Gotham City Heroes (rewritten version)

Chapters

Chapter 2 Breakfast Conversation
Chapter 3 What To Do With You
Chapter 4 Something In Common
Chapter 6 Camping Trip
Chapter 7 The Story of Jason Todd
Chapter 8 Choices
Chapter 9 Human Life
Chapter 10 The Girl Wonder
Chapter 11 Dick Grayson
Chapter 12 Training
Chapter 13 First Night
Chapter 14 Green Thumbs
Chapter 15 Two of a Kind
Chapter 16 Riddle Me This
Chapter 17 Lightning From Olympus
Chapter 18 Slow Burn
Chapter 19 Arkham Breakout
Chapter 21
Chapter 22 ACE Chemicals
Chapter 1 Arrival
Chapter 5 Could I Become a Human?
Chapter 20 Emergency Situation

Chapter 2 Breakfast Conversation

Night was a more fitting time for Gotham, for it looked more gothic that way. But the morning sun looked out of place as it rose over the city. It's beams shined through the window of the bedroom where Scootaloo was resting. Her tired eye lies slowly opened as she gave a big yawn.

"Some dream I had last night." she said. But once she got a good look at her surroundings, it was enough to convince her otherwise.

The little filly stretched her forelegs over her head before she removed the covers over her and simply crawled out of the bed. She was about to reach the door before she noticed that the knob was turning. She assumed that it was Bruce, but she was proven wrong when the door opened.

Standing there was a human that Scootaloo has never seen before. He appeared to be older than Bruce and wore a black suit with a red vest underneath his tail coat. On his hands were egg white gloves and on his feat were shiney, black leather shoes.

Above his lip stood a mustache and a bald spot was atop of his head. He appeared to be surprised by Scootaloo's appearance, but returned to his calm manner.

"Oh dear," he muttered in an elegant accent that was similar to Rarity's "it appears Master Bruce did mean it when we had a strange guest. Although he failed to mention that it was a new pet."

Scootaloo was taken aback by this "Hey, I'm not a pet."

The human's eyes widened as they were filled with more surprise and shock "It talks?!"

Scootaloo now grew nervous and tried to think about a better way of handling the situation "Uh, sorry about that."

The human still remained shocked.

"Uh," Scoots averted her eyes "I-I'm with Bruce."

"So he said," the human appeared to slowly loose his cautiousness "forgive me for those rude words, it's just that Master Bruce didn't very much explain your appearance."

Scootaloo shrugged "Eh, I'll let it pass. My name is Scootaloo by the way." she held out her hoof.

The human accepted as they both shook hand/hoof.

"Alfred Pennyworth, at you service."

"So," Scootaloo began "what connection do you have with Bruce?"

Alfred slightly shrugged "I hack into an area's security system that master Bruce, as the Batman, infilrates and provide him with assistance from our headquarters." his facial expression seemed calm and elegant "I also do his dry cleaning."

Scootaloo chuckled at that last part.

"By the way," Alfred spoke up again "Master Bruce has sent me to fetch you for breakfast; I've prepared it myself."

Alfred took a step out the door as he awaited the young filly to follow. Once she did, he simply closed her door behind her as he led her though the hallways of the manor.

It was a ginormous place; the hallways seemed long and the windows were tall enough to show a clear view of the yard outside. The place also had an elegant touch to it; the long carpets were bright red, the floors were grey marble, and there were several paintings on the walls. One painting that caught Scootaloo's eye was one of a man wearing a black suit that looked old, probably from history, and the plack on the frame read 'Solomon Wayne'.

It wasn't long until Alfred ended up taking Scootaloo to a pair of double doors. As Alfred opened them, he stood aside to let Scootaloo walk in see that this was what seemed to be a dining room, due to the long dining table.

At the table sat Bruce, Harold, and Ace in a dog's bed eating his food from a silver bowl with his name incripted on it. Then there was also an unfamiliar human who looked younger than the other ones present.

Bruce raised his head from his plate of scrambled eggs, "Good morning," he greeted, yet still remained in his stoic manner "did you sleep well?"

Scootaloo smiled and nodded "Oh yeah, I slept pretty good."

The young filly made her way over to the table and sat up on a chair opposite of Bruce.

"Hey, Harold?" she greeted the hunchback who replyed with a wave.

She then noticed the young man sitting at the table, eating scrambled eggs. He appeared as if he was somewhere around eighteenand and he had short black hair similar to Bruce.

"So uh," Scootaloo began, getting his attention as he turned his head towards her "what's your name?"

"I'm Tim. Tim Drake." he smiled "You saw me last night as Red Robin."

Scootaloo averted her eyes in thought until she dug up a memory of the red and black superhero with a boe start last night.

"Oh yeah," she realized "and by the way, where is that other one?"

"Who do you mean?" Tim asked.

"The one that was a girl."

"Oh yeah," Tim realized "that was Batgirl; her real name's Cassandra, she's one of us."

Scootaloo nodded in understanding "Where is she?"

"Back at her home." Bruce answered. "She lives in the clock tower with one of our colleagues."

Scootaloo's head turned in Bruce's direction with a raised eyebrow "She lives in a clock tower?"

Bruce nodded "Yes, an apartment is set up there."

Scoots nodded nodded understanding and then noticed Alfred walk up next to her.

"I have prepared scrambled eggs. Would you like that or perhaps have something else instead?"

"Scrambled eggs will be good." Scootaloo smiled.

Alfred nodded "Would you care for a drink?"

The orange filly nodded "Sure, orange juice would be nice."

Alfred nodded as he left through the double doors of the kitchen. A few moments later he emerged through the doors with a plate of scrambled eggs held in one hand and a glass of orange juice in another. He set them down in front of Scootaloo as she picked her lips at the sight of them.

"Will you be needing anything else?" the butler asked the orange filly.

"No thanks," she replied "I'm good."

Alfred turned his head in Bruce's direction "What about you, master Bruce?"

"That'll be all, Alfred."

Now Alfred turned his head toward Tim and Harold "And what about you two?"

"We're good, Al." Tim said and Harold nodded in agreement.

Alfred nodded in understanding as he made his way out of the dining room.

"So," Scootaloo spoke up after taking a bite of her eggs "how do you guys know each other?"

"Alfred has worked for my father when I was a child," Bruce explained "he's still the family butler up to today."

Scoots nodded as the information was processed into her brain.

"Harold also works as an electrical engineer at Wayne Industries," Bruce explained "a company I own."

"Oh, so does he live here with you?" Scoots asked.

"He use to," Bruce explained before taking a bite of his eggs. After a moment he swallowed "but he decided he wanted to move out, so I helped him get a house of his own."

"Why'd he live with you? If you don't mind me asking."

"I found him on the streets," Bruce explained.

"Actually it's more of Harold found you." Tim pointed out.

"Anyway," Bruce continued "the Batmobile crashed when I was chasing down some car jackers. He brought my car to an old factory where he lived and helped me fix it. I saw his talents and offered to give him a home, he accepted. I trusted him with my identity and gave him a job at my company."

"When he moved out he found the dog," Tim pointed to Ace, now relaxing on his dog bed "took him in and named him Ace."

"Harold has been a great help to us," Bruce went further "he repairs gadgets and sometimes creates his own inventions for us to use." The billionaire took another bite of his eggs and swallowed before explaining "He's going to be staying with us for a while until we find him a new home since the League of Assassins, the people who kidnaped you, knows where he lives."

Scootaloo nodded again in understanding before leaning her head down and taking a bite of her eggs.

When she swallowed, she turned to Tim "So, how do you know Bruce?"

Tim shrugged "Well, when we first met, I was fourteen. I was pretty good at detective work that I found out who Batman was."

"You know detective work?" Scootaloo asked.

Tim nodded "Yeah, my dad was a cop and I watched a lot of mystery noir shows on TV."

Scoots raised an eyebrow "TV?"

"Uh," Tim thought for a moment on how to better explain it "it's like some kind of box with a screen that shows you stories visually."

Scootaloo's eyes widened in wonder, that sounded cool.

"Anyway, I noticed that he was..." Tim rubbed the back of his head, hoping to find a better description. Sure he could tell her that Bruce was being more violent towards criminals, but then she might ask why. He didn't think Bruce would want her to know about...that one thing that happened.

"Uh," it took a while, but he found an explanation "he needed a partner, because he couldn't fight crime alone." Okay he knew that wasn't entirely true, but it's better than telling her the full truth.

Bruce knew what Tim was doing and nodded a thank you to him.

Scootaloo shrugged "Okay, that makes sense."

"Alright," Tim began "so I approached him and said he needed a new partner. At first he refused, but later he was convinced. Then I became Robin."

"You mean 'Red Robin'?" how could you forget your own superhero name?

"Uh, no," Tim explained "back then it was just Robin. I was a different superhero and wore a different suit."

"Oh," Scoots now fully understood.

"Anyway, a year ago I retired from the mantle, because I was too old for it. Now I'm a standalone hero and I'm the leader of a superhero team called the Teen Titans."

Scootaloo's eyes widdened to the size of the plate before her. "There are other superheroes in this world?"

Bruce nodded "Yes, we're not the only ones."

Scootaloo's head turned in Bruce's direction "That is so cool," she exclaimed "have you met some of them?"

Bruce nodded "Yes, each of us have a different city to protect and some have different abilities."

Scootaloo's excited smile grew "So, you mean that some have superpowers?"

Bruce nodded at her question.

Scootaloo then turned her head back to Tim "What about the Teen Titans? Who are they?"

Time chuckled slightly, he was beginning to like this kid "It's a team of teenage suoerheroes," he explained "they reside in Jump City and they have their own HQ, called the Titans' Tower, which looks like a capital T."

Scootaloo was marveled by this as she turned her attention back to Bruce "What about you?" she asked "Are you part of a superhero team?"

Bruce nodded "Yes, we're called the Justice League."

Scootaloo just couldn't contain her excitement "That, and Teen Titans," she added looking back at Tim "sounds like the coolest team name ever!" she gasped as another question popped in her head "Who do they consist of? What are their powers?"

Before her questions were answered the little filly felt a hand on her shoulder as she looked to her left to see it's owner.

"Maybe you could look that all up on the Batcomputer and show you around the Batcave," Tim offered, but her averted his eyes to Bruce "if that's okay with you."

Bruce nodded "Yes that'd be fine, but first let's finish our breakfast."

The humans, with the pony added, resumed their eating, but Scootaloo couldn't hold the excitement inside of her. She was living out any other fall's dream; she was in a world of superheroes. If only the others back in Equestria could see this.

Equestria...home. The thought just came back to her mind as she remembered her friends from back home. Will she ever see them again? How will they react to her being gone? Hopefully they are doing alright.

Chapter 3 What To Do With You

When they were finished with breakfast, Tim decided to leave for the plane to jump city, so Bruce, Scootaloo, Harold, and Alfred gave their goodbyes and Tim just patted Ace on the head saying "See ya 'round boy." before leaving out the door to his motorcycle. Once he left, Bruce Lee Scootaloo into his study where all his books were kept.

"So," Scoots spoke up "how do we get down into the Batcave?"

"Like this," Bruce said as he laid his hand on top of the Shakespeare bust before suddenly pulling it back to reveal a small red button.

He pressed his index finger against it, then Scootaloo noticed the book case against the wall slide to the left to reveal an elevator.

"Huh," Scootaloo looked at the elevator with an impressed smirk on her face "now that's a cool looking entrance." She turned her head towards Bruce "Why does it look like it's secret."

"Because it is." Bruce answered as he walked over to the elevator as Scootaloo followed.

"Okay, but why?" the filly couldn't resist asking as they both stepped into the elevator.

"Because I'm a vigilante," answered Bruce, his head turning it's attention to her "and vigilantes are known to bend and break the law in order to spread justice. So if people found out I was Batman, I would be arrested or they'd try to force me to stop crime fighting."

Bruce pushed the button on the panel against the elevator wall, letting the book case slide close as the elevator went downwards.

"By the way," Bruce looked downwards to his right at Scootaloo, who he was turn her attention to him "yesterday there was a crisis involving other worlds and I have to report to the League about situations like that whenever they happen."

Scootaloo looked at him "Okay, but it's taken care of, right? And why are you telling me about this?"

"To answer the first question," Bruce began "the Justice League protects the world from a global crisis, so it's our job to know about a crisis even if it's already taken care of." he answered "And to answer the second question, you are from another dimension, so we need to discuss what we're going to do with you if your okay with that."

Scootaloo averted her eyes in thought for a moment and returned her attention to him. "Alright I guess that makes sense."

It was within this moment that they both was the elevator finally move down pass the rock wall in front of them where they saw the view of the Batcave. Scoots noticed a few bats fly by and was suddenly startled.

Bruce noticed this "Don't worry about the bats," he explained "they do fly around this area from time to time, but normally they intend to stay away from us."

Scootaloo relaxed from the news. Once the elevator reached the floor, they stepped onto the metal surface as they began to walk to the center of the cave where the giant screen Scootaloo saw last night was. When they neared it, Scoots noticed that under the screen was a panel with various buttons on it.

"What is this thing?" she marveled at the strange giant object in front of her.

"It's a computer," Bruce explained "but I call it the Batcomputer."

Scootaloo wistled at the strange device "What does it do?"

"Like any computer, it holds information I can use for work," Bruce said "but this one in particular is unlike any other. I use it to track something or someone that I've placed a homing device on. It can also be used to summon any of my vehicles, such as the Batmobile, and analyse anything I ask it to."

"Wow," Scootaloo began "y'know, I know a certain alicorn pony back home who'd be interested in this."

Bruce looked at her with a raised eyebrow "Alicorn?"

Now it was Scootaloo's turn to raise an eyebrow in confusion "Yeah, you know, a pony with both a unicorn horn and wings."

Bruce shook his head "Sorry, but something like that hasn't been recorded in human legend."

"That's weird," she tapped her chin "Hey, last night you said pegasi didn't exsist, so if they don't in this world then how do you know about them?" Scootaloo questioned "Are they also in human myth?"

Bruce nodded "Yes, as well as unicorns."

"What about earth ponies?"

"Sorry," Bruce said "but I don't recall anything called an 'earth pony' was ever recorded in myth." he explained "What are they exactly?"

"Oh," Scoots said "Well, they're ponies who don't have horns or wings like unicorns or pegasi." she explained "They're said to be really strong though."

"Sounds interesting," Bruce then walked over to the panel that layed before the computer as he pulled up a chair on wheels in the corner before sitting down. "I'm about to contact the League," he explained to Scootaloo standing next to him "I want you to know that I'm bringing them over so we can discuss how to deal with you. Are you alright with that?"

Scoots nodded "Sure."

Bruce gave a single nod as he understood before returning his attention to the panel and started pushing various buttons on the computer.

"Batcomputer," he spoke up "are there any available Justice League members."

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow, okay now she was convinced this guy was crazy talking to an object.

"Searching,"

To Scootaloo's surprise the Batcomputer spoke!

Bruce slightly turned his head in Scootaloo's direction as he noticed her surprise.

"Artificial intelligence," he casually answered before the filly could ask a question "it has the ability to speak, but it doesn't have a mind of it's own."

"Aquaman is currently on a search for Black Manta." the computer spoke again in an emotionless female voice "Green Lantern is currently in battle with Sinestro. The Flash is currently preventing a bank robbery being committed by Captain Cold. Captain Marvel is currently in battle with Black Adam. Green Arrow is in the midst of preventing a drug dealing being committed by a gang of criminals. Members that are currently available are Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, and Martian Manhunter."

"Excelent," Bruce nodded "contact those who are available and tell them to come to the Batcave." he ordered with a calm voice "And send a report to the Watchtower about my run-in with Ra's Al Ghul last night."

"Affirmative." the computer said.

"Uh," Scootaloo said "how does it know what everyone's doing?"

"It's connected with the Justice League Watchtower," Bruce explained as he typed on the keyboard of the panal and a moment later an image of what he was referring to appeared on the screen. "It's the official space Headquarters of the Justice League."

"That is so cool." Scootaloo exclaimed as her eyes gleamed with wonder.

Bruce slightly smiled at her reaction "It's a satalite space station, meaning that it keeps track of us anywhere on the planet."

Scoots turned her head to Bruce, still smiling with amazement. "How did you get something like this?"

Bruce shrugged "I obtain wealth from my company, so naturally I pay for anything the League needs even the watchtower."

"How much money do you even have?" Scootaloo asked. It was there that Bruce didn't answer, instead he turned his attention back to the Batcomputer typing on the keyboard before him. He knows Scoots is just being a curious filly, but he doesn't think it should be any of her, or anyone else's, business to know how much money he has.

"Batcomputer," he spoke "contact Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, and Martian Manhunter and tell them to come to Wayne Manor. We have something important to discuss."

"Affirmative." said the computer.

"So," Scootaloo said "how long 'till they show up?"

"It'll be a while," Bruce said "for now though, you wanted to look up the Justice League?"

"Oh yes, please." Scootaloo smiled eagerly.

Bruce nodded as he started pressing his fingers against the various keys typing in the search bar 'Justice League' before hitting search and clicking on an old article from a news website. On there was a paragraph of which Scoots presumed was info on the League and right next to it an image of ten different humans that Scootaloo assumed were them. One of which was Batman, but with him were heroes that Scootaloo seemed unfamiliar with.

For one, there was a tall, buff looking human in a blue skin tight suit with a red cape hanging off his back, boots of the same color, and what looked like an upside down triangle with the letter S. There was also a female looking human in a red and blue one piece suit with what appeared to be a gold W on her chest. She also wore metal bracelets on her wrists, red boots, and there was a golden lasso hanging at the side of her hip as well as a gold tiara on top of her head where her long black hair was hanging.

There were others as well; such as two people who were in green with one of them looking like some kind of archer. Two were wearing red with a lightning bolt on no the their chests, although one of them was wearing a white cape hanging over his shoulder. Next was a man wearing an Orange outfit with what looked like gills on it and green pants. Another one was a male human with brown skin and short black hair; at least that's what the human parts looked like while the rest of his body seemed to be robot like, including a side of this face with a red eye. The last one however puzzled Scootaloo the most, becuse he didn't look human at all, he wore a black suit with a red X on his chest and a blue cape hanging over his shoulders, but what really puzzled the filly was the fact that this man had green skin and red eyes.

"Alright," Bruce said "I'm going to go wait for them to arrive. Until then, you can read up on the Justice League."

Scootaloo smiled lightly "Okay, but what if I want to look up the Teen Titans?"

Bruce took the mouse of the keyboard and started moving it in various motions "Do you see that arrow on the screen?" he pointed.

Scootaloo looked at the screen and noticed a little white arrow moving and nodded.

"This mouse," he half raised his arm holding up the object in his hand "controls it." he set it back down right next to the keyboard "With it, you can click into this bar and all you have to do is type in 'Teen Titans' and you'll find what you need."

Scootaloo understood some of that "Okay, but what do you mean by 'click' and 'type'?"

Bruce pointed at the keyboard "You can type in the words just by pushing on the required letters." he explained "And use this bar to create a space between the words." he pointed to the bar-like button at the bottom middle of the keyboard.

Scootaloo nodded in understanding.

"Good, now as for clicking," Bruce said "it's simple, all you have to do is gently push down on the mouse and it'll take you where you want to go on the computer. Do you understand?"

The little orange filly nodded.

"Alright then," Bruce rose from the chair "I'll leave you right to it." he said before leaving.

Scootaloo hopped onto the chair and started reading the article that was presented on the screen.

The Justice League is a group of people who are considered as the world's greatest heroes. They were first assembled when the invasion of Earth, caused by the alien Braniac, and were victorious in their battles ever since.

Scootaloo read more about the article and found the Justice League to be quite interesting; because of reading up on them, she was able to find out the names of each member. The muscular man in the blue suit was called 'Superman' and she found out he wasn't exactly a human. Instead he is part of an alien race that happens to resemble humans and is from the planet Krypton, which was destroyed when he was just an infant where he crashed landed on Earth.

She also found out the others were known as Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Captain Marvel, Cyborg, and Martian Manhunter. She was about to read more when suddenly she noticed a strange blue light in her right direction that was glowing above some kind of panel.

When the light was beginning to die down, there were four figures suddenly appearing like they were being teleported from thin air. When the light was gone there stood four of the heroes in the team Scootaloo just read about. Those heroes being Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, and Martian Manhunter.

Scootaloo stared at them in awe as she could not believe that she was in the presence of two aliens, a highly skilled female warrior, and a half human robot. But the emotion of amazement was only on Scootaloo's face as the superheroes before her looked at her with surprise, except for Martian Manhunter who held a stoic and rather emotionless look, at the world's of there being a real life pegasus before them.

"Great Hera," Wonder Woman spoke "am I seeing an illusion or is that really a pegasus before us?"

"No, you're eyes do not deceive you," said Martian Manhunter, his tone stoic and calm "What we are seeing right now is now illusion."

"So," said Cyborg, rubbing the back of his neck "there's really a pegasus sitting in that chair?"

"Uh," Scootaloo lightly waved hello as she out on a nervous smile "hi."

The heroes' eyes widdened even bigger, but Martian Manhunter just raised an eyebrow, at the filly.

"Did that thing just talk?!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"Hey," Scootaloo exclaimed, offended, "I'm not a 'thing'!"

"It's okay, everyone," Bruce came in approaching his fellow superheroes "she's with me."

"Bruce," Superman said "what is going on?"

"I'll explain when we find a more suitable place to talk." Bruce waved for everyone to follow him as he led them all to the elevator to the manor. Cyborg was a bit nervous standing next to the filly, knowing it can talk.

"It's okay," said Martian Manhunter, or otherwise know as J'onn J'onzz "she does not pose any kind of threat to us." he must've read Cyborg's emotions.

"Look, I'm not afraid of a little horse," Cyborg stated "it's just that I'm a bit freaked out that it can talk."

"You know, I can hear you." Scootaloo looked up at Cyborg annoyed.

Once the elevator reached Wayne Manor, the Justice League members decided to discuss the matter at hand while Scootaloo waited in the study. Scoots sat within the desk chair in boredom as she spun around in 360 motions hoping to relieve herself of her boredom. It fails.

"Augh, this is taking forever." she groaned.

Just then, the door opened as Alfred came in holding a silver tray carrying a white fancy looking tea pot with an elegant tea cup and a small bowl containing sugar cubes.

"I thought I might bring you tea." he said as he stood in front of the filly on the other side of the desk. "Would you care for any?"

She shrugged "Sure."

Alfred gave a single nod as he set the tray down onto the desk before taking the tea pot and pouring it's contents into the cup.

"I garanty you might enjoy this," Alfred said "it is honey lemon, my own personal favorite." Once the cup was half full, he set the pot down. "Sugar or no sugar?"

"Sugar, please?" Scootaloo answered.

Alfred nodded "One of two?"

"Two will be fine."

Alfred obeyed as he took a pair of sugar tongs and placed two sugar cubes within the tea cup before taking the small silver teaspoon and started stirring the tea. When finished, he set the tea cup on a small plate and handed it to Scootaloo.

"There you are." he said.

Scootaloo took the tea and looked at the light brown liquid within the cup with a sweet smell of honey and lemon emitting from it. She used both her hooves to lift the cup up to her mouth before drinking the tea which had a sweet and sour taste to it.

When she swallowed she smiled up at Alfred "You were right, this is is pretty good."

She received a nod from the butler before taking another sip.

"So uh," Scootaloo spoke "how did you find out Bruce was Batman?"

"I've been aiding him in his war on crime since it began." Alfred answered.

Scootaloo turned her head to the painting of the couple she saw last night.

"Are those his parents?" Scootaloo pointed.

Alfred looked in the direction she was pointing and nodded "Of course. Their names were Thomas and Martha Wayne; they were among Gotham's finest citizens."

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow "Gotham?"

Alfred turned his attention to her "Hmm?"

"What's Gotham?"

"Oh yes," Alfred realized "Gotham is the name of that city." he pointed to the window behind Scootaloo as she looked to where he was pointing. "It is the city in which we live in and it's the city Master Bruce protects." he held his hands behind his back and sighed "Thomas and Martha were two of the very few good people in this city."

Scoots looked back at him with a raised eyebrow "What do you mean 'few good people'?"

Alfred turned his attention back to the filly "By that I mean the city has a high rate in corruption," he explained "the streets are swarmed with criminals every night preying on the weak and defensless."

"There's a lot of crime happening?" Scootaloo looked back at the city.

Alfred nodded "Yes, so much crime that it even happens in the most unlikely of places," he then turned his head back to the painting and felt a tinge of sadness "even to the most unlikely of people."

Scoots turned her head back to Alfred "Don't the police do anything?"

"Yes," Alfred looked back at her "but it's not enough. While the police force is being led by an honest man there are some corrupt policemen on the force."

Scootaloo's eyebrows slightly furrowed at this news "But they should be doing their jobs."

"Oh, don't worry," Alfred reassured "many of them are, but unfortunately some don't see their jobs as a responsibility. Some see it as just a job that allows them to do anything they wish."

"Are you kidding me?" Scootaloo exclaimed.

Alfred lightly shook his head "Unfortunately it's not just corrupt officers on the force, there's also bureaucrats who behave in such horid manner; such as mayors, councilman's, district attorney's, you name it."

Scootaloo could not believe this "Are there at least any politicians who don't do any dirty work?"

Alfred nodded "Some, such as our current mayor, but many who get into office commit in such horrific acts which causes more corruption amongst the society."

Scootaloo was beyond belief. This city was so corrupt that even some of the people protecting it are part of what's destroying it.

"But do not worry," Alfred reassured "there are still officers on the force who are dedicated to their jobs in protecting the city and keeping the public safe, such as Police Commissioner James Gordon."

"Well that's good to hear," Scootaloo said, her mood being lightened. She looked at the painting of Bruce's parents and back at Alfred. "Did they help out the city?"

"Who?" Alfred raised an eyebrow.

"Bruce's parents."

"Oh, yes they did." Alfred nodded "Before Thomas Wayne took over Wayne Industries, he was a surgeon at a hospital and saved many lives. He was such a good man that there was this one time when two parents came in and asked him to help their son who was injured in an accident." he smiled at the memory of the man's generosity. "He saved the boy's life, but then found out the family was poor, so he payed for the hospital bill himself."

Scootaloo smiled "That sounds awesome, he must've been a great guy."

Alfred smiled as he nodded "Oh, yes and when he found out that the family was poor he rented them an apartment, which he payed for for the first three months, and found jobs for both the parents."

Scootaloo smiled, this guy sounded so generous that he and Rarity would get along fine.

"And as for Master Bruce's mother," Alfred continued "she was a child psycolotist who was helpful to any child in need. Once she even skipped an entire business meeting, which would have raised her salary, to help a boy who suffered abuse for years."

Scootaloo was beyond herself. Now it was truley official that the legends about all humans being evil back in Equestria were wrong, because there was never any story that showed the good that humans were capable of doing. Sure, she is still aware that not every human's an angel, but there are some who are doing things for others rather then themselves.

Scootaloo smiled as she looked at the painting. "Where are they anyway?" she looked back at Alfred.

When he heard that question, his smile disappeared as his face formed into a frown. Scootaloo's smile disappeared as well as she grew concerned.

"Alfred, what's wrong?"

Alfred remained in still with the sadness on his face for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Bruce's parents," he said "they were murdered."

Scootaloo gasped at what she just heard. "They were what?!"

Alfred sighed "When Bruce was just a boy, they were murdered right in front of him."

Scootaloo didn't know what to say "That's..." she trailed off "that's horrible."

Alfred nodded lightly "I remember the day it happened..."

Alfred grabbed his coat as he was just about to leave out the front door for home. Just as he was walking to the front door he heard a ring coming from the family room.

He sighed, he was really looking forward to going home tonight after a long day of work, but he wouldn't let that stop him from answering the phone due to Thomas and Martha being unavailable at the moment, because they took Bruce to the Monarch Theater to watch 'The Mark of Zorro' again for the eighth time this month. That boy really loved that movie and was such a fanatic for Zorro that he dressed like him on Halloween.

Alfred approached the family room, with his coat being carried over his half raised arm, and brought the phone to his ear.

"Wayne residents." he answered.

"Hello, Alfred Pennyworth?"

"Yes?" Alfred wondered why someone would call Wayne Manor to talk to him. He doesn't mind being called about something, but normally if it involved him it would be at his own house. Another reason why this is unusual was that when people call the major they would want to talk to either Thomas or Martha.

"Hello, this is the GCPD." the voice on the other line sounded calm, but in his tone Alfred could find a hint of sadness.

"What is it?" he asked. He heard a sigh emitting from the phone.

"Sir, I don't know how to say this..." he paused for a moment before sighing again "Thomas and Martha Wayne have been murdered."

In that moment time seemed to stop for Alfred. He felt like dropping the phone to his shock as his breathing became heavy. The person on the other line sighed as if he was predicting his reaction.

"We took a witness statement from their son, Bruce."

Alfred gasped, nothing better've happened to the boy "Is he alright?"

"Don't worry," said the voice "he's fine. In fact he's at the station right now waiting for you to pick him up."

Alfred felt a little relieved for the boy's safety, but still couldn't get over the instant sadness and shock of the news of a current loss.

"Tell me what happened." he said.

"Alright," the man said "when the movie was over they took a short cut through the alley to get to their car. Someone came out of the shadows with a gun; he took their wallet and pearl necklace." he paused "Then right there He shot them."

The two went silent for a while as Alfred proccessed the news that happened. Thomas and Martha, two of the most greatest people he ever met, were gunned down from a mugging. Why? Why did this happen? It shouldn't have. It shouldn't have! Escpecially in front of an eight year old!

"A-a-alright," Alfred said "I'll be there to pick him up."

"Okay," said the man "he'll be here waiting for you."

Alfred nodded as he set the phone down, hanging it up. He took a long, deep breath before exhaling. He buried his head into his palm as he quietly sobbed.

His crying was cut short as he quickly remembered that Bruce is still waiting for him and he can't let anything delay him. So he slowly, but surely, put on his coat and made his way out the door to his car.

When he arrived at the station he approached the receptionist at her desk.

"Excuse me?"

The receptionist looked up from her work at Alfred "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to pick up Bruce Wayne."

"Alright then," the woman got up from her chair and came around her desk to Alfred "right this way."

Alfred followed her to a door which she slightly opened and poked her head through.

"Excuse me, Detective Gordon, but Alfred Pennyworth is here to pick him up."

"Okay then," he heard a voice from the other side of the door, sounded like the man he heard on the phone. "we'll talk another time when your ready."

Out of the door came a man with short red hair and a trench coat, followed by a woman, about Alfred's age, with long brown hair hanging over her shoulders. Alfred recognized this woman as Dr. Leslie Thompkins, a child psycologist who was good friends with Martha. She must've heard the news and came to comfort Bruce.

Alfred walked into the room where Bruce was sitting on a chair with his head lowered and he noticed rivers of tears merging from his eyes. It didn't take long from him to look up and turn his head in Alfred's direction.

"Alfred." he whimpered as the butler paced over to the young boy and quickly tucked his knees under him as he wrapped his arms around the boy who quickly did the same as he buried his head into Alfred's shoulder.

"Master Bruce," Alfred said "I heard about what happened and..." tears were starting to form in his eyes "oh dear, I am so sorry."

"It...*sniff*...it's all my fault," Bruce sobbed "I wanted to go see the movie...I convinced my mom and dad to take me again and...and..." he couldn't take it anymore as he continued to sob in Alfred's shoulder "I should have stopped him, Alfred. I should have done something."

"Master Bruce, look at me." Alfred brought Bruce to look into his eyes and held a stern, yet sympathetic look "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have predicted it, there is no possible way for you to know what could've happened. Besides, there was nothing you could've done, you would have been killed too."

Bruce lowered his head as he buried his face into Alfred's shoulder again "I miss them..."

"I know, young master," Alfred nodded "I know, so do I."

Alfred's head was lowered as his eyes were closed, letting the memory play back. He inhaled deeply before he exhaled and raised his head, opening his eyes, to see the young filly, Scootaloo, with her mouth hung open and tears falling from her eyes.

"Ever since then," Alfred continued "I've been looking after Master Bruce his whole life. I raised him as his legal guardian and been with him ever since."

Scootaloo sniffed as she rubbed the tears from her eyes "Did they...did they catch the guy who did it?"

Alfred shook his head lightly "Unfortunately no, though he has been identified as Joe Chill. When the police came to his apartment to arrest him he was gone." Alfred sighed "But, thankfully, they did recover Martha Wayne's pearl necklace." he pointed to the glass case containing the necklace on the desk.

"Wow," Scootaloo lowered her head as she rubbed her foreleg "I can't believe that Bruce went through that."

Alfred nodded "I know, no child should go through a tragedy like that."

"It..." Scoots trailed off "it kind of reminds me of losing both my parents too."

Alfred's eyes widened "You're an orphan as well?"

The filly nodded sadly "Yeah...my dad was a soldier in the Equestrian army. He left to right in the channeling war when I was six and that's how he..."

