Chapter 72 – Distraction Pt. 2

August 26, 2010 - Gotham City, NJ

Gotham Water & Power Municipal Pumping Station #38

22:10:20

“Not that I’m not excited to finally see Gotham City…” Superboy began as he trudged through ankle deep stagnant water in the crumbling yet spacious sewers. 

“Oh, yeah?” Robin asked over her shoulder from the head of their single file formation.

“But I don’t think you’re really showing the old town off to her best effect, you know?” He continued as his boot squelched into something disturbingly solid beneath the water, and he winced.

“What, you don’t like the broad avenues of our absurdly spacious and historically significant sewer and drainage system?” Robin snarked, throwing her arms wide to indicate the damp brickwork that encircled them. “I’ll have you know, Gotham had the most advanced sewer system in the country when it was built! We had the same guy who built the London sewers designed it. It was a major civic accomplishment.”

Superboy shared a look with Ms. Martian and Kid Quick, as they collectively tried to parse their friend and teammate’s inexplicably advanced knowledge of her hometown’s sewage history.

“Uh, Robi? Is this like a special school topic in Gotham?” Kid asked sardonically.

“Yeah, do you guys take field trips down here? That seems like a thing they’d do in Gotham.” Superboy added with a snort. 

Gotham City was a famous metropolis on Terra, and he knew snippets of its history from the comics. But the real one he had briefly seen as they exited the concealed Zeta-Tube in a graffiti marked phone booth was… something else. A Gothic monstrosity of towering stone buildings, many a century old or older, heavily decorated with embellishments and gargoyles. Marquee lights, neon signs and blazing electronic advertisements decked out many highrises in more commercial areas, while the downtown area on another island had massive glass and steel skyscrapers that were even more lit up. But beyond the limits of the downtown areas, lower tenement buildings, factories and warehouses littered the place without a hint of the same crumbling elegance as their more favored neighbors.

It also smelled a bit, a stink both chemical and biological, like rot and mildewy damp. 

The smell wasn’t that bad but you definitely noticed it when you first arrived and it lingered in the nostrils.

Robin had met them at the Zeta-Tube, still caked in clay and mud in places. She had enthusiastically led the team to a nearby pumping station so that they could enter the city’s subterranean expanses. The guided tour of Gotham’s extensive underground had begun there, and had scarcely paused as they traversed the sewers for the last hour. Superboy realized she had no doubt spent a lot of time down here as part of her work. 

She didn’t have to be so enthusiastic about it.

The team continued single file down the tunnel; Robin in the lead, followed by Aqualass, Ms. Martian, Kid Quick and Superboy bringing up the rear. After the briefest consult, Aqualass had deferred to Robin to lead them as she knew the terrain and had already faced the foe. So the busted out flashlights from their travel kits and began exploring the sewers, where Clayface had gone to ground after her earlier dust up with Batwoman and Robin at the Wayne Tower building that morning. The Dynamic Duo had engaged in a running battle with the protoplasmic terror for hours in the full light of day, but every time they engaged, Clayface slipped away. They had lost him that afternoon and took a break to call in the team and reevaluate.

Superboy was still anxious that Batwoman was suspicious of his intel, and worried she would pry deeper into everything he knew. That wasn’t as frightening a prospect as it had been since his meeting of the minds (or souls?) with Kent Nelson in the Helmet of Fate. Someone, even a ghost, now knew his secret and hadn’t turned on him over it. Nelson had also pointed out just how much he could offer the team and the Justice Guild if he made more overt use of his comic book knowledge. His new home appeared ‘further back’ in the timeline that he knew; many events and plot twists that were decades older than him hadn’t yet happened here. The first Robin was leading the team down the sewers, for instance.

But that’s the problem… he mused. I might know the future, or maybe the present? But its not like I’m in the comic timeline or world. This is an Elseworld, with a different cast and history. I can guess a few things that will probably happen, but I don’t know when.

His eyes were drawn to the back of Robin’s cape as she led them, somehow keeping the feathered edges from trailing in the muck. It was an impressive trick that she pulled off effortlessly. Batwoman must have a technique for it, he supposed.

Richelle Grayson was the first Robin, last standing scion of the Flying Graysons, and Bryce Wayne’s adopted daughter. He appreciated that last part; Rikki had only been Bryce’s ward for a year before the formal adoption. He knew she had already become Robin at that point, beginning the path that led her here. But Superboy had already seen signs of strain between the Dynamic Duo, which made sense. 

Batwoman was controlling and exacting, and Robin was an adult now. She was on the team, not just her mentor’s sidekick anymore. The team’s ultimatum to the Guild after his rescue had been an inflection point. The logical progression would be her striking out on her own and adopting a new identity. If she didn’t become Nightwing, he would be shocked, he thought with a smile that quickly faded.

Which just brings me back to the same problem; how much do I tell them? I could literally be telling them their futures. Which means I’d be influencing their futures. If I tell Robin she becomes Nightwing, does that MAKE it happen? Would she have become Nightwing anyway? Probably… but it shouldn’t be up to me to make their lives ‘fit’ the story.

