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Post by jonclark on Jul 20, 2017 6:37:09 GMT
Daniel Reed checked his reflection in the lobby mirror. His appearance wasn’t too bad he conceded. It might no longer be “fit for television” in the opinion of Morgan Edge, but aside from the scarring around his right eye socket and his no longer perfectly centered nose he looked the same as he had before his “accident”. He certainly wasn’t a Bizarro, which in his opinion put him one step ahead of the game.
He took a deep breath to calm himself while trying to overcome the urge to turn around and leave. How he could find the idea of talking to these people terrifying after what he’s been through in his life made him chuckle for a second. He’d challenged some of the most powerful men around on a daily basis not so long ago and came out on top almost everytime. If Dan wanted to be even a shadow of that man again, he couldn’t let his nerves overcome him now.
Dan turned towards the elevators having summoned just a bit more confidence only to be knocked off his feet by a man charging toward the exit. A brief "Sorry. Big story. In a hurry" came from the fleeing figure.
Dan recognized the voice and the glimps of red hair as Jimmy Olsen practically flew through the door. Dan changed his plans on the spot. Olsen had just moved up to the top of the list. He'd be back for Lana and Lois after he dealt with his former best pal. Besides with Olsen out of the office there was less chance of running into Kent. And this would all be so much easier if Kent didn't know Dan was even in town.
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Post by jonclark on Jul 20, 2017 7:53:40 GMT
Jim Olsen was bored. It seemed like years since anything worth reporting had happened in Metropolis.
Superman was settling in to being a father and a husband, but neither fact was anything he could publicize. Clark had also told him that his parents- the biological ones from Krypton, not the Kents- had been found alive. But that too was something not intended for the public to know. Things sure were simpler when he had been in on only some of Superman's secrets.
Perry had been on Olsen the past few days. Lois was looking into Intergang's remaining membership. Clark had been recovering from "a case of the flu" which had hit the whole Kent household. So it fell to Jim to come up with some spectacular front page story to keep people buying the Planet.
Problem was that Jim was in a dryspell. Professor Potter had been given a special project by STAR labs which was hush-hush and took up much of his time. Superman was settling down and bringing back fewer and fewer souveniers. And Ralph Dibny had outbid him on the last public auction of gingold which ruled out any action for Elastic Lad barring a real emergency. Even his Flamebird outfit was on Rokyn undergoing repairs.
He wondered how other reporters got stories.
Olsen was pulled from his thoughts by the ringing of his desk phone.
"Hello, you've reached Mr. Action. What kind of adventure do you have for me?", he joked.
"Hurry, they are after us. Meet me at Larson and McClure in an hour. If I'm not there head immediately to the Swan Hotel on Fifth. Just tell the desk clerk you lost your key again. Hopefully my notes will help." and the line went dead.
The voice had been familiar to Jim but he couldn't quite place it. And that address was on the other side of Metropolis, just outside Suicide Slum. If Olsen was lucky he just might make it there in an hour.
He was already in the elevator when it dawned on him he should have left a note in case this was a trap or something. He decided it wasn't worth the time. Besides he had his watch one of the Supers would come to his rescue if needed. And until then he was sure he could keep things moving while waiting on his rescue.
Jim nearly tripped over someone as he dashed from the elevator and headed outside to grab a cab. He shouted back an apology but didn't have time to help the guy up.
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Post by DocQuantum on Jul 20, 2017 20:33:12 GMT
Good to see this story, Jon!
Interesting premise, if what I remember about "Dan Reed" is correct. The only possible snag, which could be explained away, is that Dan Reed is a WGBS anchor, while the Daily Planet is now under new ownership as of 1986, and has relocated to a different building. Of course, it's possible that Dan Reed is also doing some reporting for the Daily Planet or is merely visiting the building.
I only recall the real Dan Reed being in an accident, but I don't believe he survived, so I'm guessing that plot point will be central to the story.
This made me chuckle, since it could work as a commentary on how few stories we've written featuring Superman, especially in recent years, compared with the sheer volume of adventures he had in the printed comics.
Looking forward to seeing how Dan Reed's plans will come to fruition.
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Post by jonclark on Jul 21, 2017 9:01:12 GMT
Good to see this story, Jon! Interesting premise, if what I remember about "Dan Reed" is correct. The only possible snag, which could be explained away, is that Dan Reed is a WGBS anchor, while the Daily Planet is now under new ownership as of 1986, and has relocated to a different building. Of course, it's possible that Dan Reed is also doing some reporting for the Daily Planet or is merely visiting the building. I only recall the real Dan Reed being in an accident, but I don't believe he survived, so I'm guessing that plot point will be central to the story. This made me chuckle, since it could work as a commentary on how few stories we've written featuring Superman, especially in recent years, compared with the sheer volume of adventures he had in the printed comics. Looking forward to seeing how Dan Reed's plans will come to fruition. Well, Dan got beaten by an alternate Superman in a story on this site by Libby I think. Since the story never got back to Dan, I decided the beating left a few permanent marks. As well as having a few other effects. And the Olsen bit was meant as a little ribbing on just how long it's been since the Planet staff (or large portions of Earth One) have gotten any use.
