1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Batman: Eternal: Season 3, Episode 4 - Unidentifiable

by Mockingchu

Mockingchu Batman searches for the killer behind a mass murder.
“I do not like her,” Damian said, emerging from the shadows after Bruce had shut the front door. The slim woman Bruce had been with was walking away, towards her car.

“Why’s that?” Bruce asked, trying to secure the moments he’d spent with the woman in his memories forever.

“There is something… off about her,” Damian said.

“Oh she was on. All on,” Bruce grinned.

“Bruce!” Tim chastised from the kitchen, “He is a child!”
“Don’t start telling me how to parent,” Bruce shot back, playfully.

“Then don’t start alluding to… that stuff in front of your son,” Tim retorted.

“You mean-?” Damian began.

“Ooooooookay this escalated quickly,” Tim said, stepping into the entryway, “How about we get back to why you don’t like her, Damian?”
“She is wrong. All of her. I sense it.”

“My son is a telepath,” Bruce sighed, “Fantastic. Look, Damian, we all get different vibes from different people. Often times, those vibes are wrong.”

“For example, my gay-dar is awful,” Tim said, “I mean, I used to think your dad was straight. Then he started spending his nights with young boys. One of which was named Dick. I mean, come on.”

“Watch it,” Bruce said with mock-seriousness.

Damian held up his hand for silence, “I held the position of the baddest man in the world a few days ago. I know what bad people is.”

“It would be ‘I know who bad people are’. And worst instead of baddest,” Bruce corrected.

“Baddest is a word,” Tim said.

“Are you sure?” Bruce raised an eyebrow.

“I- I think,” Tim said shakily, now uncertain.

“I know who bad people are,” Damian nodded, “And she is bad.”

“You can’t judge a book by its cover. And you can’t judge a person by their vibe,” Bruce explained.

“Unless they drive a white van and offer you candy,” Tim tacked on.

“Then run,” Bruce agreed.

“Eh, I’ve got a feeling Damian could hold his own,” Tim chuckled.

“Father, listen. That woman is bad. Very bad. Get away from her. She will bring bad here.”

“Damian, it’s time for you to learn something about your pops- he’s kind of a celeb. That means he hardly ever sees the same woman twice. He’s all about a brand new German model every week.”

“You’re such a hypocrite, Tim,” Bruce sighed, “Telling me not to talk to my son about… that stuff, then you say… all that.”

“I am confused. Are you talking about-?” Damian attempted to say.

“Nope,” Bruce and Tim said at the same time.

There were a few awkward moments of silence.

“Did you get her name?” Tim asked.

“Of course I got her name,” Bruce scoffed, “I’m decent enough to do that!”
“And…?”

“Selina. Selina Kyle.”

“Never heard of her,” Tim shrugged, walking away.

“That’s because she just got here recently.”

“Neat. I’m gonna go get something to eat. You two want to come?” Tim asked.

“Big Belly Burger?” Damian hoped with wide eyes. It was one of his favorite things about the modern world.

“Why the hell not?”

“I’m in,” Bruce nodded, “Damian, go change out of your PJs.”

Damian sprinted up the stairs that fed out of the entryway.

“Selina Kyle,” Tim smiled, “Sounds mysterious. Like an enigma.”

“It does, kind of. Selina Kyle the enigma.”


- - -


“I’ll have the Belly Buster,” Tim smiled. Bruce shot him a look. They had to make sure to maintain their physique so they didn’t get hurt on patrol.

“And a soda,” Tim added, just to mess with Bruce.

“Anything else?” the cashier asked.

“I’ll just have some chicken strips,” Bruce said.

“Cheesemesiter Deluxe,” Damian cried, gleefully.

“Is that all?” the cashier questioned. Bruce nodded, and the cashier rang them up for a total of $17.86. Tim handed him a credit card while Damian tugged at Bruce’s arm.

“Playplace. Playplace.”

“Yeah, alright,” Bruce shooed Damian away, “Go. Playplace.”

Damian raced off. He looked like… a normal child. Not an assassin thrust into a life of crime-fighting. Just a kid who was excited for the playplace. Granted, he was a little old for the playplace. But it was his home away from home.

Tim sat down with Bruce at a booth while waiting for their food to be ready.

“Are you planning to see Selina again? Or is it a one-time thing?” Tim asked.

“I don’t know,” Bruce admitted, “Our night was all physical, I’m not going to lie. But I felt some sort of spark.”

“Friction can make sparks.”

“Not a literal spark,” Bruce said.

“I know, genius,” Tim sighed, “I was poking fun at you. Most people don’t feel any special connections when they have a one-night stand.”

