Batman: Marekham City

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Chapter 1

Batman: Marekham City
by Prane
Chapter 1

The World’s Greatest Detective folded a cryptographic sequencer and attached it back to his trusty utility belt. Although the tool was capable of cracking almost every security code in Gotham, something in the close proximity to the Cyrus Pinkney's Institute for Natural History, now Penguin’s personal museum, must have been blocking the signal.

‘Penguin must be using military grade communication disruptors.’, the caped man thought. ‘The only way to crack this security is to destroy them.’

He jumped through a broken window, back to the museum’s entry hall and was about to go outside when he heard a voice from behind. It belonged to a man wearing a black leather jacket with fur linings and a white penguin silhouette painted on its sleeve.

‘This is Penguin’s turf you freak!’, the inmate shouted. He took out a long butcher knife and was soon joined by another thug, who armed himself with a similar blade. ‘I’m going to cut you up into tiny pieces for breaking in here!’

The Caped Crusader’s suit wasn’t just a costume. It had many technological improvements, such as Kevlar enhancements and a ballistic vest sewn into the armor, but a direct stab to the chest would still be fatal. That didn’t discouraged the man, as he dashed towards the thugs.

He hit one of them on the chin, then quickly dodged a sequence of slashes the other inmate performed. Taking advantage of the gap in the opponent’s defenses, he employed three quick strikes to the chest, finishing the third one just in time to counter the upcoming stab from behind. The detective grabbed the inmate’s arm and threw him against the wall. He then kicked out the second thug’s blade and punched him on the face, finishing with a jump kick that knocked him unconscious.

‘What… what are you?’, the other inmate whispered in fear, trying to crawl away.

The Dark Knight grabbed and pulled him up.

‘Your worst nightmare.’

Strong hit that came after those words might have rendered the thug unconscious, but it certainly didn’t kill him. The caped man had a personal rule of not taking the criminals’ lives, which more than once had resulted in a messy revenge of those. But he stuck to it, for… various reasons.

‘It’s not the right time to get nostalgic.’, he thought. ‘There is much to do in Arkham City and I still have to find Penguin’s jammers.’

He was on his way to the doors when something opened them from the outside. He quickly jumped to the corner, hid in the shadows and… couldn’t believe his eyes.

The strange creature that entered the museum was a small… something.

It resembled a horse, but beside the general appearance, it was nothing like them. It had an unusual, purple pastel colored coat and a mane of dark blue with violet and pink streaks. Even more peculiar was a horn on its head. Was that… a unicorn?

At first he thought it to be some kind of Joker’s toy, but the scanner in the cowl identified it as a life form. To be honest, it looked like a cartoon character.

The creature didn’t notice him and… trotted, as it was probably the best word to describe its movements, towards the end of the hall secured by movement-sensitive beams to the system of which he was trying to hack in earlier.

‘Argh! It didn’t work!’, the creature spoke after a set of metal bars appeared, blocking the path further into the museum.

The detective noticed that an armor built-in communication and surveillance system was back online. He switched the mode to capturing nearest transmissions.

‘…with the jammers?’

‘I, I don’t know man, but it ain’t pretty. Have you ever seen that movie with the guy who could totally control metal?’

‘Yeah, what about it?’

‘There’s that scene when he crashed a car or something into a small metal piece of crap… and Penguin’s jammer looks just like it right now…’

‘You mean… it has been compressed?’

‘What? I don’t speak Spanish, dude…’

The caped man turned off the transmission intercepting. If jammers are destroyed, he can probably hack into the museum’s security.

He almost forgot about the creature, who was now hopelessly trotting in circles.

‘Oh, think Twilight, think!’, it said. ‘Why didn’t it work!?’

‘It did.’, the detective said, approaching the small horse and clearly startling it.

‘Gyah! Back off!’, it shouted. ‘Are you one of them?’

‘Why are you trying to enter the museum?’

The creature was quick with the words, as it was obviously unsure of the situation of a relatively huge, caped and masked man approaching it.

‘I’m here for a friend. I’ve heard that those giant metal boxes are somehow guarding the entrance, so I went out to smash them… but you don’t look like one of the thugs… who are you?’

Only now had the detective realized that the creature sounded very feminine. He crouched beside her.

‘I’m Batman,’, he finally introduced himself. ‘And I won’t hurt you. What, or who are you?’

‘Twilight… Sparkle. My name is Twilight Sparkle.’, she answered, gradually regaining control over her voice. ‘I’m from a far away land of Equestria… and I have to rescue my friend.’

‘Is your friend also a talking horse?’

‘A horse? If you don’t mind, please think of me as a pony.’, Twilight answered. ‘And yes, yes she is.’

Batman had seen many strange things in his life. Arkham, the prison district established in the heart of the city was currently the best place to find them. But never before had he met a talking, colorful pony. A regular citizen of Gotham would consider Twilight to be some kind of bizarre abomination, but Batman has been called a freak so many times he didn’t mind her company. Still, he’d rather fight Penguin on his own…

He went back to the room where the control panel was. His cryptographic sequencer finally worked, as the password DINOSAUR seemed to be accepted by the system. The mare looked through the ticket office window and nodded in amazement for the technological gizmo’s ability to turn off the beams.

‘Stay here.’, Batman said. ‘I’ll rescue your friend and get her back to you.’

‘No way!’, Twilight protested. ‘I’m coming with you, we have a mutual enemy.’

‘You don’t know what you’re into.’

‘Oh, do I? I know that this museum is currently run by Mr. Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, also called the Penguin.’, she replied. ‘I know that he intends to make a trophy out of her, or at least that’s what I heard eavesdropping on bandits. And I know that there is no way you could make me stay here.’

Batman pondered that if the pony’s physiology was similar to a horse’s one, there was at least several ways to knock her out. But he didn’t feel like hitting such a colorful creature. Besides, if she managed to smash those jammers she could even prove useful.

‘All right, you can go with me. But stay close and be quiet.’

‘I will.’, she whispered. ‘One more thing: I’m afraid of bats.’

‘Me too.’, Batman answered.

Twilight chuckled, puzzled.

‘You look like you don’t fear anything.’

‘Glad to hear that.’

* * *

Batman and Twilight Sparkle went deeper into the museum.

It turned out that Penguin has captured some of the Gotham City Police Department officers from 13th Precinct. Commissioner Gordon sent a strike team to find out what was going on in Arkham City, and to the cops’ misfortune, they did.

‘Are you going to rescue them?’, the mare asked as they were approaching an ice wall blocking their path.

‘I’m here for Mr. Freeze.’, he replied and took out an explosive gel pistol. ‘But if they’re still alive, I’ll do what I can. I told Gordon it was too dangerous to send them in!’

‘And who is this Mr. Freeze?’

‘He is a prize-winning cryogenic scientist, pushed to the edge of sanity by a desire to help his dying wife.’, Batman answered. ‘And he has the cure I need.’

Twilight looked at him with care and concern.

‘The cure? Are you not feeling well?’

Batman didn’t answer. Poison in his blood injected by the Joker was gradually sucking his force. He only hoped that he would be able to stop Hugo Strange’s plan called ‘Protocol 10’ before it’s too late.

‘Get clear.’, he said, finishing a bat-shaped gel trail on the ice block.

Twilight fled behind the Dark Knight and he remotely detonated the charge, which caused ice to shatter into smaller chunks, allowing them to go further.

Batman went inside first. It seemed that the huge room was part of the institute concerning aquatic wildlife, as there was a big pool instead of floor, now partially frozen.

Suddenly, an ice blast came from the other side of the room, freezing Batman’s hand to the wall.

