Chapter 12 - "Alex Mercer"
Alex Mercer sat in the lobby of Gotham Hospital, waiting on his best friend, Scarlet Brody, to finish work. Thumping his fingers on the arm of his chair, Alex waited impatiently. At seventeen, he had yet to fully get a grasp on letting patience take predominance. He was working on it, but it hadn't yet taken its full effect.
He glanced down the corridor where Scarlet always came from when she signed off for the day. Also seventeen, Scarlet was a part-time med student who split her time working at the hospital with her classes at a prestigious private school in Gotham. She had started going there when she received a number of invites for excelling in her schoolwork. Wanting to get a break from her hometown, she agreed and moved to Gotham.
Alex and Scarlet had known each other for about a year. They were good friends, but they had an introduction that most friends never had.
Everything began before Alex and Scarlet had even met each other, about four months before then. Alex had been sixteen, and he was the son of the scientists Adam and Susan Mercer. They were working on a serum that they called the Soldier X serum. It was created to prevent deaths from various means, including cancer, Ebola, and other viruses—and even other dangers.
Alex rubbed at his eyes as he remembered back, trying to keep from drifting into sleep. He would be able to stay awake long enough for Scarlet to enter the lobby. He would. He had to. He wouldn't let anything—
Before he could finish the thought, Alex had slumped over and fell asleep.
He remembered it like it was yesterday. Sixteen-year-old Alex, his neatly combed blond hair, ambling into his parents' lab. "Hi, Alex," Susan Mercer greeted him pleasantly. He walked up and kissed her cheek.
"Hey, Mom. Where's Dad?" Alex asked, leaning up against the counter.
Susan nodded into the test room, where Adam and Susan would test their different scientific creations and serums to make sure that they worked properly. The Mercers were the top scientists of Wayne Enterprises, head of the lab division. They worked closely with the head of the tech department, Lucius Fox, and even though they had sparsely seen him, they did have a budding acquaintance with the CEO himself, Bruce Wayne.
Bruce had seemed to be more relaxed and cooler than Alex had anticipated when he first met the CEO. He had anticipated someone to be running the most prestigious company in Gotham to be older, regal and more sophisticated, not someone who was just twenty-three. Bruce had an air about him of someone who took his position with ease, absorbing the glamor of the title billionaire playboy for all it was worth. He had small talk with both Alex and his parents, something Alex never would've anticipated coming from any CEO, but especially the one of Wayne Enterprises.
Alex was about to ask his mom something when the door to the test room opened and Adam Mercer stepped out. Sporting blond hair like his son, Adam removed the goggles and revealed his green eyes, a contrast to the dark blue that Alex had inherited from his mother. "Hi, Alex. How was school today?"
"Fine. As much as school can be," Alex said with a grin. "How's the Cure for All Diseases coming along?" It was a name he had jokingly tagged to the serum. In all honesty, he had sincere doubts that there was any cure to such things as cancer, but he was adamant that if anyone could come up with it, it was his parents.
"You joke now, son, but it won't be any laughing matter when it actually pays off and works."
"I know, Dad," Alex sheepishly muttered. "No, really, how's it coming along?"
Adam opened his mouth to speak. "Well, pretty good as of the moment. I've just got a few kinks to work out and then—"
He was cut off by the beating of what sounded like helicopter propellers outside. They were very close, and as Adam stepped towards the window, he saw a black helicopter hover into the air. "What is th—" he started before he caught sight of the gun barrels coming from the side.
"Susan, Alex, get down!" he yelled, diving for cover behind a table. Susan grabbed her son and yanked him down, and they both cowered beneath the countertop.
Gunshots erupted as a volley of fireworks as glass shattered, fragments of it and bullet casings peppering the room. The helicopter's propellers were now as clear as day, no longer inhibited by the window's dampening effects.
The clanking of equipment and the padding of boot soles caused Alex to turn his head, but he was still to frightened to peer out. Susan held him tight, as if she was afraid that he might actually try it.
"Secure the area," a raspy voice said, as if muffled by something, like a mask. The footsteps soon padded as they covered the entire area around the lab. Eventually, a figure rounded the corner. The man was decked out in an all-black uniform, with a parachute strapped to his back, a ski mask over his face, and a submachine gun in his hands, held at the ready.
"Over here!" the man called, glancing to his left. Slowly, a pair of footsteps drew closer until the black-suited man stepped away, in his stead a man clad in an all-white suit of clothing. Over his face, he wore no ski mask. It was a mask, all right, but one mirroring a black skull.
"What do we have here?" It was the raspy voice that had ordered the room to be secured, Alex realized.
