+15 minutes later+
He had been pacing the flat ground of the Batcave that passed for a natural floor for only a short period, which had felt much longer due to his state of mind. For the first time in a long years, the sound of fluttering bats overhead wasn't calming him down, either. But finally, Dr Thompkins exited the small operating room that was available within the underground cavern, which prompted Batman to stop anxiously walking around just outside the OR room.
"Here it is, Bruce", the older woman carefully held a small creature within both her hands, one that looked nothing like the larger Xenomorph that the caped crusader had been told the animal would quickly grow into, but appeared aggressive enough as it snarled at the physician while trying to attack her with its two small arms.
His facial reaction didn't change from behind the mask, even as he reached forward and roughly pulled the alien out of her hands, acting such a way for the sake of her safety more so than anything else.
"I would hate to see how aggressive this little guy would've been if he had been allowed to finish his birth cycle", Leslie mentioned as she relaxed her gloved and bloodied hands by her side, "It's only half matured within the host and it's already this violent. What do you plan to do with it, Bruce?".
Without answering, Batman turned away from the doctor and threw the alien being towards the ground that was a handful of yards away. The creature flopped on the ground, leaving a trail of Harley's blood as it did, and hissed at the two humans there.
It then tried to dash away, running towards the dark recesses of the cave. But it didn't get far as Batman next withdrew a large throwing star and launched it at the baby Xenomorph via his right hand. The flying blade cut the animal in half and instantly silenced it as its two, nearly equal body parts rested on the ground, blood from the carcass eating away at the rock below before the effect of the acid receded.
"I guess that answers my question", the doctor behind him gave a tired smile as she began turning towards the operating room beyond them both.
"Any news, Leslie?", the crimefighter somberly inquired, knowing that she didn't have long to stay there to converse.
"Well, Bruce, Harley's alright. Sedated, obviously, but the surgery went as well as could be expected", the older woman let him know, summarizing as much as possible without leaving any important details out, "I'll sew her back and she can start the process of recovery. The next 24 hours are crucial, though, and I wish I could be here to watch her. But I'm going to give specific instructions to Alfred for now, so he can do that for me".
"Why aren't you staying?", he asked next, rubbing his eyes as pain and exhaustion were beginning to take their toll.
"Oh, I guess you haven't heard, Bruce", Leslie explained, "The Police sent out a warning, telling people of the monsters who are running around. They also instructed anyone who's attacked by these, facehuggers, as it were, and who then wakes up, to report to Gotham General immediately so they can be operated on before the aliens are born. That's where I'm heading, to volunteer my services".
"I understand. Thank you for saving her", Batman slightly bowed his head in gratitude, "I'm leaving myself, but feels better to know that she's out of the woods for now".
"Hmm...", the surgeon visually inspected the crimefighter as she said nothing for a moment, "Seems to me that you should be going to Gotham General with me, Bruce. I mean, I know you don't want to leave Dick by himself, but...".
"Nightwing's not alone, but no, I don't have the time", he softly interrupted while locking eyes with her, "I'm not in danger of passing out, which means that rest will have to wait".
Leslie raised her eyebrows slightly, thinking to herself that she didn't have much hope of changing his mind, as he was the one person she knew who was more stubborn than herself. And to make matters worse, her time was limited, both in regards to her current patient and with her wish to report to the city's largest hospital.
"Though I must admit, my energy level is substantially decreasing with every passing hour", the crimefighter quietly conceded after several moments of silence, "But as long as I have energy left, I need to be out there".
"In that case, just be careful, please", Leslie mentioned, the concern clear on her face even if she hadn't said so out loud.
"Always am. You too, Leslie", was Batman's only reply before he turned and proceeded back towards the waiting Batmobile.
As he settled down behind the steering wheel, he acknowledged the fact that it was becoming more difficult to breathe, in addition to the pain in his chest growing more intense. And as tempting as it was to take the doctor's advice and seek medical assistance, the caped crusader repeated to himself that he couldn't afford the time. So for now, the instinct to seek help had to be ignored as he adjusted the seatbelt and then started the vehicle.
He just wished that decades of going against that instinct to seek comfort would made the process easier tonight. But that wasn't the case.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+3.5 days later+
"I'm Summer Gleason!", the young woman almost screamed into the camera while holding a microphone in front of her torso as she was squatted behind the news van, "We're live outside Weyland Unlimited, which you may already know as one of the country's largest computer chip companies, as well as Gotham's biggest employer!".
Huddled a few feet in front of the reporter, also behind the protection of the large vehicle and beneath the brilliance of the mid-day sun, was a cameraman. He was operating the shoulder-carried machine that fed Summer's image and voice directly to the journalists' headquarters, and a technician was maintaining the overall equipment. All three individuals kept their heads lowered for their own safety as two dozen Police cars, two SWAT vans, and several vehicles that belonged to television news studios surrounded one of the largest buildings in downtown Gotham.
"We've heard reports from our contact within the Police force that at least two monsters had run amock in the building that you see just beyond the barricade of cars there", Summer continued talking into the camera lens, having calmed down by now.
As she did, the cameraman quickly looked away from her and pointed the fairly heavy machinery towards the entrance of the 35-storey building that served as the Weyland Unlimited headquarters, which was less than a hundred feet away. The older man then returned the camera in the reporter's direction so she could continue talking.
"We believe that there are at least two monsters who were reported to be present within that highrise", the young woman continued talking into the camera as she tried to ignore the commotion made by everyone else.
Dozens of officers were nearby, weapons and riot gear at the ready, as well as the civilians who were being held at bay, all the better to keep them as far away from the scene as possible. Such noise proved to be difficult to disregard when she was trying to concentrate on her task at hand.
But just then, more screams of surprise were heard, which prompted the young woman to peek past the side of the news van, in time to see a terrified man who had haphazardly dashed out of the building's entrance. In response to her action, the cameraman swiftly pointed the device in the same direction that the reporter was staring. Outside the building's entrance, the camera began filming the scene of the man who was so hysterical that he didn't notice the SWAT officer in the dark brown uniform who quickly grabbed him. The panting man yelled out and tried to resist without realizing who he was held by, all to no avail as he was quickly pulled towards the nearest SWAT van and then disappeared behind a line of uniformed agents.
"Is that...?", Summer thought out loud next, her attention still diverted past the side of the van, as the camera momentarily looked at her, and then back at the scene ahead, "Oh my... It is!".
Without having to ask what she was referring to, the cameraman and the technician noticed that Batman and Nightwing were standing next to Police commissioner Gordon, in an eager conversation with the middle-aged man. Gordon even diverted attention away from his own staff to speak to the masked crimefighters, as was his known style, whether that was a practice that people were fond of or one that they disliked.
"That's something new, ain't it?", the cameraman chuckled while still keeping the machine focused on the mysterious individuals, "I mean, in broad daylight?".
"You said it", Summer whispered back without realizing it.
The young woman roughly rubbed her eyes. She told herself that noise which came from every direction, in addition to the sun that burned in a cloudless sky above, must've been confusing her. That's because for a brief moment, Summer had thought that she spotted an invisible man whose outline she could see through. The being was only near the Batman and Nightwing for an instant, and it was gone by the time she was finished rubbing her eyes.
