Chương 12: Chapter 12 Found Him
United States.
Gotham...
Nighttime, downtown Gotham city. Possibly, the worst place on Earth, any living person could find themselves in when it came to living circumstances.
Looking at its long history, what more would one need to accurately describe it?
Corruption, Chaos, Crime, all of it was synonymous with its name, making it a hotspot for criminal enterprises and black market activities.
This was a city where people had learned the essential rules that no one within said city was kind enough to explain to any possible newcomers.
The first and most indispensable rule, mind your business. Poking your nose in things that don't concern you in any way would mostly likely have your corpse floating in the sewers or lying in an alley the following morning.
A lady could get dragged into an alley in broad daylight by random things while kicking and screaming for help, yet wouldn't even elicit a reaction from the passersby.
Would people see it? Yes. Would they do something about it? Absolutely not. There had been many cases of such happenings in the good old days, and they all knew how the cliché plot of the hero trying to save the beauty played out when played in a Gotham alleyway.
The result was always the usual. The screaming would momentarily stop before resounding again in a louder tone and ultimately dying out. The son of some random poor fella who tried to enact the play would end up in a body bag by morning.
As for the cops? Let's just say that Gothamites had more faith in their shoelaces than they did the GCPD.
Bribery and looking the other way when confronted with criminal activities, something that would get police officers fired in other cities, wasn't even enough to leave a stain on the record here.
Rule two, trust no one. In a city like Gotham, handing out a twenty dollar bill to a beggar out in the open was a textbook example of the phrase, 'perfect way to kill someone with a borrowed knife'.
If you weren't rich and powerful, you could even set a target on your own back.
Such an action was capable of getting someone and anyone involved with them murdered before dawn.
Your relative could stab you in the back with a kitchen knife while he/she was smiling with you a minute ago.
Death and rampage had become so common that no one would flinch if they opened their front door and what greeted their sights first thing in the morning was a mangled corpse.
After all, it happened almost every other day.
So yeah, it was a mess. A filthy mess if you weren't being polite about it.
Were all these narratives correct to the last letter? Maybe, Perhaps not. Still, it didn't change the fact that Gotham was a shithole.
Unlike its neighboring city, Metropolis, it hardly experienced as much when it came to powered villains. There were no kryptonite-powered robots shooting beams of mass destruction, no aliens with superhuman abilities and no freakish monsters capable of ending the world.
The problems mainly experienced were simple enhanced versions of crime performed by individuals who were baseline humans. No superhuman strength, no apocalyptic weapons, just serial killer clowns with messed up minds, an egotistical maniac who had a thing for riddles, a fat drug and weapons dealer with the stature of a penguin who actually calls himself The Penguin..... basically stuff along those lines.
Metropolis had experienced more disasters in five years than Gotham had since the day of its existence, yet metropolis was a much safer place than Gotham would ever be.
The statistics alone showed that Gotham had the highest crime rate in the United States than any other city.
That was until he came along. Straight into the darkness of Gotham, he struck out with hardened fists, technological gadgets and tenacious willpower, dedicating himself to combating the forces of evil within this city with his mortal body and sharp mind.
He became what Gotham needed the most when it really counted.
The hero of Gotham, Bruce Wayne, otherwise known as Batman. Kinda weird hero name when you think about it, but oh well.
Who told the guy to have a thing with bats when he was younger.
And so, with determination in his heart, Bruce set out to become what was necessary for Gotham. To make sure that he could prevent the tragic encounter that happened to him from happening to others.
Even if he couldn't save everyone, he would try his best to put a halt to this city's corruption. Even if he had to use slightly more extreme methods to get the job done.
And try he did. It was well known that Batman of the Justice League was a little..... different from the rest of his associates. His fighting posture was a lot harsher, usually leaving his opponents with broken bones, bloody noses, Batarang scars and branded bat marks.
His vigilante approach, regardless of what it seemed like to the common folk in the early days, was rather effective. Superman was a symbol of hope to the people of Metropolis, while Batman was a symbol of fear to the criminals of Gotham.
A place like this needed a heavy hand if you wanted to make a difference, and made a difference he did.
At least Bruce would like to think so.
At first, his tactics did work well. But as they say, You live, You learn. Some criminals are rather lousy, but not all of them are dumb. Some would evolve, and that fear of Batman would turn to caution.