‘Stay where I can see you, Batman.’, a short, chubby man yelled. He was wearing a tuxedo underneath an expensive coat, and had bottom of a bottle lodged in a place around his eye which looked like a monocle. ‘You wouldn’t believe the fight old snow man put up. Still, I got what I wanted.’, he said, admiring a frost gun he was holding. ‘That’s all that matters.’

‘Penguin!’, Twilight shouted angrily.

‘And there’s another pony for my collection! I was wondering how much I could get for one of you… but I don’t feel like selling now. I’m a businessman, after all! I’ll wait for the prices to go up!’

There was a man running through the frozen pool with DEAD COP written on his shirt. With his every step, the ice cracked a little. Penguin shifted his attention to him, taking aim with the frost gun.

‘Hold still, boy! Waa-ha-haa!’, he shouted and laughed. It resembled quacking of a duck mixed with the sound of a seagull.

One of the projectiles hit the policeman’s leg, which was immediately covered in ice, immobilizing him.

‘No… no… no!’, he screamed as the ice was gradually enveloping the rest of his body.

‘When you’re done here, feel free to join me in the Iceberg Lounge so I can kick your arse again.’, Penguin said, walking away. ‘Enjoy the copsicle.’

Batman finally freed his arm from the ice and saw Twilight walking down the platform to the frozen pool. The ice cracked when she put her hooves on it, but it didn’t break. Batman activated the ice density scanner, one of the many gadgets he had.

‘The ice looks unstable.’, he said. ‘We need to move slowly, take our time.’

Step by step, they reached the middle of the pool. Batman punched the ice covering the cop’s body, releasing him. He was about to use his grapple gun when impossible happened.

Twilight’s horn began to glow, and she was staring intensively at the cop. Seconds later, he was somehow lifted by a magenta mist and levitated to the nearest platform where two other officers were stuck in ice.

‘I didn’t know you could do that.’, Batman said.

‘You have your tricks, I have mine.’, she replied. ‘All unicorns in Equestria can perform some magic and I happen to have a knack for it.’

‘Lucky me.’, he replied, taking the mare under his arm and shooting his grapple gun to reach the platform. He promised himself to learn more about this Equestria, but for now he had more important things to do. They landed and freed the remaining officers.

‘Is… that your s…sidekick, B…batman’, one of the cops asked, shaking with cold.

Batman looked at Twilight, which smiled widely at him. He didn’t smile back, so the mare carefully walked behind him. As it would take too long to explain, he answered with a question.

‘Are you alright?’

‘So cold… Where did P…penguin get that gun?’

‘He stole it from Mr. Freeze. I’m getting it back.’, Batman replied.

‘Mr. Freeze… he went this way.’, the other cop said, showing the nearest doors.

‘What?’

‘Ten minutes ago he came out from the other side of the pool. Someone must have released him, as I heard Penguin bragging about locking him up. He passed us without a word.’

‘Where is he now?’

‘I am right here, Batman.’, a cold, metallic voice from above said.

A large man, almost as tall as Batman himself appeared. His skin was extremely pale, even a little bit bluish, and he was wearing an armor which looked like a space suit. His eyes were covered with a pair of goggles.

‘Aren’t you going to introduce me to your companion, Batman? Allow me to break the ice, then.’, he said, addressing Twilight. ‘I am Victor Fries and who are you?’

The mare was surprised that he even wanted to talk to her.

‘I am… Twilight Sparkle.’, she answered. ‘Pleased to meet you, Victor.’

Oh, great. She knows Penguin, now she knows Freeze… at this rate she’ll know every super criminal of Gotham in no time.

‘The pleasure is mine, I assure you.’

‘Joker’s cure. Where is it?’, Batman asked.

‘Forget the clown. I want Cobblepot. I’ll end him for what he’s done to me.’

‘What are you up to, Freeze?’

‘I did recover my armor and I intended to get my gun from Cobblepot.’, he replied. ‘But my suit got damaged when I was beating Penguin’s mercenaries back there.’, he explained, pointing at the corridor behind him. ‘Which reminds me,’, he looked at the cops. ‘Your men there remain mostly unharmed.’

The three officers of the 13th Precinct went up the platform to search for the rest of their team.

‘Penguin’s mine.’, Batman said firmly. ‘But you’ve got to tell me how to bypass your ice gun.’

‘Do I look like a fool?’, Freeze asked. ‘Why would I tell you that?’

Batman didn’t answer, only stared at the armored man. Even without the weapon he was still a formidable opponent. If Batman had gotten to him earlier, for example when Freeze didn’t have his armor, maybe he would trick him into helping the detective with the cure. But for now, there was a stalemate. Freeze didn’t have resources to beat Penguin or Batman, but the Dark Knight had nothing to offer in exchange for the cure. And, most importantly, how and why would anyone free Freeze in the museum ran by Penguin’s thugs?

The tension was palpable.

‘Excuse me, Victor,’, Twilight said. ‘Perhaps you could help us after all? Penguin has captured my friend and we intend to rescue her. Please, she’s very important to me.’

Batman couldn’t guess what was happening in Freeze’s mind, as his face remained unmoved.

‘Scan this frequency, Batman.’, he said, pointing at his gauntlet. ‘It will allow you to temporarily disable the ice gun.’

‘Thank you, Victor.’, Batman said, finishing the scan and uploading the memory card into his portable disruptor.

‘Good luck, Batman. Good luck, Twilight Sparkle.’

Batman grabbed the mare again and grappled over the frozen pool. They landed under a stone arch decorated with blue, neon letters forming a name ICEBERG LOUNGE.

‘Was that one of your tricks?’, he asked. ‘Freeze wanted to cooperate with you, not me.’

‘I did nothing.’, Twilight replied. ‘But I agree, it seemed that he wanted to help… me. I don’t know why, I never met him before. Few hours ago I didn’t even know about this place.’

‘How did your friend got here, anyway?’

‘That’s what I want to find out. It all started with her.’

Batman pondered. He really had to learn more about these ponies.

‘What worries me the most is that someone freed Victor. Penguin doesn’t let his trophies get away easily.’

‘But the important thing is that we can beat him now! As long as your gadget works, of course.’

‘I hope it will. Let’s go.’

They entered the Iceberg Lounge to confront Penguin.

* * *

‘Hello, Batman!’, Penguin shouted. ‘I know it’s you! What is it? Finally grown a pair and come to find me?’

‘Get behind the wall, quick!’, the detective said to Twilight. They hid just in time to avoid a freezing ray from the ice gun. Pieces of ice were scattered around the entrance.

The Iceberg Lounge was a round hall with an actual iceberg in the middle, and a podium at the top of it. It was connected to the room’s rim with a single, balustrade surrounded bridge. Penguin stood on the table there, which was a perfect, hard to reach vantage point.

‘And you’re not alone! So glad you could bring the pony with you! She will be a fine addition to my collection! Look, I already have the white one!’

He pointed at a block of ice near the table. There was another pony stuck inside, much alike Twilight but with white coat and indigo mane and tail. Batman noticed that she had them styled differently than Twilight, who had a fringe, while the other one had her mane more curly.

‘Rarity!’, the purple mare shouted.

‘Yes, she is a rarity!’, Penguin said. ‘Come out, I’ll let you be the part of the upcoming exhibition: Batman in the world of colorful ponies! Waa-haa-ha-ha!’

The Caped Crusader looked at Twilight.

‘Listen up: we need to get closer for the disruptor to work.’, he said. ‘We split up, I take this path, you go the other way.’

‘He won’t be able to shoot us both at the same time. Smart.’

