Earlier that day“It’s snowing pretty good out there,” Warren commented as the gang headed to their lockers. “Maybe we’ll be lucky and it’ll be a snow day tomorrow.”
“Um… Warren. Tomorrow’s Saturday,” Tim pointed out.
“It is?” Warren replied. “Oh! Right! Keep thinking it’s Thursday, because Monday was a day off. Hate it when I do that.”
“Me too,” Jason laughed, the others chuckling as well. “Anyways, I’ll catch you guys later. Hockey practice,” he told them before he headed out.
“Take care!” “See you, Jason!” The others called out.
“I’d better head off too,” Tim added. “I’ve got… a date.”
“Ooo…” Stephanie grinned. “With who?”
“Yeah, who?” Warren added. “Wait. It’s not Kitty, is it? Tell us it’s not Kitty.”
“Of course it’s not Kitty!” Tim replied. “Why would you even think that?”
“Well she keeps hounding you,” Stephanie pointed out. “We were worried you’d finally given in.”
Tim shook his head. “Well don’t worry. Besides, I’ve barely seen her since the news broke that her father was financing some criminal nutjob… that Mothman?”
“Killer Moth,” Carrie said simply.
“Yeah him,” Tim nodded. Stephanie glanced at her friend. Carrie had literally said two words this conversation, her mind obviously elsewhere. She’d been this way since she met with Ra’s the week before and despite Stephanie’s attempts, was unwilling to talk about it.
“Cameron Van Cleer, funding a criminal,” Warren commented. “But then he is a politician,” he added, joking.
“Don’t worry about it,” Stephanie said, returning her attention to the conversation; she’d worry about Carrie later. “All his money, they’ll get through it and then she’ll be back to bothering you again, just like old times.”
“Yeah. Lucky me,” Tim sighed.
“Anyways… We’re missing the point here. What we do want to know is… Who are you dating? Names, locations, details. Come on man!” Warren said.
“Ariana Dzerchenko,” Tim finally told them, after a bit more prodding from Warren and Stephanie.
“She’s on the cheerleading squad with you. Right, Steph?” Warren asked, and Stephanie nodded in response. “Lucky you,” he said to Tim. “I bet she’s really flexible.” Tim just shook his head as Stephanie rolled her eyes. The two men said goodbye to Carrie and Stephanie as the group reached a staircase, the guys heading down, while the two girls continued along the hallway to their lockers.
“Okay, talk,” Stephanie said to Carrie once the two were finally alone.
“About what?” Carrie asked.
“About you,” Stephanie replied. “You’ve been like this all week. Barely saying anything. I’m starting to get worried about you. I know the guys are too, had to tell them you were concerned about our big test next week.”
“How do you know I’m not?”
“Because I know you!” Stephanie told her, exasperated. “It’s whatever you learned from that Ra’s guy. I knew I shouldn’t have helped you. So spill.”
“It’s not your concern,” Carrie said.
“Yes, it is!” Stephanie almost yelled. “It is because you’re my friend. I know I’ve been spending time, perhaps too much time, with the Titans lately, but you’re still my best friend. And I’m worried you’re going to do… something! So tell me what you know before I go ransack your room and find it myself.”
“You wouldn’t know where to look,” Carrie shot back.
“Sure I would.” Stephanie then rattled off a half dozen places where she knew Carrie hid stuff. Carrie gave a sigh of surrender.
“Okay… I’ll tell you what I know. His name is Joe Chill.”
* * * * * * * * * *
“And now I can’t find her. Everyone I’ve called doesn’t know where she is and Alfred said she wasn’t with you so…”
“You think she’s finally gone after Joe Chill,” Batman said, finishing Spoiler’s sentence. She nodded. Batman reached forward with his right hand and hit a button on the Batmobile’s control panel.
A moment later Stephanie heard a familiar voice. “Yes?”
“Oracle,” Batman said. “I need some information. Anything you can find on a location for Joe Chill.”
“It’s nice to hear from you too, Bruce,” came the reply. “I’m doing just fine. Thanks for asking.”
“Oracle! The information!” Stephanie giggled at the next sound she heard from the radio. In her mind’s eye she saw Barbara shaking her head in disgust.
“Okay. Here it is,” Oracle replied. “742 Robinson Avenue. Apartment 4C.”
