Chapter 4
“If somebody’s targeting superheroes, then we have to stop it before one of us becomes a target,” said Clark. “Or, worse yet, somebody close to us becomes a target.”
“I agree,” said Bruce. “So, what’s our plan of action?”
“I think the first thing we need to do is talk to the Flash about his missing girlfriend,” said Clark. “Maybe there’s some clue to the identity of the person behind all of this.”
“You’re a reporter, Kent. You should go talk to him under the guise of writing a story about the kidnapping,” said Bruce. “We can take my private jet to Central City. One of the perks of working with a billionaire.”
“We don’t need it,” Clark replied. “I’ll fly us there myself. One of the perks of working with Superman.”
*****
The next morning, Vicki arrived at work to find a package sitting on her desk. She immediately ripped it open and examined its contents. All she found was a wrinkled map of Metropolis with an arrow pointing to the center, which was labeled ‘Superman’s spaceship.’
Her first reaction was to be excited at the prospect of getting a picture of Superman’s spaceship. After all, Superman was an even bigger story than Batman. This could be a career defining moment. Even better, it would annoy Lois that she scooped her on something related to Superman.
That’s when it hit her. Lois. It had to have been sent by Lois. Why would anybody send her a tip about a Superman story? With the Daily Planet located in Metropolis, it would have made much more sense to have sent the tip in to a reporter from that newspaper. She’d expected Lois would retaliate for her own little prank, and this map probably had something to do with her revenge. It had to be some sort of trick.
Vicki was torn. She could be missing out on something really big if she didn’t go after the story. However, if it was some sort of trap set up by Lois, she’d look like a fool if she fell for it.
Finally, an idea hit her. She pulled out a black book and flipped through the pages. When she finally found the page she wanted, she picked up the phone and dialed the phone number listed on the page.
“Hi, Ricky. It’s Vicki Vale. I was wondering you were interested in doing some work for me? The usual rate.”
“Sure,” he replied.
“Good,” said Vicki. “I’m going to fax you a map, and I want you to look into it for me to see if it’s legit.”
“No problem,” said Ricky.
“And Ricky? There’s a good chance that this is some sort of practical joke set up by a rival newspaperwoman, so be careful.”
“Sure thing,” he replied.
*****
Carrying Batman, Superman flew towards Central City, home of Barry Allen. Once they were flying above the city, Batman pointed him in the direction of a S.T.A.R Labs facility, and Superman landed near it, gently placing Batman down. The two of them walked to a corner out of sight, and Superman spun out of his costume and back into his regular clothes.
“Barry works here as a forensic scientist,” Batman explained as Clark put his glasses on and straightened out his tie. “I’ll wait out here while you talk to Barry about what happened.”
Clark walked around to the front of the building and was greeted by a security guard with the name John Stroud on his name tag. Short, extremely thin, and very young looking, the guard didn’t appear like he’d be of any use if there was any trouble at the facility.
“Clark Kent, Daily Planet. I was wondering if I could talk to Barry Allen about his missing girlfriend?”
“You and the police both, buddy,” Stroud replied.
“What do you mean?” asked Clark.
“Barry Allen went missing right around the time that his girlfriend was kidnapped,” replied Stroud. “I hear that the police think Barry is the kidnapper. The witness that saw Iris – that’s Barry’s girlfriend – get kidnapped didn’t get such a good look at her attacker. The bum was wearing a mask. Then, when the police were investigating what happened, nobody could get a hold of Barry. He didn’t even show up to work this morning.”
“You don’t think it’s possible that he could have been kidnapped, too, do you?” Clark asked.
“Maybe,” replied Stroud. “The most likely possibility is that Barry kidnapped her himself, though. I always had a sneaky suspicion that something was off about that guy.”
“I see,” replied Clark. “Can you think of any other enemies Iris might have besides Barry?”
“Not really,” said Stroud. “The truth is I don’t know her very well, though. If you wanna know more, you should probably talk to the lady that saw the kidnapping. She’s a close friend of Iris and Barry.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know how I can get in touch with her, do you?” asked Clark.
“She’s a waitress at a restaurant a couple of blocks away from here,” said Stroud. “It’s called Carmine’s. Good burgers and fries. You should check the place out.”
“What is the waitress’ name?” asked Clark.
