'Unlikely Heroes'

Shark, a member of the group 'Earth First' had met with Natasha (AKA Failure) in an old abandoned building in the East End of Gotham. With him he brought a ring that they believed they could use as a weapon against Lex Luthor.

Natasha promised Shark and his friends that her organization, the Gotham Knights, would protect them. But Shark had been followed by a Luthorcorp strike team lead by Star Sapphire.

Natasha told Shark that her organization would protect his friends, but that he had to leave immediately with the ring to meet with her boss, Pennyworth. Having no other means of escape, Shark was forced to swim through the sewers of Gotham.

Shark swam to Gotham's city limits, where he would meet with Pennyworth. When he finally arrived it was morning. Shark walked out into the light and collapsed onto the freshly cut grass. There he stayed for a moment and rested. The sewers of Gotham weren't as dirty as he thought they'd be, but they were still sewers. He took a moment to soak up the light and the smell of the freshly cut grass.

Slowly he pulled himself up to his feet. In the distance he saw a middle-aged man dressed in a business suit. "Are you Pennyworth?", he asked the man.

"That is my name", Pennyworth responded. "And who might you be young man?", he asked.

"Shark", he replied, relieved that he had finally found the man he sought. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Who are they?", Shark asked, pointing to two men in the distance standing beside a car.

"Gotham's finest", Pennyworth responded. "Do you have the ring?", he asked.

"Yeah", Shark replied. He paused for a moment. "I didn't want to get it dirty", he said. Shark opened his mouth and showed the ring, which was between his teeth."

"Very well", Pennyworth said plainly.

Shark walked toward Pennyworth.

Behind Pennyworth, off to the side, stood an Asian man. He also wore a business suit, and glasses.

His name was Katsuhiro. Katsuhiro appeared not to notice Shark approaching them. He gazed into the distance thoughtfully. Katsuhiro looked tired, as if he hadn't slept for days.

Finally Shark made his way over to Pennyworth. Pennyworth's hand stretch out toward Shark, awaiting the ring.

Shark looked down at Pennyworth's hand. On his finger, Pennyworth wore a gold ring. Shark looked again at the richly dressed man and the ring and hesitated.

"I'm waiting, Mr. Shark", Pennyworth said.

Shark acquiesced and let the ring from his mouth fall into Pennyworth's hand.

Pennyworth held the ring with both hands and looked at it closely for a minute, and then he called "Katsuhiro". Katsuhiro casually walked over to Pennyworth, accepted the ring from him, and examined it intently.

Another minute passed. Katsuhiro became more and more curious the more he looked at the ring. Finally he said quietly, "This is real". Unable to take his eyes off the ring, he continued to stare at it.

"Katsuhiro", Pennyworth called to him again.

Katsuhiro glanced at Pennyworth for a moment intently, and then turned around toward the men in the distance, and then he raised his hand in the air.

"Oh my God. Tell me you didn't tell him to do that, Greg", one of the men said.

"Shut up, Justin", the other man said, as they ran at full speed across the field to Katsuhiro.

When they arrived, each of them got beside Katsuhiro, and interlocked one of their arms with his. Then, together, they ran across the field to the car which was waiting for them. Finally they got in the car, and the driver took off.

"We must be going", Pennyworth said quickly to Shark. "Luthor's men will be here soon."

"Right", Shark replied nervously.

Pennyworth lead him to another car--a limousine. Pennyworth sat in the drivers seat, and directed Shark to the backseat where there was a towel and a robe waiting for him.

Shark took a look at the beautiful leather seats and was stunned. "Sorry about the leather, man", he said.

"It's alright, Mr. Shark," Pennyworth replied. "I'll have butler clean it."

"The name's Ramirez", Shark replied. "Sorry about the smell", he added.

"I've smelled worse", Pennyworth said carelessly.

"I bet you have", Shark said, as they drove away.
(Photos: Left: Daniel Wu as "Katsuhiro", Center: Michael Caine as Alfed Pennyworth, upper right: Michael Chiklis as Justin Arthur, lower right: Chris Evans as Greg Saunders)