Chapter Four

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Note: I am really sorry I waited this long to update

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I stood in the nuclear power plant, surrounded by my fellow Crimebusters, and a few nuclear power plant technicians. I held a knife in my hand, gripping Adrian by his stupid purple cloak.

"Dan, you don't want to cross that line," Mr. Gardner said, "I know people who have, and they were never the same."

"Listen to him, Daniel!" Walter warned

Reluctantly, I dropped the knife. If Walter told you to do something, you did it.

"Now back away from him."

I slowly moved next to Walter.

"Adrian, you're out of the club," Walter spoke calmly, but dangerously

Terrified, Adrian walked to the door. He was no longer a crime fighter, he was just some scared kid in a stupid costume. Without a team, everyone was like that.

"But guys…" Adrian croaked

He looked around for support. Mr. Gardner turned away awkwardly, Walter just glared at him, Laurie hid behind Walter, and I shook my head at him.

"Fine!" Adrian yelled, "I don't need you! People like me more than any of you! I'm cooler! Ask anyone!"

He ran out without a shred of dignity.

/

Of course, at school, Adrian spent most of his time telling people that he wasn't fired, he quit. At his lowest moment, he threatened to tell everyone that I was The Owl.

"OK," I nodded, "Go ahead."

"You don't think I will?" Adrian asked

"Do it."

"OK…"

Adrian turned back to the crowd of people he was with.

"Hey guys, Dreiberg's The Owl,"

I'd never heard so much laughter in my life.

/

After school, Walter and I headed to my car.

"Do you want to stop somewhere for a burger?" I offered

I said that to Walter pretty much every day, I just switched the words around.

"Chili," Walter replied, "From Wendy's. If it's on the way."

And he always said that. We always pretended that it was a spur of the moment decision; it was my excuse to buy Walter a decent meal. I would never ask him to reimburse me, Walter would never ask for anything that wasn't from the dollar-menu.

"We'll probably pass it," I replied, "I think I'll get a…"

I stopped mid-sentence, and looked ahead. Laurie was standing with the car-riders, yelling at someone on her cell phone.

"That's odd. Her mom usually picks her up right on time."

Yes, I know how stalker-ish that sounds.

"Do you think I should offer her a ride?" I asked

"Wouldn't hurt," Walter shrugged

/

I got out of my car, and walked up to Laurie. I tried to walk naturally, but I sort of hurried.

"Laurie!" I accidentally yelled

"Yeah?" she asked

"You, um…you look like you're…like you missed your ride," I stammered, "Can I…give you a lift?"

"Uh, sure," Laurie shrugged

/

We walked to my car; I held the door open for her.

"Thanks," Laurie smiled

She got into the car, and was surprised to see Walter in the front seat.

"Hi…" she attempted to be friendly

"Hurm," Walter muttered

/

I drove Laurie home; she lived in the Gibbons Estate, a subdivision. I drove up to the gate, and Laurie opened it with an electric key. We then made our way to Laurie's place; it was by far the nicest one on the block. It was a large, mauve two-story house with three-car garage and a large lawn. I drove up on the driveway; there was a woman tending to the plants who was quite beautiful. She stood there in her khaki shorts, T-shirt, and sunhat, her red hair tied back into two plaits. She looked up at

"Laurie!" the woman called out

She walked up to the car; Laurie averted her eyes, embarrassed.

"Hi mother…" Laurie sighed

"Laurie, I'm sorry I couldn't pick you up, but Eddie took the car."

"It's alright," Laurie got out of the car

"Who are your friends?" Laurie's mom asked

"I'm Dan, this is Walter," I introduced us, "We just gave your daughter a ride home."

"Oh, how sweet. Would you like to come in for lemonade?"

"I wouldn't want to impose."

"Nonsense. Come on in."

I shrugged; I was thirsty.

"OK. Walter?"

"Fine here," he replied

I tossed him the keys.

"Might want to leave the window open."

"Will do."

/

I walked inside Laurie's house; it was very modern, laminated wood floors and an HD TV in each room.

"So Dan, how do you know Laurie?"

"I'm in the Crimebusters," I explained

"Are you the fruity one?"

"No…" I said awkwardly, "Why? Do I give off that vibe?"

"Oh, no, it's just that Laurie said she liked the Crimebuster who wasn't…"

"Mother!" Laurie exclaimed

My Owl-sense was telling me to get out of there.

"I just remembered, I told Walter's mom I'd get him home by four," I lied, "I have to go."

/

That night…

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Walter and I were suiting up in my shelter. We planned to only go out from an hour; we had to get up early for Jonny's funeral the next morning.

"Wherever you go, I go," Walter warned, "I'm not having you blowing up another building."

"That was mild fire damage at the most," I replied

Walter slipped on his mask, and tied his trench coat shut.

"Are you sure I can't get you a bulletproof vest?" I asked

"Fine like this."

/

We took the bus downtown; halfway there, Walter snapped his fingers, and reached into his coat.

"Mr. Gardner was saying we should wear these, for Jonny," he explained, taking out two black armbands, "You in?"

"Sure,"

I took one of the armbands, and slid it on my right arm.

"You know, it wasn't Adrian's fault that Jonny died," Walter said

"He didn't exactly help."

"Daniel, Adrian couldn't have done anything. Either way, someone would have had to die. And Jonny wouldn't have let Adrian do it."