“Denise.”
“Thank you,” said Clark. “You’ve been very helpful.”
Outside S.T.A.R Labs, Batman was lurking in the corner when Clark exited the facility. When he saw Clark, he leapt out in front of him, startling him.
“Do you have to do that?” asked Clark.
“Sorry,” replied Batman. “What did you find out?”
“Barry’s missing, too. The police think that he might be the kidnapper, but that can’t be right, can it?”
“Barry has a great alibi,” replied Batman. “He just can’t tell anyone about it. He was helping out as the Flash during an earthquake that occurred at the time of the robbery. There’s video evidence of it.”
“In that case, I have to wonder if the same person who captured Iris got to Barry, too,” said Clark.
“It’s a possibility,” replied Batman.
“The security guard I talked to told me the woman who witnessed Iris’ abduction works at a restaurant a couple blocks from here. I say we head down there and check it out,” suggested Clark.
“Good idea,” replied Bruce. “Just give me a minute to change. Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent going out to lunch looks a lot less conspicuous than Batman and Superman going out to lunch together.”
*****
“Clark!” yelled Lois.
She was outside his hotel door pounding on it. This morning, she’d awoken to the news that Superman and Batman had teamed up to stop the breakout at Arkham Asylum, and she wanted to use it as an opportunity to learn more about Batman. Unfortunately, when she’d called Clark’s room, there hadn’t been any answer. Now, she was pounding on his door as loud as she could, and he still wasn’t answering.
“Clark!” she yelled again. “If you don’t come out here right now, then I’m going to leave without you! If you think I’m going to wait around for you all day, then you’re wrong!”
She paused for a second and listened at the door, but she couldn’t hear anything. Frustrated, she decided to give up and go investigate on her own.
*****
Bruce and Clark arrived at Carmine’s and took a look around. It was a nice family restaurant, and it looked like the place did a fair amount of business from the number of people eating there. Clark walked up to the front desk to speak to the person working the cash register.
“I was wondering if Denise is working today, and if she is, would it be too much trouble to seat my friend and I in her section?” he asked.
“It just so happens that we have a booth open in her section,” said the woman. She grabbed a couple of menus and walked Clark and Bruce to their seats.
Within a couple of minutes, somebody came over and poured coffee into each of their cups. Soon after that, Denise stopped at the booth and asked if they were ready to order.
“Yes,” said Clark. “A bacon cheeseburger - well done – with French fries.”
She looked over at Bruce. “What about you?”
“The same,” he replied. “We were also wondering if you could answer a few questions about the disappearance of Iris West and Barry Allen?”
“Sure thing,” she replied.
*****
Vicki returned to the office and checked her messages. It turned out she had one message from Ricky.
“Hi Vicki, I checked out that map, and I think you’re onto something huge. I don’t want to say anything more on your answering machine, so give me a call back.”
Vicki grabbed her phone and dialed Ricky’s phone number. When he answered, she asked, “So it’s legit?”
“I’d say so,” he replied. “I’m no expert, but what I found looks like a spaceship to me.”
“Great!” she replied. “In that case, I’m going to get a trip to Metropolis approved by my editor right now.”
“There’s just a couple of things I want to warn you about,” said Ricky.
“Such as?” asked Vicki.
“Your clothes,” he replied. “Don’t wear anything too nice. It’s really messy where I found the spaceship. By the way, you owe me a little extra for the clothes I ruined following that map.”
“That’s fine,” said Vicki. “Anything else you want to warn me about?”
“Mosquito repellant,” he replied. “Make sure you have mosquito repellant.”
“OK,” replied Vicki. “I should be in Metropolis soon.”
*****
Meanwhile, Lois was at the Gotham police station interviewing Commissioner Gordon about the breakout at Arkham Asylum. It seemed like she’d had to wait all morning to talk to him about the incident, and even now, he seemed uninterested in talking to her.
“Miss Lane, you do realize that the breakout is probably old news by now, don’t you?” asked Commissioner Gordon. “I saw the story all over the newspapers this morning. I really don’t have anything more to say now than I did earlier.”
“Commissioner Gordon, I know you’re a busy man, and I just have a few quick questions I want to ask,” said Lois.
“Fine, but please make it fast,” replied Commissioner Gordon.
