Post by Babu Baboon on Sept 8, 2022 6:56:09 GMT -6
The darkness of the night was broken up by the evenly spaced streetlights on the quiet suburban street. A car sat between two of the lights, avoiding direct illumination as its owner watched the house across the street.
The driver gripped the steering wheel tightly in anticipation of what was to come. She had been planning this for some time and tonight looked to be the perfect opportunity. Her ex-husband had left the house for one of the many events his law firm required him to attend…. Events where she used to accompany him playing the dutiful wife. There was no one in charge but the babysitter, a young bookish girl. There would never be a better opportunity…
Carrie Kelley loved babysitting for Mr. Johnson. The single dad’s little girl was practically an angel, the fridge was always full of snacks, and he owned one of the largest televisions she had ever seen. Plus, he had satellite TV with more channels than she knew existed. As she surfed through the channels, she began to seriously consider a career in law someday. She stopped when she came to a rerun of Space Trek 2099 and started watching as she munched on popcorn she had microwaved earlier.
Suddenly, there was a thump from upstairs. She knew it wasn’t like Abbey to get up to play once she was down for the night. It was possible she could have fallen out of bed. She rose up from the plush leather couch to go check on her.
Abbey Johnson rose from her sleep at the sound of the thump. She felt the cool air coming from her open window.
“Carrie?” Abbey said, rubbing her eyes. The young girl looked around the dark room in confusion. Why is my window open?”
“It’s okay, honey. It’s just me,” a feminine voice said in the darkness.
“Really?” the small girl said. “Daddy said you weren’t coming back.”
“Well, Daddy isn’t always as smart as he thinks he is.”
Carrie opened the door to Abbey’s room. She could hear voices and she could make out the shape of an adult sized person in the room, so she quickly flipped the light switch. The window was open and the dollhouse that usually sat under the windowsill was knocked over, which explained the noise. She was startled to see a brunette woman dressed in black standing in the middle of the bedroom holding Abbey. There was something familiar about her face.
“Who are you?” Carrie demanded.
“I’m her mother,” the woman said. “Don’t I have a right to see my own child?”
“You’ve never heard of doorbells?” Carrie said.
“Very funny,” the woman said. “None of this concerns you. I’m sure whatever my husband is paying you isn’t worth getting hurt.”
“I know Karate!” Carrie said, taking a defensive posture. It was an understatement, but she hoped it would still be enough to get this woman to back off.
“How cute,” Abbey’s mom said, setting the little girl on the bed. “Show me.”
“Don’t hurt Carrie, Mommy!” Abbey exclaimed. “She’s really nice!”
“Don’t worry, sweety,” the woman said. “We’re just going to play a little bit.” She quickly stepped forward and made a jab for Carrie’s head.
Carrie was alarmed at the speed. She just barely managed to dodge the blow. This wasn’t just some housewife who had taken a self-defense course. She knew what she was doing.
“You actually dodged that,” the woman smiled. “This will be more entertaining than I expected.” She threw two more punches that Carrie dodged and then moved into a spinning side kick that sent Carrie flying into the wall to slump to the floor.
“We’re going to go now,” the woman said. “You should stay down. Surely eight bucks an hour isn’t worth all this.”
Carrie struggled to catch her breath as she rose to her feet. She suddenly remembered where she had seen the woman’s face. She had seen it while studying Batman’s case files. She had failed to recognize her at first because she was out of costume. Her code name was Executrix. She was a former assassin… something Mr. Johnson had failed to mention about his ex-wife.
This put her in a bad position. If she cut loose, she would have a hard time explaining how the babysitter could go toe to toe with someone who had fought both Green Arrow and Batman.
“You’ve got guts, kid,” the Executrix said with a smile. “No brains, but a whole lot of guts.” She delivered a roundhouse kick and Carrie fell to the floor, seemingly unconscious.
