《I am the Night》Chapter 14: Batman and Robin vs Clayface
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They walked into the Batcave and Selina's eyes were the size of saucers. "This is amazing! Wow, is that the Batmobile?"
"Yes, that's our car." Wayne walked over and pulled the cover off of it. It was a modified 2019 Dodge Challenger. All black with armor plating and a tougher suspension. Bruce Wayne had increased the horsepower to 1100 from the stock 376. It was painted matte black. The windows were tinted as dark as possible making it impossible to see who was driving. The license plates looked like normal New Jersey plates.
Wayne asked her, "Do you know how to drive?"
She shook her head no, "I was never able to afford driving school."
"Would you like to learn?" Wayne held up the keys for her.
"Are you serious?" Selina looked at him with bright eyes.
Wayne tossed her the keys, "Our lives may depend on it. I want you to learn to drive. Come, get in the driver seat and I'll give you a run-through while the car is off. Once we turn it on, it might scare you."
Selina sat down in the driver's seat. Wayne said to her calmly, "Adjust the seat and mirrors so that you can see all around you while being able to press the pedals to the ground. The pedal to your left is your clutch. The one in the middle is your brake. The one on the right is your accelerator. The gas pedal. How do you feel right now?"
Selina looked around using the mirrors, "I think this is perfect."
"Ok. Then you'll first step on the clutch and push it down using your left foot. With your right foot, hold the brake down, the pedal in the middle. Do you have it done?" Wayne smiled at her.
Selina nodded. "This is how you will start the car. Once you start the car, you will slowly release the brake. You'll transfer your right foot to the gas, but don't press it yet. First, you'll start releasing the clutch as you add a touch of the gas. It takes a while to get a feel for what the car needs so don't be scared if the car lunges or dies. How do you think you would recover from the lurch?"
"Press the clutch and brake?" Selina asked.
"That's it exactly. Never panic, just use that clutch and brake. The clutch is also how you'll shift the gears. You press it in and then change the gear and release while adding gas." Wayne explained.
"So, it's a balance of clutch release and gas to shift up and down. Stopping will be using the clutch and taking my foot off the gas as I press the brake?" Selina asked.
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"That's right. It's not easy and everyone feels like an idiot when they first do it. Are you ready to try it for real?" Wayne smiled.
Selina took a breath and then said, "I'd like to try yes."
Wayne walked around the car and then got in the passenger side door. He sat down and said, "Clutch in? Brake down? Press the ignition start button." He finished snapping the seat belt into place.
Selina heard the engine roar to life. "Start in first, at 25 miles per hour shift to second. At 40 you'll shift to 3rd. We'll be in third for most of tonight's drive. If it gets to be too much or if you feel like you want a break, we'll switch."
Selina felt the power of the car as she let out the clutch the car lurched and died. Wayne said nothing and let her get a feel for it. She tried again and this time gave it too much gas and spun the tires. She recovered by pressing the clutch and brake. Again, Wayne said nothing and let her get a feel for it. Selina finally got a good transition and got the car into second as they made their way down the long tunnel to the streets. She had a rough shift from first to second but Wayne made no comments.
They drove in relative silence. Wayne allowed Selina to make mistakes, and only alerted her to dangerous things to watch for as they drove, sporadically. He answered any questions she had as they drove. They got to an area and then Wayne said, "Pull over here. This is where we want to be."
He smiled at her, "You're doing good. It was a little rough in places but you'll get the hang of driving with practice."
"Batman, thank you. You've been very patient with me." Selina looked excited and happy.
Wayne looked down on the street just below them in a residential neighborhood with many large mansions. He pointed to one of the houses, "That's the house we are watching. Basil Karlo, 105 years old lives there with his granddaughter Katherine Karlo whose name you are familiar with."
Selina looked like she thought this was stupid. Wayne chuckled and asked, "You don't understand why we are staking out a 105-year-old man do you?"