“Thanks, Babs!” Stephanie called out just before Batman ‘hung up’ on Oracle. She looked over at him. “You know please and thank you tend to do wonders,” she said. Batman responded by glaring at her for a second. “Just saying,” Spoiler said, and shrunk back in her seat a bit as they sped through the city streets.
“You shouldn’t have used her real name!” Batman growled at Spoiler.
“What? You mean over the top-secret frequency that is nearly impossible to tune into?” Spoiler replied.
“That’s not the point!” Batman told her. “Bad practice makes for bad form. If you don’t get used to code-names in costume then there’s a chance the wrong name will slip out at the worst time. Do you want your friends or your father put at risk by a slip of your tongue?”
“No…” Spoiler replied in a small voice. Batman just nodded, turning his attention back to the road.
* * * * * * * * * *
Joe Chill sat on the old couch in his apartment flicking through the channels. Three weeks until Christmas and already there was nothing but these annoying specials. Of course, Chill used to enjoy the season, back when he had people to celebrate with. But he had no family since his mama died nearly a decade ago and most of his remaining friends were in the joint.
He sighed, clicked off the television and stood up, catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror while heading into the kitchen. At nearly fifty, his best days were behind him: his hair nearly all gray now, his body slim, underfed. For not the first time he considered knocking over a variety store and getting busted so he could get a nice Christmas dinner in prison. He still had it though, he thought. He might not be the man he once was, but he could keep up with most of the kids of today, if only he hadn’t bet on the wrong horse, so to speak.
Five years ago things had been different. The mob all but run Gotham, under one man, Lew Moxon. Sure there had been the odd do-gooder, like Gordon or Dent, but they were small fry. “Let them have the small victories,” Moxon used to say. “Make them think they’re actually making a difference, makes them easier to keep under control.” Everything was good, but then the Bat came and everything changed. There was a confrontation between the two and Moxon ended up dead. Some of the boys said the Bat murdered him, but Chill wasn’t too sure; he’d seen the Bat in action and if he was intent on murdering criminals… well there would be a lot more bodies for the cops to clean up.
That was when everything fell apart: the mob bosses vying for power while the Bat picked them off and new freaks like that nutcase clown popped up, trying to take their own piece of the pie. The ‘family’ Chill joined was all but slaughtered in the chaos and Chill ended up here, living in a crappy apartment when he wasn’t doing time for petty thefts.
He’d just finished pouring himself a beer when there came a knock on the door. “Be right there!” he called out, made sure his pistol was loaded and in easy reach in the holster. One could never be too sure these days. He’d just started toward the door when the knock came again, more insistent this time. “Yeah, yeah! Hold your horses!” he yelled. “God!” He was ten feet from the door when it exploded inward, splitting in half and showered him with splinters. One of the halves connected and knocked him off his feet.
“There is no God here,” Chill heard a harsh voice say. Looking up he saw a figure dressed all in black, including a black hood and cape. For a second, fear gripped him, thinking it was the Bat come after him, but then he calmed a bit as he took in the form before him. It wasn’t the Bat, it was a woman.
“Who the hell are you?” he snarled as he worked to extract himself from the debris, one hand reaching for his pistol.
“Justice,” said the figure that stalked him.
“Too bad. There’s no justice here either!” Chill hissed, rolled to the side and pulled out his gun to fire at the woman. But she was fast, too fast. She started to dodge the second he moved, his bullet missing her completely. Before he could adjust his aim, she was on him, kicking the gun out of his hand before she lifted him to his feet and slammed him against the wall.
“You killed the Kellys,” the woman growled, her free hand slapping him across the face.
“I’ve killed a lot of people,” Chill replied with a kick to her shin and then pushed her off him. He tried to dive for the gun, but again she was too fast, and knocked it away. Chill rolled to the side, the woman’s foot just missing his face by inches. He reached his entertainment center and quickly yanked it over. The woman dove out of the way as it crashed to the floor, the television shattering. By the time she recovered Chill had rushed out his door and was halfway down the stairs.
The woman moved to the apartment’s fire escape, pulling up the mask to reveal Carrie’s face. She watched Chill run out into the snowy street, then raised her grappling gun. He wouldn’t escape her.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ten minutes later, the Batmobile pulled up near Chill’s apartment building. Outside were two police cars and a number of residents, a commotion caused by the noise of the fight. “I’m going take a wild guess and say she’s already been here,” Spoiler commented while Batman drove the vehicle into an alley behind the building.
