Golem
School had just been let out in Hamilton Hill High, and many of the students were just walking their way back home. One student, in particular, chose to wait outside the school entrance, expecting to meet someone. The student was a young man that was on the scrawny side, with short black hair, large round glasses, and wearing an orange vest over a black shirt. This was Willie Watt, a smart kid, but was also a pretty easy target for the cruel jocks, such as Nelson Nash.
Willie never really cared that he looked like the stereotypical 'geek kid' at school, he had smarts and he was proud of them. Unfortunately, his dad doesn't really get it, thinking that your physical strength should just be as tough as your mental strength. Still though, today was going to be the day he accomplished his goal.
Sure enough, the one Willie was waiting for to come arrived. She was a beautiful young woman with shoulder length white hair, a pink top that cuts away at her midriff, and a black skirt. This was Bobbi Sommer, but everyone at school just calls her Blade. She was considered to be the most popular and most beautiful girl in all of school, and she had no problem flaunting it, in fact, she almost relished it.
Still though, that didn't stop Willie from crushing on her almost half his life. He's never had the guts to talk to her, let alone ask her out, but with the upcoming dance at the pier, now was the perfect chance.
Willie followed after her before speaking. "Uh...hi, Blade." Willie said nervously.
Blade looked at Willie uninterestingly, but still acknowledged him. "Billy something, right?"
"Willie. Willie Watt." Willie corrected, not even bothered that she didn't get his name right. "I'm in your robotics class."
"Ugh, biogenic inter-phasing." Blade groaned. "I'll never get it."
"Maybe I could help." Willie said eagerly. "Like tutor you, or something?"
"Tutor me?" Blade asked amusingly.
Before Willie could say anything, a fancy red sports car came driving around the corner of the street, with its tires screeching. It did a couple of a spins before stopping right near them at the curb, with driver door opening up to reveal Nelson stepping out.
"Hey, Blade, schway outfit." Nelson flirted as he walked up to them, then elbowed Willie in the stomach hard that he pushed him back. "It would go great within my new car. Don't you think?"
"It might." Blade said with a smirk.
"Blade, about that tutoring thing?" Willie tried to speak up, hoping to get back on track.
"Tutoring? Does this mean you're going to start doing homework now?" Nelson asked, hoping his latest girlfriend wasn't going to be part of the geek squad.
"I never said that." Blade said, wanting to maintain her reputation.
"Good, then let's go for a ride." Nelson said as he walked to his car.
"Right now? Just like that?" Blade asked, a little put off by his immediate thinking that they were an item and he could just take her out whenever he wanted.
"I'm a 'spur of the moment' guy." Nelson said as he opened his car door.
"But I like a little warning." Blade said before she started to walk away.
"Okay then. Saturday night. The dance at the pier." Nelson offered.
Blade stopped and gave Nelson a final look before speaking. "I'll think about it, but I might have other commitments." With said, she walked away again.
"How about a ride home?" Nelson offered again, which was starting to get on Willie's nerves.
"She said she didn't want a ride." Willie said with a glare.
"Wasn't talking to you, twip." Nelson said as he glared at Willie. He then elbowed Willie so hard he hit his back hard on Nelson's car, and when he fell to the ground his hand almost hit the car, but his sleeve did get ripped in the process. This caused Nelson to gasp as he ran to his car to check for damages, before glaring angrily at Willie. "Now look at what you did! You almost scratched it!" Nelson grabbed Willie by the shirt and was about to punch him.
"Lay off him Nash." Nelson stopped when he spotted Terry and Nick looking down at him from the top of the stairs. "Don't you have anything better to do?"
"You think I'm afraid of you two?" Nelson challenged.
"We could care less if you're afraid of us." Nick said as he and Terry glared at the bully. "But do you really want to take that chance?"
Nelson continued to glare at the two of them, but he eventually backed down, considering he was outnumbered this time, before looking back at Willie. "He's not worth it." Nelson said before walking back to his car, but not before giving one last glare to his Nick and Terry. "But you two are worth it. Some day." With that said, Nelson drove away.
"You okay, Willie?" Terry asked as Nick helped him up.
"I've had worse." Willie said as he held his wrist.
"Look, I've been through the Nelson beating train plenty of times, and trust me when I say that once you stand up to him, he's going to think twice before picking on you again." Nick advised, but Willie didn't feel that confident.
"Yeah, well, not all of us can grow a spine like you, Nick." Willie said before walking off, leaving behind a worried Nick and Terry.
/
After that little incident at school, Willie met up with his dad, Frank Watt, at his construction site job for a new building. Frank was the foreman of his own construction company, and they were currently testing out a new piece of equipment, the Golem. A large orange mech with grappling claws on each hand, and a single green eye camera in the middle of its hunched body.
Willie just got done telling his dad about what happened at school, and needless to say, he was not happy. It wasn't because that someone hurt his son, but rather that Willie didn't fight back. Frank's mindset has always been that when someone hits you, you hit back harder until they can't get up.
"Move those loose beams to the first story." Frank ordered the controller of the Golem from his vantage point over the comms, watching the mech carry three steel beams. "And watch you port. Keep that Golem steady, you hear me?!"
"I copy, Frank, I copy." The worker said, having grown used to his boss' angry tirade. He then used the visor on his head to control the Golem and have it place the beams at a different location.
"Yeah, that's it. Keep her steady." Frank said before looking back at his son with an expectant look. "So, what are you going to do to the guy who did that?" Willie looked at his ripped sleeve for a second before just shrugging his shoulders while looking down in shame. Not liking this answer, Frank stepped towards his son with an angry and disappointed look. "No wonder they walk all over you. I told you, Willie, someone pushes, you push back."
"Yeah, like that'll work." Willie said as he tried to walk away, but Frank grabbed him by the arm and painfully pulled him back. "Ah!"
"You listen to me; I'm not raising no wuss." Frank said sternly, before hoping back to managing his employee working the Golem. "Would you keep it straight?!" Frank looked on at the progress before focusing on his son briefly. "I want you to take care of this, Willie, you hear?"
"How am I supposed to do that?" Willie asked.
"Hit him where it hurts." Frank said sternly. "You figure it out."
Willie didn't feel confident with that so-called advice his dad gave him. He couldn't deliver a punch to save his life, and now his dad expects him to hit Nelson where it hurts? If he did that, the only one hurting would be him.
His eyes soon looked towards the Golem robot, and the worker controlling it through a visor-headband. This sight caused an idea to form in Willie's head, then gain a smirk.
'Looks like i can grow a spine after all.' Willie thought to himself.
/
Nick sat alone in his room and finished up what was left of his homework. Since he's doing his best to balance his school life with his time as Spider-Man, he's had to work overtime with his studies to keep his grades up. Still didn't help his attendance when it really mattered, though.
