LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 24: Bigger Than You Know
Saturday 18th April 2009, 00:05.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
Location Unknown.
Esau was safe to say, in awe of the so-called 'Batcave.'
It had been an ongoing joke on the internet over a lot of forums that when Batman wasn't fighting he was in the Batcave. However, to see it in person, to actually be here in person, it was intimidating to say the least.
There was a great deal of technology here, as well as what could only be momentoes of past victories against previous supervillains. An odd thing to see considering he hadn't expected Batman to be the type of person to keep momentoes, but from what he was seeing, some of these were old. The vast majority seemed to belong to Batman's first outings as Batman and his nightly encounters with supervillains.
'I guess even Batman's the type to keep momentoes of past victories. Who'd have thought?' He thought, looking over the collection in minor interest as he followed Barbara and Robin to where Batman sat at a large computer. There was one big monitor, easily the width of Esau's entire bedroom wall and was surrounded by a dozen other smaller monitors. 'Jesus, imagine what I could do with this kind of tech at my disposal.'
It certainly would have made his life easier. Much easier.
"You're alright," Barbara said in relief as the group of three came to a stop, Batman turned around to face them, he briefly studying Esau's presence before dismissing it entirely. "What happened?"
"I was taken," Batman responded and Esau snorted, gaining a glare from Robin in return, though Batman continued as if he hadn't heard it. "I was knocked unconscious by the crash and when I awoke, I was in some type of atrium, surrounded by individuals clad in Owl masks. They called themselves the Court of Owls."
That got a reaction from both Esau and Barbara, something Robin and Batman took note of.
"You know of them?" Robin asked and Barbara nodded her head.
Esau meanwhile crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah, my mum used to tell us stories about the Court, just thought they were children's tales. You know, kind of like Santa Clause and stuff like that, a fairytale."
"Wait, us?" Robin stressed, looking between Esau and Barbara in confusion. "Hold up, before we go any further I want to know what the deal is between you two. It's been bugging me ever since you told me you trusted him." The last part was directed at Barbara.
"I believe." Batman began before any arguments or anything else could happen. "That it would be best to at least, reveal some secrets in order to build some measure of trust. The Court are real and extremely dangerous, I believe it would be best if we at least; cleared some of the air between us."
Batman reached up and pulled his mask down much to the shock of all present.
"Seriously!" Robin exclaimed, looking at his mentor in shock before looking back to Barbara and Black Hood, the former having also pulled down her mask after getting over her shock. "Why the hell are you trusting this guy?"
Yet, Robin received no answer.
"No fucking way, Bruce Wayne?" Esau questioned, not quite believing what he was seeing. "You're Batman?"
"When I was eight years old, my parents were killed in an alley. After that, I dedicated myself to improving my skills so that I could save this city from the corruption that infests it." Bruce said, his voice monotone as he recounted the tale of how he became Batman, only the basics, there were far too many minor details that would take too long to explain at the current period of time. "If you have more questions, they can be dealt with at a later date." Here Batman turned to Robin. "This is my ward, Richard Grayson and as you already know, Barbara is Batgirl."
Esau remained silent, still trying to digest the information Batman, or Bruce Wayne had delivered to him. All the while Barbara watched on, sparing a glance at the calm Bruce and the angry Richard.
"O-okay, I think, I think I've got everything," Esau muttered, more as a way to convince himself than anything else. "So, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Richard Grayson is Robin and my childhood friend is Batgirl. That about sums it up."
"Right, that just leaves the question of who you are," Robin replied irritably, more so at his mentor for having revealed his identity. "Though I'm guessing you two already know." Bruce and Barbara said nothing in response.
Esau meanwhile pulled back his hood.
"That at least clears up the question as to why you trust him," Robin murmured to Barbara, recognising her childhood friend who Barbara was obsessed with protecting.
Barbara decided then that it was best to move this conversation along. "The Court of Owls? I remember the stories about them and now they're real?" She questioned in thought gaining the attention of the group. "Earlier today, we were attacked by a guy, he called himself the Talon. And he," she rubbed her sore ribs. "He beat us both easily."
