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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:25:54 GMT -5
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:27:48 GMT -5
Batman
Issue 1: "The Smoking Gun"
Written by Charles HoM
Cover by J. Hartley
Colored by Brandon Herren
Edited by David Charlton |
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:28:27 GMT -5
“Who. Who took it?” Lex Luthor paced the room, his chief of security sweating in his heavy boots, hands behind his back, shaking as the tension mounts. Lex smiled for a moment and then walked back towards the man. He leaned in close; a smile plastered to his face, and then whispered quietly in his ear. “I am not having the best of days, you.. That upstart Bruce Wayne is going to open another one of his buildings in MY city…!” He jerks back and clenches his fist, laughing slightly. “Not the best of days.”
“You shouldn’t take out your rage on employees, Mr. Luthor.” Lex spun around at the sound of the arrogant voice outside his window. “Rude.”
“Ah. The so-called Superman. Self proclaimed even. Butting your head…” He smiled darkly. “Where you’re not wanted.”
“Just checking the city. Patrolling. Any problems? Something stolen?” He smiled. “Something dangerous?”
Lex went blank for a moment, his face pale, and a vein bulged across his forehead. “‘Lexcorp informs the authorities of any thefts of dangerous items immediately’”
“I’ve read your company manual. But we all know the truth, Mr. Luthor. If it’s truly dangerous, in your heart, you know what you have to do.” Superman vanished in a blue and red blur, leaving Lex Luthor and his head of security in a dark room.
“Uh, Mizzer Luthor…”
“GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! I WANT TO KNOW WHO STOLE THE METALLO! I WANT TO KNOW WHO STOLE IT BY YESTERDAY!” He grabed a paperweight and flung it at the door as the man hurried away, and then collapsed in his chair. “Surrounded by incompetence.” He typed at a small keyboard on his desk, and pulled up the specs of what was stolen.
{Metallo. The metal devouring compound. Stored in plastics, developed as a new military application}
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:28:45 GMT -5
In the dark warehouse, down the winding metal stairs and in the deepest recesses of the basement there is a stone room with a surgeon standing. This room is lit by one shaky bulb, swinging above an old operating table.
A man lies on the table.
The man twitches uncontrollably… Blood everywhere, the man on the table…
Awake.
His eyes flicker open and closed, blood in his throat, vocal cords red and raw, screams trying to scratch their way out his mouth but being held in by an overwhelming feeling of agony.
The surgeon smiles slightly, and takes out a cleaner scalpel, rubbing it on his dirty surgeon scrubs. “This will hurt, sir…”
He cuts into the head of the man, and at last, his victim can scream.
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:29:14 GMT -5
“Lucius! Why’d you call? Any problems?”
Bruce Wayne rearranged his tie and shakes the hand of the man running his businesses. He looked at the man in front of him, greying hair across his temples and a beard on his jaw.
“Bruce, I emailed you last month about the Metropolis opening. It’s tomorrow, remember?” Lucius smiled widely, knowing what had happened.
Bruce opened and closed his mouth like a fish, stroking his chin and thinking of something to say, but coming out with nothing.
“Yeah, you forgot. No problem.” He opened his notebook and scribbled something, and then looked back up. “Alfred has the jet prepped, and your bag packed. Check your inbox, all the information you need is there. Good luck.” He noded his head slowly, allowing Bruce to take it all in.
“Thanks Lucius. You got everything taken care of at this end?”
“Sure have, Bruce.” He shook his hand again, and walkd away, whistling something to himself.
Alfred Pennyworth smiled as his employer and adopted son rushed onto the private jet, cursing to himself.
“Early as always Master Bruce.”
Bruce looked up wearily and waved his hands around. “Tell the captain we can leave.”
Alfred nodded and headed up to captain’s compartment and then back, nodding. “Strap yourself down. Captain Savage is just initiating lift off.”
Bruce Wayne collapsed in his chair and looked out the window, as Gotham slowly rolled away, and the sky opened up for them.
