365 little nothings

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica} span.Apple-tab-span {white-space:pre}

the land rover bounced its way down the archaic road, which was more of a gravel studded landslide than an actual path.  the driver, a cheaply hired native, was sweating.  but it wasn’t from the heat, his people had long known the horrors of the dark rainforest ahead, those who entered rarely returned, and when they did, they were permanently traumatized.  They would walk around muttering, “lagardo, demonio, gigantio!”  

they neared a clearing, when they reached it, the driver of the battered old vehicle pulled over to the side of the road and put it in park, not brave enough to kill the engine.  “I go no further, dark lands ahead” he stammered.  his english was better than many of the of the guides they had interviewed, and he was willing to take them as far as any native dared.  

“thank you for your service” said one of the men in the back seat, peter was his name.  he was twenty years the senior of the other six members of his party, and obviously the leader.  He handed the poor guide a roll of bills, who counted it with shaking fingers.  He nodded in thanks to peter, as the three passengers climbed out.  Four other men were in the the vehicle that had pulled in behind them, a behemoth weighing eleven tons, armored at all angles.  it took seven axels of doubled wheels to maneuver.  A gunman sat at a mounted .50 caliber riffle on the roof of the cab, his sleeves were rolled up, revealing more permanent sleeves of ink beneath.  the driver had unbuckled his seatbelt and was making himself comfortable on the bench seat.  a cigar was in his hand, a gold ring around the middle named a brand illegal for sale in most fair trade markets, a few out of date magazines he had picked up at the last petrol station were strewn about next to him.  The two other men who had been riding with him were already out and starting to work, the first was checking on the 30 meter cage built onto the back of the truck.  it was made of pure titanium, the dark metal shone dimly in the broken streams of sunlight.  

The last man was taller than the rest, his close cut, blonde hair and dark skin made him resemble the action hero Doc Savage.  He was wearing shorts, but his legs were far from bare.  Tall snake boots came up to his knees, and a long knife was strapped to this thigh.  He wore a thin shirt, and a vest over it, adorned with tools for the mission ahead.  his canteen, which he had since his days as a navy seal, had dents resembling hits from bullets; his compass, which guided him over the tibetan mountains, still bore a notch by the bering leading towards Shangri-La.  His hat had three bullet holes in it, varying in sizes.  He had friends in many places, and even more enemies.  His name was Bjorn, Bjorn wendell.  

The two other men from the land rover opened gun cases on the back of the truck and handed out automatic weapons, while Bjorn removed a larger case and began assembling a strange rifle.

“Those bullets could kill a elephant!” said the man who had operated the mounted gun.

“Bigger.” corrected peter, who was content with just his pistol, a classic colt .45.  He thought it a much cleaner shore than the large, bulky weapons their hired men chose. 

Peter stepped out in front of the men and fired a shot into the air. 

“Gentlemen, what you encounter in this jungle will be different from anything you have ever encountered-“  One of the men interrupted his speech. 

“Does this mean yer tellin’ us what were doin in this rotting place?”  His name was Colin, he spoke with a thick irish accent, if his red hair and pale, freckled complexion didnt make it obvious enough. 

“shut up McCullough.” said the man next to him, he was a tall Ethiopian with a long beard, the others simply referred to him as Tyler.  

“Yes Colin, were here on a sort of, hunting expedition, mister Wendell here knows our mark, the rest of you are here to provide protection from the Wild life.‘  He emphasized the last words with a mysterious tone, but the hired guns were not ones to question him.   “Well, if theres no objections, we’ll leave immediately.”  Peter announced, placing his white hate back on his head, he stood out from the camouflaged group in his slick white suit.  The man with the tattoos shrugged and followed Peter’s lead.  Colin and Tyler also followed him, but Francis, who grew up just two-hundred miles away in the andes mountains, stopped to look at the foliage.  It swayed strangely above him, as if it was crawling with countless creatures strange and mysterious.  Bjorn nudged him and he snapped back into reality, the two continued down the path.  Bjorn waved to the driver before getting out of sight, but the lazy man had fallen asleep.  

They Pushed through the jungle at a fairly quick pace, stopping only long enough to clear the overgrown plants and fallen trees in their path.  the air was full of sound, from screeching insects to deep growls of jungle beasts.  The mercenaries were too experienced in jungle maneuvers to be interested in the soundscape of strange cries.  The large mosquitos and blood sucking insects proved a stronger distraction.  Even though the crew had all but bathed in pure deet, the bugs continually attacked their exposed skin, all save Bjorn, who seemed to naturally repel the little devils.  