Unknowingly, Batman in his quest to save a lost city was helping its criminals work smarter, plan better and develop targeted tactics.
In a way, Batman was teaching them to be better. Bruce soon realized this as new and more challenging criminals to deal with rose overtime, all hell-bent on challenging him, one way or the other. Yet, he could do nothing but continue the same charade of hunt and capture while God knows how many innocent lives died along the line.
Gotham needed a stronger, more permanent service to get back on track. Services that Batman, no matter how brutal he tried to be, just couldn't and wouldn't provide, probably even when faced with the cost of his life.
.....
Batman's POV….
"It's calm. Too calm". Bruce said expressionlessly as he stared through infrared binoculars while fully decked up in his bat getup.
He stood on one of Gotham's skylines while looking down on the city as he went about his regular evening patrol.
"Isn't that supposed to be a good thing, Bruce?" A figure a few meters away from him stood with her arms folded across her chest.
Batman turned around to look at the woman, giving her a slightly narrowed glare.
She froze a bit with her mouth slightly open before lowering her head .
"I..... Sorry, Batman. I just meant, the gangs are keeping a low profile and no one's gone out to perform a big stunt in days. What's bad about that?" Barbara Gordon, who was similarly dressed in the bat costume, apologized before speaking.
She was well aware how Bruce vehemently emphasized on the use of code-names whenever they were out in the field. She heard that he once had an argument with the Flash over this issue. Their secret identities being revealed was a catastrophe on its own if it ever occurred.
Still, that didn't stop her from asking why his tone concerning everything being too calm sounded like a bad thing.
Bruce turned his face away and continued to peer through his binoculars.
"On regular days, it's not. But with everything that's happened lately, something just doesn't feel right". He said without turning.
Barbara had her brows furrowed slightly. And there it is again. Bruce's gut feeling that signified something bad was about to happen.
As one of Batman's proteges, she knew what it meant whenever he felt this way. And from his words, she knew the source of his concern.
"It's about the alien that disappeared, isn't it?" She asked with a tone of concern.
"Yes". Bruce replied in taciturn. His voice was plain and sounded somewhat unfriendly, yet she didn't mind. She had been around him long enough to understand that this was his usual time when he was fighting crime as Batman.
Bruce didn't see the need to hide it, either. It was no surprise to everyone who knew him well that this whole thing was bugging him more than he let it show.
A week had passed since the Clash Of The Otherworlders, while Flash and Superman had practically scoured the face of the globe searching for their mysterious yet dangerous visitor. Facial recognition scans were always running twenty-four hours of the day, and yet, a week had passed.
Nothing. A week gone by and they've found nothing. It seemed as if he just disappeared from the Earth's surface which, when thinking about his abilities, was actually not surprising and most likely to happen.
Had he left the earth permanently with his teleportation ability? The chance was always present, but Batman doubted it. The uneasy feeling in his heart just wouldn't go away and quite frankly, it left him really frustrated.
Nevertheless, there was nothing more they could do apart from wait. Things had gotten so bad that the league had practically kicked him out of the watchtower, saying he should go home and get some rest after staying on the Tower's computer for seventy-two hours straight without a wink of sleep.
Batman was disgruntled, but there was nothing he could do about it. Still, his paranoia made him unable to sleep and led him to perform frequent patrols around the city.
Batgirl was even recalled back from the Junior team by Alfred due to his worry about his mental state.
Faced with worried family, and a determined old butler, the Paranoid man could only suck it up and deal with it while trying to sort out the clouded thoughts in his mind.
And now, here they were, back on one of Gotham's rooftops having this conversation.
Barbara sighed. Quite frankly, she didn't know what to say to Bruce in this situation, as there was nothing to say that could possibly comfort him. After all, he was Batman. The guy that still slept with kryptonite under his bed even after being friends with Superman.
Clark had used his X-ray vision and super hearing to search, Barry had gone above and beyond with his speed while the Lanterns were doing their things with their lanterns.
There were literally no forthcoming results. At times like this, she really wished that Alfred had decided to recall Dick or Tim instead of her.
"Look, Batman..." Barbara wanted to speak, but Bruce cut her off.
"Let's move. We should check on the next block". He didn't even wait for her reply as he leaped down from the building. His grappling gun shot towards a nearby structure, supporting his gliding figure.
Batgirl sighed and followed him.
