Batman/Resident Evil: The Gotham Protocol
Chapter 4
By: Christopher W. Blaine
e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com
DISCLAIMER: Resident Evil™ is a registered product of Capcom Inc./Batman™ is a registered product of DC Comics Inc. Neither of these properties is used here with permission. This original story idea is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.
Batman leaned back and placed his hands under his chin while he contemplated the situation. If the Umbrella Corporation really was performing human experiments, they had to be stopped. Did he, however, need to take the word of three "rogue" agents of S.T.A.R.s?
Oracle had vouched for Rebecca and Batman was inclined to trust her. She had the look of optimism, a look not so very common with young people today. Her youthful enthusiasm and belief in doing what was right weighed heavily in their favor. "So, what is going on there now?"
Chris leaned forward and snatched an apple from a fruit bowl in the center of the table. Now they were in a planning session, not an interrogation and he wanted to contribute. "I'd say something went wrong six months ago. It could have been anything, but given Umbrella's inability to account for human error and greed, I'd say whatever it was put their project in jeopardy."
"It is also possible they wanted to move to a more remote location," Oracle suggested. "I have copies of real estate purchases on several islands in the South Pacific from various governments. It is possible that your efforts to expose them have forced them to relocate."
"Then why call in the S.T.A.R.s from Metropolis?" Jill asked. "I mean, did they really need all of that security?"
"Could have been just to be safe," Chris speculated. "There was that Caliban Cove operation in Maine around that time." He looked to Rebecca and she nodded. In that event, an Umbrella scientist had decided to purge the world of inferior creatures by releasing an agent into the atmosphere. Rebecca had joined with another S.T.A.R.s team not on the take to stop it. "What about your contact, Nightwing?"
"He claims that all he did was research," Nightwing responded. "I don't believe him, of course, but he's scared to death that of he talks, it will lead Umbrella to him. I'm still working on him."
"Maybe I should take a crack at it," Chris suggested. From the scowls around the table, he realized he made a verbal faux pas for the super-hero circle. "Or else you could let us know what he has to say later."
"There may be another reason," Rebecca started. "They may be shutting the place down, but they may have had an experiment going on that they couldn't interrupt. Maybe they have some zombies under ice and they want to see of they can revive them after a certain period of time."
"If so, then there could be just enough evidence to convict Umbrella," Chris said, suddenly excited. It would be great to catch Umbrella actually doing the work, instead of following behind and cleaning up their messes. "It would explain the extra security while they dismantle the place."
"But I thought Madison was their top guy?" Arsenal asked. "Isn't he dead? Didn't we decide that?"
"Yeah, but who could they turn to?" the Huntress put forth. There were several shrugs around the table. "Come on people!" she snapped. "We know Freeze is still at Arkham. What about Captain Cold or the Icicle."
"I've already checked on both of them and they are both in prison right now, though I bet if we interviewed them we'd find out they've been approached by Umbrella," Oracle said. "I'll do some more research on it but I'm afraid it won't do much good."
"She's right," Batman concluded. "Besides your word, there is no evidence that Umbrella is up to anything. I can't have the Justice League approach the United Nations about a potential terrorist threat when there is no evidence."
"You saw a body last night," Chris said. He turned to Nightwing. "You could testify."
"We're masked men; who's going to believe us?"
"How about Superman?" Rebecca suggested. Oracle responded that the rest of Justice League was currently away on another planet for a mission and were not expected back for at least a week. "A week might be too late!" she exclaimed. "With their ship getting broken into, they are going to up their evacuation procedures."
"Agreed; we need to get into that facility and find the information we need," Batman said. "I'm putting together a team with myself, Green Arrow and Batgirl." Chris looked at the leather-clad Dark Knight Damsel. From her body size and shape he could tell she was most likely younger than Rebecca. Did all leaders have to face sending children into harm's way? "I'd like you three to come with us."
Jill smiled. "Alright! Now we got some real back-up!"
"Time to smash the corporate giant!" Green Arrow chimed in.
The six of them gathered around what could only be described as the Batvan, a custom machine that said "Porsche" on the rear door. Batman and Batgirl were going through their utility belts and Green Arrow was checking his quiver. "Why don't you give us a safety lecture, Ms. Chambers?" Batman asked.
The young woman bit her bottom lip. "The T-Virus is very contagious. All it takes is for these creatures to break the skin, or for you to get it in your eyes or mucous membranes. As far as we know, Umbrella never developed an airborne version."
"You heroes know to shoot to kill, don't you?" Chris asked, hinting he wanted his weapons back. Batman and Nightwing had argued over that issue for nearly an hour outside of earshot from the others. The Batman was sworn against guns, since that had been the instrument of choice for murdering his parents. He loathed them even though he was an expert shot with one.
Of course, he could also handle the bow and arrow like an expert as well, thanks to training from Green Arrow.