After a few hours of walking, the group was still fairly quiet, with the exception of Colin, who’s Irish mouth was a storm of foul complaints at the bugs around his sweating head.  Suddenly, a small green animal darted across their path in front of Tyler.  He tried to follow it with his eyes but it was lost in the dark underbrush.

“Did anyone see that?” he asked, stopping where he was, the others stopped too. “it was green.”  his voice was shaky, as if he didn’t believe his own words.  

“You’re daft!”  Laughed Colin, who turned and began to walk again, but he was interrupted by another animal the size of a chicken that ran right between his legs.  “Holy Mother!” he shouted and shot at it as it ran into the jungle.  

“You idiot!  Stop Firing!”  Shouted Peter. “it seems i need to explain things.”   The mercenaries all looked at him intently.  Peter removed his hat and dabbed at his forehead with a handkerchief.  “I’m sure you’ve all heard of ‘the lost world’  correct?”   

“you mean like Jurassic Park? With all those dinosaurs?” replied the tattoo’d man, his face was a mixture of sarcasm and confusion.  

“yes, you could say that,” replied Peter. “the denizens of this particular rainforest aren’t found anywhere else on the planet.”  He coughed into the cloth in his hand. “there are many other strange creatures living here, most are more menacing than the green runners you just attacked, so as a rule, only fire at the ones who bear a threat, we dont need to be alerting out target that we are coming.”  

“And what are we bloody after?” Colin said in an annoyed tone.

“Why, a Tyrannosaurus Rex of course.”  This came from Bjorn, his first words during the entire expedition.  The others were startled to hear his voice, which was deep and rich, yet somehow light at the same time.  With longer hair he would resemble the greatest legend of his homeland, The mighty norse god, Thor.  

Francis opened his mouth to speak, but thought better and kept quiet.  

“If that is all, we’ll continue now” peter said after an awkward silence, he put his hat back on and began walking.  The others followed, slinging their guns back over their shoulders.  They walked on for about two more hours, when they heard the sound of water in the distance, a rushing water, like that of a large river.  Tyler listened intently, “We’re within a klick of that river, should we work towards it?”

“Yes,” Peter replied. “That will lead us to the lake, and that is a good place to camp for the night.”  They found something of a path leading towards the sound of the river, it was carpeted with dead branches and leaves crushed by heavy feet.  Three toed footprints still marked the track in places.  This was obviously the path of a heard of herbivores, the leaves were eaten back in a wide radius.  

Within a few minutes, they reached the source of the sound.  a river stretched 10 meters wide, it was rushing too fast to measure the depth.  The weather was a sparkling Azure, and looked as pure as a mountain spring.  Tyler knelt and removed a small device from his breast pocket, he dipped it in the water, but before he could check the contamination test, his attention was drawn by something by the edge of the shore.  “well I never..” he mumbled, and snatched it out of the water without thinking about it.  It was a sort of prehistoric crustacean, about seven inches long.  The others stared in amazement at the brownish-red creature in his hand.  

“it looks like a sort of-” but he was cut off by a sharp pain in his index finger. the small crab had bit him. “Bugger!” he shouted, and dropped it in the water, where it swam out of sight.  

“A Trilobite.” Peter said, who had squatted down next to him and picked up the filter Tyler had dropped.  “The water is clean,”  he said, handing it back to him.  He pulled his flask off his belt and filled it from the river.  “You may find this the best water you’ve ever tasted.”  He sipped from the flask and replaced the cap.  The others all hurried to try the water, kneeling and drinking with their hands.  

“Oh hurry up, its not the bloody fountain of youth.”  Complained Colin, who had not been impressed by the crisp liquid.  They all ignored him and filled their canteens.  While they were filling up, they noticed strange fish swimming passed them.  Primordial creatures only know in history books, and others unfamiliar to even the most learned scientists.  Across the river they heard a loud splash, four guns were immediately trained on the source, which turned out to be a sabertooth tiger with a coelacanth between its gleaming teeth.  

