Chapter 7
Trouble Everywhere (part 2)
"Remind me why I agreed to come along again," Numbuh 4 whined as they snuck through the hallways of the Burtonville S.T.A.R. Labs building, to which Numbuh 1 shrugged and stated, "Well, I've got a bad feeling that this is going to come down to a fight, and I don't want to take any chances. Of course, if you'd rather miss out on all the action…" Sighing, Wally declared, "Fine: consider me bribed. Still, why is SHE still here?" "I am NOT missing out on the opportunity to help Johnny," Numbuh 10 declared, before suddenly yelling, "Batman! I meant Batman."
"There's nothing stopping you from doing both," declared an authoritative voice coming from… "James Gordon?" Tina regarded with suspicion, "What are you doing here?" "I WAS going to tell you to leave this to the professionals," the police Captain replied, "but I'm well aware that not all criminals are necessarily villains. That said, while I won't ask you to leave, I WILL ask that you don't interfere with the investigation." "You and the rest of the police are still investigating the earlier robbery, aren't you?" Numbuh 3 inquired, to which he declared, "Can't say I'm the only one, though."
"Seems I may need to work on my stealth," declared the Dark Knight as he stepped out of the shadows. "Actually, up until now, I thought you'd left the building," Jim replied with humility, "though I hope you realize that the police aren't exactly your friends right now." "I know," Batman put simply, "but like it or not, this is bigger then either of us can handle alone."
"Explain," Nigel inquired, to which Batman showed them a set of blueprints for the building. "I managed to do a full building sweep of the radiation that Bruce Wayne picked up on earlier, and as far as I can tell, there are two sections of the building that has the highest concentration of said energy," the Dark Knight explained while pointing to two areas of the map, "If my hunch is correct, we'll find our thief in at least of one of these locations."
"What do you mean?" Kuki questioned, to which Captain Gordon replied with, "He means that there may be more then one player in this game." "I hate to say it, but I have to agree," declared a new voice. "Took you long enough, Harvey," Gordon remarked, to which he replied with, "Sorry that not all of us are in their prime." "It might help if you'd eat a salad every now and then, Bullock," the Caped Crusader deadpanned. "I'll deal with you later, freak," Harvey retorted, before turning his attention to his partner and declaring, "We may have a problem."
"Let me guess: Branden and his team got captured," Jim deadpanned, to which Bullock nodded and replied with, "Barely got away myself, actually. While I don't know exactly how many people we were up against, I DO know that they all work for the same guy: identical uniforms, right down to the last detail." Seeing the map Batman had pulled up, he suddenly did a double take. "Where did you say those radiation hot spots were again?" he inquired, looking a little pale as he did so.
(space bump)
"Can't believe I have to go back to where I nearly got killed AND have to babysit while doing so," complained one Harvey Bullock. "I'm sorry: do YOU have any hacking skills?" retorted one Barbara Gordon, who had tagged along with the officer, as well as Tina, Wally, and Nigel. "Quiet: I heard something," Numbuh 1 declared. Peaking around the corner, the group saw a trio of people dressed like the thief from earlier that night.
"Batman and Captain Gordon are being taken to the big guy even as we speak," one of them declared, "What's next on the agenda?" "You should already know," another replied, "Making sure the primary prisoner is secure." "He's new: cut him some slack," the third deadpanned, "Just a thought, however: it's possible we'll need more men." "Then we'll get more," the first one remarked, before all three of them reached for a device on their arm, somehow producing a duplicate of themselves as they did so.
As the group of six walked away, Numbuh 4 whisper-yelled, "Did you guys see that?" "See it? Yes," Bullock stated with equal shock in his voice, "Believe it? Not sure yet." Composing himself, he stated, "I think I know where they're keeping this 'primary prisoner' they were talking about: follow me." Nodding, the four children quietly slipped through the hallways until they eventually came to a room with what looked like a giant safe door being guarded by…
"Is that John Marlow?" Numbuh 1 almost screamed, not wanting to believe that the art collector was wearing the same costume as the thief minus the mask. "I'm sure he's got an explanation," Tina declared, though sounding a bit uncertain of it. "Explanation or not, he's going down!" Harvey deadpanned. "Hold up: if we charge in now, he might harm the prisoner," Barbara reminded them, before taking out a PDA and saying, "Let's see if I can even the odds a little…"
After she typed what looked to be a bunch of random commands into her personal hand-held computer, the lights went out in the area. "Stupid fuse box," John declared, putting down the magazine he was reading and walking off. After making sure the coast was clear, Barbara brought the lights back on. "Nice job, kid," Bullock remarked, "Think you can do something about the door?" Taking a look at the locking mechanism, she scoffed. "My grandmother has better security for her cookie recipes," she declared as she fiddled with it a little. However, nobody was prepared for who they found inside.
45 minutes earlier…
"I'm still not certain that letting my daughter go with my partner was such a good idea," Captain Gordon declared. "I know how you feel," Numbuh 3 said by way of reply, "but right now, we need to make sure that whoever stole that painting gets taken care of." "She's right: we've got bigger things to worry about," Batman replied with a nod, before turning his attention elsewhere. "Hang on: according to the records I found, this lab is supposed to be vacant right now," he mused as he approached a doorway, "yet the lights are on and there seems to be someone, or possibly a couple of someones, moving around in there."
"Better not take any chances," Jim replied as he cocked his gun. As they burst into the room, what they saw was curious to say the least: someone dressed like the thief from earlier going through some files like he was in the place every day. "Didn't you see the sign on the door?" the figure inquired, "This place is for employees only." With that he took a swing at the Dark Knight, only for him to block it and knock him to the ground.
