//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Pets // Story: Young Amazons // by Wanderer D //------------------------------// Young Amazons By Ackbarfan5556 Executive Produced By Wanderer D Chapter 12: Pets   Yet another week in Gotham had passed for Sunset by the time she realized she was beginning to settle into a pattern. There was the "normal" life that she was living; going to school, doing her homework, attending her clubs like gymnastics and fencing. She was disappointed to hear that the Green Club had been shut down, but like Barbara suggested, they could still have one even if it wasn’t sponsored by the school.   That was the reason why the girls were meeting at each other’s houses. Barbara’s was usually quiet due to the fact that both her parents were usually out; what with her father being a deputy commissioner in the Gotham Police and her mother working different hours as a nurse.   There was one night the other day where Deputy Commissioner Gordon was home during the time they met and he made them dinner. Barbara was always claiming that her father’s pork chops were the best and after that night, both girls agreed completely with her claim.   Then there was the night the girls met at Pamela’s house. With Pamela, it was a different story. She lived in a nice house, but it was only her and her mother. Her father was a high paying lawyer but couldn’t stay faithful. He ended up having an affair with one of his clients, and had left them.   Of course, he only left after he was found out. Pamela’s mother managed to get a large amount of money in the alimony every month so thankfully Mrs. Isley wouldn’t be overburdened with working multiple jobs just to be able to properly raise Pamela.   Outside of those normal teenage experiences, Sunset was still working hard at being Zatanna’s apprentice and a rising superheroine. Much of her free time outside of school had her looking into spell books and practicing both the spells and her fighting just so she could have a good chance of dealing with any sort of trouble that would come her way.   Her assistance with Killer Croc and the thefts she was stopping didn’t really draw any attention to her. For the news, it was all about the Bat. Not that she minded; she was more than happy to let the spotlight be on him rather than her, it meant less trouble for her, and simple criminals were not taking her as seriously as they would the Dark Knight. Their foolishness in underestimating her would always be their undoing.   Sunset also informed Zatanna about how Batman had figured out Sunset’s identity. She could tell, even when it was over the phone, that Zatanna wasn’t surprised in the least.   The former unicorn did agree at least considering how intelligent the man behind the mask was. He had to be, or they probably never would’ve found Croc, and most of Gotham would still be under water.   Still, Sunset was fairly sure that Zatanna, Dinah and several of their allies knew exactly who the Batman truly was, but they were keeping that to themselves. The old Sunset would’ve been greatly upset about being left in the dark, but that girl was long gone. She had a much cooler head on her shoulders and knew that learning his identity would be something she had to earn.   Trying to figure out who Batman really was, however, would have to be put aside as Sunset was currently focused on being a normal high school student. Her biology class was having a special weekend field trip to the Gotham Zoo as part of an assignment about animal physiology and behaviors, and if she wanted to have enough free time to train, she needed to focus on that first.   Most of the students spread out doing their own assignments while Sunset and Pamela were sticking together. The two of them hoped they could find an animal to observe that would give them great notes and perhaps easy A’s on the assignment. “Hey, Sunny, look at this thing,” Pamela said as she tapped her friend on the shoulder. Sunset turned around and found herself staring at a large cage with a huge black bird with a red head standing inside.   “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that," Sunset said, gasping in awe. "Is that a vulture?”    Pamela took a few steps up to the cage’s edge and read the description of it. “According to this, this is actually Andean condor, on loan from the San Diego Zoo and one of the largest ever held in captivity.”   Sunset walked next to Pamela as she read the plaque as well. “Hmm, it appears the thing has quite the temper; these birds are supposedly untrainable,”   “I wonder how they caught it,” Pamela wondered.   “I read once that condors were scavengers,” Sunset told her, “it feeds of the carcasses of animals, though with its size, I have to guess it’s not feeding off small rodents but probably much larger animals. My guess is they just led it to a large cage by leaving a large animal corpse for it to feed on.”   “I tell you what: I would not like to see what this thing would be like out of its cage,” Pamela said while the condor just continued to sit on its perch and do nothing. “Don’t think we’re going to get much work off of him.”   Sunset shook her head. “No, he’s kinda like a sloth right now; come on, let’s see if there’s any-” she was suddenly cut off when something exploded on top of the cage, throwing them off their feet.   The condor’s cage was filled with smoke and Sunset could just make out the hint of someone laughing in the smoke. She recognized the cackle in heartbeat as that of Oswald Cobblepot’s. A moment later, the smoke cleared and the large bird was now missing.   “Wha- What just happened!?” Pamela gasped. Sunset just stared at the hole that was now left at the roof of the cage.   “I don’t know for sure, but I got a good idea...” she muttered.     To Sunset’s disappointment, her teacher didn’t cancel the assignment due to the chaos that Penguin had caused. That meant that she couldn’t immediately go after him, but instead had to still find an animal to do her assignment on.   Pamela and Sunset decided that they would both do orangutans and jotted down notes as they watched the apes interact with each other. After an hour, Sunset believed she had enough information on apes to write a good paper and started to leave while Pamela decided to stick around longer to get some more notes.   As she passed by the condor’s cage once more, her eyes caught something in the darkness of the cage.   She took another step before she ended up locking eyes with Batman, who was silhouetted against the shadows. She gave him a quick nod before she saw several officers walking over to her location; probably the response team to the theft.   “Okay, I’d like everyone to back up and give us some room,” one officer said as some people were checking out the scene.   Sunset glanced back into the cage and saw that Batman had now vanished which meant that he probably left the moment the police got close.   “Ah, Miss Lucciola, nice to see you again.” Sunset turned to see Detective Yin approaching her.   “Oh, Detective Yin, it’s nice to see you too. Are you doing okay?” Sunset asked .   The detective nodded. “I’ve been fine, or at least as fine as a detective can get in this city, it seems.”   “That’s good to hear,” Sunset smiled, “I’m guessing you’re here about the theft of the condor?”   “Yes.” Yin pulled out a small notebook. “Were you around when the theft took place?”   Sunset nodded. “Yes, I was. I was walking around with my friend when we noticed the condor and was looking at it before there was an explosion from the cage roof.”   “Next thing we know, the cage is filling up with smoke and I heard some laughter before the smoke cleared and the bird was gone.” Sunset then paused for a moment. “I think it was Cobblepot who stole it.” Yin stopped writing for a moment, looking at Sunset intently. “Are you sure?”   “Yes, I recognized his laugh from that night, it was the same one. And, if his thing about using his birds for crimes is anything to go by, he obviously would be the most logical choice, right?”   The detective nodded in agreement. “This would all fit with his MO in previous crimes, but we’ll have to prove that it was him. Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Lucciola.” Yin shook Sunset’s hand.   “Always happy to help the GCPD,” Sunset said.     Sunset was lying on her back on the couch in the apartment’s living room as she now relaxed after finishing her assignment.   With her school work taken care of, she was now deep into thought about today’s events. Right now, the news was still reporting that the bird was abducted so Penguin had not used it for any crimes yet.   “What on Earth would Cobblepot want with a bird like that?” Sunset wondered aloud. “I mean, I can see him using it for a few thefts, but it’s still untrained, and I doubt he has the time and patience for trying to train it for his heists. That is, of course, if it can actually be trained,”   Sunset’s phone interrupted her thoughts and she reached over to grab it.   “Hello, this is the apartment of Sunset Lucciola, this is her speaking.” She answered.   “Sunset,” a familiar voice said on the other end of the line, which caused her to sit right up.   “Uh, is this—”   “We’re on the most secure line you can think of,” Batman interrupted, “so you are free to say anything.”   “Oh, okay.” Sunset got up and walked into her bedroom. “When me and Zatanna talk, we tend to keep things a bit more vague because you never know who’s listening in sometimes.”   “Comes with the territory.”   “I’m beginning to figure that out. Oh, speaking of Zatanna, she thanks you for your kind words after that whole business involving Killer Croc.” There was no response, which was what Sunset expected.   “Anyways,” she continued, “I’m taking that this isn’t a social call?”   “No, I’m calling to make sure that it was indeed Cobblepot who was at the zoo today and made off with the condor,” he said.   “I’ll tell you the same thing that I told Detective Yin earlier: My friend and I were at the zoo on a school project, we were near the cage when the explosion happened; next thing I know, the cage is filled with smoke, I hear Cobblepot’s laugh, and then when the smoke clears, the bird is gone,” she explained.   “The thing I’m trying to figure out,” she continued, “is what exactly he wants the bird for; I know it’s to help him steal things that probably are a bit heavier than any of his normal birds, but this one is supposedly untrainable so I don’t see why he would even bother,”   There was a short pause before Batman spoke once more. “That might not be an issue anymore.”   “Hang on, that’s extremely cryptic, did you find out something more? Has the bird been seen again?”   “No, actually its-” he didn’t finish his explanation when a loud ringing noise came up on what appeared to be Batman’s end of the line.   “What’s that?” asked Sunset.   “There’s a robbery at a branch of Gotham National Bank right near you,” Batman informed her.   “Okay, then, I’ll meet you there.” Sunset hung up on him before he could say anything more. “Not going to let you tell me that I shouldn’t come,” she said to herself as she went to get suited up.     The bank’s alarm bells were ringing when Sunset arrived. She saw at least two police cruisers were parked out in front, which meant she needed to keep her distance in a nearby alleyway.   She picked up a new sound when a loud motor roared over the alarm noises and she could see a very unique car pull up. The top of the car opened up and Batman jumped right out from the roof of it before landing right next to her.   “Very impressive looking car,” she said as she came out of the alley’s shadows. “I had an ex that was quite the car guy. He’d probably be drooling if he saw that.” Batman said nothing in response to her comment but rather motioned her to follow him. The two of them walked through the front door of the bank where they found the double doors smashed in. Both of them kept their eyes peeled for wherever the officers that responded to the break in were at, or for any signs of the robber.   They found the place to be abandoned before they reached one of the vaults, and found the large metal door completely ripped off and thrown to the floor. The only clue of what caused its destruction was three large claw marks imbedded in the metal.   “Either Penguin has been working out,” Batman observed, “or he needs a manicure.”   “I’m guessing neither,” Sunset responded, “but this doesn’t make sense, I saw that bird and even if Penguin trained it within a few hours, no way it could do this. The vault door looks to be made of pure steel, about a foot thick and probably weighs several tons; that condor would never be able to simply yank it off of its hinges.”   Their observation continued before Sunset saw some greenish-brown substance drop down right in front of her. Batman saw it as well and the two of them looked up to find five men, one security guard and four GCPD officers, pinned to the ceiling in a sticky substance.   Sunset had seen a lot of strange and unnerving things during her time under Celestia’s wing, and even when she crossed over through the mirror, however, the thing that crawled out of the vault; it almost caused Sunset to scream.   In the simplest of terms, it could be described as a bat, but it was unlike any bat she had ever seen. Its body was anthropomorphic and it was nearly a foot taller than even Batman, and was carrying two large bags of cash in its claws.   “Man-Bat,” Batman growled. “Wouldn’t a blood bank be more your style, Langstrom?”   The so-called "Man-Bat" roared a piercing scream that caused Sunset to cover her ears due to the sound. It tried to dive bomb Batman and Sunset. She felt Batman push out of the way as Man-Bat landed back on the floor with neither of his targets in his claws.   “Get out of here! I’ll deal with him!” Batman told Sunset as Man-Bat jumped right on him and pinned him to the floor. He raised his claw up and looked ready to deliver a killing blow but to both heroes surprise, Man-Bat simply let him go, grabbed the money, screeched at them, and then flapped his wings, flying straight out of the front doors of the bank. Batman and Sunset ran back outside as the monster took to the skies.   Batman made his way over to his car and pulled out what looked like a large pair of batwings connected to some sort of jetpack.   “I’ll handle Langstrom; you head back home?” Batman said as he hooked up the jetpack.  