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Excerpted from “BELICHICK: The Making of the Best Soccer Coach of All Time,” by ESPN.com senior author Ian O’Connor. Copyright @ 2018 by Ian O’Connor. Utilized by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

Invoice Belichick planted his palms across the soccer, lowered his head beneath his knees and peered by his helmet and the hole between his arched legs. He was a school sophomore at Wesleyan, in Middletown, Connecticut, and he was about to snap the ball on a observe play that will extinguish his love affair with the sport.

On the sphere with Belichick that day was a senior, Tom Tokarz, who remembered Invoice strolling by the entrance door of the Chi Psi fraternity the 12 months earlier than carrying an Andover shirt, cutoff sweatpants, and soccer sneakers with no socks. Belichick was holding a lacrosse stick, and he was accompanied by his good buddy from Annapolis, Mark Fredland, who was already a member of the frat Invoice was about to hitch.

Invoice Belichick, taking part in middle for Wesleyan, was raging mad after he suffered a leg damage brought on by a reckless method in observe. Joel Kimmel

Belichick did not fairly match at rowdy Chi Psi, and but he had one thing of a pied piper impact on fraternity enrollment. The 12 months earlier than, Fredland’s freshman 12 months, solely 4 younger males had pledged at Chi Psi, together with a lacrosse participant named Chris Diamond, who stated “Greek life and the frats had been out” whereas many college students had been consumed by the intense campus enterprise of Vietnam protests. However within the fall of 1971, Diamond stated Belichick was an endearing and standard sufficient determine to assist recruit a Chi Psi class of some 20 members. “In a refined approach,” Diamond stated, “Invoice was like an alpha male, and he attracted mates.”

Amongst many different frat brothers and teammates, Invoice later made the acquaintance of Scott Langner, the son of a Birmingham, Alabama, decide. Langner realized a childhood dream by taking part in freshman ball for the Crimson Tide and their legendary coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant. Langner’s father performed for the Tide, and his cousin David would turn out to be a legendary determine within the Alabama-Auburn rivalry by returning two blocked Bama punts for fourth-quarter touchdowns to present Auburn a 17-16 victory within the 1972 Iron Bowl.

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Bear Bryant most popular his soccer gamers to be larger than the 5-foot-Eight Scott Langner, so the linebacker determined to switch to a small-time college the place he might crack the lineup. Somebody beneficial Wesleyan, of all locations, and into Belichick’s life he stepped.

“What I bear in mind most,” Langner stated, “is Invoice liked to eat . . . We all the time listened to music: the Grateful Useless, the Allman Brothers, Moody Blues and folks like that. It was all hippie music.”

Langner determined that Belichick, who additionally performed squash at Wesleyan, wasn’t very like the soccer gamers he knew at Alabama. “Invoice was a severe individual,” he stated. “He wasn’t a jock, if you already know what I imply. There weren’t loads of jocks [at Wesleyan].”

Langner was considered one of them, a thick, blond-haired hellion on and off the sphere. Although he obtained alongside simply effective with Belichick, he had a little bit of an issue together with his teammate between the strains.

“Invoice was a middle,” Langner stated, “and I performed linebacker. I hated facilities.”

It confirmed in observe. “Scotty would cost into Invoice, and Scott was 215 kilos, whereas Invoice was perhaps 185,” stated Belichick’s freshman coach, John Vino. “Langner would cost into him on lengthy snaps or on any snaps … Scott Langner was a terror, and when the ball was snapped you needed to get out of his approach. He did not care should you had been on his staff or the opposite staff. He simply needed to hit you.”

Courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

He simply needed to make his fellow Cardinals see stars. Langner’s quickness and power greater than made up for his lack of top, and he performed with a form of athletic ferocity not often seen at a small liberal arts college thought of an educational equal to some members of the Ivy League. Tokarz recalled that Langner “let loose this bloodcurdling yell each time he hit any person. He form of terrorized a number of the youthful guys.”

Wesleyan gamers referred to as Langner “The Wave,” an obvious reference to his Crimson Tide roots. Not like The Wave, Belichick had loads of roster climbing to do as a sophomore. Vino had him as a freshman in soccer and lacrosse, and he considered Invoice as a likable, brainy child with a dry wit, common line abilities and above-average consistency as a long-snapper. Invoice additionally carried himself with a method that mirrored his occasions.

“His hair was very lengthy,” Vino stated, “and so was mine. We had been all just like the Beatles at the moment.”

A few teammates described Belichick’s bowl lower within the entrance and shoulder-length hair within the again as a Prince Valiant haircut.

That description got here with a disclaimer.

“He had a Prince Val,” stated teammate Frank Levering, “however he was not fairly pretty much as good trying as Prince Val.”

Levering considered Belichick as quiet and reserved, as somebody who by no means volunteered something.

“You can be proper there, three ft away from him,” Levering stated, “and get the sensation he was not even conscious of you.”

Levering had performed on a state championship highschool staff out of a small North Carolina city, and he thought lots of his teammates there have been much more gifted than Belichick.

In a soccer program that revolved round a singular mission — making an attempt (and sometimes failing) to beat Williams and Amherst, the opposite members of the so-called Little Three educational powers — Belichick did excel in battle decision.

“He was the gentle one in that [frat] home,” Vino stated. “He was the voice of cause even when there was no cause. And if there was an argument on the sphere, he can be the arbitrator.”

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The revolving door saved spinning because the Pats traded for Josh Gordon and launched Corey Coleman whereas they await the return of Julian Edelman.

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However on this one play on this one observe early in Belichick’s sophomore 12 months, his voice of cause was not heard. He was the middle on a point-after try, and the Wesleyan coaches thought they’d noticed a weak spot up the center within the upcoming opponent’s kicking unit. They needed the first-string protection to get some work on this purported weak spot in opposition to their very own teammates, and Belichick, a backup, was recognized as the particular level of assault.

Invoice Macdermott, the pinnacle coach, had been a great participant at Trinity Faculty and was well liked by his staff. Macdermott was relentlessly enthusiastic and emotional and was nearly all the time moved to tears by victories and defeats huge and small. It grew to become a working joke among the many gamers: How lengthy is it going to take this time for Mac to start out bawling?

Macdermott’s most popular aspect of the ball was offense, and he liked to grade his gamers after each play, each scrimmage. His employees included Herb Kenny, the Wesleyan basketball coach and former St. Bonaventure soccer participant, and Pete Kostacopoulos, who was about to start out a protracted and distinguished profession because the Cardinals’ head baseball coach. Kostacopoulos, or Kosty, ran the protection for Macdermott. Kosty was identified to be a crusty kind who chewed loads of tobacco. Fellow assistants knew to not stand downwind from him when he was up within the press field.