"You really think so?" I asked

"He was a scientist, was he not?"

"Yeah, I guess."

/

Walter and I did a simple walk through our territory, making our way through the busy streets.

"Remember that time Jonny tried to come with us?" I reminisced

"Yeah," Walter let out a little chuckle

"Do you remember the name he used?"

"Doctor Manhattan," Walter replied, "And he had that ridiculous blue suit."

"But he did catch that mugger," I grinned

"If only there was an award for most creative use of a hotdog stand," Walter added

/

We kept on patrolling, just letting people know we were here for them.

"Hey, Owl!" came a yell

"Oh jeez…" I groaned

"At least listen to them," Walter advised

Two guys came running up to us; they looked like typical street kids, wearing bandanas and baggy jeans.

"What can we do for you?" Walter asked

"Oh, man," one guy groaned, "Some dude just jacked my…"

I lashed out at the guy, kicking him in the stomach and forcing him into some stone steps. As he fell, a switchblade fell from his sleeve; he had been planning to attack me. The second guy pulled out a pipe that was in his jeans, and attempted to hit Walter; Walter simply grabbed the pipe and punched the guy in the nose; he ran.

"Daniel, have you ever heard of Occam's Razor?" Walter asked

"Is that a Native American weapon?"

"No, it's the theory that the simplest thing is usually the answer."

"What's your point?"

"You brutally attacked that guy when you could have scared him off with a punch."

"Where's the…" I began

I could tell Walter was giving me 'the eye' under his mask.

"Where's the fun in that?" Walter completed, "Daniel, this is not about fun. We do this because it's the right thing."

"Well maybe I enjoy doing the right thing," I retorted

"You enjoy showing off," Walter explained, "And at first that was good, you really helped me with your gadgets and your theatrics, but now you've taken it too far. They've become your weakness."

"Oh please. They make me strong."

"Really?" Walter raised an eyebrow, "Do you want to put that to the test?"

He held up his fists.

"I'm not going to fight you," I warned

"Come on. I'll give you a free punch."

"Fine."

I switched on an electro-blaster on my wrist, and prepared to strike at Walter. Then he punched me in the nose.

"Ow!" I exclaimed, "Douche-bag!"

"But I'm right," Walter reminded, "You've got too much of an image problem."

"No I don't. I'm The Owl, the terror of the…"

Walter punched me in the nose again; this time, I fell on the ground.

"You may have a point," I admitted

"Good. Now let's head home."

"But we just got here!"

"You're in no shape to fight. Come on."

Reluctantly, I followed.

/

Jonny's funeral went well the next day. It had a small turnout, Jonny's parents, his friends from the science club, the Crimebusters, and Mr. Gardner. After all the general phoniness at school, of people pretending they knew him just to get attention, it was nice to be around people who actually liked Jonny, and were affected by his demise.

"…and while he did not have a lot of time on this earth," the priest continued, "I can see by the turnout that…"

I looked over to Adrian, who was looking guiltily at the coffin. It was lead-lined, since Jonny's remains were still slightly radioactive. I managed to catch his eye, and gave him a slight nod, as if to say 'it's not your fault'. He let out a little smile.

"…and now we commit his remains to the earth," the priest concluded

/

Afterwards, we went to a small reception. I placed a few mini-sausages on a platter, and sat down next to Walter.

"I talked to Officer Mason," Walter said, "He'd like to help you."

"Walter, I don't need help."

"You got your ass handed to you by some skinny ginger guy," Walter reminded

"I let you do that! I felt sorry for you."

Walter tried to hit me again, but this time, I blocked it.

"You've got no problem," Walter said, "But The Owl is clouding your mind."

"The Owl isn't just some character I made up," I replied, "I'm dead serious about this. When that owl flew through my window in my time of distress…"

"…it inspired you to become a symbol of fear in the underworld?" Walter completed

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"Because that's the origin of Batman!" Walter groaned

I looked away in embarrassment.

"Daniel, you ripped of a fictional character to serve as your alter-ego."

"Well maybe I got a little carried away with the origin, but aside from that, it's all me!"

"OK," Walter nodded, in mock-acceptance, "By the way, what exactly happened at Twilight Lady's brothel?"

"Well, after knocking out the guards…"

"Yeah."

"Then I made this awesome speech, I said 'you've raped just about everyone in this city. You've abused your power, and driven the innocent citizens to the brink of insanity. It ends tonight'. And then I blew up some walls…"

Walter was giving me 'the eye' again.

"What?" I groaned

"You stole that from Batman: Year One!" Walter reminded

"No I didn't! And I want that back some day!"

"Have you ever compared yourself to a surgeon in an operating table?"

"No!"

"Daniel…"

"Well…maybe I said 'lawyer in a courtroom', but that's completely different!"

/

Afterwards, Walter persuaded me to go round to Hollis's house. We caught him as he was just getting home.

"Hey boys," Hollis said, "What can I do for you?"

"Daniel needs help with crime fighting," Walter explained

"Well, I could tell you about the police training I took," Hollis replied

"Hollis," Walter interrupted, "That's not what I meant."

The two of them locked eyes. Then Hollis folded.

"OK," Hollis nodded, "Boys, get in the car."

"Where are we going?" I asked

"You'll see…"