Speedy/Robin - Night of the Man-Bat

Gotham City

The air was smokey and hot. Beakers bubbled on Bunsen burners, some boiling over from neglect. "Vallon sonore" by composer Hector Berlioz was playing so loudly the beakers were shaking. The only sources of light were the burners, except for a single desk lamp in the center of the room. Hunched over the desk, painstakingly mixing a precise amount of fluids, was a disheveled man in a dirty lab coat.

His brown hair was graying slightly and receding from his forehead. Not much was missing, but enough to be noticed. He wore thick, unfashionable glasses. His thin face was covered in patches of stubble, his facial hair unable to grow evenly.

"Hmm..hmm...yes," the man mumbled to himself, a habit he's had all his life. Squeezing the last drop into his vial, he smiled and brought it up to his glasses. He squinted at it, taking a moment for his eyes to focus, before he finally placed it into a centrifuge. "Yes!"

"Kirk!"

The man watched, patiently, for the machine to finish. He took off his glasses, wiped sweat from his eyes, and cleaned his glasses on his dirty button up shirt.

"Kirk!"

The music suddenly stopped, causing the man to turn. Standing next to the stereo was his wife, Francine. She looked lovely, from what Kirk's failing eyes could see, dressed in a black button up and dark gray skirt. Her light blond hair was tied back into a ponytail. She wore sleek, stylish glasses. Often times, he didn't understand why she was still with him.

"Have you been down here all day?" Francine asked, her tone curt. She started walking about the basement, turning off burners, turning on lights, and opening windows. The cool night air began to make the room more bearable.

"Not...all..." Kirk sputtered, confused. Time had slipped away from him. But if Francine was home from her job at Gotham University, then he must have been down here all day. "Yes."

Francine passed a large object covered by a blanket in the corner. It squealed. She moved back, took the blanket off, and revealed a bat hanging upside down in a cage. It continued to squeal, so Francine sighed and went to get it some food. After shoving the food into the cage, she slammed it shut and threw the food onto a table in a fit of anger.

"What?" Kirk asked, dumbfounded. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Francine snapped, refusing to look at him. She leaned against the table, her entire body tense. "What day is it?"

"Um...well..."

"Friday!" Francine spun around, her eyes wide. Her nostrils flaring. "And what were you supposed to do Friday?!"

Kirk stared at her, his expression blank, for what seemed like the longest time. Did he have a doctor's appointment? No. Shopping? No he didn't think so. He wasn't suppose to clean the house, he was practically never upstairs to make any kind of mess. No he...

"Oh...the...the interview."

"Yes, the JOB interview!" Francine shouted, fed up almost past the point of reason. "The third I have set up for you!"

"I'm sorry...but I-I think I've made a breakthr-"

"No, I don't want to hear it." She held up a hand and turned away from her husband. She started toward the stairs, her head held high. "It's always another break through, always another failure."

"Not this time!" Kirk's heart sped up, a sudden fear clutching his chest. He'd never seen his wife this angry. He ran forward and grabbed her arm before she could reach the stairs. "I'm certain I've done it this time! I just need to run some tests and..."

"Then run your tests, but I'm leaving!" Francine shouted, yanking her arm free. She saw Kirk's face freeze, the fear and panic behind his eyes. The words, spoken suddenly but not quite unexpectedly to either of them, brought a cold silence between them.

Her anger subsiding, she reached out to touch his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Kirk. I just...I can't anymore. I know the loss of your eyesight...I know how much this means to you. But it means more than me. More than us. More than life. To you. And I can't take it anymore."

Words. So many words and it was all a jumble to him. More words ran through his mind, all the things he could say. All the excuses, promises, assurances. But none of them came out. He just stood there, silent, limp.

"I have a dinner meeting with the board. We can...go over the details when I get home."

Without another word, Francine rushed upstairs. For a long time, he wasn't sure how long, Kirk stood there motionless. He vaguely heard her movements upstairs, stomping from room to room. She never moved toward the basement door. He never moved up the stairs. And eventually, he heard the front door slam, and she was gone.