But that was crazy, of course, the journalist smiled to herself for thinking she had seen something so foolish. How could she have seen an invisible man anyway? That made no sense.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+1 minute later+
"Ten minutes! Not a moment longer!", commishioner Gordon repeated as Batman and Nightwing proceeded away from the clusters of armed SWAT officers, cautiously approaching the entrance of the Weyland building.
"Understood", the older crimefighter replied in a more even tone as he threw one last glance over his shoulder and ignored the surrounding noise pollution, making eye contact with the older man, "If we're not out by then, you have my blessing to storm the place".
"Will do just that", the gray-haired commissioner promised as he watched the pair moving away, hoping that he wasn't making a mistake that would cost both individuals their lives.
Gordon was still debating the decision he had just made in his own mind, even after the two masked men had snuck into the ground floor lobby, thus disappearing in the building. Granted what Batman had said was correct, that a small counter-attack force fighting a few aliens would make it safer for the civilians who were still trapped in that building. But Gordon had preferred to send in dozens of armed cops instead, ready to decimate any monsters who were found in that area, the better to insure the survival of his own men in the process.
In the end, he had reached an impromptu compromise with the caped crusader - that Batman and Nightwing would attempt to incapacitate the monsters who were in the building in ten minutes. If they failed, then Gordon's idea of storming the place would be initiated.
He just hoped this wasn't the last time he was seeing the two masked protagonists. And come to think of it, he also wished that there was something for him to do in the next ten minutes, other than waiting and holding his breath, that is.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+30 seconds later+
"OK then, let's make the next nine and a half minutes matter", Nightwing cracked his knuckles while visually surveying the huge lobby, grimacing at the sight of several bloodied corpses which covered the floor and two which lay on the receptionist's desk.
He noted to himself that the closed door behind him at least kept most of the noise out of this grisly area, even as three more doors were closed here, all of them leading from the lobby to adjoining rooms deeper into the building. It was while he remained shoulder to shoulder with Batman, just a handful of yards away from each other, that Red pressed a sequence of buttons on his armor and became fully visible near the two men.
The masked hunter's scan told him that the numerous humans who were immobile on that ground floor area were all dead, as their body temperature had dropped recently, and the giant couldn't sense any of their heart rates. So the extra-terrestrial soon set his sights deeper within the lobby, and tensed up as he and his two human companions spotted a Xenomorph which broke through one of the closed doors and then rushed towards them.
Red swiftly took two steps ahead the Earth natives, withdrawing his rusted circular blade and then launching it at the four-legged antagonist. The airborne weapon flew in an intercept course for the monster's neck, aiming to decapitate the beast in its tracks. Except that the Xenomorph ducked its upper body at the last possible moment and the blade harmlessly passed over the top of its head before lodging inside a wall.
A moment of surprise was all the three fighters had time for before the alien tackled the Predator and pinned the hunter down back-first on the floor. It hissed and tried to bite Red's head and torso, attempting to claw with its front legs in the process, while the Predator instinctively gripped its forward two limbs and prevented it from delivering a successful attack.
As that occurred, Batman and Nightwing moved as one, each human rushing to either side of the deadly stalemate on the floor. The younger crimefighter stood on the right side of the two horizontal extra-terrrestrials, while the caped crusader positioned himself further away to their left, directly in front of a glass-covered box which contained an ax and was located in the wall. Batman sent his bent, right elbow into the glass, shattering it with ease, and then removing the large ax from within that compartment. In the meantime, Nightwing mustered as much strength into his legs as possible while he kicked the Xenomorph's head, successfully knocking the beast off Red and sending it rolling on the floor and in Batman's direction.
The black-skinned monster angrily stood back up, visually targeting the human who had dared to kick it off its previous prey and, in doing so, turned its back to Batman. It was the only opening the masked human needed as he raised the ax over his own head with both hands, lifting the weapon in a vertical motion, before swinging it downward on the back of the alien's skull. The sharp end of the ax buried itself in the beast's head and caused it to simultaneously hiss and spit before it blindly swung its upper limbs and then crashed on its stomach, dead as soon as it landed on the floor.
The Predator climbed back to his feet while Batman carefully stepped over the Xenomorph carcass that was bleeding acid out of its skull, eating a hole through the floor in the process. It was just as the three individuals moved closer together, fulfilling the mandate to not physically separate unless they absolutely had to, that another screech was heard.
A second Xenomorph burst through a second closed door, revealing the area behind it to be an ascending staircase. This new monster dashed straight for Batman, but before it came close to its target, Red prompted a 14-inch long sword to be extracted past the top of both his wrists, replacing the shorter, twin blades that had been cut off or melted a few days ago. With the Xenomorph reaching for one of his human companions, the hunter swung his right arm, the blade that was there decapitating the beast. The Xenomorph's loud hisses were instantly stopped as its headless body flopped on the floor and its removed head bounced a few feet away. While that occurred, Red's two blades were smoothly retracted to their usual position over the top of his forearms, the right knife showing no damage from its contact with the Xenomorph's acid blood.
Proving that the building may truly have been infested with monsters, a third Xenomorph rushed through the staircase's open doorway. The only difference between this monster and the two that had preceded it, however, was that it was carrying a live human being in its front limbs. Seeing the three individuals who were standing while two of its brethren were dead, the third beast decided against engaging its adversaries. Instead, it rushed away from them, heading towards the closed elevator that was at the end of the large lobby. The terrified middle-aged man that it held reached for the three individuals in the same fashion that someone who was drowning would reach for a life preserver. He clearly recognized the identity of the two humans, and didn't care who the giant behind the metal mask was, as long as he was someone different from the behemoth who was carrying him the same way that a child would carry a toy. Unfortunately for him, the retreating Xenomorph proved to be faster than any of the three beings who were trying to grab a hold of his extended arms.
"OH GOD! HELP ME! PLEEEEAAAASE!", were the only words out of the man's mouth before the third Xenomorph bolted through the elevator door that consisted of two vertical, metal halves, actually breaking the barrier with its body before it moved into the elevator itself.
With the Predator and the two humans in pursuit, the Xenomorph carried its hostage past the elevator ceiling, easily destroying this weaker barrier, and then launched itself into the dark elevator shaft that was above it. But just before it disappeared into the shadows within that vertical corridor, Batman reached the inside of the elevator before his two partners and aimed a small gadget at the retreating monster. The caped crusader fired a miniature tracking device which glued itself at the back of the Xenomorph's rear left leg, and the beast disappeared from view a moment afterwards.
With Nightwing and Red now near him, Batman withdrew a tiny screen that showed a green dot that beeped and proceeded from one end of the monitor to another.
"It's going for the roof!", the older man uttered while putting the screen away, withdrawing a pre-pressurized grappling hook, while his former second-in-command did the same.
Both men pointed the climbing tool through the hole that the Xenomorph had created in the elevator ceiling, and Batman turned his head towards Red, wishing to ask him how long it'd take the Predator to meet them on the rooftop. Except that Red hadn't waited to be asked, as the hunter was already dashing towards the staircase. The Predator rushed through the broken door and disappeared past it, as both humans could hear his heavy footsteps while he hurried upstairs.
For now, at least, it seemed that the team had to be physically separated.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+1 minute later+
Red reached the rooftop quicker than any human could've run, hurrying through the last door which finally allowed him to feel sunlight, which meant he was finally at his destination. He was panting through his mask as he visually surveyed the flat expanse that was approximately thirty yards long on each side and shaped like a square. It occurred to the hunter that he should've retrieved his circular blade out of the wall before coming up here, since his shoulder-fired cannon was still inoperative, which meant that the frisbee blade was his only projectile weapon.
