The tables had turned, but only for a moment. Adam had a hostage, but the gangster was just one man. The angry mob surrounding them was a beast with a hundred heads.
"Don't move! I've got one of your own!" Adam shouted, pressing his pistol to the man's temple. He no longer looked like a cop; he was acting like a cornered kidnapper, and he knew it.
The crowd surged forward, a sea of angry faces. Adam's palms were slick with sweat. He wasn't sure how long his bluff would hold.
"Look at the dirty cop! Shameless!"
"Yeah, let him go and fight us one-on-one!"
"You're dead either way, you bastard!"
The insults rained down on him, but Adam tuned them out. His mind was a calm island in a storm of chaos, racing to find an escape route before his human shield became worthless.
He never got the chance.
A single, sharp crack of a rifle echoed from a nearby rooftop. The hostage's head exploded in a spray of red, and the man's body went limp in Adam's arms.
Everyone froze, stunned by the sudden violence. Adam looked up and saw a mysterious figure in a black robe standing on the roof of a shabby building, a smoking rifle in his hands.
"What are you waiting for?" the black-robed man yelled. "Kill them!"
Spurred on by the command, the mob roared and charged.
Adam felt a wave of cold despair wash over him. This was it. He was trapped. The thought of being torn apart by the mob, dying in this filthy alley... it was too much. He wasn't going to give them the satisfaction.
He raised his own gun to his temple.
Just as he was about to pull the trigger, the world erupted in a storm of gunfire. But the pain he expected never came. He felt a powerful force knock the gun from his hand and heard shouts of shock and terror from the crowd.
Adam instinctively opened his eyes. A tall, broad figure stood in front of him, a black cape spread wide like a shield, deflecting the hail of bullets as if they were nothing. On his chest was the unmistakable golden symbol of the Batman.
"It's him! What's he doing here in the daytime?" a gangster screamed. The sight of Gotham's terrifying knight sent a wave of fear through the mob.
Adam frowned. Batman was just one man. Against this many enemies, what could he possibly do?
As if reading his mind, Batman pressed a button on his gauntlet. A deep roar filled the air. A sleek, bat-shaped fighter jet dropped from the sky, its dark fuselage and powerful engines silencing everyone, including Adam.
'Oh my god, the Bat-Fighter,' Adam thought, a flicker of awe cutting through his fear. 'I've seen it in movies, but up close... it's so cool.'
But Batman wasn't done. He pressed another button. The jet's engines let out an invisible wave of concussive force. The powerful blast swept through the alley, splintering the makeshift shacks and throwing the gangsters off their feet like bowling pins.
In an instant, the area was cleared. No one was left standing.
Without a word, Batman fired a grappling hook that deployed a large net, scooping up Adam, Gordon, and Barbara. He then launched another hook, and with a powerful whir, they were all pulled up toward the hovering jet.
"He's... what is he doing?" Barbara's voice trembled, a mix of fear and excitement.
"The cabin's full, so we're getting bundled," Adam grumbled, frustrated that his first ride in a Bat-vehicle would be like this.
The Bat-Fighter's engines roared to life, and it shot forward, streaking across the sky like a bolt of black lightning. Dangling in the net below, Adam felt the wind peel his face back. His eyes were forced shut, and his body was tossed around like clothes in a washing machine. He tried to look for the mysterious man in the black robe, but they were already too high up, and all he could hear was the deafening whistle of the wind.
After what felt like an eternity, they were dropped unceremoniously to the ground. Adam looked up and saw they were just outside the police line surrounding the slum. Bronze Tiger and Deadshot were there, heavily armed and ready for a fight. Even the Riddler was with them, looking terrified in a green rugby uniform, but he hadn't run.
"You guys..." Adam started, a wave of emotion washing over him. But before he could finish, his stomach churned. He turned away and vomited.
'Damn it, Batman,' he thought, his head spinning. 'Next time you fly a plane, think about your passengers!'
He looked up, hoping to give the Dark Knight a piece of his mind, but he was already gone. The only sign he had been there at all was a faint shadow disappearing into the clouds..