Another failure? Failure to act. Failure to see. Failure to hear what she had no doubt been telling him for a long time. Part of him knew it was coming, but what else could he do? His work. His work would change people's lives! Not curing blindness, but giving the blind an alternative. By giving humans the sonar abilities of the bat, people like him could have a new lease on life. That's all he wanted for them. For her.

"No...not a failure!"

Kirk stormed over to the centrifuge and practically tore open the lid. He yanked the vial out and peered at it. He was certain this time he was right. That he cracked to code. It just needed testing.

"Testing. No, no I'm right. This will work. I'm not a failure!"

Reaching into a drawer, Kirk pulled out a syringe and ripped open it's packaging. He struggled for a moment to remove his lab coat, tied off his arm, and drew out a dose of the serum. Taking deep breaths, he calmed himself and considered one last time.

"Yes," he nodded to himself over and over. "Yes this will work. Yes. Yes."

The needle entered his flesh. He could feel the serum enter his vein. It started to burn. He clenched his fist, enduring the pain. This would be his moment of triumph. His greatest accomplishment. He would single handedly change the world for the better. He...

Pain. Kirk doubled over, knocking the contents of his desk off as he tried to catch himself. He fell to the cold, concrete floor, curling up into a fetal position. His body was on fire. His mind burned. The world grew dark around him. He opened his mouth to scream, but all that escaped was a high pitched squeal.



"Looks like it's going to be a nice evening, Master Richard," Alfred Pennyworth called to the back of the car, smiling warmly into the rear view mirror. "You boys should have a good time."

"Yeah," Dick Grayson mumbled, his head resting on his fist as he stared out the window. The teen was dressed in jeans and a Grouplove t-shirt with a black leather jacket on top. His jet black hair hung down to his eyes in an unruly fashion. "Sure, Alfred."

"Have you been to Gotham City before, Master Roy?"

"Uh, just call me Roy, Al," Roy leaned up to say, then slumped back down onto his seat. The older teen was a bit bigger than Dick, dressed in jeans and a Star City Comets hoodie. His red hair was styled short and filled with product. "And no, it's my first time. It's uh...a lot different than Star City."

"Every city in the world has it's own flavor," Alfred said in a chipper voice. "Wouldn't you say, Master Richard?"

"Yeah, Master 'Dick'," Roy looked over. "You see a lot of cities jetting around with Bruce Wayne?"

"I don't know," Dick replied in an uninterested voice. "Probably as much as you see hanging out with Oliver Queen."

"Not as much as you'd think," Roy grumbled. "Hell, I don't even know why he brought me here just to sideline me."

"No doubt it was Bruce's idea," Dick said in an equally dissatisfied voice. "To try to give me something to do after sidelining me, too."

"This is crazy!" Roy burst out, slamming his fists into the seat. "I've been doing this for almost four years! I've helped fight Merlyn before! Why am I stuck babysitting?"

"Babysitting?" Dick turned to stare at Roy. "I'm the one babysitting you in MY city!"

"Yeah, sure kid. Talk to me when your balls drop."

Roy saw the punch coming at the last second, raising his arm to deflect it, but Dick's fist still grazed his chin. Roy countered with a backhand, which Dick caught. Dick moved to kick as best he could in the backseat of a car, which Roy blocked with his knee. Roy got a glancing shot at Dick's ribs before a sudden stop caused both teens to crash into the front seats.

"That's enough!" Alfred shouted, the warm parental figure suddenly replaced with a stern custodian. "If the two of you were ready to deal with Merlyn and the League of Assassins then you wouldn't be acting like spoiled children right now, would you?"

Alfred's words stung. The two collected themselves and sat back in their seats, but shared an icy cool look between them.

