DC Futures Fan Fiction focuses on the future of the DC Universe. Characters in DCF are often the descendents and proteges of the modern-day DC characters, but they are original creations of the authors.
Dr. Mid-Nite created by Charles Reizenstein & Stanley Asch.
Dr. Mid-Nite: DCF created by Schuyler Bush
*****
Dr. Mid-Nite: DCF
"Darkness is my Ally" -- Part 4 of 4
Written by Schuyler Bush
Zenreaper@yahoo.com
Pinch-Edited by Jason Tippitt
*****
Honshu Metroplex Police Headquarters
Iga Province, Nippon
"Where the HELL do you think
you're going, Hasaki?"
Commander Nori Ross bellowed out as he stalked across the landing
pad. Groups of police officers stumbled over each other trying
to
clear a path for their enraged commander. At one of end of the
NeoKev rooftop sat a Hover Assault Transport. The HAT, like most
of the HMPD's equipment, was military surplus from the Eurasian
Armed Forces. The blocky vehicle bristled with weapons, its
armored surface pitted and scored. Next to the vehicle was the
object of Ross's wrath, Lt. Jacqueline Hasaki. She stood patiently
with her hands on her hips while Ross threaded his way through the
hovercars, mechanics and tools that littered the landing pad.
"We're getting HATtie ready
for a spin," the young woman
replied when the Commander finally stood in front of her. The
three officers with her continued to load equipment into the
vehicle, studiously averting their eyes.
"And just where do you think
you're going?" Ross growled.
"Got a tip about a Chop-Doc
operating in Chiba Harbor.
Just gonna do a sweep, check things out," Hasaki answered
innocently.
"And I don't suppose this
has ANYTHING to do with that body
we found behind Wang's Noodle Shop earlier? You remember, the
case
I told you to drop?"
"Of course not, boss.
You SAID drop it. So I dropped it."
"Don't bullshit me, Jackie.
I know you went and saw your
friends at that clinic today. Maybe you had them run a little
autopsy or something?"
"You spying on me, chief?"
"No. But I want to
know what you were doing there, and
where the hell that girl's body ended up," Ross leaned in, drawing
his face closer to Jackie's.
"We dumped it. And
you know exactly what I was doing at
the clinic. My job."
"Were you? I'm not
so sure anymore. You've got my ulcer
churning overtime, Jackie; I don't need this crap."
"Maybe your stomach wouldn't
bother you so much if you
didn't spend so much time swilling sake with Bouryokudan scum like
Jade Monkey."
"That's it! I've had
it! Now, the lot of you start
unpacking that Transport and get down to…" Ross broke off as a
burst of static came over all the officers' wristcoms.
"Attention! All units!
Officer down in the Chiba Harbor
area. In need of immediate assistance. Coordinates are…"
"Sorry, chief, gotta run!"
Hasaki called as she leapt into
the HAT, quickly followed by the officers in her squad. "We'll
finish chatting later, okay?"
"I don't know how the hell
you did that Jackie, but I'll be
damned if…" The roar of twin military turbines coming to life
mercifully drowned out the rest of the sentence.
Jackie plopped down in the
copilot's seat, strapping the
crash harness around her. As Corporal Sanders took his place
in the
pilot's seat he leaned over and asked, "Yeah, how DID you put that
call in anyway?"
"I didn't. But I have
a sneaking suspicion who did."
*****
Chiba Harbor, Nippon
Dr. Mid-Nite gasped as another
powerful blow slammed into
him. His kevlar blend clothing helped blunt the impact, but not
enough. The chemicals coursing through his bloodstream offered
a
higher degree of protection for the hour that his bio-engineered
glands could continue producing them. They made his skin impervious
to small arms fire, and nothing short of a laser scalpel could hope
to cut him.
But the impact of Madamukora's
fist was like a wrecking ball
smashing into a decrepit building. Dr. Mid-Nite rolled away from
his attacker, gaining a short reprieve. The monstrous woman howled
in frustrated anguish and began to lash out blindly. Dr. Mid-Nite
shivered at the sight of the empty sockets where the mercenary's
eyes should have been. In a desperate move, he had blinded
Madamukora by throwing a capsule of cryogenic liquid in her eyes.
