"Jst to hmr you I shll slw my speech down so that you may understand me you arrogant little prick. Your 'failsafe' plan didn't bank on my Ken-doll like anatomy, did it? Oh how I shall enjoy experimenting on you. Oh how your guardian will rue the day he made an enemy of me."
He sees it as a game.
That's the only conclusion I can draw upon. It isn't the last, by any means, but it remains likely. The maniac calling himself by the monkier of "The Joker"'s view of reality is warped into a mix of lawless anarchy and fearless performance. His crimes demand attention, and always succeed. And the measures he uses to get that attention are enough to leave me sleepless, even though that was barely a problem before.
But what's the conclusion? Is there some kind of main point to his madness? What is he planning for the city, if he's planning anything at all?
I rub the temple of my forehead as I close the book I tried to bury myself in, just to allow a moment's rest on the casework. But the mental image of the grinning night watchmen I found in the back of the Gotham City Museum Of History still taunt me, as does his own grinning face. It reminds me that while I study, he's out there, waiting for his next opprotunity to strike and gain so much more of that attention he apparentally craves. It also provides all the reason I need to apprehend him and get him off the streets, as soon as possible.
I look up, as Alfred scoops up the book between dusting the shelves, and places it back in it's place.
"I never was one for Edgar Alan Poe myself, either.", He responds, prompting the usual eyebrow arch that surfaces everytime Alfred makes a comment, these days.
"It isn't the book. It's the clown.", I answer. "I've never came back to a criminal, even the most extreme cases, more than I have with The Joker. I feel like I'm becoming obsessed."
"Obsession? You? Perish the thought.", Alfred states, with little effort and even smaller hesitation.
I throw him a look, before getting up from my seat.
"This is serious, Alfred. Alot of people are dying because of this madman."
"As did those plagued by Professor Crane, sir. And Doctor Fries. And Mr. Hagen,", He continues. "Truth be said, Master Wayne, It's a wonder that death and madness hasn't become apart of your workly routine."
"That's exactly my point,", I respond. "Why does he bother me so much, of all of them?"
"Because he's the one that humilated you.", Alfred answers. "You went in with the intention of saving the lives of those students, and instead you were greeted with a pile of his handiwork. And might I remind you, sir, that he averted capture by tripping you with a set of marbles?"
"..."
"Thanks, Alfred, I really needed to be reminded of that.", I state, with a sigh, before looking out the window.
"My point is... perhaps it isn't the clown that's truly bothering you.", He questions. "Perhaps your confidence is the one preventing you from treating this... 'Joker', as just what he is. Another criminal for you to catch."
I turn around, slightly, considering this.
Maybe he's right. Maybe I'm just not confident I can outsmart The Joker. But that's exactly the line of thinking I need to avoid, in this. I can't afford to allow my own feelings to blind my work... too many people count on my results. Perhaps with time, I can better this, so it won't cloud my judgement again.
"MASTER WAYNE!"
My eyes widen, at Alfred's tone, as he looks at the window with fear.
"GET DOWN, SIR!", He shouts, as I turn around, only to spot what he's talking about.
"What in god's name-...?"
It's heading for the window. Instinctively, I leap back, conjuring up any possible reflexes I can manage to exert, and dive behind a chair, as Alfred runs out of a room. In seconds, I hear the glass shatter, as a mechanical whurr fills the room. Looking up, peering out of the side of the chair, I stand, confused as to what exactly I'm looking at.
"Bruce Wayne,", It speaks, a voice as cold and inhuman as steel. "Thermal Scan Completed. Target Identified. Upgrade To Commence Upon Capture."
I blink, once. I've never seen anything like this before... even at Wayne Enterprises. But the design doesn't fit one of the technological blueprints I've seen in my deals with Lexcorp, or Kord Technologies, either. I'm sure Kord or Luthor could afford to create something like this... but something tells me I'm already way off.
Either way, now's is not a time to deciepher design specifications. Especially if whatever it said means what I think it means.
"What are you?", I ask, trying to distract it with words as I weight out any possible options.
"We Are A Unified Network, Bruce Wayne Of Gotham City. The Observational Meta-humanary Activities Construct. OMAC.", It replies, advancing... well, hovering, towards me. "And You Are Required For The Multi-Humanry Worldwide Upgrade."
My eyes widen. Worldwide? Does it actually have more of these things stationed around the world?!
Quickly, my hands come upon a displayed 15th Century Sword over the fireplace mantle, after feeling around the wall behind me. I'm not entirely sure this'll work... But there's only one real way to find out.
