This is a sequel to another story I wrote featuring Calendar man as a villain.
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/OnlyZodKnowsWhy/news/?a=6927
I got so many positive reviews on that story, I decided to take a few more ideas I had left to write this. I warn you it is a little long, but as was my last story, this one will be broken up by illustrations. I hope you like it, if you do let me know. Thank you and without further ado, and special thanks to joslezio85 for casting help, and Shaman for the title, I present to you Batman 4: The Darkness of the Mind.
Night Gotham City:
It is in the still of night the camera shows the city from above, going over the city, until it focuses on five suped up motorcycles speeding through the city. The bikes speed towards the industrial sector of Gotham. As they near Wayne Industrial Park, the leader motions with a hand and two of the bikes break off. They both head towards the two guard houses. The guards come out to investigate the noise, most likely assuming it to be kids playing around. The two riders each pull out a 9mm with a silencer. They slow near the guards, taking both out with one shot each. The two riders speed up to rejoin the rest of the group. They stop in front of a large warehouse. The men disembark from their bikes; each of them is carrying automatics. One man, who apparently is the leader of the group, wearing a long green duster style coat, walks towards the entrance way of the building.
He goes up to a control box which apparently controls the alarms and locks for the building. The man in green pulls a hand held device with two wires out of his pocket. He nods to one of the other riders; the rider pulls two cans of spray paint out of his pocket. He throws one to another rider, they both approach a wall. The man in green meanwhile has opened the control box and attached the wires from the device to the computer interface. He smiles and turns to the two men who killed the guards.
“The alarm wasn’t triggered, well done. There will be a bonus for you two. Now let’s see if my new little program here is up to this little task.” He said as hit a key on his device. There was a noise, and suddenly the warehouse door began to open up. The green man smiled as he disconnected the two wires. He motioned the other four to follow him in. He walks into the warehouse that is occupied by one large container. “A $25,000,000.00 security system brought down by one simple program. Technology boys it’s the future.” He said as he opened the case. He looked up from the empty case angrily.
“And sometimes the old fashioned ways are the best.” Said a feminine voice from above. Green and his men looked up to see the silhouette of a woman in black up in the rafters, heading towards an open maintenance way that most likely led to the roof. “Shoot her she has the processor.” Green said directing his men to open fire. They fired at the ceiling, the woman always just ahead of their shots. Suddenly she dove down towards them, seemingly straight to the ground, but at the last second she flicked out her whip, catching a support post halting her fall.
She swung over them towards the exit, when suddenly the exit was blocked by the silhouette of a man dressed as a bat. “Batman!” one of the thugs cried out opening fire. The man in green swore out loud.
The woman looked at Batman dodge the bullets as he maneuvered around the thugs. “Meooow.” She said to herself. Batman looked up and saw the processor in her hand. He pulled out his grapple and shot it up to her as she disappeared through the hatchway to the roof. Batman looked for a moment from the hatchway to green and his men fleeing the warehouse to their bikes, reluctantly he followed the woman up the hatchway.
When he got to the roof which was several stories above the ground he saw the woman dragging an unconscious man towards the edge of the roof. Batman tells her to stop, and in his gruff voice he asks her “Why are you doing this?”
She looked at him, smiled and answered him with a strangely familiar voice “Because of you.” Batman was taken aback by her comment “You have to choices here Batsy: one you chase me and he dies or two..” As she said the last part she pushed the man off of the roof. Batman rushed to the edge of the roof, and was barely able to snug the man with his grapple. He drug the man back onto the roof. He looked and saw that the woman was gone, and he could barely hear green’s motorcycles off in the distance. He did hear sirens from the police as they drove up. He saw Bulloch get out his car with a megaphone
“Batman, this is the police, turn ya self in or we will shoot.”
Batman not giving Bulloch time to finish his threat shot his grapple and swung off. The camera moves to show the wall of the building, it had a giant green question mark spray painted onto it.
The next morning the news was abuzz with information about the previous nights heist. A woman on one station was reporting.
“Late last night, yet another high tech robbery occurred. The victim this time was Wayne Industries. The robbery is being attributed to the technologically advanced villain known as the Riddler. Sources also confirm the presence of two of Gotham’s other masked notables. The Batman and the new cat burglar known as Catwoman. Could Riddler and Catwoman be working together? Could Batman be working with them? Later we will discuss this with famed psychiatrist Hugo Strange.”
Bruce Wayne drove up to the industrial park in his Lamborghini. He pulled to a stop behind the police line. He walked over to where he saw Commissioner Gordon talking to Mr. Fox. He made his introductions to Gordon and Fox. Gordon told Bruce everything they knew up to that point. The Riddler and his men hacked one of the most advanced security systems in the world in less than a minute, after killing two guards. Meanwhile Catwoman had bribed a guard that worked at the facility in the day to let her in that evening, she then rendered him unconscious. She snuck in stole the experimental processor, and was caught in the act by Riddler and his men. They engaged in a firefight, until Batman intervened. Gordon apologized to Bruce about the police not being able to guard the area, especially since this was the Riddler’s sixth heist in the past two months. All available police were trying to handle the mob war.
Gordon reveals that since Calendar Man’s murders the year before there was a power vacuum in Gotham’s underworld, “It was bad enough worrying about the ones we knew about, Thorne this Penguin guy. And now there is a new mask wearing group moving in and taking out all of the smaller ones, this False Face Society.”
