World's Finest in Ghost City
CHP37: Tide Swaying
Driving back and forth through traffic she was anxious to see what the crime lab discovered during the examination of her vehicle. Luckily it wasn't the only car she owned. It was still him that dominated most her thoughts and likely a good portion of the police force. Batman…who was he and what was his intent if not linked to the Specters of Shadows. There was a lot about him unknown, possibly even more than anyone could imagine. His unexplainable and astonishing escape added to the mystery and was certain of what she saw scanning his body. One hundred percent human, that fact in particular played through her mind all of the previous night.
How he was able to accomplish what he did; that fact in mind made it difficult to fathom. Escaping at speeds of light was impossible even for a cyborg, which he wasn't. Motoko contemplated if perhaps her built in scanner malfunctioned giving off false results. That was until after she ran diagnostics of her entire body no longer than two hours ago. The Daunting Phantom and company was the city's biggest problem, but Batman was more intriguing than anything. Weeks passed since Atsushi Grivez's attempted kidnapping of the Prime Minister and was still at the top of law enforcement's list.
Grivez and the Specters were immediate threats that needed to first be dealt with. Like any other town the city had its share of small time criminals yet lacked enough manpower to focus on them all. Units and firms worked day and night, twenty four seven tracking both individuals with what little information they had at their disposal. Many were outraged by the fact the police had yet to capture the man responsible for the attempt on Yoko Kayabuki's life. With Atsushi it was similar to the situation surrounding the Phantom; both accompanied by large numbers of people.
Police and public security alike lacked solid evidence to say for certain if Atsushi worked alone. It went without saying, the body and weapons he possessed were of high caliber and to be hidden long as he was with all the security in the city was beyond impressive. The building of interest came into view, patiently waiting until she had the proper opening into the parking lot. The meet between the different public sections, police force and other law enforcement went well for the most part except for being under heat the entire time.
Her decision to take on the Batman alone was out of line and if had to do it over would have went about it differently. Still she managed to defeat him on her own and had backup been at her side wouldn't have changed the outcome. The way in which he escaped wasn't something that could have been stopped. It was like something out of a film that just couldn't be explained.
"Come right in Kusanagi Motoko, the inspector has been awaiting you." Someone appeared through the front entrance.
She continued up the steps entering into the building. The worker led her down a hall into a garage like environment. Motoko's car was situated in a far corner of the room, "Glad to see you made it in one piece and now that you're here we shall proceed."
"What did you find?" Motoko asked positioning beside him.
"Before we get started I'd like to ask about something, it was one of the first things I came across during the examination process. The built in camera up front was destroyed, melted away if I had to guess; were you aware of this and if so than for how long?"
"Destroyed…what do you mean?"
With both hands in gloves he opened the door to the passenger side pointing out the damaged area, "At first glance I wasn't certain what was behind the cause of this, but that changed just an hour ago. I've concluded it was melted away and fast at that. At this time I can't say by what."
"Melted, I don't know what to say. Last I ran maintenance on the vehicle nearly seventeen hours ago everything was fine. This must have taken place during the crash and even then," Motoko ran two fingers over her chin, "I don't recall anything occurring during that moment that could have resulted in that. And I'm almost certain it was fully functional before the crash."
"Whether it was damaged before or after the accident isn't important as of the moment. We will first go through all my findings before we come to any conclusions. Let's move on to the back area shall we. The shattered windows are something I'm sure you've been aware of but I've got something else. Take a close look at this section."
Motoko looked it over and immediately noticed the massive dent in the upper middle section of the door near the border of where the window had been. She followed the inspector to the other side of the car and just like the previous sustained noticeable damage in the same area but unlike the other side extended outward. The revelation brought thoughts to her head as to what might have happened, and nothing more clear than one. Something passed through one window and out the other taking the vigilante with it.
Some of what she questioned started to make a little more sense. He was a mere human and yet was able to escape her custody at speeds near light which was impossible for any human or cyborg. With that in mind she wondered just what it was that could travel so fast undetected with precision and take off with Batman; possibly another weapon in his arsenal she was unaware of? It was hard to say and a lot more investigating needed to happen before all answers would come to the surface.
