Tim scrubbed at the known lock of graying hair on his scalp. As if he could erase the years that had brought it on and once more feel the limitless energy of his youth. A glance at Bruce gave him a guilty feeling of relief. At least the old man looked as tired as he did. Awful embarrassing if he couldn't keep up with a man thirty years older than he was, even though he was Batman. At the moment Bruce was staring up at the computer screen, hands triangled beneath his chin in his usual poise of thoughtfulness. Fatigue graveled his voice more than normal as he said,
"Let's go over this once more."
"We're wasting time Bruce." Max snapped as she whirled away from his side. "Whether we look at it forward, backward or inside out it all comes out the same. The man is insane! There can't be any logic to what he's doing."
"Wrong Max," Tim intoned tiredly. "Al Ghul has never lost sight of his ultimate goal. And he's always been willing to do whatever it took to achieve it."
"Other than living forever and ruling the world, what else could he possibly want?"
Tim pushed away from the console and stretched stiff back muscles, "He not only wants power over the world, he wants it ordered to his imagination. Exactly what that is--I'm not sure even he knows."
"He knows." Bruce stated with finality. "But that's not important. We're not going to let him get to that point. Right now we need to find out how he's siphoning aether energy away and where he's funneling it to."
"How is he getting it? I don't understand how he can capture 'living' energy. I mean--I just don't get the physics of the aether. If we can't identify or measure it, how can he harness it?"
"Well, somehow he is." Tim motioned to data on the screen. "The energy measurements we can detect show massive fluctuations in affected areas. Something is triggering those reactions. The general weakness of victims is probably caused by their 'living energy' being taken from them. That's why the weaker ones succumb. They don't have the strength to maintain bodily functions that are already compromised by illness or old age."
"Does it mean anything that the intervals between each phenom have increased along with their duration?
"Only that it makes it much more dangerous for anyone in those areas. If this keeps up there won't be a place in Gotham that hasn't been touched. I'm worried enough about Grace and the girls that I'm thinking of sending them to visit her mother in Washington until this is dealt with."
"You're not the only one thinking that way. There's a slowly building exodus of citizens out of Gotham."
Bruce's chair creaked as he leaned back and offered, "I'm not sure they'll be safer anywhere else. If Ra's ultimate plans are as global as usual--no one on Earth will be safe."
"Okay." Max released a loud, exasperated sigh, "If we have a good idea what this is--can we counteract it somehow? At least until we can shut--whatever it is--down for good."
Both men looked thoughtfully at her for a moment. Then Bruce touched a key on the console. View on the screen changed to a green-lined map of the city. Yellow lighted circles of different shades and sizes dotted areas on it. They were the areas in Gotham that had been exposed to the phenom.
"I was hoping there'd be some central point of operation, a way of pinpointing the source. But none of the areas have ever intersected. There's no discernable pattern between the areas and the attacks seem to have been random compared against any logical measurement I can come up with."
There was another long silence as the three racked their brains for more answers.
"If he's storing the energy somewhere, why can't we detect it?" Tim said.
Max was quick to answer, "Maybe it's shielded or maybe we don't have the right instrument to find it."
"What makes you think he's storing it?" Bruce corrected, "Maybe it's being used immediately for some other purpose."
Tim's curiosity piqued with the new train of thought, "Like what?"
Wrinkles deepening as he frowned, Bruce shook his head, "I don't know--yet."
********
They were all dead. The Master had become impatient with the scientists and with a wave of his hand they were destroyed. She saw the first die because she hadn't turned away quickly enough. The guard had responded in the blink of an eye. She saw the glint of his knife and the welling blood as the sharp edge slid across the soft flesh of the man's throat.
Tamera spun away from the sight, both hands covering her face. Those hands changed position to slap over her ears as she tried to block the gurgling sound coming from the dying scientist. She ran from the room when the other captives began to scream.
Master Ra's had not given her permission to leave, but nothing could keep her standing there any longer. No punishment for disobeying could be worse than experiencing that horror. Not even the threat to her parents.
She dashed through the house, into her bedroom and burrowed into a corner of the closet. Huddled there, she desperately tried to push the grisly images away and replace them with her strongest and happiest memories.
Too soon he was there. Bidding her to come out, using Talia's gentlest voice and holding out a ringed hand for her to grasp when she peered up at him.
"Come with me. It's time you learn fully what I have planned."
Knowing there was no escape, Tamera forced herself to obey. She offered her hand, feeling the other's thin, cold grasp enfold lightly around it.
They walked to a heavily guarded area of the estate. Instead of a door, this outbuilding had an elevator as an entrance. Ra's waved a hand and it opened. They rode the chamber down and stepped out into bright, artificial light illuming a yawning area.
She had been here once before when he showed her the machine he had built with the help of the scientists that had just died and others like them. He had explained nothing, letting her surmise what she could on her own.
