Post by The Wonderful Wachter on Jan 28, 2014 17:14:23 GMT -5
Go 2000th post!
Ultimate ‘Haven #7
The Curious Case of Aaron Langstrom Pt. 4
Case Closed
I moved into Kate’s because I was tired of my family… my mother. I didn’t want to be on her stupid show. Hated that Dad wanted me to begin an even more vigorous training regime because I only got silver. He even started talking about pairs. PAIRS. As if I wanted a partner. So… I ran away. Yeah, they know where I am. But they let me stay here.
Got so boring on my own. I trashed the place within three days, searching for any forgotten alcohol. I hate the stuff and yet I thought it might help. A tantrum. I threw a tantrum. I realize that now. Old as I am and I acted like a little baby. Yet…
Yet, I found something cleaning up. Something definitely not in the Casino’s blueprints. A secret shaft, almost like I was meant to find it, just big enough for two people. In running away from my family, my problems, I found a side of a cousin that I never knew. Not truly. I learned things about my family and this city that had been secluded away and forgotten.
Sucks that the shaft didn’t have a way back up…
Blue Line South,
Blüdhaven
Dashing across the top of a runaway train was every bit exhilarating and terrifying and cool and any other epically expressive adjective as one could imagine. There just happened to be one tiny problem with it. Capes. The capes really got in the way. There wasn’t enough room to run side by side without greater risk of Batwoman or Redbird falling off. Instead, he had to trail behind her just as a sidekick should. Then there was the drag of the cape. His was a fraction the size of his partner’s and it nearly took him down more than once. Made Batwoman’s charge all the more impressive.
Batwoman did not stop, did not falter or stumble, as she rushed forward, her cape whipping back to nearly tickle his nose. She acted as if it was nothing. The righteous fury given to you when a loved one was in danger kept her going. And he felt she could have kept going for eternity if that’s what it took to catch up to the screaming carriage.
How he envied her.
Jason was exhausted. He was winded. And damn it, he hurt. There was nothing more that he wanted to do at that moment than to give up, to toss in the towel… or at least toss away the cape. Yet, he kept going. Tired, hurt, and not exactly trained for this specific scenario, he kept going. If Kate had it in her to push through a turning world, so did he.
”Kreeeeeeaaaah!!!”
An unearthly shriek from ahead, the primal cry of some pained creature. That was their destination. Batwoman and Redbird didn’t know what was in store for them. They didn’t know, for sure, if they were too late. The two as one knew only a single thing for certain.
Whoever was making Aaron scream would soon would be screaming even louder.
It was beautiful, truly beautiful. Mark was already screaming… screaming with laughter. Tears trailed down his cheeks, the lenses of his glasses shattered. Blood dripped out of his ears and his head pounded yet he’d never been happier. It worked, it bloody well worked. The subject had stabilized; his body had accepted the various serums without a single rejection. That was to be expected. What made him truly happy was the rate at which it metabolized.
He finally found the key to time locking his formulas. The boy had done it. His blood would unlock everything. It was almost disappointing Mark would have to leave him here to be discovered by others. If only he had a pinch more time. . . If only he could perform a more thorough exam on the boy without fear of a monster chasing him… Ah but he had his responsibilities.
He’d been told if the train started moving, he was to collect what he needed and go. But first, if he could, leave a nice surprise behind. The train moved. His surprise was ready. Time to go. Yes, yes… Time to go.
Not daring to open the container with the subject’s blood drawn during the various phases of his transformations, Mark collected his gear in as near silence as he could. His hearing was shot, and would be until he had time to work on the same cure given to the subject, so he knew not if he was truly quiet. He had stopped hearing the screams of the creature too. Bad signs all. His mind was the complete opposite. It raced with ideas and scientific symphonies.
He had hit the pharmaceutical jackpot. Providing the container remained safe. It had been designed to survive such crazy circumstances as he found himself in now and yet who could have predicted these cries?
Perhaps, if he wasn’t so locked in his head, he would have noticed the searing hot cutter chewing through the metal of the cart’s wall. Perhaps if he wasn’t caressing the container so tenderly, so lovingly, he would have realized the screaming stopped not because he could not hear but instead because one of the straps had broken free. Just perhaps had he paid more attention to the present, his future could have been averted.