‘I’ll meet you on the other side.’

And so they went. Twilight’s help was invaluable. Whenever she made noise on the other side of the room to draw Penguin’s attention, Batman could sneak forward. And when he was under attack, Twilight galloped from cover to cover.

‘Watch the birdie, Batman!’, Penguin yelled releasing a stream of ice towards the Dark Knight. He avoided it and soon found himself on the other side of the room, just near the bridge. Twilight reached it as well.

‘There is only one path to him.’, Twilight noticed. ‘What’s your plan?’

‘Just follow me.’

Batman took out the disruptor and hid it behind his back so that Penguin wouldn’t see. He came out from the cover and walked towards the chubby man along the balustrade. Twilight went in his footsteps.

‘What is it? You think you can beat me?’, Penguin said, taking aim with the ice gun. ‘Hold still, Batman!’

The detective activated the disruptor just before another flurry of ice was unleashed.

‘What?’, Penguin was surprised. He checked the weapon’s trigger. ‘C’mon, fire, damn you!’

Batman and Twilight were getting closer, without any risk of being pushed back by Freeze’s technology.

‘What the hell is wrong with this thing?’ Stay back, stay back!’

Twilight ran towards the table Penguin was standing on. She jumped and hit the chubby man with her head, causing him to lose balance and fell down to the Iceberg Lounge’s lower level.

‘You’re finished, Cobblepot.’, Twilight said, landing on the table.

‘No! I’m sorry! Please don’t hurt me.’

‘We can’t guarantee that.’, Batman added.

Penguin laughed silently and took something from his pocket.

‘Me neither. Wa-haa-haa!’

There was an explosion and the whole iceberg crumbled, causing chunks of ice and the podium to fall down to the Lounge’s basement.

Penguin stood up and walked towards the hole in the floor.

‘I tried to help you, Batman. I gave you the opportunity to end this and walk away…’

He stopped, as he could notice neither Batman nor Twilight or frozen Rarity in the pit. He looked up.

‘What the hell!?’

The Dark Knight and his pony companion, along with Penguin’s trophy were surrounded by a magenta bubble… and they were levitating safely in a place where the podium was. They didn’t fall to the pit!

Batman reached the edge of the bubble and went through it, then glided down at Penguin thanks to his cape. The chubby man only managed to quack before the caped man fell on him, knocking him down.

Twilight levitated herself to the ground and started to use magic to thaw Rarity from the ice prison.

‘Beaten by a bat and a pony!’, Cobblepot whined. ‘And I had Solomon Grundy down there as a surprise for you…’, he said, then realized something with fear in his eyes. ‘You’re not going to throw me there, are you?’

‘No.’, Batman replied, handcuffing him. ‘I’m going to hand you to Mr. Freeze…’

‘No! Not the snow man! Please, Batman, you can’t do this to me!’

Twilight finished thawing Rarity.

‘Come here, quick! She’s not waking up!’

Batman activated his cowl’s scanner. It was showing that the white pony’s life signal was very faint, but she was still alive.

‘She’s been in the ice for too long.’

‘Can you help her?’

It was a tough choice for Batman. Usually he would arrange the ice gun’s victim to be transported to the nearest hospital. But how would doctors react? She was a pony, after all, and such creatures would not last long in Gotham by themselves.

He looked at Twilight. She tears in her eyes and was staring at Batman with that look… that indescribable look of a pony.

There was only one place in Gotham where he could hide the pony and help her. Batman walked away from Penguin so that he couldn’t overhear the conversation. He touched the cowl to activate communications with the Batcave and his butler.

‘Alfred, I need you to arrange a Batwing extraction on the roof of Cyrus Pinkney’s Institute for Natural History.’

‘Have you got bored with Arkham City’s fun features, sir?’

‘I’m not coming back yet… I still have to get the cure. But prepare the necessary things to counter the effects of pony body hypothermia.’

‘I beg your pardon, master, but for a moment I was led to believe I will be taking care of a pony.’

‘That is correct, Alfred. I don’t have time to explain.’

‘Very well, sir. Batwing will be there in few minutes.’

Batman ended the communication.

‘Thank you…’, Twilight whispered, still trying to warm unconscious Rarity up.

It went out pretty well. Cobblepot has been disposed of, the 13th Precinct cops were safe and Twilight got her friend back. The only remaining thing was to get Penguin to Mr. Freeze in exchange for the cure.

The Dark Knight looked at the purple unicorn mare. She didn’t slow him down that much and even saved him from fighting one big ugly monster.

She did better than Robin ever did.

Chapter 2

Batman: Marekham City
by Prane
Chapter 2

Earlier that night

Rule number one of breaking in somewhere: there are always more ways to get in than to get out. And although it didn’t make entering heavily guarded facilities any easier, you sometimes had a luxury of choosing your way in.

Selina Kyle had that luxury.

‘Sounds like the detective will be busy with the Joker for a while.’, she said to herself, crouching on the roof overlooking reinforced doors to a vault, with TYGER CONFISCATED GOODS written on them. She looked down at her glove armed with steel, cat-like claws. ‘Good. Gives this kitten some time to play. So, what’s next? Help tall, brooding and handsome, or help myself to all the loot Professor Strange has locked up in that vault of his? I know, difficult choice, right?’

Was it really that difficult? She could satisfy her own greed and lust by robbing the compound, or she could help Batman, who saved her life more than once and, one might have said, she owed him a favor. Of course, she made a choice. The less noble one.

‘Hmmm, what will it be? Find Croc and have him rip a hole into the vault? Ask Penguin for some explosives? Not my style.’, Selina looked down on an abandoned florist and remembered an old… friend of hers. The letters BAUDELAIRE on the shop were partially covered by overgrown plants. ‘I always prefer a woman’s touch in these situations. Stay where you are Ivy. I’m coming to get you.’

But first, she needed to get her equipment. No way she could face Ivy without her things - she’d be naked without them. In the end, what is a cat burglar without a few gadgets?

Selina started running across the roof and jumped to an adjacent building. She didn’t have a gliding cape like the Dark Knight, but with the help of her whip and claws she was able to move quickly through the city. She had her apartment-hideout north from Park Row, almost next to a Solomon Wayne Courthouse. Funny, you wouldn’t consider that a safe house, especially with an ex-district attorney as a neighbor. But the darkest place is under the candlestick, and Harvey Dent, known as Two-Face, a schizoid criminal obsessed with duality was not an issue right now.

She swung on the whip and landed on the building’s roof. From here she only had to go down through an expanded metal which surrounded the area between the two structures. She opened a service hatch and spotted three thugs.

‘How are we supposed to find out where she lives, anyway?’, one of them said.

‘Two-Face said she lives somewhere near here.’

Selina pondered. They obviously weren’t aware that their boss was now casually hanging upside down over a bucket of acid. Harvey must have sent them just after he dragged her to the courthouse.

‘So what? How does he know?’, the other one replied with disbelief.

‘How am I supposed to know. I don’t question the boss. You shouldn’t either.’

‘Hey! I found something.’, shouted the third one.

Selina took an advantage of them gathering in the corner and fell down with a grace of a feline.

‘Is that one of her cats? It doesn’t look like one…’

‘Well, I heard she’s a cat lover.’

‘No shit man, she’s Catwoman for a reason!’

Selina approached the thugs from behind.

‘Indeed I am, boys.’, she said.

They turned around, startled, but ready to fight.

‘Catwoman’s here! Get her!’