After finishing his work, he decided to have something to eat before meeting up with Terry, seeing as how he wanted to test out some new camouflage tech that Bruce added to his batsuit. When there's time, he should probably ask Bruce if he could make some upgrades to his web shooters, that way he's more prepared for any situation.
After making himself a sandwich, Nick saw his grandfather sitting down on the couch reading a book. "What are you reading, Grandpa Joe?" Nick asked curiously.
"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." Joe answered as he turned a page. "Haven't read this in a long time, but it's one of my favorite Jules Verne novels, so I figured I refresh my memory."
"Isn't that the one with a giant squid?" Nick asked curiously.
"There's more to it than a giant squid." Joe said with a chuckle. "There's adventure, good characters, thought-provoking conversations and morals. Everything you want in a good book."
"Sorry, grandpa, but From the Earth to the Moon will always be my go-to novel." Nick said as he looked at a bookshelf with a ton of old books. "You ever thought about coming out of retirement and writing another novel?"
Back in the day, Grandpa Joe used to be a successful author, who has written several books and had tons of copies sold that he was pretty much set for life. His books have won tons of praise from both fans and critics, and has even been used as an example in reading lectures for class. When Nick was little, he would have Joe read to him some of his work, and he would be enraptured in the stories told.
"Oh, several times, but nowadays I feel comfortable reading various old works then writing new ones." Joe answered with a content sigh.
Nick was about to say something else, but stopped when his phone started to ring, before he quickly answered it. "Hello?"
"Hello, Nick, it's Thomas from the Gotham Gazette."
"Oh, Mr. Fireheart, how are you?" Nick asked in surprise.
"I'm doing fine, but I need a quick favor. Most of my reporters are out on other assignments right now, so you are the only one I can depend on. Do you think you can head down to the south side of town? There was a theft of some heavy machinery and I want you to be there on the scene to report it. I know that it's late, but..."
"Say no more, boss. I've got a free night, so I can help out." Nick said with a smile.
"Thank you, Nick, you're a lifesaver. If you can write me a good piece on this theft, I'll pay you extra than your usual freelance fee."
With that, Fireheart hanged up and Nick looked at his grandpa. "Sorry, Grandpa Joe, but I've got a work emergency."
"Say no more, son. Y0u just be careful out there." Joe advised.
"I always am." Nick said as he left the front door and made his way to an where he could change into his costume.
After changing he swung towards the address that Thomas sent to him on his phone. When he got there, he saw that police have already barricaded the area of an unfinished building still under construction, with various workers being questioned by officers. Nick found a nice quiet place to change back into his civilian clothes and made his way to the cops, who let him pass when he showed him his press badge.
As he looked around, he listened in on a conversation one of the workers was having with a police officer.
"I'm telling you; the Golem was right there before I took my break." The worker informed the officer as he pointed to a containment area.
"Golem?" The officer asked in confusion.
'Didn't Willie say that his dad uses a machine called that?' Nick thought to himself.
"Galvanic Lifter Machine." Frank said as he walked forward. "GLM, Golem, its a robot two stories tall, 13 tons..." Frank then grabbed his employee by the shirt and glared angrily at him. "...and this jerk loses it!"
"Hey, hey!" The officer said as he pulled Frank away before he did anything. "That's enough of that. If this Golem thing is as big as you say they couldn't have taken it too far."
Nick continued to write a few noted, but spotted a brief flashing over by some equipment. Nick walked over and pretended to be inconspicuous as he addressed his cloaked friend.
"Guess the cloaking function works, huh?" Nick whispered.
"Yeah, I was in the middle of watching a game while invisible before I heard the sirens." Terry whispered back. "This makes me wonder, though, who would want to steal a robot used for construction?"
"With a robot as big as he described, it's definitely not for something like putting buildings together." Nick said with a slight nervous tone.
"We don't have school tomorrow, so we can spend the morning searching for it." Terry said as he jumped off the ledge and flew off, as Nick walked off to find a spot to change and swing on home.
/
The next morning laid the beginning of the weekend, which was perfect for the mall as most of the teenagers that weren't at school spend their time here. Two of these teenagers were Blade and Nelson.
Before Blade would give her answer to Nelson if she wanted to the dance with him, she wanted to spend some time with him, to see if he was worth it.
As they walking, while looking at different shops, Nelson was getting a little impatient. "I'm sick of the mall." Nelson said, before he smirked. "How about a ride?"
Blade turned to Nelson and gave him an accusing glare. "You like that car more than me." Blade stated with her hands on her hips.
"Who's talking about cars?" Nelson said with his smirk still present. Blade had to resist rolling her eyes at him, because of course that would be on his mind.
Little did they know, they were currently being watched.
Willie stood on the roof of one of the buildings overlooking the mall, wearing the visor used to control the Golem. He smiled in satisfaction, knowing that he would finally get payback, after all the torment Nelson has done to him over the years. Focusing his brainwaves through the visor, he enacted his plan.
Throughout the mall, everyone stopped what they were doing when they felt the ground shake. At first, they wrote it off as a harmless small earthquake, but they threw that out the window when it kept on recurring and became more violent. It was then they spotted something big coming towards them, and it was soon revealed to be the Golem. Everyone screamed in terror as they ran away from the giant robot, as it kicked away a car in the parking lot, while stomping a second one flat.
Nelson and Blade just heard the screams and noticed people running, but were unsure of what was happening. It wasn't long until Nelson spotted the Golem walking right towards them, and for some reason, it seemed to focus solely on him.
"Geez!" Nelson exclaimed as he ran right for his car, leaving behind Blade. Blade noticed the Golem as well and followed after Nelson, even though he was way ahead of her. Nelson pulled out his keys and unlocked his car with the driver's door opening.
"Wait!" Blade called out to him, but he did not even acknowledge he heard her. Blade then accidentally tripped to the ground, leaving her helpless to the Golem's mercy. She looked back and saw the robot stomping right towards her. "AAAAAAHHHHH!" Blade covered her arms in a veiled attempt to protect herself...
...but the robot just walked right past her.
Nelson started up the car and punched it, trying to drive off as far away as possible. That proved to be futile as the Golem came right up behind the car and grabbed it before it could drive off any further. Willie used his own bodies movements to control the Golem's function, as it lifted up the car to its eye level. This caused Nelson to go flying out the open door, but he still managed to hang on.
Having a clear point of view from the Golem's eye camera, Willie smiled in satisfaction as he saw the fear plastered on Nelson's face. "Hit him where it hurts." Willie said as he motioned his hands together.
The Golem followed Willie's motion as it was about to bring it's claws together, but before Nelson could get caught between them, he let go of the car door and fell to the ground. The Golem brought it's claws together and crushed the car.