"Sure you don't want to stay for a drink?", I ask, with a sly smirk to throw it off.
"Negative.", It states. "Your Upgrade Shall Now Commence."
I give it an unamused look.
"Funny..."
I grab the sword and slash onto the "OMAC", striking it's shoulder in order to try and dig into the arm, and attempt to weaken it.
"I happen to disagree."
The sword sparks, but does little against the armor. The OMAC looks up at me, before grabbing the sword and breaking the blade in half, with little effort.
"You Are But A Nuisance. But Soon, That Error Shall Be Corrected."
The eye glows bright red, as I try to run out of the room. Need to get to the cave... get a weapon that'll actually hold it's own against whatever I'm really facing. But the minute I reach the door, a blast of some kind of energy bombards it, knocking me back into a far wall. The OMAC approaches, as I push myself up from a pile of books Alfred had been dusting, before.
I don't know what I'm going to do. But I better do it fast, because I'm obviously running out of time.
"There Is No Cause For Worry, Bruce Wayne Of Gotham.", It speaks, as both the eye on it's forehead and the eye on it's chest glow brightly. Which, by all accounts, doesn't look entirely pleasant for my sake. "The Brother Eye Shall Cease The Need For It, Soon Enough."
I flinch, a bit, as the eyes grow brighter. I... I may be too late. Dammit.
*BLAM*
At first, I believe my life is flashing before my eyes, as I hear the gunshots that killed my parents. But when my eyes open again, I see that I'm wrong, thankfully. Alfred stands in the entrance of the doorway, a shotgun in hand, shooting at the OMAC as it turns, and faces him.
"Secondary Target Identified. Of Minimal Threat. Dispose Of And Continue With Upgra-"
*BLAM*
The OMAC falls, suddenly, as Alfred drops the gun. I look down at the being, as a fresh bullet hole graces the eye, obviously shattering it. Oddly enough, blood starts to seep from the helmet, as I pull myself up, watching Alfred dust himself off.
"Most ungentlemenly.", He mentions, before turning to me. "Are you alright, sir?"
"I'm fine.", I state, before looking down at the gun, a bit uneasy. "...How long have you had that?"
"Since before you were born.", He answers. "Not to worry, Master Bruce. I don't plan to make a habit out of using it."
"Good,", I begin, before leaning down and staring at the OMAC. "But I think we've got a much bigger problem on our hands, right now."
"You've managed to diciepher what this is?", He asks.
"Not even remotely, aside from a name.", I reply. "But I managed to catch a bit of what it's planning. And if what it said is true, we've got little time to ask questions."
I stand back up, running over to the grandfather clock on the far right.
"Alfred, get this thing down to the cave. I need you to perform every possible scan that the Batcomputer can manage. Figure out what it is, and where it came from. If there's even a record on where it came from..."
"Certainly. But what exactly do you have planned, yourself?"
I pull down on a lever, revealing a secret compartment within the grandfather clock, as it slides up, displaying a Batsuit ready for use.
"To put it simply, Alfred... My city may need me, right now."
The technological creature simply stared with its empty eye for a few precious seconds, seemingly judging how much the Man of Steel meant what he said.Spike_x1 said:
"Don't kill them!" Superman wasn't sure exactly to what extent the Amazon was damaging their opponents, but he couldn't risk Wonder Woman harming the people inside those monstrosities. It was the number one priority at the moment. "These things; there are innocent people inside them!" Another blast of artic breath as he dodged a stream of energy. "Help me bring them closer to the ground where he can try to get them out."Andy C. said:The orders were spread almost instantaneously throughout the OMAC swarm. Units were chosen for the new mission, and broke away from the battle that raged in the air. The horrified citizens of Metropolis barely noticed as over a thousand OMACs suddenly tore across the sky, headed for Gotham.
At the heart of the swarm, the Last Son of Krypton was fighting desparately, but the sheer numbers were beginning to overwhelm him. Throngs of the cybernetic slaves slammed into him from all sides, bouncing him around like a pinball.
So intent were the OMACs on capturing their quarry, they did not register the incoming threat until it was too late.
"Warning!" the message was relayed throughout the army, "Unidentified life form approaching! Metahuman probability: 99.99%. Registering threat level to--"
The OMAC's warning was cut short as a fist slammed into its face, sending it tumbling out of the clouds towards the city below. The figure began to cut a swath through the swarm, plowing through the OMACs as it closed in on its destination.
"SUPERMAN!"
"I've come to help. What is going on here?"
