Batgirl Begins

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Four hundred years?! I read back over the profile on Ra's al Ghul in the Batcomputer. Date of birth: unknown, age: at least four hundred years old. I wouldn't have believed it if it wasn't for Bruce's outburst yesterday. I mean, I'd be pretty upset too if a four hundred year old guy was undermining each work of good with a catastrophe, or as Ra's calls it: a cleanse.

I shudder. This guy is responsible for many global outbreaks and executions of various political leaders, and these are just the ones he has spoken to Bruce about. Bruce has written in here how he was approached by Ra's to become his heir and lead the League of Assassins for centuries as Ra's has. He has lived this long because of something called the Lazarus Pit, which is some unique chemical compound that rejuvenates the body when close to death. Bruce has written in bold: While the Lazarus Pit may restore the body, it alters the mind and can corrupt the most noble of men.

Ugh. So depressing, I need a brain break. I look around the cave. Nobody here... I start to type the name Starfire in the search bar. I stop myself. Come on, Barb, you can't do this to yourself. I hold down the delete button and watch as the cursor erases each letter. Knowing about her would only make things worse. I decide to search Talia al Ghul. I click on her profile when the screen flashes red. What? Do I seriously have to ask Bruce about it? I don't want to become that metal bar...

I let out a sigh of relief as a pop-up appears on the screen: Code Red. I click on it, bringing up an audio stream of some sort. A small red circle appears in the corner of the window, which means Bruce must be recording any and all Code Reds. I turn up the speakers to listen in.

"Reports of shots fired. I repeat, multiple shots fired at the Bertinelli home. Calling in for back up. There are too many here. I can't protect them-" I hear three loud gunshots, and then silence. Oh my god. Helena. I grab my jacket off the back of the chair and race up to the main floor. I hear someone coming down the hallway as I slip my arms through the sleeves of my coat.

"Alfred, I need a lift back to my apartment. It's an emergency-" I look to see Bruce with a bottle of wine in his hand, "You're not Alfred."

"No, I am not..."

"Please, can you call him for me or something?"

"What's wrong?"

"I heard on your scanner thingy that there were shots fired at the Bertinellli's home... Helena is a friend of mine. Please if you could just-"

"I'll drive," He says setting the wine bottle on a table.

"What?"

"I'll drive." He grumbles as he leads me back down to the cave. "Wait here." He instructs as he goes off to another part of the cave. Less than a minute later, he comes back in his suit and walks over to the Batmobile. "Get in," He says, putting the cowl on his head.

"Don't I need my-"

"Now."

Okay. Not going to argue with angry Bruce. I climb into the seat next to him and watch in awe as the hood comes over my head. I grab the seat belt. There are two that cross each other in an X. I buckle both of them as the engine roars to life.

"Hang on."

I grab the armrests as I see a display appear around us of Gotham, almost like an interactive computerized map. There are several dots on the map of different colors. Many of them are blue, but what sticks out like a sore thumb is a flashing blood red dot that is over the Bertinelli's estate. They are not too far from us, and soon the display disappears, reappearing on a smaller touch screen dashboard. I get sucked into my seat as the Batmobile speeds down the tunnel, coming up to street level in a matter of seconds.