AN: Welcome to yet another story of Bat!Son universe. This one is in the future, post every current in-continuity comic event, where Damian had taken up the mantle of the Bat. It hints at being a crossover, but only Easter egg references, so it doesn't matter enough to warrant an actual crossover. I am planning to do a JL crossover, it's all connected in my head, hence the references. For now it's a one-shot, until inspiration strikes me for another slice-of-life.
Please R&R and hope you have fun reading!
It was almost dawn, in a mostly empty parking lot, which was an hour and a place unfit for fighting criminals.
As befitting of a more-troublesome-than-average-drug-dealer villain, Marcus Leviton, a.k.a. Demon Master in Gotham's underworld, did not look afraid or even properly defeated when Batman towered before him. It had been a long month of bitter struggle between the Dark Knight and Neo Arcadia, a criminal network of metahumans headed by Leviton. In the course of that month Batman had methodically torn down the organization—blown up a few meeting places, ransacked all the offshore accounts, routed out member after member and threw them over to Blacksgate—but the head of Neo Arcadia and its most powerful member had remained at large. A fact to be changed after this final confrontation.
Strategically speaking Batman disliked such confrontations. A lone criminal backed into a corner could be especially reckless and dangerous, especially if this lone criminal possessed unimaginable magical power like Leviton. But really, who was he kidding? A part of him always thrilled at the prospect of a good knockout.
"You think you have won, huh? You flying rodent," Leviton growled at Gotham's dark knight, "But let me tell you something. You are just a man who can throw a good punch, maybe, nothing more. That cape and those gimmicks don't scare me. Let me show you what true terror is."
Clearly, this was a cornered man about to put up a final, suicidal fight. Batman tensed, right hand balled into a fist and poised to strike, left hand reaching for the lasso in his utility belt. Then he heard a roar, and then a face suddenly appeared from nothing, inches from his own.
It was more of a skull than a face, with two points of yellow glints for eyes and teeth shaper than that of a shark, and two pairs of enormous curved horns. That head alone was nearly as tall as he was. Behind the head was a thick neck, connected to a three-story tall body armored with bone plates and metal, and an even longer tail. A pair of pitch black wings extended out from the shoulder armor, so large they blocked out the sky. It seemed as if night had fallen again.
Batman's hand paused right above his utility belt. He would never admit it, but that split second he was indeed shocked into motionlessness. Of course he always knew what the members of Neo Arcadia could do; they were all gifted with a strange magic that allows them to manifest fantastic creatures and unimaginable spells. But all he had to deal with before was fireballs and flying goats, not five-story tall horned dragon right out of the underworld.
Though speaking of the underworld, he had visited the realm of Hades before, and he certainly didn't see this hellish abomination, no pun intended.
Leviton laughed and screamed, "You know why I laugh every time people tell me bats are creatures of darkness? This is why. Here, look at him and look at him well, this is what the true lord of darkness looks like. Grapha, kill him for me."
The creature roared again, a long, ear-piercing screech. A pair of claws reached for him, glowing in the faint twilight like cold steel. Batman moved. He slithered out of the claws' grasp and ducked under the creature, where he could raise his head and look at the creature's underbelly. What did they say about a dragon's belly again? Wasn't it supposed to be soft and vulnerable and ready for the dragon slayer to cut open? Well, all he could see was sheets of metal, underneath which was hardened hide.
"Tt," Batman muttered.
He pulled out a powerful explosive from his belt and stuck it to the creature's exposed hide, between two metal plates. With a click he armed the explosive and rolled away from the creature. The explosive was powerful enough to blast him with a wave of flame and hot air even at thirty feet away. The creature growled and swiped its long, powerful tail, but it did not sound hurt, not at all. When the smoke and flame cleared a little he could see that the explosion did not even make a dent. Batman raised his hand and sent three more explosive Batrangs towards the creature, and while explosions rocked the world he dashed towards Leviton. He had dealt with people like Marcus Leviton before, and he knew the trick was to defeat the man, not the monsters.
But an enormous wing beat blasted him with flame and air alike, and he had to retreat. Leviton was nowhere to be seen; the man was obviously good at working with his creature. Before Batman had a chance to decipher Leviton's location, the creature's claw swiped towards him again, followed closely by a blast of black vapor. There was no option other than to run; he had no idea what happens if he was hit by that black mist and he really didn't care to find out.
Just where the hell was Leviton? It was as if the man disappeared. But he couldn't be that far from his dragon. Maybe on top? Batman looked up.