The interior smelled strange. A burnt, sweetness hung in layers of the air. So strong at times as she walked behind Ra's that she wanted to gag. Her eyes were drawn to a clear cubicle set in the middle of the massive building. Conduits of different sizes radiated out from the cubicle into different machines surrounding the room. Lying inside the enclosed container something--pulsed.
Tamera stared, trying to identify and name with her eyes this--something, that her special sense was telling her was alive. Its' shapeless, pearlesant mass bubbling with small irregular beats belied the fire of energy she felt dwelling inside. She couldn't understand why it wasn't exploding with the power she sensed coming from it.
"What is it?" She asked softly looking at Ra's self-satisfied face.
"An unintended byproduct of my original plan. One that will bring to fruition all that I have strived for these many centuries. Watch now and see the wonders it is capable of."
Ra's gestured to one of the many technicians that had come to attention when he entered the area. That one quickly activated a switch on the panel near him. Tamera heard a faint hiss and every head in the room turned toward the cubicle.
Three cages slid into the cubicle at different points. Inside one was plant life--foliage, flowers in different stages of bloom and samples of edible fruits and vegetables. In another, live creatures--rats, lizards, fish swimming in a small tank. The last held insects--swarming, scuttling, darting against the barriers of their cage.
Without visible sign of intent the blob moved. A part of it stretched upward, then thinned itself outward into three directions. Becoming as transparent as a soap bubble it hovered motionless a few feet over the cages for two seconds before retreating back to its former state.
It took Tamera a few seconds longer to notice that the life within the cages was now motionless. The plants withered and dry. The creatures lying flat and sunken. The insects piled in unmoving heaps. All dead. She looked wide-eyed at the Master who nodded sagely,
"A very small sample of its abilities."
"What has it done?"
"What all living creatures must do to survive. Ingest nourishment so it may sustain itself and grow. But instead of using the primitive methods we are familiar with of digesting matter to energize us, this takes in the energy in its purest form. I find such refinement quite admirable. I'm sure you'll be just as impressed when you see what it can do on a larger scale."
He nodded regally at another technician and the entire scene suddenly burst with action. People began running in all different directions. A heavy rumble of sound started and the cubicle with all the equipment around it was isolated onto a single platform. Then the whole thing began moving upwards.
The Master grabbed her arm and pulled her up along with him onto the platform, standing unperturbed by all the bustle around him. Tamera smelled a rush of fresh air and looked up to see the ceiling falling back to reveal twinkling stars in the night sky. A huge hovercraft drifted silently over the open space, its cavernous bay open to admit the rising platform.
Soon the platform was locked inside the hovercraft and they were flying rapidly towards the distant lights of Gotham City. Tamera followed Ra's further into the craft until they reached an observation point where they could see both the cubicle and the city skimming by beneath them. She stood quietly beside him while he sat on the lone chair.
The abnormal silence of this craft sent an eerie feeling of unease through Tamera. Such bulk and power flying through the air with only the whisper of sound an owl would make on its night hunt was wrong. She didn't have long to ponder as the craft slowed and halted to hover over a portion of the busy city, leaving her wondering where.
In the silence she easily heard a hiss of sound. The same sound as when the cages entered the cubicle. Her eyes went in that direction and she saw one side of the cubicle slide away. The blob flowed out. Stretching out into the thin air it spread itself into the thinness of a soap bubble. The length and width of a football field now it floated gently on the currents, a few hundred feet above the tallest building below.
Soon it began to shimmer, tiny bursts of light traveling from one end to the other. As the minutes passed she could see the pinpoints join together and make a brighter, more sustained light. After that the blob began to lose its soap bubble transparency, becoming thicker and heavier since it seemed to lose buoyancy and sink on the air currents.
Ra's gestured. A nameless technician turned to her work station, her hands performing an intricate pattern over the console. A bundle of netting burst out from the edge of the platform, spread and grabbed onto a corner of the sated blob. Gently it reeled the creature in until releasing it once the blob began to flow back into the cubicle on its own. The cubicle side closed and the hovercraft headed home.
An activated vidlink beside the Master drew Tamera's attention. It was live coverage of an area of Gotham newly hit by the mysterious phenom. The reports were grim with numerous scenes of victims caught in many different ways by the effects of what the creature had just finished causing. Ra's clicked the link off and turned to her.
"You see child? My plan is a simple one. This creature is like the natural predators who weed out the ill and old in the wild. Only the young and strong of humanity will survive and they will be under my rule. And of those who survive and refuse my leadership--a sustained visit by this creature under my control will punish them permanently. Gotham is the beginning--the testing ground. When I have perfected procedures here I will move on to the next city and so on until the world is mine. Soon we will live in a world where only the worthiest and most obedient of humanity will be welcome to join us. People who will share our love for this Earth and treat it with the respect it has not been given for many centuries."
He finished speaking and settled back in the chair, a satisfied smile appearing. His eyes became unfocused as he looked at her and she knew he was slipping into madness again. She closed her ears to the low inane laughter that shook him.
