Good suggestions, Nightw2. I'll use them when I can.
As for Nobodiez's question, "The Man of Tomorrow" is one of Superman's numerous nicknames, alongside "The Man of Steel" and "The Last Son of Krypton". There was a comic book in the 90's titled "Superman: The Man of Tomorrow" and it was also used as the title of the first episode of the "Legion of Super-Heroes" cartoon. So, no, I didn't make that nickname up.
As for twilightnite13's question, yes, Lola will be in this, and so will some of the other Looney Tunes. Bugs and Daffy are FAR from being the only Looney Tunes I'm planning to use in this story.
Chapter 2: A Duck in Gotham City
Of all the places in the USA, Gotham City was among the most dangerous. All the psychopaths, plus all the other criminals living there, made it a town you probably wouldn't want to inhabit. Fortunately, this city has a light of hope, personified by a certain vigilante. This vigilante was known by many names: the Dark Knight, the Caped Crusader, the World's Greatest Detective, etc. He wasn't alone in his battle to eradicate evil, as he had numerous sidekicks, one loyal butler, several cops who put their trust in him, as well as other fellow superheroes willing to help him once in a while. Someone you'll see appearing very soon...
It was the night in Gotham City as our story continues. Everything seemed fine. Nothing strange was going on. That is until a certain duck was falling from the sky, screaming.
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!"
POW!
Daffy Duck landed on a rooftop, the front of his body crushed against it. He unstuck himself from the rooftop, looking all dazed.
"Could this place stop moving around? I'm getting sick."
The duck shook his head around, coming to his senses.
"Alright, I'm fine." He said as he stood up before looking around, wondering where he was. "What is this place? Where am I? If only there was something that could tell me that..." he said to himself while walking around the rooftop.
All of sudden, a newspaper was flying in the air and stuck itself against Daffy's face.
"AAAH! I'm attacked by a parasite! Somebody save me!"
Daffy grabbed the newspaper and unstuck it from his face. He then took a look at the newspaper.
"Oh! It's no parasite then. Well, at least, I can learn where I am." The duck started reading the newspaper. "Okay, it's today's date. And this newspaper is called... 'Gotham News'. Huh. That's quite simple for a name... Wait a second!"
The duck threw the newspaper away, panicking.
"That means I'm in Gotham City! And if I'm in Gotham City, that means I might end up meeting one of those dangerous criminals and I'll be doomed!"
Daffy ran around the rooftop, screaming while panicking some more. Suddenly, he stopped what he was doing as he thought about something.
"Wait... On the other hand, if I'm in Gotham City..." He smiled widely when he thought about it. "That means I might end up meeting Batman!" Daffy gasped in joy when he thought about that. "Oh, my gosh! He's the coolest superhero to ever live! This is gonna be awesome! But how am I going to find him? Oh! I know! I'll just have to commit a crime! Batman always shows up whenever there's a crime! This is a perfect plan." He said to himself while hitting the palm of his left hand with his right fist.
"Although... I might end up in prison if I commit a crime." Daffy then said, doubting as he stroked his chin. "Yeah, on second thought, that's a bad idea. Oh! I've got a better idea!" he shouted while raising a finger in the air. "I should wait for someone else to commit a crime! That sounds better! I just need to wait now."
The duck sat on the rooftop, waiting patiently. A few seconds later, an explosion was heard.
"Well, that didn't take too long." Daffy stood up and looked around. He noticed some bank having smoke coming from its entrance. The duck smirked. "Alright, here's my chance. Time to meet the Caped Crusader himself!"
Less than a minute earlier...
Inside the First Bank of Gotham, the employees were serving their customers, dealing with their bank accounts and all that stuff. Suddenly, the entrance door opened wide as a soldier toy was walking towards the counters. The employees and customers all arched an eyebrow when they noticed the soldier toy. Then, the toy aimed its gun at the ceiling. Surprisingly, the toy gun was powerful as it shot a powerful blast, causing a good chunk of the ceiling to fall down. The people panicked as they moved away, trying to avoid the falling part of the ceiling. After it landed on the floor, they noticed four thugs coming in the bank, armed with submachine guns. Those thugs shoot in the air with their guns, causing the people to scream and lay on the ground, not wanting to get bullets through their bodies.