Alfred rested a hand on her shoulder "It's alright, you don't have to tell me the details if you don't feel comfortable."

Scootaloo nodded "Thanks," she rubbed the tears away from her eyes with a foreleg "Bruce is lucky to have you."

"Thank you," Alfred said "and I garanty that while he does appear to be stoic and intimidating, he is a good man.

Meanwhile, Superman, Cyborg, Martian Manhunter, Bruce, and Wonder Woman Sat at the long table in the dining room ready to discuss.

"Alright, Bruce," said Superman "tell us how..." what was her name?

"Scootaloo." Bruce answered as if he could read minds.

Superman nodded "Alright, tell us how Scootaloo came across you."

"Well," Bruce started "I arrived to a warehouse in the outskirts of Gotham, with Red Robin and Batgirl, to rescue Harold and some other hostages from the League of Assassins. When we arrived we found out Ra's had a scientist build a machine to open portals to other dimensions. When we were dealing with his men, Ra's destroyed the machine and killed his scientist. We rescued the hostages and found Scootaloo in a cell with Harold."

"You mean she was brought here by force?" Wonder Woman asked, receiving a nod from Bruce.

"I took her home last night and that is how she is here."

"Alright, so question is how do we deal with her?" Cyborg asked "If we let the public know about her then people are gonna freak."

"Cyborg is right," said J'onn "it could risk her safety."

"So then it is clear she has no way of getting home," Wonder Woman said "so how are we to deal with her?"

The Justice League members paused in thought for a moment until Superman spoke up "Why doesn't she stay with you, Bruce? That is is you don't mind me asking."

Wonder Woman thought about it and nodded "I think that would be a perfect idea." she looked at Bruce "She does trust you, does she?"

Bruce nodded.

"And you do have experience with raising children," Martian Manhunter added, receiving a nod from the heroes.

"Bruce, what do you think?" Superman asked.

Bruce shrugged "I don't see the problem."

"Then it is decided." Superman said.

Chapter 4 Something In Common

"That...movie...was..." Scootaloo paused before throwing her forelegs up into the air excitedly "Awesome!"

Yesterday it was established that she will be staying here at Wayne Manor under Bruce's care, which Scootaloo felt was fitting since while she admired the other superheroes in this world, she didn't know them. So it was the best option for her to be in Bruce's custody.

She's looked up more info about each member about the Justice League and found out more info about each member. Wonder Woman is a warrior princess from a far away, isolated island called Themyscira, also known as Paradise Island, the home of a mythical tribe of female warriors known as the Amazons.

She also read up that Aquaman is the king of a mythical, legendary, underwater city called Atlantis, and is the ruler of Earth's entire ocean. As for Green Lantern, he holds a powerful ring that can give him the ability to fly and create anything with his mind. And the Flash has the ability of super speed and protects Central City; Scoots wondered if Rainbow Dash would love to have a race with this guy.

She's read up other information on other superheroes like the Teen Titans. Turns out there are two generations of them; the first consisting of Robin, Starfire, Cyborg when he was a teen, Aqualad, Speedy, and Kid Flash. Currently the second generation consists of Red Robin, Beast Boy, Raven, a new Aqualad, Firestorm, and Blue Beetle.

Scootaloo pretty much spent all day looking up info on the Batcomputer that she got pretty tired of it. When she got done, Bruce was already leaving to go out on patrol as Batman. Alfred made her mashed potatoes and steamed carrots for dinner and insisted she'd watch a movie on something they called a VHS player.

Apparently it was something that allowed you to watch movies, as long as you had the VHS. Now Alfred wasn't much of a person who watched film all the time, he'd only watch it occasionally. Normally his type of genre would be drama, but he knew that kids like Scootaloo wouldn't be interested in something like that and decided to give her something that many kids recognize and love: Robin Hood.

He remembered reading the book in his childhood and a movie adaptation would be something of Scootaloo's interest.
He left the filly to watch the film in her room and she found herself to be interested. The romance bored her, but what made her enjoy it was the action and feel of adventure. She felt as though this was more of a movie Sweetie Belle or Applebloom would enjoy, but she just liked it. Although Robin Hood was something Scootaloo dreamed of being. A hero.

That's something that Scootaloo wanted to be, a hero. Flying aside, it was something she wanted to accomplish. She wanted to stand up for others and fight someone or something preying on the weak and defenseless. What she hated was being thought of as something weak. For once, she wants to prove she's capable of something like that. But the main reason was something else. One reason that has been personal for her for years.

She heard a knock on the door before Bruce came in.

"Hey, Bruce." Scootaloo smiled.

Bruce gave somewhat of a small smile back "Hello, Scootaloo." he came over and sat down on the bed next to the filly "I just wanted to see how you're doing."

Scootaloo shrugged casually "Eh, I'm doing alright."

Bruce nodded as he turned his head to look at the TV. "What are you watching?"

"Attack of the Martians." Scootaloo answered "Earlier, Alfred taught me how to use the TV, and I came across this."

Bruce turned his head back to her "How was it, then?"

"It was awesome." She said "I love those fight scenes with the space ships, it was so cool!" she gave an excited squeal.

Bruce had to admit, he was starting to fond this filly. She reminded him of Dick, Tim, and Jason.

"By the way," Scootaloo said "did humans ever make spaceships?"

"Well," Bruce shrugged "they made a rocket that sent someone to the moon."

Scootaloo smiled with interest "That sounds really cool!"

Bruce nodded as he slightly chuckled.

"What do you think of this world anyway?" he asked.

Scootaloo smiled as she got all excited "I think it's amazing. I mean superheroes exist, isn't that awesome?" but suddenly her mood changed as she frowned with her ears tucked and her head lowered. "If only my friends were here to see this."

Bruce felt sympathy for the filly as he rubbed the back of her head "I'm so sorry this happened."

Scoots averted her eyes to him "Thanks."

"What were they like?" Bruce asked before removing his hand from the filly's head.

"They were great ponies," she smiled, but her voice still said "back home I had these two best friends who were my age. They were a unicorn named Sweetie Belle and an earth pony named Applebloom, together we were the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

"Why'd you call yourselves that?" Bruce asked.

"Because we were trying to find our cutie marks."

Bruce looked as if he was confused by what a 'cutie mark' even was.

"You don't know what that is, do you?" Scootaloo asked.

Bruce shook his head "I'm afraid not."

"Well," Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head "y'see, it's a mark that ponies get on their flanks that represents their special talent." she stood up on all fours and pointed to her flank "I don't have one, because I haven't figured out my special talent yet." she sat back down.

"I see," Bruce said, rubbing his chin. "I take it your friends didn't have their marks either?"

Scootaloo shook her head "No, but we'd always try to find them."

Bruce nodded in understanding "Did you have other friends?"

Scoots smiled brightly as she nodded "Yes, they were Applejack, a farm earth pony who's Applebloom's big sister. Rarity, a unicorn fasion designer who's Sweetie Belle's big sister. Pinkie Pie, an earth pony who loves throwing parties. Fluttershy, a pegasus pony who loves and takes care of animals. Twilight Sparkle, who's that alicorn pony I mentioned earlier, and she is the princess of friendship."

Bruce raised an eyebrow "The princess of friendship?"

Scootaloo nodded "Yeah, that is something in the human world right?"

Bruce nodded "Yes, but why would someone need to be a royal monarch for it?"

"Because Twilight has learned so much about friendship, that she needs to help share it with other ponies." Scootaloo explained.

Bruce still didn't understand "But how can you govern friendship?"

"Um, you don't govern it," Scootaloo corrected "it's an important element that is used in equestria. Ponies say it's the strongest magic their is."

"Figuratively or litterally?" Bruce asked.

Scootaloo averted her eyes in thought for a moment before shrugging "I don't know. Maybe both?"

How could friendship be used as magic? Even though he's the world's greatest detective he's gonna have a hard time figuring that out.

"And I haven't told you about the coolest pony I know," Scootaloo exclaimed "Rainbow Dash. The coolest, fastest, and greatest pony to ever live."

"What's she capable of?" Bruce asked, slightly smiling at the filly's excitement.

"Well, she's so fast that she can perform amazing stunts like the buccaneer blaze and the sonic rainboom."

"Sounds like you're her biggest fan." Bruce said.

Scoots nodded "I was, but now I'm more than that. I'm practically her sister."

"So you two were close then?"

Bruce received a nod from Scoots "Yeah. In a way, she's like my family."

"What about your real family?"

To this, Scootaloo's mood was quick to change as she lowered her head. Bruce quickly realized his mistake and let his head scold himself.

"I'm sorry," Bruce rubbed the back of her neck "I didn't know."

The filly sighed "It's okay, you didn't know."

Bruce lowered his head as well "When I was eight, I lost my parents too."

Scootaloo turned her head towards him "I know, Alfred told me."

Bruce averted his head to the filly "How did it happen?"

"Well," Scoots rubbed her foreleg "my dad was a member of the royal army and went off to war when I was six." he eyes were getting teary as she sniffed "He never came back." her voice cracked. "After that it was just my mom taking care of me, but a year later she got sick and she...and she..." she couldn't go on and buried her head in her hooves as she sobbed.

She felt an arm wrap around her as it pulled her gently. Scootaloo looked up with teary eyes to see that it was Bruce who was holding her next to him with a single arm. She responded with burrying her head in his chest and wrapped her to forelegs around him as Bruce wrapped his other arm around to hold her.

Scootaloo cried in his chest for a while until she turned her head to the right, resting her cheek on Bruce's chest and averted her eyes upwards to look at him.

"You know," she sniffed "for a long time, I wanted to be a hero just like my parents."

Bruce averted his head downwards "You did?"

Scootaloo nodded "Mhmm, my dad was a soldier, as you know, and my mom was a surgeon."

Bruce gave a small smile "My dad was a surgeon too."

Scootaloo gave a teary smile as she nodded slowly "I know, Alfred told me. Your parents sounded like they were great people."

Bruce nodded "They were."

"Too bad we both had to loose 'em when we weren't ready for it." she lowered her eyes as her smile disappeared.

Bruce's smile disappeared as well as he closed his eyes and lowered his head sadly.

"Looks like we both have something in common, don't we?"

Bruce nodded again "Yes, as a matter of fact we do."

Author's Note

Now some of you might be thinking why there are two Aqualads, well to answer your questions since there are two that we know of, I thought I would wright that once Aqualad has taken the mantle and left it some time later and a new Aqualad beared it. The first one being Garth and the second one is Jackson Hyde. PS: Also, happy 4th of July everybody. :twilightsmile:

Edit: Hey, guys. I just decided to get rid of the fact that Scootaloo watched Star Wars and instead a Robin Hood film for these reasons. 1. I want to make this world timeless and fantastical, so I feel references to pop culture would ruin it. 2. I thought her watching Robin Hood would be good foreshadowing. That's all. See ya.

Chapter 6 Camping Trip

"What?!" Scootaloo exclaimed as she was taken off guard by this news. "Once I'm a human, I can't turn back into a pony?"

Bruce nodded "I'm afraid so. Though it's your choice, no one's pressuring you." be reassured.

Scoots took a moment before deeply inhaling and released a long exhale. Bruce was right, this was her choice and nobody was putting any pressure on her what's so ever, so she was overeacting.

"Y-you're right Bruce. I'm making this into a big deal." she said.

"So I assume you've changed your mind then?" Bruce asked receiving a nod from the filly.

"Yeah, I guess I'm not gonna be a human after all."

Bruce shrugged "Alright, I'll call my friend and tell her your answer." he said before walking away.

Scootaloo headed up into her room and sat down on her bed. She felt good with her answer and believed it was the right thing. Her eyes suddenly started squinting as she noticed something bright at the corner of her right eye and used her hoof to shade it.

The young filly looked in the direction of the light and saw the sun going down above the city in the distance. With her hoof shading above her eyes she was able to stare at the city for a long while. How she wanted to get out. She did feel like getting out of the house earlier, but not this much. She didn't want to spend the rest of her life inside a mansion.

She shrugged "Oh well, I'll adjust."

She did not adjust. Sure she somewhat found the feeling of being in a big house with litterally seven bedrooms, a pool, a movie theater, a gym, and a garage with over twenty carts was pretty cool, but it was getting stale. As each day passed by she wanted to get out more and more. Two weeks went by and she felt the urgency to get out increase more and more.

Harold already found a new place to live and moved out with Ace. Now the only ones at the manor were her, Bruce and Alfred. Actually, it would just her and Alfred when Bruce went out on his nightly patrol. In the morning Scootaloo would watch the news about Batman stopping a crime and the person doing the report would eaither be some girl name Vickie Vale or some guy named Jack Ryder on the Gotham Gazette.

She'd go out into the yard sometimes, but even though it was big there was nothing much to do aside from just walking around or just staring at the clouds. Scoots would have a conversation with Bruce and Alfred once in a while and she didn't mind that, but she wished it would be more people she could talk to.

One afternoon Scootaloo was sitting on her haunches on the steps of the manor looking at the city in the distance. She didn't notice the big double doors open behind her.

"Scootaloo?"

She heard a voice and turned around to see Bruce standing at the door and smiled.

"Oh, hey Bruce." the young filly waved as the billionaire came over and sat next to her.

"What are you up to?" Bruce asked.

Scootaloo shrugged "Eh, nothing much." She pointed with her hoof at the city off in the distance "Just enjoying the view."

Just then she noticed a few birds hovering over a near by tree before flying their way to the city. Scootaloo sighed at the sight. She wished she had what they had. Freedom.

Bruce noticed this and he sensed feeling of sympathy within him. He wished he could help, but how? She can't go outside, someone will see her. It's not like he could take her somewhere where nobody even goes. Wait a minute.

"What if I took you camping?" Bruce asked.

Scootaloo's ears perked up as she turned her attention to Bruce "You really mean that?"

Bruce nodded "Of course."

"But, where would we go?" Scootaloo scratched the back of her head.

"I own fifteen acres of land" Bruce said "we could hike to a spot to camp somewhere on the property."

A smile grew on Scootaloo's face as she was quick to hug Bruce "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Bruce was surprised by the sudden reaction, but returned the hug.

The next day they were all packed. Alfred had gone to the store and got a red sweat shirt that was just about Scootaloo's size. She'd be needing it after all considering that it'll be cold at night. She and Bruce packed some bug spray, pillows, sleeping bags, water bottles, and pretty much anything else they need.

"I wish the both of you a good camping trip." said Alfred as he stood by the backdoor.

"Thanks, Alfred." said Bruce as he and scootswere ready to leave. Both wearing hiking backpacks their size containing their things over their backs. "We'll be back sometime tomorrow."

Alfred nodded as he opened the door for them both.

"See you later, Alfred." Scootaloo said as she and Bruce made their way out the door with Alfred closing it behind them.

The two made their way over to the long wall which extended around the entire back yard all the way up to the front yard with a gate on both sides. Bruce took the key out of his pocket before unlocking the gate, pushing it open allowing him and the orange filly to leave before locking it behind them to the forest that was a short distance away.

As they walked Scootaloo took her time to look at the area around them. They were surrounded by trees and only the sounds of their footsteps, or hoofsteps in her case, and the birds singing could be heard. The sight of the manor behind them was shrinking to the point where they couldn't see it possibly due to the covering of the trees.

This reminded Scootaloo of the camping trip she took with Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash to the rainbow falls. While she deeply missed her friends it was good to be reminded of things she did with them. For a while their walk was silent until Scootaloo decided to speak up.

"So, have you gone camping before?" She looked up at Bruce.

He looked back down to her and nodded "Yes, my father took me camping somewhere on the property when I was a boy."

"That must've been fun." Scootaloo commented.

"Oh yes, it was very fun." Bruce replied "Whenever he'd propose we go on a camping trip I'd immediately start packing even if it was only a week away."

Sometimes Bruce wouldn't look back on memories of his childhood. He thought it best to ignore the past and rather focus on the present. He once thought thinking about his childhood would bring him back that awful memory of what happened to his parents. But Alfred told him that he shouldn't remember how his parents died, but how they lived. So sometimes he would look back on memories from when he was a kid and remember the good times he had with his mother and father. His father taking him camping, his mother reading to him, the lessons they taught him, it brought him happiness.

After a while of walking and occasionally talking, they reached a clearing with a fire place in the middle and some stacked up wood in a corner.

"This is the spot where my dad would take me camping." Bruce said as he was removing his backpack and setting it on the ground in front of him "I think we should camp here."

Scootaloo nodded "Sounds like a great idea." She sat on her launches as she removed her backpack too, putting on the ground.

She zipped it open with her teeth before she took her rolled up sleeping bag out and laid it on the ground, rolling it open. From her bag she also pulled out some bug spray, then started shaking the can and sprayed some on so she wouldn't get bitten by any mosquitoes. Bruce did the same as he also decided to take his water bottle and have a drink.

It was mid day, so they both decided to eat some lunch. Bruce walked over to the pile of stacked wood before taking a few logs and placing them in the fire place.

"Where did all that wood come from anyway?" asked Scootaloo.

"I went camping here once, so I left some fire wood available in case I'd ever go camping again." Bruce answered.

"Oh, so you go camping here sometimes?"

"Not a lot." Bruce answered "It's not really one of my ideas to go camping, but whenever I'd go it would be to clear my mind."

"Would Alfred be the one to suggest it to you?" The young filly raised an eyebrow as she smirked.

Bruce chuckled "Yes. Although sometimes I'd go camping with Dick."

"Who's Dick?" asked Scootaloo.

"Dick was my first ward." Bruce said reaching in his pocket to pull out a lighter. He held the lit lighter under the wood for a moment before a small flame made contact with it. Bruce pulled away the lighter as he gently blew onto the flames to make it bigger. After a few moments the flames started to rise to the perfect point so they can cook their food.

"There," said Bruce "now we should be ready to cook something. Let's get our food out."

"Great, I'm starving." Scoots reached her head into her backpack to grab two faced down toaster forks with her teeth. As she pulled her head out she saw Bruce standing next to her as she handed the toaster forks to him, receiving a hair ruffle from him as she chuckled.

From his bag, Bruce took a hot dog packet and a bag of hot dog buns for himself and a plastic bag with ears of corn for Scootaloo. He took an ear of corn from the bag, putting it on a toaster fork and handing it to Scootaloo who grabbed it with her teeth.

The young filly just sat there cooking her food over the fire with Bruce on the opposite side cooking his hot dog.

They were both silent until Scootaloo decided to bring up a conversation.

"So," she began "this kid, uh, Dick. He was your first ward?"

Bruce nodded "Yes, he was a great kid."

"Did he know you were Batman?"

"Yes he did, in fact he was a superhero as well."

Scootaloo's eyes beamed "Cool! What was it?"

"Robin." Bruce answered as he just got done cooking his hot dog and rested it on a bun he pulled from the bag.

Scootaloo raised her left eyebrow in confusion "Wait, I thought Tim was Robin."

"He was," Bruce said "but he wasn't the only one. Dick was the first one to dawn the mantle."

"Oh, now it makes sense." Scootaloo nodded in understanding as she took her corn from the fire and removed it from the metal stick, holding it between her hooves and started eating it.

"So," she began, her mouth full of corn "how'd you and Dick know each other?" she swallowed.

Bruce chuckled with a piece of his hot dog in his mouth before swallowing.

"He and his parents were part of the Haly's Circus as acrobats, they were called 'The Flying Graysons'."

Scoots wondered at this "That sounds cool! What was it like growing up in a circus?"

Bruce shrugged "He told me he it was the best childhood he's ever had. They often moved around the country, but he loved performing for any audience. He and his parents would do various death defying stunts without the safety of a net."

"Wow." Scootaloo marveled "That sounds amazing. How'd you meet him?"

Bruce's expression changed it's mood as he frowned and took a long pause before taking a deep breath. "When their circus came to Gotham, I was in the audience. Right when his parents were performing, the rope snapped and..." Bruce trailed off as the memories came back to him.

"They what?" Scootaloo asked, growing more concerned.

Bruce sighed "They fell."

The billionaire heard a gasp erupt from the filly as he saw her hold a hoof over her mouth with wide eyes. She removed her hoof to speek.

"D-did they..."

Bruce nodded, he knew what she was gonna say.

"From that, he was an orphan. A man named Tony Zuko was responsible for their deaths by putting acid onto the ropes, making them snap." Bruce explained.

"Why would he do that?!" Scootaloo asked, feeling enraged.

"He tried to sell insurance to the owner of the circus. He knew he was trying to con him, so he refused. So Zuko thought he'd try to get a point across."

"But he didn't have to do that!" Scootaloo pointed out, her voice risen.

Bruce nodded in agreement. "Yes, but in his own sick mind he thought it was the best option."

Scoots nodded then her expression changed "So, what happened to Dick?"

"Well, the people at the circus wanted to take him in, but the police were afraid Zuko might come back and kill him, so I decided to take him in. It then became my priority to find his parents' killer and make sure he would pay. Eventually Dick found out I was Batman and wanted to help me find Zuko. I told him it was too dangerous, but he wouldn't listen."

"Did you find this Zuko guy?" Scootaloo asked with hope in her voice.

Bruce nodded "Yes, he was sentenced to life in Black Gate Prison."

"Yes!" Scootaloo cheered "Good, 'cause he deserved it."

Bruce smiled at this filly's sense of satisfaction.

"After that, he wanted to help me protect Gotham, so I trained him until he was finally ready."

"Than he became Robin, right?" Scootaloo asked.

Bruce nodded "Yes."

Scootaloo took a huge of her corn before asking "Where is he now?"

"Right now he's in Blüdhaven and is a superhero of his own called 'Nightwing'." Bruce answered.

"Cool, is he like you?"

Bruce shook his head "No," then he silently muttered "and I hope it stays that way."

"Oh, and you're okay with this?" the filly asked.

Bruce nodded "Yes, I wanted him to grow up on his own path."

Scootaloo nodded in understanding as she and Bruce started eating their food again. Scootaloo was just about done eating her second ear of corn as Bruce was finished eating his second and final hotdog.

"'Scuse me, Bruce" the filly got his attention "were there other Robins beside Dick and Tim?"

Bruce lowered his head. Of course he knew someone else that carried the Robin mantle, but should be even tell her about him? If so, then he might have to tell her about why he no longer dawns the mantle. Something that he didn't want to talk about with others.

"Uh, Bruce?"

He looked up as he heard the filly's voice and noticed the concerned look on her face. He knew that he was gonna tell her someday, so maybe now could be the right time. He inhaled a deep breath before releasing a long exhale.

"Yes," he nodded "there was another person. He was the second to become Robin right after Dick and right before Tim." he paused for a second, letting the memories of the comrade he failed flow into his mind. "His name was Jason. Jason Todd."

Author's Note

*PLEASE READ* Hey everyone, there's something I feel I should say. Don't worry, it's nothing serious or anything, but it's still something that I want to bring up. I'm aware that many of you out there enjoy this story, wether it's the idea, the characters, the updated writing, or all three, I appreciate you guys coming back and continuing to read. The thing is that I haven't been getting a lot of comments on this story. I appreciate the views, likes, and favourites you guys have given this story, and as much as I enjoy this story, considering that it is my favorite fanfic that I've written, I'd like to hear your guys' thoughts. Please, I'd like to get some feedback, positive or negative.

Chapter 7 The Story of Jason Todd

Author's Note

Warning: There's going to be use of swearing in this chapter. Viewer discretion is advised.

Chapter 7 The Story of Jason Todd

"What was he like?" asked Scootaloo, sitting on her haunches as she listened.

"Well, he was rebellious. He was fearless, selfless, but also reckless." Bruce explained.

"How'd you meet him?" the orange filly asked.

"Well, one night I was finished with my patrol, so I went back to the Batmobile. When I arrived I saw the tires were removed." he heard a snort emerge from the filly as she covered her mouth and smiled at her.

Batman was shocked at the sight he saw. His eyes were the size of dinner plates and his mouth hung open. Who did this? Who in the world took the tires off the Batmobile? Although he quickly got over his shock as he remembered That these tires were new and he hadn't finished redesigning the hubcaps, which would leave the lug nuts exposed.

Just then, he heard whistling that sounded like it was coming from the corner at the end of the alley. A figure stepped into the alley carrying some kind of bar over his shoulder. Batman got a good look at this person, he was a kid who looked as if he was twelve or thirteen. He had short black hair and carried a lug wrench over his shoulder. He immediately froze in place and silenced his whistling as he saw the dark knight before him.

Batman crossed his arms as he held a stoic look into the kid's eyes that would give him nightmares tonight.

"Care to explain?"

The kid was frozen as he averted his eyes at the lug wrench he was holding and back to Batman. He swallowed and smiled, trying his best to look innocent, but Batman wasn't buying it. The kid's smile dissapeared as he glanced at the tireless Batmobile and back to the vigilante.

"This is not what it looks like." the kid said.

Batman glanced at the wrench in the kid's hand, then back at the Batmobile, then back at the kid. "Judging by the looks of things this is what it looks like."

The kid knew he couldn't convince him otherwise, so he came up with what he'd call an emergency method. He took in a deep breath before exhaling. "Look." he looked like he was about to explain something, but to Batman's surprise, he was met with the metal wrench to the face as he heard what sounded like footsteps in a fast motion.

The dark knight recovered from his hit to the face as he saw the kid run off out of the alley. If this kid was an adult criminal, he would expect him to fight back, but this was a kid. Normally a kid would just run out of fear, but this kid wasn't afraid to even fight back.

Batman wasted no time as he reached for his grapple gun and quickly made his way to a nearby rooftop. He ran to the edge to see The direction the kid was running and followed him. After no more than two minutes, did he see the kid run into a building. Batman got a good look at the building as it appeared to be run down with the marks that appeared from how old this building was and from nobody taking care of it, as well as the windows covered with wooden planks to prevent anyone from breaking in.

Batman spread his cape as he jumped off the building, allowing him to glide to the porch at the front of the building before entering. The place was a wreck; there were many holes in the walls and a few cracks. He also noticed a bird's nest resting on top of a stand where a pant is supposed to be, as well as a few rats run across the floor in front of him.

Why would the boy run into this place? He was probably desperate to get away from the bat that he felt that this building was the safest place for him. Batman thought he'd save his conclusions for later as he squinted his eyes shut before opening them to turn on his detective vision. The footprints from the boy were now visible on the floor and were glowing a bright yellow.

Batman followed the footprints to a doorway, well at least it's still considered a doorway even with the door missing. The detective made his way through the doorway to find the footprints going up a series of stairs, so he followed. It wasn't long until he finally reached the door where the footprints ended, or at least expanded as he opened the door to find more footprints heading into a hallway with a series of doors.

Judging by the looks of things, Batman could tell that this was an apartment and was abandoned for years by the looks of it. He followed the the trail of footprints until it ended at an old door as he opened it slowly emitting a loud creek. He stepped into the filthey apartment and noticed his tires in the corner. He turned off his detective vision as he began to take note of his surroundings.

The room was absolutely filthy, trash was laid out onto the floor, there was a red couch with a few tears and resting on top of it was a blanket and a pillow as if someone slept here. The Batman heard a creek coming from the other door as the kid he was chasing stepped out, holding the same lug wrench he used to remove the tires in one hand as if he was using it as a weapon. He must've heard the loud creek and grabbed whatever he can use to defend himself.

"You weren't supposed to follow me." said the boy.

"But I did." Batman crossed his arms. He got another good look around the place before jumping to a sad conclusion "Do you live here?" he kept his expression stoic, yet he still felt sadness for the boy.

The boy nodded, still holding the lug wrench.

"Where are your parents?"

The boy's expression saddened, but quickly changed to stoic "They're nowhere."

"What do you mean 'nowhere'?"

The boy lowered his weapon as he deeply inhaled then exhaled "My mom died when I was six and my drunk ass dad left a year ago."

Batman felt his arms get heavy as they lowered "You've been here by yourself?"

The boy slowly nodded. Poor kid, he had no mother and the only person left who was supposed to look after him left.

The boy sighed "Look, just take the tires back, do what you gotta do, just don't call the cops."

Batman looked at the tires and crossed his arms again as he looked back at the boy "I won't call the police, but you're gonna be the one to put the tires back."

"What?" exclaimed the boy "But I..." he tried to protest, but couldn't find anything to use in speech "Fine."

The two made their way back to the Batmobile as the boy started to get to work on putting the tires back on. Batman stood there with his arms crossed, making sure he still kept doing his work and won't run off. After a while, he finally got done.

"There," he wiped some sweat from his forehead "Hubcaps are back on, tires are put back into their place and that's that. Can I go now?"

Batman bent down and took a look at his tires. Everything seemed fine as he stood back up and looked at the boy.

"That depends," Batman said "do you even want to go back?"

The boy opened his mouth to answer, but paused as he averted his eyes in thought. Should he even go back to that apartment? Should he go back to pissing in a bucket and dealing with rats that would crawl into his place from time to time?

"Well, well." They heard a gruff voice speak as the boy turned around and looked at the man in fear, for he recognized him.

There stood five men with their arms crossed and tauntingly smirking at the kid. The man in the middle was their leader as he wore a shiny black leather jacket and spiked collar around his neck. He also had a mohawk atop of his head and a white skull on his shirt.

"Oh crap." the boy muttered as he recognized these men as the East Side Skulls, A gang that he's had several run-ins with.

The leader chuckled "What a coincidence runnin' into you again, Jasey."

The kid clenched his teeth; he hated that stupid nickname.

A scrawny looking member of the group jumped back as he noticed the Batman. "Holy crap! It's the bat!"

The other gang members noticed the man as well as they all took a step back, except for their leader for he stood his ground. He looked back at his men "Really, guys? You're that scared of this guy?"

The boy looked back at Batman for a moment before realizing that he shouldn't have to worry about these guys hurting him as he looked back at them smirking and his arms crossed. "Oh yeah, you guys should be scared."

"Yeah, well I'm not." the leader said.

"Are you kiddin' man?" squeaked the scrawny one "This is the same guy who takes down people in the Falcone mob!"

The leader shrugged "Ah, he's just a guy in a costume! Clearly he doesn't stand a chance against us."

Batman stepped forward; his face stoic, yet menacing underneath the mask "I'm giving you one chance to leave now before things get worse for you." his voice slow and venomous.

The man chuckled "Oh yeah? I bet I can take you on!"

Batman felt like face palming, for this guy was clearly dumb and even though he was against killing, he'd say it was like this man was trying to get himself killed.

"Dude, I think you should step back." one of the gang members warned.

The leader smirked "Pfft, I got this."

Without warning, he brought his fist to Batman's face. Well, he would have if Batman didn't catch it just when it was a quarter away from his chin. Before the guy could do anything, he felt his hand get twisted and make a haunting crunching sound as he yelled at the sharp pain he felt in his wrist, which was cut silent as he felt a fist make a rough impact with his face as he fell to the ground on his back.

"Screw this! I'm gettin' outta here!" squeaked the scrawny man as he ran out of the alley to God only knows where as the others followed.

The gang leader groaned as he felt a liquid trickle down his nose. He wiped a hand under it as he looked to see that it was red. He looked back up at the Batman, but this time in fear.

"Run." The detective said.

The man had no hesitation of quickly getting up and running out of the alley while holding onto his broken hand.

"Yeah, you pussies better run!" The boy yelled. "Don't you ever come back here and mess with me!" he pointed a thumb to his chest. He turned around and beamed at the vigilante before him "That was awesome! I'm not gonna lie, dude, but you were being so badass!"

"Language," Batman warned.

The boy frowned as he crossed his arms "I was wrong, you're a real buzz kill."

The windows to the Batmobile slid open as Batman hopped in. Just as he was starting the car, he took one last look at the boy who stood their with his arms crossed waiting for him to leave. This boy didn't seem to be safe here. He had no parents to be there for him. He was living under poor conditions. He was dealing with street criminals that would come to bully him once in a while.

Batman would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't worried. Who knows how long this kid would last like this? What if that gang came back and did worse to him this time? What if other criminals were to happen across him and-no! He would not let anything terrible happen to this boy. No kid deserved to live like this. No kid should ever live like this.

"Ummm..." the kid said "aren't you gonna go now?"

Batman was brought back into focus as he looked at the kid again with a straight face "Get in."

The boy seemed taken aback by this as he lowered his arms "What?"

"I said 'get in'." Batman repeated.

All the kid could ever do at this moment was stare in confusion before chuckling "Really? You really want a kid like me" he pointed a thumb to his chest "to get in a car with you? Yeah, this doesn't seem suspicious."

"Look, kid" Batman said "I only want you to get in this car, because I want to give you something that no one has ever given you before."

"And what's that?" the boy rested both his hands on his waist, his eyebrow raised.

"A chance." Batman answered "A chance for a better life. A chance for a better future. And a chance to be put in the proper care kids your age should be placed under."

The boy averted his eyes in thought before shrugging "Am well, it's better than living in that shi..." the boy paused as he saw the intimidating warning glare from the bat "...cruddy apartment." he rubbed the back of his head as he smiled innocently.