No! Tamera's mind screamed at a slow revelation. After all she had done for him, after all his promises….he was going to kill her parents. They were older and had health problems. Her mother had diabetes and her father's heart was weak. They would never fit into HIS world. They had nothing useful to offer HIS world. Could she trust anything he said anymore?
Her mother and father were still alive. She would know instantly if their lives ceased. She couldn't explain how she knew. She just did. Just like she did with all her abilities. They were alive and she would do anything in her power to keep them that way.
Calming herself, Tamera could think of one solution to her dilemma. There was only one person she trusted completely who had the capabilities to overcome the Master's evil.
Batman.
He was healing... slowly. He was searching…and finding new strengths within himself. She had been sensing this. But was he strong enough now to confront Master Ra's and defeat him? If she asked him for help would he be willing?
There was no time to wait. All she could do was tell him of the Master's plan. All she could do was ask for his help. The decision was his alone to make.
**************
Intent on some serious drinking, Terry settled himself securely atop a stool at the bar. Since Howie's Place was in the midst of remodeling he'd developed a routine of visiting a different establishment every time the urge to imbibe came over him. He kept more to the seedier neighborhoods; liking the gloomy, mind-your-own-business, atmosphere. Usually if anyone approached him they were easily brushed off. If that didn't work and they were looking for a fight, he was always happy to oblige.
He had discovered an unintended plus to this new habit. Overheard gossip. This latest disaster hitting Gotham was making people talk. Dawdling over a drink or two for an hour usually got him an earful. After that he'd stop listening and concentrate on the real reason he had come to the place.
He had learned there was uneasiness in Gotham that spanned from the lowliest citizen to the most elite. Not fear, which would be understandable considering the erratic, anticipated nature of the phenom. That wasn't newsflash material. What kept him tuning in were all the different opinions being shaped around the cause of the phenom. Wild theories that involved anything from global warming, to Mad Stan concocting some profound new way of seeking retaliation against authority, to residual radiation poisoning from that last big battle between Blight and Batman.
It always surprised him when he heard someone mention Batman. Even more revealing was how often that name was spoken along with tones of regret or resentment at having been abandoned by the hero. Each time, Terry was compelled to rethink what impact he had on Gotham as Batman. Sometimes to the point where getting completely inebriated was the only way to get him to stop the debate in his head.
At this moment he was long past the listening phase and deep into the 'I feel nothing for I am at the peak of my alcohol induced high.' phase.
He did a double-take at the person who sat down beside him. Feeling too good at the moment to get angry, Terry grinned crookedly at the man who had monopolized all of Max's affections. "Wha' the hell....What're you do'in here?"
Travis finished ordering a drink before returning a smile. "I followed you."
"Must'uv...cause even I didn't know I was com'in here." Terry laughed as if what he had just said was hilarious.
"Nice to see you happy."
"Happy? I'm hap, hap, happy? Well thanks for tell'in me buddy cause I never woulda guessed." He jovially slapped Travis on the back for emphasis. "So... whad'about you? You happy? Should be. Riiighttt? You're the one who got the girl.....oh..uh...I mean woman! Max'is no...girl!" Terry's face puckered into distaste with the word. He hunkered over his drink, shaking his head and mumbling, "No, no, nope. Nod'a girl at'tall."
Travis shifted on his stool and mused on Terry's declaration. Max being his girl was news to him, though he'd like to believe it could happen some day. He picked up his newly placed bottle of beer and tipped it in Terry's direction, "You're right. She's all woman."
Terry lifted his glass in agreement and in unison they drank.
Travis asked casually, "Max says you two have been friends for a long time. When did you first meet?"
Terry 'humphed'and curled his hands more protectively around his drink. He shifted away slightly, nearest shoulder now blocking Travis out of his view.
Taking the hint, Travis backed off on the intent to make conversation. Silently he nursed his own drink while taking in the surroundings. The place smelled--used. An aged wood odor commingled with scents of alcohol, sweaty bodies and odors from the various human body orifices. Most of the clientele were at least a decade or more old than he and Terry. Most were dressed in rumpled, moderate clothing. He was surprised how comfortable he felt here while outside when he was trailing Terry he'd had to deal with the eerie vibes of being in unsafe territory. Unlike Terry, he wasn't looking for confrontations.
Suddenly Terry was tilting towards him and murmuring with an air of confidentiality, "She used to have pink hair. She ever tell you that?"
A gust of alcohol-laden breath wafted into Travis' face, making his eyes sting. "Ah..." Travis blinked cleansing tears away. "No, she hasn't. Pink?"
"Yep," Terry worked hard to enunciate the slurring words, spittle flying outwards with each 'p' pronounced. "Hot, eye-popp'in pink."
Travis blinked some more, backing away from the onslaught and wiping the spatter from various parts of his face "Oh, heh... got any pictures of that?"
"Look'it her high school vids. Senior year'specially."
"I'll have to do that."
Background noise from the barroom filled the long silence between them. Travis amused himself by wondering what Max looked like with pink hair and how he would tease her about it. He was startled when Terry spoke again.