Then, someone appeared alongside the four thugs. That someone made the employees and customers terrified just because of his reputation. It was a man with chalk white skin, dark green hair, bright red lips, yellow eyes and a pointy nose. He was wearing a purple vest, a yellow shirt underneath, a green flower on his vest, purple pants, a purple bowtie, white gloves and black and white shoes. Just by looking at his smile, people were scared enough. This man was the most dangerous criminal in all of Gotham City. Heck, he's one of the most dangerous criminals in this world. He was the Prince Clown of Crime himself... The Joker.
"Heheheheheheh..." he started laughing. "Hahahahahaha!" he laughed some more.
The Joker walked to the center of the bank. He noticed the look of the employees and customers, all terrified at him. He smiled evilly at that.
"Citizens of Gotham. You might be wondering what I'm doing here, aren't you? Well, the answer is I'm short on money and I wanted to have some fun. So I decided to kill two birds with one bullet by doing a good ol' fashioned bank robbery! Yes, I know the correct expression is 'kill two birds with one stone', but frankly, why doing that with a stone when you have a gun?" the Joker rhetorically asked before grabbing his gun and shooting in the air, causing the employees and customers to scream. "Laurel, Hardy... Tie the customers up. Abbott, Costello... Keep an eye on the employees." The clown ordered his henchmen, who all nodded.
Meanwhile, Daffy was jumping from one rooftop to another. He then arrived on the rooftop of the bank, catching his breath from all the running and jumping he did.
"Boy, there were a lot of buildings here. I should probably be part of a marathon." He said to himself.
The duck then came near the hole on the rooftop and looked inside of it. He saw the Joker, near one of the counters. Behind the Joker were four thugs. Daffy guessed they were his henchmen. The thugs were surrounding a bunch of people, all bound and gagged with tape.
"Oh, the Joker making a robbery! That sounds like a good idea for an action sequence! No doubt Bats will appear soon." the duck said in excitement.
"Hello, sir." The Joker said to one of the employees, acting like an actual customer. "I would like to take some money from my account. And by 'taking some money from my account', I mean I want to take the money from all the accounts of your little bank! Or else..."
The clown took his gun and came near one of the tied customers, a woman in her mid-thirties. He pressed his gun against her forehead, causing her to sweat and panic, screaming through the tape on her mouth.
"Or else, my little bullet will go visit her head and never come back." The Joker said, grinning sadistically.
Hearing that from above, Daffy's eyes were widened, terrified at this idea.
"Man, this guy is sick!" the duck said, feeling disgusted by that.
"Y-Y-Yes, sir! No n-n-n-need to s-s-s-shoot our customer." The bank employee said, nervous by the situation.
"Good dog!" the Joker said, petting the bank employee on his head. "Now, Rex, give Daddy all the money you have."
Quickly, the employee opened the bank vault. The Joker ordered two of his henchmen to go get the money. They nodded before taking bags from their pockets and filling them with all the money in the vault. Once they were done, they put the bags near their boss, pleased of what they got.
"Oh! And by the way, about the bullet visiting her head..." the clown aimed his gun back at the woman, who screamed through her gag once again. "I've changed my mind. I haven't murdered anyone in a while. I need to fix this..." he said, smirking evilly.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Daffy exclaimed on the rooftop of the bank, panicking at the sight of the Joker about to kill the woman. "Where's Batman when you need him?"
As the clown was about to shoot, one hand came from the shadows behind one of the thugs. The hand was covered with a black glove with some blades on the side. That hand grabbed the thug and dragged him into the shadows. The sound of someone being punched was heard. Hearing that, the Joker and the three other henchmen turned around, surprised to see the fourth henchman disappearing like that. All of sudden, a boomerang shaped like a bat flew away from the shadows and hit the chandelier above. The chandelier fell down, landing towards the Joker and the three henchmen. They all screamed in alarm, while the clown was the only one smart enough to not get himself crushed by it by leaping away from it. All three thugs were stuck under the chandelier, all of them dazed by that. The Joker looked at the shadows, smirking as he knew what was going on.
