Fearless #2 Tick Tick Boom (1/2)

====GCPD====

 

"Jim, we came as soon as we could. What's the situation?"

 

"We've got a body in the Coventry district- vic's mistress found the body. Detective Driver from Major Crimes figured you might be interested..." Gordon says, handing him a set of photos.

 

"Judge Aickerman... He was one of the names on Grange's tapes."

 

"Yeah, that makes the fifth victim so far, all headshots, all-"

 

"Two shots to the head... Dent? You said there were others?"

 

"Here. All members of the Court, all names on Grange's list. And that doesn't even go into the mess in Arkham. 40 bodies recovered, all burnt beyond recognition, only thing identifiable-"

 

"Are the owl masks fused to their faces. Chemical analysis?"

 

"Make-up seems to match Lynns' portfolio, and the napalm there's a staple of Joey Rigger. And though I can't condone them, I can't blame them either. After Walker-"

 

Gordon trails off, and takes his cigarette out of his mouth- after Arkham, he'd relapsed, and looks at Batman's partner. Catwoman

 

"Well, I'm just glad to see you're on speaking terms again."

 

Bruce looks at him inquisitively

 

"Give me some credit, I am a detective too, you know."

 

...

 

"Don't worry, Jim, I'll find Dent, before they do."

 

====The Slab====

 

"Gar put you up to this, didn't he?"

 

No response... Drury sighed. He couldn't go anywhere these days without someone else tagging along, acting like his self important babysitters. He didn't much like Flannegan, not these days, not since he started to question things, question people. The man was cruel and irritable, and the only things he cared for were his rats, who he insisted be brought along with them on their flight. "Can't trust those Antarctic rats," he'd declared loudly at the airport, waving his government badge at the security guard trying to pry the rodent-filled suitcase away from him. Even now he was dodging questions, cigarette in mouth, his right hand stuffed in his pocket.

Drury had been to a lot of prisons; Blackgate, Arkham, Stryker's, even spent a night in Iron Heights. Slabside was a different breed entirely. Located in the middle of Antarctica, it's home to some of the world's worst criminals. Following the City of Fear incident, many of the Society's most dangerous member's were relocated here. Many still are. Doomsday. Mongul. Amazo. Just one of them free would be catastrophic, all of them, and even the Justice League might not stand a chance.

In one cell, a masked man punches the wall, blood spurting from his knuckles. With each punch his voice grows louder. "Pow. Pow. Pow." Drury takes one look at him, then hurries after Flannegan.

 

"Do I know you?" a timid voice asks. A frail man sits housed in the adjacent cell, fumbling with a broken clock.

Drury stared. His name is David Clinton. In this reality, he was never trapped in the void, in this reality he never had an epiphany of any kind, or really any original thought. But, in his cell, he knew there was something missing. A purpose. Memories that he shouldn't have flashed in his head regularly.

In one world, Drury knew him as Chronos, a sociopathic monster. But here, Clinton was just another C-Lister locked in a cage.

 

"Sir, we've got her down here," the guard said.

 

"Good," Drury muttered. "Good, I'll be there soon," passing by Chronos.

"Tick tock," the other man murmurs. "Tick tock."

 

Drury sat down in the visitor centre, a small, dark, smelly room. Opposite sat Marion Grange.

"What do you want?"

 

Grange shifted in her seat. "I heard about your wife, I want you to know that-"

 

"No. No, what do you want?"

 

She sighed. "I don't... I don't want to die. I want that on the record. Any record. I don't want to die."

 

"I travelled halfway across the world-!"

 

"Then you know I'm serious. They're coming. They're coming, and when they get here, they'll do whatever they can to make it look like an accident, a suicide."

 

"I don't-"

 

"They're going to kill me!" Grange yelled suddenly.

 

Drury shifted his eyes around the room, and in a harsh whisper asked "The Owls?"

Grange nodded.

"I needed you here, because I know you'll believe me. Because you know how- You know how dangerous they are."

 

"This is the most secure prison on the planet, they aren't getting in here."

 

"And what if they're already here? What if they've already bribed, extorted and blackmailed their way in?"

 

Drury paused. "You didn't bring me here to talk. Or to apologise. You wanted me here, so you'd have a human shield to hide behind. Didn't you?" Grange looks down at the desk, ashamed. "I'm sorry."

 

"I said, didn't you! My wife is dead. My brother was abducted, and one of my best friend's went missing two days ago."

 

A rat crawls into the room, and is scooped up by Flannegan. He whispers to it, then addresses Drury. "Shut it."

 

"Oh, he speaks!" Drury snapped at Flannegan.