“If you can hear me at all, look me up when you’ve grown up. I’ll give you a rematch,” Executrix said. She picked her daughter up and despite the girl’s protests, exited the window.
Carrie slowly rose to her feet. Despite rolling with the blow, her head was still ringing. Carrie Kelley had to lose, though, so Robin could take over.
She did her best to shake off the effects of the blow and ran back to the den. She grabbed her backpack and opened it. Luckily, she had her costume hidden inside because she had planned to meet Batman later to go on patrol. After a quick change, she dashed out to the motorbike that Batman had given her. It looked perfectly ordinary until she hit a button on the handle that made it start to expand on the sides while side panels turned to reveal a Robin symbol.
Robin sped down the long driveway just in time to see the Executrix getting into the driver’s side of a black sedan. She hit a button on the control panel of her bike and a barrel sprang forth from the front of the bike to shoot a tracer at the car’s rear bumper.
Carrie let a little distance pass between them before continuing. Batman had cautioned her repeatedly about the importance of protecting her secret identity, so she knew Robin couldn’t appear too soon.
From the monitor on her dashboard, it looked as if Executrix was leaving the affluent suburb and headed north towards the docks. That made sense, she thought grimly. If the woman was kidnapping her own daughter, she wouldn’t want to stay in Gotham.
She hit a switch and twin exhausts flamed to life, greatly increasing her speed as she zoomed onto the expressway and towards the docks.
The jets were quickly making up for the lead she was forced to give her. She just hoped she could make it in time.
The docks were relatively quiet at this time of night. Most of loading and unloading of cargo usually took place during the day. Anyone out there at this time of night was usually up to no good. That was certainly the case with Abbey’s mom.
Robin pulled a pair of binoculars as her bike came to a stop and she scanned the area. She spotted Executrix’s car as the woman stepped out of the driver’s side and walked around to the passenger side to pull her daughter out of her seat. It looked like Abbey wasn’t cooperating, Robin observed with a smile.
It appeared Executrix was headed for the pier, so she revved her engine and headed in that direction. One of the boats there must be hers. She could not be allowed to reach it.
The Executrix was startled to see Robin’s motorbike speeding up the pier after her. She pulled a pistol out and fired into the air. “Back off!”
Robin was startled by the gunshot. Apparently, Carrie Kelly didn’t rate gunplay, but Robin did. She skidded to a stop, turning her bike sideways so she could duck behind it as a makeshift barricade.
She pulled out her slingshot and a few ball bearings she kept in a pouch in her utility belt. She then looked over the top of her bike and took her shot and the ball bearing struck home, hitting the Executrix in the hand. She cried out in pain and her hand jerked in response, dropping the gun.
Robin quickly leapt over her bike and started running towards them. The Executrix tried to reach for the gun, but Robin fired her slingshot again and the ball bearing sent the gun flying over the edge of the pier into the harbor.
“I’m getting real sick of teenagers trying to get in my way,” Executrix cursed. “That brat must have called the cops.”
“Something like that,” Robin quipped. “Luckily, this thing comes with a police radio.” She gestured back to her bike.
“Does it come with a body bag?” Executrix asked as she executed a flying sidekick in Robin’s direction.
“Why would I need that?” Robin said, dodging the kick.
The Executrix dropped to a low swinging roundhouse kick, trying to knock Robin’s legs out from under her. The girl wonder did a backflip to avoid the kick and landed on her feet.
“You’re only delaying the inevitable,” Executrix said. “I’ve trained with the best.
“Nuh-uh,” Robin mocked s she took a defensive stance. “The best is Batman and I train with him every day.”
Oh, yes,” Executrix laughed. “He and I never did get to finish out match. Maybe we’ll get to after I deliver him your head. Her hand slid to her back, beneath her jacket and she removed two batons which crackled to life with electricity.
“No, Mommy! Robin’s one of the good guys!” Abbey cried out.
“Hush, dear. Mommy’s working,” Executrix reprimanded.
