Chapter 5

Crackdown



Captain Cameron Bullock had been working in his office when the call came over the radio. Not only was he hearing an "Officer Down" call but one of his sergeants came running into the office. It was his lead sergeant Tom Morely.

"Captain we've got-"

"I know, an aerial just went down on the Liberty."

"Not that. Homicide at Oscorp. Who do you want to send?"

Bullock didn't take any time to think this through. "Take your team over to Oscorp. I'll meet you there. Tell Lacroix and Kingsmen that need to be at the crash sight, ASAP." Bullock was referring to another pair of sergeants who worked in the squad. The way things were set up was that each sergeant would oversee two detectives.

Bullock grabbed his jacket and headed out with the other detectives. The night was going to be a long one even by cop standards.

When he got to the crime scene at Oscorp. Bullock found the place choked with people. Inside there were Oscorp personal, GCPD uniform, Crime Scene personnel, MCU detectives, and various reporters. Bullock wished he could just pull his gun out and fire one bullet in the air like cops did in the movies. But that was against the law and he didn't want to kill anyone with a random bullet.

"MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!" Bullock shouted

Everyone stopped moving.

"This is a homicide! Only members of Major Crimes and of Crime Scene can be here. Everyone else out or you'll be subject to arrest. Go now!" He strongly stated.

Surprisingly, with those words, the Oscorp personnel, GCPD uniforms and journalists left the lab. The last one leaving the room turned to Bullock.

"Excuse me, Captain. Ben Urich, GNWS. Any comment?"

"Yeah, With great power comes great responsibility." Bullock said to him

Urich just stared at him. "What did you say?"

"Get him out of here." Bullock told the uniforms who listened and removed Urich from the crime scene.

It was a mess in the lab. There was broken equipment and furniture strewn about the place. Not to mention the mounds of shattered glass that was spread around the floor. Crime Scene tape blocked the large gaping hole of what appeared to be some type of testing chamber. Bullock studied the scene as he went about the lab. He found the chief of the Crime Scene unit, Eden Colfax working around some shattered equipment.

"What went on here?" Bullock asked

"The company was holding some experiments in connection to a project contracted by the Defense Department." Someone said to him. Bullock looked over and found a woman holding some files in her hands. She was wearing standard business attire, a basic blouse, skirt and jacket combination. Her beauty was kept under a mask of professionalism.

"My name is Arlo Davison. I'm a representative from Oscorp here to aid you with what you need, Captain Bullock."

"A rep, eh? Can you tell us someidea as to what went on?"

"As I said Captain, what was being conducted was confidential. However I can provide you with information as to who was involved with the project."

"Such as who the victim was over there?" He pointed to a body now covered by a sheet.

"That's Doctor Oswald Owens." Colfax said to Bullock. "Dead due to strangulation and blunt trauma. Judging from what I can see. He was thrown across the room."

"By what?"

"Don't know. I'll have the official report by morning."

"Good" Bullock turned to Davison. "Who else was involved with this?"

"My boss, Norman Osborn."

"Can I speak with him?"

"Unfortunately Captain, we're unable to contact him right now. Although we'll have him contact you as soon as possible."

"I've already spoken to him before. I'm sure he has no desire to talk to me."

Davison didn't respond and just continued on. "There was also a General Pretsman from the Army here. I can give you the hotel he is at and any other necessary info."

"That will be good." Bullock said. "Also make sure you have copies so I can give it to members of my team."

"Will do, Captain." Davison quickly walked out of the lab leaving the police to their job.

"What's going on with that crash?" Colfax asked

"I've sent Lacroix's and Kingsmen's teams over to the sight to look into it."

"I heard the thing was attack."

"Where did you hear that?"

"The net. Said some kind of figure was laughing as it crashed on to the Liberty."

"What kind of figure?"

"They couldn't tell."

"I better tell Lacroix, so they can a copy of the available footage."

Colfax nodded.

"You know you wonder as to if this things was home grown or did it come from somewhere else?"

"I think that to sometimes, Bullock. But usually I defer that thinking because I like to spend my time working the crime scenes."

"Same here, Colfax. Same here."







"You heard about that crash?" Bruce Wayne's voice reverberated through the craft.

"Of course, it's all over the net." Batman replied

"Be on the look out. What ever did that, is still out there."

"Anyone we know?"

"Not yet" Wayne said into the radio. He was currently on analyzing the footage he had gotten off the net. So far, he hadn't found anything yet as he struggled to make out the shadow in the sky. "It was reported that witnesses heard a kind of laugh being heard."

"Jokerz?"

