#7: Clay Beginnings (Weiherer / Villalobos)

Teddy Lupus’ Apartment, 4 hours earlier...

Although he holds the title of “Doctor”, Doctor Lupus’ apartment does not reflect his earned degree. Saying he lives in a bad part of town is being generous, and the number of times he has been robbed certainly reflects that. His life wasn’t always like this, though. He once had a good job, lots of money, and a nice apartment. That all changed the day he was fired from Dagget Industries…

Dr. Lupus was one of the developers of a new line of cosmetics at Dagget Industries, a foundation cream that would eliminate the need for facial reconstruction.

Even he couldn’t believe the outstanding results when it was first tested. The cream, which would be called Renew-U, could eliminate any facial disfigurement: including welts, bruises, indentations, scars, and even burns. There were of course some drawbacks; its results were only temporary, it seemed highly addictive, and an overuse could result in various side effects. In the early stages of development, some subjects experienced what was described as “loose skin.” The skin on the test subjects faces looked severly wrinkled. Others suffered from burning, itching, and rashes. Most of the side effects were thought to have been eliminated by making new formulas and doing more testing.

Because of the chemicals in it, the cream was highly expensive. The marketing department was sure, though, that the outstanding results of the cream would eliminate any concerns of the price. As long as the side effects continued to decrease as more testing was done, Dagget Industries was sure to begin shipping the cream soon.

Teddy Lupus’ life began to slope downhill the day he read an article in the Gotham Gazette one morning. He couldn’t believe the words before his eyes. His longtime friend, actor Matt Hagen, had been in a severe car accident. The report stated that Matt’s face had been shredded by glass, making him almost unrecognizable. The journalist also claimed that Hagen’s acting career was now over, because it had been his face that had drawn crowds to the theaters, not his acting.

A few weeks later, Ted got a call from Matt, asking him if he thought facial reconstruction was the right way to fix his problem. Teddy knew the risks involved in this type of surgery. Because of the recent success in the development of Renew-U, Teddy revealed the alternative to this surgery that Dagget Industries was developing. Matt liked the sound of this new cream, so he asked Teddy if there was some way that he could try some of it.

The next day, Lupus went up to Roland Dagget, the head of Dagget Industries. He asked Mr. Dagget if the company would supply small of amounts of the cream to Matt Hagen. Teddy explained to Roland that if the Matt’s condition cleared up because of Renew-U, the company could use Matt as a spokesperson for the new line of cosmetics. Ted of course didn’t mention that he had already told Matt about the product because that could well have resulted in Lupus’s termination.

Mr. Dagget accepted the proposal, and Matt was supplied with a small weekly test sample of Renew-U. Matt used his weekly dose very fast though. He had been applying the make-up more than twice a day, and his supply of it always ran out quickly. Nearly a month after that first call, Teddy received another call from Hagen, but this was a call for help. Matt had become addicted to the Renew-U cream. He thought he needed more of the cream, than was being supplied to him by Dagget. Knowing that Teddy worked for Dagget, Matt asked his lifetime friend to sneak out small supplies of the cream on a daily basis. Teddy had never stolen anything in his life, not because he thought it was wrong, but because he got nervous very easily, and if questioned, he knew he would confess the moment he was asked. Teddy reluctantly began to steal the cream anyway, but only because Matt was such a good friend.

Everything went smoothly at first. No one noticed the small samples Teddy stole daily from Dagget Industries, but after two weeks, Matt wanted more of the make-up. Teddy did begin to steal more, but the more he stole, the more Matt wanted. Teddy knew Matt was experiencing more than just physical problems, but feared to confront him about it. Matt seemed so much different than he used to, angry, but at the same time pitiful. Having been asked by Matt to steal a whole beaker of cream one day, Lupus nervously waited until everyone else had left one the developing rooms in Dagget Industries. Teddy was sure he was nearly out the door when he heard “Going somewhere with that, Dr.Lupus?” It was Mr. Dagget, accompanied by two thugs. Teddy stood still in fear, trying to come up with something to say, but all thought left his head when the wind was suddenly taken from him by a blow to the stomach. Another fist hammered his chin, sent him reeling and knocked him off balance.

As he lay on the floor, Teddy distinctly heard Mr. Dagget say, “You’re fired, Ted.” The two thugs hurled him outside onto the cold concrete, leaving him without the make-up and without a job.

