Double Speak by BillA1

Copyright December 2005

 

Disclaimer: The character Batman is owned by DC Comics. This story is intended for my own pleasure and is not for profit. It has been posted to this site for others to read. Places and characters not own by DC Comics are my own creation. This story is based on characters from Batman: The Animated Series. Thanks to Merlin Missy for her beta on this story.

 

 

Double Speak - A Batman:TAS Story

Rating: (PG)

Synopsis: Batman, Robin and a puppet mastermind.

 

(Friday Night)

 

The Gotham Jewelry Mart had been closed for hours, but that didn't concern Scarface and his gang. They'd been in the store for five minutes.

 

They'd moved past the front retail section of the shop and to the back of the store where the vault was located. Scarface knew passing up the sparkles bothered Mugsy and Rhino to no end, but it didn't matter what the help thought. He was the mastermind and it only mattered what he thought.

 

Mugsy made a beeline for the vault against the wall. "Boss, ya want me to blow the vault?" he asked as he set his tools next to the steel door.

 

"Nah, idiot. I want ya to tell it how pretty it is. Look to your right, stupid."

 

Mugsy looked to his right.

 

"Your other right, blockhead. Don't you know your right from my left?" And they think I'm the one with a hand stuck up my butt. He pointed his machinegun at Mugsy.

 

"Sorry, Boss," Mugsy said as he looked to his left and saw, in a corner of the room, two fifty-five gallon barrels marked 'Industrial.' The barrels were in a padlocked cage. "You want me to open the cage, Boss?" Mugsy asked.

 

"No. I want to ya make love to it. Yeah, stupid, I want you to open it." Scarface yelled as he turned to the Dummy. "Where'd you find these rocks?"

 

The Dummy cleared his throat, but his voice cracked anyway. "Mister Scarface, sir, you hired them...sir."

 

Scarface turned and swung at the Dummy, but missed. "Don't be puttin' words in my mouth. If I hired them, it's your fault, Dummy!"

 

Dummy said nothing as Mugsy cut the lock on the cage.

 

"Rhino, you done yet?" Scarface called out.

 

"Finishin' up now, Boss. The guards are all trussed up, good and tight," Rhino answered. He looked confused. That's normal for him. "Is this what we're taking, Boss? The barrels?"

 

"Give the knothead a prize," Scarface said, pointing his machinegun at the cage. "Want you to open one of them barrels."

 

Rhino opened the container. His jaw dropped. "Looks like slivers of glass."

 

"Put your gloves on, stupid, and fill this sack with them jewels," Scarface shouted as the Dummy tossed a small bag to Rhino. Rhino put his gloves on and grabbed a handful of the shards and filled the small pouch.

 

"Mugsy, get your gloves on and take the bag from Rhino, then Rhino you get the unopened barrel and let's go," Scarface said.

 

"Got it, Boss," Rhino said as he picked up the barrel.

 

Muscle. That's why you hired this rock. "Good," Scarface said and then he turned toward the Dummy. "Well, whatcha waiting on, Dummy? Let's go."

 

"Yes, Mister Scarface," the Dummy answered.

 

As they moved back through the store, Scarface said to Mugsy, "Sprinkle some of that stuff in the bag behind. Make sure you don't step in the stuff you're spreading around."

 

"Right, Boss." Mugsy sprinkled the diamond chips on the floor.

 

The quartet ran out the building and disappeared into the night.

 

(Saturday Morning)

 

It was a quiet morning in Gotham Heights. Most of the masters and mistresses of households in this exclusive part of Gotham were sitting down to breakfast. Bruce Wayne was no exception.

 

Alfred had just poured a cup of coffee for Master Bruce when he looked up and secretively smiled as Master Dick sat down.

 

"Good morning, Master Dick. Nice to have you home from University for the weekend," Alfred said.

 

Master Dick yawned. "Good to be home, Alfred. Morning, Bruce," he answered.

 

Master Bruce nodded and picked up the newspaper that Alfred had set in front of him and started reading. Master Dick grabbed the sports section from Master Bruce and started scanning the paper for baseball scores.

 

"Would you like your usual breakfast this morning, Master Dick?" Alfred asked.

 

"Yeah, thanks, Alfred."

 

"Here you go," Alfred replied as he set a bowl of cereal, fresh fruit and juice in front of him. Master Dick looked up, grinned and said, "What would you done if I had said 'no?'"