In central Gotham there are many tall buildings; one of these buildings is that of Sionis international. The top floor of this building is private office of Roman Sionis, the second richest man in Gotham, after Bruce Wayne. Sionis was in the middle of an interview, “…Well my life hasn’t been that easy. After my parent’s deaths in a fire a few years ago, I have built this company from the ground up, now it rivals the likes of Wayne Enterprise, and Lexcorp.” Before the reporter could ask any more questions Sionis cut her off saying he had too much work to do, so they would have to conclude this interview at a later date. After everyone had left Sionis went over to one of the walls in his office. He moved a picture of his parents off of the wall revealing a keypad. He keyed in a code, the wall silently slid open revealing his real office. As the wall slid opened Sionis was not surprised to see the form of the Riddler lounging on a couch. Sionis walked passed him to a desk lined with computer monitors. “Edward. How nice to see you. I’d ask how you got in here without my security noticing, but I know I’d be wasting my time.”
Riddler sat up and smiled “Well, I did design your security system.” Sionis looked at him “You know, I could have sworn I paid someone $500,000.00 to seal Wayne Enterprises new computer processor. You may know him, wears a tacky green suit carries around a cane.”
Riddler looked at him “It’s not my fault. The cat beat me to it, and then the bat showed up.”
Sionis looked down “Ah yes Batman. He is becoming a hindrance to my plans.”
Riddler stood up and walked to a computer monitor, studying it “Yeah imagine what he’d do if he, or the cops, knew that you were in charge of the False Face Society.”
Sionis looked up immediately; the color draining from is face. His hand reaching under the desk for a gun he kept hidden there. “How did you...”
“Know?” Riddler finished “It’s what I do. I know things, like how the gun you’re reaching for has no bullets.”
Sionis set the gun on his desk after confirming that it held no rounds. “What do you want Edward?”
Riddler paced around the room, as if contemplating “I know that you are at war with Penguin and Thorne. I also know that Batman is a problem to everyone. And Catwoman has just made herself my problem.” Riddler turned to Sionis “I will take care of your enemies if you give me the resources I need, and stay out of my way.”
Sionis looked at Riddler for a moment “Agreed, but what are you going to do about the Bat?”
Riddler paused as he walked out of the room “Roman, how do you stop a dog from barking in July?”
Sionis didn’t answer; the Riddler finished “You shoot it in June. I’ll be in touch.”
That night in the exclusive night club the Iceberg Lounge the owner of the lounge, Oswald Cobblepot better known as the Penguin, is waiting in his office. He has his back to the open window, but is not surprised when a female voice speaks up behind him “Hello Pengy, I’ve got it.”
Penguin rubbed his hands together “good good. I’ll have your money sent to your account.” Penguin walked over to a computer and keyed in a few numbers. “It’s done. Well I look forward to working with you in the future. And perhaps one day we could take our relationship to a more personal level”Penguin turned around to find that Catwoman had already left.
Across town in a hidden location the Riddler is seen in a darkly lit room in front of a computer. Slowly a sinister smile spreads across his face.
A few days later Dr. Hugo Strange is on TV discussing the Batman and the Riddler. He believes that Batman is directly responsible for the crime wave the city is experiencing. And he claims that the findings from his studies of the Joker, Calendar Man, and Scarecrow at Arkham have led him to believe that Batman is responsible for the appearance of these masked menaces. He also feels that Batman may have experienced a horrible loss as a child, perhaps that of his parents. He also claimed that the Riddler had an abusive father that made him compulsively leave clues at the scenes of his crimes.
Bruce and Selina were having lunch at an expensive restaurant. They both apologized for the fact that they have been distracted. Bruce says the robberies have been distracting him lately. Selina told him she had been busy “raising” money. Bruce asks Selina if she would like to go to the circus next week, she thought it would be fun.
Late that night Batman is drawn to Gotham’s east side by the sound of gunfire. He stands at the top of one of the nearby buildings surveying the situation. There were three cops pinned down behind two squad cars. They were caught in the crossfire of Thorne’s men and the False Face Society. Batman knew that those rival gangs didn’t care about the lives of police. He had to do something, fast. Batman gripped his grapple in one hand, and in the other he held some Batarangs. He swung down over the Society throwing the Batarangs at them. The Batarangs disarmed two of the men, and wounded another. Batman landed amongst the police. He asked him if they were harmed, one of them had been shot and needed a doctor. Thinking fast Batman grasped a hubcap of one of the cars, giving it a strong pull he was able to break it off. He jumped over the cars towards Thorne’s men. He hurled the hubcap as he leapt. It was enough to distract them long enough for Batman to get behind them and disarm the four of them. Batman turned back towards the Society and saw that they had jumped into their car and were trying to escape. Batman hit a button on his belt calling the Batmobile. It came speeding around the corner with its hatchway open. He jumped into the moving vehicle and sped off in pursuit of the gang members.
Batman chased them through the heart of Gotham, careening through traffic, trying to avoid endangering any pedestrians. He narrowed the distance between him and the other car, so that there was no one between them. Batman flipped a switch on a console in the Batmobile. In the hood a panel slid back revealing a harpoon looking device. He hit another button and the harpoon shot from the Batmobile and embedded itself in the rear of the car. Batman killed the thrust and out the Batmobile in reverse. This cause the other car to suddenly stop, the drive shaft shattered from the shock of the abrupt stop causing the car to flip in mid air. Batman got out of the Batmobile and stood over the wreck. He pulled one of the thugs out of the wreck and questioned him about who was behind the False Face Society. The man laughed and spit up blood through the rip in his mask. “Bla-ackk m m Mas...k” the thug managed to say before passing out. Batman left the thug on the ground and jumped back into the Batmobile as he heard the sirens approaching.
