Outside a village hidden in a forest at the foot of Mount Fuji a man in a Red mask was putting the last bits of his plan into place, "I must be crazy to try to rob a village full of Shinobi," he said to himself. He pressed a button and on the other side of the village there was an explosion he watched as the Shinobi ran towards the disturbance and he slipped into the village and quickly entered the shrine.
"What are you doing here?" he turned to see rather tall young woman with long black hair and hazel eyes she had her weapon ready to attack, he reached for his knife.
"A there is a scroll you have that I need so hand it over and no one will get hurt," he said subconsciously she glanced over in the direction of a scroll mounted on the wall in the mouth of a golden dragon, "so that is…well that makes things easier."
"It will not be as easy as you believe," she said glaring at him, "you will have to get thru me."
"Okay then," he said charging in. She didn't expect him to be this skilled. He quickly got in too close for her to use her naginata and at this range it favored his dagger. She saw the blade coming and she managed to block it but what she didn't see was in his other hand was a smoke bomb that exploded in her face temporarily blinding her and causing her to drop her guard. The Red Hood came around and struck her in the back of the neck rendering her unconscious. He considered just killing her but he decided not to.
He walked up to the golden dragon and removed the scroll placing it in his jacket and making a quick escape before he had to fight anymore.
An hour later Hayate returned to his village to find it in disarray, "what happened," he ordered to a passing Shinobi.
"We were attacked, there was an explosion to the south and when we went to investigate we tripped the trap," the man answered.
"Trap…what kind of trap?"
"Sleeping gas Hayabusa-Sama, and while our forces were weakened it seems they slipped in from north…and they took the scroll. Momiji tried to fight is the only one who saw them…" at this Hayabusa rushed off to see if his disciple was alright. When he arrived he saw her sitting along with a few medics.
"Are you hurt?" Hayabusa asked.
"Just my pride," she answered.
"Who did this?" he asked.
"I don't know he wore a Red Mask and was highly skilled, someone trained him well," she answered.
"Red Mask…" he said more to himself he wondered if the League might have a clue to who was behind this, "what were they after?"
Momiji pointed to the wall where the scroll had been and his eyes widened with horror, he really needed to inform the League about this, if whoever took this had the power to use that scroll things could be very bad. A man known simply as the Sage, the First Shinobi the man's power were said to be unmatched, he had three scrolls and gave one to the Black Spiders one to the Mugen Tenshin and the last to them. The second Master of the village made it a punishable offense to try to read the scroll because he believed the secrets were too great for any man to wield. It hadn't been removed since this Shrine had been constructed two hundred years ago.
He had a strange feeling that someone on the inside was involved because no one else would have known where it was, and in order to get in an out with only one person seeing them. He turned and walked out of the shrine and got out the communicator, "Batman this is Ryu Hayabusa," he said as calmly as he could.
"Is there something wrong?" Batman asked.
"Someone broke into my village and stole a scroll, that is something no ordinary man could do," Ryu said.
"What can you tell me about the thief?"
"They were skilled enough to best my student and they wore a red mask," Ryu answered.
"Very well I will search the database to see if I can find anyone who might fit the description," Batman said.
"That is all that I can ask for," Ryu said.
A few days later Karl Marx arrived in Metropolis for the book signings, he entered his hotel room and turned on the light to see a man in a red mask sitting on the couch, "so I take it you got it," he said calmly.
"Yeah I got it… so when do I meet him?" Red Hood asked as he pulled the scroll out of his jacket.
"J'ahrl this is the man that has your confidence," the Red Hood jumped to his feet when he saw a creature that had a very demonic look to it, it was black with spikes coming out of its head shoulder. The spikes coming from his head formed a crown his eyes were purple with a ripple pattern.
"What is going on why did he call you J'ahrl?" Red Hood asked.
"I am J'ahrl M'orzz, I am a white Martian and he is the Progenitor of all things," Marx said as he turned into his true form a white creature with long limbs a hunch back.
"So there is a God and a Martian, sounds like the start of a bad joke," Red Hood said.
"The reason you were select was because you were trained by the Dark Knight and with that have the necessary skill set," the Martian said turning back to his human form reaching out to take the scroll.
"What is in this scroll?" Red Hood asked pulling it back.
"That doesn't concern you," Marx answered.
"So you don't know," Red Hood said, Marx frowned slightly as he took the scroll and handed it to the Progenitor who opened it, "so what is it?"
"Eye of the moon plan…or as you might know it as the Anti-Life Equation," The Progenitor said as his looking at the scroll he rolled it up and it vanished within a vortex, "you have done well Jason Todd."
"What of the third scroll? It will be much more difficult to get it know that Mugen Tenshin is aware that someone is after the scrolls," Marx said wondering if he was going to get it himself.
