Tarzan – Deposed Jungle Lord
Book IV “The Dynamic Duo’s Downfall”
Author: L. Cross – Approx. 2010.
Moderately enhanced/embellished/expanded/edited by Rick Henry, 10-2021.
Chapter 1 “The Dark Knight”
It is nearly midnight; Police Commissioner Gordon is anxiously pacing the roof of Gotham City’s Police Headquarters with a narrow FedEx box under his arm. The din rising from the large city below seems to add to the commissioner’s anxiety. He checks his watch again; it has been nearly an hour since he illuminated the large rooftop lantern that is projecting the Bat Signal high against the cloudy night sky of Gotham City.
Minutes later there is loud rustle and flapping of a leather cape followed by loud sound of heavy boots hitting the deck of the roof. Commissioner Gordon whirls around as the shadowy figure of Batman stands upright and walks briskly towards him.
Batman is a tall, powerfully built, muscular adult man in his mid-thirties His costume consists of a black rubber molded bodysuit, black gloves and heavy black boots. There is a raised black bat emblazoned across his powerful chest and a wide dull gold utility belt buckled snuggly around his waist. His head, with exception of his mouth and cheeks, is encased in a black rubber cowl fitted with a long flowing black cape.
The sound of heavy bootsteps dissipate as Batman stops before the anxious commissioner. As his black cape settles in behind him, he asks, “What is it, Commissioner?”
“This,” replies the commissioner as he hands the FedEx box to Batman. “It arrived with this evening’s FedEx delivery.”
Batman takes the box and quickly opens one end and then pulls out a royal blue elastic bodysuit. The commissioner takes the box as Batman unfolds the light elastic suit and stares in disbelief at the famous red and yellow raised “S” symbol emblazoned across the chest portion of the elastic suit. The front of the blue bodysuit is tinted green, embedded with dried green granules.
“Superman!” exclaims Batman. “He disappeared several weeks ago! No one has seen nor heard from him… until this!”
“The return address is bogus but there was a note inside with the costume addressed to you,” explains the commissioner sullenly as he pulls a note from his suit pocket and hands it to Batman. Batman grasps Superman’s green tainted costume in his gloved fist and takes the note with the other glove and reads silently to himself:
Batman – I have defeated your mighty friend Superman. I offer his costume as proof that I have harnessed his mighty superpowers! How else would I have been able to strip the costume from his body? You will find the costume is authentic. Fear not –Superman is alive… for now. Find me, Batman, and you’ll find your friend Superman.
The Hunter
“How did this… hunter character… defeat Superman… Kryptonite?” asks Batman as he looks at the green tainted costume in his fist.
“I don’t know how he was able to capture Superman. The lab’s cursory inspection says the green substance of the costume is definitely not Kryptonite… just non-radioactive green colored sand embedded to the elastic fabric,” explains the commissioner. “The costume is authentic – we tested it – it’s impervious! It belongs to Superman!”
“Superman defeated?” asks Batman as he crumbles the note in his black gloved fist and tosses it to the deck of the roof. He spreads Superman’s costume out before him again and stares at the green tainted famous S on the blue costume.
“It’s a trap, Batman,” replies the commissioner. “Superman is the bait; he’s probably already dead.”
“We don’t know that; Superman would come after me. This is what I’ve been waiting for. All my searching for clues to Superman’s disappearance has yielded nothing thus far,” explains Batman as he hands the costume back to the commissioner.
The commissioner sighs and takes the costume from Batman; he stuffs the costume back in the FedEx box, and then hands the box to Batman. “Be careful, Batman… this man was clever enough to capture Superman… and apparently without Kryptonite!”
“I’ll do another analysis of the costume as soon I get back to the Bat Cave in case you missed something; it might yet offer clues to Superman whereabouts!” replies Batman.
Chapter 2 “The Hunter Watches”
From a distant rooftop the hunter smiles as he watches in seclusion as Batman takes the FedEx box with Superman’s costume from Commissioner Gordon; he listens to their conversation on the microwave dish set up next to him. “I’ll do another analysis of the costume as soon I get back to the Bat Cave in case you missed something; it might yet offer clues to Superman whereabouts!” replies Batman.
The hunter exhales in relief and says softly, “Good – Batman’s taking the box with Superman’s costume back to his Bat Cave… just as I anticipated he would!”
Chapter 3 “Bat Cave”
In the Bat Cave Alfred has finished conducting several tests on Superman’s costume. “I can find nothing out of the ordinary, Mr. Wayne,” explains Alfred sullenly. “The tests conclude the green granules are ordinary particles of sand – no other clues can be found on the costume.”