Selina was not easily overwhelmed by a couple of thugs, so the fight was to end soon. Being an orphan, she had to learn martial arts to survive on the streets of Gotham, and although she certainly wasn’t a vigilante, she never hesitated to beat the crap out of the city’s criminals. Flexible kicks, jaw-breaking knees to the face, sharp claws to scratch, that kind of stuff. But sometimes even criminals got lucky.

The only standing thug was approaching from behind. She took his head in her hands and leaned against the man. He was completely shocked and, to be honest, didn’t resist when she landed a soft kiss on his lips.

‘Meow.’, Selina vocalized.

Then she threw the man over and tossed him against the wall, knocking him unconscious. All three thugs were lying on the floor and would probably think twice next time they try to rob her.

‘Sweet dreams.’, she said. ‘Now, what’s in the box…’

She walked to the corner when the thugs had gathered earlier. There was a simple, cardboard box with something inside. Selina had to give them credit, it certainly wasn’t a cat. Cats weren’t usually rainbow-tailed cyan creatures. And didn’t have hooves.

The horse-like creature moved and yawned, to which Selina jumped away.

‘What a strange dream…’, it said, obviously waking up from a nap.

It said. Horses do not talk, even those small like this one! But it wasn’t exactly a horse – those didn’t have wings, either. Winged, hoofed, pastel-colored pony-like creatures were in Gotham? Somehow she felt that it wouldn’t end well.

The creature spotted her.

‘Hey there!’, it jumped from the cardboard box.

‘Who puts ponies in cardboard boxes, anyway?’, Selina thought.

‘Listen, I think I got lost… and I hate to say that because, you know, I’m awesome and never getting lost…’, it actually kept talking, to Selina’s amazement. ‘I’m looking for one of you human-guys, cool one, in a cape and totally radical costume?’

No way.

Selina was about to respond, but there was an explosion heard in the distance. If she had to guess, she’d say it came from a nearby bell tower, but it was better not to stay outside any longer. But what to do with that horse-thing that was supposedly looking for Batman?

‘Let’s go inside, horsie.’, Selina said, jumping to a nearby window and opening it. ‘You don’t want to run into Harvey’s goons here.’

The creature flew up, but she was reluctant to follow the woman into the apartment.

‘Who’s Harvey?’, she asked, but immediately shook her head. ‘And I’m not a horsie! And I’m definitely not coming with you! I don’t know what Fluttershy told you, but I’m not into black leather, latex and whips!’

Selina looked out the window and inspected the mare’s multicolored mane.

‘Yeah, right.’, she said, amused as she was, and pulled the pony inside the hideout.

That night was getting weirder and weirder.

* * *

Rarity awoke, but she wasn’t opening her eyes just yet.

Although considered to be a hard-working pony, relatively speaking, the mare simply couldn’t deny herself those small pleasures. Such as hugging a pillow, being wrapped in a blanket and lying in a bed for a little longer… especially when the fireplace’s crackling was so soothing…

Hold on. She didn’t recall having a fireplace installed in Carousel Boutique.

The white unicorn opened her eyes and rolled over the sofa’s edge, crying out in shock. She fell down on a soft, fluffy rug. She looked around.

The room was arranged with taste. An elegant, matching the brown sofa, sets of seats, the fireplace façade with spiral patterns all over it and a brass chandelier hanging from the ceiling… not to mention the whole place was much more spacious than any other Canterlot apartment she’d ever visited.

‘Where am I?’, Rarity whispered to herself. ‘Oh no… could this enormous and, might I say, lovely place belong to that… thing?’

She started to remember what had happened.

Rarity landed in a strange, new world – notably dirtier and more malodorous than Ponyville – mainly due to her desire to create a perfect outfit for Rainbow Dash. She found herself between two sky-reaching walls and started walking down the alley, only to encounter a bunch of hideous so-called humans.

When she heard about humans for the first time, that they wear clothes all the time and walk on two legs like Diamond Dogs, she thought it would be really nice to meet them and learn about their fashion. But it had never crossed her mind that they would be such… ruffians, to say the least. Like that one fat human, or ‘man’, as human males were supposedly called, wearing a rather unfitted to his figure suit. He was leaning over another man, who was kneeling on the ground. That one was bald, simplistically dressed and apparently didn’t mind the cold weather. There were also more humans around and one of them, most likely the fat one’s assistant, handed him a bizarre looking item.

‘I won’t kill you, snow man.’, the fat one spoke to the bald man. ‘I just want your technology… if I could buy it, I would, believe me. But if I can’t buy something, I take it anyway.’, the man grinned, revealing a set of crooked teeth. He gestured towards his assistant. ‘Get him to the museum, lads!’

Rarity tried to leave as quietly as her hooves allowed, but she walked right into a garbage can, knocking it off and drawing the humans’ attention. The mare wanted to run, to escape, to get away from these monsters when she heard a weird sound. She felt cold around her hind legs, her flank and finally around the whole body. The ice covered hear head…

‘He may still be here! I have to go!’

Rarity stood up hastily, jumped over a nearby table and ran to the doors. They were big enough for anypony to go through. Humans were bigger in general, but were they all unpleasant like that one? She didn’t have time think.

The mare walked through and found herself in a corridor with even more doors on both sides. As she was trotting forward, a huge painting caught her attention.

There were three smartly dressed people in it, two of which standing behind the third one, notably younger, who was sitting on a chair. There were all smiling and in no way resembled humans Rarity had encountered so far. She read a small metal plaque under the painting: THOMAS AND MARTHA WAYNE WITH SON, BRUCE.

‘Maybe not all humans are repulsive, after all…’, she thought. Maybe there were different kinds of humans, just like there were different kinds of ponies? She resumed searching for the exit. Led by a hunch, the mare pushed doors to her right.

Kitchen. As much as she’d like to stay and have a snack, she couldn’t. That would be most impolite and socially wrong to prowl in someone’s fridge like some kind of raccoon, even or especially when the house most likely belonged to a dangerous individual… but why would he keep the painting of that nice couple?

Rarity glanced at a clock hanging on the wall just before she left. It was showing 10:42 PM.

Reaching the end of the corridor turned out to be quite a challenge and took her longer than expected, mainly due to a mandatory stop in front of a mirror – to adjust the mane, of course – or taking a closer look on almost every piece of art the place was decorated with.

The corridor was turning left. Rarity guessed that there could be the exit that way and she was about to follow the path when she spotted a floor standing clock. It was very old, judging by its faded wood and blurred golden ornaments. She didn’t know whether or not it was still working, only that it was showing utterly wrong 3:30.

‘If there is one thing I can’t stand,’, the white unicorn said, enveloping the clock face in a bluish mist. The hour and minute hands began to spin. ‘That would be imperfection… now, what was the other one showing? Ten forty-seven should do…’

Just when the hands stopped moving, the time-showing piece of furniture itself moved.

Click!

The sound came from the clock, but it certainly didn’t originate from its mechanism. It sounded more like… unlocking something? Rarity put a hoof on it and pushed it a little, astonished to see the wall moving as well. It revealed a hidden passage behind! She looked inside. There was as spiral staircase leading into darkness, possibly somewhere under the mansion.

‘Don’t do it, Rarity.’, she said under her breath. ‘It’s like strolling through the Everfree Forest alone. It won’t end well…’

Oh, very well. She carefully trotted down the staircase.

It wasn’t the worst possible thing. True, she was stranded… somewhere, she had been entombed in ice and didn’t have a slightest idea of her friends’ whereabouts. But, to be fair, it was her fault. Well, her and Rainbow’s. Never again shall she discuss her projects in public!

The mare reached the ground.