There was no time for worrying over past mistakes now, though, especially since the Predator saw that Batman and Nightwing were standing in the middle of an hive of at least two dozen cocooned humans that were attached to the ground here. Those cocooned people had nothing in common except for the fact that they were all unconscious and attached to the flat concrete below them. Their gender, age and race varied, as did their clothes, differing from business suites, casual clothing, and some rags that identified their wearers as being homeless. Recognizing the Xenomorphs' nest, Red cautiously approached the two living humans, both blades extracted past the top of his wrists.
"What is this damn place?", Nightwing asked with a revolted expression on his face as the hunter came closer to them.
"Xenomorrrph nesting area, where prey is storrred as fffood and as breeding for egg-hatcherrrs", Red explained as the three of them moved to keep themselves in a triangle, so no one's back was exposed to an attack, "They mossst likely preferred this grounnnd due to the constant access ttto ultraviolet nourishment from this plllanet's star".
"Oh! Disgusting!", Nightwing exclaimed as they soon came across a gathering of about twenty unhatched Xenomorph eggs.
"We can destroy them later", Batman mentioned, predicting the younger man's thoughts, "For now, we need to worry about where the alien went".
"How did all these people get here!", the younger man kept thinking out loud as they continued surveying the area for signs of life, hostile or otherwise.
"I'm guessing they were carried", his mentor quietly explained from nearby, "Probably over the outside of the building, and anyone who happened to stumble upon this nest most likely also met their guardians".
"So no one who saw it got to go back to tell the tale", the younger crimefighter angrily gritted his teeth.
Movement from the other side of the rooftop caught the caped crusader's attention, prompting him to turn his gaze in that direction. Batman spotted a human who was crawling on his hands and knees, moving away from the edge of the roof and staggering towards them. It didn't take him long to identify the stunned individual as the middle-aged man who had been carried up here in the grip of the third Xenomorph. So as the man in the expensive and bloodied clothes shakily rose to his feet and began staggering towards them, the questions in Batman's mind remained - Where was the third Xenomorph? And if this place was supposed to be the aliens' hive, were there others like it?
"It left me here!", the middle-aged man's voice shook as he came closer to his three rescuers, "I don't know where it went! Why did it leave me? Why!".
Almost as if answering the question, scores of Xenomorphs who were obviously lying in wait just over the edge of the roof rushed past the top of the vertical wall that they had been clinging to and quickly crawled to the middle of the rooftop. Angrily hissing, they proceeded closer to the cocooned humans and the eggs, in addition to the three creatures who had proven to be such a burden to their kind on the ground floor lobby.
The executive who was within a few yards of Red stopped and instinctively dropped to his knees, screaming out in horror as he was confronted with at least fifty nightmare creatures, instead of the one who had wrecked havoc in his conference room before abducting him. It soon occurred to him that the monster hadn't simply forgotten him and left him behind by accident. Rather, the beast had placed him there as a trap for the three rescuers to follow, the better to deal with those dangerous fighters when it was in the company of many of its kin, as opposed to facing them alone. That much was clear, as the monsters had the four of them surrounded, and the creatures covered every surface of the rooftop, except for the areas that contained either coccooned bodies or eggs on them.
The two crimefighters became more tense at the realization of the situation they were in. As they did, the third living human at the scene kept holding the sides of his head and crying while his face was lowered to the ground, preferring to not see the fatal blow that one of the monsters was about to deliver against him. None of those three people spotted Red as the Predator swiftly opened an electronic compartment that was attached to his left arm and began punching in a code with his right index finger. But then, a familiar ringing tone was heard from that machine, one that became faster as time went on. So that attracted Batman's and Nightwing's attention even while the aggressive Xenomorphs crept closer to their prey, none of them eager to blindly rush into battle against adversaries who had killed several of their kind before.
"Take himmm and go!", Red curtly ordered while pointing towards the kneeling human with his index finger, "I'll hollld them back as lonnng as possible!".
"Bats?", Nightwing whispered his partner's name, then locked eyes with the older man in regards to their plan of action.
The caped crusader was still reviewing the options in his mind, without preferring any of the ideas he was able to present himself with, when a new, whirring sound distracted everyone there, including the Xenomorphs who had the four individuals surrounded.
The three humans, the Predator and the multitude of aliens looked up as a gigantic aircraft that was at least as large as the rooftop became visible while it hovered about twenty yards above the roof itself. The three humans felt temporarily astounded at the sight of the magnificent ship, while Red simply groaned at immediately recognizing the craft that had been his home for more years than he could recall.
For now, though, several doorways appeared on the side of the spaceship, and each cubicle contained a masked Predator who aimed down at the roof with his personal shoulder-carried weapon. The explosive sound of projectiles being fired followed, the Predators' cartridges finding their mark against the Xenomorphs with deadly accuracy and massacring the four-legged creatures where they stood.
Nightwing and Red ducked for cover amid the carnage as Batman swiftly covered the civilian with his own body, all four beings trying to tune out the sound and smell of the projectiles, in addition to the shrill screams of Xenomorphs who were being slaughtered. The massacre was finished within a few seconds, so the Predators' weapons were finally silenced, and the four individuals on the rooftop slowly and carefully stood back up. They inspected their surroundings as most of the Xenomorphs were dead, and those who were not were gravely wounded, so it was enough of a turn of events for Red to shut off the self-destruct mechanism on his uniform.
As a follow-up to the aerial assault, eight Predators leapt out of the spaceship's open doorways, landing hard on the few clear spaces on the roof, and setting down safely despite the twenty yards they had to jump. Once on the roof, the eight hunters purposefully walked among the Xenomorph corpses, eagerly executing any stray alien who had only been wounded by their previous attack.
Once the clean-up was completed and all the four-legged beasts were confirmed dead, the eight masked extra-terrestrials then turned their attention on the three humans and the rogue Predator. They carefully made their way past the melting pools of acid that were the result of their aggression. They also scanned the many cocooned humans who were either unconscious or dead on the ground through their metal masks in the process. Then, two of the new hunters squatted next to two of the insentient humans and released those beings from their cocooned restraints, then easily carrying the humans on their shoulder as they stood back up.
As that happened, the six other Predators roughly grabbed Red, Batman, Nightwing and the fourth man who was on the rooftop with them. Two of the giants concentrated on the rogue from their ranks, two on the caped crusader, and one paid attention to each of the last two humans there. Those four individuals only gave a small amount of resistance, noticing that the eight hunters weren't looking to kill them on the spot, since the Predator ship that was hovering overhead was now lowering an inclined ramp towards their position. So for whatever reason, the extra-terrestrials within that spacecraft seemed to wish to have these four individuals and the two humans who were still unconscious as guests. Thus, the rogue Predator, his two human allies, the human who was rescued, and the two persons who were carried on a hunter's shoulder were dragged aboard the inside of an aircraft that had only been seen by Red before.
