In the Shadow of the Bat
The Deeper Dark
Gotham was a dark place and even as it's heroes brought light to the shadows, some things simply scurried away into the deeper darkness. A certain breed of hero chased them even into the deepest shadows, having been touched themselves by the same darkness....
Beneath the streets of Gotham the white skinned figure shambled down the sewers, his ragged clothes hanging from a inhumanly muscled frame. "Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday," the lumbering giant muttered to himself as it stumbled along mindlessly. Solomon Grundy had once been a human being, but his death in Slaughter Swamp had transformed him into a uncanny fusion of plant and man. Now guided by clouded memory and confused instinct he wandered the country, killing by accident more than intent.
Watching from the shadows Rory Regan followed along silently, watching the creature warily. As the Ragman he had the power to defeat the thing, but he preferred to try and guide Grundy away from people. The thing was immortal, he couldn't be killed by any conventional means, and Rory didn't see the point of wasting his time fighting.
"Rory, did you find it yet?" the bored woman's voice asked from mid-air, getting both his attention, and, sadly, Grundy's.
"Enchantress, your timing sucks!" Rory yelped as Grundy wheeled around and charged at him, bellowing like a mad bull. The rag costume flowed around him like water as Ragman dodged, a rope of rags forming to bind Grundy. "Get me out of here!" he called to her through the communication spell that connected them.
"Sorry," Enchantress sounded amused as the sorceress added, "too much iron between me and you. I'll see if I can find you some help, tho."
"Urgh!" Grundy grunted as he strained with inhuman strength, white muscles bulging. With a massive effort it burst free, the rags swirling apart then reforming into Ragman's costume.
The costume of Ragman was made up of the souls of evildoers, trapped inside the pieces of cloth. When the suit consumed a evil person they were forced to serve the wearer, increasing his strength, speed and other talents. In return the trapped souls worked off a kind of penance for the evil they did, eventually being released into a higher plane.
Drawing on those trapped souls Ragman sprinted away at inhuman speeds, hurrying towards the mouth of the sewer. Behind him he could hear Grundy hurrying after him, the thing almost inhumanly quiet otherwise as it lumbered along relentlessly. He broke out of the sewer and turned, waiting for Grundy to emerge.
"Little man," Grundy growled, charging at him before a burst of green fire scooped up the muddy earth around him.
The original Green Lantern's ring flared as he scooped up more mud and dirt, compressing it around the fiercely struggling Grundy until he was still. "Thanks for drawing him out," the older blonde haired man noted, his purple and green cape fluttering around him. "Your teammate told me that Grundy was loose and about where you were."
"Thanks, though I was really just trying to lead him out of town," Ragman admitted. He looked up at the glowing mud ball that was holding Grundy captive and asked Green Lantern, "Why not just zap him directly?"
"My ring doesn't work well on wood," Green Lantern told him before flying away in a burst of green light, "and Grundy is partially that."
Rory watched him go until he disappeared against the light from the swiftly setting sun. "My life is just TOO odd," he sighed to himself as he banished his costume and made his slow way back into the city he helped guard.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Green Lantern smiled wryly as he flew away from the oddly dressed hero. Still, while Ragman might have looked runny there was no doubting his courage in facing a killer like Grundy. Even his magic couldn't stop the beast, all Alan could do was bury him in Slaughter Swamp again and hope it would be a while before her was reborn.
Gotham at night glittered beneath Alan Scott as the red, green and purple clad man flew, familiar towers dating back decades mixed with new construction after the quake had nearly leveled the city. He had been this city's champion for nearly seventy years but now it seemed unfamiliar to him, almost like a new city.
'Of course some of that's your fault too,' Alan reminded himself as he flew on to the swamp, using his ring to drive the mud encased Grundy as deep into the earth as he could. Randomly the swamp would revive Grundy once more, hopefully in a more peaceful form this time.
When Green Lantern first started out, he primarily stayed in Gotham, fighting the gangsters and crooks that seemed to crop up like weeds. But when the Justice Society formed and the war hit, he found himself more and more away from home. Of course he came back and cleaned up the town again and again, but it got harder and harder every time. Then there was the hearings, a investigation into communist leanings and most of the JSA quit rather than be forced to reveal their identities.
'Which was a mistake,' Alan admitted as he flew back to town.
His retirement let the gangs flourish in Gotham, as well as sink their claws into the police and local government. When he eventually un-retired he found it almost impossible to clean up the town, instead barely putting out the worst fires. And he still had the reformed JSA taking up his time too, dealing with threats to great to ignore.
'Thank goodness for the new kids,' Green Lantern smiled as he flew to the broadcast tower that was his home, as well as his business. Batman and the adventurers who followed him first rose up during his retirement, and while they didn't necessarily operate like he did they did a good job. So much so that he left the usual street level crime to them, devoting himself to the more... exotic threats that rose up.
