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My name is Cal Rose. As a child, I was abandoned by my parents, and I had to learn to survive by myself. On the streets, alone. And today, I’m fighting for my life again.
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Once again, I’m outside Wayne’s door. So much happened last night, and I need someone to talk it over with. Once I’m inside, I relate what happened to Wayne and Alfred. When I’m done, there’s silence for several moments before Wayne speaks.
“Well, it seems you found the “Batman” that Bane seems obsessed with. And he seems to be an ally.”
“He does. He reminded me a bit of someone, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Have you come here for help, or just to talk things over? Either way, feel free to stay as long as you like.”
“Thank you. I came mostly just to get a second opinion on everything.”
“Well, let’s start at the beginning.”
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Some hours later, I leave Wayne’s house, with at least a few more answers than I came with. There was someone else I should talk to. Seline would want to know about all of this. I find her a while later, staring out at the sunset. The cloudy weather makes for a beautiful display of red and gold.
We sit and watch the sun fall beneath the horizon, and then I tell her about my midnight adventure. After I finish, she’s silent for a while, and then says, “Cal, I-I don’t know what to say. This is out of my league.”
“What do you mean?”
“I should have come clean sooner, but I didn’t know how to tell you. I have a…shall we say a history with Bane and the Titan gang.”
“I-I didn’t know. I’m sorry, this has been upsetting to you all along.”
“No, you don’t understand. I want to help. All this stuff with Bane has been hard on me. But I never thought I could do anything about it. Now, you and this Batman are, and I want to be a part of it.”
“I think I can arrange that. Let me talk to Batman later, and I’ll let you know.”
“Thank you, Cal. It means a lot.”
We sit for a while longer, and then she turns to me and tells me, “I said I had a history with the Titans. I should tell you what it is. When I was about ten, my dad was raising me alone. Mom died when I was really young, and it was just me and him. He had to steal to keep up with things, but he hated doing it. Anyway, one day he was in an old warehouse, looking for anything valuable. It turns out the warehouse was one the Titans were using for their meetings, and they found Dad in there. There wa-wasn’t even anything stored there, just a table. But th-they-” She cuts off, unable to finish. There are tears in her eyes.
“I’m sorry, Seline. I had no idea.”
“No, it’s fine. You couldn’t have known.”
She leans on my shoulder and composes herself.
“What about your parents? I know they didn’t die. You don’t have that sadness about you.”
“Well, I don’t remember my mother at all. My dad always said she walked away when I was born, but I’m not sure I believe that. My dad was usually drunk, and away from home for hours. Then one day, he just never came back. I’m sure he’s not dead, or the orphanage would have come and gotten me. He just didn’t want me anymore.”
She doesn’t say anything, and she doesn’t need to.
We spend what feels like forever just watching nothing. I finally decide that I should go, and ask Batman about Seline joining us. I squeeze Seline’s hand to let her know I’m going, then stand up and leave. “I’ll be back later. Just need to run an errand.”
I spend several minutes circling the dock warehouses before finding Batman. He sees me and smiles a little. “I figured you’d be back soon. Any news?”
“Yes, actually. I have a friend who wants to help us catch Bane. I promised her I’d ask you if you’re all right with that.”
“Of course. I’d be a pretty useless hero if I didn’t take help when it’s offered.”
“Great! Should I bring her here to meet you?”
“Sure.”
“Be back in a few minutes.”
I race off to get Seline, and I find her in the same place.
“I just went to ask Batman, and he said to bring you. You want to go?”
“Sure. I don’t have any other plans.”, she says jokingly.
“Here, I’ll show you the way.”
We make our way back to Batman, who greets me again, and then turns to Seline. “So, you’re Cal’s friend. Pleasure to meet you.”
“Hello. I’m Seline.”
“Well, Seline, let’s see if we can’t find a way for you to help us. What can you do? Are you a fighter?”
“Not really. I can’t really take anyone much bigger than me. I’m more about stealth.”
