Baba and Chikno [Batman Fanfiction]

II. Red, Black, and Blue

Takes place July 4th, second month of Dick and Damian’s time as the Dynamic Duo.

Disclaimer:  Star-Spangled and Saint Nick are of my own creation.  Everything else belongs to DC Comics.

II. Red, Black, and Blue

His feet hit against the rooftop.  He immediately tucked into a roll, shifting to his feet once more and continuing his pursuit.  The soles of his boots were designed for silence, but even then a distinct thud came with every footfall.  He internally groaned, noting how it was always much harder to stay in stealth mode while running.  Of course, stealth at the moment wasn’t as imperative as usual, as the criminal he was facing already knew he was there.

And by that, Batman meant that Robin very much did not appreciate stealth.  Yet another thing that they would have to work on.  (It seemed the list was always growing.)

He could see Robin ahead of him, three rooftops separating them, and Dick idly wondered if Bruce had allowed the bright colors of the Robin suit just so that he could easily keep an eye on them.  Dick found that it was actually quite effective, and he was glad Damian had gone with a solid yellow cape (unlike the black and yellow that Tim had used).  On the other hand, he shouldn’t have to find Damian.  The brat was supposed to stay with him, and had instead decided to chase down the villain by himself.  And Dick was having to push himself at a brutal pace just to keep up (it was impossibly hard to run when he was wearing a Kevlar ball-gown).

This was not going well.

To make matters worse, the villain that they were chasing was new to the scene and there weren’t any files on him in any of the Batcomputer, Birds of Prey, or League databases.  He was unpredictable, and could have very well been trained by professionals.  Dick had ordered Damian to stay close, and they would scout out the villain’s abilities from a safe distance, but, of course, the brat had to go against orders and rush into things without thinking and-

Damn.  Were all Robins going to be like that?  No wonder Bruce had had so many rules for them.

As he pushed his legs to work faster, he propelled himself forward, reviewing the facts as he went.  The villain they were hunting down went by the name Star-Spangled, or something else as completely ridiculous, and was one of the many ‘holiday-themed’ villains that seemed to congregate in Gotham (really, it’s not like Superman ever had to fight Saint Nick on Christmas, or Scarecrow on Halloween, or, hell, even Poison Ivy on Arbor Day).  This particular villain was taking advantage of the huge supply of fireworks that Gotham City always had shipped in for the big 4th of July celebration (if Dick had learned anything about Gotham, it was that they always threw the biggest parties to make up for all the death).  Star-Spangled, or whatever the hell his name was, used military-grade explosives to simulate fireworks, and had already killed several dozen people.

He saw Robin disappear over the edge of a building, landing down in a road right on the edge of Crime Alley.  Narrowing his eyes, Dick leaped forward and closed the distance between them.  Lunging off the side of the roof, he swooped down in classic Batman fashion and found Robin surrounded by a horde of thugs.  Dick landed on the shoulders of a burly goon, sending his face smashing against the concrete, before he followed through with his momentum and nailed another square in the chest with both his feet.

There were seventeen thugs, none of them armed, but they were gathering bits of scattered trash to use as weapons.  Two of the attackers were already down for the count, blood pooling around their heads from where they had been smashed against the dumpster, while Damian was facing off against another five.  The rest spotted Dick and immediately ganged up on him.  From what he could tell, they weren’t hired by any of the main Gotham crime bosses, and, if the stars sewed onto the shoulders of their shirts were anything to go by, they must have been hired by Star-Spangled (who was now nowhere to be found).