"No! Not the car!" Nelson yelled in dismay. The Golem gave the wrecked car a couple of twists before tossing it to the side. Nelson approached his wrecked car with a defeated look, before looking back up in fear at the Golem as it peaked down at him and raised both its arms.
BOOM!
The Golem didn't complete its next move as an explosion occurred on its back. Batman and Spider-Man came gliding and swinging by respectively from behind, before Batman threw another exploding baterang at the giant robot, but it didn't even leave a mark, before the two heroes landed right by the fountain.
"So, Step 1: Find the Golem, was a success." Spider-Man said.
"Well, hard to miss a two-story tall robot demolishing a mall." Batman said, before the two heroes looked to see the Golem ripping out a stone pillar from the wall and was about to use it as a makeshift weapon. "Any idea what step 2 is?"
"Yeah, we probably should have thought of that beforehand." Spider-Man said nervously.
The Golem brought down the pillar, but the heroes managed to jump out of the way, but the force of weapon's impact to the ground caused a shockwave that sent both heroes flying. Batman crashed into a parked car, while Spider-Man was sent flying to the side. Batman groggily got back up, and looked behind to see the Golem approaching him and was about to crush him with its weapon.
Back with Willie, he glared angrily at Batman, as he and his other hero friend just had to barge in and ruin the sweet payback he was giving to Nelson. "Leave us alone!" Willie exclaimed as he was about to have the Golem crush him with the pillar.
The Golem was halted, however, when Spider-Man launched several web lines at the Golem's arms and pulled hard, preventing the Golem from bringing his makeshift weapon down.
"Move Bats, I got him!" Spider-Man yelled, as he was using all his strength to hold the Golem back and it was putting a strain on his body. Batman nodded as he used his rocket boots to fly up above the Golem and land on the wall behind it.
Willie glared at Spider-Man as he couldn't move the Golem's arms, so he decided to do try something else. The Golem then moved its leg back and managed to kick Spider-Man away, causing him to release it as he crashed into a wall. Spider-Man groaned as he stood back up, but had to jump up to Batman's position on the wall to avoid another kick from the giant robot. Both heroes jumped onto the bottom of an elevator to try and get some distance from the large mech.
"Sure could use a giant robot-busting laser cannon about now." Spider-Man joked.
"Tell me about it." Batman said. The elevator soon came to a stop as the people on it got out, before the Golem marched up to them and reared its claw back to end them.
"Got you now, you stupid little pests." Willie said with a cruel smirk as he moved the Golem forward. The Golem reared its claw back and shot it forward to crush the two heroes, but they jumped out of the way in time, allowing the Golem's claw to hit the wires of the elevator. "AAAAAAHHHHHH!" Willie screamed as electricity coursed through the robot's body, which somehow transferred to the visor Willie wore, before he collapsed on the ground.
The electrical surge caused the Golem to instantly shut down before it toppled. Spider-Man and Batman took a deep breath now that the danger was over, before the later held his fist up to his friend. "Timber." Batman said with a smirk.
"Got that right." Spider-Man said as they shared a fist bump.
The civilians that hid away from the battle soon started coming out, believing the danger had passed and it was safe to come out. Among the civilians were Blade as she looked grateful to be alive. She heard footsteps behind and looked, only to glare when she saw it was Nelson, the guy who just left her behind without a second thought.
"My hero." Blade said sarcastically before storming off, causing Nelson to frown in annoyance.
Spider-Man and Batman heard the police sirens and multiple police hover vehicles heading there way, and decided to make themselves scarce, with Spider-Man swinging away and Batman flying off while also turning on his camouflage to avoid the spotlight.
Meanwhile, Willie groaned as he got back up, but he held his head as it throbbed immensely. He threw his visor off to the side, never noticing the electric sparks that shot out of it. Willie walked to the edge of the building, watching several police vehicles hovering over the disabled Golem. Knowing that there was nothing left to do, and that he didn't want to get caught, Willie walked off, though he still held his head in pain.
/
Later on, that following night, Nick and Terry returned to the Batcave to go over any clues that may lead to the identity of whoever stole the Golem. They watched the large screen of the Batmonitor as Bruce went over the security footage at the mall.
"The Golem's control halo was found on a roof fused." Bruce said.
"Any chance they found the head that went with it?" Terry asked.
"No such luck." Bruce said as he pressed a button, showing the footage of the Golem grabbing and crushing Nelson's car. "The Golem went straight for that car."
"It belongs to Nelson Nash, one of our classmates at Hill High." Nick informed.
"Anyone you know who bears a grudge against him." Bruce asked.
"The line starts with me, then Nick, and goes around the block. Twice." Terry said with a smirk.
Nick had to agree with that statement. With Nelson being the resident school bully, he had plenty of enemies to go around. "Well, I guess you can stay we aren't short on suspects." Nick said as he rewound the footage of Nelson's car getting crushed, and couldn't help but chuckle at that. "You know, I would never condone the destruction of another person's property, but that is just too good to watch."
"I know what you mean, it just feels so...therapeutic." Terry said with an equal smile.
/
The next morning, Willie sat with his dad at the table eating breakfast, though Willie barely even touched his cereal, as the two of them watched the news about yesterday's incident.
"The Golem is now in police impound, awaiting a full investigation." The news anchorman said.
"And while it sits there, I can't finish the building." Frank muttered in frustration, knowing that his work has been pushed back for days, possibly weeks now thanks to this incident.
"Just another example of technology gone b-ba-ba-bad." The TV began to short-circuit, so Frank decided to to turn it off.
"When I get my hands on the jerk who stole that Golem..." Frank slammed his fist on the table in anger. "...I'm gonna make him sorry he was ever born."
"Maybe he already is." Willie muttered lowly.
"What was that?" Frank asked, not really hearing what was said.
"Nothing." Willie said as he got up to get ready for school.
/
Hamilton Hill High
Nick closed his locker as he wrote a few things down on his notepad. He was just compiling everything he found out about the Golem incident, so that way he would have a clear idea on what to write for his article at the Gotham Gazette. With the one who hijacked that robot still at large, he didn't want to jump into things with the article until he and Terry caught them.
"Hey, Nick." Dana called out as she walked up to him.
"Hey, Dana." Nick greeted back as he took a break from his notes, before he noticed the smile on her face. "You seem to be in a happy mood."
"Yeah, Terry said that Mr. Wayne gave him the day off on Saturday, so we're able to go to the dance at the pier." Dana said happily.
"That's great. I hope you two have a great time." Nick said, as he was glad that the two were able to finally have some time together.
Dana noticed Nick's wording and frowned. "What do you mean just 'us two?' Aren't you going to the dance as well?"