IC: Barry Allen:
)
Rocketing down to the streets faster than a speeding bullet, Superman suddenly stopped a foot from the ground and turned to face the OMACs, a wide beam of low intensity heat vision showering the opponents. As the glowing blue adversaries recoiled and shielded themselves, Superman once again took off, this time circling the cloud of distracted OMACs that had bottle-necked themselves on the descent passed the buildings and skyscrapers of Metropolis. He flew circles around the technological creatures, faster and faster, until a vortex of wind began to form around them. Soon, the OMACs were being dragged through the air by the small tornado that Superman had created. Within moments, the army of OMACs were thrown to the ground by the pressing and crushing winds.(IC:
Another one of the mechanical monsters lunges forth out of the swarm towards me. Superman's words still have not registered with me until I retaliate and send my fist crushing into the thing's face. Its armor cracks...
Merciful Hera.
There's a girl in there. She can't be older than fifteen. And she's terrified.
"I...I'm so sorry, I--"
Before I can finish my sentence, the world explodes into stars and lights as another wave of the machines slam into me. I can barely see as the blue blurs swarm around me, battering me from all sides. They issue beams of heat and lightning and a dozen other means of destruction, and the force of their blows would rival Hercules himself.
Must keep fighting...must save these people...but how?
I throw them off of me long enough to regain my bearings, and they seem to pause, regarding me with dead, electronic eyes.
"Target now identified as 'Wonder Woman,' Alpha-Level Threat. Logging request for further orders."
For a few precious seconds, they stop. Superman wanted to bring them down to the streets, where they would have less angles of attack, and where the people inside would be in less danger.
"Superman! Now might be our only chance to break away from them! We've got to hurry!"
The hideous blue swarm is all but stationary as I bolt downwards, heading towards Metropolis below. Merciful gods, if this doesn't work, the whole city might be destroyed, and millions will be lost.
Once I'm amidst the spires of the city's skyscrapers, I slow my descent and turn to the sky. Superman is coming down after me....and so are the mechanical nightmares that blot out the sun above.
Well, we've brought the fight to ground level.
...what do we do now?
The tires nearly combust, as the Batmobile tears into Sprang Avenue. Hit the throttle too hard... boosted the turbo too soon. It's a clear indication that I'm letting the situation get to me already. But in hindsight, I can't really see an alternative. After all... I doubt it'll be an often occurance that my city will come under attack by a full scale invasionary assault.
If it makes it through this one.
The gear shifts, as I barely even pay attention to anything but the road ahead. That's when it hits me... I should be paying attention to something else. The unit that attacked me... attacked my home... it did so through an aerial strike. And if that's any indication as to how the rest of it's pack travels...
I screech to a halt, in the middle of a deserted city street. Most have fled. Which oddly eases my task at hand. But the moment the roof of the Batmobile slides back, and my eyes rest upon the city's skyline above... that though immediately comes to a cease.
There are... hundreds. Maybe more. Maybe considerably less. I can't tell. But they all follow a similar pattern. Which leads me to believe I'm dealing with something that's being controlled from an outside force. Immediately, I patch through to Alfred's link in the cave.
"Alfred, listen to me carefully...", I begin, leaping out of the car. "I need for you to run a scan of any and all radio wavelinks that are currently active within the city. There shouldn't be many, given that the news stations were taken off-air not long after it began."
"Consider it done, Sir."
"And hurry,", I add. "From the looks of things, it's going to be a considerably long evening. Get back to me as soon as you can."
Shutting off the link, I place it into my belt and replace it with a grapnel. Taking it, I aim, and fire at the nearest rooftop. For now, all I can do is perform a study on these things. A study of what makes them tick, and what is useless against them. More importantly, however... it's a question of how I stop them from siezing the city's mass population.
Almost as soon as I take to the air, I hear screams below. Dammit. Can't afford to allow them to take any civillian casualties. At least the ones I can prevent. Immediately, I drop from the line, and spread my cape. Sure enough, upon landing above an alleyway, I spot it. It isn't an OMAC. It's a crook. But that doesn't stop me from grasping the batarang in my hand, and leaping down to aide. These fools are trying to take advantage of a terrifying situation. But I'll show them fear.
"Leave her alone.", I growl out, as the two thugs persuing her stop dead in their tracks, spotting me.
"Oh god! No! No, no, no! Not him! Not the Bat!", One screams out, before drawing a gun and firing upwards.
Idiocy. A common trait among Gotham's criminal element. But I don't have time to make observations. Have to make this quick. I throw out a batarang, and jam it into vein. It makes enough of an impact to force him to drop the weapon, just as I land. Now, to deal with the other.
