Nightwing - Heir to the Demon #15

It takes me just under five minutes to ‘stitch’ up both wounds properly enough so that I won’t have to worry about them. Obviously I could have done a better job but we’re already pressed for time as it is. The last thing we need is for one of us to be benched thanks to two lucky swipes with a sword. Barbara’s not going to be happy that it only took me five minutes to sew my wounds up. Hell, I doubt she’d be happy if it took me an hour and I sewed them up properly but that doesn’t matter right now.

 

She should be dealing with the controls right now and has no-one watching her back. Whilst she’s more than capable of looking after herself, with how things have already gone I don’t want to take more unnecessary risks. Next time we might not be lucky enough to only walk away with a few minor cuts. Holstering my medical kit, I remove a small canister of disinfectant and spray both wounds briefly.

 

FFffuu…does it sting.

 

But it also helps to make me more alert. Probably the adrenaline kicking in.

 

I can’t really tell. Not that it matters anyways, I need to get to Barbara. For all we know the controls could be guarded by twice as many guards as what we just had to deal with, and two on two was difficult enough. Climbing up onto my feet, I holster both of my sticks before locking on to the tracking signal in Barbara’s suit.

 

Floor 13.

 

Not suspicious at all.

 

For those who don’t believe in bad luck….

 

———————

 

Batgirl> Batgirl to bunker.

 

Alfred: Bunker here, go ahead Batgirl.

 

Batgirl: Tower secured. I need to know what floor the controls are located on so I can shut down the dispersal system.

 

Alfred: I’ll check the schematics now. Is everything alright there? We haven’t heard from you two in a while.

 

Batgirl: We had some complications with the people guarding our tower. They’re dealt with now.

 

Alfred: And Master Grayson?

 

Batgirl: He’s fine. He took two small injuries but nothing too serious.

 

Alfred: Are you in need of some medical assistance?

 

Batgirl: No Alfred, the wounds are just a pair of small cuts and a bit of his pride. Nothing to worry about.

 

Alfred: ……He’s not mending them himself is he?

 

I can’t help but hesitate. Part of me doesn’t want to worry Alfred, but I also don’t want to lie to him.

 

Batgirl: Umm…how are those schematics looking?

 

Alfred: Christ, I’d better load some medical supplies into your drop pod as well.

 

He handled that better than I expected.

 

Batgirl: What floor do I need, Al?

 

Alfred: Floor 13. Make your way up there and I’ll have the Batwing deliver the equipment that you’ll need.

 

Batgirl: Thanks Al, I’ll radio in when I’m there.

 

Dick’s not going to be happy that Alfred knows I let him loose with the sewing kit again, but that doesn’t matter right now. The longer this tower stays online, the closer the gas gets to GCPD and the more dangerous it gets for Dad and his men. Come on Barb, you need to hurry.

 

I race out to the staircase and fire my grapple up to the top floor before I start quickly climbing up towards floor 13. If there was any sense to the architecture of this building the top floor would be floor 13, but it isn’t. Floor 13 is barely over half way up the tower. What a weird design choice.

 

Who designs a building to not have the main controls on either the ground or top floor? Only in Gotham.

 

 

——————

 

Following the signal from Barbara’s suit takes me out into the main stairway of the tower. Old, rusty and poorly maintained. An oddly perfect representation of most of Gotham. Then again, I doubt anyone’s taken much interest in these towers after the Second World War prior to today so it’s no wonder the whole tower is in this state. I’m rather amazed that the dispersal system even works honestly.

 

Firing my grapple up to the top floor, I begin to climb up towards Barbara’s signal. To my surprise though, I don’t detect her transponder on the top floor as you’d expect but just over half way up the tower. Is this right? What’s she doing there? Surely the controls are up on the top floor, right?

 

I check the tracker again and it insists that he’s on this floor, so that must be where the controls for the tower are as well. That’s the only rational explanation for what she’s doing there as there’s no chance that she’d have managed to get herself lost.

 

Oh who am I kidding. Of course they’d build the controls on a random floor for no clear reason, of course they would. This is Gotham after all. Sensible and logical just aren’t words that can be used to describe the thought process behind most of this city. In some ways it’s oddly reassuring to see that it’s no different for this tower either.

 

Consistency on a night like tonight is unusually comforting.