Gamers had differing opinions of Macdermott and his assistants, their kinds and experience.

“However there have been no villains on the teaching employees,” Levering stated.

The gamers revered Kostacopoulos’s information of the sport and his capacity to get essentially the most out of them. Linebacker Artwork Conklin, for one, thought Kosty was a strategic genius, and one who let you already know about it once you performed like s—. Belichick struggled in a single scrimmage whereas taking part in linebacker, in response to Conklin, compelling Kosty to provide you with this mocking analysis on his postgame score sheet: “Invoice, the scrimmage began at 10 within the morning. It is now 5 o’clock, and you’ve got but to make a sort out.”

So Kostacopoulos, a hard-ass, was performing as an overseer for this explicit hard-ass play. “I occurred to be standing behind the protection,” he stated — standing there as his two hardest linebackers, Langner and Conklin, had been on the point of unload on Invoice Belichick.

Invoice Belichick performed middle and tight finish for the Wesleyan Cardinals within the early 1970s. Particular Collections & Archives/Wesleyan College

As he had at Andover, Belichick had established himself as a long-snapper who stayed after observe to work on his craft, and as a coach in coaching who noticed issues much less insightful teammates did not see. Tokarz performed within the defensive secondary as a senior, and he recalled Belichick shouting out the opponent’s cross play from the sideline earlier than the snap. Belichick would discover receiver had lined up near the sideline, signaling that he was going to run an in sample. Certain sufficient, Belichick nailed the decision and Tokarz was all around the supposed receiver to power an incompletion. In some ways, Tokarz thought, his youthful teammate was a extra superior soccer thoughts than a number of the Wesleyan coaches.

Kenny stated Belichick “did the whole lot no person else needed to do,” and by no means made a psychological mistake it doesn’t matter what place he was requested to carry down. If Kenny had any drawback in any respect with Invoice, it associated to his Andover coaching.

“We handled the prep college children a bit in another way than the general public college children,” Kenny stated. “We thought public college children had been loads harder than the preppies.”

Kenny recalled that Belichick spent further time with him after observe. Typically within the morning, Invoice would cease within the assistant coach’s workplace to go over a scouting report.

“That is uncommon for a child not taking part in a lot, particularly at Wesleyan,” Kenny stated. “They do not have the free time to do what Billy did.”

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However even on this planet of small-time faculty soccer, a backup is commonly deemed expendable and put in hurt’s approach. On today, a number of witnesses stated Wesleyan was engaged on a harmful method that required a number of defensive gamers to have interaction the middle. It was unclear what number of reps had been run at Belichick’s expense, but it surely was clear to just about each witness that this costume rehearsal was a very unhealthy thought.

“It is a powerful play to run reside in opposition to your personal staff,” Tokarz stated. “I believed we would’ve finished that dummy drill to observe that. Coach determined to do it reside, and, yeah, it was unlucky. All of us thought that [it was a mistake]. I do not know anyone who thinks any completely different.”

Lenny Femino, a 5-foot-5, 165-pound freshman from Salem, Massachusetts, who might bench-press 325 kilos, was off to the aspect watching from solely ten ft away when he thought to himself, “Holy s—, that is observe. In a sport, you have to discover your opponent’s weak spot and hit the hole and go, however that is simply observe … I would not wish to be Invoice proper now.”

Conklin, the 5-foot-10, 210-pound linebacker out of Newtown, Connecticut, stated that Kenny had devised a brand new scheme to dam kicks, and that it concerned placing two tackles in entrance of the middle, with a 3rd defensive participant positioned behind these tackles.

“It was 100 % Herb,” Conklin stated, “and [Macdermott] simply blew the whistle.”

The linebacker stated that Langner dropped down as one of many tackles subsequent to a teammate named Invoice Wilson, and that, by design, the 2 set their sights on Belichick.

Helmet lowered and eyes dealing with his holder and kicker, Belichick was made weak by the character of the duty. He snapped the ball after which braced himself to be hit.

“As quickly because the snap occurred,” Conklin stated, “they had been presupposed to wrap their arms round [Belichick’s] legs and [rise up and] get into his shoulder pads and knock him over, and I used to be presupposed to run over him and get instantly onto the kicker and block the PAT. It wasn’t only one time — we should’ve finished that ten occasions, twelve occasions. … It was silly, and I believe it was unlawful. We did it over and over and over. I ran over Invoice, like I stated, a dozen occasions. … The subsequent day Invoice was in a forged.”

Kostacopoulos remembered the sequence this fashion: “We had been working in opposition to PATs, and considered one of our gamers submarined him, and he obtained [Belichick’s] knee and he obtained damage. I bear in mind the play … I do know folks talked about two guys converging on him. It wasn’t a drill. It was a method that this individual on protection — I do not bear in mind who it was, however he was going to submarine his approach in there and provides the middle a tough time.”

Kenny labored on particular groups, and many years later he stated he did not bear in mind working this play time and again the way in which Conklin described it. Although he stated the method in query wasn’t new in faculty soccer circles, he conceded, “It was most likely new to us.” Kenny recalled that one other Wesleyan participant was initially snapping the ball throughout the PAT observe earlier than he changed that participant with Belichick.

“I stated, ‘Come on, Billy, you have to come snap,'” Kenny stated. “He was a bit reluctant. He obtained damage, and he all the time blamed me.”

Conklin stated the coaches repeated the PAT block try so usually that day that he could not recall the particular play that injured Belichick. Whichever play it was, one participant stated the sound of contact and ache immediately rose above the collisions happening up and down the road of scrimmage and introduced the whole lot to a halt.

“You heard it,” Lenny Femino stated, “and also you heard Invoice. I bear in mind him screaming. The screaming was terrible. He was flopping on the bottom. It was not good. … You did not see the damaged leg. I simply heard it and also you knew he was injured and also you knew it was unhealthy and the whole lot stopped.”

Others who had been there described Belichick’s damage as a severe knee damage. Tokarz confirmed Conklin’s account that three defensive gamers, not two, had crashed into Belichick and that one went excessive and two went low, leaving Invoice finished for the 12 months.

“Invoice was a wonderful snapper; he was the appropriate man to try this,” Tokarz stated. “And you have got three guys blowing him up in observe making an attempt to dam the kick. … The blokes who hit him felt horrible. They felt horrible, all three guys.”

By all accounts, Belichick was raging mad over this pointless damage brought on by a hazardous method. Jackson, his lacrosse coach, stated Invoice had a mood that most individuals by no means noticed, and that Jackson himself noticed solely a couple of times. As soon as was Belichick’s response to this play and this season-ending damage. Invoice was so indignant, he did not trouble returning to the staff for his junior 12 months. (He did return as a senior as a backup tight finish/defensive finish.)