"Why?"
"What?"
"Why're you follow'in me?"
"Oh. Max. She's concerned. Thinks you might be losing it."
"Huh... I got noth'in left to lose," Terry grunted and rubbed a hand irritably across his eyes. He managed a side-long glance at Travis and grumbled. "Don't you have someplace else to be? Like a job in the ole' hometown that needs your attention?"
"You trying to get rid of me?"
"Yeah, thas' right. Go back to your cows where you belong."
"Steers."
"Wha...?" Terry squinted at Travis in confusion.
"Castrated male bovines are called steers. Cows are mother bovines. I wrestle steers not cows."
"Yeah…well. Cows, steers, whatever...they all got four hooves and moo don't they?"
"Actually they make more of a bellowing sound."
"Wha...?"
"I don't know who came up with that mooing thing. They don't sound like that."
"Wha...?" Terry gave him a cross-eyed, wilting look, "Do we really care?'
"Sure. Hey--did you ever see that ancient classic movie, Star Wars? Cattle make a noise a lot like that character Chewie in the movie, especially when they get upset about something."
Travis grinned while Terry gaped uncomprehending at him with glazed eyes.
Terry finally shook himself and mumbled before finishing the last of his drink, "Huh... you'd know better'n me about that."
"You like being alone."
"Wha..?"
"You're always keeping your own company. Must like it."
Terry swiveled to face him. Dark brows narrowed over suddenly sobered eyes.
Sensing he might be in real danger, Travis sat up straighter on his stool and brought palms up in entreaty as Terry bent menacing towards him. He let out soft chuckle and kept his deep voice subdued,
"Easy pard. I didn't mean anything by that. Just an observation."
"I'm not your pard." Terry growled. "An' yeah. I like be'in alone. So get lo---"
A flash of color jerked Terry's attention away from Travis. A short, barrel-shaped man flanked by two taller men covered in identical purple uniforms was being forcibly escorted from a backroom of the bar towards the front exit. Recognition of all three, threw Terry's alcohol flooded mind into a crazy spin. Hey! That was Vinnie Wardo. And two of Al Ghul's zombies. Together?
There was something significant about the combination, but his fogged brain wasn't letting the revelation become clear. All that came through at the moment was that he hated these particular dregs with a passion and wanted to give them an earful and preferably, fistful of his true feelings. Why he hated them wasn't clear either.
Hey... They were still hurrying away. Why weren't they waiting for him? Stupid dregs! Stop!
Terry flung an arm in their direction, "Hey…hey!" If he could just stall them until he got his butt off this stool. A vague awareness that he was tripping on the leg of his own barstool followed Terry all the way down to the hardwood floor.
Startled, Travis watched Terry fling himself from his seat and fall flat-faced to the ground. He stifled an eruption of laughter while scrambling from his seat to help Terry up. Nearby patrons, who weren't worried about sparing feelings, voiced loud amusement.
Travis steadied Terry's wobbly stand, remarking wryly, "That first step is a doozey sometimes ain't it?"
Terry growled and shoved Travis out of his way. "Where'd they go? Did you see? Where--?" He made a staggered, three hundred sixty-degree pivot looking for his lost targets. Clearly frustrated he grabbed a fistful of Travis' shirtfront and demanded to his face, "Did you see 'em? Did you see where they went?"
"See who?" Travis demanded, fast losing patience with Terry's behavior.
"Weasel an…an…Beaver."
"A weasel and a beaver," he repeated carefully, pulling Terry's hand from his shirt
"Yeah--yeah."
"What would--?" Travis gave his head a sharp shake. Why was he trying to make sense of someone's drunken hallucinations? Because Max really cared about this guy and maybe he'd stay on her good side if he played along. "Okay. Are they the bar mascots? Is that why you want me looking for a beaver and a weasel?"
"No..no! They're people. Zombies!"
"Okay. I'm really confused now. Are we looking for little furry animals or zombies or both?"
"Aw…no…no that's not…." Terry groaned and scrubbed his face with both hands. Dim alarms in his muddled mind warning him that maybe he shouldn't be mentioning Batman related stuff to this man was making any lucid thought impossible. Hell--what did rodents and zombies have to do with Batman anyway? Well--there was some kind of connection-- Aw--don't even try. Time to go home and sleep this one off. If he could just remember how to get there.
"How about I take you home Terry? That is--if you've had enough for tonight. My car is outside."
Terry cast a bleary gaze around the bar before acknowledging Travis' question with a swaying nod. "Yeah. Tha…That'd be…good idea. But I…I really saw 'em. Right… over there."
"Sure you did." Travis agreed before carefully urging him towards the exit. "And next time you come they'll probably be here too."
Terry craned his head around to give Travis a confused look before stepping outside and bumbling down the single concrete step strategically placed at the door entrance. He smacked Travis' helping hands away, staggered back to his feet alone and declared righteously, "That step wasn't there when I came in."