“Follow me… and stay quiet!” Batman ordered her, before hopping out of the vehicle. Steph opened her mouth to say something but instead just nodded. The two quickly headed up the building to find Chill’s apartment with the shattered door.
“Yeah, she’s been here alright,” Spoiler said, Batman shushing her with a glare before he examined the room. He stepped to the window, looking out on the fire escape.
“Follow me,” Batman said again, pulling out his grapple gun.
“Um… I don’t have one of those,” Spoiler told him.
“Then hang on!” Spoiler nodded, wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes as they soared into the night sky.
* * * * * * * * * *
Carrie followed Chill for about a dozen blocks, keeping to the rooftops. She let him start to think he was safe as he reached the docks. That was when she struck, swooped down and landed on him, knocked him sprawling into the snow. “Found you!” she mocked, kicking him in the stomach. Chill grunted in pain, but managed to strike out with one of his own legs, tripping up Carrie. He stood and started to run again. “Not getting away that easily,” Carrie hissed, firing a grappling line around his legs and made him slam into the ground again. She stood slowly, stalked toward him as Chill desperately tried to get untangled.
“Get up!” she yelled and kicked him again. Finally fred, Chill rolled with the kick and got to his feet, fear and anger on his face as he pulled out a knife. “Ooo… You going to cut me?” Carrie mocked. “Big man, now that you’ve got a weapon again. Bet it’ll make a great story for the scum down at the bar. Of course, I’m sure you’ll leave out the part where you got your ass kicked by a girl!”
She showed that incredible quickness again as she dodged the knife’s attack, grabbed his arm and nearly broke to disarm Chill of the weapon. She punched him hard in the gut, causing him to stumble back. Carrie pulled out her grapple gun and fired as Chill ducked. “You missed!” he laughed, trying to get in control of the fight.
“Did I?” was Carrie’s reply, she quickly moved in and hooked the gun to his belt, before pressing the retract button on it. Chill cried out in shock as he was pulled along the ground, before crashing into a lamppost at the far end of one of the docks.
* * * * * * * * * *
Spoiler held onto Batman as tightly as she dared while they moved across the city. The two landed on top of a warehouse near the battle just in time to see Chill go for his grappling line ‘ride’. “We’ve got to stop her!” Steph gasped, Batman nodded and then headed down to the ground only to be blocked by two figures.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you get involved, Detective,” Ra’s al Ghul commented, him and his faithful servant Ubu standing between them and the battle.
“Out of the way, Ra’s,” Batman said.
“Why?” Ra’s replied. “Don’t you want to see how this ends? See how far she’ll go to get justice?”
“Is that why you told her?” Batman growled. “To make her a murderer like you?”
“That’s just an added bonus,” Ra’s replied. “Watching you suffer from the realization that your training made her actions possible here is the main reason.”
Batman stepped toward Ra’s as the older man pulled out a sword and Ubu stepped forward as well. “You shall not touch the master!”
“You just worry about Ra’s,” Spoiler told Batman. “I’ll take care of tall, dark and ugly here.” She swung her fist at Ubu’s face and did nothing, save for hurting her own knuckles. “Oww! Um… Listen. About that ugly crack… perhaps we could just forget about it you know… go have a coffee or something.” Ubu roared and stepped toward her. “Or not,” Stephanie gasped as she ran.
“Spoiler!” Batman shouted in concern.
“Don’t worry about me!” she called back, Ubu chasing after her. “Just go stop Carrie!”
Batman turned to face Ra’s again. “Of course you’ll have to get past me first, Detective.”
“That won’t take long,” Batman replied. He pulled out something out from a pouch and unfolded a sword with the flick of his wrist.. While made of interlocking metal plates, the blade was blunted. Batman had added it to his belt in case he ran into the Riddler again, but against Ra’s it would be just as useful.
“Impressive trick,” Ra’s told him. “But tricks will not help you against me.” He attacked; Batman just managed to get his own blade up as Ra’s clanged against it.
Meanwhile Spoiler still fled from Ubu. Fortunately she was able to easily outrun the man, until she ran into a nearby dead end. Stephanie turned to see the large man come around the corner after her. Without a second thought, she turned back to the brick wall that blocked her path and ran full speed at it. The young woman hit the wall, using her momentum to run up it a few feet, pushed off, flipped over Ubu’s head and landed on her feet behind him.
“Once again, cheerleading has saved my life,” she said before she raced off the way she'd come.
