Legends of the Batman Annual #1

[spiritofvengeance]

Legends of the Batman Annual #1
The Bat and the Bug

Written By: Daniel Dyer
Edited By: Mike Bowen

Night time in Gotham City. The upstairs offices of the Iceberg Lounge. Oswald Cobblepot sits in his office and smiles as he goes over the night’s profits. Oswald’s life has not been one of fortune. As a young boy he earned the nickname the “Penguin”, due to his short and stout form. When he walked it looked to be like a waddle. Like a penguin. Oswald can still hear they’re laughing.

Who’s laughing now, Oswald thinks as his grin grows.

“Enjoying the fruits of your labor, ‘Penguin’?”

Cobblepot looks up, seeing nothing there. “Who...?”

A form moves in the shadows. “I’m here to warn you to keep your dealings legal, Mr. Cobblepot.”

“Ah, the Bat. I wondered when I’d get a chance to see you again. You should have known the charges against me wouldn't have stuck. I’m a respected businessman and unless you or the little bird want to testify in a court of law and state your full names under God, them I’m a jail bird no longer.”

“Sorry, I believe you have me confused with someone.”
The figure then walks into the light, revealing a dark blue costume, with some kind of scarab design on his chest and a blue cowl with big yellow lenses. “I’m the Blue Beetle.”

Cobblepot’s mouth hangs open as he sees this “Blue Beetle” come into view. Then begins to laugh uncontrollably. “No... No.... This is too much.”

The Beetle counters, “Oh, is the Penguin laughing at me?”

Oswald sneers at the Beetle. “What do you want, bug?”

“To let you know, while I’m in town, I’ll be watching you.”

The Penguin leans backs. “Thanks for the warning. Anything else?”

“You’re going down, ‘Penguin’,” and the Beetle jumps out the window, grabbing a hanging rope ladder.

Oswald goes to the window and sees a weird blue flying vehicle in the shape of a beetle. “Heh, Blue Beetle.”

****

[spiritofvengeance]

The cave beneathe Wayne Manor.

Dick Grayson, stressed in a red and green sweat suit stands in the middle of a gymnasium, a bright spotlight shining on him, when he hears, “You have the acrobatic skill, Richard. You have those moves. What you need to learn is fighting ability.”


“I’m ready,” states Dick.

“Are you?” comes the voice rather ominously.
The lights go out. Pitch black darkness engulfs the orphaned Grayson. “No fair!”

An attack comes from behind, knocking his legs out from under him.

“Umph,” is the sound he makes as he gets to his feet. “Bruce, not funny."

“Good,” comes the voice as he shoves Dick backward, “it’s not suppose to be.”

Dick lunges himself towards the voice, but ends up getting shoved to the floor.

“This is not a game.”

Once again, Dick charges towards the voice, this time Batman leaps up, over the young teen, and comes down with his feet, kicking Dick to the floor once more.

“What we do is dangerous.”

Dick gets to his feet but does not advance.

“You must learn to know your opponent.”

Know my opponent, huh?

“Know his or her weaknesses.”

Does the Batman have any weaknesses?

Almost as if answering Dick’s thoughts, Bruce states, “Everybody has weaknesses. You must learn to exploit those weaknesses.”

Weaknesses...

“But most of all, you must know your own capabilities. Use your strengths. Now, attack."

But Dick does not advance. Does not attack. Suddenly the sound of running can be heard, but in the wrong direction. Dick leaps in the air and latches onto one of the parallel bars and begins swinging.
The Bat stays motionless. He knows what his new apprentice is planning and waits for it.
Dick launches himself towards the Bat, but Batman steps to the side. As he does this, his long black cape cascades upward, which Dick grabs, yanking the Dark Knight to the ground.

“GOTCHA!”

Suddenly the lights come back on and the Dark Knight gets to his feet, pulling his mask back, an uncharacteristic smile on his face.

“Good job, Dick.”

“Master Bruce,” Alfred starts as he walks down the stairs, “you must hurry or you’ll be late to your meeting.”

“Right. Your training is done for the day, Dick.”

“A meeting? But doesn’t Luscious handle these things?”

“Usually, however tonight we’re meeting with an out of town inventor regarding an investment.”

****

[spiritofvengeance]

The downstairs of the Iceberg Lounge, as Luscious Fox sits in a booth with a man by the name of Ted Kord.

“I apologize, Mr. Kord. Bruce should have been here by now.”

“Its alright. And please, its Ted.”

Then Bruce Wayne enters, a girl on each arm. “Luscious, how’s it going?”

“Bruce?!”

“Excuse me, ladies. I have some business to take care of. Look me up later tonight,” he says, as the girls walk off.

