Edge of Darkness - Chapter 11
Below the building, a shadowy figure limps away from all the activity. It's difficult to tell whether the person is male or female. The being lurches through the Metropolis sewer system, and suddenly shifts into hyper speed, dashing down a specific pathway towards a higher elevation.
The being winces at the sudden burst of sunlight, covering its large eyes. "Grog? Did you see him? Did you see Kal El?" A scratchy, deep throated female voice inquires, from a shadowed alcove near the sewer drainpipe entrance. "Yes me see him. Kal calls himself the Blur. I also saw young Kara Zor El. She has the power of flight!" An elderly woman with graying hair and a pinkish skin hue nods.
"So the Kandorians and Kryptonians did make it to Earth after all." She grumbles. "This will make matters more difficult Grog." Something buzzes loudly within the elderly woman's loose tunic. "Yes, My Lord?" She asks nervously. Grog, apparently male, ducks down low, concealing his nearly seven foot height beside the alcove.
Blissfully unaware citizens of Metropolis walked by, merely yards from the intruders. "I have identified the Kryptonians." The gnarled old woman's bony fingers pressed a golden triangle concealed just beneath her blouse. "Very good, Granny. This makes my victory that much sweeter." A powerfully deep voice responds through the small communication device.
Not far from the strange beings, two motorcycles roar past. They too, are unaware of the potentially imminent threat facing Metropolis. The black cycles zip carefully in between the vehicles of the ever increasing traffic leading to the bustling downtown of the huge city.
The motorcycle driver closest to the sidewalk's com link beeped. "Yeah, Barb?" A medium sized young man with flowing black hair replies. "Dick, are you sure that we can just waltz into the Daily Planet and hook up with Clark Kent and Lois Lane?"
"Bruce said that he'd made the call to the editor, Perry White." He responded, as his turbo-powered cycle hummed to a stop. A young woman with lengthy reddish blonde hair slowed her cycle to a stop beside him. "What are we gonna say? Hello, Mr. Kent, Miss Lane, do you know anything about a super hero called the Blur, and a number of huge crime families that banded together?"
"Pretty much, Barb." Dick admitted sheepishly. "Bruce agreed to let us investigate, sayin' that we can't solve all crimes by sittin' on our butts in front of the computer." Barb shook her head, allowing her freshly permed hair to flop outside of her jet black crash helmet.
"Personally, I think Bruce just wanted to get us out of his hair for a while." Barb opined. The red light changed to green and the young crime-fighters sped onward towards the famous newspaper.
By now, Clark was at Watchtower base, picking Chloe's brain as to what had just happened. "Are you sure that there were no reports of seismic activity in or around Metropolis?" He pressed her for answers. "Yes, Clark, I'm sure." Chloe sounded tired and indignant.
"I wonder if we have a new ground shifting meteor freak in the area?" Clark wondered aloud. "I don't know, Clark, but why would a meteor freak choose that exact moment to disrupt your rescue of Simons?" Chloe challenged. "Why not simply attack you in front of everyone?"
"Maybe the meteor freak doesn't know who I really am?" Clark reasoned. "He or she could've just wanted to possibly discredit the Blur by making me drop Simons off the ledge accidentally." Chloe shook her head, allowing her lengthening blonde locks to flow freely across her shoulders. "Maybe we're grasping at meteor freak straws here. After all, Impulse, Canary, and AC have abilities beyond the norm, and they're not from Smallville or Metropolis."
"Also, unless I miss my guess, you and Lois are about to receive some company." Chloe stated as she changed one of the many screens to show the parking lot outside the Daily Planet. "See those two Wayne / Nippon Motorcycles that just arrived?" She magnified the license plates for him to see.
"Gotham City?" Clark frowned as he read the plate's locality. "I've been checking up on someone that's been nosing around on our Watchtower database." Chloe explained. "You mean someone from Gotham was able to hack into Watchtower's security system?" Clark was incredulous.
"I was able to throw in some new fire walls that sent the intruder on a wild cyber goose chase, before they got into anything important. Some of Lana and I's meteor freak profiles were under low security lock downs. Whoever they are, they got into it, and they are very, very good."
"None of Oliver and I's higher functioning systems were compromised, but, I did send a quick ping tracer off some satellites right back to their Gotham IP address. Here's our two hackers." Chloe pulled up files labeled appropriately enough, 'Gotham Intruders'.
A petite female teenager with long, fluffy reddish blonde hair's picture came up. "Meet Barbara Gordon, daughter of Gotham City's Police Commissioner, James Gordon. She's the one that has gotten the furthest into Watchtower's systems...even further than Tess Mercer ever did."
"Next up, Richard Grayson. He was adopted by Bruce Wayne." Chloe's fingers sped across the keys. Grayson had shoulder length, jet black hair, and was a bit shorter and stockier than Clark. "Adopted?" Clark's eyes narrowed as he read Grayson's biography. "Funny, Wayne doesn't seem like the marrying type." He sniped as Chloe flipped through the file.
"Not the way it came down, Clark." Chloe informed him. "Wayne adopted Grayson as a young teen. He's technically called a ward. Wayne's not married, but I'd bet he waved enough greenbacks in front of the state bureaucrats, to fast track the adoption." Clark scowled. "Creepy, but I can relate to it."
"That's not the half of it." Chloe continued. "Grayson's family was killed right in front of him. Some nut bag in Gotham called Two Face, and his cronies murdered the Graysons, at that time known as 'The Flying Graysons' of circus performing fame. Wayne was at the circus that day. He witnessed the carnage. Right then and there, Wayne filed adoption papers. The boy had no other family."
"Here's the connection..." Chloe paused. "Wayne's parents were killed right in front of him when he was a child as well." Clark gasped. "Thomas Wayne and his wife...I remember the story. The murder is still listed as unsolved." Chloe nodded. "Clark, what the hell do you think that does to a kid?"
"Years of therapy?" Clark guessed. "Maybe." Chloe agreed. "The records show that when Wayne was about sixteen, he dropped all therapy, and took off on his own to 'see the world'. Since then, Wayne was kicked around from elite ivy league college to elite ivy league college, before finally giving up on it."
"Wayne and Grayson would have a pair of huge chips on their shoulders." Clark added with concern.