Nightwing, a police officer in his "normal" identity rationalized that by taking their guns away, the Batman was leaving three police officers defenseless. Regardless of his personal feelings, he could not dictate the use of force procedure for everyone in the world. "These are professionally trained law enforcement persons, Bruce," Nightwing had said. "It would be like telling me I can't use my gun."
Batman countered. "Would you? After all that we've seen, after all that I've taught you, would you use your weapon, or would you use the skills I taught you?"
Nightwing had pointed to the three S.T.A.R.s. "You never trained them."
In the end, Batman had relented, but he was not going to give them back their guns until they were on site. Then they would receive a lecture about the dangers associated with carrying a firearm in his city. "You'll have your weapons, don't worry," Batman said coldly.
"Good. Another thing is that I'm in charge of my team," Chris said. Batman straightened up and Chris held up a hand. "Don't give me that crap about this being your town and all. Last time I checked, you weren't elected to office."
"Boys," Jill said, trying to be the peacemaker. "How about we get there and do what is necessary. Have you ever stopped to think that the place will be deserted?"
Batman and Chris faced off and then turned back to their people. As hard as he tried, the Caped Crusader could not find it in his heart to begrudge Chris. The man was just trying to look after his people and do his duty. He had a dedication that the Batman understood and he wondered, just briefly, if he irritated people as much as Chris was irritating him. A look over at Nightwing's knowing smile gave him his answer.
Rebecca approached Batgirl slowly and extended her hand. "That's a new costume, isn't it?"
"I'm not that Batgirl," was the response. It was weird talking with her since the leather mask covered her entire face. In fact, no part of her body was showing so except for the breasts, Rebecca couldn't be sure if she was talking to a girl or not.
"Do you like music?" Rebecca asked.
Batgirl blinked behind her mask and smiled. Usually people asked her if the costume was uncomfortable or if she enjoyed kicking butt. Nobody ever cared, except for her allies, what she enjoyed. Immediately the normally quiet Batgirl began talking about several groups that Rebecca had never even heard of. The two young women were the first ones in the van, taking the back seat.
"I've got shotgun," Chris announced and he moved to the van while Green Arrow carefully escorted Jill into the middle seat of the van, taking care to stand directly behind her as she climbed in. He turned briefly and got a thumb's up from Arsenal and then hopped in.
Batman stepped over to Nightwing and the Huntress. "You understand why I can't let you go."
"This is insane, Batman," Nightwing said. He couldn't use real names because the Huntress was not aware of their secret identities. "This is nothing for you."
"I go through very few fights without getting at least a scratch," Batman said. He turned and looked back at the van. "If I become infected, you two are the only ones who will be able to take me out."
"Don't worry, Batman, I understand," the Huntress said with a wicked grin. The two of them had been nursing a love-hate relationship for years now. Originally, the Huntress had been just a wild vigilante that Batman hoped to tame. In a way, maybe he did and there was even a time when he sponsored her for admission into the Justice League. She held a more conservative view of punishment for the guilty, though, and when she had tried to kill a foe during a battle, he had her ejected.
That wound still stung and Nightwing was surprised that she had been called to this meeting until he realized that if someone needed to kill a zombie-Batman, he might hesitate. The Huntress would not. Afterwards, Nightwing would take what information he had to the Justice League and let them sort it out from there.
Time was against them on this; they needed to stop the people responsible from leaving if they could. Six months before, several people had died and if the investigation into it was corrupted through bribery and graft, then they had an obligation to expose that. There could still be innocent people in that facility as they stood there, being experimented on.
Batman had thought about contacting his friend Jim Gordon, but there was no way to know if some of the people in the GCPD were on Umbrella's payroll. A word of warning and all of the evidence could be destroyed with something as simple as a delete key. No, this was a mission that required stealth, aggressiveness and a bit of luck. This was the team to do it.
"Anything on the so-called Gotham Protocol yet?" Batman asked.
Nightwing shook his head. "Again, we're looking into it but we have so little time." He shivered visibly. "You should have seen that monster, Batman; no human being should have to suffer life that."
Batman nodded and then turned, his cape flowing in the breeze he created as he headed to the awaiting van.
Nightwing prayed it wasn't the last time he saw him.
Felix Turner lit a cigarette and examined the printout of the initial report being made by the Metropolis S.T.A.R.s. It stated that there was evidence that someone had gotten into the Madison's private work trailer and found Smythe and then proceeded to kill her. It was too bad; Smythe had been the only T-Virus recipient to undergo the freezing process. All of the others were infected with the TMB Virus strain developed a year before.
This new virus was even better than the T-Virus in that it added some extra abilities to the zombies. T-Virus zombies were just too stupid to do anything and they weren't all that powerful. The new batches they were working on would be different, though, and Felix was sure he would be elevated to a more prestigious position in the Umbrella Corporation. From there, he would have enough money and power to satisfy all of his personal cravings.
It was a shame that they had to leave Gotham City, for he enjoyed it here very much. However, where they were going he could legally purchase all of the young men he wanted for his use and no questions would be asked. He just had to get used to their ethnicity.
