Chapter Two: A Bioweapon
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. The seconds seemed to count down more slowly as they passed, meticulously counted by the thin, silver hand in his watch. Raymond Simmons pulled down his sleeve and glanced around at the restaurant. The smell of luxurious cuisine lingered in the atmosphere, melting in with the sound of soft jazz music from the speakers on the ceiling. Gentle candlelight softly illuminated the room, reinforced by dim lights that lined alongside the deep crimson walls.
"Where the hell is he?" Simmons grumbled under his breath. Suddenly, he heard the sound of high heels prancing toward him.
"Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to be Raymond Simmons, would you?" A voice asked beside him. Simmons looked up toward the person next to him, a young woman dressed in an emerald evening gown. Her hair matched the colors of the walls and the rosy color of her lipstick. She seemed quite young, with creamy skin and dazzling blue eyes.
"Yes, that would be me." Simmons replied.
"My name is Mercy Graves; I'm an associate of Lex Luthor, your business partner." Graves said, holding out her hand. Simmons shook Graves's hand with a smile.
"I thought that Luthor was going to be the one meeting me today." Simmons asked.
"He was, but he was very busy at the moment, so he sent me out." Graves replied. The waiter moved toward the table with two menus clutched underneath his arm.
"It's about time someone showed up. May I begin with the appetizers and drinks?" The waiter asked with a polite smile.
"A Coke for me would be great, and some garlic bread too." Graves requested.
"A glass of Iron Horse would be fine." Simmons replied. The waiter wrote the orders in his notepad.
"Alright, we'll have that out in just a second." The waiter replied with a smile, then walking away toward the kitchen. Graves watched the waiter move out of the room, then shifted her eyes toward the people in the table adjacent to them, two austere men that constantly stared at her and Simmons.
"You seem a bit young for an associate." Simmons said. Graves shifted her attention back toward Simmons and smiled.
"Oh, everyone at LexCorp says that. It gets old, actually." Graves chuckled.
"Sorry." Simmons replied.
"So, Luthor and I were discussing the technology that you requested just last week on this project for the Simmons Corporation." Graves said.
"Yes, it was vital for my research." Simmons replied.
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"Yes, it was vital for my research." Ty Archer was listening in on the conversation as he sneaked his way behind the restaurant building, past the dumpster filled with rotting garbage that contaminated the dark air with an unbearable stink. Ty looked toward the roof of the building, which was two floors high apparently, based on the height. He pulled out a grapple launcher from his belt and fired toward the rooftop. A line zoomed from the barrel of the grapple launcher, and it grabbed the edge of the roof.
Ty began to climb the side of the building.
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"I just want to know what anyone would want with such a large amount of E. Coli. I mean, what could you do with it?" Graves asked.
"Well, I'd thought you'd know considering you're Luthor's closest associate. You see, we have some business partners, Luthor and I, who are very interested in transforming a simple bacteria such as E. Coli into something more than that." Simmons replied. That final remark had caught Graves's attention.
"What do you mean by more than that?" Graves asked. A sinister smile curled on Simmons's thin lips.
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Ty silently moved through the air vents of the building, listening in to the conversation in the office.
"When is he going to give us the signal? What is he waiting for, Christmas?" One mobster grunted.
"Would you shut the hell up? 'We're waiting too long; this stuff stinks.' All you've done since the beginning of this plan is bitch and moan!" Another mobster scolded.
"Would both of you be quiet. You're going to attract too much attention to us!" A cold, raspy voice snapped.
"Yes boss." The mobster replied. Ty sneaked over a bit more to look into the office. Standing in the office of the top floor of the restaurant were five mobsters, 3 armed with a Tommy gun, and 2armed with shotgun. Ty looked toward the corner of the office, where the frightened manager was tied up in thick rope and silenced with silver duct tape around his mouth. He shook and mumbled behind the duct tape, and one of the mobsters punched him in the face.
"Would you shut up? That mumbling of yours is getting on my last nerve!" The mobster growled.
"Patience. He won't be a problem for long." The raspy voice said.
"What are we going to do with him when we're done?" Another mobster asked.
"The Ringworm River has lots of gorgeous flowers along the banks. It'd be nice for us to add some…fertilizer." The raspy voice replied. The mobsters chuckled, and Ty leaned in closer to see the boss. The mobsters were huddled around the manager's elegant desk, where sitting behind it was a man dressed in a white suit. A white hat was placed on the top of his head, but Ty could make out the sight of a hard, almost wooden black face with roaring red eyes.
"Black Mask?" Ty whispered.
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"You see, E. coli is pretty much harmless compared to other microorganisms, like smallpox. However, if there were some way to advance its potency…" Simmons said.
"A bioweapon?" Graves asked.
"Yes, and we have business partners who would do anything to get it." Simmons replied. "Of course, you know all about them, don't you?
"Of course I do." Graves replied, drinking her Coke. "After all, I am Luthor's closest associate, as you said."
"Yes, Luthor has so much confidence in Mercy Graves. He tells me all about her." Simmons replied.
"Why are you talking in third person? I'm right here." Mercy Graves asked.
"Graves isn't here. Mercy Graves is a young woman of 27 with short, blond hair. Luthor warned me of anyone that tried to step in the way…The Bureau of Grossology, most specifically." Simmons replied. "I'm sure you know a lot about them…Agent Abby Archer."
"What are you up to, Simmons?" Abby demanded.
"Black Mask and his employees have been so generous enough to take a sum of cash to test out my newest toy." Simmons replied, "And when I give them the signal, they're going to spread it across this entire restaurant through the air ducts."
"Maybe next time." Abby replied, kicking the table so that it bounced and knocked into Simmons. The two men adjacent to them immediately stood up and withdrew their pistols, firing at Abby. She quickly dodged them, moving through the screaming crowd that was now evacuating the building.
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"What's that sound?" A mobster asked.
"I think that's the signal boys. Let her loose." Black Mask replied.
Suddenly, Ty busted through the air duct and landed in the office. Before, two mobsters could do anything, he immediately knocked them down and disarmed them. The other three aimed their weapons and began to fire, but Ty dodged the bullets, moved across toward them, and knocked them down as well. As he watched, Black Mask moved toward a small, black remote with a red button on the desk, but Ty quickly flung a vase sitting in the corner of the room at him.
Black Mask screamed as he fell down onto the floor with shards of the vase scattering across the room. Ty moved around the desk and grabbed Black Mask by the collar abruptly.
"What are you doing here, Black Mask?" Ty demanded.
"Just a small job, is all, testing out a weapon." Black Mask replied. "A friend pulled some strings for me to get out of Arkham in exchange for me doing this."
"What is the weapon?" Ty asked.
"Like you need to know." Black Mask replied, kicking Ty off him. Ty slammed against the wall, but before Black Mask could do anything else, Ty fired at him with his goo blaster. Green balls of goo zoomed at Black Mask and pinned him to the opposite wall.
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Abby Archer hid behind a table as bullets zoomed toward her. She reached into her dress to pull out a small, green sphere. Abby tossed it at the two men. The ball rolled across the floor, and with a loud hiss, tear gas spread around them. The two men coughed and sputtered in the gas, allowing Abby to put on her goo blaster and fire at them. The goo knocked the two men down onto the floor and pinned them there.
"Ty, are you done up there?" Abby asked, pressing onto the communicator in her ear.
"Yeah, it's all wrapped up." Ty replied.