This isn’t a comic book. 

The other Robins were a whole other issue, one he hadn’t even begun to look in to. Rikki becoming Nightwing wasn’t a bad thing at all, but the fate of Jason Todd was a nightmare. That was something he thought he should do something about. Saving Jason Todd, or whoever filled that role on Terra, was a worthy goal, he decided. 

How to do that without mucking up the timeline too much? Or letting Batwoman know?

He still struggled with telling any of his friends the truth, but telling Batwoman actually scared him. The Caped Crusader had a razor sharpness to her, a frightening competence and a deep suspicion of everything around her. That is exactly what he’d expect any variant of Batman to have, but it was profoundly intimidating to face her scrutiny. How would she react to knowing he knew what he did and had lied about it? Worse, that he had kept vital intelligence from her?

I shouldn’t have chickened out and just told them. Now I’m just digging the hole deeper… he mentally groused, but coming clean now felt even more daunting than hunting a shapeshifting master of disguise who could toss a garbage truck and had already fought Batwoman and Robin to a standstill today.

“You hear anything back there, SB?” Kid asked over her shoulder as they plunged through the muck and mire, shaking him from his reverie. He shut his eyes and focused on his hearing, following the confusing echoes in these tight, twisting tunnels. Every sound reverberated off the walls, every splashing step and the gurgle of the ‘water’ they were tramping through and in pipes around them. The hiss of steam pipes and random knocking in cast iron pipes all created a sonic milieu that gave him a headache to try to decipher.

He opened his eyes and shook his head, and Kid tsked. They had already been down here for more than an hour, and hadn’t found anything. His super hearing wasn’t helping any, so he turned to Ms. Martian.

“Can you feel Clayface’s mind at all?” He asked, and she frowned as her eyes flashed and she extended her telepathy outward. After a moment, she shook her head as well, and this time he and Kid tsked. Superboy tapped his chin as he tried to recall more facts about Clayface, but his recall in the memory palace wasn’t turning anything specific up. Likely he was inferring things he knew by osmosis rather than actual books he had read.

“He might be resistant to telepathy?” Superboy suggested, and Ms. Martian got a worried look on her face before he hurriedly added. “But I’m not sure about that. I didn’t exactly have access to his stat sheet or anything. People speculated he is, because he doesn’t have a brain like we do anymore. His consciousness is in all of him.”

“What, really? So he can split apart and have multiple bodies?” Kid asked, her worry evident.

“...Yes.” He answered, recalling how tragic that could become for Hagen and all involved. “Clayface isn’t… well. The one back home wasn’t, anyway. Considering what he went through, this one probably isn’t either. If he starts splitting into duplicates, and transforms into somebody else, the transformed dupe might start thinking it actually is whoever its pretending to be.”

“Well, that’s dark. And disturbing.” Robin said from the front of the pack.

“Clayface is a frighteningly potent shapeshifter.” Ms. Martian said. “Most Martians never master the ability as far as that. Combine that with a damaged mind, and Hagen’s ‘method acting’, I can see how he might lose himself in the ‘role.’”

“You’ve got that right.” Superboy said, lapsing into silence with the rest of the team for a couple of minutes as they continued their search. 

“What about you, Aqualass? You got any ideas?” He asked, and the team’s leader started as she was addressed, glancing back at him. Superboy’s eyebrows raised at her surprise. She hadn’t been paying attention, and that worried him.

“Oh! No, unfortunately, I do not. I might be able to use a tracking spell in the water, but this… does not qualify as water.” She answered, looking down at the sludgy morass at their feet and probably regretting not wearing shoes on this delve.

Superboy sighed, and nodded. It felt more and more futile as time wore on; they had nothing to go on and their powers were not helping. He wasn’t sure what Batwoman actually expected them to do here. That was no excuse not to try with a dangerous supervillain on the loose, though. So, he sighed and carried on as the team continued their search.

********

August 27, 2010 - Gotham City, NJ

Gotham Sewers

4:10:21

“Alright! That’s it! This is bullshit.” Superboy declared as he kicked an ancient, rusted can off the equally rusted catwalk the team was standing on. It fell a long way before splashing into the shallow water below. 

“Calm down.” Robin said tersely, but she said it as she leaned over the railing to gaze down at the whirlpool below. The team were in a large and echoing chamber of varied levels of pipes and catwalks, overlooking a swirling drain like a giant’s sink drain. Rushing water filled the chamber with its echoes, and Superboy had wondered what the possible purpose of a chamber like this was for water pumping or sewer treatment, or if it was just a narratively designated point of interest to have a climactic battle with a supervillain in.

Well, he had wondered that the first time they encountered a chamber like this, but no supervillain appeared then, or the next time. This was the third such and it seemed as empty as the others. He grit his teeth and took a deep breath.

