STEEL THY HEART
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
A/N: Sorry for such a short chapter this time, but I'm doing other projects at the moment. This chapter starts to lay the foundation for who the villain intent on harming Selina and Superman is. The character of "the Chemist" is featured in the "Batman the Animated Series" episode "Batgirl Returns". His metahuman talent however, is something I thought up myself. "Sylemite" is my own name, however, the concept of "Silent Dynamite" was inspired by an Adam West Batman episode. Please read and review, thanks.
Disclaimer: As with any other publically recognizable characters, I don't own the Chemist. I'm just borrowing him, and I'm making no profit off of using him or any other characters (except Muggsy, who I created.) I also don't own any publically recognizable props. Those belong to 20th Century Fox, and the characters are DC Comics and Warner Brothers'.
Batman returned from his nightly vigil and switched on his computer that evening just as he always did after patrolling. It had been a slow night, but he knew the criminals of Gotham city were biding their time and when they struck, he would be there to stop them. The shadow of his butler came up behind him.
"For once, it seems that the Fates have nothing planned for you, Master Bruce," Alfred commented.
Batman spun his chair around to face him. "I wish it were that easy," the Caped Crusader said. "Something will present itself. Something always does."
Just then his computer bleeped. "The mansion's security system," Batman told Alfred.
"Yes it appears someone is inside your humble abode," the butler said wryly. Batman activated the camera in his living room and, when both saw the intruder, the detective and his aide were surprised. Superman tended not to be a frequent guest.
"Alfred," Batman instructed, "go receive our guest." The butler went topside, disappearing up the stairs.
"Right away, Master Bruce," Alfred said. Presently, Superman came downstairs with Alfred leading the way. Batman didn't turn his chair around to greet him.
"Kent," he questioned, "to what do I owe this visit?"
Good ole Bruce, the Man of Steel thought, never one for pleasantries.
Aloud, he said, "I have something for you. Hopefully, you're not too busy to study it and tell me more about it." Batman got up from his big leather chair and faced him. The Kryptonian tossed him a small, metal fragment. It was black and charred, with another smaller piece of metal inside. The Dark Knight studied his sometime friend, noticing the tear in Superman's cape and the smudges on his S.
"Who cleans your suits?" Batman asked sarcastically. Superman gave him a look.
"No one except me," he answered smoothly. "I figured you could get a sample from the soot on my costume and make an analysis along with the piece I gave you."
Batman retrieved a Q tip from his utility belt and took some residue off of Superman's insignia. Putting it on a slide, the Caped Crusader took the sample with the piece of metal to his microscope.
After the few minutes during which the Batman studied the items, he looked up and said, "I suppose I don't have to tell you that this and the soot are what's left of a powerful explosive."
"You don't say," Superman said wryly. A moment later, he told Batman in all seriousness, "I want to know where this particular explosive came from. It isn't a normal bomb."
Batman waited patiently for the information he knew would be forthcoming. "When I let myself into my apartment, I heard a beeping sound, like the counting down of a timer. Sure enough, it was, but when I found the bomb and flew out the window before it blew up in the sky, I didn't hear an explosion."
"How extraordinary!" Alfred exclaimed.
"You're sure your hearing's up to snuff?" Batman wanted to know. Superman nodded.
"My hearing's fine," he responded. He turned to Alfred, asking, "Mr. Pennyworth, would you humor me for a moment?" At Batman's curt nod, the butler agreed.
"Okay, go up the stairs into the living room and whisper something to your boss, if you wouldn't mind," Superman told Alfred. The butler went upstairs while Batman activated the recorder to capture the words.
Alone in the living room, Alfred whispered something. When he came downstairs, Superman remarked to Batman, "I didn't know that your King bat is named Oscar."
Finally convinced that Superman's hearing was fine, the Batman told him, "I name all of my bats…at least, the important ones I research."
You really are crazy sometimes, the Man of Steel thought, but he didn't voice his opinion. He supposed that it wasn't any more nuts than Selina naming all of her cats. The Batman typed in what little information he had about the metal shard and the soot taken from Superman's chest.
"I should have an answer within two days, maybe sooner," Batman promised.
"Thanks," Superman replied. "I really appreciate this. You can reach me here anytime." He gave Batman his land line number on a small piece of paper.