"Oh, Batman! I knew you'd come eventually. Now, let's see who will be the winner for tonight!" the clown exclaimed as he went towards the shadows.
Suddenly, he felt someone tapping his shoulder. The Joker grinned evilly as he turned around and aimed his gun at whoever tapped his shoulder. Much to his surprise, though, nobody was there. He turned around several times, but he saw no sign of his archenemy.
"Oh, come on, Bats!" The Joker complained, frustrated. "Stop playing around like that!"
Just as he turned around one more time, the clown instantly received a punch to his face. The Joker groaned in pain as he fell on his back. He rubbed his face before looking up. Standing up in front of him was the legend himself. It was a man who was wearing a black cowl covering his head, with the exception of the lower half of his face. Two pointy bat ears were on top of the cowl. The man's outfit was grey with the logo of a black bat on a yellow ellipse on his chest, black briefs on the outfit, black gloves with blades, black boots, a black cape and a yellow belt with several cartridges. It was the Dark Knight himself, the Caped Crusader, the World's Great Detective... the legendary hero known as Batman.
The woman sighed in relief when she saw Batman, and so did the rest of the customers and the employees.
"Yes! He's finally here!" Daffy gleefully said.
"So, you finally decided to show yourself, Bats?" the Joker said, smirking.
Batman grabbed the Joker by his shirt and held him up. The Dark Knight glared at his nemesis.
"You're going back to jail, Joker." Batman said. "Don't try to pull any tricks on me or you'll regret it."
"Oh, I've regretted nothing I've done so far in my life, Batsy. And it's not today I'll start regretting for something!"
At this moment, a smoke bomb fell off the Joker's right sleeve and landed on the floor. Smoke appeared from the bomb, causing Batman to cough and to accidentally release his nemesis. The clown noticed the thugs getting out of the chandelier. The thug who disappeared into the shadows also came back, rubbing his head in pain.
"Gentlemen, grab the bags. It's time for us to leave." The Joker said to his henchmen.
All four of them nodded before grabbing the bags of money and following the Joker out of the bank.
"See ya later, Batman! Hahahahahaha!" the clown laughed as he exited the bank.
"Oh, this is thrilling!" Daffy said, still on top of the bank and looking through the hole.
Seeing the Joker and his henchmen leaving, the duck quickly ran to the edge of the rooftop. There, he saw the criminals coming across police cars, with lots of cops coming to save the people at the bank. The clown and his henchmen used their guns to get through and went inside a car, leaving soon after. Daffy then saw something that immediately caught his attention. Near the bank, there was a car parked there. However, it wasn't an ordinary car. It was an impressive long black car, with tailfins shaped like batwings. The duck gasped in excitement when he saw the vehicle.
"The Batmobile! Oh, my gosh! This is better than I expected!"
A few seconds later, Batman ran out of the bank, heading towards the Batmobile. Daffy smirked when he saw that.
"I gotta hitch a ride on that."
The duck jumped down the rooftop and arrived in front of the Batmobile.
"Alright, Dark Knight." Daffy said, with a commanding tone. "I order you to let me..."
VROOM!
Batman didn't seem to have noticed Daffy as the Batmobile hit the duck while leaving. Daffy was now stuck under the wheel at the front on the right, hitting his body against the ground constantly while the wheel was spinning. The duck was also repeatedly shouting the word 'Ouch' while stuck there...
A few minutes later, the Joker and his henchmen arrived next to an abandoned warehouse, probably their secret hideout. They quickly went inside of it with all their money. Soon after, the Batmobile arrived. Batman went out of his car and headed towards the warehouse. Daffy was still stuck under the wheel. With all his strength, the duck managed to get himself out of there, gasping for air. The duck was lying on the ground, tired by what he just experienced.
"Next time... I'll be the driver." He said exhausted.
Daffy then shook his head before standing up.
"Alright, no time to waste here. I can't miss this fight, which will undeniably be awesome." He gleefully said before entering the warehouse as well.