Hurriedly, Susan held a hand up. "Please, whatever you do, don't hurt us. Take whatever it is you came for."
"We'll be pleased to do just that, if you'll just direct us to your serum."
Susan and Alex both froze. This man knew about the serum? How?
"Who are you?" Susan asked, confused about the whole situation.
The raspy voice echoed into a laugh, then he said, "Call me Black Mask. That's all you need to know." He bent forward, his eyes—the only human thing about the face—right before Susan's. "Now, where is the serum?"
"In the test room!" Adam called out, jumping to his feet. Two of the uniformed men rushed forward, pushing him to his knees.
Black Mask surged towards the captured scientist. "And just where might that be, Dr. Mercer?"
Adam eyed the man warily, unsure of who this man was or where he had come from. He nodded to the doorway. "In there."
Black Mask gestured to one of his men, who took off into the room. A few moments later, he returned, holding a bottle, with a sterilized needle attached to it. The man handed it to Black Mask, who took it. "This it?"
Slowly, in defeat, Adam nodded. "Yes. That's it."
Alex could imagine the sadistic grin behind that awful skull mask. "Good." Immediately, Black Mask's wrist snapped up, gun wrapped in his hand, as a loud boom echoed with a flash, and Adam twisted and convulsed, blood spraying from his face. Alex's mouth dropped as he watched his father's lifeless body collapse onto the ground, crimson staining the white lab coat he wore.
"Dad!" he yelled, charging ahead. Before he could even make it past the counter, Black Mask spun around and fired another shot. It caught Alex in the stomach and he staggered back, grabbing ahold of something, anything, to break his fall. He barely heard his mother cry out his name.
Susan started for her son, and another shot sounded. She fell over, not even able to reach Alex's crumpled form that lay only feet away.
Black Mask stood in silence as his men watched the scene that just unfolded before their eyes. They didn't seem at all fazed at the cold-blooded deeds their boss had just committed. "To the helicopter. We have to get out of here before—"
"Look out!" one of the men shouted just before a nimble, black shape slammed into him, sending the man careening and his gun flying into the shadows. Black Mask's enforcers brought up their guns, ready to fire, but froze when they saw the figure before them.
It was a thing they thought had been created as a tool by the GCPD to fuel nightmares in criminals' minds, but no. The Batman was real, directly before them. Standing taller than any single man in the room, the masked vigilante eyed them all through white slits that appeared almost mechanical, shining an eerie bright light. Besides the square gap that revealed the smooth, clean-cut lower face of the wearer beneath the mask, all that shrouded those two white eyes was black, which ran up into two pointed ears branching from each side of the helm.
The figure was decked out in black Kevlar body armor, covering every inch of his body. Wrapped around his waist was a bronze-colored utility belt, which held items that the killers could only dream of.
Only one thought passed through Black Mask's mind as he took in the caped figure before him: "Kill him!" He and his men raised their guns, opening fire. Batman ducked, moving faster than any man humanly should be able to. He leapt up, leading with a gloved fist that cracked one of the gunmen's jaws. As the man shrieked, he toppled over and his weapon flew from his grasp.
Batman dropped down low, dodging another man's fire, and then he spun around, grabbing the shooter by neck and holding him in front of him, to dissuade the others from firing. It didn't work; the others just let their guns open up, and Batman moved just in time to avoid being nicked by the bullets that tore through their comrade's body.
By the time, the man had dropped, Batman was already upon Black Mask. He had wrenched both his gun and the serum free and thrown them aside. Black Mask grappled with the masked vigilante, but it was a losing fight, even he would admit. One of Black Mask's thugs jumped into the fray, swinging a razor-sharp knife at the caped attacker. Batman released Black Mask and ducked, dodging the knife as the man ran forward, swinging the blade wildly. Batman ducked and dodged again before he grabbed the man's wrist, squeezing until the knife fell free.
"Get out of here! Go, go!" Black Mask yelled, gesturing to the helicopter and rushing for it. What remained of his forces followed their leader, practically lunging for the helicopter. Without even waiting for the man battling Batman, the chopper immediately tore off, flying away from the Wayne Enterprises building.
Batman flung the beaten attacker into the wall, letting him land with a thud as he fell in a cluster with the other bodies of Black Mask's henchmen. Without wasting a moment, Batman rushed to the bodies of the innocents on the ground. He checked the man, but it was no use; the bloodied hole in his face and the lack of breathing showed he was dead.
The vigilante turned and knelt beside the woman. She was in bad shape, a bullet hole carved through her chest. Batman glanced to the boy beside him. He was breathing, albeit slowly. Neither one had much time left.
