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#2
MAY 11 |
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A New Start, Part Two
“Rumble in the Octagon”
“Rumble in the Octagon”
The Daily Planet
Metropolis
The time was approaching 11:00pm as Robin, the Boy Wonder, stood atop one of the world’s most famous newspaper buildings waiting for his friend and teammate Connor Kent, also known as the Teen of Steel Superboy.
As usual Connor was running late.
Standing at the edge of the building with his black cape covering his body, Robin knew that Connor had finally arrived when a slight gust of wind moved the bottom of his cape. “It’s about time,” Robin said stepping off the edge of the building.
“Had to make a phone call and let Ma and Pa know why I left so fast and I don’t get the best reception while flying at my top speed,” Superboy replied. “So...what kind of information do we have to go on so we can find Slade’s daughter?”
“Besides the fact that she’s apparently been low jacked,” Robin said, showing the tracking device to Superboy before continuing, “I decided to do some checking while waiting and there are rumors of a white haired female making some noise over in the Suicide Slum area of Metropolis.”
“What do you mean by 'mean'?”
“She’s been taking part in some under ground fights, according to rumors, and cleaning up, too,” Robin explained, walking toward the edge of the bulding. “Let’s get going. The tracker says she’s not that far from here, so stick close.”
“Yeah, not a problem,” Superboy said with a small chuckle as he and Robin both ran and leapt off the Daily Planets rooftop. “I suggest you hang on chum,” said Superboy with a small laugh as he grabbed Robins hand and took off into the sky.
Suicide Slum, at the same time
Several of the Slum's residents gathered around fire barrels to keep warm near the entrance of a warehouse. Funny thing about these poorly dressed men with their ragged clothes and beards was the semi-automatic machine guns concealed underneath their tattered trench coats.
The men were the guards to the entrance of a very secretive under ground world that only the privileged knew about. This world had a name and it was called the Dark Side Club...a place that provided its wealthy patrons with the finest in food, drink and entertainment...for a price. The men and women found the club's gambling tables a fun distraction, but the most entertaining was the underground fighting ring, where brainwashed metahumans were forced to fight in deadly battles.
“So, what do you think about the chick fighting tonight?” one of the men asked his partner as he put his hands over the fire.
“Undefeated in her last eight fights and I don’t see her losing tonight ether,” replied a slightly built, Mexican looking man. “She won me five grand last time, so I hope to double it this time around.”
“You know, the boss don’t like us placin’ bets on the fights.”
“My cousin Jose made the bet; not like anyone is gonna find out,” the Mexican man said.
“Better hope he doesn’t,” another said, walking up to the other two. This one was a white woman dressed in what looked like an old bag ladies outfit. “And I wouldn’t put to much faith in your girl, since the boss decided to change things up tonight.”
“What do you mean?” both men seem to ask at the same time.
“She’s going up against those Body Double chicks,” the woman replied with a smile.
On the roof, at the same time
“So what exactly is the plan?” asked Superboy as they lay on the rooftop and watched the guards down below.
Robin watched what was going on down below through a pair of binoculars for a few moments before answering Connor's question. “That air conditioning unit looks like its not protected,” Robin said, pointing to the unit on the other building. “I’ll slip in through there and find Ravager.”
Superboy nodded his head in agreement and then realized that he hadn’t been told what he was supposed to do. “So what am I supposed to do while your doing your ninja act?”
“What you do best,” replied Robin as he fired a cable line to the other building. “Cause a distraction when I give you the signal,” he finished before swinging over to the other building.
Superboy shook his head and watched as Robin landed on the rooftop and made his way to the air conditioning units entrance. Sitting and waiting, not my favorite thing to do, he thought to himself as he kept his head low and waited for Robin's signal.
