Issue #4 Faux-DC Presents: Science Killings, Part Four of Five Plotted by Steve Swartz and Clay Arceneaux Scripted by Steve Swartz

It was a beautiful Summer day at Gotham Stadium. The Gotham Giants were playing the Metropolis Supermen. And the Giants were winning. Sort of. The score was tied three to three in the bottom of the eighth inning. "Isn't this GREAT, son?" Tim's father asked him. "Now we can spend LOTS of time together! Maybe being crippled wasn't the greatest thing to happen to me, but it's giving me more time to spend with you. Why, when I was your age, Mickey Mantle..." Tim wasn't listening. He had his head in his hands, thinking about Ariana. He thought of all the times that they had gone walking through Gotham Park, when they had their first kiss...with each other. These memories were NOT making Tim feel any better. And now Batman was being strange again! The last time that happened, Bruce ended up hiring a "substitute" Batman, a lunatic named Azrael*... supposedly a 'dark angel'. THAT had ended up in disaster. Tim hoped...real- ly hoped...that Batman wasn't going crazy on him again. Then there was this business with Catwoman! She apparently rescued Batman and Robin from the old prison where they were being held hostage**, but then either fled with or was kidnapped by two men, Red and Butch, who in turn were all mixed up in this murdered scientist business. "...What a hit! It's going...going....GONE!" the announcer cried into the microphone, as everyone in the crowd stood up and cheered in unison. Tim didn't bother looking up. Ever since he was young enough to know what the game was about, he had wanted to catch a foul ball...or a home run ball. He had never been successful. So he saw no point in even bothering, what with his current streak of bad luck. * See "Knightfall", "Knightquest" and "KnightsEnd" arcs - Swingin' Steve ** Last issue - Swingin' Steve "Tim! Look, son!" his father shouted. "It's coming right to you!" Tim looked up. It was! He leapt up from his seat, darted a quick glance at the scoreboard (where the television cameras were panning the crowd) and saw that they were focussing on him. He reached up and plucked the ball right out of the air. The crowd roared. Fans were slapping Tim on the back and shouting to him. "Way to go, son," his dad said. Maybe his luck was about to change. "That's him, Boss," Red said as he poked a finger at the television. "That's da kid dat was wit' da Batman!" Red's boss's face was so disfigured that on one side of his face, you couldn't recognize him as being human. The other side of his face, however, looked totally human. This man's name was Harvey Dent, former District Attorney of Gotham City. That was before acid was thrown in his face by a disgruntled criminal. From then on he was an outcast from society. He turned to crime. And he had just been released for the umpteenth time from Arkham Asylum, the local "nuthouse" for the criminally insane. Two-Face, as he is now called, looked hard at Red. "How can you be so sure?" Two-Face asked of Red. "Looka dat scar...I gave it to 'im two days ago!*" Red stared at the baseball game that was being broadcast. "I know dat's da kid dat caught da ball...I know dat he's da brat wit' Batman." Red looked triumphantly at Butch and crossed his arms. "Well," his boss said, thinking carefully. "If the boy really IS Robin, then I'm sure you know what to do with him." "What's dat?" His boss threw the cigarette that he was smoking onto the table and crushed it with his index finger. He looked at Red and then at Butch. He leaned back. "Your job," he said, "is to eliminate him." * As seen in issues 2 and 3 - Reminiscing Steve __________________________________________________________________________________ It was evening. Bruce Wayne, millionaire playboy, walked arm-in-arm with his date, Elisha Matthews, his secretary at WayneTech. The couple grinned as they stepped onto the expensive yacht. Elisha earned a fairly large salary, but whoever owned this yacht must be worth a fortune! A waiter passed by Bruce and Elisha, carrying a tray of champagne. Bruce took two from the tray as the waiter walked by and gave one to Elisha. She shyly looked at him as they clinked glasses and drank. 'She has the most beautiful green eyes,' Bruce thought as he stared at his date. To Elisha, he then said, "Would you care to dance?" "Sure, mister...Bruce," she said, as Bruce led her to the elaborate ballroom. A band was playing a slow tune, a waltz. As Bruce and Elisha moved to the music, a shadowy face was peering around a corner of the ballroom entrance. This man had a small two-way radio concealed in a cufflink. His name was Horace Brulgadia, and he had made his fortunes illegally, with bootlegged whisky and illegal drugs. And this man was looking for a chance to hold everyone up. Sure enough, by coincidence, a power failure ran through the ship. This was his chance! "Nobody move!" he shouted, among the shrieks of the women and the cries of the men. "I'll kill every last one o' you people if any of you move an inch. ONE INCH." He