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:29:46 GMT -5
The trip was dull and quiet. Bruce watched the latest Rob Schneider flick, slowly falling asleep, until a loud explosion rocked the entire plane. His first instinct was to scream, but he held it in, and slipped into a sub conscious mask.
Batman.
“Alfred. Talk to me.” He ran into the captain’s compartment and saw Captain Savage struggling to take control of the plane.
“I’m fine, sir… Just knocked my head…”
Bruce nodded at Savage and ran back to Alfred, picking him, and two parachutes, up off the floor and taking him to the front of the plane.
“How we doing, captain?”
“Something… hit the engine… We’re going down and I can’t stop it…” He looked at the two passengers. “You have to bail out. I’ll try and get her as far out of Metropolis as I can…”
“Where the hell are we then?” Bruce tried to look past the rush of oncoming clouds, but saw nothing but blur.
“Mr Wayne… We’re headed for the center of Metropolis! In two minutes there’s going to be a massive crater where the Daily Planet once stood!” Bruce looked around nodding and hit Savage over the head, knocking him out instantly.
“BRUCE!” Alfred lurched forward.
“What? He would have argued about what I’m about to do.” He pulled Savage out of the seat and sat down, grabbing the controls and thrusting them up, pulling them out the dive.
“Alfred. Bail out. Get Savage out of here. He has kids… I… I’ll do this.” He nodded slowly at his loyal manservant.
“Bruce. If you don’t survive this I’ll kill you.”
“It takes certain death to get you to call me Bruce? I should do this more often.”
Alfred slapped Savage awake and strapped the parachute on his back, and before he could object, the ex British service man opened the door and leapt out, leaving Bruce Wayne to try and get the small plane as far from Metropolis as he could.
“I think I just made a terrible mistake.”
“A brave one, Mr. Wayne.” A flash of red and blue grabs the bottom of the plane and rights it, and slowly brings it down to rest in Jurgen’s National Airport, with less than a bump. “I’m sorry if I interrupted your flight.”
Bruce breathes slowly and takes in the man in front of him.
Superman.
Chiselled features and muscles of sculpted steel. A spit curl loosely hung down his forehead. He wore no body armour, so no mechanically enhanced powers… Unless it’s under the skin. Meta implants--- but no scars… So he doubted that there was any surgical enhancement. His skin glowed slightly, like the sun itself fed him. His blue eyes looked straight at Bruce and the young billionaire can’t help but smile.
“Now could you do me a favour and pick up the pilot and my butler? They’re currently gliding down into the center of the city, and I don’t think the authorities would appreciate that kind of traffic disruption.”
Superman laughed slightly and nodded.
“Just glad I could help Mr. Wayne.” Superman tensed for a moment and sprung up, lifting off into the air.
“Call me Bruce…” Bruce smiled as the man took off, cape waving behind his back. He went over to inspect the damage to his plane.
The right wing was a mess, the engine totally destroyed, and a weird purple residue clung to shards of metal imbedded in the hull of the plane, glowing bright. Who could have done this?
Bruce looked at the skyline of Metropolis and spotted something. His face darkened.
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:30:05 GMT -5
From Lex Towers, the double L building standing high in the industrial center of the city, Lex Luthor smiled and placed the cannon control back in his draw.
“Oops.”
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:30:29 GMT -5
“LANE! KENT!” Perry White’s voice boomed through the bullpen, surprising everyone, and making the duo in question jerk up. “IN. MY. OFFICE! NOW!” Lois Lane stood up immediately, flicked her hair back and strolled towards Perry’s office. Clark Kent stumbled out of a closet, flushed slightly, and looked down at his tie. He gulped at seeing a button undone, and beneath his shirt, and totally visible through this clothing malfunction, a red and yellow insignia showed. He quickly buttoned it up and smiled, hurrying after Lois.
As the duo entered the office Perry motioned to Clark to close the door. Clark complied and Perry leaned towards his two reporters, something important straining to get out.
“Now look you two, I’m gonna’ give you something big. Something fantastic.”
Lois rolled her eyes and smiled sarcastically. “Another Luthor story?”