In that case, you may be even more valuable. Do you think you could get a stone about a foot tall and six inches wide?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Then we’re all set. I’ll call in a friend of mine, and we’ll meet here tomorrow night. Agreed?
We both say “yes”, and everyone goes their separate ways.
One hour. I wrote that whole thing in one hour.
My name is Cal Rose. As a child, I was abandoned by my parents, and I had to learn to survive by myself. On the streets, alone. And today, I’m fighting for my life again.
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Once again, we’re outside the warehouse. Seline wanted to come, but Wayne told her she should stay behind. Green Arrow is there, and once Batman arrives, we enter the building. There’s almost no light inside, and I’m glad I know my way around pretty well.
We split up, Arrow and Batman looking for Bane, while I scout for Scarecrow. I wander through the corridors of crates and bags, looking for any sign of him. Eventually, I see him crouched in a corner, looking, as always, like a pile of loose cloth. He rises, and says, “Hello, Talon. We’ve been expecting you.”
“Oh, really? Well, you weren’t wrong.”
“He’s a little scared of you, you know.”
“You mean Bane? You really know him, don’t you?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. But we…fit in with each other. I frighten people. He doesn’t scare easily.”
“You’re not frightening to me.”
I can’t see Scarecrow’s face under his wraps, but he speaks as though he’s smiling. “Oh, you don’t even know.”
“Knives scare me. Cliffs scare me. You don’t.”
“Ah, but those aren’t your true fears. I can feel it. I can always feel it.”
“What about Bane? Surely, he’s scared of something. You said he feared me.”
“He does. But you are not his deepest fear. The reason I cannot frighten him is that his greatest fear has already become reality. He has become uncontrollable, a being fueled solely by rage and aggression. Yours is the same. You could be as feral as Bane, if you let yourself. But you fight it. Struggle to control your darkest instincts, rather than embrace them. Let’s see how you fare.”
He glides backward, and in his place, there’s a spectral green version of me. But different. There’s something hungry in its eyes, and a cruel smile on its face. Its gloves are caked in blood, and it crouches like some wild beast, ready to pounce.
It dives at me, and I knock it away with a forearm. But it hit me with shocking force, and I tumble back against a wall. It continues its assault, swiping at me viciously with sharply tipped gloves. Every time I parry an attack, it’s ready with another. I keep getting knocked around the small space we’re in, every time getting more bruises and aches.
At last, I can’t find the strength to get back up. The ghostly mirror of me charges one more time to finish me off. As he nears, some reflex I didn’t know I had extends my hands, knives flying out of the sleeves of my suit. I lunge forward, the knives striking it in the neck. I’m sure I’ve killed it, but suddenly, it’s simply gone.
“Well done, Talon. You managed to best your fear the only way you could. Being it.”
I can almost feel the triumph in Scarecrow’s voice.
“You tried, but you failed. You are now exactly what you fought not to become. A murderer.”
I lunge at him with strength I don’t know the source of. I plunge a hand into his gut, followed with a knee to the face when he doubles over. He’s left knocked out on the cold stone floor.
“That thing was never alive for me to kill.”
With that, I leave to find Batman and Arrow.
I find the familiar path to the center room, and find Arrow and Batman fighting Bane, and seemingly holding their own. Batman fought him hand-to-hand while Arrow shot a constant stream of arrows that somehow always found Bane. They were keeping him at bay, but they weren’t getting anywhere.
Still fueled from the stress of my battle with Scarecrow, I jump in, side by side with Batman. Together, we start to drive Bane back. He smashes through a wall, and we follow. Green Arrow follows, silently leaping between the beams in the ceiling. We follow Bane into a metal-walled room, and find him waiting for us.
As we rush into the room, he tries to punch us. I manage to dodge, but Batman gets hammered into the wall, knocking the air out of him. I launch myself at Bane. I dodge a kick from him, and land what should have been a knockout blow on his masked face. He just roars and keeps advancing.