glanced around. "Pass all your valuables to the stage and no one gets hurt." The wealthy people followed the criminal's instructions. He ran to the stage to put all of the jewels, wallets and other valuables into a sack. But what he didn't count on was the Batman not showing up. That was the reason that he was there. As bait for Batman. And Robin. He whispered into his two-way radio. "Boss," he said, "none of em's here. Not the kid, not the Batman." He paused to listen to his bosses' orders. "Yes sir," he said. "Agent Oh-oh-two out." As he stepped down from the stage he ran into a punch which sent him reeling. He got up just in time to see the lights flicker on and Wayne and three other men surrounding him. At first he panicked. But then he remembered the fail-safe device Two-Face had insisted that he wear. He pressed the button concealed in his other cufflink and there was an explosion. "A kamikaze!" Bruce said. Flame shot out of agent oh-one-two's mouth. Just before he died, however, his hand shot out, quick as lightning, and grabbed Bruce Wayne's shirt. Bruce was yanked toward the man. Suddenly the man's eyes became blank and he fell to the floor, ripping Wayne's shirt in the process. Bruce hears a RIIIP and notices that his shirt is torn, slightly revealing his Batman togs underneath! He quickly tucks it in, carefully hiding the slight tear. But not before someone had seen it. "Boss," he said, "Agent oh-oh-four here...we got 'im. Batman was under our noses all the time!" "Who is Batman?" growled the voice from his communicator. "Bruce Wayne is the Batman, boss." Meanwhile, the crowd has dispersed, returning to the buffet, Bruce suspected, since the ballroom was in ruins. 'I'm sure that that agent oh-oh-two has something to do with the scientists,' Bruce thought. 'But am I just lucky that they're always in my general vicinity, or is it on purpose? Do they know that Wayne is Batman?' He paused as a coroner was called in to check out the dead body. He was still thinking when agent oh-oh-four punched him in the jaw. While Bruce reeled from the large man's punch, the agent zapped him with a small device no longer than his middle finger. Bruce smelled something burning as the world turned black. __________________________________________________________________________________ Robin swung from building to building over Gotham City. He was looking specifically for one Tony Moroni, who was known to have formerly worked with a Butch. By hacking into Gotham City Police Department records he had found that, plus many more tidbits of informtion that could be put to good use, given the right circumstances. Robin landed on the ledge of Moroni's penthouse apartment. He paused, then rapped on the window. A figure inside looked at Robin. Came up to the window. He opened the window. "Whaddaya want?" Moroni asked Robin. "Answers, Moroni," Robin said as Moroni turned. Robin invited himself in, shutting the window behind him. "You used to work with a fellow by the name of Butch. Who was he?" Robin inquired of Moroni. "He was involved in racketeering, like I was," Moroni said. "He was a freelancer; used to work for anyone that paid him. He worked for the Joker a coupl'a years back. 'Course, that landed him a one year prison sentence." Moroni stiffened. Turned to look at Robin, who was listening carefully to every word that Moroni said. "Last time I talked with him, he said that he was workin' for Two-Face, with some Russian scientists or something." "Polish," Robin said under his breath. "Hunh?" Moroni asked. "Nothing," Robin said. "Go on." "Well, like I said, that's the last I talked ta him. He wanted me to join him, but I gone straight, I tol' him." Moroni sat down in a leather chair. "That's all I know." "Thanks for being so cooperative," Robin said as he opened the window and swung out into the night. Moroni laughed to himself. Little did Robin know that Red and Moroni were one and the same. And as far as Moroni was concerned, he wanted to keep it that way. And the trap he had set for the Boy Wonder - he had put a tracer on him, rigged to detonate in ten minutes. It had actually been placed on his costume when he had jumped through the window. There were laserbeams, so small that the naked eye couldn't see them. And they automatically put a tracer, of sorts, on him. "And the Joker didn't wanta hire me," Moroni said aloud. __________________________________________________________________________________ "I know where to look now," Robin said aloud. He was alone in the Batcave. It was Alfred's day off, and with a little insisting, he left for the day. And Bruce was nowhere to be found. But that was the least of Tim's worries. Now he thought he knew where to find Catwoman and her abductors. Or her conspirators. Robin tapped in a code to the computer in the Bat-Cave. The computer replied by scrolling a long list of the possible whereabouts of the Catwoman. He had finally narrowed it down to two places: the Frisky Feline Cat Food Company, or Jade Kitten Imports. Robin shook his head. Why did these criminals make it so obvious