Mask of Glass

Ch 2

Talon tilted his head to the side in confusion. 'That's a weird outfit...' Talon thought to himself. He then looked down at his own suit and realized that his clothing was just as weird.

Batman turned around when Talon jumped to the ground. Immediately after landing Talon had to dodge a kick to the head as well as several jabs and punches.

Talon jumped up onto the fountain and balanced there with little trouble. Batman reached towards his waist to grab a batarang before realizing his utility belt was gone.

Batman glared and circled the fountain, looking for a way to reach Talon. "I... I help." Talon managed to get out with his choppy English. He quickly looked around, fearing that another owl might have heard him speak and was now coming to punish him.

The lenses of Batman's cowl narrowed as he looked at Talon sceptically. Talon suddenly froze, staying completely still for a few seconds before leaping into the air. Batman ducked, expecting Talon to leap at him, but Talon jumped over Batman and tackled another owl to the ground, knocking him out cold.

"Go... need go!" Talon called in a frenzied voice while reaching for Batman's arm. Batman drew his arm away quickly and Talon let out a frustrated sigh. "Talon help..." Talon trailed off for a second, not knowing the right words. "Talon help... go home." He finally said, looking pointedly at Batman and holding out a gloved hand.

Batman relented, grabbing the offered hand and being dragged through the corridors of the maze. It seemed to him that they were taking random turns, but Talon seemed to know where he was going.

After a few minutes they finally burst from the maze, only to be greeted by more owls. Talon went to work, flipping through the ranks of owls and knocking them out one by one. Batman fought where he could, but he only managed to take down one opponent before Talon had grabbed him by the arm again and was running with him down a long hallway.

The hallway opened up into some sort of garage. Talon led Batman over to a sleek black motorcycle and handed him a small key. Talon stepped away from the bike while Batman got on.

"Talon." The voice of William Cobb echoed through the garage. "You have disobeyed the court and are therefore sentenced to death." Talon whimpered when he heard this, but ran to a control panel near the wall and typed in the code to open the door to the outside.

It was snowing outside and the freezing air made Talon stiffen and shiver. He glanced at Batman who had just started the motorcycle before turning to face the owls who were running down the hall towards him. He knew there was no way he could win, but he wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Talon! Come on!" Batman yelled. Talon turned his head to look at him, wondering if he had misheard. A broad grin stretched across Talon's face when Batman gestured for him to hurry. Talon wasted no time rushing to the bike and hopping on behind Batman.

The wind whipped at Talon's body and he shivered despite being covered from head to toe by his owl uniform. His body was stiffening and he resisted the urge to scoot closer to the caped man in front of him.

Batman eventually pulled into an alley and stopped the bike. Talon was shaking like a leaf in the wind. Batman quickly deactivated the batmobile's camouflage mode and told Talon to climb in.

"Do you know who I am?" Batman asked Talon during the drive home. There was no response. Talon just sat huddled on the edge of his seat, as close as his seatbelt would allow him to get to the heater on the dashboard of the car. "I'm Batman, protector of Gotham city." Batman said, rather dramatically.

Talon cocked his head and made a small cooing noise before pointing to himself and saying, "Talon." He then huddled back down in front of the heater.