I do not own any of the DC characters named within, and are only using them for a tale crafted for entertainment purposes only.

Batman: Inverse Theory

By LJ58

II

Bruce was still sitting in front of the computer, frantically trying to comprehend what was happening to him when Alfred appeared.

"I thought I might find you down…. Good Lord," the usually unflappable man exclaimed as he stared at Bruce sitting wrapped in a robe, and nothing else as he looked toward his friend.

"Alfred," he deadpanned. "I believe I now know what the chemicals are doing to me."

Alfred just gaped.

"My word," he finally exclaimed, just staring at the very femininely rounded form of his employer.

"That was…..my reaction, too," Bruce admitted.

"Master Bruce, how will you….? You have a shareholder's meeting in less than two hours," he exclaimed. "And I daresay this will bode ill for your…..alter ego."

Bruce looked back at him when he finally turned to face his longtime friend, and employee. "I've already made that realization," he remarked as somberly as ever. "That's why I've…..made a few calls."

"A few…..calls," Alfred sputtered. "Sir…. That is, shouldn't you be in a hospital?"

"And how would Bruce Wayne explain this, Alfred," the increasingly feminine detective demanded, his expression the very same that had always adorned his face.

"But….who did you call that can help…..with this," he asked incredulously.

"You recall those metas I joined to help bring down that alien last month," Bruce told him. "It occurred to me that they would be idea to help me seek answers, and arrange to cover my….absence."

"Absence?"

"Bruce Wayne is hardly going to be able to just show back up in a skirt," Bruce growled.

"So, what are your plans," Alfred asked. "You are obviously not going to convince anyone you are who you are any longer," he said, still stunned at how feminine his employer had already become.

"Obviously. Don't worry. I've got plans I'll be setting in motion as soon as I get the help I need."

"And, dare I ask if your….alter ego will be sitting this one out?"

Bruce's expression was telling.

"I'll be needing alterations in the usual suit," he said, sounding as grim as ever in spite of his rapidly changing voice that was going from bass to a sultry rasp.

"As you wish, Master…. Er….."

"Call me…..Mara. Mara Wayne."

"Mara, Master….. Er, Mistress Wayne," Alfred Pennyworth tried to remain composed as he eyed his transformed employer.

"I felt is suitable. And honored my mother's name," the somber detective remarked as he turned to face the computer again.

"Of course, uh, Miss Mara," he sighed.

The newly christened Mara Wayne glanced over his shoulder, smiling blandly as he stated, "That's what I like about you, Alfred. You don't let anything disconcert you."

"Indeed, Miss Mara. Now, will you be bothering to eat breakfast, or…..?"

"I'm expecting the first of my friends at any moment, Alfred. I'd better…."

"You called," the colorfully clad hero in a red cape just settling about his broad shoulders as he seemed to just appear with a rush of wind.

"My word," Alfred exclaimed, staring at the newcomer in alarm.

"Alfred, meet Superman," Mara said without looking over his shoulder.

His, because his mindset was still undeniably male. That had not changed. At least, not yet.

Alfred cleared his throat, then nodded at the tall hero with a faint smile of his own etched into his handsome visage.

"And will your guest be wishing breakfast, too," he asked deadpan.

"No, thank you," Superman told him. "I had a big breakfast before I left the farm."

"Indeed," Alfred drawled, and turned to leave. "Then I shall leave you to it….Miss Wayne."

"What happened, Bruce," Superman asked.

"You don't seem surprised," the transformed detective remarked as he turned only then to face the Kryptonian hero.

"I noticed you weren't yourself when I approached the cave. A quick peek at your DNA on my way in told me you were Bruce, but that your genetic structure seems to be in flux. Bad night?"

"You could say so," Mara nodded, and explained about his chemical bath a few nights ago, and what had transpired since.

"I see. I wager this is causing you problems with both your…identities, then?"

"To say the least. I have an appointment with the Board this very afternoon, but I am hard-pressed to see how I can attend just now. That's one of the reasons I called you, and the others in."

"One reason?"

"Yes. First of all, between you, Barry, and J'onn, I'm hoping you can find out more about the mix of chemicals that transformed me, and what I might be able to do about it. Secondly, I need someone to stand in for Bruce Wayne, and occasionally, Batman, until I can….fix this."

"You know I would be glad to help. Still, how can any of us stand in for Bruce…..?"

"I am a very good makeup artist, among other things. I can help you pass for me. Since you're about my size and shape, it wouldn't be hard. It's mostly about attitude, and manner. I already know you can probably alter your voice appropriately."

"Do you?"

"Isn't that what you do when you leave Clark behind to don your cape?"

"It's…..part of it," he admitted, still a little uneasy over just how easily Batman had learned his identity in the first place.

For a human without powers, he could be formidable when he put his mind to it. Fortunately, Lex had yet to be proven as clever. Lex, or Lois.