"Master Bruce and Master Oliver are just looking out for you two," Alfred explained in a much calmer voice. "You are both very accomplished young men, but young you still are. There are things that even Batman and Green Arrow are wary to face, and you should trust their judgement when they tell you to stand down."

"You're right, Alfred," Dick sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, Grampy yelled at you," Roy whispered in a mocking tone. Dick stared daggers but didn't respond.

"And here we are," Alfred said, pulling up to the front of the Majestic Theater. "I will be waiting in the parking garage. Just call me when the movie is over."

"Of course, Alfred," Dick sighed.

The two exit the car and stretch. The darkness of the night retreated to the sparkling lights along the street. Restaurants, stores, clubs, and other businesses bustled with Friday night activity.

"I mean it," Alfred called from the car window, concern in his voice. "Call me when you're out."

Roy did all he could to keep himself from laughing out loud. Dick rolled his eyes before turning back to say, "Yes, Alfred. I will."

Smiling warmly and nodding, Alfred pulled out and drove away. Roy, unable to contain it any longer, let out a good long laugh.

"So what do you want to see?" Dick asked, unenthusiastic.

"Oh, that's cute kid," Roy smirked. He looked around the area and settled his eyes on a group of girls standing by the doors of the theater. "You want to go see Kung Fu Panda 2 or some shit, go ahead. I've got other ideas."

Roy headed off toward the girls without another thought. Dick growled in frustration but sped off after him.

"Well hey there," Roy smiled as he walked up to the three girls. Like a bad joke, there was a blond, a brunette, and a red head. "What are you three going to see?"

The three girls looked over, stopping mid-conversation. There was a moments pause as they checked Roy out and decided how to respond, but it was broken by the red haired girl saying, "Oh, hey Dick."

Dick walked up behind Roy and blushed slightly. "Um...hi Barbara."

"Oh, you guys know each other?" Roy asked. He noticed Roy's entire demeanor change at the sight of this girl. "Why didn't you introduce me, Dicky?" One of the girls giggled, which caused Dick to turn red for another reason.

"I'm Roy, by the way." He reached out to shake Barbara's hand. She wore tight black jeans and a dark purple jacket tied tightly around her waist. Her skin was fair and freckled. She had a small pair of glasses that were framed by her red bangs hanging down around her face. "And you two are?"

"Danielle," said the brunette girl.

"Sarah," said the blond girl.

"So you never answered my question. What are you going to see?"

"Ghost in the Gray," Danielle said, smiling at Roy.

"That's funny, that's what we're going to see," Roy smiled back, but his eyes drifted to Barbara. "Isn't that right, Dicky?"

Frustration overcoming his awkwardness around Barbara, Dick elbowed Roy in the side hard. "I told you not to call me that, Roy. Buddy," he said through clenched teeth before smiling at Barbara. "And yeah, Ghost in the Gray. Definitely."

"You guys should totally sit with us," Danielle said, looking up at Roy.

Roy was still intent on Barbara, who looked over to Dick and said, "Yeah come with us, Dick. Um, Roy."

"Y-Yeah, okay so, let me go buy tick...what the...?" Dick stopped and looked up into the night sky.

"Hmm." Roy tore his eyes off Barbara and followed Dick's gaze. "Why are you spazzing out on me?"

"You don't hear it?"

"Ooookay," Sarah laughed. "You guys are weird." Danielle smacked her in the arm.

"No wait," Barbara shushed them. "I think..."

Suddenly a loud squealing sound rang out from above them. Another sound, like the whipping of a flag in the wind, but more steady, followed. They all turned their eyes in time to see a creature swoop down from the sky.

"Holy shit!" Dick yelled, moving backwards to stand in front of the girls.

The creature was vaguely human shaped. Two legs with clawed feet were covered in tore up black slacks. It's upper body was exposed, revealing dark black hair and giant, overgrown arms. Each finger had claws at the end, and hanging down from the creature's underarms were wings. Bat wings.

