Superman in Action FanFic #18

Returning to Gotham

I waste no time in getting back to Gotham City. I've got a hard decision to make on this Batman agenda, especially since he's not the villain that he's been made out to be. I guess that's what makes this so difficult; his methods are so different than mine, but he's the sort of hero needed here. I don't want to admit that to myself, but it's true. Gotham City is a different beast than Metropolis. It's like the town is still in the midst of the 30s and 40s. The architecture, cars parked along the street, even its hero reflect that. Meeting Batman for the first time, he seemed like a phantom out of an old silent film. Something to come screaming in the night to end the wrongs being done. What tempers this phantom is a strict moral code, which as far as I can tell is more adhered to than my own. As dark as Gotham is, their beacon in the night strikes fear in the hearts of the criminal world so that the citizens can sleep easy. I don't like it, it makes him seem almost demonic in his approach. I'd be curious to see what inspired him to choose the bat as his symbol. What sort of dark history made him fall that little bit into the darkness to defend the light? Whatever the situation, he likely won't talk to me about it. I can tell that's just not his style. He's a man in the know, not the man that's willing to tell it.

It's 6 a.m. now, and I fear that I'm going to miss my chance to find him. I see the sun starting to rise and as I look around I spot a vehicle that's out of place. It's the same color as Batman's cape and cowl, this non-descript blue that hides well in the darkness. It's going outside of the city limits as we speak; better hurry if I'm going to catch it. My speed matches his and I lower to window level. He looks over and sees me as I wave with a smile. He hits the brakes which stop on a dime and hatch on top of the car opens. I land next to the vehicle and notice that he's turned his attention to the front again. He's watching me, I can just tell that, but he's not looking directly at me. "Bizarro?"

"He's been put in stasis."

"How close to killing him did you have to come?"

"I exposed us both to red sun radiation. We both suffered complete power loss. He started to stiffen in his joints, but wasn't in complete failure when he was put into the stasis chamber. He'll live until I can find some sort of cure for his condition."

"What's your next move?"

"I thought about looking up the government agency connected to this and find a way to link it to Luthor."

"That's going to be quite a task. One that you will have to devote a great deal of time to doing."

"You offering to help?"

"No. I don't work with partners. Besides, don't you have a task at hand?"

"I've been giving that task a lot of thought. It's difficult at best to see what the right thing to do is."

He turns his head and gets out of the car. His scowl is worse than Bizarro's; it's terrifying to say the least. "The right thing? Isn't that to follow your orders and arrest me? Those are your orders, aren't they?"

"Yes, those are. But there are further circumstances with it. Before I met you, you were this menace terrorizing everyone from cops and the mob to the public. They made you out to be an evil entity that just wanted to frighten everyone into submission. Like you were supposed to take over Gotham once everyone was in line. I've seen something a bit different in you."

"So you believe now that it would be hypocritical of you to arrest someone doing the same thing you are, but with a different approach?"

"Blunt, but accurate."

"What is your course of action?"

"Mayor Hill sent me here on this chase. I don't think he had any real connections in this GeneTech scandal. I do believe however that he's trying to get rid of you because he's got someone controlling him and they're willing to kill and replace him with someone that's got stronger convictions. They'll hunt you more rabidly and with bigger guns. They'll open this city up to worse scum than you're used to dealing with and then they'll parade your corpse to anyone and everyone because of the damage you've caused them up to this point. Any cop not on the take will back out quickly because they're afraid of what will happen."

"Good observation. Then you're going to go to Mayor Hill and tell him that your manhunt is off?"

"I think you should come with me."

He stands there for a moment, and I can see that somehow he's trying to find some way out of this. The last thing he wants to do is go in front of a politician. Especially one that sent a superpowered 'cop', for all intents and purposes, to bust him. He toils with it and then looking at me sharply. "This isn't going to help my reputation."

"It will make Hill less afraid to stand up to his 'employers'."

"It will make him more afraid because we've just put him at risk. At least if I go with you it will."

"We both need to meet with him Batman. This is a dangerous situation and he needs to cleanse his soul before his secrets cost him his life. It's not as if you've not exposed yourself to the police at this point. Hill knows you're more than just rumors, otherwise I wouldn't be here. If he needs to be terrified of something, it may as well be because he's afraid that you'll come creeping out of the night after him."