“Don’t fire” whispered Peter, Holding his hand out,  “his mate will be nearby, and we dont want an angry she-tiger on our hands.”  they stared in awe as the fierce cat stalked back into the dense jungle, water dripping from its face.  Once it was out of sight they continued on at a steady pace, the current picked up speed slowly as they worked their way downstream.  The rush turned to roar and soon they realized what as coming.  The thick foliage thinned, and the sinking sun was visible ahead.  Large rocks studded the edge of the visible horizon, and the water rushed over them and fell into the open orange abyss.  The party walked up to the edge and looked over.

Below the waterfall was a large oval lake, nearly a kilometer long and over three wide.  It was very deep, large, dark shapes could be seen moving under the surface.  all around it were herds of prehistoric giants,  Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and Brontosaurus all flocked to the water, young calves stayed close to their mothers to avoid getting lost in the havoc of the masses.  pterodactyls circled overhead and landed in the high perches of trees.  no one in the party spoke a word for what seemed an eternity, even Peter was dumbfounded by the sheer majesty of this window to the distant past.  

Peter was the one to break the silence.  “we’ll make camp here, it will be dark within an hour.  Here above the lake we can avoid the traffic of the larger dinosaurs, and by tying our hammocks to high trees we can avoid the smaller carnivores.  someone will need to keep watch, Velociraptors and the like may still prove a threat.”  The mercenaries were still in awe of everything they had just witnessed.  Colin volunteered for the first watch, ‘No stupid lizards scared him’ was his claim.  They hung  their hammocks two meters above the ground, by the time they were done it was dusk, and the watering hole had emptied out, the assorted dinosaurs had all returned to their homes for the night.  

The hours passed peacefully enough, the jungle remained abuzz with sound, but the cries and screeches had ceased.  Colin grew comfortable, not worrying about the the prehistoric monsters surrounding him.  Around two am the activity around him picked up, things ran through the brush beside the camp, but Colin was unaware of his impending doom.  Nature called McCullough, so he walked a good distance off camp and attended to his business.  Unknown to him, a flock of Velociraptors were just feet away from him.  He whistled away, an old Irish bar tune, knowing he was far enough from camp that any noise wouldn’t disturb them.  

Suddenly the raptors struck, pouncing on the unsuspecting Irishman.  He rolled away, tripping over his pants.  He clutched the trigger of his gun, bullets sprayed in the direction he thought the attack came from, but his efforts were futile.  The first raptor latched onto his leg, causing him to scream in pain.  They drug him into the dense jungle, where his voice was permanently silenced.  

When the party awoke four hours later, McCullough was nowhere to be found.  They looked a few minutes before they found his gun.  a few feet away was a trail of blood leading into the Jungle.  Shell casings and shreds of his uniform were strewn about, evidence of the attack the night before.  

“it’s a shame” said the tattoo’d man, shaking his head, disturbing images of Colin’s gruesome fate filled their minds.  

“we better move on.” said peter, “we need to find the next before nightfall.”  they walked back to the camp and began to tare it down.  They munched on their breakfast of protein bars quietly as they worked.  Today Bjorn lead, he seemed to lead more with instinct, where Peter had led with familiarity.  Thirty years ago both of them had both been to this same rainforest, they were among the few survivors.  

Bjorn lead them down a steep descent into the lower level of the jungle, they needed their machetes to hack through the dense foliage.  Strange birds were flying overhead.  James, the tattoo’d man, swore he saw a family of dodos.  They crossed paths with a few large dinosaurs, most were peaceful.  A pair of carnivores the size of large horses stopped and growled at them, but a few shots fired in the air scared them away.  

They stopped for an MRE lunch, chicken pasta and vegetables.  Peter lit a pipe while some of the others got out cigarettes.  James offered one to Bjorn, but he declined.  Bjorn finished his meal in three minutes flat and as watching the horizon for something unknown, the foliage was lighter in this lower level, the trees were studier and stood in clusters.  Long grasses and ferns comprised the majority of the fauna. 

After around twenty minutes they continued they trek, Bjorn lead them towards one of the larger clusters of trees.  A mountain of dung was near a path leading through the trees, the stench of rotten meat hung thick in the air.  Peter raised his handkerchief to cover his mouth “well, is it hers?”  he coughed on the fumes.  Bjorn simply nodded and continued down the trail. they were on the trail when Francis noticed a strange, giant flower just off the path, no one noticed him lagging because he was at the back of the line.  He walked closer to it, it was nearly as large as him, and bore a beautifully sweet fragrance.  he was happy to get the stench of feces out of his nose, and there was something enchanting about this flower.  It was blood red, with stripes of blue and purple on the petals, in the middle there was a circle of jagged yellow spikes, like an open mouth, patiently waiting for a morsel of food to fall in.  