“This is maddening, Alfred,” replies Batman in frustration as he removes his cowl and cape. “The costume is authentic; Superman is missing; how did they neutralize Superman with sand?”
“I am as baffled as you are sir,” concedes Alfred as he takes the black cowl and cape.
“Where’s Dick?” asks Batman.
“Master Dick is out for the night,” answers Alfred.
“Dick seems to be spending a lot of time out lately,” replies Batman. “A girlfriend?” asks Batman.
“I would not know,” replies the butler.
“It’s late, Alfred,” yawns Batman as he removes his utility belt. “We’ll renew our efforts to locate Superman in the morning,”
“Good night, Mr. Wayne,” replies the butler as he heads for the stairs leading up to Wayne Manor.
“Good night, Alfred,” replies Batman as he pulls off one of his heavy black boots.
Hours later, in the empty Bat Cave below Wayne Manor a tiny tracking beacon hidden within the cardboard layers of the FedEx box silently activates – seconds later the device sends a powerful micro-burst transmission; later the devices self-destructs and disintegrates erasing all traces of the tracking device.
Chapter 4 “Dynamic Duo Unmasked”
Hours have passed since the hunter watched and listened to Batman and Police Commissioner Gordon’s exchange on the rooftop of Gotham City Police Headquarters. Now the hunter sits at a table setup in the open cargo bay of a C-130 parked in a hangar at the Gotham City IAP. It is nearly sunrise and the hunter stares at the darkened screen of a laptop. A small satellite dish on the roof of the hangar points upwards into the brightening morning sky. The plane is dark and silent with the exception of the steady alternating rhythms of Shawn and Vince snoring as they slumber peacefully in their sleeping bags on the cargo bay floor. Suddenly the computer chirps as the satellite dish begins to receive the precious signal the hunter has anxiously awaited; the hunter snaps to attention as the micro-burst transmission is received. The computer hums and its screen becomes bright slightly illuminating the dark cargo bay. The grid of a street map of Gotham City and the surrounding suburbs appears on the screen. Seconds later the map refreshes and using the data received in the micro-burst transmission zooms-in on a large estate outside Gotham City. A text box appears: Wayne Manor.
“Wayne Manor,” reads the hunter excitedly! He quickly keys in some commands and the laptop’s internet explorer opens to www.google.com; he goggles Wayne Manor.
He double clicks the result Bio for Bruce Wayne;
- Bruce Wayne, Wayne Manor, Gotham City.
- Bruce Wayne CEO of Wayne Enterprise –
- Ward Dick Grayson;
The hunter uses the computer to compare known physical characteristics of Batman, Robin, Bruce Wayne, and Dick Grayson. He is quickly able to deduce that Bruce Wayne is Batman and Dick Grayson is Robin. The Bat Cave must be under the estate of Wayne Manor! The hunter closes the laptop and sits back in his chair and thinks to himself. I’ll divide and conquer! I’ll capture the boy Robin first. He will be the easier of the two – kids are rash and he should easy to lure into a snare! The Boy Wonder will be the irresistible bait I will use to trap and capture the big enchilada Batman, the so-called Dark Knight!
The hunter sighs loudly. It looks like the old fat pervert down in San Miguel will get the Dynamic Duo to add to his collection of heroes. If I wrap this up quickly and get the pair to San Miguel before year’s end, I get an early delivery fee. I wonder what the old pervert has in store for Batman and Robin. Apparently, he is infatuated with Robin. I’ve seen what he’s done to Tarzan and Bomba in his little plantation brig. As disgusting as that old fat slob is he also did bring down the “big” boy – Superman. The old man somehow managed to strip Superman of his superpowers using some sort of weird island magic! Who would have thought that fat slob could bring down the mighty Man of Steel so easily?! He told me he made Superman crawl on a leash to his cell in the brig next to Tarzan! He tells me he keeps Superman completely naked with his head tightly encased in rubber clown’s hood, languishing in a sweltering cell! The world will soon run out of heroes if Bill Marin continues to prevail. There are not going to be many left after I bring down Batman and Robin. There is that young guy in NY City they call Spiderman. He’s probably next on the pervert’s list!
The hunter returns his thoughts to the important matters at hand. He rises from his chair and approaches Shawn and Vince sleeping in the C-130’s cargo bay. He shouts, “Wake up boys! There is a lot of work to be done. I need you both to use your contacts. I need to know everything there is to know about two people: Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. Who they hang around with, and most importantly who they sleep with.”
Shawn yawns and stretches out in his sleeping bag as Vince continues to snore. Shawn looks up at the hunter through sleepily blue eyes and asks, “Bruce who?”
To be continued…
