[ Post a Response | Role Play Board ]
Posted by Black Canary
on 10/31/2008, 12:20 am
Site Vet
The heroine Black Canary is a strong and noble fighter. She was a member of the Justice League and Justice Society, sometimes leading both teams to glory and victory. But in a pinnacle part of her history, these things could have been taken from her. Years ago, Dinah Laurel Lance was kidnapped and brutally tortured. Luckily, Green Arrow, the love of her life, saved her. But what if that had not been? What if Black Canary was never rescued?
The night air of Gotham was crisp despite its murky demeanor. The city remained unchained the last few years, with neither good nor evil gaining any ground. Gotham was stuck in a proverbial stalemate. Batman looked out over his home with sharp eyes and a heavy heart. This night he was not searching for Two Face, Riddler, Catwoman, or even Joker. They prey they sought was far worse.
“Are you sure this is where we need to be?” Robin’s voice said into Batman’s earpiece.
“Positive. This is the last one still living. She has no where else to go,” Batman ensured. He held his cape close as the wind picked up around him. Across the street sat The Lonely Heart Hotel, a dive known for its prostitution and drug dealing. Inside the building, Robin was in room 300 monitoring the various devices he had planted in the room next to him. If anyone so much as breathed inside, he would know of it.
The man occupying the room was Brian Durlin, also known as Savant in his villainous circles. He had a promising career as a vigilante at one point, but he made some bad decisions. The worst decisions he will ever make. His genius usually allowed him to think his way out of most situations and his fighting prowess gave him the courage to fight his way out of the rest of them. But the events of the last few months had whittled his sanity away, leaving a paranoid man in a paranoid city. Savant paced back and forth in his room, muttering something to himself. Every few minutes he would stop in front of the cracked mirror hanging on his stained motel wall and just stare. He was barely recognizable anymore. His chiseled looks had been replaced by an emaciated face. His strong hands were now nervous, trembling digits. He had a condition that made it hard to remember things at times and that had only multiplied his current fear.
“What’s he doing?”
“Pacing. Constantly. Consistently,” Robin reported. “This doesn’t feel right. We’re using him as bait in a trap.”
“It’s the only way we have.”
“How can you say that? Even after what he did, this isn’t what we do.”
“Things have changed. Do you really think there is anywhere we could take him that she wouldn’t find him?”
To that Robin had nothing to say. Nothing they had done saved the other four men. Even Savant’s very own bodyguard, Creote, had been murdered under their watch. But it wasn’t like this. They hadn’t just sat and waited. They had tried to get him somewhere safe. Somewhere he couldn’t be found. They failed. Robin’s inner turmoil was interrupted by Savant entered the bathroom and closing the door behind him.
“He’s in the bathroom, B.”
“Don’t break surveillance. I’m coming in,” Batman informed his partner.
“What? Why, he’s only staring in the mirror,” Robin asked. When he refocused on his monitor he had the answer. Behind Savant a shadow slowly appeared. Savant’s eyes stopped staring at his reflection and darted a fraction of an inch to the side as he noticed his end appear behind him. How the hell had she made it inside? “Batman, she’s here!” Robin yelled into his communicator as he leapt over his equipment and nearly broke down his own door as he rushed to the adjacent room.
The shadow had the form of a woman, but lacked any real features except golden wings and eyes that peered into his own as he turned to face her. His usually pale skin became almost translucent as he backed up into the sink, fighting for even an inch further away from her. The woman took something from a hidden pouch and slid it under the door. Next she jabbed a small whole in the door as if it was made of paper and shoved a small capsule inside. Savant jumped as the capsule exploded in a pink foam that covered the door and the nearby walls. His eyes widened as the foam reacted with the air and quickly hardened into an almost metal consistency. She did not wish to be interrupted.
Unfortunately, Robin had taken that moment to grab the door handle. His hand and forearm was absorbed and then trapped by the chemical. He screamed as his fingers were broken by the suddenly crushing strength of the foam.
Savant immediately began pleading for his life after hearing the Boy Wonder’s scream and started sobbing in fear. “Please…I’m so sorry,” he said in-between gasps for air. “It wasn’t supposed to go that far,” he lied. She didn’t want to hear it. Her hand reached up and slowly grasped the man’s neck. She pulled a small dagger from behind her and traced it around his face as he had done to a woman once some time ago. As he tried to trace the metal with his eyes, she jerked it away and stabbed it through his hand, pinning it to his own thigh. He opened his mouth to scream but that was met with a second dagger thrust into the orifice. She had done so with such precision that she cut nothing, instead only silencing him with the fear of such a thought.
When she pulled it free he fell to his knees and began begging once more. “Oh God, I’m sorry for what we did to you. Please, I can’t even really remember. Forgive me!”
Didn’t remember? How could one forget what had happened to that poor woman. For days he led the torture that ruined that woman’s life. That destroyed her. She kneeled down next to him and caught a glimpse of her reflection in the pool of blood that was forming beneath Savant. For the first time in months the woman wanted to say something. But she could not. Her voice had been taken from her, by the man that was now at her mercy and now it was her turn to take his. Once more she took something from a hidden pouch in her uniform. She pried open Savant’s lips and slid a small, silver pill down his throat. Unsure as what was happening, he simple cried with relief as she pushed him away from her.
Batman crashed through the window and rolled gracefully to his feet. There he spotted Robin entrapped by the bathroom door. “Be still,” he urged as he approached his ward and assessed the situation.
“She’s in there!” Robin warned, still struggling to break free, struggling to help.
“I know,” was all Batman said as he took out several small pads connected to a remote control of some sort. He placed them around where Robin’s arm was trapped. As he did so, he noticed a small blinking device also lodged in the hardened foam. Realizing that they had little time, he activated the pads, which emitted a burst of sound waves. As the foam crumbled, Batman jerked Robin free and dove to the side of the door just as the explosive went off. Bruce and the stunned sidekick rushed to their feet and over to the bathroom door that had fallen away in the explosion. Savant had wearily made it to his feet and was looking at them in gratitude. “Where is she?” Batman asked as he quickly glanced around the room.
“I…” Savant began to say but stopped as a gurgling sound replaced his words. Confusion swept onto the faces of all three men while Savant grasped at his throat. Blood began to pour from his mouth and he now scraped at his trachea, trying to dislodge something. Batman and Robin barely had time to reach him before several small barbs, no thicker than a needle, suddenly protruded from the man’s throat and neck, splashing blood everywhere. His eyes titled to the back of his head as he collapsed into the empty tub behind him. Robin rushed to his aide but Batman knew it was too late. He looked over and found exactly what he expected to find. A small, black, origami bird. He opened it and inside, written in a bright yellow, the killer warned, “Stay out of my way.”
From many blocks away the shadow reappeared on a rooftop, the rush of her revenge still fresh in her senses. The people of Gotham were finally realizing that there were consequences to their deeds. The men who had kidnapped and abused that poor woman were all dead now. But the pain remained, even after all that time. There was one last loose end to tie up. One final party to assign blame to. Tomorrow night, Arkham Asylum would see blood.
Message Thread:
« Back to thread