Sunset’s thought about freeing the officers stuck to the ceiling but decided against it. If it was just one, she could free him and get away but with five of them, chances were that they would try to arrest her given half the chance.   “Be careful, I don’t want to find myself being the only hero in town all of a sudden,” Sunset told him.   “I’ll be fine,” he assured her before activating his jet pack and taking off into Gotham’s skies. A moment after that, his car suddenly started to drive away by itself leaving her all alone.   “You say that but you’re flying right after the deadly monster…” Sunset muttered to herself.     Sunset thought that her work relating to Penguin and the stolen condor was over the moment the so called ‘Man-Bat’ got involved with the adventure. She wanted to be able to see the case at least to the end considering she was the one who was at the theft of the rare bird herself, but now it looked like that Batman would deal with it all. The biggest issue for the apprentice magician was that she had no idea where Man-Bat, Batman or the Penguin were. That was until she read the newspaper that talked about several highly rare statues from the Wayne Foundation that were to be donated to the Gotham Museum. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Penguin would have the statues as his next target. Sunset suited back up and made her way across the city rooftops until she reached her final destination: the freight yards of Gotham where the statues were waiting. The young woman pulled out her mini-telescope and scanned the area for any sign of trouble. “Looking for something?” Sunset nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Batman’s voice behind her. “Give a girl a heads up before you sneak up on them,” She caught her breath. “So, looks like I was right about Penguin heading out here.” “Saw the article too, huh?” The young super-heroine nodded. “I know you’re probably going to tell me to go home or take care of some random guy trying to rob an ATM, but I at least want to find that condor,” she explained, “That was it. I certainly wasn’t expecting that giant bat monster to get involved with everything.” “I’m pretty sure Penguin didn’t either.” Batman said. “Speaking of which, what’s the story with that… thing?” Sunset asked about Man-Bat. “Dr. Kirk Langstrom was a former scientist working for Wayne Industries,” Batman explained, “specifically, it was experiments involving bats. He was trying to find a cure to deafness.” “Experiment gone wrong?” Sunset quickly guessed. “Experiment gone right,” Batman countered. “He was never for finding a cure but rather discovering a way to transform himself into monster and terrorize Gotham.” “Okay, but that still doesn’t explain how Penguin is involved in all this.” “About an hour after he stole the condor, I followed Penguin’s birds as they attempted a separate robbery,” the Dark Knight recounted, “A local scientist had designed a sonic emitter could be used to communicate and essentially order birds,” He then pulled out a small, silver object that looked somewhat like a microphone. “However, during a scuffle I had with them, this was dropped on the ground and broke, so they stole a second one-” “Which was modified to communicate with bats!” Sunset interrupted. “Exactly,” Batman nodded, “that’s why Man-Bat is robbing banks and stealing stuff for Penguin.” Batman then pulled out what looked to be some sort of listening device. “I plan to use this to capture the sound of Penguin’s modulator and then reuse the frequency to break his hold on Man-Bat.” “Sounds like a solid plan then,” Sunset agreed before she reached out to grab the listening device. “Do you mind if I at least use this? I would at least like to be somewhat helpful for you.” “Only if you listen to what I say, you’re still inexperienced to crime-fighting and don’t stand a chance against Penguin or Man-Bat as of right now. Either take it, or get going.” Batman told her. She reluctantly nodded before he handed her the listening device. Sunset turned to look at the crate that was labeled with the Wayne Foundation seal; meaning that it contained the statues. “A crateful of highly expensive statues, just when you need to lay a trap for Penguin,” Sunset said as she and Batman took up a hiding spot near the water tower. “Does Bruce Wayne know he’s helping you?”   “Sheer coincidence,” Batman told her, “but it’s too tempting of a target for Penguin.”   “Anything to get that fortune back, right?”   “Exactly.” Batman put down his binoculars as finished scanning for any sign of Penguin, “Alright, let’s go over the plan one more time. When Penguin and Man-Bat get here, we’re going to use this listening device to capture the sounds of Penguin’s sound modulator.” “Right,” Sunset said, nodding. “Once the sound has been captured, you’ll reconfigure your modulator to cancel out Penguin’s control and taking Man-Bat out of the picture.”   