He made his way over to the Batmobile before jumping into the passenger seat as he marveled at the teck before him. The window slid closed as the engine roared.

"By the way," Batman said "I never got your name."

The boy shrugged "Those stupid guys like to call me 'Jasey'." he said "But my real name's Jason. Jason Todd."

"...and that's how I met him." Bruce said as he was finishing up the story "After that, I took him home and adopted him as my ward. It wasn't long 'till he took up the mantle as Robin."

"What happened to him?" Scootaloo asked.

Bruce was afraid of telling her about this part, but she had to know someday. He inhaled for what felt like an eternity before answering the filly's question "He...he died."

Scootaloo's face changed to one of shock and sadness at the shocking news. Her eyes were wide as dinner plates and her mouth hung open.

Bruce paused before going forward "When he died, I was broken. I wasn't myself; there were numerous occasions of when I would fight a criminal harder than needed and I would often take my anger out at others around me." he sighed "Then I was approached by Tim. He saw how I was acting and warned me that there might come a time where I would...kill someone."

Scootaloo listened to the story with a worried and saddened look as she felt for this man.

"He suggested he'd become Robin. At first, I objected to it, because I was afraid of losing another partner. But then he was able to convince me that I needed a partner to keep myself under control, so I let him take on the mantle."

After that story, the two just sat there, neither finding themselves able to speak up. It was like that for what felt like a century, until finally Scootaloo got up from her spot and approached Bruce, the sound of her hooves hitting the dirt as she walked around the fire place.

She made her way to Bruce's right and just sat down next to him. Bruce then felt her wrap both her hooves around him as she rested her head on his chest.

"I'm sorry about your loss."

Bruce paused for a moment before wrapping his arm around the filly, pulling her closer.

"Thank you." was all he could say.

The two were now lying comfortably on the ground in their sleeping bags under the stars of the night sky. Their heads resting on their pillows and Scootaloo wearing her sweatshirt.

"So, tell me" Scootaloo said "is there always a good view like this whenever you're on rooftops?"

"Depends on how you look at it." Bruce said "I think the city is filthy with all the crime."

"I uh, meant the sky." Scootaloo corrected.

"Oh, yes." Bruce realized "It's nice, but not as this."

Scootaloo chuckled "You know, I think I'm going to like this world." she inhaled before exhaling "If only I could see more of it." she muttered.

Bruce thought back to when he told her about Jason. He's had many failures before in the past, but losing him was his most greatest failure of them all, as well as many to come. Although, there was something else about Jason he'd hoped Scootaloo would never find out. Something that he hopes will stay hidden. But that's another story.

Chapter 8 Choices

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 9 Human Life

"Good afternoon Gotham, this is Vickie Vale reporting live just outside the Gotham City Museum. Last night, the Tiger Eye jewel was mysteriously stolen last night; there are no witnesses to the crime, but the police believe the perpetrator to be Gotham's princess of plunder, Catwoman." this was typical news for Gotham. A wanted criminal among the rogues gallery such as Catwoman, Clayface, Penguin, or Riddler would strike somewhere and it would go public. The woman reporting this was non other than Vickie Vale, one of Gotham's most famous reporters.

"It seems very likely, due to there being a history of her often stealing antiques and other priceless objects from both museums, jewelry stores, and sometimes even the wealthy. It appears that no jewel is safe in town from Gotham's number one thief. Now we go live to Jack Ryder." the red haired reporter finished her report as the TV was now cut to another news reporter, sitting on a desk before a picture of the city itself behind him as if he was in front of a window.

"Thanks Vale, and here I am with some equally interesting news. It appears Bruce Wayne can't get away from children, for he has taken a new ward under his wing. Ashlyn Phillips, a ten year old orphaned girl who's been raised on the streets since childhood, was found by Wayne who decided to give her the right home she deserves. I've just had an interview with Wayne and Phillips, footage of which I will play for you right now."

Now it was cut to Jack sitting on a chair with Bruce and Ashlyn sitting on the opposite side in front of him.

"So, living on the streets for your childhood, what was it like for you?" asked Jack, ready to take mental notes.

"Well," Scootaloo, or Ashlyn as she was known as, was looking for a proper answer "It was ruff. There were times when I had to go to a different spot to stay in and there were also times when I had to go out and get food when I ran low."

"How would you get food if you don't mind me asking?" asked Jack.

"Well, sometimes people would be nice enough to give me money, but if I didn't have money then I had to steal." Scoots explained.

"How did you manage to survive living on the streets for all those years?"

"I learned from a lot of people that I met with. Some were people that would teach me how to steal and not get caught. But sometimes they'd get ruff with others and I'd just leave and try to handle myself on my own." It would be hard for most people to lie on camera, but for Scootaloo it was easy, due to Bruce waiting to tell her that this interview was being recorded so she won't feel nervous and give it away.

Ryder seemed like he believed her as he nodded and turned his attention to Bruce "So Mr. Wayne, we both know this isn't the first time that you took a kid under your wing. You've done it twice before, what is it with you and kids?"

"Well Jack," Bruce began "I myself have been an orphan in my childhood. I had Alfred and Leslie, but growing up without parents was hard on me. Alfred and Leslie were the only two people I had that came close to a mother and father and I want to give orphaned children not only someone that can look after them, but also as someone that they can look at like a father."

Jack took that down in his mind "So, how did you and Scootaloo meet for the first time?"

Now was the time for Bruce to lie, which was easy for him, considering that he was a trained lier and lied on camera several times to cover up any incidents with him as Batman.

"I decided to go to a Cafe for breakfast one morning and there, I saw a kid walk in with dirty clothes to buy food. Now, normally I would leave this be, but due to the condition of her clothes I felt like I had to see if she was living under proper conditions. So I asked her where her parents were, but she told me she didn't have any. So I took her back to my house and decided to give her a proper home."

The footage ended as the news was now cut back to Jack sitting at the desk. "So it seems that while some look at Wayne as an irresponsible playboy, others would see him as a compassionate father-like figure who just wants to help children. Looks like this is the start of a new life for the newly famous Ashlyn Phillips and we wish her the best."

Scootaloo turned off the TV when the news report about her finished. This was the start of a new life for her. When she became a human and she became known to the public as Ashlyn Phillips. She, Bruce, and Alfred worked on a background for her so people wouldn't question about where she came from. Okay, no one would come to the conclusion she was a pony, but they would start to question where she came from. Details were that she was born on the streets and was separated from her parents at a young age, not knowing who they were. At the court house, they were able to sign a custody forum to allow Bruce to legally become Scootaloo's guardian.

Scootaloo practiced walking and, to be quite honest, it felt weird for her to walk on two legs that carried her body a different way than how legs carried a pony's. Eventually though, she got the hang of it and even learned how to use her fingers. Today, Bruce decided to take her around Gotham since she wanted to see the city. He thought he'd give her a tour at Wayne Tower and introduce her to Lucius Fox, the manager of his company, which he trusted his identity with.

To Scootaloo's knowledge, Wayne trusted Mr. Fox with the secret of her being a pony. How he knew is simple, when Harold was kidnapped by the League of Assassins, he was brought to a warehouse with Wayne Tech security cameras installed. Ra's Al Ghul had no idea the cameras were Wayne Tech, due to the deceased Doctor Thomas Jenkins not being able to see the problem and need to tell Ra's because of him having no knowledge of the Batman's true identity.

From being the world's greatest detective, Batman was able to track down Harold to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city. A trusted computer expert/information broker named Oracle was informed about Harold's position and was told to pinpoint it. From that, she detected that there were Wayne Tech security cameras and hacked into them, with the help of Lucius, to tell Batman, Red Robin, and Batgirl what they should expect.

What they did not expect was for an orange pegasus filly to be brought in from another dimension. Both Oracle and Lucius were shocked at the sight they saw; they thought they've seen it all. When Bruce rescued the filly he told them that her name was Scootaloo and she was going to be staying with him.

They intended to meet Scootaloo at some point, but they've been oh so busy with their work. Oracle always had to get rid of any traces that there was a hacker in a system and Lucius had to run Wayne Enterprises. But today was the day they'd finally meet her and what they didn't expect to happen to her is for her to turn human. Bruce told them before they read in the papers that he's taken another orphan under his wing.

Scootaloo was just getting ready as she put on green shorts, black shoes, a blue t-shirt, and a black short sleeved zip up hoodie. Bruce and Alfred thought that they should get her new clothes, due to there being a thing with humans to wear different clothes everyday. Rarity would love this place.

Now that she was ready, Scootaloo made her way out the big double doors of the mansion and over to a car that Alfred said was a Bentley Continental and that this model was from 1952. Alfred stood there in his black limousine uniform, holding open the door for Scootaloo as she hopped in, sitting on a leather seat right next to Bruce. She heard the doo shut right next to her as Alfred walked into the driver seat.

Scootaloo jumped at hearing the engine roar, but felt a hand touch her arm. The hand belonged to Bruce as he gave her a look of reassurance earning a smile from her.

Scoots then saw Bruce pull some kind of belt over his waist and buckled it into the seat. Scootaloo thought that she should do the same with the belt that was just sitting on her side and did so by buckling the funny looking metal part into a...square thing with a button...she had no idea what it was called.

She felt a slight force push her back as the car moved over the dirt road, the world on the outside of the car appearing as though it were moving. The gate ahead of them automatically opened, thanks to the motion detector, and they made their way to Gotham. Scootaloo looked outside the window, watching as they passed a series of trees. It went on like that for about twenty minutes, she assumed, before the trees were no longer visible and instead there was a building; several buildings actually, that took the place of the trees.

The pony turned human's eyes widened in wonder as she quickly noticed they were in Gotham. She leaned her head closer to the window to get a better look as she stared in wonder at the sight of the city. There were many skyscrapers, restaurants, and stores that were present in the city; it almost felt like Manehattan, only difference was the fact that there were humans instead of ponies walking around and there were what they called 'cars' instead of carriages moving in the streets.

Speaking of cars, Scootaloo wasn't an expert, but there weren't many cars that would be considered modern, judging by the vehicle commercials she saw on TV. Many of the cars rather looked as if they were from a past decade. Many of the cars didn't look as old as the one they were driving, but still looked like they'd be from a different time. She could say the same about the buildings, like the cars some of them looked modern, but some looked like they were from a past decade.

Even though it was interesting that this city was a blend of old and new, it wasn't exactly the brightest city, both figuratively and literally. There were so many clouds up in the sky that the sun was being blocked out and trash littered the streets. Some of the people they passed by didn't look too friendly either; there were two guys arguing violently, exchanging words that someone Scootaloo's age should never say. She also jumped back at seeing a fist fight break out between two other people, but was quickly delt with by the police.

When Alfred stopped at a red light, Scootaloo continued to look out the window due to her curiosity. She saw a man in a trench coat giving another person a small, plastic bag of some kind of white substance while the other guy gave him money for it; both giving quick glances over their shoulders as if they were making sure nobody was watching. She also noticed some dude take a wallet from another man's pocket without him even noticing. And to her confusion, she saw a woman in a bright, short sleeved jacket, just leaning her back on a wall and talking to a man in a black leather coat. The woman smiled seductively as she led the man into a nearby ally way until Scootaloo was unable to see them.

The young girl raised her eyebrow as she was confused to what those two people were doing. She shrugged, they were probably just looking for a private place to start kissing, a thought which made her gag. Eventually, they made it to their destination, Wayne Tower, said to be the tallest building in Gotham.

It was one of the few modern looking buildings in Gotham, with a giant blue W at the top of the tower that was big enough for the entire city to see. Her memory was jogged to whenever she'd look outside her window and see a big building that stood out among the rest with not only it's hight, but also it's big, bright, blue W shinning in the night. Sometimes she'd even see a light up in the sky with a bat on it, probably something for Batman.

Once they parked into an appropriate spot, Alfred chose to wait in the car as Bruce and Scootaloo made their way into the building.

"So, this is where your company makes stuff?" The former pony smiled.

Bruce nodded "Pretty much, though we get ideas from employees who work in other establishments we have."

The two made their way over to an elevator waiting for them, the doors shut as they entered. They felt a slight force pushing down on them as a sign that showed the elevator was moving. It took a small while before the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. Before them was a room with a model of what looked like Gotham standing atop a table, a giant key on the wall above it, and on the opposite side was a desk where a receptionist was sitting.

She averted her head towards the man and young girl stepping out of the elevator and smiled "Ah, Mr. Wayne. So nice to see you here, welcome back." her eyes averted to the purple haired girl "Oh, and this is your new ward?"

Bruce returned the smile and rested a hand on Scootaloo's shoulder "Yes, this is Ashlyn. I thought I'd bring her here for a tour."

"Well then, I hope you enjoy the tour." she said to Scootaloo before averting her eyes to Bruce "Mr. Fox is just waiting for you inside his office."

Bruce nodded as he led Scootaloo to a double door before opening it, letting her in. Inside the office sat an African American man in a suit and glasses, he appeared to be older than Bruce, but still at an age where he's able to run the company. He looked up from some papers he was looking over and smiled.

"Ah, Mr. Wayne. Welcome back." Lucius stood from his chair and walked over to Bruce, shaking his hand.

"Hello, Lucius." Bruce replied "I hope you're not too busy."

Lucius shook his head "Not at all. After all, you told me you'd be taking your new ward here for a tour. Speaking of which," he turned his attention towards Scootaloo and held out a hand "Hello there, I'm Lucius Fox. Business manager of Wayne Enterprises."

Scootaloo shook his hand and smiled back "I'm Scootaloo." she knew it was okay to let Lucius in on the secret since he knew in the first place.

"I take it you're from another dimension. What's it like there?" Lucius asked.

Scootaloo shrugged "Oh ya know, it's just a world where ponies and creatures from your mythology and magic exist."

Lucius chuckled "Well, I'd like to hear more about it. But that can be another time, because we both know you're only here for the tour."

Scootaloo nodded "Great, so where do we start?"

"How about we start with the secret basement me and Bruce use as a lab to work on things he'll need out on the field." The manager walked over to a chess board sitting on a small table right next to a book case. He moved the chess pieces to certain spots on the board before the book case slid open to reveal an elevator.

The three made their way into the elevator as it made it's way down. A few minutes later, the door opened to reveal a small lab. At the wall sat a desk holding a computer and a picture of what appeared to be Lucius' family, as well as a cup of markers and a cup on pencils. On the wall hung a white, must've been what the markers were used for, and in the center of the lab stood a table with a couple blue prints on it. On the wall also hung a blue print of the bat-suit.

"Look at this place," Scootaloo marveled "is this where you work on gadgets for Bruce?"

Lucius nodded "Yes, and guess who he got the Batmobile from."

Scootaloo's eyebrows rose as she turned her attention on Lucius "You made the Batmobile?"

He nodded "Yes. I also designed his suit, gadgets, and everything else he needs as Batman."

"That's awesome." Scootaloo commented. She glanced around the lab before looking back at Lucius "Does anyone else know about this place?"

"Actually no." Bruce shook his head "The only people who do know are me, Lucius, Alfred, and anyone else I know."

The pony turned human crossed her arms as her left eyebrow rose "How'd you guys install this place into the building without anyone noticing?"

"Well you see," Lucius adjusted his glasses "this place use to be an old basement that was used for storage. When Bruce was starting his mission as Batman, I knew I had to make the supplies he'd need for his crusade. I found that people hardly went into this part of the basement, so I had it walled up. That way, if I need to make something for Bruce to use out on the field, I'd have the perfect place to make it without anyone noticing."

"So, do you like, come down here all the time?" Scootaloo asked.

"I come down here a lot, but no all the time. After all, somebody's gotta run the building." Lucius answered. He walked over to the computer and sat down on the black chair. His fingers were pressing against the keyboard until three images of what looked like bat-suits of different designs appeared on the screen before him.

"These were designs for the bat-suit I worked on." he stood up from the chair and stepped aside so Scootaloo could see. "Two of them are ones that Bruce wore in the past."

Scootaloo sat on the chair and looked at the images. The suit at the far right looked like Bruce's current suit, what with the grey skin tight suit with a bat on the chest and a bat cowl and scalloped cape, but what was so different about it was the fact that it didn't have any gauntlets, instead purple gloves, and the bat logo had no ears.

The design on the middle image also had a grey skin tight suit and the bat did have ears this time, but unlike the other suit, there was a yellow oval around it. Another difference was that the cape, cowl, and gauntlets were blue. As for the suit on the far left, it was a one she saw Bruce in, what with the black cape and cowl and armourish suit.

"This one was Bruce's first suit." Lucius pointed to the car right image.

"How long have you worn that, Bruce?" Scootaloo turned her head to the billionaire.

"About a year." Bruce answered. "Although, I had to switch to a different one."

"Which brings us to this suit." Lucius pointed to the blue suit in the middle image. "Bruce wore that suit for eight years."

The young ward turned her head to face Lucius "Why'd he switch suits?"

"Well you see," Lucius explained "there could have been more to the suit. All it was was just a bullet proof suit with a cape to help it glide and night vision lenses built into the cowl. So, I came up with this suit." he pointed again to the middle suit on the computer screen "The cape was built with a special leather that allowed Bruce to glide, just like the old suit, but the leather I built into this cape also makes it resistant to any charring effects."

Scootaloo gave Lucius a confused look "Huh?"

Bruce silently chuckled "He means he made it fireproof."

"Oh, got it." Scootaloo now understood.

"I also designed gloves with triangular-shaped blades built into 'em. Other modifications I made were for the lenses to have a scanning ability, that way Bruce can not only see in the dark, but also scan for any evidence. There's also detective mode, an x ray vision scanning ability."

"You have x ray vision?" Scootaloo perked up, earning a nod from Bruce. "That is so awesome!"

Lucius chuckled. "The body armour was reinforced, but still flexible enough for Bruce to move quickly."

This all fascinated Scootaloo, that she wanted to see what other abilities the current suit had "What about this one?" she pointed to the far left image.

Lucius adjusted his glasses "That one? Well, it has all the same features as the previous one, but it's new features are a cape that allows him to glide at a greater speed than before, a radar built into the lenses to help Bruce track down something he's put a homeing beacon on, reinforcement on the armour has been improved, and the gloves have been built into gauntlets that'll make a harder punch for Bruce to throw."

"That all sounds cool," Scootaloo smirked.

"Perhaps you would like to see more of the building?" Bruce asked, receiving a nod from Scootaloo, and so the three made their way up the elevator.

"Wayne Enterprises creates various resources." Explained Lucius as he was leading Bruce and Scootaloo through a hallway "Some of these resources are made in our labs."

Scootaloo looked to the direction the man gestured to and was a window with some kind of room behind it. She took a few steps further to get a closer look and saw the behind the glass window were various employees in white lab coats doing their work; some were mixing chemicals together as others were taking down notes.

"What're they doing?" Scootaloo asked.

"Making antibiotics for us to sell to the public." Bruce answered.

"So, you guys make medicine?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well, medicine isn't the only thing we make here. Let me show you one of our electrical engineering labs." Lucius led the way until they made their way to another lab beyond a window. This lab is what caught Scootaloo's interest the most. Within the lab, there were people putting together things that Scootaloo has never seen before. What they were working on were some kind of square, green disc thingies that were nothing like Scootaloo has ever seen. She also saw them working on various machines she had yet to see. There was also someone within the lab she very well knew.

"Harold?"

Bruce and Lucius saw the hunchback behind the window at his work.

"Oh yes, you've met Harold." Lucius said "Perhaps you would like to say hello? He would be thrilled to see you."

"Yeah." Scootaloo nodded.

"Well then, let's not waste any time." Bruce opened the door as the three of them made their way into the lab.

Harold was busy working on something until the three friends he knew caught his attention as he waved at them.

"Harold," Scootaloo greeted "it's great to see you."

Harold smiled as he did movements with his hands.

"He says he's glad to see you." Bruce translated " He knew you became a human, but it's so different seeing you like this."

Scootaloo smiled "Hey, it felt weird, but I got used to it. How's Ace?"

Harold spoke again in his sign language.

"He said he's doing alright, but he's more protective over him than before, since he got taken by the league of assassins."

"Well, at least he's doing fine." Scootaloo then saw something on Harold's desk "Watcha working on?"

Harold looked back at what she was referring to, then back at her, speaking in his sign language.

"He says it's a camera," Bruce answered "though it's not finished yet."

"So, you make a lot of stuff here?" Scootaloo smiled.

Harold nodded.

"Yes," Bruce translated as he was making his hand movements again "I've worked on many things at Wayne Enterprises. I've worked on robotics, telephones, computers, and more."

"Do you like working here?" Scootaloo asked.

"Yes he does, it's the greatest job he could ever ask for." Bruce translated again. "I also got awards for my hard work and service here."

"Wow, that's great. You should be proud." Scootaloo smiled.

"I am proud, but I think they're just trophies to put on a shelf."

"Oh, come on now," Lucius spoke up "you work hard for this company. Surely you deserve some kind of award for it."

"Maybe," Harold said "but the real award I have is still being able to work here."

"Well then, I'll be sure to have you work here 24/7." Lucius joked, earning a grin from the mute hunchback.

"Well, I guess that wraps up this tour for now. I must get back to work, this building isn't gonna run itself."

He and Bruce shook hands "Thanks for showing her around, Lucius."

"Why, it was no problem." Lucius then held out his hand for Scootaloo to shake, which she accepted "And it was fun getting to know you Scootaloo and getting to show you around the building."

Scootaloo smiled "It's been nice meeting you too, Lucius. And I hope to come back here sometime and see what other cool stuff you guys make here."

The billionaire and his ward waved goodbye to the manager and hunchback as they left. When they got back to the car, Bruce held the door open for Scootaloo.

"So, where's our next stop?" Scootaloo hopped into the car as Bruce sat next to her, closing the door.

"The clock tower so you'll meet Barbra." Bruce answered as Alfred drove the car off.

Cassandra Cain was a trained fighter, a trained assassin. She knew every skill, every move, every tactic, and yet she didn't know how to put on these tight shoes. She got word that the filly she, Red Robin, and Bruce rescued has turned into a human and was coming over, so she thought it best to be presentable by wearing a white blouse with a skirt that reached down to her ankles. Now, she wasn't one who cared for fashion, but from Bruce's galas, she thought that you always had to be presentable when people come over. Due to being raised and trained by her dad, who never bothered to teach her how speak or interact, she thought that this was something people should do.

Just then, she heard a knock on the door "Cassandra, Bruce and Scootaloo will be here any minute. What's taking you?"

"I will be out soon." she said as she struggled to get the shoe on.

She struggled and struggled with that shoe until it finally came on. She made her way to her door and opened it to see a red haired woman wearing glasses and sitting in a wheel chair, waiting for her.

Barbra shifted her head downwards at the shoes on Cassandra's feet. She lifted her head back up, looking at her "You over did it with the shoes."

"What do you mean?" Cassandra asked, resting a hand on her hip.

"I mean you could've just wore your normal shoes." Babs answered.

Cassandra mentally slapped herself; all that work, struggling to get the shoe on, was for nothing. Ugh. Just then, a knock was heard on the door.

"I'll get it." Cassandra said as she walked over to the door, opening it to find her boyfriend. "Tim." she smiled.

"Hey, Cassandra." he greeted. "You look nice."

Cassandra smiled as she let him in as she shut the door behind him before the two shared a quick kiss. The two have been dating over the two years of her being Batgirl and their relationship was one of the first ever things that brought joy to her. Tim was just a friend at first, but through time they grew feelings for each other and became the couple they are today. They cared about each other so much, that they were willing to do literally anything for each other; after all, he was the first ever person who was kind to her.

"Tim." Babs greeted "Nice to see you."

"Nice to see you too, Barbra." Tim replied "So, did Bruce and Scootaloo show up yet?"

"Actually, they have yet to arrive. Make yourself comfortable."

Tim nodded as he and Cassandra sat down on a couch next to each other. "So," Tim started "how've you been doing lately?"

"Fine." Cassandra answered "What about you?"

Tim shrugged "Not much, just beating down thugs, fighting the underworld, the usual."

Cassandra nodded as she listened "What do you think about Scootaloo?"

"She seems like an alright kid." Tim answered "Didn't expect her to become human, though."

"Well, a lot of unexpected things happen in Gotham." Barbra said.

Tim chuckled and Cassandra gave a small smirk.

"Yeah, I guess your right." Tim said.

Just then, another knock was heard at the door and Barbra rolled her chair over to get it.

"Bruce." she smiled as she moved, making a clear entrance "Come on in."

The billionaire shut the door behind him as he and the purple haired girl walked in. "Nice to see you, Barbra." he looked at the couple on the couch "Tim, Cassandra, how are you doing?"

"We're doing great, Bruce." Tim and Cass stood and walked over to him, shaking his hand. They then turned their attention to the filly turned human. "Hey, Scootaloo," Tim held out a hand "great to see you."

Scootaloo shook his hand "Great to see you too, Tim."

"Look at you." Tim said once they parted hands "You still look the same way you were when you were a pony."

Scootaloo smiled and turned her attention towards Barbra "Hey, I'm Scootaloo."

Barbra rolled her chair over and shook the girl's hand "Hey there, I'm Barbra, Barbra Gordon. But, you can call me Babs."

Heh, just like Babs Seed. Scootaloo mentally commented. She then looked at the girl standing next to Tim and held her hand out.

"I'm Scootaloo."

Cassandra glanced at her hand for a moment before reaching out and shaking it "Cassandra Cain." she said with little emotion.

Scootaloo felt confused; she didn't know if this girl was enthusiastic about meeting her or not. Barbra noticed this and smiled.

"Eh, don't mind her. She's always like that." she then gestured to the couch "Take a seat, why don't you?"

Bruce and Scoots accepted the offer as they made their way to the couch and sat there. Tim and Cassandra sat at the opposite end of the couch and Barbra remained in her wheelchair in front of them.

"So," she said to Scootaloo "what's it like living at Wayne Manor?"

Scootaloo shrugged "It's alright, but it's also kind of boring." her eyes quickly widened as she realized what she just said and looked at Bruce with an apologetic look "Uh, no offence."

Bruce raised up a reassuring hand "Non taken."

Scootaloo's apologeticness and worry disappeared as she looked back at Barbra. "So, how do you know Bruce?"

Babs smiled "Well, he works with my dad, who just so happens to be the police commissioner."

"What's that like?" Scootaloo asked.

"Being the commissioner's daughter? Eh, there's some people who recognize me, but it doesn't affect me. Plus, I've been working with Batman behind his back." Barbra answered.

"So," Scoots raised her eyebrow "how do you work with Bruce?"

"Well," Barbra said "I've been Batgirl for a while, helping him fight crime."

Scootaloo was confused "Wait," she pointed to Cassandra "I thought she was Batgirl."

"She is," Barbra answered "but I was Batgirl before her."

"Just like how there's more than one Robin?" Scootaloo asked.

Barbra nodded "That's right."

Scootaloo lowered her eyes in thought of her next question "So," she looked up "what happened? If you don't mind me asking."

"Well," Barbra looked at her legs. The haunting memory of when she became paralysed came back to her. The bullet going through her. The burning pain soaring through her. The feeling of nothing in her legs. The eyes of...him. She didn't fear him, but she shuddered at the thought of the ongoing pain he brought her that continues to this day.

Scootaloo noticed this and immediately regretted asking such a question "On second though," she said "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Look, I'm sorry."

Barbra looked back up at Scootaloo and took in a deep breath and held it for a moment before exhaling "Don't worry," she smiled reassuringly "You didn't know anything. Anyway," she wanted to move on from the memory "When this happened," she gestured to her legs "I became an information broker, due to my knowledge of computers."

"What's that?" Scootaloo asked.

"Someone who collects information about someone from public records." Tim answered for her.

"That's right." Barbra said "I also do some hacking for when I need to get into a system to help Bruce out and I act as his eyes and ears."

"How do you not get caught?" Scootaloo asked, curiously.

Barbra shrugged "I'm always sure to clean up any footprints I leave behind."

"You should also hear the codename she uses." Tim said.

"Oh, what's that?" Scootaloo asked.

"I'm called the Oracle." Barbra answered.

Scootaloo smiled with interest "That name sounds cool."

Barbra smiled and nodded "Thank you. In fact..." she rolled herself over to a mirror being held to a wall. "I Have a secret room where I do my work as the Oracle."

She pushed a few buttons on the armrest of her chair until the mirror slid open to reveal a small room behind it. Scootaloo's eyes widened in wonder as she stood up from the couch and walked over to take a look inside the room. Inside the room stood a desk with various screens hanging on the wall and a main one the was bigger than all the other ones in the center. On the desk laid a keyboard and a pair of headphones next to it, and against the wall stood a glass case with a suit that kind of looked like Batman's, but with a feminine appearance.

"This is where you work?" Scootaloo turned to look at Barbra, receiving a nod.

"Mhmm. Bruce set up the computers for me." she rolled her wheelchair into the room "This is the place where the magic happens. With this, I'll be able to keep tabs on him and anyone else associated with him."

"No offense, but you probably have to be a real egghead in order to do this." Scootaloo smirked as Barbra chuckled at the joke as well as Bruce and Tim who were standing by the doorway with Cassandra, who just stood there with a straight face.

The young ward looked around the room "So, how long have you been doing this?"

Barbra shrugged "About eight years."

Scootaloo looked back at the red head "Eight years, huh?" her tone shifted to one of pity. "Do you ever...miss being Batgirl?"

Barbra paused for a moment before sighing "Yeah, sometimes." her mood brightened a little. "But hey, it's not so bad; I enjoy doing all the stuff I do here."

"Plus, Babs has been a really great help to us as the Oracle." Tim said as Bruce nodded in agreement.

Barbra smiled as she felt appreciated for Tim's kind words.

"By the way," Barbra looked back at Scootaloo, who was looking at the batsuit in the glass case. "Is this yours?"

Barbra looked at her suit, then nodded "Yes, I wore that suit when I was Batgirl."

The suit was grey with a yellow bat-symbol on the chest. The gloves, boots, and belt wore the same color as the bat-symbol, as well as the inside of the scalloped cape with a blue outside. The cowl was blue and, like Bruce's, it had an opening that would show the chin if somebody was wearing it.

The young ward looked back at Barbra with a thumb pointed at the suit "Looks cool."

Barbra smiled "Thank you. Came up with the design myself."

Scootaloo made her way out of the room and approached Cassandra as Barbra pushed the right buttons on her armrest, letting the window slide closed behind them.

""So, what's your story?" Scootaloo asked Cassandra.

"Well," she said "I was raised and trained by my father.

"What was he like?" Scootaloo asked.

"Horrible man." Tim answered "He trained her brutally, giving her a rough childhood."

Scootaloo's eyes widened as she rested a hand over her mouth.

Cassandra sighed sadly "Yes. I still have scars."

Scootaloo slowly took her hand off of her mouth "Scars?"

Cassandra nodded as she lifted the bottom hem of her shirt, revealing the scars on her midriff. Scootaloo silently gasped in horror at the sight; what kind of father would do such a thing to their own kid?

"Why..." Scootaloo gulped "...why would he do such a thing?"

Cass lowered her shirt "He was training me to be an assassin."

Tim nodded "Yeah...he was such a horrible father, that he didn't even teach her how to speak."

"You didn't know how to speak?" Scootaloo asked, receiving a nod from Cassandra "How are you able to speak now?"

"You see..." Bruce said "she escaped her father and fled to Gotham. When she arrived, she became homeless; that was until Tim found her."

Tim nodded "That's right. I brought her in and took care of her. I tried my best to teach her how to speak, but she could only speak a few words. So she moved in with Barb and now she's able to speak."

"She's been living with me since." Barbra said "She could only speak in short sentences, but I'm sure she'll learn to speak in longer ones at some point in the future."

Scootaloo gave a faint smile. "Well, it's a good thing she's got you guys."

"Yeah," Tim agreed as he wrapped an arm around Cassandra's shoulder "it's a good thing she does."

Scoots raised her eyebrow at the two giving each other the same looks she saw Shinning Armour and Princess Cadence give each other.

"Hey, are you guys a thing?" she asked.

Cassandra nodded "Yes, we are."

"At first we were friends, but then our friendship grew into something more." Tim smiled at Cassandra as the two exchanged a kiss. Bruce faintly smiled at the sight as Scootaloo gagged, Barbra chuckling at her.

Bruce and Scoots stayed there for a while conversing with Cassandra, Tim, and Barbra. Barbra mentioned how her dad, Jim Gordon, use to be a detective a long time before he became commissioner. Tim told the story of how he figured out Batman's identity and how he became Robin. Cassandra didn't talk much, but stayed in a positive mood. Eventually, Bruce and Scootaloo left as they waved their goodbyes before leaving the clock tower.

As they were leaving, an ice cream cart caught Scootaloo's eye. "Hey, Bruce." she said "Any chance we can get some ice cream?"

Bruce looked at the ice cream cart, then nodded "Sure, what flavor do you want?"

"Chocolate." Scootaloo answered. Bruce nodded as he walked off to the ice cream cart.