Later that night the Riddler and six men are seen breaking into the back of a bank owned by the Penguin. Riddler easily bypasses the alarm, and deactivates the security system. He and his team make their way passed a guard, whom they take out with a tranquilizer gun. He makes his way to the vault, when he reaches it he pulls out a device connected to a card key. He slides it through a checkpoint separating him from the vault. He reaches the vault and sees that it is locked by a keypad. He looks to his men “Ten grand I get it on the first try.” He goes over to the keypad and types in a password. Sure enough the first layer of security guarding the vault opens. He then pulls out the hand held device he used earlier and patches it into some wire he pulled loose. After a few moments the vault finally opened. “All right boys take only what you can carry in the bags, don’t get greedy. There will be plenty of time for that later.” Riddler looked around the vault; he pulled a piece of paper with a question mark on one side and a series of letters on the other side. He places it on an empty tray were a thousand dollars use to be. He and his men gathered up their loot and left the bank. As the rest were leaving Riddler pulled a can of spray paint out of a pocket of his coat and sprayed a question mark on the floor of the lobby before leaving.
The next day Penguin is notified that his bank was robbed. The cops got there before he could. When he got there the first thing he noticed was the question mark on the floor. He saw Gordon emerge from the vault area carrying a piece of paper. Gordon informed him that the Riddler was behind this.
A few days later Bruce was at Wayne Manor getting ready to receive Selina for dinner, before they left for the circus. Alfred had been quiet lately. Bruce decided to confront him about why he was being quiet. Alfred said that it was Bruce that was being distant. Bruce had become so wrapped up in his mission that he was beginning to become more violent, darker, more like the criminals he faced. Bruce said he couldn’t stop being Batman now, if he did the city would destroy itself. “Well master Wayne; perhaps you need someone other than me to help anchor you in the right. Perhaps Miss Kyle should be informed of your secret.” Bruce remained quiet. “Alfred, as long as I am Batman, she and I. We can’t…” Alfred looked at him for a moment “Do you love her sir?” Bruce looked down for a moment “I don’t want to love her, I loved my parents, I loved Rachel, and look what happened to them.”
“Master Wayne, those things were not your fault. You should know by now that Rachel’s and your parent’s deaths were not your fault.” Bruce nodded and said he knew that “I’m just worried if I let myself love her, she will get hurt to.” Alfred walked over to him “The fact that you are worried means you already love her. And if you’re right I’m bloody well glad you don’t love me.” Bruce looked up and saw that Alfred was trying to lighten his mood; Bruce smiled and thanked Alfred for always being there.
Later when Selina arrived he was unsure and decided to put it off until after the circus. He and Selina ate a quiet dinner before leaving. They engaged in some small talk on the way to the circus. He asked her about her friend Holly. Selina told him that Holly was going to be getting out of rehab soon, and she thanked him for giving her the money to send Holly there.
Before the beginning of the circus a member of the mob name Tony “Boss” Zucco was attempting to extort the circus owner for protection money. Most of the circus members capitulated to his demands, all except for a husband and wife. They were part of a high wire act known as the Flying Grayson’s, along with their teenage son Dick. They we able to rally the other members of the circus to refuse Zucco’s demands. Zucco vowed that the Grayson’s would regret getting in his way.
Shortly before the start of the show Zucco sent two of his men to sabotage the Grayson’s wires.
Bruce and Selina were enjoying the circus, though Selina did get rather upset while the lion tamer was on. She had calmed down however by the time of the trapeze act. The Grayson’s were a family of three. They were beginning their routine. The husband and wife were supposed to swing out in the middle towards each other, at which point he would grab her. They would swing back and grab the boy, and so on and so forth. They began the routine, the woman jumped out towards the man, he caught her. On the rear arc of their swing, the wire snapped! The boy watched as his mother and father went from being a few feet in front of him, reaching out to him, to plummeting towards the ground. Everyone in the audience was shocked; Bruce and Selina joined the crowd on their feet in a stunned silence. Bruce looked across the arena and saw a man who looked like Tony Zucco exit the arena.
After the police arrived Bruce worked his way towards Commissioner Gordon and his men. They were speaking to the Ring leader. He overheard the ring master describe Zucco. Gordon came over towards him after he finished talking to the ring master. Bruce asked Gordon what was to become of the boy. Gordon told him the boy had no living relatives, so he will become a ward of the state, “and most likely get lost in the foster system.” Bruce finished. “Look Commissioner, people are saying it was murder, and my parents were killed as well, I just want to know if there is anything I can do.” Gordon told him that he’d see what he could do.
That same evening in a small room the form of the Riddler could be seen. He was looking at a large computer screen; the screen was covered with pictures of different men and women, all of them among Gotham’s social elite. On another monitor he had various pictures of Batman and Catwoman. Scattered in the room around Riddler was clippings and pieces of newspapers. He scrolled through the pictures on the first monitor, until he selected pictures of Bruce and Selina.
Late the next evening Batman met with Commissioner Gordon on top of Gotham Police Headquarters. Gordon told Batman that the Riddler left a riddle behind at the bank. He handed it to Batman “It’s a cipher, a message hidden in a series of letters, or numbers.” Batman looked at him “I know what it means” He takes the paper from Gordon. “No one in our department can make any sense of it.” Gordon says he knows that it must be hard with the city blaming him. Before he could say anything else he saw that Batman was gone.