Continuing his roll, he
barely avoided Kenku's bamboo shinai
as the avian swordsman launched a new attack. Dr. Mid-Nite tripped
over a bunk and slammed into one of the bulkheads of the cargo hold.
He desperately tried to extricate himself from the tangle of life
support tubes connected to the eviscerated body on the bunk.
Kenku
laughed and swung his shinai at Dr. Mid-Nite again. The bamboo
sword struck the masked vigilante's solar plexus, knocking the
breath from him for a moment. Finally untangling himself, Mid-Nite
kicked out at the birdman. Kenku simply danced aside with
astonishing speed.
The rows of bunks containing
the unfortunate victims of the
Chop-Doc Walter Toorima were hemming Dr. Mid-Nite in, making it
difficult to maneuver. Of course, the two mutated mercenaries
felt
no qualms about knocking over the life support systems, or stepping
on the bunks and their pitiful occupants.
<Need to take this fight
outside, get some room to move,>
Dr. Mid-Nite thought desperately. He clambered over the unconscious
form of Toorima, trying to reach the door.
<Too bad my gas bomb
didn't work on THOSE two,> he thought
as his attackers tried to cut him off. Madamukora plowed through
the litter of twisted bunks and bodies, tracking Mid-Nite by the
noise he made.
"You're not getting away
that easy!" Kenku called out while
dodging around the obstacles in his path. Dr. Mid-Nite stumbled,
his injuries beginning to get the best of him.
<No! If I fall
now it's all over…> he thought as he tried
to scramble to his feet. Suddenly his knee erupted in agonizing
pain as Madamukora quite accidentally stepped on his leg. The
bulky
lizard-woman roared triumphantly and began grinding her massive foot
down as hard as possible. Mid-Nite yelled out in agony as something
inside his leg gave way with a popping noise. Madamukora picked
him
up and held him over her head for a moment, crying out her savage
glee. Then she threw him, intending to pulp him against one of
the
walls. Fortunately for Dr. Mid-Nite, the blind woman was facing
towards the open door.
"Kora, no!" Kenku yelled
as the limp form of Dr. Mid-Nite
went sailing through the doorway and into the night. "Great,
now
I've got to go look for him. At least he's not in any shape to
go
far." Kenku approached the doorway, picking his way around the
buckled door Dr. Mid-Nite had kicked in earlier. He stepped over
the slumped forms of the Flesh Gangers who lay there and peered out
into the night.
A barrage of gunfire greeted
him as Lt. Hasaki and three
other police officers stormed into the room. Kenku went down,
his
feathery body riddled with bullet holes.
"Sweet Buddha! What
the hell is that?" one of the officers
cried out when she saw the hulking Madamukora. All four officers
opened fire, their bullets ricocheting off the massive woman's
leathery hide. Enraged beyond the capacity for human thought,
Madamukora bellowed and charged in the general direction of her
attackers. She plowed through the startled police officers, bowling
them aside and plunging through the doorway.
"Don't just lie there!
We've got to stop that thing,"
Hasaki barked at her squad. With the trained responses of combat
veterans, which they all were, the group scooped up their fallen
weapons and cautiously approached the gaping doorway. Out on
the
deck of the ancient ship, they spread out in a semicircle, trying to
surround Madamukora.
The blinded mutate heard
the scuffing sound of boots behind
her and whirled around. She lunged out in the direction of the
noise and caught a hapless officer in her murderous grasp.
"Don't shoot! You'll
hit Junko," one of the officers yelled
out. Just then, a dark green and red blur flew towards Madamukora.
Dr. Mid-Nite slammed into her, causing the colossal woman to let go
of the officer. Ducking underneath the huge arms that then reached
out for him, Dr. Mid-Nite pulled a small device from one of his belt
pouches. He ran behind the bewildered Madamukora, and activated
the
device. Lunging forward, he slapped the device to the base of
Madamukora's skull, exactly at the point where the neck met the rest
of the spinal column. Then he stumbled back as the huge woman
gave
an ear-shattering scream of pain.