Mark turned around to give his mad scientist adieu – hopefully without his stammer – only to see his monster rise to greet him. Bone white claws opened his bowels with a single blood fountaining swipe. A make shift door dropped away from the train, pale moonlight drifting in. The titanic subject vanished into the night with one final shriek goodbye.
The two blurs in the doorway spared him a glance. A glance that told them he would soon be gone from this world. Then they too disappeared.
There was no more screaming… not yet…
Mark slumped to the floor amidst the pile of broken glass and his spilling blood. The container was within reach. So close… He knew he must leave a message. His finger traced the words in blood, the words that would allow his brother to know what he needed across its surface. It worked.
The rest of his body fell, a glimmer of green flashing in his fading vision. If only he had worked out that time limit before.The mad doctor grasped for his future with his last ounce of strength. Never meet your heroes, he thought, never become your own experiment. It was a good last thought.
Finally, Mark Desmond started his scream.
Kate only had a brief look at whatever had been strapped to that operating table before it rushed past her with alarming speed and a flap of wings. Whatever it was had been massive. Far too large to fit on the table. There had been a glimpse of fur blacker than the darkest night and a flash of white so bright it nearly glowed. Then nothing. No Aaron.
Only a dying man inside.
The sinking feeling was enough to kill her. The failure. She had raced to save him and still not been quick enough. What unspeakable horrors had been done here? What had Aaron been through?
It took Redbird both hands to drag her free of the cart. Their capes billowed out to slow their descent as they leaped off to land in a tumble. She was first to rise, Redbird slow enough to place a seed of worry in the back of her head. It was her turn to grab him. Her grapple line took them both to the nearest roof and she fired a second the instant they landed again to carry them even higher.
In the night sky, they could see it… The monstrous bat. So large it could blot out what little stars could be seen in ‘Haven’s smog filled air. Redbird took a knee beside her, her fingers shook as they reached for a vial in her utility belt. She had hoped she wouldn’t have had a reason to use it. She had hoped.
“Aaron…” Batwoman whispered, softly at first.
The figure circled high above, not running, waiting.
“Aaron!” Kate shouted, her voice stronger.
It wheeled towards her, moving far faster than something its size had any sense to move. The flapping of its wings were the sounds of chopper blades. The ferocity of its breath as heavy as they freight cars they just left behind. It truly was a monster.
”AARON!”
Her heart pounded in her chest. She had never had to talk a rampaging man-bat down before. She could remember occasions in the past where she watched Wingman or another Outlaw do so but she had never been out there, in the front, in claws’ reach. Wingman had always made it look so damn easy. His damnable way with words. It was probably his twin bond, more than anything, that always calmed Kirk down. The two had shared a womb before. They had come into the world together.
She had no such connection with Aaron. Had barely seen the boy over the years. Barely got to know him. And yet, she recalled his big brown eyes… how when he was born, he came into the world with a full head of hair. Kate remembered the pain and the lengths her Uncle Kirk had gone to in order to cure the boy of his father’s mistakes. Failure after failure to fix Aaron’s ears after the super hearing he inherited ruined them.
That monster coming for her was her baby cousin. He was family.
Aaron landed hard, a crater marking his arrival as the hot stench of his breath washed over her.
“That… it one titanic man-bat,” Redbird jested wearily.
The joke was not appreciated. Aaron’s howl nearly shattered their eardrums. Felt so bad it reminded her of Canary’s cry.
He was nearly thrice the size of his father with black fur and gleaming claws. How he could fly was beyond her… The physics. A serpentine tail snapped forward, sharp bone spurs down its entire length; the smallest still larger than her hand. There was no hope of besting Aaron in a physical contest, she had to keep relying on a soothing voice and lo – luck.
“Aaron, it’s me. Do you recognize me?”
His growl expressed that he did not.
“It’s your Cousin Kate,” very slowly and without fear of being watched, she reached for her mask, “Cousin Kate. The redhead? I used to…” she continued to speak comfortingly.
“Batwoman…” Redbird warned.
Her mask was in her hand. She drew it, wig and all, free of her head. Aaron would need to see her. He’d have to see her. There was no way he could recognize her from her voice alone. He’d never heard it before.
