In Another Life
Pairing: WonderBat (Wonder Woman x Batman)
Rating: 14A / T
Universe: N/A - Reader Decides
PROLOGUE
The Batman stomped into his cave, the unmistakable, signature fury heard in the heels of his boots resounded dramatically in his hollow hideaway. The teleporter slowly powered down behind him but he was swift in his steps as he walked towards his supercomputer, his gloved fingers itching to slam down upon the keyboard. "Oracle," he barked at the illuminated screens before him, with only a few background searches running just as he had left them. For the most advanced computer hardware system in the entire world, it did nothing to quell his fury to see that the likes of Harley Quinn, Talia al Ghul or even Jason and not been located by the time he returned from that ridiculous Founders meeting had had been forced to endure.
His jaw tensed before Bruce shouted at the embedded microphone somewhere inside his computer system. "Oracle!"
"It is possible," came the snide tone of his supposedly faithful butler from the stairwell engraved into the Batcave's wall. "That she might be busy handling her own affairs. Oracle is rather dutiful when it comes to servicing your manic behaviour, but that doesn't mean you can expect her to-"
Alfred's chiding was frying the last nerve he had. Those fingers that were once eager to flatten every letter into his keyboard were now forming fists at his sides. "Expecting her to finish identifying the chemical compound I gave her last night is not 'manic'. The people suffering in Gotham General because of that sludge would appreciate my mania."
A teacup was carefully placed on the edge of his computer desk, something the Batman saw through the lenses of his cowled face. However, he refused to acknowledge the gesture as he stared forward at the empty screen before him.
The irritability the was climbing up the back of his throat was nearly choking him. His teeth grinded against one another to keep himself calm as he decided to waste no more time on Barbara. Those heavy boots of his echoed in the cave as he decided to head to his garage. He had a task to complete and the pulsing rage within urged him to carry on, even if it meant working alone.
Considering his earlier outburst that evening, it was safe to assume that he had terminated his connection to Star Labs.
Meaning he'd need to think of an alternate means to identify the compound before he had yet another disaster on his hands.
"Master Bruce!" Alfred's sudden outburst was a tad more panicked than anticipated, considering how familiar he must have been with seeing the Batman's back.
"What!?" He bit out as he continued on his way down the stairs into the lowest level of his hideout.
"What is the reason behind today's hostile outburst?" His typically dark humour failed to hit its mark, instead detonating the signature composure of the Batman in order to release another rush of rage within his veins.
It became absolutely overwhelming to him - the need to lash out at anyone who was close enough to submit to the sharpest edges of his most evicorating words - and compelled him to not only turn around on the steps, but to remove his cowl in one fluid tug, exposing his twisted expression to the man who had most likely seen it more than he had himself.
"Whatever you're trying to say to me, don't. I am trying to take care of my city."
Alfred's brows rose in shock but he moved his hands behind his back and nodded slightly, as if he was trying to understand the point of his words. "Dutifully so, though I don't always end up on the receiving end of such an aggressive episode as a result."
A pang of guilt threatened to dull his intensity so Bruce swallowed it down before ascending the stairs by two meager steps. "I've been doing this for the past three decades and despite my loses, I have always put Gotham first."
"I'd agree. To a painful degree."
"No matter what it's costed me!"
"And the costs have been many."
"So when metahumans that I have gifted with nearly futuristic technology - weapons, teleporters, vehicles, and a headquarters - say that they are planning to intervene in matters here without my permission, I have to solve the damn case before they think they can even fly over Gotham, as if Harvey Dent himself gave them each their own damn monogrammed key to the city!"
Bruce was forced to inhale and refill his lungs with a gust of air after screaming at his butler so vehemently. The Founders meeting had replayed in his mind as he shouted about the immaterial knife they had stabbed into his back. Since the very beginning of the League's founding, he had warned his fellow founders that Gotham City was his territory, meaning it did not and would not require the aid of an overpowered alien or a Robin Hood enthusiast or an immortal woman who had no weakness that he could halt her with if she tried to handle his villains the way she would Doomsday.
The untraceable sludge that he had asked Barbara to identify had begun appearing in Metropolis and Star City, all after the disastrous floods that Gotham had suffered through this summer. Bruce had hoped that if Barbara could recognize the compounds found within it, he could potentially trace the strange ooze back to a source and save his city; now that the problem was spreading to the cities that the other founders lived in, they were demanding to be brought onto his case.
But if Clark couldn't x-ray the gunk and discover its origins, or if Barry couldn't dissect it faster than Barbara, what did they expect to find here?
He couldn't let them come into his already crumbling city and cause it even greater harm.