 

"Let's talk about your screwed up little world some other time. Rodriguez just sent word. Someone's infiltrated the security systems."

 

"Who the hell's Rodriguez?!"

 

"The rat. Do keep up. Up you get, ma'am."

 

"Not now, Otis..." Drury murmured. "Did your... rat tell you who it is?"

 

"It's a rat, you idiot. Not the criminal database," he scowled, as he pulled a knife out of his sock and stormed out. "Oh, you again."

 

====Keystone City====

 

"Your turn, Rory. You were saying?"

 

"Right, right. Wit was ah aboot to say? Oh, aye. The auld guard! Scudder, Scudder wis a daft wee bampot who dragged Lisa doon wi' 'im. And dinnae get me started on that Top bastard. What a pretentious auld cunt he wis. Aw brains an no fookin' human decency..."

 

"-Don't forget about that Chillblaine loser," Mick muttered, as he put his lighter down.

 

"Och aye, Chillblaine tae. Ach, the poor lassie sure kent how ta choose 'em. As fer Piper-"

 

Mardon paused. "Piper? He's gay, McCulloch."

 

"Wit? The wee rat boy? He didnae ever come across as one a' them."

 

"One of them"? 'Hell does that mean?" Mick started.

 

"Ach, I dinnae mean nothing by it, Rory, I'm jus' saying. I mean, I cannae believe it. Hartley bloody Rathaway, and wit, Flannegan? They're a bloody couple?"

 

"When Flannegan feels like it, that is," Mardon added, checking his watch. "Snart was supposed to be here by now."

 

Rory growled.

 

"Oh, don't start," Mardon began.

 

"He comes and goes as he pleases," he snarls.

 

"Well, he's the big man, ain't he? He's allowed tae do that."

 

Mick slouches into his seat. "That's all well and good, I just wish we didn't have to work with *him* to do it."

 

McCulloch groans. "Aye, I hear ya, he makes Dillon sound like Girder."

 

As if on cue, a signature smug, booming voice calls out to the assembled trio. "Gentlemen, when is a door not a door?"

 

"Ach, that's fooking ancient that is..."

 

"When it's ajar..." Mardon sighed.

 

Riddler smiled, but he was clearly annoyed. "Quite. So tell me, which one of you three dimwitted numbskulls left the door open *this* time? Need I remind you the importance of what we're trying to accomplish here. If Bane were to discover-"

 

"Bane's all drugs and bravado. I could summon a hurricane in his gut, and suck his flunkies into a tornado."

 

"Ah, yes, because Kryptonians are well known for being easily sucked into tornados..."

 

McCulloch leaps out his chair. "Ach, fook this, ya think that because yer in good wit' Luthor yer better than us?"

 

"Hardly. I think I'm better than you, because I am."

 

====ACE Chemicals====

 

"Hello Charles. I apologise for the hostile greeting, but, you weren't coming quietly."

 

"That ring, those things, how did you-"

 

"All in good time, I assure you. Are you angry with me, Charles? You've every reason to be. Day betrayed you, Penguin betrayed you, Sionis too. And now, Mr Dent. All that hurt in so short a time... Any other man may have succumbed to violence, but not you. You're afraid. Afraid that if you were to retaliate, the consequences for your friends would be dire. Why those, those are powerful men. And Calendar Man, heh.

But what, what if something wasn't holding you back, what if you didn't have to be afraid? Fear, fear is what tells us no. Fear holds us back. It controls us, manipulates us. Fear is a weapon, harnessed by me, and harnessed by The Batman. It's funny, when I began this newest experiment of mine, Penguin commissioned me to deliver a weapon, a drug that could help his armies conquer fear, and thus, their enemies. The Court of Owls, The Batman, Joker if the need ever arose, without fear, they'd be easy marks, so he said. I hear he's in hiding now.

But, I never let a good toxin go to waste, and now, one year later, I have the answer! I can cure fear! It took various chemicals, some herbs in Blackfire's garden and the blood of a few murdered Talons, but I have my chemicals, and you will be my guinea pig."

 

"You could've had the pick of the city, why me?"

 

"Yes. Why you? Not even remotely special. Because, Charles, the fact is, you're a good man. You've got a moral compass, a strong one, you help people at every turn, even those who don't deserve it. You've never killed without remorse, not even that creature, Salinger, was it? I bet you grieved for days... For many men, the easiest path to breaking them, is fear. And it's gotten so... boring. Cliché. This time, I'll break you, and men of your ilk by destroying you, from the inside out." A yellow claw fills a nearby syringe with red liquid and hands it to a grinning Crane. "Shall we begin?"

 

Done