Instead of lashing out and
attacking, though, she stood
stock-still. Then all at once she collapsed with enough force
to
dent the metal deck.
"Is it dead?" Lt. Hasaki
asked breathlessly.
"No. Just paralyzed.
The neural blocker shuts down the
voluntary functions of the body. Useful as a non-chemical
restraint, gets used in mental hospitals a lot," Dr. Mid-Nite
answered as he stepped back towards the ship's railing.
"Hold it right there, vigilante!"
Hasaki called out,
pointing her laser pistol at the shadowy figure. His head was
turned away from her, so she couldn't get a clear look at his face.
<Sounds like he's trying
to disguise his voice, too,> Jackie
thought to herself. <At least that's what he's doing if he's
who I
THINK he really is.>
"Those people in there need
medical attention, Lieutenant.
I suggest you take them to the Honshu Free Clinic for treatment."
"Fine. Sanders, you
and the rest get in there and see to
those people. I'll keep Mister Mask here covered." The
three
officers ducked back into the cargo hold, leaving Hasaki and Mid-
Nite alone on the deck. "Now, why don't you step back away from
that rail and put your hands up? We're going back to Headquarters
to have a nice, long chat."
"I don't think that's such
a good idea," Dr. Mid-Nite
chuckled.
"Well, who asked you anyway?"
"Hooty," was Dr. Mid-Nite's
whispered reply.
"Hooty? What's a…"
Suddenly a dark, winged form flew
into Hasaki's face. She ducked instinctively as the metallic
wings
fluttered around her. Then the artificial owl flew away as quickly
as it had appeared. With a frustrated growl, Hasaki ran to the
now-
empty spot by the railing where Dr. Mid-Nite had been standing just
moments ago. She heard the engine of a hover-bike below her.
Peering into the gloom, she spotted the bike and its rider speeding
over the water and back to the city.
"Well, at least I know where
you're headed," she muttered to
the retreating figure.
*****
Honshu Metroplex Police Headquarters
Iga Province, Nippon
"Good work, Sergeant Junko.
No, you did the right thing in
calling me. Don't worry, we'll take of Lt. Hasaki. All
right,
then, get your squad back to headquarters. Ross out." The
aggravated Commander hung the teleline up and frowned at the walls
of his office. After several moments, he reached for the receiver
again and dialed a number.
"Yes. This is Ross.
Tell the Daimyo that I know where this
Dr. Mid-Nite is."
*****
Honshu Free Clinic
Sterling Street, Iga Province
James Baskon strolled through
the hallway of the clinic,
humming to himself. The lights were dimmed, and most of the
residents and patients were sound asleep, along with the night
staff. Visions of a late-night raid on the clinic's refrigerator
danced through Baskon's mind as he ambled along. He lit up a
Jamaican Gold cigarette while considering what holovid to watch that
night.
<The Mark of Zorro, or
Cyrano de Bergerac? Hmmm… so hard
to decide…> He jumped as a dark figure stepped out of the shadows
and pointed a laser pistol at his face.
"Aaaarrghh! JACKIE!
What the hell are you trying to do?
Give me a goddamn heart attack?"
"Quit clowning around, James.
It's over, okay? Why don't
you come along quietly?"
"Uhm, I hate to break this
to you Jackie, but these things
are legal now," Baskon replied, indicating his cigarette with a wave
of his hand. "I know this is a non-smoking area and all, but
I
really don't think the gun's necessary."
"Quit being cute, James.
I know you're Dr. Mid-Nite."
Baskon stared her for a
long minute, a shocked expression on
his face. Then he collapsed into a giggling heap on the floor.
"ME? Hehhehhhehe…
Dr. Mid… *gasp*… Nite?…
…BWAAHAHAHAHA… tee… heee… you *gasp*, CAN'T be serious…
Bwahhaha…" Tears rolled down his face as he tried to catch
his
breath. After a few minutes of this behavior, Jackie started
to
look doubtful.
"You're… not Dr. Mid-Nite?"
