Gotham: City of the Dead #4 (of 4)

Batman crawled out from under the computer console as Alfred dampened another towel and applied it to Ted’s forehead. Ollie stood nearby, watching Batman anxiously.

“Is it working?” Ollie asked. Batman stood up and thought for a second to make sure he had done everything correctly. He gave no reply, but pushed the on button to the console.
The computer lit up and Batman went to work.

“That answers that.” Ollie said looking at the screen over Bruce’s shoulder. “What do you think we can find out here?”

“Hopefully we can find what Ted was working on before…” He glanced over to Ted on the table as he started to slowly come to.

“… generator…” He tried to talk as he attempted to push himself up from the table. “…I …found…” Alfred stepped over to help him sit up. Batman and Ollie moved over and helped Ted to his feet.

“What happened, Ted?” Batman asked.

“I found their location, but something happened…it was like a bolt of lightening hit me. There’s something…in the machine.” Beetle managed to stand on his own. He looked down at his burnt chest and winced. “Everything went white and I found myself in a nightmare not my own. It was the missing kid…Seth. He was…not alone, there’s something else causing this. I felt something else there, that’s when I saw the generator. It...it’s apokoliptian. It has an essence. I saw it through the boy’s eyes. He can sense its history…”

“Psychometry, it’s not unheard of.” Batman rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Do you remember the location?”

“They’re in a clock tower.” Beetle muttered struggling to remember the moments before he was struck.

“That’s near Wayne Tower let’s go.” He said pulling his cowl on. At that time one of the nearby monitors came to life. It was Superman. “Batman, I--”

Bruce interrupted the Last Son of Krypton. “We already discussed this Clark. I don’t have time to argue--”

Superman cut him off raising his voice. “Bruce, listen!” Batman arched an eyebrow at the screen. “We just received word that President Lord has nukes pointed at Gotham. He is ready to fire them if this thing doesn’t end soon.”

Batman’s eyes went from shock to rage. “Stall him,” he said through clenched teeth, “we need a few more hours. We have the location and we are on our way.”

“I’ll do my best. Superman out.” The Man of Steel once again disappeared from the screen.

Blue Beetle was regaining his strength and picked up his mask as well. “President Lord; we need that guy around like I need a hole in the head.” Ollie arched an eyebrow and Batman went over to a safe, hidden behind a shelf, and opened it. He removed a metallic object from inside.

“What’s that?” Ted asked him.

“The upper hand.” Batman replied with a grin.

Maxwell Lord sat attentively, awaiting word from the field in Gotham. His Generals were all present except for Lane who was now quietly entering the room.

“What’s the verdict Lane?” He asked setting his Cuban cigar down in an ashtray.

“It’s still spreading sir, but there are reports of costumed heroes in the city trying to help stop it.” Lane answered wiping sweat from his brow.

“We can’t wait forever. Give word for our men to start exiting the city. Anyone alive who hasn’t been exposed to those things will have to be evacuated along with them. They have one hour. We will make the official announcement then. Someone have one of my aides prepare a heart felt speech.” Lord stated and excused himself from the room. Max entered the Lincoln bedroom to get a fresh change of clothes. As he looked through the closet for something to address the American public and the world in. He turned around, startled to feel a draft coming in from the window he thought was closed. He walked over to it and pulled back the curtain. Superman floated just outside the window with his arms crossed.

“May, I come in Mr. President?” The Man of Steel asked courteously.

Lord, half offended and half in awe of the nerve made a welcoming motion with his arms and said, “By all means, Superman.”

Superman landed softly as Max walked across the room and poured him self a scotch. “Drink?” He held the bottle up in offering toward Superman.

“No, thank you.” The world’s biggest Boy Scout replied as he paced the floor.

“What brings you by?” Lord asked already playing along with the strange casualty of the visit.

“I know what you have planned. You need to give him more time.” Superman implored the president and leader of the free world.

“Who?” Lord asked already knowing the answer.

“Quit the games. We both know who protects Gotham. He will stop it. There’s no need for…” Superman couldn’t bring himself to say the words.

“No need for what, Superman? A contingency, should your friend fail? And why aren’t you in there helping him anyway? Isn’t this the kind of thing the League was assembled for?” Max pressed Superman for answers.

“We were asked to stand down for the time being.” Superman answered.