I can tell I can’t win this through strength alone. I need to be smarter than Bane. I dive onto the floor, slide between his legs, and slash behind me with the knives in my belt. I get up in a crouch and see Bane bellowing in pain at the deep cuts on the backs of his calves. He stumbles around to face me, but he’s slower now.
Good. Finally, some progress.
I can see Batman getting up behind Bane, and I try to stall long enough for him to attack from behind. Bane tries to charge, but trips and almost falls. He stands for a moment, panting and trying to regain his balance. Batman sees his opportunity and jumps high into the air, higher than a human should be able to. As he comes down, two large, curved blades appear in his hands. He plunges these into Bane’s shoulders and pushes off, only to flip and land a bone-shattering kick on Bane’s face. He lands gracefully, and turns back to a staggering Bane.
I’m stunned for a moment, then rush at Bane alongside Batman. We punch him in the stomach at the same time, then sweep under him and pull his legs forward. He crashes to the ground and doesn’t get up.
Just one more issue to go! Hope you all enjoy.
* © Martin Ujlaki - All rights reserved / Tous droits réservés *
Bref historique dans mon album:
Short history in my set:
Did a revision on the Talon Fighter - trying to add a little more detail to it while still keeping it tiny enough to fit on Grayskull.
I was cleaning out my desk drawers the other day and came across a custom figure I had commissioned years ago that I forgot about. I swapped out the head it had on it, and threw on the helmet, and whala. Back to its former glory
My name is Cal Rose. As a child, I was abandoned by my parents, and I had to learn to survive by myself. On the streets, alone. And today, I’m fighting for my life again.
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Two days later, the city is buzzing with the news of a murder in the Titan gang territory. It takes me a while, but I piece together that last night there was a body found in one of the neighborhoods near the port. No one seems to know anything else. I’m sure Bane was involved somehow.
I figure I might as well go check out the area the body was found. See if there’s anything there to help find Bane. An hour later, I arrive, and find a bunch of soldiers guarding the place. Imperial soldiers. It must be a big deal for them to get involved. I walk up to them, and they stop me from coming any closer.
“I’m sorry, but this area is off limits for the time being.”
I think of something quickly. “I think the man who was killed was a friend of mine.” A lie, but a white one, at least.
“All right. Keep it short.”
I walk through the line of guards toward the body of the man. Even if I did know him, it was impossible to tell. His entire body was bruised, and his skin hung loosely. It almost looked like he had been skinned, but there wasn’t a single cut on him. I took note of all of this, and walked back toward the city.
I wanted to ask Wayne about what was going on, but I wasn’t sure he’d be home. I go anyway, and surprisingly he’s there. Alfred greets me at the door, and I walk into the living room, where Wayne is sitting, with no evidence of his injury.
“I take it you’re here due to the murder at the docks?”
“Yeah. I was wondering if you knew anything about it.”
“I know very little, really. He was a member of the Titan gang, which I’m sure you already deduced. He was killed sometime the night before last, judging from the fact that he’s no longer in rigor mortis.”
“Wait, you went and saw the body?”
He smiles jokingly. “I do get out of the house on occasion, Cal.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, I guess you wouldn’t have much trouble with the guards, either.”
Wayne grins unexpectedly. I didn’t realize I said anything funny. “No, no I wouldn’t.”
“I also wanted to ask you if you’d heard of anyone called Bane. I came to your house a few times last week, but no one was here. I asked Selene, but she didn’t know much.”
“Ah. I thought you were here for more than investigative discussion.“ He closes his eyes for a moment and then begins.
“I’ve heard of him, but like Selene, I don’t know much. He’s been based in this city for about five years, and his gang hasn’t gone for any of the usual targets. Rich people and warehouses full of valuables seem to mean nothing to him. He tends to go for more low-profile thefts, generally of older artifacts.”
He did know more than Selene, but not by a lot. I add, “Bane’s not just a criminal. He’s much stronger then I am, and he’s faster than any human should be.”
“There are rumors that he has powers. I’ve never given them much thought, but now I have to.”
“Well, I’ve stayed here long enough. I should get going.”