 

Landing on the 13th floor I retract my grapple and slowly make my way towards Barbara’s signal. So far, it’s all quiet. That’s a good sign. It suggests that the two guards we faced on the ground floor were the only ones guarding the tower. One less thing to worry about. Suddenly, I jump as I hear a loud crashing noise coming from the room where Barbara’s signal is coming from.

 

Crap, is it the League?

 

Batgirl: Alright Alfred, I’ve got the device. What do I do now?

 

Oh…..

 

Maybe it’s not the League….

 

False alarm.

 

Clearly this Lucius’ solution to the gas being delivered to us. Barbara must have radioed in to the bunker when she left me to deal with my wounds. No sense interrupting her, I’ll just enter quietly so as to not disturb her…

 

—————-

 

Batgirl: I really hope the next person tasked with building something in Gotham is a fan of logical construction.

 

Alfred: I’m afraid that will be unlikely. Mayor West has put all building projects on hold until he can appoint his full cabinet. I doubt you’d approve of his housing pick.

 

Batgirl: He’s a fan of this erratic style?

 

Alfred: That would be an understatement.

 

Batgirl: Well as long as he doesn’t decide to move to Bludhaven any time soon…

 

Cautiously, I slowly open the control room door with a pair of batarangs at the ready in my right hand. All clear.

 

Batgirl: Alfred, I’ve got eyes on the controls.

 

Alfred: Excellent, the Batwing should be with you in just under two minutes. How are the controls looking?

 

Batgirl: Rusty. But they look useable.

 

Alfred: Then we’re having more luck than Master Timothy.

 

Batgirl: What’s happened with him?

 

Alfred: His controls were sabotaged. Lucius is talking him through a manual way to shut down the tower with out them.

 

Batgirl: Nice to know Dick and I aren’t the only ones having bad luck tonight. So how do I go about shutting this thing down?

 

Alfred: You should be able to shutdown your tower’s dispersal system from there, that will stop it from pumping out more of the gas into Gotham. The Batwing is en-route to deliver what you’ll need to neutralise the gas that has yet to be dispersed.

 

Batgirl: Roger, commencing shutdown sequence now.

 

From what I can make out, the system itself is fairly simple just as you’d expect really. This stuff would have been state of the art when it was installed in this tower. By today’s standards it’s old and dated but since it was put in place in the early 40’s there should be no failsafes. In this case, its simplicity is a product of its time

 

Though it takes me a minute or so to properly figure out the controls, once I realise how the system works it takes me only a couple of seconds to begin the shutdown sequence. Easy enough.

 

Alfred: Drop pod inbound.

 

I step back from the controls as the familiar sound of the Batwing’s engines echo faintly in the distance before they’re drowned out by the loud crash of the drop pod landing next to me. After a quick identity check, the pod opens to reveal a device similar to what I remember seeing in Bruce’s archive back in the Batcave.

 

What’s Lucius doing using old Scarecrow equipment?

 

Batgirl: Alright Alfred, I’ve got the device. What do I do now?

 

Alfred: The device is loaded with a concentrated sample of the counteragent for the toxin. According to Lucius, all you need to do is to empty the contents into the loading chamber and it should neutralise the gas for you.

 

Batgirl: That sounds far too easy.

 

Alfred: Trust me, take easy whenever you can. I doubt we’re going to be so lucky as the night continues.

 

Batgirl: Lucius really does out do himself at times. I hope Bruce pays him well.

 

Alfred: He pays him more than he pays me.

 

Batgirl: You should ask for a raise.

 

Alfred: Maybe I will.

 

Batgirl: I don’t think anyone can say that you haven’t earned it.

 

Alfred: You’d be amazed how resourceful he can be at getting out of things when he wants to.

 

Batgirl: Or getting rid of things when he wants to.

 

Alfred: I have to go, Master Bruce is radioing in. If you need me…

 

Batgirl: It’s alright Alfred, I’ve got it from here. Batgirl out.

 

Neutralising the gas is relatively simple really, all it takes is five seconds and I manage to empty the contents of the device into the loading chamber and seal it shut again. Mission accomplished. Suddenly I hear faint footsteps behind me.

 

Ambush!?

 

I draw a batarang from my belt and jump up in the air, quickly spinning to face the entrance as I do so only to find Dick stood behind.

 

Nightwing: Woah! Woah! Same team!

 

God damn it, Dick.

Done