ISSUE #10 (July 2023)
Written by Jake Hawkins Featuring: Batman
Robin
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THE HOME OF MAYOR LINCOLN MARCH
The sect leader tasked with teaching the mayor of Gotham a lesson was struggling with a feeling of dread creeping up his spine. Right in front of him, his own forces were being dwindled by not the dark knight himself, but his sidekick, a boy who couldn’t have been more than ten or eleven years old. He took a few steps away from the scene that had devolved into a struggle for his fellow Kobra followers. As he looked across the room into the white lens eyed cowl of the Batman, he almost thought he saw a smirk on the dark knight’s face. Almost. Kobra made a mistake. Maybe they thought I’d be distracted, more worried about tracking down the press conference shooter. Maybe they’re getting far too bold in my city. Whatever the reason, I need to find out why everyone wants a piece of Lincoln now. These two incidents can’t both be coincidences. Most of the members of Kobra still able to stand desperately try to escape the tyranny wrought on them mostly by the boy wonder. It seemed however, that Damian was only getting warmed up. He caught a retreating Kobra member around the ankles with a bola rope, sending him crashing into the carpet chin first. The rest either managed to escape or laid scattered across the March’s foyer, all except the sect leader still trembling by the staircase. Robin stepped over the body of the clumsy member that had knocked himself out and narrowed his eyes in the direction of the sect leader. “I would start talking before my knuckles meet your temple. Just a suggestion.” Robin cracked his knuckles after advising the sect leader of his limited options. The sect leader took off instead, sprinting for the patio door through the kitchen and crashing through it. He just needed to make it over the fence, surely he could call for a pickup before the dynamic duo would reach him. His ill-advised desperate attempt to flee the scene did him no good, he never made it past the pool before he was yanked backwards from the grappling rope that was wrapped around his waist. The sect leader looked backwards and saw the glowering Batman reeling him across the natural stone of the patio deck. Batman snatched the sect leader up by the neck and held him eye to eye. Kobra members were known for being fearless in the face of anything, it's why so many fell into the cult religion. Batman and Robin were surely ready to test the sect leader’s limits. Sirens blared down the highway as Jim Gordon followed a fleet of police cruisers out to the Gotham Palisades. In his passenger seat was District Attorney Dawes. Gripping her arm rest as Gordon’s jalopy pushed past seventy-five and switched lanes. “Sure this thing doesn’t get any faster?” Rachel asked with every ounce of sarcasm she could muster through her nerves. Gordon looked over at her and eased up off the gas pedal a smidge or two, chuckling under his breath. “Well I didn’t think you were going to ride along. I’ll try to keep in the rear till we get to our exit.” Rachel rolled her window down, hoping the cool night air would ease the nauseous feeling creeping upon her. “Do you think he’s already there?” Gordon knew full well who she was referring to with her query. “Absolutely. And if we’re lucky, he’ll have a few answers as to why all this insanity has broken out the last twelve hours.” Gordon answered sternly. He understood Miss Dawes trepidation about the Batman, hell he even understood Bullock’s, though he’d never admit it to him. But the Batman had proven himself time and time again, night after night, to be guilty of nothing but giving his body to protect this city. The very least Gordon owed him was his faith till he’d proven otherwise. “Haven’t you ever considered the optics of it all?” Rachel looked over at Gordon, hoping to get an honest read through his expressions. “I mean we have an uphill battle as it is with the positions we carry on trying to change the image of Gotham. A giant floodlight on the rooftop of the major crimes building so our police force can contact a vigilante doesn’t really help us win that battle.” “No, I guess it doesn’t. But I tell you what, it’s helped us win a hell of a lot of wars so far.” Rachel fell silent at Gordon’s response back. Gordon followed the flood of police cruisers off the freeway and through the lavish neighborhoods that built the palisades. Bullock hopped out of his cruiser first and started giving orders to the uniformed officers arriving alongside him. Hopping out of the passenger seat of his cruiser was the upstart Detective Jane Brenner