A single taut rope hooked onto the window. Half a dozen men in purple jumpsuits and masks ascended up the factory window of the Wayne tech factory. Their mission? To retrieve the parts their boss told them to get.

They entered, flashlight darting across the various trinkets that lined the table and filled the boxes. Their boss had disabled security and power to the factory, this was supposed to be an easy mission. The key word was supposed to.

The moment they found the gizmo, two of their men were knocked out. The Batman was here.

They pulled out their guns but he was faster, knocking the weapons out. Batarangs came flying like hailstones, striking them in their arms, legs and hands. They held on, trying to fight back but Batman was stronger, fists flying and bones breaking all around him. His every move was deliberate, his every blow purposeful. And like the machine he was, within a few seconds he had already pinpointed the leader and held him up.

“Talk,” Batman said. “What do you want with the modulator?”

Batman ripped off his mask and standing in front of him was a man missing an eye. When face to face with the Batman, normal men usually spilled their secrets or screamed in fear. The man Batman held up wasn’t a normal man.

“How’s the leg, Batman?”  the one-eyed man asked. If the Batman was startled by the statement he didn’t show it. Instead, he slammed the man against a wall.

“What do you want with the modulator?” Batman growled. “Who do you work for?”

The one-eyed man just smiled. Batman twisted him around, pinning him against the wall.

“Talk,” Batman growled. “Or I’ll break your arm.”

“The Master Planner knows all his inventions,” the one-eyed man said. “How’d you lose your leg? Who was it? Dent, Penguin…” The man paused. A smile crossed his face. “The Joker.”

There was a crack as the one-eyed man’s arm hung limply on the side. He didn’t scream.

“Who do you work for?” Batman roared.

Batman had no time to react as the sound of metal clinked on the floor. The Batman fell onto his left knee.

ERROR. ERROR, JAMMING SIGNAL DETECTED, echoed the Batcomputer. LEG COMPROMISED; LEG COMPROMISED. SIGNAL LOST.

The one-eyed man kicked Batman across the face. Taking advantage of the momentary weakness, the robbers scattered. Batman tried to stop them but he could only do so much with one leg, throwing gadgets that missed and trying to the drag the men back. All of it proved futile. The men kicked and punched him but Batman could barely defend himself.

The one-eyed man smiled.

“I guess even the Batman has a weakness,” the one-eyed man said with a grin, kicking the Batman across the face.

“What have you done?” Batman asked.

The one-eyed man just smiled. “The Master Planner knows all his inventions. I’d kill you but I think it’d be satisfying if someone saw you crawling around with that leg of yours.”

The one-eyed man left with the modulator. Batman tried chasing but all he could managed was a weak hobble as he tripped and fell down, hitting his face against the floor.

Batman dragged himself to the window to see the men in the purple jumpsuits were but a speck in the distance. Batman crawled over to the small metal device, crushing it with his fist reducing it to a mess of wires.

SIGNAL REGAINED, said the Batcomputer. Batman pulled himself up, the prosthetic reconnecting itself to his nerve. But by then, the men in purple jumpsuits and the one-eyed man had already disappeared.

Batman growled, slamming his hand against the window sill. He was weak, too weak.

Above him, the silver moon cast an eerie glow over the city of Gotham. The shadows looked harsher tonight.