Inside the warehouse, the Joker was kissing a good bunch of dollar bills, joyful of all the money he got.
"I gotta say, boys. This was a successful night, at least in terms of profit." The clown said.
"The night isn't over..."
The Joker and his henchmen quickly turned around as they noticed Batman standing at the door, glaring at all of them.
"Oh, Bats. You want more? Well, why didn't you say so?" The Joker rhetorically asked, smirking. "Get him, boys!"
The thugs cracked their knuckles before running towards Batman. The latter stayed calm until 'Costello' tried to punch him. Batman avoided the punch and instantly grabbed 'Costello' by his arm and threw him away, the latter landing on 'Laurel'. The Caped Crusader threw a batarang at 'Hardy', hitting the latter in his jaw. Suddenly, 'Abbott' punched the superhero in the face, making Batman fall on his back. The thug then put his foot on his chest, with the Dark Knight groaning. Glaring at the thug, he immediately grabbed his foot and twisted it, causing 'Abbott' to lose his balance and land face first. 'Hardy' grabbed his gun and shot several times at Batman. The latter avoided the bullets by moving out of the way and threw his batarang. It hit the thug's hands, yelping as he accidentally let go of his gun. The rest of the thugs stood up, groaning in pain. They all growled at the World's Greatest Detective.
"Oh, no! You've made them angry, Batman." The Joker mockingly said to his nemesis. "And let me tell ya, once they're done with you, the results won't be pretty. Heheheheheheh..."
"I've got nothing to worry about." Batman said, still glaring at them.
"Fear not, Batman! I'm coming to the rescue!"
At this moment, Batman, the Joker and the henchmen were confused. Whoever said that wasn't any of them. They all looked up and saw someone appearing at the window. Daffy was standing at the window, making a heroic pose. He then landed on the floor coming between Batman and the villains.
"Prepare to face my wrath, you fiends!" Daffy exclaimed to the criminals.
At this moment, Batman, the Joker and the henchmen were all raising an eyebrow. Much to their surprise, Daffy Duck was standing right in front of them. The clown rubbed his eyes in confusion.
"Okay, tell me I'm not the only one who is seeing Daffy Duck at this moment!" the Joker exclaimed in disbelief.
"Don't worry, Bats. You've got help to fight the Joker now!" the duck proudly exclaimed to the Dark Knight.
The superhero was still baffled by what he was seeing. Even after all the strange stuff he's seen either as the Guardian of Gotham or as a member of the Justice League, seeing this cartoon character interacting with them was a bit hard to believe. He then shook his head before looking back at the duck.
"I was doing fine without any help." Batman said to Daffy.
"I know, but quite frankly, I wouldn't dare missing this fight!" the duck gleefully said.
"I have no idea where you come from..." The Joker said before grinning evilly. "It doesn't matter really, because your feathered presence is going to make things more interesting. Time for Round 2! Hahahahahahahahaha!" the clown exclaimed.
The thugs were still in disbelief after seeing Daffy. They simply shrugged before resuming the fight. Batman punched 'Laurel' when the latter tried to punch him as well. Daffy ran straight into 'Costello' and punched him in the face.
'POW!'
'Hardy' grabbed the duck, who then freed himself and immediately punched him too.
'BAM!'
Batman fought 'Abbott' for a while, hitting him with his fist. After a while, he noticed how Daffy was fighting. At the moment, the duck threw another punch, this time at 'Laurel'.
'WHAM!'
"How do you do that?" Batman asked, confused while throwing another punch at 'Abbott'.
"Do what?" Daffy asked.
"Where do those onomatopoeias come from?" the superhero asked, referring to all those words coming out of thin air every time the duck was punching someone.
"Oh, I've got my own secrets, Batman." Daffy replied, smirking right before punching 'Laurel' again.
'BIFF!'
After a while of fighting, all the thugs were knocked down, falling unconscious. The duck was smirking. Batman and Daffy then heard someone slowly clapping. They looked in front of them and saw the Joker doing that.
"Bravo, sirs. Bravo." The clown sarcastically said. "That was a great performance. Unfortunately, I haven't fought you yet."