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Post by jonclark on Jul 21, 2017 9:43:18 GMT
Mo's Diner was a unique establishment. The sign outside had originally read Mom's but at some point the area of the sign where the second M should be had been removed. Local legends held that it had been burned off by Microwave man back in the 30's although no one could quite agree on the exact reason the crook had targeted the sign.
The place also was really a bar. It had changed hands close to 25 years ago and a string of owners had just never gotten round to replacing the blue and chrome booths. The place even served a lunch crowd, though even those people came more for the booze than the burgers.
Olsen did a double-take on entering. He then glanced over the patrons trying to spot someone who looked out of place. Unfortunately, he also noted that quite a few of the people in here were staring back at him. And none of those looking his way seemed pleased at his presence.
As he spotted two men in the a booth at the back, Jim released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. While he noticed that these two had the same sort of "ready for a fight" vibe as everyone else here, the way they held themselves was less aggressive. Even if he was wrong about one of them being his mystery caller, they at least didn't look ready to punch him for approaching the table.
He walked towards the booth where the men sat with their backs to him. The taller of the two had a blue hoodie on, his slightly less imposing friend had one a green one. The man in blue asked Jim to sit before Olsen had even reached the table.
As he slid into the booth he caught sight of the man in green. A man whose face bore a remarkable resemblence to one Jim saw in the mirror every morning.
The man offered his hand and said "You can call me Thomas. Not only am i more used to that name, but I suspect it will make this less confusing. My pal here is Bill, though I suspect you know him by another name as well. And before you get jumpy, I'll let you know that you might be in danger right now, but it isn't from us."
Olsen smirked at his double, "Tommy, you are far from the first guy with that face who swore he was on my side. The only person I trust who looks like that is me."
Bill slid back his hood and asked "What about this face?"
Jim smiled "I've met more than one guy with that face as well. And while I would trust either of them, I'm thinking you aren't either of them".
"No, Mr. Olsen, I'm not James Harper. Or at least not a James Harper you have met. But I am a product of the DNA Project just like my cousin Tom here. And we need your help."
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Post by DocQuantum on Jul 22, 2017 3:50:16 GMT
Nice! I've always liked the Guardian and the Cadmus Project, though technically it was only ever referred to as the DNA Project in the Pre-Crisis comics. Still, that doesn't mean the DNA Project's alternate name can't also be the Cadmus Project.
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Post by jonclark on Jul 22, 2017 8:27:08 GMT
Nice! I've always liked the Guardian and the Cadmus Project, though technically it was only ever referred to as the DNA Project in the Pre-Crisis comics. Still, that doesn't mean the DNA Project's alternate name can't also be the Cadmus Project. I've heard Cadmus so long that I assumed it was part of Kirby's original stories.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Jul 23, 2017 12:24:51 GMT
I like this story. It's nice to have one focusing on Jimmy Olsen. His adventures were always my favorites.
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Post by jonclark on Jul 25, 2017 6:49:46 GMT
Bill began to describe his life story. He had into existence at a place called Cadmus Labs - a precursor to what Jim Olsen had known as the DNA Project. He'd been part of an early experiment by Cadmus' co-founder Anthony Rodriguez. Originally Bill had been a test culture Rodriguez had used to study DNA.
One of Rodriguez' co-founders Dabney Donovan had been working on a device to speed up human healing. The flaw in the device was that while it allowed Donovan to grow body parts, some defect in the process caused the grown material to break down rapidly after being removed. He stumbled across a paper by Rodriguez dealing with his own success at keeping several DNA cultures growing for months without deterioration, though Tompkins had kept his cell strains reasonably simple by preventing them from developing the differentiating traits that would make them bone, muscle, or organs for example.
Donovan approached Rodriguez offering a collaboration. Rodriguez would examine the body parts created by Donovan's machine looking for a way to stabilize the genetic breakdown. In return Donovan's machine would allow Rodriguez to better see the results of genetic alterations without any risk that any deformities would create longterm issues.
Rodriguez used the "Bill" culture to examine which genes created eye tissue, lung tissue, teeth, bones and such but dispite a few suggestions by Donovan refused to even temporarily create nerve tissue. Over the course of a year Rodriguez had mapped out the Human Genetic Code to an extent the competing public Human Genome Project hadn't even approached.
During this time the collaboration also allowed Donovan to iron out many of the issues with his accelerator device.. Unfortunately for Rodriguez (and Bill) once the device was perfected Donovan used it to create a full clone ... supposedly as proof of concept that the process worked well enough to create viable versions of everything in the human body. That clone had been Bill.
Rodriguez was initially furious as the newly created clone was a perfect duplicate of one of his friends, though almost 25 years younger and with the same mental ability as a newborn baby. And the young scientist hadn't been sure he wanted to process perfected so that this creature didn't die, or if he on some level feared it would survive. Rodriguez had no plans to create life, he'd only hoped his research could improve life for those with genetic problems and later with Donovan's help allow the creation of body parts for people who had need of them.