It was only when the group of fourteen individuals were within the interior of the spaceship that the ramp was electronically pulled back. That left the interstellar craft to hover about twenty yards over the rooftop that was still in the process of melting. From there, all eight Predators temporarily paid attention back on the roof that they had come from, and then aimed their shoulder-fired cannons. Batman was the first to notice their intentions, and verbally screamed a protest to prompt them to stop, but he was summarily ignored as the hunters opened fired, decimating the remaining humans who were still cocooned to the rooftop below. It was only a few seconds later that every other person who had been unconscious before was now massacred alongside their Xenomorph captors. The dead humans' pools of crimson blood quickly mixed with the monsters' acid and created a reddish-yellow liquid which kept eating at the concrete below. The last sight that was seen by the twelve conscious individuals was the one where the rooftop finally collapsed due to the effect of the acid melting its foundation, the entire area dropping further into the building itself, crushing whatever may have been on the floor below it.
The grim task completed, the eight Predators then pushed their four, currently more agitated, captors forward, forcing them to move through corners and hallways that were the color of fire, with primeval paintings and statues on the walls. After being marched for a few moments, the six prisoners were brought to what appeared to be the spaceship's main control room. In contrast to the previous corridors, this chamber was modern and technologically advanced, as opposed to the primitive design of the earlier areas. It indicated the mixture of two, very different cultures that were prevalent in the Predators' history.
Here, the crimefighters and Red found themselves in front of several other Predators who were working on computer systems to apparently keep the craft afloat, including the crimson-masked hunter who had fought Batman several days ago. Two of the giants put the two comatose humans down on the ship's floor, while the other six forcefully prompted the three live humans and the rogue hunter to kneel against the captives' wishes. It was only when the four of them were securely kneeling on the metal floor that the Predator chief turned away from the machinery and addressed the Earth natives.
"You still wish for mmme to speak in their lannnguage, rascal?", the giant in the crimson mask addressed Red first while casually pointing towards Batman, "Then let the lassst words you hearrr be in their tongue. You!".
The leader mentioned towards one of the eight Predators who had brought the six beings into the ship, who promptly raised his masked face towards his chief, awaiting a question or an order.
"Why arrre they here? Why have they not been ellliminated on sight?", the chief demanded.
The Predator soldier who had been asked the questions began responding in his native language, before his leader promptly interrupted him.
"In their language!", the chief demanded.
"I apppologize", the lower-ranked hunter bowed serenely, not finding it as easy to speak in English, but trying hard regardless, "It is true that they have seen usss, and none of us forrrgot your orders to terminate all hummmans who have detected our presence. But my teammm and I found it questionnnable when these humans were seen by usss as they destroyed two of our adversarrries".
"How arrre you so sure of this?", the chief angrily shot back.
"We witnessssssed them doing so via the heating scannns", the Predator footsoldier quickly justified, "On the surface of the plannnet. So being uncerrrtain, we wished for their fate to bbbe decided by you".
The giant in the crimson masked sighed back through the metal visor, breathing hard as he looked down at the aircraft floor before then raising his head.
"Report status", he followed through.
"The last xenomorrrph nest has been annihilated", his follower recounted while bowing again, "That should be the last of our ennnemies on this plannnet".
"Injurrries?".
"None".
"Good", the chief seemed to relax slightly, "This leavvves us with…".
"Hey!", Nightwing screamed back, interrupting the behemoth's statement in the process, "As much fun as this is, why the hell did you have your sasquatches mow down those people down there?".
"All the hummmans except for the ones we retrieved were infected", the lower-ranked Predator answered on the leader's behalf, though still addressing his crimson-masked chief while he pointed towards the two unconscious humans on the floor, "We scanned the ressst, found a Xenomorph embryo within each of their chessst cavity, in varying degrees of gestation".
"Those people could have been saved", Batman uttered back, sounding annoyed, which Nightwing knew meant that the older man was irate, but held back his disdain better.
The caped crusader's statement only caused the Predator leader to click and hiss as the giant temporarily turned his attention back to the computer monitor that was away from the prisoners. His action led the crimefighter to believe that the chief had nothing to say regarding that subject.
"I'm wondering", Batman followed through, curious about the situation he and his companions were in now, "Why weren't we dealt with as you expected. Why is the killing of a Xenomorph by us a mitigating factor when we're supposed to be eliminated on sight?".
"And what the hell are you people doing here anyway?", Nightwing continued as Red clicked angrily to himself, "You were supposed to have left four days ago when we saw you, no?".
The hunter chief screamed back in anger as he turned around to face the prisoners, suddenly causing the young human to widen his eyes as he thought that he had asked the wrong question. That was even as the civilian who had been found yelped in fear, though Batman's and Red's expressions did not change.
"We are here because of ourrr blood oath against these aliens!", the giant in the crimson mask growled back as he pointed down at Batman with his right index finger, "Those animals snnnuck into our ship when I was duelling with him! We were ambushed when we returrrned on board. Many of our clan are not here as a resssult of it, so it is no longer a matter of honor. We will hunnnt those animals down till they are all extinct! You humans no lonnnger matter while we hunt our eterrrnal enemies, and you will only die if you cross our paths during the Hunt. That is why you should be dead nnnow".
"Ah, right", the youngest human sighed back, "Didn't know that. Well, then, you should, like, let us go for killing those Xenomorphs earlier, right? I mean, heh".
Nightwing gave a nervous chuckle as he finished speaking, absently scratching the back of his head as he talked, and prompting his Predator guard to roughly slap the human's hand away from that position.
The low growl they all heard from the Predator chief's location indicated to them that he wasn't seeing things from their point of view.
"Look! Wait! WAIT!", the civilian who had been brought into this spaceship spoke up, reflexively trying to rise from his kneeling position, before his masked sentinel gripped his left shoulder and forced him to kneel back down.
The chief's head spun in the man's direction, as did Red's and Nightwing's, as he was being heard for the first time.
"I have money, lots of it! Hell, I'm a billionaire, OK?", the middle-aged man continued talking even while the Predator footsoldier kept a grasp on his left shoulder, "Maybe you people have… have heard of me? Robert Weyland? Well, that's me, people! I have enough money between bank accounts and investments to buy a small country, OK?".
"You are sorely missstaken if you believe we care for your wealth", the chief countered as he turned his attention back towards Red, the rogue Predator still foremost on his mind, "Now, SSSTOP ADDRESSING ME, human!".
The giant in the crimson outfit approached the rogue hunter, pointing down at the kneeling Predator in the process.
"You have one chance to speak to mmme about…", he began talking as he locked eyes with Red.
"I'm not talking about paying you off!", Weyland angrily interrupted, trying to stand up again before his guard shoved him back to a kneeling posture, causing the hunters' leader to turn an agitated face towards him again, the chief considering the option of executing the annoying man, "For god's sake! I've been used to getting my own way all my life, and these damn things come into my building, killing my associates, my employees, my friends!".
The Predator chief slowly marched back to where Weyland was kneeling, the giant gripping his right hand into a fist, and ready to extract the twin blades past the top of his right wrist and to kill the human if Weyland said anything that he disliked. Looking down at the nervous businessman through the slits in his metal mask, he caused Weyland to swallow a lump in his throat as the human stared back up at him.
"Those things scared me shitless in my own place!", the smaller being stuttered while gazing upwards towards the giant's face and blindly pointing in the direction where Batman, Nightwing and Red were being held nearby, "Until they saved me. Now, now…".
He swallowed another lump in his throat, wishing his mouth wasn't suddenly so dry, as he had given hundreds of speeches in his life, but was now finding this conversation to be the most difficult of his life.