“Nice parenting skills,” Robin sneered as she removed her collapsible bow staff from the back of her utility belt and unfolded it with a flick of her wrist.
“Oh, I suppose you think my ex is a better parent because he’s a rich lawyer?” Executrix scoffed.
“No, I think he’s a better parent because he’s not a psychotic killer for hire!”
“You little $#&%!” Executrix exclaimed, swinging a baton at Robin’s head. She quickly blocked it with her staff.
“What the hell did he see in you, anyway?” Robin said, swinging her staff at Executrix.
Executrix blocked the blows with her batons. “It was really quite romantic. He was my lawyer and he managed to get nearly all the evidence against me tossed out. All they had was assault! I saw him as my knight in shining armor with a briefcase. And I suppose he was drawn to me because I was beautiful and dangerous.”
“So what happened?” Robin said, anchoring herself with the staff to try and deliver a flying kick.
“We fell in love and got married, of course…” Executrix said, spinning out of the way of the kick. “… after most of my charges were dropped and he got me probation.
“The trouble was, he wanted me to play the doting housewife…” she continued as they exchanged blows. “You know… stay home, join the PTA, go to business dinners, make small talk with the partners’ wives. It was torture! I had to get out, so I went back to my old life and he filed for divorce.”
“Geez! You had a kid! How selfish can you get?” Robin said.
“I know!” Executrix said. “Trying to force that Stepford Wife junk on me!”
“I meant you!” Robin exclaimed.
“No wet behind the ears punk is going to judge me!” Executrix exclaimed, swinging at Robin. Her attack seemed wilder and more frenzied now. It was all Robin could do to hold her off.
Executrix made one last desperate lunge for her. Robin ducked and Executrix flew over her back. Robin used her own momentum to launch her off her.
Robin’s eyes grew wide as she heard a loud splash and then a crackling noise. She turned and ran to the side of the pier to see Executrix twitching and spasming wildly in the waters of the pier, the batons still clutched in her hands.
“Mommy!” Abbey exclaimed with an anguished cry.
The batons appeared to have shorted out, so Robin removed her cape and dove into the water after her. Once she had her, she swam for the ladder, pulling Executrix behind her. She had a hand on the ladder and the other arm around the woman as she prayed silently for the strength to pull them both up.
“Give me your hand,” a deep voice suddenly said. She let go of the ladder and grabbed the blue gloved hand which pulled them both effortlessly onto the pier.
Robin held the crying child as Batman performed CPR on her mother. As the unconscious Executrix coughed up water, she breathed a sigh of relief. Abbey rushed to her mother’s side, hugging her.
“How did you find us?” Robin asked.
“Your bike has a tracker. It alerts me whenever it goes into hero mode, too.”
“I thought you gave me the bike because you trusted me,” Robin said.
“I do,” Batman said. “But we’re partners. And I want to be there if you need help. You handled yourself well, but… did your first solo super villain fight really need to be with a professional assassin?”
She looked down at Abbey. “Yeah, unfortunately. I don’t think she really wanted to kill me, though. If she’s still breathing, those batons couldn’t have been set to kill. Maybe because I’m still a kid to her?”
“Perhaps motherhood has softened her,” Batman said. “The woman I knew wouldn’t have given it a second thought, no matter what your age. But stranger things have happened.
Carrie Kelly watched as police cars and an ambulance approached in the distance, sirens wailing. “What do I tell her dad?”
“Already taken care of,” Batman said. “The story is, Carrie called her mentor, Bruce Wayne, because she didn’t know what to do in this kind of situation. Bruce then called the police while going to get Carrie and take her home. She will still have to give a statement at some point, though.”
“Oh…” Carrie said, pleasantly surprised. She had gotten so used to having to play at being an adult because of the way her hippie parents were. It was nice having someone else take care of things for once.
“I’m freezing,” she said, clutching Batman’s arm.
“We’ll get you into something dry at the Batcave once everything it situated here,” Batman smiled. “And Alfred makes some great hot cocoa.”