to find them? At any rate, Robin hopped into the Redbird* and streaked off toward downtown Gotham. As he sped through the streets, he listened to the police scanner and learned that there was trouble aboard the yacht that Bruce was on. Robin began to worry about Bruce. Should he check on Bruce, or should he play his hunch and try to find Catwoman? He chose the latter, for Batman had told him more than once that he didn't need a shadow. Robin parked the Redbird in front of the Frisky Feline Cat Food building and entered. "Catwoman!" he called. The word echoed in the large, empty room. "Catwoman! Are you in here?" He got a muffled reply, then heard a sharp CRACK. He darted to an elevator, because he thought that the sound came from an upper floor. As he waited impatiently for the elevator, he prepared himself for what he might have to face. The elevator stopped at the floor level with a DING as Robin stepped into the car, and pressed the button for the second level. The car moved up rapidly. The doors parted and led into a seemingly empty room - empty, that is, except for the bound and gagged form of Catwoman. "MMmmmmff!" she said as Robin stepped from the elevator. She rapidly shook her head. Robin looked around, but all he could see was emptiness. He moved toward Catwoman to untie her. Once her gag was off, she grabbed Robin's tunic and ripped a piece of fabric off. She hurled it into a corner. Not three seconds later, an explosion rocked the building. "Hurry," she said, "untie me!" Robin did as he was asked. Fire began to spread through the level that they were on. "Here," Robin said, "I can carry you down the - " "Sorry, Boy Wonder," Catwoman said, "but I can manage." With that both she and Robin raced down the stairs and out of the building, through the front doors. "H-how did y-you know about th-the bomb?" Robin asked, panting from the run. "I heard Red and Butch talking. Red, by the way, is a former racketeer named Moroni. And they were talking about 'eliminating' you - via orders from their 'big man'." She paused. "Anything else?" Robin queried. "No," she said. "See you around, Boy Wonder. Oh, and thanks for the rescue." She then faded into the night as she left Robin to stare at the burning building. "I thought only Batman was supposed to do that," Robin said. But he had at least gleaned a little more information. * The Redbird is Robin's Batmobile-like car - Souped-Up Steve __________________________________________________________________________________ "Uhhhnn." Bruce Wayne awoke with a groan. Remembering what had happened, he fully expected to be held somewhere, but he was still on the yacht. Still lying on the ballroom floor. He felt something wet on his face. He touched it with his index finger. Blood. He slowly got to his feet. Looking around, he noticed that no one else appeared to be on the ship except him. The ballroom was still a shambles, the band's instuments were on the stage. It was as if everyone had suddenly vanished. He abruptly noticed that his sport coat was open. Looking down, he saw his shirt, with his costume in plain view. "Great," Bruce said to himself. "I've been so closely guarding my secret identity for years...and now, because of my carelessness, someone has discovered that Wayne and Batman are one and the same." __________________________________________________________________________________ "So Red and Moroni are one and the same," Robin said. He connected to the Gotham City Police Dapartment's files network. He found a file for Moroni and a second file for Red. "If they are one and the same," Robin thought, "then why do they have two different files? Unless," he said excitedly, "unless they ARE the same...but the Red identity didn't come out until a while later!" He tapped a few keys. "A little plastic surgery and a few other operations, and you're set." He made a mental note to pay Moroni another visit. But it seemed that Moroni and Catwoman were only small pawns in the murders. Catwoman wasn't expected, so another variable had to be added to the equation. Which would probably mean that Butch and Red dropped their original plan. But what WAS their original plan? "Gasoline," Robin said. "But is it worth murdering four people just to obtain some fuel?" __________________________________________________________________________________ 'I've got to get out of here,' Bruce thought as he made his way into a room where there was a telephone. He picked the handpiece up and dialed the number to Commissioner Gordon's office. Bruce looked at his watch. Quarter to one in the morning. He hoped that Gordon would still be awake. "Gordon here," came a gruff voice from the other end of the line. "Commissioner," Bruce said in his Batman voice, "we've got trouble. It looks like someone's been here and looted the place. I'm on a yacht around Gotham Bay. A masked man held everyone up here and then blew himself up, kamikaze-like." He paused. "How do you know all this?" Gordon asked. "Wayne told me," Bruce said. "Wayne was knocked unconsious, apparently by an unknown party, for an unknown...reason." "We're on it, Batman," Gordon said as they hung up. __________________________________________________________________________________ Robin jetted out of the Batcave like...well, like a bat out of hell. Jamming the accelerator of the Redbird, the brakes squealed as he attempted to make a sharp turn. Never had Robin been this excited...driven this recklessly. 