literature

Trial of the Mouse

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Chapter 8

Target Practice

Becky barely ducked in time to avoid Crane’s kick as she reacted with a quick punch to his abdomen.

“So, why are we doing these sparing lessons again, Jon?” she asked, blocking another strike with her cane. “It’s not like we’re going to use it much. I mean, all we usually do is either gas them or run and hide when they decide to experience the fight or flight reaction. What’s the point?”

Crane chuckled. “While its true we don’t use this much, Batman and his robins do. They rely on these techniques to easily take us down. So we must, in turn, be prepared to counter those techniques with our own in order to stand at least a small chance against them,” he replied, countering another blow.

He was currently using his violent dancing technique, a form of fighting he had adapted from drunken boxing and crane style kung-fu to keep opponents on their toes around him if he was caught off-guard, to train Becky to develop her own fighting techniques and see how she improvised on blocking and attacking.

She wasn’t doing that badly, for a beginner, although he was taking it easy on her, mostly targeting her head and chest area, and not trying to leg-sweep her every time he attacked.

Becky shrugged. “I guess.”

“And anyway, how do you know you won’t be caught in a situation where you will need it? You’re not always going to have fear gas available, and running and hiding might not be an option,” Crane added, dodging a jab from her pipe cane, which caused her to trip, and landing him with another victory as he pinned her arms and good leg down.

She growled. The pipe wasn’t working for her at all. Sure, it was fine for walking, but as an offensive weapon for a woman with static monoplegia, it was almost useless. Her normal tactic, to leg-sweep the opponent before she pinned them down, she couldn’t do because the pipe’s curve was too small to hook under the person’s legs. All she could do was swing it around, which wasn’t much use against him, as he was quickly able to dodge and counterattack.

Crane just smirked, before helping her up. “Nice try.”

Becky sighed. “As thankful as I am for the pipe, it doesn’t do well with an off-balanced person.”

Crane chuckled. “Then I’m sure this might come in handy,” he replied, reaching behind him to grab a cane.

Becky huffed, smiling, ”You little stinker! I was wondering why you didn’t try to turn.” She took the cane from Crane’s hand, testing its grip. It looked exactly like the one she lost, its grip fitting perfectly in her hand, as if it had never left. But there were a few differences, such as the various buttons, discreetly colored the same as the cane.

As the Scarecrow turned around, about to go on a short monologue about how it works or what not, she accidentally brushed over one of the buttons, causing a jet of flame to erupt from the tip of her cane.

It took all of two seconds for Crane to react, as he jumped around like a crazed monkey, trying to put out the fire. Becky couldn’t help but laugh hysterically at the display.

“Very funny, Miss Albright,” he growled, as he had finally found a damp spot to douse the flames. “Now then, if you’re quite done laughing at my unfortunate circumstances.”

“Oh, right, sorry,” she said sheepishly, putting the tip back on the ground.

He chuckled. “Don’t be. I understand your enthusiasm. But perhaps point the flamethrower away from the man who has flammable clothing.”

Becky nodded, snickering. “I’ll be sure to.” She shifted her stance, leaning slightly on her cane. “So, when can I try out all the features of this new weapon?”

Crane smirked. “In a few minutes, once I’ve set the targets up.”

She grinned in anticipation. She’d never had anything like this, and it certainly would come in handy if she were ever attacked during one of Scarecrow’s raids. Her grin grew wider as she examined the buttons on the cane. She couldn’t wait to try it out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“No, no, no, that’s not how you aim it,” Crane cried, readjusting her aim. “You have to keep your target in the middle.”

“I’m trying,” Becky replied, firing off another shot. This one hit a little to the left of her intended target, grazing its arm. “Stupid thing shifts at the slightest touch.”

She didn’t know why the gun part of her cane decided to hate her guts, but she decided that somewhere in its odd, cane mind, it had wanted to spite her for leaving its brother behind. The other features, such as the flamethrower, extendable scythe, and even a blowgun that shot fear gas bombs, worked like a charm, more or less, mostly because it just involved pointing towards the target, with little to no recoil.