“It seems like Batman always shows up when there’s a disaster,” said Lois. “How is it that you’re able to contact him?”
“We use the Bat-Signal, Miss Lane. I know you’re from Metropolis, and you probably don’t know as much about Batman as the citizens of Gotham, but this is really very public knowledge,” replied Commissioner Gordon. “If these are the types of questions you want to ask me, then I’m afraid I’ll have to call an end to this interview. I’m really very busy.”
“Just one last question,” said Lois. “Where is the Bat-Signal located?”
“On top of the police station,” said Commissioner Gordon.
“Well, thank you very much for your time, commissioner,” Lois said as she shook his hand.
After leaving Commissioner Gordon’s office, she stood outside of his door for a few minutes and pretended to fumble around with her purse. Then, after Commissioner Gordon exited his own office to get a cup of coffee, she ran back inside and started to look around. She opened up his desk and found some keys, which she promptly dropped into her purse.
As she walked out of the office, Commissioner Gordon passed by her on his way back inside. “Forget something, Miss Lane?”
“Yes, but I have it now,” she replied.
*****
It hadn’t taken Vicki long to get her editor’s approval on the Superman story and make her way to Metropolis. She’d called up her friend Bruce Wayne to ask about getting a free ride to Metropolis using his private jet, but his butler Alfred had informed her that Bruce was away on a business trip. However, knowing that Bruce was such good friends with Vicki, he’d told her that he was sure that Bruce wouldn’t mind her borrowing the private jet and made preparations for her to leave for Metropolis.
Now, she was waiting at the airport for Ricky. Since she’d been warned not to wear her best clothes, she was wearing an old sweatshirt with a stain on it, a worn-out pair of jeans, and an old pair of shoes. She looked like a slob to the random passerby, but that didn’t bother her if it meant getting a picture of Superman’s spaceship.
“Vicki!” Ricky called from the other end of the airport as he ran up to greet her. “It’s so nice to see you. So, you brought the money, right?”
“Of course,” Vicki said as she pulled some cash out of her wallet and placed it in his hand.
“Always a pleasure to work with you,” Ricky said as he smiled widely.
“Lead the way to Superman’s spaceship,” said Vicki.
“Yes, ma’am,” replied Ricky.
*****
Later, after having wandered around the Metropolis Sewage Reclamation Facility in search of Superman’s spaceship for an hour, Vicki and Ricky came upon a massive metallic structure sitting in a huge puddle of mud. They were both filthy, and the place smelled awful, but once they finally arrived at their destination, Vicki couldn’t help but feel satisfied despite all that she had to put up with to get there. She pulled out her camera and began taking pictures of every angle of the spaceship.
*****
Back at Carmine’s, Bruce and Clark were asking Denise questions about the kidnapping of Iris West. Due to the fact that Denise was working, they’d had to get in a couple of questions whenever she came back to their booth. They were a little bit afraid that they’d get thrown out if they didn’t have a meal in front of them, so they’d made sure to eat very slowly in order to get all of their questions in. By now, both of their meals were cold because of how long they’d been sitting at the booth.
As Denise passed by their booth again, Clark said, “I know that you said that the man who kidnapped Iris had a mask on, but you didn’t see anything that you could identify him by? Nothing at all?”
“A tattoo? A birthmark?” suggested Bruce.
“Nope,” replied Denise. “Nothing at all.”
“And about Barry Allen,” added Clark. “You haven’t seen or heard from him since before Iris was abducted?”
“No, I haven’t heard from him.”
“Do you think there’s anybody who’d have any reason to want to hurt Iris?” asked Bruce.
“Not anybody in particular that I know of,” replied Denise. “She is in the news business, though, so I guess it could have been somebody who didn’t like something she wrote about them in the newspaper.”
“And where was it that the kidnapping took place?” asked Bruce.
“We were getting our hair and nails done at Maria’s Salon across the street from here,” she replied.
“I know we’ve been asking you a lot of questions,” said Clark. “Thank you for your time. Could you bring us the bill?”
“Not so fast,” she replied. She ripped a blonde wig off of her head and pulled out a badge, holding it up in front of their faces. “Diana Prince, I.A.D.C. Now it’s my turn to ask the questions. Who are you and why are you so interested in Iris West and Barry Allen?”
To be continued...
