John was nervous when he went to work the next day. He had to get some information about Freddy's past, and he had to get it soon. Who knew how many more drugs could be shipped out the slower he was? So, practically trembling at the thought that his best friend was a murderer, he entered the law office, pretending to act casual.
"Hey, Freddy, how's it going?"
Freddy looked up from his desk. "Oh, just fine, John. Pull up a chair; there's lots of paperwork to be done."
John did so, and about five minutes later asked, "So, Freddy, have you ever heard of Joe Cradock? Somebody I know mentioned that you and he used to be buddies."
Freddy stared at his paperwork as he answered, "Never heard of him. The guy who told you must have been lying."
"Not likely," thought John, remembering his real source. He waited a few more minutes, then said, "Freddy, I've never asked before, but as long as we're law partners, I should probably know. Have you ever committed a crime?"
Freddy's face looked insulted at the question immediately, but his frown went upside-down. "OK, bud, you caught me. When I was twelve, I got a five-finger discount on a basketball I really wanted."
He's changing the subject, thought John. "But that's all? Nothing serious?"
Freddy's eyes seemed to avoid John's. "Nope, nothing but one shoplifting spree. Why do you want to know?"
"Ya know, just wondering if you were going to skip town with all my money when we get rich," chuckled John hollowly. Freddy laughed too, but he still refused to look John in the eye. There would have to be a new tactic to get the truth from his friend. Or was that former friend?
That night, Nightmare went on his evening patrol, just as usual. He had already beat up two hoods, and was about to call it a night. Suddenly, he heard a footstep from a roof, probably a few feet away. He ducked instinctively, and heard a whizzing sound above his ear, followed by a loud "Shit!"
He glanced up and saw a dripping dart stuck to the wall. All right. This was too much. He spun around and saw the firer on a rooftop. With an angry frown on his face, he raced after him. The man was wearing a black suit and mask like Nightmare's, and was quite a good runner, unfortunately. Nightmare climbed up the building's fire escape route and onto the roof, just in time to see the villain jump to the next rooftop.
"Stop!" he shouted.
"In a pig's eye!"
Nightmare glared and raced behind. The villain had to get tired sometime, and when he did, Nightmare would have him. Suddenly, the head of the black-clad foe turned around as he ran, and a knife came towards Nightmare's heart.
John leaped to the side just in time, but the villain had his head start again. He got up and resumed the chase. So his foe had knives eh? He'd faced worse before. Namely, fire, bullets, and super-strength.
Another knife came hurling, but this one missed entirely. Nightmare jumped to the next roof, finally gaining on his elusive quarry. Suddenly, the unexpected happened. The knife-thrower jumped to the side, off the roofs entirely.
"That's suicide!" thought Nightmare. Staring down, he could not help but feel admiration for his foe. He had landed on not the street, but a taxi! As much like a movie as it seemed, Suicide (as Nightmare now thought of his name) had jumped from a three-story building onto a car and lived to tell about it! Nightmare could see Suicide crawl inside the car and take off, probably having killed the driver.
"Only one choice now," thought Nightmare. His foe headed backwards, he waited till it was in the middle of a U-turn and did the same as his foe. He leapt from his perch on the roof onto the taxi, right in the dent that his enemy had created.
Suicide stuck his head out the window at fired a bullet at Nightmare, narrowly missing his head. "Guns too!?!?" thought Nightmare. Suddenly, he panicked. He had started to lose his grip on the car's roof. He was sliding. So, he made a daring attempt.
He stuck his hand in the car's inside and unexpectedly grabbed Suicide's gun. Then, before his foe could do anything, he took the gun and blasted the engine until the gun had run out of bullets.
The car went skidding into a small shop on the west side of the street. Nightmare, dazed by the wreck, saw Suicide crawl stealthily into the shop. He followed, unknown to his foe. It was an abandoned antique shop, still filled with all its old cabinets and furniture. Nightmare crawled the opposite direction of Suicide, hoping to keep from being seen. He found a hiding space inside a cabinet, opening the doors quietly.
He waited in almost fear, as he listened to the soft crawl of Suicide. Suddenly, before him, he could see the villain. He was right in front of him now. It was now or never. Leaping out form the cabinet, he jumped onto the black-clad figure like a man possessed. Suicide struggled hard, but was not strong enough. Nightmare knocked his head against the wall hard, and sent his opponent into unconsciousness.
Breathing hard from the long chase, he laid Suicide on the floor. "Now, let's see who you really are, Suicide." He had enough time to see the poisoned dart enter his shoulder from the shop window before he fell into unconsciousness.