“It tore up Invoice’s knee whereas they used him as a guinea pig,” Jackson stated. “Tore up his knee and compelled him to surrender soccer. He was sizzling beneath the collar. He was burning inside. He by no means forgave these coaches. … He simply by no means spoke to these soccer coaches once more. He defined to me what had occurred, and I can not say I blamed him.”

Kenny disputed that account. He stated Belichick was mad at him for “perhaps a few week,” and that he didn’t really feel moved to apologize to his participant.

“That is simply soccer,” he stated. “That is what occurs. I by no means apologized, and we obtained alongside effectively after that.”

Both approach, Conklin stated Belichick by no means complained to highschool officers concerning the occasions that led to his damage, nor did he contain his father within the matter. Don Russell, the previous Wesleyan soccer coach who was now the athletic director, confirmed that Belichick by no means introduced the incident to him and by no means talked about it in any conversations many years later.

“They might’ve made a stink to the college,” Conklin stated of Belichick and his father, “however Invoice sucked it up and accepted a misplaced season.

“He simply took it and by no means stated one other phrase.”

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oselatra · 6 years

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Richard Mays fights pigs, pollution and plans for bigger highways

The blight-buster.

For reasons that will perplex and surely distress the people who come after us, the folks who fight to keep our air and water clean and limit the degradation to our natural world are usually on the losing side of that fight. Developers, the side with the money, usually win, thanks to prevailing philosophies that money is almighty and people have dominion over the earth.

Still people fight for a healthy environment, and when they do, they hire Richard Mays, considered by those who work with him to be unparalleled when it comes to understanding the National Environmental Policy Act and how business interests try to get around it. "He's one of the top [attorneys] by far, in the state if not the region," said Judge David Carruth of Clarendon, who worked with Mays to halt the Grand Prairie Irrigation Project until it could be designed in a way that would not harm the White River. "He's probably one of the most knowledgeable guys on water issues," said Glen Hooks, the director of the Arkansas chapter of the Sierra Club, who worked with Mays to ameliorate the detrimental effects of the Turk coal-fired plant in Southwest Arkansas.

In North Arkansas, it's the monitoring of the pig farm on a creek that feeds the Buffalo National River that keeps Mays busy. In Russellville, he's known as the man who's helped delay for nearly 20 years a slack-water harbor and transportation hub the city hopes to build on the Arkansas River, in a floodplain south of town.

In Little Rock, it is highway widening that has people knocking on Mays' door.

Two weeks ago, Mays filed a request in federal court for a temporary injunction against the Arkansas Department of Transportation's project to widen two-and-a-half miles of Interstate 630 from six lanes to eight. The project will cost $87.3 million and require the demolition and reconstruction of three bridges between University Avenue and Baptist Health. The highway department persuaded the Federal Highway Administration that no environmental study was needed on the project. Mays, attorney for plaintiffs David Pekar, George Wise, Matthew Pekar, Uta Meyer, David Martindale and Robert Walker, argued that the project didn't qualify for such an exclusion. Federal Judge Jay Moody denied the request for an injunction, and the widening project has begun.

You win some; you lose some. In 2004, federal Judge G. Thomas Eisele ruled against Mays and Carruth in their attempt, on behalf of the Arkansas Wildlife Association, the National Wildlife Association and others, to enjoin the Grand Prairie project to pump water from the White River to irrigate 250,000 acres of thirsty rice fields. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals later denied their appeal of Eisele's ruling.

But in 2006, federal Judge William R. Wilson ruled with Mays and Carruth, ordering the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to halt construction on a pumping station that was part of the $319 million project until it could better study the impact of pumping on the ivory-billed woodpecker newly discovered on the Bayou DeView.

"You just have to keep fighting, keep pushing back," Mays said in an interview last week. "You don't want to stop development, at least I don't. People have to eat ... [but] that doesn't mean you have to trash the environment."

Carruth said he told Mays at the time that he wished the courts had ruled on the merits of their argument — that pumping water from the White would lower water levels and endanger wetlands, fish and other wildlife downstream "and that it cost too much money." Mays responded, "Instead, you gave them the bird."

***

Gordon Watkins, president of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, which hired Mays to represent it before the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality in cases involving the controversial C&H hog farm near a creek that feeds into the Buffalo, said it's more than Mays' expertise that's important to his group. "Lawyers can do whatever their clients ask, but to find a lawyer who actually believes in your cause is important to us, [someone who believes] we were right and would represent us with that in mind. His mind was in the right place; his heart was in the right place."

Mays, 80, who has been an environmental lawyer for 40 years and worked for the Environmental Protection Agency for eight years in Washington, D.C., said he takes on such cases "because of the desire and the need to protect and help the world, if you like." He said his eight years at the EPA were some of the best years of his life. "I felt like I was really doing something I was philosophically interested in and wanted to do."

Mays attributes his desire to protect the natural world to his childhood in El Dorado. "When I was growing up, my father would rather be hunting or fishing than anything on earth," Mays said. His father owned a grocery store, but on the weekends, "he would be out on the river or in the woods, and I was usually with him." And from his mother, he inherited an appreciation for literature and writing, "so that turned out to be a pretty good background for being an environmental lawyer," Mays said.

Mays works in Little Rock (at least) two days a week, at the Williams and Anderson law firm. He commutes from his home at Eden Isle on Greers Ferry Lake. The case he won there, he says, is the one he's most proud of, since it concerned his backyard — literally.

Mays moved back to Arkansas in 1998 after 20 years in D.C., buying a home on Eden Isle. He chose the area because of Greers Ferry Lake and the Little Red River. Right after he took up residence there, the Corps of Engineers proposed a shoreline management plan that would open up the undeveloped main lake to boat docks. The lake is zoned, with boat docks in the coves only and the main body of water reserved for public recreation. "It's unbroken shoreline," Mays said, "with not a whole lot of boat docks and clear water, clean water."

Mays was thinking it was a bad idea, and so was Carl Garner, the retired resident engineer who had worked at the lake since its construction began in 1959, a man so connected to Greers Ferry Lake that his name appears on the visitor center there. Garner called Mays on the advice of a mutual friend and Mays invited him over. "I expected to see somebody walk in, a whip-cracking authoritarian type, somebody who looked like George Patton with jodhpurs, and there this guy walks in and looks like Ichabod Crane," Mays said of Garner, who died in 2014. They became good friends and with other residents formed Save Greers Ferry Lake, which hired Mays to file a preliminary injunction against the Corps' plan. He won, and the plaintiffs and the Corps eventually settled. Greers Ferry Lake remains mostly undeveloped.