"Now, you let the six of us go, and I promise you that I'll spend every last bit of my resources to hunt those damn things down!", Weyland passionately assured, gaining some confidence as he realized that what he was saying made sense, "You people can decide what you want more. Killing six of us and not affecting your war against these things at all, or letting us go and letting me help in your mission. Which do you want more?".
The lead hunter kept looking down at the middle-aged human, the former totally unreadable behind the mask as his body remained still, while the latter's face revealed tension as he breathed heavily. It was after several moments of awkward silence that the Predator chief suddenly raised his head and whipped it around as he turned away from the prisoners. A slight gesture via his right hand ordered two other giants to accompany him to an area that was a comfortable distance away from the rest of the soldiers, the lower-ranked leaders rapidly joining him without delay.
Once there, the behemoth in the crimson mask began addressing his two underlings in their own language, ignoring the eyes that were on them from the captives as well as their own fellow hunters.
"What're they saying?", Nightwing whispered as quietly as possible, though he suspected he was still loud enough to be overheard by his guard.
For whatever reason, his sentinel didn't move to silence him, possibly due to not having been ordered to do so by the chief. So Red kept his own eyes on the conversation ahead and tried to help his Earth companions understand what was being said.
"The firssst sub-leader wants you five executed regarrrdless of your actions against the Xenomorphs", the rogue Predator quickly translated as the first of the three hunters was speaking excitedly, switching his attention from his superior, then to the kneeling humans, then back to the chief.
The second hunter who was summoned added his own opinion for the leader's consideration after the first consultant was finished talking.
"The second does not care what happennns to you, as long as I'm dealt with properly", Red continued interpreting, "But he asserrrts that it was stupid for the Yaujtas to bring humans into our ship. You should die onllly because you have seen the inside of the ship. Otherrr beings having knowledge of our ship is dangerous. Essspecially when they are humans".
Once the second giant was finished speaking in a calmer fashion than his brethren, the chief in the crimson mask turned away from them both, leaning his fists against the nearest waist-high computer mainframe. He stayed silent for a few seconds, considering his options, before he shook his head, his metallic dreadlocks swinging behind him, and replied in his native language.
"He disssagrees", Red continued, "We could alwaysss use an ally in our hunt againssst these cowardly Xenomorrrphs, whether that ally is efficient or no. Not as if humansss have never seen the inside of one of our ships before and been allowed to leavvve afterwards".
His second lieutenant began to protest, before the chief turned around and held up his straightened left hand, elbow bent and the forearm pointing towards the ceiling. The gesture ordered his follower to be quiet, so both Predators bowed their heads in respect and walked backwards and away from their chief.
Alone once again, the leader slowly marched back towards the three kneeling humans, clicking to himself as he did, and pointed down at Batman first with his left index finger.
"You thrrree may go", the giant ordered, "Take your two insssensate members along".
Weyland exhaled loudly in relief as the caped crusader kept his eyes locked on the behemoth.
"We're not leaving without him", Batman uttered back, pointing towards Red and making the middle-aged man think that his relief was too early.
The Predator leader growled in response as he continued staring down at the crimefighter, then looked at his rogue soldier, and finally at Weyland himself.
"You had better not break your prrromise", the extra-terrestrial hissed while addressing the oldest human there, which caused Weyland to eagerly shake his head.
"Never! I told you guys", the businessman adamantly exclaimed, "I will personally see that every one of those…".
He stopped talking when the crimson-masked giant turned away from him and walked away from his four prisoners, proceeding towards the spaceship's controls.
"Get out, rassscal", he spoke to Red without looking at the hunter, "This place is for warriors only".
He stood in front of the aircraft's controls and turned around yet again so as to take one last look at the individuals who were about to depart.
"But we better neverrr see any of you again", the chief warned as the humans were climbing to their feet, while an irate Red remained on his knees, "Xenomorph-hunterrrs or no, stay clear of my kind".
"Great. Five bucks says they don't redeploy the ramp and shove us out of the ship", Nightwing sighed as he saw Batman and Red carrying an unconscious human each, though still feeling glad for the turn of events, "Let's just get the hell out, OK, guys?".
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+5 minutes later+
Having parted ways with an invisible Red with the intention to meet back in the Batcave, Batman and Nightwing had already handed their two unconscious victims over to some of the many paramedics who were throughout the lower half of Weyland's building. The man whose name was above the ground floor lobby had been whisked away by firefighters a few minutes ago so he could be treated for his minor injuries after being evacuated outside. So the two crimefighters found themselves back within the lobby, among dozens of Police officers, firefighters and paramedics. Ignoring the loud distraction caused by all those people, the caped crusader seeked the one person he had walked here to find.
"Commissioner", Batman called out so as to get Gordon's attention, which he did, as the older man watched the pair of masked men approaching.
"You're here late", Gordon uttered as Batman stood within an arm's reach of him, "Didn't expect you to still be hanging about".
"Only because there were two things I wanted to tell you, Jim", the caped crusader replied, "First, I believe all the monsters have been dealt with. But second, the entire roof has collapsed. Expect a lot of fatalities".
"Wonderful", Gordon sighed as he looked away, "Another day in this insanity. Just what nightmare was it that started in this city four days ago?".
He looked back towards the two men who were having the conversation with him, and felt surprised. It's because, even though Batman and Nightwing were no longer there, the crimefighters hadn't disappeared altogether, as was usually their signature. Instead, the two masked men were simply walking towards the front door, casually passing dozens of others who were nearby. Must've been a sign of them both being physically or emotionally drained, the commissioner thought to himself, and then returned to his job.
From the front of the lobby, Batman's exit was interrupted when a group of new individuals came inside. These new people easily stood out from everyone else as they wore shiny white outfits that covered every inch of their bodies, with the exception being silver-colored boots on their feet and a similarly-colored helmet that covered their head, a gray visor hiding their face. Instead of trying to evacuate or give assistance to civilians, they marched straight through, ignoring the dead humans and Xenomorphs. That wasn't a surprise, though, as they carried no first aid equipment, only seeming to be trying to secure the lobby they entered via the use of strange, individually-carried rifles that the crimefighters had never seen before.
One particular man in the group pointed towards each of the doors, prompting his soldiers to go through those entryways, his followers travelling in pairs. With a handful of silver-uniformed men securing the lobby, the attached rooms and the elevator, the rest of these soldiers quickly jogged upstairs.
Regardless of this recent arrival, Batman and Nightwing were ready to leave them to their mission as they ignored the newcomers and kept walking out, until a voice grabbed their attention from behind.
"Never thought I'd ever have the pleasure", the leader of the group veered away from the rest and made his way towards the caped crusader.
As he was being addressed, Batman turned around from the front door that was just out of his reach and inspected the man who approached him, until finally standing a few feet in front of the crimefighter.
"Do I know you?", the caped crusader questioned first.
"Oh, no, I don't believe so", the visitor rested his weapon by his left side so it pointed towards the floor, as he removed the helmet with his right hand, revealing himself to be a middle-aged Black man, "Mike Hannigan, supervisor of the northeastern branch of Owl Team. We were dispatched to this great city of yours three days ago".
Hannigan switched his helmet from his right hand to his left, then extended his right hand to the crimefighter, which Batman slowly squeezed.
"Is there something we can do for you?", the masked man inquired.
"You tell me", Hannigan informed them both, "I suppose you guys don't know who we are, classified shit and all. Technically, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I have this feeling about you guys. We're alien hunters. And I don't mean those weird things back there".
