LIGHT AND SHADOW
CHAPTER V. MASK TO MASK
(Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Cranston, Lane, Scott, and their respective supporting casts are sadly, not my property. I'm creatively molesting them for my own sinister purposes.) *NOTE: Come on, people! Gimme reviews! I keep posting because I have the nifty enhanced statistics thingy that tells me you're reading, but can't get any better if you don't tell me what you think! That and it feeds my ego for you to review me! Have a heart, guys! High above New York City, an emerald glow lit the night. All over town, the city's denizens pointed skyward and shouted as they saw the frighteningly bright figure of the Green Lantern.
Alan Scott raged internally that he had let Cranston slip through his fingers. He was sure that the man was hiding something, and it was too great a coincidence that he seemed so anxious to conceal it when, at the same time, a plot had been executed to steal the Atom Bomb. He would find Cranston's secret and, with it, the secret of the bomb's location.
Lamont Cranston was gone, and in his place, a fearsome visage had appeared. Masked beneath a broad hat and crimson scarf, almost-evil eyes peered out at the world and saw the Emerald Avenger above New York. Somewhere inside, the Shadow felt something akin to fear. Mobsters and thugs were one thing, Shi-Wan Khan had been another, but the Green Lantern was in another realm entirely. Whatever mental powers the Shadow possessed dwindled in comparison to the might of Gotham's defender. But knowledge was power in and of itself, and knowledge he possessed in spades.
From his lofty vantage, Green Lantern looked down on New York and it's lights. Suddenly, he noticed something that made him falter. The lights of the Empire State Building were. blinking.
"G. L. nine. five. m. a.i.n."
Green Lantern. 95th and Main. It was code. The same that railway engineers used to signal station masters from a distance. And it could only be from one person.
It was an old warehouse, damp and dark. The Shadow always chose his locations well, and this was no exception. The Green Lantern floated slowly through the broken skylight, coming to rest in midair.
"I got your message. What do you want?"
The Shadow began to laugh, and the trace of madness in the voice chilled Alan's bones.
"I could ask you the same thing. You're a long way from home. What do YOU want? Why are you here?"
"I came for you."
"For me?"
"Yes. Someone has decided to follow in Shi-Wan Khan's footsteps."
The laughter went out of the Shadow as he recalled, all too clearly, the time he'd faced the maniac whose powers of the mind equaled his own. Khan had very nearly annihilated the city, and if someone else had discovered the secret of the Atomic Bomb.
Green Lantern was becoming angry. The Shadow's voice came from everywhere and nowhere, echoing off the walls of the old warehouse. He asked questions and gave no answers. Well, enough was enough.
"Enough of this! Show yourself!"
With a surge of willpower, Alan's ring flared, sending blinding green light in every direction, and casting a very clear shadow on the roof. The silhouette of a man crouched in the rafters. The Shadow leapt from the rafters and made a smooth landing on the ground below. The Lantern lowered himself slowly to the ground, and the two men were face to face.
"Enough hiding, enough deception. Either you help me, or I have no use for you."
"Very well. But, when this is over, there will be a reckoning."
CHAPTER V. MASK TO MASK
(Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Cranston, Lane, Scott, and their respective supporting casts are sadly, not my property. I'm creatively molesting them for my own sinister purposes.) *NOTE: Come on, people! Gimme reviews! I keep posting because I have the nifty enhanced statistics thingy that tells me you're reading, but can't get any better if you don't tell me what you think! That and it feeds my ego for you to review me! Have a heart, guys! High above New York City, an emerald glow lit the night. All over town, the city's denizens pointed skyward and shouted as they saw the frighteningly bright figure of the Green Lantern.
Alan Scott raged internally that he had let Cranston slip through his fingers. He was sure that the man was hiding something, and it was too great a coincidence that he seemed so anxious to conceal it when, at the same time, a plot had been executed to steal the Atom Bomb. He would find Cranston's secret and, with it, the secret of the bomb's location.
Lamont Cranston was gone, and in his place, a fearsome visage had appeared. Masked beneath a broad hat and crimson scarf, almost-evil eyes peered out at the world and saw the Emerald Avenger above New York. Somewhere inside, the Shadow felt something akin to fear. Mobsters and thugs were one thing, Shi-Wan Khan had been another, but the Green Lantern was in another realm entirely. Whatever mental powers the Shadow possessed dwindled in comparison to the might of Gotham's defender. But knowledge was power in and of itself, and knowledge he possessed in spades.
From his lofty vantage, Green Lantern looked down on New York and it's lights. Suddenly, he noticed something that made him falter. The lights of the Empire State Building were. blinking.
"G. L. nine. five. m. a.i.n."
Green Lantern. 95th and Main. It was code. The same that railway engineers used to signal station masters from a distance. And it could only be from one person.
It was an old warehouse, damp and dark. The Shadow always chose his locations well, and this was no exception. The Green Lantern floated slowly through the broken skylight, coming to rest in midair.
"I got your message. What do you want?"
The Shadow began to laugh, and the trace of madness in the voice chilled Alan's bones.
"I could ask you the same thing. You're a long way from home. What do YOU want? Why are you here?"
"I came for you."
"For me?"
"Yes. Someone has decided to follow in Shi-Wan Khan's footsteps."
The laughter went out of the Shadow as he recalled, all too clearly, the time he'd faced the maniac whose powers of the mind equaled his own. Khan had very nearly annihilated the city, and if someone else had discovered the secret of the Atomic Bomb.
Green Lantern was becoming angry. The Shadow's voice came from everywhere and nowhere, echoing off the walls of the old warehouse. He asked questions and gave no answers. Well, enough was enough.
"Enough of this! Show yourself!"
With a surge of willpower, Alan's ring flared, sending blinding green light in every direction, and casting a very clear shadow on the roof. The silhouette of a man crouched in the rafters. The Shadow leapt from the rafters and made a smooth landing on the ground below. The Lantern lowered himself slowly to the ground, and the two men were face to face.
"Enough hiding, enough deception. Either you help me, or I have no use for you."
"Very well. But, when this is over, there will be a reckoning."