Night of the Bat 5

Scene: Jim Gordon's condo apartment in Gotham City.

Barbara stood at the dinner table. She'd been pacing back and forth, lost in thought. If dad sends me over to Wayne Manor every day until I graduate, that's nice, but how would I make new friends in this creepy city? She pondered, aimlessly pouring a cup of coffee for her father, who had just dressed for the day's work. Jim wandered into the kitchen and hugged his troubled teen daughter. Barbara wasn't truly ready to show her dad much affection yet, but she'd promised to put forth the effort. She grinned thinly as she took the seat opposite her father, sipping her cup of green tea.

"What's wrong, honey?" Jim noticed immediately that she was quieter than normal. "Last night at Bruce's, you seemed all for the idea of heading out to Wayne Manor in between your classes and gymnastics meets. You're not having second thoughts are you?"

"I don't know, dad." Barbara replied warily. "I like the idea. Mr. Wayne and Alfred seem nice enough, but heading there every day seems a bit like overkill to me." She sighed deeply.

"I get it, honey, I really do." Jim continued. "You must feel like we are kicking you to the curb, but that's not it. The reality is that you're still underage, and you need someone responsible to look after you until you're eighteen. Can you just give it a try? Let's say, for at least a semester. Can you deal with it?" Jim half pleaded. "I promise that on my days off, rare as they are, we'll spend time together. Don't forget, Leslie has time off now and then as well. You two can spend some time doing whatever you want."

"I guess so, dad." Barbara knew that she wouldn't win this argument. "For example, how will I go on dates? How will I meet new friends?" She questioned. Leslie had warned him that this line of discussion would eventually surface. Jim playfully tickled Barbara's ribs, forcing the tough teen to giggle.

"You're a little young to be going on dates, dear, we'll discuss that when you're a bit older. Don't worry I won't allow my daughter to become a spinster! I fully expect to watch you get married, and well before I'm old and senile!" Jim rubbed the top of her head, and her lengthy red hair flipped around aimlessly. Jim left for work, leaving Barbara to get acquainted with her new surroundings.

She left the condo and carefully traversed the main streets of the dicey Gotham neighborhood. It was Saturday, and at least she wouldn't have to deal with her new school until Monday morning. Barbara was puzzled. The area seemed nice and quiet early in the morning, like the neighborhood was suddenly surreal. Various residents either clambered out of their homes to head into work, or were busy gardening, and beautifying their meager properties. It was like living in two different worlds.

At night, the streets were filled with the noise of loud obnoxious parties, and gangbangers cursing, racing cars, or harassing any passersby, especially young women and girls. "This place needs a good kick in the ass!" Barbara muttered as she recalled last night's disturbances. "I hope the Batman has time to clean up this crap-hole neighborhood." She quietly grumbled. But would he? She questioned. In her mind's eye, a plan was slowly forming. Perhaps the Batman would need some help? Barbara pondered.

Barbara walked past a popup Halloween costume shop. She froze in her tracks. There it was! A Batman Halloween costume! It had the cape, cowl, gauntlets, and a preformed plastic muscular chest piece, with the black boots to match. Of course, the outfit was made for a child or young teen, and it was likely all cheap material. Barbara eyed the costume warily. What if? She though excitedly.

Barbara quickly purchased an adult sized Batman costume that would fit her. She would use the Halloween costume as a template for her own choice of materials. She rushed back to the condo to get started on it before her father would come home. Barbara stashed in her underwear drawer. She would obviously be put in charge of laundry duty, she grinned mischievously. It was one of the many chores her father had assigned her to do, along with making meals, and cleaning house.

"I wonder how the Batman would like a protégé?" Barbara voiced aloud. He obviously couldn't be in all places, neighborhoods, and crime scenes that came about, she thought. He would handle the major criminals that she'd heard of from her father, like Joker, Penguin, Riddler, or Mr. Freeze. Who would deal with the common criminals like gangbangers, rapists, thieves, or other assailants?

Barbara postured, by holding the Halloween costume up before the full length mirror on her closet door. She knew that even her dad and the rest of the vaunted Gotham City Police Department couldn't be everywhere at once. All I need now is the allowance to pay for the needed materials, she thought, grinning broadly with her renewed sense of purpose. What to do until then? What about my future weapons stash? The highly motivated teen pondered. I don't like guns.

Barbara grabbed a catalog that had been delivered to the condo under her dad's name. "Here we go." She spoke aloud. The pages that she'd turned to revealed an itemized list of mostly nonlethal weapons. The wheels began to turn in her head; grappling hook, fish deboning knife, the throwing weapons called Chinese stars, and a black, meter long metal staff, for starters.