Taking a chance, Batman grabbed the guy and pulled off his mask to reveal… "So what now, Marlow?" Jim retorted, "You teleport away again or something?" "Is that what I've been doing, Jimmy?" John inquired, "Because there's a MUCH simpler explanation; right behind you, in fact." Reacting on instinct, Jim ducked, just in time to avoid be assaulted by someone in the same costume as John Marlow.
"So you WEREN'T using advanced technology," Kuki guessed, "You just had someone else in the same costume." "Not exactly, little girl," John replied, helping his partner up and removing the mask to reveal…himself. Three sets of eyes widened as the duo of Marlow's pressed a button on their arm, producing a copy of themselves. Before anyone could react, however, an elevator door opened, revealing yet ANOTHER John Marlow. "Going up?" he joked.
Realizing that they'd better cooperate for now, they joined the five Marlow's in the elevator. After a long, awkward ride, they reached the penthouse level, the doors opening to reveal yet ANOTHER John Marlow, who gestured for them to come in. "You've been expected," he revealed. "Welcome Batman, and Captain Gordon," came a voice they'd heard far too often already, "Allow me to introduce myself." The lone John Marlow not in an orange suit then declared, "I am the Everywhere Man."
After an uncomfortable silence, business suit John Marlow sighed, "I wish that it didn't have to be like this, but now that you know my secret, I CAN'T let you leave. Just so there are no hard feelings, however, I might as well explain some things." Resisting the urge to grab his gun, James Gordon stated, "I don't understand why such an expert in quantum theory would do something like this." "Thing about theories, Jimmy, is that some of them can bear fruit," John replied gesturing to a device on his arm, "The research eventually lead to the development of the Quantex: with it, I can charge my body's quantum particles to duplicate another me."
As he said this, he had the nerve to demonstrate in front of them, before stating, "My energy duplicates can split at will, but with the Quantex, I can also RECALL them at will." Again, he decided to demonstrate to them. "So THAT'S how you escaped from the closet," Kuki gasped, to which John chuckled, "Slight of hand, I know. You have to admit that it's VERY effective. Yet, that's the LEAST it can do." Deciding another demonstration was in order, he touched one of the vases in his office and created a duplicate of it.
"You're creating duplicates of high priced art," James said with barely suppressed anger. "Allowing me to not only gang money for my research by selling copies to the highest bidder," John replied, "but let me have the originals in my collection." "Don't you mean the collection and research of John Marlow?" Batman suddenly deadpanned, "After all, you're hot with the same radiation that was found in the closet."
"Impressive deduction, Dark Knight," business suit Everywhere Man replied, "I was copy number one. It seems that while Johnny was a brilliant scientist, but sometimes the original isn't always the best. You see, he kept me around so I could be his lab partner, but when you keep a duplicate around long enough, they tend to get free will. Johnny and I both admired our art collection and liked to invest in admittedly expensive research, but he wasn't willing to do what was necessary to get things done. However, that doesn't mean that I WASN'T."
"Enough with the collection," one of the duplicates suddenly shouted, "All this power and we're only focusing on paintings." "Excuse me?" Copy number one inquired. "Who cares about art or science? We could use the Quantex to conquer the world!" the same duplicate declared. "Like a bad photo copy," Batman observed, to which Jim added, "Each new version is just a little darker then the last." "Shut up!" Copy number one demanded, to which the duplicate retorted with, "Don't tell them to shut up: SHUT THEM UP! If you can't handle things here, I will!"
If there was any levity to that threat, it was silenced when said duplicate vanished. "Like I said, the presence of free will eventually emerges," Copy number one mused, "but I know how to deal with it when it does." "And the original John Marlow didn't?" Kuki inquired with a gulp. "Not in the slightest," was the answer, to which James sighed, "Which is why he was disposed of."
"I never dispose of anything," Copy number one said with a growl, "I'm a collector, after all." "And collections are typically kept close at hand," Batman declared, "which means John Marlow's still in this building, and that's all I needed to know." Before any of the Everywhere Men could react, the Dark Knight produced a smoke pellet, which produced enough of a distraction for the trio to get away.
Present time…
"You really expect us to believe that we've been dealing with evil twins or something?" Harvey demanded. "What you believe makes no difference," the REAL John Marlow, who looked like he hadn't eaten, bathed, or slept in days, replied, "The fact remains that the Quantex is too dangerous to turn a blind eye to it." "How do we know you're really John Marlow?" Tina demanded, "Dangerous inventions or not, someone with your face has made a habit of making the lives of me and my friends miserable, and if you think for one second that…" Before anyone could react, John Marlow grabbed Tina and started to kiss her. Shocked at first, she eventually melted into it, even returning the gesture.
Finally coming up for air, Numbuh 10's only reply was, "Okay, I'm convince." "I'm glad," was John Marlow's response. "I hate to ruin the romantic moment," Nigel remarked, "but don't you think we should get out of here?" "Not until we rescue the rest of the officers that came here," Harvey stated, reminding them of the situation. "Well, at least things can't get any worse," Wally declared.
As if on cue, the PA system came to life: "Attention, Everywhere Men: Batman and Captain James Gordon are loose in the building. You know what to do: divide and conquer." Even hiding inside the improvised jail cell, it was clear that every single one of these "Everywhere Men" were creating duplicates in droves. Keeping themselves hidden as best they could, they felt sheer terror as the disadvantage of numbers continued to grow. "When all is said and done," John Marlow's voice declared, "they are but single men, but we…" Everyone shuddered when the voices of at least a hundred men declared in unison, "We are an ARMY!"
"You just HAD to say it, didn't you?" Sector V's leader growled, to which Numbuh 4 had the decency to look embarrassed. "We need to get reinforcements," Harvey declared. "Yeah, like our own army is just going to appear around us," Tina said with a snarl. "Who said that it couldn't?" the original John Marlow suddenly stated, to the confusion of everyone else.
To be continued…