"Sorry, but without a date I'd feel a tad bit uncomfortable. I don't want to ruin you and Terry's night by being the third wheel." Nick said sheepishly.
"Wait, aren't you seeing that girl you told us about? I thought you'd ask her to the dance?" Dana asked in confusion.
Nick blushed a bit as he thought of Melanie and rubbed the back of his head. "Well...I don't know if we're 'seeing each other.' I honestly don't know what to call us, but I don't know if we're at that stage where I should ask her to the dance."
Dana sighed and placed a hand on her face. "Nick, you got to have more confidence in yourself. If you like this girl, and have already been on a few dates with her, then asking her to the dance should be easy."
"Yeah, but...what if she says no?" Nick asked nervously.
"Call it a girl's intuition, but I've got a feeling that she'll say yes." Dana said as she patted Nick on the shoulder in support. "And besides, if she did say no, then that's her loss."
"Thanks, Dana." Nick said with a smile. "How do you always know what to say?"
"It's a gift." Dana said with a smirk as the two of them walked off.
Meanwhile, in another part of the school, Nelson was following after Blade, who was giving him the cold shoulder all day. Nelson apologized all morning, but leaving her behind to save himself from a giant rampaging robot was kind of a big issue in her book.
"Come on, baby, you know I care about you." Nelson pleaded desperately, trying to get back on her good side. "I thought you were right behind me."
"I was...by about a hundred feet." Blade said to him with glare, before walking off and leaving him behind. "'Big brave Nelson.' I might as well go to the dance with a twip like Willie Watt."
THUMP!
Sure enough, Willie came by and they accidentally bumped into each other. "Willie?" Blade said in surprise. What was a little odd for her was that Willie didn't even acknowledge her and just walked right past her. Still though, Blade smirked as she just thought of the perfect revenge on Nelson, before addressing Willie. "Are you busy Saturday night?"
That got Willie's attention as he gave a hopeful look and turned towards her. "You...talking about the dance?"
"Wanna go or not?" Blade asked with a flirtatious look.
"Uh, yeah!" Willie said in excitement.
"Great, call me." Blade said as she placed her hand on his arm before walking off. As she walked past Nelson, she gave him a smug smirk.
Nelson frowned as walked towards Willie, who took a couple fearful steps back. "Think I'm going to let some twip take my girl?" Nelson asked menacingly, before pushing him right into the lockers.
/
Meanwhile, at the same time at the impound center, the Golem continued to remain perfectly still, while it was wrapped up in chains and locked up tightly. A guard walked by to look at it briefly, before moving along.
Had he stayed sooner, he would have seen the Golem's one green eye activating.
/
Nelson then shoved Willie right into the wall before he grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and was about to deliver a punch, but paused when he caught a teacher walking in their direction. He let go of Willie and placed his arm over his shoulder and gave a casual smile at the teacher, trying to play the part of he and Willie being friends.
The teacher looked at the two of them for a moment, before he just continued walking off. Nelson smirked as he got away with it before looking back at Willie. "Relax, your safe. For now." Nelson said, before slapping Willie and walked off.
Willie grunted in pain for second, but it was something he was used to. He was about to walk off, but paused when he felt something strange, and as he looked at his hands, he noticed that they started sparking with blue electricity.
Willie was stunned at first, but then his mind started to feel strange. He looked around as he started to feel...a presence of some kind. He then started to see things...like he was seeing the point of view of someone else. It was just like...
...just like when he controlled the Golem.
'No...it can't be.' Willie thought to himself, but when he noticed the sign of the Police Impound, he knew then that it was true. He was still connected to the Golem, even though he didn't have the visor anymore.
Willie smirked sinisterly as he moved his hands in opposite directions.
/
The Golem's green eye started to flash before it moved its arms apart, easily breaking the chains that were binding it. After being freed from the chains, the Golem rushed right towards the gate and easily busted the doors down, before racing off down the streets.
/
After the sensation left his mind, Willie bent down and picked up his glasses.
"Hey, Willie." Terry asked as he walked up to him. Seeing his roughed-up look, Terry could tell that he had another encounter with Nelson. He wishes he would have gotten to him on time to give Nelson a piece of his mind, but right now Willie just needed a friend. "You alright?"
Willie just gave Terry a smile as he stood up. "Yeah, I'm great. Just great." Willie said before walking off, leaving behind a confused and worried Terry.
/
Later that night, the sensation in his head continued to hound at Willie, till he decided to follow his gut and wander in the direction the sensation was telling him to go. He eventually made his way to an old and large sewer tunnel, where he could feel the sensation in his head getting stronger.
"I know you're there." Willie said to himself, as the blue electric sparks appeared on his head. "Getting closer...I can feel you."
His musings were interrupted when he heard the revving of motorcycle engines and mad cackling coming down from the tunnel behind him. It wasn't long before a whole squad of Jokerz came rolling in on their Moro cycles and started circling around him, though he didn't seem scared in the slightest.
"Hey, schoolboy, where's your hallway pass?" One of the Jokerz asked with a mad grin.
"Didn't nobody ever tell you not to come into Joker territory without some kind of tribute." A female Joker asked.
"I've got something for ya. A joke." Willie said with a smirk.
The first Joker got off his motorcycle and got right in Willie's face with a challenging look. "Alright then, make me laugh."
"What's two stories tall and eats Jokerz?" Willie asked.
"What?" The Joker asked back.
Willie's smirk grew as he pointed directed behind them. "Him."
The tunnel shook as thundering metal footsteps sounded throughout the tunnel, causing the group of Jokerz to look behind them, then gasped in horror. The Golem marched right up to the group and paused as it looked down at each and every one of the clowns. Despite it's lack of a face, for some reason they had the suspicion that it was glaring at them.
The Joker near Willie stepped back in fear, and seemed to lose the ability to form complete sentences. Willie could not help but have a smug smile on his face, reveling in the fear he was seeing in these wannabe clown's eyes. "You're not laughing." Willie said smugly. This caused the Joker member to push Willie right towards the Golem, thinking about using him as bait.
This action caused the Golem to slam its claw right onto the Joker member's motorcycle, crushing it to pieces. All of the Jokerz screamed in terror as most of them already drove on out of there. The female Joker circled around back on her bike and had the one whose motorcycle just got crushed hop on hers before she to drove off at high speeds.
Willie smiled before looking up at the Golem. "I'd knew you come. It's like...you're a part of me." The Golem lowered its arm and allowed Willie to climb on top it, before lifting him up to where their eyes met. Willie once again felt the connection, like their minds were melded together. The Golem may not have mouth, but Willie could understand it. "This is so slamming. I have you, I have Blade; from now on, everything is going to be different."