Barbara sighed. I'm all of 105 LBS. How am I supposed to take down a 200 LB plus dude? She mulled over the possibilities. My Sen Se (Sp?) martial arts teacher, drummed into my head that the martial arts were mostly for defensive contact. "Avoid a confrontation if at all possible." He used to say. "But be prepared and confident to put yourself in a position to win the melee." He often stressed.

I'll need to somehow contact the Batman. She mused. How does he always win, and never actually kills anyone? The rhetorical question echoed throughout her adolescent mind. She would have to continue to grill her father on the Batman's exploits, when he was willing to share. Meanwhile, she could research the Batman on the internet. The netizens had been following the masked vigilante for years.

The mysterious Batman had taken down some of Gotham's most dangerous and eccentric criminals, with limited assistance from GCPD, Barbara noted as she paged through the myriad of Batman articles. Here was a list of his conquests: Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman, Firefly, , and so on. Suddenly a frown crossed young Barbara's thin face. She groaned loudly. All of the major crime bosses had been arrested, incarcerated, tried, and sentenced to Arkham Asylum, supposedly for rehabilitation. How had they served some limited time, and were set free, released back into society?

"What a crazy, screwed up city!" Barbara nearly yelled, forgetting that she was still sitting alone in her room. All of the hard work that the Batman, my dad, Detective Bullock, Chief O'Hara, not to mention, Dr. Leslie Tompkins, did to get these criminals off the street, went to waste? She was upset.

Barbara continued to read the files: 'After months of treatment, all of the crime bosses were released on their own recognizance.' It stated. "Are you kidding me?" She grumbled. "I smell a rat." Barbara scowled as she read further. "After they posted appropriate bail money, the patients were released into probation." She observed aloud. "Dr. Hugo Strange, Arkham Asylum's moderator said…" The article continued. "That the patients showed signs of recovery, and exhibited no violent behavior."

Barbara tossed her lengthy red hair back. "When pigs fly!" She hissed. "Someone is on the take. It has to be someone up high on the ladder, above my dad. Who passed whom the envelope?" She wondered aloud. Barbara let loose a deep sigh. "I guess the Batman and I have a lot of work to do!" She stated with conviction. She got up and dug into her closet. "I like purple." She sneered, reaching for her latest gymnastics outfit. Barbara grabbed her sewing tools and got to work.

Back at the dark, dank Bat Cave beneath Stately Wayne Manor, Bruce Wayne and Alfred watched the Bat Computer view screen with disdain. "I'm sure that it's frustrating, Master Bruce, but we mustn't give up." Alfred reassured him. "The Joker, Penguin, etc. may have learnt their lesson."

"If only that were true, old friend." Bruce said as he shook his head. "It's more likely that the criminal masterminds have somehow figured out how to game the system. I'd be willing to bet that someone is getting substantial kickbacks to gain these losers an early release. The Catwoman, meaning Selina, is the only one of the bunch that I would give a minimum chance of meaningful rehabilitation."

"Miss Kyle does seem a bit less destructive than the rest." Alfred pointed out. "Hadn't she turned against the others on occasion in the past? That should give us a glimmer of hope." Bruce nodded. "I can understand Selina, Alfred, she can always be counted on to save her own skin above all else, or in her case, save her own fur." Batman quipped as Alfred chuckled.

"Perhaps this will cheer you up, Master Bruce." Alfred wheeled out a cart and placed it before Bruce, alongside the Bat Computer's filing desk. The cart had a tray atop it with a good-sized multi-flavored cake with three candles implanted in the icing. Appropriately enough, a black plastic bat was inserted on the cake in between the candles. Its unfurled wings reached the edges of the huge treat.

"It has been three years since you first donned the cape and cowl and assumed the mantle of The Batman." Alfred joked as he sliced a large section of the cake in two pieces. "Thanks Alfred." Bruce smiled as he dug into it. "I'm sure Thomas and Martha would be proud of your work so far." Alfred praised. "I believe so, too, Alfred, but I couldn't have done it without you." Bruce finished.

"Teamwork will always prove more beneficial than handling it all alone." Alfred said philosophically. "On that note, will The Batman continue to rid Gotham City of its elite criminals all by himself?" He added rhetorically. "What are you saying Alfred?" Bruce's thick eyebrow arced upwards. "Do you think that I should bring in Selina for help, as the Batman's sidekick?"