Perry smiled at her sentiment. “No, no, no… The new kid. Wayne. Bruce Wayne.”
Lois smiled slightly and Perry shook his head slowly. “Kent, I sent you to Gotham that time, to cover his return to the company?”
Clark nodded and smiled, tilting his glasses up his nose.
“He liked your stuff, so go down there and get an exclusive interview. Lois, you do the same. First on my desk, first printed.” He nodded slowly. “Acceptable terms, kiddies?” The two nodded and headed back to the bullpen.
“Kent, why don’t you just stay here, because you know I’m going to get that exclusive…” Lois smiled broadly, her dark eyes glinting in the light. Clark looked at her, a smile on his face.
“Oh, you’ll try.” He got back to work on his latest piece. He knew how he could get the exclusive, and this time… He was going to scoop Lois Lane!
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:30:54 GMT -5
“Done, at last. Done!” The professor wipes his bloody hands on an old rag and looks at his creation. “Created from Metallo, powered by the most powerful source of radiation I could find…” He looks down at his shaking hands, the glowing piece of rock in his hand vibrating slowly, power throbbing throughout the room. “You were the best. Totally relaxed through out that. I was surprised I could do all this with what I had at hand but hell, it was quite easy. Shame about me having to… Leave… Bits of your cerebral matter behind… But who cares? I took what mattered…the big chunky sticky bits.” He leans over to another table, and pulls off a massive cloth, revealing a strange sight. A mannequin, seemingly metal, but not… Beneath a plastic shell is something fluid, constantly shifting, moving, and trying to break free from its shell. “Like a butterfly you shall emerge. Totally new and totally fantastic.” He presses a button at the base of the mannequins jaw and a black light begins to glow from its eyes. “You are my baby… My perfect son. Better than the others that came before. The ones that escaped. The ones that ran riot.”
“CAN’T FEEL. BODY.” The mannequin jerks up and looks over to the dead body of Mitchell Rhodes. “PAIN HURT. HURT!” The mannequin waves his arms and it connects with the doctor’s jaw, sending him flying into the corpse of Rhodes. “YOU. KILLED. MY SOUL. PAIN.” A small crack shoots up the hand of the mannequin, until the plastic shatters completely, and Metallo shoots out of the hole.
“I… I’m your father… I made you whole…”
“KILLED MY SOUL! PAIN!” The liquid shooting out of the mannequin absorbs all and every metal object in sight, pulling in scalpels, brain pans and everything else.
“WHO AM I. RHODES. NOW?”
“I can’t… I… Metallo?”
“METALLO!” What’s left of Mitchell Rhodes mind snaps.
With an unearthly scream, like fingernails on a blackboard, Metallo solidifies, and proceeds to operate on his creator.
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:31:13 GMT -5
“You have it?” Bruce Wayne zipped up the body armour, placed his belt around his waist and grabbed the cape and cowl that lay in the secret compartment of his suitcase.
“Yes, yes I have it.” Alfred clicked a map of Metropolis, and a small S appeared on the screen, moving over the city at high speeds. “But why we’re tracking the man who saved downtown Metropolis, Captain Savage, you and especially me, is a mystery to me…” Alfred smiled slightly, and looks over to his adopted son.
“I want to meet this man. I was able to slip a tracker onto him, so I intend to use this chance to get acquainted with this Superman.” Bruce Wayne slipped on the cowl and opened the window of his hotel room. “I’ll be back before morning.”
“You always are.”
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:31:40 GMT -5
I pull out the grapnel and propel myself through the night air. This city is different from Gotham so much. There’s so much light… the air isn’t cold, but not warm… Everything is perfect… Gotham, my home, has the tendency to be the warmest city of the country, or the wettest, with sudden rain storms at night. I shake my head of the thought, and propel myself forward, my body a weapon, cocked, ready, and unleashed. I release the grapnel, roll onto the roof and squat down into the shadows.
And I watch.
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:31:57 GMT -5
“Give me your handbag. And that necklace!”
The man is tall, a hat covering his features, stubble etched across his jaw.
