New York City, 1933…
Dr. Moloch Manchu was a scary looking man, wearing a fur coat and a turban, sporting a thin goatee. He stood in his underground lab, examining the woman strapped to his table. She was very beautiful, perfect skin, and eyes like emeralds. She wore a loose white gown, but had a terrified look on her face.
"Miss Jupiter…" he grinned, brandishing his machete, "You still do not wish to give me the plans to your associate's rocket ship?"
"I'll never tell!" Ms. Jupiter said, struggling to break through the straps
"Then I must resort to more drastic measures…"
Dr. Moloch Manchu's machete sliced through the air, cutting a rope that was tied around a cage. Slowly, a large green snake slid out of it, making its way to Ms. Jupiter.
"The Green Mamba is one of the deadliest and rarest snakes in the entire world," the Doctor said, "One bite and you a dead in a month. One month of agonizing pain. You can avoid it, just the plans to your friend's ship."
"Never!"
"Then feel the wrath of the Green Mamba…"
The snake slithered from Ms. Jupiter's feet towards her head, and she tried to slide away from it with no success.
"Dr. Moloch Manchu, please!" Ms. Jupiter begged, "Don't do this to me!"
"I gave you a choice," Dr. Moloch Manchu said, "You still have it…"
"Ahahahaha!" an echoing voice laughed, "Ah! Ahahaha!"
"Who said that?" Dr. Moloch Manchu held up his machete, "Who dares laugh at me?"
"Dr. Moloch Manchu…" the voice said, "…you kidnapped a woman. Who does that?"
Suddenly, one of the Doctor's samurai guards was flung across the room. There was a knife in his back, a butterfly knife with an owl-wing shaped handle.
"No!" Dr. Moloch Manchu gasped, "It can't be!"
"Believe it, Doctor," the voice grinned, "or else…"
The lights flickered off; when they came back on, all samurai guards were on the ground, dead with owl-knives in their backs.
"I demand you show yourself!"
"As you wish…"
A shadow appeared on the wall, the shape of a man in a cloak and peaked hat. Dr. Moloch Manchu threw his machete at the shadow, which appeared to take the hit, and collapse.
"Hah! You do not scare me, shadow-man!" the Doctor said
"How about now?"
The man revealed himself for real, stepping out from a doorway. He was dressed just like his shadow, but brown instead of black. He reached to his holsters, taking out two knives. One of them flew right by Ms. Jupiter's head, decapitating the green mamba. The other knife he twirled in his hand at incredible speeds, and then finally, he struck Dr. Moloch Manchu on the head with the handle.
"Thank you!" Ms. Jupiter said, "Who are you?"
"They call me The Night Owl," the man replied, slicing Ms. Jupiter's bonds, "Just another wealthy young man about town."
The Night Owl plucked his knife from the snake, and wiped the blood off. Then he took the snake, pocketing it.
"I have to be off now," he said, holstering his knives, "Can you manage the journey home?"
"Yes, Night Owl," Ms. Jupiter got up, "I'll take a cab home."
"I won't hear of it," The Night Owl said, "Allow me to give you a lift in my car."
The two of them walked outside the Victorian-era house that was built over Dr. Moloch Manchu's dungeon laboratory, and approached a black 1931 Buick Eight.
"What do you call that?" Ms. Jupiter asked
"Archie!" Night Owl called out
"Yes sir?" an elderly cab driver stuck his head out the window
"Archie, give Ms. Jupiter a ride home. I'll catch up to you later."
"Right away sir."
The Night Owl helped Ms. Jupiter into his car, and Archie drove away.
"I'd better keep an eye on that girl," The Night Owl decided
He walked to a nearby wall, and took out four suction cups. He attached them to his feet and wrists, and began climbing the building. Five minutes later, he was at the top, overlooking the city.
"Calling agent 241," he said, into his watch, "Dr. Moloch Manchu is at 1986 Moore Street, right by Gibbons Avenue."
Agent 241 heard The Night Owl's words in his head, and wrapped up the meeting he was in. He then walked to his office, and barricaded the door.
"This is Agent 241," he said, out loud, "I'll send the major crimes unit around."
"That won't be necessary…" came The Night Owl's voice, "You will go there yourself. He has been apprehended sufficiently..."
The Night Owl stopped talking to 241, and decided it was time to return home. He ducked down into the shadows, and emerged not as The Night Owl, but as Daniel Drake. He wore a plain brown business suit, with slicked back hair and large glasses.
"Home…" he muttered
Daniel Drake walked back to his place of business, a bookshop downtown. He opened the front door, and tipped his hat to the woman behind the desk.
"Grace," he said, "All clear?"
"Yes Mr. Drake," she said
Daniel slid aside a bookcase, and revealed a flight of stone steps. He walked down, and unlocked the door that was at the bottom of them, revealing a loud nightclub. This was his real job, as the owner of a speakeasy. People were drinking bootleg alcohol, listening to swing music. Daniel walked by a table, where some of the most prominent crime families in New York dined.
"Boss Underelli," Daniel said, nodding, "How are you this evening?"
