The DCFutures FanFiction Group recognizes that Batman and all related characters are property of DC Comics. These stories are written for no profit, but rather a strong desire to peer into the future of the DCU. The stories and concepts presented herein, however, are property of the author. So there. **** BATMAN: DCF #44 **** Written and Directed by Erik Burnham darvey@rocketmail.com **** BATMAN created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger BATMAN: DCF created by Erik Burnham **** "The Best You Can Do" **** "Tim, what in the hell were you thinking?" "Ennis. Good to see you. Thanks for coming all the way to the airport to welcome me back. How're things down at the office?" "Tim, I'm not in the mood for the jokes right now. Would you care to fill me in on the reason you felt the urge to spend so damn much while you were abroad?" "Sure. Because I could. Everything I bought was profitable. I didn't spend any monies that were tied up elsewhere. Now would you care to tell me the real reason you came all the way down here? Because I know that that wasn't it." "I just wanted to know why there was a sudden jump in acquisitions. It is my job to work around any irregularities..." "Ennis, I own seventy-two percent of this company. I'm the guy that gets to go nuts over minutiae. This isn't you. You don't get upset over little things like this." Tim paused. "Look, I know things haven't been the same between us for a while, but..." "Tim..." Ennis looked tired, Tim thought. Like he hadn't slept in a couple of days. He had a nearly imperceptible stubble and more than a couple of razor nicks. His tie was cocked askew. This on a man who was nothing less than immaculate his whole life. Way to detect, junior. "En," Tim soothed. "Let's grab a bite. I'm starving. You look like you could use something to eat yourself." And maybe you'll be able to get something off your chest as well, old man. **** A couple of steaks later... "Some packages started arriving at the office a few days ago, while you were in England." Ennis said, loosened up by a little time and a little liquor. [Tim's English vacation can be found soon in the pages of Black Canary -E] "Packages." Tim drank only water. "Yeah. The first was an email, actually. A viso-file of you as a boy." "Really. What about the rest of them?" "We've gotten three all told, including the initial email. They came every other day, mixed in with the usual business mail..." "What was in the packages, En?" "Holo-cubes. The first one was a snake... a rattler." "You called the cops?" "No. I thought it was a disgruntled employee or some such..." "And then?" "The last package..." Ennis paused. Ordered a shot from the auto-bartender. Downed it, and ordered another. "The last package..." Ennis could not speak for a long stretch of time. "It was a holocube of a hollowed out corpse. A baby." What?!? A tear screamed it's way down Ennis' face. "It was a baby..." **** "Soccer, a snake, and a hollow baby." Tim mused, pacing the Batcave. "You do attract the most interesting mail, Master Tim." Alfred mused. "Now is not the time, Alfred." "I'm not referring to the gifts your secret admirer included, sir, but rather the notes themselves." "Decode the audio, Alfred, you know I can't make out the holos." [Editor's note, Tim is part of a small section of society that can only perceive a few of the many types of holographic imagery without severe migraine headaches.] "Done and done, Master Tim." "Play." "Message one: encoded over a simple viso-file of you playing, ah, 'soccer' as a lad." An emotionless voice relayed the message in lieu of Alfred. "Kicking around the idea of expansion? Don't. A man is happiest in his own yard, and must not covet his neighbor's wife." "Okay, quasi-religious intonations. Next." "Message two: encoded over a holo-viso-file of a snapping diamondback rattlesnake." Alfred continued. "An apple a day keeps the doctor away... long enough for Eden's snake to make his pitch," the emotionless voice read. "Again with the mixed metaphors..." "Quite, Master Tim. Finally, we have Message three, the holo-visio-file of a dissected fetal corpse." Tim's eyes shut tight, not wanting the image to enter his mind as the third message filled the room: "He gave his only son - ashes, ashes, we all fall down." "Ring around the rosy." "Quite, Master Tim." "Alfred, it appears we have ourselves a Riddler." "How fortunate for your alternate ego, sir." "Shut up, Alfred... just think. Three messages, all mixing Christian anecdotes with other metaphors. But what's the point?" "Master Tim, you may want to postpone this brainteaser for a bit... there seems to be a projectile approaching Gotham." "Projectile?" "Ah, yes, sir. It's rapidly approaching Robinson Park, my calculations place it hitting within the next fifteen minutes." "What the hell is this? A Patriot attack?" "I don't think so, Master Tim. Standard countermeasures have already been taken by the city in anticipation of that scenario." "And?" "The projectile dodged, sir." "It WHAT?" **** The shooting star approached Robinson Park before a full audience. The police, under Kylie Roarke's command. The apocalyptic bystanders that couldn't be dissuaded by the blues on crowd