“I get that!” Bruce nodded, excitedly, “And that’s what’s so weird! I felt a spark, even though we didn’t really get to know each other. I know she’s Selina. She knows I’m Bruce. But I think there could be more.”

“So that’s a yes? You do want to see her again?” Tim smiled.

“I guess so,” Bruce said.

“About time you started getting serious with relationships,” Tim said, “You can’t be a bachelor for life.”

“Says who?” Bruce laughed, “Maybe I’m happy with my life of little flings. Maybe I don’t need a serious relationship. Plus, who are you to talk to me about relationships? I don’t see you with a girlfriend!”

“Ahem,” Tim said, humor draining from his face.

Tam. Tam Fox. His partner for the ITS, the Instantaneous Transportation Station. A teleporter of sorts. When they had tested it out, she had been sucked into a place between places. A sort of new dimension. Bruce had promised he’d help Tim rescue her. They just hadn’t figured out how yet.

“Tam? I’m sorry. I didn’t even realize you-”
“How could you not realize I liked her?” Tim asked, shocked.

“I’m just as bad at reading vibes as you are, I guess,” Bruce said, bashfully, “I really am sorry.”

“You’re fine,” Tim forced a small smile, “I just hope we get her out of wherever she is soon.”

Tim’s number was read over the speakers. 261. Tim stood up to go get their food. Bruce waved to Damian, who was crawling around the playplace like a spider, calling him over.

“Cheesemesiter Deluxe,” Damian beamed, digging in.

“I’m going to have out of shape partners, aren’t I?” Bruce sighed.

“We’re just living life to the fullest,” Tim said with his mouth full.

“I’m pretty sure eating this much junk shortens your life,” Bruce replied.

They all scarfed down their meals, and piled back into Tim’s Alfa Romeo, that happened to be paid for by Bruce.


- - -


“And there’s what looks like a massacre in downtown Gotham,” the reporter, Jack Ryder, said, “We’ve seen several bodies rushed out of Harriet’s Co-Op, and police are spread out over the area, questioning nearly everybody.”

“Hey, you need to leave!” a cop yelled at the news crew.

The broadcast was cut off.

“A massacre?” Tim asked.

“Tim, you’re on babysitting duty. I’m going to check it out,” Bruce instructed.

“Don’t join the pile of bodies,” Tim advised.

“I won’t.”

Bruce descended into the Batcave, and suited up. Then, he hopped into the Batmobile, and zipped off.

Batman sped through the streets of Gotham, finally arriving at Harriet’s Co-Op. The Co-Op was a weathered plain brick building wedged between other degenerating buildings. He crossed the police line without too much resistance, and pushed through the rickety door.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Commissioner Gordon said, coughing, “The Batman.”

“Hello Commissioner,” Batman nodded.

“Where’ve you been off to?” Gordon asked, tapping cinders off the end of his cigarette. His thick gray hair was pushed back, and tufts of it stood out. His smeared glasses rested on his crooked nose. His eyes were darkened, but seemed to sizzle when he saw Batman. Wrinkles huddled at the corners of his eye sockets. His long brown jacket fell over a nice blue shirt and a silver tie.

“Training,” Batman said.

“I’m glad you came out of your cave to see this,” Gordon said, “I hope you haven’t eaten recently.”

“I’ll be fine,” Batman said.

Gordon led him through more officers, stopping at a staircase.

“There was a gang- some of Joker’s old men- who set up a safehouse in the bottom of this store. Apparently, whoever made this mess wasn’t too keen on competition,” Gordon explained.

“A rival gang?”

“Most likely,” Gordon said, “You ready?”
Batman nodded, and followed Gordon down the creaking stairs.

The sight on the concrete floor of the basement was not grisly, but disturbing. Nearly ten bodies had not been removed yet. Each one had a clean hole straight through their head. Blood splotches covered the ground and the walls. CSI was outlining the bodies, and setting up stations around evidence.

“Eighteen victims in total,” Gordon sighed, blowing smoke out of his nostrils.

“Eighteen?” Batman asked, shocked, “Must’ve been quite the team.”

“Must have,” Gordon agreed, “The problem is, there are no cameras in this place, or in a close proximity. We have no idea who did this.”

“I’ll find out what I can,” Batman promised.

“Good luck,” Gordon shrugged, believing it to be impossible to deduce any information.

To begin, Batman saved the locations of all the victims into his cowl scanner. He then began searching for bullets, using the stairwell as the base from where the bullets would have been fired from. He rounded up six, but could find no more. He searched more and more.

“Having trouble?” Gordon asked.

“There are only six bullets,” Batman said, “I can’t find any others.”

“My men haven’t taken any. They’ve got to be here somewhere.”

“Batman, can you hear me?” asked Tim through the comms in the cowl.