'I know,' he thought. 'I know who's behind all this.' He sped into Crime Alley. __________________________________________________________________________________ Bruce threw his clothes into the Batmobile, luckily parked not a mile away. There he changed into his Batman guise. Hopping into the Batmobile, he sped away, toward Crime Alley. 'I know who's behind this whole thing,' he said to himself. Flicking on the small television screen, he watched as three policemen were exploring the yacht, while Commissioner Gordon looked on. Gratified, he flicked the switch again, and the set abruptly became dark and silent. Like the person who had turned it off. __________________________________________________________________________________ Robin turned and parked in a Quick-E-Mart parking lot. He looked at the coin he had discreetly picked up from Moroni's floor when he landed inside Moroni's apartment. Slightly scratched on one face, pristine on the other. This could only mean one thing: either Moroni had a fondness for scratched coins, or Two-Face had paid him a recent visit. Robin was betting on the latter. He turned the ignition, just in time to realize that his battery was dead. 'Oops,' he thought to himself, 'must have used the CD player a little too much.' He opened the door and got out, then shut his door and turned the alarm on*. He walked into the Quick-E-Mart. Often called the Shoot-N-Loot by police for obvious reasons, this Quick-E-Mart was in one of the worst parts of Gotham. There were bars on the windows and doors and alarms and cameras everywhere. Robin entered. The clerk took one glance at him and said, "What do you want? The money?" He began to tremble. "We haven't got that much - " "Hey, hey!" Robin said. "I just need a jumper for my battery!" The clerk wiped his forehead. "Ah, I know you! You are the Robin! The Batman's...uhm..." he searched for the right word. "Yeah, right. Look," Robin said, "I really need to get out of here. I've gotta catch a bad guy. Think you can hurry it up a bit?" "Oh yes, of course!" the clerk cried happily. Seconds later Robin had a fully charged battery and a spare one, on the house, "just in case," the clerk had said. Robin grinned to himself. He loved being a hero, but he also loved the fringe benefits! * The alarm stores energy from the battery in reserves, so even if the battery is dead, the alarm has power to feed on - Smart Guy Steve __________________________________________________________________________________ "Batman to Robin," Batman said into his radio. "Robin here," a voice crackled. "Robin, I've figured out who's behind this mess..." "You too?" Robin asked. "You already knew...?" "Not really...I'll explain later. Two-Face's old hideout is in Crime Alley, and I'll bet one of his old flunkies'll know where his current one is." Robin paused. "Two-Face?" Batman asked, skeptically. "I think it's the Joker again." "Nope, it's definitely Two-Face." "Robin, I have seldom been wrong in the past. All this, this is Joker's style! An agent of his on the yacht shocked me with a joy buzzer...rod, or something! Tim, I know I'm correct!" "Look, I'm here already," Robin said. "Track my position. I'll send you the coordinates...we can go from there. Robin out." Batman didn't like it, not one bit. HE was supposed to be the leader, not vice-versa. But he had no choice. Robin apparently had a good lead, and he also had a good head on his shoulders, so Batman decided to chance it. "Just this once," he said. __________________________________________________________________________________ Bat-Signals What's this? Robin assuming the role of leader while Batman waits for Robin's say-so before doing anything? And Batman's wrong, yet Robin is correct? What's with that dime Robin found on Moroni's carpet, anyway? It is certain that Catwoman had no part in the initial murders...or is it? And how did Two-Face and his gang figure out that Tim is Robin? Is Batman's identity still safe? Be here for the final chapter in the "Science Killings" saga to find out! Please, PLEASE send me letters! Please direct all correspondence to Solar_Winds@yahoo.com>, subject: Bat-Signals. Thanks. NEXT ISSUE: Once again, another part of the mystery is solved, and another part is unraveled! What does all this mean for Batman and Robin? What does Elisha have to do with the Polish scientists? And what's with Red/Moroni? Will Batman and Robin capture Two-Face? Find out in issue 5, the final chapter of "Science Killings"! Oh yeah, there's going to be a special appearance by someone...I can't give it away. That would be telling, wouldn't it? Just be here in thirty for the thrilling conclusion! -Steve Swartz (The happy little elf)