"You're wanting me to frighten people?" He raises his eyebrow slightly. If I didn't know better, I would almost think he was amused by that comment.

"I don't condone such things normally, but you pointed out that this is a different city. Different tactics for a different kind of criminal." He doesn't make a sound, but mentally I can almost hear the sigh as he realizes that this will be a good way to start an investigation on both ends. Besides, I know he's also seeing the look on Hill's face as the two of us stand over him knowing I'm not bringing him to justice.

"Let's go. I'm not going to waste time." He attatches a line around my arm.

"What about your car?"

"It'll be fine. Let's go." Without further question, I take off and he comes with me. His cape billows out out like wings as we try and beat the sunlight into Gotham City. It's nearly up now, but I want to make sure we get there fast, and I'm afraid to move too fast as to not lose him in the process. It's a short flight, albeit a quiet one. People are getting to work, traffic is a nightmare and the world is bustling. I look back at him and he's hanging on like I wasn't even moving. He stares at me, "Move faster, I want to still have some darkness left." I do as he asks.

The mayor's office is already lit. I look inside and he's already going over papers, drinking coffee. Batman tells me to go straight in the building and go and see the mayor. I give him that expression that asks what he plans to do. I hear a noise coming closer and I turn to identify what it is. When I turn back, Batman's disappeared. How did he manage that? This city truly messes with my senses...

Soon a guard comes rounding the corner. "YOU! STOP!" I turn around, realizing the sort of shape I look in. I haven't had the chance to change outfits and so the big red S on my chest is missing. He looks at me funny, trying to process who I might be.

"Good morning officer, I'm here to see the mayor."

"Sneaking in the bushes?"

"The building was closed, I wanted to tap on his window. I'm Superman, he'll be expecting me." His eyes widen as his memory gets jogged.

"Geez Superman, what happened to you?"

"Something big and angry. I managed to stop it and that's why I need to speak with Mayor Hill about."

"Sure! I'll take you right in!"

"Thank you Officer..."

"Officer Adams, but you can call me Neal."

"Thank you Neal. I appreciate your understanding." He walks me into the building and as he does I see two pairs of white eyes staring at me through the skylight. As I move through the building, so does he. I see him with my X-Ray Vision, running along the roof making it back to the spot that Neal found me standing at. I shake my head and smile a bit. Soon we've crossed the building and as Neal knocks on the door a rather agitated, almost frightened voice comes creeping out.

"Who is it?!"

"It's Officer Adams, sir. I have Superman with me?"

"Oh! S...send him right in!" He opens the door puzzled about the fright in the Mayor's voice. I give him a glance that I'm too unsure as to what's causing his unsteadiness. I walk in after thanking and shaking Neal's hand and I walk into the office.

Before the Mayor can say one word to me, he stops and looks me over thoroughly. He sees the shreds of my uniform, the cape nearly non-exsistent, and the few burns and bruises that have yet to fully heal. He's taken back by what he's seen, "My God, Superman! What happened to you?"

"Something far worse than your Batman problem, Mr. Mayor. It seems as if you've had an illegal cloning operation going on in your city."

"Cloning? Did you arrest the people in charge of it?"

"No sir, I was beaten to the punch on that one."

He smiles reassured of what he's just heard, "Ah, Gotham's finest took care of the problem." As I look past his shoulder I see the two white eyes outside the window peering in. There's something small and rubber on the glass, he's listening in to the conversation. What's he waiting for? I wasn't really setting him up for a cue.

"No sir, it wasn't the police, it was Batman."

"Bat... YOU ALLOWED THAT PSYCHOPATH TO ARREST PEOPLE?!"

"Take a good look at me Mayor Hill. As you can see, I didn't have a lot of choices. They were cloning me, and the clone tried to take my head off when he wasn't trying to burn the flesh from my hide." His expression keeps flipping from anger to horror, he doesn't know what to do. Batman arrested these men, he doesn't want that to be true. It looks like he made a connection that Batman and I worked together to stop the operation, or at least he fears we did. I look back towards the window and I don't see Batman anywhere. I use my X-Ray vision to check around the building, but he's long gone. Thanks a lot, Batman.

"I brought you here to do a job Superman. I expected with your reputation that you would follow through."

"And I did. You invited me here to assess the problem and come up with a solution to end it."

"You know what that implied."

