“Come on, JoJo. We gotta get those Bliss chips out of here before the
Hard-shells show up,” Maverick whispered. He eased his massive 7’6″ frame out
of the shattered CyberShack window and easily hauled the large crate he carried
through after him. He carefully glanced in all four directions before shoving
the crate onto the truck they had jacked earlier.
Seconds behind him, a much smaller man with definite rodent like features
stepped through the window with a much smaller crate. His long, furry ears
twitched nervously and his snout constantly sniffed the air as if he was
looking for something. He handed the crate to Maverick and looked around
again. “Man, I tell you this is a bad idea. Techno says that the Bat is
back.”
Maverick laughed and slapped the smaller man on the back. JoJo twitched in
pain and his long tail curled in a tight spiral. “Man, Techno has taken one
too many rides into Virtual. He has more brain cells in Cyberspace than he
does in his brain. The Bat’s been gone for a hundred years. There ain’t no
heroes anymore.”
“That’s a double negative,” came a quiet voice from directly above them. Both
men turned to see the source of the voice and a dark shadow fell over them. A
form, less a solid figure and more a part of the night dropped slowly down from
the sky and landed on the roof of the truck. “The state of the public school
system is terrible these days.” The figure rose from its crouch, revealing a
man shrouded in folds of dark cloak. The only things clearly visible were his
eyes. Peering out from a midnight black cowl, they seemed to glow with unholy
radiance.
JoJo screamed, “It’s the Bat! I told you!”
Maverick, much calmer, pulled a Maser from his coat and fired a beam of
amplified microwaves at the intruder. He fully expected to see the figure
explode as his bodily fluids were suddenly pushed past the boiling point.
Instead, he was shocked to see him leap gracefully over the nearly invisible
beam and somersault over their heads.
This proved to be all that JoJo could take. The terrified man started running
down the street, screaming at the top of his lungs. Maverick swore that he saw
the figure gesture with one gauntleted hand. The next thing he knew, there was
a whirring sound and JoJo folded to the street in a tangled heap. Despite the
fact that he towered over the masked man, Maverick felt a twinge of fear as he
turned back to face the truck. “Who the Farg are you, Man?”
The costumed figure strode calmly up to him. There was no rush to his stride
or fear in his movements. He stopped no more than a foot away from the giant
and stared up at him with glowing white eyes. “I’m Batman and I have a message
for you and all of your friends. As of tonight, I’m taking back the streets.”
Maverick was just gathering his nerve to punch the man when a right hook came
out of nowhere. A gauntleted hand struck his jaw with a force akin to a
boulder and he folded neatly to the ground to join his friend.
The cloaked figure studied the two unconscious men for a moment, a quiet smile
playing across his mouth. The smile vanished when the radio in his cowl fed
him information. With a swirl of cloak and shadow, he vanished just as three
police Floaters appeared in the sky. Within minutes, GCPD officers in full
riot armor had the two unfortunates tranked and bagged. They were just placing
them in a van when a much smaller, personal flyer landed. Elderly man in
common street clothes stepped out and studied the situation. The officer in
charge walked over and saluted. “Two perps, Commissioner. Got em with about
60K of Bliss chips.” He paused and looked over his shoulder at the departing
van. “That’s the third bunch tonight, Sir. Do you think it is possible that
he is –”
Commissioner James Gordon looked sternly at the patrol officer, silencing him.
“Sergeant, You will not spread that rumor. I don’t know who is catching these
punks, but Batman is dead. I want a full report on my desk by 0530 hours.”
From a dark rooftop nearby, the shrouded figure watched the men work. He saw
the elderly man and shook his head sadly.
“Times change, don’t they?”
Startled that anyone could sneak up on him, the figure whirled around. A
razor sharp throwing bat appeared almost magically in one hand. He stopped
when he saw the plain, nondescript man standing in front of him. Clad in a
brown suit well over a century out of style and wearing a very battered looking
fedora, the man studied him with brown eyes underneath thick eyebrows. “Nice
to see your reflexes haven’t changed, old friend.”
Batman restored the batarang to its hiding place and gathered his cape around
him again, blending into the shadows. “It’s been a long time.”
“It’s time.”
Batman turned in a rustling of cloak and midnight. “Count me out. This is a
bad idea.”
“It’s the only chance we all have.”