The crowd started to panic, shouting and running in all directions. The bat creature turned in their direction, and they saw it had a hideous bat face with long, sharp teeth. A pedestrian tried to run past it and the creature swung it's massive arms down, clawing him in the chest.

"Run!" Roy shouted, turning toward the girls. "Inside!"

They listened. Danielle and Sarah rushed through the rotating doors to the theater. Barbara moved back, but took out her phone to get pictures as she went. Dick grabbed her arm and pulled her along.

Once they were all inside, Roy and Dick discreetly stepped away from the girls. "Alfred," Dick said into his cell phone. "Pull the car up in the alley behind the theater."

"What's going on Master Richard?" Alfred asked. "There appears to be a lot of people in panic."

"Too much to explain," Dick said as he headed for the back of the theater. "Just meet us there. We need our stuff." Dick hung up the phone and looked over at Roy, who was rushing along side him. "Any ideas?"

"Someone aping your boss?" Roy quipped, though his face was deadly serious. "Though this one looks more Man-Bat than Bat-Man."

Despite the danger, the horror, and Dick's general dislike of Roy, he snickered a bit. "Here!"

The two young men burst through an emergency exit into the alley behind the theater. Alfred waited there dutifully, standing beside the trunk of the car and watching for any prying eyes.

"What is going on?" Alfred asked, concern creasing his features.

"A giant Man-Bat monster came flying into the street," Roy said with a straight face.

"I..." Alfred started, his face contorting in confusion. "Well..."

"For once I'm grateful for Bruce's over-preparedness," Dick said mostly to himself. He opened the trunk and pulled out a large, locked briefcase. He then grabbed an old, musty duffelbag and handed it to Roy.

"When you insisted on packing these in the trunk, for a second I thought you meant to sneak after Bruce and Ollie," Roy smirked. "Then I remembered who I was talking to."

Dick's eyes narrowed, but he held his tongue. "Let's go."



In the street out front of the theater, the Man-Bat shrieked in pain as a bullet tore through the membrane of it's wing. It turned to see a shaking police officer standing behind it. Faster than a creature it's size should be able to move, it leapt at the police officer, tackling him to the ground.

"Please no! Please no! God no!"

Before the Man-Bat could sink it's fangs into the officer's face, a loud twang rang out, followed by an explosion of black gas right in the creature's face.

"You know I never realized how ugly bat's are," Speedy smirked to himself, drawing another arrow from his quiver. He was dressed in burgundy leather and kevlar, from head to toe, except his upper biceps which where bare to allow his arms greater freedom of movement. A hood covered his head, with a domino mask over his eyes. "Explains why your boss went with one."

As the police officer tried to crawl away, coughing from the smoke arrow, Robin leapt over a car parked on the side of the street. In one fluid, beautiful motion, he handspringed off the roof of the car, rolled into a ball in mid-air, then stretched out just in time to dropkick the Man-Bat directly in the chest. The creature stumbled backwards, knocked off balance, and Robin landed backwards on his hands, immediately kicking up to his feet.

"Are you ever serious?" Robin asked. His costume was mostly black, with red on his upper torso, sides, and knees. Yellow trim ran along the red sections, and the underside of his black cape was also yellow. A black domino mask covered his eyes almost as much as his shaggy hair.

"Tried it," Speedy replied, loosing an arrow at the creature. "Didn't like it."

The creature swung it's massive wing, pushing Robin back and deflecting the arrow away. It let out an ear piercing screech and leapt toward Speedy. Speedy jumped back, avoiding the creature, and smacked it in the side of the head with his bow.

"Look out!" Robin shouted, drawing two eskrima sticks from behind his back. He spun around and ducked, aiming for the back of the creature's knees.

"I got it!" Speedy shouted, pulling out an arrow and firing at the Man-Bat. The creature grabbed the arrow but squealed in pain as electricity coursed through it's body.

