Bubblegum Crisis
Batman: The Animated Series
S M I L E
A tale of knights, past and present.
--------------------------------
Part 2: Mad Machine
--------------------------------
clowntime is over
time to take over
while others just talk and talk
somebody's watching where the others don't walk
clowntime is over
- Elvis Costello, "Clowntime is Over".
[Gotham, November 2012]
Hanging by a grappling line, attached to a zepplin, flying
through downtown Gotham, minutes away from the bay.
He was too old for this.
His lungs were an inferno, his muscles were screaming in
protest, and there were numerous bruises stinging with every
move.
Yet somehow he'd made it through the night.
The Joker's dirigibles were all far out to sea now, where
their deadly cargo of toxin would affect nothing.
And now there was one last thing to do, one final act.
Stop the Joker. Once and for all.
For Tim.
He pulled himself up the rope and made his way way to the
hatchway. Just as he touched the door, it was opened by the
Joker, who was clearly not expecting to see Batman.
"You!"
-WHAM-
The Joker reeled back, his nose bloodied, and fell flat on
his back in the zepplin's tiny cabin. Batman quickly
followed.
The clown prince of crime shook his head, glared at his
adversary, and yelled, "YOU IDI-"
[Gotham Bay, November 2035]
//'And this is the location where the Batman and the Joker
had their final confrontation.'//
Sylia looked out from the personal automated tourist boat to
the shore, where an ancient and unused pier loomed. Behind
it, Gotham City loomed. It was dark as its reputation, an
odd mix of gothic and futuristic clustered in a
claustrophobic tangle of steel and stone. Future and past
colliding to make... something of a mess.
The automated guide droned on.
//'On that day, thirteen years ago, the Joker staged his last
act of terrorism, sending several zepplins filled with
Smilex toxin through the city. Somehow, the Batman disabled
the zepplins and managed to catch up to the Joker's personal
dirigible. It was in that confrontation that the aircraft
exploded with the force of a hundred pounds of plastique.'//
//'Some of the Joker's remains were recovered days after. No
trace of the Batman had been seen since, and he is presumed
dead. However, his legend lives on in the heart of
Gotham.'//
She stared at the pier for a while, looking with a
contemplative expression, then steered the small craft back
to the dock at the other side of the bay. Sylia had
wondered how a normal tourist went about things, and figured
this was her chance to find out.
Besides, she was curious about the Batman.
The two shared a bond, she liked to think. Vigilantes, both
of them... hunted by the police as well as the criminals at
the start of their careers.
Hmmm...
She paused in thought for a moment. The Batman eventually
formed an informal alliance with the police. With the
Sabers, McNichol and Wong were their police contacts. They
didn't do much for the Sabers, but they never moved against
them and were known to be sympathisers.
For a moment, she wondered how a 'Knightsignal' would look
like. A big KS in the sky?
She smirked and shook her head. Ridiculous. Then she
sighed.
Sylia hoped things were quiet in MegaTokyo.
:)
Priss moved cautiously through the partially constructed
skyscraper. It was a tangle of girders, rope, and wooden
planks, making for a real test of balance and agility.
It was no great obstacle to Priss, who was used to fighting
in such conditions since joining the Knight Sabers.
That didn't change her general opinion that fighting
rampaging boomers while walking on girders one foot wide at
a height of at least seventy stories up did indeed suck.
//"Behind you!"// yelled Linna.
Priss whirled around just in time to see the metallic
skeleton-like boomer spring out of the shadows, lunging at
her with blades extended. She ducked low under its swipe
and blasted it with her arm cannon as it zoomed by.
Priss gave Linna the thumbs up. //"Thanks."//
//"Is that it?"// asked Linna.
//"I'm not sensing any more of them,"// replied Nene.
Linna breathed a sigh of relief. These boomers were a new
kind, far more agile than the typical ones and incredibly
fast, but with far less armor. It was a miracle, in her
opinion, that none of the Sabers were damaged in the fight.
Dr. Raven was busy at the moment and Mackie was away in
Germany for college. They would have been out of action for
at least a week if the hardsuits had been damaged even
moderately.