"Don't think so. They don't like cops but usually don't have the sophistication to pull something like this."

Batman steered the Batmobile past some of the larger buildings in Gotham. "Probably right." He said as he continued flying.

As Bruce Wayne worked on the computer he noticed something appear on screen. From what he read, a silent alarm was tripped at the Lexcorp warehouses over in the Coventry district.

"We've got a break in over at Lexcorp. I'd take a look at it."

"You know I would." Batman quickly sped towards the location.

When he got there it appeared to be deserted. Batman moved quickly around the massive building to find anything suspicious. Just as he turned the last corner he found nothing.

"False alarm?" He said into the radio. That's when a massive explosion tore through the building. Batman was knocked to the ground. As he looked up he saw something fly through the air. He heard a sinister laugh also cut into the silence of the night.

"Looks like we got our perp." He said as he raced to the Batmobile

"Terry, what do you see?" Wayne yelled into the radio

Batman jumped into the Batmobile and went chasing after the fleeing suspect. He kept closer as the suspect tried to shake him off with twists, turns, flips and any other maneuver he could think of.

"This person doesn't know much about flying." Batman said as he flicked a switch which armed a missile. He armed the targeting device and then fired.

The missile shot through the air and caught up quickly with the suspect. The craft dropped to the ground as smoke poured out of it. Batman followed to the smoke as the flyer dropped to a nearby rooftop. Batman did the same and landed stealthy on the rooftop.

He looked for the person he had been chasing. But couldn't find him anywhere. He heck with his infrared-vision and found nothing. When he turned he suddenly felt a heavy fist just plow into his face.

Batman dropped to the ground. Whatever hit him was quite heavy or powerful. He felt the stinging of it even through the suit.

"Who?" He said

"Why hello." The sinister voice said in a deep and menacing tone.

Batman turned towards the voice. What he saw was something he had never seen before. It was an imposing figure of green metal. A grinning evil mask looked down on him.

"Who are you?" Batman struggled to say through the pain.

"Just someone whose looking out for another person's interest." The figure then kicked Batman swiftly in the chest and Batman grunted in pain.

"I'm sure you'd like to know who." The person told him. "But the person I'm working for doesn't want to know. So I hope you can leave to do what I need to do."

"Sorry, can't let you destroy property." Batman said.

The figure was about to kick him again. When Batman grabbed his leg and threw him across the roof and into a solid-looking air conditioning unit.

"You want to try me, boogie-man?" Batman said to him

"I see you don't share my interests. Well that's fine. I've got ways of dealing with that." He then pressed several buttons which allowed the glider to rise up and comes towards Batman at an amazing speed.

Batman glanced at the speeding object before he had to dodge it. The other costumed person on the roof jumped on the roof and preceeded to get a way.

"Not that easy." Batman said. He pulled out a grappling hook and fired at the direction of the glider. The hook grabbed on and then Batman went on for a ride of his life.

"Oh no!" He said to himself as he pulled off the roof by several rocket engines. The speeds were amazing as the villain tried to get away. Batman held on for dear life as try to gain some footing. He tried to move up the rope up to the glider but the one driving it had other ideas.

"Oh no, One person allowed on this ride." He said before pulling out several small spheres and then threw them at Batman. Batman didn't realize what they were til he got a close look.

"Pumkins?" He asked

Then they exploded in the air. He felt the shockwaves pound him as he held on.

"Looks like I'll need some more." The figure at the glider said and threw some more bombs. They exploded near Batman giving him even more pain.

"Why won't you let go?" He asked Batman

"Guess I stick too well." He produced a Batarang and threw it. It directly hit the figure in front of him, disabling his vison for just a few seconds. As he shrieked in pain. Batman got onto the glider and threw a solid punch. Batman hit the no-named villain right in the "Face" or at least the mask part. While it did some damage. He did feel slight pain as he hit the material. Batman wondered what this suit was made of?

"Like to play close, eh?" He said to Batman. "Well I can do just as well." He let go with a series of kicks and punches. Only a couple of them landed on Batman. But as they fought they didn't realize they were getting dangerously close to One Gotham Centre.

Batman looked to see where they were. He then knew he either could stay on and fight a possible 'fight to the death' or let this villain go and take care of him later. He didn't know what to do as they came closer and closer to the landmarks massive glass walls.

Just as they got within a few feet, Batman jumped off the glider and dove down to the streets. He then let his wings open and was able to glide in the air. Batman turned to see the glider make a 90 degree turn and go straight into the air. The villain was gone into night. As Batman headed back to the Batmobile. He knew that he and whatever that thing was would meet again. The next time however, he would have some help to back him up.