“See. Red. Kate. I have a sis—“
“BATWOMAN!”
Multiple things happened at once, all quickly and chaotically. Jason tackled her from behind, dropping her to the ground as Aaron’s tail scythed through the space her head had been. A white figure kept them there with the beating of leather wings. Balls of fur, black and white, tumbled across the roof before taking to the air.
Kate yanked her mask back on and could only watch as father and son fought.
Aaron had size and more weapons at his disposal (his fangs were the length of Kirk’s claws). The white bat had mobility and better yet, experience, to back him up. Bat bit bat. Claws tore through wing membrane. The two clashed with the sound of thunder and rained droplets of blood until a cry from Aaron was enough to stun the original Man-Bat as he wheeled away to flee.
Too slow. Kirk recovered swiftly enough to hit his son around the middle, sending him tumbling down. His dive shot him quickly after the titan and he sank his fangs deep into the meaty flesh where wing met shoulder. Aaron screamed an unholy scream. His tail slashed clear through the skin of his father’s own wing. Still, Kirk held on… a monstrous hug.
The two crashed down two roofs away, smashing their way through an air conditioning unit. Batwoman and Redbird were upon them before Aaron could regain his bearings. Blood covered both, so much so that it looked as if Kirk’s fur had been dyed red. It gushed still from open wounds while Aaron flapped a broken wing weakly. Crimson eyes glared down at her before Kirk beat his wings to stumble backwards, free of his son.
She had to do it quick. Kate jammed the anti-serum into her cousin’s neck and waited. For excruciatingly long moments, nothing happened. Man-Bat watched on with an eerie calm. Aaron’s jaws opened wide to…
”Kreeeeeeaaaah!!!”
The sound at such close range doubled her over. His boy in pain and Kate the attacker, Kirk made to end her when his feet were yanked out from beneath him by a bola from nowhere. Jay jumped on his back and jab his own syringe into the back of Man-Bat’s neck.
“You were prepared, good job,” Kate congratulated Redbird weakly.
“Don’t be too proud,” her sidekick laughed, “I stole it from your belt.”
The change began, the change for both of them. Ears retreated to their proper places. Spines shrank and incisors withdrew. Fur flattened and with a sucking sound disappeared into soft pink flesh. The pop, pop, popping of bones readjusting themselves echoed around her as the only fur that remained on her uncle was the white of his hair. He was back to normal. Aaron, on the other hand, would never be normal again.
Rabe Memorial Hospital,
Blüdhaven
Jacob turned his attention from taking Lincoln March’s statement when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He excused himself as politely as he could manage from the small hospital room, leaving his partner Dixon to finish up, and checked it outside. It was a simple text. Only a single sentence yet it lifted a weight off of his chest.
”They found Aaron.”
His smile stretched from ear to ear.
“Good news, Detective Kane?” a glib voice inquired.
Jake looked into the grinning features of an old family friend. One of the few he still kept in contact with though not necessarily on purpose. “Very good news, Mr. Mayor.”
“See the white coat?” Tommy Elliot patted his chest, “It’s Dr. Elliot at the moment. I left my mayoral pants at home.”
“Dr. Elliot then.”
Tommy always had an easy laugh. He had that way about him. Jake’s girls used to teasingly say the laugh was almost enough to make you forget he gave his fellow gingers a bad name.
“Mind if I go in?” he pulled a pen out of his coat pocket to show Jake. “I do have my city hall pen though. Gotta check on the competition.”
“Uh…”
“It’s fine, Kane,” his partner said as the door opened. “Got his statement. It’s weak but we still need to check it out.”
Tommy’s forehead creased with worry. “If you detectives need anything, just ask and I’ll put what I can at your disposal. I still can’t believe I was less than a dozen feet away from him and saw nothing.”
“Not to worry, Doctor, Haven’s Finest are accustomed to investigating weak stories.”