/
Nick tapped his foot rapidly as he sat on a park bench, waiting for Melanie to meet up with him. After school he sent her a message, asking if they could meet up at the park, which he was surprised that she instantly agreed to. Nick decided to take Dana's advice and take the initiative on asking Melanie to his school dance. He wasn't sure if this was the next big step in their...relationship? Was that what he would call what they are? They never actually established what they were.
Sure, they hanged out every once in a while, they had breakfast and lunch together whenever they got the chance, and they even hanged out at an arcade here and there, but to officially think that they're dating? Nick's never had a relationship before, so he was completely in the dark about where to go from here, but here's hoping she'll at least go to the dance with him.
Nick looked to the side and noticed Melanie walking towards him, causing him to smile and Gwalior towards her as well. "Hey." Nick greeted.
"Hey yourself." Melanie greeted back with a smile. "So, what was it that you needed to ask me? From your message it sounded very important."
"Yeah, it kind of is." Nick said nervously, as he was both nervous and excited for this part. "Well, I was just...you see there this thing that..."
"Yeah?" Melanie urged with her smile still present, causing Nick to blush further.
"Well...um..." Nick still felt nervous, but then decided to take the plunge. He closed his eyes tightly and decided to just blurt it out. "My school is having a dance at the pier and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me!" Nick said quickly.
Melanie's eyes widened slightly by surprise at what he asked, but then she smiled softly at him. "Of course I'll go." Melanie said, causing Nick to open his eyes and look at her in surprise.
"Really?" Nick asked, acting like he wasn't sure if he heard her right.
"Yes, really." Melanie said with a chuckle. "Did you think that I would say no?"
"Well...kind of, yeah." Nick said sheepishly.
"Well, put those worries of yours to rest, Mr. Styles. It'll be fun to go to my first dance." Melanie said.
"You're first?" Nick asked in surprise, before he smacked his forehead. "Right, forgot, homeschooled."
"Yeah...homeschooled." Melanie said as she looked to the side with a slight guilty look, though Nick never noticed it. She looked back up to him and smiled at him. "So, we gonna have lunch or what?"
"Yeah, sure. Follow me, I know it's the place." Nick said as he walked off.
Before he could take another step, he paused when he felt Melanie wrap her arms around his, causing his eyes to widen. He looked towards her and saw that she was giving him a flirtatious look as she hugged his arm closer to her.
"I figured this is more comfortable than just following." Melanie said with a slight smirk. "You don't mind, do you?"
"No, of course not." Nick said nervously, but still smiled back. They continued on as Nick continued to think to himself about he and Melanie. He wasn't sure what to call themselves just yet, but he was starting to like where they were, and he actually hoped it would move forward.
/
The night at the dance finally came. The dance itself took place at the pier, where it was being held in a tent right by a carnival, so that any couple or individual that didn't feel like dancing could have fun on the rides or carnival games. Inside the tent, lights were flashing, music was blasting loudly. and teenagers were dancing to the groove.
Nick was outside the tent, wearing a white dress shirt and black jeans, as he waited for Melanie to arrive. Since he had no car of his own, he couldn't offer to pick her up to give her a ride, and he definitely couldn't swing them over here for obvious reasons. Nick continued to wait for her, but when he looked towards the left, his eyes widened and his mouth slightly agape.
Melanie came walking right to him, wearing a dark blue dress that went down to her knees and a single shoulder strap. Her hair was done up just a tad bit, with it covering her right eye, and her lone visible eye had some eye shadow on it, with the only thing about her look that remained the same was that she still wore her black boots.
Melanie walked up to him and smiled up at him when she saw the look on his face. "See something you like?"
Nick snapped out of his stupor as he tried to speak. "I'm sorry, it's just...well, you look...wow." Nick said nervously, but still smiled at her.
"You look 'wow' yourself." Melanie said as she smiled back.
"Well then, shall we?" Nick asked as he held his arm out.
"We shall." Melanie said as she linked her arm with his, before walking in the dance tent.
Inside the tent was also Terry, who wore his casual black shirt and jeans, as he held Dana close, who wore a maroon-colored dress.
"I'm glad Mr. Wayne gave you the night off." Dana said happily. "It wouldn't have been as much fun without you."
"You would have come alone?" Terry asked jokingly.
"Hey, I've got a life to, you know." Dana said before spotting Nick, and with a girl no less, causing Dana to smile and call out to him. "Hey, Nick!"
Nick spotted his two friends and walked over to them with Melanie in tow. "Hey guys, glad to see you here."
"You to." Dana said before looking at Melanie. "Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?"
"Guys, I'd like you to meet Melanie. Melanie, these are my best friends, Terry and Dana." Nick introduced them.
"It's really nice to meet you." Melanie greeted as she shook the couple's hands.
"Likewise." Terry said with a smile.
"We actually saw you a while ago. It was at that club, the one where that Electro guy struck." Dana mentioned.
"Yeah, that was a pretty crazy night." Melanie said before she looked up at Nick with a smile and held his arm tighter. "It worked out in the end, though." This caused Nick to blush slightly, but still smiled at her.
"Hey, I gotta ask." Dana said as she leaned closer to Melanie with a smirk. "When he asked you, was he nervous?"
"Dana." Nick whispered harshly.
Melanie however smirked back. "Like a little puppy." Melanie said, causing Nick to groan and pout slightly. This made the two girls chuckle before Melanie patted Nick on the head. "Oh, don't be like that. Puppies are cute."
"Well, we better leave you two alone." Dana said as she and Terry walked off to the dance floor.
"You enjoy teasing me, don't you." Nick asked with a smirking glare at Melanie.
"Whatever gave you that idea?" Melanie asked innocently, but still had a mischievous glint in her eyes, before dragging him to the dance floor in excitement. "Come on, let's dance!"
Over at the other side of the tent at a different entrance, Willie, who wore an orange suit, walked in with his hand on Blade's waist, who wore an all-white dress to match her hair and a corsage. She looked down at Willie's hand and frowned on where it's at.
"Willie." Blade said.
"Yes?" Willie asked.
"Your hand." She said expectantly.
"Oh, sorry." Willie said as he let go of her waist. Not wanting to upset her, Willie tried to think of something to make her happy. "Would you like some punch?"
"Whatever." Blade said dismissively, but Willie still smiled.
"Okay, be right back." Willie said as he walked off to get them their beverage.
"Take your time." Blade whispered to herself. She may have agreed to go to the dance with him, but that doesn't mean she was gonna enjoy it. She was doing this for one thing, and that's payback, but she was still risking her social status for even being associated with this geek. She was already getting weird looks by some of the girls from school, so any time she can to get some breathing room was good on her part.