A tortured scream pierced the air, the four members of the party turned to find francis gone, they all ran back along the path, only to find a bulbous red flower with a pair of feet hanging out of its mouth.  “this place is cursed,” Tyler said, looking up at the tree line. “we never should have come.”  James picked up the rifle that Francis dropped and slung it over his other shoulder, he looked at the plant and contemplated shooting it.  He thought better out of respect for his fallen comrade.  

Three hours had passed with out further incident when Bjorn suddenly stopped and peered into what looked to be another clearing, he waved them on and hurried in.  The clearing turned out to be a gigantic nest.  A half eaten carcass was strewn out on the ground to the right, the shape looked somewhat familiar, but was undistinguishable from the carnage.  Near the back was something that resembled the nest of a flightless bird, only much much larger.  A ring three meters across comprised of sticks, bones and mud was raised a meter above the ground of the nest, eight enormous eggs sat in it.  bones were strewn all over the floor of the nest, Tyler thought he recognized a human skull lying with the darker reptilian, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to find out.  

“we need to find somewhere to hide until she gets back.” Bjorn instructed, he headed for the left side of the nestm the others began to follow, but he told them to spread out, Peter stayed fairly close, while Tyler took a spot on the opposite side.  James decided he would camp directly behind the eggs.  

It was nearing dusk when they arrived in the nest, so the mother T-Rex would soon return to her home.  Everyone was ready with their weapons, James held Francis’s and his own guns, he figured a little extra firepower couldn’t hurt.  The ground began to rumble,a steady “thoom, thoom, thoom” pattern grew louder, a sign that the great lizard was drawing nearer every second.  Tyler tensed, sweat dripped from his brow and hands.  He had killed men, and he had killed things that could eat him, such as lions, but never something so terrible and menacing, he wondered if this was the same beast that ended McCullough.  

She was close now, her heavy breath was audible.  Even Peter was now nervous, he checked his revolver and fingered something in his pocket.   The great beast ducked its head into the clearing, a mammal the size of a cow was clamped in her jaws.  She entered fully and stood upright, tossing her head back and swallowing the meat.  James gritted his teeth as she snapped her jaws closed on one of the legs, which fell to the ground with a thump.  she took no notice and walked towards the eggs, fear struck James and he stumbled back, he caught himself before he fell, but the Tyrannosaur trained her eyes on the motion, it was then that James noticed a long scar on her head, it looked like a bullet had scraped across her eye and forehead. the scar was long healed over, but it left a grey line in the dark green hide.  She leaned in and let loose an enormous roar, it shook the surrounding trees and flung chunks of meat at James, who quivered in fear.  He quickly snapped into action, both barrels blazed and sprayed a stream of bullets at the giant beast.  She reared in pain, but the bullets didn’t do any real damage, they mearly stung, leaving tiny welts in her tough hide.  Another roar was released, this time out of pain, she bit into the crazed soldier and swung her head up, bullets sprayed everywhere, his finger frozen on the triggers.  James didnt even have a chance to scream before the dinosaur flung him far through the air, he landed so far way that noone heard the crash of his landing.  

The Tyrannosaurus began nosing around the nest in rage shoving bones and brush around in search of other invaders.  Peter acted quickly, pulling the item from his pocket, It was a flash-bang grenade.  He pulled the pin and cooked it for a few seconds,  Tyler saw him from across the clearing and covered his ears and eyes.  The grenade flew out and landed directly in front of the giant beast, which looked down and sniffed it.  She was met with an explosion that nocked her back, she screeched in rage and began stumbling around, her sight and hearing were rendered useless.  Bjorn took his opportunity and raised his rifle.  He slid a large bullet into the chamber, the bullet contained a large capsule of green liquid, once in the bloodstream the chemicals would sedate the T-Rex for nearly a week.  Bjorn picked his mark, a major artery in the beasts inner thigh.  He exhaled and pulled the trigger, somehow the shot met its mark through the chaos of the rampaging monster.  The thrashing slowed, and within a few minutes she had fallen on the ground panting, within the next hour she would be asleep.  