Just then, Robin's struck the back of the creature's knees. The blow knocked it over, but also caused electricity to jump over to Robin, who dropped his sticks in pain. His insulated gloves took the brunt of the shock, but he clenched his hands in discomfort.

"Goddammit!" Robin swore at Speedy. "Watch it!"

"Hey I can't help it if you're not paying attention," Speedy snapped back.

"I'm starting to see why Green Arrow put you on the sidelines and stuck you with me," Robin angrily pushed Speedy in the chest. "You're such a liability they needed me to keep you from ruining everything!"

"Please, if you weren't getting in my way I'd have this thing on display at the Gotham Zoo already!"

The electricity having run it's course, the Man-Bat leapt to his feet, raised it's arms up and spread it's wings wide. It sent both heroes sprawling to the ground. Leaping onto a nearby car, the creature then leapt into the air and took off.

"He's getting away!" the two teens shouted at each other.

Speedy fired an arrow after it. The arrow opened into a grapple and latched onto the creature's ankle. "Got hiiiiiiiii..."

The grapple line attached to Speedy's bow lifted him off his feet and along the ground. Robin rose to his feet just in time for Speedy to slam into him. The two young men were lifted off the ground, Robin draped over Speedy's shoulder, as the Man-Bat took to the sky. Speedy, fueled only by instinct, held onto his bow for dear life as they soared higher and higher.

"Let go!" Robin shouted in Speedy's ear.

"You crazy?"

"Let go!"

"No!"

"I'll grapple us down!" Robin reached over and tried to pry Speedy's fingers off the bow. "Let go!"

"Noooooooo!"

Seeing the fear in Speedy's eyes, Robin turned just in time to see the clocktower. The Man-Bat swooped up to avoid hitting it, causing the two of them to swing full force into the face of the clock. The wind knocked out of both of them, Robin now grabbed onto the bow as well.

The Man-Bat flew straight up along the side of the clocktower. As it reached the top, an open stone arch with a large bell, it banked to the side to avoid the bell. The motion altered the teens trajectory directly toward the bell.

Thinking quickly, Robin brought his feet up. As soon as they hit the bell, Robin ran along it and wrapped the grapple line around the top where it hung from the stone arch. It grew taught and a loud squeal could be heard falling in the distance, followed by a crash of breaking glass.

"Ugh...I think I'm gonna be sick," Speedy croaked, hanging upside down on the gently rocking bell. He reached up and detached the grapple line from his bow, tumbling to his feet.

"What were you thinking!" Robin shouted at Speedy. He flung his arms up in anger. "You almost got us killed!"

"It was getting away!" Speedy shouted back, moving to stand chest to chest with Robin, the top of the Boy Wonder's head just reaching his chin. "Someone had to do something!"

"And getting dragged off like rag dolls was a brilliant plan!" Robin shouted up into Speedy's face, refusing to back down.

"And how was your brilliant plan of 'getting your ass kicked' working out?" Speedy pushed Robin out of his face.

"The only hits I took down there were from YOU!" Robin pushed back.

"If you can't hang with the big boys then go back to the kiddie table."

"God," Robin sighed, overcome with a sense of futility. "How you and Arrow have survived this long is a miracle. Working with you is a joke."

"So far I've been doing pretty well. I got it away from civilians," Speedy raised his arms, his tone condescending. "And it's probably out cold down there so..." A loud squeal echoed beneath them, followed by the sound of falling debris.

"You had to say something," Robin grumbled.

"Well c'mon," Speedy said as he pushed past Robin. "Let's finish this."

"Hold up. Before you get me killed, I think we need to come up with a plan."

"I gotta plan," Speedy kept walking toward the stairs. "Step one, we take it down. Step two, we go back and see if those cute girls still want to hang with us, which is doubtful 'cause you're you."

Ignoring the jab, Robin ran into Speedy's path. "Look this creature is more stronger than us and fast for it's size, we need more of a plan than, 'we take it down.'" When Speedy didn't immediately try to move past him, Robin continued. "Do you have any tranquilizer arrows?"