control, Bradley Carrington, the retired Leaguer called the Penguin, and active Leaguer Battalion. ...and of course, watching from a vantage point several hundred feet above the masses, the Batman. "Telescope," Tim commanded the Batmobile's computer, specifying the coordinates of the oncoming projectile "And magnify. Magnify. Magnify." Gasp. **** "Detective Roarke!" Batman called urgently, dumping a signal headfirst into the police band. "Yes." Kylie replied into her wrist's commlink. "This is Batman, detective... and I really think it'd be a good idea if you moved as many people out of the area as possible NOW!" "We've targeted the missile, Batman, and have a Leaguer standing by. The people are safer where they are, and we've got dampeners up at the missle's estimated point of contact. The danger is minimal." "That's not a missile, Kylie, look again. Magnify your scopes to 758, switch to infrared... and then get those people the hell out of here!" A moment later... "My God..." Kylie said. "Those are people!" **** What a way to come home... Clark Kent thought, laughing inwardly at the notion of calling Gotham City 'home.' Well, laughing as much as he could considering the fact that he was trading punches anime style with a very large and very angry monster of mysterious origin. The whole situation seemed oddly familiar. **** "You had to know I'd find out, Vanessa. You had to know I'd do something about it." Julius Larrabee had been a weak and timid man for the vast majority of his existence. His father had passed on to him vast amounts of wealth as one of the principle manufacturers of Justice League technology in EurAsia and Afrikaa. He had a keen mind, and his business thrived for it. But he was spineless. His wife, Vanessa, had been walking all over him for years - having affairs, spending money, taking vacations alone. She had grown more pompous in her transgressions as of late... and one spineless man can only take so much before a backbone grows on its own. Vanessa was now a prisoner in their Connecticut estate. "I loved you more than I loved myself, Vanessa, and how do you treat me?" Julius sighed. "For why should others' false adulterate eyes give salutation to my sportive blood? Or on my frailties why are frailer spies which in their wills count bad what I think good?" His head hung low, Julius left his wife to her thoughts. **** The sound of impact alone knocked people down. "Time to go to work," Battalion announced. "Officers, see to the protection of the civilians!" Battalion closed his eyes and reached within himself, calling forth the power that gave him his name. When he opened his eyes, there were three of him - each possessing powers and abilities beyond that of mortal men. **** Clark's assailant screamed as a blast from the Penguin's rapier hit him in the back. Lunging, Clark found himself rocketing through the air - and two buildings - before he was able to slow himself down. What was the reason for the attack? Clark thought. He had decided to fly home from Bludhaven after his failed attempt at rejoining society [For the whole scoop on Clark's sabbatical, read "So Shines Hope For Tomorrow!" - E] when out of the blue, he was attacked. Clark was, at this point, delighted with the speed his abilities were returning at - and frustrated that they didn't seem to be doing him any good. "No," Clark breathed. "We will not be doing this again." **** "You should know," Battalion warned the humanoid before him. "Together we're have the strength of Superman." There was no reply from the monster. It was large - seven feet if it was an inch - and featureless; save for two glowing white eyes and a gaping mouth. Battalions One and Two grabbed the creature from behind as Battalion Three launched into an assault. If the creature felt anything, it gave no indication, instead shrugging the two Battalions into the third, the contact fusing them back into one, and leaving the Leaguer dazed. Battalion saw the monster raise its fist... and, too out of it to separate into his powered forms, he also saw his life flash before his eyes. Blink and you miss it; the monster was gone, and Battalion was slung over someone's shoulder. Not just someone... It was Batman. Like two ships passing in the night, the Batman had raced in to grab the Leaguer even as Clark, hurtling in from the opposite direction, removed the monster from the equation. "I didn't need your help," Battalion insisted when he was put back on the ground. "I was fine." "You didn't have the presence of mind left to do anything but stare," Batman countered. "What are you, nineteen? Twenty?" "I'm twenty-one." "Twenty-one. Stay here and maybe make it to twenty-two." "You have no authority!" Battalion yelled. "And I can handle myself - I'm as strong as Superman!" "No," Batman said, pointing to Clark. "He's as strong as Superman. You are in the way. Times three." And then, leaning in menacingly. "And I have all the authority I need, little man. Stay out of the way unless the cops need you. Are. We. Clear?" Battalion's life flashed before his eyes - briefly - again. "Yes, sir..." **** The police had gotten most all of the spectators out of the way, Batman noted. Carrington continued to blast at the