‘Yes, it was definitely nice not always having to be the grown-up,’ she thought.
The driver gripped the steering wheel tightly in anticipation of what was to come. She had been planning this for some time and tonight looked to be the perfect opportunity. Her ex-husband had left the house for one of the many events his law firm required him to attend…. Events where she used to accompany him playing the dutiful wife. There was no one in charge but the babysitter, a young bookish girl. There would never be a better opportunity…
Carrie Kelley loved babysitting for Mr. Johnson. The single dad’s little girl was practically an angel, the fridge was always full of snacks, and he owned one of the largest televisions she had ever seen. Plus, he had satellite TV with more channels than she knew existed. As she surfed through the channels, she began to seriously consider a career in law someday. She stopped when she came to a rerun of Space Trek 2099 and started watching as she munched on popcorn she had microwaved earlier.
Suddenly, there was a thump from upstairs. She knew it wasn’t like Abbey to get up to play once she was down for the night. It was possible she could have fallen out of bed. She rose up from the plush leather couch to go check on her.
Abbey Johnson rose from her sleep at the sound of the thump. She felt the cool air coming from her open window.
“Carrie?” Abbey said, rubbing her eyes. The young girl looked around the dark room in confusion. Why is my window open?”
“It’s okay, honey. It’s just me,” a feminine voice said in the darkness.
“Really?” the small girl said. “Daddy said you weren’t coming back.”
“Well, Daddy isn’t always as smart as he thinks he is.”
Carrie opened the door to Abbey’s room. She could hear voices and she could make out the shape of an adult sized person in the room, so she quickly flipped the light switch. The window was open and the dollhouse that usually sat under the windowsill was knocked over, which explained the noise. She was startled to see a brunette woman dressed in black standing in the middle of the bedroom holding Abbey. There was something familiar about her face.
“Who are you?” Carrie demanded.
“I’m her mother,” the woman said. “Don’t I have a right to see my own child?”
“You’ve never heard of doorbells?” Carrie said.
“Very funny,” the woman said. “None of this concerns you. I’m sure whatever my husband is paying you isn’t worth getting hurt.”
“I know Karate!” Carrie said, taking a defensive posture. It was an understatement, but she hoped it would still be enough to get this woman to back off.
“How cute,” Abbey’s mom said, setting the little girl on the bed. “Show me.”
“Don’t hurt Carrie, Mommy!” Abbey exclaimed. “She’s really nice!”
“Don’t worry, sweety,” the woman said. “We’re just going to play a little bit.” She quickly stepped forward and made a jab for Carrie’s head.
Carrie was alarmed at the speed. She just barely managed to dodge the blow. This wasn’t just some housewife who had taken a self-defense course. She knew what she was doing.
“You actually dodged that,” the woman smiled. “This will be more entertaining than I expected.” She threw two more punches that Carrie dodged and then moved into a spinning side kick that sent Carrie flying into the wall to slump to the floor.
“We’re going to go now,” the woman said. “You should stay down. Surely eight bucks an hour isn’t worth all this.”
Carrie struggled to catch her breath as she rose to her feet. She suddenly remembered where she had seen the woman’s face. She had seen it while studying Batman’s case files. She had failed to recognize her at first because she was out of costume. Her code name was Executrix. She was a former assassin… something Mr. Johnson had failed to mention about his ex-wife.
This put her in a bad position. If she cut loose, she would have a hard time explaining how the babysitter could go toe to toe with someone who had fought both Green Arrow and Batman.
“You’ve got guts, kid,” the Executrix said with a smile. “No brains, but a whole lot of guts.” She delivered a roundhouse kick and Carrie fell to the floor, seemingly unconscious.
“If you can hear me at all, look me up when you’ve grown up. I’ll give you a rematch,” Executrix said. She picked her daughter up and despite the girl’s protests, exited the window.