Speedy looked aside, avoiding Robin's gaze, and rolled his tongue in his mouth. "Not on me."

"Well I have these," Robin pulled three darts out of his utility belt. "One will take down a full grown man, so three should put it out. So if you can get his attention..."

"You want me to be bait?!"

"I think it's one job you have the brain cells to handle," Robin spat. Another squeal echoed below them. "Look it's going to get away! Just keep your distance, get his attention, and I can get in. Okay?"

"Fine."

Speedy moved for the winding stairs and ran down. He saw Robin leap off the side, into the vast tower below, and then lost him. After a couple turns down the tower Speedy could see the Man-Bat sitting a couple turns below, recovering from crashing through the large, round window above it.

The creature started to get to it's feet. Stopping quickly, Speedy fired an arrow across the tower. It impacted next to the creature and erupted in a cacophony of sound. The Man-Bat went wild, swinging it's claws all around, trying to stop the aural assault. Finally it knocked the arrow over the side.

"Didn't like that, huh?" Speedy smiled, now just up the steps from the creature. He fired another arrow, but the creature ducked and leapt toward him. Falling onto his back, Speedy slid down the steps to avoid the attack, firing an arrow point blank into the creature's side.

Unperturbed by the arrow, it simply snapped it off and turned to leap at Speedy again. Speedy rolled away just in time. Still on his back, he tried to fire another arrow but the Man-Bat swatted his bow aside. The creature moved in, Speedy's kicks doing little more than annoy it.

"Nighty night!"

Suddenly Robin was on the creature's shoulders. He moved to stab the darts into it's neck, but the creature reared up and threw Robin off balance. The darts clattered onto the steps as Robin lost hold of the raging Man-Bat.

Speedy, still under the creature, saw it looking up at the broken window and knew it planned to escape. Through it's legs he saw Robin sitting on the steps. "It's going to get away! C'mon!"

Rolling to the side, Speedy snatched one of the darts and jabbed it into the creature's thigh. That's when he noticed a bulge in the back of the creature's tattered pants.

The Man-Bat roared and swatted Speedy away. It scrambled up the stone wall, clawing it's way up to the window, and flew off into the night sky.

"Well that sucked," Speedy groaned, rolling onto his hands and knees. When he looked up he saw Robin still sitting there, a blank look on his face. "What the hell was that?"

"A giant Man-Bat," Robin replied, disinterested.

"I meant you," Speedy smacked Robin in the side of the head, rousing him. "Why'd you freeze up on me?"

"I didn't freeze! I just...the plan wasn't going to work. We can't handle this. It's too much."

Speedy sighed, frustrated but also discouraged. "Look, maybe you're right. Maybe Batman and Green Arrow are right. Maybe we aren't ready. But that thing is out there and it's going to hurt people! Someone has to stop it!"

"And what if we can't?"

Speedy stood up, dusted himself off, and held a hand out. "Then we can't. But I say we keep trying. What else can we do?"

After a moment, Robin nodded and took Speedy's hand. "All right well we need to figure out where it's going. You hit it with one dart right?" Speedy nodded. "So even if it's not out it should be a little slower for a bit. Might give us time to find some clues here. Something that might lead us to it's origin or..."

Speedy coughed, breaking Robin's concentration. "I think this might be a clue." Robin looked over to see Speedy holding up a leather wallet. The two shared a smile before Robin snatched it out of his hand.

"License says Kirk Langstrom," Robin said, pulling a flap on the back of his left glove back to reveal a small touchscreen.

"What're you doing?" Speedy asked.

"Googling him."

"Oh," Speedy shrugged. "Obviously."

"Let's go."



"Kirk?" Francine called out as she entered their home. "You wouldn't believe the mess downtown. Traffic was at a crawl due to some...wild animal or something." The light switch by the door didn't work. The house was silent and dark. "Kirk, are you okay?"