"Hey, old man; let's see what you got." Scootaloo heard a voice coming from the direction to her left as she turned her head to an ally to see a man in a leather jacket looking like he was taking a hat with money in it from an old man with a long white beard and a dirty state of clothing.

"Listen, that's my money." protested the old man as he tried to reach for the money, only to be held back by the guy bullying him.

"Ah no, it ain't." said the guy "This money's from other people; you just got it by sittin' on your lazy ass all day without doin' nothin'."

"I try my best to get a job." the old man explained "Nobody'll hire me!"

"That's what they all say." said the mugger.

"Hey!" Scootaloo yelled, the two men turned their heads to her. "Leave him alone."

The mugger chuckled "Well take a look at this; kid's showin' moxie."

"I said," Scooaloo stepped forward into the ally "Leave. Him. Alone."

"Ooh, I'm so scared." the man walked forward. Scootaloo felt unsure about her decision, but she wasn't going to be a coward. The man towered over her as he smirked "So, you think you're tough?"

Nervousness was flowing through Scootaloo as she gulped. She flinched as the man raised a hand as if he was going to slap her, so she shut her eyes tight, awaiting the inevitable. After waiting a moment, it surprisingly never came. She slowly opened one eye to look back up at the man, but her left cheek was met with a loup smack as she fell the the ground, covering her cheek.

She felt a stinging in her cheek as she tried to run it away. Her eyes fluded with tears as she tried to hold back her sobs, but to no avail.

"Not so tough now are you?" the man laughed "Aww, are you going to cry?"

"Hey!" a voice yelled. Scootaloo looked up to see a furious looking Bruce standing there. "Stand down. Now!"

"Heh, looks like I got more people to hit. What are you, her dad?" the mugger smirked mockingly.

"I'm not asking again." Bruce growled, stepping forward.

The man scoffed "Oh yeah, well what are you gonna-" but he was cut off with a hard punch to the face. He stumbled backwards, holding his face. He lowered his hands to find traces of blood on them and felt his nose, feeling a warm liquid emerge from it. "Man, forget this." he said as he ran in the other direction.

Bruce's face of anger quickly turned to a look of worry as he knelt down at Scootaloo.

"Scootaloo," he whispered "are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

Scootaloo wiped the tears from her face "I-I'm fine, Bruce."

"You have a red mark." Bruce noticed the mark on her cheek.

"D-don't worry, it's nothing." Scootaloo tried to reassure. Before Bruce could protest, the homeless man stepped forward.

"Your daughter's really brave." he said. Scootaloo looked back at him and stood up.

"Oh, it was nothing."

"It was nothing?" the man repeated "No, that was something. You stood up against a man like that." he pointed at her "If you ask me, I'd say you're a hero."

Scootaloo smiled at the man's gratitude. "Aw gee..."

"Here," Bruce said, pulling out a few dollar bills from his wallet as he held it out for the man "Take this."

The man took the money and looked at it; his eyes widened. $500. He looked back up at Bruce, giving a smile "Thank you, kindly sir."

Bruce smiled back "No problem." he took Scootaloo's hand as he led her out of the ally. "Take care."

Bruce thought it was a good idea to go home early, so he called Alfred and told him to take them home. Scootaloo kept looking back on what happened with standing up to the man. She felt pried for her courage, but also fear of the man who hit her. She was afraid, she knew she was afraid, but she wasn't. The man called her a hero. Maybe...maybe she had the qualities of becoming one.

Chapter 10 The Girl Wonder

The elevator lowered itself to the floor of the Batcave. It's doors opened as Scootaloo whistled on her way out. She heard the screeching of bats as a couple of them flew by her, but she wasn't startled by it as she was used to it by now. She walked over to the Batcomputer where Bruce stood in his batsuit, the mask hanging at the back of his neck.

"Hey, Bruce." Scootaloo smiled.

Bruce glanced his head at her before returning his attention to the computer before him. "Oh, hello Scootaloo."

"Whatcha working on?" Scootaloo asked, her arms held behind her back.

"There's a gang I've been tracking for five days now." Bruce replied "But I should be able to catch them by tonight though."

Scootaloo wondered for a moment before saying "Uh, Bruce. Is there any chance I could...I don't know, come with you?"

She heard a faint chuckle as the billionaire before her turned around and pulled his mask over his head.

"I'm actually being serious." Scootaloo crossed her arms.

"Well I'm afraid not." Batman answered bluntly as he walked past her.

"Oh come on, Bruce." Scootaloo pleaded as she followed "I could be good out there."

It appeared that the vigilante wasn't listening, due to him keeping his head forward and not saying a word as he walked.

"Please, Bruce? C'mon." Nothing.

The windshield on the Batmobile slid forward as they neared. Batman hopped in the driver seat and began typing the buttons on the dash panel, getting the car ready.

"Ugh..." Scootaloo groaned "Why won't you let me go out there?"

It was within this moment that Batman finally showed attention by turning his head towards her.

"Because of what happened yesterday." he said.

Scootaloo recalled the events of the previous day as a memory the thug that slapped her flashed in her mind.

"Something like that could happen again." Batman stated.

"Oh come on!" Scootaloo protested "Did it hurt? Yes. But it was just a slap."

"But there are criminals that could do worse." Bruce countered, his voice stern. "I can't let anything else happen to you; you're staying here. End of discussion." before Scootaloo could protest any further, the windshield slid itself shut, the car driving off, leaving a pretty pissed off Scootaloo.

She folded her arms, head lowered and eyebrows furrowed. The anger inside her stomach burned as she kicked the floor. He thought of her as a weakling, didn't he? He must've doubted that she could ever be a hero, right? All the other foals back in Equestria did. Everybody said she wasn't strong or that she wouldn't reach up to a high rank.

"Hah!" laughed Diamond Tiara "You think you can be a hero?"

"Yeah." Scootaloo's teeth clenched "You think I can't?"

Diamond Tiara giggled mockingly "Oh please. There's no way anypony like you can be strong enough to be a hero."

"How come?"

"Well." Tiara started "You're too small, too weak, too incompetent and..." she tapped her head with her hoof "...there's not enough thinking up there."

Scootaloo angrily snorted as she stomped her hoof. "That's it!" she stomped in her direction, but was stopped by a hoof holding her back.

"Scootaloo!" Applebloom pleaded as she was trying desperately to hold her Pegasus friend back "Remember what Me. Cheerilee said! You'll get suspended if you get into another fight!"

Scootaloo took a deep breath before walking out of her friend's grasp into the opposite direction.

"You think you have what it takes, weakling?" Diamond Tiara yelled "You'll never be a hero."

Scootaloo's eyes shut as she looked back on that memory. She sighed as she opened them. "Everyone thinks I'm a weakling." her head lowered "Everyone thinks I can't be a hero." her head turned to the glass cases of Batman suits displayed over to her far right. In one of the cases stood a red suit that was labeled as Grayson's suit thanks to the plack that was built over the door of the case.

Scootaloo looked at that suit for a moment. An idea forming in her head. She smiled as she was growing fond of the idea already. "I'll show 'em."

(This music is owned by Warner Bros. and Hanz Zimmer.)

The darkness of the night floded the museum. Only light emitting was the light of the moon shinning through the windows and occasionally a flashlight held by a guard that walks by here. The museum had many things in it's collection. Every item was valuable, but there was something in particular that caught the interest of someone.

The top window opened and a dark figure peeked his or her head through. The coast seemed clear, not a guard was in sight and the pathway was open. The plan was simple, get in, take the diamond, and get out. The figure jumped from the window opening and was somehow able to land on his or her feet in a crouching position. The figure fully stood up, cloaked in shadow until he or she made his or her way to the shining moon light.

Once the figure stepped out of the shadows, it was revealed to be a woman. Her outfit was a black skin tight leather suit with cat ears over her head. On her left hip hung a whip and at the tips of her gloves were cat-like claws. Over her beautiful face she wore red goggles that masked her identity.

"Alright Selina, just play it like you always do." she said to herself. Catwoman made her way down the hall, her hips swaying on every step. She almost turned a corner, but stopped herself as she hid with her back against the wall. She peaked her head over the corner to see a guard coming her way.

She heard the steps of the guard getting louder, he was getting close. Catwoman showed no sign of dead or worry as she just stood there with her back against the wall. She knew what she was doing. Just as the guard came around the corner she backflipped right onto his shoulders.

"What the..." before the guard could react any further his face was met with the chief's hands covering his mouth and nose. He muffled and struggled as he tried to pull the woman off him, but to no use as he fell to the floor unconscious. Catwoman lifted herself up from him and wiped her hands together.

"Not bad. Now," she turned "time to get what I came for." she walked down the hall, passing many exhibits, but none of them caught her interest. Before her stood a glass box containing a precious diamond. She made her way over to it as she put her claws onto the case and twisted her hand in a circular motion. Once that was done, she pulled the circular piece of glass away and dropped it onto the floor.

"For having a precious diamond, this place has lowsey security." she commented to herself as she took the diamond and made her way back where she came from.

The night's wind welcomed her and she inhaled the air. She sighed.

"Ahh, the sweet smell of victory." she looked at the diamond that rested in her palm.

"No so fast." a voice said.

Catwoman turned around to the voice to see something that was anything but intimidating. Standing before her was just...a kid? She couldn't tell who she was thanks to the green thanks to the green domino mask, but judged that she'd be around ten or eleven. The kid had purple hair and wore a red tunic with the letter R on the left side of her chest, a yellow cape over her shoulders and green gloves, short sleeves, and boots. She also wore green short shorts, but it was nothing too revealing, and around her hips wrapped a yellow belt.

Selina chuckled "Let me guess: you're some kid who snuck out of the house in her pajamas, right?"

The kid looked as if she ignored the insult as she rested her hands on her waist, trying to look 'heroic'.

"You better stop right there or else." she spoke in a gravely voice that didn't even sound real.

Catwoman snorted as she began laughing, her hand holding her forehead.

"What are you laughing at?" this kid was trying to sound intimidating, but it wasn't working.

After a moment, Selina was able to silence her laughing as she crossed her arms.

"If your trying to scare me with that voice, it isn't working." she smirked.

"Yeah well..." the kid was struggling to find the right words "...I'll...I'll stop you."

"Ohh I'm scarred." Catwoman taunted as she turned around "See ya 'round kid."

Just as she was about to make her way out of here, Scootaloo immediately began searching her belt for something useful.

"Come on, come on." she mumbled "There's gotta be something I could..." she began to feel some kind of object in the pocket of her belt and began to pull it out. She grinned as she knew what to do with the batarang. She rose it above her head before swinging her arm forward in a quick motion, letting the batarang fly out of her hand...and miss.

The princess of plunder noticed the batarang fly past her. It didn't even come close. She chuckled.

"Nice throw." she sprinted her way to the ledge of the building before leaping across the gap to the roof of another building across.

Scootaloo's mouth hung open in utter shock at the sight of a person being able to leap that distance. She shook off her shock as she noticed the literal cat burglar making a run for it.

"Okay Scootaloo, think..." she looked around frantically for something. Nothing. Dammit, how is she gonna catch her now? She's getting away. Without seeing any other option, there was only one thing left and she did not like it. She deeply inhaled as she knew what she had to do.

"Alright, Scoots." she took a few steps back "You can do this." she began sprinting forward "Come on." she neared the edge. "I can...jump!" she leaped over the gap, immediately regretting her discision. She thought she saw herself nearing the edge. That's it! She was gonna make it!

However, luck didn't seem to be on her side as it looked like the ledge in front of her grew. Her stomach would have dropped, but thanks to gravity, it seemed that would be physically possible. She spun her arms, trying to grab hold of anything miraculous that'll stick out in midair.

Thankfully, she was able to grab onto something unknown to her, but unthankfully, it was falling down with her fast. She was nearing the ground. This was it, her life in the human world wasn't going to last long. She was done for. Or at least it seemed until her fall suddenly stopped.

Scootaloo slowly and hesitantly looked below her to see that the ground was only a few inches below her. She raised her head up to see what it was that she was holding onto. It was a fire escape ladder, it must've slid down with her.

She let out a heavy sigh. She thought she was done for for sure. She set her feet onto the ground and felt her whole body shaking.

"I am never doing that again." She said.

Scootaloo staggered her way out of the ally until she found herself on a sidewalk. She thought she'd just stick to the ground for now. She walked the streets as she kept a look out for crime. The street seemed hardly crowded tonight. There were hardly any souls to be seen as she kept walking.

There wasn't a crime in sight, but her luck would soon turn. When she turned a corner, she saw a couple of men wearing suits walk into what appeared to be an abandoned building. One of them Scootaloo felt intimidated by, for he appeared to be very big and muscelly. The other guy didn't look so intimidating by the way, but it looked like he was carrying something.

The two entered the building, with the fedora wearing muscle man politely stepping aside and opening the door for the other man before making his way in, closing the door behind him. Scootaloo felt that these guys weren't up to any good, so she made her way over to the building.

Once Scootaloo made her way into the building, she quickly noticed some guys and sprinted to nearby crates to hide behind. She poked her head over the side of the crate to see that the men were wearing suits and fedoras like the big guy. As for the guy that was being escorted, Scootaloo was able to make out his appearance. He was a bald man who looked like he was somewhere in his late fifties or early sixties and he was carrying a suitcase in his right hand.

He didn't wear a hat like the others, but wore a pair of glasses over his eyes. His getup consisted of a brown suit jacket with a yellow buttoned shirt and a red polkadotted tie. He adjusted his glasses and turned to the muscular guy.

"Thank you for escorting us, Rhino." he held out his hand. Us? As far as Scootaloo's concerned, there's only one guy.

Rhino shook his hand "No problem Mr. Ventriloquist. When can we see the boss?"

"You'll see him soon enough, I just have to get him ready." the Ventriloquist responded.

He made his way over to a door, closing it behind him as the men waited with most of their arms crossed.

"Why are we following this nut job?" asked one of the men. He immediately regretted that question as a hand wrapped around his neck.

"Don't talk that way about the bosses associate." Rhino warned "Only he can do that." he let goed of the man.

"Sorry, Rhino." the man rubbed his neck "I'm just saying who's the geniuse?"

"Scarface is the geniuse and you do everything he says. Got it?" Rhino raised a fist.

The man nodded "Y-yeah. Sure thing, Rhino."

Scootaloo's was filled with questions. Why did the guy think the Ventriloquist was nuts? What was in the suitcase? And who was Scarface? But before Scootaloo could think of any answers she suddenly felt a twitch in her nose. Uh oh. She felt pressure wanting to get out of her nostrils.

She held a finger up to her nose, trying to keep it from coming out as she started sniffing. After a few sniffs, the pressure cleared. She removed her finger. She felt safe...until she sneezed.

"What was that?" Rhino looked over his shoulder.

Scootaloo gasped at Rhino's voice; a mistake she intantly regretted as she hastily covered her mouth. Idiot. Scootaloo reacted quickly as she moved her head from the side of the crate, fellingher back against it's surface. Sweet Celestia, she was doomed.

"Sounded like it came from over there."

She heard footsteps coming in her direction. Tension rose within her as she felt the footsteps getting closer. She looked around frantically, trying to find another place to hide, but there was nothing. Just then, she felt the crate against her back move, making her fall to the floor to see Rhino standing above her.

"Well, looky what we have here." he grinned.

Scootaloo gulped "Uh...hi?" she nervously waved.

Rhino grabbed her by the arm and forced her to her feat. Scootaloo struggled, but was unable to get out of the man's grip.

"Let me go!" she yelled, her fist pounding against her captor, but to no avail.

She felt herself being thrown onto a chair. Before she could get up, someone from behind was able to wrap duct tape around her like rope. She struggled, but couldn't move. She was helpless. There didn't seem to be any way of escape. She tried struggling until she heard the door slam open.

"What's all dis wrackit?!" a voice yelled.

Scootaloo looked to see who it was. It was the older man she saw earlier, but this time he was holding something peculiar. It was a ventriloquist dummy with a gangster getup that consisted of a blue suit, red tie, and a purple fedora. A cigar hung from It's mouth and a tommy gun was held in it's hand. The paint over his wooden skin was as white as Rarity's coat and a red scar was carved on the right side of it's face.

Rhino approached the Ventriloquist, nervously rubbing the back of his neck "Sorry, boss. Y'see, we're just takin' care of some trouble." he gestured over to the kid in the chair. Wait...was he talking to the dummy?

"So..." the dummy said slowly as the man holding him began to approach Scoots. "either yer just a kid who tought it'd be a good idea to play dress up like it's Halloween or you're the Gatman's new kid."

Scootaloo was lost for words as she just sat there more confused than scared. Was...was the Ventriloquist talking to her or the dummy?

"What's da matter? Cat got yer tongue?" the dummy said as the man stood before her. Scootaloo only stared at the dummy in confusion "Well?"

The only thing that could emmit from Scootaloo was a snort which quickly turned into a laugh. There was no way a group of gangsters had a dummy in charge.

"What's so funny?" the dummy's eyebrows moved in a confused facial expression. "Was dere somethin' I said?"

"I don't think so, sir." responded the Ventriloquist.

"Den what's de gag?"

"This...this can't be real." Scootaloo laughed "There's no way a gang would take orders from some kind of dummy."

The dummy's eyebrows furrowed slowly as if it really understood her "What did you say?!" he shouted in a voice so angry and loud that it made Scootaloo immediately silence her laughing "Did you just call me a dummy?!"

"Uh...yeah?" Scootaloo hesitated. The dummy's tommy gun was then pointed to her face.

"You better watch dat mouth, kid." the dummy threatened "Dis is Scarface, you're talkin' to and I don't take no disrespect, ya hear?"

"We just do everything he says." the Ventriloquist stated calmly. He turned Scarface's attention to him.

"Can it dummy, no one's talkin' to you!" he yelled.

The Ventriloquist held a face of fear "S-sorry sir."

Scootaloo could only stare with the most confused expression she's ever had in her life. It seemed as if these people believed the dummy was alive, even the Ventriloquist himself.

"Now den," Scarface's attention was brought back to the Equestrian "first ding's first, how'd you get in here?"

Scootaloo felt unsure to respond back to the dummy or the Ventriloquist.

"Well?" Scarface yelled, running out of patience.

"Uh...your door was unlocked." Scootaloo answered unsurely.

"Rhino..." the dummy turned to the big guy "I tought I told you to lock the friggin door on our way in!"

Rhino shrunk back a little afraid of his boss's tone. "Sorry, boss. Won't happen again."

"It getter not," the Ventriloquist approached Rhino, holding the dummy up to his face "'cause next time..." the dummy's hand was slapped across the man's face, hard. The slap sounding like it were being leather hit against something, as if it were realistic. "...it'll be worse den dat. Get my point?"

Rhino nodded vigorously. As soon as the Ventriloquist turned his back, Rhino gave Scootaloo a glare making her shrink in her seat.

"So," Scarface spoke "how'd you find this place?"

"I just..." Scootaloo was looking at the Ventriloquist, but was interrupted by the dummy.

"Hey! Eyes down here."

Scootaloo remembered the dummy was in charge and decided to just play along.

"I just came across this place is all." She answered.

"Oh are you lost?" the Ventriloquist asked with a concerned voice. Scootaloo was just about to answer before Scarface slapped him.

"Quiet dummy! We're talkin' here." Scarface barked.

"Sorry, Mr. Scarface." The Ventriloquist rubbed his cheek.

"So let me get dis straight..." Scarface started "...you put on some cheap costume, take a little walk in de city, and came across our little hidey hole?"

That wasn't exactly the full truth, but Scootaloo decided to nod and not explain in full detail. It's best if these guys don't know much about her.

"So what do we do with her, boss?" Rhino asked.

"Shut up, Rhino! Let me think!" Scarface barked, making Rhino instantly close his mouth. The dummy rubbed his chin "What are we gonna do wid her?"

"We can always let her go." The Ventriloquist suggested.

For a moment, the dummy looked stunned before he slowly turned his head to his wielder "Dummy, can you take off my hat?" he asked calmly.

"Or course, Mr. Scarface." the Ventriloquist obliged as he removed the gangster's hat before his face was met with his forehead. "Ouch." he rubbed his nose.

"Got any more stupid ideas?" Scarface asked with his brows furrowed.

The Ventriloquist shook his head and put the fedora back on the dummy's head before facing him to their men.

"Anyone with any gright ideas?" Scarface asked.

The gangsters were wondering for a moment before one of them spoke up "Hey, uh, maybe we can just throw her in the river?"

The dummy rubbed his chin as if he were in thought "Why not? It's less messy anyway." he turned to the aforementioned hostage. "Y'know, maybe yer a duck instead of a Robin. Why don't we test dat? Rhino."

Scootaloo's eyes widened in fear as she started struggling to break free. It was to no avail as the big gangster picked up the chair by it's back, the tape feeling as if they were tightening around Scootaloo.

Come, Scootaloo! Come one, there's gotta be a way to...wait a minute!

She just remembered her belt! Of course, there had to be something in there she could use. As her hand dug it's way into her belt, she heard...

CRASH

She jerked her head upward to see a bat-shaped being shatter through the glass window from the ceiling. Batman landed on his feet in a crouching position, a burning scowl on his face.

"It's Batman!" Rhino yelled as upon instinct he reached into his jacket for his gun, dropping Scootaloo in the process.

Scootaloo couldn't help but "Oof!" when she landed on her side, groaning.

Before Rhino had the chance to shoot, a batarang quickly knocked the gun out of his hand. Before he had time to react, the dark knight leaped off the floor, his fist impacting with Rhino's face, sending him flying off his feet into a stacked pile of crates falling on him.

Scarface caught his men in a frozen state as they saw what happened with their jaws hitting the floor.

"What da hell are you bozos standin' dere for?" he yelled "Get him!"

They were all brought out of their stunned state as they all came charging at the detective. One of them sent his fist flying to Batman's face before being blocked with an arm and his face met with a head-butt. Batman then spun his body around at the speed of light and brought his fist to a man's stomach, causing him to fall backwards onto his back, clutching his tummy.

As the fighting continued, Scootaloo was searching her belt frantically for anything that could help her out of these bonds. Anything. She felt her finger touch something for her to pull out a batarang. She began using it's sharp edges to saw the tape that bound her as fast as she could. But before she could go any further, a shadow began to loom over her.

"Where do you tink yer goin'?" Scarface pointed his tommy gun down at her.

Scootaloo gulped; her eyes shut as she awaited her demise.

"Any last words?" Scarface chuckled as he readied to shoot. Just in the nick of time, however a batarang flew by, severing the dummy's hand as it and the gun hit the floor. "I'm hit, goys!"

Batman leaped forward, his arm swiping the puppet out of the Ventriloquist's hand. His nose under his mask twitched as he took a hold of the Ventriloquist's collar, his fist raised.

"W-w-wait!" he pleaded "I-I didn't mean to hurt your partner! Scarface was-" before he could finish, a punch met his face, knocking him out cold as his body hung limp in the detective's grasp.

Batman dropped the man onto the floor and walked over to Scootaloo, taking a batarang from his belt. He crouched down and used the batarang to release her from her bindings until she was free. They both stood up with Scootaloo looking up at him with an impressed smile on her face and hands on her hips.

"That was awesome." Scootaloo leaned to her left to see a series of unconscious bodies littering the floor. "You took out all those guys, you were...you were..." Whatever amount of excitement she had within her was lowering as she saw her legal guardian looking sternly down at her with his arms crossed.

"What were you thinking?" he growled. At this point it didn't seem so bad for Scoots when she was tied to a chair.

"I..." Scootaloo nervously rubbed the back of her head "I was..."

"You would have been killed!" Bruce's voice rose. "If I hadn't shown up here, something could have happened to you."

"Look..." Scootaloo raised her hands defensively "I was just thinking..."

"You weren't thinking at all." Bruce interrupted.

"Yeah well I uh...uh..." sweat was beading down Scootaloo's forehead. "I wasn't in trouble." Batman held that stern look at her "Uh...before this anyway."

She felt her head lower in shame. She has disobeyed her guardian. She was almost killed tonight if he hadn't shown up. But despite all this, she still had a good reason. She sighed.

"Look, Bruce..." She peeled off her mask and the fear from her face gone. "I know I did a stupid thing tonight and I was over my head but...at least let me tell you why."

Batman held that stern stare, but didn't say anything, so Scootaloo concluded he was paying attention.

"You see...all my life I wanted to be a hero. I wanted to help people and stand up to whoever or whatever was hurting them, because I was bullied." She sighed "I was bullied and underestimated because I couldn't fly and was too small. So, nopony took me seriously with my dreams, except Sweetie Belle and Applebloom of course, but two ponies weren't enough. I was bullied for so long that...I...I began to believe them."

Scootaloo lowered her head again as she remembered the doubt she had. Nopony took her seriously that she was experiencing self doubt. This was something she had to find a way to overcome.

"I...I need to prove it to myself. I need to prove to myself that I can do great things. That I am capable of becoming what I want to become. That I'm capable of becoming a hero."

Scootaloo looked back up to see what reaction Batman would have. He stood there in the same pose, arms crossed and stern glare. The two were silent for a moment before one of them spoke.

"I understand." Batman admitted "I understand that you want to prove to yourself that you can be strong and protect others."

Scootaloo smiled. She was glad he understood.

"Tell you what," Bruce said "I know someone who can teach you in ways to become Robin; he and I will teach you everything you need to know and when your training is complete, you'll become my partner."

Scootaloo's eyes went wide, her mouth agape. This...this was her chance. How could she say no?

"Yes!" she hastily nodded "Yes, that'll be great!"

"You have to do everything I say."

Scootaloo nodded "Yeah, sure thing. I'll do anything you say."

"Good." Bruce lowered his arms and his expression still stoic. As the two were leaving the building, Batman looked down at Scootaloo. "Oh yes, there's just one more thing."

"What's that?" Scootaloo asked.

"Your grounded."

Author's Note

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ: Hey everybody, Batfan98 speaking. Sorry this chapter took so long, school has been keeping me busy. Just wanted to let you all know that I'm gonna make a change to the previous two chapters. It's nothing big, but here it is: remember that Human Life was two parts? Well, looking back on that I decided that splitting it up into two parts was needless and that it all should have just been one part. I will copy part two and pace it on part one and it will no longer be chapter ten, instead it'll be part of chapter nine. That's all, short update, but thought I should let you guys know.

The catwoman music, 'Selina', is from the dark knight rises. It is owned by Warner Bros. and Hanz Simmer.

Chapter 11 Dick Grayson

Gotham was still the way Dick remembered it to be. A rundown dump of a city that was the perfect playground for criminals. Bruce was good, but he needed all the help he could get. Sure, he had other's helping him like Red Robin, Batgril, and occasionally him, but he needed someone to be with him most times on the field.

Wasn't really much of a surprise that he'd get a new kid to take on the Robin mantle at some point, but didn't quite expect it to be a pony from another dimension. Oh, just when he thought he's seen it all.

He'd visit Bruce occasionally, so he knew the way to the manor he grew up in. At least, the second place he grew up in right after the circus.

He parked his car upon reaching the manor, only to be greeted by Alfred waiting on the steps. He exited his car, removing his sun glasses before waving.

"Hey, Alfred." he called as he climbed the steps.

Alfred nodded "Hello Master Grayson."

Dick hugged the old man, him returning the hug as well.

"So, Alfred." Dick said as the two broke the hug. "How's it been going?"

"Rather fine lately." He responded. "Miss Scootaloo is waiting in the house. I just say she's very excited to meet you."

Dick smiled. He had to admit, he was pretty excited about meeting this kid too.

"Well then, let's not keep her waiting."

Alfred nodded as he heading downwards in the steps.

"I'll carry your bags for you."

"Thanks, Alfred." Dick saved as he approached the double doors. Upon entry, he was greeted to the atmosphere of the entry hall. He inhaled the smell of the manor's atmosphere and sighed. "Same old, same old."

"Dick."

Dick turned to the voice and smiled. "Bruce."

Dick approached the billionaire with his arms held out and wrapped him in a hug. "It's great to see you."

Bruce hugged back "It's great to see you too."

Once they broke the hug, Dick laid his hands within his pockets. "So, where's the new kid?"

As if on cue, he heard footsteps coming from the corner of the stairs and saw a young girl with purple hair approaching. She smiled with excitement as she made her way down the stairs and towards Dick.

"Hey there, you must be Dick." Scootaloo held out her hand "Name's Scootaloo, future Robin."

Dick shook her hand "It's nice to finally meet you. You seem pretty excited for the job."

"Oh yeah," Scootaloo nodded "I'm even more excited that I'm meeting the first ever Robin by the way."

Dick chuckled "Yeah well, you're lucky to be getting the pleasure of doing so."

Just as the two spoke, Alfred came in through the doors, carrying two bags. "Please make yourselves to the dinner table, everyone. I've prepared a special meal for you all."

"Awesome, I'm starving." Dick exclaimed.

Upon entering the dinning room, Scootaloo was quick to run over to a seat and wave Dick over.

"Come sit next to me."

Dick obliged as Bruce sat opposite of them. Alfred came in, rolling a silver pot on a trolly.

"We having soup?" Dick asked.

Alfred nodded. "Yes. French onion."

"So, your a superhero too, right?" Scootaloo said as Alfred began pouring soup into her bowl.

Dick nodded as Alfred served him his soup as well.

"What's it like becoming your own person?"

Dick shrugged. "Well, I get to make my own rules and I decide how late I wanna stay out at."

"Sounds awesome." Scootaloo sighed "Too bad it won't be like that for me."

Dick rested a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, maybe when you're old enough you'll get to be a superhero of your own."

"You think so?"

Bruce nodded once Alfred served him his soup and left the room.

"Definitely. After years of experience, you'll be able to fight crime on your own."

Scootaloo rested her chin in her hand as she beamed at the possible future. "I wonder what kind of superhero I'd be."

"Maybe great enough to join the Justice League." Dick suggested. "After all, you are learning from the best." He gestured to himself, but then remembered Bruce. "I'm sorry, your learning from two of the best."

Scootaloo chuckled as she began eating her soup. She had to keep her strength up, because tomorrow was going to be a big day.

Chapter 12 Training

The way Scootaloo woke up that morning would be described as though she were a kid on Christmas morning. As soon as her eyes opened to the morning sun, she violently tossed the blankets off her and jumped to the door, nearly bumping into Alfred just as he seemed ready to knock and wake her.

"Sorry, Alfred." She said quickly before bolting her way down the hall without a second thought. At the dining table, Bruce and Dick sat, eating their scrambled eggs. Silence covered the room until it was bolted away by the sudden opening of the large, double doors as Dick jumped in his seat.

"Hey, guys." Scootaloo greeted as she sat herself down before a plate with scrambled eggs. Her table manners were thrown out the window like a piece of paper as she began gobbling on her food in a hurried manner.

"You're training doesn't start until noon." Bruce mumbled, as though he were reading Scootaloo's exact thoughts.

The girl gulped down her eggs, "Sorry. It's just that I'm excited an all."

Dick shrugged, "Hey, I don't blame you. I felt the same way on my first day of training."

"We are going to train you hard, though." Bruce pointed out before taking a bite of his food.

Scootaloo nodded, "I know. After all, how else am I going to become a great sidekick."

"Yeah, but you won't be anywhere near good as me." Dick playfully bragged.

"Oh you wish! Just wait and you'll start taking lessons from me."

Once Bruce, Scootaloo, and Dick made their way down to the cave, Scootaloo began bartering her questions.

"So, how are we gonna start? Are you gonna teach me how to do a kick flip? Are you gonna show me how to throw those bat throwy things?" Scootaloo couldn't contain her excitement.

"First," Bruce began. Oh boy, what could it be? Scootaloo started imagining all the possible tricks they were gonna teach her. What would be the first trick? Would it be awesome? Would it be anything beyond the imagination? It's... "You are going to do push ups."

...what? Seriously, what?! All that excitement going through Scootaloo's head immediately deflated as she slumped her shoulders.

"Uh, I thought we were gonna do training..."

"We are, and we're doing it now." Dick rested a hand on her shoulder. "What? Did you seriously expect you would learn how to fight and do fancy tricks on the first day of training?"

"Well, yeah."

Dick chuckled, "Sorry, but first you gotta build up some strength in order to do those things. Don't worry though, we'll get to the good stuff at some point. For now, it's this."

Scootaloo groaned. This was not what she expected, but then again maybe that's how all training works.

"Start by ten push ups, then do twenty sit ups, then ten squats, then run seven laps around the manor."

Scootaloo gulped, oh the exercise!

"What's wrong? Don't think you're brent for this?" Dick smirked.

"Me? Now hang on, I can do this. Just watch, bird boy."

Scootaloo immediately felt tired as soon as she started doing her push ups, but with each exercise she felt even more exhausted than before. By the end of the day there were no words to describe how tired she was, so tired it gave her a well deserved sleep.

The next day was with the same exercises much to her dismay, but she knew if she kept pushing forward, she would become the superhero she wants to be.