"No, of course not." Travis' placatory tone was accented with a grin. "They must have formed and poured it after you went inside."
"Yeah…must've." Terry mumbled, his expression going vacant as he wondered at the logic of Travis' statement.
"Come on Terry." Travis nudged Terry from his stupor. "The car's this way."
******
"Let's go over this once more."
"We're wasting time Bruce." Max snapped as she whirled away from his side. "Whether we look at it forward, backward or inside out it all comes out the same. The man is insane! There can't be any logic to what he's doing."
"Wrong Max," Tim intoned tiredly. "Al Ghul has never lost sight of his ultimate goal. And he's always been willing to do whatever it took to achieve it."
"Other than living forever and ruling the world, what else could he possibly want?"
Tim pushed away from the console and stretched stiff back muscles, "He not only wants power over the world, he wants it ordered to his imagination. Exactly what that is--I'm not sure even he knows."
"He knows." Bruce stated with finality. "But that's not important. We're not going to let him get to that point. Right now we need to find out how he's siphoning aether energy away and where he's funneling it to."
"How is he getting it? I don't understand how he can capture 'living' energy. I mean--I just don't get the physics of the aether. If we can't identify or measure it, how can he harness it?"
"Well, somehow he is." Tim motioned to data on the screen. "The energy measurements we can detect show massive fluctuations in affected areas. Something is triggering those reactions. The general weakness of victims is probably caused by their 'living energy' being taken from them. That's why the weaker ones succumb. They don't have the strength to maintain bodily functions that are already compromised by illness or old age."
"Does it mean anything that the intervals between each phenom have increased along with their duration?
"Only that it makes it much more dangerous for anyone in those areas. If this keeps up there won't be a place in Gotham that hasn't been touched. I'm worried enough about Grace and the girls that I'm thinking of sending them to visit her mother in Washington until this is dealt with."
"You're not the only one thinking that way. There's a slowly building exodus of citizens out of Gotham."
Bruce's chair creaked as he leaned back and offered, "I'm not sure they'll be safer anywhere else. If Ra's ultimate plans are as global as usual--no one on Earth will be safe."
"Okay." Max released a loud, exasperated sigh, "If we have a good idea what this is--can we counteract it somehow? At least until we can shut--whatever it is--down for good."
Both men looked thoughtfully at her for a moment. Then Bruce touched a key on the console. View on the screen changed to a green-lined map of the city. Yellow lighted circles of different shades and sizes dotted areas on it. They were the areas in Gotham that had been exposed to the phenom.
"I was hoping there'd be some central point of operation, a way of pinpointing the source. But none of the areas have ever intersected. There's no discernable pattern between the areas and the attacks seem to have been random compared against any logical measurement I can come up with."
There was another long silence as the three racked their brains for more answers.
"If he's storing the energy somewhere, why can't we detect it?" Tim said.
Max was quick to answer, "Maybe it's shielded or maybe we don't have the right instrument to find it."
"What makes you think he's storing it?" Bruce corrected, "Maybe it's being used immediately for some other purpose."
Tim's curiosity piqued with the new train of thought, "Like what?"
Wrinkles deepening as he frowned, Bruce shook his head, "I don't know--yet."
********
They were all dead. The Master had become impatient with the scientists and with a wave of his hand they were destroyed. She saw the first die because she hadn't turned away quickly enough. The guard had responded in the blink of an eye. She saw the glint of his knife and the welling blood as the sharp edge slid across the soft flesh of the man's throat.
Tamera spun away from the sight, both hands covering her face. Those hands changed position to slap over her ears as she tried to block the gurgling sound coming from the dying scientist. She ran from the room when the other captives began to scream.
Master Ra's had not given her permission to leave, but nothing could keep her standing there any longer. No punishment for disobeying could be worse than experiencing that horror. Not even the threat to her parents.
She dashed through the house, into her bedroom and burrowed into a corner of the closet. Huddled there, she desperately tried to push the grisly images away and replace them with her strongest and happiest memories.
Too soon he was there. Bidding her to come out, using Talia's gentlest voice and holding out a ringed hand for her to grasp when she peered up at him.
"Come with me. It's time you learn fully what I have planned."
Knowing there was no escape, Tamera forced herself to obey. She offered her hand, feeling the other's thin, cold grasp enfold lightly around it.
They walked to a heavily guarded area of the estate. Instead of a door, this outbuilding had an elevator as an entrance. Ra's waved a hand and it opened. They rode the chamber down and stepped out into bright, artificial light illuming a yawning area.
She had been here once before when he showed her the machine he had built with the help of the scientists that had just died and others like them. He had explained nothing, letting her surmise what she could on her own.
The interior smelled strange. A burnt, sweetness hung in layers of the air. So strong at times as she walked behind Ra's that she wanted to gag. Her eyes were drawn to a clear cubicle set in the middle of the massive building. Conduits of different sizes radiated out from the cubicle into different machines surrounding the room. Lying inside the enclosed container something--pulsed.
