A.n I own Nothing
Please Review
A black pillar of flames erupted from the ground in a secluded back ally. The ally was small with boxes and hoppers filled with garbage and there were empty glass bottles and cigarette butts littered on the ground.
Alucard stepped out of the Alleyway and looked up at the building; he assumed this was the correct place. He had checked the location using the mirror of shadows before he left, he had thought of having the castle transport him directly into the apartment where the League was planning on watching their movies however he had no desire to scare or frighten anyone who might be inside.
He walked up to the front of the building and stared at it. The building was an apartment complex that was eight stories high. Alucard stared up at it wondering how
Suddenly a massive gust of wind blew into him and blew his long hair in his face. It was if something fast had stopped moving right next to him.
"Hey, you made it," Flash grinned.
Alucard looked and saw flash had stopped next to him, he was carrying many many shopping bags as well a large backpack on his back that looked like it was about to burst.
"I said I would," Alucard responded as he pulled this hair off his face and readjusted it "What is all that?"
"Just some light movie snacks," Flash answered, "Did you bring the dip?"
"No…I was unsure what you wanted me to dip in,"
"Dip in what are…wait you've never heard of Dip before have you?"
"Dose Dip no longer mean to jump in and out of something quickly…usually like a bath or a lake?"
"No it does, just not in this context," Flash explained "Dip, the one I was talking about is kind of like a spread you have with savory biscuits and chips,
Alucard blinked and stared at the scarlet speedster for a moment.
"Oh…so it is something you eat then?"
"Yes,"
"Then no…I did not bring any. My apologies," Alucard said.
"That's fine, I'll grab some if you watch this stuff," Flash said. He put the massive amount of Junk food down and zoomed off before Alucard could respond.
Alucard sighed and readjusted his hair.
'Maybe I should look into some wind resisting spells…or a beauty spell that will keep my hair in place around Flash,' Alucard thought as he readjusted his hair…again.
Alucard was pulled from his thoughts as Hawk Girl, Green Lantern and J'onn landed in front of him. Alucard noticed that Green Lantern was carrying a large cooler in a green energy dome that trailed along behind him.
"Where is Flash?" J'onn asked.
"He went to get some dip," Alucard responded.
Green Lantern looked down at the bags filled with food.
"Makes sense," he said.
"Dip?" J'onn asked.
"Apparently it is something you eat," Alucard shrugged.
"Fascinating,"
Flash came back a second later holding at least ten small cartons of Dip.
"So I didn't know which flavour everyone liked, so I got them all," Flash said. He then noticed the three other League members "Hey guys,"
"Need a hand?" Green Lantern asked.
"Sure,"
Green Lantern concentrated and a second small energy dome appeared, this one engulfed the Dip and the shopping bags.
"I see…your ring is not just a weapon," Alucard stated.
"It's whatever I want it to be," Green Lantern claimed "it's very versatile in its uses,"
"No kidding, I wish I had one," Flash said.
"What would you do with a Green Power Ring," Green Lantern asked.
"Oh I have a few Ideas," Flash grinned evilly.
"That alone scares me more than Batman ever could," Hawk Girl
"Speaking of Batman...is he not coming?" Alucard asked.
"Nah he said and I quote: I don't have time for pointless and meaningless activities," Flash said in his best Batman impression "he then went on to say we should always be on alert and ready just encase something happened,"
"Then Superman pointed out that very little crime happens during the day in Metropolis and that given what we went through when we went back in time we were due for a day off," Green Lantern continued.
"Am I correct in assuming Batman did not react to that very well?" Alucard asked.
"No, he glared at us and stormed off complaining about Flash under his breath," Hawk Girl finished.
"How do you know he was complaining about me?" Flash asked, "He could have been muttering about Superman or one of you?"
"You mean apart from this whole day was your Idea and you were the one to bring it up at the meeting that Batman leaves so he can't vote against it?" Hawk Girl asked.
"Point taken, shall we head up?" Flash asked and gestured to the building.
"Hold on, can Alucard even enter the building?" Hawk Girl asked.
"Yes, why would you think otherwise?" Alucard asked, looking at Hawk Girl confused.
"Those vampire movies we watched showed that Vampires could not enter someone's home without permission," Hawk Girl explained.