"Hey, Blade." A guy said as he walked up to her. "Nice corsage, or is it jungle camouflage?"
Nelson then came up and elbowed the guy away hard. "Knock it off, Rino. Can't you see how miserable she is?"
"Like you care." Blade said angrily as she tried to walk off, but Nelson followed.
"I do, really. I can't tell you how sorry I am for acting the way I did." Nelson softly as he caressed her cheek. "Give me another chance, baby, you won't be sorry."
"I would, but Willie..." Blade said with regret. She may have wanted to give Nelson another chance, but she was no two-timer, even if she didn't want to be with Willie on this supposed date.
"I'll take care of him. He'll understand." Nelson said as he gave a loving look to Blade before walking off. Blade smiled at him as he smiled back, but when he saw Willie with a glass of punch, he gained a cruel smirk. When he got by Willie he roughly placed his arms over his shoulder. "Come on, Willie boy, we gotta talk." With that said, Nelson roughly ushered Willie out of the dance tent, causing him to drop the glass of punch.
As they continued walking, Willie was getting more and more bad vibes as they continued moving farther and farther away from the dance. They soon eventually made it to an abandoned part of the pier, where they were soon followed by a couple of Nelson's other jock friends. Nelson soon let go of Willie and glared at him as he advanced, causing Willie to back up close to the edge.
"You had your fun, now get real." Nelson said harshly. "Blade's too hot for twip like you, now be smart and step aside." Nelson emphasized by roughly pushing him back.
Willie grunted from the push, but still glared defiantly. "No." Willie said strongly. This was his night, the night he's been waiting so long for, and he wasn't gonna let this jerk ruin it.
"I'm trying to be generous here, Watt." Nelson said with a glare.
"I don't need your generosity." Willie said as he tried to move past him, but Nelson roughly grabbed him by the arm.
"Yeah, you do." Nelson said harshly, before he literally pushed Willie over the edge.
Willie screamed in fright before he splashed into the water, causing Nelson and his friends to laugh at Willie's predicament. Willie eventually rose up from the water and flailed around, coughing up water and trying to swim his way back. Nelson and his friends laughed some more, before they decided to leave Willie to his misery and moved along.
Willie eventually swam up and grabbed up to the ladder and slowly climbed his way up. He didn't care about his suit getting wet, or the fact that he blatantly fell right into this obvious trap. What he cared about right now, was just getting back at Nelson, for everything he's done to him. The time's he's beaten him up, making his life miserable, and now he's gone and had to ruin his date with Blade, the girl of his dreams.
Willie eventually made it to the top and held his head, starting to feel the connection to his friend. Understanding that everything was ruined, Willie smiled sinisterly as there was only one way to make Nelson pay...
To end him.
/
Back downtown in Gotham, everything seemed normal that night, but people paused when they felt the ground beginning to shake. Everyone mumbled in confusion, but then the shaking increased to where it felt like an earthquake.
"AAAAHHHH!" A random woman screamed when she saw what was causing the quakes.
The Golem came marching down the street, frightening all pedestrians and crushing cars beneath its feet. Windows on buildings shattered by the loud sound of its thundering march through the streets. It even walked right through a highway bridge, crushing it like it was nothing.
It felt the turmoil and anger its friend was feeling through their link, and had an urge to be near him and help him. It saw the image of Nelson and his friends, but mostly focused on the lead jock, and felt the same anger towards him, and came to the same decision that Willie had.
Nelson Nash had to die.
As it continued to march, Frank came driving by, but hit the brakes when he saw the Golem moving down the street.
"What in the world?" Frank muttered in shock, before driving off after his company's robot.
/
Back at the dance, a slow song played as various couples swayed to the music together while holding each other close. From Terry and Dana to Nelson and Blade, everyone had a peaceful expression on their faces.
Among these dancing partners were also the pair of Nick and Melanie, as they too held each other close and danced to the slow song. Nick, however, looked more nervous compared to Melanie, who held a content look on her face as she had her head on his shoulder.
"Your hearts beating quickly." Melanie said.
"Sorry." Nick said sheepishly.
"Don't be." Melanie asked as she lifter her head of his shoulder and gave him a beautiful smile. "I rather liked it."
"Guess I'm just a bit nervous." Nick said with a sheepish smile. "To be honest, this is also my first dance to."
"Really?" Melanie asked in slight surprise.
"Yeah, I mean I've tried asking girls in the past, but they all said no, so I figured maybe the dance experience was never meant for me." Nick said glumly.
Melanie smiled up at him and placed a hand on his cheek. "Well, it's those girls loss, and my gain." Melanie said as she started to move her face closer to Nick's, causing his eyes to widen in surprise.
Nick obviously didn't know how to react in this situation, as this was a major first for him. Was this really about to happen, or was this just some dream that his mind made up to make fun of him. Still though, Nick found himself unconsciously moving his face closer to hers just as well, with their lips really close to coming in contact.
Before their lips could connect, Nick pulled back sharply as he could feel his spider sense going nuts, causing him to look around and find the source.
Melanie opened her eyes after feeling him pull away from her and looked worried. "What's wrong?" Melanie asked with worry, wondering if she did something.
"Nothing, it's just...something feels off." Nick said as he continued to look around. He then spotted a group of teens parting to reveal Willie, completely dripping wet and having a silent look of anger, as he glared at Nelson and Blade dancing. Nick looked at Willie in sympathy, having a good idea what happened. "Oh no."
Melanie looked towards Willie and then back at Nick. "Friend of yours?" Melanie asked.
"Yeah, just give me a second?" Nick asked, with Melanie nodding in understanding. Nick walked towards Willie, but wasn't the only the only one as Dana separated from Terry and went towards Willie as well.
Terry would have followed suit, but stayed behind when he heard his phone beginning to ring. "Yeah?" Terry answered the phone, knowing who it was.
"The Golem's heading your way." Bruce said over the phone. Terry had a serious look as he backed up to disappear in the crowd. "I hope you and Nick packed your suits."
Willie marched right up to Nelson and Blade dancing, glaring with full hate at what they were doing, and ignoring all the mean comments people were saying and laughing at his sopping wet form. He should've known this would be the proper res peons even they give, just absolutely no sympathy from any of them.
Nelson saw Willie come up to them and glared threateningly at him, while Blade was genuinely surprised by his state. "What are you looking at, twip?" Nelson said lowly, though Willie didn't say anything and continued to glare at him.
Nick and Dana soon walked up to try and comfort him. "Come on, man, he's not worth it." Nick said comfortingly.
"Yeah, how about Terry and I take you home?" Dana offered as she placed her hands around Willie's arm.
Willie just glared at them as he roughly pulled his arm back. "I don't need your help. I don't need anyone's help anymore!"