 

"Prepared whatever you wish," Alfred answered knowing that Master Dick had the cereal breakfast every morning except Thursdays and Sundays. On those days he would have eggs. That routine hadn't changed in ten years. Alfred glanced at the young man and added as he refilled Master Bruce's juice glass, "As always."

 

Master Bruce looked at Master Dick and asked, "What do you know about diamonds?"

 

Master Dick hurriedly swallowed his cereal and washed it down with a drink of fruit juice.

 

"Not much," he replied. "Girl's best friend and that kinda stuff according to Cindy in my calculus class. Why? Are you thinking about giving some girl one?"

 

Master Bruce's expression remained flat. Master Dick gently slapped the palm of his hand to his forehead. "What was I thinking? Not good old 'Playboy Bruce.'"

 

"There was a robbery at the Jewelry Mart last night," Master Bruce said, flashing a quick smile at Master Dick. "The thieves didn't take any of the jewels in the front of the store. They only took industrial diamonds which won't be that easy to fence." He was silent for a moment. "Half of those diamonds were slated for Wayne Enterprises."

 

Master Dick shook his head. "You think it was industrial sabotage; someone stealing stuff from Wayne Enterprises to hurt the company? Hurt you?"

 

Master Bruce frowned. "Could be. Think I'll pay Gordon a visit later to see what he thinks."

 

"Want some company?" Master Dick asked.

 

"No, thanks," Master Bruce smiled. "You can have the night off."

 

 

Batman had been in Gordon's office about ten minutes. It was easy to see that Gordon was frustrated by this case. They both stood in front of a television watching the closed-circuit videotape from the security cameras.

 

"Real professional job," Gordon said. "You can barely make out the hand that's about to cut off the video feed." Just before the feed disappeared, Gordon pointed at the television and said, "See?"

 

Gordon paused the tape and frowned. "With all the other crime out there," he said softly, "industrial crime is not on my top ten list for manpower resourcing. Give me a choice of providing an officer to stop an assault or to stop industrial theft, the assault wins every time."

 

Batman nodded, but winced inside. He wondered, would he be in Gordon's office right now if the robbery hadn't involved his company? The diamonds were insured and were going to be used within his Tech division to cut and fabricate titanium alloy materials. The loss of the diamonds was inconvenient, but not fatal to the company. (Lucius had assured him of that.)

 

So, why was he here? Maybe, he reflected, on some level he thought he owed the company something. The least Batman could do was to look into the theft of Wayne property.

 

His eyes narrowed. "Let me borrow the tape, Jim," Batman said.

 

As Gordon handed him the tape, Batman added, "The paper said half a million in diamonds were left behind."

 

Gordon put his hands in his trouser pockets and rocked back on his heels. "I know. We figured they took as much as they could carry, spilling a lot of the stuff on their way out. We think they didn't know how heavy a million dollars in industrial diamonds could be."

 

He paused and took his pipe from his desk and puffed on it. "Funny thing is," Gordon continued. "If they'd struck tomorrow at the same store, they would have gotten a million dollars worth of jewelry quality diamonds that were to be stored there overnight. Because of that, Bullock thinks this was purely an industrial espionage job to hurt Wayne Enterprises. That's why they didn't take the jewels in the retail part of the store."

 

Batman knew Gordon was looking for some sign of agreement that this was just industrial espionage. "The jewelry diamonds?" Batman asked. "Are they still going to be stored at the Jewelry Mart now?"

 

Gordon shook his head. "Would you store valuables in a place that had just been robbed? They're being moved to the Jewelry Exchange."

 

Batman nodded. "I'll be in touch," he said as he opened the window behind Gordon's desk and launched himself into the night.

 

 

Bruce had been sitting at the console in front of the computer for an hour analyzing the tape Gordon had given him. Dick wished he could say something witty that would add some insight to Bruce's analysis of the tape, but Bruce had blown up the image so large on the monitor, Dick couldn't tell what he was looking at now.

 

Suddenly, Bruce sat up straight and, like a proud schoolchild, pointed to the monitor. "There. There he is," he said in a low voice.

 

"Who?" Dick asked as he finished fastening his utility belt around his waist. The image on the monitor still looked like large, square pixels to him.

 

"Here. Do you see it now?" he answered. How can Bruce make anything out of that?

 

Bruce enhanced the image the way only his computer could and then Dick could tell that he was looking at a reflection in a ceiling corner mirror that showed three people. No. Four people. One reached up toward the camera. One person looked to be holding the other up.

 

"Scarface," Bruce said, "really Arnold Wesker, also known as the Ventriloquist."

