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Posted by Blue Beetle
on 8/18/2008, 3:15 pm
76.84.93.240
"Ding"
The sound rings in the ears of Melody Case. It's a nice change of pace from the low hum of the elevator cables. She had to get special access to this floor from the security guard at the desk; from the way he looked at her Ted didn't have too many "official" visitors. She can only guess what he meant by that. Glancing down at her watch, she quickly checks the time, Luscious Fox, Wayne's number two had invited her on a tour of the city. She mentally calculates that she's got twenty minutes before the he's done with his meeting and the limo arrives.
The apartment is dark, the skyline of Gotham looks like stars through the large tinted windows that line the wall in front of her. She steps out of the elevator, her heels click against the wood floor. A thin layer of dust has settled over the plastic that covering the furniture, it doesn't look like Ted planned on coming back anytime soon. She walks toward a large book case that sits on the apartment's far wall.
"There's got to be a secret panel or something. A trap door maybe..." Dust slowly rises into the air as she fumbles with the books on the shelf, so intent on her purpose she doesn't pay attention to anything else.
"Damnit Ted, why did you have to run off like that? Tell me your big secret and then go and get....." She feels the salty sting of tears begin to well in her eyes. Yes she had come to Gotham to meet with Bruce Wayne but she had also come to find answers, to find something he might have left behind, anything that might be used to find out what happened to him. Her actions reflect off of a golden frame, it captures her attention out of the corner of her eye.
The charity gala had made the news, even in Chicago, some of the East Coast's biggest business men, Oliver Queen, Bruce Wayne, and Ted Kord, not to mention the others in attendance. It was a one of the few nights where people with such money and power were in close proximity to one another. Ted's smiling as usual, he looks better then she remembers him being in a long time, better then he had been when she last saw him in Chicago. Next to him is a red headed woman, they're both holding glasses of wine, she's laughing too. Melody knows the look in the woman's eyes, knows what it means...
For a moment that seems like an eternity, she's standing in Ted's office in Chicago. The sun glares down on Lake Michigan, the glistening water shimmers in the distance. She watches as Ted moves towards his desk, not sure what she expects him to get out, a gun? A bottle? Resignation papers? He'd been acting so strange ever since he got back from Gotham, so distant. It looks like a normal piece of blue cloth, although she takes a step back anyway hoping there's nothing underneath it. He tosses it to her, she catches it; the yellow goggles are the first things her eyes focus on.
"I should have never...." She tries to hold back the tears for a few seconds longer, to hold back the emotions that had been swirling within her.
The wind blows against her hair; it sends a shiver down her spine. It catches her off guard. She looks around reaching into her purse, her fingers finding the bottle of mace, clutching it so tightly she can feel her knuckles turning white. She turns around to face one of the large windows that moments earlier had been closed.
"Ted?"
New York City, large, lots of people, and each one doesn't care about the other, at least that's what I keep hearing on the news and through the media. The winter wind blows against my cheeks which are already flushed red as I continue to walk down the street. With my free hand I pull the wool coat I had been given a little tighter, my other arm has already started to feel the fatigue of carrying the stainless steel brief case. I'm almost there.
The list, Amanda Waller and the other Royals of Checkmate had given it to me, a CD that contains the names of everyone Luthor vaccinated with the OMAC virus, a virus designed to kill heroes, regardless if they have powers or not. There's more going on then they're telling me, there always is with things like this. I just don't know what it is. Pieces of the puzzle I still haven't been given.
I look up at the street addresses and keep walking, I've decided not to take a cab, after my fight with Alchemy and my "death" it feels good to be out in the open air. The apartment I'm looking for lies on the outskirts of the neighborhood that had gained the name Mutant Town in recent years. Dr. Ray Palmer, The Atom, had once tried to tell me the difference between Meta Humans and Mutants, that Metas were an extension of the human race, while mutants their own species. Evidently a debate still wages in the intellectual community about which path is humanity's true course.
Another gust of wind blows against me, forcing me to lower my head. I feel the paper flap against my leg, the bright red header of the Daily Bugle catches me eyes. I've read the Bugle a few times; it ranks just slightly a head of The Enquirer in terms of legitimate news, although they have a couple good photographers a guy by the name of Parker in particular. Once I'm done with this Checkmate stuff, I should hire him to take some beauty shots of me in costume. That's sounds a lot dirtier then it should.
As I look down a paper, I'm a little surprised to see a picture of myself, and the headline "Turgid Tycoon! Ted Kord's Rehab Stint a growing trend amongst industrialists." I'm not sure whether to take it as a compliment or an insult. I drop the paper to the ground; Checkmate must have come up with a cover story. They at least could have consulted me. Rehab? Ollie maybe, hell Bruce would even be believable, but me?
I feel the push and the expletives that go along with it as one of the lovely residents of New York pushes past me. Guess the reports I'd heard were closer to the truth then I'd thought. I take the not so subtle hint and keep moving. I scurry across the street, as the cross walk switches to "Don't Walk". It's not much longer before I reach my destination. The five story apartment building isn't run down but it is kept up either. It feels a little warmer, must be some of the weather controlling mutants I've read about. I look at the apartment numbers and the list of names that lies next it. Ashida, 4-F.
"The names highlighted are of priority, the rest can wait." Osborne's words echo in my head, I'm not a fan of playing with people's lives, although I'm thinking he gets a kick from it.
I don't bother to ring up; I set the brief cases containing the instruments that were provided to me down. I set it down gently hoping that I don't break anything. I reach into my pocket and take out a small sliver cylinder about the size of a quarter. I place it on the electronic lock that keeps the door dead bolted. It takes a second before I hear the buzzing, picking up my brief I walk inside off of the street.
The building is quiet, better then most of the apartments I spent my nights patrolling in Gotham. As I reach the fourth floor a boy with bright red scales covering his body runs past me, a few seconds later a pale faced girl runs to catch up with him. Their laughter lingers in the hallway.
I stand outside the door, unsure of how this is supposed to work, before I finally get up enough courage to knock.
"Just a moment." The perky voice calls from the other side. "Listen we already order from the Hidden Palace down the..."
The woman who answers is tall and athletic, her blonde hair contrasts nicely with her tan skin. I'm pretty sure she wasn't expecting someone dressed in black slacks and dark wool trench coat.
"Ms. Ashida?"
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