Still have to make this quick. But that doesn't mean...
...That I don't have to make it painful.
"Alfred. Any luck, yet?"
I take to the rooftops again, opening the link back up through my cowl mic. The OMACs seem to be continuing in a pattern, but something's changed. Some have left. It's as if something else has caught their attention, in the city. But I can't tell what, as of yet.
"It's a bit difficult to penpoint, Master Wayne, but there seems to be something there alright. I'll keep on it until I can come back with something substantial."
"Good,", I answer. "Because at this rate, Gotham's going to fall apart by sunrise."
The paranoia has taken to the city in stride. I've already had to deal with looters and thieves, madly chanting that it's the end of the world. I'd be joining them, perhaps, if I weren't so skeptical. The machines have clear intentions that lie deeper than destroying civilisation... otherwise, they wouldn't have tried to capture me.
My breath shortens, as I realise something. I'm not alone, up here.
"Bruce Wayne,"
Oh, hell.
"Your Upgrade Has Not Yet Reached Commencement."
Alfred Pennyworth complies to his master's request, as he begins typing in several relays into the vast network of the Batcomputer. But even as he does, and as it fails to give him the information his employer so direly needs, Alfred refrains from the usual, and pastly provoked, red-blooded british curses. He maintains a gentlemanly demeanor, as he simply tries, and tries again.
But as he does, he is startled when the Batcave's silent alarm is tripped. Turning, Alfred peers up into the cave's stairway, wondering just who the devil could have breached the cave's security, especially at a time like this. Grabbing the rifle he had used to down the first mechanical monstrosity that threatened Bruce Wayne, Alfred makes haste to the steps, and aims, ready to shoot down the intruder.
But what he sees, when he eventually realises what he's looking at, provokes not hostility... but rather, pure and simply, shock.
"Good lord,", The british butler utters. "You're no taller than a thimble!"
Alfred stares upon the barrel of the shotgun, obviously both conflicted and amazed at The Atom's prescence. In all of his years of life, with all that the English butler has seen, from the worst possible injuries back in his days as a medical aide in Vietnam, to the first time his young employer would don cape and cowl, he had to admit to himself... he had never seen anything quite like this.
Turning back, towards the still quite visible equipment of the Batman that stood behind them both, Alfred looked towards the communications unit, before turning back to the Atom, and sighing.
"Oh, dear. How I'll ever explain this to Master Wayne is beyond me..."
"There Will Be No Escape, Bruce Wayne."
I tumble back, across the rooftop, barely managing to avoid one of the OMAC's weaponised arms. He says my name as clear as day, but it comes to no surprise. All that does is simply confirm that they've tracked me with some kind of thermal or heat signature scan, in no way fooled by the costume. Which makes things all the more difficult, but nevertheless, I'm learning more about the enemy as time grows thinner.
Grabbing an edge of the rooftop, I flip upwards, and kick into the chest. Have to be cautious... there's still a human inside, if this one's like the other that appeared at my home. I can't afford to resort to lethal means. Luckily... It's hardly ever nessacary.
The kick does little, as the OMAC grabs me by the leg, and tosses me across the rooftop. Stupid. Underestimated the armor, when I knew firsthand that it would do little good. But I had to bide my time to come up with a secondary strategy somehow...
"Formidable.", It notes, hovering forward. "Brainiac Will Be Most Pleased To Know Of This."
I raise an eyebrow, upon the name. Brainiac...? Is that what the leader to these things is called? More importantly, I need to figure out whether or not that's actually a human alias... because it definately doesn't sound like it. With a side roll, I unsheath two batarangs from my belt, and push myself up.
"He never will,", I respond, targeting and tossing the weapons at the shoulders.
They land, accurately enough, as the OMAC begins reaching for them. But before he gets the chance to remove them, I press the reciever in my belt buckle, and brace myself, covering my body with the latex insoles of my cape. In an instant, precisely 14,000 volts of electricity is sent coursing through the armor. A tactical defense, designed by the boys at Wayne Enterprises' military applications division. But I think it provided better useage, in this case.
Removing the cape, I watch as the armor begins to fall, revealing the human component inside. Before he has a chance to speak, he drops, unconcious, due to the shock. I run over and check his pulse, on the chance that I inadvertendly did something I'm going to regret. But the soul's still alive, thank god.
Better alert Alfred of this. It could provide the nessacary lead he needs for his task.
"Alfred, you there?", I ask, tapping the side of my cowl.
"I'm... here, sir. And I'm afraid I've got a bit of news. It seems we've... gotten a visitor, strangely enough."
My eyes widen.