Landing on the tower Green Lantern willed his costume away and Alan Scott took the elevator down into his home. 'I should check in on Molly,' he thought fondly of his wife. A wry smile teased his lips, 'I wonder if Jack Ryder got that story he promised for tomorrow?'
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Meanwhile in another part of the city, a group of felons fled down a alley, chased by mad, cackling laughter. Max was a experienced hood, or so he thought, having henched for several villains this last few months, but this was seriously creeping the young man out.
Green hair and yellow skin caught the light ass the creature laughed madly, his strange red cloak swirling around him. "No evil escapes the Creeper!" he laughed.
Jamie spun around, grabbing Max as they looked for some way to escape. "We can take him!" Max complained as his mentor dragged him off.
"I told you before," she said as they watched the Creeper bounce acrobatically through the crooks, pounding them easily, "capes always win."
"Shit," Max cursed as they fled into the evening twilight.
Creeper saw them go, but he was a bit too busy to give chase as he put down too more crooks, still laughing. He was really as human as anyone but Jack Ryder had learned to play up his 'cackling monster' act as it unnerved the crooks. A final series of punches dropped the last goon, leaving him alone in the night.
Activating the switch on his glove he reverted to Jack Ryder, investigative TV reporter. The black haired man in business suit made his way out of the alley's of Gotham, heading towards his car as he clutched the papers he had acquired raiding the Intergang base.
'It was risky,' Ryder thought as he unlocked his car and got in, 'but worth it.'
Returning to his studio he made some calls then Ryder went on the air, revealing what he had discovered about Intergang while also calling for the 'capture' of the criminal Creeper. He had ranted about his alter ego for years this way, hopefully keeping people from realizing they were one and the same person.
Returning to his office Ryder loosened his tie, sitting down with a sigh. "That wasn't wise," a woman's voice came from the darkness.
"Aah!" Jack jerked in surprise as he swiveled around, seeing a figure in black and red standing in the shadows. "Batwoman?" he asked.
The redhead slinked out of the shadows, her costume mostly black with a red bat on her chest. "Intergang is not going to take this lying down," she cautioned him calmly.
"I'm not frightened of Intergang," Jack said flatly.
"You should be," Batwoman said coolly. "They are part of a network that spans the world, with armies of cultists who could storm this building and kill everyone in it."
Jack leaned forward as he challenged her, "So why don't they?"
Batwoman disappeared into the darkness but her voice carried as she answered, "Because they don't need to. Yet."
"I swear, that woman is creepier than I am," Jack sighed, shaking his head.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Selena Kyle, the woman known as Catwoman, did not consider herself a hero but she wouldn't claim to be a villain either. What she did was protect her neighborhood, the East End of Gotham, and try to stay under the radar of people like Batman. It wasn't as easy as it sounded, but she got a certain amount of satisfaction kicking ass wearing her leather bodysuit and goggles.
"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me!" Max yelped as his second job that night was disrupted by a crazy in costume. Some nights, it just wasn't worth getting out of bed.
Catwoman smiled wryly as she said, "Having a rough night?"
"You could say that," Jamie agreed, struggling a little in the leather whip that Catwoman had snapped around them so expertly. She looked over at their captor, wishing she could see her eyes through the goggles, "I suppose you couldn't just let us go? My friend's rent is due, or we wouldn't even be out here right now."
"Huh," Catwoman sat back on her haunches, her expression thoughtful as she studied them. "All right, I'll make you an offer," she decided.
"Yeah?" Max asked warily, wondering what the catch might be.
"I'll let you go if you don't try any more robberies," Catwoman offered, "and if you show up in the East End looking for a job tomorrow, I'll put in a good word for you."
"Huh," Max looked thoughtful, the young man imagining how many nights he could go on being a crook before the life caught up to him.
Jamie looked at Catwoman, "We'll take it."
With a flick of her wrist Catwoman loosened the whip, pulling it free of them then calmly rolled it up. "I won't expect to see you tomorrow," she said as she walked away, "but I hope I will." And with that she was gone disappearing into the night.
Max and Jamie walked out of the East End, the darkness lightening as they neared the dawn. "You going to do it?" Max asked, his hands in the pockets of his rumpled suit as they waited for a taxi. Not that walking might be faster, considering Gotham's taxi service....
"I'll give it a try," Jamie admitted. She smiled slightly, "If I don't like the straight and narrow, I can always go back."
Max brightened, "That's true."
To be continued....
Notes: Ragman is mostly a member of the Shadowpact now, but he started off in Gotham City. The original Green Lantern is a Gotham based hero rarely featured in any other Gotham set series, so I assume he's mostly off dealing with JSA stuff and possibly guarding against magical threats. For Creeper I went with his original science origin and the transformation implant, rather than the recent change that he was grafted to a demon. Yes, that's Max and Jamie from a few chapters back. I figured, why not reuse them?