Ubu followed her, rounded the corner to find Spoiler standing there, her cape held out as if she were a matador. “Toro! Toro!” she shouted out, egging him on. Ubu growled, and charged at her low. Steph waited until just the last moment before she spun away., Ubu's legs crashed into the fire hydrant hidden behind her cloak, and he fell hard to to the concrete, knocking him cold. “And to think, Dad use to say I’d never learn anything watching old Bugs Bunny cartoons,” she chuckled before she hog-tied him with cord from her utility belt.
* * * * * * * * * *
Unaware of the battle going on just a few hundred feet behind her, Carrie had reached Chill and pummeled the man. Chill, still recovering from the lamppost, was unable to do little more then protect himself.
She practically pulled him to his feet, punched Chill a few times then tossed him over the railing of the dock. Chill fell five feet before the grappling hook still attached to him stopped his fall. He hung there, about thirty feet above the water’s surface and a hundred feet to the shore.
Carrie hooked her feet to one of the railing posts and hung over the side, face to face with him. “You will confess to murdering the Kelly’s or I will drop you into the ocean. This time of year and this far from shore your odds of survival aren’t great.”
Back at the other end of the dock, Ra’s stepped back from Batman, nodding over toward the other confrontation. “You may want to watch this, Detective,” he commented. Batman looked over just in time to see Carrie push Chill over the rail.
“Carrie, no!” he shouted, his voice unheard by her, lost in the winter wind. Ra’s stepped back against, sheathing his sword before disappearing into the darkness, sure of his triumph.
“You… you wouldn’t dare,” Chill told Carrie, trying to hide the fear she saw in his eyes. They hung there for a long moment before Carrie finally hit the retract button on the grapple gun, Chill being pulled back over the railing. “I knew… knew you couldn’t,” he chuckled while gasping for breath.
“Shut up!” Carrie shouted, her foot coming down hard on his right leg, almost breaking it. “I won’t kill you. But if you don’t turn yourself in I will haunt you.” She kicked him in the leg again, causing him to shout in pain once more.
Chill backed away, terror on his face. “I will make your life a living hell,” Carrie continued, kicking him once more, “night after night! Do you understand me?”
He nodded, finally breaking down. “I’ll do what you say. I promise. I’ll do whatever you want, just tell me!”
“I want my parents back you son of a bitch!” she shouted, hitting him in the face with all her strength and knocking him unconscious. By then Batman and Spoiler had arrived. She turned, looked at them wordlessly, then pressed herself against Batman’s chest and to cry.
* * * * * * * * * *
An hour later they were back in the manor, as Alfred prepared cocoa in the kitchen. Bruce sat across from the girls, a look of disapproval on his face. “You should have trusted me to handle it,” he started. Carrie looked up, opening her mouth to speak when he held up a hand, silencing her. Bruce sighed. “But… I have to admit if I were you I’d have done the exact same thing. And I am proud of how you handled Chill. I’m… not sure I could hold myself back if I ever came face to face with my parents’ murderer.”
“So… now to decide what to do with you,” he told her, standing. He stepped over a desk and opened the drawer, handing her a package. “I was going to save this as part of your Christmas gift from me but I’ve decided to give it to you early.”
Carrie opened the package, revealing a dark red and green costume. “Ooo… try it on,” Stephanie told her. Carrie nodded, leaving the room and returning a few moments later.
The entire outfit was made of the same material as Bruce’s suit; black knee-high boots and elbow length gloves along with dark green leggings, a similar colored cape and red top. The mask covered the lower part of her face from the nose down and she wore white contact lens that hid her pupils and gave her the same visual sensors that were present in Bruce’s cowl.
“Ah… I see you’ve got your costume,” Alfred said, bringing in a tray with the drinks. “I hope it is to your liking. Master Bruce and I based it on some of those drawing you made.”
“I love it,” Carrie told him, giving Alfred and then Bruce a hug.
“Have you thought of a name?” Bruce asked her.
“Well there is one… but I don’t know. It might seem kind of silly,” Carrie said.
“Can’t be any sillier than Spoiler,” Stephanie pointed out.
“True,” the redhead laughed. “Okay. I was thinking… Robin… You know like Robin Hood.”
“Hmm…” Bruce thought. “I like the sound of that. Batman and Robin.”
“And Spoiler!” Stephanie added in, the other three looking at her. “Or not,” she frowned.
End… For now.