monster sporadically. Clark pummeled away... "Magnify," Batman whispered. Clark's blows were landing. And landing. And landing. And the creature's face was molding with the punches like so much clay. "Great, we're fighting the Gumby from hell..." **** "Carrington, why are you still here?" Batman asked after closing the distance. "I haven't found my protégé, young man. She's my priority. And then Tuesday. However, I once took an oath to safeguard innocent life; I've no reason to turn my back on that." "Glad to hear you say that, Carrington. Now then... how much voltage can you put through that sword of yours?" **** "Clark," Batman said on the QT. "I'm assuming that you can hear me. We have a play ready if you're up for it." Quick glance to the side: Carrington's blade was glowing like the sun itself, whiting out the air around it like it was the sun itself. "When Gumby's stunned, freeze him," and then, to Carrington: "Throw it." The lightning came from the Penguin's soul: it seared the air. Batman had to polarize the lenses in his mask and raise his cape to shield himself from the heat. But the bolt found its mark. The creature shrieked, green flesh rippling from the current that danced beneath its skin. Clark inhaled deeply, and exhaled... normally. The power he had used the least as Superman, the most ridiculous in his arsenal... and it wasn't there for him now that he needed it. "What's going on here..." Batman said. "Something's wrong..." The Penguin, Bradley Carrington, was out cold, the energy he expended had taxed him to the limit. Batman knew that he wasn't going to last long going bareknuckle with big green... and Clark looked like he was getting tired. History would repeat itself if something wasn't done. "Looks like junior gets another chance to play after all." **** "What's your name," Batman asked after finding the Leaguer. It hadn't been a chore. "Battalion." "Can you follow orders, Battalion?" "I am a member of the Justice League. I don't report to..." "I'm not in the mood for this. Just do what I tell you and everyone will be proud of their little Battalion down at the local Embassy." **** "Clark," Batman said. "Pick up when the JV shows." And then Batman nodded to Battalion. The young Leaguer put all of his effort into the separation once more, tripling himself. Battalion One picked up Two and Three and hurled them like missiles at the monster. They tackled him and pounded him halfway to Lowtown. "Remember to keep your third self away this time," Batman said before disappearing. **** "Good to have you back, Mr. Kent. Who's your date?" "I have no idea, he just sort of popped up. Where are we going?" "Downtown. Lab complex on Madison. Hit the gas." **** Battalions Two and Three saw the Batman and... the other man approaching on the horizon. Once again, the two thirds of the young Leaguer grabbed the arms of the monster, bracing their feet against the crater they had produced in the pavement. Battalion was less audacious now, more careful - not willing to underestimate the monster a second time. Battalion One, having seen the Batman return as well, was racing towards his other selves. "Drop me," Batman said, "and then get the kid away." "Right," Clark acknowledged. Batman was already on his way to the ground. Battalion one was behind his other selves, now. He could feel their strain... maybe he'd have to rethink that boast about his strength. He saw the Batman cocking his arm back, grasping a canister like a football in the hands the hands of a star quarterback... And then he threw it. Dead on, the canister spiraled. Milliseconds before it made contact, Battalion One clasped the shoulders of Two and Three, calling them back into himself. And then, in the blink of an eye, he was a good thirty feet away. The canister had hit the monster. A highly concentrated form of nitrogen had frozen the monster... and the road it stood on. Within a good three foot radius. The Batman was gone. And so was his partner. "That's a helluva change from 'boy wonder,' was all Battalion could bring himself to say. This had been his first real action as a Leaguer. And for the life of him, he couldn't imagine anything ever topping it. **** Two Days Later. "Well," Tim said from his perch on the wooden exercise horse. "Your time away seems to have agreed with you." "In some ways," Clark agreed. "People haven't changed." "Do tell. Any inspiration as to what Gumby's beef was?" " None. And that bothers me. I don't know where it came from, why it attacked..." "Well, you'll be happy to know after it was frozen, it cracked into little bitty pieces. League has those pieces down at a STAR Labs in NYC." "That doesn't put me at ease." "These days old man... what could?" **** END **** NEXT ISSUE: More from that Larrabee cat! **** GOING BATTY **** I'm sorry, I lost the two letters I had. (; I hope Clark's return sits well with you people, I've some big plans for him in the book here soon... And don't think just because we all know who the "Riddler" is right away that Tim will have it as easy! Hope he's up to the challenge... Until next time! -Erik Visit Gotham: http://members.tripod.com/dcfbatman Visit the DCF Message Board: http://discserver.snap.com/Indices/108808.html