* * * * *
The Batmobile that pulled to a stop at GCPD Headquarters differed from its predecessor, quite considerably. Where the original had been an atomically-powered modification of the 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car, its modern-day counterpart consisted of a 1985 Chevy Impala chassis on a 1970 Corvette convertible frame. With a jet propulsion system that utilized methane gas derived from...
...bat guano!
In any case, when the Caped Crusaders arrived in his office, Commissioner Anthony James Gordon wasted no time showing them the ransom note.
" 'If you wish to see Valmont Killdeer returned, alive and unharmed, you are to send Batman and Robin (and only them!) to the old drive-in movie theater, on Tarantino Road, no later than midnight, tonight. They are to bring the ransom into the snack bar in a black attaché case. And the ransom is to consist of $750,000.00 in bearer bonds. With another quarter-million taking the form of a Moroccan-bound stamp album recently bequeathed to the 'Rare Books' section, of the Gotham City Public Library, by the late Harriet Cooper!' "
" 'Any delay in meeting these demands--any signs of police back-up--and Killdeer dies. In a vat of boiling peanut oil!' "
It was signed, as already indicated: "The United Underworld."
"I don't get it," said Robin: "The original Joker, Riddler, Penguin, and Catwoman are either retired and living abroad...or dead from old age. And their sociopathic namesake successors are either on the run, committed to Arkham, or the tragically ironic victims of their own deathtraps. So, who could this new bunch be?"
"They might have been revived under new management," replied Batman: "For instance; the second half of that ransom demand. A Moroccan-bound stamp album? Definitely reminiscent of the Bookworm and Colonel Gumm!"
"You could be right," affirmed the Commissioner: "Because, just before you got here, I received a fax from Interpol. Two nights ago, a blimp advertising this very food product..."
He held up a plastic bag of "Major Rhett's Honey-Roasted Peanuts" (taken from the impounded vendor cart).
"...was providing aerial coverage of a soccer game, for the BBC, when the whole city of London got enshrouded by a freak fog bank! By the time the fog lifted, two hours later? The blimp had disappeared...along with the clock tower of Big Ben."
"Shades of Houdini!" exclaimed the Teen Wonder.
Batman agreed, adding how "...back in the day, that would've meant the presence of Lord Marmaduke Pfogg and the Clock King. But, they've been missing/presumed dead since 1976!"
"Yes," replied the commissioner: "...after the original Batgirl and Robin thwarted their attempt to steal Thomas Jefferson' pocket watch, from the Museum of Natural History, during its nation-wide Bicentennial tour."
"Well, even if we assume they're still alive," insisted Robin: "...and serving as masterminds to younger, more able-bodied perps, what's the connection between an abducted American actor and a missing British landmark?"
"The theft of Big Ben (however it was accomplished)," mused his masked mentor: "...must have been a test run of some kind. Yet, whatever the ultimate goal might be, its completion might have proven more expensive than they originally anticipated. So, a kidnapping-for-ransom might be the quickest way for them to get the extra money required!"
"If so," declared the commissioner: "...they didn't choose their target by happenstance. Valmont Killdeer was evidently going to audition for a new play being co-produced by Floyd Webster, the composer, and T.M. Bertram, the independent film maker.
"Ah, yes," smirked Batman (looking at Robin): " 'Dynamic Duets!' A musical tribute to our illustrious predecessors."
tbc
Giantess World
Author's Chapter Notes:
You're lucky, Mr. G: my writer's block seems to have been transmitted to Fanfiction.net (for the time being).