It was also a miracle, in her opinion, that Nene didn't get
in a stupidly dangerous situation and Priss didn't go 'loose
cannon' on her.
//"All right, good job. Let's get outta here."//
The three Sabers sprang off into the night, not aware that
they were being observed.
:)
[Somewhere in cyberspace...]
There is a house of secrets.
Here, tucked away behind massive iron walls and categorized
meticulously by a vast database, the most amazing and
deadliest secrets of an era long gone were hidden.
Some of these secrets were the last vestiges of heroes
forgotten. The cosmic rod of Ted Knight, John Henry Irons'
power suit, Rex Tyler's strength-boosting "Hourman" pill,
the last shell of Cliff "Robotman" Steel, the stealth
technology of the Phantom Lady, the size-changing belt of
the Atom, a mysterious and oddly colored vest formerly owned
by one Rac Shade, all this and more were hidden here.
Many more of the secrets, however, were the fruit of more
evil souls. The mind-bending machines of Dr. Moon, a cannon
built by Victor "Mr. Freeze" Fries, the mirrors of the
Mirror Master, the thinking cap of the Thinker, the
cybernetic implant of Count Vertigo, the 'magic' wand of the
Weather Wizard, the many variations of the Joker's poisons,
the many formulas and fear toxins of Professor Jonathan "The
Scarecrow" Crane, all this and more, locked away from the
sight of man.
And at this moment, an entity had done what none before was
able to do.
It had found a way in.
Unseen, unnoticed, the only hint of its passing was the
faint echo of laughter.
:)
[Genom Development Center]
In a control room deep within the GDC, a man in a buisness
suit and glasses was pacing around and ranting. This was
Miyazaki, a recent member of the board in Genom.
He'd just witnessed his pet project get thoroughly mauled by
three women in powersuits.
"Shit! Damn! Hell! What was that?! Someone explain to me
WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"
The design team remained silent.
"Those were supposed to be top of the line stealth/assassin
boomers! They just got TRASHED!"
Miyazaki closed his eyes, ran his fingers through his hair,
and took a deep breath. After running a few relaxation
techniques through his head, he opened his eyes again and
straightened his tie.
He made sure to glare at the design team.
Again, none of the team dared to look him in the eye.
"Okay... let's see... what went wrong? They certainly were
fast enough. They did manage to be rather stealthy. Wait,
I know."
He turned his steady glare to the AI section of the design
team.
"The boomers were stupid."
The AI section of the design section winced.
"What we need.... is a more intelligent operating system."
What he actually needed was to get rid of the Knight Sabers.
He was, like many executives before him, thorougly convinced
that Chairman Quincy would be very pleased if somehow the
Knight Sabers were defeated. Time and again, executives
with grand dreams took this route and utterly failed.
The other employees of Genom, the non-managerial staff,
didn't understand this habit at all. They generally equated
it to being somewhat akin to the same instinct that makes
lemmings jump to their deaths and whales beach themselves.
"Now, HOW can we beat the Knight Sabers?" he pondered,
pacing back and forth.
"Ah... sir?"
"Hm?"
"Well, there is this AI project that might help..."
:)
[Genom Development Center, the next day, late afternoon]
Dr. Vess felt very uneasy.
The dead technican, found in the elevator two days ago, had
everyone on edge. An autopsy found that his brain chemistry
had been drastically altered, causing the terrible grin on
his dead face.
It was Momus.
It had to be.
He'd asked that Momus be erased, but the project head
refused. He thought Dr. Vess was being paranoid. Momus'
current setup shouldn't have allowed him to do that in the
first place. It was, said the director, someone else in the
orgainzation trying to cover up their murder using Momus as
a diversion.
To ease his fears, however, there was a system check on the
connections to Momus' machine. All security measures seemed
firmly in place.
Dr. Vess still had his suspicions.
The screen behind him flickered on suddenly, a devilish grin
decorating it.
//"Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood eeeeeeeeeevening
DoctaVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!"//
"Aaah!"
The smile turned into a pout. //"Goodness, aren't WE a
little edgy."//
"G-good evening, Momus."
//"Y'seem a little... nerrrrrvous, doc. Something
bothering you?"//
"No! Nothing, nothing at all. Just not enough sleep,
really."