“Wow,” Ted says to himself.

“This must be the young inventor, Ted Kord?” Bruce offers his hand to Ted, who shakes it excitedly.

“Yes, Sir! It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir.”

“Likewise. Hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”

Ted shakes his head. “Not at all, Mr. Wayne.”

“Its Bruce. Now, tell me, what is it you’d like our company to invest in?”

“In me, Sir. I’m looking for a business loan to get my company off the ground. I’ve developed designs for defensive weaponry which can be used in the protection of....”

****

[spiritofvengeance]

A couple of hours later and the meeting is concluding.

“I believe we can work together on this, Ted.”

“You won’t regret this, Bruce. I promi...”

Before Ted can finish the front door is busted down and in comes several ski-masked men with double-barrel shotguns. The masks are half black and half white.

“No one move,” screams one of the gunmen as he fires his shotgun, taking out the chandelier. “Pay up and you may survive this!”

Bruce scans the area, knowing he can’t fight them as Bruce Wayne. He notices a back room, but before he can sneak back there, he notices Ted Kord’s already snuck away.

“Ted?”

“Hey guys.”

“Huh?” a gun man questions.

“Those masks do nothing for you,” says the Blue Beetle as he lands in front of one of the gunmen, and yanks his mask off. “On second thought, the mask appears to be an improvement.”

Bruce runs to the back appreciating the distraction, but can’t help but wonder who this is? He begins to change, and his mind wanders to the robbers. Split masks? Two faces? And suddenly this is all clear.

****

[spiritofvengeance]

Back in the main dining room, the Beetle grabs a shotgun from one of the men, swinging it around and knocks out one of the other gun men out with it.

“Do these guns make you feel like a real man? Make you feel strong?”

The Beetle is about to attack when another gunman aims his shotgun at him. “Not so fast.”

Suddenly a batarang flies out, hitting the guy’s hands, knocking the gun from his grip.

“DOWN!” yells Batman as he swings down, hitting the guy.

“Thanks for the save.”

“This is a distraction! Its an attack on Cobblepot!”

“Cobblepot...?” and the Blue Beetle runs off.

“Wait!” yells the Bat

But the Beetle is already gone.

Great.

****

[spiritofvengeance]

Upstairs, Oswald has heard the commotion downstairs and rushes into his office. As he turns on the light he sees Harvey Dent, half his face scarred, sitting in a corner chair.

“H... Harvey?”

Harvey’s flipping his coin. “Hello, Oswald. Did you miss me?”

“What is this about Harvey?”

“Revenge, my portly friend. And I’m Two-Face now.”

“H... Harvey...”

Two-Face gets to his feet and grabs the short businessman by his lapels, rising him in the air.

“Its Two-Face!”

He then throws Penguin, slamming him into a wall.

"It’s a two-fold plan. My men rob your customers, while I handle the dirty work.”

A grin (or what passes for a grin) spreads on Harvey’s face.

That’s when Blue Beetle crashes through the door. “Freeze!”

“Who?”

Oswald crawls to Beetle. “H... Help me?”

Two-Face looks the Beetle up and down. “You have got to be kidding me.” Face pulls out two twin pistols. “One gun for each of you.”

“Boy, Ozzy, you do know how to tick people off.”

“Shut up and save me.”

“Save you?! I’d want to kill you myself after what you...”

Two-Face fires a warning shot. “Children, are we forgetting something?”

Beetle looks at Two-Face and further past him.

"No. Not at all.”

Suddenly, the Bat grabs Two-Face from behind, slamming his head into the side of the window, knocking him out.

“Nice timing, Bats,” Beetle says.

“We need to talk.”

****

[spiritofvengeance]

Minutes later, on the roof overlooking the Iceberg Lounge.

“You’re leaving town,” the Batman says.

“What? I thought we made a pretty good team.”

“I have no time for vigilantes seeking revenge in my city.”

“I...”

“I know what Cobblepot’s responsible for. Daniel Garrett was your predecessor. He kept a low profile to stay off the DEO’s radar, but that was before Cobblepot murdered him. I know all about it.”

The Beetle looks away, saying, “Dan was my friend. I miss him, but I’m not out for revenge. I want Cobblepot behind bars. I want him off the streets so he can’t hurt anyone else. Dan would not want me to resort to killing. He didn’t believe in stooping to their level. Neither do I.”

The Bat stares the Beetle down. He’s spent the better part of his life learning to “read” people. Learning to tell their true intentions. He believes the Beetle.

“I’m leaving, Sir. Just... take Cobblepot down,” and with that the Beetle jumps from the rooftop, swinging on a line.

The Batman looks on, his cape blowing in the wind, thinking, You can count on it... Ted.

The end....