Batman took the cipher back to the Batcave. He ran it through the computer to attempt to decrypt it. The computer took about an hour to remove the first two layers of code revealing the core layer:
ABAAA AABBBAAAAABABABAABAA BAABAAABBBABBBABABBAABBAB BBAAAABBBABABAA BAABBAABBBAAAAABAABB ABAAA AAABAAAAAAABBAB AABBBABAAABAABB AAAAABAABB AAAAAABBABBBAAA BAABBABAAAABBAAAABAA ABBAABBAAA AABBABAAABAABAAAAAAABAABBAABAABAABABAABB AAABABAAABABAAAABBAAAABAA BABBAABAAAABABBABABB AAAABAABAA BAABBAABBBAABAA ABBBBABABBAAAAAAAABAAABAA BABBAAABBBAABAABAAABAABAA ABBBBABBBABABBAAABAABAAAB AAABBABBBAAABAABAABA AABAAABBAAABAAABAABB
Batman studied the cipher. The computer decoded it as
“I have shown you that I can hit at any time, my greatest crime will be the place where power does emit”
Batman studied the clue he realized the Riddler’s next crime will time related. Suddenly it came to him “emit” was “time” spelt backwards. And Gotham museum had a solid gold clock from the royal court of the Romanovs, the clock was damaged and the face was placed on it in reverse. The file said the clock was unveiled at the museum that afternoon. He raced to the Batmobile and sped away.
At Gotham Museum the Riddler and his men had just disabled the security system. They worked their way through the museum till they found what they were looking for. Riddler was able disable the infrared grid guarding the clock. But just as he was fixing to move it the alarm went off and the lights came on. Riddler and his men see a figure dart through another room. “Catwoman.” Riddler said calmly as if expecting this. In the other room you hear automatic weapon fire, suddenly Catwoman burst into the room Riddler and some of his men are in, she is being pursued by the rest of his men. “What are you doing here!” she hissed.
Riddler smiled “Do you know what killed the cat? Curiosity killed the cat.” He said as his men began to open fire, she dodged almost effortlessly.
Catwoman smiled and unfurled her whip
“But satisfaction brought her back.” She said as she slung her whip at two of Riddler’s men knocking the weapons out of their hands. She brought the whip back and tried to hit Riddler with it. He blocked it with his cane, the whip wrapping itself around the cane. Riddler’s men encircled her, guns at the ready, when suddenly Batman came crashing through the skylight. He landed on two of Riddler’s seven thugs. Riddler ordered two of them to help him get the clock outside. They grabbed it while the others attacked Batman and Catwoman. Catwoman took one out with her whip. She then kicked one of them in the groin dropping him to his knees. She ran towards the emergency exit. Batman dispatched the remainder of Riddler’s men. He looked for Riddler the only thing he found was another Riddle on the stand the clock once occupied. Hearing sirens fast approaching, Batman fired a grapple up to the roof. When he got there he saw Catwoman preparing to leap to a nearby building. Catwoman blew him a little kiss as she used her whip to grab hold of a railing on the next highest building. Batman, having no chance of finding Riddler now followed her. He chased her on the roof tops, higher and higher into the city. At one point she jumps to a building ahead of him, he uses his grapple to catch up to her. As the grapple retracts and he is over the yawning chasm between the buildings, she jumps out to him. Batman is shocked as she does that. She jumps towards him and latches on to him in mid air. She wraps her arms and legs around him tightly, and much to his surprise, she kisses him. They kiss passionately as they both swing through the air at thirty stories high. They crash together on the rooftop, she roles away from him quickly. She runs to the other side of the roof and jumps across to the next building over, blowing him a kiss. Batman tries to follow, but is surprised to discover that while kissing him she wrapped a cord around his waist and legs. By the time he has removed himself from the cord, Catwoman was long gone.
Deep beneath stately Wayne Manor, Batman was in front of the computer in the Batcave, trying to decode Riddler’s newest Riddle:
Nvwcd S ceyw'b gaaa pbnmqk drruy qimema k qo ah a. yqkkh su ehs itc vcweo bler rw ip nk kas rdhg dcoyp nqqnue m st xyrd vypp dcpr danexzsm vdh vs r mbrv he ger tazc nrpfmm fwutdaizyphhst ul hyergs
It took the most advanced computer in the world about an hour to decode the message it was translated as:
“Maybe I didn't make myself clear before a am an e. nigma to you you still seem to be in the dark about things I am sure that this valuable gem of a clue to you will remain indestructible as always”
What did it mean? Batman immediately cross checked a list of valuable items in Gotham with each word on the list. He knew that the Riddler only went after high profile items; he eventually narrowed it down to two things. One was a diamond studded scepter on loan from the French Museum of Antiquities; he didn’t think Riddler would go after that item, especially since it was at the same museum he robbed earlier. The other item was the Cats Eye diamonds. They were currently in the possession of a private collector. Batman queried for the current owner of the diamonds. The owner was one Oswald Cobblepot, better known throughout the underworld as “The Penguin.”
Alfred had at this point joined Bruce in the cave. He informed Bruce that Mr.’ Fox needed to see him this morning at 11:00. Alfred told Bruce that he seemed distracted. Bruce had pictures of the Riddler and Catwoman on the screen. Bruce, still looking at the pictures of Catwoman responded to Alfred “There’s something about her…”
Alfred was looking at some of Bruce’s tools on the counter “yes that Miss Kyle is a lovely woman.”