Back in Matt's trailer, Lupus wondered where Hagen had run to. An awful suspicion took root. If he needed the cream that badly... Teddy leapt to his feet in horror. If Dagget and his crew caught Matt, they would kill him. He dashed out of the trailer as fast as his legs would carry him.

When he arrived, he saw police cars outside the building. From overhearing the cops’ conversation, he discovered that an alarm had been triggered.

Nervous for his friend, Teddy ran through the police and into the alley. He stopped running when he noticed movement in the front seat of car.

“Matt? Is that you?” he questioned nervously.

What Teddy saw was not easy to take in. His lifelong friend was a mudlike blob lying in the front seat. Matt had no neck, and his face consisted of two yellow circles that seemed to be eyes, and a monstrous hole that stretched across his face and mimicked a mouth. His body was still dripping a little, and was so thick that he barely could sit upright in-between the passenger seat and the dashboard.

“Jesus, Matt. What the hell did they do to you?”

“Ugh” was the only response Matt could manage at the moment, and that did not sit well with hisfriend.

“Let’s get you out of here.” Teddy started his car and left the ally through the opposite side of the building before the police could stop him.

A few nights went by, and Lupus had still not heard anything from Matt. A newspaper caught Teddy’s eye, though, for it said that a man by the name of Germaine Wolfman was found badly beaten and taken to Gotham General. A picture accompaning the article revealed a man who looked very much like one of Dagget’s thugs, the one without the headphones. The article went on to say that the police were still investing the beating of Germain Wolfman, and that those possessing any information regarding the crime, were enjoined to contact the GCPD.

That night, ‘Germs’ was resting quietly in his hospital bed when he heard the window open. He looked over, but no one was there.

“’Germs’ Wolfman,” a dark voice said. Startled, ‘Germs’ began to scream, but a gloved hand covered his mouth. “If you tell me who did this, it won’t happen again. And maybe I’ll forget about all those accounts of assault against you.” The dark-clad figured started to remove his hand, and ‘Germs’ was about to yell, but he suddenly decided not to. The thing that put him in here was scarier than the thing standing in his room right now.

Maybe, he thought, if I tell him, they’ll kill each other.

“It was a guy named Hagen. Matt Hagen.” He stated.

“The actor? Are you sure it was him?” asked the voice.

“Yeah, he told me I was the one to blame for what he had become. He wanted me to know who was beatin’ me.

“What he had become? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What? Nothin’, nothin’,” he said nervously.

“What did you do to him ‘Germs’?” the Batman asked coldly. Given no response, the Dark Knight spoke again. “If you don’t talk now, I have ways of making you talk.” Batman hit the broken leg of ‘Germs’ Wolfman, making ‘Germs’ yell in pain and reach out in the air. His scream went unheard, for Batman had his other hand over Wolfman’s mouth.

“Alright! I’ll tell ya. He was stealing a product from my boss. We had to stop him, so we roughed him up a little. Then, we covered him in the stuff he was trying to steal.”

“Who’s your boss? And who’s we?”

“Me and Bell. Dagget’s my boss.” he said reluctantly. “But now Hagen’s changed. He don’t look human no more.”

“If you’re lying to me Wolfman, I’ll find out about it. Believe me, you don’t want me coming back here,” the Batman threatened.

“I’m not lying! It’s the truth! Hagen’s this pile of gloop now!”

The door to “Germs’” room opened, and a doctor walked in. The Batman hid out of sight in the dark room. The doctor made no attempt to turn on the light, as he quickly made his way to the bed.

“Mr. Wolfman, I think it would be best if you got some air,” the doctor said in a flat voice.

“What? I have a broken leg. I can’t-” A brown strip suddenly covered the mouth of’Germs’, making him unable to speak. The Batman stepped forward as the “doctor” grabbed the patient, but he was thrown back into the wall with a thunderous blow from an outstretched arm of the “doctor”. Turning back into the mud-like form, Hagen stormed to the stairs and onto the room with ‘Germs’ in his arms.

He walked out onto the roof and headed to the edge, lifting his victim high above his head.
’Germs’ Wolfman would have been nothing but a stain on the pavement if the Batman hadn’t
swooped in and grabbed him from Clayface’s clutches.

“Hagen, stop this. I can get you help. Don’t throw away your life like this” the Batman yelled.