Her only answer was a renewed
giggling fit from the hysterical billionaire at her feet. "Crap.
If it's not you, then it has to be…" She turned around and
stalked off down the hallway.
"Hey! Heheheheh, wait
for me!" Baskon called out, shakily
getting to his feet. He found Hasaki standing in front of the
doorway to Diego Siddig's private laboratory. She was trying
to
override the security panel next to the door, without success.
"Now you think Diego's Dr.
Mid-Nite? I'm not sure which is
funnier, that or…"
"Shut up and open this door.
NOW!"
"Can't. I don't have
the pass-code. Or rather, I had it,
but don't remember." Baskon shrugged. Hasaki pointed the
laser
pistol at Baskon again.
"I'm serious, James.
Open it."
"I'm serious too.
Hell, I can't remember my own teleline
number half the time."
"Jackie, please stop pointing
that gun at James. I will
open the door for you," Diego Siddig's voice announced over the
intercom on the security panel. A red light blinked and turned
green, then the door hissed aside, revealing the well-lit interior
of Diego's lab. Dr. Siddig stood next to an examining table,
bandages in his hands. On the table lay a bruised and battered
figure, one knee bound up in a flexible cast. Diego stepped aside
as the injured person on the table sat up.
"Good evening, Lieutenant,
Mr. Baskon," Dr. Greg Hatsumi Lee
said. The young doctor's ribs were bandaged, and his face was
covered in livid bruises. He still wore the mirrored goggles
of Dr.
Mid-Nite.
"Greg? Well, I'll
be buggered," Baskon said in a stunned
voice. "Just goes to show you can't trust the quiet ones."
"Shut the hell up, James;
this isn't funny!" Hasaki hissed
at him.
"Really? Personally
I think it's hysterical," Baskon shot
back as he perched on a nearby counter. Suddenly a shocked look
replaced the amused expression on his face. "Wait a minute, if
you're Dr. Mid-Nite, and Diego's obviously helping you, then you
must be…"
"JAMES! Be quiet!"
Siddig snapped at his friend. Everyone
turned to stare in shock at the normally mild-mannered Siddig.
"I
don't mean to yell at you, James, but this isn't the time to discuss
THAT," he continued as he darted a glance at Hasaki.
"Oh great, more secrets.
I'm going to have haul you all
down to Headquarters at this rate."
*****
Outside the Honshu Free Clinic
Deadeye Dick whistled quietly,
watching the growing crowd
milling around in the street below him. He bent down to get another
beer out of the paper bag at his feet. He stood on a rooftop
across
the street from the clinic. From this vantage point he had an
excellent view of the scene below.
<Sweet Buddha on a Bike!
Looks like just about every
scumbag kusemono in the territory's here for this here little
soiree. Must be dozens of 'em down there. Wonder when they're
gonna get up the courage to storm the place? Heh, knowing those
jackasses, could be all night 'fore they get 'nuff liquid courage in
'em. Damn candyass Flesh Gangers. Still, there's a whole
lot of
'em. Almost feel sorry for them poor slobs inside. That's
what
they get, though. Ain't none of my business. Really oughtta
be
heading home. Yup, don't want to be around the crap hits the
fan.
Still, can't hurt to watch for a little longer…> Dick brushed
at
some soot that had accumulated on his green snake skin boots, and
sipped at his beer.
Down on the street, hordes
of Flesh Gangers gathered in
small groups. Some yelled out insults at rivals, others engaged
in
shoptalk. All of them watched the front door of the clinic,
wondering who would approach it first.
More gangs arrived every
minute, until the street was packed
to overflowing.
*****
Honshu Free Clinic
Sterling Street, Iga Province
"There must be a hundred
of them out there," James Baskon
muttered as he peered over Diego's shoulder at the security monitor.
"At least," Diego replied
in a worried voice. He looked
over at Jackie, who was speaking into her wristcom.
"I repeat, officer in need
of backup at the Honshu Free
Clinic. This is Lt. Hasaki; please respond, goddamn it!"