//"Glaaad to hear it, doc!"// said Momus in an exaggerated
tone.
The door to the laboratory opened, and Dr. Ibuki's head
poked in. "Dr. Vess? Could you step out for a moment?"
"Yes, right away." The doctor stepped out the door all too
eagerly, walking with Dr. Ibuki to her office several doors
down.
"The S.M.I.L.E. project has been taken over," said Dr.
Ibuki.
"What?! Who?"
"Company director Miyazaki has taken control."
"The recent director?"
"New hotshot, yes."
"I hope he doesn't have grand sweeping directives," grumbled
Vess. "All the new up-and-coming directors these days, they
always have grand sweeping directives. Please tell me he
doesn-"
"He does."
"Oh bother!"
"He wants us to make Knight Saber constructs."
"Knight Saber constructs?" Dr. Vess blinked.
Dr. Ibuki nodded.
"All four of them?" asked Dr. Vess.
"All four."
Absentmindedly, he looked out the window. Seemed to be
stormclouds rolling on.
Ominous.
The moment was ruined when a window washer boomer crawled
into his line of sight, utterly ruining the view.
"Four of them... and we don't have thorough profiles of
them. We don't even know who they are. An incomplete
profile will certainly generate a woefully inaccurate
engine! Not only that, but we didn't intend for it to be
usable in tactical combat situations! That's a year down
the road!"
"Tell that to the director," said Dr. Ibuki.
"Not only that, but we don't have enough capacity in the
machines. We'd have to delete... the... oh."
Dr. Ibuki cleared her throat.
Dr. Vess considered this.
"Perhaps this won't be so bad after all," muttered Vess.
"I'll miss Naoko," said Dr. Ibuki.
"Oh yes."
"It has to be done," said Dr. Ibuki. "Everyone on the
project knows that it had to be Momus who killed the
technician in the elevator. In theory, the brain can be
stimulated to produce chemicals by way of light impulses,
and the security camera shows the man staring at the screen
in the elevator."
"But he shouldn't be able to reach the elevator. He
shouldn't be able to extend himself outside of our lab!"
"I know, and that's what troubles me. He might be far more
intelligent than we suspect."
"Dr. Cavendish might object a little."
"No, he's been getting nervous too," said Dr. Ibuki.
"Ah, so we're all in agreement."
:)
Dr. Cavendish strolled into the S.M.I.L.E. Project lab,
shuffling a few papers as he made his way to his desk.
A peculiar sort of sound from Naoko's station made him
pause.
"Naoko?"
As he got closer, he realized what he was hearing.
Laugher. Naoko's hysterical laughter. He looked at the
screen to see her face, pale white with blood red lips and a
cruel grin, bobbing about the screen like a rubber ball and
laughing loudly.
"Naoko? What's so funny?"
All the other screens in the lab came to life. They had a
simple image. Two dots and a line. The dots being eyes,
and the line curving to form a grin.
The smile quickly turned into a scowl.
//"Hello, doctor,"// he said, almost growling.
"M-Momus!"
Momus' mouth went from a snarl back to a grin. //"Why, you
seem so tense, doc."//
"J-just a large workload, that's all."
//"Ah, the stress of the wage slave,"// sighed Momus
overdramatically. //"It's unhealthy, doc! I tell you,
sometimes you've just gotta SMILE!"//
"Momus, whatever you've done with Naoko, undo it."
//"Don't see why, doc,"// said Momus smoothly. //"She seems so
much happier! Hahahahahaaa! Doc? Hey doc, whereyagoin?"//
Dr. Cavendish ran from the room as fast as he could, never
looking back.
;)
[Chairman Quincy's Office]
There were a hundred different television stations on, but
nothing to watch. The news of the world, displayed on a
hundred seperate monitors in the wall of his office, was
proceeding as he'd planned it.
Mostly.
There was that irritating matter of the New OPEC Alliance
which was bound to be trouble later. They were gaining
momentum in the Antarctic war. Nothing too serious yet, but
something to keep an eye on.
Until then, there were other matters to attend to...
"Madigan, report."
All screens on his wall changed to the image of Madigan,
serious as usual and meticulously dressed.