“We’ve been at this for hours. I can’t hear anything down here except the everything I can hear, which isn’t the bad guy. Ms. Martian can’t feel Clayface’s thoughts, Kid’s searched down every branching path, and you haven’t found a spec of clay or anything else. What are we even doing down here?” He asked Robin in a calmer but still strained voice. He could see she was flagging, which made him bite back any harsher words he might have.

She’s been at this literally all day, and she doesn’t have super stamina, he thought regretfully, seeing her fatigue. But the point stands; we’re not accomplishing anything.

Robin heaved a heavy sigh and pushed herself off the railing to face Superboy as he stood with arms crossed. She held up her gauntlets and summoned her hologram display, showing off what looked like a gordian knot of red and green cords. Then he recognized the spot it indicated, and realized it was a map of the sewers.

“Green are tunnels we’ve searched, red are ones we haven’t. Yet.” She stated, manipulating the 3D model of the sewer tunnels. The map was mostly red.

Kid and Ms. Martian both sighed as well, seeing the extent of their explorations. Superboy wiped a palm across his face, and immediately regretted it as he smeared something indescribable on his face. FLicking it off his hand, he met Robin’s gaze.

“And how long is it gonna take us to search the rest of it? Do we even know Clayface is still down here?” He asked, and Robin’s brow furrowed.

“It could be another twelve hours if we keep up the pace.” She said lowly, and they all groaned. “But we clearly can’t keep that up. I know you’re tired but this is the job. Sometimes its boring, frustrating and grueling. Its still gotta be done.”

“I’m not suggesting we quit. I can keep going all night.” He said defensively. “But this isn’t working. We need a better plan.”

“If we had a better plan, we’d be doing that! Do you have one?” Robin barked, and his face flushed as his anger rose at her challenge. But he screwed up his face, and turned away, throwing his hands up in the air and stalking over to the other side of the catwalk platform, where Aqualass was staring into the whirlpool’s depths.

Hot anger and embarrassment crept up his face as leaned over the railing next to her, and Robin tersely ordered them all to take a break. Ms. Martian sat against the wall the catwalk hung off of, sliding down to her butt and bringing her knees in close. She put up her hood, likely trying to block out the roaring water below. Kid opened her utility belt and withdrew a couple of energy bars and started unwrapping one before seeing the state of her gloves and grimaced. She awkwardly shucked one glove and then had to more awkwardly open the now soiled wrapper with her equally soiled gloved hand and extract the bar with her ‘clean’ hand. Superboy stared down at the whirlpool’s depths as his mind swirled.

I’m not the one who comes up with the plans! I get punched in the head by the villains! Plus, I handed her and Batwoman Clayface’s dossier. Pretty sure I already made my contribution to the planning, he fumed.

His anger was still hot at Robin throwing his complaint back in his face, and his grip tightened around the railing until it crushed into the thickness of a straw. The groan of the metal shocked him out of his anger and he stepped back from the edge, seeing where he’d crimped the tube steel of the railing. It was a sobering reminder of his power, and he took another deep breath full of sewer air to try to calm down. It worked, and shame replaced anger.

Robin was his friend, and he could tell she was already exhausted. He shouldn’t be arguing with her. She was far more experienced at this, she was protecting her city, and Batwoman had given her, and through her the team, the job. Now he was embarrassed for having started a fight, especially when their search was clearly affecting everyone else much worse than him. He wasn’t even tired; he was bored, frustrated and sick of his sodden boots and pant legs. The rapid transition from an idyllic vacation slash training session with Wonder Woman to being back in the action in the Gotham Sewers was wearing his patience down to a nub.

He blew another sigh, angry at himself for getting angry, which didn’t seem very helpful. He glanced to the side and saw Aqualass still staring into the void below, not reacting to his display of anger at all. His brow furrowed again as he considered her.

“Hey.” Superboy said, and she didn’t react until he touched her shoulder, jerking back and looking up at him. 

“What is up with you, man?” He asked with his eyebrows raised.

“What do you mean?” She asked as her storm grey eyes shifted around.

“You’ve barely said two words since we got to Gotham.” He insisted. “You gave up command to Robin without a fuss, and you are a million miles away.”

Superboy spoke in a low voice, not wanting the others to hear as he checked in with the team’s leader. Who had done exactly no leading this mission, and whose mental absence was starting to worry him.

“I am… fine.” She finally answered, not meeting his gaze.

His mouth hung open as he worked out what to say next.

She’s not fine. I don’t know what’s up but its not fine.

He glanced between her and Robin, stalking around at the other end of the catwalk and decidedly not taking a break, despite ordering the team to do so. His eyes narrowed at her cape clad back before forcing a breath out and looking back to Aqualass, who was already staring off into space again.

“Kaldura.” He stated, getting face to face with her, which garnered her attention again. “What. Is going. On?” 

“I-” Aqualass answered and was all she got out before there was a shrieking tear of metal below them and the catwalk dropped out from beneath their feet.