Silent Knight

Chapter 11

Upon entering my workshop, I knew exactly what I needed to make. I pulled up my suit of armor and mask, and began getting to work. I reinforced the armor with half an inch of pure titanium plating, I strengthened the fibers of the cape, I tripled the wattage of the Electric Gloves, and I applied a removable mask for the front of my cowl. The mask itself reinforces my head's armor twofold, and the eyes have protective lenses with several viewing filters for seeing things invisible to the naked eye. I added a fur scarf for warmth and style, and set up heating within the suit so I couldn't be frozen by his gun. A deployable hologram of my old form was added for the element of surprise.

If this wouldn't stop him, nothing would. But that's the thing; I don't take failure as an option. I suited up and began hunting down Fries immediately. As I was preparing to leave, Alfred approached me.

"Sir, I cannot recommend you leave without taking in what exactly has changed..." Alfred stated. I took his advice and checked the map of the city.

Several areas were covered in thick ice and snowed heavily. Fries was manually freezing areas of the city and adding colder climates. The buildings being frozen meant no one could get in - or out. The extremely cold temperatures meant no one could be warm unless they had their hands inside the center of a fire. The heavy snow meant more cold. That would ruin Gotham. Fries had to be stopped, but before I could leave, the Batmobile needed a new set of tires and some armor.

Four inches of titanium plating defended the Batmobile's interior. Retractable spikes were added to the tires and gave more traction in the snow and ice. An afterburner was added for faster traversal as the snow would restrict my tires and motor more than usual. Heavy heating was installed inside. Covered in upgrades, I and the Batmobile were ready for Fries.

I raced out of the Batcave at a high speed. I immediately had to initiate the spiked tires. I sped through the frozen landscape at high speeds and went through every last street until this sector was cleared and I could move onto the next. Main street was clear. 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th were clear. I raced to the next area.

Park, 8th and 9th were all clear. Next section. Washington, Lake and 12th were clear. Onto the last section. Pine, Elm and Hill were all clear. All that was left was 1st. As I drove there a shaded figured blocked my path. Fries. I went to ram into him but he single handedly stopped the Batmobile. Due to the icy roads he slid fairly far but he stopped the car. In all of the smoke I flew out of the hatch, hid behind the Batmobile and initiated the hologram on top of the car.

"You again. I'm going to break you, Batman. You shall not stop me from this." he said. He fired his gun at the Batmobile and it blew up. As the smoke cleared, he scoffed in victory when he saw my hologram was no longer there, but it was short lived when he noticed three lights in the smoke. Three lights belonging to the eye lenses of my armor and the Bat symbol on my chest. I stormed through the smoke and stood at odds with him.

"I see you have adopted a new wardrobe to challenge me." he stated.

"Not to challenge you. To put you in your place."

"Those shall be your final words." he said.

He began firing the gun at me. A concentrated beam of icy mist fired directly at my chest to no avail. The heating within my suit kept it at bay as I marched closer and closer to him.

"Impossible... My ray can freeze any substance..." he muttered. "No matter. I shall defeat you in fisticuffs."

He launched his fist my direction but I caught it. I hit the joint of his arm, breaking it, and kicked him into the ice. He stumbled to his feet and pulled the hammer out. I charged at him as he swung the hammer at my head. I dove over it and uppercut his helmet again.

He returned his hammer into position, giving me no choice but to jump away from him, and turned it around to the ax side. He sliced the ax my way, I danced around it, and grabbed his helmet, launched myself over and around to his back, initiated the electric gloves, and short-circuited his suit. I kicked him into the ice one last time, and beat his armor to bits, slowly and surely.

He lie there defeated on the ground, his armor wrecked, and his weapons broken and avoided. I grabbed his collar and held him in the air.

"Why did you suddenly decide that I was of concern?!"

"...He offered to pay me for my machines..." he replied.

"Where are the devices?!"

"I won't tell you. You can't know." he stuttered.

"Tell me!"

"No. I will not fail him..." he stuttered again.

"TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!"

"Alright, alright... They are on the rooftops in the centers of each area... Are you satisfied now?"

"WHO'S 'HE?'"

"...The one who hired me... However, I cannot talk anymore if you wish to disarm the devices... They are minutes from being permanent changes..." he argued. Most likely to try and escape. I picked up his gun and froze him in the air. "...No... No...!"

"I'll be back for you."

I grappled away as fast as possible and within six minutes had disarmed all four devices. They had a weak spot int the control panel. Destroy that, and you have access to the core of the machine. I had returned quite swiftly, to the dismay of Fries.

"Tell me who hired you right now."

"...Never...! I won't betray him!" he shouted.

"I won't ask you again."

"I am loyal to Him, not You!" he stated.

"Who is he?!"

"I will not tell you! You won't stop him!" he defied. I shattered the ice, painful to him, and held him by the neck in the air.

"WHO IS HE?!"

"...Fine... Fine...! I'll talk...! I was hired alongside the Scarecrow... by the Clown." he said.