patreon.com/Masterworks951
-----
The car swayed left and right on the muddy road, and the three passengers in the back—Vicki, Pete, and Barbara—kept bouncing off the walls. Pete, in particular, could barely keep his composure.
"Oh, come on!" Pete groaned, his deep voice laced with frustration.
Michael had to suppress a smirk. He had half a mind to tell Pete, "Just stand still," but he bit his tongue and decided to let it slide. The thought that Bruce Wayne, with all his wealth, hadn't bothered to repave the road leading to his mansion crossed Michael's mind. He imagined even the Batmobile would take a beating on this path in the rain.
Cindy seemed to know the way perfectly, expertly navigating the winding road, veering onto a narrow, tree-covered path that was so overgrown it was hard to see what lay ahead. Branches and vines slapped against the windshield, with some even sneaking through the windows, flicking water onto their armor.
Michael didn't say anything, simply sliding his helmet back on in silence. If Cindy said this was the way, he trusted her instincts.
As they continued down the invisible path, they soon descended into a ravine. The storm had turned the small stream into a swollen river, thick with muddy water rushing downstream.
Most people would have turned back in these conditions, knowing one misstep would mean getting swept away by the flood. But Cindy? She just downshifted a couple of gears and pressed on, driving through the turbulent water until they reached the mouth of a cave.
Inside, the storm's chaos was left behind. The concrete road they drove onto stretched straight ahead, lit by overhead lights embedded into the rock ceiling. It was clear now they were on the right track. They came to a halt in front of a massive steel door, or what was left of it. It seemed Cindy had blasted it open on a previous visit. The twisted, scorched metal was crumpled and blackened along the edges.
She parked the mud-splattered van right next to the gleaming Batmobile, turned off the engine, and rapped her hand on the partition behind her.
"End of the line, everyone. Welcome to your one-day tour of a secret, mysterious location!" Cindy said with a grin.
Michael stepped out of the van, removing his helmet and finally breathing in some dry air. Stretching his legs, the first thing that caught his eye was the Batmobile. In the movies, he had always admired it. Now, standing right next to it, the sleek, cold steel of the car gleamed under the cave's lights.
Without his gloves, Michael ran his hands over the smooth surface. Alfred must've been taking great care of it—it looked brand new. The deep black paint job, the sharp angles, the turbine engines, and the bat-shaped wings on the rear gave it an aura of both power and elegance. It was a world apart from Cindy's beaten-up old jeep.
The design was different from what he knew from the movies, possibly due to the alternate universe, but it was still a weapon more than a vehicle.
"Don't get too attached," Cindy said, stepping up beside him. "I tried to take it for a spin last time, but couldn't even get the hatch open."
"It's probably controlled by the Batcave's computer system," Michael remarked, tapping the car's window before slipping his gloves back on. "But now you've got the best hacker in the world to help you crack it."
Cindy glanced over at Barbara, who was being helped out of the van. Pete looked like he might throw up any second. "You mean Gordon's daughter?"
"Yep. She's a bit late to the game in this world, but she's got serious talent. She'll be one of the best hackers in the world soon enough," Michael said confidently.
"And in your world?" Cindy asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You wouldn't want to cross her," Michael smirked. "Mess with her, and you'd have a dozen Batman-level people breathing down your neck in no time."
He wasn't kidding. In his world, Barbara was a key figure. Between the Birds of Prey and the Justice League, she had serious backup.
"Seems like she's worth getting on the good side of. Maybe she can help me with a few favors down the road," Cindy mused, watching as Barbara was settled into her chair. "That is, assuming we have a 'down the road.'"
"We'll be fine. Now that we're in the Batcave, and with Barbara on the job, finding Gordon's not a question of 'if'—just 'when,'" Michael said with certainty.
The others started to explore their surroundings, despite the low lighting and faint hum of the cave's machinery. Vicki was already buzzing with excitement.
"Oh, this is incredible!" she exclaimed, pulling out her makeup kit and fixing her hair. "Get the camera rolling, Pete! We need to do a special report here, right now!"
Michael, still observing the room, shrugged and opened his arms wide. "Go ahead, make yourselves at home. Welcome to the Batcave, everyone. Just remember the rules for filming, Vicki—no Bat-family members or personal details."
"Got it!" Vicki nodded enthusiastically, though Michael wasn't sure if she actually absorbed what he'd said. Pete, however, was nodding fervently as he set up the camera.
"What should I do?" Barbara asked, her voice laced with uncertainty. She hadn't expected their destination to be the Batcave. The secret lair of Batgirl herself? How did these two know her? And could they really find her father's kidnappers here?
"Oh, come with me," Cindy said, leading Barbara to a row of massive computer monitors. "This here is the mainframe. Crack the security firewall, and you'll have access to every bit of data Gotham has to offer."
The monitor wall towered above them, surrounded by smaller displays and hundreds of buttons on the control panel. There were no labels, no guides—just rows of identical keys. It was easy to see why Cindy hadn't managed to do much on her own.
Barbara quickly assessed the mainframe and found the external port, plugging in her laptop and running her cracking software.
"How's it looking?" Cindy asked.
"Too early to tell. The Batcave's external defenses are top-notch, but the physical connection has a vulnerability I can exploit." Barbara's fingers flew across the keyboard.
She muttered a quiet apology to Batgirl, but any guilt was outweighed by her need to save her father.
Michael nodded, giving her space to work. While she handled the tech, he began wandering through the Batcave. It wasn't every day you got to stand in a place like this, so he figured he'd take a look around.
He passed a cylindrical glass display case, empty except for a black mannequin that probably held Batgirl's suit when she wasn't wearing it. The dummy was ridiculously over-proportioned, though. Whoever designed it had gone overboard. Definitely a downvote for that.
A winding staircase snaked upward, leading to Wayne Manor's study. If he was right, that piano upstairs would open the passage if you played the right notes.
Then there was the surgical table. Good ol' Alfred had probably patched up Batgirl there a dozen times. Michael could almost picture him meticulously sewing her wounds.
And then… the giant mechanical dinosaur.
Wait. What?
Michael stared at the enormous T-Rex model. He had always thought it was just a toy, but the comics said otherwise. It wasn't a statue—it was one of the Batcave's security measures. A giant mechanical dinosaur capable of seriously injuring any intruders.
Something felt off.
"Hey, Cindy!" Michael called out, glancing over his shoulder. "Did you deal with the dinosaur here?"
Cindy, who had been chatting with Barbara to build some rapport, looked up, confused.
"What dinosaur?" she asked nonchalantly.