"I am doing good, Mr. Drake," Boss Underelli said, swallowing his spaghetti, "But tell me, that man over there, the man with freckles and red hair, who is he? I have not seen him here before."
Daniel examined the man.
"Excuse me…" Daniel said, rather annoyed
Daniel walked up to the man, who was sitting on his own, placing sugar cubes into his glass of water.
"OK, Officer Kovaacs," Daniel growled, "You know the deal. Your department gets ten percent of our profits, and you stay away from us."
"Relax," Kovaacs shifted in his chair, "I'm just here as a patron of the arts. Besides, you guys told us you had nothing to hide?"
"You know the score Kovaacs," Daniel said, "We keep the criminals indoors, and off the streets."
"That's not how the system works," Kovaacs said, "I'm one cop you can't buy."
"Whatever. Just get out of here."
Officer Kovaacs left, and Daniel walked to his office. He locked the doors, closed the blinds, and opened his closet. He pushed the coats aside, and walked into his secret room. It was filled with objects of Eastern mysticism, from the years he had spent in Asia.
"Agent 181," he said into his watch
Officer Kovaacs was standing outside, about to walk back to his apartment, when he heard The Night Owl's voice in his head.
"Yes Night Owl?" Kovaacs muttered
"I have an assignment for you. Boss Underelli and his men are planning a heist at the Allied Chemical Plant tonight. You will go above the chief's head when reporting his arrest; go directly to the commissioner when you make your arrests."
"Will do, Night Owl," Kovaacs nodded
Daniel twisted his watch dial, and relaxed. The speakeasy was a great cover for a sting operation; if someone accused Daniel of snitching, he'd simply have them thrown out, and in times of prohibition, no one wanted to be branded a snitch.
"Oh no…" Drake sensed something terrible had happened, "No, no, no!"
Quickly, he threw on his cloak and peaked hat, and wrapped a red silk kerchief around his mouth. He then took a deep breath, and disappeared.
Outside…
The police had cordoned off the area surrounding the body. The Night Owl slipped through the crowds unnoticed, and saw the body. His predictions were correct: Doctor Blakeov was dead, thrown out the window. The Night Owl had known Blakeov; he was the chief scientific advisor of Doc Manhattan, the Man of Hydrogen. Blakeov was big, built like a linebacker, and covered with cuts; he hadn't simply fallen out the window. The Night Owl memorized every single detail, and stored it in his mind; he would go back to it later and exam it. Then he moved away, silently.
Downtown, The Night Owl entered a top secret building known as the Manhattan Tower. He passed right through the front door guards unnoticed.
"Evening gentlemen…" The Night Owl muttered
The guards looked at each other.
"Did you say something?" one asked the other
"No…"
The Night Owl strolled up the stairs to Doc Manhattan's lab. Doc Manhattan was pounding at a steel bar with a hammer. He stood there, almost eight feet tall, his blue skin glowing and his widow's peak continuingly giving the impression he was looking at something with a scientific curiosity.
"Hello, Night Owl," Doc Manhattan said, "I was expecting you."
"Hi Doc," The Night Owl opened up the Doc's fridge, and took out a coke in a green glass bottle, "You hear about Blakeov?"
"Yes," Doc sighed, "He was a good man. I'm sorry he's gone."
"Any suspects?"
"I'm sorry, Night Owl, I can't think too much right now, until I do at least an hour of manual labor. Otherwise, the intellectual taint will affect my mind."
"Understood…"
"Hello, Night Owl,"
The Night Owl turned around and saw Ms. Jupiter standing in the doorway.
"Hello, Ms. Jupiter," The Night Owl said
"Please, call me Laurie," she said
"I'd rather not; Miss Jupiter, how are your wrists?"
"Fine," Miss Jupiter examined them, "straps left a few marks, but I can handle it."
Suddenly, a nearby radio began to spark, and turned itself on.
"Attention American citizens," spat a Germanic voice, "This is Adrian Sunlight, here to tell you the news. In one hour, I will unleash my wrath on the earth, unless the following captains of industry agree to sign their empires over to me."
He named several key members of the oil, coal, and manufacturing industries. None of them were likely to surrender any time soon.
"Darn it!"growled Doc Manhattan, "My laboring will have to wait."
He put down his hammer.
"We'll have to track Adrian Sunlight down," Doc said, "Night Owl, can you come with me?"
"Sure," The Night Owl nodded, "Where are we going?"
"I recently tracked down Adrian's hideout; it's in my abandoned fortress of solitude, in Antarctica."
"Got it. I'll need to call in one of my agents first."
The Night Owl retreated to one of Doc Manhattan's private rooms, and spoke into his watch.
"Agent 181," he said
Officer Kovaacs heard the voice in his head.
"Yes, Night Owl?" he asked
"I require your assistance on a mission," he said, "You can use your face for this one."
"Understood. Where are you?"
"You'll be drawn to me…"
Officer Kovaacs abandoned his sting mission, and went to his apartment. It was a nice place, but small. He opened up his footlocker, revealing his 'face'. In his early days on the force, Kovaacs had a lot of pent-up rage towards criminals, but The Night Owl had helped him conquer the rage. He had Walter wear a white mask, and slowly drained his anger into it, turning half of the mask black. But the rage didn't die; it was continuously moving, divided into two sides, one reflecting the other, just like a psychiatrist's test.
