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RAMPAGE

by Dark Penance
a Batman Beyond Fanfic
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I never would have dreamed it would end this way, but then again, I 
doubt many would. I stand here, in this frozen prison, because I could 
not control myself.  Why I am here, is simply said, "Wrong place, wrong 
time." My name was Michael Grander once, I had a family, a wife, and two 
daughters, but now, no more. Now I am nothing but a monster, a freak. I 
am Rampage.

I was by the downed Gotham Arena, that block was trashed, and mostly 
forgotten, except by the homeless who slept there. I forget why I was 
there to begin with, but I was there.  I heard a crash of glass 
breaking, and shards of it flew in my face. I should have a scar from 
the cuts, but I don't have any now. I looked up were the glass has 
fallen from, my face red with blood from the wounds on my face, being 
washed away from the rain.  

Out of curiosity I ran into the building, and that was the turning point 
of my life. Inside, I looked around, and walked in. Sounds of crashes 
and metal falling were echoing through the corridor. Looking into the 
building I saw two figures; One I could tell was the Batman.  I could 
not believe my eyes that I actually saw the Batman. The other figure, if 
you could call it that, was purely black, except a white spot which I 
assumed was it's face. Dragging itself across the floor, It looked like 
it was melting. I looked above and saw that a glass dome above was 
shattered, and the rain falling in was like acid on the black figure. I 
stepped back and fell onto a desk, covered in chemicals from beakers and 
other science-tech looking stuff. As far as I can figure, some of the 
stuff  must have gotten into the cuts in my face. Anyway, I can remember 
that I was running away from the arena, trying to get out. As I stepped 
out into the street, I felt a burning sensation on myself. As quickly as 
I exited the building, I came back inside. I looked around for a corner 
to hide in, thinking that if Bats saw me, I would be in a extra large 
heap.  I ran into a storage room, and tucked myself into a corner. I 
left the door open, and I saw the Batman, and an elderly man. 

I waited for about five minutes, waiting for the coast to be clear, then 
started to move for the door. 

"I wouldn't suggest you go out there yet," A voice from the corner I was 
sitting in boomed, "Batman always has the habit of sticking around till' 
the cops got the area under control. Besides, it's raining."

"Who are you?" I asked, nervously. 

"My name is Inque." 

"Come out of the corner so I can see you!" I snapped.

A woman, completely black, came from the corner. I was more amazed at 
her looks than anything else. She started talking:

"Now now, that's no way to talk to a lady. Now that you know my name, 
why not you introduce yourself?"

"Name's Michael, Michael Grander."

"Michael, you don't know what has happened to you do you?"

"Happened? What are you talking..." Before I could finish the sentence, 
Inque melted into some sorta oil, and moved up to me. Then, like magic, 
she re-formed herself, closer to me.

"Take a look at yourself." She said, a small grin spreading across her 
face.

I looked at my hands "Omigod..." I whispered to myself, looking at 
hands. They were completely black! 

"It's nothing to worry about, but I would give you some advice." she 
said.

"What would that be?"

"For one thing, disappear, sever all connections with your old life, 
including parents, family, job, or anything else. Two, keep out of the 
rain, and keep away from water. I assume you already know why. You did 
stop outside in the storm."

"You saw me? When?"

"When I was tangling with the Bat and yes, I saw you, and I think the 
Batman did too, which brings me to three... Keep away from Batman. If 
you want I can teach you to use your new... talents."

"Talents? what are you talking about?" As I spoke, she raised her hand 
to my face, and with a blink of an eye, it turned into a massive ax.

"All you need to know is that whatever you think of, you can make."

