A man in what appeared to be a burnt and partially melted fireproof jacket stood outside a fire house. A gasmask and fireman's helmet on his face to obscure his identity; he went around with a large tank on his back, spraying a dark reddish liquid around the building, pausing o pull out a bottle of clear liquid out of his pocket and poured it on the firefighter's uniforms before walking back to the exit, where he splashed the fire engine with the red liquid and pulled out a flip top lighter and held it under a rag in a bottle, which when lit he threw at the fire engine, stepping back to watch the firehouse erupt in crackling flames; alarms blaring as the fire fighters got into their uniforms, ready to fight the flames only to stop and writhe in pain as the liquid on their uniforms combusted in invisible flames. The firestarter watched as the building collapsed on them all. Walking away once he was satisfied.
Captain Gordon stood among the burned out rubble of the firehouse, sucking on an unlit pip. He sighed as ruffled his hair in distress
"This is the second firehouse burned to the ground" he said
"Yeah, same m.o." Bullock griped "Most of the station was covered gas, but the uniforms were doused with something else, which burnt clear; we're not sure at the moment what is it" he griped
"Get the lab techs on it ASAP!" Gordon growled "I don't want his firebug getting another one of our firehouse ; While we're at it look for the Batman" Gorodn said
"Are you sure?" Bullock asked
"Given his track record with Cobblepot, Maroni and Nigma maybe h'e expertise will help" Gordon said
"well how am I going to do that, shine a giant light in the sky?" Bullock asked harshly
"That would just be a waste of electricity" Batman said as he was in the middle of the crime scene running his hands through the soot. "I think it was high octane petroleum" Batman said as he used his detective vision to analyse the chemical structure of the fuels
"How does he do that?" Bullock asked looking around. "You some kind of shadow?"
"Maybe I am" Batman smirked as he looked around, he went over to the uniforms and scanned them, "Looks like a Methanol based compound was sprayed on them" Batman murmured. He then looked at the scene. He kept the fire away from the uniforms, which he douse din methanol and then when they got close to the flames they burst into flames, making them erratic and burn to death" Batman said
"What kind of sick would do this?" Gordon asked
"I'm not sure. He has a case of pyromania I'm guessing" Batman frowned.
"But how did they burn to death, those things are suppose to withstand up to what 5-600 degrees?" Bullock asked
"Yeah, so this was hotter then what they were rated for" Batman replied.
"So what caused them to cook?" Alfred asked
"I'm not sure" Bruce said as he tinkered with the XE suit
"Trying to make it fireproof?" Alfred asked
"Possibly," Bruce frowned
"You think his firebug is an serial arsonist?" Alfred frowned
"Indeed, but he used two different accelerants" Bruce frowned as he checked the chemical structures. "Looks like pure alcohol, which is ethanol based rather then methanol" Bruce told him
"But you said the flames burnt clear something which methanol does" Alfred stated
"And ethanol, the two are pretty close" Bruce told him.
"Do they have any suspects?" Alfred asked
"NONE! HOW DO WE HAVE NO SUSPECTS!" Gordon barked as he slammed the crime board. Most of the cops jumped in the air;
"Oh shit" Montoya sighed
"We're looking into it capt, but so far the nest if just too wide" Bullock replied
"THEN NARROW IT!" Gordon shouted as he stormed into his office and slammed the door close, pouring some coffee into a mug before he withdrew a hip flask and opened it
"Having some good old Irish Coffee Captain" a voice said making Gordon jumped.
"Barbara Joan Gordon" Gordon glared at his daughter "What are you doing here?'
"Checking up on you" Babs shrugged
"Well thank you honey, I appreciate it, especially since it's a bit of a shit show here at the moment" Gordon smiled kissing his daughter's forehead before an alarm sounded
"Sir!" Montoya shouted
"What now?" Gordon growled out
"The corner of Conroy and Hamil; that fire station just went up in flames" Montoya said
"GET A UNIT OVER THERE NOW!" Gordon roared. "Sorry about this honey" he said as he rushed out
"No worries;" Babs said.