Alfred shows me to the door. As I walk away, I hear a zip, and a huge hanging pot crashes down next to me. I look around quickly, but I don’t see anyone nearby. Cautiously now, I start for home.
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A man dressed in purple kneels before the huge form of Bane. “The pot missed, but I have another idea. If I may?”
“Get up, Drury. I have no time for your groveling now.”
The purple-clad Drury stands, and Bane lays his hands on the other’s shoulders.
“You’ve failed me. I trust it won’t happen again.”
“Oh, no, it won’t, I assure you!”
Bane moves his hands together and forward quickly, and Drury falls to the ground, his neck snapped.
“Oh, I suppose you’re right.”
Sorry this issue's a bit shorter, and that it's been so long since I posted anything new. Soccer's been taking 90% of my free time, and I haven't spent much time writing as a result.
Also, a big thank-you to Sir Doctor XIV for helping me with Bane's gang's name!
My name is Cal Rose. As a child, I was abandoned by my parents, and I had to learn to survive by myself. On the streets, alone. And today, I’m fighting for my life again.
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“What are we going to do with him? No prison is going to hold him.”, I ask, once we’ve dragged Bane outside.
“You won’t like this, and neither will I. But it’s the only thing to do. You should look away.”
I turn around, and hear the swish of a blade. Batman walks past me without a word. I can’t bring myself to turn back around.
I don’t want to bother Wayne after tonight’s events, but I should go check on Seline. I take my time getting there. The fight took a lot out of me. Once I get to the Wayne house, I ask Alfred for any news on Seline. He responds, “she’s doing fine. She’ll need to stay off her feet for a while, though.”
I smile, relieved. “Is she awake?”
“Yes, she is. She was waiting for you to return.”
“Well, let her know we’re both fine. Wayne should be back soon.”
“Why don’t I let you tell her yourself?”
I walk into the living room, and Seline smiles widely when she sees me. How’d it go, Cal?”
“Bane’s-he’s taken care of. We beat him.”
She can tell there’s something wrong. I know it. “I’m a bit worried about Wayne. The fight was rough on him. I haven’t seen him since we left the warehouse.”
“There’s a place you should look for him if you’re worried. His family’s cemetery is on the other side of the city from here. He goes there to think sometimes.”
“I’ll go look there.”
“Wait a while. He probably needs some space. I can tell what happened at the warehouse. You’re a terrible liar, Cal.”, she says with a sad smile.
“I guess I am.”
We wait in silence for a while, before Seline nudges me. “You should go see if he’s all right.”
I get up and leave. I find the Wayne cemetery after an hour of walking, but there’s no sign of Wayne. I enter the grounds, careful not to step on any of the graves. Looking around for Wayne again, I see a huddled figure in the shadow of one of the upright stone markers. I get closer, and I can see that it’s Wayne. He looks like he’s been crying.
Slowly, I walk over and sit next to him. He doesn’t look up, but I can tell he knows I’m here. I sit down and put an arm around his back. He tenses suddenly, but doesn’t move away.
“I know how you’re feeling right now. It was how I felt when I found out what the Order was doing with the Talons.”
“Do you? My parents were murdered right in front of me. I don’t want to be yet another killer.”
Ouch. I hadn’t known he was an orphan too. “Well, I think you were right this time. You took one life to save many. I don’t think that’s wrong. I couldn’t do it myself, but I can respect your decision.”
“I appreciate that.” He pauses. “But I think I need a break from this. The nights out, the fights, the masks.” Another pause. “I never felt safe leaving the city unprotected. But now there’s someone to do it in my absence.” He lays a hand on my shoulder. “Can you do it?”
“Yes. Yes, I can.”
Well, folks, I did it. 11, 000 words later, finished the series! I want to thank all of you for reading it, and I hope you enjoyed the last issue.
Those talons are very impressive on that Owl. Frightening if you were the person they were aimed at.
My name is Cal Rose. As a child, I was abandoned by my parents, and I had to learn to survive by myself. On the streets, alone. And today, I’m fighting for my life again.
