstained helmet and slowly turned around, standing before him was a muscular gentleman in black cargo pants, yellow combat boots, and a red long sleeve made of kevlar. His face was tanned and mustached, he appeared aged with a large scar running down his left cheek evident of a history in combat but all Bruce could focus on was the smoking barrel of the gun he had pointed towards him and the now dead Copperhead.

"Well I'll be damned. You were actually gonna work with that bastard, weren't you?" asked the shooter. Bruce remained silent, his hand trembling before clenching into a tight ball of rage with a simple target. The shooter that stood before him, the man that shot him and killed several people, he didn't know why he did it or why he reacted the way he did. Or maybe he did, afterall, all he could feel was rage and anger. The glowing yellow on his belt flickered on and off again, as it shifted to a crimson red which was followed by a primal roar from Bat-Rider as he launched himself forward with his fist raised.

"MURDERER!" he screamed, his voice losing what humanity he had before and was now a monstrous growl. The gunman raised his gun again and prepared to fire at Bat-Rider who charged forward with anger in his voice, he pulled the trigger and prepared himself for the attack.

{IN THE CITY}

It's never a pretty sight seeing a dead man, let alone one who you knew would have been saved had you intervened sooner. Jim Gordon sat outside of the yellow quarantine tape of Loeb's apartment with a cigarette in hand, so lost in thought that he didn't notice Harvey Bullock place his hand upon his shoulder.

"You okay Jim?" asked Harvey. Jim shook himself out of his funk, and placed the cigarette back into his pocket before turning to Bullock.

"I-I'm fine Harv. Just… I didn't think Loeb would get this treatment, he was an asshole but even he doesn't deserve to be shot like a dog in his own home." he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose before turning back to his fellow detective. "Anything you and Montoya gathered from the neighbors?"

Harvey shook his head in response, "Nothing that we can use to identify a perp, though apparently some old bird down the hall claims that she saw two figures in black chasing each other down the hall. Motoya's currently talking to the landlord about seeing security footage, to hopefully help us see who exactly was here tonight."

Gordon scratched his chin and looked down at the carpet below him, noting a faint wet trail leading around the corner and away from the apartment. He gestured for Harvey to follow him, doing so as the two walked down the hallway and made it to the broken window at the end of the hall and were able to see the broken ceiling of the apartment across the gap.

"Well then, I guess we can add whoever's apartment that is to our list of people to question." commented Harvey. Jim gave him a single look causing Harvey to sigh heavily, "Alright. I'll get over there, but I'm bringing Merkle and Montoya with me."

"Merkle, yes. Montoya, no. I'll check the footage with her to find our perp, till then you and Merkle check that building and whoever's an apartment that was." Harvey left earshot, leaving Gordon alone to place the cigarette on his lips to ignite and take a puff. Tonight was another stressful one for him, he should call Barbara and let her know he's not coming home before sunrise but given that it's already past midnight she's already dead asleep.

"Sir," the static of his walkie broke Jim's train of thought. "We got access to the camera footage, you might wanna see this."

Inside of the security office, Renee watched in shock as she watched a fleeing black figure of the once thought myth Bat-Rider escaping the apartment of their former commissioner.

{IN THE TUNNELS}

He was running out of time, he could feel the seconds on his transformation ticking away faster with every punch he threw. But deep down, Bruce… Bat-Rider was lost in the fog of his mind as he slammed his fist into the gunslinger's armored chest, sending him flying into the tunnel wall. The gunman heaved and spat out blood upon impact, groaning as he looked up to see the incoming sidekick coming his way which he barely dodged before fastening the device on his wrist.

KRACK!

The kick slammed against the brickwork of the tunnel damaging it enough to cause the water surrounding them to start dripping inside. The gunslinger wiped the blood from his lips, the silver mask forming over his face as he aimed and fired at the raging Bat-Rider who hissed at every bullet that sparked against his chest.

"Shit!" He screamed, bolting down the tunnel as he heard the clicking of a contraption and the tug of a steel cable around his wrist. He watched Bat-Rider hold his grappling gun tight as he pulled them closer together, a sense of overwhelming rage coming off of the silent hero sent a shiver down the killer's spine.

"That's it!" He yelled. Taking his free hand and aiming at the damaged tunnel wall from the Riders kick. With no hesitation, he pulled the trigger and fired a glowing red bullet that exploded upon impact and caused a surge of water to flood the tunnel. Bat-Rider screamed as he felt the water over take him quickly causing him to let go of the cable allowing the gunmen to get swept away in the flooding water. It was too late, he could barely move as he felt the current tug him away in an unknown direction, his consciousness fading fast alongside his transformation. He slowly reached for his belt buckle, and tried a last chance Gambit.

