In The Shadow of the Bat!
Hub City
In the list of worst cities in the United States, in most people's opinion there are three top contenders: Gotham City, Bludhaven and Hub City. Gotham made the list due to corruption and super-crime, while Bludhaven was there for both epidemic police corruption, crime and a falling standard of living, but Hub City? Hub City was in a class all by itself.
It wasn't just that gangs owned large chunks of the city, soaring unemployment, police for sale and the disrepair of the town, the problems of Hub City went deeper than that. The city government had literally collapsed with the death of Mayor Fermin and her deputy mayor took over. The US had nearly declared the city a 'No Man's Land' like Gotham was, but corrupt figures in the federal government kept the city open for their own reasons.
Dana Fox looked out at Hub City from her penthouse apartment, feeling the bitterness of broken dreams. Her parents had come to Hub City nearly twenty five years ago, idealists who wanted to save this place. They wanted to use their wealth to spur business and hire locals, maybe pull this city up from the muck and slime, but they failed. Worse, they were murdered in a seemingly random killing, one that triggered a scandal that rocked the city.
'So why the hell am I back here?' Dana thought bitterly, her short black hair falling against her neck. The athletic woman paced across the living room, her brown eyes narrowed in annoyance as she considered what to do.
Dana's reasons for coming back to Hub City were purely cynical, she often told herself. Fox Munitions were developing new police stun rounds, but to do so they needed a entirely new factory. The stun rounds were based on a precise chemical injection, and a remodeled plant wouldn't do. Land in Hub City was dirt cheap, and if she could build here it would make a good distribution hub nation wide.
'Assuming I can get the gangs off my back,' Dana thought bitterly.
The 'doorman' at her building was a well armed guard, and his presence was VERY needed. The gangs ruled the streets of Hub City, demanding 'tribute' from the people in each area they lived in. They saw the construction of the factory as they chance for a major windfall, and there seemed to be no one who could stop them.
The masked hero the Question had once protected Hub City, but he had disappeared over a year ago. He might have died, he might have just left, but either way he wasn't there now. And no other superhero had been brave or stupid enough to try to help.
'It's ironic,' Dana thought as she looked at the prototypes sitting in their display case, 'the Fox Gun could help save this city, presuming I could get them into production.'
The Fox Gun was a new type of stun armament, one that had interest from police and private security world wide. The guns fired a new plastic bullet that penetrated the body and dissolved, releasing a harmless stun-chemical. For a limited period of time the target was frozen, the duration depending on how many shots fired, and it had no long term side effects.
'It could transform law enforcement not to mention make me millions,' Dana thought, 'but only if I can get them manufactured and tested fully!'
They HAD to get the gangs to back off! That was the only option! But private security wouldn't do it, and the police in Hub City were worse than useless...
Dana looked at the case of guns as a dangerous idea flittered through her head. 'Which leaves just...' she thought, reaching out to pick up the pistol, hefting it thoughtfully.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The east side of Hub City was a wreck, with broken cars littering the streets and deserted buildings leaning precariously over the roads. But even in the deserted squallor people lived, and where people lived came the scavengers that preyed on them.
The 'Jesters' were originally named 'Jokers' until word got back to Gotham about them. A mysterious surprise package took out their leader along with a note reading, "Don't mess with the name, kiddies." After that they changed to Jesters, and tried very hard not to draw his attention ever again.
"That rich lady ain't building here until she pays," Jackson snarled, his black hair falling in a messy tangle across his face. The tall, nervous man fiddled with a switchblade, flicking the blade out then back, his muscled arms bulging under the ragged t-shirt.
"We don't wanna scare her off," Matt cautioned as the smaller man hunched closer to the fire burning in the barrel, "just wanna make her pay up."
"Her construction crews won't come back," Jamie said as he hefted the stolen pistol. He had gotten it mugging a rookie cop, then the gang had scalped him for good measure. Had to make sure the cops knew not to fuck with Jesters!
"She can hire more, the bitch," Jackson sighed.
"Don't be dissing the money," Vanessa told him, but she was smirking. She leaned forward, the redhead dressed in short shorts and a t-shirt that stuck tight to her curves, "We could be milking this honey for years. Years!"
"But she still hasn't paid," Simon frowned, the blond haired young man hanging around the gang nervously. He was new meat to the gang, barely a member, and he didn't want to piss anyone off that could kill him.
"She'll pay," Jackson said with a sneer as they heard the pop pop of guns firing off in the distance. "What the hell's that?" he asked, frowning as he tried to guess how far off it was.
"Guns?" Matt blinked, though there was something off about the sound. He wasn't sure what, but it didn't sound right.
"Think someone's hitting the Revengers?" Vanessa asked, referring to the gang who was nearest to their own territory.
"Get your weapons," Jackson ordered, not liking the feel of it.
Not far away a pitched battle was taking place, as weapons fired off into the twilight. The Revengers were already half down as the four survivors crouched behind a broken wall, taking in the madwoman who was shooting at them.