It may seem like such a victory — for aesthetics — isn't as important as, say, keeping the highway department from doubling the size of I-30 through downtown Little Rock or a coal plant from spewing mercury into the air. There were arguments to be made about increased water pollution on the lake. But protecting the lake was "a personal thing," Mays said. It was important to his family and others, "a place where you go to feel refreshed."

"People can get very caught up, and justly so, in a place where they can feel like they are in communication with nature, with God, if that's what you're into. That's what makes environmental law practice so interesting to me. I feel like it's preserving things we need to have."

That kind of emotion and love for place is what saved the Buffalo River from being dammed and what keeps its advocates fighting to keep the beautiful national treasure clean.

***

Mays said he figures he gets a good outcome in his cases about half the time. Environmental cases are "very difficult" to win, he said, because "courts give considerable deference to agency decisions. If you're trying to overturn ADEQ or EPA or the federal highway administration, you're fighting an uphill battle."

Settlements are hard to get as well, Mays said. But that's what he got when he fought the Southwestern Electric Power Co.'s coal-fired Turk Plant in Fulton. The Sierra Club and the Audubon Society, both national and the state chapter, challenged the plant's water permit from the Corps of Engineers in 2010 and won an injunction. But that was just a portion of the plant; construction continued. Still, with the conservationist's good outcome on the injunction, SWEPCO agreed to a settlement that would allow it to complete the plant. In return, the company fitted the plant with more equipment to reduce emissions and agreed to shutter another coal-fired plant in Texas sooner than planned.

Mays' 50-50 record held true in a hearing last week before the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission for ADEQ, when Mays (on behalf of the Buffalo Watershed Alliance) and Sam Ledbetter (representing the Ozark Society) suggested that newly appointed Commissioner Mike Freeze recuse from decisions on C&H. They cited Freeze's emailed comments on C&H's permit application in 2017 in support of the hog farm — in which he wrote "enough is enough" in the permitting process — as evidence the commissioner could not be impartial. The commission, however, voted to support Freeze's refusal to recuse.

But after Mays and Ledbetter argued later in the same meeting that the administrative law judge for the Commission was correct in his finding that the hog farm's extended permit wasn't perpetual, the Commission agreed, voting to support the administrative judge. It was a win for conservationists and a win for Mays. Mays told the Commission that the lawyer for the hog farm had tried to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The ADEQ previously denied a second permit for C&H. The hog farm appealed that decision and can continue to operate while an administrative law judge considers the appeal.

So while an outright win may be hard to get, fighting wide roads and coal plants and hog waste on various fronts, including noncompliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, also helps delay the degradation, and "you may be able to wear them [the opponents] out," Mays said, or national policies may change that may hinder the project. That was the case in the Grand Prairie Irrigation Project: When Judge Wilson issued the order requiring study to protect the bird, the federal government had already pulled funding for the project. (The project continues, but with a greater dollar burden on the state and the encouragement of conservation strategies by farmers.)

More often, however, the development side of the equation in litigation has more money and more lasting power.

***

Many people who haven't previously been wrapped up in environmental cases are now, thanks to the potential impacts of the 30 Crossing project, the highway department's plan to replace the Interstate 30 bridge and widen I-30 for a little over 7 miles at a cost of $630 million. ARDOT wants to double the width of the interstate through downtown Little Rock by building two connector-distributer lanes on either side of the highway to provide exit from and entrance to I-30.

When I-30 was built in the 1950s, neighborhoods east of the interstate fell into decline. That area, buoyed by the Clinton Presidential Center and Heifer International, is now experiencing a renaissance, with a new school, new restaurants, new housing and new businesses. Its progress follows the revitalization of the west side of the interstate, with the old downtown resuscitated by the River Market district and new development attracted to Main Street north and south of Interstate 630.

The logic behind 30 Crossing, says its foes — and there are many in Little Rock — is outdated. The transportation design ignores alternatives to using downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock as the main thoroughfare to highways north and south. It does not contemplate alternatives to cars, such as public transit or bicycle and pedestrian transportation. While cities such as Portland, Ore.; Rochester, N.Y.; Milwaukee; Boston; San Francisco; New Haven, Conn.; Seattle and Dallas are tearing down interstates and replacing them with people- and business-friendly boulevards and parks, Little Rock and North Little Rock are about to get more concrete.

Opponents of highway widening — including neighborhood associations, downtown residents, a retired Texas transportation executive and a retired economist and natural resource planner — have hired Mays to represent them should the Federal Highway Administration issue Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) in its evaluation of the Environmental Assessment on 30 Crossing to green-light the highway project. That finding could come as early as mid-August, according to the highway department.

On July 27, at the end of a 45-day public comment period on ARDOT's draft Environmental Assessment, Mays filed a 16-page comment challenging, among other things, the department's traffic modeling and its ignoring the indirect impact of induced travel on communities outside the project area. It notes the lack of consideration of HOV (high-occupancy lanes) lanes or other routes to handle the rush hour traffic that ARDOT gives as its reason for widening and its failure to "fully address" health effects from air pollution caused by increased traffic.

The comment also suggests that Arkansas — which has the 12th largest highway system in the country, with more highways to maintain than Illinois, California, New York and Florida — struggles to maintain the roads it has now. It points to a column written by state Highway Commissioner Alec Farmer in Arkansas Talk Business in which Farmer says ARDOT needs $400 million in new highway funds simply to maintain what is built now, and that revenues from the gas tax will decline as more electric cars are built.

Mays said that the 30 Crossing project presents "an opportunity to force the agencies involved — state and federal — to take a hard look at updating the thinking toward highway traffic, how to handle highway traffic by means other than simply putting more lanes on the highway. I believe we're on the cusp of a breakthrough on technology that will affect our highway travel dramatically."

The 30 Crossing widening is designed to address traffic in "design year" 2041, when ARDOT says 153,000 vehicles per day will use I-30. The highway department's preferred model, six lanes of through traffic and four collector-distributer lanes, would allow cars traveling south on I-30 during afternoon rush hour to travel at 30 to 50 miles per hour (considered a "somewhat congested" situation). That suggests there will be two decades of smooth sailing through Little Rock, no rush hour traffic at all.

"It's ridiculous to think that you can predict that far," Mays said. "It's a total mistake to do [the widening] at this time. It was the thing to do in the '50s and '60s, but not now," given the technology — like self-driving cars and new safety-features being built into vehicles — that will be available in not too many years from now.