She reached into her purse and took her cell phone out. Using it's flashlight, she made her way through the house. The place was a mess. Things were knocked over and broken all everywhere she looked. Strange scratches ran along some sections of the halls and ceiling.

"Oh my God," Francine whispered to herself. She headed for the basement. "If you're still here, I'm calling the police! This is unacceptable!"

As she walked toward the kitchen she heard strange noises, soft and muffled. She shined her light across the kitchen as she entered to find the refrigerator door wide open, most of it's contents strewn across the floor. Crouched there, rummaging through it, was a giant monster.

Francine screamed and turned to run. The Man-Bat squealed and leapt after her. She made it halfway through the living room when it pounced on her, knocking her side into the couch. The creature grabbed her wrists, digging it's nails into her skin and drawing blood, and brought it's face right up to hers.

"Oh fuck!" Francine said over and over. "Please don't kill me! Please don't eat me!"

The Man-Bat sniffed her a bit, cocking it's head sideways as it inspected her. There was a strange...familiarity between them. When it didn't attack her, Francine stopped screaming long enough to look it in the eye. "K-Kirk?"

The name seems to set it off. Screeching, it lifted Francine off the ground by her wrists, shaking her violently. It reared back it's head, perhaps ready to bite, when an arrow with a large, weighted point slammed into it's nose.

"Dr. Kirk Langstrom," Speedy said from the doorway, another arrow ready. "You have failed this marriage!" Speedy snickered to himself. "Let the woman go!"

The Man-Bat let one of Francine's wrists go to place a hand to it's face. With her hand free, blood trickling down her arm, Francine pounded and scratched at the creature's other hand.

Suddenly smoke erupted around the creature and Francine. Robin leapt in from behind and tried to jab the last two tranquilizer darts into it's leg. The Man-Bat swung it's arm and wing up, knocking Robin aside first.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Speedy fired a pointed arrow, impacting directly into the back of the hand holding Francine up by the wrist. She fell to the floor in a heap. Robin, in one fluid motion, rolled under the Man-Bat's arms, lifted Francine up over his shoulder, and jumped to the other side of the living room.

Speedy started to reach for another arrow when he saw the two darts sitting on the floor a few feet in front of him. Robin was on the other side of the room, the Man-Bat was tearing the arrow out of his hand, this was his chance. Tossing his bow over his shoulder, Speedy leapt forward, grabbed the darts, and rolled toward the creature.

"What're you doing?" Robin shouted.

The Man-Bat grabbed Speedy by shirt and lifted him up, slamming him into the ceiling. As Speedy crashed into the floor, the creature leapt over him and headed for the front door.

Recovering quickly, gritting his teeth against the pain, Speedy rolled back onto one knee and took out two arrows. Firing them simultaneously, one hit the Man-Bat in the leg, latching onto it. The other arrow, connected by a cable, slammed into the front of Francine's car. When the creature tried to take off into the air, the cable grew taught, and it crashed into the street.

"God I'm gonna feel that for a few days," Speedy winced, holding his ribs.

"What the Hell was that?" Robin asked as he checked Francine quickly. She had no life threatening injuries, so he left her confused on the living room floor. "The plan was for you to keep distracting it and letting me use the darts!"

"I had a shot!" Speedy shouted down into Robin's face. "You weren't getting it done, so I went for it!"

"And you fucked it up!" Robin shouted back, anger making his face almost as red as his costume. "He was contained in here and easier to control! You let him go!"

Speedy's face dropped. He turned to look away, unable to respond. Francine's car shook and creaked as the Man-Bat tried to tear the cable holding him out.

"I'm calling Batman," Robin sighed. "We can't..."

"No," Speedy said quietly, placing a hand on Robin's shoulder. "No, we can do this."

"Really? Coulda fooled me."

"Look, I'm sorry," Speedy said in a low voice. "You're the only other kid hero I've met and...look just, I'm sorry. I've been stupid."