They patrolled the city for another half an hour and then.....
"I thought I'd find you here". Batman turned slowly after landing on a rooftop.
Red and blue tights, flowing cape, standard S on the muscular chest. Who else would it be if not Clark Kent, Superman himself?
"What are you doing here?" Bruce asked with his features hidden under his cowl.
"I'll go patrol the west area of downtown". Batgirl saw the arrival of the Man Of Steel and intelligently decided to make herself scarce. With a simple jump, shot and swing, she was gone.
Clark looked at the disappearing figure of Barbara and chuckled slightly.
"She was the one Alfred called to check up on you?"
"Yes". Bruce replied. His body turned around to stare once again at the bright lights of the buildings in Gotham's night.
Clark floated downwards, gently landing by his side.
"You okay?" He asked with slight worry.
"I'm fine. I'm just a little.... pent-up, that's all". Bruce replied in a solemn tone.
Clark, seeing his state, gently put his hand on his shoulder.
"I know you're worried, but it'll be okay. We have the entire league on alert in case he is spotted anytime. We'll know about it the moment it happens, and we'll be ready for whatever he might have to throw at us. You need to get some rest. You won't be able to ask him any questions if you fall asleep while doing so. Your whole intimidating persona might just come crashing down if that happens". Clark said with a reassuring tone, adding a slight joke at the end.
It should be stated here and now that the power of good pep talks comes along within Superman's repertoire.
Bruce, who was a little stressed, subconsciously, relaxed a lot as he threw Clark a grateful gaze. Clark just gave a bright smile while turning to look at the night lights.
They both stayed silent for several seconds.
"How's Gotham?"
"Bad as ever". Clark asked, Bruce replied.
"I guess so, huh?"
"Yes. Things are getting…. a lot more complicated in recent times. Last I heard, the Joker and his goons got their hands on Intergang tech. They've been in hiding ever since, planning who knows what".
Bruce stated with a frown. Things were really getting out of hand. As the world's greatest detective, Batman had certainly noticed it. The movements of criminals, be it Penguin's goons, Falcones, Joker's, they've upped their game.
They've gotten smarter, sharper. They're learning from their mistakes with every breakout, just right after he manages to put them in prison. Honestly, it gets infuriating.
Batman had to resist the urge to rub his temples.
"You know, I'm always here to lend a hand when necessary. All you have to do is ask". Clark said with a raised eyebrow.
"No need. Thanks for the thought, but this is my city. I'll find out what the Joker's up to sooner rather than later".
Bruce refused with a shake of his head. He was used to running Gotham on his own.
"Ok, well, whatever you say. I'm heading back to the..." Superman had barely finished when he saw Bruce's face suddenly twist sternly.
"Run full facial scan". Bruce said, his time almost bordering on a growl.
"Batman? What's up..." Clark was interrupted yet again as he received a message from his com link.
"Superman to Watchtower, what's your status?" Clark asked as he pressed his finger against his ear.
"We got a hit on the alien. Just about twenty seconds ago. Flash is already en route". Cyborgs voice sounded from Clark's earpiece.
"Where?" He asked seriously.
"Coast city". The reply came swiftly. Superman said no more as he floated upwards, defying gravity's law before blasting into the sky.
Batman wasn't idle, either, immediately pressing a button on his arm to summon the Bat jet to his location from the Bat Cave.
"You didn't leave. So I was right. You finally couldn't resist showing yourself".
Batman looked towards the direction of coast city. All Leaguers, free or not, were already alerted and on their way to coast city. Although flash would be there in less than five minutes, the first responder would definitely be Hal Jordan.
He was already in coast city to begin with, while Stewart was taking his turn to do his job as the patrolling green lantern of sector 2418.
Could Hal handle him alone? Honestly, Batman doubted it, but as long as he didn't run away, Hal could certainly delay him long enough for Superman, Flash and Shazam to arrive on the scene. Or at least, that's what he thought. Unfortunately, the League's members were about to have a rather unpleasant encounter.
"I won't let you get away this time". Batman said as the Bat Jet came within his view in the distance.
...
Hello my Lovely readers. Your Author is back with a new chapter.
So Sorry for the drop in updates for the past six days, My Phone had issues.
I missed you all, and I Missed your Powerstones even more.
This is just an appetizer, Next chapter Later today.
Thank for all the support and comments. I appreciate.
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