What we don't need, he said, is to spend nearly a billion dollars on highway projects in Central Arkansas in the anticipation of a transportation future we can't predict.

The highway department, using funds from a $1.8 billion bond issue funded with a tax increase approved by voters, is spending nearly $90 million on the widening of I-630 (three times its estimated cost), which has already started; an estimated $80 million on widening Highway 10 (previously estimated at $58 million); $23 million on new ramps at Highway 10 to I-430 northbound; and a figure estimated a couple of years ago at $630.7 million on 30 Crossing.

(Dale Pekar, who is one of Mays' clients, raised the issue of cost in his public comment on ARDOT's draft environmental assessment. ARDOT says if construction — which is being combined with design — costs more than the funds available to the project, contracts will be let "at a future date" to complete the project. Pekar said that provision "makes the entire analysis unreliable," and if ARDOT comes up short, it should take it from low-priority projects — which is what it threatened Metroplan it would do if the planning agency didn't agree to add lanes to the corridor.)

"I'm not opposed to spending money in this area," Mays said, "but I don't know how the people in the rest of the state feel about it. It seems to me we ought to be thinking about how we can get more value [from the $1.8 billion total] for a longer period of time, rather than more lanes that may or may not be used in 20 years."

It's no surprise the highway department wants to build highways rather than think about transportation holistically. (ARDOT used to be the Department of Highway and Transportation, but recently dumped Transportation from its name, perhaps to fend off suggestions it thinks differently.) "It's a matter of mindset. This is what they get paid to do." Figuring into that is what Mays called "bureaucratic inertia."

"Sometimes you have to force their attention by filing lawsuits. I've found that, sometimes, litigation is the best way to bring about change ... or at least, to get their attention."

Richard Mays fights pigs, pollution and plans for bigger highways

#Richard Mays fights pigs #pollution and plans for bigger highways

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grimwritesfanfiction · 7 years

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The Great Goliath Chapter Two: Monsters Of The Night

It was a dark night in Gotham City, but what night wasn’t dark in Gotham? On this particular night a well known person got out of a police car, lighting a cigarette as he looked at a display before him. Commissioner Gordon looked at what could only be the aftermath of a monster gone wild. A black van was knocked over on it’s side, with a massive dent warping the vehicle. Men and women wearing metal exosuits lay strewn across the road, all beaten badly but alive. Three men wore lab coats, but these men were attached to a wall via a black substance that he needed to get closer to to see. He walked past officers setting up police tape to investigate the substance and observed that the material was unmistakably black crystal, not unlike that which had supported a building in Metropolis just two weeks before. Gordon would have been surprised but unfortunately this wasn't the first of such incidents, with similar cases appearing in Metropolis, Central City, and twice now in Gotham. Each time it happened the same group of people were found at the crime scene: men and women calling themselves members of a group called Monster Tech. He would know more but every time they would try to interrogate a member an “accident” would happen to them just before they could bring them in for questioning. Accident being a light term for their fates. Gordon took a drag from his cigarette and exhaled the smoke and turned to nearly walk into the chest of Gotham’s Dark Knight.

“Jesus Batman! One of these days you’re going to give me a heart attack!” Complained Gordon.

“I know who did this.” Said Batman.

“You do?” Asked Gordon.

“Yes, he’s been calling himself Goliath but his real name is Grim Deathly, son of a scientist in Star Labs.” Said Batman as he handed Gordon a folder and walked past him to investigate the crime scene.

Gordon opened the folder to see two pictures: one of Grim before his transformation and another of after the transformation, with him snarling at the camera. Gordon looked through several more papers, but they were all about Grim when he was a civilian.

“There isn’t much here.” Said Gordon.

“Other than when these attacks happen, it's as if he disappears.” Said Batman as he rested his hand on the dent in the van.

“How do you lose a nine foot tall man made of crystal?” Asked Gordon.

“He's skilled. And I think he's been getting help from his best friend Percy Weltfort.” Said Batman as he handed Gordon another file.

Gordon opened this one to find more papers, but still very little information about the person. The file mostly contained records of the last few years, where Percy was registered as a bodyguard for Grim.

“What's your explanation with this one?” Asked Gordon.

“The Weltfort family is a notorious family, with nearly every member becoming a renowned Hitman. Percy appears to be one of the few of his family to leave that profession.” Said Batman.

“So we got a trained killer, and a giant made of crystal. So what do we do then?” Asked Gordon.

“You stay on top of these incidents, I'll track them down.” Said Batman, and he grappling hooked away.

“The more I work with him, the more I wish I lived in another city.” Sighed Gordon before getting back to work with the crime scene.

In another section of Gotham, a woman as thrown down to the ground in an alleyway, while two men wearing ragged clothes closed in on her. One held a crowbar and the other had a pistol.

“Please! Don't hurt me!” She screamed as she crawled back.

“Oh, we ain't gonna hurt ya.” Said the man with the crowbar and he tapped it in the palm of his hand.

“Yeah, just give us what we want and you'll be fine… probably.” Laughed the other man as he aimed the gun at her.

“No!” She screamed as he moved back further, closer to dark shadows. Her back suddenly hit something and she looked up to see a form covered in darkness.

She was suddenly lifted and set on her feet, and a voice whispered to her.

“Don't worry, these chumps won't hurt you.” A gravelly voice sounded out and two red orbs sprang to life from within the darkness.

“What the- Who's there!?” Yelled the man with the crowbar as he took a step forward and raised the crowbar.

“Oh, we got ourselves a tough guy!” Said the voice from before and a large blackened hand shot out by from the darkness and grabbed the man's arm and he began to raise off the ground.

The creature stepped from the shadows to reveal a body of crystal, adorned with spikes and standing at nine feet tall. Grim grinned and the light reflected across his glossy hide. He was nowhere wearing orange pants that somehow fit him, although they were ripped at the bottom where his bare feet scraped across the ground. Across his waist was a large rusted chain that worked as a belt for him.

“Well, how tough are you? When you come face to face with a monster!?” Grim laughed and a dull crunch sounded from the man's arm, causing him to scream in pain.

Grim dropped the man and he fell and clutched his hurt arm as he scrambled away. He took off into the night as the other man stood terrified, pointing a shaking gun at Grim’s half lit smiling face.

“St-stay back!” He yelled as he took a step back.

“Yeah, he's pretty scary. You should have seen him before, I think he's gotten better.” Said a voice behind the man, the man turned and Percy punched him across the face. The man collapsed instantly and Percy smiled and shook his hand.

Percy was wearing a brown leather jacket with a black shirt underneath, a limp sleeve dangled at his side. He was wearing jeans and black boots.