The crazy lady in black had walked into their territory then ORDERED them to vacate, or at least not interfere in the activities of the construction teams. Their leader Kurt told her off, then the stone cold bitch shot him!
"What the hell is going on?" Harry gasped as they looked out at their buddies, all bprawled out on the street. "Hey, I think they're breathing," he added, blinking.
Before he could pursue that thought the woman in black charged, her twin pistols firing rapidly. They tried to break and run but she fired with unearthly precision, putting bullets in each of them. They collapsed backwards, stiffening, then lay there unable to move.
"You're just paralyzed temporarily," the black clad woman knelt down beside Harry, her face covered by a half mask as she said, "next time, you might not be so lucky. Let the work crews through, or answer to me."
"Who are you...?" one of the others managed to ask.
The mysterious woman paused, then seemed to salute them with a pistol. "Paladin," she answered calmly, "have guns, will travel."
Simon scurried from where he was hiding nearby, running back to the Jesters as fast as he could. He was panting and out of breath as he reached the first sentry, but he man aged to gasp, "Crazy lady... usin' pistols. Calls herself Paladin."
"Paladin?" the man on guard detail snorted. "Okay, head back to Jackson and I'll cap the bitch."
"Be careful, she took down all the Revengers," Simon said as he ran off.
"They were light weights," he scoffed, readying his trusty length of pipe. He was the best pipe fighter in town, and he'd ambush her so she couldn't try to shoot him...
He was still boasting to himself as the gun coughed from concealment and he keeled over, the black clad woman in light armor walking by casually. She reloaded with odd looking, blue colored bullets, then stalked onward as the day shifted into twilight.
Jackson scowled as he ordered his team to their positions, his eyes narrowed in annoyance. He had almost expected the Fox woman to try something, but this? What was this Paladin, some kinda mercenary or something?
"What the hell?" Vanessa griped as she braced a old rifle against a wall and sighted down the street. This was supposed to be easy money, just scaring away some workers. Where the hell had gunfighters come from?
"Here she comes!" Matt yelped as the figure in black appeared at the far end of the street, walking forward slowly.
"So shoot the bitch!" Jackson glared at Vanessa and Jamie.
Guns blazed and they saw the bullets hit, the woman staggering backwards then falling to the dusty pavement. "Yes!" Jamie yelled, fist pumping in the air.
"Come on," Jackson said as the gang hurried forward to where she lay, "let's make sure she's down. And we'll share those prime guns too."
The woman lay sprawled out on the ground, still and quiet as they neared. There was no blood but that wasn't too unusual, bullets could lodge inside a body and keep the blood from pumping out. Jamie and Vanessa relaxed a bit as they saw she wasn't moving... right up until her eyes popped open.
"Body armor," Paladin said as she fired, splatting a bullet into Jamie's arm and between Vanessa's breasts.
Jackson dove for Jamie's gun as he yelped, "Shit!"
Paladin was up and firing as the others scrambled for their weapons, too little, too late. She fired on them smoothly, punching a single bullet into each of them, their bodies stiffening as something cold slid through their veins.
The woman reloaded as she walked up to Jackson, then knelt down to look him into the eye. "One bullet freezes you," she told him calmly, "you don't want to know what two or three would do."
Jackson gulped, wanting to wiggle away but unable too. What the hell was in those bullets, spider venom? Snakes? What?
"Work crews are coming through here tomorrow to start work on the Fox Munition factory," Paladin told him coldly, "I do not want your people interfering again." She rose, hefting a gun pointedly, "If you do, there will be consequences."
"There are... other gangs," Jackson managed to hiss bitterly.
"I know," Paladin said as she walked off, "they're next on my list."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Dana Fox ached from the bruises where bullets had hit her arms and legs, but it was a good ache. Relaxing in her penthouse she looked at the guns and the now depleted experimental ammo, feeling a surge of satisfaction. After taking out the Revengers and Jesters she had called in the cops, watching in satisfaction as her private security herded the regular police in to make arrests. She doubted they'd stay in jail, but it was a start.
The newspapers were delivered on time and Dana flipped them up to read the front page... and nearly dropped it in surprise. "Hub City has a New Hero!" one paper declared. The other read, "Paladin is here! Criminals beware!"
"Oh hell," Dana muttered as she sat down, reading grimly. 'It's just a one time thing, damn it!" she growled as she read the reports, including more wary comments from the police and mayor's office. 'No wonder,' she thought, 'the gangs must be pissed over how poorly their protection money worked.'
With a sigh Dana sat back, feeling a headache coming on. 'Hub City needs a hero,' she thought to herself tiredly, 'what you've got is me. And who knows, maybe we deserve each other?'
To be continued...
Notes: Based off a story in the JLA comics, in which a alternate Bruce Wayne took up the gun instead of being Batman. I figured 'Paladin' would work better as a non-lethal hero, so this character was born.