On the fifth day her exercises were now changed, fourty push ups, twenty five squats, fifty sit ups, and twenty laps. Scootaloo felt like sleeping in the next morning. As the days went by, the more exercising she did. But surprisingly to her, the exercises became less excruciating. On some days Bruce would say a random number of how many specific exercises she would do and Scootaloo would do them and she found herself capable of doing so.

Now came the time of her training Scootaloo's been waiting for: fighting. It started off as something simple, such as how to punch. Her first few punches weren't as hard as she would like, but thanks to all the exercise she has received, Scootaloo was able to throw hard enough punches that would be useful in combat. Problem was they hurt her fists every time she'd throw a punch, but over time the more she punched the less her hands were beginning to hurt.

Scootaloo learned how to punch, block, dodge, kick until she, Bruce, and Dick became confident it was time for a practice fight.

"Alright," Said Bruce. "Consider this your first test in hand-to-hand combat. Dick is far more experienced than you at his, but I told him to hold back his skills and fight like a common thug, which is likely what you will be fighting most. In time, you will learn more complex fighting styles, but for now we'll start with the most simple. Are you ready?"

"Ready," Scoots was standing in a fighting stance with her fists raised before her.

"If you say so," Dick began to approach her. He threw the first punch, Scootaloo quickly moved her head to of the way of the coming fist. Dick threw his other punch, to which Scootaloo blocked with both her arms. Dick threw a variety of strikes which were met by blocks and dodges.

"You're doing good," Bruce said. "But you're becoming too reliant on defense. Try looking for an opening to attack."

Scootaloo nodded, "Got it." Dick threw his punch, Scootaloo ducked as the fist was above her. She struck Dick's stomach, causing him to groan and bend over clutching his stomach. Scootaloo took the chance to upper cut Dick in the chin.

Dick rubbed his chin, "Not bad."

"What can I say? I've been trained by the best so I can kick your butt."

"Focus," Reminded Bruce.

Dick sent another punch Scootaloo's way, she dodged and struck her foot at his knee. Duck fell on the struck knee, now being met with Scootaloo's kick to his head, knocking him down.

"Very good, very good." Bruce said.

"Yeah," Dick said as Scootaloo helped him up. "That was amazing, keep it up and maybe you'll be taking on the League of Assassins."

"Thanks," Beamed the young girl. "Now come on, I want to learn more tricks I can do."

Throughout the course of her training, Scootaloo was progressing evermore. Her fighting began to improve to a more complex level where she was able to fend off multiple thugs. Over time she learned how to use a variety of gadgets, such as how to throw a batarang, how to fire a grapple gun, and which compartment contained which gadget.

One other aspect of her training was acrobatics. At first, Scootaloo didn't think much of it, but once she was able to perform various skills from that, she began to enjoy it. Bruce was barely the one to teach her this aspect, but Dick was the true teacher behind it. With this acrobatic training, Scootaloo thought she might as well take it up as a hobby sometime.

Soon, after all the trials and errors, there finally came the point that Scootaloo was ready.

Scootaloo breathed, this is it. This is the moment she's been waiting for. Her new life purpose was now here.

"Are you okay?" Bruce asked.

Scoots nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just exhilileratring."

Dick shrugged, "Nothing to worry about. You're not standing in front of a crowd." Dick decided he'd leave for Bludhaven in the morning, there's no way he's going to miss Scootaloo's graduation.

Alfred stood beside Dick as they watched, the butler holding a box that contained the thing Scootaloo would need as a superhero.

Bruce lit the candle that stood beside them. He held up his hand, "Hold up your hand."

Scootaloo did so.

"Do you swear to never take the lives of your enemies as you fight them?"

"I swear."

"Do you swear to help the innocent, no matter the cost?"

"I swear."

" And do you swear that we two will fight together against crime and corruption and never swerve from the path of justice?"

"I swear by it."

Bruce nodded, "Then you are ready."

Alfred approached the two, he held out the box for the newly established crime fighter. Scootaloo took the box and removed the lid to see what was inside.

"Treat this mantle with honor, as if it were your own." Bruce stated.

Inside the box lay a folded red outfit with an R etched onto it and laying above it a black domino mask.

Scootaloo nodded as she looked Bruce into his eyes, "I will."

Chapter 13 First Night

Scootaloo stood before the mirror of her bedroom, admiring the costume she was wearing. The outfit was made up of a red tunic with the R insignia on the upper left side of her chest, a yellow utility belt and red pants, gloves and boots that both had the same color of black, a cape with a black outside and yellow inside, and to top it all off a black domino mask on her face, her eyes covered by white slits. Scootaloo breathed in the image of herself in pride, she was not Scootaloo now, she was Robin.

A knock broke her out of her thoughts as she saw Alfred open her door. "Miss Scootaloo, Master Bruce is waiting down in the cave for you, I suggest you hurry."

"Oh yeah, sorry I was just...well..."

"Admiring your reflection?"

Scoots hesitantly nodded, blushing furiously, "Yes."

Alfred shrugged, "I do not blame you, Master Dick did the same when he first wore his costume."

Scootaloo laughed, "He did?"

Alfred nodded, "Now, I suggest you get down to the cave, you wouldn't want Master Bruce's patience running thin."

Scootaloo made her way down to the cave to see Bruce standing at the Batmobile fully dressed in his outfit for the night.

"You took your time." Bruce said plainly.

Scootaloo chuckled nervously, "Sorry about that, got carried away seeing myself in this suit for the first time."

Bruce smirked. "How does the suit feel though?"

"It feels amazing!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "I feel like an actual superhero! I mean I know that I am one, but still."

"Well then, I hope you feel ready for tonight. We're going to be out awhile." Bruce settled in the Batmobile, followed by Scootaloo.

Batman turned the atomic batteries to power and the turbines to speed before stepping on the gas, allowing the vehicle to move at a great speed. No matter how fast the car was going, it could not contain Scootaloo's excitement.

"Look out criminals, 'cause here we come!"

Scootaloo never felt more excited in her life. Here she was, a superhero sidekick sitting beside an actual superhero ready to go fight criminals and bring justice to the city. The speed of the Batmobile gave her a sense of freedom in a way, she always enjoyed the exhilaration of speeding through Ponyville on her scooter, but that couldn't compare to this. In time, the Batmobile turned it's way into an alley, once it was cloaked by the building's shadows it breaked.

"Alright," Batman exited the Batmobile. "We're going to patrol the city tonight and see if there's any trouble tonight."

"Sounds simple, Bossman." Robin replied as she edited the vehicle as well.

"Bossman?" Batman asked.

"Yeah," Robin shrugged, "Thought it'd be a nickname I'd call you."

Batman smirked, "Alright, as long as it reminds you that you have to follow my orders."

The detective fired his grapple gun to the building's side and the Girl Wonder followed. She gulped at the hight she was about to go up.

"This is just like your training." Batman reminded.

Robin nodded, "Yeah, ok." She gave the height a defiant look of determination.

At the pull of their triggers, their grapples zoomed them upwards at a great speed. Once they reached the rooftop, Robin sighed.

"Are you alright?" Batman asked, storing his gun in his utility he it's holster.

"Yeah," Robin replied, doing the same with her gun. "In fact that was easier than I thought."

"I hope you don't mind heights."

Robin shook her head, "Nope."

The dynamic duo began overlooking the city. The night sky had shrouded above the buildings as lights shined throughout the city. From up this high, Gotham of course as a city looked industrial, but it also had an old gothic edge to it. One thing that surprised Robin was the airships floating above the city.

"Hey, Batman why are there blimps?"

"Their from the G.C.P.D., their used to look out for any crime that's going on. However they are not always affective, which is where we and the police come in."

Robin was about to ask another question, but was interrupted by a high pitched scream.

"And I guess the moment we come in is right now, right?" The two began a sprint and lept from rooftop to rooftop until finally they reached the source of the scream. A woman was being cornered by four men.

"Come on, lady, show us what you got." One thug said.

"Please, stay away." The woman pleaded.

The thug laughed, "I love it when they beg, it's kinda hot."

At such a young age, Scootaloo didn't understand the thugs true intent and just assumed they were gonna rob her. Regardless, she wasn't gonna stand for it.

"Hey!" The Girl Wonder yelled. The four thugs looked up and recoiled at the sight of the girl's mentor.

"As shit, it's Batman!"

The dynamic duo jumped from the roof, landing on their feet softly as they used their capes for a softer landing.

"You take two and I'll take two." Batman ordered.

Robin nodded, "Done."

Both superheroes leapt at two pairs of the thugs. As Batman was taking care of his opponents, one thug attempted to strike Robin, but she jumped over his frame, landing behind him, sending a kick to his back, knocking him over. The other thug swung his fist, Robin dodging every blow. With each dodge, the girl threw a punch at the man. She managed to stomp on his knee, causing him to fall on one leg. Robin took this oportunity to spin kick him across the face, sending him to the ground.

The other thug from before got up and started charging the sidekick. Remembering her training, Robin was quick enough to pull a batarang from her belt and send it flying into the man's face, knocking him out.

"That's the last of them." Batman stated after dealing with his own thugs. He looked to the woman, "Are you alright?"

The shaky woman nodded, "Yes... I'm fine." She eyed worriedly at the unconscious thugs who almost did something horrible to her.

"Hey, don't worry about these guys." Robin smiled, trying to lighten the woman's mood. "These lowlives won't be waking up for a long time."

The woman smiled back at her. "Thank you. Thank you both."

Once the woman left and Batman and Robin cuffed them for the police to handle, they grappled up to a roof.

"Oh sweet Celestia." Robin exclaimed. "That...was...AWESOME!!! Did you see how I handled two of those guys?"

Batman nodded, smirking. "Yes, you did pretty well. Now come on, we have more patroling to do."

Robin smiled, "Right behind you, Bossman."

Author's Note

For those who don't know, Scootaloo's Robin suit is the same design as Tim Drake's from The Animated Series. Also, five of these chapter will be episodic until we get to the main climax. The first villain Scootaloo will fight is let's say a femme fatale with a green thumb.

Chapter 14 Green Thumbs

Scootaloo's first night out as Robin seemed to be pretty active, to say the least. Her and Batman have had a series of stopping criminals doing petty crimes. Crimes such as a car robbery, a few muggings, and Scootaloo even stopped a pick pocket single handedly. Even though this night was seemingly simple to Batman, it was about to get even more exciting for his young ward.

"Well," Robin said, stretching her arms. "I don't know about you, but all that crime fighting can take a lot out of you."

"It can on the first few nights," Batman stated. "You think you're ready to go home?"

"Are you kidding? We haven't been out here that long, I'm up for anything."

Batman smirked, "If that's the case, I hope you're ready for whatever lies ahead." He pointed his finger out, as if it were gesturing to something behind her.

Robin looked over her shoulder and gasped. Shining up in the sky was a light, forming the shape of a bat, the very same symbol on Batman's chest. It was non other than the Bat-Signal, Scootaloo has seen it a few times outside her window and heard that it would shine whenever the police needed Batman's help.

"Welp, looks like the police need us. Come on, Bossman, let's go save the city." Robin immediately ran in the Signal's direction, Batman smirked and soon followed her.

Atop the roof stood Commissioner James Gordon beside the Bat-Signal. The silver haired man lit his pipe as he awaited his vigilante ally to come.

"Commissioner," Having working with Batman a long time he has grown used to someone appearing out of nowhere and addressing him and became less startling. The grey haired man turned around to see Batman, as expected, but standing beside him this time was a new Robin.

"Huh," He said, eyeing the sidekick. "You know, when I heard Bruce Wayne adopted a new ward I didn't think it would take long for you to become Robin."

Scootaloo averted her eyes underneath the mask. "Uhh, what are you talking about? I don't know who Bruce Wayne is?" She smiled nervously.

"Relax," Batman reassured. "Jim knows my identity, he can keep a secret."

"Yep, and I can keep yours."

Robin sighed in relief. "Then, it's nice to meet you sir, Ashlyn Phillips, or as you know, Robin."

Gordon tilted his hat, "Commissioner James Gordon, glad to meet you."

"You called us here, Jim." Batman stated.

The Commissioner nodded, "Yeah, as you probably heard, Poison Ivy has escaped from Arkham Asylum a week ago. Just six hours ago, famous explorer Boris Franklin has been kidnapped from his apartment."

"You think Poison Ivy could be connected?"

Gordon nodded, "He brought back a rare plant from his latest expedition, the African Zebra Flower. Also, the woman at the front desk claims she doesn't remember a thing and forensics have found traces of Ivy's mind control powder on her face."

"Ivy must have made her tell her where Boris' address was." Batman theorized. "We'll look into it and see if we can recover Franklin."

Gordon nodded, "Good luck, Batman." He eyed Robin. "Both of you."

The Dynamic Duo proceeded to glide off the rooftop an route to the Batmobile. As they glided, Scootaloo began to admire the feel. She was high above the ground and the air soared across her face. It was as though she was actually flying, like she always wanted when she was a pony, but never got due to her wing disability.

After a while of gliding, they landed in the Batmobile. "So, did the Commissioner always know your identity?"

"Not at first," Batman clarified. "It wasn't until long into my career when he found out."

"How'd you take it?"

"I was surprised, but I knew I could trust him with my secret."

The Batmobile then took off into the city.

"We're here." Batman and Robin exited the Batmobile and entered the apartment building. Upon entering, they made their way up to the apartment.

"So, how do we know which apartment it is?" Robin asked.

"I typed Boris Franklin's name into the Batmobile's computer, it was how I was able to find his address."

The two reached the right apartment under the correct number as they made their way Inside.

"Alright, let's split up and see if we can find anything."

"You got it, Bossman." Robin replied as she and her boss began to search. Now was the time for investigating, as Scootaloo was taught in her training. From what she remembered, she had to look everywhere, especially in places unlikely.

She entered the bedroom as she extended her search. Robin looked into the drawers and found nothing, aside from clothes. She tried looking under the bed, where she saw what appeared to be a fox of some kind. She pulled the object from under the bed and saw that it was some kind of safe box. Robin had no idea what could be in here, but perhaps it might be something beneficial in their case.

Scootaloo remembered the part of her training where she had to crack a safe combination. She leaned her ear gainst the safe, listening intently as she rotated the lock. After a few clicks, she was able to open the box. In it she found some kind of documents, hopefully they are somewhat useful.

"Did you find anything?" Batman asked.

Robin nodded, "Yeah, I found these." She handed the papers to her mentor.

Batman scanned the papers with his detective vision. "It looks like Franklin isn't entirely innocent. According to these documents, he's been stealing oil off of sights protected by their country's governments."

"Why would he steal oil?"

"Oil is a source of energy used for various things people need, such as transportation and electricity."

"Oh, so Poison Ivy wanted to take some of the oil Boris Franklin stole?" Robin guessed.

Batman shook his head, "No, oil is a natural resource and it is often over used by humans. While Poison Ivy has a sick kind she would never indulge in anything that would potentially harm the planet. She's obsessed with nature, particularly plants."

Robin nodded, "Ok, so Poison Ivy kidnapped the guy, because he's stealing oil from places he's not supposed to take it?"

Batman nodded, "Yes, she wants to make him pay. My guess is that Boris Franklin took on the career as an explorer so he can find places to steal oil from and sell it on the Black Market."

"So, how do we find Poison Ivy?"

"I had Oracle look at the building's security feed. Ivy came in here with two men, both of which I recognize their names. Josh Lance and Giles Will, I apprehended them once as they operated a meth lab underneath a flower shop."

"How do you know Ivy will be there?"

"When you think about her gimmic being related to plants, it sounds possible. Plus, it's the only lead we have."

Robin shrugged, "Alright, let's go."

"Well, it looks like old long ears beat us here." They heard a voice. Batman and Robin looked to the door frame and saw two figures standing there. One was a pudgy man in a trench coat and fedora, had a lit cigar in his mouth. The other a Latina woman in a blue trench coat and her hair tied back in a ponytail.

"Bullock, Montoya." Batman said.

"Found anything?" The woman known as Montoya asked.

"Yeah, we did actually." Robin said.

The two officers eyed the young girl, "Well," The pudgy one, Bullock, took the cigar from his mouth. "Looks like the Bat's got a new sidekick." He held out his hand, "Detectives Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya."

Robin shook his hand, accepting the gesture. "Robin, the new one."

"So," Montoya eyed the Batman. "What did you find?"

"We found these," The Caped Crusader held out the documents, handing them over to the detective. "Show them to Commissioner Gordon, he's going to need to see them."

Montoya nodded, "Sure thing. Good work."

"Actually, Robin found them."

"Yeah, and it's my first day on the job too." Robin crossed her arms, smirking.

"Well then, not bad for a first timer." Bullock commented. "I'd give you a cigar, but you know..."

The Batmobile screeched to a halt as it arrived in front of the Dynamic Duo's intended destination: Sam's Flowers. The two exited the vehicle and made their way in. The shop looked abandoned, the Windows were cracked, cobwebs raided the shelfs, and dusk laid on the floor's corners.

"So, how do we find where Ivy's hiding?" Robin asked.

"It's pretty simple." Batman pointed ahead, "It's just behind that door."

Across the room from them stood the afromentioned door. The detective and girl wonder made their way and Batman quietly opened the door as he lead the way down the stairs into the dark basement. As they made their way down, Robin Jose began to detect a scent of flowers as though there was a garden. Once they reached their way down, it indeed was a garden. Grass covered the floor and vines crawled up the walls as flowers of various kinds were planted across the room.

Across from them was Boris Franklin, sitting on his knees, tied up and gagged. Beside him, sitting on a flower bed was a young woman of stunning beauty. Her red hair hanging over her shoulders and her leafy one piece outfit showed much of her figure and much skin. What made her seem different from other humans was her skin, it wasn't pale or brown or any other color of skin that would look normal on a human being. It was in fact green, green as nature itself.

"Batman." She said in the most beautiful and seductive of voices, yet it was menacing.

"Poison Ivy." Batman growled.

The woman smiled as she was stroking the African Zebra Flower placed on her lap, as though she were a spy villain stroking their cat. "I see you have a new Robin."

"Where are your men?" Batman demanded.

"Who? Giles and Josh? Well, my pollen was beginning to wear off and they were snapping out of my control. If you want to know where they've gone, well their digesting."

Robin's eyes grew, "You...you mean you...ate them?"

Poison Ivy eyed the girl in surprise for a moment before laughing out loud, "No, Jenny did."

"Jenny?"

"Robin, look out!" Batman yelled. Before Robin had time to understand, Batman leapt and pushed her out of the way of an oncoming vine. The two looked to see the vine retract to a giant stem. At first it looked to be a giant plant, but upon closer inspection it appeared to have a head like that of a Venus Fly Trap with fangs.

Robin gulped as the plant monster growled.

"Before Jenny will eat Boris, she'll be eating you two." Poison Ivy stated.

The creature sent another vine in the Dynamic Duo's direction, both leaping out of it's way. Another vine swung at Robin's way, she ducked as it whooshed above her head. The monster growled and struck it's vine, Robin dodged. Batman threw three batarangs to it's head as they exploded on impact. Unfortunately they didn't do much damage and only drew the creatures attention to Batman.

The monster slammed it's vine downward as Batman leapt out of the way. There had to be some way of taking this monster down. It was then Batman had an idea. He reached into his belt.

"Robin, reach into your belt. Second compartment on the left."

Robin did as she was told and found that she had pulled out smoke pellets. The creature roared.

"Now throw!" The two threw their pellets into the creature's mouth. They heard a loud pop as several pellets exploded and the creature rose it's head upward, roaring in pain as smoke was emmitting from it's mouth. Batman took a batarang and his explosive gell from his belt as he took the moment of the creature's distraction to charge. He stabbed his batarang into the stem, it didn't leave much of a gash, but it was sizable enough for Batman to spray the explosive gell in there. A vine swapped the superhero away as he hit the wall.

"Batman!" Robin yelled as she ran to her mentor.

Poison Ivy laughed, "Did you think that would really stop Jenny?"

"No," Batman held up the explosive gel, resting his finger on the detonator. "But this will." Be pressed the button, upon doing so the stem holding the creature exploded, detaching the stem in half as the creature landed on it's face dying.

"NOOO!!" Poison Ivy yelled. "My baby! You monster! You and this Boy Wonder!" Unfortunately for her, She was met with a batarang, knocking her out.

"Did she just call me a boy?" Robin was dumbfounded.

Boris struggled to speak as he was gagged, but Batman removed the cloth. "Thank you." He said as Batman begun untying him. He stood up fully, "If it wasn't for you, she could've killed me."

"You're about to wish she did."

"What?" Boris asked, confused.

"You became an explorer to steal oil from illegal sights."

Boris gulped, dread overtaking him. "Now, Batman I'm sure we can work something out." Unfortunately his only reply was a pair of cuffs placed on his wrists.

Author's Note

The reason I'm having Gordon know Batman is Bruce Wayne is because I feel like it would make their relationship all the more trust worthy and I felt since we are this long into Batman's career it would make sense. And he knows Barbra was Batgirl and is the Oracle too. I've also been thinking of giving Scoots and Bullock somewhat of a Gordon and Batman type of relationship. By the way, as for the next villain, well I won't say much, but he is a real coin flipper.

Chapter 15 Two of a Kind

Scootaloo awoke the next morning, stretching her arms out. After turning in Poison Ivy and Boris Franklin last night, she was about ready to turn in. All that crime fighting really took a lot out of her that she was given a good night sleep. The girl headed down to the kitchen to find Bruce sitting at the dining table and a plate of scrambled eggs waiting for her.

"Hey, Bruce." She took a seat.

"Morning," He greeted back. "Did you sleep well?"

Scootaloo took a bite of her eggs, "Oh yeah, I slept like a baby."

"Last night, you did well." Bruce commented.

Scootaloo nodded, "Thank you, can't believe I fought a supervillain. Do you think we'll fight another supervillain tonight?"

Bruce shrugged, "Perhaps, it does happen often, but not every night."

"Yeah well I'm ready for anything."

Bruce chuckled, "I know."

"Good morning Master Bruce and Miss Scootaloo." Alfred greeted as he came in through the door, holding a newspaper.

"Morning, Alfred." Scootaloo greeted and Bruce waved, sipping his coffee.

"It seems you had recognition last night, Miss Scootaloo." Alfred said.

Scootaloo grinned, "That's awesome! Now people know there's a new Robin in town."

Alfred placed the newspaper in front of the excited girl, "Yes, but I don't think you have the recognition you were hoping for."

"What are you talking about?" Scootaloo asked, confused before reading the paper.

BATMAN HAS NEW BOY WONDER

Scootaloo slumped her shoulders, "Boy Wonder? Don't they mean Girl Wonder?"

Alfred shrugged, "Well, even the press can make mistakes."

"They seriously think I'm a boy?" Scootaloo exclaimed, Bruce suppressing his chuckle as he tried hiding his smirk. "Do you think I look like a boy in my costume?" She eyed Alfred.

"Well..."

The Batmobile roared as it sped through the streets of Gotham. Robin sat in the passenger seat, arms crossed.

"I can't believe people think I'm a boy." She grumbled.

"Well you haven't been at this for long, I'm sure they'll know your gender at some point." Batman reassured.

Robin sighed as she rested her head on her hand. At the corner of her eye, she noticed something. She put her focus on it and saw that it was a black figure running on the rooftops.

"Hey Batman, look." She pointed.

Batman stopped the Batmobile and looked in the direction the girl was pointing. He narrowed his eyes.

"Come on," He said as they exited the car.

"Purrrfect." Catwoman purred as she eyed the diamond necklace in her hand.

"Catwoman,"

The Princess of Plunder turned around and smiled seductively, "Batman, it seems no matter where I go I always run into you."

"Hand over the diamonds, lady." Robin oderdered.

Catwoman chuckled, resting a hand on her side. "Cute, y'know if it wasn't for the fact Bruce Wayne's new ward was a girl and we haven't met before, I would've thought you were a boy on first glance."

"Why you..." Robin started, but stopped at the realization of Catwoman mentioning Bruce Wayne. "Wait, you know that..."

"That Bruce Wayne is Batman? Oh I know, don't worry, I can keep a secret. Maybe we should have a more proper introduction." She gestured to herself, "Selina Kyle."

"Selina," Batman growled, "I'm telling you to put the necklace back or else."

Catwoman placed the necklace around her neck, "If you want it, you'll have to take it from me." She ran as Batman and Robin began to pursue her. Selina leapt off the edge, into a neighbouring rooftop. The duo did the same as they were giving chase. The cat burglar proved to have quite the skills as she jumped over a farther gap and was still able to land on the next roof.

"Woah!" Robin exclaimed in amazement at such agility.

She and Batman briefly glided off the building and grappled their way straight to the other one. Catwoman began jump-climbing a water tower. She looked as though she was about to lean forward.

"She's not going to..." Robin doubted, but to her surprise Catwoman leaned forward to the point she let gravity overtake her. Just as Robin thought she was going to become street pizza, the burglar cracked her whip as it wrapped itself on a flagpole. She swung as though she were on a vine. Her whip came loose and she back flipped in midair until she landed her feet on another rooftop.

Robin was left speechless in her chase, she has never seen anyone perform a stunt like that, at least anyone without wings. The Dynamic Duo glided onto the roof as Catwoman stood at the edge, seemingly at a dead end.

"Alright, you better give up now, because there's nowhere to run." Robin ordered.

Catwoman chuckled, "I can tell you haven't been at it this long, I always find a means of escape." She leaned back and fell.

The two superheroes ran to the edge and saw Catwoman land on the roof of a coming bus. She stood, smiling smugly, waving her hand.

"Let's try and get after her," Robin want into a sprinting position before suddenly hearing what sounded like gunshots. Across from them was a building, a casino with the name Double Deck Casino flashed in light. "You think there's a..."

"Robbery," Batman confirmed.

"You think we should split up so one of us can go after Catwoman while the other stops the robbery?"

"No, we should both go and try to put a stop to what's going on there."

"But, what about Catwoman?"

"She's harmless, she's not willing to kill anyone for jewelry or money, but the people at the casino are." Batman pulled his grapple gun from his belt. "Come on."

Robin nodded and pulled her gun. The two fired and swung over to the building.

"Alright, everyone move it!" Barked one of the robbers. Four of them were keeping watch on the hostages in a corner as the boss stood by the door, flipping his coin as always, and the rest of the men rounding up all the money, or well half, as the boss wanted. Thankfully they were still able to carry much money, thanks to the hired help from the sewers.

Suddenly, four objects came flying in, hitting the head of each man guarding the hostages as the all fall unconscious.

"What the..." One goon looked to see all of the guards down, much to his surprise. Before he could fully comprehend the situation, something, no, someone came flying in, kicking him down to the ground.

"Batman!" The leader yelled.

Robin and her mentor turned their attention to the voice and Scootaloo looked on in horror at the man she saw as Batman grimaced. Standing there was a man wearing a two toned suit, on it's right a light grey, on it's left a raven black. But what had Scootaloo's attention the most was his face...his gruesome half face. It's right side was that of a handsome man with combed brown hair, and an eye that spoke of good. His face's left side was severely scarred, as though something happened that showed the ugly side of this man's nature. His scarred side had a stretched open mouth exposing his teeth, white messy hair, and a bulgy yellow eye that spoke of evil.

"Two-Face," Batman growled.

"I see you are quite devoted to protecting Gotham, just like I once was," Two-Face smiled, to Scootaloo he seemed almost nice. "But every time I'm doing something, you always show up and ruin everything!" He exclaimed angrily, this time speaking in a voice that sounded more menacing and scratchy. Robin was confused by the sudden mood change, it was as though this man had a split personality.

"Enough, Two-Face!" Batman said. "You're going back to Arkham."

Two-Face chuckled, "Oh, really? I don't think so."

Robin was startled as she heard a loud, sharp hissing breathing. She looked and her heart sank at the sudden figure standing across from them at the room with the gambling machines. Unlike the other beings she met in this world, this creature didn't seem human at all. His body was covered in green scales, his fingers tipped with sharp claws, he had eyes of hellish red, and teeth as sharp as knives. He looked as though he were some kind of crocodile.

"Looks like we have some bat-company." The creature growled in a deep voice that came from the throat.

"Yes, Croc. Why don't you take care of them?"

"With pleasure."

The crocodile man came charging at them. They leapt out of the way as he swung his claws.

"Why work with Two-Face, Killer Croc?" Batman asked.

"He hired me for good muscle," The man, now known to Robin as Killer Croc, said. He was muscly and tall as he towered a few inches over Batman. "Said he'd give me half the take. Heh heh heh heh." He chuckled. "Best part is, I get to knaw my teeth into you, Batman!"

Robin gulped, "Y-yeah, well..." She inhaled as she showed a face of determination. "You're gonna get your butt kicked by the Caped Crusader and the Girl Wonder."

"Wait, you're a girl?" Killer Croc asked, confused.

Scootaloo stared dumbfounded, "Seriously?"

"Never mind that," Croc growled. "I'm gonna rip you both to shreds."

The monster of a man swung his clawed hand at the duo, they dodged. Croc struck his hand forward at Batman, narrowly missing and receiving a punch to the face by the dark knight. The armoured glove were hard enough to make Croc feel the pain of the punch, but he ignored it and batted his arm at the Batman, sending him flying into a wall.

"Hey, boss should we help out Croc?" A henchman asked, carrying a bag of money over his shoulder.

Two-Face flipped his double headed coin, it landed on it's scarred side as he caught it. "Leave him, we got the money so let's go."

Meanwhile in the fight with Killer Croc, Robin searched her utility belt frantically, hoping to find some kind of gadget to help her and her mentor win this fight. She found her taser and smiled hopefully.

Killer Croc was slowly approaching the Dark Knight, growling. "I can't wait to feast on your bones."

"Well then how about you try a good taste of electricity!" Robin jumped up onto the criminal's back, hooking her arm across his neck. Due to Croc's strength compared to her lightness, the choke hold had no effect, but that wasn't the point. Robin jabbed her taser onto Croc's neck, sending electrical volts into his scaily skin. Croc roared in pain before throwing the Girl Wonder off his back. She gulped as he looked at her with eyes of fury.

"I'm gonna rip your skin off and watch you scream!"

"I don't think so," Batman said from behind Croc. Croc felt some kind of bubbly substance spray on his back before seeing Batman suddenly jump over him and landing protectively in front of Robin. The substance on Croc's back exploded, mocking him forward onto his knee. Batman upper cutted him, knocking him out.

"Are you alright?" He asked his ward.

Robin breathed, "Yeah, I'm fine." She looked around frantically, "Hey, where's Two-Face?"

She was right, Two-Face and his men were gone. The duo ran to the entrance door to see a truck hiss against the street, taking off. The vehicle had a paint job where it was half white and half black, Batman needed no further convincing it was Two-Face's truck.

"Well, he got away." Robin shook her head in disappointment.

"I wouldn't say so," Batman reached into his belt, pulling out some kind of remote, pressing the button. Robin rose an eyebrow, she opened her mouth to ask what her mentor meant, but was interrupted by a loud road hiss. From the corner of the building emerged the Batmobile, screeching to a halt in front of them.

"Get in," Batman ordered as he and Robin entered the Batmobile.

"Looks like we managed to pull it off," Two-Face commented, flipping his coin as a goon drove the truck. "Unfortunate we had to leave Croc behind."

The goon glanced at his rear view mirror, in surprise he eyed it, gulping. "Boss,"

"What is it?" The former DA eyed the rear view mirror on his side and gasped. "It's the damn bat!"

"W-what do we do?" Asked the worried driver.

Two-Face flipped his coin and saw it land on it's scarred side. He reached behind his seat. "Give me the gun!" One of his men handed him a tommy gun. "Keep driving." He told the driver. The supervillain leaned out of the side window, his gun aimed. He began spraying bullets at the pursuing Batmobile.

Robin jumped back in her seat as Two-Face starTed firing, but relaxed at seeing the bullets deflect off the car's armour and bullet proof glass. "So now what?"

Batman thought about using the Batmobile's homing missiles. They were always handy in a car chase, but with Two-Face leaning out the side window, that would risk the truck flipping over and landing on his side, killing him. There had to be some other way... That's it!

"I have an idea,"

Two-Face kept shooting his machine gun at the Batman's car, but to no avail. It wasn't long until he ran out of amo.

"Sonuva..." He leaned back into the truck, holding out his hand to his men in the back. "I need more ammo." His men quickly reached into the ammo bag, handing a clip to their boss.

"Alright, then." Two-Face loaded the clip into his gun. He leaned out his window again, to his surprise Batman and Robin were seen ejected from the Batmobile. They spread out their capes and leaned downward, gliding towards the truck.

Robin landed on Two-Face's door, opening it. "Hi," She yanked the scarred man by his collar, pulling him out of the vehicle and rolling onto the street. Batman did so as well to the driver before grabbing a hold of the wheel, sending the truck swirving off the road. Robin held on tight as the truck swirved until it came to an abrupt stop by crashing into the wall of a near building.

Robin breathed as she let go, firmly landing her feet on the still road. "Batman?"