“NOW!” He cocks the gun, points it at her temple, and watches her hurriedly pull her necklace off.
Bruce clenches his fist, a wave of anxiety and familiarity sweeping over him. He places his hand over his belt, and pulls out the really really sharp batarangs.
But this is Metropolis.
There’s no need.
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:32:17 GMT -5
Superman slowly hovers down the alley, and the mugger spins around, firing the gun blindly. I watch as seven bullets miss totally, but vanish before they can it the wall. Three bullets squarely hit the caped hero in the chest. Right there. I see the gun pointed in his direction, the barrel aimed right at his chest. I see the bullet shells pop out of the gun, three of them. The bullets head straight at his heart. They should go through his sternum, go right through the flesh and the bone and take half his major organs with them. But that doesn’t happen. A flash of red from his eyes and the bullets are gone. Some kind of laser optics… Interesting.
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:32:40 GMT -5
“You’re… You’re not real! I’m imagining this!” The mugger rubbed his eyes vigorously, trying to make Superman vanish, but he looked back up at the blue clad hero, and screamed. “YOU’RE NOT REAL!”
“Oh I am, sir.” Superman walked on air, and came real close to the mugger, taking the pistol and snapping it in two. “I’m sorry, but that would take someones eye out.” He flicked the man unconscious and goes over to the young woman who was being attacked. “I’m sorry for your ordeal. My name is Superman. I’m here to help.”
“I know who you are!” The woman flung her arms over her rescuer, and hugged him tightly. “Thank you thank you thank you thank you!”
“No need to thank me. But you may need to make a statement to the police, ok?”
The girl nodded as Superman picked up the criminal and picked up a dumpster, emptied the contents of it into another, and then tossed the unconscious mugger inside. He smiled, and then gently lifted off into the sky, sirens speeding down the street.
As I watch from my vantage point, he hovers in mid air, searching for another crime to foil. I see his put his hand to his ear and I consider something. Does this guy have some kind of amplified hearing? I pick up a small stone and throw it at a metal flume on the roof, and watch as Superman twitches as a loud metallic clang fills the night sky. He rubs his head, pained, and slowly floats down to my position.
My suit is all sorts of fancy. It is made from reinforced Kevlar weaved with newly developed Prometheum, the strongest metal known to man. Its light weight, developed by Wayne R+D, and yet to be available to any of our military contractors. Its genius, the way it prevents body heat being detected, and it prevents your heart beat being detected by any kind of sensor.
As I watch Superman I’m sure I see his eyes flicker, as if looking through the chimney I’m crouched behind, noticing me in my big bat suit, and thinking of how to respond to me. I notice the way he stands, tall, not slumped over, and not hunchbacked. All American. Apple Pie. Now I’m stuck between rolling out a smoke pellet and going “boo” or just standing up to say hi, when I realise how stupid I’m being.
I’m Batman.
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:33:03 GMT -5
“Superman.”
I step out the shadows, my cape billowing around me. Superman looks me up and down and then smiles.
“You’re the Batman.” He says it with a certain acclaim that I’m not used to. “Excuse me… But didn’t you see that woman being attacked down there?” His tone changes, as if talking down to me, as if I’m a child.
“I saw her, and was ready to pounce before you turned up. I would have dealt with it more harshly than you, so maybe he’s better off, eh?” I smile.
“I have one question Mr… Man…”
“Batman. Call me Batman. None of this Mr business. Mr Man was my father.” I smile slightly, then frown. Father. Damn it.
“Well. One question. I can’t hear your heartbeat. Why?”
Superhearing! Knew it!
“My secret, Superman. Now I think its best that we end our first meeting here. We’ll talk again.”
I throw down the smoke bomb, and black billowing smoke explodes everywhere, giving me plenty of time to hurriedly make my escape. He didn’t see me behind that chimney, and I’m stuck wondering, if he does have all these grand cosmic powers… Why didn’t he see me? What was that chimney made of?
Click.
I realise.
Lead.
Superman can’t see through lead.