"Yes, sir. I did know what you implied for me to do..." I hear something beeping. It's so faint that I doubt any human could hear it. I start scanning the room and find that it's got bugs planted all over the place. I walk to his desk and there in the potted plant I dig out the small microphone. I rush around the room picking up all the rest and come back to the spot I was first standing in. He looks at me in amazement, with a note of horror. I extend out my hand with all the bugs in it. He looks at them with more horror creeping over his face. The terror in his eyes make him realize that every decision he's made has been listened to. He knows by who, and he fears for his life. I crush them in my hand and then rub them inbetween my palms turning the once little steel contraptions into nothing but a fine dust which I drop into a trash can. The only one left is on the outside window. Batman's still listening in. "Now I can speak freely and so can you. Batman's not your enemy Mayor Hill, nor am I. He's a guardian of this city, and if I were to arrest him for that I may as well walk into a cell with him."

"You understand he's assaulted officers of the law, correct?"

"Yes, I do. An action I can't say I condone, but I'm willing to bet that they were dirty cops too. I saw my share when I talked with Commissioner Loeb yesterday morning."

"Do you suggest that we have corruption in our law agencies?"

"Do you presume to insult my intelligence?" He was prepared to come back with a retort of some kind, but he stops. I see the tears welling up in his eyes.

"You don't understand, Superman. You can't possibly understand."

"You're right Mayor Hill, I don't. You invited me into a boiling pot that's about to overflow. You tipped a very precarious balance and put yourself in an impossible situation. Why?"

"I was hoping that you would take out the problems of Gotham once you arrived. You've seen them and what needs to be done. They're controlling most the business and politics in town. Nothing's safe! I dare not cross them, but if you did, you could end the problems and quick."

"To do that Mayor, I'd need more evidence than I have available. My powers are restricted when it comes to actually making arrests. If the police couldn't have found it with their equipment, or the circumstances aren't dire like a planted bomb, then my powers are inadmissable as a tool as it goes against privacy. I'm Superman, not Big Brother." He slumps a little bit. Almost as if the very ideas he had disappeared into the night. He looks at me with the saddest eyes I've ever seen.

"Is there nothing you can do? Please, my son is in mortal danger because I'm mayor of Gotham."

"They threatened you or do they have him?"

"They know where he is... After I found out who was in charge of the city, I put my son in boarding school. I've refused to bring him back, but then I was told by certain groups if I didn't play ball they would have him killed. They provided photos of him at the school, so I know they were serious."

"Mr. Mayor, I will try and make sure that nothing happens to your son. If you tell me where he is, I will always keep an ear out for him and the moment I'm needed he'll be taken care of."

"He's in California. Can you hear that far?"

"No, I can't. But there's ways to set this up, I promise you."

"If I do trust you with this, then do I have to trust Batman as well?"

"Trust is earned or on faith. I can't tell you to trust him or not. I can say that his methods aren't mine, nor do I like them. However, I have the benefits of my Kryptonian heritage to fall back on. I can't say I know what Batman's powers are, or if he has any. However, I can see a tactician amongst other skills he has that makes him effective. He's hard on crime because to do anything else in a city with this much violence in it wouldn't get the message across."

"I can't believe you're saying this!"

"Neither am I. If it were Metropolis, I would fight tooth and nail for his tactics to change. Last night I learned that my way isn't the only way. While I don't like it, I have to accept that I cannot tell people what to do. I have no right to bring him in for doing what I'm doing, regardless of the violence. He's making enemies, but he's frightening the criminal element. He's making them more superstitious than ever. If that includes a few police officers, then it's understandable if they're not clean. I'm rather sure he can make the distinction, and I'm sure looking into your face you know he's made it quite well." He sits down in his chair and places his hands on the back of his head looking downard towards the desk. There's too much to think about. Gotham has a lot of it to do, and I think that's a victory for their Dark Knight. He's made them have to consider their actions.

"My position on Batman can't change, Superman. Too much can happen if I do that. They were a little more than upset when I brought you into Gotham in the first place."

"The message to give them is simple; Superman wasn't enough. He left saying that he wouldn't bother chasing a phantom."

"You'd condone lying all of a sudden?"