Her boss emerged from the side of the truck. "I'm fine Robin." The rest of the goons came crawling out of the truck, grunting and groaning. They all heard the sound of sirens and looked to see police cars approaching. Batman and Robin looked at Two-Face out in the street as two cop cars were beginning to apprehend him and the rest were coming for the henchmen. The Dynamic Duo knew their work was done here. They grappled up the building, leaving the scene.

Chapter 16 Riddle Me This

"After a series of robberies, well known Gotham rogues Two-Face and Killer Croc were apprehended by the Batman and his new Boy Wonder. Now the two criminals have been returned to Arkham Asylum." Vickie Vale reported on the Gotham Gazzett.

"Girl Wonder, it's Girl Wonder." Scootaloo grumbled, sitting cross legged in front of the TV, arms crossed. "I'm glad we took down Two-Face and Killer Croc, but I can't believe Catwoman got away."

"Not to mention with the diamond necklace." Bruce agreed, sitting on his cushioned chair.

"I'm sure there will come a time when you catch Miss Kyle," Alfred reassured. Unfortunately to Bruce's knowledge, even though there were times when he caught up to Catwoman in a chase, she would still manage to escape police custody. Bruce sat on his chair with his legs crossed, a newspaper held in front of him. There was something odd about this paper, some of the letters were highlighted in green.

"However, one other notorious Rogue that is still at large is Edward Nygma, A.K.A. The Riddler. It has been a month since his escape from Arkham Asylum and if there are any who know his whereabouts, please contact the authorities-" Suddenly the TV screen was blurring, emmitting a static hiss.

"Hey, what's going to with the TV?" Scootaloo asked.

Before anyone could answer, the screen was no longer showing Vickie Vale, but instead a man dressed in a green suit and bawler hat, purple tie with a question mark imprinted on it, a purple domino mask, and holding a good question mark cane in purple gloved hands. A man all too familiar with Bruce.

"Hello Gotham and thank you for tuning in. It is I, Edward Nygma, or better yet known as the Riddler."

"Is this a show or something?" Scootaloo asked, but was shushed by Bruce.

"As you all may know, I have escaped from Arkham Asylum and here I am back at it again." Riddler announced with pride in his expression. "I am about to pull something off that none of you are aware of. Of course, I won't tell you about it, but if anyone, especially Batman because I know your watching, wants to play my game they will. I will start you off with two riddles. Riddle me this: you see me in the air, but I am not a kite, I am what’s created, when water refracts light. What am I? And what tropical hotspot can you get clubbed? Good luck and may the best man, me, win."

Bruce turned off the television.

"Another one of your enemies?" Scootaloo asked.

Bruce nodded, "Yes."

"I take it we're gonna go after him?"

Bruce nodded again. He eyed his paper and noticed the green letters. "Of course," He realized. "Alfred, get me a pen."

The butler came back and handed the pen to Bruce.

"What is it?" Scootaloo asked.

"The Riddler has highlighted certain letters in the newspaper in green." Bruce explained, writing down the letters. "Must've had some inside source see to that with all of today's copies." He finished writing down all the letters and was able to make out what it all read. "What's black and white and red all over?"

"Why that's an old, well known riddle." Alfred exclaimed. "The answer to that is simply a newspaper."

"But why would that be the answer if it's on a newspaper?" Scootaloo asked.

"Maybe it's supposed to mean something different." Bruce thought out loud. "As for the other riddles, 'you see me in the air, but I am not a kite, I am what’s created, when water refracts light. What tropical hotspot can you get clubbed?'" Bruce rubbed his chin in thought.

"I think the answer to the first one is a Rainbow." Scootaloo suggested, remembering a time when Rainbow Dash taught her how rainbows worked.

Bruce nodded, "Sounds like it, and as for the second one..."

Bruce typed in on the Batcomputer 'oasis' and 'club'. He searched, "There." He found. "The Oasis Club."

"You think that's the answer to the riddle?" Scootaloo asked.

"It's gotta be, what else could it mean?"

Scootaloo thought about the riddle and shrugged. "Okay, you could be right."

"Suit up, now. It's time for us to go."

Scootaloo rose an eyebrow, "I thought we only to out at night."

"At a time like this, we don't have much choice." Bruce stated. "Plus there are times with a few exceptions."

Scootaloo shrugged, "Alright then,".

It was midday as the Batmobile sped through Gotham. To Scootaloo this felt odd, considering they were usually out in the night and now it's broad daylight. In time they reached the Oasis Club. The club was closed and unoccupied. They snuck to the backdoor in the back alley.

"Wait, are we breaking in?" Robin asked, concerned.

"We're vigilantes, we have to do what is necessary to protect Gotham." Batman explained as he was picking the lock. "There," He succeeded. He opened the door, "Let's go."

Robin signed as she snuck in behind her mentor. They made their way into the dark, empty club.

"Doesn't look like anyone's here." Robin said.

"Look around, see if you can find anything."

Robin nodded as they both began their search. The girl looked around the place until a green color caught her eye. Sitting on the table was a green envelope with a question mark on it. "I found something," She called, opening the envelope. "Where does the chess piece go to get poked?" She read aloud, "I don't get it."

Batman placed a finger against his ear, "Oracle, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear," Came Oracle's voice. "What do you need?"

"Me and Robin are searching for the Riddler, we believe the riddle we found could lead to somewhere important."

"What's the riddle?"

"Where does the chess piece go to get poked?"

"Sounds weird, but then since when do these riddles make sense? I'll search for any location regarding that riddle."

"Thanks, Oracle. Batman out."

"So now what?" Robin asked.

"We patrol the city, hopefully we'll find any sign of the Riddler."

Robin sighed. Thirty minutes of riding in the Batmobile, patroling the city and still no sign of Riddler. They checked any location he could strike, such as a puzzle factory or a word game store. Nothing.

"Batman, I think I found something." Oracle's face appeared on the screen under the dashboard.

"What is it, Oracle?" Batman asked.

"I don't know if this is it, but there is a place called Spike's Pawn Shop."

"Sounds like it could be our place." Robin suggested, Batman nodded.

"I'll send you the coordinates."

"Thanks, Oracle." Batman said as he turned a street.

The Dynamic Duo arrived at Spike's Pawn Shop, only just like the last destination, there was nothing to find except for a riddle. Scootaloo thought that this was starting to get repetitive, the riddle said "Where does wood go to get butchered?" With help from Oracle searching for anything related, they knew they were supposed to go to Butch's Wood Shop. Upon arrival, they found another riddle, much to Robin's annoyance, but Batman, being the one with the longest experience, insisted they keep following the riddles. They were searching all day and Scootaloo was getting tired. This one led them to the First National Bank. That has to be the place where Riddler would strike, right?

Upon arrival Batman and Robin were met by Harvey Bullock standing at the entrance, cigar in mouth, green envelope in hand.

"Lieutenant." Batman addressed.

"Hey, Batman. The lady at the front desk said some guy, probably working for the Riddler, showed up here." He puffed his cigar, holding out the envelope. "Told her to call the police and give this to them."

Robin was starting to get really annoyed, these riddles don't seem to lead anywhere. Batman took the envelope and opened it. "What tropical hotspot can you get clubbed?"

What? "Is that the same riddle from earlier?" Robin asked hysterically. Okay, she wasn't annoyed anymore, She was pissed.

"There's another riddle." Batman said. "What has no end and never stops?"

"Are we going in circles?" Robin asked out loud.

"Circles." Batman muttered in thought. That does sound like the answer, but what else could it mean? Unless... "Oracle, can you read me?"

"What is it?"

"I need you to map out every location we've been to. Connect them all together and see if they make a shape."

"Hang on one second." Oracle said. After a few moments, she responded back again. "Done."

"Now, tell me what's in the center."

Robin shrugged. "What are you up to?"

"Okay," Oracle said. "In the center is the Gotham Art Museum."

"Thanks, Batman out." He hung up the call. "Bullock, I need you to send a squad down to the Gotham Art Museum."

Bullock nodded, "I'll get my men down there pronto."

"Wait a minute, Batman." Robin urged as she and her boss got in the Batmobile. "What makes you think it's an art museum?"

"The Riddler obviously intended us to go in a circle," Batman explained. "But what we didn't know was that he was planning to strike at it's center, the Gotham Art Museum."

Robin shrugged, "Okay, but why that location specifically?"

"Remember back to two of the first riddles, 'you see me in the air, but I am not a kite, I am what’s created, when water refracts light' and 'what's black and white and red all over?' Both those riddles are connected, the first means a rainbow, the second one usually means a newspaper, but it's not."

"Huh?"

"Riddler was refering to a famous art piece, a woodblock print made from ebony and pine."

"Black and white wood," Robin believed she was starting to catch on.

"Exactly, and it's colored with different shades of red."

Dusk was beginning to cover the Gotham Art Museum and the rest of the city. Inside hung the pine and ebony woodblock print, different shades of red painted on it in a rainbow patern.

"There it is," Riddler and his goons approached.

"Hopefully Batman doesn't show up." One goan said.

"Nonsense, I've concocted a game that will leave Batman chasing geese." Riddler stated proudly. "Riddle me this: Who is the greatest genius in all of Gotham?"

"It's not the Riddler!" They all heard a boyish, girl voice call. Standing at the window was none other than the new Robin, and standing beside her was...

"Batman!" Riddler exclaimed, "But, how?"

"Your last riddle, Nygma." Batman answered. "It gave away your position. We both know you couldn't resist leaving behind some kind of clue as to where you are."

Riddler sighed, his face turning from one of frustration to one of calmness. He smiled faintly. "And you continue to prove you are a worthy opponent, Batman. Always willing to play my games and solve my riddles." His smile disappeared as he pointed his question mark cane. "But enough of this, deal with them as I make my escape."

Riddler sprinted as Batman dived towards the thugs, knocking a number of them over. Robin leapt off the ledge, landing and jump flipping off a goon, kicking him in the gut, and delivering an uppercut. As Riddler was making his way to the exit, Robin withdrew from her belt a bolas, to which she threw at the criminal, wrapping around him like snakes, knocking him to the floor.

Robin saw the fight with Batman and the goons and ran her way. She front flipped over a thug, kicking him backwards.

"Didn't think I'd let you have all the fun, right?" Robin smirked.

"Shut up and fight," Batman ordered as he punched an oncoming goon.

"No problem!" She kick flipped another goon.

A goon kicked his leg towards the Dark Knight, in response Batman grabbed a hold of it coming his way. He returned the favors by kicking his foot into the thug's stomach, sending him on the ground. Another thug came running up behind Batman, but failed as Batman grabbed him by the shoulders, throwing him against the other henchmen.

Robin jump kicked one goon in the face, knocking him down. Another thug came in, throwing a punch, but Robin dodged. "Missed me," The thug groaned as he threw another failed punch, "Missed again." Another missed punch. "Wow, you are slow." Robin grinned.

The thug roared. He tried locking his arms around the girl, but she jumped over him, kicking him in the back, sending him into Batman's oncoming fist.

"Well, that was fun." Robin stretched once all the thugs were down. The Riddler struggled as he was laying on the floor, tied up. "Hey, riddle me this," She called. "Who just got his butt kicked by the Dynamic Duo? You."

Chapter 17 Lightning From Olympus

Scootaloo woke up from a long, heavy sleep. Yesterday she decided to call it a day after she and Bruce captured the Riddler, she felt exhausted from tracking those riddles all day. The pony turned human made her way down to the kitchen where Bruce and Alfred were waiting.

"Hey, Bruce. How was crime fighting last night?" She sat down where a plate of pancakes were set before her.

"Nothing much went on, most of it was just petty crimes."

Scootaloo swallows a bite of her food, "The past three days have been something with us capturing supervillains, I wonder what tonight will be like."

Alfred Scootaloo a cup of orange juice. "Perhaps there will be another escaped Arkham inmate."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you that. What is Arkham? I've heard it mentioned a few times. Is it like a prison or something?" Scootaloo asked.

Bruce shook his head, "No, Arkham Asylum is a mental hospital for the criminally insane."

"Is it where you send some of your enemies?"

Bruce nodded, "Only the insane ones. It's located on the outskirts of Gotham."

"Unfortunately it's been something of controversy, but rightfully so." Alfred commented.

"Why's that?" Scootaloo asked, taking another bite of her pancakes.

"Because it has the highest number of escapes in the country." Bruce answered. "It's often been criticized for it's careless and incompetent security. It's been estimated that about every week a patient manages to escape."

"That sounds bad," Scootaloo commented.

"It's very bad." Bruce stated.

"So, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, Killer Croc, and Riddler, are they all insane?"

"They are," Bruce confirmed. "Poison Ivy prefers plants over people, so much so she is willing to kill anyone for the sake of a plant's survival."

Scootaloo gulped, Wow, not even Fluttershy would be willing to go that low for an animal.

"Killer Croc has also had cases where he's eaten people."

"Eaten people?" Scootaloo exclaimed.

Bruce nodded, "He was born with a rare skin condition that made him look as though he had the skin of a crocodile. He's adopted animalistic behaviors and has become less human."

"Imagine growing up like that," Scootaloo said.

"Croc has never had such a good childhood. The Riddler is also noted as insane, he has this compulsive need to leave some sort of clue at the end of his crimes. It's an obsession he has and he is willing to play mind games with people, even if it hurts or kills them."

And I didn't know eggheads can be so threatening. Scootaloo mentally commented. "And Two-Face?"

"Two-Face has a split personality. He's half good and half evil. His good side represents Harvey Dent, the man he was before he became a criminal."

Scoots thought for a minute, "You have so many enemies, but do you have an arch-enemy?"

Bruce paused and put his head into thought. He eyed Alfred who nodded in a way that told him he should at least mention him. Bruce signed. "I do, but you never met him before."

Scootaloo leaned closer on the table, "Who is he?"

"He's called the Joker." Bruce said in a voice as though he were speaking the name of the devil himself.

Scoots processed the name for a moment. "The Joker?" Didn't sound all that threatening.

Bruce nodded, "He is the one who escapes Arkham the most. He's my most dangerous enemy. He is responsible for the deaths of countless innocents."

Scootaloo's eyes grew, "Sweet Celestia, what's his real name?"

"It's unknown, as well as his age. One thing I do know about his past is that he was once part of a gang where he donned the persona of the Red Hood." Bruce explained. "I don't know much, but it seemed as though different individuals were placed under the mantle of the Red Hood to put blame for heists."

"Did you ever meet him as the Red Hood?"

"Once." Bruce sipped his coffee. "Unfortunately he fell into a vat of chemicals, which disfigured him and drove him insane."

"And that's how he became the Joker?"

"Yes."

Scootaloo sighed, "When do you think we'll run into him?"

"Normally he escapes from Arkham about once or twice a month. It may be somewhat soon."

Scoots smiled, she couldn't wait. It would be fun to square off with Batman's arch-nemesis.

Robin breathed in the night air. She stood beside her mentor on a rooftop overlooking Gotham City, their capes flowing in the winds. Tonight was going to have some sort of surprise, she could feel it.

"Batman, there's a problem." Oracle's voice warned over the radio.

"What is it?" Batman answered.

"City Hall is under siege."

"Is it the Joker?" Robin asked. Batman sensed the eagerness in her voice.

"No, but it is another criminal you haven't encountered yet."

"Who?" Batman asked.

"Maxie Zeus. He and his men stormed city hall, it seems as though they want to take it over."

"Have the police arrived?"

"Yes, they surrounded the building. They are lead by Bullock."

"Contact your father, get him to tell Bullock not to engage, there could be hostages." Batman ordered. He knew Bullock was rational enough to not do anything that could put potential hostages in danger, but still. He removed His finger from his hear, hanging up. He dyed his young partner. The sense of eagerness she had when she asked if it was the Joker. Chances are she asked, because they spoke about him this morning, but that hopeful excitement in her voice seemed to be something more, something more dangerous. He'll focus on it later, right now they have a situation to deal with.

"No one engage, I repeat no one engage, Commissioner Gordon's Orders." Bullock stated on his walkie talkie.

"Lieutenant," Batman's voice came over his shoulder.

"Bats, glad you showed up."

"What's the situation?"

"Well, Maxie Zeus has taken City Hall. Some of the staff were able to get out, but some not so lucky. What's worse is the mayor's being held hostage."

"How did he take over City Hall?" Robin asked.

"Used his electric staff, the thing shoots lightning out of it."

Huh, that actually sounds kinda cool. Robin thought positively.

"Are there any demands?" Batman asked.

Bullock shook his head, "Not yet."

Just then, as if on que, Maxie Zeus opened the doors of the office balcony. Robin took a set of binoculars from her belt to get a better look at the villain. He had brown hair and a beard, he wore a white toga with a red sash hung over his shoulder, on his head a gold leaf crown sat and in his hand a gold lightning staff. He walked onto the balcony in a manner as though he were a king before an audience.

The police aimed their guns, but Bullock quickly told them to hold their fire.

"Mortals!" Maxie called in a voice that sounded so mighty and royal. "I, Maxie Zeus, have claimed your City Hall. I hereby decree it to be my new Olympus. I, as your god, shall rule over ye. I expect ye all to stand under my submission."

"He's gotta be kidding." Robin deadpanned.

"If ye resist, I shall call upon my thunderbolts to smite ye!" He rose his staff above his head for emphasis.

"There's no way he'd have men to be crazy enough to do this." Bullock exclaimed.

"He must have convinced them out of fear." Batman theorized.

"So now what?" Robin asked.

"Bullock, you keep him distracted while Robin and I sneak in."

Bullock nodded, Batman and Robin grappled up the nearest building.

"So, this Maxie Zeus guy, is he actually a god?" Robin asked, curious. That would be cool to have a god villain.

"No," Batman answered. "Maximilian Zeus is a schizophrenic, delusional enough to believe he is a reincarnation of Zeus, a god from Greek Mythology."

"He sounds pretty weird." Robin commented.

"He's usually not as much of a threat as the Joker or Two-Face, but he's still dangerous. No matter what, stick by me."

Robin nodded, "You got it." The two leapt off the roof, spreading their capes. The glided silently beside the City Hall, Robin silently praying no one would notice them. The landed at the back, creeping in through the back door.

Outside, Harvey Bullock withdrew a megaphone. "Uh, oh mighty Zeus. We, uh, we will submit to your rule."

All the police officers looked at the lieutenant confusingly.

"Wise choice, mortal." Maxie Zeus called out.

"But since we, uh, are following your rules, any chance you could uh, tell us what new rules there are?" Harvey sweated.

Maxie thought for a moment, "Well, alright, considering it would be fair enough to inform my mortal subjects of my new laws."

Meanwhile as Maxie Zeus was laying down his new policies, Batman and Robin used their detective vision to see if there were any enemies in sight. Armed thugs patrolled the area as hostages were kneeling in a corner, one of those hostages the Mayor.

"How do we approach this?" Robin asked quietly.

"It would be too dangerous to move in head on, might get the hostages hurt, or worse." Batman looked up and saw gargoyles attached to the higher walls. "We'll have to use stealth." He pointed, "We'll use those gargoyles as vantage points. Remember, take your enemies out silently, no noise."

Robin nodded, "Sure thing." She and Batman grappled to separate vantage points. Scootaloo stood in a kneeling position atop a gargoyle, looking down over the room of patrolling guards. "Okay, Scoots, remember your training." She muttered to herself.

With her detective vision, she was able to spot a lone guard standing on a balcony, his back turned. Scootaloo breathed. She leapt off the vantage point as she glided across the room. She landed swiftly on the balcony's edge quietly. The guard still had his back turned. Robin jumped off the edge, booking her arm around the that's neck in a choke hold, her other hand over his mouth to prevent him calling for help. He moaned as he tried screaming to the others, but his eyes were getting heavy and his body went limp. Robin let go as he lay on the ground, unconscious.

She grappled to another gargoyle, looking for her next target.

"Everyone, quick. We got a man down over here!" Scootaloo looked to see several guards approaching an unconscious body laying on the floor. She smirked as she knew who was responsible. "Oh shit, he's out cold." The thug cursed. "Everyone spread out, we got Batman here." Robin smiled further hearing the nervousness in the man's voice.

She saw another guard at a car off corner, she glided down and landed right behind him. Quickly she silently held him in a choke hold, knocking him out. She quickly grappled up to another vantage point before anyone could notice her. This stealth was starting to get really fun.

"Leave me alone, Batman, please?"

Robin looked down to see another thug right below her. She slid off her gargoyle, spreading her cape, giving her a soft, quiet landing. She took care of him in a choke hold, and left him to lay there unconscious. Upon returning to her gargoyle, she saw a thug standing beside a desk. Robin glided off her vantage point and landed behind the desk without the guard noticing. She immediately grabbed him in a choke hold, knocking him out. This was really exciting until she heard the sound of a gun cranking behind her.

"There you are, you little bitch."

She turned around to see a goon standing there with his gun pointed towards her. Robin gulped, fearing what would happen when he opened fire. Suddenly a dark figure came down and lifted the guy, screaming, off of the ground, upward. Robin looked up to see her boss holding the man by the neck, before dropping him. He screamed as he fell until his falling stopped abruptly, for he was hanging by his feat tied to a rope.

Batman landed swiftly in front of Robin. "Thanks."

"You haven't been paying attention to your environment." Batman scolded.

Robin lowered her head, "I'm sorry about that."

"This is your first time using stealth, I'll let it slide for now. Although you were lucky I was here at the last minute."

Robin sighed, "So, is that all the goons?"

Batman nodded, "Yes. Let's go finish off Maxie Zeus."

"And for my next decree, all mortals are expected to bow before I, Zeus, whenever they are in my graceful, almighty presence." Maxie Zeus called out to the overlooking view of officers. "And finally..."

Before he could finish, he heard a loud bang against something blunt. Maxie turned around, gasping at the sight of Batman and Robin over a kicked down door.

"It's over, Zeus." Batman growled.

"If it isn't that infernal demon of Hades!" Exclaimed Zeus. He pointed his staff, "I hereby call upon my thunderbolts to smite ye from where ye stand."

"Move!" Batman loudly warned Robin as the two leapt out of the way of an oncoming lightning bolt from the tip of the staff. Maxie Zeus fired another lightning bolt at the direction of Robin, thankfully missing. At the corner of his eye, Batman ran towards him. Maxie turned and held up his staff to block his attacker. Batman kneed him in the stomach, making Zeus let go of his staff, resulting in Batman braking it against his knee.

Robin tackled the greek villain, holding him into the floor, cuffing him.

"Blast!" Maxie cursed. "These infernal chains are preventing me from using my power! Young lad..."

"Lass." Robin corrected, really getting annoyed by everyone calling her a boy.

"I order you to release me from these bonds."

"How about no?" She smirked.

Maxie Zeus growled, "You dare defy a god? How dare ye! If these bonds which the bat-demon calls 'bat-cuffs' were not on me, I'd smite ye from where he stand."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Robin yanked the criminal up from the floor, holding him by the bonded arms. "Hopefully they'll set up your cell to fit with your godly standards."

Chapter 18 Slow Burn

Scootaloo was sleeping peacefully until she awoke abruptly to the sound of knocking on her door. "Ms. Scootaloo, breakfast is ready." Called Alfred.

Scootaloo yawned as she stretched out her arms, "I'll be right there, Alfred."

She hopped off her bed, making her way to the kitchen. "Morning Bruce, Alfred."

Bruce nodded, "Morning."

Scootaloo sat at the table, before her sat a plate of eggs, she began to dig in.

"I have something for you." Bruce said.

Scoots gulped her food, "What is it?" She asked, excitedly.

Bruce reached down beside his chair, emerging with a red folder.

"What's that?"

"It's a scrapbook. I thought you'd like to keep something to hold onto memories of being Robin."

Scootaloo smiled, "Really?"

Bruce nodded, "Yup, in fact I've been saving newspapers from your last nights."

"Awesome!" Scoots exclaimed. "Do you have a scrapbook?"

Bruce shook his head, "No, but I have old case files."

"Even for your first case?" Scootaloo beamed.

Bruce chuckled, "Yes, I'll show you after breakfast." Bruce promised. Scoots has never eaten her meal so fast.

Once they were finished eating, the two made their way down to the Batcave. Once they arrived, Bruce lead Scootaloo to a corner in the cave. It had a number of file cabinets and a desk against the rock wall, with a lamp standing atop of it. Bruce scanned the years labeled on each case file until he found the year indicating his first. He slide open the top drawer, Bruce always preceded to organize his cases from top to bottom. He cracked through each case file until he found the one labeled Case #1 May 27.

"Here," He pulled out the file, setting it on the desk. "This should be my first case, I was only Batman for two months."

"Awesome," Scootaloo beamed as she sat at the desk, looking over the file. It was titled Chemical Syndicate. The case file reported Batman had to solve a murder of one Lambert, a CEO of ACE Chemicals. One of the suspects was a man named Steven Crane, a business partner, but he ended up getting murdered as well. The last suspect was another business partner, Alfred Stryker. Scootaloo chuckled at how he and their Alfred had the same first name. He turned out to be the murderer, because he wanted to own the company all to himself. Thankfully Batman apprehended him and he was sent off to Blackgate Prison.

"Heh, so you were a detective even in your early days." Scootaloo remarked.

Bruce shrugged, "When you travel across the world to be a crime fighter, detective work is something to pick up on."

Scootaloo's eyes grew, "You traveled across the world?"

"It's how I trained. In my travels I learned various fighting styles, science in mechanics, biology, and chemistry. A also learned different languages such as Spanish, French, Japanese, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Korean, Dutch, Swedish, and many others."

"Wow, you know a lot more things than I do." Scootaloo smiled brightly. "You gotta teach me other languages."

"That would take some time, but I can someday. Maybe you'd like to hear about my time in the Himalayas." Bruce offered.

"That would be cool, but what is the Himalayas?" Scootaloo asked. Bruce chuckled.

Now came the time of night in Gotham City. Batman and Robin were patrolling the city, running across rooftops, stopping any crime they came across. They came by a rooftop to stop and take a rest. Robin sat at the edge of the building, her legs dangling over, Batman standing beside her, his cape flowing in the wind.

"Well, aside from a few petty crimes, I don't think there's much going on tonight." Robin remarked.

"I don't think so, anything could happen." Batman disagreed.

Robin shrugged her shoulder, but jumped back at the sound of an explosion. She stood up quickly to see a large fire above rooftops coming from a few blocks down across from them. The Dynamic Duo quickly grappled to the fire. Upon arrival, the building was already engulfed in red flames. They already passed that building not long ago and from it's prior condition they knew it was abandoned, so they did not have to worry about anyone inside getting hurt.

"Who did this?" Scootaloo asked aloud. From the inferno flames emerged a figure, a flying figure. Scoots inspected him further, he wore a grey skin tight suit, his mask looked as though it were the head of a bug, he held a large flamethrower in his hand and a wing-jetpack held him floating in midair.

"Firefly." Batman grimaced.

"Batman." Firefly said in a voice sounding like he was gargling sand paper. "I had no idea you and your new boy wonder would be here at this moment."

"Girl," Robin muttered.

"I'd say it's nice to see you, but you're too much of a pain in my ass!" Firefly had an accent that sounded like Applejack's, but it had a high insanity to it.

"We're giving you one chance to surrender." Batman growled.

"Surrender? HA HA HA HE HE HAAA!" Even his laugh sounded uncomfortable. "Maybe instead you'd settle for a quick burn!" He pointed his flamethrower, and fire immediately shot in their direction. Batman quickly used his cape to cover himself and Robin as the fire burned off the leather of the cape.

Firefly immediately soared, hoping to escape, but Batman and Robin were on his tale. Inside Robin was having mixed feelings. Wow! That guy has a gun that can shoot fire? Fire?! That's just so awesome! But on the other hand, I almost died. She hook her head out of the thought and put her focus back on the exciting chase. The excitement was starting to rise in her chest as it made her pick up more speed.

Firefly chucked an object at the two, they leapt out of the way as it came towards them. Robin had no idea what it was, but she had a feeling it wasn't good. The object exploded into flames.

He has fire bombs? That is so cool! Focus Robin, focus! Robin scolded herself.

Batman and Robin jumped off a building as they glided after the flying pyromaniac. Firefly turned around and quickly fired his flamethrower. Batman and Robin just barely dodging the flames. Robin felt the wave of heat radiate to her, but thankfully managed to be unburned by the flames.

"Alright, Dynamic Duo, let's see how you handle this." Firefly nose dived downward. Batman and Robin landed on a near rooftop as Firefly had escaped their sight.

"Where did he go?" Robin exclaimed.

Quickly Firefly rose up from behind the building. "Right here, birdy." The maniac shot his flames at the two superheroes. They quickly ran away as the oncoming flames chased them until they grappled up behind the cover of a billboard. "You can run, but you can't hide!" Firefly kept on shooting his flamethrower at the sign. Robin felt that it was getting warmer.

"Robin, glide behind that shed!" Batman ordered. Robin looked to see a lone shed standing on the roof. She quickly leapt off the sign, gliding for cover behind the shed. Batman took from his belt his concussion detonator. With it, He can stun Firefly long enough to fire an electric bat-net at him. He dropped under the sign, throwing the gadget at the villain. The detonator hit against Firefly's chest. Before he could react, it exploded into a small flash.

"Aagghh!!" He yelled.

Just before Batman could prepare his net gun, a line was fired at the villain. He looked over his shoulder to see Robin zooming through the air, holding her grapple gun. "I got him!"

"Robin! Don't!" Batman warned, but was too late. Robin had latched herself into Firefly. They struggled as Firefly tried launched forward. He was flying and spinning, hoping to get the little brat to let go, but she was holding on tight. Firefly hurled his front against a building, the suit was protecting him and Robin held onto his back as her arms hooked him in a hard choke hold.

Eventually, the crashed into the surface of a roof, rolling on impact. Robin lost her grip and was flat on her back. Firefly stumbled as he tried to get up, he pointed his weapon towards her. "So kid, how would you like to die, hmm? I could disintegrate you until your burned to the bone, or I could just melt your face off. Yes, I'll go with melting your face off."

This is it, this appeared to be the end. Scootaloo squinted her eyes shut, bracing for the inevitable. Before she could meet her fate, a batarang knocked the flamethrower out of Firefly's hand. Scoots turned her head to see Batman hold up an object, looking somewhat identical to his grapple gun. Out of it sprung a net, wrapping itself around Firefly, knocking him to the ground. He struggled in the net, cursing Batman, but was interrupted by the surge of electricity coming from the net, ending with him unconcious.

Robin sighed in relief. She stood up, holding her hand in a high five gesture. "Looks like another awesome job by Batman and his..." She lowered her hand as her stomach was dropping once she looked at him. Bruce was giving her a face that she thought he only gave to criminals.

"Back there, what were you thinking?" He exclaimed angrily.

Scootaloo gulped, "I was...trying to stop him."

"I had it handled. What was your plan anyway? You were going to grapple onto him and then what?" Batman yelled. Scootaloo shrunk in her spot. "You could have gotten yourself killed."

"Isn't...isn't that what heroes do? Put themselves in situations where they might get hurt?" Robin argued.

"Yes, but we're supposed to plan ahead so things don't go wrong. So others won't get hurt. What you did back there, it wasn't heroic, it was stupid."

Scootaloo opened her mouth to say something, but the glare Batman was giving her made it hard to think of a counter argument at this point. She lowered her head and sighed. "I'm sorry. It was dumb."

"It was. Come on, let's take Firefly to GCPD."

Meanwhile on the outskirts of Gotham, Arkham Asylum stood. Inside it housed some of the most dangerous criminals in the world. Particularly one criminal, a mastermind who has done many things that ended up making him more feared than the Batman, even by other criminals. He has spent the past month planning a new scheme to bring onto Gotham. A scheme that required the helping hand of two other criminals currently held within the asylum. One a self proclaimed master of fear, the other a schizophrenic hypnotist with a Wonderland persona. The Joker laughed as he felt it was time to set his plan into action.

Chapter 19 Arkham Breakout

The sun was beginning to set onto the city of Gotham, it's orange glow casting over it. On it's outskirts was nothing but forest, and in that forest drive a lone red car. According to her puddin, Harleen Quinzel was to break him and his two, 'friends' to put it loosely, by nightfall. She figured now was a right time to get started. While time was on her hands, she remained in the speed limit so she wouldn't attract any attention.

Coming up on her was the sign, ARKHAM ASYLUM ONE MILE. At this point she parked her car backwards in a clearing, she turned off the lights hoping no one would see it. Harleen took her makeup kit from her glove box, humming as she applied it to her face. First her white face makeup, then her black eye makeup, then her black-red lipstick for a finishing touch.

She began to undress out of her clothes, consisting of a white blouse and blue jeans. The main purpose of those clothes was to make her look less inconspicuous in the city, but now was the time to change into her real outfit, which was surprisingly a red and black jester suit, hat, and black domino mask. Now she was the infamous Harley Quinn. She exited her car, pulling her shoulder bag from her trunk.