//"The cerebral link will be commenced in a few minutes. I'm
going to oversee the AI plug-in personally."//
Quincy nodded. "Good, good. Have you gotten any
information from the construction crews?"
//"They were mostly boomer, sir, and their memory has been
wiped from regular maintenance. The only people on the job
swear they weren't aware of the changes."//
"Where are they?"
//"Interrogation section 4."//
"Keep them there another day. Anything else of note?"
//"Yes sir. Genom Tower Metropolis has found a chamber
similar to ours, except it has only an incomplete unit
within."//
"Not surprising. Mason always did have a backup plan."
//"The other major Genom sites are conducting ongoing
searches."//
"Very good. Keep me informed."
:)
[Genom Development Center]
Within the hidden chamber of sublevel 3, a swarm of
researchers in white lab coats swarmed over mazes of cables
and computer equipment. At the far end of the lab, the
focus of attention was the large transparent cylinder and
the humanoid occupant within.
"Where's Dr. Cavendish?"
"I'll check on his office."
"We can't wait any longer, let's proceed."
"Start the link."
"Starting."
Several large robotic arms, each carrying a thick cable,
moved to the top of the cylinder and slid into empty ports
at its top.
"Activate the connection."
Several monitors in the lab flickered to life.
"We have a connection."
"Okay, people, let's see what's in there."
At each station the clacking of keyboards was heard like a
swarm of locusts as researchers rooted around hundreds of
directories. The astonished murmurs of the scientists
echoed through the room.
"This thing is huge."
"Tons of capacity."
"Motor skills OS is gigantic."
"There's no central AI."
"Good, we can plug in one."
"Heh, plug and play."
"Run a full diagnostic."
"Running."
Several screens flickered into a 3-d image of a human-like
skull, but with very different internal components.
"Scanning complete. Damn, this thing is amazing."
"Okay, shut down. We'll have to wait for Madigan to get
here before proceeding further."
"And how long is that?"
"An hour, I think. We're to start up the link process
again thirty minutes before she gets here."
"Okay, half-hour coffee break, everyone!"
The white labcoats shuffled out of the room, chatting
amongst themselves. Another hour and the labor would go on,
but for now it was time for coffee and donuts. Genom brand,
of course. Otherwise known as the best coffee and donuts
genetics can produce.
None noticed the humanoid within as its lips formed a cruel
grin.
:)
An hour later the research team shambled back into the
chamber.
It was Dr. Ibuki that first noticed something was amiss.
"Dr. Vess... was that thing... was it smiling before?"
"Smiling?" Dr. Vess went over to the cylinder and examined
the humanoid's features.
Dr. Vess' eyes widened in sudden realization and horror.
"Cut the connections!" he yelled frantically. "Cut the-"
//"Wouldn't do that if I were you, doc."//
The entire room fell silent in fear. They knew that voice.
Each screen flickered briefly, then changed to a single
pale, grinning face. Its lips were curved to a blood red
grin and its hair was a shock of green.
The face in the screen frowned.
//"Y'know, doc, it gets kinda depressing, having no-body.
Ah. No body. Nobody. Heheh."//
// o/~ IIIIIIIII ain't got no BOOOOOOOODY! No BOOODY! o/~ //
// o/~ No BOOODY, cares FOOOOR me! o/~ //
//"HAHAHHA!"//
"Momus, what are you doing here?"
The face bobbed around enthusiastically. //"Gettin' my body
in shape!"//
"Your body? But you don't... oh no."
Suddenly, disco lights began flashing behind Momus' face. A
disco beat accompanied it.
// o/~ Body! Wanna feeeel my bo-dy? o/~ //
// o/~ Body! Such a thriiiiill my bo-dy! o/~ //
// o/~ Body! It's too much my bo-dy! o/~ //
//"HAHHAHAAAA!!!"//
Then the music stopped. Momus was, once again, smiling
pleasantly.
//"Woooooooooh! Let's boogie!"//
Dr. Vess and the others looked at the cylinder and the body
inside. Suddenly, its hair turned sharp green, its skin
turned pale white, and the lips turned a bloody shade of
red.
Then it opened its eyes and grinned even wider.