Bruce nodded his head in thought.
"When I was taken to the Court, they offered me a place amongst them." He said. "They didn't reveal their exact plan, but they talked about how the city of Gotham was failing. I believe they plan to take over the city, correct the mistakes and right the wrongs."
"With the Fearless Toxin?" Esau asked dubiously, still not understanding how Fearless Toxin could help with this matter.
"If the Talon is working for the Court of Owls then they are no doubt connected to the Fearless Toxin," Barbara added. "Which would mean they plan to use it as some sort of weapon or something along those lines. A way to use the common people to overthrow the leaders of Gotham and take control in the chaos."
"That's if the Talon is connected to the Court of Owls." Dick pointed out and Barbara nodded her head in agreement.
"Describe the Talon," Batman ordered and Esau and Barbara shared a look.
"Tall, well built." Esau started off. "Wore combat equipment with gold highlights, clawed gloves and an Owl Mask. Could just be a copycat, using the stories of the Court of Owls as a basis for his getup." Esau offered.
It was a plausible scenario, if not a little unlikely, especially with the reveal that the Court of Owls was a very real thing.
Still, they all knew that in their line of work, they couldn't rule out that possibility.
There were rarely such things as coincidence in their line of work and often when things looked too good to be true, then it was more than likely to be the case. A Court of Owl copycat just so happens to make moves when the actual Court of Owls was making moves was far too much of a coincidence.
"After they made the offer, I was knocked unconscious and brought back to the crash site," Bruce spoke up, gaining their attention once more. "I quickly made my own investigation following a tracking beacon I had put in place. It led me straight to a museum where I encountered the same individual you described."
Esau and Barbara shared a look.
"He was skilled, very skilled." That alone spoke words, especially seen as though it came from Batman himself. "But he was not alone, there was a group of similarly dressed individuals though different, skinnier and more erratic in their movements."
"You're saying there's more?" Esau asked, temporarily stalled at the reveal as were the others.
The idea that there was one very skilled individual that had earned such a compliment from Batman himself was worrying, the very idea that there was more, was terrifying. Batman had already proven himself in the world of heroes to the eyes of the public and as Esau had come to understand, what the public knew was very little in comparison to what was really going on. The fact that someone had gained Batman's recognition spoke volumes as to the threat this man posed to everyone, the knowledge there was possibly more was a thought that invoked terror.
"Perhaps, but they were different," Batman answered calmly. "Less skilled, more erratic and rigid in their movements and if I'm correct, they may be undead."
This sent a ripple of shock between the three young heroes, each of them unsure of whether to believe this or not. But while Barbara and Robin were quick to at least see this as a possible scenario, Esau was still unable to do so.
"Hold up, undead?" He asked incredulously, looking at Barbara, Dick and Bruce in shock at how easily they accepted this. "You seriously expect me to believe that we're fighting zombies of all things? You've got to be joking." But as he looked at the serious faces of the three experienced heroes, he released that they weren't. "You're being serious?"
"The world is bigger than you might believe," Bruce responded.
"Esau," Barbara said and he turned to look at her. "I know it's hard to believe, trust me. I've seen a lot of things that I thought impossible, undead isn't really that surprising." Esau just laughed sardonically.
"You're all fucking crazy. There's no such thing as undead ninjas." He replied irritably. "It doesn't exist, this is the real world, not some fantasy film or tv show. It's real life, undead ninjas don't exist."
"Just like superpowered aliens don't exist, oh wait..." Robin responded sarcastically getting glares from both Esau and Barbara in response.
"I've had it with you, you little shit." Esau snarled and Barbara quickly stepped in between him and Dick, one hand pressed against his chest as she applied some force to get him to stop walking towards Dick.
"Esau, calm down." She implored and Esau looked between her and the other two before with a scoff, spinning on his heel and storming away.
Barbara watched him go before turning to Bruce imploringly, completely ignoring Dick.
Giving a nod of his head, Bruce watched Barbara follow after Esau and then turned to give Robin a disapproving look. The young boy in question just shrugged his shoulders, it wasn't his problem that her friend couldn't accept that there were things in this world more dangerous than one would first believe.