The gun, however, had quite some recoil, which often caused Becky’s aim and balance to become off-kilter, knocking her to the floor and causing her bullet to stray way off course. One time, it was only his quick reflexes that prevented Crane from having a bullet in his brain, which would be quite unfortunate for all involved.

After nearly a dozen tries with the weapon, Becky was just about to give up. “Okay, I give up. What am I doing wrong? Why won’t this thing hit its target?”

He chuckled. ‘It’s because you’re not keeping it steady,” he said, guiding her hand nearer to the middle. “And your feet should be spread a little further apart,” he said, nudging her right foot further back, leaving her in an X-stance, like she was about to do jumping jacks. “Honestly, it’s like you’ve never held a gun before.”

“I haven’t.”

Jonathan burst out laughing. “Are you serious? You live in the most dangerous part of the Narrows, and you’ve never held a gun before now?”

“Nope,” she said, shaking her head. “Is that a problem?”

“Is that a problem?” he repeated, still laughing at the ridiculousness of the statement.

The Narrows were a tight and narrow place near the slums of the city. It was one of the most dangerous places of Gotham, situated right smack dab in the middle of the Joker’s hideout and the Iceberg Lounge.

“Becky, most people that live there are armed to the teeth to prevent themselves from being killed. And you’re saying that you’ve survived in that place for 5 years, and you’ve never held a gun before? I’m not sure if that is the bravest thing I’ve ever heard of or the most foolish, stupidest, only-surviving-by-dumb-luck, kind of thing.”

“Hey! It was the only apartment I could afford, what with the hospital bills and college tuition fees that I have to pay. And isn’t the Narrows in your territory?”

Crane immediately shut his mouth. “Just…. try to hit the target again.”

Becky laughed, before resuming her stance the way Crane had directed her. She aimed once again for her target, and then fired. The bullet hit its target, leaving a gapping hole in the cardboard target’s chest.

Crane nodded. “Nicely done.”

Becky grinned. It was about time she finally got that thing to work. She reloaded and was ready to shoot again when Jervis burst through the door, almost causing her to shoot his hat right off his head.

Jervis flinched, immediately putting his hands in the air, as if he were surrounded by dozens of police cars. “D-d-don’t shoot! Please, don’t shoot!” he whimpered. This was his finest hat, and he really didn’t want it to be shot full of holes.

She immediately put her gun/cane down. “Jervis, what’s wrong?” she asked, hurrying towards him.

Jervis seemed rather frazzled. His hat was leaning to one side of his head, his trench coat was missing, and he had several rips and tears in his checkered vest, with blue bruises and bloody cuts underneath.

“I-I’m sorry for coming in unannounced, but have you seen Alice anywhere recently? I’ve been looking for her everywhere.”

Becky narrowed her eyes at him. She hadn’t forgotten the time Tetch had kidnapped her best friend and had tied her up, as well as dressing her up in a childish Alice in Wonderland dress. And who knew what he did with her after she and Scarecrow left? His file that she had researched had said that he had done perverted things to her while Alice was mind-controlled by him. And she wouldn’t put it past him to try that, what with his creepy smile and smarmy outfit. “And how do we know that you won’t do anything to her once you find her?”

Jervis looked confused. “What do you mean by that?” he asked naively.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Tetch! I’ve read your file and I know that you molested her when you captured her the first time!”

“Becky…” Jonathan warned, looking at the Hatter’s body language. He almost seemed like he had been electrocuted, with the amount of twitching he was doing. His left eye was twitching and his right leg was thumping wildly, almost more than Disney’s Thumper, and his hands were wringing uncontrollably. He looked like he was about to go mad…literally.

He looked at her in shock. “W-What? Y-You think I-I would do…” he gestures wildly around him. “…Y’know… that against her will?”

“Well…”

Jonathan winced. He just knew from that one word that things were going to explode.

Tetch looked at her in astonishment, before finally answering her in a cold harsh tone as his face boiled with rage. “Miss Albright, let me make one thing clear to you.”

Becky gulped. She knew she was in trouble when she heard Jervis’ voice lowered to a deathly hiss.

“I may be a criminal, I may be a Rogue, but I am NOT a monster. And if anyone, and I mean ANYONE, tried to do that to her then…then….” He immediately brought out his Wonderland-themed axe. “OFF WITH THEIR HEADS! OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!” he screamed, swinging his axe around wildly, nearly decapitating her if she hadn’t jumped back.

