Batman: Project SKYNET
1
A New Mission
In a dark alleyway, sparks suddenly formed before snowballing into a large blue orb of energy. Once it ceased, it revealed the man kneeling on the ground. Raising his head, he scanned his environment with his bright red vision. Looking down, he was reminded of his nude state.
"Priority 1: Obtain clothing" Appeared on his display, prompting him to stand up.
Leaving the alley, he found the street to be almost entirely empty, say for the few homeless aimlessly wandering the streets. Despite his nudity, they simply ignored him as he surveyed the surrounding buildings and people.
Looking over the homeless, he measured their height and respective sizes. Unfortunately, none matched his, as such the Terminator walked off.
Rounding another corner, he found a group of young men standing around an old mustang in the middle of an empty parking lot in between two condemned buildings. Playing music, the men conversed amongst themselves and drank.
Approaching them, the Terminator was greeted by looks of confusion and grins as the men quickly moved to address him.
"Little too much to drink tonight?" One man with a mohawk said with a grin.
"Nah bro, he don't drink like us. One too many protein shakes and tren shots? Haha!" A hoodie-wearing man said, chuckling as he looked over the cyborg's abs and bulked torso.
"You lookin for Muscle Mania? I think they just passed bro!" The mohawk man said.
"Whatcha doing around here man? We know who belongs… and who don't." The largest man said seriously, stepping forward he stared the android down in an attempt to size him up.
Looking him up and down, the cyborg carefully measured the man's size and height before concluding he was a match.
"I need your clothes and your car." The terminator spoke monotonously.
The grins of the men grew even greater as they laughed before surrounding him.
"Haha! You believe this guy?!" One guy said elbowing the largest man.
"Give it to me, now." The cyborg ordered firmly now, and the large man's smirk dropped to a frown.
"Somebody needs some manners, let's say we teach him!" The biggest man said putting a hand on the terminator's shoulder.
Reacting quickly, the android swung with a shattering right hook that instantly knocked out the leading thug. Crumpling to the ground, his friends practically froze for a moment before moving to fight the cyborg.
The Terminator was then punched across the face, unmoved by the strike, he turned to his attacker. Lashing back with a hard jab to the stomach, he stunned the hoodie-wearing thug before kicking out his legs under him. With the man on the ground, he followed up with a hard jab that broke the man's nose with a loud crunch.
Before he could throw another punch, the mohawk thug broke a beer bottle over his head. Turning his head, he grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt before picking him up and throwing him into a nearby mirror.
Smashing into the mirror, it shattered instantly with its shards covering the hoodlum. Seeing the walking piledriver approach him, he reached for another weapon. Grabbing a large shard, he stabbed the time traveler in the stomach. Attempting to stab him again, the hoodlum drew the shiv again, but this time the man caught his wrist.
Regaining consciousness, the leading thug raised his head. Looking up he couldn't see much as his vision felt blurry, he did see one of his friends laying on the ground. As his vision cleared, his heart sank at what he saw.
Standing up, he saw one of his friends laying on the ground, his face swollen and bloodied. He gasped as he watched a large mirror shard was being forcibly spiked into his friend's throat. His friend stood there, gurgling and crying as blood seeped from both his throat and his mouth.
"Mikey!" The large man shouted, rushing to his friend's aid. Throwing his arm back, he threw a wide haymaker at the nude man.
Reacting instantly, the android reached out and gripped his hand before quickly breaking it.
Screeching out in pain, the leader gripped his now broken hand before he was silenced by a hard grip on his throat.
Lifting him off the ground the man was thrown backward, sliding over the hood of his car before landing flat on the ground.
Seeing the human steamroller walk over to him, the man pulled himself into his car. Opening up his glove compartment, he quickly pulled out a handgun. Before he could cock it, however, a hand punched its way through his passenger-side window. Reaching in, the Terminator grabbed the man's wrist before yanking him out through the window.
Taking the gun from the thug, the Terminator cocked it. Looking down, the thug sat up. Gripping his wrist, he stared up at the android, eyes filled with hatred.
"Well… Whatcha waiti-"
Before he could finish, the cyborg finished him off with a single shot to the head. Detecting movement, he turned to find the hoodie-wearing thug attempting to stumble off.
Raising the pistol, he squeezed off another shot. The round struck the fleeing man in the back who instantly fell to his stomach. Approaching the downed thug, the man turned onto his side.
"Please…I… I got a kid." He begged, weakly raising a hand to the cyborg.
Ignoring his plea for mercy, the stone-faced terminator raised the gun once more. With the slide kicking back, another round was sent, this time entering the temple of the man. Lowering his head, the man died instantly.
Turning back, he carefully examined his kills.
"Human Casualties 3.0"
After killing the thugs, the android looted the bodies before taking their car and driving off into the night.