Again he stood there, the flames climbing higher and higher. He's eyes taking in every little ember and spark there was. He enjoyed it, there was an ecstatic thrill at watching; but he had to be careful; for who know what was going to be coming for him, all he knew he was close, close to the thrill he once felt. He became panicked when the roar of an engine sound and the batmobile pulled up. His eyes widened in panic as Batman exited the car, grabbing several objects and throwing them into the burning fire making it extinguish.
"No" he growled as he pulled something off his belt and pressed a trigger making what appeared to be wing pop up, he connected a tube to his gas mask and then pressed a second button he suddenly took off.
"There" Batman said as he said as the fire was put out and the room was slightly chilled thanks to the new device.
"What were those?" a firefighter asked as he got up, struggling to remove his coat which were a little melted.
"Freeze grenades, they make good fire extinguishers" Batman said
"Batman" Gordon said
"What is it?" Batman asked as he frowned, walked out towards to someone standing on the side walk. Upon seeing the wings pop out he got back in the batmobile. "I'm going after him, wait here!"
"Alfred I got him" Batman said "The arsonist!" he shouted drifted around the corners and boosted away
"Then where is he, I can't see him on the scanner" Alfred worried.
"He's flying, some sort of jerry rigged jetpack, I'm not sure but he's talented" Batman growled
"I'm sure you can catch up to him Master Wayne" Alfred told him
"I will" Batman said shifting gears before he sped up "Who are you?" Batman said before he saw the jetpack user freeze in midair before he threw something at the roar, making it explode, covering the road in flames, Batman jammed on the breaks hoping to stop before the flames.
"damn it" Batman said as he got out and looked. "Thermite" he muttered as Gordon's car pulled up
"What is that?" he asked
"Thermite" Batman said "I think this arsonist knows his way around fire"
"It can't be, can it?" Gordon asked
"Do you know who it is?" Batman asked
"I do but it's impossible" Gorodn said
"Explain it to me" Batman frowned.
"I believe our man is Garfield Lynns" Gordon said showing Batman the file
"I heard about him, he was a high ranking fire-fighter, one who knew a lot about firefighting techniques" Batman said
"He was, then there was the fire at Stagg industries, apparently he was trapped in the flames, a piece of white hot steel pinned him to the ground. They say the screams were like that of a banshee. When they went back for him there was barely anything left" Gordon explained
"How did he survive?" Batman asked
"I'm not sure, no one is; but here's the thing Batman...it happened a year ago" Gordon revealed
"So you think?" Batman asked
"I do. I think this is Lynns' revenge" Gordon frowned Batman opened up his wrist computer and placed in the location of the fire houses and them
"He's targeting those firehouse involved with the Stagg Tower incident, and so far he's been able to take down half of them" Batman growled
"Shit" Gordon growled as he went for his radio "We need" Gorodn was starting to say only to see Batman had gone. "I have to learn how to do that" Gordon said, "and get one of those cars" he muttered. "BULLOCK, the Stagg Tower incident found out where the other teams were from and get guards over there ASAP!" Gordon ordered
"But why?" Bullock asked annoyed.
"Because that is where Lynns will strike; one of those three next!" Gordon barked.
"Garfield Lynns" Batman said as he worked on the batcomputer. "He has burns over 81% of his body after he was close to death. Since he was left here to die he's been getting payback" he frowned
"Where did he get that jetpack from?" Alfred asked
"I'm not sure, but it appears to be homemade, which means it won't hold up to much stress. Unless" Bruce frowned.
"He used the tech he salvaged" Alfred realised
"I bet" Bruce scowled.
"I take it this is why you had the XE suit ready?" Alfred asked
"I did, I had to invert the elements inside so they were used for cooling" Bruce said as he loaded it back into the Batmobile. "Is there any hint of a target?"
"Gordon's got men at each of the remaining fire stations" Alfred said
"I see" Bruce frowned before he loaded up special batarangs.
"Good luck Master Bruce" Alfried bowed as Bruce got in the Batmobile and dove off.