The Joker smirked sadistically as he took his gun from his pocket.
"Ah!" Daffy exclaimed, still smirking. "What're you gonna do with that?"
BANG!
A bullet hit Daffy's bill, spinning it around his head. The duck grabbed his bill with his hand, stopping it from spinning.
"Well… That was a stupid question." He said, grinning nervously.
"Say your prayers, little duck!" The Joker exclaimed.
He started shooting at both Daffy and Batman. The two of them ran away, dodging the bullets. After a while of shooting, the superhero and the duck were each on either side of the room, with the Joker standing between them.
"Let's see how much of a cartoon character you are with how much bullet you can survive through." The clown said, grinning evilly.
Nervous, Daffy then got an idea. He summoned a can of paint and a paintbrush from a hidden pocket. The duck then painted an 'X' on the floor, right in front of the villain.
"Oh, please." The Joker said, offended. "I know comedy classics and you won't get me with the ol' trick of the painted 'X' and the falling anvil that fo..."
Seeing this as an opportunity, Batman immediately kicked the Joker on his back. The clown yelped as he landed face first on the 'X'. Before he could have a chance to stand up...
'POW!'
An anvil landed on top of the Joker's head, the latter dazed from receiving such a heavy object on him.
"You... You're despicable." He said to the duck before lying on the floor, unconscious.
"Hey! That's copyrighted!" Daffy exclaimed, offended. "By me, as a matter of fact!"
A few seconds later, Batman and Daffy heard sirens outside the warehouse. They knew it was the police coming to arrest the criminals.
"Well, that was a well-done job." Daffy said, proudly. "Time for us to get celebrated as heroes for saving the day and... WHOA!"
The duck yelped as Batman grabbed him by the neck and vanished. Some seconds later, cops arrived in the warehouse, right at the same time as the Joker and the henchmen were waking up.
"You're all under arrest!" one of the cops exclaimed, pointing his gun at the criminals.
"Oh, man! We just got beaten by Daffy Duck!" 'Hardy' said.
The cops arched an eyebrow at what he said. They then looked at the Joker, who then noticed the cops looking at him.
"Hey! Don't look at me! I've haven't seen any cartoon duck here!" The clown lied.
He remembered fighting the duck, but he didn't want the cops to think he was crazier than usual. The cops just rolled their eyes as they arrested the criminals.
Meanwhile, on top of some other building in Gotham, Batman and Daffy were talking to each other.
"I still can't believe it. I was able to fight alongside Batman, the coolest superhero of all!" the duck gleefully exclaimed. "It's an honor to meet ya, Bats!"
The Dark Knight ignored the praise given to him by the duck as he had other things in mind.
"Where do you come from?" Batman asked.
"Huh? Where do I come from? Oh, you're silly, Batman!" Daffy chuckled. "You never went to school or what? Let me explain to you. When a male duck and a female duck love each other very much..."
"THAT is not what I meant." The Caped Crusader quickly interrupted, frowning at the duck.
"Oh. You probably meant how I ended up in Gotham City, right?" the duck asked, to which Batman nodded. "Well, to be honest, I don't remember quite much." He replied, scratching his head.
"About time we find ya, Daff."
Batman and Daffy looked up. They noticed Superman floating above them, carrying Bugs Bunny with him. The Dark Knight looked at the Man of Steel, as if asking for an explanation.
"It's a bit of a long story, Batman." Superman said, sighing.
End of chapter.
Batman is now aware of the Looney Tunes' presence. In the next chapter, it'll be time for another Justice Leaguer to come across another Looney Tune.
My original idea for the beginning of this chapter was to have Daffy literally landing right in the middle of a fight between Batman and the Joker at the bank. I changed it to what you saw in this chapter.
I remember that one Christmas episode from "Batman: The Animated Series" titled "Holiday Knights", where the Joker's henchmen were named after the Three Stooges. I decided to do something similar here, but with four other comedic legends.
Yeah, the onomatopoeias here are a reference to the 1966 Batman TV show. With a cartoon character like Daffy here, I couldn't resist doing that.