The three remaining hunters made their way towards each other by the fallen beast.  

“bloody good shot there Bjorn,” said peter, patting him on the shoulder.  He walked over to the nest and picked up one of the eggs, he examined it and slid into the empty satchel hanging from his shoulder.  He didnt much care about concealing his prize.  Tyler was in shock, half of his comrades had been eaten by creatures that weren’t supposed to exist anymore.  He simply sat down in the dirt and closed his eyes.  

Bjorn paced by the head of the dinosaur, “I told you I’d come back.” he whispered, and with that, the dinosaur closed her eyes. 

“well,” said peter, walking back to the others, “there’s only one thing we have left to do, get this cow back to the truck.” he chuckled lightly and lit his pipe.  

i wrote this about a month ago, hoping to do a nice long story, but i never got past the opening, so i figured i might as well let someone read it right? well here u go. LOTR fan fiction. 

1.

the life of a wizard is rarely dull, but it is often monotonous.  I’ve always believed that i have a greater purpose than simply casting meager enchantments.  i have undertaken many quests and averted many disasters, it is always satisfying to aid in the struggles of younger races.  

i have been known by many names, by many different peoples. to the dwarves, i am Tharkun.  To the elves and men of Gondor, i am Mithrandir, or, the gray pilgrim.  Long ago i was known as Olorin. and in times of trouble, they call me Stormcrow.  but i prefer the name Gandalf greyhame, or, the gandalf the grey. 

there are members of our great race who are worshiped by some as gods.  but these beings were merely creations of a far more powerful being.  these individuals are known as the valar, they caryout great tasks in middle-earth.  many believe them to be immortal, but nothing is free from danger.  

my quest began when the lord of the eagles, Thorondor, approached me in the forrest.  i had encountered this majestic bird before, but never face to face. i was awestruck when he told me he had been sent by Lorien, master of dreams and desire, i had never been in the presence of a Valar.  i traveled on Thorondor’s back, the wind in my beard was exhilarating, as we neared Lothlorian, i noticed that the great wood was not as vibrant as it usually is this season.  we landed deep in the woods, i saw the great Valar walking through the trees, he seemed to glow.  i approached, and knelt before him, it isn’t every day you meed one of the greatest beings who walks middle-earth.  

“rise, brother!” he commanded, his voice booming yet gentle, “are we not both Ainur?”  i pushed up on my staff, i stood at eye level with him, his green eyes peered deep into mine, piercing through me.  

“you must be wondering why i have brought you here,” he said, walking towards a small grove, in the shadows a woman was laid out on an ornate bed, the grass around her was brown and dead, the flowers wilted.  i looked at her face, she was once a very beautiful woman, but time had not been friendly to her, and she showed the marks of one well endowed in years.  

“this is vana, the ever-young.” he said grimly, he had stepped up behind me while i was staring at her weathered face. 

“what black magic is this?” i asked him, reaching down to touch her face, but pulling back in fear. 

“the dark lord Melkor has enchanted her, reversing her ever-youth and casting countless eons upon her clean soul.”  Lorien paced back and forth, his heart and mind heavy. 

“and why have you called upon me great Irmo?” i ask, taken aback by the severity of the situation.

“because you, Olorin, will be the one to save her.”   I was dumbfounded, i had never been at such a loss for words, it was hard to fathom that a Valar just told me i would perform such a task. 

“there is a spell that will reverse the effect of the enchantment, i have most of the ingredients here in the forrest, but there are 5 special items needed to completely break the enchantment.  a bud from the white tree of Gondor, the bark of a living Ent, the beard of a female dwarf, a rib of the goblin king Boldog, and a pint of dragon blood.”  Lorien recited from memory, the list seemed a little absurd to Gandalf, but high magic rarely made sense to those gathering the necessary ingredients.  “the Vala are counting on you young Olorin, do you believe you can handle this task?”  he again stared into my eyes, this time with a softer look, a look of hope.

“I accept the task you have given me.” i replied, my voice was shaky.  Lorien continued to give me a map, explaining the locations of the items, as well as flask for the dragons blood, lined with special lining to prevent the harsh liquid from eating away at the hide.  he also gave me a sword, a beautiful blade, inscribed with tengwar. 

