Manhattanville: Watchmen the Early Years

Chapter One

*****

In a cave beneath Alan Gibbons High School, the Junior class was chained to their school desks, as the evil Dr. Jacobi stood in front of the blackboard. He reached out his hand, as claws came out of his fingertips.

"Surrender, kids," he growled, grinning evilly

"No, not the board!" came cries from the desks

Dr. Jacobi scratched his hands against the board, creating a loud screeching sound. The students clasped their hands against their ears.

"Surrender, Dr. Jacobi!" I warned

Dr. Jacobi stopped scratching his claws against the board, and saw me standing in the doorway, wearing my crime-fighting costume.

"You'd better…"

Suddenly, everyone turned to me, and started laughing. Dr. Jacobi and my friends were laughing at me together, as if they were on the same side.

"What?" I asked

I looked down, and realized I had forgotten to put on my pants. I was standing in front of everyone in my underwear.

"Oh no!" I groaned

*****

I shot right up in bed, gasping. I had that nightmare again.

"Dan!" Dad yelled, from downstairs, "Get up! You have school in an hour!"

Suddenly, the nightmare didn't seem so bad. I'd rather fight Dr. Jacobi in my underwear in front of a bus full of nuns than go to school on a Monday morning.

*****

Half an hour later…

*****

I drove my BWM 323i up to Walter's house, which I really didn't like to do. I mean, Walter was my best friend, but going to his house…his foster parents seemed very cold. Walter came out of his house, carrying his schoolbag over his shoulder.

"Walter, try and see if there is anything at school you can stay after for," came his foster-mother's shrill cry

"Shut up, Janelle!" Walter muttered

Walter got into the car, and slammed the door. I drove away, not wanting to ask what they had been yelling about.

"Morning, Daniel," Walter said

"Sore throat not clearing up?" I asked

"What sore throat?"

"Never mind…"

*****

We stopped at a McDonalds on the way, and got some breakfast from the drive thru. We then drove to school and stopped in the parking lot to eat. Walter didn't really like to talk that much, but I still gave him a ride and bought breakfast, because if I didn't then Walter would be starving and late for school.

"So, coming to the Crimebusters Club meeting?" I asked

"I always do," Walter said, "You?"

"Well, yeah," I said, "I wonder if Jane got that note I left her."

"Again with her?" Walter groaned, "Daniel, if you thought more about your school work than you did girls…"

"That reminds me, can I copy your algebra homework?"

*****

School started, and I walked lazily to homeroom. During my first class, I got in trouble for drawing on my test paper. In my second class, I got in trouble for falling asleep (the teacher should take it as constructive criticism), and during lunch, Walter got in trouble for only having a can of beans for his lunch, and refusing to let the teacher heat it up for him. During gym, I got into a whole lot of trouble for refusing to stand up, but it was worth it; I had just seen the gymnastics team walk by, and I…well, I would have gotten into a whole lot more trouble if I did stand up. By the end of the day, I was tempted to skip the Crimebusters meeting tonight and just stay home. Walter could tell what I was thinking on the drive home.

"If you skip the meeting, then your Dad will find out," Walter reminded, "Then he'll want to know why, and he'll end up talking to you about school, what you want to do with your future."

I hated talking to Dad about my future. He always tried to talk me into going into his business, into corporate banking, but it didn't appeal to me. I liked birds and airplanes, but Dad wouldn't have any of that.

"Yeah, I'd better go," I decided

*****
I drove the car up to the gate around the suburb I lived in. I didn't really like living there, among people who wanted to separate themselves from society. I'd rather have a nice apartment in the middle of the city, but Dad always said he was doing what was best for me.

"Name?" said the voice from the intercom

"Dan Dreiberg," I said

"Any guests?"

"Nope," I lied

Walter had met the intercom-man once; he wasn't exactly welcome in the 'community'. We drove up to my house, a three story palace-of-the-suburbs, with its own pool. Walter pressed the button on my dashboard that opened up the garage door, and I drove inside.

"Two hours until the meeting," I said, "Let's get to work."

*****

Walter and I walked to the yard, and to the dumpster.

"Coast is clear," I said

Walter slid aside the dumpster, revealing a manhole cover. I lifted it up, and climbed down the ladder, with Walter following me. He pulled the dumpster back over us (Walter was incredibly strong). I flicked on the lights, revealing an old fallout shelter. We had discovered it when we were kids, and hadn't really used it until the Crimebusters Club had started; Mr. Gardner had found out that some students at school were doing a bit of vigilantism.

******

Walter had been fighting crime in his neighborhood, wearing a Rorschach mask. I found out about it when I came to pick him up from school and he had a stab wound. I insisted on helping him out, so I took a bit of money from my trust fund (blackmailed Dad's accountant a bit), and created some crime fighting equipment. I made myself a costume, a brown jumpsuit with light armor underneath, and wore welding goggles to hide my identity. The armor was light enough to move around in, but just thick enough to stop a bullet from a distance. After Walter and I had been fighting crime for a couple of months, the papers caught attention of our activities, and rounded up a few followers. Adrian Veidt, the class nerd, started following us around, calling himself Ozymandias, and wearing some kind of gold jumpsuit with a purple cloak. Walter and I didn't like him; he was too much of a show off. He posed for photographs, did trapeze stunts whenever he was being filmed, and signed autographs for kids. Still, I guess he was good to have representing us; whenever Rorschach and I went out on a crime busting spree, we did make a mess.

*****

Down in the abandoned fallout shelter, Walter was beating the crap out of a punching bag, and I was working on a new gadget. The fallout shelter acted as our base, and had a lot of modern conveniences. The people who built it in the sixties added an air purifier and lighting that was hooked up to the house's power.

"Hey, Walter, could you hand me that spanner?" I asked

Walter tossed it to me. I caught it, and tightened one of the bolts that were on the gun I was modifying.

"What do you think?" I asked

"What is it?" Walter asked

"It's a wirepoon gun," I explained, "We need a quick getaway, can't climb a wall…"

I aimed the gun away from Walter, and fired it. A grappling hook shot out, and embedded itself in one of the walls.

"Should make it easier to escape from reporters," Walter said

To be continued...