"WE GOT HIM" Montoya shouted as she spotted a man in a melted firecoat at the Firehouse on O'Donnell and Bale. She moved quickly, "GARFIELD LYNNS!" she shouted as she drew her handgun and pulled the hammer back and aimed. "FREEZE!" Lynns looked at her and raised a flamethrower, aiming at her, and pressing the trigger making a stream of flame fly at her. Montoya quickly dove behind her car "A FLAMETHROWER!" she shouted "He has a jetpack and a flamethrower" she looked nervous as she saw the firefighters being trapped by the flames when a dark roar sounded, looking she saw a black armoured car drifting around the corner. "What the?" she asked as she watched as out of it stepped a heavily armoured Batman.
"Are you okay?" he asked
"Yeah, but Lynns has a flamethrower now" Montoya told him,
"Which is why I packed this" Batman said flicking his cape back and walked over to Lynns, who just aimed and fired his flamethrower, Batman's XE suit lighting up Cyan. Allowing Batman to endure the heat. "That was close" he muttered as he pulled out a heavy duty batarang and threw it at Lynn, who was airborne and firing at him with blasts of fire and heat
"Burn" Lynns scowled under his mask as he moved about, the flames now becoming a long stream of as Lynns continued to press the trigger until the flames stop as the batarnag Batman threw earlier had cut on of the fuel lines to the flamethrower. Discarding it Lynns pulled out a grenade
"No" he's gravelly voice growled out as he increased the output of his jetpack and flew away
"No you don't!" Batman growled as he had the batmobile drove up to him, getting out of the XE he hopped in the batmobile and drove off; tracking the smoke trail. Suddenly the sound of police sirens were behind him
"I see Batman's car, we're following him!" Bullock shouted over the radio
"DON'T LOOSE HIM, HE MAY BE THE BEST CHANCE TO STOP LYNNS!" Gordon shouted, Batman heard this.
"Where did he get that car from anyway?" Montonya asked
"I don't know" Bullock said as he barely waited for her to get in the car. "And that armour?"
"I think it's the one he fought Fries with" Montoya explained.
"Huh" Bullock said.
Lynns looked behind him and grabbed several grenades and let them loose, which exploded into red cloud
"What is that" Batman asked as he scowled trying to see if he can deduce what that was. Once he realised what it was he skidded tyo a stop as the red cloud exploded into flames.
"MASTER BRUCE ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Alfred shouted
"I'm fine Alfred. He has several thermite grenades on him." Batman said
"Thanks Bats" Montoya said "So what was that?"
"Thermite" Batman said
"Damn" Montoya said "And he used it to cover his escape, but that means"
"Yeah" Batman scowled. Then he smelt it "Do you smell that?"
"Yeah, its fuel" Bullock said
"The fuel line, the one that was cut" Montoya said "What if you didn't just cut the line to the flamethrower but knicked one to the jetpack making it slowly leak out
"Hopefully I can track it" Batman snapped as he got back in the Batmobile and used the computer to see if he could track the fuel. "I figured a high octane jet fuel mix with a bit of liquid nitrous" Batman said as he followed the trail of it; hoping it would lead to the lair of Lynns.
He soon found the base of operations for Garfield Lynns, an old abounded fireworks factory. He got out and put a gasmask on to filter out the fuel fumes. Batman was still curious about how he got the jet fuel and the nitrous oxide mix.
"Firefly Fireworks; some of the best in Gotham when I was younger, too bad they went out of business just after my parent's deaths" Batman sighed as he looked up at the building. "So this is where he's been active out of" he murmured as he walked in, his cap hiding most of his body. Scanning the environment Batman's detective vision picked up traces of gunpowder, magnesium, phosphorus and other firework ingredients. It also detected the same chemical signature for the jetpack and flamethrower Lynns was using.
"Its over Lynns, Come on out!" Batman shouted as he looked around trying to find him.
"So, you found my lair" Lynns said as he walked out, his mask was off revealing his face was covered in burn scars; some of them looked like brandings from hot pieces of metal that fell on him during the Stagg tower fire. "Do you like fireworks Batman?" Lynn asked as he pulled his mask on, making it easier to breathe. Batman glared at him.