If only that damn Perot hadn't run! The fool! He was never in any danger of being infected, but he thought he was and so Felix couldn't really blame him. After all, when the orders came down to scrub the place, it had been Perot who had pointed out the people on his team that were willing to leave the company and go on to someplace else like LexCorp or WayneTech. Umbrella couldn't afford that so those researchers and scientists became something more useful to the company: test subjects!
Then Madison had to go and get all pissed off because his married assistant didn't want to play the horizontal tango anymore! Though Felix had to admit that Madison's version of revenge was sweet indeed. He'd definitely shown that bitch! Felix remembered Susan Smyth, cute but stuck up. He chuckled when he came to her photographs.
"Not so pretty anymore, are you honey?" he said, scratching at his head.
The evac was going on schedule and the Gotham Protocol was just about ready to be enacted. It would not only cover their escape, but if they left any loose ends, it would explain it quite nicely. He loved Gotham City and the way it seemed to have an answer for any question that came up.
He got up from his desk and walked over to the observation window that let him look down into the main lab. The technicians were busy dismantling the computers and after that they would remove the feeding apparatus for Test Subject A, the Adam of the new breed of soldier. The creature was huddled in the shadows, sleeping probably. It had eaten just recently, two crewmembers from the ship. Fools! Luckily Umbrella was flying in a good Russian crew to take the ship out.
"Tell me, Craig," Felix said, addressing the head of security that was standing quietly at the door. "How long before we're ready?"
"We estimate another four hours and then we blow the electrical grid. It'll look like an accident and the explosives should do the rest." He didn't bother to state that the entire thing would be blamed on eco-terrorists. That was Umbrella's standard policy now.
Felix nodded and took another drag off of his cigarette, letting the smoke roll up his face and into his nose. No pain today; that meant the experimental drugs he was taking for his cancer might be working. It was a by-product of the work for the biological assets as they were called. They didn't market it just yet; Umbrella was too busy spiking the cigarettes they manufactured under another name with cancer-causing chemicals. Once the numbers were high enough, they would introduce their cure and make even more money.
"God bless the U-S-A," Felix said with a smile.
Chris couldn't resist the pun. "You drive like a bat out of hell."
Batman said nothing but kept his eyes forward, maneuvering through a series of different paths so that the S.T.A.R.s agent would not know how to get back to the Batcave. Not that Chris wanted to; he still saw the Batman as operating outside the law but not out of necessity like he, Jill and Rebecca were. He suspected that the man behind the cape and cowl was most likely a decent man with a lot to offer society, but driven by something so terrible that he had to hide himself away behind another identity.
The young S.T.A.R.s agent wondered if he were looking at his own future. "Do you always have to look pissed off?" he asked, trying to get a conversation going.
"It's part of the act," Batman said, with a slight smile. The Caped Crusader knew that by the time they reached the Umbrella plant, he and Chris Redfield would have to put their differences behind them. There could not be two leaders and he knew that intimidation would not work. This was someone used to fighting the living dead; a man dressed up like a flying rodent wasn't going to inspire fear. "I play bad cop most of the time."
"Is it an act?"
Batman shrugged. "If I have to scream and yell, punch and kick…it doesn't matter. I want Gotham City to be a place that common people don't have to fear. A person should be able to walk down the street at night and not worry about getting shot." Chris noted that Batman's lip quivered slightly with the statement and he got the impression that the forces that drove this man to become what he was were not pleasant at all. At the root of most driven men was usually great tragedy.
Chris was reminded of the Bravos of the Raccoon City S.T.A.R.s, how they had been slaughtered like animals at the Spencer Estate. They had been given no warning of what to expect and in the end, they had been betrayed by one of their own. Chris's soul still burned with rage and despair over the friends he had lost.
"I understand, I think; you take pride in where you live, in its people and it's culture." He looked out the window, picking up the hushed conversations of the passengers. They seemed oblivious to what was going on in the front. "I felt that way about Raccoon City. I loved that place. Now…I don't think I can ever look at it the same way."
"So don't," Batman said, taking a hard right onto the main road into the city. "Look at it through the eyes of someone who wants to fix things. You chose to be a cop, so be a damn good one."
"Why aren't you one then?"
Batman didn't answer for a long moment. "I told you before, I don't like guns.'
"A cop never wants to use his weapon," Chris pointed out.
"Yet, especially in Gotham City, he inevitably does. Then you have to deal with loopholes in the law…"
"Oh, yeah, things like the Constitution," Chris laughed. "Don't get me wrong, I agree with you. It's no longer about justice so much as its interpretation of the law. That's why Umbrella can continue to function."
"So, we both want justice. I just don't think you can find it with a gun," Batman said.
"Well, you have balls Mr. Batman, I'll give you that. I hope we can work this out without anyone getting killed," Chris said, shaking his head. At least Green Arrow was carrying a weapon. He was worried that his team was going to be spending too much time covering unarmed civilians, or worse…
Expecting unarmed civilians to cover them.