"Oh…you need not worry about that," Alucard answered, waving her concerns off.
"Why not?" Green Lantern asked, "Was it made up or is it because you're half human?"
"Neither, being unable to enter a dwelling without permission only affects younger vampires…it is something we grow out of very quickly," Alucard explained.
"Really?"
"Yes. Once a Vampire hits the 150 years old we no longer require permission to enter a private dwelling,"
"Wait seriously?"
"Indeed…however there have been vampires known to be able to enter without permission earlier 150…although it is not by much," Alucard explained.
The League glanced at each other warily, they had no Idea that Alucard could go anywhere without permission. However the fact that there was clearly a lot of similarities between real vampires and the ones in the movies. that meant that there might be some of the weakness applied to Alucard as well.
The League headed into the apartment complex and Alucard was still very confused as to why humans felt the need to build such a confined space to live in. They got into the lift and Alucard did his best to hide his curiosity of the small metal box that could apparently take them to the higher floors with ease along with the buttons that lit up when pressed.
He wound up pressing all the buttons.
Once they reached the correct floor and found the right apartment and
The League herd something crash and then a few loud noises that sounded like something heavy had fallen on the ground. They looked at each other and then a few seconds later the door opened to reveal a man with short neatly combed black hair. He was wearing blue pants a white long-sleeved work shirt that with its buttons done up and a red tie that looked like it had not been tied correctly and thick square glasses that were coming off his face.
"Have we got the right place?" Flash whispered to J'onn.
"Uh...hi...you're the Justice League," the man said.
"Yes..." Hawk Girl said uneasily.
"I'm sorry I think we have the wrong apartment," Green Lantern said "We were expecting a friend of Superman's,"
"Oh yes...Um...that's me...sorry come in," the man said. He stepped out of the way and opened the door to let the League in.
"We heard a crash just after we knocked, is everything alright?" Flash asked in concern.
"Oh that, I was just startled and I tripped over the chair rushing to the door," the man claimed with a light laugh "I'm very clumsy and accident prone,"
The group walked in giving the man strange looks, they could not believe that this person was friends with Superman. Once inside Alucard looked around the apartment, it was more spacious than he thought it would be.
He spied a clean kitchen and not far from the entrance, the room they were was well decorated and furnished with a long sofa a few small chairs and a TV sitting on a stand with a large thick black box on a shelf underneath. There was a dining table near a large glass door that led to a balcony covered with Ivory and had a few pot plants. At the end of the room was a hall that led to other rooms.
While Alucard was looking around the apartment, the rest of the League eyed it's the owner and watched him fix his tie, straighten his glasses and put on his blue jacket.
"I'm Clark Kent," Clark introduced with a friendly smile and held out his hand.
"Hi Clark, I'm The Flash," Flash Introduced and shook the man's hand "This is Green Lantern, Hawk Girl, Alucard, and J'onn,"
Flash then leaned closer to Clark.
"J'onn and Al haven't picked superhero names yet," Flash whispered "Please don't publish their identities,"
"We can both hear you," J'onn stated.
"Um…okay, I mean I wasn't going to write about you guys, to begin with," Clark said "Lois is the one who gets the superhero stories,"
"So don't take this the wrong way but...how are you friends with Superman exactly?" Green Lantern asked.
"I'm not, I'm more of a third wheel than anything else,"
"What do you mean?"
"Well I work with Lois Lane at the Daily Planet...we're partners you see," Clark explained "she likes Superman…and I think he likes her back,"
"Oh, do you like Lois too?" Hawk Girl teased.
"Uh...no...I mean I respect her as a fellow journalist and the lengths she will go to get the truth," Clark said blushing
"Uh huh, you need to work on your convincing," Hawk Girl responded with a knowing smirk.
"Kent's heart rate just went up," Alucard observed.
"My what just went up?" Clark asked in shock.
"So he's either lying or Hawk Girl is on to something," Flash joked.
Clark let out a sigh.
"Okay I may like her a bit," he admitted softly.
"I think it's a bit more than a bit,"
"Even if I do like her, she doesn't notice me. I mean we're supposed to be partners but she is the first one to go off chasing some dangers mafia gang or crime lord and not tell anyone…besides, I don't have a chance with her. After all who could compete with Superman,"
"You could try and win her over with your boyish charms," Flash suggested.
