The Patriot Acts
CHAPTER 1
Gotham City. September 11, 2001.
In an abandoned warehouse in the middle of Gotham, the time is ticking.
"Alfred, send me over the engineering of this detonator," Batman says as he sends a picture to Alfred with his digital Bat phone.
"Sir, I have sent a diagram of the closest design match. Please let me know if I can be of further service," Alfred says from the other end confident that Ra's Al Ghul's plans will soon be foiled.
"You know, it's strange Alfred. This configuration almost seems too simple for Ra's," Batman says as he deactivates the chemical bomb. "Alfred, tell Dick to bring the Batwing. This thing can't stay any longer."
"Will do, sir. Right away."
"It just doesn't add up," Batman thinks to himself as he ties the bomb in a net to be hoisted by the Batwing. Without hesitation, a commanding explosion interrupts his next thought. Never had Bruce felt a sound so impactful.
He sees a ceiling window in the middle of the dusty, rotting warehouse, and shoots his grappling gun breaking the glass of a panel and latching onto the roof. He soars with his cape extended and arrives at the window. Peeking his head out of the window, he turned his head to see a burning stack of urban metal. It looked like a skyscraper had become a newly lit cigar.
Getting to his feet, Batman hears the Batwing behind him. He attaches the bomb to the jet as Robin lets down a hydraulic rope for him to grab. Batman crawls in the passenger seat and Robin takes off. "First time driving the Wing and I've got a bomb underneath me."
"You'll catch on. Look, Robin, we need to get rid of this quick. I think there's more where this came from."
"I noticed," Robin says as he looks at the burning stack now in the distance.
The duo continues over the Atlantic Ocean with the bomb hanging slightly below. "Attach the bomb to the Bat Rocket and aim for the Moon," Batman orders. Robin presses buttons on the control panel and sends the rocket and attached bomb out of this planet.
Robin turns the plane around. "Where to now?"
"Alfred, what's the status of the Twin Towers," Batman asks through the Batwing's central video unit.
"Master Bruce, it has just come to my attention that the Twin Towers have been attacked by a passenger plane.
"There are more planes out there. I just know it. Al Ghul set us up with that chemical bomb so his goons could have us distracted."
"Sir, there are three planes that have just been found well off course on the East Coast."
"Send me those tracking digits, Alfred. Robin we've got some damage control to take over. We'll split up. I'll take the miniature unit."
"The miniature unit? No excuse me, Batman, I don't know if you'd fit," Robin says as he trades Batman his seat. Robin runs to the middle of the jet and climbs a ladder to the mini-jet below. "All ready for ejection, Batman!"
Batman ejects Robin as they head for two of the three planes off course.
Meanwhile in Metropolis...
While working from a typewriter on his latest story, Clark Kent is surveying Metropolis with his super-senses.
"There's nothing going on in the city, but I can't help but feeling like something is very wrong," Clark thinks to himself.
"Clark, I want that paper on my desk in one hour. I don't understand why it takes you so long to write these sometimes," a voice says in passing.
"I'll have it on your desk in thirty minutes, Mr. White," Clark replies while looking at a nearby television monitor with a report on Gotham City.
"Perry, God damn it, Clark! Perry!" Clark's boss screams as he goes back into his office.
"Oh, my God, Clark! Have you heard?" Clark looks over to find Lois Lane pointing towards the television.
"Heard what?" Clark turns his full attention to Lois and the television.
"A passenger plane was just hijacked and flown into one of the Twin Towers."
"My God, I-uhh, that's horrible," Clark says aloud as he looks horrified at the events unfolding out of his reach.
"I knew there was something going on," Clark thinks to himself. "I've got to get to the east coast as soon as possible. My senses tell me this is just the beginning."
"Here's that paper you wanted, Mr. White." He slaps the paper on his boss's desk as he rushes towards the elevator.
"It's Perry, Clark! And where the hell are you off to?"
"Off to get another story for The Planet!"
"Try turning this one in a little earlier, Clark," Perry screams as the elevator door almost closes.
Lois Lane pulls the door apart. "Where are you headed to so soon?"
"I'm running late for an interview on my next story, Lois. I really have to be going."
"Well, say goodbye next time," Lois says resting her arm on the elevator door.
"I'll try better next time. Be safe, Lois," Clark pushes the button to the first floor in hopes of sending Lois the message that he is in a rush.
"You too. You know, Clark, you look really good in red," Lois says catching Clark off guard for a brief second until she points to the red tie he is wearing with his button-up collar to clarify.
"Oh, yes," Clark realizes his red tie. For a second, he forgot he was wearing red already. "You look wonderful, Lois, but this story isn't going to write itself."
"Bye, Clark."
The door closes. The elevator is empty but Clark notices a video camera atop the elevator.