He jumped on top of a parked car, then onto a bus, the next second he was standing on top of a streetlamp post, staring up at the creature. The creature's face came near, its maw cracked wide open, ready to breath out another torrent of black gas. But Batman merely raised his hand and fired his grapple gun towards the draconic head. His jump line wrapped around one horn, which was a great leverage point for flipping on top of the creature. His swing was just fast and wide enough to avoid the streaming black vapor coming out of the creature's mouth, and he landed on its armored neck, right behind the head. But Leviton was not there riding the creature as he had guessed.
Damn it!
Sensing someone standing on its back, the demonic creature screeched like a cattle inside the slaughterhouse. Its enormous body writhed and rolled, Batman had to grab a horn with all his might to stay standing on that neck. The creature stretched out its wings wide and gave one powerful wing beat, before taking the air.
Really now? Flying? Taking that three-story tall armored lizard body to the air by flapping a pair of sheet metal wings? Well, physics be damned.
"Ugh," Batman muttered, "I really hate magic."
But if Leviton was not standing on his dragon, and this dragon was taking to the air, there would be a much better chance of subduing the man on the ground. Batman was already a few stories in the air and rising on top of that dragon, but he simply jumped. Wrapping his jump line around a tall electric post, he swerved a wide circle and slowed down just enough to avoid serious injuries before he crashed into the ground.
When he pulled himself up he saw Leviton standing less than ten feet away, looking at him and face full of glee. Batman growled at launched himself at this so called Demon Master, only to be forced back by yet another stream of black vapor pummeling down into the ground. That dragon was blasting him from the sky. It looked as if he couldn't back away fast enough this time; his cape was drenched by the vapor and promptly burst into flame. While Batman tried desperately to put out the fire, Leviton laughed uproariously.
"Why can't you just admit it when you are outgunned, flying rodent?" The villain said.
Just then another roar resounded above them. It was not the croaking screech of Leviton's demon dragon, rather it was a lion's roar that morphed into the long call of an eagle, clear and mighty. Another creature had appeared in the sky, with lion's body, eagle's plume, but head like that of an oriental dragon, and a pair of feathery white wings that almost looked angelic, if something so incredibly large and terror-inspiring could be termed as such. Another sweep of those wings, and then a sheet of white flame swept towards Leviton's demon dragon, just as a Batarang smashed into Leviton's knee from the shadows, bringing the villain to the ground before he could even react.
"Understand now," Batman said with a very tiny smirk while cuffing Leviton with a power inhibitor designed just for the occasion, "Batman is never outgunned. Ever."
A few police officers came and took Leviton. They left in a clear hurry, and it was quite understandable, for the griffin-like creature was still flying overhead, flapping its enormous wings. But Batman would not leave. He stood there and glared up at the griffin. Suddenly the creature collected its wings, stretched out its limbs and dove towards the ground like a falcon. It came to a crashing halt that nearly spun out of control right in front of Batman, the draconic head was no more than a couple feet from Batman's face. Someone was standing on the griffin creature's back: red suit, snowy white hood and cape bordered with glittering gold, and a figure tall and stately like carven images of ancient gods. Anyone would be awed by this divine warrior, but Batman glared still most resolutely.
"I had that guy, alright?" The Dark Knight of Gotham said through gritted teeth, "I even sacrificed my cape to make him careless, and my Batarang would have smashed his knee with or without you here. No one called for a deus ex machine in the form of a god forsaken griffin, Marvel!"
"Dragon, come now, he is a dragon," Captain Marvel laughed, "The title is Judgment Dragon, the name I can't tell you, sorry, the power inherent within a name and everything. Do you know how much practice it took before I was finally able to call out this big fella? Come, don't waste the moment; come flying with me!"
"Flying on this thing in broad daylight? Have you finally lost it?!"
"It's quite alright. Soon enough scenes of your fight will be over every news channel anyway; I am sure people know my dragon is with the good guys. And we can take it up higher too. Come on, Bats, when is the next time I get to call out one of those big fellas? Come flying with me!"
The red-clad hero was beaming; he was obviously quite enamored with his dragon. Batman clicked his tongue and replied with lowered voice, "Tt, I have been flying with you all my life."
"On a dragon? Oh no you haven't! " Captain Marvel's grin was like the sunlight breaking the clouds overhead.
And before Batman could react he was already standing on the back of the griffin—dragon actually, he reminded himself—rising into the sky. With every beat of those snow white wings the ground shrank away a little bit further. It should have been amazing, but Batman sighed instead.