As Alfred said this Bruce sat up rigidly “Could she be…”
Alfred walked up to Bruce “Did you say something Master Wayne?” Bruce said no. He had to be wrong there was no way that she was… Bruce decided it may be best to wait a while before he tells Selina his secret. “Alfred has anything been decided about the boy?” “Nothing yet sir.”
“I’m worried about him. I know what he’s going through, but at least I had you, he has no one.”
Bruce checked the time, 9:00 am. It had been a long night, and was to be a long day. He had an appointment with Mr. Fox at 11:00, and he and Selina were going to a charity benefit that night. A benefit organized by Selina, the same benefit that Cobblepot was auctioning the diamonds at. He felt that this may be too much of a coincidence, or maybe he was being paranoid.
In a room on the other side of Gotham. Riddler’s green coat was hanging over the back of the chair. Riddler and one of his men were in the room planning the robbery. “Now you’re sure you know what to do?” Riddler asked.
The thug nodded “I got a question boss.”
“Go on, and it’s I “have a question”, but continue”
“Why are we hitting this place? Why not hit the museum again?”
Riddler looked up from a paper he was studying “Two reasons. One I’ve already beaten the museum. And two, if I am right this job could provide me with the answer to the greatest riddle of all.” He said dropping the picture he was holding onto a pile of other pictures. The picture he was holding was of Bruce Wayne, and it landed on pictures of Batman.
In the main office of Wayne Enterprises, Bruce and Fox were both looking at the processor that was stolen by Catwoman.
“Are you sure?” Bruce asked.
“Yes. We bought this off of the black market. We outbid another buyer, I had the other buyer investigated, and I found out that it was Sionis Industries.”
Wayne looked down. “I always knew Roman was dirty, but. I wonder what else he is up to.”
Fox looked at him a moment “Well if you didn’t like that, you’ll love this. The source we traced to Sionis was, well. It was the False Face Society.”
Bruce was silent for a moment. “This confirms some of my suspicions. I have been able to trace the Society’s leader, a man called Black Mask, to someone in a high social and financial position. I need more evidence than I have, but at least now I know what direction to look.”
The camera is zoomed in on the face of Riddler, as he and his men were preparing to leave. “Alright boys, you know what to do. And remember this time we’re performing in front of a live audience. So let’s remember to look our best.” The camera zoomed out to reveal Riddler in a green suit, mask, with a green bowler hat on.
Bruce and Selina were walking through the Iceberg Lounge, which had been redone on the inside for the charity benefit. Bruce was careful to note that out of all of Gotham’s elite present, Roman was absent. Selina asked him why he was distracted. He told her he was just looking for an old friend. She moves him out onto the dance floor. It was a slow dance they both held each other tight, forgetting their problems, if only for a moment.
Across town in an unknown location, a meeting of Gotham’s notable criminals was under way. Among those in attendance was Rupert Thorne, having served a short jail sentence after surviving Calendar Man’s attack last year. Lew Moxon, an established mob boss that managed to avoid the fiasco and gang wars that most of Gotham’s underworld has been caught in since Calendar Man’s attacks. Tony Zucco, an upcoming mobster who was representing Penguin at the meeting. The last member of the meeting had yet to arrive. He was known in the underworld only as Black Mask, yet in the past year his group had grown to become the second largest group in Gotham, rivaled only by Thorne and Penguin’s groups. Mask showed up late preceded by men in masks, when Black Mask entered the room, everyone instinctively flinched. When he spoke it was in a dark, sinister voice, “Good evening gentlemen, let’s get this meeting started.”
Selina and Bruce were sitting through the auction, occasionally bidding on items, until the Cat’s Eyes finally came up to bid. Selina breathed sharply and grabbed Bruce’s arm “They’re so…stunning.” She said. He looked at her and smiled “They’re yours.” Her eyes shown as brightly as the diamonds after he said this. Bruce bid on the diamonds several times. Eventually it was between him and a man who was being pestered by his wife. Bruce finally offered an enormous amount of money, and won the item. Suddenly a voice spoke up in the back, “I’d like to place a bid.” Bruce and Selina both turned around and recognized the Riddler. He and his thugs were walking up the aisles, they had their guns drawn, and he just carried his cane. Bruce knew he had to get Selina out of here, and get into his suit, but for he also didn’t want Selina to think less of him. One of Penguin’s men pulled a gun on the Riddler, Riddler’s men opened fire. The people ran panicking. Bruce grabbed Selina and was able to make it outside. He put her in his car and told her to get away from there. She asked him where he was going. He told her that he was going to try and help. He darted to the back alley, as if he was going to enter through the back. Little did they know that a man with a camera was photographing their whole meeting.
Reluctantly Selina left, but rather than do as Bruce said, she pulled into a back alley. She ran out of the car and into a building. Bruce meanwhile found where he had hid his costume before the auction; he quickly donned it becoming the Batman.
Riddler meanwhile had gathered together the remaining guests, and forced them to put vests containing explosives on. He then gathered the diamonds, and a few other valuables. Suddenly Batman burst through a window. “Ah, right on time, and our other guest should be arriving right about now.” As he said that Catwoman’s whip arced through the air towards the Riddler’s hand holding the diamonds. He caught the whip on his cane, gave it a tug and pulled her towards him. His men meanwhile were being easily dispatched by Batman. “You know Batman, I think she looks even better in this than that dress she had on earlier.” Batman looked over to see Riddler with a knife at Catwoman’s throat. “Glad to see that I have your attention. Do you ever notice that a special someone is never around when she is here” Riddler said.