Harley skipped the rest of the way through the woods, making sure to stay behind the trees for cover from any oncoming cars. Eventually, Harley Quinn reached the all too familiar structure she once worked at as a psychiatrist: Arkham Asylum. She made her way to the metal gate surrounding the asylum; she reached into her bag, pulling out a large pair of clippers, using them to create a big enough opening in the gate for her to fit through.

Harley sprinted silently to the building, making her way quickly to a window. She used a pry bar from her bag to tear open the window, crawling her way in and now finding herself in a janitor's closet. The clown girl picked the lock on the door, eventually being able to open it with no issue.

Harley peeked her make up white face, scanning the hallway. Down the corridor was a guard patrolling the hall. From her bag, Harley grabbed a rubber chicken containing a blunt brick inside it. She snuck her way silently behind the guard. Upon reaching him, she poked him on the shoulder.

"You who," She said.

"Whah..." The guard turned, but was quickly met in the face with the rubber chicken. His limp body fell to the ground. She hunched down, taking the security may card from his pocket. Next stop was the surveillance room. There were multiple surveillance rooms in the asylum, but the one she needed to go to was the one overlooking the cell blocks she needed to enter.

Harley placed the chicken back in her bag, now skipping her way down the hall. After silently knocking out a few guards she made her way to the surveillance room. She crept along the wall, slightly opening the door. All the guards were focusing on the monitors, not a single one noticing her. Quinn pulled a purple ball from her bag, rolling it into the room before silently shutting the door.

Inside the room, the guards heard the sound of something rolling and looked down to see it. "What the..." One guard managed to say before the ball exploded into gas. All the guards coughed, accidently inhaling the gas until they all began to feel dizzy and fall into an unconscious sleep.

Soon Harley found her way to the first cell block she needed to go. She skipped down the hallway, scanning the names on each metal door. She passed by names such as CORNELIUS STIRK, VICTOR ZSASZ, ROMAN SIONIS, JULIAN DAY, and VICTOR FRIES until finally finding the two names she needed, JERVIS TETCH and JOHNATHAN CRANE. First she lightly knocked on Tetch's door, peaking through the window.

"You in there, Jervis?"

Inside a short man, wearing a top hat made from newspaper, sat cross legged on his bed, reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The short man looked up from the book, smiling at the former doctor.

"Miss Quinn," He exclaimed, closing the book. "O frabjous day, callooh callay!"

"Let's get ya outta there, ol' Jervy." Harley whispered, sliding the stolen key card into the lock. The door gave off a loud buzz, unlocking. Harley pulled it open to see the man standing at the doorway. Jervis was so short, his body was only high enough to reach Harley's waist.

"Thank you for freeing me from my oh so dreadful prison, Miss Quinn." Thanked Jervis. "I feared Time himself would make this the equivalent of the endless tea time, but it seems I was oh so wrong. Speaking of fear..."

Harley Quinn nodded in understanding, turning and unlocking the door of Johnathan Crane, the Scarecrow. Dr. Crane was standing at the doorway prepared. "Do you have what I require?"

Harley nodded, "Uh huh." She pulled from her bag the infamous Scarecrow mask, pointed hat and syringe glove and viles filled with his fear toxin. She handed them to Crane. "Now let's go free Mistah J." Harley smiled.

Crane nodded, dawning his mask over his head.

"Hey!" A guard yelled from down the hall, drawing his gun. "Freeze!"

Scarecrow was quick to throw one of his viles to the guard's feet, exploding into gas, surrounding him. The man was in a fit of coughing, but once his eyes adjusted to the gas, he began to see grotesque creatures of large size pulled from nightmares appear before him.

"No!" He yelled in fear. "Get away! Get away!" He began shooting at the creatures, but in actuality he was shooting at nothing, for it was all a hallucination by the gas. The inmates were lucky to have metal cell doors protecting them and Harley, John, and Jervis were already gone.

"Now, Miss Quinn," Jervis spoke, donning his Mad Hatter hat from Harley's bag. "Have you achieved what we need in order to free our dear friend, Joker?"

Harley nodded, "Mhmm, this keycard should do the trick." She held up the keycard between her fingers.

"I think we may need a distraction," Scarecrow suggested. "That way we can keep the guards busy while we release Joker."

"I think I may have an idea," Mad Hatter grinned sinisterly, rubbing his hands.

The day was seemingly quiet to the lone guard as he whistled while patrolling the asylum hallways. Everything see.ed peaceful until he turned a corner, a hand grabbing him by the mouth and his arms being held behind his back. He struggled, feeling his captive's grip loosen until he felt some kind of card object placed on his left ear. His mind went blank and his struggling stopped.

"That's better," Mad Hatter grinned, Scarecrow releasing the guard. "You are under my control now,"

"I am under your control now," The guard said in a monotone voice.

"Excellent," Jervis beamed. "Now, here's what I'd like you to do..."

"Oh man," A guard sighed as he kneeled down to the deceased body of a guard. He and his friend were called down to investigate a call block shooting to find a guard shooting up the hallway in a state of panic. The two guards was to it that he was put down so he wouldn't hurt anyone, but felt sympathy for they had a feeling of who did this, considering the perpetrator had his cell door open, as well as another.

Just when he was about to report the incident on his walkie talkie, a voice began speaking over it. "All units, there is a riot going on at the south cell block, all units please respond."

"Aw shit!" The guard cursed as he and his friend quickly made their way to the area of disturbance.

"Solomon Gruny born on a Monday!" Grundy shouted, smashing away a row of guards.

"Stop hurting my friend!" Another inmate almost the size of Grundy shouted, an inmate known as Amygdala.

The south cell block was where Arkham kept it's strongest inmates. They were at least fortunate enough that the mind controlled guard only managed to release two until meeting his untimely end at the hands of an angry Grundy.

As the guards were busy with the incident in the south cell block, Harley Quinn, Mad Hatter, and Scarecrow managed to make their way to Joker's cell. Harley used the keycard to unlock the cell door, opening it to smile brightly at the clown sitting in his bed, held in a straight jacket.

"Harley, glad you finally made it, ha." Joker smiled. "Now would you be so kind to remove this straight jacket? I got an itch on my bum and I can't reach it."

Harley smiled seductively, "I can scratch your bum, Mistah J." Joker glared, making Harley's smile disappear quickly, gulping. "I'll get you outta that straight jacket right away, sir."

Joker smiled, "Excellent, Harley. You've always been a good help to me."

Mad Hatter and Scarecrow glanced at each other, knowing that Harley Quinn is nothing more that hired help to Joker. Mad Hatter was one of the villains that truly felt sympathy for Quinn, but Scarecrow could care less.

"Now, gentlemen," Joker said, now released from the jacket. "Let's make like a tree and leave. HA HEH HA!"

Harley led the trio to the forest destination where she kept her car. She opened the trunk, pulling three suit cases for each man. Mad Hatter's was a bright green jacket, orange and grey checkered pants, and an orange vest shirt. Scarecrow's was a tattered brown suit jacket, black pants, and a noose to wear around his neck. As for Joker's, it was a purple tail coat and pants, light pink gloves, and a green vest shirt.

Now that everyone was all dressed, they made their way into the car. Scarecrow and Mad Hatter sitting in the back and Harley and Joker at the front. Harley opened the door to the passenger seat for Joker as though she were a limo driver, to which Joker happily obliged, Mad Hatter and Scarecrow rolling their eyes.

"Get ready, Gotham, because we are about to give you the greatest show you've ever seen! HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Joker laughed loudly as the car drove off to the city.

Chapter 21

Batman and Robin stood atop a roof, the wind flowing their capes as they looked downward across to a club. Inside loud music could be heard humming and thumping through the walls, multi-colored lights flashing through the windows brought life to the place. It made Scootaloo think this was a kind of place Pinkie Pie would enjoy, being the party pony she was.

"You think this guy might tell us something?" The Girl Wonder asked her mentor.

"Harry Madison worked for Joker for over two years now. There's a chance he may know something about Joker's whereabouts and hopefully his plan. It's the only lead we have." Batman stated. "My interrogation is probably going to be extreme."

Robin shrugged, "I know, you told me this during my training. You'll do whatever means necessary."

Batman nodded, he glided off the roof, his sidekick following as they headed their way towards the club's rooftop.

Inside, Harry sat at the table. He scanned the crowded area of people dancing to a dubstep tune, even admiring the beautiful women dancing sensually on the stage. He signed contently, sipping a glass of rye. His peacefulness was interrupted as he heard a loud clash coming from the roof. He shrunk back in his seat at the sight of two dark figures descending to the dance floor. One in the shape of a bat.

The Dynamic Duo made sure to land on a clear ground as many of the onlookers eyed them in shock. They did not want to start a fight unless they of course had no choice.

"Harry..." Batman growled.

Harry gulped.

One thug came sneaking up behind the bat, pointing his gun towards his head. A batarang came flying, knocking the weapon out of the man's hand. The man turned to see Robin's boot being kicked straight into his face, knocking him down.

"And one score for Robin," The girl rubbed her hands.

"Hey, freaks." The two heard.

They saw a man and a few others emerge from the crowd, cracking their knuckles.

"Care of we join in?"

Robin was just about to pounce on the first thug, but felt Batman's hand over her shoulder.

"No, we don't have time." Batman was already holding Harry by the collar of his shirt. Robin nodded in understanding, they quickly withdrew their grapples, firing the lines upward, being pulled out of the club.

Once they reached the rooftop, Batman began dragging Harry across the ground.

"Hey, you can't do this to me. I got rights." Harry exclaimed.

"Doesn't matter to me," Batman growled.

"Whatever, I got nothing to say. Besides, there's nothing you can do to make me talk!"

"We'll see about that."

"So," Robin spoke. "How exactly are we gonna get him to talk?"

"Like this," Batman rose the man to his level, holding him in front of him as Harry screamed from being held over a ledge. Scootaloo gasped at the scene before her, she knew what her boss's interrogation tactics would be like, but this was the first time seeing it in person.

"Man, you crazy?! I could fall." Harry tried desperately to keep his feet on the roof as he was being leaned back.

"Then you better start talking," Batman's voice sounded like venom. "Where is the Joker?"

"I... I don't know." Harry squeaked. Batman pushed his arm forward, a scared Harry yelped. "I s-swear to God, I don't know where he is. Please, I know nothing."

"Then what about his plan?" Batman's voice know sounded like a burning volcano. "Is there anything you know?!"

"I... I have no idea. Please, for frick's sake! Don't let me fall."

It was obvious at this point the man knew nothing, so Batman tossed him back onto the cement rooftop behind him.

"Let's go," He told Robin as they left Harry cowering.

"So, what now?" Robin asked as she and Batman landed on a rooftop. "How are we gonna find the Joker?"

Batman sighed, "I'm afraid we may have to wait for him to strike. It's the only way for us to capture him or hopefully find something on his whereabouts."

"Or how about a different approach?" Cried a feminine voice.

Scootaloo turned to the sound of the voice. "You..." She scowled.

Catwoman jumped from a neighbouring rooftop, landing in front of the two in a crouching position.

Robin attempted to charge her, but Batman caught her shoulder, holding her back. "Wait," He commanded. "What are you doing here, Catwoman?"

"There's something I need to tell you," Selina rose, standing up fully. "It's a lead on the Joker."

"What about the Joker?" Robin crossed her arms, "Are you working with him?"

"Kid, do I look crazy?" Catwoman rose her eyebrow. "A friend of mine is working as one of his henchmen. He believes Joker is planning something big, something that might put the city in danger."

"How can we trust this friend?" Batman inquired.

"He is willing to act as someone on the inside. He'll gladly share any information you would need." The Princess of Plunder explained.

"Do you trust this person?" Batman asked.

Selina nodded, "Yes, I know him. He's a family man. He only wanted to gain money to support them."

"A family of his could also be a reason for betrayal, like let's say they are being held hostage." Bruce stated. "On the other hand we'd be putting someone in danger."

Catwoman groaned. "Please, Bruce. I really need your help."

Batman considered for a moment, "Alright, here," He reached into his belt, "Take this communicator," He handed it to the thief. "What's his name?"

"Mike Carson."

"Give this to Mike so he can contact us when need be."

Catwoman nodded, "I will." With that, she sprinted off the rooftop, leaping her way to where she needed to go.

Mike Carson exited the old, rusty, yet still occupied apartment as he walked his way to his car. He reached into his pocket for the keys until he gasped at a black figure landing on his car roof.

"Oh, it's you, Catwoman." He sighed.

"I talked to Batman. He told me to give you this," She handed the communicator to him. "Use this to contact Batman."

"Alright, in fact I was just about to go see Joker." He put the communicator in his pocket.

"Mike, I can come with you. Keep an eye on you to make sure you don't get hurt." Catwoman offered.

"Catwoman, you might get caught."

"Well then send me," She urged. "I can spy on Joker for you, you don't have to put yourself in danger like this."

"Catwoman, I need to do this. Please?"

Catwoman sighed, hugging Mike. "Be safe,"

Mike hugged back. "I will. I promise."

Mike gulped as he was driving up to the warehouse entrance. This was practically suicide, going against the Joker like this. He breathed, He had to do this. It was the right thing.

"Hiya, Mikey." Greeted Harley Quinn. Mike relaxed a little, knowing that Harley was always the nicest. He's been under the Joker's employment for two months and whenever Joker was in Arkham, Harley Quinn was always left in charge. At least until she gets captured herself where most of the gang end up leaving now that they had no leader.

"Hey, Harley." Mike greeted back, exiting his car.

"C'mon, c'mon, Mistah J's laying out his plan. We need every man to hear this." She took his hand, leading him across the warehouse. Sometimes Mike would wonder why Harley Quinn would so much as love someone like the Joker even with the way he treats her.

Harley opened a door, the two of them entered. Inside the briefing room was a row of henchmen sitting in their chairs. In from of them the Joker stood at a podium, Mike's stomach dropped at the sight, knowing what he was risking. His feeling grew more uneasy once he noticed the Mad Hatter and Scarecrowand standing beside him as well.

"So that's our plan gentlemen," Joker said. "As we raid the ACE Chemical plant, Mad Hatter will see to it that the help we need to build our newest concoction is acquired through his brilliant mind control. Any questions?"

One goon rose his hand.

"Yes, Larry?"

"Yeah, boss, what about the bat?"

Joker chuckled, "I'm glad you asked, Larry. I have a joke at the Gotham bridge for ol' Batsy. It should keep him occupied while we make our move."

Mike gulped, whatever this 'joke' was it couldn't be good.

"Alright boys," Joker announced. "Time for us to go grocery shopping. HA HA HA HA HAAAA!!!"

Just as the henchmen were ramming themselves and making their way to the van, Mike quietly snuck his way out of the room, hoping no one noticed him.

"So how long should we have to wait for this guy to call back?" Robin asked, her legs dangling over the building's ledge she was sitting on as Batman stood beside her.

"As long as it takes,"

Scootaloo sighed. It has almost been two hours since they last saw Catwoman. Thankfully they would pass the time stopping any random crime they came across, but in the meantime they had no update.

"How does this work? A voice unknowingly came into the earpieces of Batman and Robin. "Batman?"

Batman held a finger to his ear. "This is Batman,"

The voice sighed. "Uh, hi. This is Mike, you know, the guy Catwoman spoke of?"

"Yes, I know who you are."

"Okay, um, listen, the Joker's about to strike at ACE Chemicals. He plans on stealing some stuff there, but I don't know what. Also, He set something up at Gotham bridge, I don't know what it is, but he's using it as a distraction for you. Don't fall for it."

"Thanks for the info. We'll be at ACE." Batman hung up the line. "Come on," He told Robin.

"But what about Gotham bridge?" Robin asked.

"We'll send Red Robin and Batgirl to investigate."

"Bruce, we have a problem." Came Oracle's voice.

"What is it, Barbra?" Batman answered.

"My Dad contacted me that a letter arrived at GCPD. It said that Joker set a bomb at the Gotham bridge."

"It's a diversion. The Joker plans to strike ACE Chemicals. Send Red Robin and Batgirl to the bridge."

"Sure thing,"

Batman pulled his grapple gun from his bell's holster. "Come on," He fired the line, swinging off the building with Robin following suit.

She breathed, Hopefully this is my chance to prove myself. I will show that I can do it. I am important.

Chapter 22 ACE Chemicals

If Gotham City was known for anything aside from being crime-ridden, it was also some of it's big industries. Some of it's biggest industries included Wayne Enterprises, GothCorp, and ACE Chemicals. Like any company, ACE had multiple establishments across the city and in some other states. However there was it's main processing factory that was most well known for the break in of the Red Hood, who unfortunately fell into a bat of chemicals, ultimately creating the Joker. Some blamed Batman for the incident, due to him being there at the crime. However it is also said that Batman tried to save the Red Hood, but failed in the process.

At the gate guard booth, the security guard sighed boringly as he flipped the page of his newspaper. He heard a loud, distant rumble; he set his newspaper down to see an oncoming purple van. The vehicle sped past the booth, breaking off the gate arm. One the van came to a screeching halt, the armed goons exited, followed by Joker, Harley Quinn, Scarecrow, and Mad Hatter. One good kicked open the front door, shooting his tommy gun to the ceiling.

"Everybody down!" He yelled.

All the startled plant workers obliged.

The thugs made way as their colorful boss entered with that sickening grin on his face, donning a purple trench coat and phedora. "Hello ACE, I am here to pick up my order." He pulled a list from his pocket. "Jervis, kindly see who will be our willing volunteers. HA HA HA HA!"

The Mad Hatter nodded, making his way to a near lab. Upon opening the door, the chemists were startled as they were clearly alert from the sound of the gunshots. Jervis pulled a pocket watch from his jacket, swinging it out in front of him.

"Listen now," He spoke slowly and softly. "You are all feeling very sleepy, heavy," The chemists felt their eyes tire and their arms hand. "Good, now you all will kindly make your way to the van. Come on, single file."

Without question they all obeyed as each of them made their way into the van in an orderly fasion.

"Yes, yes, yes," The Mad Hatter clasped his hands. "They are all mine, mine, MINE!"

Outside the lab all the goons were raiding the plant, obtaining the needed ingredients for Joker's master plan. "How's it coming, boys?" Joker asked one goon.

He gave him a thumbs up, "We're nearly done. We just need a few more barrels and then we're good to go."

"Only place your going is prison," A young female voice called. Everyone jaw dropped at the sight of the Dynamic Duo standing on a rack above them.

"What?!" Joker exclaimed. "How did...? There's a bomb... You weren't supposed to be here!"

"Yeah, turns out we didn't fall for your little joke, Joker." The new Robin smirked.

"Pfffaahh! I'll figure it out later, for now we have a little pest control to deal with." Joker snapped his fingers, his men charging to fight.

Scootaloo waited for the men to approach at just the right spot. Once they did, both Batman and Robin jumped back, kicking the stack forward as it toppled over the henchmen. As part of their planned tactic, the two simultaneously threw two pairs of batarangs, knocking eight henchmen to the floor.

Robin jumped forward, delivering a kick to one henchman's face. Another henchman chucked the butt of his tommy gun towards her; Robin ducked, grabbing the gun over her head and smacking it across the man's face like a bat, making sure to keep her fingers away from the trigger and chucking the gun over her shoulder disposing of it.

Batman ducked under a moon's attempted blow, punching his chest, sending a wave of pain in the man's upper body. Batman felt the arms of one henchman grab over his neck, but the dark knight grabbed the man's shoulders from behind, tossing him into the first goon he struck.

"Well gentlemen, it's time we made our getaway," Joker made his way to the van with the other villains and few remaining goons. Mike was just about to enter the van until he froze at the feeling of Jones's gloved hand on his shoulder. "Not so fast, Mikey." He shook his finger at a deathly nervous Mike. "You see, I thought I saw you sneak into a corner before we left." Joker gave off a positive like tone, but that smile was enough to make Mike fear for his life.

"Personally I thought you wanted a quick cigarette break, but considering that Batman is here when he wasn't supposed to..."

"W...wait, Joker, I can explain." Pleaded Mike. "Look, I have a family..."

"Then perhaps they can have your ashes!" Joker squeezed his jacket flower, a green liquid squirting onto the face of the former henchmen. Mike fell to the ground, screaming as the crackling acid burned through his skin. Joker watched as the man squirmed on the ground until his body went limp. All that was seen was a disgusting mess that was too gruesome for a my details to be explained.

"Hmm, on second thought I don't think there will be any ashes. HA HA HA HA HAAAA!" Jokes laughed.

As Scootaloo knocked down another goon, she saw the Joker entering the van's trunk doors. No, she will not let him get away. She will prove her capability. "Joker!"

Joker stopped midway entering the van, he looked over his shoulder at the young crime fighter perusing him as her mentor gave no notice with taking care of other goons. Joker watched the girl with interest as she headed his direction full on as though without thinking. He smiled curiously to see where this would be going. The young girl leaped as she tackled him into the van.

"You're under arrest!" This new Robin exclaimed. Joker couldn't help but laugh at not just her determination, but also clearly how stupid she was. "Very cute kid, but it looks like Batman didn't teach you to look before you leap. Literally."

Robin felt something blunt hit her in the back of the head with force. Her world spun and blackened as her body weakened. She fell to the floor as Harley Quinn stood over them, mallet held proudly over her shoulder.

"Sorry kid, but he's mine."

"Good work, Harley."

Harley casually set her hammer aside, laying both hands on her hips. "Want me to get rid of her, Mistah J?"

Joker considered for a moment before evilly grinning at his decision. "Tie her up instead, I got something else in mind."

Harley's stomach dropped as he asks fell nimb. "Tie her up, boss?"

"Yes," Joker stood, adjusting his coat. "Unless you got a problem with that."

Harley glanced at the kid, kidnapping children wasn't part of the plan. If it were up to her she would let the kid go, but one look at her puddin told her otherwise. "Alright, boss."

"Good," Joker slapped his hands together. "Now I got another Robin to kill. HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAA!!!!"

As Batman finished knocking down a thug, he turned his quick attention to the Joker's laughter. His cautious scowl turned into a look of fear as he saw the van doors close with an unconscious Robin inside. Forgetting about the remaining thugs he ran his way to the vehicle, unfortunately he was caught off guard as a large muscly thug grabbed him in a hold.

The detective chucked a series of elbow blows to the man's stomach before he finally let go with Batman knocking him out with a quick upper cut. He saw the van was testing farther and there was no way to reach it at this rate with the thugs and all, so he quickly pulled a small pistol from his belt, aiming it at the van. He fired a tiny, bat-shaped homing beacon and hoped it attatched to the car.

Once Batman finished off the last few goons the van was already gone. He made no hesitation to hurry to his Batmobile, unfortunately it was parked some blocks away from the chemical plant so not to alert the villains. He had to get there. He had to save Scootaloo. He cannot afford to loose another child.

Author's Note

Hey everyone, I should have mentioned this earlier, but we are approaching the end. Soon the final climax will come into play and we will see the final outcome of the story. So stay tuned.

Chapter 1 Arrival

The multiverse. It consists of many worlds. All of which are so different from each other and spoken in some ways. One of these worlds was a universe just like our own. It took place in the 21st century and they had cars, buildings, houses, people, you name it.

Now you might be wondering what made this world so different; what makes it different are the unique people on it. Sure, everyone is unique, but these type of people would stand out among others. They were called superheroes and they were what protected this world. But this story doesn't focus on them; instead this story will focus on someone who is not native to this world. This is her story.

There was often trouble in Gotham City, some of it was caused by normal criminals like gangsters and thieves and some of it was caused by criminals outside the norm, which people call the Rogues Gallery, due to them being so different from the average criminal. One of which had a group of people working on a machine within a warehouse. The machine resembled a metal door frame and had cords hooked up to a consol where a man in a lab coat bad been working.

"This transporter better work" he grumbled "otherwise that hunchbacked freak and those other people are gonna get it."

The man looked back over at two ninjas behind him.

"You two," he pointed "stand by the transporter and make sure whatever comes out doesn't escape."

The two ninjas obeyed and walked over to the machine as they unsheathed their katanas and stood in a fighting stance, ready for anything.

The man at the console typed in the codes and pushed in random coordinates to a world for the machine to lock on. He then put his hand on the lever; his eyes now set on the door frame looking machine as he pulled the lever back. Lights lid on the machine it made a wooshing sound and suddenly a blue vortex appeared.

The man was about to cheer for his victory until he noticed the console screen show an energy heat signature coming. He looked back at the portal, waiting for some kind of sureal and unworldly creature to be brought before him. He then noticed a small dot coming hurdling forward. As it was getting closer, it appeared as an orange blur and it sounded like it was screaming from traveling through worlds.

The strange figure then fell into the floor with a thud. The ninjas took a step back forward and remained in their battle stances. The man at the console was confused by the creative's appearance. It appeared to be a small horse with orange fur and a purple mane and tail. What surprised this man the most was that it had small wings on it's back. Was this a pegasus?

The creature emitted a tired groan as it sat up on it's hind legs and rubbed it's forhead with it's fore leg as if it were an arm. Intersting, this creature appears as if it's intelligent.

"What the hey happened?" the pegasus spoke in a female voice that sounded like she was around the age of ten.

The lab coat man was taken aback by this and so we're the ninjas, but they still kept their positions. The pegasus slowly opened her eyes and they widened to the size of dinner plates.

"What the?!" she got up on all four legs. "Where am I?! What is this place?!"

The orange pegasus then looked up and saw the two ninjas and stared wide eyed at them for a moment before letting out a loud scream. She tried to run in the opposite direction, but then she felt something wrap around her back leg and hold her up in the air.

One of the ninjas held her as she tried to squirm and break free. She tried kicking the ninja's chest, but there was no use. The ninja was more irritated than in pain as he pointed his sword at her throat, making her stop and gulp.

"It works" said the man in the lab coat, a smile growing. "I can't believe it, it actually works!"

"Where am I?" asked the young pegasus, her voice quaking with fear. "Who are you people?"

The man looked her "I am Doctor Thomas Jenkins and you are in a different dimension on the planet Earth."

The pegasuses eyes widened "Earth?! As in the world where humans exsist?"

Jenkins rubbed his chin "It looks as if you have knowledge of our world." He speculated "I'll ask you questions later, for now" he looked at the ninja carrying her "take her to the cell."

The ninja did as he was told as he turned and left down a hallway while he held the filly upside down on one leg. He opened the door when he reached the cell and tossed the filly in there. She made an oof when she made contact with the floor as the door closed.

The pony quickly got up and started banging on the door. "Let me out!" she yelled "Let me out right now!" she remained doing that for several moments until her pounding on the door was starting to get weak and she laid her forehead on the door as she whimpered.

The filly turned around and layer her back on the door as she cried in her hooves. How in Celestia's name did she come here? Why did she come here? What were those humans going to do to her?

Her crying immediately stopped when she heard a foot step in the darkness. The filly stood on all fours "Who's there?" she tried to sound like she wasn't afraid, but her nervous facial expression betrayed her. "S-s-show your self."

The foot steps came closer as the filly saw who they belonged to. A human who had blonde curly hair and a few warts on his face apppeared in the light emitting from the window on the door.

The filly fell on her hind legs and scooted backwards in fear, hitting the door. Seeing that she could not get out of this one, she closed her eyes and brace herself for the inevitable. But it never came.

The filly hesitantly opened her eyes and saw that the human didn't harm her and unlike the other human, his face had a look of pitty. The filly was about to say something, but she felt the door pushed forward, hitting her against the wall.

"Ow..." she groaned as she rubbed the back of her head.

The orange furred filly peeked her head over the side of the door and got a good look at her cell mate. He appeared to be bowing in a slouching posture with a humped back. The filly then saw another human wall in and set a bowl of soup on the floor.

"Eat up, freak," the human said "it's gonna be the last thing you'll ever eat now that we're done with you."

The filly then saw the human turn around and wall out the door without noticing her. She fell forward when the door slammed shut, causing her to emit an "Oof!"

She used all four of her legs to raise her from the ground as she stood up and looked at the hunchback. He looked at her for a moment, then at the bowl of soup before he picked it up and walked over to the filly. She scooted back, afraid of what this human might do and vibrated as she shook with fear.

What she didn't expect was that the human didn't harm her like she thought. Instead, he was holding out the bowl of soup in front or her as if he was trying to give it to her. The filly looked at the soup bowl for a moment, then at the human.

"Wait," she said "you're...not gonna hurt me?" she was confused, yet the expression on her face showed she was alert.

The human nodded and still held out the soup bowl. The filly didn't know about this, but she was starting to get hungry and this human was offering her food.

"Okay," the filly sat down on her haunches and crossed her forlegs over her chest "what's the catch?"

The human shook his head and reached his arm holding the soup out further as if he were trying to say 'There is no catch, I just want you to eat.'

The filly thought for a moment and then hesitantly took the soup and placed it on the floor in front of her. She stood up on all fours and leaned her head to the steaming yellow soup. She inhaled it's smell and it smelled apatizing. She sipped the soup and the yummy taste spread across her tastebuds. She now took several slurps from the soup until she was all done.

She looked up at the human with a small smile.

"Thanks."

The human lightly smiled and gave a single nod.

The filly rubbed the liquid from her mouth and sat on her haunches. Why was this human so silent?

"Can you talk?" she raised a questioning eyebrow.

The human shook his head.

"How come?" the filly asked.

The human could use sign language, but he didn't think this filly could understand.

The filly realized she couldn't get an answer from him and felt awkward for asking the question.

"Um," she rubbed her arm, trying to think of a different topic. "I'm Scootaloo." she smiled.

The human smiled and gave a nod. Scootaloo took that as him saying 'It's nice to meet you, Scootaloo.'

"Sir, we've arrived." said a man at the controls in the cockpit of a helicopter.

"Good." said the man in the passenger seat. He was wearing a green suite with a cape of the same color. His black hair had a hint of white and he carried a sword kept in his cutlass. This man was unlike other people, for he has lived for over six hundred years. Literally.

His name was Ra's Al Ghul, the Demon's Head, the leader of the League of Assassins. He was an old foe to the man who protected Gotham, yet he has the same goal as his enemy: to stop crime. One would think he was on the right side, but his actions say differently. He believed the perfect way to stop crime was to bring death on those who commit any criminal action. And so that's what the League of Assassins is for: to wipe out crime from within the shadows.

Gotham has always been his target; the crime rate was always high and something had to be done. Perhapse destroying the city so it can rebuild into a new would help. Not everyone believed this though; some believe that the city won't have to be destroyed and just fight the crime from within.

He knew someone who has this belief; someone who he wanted as his successor and be leader of the League and stop crime for him. However, he's always refused to join by his side, which disappointed him. However, now wasn't the time to focus on that, now was the time to focus on the machine he wanted built.

This machine was thought up by a scientist, Dr Thomas Jenkins, who used to work at S.T.A.R. Labs, but was fired for using the company's resources. This machine would create a portal to another dimension; Ra's got word of Jenkins' experiment and hired him to build the machine. He agreed, because this was his life's work.

However, Ra's had other plans for this machine. He wanted to use it to wipe out crime on other worlds and bring an end to it on not just Earth, but other worlds as well. The League escaped with the unfinished machine, but they had no mechanics to working on it. Most of their old mechanic engineers we're unable to escape and we're arrested. They had Thomas Jenkins, but one person wasn't enough to finish the machine quicker. It was then that they kidnapped mechanic engineers who worked at Wayne Enterprises, one of which was Harold Allnut.

They were held in captivity for about a week and just recently, Dr. Jenkins, just contacted Ra's and told him that the machine was complete. Now it was time to witness this machine's workings.

As the helicopter landed outside the warehouse, Ra's unbuckled his seat belt and slid the door open. Dr. Jenkins and four ninjas waiting for him as they bowed in respect for their leader.

"Doctor," said Ra's "you've said that the dimensional transporter was finished?"

Dr. Jenkins nodded "Yes, sir. Please come with me?"

Ra's followed as Jenkins led him into the warehouse. Once they were in, Ra's was greeted by the sight of several ninjas bowing to him. Ra's continued to follow Jenkins as he took him to where the machine was.

"Here it is," he said. "With this, we can travel to any dimension and start your goal there."

"Excelent," Ra's said. He was delighted to hear the transporter was finished, but his tone and expression remained stoic. "I wish to see it function."

The Dr. noded and was about to type in the coordinates, but was startled by a small object that was thrown at the console. Ra's quickly turned his attention to the object, it was black, metal, and had the shape of a bat...

"Detective," Ra's turned his head to the direction of where the batarang came from and saw the man he wanted as his successor. Batman.

Batman spread his scalloped cape as he landed firmly on his feet. The several ninjas unsheated their swords and stood in a fighting stance. Batman glared at Ra's.

"Where's Harold?" he demanded.

"Oh please, detective," the Demon's Head unsheathed his sword "you should not have come here alone. Now you will die."

"Who says he's alone?" a voice called up.

Ra's looked up and saw Red Robin and Batgirl jump from above and landed on their feet next to Batman. Red Robin had his how staff ready and Batgirl stood in a fighting stance.

"Very well then," Ra's pointed his sword at the trio "destroy them."