 

Dick was silent for a moment before he said, "You think the dummy, Scarface, planned the robbery to get even with Wayne Enterprises for hiring Wesker when he first got out of Arkham."

 

Bruce shook his head. "I don't think it's revenge. Scarface and Wesker are separate personalities in the same body, but neither one is stupid. And revenge for hiring Wesker would be stupid."

 

So says the man who wears the cape for revenge. "So what do you think he's going to do with the diamonds?" Dick asked. He stood next to the console. "Think he's going to use Penguin to fence them?"

 

Bruce whirled around in his seat to face him. There was a smirk on his face. "We'll have to convince Penguin not to accept them, won't we?"

 

Dick nodded. "Assuming he hasn't already."

 

(Sunday)

 

Batman and Robin stood on the ledge outside of Penguin's office at the Iceberg Lounge. They'd watched as the Penguin stood behind his desk and appeared to be having an animated conversation with someone Batman knew well, Charles Daly, also known as Rhino.

 

They watched Rhino leave the office. Robin tapped Batman on the shoulder and motioned if he wanted him to follow Rhino. Batman shook his head and gestured for him to follow him instead.

 

Batman smashed through the glass window and startled Penguin, who fell backwards onto the floor. Robin followed him in, moved quickly to the door and locked it. He stood with his arms folded, his back to the door and his foot propped against it.

 

Batman stood over the shaking Penguin. "What did he want?" Batman said in a low voice.

 

Penguin scrambled to his feet and straightened his clothing. "That's none of your business. I'm a legitimate business man these days."

 

Batman wrapped his cape around himself as he towered over Penguin. "But Rhino isn't. Now answer me before I make you the new focus of my attention."

 

The Penguin shook his head and backed up into the room, tripping over an overturned chair on the floor. He quickly got to his feet. "I run an honest business now. He wanted to discuss a business deal and I said no."

 

Batman pointed his finger in Penguin's face. "Tell that to someone else."

 

"Look, I've done nothing wrong. I'll call the police if you don't leave right now."

 

"Call them," Batman snarled. "I'll be back tomorrow and every night until you tell me what I want to know." He kicked the desk over and shouted, "Where's Rhino's boss?"

 

Penguin ran behind his overturned desk. "Unruffle your feathers. How would I know where his boss is at?"

 

Batman leapt over the desk and grabbed the squirming Penguin and pinned him against the near wall. "Find out," he growled.

 

Suddenly, there was pounding on the door. "Penguin? You okay?"

 

Robin stepped away from the door and to the broken window. He fired a grappling hook across the street, stood at the window and waited for Batman.

 

Batman dropped Penguin to the floor, fired a hook out the window and across the street and stood next to Robin.

 

The pounding on the door increased. "Penguin! Answer up!"

 

"I'll be back," Batman snapped. "And you'd better have an answer. And it better be the one I want to hear."

 

Then he and Robin leaped out the window and swung away.

 

 

Dick had watched Bruce intimidate thugs like Penguin and other crooks like that hundreds of times before. And every time he'd watched, he felt awe at how efficiently Bruce could reduce a criminal to a spineless human being, willing to do anything to keep Bruce from making a return visit.

 

They were two buildings over and on the rooftop across the street from the Penguin's Iceberg Lounge.

 

"Do you think he'll find out where Rhino is?" Dick asked. He knew that if he were Penguin he would not want to be part of Bruce's second act tomorrow night.

 

"He'll have an answer tomorrow," Bruce said. "But, I think that will be too late." Bruce paused and frowned. "I think Wesker will probably strike tonight."

 

Dick's eyes widened for a moment and then narrowed. "What? Did the puppet leave you a note or something telling you where?"

 

Bruce smiled a wicked grin and then turned and walked away from the roof's edge. "As a matter of fact," Bruce said over his shoulder, "I think he did."

 

 

The Jewelry Exchange had been closed for about four hours. Arnold hated the fact that Mister Scarface always seemed to pick the most inopportune times to commit his crimes. He was sleepy, but when Mister Scarface said to do something, Arnold knew he'd better do it quick. That machinegun uses live ammunition.

 

Mister Scarface had directed the gang to the back of the store where they found a large safe.

 

"Hurry up, Dummy, get me over to the safe," Mister Scarface barked. "Mugsy, get over here with the tools."

 

"Yes, sir, Mister Scarface," Arnold answered as he moved Mister Scarface into position near the safe.

 

Mister Scarface turned toward Rhino. "Check the front of the store again. You know what to do if you find anybody out there."