“this will be of more use to you than you can imagine.” Lorien told me as he slid it into its scabbard.  i hung it on my belt with reverence, i was honored to cary such a weapon.  

“go with Thorondor now, to moria, and onward, be swift, and may The All High be with you.” 

i wanted to share a little batman fan fic i was working on, and i thought here was a good venu. enjoi.

A Dark Knight In Bludhaven

Chapter 1

Gotham- 

The Dark Knight slid in the window of the 7th story apartment,

surveying  his surroundings, Batman noticed a torn couch and a wobbly coffee table, with food scraps and trash strewn across its surface.   But more interesting, was the dead body laying by the door. “James Morgan, dead for two hours.” said Commissioner Jim Gordon, breaking the silence. “he isn’t on any of the lists of our major crime lords, Scarface, Black Mask, Penguin, no one has even heard of him, but he said he had information on his boss, so we set up a meeting.  It seems whoever he is working for found out about his little plan and dealt with the problem. 

“this bullet wound, isn’t from a normal handgun” Batman said stooping over the body.  

“I noticed, I was hoping you could place it” Gordon replied

“Deadshot.” batman said coldly. Standing, he faced Gordon and resumed his thought.  “We haven’t seen him rear his head since Black Mask came Onto the field, What would bring him back?

“Search me, thats why I called you in.” Suddenly batman dove on Gordon, pushing him behind the couch. 

“Are you out of your blazing mind?” Jim shouted, Batman was by the window, looking for something. Just then he turned and saw three bullet holes in the wall behind him. “Deadshot.” he whispered.

“I can’t see where he went” batman said walking back towards the sofa, “there’s something wrong with this room, whats that..” Batman didn’t bother finishing his sentence, he was too busy searching the south wall for some unknown reason.  Gordon learned years ago never to question Batman when he was working, so he didn’t.  Batman quickly pulled a knife out of his belt and cut a hole in the wall, revealing a large home-made bomb, a timer on the front panel showed only 10 seconds remaining to detonation. 

“ITS A BOMB! GET OUT!” batman shouted and rushed for the door, Commissioner Gordon wasn’t far behind. They were 10 feet down the hall and the room erupted in flame, the force of the blast knocked them off their feet.  The floor began to shake, and dust fell from the Ceiling. “the whole building is going to fall!” Gordon gasped.  Batman grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him down the hall, they rushed for the stairwell, hoping to out run the falling building. Batman mounted the stairs to the 8th floor, 

“Where are we going?” Jim asked in a panic.

“Up.” batman replied.  With that he pulled a grappling gun out of his belt and shot it at the railing at the top of the stairs, Gordon grabbed his arm and they sped to the 13th floor.  Batman kicked in the door to the roof, not bothering to check if it was locked. They ran to the edge of the roof, another apartment building was next door, a small alleyway separated the two buildings.  Batman took a running jump and cleared the space with ease, Gordon was unsure of his long jumping skills, but the rumbling building below his feet gave him the confidence to jump a gap twice the size.  He took a running jump and landed clumsily on the other side. Just then the building started to collapse in on itself, within minutes all that remained was a tall pile of smoking rubble. 

“whoever this new guy is, he means business.” Gordon said, wiping sweat from his face. 

“And I have a feeling this won’t be an average case.” and with that, The Batman was gone.

The Batcave, Gotham-

“Oracle, come in, this is Bruce.”  Batman was sitting at the Batcave’s super computer, reading over Deadshot’s profile.

“Oracle here, what is it Bruce?”  Babara Gordon, or Oracle, as she is known by Gotham’s heroes is the daughter of Commissioner Gordon.  Once known as Batgirl, she was beaten nearly to death years earlier by the Joker, a horrible chain of events that nearly drove Batman to insanity.  

“what can you tell me about Deadshot?” Batman asked, continuing to scan files on his computer.  

“Floyd Lawton, Alias Deadshot, former alliances include Checkmate, Suicide Squad, Secret Six, abilities include,” Baman cut her off.  “What do you have about his more recent activities?” 

“He Hasn’t Made an appearance in years, its almost like he, gave up..” she said, almost sounding confused.  “I’m running a scan on inactive villains,” she paused briefly. “besides Deadshot, Killer Crock, Firefly, Clayface, and Solomon Grundy are missing.”