Alfred unlocked the door to Selina's apartment and walked inside flipping on the lights as he did so. He took out the cat carrier and set it down. He placed some tasty treats in the carrier as well as some catnip and called out, "Here kitty kitty kitty psspsspss!" He sighed and then took a seat on the couch. He looked around and made a face, "This place is a dump."
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Alfred tried to ignore the mess but was unable to stop himself from breaking out the cleaning supplies and attacking the dirt and grime with the same level of passion Bruce Wayne put into crime-fighting. Two hours later the apartment was clean from top to bottom. He had managed to gather two large bags of laundry he would bring back to the penthouse. Undoubtedly Ms. Kyle would need the extra clothing.
After the hours of cleaning, he sat down on her couch again and turned on the TV. He flipped through the channels until he came across a channel 9 action news broadcast. "This is Charlotte Rivers reporting live from the once quiet Cherry Hills neighborhood near Aparo Park where Batman and another Vigilante are in a fight to the death with what appears to be the Clayface monster from Basil Karlo's 1940 film 'The Man of Clay!"
In the background of her shot, Selina came running in from screen right and shouted out, "Punching it doesn't seem to be working Batman, are you going to try fucking it now?"
A few moments later Wayne entered the shot from screen right as well and yelled, "Focus, Robin, focus! Get the minigun out of the trunk!"
Selina reentered the shot from screen left carrying the heavy machinegun. She handed it off to Wayne who turned it on and then unloaded on whatever was coming at them from the right. The cameraman panned to the right and the Clayface monster was full of holes but still moaning and coming towards them going, "I'm not dirt, I'm a man!"
Alfred rubbed his temple like he was getting a headache and then switched off the TV. He turned to the cat carrier and said out loud, "It's better if I don't know."
The two cats finally came out of hiding and were sniffing the carrier. Alfred smiled and said, "Ah, it looks to be working. Good kitties, be good, and go on in now."
Once the cats went inside and started eating Alfred was able to secure the door on the carrier. First, he took the laundry down, and then he brought the cats down to the car. Alfred hummed to himself as he drove before eventually turning on the radio only to be presented with audio from the incident he was watching on TV. The sound of an explosion was heard and then Selina Kyle's voice yelled, "Yeah you got him, Batman, use your bat spray again!"
Wayne's voice loudly responded, "I told you, Robin, it's not Bat spray it's regular old hairspray!"
Alfred quickly turned the radio off again and then looked at the cat carrier in the seat next to him and said, "Perhaps it's a good thing that Ms. Kyle is there. He might take fewer chances with his own life if he has to worry about her life too."
A few minutes after finally killing the Clayface monster Batman and Robin sat on the hood of their car taking a breather. The police arrived and started to tape off the crime scene. Selina looked up and asked, "Is that Superman?"
Wayne looked up and saw what she was looking at and swore under his breath, "Look, Robin, let me do the talking or this guy is going to get very preachy."
Superman landed next to them and said, "Hello, have you already controlled the situation, or do you need my assistance?"
"Hey thanks, Clark, we got this one, you can take off, thanks buddy," Wayne replied to him.
"Why do you always do that, Batman? I don't call out your secret identity in public, can't you have the same respect for me?" Superman frowned at him.
Wayne looked hurt and said, "Come on, man, it's not like your identity is secret. It's on the Daily Planet website for fuck's sake." He turned to Selina, "Robin, I want you to google Superman."
Selina opened the computer and typed into the search and said, "Ok."
"What are the top ten search results?"
She looked and then said, "Stories in the Daily Planet written by Clark Kent."
"Now google Clark Kent."
She typed into the search and then covered her mouth as she started to laugh. She looked up at Superman and then back to the computer, "Holy shit. He just puts on a pair of fake glasses?"
"See? How was I supposed to know that's his secret identity?"
She nodded and then said, "I'm sorry Mr. Superman, I know it's supposed to be your secret, but anyone with an internet connection and a curious mind should be able to tell at a glance this is you."
Superman stared daggers at the two of them, "Why do I ever come to Gotham City? You're always like this." He sighed and then flew off.
Once he was gone Wayne gave Selina a high five.
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