Black Victor - Yeah, I could do a few chapters simular to my 'Breather' story to fill in the gaps in this one after I wrap up 'Titans'.
Natalie - BB and Rae will get their time later on. Right now, things are really starting to develop with future ramifications.
The Darkman - Thanks, hope they do good too. As for Arisa, I've got my plans for her later on with some other guest stars.
3.
Gotham
July 09
21:57 UTC
"Come on, two stinking minutes left." Standing just inside the doorway of the building's roof entrance, Blue Beetle watched the countdown of the five minutes on his HUD. It was excruciatingly slow, as it always is when one stares at the clock.
Jaime Reyes, bodily readings indicate the sudden increase need to use the facilities.
Releasing a huff, the Hispanic teen wearing the blue and black armor rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know. It always happens when a person waits for some reason, remember? Bart went through the same thing when we waited in Lex Farms' restrooms for hours that time. He was like a camel in his stall."
Then may I recommend-
"No, it's fine. I Only have a minute left."
But the need to go 'number one' is growing urgent.
"Only if you keep nagging about it."
Shifting from one foot to the other, Blue Beetle continued to wait for the few remaining seconds as they ticked away slowly before his eyes. His movements became slightly faster until he was marching in place in an attempt to hold everything in. A grunt slipped out as he rapidly moved his foot and counted down the final ten seconds.
"You don't happen to know the closest restroom to us, do you?"
Thirty feet to the left at the end of the stairway, Jamie Reyes.
"Cool." No sooner had the clock reached 'zero', did Blue Beetle take off down the stairs, looking for the restroom while his scarab scolded him for waiting so long for 'drainage'.
Downstairs in the front of the hotel, Robin and Static were making their way across a wide foyer leading up to the once lavishly adorned front desk. Papers, both of the news and magazines, were crumpled along the sides of the walls and in the corners with some single sheets so old, they were stuck to the floor permanently. Bottles, cans, and other pieces of trash littered the floor with the carpet stained from who knows what. And then there was the smell.
"Be honest with me," Static whispered as he and Robin checked every shadow for any possible threats, "if you had a gas mask in that belt of yours, you'll let me use it, right?"
"If I had one, I would be using it. And the air filter's only for lethal gasses, not, (sniff), that.
"Ugh, just please tell me that's animal. Hate to think otherwise."
"That's what I keep telling myself."
Arriving at the front desk, Static moved several old phone books to the side of the once white stone bureau. Grabbing the ledger, he wiped off about five to ten years of dust from it and went over the last names written on the page. Turning the book around again, he had his hand encased in bright electricity to help him see better when his eyes grew wide.
"Um, Rob, you gotta se this."
Leaving a pile of trash he was poking through, Robin had his bo staff collapse and slipped it back on his utility belt. "What did you find?"
"Look familiar?"
Holding up the book, Static showed the Boy Wonder what he found. Scrawled across the two pages was a large, red marking similar to what was found in South America. It was the same blood drawn image found before and matched some of the images found in Atlantis, only this was years old. The substance it was drawn with was a dark red and cracked from age. Even with part of the page warped and stained from water damage, it was easily identified as the demonic symbol they were now familiar with.
In the back of the hotel, in the kitchen area, Kid Flash and Vibe tried to make their way through the area without making too much noise. Things would be easier if it were not for the rats skittering about with at least one being kicked by the now gray clad Kid Flash.
"Eww," Kid Flash said as he passed by several water filled pots sitting on a stove. "Please tell me that's a Baby Ruth bar in there."
"Five bucks says you-"
"No, no, dude. I don't think so."
Arriving at the door to the next room, Vibe carefully pushed it open and peeked around into the dining room. All was dark and quiet with the occasional lightning bolt flashing through the windows and thunder rolling.
"Entering the dining area now." Vibe said over his com unit.
"Roger that," Robin said. "Static and I are heading down the first floor hallway to the in-house gym and rec area."
"Top floor's clear," Blue Beetle said. "Checking the stairwell. Looks all clear except for a few homeless sleeping. Moving on."
Turning to his partner, Vibe motioned for him to follow with a nod of his head. Both teen heroes entered the dining hall with their eyes open for any sign of life. What was strange was the absence of any homeless people. Usually, buildings in Crime Alley were home to the less fortunate, but this was completely empty. Only trash and old tables were in the room with the center floor clear of any obstructions.
"Okay, this is just creepy," Vibe said as he took the lead and searched the shadows. "No homeless, no rats anymore, not even a stray dog or cat. What is this lace? Amityville Hotel?"
"Beats me," Kid Flash responded. "All I know is this would be the perfect place to spring a trap. Just look at the layout of the room."
"If there were some wood nearby, I'd be knocking on it."
Another flash of lightning lit up the room, showing both teens it was indeed empty, except for the ceiling. High above them, a lithe feminine figure glided across the ceiling tiles among the burned out chandeliers. Her pure white hair hung loosely around her head as Silver Banshee kept them in her sights. Her eyes glimmered yellow and an evil smile stretched across her lips as she watched the two unsuspecting heroes below. Letting out an almost quiet hiss, she readied herself to push off the high ceiling.