"From what I have gather the scroll is no longer in the village it was stolen by a traitor of their village, and my forces haven't located it yet…but with that scroll missing it was essential the second didn't go missing as well," the Progenitor said calmly.
"Aren't you worried someone might use it?" Marx asked.
"No," he answered as he vanished within the vortex. Marx turned to speak to Red Hood but he vanished as well. He walked over to the T.V and turned it on just as he sat down his room phone started to ring he picked it up.
"Mr. Marx, we have a Miss Lois Lane to see you," the receptionist said.
"Tell her I will be down in a moment," he said getting to his feet turning off the T.V and walking out of his room. He walked to the elevator and pressed the button labeled Lobby. He leaned against the back of the elevator as he watched the numbers drop until he reached his destination.
"Dr. Marx, I am Lois Lane of the Daily Planet, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions," Lois asked.
"I know who you are Miss Lane and your fried Mr. Olsen, you are very…infamous in the political arena," he said smiling kindly as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his noise slightly, "but I find your work rather interesting."
"Well I am glad to hear that," Lois said.
"I have reservations for the West Bank Riverhouse in hour how about we do the interview there, I will call and change the reservations for four," he said, "I had a meeting with Mr. Kent."
"As in Clark Kent…?" Lois asked frowning slightly.
"Yes that would be the one, so would you be agreeable?"
"That will be fine," she said putting away her note pad, "I will see you in an hour."
An hour later the four were seated at the restaurant, "so who wants to ask questions first?"
"I will," Lois said, "I am sure that you are aware of the rumors going around about DOATEC's cloning program."
"I have heard that," he said calmly, "but I can't speak to whether it is true or not."
"But didn't you use to work for them didn't you?" Lois continued.
"It is true, there was a time that I was in the employment of DOATEC but that was a long time ago. I left before a year before the death of Mr. Fame Douglas, and I haven't been privy to what they have been up to since that point."
"What was your role with DOATEC?"
"I did research for the they were interest on the Mythos of some of the ancient culture Fame believed that a lot of it was based in reality and he wanted to find out what was truth and what was fiction."
"Which ones in particular did he have you look into?"
"Pandora's Box, Ark of the Covenant, the Cradle of life and even the Fountain of Youth, but I am sorry that is all that I can tell you about the subject it was written in a contract not to divulge the details about the study," Marx answered, "But if you speak with Miss Helena Douglas and she give you permission to be filled in on the specifics of my work I will be more than happy to tell you."
"I will do that," she said, "but now what about the rumors of Lex Luthor approaching you about helping him on his campaign for President."
"That is true but he wanted me as his campaign manager which isn't really uncommon, I have helped many people get into office over the years. But this time I had to decline his offer."
"What made you do that?"
"I have much on my plate at the moment, so running someone's campaign is just out of the question."
"So it has it had nothing to do with his lack of ethics?"
"Miss Lane, I am not perfect so who am I to judge people to harshly. I am sure that you have done thing your less than proud of."
"Of course but I don't throw my morals away because someone flashed money in front of me."
"Let's say that you have a ground breaking story but there is someone who doesn't want it published, and they tell you that if you do they will go after the Daily planet until it does have a single penny, sure you could always get another job reporting or even start your own blog do you print the story?"
"Of course I am not going to be bullied."
"Then maybe you need to look in the mirror at your own ethical standing before you judge others on their, pride can he a very dangerous thing, Miss Lane. You would have all those people lose their jobs their pensions because you are too prideful to step down. Mr. Kent I believe you had some questions for you."
"Yes…umm…why did you choose Metropolis for your book signing?"
"The man who owns the book store I will be going to said that he would donate all profits from my new book sales to charity."
"So you won't be seeing any of the profits from the books sold at this location?"
"I won't be seeing any of the profits from this book it is all going to charity, I make more than enough off my other books and my stay with DOATEC, I also teacher at Gotham University and guest companies and other Universities, I have more than enough money."
"What made you decided to give away the profits to this book?"
"I feel it is the responsibility of us who can help to do so."
"Are there plans for another book anytime soon?"
"Who knows, maybe after I finish with this personal project I am working on I will publish my findings…but if you are talking about anything similar to the three due to be released tomorrow, then the answer would be no."
"Well…could you tell me more about this personal project you are working on?"
"I am sorry I can't but I can promise you it will change the course of human history," he said, "now that we have business out of the way let's eat."
"Professor, can I take a picture for the Daily planet?" Jimmy asked holding up his camera.
"By all means," he answered.
After dinner they bid each other farewell and Marx went back to his hotel, to find a less than welcome sight waiting for him.