"Batman . . ." Susan said, reaching up to the masked man who sat at her side. "My . . . son . . . you have to—eck—administer . . . the serum before it's . . . too . . . late . . ."
"What serum?" Batman asked, his voice coming out smooth yet deep. Susan gestured to the bottle that had fallen from Black Mask's hand. Miraculously, it wasn't broken. Quickly, Batman moved to the vial and lifted it up, removing the syringe from the bottle. As he filled it with the antidote, he asked, "What does this serum do?"
Susan coughed before she said, "It restores tissue and cells damaged by different threats; viruses, diseases, injuries." A pause, then, "It should help the gun wound."
Batman was still hesitant. "Are there any side effects?"
Susan slowly shook her head. "It has just . . . been designed to restore the damaged . . . human body. No . . . side effects."
He turned to Alex's body and rolled up his sleeve. As he readied the syringe for the injection, Batman sighed, "There won't be anymore for you if I give him this dose."
Susan only smiled. "As long as Alex makes it, I'll be okay with that." Then, only silence. Batman hung his head before realizing he had a job to do. Quickly, with no more hesitation, he injected the serum into Alex's arm, watching the fluids run through the clear tube and into the boy's body. Alex began to twitch, and his arms flexed.
Batman pressed an arm on Alex's shoulder. "Alex. Are you awake? Talk to me, Alex."
"Alex."
Alex almost leapt from the chair in the hospital waiting room, before he let out a sigh of relief. It was only Scarlet. "Oh, Scarlet . . . you scared me," he breathed out, chuckling.
A beautiful grin lit up a likewise beautiful face as Scarlet eyed her friend. "Sometimes I worry about you, Alex," she said with a chuckle. Alex grinned back at the red-headed girl, climbing to his feet.
"You ready for the voyage back to the dorm?"
"Not before we grab something to eat. I'm starving," Scarlet grumbled. Alex could believe it; he had eaten some hospital food while he was in recovery from the shooting. It was terrible.
"All right." The two walked towards the door, and Alex pushed it open. Scarlet led the way out, her green eyes glancing down the street.
"Where'd you park?" she asked, glancing the other way. Alex motioned around the corner.
"Just over here. Come on."
The two walked down the street, listening to the motors hum as cars drove past, going about their nightly business. As they walked, Scarlet gripped Alex's arm. "I did a little more digging and found something you might be interested in," she whispered into his ear as they were out of earshot of anybody who might be listening, although there was no one on the street beside them.
"I already am. What is it?"
"I'll tell you in the car."
Once the two reached the vehicle in question, they climbed inside, Alex in the driver's seat. As he cranked up the engine, he glanced to Scarlet. "So, what's this thing you've dug up?"
Scarlet pursed her lips, eyes staring in the distance as if trying to find the best way to put it. "I hacked into the GCPD computer system."
"You what?" Alex was both impressed and worried. Impressed that his best friend could break into the firewall system of the police department, but also worried because it was illegal. "Scarlet, if you get me into trouble because of this—"
"What? Batman would do it," she added with a cheeky grin.
Alex rolled his eyes. You see, the Soldier X serum wasn't entirely without side effects as Susan Mercer had predicted; it hadn't with the test subjects that she and Adam had used. Those subjects were only afflicted by viruses or disease, not an injury. Because Alex's only wound was a gunshot, he still had the strong, healthy body of a regular teenager. Therefore, once the serum had healed the injury, there was still a strong amount of power in the serum that instead boosted his strength and speed, making him a superhuman.
Alex had discovered the abilities shortly after he was released from the hospital, realizing he was a lot faster and stronger than he had been before the injury. But the first test came when he saw a girl about his age walking to her dorm from school.
Scarlet.
The moment he saw her, he was stricken. Her fiery hair could've easily been her namesake, and it was what made her jump out at him. But almost immediately once he saw her, two guys jumped out and approached her threateningly. Fearing the worst, Alex leapt into action and sent the two guys running. He never would've been able to one, much less both, prior to the injection. The serum had given him powers.
Alex had befriended Scarlet at that moment, and the two had been best friends ever since. Eventually, Alex became inspired to be like the man who had saved his life and secured a suit for himself, adorning it with a red bat symbol across the chest. He wore it, along with a red domino mask to cover his eyes, a dark trench coat, black boots, and fingerless gloves, as his hero suit.
Taking the name Renegade, Alex hoped he could put a dent in Gotham's crime, but his primary focus was Black Mask. He sabotaged one of Black Mask's shipment operations and nearly killed one of the criminal's goons before Batman himself arrived and stopped him. Somehow, Batman had seen through Alex's disguise and knew him for who he was.