Tamera stared, trying to identify and name with her eyes this--something, that her special sense was telling her was alive. Its' shapeless, pearlesant mass bubbling with small irregular beats belied the fire of energy she felt dwelling inside. She couldn't understand why it wasn't exploding with the power she sensed coming from it.
"What is it?" She asked softly looking at Ra's self-satisfied face.
"An unintended byproduct of my original plan. One that will bring to fruition all that I have strived for these many centuries. Watch now and see the wonders it is capable of."
Ra's gestured to one of the many technicians that had come to attention when he entered the area. That one quickly activated a switch on the panel near him. Tamera heard a faint hiss and every head in the room turned toward the cubicle.
Three cages slid into the cubicle at different points. Inside one was plant life--foliage, flowers in different stages of bloom and samples of edible fruits and vegetables. In another, live creatures--rats, lizards, fish swimming in a small tank. The last held insects--swarming, scuttling, darting against the barriers of their cage.
Without visible sign of intent the blob moved. A part of it stretched upward, then thinned itself outward into three directions. Becoming as transparent as a soap bubble it hovered motionless a few feet over the cages for two seconds before retreating back to its former state.
It took Tamera a few seconds longer to notice that the life within the cages was now motionless. The plants withered and dry. The creatures lying flat and sunken. The insects piled in unmoving heaps. All dead. She looked wide-eyed at the Master who nodded sagely,
"A very small sample of its abilities."
"What has it done?"
"What all living creatures must do to survive. Ingest nourishment so it may sustain itself and grow. But instead of using the primitive methods we are familiar with of digesting matter to energize us, this takes in the energy in its purest form. I find such refinement quite admirable. I'm sure you'll be just as impressed when you see what it can do on a larger scale."
He nodded regally at another technician and the entire scene suddenly burst with action. People began running in all different directions. A heavy rumble of sound started and the cubicle with all the equipment around it was isolated onto a single platform. Then the whole thing began moving upwards.
The Master grabbed her arm and pulled her up along with him onto the platform, standing unperturbed by all the bustle around him. Tamera smelled a rush of fresh air and looked up to see the ceiling falling back to reveal twinkling stars in the night sky. A huge hovercraft drifted silently over the open space, its cavernous bay open to admit the rising platform.
Soon the platform was locked inside the hovercraft and they were flying rapidly towards the distant lights of Gotham City. Tamera followed Ra's further into the craft until they reached an observation point where they could see both the cubicle and the city skimming by beneath them. She stood quietly beside him while he sat on the lone chair.
The abnormal silence of this craft sent an eerie feeling of unease through Tamera. Such bulk and power flying through the air with only the whisper of sound an owl would make on its night hunt was wrong. She didn't have long to ponder as the craft slowed and halted to hover over a portion of the busy city, leaving her wondering where.
In the silence she easily heard a hiss of sound. The same sound as when the cages entered the cubicle. Her eyes went in that direction and she saw one side of the cubicle slide away. The blob flowed out. Stretching out into the thin air it spread itself into the thinness of a soap bubble. The length and width of a football field now it floated gently on the currents, a few hundred feet above the tallest building below.
Soon it began to shimmer, tiny bursts of light traveling from one end to the other. As the minutes passed she could see the pinpoints join together and make a brighter, more sustained light. After that the blob began to lose its soap bubble transparency, becoming thicker and heavier since it seemed to lose buoyancy and sink on the air currents.
Ra's gestured. A nameless technician turned to her work station, her hands performing an intricate pattern over the console. A bundle of netting burst out from the edge of the platform, spread and grabbed onto a corner of the sated blob. Gently it reeled the creature in until releasing it once the blob began to flow back into the cubicle on its own. The cubicle side closed and the hovercraft headed home.
An activated vidlink beside the Master drew Tamera's attention. It was live coverage of an area of Gotham newly hit by the mysterious phenom. The reports were grim with numerous scenes of victims caught in many different ways by the effects of what the creature had just finished causing. Ra's clicked the link off and turned to her.
"You see child? My plan is a simple one. This creature is like the natural predators who weed out the ill and old in the wild. Only the young and strong of humanity will survive and they will be under my rule. And of those who survive and refuse my leadership--a sustained visit by this creature under my control will punish them permanently. Gotham is the beginning--the testing ground. When I have perfected procedures here I will move on to the next city and so on until the world is mine. Soon we will live in a world where only the worthiest and most obedient of humanity will be welcome to join us. People who will share our love for this Earth and treat it with the respect it has not been given for many centuries."
He finished speaking and settled back in the chair, a satisfied smile appearing. His eyes became unfocused as he looked at her and she knew he was slipping into madness again. She closed her ears to the low inane laughter that shook him.
No! Tamera's mind screamed at a slow revelation. After all she had done for him, after all his promises….he was going to kill her parents. They were older and had health problems. Her mother had diabetes and her father's heart was weak. They would never fit into HIS world. They had nothing useful to offer HIS world. Could she trust anything he said anymore?