"You are very set on destroying my image," Batman muttered.
"Just because you are wearing the cowl doesn't mean you have to be exactly like your predecessor, you don't do brooding and mysterious well anyway," Captain Marvel was still laughing, "Admit it, you enjoy this. We can still have fun on the job, why ever not?"
"Fine. If you want to fly, go directly north."
Well, the view was great; Gotham at the break of day from this height was glittering beautiful like a black pearl. Flying on top of a breathing creature with rhythmic wing beats, feeling the open air and the creature's feather and down shivering in the wind, that was also an unequalled experience, but he wasn't going to admit he was enjoying this.
"Since when do you need a dragon to fight some demonic lizard?" Batman said to his companion with narrowed eyes, "You could have just dropped from the sky and zapped that thing back to oblivion. I know it, you are just looking for every excuse to play with some dangerous magic."
"Hey, every magic is dangerous in some way, this one the same as all the others. And we have fought those monsters before, you know very well few things actually hurt them. Now that I have a full grip on this particular brand of magic and can even bring out big guns like this fella carrying us, why not use it? If I fight it any other way we would end up with a much more shredded parking lot without a single car left intact."
"But I thought you said before Captain Marvel can't use this type of magic?"
"Captain Marvel can't, but I can, once I am out of the suit," Captain Marvel made a face, "I called out the dragon before I suited up. Went better than I imagined; turns out my dragon knows exactly who I am, still listens to me once the suit is on. You know me, don't ya, big fella?" He gently tagged a long feather on the dragon's neck, and the creature made a low rumble in his throat as a reply, almost like a cat purring as it snuggled close.
But Batman narrowed his eyes instead. "You mean this creature knows your true identity?"
"Sure, and I know his true name," Captain Marvel explained with a shrug, "That's how it works with magic, if you have a magical contract going you will know each other's true names. These creatures are bound to me."
"But there are others who can call out these creatures and speak to them, others who are even more adept than you at this magic. You sure no one else can get to your identity through your little Gandalf's army?" Batman asked with a severe frown.
"Have a little faith in me, Bats. Not that many people can access this particular kind of magic to begin with, most of them just make fireballs, you know that. And you just rounded up pretty much the last powerful loose cannon. There aren't exactly that many who are more adept than me."
Batman set his jaw, "There is at least one; you know who I am talking about."
Strangely Captain Marvel fell silent and did not respond. The great dragon continued to carry them further and further away from Gotham, the rhythmic wing beats and the speeding air a never ending song. Green hills and crystalline lakes sparkled beneath them, but neither had the heart to admire the view anymore.
"So," Eventually Batman said, "When were you planning to take the Fudo girl home to meet the family?"
Captain Marvel almost blushed, but he kept his expression school and he answered, "Just because I am practicing her sort of magic doesn't mean I am anything more than casual acquaintance with her."
"Really now?" Batman's expression, whatever that could be seen with the cowl firmly in place anyway, was a strange cross between a smirk and a scowl, "What do you call last Saturday evening then, and the Saturday before that?"
"Last Saturday?"
"Eastern time, more like Sunday morning local time. The beaches looked nice this time of the year," Batman said with a snort, "Perfect for 'casual acquaintances' to take long walks, among other things."
"Oh!" This time Captain Marvel did blush to the root of his hair, "How did you know that?!"
"I saw you two," Batman answered simply.
Captain Marvel's hand slapped his forehead. "You were spying on me?" He said helplessly, not knowing whether he should laugh or cry, "We were on some tiny uninhabited island off Okinawa too! Still not far enough I suppose. Should I be impressed by the scope of your surveillance or thank you for your effort?"
"You know how many satellites I have and how far I can see."
"Actually I don't," Captain Marvel was still in face-palm mode, "Listen, Bats, I said this many times since you started. Just because you are wearing the cowl now doesn't mean you have to act like fa… I mean, him."
To which Batman shot back, "And just because you idolize the big boy scout in blue doesn't mean you have to fall for an uncontrollably powerful woman and leave us mortals wondering when you gods might go berserk the way he did."
"Hey, Superman and Diana were great together; it worked for them."
"Just barely; they were threatening enough. And your girl isn't exactly Wonder Woman is she? She never joined the Justice League and swore to protect order and justice, never worked with the rest of us, not even a gesture."