She
turned back to the others, her face tight with anxiety. "They're
not answering. I have the sinking feeling we're on our own here."
"Typical," Baskon snorted.
"So what do we do? I tried
calling the Justice League Embassy in Kyoto, but all I got was their
answering service."
Greg Lee stood up, wincing
as he put weight on his injured
leg.
"We fight."
"With what? There's
only four of us, and I'm the only one
with a weapon. You're in no shape to be fighting, either, Mr.
Superhero."
"She's right, Greg.
And it's not a good idea for you to use
your… abilities again so soon," Diego interjected.
"We really don't have much
choice, do we?"
*****
Outside
"What are we waiting for?
We know that Mid-Nite bastard is
in there! C'mon! What are ya? Scared?" a Flesh Ganger
jeered at
his comrades. He brandished his gun like a banner, his face twisted
with anger. Stark shadows cast by the streetlights accented his
face. Sweat covered his forehead in an oily sheen as the battle
drugs he'd taken earlier surged through his system. He thumped
a
fist against his flak-vest and snarled at the others around him.
The various conversations stopped as everyone stopped to look at
him. A member of another gang stepped into the light and leered
at
him, pointing a long Vilarium machete at the clinic's door.
"You go first!" Laughter
broke out in various groups, and
someone threw a bottle at the first speaker.
"Fine! I will!
Who's with me?" Yells and guttural war
cries replaced the laughter. Surging forward like a tide of human
flesh, the Flesh Gangers moved towards the clinic.
Suddenly, all the streetlights
flared with an eye-searing
brightness, then went out completely, plunging the street into
stygian darkness.
"Hey! What happened?
Why'd they turn the lights out?" one
of the thugs cried out.
"Because darkness is my
ally," a calm, confident voice
whispered in his ear.
"It's him! He's right
next to me!"
Dozens of lasers, flechettes,
knives, hand grenades,
throwing stars, bullets, and even a rocket were shot, thrown, or
launched in the general direction of the Flesh Ganger who had cried
out.
Screams could be heard over
the mayhem as Flesh Gangers were
cut down by the dozen by 'friendly fire.' The slaughter continued
as panicked gang members fired blindly in the darkness, ripping
their friends to shreds.
Slowly, one by one, they
stopped shooting as realization
dawned on a few of the more intelligent ones.
"Stop firing, you assholes!
Someone get a light so we can
see what the hell we're doing!" one gang leader screamed. She
reached into her own faux-leather jacket and pulled out a small
flashlight. When the beam of light stabbed out into the darkness,
a
few highly-strung Gangers shot at her.
"I SAID STOP SHOOTING, YOU
DICKHEADS!" Looking around at
the carnage, the teenage gang leader searched for familiar faces.
Her own paled when she spotted the corpse of her second-in-command
and lover.
"Oh, my god! You killed
Wayne! You bastards!" Before the
anguished girl could continue, a chorus of quiet popping sounds
echoed through the night. Billowing clouds of inky black smoke
began to envelop the surviving gang members, rendering their
flashlights useless.
"Where is he? Goddamn
it! Someone tell me where he is!
I…" the Flesh Ganger's voice was cut off by the sound of a fist
colliding with her jaw.
*****
Inside
"Damn, he's actually doing
it. I can't believe it," Baskon
said as he watched the unfolding tableau on the security monitor.
Infrared filters allowed them to keep track of the action to a
certain degree, except in those areas obscured by Dr. Mid-Nite's
blackout bombs. Not even infrared seemed able to peer through
the
clouds of darkness they created. Dr. Greg Lee seemed unhampered
by
the darkness, however, moving through it like a vengeful ghost.
Occasionally a brief glimpse of dark green trenchcoat or red tunic
could be seen as he stalked from one group of panic-stricken Gangers
to another.
"Don't get your hopes up,
James. Those clouds are already
starting to blow away, and there's still several dozen bad guys out
there," Hasaki said as she checked the power supply of her laser.
Moving away from the monitor, she looked at the small crowd of
people gathered in the clinic's waiting room. Most of the residents
who could walk were there, along with the nurses and interns who
lived at the clinic full-time or worked the night shift. The
sounds
of gunfire and explosions from outside had awakened them.