“By who? Him? Do you do everything he tells you? I am the president of this country! I give orders, NOT HIM!” He shouted and then continued calmly. “I make the speeches. I inspire the people and if this League of yours doesn’t want to honor that, they can find another country to protect.”

Superman’s eyes widened in disbelief at the President’s words. “Mr. President, all I am asking is that you reconsider. Give it just a few more hours, if it isn’t contained by then the League as at your disposal. We can evacuate the people who aren’t infected faster than anyone.”

Lord eyed the Man of Steel for a moment before answering him. “Very well then. I will extend the deadline to two and a half hours, but if anything goes wrong, this meeting will be on the cover of every newspaper in the country in the morning. How do you think the public would feel about the headline ‘Superman Breaks Into White House’?”

Superman paused, weighing his words carefully, “No worries Mr. President, it won’t go that far.”

“I should hope not.” He answered taking a sip from his crystal glass. “You are excused.”

Superman started to reply, but bit his lip and flew out through the window.

Lord picked up a phone by the bed and dialed a number, “This is the President. I want the deadline extended to an hour and a half and call a cabinet meeting. We have a leak in the White House.”

Inside the batmobile, the lights on the dashboard blinked off and on. The accelerator fell to the floor and the computer systems whirred and buzzed. As incredible a piece of machinery as it was, it was not the only one of its kind. Only a month and a half ago, at least one of them had been destroyed in the battles with Apokolips’ invading forces.

The sleek long black car turned the corner at astounding speeds. This would throw any passengers back and forth inside the vehicle, if there were any in it!

“Get rid of her body Steve. Take it to another floor.” Scarecrow ordered his assistant.

“Yes sir, Scarecrow.” He answered and grabbed the dead devoted mother by the ankles and started dragging her away leaving a streak of blood on the floor. Scarecrow picked up John Dee and sat him in a chair, his mouth foaming and his eyes vacant. Crane then walked back over to the window. The batmobile was getting closer and closer. And so were…the zombies?

Scarecrow looked down at the street confused. He watched as the zombies poured in around the foot of the building and into the doors. He scratched his head and then thought about the machine, more specifically the generator. Was Dee right? As he tried to figure out what was going on around him he heard a scream from the hallway. It was Steve the devoted henchman. Scarecrow ran out to see what the problem was. As he turned the corner he heard the moaning. Ethel Dee had gotten back up. She was after Steve, and looking to feast on his flesh. Scarecrow heard the footsteps getting closer and sprung into action closing the large door to the main room he was in just as it closed he could hear the stamping of running feet. Steve was near and Ethel was hot on his heals. He ran to the door and pounded on it.

“Let me in boss!” He yelled frantically.

“I’m sorry Stephen, but this is a private party now.” He answered.

“Boss! Boss! B--” The hallway fell silent and Scarecrow backed away from the door. He took a glance back out the window and saw the Batmobile closing in. It pulled up in front of the building and the top opened. Scarecrow watched intently for the Caped Crusader to leap out of it. Then he thought to himself…this would be far too simple a plan for Batman. As the thought entered his mind he looked back to the batmobile as the top was all the way back now. Empty. At that moment he heard a loud crashing noise at the bottom of the building.

Nightwing and Batgirl continued down the stairwell, the others had already stopped at the floors above them.

“This is taking too long.” Nightwing said running down the steps skipping three or four at a time with Batgirl close behind him. “Come on, I have an idea.”

They entered the hallway to the eighteenth floor. Nightwing took a quick look around and spotted what he was looking for. The elevator. “There.” He said pointing at it.

“That’s your idea? Take the elevator?” Batgirl asked jokingly.

“No. It could be rigged and elevators are too slow as well. Plus it‘s time for an extra added distraction.” He said looking at a timer on he had pulled from his belt and then pulled out a batarang. He lodged it between the two elevator doors and pried it open. Taking his escrima sticks and using them to hold the door open he peered in down the shaft. Two floors down was the elevator. He took another batarang and started cutting on the lines. The elevator fell down the shaft and landed with a boom.

“That was loud enough to wake the dead.” Nightwing said smiling at his quip.

“Totally not necessary.” Babs replied with a smile of her own.

“Couldn’t help myself.” He said and the two heroes leapt into the shaft grappling hooks in hand.