The Nest,
Blüdhaven
Kate brought her uncle and cousin back to her closest base after sending Jason home for rest (she showed an unusually soft spot for the sidekick by promising him he could drive the Tri-Bat soon as reward). It was an old hide-out underneath the Lighthouse on Fear Cay. The original base of the Outlaws in fact, used for years and years until it was just Wingman. He had used it until her mother granted him the Bat-bunker beneath the Kane Casino. The Bunker remained a secret between the Kanes and the Langstroms for years. Their friends and allies knew it had to exist but were not welcome there. No one had been welcome there until Jason somehow managed to break in with some help from Cluemaster. So it was that Kate used the Outlaw’s base, rebranding it the Nest, when she flew with the Birds what seemed like ages ago.
The place was a familiar spot to Kirk. He even had some old clothes in storage to dress in. Kate allowed him that while she remained by Aaron’s side. The medical facility was adequate here. It was basically a table with monitors set in an ill-used the corner of a large underground facility. It was enough.
Her cousin had not come through his ordeal unscathed. Whatever had been done to make him into that even more monstrous man-bat could not be counteracted completely with the original anti-serum Kirk had cooked up. His body remained covered in tufts of blackish-gray fur. His ears still pointed and bits of wing membrane hung beneath his arms. But gone were the bone spurs. Gone was the giant size.
Aaron was a boy again. Albeit a boy who shared features with a bat.
Big brown eyes opened to stare at her.
“Kate,” he whispered.
“Yes?”
“I can still hear.”
Kirk came out of the dressing room to the sounds of laughter.
Somewhere Dark and Dank,
Blüdhaven
The prisoner cursed at him in broken Spanish, chains clanking as he made threat after threat. Roland smiled at him without any hint of fear or retaliation. The prisoner, test subject rather, could do nothing to him even if he broke out. The iridescent emerald tubes pumping venom in and out of his veins for weeks on end had left he who once stood among the mightiest a wreck among men. Left him weak. Left him thirsting for something forever outside his reach.
Roland closed and secured the door behind him. With Mark gone for the evening, it fell to him to ensure their guest enjoyed his stay with the Desmonds. He had been ever so against staying before.
The ground shook beneath Roland with the crash of something large and loud. Quickly, he checked on the prisoner once more to see no change in the situation. No. Not quite. He had noticed the crash too.
Echoing steps pounded down the stairs in the distance. He heard the groan of metal and the growl of heavy breathing. He started to think the safest place would be to stay in the cell.
A container, cube shaped and as white as a cloud landed at Roland’s feet. Something was written on it… Something written in blood.
A massive shadow fell upon Roland. The face of a blue skinned titan stared down at him, strips of flesh and clothing hanging off it in shreds.
“W-wo-worked,” growled the beast.
Elliot Academy,
Blüdhaven
Making it to lunch the next day was an excruciating experience to Jason. He hurt all over. His body was covered in bruises. And none of Richard’s eastern medicine could change that fact yet still the man forced him to go to school. He couldn’t miss out after skipping the latter half yesterday. Kate’s scholarship could only get him so far.
He sat, toying at his food without much desire to eat. Stephanie sat across from him doing much the same. A huff of a breath blew her bangs out of her face. She wasn’t buying his whole “I tripped and fell into a dumpster” story at all.
The two were relatively alone at the outdoor tables, the rays of the winter sun beating down on their necks. It was still too cold for most of the students to start eating outside again. Only those who couldn’t stand the chaos of the cafeteria provided them company… at a fair distance with their heads buried in books while their pencils scratched at papers for last night’s homework.
The previous night’s events played in Jason’s mind. Something didn’t smell right about it. They didn’t want either Aaron or Kirk, just their blood, yet they went to such extent. Events had played out as if for show. But for whom? And where was that guy Aaron opened from groin to neck?
“If you were a mad scientist,” Jason thought aloud, “and you kidnapped a boy with an incredibly dangerous father, wouldn’t you do your best to keep him some place secure? Not leave him out in the open and easy to find?”
“Jay.”
“Hmm?” he hummed as he played with his food more.
“Did you just admit to being Redbird?” Stephanie hissed almost inaudibly.
Jason took a giant lungful of air and groaned. There went his chances of taking the Tri-Bat out for a spin this weekend
Last Time in the pages of Ultimate ‘Haven
Our villain revealed!
Or is he?