 

"Right, Boss," Rhino answered as he headed back to the front of the store.

 

Mister Scarface looked at Mugsy and pointed his gun toward the safe. "Get to work on opening that."

 

As Mugsy unpacked his tools, Arnold hesitated and then asked, "Mister Scarface, sir?"

 

"What's your problem, Dummy?"

 

Arnold took a deep breath. He hated that he couldn't see the obviously brilliant plan Mister Scarface had. Maybe, if he asked nicely, Mister Scarface wouldn't yell at him. He sniffled and then spoke quickly, "If we wanted the diamonds in this place, why'd we rob the other place first?"

 

Mister Scarface pointed his machinegun at Arnold. "What?" he yelled. "I gotta do all the thinking around here. By robbing the other place first, we forced them to move the good diamonds here, to this safe."

 

Arnold must have had a blank look on his face because Mister Scarface roared, "What? You think I care about industrial diamonds? I want the good stuff." Then Mister Scarface spun around toward Mugsy. "You got that safe open yet, Mugsy?"

 

"Now, Boss. Opening it now," Mugsy answered. There was silence. Then Mugsy continued, "Uh, Boss. The safe's empty."

 

"Empty??" Mister Scarface screamed. His head spun around and glared at Arnold. "What's going on here? Which one of you mugs sold us out?"

 

Suddenly, a sharp noise came from the front of the store. And just as suddenly, Rhino flew through the air, back into the room and hit the far wall. Hard. He dropped to floor with a loud crash and whimpered, "Boss, it's Batman!"

 

Mister Scarface yelled at Arnold, "Dummy, get me out of here."

 

Arnold ducked out of the way as Batman went flying past him and pounced on Rhino, still on the floor. Robin ran into the room following Batman and quickly dropkicked Mugsy to the ground.

 

Arnold pushed past Robin and ran toward the front door carrying Mister Scarface. Then he heard the all too familiar sound of a batarang, a moment before a line wrapped itself around his ankles. Arnold hit the floor hard and Mister Scarface flew off his hand and landed in a heap in a corner against a display case.

 

"Dummy!" Mister Scarface yelled. "Dummy!"

 

"Coming, Mister Scarface," Arnold hollered back as he tried to untie his legs.

 

Robin reached Arnold and said, "Not tonight," as he cuffed Arnold's hands behind his back. He then rewrapped the line around Arnold's ankles.

 

Arnold noticed Mugsy running toward the front door and apparently so did Robin. He threw another batarang and hit Mugsy in the back of the head. Mugsy collapsed on the floor unconscious.

 

There was another crash behind Arnold and he looked up to see Rhino charge and drive Batman back into a glass display case near Mister Scarface. The case shattered, throwing shards of glass everywhere. Batman ducked under a roundhouse swing from Rhino and delivered a side kick to the goon, who backed up but didn't go down. Batman was on top of Rhino quickly and delivered a one-two combination to the thug's stomach and chin. The unconscious gangster hit the floor like a load of bricks.

 

Mister Scarface yelled, "Help me, Dummy!" Arnold turned to see Robin pick up Mister Scarface and hold him by his ankles upside down.

 

"Put me down, birdy," Mister Scarface shouted. "The blood is rushing to my head. Do something, Dummy, I'm gettin' lightheaded here! Do somethin'. Ohhhh!" Suddenly, Mister Scarface was quiet.

 

Robin looked at Batman as he held Mister Scarface upside down. "I guess Pinocchio passed out."

 

Arnold started to cry.

 

 

Dick and Batman were on the rooftop across the street from the Jewelry Exchange. They watched as the police loaded Wesker and his gang into the waiting paddy wagons.

 

Dick stepped back from the roof ledge. "Looks like you guessed right," he said.

 

Batman shook his head and moved away from the roof ledge as well. "It was the only thing that made sense. By robbing the Mart first, he wanted the jewels that were originally to be stored overnight at the Jewelry Mart moved to the smaller and less secure safe at the Exchange. I asked Gordon to keep the jewels at the Mart, but to double the guard...just in case."

 

Dick smiled. "Like I said, you guessed right."

 

They started climbing down the building to the street below where the Batmobile was parked. "I prefer to think that Wesker guessed wrong," Batman said as the canopy of the car opened and he jumped in.

 

Dick hopped in on the other side and buckled his seatbelt as the canopy closed. He shook his head. "Have it your own way."

 

Batman started the car and smirked as the Batmobile sped out of the alley. "I generally do."

 

END