He partly turned around, pointing towards the nearest dead Xenomorph.
"But it seems you've already safeguarded your city against their menace", the older man continued, "Which is why I'm wondering if you can tell us anything about the whereabouts of another alien. You know what I'm talking about? About seven feet tall, wears a mask to hide one uglyass face, speaks broken english? Does any of this ring a bell?".
Batman and Nightwing looked at each other out of the corner of their eye, before the caped crusader returned his full attention at the government agent in front of him.
"Can't say that it does", Nightwing lied first, "We haven't seen anyone like that in here. Sorry".
"Really?", Hannigan's voice made it obvious that he didn't believe them, "So tell me, youngster. Which one of these animals that you so efficiently dispatched of was carrying that?".
He casually walked past the two crimefighters, to an area of the wall that was about thirty feet away, and carefully removed Red's rusted frisbee blade, dislodging it from the foundation.
Nightwing kept his face neutral, fighting the urge to appear that he'd been caught in a lie, even as Hannigan returned to the position in front of them, now carrying the extra-terrestrial weapon.
"So you were in this building, fighting for you life probably the whole time, and you didn't see who was using this?", the Owl leader inquired.
"Afraid so", the younger man shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, if you were inside throughout the ordeal, then I guess you didn't see the ship that decloaked above this building and then flew off a few minutes ago either", Hannigan continued.
"We were in the elevator shaft most of the time", Batman joined the conversation, lightly placing his hand on Nightwing's upper back as a way of leading the younger man outside.
"But tell me this, Mr Hannigan", the former second-in-command frustrated his efforts to end the discussion by insisting on standing his ground, "What's your business with these aliens? The other ones, I mean".
The government agent locked eyes with him first, then Batman second, and finally returned to silently looking at Nightwing, before a grin appeared on his face.
"Isn't it obvious?", he kept smiling as he answered, "I hunt them. Or, should I say, we do. It's always a team effort with us. I guess you guys know all about that, though".
"And what's with the gettup and the funny-looking toy?", Nightwing questioned next, more anxious to find out about the people that Red may have to contend with one day in the future.
"The clothes make us all but invisible to the Predators' different eyesights", Hannigan explained, looking over his shoulder to quickly see his men's status, then returning to the conversation upon realizing that all was safe, "That's what those things are called - Predators. Or Preds for short, or shitheads. Depends on who you talk to. They're here to kill us, so we try to kill them first. And as for this toy...".
He raised the rifle-sized weapon so it was now pointing towards the ceiling instead of the floor.
"It's the Assault Rocket Launcher, Arol, if you prefer", he proudly smirked again, "Carries two 40 millimeter rounds per weapon, but you only need one round to drop a shithead like a bad habit, and to make sure he never gets up again".
"Huh, never knew the federal government cared so much about its citizens that it'd finance you guys", Nightwing added next, sarcasm evident in his voice.
"Yeah, right", Hannigan followed through with another smirk, "If you believe that, then I have a bridge I wanna sell to you, goes by the name of Golden Gate. My bosses just want these aliens' technology, guys. You should've known that. But good thing is that they don't care what I do to the shitheads either before or after, as long as I get their goodies first. It's what I call a win-win situation for me and my employers".
"We need to get going", Batman patted Nightwing on the arm, harder this time, to indicate his point, which the young man fortunately complied with and nodded towards the government agent before walking towards the lobby door.
The caped crusader nodded next, following his former sidekick towards the exit, and leaving the older man to return to his job. It was only when Nightwing was halfway out the door that he turned around and raised his voice, the grin on his face indicating he was scheming to do something that only he would find to be funny.
"They're not all bad, you know!", the young man yelled out before Batman pushed him outside of the lobby with an annoyed expression on his face, ignoring the fact that Hannigan had heard what was uttered.
Once the two crimefighters were outside, they made their way through the disorganized ruckus that consisted of their environment, the reserved distance that the Police and other emergency services had kept earlier in the siege no longer in effect. Dozens of cops, paramedics and firefighters were swarming in and out of the Weyland Corporation headquarters, along with the occasional reporter and cameraman who slipped in, not being kept away from the scene as they should have.
Batman and Nightwing were happy to leave everyone else to their task, walking away from the noise and heading back to where they knew the Batmobile was in wait, the quicker to meet Red back in the Batcave later.
It was an odd scene that caught the older man's attention as he was proceeding further from the building, which was a group of government agents, this time dressed totally in black, which even covered their masked faces. These new individuals, eight in total, exited a large van that was parked outside the place where the Xenomorphs' attack had occurred. But it was the appearance of the van which distracted Batman's gaze first, appearing to be more reinforced on the outside than even the sturdiest SWAT transporter.
Leaving their vehicle, the eight men first placed a miniature cage that was the size of a small room outside the van, and then six of the black-clad agents jogged inside, more strange weapons at the ready. In any other place and time, the presence of a massive cage that sat next to the sidewalk, being guarded by two masked men, would've probably attracted attention. But for today, the surrounding mayhem distracted everyone around the strange sight, at least on the short run.
The last thing Batman saw through the damaged doorway that led to the Weyland Corporation's lobby was something that initially surprised him, but he then narrowed his eyes as he proceeded away from that busy place.
"Who were those guys? More Owls?", Nightwing thought out loud as they reached a relatively quieter section of the street, catching a glimpse of the Batmobile ahead as the car was resting in an alleyway, secured in its exoskeleton.
"I don't know", the caped crusader responded as he reached within his uniform and pressed a button which de-activated the vehicle's external protection, "I don't think so. As far as I can tell, Hannigan wants to kill Predators, and gather their technology to keep his employers happy. Those men definitely weren't his crew".
"How do you know for sure?", the young man inquired as he climbed into the front passenger seat.
"For starters, their clothes were designed for stealth in the darkness, not invisibility to a Predator's masked vision", the older man explained as he settled down behind the steering wheel, "And more importantly, I didn't see a single one of them interacting with Hannigan's men".
Batman started the engine, the stern look on his face indicating that something heavier was on his mind, even after the carnage he had witnessed a few minutes ago.
"What?", his second-in-command wondered aloud as the vehicle turned a semi-circle and rejoined the road, "What's that look, Bats? What did you see?".
The more experienced crimefighter stayed silent for an instant as he tried to recall the meaning of what he had truly witnessed through the broken lobby door.
"They were checking for the dead Xenomorphs' vital signs", Batman finally uttered, keeping his eyes on the road, "Leads me to believe they're trying to get their hands on one of those monsters, and cage it while it's still alive".
"Whaaat?", Nightwing's mouth fell open as his gaze remained on his former teacher, "Who in their right mind would wanna do that? And why?".
"That's what I'd like to know", the driver gritted his teeth as the Batmobile raced towards the Wayne mansion.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
+1 day later+
"I could use a sandwich, Harl", Nightwing lazily reached for the Arkham psychologist as the young woman was carrying a large tray full of different kinds of food on it.
"Coming right up", the blonde proceeded towards him as bats flew overhead in the Batcave, being careful not to trip as she walked in the direction of the weightbench that he had been lying on.
"Much obliged", the crimefighter smiled as he sat up and removed an egg sandwich and a banana off the tray.
To his surprise, the doctor remained standing in front of him as he started eating.
"Something on your mind?", he asked next with a full mouth.
"Just waiting for your patented try to take the whole plate and leave one item for everyone else in here", Harley followed through.