Family on a rampage! Redbird flying! And a creepy mad scientist! All last time on Ultimate ‘Haven. Batwoman’s search for her baby cousin is nearly over as this curiously long case comes to an end.
Dictated but not read
-Arthur Brown, Master of Clues.
PS: Jay got caught lying to a girl. Can’t wait to see how that plays out.
Ultimate ‘Haven #7
The Curious Case of Aaron Langstrom Pt. 4
Case Closed
I moved into Kate’s because I was tired of my family… my mother. I didn’t want to be on her stupid show. Hated that Dad wanted me to begin an even more vigorous training regime because I only got silver. He even started talking about pairs. PAIRS. As if I wanted a partner. So… I ran away. Yeah, they know where I am. But they let me stay here.
Got so boring on my own. I trashed the place within three days, searching for any forgotten alcohol. I hate the stuff and yet I thought it might help. A tantrum. I threw a tantrum. I realize that now. Old as I am and I acted like a little baby. Yet…
Yet, I found something cleaning up. Something definitely not in the Casino’s blueprints. A secret shaft, almost like I was meant to find it, just big enough for two people. In running away from my family, my problems, I found a side of a cousin that I never knew. Not truly. I learned things about my family and this city that had been secluded away and forgotten.
Sucks that the shaft didn’t have a way back up…
Blue Line South,
Blüdhaven
Dashing across the top of a runaway train was every bit exhilarating and terrifying and cool and any other epically expressive adjective as one could imagine. There just happened to be one tiny problem with it. Capes. The capes really got in the way. There wasn’t enough room to run side by side without greater risk of Batwoman or Redbird falling off. Instead, he had to trail behind her just as a sidekick should. Then there was the drag of the cape. His was a fraction the size of his partner’s and it nearly took him down more than once. Made Batwoman’s charge all the more impressive.
Batwoman did not stop, did not falter or stumble, as she rushed forward, her cape whipping back to nearly tickle his nose. She acted as if it was nothing. The righteous fury given to you when a loved one was in danger kept her going. And he felt she could have kept going for eternity if that’s what it took to catch up to the screaming carriage.
How he envied her.
Jason was exhausted. He was winded. And damn it, he hurt. There was nothing more that he wanted to do at that moment than to give up, to toss in the towel… or at least toss away the cape. Yet, he kept going. Tired, hurt, and not exactly trained for this specific scenario, he kept going. If Kate had it in her to push through a turning world, so did he.
”Kreeeeeeaaaah!!!”
An unearthly shriek from ahead, the primal cry of some pained creature. That was their destination. Batwoman and Redbird didn’t know what was in store for them. They didn’t know, for sure, if they were too late. The two as one knew only a single thing for certain.
Whoever was making Aaron scream would soon would be screaming even louder.
It was beautiful, truly beautiful. Mark was already screaming… screaming with laughter. Tears trailed down his cheeks, the lenses of his glasses shattered. Blood dripped out of his ears and his head pounded yet he’d never been happier. It worked, it bloody well worked. The subject had stabilized; his body had accepted the various serums without a single rejection. That was to be expected. What made him truly happy was the rate at which it metabolized.
He finally found the key to time locking his formulas. The boy had done it. His blood would unlock everything. It was almost disappointing Mark would have to leave him here to be discovered by others. If only he had a pinch more time. . . If only he could perform a more thorough exam on the boy without fear of a monster chasing him… Ah but he had his responsibilities.
He’d been told if the train started moving, he was to collect what he needed and go. But first, if he could, leave a nice surprise behind. The train moved. His surprise was ready. Time to go. Yes, yes… Time to go.
Not daring to open the container with the subject’s blood drawn during the various phases of his transformations, Mark collected his gear in as near silence as he could. His hearing was shot, and would be until he had time to work on the same cure given to the subject, so he knew not if he was truly quiet. He had stopped hearing the screams of the creature too. Bad signs all. His mind was the complete opposite. It raced with ideas and scientific symphonies.
He had hit the pharmaceutical jackpot. Providing the container remained safe. It had been designed to survive such crazy circumstances as he found himself in now and yet who could have predicted these cries?