“Yes,” Batman replied.

“I’ve been watching through your lenses, and I’ve got a theory,” Tim said.

“Out with it,” Batman instructed.

“Take a look at where the bodies dropped,” Tim said, uploading a digital bird’s eye view of the room to Batman’s eyepiece. The bodies were laid out in what seemed like lines. Only one seemed like it could’ve been dropped by a bullet from the doorway. The team of assailants had spread out immediately, and only taken precise shots. But why preserve ammo if you had a massive team?
“So you think that there were only six bullets fired?” Batman wondered.

“Right,” Tim said, “But there’s one body out of place. At the end of one of the lines.”

One of the outlines was highlighted. It was indeed crooked.

Batman walked over to the outline that was out of formation, and observed the surrounding area.

“There!” Tim shouted, and highlighted a pole that stretched from floor to ceiling. It was placed to the left of the skewed body.

“A ricochet,” Batman confirmed, “Whoever took down this line managed to get this guy with a ricochet.”

“These guys are professionals!” Tim exclaimed.

“They left virtually no evidence, and only used up six bullets. I’d say you’re right. Red, what do you say we test out that new program you’ve been working on?”
“The recreation software?”
“That one,” Batman nodded.

“It’s a little buggy, but okay,” Tim consented, and holographic images of the gang members appeared on Batman’s eyepiece.

“You okay there, Batman?” Gordon asked, laying a hand on his shoulder.

“Fine,” Batman said, pointing to his cowl, “Talking to my partner.”

“Ah, right. Please, continue.”

“These were the positions of the gang members moments before they were killed,” Tim explained, “Now, if we take the locations of where you collected the bullets-”

“We can retrace the route,” Batman finished.

“Right,” Tim said, and little blips came up on the screen where Batman had found the bullets. The software traced the shots back through the gang members, even accounting for the ricochet. Batman had the spots where the shots were fired.

“Surely they didn’t all fire at once. There’s no way the gang members would just let them get in position to mow them down,” Batman muttered.

“Which line was gunned down first?” Tim asked.

“My money’s on the one that lines up with the stairwell,” Batman stated, “Can you get a rough estimate on how long the blood has been on the bullets?”

Batman held the bullets up in front of his lenses one by one. Sure enough, Tim knew which one had been soaked in blood the longest. And sure enough, it was the one fired from the doorway.

They continued the process, and deduced that the team moved in a circular rotation, firing off a bullet whenever they had a shot lined up.

“Why move together? Why not spread out?” Tim questioned.

“Because it wasn’t a team,” Batman sighed, “It was one man.”

“One man took down seventeen goons with six bullets?”
“I recognize the bullets. Custom made. Deathstroke.”

“Spooky name. Should I know it?” Tim asked.

“He was sent to kill Oswald by Black Mask a couple of years back. He let me live, saying I wasn’t his target. I got lucky. If he’s back-”

“We’ve got a major problem on our hands,” Tim said, “What will you tell the Commissioner?”

“The truth,” Batman said, muting Tim.

“Anything?” Gordon raised an eyebrow.

“Everything,” Batman nodded, “This is not the work of a team, but of one man. Deathstroke.”

“Sounds menacing.”

“It’s supposed to,” Batman said, “He’s an international assassin who doesn’t mess around. He nearly killed me. I don’t know why he’s back in Gotham, but I intend to find out. Your men can’t be allowed to confront him. They’ll be slaughtered.”

“Understood. Thank you, Batman.”

“They don’t call me the World’s Greatest Detective for nothing.”

Batman walked out of the building, only to grapple away as soon as he was outside.

“World’s Greatest Detective my ass,” Tim said, finally unmuted, “I did most of the work!”
“Well it’s my nickname, so you’ll have to deal,” Batman smirked.

“They called you that back when you solved your problems by ways other than just pummeling people.”

“I still solve-”
“When was the last time you had to use your mind, not your fists, to solve a problem?” Tim asked.

“I figured out Scarecrow was Dr. Crane,” Batman pointed out.

“Moments before he revealed himself!” Tim protested.

“Alright, fine, maybe I haven’t done a lot of detective work recently,” Batman admitted, “But I haven’t needed to. Gotham has been… peaceful.”

“Words I never thought I’d hear,” Tim said.

“That peace is about to end,” Batman sighed, “If Deathstroke is here, something bad is coming our way.”


Tags:
  1. Mechanist Gamma
    Mechanist Gamma
    Okay, my prediction was wrong last time, but I KNOW this is Catwoman shadowing. Wondering if you'll be doing a take on the wedding in a later season...? (If you do please for the love of god have them actually get married)
    Jul 8, 2018
    Mockingchu likes this.
  2. Mockingchu