It appeared that she was in some sort of cave. She shuddered at the memory of the last cave she was dragged into. But this place was different. The floor was made of metal and there was no mud or dust on it. Not only the floor, but also paths leading to different sections of the cave were artificial. Of course, it was still an underground place, so there were stalagmites and stalactites around, and walls were rough and unpolished.

‘There are obviously different kind of humans.’, Rarity stated in her thoughts. ‘Some of them even live underground.’

She took a path on the other side of the room, partially because it was the widest one, and partially because it was the only path illuminated by two parallel tracks of lights embedded in the floor. As she was exploring, she encountered a section of the cave packed with mirror-looking bluish objects which were showing different numbers, walls of text, maps, charts and so on. Now that – that was something you don’t see in Equestria. The mare was about to step in when she spotted somebody. Dashing behind a box of black, sharp-shaped objects she hoped she wasn’t seen. As there were no immediate shouts, strange sounds or ice blocks around her, she recognized it as a good sign. She leaned out from behind the box.

In the middle of a semicircle made of those screens and technological conveniences was a human female. She was sitting back to Rarity, so there was no way the mare could see her face, but even though it was quite obvious she was… was it woo-man they’re called? Woman, right. She had a long mane… no, she had a long hair, as red as Sweet Apple Acres’ finest, and she was apparently sitting in a wheelchair. It was oddly comforting for the pony to learn that humans were affected by conditions as well as Equestrians. The woman was talking towards a blue mirror with horizontal lines across it, and as the mirror actually talked back in a man’s voice it was making the lines tremble with every word.

‘…guess you need to go after him, but please, stay focused.’, she said, employing a complicated sequence of slides and touches on another screen at the same time. ‘Don’t let her get in the way again. Speaking of getting in the way, how are you doing working with a pony?’

‘She’s very helpful. And her name is Twilight.’, the voice from beyond the glass screed answered, to which Rarity initially froze, then felt a relief. So Twilight did manage to get here, thank Celestia! ‘Hold on… she’s asking about her friend.’

‘The white one? Alfred’s been taking care of her.’

Hearing about Twilight was one thing, but hearing about yourself was completely different. Rarity froze again, but this time no relief came. The underground-dwelling, red-haired wheelchair woman was obviously aware of her existence! It was one of those rare times the white mare would rather not be under the spotlight.

‘Bruce, you’re not going to adopt another randomly found orphan to the Bat-family, are you?’, the woman added after a while.

‘We’ll see about that.’

The man’s voice went silent and the lines stopped moving, vanishing from the screen and making place for pictures of newspaper headlines.

Rarity’s thoughts were now sonic rainbooming from the obvious facts to the worst-case scenarios. She carefully walked out of the technological center of the cave, looking behind to make sure the woman wasn’t following her.

There was Twilight, somewhere, and it sounded she was with the man that knows the woman that lives in the cave underneath the mansion that possibly belongs to rude and ugly human subspecies… and who was that Alfred and what did it mean to take care of her!?

Rarity started galloping, not really paying attention to the loud hoofsteps. She took a last glance behind and… she bumped into something. Seriously, what’s wrong with her!?

Rather than something the mare bumped into somebody. A body of a thin man with an angled moustache, dressed in a black tail-coat and a bowtie.

‘Have you got lost, madam?’, he asked.

That was way too intense for the white mare.

With a practiced gesture of putting a hoof on her forehead, she fainted.

* * *

Rarity regained consciousness and woke up on the same brown sofa, in the same living room as the last time. But this time, she wasn’t alone. The red-haired wheelchair woman was near and she did nothing but observed the white unicorn.

‘Stay back! Stay back!’, Rarity shouted, climbing the piece of furniture and trying to get to its other side.

‘I’m certainly not going to run after you…’, the woman answered calmly.

Rarity halted at the top of the sofa.

‘Oh. Legs. Sorry.’, she mumbled, blushing with embarrassment.

The mare sighed. As much as she wanted to get out, it would be inappropriate to run from a handicapped person. Besides, the woman mentioned Twilight before, maybe she’ll share what she knows? The unicorn slid back to the seat.

‘Would you like a cup of tea? I’ll ask Alfred to make some.’

Rarity nodded, to which the woman pressed something on the wheelchair’s armrest with a quick ‘please make it two, Alfred’. Only now the mare could take a closer look and see that the wheelchair was filled with buttons and even small screens. She wondered if living in caves came with technology amongst humans? Better not bring that custom to Equestria… and better stop staring at the wheelchair!

‘Could you tell me where we are now?’, Rarity politely asked, hoping that her plain rude staring had gone unnoticed.

‘I understand it’s all quite shock for you, so let me explain. My name in Barbara Gordon and this place belongs to my friend. Your friend, the pony named Twilight is with him.’

Rarity looked at Barbara with interest. She didn’t sound as somebody not worth the trust. To sum up: underground humans are kind and polite, while the other subspecies is rude in behavior… she really should have taken her sketchbook to take notes…

‘Hello… Barbara.’, the mare slowly replied. ‘My name is Rarity and I’m from Equestria.’

There was a moment of silence, enduring for far too long to be comfortable.

‘Phew, that went well.’, Barbara finally said.

‘What do you mean?’

She chuckled and smiled, lightening up the atmosphere.

‘Sorry, I’m just… not used to introducing myself to talking ponies.’

‘You’re doing just fine, my dear!’, Rarity answered, taking initiative in the conversation. ‘Much better than the last one I had a displeasure to meet. He said ‘hello’ by throwing a freezer at me!’

‘That must have been Penguin, ugh.’, she replied with a frown. ‘Nasty type. Gotham City is full of his kind.’

The thin man Rarity had bumped into earlier walked into the room. He didn’t walk in just like that. His every step was steady and graceful at the same time, he maintained a perfect balance with a silver tray in his hands and didn’t make any unnecessary movement when he was putting it on the table.

‘Thank you.’, Barbara said. ‘Alfred, meet Rarity. She’s from Equestria and will be our guest until Bruce sorts things out in Arkham.’

Rarity, remembering to stay dignified, reached towards Alfred.

‘Pleased to meet you.’

To her amazement, the man kneeled beside the sofa, and landed a small kiss on her hoof. Such manners!

‘The pleasure is all mine, madam.’, he said with a gentle smile.

The white mare had spent enough time among high society to know exactly when somepony was faking politeness and when was showing a genuine kindness. People here were apparently ‘the good ones’, at least in comparisons to that Penguin individual.

She looked back at Barbara, casually lifting a cup of tea with her magic and taking a sip. Pretty nice flavor, just like one she drinks at home.

‘So, Twilight is helping your friend Bruce to sort out things in that Arkham place…’, she said, connecting the facts she’d learned.

The cup was hovering in front of the mare. Barbara was slightly shocked, but Alfred remained unflappable. Rarity put the cup back on the tray before either of them commented on that matter. She didn’t want to discourage the woman from helping her…

‘Yes… that is the case.’, Barbara said. ‘There are dozens or criminals out there.’

‘Tsk-tsk, poor Twilight. Hasn’t she fixed enough in Equestria?’, Rarity said, shaking her head. ‘She simply has to help everyone here. Anyway, I understand there are… how do you call them?, she pondered. ‘Superheroes? Superheroes that fight those criminals? Masked superheroes in stylish capes?’

‘Madam surely knows a lot about our world.’, Alfred said.

‘An acquaintance of mine had been doing some research prior to my arrival here.’, she replied enigmatically. ‘You see, I’m a fashion designer and I’ve come to your world hoping that I could take a look at those costumes. I understand your friend Bruce in one of the aforementioned superheroes?’

They didn’t answer and Rarity knew exactly why.

