Batman #2: the gunman 2/4

In pursuit of Gotham’s new gunslinger, Bruce finds himself sprinting across the cities crumbling and neglected rooftops, trying to get the deadly gunman in his sights. To his relief he spies the man jumping from a nearby ledge making a landing atop a second rooftop, this one, a dismal sight of chipped slates, loosely tied together, resting tediously on a number of rotting, wooden slats. As the man slides from the top to the bottom, several of them fall with him, making their devastating mark in the already ravaged building. Bruce glides smoothly with the assistance of a newly modified cloak, landing only a few yards from where he had thought to have seen the gunman. But now the man seems to have vanished. He looks about him trying to place his enemy’s whereabouts amongst the shadows. Before resorting to the use of his heat scanner, he notices an intense red dot appear behind him and recognising this as the gunman’s eyepiece he makes a single swift movement, narrowly dodging his opponent’s bullet

 

 

???: Well that’s a first

 

 

Batman: give it up Lawton. Shows over

 

Emerging from the shadows, Lawton let’s down a shower of lead upon Bruce, merely piercing his gauntlet armour

 

 

Floyd Lawton: And that’s certainly not new. (he mutters under his breath) predictable son of a bitch

 

 

He fires one more bullet, only just brushing the side of Bruce’s cowl. The bullet flies though the air until being thrust back towards Bruce after making contact with a previously placed bright red deflector pad. It lands in Bruce’s back, making an unbearably painful impact as it does.

 

Despite this, Bruce hurls a batarang towards Floyd sending a long and heavy rope to wrap about his body leaving him momentarily unable to move. Bruce gets to his feet and after handcuffing Lawton, uses a clunky steel device to make contact with Harvey bullock, sending him the buildings coordinates

 

He turns to Floyd, lifting him by the neck and decides to do his own interrogation prior to that of the GCPD

 

 

Batman: you weren’t after the mayor were you Floyd? You had this whole thing set up and you’ve clearly had some practice

 

 

As he speaks, he carefully removes the bullet from his back with a pair of tweezers, placing it gently within one of his pouches, making sure to eliminate all traces of his blood from the scene

 

 

Floyd: I’m not the only one with practice

 

He says this with a sense of scorn as he looks down over his nose at Bruce

 

 

Batman: shut up and talk. Who sent you. They were clearly after me and well let’s just say my enemies come in the hundreds so I’m not guessing any time soon

 

 

Floyd: now why the hell would I tell you that

 

 

Batman: because you want to live

 

 

Floyd: you aren’t going to kill me. It’s your weakness. I heard about the priest

 

 

Batman: it’s not a weakness. Much harder than you’d think

 

 

He decides to leave Floyd to the cops once he notices the red and blue flicker of sirens parked beneath the building

 

 

He climbs down through the building, which he soon discovers to be a Michelin star restaurant, dragging Floyd at his side

 

 

He meets Renee Montoya and Harvey bullock at the foot of the building, letting them hurl Floyd into the back seat of their car

 

 

Renee: so why’d you call us?

 

 

Harvey: yeah...she’s got a point. Ain’t you and jimbo a team or summin

 

 

Batman: I called who I needed to. Make sure this man’s well secured. He’s dangerous left to his own devices

 

 

Harvey: Oh sure yeah...

 

 

He shouts back over his shoulder to another cop

 

 

Harvey: Hobbs, keep an eye on that sorry f*ck will ya.....Hobbs?...hobbs?

 

 

Renee: Oh shit...

 

 

The two other cops run towards the car to find a tied up and gagged driver, a missing car door and an empty back seat

 

 

Harvey looks over his shoulder as Renee unties Hobbs

 

 

Harvey: bats? Hey bats?

 

 

Renee: I take it he’s a step ahead

 

 

Harvey: guess that just means early pub trip for us ey?

 

 

Officer Hobbs: (spitting blood before him and wiping his mouth with his sleeve) sounds good to me Harv

 

 

Renee: see you at the station then

 

 

Harvey: your loss honey

 

 

———————————————————

 

 

The newly named batcave

 

 

So called thanks to the never ending swarm of bats found below the manor.

 

Bruce made this discovery not long after the death of Blackfire when making a fracture in the basements almost unbreakable walls, leading him to a large cavern beneath the grounds

 

 

Bruce removes Lawton’s bullet from his pouch and takes a seat in front of a large and bulky supercomputer. Now assisted by newly found internet technology, it does not take the computer long to find the bullets supplier.

 

 

Alfred: have you found anything sir?

 

 

Bruce: yes...the manufacturer seems to have close ties to Carmine falcone. No surprise there. First he sends Lenny and victor to have me killed, now Lawton. I don’t think he’ll be giving up any time soon. If I can find one of those three I might be able to gather some dirt on falcone. But for now, the man has too much influence and power in this city to be fairly prosecuted.

 

 

Alfred: I’m tempted to talk you out of this sir but by now I realise I haven’t much say on these matters. Shall I prepare the bat-bike sir?

 

 

Bruce: Yes Alfred. Thanks. I’ll head to O’briens. A bar on the west side of Gotham. Lenny tends to be a regular customer.

 

 

 

Done