"Technically she did work with the League before…"
"Alongside the League maybe, not with the League, and that was seven years ago when she was ten," Batman interrupted brusquely, looking near the face-palm mode as well, but such a gesture would be unbefitting of the Dark Knight, so he settled for a withering glare, "But that's hardly the point. The point is that no inhibitor ever worked on her, and she has no kryptonite. Nor have you, for that matter of fact. You picked up every magic under the sun, in and out of that suit, there no longer exists any real countermeasure against you. If you and that Fudo girl really are 'casual acquaintances', at least I can leverage the two of you against each other."
Captain Marvel blinked. A few times, rather slowly.
They never had this kind of conversation before, the two of them. They didn't have to; paranoia and contingency plans were strictly the domain of the old Batman, and no one else had to let such worries sabotage friendship and love. After a long drawn out silence Captain Marvel sighed.
"I never knew you think this way too," The red-clad hero said in a subdued voice, "I mean, you are my… I would never…"
"Again, not the point; it's not about what you would do, but what you can do," Batman's stoic voice still had plenty of edge, "There was always a box in the Batcave for you, even though we all know who you are."
"Is the box still there?" Captain Marvel wondered out loud.
"Only an empty one. I took out the device and refitted it for other purpose. What good is it to shock you out of that suit? You can still snap your fingers and send people into parallel universes, or make a dragon out of nothing."
The creature carrying them both actually nodded his draconic head and let loose a string of purrs, almost as if laughing at Batman's words. But Captain Marvel fell silent again, as if pondering the issue.
After what seemed like forever he began slowly, "If you want a contingency plan, there is something… An Ouroboros Vow it is called, a vow that, if broken, would turn one's own power against oneself. For someone like me breaking the vow would be instantaneous self-destruction, in or out of the suit. But it is usually used for very specific event and action, might be hard to set it up just right as a kind of general preventative measure, so maybe you can be an oath keeper and…"
But once more Batman cut him off. "Don't be ridiculous. We are there. Direct this dragon of yours down, will you? Land by that large lake over there. See the dam just north of the lake? There."
"Er, what?"
"I have some business in Canada. Thanks for the ride."
Captain Marvel actually laughed, before directing his creature to make a landing. They were quiet once more as the dragon slowly descended, but as the silence dragged on and became almost uncomfortable, Captain Marvel started again, "Listen, Batman, about that…"
Batman whirled around to face him with narrowed eyes, "No. What I said was food for thought, not a suggestion you should plant a suicide switch in yourself. Perish that thought."
A pause, and the caped crusader leaned in closer still, "And when I say there is no real countermeasure against you, I am speaking for the rest of the world. I can always take you down…" The Dark Knight was clearly smirking. He was so very close and whispered all but next to Captain Marvel's ear, "Brother."
Almost impulsively Captain Marvel put his arms around Batman's shoulder and hugged his brother tightly.
Only to be thrown over the Dark Knight's shoulder and into the wind. Captain Marvel laughed, still tumbling in the air, while Batman mock glared at him.
"The Dark Knight does not hug."
Captain Marvel laughed louder still. He asked, "Ever think how you will land the dragon now that you threw me off?"
Batman's answer was simple: he promptly jumped off the creature. He landed on top of a large hemlock tree effortlessly, almost as if he really could fly. He waved once to Captain Marvel and looked ready to head off, but before he disappeared into the forest canopy he suddenly turned.
"One more thing," He said to Captain Marvel still hovering mid-air, "How well do you really like that Fudo girl?"
Captain Marvel blushed once more, but his expression was somber, "I do like her, exceptionally well in fact. I… I will give it serious thought, I promise, won't make any rash decision. I do care very much what you guys think."
"Well, invite her home for dinner sometime, and soon. No girl will believe you like her 'exceptionally well' if she doesn't even get to meet the family."
Captain Marvel raised an eyebrow. "I am not sure she is the sort of girl parents like," He said, "Especially fa… You-know-who."
Batman answered, "Parents are parents before anything else, especially retired ones. Any parent would only have one practical concern regarding your girl."
Captain Marvel now raised both eyebrows. "Which is what?"
"She is so young it's not even legal. So tread very carefully, Romeo!"
Batman spun around on his heel and promptly vanished into the forest. His cape was too burned to swish properly now, but that line made enough of an exit.
Captain Marvel breathed out a long-suffering sigh, laughing still. He waved at Batman's general direction and called out, "I still love you, Bats!"
Batman did not even pause as he moved from tree top to tree top, but he did smirk.
"Of course you do," He murmured.