with a bulletproof vest over her usual work attire, complete with badge on her hip. “Make sure this perimeter is tight! I don’t want a kitten getting past our blockades up the street, got?” Bullock bellowed before motioning for Brenner and a few other officers to follow him towards the house. They burst inside the foyer with Bullock and Brenner leading the charge, both with their guns drawn. They slowly and almost reluctantly lower them when they see the aftermath left inside. The unconscious and subdued members of Kobra foolish enough to attack the mayor were stepped around or over by Bullock as he surveyed the scene. He pulled off his fedora to scratch the back of his head, none too impressed with what he assumed was the handiwork of Batman. Sitting at the glass oval kitchen table just a few feet away was Mayor March, now holding his wife in his arms as she recovered from their ordeal. “Get some paramedic’s in here for Mrs. March! Hurry it up!” Brenner hurried over to Mrs. March herself and began checking her out, making sure first that she was not concussed or worse. “Mr. Mayor, are you both ok?” She looked up at them both as she kneeled in front of Mrs. March. Lincoln tried to muster a smile but could barely put forth the effort. “I think we will be just fine, officer, thank you.” The Mayor tried to assure her, but Detective Brenner seemed none too convinced. She looked behind her after hearing the sound of boots crunching against glass to watch Bullock follow the trail that led to the shattered patio door. Bullock blew a raspberry once he stepped out to the backward, shaking his head again at the sight hanging above him. Wrapped head to toe like an early morning christmas present was the Kobra sect leader. He swung back and forth slightly from the gutter pipe he was hanging from, his face beginning to bruise and swell. “Get this sucker down and in the back of a squad car damn it!” A group of uniforms rushed out the house and past Bullock to carry out his direction. THE BATCAVE The batmobile roared to a stop next to its fleet of predecessors inside the cave. Batman and Robin leaped from the car once the hood peeled back, walking stride for stride through the cave. “Have you been able to break the encryption yet?” Batman asked his son and partner before dropping into his computer chair. “I’m running a protocol Drake introduced me to for heavy encrypted data like this.” Damian hooked the phone to the batcomputer via wireless remote and pulled the keyboard from in front of his father. He worked as quickly as he could, ever efficient as he managed to decrypt the cellphone taken from the Kobra leader. He sifted through the data found on the device before Batman caught sight of a document that raised his attention. “See if you can access that file.” He directed his son, who followed through by pulling up the pdf on screen for them both to look over. “Dozens of wire transfers over the last few weeks, with one as recent as a few hours ago.” Damian summarized. “It may take awhile for us to trace these back to the account holders.” “I wouldn’t doubt it. It looks like the transfers were bounced around between a half dozen dummy accounts before reaching the one used by Kobra.” Batman assessed. “There has to be a bigger group of Kobra members operating in Gotham.” Damian’s assumption was acknowledged by his father with a confirming nod in agreement. “We’ve got two entities, one known and one unknown with a target on the mayor’s back. I’ll dig into Kobra, you focus on tracking down our rogue shooter.” It was Damian’s turn to nod as he took in his father’s strategy. “Let’s get back to Major Crimes and take a look at that rifle.” Just as Alfred stepped off the lift from the kitchen, the duo were heading right back to the car. Alfred looked down at the dinner he had prepared and let out a small sigh. “Just keep it warm for us, Pennyworth.” Damian called over his shoulder with a smile, pulling his domino mask back on. Alfred watched the batmobile roar right back out of the cave, tires squealing. SHADY MILES TRAILER PARK Chris Smith listened to Jack Ryder’s show on a beat up FM radio that sat on his porch, and what the pompous newscaster said next nearly caused him to drop his wrench into his engine. “Hours after an attempt on his life during a public address at city hall, we are receiving reports that Mayor Lincoln March and his wife were attacked at their Gotham Palisades residence.” Chris stopped working on his car and rose from under the hood, his attention fixated on Jack Ryder’s report. Anger swelled in him as he listened to the details trickle in, what little there seemed to be at the moment. Someone