“Each of these people is wearing a vest wired with explosives, this is the detonator.” He said pulling a small device out of his pocket. By this time Gordon and the police were in the room as well. “The vests will explode if you attempt to remove them and they are timed to explode in twenty minutes. Unless you enter the code on that laptop, though I warn you if you use the incorrect code the bombs explode.” Riddler said as one of his men slid the laptop towards Batman. Gordon spoke up, “What do you want Riddler?”
“You will allow me to reach the roof without following me, and if you do I kill her.” He said holding the knife tight on Catwoman’s throat. “Oh and one more thing, only Batman can enter the code, because only he can solve the code. If anyone else approaches the computer the vest may explode.” Riddler and his men worked their way to the stairway with Catwoman in tow.
Batman looked at the clue Riddler had left, it was another cipher, and except this one was much simpler.
“gwzhj bfdsj” Batman quickly figured out what the code was. The code itself shocked Batman; the code was “Bruce Wayne”. He quickly entered the code deactivating the bombs. He then smashed the laptop so no one could see that the code was in fact his secret identity. He then raced after the Riddler.
He reached the roof and saw Riddler holding Catwoman out of a helicopter; he saw Batman and pushed her out! Batman raced towards the edge of the building, he dove across the gap between the buildings catching her in midair. The both crashed onto the lower roof of a nearby building. Catwoman, panting, trying to catch her breath said “You know if we keep meeting like this people will start to talk.”
Riddler’s chopper was already far away. Catwoman watched as he flew away “He will pay for this!”
Batman grabbed her and pulled her up. She wrapped herself around Batman and kissed him, while off in the distance a camera saw it all.
Batman pushed Catwoman away from him. He held her hand as she looked at him longingly, until she felt the weight of a pair of handcuffs settle around her wrists. She looked from the cuffs to Batman and said “Hmm, kinky.”
“I’m taking you in.” he said in his gruff voice, then he saw her raised eyebrows behind her goggles “To the police.” He said firmly.
She looked down with mock disappointment “Awe, your no fun.”
He looks at her sternly as he walks her to the stairwell entrance on the roof “What is fun about risking your life?”
She looked at him “You tell me. And you know, you could damage your voice talking like that.”Obviously irritated he was fixing to respond when a bullet hit the doorway to the stairwell.
“Freeze freak!” shouted Bulloch from the rooftop of the Iceberg Lounge. Batman, temporarily distracted was caught off guard by Catwoman slipping her gloved hand through the cuffs. She blew him a kiss as she jumped over the edge of the building. Batman meanwhile had his own problems. He was being assaulted by a hail of bullets. He activated his grapple and swung away.
Gordon came running onto the roof after Bulloch “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!” Gordon shouted. Bulloch replied that Batman resisted arrest.
Bruce Wayne exited the cave the next morning, not having heard from Selina since the night before. The comment the Riddler made still bothered him. He had been wondering this for a while, and knew he might as well come to terms with it. Is Selina Kyle, the woman he loved Catwoman? Bruce honestly didn’t want to know the answer. And to top it all off the Riddle had apparently discovered his identity. Bruce sat in the chair and turned on the TV. He was surprised to see Commissioner Gordon on the screen.
Gordon was being interviewed about the Riddler. Apparently Riddler had left another clue the night before. “There is never rest for the weary Master Wayne; you should know that by now.” Alfred said from behind. “Miss Kyle just called, she inquired as to your condition, and I told her you were fine. She also said she still has the car. And these are those files you asked for.” Alfred said laying two stacks of papers on the table.
Bruce looked through the papers, they were bank records, donations, and all made by Selina Kyle to various wildlife conservation and animal protection charities. Since Catwoman had shown up the amount had increased dramatically. That was the last thing he needed to confirm his suspicions about Selina, he still didn’t want to believe it.
Bruce looked at the other stack was a pile of legal documents, the first page saying “Gotham City Department of Family Services”.
Riddler was reviewing the photos taken by one of his men during the robbery. They confirmed his beliefs in the identity of Catwoman and Batman. Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne were the faces behind these spirits of the night. He looked to his men and told them to carry out their assignments. The henchman who took the pictures of Bruce and Selina asked why they were interested in a rich guy and his chippie. The Riddler not wanting to give up his newly acquired secret to some henchman lied “We are interested because our employer is a competitor of the rich guy, and wants to send him a message. That is why we are giving the ‘chippie’ a visit first.”
Bruce was in front of the computer in the cave trying to make sense of the riddle Commissioner was able to discreetly send him electronically.
“abryesr l mro sioirioenernsrialnlsmoi t hsIsi eoem raetciewl efo eepwrde mtyuwl eanfrvri h akuls eev ilo olr oorwngts htyumysetelgtA df gt mibrw eoe lm e td eIcebidatr hoaoaehi” After a few hours of work Bruce was able to translate the code.
“As I said before my greatest crime will be from were power does emit you will remain forever in the dark unless I receive a billion dollars tomorrow night so that you may see the light” attached to the riddle was a Swiss bank account to which the money should be sent.