"Oh, please!", Nightwing shrugged, "Just stay nearby for when I'm finished. And turn the volume up, will you?".
"Of course", she smiled as she turned away from the young man and walked towards where Batman was still seated in front of the computer mainframe, constantly typing away at his keyboard, even while he refused to remove the costume he had on.
Moving past the older crimefighter, she gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, which he barely acknowledged due to staring at the monitor, and then increased the volume of the only television set within the dark cavern. She thought to herself that at least her consort wasn't hungry just now.
"I am glad you are recovering since the operation, mistress Harley, but I just don't feel right with you carrying that", Alfred pointed out from near the CPU, raising his two arms, palms turned towards the ceiling, and asking to carry the food instead.
"Don't worry about it, Alfie", she smiled back, "Besides, it helps me coordinate how I walk. Haven't been on my feet for ages, it feels like".
"Very well", the butler returned to a fully upright position, his arms by his sides, "But don't call me Alfie. It's Alfred, ma'am".
"It's that guy Weyland, from yesterday", Nightwing mentioned as he moved off the weightbench and joined his mentor by the CPU, "He's out of the hospital. Remember him, Bats? Leslie said she treated him at the hospital. It was her run-in with a celebrity, the second-richest man this side of the country, behind only you, Bruce".
The caped crusader only moaned as he nodded his head once. Seeing that he wasn't in the mood for a conversation, the younger man patted him on the upper back and moved towards where Red remained seated on a flat stone a few yards away.
"Good to see he's still in one piece, huh?", the less experienced crimefighter pointed towards the television set as he approached the hunter.
The Predator only looked at the moving images, clicked to himself, and lowered his head towards his own stomach. He then lifted his gaze towards the smaller human who was within an arm's reach of him.
"Your technology is anciennnt", the unmasked extra-terrestrial growled at last.
"Hey, don't look at me", Nightwing protested, placing his right palm against his torso, "We do our best with what we got. But I still haven't asked you. How do you like those blades I fixed on your arms? Stainless steel and acid-proof, you know. You played with them for the first time yesterday, I remember. Totally forgot to ask you how they performed when we got back home".
"They arrre more than adequate", Red bowed his head again before lifting it back up, "You have my grrratitude".
"So this prehistoric technology is good for something after all, huh?", Nightwing grinned proudly to himself as he partly turned away from the giant and addressed the other three humans behind him.
The young man tapped his own forehead with his right index finger.
"College grad and all", he continued smirking before he became more serious and returned his attention back to the seated hunter.
"I'll try to work on a new battery source for your invisibility cloak as soon as I can", the human promised, "Not sure how well I'll be able to do this, though. It's a hell of a lot more complicated than a couple of retractable new-age knifes. But if you let me play with your toys, I may be able to put together a rechargeable battery pack you'll be able to use for your cloak, so you'll never have to worry about running out of it. But no matter what, you should definitely not leave the Cave without your invisibility. Not with Hannigan and his boys gunning for your kind".
"I do nnnot fearrr those humannns you described", the hunter hissed, "Or annnything else, for that matter".
"It's not a matter of being afraid of them, Red", Nightwing advised, "But when there's several of them and only one of you, it could easily be a problem. And it's worse because those Owl guys aren't bad guys. They're only gung ho because Preds kill us all the time. So no having you and them hurting each other, OK?".
The giant lightly moaned in response. He clearly wasn't happy about the restriction that was being suggested to him. Predators never ran away or hid, after all.
Then again, till recently, Predators never allied with humans, either.
"Tell you what", the young man worked quickly to soothe the conflict in the leviathan's mind, "You avoid fighting with Owls, and I'll see what I can do about fixing your shoulder gun. Deal? Mind you, I don't know how much I can do to fix broken alien technology, but I'm sure Bats there would be happy to put some of the best engineering minds money can buy to help me, till it gets fixed".
"Are you volunteering my services without my consent?", Batman spoke up while still typing away as Harley and Alfred switched between the conversation there and the news on the television.
"Oh, please!", Nightwing countered while turning only his head towards his mentor, and then switching back to Red, "He loves giving stuff away. Really, he does".
"I havvve a dilemma", the Predator now claimed, his eyes looking up and locking with the standing human's.
"Sure, man", Nightwing replied, "What's that?".
"I am not unnnderstanding the concept of this social contrrract that you talk of", the giant explained, "As such, I will just let you decide who you wissshhh for me to hunnnt and who you wish for me to ssspare. I will merely follow yourrr orders".
The young crimefighter's eyes widened as his mouth remained closed, having been unprepared for what he just heard. He absently scratched the back of his head as he looked at Red, then back to Batman, then Harley, then Alfred, and then back to Red again.
"I... Wow...", he stammered, "I mean, sure. I'd be happy to. I mean...".
He didn't find it strange that the Predator had momentarily looked away from him and stared at the other three humans who were a short distant away.
"Nightwing", Batman called for his former sidekick's attention as he stopped typing and finally switched his full attention to the less experienced fighter.
"Huh?", the young man turned his head towards the caped crusader again.
"He's not being serious", the older man smirked.
Harley and Alfred giggled to themselves, the young woman covering her mouth as Nightwing quickly stared back down at the sitting giant. A sharper hiss was emerging from the Predator's square-shaped jaw as he was laughing for the first time since they had known him.
XXXXXXXXXXX
+1 hour later+
"Dad, you can't be serious about this", the young man protested in the large business room, sitting on one of the many chairs that surrounded the oval, oak table, as his father remained on his feet, himself paying attention to the middle of the table.
"Sean, please", Robert Weyland breathed in and out, feeling emotionally exhausted, even if he was physically fine, "I need you to understand this, son. I'm doing this for all of us".
"How's that?", his firstborn countered, "Giving away our inheritance money to a bunch of total strangers is supposed to benefit Michelle and me?".
"Son, retirement was something I was going to have to do sooner or later anyway", his father explained as he gathered several notebooks into his briefcase and closed the container, "And your sister won't care. I'm surprised you are, to be honest".
"You're giving away our inheritance and you're surprised I'm reacting like this!", Sean shot back incredulously.
The middle-aged man sighed as he remained standing, looking down at his closed briefcase for a few moments before placing the metal container on the floor. He walked closer to his son and relaxed on the chair that was closest to where the younger person was seated. Reaching for his son's hand, Weyland gave a small smile as he squeezed Sean's left fingers once they were offered.
"Son, I really don't want to be fighting you on this", he started talking, "In fact, I want you on my side. See... I'm trying to put this into words".
He stopped to breathe in and out again before he continued.
"I've been in this damn business since college, interning, then working after graduation", Weyland went on, "Computers, processors, chips, made for and then sold to the highest bidder. All so I can make more money than the next guy, or more money than I made yesterday. But it's now hitting me that I'm 53 years old, and except for you and Michelle, what have I really accomplished? Your mom hated me for years before she died, and who really cares about anything I achieve here? How many lives have I touched and improved for the better? So some businesses and middle and upper-class families get better computers. So what? How is that making the world a better place?".
"Since when do you care about that!", his son suddenly pulled his own hand back, "Hello! Remember bugging me to be a business major in school? Because it's where all the damn money is, and you can't do shit in this world without money?".
His father lowered his head and quickly nodded several times in confirmation that he had said those things in the past.