Her mother and father were still alive. She would know instantly if their lives ceased. She couldn't explain how she knew. She just did. Just like she did with all her abilities. They were alive and she would do anything in her power to keep them that way.
Calming herself, Tamera could think of one solution to her dilemma. There was only one person she trusted completely who had the capabilities to overcome the Master's evil.
Batman.
He was healing... slowly. He was searching…and finding new strengths within himself. She had been sensing this. But was he strong enough now to confront Master Ra's and defeat him? If she asked him for help would he be willing?
There was no time to wait. All she could do was tell him of the Master's plan. All she could do was ask for his help. The decision was his alone to make.
**************
Intent on some serious drinking, Terry settled himself securely atop a stool at the bar. Since Howie's Place was in the midst of remodeling he'd developed a routine of visiting a different establishment every time the urge to imbibe came over him. He kept more to the seedier neighborhoods; liking the gloomy, mind-your-own-business, atmosphere. Usually if anyone approached him they were easily brushed off. If that didn't work and they were looking for a fight, he was always happy to oblige.
He had discovered an unintended plus to this new habit. Overheard gossip. This latest disaster hitting Gotham was making people talk. Dawdling over a drink or two for an hour usually got him an earful. After that he'd stop listening and concentrate on the real reason he had come to the place.
He had learned there was uneasiness in Gotham that spanned from the lowliest citizen to the most elite. Not fear, which would be understandable considering the erratic, anticipated nature of the phenom. That wasn't newsflash material. What kept him tuning in were all the different opinions being shaped around the cause of the phenom. Wild theories that involved anything from global warming, to Mad Stan concocting some profound new way of seeking retaliation against authority, to residual radiation poisoning from that last big battle between Blight and Batman.
It always surprised him when he heard someone mention Batman. Even more revealing was how often that name was spoken along with tones of regret or resentment at having been abandoned by the hero. Each time, Terry was compelled to rethink what impact he had on Gotham as Batman. Sometimes to the point where getting completely inebriated was the only way to get him to stop the debate in his head.
At this moment he was long past the listening phase and deep into the 'I feel nothing for I am at the peak of my alcohol induced high.' phase.
He did a double-take at the person who sat down beside him. Feeling too good at the moment to get angry, Terry grinned crookedly at the man who had monopolized all of Max's affections. "Wha' the hell....What're you do'in here?"
Travis finished ordering a drink before returning a smile. "I followed you."
"Must'uv...cause even I didn't know I was com'in here." Terry laughed as if what he had just said was hilarious.
"Nice to see you happy."
"Happy? I'm hap, hap, happy? Well thanks for tell'in me buddy cause I never woulda guessed." He jovially slapped Travis on the back for emphasis. "So... whad'about you? You happy? Should be. Riiighttt? You're the one who got the girl.....oh..uh...I mean woman! Max'is no...girl!" Terry's face puckered into distaste with the word. He hunkered over his drink, shaking his head and mumbling, "No, no, nope. Nod'a girl at'tall."
Travis shifted on his stool and mused on Terry's declaration. Max being his girl was news to him, though he'd like to believe it could happen some day. He picked up his newly placed bottle of beer and tipped it in Terry's direction, "You're right. She's all woman."
Terry lifted his glass in agreement and in unison they drank.
Travis asked casually, "Max says you two have been friends for a long time. When did you first meet?"
Terry 'humphed'and curled his hands more protectively around his drink. He shifted away slightly, nearest shoulder now blocking Travis out of his view.
Taking the hint, Travis backed off on the intent to make conversation. Silently he nursed his own drink while taking in the surroundings. The place smelled--used. An aged wood odor commingled with scents of alcohol, sweaty bodies and odors from the various human body orifices. Most of the clientele were at least a decade or more old than he and Terry. Most were dressed in rumpled, moderate clothing. He was surprised how comfortable he felt here while outside when he was trailing Terry he'd had to deal with the eerie vibes of being in unsafe territory. Unlike Terry, he wasn't looking for confrontations.
Suddenly Terry was tilting towards him and murmuring with an air of confidentiality, "She used to have pink hair. She ever tell you that?"
A gust of alcohol-laden breath wafted into Travis' face, making his eyes sting. "Ah..." Travis blinked cleansing tears away. "No, she hasn't. Pink?"
"Yep," Terry worked hard to enunciate the slurring words, spittle flying outwards with each 'p' pronounced. "Hot, eye-popp'in pink."
Travis blinked some more, backing away from the onslaught and wiping the spatter from various parts of his face "Oh, heh... got any pictures of that?"
"Look'it her high school vids. Senior year'specially."
"I'll have to do that."
Background noise from the barroom filled the long silence between them. Travis amused himself by wondering what Max looked like with pink hair and how he would tease her about it. He was startled when Terry spoke again.
"Why?"
"What?"
"Why're you follow'in me?"
"Oh. Max. She's concerned. Thinks you might be losing it."
