Ch. 1

Of Batman

Through the rooftops he ran, jumping across from building to building with the agility honed through years of practice. His cape like large wings in the night raging behind him, and his snout from beneath his cowl hot on the trail of his latest prey. Harley Quinn they called her. A young woman in her mid twenties, who had a promising career once until she met the wrong man, and now she is a shadow of her former self. Now nothing more than a lapdog for her master whom the police called the joker, a murdering psycho that dresses like a clown. She herself committed herself to becoming his lackey and don a similar trademark of a female jester. Every time she moved gave her position away in the night because the bells in her hat would not stop jingling.

A quality that she'd must've overlooked when trying on the outfit. Or maybe she did notice but did not care. It made her easier to follow and soon catch. The man jumped over another ledge with ease, and caught site of her twirling away just a few feet from him. It was now clear he would corner her as she made the jump onto a building sporting the huge neon signs of Wayne Entertainment flickering in huge bright letters.

It was when he hit the ground he loaded a flurry of bullets to Harley who dodge with unnatural grace. She would not have easily dodged the bullets because he wasn't aiming to kill her. As he fired she retaliated by throwing a spike ball, which he dodged, too in the tight corridor of the roof. The spike bounced off from the left side of the neon light and returned to strike him again with surprise. The spike was attached to a line, which Harlie was wielding crude accuracy. It snipped off a bit of his cape when he regained balance. He tried shooting again but this time failing as the spike ball disarmed him. Lucky his hands wore protection gloves, if it weren't for that he'd be more than disarmed at the moment.

Flinching the man fell back, seeing him caught off guard Harley retracted her spike ball for another attack. This time the man was quick enough to dodge again as the ball missed. He was on all fours as he reached inside his utitly belt for a suited weapon. Harley was beginning to enjoy herself as her laugh could be heard louder now. He threw a baterrang in her direction. She knocked one away and dodged the other but losing her balance in the process. The man took the opportunity and rushed in close with a huge right punch. Harley blocked it with effort but forces her back in recoil.

He kept punching now but they were all missing as she danced around them until she could gather enough force to let lose her spike again. It hit him square in the back. He grunted in pain, but it bothered him little. He was able to land a punch directly in her face that rocked her world. Now she felt pain too. Balancing herself again she leaped in front of him grabbing him by the tights wrapped legs tight around his neck. He struggled to pull her off and breathe. With the rope of the spike, she wrapped another fold around his neck up for the gallows as the two struggled between the open space of the W in Wayne. Before they could reach the edge he rammed her up against a rail that was supporting the A in Wayne.

That again rocked her as she fell down in defeat. A normal man would be gasping for air but not him. He turned her unconscious body over and held her tight by the collar.

"Where is the DEA? Harley, while you can still talk," he demanded, his voice dark and loud against the night traffic.

"Don't know what you're talking about Bats," she said with a snarky laugh.

"Tell me where the Joker is now!" he cried again this time louder.

"Ohh, it's on the tip of my tongue," she cried. The man pulled out a switchblade. Harley watched in fear as the sharp blade clipped up.

"Let me help you with that," he said slyly as he scraped a bit of her mask off.

"District Attorney Dent was kidnapped last night. Where did the joker take him?" He pulled her body up to stand, still with a power grip over her collar.

"What does it matter? He's probably dead anyways," she laughed.

"I wonder if you'll laugh or scream?" with that he threw her off the roof. Her scream ran down the building as he walked away.

He didn't get far until he heard a voice he didn't expect, and thrusters that seem to come from an engine.

"Great," he uttered. Two figures descended on him, and landed in front of him before he could make a jump off the rooftop. The one on the left was taller and had a red eye that popped out in the dark like a street light. His name was cyborg, and like his name his body was almost made entirely of metal. He stood about a foot above him and gears echoing within when standing too close was like standing on the subway. The other was called Iron Man. He resembled a robotic man similar to tin man from oz but upgraded in neon fashion and painted bright red orange like a new sports car. His eyes beam with light and his voice sounded like a male computer answering machine.

"Batman," he said, as his mask flipped upwards like a car door and revealed a human face, with dark eyes and a small mustache, his voice now human as well.

"Had to catch her on the way down."

"Tony Stark," Batman said in little surprise. "I know both of you haven't come here to chat, if so I'm busy." He pulled a hook shot from his belt and stood on the ledge.

"We came here for you Batman," Cyborg said at last. "Not just me and Iron Man," with that he pressed a button on his left arm. A bright light beamed from his arm and projected a large image in front of a group of individuals.