"I don't have those," Clark said, "I think I lost them back at the farm,"
"So you're not friends with Superman…like at all?" Green Lantern asked.
Clark shook his head.
"Not really no," Clark answered "I don't know anything about him other than what Lois writes in the paper. So I was pretty surprised when he came to me and asked if he and the League could watch some movies at my place,"
"Well you can be friends with us," Flash said "And since we're friends of Superman and know him personally that makes you his friend too,"
"I uh…appreciate that but I'm fairly sure that is not how it works," Clark claimed.
"Hmm…good point. Oh well, I guess you'll just have to talk to the Supes then," Flash said.
"Wait for….talk to Superman?" Clark asked nervously.
"Yeah, he's nice enough. Tell you what, why don't you hang out with us for our movie day," Flash offered.
"I'd love to…but I have to do a cover a charity event today and then after that Lois has plans to do a stakeout on some crime boss warehouse tonight. I doubt I'll be back before tomorrow morning," Clark claimed "My weekends are always busy,"
"By the way...where is Superman?" Alucard asked "I thought he was going to meet us here,"
"He's running late,"
"How would you know this?"
Clark gestured to the TV which had breaking news of an oil tanker not far out of the Metropolis harbor that was on fire. The news story clearly showed that Superman was at the scene performing the rescue and dealing with the tanker.
Alucard walked over to the screen and bent down on his knees to look at it.
"Interesting….how did he get in there?" Alucard asked, "What Dark Magic did you use to fit not only Superman in a tiny box but also a large ship and part of the ocean?"
"They're not actually in the TV," Clark said.
Alucard looked over his shoulder at the reporter with a confused look.
"They are not?" he asked.
"No, Superman is not in the TV…he's on it,"
"Oh," Alucard said.
He stood up and looked on top of the TV for Superman.
Clark watched in disbelief as Alucard felt the top of the TV and then looked warily at the Justice League.
"Yeah, Alucard…has a bit behind in Technology," Green Lantern.
"Has he never seen a TV before?" Clark asked.
"I don't think so, at least it hasn't come up before," Flash admitted.
Alucard turned around and looked at the group.
"Superman is not on top of the TV nor is he invisible or ethereal…would you like me to try a spell to locate him?" the vampire asked.
"Spell?" Clark asked.
"Alucard is highly skilled at magic," J'onn stated.
"Magic…like Harry Potter?" Clark asked.
"Yes, just like Harry Potter," Flash answered happily "only he doesn't need a wand,"
"Okay you know what…no. No magic inside my home," Clark insisted.
Alucard frowned; he wanted to find Superman as he was clearly not on top of the TV. However, he also knew that he was a guest in Clark's home and the man had been kind enough to open his home to the League. He did want to appear as a rude or ungrateful house guest so gave Clark a low bow.
"Very well…I will refrain from casting spells if that is your wish," Alucard agreed.
"Thank you," Clark sighed. He looked at his watch "I should head off; there are beer and Professorinks in the fridge. Feel free to help yourself...and please don't break anything,"
"Since Superman's going to be late how about we pick the first movie," Green Lantern suggested and changed the subject "That way we can start as soon as he arrives,"
"We won't," Flash promised.
"Well I have to head off, have fun and tell Superman I said Hi," Clark said and he ran out the door.
However a second later he came back in and picked up his wallet, keys, and mobile phone before leaving again; this time he got his blue suit jacket caught in the door and after opening it the third time to free his jacket Clark was finally gone.
"What a strange man," J'onn observed.
"I like him," Flash claimed "Seems like a nice guy,"
Alucard, however, stared at the door critically. Hawk Girl noticed the way Alucard was looking at the door and it was the same kind of look he had when they were in the Justice Guild's dimension as well as when they were investing Faust's office and his artifacts.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Nothing..." Alucard responded after a few seconds of silence.
"You sure?"
Alucard nodded.
'Am I imagining it or does this place and that man smell exactly like Superman?' he thought to himself and went back to trying to figure where on the TV Superman hiding was.
"I'll unpack the food and get the dip stored," Green Lantern said "One of you explain how television works to Alucard,"
J'onn decided to help Green Lantern unpack the food while Flash explained to Alucard how there were no little people trapped inside the TV nor was they on top of it. Superman arrived during this conversation and was told what had happened. Superman thought it was funny and could not help but laugh. He then assisted Flash in properly explain the television to Alucard.