XXX
It was a beautiful day, the sun shining bright with only a few scattered clouds in view. He leaned back against the park bench and was careful about how he angled his body, feeling pain and soreness from the night previous. All the bandages and everything helped to a degree but would be somewhere between a week or two before he'd feel anywhere near one hundred percent. Lucky for him he healed a lot faster than others so played right into his favor, wanting to get back on the streets ASAP. There was far too much going on for him to be out of commission and knew crime never took breaks so neither could he.
"Kei-san," A familiar cheerful voice called out waving directly at him. She wore a sky blue jacket left open with white fur over the neck area and wrists, white under shirt, blue skirt and boots with black stockings.
"I know you'd rather be around your family after the Gegato incident, so thanks for meeting me Meila. How have you been holding up, any trouble sleeping?" He looked her in the face.
"Forget about me, what is all this," She moved in close running a hand over his bandaged left arm, "What happened here?!"
He could see the worry in her eyes and needed to come up with something fast, "I ah…fell. It was late last night and I was on my way back to my place when I heard a loud bang that startled me. Guess I wasn't paying attention on the fifth step up, fell right on my side and stumbled backwards. Other than a couple broken bones it's nothing too serious that can't heal over time." Bruce grinned.
"You should really be more careful, thank goodness it wasn't anything too serious. I've been ok for the most part, but there are lots of instances when I think about it. It's like those horrid visuals just won't go away, so many died and for what? Psychos like that masked criminal shouldn't exist, but unfortunately in the world we live in that's the sort of people we are surrounded by. I just hope Koycoa makes it through this and together all of can look towards the future." Meila spoke.
"Future. What future is there to look forward to with the amount of maniacs running around? But then again nowhere is perfect, no matter how much the governments of the world try and regulate things. There are those that just aren't wired like the rest of us." Bruce proclaimed.
Meila nodded, her eyes falling upon the sky, "And then there's the bat person, or Batman what they've recently called him. Some say he's one with the terrorist group and others say the opposite, claiming he's out to do real good. What do you think of him Kei-san?" Her gaze again fell upon him.
For a long period he didn't say a word thinking things over. Was he to be a supporter or not? Maybe he should fall somewhere in between both. He thought about it for a little while longer letting out a sigh.
"I don't know what to think or make of him, and honestly it's a wait and see. He saved those people from their captors the Gazayet building who were allegedly working under the Daunting Phantom. Unfortunately all of them mysteriously died when taken into police custody before they were questioned as reported on every news station."
"Yeah I heard the same thing; it's really exotic I've never heard of something like that so many dying all at once. The whole thing is crazy and I just hope the police will soon find where the crook leading them is hiding out before they initiate another one of their attacks which I'm sure will come soon. Everyone will just have to cross their fingers and cling to loved ones and hope this nightmare soon ends. But enough about that, why did you want to meet?" Meila questioned.
Bruce sat upright seemingly looking out into space and was quiet for some time, "Nuer Henson of the electronics weapons department, what's your relationship with him. How long have you known one another? I read somewhere he appeared at a convention with your father a couple months back."
"Yes that is correct, I don't really know him on a personal level but we've worked together in a professional setting a couple times before. He's a joy to be around and a really hard worker and is especially proficient at what he does. What's your interest in him?"
"I'd actually like to meet with him, and seeing as you two already know one another I was hoping you'd introduce us." Bruce replied.
Meila re situated resting one leg over the other, "Yeah sure thing, but you do know he works in a separate building nearly eight miles from Gegato Tech. He's got his own core of people helping him out, there is also a satellite oriented unit operating under the same building."
"I take it the building is owned by Shane Gegato?"
"Uh that is right. If you don't mind me asking, why is it you want to meet with Nuer it just seems out of the blue?" Meila asked.
"I guess you could say his work has interested me for quite some time and wasn't till now the circumstance presented itself. I mean with what took place at Gegato Tech and the hostages from all those other corporations. There's no telling when the building will be re opened so in the meantime can exercise and expand my knowledge on the company further. Don't think of this as me trying to use you or anyth…"
"Oh no of course not at all I just didn't know that sort of stuff interested you."
"I really appreciate this and if there is anything I can do for you in return don't be afraid to say so." Bruce implied.
Meila fell back with a simple nod, her eyes falling upon the birds and some of the other small critters and animals throughout the park. For Bruce things couldn't have gone better, he'd be out of commission for the next couple days healing up but that didn't mean preparation was put on hold. Upgrades were essential during his time out and would prove useful when he struck again.