With a flick of his wrist, his grappling launcher appeared in his right hand as his left landed on the left side of the belt buckle. He needed to time this right, he aimed at the remaining walls of the tunnel and fired hoping that it would find something solid while he pressed down on the buckle to cause the turbine to spin once again.

"Please… work." He whispered. By an act of pure luck or fate, the hook latched onto a single brick and propelled him forward as his power built up in his free fist. With a single strike he broke free of the tunnel and was quickly taken out into the waters of Gotham Harbor where he quickly felt all strength he had left in him fade away. His transformation deactivated on its own, as he floated in the water with no means of saving himself other than to swim towards the surface with his exhausted muscles and the pounding headache. As he neared the surface though, a large net fell into the waters of the harbor and scooped him from the cold waters of Gotham.

"COUGH! COUGH!" Bruce gasped for air as he fell onto the hardwood floors of the vessel that caught him. His vision, still blurry from the water, could barely parse together any information other than the sight of a black haired figure standing above him and a spotlight shining down on him.

"Glad I finally found you. Bat-Rider." These were the last words he heard before losing what consciousness he had left.

{LAZARUS BASE}

"This is inexcusable." growled Bane as he stood in the doorway of Ivy's garden. Despite the damp and dilapidated state of their base of operations, within one of the many abandoned chambers she'd cultivated a luscious and beautiful garden filled with flowers and plant life from various biomes across the world. Ivy sat on the soft grass as Bane towered over her, she ignored him and continued to plant the newest addition to her garden. "Our allies are beaten and killed in droves, we sit on our hands and feet doing nothing while Death continues to waste time. Why do we even listen to such a fool?"

"If you're seeking sympathy or an ally in your corner Bane, then you must already realize that's a losing game. You and I both know that our benefactor assigned us to follow Death's lead in Gotham, till then we must do what we can to prepare ourselves and our forces." She said, standing from the ground and beginning to walk towards the flower bed that emerged in the corner.

"We have been preparing. But Death, all he seems to care about is the blasted traitor who seeks our demise and his stupid experiments. We are to bring about a new paradise, correct? We who were chosen by the Demons Head, and yet we stand with our hands in our pockets. How can you of all people be content with this Ivy?" Bane crossed his arms and growled as he watched Ivy flop onto the bed of flowers. She sighed and held out her palm, as a flower began to bud and bloom within her hand before withering away to nothing.

"Because unlike you Bane, I have higher goals and aspirations." The smile on the Green Woman's face could only be described with a single word, maniacal. "I'd suggest you'd form your own ideas and gather yourself Bane, because unless you can prove to us and The Demon why you Death is incompetent, then we'll never listen to you. Goodbye."

With her parting words, Ivy's body began to separate into roots and seep into her flower bed to an unknown location. Bane stood there thinking to himself as he began to ponder her words, he may have hated it but he knew it was true. Death wasn't going anywhere, unless he either made him or forced him out of their cabal it was just a question of how. That is until, his own thoughts began to gather and form a detailed plan for him to act upon.

{COBBLEPOT MANOR}

Oswald Cobblepot exhaled as a cloud of cigar smoke slipped through his lips, his eyes peering over to the guest who sat across from him in his office sitting patiently with a smile hidden behind a veil of white. Doctor Death sat with his hands on his lap as two large duffle bags filled with cash sat between the two men, Cobblepot ran his gloved fingers through a stack and snickered at the feel of bills between his fingers.

"Well then, I thank you once again for your generous payment Doctor. It does me and my company well that even in these dark times, you still seek to support men like myself in the running of Gotham." Oswald's words meant nothing, just simple talk as Death watched the display of greed.

"Think nothing of it Oswald, you've done much to help in our organization and my research. So long as you keep offering your aide to us, and use of your shipping imports, this partnership will continue to flourish. Now, if there's nothing else you wish to discuss, I will be taking my leave. Have a good night, Mister Cobblepot."

"And to you as well, Doctor." As Death left the manor in the back of a van, he pulled out his cellphone and a smile could be seen from beneath his mask. The message inside said one thing, 'We have him.' Alongside a picture of an unconscious man with a bag over his head and his arms in chains.

"Oh my, the fun we're about to have." Death laughed as his vehicle drove off back into Gotham City, his mind already at work thinking of his upcoming experiments and plans.

Our hero is trapped in the clutches of his mysterious attacker! Gordon and the GCPD hot on his trail, suspect him of murder?! And what of the masked assassin who is still at large?

Find out next time, same Bat-Time! Same Bat-Channel!

NEXT TIME

EPISODE 8

ESCAPE FROM DEATH