Once Alucard had a vague Idea on how television worked he asked about Harry Potter and was surprised to learn that Harry was another magic user and fought off the forces of evil magic users.
"I see….this Harry Potter must be a powerful warlock indeed," Alucard said impressed "I would love to meet him and discuss the mystic arts,"
Green Lantern, Superman and Flash had to hold in their laughter. Even Hawk Girl turned away to hide her amusement.
"Don't worry Al. We'll get to him soon enough," Flash assured.
Once everything was set up the League moved chairs closer to the TV and sat around it.
"So what are we watching first?" Green Lantern asked.
"Back to the Future," Flash said and held up a box set of the DVDs "I brought the whole series,"
"No way, we have to do Star Wars," Green Lantern claimed "That is a must,"
"You two are both wrong," Superman said "This is Alucard and J'onns first movie day, we have to make it count and make sure they both have a good experience…which is why I brought Indiana Jones,"
An argument quickly broke out between the three heroes over which movie to watch first. Superman, Flash and Green Lantern all had their own options on which series they should watch. Alucard, J'onn and Hawk Girl stayed out of the argument.
"Is this normally how movie days go?" Alucard asked J'onn.
"I do not know, there are a lot of human customs that I do not understand," J'onn responded.
"Human customs were much simpler in my time," Alucard claimed "but even then there were some that I never truly understood,"
"Oh like what?" Hawk Girl asked interested.
"In my time peasants and farmers giving animal Feces to each other was considered….a great gift,"(1)
"Really? Why?"
"I never understood…it was such a disgusting practice," Alucard claimed.
"By the way, we brought a couple of blood bags for you from the tower," Hawk Girl said to Alucard "it's in the cooler,"
"I appreciate that, though I can eat human food," Alucard reminded her.
"I know, it's just encase you don't like the Movie food," Hawk Girl claimed.
"Thank you, I appreciate the thought," Alucard said with a smile.
Hawk Girl nodded and turned her attention back to the arguing, he picked up a handful of chips and started to eat them while watching some of the most powerful beings on earth squabble like chilProfessoren. Though she had to admit she did find Green Lanterns defiance and forceful defense on why Star Wars was the obvious choice attractive.
Superman, Flash and Green Lantern continued to argue for another twenty minutes and the argument was finally stopped when the Leagues communicators went off.
"Break in at Star Labs," Superman said urgently "Let's go,"
The League instantly all stood up and ran to the balcony, Flash zoomed out of the apartment and down the stairs leaving a red and yellow streak behind him while the rest of the League and Alucard flew off from the balcony.
It took the League less than twenty minutes to arrive at the Lab, however, when they got there they saw the Batwing was parked in the main carpark. Due to it being a Saturday morning the carpark was mostly empty, there were about four or five cars parked further away from the Batwing.
The League landed and Flash stopped by the entrance and opened the door.
"Ladies first," he said holding the door open.
"Then shouldn't we be holding the door for you?" Hawk Girl responded with a smirk.
Superman and Green Lantern did their best not to laugh. J'onn raised an eyebrow clearly not understanding and Alucard tilted his head in confusion.
"Love you too, Shera," Flash shot back as the League walked past him and into the building.
Once they were inside they were directed to one of the larger labs, it was completely and utterly destroyed. Glass shards were all over the floor, broken tables, lab equipment, cupboards doors ripped off their hinges and chemicals spilled and Professoripping everywhere. The League found Batman looking over the crime scene and Hamilton standing not far away ready to assist Batman or answer any questions he might have.
"Professor, what happened here?" Superman asked as he floated over.
"You're late," Batman said without looking up from what he was doing.
"Sorry, what happened here?" Superman asked as he looked around
"Someone broke in and trashed the place," Professor Hamilton said looking at the destruction.
"Did they take anything?" Superman asked.
"We're doing an inventory check now," Professor Hamilton answered "we won't know if anything was stolen but...it will be hard as a lot of chemicals was spilled,"
Superman nodded and used his enhanced vision to look for anything and found some footprints that led to a large silver coloured fridge. The door was wide open and the shelves were covered in a thick red liquid.