Perhaps, if he wasn’t so locked in his head, he would have noticed the searing hot cutter chewing through the metal of the cart’s wall. Perhaps if he wasn’t caressing the container so tenderly, so lovingly, he would have realized the screaming stopped not because he could not hear but instead because one of the straps had broken free. Just perhaps had he paid more attention to the present, his future could have been averted.
Mark turned around to give his mad scientist adieu – hopefully without his stammer – only to see his monster rise to greet him. Bone white claws opened his bowels with a single blood fountaining swipe. A make shift door dropped away from the train, pale moonlight drifting in. The titanic subject vanished into the night with one final shriek goodbye.
The two blurs in the doorway spared him a glance. A glance that told them he would soon be gone from this world. Then they too disappeared.
There was no more screaming… not yet…
Mark slumped to the floor amidst the pile of broken glass and his spilling blood. The container was within reach. So close… He knew he must leave a message. His finger traced the words in blood, the words that would allow his brother to know what he needed across its surface. It worked.
The rest of his body fell, a glimmer of green flashing in his fading vision. If only he had worked out that time limit before.The mad doctor grasped for his future with his last ounce of strength. Never meet your heroes, he thought, never become your own experiment. It was a good last thought.
Finally, Mark Desmond started his scream.
Kate only had a brief look at whatever had been strapped to that operating table before it rushed past her with alarming speed and a flap of wings. Whatever it was had been massive. Far too large to fit on the table. There had been a glimpse of fur blacker than the darkest night and a flash of white so bright it nearly glowed. Then nothing. No Aaron.
Only a dying man inside.
The sinking feeling was enough to kill her. The failure. She had raced to save him and still not been quick enough. What unspeakable horrors had been done here? What had Aaron been through?
It took Redbird both hands to drag her free of the cart. Their capes billowed out to slow their descent as they leaped off to land in a tumble. She was first to rise, Redbird slow enough to place a seed of worry in the back of her head. It was her turn to grab him. Her grapple line took them both to the nearest roof and she fired a second the instant they landed again to carry them even higher.
In the night sky, they could see it… The monstrous bat. So large it could blot out what little stars could be seen in ‘Haven’s smog filled air. Redbird took a knee beside her, her fingers shook as they reached for a vial in her utility belt. She had hoped she wouldn’t have had a reason to use it. She had hoped.
“Aaron…” Batwoman whispered, softly at first.
The figure circled high above, not running, waiting.
“Aaron!” Kate shouted, her voice stronger.
It wheeled towards her, moving far faster than something its size had any sense to move. The flapping of its wings were the sounds of chopper blades. The ferocity of its breath as heavy as they freight cars they just left behind. It truly was a monster.
”AARON!”
Her heart pounded in her chest. She had never had to talk a rampaging man-bat down before. She could remember occasions in the past where she watched Wingman or another Outlaw do so but she had never been out there, in the front, in claws’ reach. Wingman had always made it look so damn easy. His damnable way with words. It was probably his twin bond, more than anything, that always calmed Kirk down. The two had shared a womb before. They had come into the world together.
She had no such connection with Aaron. Had barely seen the boy over the years. Barely got to know him. And yet, she recalled his big brown eyes… how when he was born, he came into the world with a full head of hair. Kate remembered the pain and the lengths her Uncle Kirk had gone to in order to cure the boy of his father’s mistakes. Failure after failure to fix Aaron’s ears after the super hearing he inherited ruined them.
That monster coming for her was her baby cousin. He was family.
Aaron landed hard, a crater marking his arrival as the hot stench of his breath washed over her.
“That… it one titanic man-bat,” Redbird jested wearily.
The joke was not appreciated. Aaron’s howl nearly shattered their eardrums. Felt so bad it reminded her of Canary’s cry.
He was nearly thrice the size of his father with black fur and gleaming claws. How he could fly was beyond her… The physics. A serpentine tail snapped forward, sharp bone spurs down its entire length; the smallest still larger than her hand. There was no hope of besting Aaron in a physical contest, she had to keep relying on a soothing voice and lo – luck.
“Aaron, it’s me. Do you recognize me?”
His growl expressed that he did not.
“It’s your Cousin Kate,” very slowly and without fear of being watched, she reached for her mask, “Cousin Kate. The redhead? I used to…” she continued to speak comfortingly.