Batman sharpened Alex's focus, conforming him to instead protect Gotham instead of fulfilling his personal vendetta against Black Mask. Alex had agreed and had kept to his promise, but he still held a longing deep inside to track down Black Mask coincidentally.
Alex received a few training lessons from Batman and even a few gifts as well. The Dark Knight had given Alex a suit of Kevlar armor emblazoned with a red bat symbol, as well as a set of custom R-rangs, he called them—based on Batman's batarangs. Alex himself wrapped up his arsenal with a titanium bo-staff and a pair of revolvers, which fired rubber rounds to incapacitate, not kill.
Eventually, Renegade had completed his training and was ready to get to work. Per an agreement with Batman, Renegade had vowed to stick to the underworld side of Gotham; both he and the Caped Crusader felt it would be in his best interest to not be front-page press copy at just seventeen.
In the car, Scarlet was quick to lighten Alex's fears. "No, no, they won't trace it back to you. Well, to Renegade, but not Alex Mercer."
With sarcasm in his voice, Alex said, "Well thanks a lot. They're both me anyways."
He ambled the car onto the roadway and coasted towards a place where he and Scarlet had both formed a love for whenever they needed to grab a bite to eat. "Anyways, what did you find?" he asked.
"Apparently, the GCPD and Gotham's politicians are putting together something codenamed Titan in their files. I found a few emails between the commissioner and the DA. Nothing concrete, just that such a thing exists."
"Great. So it's a situation where I will have to make the first move, huh?"
"If you want in. And from the sounds of the whole thing, it'll be putting a real dent in Gotham's crime scene."
Alex nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "Might as well try it. Scramble the phone number and call the commissioner."
Scarlet must've been waiting for him to say that, because she immediately whipped her phone from her lap and tapped a few keys. "I already had the number scrambled," she said with evident glee. Alex couldn't help but smile at her childlike joy at this. In all honesty, he thought she might've enjoyed the whole crimefighter gig than he did. Going by the name OverSeer, Scarlet used her skills with computers and hacking to help Alex in any way that she could.
After a few rings, a worn voice answered. "Commissioner Gordon, GCPD."
Alex swallowed before speaking in a level, baritone voice. "Commissioner. I heard something about a project you're working on. Something called . . . Titan?"
Silence filled the air before Gordon's voice cut back. "Who is this?"
"You can call me Renegade. I'm . . . a friend of Batman's."
"Batman! Is he how you found out about this?"
Caught off-guard, Alex searched for words before replying, "Yeah. He told me that you had some information concerning a crimefighting operation that I might be interested in."
"That's funny, because Batman has been missing for at least a week." Uh oh. "No one has had any contact with him."
Alex mouthed a curse before he quickly spoke back up. "Look, Commissioner, it doesn't really matter how I found out, does it? Just that I'm interested. I really do know Batman; he trained me. Just . . . let me come and see what this is all about. You can talk to me, get to know me, and make your decision from there. How does that sound?" Once he finished speaking, he pulled the car into the parking lot of a local hole-in-the-wall diner, turning off the ignition.
Silence came on the other end again before Gordon sighed. "We will need all the help we can get. All right; we're having a meeting tomorrow night at seven. You come and ask for Commissioner Gordon, and they'll let you in. Okay?"
A smile crept on Alex's face, matching the one on Scarlet's. "Okay, sounds good. I'll see you then, Commissioner." Alex hung up the phone and let out a sigh of relief. "That went better and worse than I expected, but it turned out great."
Scarlet laughed, shaking her head in admiration. "Alex, you never told me you were so good at improv. You were wonderful!" He let out a slight laugh and she leaned forward, kissing him on the cheek. Slowly, Alex froze, and he bit his lip, hoping his face wasn't flushed. He glanced to Scarlet and she had a look on her face both of relief and embarrassment. "I'm proud of you," she said, grinning at him.
"And I've got you to thank for this whole thing!" Alex shot back, smiling as well. "Without you, I wouldn't be on Gotham's shortlist of heroes." The two shared another laugh before they got from the car and moved towards the diner, ready for more conversation concerning the new mission. But first, they needed some nourishment.
A/N: Hello everyone! Here's chapter 12, which introduces Alex Mercer (Renegade) to the story. Let me know your thoughts on the new character and the chapter! Like I said, we're almost done. Only two to go now. Thank you all for being so faithful in keeping up with the story! The action will start up soon, I promise. Until next time!