Nick's spider sense began going nuts as he could feel something very big and very bad was heading their way. Nick wondered what it was, but the answer came when he noticed Willie being surrounded by a green aura and gave out a yell.
BOOM!
All of a sudden, the Golem rose up and crashed right from under the pier. Everyone screamed in fright as they tried to run away as fast as they could, while avoiding getting crushed by the robot's feet. Nick took the opportunity to blend in with the crowd so that way he could find a safe place to hide and change into his costume, knowing that Terry was doing the exact same thing.
Willie, who was still coated in the green aura, rose his foot up and stomped on the ground, causing the Golem to copy his movements and tried to crush a group of teens, but they managed to avoid the robot crushing them by jumping over the railing of the pier and into the water, figuring it safer there then up there.
"Nelson!" Blade called out as she tried pulling him in open direction to run away.
"Get off!" Nelson exclaimed as he pushed her aside and ran off in a different direction.
He didn't get far as the Golem slammed it's arm in front of him, causing him to step back in fear. Nelson looked up and gasped as the Golem was about to stomp on him, but before the robot could bring it's foot down, Batman and Spider-Man came swinging by with their grappling hook and webs respectively, with the former grabbing him to save him, causing Nelson to smile in relief at the hero. "Wow, thanks."
"Don't mention it." Batman deadpanned, before casually tossing him into the water.
"You enjoyed that way too much." Spider-Man joked.
"...Maybe a little." Batman admitted with a smirk.
The two heroes swung around then Golem, but the giant robot reached out and grabbed Batman in its claws. Spider-Man man swung back to try and save his friend, but his spider sense tingled and he avoided getting grabbed by the Golem's second claw. He may have avoided getting caught, but the robot reared its arm back and slammed into Spider-Man, sending him flying and crashing into a booth.
Willie looked at the captured Batman in anger. "You and your partner should have stayed out of this, Batman." Willie said.
All of a sudden, Frank came up behind his son and grabbed him by the shoulders to look at him. "Willie!" Frank exclaimed angrily.
The Golem heard Frank as he looked down to see its friend being grabbed. Wanting to protect him, the Golem threw Batman far, causing him to scream, before crashing into another booth full of candy.
"You're doing this. Stop it right now!" Frank said sternly as held Willie roughly on the arms. He paused when he felt the ground shake and looked up when a shadow loomed over him, and saw the Golem glaring down at him with it's one eye. Frank let go of his son and walked back in fear. "Willie, what are you doing?" Frank then ran for his life as the Golem tried to crush him, before it marched right after him with Willie following close behind.
"Who's the wuss now, dad?" Willie angrily taunted.
Frank soon ran right up to the railing at the edge of the pier and looked down at the water in fear. He looked back behind him to see the Golem right above him, and it was about to crush him with its claws.
All of a sudden, Batman came gliding by and threw a couple of exploding baterangs on its back, causing a couple of small explosions. Spider-Man swung in and landed behind the Golem, then launched two web lines on its back and shoulder then yanked hard, causing it to step back. The Golem twisted its shoulder with the web line attached, sending Spider-Man flying, but he righted himself midair and swung around to rendezvous with Batman. Frank took the opportunity to try and get as far away as possible from this and tried climbing up the rafters of the roller coaster structure.
Batman and Spider-Man landed together on one of the coaster rafters and addressed the teen causing all this chaos. "How are you doing this?" Batman asked.
"With supreme satisfaction." Willie said as he held his hand up, causing the Golem to actually launch its claw right at the heroes, but they managed to jump out of the way and on a higher rafter.
"But he's your dad, you can't just kill him!" Spider-Man exclaimed, looking at Willie in disbelief that he would actually consider this course of action.
"Watch me." Willie said with an evil smirk.
Willie thrusted his hand forward, causing the Golem to launch his other claw and used to climb up to the hero's level. It then retracted its other claws and launched its hand like a battering ram, which the heroes managed to dodge.
Spider-Man had a crazy idea as he jumped right on the Golem's face and in front of the robot's eye. "You gotta hate spiders in your eye!" Spider-Man said as he punched the Golem's eye, causing it to crack.
"AAAAHHHH!" Willie screamed as he held his eye, feeling the pain from the Golem as if it was his own.
This caused the Golem to stumble about and crash into the side the roller coaster, shaking it up so much that the rafter that Frank was on bent up before breaking, sending Frank flying, but he managed to catch himself onto another rafter. He tried clawing his way back up, but the rafter tilted downward, which made it even more difficult to climb back up.
"Jump!" Batman exclaimed as he saw that Frank was right above the ocean.
"I can't swim!" Frank exclaimed in fear.
"Terrific." Batman groaned.
Willie growled in anger at everything seeming to go wrong. It was supposed to be so simple to kill all those who have wronged him, but these heroes were screwing everything up.
Well, not anymore.
Willie's body began to glow an even brighter green aura, as he yelled and felt his connection to the Golem grow even stronger. An orange glow came from the Golem's eye, before a panel opened up on the robot's shoulder and a gun popped up. It shifted slightly so that it was aiming right at Spider-Man, causing his eyes to widen in shock.
"Yikes!" Spider-Man exclaimed, before he jumped off the giant robot and swung away, and not a moment too soon, as what shot out of the gun was a large stream of fire. "Why does a construction robot need giant flamethrowers?!"
The Golem shot another stream of fire at the roller coaster, causing Batman jump off and glide out of the way. The fire destroyed the rafter Frank was hanging on to, causing him to fall straight towards the water. Frank screamed in fear, but before he could hit the water, Batman swooped in and caught him before he could hit the water. When he glided upward, he tossed Frank right into another booth full of plush toys, breaking his fall.
Batman and Spider-Man landed right on a ride that was a tower with spinning rockets. "Got any smart ideas on how to take this thing out?" Batman asked his friend.
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking." Spider-Man said as his mind was going on to overdrive. When he noticed that they were on one of the rockets carts attached to the spinning ride, an idea finally formed. "Follow my lead! It's time to take this robot for a spin!" Spider-Man said as he launched multiple web lines that attached to the Golem and then attached the other ends to the rocket.
Batman smirked as he launched two grappling hooks that pierced the Golem's chassis and attached the other end to the rocket as well. The tug from the grappling hooks and web lines pulled the Golem right towards the ride. When it collided, it caused an explosion that started to blow pieces of its body off.
"NO!" Willie exclaimed in dismay. He watched helplessly as the robot broke apart into pieces in fire and smoke before crashing right on the ground. He ran right right towards a piece that had the green eye, but cried as he saw the light dim out, before clinging on to it. "Come back! Come back!"
Batman and Spider-Man land back onto the ground and walked up to Frank, who was looking at his son in sadness and regret, with Batman deciding to speak up first. "Better go talk to him. I have a feeling you won't be seeing him for a while."