Carrie slowly rose to her feet. Despite rolling with the blow, her head was still ringing. Carrie Kelley had to lose, though, so Robin could take over.
She did her best to shake off the effects of the blow and ran back to the den. She grabbed her backpack and opened it. Luckily, she had her costume hidden inside because she had planned to meet Batman later to go on patrol. After a quick change, she dashed out to the motorbike that Batman had given her. It looked perfectly ordinary until she hit a button on the handle that made it start to expand on the sides while side panels turned to reveal a Robin symbol.
Robin sped down the long driveway just in time to see the Executrix getting into the driver’s side of a black sedan. She hit a button on the control panel of her bike and a barrel sprang forth from the front of the bike to shoot a tracer at the car’s rear bumper.
Carrie let a little distance pass between them before continuing. Batman had cautioned her repeatedly about the importance of protecting her secret identity, so she knew Robin couldn’t appear too soon.
From the monitor on her dashboard, it looked as if Executrix was leaving the affluent suburb and headed north towards the docks. That made sense, she thought grimly. If the woman was kidnapping her own daughter, she wouldn’t want to stay in Gotham.
She hit a switch and twin exhausts flamed to life, greatly increasing her speed as she zoomed onto the expressway and towards the docks.
The jets were quickly making up for the lead she was forced to give her. She just hoped she could make it in time.
The docks were relatively quiet at this time of night. Most of loading and unloading of cargo usually took place during the day. Anyone out there at this time of night was usually up to no good. That was certainly the case with Abbey’s mom.
Robin pulled a pair of binoculars as her bike came to a stop and she scanned the area. She spotted Executrix’s car as the woman stepped out of the driver’s side and walked around to the passenger side to pull her daughter out of her seat. It looked like Abbey wasn’t cooperating, Robin observed with a smile.
It appeared Executrix was headed for the pier, so she revved her engine and headed in that direction. One of the boats there must be hers. She could not be allowed to reach it.
The Executrix was startled to see Robin’s motorbike speeding up the pier after her. She pulled a pistol out and fired into the air. “Back off!”
Robin was startled by the gunshot. Apparently, Carrie Kelly didn’t rate gunplay, but Robin did. She skidded to a stop, turning her bike sideways so she could duck behind it as a makeshift barricade.
She pulled out her slingshot and a few ball bearings she kept in a pouch in her utility belt. She then looked over the top of her bike and took her shot and the ball bearing struck home, hitting the Executrix in the hand. She cried out in pain and her hand jerked in response, dropping the gun.
Robin quickly leapt over her bike and started running towards them. The Executrix tried to reach for the gun, but Robin fired her slingshot again and the ball bearing sent the gun flying over the edge of the pier into the harbor.
“I’m getting real sick of teenagers trying to get in my way,” Executrix cursed. “That brat must have called the cops.”
“Something like that,” Robin quipped. “Luckily, this thing comes with a police radio.” She gestured back to her bike.
“Does it come with a body bag?” Executrix asked as she executed a flying sidekick in Robin’s direction.
“Why would I need that?” Robin said, dodging the kick.
The Executrix dropped to a low swinging roundhouse kick, trying to knock Robin’s legs out from under her. The girl wonder did a backflip to avoid the kick and landed on her feet.
“You’re only delaying the inevitable,” Executrix said. “I’ve trained with the best.
“Nuh-uh,” Robin mocked s she took a defensive stance. “The best is Batman and I train with him every day.”
Oh, yes,” Executrix laughed. “He and I never did get to finish out match. Maybe we’ll get to after I deliver him your head. Her hand slid to her back, beneath her jacket and she removed two batons which crackled to life with electricity.
“No, Mommy! Robin’s one of the good guys!” Abbey cried out.
“Hush, dear. Mommy’s working,” Executrix reprimanded.
“Nice parenting skills,” Robin sneered as she removed her collapsible bow staff from the back of her utility belt and unfolded it with a flick of her wrist.