“wait, Firefly? Wasn’t he spotted near Bludhaven recently?” Batman asked, he looked through his messages from Nightwing.  “a week ago, he was spotted flying away from a burning warehouse, the fire was put out, but Firefly hasn’t been seen since.” 

“It sounds like we need to call Dick.” Oracle said.

“No,” Batman replied, “I’m going to Bludhaven. Batman out.” 

Chapter 2

Bludhaven, South Side-

“This is my town, its my job to protect it, the last few years have been hard on everyone here, the world was literally crashing down on us.  But we can rebuilt, we won’t stay down for long.”  - Nightwing. This quote was taken a few days after the event titled by the news as Infinite Crisis.  

Dick Grayson for years has been the sole protector of the city of Bludhaven. As a child, he was taken in by batman and became his sidekick, Robin.  Years passed and Dick eventually created a new identity for himself, and moved to Gotham’s southern sister.  Dick And Bruce Wayne weren’t currently on speaking terms, there father / son relationship had its good times and bad, currently, it was a bad. 

Six days ago, the villain known as Firefly had torched a warehouse by the docks, Nightwing had been following him since the incident.  He thought he had lost him, until he found a flaming car in the south side, it seemed almost too easy, so he was keeping his eyes open for a trap.  Nightwing found the building he suspected Firefly to be hiding out in, he entered through the air ducts, avoiding the obvious entries.  He silently crept through the building, everything seemed safe, but years of experience proved never trust your surroundings.  When he entered main warehouse, the silence was overwhelming, Dick was starting to have second thoughts about the building.  Then suddenly, the far end of the room burst into flame.  Firefly zoomed across the room and smacked head on into Nightwing, knocking the wind out of him.  Dick jumped up and braced for Firefly’s second run, as Firefly turned, Dick took a Batarang and threw it at Firefly’s flight pack, it struck hard and lodged in, sending Firefly spiraling towards a support beam.  Nightwing used this to his advantage and ran to where firefly would crash.  He struggled to gain control but Firefly couldn’t fix his flight pack, he braced for impact and crashed into the poll, he was knocked unconcious immediately.  Nightwing grabbed Firefly by the neck and slung him over his shoulder, he would take him back to his base of operations for questioning before turning him over to the Bludhaven police force.  He wanted to know what had brought a world class villain to his city, and what he needed to do to keep the other out.    

Bludhaven, North suburbs-

The Batmobile sped down highway 7 into Bludhaven, traffic was scarce at 4 A.M. So speed limits weren’t important.  If Bruce remembered correctly, and he always did, Nightwing operated out of a renovated whaling factory, his own Batcave of sorts.  Bruce knew he and Dick hadn’t left off on friendly terms, but something of this magnitude usually brought them back together. 

thats where i stopped, i really should keep working it, tell me what you think!

i didnt write something today… no ideas, no inspiration..

the fog of war is thick in the air, this battle has been raging for hours, maybe days, ive lost track of time. my blade is heavy in my hands, its polished steel tarnished with the blood of my enemies.  I was seperated from my troops in the battle, i wander aimlessly through the dead, why so much death?  why must freedom come at such a high cost?  an enemy foot soldier charges me, screaming his bloody war cry, i make short work of him, with a grimace of disgust on my face.  I lean down to wipe my blade on the grass, they say the sword is a samurai’s soul. I look at the man ive killed, just a boy, no older than my own son.  shaking my head I walk off, I wish there was an easier way.

lemme whip this out *grabs a pad of paper* what did you think i ment?

Captains Log, July 17th 1724.  - we’ve been shipwrecked on this island for almost a week now. im the only one left, it feels like we crashed strait into the firery pits of hell.

we were on course back from Peru, french navy pushed us off course and we ran into a storm.  I had never seen a storm as big as this, our ship was tossed between the waves, they must have been 30 meters high.  I hit my head on the mast and blacked out.  when i came to, we were crashed in the middle of the jungle, and a score of our crew were missing.  We sent out crews to find food and water, the majority of our supplies were destroyed in the crash, only a few cases of dynamite remained untouched.  I told the scavenging parties to be back by nightfall, around dusk we heard a monsterous noise, then gunshots, about seven, and finally screaming.  a few headstrong of my crew rushed out into the dense jungle to see what happened, they were met by the same fate.  we decided to sleep under the wreck for the night, with a watchman awake at all times, the rest of the night passed without incident.