"This is the last time I do this…" Kovaacs muttered
He took off his cop uniform, replacing it with a pinstripe suit and brown overcoat. He also put on a fedora, just to further disguise his identity.
"You can do this, Walter," he said to himself, "You control him, he doesn't control you…"
Kovaacs took a deep breath, and pulled the mask over his face. Suddenly, the rage overtook him, shedding his Walter Kovaacs identity, and turning him into a man filled with nothing but hate towards crime: Rorschach.
Half an hour later, the four of them were on Doc Manhattan's private jet, which had been built in collaboration between Doc and Howard Hughes. It was able to go nearly anywhere on earth in under two hours by harnessing the power of Doc's nuclear energy. Rorschach, The Night Owl, and Doc Manhattan were preparing for battle. Miss Jupiter was also joining them, but just to fly the plane.
"Doc, what have you got?" Rorschach asked
"My latest invention: the submachine gun," Doc Manhattan replied, "It's not as powerful as a regular machine gun, but it has the same firepower and is lighter."
"Huh," The Night Owl held up his .45's, "Probably won't catch on."
He holstered them, and checked inside his cloak.
"I'm ready. Rorschach, you ready?"
Rorschach slid leather gloves on, and a couple of knuckle dusters.
"Ready," he growled
Soon, the 'jet' as Doc called it flew across Antarctica, the fortress in sight.
"Why don't you use the fortress anymore?" The Night Owl asked
"After the accident that transformed me into the man of hydrogen, I no longer felt the need to get away from society," Doc Manhattan explained, "it just became so much more interesting, the everyday miracles."
"Ah huh. You'd think it would be the opposite. You'd think that you'd want to isolate yourself from an inferior society."
"What?" Doc gave The Night Owl a strange look, "Only a man with an incredibly messed up mind would come to that conclusion."
The three of them disembarked, and ran to the fortress. They were almost there, when suddenly, a laser blast fired at them, almost destroying them if it wasn't for Doc throwing himself in the way of the laser.
"Doc!" Rorschach gasped, "Are you OK?"
"Fine…" Doc got up slowly, smoke coming from his chest, "I'll walk it off."
"I think I'd better go ahead of you guys," The Night Owl reached to his belt, and disappeared
Later…
Doc Manhattan and Rorschach walked inside the fortress, blasting their way open using Doc's laser vision.
"Adrian's an environmental terrorist," Doc Manhattan explained, "Cares more about the planet than human life."
"Sounds like that unstable man in Germany," Rorschach said, "You might accidentally kill Adrian; leave him to me."
"That's better thinking."
The two of them walked in, and saw Adrian Sunlight was standing in front of his giant TV set, holding a remote control. He was wearing a gold suit, the same color as his hair. Rorschach tackled him, knocking him to the ground and sending his remote flying. Rorschach punched him in the face, but Adrian swung around on the ground, sending Rorschach crashing into the giant projector glass. Glass rained down on him, but because of the thickness of his clothes, Rorschach was relatively unharmed
"Doc, Rorschach," he said, menacingly, "The Night Owl couldn't join us?"
"He was busy," Rorschach said, "what are you doing Sunlight?"
"What am I doing?" Adrian asked "I have built massive lasers that will cut into the Earth's crust, releasing magma such that the tectonic plates will sink and the planet's oceans will rise over all the land area except Antarctica. Humans will be eradicated; marine plants will thrive underwater!"
"And when were you planning to do this?" Rorschach asked
"When? Rorschach, I wasn't going to risk you stopping me. I detonated it thirty-five minutes ago. And as you know, Doctor Blakeov was the only one who could stop me, only he was able to stop me, so I killed him…"
Suddenly, The Night Owl appeared out of nowhere, and kicked Adrian.
"Sunlight, that's bull," The Night Owl growled, "I think you'd better stop whatever you've done!"
"I can't," Sunlight reminded, "You might as well give up…"
The Night Owl grabbed Adrian, and looked angrily into his eyes.
"Fine, if that's the way you want to do it…"
The Night Owl used a trick he'd learnt in Asia, instilling pure fear into Adrian's mind. The Night Owl made sure to do it just right, so the fear was enough to make him do anything, but not to give him a heart attack.
"OK I'll do it!" Adrian said, on the verge of tears, "Just stop doing that!"
The Night Owl let Adrian down, and he immediately ran to his remote control. He quickly started pressing buttons, and soon, he had deactivated the lasers.
"It's done," Adrian said
"Thank you," The Night Owl nodded
He hit Adrian in the jaw, and knocked him down.
"Night Owl, how did you know he could undo it?" Doc Manhattan asked
"Simple," The Night Owl said, slapping a pair of handcuffs on Adrian, "the main difference between good and evil is that evil is very cowardly; Adrian would have a way out to save his own neck."
"Quite right," Doc nodded
He walked over to Adrian's cabinet, and took out a bottle of wine. He poured three glasses, and handed them to Rorschach and The Night Owl.
"Gentlemen, to justice!"
"To justice!" Rorschach and The Night Owl echoed