‘Don’t worry, I’m not giving away his secret identity, I completely understand the importance of secrecy! Do you think it would be possible for me to wait here and take some notes when he comes back?’

‘It might not be that simple.’, a new voice said.

Rarity climbed on the coach to see… a superhero.

The man’s costume was composed of a red vest-like armor with a letter R embroidered on it, pair of black pants with red stripe going along the legs and a cape with a hood. The cape was black on the outside and yellow on the inside. He also had a small mask covering only the area around his eyes.

Rarity sighed. She really should have taken her sketchbook.

Chapter 3

Batman: Marekham City
by Prane
Chapter 3

Batwing.

Perplexed by the complexity of human technology, but greatly impressed by it nevertheless, Twilight kept on repeating the name of a strange shape in her mind. Batwing – where did that even come from? Neither it looked like a bat, nor its supposed ‘wings’ were similar to those of creatures she knew. That aircraft, clearly more advanced and agile than Equestria airships and balloons resembled a raven-black, metallic kite – should have named it Batkite, then – and had powerful fans, which apparently made flight and hovering over Iceberg Lounge’s glazed dome possible. Twilight spotted a total of four: two were fixed at the triangular wings and two, capable of rotation, were placed near some sort of windowed compartment at the rear of the vehicle.

That was the Batwing: the best and only hope for Rarity.

Twilight, tasked with keeping an eye on Penguin glanced at Batman as he glided down through the open dome. Despite his towering figure, he managed to land beside Twilight barely making a noise.

‘Thank you.’, she whispered as the Batwing with her unconscious friend onboard shot into the night sky. She didn’t exactly trust Batman as she trusted her Ponyville friends, but between him and Penguin… well, there was a proverb of Saddle Arabian origin: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Not really comforting, but what choice did she have, here in this strange, new world?

‘Don’t mention it.’, Batman replied, unceremoniously grabbing Penguin by his heavy, fur-lined overcoat. ‘Let’s move, Cobblepot. You don’t want to be late for your appointment with Freeze.’

Although Penguin tried to protest, Batman remained adamant to his complaints and dragged him along the floor, at least to the moment the chubby man stopped wiggling and waving his hands furiously and chose to walk on his own. There was no need to get him handcuffed – without his henchman and a way to utilize the monetary power he possessed, Oswald Cobblepot was just a harmless caricature of a businessman.

From the Iceberg Lounge they went back to the museum’s entry hall. In addition to a few pterosaur replicas watching their prey from below the ceiling and a substantial, life-size model of a dinosaur with surprisingly short forelimbs, the room was full of transparent tanks, usually used for exhibiting fossils of animals and plants, but under Penguin’s reign, his most valuable ‘trophies’ were kept in them instead.

Mr. Freeze was already there, waiting.

‘Where… is… Cobblepot?’, he slowly asked, turning away from a glassed tank.

Batman threw the captive to his feet.

‘Well, look who it is!’, Penguin gasped in faked astonishment. ‘Mister FreeAARGH!’

The pain twisted his already grotesque face as soon as Mr. Freeze stepped on his arm with the full weight of his life-preserving cryogenic suit. Penguin kept screaming, but imperturbable Mr. Freeze was not letting go.

‘Enough!’, Twilight intervened, finding no justification for inflicting such pain, even despite everything Penguin had done to Rarity. ‘Victor! Enough.’

‘Of course.’, Mr. Freeze said, stepping away. He then effortlessly lifted Penguin off the floor and slammed him against the nearby tank. The glass cracked a bit. ‘You will regret what you did, Mr. Cobblepot.’, he said, veiling Penguin’s face in an icy breath.

Revenge is a dish best served cold, and Mr. Freeze knew that. While he kept himself busy with carrying Penguin across the room and putting him into a cramped tank, Twilight looked around the other ones. Most of them were empty, probably prepared for the upcoming trophies.

However, it was the one with the cracked glass that caught her attention. Upon closer examination it turned out that it wasn’t empty at all, but rather resided by a pair of red, burning candles and a slim woman sitting in between them.

There was a palpable aura of mystery surrounding that human female, not only because she made Twilight free from the annoying feeling that everyone in this world was a man – which was curious, by the way, especially for somepony from a settlement like Ponyville where the gender disproportionality was quite different – but also because of some mystery-inducing attributes the woman had.

Starting from a velvet mask hiding the lower part of her face and extensive tattoos covering her back and bare arms, and ending with an uncanny symbol on her belt – a horned wolf, perhaps – as well as the fact that she remained completely still and unmoved. She looked as an integral part of the exhibition, and that impression was even intensified when she didn’t open her eyes when Twilight knocked on the glass.

‘The cure, Freeze.’, Batman said when Mr. Freeze was done locking Penguin’s new home.

‘There… isn’t one.’

‘What?’

‘Perhaps I should elaborate.’, Mr. Freeze replied, pressing some buttons on his right glove. ‘Creating an antidote to the disease that afflicts the clown was easy. Unfortunately, the cure degrades too quickly.’

Translucent images appeared over his arm. Shapes, numbers and symbols of chemical compounds together with a large, blinking exclamation mark amongst them. ‘It needs a restorative element, some kind of reforming enzyme. Without it, it breaks down before it can help the host.’

If there was anything more interesting than the humans themselves, it would their expertise and prowess on the fields of science! Twilight immediately glanced at the formula, but she couldn’t really dig it. She had achieved several breakthroughs in using laboratory glassware – more than once literally breaking through the said glassware – but as much as she was ashamed to admit, her knowledge in applied chemistry was insufficient to fully comprehend the cure to Batman’s undefined health problems.

Batman himself, however, did recognized something in the jungle of lines and letters.

‘I’ve seen this before!’, he said, immediately uploading the data to one of his devices.

‘Finding a suitable enzyme is not the only problem.’, Mr. Freeze explained further. ‘It needs to be adapted, bonded to human DNA.’, he ended the holographic projection. ‘That will take decades: time, it appears, you do not have.’

‘What if I told you that I know a man who has been exposed to that enzyme for centuries?’

‘What man?’, Mr. Freeze inquired with truly rekindled interest.

‘His name is Rā's al Ghūl.’

The moment Batman mentioned that name, the imprisoned woman opened her eyes and hastily moved closer to the glass. Startled, Twilight fled away from the tank.

‘Uhm… Batman?’, she said as the woman stood up, glanced at the mare in astonishment and turned her attention back to Batman.

‘Bring him to me.’, Mr. Freeze said. ‘All I need is a sample of his blood. It is your only hope.’

‘Rā's al Ghūl is dead.’, he replied.

‘Then you, and the clown… are doomed.’

‘Not exactly. I need someone to tell me where the body is…’, he said, taking a almost imperceptible glance at the masked woman, who was now trying to break out from the glass prison. ‘Then I can go and wake him up.’

‘Batman!?’, Twilight trotted to him and repeatedly pulled him by the cape. The cracks and fractures on the glass were getting bigger with each hit. ‘The one here is trying to escape, what do we do, oh, what do we do!?’

‘Not a thing.’

With the fifth or the sixth hit, the tank eventually broke. The woman rolled over the floor straight onto the shattered glass, cutting herself in several places.

‘Blasphemer!’, she hissed with an accent Twilight would classify as the Saddle Arabian one, but she quickly realized how useless that comparison was outside Equestria. ‘You are not worthy to speak of the great Rā's al Ghūl!’

Despite bleeding and her wounds, the woman performed a series of acrobatic jumps to get away from them, then proceeded to the staircase and ran out of the museum without looking back. She was, however, leaving drips of blood behind.

