Genesis, Part Six:
“Ghosts”
Dick Grayson’s eyes fluttered open. It took him a moment to realize where he was – then it hit him. He was in Gotham City. A snore sounded from across the room. He glanced over and saw Sam lying there. Sam was an old friend from Metropolis who’d moved to Gotham. Dick walked over to the window and gazed out. The view was nothing but more abandoned buildings. Above them, the sun was high in the sky. He smiled as he realized that he was only hours away from avenging his parents. Loren Jupiter paced back and forth behind his desk. “Where is he?” he asked again. A silent Roy Harper sat before the desk with Mr. Smith standing directly behind him. This was not a new situation for Roy. Jupiter stopped pacing and leaned over his desk. “Mr. Harper, this is a very serious situation,” Jupiter explained. “We need to know where he is.” Roy shrugged. “Why do you think I’d know?” he asked. “We saw surveillance camera footage of you two talking just before he left,” Mr. Smith explained. “What is he doing in Gotham?” Roy spun around, shocked. “How did you know that?” Smith shrugged. “I can lip-read.” ”What is he doing in Gotham?” Jupiter pressed. Shocked, Roy slipped up and answered truthfully. “I don’t know. He didn’t tell me.” ”All right,” Jupiter said as he sat down. “We’re going after him.” He pressed a button on his desk that activated an intercom. “All Titans report to the conference room in full costume as soon as possible.” He looked up at Roy. “Go get into uniform,” he said. Roy stood and hurried out. “This isn’t good,” Jupiter mused. ”Surely you suspected,” Smith said. “I cannot believe that you did not sense the anger inside him.” ”I did,” Jupiter admitted. “I simply hoped that we would be able to temper it – show him how to use it for his advantage.” “And now we must find him.” Smith’s tone indicated the end of the conversation. “What do you mean he’s gone?” Jupiter sat still and waited for the verbal torrent to cease. Wally, Donna and Garth were all yelling questions at once. Roy just sat back in his chair with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. “Perhaps you should take turns.” Somehow Mr. Smith cut through the noise without raising his voice. “What are we going to do?” Wally asked. “He’s our leader.” A snort from Roy broke in. “Some leader.” ”I have discussed this with Mr. Smith,” Jupiter said. “Until Mr. Grayson is located, Mr. Curry will serve as your leader.” ”Another question,” Garth said. “What about Tula?” ”That girl?!” Donna’s tone indicated knew exactly what her feelings were on the matter. “She will remain here,” Jupiter said. “While I am not against her joining you in the field eventually, for now she needs to get more accustomed to our cultures.” Jupiter glanced at his watch. “Go with Mr. Smith to the jet. I’ll alert the pilots to be standing by.” Robin frowned as he looked over the edge of the building. His source had told him that the man directly across the street was the one he was searching for. Anthony Zucco - a mobster who thought he had all the power in the world but was actually fairly low on the totem pole. He smirked. His street sources had gotten him word that certain people higher up the food chain would not shed any tears if Zucco met with an accident. Robin’s fist clenched. There was definitely an ‘accident’ in Zucco’s future. He was so intent on his prey that he didn’t hear the soft crunch of rooftop gravel behind him. “What is one of Loren Jupiter’s toys doing here?” an icy voice asked. Robin whirled around and was terrified. A man stood there dressed all in blue, black and gray. The only exception was a yellow oval on his chest that contained the emblem of a bat. Loren Jupiter walked into the control room. Mal Duncan was there monitoring the V.R. room. “How’s she doing?” Jupiter asked. Mal looked up from his control panel. “Not bad,” he said. “She does need to learn a little restraint, though.” “What do you mean?” Jupiter asked. He leaned forward and studied a monitor displaying what was happening inside the chamber’s virtual world. He started watching just in time to see Tula seize Trident’s weapon and impale him with it. “Never mind,” Jupiter said. “I think I understand.” Mal turned around. “She’s done that every time. I swear she’s been trained as a warrior or soldier or something. She’s coming through every mission without a scratch, but she’s not left a single bad guy alive.” Jupiter nodded. “We’ll have to begin working with her on some restraint.” “Good luck,” Mal said as he returned his attention to his controls. “What is it to you?” Robin asked. This man dressed as a bat was menacing, but still just a man. “Gotham is mine. If I don’t let Superman in here, why should I let one of Loren Jupiter’s rugrats? Now, what do you want?” ”None of your business,” Robin snarled. The Batman immediately assumed a defensive posture. “Wrong answer,” Batman replied as he effortlessly launched toward Robin. It was all Robin could do to block the flurry of the Batman’s assault. Nicholas Galtry shuddered. He’d been brought here by the one person in this world he feared. Finally a light overhead snapped on and the other person entered the room with him. “Fool.” The word was a statement of fact. “I need that boy and you lost him.” ”It was those kids,” Galtry stammered. “They did it.” ”Idiot!” the other man roared. “I placed that boy with you so you could take care of him for me until my plans were ready and you have him committing thefts!” The man’s fist slammed into Galtry’s cheek and he fell to the ground. “I’m sorry!” Galtry yelled as his cheek began to swell. The other man pulled out a pistol and shot Galtry between the eyes. Galtry was dead before he hit the ground. “Apology accepted,” the man said as he walked out, leaving Galtry’s body lying. Robin was beginning to tire. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something in blue and black descending to the rooftop. Inwardly he smiled. This was just the chance he’d been waiting for. The Batman turned his head a tiny amount to see what was behind him, but it was enough. With all the power he had left, Robin threw a punch that caught the Batman just below his right eye. As the taller man staggered back, Robin ran to the edge of the roof and jumped off. From there, it was no problem to use his acrobatic skills to get to street level and disappear. Nightwing, the Batman’s partner, hurried to his side. “Are you okay?” ”Fine,” Batman said as he stood. “Kid’s good. Just got in a lucky punch.” He looked into a shocked Nightwing’s eyes. “What?” ”Your lip,” Nightwing replied. Batman ran his glove against his lip and was surprised to see blood on the leather. “Huh,” he said as his lip curled up into a sardonic smile. “Looks like he’s better than I thought.” He turned back to his partner. “Let’s go, Jason. I’m sure that kid’ll turn up again if he’s not smart enough to get out of town.” The Titans’ jet landed on a private airfield just outside of Gotham City. “Kid Flash, locate Robin,” Aqualad ordered. “You can cover the ground a lot quicker than the rest of us can. Donna, I need you to check from the air. As soon as either of you finds him, let us know on the communicator and we’ll be right there.” Wally zoomed off as Donna took to the air. Aqualad, Speedy and Smith simply sat down to wait. “Boys, that was a mistake,” Anthony Zucco announced as he exited the bathroom. “You don’t want to know what those cheesesteak fajitas’ll do to you.” He stopped as he realized that the room’s main lights were off and the usual raucous laughter was silent. “Boys?” Robin smiled as he landed in front of Zucco. “They’ve been kind enough to leave us alone,” he said. “Who are you?” Zucco demanded as he pulled a pistol from his pocket. Robin’s switchblade stabbed into the back of Zucco’s hand, forcing him to drop the weapon. “I’m an orphan, thanks to you,” he said. “You murdered my parents.” Zucco ran for the window. Robin let him go. Zucco jumped onto the fire escape and began running up. Zucco finally reached the roof. His heart was hammering in his chest and he wanted to double over and catch his breath. He began to indulge until he saw a blur of red and yellow somersault off the ladder and land right in front of him. “Can’t get away that easy, fat man,” Robin said. Zucco slowly backed away. Robin advanced on him until the backs of Zucco’s legs were pressed against the edge of the roof. Robin was on him in a flash, pushing him down on top of the ledge. Kid Flash looked up as a pebble landed right in front of him. He saw Zucco leaning over the edge of the roof. “That’s not very safe,” he said. He took off for the ladder to the roof. “You killed my parents!” Robin yelled as Zucco fought to figure out a way to get out of this. “Now it’s your turn. I just wish I had some matches so I could burn you like you burned them.” A hand was on Robin’s shoulder. “Hey, Robin,” Kid Flash said. “We’ve been looking for you.” ”Buzz off, Wally,” Robin said. “This is just a little personal business I need to take care of. I’ll be with you as soon as Zucco here’s a grease spot on the pavement.” Suddenly it hit Wally what was going on. “You can’t!” he said. “We’re good guys! Heroes don’t kill!” ”Shut up!” Robin yelled. His fist swung around and caught Kid Flash, sending him sliding backward. “I’ve waited too long for this. He’s mine.” Kid Flash sat on the rooftop, stunned. Tears started running down his cheeks. “You can’t do this!” he yelled. “Uncle Barry didn’t kill! Jay didn’t kill! Heroes don’t kill! We don’t!” Robin blinked furiously as Wally’s words ran through his head. Suddenly, in a moment of clarity, he saw what he was doing. Slowly he brought Zucco back onto the roof and stepped back. The big man fell to the ground. “You’re right,” he said. “I have a better way to handle this.” A second later, Wally was grabbing Robin tightly in a fierce hug. “I knew you wouldn’t,” he sniffled as tears soaked into Robin’s shirt. “I knew it.” Ten minutes later, Batman landed on a rooftop beside Nightwing. “So he didn’t kill him,” Batman said. ”That’s right,” Nightwing replied. “I was ready to move if I needed to, but this kid in yellow stopped him.” “The speedster,” Batman observed. He looked down at Zucco. “At least now we have a present for Commissioner Gordon.” Four days later… Dick Grayson was scanning his email when he saw one from Sam. Apparently he’d gotten online in an Internet café. As he read, one line caught his attention. “By the way, our friend is being taken care of. His boss thanks you for the position you put him in and he’ll take it from there.” Dick sat back in his chair, realizing that Zucco was dead, probably killed in a prison ‘fight’. He sat there for a long time, trying to decide how he felt about that. In the bathroom, Roy Harper had the shower running and the door locked. He carefully unwrapped the package that Lloyd had prepared for him. He slid the needle into a small glass flask. He pulled his belt tightly around his upper arm just like Lloyd had shown him. He winced slightly as the needle penetrated his skin… …and then everything was perfect. End Book One... Next Issue: It’s a culture shock as the Titans meet a hero from behind the Iron Curtain – Red Star! Previous Issue | Next Issue |