"Huh... I got noth'in left to lose," Terry grunted and rubbed a hand irritably across his eyes. He managed a side-long glance at Travis and grumbled. "Don't you have someplace else to be? Like a job in the ole' hometown that needs your attention?"
"You trying to get rid of me?"
"Yeah, thas' right. Go back to your cows where you belong."
"Steers."
"Wha...?" Terry squinted at Travis in confusion.
"Castrated male bovines are called steers. Cows are mother bovines. I wrestle steers not cows."
"Yeah…well. Cows, steers, whatever...they all got four hooves and moo don't they?"
"Actually they make more of a bellowing sound."
"Wha...?"
"I don't know who came up with that mooing thing. They don't sound like that."
"Wha...?" Terry gave him a cross-eyed, wilting look, "Do we really care?'
"Sure. Hey--did you ever see that ancient classic movie, Star Wars? Cattle make a noise a lot like that character Chewie in the movie, especially when they get upset about something."
Travis grinned while Terry gaped uncomprehending at him with glazed eyes.
Terry finally shook himself and mumbled before finishing the last of his drink, "Huh... you'd know better'n me about that."
"You like being alone."
"Wha..?"
"You're always keeping your own company. Must like it."
Terry swiveled to face him. Dark brows narrowed over suddenly sobered eyes.
Sensing he might be in real danger, Travis sat up straighter on his stool and brought palms up in entreaty as Terry bent menacing towards him. He let out soft chuckle and kept his deep voice subdued,
"Easy pard. I didn't mean anything by that. Just an observation."
"I'm not your pard." Terry growled. "An' yeah. I like be'in alone. So get lo---"
A flash of color jerked Terry's attention away from Travis. A short, barrel-shaped man flanked by two taller men covered in identical purple uniforms was being forcibly escorted from a backroom of the bar towards the front exit. Recognition of all three, threw Terry's alcohol flooded mind into a crazy spin. Hey! That was Vinnie Wardo. And two of Al Ghul's zombies. Together?
There was something significant about the combination, but his fogged brain wasn't letting the revelation become clear. All that came through at the moment was that he hated these particular dregs with a passion and wanted to give them an earful and preferably, fistful of his true feelings. Why he hated them wasn't clear either.
Hey... They were still hurrying away. Why weren't they waiting for him? Stupid dregs! Stop!
Terry flung an arm in their direction, "Hey…hey!" If he could just stall them until he got his butt off this stool. A vague awareness that he was tripping on the leg of his own barstool followed Terry all the way down to the hardwood floor.
Startled, Travis watched Terry fling himself from his seat and fall flat-faced to the ground. He stifled an eruption of laughter while scrambling from his seat to help Terry up. Nearby patrons, who weren't worried about sparing feelings, voiced loud amusement.
Travis steadied Terry's wobbly stand, remarking wryly, "That first step is a doozey sometimes ain't it?"
Terry growled and shoved Travis out of his way. "Where'd they go? Did you see? Where--?" He made a staggered, three hundred sixty-degree pivot looking for his lost targets. Clearly frustrated he grabbed a fistful of Travis' shirtfront and demanded to his face, "Did you see 'em? Did you see where they went?"
"See who?" Travis demanded, fast losing patience with Terry's behavior.
"Weasel an…an…Beaver."
"A weasel and a beaver," he repeated carefully, pulling Terry's hand from his shirt
"Yeah--yeah."
"What would--?" Travis gave his head a sharp shake. Why was he trying to make sense of someone's drunken hallucinations? Because Max really cared about this guy and maybe he'd stay on her good side if he played along. "Okay. Are they the bar mascots? Is that why you want me looking for a beaver and a weasel?"
"No..no! They're people. Zombies!"
"Okay. I'm really confused now. Are we looking for little furry animals or zombies or both?"
"Aw…no…no that's not…." Terry groaned and scrubbed his face with both hands. Dim alarms in his muddled mind warning him that maybe he shouldn't be mentioning Batman related stuff to this man was making any lucid thought impossible. Hell--what did rodents and zombies have to do with Batman anyway? Well--there was some kind of connection-- Aw--don't even try. Time to go home and sleep this one off. If he could just remember how to get there.
"How about I take you home Terry? That is--if you've had enough for tonight. My car is outside."
Terry cast a bleary gaze around the bar before acknowledging Travis' question with a swaying nod. "Yeah. Tha…That'd be…good idea. But I…I really saw 'em. Right… over there."
"Sure you did." Travis agreed before carefully urging him towards the exit. "And next time you come they'll probably be here too."
Terry craned his head around to give Travis a confused look before stepping outside and bumbling down the single concrete step strategically placed at the door entrance. He smacked Travis' helping hands away, staggered back to his feet alone and declared righteously, "That step wasn't there when I came in."
"No, of course not." Travis' placatory tone was accented with a grin. "They must have formed and poured it after you went inside."
"Yeah…must've." Terry mumbled, his expression going vacant as he wondered at the logic of Travis' statement.
"Come on Terry." Travis nudged Terry from his stupor. "The car's this way."
******