Batman nodded in approval. “You catch on pretty quick, but remember: leave Man-Bat and Penguin to me. You stay put and only help just in case.” “I got it.” Sunset sighed. She was disappointed that she couldn’t really do more, but she had to relent if she even wanted to be here. “But, I’d like to point out one issue with this whole plan.” “What is it?” “Well, even if we do get the signal, you’d still be in a tug of war with Penguin in terms of ordering Man-Bat,” she explained, “I think someone should at least try and get Penguin’s modulator as well.”   “I’m aware of that. Penguin will be so preoccupied with why his control isn’t working that I’ll get in there and grab it.” Batman then placed his hand to his head, “Batcave, are we ready?”   Sunset assumed that someone or something was on the other end getting things ready. She held on tight to the listening device as she heard Penguin’s voice suddenly being picked up.   “All right, Fido. Time to fetch,” Penguin said as there was a strange feedback sound. Sunset gave Batman a thumbs up indicating that they got the sound.   “Okay, Batcave, we’ve got it,” Batman said to the radio he had in his cowl just as Man-Bat dived down onto the crate where the fake statues were being held. Both heroes kept themselves hidden so they wouldn’t spook Penguin.   Man-Bat landed on top of the crate and dug his talons right into the box before he started to pull it up. However, the weight of the crate was clearly heavy even for him. As he tried to bring his prize back to Penguin, his talons went loose and the crate suddenly dropped.   Sunset, from her hidden position, could see Penguin mutter the words ‘Don’t break’ repeatedly before the crate hit the ground and revealed piles of scrap metal. Within a moment, Penguin’s face turned to one of anger as he realized he had been played.   The short man turned his head to look all around the area for the Dark Knight who obviously led him into a trap. His must have spotted where Sunset and Batman were hiding as a moment later he pointed his finger right towards their position.   “Man-Bat, get them!” Penguin shouted into the modulator.   “Standing by, Batcave,” Batman said as Man-Bat took off and began to circle the heroes from the sky. A second later, Batman kept tapping his ear. “Batcave, come in, Batcave.” “What? What happened?” Sunset worried.   “I think we’re on our own,” The Dark Knight grimly admitted. Man-Bat dived down and began his attack causing both Sunset and Batman to jump off the water tower they were hiding near.   “So, plan A is a bust, tell me you’ve got a plan B!” Sunset cried as she got back on her feet.   “Yeah.” he nodded. “I’ll deal with Langstrom, you keep Penguin distracted. Remember, don’t take him head on.”   “I’ve beaten him before,” Sunset reminded him.   “What did you do?” His tone of voice made him sound like he was unconvinced, and Sunset knew he was right.   “I hit and dropped some sandbags on him,” she admitted.   “Exactly.” The two of them ducked out of the way once more as Man-Bat passed right by them. “Just keep your distance with him, don’t try to deal with him yourself. Here...” he tossed her something off of his belt.   “What is this?” She looked at it and realized it was the same device Batman used to shoo away Penguin’s birds the night of the gala. “Is this what I think it is?”   “Just in case Penguin sends his birds after you. Now, go.” Batman turned and started running towards the shipping containers while Man-Bat pursued him.   Sunset took the next few minutes slowly making her way up to the roof where she last saw the Penguin and sure enough he was still there. He was looking through his bird telescope while holding the sonic modulator in his hand.   “Shadows won’t protect you, Batman, my Man-Bat can hear in the dark!” Penguin muttered, distractedly as he watched the pair fight. While he was focused on them, Sunset reached the roof and started getting closer before all four of Penguin’s birds turned their heads towards her and screeched.   “Huh?” Penguin turned around and noticed Sunset’s mask. “Aw, the little girl who thinks she’s playing super-heroine.” He smirked.   “Says the guy who thinks he’s a bird.” Sunset smirked.   Penguin pointed his finger at her. “Make yourselves useful and get her!” Penguin ordered his birds. They flew right towards Sunset but she merely activated the sound amplifier that Batman gave her and the birds turned around and flew away to avoid it.   “No, come back, you bird-brains! See, this is why I stole the condor!” He shouted at the fleeing birds.   “Speaking of condors,” Sunset  said, crossing her arms, “where is it?”   “Bah! Like I have to tell a dead hero!” He held forward his umbrella and a trail of flames shot out Sunset rolled out of the way of the flames as Penguin cackled before the fire stopped. She readied herself as Penguin charged right for her. Penguin first tried to roundhouse kick her but Sunset ducked down and avoided the kick. However, Zatanna and Batman’s warnings about Cobblepot were well founded as Penguin quickly tried to punch her in the stomach.   