"Of course we'll do what we can," J'onn J'onzz declared as the shape shifter from Mars appeared just then, phasing right through the solid rock of the cave wall to their left.

"I take it you heard," Superman asked.

"Enough. It took little effort to deduce what had happened after what little I heard, and what I'm now seeing."

"Barry," the feminized hero asked the Martian.

"He'll be delayed. He has something to handle back on the coast. Meanwhile, I'll get started analyzing the catalytic elements of whatever you were exposed with, and let him know what I find. You have samples?"

Mara gestured to a nearby lab table.

"My computer is still trying to isolate all the ratios, and base components. Someone literally dumped a great many things into that vat. Which also concerns me. If these chemicals are being dumped somewhere, they could cause incalculable harm."

"Especially if they got into the water supply," Superman nodded.

"As I said, I will begin our analysis. You should prepare Superman for your appearance as Bruce Wayne this afternoon. I also suggest that you appear with him, just in case this takes very long, it will be a good idea to have a fallback identity if you cannot immediately be transformed back. Or….."

"If I'm stuck," Mara asked somberly.

"Yes," J'onn nodded simply. "For now, let us proceed carefully, and plan for all possibilities."

"Ready to become a playboy, Kent," Mara growled, eyeing him.

Superman glanced away from the vials he had been studying, and shook his head.

"It seems simpler than J'onn's job. Even my vision can't quite make out all the chemicals in that hodgepodge. You're right. It could be potentially dangerous if it were dumped into the water, or someplace where it might contaminate the environment, or even other people."

"We'll handle that, too," Mara declared. "I already suspected that illegal dump site was one of Rupert Thorne's enterprises. I had hoped to find evidence of that when I ran into the Red Hood gang trying to empty the safe there."

"So, how will you explain…..your presence if you're coming with me," Clark asked.

Mara eyed him, and then nodded.

"I'll be a hitherto unknown Wayne cousin who dropped by to visit. Considering my family tree is splintered anyway, it was easy enough to create a background that will pass scrutiny."

"Was….?"

Mara simply eyed him, and nodded.

"This way, Kent."

"Right. Of course you already have everything in place," the more colorfully clad hero sighed. He was still astonished at just how prepared Batman seemed to be those few times they had been working together. Almost as if he were prescient, or something.

~B~

"This is not looking good," J'onn declared as the two men returned to the cave well after three in the afternoon.

Mara Wayne was now dressed very stylishly in a sleek business suit for women, while Superman looked the very image of Bruce Wayne.

As Bruce, he had done the usual things, played the bored playboy, and then in apparently impromptu fashion, declared he was going on vacation as the air was just getting too smoky for him of late as the summer sun heated things up in the city.

No one questioned him.

"I take it you're not talking about our façades," Superman asked in his own voice now.

"Indeed. I have been in touch with Barry, and from what little we learned, we know one thing for certain."

"Only one thing," Mara asked.

"So far. You were….quite fortunate."

"This is fortunate," Mara hissed, gesturing at her feminine frame that was very convincing just then, because it was very real.

"I do not jest," J'onn told him. "The chemicals are far more volatile and dangerous than you realize. You are fortunate your exposure was minute. My initial testing indicates had you been more exposed to them, you could have bleached the pigmentation from your body and hair, and quite possibly even affected your mind."

"So, some mental aberration is still possible?"

The green-skinned Martian looked up from his makeshift lab, and sighed.

"This comes from Barry, as much as myself. Mental….influences are still likely possible, but not on the scale you fear. Consider, your hitherto male metabolism is now being altered and influenced by female hormones on a scale the average male doesn't normally encounter. In fact, even the average female likely doesn't possess the levels you do."

The transformed detective just scowled.

"To what degree? How much of an influence can I expect?"

"Bear in mind, I'm not human. Body shape, even gender as you know it, isn't that much of a concern to me. I suggest you contact someone with more familiarity with the female gender as to what you might expect."

"What was that, Kent," Mara growled at him as he turned at the ragged, choking sound behind him.

"Nothing," he declared, managing to hide his smile as he blurred for a moment before reappearing as Superman once more. "I was just saying…. You might call Diana in on this. She's not only….female, but she understands our lifestyle. Meanwhile, I have an emergency I just detected, so….."

Superman vanished in a blur of speed, not quite able to choke back all his laughter as he flew away at hypersonic speed.

Mara just glared after him.

"So far as I can tell, Batma….. Uh, Miss Wayne, I don't think the chemicals will otherwise affect, or further transform you. From your most recent tissue and blood samples, it looks as most of them have already passed from your system."

"Leaving me like this?"

"For the moment. Without the catalyst in play, your genetic structure is destabilizing from what I have been able to see. Barry and I are working on a model to see if the process can be reversed. But, for the moment, you are what you will be so far as we can tell."