This I can use…
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:33:26 GMT -5
When I return to the apartment, I get about seven hours sleep, before being rudely awoken by Alfred and being told I have the opening in another one. I curse quietly, and for my transgressions get a flicked ear, met by even more cursing. Alfred leaves my black suit ensemble on the chair next to my bed and exits, leaving me rubbing my ear and figuring out what to do now. I have a quick shower, get dressed and go downstairs, grabbing an apple on my way out of the hotel, and then hop into the limousine and head for my new building. The manager of the new building, a Mr. Charlton, meets me at the site, his scruffy features and boring voice putting me on edge as soon as we start talking. He talks of Star City divisions, Hub City, Ivy Town, even New York, but I change the subject, and hurry to the press area. As I enter, there is sudden hush, and I begin to make my speech.
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:33:46 GMT -5
“Hello, people of the press. You all know me, I hope…” A slight laughter rumbles through the room. I press on. “But to those who do not, I am Bruce Wayne, and today you are here to cover the latest addition to your city, and hopefully one that will bring more jobs, and more opportunities to those who live here.” I smiled and was met by applause throughout. “So feel free to look around, and I’ll answer as many questions as I can.”
I stepped down from the stage and surroundded myself with the nosy and the gossipers, but as soon as the crowd cleared and the press have finally left, there is one person left standing in the room.
“Hi, I’m Lois Lane.” She smiled shyly, and fiddled with her hair. I read her body… And I know she’s acting. She took care with her appearance, acts the meek, sensitive character but I’m guessing that, in fact, she is confident, brassy, and has bigger balls than any man who she works with. I’m betting reporter.
“I’m a reporter for the Daily Planet, and I was wondering if we could talk… In private?”
“Well Ms. Lane. (It is Ms isn’t it?)” I smiled, the charming billionaire. She nods slightly. “I think the best course of action would be for us to have… You are proposing an exclusive interview are you not? No need to beat around the bush, I assure you… The best course of action would be for us to have dinner.”
She laughed loudly, and I can’t tell if its fake or not. Laughing to get on my good side, or finding me genuinely funny. I smiled again.
“Dinner Mr Wayne? Are you asking me, a stranger, out for dinner? Isn’t that a tad risqué?”
“Not if its with someone as beautiful as you.”
“The charmer, eh? Well, if you’re insisting…”
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:34:08 GMT -5
I recognise Lois hurrying away from the room she was just in, a smile plastered across her beautifully sculpted face.
“Too late, Smallville. I just bagged an exclusive one-on-one with the reclusive Mr. Wayne… And a free dinner to boot…”
She smiles and blows me a kiss, and I’m left wondering…
What the heck just happened?
I continue to walk to where the opening occurred, a bit annoyed at the fact that a oil rig happened to burst in the Atlantic ocean when I could have been here, and then open the door, seeing Bruce Wayne just leaving through the back.
“Mr Wayne!”
He spins around, not really surprised, but agitated.
“Kent! Clark Kent!” He smiles as he recognises me, and strides over, his arm outstretched, and I take it, shaking it, but being careful not to over exert my strength and crushing his bones to dust.
(That would have been embarrassing.)
“Mr. Wayne, I was wondering if I could get an interview with you…”
“Hmm… Well I already have an interview planned with a Ms. Lane…But that’s not for much later tonight! I have a free slot which I was going to use for some private meditation… In about two hours? If you have nothing to do…” I nod vigorously, and look at his eyes.
Ma always said, you could tell a story from the look of a man’s eyes… And Bruce Wayne’s… He has dead eyes. I don’t know how to explain it. His deep grey eyes are dark, shadowy… Hmm.
“I’m at the Ordway. You know where that is?”
I nod.
“Two hours. You’ll have your interview.”
I thank him, then watch as he leaves.
What is it with this man?
What is it with Bruce Wayne?
Face it Clark… You’re just going to have to find out.
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Post by Admin on Nov 1, 2005 22:34:29 GMT -5
To be continued...
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Post by mockingbird on Jul 28, 2011 11:00:11 GMT -5
To let us know what you think of this issue, please visit the letters page here!
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