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I slept most of the next 24 hours. I needed sleep more than I had realized after nearly two days without it. I wake up in the evening, and make sure my suit is ready. I sharpen the claws on my gloves, and tuck several knives into my belt. I hate using them, but sometimes they’re a necessity.
About midnight, I head out to meet Seline, Batman, and his unknown friend. I arrive before any of them, and sit down in a dark corner to wait. In a short time, I feel a chill wind, and Batman sweeps down into the alley. Seline walks around the corner soon after. Batman tells us, “I’ve been watching this place for several hours, and Bane is inside.”
“Alright. What now?”
“I’d like you to meet my friend, the Green Arrow.” As he says this, a spectral man clothed in a green vest rises out of the ground. I can’t see his face under his hood, but there’s a green mist around him, similar to that around the stone in Bane’s warehouse.
Again, Batman speaks. “Our plan of attack goes like this. Talon and I will go in first and create a diversion. Seline will take advantage of that, and take the stone from the room at the center of the building. Removing that will allow Arrow here to come in and assist Talon and me in our fight with Bane and any of his associates. Any questions?”
None of us have any, so we head into the warehouse. Just like two nights ago, there’s no light except what’s coming from the room in the middle.
“Any idea where Bane is in here?”
“None. I suspect there’s a whole maze in this place. We’ll start at the center and move outward. And be sure to stay together.”
We walk through the warehouse for what must be close to a half-hour before finding anything. We’ve just set foot in a space that looks like it might be a bedroom when I hear a muffled scream from far away.
“Seline!”
I race off in the direction of the meeting room with the stone, and I can hear Batman close behind me. Suddenly, I don’t hear him at all. I must have made a wrong turn somewhere and he didn’t notice. I look around and notice a pile of old cloth in one corner. I take a step toward it, and it moves. The cloth is a man, the same one we saw in the room with the stone.
“Greetings, Talon. I’ve heard much about you.”
“Who are you?”
You can call me Scarecrow.”
“So, you work for Bane?”
“You could say that. He’s the muscle, I’m the brain.”
“Why do you stay here? If you’re so smart, surely you could make a living without him.”
“Oh, I could. But he doesn’t fear me. Everyone else does. They have for decades.”
“Why?”
“That’s for another day. Go. Save the girl. I know the pain of losing a loved one.”
And with that, he melts away into the shadows. I dash away, following the sounds of the struggle in the center of the warehouse. I get there to find Batman and Bane trading blows, each blocking nearly every one of the other’s strikes.
I spot Seline against the wall, trying to stay out of the way of the fight in the center of the room. I edge along the wall behind Bane, trying to get to Seline and get her out. She seems to understand, and she starts moving toward me. When we reach each other, I grab her hand and start back out of the room. Batman is keeping Bane facing away from us, but I don’t know how long we have.
I get Seline to the entrance, then race back to help Batman. I find him still fighting, but slower now. He needs help. I unsheathe two of my knives, and jump on Bane’s back. I stab the blades into his shoulders, both to handicap him and to give myself something to hold onto. Bane roars in pain and anger. I wrap my arms around his neck and start to squeeze as hard as I can. I can’t see his face under his mask, but his punches seem to get slower and weaker. Seeing an opening, Batman begins backing away, out the door. Once he’s a safe distance away, I let go of Bane’s neck, reclaim my knives, and run.
Outside, I find Batman leaning against a wall, breathing hard.
“Thank you. I was really struggling there. If you hadn’t come in when you did…” He trails off.
Seline suddenly runs up and hugs me tightly. “Oh, thank goodness you’re all right! I would have felt terrible if you got hurt for me.”
“What happened that you got caught?”
“I-I don’t know. I walked into the room you told me about, and as soon as I went in, I heard something big land behind me. I turned around, and Bane was right behind me. He grabbed for me, and I screamed. I’m sorry, I gave the whole game away.”