"Break the connections! Break the connections!"
"Too late! He's in full control!"
"The door's locked!"
//"Heard you were going to pull the plug on my show, doc.
Can't have that."//
"Call for help!"
"Phone line's down!"
"Oh God oh God oh God I don't wanna die!"
"Why won't the doors open?!"
The body in the glass put a hand to its forehead and sighed
dramaticallly, sending air bubbles rising through the
liquid.
//"I really did enjoy my stay here, but it's clear I've worn
out MY welcome,"// said Momus dryly.
"T-that isn't true!"
"Please! Stop!"
"Ohmygodohmygodohmygodoh-"
"Momus, stop this!" pleaded Dr. Vess.
The face on the screen frowned. //"Momus? Momus was a nice
nickname, doc. Roman god of pranksters, very nice. But...
hey, we all know who I _really_ am."//
"You're not him! He died a long time ago!"
The image shrugged. //So I came back.//
"You're not him! You're Momus!" yelled Dr. Ibuki. "You're
an artificial construct based on a long-dead maniac! You're
not real!"
//"Who's to say what's real?"// it asked whimsically.
//"Goodness, I know at least 31 flavors of real and lemme
tell ya, they're all sour."//
"Momus, stop!" cried Dr. Vess.
//"Uh-uh. Not Momus. From now on, you can call me... the
Joker."//
"Oh shit."
"Help me with the door here!"
"Damn that Cavendish! I told him it was a bad idea!"
"Help! Can anyone out there hear us?! Help!"
//"Oh, stop crying, guys!"// said the creature formerly known
as Momus. He actually sounding like he was trying to cheer
them up.
//"Look at things this way... at least you'll go out with a
bang! Hahahaaaaaahahahaha! Ahehehee!"//
"A bang? What are you-"
//"-Hohohooooo!-"//
"Outta my way!"
//"-Aheh... heh... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-"//
"What the heck's hap-"
;)
[MegaTokyo, East Highway]
Traffic. Madigan hated it.
Especially since she was in the middle of it and moving at
zero kph.
The constant rain that had just begun didn't help either.
She just washed her car.
Madigan wondered what it would take to get a personal
helicopter for her business trips. This MegaTokyo gridlock
business was for the peasants.
"Damn it all, I'm going to be late," she grumbled. "COME
ON, MOVE IT!"
She stared at the Genom Development Center, already within
visible range. So close, yet so...
The Genom Development Center exploded.
One minute it was there, the next it was a lot of airborn
steel and concrete. The shockwave lashed out violently,
shattering windows and setting off car alarms. Madigan's
ears rang from the shockwave, setting her head spinning. She
ducked as a chunk of concrete flew at her car and slammed
into the windshield.
She stayed ducked under the dashboard for a few seconds
more, her hearing recovering with each passing second, then
peered over the dashboard cautiously.
The Genom Deveopment Center was no more, replaced by a
funeral pyre whose flames raked the stormclouds above.
:)
A bike was blazing down the busy street, causing pedestrians
to squawk with rage and cars to swerve out of the way. It
was a two-wheeled embodiment of chaos, beautiful and deadly.
Priss watched it blaze down the street with a great amount
of envy. Normally, that would be her. Instead, on this
wonderful night of nights, she was walkinng towards the
subway, en route to sampling the fine mass transit system
that MegaTokyo had to offer.
Her bike had been towed during their act. It wasn't her
fault there was no place else but the fire lane left to park
in.
She had one phrase in mind as she stomped through the rainy
streets, getting extremely soaked and bumped around.
Fuck this.
Every now and then, she'd vary the content a little.
Fuck the police. Fuck the law. Fuck the rain.
After a while, though, it generally returned to Fuck This.
She was in the middle of another loop of Fuck This when
suddenly a loud bang roared through the street, accompanied
by a slight tremor. Everyone looked around in confusion,
then spotted the fireball rising to the sky.
Priss had a unique thought on the matter.
It went like this:
"Aaah shit. I just know we're gonna get dragged into this."
:)
[Gotham Grand Hotel]
//'-rescue crews are frantically searching the rubble for
survivors, but at this point it's doubtful there are any
left. Back to you, Jim.'//
She wasn't normally a morning person, but Sylia was wide
awake now. The Genom Development Center reduced to rubble?
