The Fall Of A Sparrow

​JUST OUTSIDE, OUR HEROES EAGERLY AWAIT THE MYSTERIOUS BALLOON MAN DRIFTING TOWARD THEIR CALCULATED POSITION WITH BATED BREATH…

Gotham City’s citizens have long been a health conscious bunch and Central Park serves as a good symbol of the devotion to exercise and fresh air in this modern metropolis. With temperatures on the rise this weekend afternoon, the park is packed with people of all ages looking for some wholesome fun in the sun. Robin hears the warm crack of a baseball bat hitting a homerun at a Little League game nearby. The smell of wildflowers wafts via the warm breeze from the public garden and water laps at the shore of a small man-made pond where men fish for sport and lovers paddle their dinghies out to privacy.

“It shouldn’t be long now,” Batman says as he monitors his wrist watch. He surveys the clearing in the park where they’ve positioned themselves and is satisfied. There aren’t any trees for the unfortunate flier to snag on and there’s plenty of space for the Dynamic Duo to make their emergency maneuvers. It should do nicely, for their purposes.

“Gosh! I sure hope he shows up soon,” his sidekick replies. The two couldn’t have arrived more than ten minutes ago, but the wait has felt like an eternity to his eager senses. Trying to unfasten the balloon man from his predicament in the hustle of the city was a nonstarter, however. Constant motor and pedestrian traffic would make that kind of operation totally unsafe, for everyone involved. Of course, the jet-propelled Batmobile arrived at the park much earlier than a man tied to balloons ever could. Patience, it turns out, is sometimes as useful a tool in the fight against crime as any Bat-gadget on a utility belt.

“Judging by current wind speeds, he should be arriving – ”

“Look! It’s Batman!” an awestruck teenage girl shrieks.

“And his youthful aide, Robin!” her friend chimes in. The two blush a deep red as the Boy Wonder looks their way.

The commotion attracts several other bystanders to the scene, most wondering what sort of danger must be lurking nearby for the Dynamic Duo to be around.

“Stand back citizens,” Batman warns. He spreads his arms out wide. “A man’s life may depend on your compliance!”

Proving Batman’s point, a group of colorful balloons begins to emerge over the tree line and drift toward the clearing where our heroes stand. A few of the balloons have popped, but the poor soul attached to them is still flying entirely at the mercy of Mother Nature.

“Robin,” Batman instructs with haste, “we’ll have to catch him with the Bat-net.”

Batman unfolds a large mesh net from his utility belt and hands one end to his teenaged counterpart.

“Roger,” Robin says, firmly grasping his end of the net.

The crowd evaporates into a wide circle to watch the crime-fighters prepare their rescue. Nervous murmurs ripple across the group of spectators as necks crane up to the cloudless sky and the high stakes (and higher altitudes) are understood. A bead of sweat runs down Batman’s face, more from the heat than anything else, as he reaches into his trusty utility belt and unfolds a Bat-a-rang with a SNAP.

“Get ready,” Batman says to his partner, mentally preparing himself for the task at hand. “I only have one chance to do this just right.”

Robin gives Batman a nod to say he is ready. Time and time again the Boy Wonder finds himself in situations such as these, where the line between life and death; hit and miss; success and failure is so very, very thin. For the second time he hears the distinctive crack of wooden bat against ball and he wonders what it would be like to be a normal teenager, what his friends might be up to at this moment (not rescuing a man from a bunch of balloons, I’ll bet!), but he pushes the thought away as easily as it came. Gotham City needs Batman and Batman needs Robin. It’s as simple as that.

Batman flicks his right hand at the balloons and releases the Bat-a-rang with all of his considerable might. His face contorts into a grisly grimace. The bat-shaped boomerang twirls through the warm spring air, curving toward the balloons. It connects midway through the strings, releasing the aeronaut from his skyward journey. The watching crowd gasps, but not a single eye blinks. The Dynamic Duo pulls their net taut as the body plummets down to earth. For what feels like too many breathless minutes but is actually seconds, the man tumbles and cartwheels through the air as gravity reclaims him. With a single bounce, the high-flyer returns to terra firma, seemingly unharmed. The audience applauds their heroes’ efforts as Batman and Robin close in on the individual.

“Holy Double Vision!” the Boy Wonder exclaims. Tangled in the Bat-net lies a man dressed in a near-perfect recreation of Batman’s Bat-suit. The Caped Crusader immediately kneels down to aid his apparent twin brother.

“Do you want me to call for an ambulance, Batman?” a police officer asks, stepping forward from the crowd.

“That won’t be necessary, officer,” our hero replies. Batman gives up on searching for a pulse and declares, “This is nothing more than a dummy.”

“Who would tie a dummy to a bunch of balloons?” the officer asks. The Caped Crusader deftly slips the dummy out of his Bat-net bondage and lays it on the lawn.

“The Joker, who else!” Robin replies, tugging subconsciously at the end of his glove.

“He’s being unusually generous,” Batman says. He spies something conspicuous attached to the mannequin. With the careful hands of a surgeon, Batman unfastens a safety pin from the dummy’s lifeless chest. Skewered on the pin is a calling card of sorts. Unsurprisingly, the card shares the arch  criminal’s namesake – it’s a Joker. Fitting, that the Joker would choose the Wild Card over his fifty-two other options. Batman hands the playing card to the Boy Wonder and adds, “He’s left us a clue of some sort.”

A jolly grin, a jester’s cap, and a pair of colorfully illustrated eyes stare up at Robin from the face of the card. It’s a silly looking cartoon, but under the circumstances it’s more than a little creepy. The Boy Wonder flips the card over and finds some meaning behind this theatrical prank.

“’Will the real Batman please stand up?’” Robin reads aloud. He thinks it over and is stumped. “What does it mean, Batman?”

“I don’t know,” the Masked Manhunter says truthfully, “But his overconfidence will be the snare that entraps him yet.”

Batman rises to his feet and effortlessly swings his dummy doppelganger over his shoulder.

“I think we better run back to the Bat-cave to examine these further,” he says of their new clues. “Perhaps the Joker has left us with something less obvious to go on.”

With a quick salute to the Man in Blue, the Dynamic Duo sprints to their Batmobile, hoping against all hope that they can find something – anything! – that will help them stop the Joker… Before it’s too late!