With that, I heard the sirens from incoming police. She looked at me, 
and glided into a storm drain. Only thing on my mind at the time was to 
get out of there, so I tried to glide through the storm drain like she 
did. Not even close. I only managed to slam myself into the floor. I 
tried to think of an escape, and then I heard the police running 
throughout the building. I was thinking that I may escape through the 
floor, but I would need a way to tunnel in there. Looking at my hands, I 
remembered the ax that Inque showed me. Just then, that very ax molded 
from my hand. It scared me so much that I lost concentration, and my 
hand molded back to it's original shape. I concentrated on making a 
spade head on my left hand, and a small dagger in the other. I was 
picking at the floor, and I could hear the police coming to investigate 
the noise. I was working as hard as I could, and within moments broken 
through the floor. The river of water and sewage flowing under the floor 
and under the street. I jumped into the filth, and was about to scream 
when I hit the water. I jumped up, and grabbed some piping on the 
ceiling of the sewer.  Forgot that, water is the equivalent to acid now. 
I swung myself through the piping system, making my arms like whips. 

I found a place to crash for the night, an old slum. I was afraid that I 
would scare the kids and my wife, Clorisa. I didn't sleep much that 
night, all I could think about was weather or not to return home. Most 
of the night I practiced these new 'powers'. I finally figured out how
to shape my entire body, and a couple other odds and ends, like 
increased strength and agility.

I think it was a week later that I finally left the slum, and went out. 
The sun was a beautiful feeling, beating on my shoulders through my 
jacket. I walked through to town, maybe I could get some decent grub. I 
tipped my hat down, and continued walking.

As I walked along the streets, I could hear the sounds of motorcycles 
coming towards me. I looked up, and saw a group of young hooligans 
riding in my direction. They stopped in front of me.

"Hey! What are you doin' here? This is Joker territory, are you just 
here to get slagged?"

I looked up, just enough to prevent them from seeing my face. There were 
three of them. I thought for merely a second, and one of the punks 
pushed me into a lamp pole. 

"Comon' chicken, you wanna get gutted?"

I started to laugh, I think the pressure of my new life had take it's 
toll. "And you are the one that is gonna be doing the gutting? 
Pathetic!" and with that I took off my hat and coat.

"What the hell is that?" on of them shouted.

I was at a loss, since I really couldn't respond. I couldn't tell them 
my name, since I was supposed to disappear, so I opened my mouth and 
said "The name's Rampage, and if your looking for a fight, you picked 
the wrong guy."

I shifted my neck, and my face extended to a tendril, knocking them all 
to the side, and away from there bikes. I walked to one of the biggest 
one, and picked him up, right off the ground. I was slightly amazed at 
my own strength. I through him into a wall, knocking him unconscious.

The other two started to run, but not from me. It was something behind 
me, something they knew.  I turned around, and flying straight at me, 
was the Batman. Out from my side came a tentacle, that wrapped around 
his chest. I threw him to the ground. I didn't mean to get in a fight, 
but again, wrong place, wrong time. The Batman recovered from the fall, 
and started running at me. I could see him talking to himself and he was 
charging at me, and all I could think then was that he really was 
insane. I extended my arms into two razor sharp whips. I was swinging 
them around recalls, trying to avoid actually hitting the Batman. He 
reached behind his back, and pulled out some sort of freeze gun. He 
fired it straight at me, like he was trying to kill me. I jumped out of 
the beams way, but it got a small peace of my arm. I could feel it 
freezing up my arm, so I severed that arm off.

To my surprise, it grew back! I continued to dodge the Batman's shots, 
and he kept talking to himself. Couldn't this lunatic understand I was 
not trying to hurt him?

I kicked the weapon out of his hand, and morphed out of my chest four 
streams, and held him down.  I tried my hardest to morph my face back to 
the way it was, but it was still black and gray. He stared at me like I 
was a killer, and threw me off him. He quickly grabbed the freeze gun, 
and shot at me. He hit me, directly in the face, and soon I could feel 
the ice extending to the rest of my body. It was over, and he got me.

The police arrived, finding me frozen in an ice block. I saw my family 
as they started to carry me into some sorta cold storage truck. My wife, 
Clorisa, crying, and holding my daughters close. The police were telling 
them about how they caught my murderer. But then again, I guess I really 
did murder her husband. 

Poor Clorisa, she may never know the truth. As for the Batman, I will 
need to talk to him next time I am out...


The End?