“Batwoman…” Redbird warned.
Her mask was in her hand. She drew it, wig and all, free of her head. Aaron would need to see her. He’d have to see her. There was no way he could recognize her from her voice alone. He’d never heard it before.
“See. Red. Kate. I have a sis—“
“BATWOMAN!”
Multiple things happened at once, all quickly and chaotically. Jason tackled her from behind, dropping her to the ground as Aaron’s tail scythed through the space her head had been. A white figure kept them there with the beating of leather wings. Balls of fur, black and white, tumbled across the roof before taking to the air.
Kate yanked her mask back on and could only watch as father and son fought.
Aaron had size and more weapons at his disposal (his fangs were the length of Kirk’s claws). The white bat had mobility and better yet, experience, to back him up. Bat bit bat. Claws tore through wing membrane. The two clashed with the sound of thunder and rained droplets of blood until a cry from Aaron was enough to stun the original Man-Bat as he wheeled away to flee.
Too slow. Kirk recovered swiftly enough to hit his son around the middle, sending him tumbling down. His dive shot him quickly after the titan and he sank his fangs deep into the meaty flesh where wing met shoulder. Aaron screamed an unholy scream. His tail slashed clear through the skin of his father’s own wing. Still, Kirk held on… a monstrous hug.
The two crashed down two roofs away, smashing their way through an air conditioning unit. Batwoman and Redbird were upon them before Aaron could regain his bearings. Blood covered both, so much so that it looked as if Kirk’s fur had been dyed red. It gushed still from open wounds while Aaron flapped a broken wing weakly. Crimson eyes glared down at her before Kirk beat his wings to stumble backwards, free of his son.
She had to do it quick. Kate jammed the anti-serum into her cousin’s neck and waited. For excruciatingly long moments, nothing happened. Man-Bat watched on with an eerie calm. Aaron’s jaws opened wide to…
”Kreeeeeeaaaah!!!”
The sound at such close range doubled her over. His boy in pain and Kate the attacker, Kirk made to end her when his feet were yanked out from beneath him by a bola from nowhere. Jay jumped on his back and jab his own syringe into the back of Man-Bat’s neck.
“You were prepared, good job,” Kate congratulated Redbird weakly.
“Don’t be too proud,” her sidekick laughed, “I stole it from your belt.”
The change began, the change for both of them. Ears retreated to their proper places. Spines shrank and incisors withdrew. Fur flattened and with a sucking sound disappeared into soft pink flesh. The pop, pop, popping of bones readjusting themselves echoed around her as the only fur that remained on her uncle was the white of his hair. He was back to normal. Aaron, on the other hand, would never be normal again.
Rabe Memorial Hospital,
Blüdhaven
Jacob turned his attention from taking Lincoln March’s statement when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He excused himself as politely as he could manage from the small hospital room, leaving his partner Dixon to finish up, and checked it outside. It was a simple text. Only a single sentence yet it lifted a weight off of his chest.
”They found Aaron.”
His smile stretched from ear to ear.
“Good news, Detective Kane?” a glib voice inquired.
Jake looked into the grinning features of an old family friend. One of the few he still kept in contact with though not necessarily on purpose. “Very good news, Mr. Mayor.”
“See the white coat?” Tommy Elliot patted his chest, “It’s Dr. Elliot at the moment. I left my mayoral pants at home.”
“Dr. Elliot then.”
Tommy always had an easy laugh. He had that way about him. Jake’s girls used to teasingly say the laugh was almost enough to make you forget he gave his fellow gingers a bad name.
“Mind if I go in?” he pulled a pen out of his coat pocket to show Jake. “I do have my city hall pen though. Gotta check on the competition.”
“Uh…”
“It’s fine, Kane,” his partner said as the door opened. “Got his statement. It’s weak but we still need to check it out.”
Tommy’s forehead creased with worry. “If you detectives need anything, just ask and I’ll put what I can at your disposal. I still can’t believe I was less than a dozen feet away from him and saw nothing.”
“Not to worry, Doctor, Haven’s Finest are accustomed to investigating weak stories.”