She had a feeling she'd be needed back in MegaTokyo soon.
Sooner or later, someone from home was going to call.
Sure enough, her laptop beeped. She flipped it open, seeing
Linna eagerly on the vidphone.
"Good morning, Linna."
//"Sylia, hi... oops."// Apparently, she noticed the sunrise
in the back and the digital clock. Sylia's somewhat groggy
state was also a hint. //"I didn't wake you up, did I?"//
"No, I was already up. Watching the big news in MegaTokyo."
//"Oh, you've heard?"//
Sylia nodded.
//"Just thought you'd want to know,"// said Linna somewhat
apologetically.
"I'll check with my sources if there's anything you
should know."
//"Thanks, Sylia."//
"How are the others? Everything quiet back there?"
//"Aside from the GDC bang, nothing much,"// replied Linna.
//"Just one boomer incident. Experimental type. Very fast,
but kinda stupid. Didn't have much armor either."//
"Damage?"
//"A few scratches. Nothing major."//
Sylia raised an eyebrow. "Nervous?"
Linna laughed a little nervously. //Heh, yeah, I was. Nene
kept her eyes up and Priss didn't go nuts. I think I can
handle things unti you get back.//
Sylia smiled. "Good."
//"How's things over there anyway?"//
"Making progress, I suppose."
//"You'll tell us when you get back, yeah? I hate secrets."//
"So do I, Linna. I'll tell you all when I get back."
//"Okay. Take care."//
Sylia took a deep breath to get herself motivated, then
stood up. Time to rise and shine, et-cetera et-cetera.
Lots to do today, and there was one corporate entity left on
the list to check.
It was the company that bought Gothcorp, heartless betrayer
of Victor "Mr. Freeze" Fries.
It was the company that bought Cybertron Labs, the research
corporation that funded Karl Rossum, godfather of boomer
technology.
Wayne Enterprises.
:)
[MegaTokyo, Industrial Sector]
Life was always funny.
Except now, he could tell jokes in Japanese. That was okay,
though. In fact it was neato! Now he could get sushi more
often!
He liked fish.
This place certainly wasn't home. Oh, it was every bit as
dark and large and infested with wretched wastes of human
life, but this was not home.
Home.
He knew the state of things at home. He was crazy, but he
wasn't stupid. He'd done a check on the net, checked
history files, looked at the old newspaper clippings.
There seemed to be no doubt about it.
Darling Batsy was gone!
*SIGH*
Life seemed... less interesting without Batboy. Somewhat
empty. Kind of like Laurel without Hardy, or Jerry without
Tom, or the Stooges without Moe.
Just not right.
Then again, they said he was dead too, and clearly THAT was
wrong.
Heheheh.
He'd have to see about getting a ticket out of here. Get
back to good old Gotham and square away some old idears,
yessir.
But first... he'd have some fun.
All around him, the rain came down unmercifully, driven by
howling winds and roaring thunder. In the distance, he
could hear sirens wailing away, heading towards that oh so
beautiful crimson glow in the distance.
It reminded him of Gotham, really. The town even had a
bunch of vigilantes running around. They weren't Dark
Knights, no, but Knight Sabers.
They'd have to do in a pinch.
He wasn't one for one-man comedy shows. It was a team
thing. He was the funny man. Someone had to be the
straight man.
Or in this case, straight women.
Hahah!
His grin became a frown as his eyes locked on to the fires
in the distance. He was a bit out of touch. Yes, he'd give
it a ten for volume and a nine for property damage, but only
a one for style. It didn't have that creative... 'oomph'
that his previous work had. ANY two-bit hood could blow up
a building.
HE should have made it more... oh... personalized.
Uniquely HIS.
Couldn't leave this lovely town without leaving his mark,
could he?
Certainly not.
That was what this loverly building he stood before was all
about.
'GENOM CHEMICALS' the big sign said.
He turned around, looking out towards that breathtakingly
large skyline that was... what was it? Oh. MegaTokyo.
Haha.
So many people.
So many faces.
So few smiles.
Tsk.
:)
- end part 2 -
:)