Batman & Robin

Children laugh and yell, running around in the grass as their parents buy tickets. The wind whips around, shaking the walls of the circus ever so slightly. Inside, circus music blares throughout the tent, as the clowns ride around the dirt pit on their unicycles.

"I told you we were going to be late." Selina sits next to Bruce, who's mind seems to be elsewhere.

"Oh, it's fine, Selina." Bruce assures her, his eyes darting around the tent, looking for anyone suspicious. "This is just the opening act, 'The Flying Graysons' still haven't gone on yet."

"We're not here to watch the flying Grayson's are we?" Selina rolls her eyes, and sighs. "Why are we really here, Bruce?"

"I have reason to believe Zuko had some men here." Bruce admits, shuffling in his seat a little. "Probably to extort the owner. Something might happen tonight, and I wanted to make sure I was here just in case."

"Of course." Selina sighs, tightening her jaw. Bruce was always making everything about his mission. "I thought this was supposed to be a nice, fun evening for the two of us to enjoy, away from all the vigilantism. But of course I was wrong."

Bruce raises his hands in surrender. "You're right, Selina, I'm sorry. We can still have a fun-"

"Nope. I'm done." Selina gets up, grabbing her purse. "I'm too tired to deal with you tonight. Enjoy the show, Bruce."

She gets up, and Bruce watches her walk away. He kicks himself, Selina is his only solid human connection outside of Alfred, and he doesn't want to lose that. But he can't let anything get in the way of the mission.

Down in their room, Dick Grayson watches his parents, John and Mary Grayson, stretching and preparing for the first part of the act tonight.

"Mom? Dad?" Dick asks, looking up at them. "When can I be part of the opening?"

"What do you mean, son?" Mary chuckles "you're the main act, everyone wants to be the main act."

"Yeah, I know…. But I want to be part of the opener." Dick frowns. He recently turned 13, but it feels like they still treat him like a toddler.

"Tell ya what son." John smiles, sitting next to Dick "you can be part of the opener in our next show, I promise."

"Thanks dad. I love you." Dick looks up at his parents and smiles. Even if they treat him like a little kid sometimes, he knows they try their best. He knows they love him.

Tap tap tap

Haley looks up. Who could be knocking on his door at this time? The Grayson's were set to go on in 10 minutes.

"Hello there!" A man with a very fake British accent whom Haley doesn't recognize introduces himself when Haley opens the door. "The names Bob! I'm 'ere to do some basic maintenance, make sure the ropes are good for ya' trapeze act!"

"What happened to the other guy? Tom?" Haley didn't want to trust this guy. With the fake accent, plus the fact that something about him just seemed odd…. Haley knew it was probably nothing, though.

"Oh, he had some stomach problems and went 'ome!" Bob smiles.

"Alright. Get to checking those ropes then, but be quick. The Grayson's are set to go on in 10 minutes." The fake accent was probably just because the guy was insecure about his real voice, or something.

Down in the basement, muffled screams come from a man's mouth. His he screams as loud as he can, but the layers of duct tape stop him from opening his mouth. He tries to pull himself up, but his arms are tied together. His name tag reads "Tom".

The flying Graysons come out. Bruce watches. Everyone else is focused on them, but Bruce notices something about the rope….. he can't quite tell what it is, but something seems off.

sss

The sound of Tom's clothes brushing against the floor, as he drags himself forward

Sssss

The sound the sound of Tom rubbing his ropes against a pole, desperately trying to free himself.

Sssssssss

The sound of Bob peeling the fake mustache off his face. "Zucco-? Yeah, I did it- the jobs done."

SSSSSSSS

The sound of acid, sizzling and burning and eating.

Snap

The sound of ropes snapping. Tom is free. At the same time, the Grayson's fall through the air. Mary falls first, her rope having snapped. John tries to hold on to the other rope, but the surprise of seeing his wife fall causes him to lose his grip.

Thud! Thud!

Drip

Drip

Drip

The sound of a young boy's tears falling to the ground. A young boy trying to scream, even though no sound comes out. The sound of a young boy watching his parents fall to their death.

Bob jumps in the back of a blue muscle car. "Gun it, Will! We gotta get back to Zucco-!"

"Alright, Alright!" The car roars to life, the tires screeching as it darts down the road. It gets almost half a mile away before one of the wheels pop.

Will steps out of the car to inspect the damage. Bob decides to stay in, checking his phone.

"Hey, Bob?" Will says from outside the car. "There's something weird out here….. looks like it's what popped the tire."

"What is it?" Bob grunts, refusing to look up.

"Like a ninja star of some sort. Except, it's shaped like a ba-"

All Bob here's is a thud, and then will goes silent. Bob finally looks up from his phone. He doesn't see anything outside, so he opens the door. "Will? What happ-?"

A fist slams into his face. He falls to the ground, blood gushing from his nose. "WHAT THE HELL?"

Suddenly, he's pulled up by the collar, and slammed against the car. He can't see what's grabbed him, it's too dark, and his vision is fuzzy.

"DO YOU WORK FOR ZUKO?" It looks like a bat….. a giant, monstrous, human-like demon bat….. "TELL ME NOW"

"y-yes…." Bob whimpers. He suspects he may have wet his pants a little.

"WHERE IS HE?" The demon bat yells, pushing him against the car harder.

"I- I don't know!" Bob screams a bit as the Bat slams him against the car once more. "I swear I'm telling the truth! Will was supposed to take me there, but I have no clue where!"

The last thing Bob sees is a fist flying towards him.

Bruce doesn't even watch the now unconscious man slump to the ground. He turns, and starts patting down the thug that was driving. He pulls out a small notepad. It has 3 addresses written on it. He puts the notes in his belt, and throws the man back on the ground.

"Alfred." He says into his intercom. "We have a lead."