The Rise of Robin

According to the reports in Forbes and other leading economic publications, Gotham City was fast becoming one of the world's economic centers around which the rest of the world would circulate. Intellectuals speculated that within two years it would rival New York City.

As such, many corporate executive types such as Bruce Wayne, the city's most eligible bachelor, had made Gotham their main hub of operations.

The thing about executives was that they were usually greedy and sought to make a quick buck any way they could. They even resorted to underhanded and illegal schemes to make the money flow faster.

Such was the motivation behind tonight's meeting of the mob: quick cash.

A black limousine rolled around the corner, gleaming brightly in the nighttime lights of Gotham City. Inside of the limo were two of Gotham's newest CEO's and their group of hired thugs.

In an alley just off of an abandoned parking garage sat the men they were meeting. The old and worn down white van looked inconspicuous, but of course there were at least five men inside and all of them were ready for anything.

Because in Gotham, and especially at night, anything could happen.

The limo pulled into the alley, almost silent save for the barely audible purr of its engine and the soft sound of tires on asphalt.

When the two executives and their three guards climbed out of the vehicle, two men stepped out of the white van on the passenger side and driver side. Both were wearing thick coats to protect themselves against the cold of the autumn air.

For a while, they stood there. No one said a word. Then one of the executives said, "Do you have it?"

One of the men whistled and the van's back door opened. Two more men walk out, carrying a large trunk that wasn't too heavy, but carried valuable and stolen technology.

They set it down in front of the executives. At a gesture, one of the guards walked up to the trunk and opened it. The two CEO's looked the contents over, then one of them nodded.

"Everything looks to be in order," said one executive. He made a sign to another man that stood next to the limo. The guard nodded, picked up a briefcase from inside, and brought it over to the executive.

A bang from somewhere in the dark caught their attention. Several men drew their pistols from their belts.

"He's here," said someone.

"How did he find us?" someone else asked.

Glass shattered, and a blow to the head that sounded like a dull chink of metal on flesh and bone knocked one of the thugs out. Gunshots rang out in the general direction, but nothing else happened.

Another thug exchanged a worried glance with his compatriot before he started walking slowly toward the place where the shadows were thickest.

A long metal staff came out of nowhere and with three swift blows had the man on the ground, motionless.

The other thug fired his pistol at what he thought was a moving shadow, but it was only his mind playing tricks on him.

By this time, the executives were in the process of leaving, but somehow one of their guards had been taken out and their driver was unconscious.

The figure landed on top of one of them and began launching a torrent of blows against the executives and the other group. He moved like a flowing river and not one of the thugs could keep his eyes on him for too long.

It wasn't Batman. This guy was too fast to be Batman.

His staff whirled around them, knocking guns out of their hands, bruising shinbones and breaking fingers. Every strike seemed to lead to the next until each man was down and unconscious.

Once the job was finished, the last thing Robin did was signal the police. He expected they'd be here within five minutes as they had a few patrols nearby.

Robin would be long gone by then.

# # #

Seven minutes later, Batman surveyed the scene from a vantage point high above. The work was clean and efficient…something like what he would have done.

Whoever had done this had single-handedly broken up an exchange of contraband and handed the police a few more criminals to boot.

This wasn't what I had in mind when I said I wanted to inspire people, he thought, but at least this person or people aren't those usual impersonators.

All of the thugs and the bosses were still breathing. Someone else was adhering to his own strict code of justice.

The only problem was, Batman had to track him down.

(Note: This story is keeping with the Christopher Nolan style. I intend to make Robin realistic in the way he is presented, and you can expect conflict between him and Batman in the future.)