had decided to take his glory from him. That didn’t sit right in his stomach, and as he took a long swig of his beer, it ate at him further. He stormed up the steps of his trailer, turning off the radio as he passed it and entering the house. He wasn’t going to wait for another shot at March to present himself. That wasn’t what a man does, he convinced himself as he headed into the kitchen to grab another beer. There were ways he hadn’t considered for him to get another window, and he knew he only needed one more. He cracked open the beer bottle against the edge of his sink and downed half of it, wiping his mouth with his forearm. He walked back into the living room and pulled open one of the dresser drawers that his TV sat on. Inside was an array of pistols. Everything from standard Sig 9’s to customized Magnum’s. He tucked a couple of pistol’s into his waistband before heading back outside, this time closing the door to his trailer behind him. After slamming the hood shut, Chris hopped into his thunderbird and sped out of the trailer park, the sound of Guns and Roses trailing after him. A town car's headlights came on, its engine purring softly to life. Emilia Harcourt pulled slowly from where her car had been hidden in a swarm of trees and followed the thunderbird. MAJOR CRIMES UNIT HEADQUARTERS In the basement of the aging building, Gordon made his way off the elevator and through the hallway towards evidence lockup. He stepped inside, turning on the light immediately and nearly had a heart attack. Already inside the evidence locker were the caped crusader’s, awaiting his arrival. “Jesus. You couldn’t have let me know you were already here?” Gordon shook his head before walking over to the shelf where the rifle used by Peacemaker had utilized. He placed it on the table in the center of the room and examined it along them both. “I’m sorely hoping you manage to get further than we have with it so far. Serial number has been filed clean.” Batman inspected the rifle for a brief moment before pulling a scanner device the size of a small stapler from his utility belt. Both Robin and the commissioner watched with curiosity as Batman passed the device over the area where the serial number had been, bathing it in a soft orange light. A string of numbers and letters emitted from the device in a hologram pop up, finally settling on a series that had previously been marked on the weapon. Batman turned his head over his shoulder to Robin. “Run this now and see what we get.” Robin nodded and used the remote link he had to the batcave on his own gauntlets to the check the serial number. Batman raised his head back to Gordon on the other side of the table. “What Kobra affiliated inmates are you aware of that are currently in Blackgate?” Gordon looked surprised by the question from the detective. “I’m not too sure, but I can tell you who would. Although I’m not too sure she’ll be willing to assist.” PRIVATE UPTOWN PENTHOUSE Carl Grissom looked out at the Gotham skyline from his office. He weighed a decision in his head at the moment, whether to celebrate with a cigar or a glass of his finest wine he’d brought back from the Coast City vineyards. His musings and enjoyment of the view was interrupted by one of his on duty guards bursting into the room. “Boss.” The henchman squirmed when he saw the livid expression on his boss' face. “I’m sorry, but you got a call.” Grissom looked twice as furious, forcing the henchman to explain himself further abruptly. “It’s out of Dakota.” Grissom merely motioned for the guard to bring him the phone, which he snatched before waving him out of the room. “Edwin, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” Grissom pulled open his top drawer and pulled a Cuban from a box he kept tucked there. “Well I have to say Carl, when I nominated you for membership, I was expecting more than half-assery. And yet, this is what it looks like we are getting with you.” “You’re seeing things from the wrong angle, Alva. And that’s why you nominated me, cause I can see the ones you and the rest of your circle can’t!” Grissom shot back. He dragged on his cigar, bravado building in his chest along with the smoke. “Batman and Robin stuck their noses in that mess, but we got Lincoln good and shaking. Combined with whatever lunatic that was who took a swipe with him, I’d say I’m damn near overdelivering.” Alva chuckled dryly. “Hmph, I’d say it sounds like you’ve gotten a tad lucky. But we’ll accept these results for now. March either folds or he gets eliminated Grissom, these are the only ways you gain entry into the SYSTEM. “The job will be done one way or another. “ TO BE CONTINUED |