‘You are a fool, Batman.’, Mr. Freeze coldly judged. ‘You have let your only hope escape.’

‘No, Victor.’, he replied. ‘If Rā's al Ghūl is in Arkham City, I now have a trial right to him.’

‘You mean we have a trial?’, Twilight inquired.

There was one more thing of Batman to deal with before he could resume his race against time and Strange’s Protocol 10, whatever that was.

‘Listen, Twilight…’, he kneeled by her, though it didn’t really help much. ‘You did great with helping me take down Penguin. And I appreciate it. But it doesn’t get any easier out there, do you understand?’

Twilight’s violet eyes widened as she shook her head, already guessing where Batman was heading with that one. Apparently talking her out of touring Arkham was not going to be easy. ‘Once the Batwing is back, I’m sending you to a safer place.’

‘You can’t!’, Twilight protested. ‘My friends are out there, I have to find them! Besides, we’re making such a good team, are we not? I will be your Number One Crime and Injustice Fighting Assistant!’

‘I appreciate your enthusiasm,’, Batman straightened up, hoping that it would bring extra impact to his words, ‘but you know you’re not supposed to be here in the first place.’, he reasoned and turned to Mr. Freeze, who was checking hydraulic properties of his suit’s knees. ‘This city is full of dangerous people. You tell her, Freeze.’

‘As far as you might be surprised, Batman,’, he replied, accompanied by a mechanical wheezing, ‘I am with Twilight Sparkle on this one.’

Twilight, hearing that, smiled so wide she beamed with I was right, you were wrong written all over her face.

‘Wait a minute…’, Batman approached Mr. Freeze. ‘Explain me something: that’s not the first time you agreed with something she wanted. I didn’t know you could be so human towards those you hardly know, Victor.’

‘There are apparently many things you do not know about me. I might be cold blooded, but I am certainly not cold hearted.’, he stopped tinkering with his suit and stood up. ‘Tell me, Batman… do you believe in angels?’

‘Excuse me?’, both Batman and Twilight seemed surprised, but due to different reasons.

‘As you know, I was imprisoned by this caricature of a man.’, Mr. Freeze hit Penguin’s tank to which the man immediately curled up. ‘Mr. Cobblepot here probably thought it would be most amusing to have me placed in a tropical scenery, with sand under my feet and heat of lamps gradually sucking my strength. I was delirious, but I kept to my one and only sane thought: to my beloved Nora.’

Batman had been fighting injustice in Gotham City for long enough to know a thing or two about each criminal’s motives. Nora Fries, for example, was Victor’s wife diagnosed with terminal illness. Because there was no way to help her at the time, Victor used his knowledge to cryogenically freeze her until a proper cure could be developed. There was an accident, unfortunately, and he got drenched in the chemicals he had created to freeze Nora, which changed his metabolism so that he could no longer survive in a non-negative temperature. From there, Victor stumbled down onto a path of crime, becoming fearsome Mr. Freeze.

Who wasn’t really that fearsome at the moment.

‘Then…’, he continued his story, crouching near Twilight and reaching towards her head. At first she was unsure of what he was going to do, but when he simply stroke her sapphire blue mane several times, she didn’t step back. It was peculiar to see a colossal man with a relatively petite pony but Twilight, apparently, didn’t mind. ‘Then I saw a pony, just like you, Twilight Sparkle, knocking on the glass from the other side.’

‘One of my friends, no doubt!’, she shouted in excitement and took Freeze’s gauntlet between her hooves. ‘How did she look like? Please, tell me!’

‘I am afraid I do not know that. I was weak and the lamp’s light was blinding me. I could only recognize the shape.’, Mr. Freeze admitted. ‘With my last effort and my wife’s name on my lips, I pointed at the switch that Penguin had used to lock me inside. Your friend opened the tank, but I fainted. When I woke up, I was free. And she was gone.’

‘You went and recovered the suit, then gave us the frequency jamming your ice gun.’, Batman stated. It would seem that Mr. Freeze thought he owed a favor to the pony kind, though it didn’t take astonishing detective skills to deduce that. The fact itself could prove useful in the future, nevertheless. ‘Still… angels?’

‘You may laugh at me. I do not find any better words to describe it or explain.’, he stood up and walked back to Batman. ‘Even you, Dark Knight, cannot deny that they are the brightest beings in the pitiful city Gotham has become. Perhaps they were sent to help us… if so, I believe Twilight Sparkle should go with you… and be your guardian angel.’

Batman looked at Twilight. Now that he didn’t have his mind preoccupied with saving the officers from the 13th Precinct, he pondered once more about the colorful mare, her otherworldly skills and that Equestria place. It didn’t really add up, but she was here: curiously staring at him, ready to become his Number One-something Assistant. Which meant he was going to send a bigger equipment request to Alfred. Damn, even Riddler’s challenges were more solvable than this.

‘That’s not very scientific approach, Victor.’, Batman opinioned. ‘It’s unlike you.’

‘In the wake of such entities… science is worthless.’, Mr. Freeze concluded.

* * *

Perhaps science was worthless on the subject of pastel-colored ponies from another world, but it could still come in handy for tracking down fugitives, especially when they were leaving an obvious trail behind. And Batman was unmatched in forensic sciences.

After thoroughly scanning the blood stain from the floor and adjusting his cowl’s scanner to detect any matching signatures, Batman – in the company of Twilight – had left the museum. There wasn’t anything more to be done there, now that the GCPD officers took hold over the Iceberg Lounge and barricaded themselves there until the situation in Arkham would be resolved.

The weather outside was depressing, to say the least – cold and cloudy, with sharp snowflakes whirling in the air, fitting Gotham’s dreary streets so well. Batman wondered how was the weather like in Equestria. He actually tried to think of it as a different country, and of Twilight as a foreigner that had come by a student exchange program.

‘Are you sure this man can provide the missing ingredient?’, Twilight asked as they followed the blood trail along the museum’s walls.

‘I’ve met Rā's al Ghūl many times.’, Batman replied, glad that there were no petty criminals nearby. They must have dispersed the minute they heard Penguin had lost control of the museum. ‘He claims to be over 600 years old and I believe him. Which means something is keeping him alive.’

‘Six hundred years!?’ That’s a lot! Is he some kind of royalty, because where I come from…’. she stopped as she spotted some freshly printed posters, clearly standing out against the background of a shabby wall. ‘Hey, who’s that? He looks friendly.’

Indeed he did, even with a large WANTED signed by a penguin’s silhouette. Bruce Wayne’s face was the face of a billionaire, playboy and philanthropist, often associated with following his parents’ dream of Gotham free from poverty and crime. Despite being a corporate businessman, he was generally known for his people-attitude and, most recently, for actively opposing the idea of creating a prison district in the heart of the city.

Very few people, however, knew him for secretly being the Dark Knight of Gotham.

‘He’s just another boring businessman.’, Batman replied, fully aware that revealing his true identity to anyone, yet alone a mare met by chance could have dire consequences.

The trail was leading up to a nearby monorail station – JEZEBEL CENTER, MUSEUM – now abandoned as it got decommissioned upon building walls around Arkham. It seemed that the assassin followed the rusty rail for a while, then proceeded to the rooftops.

‘I don’t suppose you could somehow… use your magic to instantly get on that building?’, Batman asked, drawing his grapple gun.

‘You mean: to teleport myself? In Equestria I would, but when I tried it earlier at the museum entrance, shortly before we’ve met, it… it just didn’t work.’, Twilight replied in confusion. ‘It’s the only spell that didn’t work so far. Apparently, my magic is limited in your world. Now that I think about it, it’s pretty logical.’