"The footprints lead to this fridge," Superman said "what was in it,"
"Blood," Alucard hissed out unintentionally. As the smell of blood hit his sensitive nose, his eyes immediately zeroed on the fridge.
"Donated blood samples actually," Hamilton claimed.
"What were you working in here?" Green Lantern asked.
"Me...nothing, this is where Star Labs does its blood research," Hamilton claimed.
"Blood research?" Alucard asked interested.
Hamilton nodded.
"There was research into blood-related desires, cancer, aids and that sort of thing," Hamilton claimed "that fridge held all the desired blood that we use for testing and hopefully finding cures for them,"
"Where do you keep the nation-contaminated blood?" Alucard asked.
Batman stopped what he was doing and glanced over his shoulder to look at Alucard.
"In a separate lab, we're not stupid enough to keep them together. It would risk contaminating the rest of our stock," Hamilton claimed.
"Is any of it missing?" Alucard asked.
"No. Only this lab was trashed,"
"Wait but that makes no sense," Flash said.
"Yeah, I mean who would want to steal disseised blood?" Hawk Girl asked "it's not like it can be used for much,"
"Unless someone is trying to give themselves a life-threatening disease then no it can't," Hamilton agreed.
"Was there anything else of value in this lab?" Batman asked as he stood up.
"Nothing much, a couple of vaccines awaiting testing, a few hundred thousand dollars' worth of lab equipment and this year's flu shot," Hamilton claimed "Like I said this lab is meant solely for blood research,"
"Who has access to the lab?" Batman asked.
"Me, some of the other scientists, the janitors and one or two lab assistants," Hamilton answered "but the only ones who would be here today would be the janitors,"
"Where are the janitors?" Superman asked.
"Outside, it's standard procedure to evacuate should any of the alarms go off," Hamilton claimed.
The League nodded. Batman continued to examine the crime scanned with Superman and Green Lantern assisting. Meanwhile Flash, Hawk girl, and J'onn headed out to questioning the janitors who had been on duty that morning. There were only three of them and none of them had been into that particular lab yet, no one saw anyone go into it either.
One of the janitors did claim that they saw Processor Hamilton enter the building about twenty minutes before the break-in happened. This was odd as nobody apart from the janitor team worked on the weekends; unless they were on the verge of a breakthrough or a very big important project.
After interviewing the staff, Flash, Alucard, and J'onn had returned to the crime scene. They wanted to know why Hamilton was at work on the weekend.
"Professor, one of the clears said they saw you come in exactly twenty minutes before the alarm was triggered," Flash started.
"That's right," Hamilton agreed.
"Do you normally work weekends?" Hawk girl asked.
"No, I don't. I did not come in for work," Hamilton claimed.
"They why did you come to the labs today?" J'onn asked.
"I was here to get some data," Hamilton explained "I am speaking at a conference in new york on Monday and I got a call saying the Data I sent through did not get received. So I came in to get a copy of it to take with me tomorrow. I was in my office when the alarm went off,"
"I hope you don't mind that we check the security footage to confirm that," Flash said.
"Not at all, Batman has already asked to see the security footage and I intend to give it to him and a copy to the police when they arrive," Hamilton claimed.
The League hung around for a bit longer and waiting for the police to arrive and help in any way they could, once the police arrived the League was fully prepared to go however Batman insisted they wait for the inventory check to be completed so they could start narrowing down potential suspects.
Despite Professor Hamilton's instance, there was nothing in the lab but bad blood and a few experimental vaccines Batman still wanted to wait. So the rest of the League was forced to hang around as one look from Batman told each one of them that leaving would be a very bad Idea. The League headed back to the main lobby so they would not be in the way of the investigation. While they were waiting for Superman, Flash and Green Lantern resumed their argument on the far side of the lobby while Hawk Girl, Alucard, and J'onn sat a long chair.
Batman was not with them as he was still investigating the crime scene, even though the police could handle it Batman did not trust them not to overlook simple clues or any out of place evidence they might find. Even though the League had doubts Batman would be allowed to be in the lab while the police did their investigation he had yet to come to join the rest of the League.
After and ninety minutes of waiting Professor Hamilton came over to where they were waiting.