He was comparing it to the Riddler’s earlier riddles; suddenly he noticed something in the Riddler’s second riddle
“Maybe I didn't make myself clear before a am an e. nigma to you you still seem to be in the dark about things I am sure that this valuable gem of a clue to you will remain indestructible as always”
E.Nigma, Bruce had considered it a mistake earlier, but now he realized it may be something much more. He searched it on his computer, and in no time at all he had a name, Edward Nigma. A former Wayne Enterprises program designer, until he was caught using company resources to steal funds from government contracts back when Bill Earle was CEO, before Bruce’s return. Nigma was tried and sentenced to a prison term; he was able to escape and has been unseen since.
Bruce studied the new riddle and realized what the Riddler was planning; he was going to hold the city’s power grid hostage! By this time it was close to dusk, Batman had to get this information to Gordon! He suited up and raced away in the Batmobile. He contacted Lucius Fox, and told him to get to the cave, fast.
Selina Kyle had not been seen since she arrived at her apartment the night before. She had apparently not even left it. A car containing two of the Riddler’s men was parked outside the building. One of them hit a button. Suddenly the apartment exploded! The car drove off, leaving nothing but a spray painted question mark behind.
Batman met Gordon on top of GCPD. He told Gordon his information, and the identity of the Riddler, Edward Nigma. Gordon then informed him that they believe that Riddler was responsible for a bombing earlier. Batman asks who, Gordon tells him that it was Selina Kyle’s apartment, and she is believed to be dead. Batman is silent for a moment. He asks Gordon what he plans to do about the Riddler’s demands. “Well, it will be difficult to come up with that much money on this short of notice, but I will dispatch teams of men to search the city, as well as send some men to the power plant. Before Batman could respond, every light in the city suddenly went out. Gordon called out for Batman, but got no answer for Batman was gone to find the Riddler.
Batman was communicating with Fox who was in the cave, which had its own power source of course. Batman told him to try and find any buildings that were emitting sources of power, so Riddler can control the blackout. Fox turned up several leads; he automatically crossed off hospitals and prisons. One power source that did remain was a warehouse on the far side of Gotham; it also was transmitting a signal.
Batman sped off towards the warehouse through the darkened city, dodging traffic and avoiding car wrecks throughout the dark city. Riddler meanwhile was monitoring everything from a control room. He was wearing the same outfit from the beginning, and of course he had his cane. Batman neared the warehouse in one of Gotham’s crime savaged districts, and saw that it had been fortified. The perimeter was surrounded by a wall with a gate, and the gate was blocked by an old city bus. The street was littered with cars either placed there by the Riddler, or abandoned by their owners. Fox was speaking over their communicator’s but his voice was suddenly cut off by a burst of static. The static was replaced by the voice of the Riddler “I’m sorry Bruce, Mr. Fox is unavailable at the moment, perhaps I can help you?”The Riddler laughed. “You’re on your own Brucey boy.”
Batman sped towards the warehouse He hit a few switches on a console in the Batmobile. On the outside of the Batmobile two things happened. One two plates opened on the front, making it look like a cross between an arrow and a ram. And two, at the rear of the vehicle a pair of panels opened and revealed a pair of boosters, not unsimilar to the one on the Tumbler. By this time some of the Riddler’s men were along the wall firing at Batman as he maneuvered through the cars. He used the ram to push an abandoned Nissan in front of the bus. He sped around the block one more time before getting enough distance between himself and the warehouse. The Riddler spoke up of the comm. “What are you doing, running away Bruce?”
He pulled to a stop a few blocks from the entrance to the warehouse.“I have a Riddle for you. What is the quickest way between two points?” Batman said as he hit a switch and revved up the throttle. He angled the Batmobile to where there was one car between him and the car he moved to a few meters of the bus. He revved up the engine and sped towards the warehouse. The acceleration was so intense; he was pressed back into the seat. He neared the first car and was jarred by the violent impact, but the Batmobile was easily able to accelerate this car along with itself. He pushed it to within a few meters of the other car and hit the boosters! The sudden increase in acceleration caused the two cars to collide together. The impact was enough to lift the front end of the Batmobile onto the other cars as it sped over them to be airborne. The Riddler’s men looked up in awe as the airborne vehicle flew over the bus and smashed through the wall of the warehouse. The impact of the Batmobile crashing through the wall, the angle of its descent and the force of its landing was enough for it to flip on its side and roll a few times. It finally slid to a stop on its side after crashing through a few rooms. Batman blew the canopy on the car and climbed out. He looked around and saw that the inside of the warehouse had been divided into different areas and rooms. He began walking through the different rooms, trying to find the Riddler. He opened one door, and was attacked by three men. He quickly dispatched them and continued on his way. He finally reached a large chamber filled with monitors. All of them were showing pictures of things, people from his life, people he had failed. The monitors showed pictures of his parents, Harvey Dent, Rachel, Selina, and on the middle monitor Batman. And standing before it, casting a shadow from the light of the monitors was the Riddler. “Hello Bruce.”
Riddler and Batman circled each other “Why did you kill her?” Batman snarled. Riddler spun his cane in front of him “Because she was in my way, as are you. I know you want to know, how I know what you don’t want people to know, so I will tell you how I know.” He said as Batman charged him, he narrowly avoided being hit. “It wasn’t hard, I knew it had to be someone rich enough to afford all of your little toys, and I figured it had to be someone with a tragic past. The two obvious choices were yourself and Roman Sionis, your parents killed by a crook, his in a house fire. I almost thought it was him, until he hired me to kill you.”