"Perfect," Mara growled.

"Yes."

"What?"

"You were wondering about how to cover Batman's patrol this evening. You were wondering if I might be free to aid you. The answer is yes."

"Stay out of my head, J'onn," he growled. "Still…. I appreciate it. I want to find out where these chemicals are coming from. And, more importantly, where they're going."

"Of course. How will you be…..?"

"Just in time, Miss Mara," Alfred declared. "I just finished one of your uniforms," he said, holding up the altered suit.

Mara smiled for the first time.

Still, the Martian noted that 'she' did not smile warmly. It was more of a cold, determined smile that suggested Mara was not yet out of the fight.

Not that he doubted it.

Bruce/Mara was one of the most formidable minds he had ever come across since landing on Earth. It spoke to his current distraction that he had been able to see anything in the detective's mind, since he was usually very good about keeping him out. Something, he suspected, the hero had obviously trained to do before now.

"Shall I find a costume for your friend, Miss," the butler asked.

"No need," J'onn declared, and instantly shifted to appear as a very convincing, and very grim Batman.

"You'll still need a utility belt if you're going to be convincing," Mara told him as he took his costume, and turned away to dress. "Remember, Batman doesn't fly, and he relies on his….tools."

"Point taken," J'onn nodded, and his costume shifted to eliminate the belt that had been cosmetic only.

"So, what will we be calling you, Miss Wayne," Alfred asked dryly. "Dare I suggest, Batgirl?"

The look on that now masked face was more than familiar.

"I think I'll just go with Bat."

"As you wish, Miss…. Bat."

Mara glowered, walked over to jump into the car as the now apparent Batman joined him, and glowered all the more as he had to adjust his usual seating behind the controls.

"Problems," Alfred called, not even pretending to smile.

"No," the apparent female snapped just before the canopy closed, and the car screeched away as it accelerated abruptly.

Only then did Alfred's impassive mask crack just the slightest, and a fiant smile edged across his lips before he turned away.

~B~

"Don't move," a low, husky voice growled.

Allen Waters froze, fearing the worst as he carefully released the two-wheeler he was using to lift the heavy drum full of chemicals, and turned to face…..

"Are you kidding me," Allen's buddy laughed, already seeing the slender female dressed as a bat. "What is this, Batbabe," he laughed.

Allen started to laugh, too.

Until Batbabe moved, and suddenly Hank wasn't laughing. He was out cold, probably with a broken jaw from the lump under his jaw.

"You think I'm funny," she growled.

"No! No, swear to God," he rasped, holding up both hands.

"We both know where you got these," the new Bat hissed, nodding at the last of over fifty barrels being loaded into his box truck. "I want to know where they're going. You're going to tell me."

Allen regained some of his bravado as he started shaking his head.

"No?"

"You don't know what he would do to me?"

"You're right," the Bat murmured. "I don't know what Thorne would do….."

"How did you know….?"

"But I do know what he will do," he said nodding over the thug's shoulder.

Allen's eyes rounded as a strong hand dropped on his shoulder, spun him around, and he was staring up into the grim, shadowed features of the Batman himself.

"I told you asking nice was a waste of time, Bat," the larger Bat growled, the tone so cold, and so ominous that Allen barely kept from wetting himself. "Now we do it my way."

"No! No! I'll talk," Allen backed away from him, hands still up in mock surrender. "Anything you want to know! I'll talk," he almost cried.

Batman just glowered.

The Bat grumbled, remembering Allen now, as he had met him before on some petty jobs. He was slow, thick, and all muscle.

He just didn't have much backbone without someone to back him.

"Then talk," he demanded, stepping up to grab his shirt, and jerking him toward him. "Or we let you go. Right back to ICU."

Allen talked.

~B~

"I've got enough to stop Thorne from any more dumping," the Bat grumbled as the Batmobile entered the cave later that night. "And we have the CDC cleaning up the dumpsites we discovered," he added. "Only it doesn't tell us anything else. They didn't keep any records on what they were dumping, or in what quantities. It could have been anything," he complained.

"We have made headway on identifying many of the chemicals, but their interactions changed so much I doubt we ever truly know everything present," J'onn admitted as they parked, and the car slowly rotated in preparation for its next use. "Still, I see that you didn't have any of the earlier coordination issues you mentioned tonight."

"I have been practicing," he grit out. "And as you pointed out, I do seem to have….stabilized. Physically speaking, at least."

Even as they both jumped out of the car, they realized they had another guest.

"Batman," the colorfully clad Amazon nodded to J'onn. "Superman said you needed to see me."

"Actually, Diana," J'onn drawled in his own voice as his body shifted back to what was normal for him. "I am not Batman," he told her. "She is," he added, nodding to the slender female at his side.

Diana just stared.

"Bruce," she actually squeaked.

To Be Continued…..