Chapter 4: Born In Arizona, Moved To Babylonia
Burnett Humanities Building- Gotham State University
"Good morning, Doctor McElroy." a slender man dressed in a brown tweed suit said as he entered a.
A tall, portly man in a business casual outfit turned to face the new arrival.
"Good morning to you too, Doctor Holt! What brings you here from the Museum of Antiquities?"
"I'm here for Smenkhkare's mummy- assuming your people are done with it."
"About that…"
Holt's face contorted into an irritated expression.
"If you're telling me that some butterfingered grad student managed to despoil a priceless historical artifact-"
" The mummy and the coffin are fine, Abraham. It's just that-"
"It's just what?"
"We'd like a little more time to run some more tests on Smenkhkare."
"Unfortunately for you, William, time is a luxury I can't afford. If Smenkhkare and his coffin aren't at the museum in 48 hours, then I'll have both the director and the Wayne Foundation breathing down my neck! Capisce?"
McElroy nodded.
"Good. Now that we're all on the same page, my people'll be here to pick up the pharaoh this evening."
GSU Campus Grounds
A scrawny young man sat down beneath a tree, a textbook under his arm and his hands shaking like mad.
"Nice to see you, Mister Goodman." a voice rasped.
Goodman looked up. Standing before him was a man in a gray flannel suit and fedora, a lit cigarette dangling between his lips.
"…no. It can't- I've done everything you've wanted!"
"Sorry, kid, but Dent wants you to do him one last job- and you know what he does to welshers."
"I'll pay him back! Just don't-"
"Shoulda thought about that before you kept picking the losing horse and then crawling back for more dough, Vic."
"It's Victor!"
"Considering I've got a gat under this jacket, I'll call ya whatever I want, punk."
Victor meekly nodded.
"What do you want me to do this time?" he meeped.
"Tell me about the stiff that they're gonna put on display at the museum."
"Smenkhkare? What do you want to-"
"What's he look like?"
"Like a centuries-old desiccated corpse?"
The man in the suit kicked Victor in the stomach.
" Don't try that kind of stunt with me, wise guy. I wanna know how he's built."
"He's built like me- please don't hurt me, I'll do whatever you want!"
" Congratulations, then- you get to play switcheroo with a pharaoh."
"…come again?"
"What part of that don't you understand? You take the dead guy out of the coffin, wrap yourself up in bandages, and then climb into the coffin. It ain't rocket surgery, kiddo."
Victor nodded, and then the man in the suit walked away.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Doctor Abraham Holt is a double reference, with his first name being a nod to Abraham "Bram" Stoker (author of both Dracula and the 1903 book The Jewel of the Seven Stars, which is about an archaeologist trying to revive an ancient Egyptian mummy), while his last name is a reference to Seth Holt, who helmed Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (a loose adaptation of The Jewel of the Seven Stars produced by Hammer).
As for Victor Goodman and William McElroy, both characters have held the identity of recurring Batman villain known as King Tut (for reference, McElroy was the version played by Victor Buono on the Adam West series, whereas Goodman was a minor villain who appeared in three issues of Batman Confidential in 2009). Granted, the Goodman version of King Tut was basically a murderous knockoff Riddler (which angered the actual Riddler, prompting him to team up with Batman to take Tut down), whereas this version is going to be a) less murderous and b) more sympathetic.