Behind the Mask

Chapter 10

“I don’t know Dick, but we must keep all possibilities open.”

It was then that Robin knew Bruce was hiding something from him.

Robin felt a sharp tap on his shoulder and looked over to see Batman motioning for him to look out the window. When he did, he saw that the Commissioner had made his way up to the platform and preparing to start his speech. Robin glanced at Batman and Batman gave him to the ‘spread out, investigate, but keep to the shadows’ signal. Yeah, they had some pretty complex signals. Robin nodded and slunk out the door of the room they were in, heading for the back door.

The sky was already dark, the sun nearly set, and a giant spotlight was centered on the platform and the swarms of people present. Robin ducked out the door and found himself in a back alley. He cautiously snuck along the alley, keeping to the shadows as requested, his eyes scanning the darkness for anything suspicious. He soon made it around the building and was able to see the all the assembly from the back. The Commissioner had just started talking, multiple microphones positioned in front of his face.

Robin crept along behind the platform, easily avoiding the armed guards that surrounded it, all the while looking for the tell-tale signs that accompanied an assassination attempt. He saw no obvious scouts as he made his way around the corner of the platform, nor any armed figures in the windows scattered throughout the surrounding buildings. After a thorough sweep of the area, Robin found himself crouched in the shadows of the apartment building, the sun fully set, the Commissioner’s speech nearly over, and absolutely no sign of Ra’s al Ghul. He was preparing to radio Batman, tell him he’d found nothing, and probably receive the same information in reply, when saw a dark shadow move farther away to his left, looking particularly like his mentor.

Curious, Robin followed it, wondering why Batman would be seemingly avoiding him. Unless he didn’t know he was there… but that was hardly like the Bat. He crouched low as he approached the figure, most of it lost in the darkness of the building. As he got closer, he could see the distinct ‘ears’ on the figures head and the long, jagged cape around its ankles, but Robin could also see that it was smaller than Batman – noticeably so. Honestly, it looked too small for any full-grown man. Judging by the fact that it hadn’t yet noticed the young vigilante sneaking up on it, Robin deemed the person wasn’t too big a threat and decided it was probably just a kid playing some sort of prank. Easily handled.

Robin let out a cackle, the sound bouncing around the alley as he leaped up onto a window sill above the kid’s head. “Hey.” He said nonchalantly, surprising the figure so bad it jumped. “What’re you doing out here dressed as a bat?”

The figure spun around and Robin could see it was a girl, dressed in what looked like the batsuit, albeit poorly altered to fit the girl’s smaller frame, hence causing it to hang off her awkwardly. The cowl she was wearing looked to be made out of an old ski mask, sewn to look like Batman’s with ears stuck on top. She had some sort of make-shift utility belt around her waist, with what appeared to be homemade weapons stuck in it as well. And she was wearing high-heeled boots. Overall, the getup made Robin laugh again as he jumped down and stood in front of the girl, who, to his chagrin, was taller than him (and would have still been, even if she hadn’t been wearing the ridiculous boots). 

“What are you laughing at?” The girl growled, seemingly trying to do a Batman impression and utterly failing.

“You, your costume, your choice of footwear, your ‘weapons’…. Care for me to continue?” Robin laughed, stepping up backwards onto a step to help boost his height, authority and ego. Not that he had one or anything.

“What do you want?” The girl demanded, crossing her arms and scowling at him through the eyeholes in the ski mask.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Robin asked, a smirk on his face. “Dressing up as Batman when there’s an assassination attempt taking place? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”