"You do realise that those fire houses are important to the city right?" he asked
"Who cares, they're are all the same; as soon as one of them is under fire, they will drop everything and evacuate" Lynns hissed.
"And the ones you are targeting are the ones that were a part of the fire, the ones that let you burn" Batman growled
"Yes that are, but soon they will feel what it is like, for there is only one left now. So get out of my way; let me burn them" Lynns growled.
"Never" Batman growled out.
"Very well" Lynns growled as he strapped on his jetpack, grabbed a belt of grenades and his flamethrower. "Be glad Batman, you're death with be exciting" Lynns said opening a lighter and throwing it into a box of fireworks.
Batman covered himself with his cape as fireworks exploded around him, the cracking and whistling of them kept Batman from capturing Lynns, who used them as a distraction to escape, flying out of the roof. Batman grabbed his grappling hook and got , he pulled out a specialised batarang and threw it, activating his wrist gauntlet's computer and used it to steer the batarang. Which was following Lynns, until he melted it with the jets of his jetpack before
"He's like a killer firefly" Batman said; gliding down from the roof and into the Batmobile. He gunned the throttle and sped off, looking for a way to take him down.
"Gordon; Lynns is going after the last firehouse" Batman said
"We've got several units over there, already." Gordon said
"Understood, I'll be there shortly" Batman ended the conversation and continued on.
"So how long until he's here?" Montoya said as she loaded ammo
"Who knows" Bullock said shrugging
"CUT THE CHATTER!" Gordon shouted "Batman's on his way
"So where is?" Bullock asked as the Batmobile howled as he arrived, cutting the engine he jumped out and adjusted his cape.
"So what are we looking at" Gordon asked
"Flamethrower, thermite grenades and who knows what else" Batman frowned.
"Great" Gordon frowned as he reached for his pipe.
"Still smoke when nervous?" Batman asked
"Yeah, I started when I was in the Gulf" Gordon said
"I see" Batman nodded. He's respect for Gordon going up; knowing how much a veteran such as him would have to go through to overcome
"THERE HE IS!" a cop said as the light of Lynns jetpack was in sight. Gordon chambered a round in his rifle and looked at the sky
"I've got the bastard" Gordon said
"Wait" Batman said as he looked at Firefly. His grapple gun was in his hand as Lynns flew down low, blasting the firehouse with his flame thrower. Batman quickly raised his grappling gun and fired it, the claws snapping around one of the wings. Gordon saw this and shot the other wing making Lynns crash
"NO" Lynns growled out as he fired at the police, who ducked behind their cars, Batman leapt over the flame and got in range of Lynns, slugging him in the face, before he grabbed the gun and broke it off. He then used it to break the jetpack before throwing it away. Lynns tried to activate it, only to have sparks shoots out. Growling Lynns threw the tank of fuel into the firehouse; then did the same with his destroyed Jetpack
"NO!" Batman shouted as he threw a batarang into Lynns' hand making him drop the remote. Gordon charged in and held his rifle by the barrel and smacked t into Lynn's face knocking him out.
"Cuff Him" Gordon said as he panted
'Not bad" Batman said
"The same to you, we'll see him get some help in Arkham" Gordon said "And hopefully we can make sure no...how long has he been gone?" Gorodn asked
"We're not sure sir" Bullock said.
"Hey Capt look at this' Montoya said as she picked up a burnt playing card, the picture was mostly gone but some of it did remain, revealing a red and green Joker card
"Another calling card huh, someone who is helping these villains; but who is he and how is he doing it?" Gordon asked
"That is what I would like to know" Batman frowned from the roof.
G'day Guys Grizz here, now I did take a bit of inspiration from Arrow for this one, since they did do Firefly, and a lot of Batman villains now that I think about it. Anyway I figured since we had ice last chapter why not have fire this one, well here you go also I think Gordon was a WW2 veteran; so I changed it to a more modern war and his pipe is now a nervous tick. Plus there is another hint at a certain clown working behind the scenes.
So until next time I'll catch you on the flipside.