Great part, Lara, although it left me very hungry for more!
Then, he had gotten on one of the treadmills, just to test out the theory that reading wasn't the only thing he could do at amazing speeds. He had outrun the machine's fastest speed in the blink of an eye, causing its electronic circuits to short out and create fireworks around him.
Gaaaaah! That ought to make old Bats angry!
He had wondered for a moment how many of those he'd broken in the past. And then it had dawned on him that considering he was faster and stronger than any of the exercise equipment in the gym, they might simply be vestiges from a time when he needed them to increase his strength or speed.
Jumping to conclusions - yes, indeed. When I first saw that heading, I thought you were referring to Lois! Nice to see Clark do some conclusion-jumping of his own - hey, aren't we modern and into equal opportunities?
Although for relics these looked like they were quite recent. They weren't even covered in dust. Unless they weren't his to begin with? He'd read about someone named Robin who was supposed to be his partner. Perhaps he was the one who used the gym?
Able to leap tall conclusions in a single bound!
A third room seemed to be a museum of some sort. In a corner of it stood a large, obviously mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex, but there wasn't anything around it to give him any clues as to what exactly it was or why it was even there. Other items in the room seemed just as eclectic: a very large US penny, a single playing card – the Joker – in a silver frame, oversized bowling pins, an ancient looking sword. Sadly, there wasn't enough information pertaining to any of them to help him piece things together.
I read some Batman comics in the late sixties and the very early seventies, but then Batman became such a very dark and brooding character, and I didn't enjoy the stories about him any more. The sixties Batman stories were fun, though. I remember the Batcave - the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the large penny, the Joker playing card. Can't say I remember the bowling pins.
Further away and set in a display case was a costume much like his, though it appeared to have been made for a woman. Then, another costume, this one red and green – Robin's, he guessed – with a sign next to it that read 'A Good Soldier'. Was Robin dead? That might explain the man's absence... And what about the woman who had worn the other bat costume? Was she dead, too?
Ahh gahhh. I read that book where Jason Todd was killed. It frightened me no end. I started worrying so badly about Lois. I mean, look at Jason Todd: when DC gets tired of a character, DC kills off that character. No, the character of
Robin wasn't killed, just the guy who was the current incarnation of Robin. If we translate the offing of Jason Todd into the universe of Superman, where does that leave Lois? I guess DC isn't about to make Superman go through life girlfriend-less, but why must that girlfriend be Lois? Heck, there is a whole world of females out there - Lana, Lori Lemaris, Wonder Woman... What if Lois is next on DC's death list...?
Ann
P.S.
I've sort of sped up some of the events that take place in Bruce's life in the aftermath of the "Broken Bat" story, in the comics. But that's all I did to it unless you count the fact that I axed Jean-Paul Valley, the guy who becomes Batman (with Bruce's blessing) after the real Dark Knight is put out of commission.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. You don't know how grateful I am that you spared us Jean-Paul Valley!