The next morning, I instructed out surviving crew to clear 20 meters around the ship in all directions, hoping to prevent any more incidents. around 9 a boar ran into out camp, shepherd shot it in the neck with his musket, what could have scared him into our camp? this island worries me.  that night we sat around the fire, feasting on the boar meat.  we heard the sound again in the distance, there seemed to be a roar, and stomping, and the sound of metal scraping against of metal. this time, no one left the clearing.

The next few days were hard, 6 of our remaining 14 crew members fell sick and died, another has the symptoms.  4 of the healthy went out in search of food and water, the little we found had run out taking care of the sick.  its ironic that we have a treasure worth a kings ransom sitting in the ship, and its utterly worthless to us now.

then this morning, we discovered the source of the noises.  around 8 I heard the noises close to camp, we all ran out of the ship armed to the teeth, we were going to discover the source of this.  what I saw will be forever burned into my mind.    A giant cloud of black smoke was floating around us, it gathered up in a pillar and slammed into smith, nocking him into the boat, he slumped to the ground unconcious, maybe dead.  then it swept around and seemed to pick up James and tossed him into the jungle, the others tried to run but they were simultainously cought by the smoke and nocked together, i was the only one remaining.  the monster gathered into a small cloud infront of me, sparks of lightning seemed to corse through it, it felt like this smoke, this monster was looking at me, then suddenly, flew away, screaching its monsterous roar.  i fell to my knees, not knowing what to believe, could this have really happened? was this a dream? and i looked down at my arm, a huge cut ran from my wist to my elbow, this was no dream, im as awake as ive ever been, maybe even more so.  a mysterious man walked out of the jungle, from the same direction as the smoke monster had come. he walked up to me and put out his hand, like he wanted me to shake it. “hi there, my name is jacob.” he said with a smile.

im rather proud of this one, i hope you like it :D

im doing a lost fan fic :)

Day one working on the high steel.  I’ve always been good with hights, I never really understood why.  my foreman told me i was the youngest person ever hired by the buisness, I was supprised but im not one to question these things.

They started me out as a riveter, working over 100 feet up, i was a little more than excited. riding the elevator up seemed to take an eternity, as we climbed the giant skeleton of a building, my new co-workers explained what to do. “Always keep your gear on hand.”  “Be sure not to get your rivet lines crooked.”  “And NEVER look down.” they all nodded at the last statement.  I’ve heard stories about people looking down, they call it vertigo, you loose all sense of direction, and most victims plummit to their deaths.  I’m gonna look down, I thought with a smirk.  the elevator gate finally slid open and we walked out single file.

a few hours go by, the work is monotanous, but i love the wind on my face, it feels like im flying.  suddenly, a shower of rivets rain down in front of me, i look up in confusion to see a man falling from the level above me.  something snaps in my mind, like a secret switch being flipped in my head.  I leap from the girder, all the reasoning in my brian seems to have vanished.  I fall quickly towards the screaming man, I reach out and grab his collar.  with newfound strength coursing through my veins,  I yank him into my arms.  I kick at the air beneath me, and i stop, floating in mid air.  The man looks up at me, completely awe-struck, “we’re, flying,” he stuttered,  I looked back at him, with a nervous laugh, “know anywhere I could get a cape?”

but i got distracted by my mom, shes having me make her a website, fun

where am I? I take in my surroundings, trees stretch miles into the sky, casting shadows on the smaller plants around me.  I jump to my feet, shaking the dust from my hair, i look to the west, the sun hangs low in the sky.  suddenly, the trees in the distance begin to crack and fall, and i hear the sound of something rushing through the forrest.  a terrifying roar fills my ears, I do the only thing I can think of. run.

I push with everything i have in me, i hear the beast’s heavy footfalls in the underbrush. only one word is in my mind, run.  I stumble through the thick woods I can feel the beast hot breath on my back.  as I run, the trees around me begin to thin, I must be nearing the edge of the forrest, but where am I now?  just keep running, i tell myself.

I emerge from the woods into a clearing, small cabins wait in the distance.  the beast is still behind me, I pray that someone will help me.  as i near the village, the inhabitants stream out.  I stop, frozen in terror, i realize, the ones living in the cabins are monsters too, and i have no where else to run.  where, no, what am I?

hope you enjoy, i hare to keep you all in suspense, but im still brewing my story idea for today, at least i have a concept :)