“Oh, I suppose you think my ex is a better parent because he’s a rich lawyer?” Executrix scoffed.
“No, I think he’s a better parent because he’s not a psychotic killer for hire!”
“You little $#&%!” Executrix exclaimed, swinging a baton at Robin’s head. She quickly blocked it with her staff.
“What the hell did he see in you, anyway?” Robin said, swinging her staff at Executrix.
Executrix blocked the blows with her batons. “It was really quite romantic. He was my lawyer and he managed to get nearly all the evidence against me tossed out. All they had was assault! I saw him as my knight in shining armor with a briefcase. And I suppose he was drawn to me because I was beautiful and dangerous.”
“So what happened?” Robin said, anchoring herself with the staff to try and deliver a flying kick.
“We fell in love and got married, of course…” Executrix said, spinning out of the way of the kick. “… after most of my charges were dropped and he got me probation.
“The trouble was, he wanted me to play the doting housewife…” she continued as they exchanged blows. “You know… stay home, join the PTA, go to business dinners, make small talk with the partners’ wives. It was torture! I had to get out, so I went back to my old life and he filed for divorce.”
“Geez! You had a kid! How selfish can you get?” Robin said.
“I know!” Executrix said. “Trying to force that Stepford Wife junk on me!”
“I meant you!” Robin exclaimed.
“No wet behind the ears punk is going to judge me!” Executrix exclaimed, swinging at Robin. Her attack seemed wilder and more frenzied now. It was all Robin could do to hold her off.
Executrix made one last desperate lunge for her. Robin ducked and Executrix flew over her back. Robin used her own momentum to launch her off her.
Robin’s eyes grew wide as she heard a loud splash and then a crackling noise. She turned and ran to the side of the pier to see Executrix twitching and spasming wildly in the waters of the pier, the batons still clutched in her hands.
“Mommy!” Abbey exclaimed with an anguished cry.
The batons appeared to have shorted out, so Robin removed her cape and dove into the water after her. Once she had her, she swam for the ladder, pulling Executrix behind her. She had a hand on the ladder and the other arm around the woman as she prayed silently for the strength to pull them both up.
“Give me your hand,” a deep voice suddenly said. She let go of the ladder and grabbed the blue gloved hand which pulled them both effortlessly onto the pier.
Robin held the crying child as Batman performed CPR on her mother. As the unconscious Executrix coughed up water, she breathed a sigh of relief. Abbey rushed to her mother’s side, hugging her.
“How did you find us?” Robin asked.
“Your bike has a tracker. It alerts me whenever it goes into hero mode, too.”
“I thought you gave me the bike because you trusted me,” Robin said.
“I do,” Batman said. “But we’re partners. And I want to be there if you need help. You handled yourself well, but… did your first solo super villain fight really need to be with a professional assassin?”
She looked down at Abbey. “Yeah, unfortunately. I don’t think she really wanted to kill me, though. If she’s still breathing, those batons couldn’t have been set to kill. Maybe because I’m still a kid to her?”
“Perhaps motherhood has softened her,” Batman said. “The woman I knew wouldn’t have given it a second thought, no matter what your age. But stranger things have happened.
Carrie Kelly watched as police cars and an ambulance approached in the distance, sirens wailing. “What do I tell her dad?”
“Already taken care of,” Batman said. “The story is, Carrie called her mentor, Bruce Wayne, because she didn’t know what to do in this kind of situation. Bruce then called the police while going to get Carrie and take her home. She will still have to give a statement at some point, though.”
“Oh…” Carrie said, pleasantly surprised. She had gotten so used to having to play at being an adult because of the way her hippie parents were. It was nice having someone else take care of things for once.
“I’m freezing,” she said, clutching Batman’s arm.
“We’ll get you into something dry at the Batcave once everything it situated here,” Batman smiled. “And Alfred makes some great hot cocoa.”
‘Yes, it was definitely nice not always having to be the grown-up,’ she thought.