/
Elsewhere
In a dark library, librarian Barbara Gordon sat behind a desk. Sighing, she finished a high stack of paperwork with a heavy stamp on the last page. Finishing her work for the day, she removed a mirror from her purse.
Utilizing the mirror, she looked over her overall appearance. Staring back at her was a beautiful woman with long red hair. A pair of dark blue eyes sat behind a pair of glasses.
Suddenly, her phone rang from inside her purse. Grabbing it, she turned it on. On it, a note she left for herself was displayed.
"Pick up Dad for dinner at 8."
"Perfect timing, finish my homework and book logs just in time for dinner." Barbara said smiling to herself. Putting away her phone, she rose from the desk before grabbing her purse.
After checking her belongings, she casually made her way to the exit.
/
Riding in the passenger seat of an unmarked police car, Detective Renee Montoya sat while her partner and friend, Detective Harvey Bullock drove them to a crime scene.
Feeling tired, she picked up her cup of coffee from the cupholder. Taking a quick drink, she felt a small boost of energy.
"You ok Montoya?" Bullock spoke up, causing the Latina cop to put down her cup.
"I'm fine." She answered, dismissively.
"You sure Renee?" Bullock asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Let's just get this over with."
Pulling up to the alley crime scene, the two were greeted by a patrolman who raised the tape barrier for them. After parking, they were quickly greeted by a young, Hispanic officer. His nametag read "Alvarez".
"Detectives!" Alvarez said with a friendly tone as he recognized the officers.
"Hey there Alvarez, long time no see!" Bullock said as the two exchanged friendly punches.
"Yup, you still owe me for that night at RJ's." Alvarez said with a scoff and grin.
"Alvarez, what do you have here?" Renee asked, cutting off the friendly conversation between the two cops.
"Three stiffs, all members of a local gang." The patrolman answered as three corpses were being loaded onto a van labeled "Medical Examiner".
Grimacing, both detectives noticed the nude corpse of the largest thug being loaded in last.
"Why's one not looking like the rest?" Harvey pointed out.
"That's how first reporting found him, the other two had clothes, this one didn't." The officer answered, shrugging his shoulders.
"Anything to go off of?" Montoya asked a notepad and pencil in hand.
"We found three shell casings, look like 9mm. No sign of a murder weapon though." He answered.
"Any witnesses?" Montoya asked recording the information down.
"Nobody who isn't strung out or tight-lipped." The patrolman answered.
After dismissing the lead officer, the two detectives spoke with the coroner who was busy overseeing the transportation of the deceased. The coroner was an aging sixty-two-year-old in a dirty white lab coat with a badge that read "Medical Examiner".
"Detectives." He said, addressing the two with a friendly smile.
"Times of death Doc?" Bullock asked, picking his teeth with a toothpick.
"They were still warm when we loaded them up, I'd say no more than an hour or two." The old coroner answered.
"What are the causes of death?" Renee asked continuing to write on the case notepad.
"Two of them died from apparent gunshot wounds, the third one from a stab through the throat. I'll let you know more later when I do the autopsy." The old man answered.
"Sounds good doc, keep us updated." Renee said with an appreciative smile as the old medical examiner got into his van.
"Of course Renee." The old man said with a friendly chuckle and smile before driving off.
After recording all other important notes and clues into a notepad, the duo headed back to their unmarked car.
"Damm low-life bastards. Couldn't just go die in a damn field somewhere and have it be county's problem…" Bullock grumbled as he scrambled back into the car.
"Come on Harv, it'll be another story we talk about during a lunch break somewhere…" Montoya said jokingly as she followed suit.
/
Gotham City Police Department, Central Precinct
Back at the precinct, Detective Montoya sat at her desk in her divisional office room.
Looking over her report, Renee was filled in what little information she had on the triple homicide case. After patrol managed to convince an anonymous witness, she had found out that one of the victims owned an old mustang which was strangely missing from the crime scene.
"Possible motive, theft. As evidenced by a missing vehicle owned by the victims." Renee said to herself as she typed up the report.
Suddenly, the door was opened and a patrolman poked his head around the corner.
"Excuse me, Detective." An officer, his nametag reading "Kaplan", cleared his throat.
"What is it, Officer?" Montoya asked continuing to type up the report.
"The coroner sent for you, he had something he needed to tell you. Detective Bullock is down there already." The officer said quickly before turning to leave.
Standing up, Montoya made sure to collect her notepad before shutting off her computer and leaving the office.
Walking out of the room, she continued to read over her current notes. As she wasn't paying attention, she accidentally bumped into someone.
"Oh, sorry about that Renee." Barbara said as she helped pick up Renee's notepad for her.
"No, sorry that was my fault Barb. Here to see your dad?" Renee apologized, taking the notepad back and stuffing it in a pocket.