"Hey just so you know there is a staff room down the hall. I can open it for you if you want a coffee or something...I think there might be some biscuits and donuts in there too," The Professor offered.
"Thanks for the offer but we're good," Hawk Girl said "I'm trying to watch my weight,"
"I will have to politely decline as well," Alucard agreed.
"I too shall pass, however, I would very much appreciate some water," J'onn said.
Hamilton nodded and J'onn followed him to the staff room, once he opened it he pulled out a mug and filled it with water from the tap. He also made himself a cup of coffee while he was there.
J'onn, however, was looking around the room and he spied an open packet of biscuits on the bench, the motion did not think much of it until Hamilton came over and handed him his mug of water.
"Here you go," he said and he took two biscuits out of the packet.
They were small round chocolate biscuits with some fake cream sandwiched in the middle of it. Hamilton took two for himself and then held out the packet for J'onn.
"Want one," he offered.
J'onn was going to decline, however, his manners got the better of him and he took a biscuit out of the packet. He really only took it to be polite, after all, Hamilton and been nice enough to open the staff room for him. J'onn brought the small treat to his mouth and took a bite, eating half of the biscuit in one go.
"Hmm...Mmmm..." J'onn said in delight as he munched on his biscuit.
"These are delicious, they are so small yet so sweet," J'onn claimed happily "what do you call them?"
"Those...they're Oreos," Professor Hamilton said.
"Oreos...and were does one acquire these Oreos? Are they considered a rare earthen delicacy?"
"Uh no, you can buy them at any shop,"
"In that case, I wonder if we can get some for the watchtower," J'onn said as he continued to munch on his tiny biscuit "May I have another?" J'onn asked once he had finished his first.
"Uh...sure," Hamilton said and J'onn took another three.
They headed out of the Staffroom and back to the Lobby where J'onn re-joined his friends and continued to eat the Oreos in delight.
Hawk Girl and Alucard gave the motion and odd look before turning to Hamilton.
"I gave him an Oreo and now he is addicted," Hamilton shrugged.
"Ah," Hawk girl responded in understanding.
She had had Oreos before and while she herself was not a big fan of the treat she knew a lot of people that were. Now it appeared she would be adding J'onn to that list.
"An Oreo? What is...an Oreo?" Alucard asked.
"A small round chocolate biscuit," Hamilton answered "They are quite tasty as your green friend has just discovered,"
"Interesting...I will have to try one for myself," Alucard said.
"I am not sharing," J'onn said in a defensive tone.
Alucard didn't respond, he merely looked away and J'onn took it as a sign that the Vampire would not try and take one of his biscuits from him.
"Who knew J'onn had a sweet tooth," Hawk Girl chuckled.
"You know you don't have to hang around," the professor claimed "The police are here and if you want to leave I can keep you updated once we know what's missing,"
"So...what are those three arguing about?" Professor Hamilton asked and looked over at Flash, Superman and Green Lantern.
"They are debating over what Movie we should watch first," Alucard answered.
"Movie?" Professor Hamilton asked.
"Yeah we're having a Movie day today," Hawk Girl claimed "At least we were until you called,"
"Oh...Sorry about that," Professor Hamilton said.
"It's fine, we'll still be able to fit one or two in," Hawk Girl shrugged.
"Assuming they stop arguing and actually pick something," J'onn added in while looking at Superman, Green Lantern and Flash.
"Why don't you just watch Ghost Busters," Professor Hamilton suggested "It's fun and a great film to watch with a group,"
"Please don't encourage them," Batman requested as he finally entered the lobby.
"You did in there?" Hawk Girl asked.
"For now, I may be back later to collect some chemical samples of my own," Batman said.
Alucard stood up and walked over to Superman, Flash and Green Lantern.
"Batman is finished here," Alucard announced, breaking the argument "we may leave now,"
He turned around and headed for the door without waiting to see if the Superman, Flash and Green Lantern followed or remained and continued to argue.
(1) Animal Poo was used in a verity of different ways in medieval times by the lower class and farmers. It could be mixed up with clay to make plates and cups, used as a plaster to fill in small cracks and holes in the walls of homes and even used in tanning leather.
If it was considered a wonderful and most generous gift as animal poo was a useful resource to have.
Just try not to think about all the people who ate off plates and Professorank out of cups made out of poo.