"Can't change in here," Clark thinks to himself. He patiently waits for the bell to ring for the first floor. He exits amidst a crowd of other workers and businesspeople to make his wardrobe change in the bathroom.
After putting on the cape, Superman rushes out of the bathroom, bursts out of the building and soars into the air.
"There's Superman!" someone yells from the crowd outside as Superman zips past Perry White's office and causes his coffee to spill.
Perry doesn't see Superman outside but he hears the familiar sound and sighs at the spilled coffee, "Looks like we may have a story today after all."
It's a bird… It's a plane…
In a flash, Superman bullets from the Midwestern city of Metropolis to the aid of the hijacked planes on the eastern coast. Gotham has been attacked, but it seems Gotham may only be the beginning. Superman senses that one of these airborne planes is heading straight for the nation's capital.
"Batman and Robin already have the other two. I'll take this one to safety, and then make sure Gotham's heroes have the situation under control," Superman says to himself while approaching the belly of American Airlines #77.
"This trajectory… It's heading straight for the Pentagon!" Superman exclaims. "Not in my lifetime!" he thinks to himself.
Realizing that the cockpit cabin has been locked and enclosed, Superman senses an opportunity.
Superman immediately punches a whole in the floor of the cockpit. The airplane's speed forces all but one of the piloting hijackers to be expelled from the cabin. Superman begins to guide the plane toward the ground while the one remaining hijacker is trapped by his seatbelt. The force of the hole in the cockpit causes his body to shake viciously. The hijacker screams in Arabic as the plane is brought down to safety.
Upon landing in an empty clearing somewhere in Maryland, Superman grabs the hijacker out of his seatbelt, knocks him in the face, and throws him over his back. He then flies back into the air to gather the remaining, sky-falling hijackers.
Superman knocks each one of them unconscious until all five are stacked upon his back or being carried in his arms. Superman heads towards the Pentagon to turn them in, but before he leaves the area, he is met by a group of military helicopters.
"Superman!" a voice is propelled from one of the helicopter's loud speakers. "You can return the hijackers to us."
Superman brings the hijackers to one of the copters and before any more can be said, he darts off to check on Batman and Robin. He sensed that they had already managed to ground the remaining two planes themselves.
In rural Pennsylvania, Superman finds Robin with a successfully grounded airplane. The hijackers are each tied up to different parts of the grounded plane. One is roped on each wing, and one or two on the cockpit.
"Robin, how'd you manage to do all of this by yourself?" Superman is shocked at Boy Wonder's abilities.
"Well, let's just say I'm used to having my feet in tight situations," Robin replies. "But what we really need to worry about is making sure Batman is okay, and getting these criminals turned into the authorities."
"You're right, Robin. Listen, you make sure the civilians here are okay and keep these criminals here. I can tell the military is already on its way. They should be able to take care of the rest from there. Once they're here, head back to Gotham to find us. I'll make sure Batman is in no trouble."
Just outside of Gotham, off a New Jersey interstate, Superman finds Batman with the last intercepted plane. The plane is severely damaged, on fire, and Batman has corralled the civilians away from it at a safe distance.
As Superman approaches Batman, he notices that Batman's demeanor appears grim but this is nothing that Superman hasn't experienced before with the Dark Knight. Batman despises violence, and yet he has struggled all his life to fight something which takes more than a superhero to destroy.
"Batman, are all of the hijackers accounted for?" Superman asks.
Batman doesn't answer. He simply raises his head and sets his eyes on Superman's.
"Batman, do you have the hijackers in your possession?" Superman persists.
"For the first time, I have allowed myself to do something I swore I never would," Batman replies. He looks at the wreckage in shame.
Superman focuses his eyes on all the civilians. "Are all of the civilians fine?"
"They're probably scarred by the experience but they're all alive."
"Batman, I don't understand. What is wrong? You have saved these innocent human lives."
"And in so doing, I have ended the lives of others. It was not my intention, but sometimes the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. A man killed my parents right in front of me, and I never wanted this! There's no justice in death! There is only darkness."
"And what about those people over there, Batman? Don't you see that you have saved them from the violent choices of those hijackers? If it hadn't been for you, if you hadn't taken the measures you saw fit, where would these innocent civilians all be right now? That man who shot your parents may not have deserved for any one person to choose his death. But I won't hesitate to say that in that moment, if someone saw him raise that gun to your family, he invited death into his life. He made that an option for anyone who might have wanted to save your parents."
"When the world hears what happens…" Batman begins, taking a long pause. Silence penetrates the two heroes as they stand toe-to-toe, capes flowing in the wind. The large interstate behind them is empty, hanging on their conversation - the certainty of the gods.
"I won't be around," Batman finishes. "There's nothing to celebrate in death."