But while he was arguing with his partner, he also was observing the newborn creature in the lab. And he realized that there was no humane way to undo its creation. He also realized that Donovan seemed to view the whole thing as an experiment. An experiment Donovan had a stake in keeping alive only as proof of what Donovan had accomplished. And a small idea formed in Anthony Rodriguez' head.
Appealing to Donovan's desire to prevent the new creature from dying, Rodriguez convinced him that they needed help. So he called an old friend who Rodriguez knew both he and his new lifeform could trust implicitly. He called Doctor Thomas Thompkins, a local physician and one of Rodriguez' best friends growing up. He sold Donovan on letting Thompkins check their creation over physically- stressing that Thompkins was someone who would keep his mouth shut until Rodriguez and Donovan were set to reveal the creature's existence.
Over the next few weeks The three men worked to ensure Junior, as they called their creation, was physically healthy. They also recruited the assistance of neurologist Johnny Gaberelli, another of Rodriguez' childhood pals, who informed them that Junior was actually developing at a very fast pace. By the end of a month Junior was actually speaking with the vocabulary of a two year old ("Me want more candy").
At some point Donovan lost interest in Junior as Thompkins pointed out that technically there was no genetic difference that proved Junior was anything other than a normal man with a limited IQ (the logical reason a man in his mid 20's acted like a child).
It was also during this time that The three childhood friends decided to call on another person from their youth, the man whose genes Junior was grown from, Metropolis police detective James Harper.
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Post by lawrenceliberty on Aug 4, 2017 17:15:18 GMT
Very interesting. I like this one very much so far. Nice reference to the TV and Movie Jimmys as far as the Larson and McClure street names are concerned.
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Post by jonclark on Nov 11, 2018 9:16:01 GMT
"I thought I was done with this type of stuff a decade ago", complained Detective James Harper, "And I hoped you boys had seen the last of anything like this, as well"
"Jim, is it our fault, that you got us used to your ability to solve our problems?", Doctor Thompkins said innocently.
"Yeah, we are just doing like you always said. We are in trouble and we are coming to a policeman for help. And not just any policeman, but the smartest bestest one we know bar none. A guy who"
"Ok, Gabby, I'll help", Harper relented, "just stop trying to lather me up".
Junior wrapped his older self in a massive bear hug. "I thank me, very much!"
It was decided that Jim would pass Junior off as his nephew, a man who actually existed but was currently out of touch on a military mission in Sotheast Asia. They would say Junior had suffered from some head trauma and had needed to come stay with his only family while he recovered.
For the next year Junior lived a life as Will Harper, Jim's nephew who had been injured in Vietnam. By the end of the year he was easily able to pass for the 20-something man he appeared to be. It was at this point that the real Will Harper returned to the states and Junior moved on. With the help of Patrick Macguire, another of Jim Harper's former wards Junior became Bill Newman and joined the Bigville Police Department.
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Post by jonclark on Apr 18, 2022 7:54:02 GMT
Thomas chuckled, "My story is a little simpler. I'm from the first batch of clones the Project made from your DNA. Turns out we were a little too independent for them so my batch along with those made from Lois Lane's DNA and a handful of others were superfluous. Like Bill here Patrick Macguire we were given fake backgrounds and relocated. I became Tommy Jamison, currently Bill's second-in-command" . Jim asked, "How many of you or us were there? And why contact me now?"
Tommy shrugged, "I know there were about twenty-five Olsen clones and roughly the same number of Lane clones. There were at least ten clones of Lana Lang, that I know of. And at least five of Pete Ross. There may have been others, but we were the last batch created before a conflict between Dabney Donovan and the other founders ended the mass creation of clones that were not pre-programmed."
Bill jumped in, "The reason we are here is that Tommy kept in touch with his clone family over the past decade. At least until recently ..."
Tommy dropped several folders on the table. Jim picked up one and found a collection of obituaries.
"James Marcus, James Barton, Brenda Manning, Jimmy Joe Curtis, Carlo Gianinne, Priscilla Rhodes, Bart Maguson, Kay Andrews", Jimmy read, "I recognize these names. Some of them are aliases I used while working stories. And a few others were used by Lois."
"And if you check the dates they all were born on the same dates and have died within the last 18 months", stated Bill.
"The other folders contain missing persons reports and files on about two dozen other people.", Tom added, "It looks like someone is eliminating us."
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Post by johnreiter902 on Apr 18, 2022 12:07:38 GMT
It's great to see more of this
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Post by starskyhutch76 on Apr 18, 2022 20:40:50 GMT
I'm looking forward to seeing where this is headed.
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Post by jonclark on Apr 21, 2022 6:54:45 GMT
Dan Reed was just exiting his cab outside Mo's when he noticed Olsen leaving the rundown diner with two other men.
Now what?
He couldn't confront Olsen while those two were around. And he wasn't dressed to shadow anyone. His clothes already stood out in this neighborhood and he'd be even more obvious to Olsen if he tried to follow.
Why had he left his equipment back at the hotel?
He glanced down at his right hand and the golden ring there. Could he risk it?
Did he really have a choice?
Dan spotted an alley down the block and headed for it while removing his jacket. He smiled.
"I have really missed this"
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