I’m helping out with a local Easter Egg hunt, when I see one of the kids named Brutus (I know, what were his parents thinking, right?) look to either side, then descend on another kid like a malevolent Batman.  A quick scuffle, then Brutus drags the kid into the bushes in a rear naked choke.  Shortly after, he emerges with a fuller Easter basket.  WTF?  I walk up to Brutus and tap him on the shoulder.  He spins, drops into a horse stance, and punches me in the nuts.  As I fall to the ground, he holds a No. 2 pencil to my carotid artery and hisses, “These eggs are MINE, halfwit.  Nod if you understand.”  I fumble open my eReader to Echo.  Magic flash.  An adolescent Bruce Wayne bursts from the shrubs.  A quick, violent exchange ensues.  Brutus lunges forward with a double jab, then a cross, but Bruce counters—block, trap, chop, punch—and Brutus stumbles away, clutching his throat.  He draws another Faber No.2 but Bruce is on him in a flash, locking his wrist in a compliance hold.  He whispers to Brutus, “I’ve been trained by assassins, champion fighters, and monks from Nanda Parbat.  It’s not that you don’t have a chance; it’s that you NEVER had one.”  He delivers a chain of knees into Brutus’s groin, and the bully falls to the ground, moaning in agony.  Bruce gives me a solid nod, then disappears.

Kids, even the sociopaths, can’t be beaten.  That’s when you call for a tiny Batman.  Get Echo Vol. 1 on Kindle here:  Vol. 1 on Kindle.  Vol. 2 on Kindle here:  Vol.2 on Kindle. Links for Vol.1 AND Vol.2 on Smashwords/Nook/iBooks/Kobo are available here:  Echo on other platforms