“Who are you people!?” Asked the woman as she stared at Grim in fear.

“Just a monster and a man, trying to get revenge for what we lost.” Said Grim and he turned and walked back into the darkness.

“Sorry, he gets moody when people stare. I suggest you get home miss.” Said Percy as he followed Grim into the shadows.

Percy caught up with Grim and they walked in darkness and silence, only disturbed by the occasional splinter of moonlight or sounds of the city at night.

“So… you figure out where Monster Tech’s Gotham Outpost is yet?” Asked Percy.

“Yeah, it should be connected to these alleyways, it's how they smuggle people they kidnap for their experiments.” Grim said, growling out the last half of the sentence.

“Eventually we’ll save people from them, maybe tonight Grim.” Said Percy.

“Goliath.” Growled Grim.

“Right, other G-name.” Said Percy when Grim put out an arm to stop him.

“What?” Asked Percy.

“Someone's watching us… from… there!” Grim pushed Percy as something hit Grim and a surge of electric lit up the darkness.

The light revealed Grim grappling with a caped figure that had gauntlets that we're dispersing electricity, shocking Grim.

“No way.” Said Percy.

A flash a light, a yellow belt. Another flash, pointed ears. Flash, a chiseled jawline. Flash, they symbol of a bat.

“Heroes just hate you.” Said Percy as the figure on top of Grim was thrown to the ground where he rolled and came up in a crouched position.

“Batman. I should have known I'd find you tonight.” Said Grim as he bared his teeth and his eyes narrowed.

“Goliath. Why have you been attacking people in Gotham.

“They aren't people. They're Monster Tech.” Growled Grim and he charged at Batman, who jumped over him, placing a red beeping thing on Grim’s back.

The device exploded, hurling Grim to the ground, and leaving embers across the area.

“What's Monster Tech?” Asked Batman.

“Are you serious!? They've been operating in your city for months! And you don't know who they are!?” Roared Grim as he got ready to attack again when Percy intervened.

“Hold on, Goliath, Batman, chill. Big fan by the way.” Said Percy as he stepped forward with a hand on Grim’s chest.

“Percy Weltfort.” Said Batman.

“One armed and dangerous. But listen to me Batman, because you've been slacking in your job of protecting Gotham.” Said Percy as he turned to Batman.

“What do you mean?” Asked Batman.

“Men, women, children, all being abducted. Then transformed into monsters like me. Yet, Gotham’s Dark Knight hasn't stopped them.” Growled Grim.

“Until the last few weeks I didn't even know their name.” Said Batman.

“I'm sure that's very comforting to the abductees. Oh, and the ones turned into monsters. 'Sorry, Batman didn't know about you are your trouble. Better luck next time.’” said Grim mockingly.

“Easy Grim! Listen Batman, we could use your help to take these guys down.” Said Percy.

“As much as I don't really like heroes nowadays, we do need your help.” Said Grim.

“Then together?” Asked Batman as he held up a hand.

“Together. For now.” Said Grim.

“Wonderful! What a happy group we have!” Said Percy and Grim continued walking through the alleyways until he came to a corner where a light was shining from.

They all peered around the corner to see a sort of opening to a bunker, guarded by two men in the signature metal suits of Monster Tech. A black van back up from another alleyway and the doors opened and more men came out.

Four metal soldiers walked out, dragging a humanoid form with them. Whatever they were dragging, it had a long reptilian that trailed on the ground and had large bruises on it.

“Hrmm.” Growled Grim and he stretched his neck with a few cracks.

“Wait, when they go inside we can attack.” Said Batman.

The four men descended into the bunker, and the doors had barely closed when both Grim and Batman leaped into the light.

“Hey!” Was all one of the men could say before Grim lifted him up and smashed him into a brick wall, leaving him embedded in the wall.

Batman pressed a bat shaped device onto the other Man’s chest and electricity surged through the man, and he tipped over with a loud clang.

“Entrance secured.” Said Percy.

“Yeah, Percy stay here. Batman and I will continue.” Said Grim.

“Oh hell no, I'm coming with.” Said Percy.

“You are literally missing an arm, I don't want you hurt-” Said Grim when Percy cut him off.

“Yeah, yeah. Look you can't stop me, and I'm the only one who can use this properly.” Said Percy and he pulled out a strange looking gun.

It was made of a silver metal and had blue rings that sparked with electricity. He pressed a button on the side with his thumb and the gun began to hum.

“What is that?” Asked Batman.

“A control chip disabler. We found out Monster Tech has two ways to control monsters they make: One, take a hostage or two, install mind control chip. Percy made that to destroy the chips.

“It creates a sonic frequency that interacts directly with the chip, making it overload. The person will have a headache, but they won't be under control.” Said Percy.

“You designed it?” Asked Batman.

“Yeah, what a duo we are: The scientist son hits people, the Hitman son invents fancy devices.” Said Grim.

“Anyway, let's get going. At least one person needs our help.” Said Percy and Grim nodded.

Batman went to open the doors but the refused to budge when he pulled.

“Locked, give me a few minutes and-” Batman began when a blade of black crystal stabbed past him and into the lock.

Grim brought his arm back, where the blade was connected to his wrist. As he moved his arm the door came off with it.

Grim set the door down and the blade disintegrated into dust. He turned to Batman and gave a grin.

“I'm not here to sneak in, I'm here to save or help people like me.” Said Grim and he walked past the caped hero.

“You can destroy your crystal at will?” Asked Batman as he and Percy moved in after him.

“Yes, I can also set up a time for them to break, or create harder crystal than normal if I take time. My instantaneous crystal is usually only a little stronger than concrete.” Said Grim as they descended into a long hallway the several rooms branching off from it.

“Do you have any other powers?” Asked Batman when a door opened and what appeared to be a security bot walked out.

It was made up of steel, with a humanoid body that had dozens of red glowing circles across it. It's head had a single glowing red eye that lit up when it saw the three before him.

“Just stressed strength, durability, crystal creation, oh… and this.” Said Grim as he rushed forwards and grabbed the robot by its shoulders and he opened his mouth. A red glow emanated from his mouth and seconds later bright flames expunged from his mouth and began to coat the robot.

The flames continued for nearly a full minute until he stopped. When he did, all that was left of the robot was the waist and legs, the rest now a pile of boiling molten metal and ash.

“But that's all I got.” Said Grim as he wiped his mouth.

“I see.” Said Batman as he peered into the room the robot had come from, inside there were dozens of the same robot, but they were suspended by cables and seemed to be deactivated.

“Ah, here we go!” Said Percy as he walked over to a glowing green monitor.

He cracked his fingers and started typing on a nearby keyboard and files began flying by on the screen.