"Yeah, sure caused a lot of trouble." Frank said forlornly as he walked up to Willie, but not before looking back at the heroes with a slight joking smile. "Guess this means he ain't no wuss anymore."
"Are you serious right now?" Spider-Man asked with a disapproving look under his mask. "You really are a piece of work."
With that said, the two heroes leapt off the edge of the pier with Batman flying up with his wings and rocket boots, and Spider-Man launching a web line and swinging away. No sooner had they left, fire department and Gotham police cars came flying in and started cleaning up the devastation.
/
"Well...guess that was a disaster." Nick said with frown as he walked with Melanie down the sidewalk. After that fiasco at the dance was taken care of, he immediately changed out of his costume and found Melanie with the crowd.
"It could have been worse." Melanie said in a joking tone.
"How?" Nick asked incredulously. "What could have possibly happened to make it worse?"
"Meteors, tsunami, alien invasions, the list goes on." Melanie said with a smirk.
Nick looked at her for a moment with a blank expression. "You've got a morbid sense of humor."
"I try." Melanie said with shrug, before looking at Nick with a concerned look. "Your friend...is he going to be okay?"
"I don't know." Nick said with a shake of his head. "Most likely they'll send him to juvie, if they don't try him as an adult."
"I'm sorry." Melanie said in a comforting tone.
"Still though, he's my friend, and I'm going to do my best to help." Nick said strongly.
That surprised Melanie quiet a bit, as she looked at Nick with a surprised expression. "Really? After everything he did, almost hurting all those people, and even trying to kill his dad, you're still going to help him?"
"He's not a bad guy, he's just had some bad luck." Nick said. "I know that there's still good in him."
"How can you be so sure?" Melanie said with a slight skeptic tone, though she did look down and had a regretful look on her face, not that Nick could see it. "Maybe some people just can't be saved."
"I think everyone has some good in them." Nick said with strong conviction, which surprised Melanie quite a bit. "Just because someone has done a lot of bad things, doesn't mean that they're rotten to the core. I firmly believe that there is some good in everyone."
Melanie continued to look at Nick in surprise, trying to fathom his words. She just witnessed a teen trying to kill a whole lot of people, even his own father, and he still believed that there was good in him, just because they were friends. Melanie shocked look change to where she started chuckling, causing Nick to look at her in confusion.
"What?" Nick asked.
"Nothing, it's just you're really something else." Melanie said after she stopped chuckling.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Nick asked in confusion.
"Wouldn't you like to know." Melanie said with a teasing smile. The two of them ended up on a corner sidewalk, where Melanie flagged down a taxi as it approached, then opened the back door.
"You sure you don't want me to walk you home?" Nick asked, wanting to be a gentleman.
"My aren't you a bold one." Melanie continued to tease before smiling softly. "Thanks, but that's okay, I can take it from here. Can't wait for our next date."
"Next date?" Nick asked in surprise, thinking she wouldn't want another one after this fiasco.
"Yes, but this time without the giant killer robots." Melanie joked as she was about to get in the cab, but paused before she could sit down, then get back out to look at him. "You know, there's something that I almost forgot."
"What's that?" Nick asked with a raised eyebrow.
"This." All of sudden, Melanie stepped forward and leaned up to Nick's face, before connecting their lips in a surprise kiss. Nick's eyes widened and his cheeks blushed as he didn't know how to respond to this, but before he could Melanie pulled back and got into the cab, but not before giving Nick a wink. "Give me a call tomorrow." With that said, the cab took off.
Nick stood there frozen in place, unsure of how to process what had just happened. It finally dawned on him that he had just received his first kiss, from a very beautiful girl that he can guess he can start calling his girlfriend.
Nick slowly started to smile with joy as he leapt up high in the air thanks to his powers. "WOOOOHOOOO!"
/
Sure enough, Willie did end up in juvie, where he was now spending his time in the cafeteria, where it was dark with very little light. At least there was a large TV on the wall that many of the inmates were watching. Willie, however, just sat as far back into the corner as he could, avoiding as much contact with the rest of the inmates in the cafeteria as he could, while listening to the news that was playing on the TV.
"...and the Golem has been completely dismantled. As for the young thief, he's been sentenced to three years in a county juvenile facility. Commenting on the event is one of our proud reporters, and host of the Daily Truth segment of our channel, J. Jonah Jameson."
The male news anchor's face changed to a different person, a man in his late fifties with his dark hair that was whitish-gray on the sides, and a small mustache on his upper lip, appeared on the screen with an angry look on his face. "Thanks, Tom. I would like to go on record and say that this city is not safe, because the perpetrators of this disaster are still at large!"
"But Jonah, I just said that the thief was sentenced to juvenile hall?" Tom inquired.
"I'm not talking about that punk!" Jonah exclaimed angrily. "I'm talking about those masked menaces, Spider-Man and Batman!"
"Weren't they the ones who destroyed the Golem and saved everyone?" Tom asked.
"You mean the ones who caused thousands, if not tens of thousands, of property damage, due to their so-called 'heroics?!'" Jameson asked sarcastically. "Those two aren't heroes, they are menaces to society! If there is anybody who deserves to be locked up for putting innocent civilians in danger, it's them! It's because of them, and their reckless disregard for the safety of the people of Gotham, that the robot caused all this chaos to begin with. They manipulate young minds to perform acts of violence, turning them into delinquents, like the one who stole the Golem to begin with!"
Willie stopped listening when he noticed a few other inmates walking up to him. "Change the channel, twip. I want to watch wrestling." One of them demanded.
Willie didn't say anything before he glared at them, right when a surge of blue electricity flowed from his body. The three inmates stepped back in fright, before jumping in shock when the TV screen had a few sparks before exploding. Willie still said nothing as he got up and walked down an empty hallway, with all the inmates giving a wide berth.
Willie still held his blank look on his face...before it changed to a cruel smirk.
/
Hey everybody, I bring to you a new chapter!
Wow, I did not mean for this chapter to be this long. This may be my longest chapter yet for this story, but I say I did a pretty decent job for this rendition of a Batman Beyond episode. I was originally going to work on a new chapter for a different story, but after seeing the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer, I just had to write the next chapter for this story.
Now, I am debating on what kind of chapter I should write for the next chapter of this story. Should I do another rendition of a Batman Beyond episode, or another Spider-Man centric episode to introduce another classic Spider-Man villain that I have been teasing for awhile? Which would you prefer?
Anyway, I'll be working on another chapter for a different story that I haven't worked on in awhile now that this chapter is done, but I look forward to writing the next one as soon as I can. Until then, see you later, folks. Stay healthy, stay safe!