The ninjas engaged and the fight was on. One ninja swung his sword towards Red Robin's face, but he reacted quick as his boe staff blocked to blow and swung the other end hard against the ninja's head, knocking him to the floor. Another ninja quickly ran up to him and tried to bring his sword against his leg. Red Robin used the lower end of his boe staff to black it and spin it to strike the ninja on top of his head, but the enemy quickly used his sword to block it. Red Robin then used the other end of his weapon to hit the ninja's stomach, making the ninja slouch forward, and his head was met with the boe staff.

One of the ninjas thrusted his sword toward Batgirl's head, but he failed as she moved her head out of it's coming direction and grabbed his arm. She pulled the arm over her shoulder and bent it hard, creating a cringey sound of something cracking and a painful scream from the ninja. Batgirl then brought a kick to the ninja's stomach, mmaking him stumble backward out of her grasp before she spin kicked across his head, sending him to the floor.

As for Batman, a ninja was giving multiple blows with his sword only to be blocked by the triangular shaped blades on Batman's gauntlets, creating sparks. The ninja had enough of this, so he swung his sword at Batman's head, but failed as Batman grabbed the sword in both palms and broke it before he made a fast 360 degree turn and hit his fist against the enemy's head, knocking him unconscious.

Another ninja tried bringing his sword down on the dark knight from behind, but he was quick to turn in his direction and grab the sword in his hand. Batman quickly brought a kick to the ninja's knee, making him fall with one leg supporting him, until Batman uppercutted his chin, knocking him out cold.

Ra's Al Ghul had known Batman for years, so he didn't need any clarification to know that he was gonna win this fight.

"It is time we leave." Ra's looked at Dr. Jenkins.

"But the dimensional transporter," the doctor pleaded "they'll get their hands on it."

"Not to worry," Ra's reached in his pocket and pulled out some kind of device with a button on it. "There is only one way to ensure that it won't fall into the wrong hands."

Jenkins' eyes widened.

"No!"

"Do not question me, doctor." Ra's held a stoic, yet warning glare.

But Jenkins didn't listen as he ran towards Ra's, attempting to grab the button. But this failed as Ra's thrusted his sword into the man's stomach. Dr. Jenkins struggled hard to breath as a sword was stabbed through him.

Ra's quickly slid the sword out, letting Jenkins fall to the floor lifeless, and pushed the button on the device. The transporter exploded into a loud boom as it was now beyond useless. Batman, Red Robin, and Batgirl were still occupied with the ninjas as Ra's took this as a time to escape to his helicopter.

The fighting went on for several minutes until Batman, Red Robin, and Batgirl were the only ones left standing. They averted their heads around the area, but couldn't find Ra's; he must've escaped.

Batman gave a long inhale and exhale before turning his attention to his partners.

"We need to free the prisoners here."

They both nodded.

"Okay," Red Robin turned to his left and pointed his finger "maybe they're down that hallway."

The three headed in Red Robin's direction to a hallway with metal doors.

"Alright," Batman turned his attention to Batgirl "Batgirl, I need you to contact Gordon. Tell him to send a squadron to our current location."

"Of course." Batgirl pressed her index finger against the communicator in her ear under her mask.

Batman then shifted his attention to Red Robin.

"Red Robin, you and I will free the prisoners."

The former boy wonder nodded and they both made their way to two separate doors on oposite walls from each other. Batman took his explosive tell from his utility belt and sprayed the bubbly substance onto the lock. He took a few steps back before pushing the button on the detonator, creating a loud BOOM!!

With what was left of the lock being covered in scorch marks, Batman pushed the door open to find a long haired woman sitting in the corner.

"Oh, thank God," she exclaimed.

"We've dealt with the people who abducted you," Batman explained "you're safe now."

Batman and Red Robin continued opening various other doors and letting the prisoners go to the entrance of the warehouse waiting for the cops. Batgirl joined in freeing the hostages when she was finished contacting Commissioner Gordon and waited outside with them for the police to arrive. Now they were down to one final door.

BOOM

Scootaloo and Harold heard what sounded like a bomb going off from their door. Scootaloo hid behind Harold's leg, startled by the sound. After a moment, the door was pushed open and Harold smiled as it appeared he was glad to see who was there at the door frame and Scootaloo's eyes widened at the sight.

Standing there was what appeared to be a human, but what surprised Scootaloo was that this human had the appearance of a bat. He wore a grey skin tight armoured suit, black boots and gauntlets with triangular blades on them and a yellow utility belt around his waist. On his chest was the symbol of a bat and over his head was a black cowl with bat ears and white eye slits and hanging from the cowl was a scalloped cape, which made it look like he had bat wings.

Harold moved his hands in a way Scootaloo did not understand, but it appeared the bat-like figure did.

"I know," he said in a gravvely voice that sent shivers up Scootaloo's spine. "Are you alright, Harold? Did they hurt you?"

Harold moved his hands again; Scootaloo had no idea what he was doing, but assumed it was some form of communication.

The bat-like human gave a single nod and turned to exit.

"Come on. We need to get you out of here."

Before he made another step he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to see that it was Harold.

"What is it?"

Harold averted his head downwards and the bat-like human followed his gaze. His eyes widened at the sight of Scootaloo. When she saw that he was looking straight at her, she hid her face behind Harold's leg.

"Batman!" a different voice was heard "The hostages are..." The owner of the voice suddenly showed up and he trailed off when he took a look at Scootaloo. "...safe."

This new person had a different look. Just like the 'Bat-Man' he just referred to, he wore a bright yellow utility belt and a dark cowl, cape, boots, and gloves. Like this 'Bat-Man's' cowl, it had white eye slits, but the bat ears were missing; and on his chest was the symbol of a bird's head, rather than a bat.

A nervous gulp was heard from the filly as she gave a nervous smile. "High,"

The 'Bat-Man' looked startled, but kept his composure; however, same wasn't said for the other masked human as he took a step back with widdedned eyes.

"It talks?!" the human in red exclaimed.

The 'Bat-Man' kept his composure however and rose his head to face Harold "Do you know who this is, Harold?" he asked "After all she was in the same cell with you."

Harold nodded and moved his hands to speak in a sign language. The 'Bat-Man' seemed to understand as he nodded and knealed down on one leg to be at a perfect hight for Scootaloo.

"Hello," he said; his face and voice were stoic, yet he appeared friendly to the filly "Harold tells me that you were thrown in here twenty minutes ago."

Scootaloo nodded.

"What is your name?" the human asked.

"Uhh," the filly rubbed the back of her head "m-my name is Scootaloo."

"Do you know how you got here, Scootaloo?"

She shook her head "No, I was only taking a walk in the park when suddenly some kind of portal showed up out of nowhere and sucked me in. Then I ended up here."

The 'Bat-Man' looked up at Harold as he said something again in sign language; he lowered his head to face the filly. "Harold tells me that he and the other hostages here were forced to work on a machine to create gateways to other worlds. He believes it probably brought you here."

Scootaloo's face perked up "Does that mean that I can go home now?"

The 'Bat-Man's' face saddened as he lowered his head, causing Scootaloo to raise her eyes in concern.

"I'm sorry, Scootaloo," his voice had a sad tone. He raised his head to face her "but the machine was destroyed."

Scootaloo's eyes raised in horror; she could not believe her ears. "No." she shook her head "You're lying." her brows furrowed as she pointed her hoof "All humans lie!" she accused "Equestrian legend says so!"

Before another word was said, Scootaloo ran past the 'Bat-Man' and to the hallway entrance. There, she expected to see the machine standing there, just fine. But we don't get everything we want.

Scootaloo came to a halt as she looked to where the machine was. Or at least what's left of it. There was the bottom half of the machine, covered in black ash and smoke emitting from it.

Scoots put her hoof over her mouth as her eyes watered. "No."

The three humans came to a halt as well when they caught up with her just standing there looking like she witnessed a tragedy. They turned their heads to Scootaloo's direction and saw the destroyed machine.

"No no no no no..." she wimpered before she couldn't take it anymore as she fell on her knees sobbing.

The 'Bat-Man' and the other two humans looked at her with great sympathy. The human in red rubbed the back of his neck while the bat dressed one kept his stoic look, but still felt an emotion of sadness for the little filly, and Harold lowered his head somberly.

Scootaloo lowered her head into her tucked forelegs as sobbed. She was now stuck in an unknown world where creatures from Equestrian legend exsist and it appeared that she was never going to see her friends again. Not Applebloom. Not Sweetie Belle. Not Spike, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack. And not Rainbow Dash.

Harold was about to walk over and comfort her until they heard the door to the warehouse open. Standing there was another human dressed as a bat, only this time it was female. Her oufit was completely black with a yellow utility belt and boots and gloves of the same color. Her bat-mask covered her whole face, unlike the 'Bat-Man's' whose mask didn't cover his chin and mouth.

"Batman," said the female human "the police have...arrived..." she trailed off when she took a look at the orange filly crying. The filly appeared to not notice the dead body lying in a pool of blood in the corner, due to her only way home being destroyed as her distraction.

The 'Bat-Man' gave a single nod as he walked I've to Scootaloo.

"Batman," said the female human "what is this?" she pointed to Scootaloo.

The 'Bat-Man' ignored the question and thought it would be a good time to answer later, for he wanted to get Scootaloo out of her before the police came in and see Scootaloo and also keep her from noticing Jenkins lying on the floor stone dead.

He knelt down on one leg "Scootaloo," he said "we need to get you out of here now."

"H-huh?" she looked up at him as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"There are police coming and I'm afraid they might panic if they see you."

"What?" Scoots raised an eyebrow "Why would they-"

"No time to explain," 'Bat-Man' interupted as he took hold of the filly.

"Hey!" she shouted as she was being lifted off the floor and held by the waist. 'Bat-Man' used his other arm to reach for the grappling gun held by the holster on his belt.

He reached it upwards as he fired a line to the open gap in the ceiling. He turned his head towards his two partners "Stay here and make sure the police tend to the hostages." He then turned his attention to Harold "Harold, I''ll send Alfred to pick you up from the station tonight and don't worry about Ace, we're taking care of him back at the manor."

Before Scootaloo could say another word, she was surprised to see that she they were being lifted off the ground with a hissing 'ZIP' emitting from the grapple.

Once they reached the ceiling 'Bat-Man' put the filly down on her hooves.

She looked up at him, furious "What is your problem?" she argued "Why did you suddenly grab me like that?"

"Because," 'Bat-Man' said "if the police saw you they would panic."

Scoots raised her eyebrow, still a bit angry "Why?"

"Because here pegasi don't exsist." 'Bat-Man' explained "A few people knowing about you is one thing, but if the whole world knows then you could get taken away and studied."

Slowly, Scootaloo's angry glare disapeared as she averted her head in thought. Pegasi didn't exsist here? And if the world knew about her, she'd be studied? This was something to take in. After processing her thoughts she looked back up at the 'Bat-Man'.

"So, ponies don't exsist here?"

"No, they do exsist," Batman explained "but they don't talk or have wings like you do."

"Hmm." Scootaloo wondered "Do unicorns exsist here too?"

The 'Bat-Man' shook his head.

"Now I have a question to ask you." he said.

"Uhh," Scootaloo averted her eyes for a second, then turned them back in Batman's direction. "sure."

"Are there stories of humans in your world?"

"Huh?" Scootaloo asked "What makes you think that?"

"I'm not trying to guilt you, but earlier you said that there are legends that say all humans lie."

Scoots recalled back to that and lowered her ears out of feeling kinda sorry for saying that.

"Y-yeah, um, back in my world, Equis, but the country I live in is called Equestria," she explained "there are legends that say there are strange bipedal creatures called humans. You see, Equestrian legends dipect them as evil, lying, beings who only care for themselves."

"In some cases that's true." 'Bat-Man' commented.

"But," Scootaloo went on "Now I think that not all humans are bad."

The 'Bat-Man' raised an eyebrow underneath an eye slit "How so?"

Scoots just shrugged her shoulders "Eh, your friend, uh Harold was it? He was pretty much the first person in this world to be nice to me."

"I see." The 'Bat-Man' then half raised his arm as he pressed his finger against a button on his gauntlet.

Before Scootaloo could ask what he was doing, her ears suddenly caught the sound of some kind of loud roaring noise. She walked over to the edge of the roof as the sound came closer, she noticed some light coming from the inside of a forest heading their way. Then from out of the bushes came some kind of cart as it came to a halt, emitting a rough screeching noise.

Scootaloo's eyes widened at the cart. It had a black color to it and on it's front were the two light she saw. On the front there was what looked like the form of a hat's head, on the tail was what appeared to be bat wings, and it's tires were black rubber.

"Cool..." Scoots marveled at the strange cart. "What is it?"

"It's called the Batmobile." The 'Bat-Man' answered.

Scootaloo's smile widened "Even the name sounds cooler."

The 'Bat-Man' lightly smiled as he remembered his past young partners' reactions when they saw the car for the first time.

"I'm about to take you to the Batmobile so we can get out of here." Batman explained to the filly as she turned her attention to him "Can you fly?"

Scootaloo's expression saddened as she rubbed her other for leg. "No, I can't."

'Bat-Man' instantly regretted asking that question, because judging by the filly's way of answering, she was sad about that fact.

"Alright then," 'Bat-Man' said "in that case I'll have to carry you."

Scootaloo looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"If that's alright with you." He remembered how last time she didn't like being picked up like that.

Scootaloo thought for a moment until she came to her discision "Sure, but you have to let me walk the rest of the way."

The 'Bat-Man' gave a single nod before he picked up Scootaloo gently and held her to his waist with one arm and used his other to reach for his grapple gun and fire a line at the edge of the ceiling. He walked over to where his grapple hook was lunged into the ceiling surface before he jumped down, jumping on the wall on his way down.

"By the way," the filly being held spoke up "who are you?"

"Batman," he answered "but you can call me Bruce."

It wasn't long until Batman's feat hit the ground when he zipped the rope back into his grapple gun and gently put the filly down.

"Batman, eh?" Scootaloo repeated "Why do you have two names?"

Batman put the grapple gun back into his utility belt's holster. "Because it helps hide my true identity."

The two started walking to the Batmobile.

"So," Scootaloo began "are you like a superhero of some kind?"

"Well," Batman looked down at her "I'm actually a vigilante, but yes."

Scootaloo's smile brightened "That is so awesome!" she exclaimed "What's your superpower?"

"I don't have any powers," Batman corrected "but I am skilled in martial arts, science, and gadgetry."

Scootaloo shrugged "Eh, still cool. Except for the science thing, kinda makes you more like an egg head." her eyes widened when she realized what she just said "Sorry!" she said quickly "It's just that I-"

"It's okay." Batman cut her off.

When they reached the car, Batman reached for something in one of his belt pockets and took out what appeared to be some kind of small rectangular object with a red button on it. He pressed his finger onto the button and the lid of the car slid open.

"Get in."

Batman and Scootaloo then both hopped in the Batmobile before the car lid closed.

Scootaloo marveled at the various buttons on the panel before her. On the panel in the space between Batman and Scootaloo was a small screen with some kind of radio under it. Batman grasped his hands on the wheel before him and pressed his foot on the gas as the car vroomed while it sped off.

"Yaaaaaahoooooo!!!!" the filly in the passenger seat cheered.

The driving went on for fourty minutes as Scootaloo was smiling excitedly at how fast they were going. Her excitement was then cut short when she noticed that on the trail they were on, they were heading straight for a rock wall.

"Uh, Batman?"

Batman didn't reply as he kept speeding towards the wall.

"W-we're gonna hit the wall." she tried to warn, but again to no prevail.

"Relax," Batman assured, keeping his eyes on the trail's direction. "everything's gonna be fine."

They were getting closer to the wall and Scootaloo braced herself for what was about to come. But to her surprise, they didn't crash, as the wall was raised up to reveal a tunnel that the Batmobile safely drove into.

Scootaloo's worry was now fading away as when they exited the tunnel, her eyes widened in marvel at the sight of a cave. But it wasn't just any cave, it had an appearance unlike anything else. There was a giant, brown, coin sitting next to what appeared to be a green dragon with little arms and no wings. There was also a joker card hanging from the cave ceiling and there were several other Batmobiles, but with different designs and last but not least was a giant screen.

The Batmobile came to a screeching halt on a metal platform as the lid slid open, allowing Batman and Scootaloo to exit.

"Look at this place," Scootaloo exclaimed as she was amazed by the cave system around them.

Batman gave a small smile, for this filly reminded him of taking Dick, Jason, and Tim to the Batcave for the first time.

"It's called the Batcave."

Scootaloo turned her direction to Batman "This place is awesome!"

Batman kept his small smile, he was starting to grow fond of this filly.

"Alright," his smile disappeared and he was back to his stoic manner "I'm gonna go change. Then I'll take you up to the manner and show you to your room."

Scootaloo nodded as she saw Batman heading for a metal door that slid open as he stepped in, letting it close behind him. Scootaloo waited for a few minutes until the door slid open again to reveal Batman. Only this time he wasn't wearing the bat suit; instead he was wearing a pare of jeans and a sweatshirt.

The two then headed toward an elevator as they let it carry them up to Wayne Manor above.

"I should let you know," Bruce turned his attention to Scootaloo "someone else lives here too. He's not here at the moment, right now he's picking up Harold from the police station."

Scootaloo remembered earlier in the Batmobile Batman called someone on the radio, telling them to go pick up Harold.

"You'll meet him tomorrow. Thought I'd warn you that he might be a little shocked seeing you."

"Do you trust him?" Scootaloo asked.

Bruce gave a single nod "Yes. For a long time I have."

When the elevator came to a stop, the walls in front of them suddenly slid open to reveal a study room. Bruce and Scoots stepped into the study a book case slid behind them, hiding the elevator. The study had many books, standing on book cases, put in an organized fashion and a desk in the center overlooking a window which showed the beautiful, yet corrupt, city of Gotham in the distance.

On the desk stood a bust with a plack on it, reading William Shakespeare and next to it a glass case that contained a pearl necklace. There was also a fire place in the corner with a painting of two humans. Both wearing elegant attire and they seemed to be a couple. Probably some relatives of Bruce.

Bruce opened the double doors as he let Scootaloo walk past him before closing it tight.

"Oh yes," Bruce remembered something as he looked at Scootaloo "I forgot to mention that there's a dog he-"

BARK!

The two looked in the direction of the barking noise and saw a black dog running towards them. It stopped in it's tracks as it growled at Scootaloo, making her freeze in fear as she gulped.

"Ace," Bruce pointed "stand down now, sit."

The dog obeyed as it sat on it's haunches and no longer appeared threatening to Scootaloo.

"Sorry about that," Bruce apologized "this is Ace. He's Harold's dog and he's overprotective."

"Oh, uh," Scootaloo murmured "don't sorry about it. Dogs are like that."

The filly then followed Bruce as he pat Ace on the head and took her up a set of stairs. They reached a door that Bruce opened, allowing for Scootaloo to come in.

"You'll be sleeping here." Bruce said.

Scootaloo looked around the bedroom as she took in it's details. It had a bed with red blankets up against a wall with a nightstand holding a lamp next to it. Up against the opposite wall was a dresser holding some kind of flat square screen. There were also two other doors in the room, Scootaloo assumed one was a closet and the other was a bathroom, and there was a window overlooking the front yard of the mansion and the city of Gotham with the night sky.

"I'll let you get comfortable." Bruce said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Scootaloo nodded "Okay then, goodnight."

Bruce gave a single nod as he left, switching the lights off and closing the door. Scootaloo crawled onto the bed and buried herself under the covers with only her head sticking out and resting on top of a pillow. She yawned as her eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep.

Author's Note

Welp, I'm back and here it is. What you've all been waiting for, the rewritten, and official, version of Gotham City Heroes :twilightsmile: . Took me a while to finish this chapter and now I it is finally ready for you guys to read. And you know what? I think my writing is better than it was in my other fanfics and I'm proud of the changes I've made. This fanfic is officially canon to my Gotham City Heroes series and my original version will no longer be, sorry.

This is now the start of Scootaloo now on her way to become what she has always wanted to be, a hero. Stay tuned. :twilightsmile: .

Chapter 5 Could I Become a Human?

Bruce held Scootaloo in both his arms as she rested her cheek on his chest, feeling it rise and fall as he breathed and listened to the sound of his heartbeat. She felt more closer to him now as they both had something in common. She was glad to share her story with him as she felt that she should trust him; after all he did save her when she was held captive by the League of Assassins. He seemed stoic ninety percent of the time yet who knew that he could be so gentle.

Bruce rubbed his hand against the top of her head as he held her in that position for a moment before asking "Are you feeling alright now?"

Scootaloo opened her tear dried eyes as she slowly nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

"Do you need anything?" Bruce asked, still rubbing the top of her head.

The filly shook her head "No, I'm good thanks."

Bruce nodded as he set her down on the bed right next to him as he got up to leave the room. "If you need anything, just tell me."

Scootaloo nodded "Yeah, I know."

Bruce nodded back as he left the room closing the door behind him.

Scootaloo deeply inhaled before exhaling as she let the thought of her parents play in her mind. If only they were still alive. If only they were here with her telling her everything's going to be okay. Unfortunately they've been gone for long and aren't expected to return.

She took another deep breath as she slid the remote on her bed over in front of her before changing the TV back to it's regular programing. Perhaps something on the TV would take the sad memories off her mind. On the TV played some kind of movie that looked like it was a drawing that came to life which impressed Scootaloo and gave her more questions about human technology. She felt like Twilight.

She had no idea what it was called since it appeared as if she was at a point that was half way into the movie. Even though she had no idea what it was, it appeared to be about a blonde mermaid who visited an overweight woman with green tentacles so she can become human. Scootaloo watched the rest of the movie and it made her think of what it would be like to go outside of this mansion and experience the human culture rather than just watch it on a TV.

She liked that idea, but there was only one problem...she was a pegasus. Not that it was a bad thing and she was proud of being one, but if she went outside as a pegasus then she'd get taken away by someone who would want to study her. But then she remembered that the mermaid and how she turned into a human and was able to experience life on the land.

What if Scootaloo herself turned into a human? If she was human then she'd be able to see life outside of Wayne Manor and see the city for herself. Although she didn't know if this was possible or how long it would take, but she was willing to try.

Just then she heard a knock on the door before it was pulled open to reveal that it was Alfred standing there.

"Dinner is ready young misstress Scootaloo."

"Thanks, Alfred." Scootaloo said as she hopped off the bed and walked over to the doorway exiting her bedroom and heading straight for the kitchen with Alfred following.

When they arrived, there was Harold sitting at the far right side of the dining table with Bruce sitting on the far left and Ace sitting in the corner on his haunches eating from his food bowl.

Alfred pulled up a chair letting Scootaloo hop on and sit on her haunches as he pushed the chair to the table.

"Hey Bruce. Hey Harold." she smiled. Harold smiled back and waved at her as Bruce gave a single nod greeting her as Alfred left to go get the food. A moment later the butler came back with a tray carrying three bowls of potato soup and set each one down in front of each person that was present before leaving them to eat.

The warm scent of the white coloured soup made it's way into Scootaloo's nostrals. Her mouth was starting to water at the potatoey smell before she bent her head down taking a sip. Bruce and Harold ignored this because they thought it would be impossible for the filly to be able to use a spoon due to her not having any hands.

When Scoots swallowed the creamy potato soup she picked up a folded napkin before her and used it to rub what was left of the soup on her mouth. When she was done she set it down on the table and turned her attention to Bruce.

"Hey Bruce?"

"Yes Scootaloo?" the billionaire turned his attention to her as he was about to eat his soup, but stopped as he held his spoon in his half raised arm.

"Is it possible to turn me into a human?" the filly asked.

Bruce set his spoon down into his plate "Why would you ask that?"

Scootaloo shrugged "Because I think I might want to do things outside the mansion" she answered "and I can't because..." she gestured to herself as example.

Bruce nodded as he understood what she meant as he thought for a moment before speaking "I think there might be a way to do that."

Scootaloo beamed "Really? That sounds great."

Bruce nodded "I think I might know someone who could do it."

When they finished their meals Bruce left for the Batcave to contact the person he knew on the Batcomputer while Scoots was left wondering the mansion. As she wondered through the halls she came across a half opened door; her curiosity got the best of her as she peeked her head through to see what was in there.

In there was Harold sitting on his bed as he was petting Ace who was sitting on his haunches in front of him. Ace's ears pricked up as he quickly turned his head around and growled at Scootaloo making her gasp as she backed up. Harold quickly, but gently, scratched the top of the dog's head calming him down.

Once Ace was calmed Harold gestured for Scootaloo to come in. She swallowed nervously at the dog, but kept her composure as she slowly, but surely, stepped into the room and walked towards him.

"Some dog you have." Scootaloo commented still nervous about the dog, but remained calm as she hopped onto the bed with Ace staring at her.

Harold smiled as he pointed at Scootaloo and to Ace. Scoots was confused as she had no idea what he was implying, but eventually the gears in her head started to turn as she began to process what he was trying to say.

"Do you want me to pet him?"

Harold nodded as Scootaloo looked at the dog with a nervous look before looking back at Harold "I don't know about that." she had nothing against dogs, but she was nervous around this one due to it's behavior towards her.

Harold smiled as he likely shook his head and waved her over. Scoots couldn't speak sign language, but she assumed Harold was trying to say something along the line of 'Don't worry about it. He's gentle.'

Scootaloo was unsure, but she nodded "Alright."

She slowly moved her hoof towards the dog emitting a growl. Scootaloo froze her hoof in place as Harold was petting the top of Ace's head to calm him down. Ace stopped his growling as Scootaloo moved her hoof again towards the dog as it made contact with the side of it's neck as it began to rub.

Scootaloo's nervousness was quickly faded away as she smiled at petting the dog.

"He's so warm." she said.

To her surprise the dog moved it's head underneath her hoof as she began petting the top of his head as she used her other hoof to keep petting him. Harold smiled at seeing his dog get along with his new friend. He needed a way to communicate with her, but how? Then an idea popped in his head as he got up off the bed and headed towards the door.

"Where're you going?" Scootaloo asked.

Harold turned back to her and held up his index finger implying he'd be back as he left the room. Soon after he came back with a pen and a notepad as he sat down on the bed next to the filly.

"What's that for?" she asked.

Harold scribbled with the pen into the paper before presenting it to the filly. 'I'm using this as a way to communicate with you.' It read.

Scootaloo nodded in understanding as the hunchback continued to write on the notepad before showing it to her. 'So what world are you from?'

Scootaloo smiled "I'm from a place called Equis. Well that's a fleet the name of my world. The country where I'm from is Equestria; It's populated by ponies like me."

'Sounds interesting.' Harold wrote.

Scootaloo nodded "It's ruled by Princess Celestia, who controls the sun. Then there's her sister Luna, who controls the moon." Scootaloo's expression then turned solemn "You know, I kinda miss it."

Harold felt sympathy for this filly as he rubbed the back of her head in an attempt to comfort her. Just then they heard a knock on the door as Alfred came in.

"Miss. Scootaloo, Master Bruce wishes to speak with you."

Scootaloo nodded as she hopped off the bed and walked towards the door as Alfred closed it behind them. The two of them came to the living room where Bruce was waiting as Scootaloo approached him.

"Alright," Bruce said "there is someone I know that can turn you into a human; she said so herself."

Scootaloo smiled at this.

"The process isn't long at all and it will be short," Bruce explained "but there's a cost."

Scootaloo's smile disappeared. Uh oh what is it?

Bruce closed his eyes as he exhaled before opening them. "Once you're turned human there won't be any way for you to change back into a pony."

Author's Note

Now I know what some of you are thinking. 'Ariel isn't a blonde, she's a red head and since when were Ursula's tentacles treen?' I want to put a stop to the pop culture I'm putting in this fic, because I wanted this world to feel fantastical and timeless. So consider it a little mermaid film. Not the little mermaid film.

Chapter 20 Emergency Situation

Scootaloo sighed as she breathed in the night air. She stood at the porch of Wayne Manor, looking into the city of Gotham. The memory of her recklessness from last night flashed in her mind. How that pyromaniac almost killed her. Just like with Scarface from months back, if it weren't for Batman stepping in, she would've died.

Throughout the past week, her and Bruce have successfully taken down villains. But the thing was it was always Batman by her side, someone there to make sure she wasn't killed and, well, always the one who did most of the heavier work. Tracking down Poison Ivy's hideout, calling in the Batmobile to pursue Two-Face, and being the one to single handedly take down Firefly before killing her. She never figured out a single riddle from the Riddler and she almost got herself killed by Maxie Zeus's last standing thug.

She was never able to do anything on her own, and each time there was a success it was always because of Batman's aid. Maybe it was because of just Batman and Scootaloo didn't need to be there. She wasn't important.

"Ms. Scootaloo," Alfred came in through the door. "Ms. Scootaloo, I've been calling you. Dinner is...Scootaloo?"

Scoots wiped her eyes, trying her best to get rid of her tears. "Hey, Alfred, sorry..."

"Are you alright?" Alfred asked, concerned.

Scootaloo nodded, "Yep, I'm fine, totally fine." She put on a game smile, but it didn't seem Alfred was buying it.

"Scootaloo, what is wrong?"

Scootaloo sighed, lowering her head. She tried her best to keep her tears from falling, but failed as a river began to form down her face.

"Alfred...do you think I'm...important?"

Alfred laid both hands on her shoulders, kneeling down on one knee to meet her eye level.

"Ms. Scootaloo, what would make you ask something like that?"

"Well..." Scootaloo was about to say, but was interrupted as Bruce came in through the door.

"Scootaloo, we have to go now." He pointed. Scoots looked over her shoulder to see the Bat-Signal shining in the sky. She quickly wiped her eyes, making her way past Bruce.

"Is anything wrong with her, Alfred?" He asked his butler.

"Well sir, I believe that should be a talk between you and her, but for now you must go, the city needs you."

Bruce nodded and made his way to the study where Scootaloo was waiting. Bruce lifted the head of the Shakespeare bust, pressing down on the red button under it. The bookcase against the wall slid open, revealing the elevator. The billionaire and his ward stepped in as the elevator began sliding down into the Batcave.

Once they reached down there, they sped their way to the glass case containing both their suits. Once they were suited up, they quickly entered the Batmobile. Batman put the automic batteries to power and the turbines to speed. Now the vehicle sped off to the Bat-Signal.

Commissioner Gordon stood atop the roof, smoking his pipe, waiting for the Dynamic Duo to appear.

"Commissioner,"

Gordon turned around to see the two he was expecting. "We have a situation, another breakout at Arkham. Apprantly there was a riot going on with Solomon Grundy and Amygdala, but the situation is taken care of."

"Who are the escapees?" Batman asked.

"The Mad Hatter, Scarecrow, and the Joker."

Robin's eyes widened. The Joker? The criminal Batman claimed to be his greatest nemesis was on the loose? This was it. Not only would she finally get to face off against an arch villain, but also finally prove herself of being important. Everything seemed brighter to her now.

"Is there any indication on their whereabouts?" Batman questioned.

Gordon shook his head, "No, but we better find them soon."

"Don't worry, Commissioner." Robin reassured. "Batman and I are on the case."

"I know you are, Girl Wonder." Jim winked.

Catwoman sat with her crossed legs laying on the table before her. She breathed in the smell of alcohol, a bit obvious considering you would find that kind of stuff in a bar down here in the narrows. Around her, people did their usual thing: drinking and playing pool. Everyone knew not to mess with her, because one, they all knew how skilled she was in combat, and two, they were too grateful towards her from helping out their community for some time. She would occasionally bring down food, clothes, and money. It was always stolen, but for that reason they thought of her as a Robin Hood of sorts.

"Hey Catwoman,"

Standing beside her was a man holding his hat to his chest.

"Mike? What is it?" Catwoman took her legs off the table as Mike sat across from her.

"Okay, okay. There's something I need to tell you."

"Tell me what?" Selina rose an eyebrow.

Mike hesitated before signing. "I'm now working for the Joker."

Selina now rose both eyes in shock. "What?"

The man lowered his head in shame.

"Mike, what were you thinking?" Catwoman half yelled.

"I, I needed the money for my family. I thought if I were working for one of Gotham's big shots, I'd get the money I need for 'em."

Catwoman face palmed. "Mike, you involved yourself with a psychopath."

"Yeah, I see that now, but there's something I need to tell you, about his plan."

Catwoman removed the hand from her face. "What plan?"

Mike sighed, "I don't know what it is, but it ain't anything good. I think he might do something to the city. I could act as an inside man."

Catwoman shook her head, "Mike, that's dangerous."

"Catwoman, please trust me?"

Catwoman paused for a moment, sighing. "Fine, what do you need me to do?"

Mike rubbed the back of his neck, "I need you to get in touch with Batman somehow. He may want to know this, after all he's the only guy who can stop him."

Catwoman nodded, "Done, I'll try to tell him what's going on." She got up from her chair and headed to the door. She glanced back over her shoulder at Mike, sighing as she worried about what this idiot was getting himself into.