Inside the building's air vent
Crawling through the air ducts was like second nature for the Boy Wonder as he moved along rather quickly, heading to his target. Through the vents he could hear the cheers and screams of people apparently cheering on the current fighters in the ring. Taking a left, he moved toward the noises and found himself at vent over looking the fighters cage. Down below he could see two costumed criminals, one being Electrocutioner and the other being the martial arts master Shatterfist, going at it like two hungry animals fighting for a scrap of meat.
Robin made sure to use the video surveillance equipment built into his mask to record what was going on as well as some of the clubs patrons. Back tracking through the ducts, he followed the tracers signal until it lead him to his desired target. Taking a look through the vent's opening he saw a white haired girl sitting on a couch in the middle of the room and it appeared she was alone at the moment.
Opening the vent, Robin slipped out and on to the floor quietly.
“Rose,” said Robin quietly so not to raise any suspicions should there be anyone standing outside. “Rose, I’m here to get you out of here.” When he didn’t get a response from her, Robin moved around to face her and noticed an almost blank expression on her face. Robin moved his hand in front of her face several times and got nothing out of her before tapping his right ear. “We may have a problem here.”
What’s going on?
“It looks like she’s drugged,” Robin said as he cracked the door slightly and peaked out to see what he was dealing with, "and there’s no way I can drag her through the vents with me out of here.”
Tell me you have a plan, Rob?
Robin thought about it for a moment before smiling and closing the door. “Yeah, and it’s gonna involve you making a lot of noise,” Robin said before going over his plan quickly.
Outside
Robin had just finished going over his plan with Superboy, and the Teen of Steel couldn’t go along with the plan fast enough. It was a simple one that was right up his alley: smash through the building and cause the biggest disturbance he could to get everyone’s attention. Flying into the air, Connor waited for Robin to give the go ahead to proceed.
“Ready when you are,” Superboy said as he popped his knuckles.
Drop the hammer.
Flying as fast as he could, Superboy flew straight down and through the building's rooftop, smashing his way through several floors before coming to a stop above the fighting arena.
“Ladies and gentlemen, tonight’s fights have been canceled,” Superboy shouted.
A blast of heat vision quickly melted the cage's metal doors sealing the fighters inside. “You boys just sit tight,” he said as the two villains tried to get out of the cage. “Okay, Boy Wonder, I’d start moving if I was you,” he said as a barrage of gunfire rained down on him. Using his heat vision once again he began taking shots at the floors near the shooters, hoping to scare them off with out hurting anyone.
“You boys don’t get paid enough to deal with someone like me,” he said before smashing the floor underneath a couple of the guards with his tactical telekinesis.
From out of the shadows behind him Superboy was hit in the back with an electrified chain. As quickly as it hit him it was retracted and another sailed through the air hitting him again, this time from the front. Stumbling for a second, multiple chains came from different directions and wrapped around his wrists, body and legs and massive amounts of electrical energy shot through his body, sending him to his knees.
“The dragon has many fangs, young hero,” a voice said from the shadows.
Looking up through blurry eyes Superboy watched as dozens of masked ninjas appeared from the shadows before falling to the ground face first.
Same time
Robin had just rounded the corner with a groggy Rose Wilson when he watched his best friend and team mate, Superboy, fall to the ground. He leaned Rose against the wall, hoping that she would be okay until he could come back for her. Firing a grappling line into the ceiling, he swung through the air and unleashed a barrage of bird-a-rangs and some explosive ’R’ disks, hoping to cause a big enough distraction. As his weapons impacted with the ninjas, many fell only to be replaced by others who leapt toward the Boy Wonder, ready to strike.
“You guys mean business,” he commented as he extended his bo staff and worked on knocking as many ninja to the ground and away from him as he could.
Sticking the staff in the ground, Robin used it to pole vault over several attackers and decided to go for the guy who looked to be in charge. His attack, however, was cut short as a pair of masked, red-suited women flew threw the air, one throwing a chain that wrapped around his right arm and, while the other did the same but went for his left leg, forcefully pulled him to the ground.