“I’m not Hagen anymore. It’s Clayface!” Saying this, his fist became a brick wall and he hurled it at the Dark Knight. Trying to jump away from the blow, the Batman was struck violently on the left shoulder, sending him back and onto the ground. Sirens grew louder in the distance.

Nervously, Clayface decided to leave the scene. He jumped off of the roof of the hospital and plummeted down to the hard road below. He turned into a puddle when he struck the ground. He dragged himself into a drainage hole and into Gotham’s sewers.

Later on, Teddy would remember this night and try to forget what came next.

He hadn’t accompanied Clayface to the show, so all he knew about the show was what had originally aired, and what had subsequently been reported on the news. It wasn’t good. Matt had gone through with his initial plans to humiliate Dagget on live television, but his schemes were put to rest when the Batman intervened. The Batman must have had knowledge of recent events at Dagget Industries, but Teddy never learned how he gained such information.

During Dagget’s live interview Matt walked on stage from the audience, where he was disguised as a “normal’ person. He then revealed his new hideous form, and the crowd gasped in horror. Matt exploded in anger, and started throwing chairs, stage lights, cameras, whatever he could find, all aimed at Dagget. The live feed of the show was cut off, and the rest was reported, without accompanying film, on the 6 o’clock news.

Dagget had run backstage in fear of his life, and was cornered in a control room filled with monitors and control boards. A witness reported seeing the Batman kick the ‘clay-pile’ in the back, which gave Roland Dagget time to escape from the control room. The onlooker then claimed to see the monitors fill with pictures of different characters, which he claimed were all the same person: ‘Hagen’. The ‘clay pile’ then began morphing and swirling,
screaming in pain and confusion. It took a swing at the legendary figure of the Batman, and was electrocuted when its hand hit a control panel. This caused a large explosion, and the entire studio burned down. The witness did not see Clayface or the Batman make it out of the room. Recent reports suggested that the Batman was still alive.

Gotham City, Now

The Batman lay nearly unconscious in front of the monster known as Clayface.

“You’re not stoppin’ me this time. Teddy and me can’t fail.”

As fast as he could in the condition he was in, the Dark Knight reached for his grappling hook in his utility belt.

“Bye Batman, nothing personal, but I want my life back.” Saying this, Clayface raised his right hand high into the air, with his shaping it into the form of a form of a hammer. Before he could bring his hand down, the Batman propelled his grappling hook directly up at the monster. The hook shot straight through Matt Hagen, and then caught the edge of the rooftop. Batman then pushed a button on his end of the line, which sent his body soaring into and out the other side of Clayface.

Batman was then on the roof as the big brown beast screamed, half in pain and half in anger.

“No!” he roared. “Lupus and me are doing this and you can’t stop us!” Batman now had a full name of the accomplice of Matt Hagen: Teddy Lupus. After he dealt with Clayface, Batman
would track down and deal with Lupus.

As Clayface scaled the building, Batman jumped the gap to the building on the other side of the street. When he landed on the next rooftop, he hit a button on his belt. Clayface followed Batman’s lead, and soared across the night sky and onto the next building, landing with a tremendous thud. It was now a strange version of follow the leader, and today the follower was
in for a big surprise.

Batman quickly made his way down to the ally between this and another building, and had only a few more seconds to get Clayface where he wanted him to. Making his way to the street, the Batman was again followed by Clayface, who made his way into the open street. Safely on the sidewalk, the Batman turned and saw the mud monster struck violently by his trademark vehicle, the Batmobile, which sent clay everywhere. The car stopped on a command from Batman’s
belt, and for a few seconds, there was nothing but silence.

Then, slowly, the mud began to regroup.

Thinking quickly as always, the Batman grabbed for a Batarang and quickly hurled it at a nearby fire-hydrant, which fired tons of water at the the yet formed clay. Much of the clay was sent into nearby drainage gates, but Batman managed to secure a vast amount under a trashcan from the ally, which would make sure Clayface couldn’t fully reform when he regrouped somewhere in the sewer.

The Dark Knight, hearing the police cars on the way, stayed in the darkness of shadows. He would inform the police of what had happen, and ensure that the remaining clay would be kept at the police station.

Epilogue Two

Gotham Sewers

A half of a man is waiting in the darkness and filth of the Gotham sewers. He feels empty and barely has the strength to stand. Even though he is incomplete, he is sure it will not always be so. The rest of him will catch up. All he can do now is wait...