"Dude, this door seems barricaded." Pushing against the doors leading to the hall outside the dining room, Vibe put in all his strength but only succeeded in slipping on something.
"I could always vibrate through the door," Kid Flash stated. "Look."
Less than a second later, Kid Flash had stepped trough the door beside Vibe. He then stepped back into the dining hall, then again back outside. One last journey through the solid barrier, had him prove his point. "See? Easy."
"Great," Vibe said from the ground. "Did you think to move whatever's on the other side?"
"Actually, I'll need help with that. It looks like a dumpster was shoved against the doors, so we'll have to phase together. Hey, what's that?"
Holding up what he slipped on, Vibe pulled out a small flashlight and looked it over. "It's a bullet casing. Nine millimeter it looks like."
"Why would a bum use a gun in here? There's no blood or reports of people turning up dead down he-"
Stopping Kid Flash's words, Silver Banshee slammed her feet into his back. The surprised speedster slammed his head into the thick, solid door and was knocked unconscious.
"Bart!" Scrambling to his friend's side, Vibe checked to see if he were okay when he heard the laugh to Silver Banshee behind him.
"Ye little boys," the skeleton skinned woman said in her Irish accent, "sticking your noses where they don't belong. You're guilty of tresspassin'. Naughty, naughty."
"Bart, wake up." Shaking the sleeping speedster, Vibe kept his eyes on the villainous woman before him. His friend wouldn't budge and only slept with a small gash on his chin from where he hit.
"My advice?" Silver Banshee said as she flexed her hands, with what looked like sharpened skeletal fingers. "Run."
Up on the eleventh of twelve floors of the hotel, Blue Beetle made his way from door to door, opening them to visually search the rooms. His scarab came in use as it searched for any signs of life such as heartbeats, heat signatures, or pheromones. Despite its constant input, the teen it was attached to tuned out most of what it said and continued to look for any sign of inhabitants.
"Guess we're done with this floor." Shutting the last of the suites, Blue Beetle headed for the entrance to the stairway. "Rob, Vibe, nothing on the eleventh floor. Heading for the tenth but, GRAGH!"
Flying backwards, the armored teen landed on his rear before rolling over to stop on his stomach. Rubbing his head, he looked up and saw the door to the stairwell barely hanging on its hinges. Standing in the doorway stood a large black man in tattered clothing, his eyes were with red pupils. Drool fell from his mouth as he breathed heavily, slightly shaking as he did so. Behind him, two more homeless people, a white man and a black woman, came into view. Both were just like the first and had Blue Beetle in their sights.
Jamie Reyes, may I recommend the use of your sonic cannon set to three quarters power. These people do not have the same bio signature readings as a normal human.
"And what does that mean?" Backing up, Blue Beetle was taken by surprise as the door next to him exploded outward with another person reaching out and grabbing him. The attack was so sudden, he was knocked off balance just as another homeless person burst out of another door and rushed him.
It is because they are not what you could call entirely, 'living'.
It was then a high pitched shriek ripped through the building.
Downstairs on the first floor, Robin and Static were barricading the door to the boiler room. Loud bangs echoed through the large room where the machines responsible for supplying the heat and water to the building were stored. Horrendous moans and growls pierced the door as the two heroes worked on securing the only things keeping the mindless people at bay.
"Since when did we stumble into a Ramero movie?" Static questioned as he braced his back against a heavy metal cabinet he and Robin placed in front of the door.
"Since when did people become immune to pain?" Slipping a doorstop under the boiler room door, Robin kicked it in place, making sure it was in tight. "Not even a tazer stopped them. It was like using it on one of the Kryptonians."
"I think we should call in backup."
"And say what? We're being attacked by zombie wannabes?!"
"Hey, I don't know about you, but I want to go home. We can't get the others on coms since that scream or whatever it was went off. I say call the League."
Straining to hold the door closed, Robin heard a loud crack from where the door was breaking. Splinters flew through the air and a hand shot out between the black ops heroes. Letting out a cry, Static fought to get a batch of his dreadlocks free from the iron grip of the seemingly super strong homeless man on the other side. Sending an electric shock, the teen managed to get free as the arm's muscles spasmed and let go.
"Contacted the League. Just have to wait for them to get here. Our bio chips will have them zeroed in on us just like that." Unsheathing a Bird-A-Rang, Robin backed up from the door until he stood beside Static.
"Good, cause that door's had it."
With one final shove, the boiler room door shattered inward, allowing seven homeless people to stagger in over the fallen cabinet, chairs, and other items used to keep them out. The moment they were back on their feet, they charged the two heroes with their hands outstretched.
With a yell, Robin and Static shot forward, needing to get out of the boiler room and to somewhere better for fighting back. Nether wanted to injure the homeless people, but with the way they were acting, they really had no choice. Using his bo staff, Robin pole vaulted over three of the incoming homeless people and landed a hard kick to another one's face. Static used his powers to lift himself into the air and knocked the last three away with a well placed shockwave. The two raced down the hallway with the sound of the homeless behind them filling the room they just came from.