Alfred shrugged. "I suppose you could do worse." He commented flatly. "I actually considered bringing in Selina, my friend, but I fear that her ego is too big, and could prevent her from staying on the straight and narrow path." Bruce admitted. "The temptation of every crime would prove to be too much for her, especially if cat-shaped treasures would be on the thieves list of items to acquire."

"I suppose you're right, Master Bruce. Then I assume you will continue to fly solo?" Alfred questioned. "Not necessarily, Alfred." Bruce answered mysteriously. "You've heard that other so called vigilantes have begun to appear around the country and indeed the world?" He questioned. "I only recall the individuals that you'd been researching recently." Alfred responded. "Have you met any of these possible do-gooders?" The elder gentleman asked.

"I haven't yet, Alfred, but given the state of the world today, riots, political upheavals, groups that promote tribalism, organized crime, and evil in general, I would speculate that our paths will cross eventually." Bruce admitted wistfully. "Is this a bad thing, Master Bruce?" Alfred inquired. "God forbid you have to let them take over for a while and go on a long deserved vacation." He quipped.

Batman chuckled. "That has yet to be determined, Alfred, I don't fully trust any of these vigilante newcomers, especially the ones with extraordinary powers. We bend the rules to our own advantage when we confront the criminal elements in Gotham, but a super powered vigilante could consider themselves as above the law. Can an ordinary police officer or detective defeat or control a being with superior strength and ability?" The Batman pondered aloud for Alfred's benefit.

Alfred flipped through a handful of video discs documenting some of Bruce's fellow vigilantes. Some were indeed formidable. "What of this Blur that keeps appearing in Metropolis, and its vicinity?" He asked Bruce, after stopping a video disc on Chloe Sullivan's Wall of Weird website. "To date, there haven't been many negative reports regarding him. He seems to be quite helpful to the Metropolis Police Department. I suspect that Miss Sullivan has a slanted perspective on him."

"That's true Alfred. Sullivan's website is definitely written from a positive viewpoint." Bruce said as his hands busily sped across the keyboard before him. Just then, an alarm sounded, its high decibel beeping commanding everyone's attention as it echoed throughout the mostly silent Batcave. The nearby bats squealed in irritation as they flew deeper into the darkness.

"It's the Bat Wave alarm!" Alfred exclaimed, stating the obvious. Bruce zipped across the short distance from the Bat Computer research area to the Gotham City panorama. A red square pulsated near Fifteenth and Main, in the Gotham Downtown business district. "Breaking and Entering, Robbery in Progress." Bruce read the alert's caption. "That doesn't sound too interesting." He commented.

"It has been a slow night, Master Bruce." Alfred chimed in. "Just as well, I'll suit up and have a look." Bruce said as he vaulted from behind the console, simultaneously starting the Batmobile remotely. The black wedge shaped super car flared to life, its fusion engines roaring as the bluish green flames shot from its exhaust port. Bruce quickly hopped into his recently upgraded Bat Suit. In moments, he sped through the winding tunnel far beneath the Stately Wayne Manor property.

"Alfred, On Line." The tech savvy butler spoke distinctly into the Bat Computer voice recognition console. "Will you be in need of assistance, sir?" He asked, simultaneously attaching the Bat Tooth earpiece to the edge of his right ear. Bruce adjusted the receiver hidden within the left ear of his Bat mask. "Batman, on line." He instructed the transceiver. The Batmobile zoomed onward, leaving the Wayne Manor Property beneath the waterfall at the edge of the maze like garden.

"I doubt it, Alfred. This seems like a fairly routine B and E (Breaking and Entering). I should really leave it for GCPD (Gotham City Police Department). Though, since I'm here I'll have a look around." Batman responded. "Very good, sir." Alfred confirmed.

Batman slowed the Batmobile down to a crawl as he encircled the large warehouse along Gotham City Bay. Bruce read the warehouse's identification on the portable Bat Computer installed in the Batmobile's dashboard. "Ess and Ell Bio-Chemicals." He stated aloud. "That seems awfully high tech for this rundown waterfront district." He commented. "I'm going in." He added as Alfred acknowledged him. Bruce parked the Batmobile nearby making sure it had a clear path to leave remotely if necessary.

Batman noted that an upper floor window was wide open, and its damaged shutters snapped back and forth in the heavier wind gusts coming off of Gotham Bay. He vaulted upward onto a fire escape, quickly and silently he made his way to the higher levels and neatly flipped inside the window frame, landing quietly on the warehouse room's floor. Small clouds of dust puffed up into the stale, stagnant air.

Next Up: "Fear Factor"