Silent Knight

Chapter 2

"All units, we have a 918A on main and 2nd."

The police radio frequency in my headset buzzed with activity. For some reason, the holidays seemed highest in crime here in Gotham. Crime almost doubled this time. It's the worst it's been in years. Then something caught my attention.

"HQ, We've got a, uhm... Christmas... Tree running a red lights and a confirmed hit and run with injuries..."

A Christmas tree? What could that mean? I had to check it out. I pulled out my cryptographic sequencer and tuned into the broadcast, triangulating its position.

"A Christmas tree? Elaborate, please...?"

"A... A tree, covered in bark and pine and lights, with flaming eyes and throwing smoking presents around. What more can I describe it as...?"

"...Man or vehicle?"

"Vehicle? Yeah, it's a, uhh... Tree."

The more they spoke and argued, I was able to directly locate the signal of origin. Corner of Windsor and 8th street. I flew there and passed more innocent civilians, when I saw a hooded figure holding an ominous briefcase. You, the audience, may be thinking something like; "Well, Bruce, you can't just go around fighting EVERY hooded guy you see with a briefcase!" And you're right. I don't. This guy, however, had a briefcase with a faint purple smoke emitting from it.

He saw my shadow as I contemplated while gliding and dashed down an alleyway. Perfect. I could corner him there. I turned sharply down the alley and crashed into the wall. I still gotta get better at flying. I took advantage of the contact and threw myself from the wall. Eventually I watched the guy stop at a dead end. I quickly landed, albeit shakily, and stood ominously in the light. And within seconds, he turned to face me.

"...You... You're real... Look man, you got... You got the wrong... The wrong guy..." he stuttered in fear. I quickly noticed the nametag on his suit; Thomas Franks. I watched as he stumbled backwards into the wall behind him. "What.. What do you want from me?"

"The briefcase."

"...T-Take it! I don't want it anymore! It's yours, sir!... Just please don't hurt me..."

Inside of the briefcase wasn't what I thought it was. Money. Piles and piles of money. Still wrapped money fresh from the bank. This guy wasn't involved with my target. So, where did the glow emanate from? Unless it was him, and he used the bank as a front to hide the toxin. I dug through the money until I came across a small vial of purple liquid, glowing a magenta color. I looked up to see him missing. On the ground was a small note reading;

"I force those to act harder than a shot of adrenaline. I strike more silently than a cat hunting a mouse. I pounce from the shadows to nothing but a sudden movement. What am I, Batman?"

I turned around to see where he could have fled and was met by four hooded figures with knives and broken bottles. "Well, gents, looks like we caught us a bat for dinner, don't'cha say?" one of the men said. "Yes, boss. Looks like we's eatin' good tonight." another replied. They all charged at me, and with little to no hesitation I tightened my fists for combat.

I pounded one across the face with a devastating blow, an injury they won't be recovering from tonight, and swept another off his legs, swinging my fists into his chest, clotheslining him into the cement in the process. I ducked underneath a bottle thrown at me and caught the assailant in the throat, knocking him into the wall. The last man thrust his knife my way and I easily caught it between my hands and headbutt him into the next morning. With the action over, I took a deep breath and continued thinking over the riddle when it hit me. The answer...

Was Fear.

I looked over at one of the unconscious thugs on the ground and noticed a paper in his pocket. I was met with another riddle.

"I can be gas, solid, liquid or plasma. The Bat's mother tells him not to touch me, but he gets his grimy mitts on me anyway. He ends up hospitalized because he stuck his pointy nose where it never belongs. What am I, Batman?"

Gas, solid, liquid or plasma. What could possibly be all four, or choose between them? I thought it over harder. What could hospitalize The Bat - me - for touching it, because "he stuck his pointy nose where it never belongs?" A stove was my first thought. In the riddle I'm painted out to be a curious child. However, it's quite obvious it's not a stove because those aren't gas, liquids or plasma. The next thought I had was fire. Again, not gas, liquid or solid. Then it hit me. Chemicals.

The answer was Chemicals.

Fear and Chemicals. It had to mean something. I thought about what Gage had said about that officer; "It's a hallucinatory toxin or gas of sorts. The last guy to go up on this guy ended up hospitalized, muttering about devils and hell on earth." With that knowledge, it leads me to believe Fear is in regard to this strange purple chemical. And chemicals? It's too easy. It leads to Ace Chemicals. The only place where the target can mass produce a toxin of such level without authorities breathing down their neck. And with that, Ace Chemicals was my next destination.