“Alright, from what I can see, they've shipped over seventy finished 'projects’ from this facility, and currently there is only one left here. Apparently it was retrieved just a few minutes ago.” Said Percy.

“That has to be what they were bringing in earlier.” Said Batman.

“Percy, do they have a list of facilities?�� Asked Grim.

“Yeah, but it says they move their bases every few months. Except for one, it says it's located in a place quite a ways from here.” Said Percy.

“Where?” Asked Grim.

“Ogre City, it's in Louisiana.” Said Percy.

“Why don't they move that one?” Asked Batman

“It's too big, apparently it's where all their projects go before…. Uh before…” Percy trailed off.

“Before what?” Growled Grim.

“Before they're sold to the highest bidder at underground auctions they run.” Said Percy.

Grim stood still for a minute and he slowly stood up to his full height, flames danced behind his bared teeth and a low growl resounded from him.

“They kidnap innocent men and women… experiment on them… THEN SELL THEM OFF!?” Roared Grim, belching flames.

“That's seems to be the case, yeah.” Said Percy.

“They have to be stopped” said Batman.

“They need to be crushed, and ground into the dirt!” Roared Grim, this time his yells were met with a distant yell and the sound of footsteps.

Grim turned and walked back out the door and was greeted by four more of the metal soldiers. Grim roared as they began firing their guns, a combination of ballistic weapons and lasers, all of which were rendered useless by his thick hide.

Grim punched one man across the face and grabbed his arm and lifted him up. He swung the screaming man around and knocked back the others with the body.

“We need backup!” One man said and seconds later alarms began blaring.

“Go ahead! I'll crush all of you!” Roared Grim.

More men began funneling into the hallway, alongside more of the robots from before.

Grim took in a deep breath and began blowing a torrent of flames at the soldiers and robots, melting metal and heating up the hallway, forcing them to back off.

“Percy! Where is the guy we saw get carried in?” Yelled Grim as he plunged his arm into the ceiling and began to pull.

The hallway shook and the ceiling caved in, covering the hallway in debris.

“Well, now that you've caved in the hallway, you'll have to go through one of the rooms and then from there-” Percy began when Grim cut him off.

“Just tell me the direction.” Said Grim and Percy pointed to a digital map he had pulled up on the monitor.

“Got it.” Said Grim and he turned towards the wall and lifted an arm.

He smashed his fist into the wall and it crumpled before him. He growled as he stepped into another hallway.

“Let's go Batman. Percy, use that computer to get into their systems, shut off security.” Said Grim.

“Aye, aye, captain.” Said Percy and Batman followed Grim through the hole he had made.

“Are you planning on breaking through every wall until you reach them?” Asked Batman as Grim pressed his hand to the ceiling and Crystal grew around them, closing off the hallway save for the hole they came from and the wall opposite.

“Yes. I'm making a direct route to extract the poor man they're torturing.” Said Grim as he smashed through the next wall.

“You aren't worried about hitting them with flying rubble?” Asked Batman.

“No. They are either trying to evacuate him, are in the middle of experiments, or have left him in whatever hole they seem fit enough to call a room.” Said Grim.

Another wall gave in and Crystal walls rose up around them.

“If he is moving, he can react to the debris. If he is in a room for experimentation, I doubt he is next to the wall, and in his room once again I'm sure he can dodge the debris.” Continued Grim.

“You've thought this out.” Said Batman as Grim bulldozed another wall.

“You need to, when you're trying to save not only a life, but someone's humanity. One mistake could result in loss of life or letting an experiment to run it’s course.” Said Grim.

“Hm.” Was all Batman responded with.

“This next wall should be the room the hostage is in. From what we saw of him he has already been mutated, but we can still save him from slavery.” Said Grim and Batman nodded.

Grim kicked the wall and it caved in and he roared as he ran into the room. Batman leaped in after him with a batarang prepared.

They were now in a circular room with several scientists wearing white lab coats and surgical masks.

There were two pods in front of them, one held the person who they had seen before, who they now saw was reptilian. It was a man with a the face of a bearded dragon, and scales along his back and the backs of his arms and legs, as well as on the top of his head. The rest of his body was a white color, like the soft underbelly of a lizard. He was wearing ripped jeans and had long taloned feet.

“Batman, look.” Said Grim and he pointed at the other pod.

Locked in the other pod was a more familiar figure. Wearing his scarlet suite, complete with a lightning bolt on his chest and attachments on the sides of his head was the Scarlet Speedster himself: The Flash.

“Wally!” Batman said under his breath.

The two pods were connected by tubes, with lighting flowing through from Wally’s pod into the Reptile Man’s pod.

“They're trying to harness the speed force.” Said Batman.

“Lookout! It's Goliath!” Said one of the Scientists.

“Well, I do think I see some familiar faces. You all know how this is gonna go, so beat it!” Said Grim as he breathed out fire for effect.

“Call in the Leviathan!” Said one scientist as he pressed a red button on the wall.

Alarms began to blare and a circular section of the floor opened up and a massive robot began to rise into the room.

The robot stood up to ten feet tall and had two legs and two arms connecting to a large box shaped body. There were two shoulder mounted gun with glowing red barrels.

“Ah, shit.” Said Grim as the robot charge and shoulder bashed him into a wall.

“Batman, free the two of them!” Roared Grim as he pulled himself from the rubble.

The two guns began to fire at Grim, forcing him to cross his arms and get pushed back by the sustained barrage.

Batman punched a scientist in the face before spinning and kicking another in the stomach. Then he ran to a control panel and began pressing buttons.

Grim roared and started pushing through the laser at the same time he began to grow blades from his wrists.

He swung his wrists and cut the guns off the robot, causing a small explosion the caused the robot to fall to one knee.

Batman finished pressing buttons on the control panel and the two pods opened and the two men fell out onto their hands and knees.

“Flash!” Said Batman as he knelt next to his friend.

“Oh, Hey Bats.” Coughed Wally.

“How's the other guy?” Yelled Grim as he ducked under a fist from the robot.

“He's okay!” Said Batman as he turned to the Reptile Man who was standing up and staring at his vibrating hands.

“I am not okay, this is not normal.” He said as lightning sparked around him.

“It's the speedforce!” Gasped Wally.

“Oh, because I wasn't enough of a freak. Wonderful.” Said the man.

“Listen, we need to get out of here. Flash, help Goliath, then we-” Batman was interrupted by the sound of metal screeching and the sound of something heavy hitting the ground.

Batman turned as a robot arm skidded across the floor and stopped in front of them. Grim as standing on top of the shredded remains of the robot, breaking off his crystal blades.