“You fight bravely, little bird, but unfortunately for you bravery is only a stepping stone to stupidity,” a well groomed Chinese man said as he walked out of the shadows. “I recognize the fighting style of Lady Shiva when I see it, a fighting style learned well by the warriors of the Dragons Fang and, especially, by my Kabuki Twins.”
“Who are you?” Robin asked as he struggled to get free.
“My name is Hideo Katsu and this one of my more, how do you say, luxury establishments,” explained Katsu. “And now the house will feature a new fight...one I’m sure will be a very lucrative opportunity.”
“If you think anyone of us will fight for you, you’re dreaming, pal,” Robin said as he continued to struggle to get free from his bindings.
“Do you know how I have come so far in my life time, young one?” Katsu asked as he snapped his fingers, signaling for one of his men to bring him something. “I am a man who is always prepared,” he said as he opened a wooden box that one of his men had arrived with.
“Take this for example,” he continued as he held the object in front of himself for a moment before bending down and clamping it around Superboy's neck. “A restraint collar made for the off chance I would run into the Superman or, in this case, Superboy.”
Taking a small remote from the box next, Hideo Katsu pressed the switch and activated the collar around Connor's neck which instantly filled the teen of steel with immense pain. “A device made from Nth metal and kryptonite, supplied by a source with a knack for building nasty little toys.”
“STOP!!” shouted Robin.
Katsu pressed the button once again, turning the collar off. Superboy fell to the ground and passed out from the pain. “Take him to the arena,” Katsu ordered to his a pair of his men. Picking up Robin from the floor, the two men carried him out of the room and a few minutes later he was tossed into a fighting arena.
“Prepare yourself, Boy Wonder,” Katsu said over an intercom system as he signaled one of his men.
The man Katsu signaled spoke into a comm-link on his wrist and suddenly the floor in front of Robin opened up and a solid metal sphere came up from the ground. Seconds later the door to the pod opened up and a pair of yellow eyes could be seen from the darkness. A second later a red-skinned, muscular young man with white hair stepped out and unleashed a breath of fire into the air before letting out a roar of primal rage.
“For you face the fury of KID DEVIL!!!” Katsu exclaimed.
Present day
Gotham Fair Grounds
“You have to love the fair, ya know.”
“What did you say?” a little old lady asked the man that sat on the bench seat next to her.
“Oh, I said you have to love the fair,” the man repeated with a smile on his face. “It’s a wonderful place for parents to bring their kids to enjoy some fun and laughs, even in a place like Gotham City,” he said with a laugh.
The little old lady smiled and laughed at the man's obvious joke. “Yes, it is nice to hear the children laugh. I’ve been coming to this fair since I was a kid,” the woman explained. “It just brings back so many good memories from my childhood.”
“Interesting,” the man said as he took off his glasses and cleaned them for a moment before putting them back on. “I always came by myself; my parents were always too busy to enjoy triffiling things like fun. But I found my own way to experience fun and laughter.”
“Like what, young man?” asked the old woman.
“Oh,” he said with a smile as he took out a small remote device. “I feel in love with creating toys,” he said as he pressed the red button on the remote.
With the button pushed, toys all around the fairgrounds began turning on. Video games came on by themselves, stuffed animals began making noises and, before anyone could ask what was going on, everything began exploding.
Screams could be heard from both adults and children as they scattered like bugs when the lights come on.
The little old lady could only stare in shock with sadness on her face.
The man next to her could only smile as his handiwork bore fruit.
“Have a nice day, ma’am,” he said with a laugh as he left the bence and began walking away.
The old woman turned toward the man as he walked away laughing and asked, “Who are you?”
The man stopped for a moment before answering her question. “You can call me Toyman.”
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To Be Continued...
Next Issue: In Teen Titans #3: In order to save both Superboy, Ravager, and himself, Robin will have to face the demonic Kid Devil in a fight where only one will be left standing. And where will the Toyman strike next? Find out in A New Start: Part 3 “Hell in the Cell”
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