Batman knew Riddler was trying to throw him off by talking. Normally he should have been able to have easily taken someone like Riddler out, but he was injured from the car wreck. The Riddler lunged at him trying to strike Batman with the cane; Batman blocked the cane and punched Riddler in the face, sending him reeling to the floor “It’s over Nigma.” Riddler was still talking the whole time “I’m surprised it took you this long to figure it out, but as long as you did there is something else you should know. The power outage is temporary, in a few minutes it will come back with more intensity than ever before, so intense that the people of Gotham will have wished it never came back on.” Batman moved towards the Riddler ignoring his attempts to distract. Suddenly Riddler turned and ran towards a monitor. Batman threw a cord at the Riddler, wrapping around his legs. Riddler fell to the ground turned towards Batman, who was walking towards him. Batman began to reach down towards the Riddler, but Riddler pointed the end of his cane at Batman. He twisted the end of it and a cap fell off. Revealing the barrel of a gun pointed less than a foot from Batman’s face. Riddler smiled sadistically as blood flowed from a broken nose. Suddenly a whip wrapped around the cane and jerked it away from Batman, just as Riddler fired it. Batman Punched Riddler in the face knocking him unconscious. Batman turned around and saw Catwoman standing there whip in hand. He looked at her, and she collapsed. He rushed over to her, and saw that she had been hit by the bullet in the chest. “Bruce…” she said softly as he removed her mask.
Bruce Wayne lay there holding Selina Kyle in his arms as she bled from saving him. He looked at her “How did you, why did you?” She put her finger to his lip “I heard Riddler, but somehow I think I’ve always known.” She said wincing from pain. Batman stood with her in his arms “Don’t worry; I’ll get you to a hospital.” He said. Suddenly he heard a yell. He turned as Riddler stabbed down with his cane. Batman dodged and Riddler ended up driving the cane into a computer console, electrifying him.
Batman and Selina looked away as energy coursed through the man that was once known as Edward Nigma. The lights dimmed in the warehouse and Riddler fell to the ground. Batman heard sirens approaching. Selina looked at him and said “Go.” Reluctantly he sat her gently on the ground. He leaned over her; she suddenly pulled him close to her and kissed him passionately. She pushed him away as police burst into the warehouse.
At about that moment the power came back on across the city. It grew in intensity until transformers and outlets across the city sparked and caught fire, until all of the transformers in the city exploded sparking numerous fires across the city. Batman watched from a rooftop as fires started to spread throughout Gotham.
Suddenly something the Riddler said came to mind
“It will come back with more intensity than ever before, so intense that the people of Gotham will have wished it never came back on.” The Riddler had planned this in case he lost, Gotham would lose as well.
Epilogue:
The Riddler’s fires spread throughout the city causing millions of dollars worth of damage, but were eventually contained.
Selina Kyle was sent to the hospital, were the bullet was removed from her shoulder. She was convicted and sentenced to prison. But she was able to make a deal with the DA. Her sentence was to be lightened if she provided information on a former employer of hers, Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin.
The Riddler was left in a cationic state after his encounter with Batman. He was moved to Arkham Asylum for medical treatment.
At Wayne Manor a police car is seen driving up. It stops in front of a waiting Bruce and Alfred. Commissioner Gordon steps out and thanks Bruce for doing this. Bruce hands Gordon a folder “This is all the information Mr. Fox found about him.” Gordon thanks him as he opens the door to the car and a boy steps out, Dick Grayson. Bruce puts his arm around the boy and says “Welcome home.” He leads the boy inside, closing the door.
Roman Sionis is in his office overlooking the city. There is a loud knock at his door, and then the door is knocked into the room as several police officers rush into the room. Commissioner Gordon walks into the room “Roman Sionis, you are under arrest, you have been charged with murder, arson, larceny, and racketeering. You have the right to remain silent.” Gordon finished reading Sionis his Miranda rights as he handcuffed Sionis and led him out of the door.
In a padded cell in Arkham. Dr. Strange rushes to the Riddler’s cell; he was just alerted by his assistant Dr. Quinzel that Edward Nigma was trying to speak. Strange leaned close to Nigma “What are you trying to tell me?” Riddler is sitting in the corner staring off into nothing mouths a word “ba ba Bruce Wayne.” He finally mutters. Strange looks at him for a moment and then, slowly a sinister smile crept on his face.
Dr. Quinzel walked out of the cell and walked down the hall to the next cell, she came to a cell with an pair of armed guards outside. She opened the cell and faced a figure in the shadows. The figure laughed a little bit “Hello. My dear harlequin.”
Thanks for reading this. I hope you liked this. And now here is the cast I picked for this story.
The Riddler- I decided to go with the obvious choice, because in this case I felt the obvious choice was correct. I decided to go with Johnny Depp.
Selina Kyle/ Catwoman- Kate Beckinsale
Dick Grayson- A hard choice, but I’m going with Shia Labeouf . He was barely in the movie, but I wanted to show his origins, to set up for a potential sequel.
Penguin- Alfred Molina. His role was rather small in this movie, but he may have bigger things in his future.
Rupert Thorne - Joe Pesci
Roman Sionis aka Black Mask- Vincent Cassel. I know the role wasn’t large in this movie, but expect more to come.
Hugo Strange- Philip Seymore Hoffman
And finally, though she only had a relatively brief cameo, but the potential for future movies. Harleen Quinzel aka Harley Quinn- keeping with Nolan’s desire for star power, I decided to go with an attractive woman, that also could play a complicated character with many levels in future movies. I’m talking about Kate Winslet.
I know that was rather lengthy, but thank you for reading. Please let me know what you think, I put a lot of time and effort in this, and I would like to know you opinions.