Kurt was coiled up behind the seats in the Batmobile in one of those
positions that were extremely comfortable for him but would break the spine
of any normal person who tried it. He was driving into the city with Batman
and Robin, talking to Robin about his codename."
"But you can't be Nightcrawler here!"
"Why not?"
"You're a cartoon character. You'll have to pick a new codename."
"Suggestions?"
"How about Sulfer? You sure smell like it when you 'port."
"Fair enough. I guess it will work until I can think up something better."
With that last thought they entered the city proper. Batman had the radio tuned in to the police radio band, listening for where his help was needed. The Batmobile roared off to help. They parked a good two blocks from the disturbance, well into the shadows where the Batmobile would not be easily seen. Then all three took to the skies. Batman and Robin used d-cel lines while "Sulfer" galloped along the sides of buildings and leaped the gaps between them.
When they got to the disturbance a police barricade was already in place and Police Commissioner Gordon was well back from the scene, near an abandoned alley where the vigilantes could easily hide their presence.
"How are things in there?" Batman asked.
"Not good. Two of the hostages are kids and one is a pregnant woman due it ten days. All exits have been cordoned off, but the gunmen have had time to dig themselves in. What is that?" Gordon pointed to two yellow, glowing orbs seemingly supported by nothing.
"He's with me."
"He?"
"Sulfer."
By this point Kurt had picked up on Batman's silent commands enough to know that he was wanted streetside. He dropped down, slightly behind and to one side of Batman. He was slightly surprised when Gordon seemed more curious than scared, even after he saw the spaded tail.
A gunshot was fired within the warehouse. As Gordon turned to look at it Batman took to the shadows, and indicated that Kurt do the same. When Gordon turned back, both were out of sight.
Kurt was the first one in to scope out the building. There were times when being able to scale sheer surfaces came in handy. A few long leaps and he high up on the outside of the building, peering through chinks between the warped, though thick and strong, boards. One man was bleeding badly and one of the children looked like a bullet had winged her. On top of all that, Kurt had been around enough women going into labor to realize what those small, supressed squeaks meant. This just got harder. There were only two traditional entrances into the building that weren't blockaded, both of which were guarded by two men with guns. The hostages were blindfolded and tied up. No help from that angle. Four men were up on the crates, watching the small, dingy windows that lined one wall of the warehouse. The windows were twenty feet up, but obviously these men
considered themselves prepared for masked interference. They were smart enough to realize that making an entrance would take to much time and cause too much attention to be done. Too bad they hadn't counted on a teleporter.
Kurt quietly leaped back outside to make his report. When he had finished describing what he had seen, he gave his idea for getting in.
"There is one corner of the warehouse that none of the men are patroling. The next time the Commissioner uses the bullhorn, I could teleport us in. He would cover the sound of the teleport."
A slight pause. "Done."
A few minutes later, they were inside. It was almost pathetically easy to take out the first five patrollers. After that, things got a little harder.
"Max isn't responding. We have company." Goon #1 said.
Of course, when he said this, it also drew everyone's eyes to him, and away from one of the guarded doors. This gave Robin and Sulfer plenty of time to knock out the two guards and haul them out of sight.
At this point, Goon #2 said, "Guys! Blade and Kev aren't on the door anymore."
Of course, following human nature, everyone had to look for a moment. Batman took out two more men while their backs were turned. At this point, the others "wised up" and formed a circle, each man searching a different direction. A pity they didn't tell anyone to look up. Three shadows descended to the center of the circle, and it was all over. As I said, a _little_ harder.
All three quietly set to releasing the hostages, when a new problem arose. The pregnant woman started screaming. Her water had broken. At that moment, two tremendoud crashes were heard. The men had obviously rigged the boxes near the two open warehouses to collapse if someone didn't fix the booby traps every few minutes. There was no way they could haul the woman outside via the window. She was giving birth right there, right then.
"But you can't be Nightcrawler here!"
"Why not?"
"You're a cartoon character. You'll have to pick a new codename."
"Suggestions?"
"How about Sulfer? You sure smell like it when you 'port."
"Fair enough. I guess it will work until I can think up something better."
With that last thought they entered the city proper. Batman had the radio tuned in to the police radio band, listening for where his help was needed. The Batmobile roared off to help. They parked a good two blocks from the disturbance, well into the shadows where the Batmobile would not be easily seen. Then all three took to the skies. Batman and Robin used d-cel lines while "Sulfer" galloped along the sides of buildings and leaped the gaps between them.
When they got to the disturbance a police barricade was already in place and Police Commissioner Gordon was well back from the scene, near an abandoned alley where the vigilantes could easily hide their presence.
"How are things in there?" Batman asked.
"Not good. Two of the hostages are kids and one is a pregnant woman due it ten days. All exits have been cordoned off, but the gunmen have had time to dig themselves in. What is that?" Gordon pointed to two yellow, glowing orbs seemingly supported by nothing.
"He's with me."
"He?"
"Sulfer."
By this point Kurt had picked up on Batman's silent commands enough to know that he was wanted streetside. He dropped down, slightly behind and to one side of Batman. He was slightly surprised when Gordon seemed more curious than scared, even after he saw the spaded tail.
A gunshot was fired within the warehouse. As Gordon turned to look at it Batman took to the shadows, and indicated that Kurt do the same. When Gordon turned back, both were out of sight.
Kurt was the first one in to scope out the building. There were times when being able to scale sheer surfaces came in handy. A few long leaps and he high up on the outside of the building, peering through chinks between the warped, though thick and strong, boards. One man was bleeding badly and one of the children looked like a bullet had winged her. On top of all that, Kurt had been around enough women going into labor to realize what those small, supressed squeaks meant. This just got harder. There were only two traditional entrances into the building that weren't blockaded, both of which were guarded by two men with guns. The hostages were blindfolded and tied up. No help from that angle. Four men were up on the crates, watching the small, dingy windows that lined one wall of the warehouse. The windows were twenty feet up, but obviously these men
considered themselves prepared for masked interference. They were smart enough to realize that making an entrance would take to much time and cause too much attention to be done. Too bad they hadn't counted on a teleporter.
Kurt quietly leaped back outside to make his report. When he had finished describing what he had seen, he gave his idea for getting in.
"There is one corner of the warehouse that none of the men are patroling. The next time the Commissioner uses the bullhorn, I could teleport us in. He would cover the sound of the teleport."
A slight pause. "Done."
A few minutes later, they were inside. It was almost pathetically easy to take out the first five patrollers. After that, things got a little harder.
"Max isn't responding. We have company." Goon #1 said.
Of course, when he said this, it also drew everyone's eyes to him, and away from one of the guarded doors. This gave Robin and Sulfer plenty of time to knock out the two guards and haul them out of sight.
At this point, Goon #2 said, "Guys! Blade and Kev aren't on the door anymore."
Of course, following human nature, everyone had to look for a moment. Batman took out two more men while their backs were turned. At this point, the others "wised up" and formed a circle, each man searching a different direction. A pity they didn't tell anyone to look up. Three shadows descended to the center of the circle, and it was all over. As I said, a _little_ harder.
All three quietly set to releasing the hostages, when a new problem arose. The pregnant woman started screaming. Her water had broken. At that moment, two tremendoud crashes were heard. The men had obviously rigged the boxes near the two open warehouses to collapse if someone didn't fix the booby traps every few minutes. There was no way they could haul the woman outside via the window. She was giving birth right there, right then.