If Harley had one of her moments of clarity, she could reveal to him if it was the Joker causing this mess.
If Talia knew about whether or not her father was planning to terrorize Gotham, he could seduce her into telling him, despite the hellhole he'd fall into in the process.
If this mess was big enough to impact the League, he could use every ally possible to defend his city, including the Red Hood.
Nothing was functioning for him and it was causing him unimaginable stress. There were already victims in the hospital who had come in contact with the sludge, and according to Commissioner Gordon, it was frightening to watch them writhe and hallucinate in quarantine. Every single victim signalled their mental deterioration with uncontrollable, panic-induced, wordless shrieks before their flesh would begin to supposedly bubble and turn crimson as if they were being boiled in their beds.
People were turning into literal monsters within the walls of Gotham General and he still hadn't found out the source of the substance that morphed innocent citizens into such grotesque creatures.
"And why are you so desperate to avoid the assistance of the Justice League? If they could help Oracle solve this matter faster, why can you not accept what they have to offer-" Alfred tried to play the devil's advocate, however, his suggestion was easily comparable to gasoline, stoking the fire that roared in Bruce's gut.
Eyes ablaze, he stared down Alfred with a look that couldn't possibly emulate the depth of the betrayal he felt. "They're only trying to step in now because it's impacting their cities. That's not altruism, that's egoism."
For a moment, Bruce was mentally preparing himself for the moment when his butler would accuse him of weaponizing his own pride in order to complete his personal agenda. Nevertheless, the fear that Clark or Diana could decide to take over the case at any moment was deafening.
All that mattered to him was saving those people, and he would make sure those contingency plans he had to defeat each member of the Justice League were close at hand, in case they tried to stop him at any point during his investigation.
"But Master Bruce, this fighting isn't necessary. Can you not see that?" The look of disappointment on Alfred's face visually represented the shame that was heard in his words. That was the moment when Bruce knew that their conversation was over. He refused to answer something as foolish as that last question, and so he turned his back to his butler, ready to leap into his Batmobile of choice and drive away from anyone and everyone who questioned his capabilities the entire day.
When he faced forward, he had less than a second to avoid a massive, crimson fist swinging at his head. The angle of the staircase in the Batcave presented somewhat of a problem as he reflexively wished to give himself distance, but Bruce was forced to engage the muscles in his previously fired up gut in order to throw himself backwards and out of his attacker's range.
As the entire arm of his enemy sailed past him, he found himself staring into a set of large yellow eyes without pupils, leering at him as if they could see him through their fury.
The reddened skin that covered their entire body gave Bruce a foolish moment of pause as he dared to ask himself: were these the monsters in the hospital!?
"Hello, Batman? Oracle here." Came the computerized voice of the long awaited Oracle. Her timing was belated but perfect, as she had the potential to help him rid the BatCave of these creatures.
Or take a sample of their skin in the hopes of finding a cure!
"Ora-!"
"Ah, good evening, Oracle. I'm afraid you just missed him."
Such a blatant lie spoken in that familiar British inflection staggered Bruce both mentally and physically. Though it wasn't his first betrayal of the day, it dug much deeper into his heart to hear Alfred answer Barbara so…
So…
Fuck.
That wasn't Alfred.
Alfred wasn't in the cave, nor in the manor, if this imposter could walk into the BatCave so freely.
Bruce realized then that he had been ambushed by someone who had unquestionably discovered his secret identity.
"Bar-!" He tried to scream to his only true ally in that very moment, but the monster before him threw another punch at his throat. He had been trained to avoid such obvious strikes, if not for the second monster that hid in the shadow of the first, lower on the steps and out of sight, who reached between the legs of the creature before him and squeezed Bruce's ankle in place.
The meaty knuckles of the massive fist crashed into his Adam's apple and stifled his voice by the most violent of means.
Meanwhile, Barbara was being bamboozled by the false Alfred before her. "Oh, that's all right-"
Bruce fired a defensive kick at the red blob towering over him, where their stomach should have been.
"-I just wanted to let him know about the test results on the sludge."
There was no reaction from his heavy boots, so he reached for his infamous utility belt in the hopes of setting himself free.
The Alfred impersonator feigned kindness and asked, "What did you discover?"
Both of his ankles were now in the second creature's clutches, but that didn't stop him from using one hand to throw his cowl back over his head as the other removed his Flamethrower from its compartment over his hip and he released the fire within it upon the first monster.
It didn't even react to the hellish touch.
"That it's basically untraceable." Was Barbara's disheartening deduction.