Jonathan immediately lunged for him, wrenching the axe away from the crazed Hatter and pinning his arms against the wall. “Tetch, calm down! Calm down!”

Jervis lay there, staring at both of them, before breaking down into tears. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t…I shouldn’t have…”

Becky looked down. His outburst had scared her, as she suddenly saw a different side of Jervis then what she had expected. She felt ashamed of herself for believing what the media had said about them. She knew that the way the media in Gotham portrayed things were not often the truth. She had known that since she had first started working with the Scarecrow. And yet, she had still fallen into the same hypocrisy as the other Gothamites, who would often say they were good, honest people when, in reality, they worked for with people like Black Mask and the Joker. “Let him go, Jonathan.”

Crane looked at her. ‘Are you sure?’ his eyes seemed to say.

She nodded. She would take her chances.

Jonathan let him go, causing Jervis to fall down to the ground, where he crouched, whimpering.

“Jervis?” Becky asked, scooting herself towards him. “I’m so sorry for accusing you of those things.”

He sniffled, looking up at her.

“It’s just, I don’t know you very well, and Alice is my best friend. She means a lot to me. I don’t want her getting hurt if I look away for a moment. But that is still no excuse for me to accuse you of that heinous crime. Can you forgive me, Jervis?”

He nodded, hugging her briefly, before jumping back to his usual, chipper, if worried, self. “But I still don’t know where Alice is? She could be anywhere by now.”

“Hrm,” Crane muttered. “Have you tried the University?”

Jervis nodded his head. “Yep, already checked it.”

Crane raised an eyebrow. “Really? Every building?”

Jervis tapped his fingers together. “Well, not every building. I may have missed one or two near the back.”

“Well, what are you doing coming to me? If Alice is in one of those buildings, go find her!” Jonathan snapped, irritated at the Hatter. Children seemed to act more adult than Tetch was sometimes.

“Well, I was going to, but there were some creepy looking guys heading towards one of buildings.” The Hatter shivered. “They were really scary, with discoloring all over their bodies, as well as horns and other things on their heads. I didn’t have my cards with me, so I ran as fast as I could to get out of there.

Crane sighed, slapping his forehead. All this drama could have been avoided if the Hatter wasn’t such a scatterbrain and forgot to get his cards. “It’s probably just some pranksters or actors going to their set.”

“B-But they were real. I swear!” Tetch cried, starting to become twitchy again. Besides Alice, Jonathan and Becky were his only friends he could trust. Harley didn’t count, as if it came between him and the Joker, she would pick the Joker any day of the week. And if they didn’t believe him, then no one would.

Becky glanced at Scarecrow before her eyes drew back to Tetch. “Jervis, you did take the medicine Alice gave you, didn’t you?”

“I did take my medicine! Why don’t you believe me?” Jervis cried, tears starting to come to his eyes.

Becky immediately felt bad for her comment and put her hands on his shoulders, hoping he wouldn’t have another freak out like he had a few minutes before. “No, no, no, it’s not like we don’t believe you. We’re just saying that they may not be how you perceive them. They could just be a few goofs who’ve decided to pull an innocent prank on their friends,” she explained, praying that he wouldn’t take offense.

“But what if they’re not?” Jervis whispered, quivering in fear of what they would do to his dear Alice.

She frowned. “If they’re not, then I’m sure someone will take care of it, whether it be you or Batman.” Going over to her desk, she grabbed a few cards from the table. “And if it makes you feel better, here are some of your mind-control cards you left here.”

Jervis smiled as Becky handed him his cards. “Thank you, Becky. You’re a good friend,” he said, giving her another quick hug before heading out the door, anxious to find his friend.

Becky smiled as he closed the door, glad she could help her friend, and glad that he understood what she was trying to tell him.
Hi, everybody. Sorry if I'm kinda late getting this out. I had to finish up school as well as my graduation ceremony, along with preparing for relatives coming over for said ceremony and going to my boyfriend's graduation as well. Now that summer's here, I'll try to get things out a little faster now that I don't have any homework to do. So stay tuned.
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