Batman/Rorschach [DEFENDERS OF EARTH BOOK II]

3- Trail

The Batmobile screeched around the corner, blowing a discarded newspaper down the street. Batman turned to Rorschach.
"So the prison break- how did it happen?" He asked him. Rorschach stayed staring out the window.
"Inside work- explosion in west wing, Kasady's cell in east. Guards attracted to sound, wall of Kassidy's cell blown apart. Escaped down side of the building by drain pipe." He explained. "Tracked the corrupt guards- all undercover members of Rat Gang."
"The Rat Gang," Batman said, "You said they were employed. I have nothing on them doing work for hire."
"They don't. But apparently the offer was too big to refuse- 3 million is what I was told. Obviously a wealthy individual."
"But what would a wealthy individual want with a serial killer?" Batman questioned. Rorschach finally turned his head to him.
"Nothing good can come out of it, for sure." He remarked. "Someone's playing dangerously. Now, where shall we look first?"
"First we check if Kasady has been caught on any surveillance cameras- I have a friend who can sort something out." Batman said as he sharply pulled the Batmobile into a side alley and then into another main road. He activated the thruster and the car lurched ahead, cars beeping their horns and moving to the side. The Batmobile quickly approached the Gotham Clock Tower.
The Batmobile slowed down in front of the Clock Tower. The cockpit opened and they both got out. Batman took out his grapple gun.
"We're going to the top- you're going to need a lift." Batman said, aiming upwards.
"No need." Rorschach answered, taking out his own grapple gun. It wasn't as advanced as Batman's, but it was certainly impressive. He fired it upwards, and zipped to the top, Batman closely behind him. They both reached the top, both of them putting their grapple guns away.
"Where did you get that?" Batman asked him, nodding to his coat pocket.
"A friend made it for me- actually, you kinda remind me of him." Rorschach replied.
"I hope not..." Batman mumbled as he walked past him. Rorschach laughed at the comment.
Pressing a few buttons on his gauntlet, the new mechanism installed in the clocktower opened up a trap door at the top leading into Oracle's computer room. Batman jumped down the shaft and into the room, his cloak draping across the floor. She turned her head slightly, confirming his appearance.
"The Kasady Case?" She assumed. Batman walked up to her armchair.
"Yes. Has the facial recognition software detected him?'
"No... but I did catch this. I got onto a Rat Gang secure chat site after your discovery of their tech wizards- here." She said, motioning to the screen. A chat showing a conversation between members of the Rat Gang appeared on the screen. On it read mostly information they already knew- except for one thing.
"Kasady went to a bar the night he got to Gotham." Rorschach remarked from next to him. Oracle shrieked, standing up and backing away.
"Relax, he's with me." Batman said. Oracle hesitated, but sat back down.
"R-right. Anyway, yes, your... friend is right. It would seem that he did go to a bar- SkellJei's, a bar notorious for being favourites of people like Maroni and Sionis.  But what he was doing there you'll have to find out."
"Right." Batman nodded. "And nothing else was said on the server regarding Kasady?"
"No- it basically went dead after their members started dropping like flies."
Batman turned to Rorschach. "We'll go to the bar and ask some patrons if they know why he was in there, and if some of them know where he went next."
"They won't budge easily, surely." Rorschach commented. Batman walked under the hatch.
"Then let's shove them." He finished, firing his grapple up and out to the cold Gotham air, Rorschach right behind him.
After a short drive to the most run-down section of Old Gotham, the Batmobile stopped at the end of a street. The sidewalks were empty- not even beggars stayed on these streets at night. The two jumped out of the cockpit and onto the street, and made their way down the pavement to SkellJei's Bar. Next to the filthy houses and grimy buildings, it stuck out like a sore thumb. It looked well managed and well kept- probably why it was a favourite of people like Roman Sionis- a nice bar in a low-key part of the city.
They stepped in through the double doors, Rorschach coming in second. Immediately, everyone in the bar went quiet. The people playing poker and having drinks on the tables stared. The people at the bar were silent. The bartender glared at them. Batman turned to Rorschach, who gave him a head tilt which seemed to read 'You first.'
"Several months ago, someone came to this bar. They wouldn't look like any normal patron- plenty of scars, recently escaped from prison. His face would've been all over the news. Name's Cletus Kasady." Batman said to the patrons. Nobody spoke. Nobody even moved.
"Hmm. Either none of you have any idea who I'm talking about, or none of you wish to comply. If you refuse to pass on any information..."
"You'll do what?!" Someone said. A large man in a white sleeveless shirt had stood up and was making his way towards them. "We all know that you don't kill- none of us have anything to be scared of!"
Batman said nothing at first. Then he spoke up.
"We can arrange something. You can either spend the rest of your life not able to reach the upper shelves in your house, or you can tell me where Cletus Kasady is." He said. Rorschach titled his head slightly at this. All the attention was focused on Batman- Rorschach might as well have been invisible.
"You can try, you crazy son of a bitch!" The brute replied, swinging his fist. Batman dodged it with ease, grabbing his wrist and twisting it backwards. The brute screamed, and Batman kicked the back of his right leg with so much force it let out a loud crunching sound and the man fell to the ground in pain. Everyone around stared, eyes wide. Some got up and moved to a different part of the room. Batman knelt down and grabbed onto his leg.
"So... are you going to tell us where Kassidy is?" Batman demanded. The brute spat out of the side of his mouth.
"Screw you!"
Batman narrowed his eyes, but stood up.
"Ha!" The thug laughed, still on the floor. "I knew you didn't have the balls to do it!"
Batman walked up to Rorschach. "He doesn't seem to be intimidated by my techniques- I'm too familiar to him. You, however..." He whispered to him.
"...I'm on it." Rorschach said. He walked up to the thug, taking his hands out of his coat pockets.
"Wait... who the fu-?" Was all the thug could get out before Rorschach knelt on his crippled leg, making him let out a loud scream. At this, a lot of people now started silently making their way out of the bar.
"TELL US WHERE CLETUS KASSIDY IS, AND MAYBE YOU'LL STILL HAVE A PULSE!" Rorschach demanded. A slight tear fell from the brute's eye.
"You... you wouldn't dare..."
"Wouldn't I? Don't act like you understand or know me- you're scum, nothing special. I have little reason to keep you alive, so if I were you, I wouldn't try my patience." He hissed. The man finally caved.
"I... I don't know where he went, exactly." The thug began. "When he came in, he sat with a guy- he had a big coat on, and a hood- nobody could see who it was."
"What were they talking about?!" Rorschach shouted, putting more pressure on the man's leg. He let out a louder scream.
"I-I I don't know! They were... they were very quiet. They both left at the same time, both got in the same vehicle- an armoured thing, went towards the main city."
"What make was the vehicle?"
"It was Amertek- and not the street legal kind!"
"You've been... most helpful." Rorschach said, standing up, grabbing a bottle and smashing it against the brute's head. He dropped what remained of the glass bottle and put his hands in his coat pockets once more.
"We're done here." Rorschach said, walking past Batman and out of the bar. Batman stood there for a moment, looking at the thug on the floor. Was he dead or unconscious- Batman did not know. All he knew was that not only did he just standby whilst a man was being vigorously tortured, but he asked him to.
As soon as we're done with Kasady, he thought, I'm taking him in.