"Yeah, I brought dinner, its Mongolian BBQ for today." Barbara answered as she gestured to a plastic bag full of takeout in hand.
"I see, you two enjoy then." Renee said with a smile before proceeding to the elevator.
The ride through the elevator was short and before long the detective reached the subfloor. Stepping off she noticed the floor was comprised of three separate rooms. One was reserved for the forensics crew, while the other two were reserved for the medical examiner and his "storage".
Entering his examination room, Renee was greeted by the coroner along with her partner and one of the forensics analysts. On three tables lay the three victims from earlier.
"Officer Kaplan said you had something you needed to tell us?" Montoya asked.
"Indeed, if you divert your attention to the shortest victim." The coroner stated pointing to the mohawk thug.
Pulling back the covering sheet, Renee was treated to the gory sight of the youngest thug. A large chunk of aluminum mirror was firmly lodged into his throat.
"So? It's not the first time we get punks using whatever they can find to cut heads?" Bullock piped up, unimpressed.
"While I was collecting blood samples for analysis, something came up. On his body and the shard are samples of two sources of blood. One to the victim, the other the perp, but there was a problem." The forensics specialist spoke up.
"What kind of problem?" Renee said, intrigued at the possibility of a DNA sample of her killer.
"We couldn't get a DNA profile out of the killer's sample…" He answered.
"Why not?" Renee asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We don't know. The blood collected only visually matches human DNA, on a molecular level its completely alien. It doesn't have the same markers or composition as human blood." The specialist replied, this time to the surprise of both detectives.
"Great, untraceable blood, just what we need." Bullock exclaimed in annoyance.
/
GCPD Central Precinct, Commissioner's Office
"Mmmm, this is good stir-fry hon. I really appreciate you bringing this." Commissioner Gordon said as the two shared a large plate of stir-fry noodles.
"Of course Dad, I just thought that it would be good to have a simple hangout every now and then to break up the stress." Barbara replied.
"You thought right, got a lot my plate, and if it was only more of this." James said gleefully as he continued to eat.
Suddenly, the phone on the desk rang. Stopping to eat, the Commissioner picked up the phone immediately.
"Commissioner Gordon."
"What? Untraceable what now?... I see…" He spoke into the phone, a frown appearing on his face.
"What's wrong Dad?" Barbara asked concerned.
"A case Montoya and Bullock are working on, they hit a brick wall. I might have to call in a favor for this one." Gordon answered, putting the phone down.
"Are you going to be ok, Dad?" Barbara asked.
"Of course sweetheart, I'm sure we'll have it sorted out." He replied.
/
Outer Gotham
Elsewhere in an abandoned building, the Terminator worked tirelessly. Sat at a large table, he had the captured handgun from earlier disassembled.
"Smith and Wesson Sigma, caliber 9mm. 16 round double-stack magazine" Appeared on his display when he closely inspected the pistol.
According to the file within the firearm database, it was a rather cheap pistol of primarily polymer construction. As the man who carried it wasn't particularly skilled with it, it was kept in barely serviceable condition.
Thankfully, due to his files on weapon maintenance, the weapon was quickly and easily cleaned and was being reassembled.
Looking over to some of the scavenged supplies taken from the men included a box of thirty spare 9mm rounds, an unused switchblade, a map of the city, and a lighter.
On his display, a new message appeared.
"Weapon: Insufficient"
"Secondary Objective: Obtain Heavier Ordinance"
After reassembling the Sigma, he tucked the gun into his waistband. Standing up he turned to face a dirty, cracked mirror on the wall.
The man staring back him stood tall and firm. He was equipped with short brown hair and emerald green eyes. Even with a red flannel shirt and blue jeans, his olympian physique could still be seen easily. To the majority, he looked like the type women often wanted, and the type men often wanted to look like.
"Disguise: Sufficient"
"Primary Objective:..."
Looking back to the switchblade, he grabbed it before flipping out the blade. Placing it over his left forearm, he quickly went to work cutting it open.
After letting a small amount of blood run, his metallic endoskeleton was quickly revealed. Tossing the knife onto the table, he reached into the laceration before locating something. Pulling his hand back out he had found a small plastic bag containing a piece of paper.
Unfolding the paper, it was revealed to be a faded photograph. On that photograph was the smiling face of a beautiful red-headed woman sat at a birthday cake.
A new command prompt appeared on his display.
"Primary Objective: Locate Barbara Gordon"
I've always had this idea, but finally decided to really give it a try to see if this is an idea I want to continue. Apologies for being rather short, I have a bad habit of binge writing until I feel as if my chapter is long enough. I know I'm already heavily invested in Oathbreaker, but this is something that ideas periodically pop into my head.
Lemme know, is this something I should continue.