‘How is that?’, he grabbed Twilight, shot the hook and allowed the retraction mechanism to pull them both up to the building’s flat roof.

‘I reckon that magic isn’t something humankind use on a daily basis, therefore flow of arcane currents is theoretically not… well, let’s say you didn’t pave the way for it yet.’

Instead of spending his life wondering how would the world look like if the said magic was used for everyday’s chores, Batman would rather rely on a thermal vision technology implemented in his cowl. There were numerous spots of still warm blood on the roof, indicating that the assassin was somewhere in the area north of the museum.

As they grappled from one roof to another, the trail soon broke off, leading them to a discarded bandage, or, more precisely: a makeshift imitation of a bandage the woman must have made on the way.

‘The blood trail has run out.’, Batman said. ‘The only way we’re going to find that assassin is to locate more evidence.’, he activated the scanner and…

‘Watch out!’, Twilight shouted.

Before he could react, Batman heard the sound of throwing knives cutting through the air. They came right at him, but were stopped by a semi-visible, magenta force field that had appeared as unexpectedly as the assassin’s deadly projectiles. He glanced at Twilight and saw her horn shimmering with supernatural mist.

‘Phew! Shield spell, checked.’, Twilight said, dispersing the magical energy. ‘There she is!’

The assassin was jumping from a balcony to a ventilation system’s shaft of an adjacent building. They had to hurry if they didn’t want to lose sight of her.

‘The only way to find Rā's is to get a tracker on that ninja!’, Batman said, taking a tiny, round object from his utility belt’s pocket, and then grappling up the building. ‘Can you keep up?’

Twilight nodded and broke into a wild gallop. Perhaps she wasn’t as mobile as Batman with his gadgets, but neither did the assassin, who was limited to climbing over small walls and ledges and jumping over vent exhausts on the way. Batman, on the other side, could easily monitor the chase from beneath the sky, and plan accordingly to a path she took.

After a moment of gliding above, he dived down upon spotting the nearest opportunity to cut the assassins off, especially because Twilight seemed to be losing the chased woman. He hit the ground about two steps from her.

She immediately drew a silvery sword and slashed forward. She surely didn’t have one at the museum, which suggested there were more Rā's’ ninjas stationing nearby.

Batman blocked the attack with his reinforced armbrace, then reached his other hand behind her back. What looked like an attempt to get her off balance was actually a fake move that made attaching the tracking device possible. To make it more believable, Batman fell on the ground after the assassin’s counterattack.

She put the sword next to his throat.

‘You only continue to live,’, she said with contempt emanating through her mask, ‘because the great Rā's al Ghūl allows it!’

As expected, two more ninja women joined her, appearing almost out of nowhere. Almost, because they had probably jumped down from a nearby terrace, but also because someone else had unexpectedly entered the scene. And it wasn’t Twilight.

The man whistled really loud, and before the two assassins could even unsheathe their swords, he knocked them down with his heavy-hitting, expandable staff, striking smoothly yet with a touch of brute force, akin to the waterfalls concealing the entrance to the Batcave.

Robin, judging by his costume, had obviously visited the same tailor monochromatic Batman did, although his suit was a little brighter, thanks to a goldenrod utility belt and a scarlet reinforced breastpiece he wore. Both men, evidently, shared fondness to tar-black capes, but unlike Batman’s, his cape had also a hood, giving him a striking appearance of a vigilante more uncanny than the Dark Knight himself.

The assassin pressed the blade against Batman’s throat.

‘Call him off!’

‘I can take her!’, Robin whirled the staff.

‘Stand down.’, Batman told him, knowing that he had already achieved his goal.

Reluctantly, Robin halted and retracted his weapon. He took a step back.

‘Do not follow us.’, the assassin issued a hidden threat. She stood up and sheathed the sword, then ran and jumped down from the building into the alleys below.

When she disappeared beyond the ledge, Twilight climbed up on the other side of the roof. She was breathing heavily and her legs were shaking like a jelly.

‘Sorry…’, she mumbled. ‘I couldn’t… keep up.’, she then noticed Robin. ‘Oh? Who are you?’

Robin glanced at the mare, but deliberately ignored her.

‘I didn’t need your help.’, Batman said, straightening up.

‘Really?’, Robin replied, making it sound more like a cocky student challenging his teacher’s words rather than the actual surprise. ‘That’s not what it looked like from where I was standing.’

‘I had it under control. Why did Alfred send you?’

‘He was worried about you!’

From where Twilight was standing, Batman looked like it wasn’t a good enough reason for Robin to come. She wondered what was between those two, because they didn’t look like friends so far.

Batman took out a small vial with red liquid and passed it to Robin.

‘Take this, get it analyzed and start searching the hospitals and emergency rooms.’, he commissioned. ‘Anyone with this blood in them will be dead within 24 hours.’

‘Whose blood is it?’, Robin asked, by when Batman turned away from him, he figured it out by himself. ‘Oh… It’s yours, isn’t it?’

Again, Twilight could observe Batman being a man of few words. He was apparently letting his deeds speak for him, instead.

‘I’ll get it to the hospitals and come back.’, Robin said. ‘You need my help here.’

‘I can handle it.’, Batman rejected the idea. ‘You’re needed in Gotham’

‘You think?’, he replied, once more sounding… assertive, to say the least. ‘And you’ll be running around with a pony?’, he pointed condemningly at Twilight. ‘What if Strange tells everyone who you really are? How will you…’

It was time for Batman to take initiative in this almost academic teacher-student quarrel.

‘Trust me.’, he firmly assured. ‘I’ll find a way.’

Robin didn’t seem entirely convinced, but he kept further comments to himself. He took out two items: one looked like two grapple guns glued together, the other being a smaller version of his utility belt, and gave both to Batman.

‘Barbara was digging through some of her old stuff.’, he said. ‘It should fit… on your pony. If you need me, you know where I am.’

‘I know. Now go!’

Robin passed by Twilight without a word and disappeared in the shadows of Arkham.

‘Bye… I guess.’, she unsurely said, then looked at Batman questioningly. ‘Have I done something wrong?’

Batman shook his head. Now that Robin had mentioned Barbara, he felt it necessary to let her know about a few things. He switched his communication module to establish secure connection with the Batcave.

‘Oracle, change of plan. I’m going after the League of Assassins.’

‘Why? What have they got to do with all this?’, he heard a inquisitive voice inside his cowl. ‘Oh, wait a minute. Is this about Rā's or his daughter?’

‘Penguin had one of the League’s assassins imprisoned in the museum. I recognized the insignia. She’s a member of Talia’s elite guard.’

‘I knew it.’, she didn’t sound content. ‘What is it about that woman that makes her instantly the most important person in your world?’

‘Talia is not the goal, Barbara. I’ve uploaded Freeze’s unfinished cure. It looks to me like the answer is…’

‘…found in Rā's al Ghūl’s blood. OK, Bruce, I guess you need to go after him, but please, stay focused. Don’t let her get in the way again. Speaking of getting in the way, how are you doing working with a pony?’

Batman wondered about the answer for a moment, taking into consideration the mare’s involvement in dealing with Freeze and Penguin and saving him just a while ago.

‘She’s very helpful. And her name is Twilight.’, he noticed that she was trying to ask him something without rudely interrupting his conversation. ‘Hold on… she’s asking about her friend.’

‘The white one? Alfred’s been taking care of her.’, Barbara assured. ‘Bruce, you’re not going to adopt another randomly found orphan to the Bat-family, are you?’

‘We’ll see about that.’