The Nest,
Blüdhaven
Kate brought her uncle and cousin back to her closest base after sending Jason home for rest (she showed an unusually soft spot for the sidekick by promising him he could drive the Tri-Bat soon as reward). It was an old hide-out underneath the Lighthouse on Fear Cay. The original base of the Outlaws in fact, used for years and years until it was just Wingman. He had used it until her mother granted him the Bat-bunker beneath the Kane Casino. The Bunker remained a secret between the Kanes and the Langstroms for years. Their friends and allies knew it had to exist but were not welcome there. No one had been welcome there until Jason somehow managed to break in with some help from Cluemaster. So it was that Kate used the Outlaw’s base, rebranding it the Nest, when she flew with the Birds what seemed like ages ago.
The place was a familiar spot to Kirk. He even had some old clothes in storage to dress in. Kate allowed him that while she remained by Aaron’s side. The medical facility was adequate here. It was basically a table with monitors set in an ill-used the corner of a large underground facility. It was enough.
Her cousin had not come through his ordeal unscathed. Whatever had been done to make him into that even more monstrous man-bat could not be counteracted completely with the original anti-serum Kirk had cooked up. His body remained covered in tufts of blackish-gray fur. His ears still pointed and bits of wing membrane hung beneath his arms. But gone were the bone spurs. Gone was the giant size.
Aaron was a boy again. Albeit a boy who shared features with a bat.
Big brown eyes opened to stare at her.
“Kate,” he whispered.
“Yes?”
“I can still hear.”
Kirk came out of the dressing room to the sounds of laughter.
Somewhere Dark and Dank,
Blüdhaven
The prisoner cursed at him in broken Spanish, chains clanking as he made threat after threat. Roland smiled at him without any hint of fear or retaliation. The prisoner, test subject rather, could do nothing to him even if he broke out. The iridescent emerald tubes pumping venom in and out of his veins for weeks on end had left he who once stood among the mightiest a wreck among men. Left him weak. Left him thirsting for something forever outside his reach.
Roland closed and secured the door behind him. With Mark gone for the evening, it fell to him to ensure their guest enjoyed his stay with the Desmonds. He had been ever so against staying before.
The ground shook beneath Roland with the crash of something large and loud. Quickly, he checked on the prisoner once more to see no change in the situation. No. Not quite. He had noticed the crash too.
Echoing steps pounded down the stairs in the distance. He heard the groan of metal and the growl of heavy breathing. He started to think the safest place would be to stay in the cell.
A container, cube shaped and as white as a cloud landed at Roland’s feet. Something was written on it… Something written in blood.
A massive shadow fell upon Roland. The face of a blue skinned titan stared down at him, strips of flesh and clothing hanging off it in shreds.
“W-wo-worked,” growled the beast.
Elliot Academy,
Blüdhaven
Making it to lunch the next day was an excruciating experience to Jason. He hurt all over. His body was covered in bruises. And none of Richard’s eastern medicine could change that fact yet still the man forced him to go to school. He couldn’t miss out after skipping the latter half yesterday. Kate’s scholarship could only get him so far.
He sat, toying at his food without much desire to eat. Stephanie sat across from him doing much the same. A huff of a breath blew her bangs out of her face. She wasn’t buying his whole “I tripped and fell into a dumpster” story at all.
The two were relatively alone at the outdoor tables, the rays of the winter sun beating down on their necks. It was still too cold for most of the students to start eating outside again. Only those who couldn’t stand the chaos of the cafeteria provided them company… at a fair distance with their heads buried in books while their pencils scratched at papers for last night’s homework.
The previous night’s events played in Jason’s mind. Something didn’t smell right about it. They didn’t want either Aaron or Kirk, just their blood, yet they went to such extent. Events had played out as if for show. But for whom? And where was that guy Aaron opened from groin to neck?
“If you were a mad scientist,” Jason thought aloud, “and you kidnapped a boy with an incredibly dangerous father, wouldn’t you do your best to keep him some place secure? Not leave him out in the open and easy to find?”
“Jay.”
“Hmm?” he hummed as he played with his food more.
“Did you just admit to being Redbird?” Stephanie hissed almost inaudibly.
Jason took a giant lungful of air and groaned. There went his chances of taking the Tri-Bat out for a spin this weekend