The cloak slumps slightly as if a great weight is pressing down on shoulders
to weak to hold it. “Then God help us all.”
Aquarius Research Platform: Pacific Ocean
Jenna Marcus pulled her tanned body out of the cool ocean waters and lay
sprawled on the diving dock. The dark cocoa color of her skin hinted at more
than just a bit of Africa in her blood, but her long blonde hair announced to
any one curious enough to notice of some Norwegian back ground too. She
reached back over the edge of the platform to gather her diving gear. A shrill
scream had barely enough time to escape her throat before something latched
onto her hand and pulled her back into the water. She broke the surface,
sputtering and cursing in at least six different languages.
The water in front of her rippled and a pale skinned girl, barely more than a
child, rose until her shoulders were just out of the water. Twinkling blue
eyes shone out of an oval face framed by dark green hair as she smiled at the
woman. “Better be careful, Jenna. A mean old shark might grab you,” she said
with a voice as quiet as the sea.
Without warning, the older woman grabbed the girl. “Like I have to worry
about sharks when you are around, Rini.” She pulled the girl into a tight hug
and kissed her nose. The nose kiss seemed to naturally extend to the girl’s
lips and the two spent several minutes kissing passionately. Jenna suppressed
a moan when she felt the girl’s hand come up to cup one of her breasts. She
could feel herself becoming moist for different reasons than the seawater and
decided to call a stop before she was accused of child molesting.
The girl pouted as her lover broke the embrace. “Don’t know about sharks.
They not to bright and always hungry. One might not listen to me. Come and
eat you all up,” she said and ducked beneath the waves. Before Jenna could
even begin to protest, she felt her bikini bottoms pulled to one side and a
small, warm mouth pressed against her sex. She clutched the dock and moaned
loudly as a tongue licked up and down her nether lips, toying with the thick
hair that framed her sex. Just as suddenly, the oral attention ceased and the
girl broke the surface again. “Love Jenna’s pussy. All hairy and salty. Play
now?”
Resisting the urge to let the girl continue, Jenna shook her head. “Play
later. I have to get these new readings into the mainframe. If what we found
is accurate, the entire ecosystem of the ocean could be making a major come
back.” With one final kiss, Jenna pulled herself back out of the water and
headed towards the research center.
Left to her own devices as usual, the girl nimbly climbed out of the water and
knelt down on the dock. Her eyes closed in concentration for a moment, and
then she opened them with a smile. A few minutes later, a large dolphin broke
the surface near the dock. The girl clapped her hands together and dived back
into the water. The dolphin swam close enough for her to grasp its dorsal fin,
then took off like a rocket. Seconds later, the two were speeding along through
the waves.
The girl and dolphin played together for hours, totally unconcerned with time.
She had just noticed that the sun was setting and was considering returning to
her friend when her dolphin friend stopped. She returned her gaze to the water
to see what had startled it and was amazed to see a man standing on the water.
Immediately cautious because she did not know him, she ducked down until only
her hair and eyes were above the water. The dolphin interposed itself between
the two of them. “Who you?” Despite the fact that her mouth was underwater,
the words were clearly audible to the man.
The man tilted back the odd covering on his head and smiled at her. Trying to
be polite as Jenna had taught her, she smiled back. “I am a friend. You can
call me John.”
Rini immediately decided she liked his voice. It rolled like heavy tides and
made her feel protected. She could also sense little thoughts darting just out
of her reach like tiny fish. These too made her feel safe. “I Rini. Rini
Curry. I Princess,” she said in her best surface speech.
The man bowed deeply and smiled again. Idly, Rini wondered why his feet
coverings weren’t getting wet. “I am honored, Princess Rini. I knew your
father.”
“Father dead. Died in big boom. Everybody died in big boom.”
“I know and I am sorry.” He paused as if unsure how to continue. “Rini, I
need your help. A lot of people need your help.”
“Jenna need help?”
“Yes, she needs help too. Your father used to help people. Will you help me
now?”
Rini floated in the comforting grip of the waters. She remembered all the
stories her father had told her about how the people on the surface had
poisoned everything. She remembered all of his hate and anger. Then she
pictured Jenna. Jenna hurt and alone. Jenna needing her help. “Rini help!
Rini help Jenna!”
The man nodded and smiled. “Well, it’s a start.”
Freedom is not a priviledge, it is an honor.