"What's going on?
What's happening out there? Dr.
Siddig…"
"It's okay, folks!
There's some Flesh Gangers outside, but
Dr. Mid-Nite's out there taking care of them!" Baskon called out in
a reassuring voice to the frightened patients. Several of them
crowded forward, trying to catch a glance at the security monitor.
"Dr. Mid-Nite! Let me see!"
"Mommy, I wanna see Doctor
Midnight-Man!"
"Saved my life last week!
Let me see!"
"Everyone get back!
Please return to your rooms! The
police will be here soon; there's no need to panic," Hasaki told the
crowd.
"The police? Bah!"
"Who's panicking?
He said Dr. Mid-Nite was out there!"
"We can't let him fight
all those scumbags alone!"
"Yeah! C'mon!"
The group of people, some of them quite
elderly, others quite young, some in wheelchairs, others with
intravenous tubes still in their arms, others on crutches, most of
them injured or infirm to one degree or another, moved towards the
door.
"No! Everyone get
back to your rooms now! This is
serious!" Hasaki yelled. Grumbling and complaining, the
enthusiastic residents reluctantly left the waiting area.
"Why the hell did you tell
them that, Baskon? We've got
enough problems as it is… James? Where'd he go?" Hasaki asked,
looking around for the billionaire.
"He took off upstairs, said
he had to get something from his
room," Diego answered.
"Oh, great. This is
an absolutely FABULOUS time for him to
decide he needs a cocktail."
*****
Outside
The last wisps of black smoke
drifted away on the breeze as
another group of Flesh Gangers charged at Dr. Mid-Nite. He leapt
out of the way, and only an especially observant person would have
noted the way his face twisted in agony when he landed. Grabbing
one of the Gangers by his collar, Mid-Nite tossed him into a woman
trying to reload a pulse rifle.
Two of the Gangers tackled
him, only to be tossed aside like
dolls. Pulling himself up, Dr. Mid-Nite crouched in a fighting
stance in front of the clinic's door. Heaps of unconscious or
dead
gangers littered the street, but he knew there were still enough to
overwhelm him. His coat hung in tatters, shredded by a dozen
blades. Blood poured freely from his many wounds, and his ragged
breathing barely drowned out the sound of his heart beating
desperately against his ribcage.
Once more, the Flesh gangers
charged at the beleaguered
vigilante, this time trying to pull him down through sheer weight of
numbers. Like a sea of rats, they flooded over him. He
knew this
was the end. Unless…
The designer battle drugs
that flowed in his veins, the
'Miraclo' that gave him his strength, speed, agility, and endurance.
It was the only thing keeping him alive at the moment, and it wasn't
enough. He needed to do more than survive; he needed to win.
Never
before had he tried to call on his abilities again while they were
still in effect. The strain to his system would probably kill
him.
But his life wasn't what mattered here. It never had been.
Looking inward, calling
up specially ingrained mental
triggers, he prepared the artificially grown implants. The Flesh
Gangers felt him go limp, and he could hear them shout in victory.
Then, in a quiet, shaky
voice he said, "Mid-Nite." The bio-
engineered glands opened up like floodgates when he spoke the
trigger phrase, dumping their chemical payload into his bloodstream.
Muscles swelled, his skin grew harder, wounds closed, and the world
around him seemed to slow as his perceptions sped up.
"Mid-Nite!" Again
the power flowed into him, even stronger
this time. He roared wordlessly, tossing the terrified Flesh
Gangers aside with a simple shrug of his shoulders.
"MID-NITE!"
*****
Inside
A booming noise rocked the
clinic. Jackie and Diego saw the
massive security door buckle under a tremendous impact. Then
it
flew open as the limp form of a Flesh Ganger hurtled through the
waiting room as if shot from a cannon. More Flesh Gangers followed.
They ran as if Death itself pursued them.
"Get out of my way, bitch!"
one of them yelled at Jackie,
raising a bloody axe, ready to cut her down in his panicked flight.