Robin raised an eyebrow, not sure how to take such sudden sincerity from Speedy. "I...I don't think it's been just you. So yeah, I'm sorry too.

"Take the lead, I promise I'll follow your plan."

"What plan?" Robin asked, his voice defeated. "My plan's ruined."

"So improvise," Speedy smiled, gently smacking Robin in the side of the head, causing his mop of hair to fall over his eyes. "Look, stop getting so hung up on perfect conditions for plans. Even your boss can't plan for everything. What's he do when things hit the fan?"

The car began shaking even more. Speedy grabbed Robin's shoulder and dragged him outside. "Look this guy is just a giant bat. How do you catch bats in your stupid cave?"

"A trap," Robin mused. "A bucket. Or a bag."

"So we need a giant bag," Speedy scoffed.

Looking around the neighborhood, Robin's eyes lit up. "Exactly!"

"Wait, what?" Speedy asked as Robin ran off. Confused, he followed as they ran across the street toward a neighbor's house. Sitting in the driveway, parked up by the garage, was a large trailer with a boat strapped to it, over which was a blue tarp.

"Keep it busy!" Robin ordered.

The Man-Bat finally managed to bite it's way through the cable at it's ankle. It was about to leap into the air when a hail of rapid fire arrows came toward it. After a couple stuck into the creature's flesh, it began swinging it's wings violently, knocking the arrows away.

Squealing in fury, the Man-Bat leapt toward Speedy. He dodged to the side and fired an arrow at the street underneath the creature. The concussion arrow exploded, dazing the creature for a moment.

Suddenly a zip line shot across the street above them. On it swung Robin, trailing a giant blue tarp behind him. "One Bat-Bag coming up!"

As the tarp fell over the Man-Bat, Speedy rushed toward it, hitting it low and tackling it to the street. Robin leapt down and the two heroes quickly pulled the four corners of the tarp together. The Man-Bat thrashed wildly in the tarp, tearing tiny holes with it's claws.

"I've got this," Speedy said, motioning toward the Man-Bat with his head. "Get him!"

A dart in each fist, Robin leapt on top of the thrashing creature and stabbed through the tarp. He held on as long as he could, ensuring as much tranquilizer as possible was injected, before being knocked off like a bull rider.

The Man-Bat continued clawing at the tarp for another minute or two, Speedy fighting to hold the tarp closed, but it's movement steadily slowed with each passing second. Finally it stopped moving, the tranquilizers taking hold.

"Quick thinking," Speedy nodded at Robin.

"Thanks," Robin smiled back.

The creature finally silent, the two heroes realized a crowd had started to form as neighbors came out of their houses to see the commotion. Sirens also started to pierce the night air, so after quickly tying the tarp shut, Robin and Speedy took to the rooftops to disappear.

After making it a couple blocks, certain they were unseen, the two heroes doubled back. Hiding in the shadows of a nearby rooftop, they watched the police arrive. Soon after EMTs. They watched as Francine was questioned by the police. They watched as the Man-Bat was secured and being loaded up into a police wagon.

"What a night," Speedy sighed.

"Mmm hmm," Robin agreed.

"No one's ever going to believe this. Hell, I can't believe it. A giant Man-Bat? I thought I'd seen it all."

"Mmm hmm."

"Look," Speedy said, suddenly taking a serious tone. "Sorry again about earlier. I..."

"Forget it," Robin interrupted. "It worked out. And I'm sorry too. Like you said, haven't met another person like me. You know, in this life. I think it brought out the worst in both of us."

"Oh you think that was my worst?" Speedy laughed. Robin laughed as well.

"Thank you, though." Robin smiled.

"For what?"

"For giving me the push I needed."

"Oh that?" Speedy smiled, shoving Robin in the shoulder just a tiny bit harder than would be considered playful. "I'll push you around any time."

"SPEEDY!"

"ROBIN!"

Both teens winced in pain as their radios went off in their ears. They looked at each other with pained expressions.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?"

-The End-