A palm covered in boils reached down for his face and pinned Bruce to the steps beneath him. Neither monster was smart enough to secure his arms, so he quickly tossed the Flamethrower off to the side and grabbed at a second weapon.
The Alfred talking to Barbara pretended to sigh. "How tragic. Well, I'll be sure to let him know when he returns."
Even in the heat of the moment, he couldn't help but be concerned by the possibility that these were indeed the transformed citizens of Gotham - should he cause them bodily harm in this form and they maintained such wounds when they hopefully reverted back, he knew the guilt would eat him alive.
A Flash-Bang Grenade would merely blind the monsters though, and perhaps alert Barbara of something suspicious going on in the cave! The gaps in the stairs allowed him to reach for them easily enough as they rested behind his left hip.
"Thanks. Tell him I'll keep trying. Talk to you later, Alfred." Barbara was saying her goodbye, preparing to end the call.
"Good-"
Bruce threw the grenade onto the shoulder of the first monster without remorse, hoping it would blind the second one as well!
"-night."
The light was so harsh that it caused both monsters to scream, as if that was more painful than anything else he could possibly possess in his arsenal. The cowl's lenses shielded him from the brightness, which he hoped to use to his advantage and escape the second monster's hold. Once the first hand released his left ankle, he was prepared to kick and flail until he had freed his right one.
That is, until the first monster slammed both his fists into Bruce's stomach in a fit of rage over the loss of its sight.
"No! Stop that now!" Demanded Alfred's doppelganger, his voice growing louder with every word. Bruce could barely focus however, as he was more focused on reclaiming the air that had been forced out of his body after the assault on his diaphragm. Still, cloaked in the Batman armour, he summoned the strength that his people associated with his alter ego and tried to climb the stairs, attempting to escape the range of those powerful fists.
Even in the dull lighting of the BatCave, he could see the shadow of a tall, thin figure hanging over the steps he had left to climb. A hidden glare behind his kevlar mask was shot upwards at the man pretending to be his butler, his dearest friend. This replica, whomever it was beneath the charade, had mastered Alfred's ticks, his language skills, and somehow managed to appear so comfortable in the BatCave as if he had been there many times before.
This villain was someone to be feared, Bruce knew, and he felt a chill run along his spine beneath his suit.
"I don't want to cause him any harm," The pantomimist dared to say, after the punches he had already suffered through. Daring to touch his face, a thoughtful-sounding wish was tacked on to his command of the monsters. "After all, this is all for him."
Before he could even begin to wonder what that meant, that fist he had become oh so acquainted with had moved to wrap around his throat. These beasts were dead set on cutting off his air supply, which meant they were planning to kidnap him if killing him wasn't their goal.
That didn't mean he would go willingly, though.
Or that he intended to go with them at all.
His thumb found his Cryptographic Sequencer and he pressed on it with a shaking pressure. The device was usually used to turn off the electric currents in fences or to burst through doors secured by high voltage security, but Bruce knew he needed to get rid of the lights in the cave if he had any hopes of escaping. The blackout's timing wasn't instantaneous as lights flickered while attempting to stay on, but he managed to disable the power boxes of his own hideout remotely from his belt.
It caused some confusion for the monsters, and it was enough of a break from the chaos for the Batman to move into action. Night vision took over his lenses and he focused on the sight of the-
"I should have expected nothing less from you," whispered the disgruntled man posing as his butler, just before Bruce felt his cowl being torn off of his head. He blinked furiously to try and regain control of his sight, but in doing so, he failed to notice the syringe that was aiming for the side of his bruised neck.
Frozen with fear, the awareness that something cold and relentless was pumped into his body made Bruce feel truly powerless to these invaders. Monsters, all three of them were! He didn't know where Alfred truly was, he didn't know what would happen to him, and no one would know that he was gone.
"Hello? Alfred, are you there?" Once again, the voice of Barbara spilled into the cave. Even with his foggy mind being clouded by a drug-induced coma, he knew that she would have been alerted by the power outage he had caused. If he had only escaped the clutches of the monsters on the stairs, maybe he would have been able to alert Oracle of what was happening to him.
Instead…
Instead…
Bruce dozed off, the concoction of his anger and sadness over the course of his entire day stronger than any drug that could be administered to him, as he held onto his rage like a tether to the physical world before he was swept away into the realm of a dreamless sleep.
Author's Notes:
This is my first full length WonderBat story! Instead of writing one shot after one shot, I finally have an idea of my own to make into a multi-chapter epic! I hope this prologue has intrigued you enough that you'll sticki around for chapter one, releasing on Monday, August 20th! Yes, my goal is to have one chapter a week.
Thanks for reading! ~ Maiden