One floor below, Blue Beetle walked through the building looking for any sign of the machine and the boy hooked up to it. As he entered the main hallway to the floor, he was stopped in his tracks by what he saw in front of him. At the end of the hallway was a secured door. Between said door and him were about ten walking corpses.

“Oh, poop.” The zombies all turned at once and took notice of his presence. He quickly took a few extra steps back as he pulled his BB gun. He aimed and pulled the trigger and sent electric bolts and stunning bright lights through the on-coming pack of zombies. He leapt into action leapfrogging over the head of one in the middle and kicking his legs knocking two more of them down on either side. He ran toward some more of them and dove between the legs of the next one then rolled into an uppercut and knocked another one down. By the time he knocked two or three down the others would be back up, but he wasn’t trying to take them all out. He simply aimed to get past them.

It wasn’t working out very well so he decided another course of action. He ducked into a side room along the hallway and started waving his arms around by the door. The undead fiends stalked into the room after him. They filed in and found nothing. Beetle swooped down from a light fixture on the ceiling and landed just outside the door pulling it closed. The zombie scratched and beat on the door. Ted ran to the end of the hallway to the secured door. As he went into his belt for a lock pick he heard a loud crashing noise coming from down on the lower levels. He chuckled to himself and started picking the locks apart on the door.

The Scarecrow paced back and forth across the floor. He knew what was coming. Batman would be there soon. It was all over. He was desperate.

Batman and Green Arrow stood at the door to the clock room on either side of it. They looked at each other and then simultaneously kicked in the door. Green Arrow with his bow ready to fire and Batman with a batarang in each hand. The room was still. They looked around never letting their guard down. In the corner there was a chair with a straw hat. They approached it slowly. Batman reached out to turn the chair around. It swiveled around to the heroes. The Scarecrow sat there perfectly still.

“It’s over, Crane.” Batman said and reached out to pull the burlap sack from his head. The mask came off to reveal the face of Dr. John Dee foaming at the mouth with the same vacant stare from before. Batman and Ollie looked around in surprise. “He’s catatonic.” Batman said grimly.

Looking to the end of the room Ollie noticed a hatch in the floor. “Over there.’ He said pointing at it.

Batman looked down out the window and called to Nightwing on the communicator, “Package for pick up in the clock room.”

The Leader of the Free world stood up from his seat at the table in the war room. “Three minutes…” He said moving closer to his intercom to give the order. The gathered generals in the room leaned forward in their respective seats. “Screw it. Do it now.” He said pushing the button on the intercom linking him to the control room.

Superman and Green Lantern flew across the country at break neck speeds. Lord had launched it. He launched a nuke at Gotham, Superman couldn’t believe it. He saw the bombs ahead in the distance and he and GL pushed hard across the sky. Ahead on the distance they could see what was left of the Gotham skyline. Superman flew underneath the bomb and started flying strait up with it. Green Lantern grabbed the other one with a green construct that looked like a forty gallon drum with the word hazmat on the side of it. As Superman slowly came to a stop with his bomb in tow he slowly released it into Hal’s construct.


Lord watched his own monitors waiting for the impact. It never came and he stormed out of the room in a fit of anger. He stormed outside to the rose garden where the press always waited for announcements. As he walked up to the podium Superman and Hal appeared in the sky above him.


Hal still holding the two nukes in the giant Hazmat construct.

“Mr. President we’re glad you are here. We recovered those hi-jacked missiles. Found them with a group of terrorist just outside of Dallas, Texas.” Hal said with a smug smile on his face as he winked at Max.

Superman landed on the stage next to Max and extended his hand out to shake him. Max was fuming, but relented. He shook Superman’s hand then turned to smile for the photos. He leaned into Superman and whispered “Well played, but this isn’t the end of this.”

EPILOGUE

A tall orderly walked in to the room of Dr. John Dee who had been committed to Arkham Asylum along with Jonathon Crane.

“You have a visitor Dee.” He said as he let an attractive woman with dark hair into the room and went back into the hallway to fill out some paperwork.

“Who?” Dee looked up.

“ Shhh Dr. I have something for you.” The woman answered, handing him an odd looking stone.

He took it and lay back in his bed with the stone in his hand. “What is it?” He asked warily.

“It’s called the Dream Stone.”

“And what am I supposed to get out of this thing?” He asked eyeing her up and down.

“Revenge.”

THE END.