Sunset found herself on the complete defensive as Penguin continued attack after attack. A kick here, a punch there; she either dodged them or blocked them but it was clear that Penguin had the considerable advantage over her in a one-on-one fight.   She grew tired of all the dodging and decided to try to flip the script on the short man. Sunset channeled a small ball of energy in her hand and when she ducked down to avoid another punch that Penguin threw; she took her chance. She brought her hand up to his chest and he was blown back almost to the edge of the other end of the roof.   Penguin growled, pointing his umbrella at Sunset once more and the sound of a gunshot rang out. Sunset’s eyes widened as she felt something crack into her chest, knocking her back. Her clothing spells kept it from penetrating and causing any serious or even fatal damage, however, the impact had her laying on the ground almost unmoving. Penguin gave a sinister chuckle as he slowly walked over to her. Sunset continued looking through her mask before his face was right in hers.   “Now then, let’s see who you are before I leave you as my pets’ next meal.” Sunset could feel Penguin wrapping his fingers on her mask before he started to pull… and couldn’t even peel it off an inch.   “What the?” He sounded very confused. “How’s this thing come off?” As he kept trying to yank off the mask, Sunset took advantage of his distraction, kneeing him in the gut. She got back on her feet before she noticed Penguin’s sonic modulator on the ground. Penguin, however, knew what she was trying to do and before she could get her hands on it, he had recovered it.   “Oh, now we wouldn’t want this thing in the wrong hands,” he cackled as Man-Bat landed right behind him. “Aw, the champion returns. So the mighty Batman is finally-” Man-Bat suddenly roared in Penguin’s face, which quickly wiped the smug look off of his face. “Oh, boy…”   Penguin was about to order Man-Bat once more but then suddenly realized something was missing. His eyes widened when he turned around and found Sunset was now holding the sonic modulator and had a grin on her face.   “What was that about this being in the wrong hands?” She then turned on the device. “Man-Bat, kindly bring Cobblepot back to Batman.” she ordered.   Penguin screamed as he tried to run but he didn't get far before Man-Bat picked him by the shoulders and flew over the shipping containers.   Sunset followed the two of them until they reached Batman. Penguin grumbled before Man-Bat started to screech out. Sunset was worried for a moment as she thought he was about to attack again.  However, instead of attacking, Man-Bat slowly started to shrink and revert back into a grey haired, slightly pale man; the aforementioned Kirk Langstrom. After realizing his surroundings and noticing Penguin right next to him, Langstrom had killer look in his eyes and they were directed to his former slave driver.   “Oh, hey, Dr. Langstrom,” Penguin nervously chuckled before Langstrom jumped on him and tried to strangle him. “AHH! Please, someone! Get him off!” Cobblepot choked out. Not wanting to let Langstrom murder the other man, Batman pulled out a pair of bolas and incapacitated the two men by tying them up.     Sunset and Batman watched the police dragging Cobblepot back to Blackgate and Langstrom to Arkham from a nearby rooftop. “So, you mean to tell me you that gave Detective Yin a communicator that you could use to talk to her?” Sunset questioned after Batman had used said communicator to contact Yin about not only where Cobblepot and Langstrom could be arrested but also where the stolen condor was being kept after Penguin revealed where he had been hiding out. “I needed at least someone inside the GCPD so I keep a slight edge ahead of them as well as some information.” The Dark Knight explained.   “Well,” Sunset kicked her feet as she sat on the roof’s edge, “maybe next time Penguin will stick with birds rather than bats.”   “Maybe next time, he’ll learn to stay put in his cell,” Batman countered.   “Yeah, I think we both know that’s not going to happen.” She chuckled. “Still, to think that a simple school project at the zoo would end up getting me all caught up in this adventure,”   “Like I said last night.” The Dark Knight smirked. “it comes with the territory.”   “Speaking of territory.” Sunset stood up. “Got another one of those communicators for me?”   Batman simply pulled out his grappling hook and wrapped it around a nearby gargoyle statue. “Have a good night, Miss Lucciola.” He then swung away into the Gotham skyline.   “You could’ve just said you didn’t have any spares,” she huffed before she headed back home.