“You did fine”, Batman assures her. It’s not your fault Bane was watching that room so closely. And it wasn’t a total bust. I nabbed the stone during the struggle.” He smiles and pulls it out from under his cloak. Green Arrow visibly flinches when he sees it, and Batman quickly puts it away. “Sorry, Arrow.”
“What is that?”, Seline asks.
It’s what’s called a moonstone. Arrow can’t stand to be around them. That’s why we had to get it out of the way before the fight.”
Seline suddenly grabs her leg. “Argh, it suddenly hurts!” I see a dark spot on her calf.
“Seline, you’re bleeding! Here, let me take you to Wayne’s house. We’ll see if he has something to help.”
She limps for a few steps, but I can see she won’t be going anywhere fast.
“Do you mind me carrying you?”
“No, it’s fine.”
I scoop her up and run towards Wayne’s house.
It’s hard going. It’s a long way, and I’m already exhausted from all the running I’ve done today. Not to mention fighting a giant. But I keep going, and we get there in about an hour. Seline keeps holding her leg, keeping it from bleeding as much.
When we get there, I frantically knock, and I can hear running footsteps as Alfred comes to answer it. He takes in the scene in front of him, and lets us in without a word. I carry Seline in, and set her down on the couch. Alfred rushes off to get bandages, and Seline turns to me.
“Thanks, Cal. Not sure I’d have made it here without you.”
“Hey, what are friends for?”
Alfred gets back with bandages, a bowl of water, and some sort of salve, then sits down next to Seline. He rolls up her pant leg, and starts to wash out the wound. Seline hisses in pain, and squeezes my hand. Alfred quickly finishes washing her wound, and starts to wrap bandages around her leg. Wayne walks in just as he finishes, and sits down in another chair.
He asks what happened, and Seline explains about the raid on Bane’s base. When she finishes, he sits for a long moment, thinking. Then he stands up, and says, “there’s something I should tell you two. Or rather, show you.”
He spreads his arms, and the temperature in the room drops abruptly. My breath clouds in the air. When I look back at Wayne, he’s-No. There’s no way. But the proof is right there. Wayne is Batman.
A bit longer than previous issues, but there's a lot going on here.
© 2011 by Hasnae Karkouri Rogers. All rights reserved. Use without permission is illegal.Contact Me At herae30@yahoo.fr
A record shot of Red Kites talon to talon in North Yorkshire on the 29th October 2017. Are they fighting, play fighting or practising for food passing, I wonder?
Specially marked Northrop T-38C Talon 63-8187/HT of the 586th Flight Test Squadron, 704th Test Group based at Holloman AFB. The colour scheme is a tribute to the 586th BS which flew B-26 Marauders during WW2. The aircraft carries the Air Force Research Laboratory’s complementary positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) AgilePod, which is being developed to deliver advanced navigation technology independent of GPS.
EA-18G (168900) from VAQ-140 "Patriots". Based at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington.
Taking off from Phoenix Sky Harbor.
The Talon VTOL, developed and produced by DARKWATER, is the PMC´s main Dropship by 2028. In flight mode the Talon can reach a topspeed of 520km/h, but, as VTOL, it can also float in mid air. Even though the Talon is a dropship, it features two 30mm auto cannons, one on each side of the VTOL´s cockpit. Currently many Talon Dropships can be seen all over New York, but in particular transporting DARKWATER personel and equipment in Manhattan
The main idea of this creation was a future version of the V-22 Osprey in combination with Harrier like VTOLs. The model can fit a Pilot, 2 passengers and 2 Assault Rifles in the cargo bay. The Talon´s landing gear is foldable and the engines can be rotated.
This picture is the mainpicture, but...
I recommand you to check out this picture as it is my favorite picture of the Talon so far.
We came across a dead young Buzzard on one of our walks. No sign of injuries other that what seemed like a broken neck. We think it might have flown into a tree trunk and killed itself!! How sad. We took it home and preserved the talons in a jar of salt and a dear friend then made them into keyrings for my partner. The feathers went to another friend who makes his own feather fletched arrows.