“They need bigger robots to go against me.” Said Grim as he jumped down and walked up the the Reptile Man.

“Are you able to move?” Asked Grim.

“Yeah, who are you again?” Asked the man.

“The name's Goliath. I'm just another freak created by Monster Tech. You got a name?” Asked Grim.

“Harry. Harry Smith.” Said the man.

“Well Harry, let's get you out of here.” Said Grim as Metal Soldiers began to funnel into the room. They raised their weapons but in a sudden blur of red their guns disappeared and Flash stood next to Grim, dropping the guns.

“Huh, I need to keep a speedster with me all the time.” Said Grim as he dug his hands into the ground and began to lift.

He heaved and a massive slab of concrete rose out of the ground. He turned it and began to push it, forcing the men back and out of the room.

He pushed the slab onto the doorway and let it rest there. He dusted off his hands and turned to the three behind him.

“That should hold them for a few minutes. Let's get out of here.” He said and the others nodded and they all took off for the makeshift tunnel Grim had made.

“So is this what you do? Save monsters from these guys?” Asked Harry.

“Yeah, and then I try to find a cure if I can.” Said Grim as they reached Percy.

“Grim! They have like three squads drilling through your rubble mess.” Said Percy.

“Then let's get out of here.” Said Grim

Grim motioned for everyone to move on as he raised his arms up and plunged them through the ceiling. As everyone exited the building he moved forwards, caving more and more ceiling.

The building began to shake and crack, and when Grim leaped out of the collapsing remains of the hallway the building began to crumble in on itself.

“Well, that was a bit more than I expected.” Said Grim as he wiped dust off from himself and turned to Harry who had different limbs vibrating at different times.

“Oh, what's going on!? I can’t stop it!” He yelled as sparks flashed around him.

“Hold on and listen to me.” Said Flash as he put two hands on Harry's scaled shoulders.

The two of them began to vibrate, blurring out to the point that all was visible was the red and green colors surrounded by electricity.

Soon they slowed down and Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at his hands and they vibrated for a moment before stopping. He gave a large sharp toothed grin.

“Maybe not so bad.” He said as he opened and closed his hands.

“We should have a race some day, us speedsters gotta stick together.” Said Flash and then, with a blink of the eye he was gone… in a flash.

“Where is he going?” Asked Percy.

“Probably home.” Said Batman as he turned to Grim.

“Goliath, Superman wants to apologise for what happened when he and Wonder Woman first met you. I also have an offering for you.” Said Batman.

“And that is?” Asked Grim.

“Join the Justice League Network. You can be called to help us and we can be called to help you.” Said Batman as he held up and earpiece.

“Hmm…” Grim thought as he picked up the earpiece and rubbed his chin.

Then he crushed it in between two fingers and chuckled to himself and rolled his neck, creating loud cracks.

“Sorry, but I'm not joining your big easily infiltrated organization. Contact me personally if you really need my help, but otherwise leave us alone.” Said Grim.

“Fine. But we will be keeping an eye on you.” Said Batman as he shot out a grappling hook into the sky.

“Go ahead, it's not like you're gonna stop us from doing anything.” Said Grim.

“We’ll see about that.” Said Batman and he zipped away.

After several seconds Grim let out a big breath of air. He wiped his forehead and put a hand on Percy's shoulder.

“Man, we met Batman! That is so cool.” Said Grim as him and Percy began laughing.

“Yeah, but are you sure about refusing him?” Asked Percy.

“We don't want be tied to them, because then their enemies become ours. And vise versa.” Said Grim.

“Vice versa?” Asked Harry.

“Monster Tech knew who I was. Soon they're gonna start sending monsters after me, which works fine for us because we can free them.” Said Grim.

“Actually, Harry was it? Can you come over here for a sec?” Asked Percy.

“What for?” He asked and Percy whipped out his gun a fire a blue beam at Harry's head.

A small pop was audible and Harry held his hand to his head and groaned. He shook his head and looked at Percy and blinked at him.

“What did you just do?” He asked.

“They put a control chip inside your head. I just gave it a bit of an overcharge to prevent it from working.” Said Percy.

“Thanks then. But now what?” Asked Harry.

“Well, you can go off and do whatever you want. But me and Percy have a date with the Monster Tech stronghold.” Said Grim as he cracked his knuckles.

“Is this what you guys do? Attack Monster Tech and free people like us?” Asked Harry.

“Well, nobody else is going to. The justice league is too busy with their endless array of villains, and even if they do save us monsters we just end up back inside of another laboratory.” Said Grim as red and blue lights began to flash from a side connecting alleyway.

“Cops. Let's go Percy.” Said Grim and he picked his friend up and got ready to jump.”

“Wait! I Want to join you.” Said Harry.

“You want to dive into danger, with risk of being captured again, nearly every day?” Asked Percy.

“Yes. If i can save people like me and Goliath, then i’ll do anything.” Said Harry.

“Well then Harry. You’re gonna need a new name, and some new clothes.” Said Grim as he picked Harry up as well.

“So where are we going?” Asked Harry.

“Ogre City, with a few stops along the way for food and clothes.” Said Grim and he leaped into the night sky and landed on a building, where he leaped to another and another after that.

“So, we can’t be calling you Harry in the middle of fighting, got any ideas for names?” Asked Percy.

“Well… i'm a reptile monster… and now that i have that lightning from the speedforce… Lightning Lizard?” Asked Harry.

“Lame.” Said Percy.

“Galvanized Gecko?” Suggested Harry.

“That’s terrible.” Said Grim.

“Killer Croc?” Asked Harry.

“Uh, He’s a supervillain.” Said Percy.

“Shit… um… oh! I Read about this once! How about Shenlong?” Harry asked once more.

“After the thunder dragon god? Eh, why not?” Said Grim.

“Nice to meet you Shenlong.” Said Percy.

Grim landed on yet another building, this time an old abandoned building that had no signs of life.

“We’ll sleep here tonight, then we move on to the Leviathan then Ogre City.” Said Grim as he took a seat on the roof and closed his eyes.

“What’s the Leviathan?” Asked Harry.

“You’ll find out tomorrow.” Said Percy as he pulled a blanket out of his bag and sat against Grim’s side.

“Alright then.” Said Harry as he found a spot to rest.

With the three men now drifting off to slumber the night’s adventures came to an end. Goliath’s motley band of monster freedom fighters growing every day. Now with the aid of Percy and Shenlong he would set his eyes on Ogre City, a city with rumors of a stronghold that ships out monsters to the highest buyer. But for now the monstrous heroes needed their rest.

END

#TheGreatGoliath #dc #fanfic #oc #chapter 2

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