Miles away a car pulled up in front of warehouse, a woman exiting out of the passenger side wearing black gloves and a gray jacket carrying a briefcase in her left hand. She stood at 5'6 with azure colored eyes and shoulder length green hair. Two individuals in black suits escorted her inside to the second floor. In the first room a couple persons awaited them, but no more than seven, "I take it the materials are inside?" The masked criminal inquired.
"Yes it is just as you requested Phantom I even looked over it myself." The woman replied.
"Excellent, the rest of you…leave us."
The group did as asked leaving only the woman and the Daunting Phantom. She pushed the briefcase across the table into his possession. He slowly opened it looking inside, a smirk taking form beneath his mask, "Pardon me for changing the subject but what does the vigilante mean to your plans. He interfered with the hostage situation a couple nights back and even managed to escape the police last night. And the actions he's taken for the most part since coming onto the scene have been geared towards criminals. So what if…what if you're on his list. It wouldn't be unlikely I mean shouldn't we do something about this Robin Hood?"
Her words only brought laughter to the Daunting Phantom.
"As usual you're overreacting my dear. This Batman as they call him is but one man and frankly I'd worry more about the police than some masked man on a futile crusade. Sure he was able to elude the police and to some deemed impressive, but I'm not. If he or anyone tries to stand in our way you and I both know what'll happen. You're great at what you do Katt but sometimes put too much thought into trivial things. I've got this city and soon to be country in the palm of my hand and no Batman or any other obstacles will stand in the way, do you understand?!"
"Of course sir, forgive my anxiety you know how I am when it comes to this stuff. What will be your next move? Sure the vigilante has the city's attention including the police, but you have to believe their main focus is on you. Holding off a couple days wouldn't be such a bad thing, and would give you more time to better prepare your men."
The Phantom stood from the chair looking her in the face before taking off pacing back and forth. Regardless of how he went about handling the next stage of his plan from that point was confident law enforcement would have no way of stopping or altering anything.
"I shall make a decision on that in the upcoming hours, until then I will keep a close eye on all major firms."
"What of section nine, have you made time to scan through their files and find out what they do and don't know?" Katt asked.
"I shall get around to that, but as of the moment there are other things I must first take care of. You're concerning yourself for no reason, I can see the uneasiness in your eyes, but let me assure you there's nothing to worry about. You must not forget the amount of eyes and ears I've planted in the police force and other establishments concerning the law. The Batman is no different than Kusanagi or any other cyborg. My infiltration of the brain and hacking are second to none and could shut him down in an instant if in a forty yard radius."
"What makes you think he's a cyborg, the reports suggest he is something more. A demon not of this world some say."
"Katherine you and I both know this is no world of Fairy Tales and goblins so let's not go there. The vigilante wouldn't be able to accomplish what he has without being cyborg and if anyone thinks otherwise is delusional. Come now let's rejoin the others and set in motion the next phase."
Scratching at the table's surface she followed him out of the room. All the secrecy and numerous meeting places were somewhat problematic. She knew him better than most and was sure he hadn't been entirely honest with her involving his complete vision. The change in locations however was understandably necessary to lower the chance of them being monitored.
On the other side of town screams echoed through the air, civilians of an apartment racing toward the nearest exits some even jumping through windows. A fire blazed through the building and to that point no one knew why or how it started. Elevators weren't seen as a valuable option, most taking to the stairs. Those lacking in speed or weren't careful stumbled and were trampled over. The flames rose spreading throughout the building up passed five floors on the seven floor building. Firemen, police officers, medics and newscasters alike were all on scene.
Lualay led the way with Clark following close behind, both snapping shots of the action as they drew near. There were instances they had to push passed people standing around trying to get a glimpse of what went on. Mind cleared and ears focused, the cries of a young child caught his attention. Those cries came from inside the building on the 5th floor and there was nothing he could do about it. Doing anything that might expose his abilities was out of the question, but if he didn't do anything the child would child would not survive. Lowering his camera Clark's fists clinched taking a step back.
Right before him and Lualay another group of people exited the building, coughing from the smoky atmosphere, "Is there anything you can tell us? Do any of you know what started the f…" Lualay was forced back by two officers as she tried approaching survivors.
"Stay behind the line lady, I don't care if you are a reporter! You could get yourself killed, save the interviews!"
Much as she hated doing so Lualay fell back letting out a sigh, "Well Clark let's go and find," Lualay froze realizing her assigned partner was nowhere around.
To Be Continued