"Okay," Batman agreed, tucking the paper inside his utility belt.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Phineas Allbright's eyes lit up as he beheld the money inside the briefcase on the pool table. He was glad Muggsy Valentine had set up a meeting with him at the Gotham City Shoots and Ladders Club. The place looked like an elegant restaurant from the outside, but inside most of its regulars knew it as a place where some of Gotham's most questionable characters conjugated.
Allbright, otherwise known as "The Chemist", was one such character. By day, he was a legitimate chemist who supplied information to corporations like Wayne Tech and Luthor Corp. But by night, he created and smuggled high tech, chemically based weaponry to the highest bidder. The man known as the "little human rodent with beaver like tendencies" had a nose for sniffing out any chemical substance in some of the most exclusive weapons in the world. It was this talent, and his ability to produce such weaponry, that criminals and terrorists paid for and paid for dearly.
At five feet zero inches, Allbright seemed mild and unobtrusive to the world outside. Few knew how gifted he actually was. Even fewer knew that his gift was from having been born a metahuman. His face was triangular in shape and sported a very prominent, beak like nose. His eyes were dark and beady, and the huge black framed glasses he wore did nothing to soften his rough features. In the center of his small face were two prominent teeth which had a slight curve to them and which were shaped like a beaver's.
"Well…?" Muggsy asked, his square face darting forward to regard the Chemist. Allbright sniffed the compound the gangster's men had shoved across the table.
"You're in luck," the Chemist told them. "This is high primo, top grade nitro. It will fetch a great price in the black market. I can move this by tomorrow night."
Muggsy shook his head emphatically, saying, "What are you, stupid? I can't wait until tomorrow night! I need this to move later on tonight! The Bat has been sniffing around my operations and I've gotta get this away from me so that I come off as Mr. Clean, got it?"
The Chemist nodded, saying, "Very well. If this briefcase contains my price, which is double what we agreed, then I will move the merchandise and fix it so that no blame will attach itself to you."
Muggsy was satisfied with that. He plucked a group of one hundred dollar bills from the brown briefcase and told Allbright, "Three hundred thousand. That's three times the fee we agreed on to move the merchandise!"
The briefcase was shut and the men shook hands. Before the human rodent could take possession of it, however, there was a crashing noise from above. Where before there were pool balls and cues, now there was broken glass and the Batman. Crooks and other dishonest people scattered left and right in their haste to flee from the Dark Knight. The Batman fixed those who were scrambling for the exit with his penetrating stare. Allbright bolted from his seat and made his way toward the door but the Caped Crusader's arm shot out and grabbed the smaller human's.
"You stay," Batman commanded.
The Chemist's eyes widened. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down and he swallowed several times before gasping, "Wh-what do you want with me?"
Batman removed the metal shard from his utility belt and gave it to Allbright. "I want answers, now!" the detective barked.
The Chemist tried to be evasive. "I don't know anything!" he cried. Batman hefted him up and slammed him against the pool table, sending any remaining balls to the floor.
"Wrong answer!" Batman quipped. "If anyone can tell me about this explosive, it's you!" He shoved the Chemist into a chair. The smaller man fingered the piece of metal, putting it against his nose and sniffing.
Looking at the piece of metal, he noticed the inner piece. He ran the metal along his nose again, then a moment later, he straightened up.
"Ahh…" he lisped, "there's no doubt about it. The substance you're looking for is called 'Sylemite'."
"Sylemite," the Batman echoed. "I've heard of that. It's called 'Silent Dynamite', because it makes no noise when it detonates, functioning just like the silencer on a gun."
"Correct," the Chemist breathed tersely.
"Who makes this material?" the Batman wanted to know. The Chemist's eyes darted toward the exit once more. He knew though that the Bat would move way too fast and catch him before he could escape.
"Only a blessed few labs have the components necessary to make this stuff," the smaller man reported. "Wayne Tech, Luthor Corp., and Star Labs would be the big three."
Batman filed away those names for further research. He knew he could find out quite recently if any stock was stolen to make the Sylemite from any of those labs.
"Anything else?" the Dark Knight pressed. The Chemist nodded, sighing. While the Caped Crusader listened, the little man provided a name.
The detective's eyes narrowed. The Chemist ran away suddenly from the Dark Knight, only to be stopped by the police outside.
The name the little man had spoken of explained a lot. The Dark Knight went to his Batmobile and when he was safely belted in the driver's seat, Batman punched in a telephone number on the speakerphone.
"Kent," he said when he heard Superman's voice, "get Selina. Both of you meet me at the foot of Tutnam Road ASAP."