"Holograms?" There were about thirty people in the project some of them Batman knew and some he didn't recognized. They wore colorful outfits but under the impression of cyborg's technology they all sported a blue colored image.

"But everyone else too: Sandman, Midnighter, Professor Xavier, Dr. Calder, Hourman, and everyone here that are representing the superhero community. We come here for your help Batman, in saving the world." Thirty of them all costume heroes and other volunteer do-gooders watched and waited for Batman's answer.

"You gotta be kidding me?" This time, it was Iron man who fired out the hologram. Footage of a giant fire-breathing three-headed dog tramples over tanks on the streets of London, men being blasted into dust while the camera loses connection. There were buildings crumbling, as the found footage scampered to find focus.

"If you been keeping up with the news lately Atlantis has attacked France. The footage shown here is the Amazons invading London, and taking the British Isles just last week. Over a million in deaths when London fell," Iron man switches to another footage of footage of men and women being chained and herded into submarines.

"King Arthur has flooded half of France, and taken Paris as a foreword base. Civilians are being taken to god knows where," Iron Man switches his Hologram off.

"The leader of the Amazons, who they call the empress, has turned London into her base of operations. Both Atlantis and the Amazons are using Western Europe as a battleground while leaving a massive body count as they go, who knows when this war will reach the states."

"That's why we need you Batman," Cyborg said. "We need a skilled tactician to lead us in the fight against both Atlantis and the Amazons." Batman thought for a moment regarding all he has already seen. Even before Cyborg and Iron man showed up he had already been tracking the progress of the war through his vast networks. Many of his European shareholders and companies went blank when Atlantis attacked France. He ran over the numbers numerous times in his head how the outcome would come to past if he were to try to stop the war with the help of various superheroes.

The outcome wasn't good. In fact he was concerned with his role in Gotham more than anything else. He was already fighting a war and did not wish to begin another.

"So the US government won't interfere themselves? So they send you two to do the job? Wow times are desperate."

"There is also another matter to concern," said Iron Man. "Atlantis has a W.M.D. It was activated two days after the invasion of France. A joint military force assembled by NATO came in from the Bay of Biscay. A rather large fleet it was nearing around two hundred warships was completely scattered when Atlantis set off their weapon. More than eighty percent of the NATO fleet was destroyed."

Batman had not heard of this.

"The US government fears threat of W.M.D and that's why the president has turned to us for help. If the United States set off a nuke in this battle Europe will never recover again. And who knows what kind destruction Atlantis has in store the US if it came down to that." Batman looked onto the city night of Gotham. The only home he'd ever known. Time Magazine ranked Gotham as one of the worst cities in the world he would vow to defend it to the end. Crime and corruption ran through the veins of the city from top to bottom. Bootleggers ran the markets, cops took bribes, street gangs terrorized people and claim alleyways as if it were their right. Crime families flourished unopposed, killing and pulling strings of senators to businessmen alike. But there was good here that he saw; citizens would still wake up in the morning for another day, there were still police men who believed in justice. There were still teachers willing to sacrifice. And there was still hope. Nothing was over while one was still alive.

But the war in Europe was not about Gotham. It was a crisis. A bloody conflict between two powerful forces, a third party would utterly fail under the circumstances. The best solution was to nuke both Atlantis and Amazon causing even more death than good.

"What do say Batman? We can save this world," Batman thought little of the notion, saving the world to him was a fools dream now. There was only punishment for the wicked and the mission that was all.

"I'm sure that's what Captain Atom thought when he flew off to Europe and was never seen again," said Batman coldly.

"Captain Atom went in without a plan," Iron Man interjected. "But, we have assembled a great team. A coalition of superheroes, and geniuses to stop the war, you've seen the news Batman the death toll's so high you got bodies clogging the seine. We have to avenge them by stopping this war." Avenge the word struck Batman hard. He was going to pull out into the night and leave the two robot men in disappointment but the thought of avenging the dead. To only reason he put on the horned cowl was not just to strike fear, but also to pay back the crime that took his family.

"Give me a list of our resources, I want to know everything. People involved, equipment and all the data you have regarding King Arthur and the empress. I'll contact the both of you in three days time. Maybe I'll have a plan by then." Batman shoots off his gliding hook and disappear into the night.

"Well I thought he was going to turn us down for a minute there," said Cyborg. "Batman was never really a team player. Stuck to himself all the time. I don't think he ever left Gotham."

"You just gotta rub them the right way Vic," Iron Man said slyly. "But to be honest I didn't think he was going to say yes either. Guy seems like he's always cranky especially with that get up."