The lieutenant calmly shot him once through the leg, the small laser
beam leaving a smoking hole that reeked of scorched flesh.
More Gangers flooded into
the room, and Jackie backed
against the wall, snapping off shot after shot, not having the
luxury to carefully aim. Diego made his stand behind the
receptionist's desk, his only weapon a large lamp that he swung as
a
bludgeon.
The small room rapidly filled
up, and Jackie cursed as her
laser's power pack ran out. She threw the useless pistol at a
Ganger's face and prepared to leap into the crowd. Then another
sound reached her over the din of the battle. Yelling.
Shouting.
James Baskon stood in the
interior doorway, an ancient
samurai sword held in his hands. Already the surface of the blade
was wet with bright blood, and several Flesh Gangers were scrambling
away from the ferocious playboy. One of the Gangers was missing
a
hand; the others were clutching deep wounds.
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Baskon
shouted, a wild, exultant
smile on his face. Not the smile of an idle dilettante, but the
smile of a proud wolf protecting his den. His home, his family.
From behind him came the
vengeful residents of the Honshu
Free Clinic. In their hands, they clutched knives from the kitchen,
bedpans, crutches, surgical lasers, and in the case of the elderly
Mrs. Musashi, a bone-saw.
"Careful with that thing,
pretty lady; you're liable to hurt
someone!" Baskon called to the geriatric warrior.
"That's the whole idea,
Jimmy!" she cried gleefully as she
attacked a fallen Ganger.
"That's for Doc Mid-Nite,
you bastards!"
"That's for Dr. Siddig!"
"This one's for my sister,
you butcher!"
Laughing like a swashbuckler
out of his beloved holovids,
Baskon rejoined the fray, bright steel flashing as its razor-sharp
edge parted clothing, kevlar armor, and flesh with equal disdain.
A
savage snarl on her lips, Jackie attacked the nearest Ganger she
could find.
After a few short minutes
of bedlam, the outnumbered Flesh
Gangers began to flee. They forgot their fear of Dr. Mid-Nite
in
the face of the bloodthirsty horde inside the clinic.
Finally, no one was left
in the bloody waiting room except
for the clinic's defenders and the wounded. The room was filled
with their groans and the coppery stench of blood. Dropping their
weapons and grabbing first aid kits, the medical staff began
treating the wounded, residents and Gangers alike. This brought
yells of protest from some of the residents until Dr. Siddig sternly
informed them that everyone would be treated. No one argued with
him, and some of the shamed residents began to help the nurses and
doctors. Amazingly, no one had been killed in the battle inside
the
waiting room. Diego knew that couldn't be true of the fight that
had taken place in the street. The street…
"Oh, my god. Where's
Greg? He's still out there!"
*****
Outside
Deadeye Dick picked up his
still-full beer and sipped at the
warm liquid. He stared at the gun in his hand and at the empty
shell casings at his feet. Then he looked down into the street,
at
the heaped corpses of Flesh Gangers. When Dr. Mid-Nite had
collapsed finally, the few Gangers still standing had approached the
fallen hero with murder in their eyes. That's when Deadeye Dick
had
opened fire on them. He threw the gun away as if it were on fire.
<What the hell did I
do that for? Wasn't my fight. What
the hell's wrong with me? I need a drink.>
Down below, three figures
raced out of the clinic. Jackie,
Diego, and James all came to a sudden stop when they saw the still
form of Dr. Mid-Nite. Slowly, Diego approached the body.
Kneeling
down, he tried to find a pulse. Then the doctor pulled off the
shattered goggles that still clung to Lee's face. Diego peered
into
the young man's eyes. Several long moments went by.
"Damn it, Diego! Is
he okay? Is he alive?" Baskon asked.
"He's in a coma. I
think he's dying."
*****
The End
The DCFutures FanFiction Group recognizes that Dr. Mid-Nite and all related
characters are property of DC Comics. These stories are written for no
profit, but rather a strong desire to peer into the future of the DCU.
The stories and concepts presented herein, however, are property of the
author. So there.
This DC Futures story is © 1999 by .
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