"I was wrong, I know that now", Weyland explained, "Of course you need money to survive. But it's not how expensive your house is at the end of the day that matters, son. It's how many lives you improve while you're in this world".
"Dad, if that bald spot on your head wasn't spreading farther every day, I'd think you'd been kidnapped and then replaced by a shapeshifter", Sean sighed back as he eased back into his chair.
The older man laughed at the statement, which was then cut off when his son slammed an open right palm on the top of the table.
"Don't try to pretend that you're suddenly some damn holier-than-thou missionary after all the whoring you did for profit!", the young man exclaimed.
"No, I'm not, I'm really not", his father shook his head, "But Sean...".
He placed his own hands over his son's, keeping the young man's hand between his own palm and the surface of the table below.
"I was wrong", he sighed, working hard to find the right words as he locked eyes with his heir, "And damnit, I'm trying to undo the wrongs I've done before it's too late! Look, this business, our business, is worth almost eight hundred million dollars. And that's for me, you and Michelle. What in the world are we planning to spend all that on, huh?".
"So you just woke up this morning and decided it'd be more fun to give it all away and live as a bum on the sidewalk", Sean shot back, keeping his hand underneath his father's, "Am I correct here? That's your master plan?".
"No, of course not", Weyland explained with a small smile, "I'll never avoid caring for you and your sister, son. I'm putting together a fund that's available for you both, starting today. Five million dollars for each of you, to live your lives as you wish. But the rest has to go to make other people's lives better, Sean. Please, please, understand that".
"So you wanna do a 180", Sean uttered back, calmer this time, as he withdrew his hand, "Fine. But not till you tell me why, dad. And don't give me this crap about waking up and just wanting to do all this all of a sudden".
"It wasn't overnight", his father corrected, "Well, I mean, it was, but it didn't happen for no reason, son. It was when I was attacked by those... things".
He stopped, suddenly having trouble talking, even though he had been the one to instigate the conversation with his son initially.
"I'm listening", Sean added, "Go on".
"Those things just appeared yesterday, started killing everybody they came across", Weyland recalled, feeling his throat tightening up, "And here I was, so damn secure that I was untouchable. What was that I used to say like an idiot, Sean? We got the best security money can buy in our home and place of work?".
"Yeah, that's it", the younger man confirmed.
"Well, there was no money in the world that was enough to convince people to put their necks on the line!", the older man continued, suddenly feeling bitter, "They killed dozens, Sean. I mean, the body count isn't even finished yet because the damn roof collapsed and bodies are still being removed even now. And then one of those things came after me. You know what? I called for security. They were dead. I called for anyone who could help me, they were either dead or running for their lives. I begged for my life, that monster didn't care! I don't care how much I got my boots licked by employees who were just wanting their weekly income, Sean, but no amount of money makes you cared for enough for someone else to run after you when some FREAK of nature kidnaps you!".
"Uh huh", his son only responded.
"That thing took me, Sean", Weyland's voice softened, "It took me from the first floor, all the way up to the rooftop. And it was fast as hell, too. It ran upwards, with me in its arms, past all those floors, in less than half a minute. I was sure I was dead. And you know why I'm not?".
"No. Why not?", Sean asked.
"Batman and his two friends", the older man explained, "They saw me on the first floor, I yelled at them for help. No way did I think they were going to come after me. But they did, all three of them. They pursued the thing that had me since I was its hostage, even though they had nothing to gain by putting themselves at risk like that. They didn't even know me. Batman, Robin, or Nightwing, or whatever the second one's name is, and there was this big guy with them, who had the strangest hair you've ever seen. But all three rushed after me, and it's because of them that I'm still breathing and not monster food right now".
"Jesus Christ", Sean rubbed his face after being told everything his father had been through.
"I can't continue judging and treating people based on how much money they have, son", Weyland went on, "Please, I hope you understand this. I just can't. That'd be such a slap in the face to my rescuers. And I was wrong to pressure you and Michelle to go into business too, I realize that. Michelle's still finishing high school, so she's got plenty of time to use her five mil to do as she wants. And I want you to quit your classes, Sean, assuming you want to, that is. You're only on your third year, anyway. You're still young. You don't have to go into business. Take the money, live off it, decide what you want to do for yourself".
"Yeah, I suppose that makes sense", Sean locked eyes with him again, "And you, dad?".
"First, I'm paying all the casualties' families so they have enough to live on", the older man detailed his plan, "Then, I'm paying off my employees, letting them retire after this company's finished. After that, I got two major things to do with the fortune. The first is to fund charities. I'm going to help people live their lives, rich or poor, and especially if they're poor. None of this treating rich clients like royalty and walking over everyone else who's sleeping on sidewalks any more. The second is more personal. I'm funding a force to hunt down and destroy those things that attacked me and my employees, to destroy them wherever the hell they may be".
"What? What for, dad?", Sean was surprised, "I understand the first, but what's with the vendetta? Those things that attacked you are dead, man".
"What if there's more where they came from?", Weyland countered, "First I need to find them, and then exterminate them".
He stood back up, placing a gentle grip on his son's right shoulder.
"Son, if a few of those things wrecked such havoc on our city, just imagine what a larger number of them will do", the father went on, "I'm not letting that happen. Those things are dead where they live".
"OK, then count me in", Sean grinned back while standing up in his own turn and patting his father's hand.
"Really?", the smile on Weyland's face spread as his son embraced him for an instant before separating.
"Damn right!", the younger man stated, "No one's hurting my dad if I can help it. I know what I wanna do. Screw college. Put me in charge of the team you're gathering to hunt those things, dad".
"Oh, god!", Weyland kept grinning as he hugged his child for the second time, "Thanks, Sean! You really just made me the happiest man on the planet".
"Tell you what", the college student explained while physically parting again, "Go do what you need. I'm gonna call Michelle and see when she can do lunch with us old folks. It's been ages since the three of us did anything together".
"You got it, son!", the former businessman kissed Sean on the forehead before gripping his suitcase and walking towards the conference room exit, "I'm on my cellphone. Let me know when you two want to get together today".
"Will do, dad", Sean smiled back as he sat down and reached for the room telephone.
He looked to see that his father had left the room and the door was then closed behind the older man. It was only then that he picked up the receiver and dialled several numbers.
"Senile old fart", Sean thought out loud as he counted four rings before the person on the other end answered, "Yo, Joey! How's life in the government, dude?".
The man he had called began talking.
"Yeah, yeah", his interrupted the other person's answer, "Look, I really don't care. I was just being polite. Anyway, our computer projects are on hold because of my stupid dad… Joey? Joey... Stop talking, dude… Look, I may have something that's even more exciting than our hardware".
The person he called began replying.
"I won't even bother making you guess this time, OK?", Sean stated after he let his associate finish speaking this time, "But let me ask you this. How much is Uncle Sam willing to pay for the ultimate weapon?".
He waited for a few seconds.
"Of course I'm talking about the aliens, you dweeb!", he continued, "So? How much for a live specimen?".
He had to stop talking.
"I know they're all dead in this city. That's why I'm asking you how much a living one would bring".
Another pause from his end.
"Oh, I'm sorry, we're not supposed to talk about them anymore", Sean went on with an annoyed expression on his face, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Those things don't exist as far as either one of us know. Yeah...".
The person on other end talked some more, and a smile soon appeared on the young man's face.
"That much, huh?", he asked, barely able to believe the sum he was told.