"No, I wouldn't. However, I didn't find the vicious and bloodthirsty individual I was led to believe stalked your city. This person was given way to a far brighter truth than you gave me originally. That doesn't mean he's a shining knight, but he's not totally a child of the abyss either." He doesn't look directly at me. He just nods with a blank expression upon his face. He knows what his course of action will be and he knows that no matter what, until I have an actual reason to arrest Batman, I will stand aside to let him do his job. There's a slight weariness that overtakes him. He's finally come to the full realization that his hope for a quick end to all his problems has run into a huge wall. I tell him that I'm leaving and he merely waves me on with a small thank you.

Outside I take to the skies and the moment I'm above the buildings I hear a dog whistle. At first I try to tune it out, but it comes in a pattern. Morse Code... He's calling me again, I'm not good with this. I turn my attention back towards the city and I aim directly for the source. As I see Batman standing on one of the tallest buildings, out of sight from the public, he stops the whistle. I no sooner land when the scowl drapes his expression. "Your meeting with Hill turn out as you expected?"

"No. I was hoping for a little cooperation from you. A collaborative effort to help Mayor Hill understand that you're not the threat that people are making you out to be. You're the good guy trying to rid the streets of crime."

"And the only consideration that you gave him was that you saw something in me he doesn't. Personally and politically he can't accept that."

"Why?"

"Because personally I'm a vigilante in his eyes. He sees me one step away from killing and you're allowing me to stay on the street. He won't dare bring it to the attention of Gothamites or Metropolitans, because to the average person I'm myth. Those that know I exist have no idea if I'm one person or several. Some people believe I'm some sort of ghost. The only people that seem to understand that I'm real are the police and politician, who the public trust less. And at that, those two groups think I'm either a cop or a mob enforcer/boss that's out for revenge on those that have toppled me. That's one story amongst the many. You've brought him another story; 'he exists and he seems to work on the side of angels'. He sees it as the possibility that yours and my agenda were one and the same this time. However, once you leave that could change in a heart beat, and I'll be back to the evil tactics that I wouldn't let you see. If he tells the public that I exist and he's behind me, they'll fear that he's letting an unknown vigilante take over Gotham because of the "brutality" I seem to embody. The next candidate for mayor will come along and say he's willing to devote as much manpower to take out Batman as he possibly can; they'll vote him in on a landslide."

"So what you're saying is that I've put myself out there, and as you predicted I didn't help your reputation any and I managed to damage mine?"

"You'll come out of this unscathed. They're still denying my existence because their cameras can't catch me. I've got way to make sure that technological means of seeing me are blinded. The eyewitness reports barely get a good look at me before they run. The cops that do get a good look at me are usually so untrustworthy, that the only people to believe that are others of their ilk. Mayor Hill tells them he brought in Superman to bring down some myth that the crooks have been talking about and came back empty handed, then it'll mean one of a few things that most people will consider. 1. You didn't find me, which means I don't really exist. You're Superman after all; your powers should be able to spot me from orbit., 2. You did find me and you found someone to be in league with., or 3. That much like Conduit, you couldn't beat me before I ran into the night thanks to the help of Kryptonite. I couldn't to be found no matter where you searched."

"My detractors will certainly have a field day with any of those stories."

"They are going to have a field day with anything you do, but if it's concerning you that much tell them about the Bizarro. You have proof positive of that, in the mix of things you lost me more than once. You were doing two jobs at once and couldn't always keep up. Most won't try to dispute the matter further. Your biggest detractors will still attack you on the matter, but that's what your supporters are all about. You can't ask for more."

"True enough, I suppose. Well, nonetheless, I should probably leave. I guess that means that this will be the last time we'll meet."

"I wouldn't count on that. As long as someone like Luthor is out there, our paths will cross again. I'm not looking forward to that."

I raise and eyebrow with a half smile across my face. "But...?"

"No buts, merely fact. I have no interest in working with you. If that changes you will know, but I wouldn't count on that being any time soon or willingly."

I can't help but chuckle a bit. He's so serious about the lack of wanting to work with me, I should be insulted or at least take it a bit personally. However, in his stern demeanor it's like he's trying so hard not to laugh or smile. I'm almost curious to find out if that's true or not. Still, no time for that now. I've been away from Metropolis long enough, time to get back and see what's happening in the Big Apricot. I take to the air and I bid him farewell. He stands there watching me disappear into the distance. I hope the other new heroes aren't like this. I'll be interested to find out, but not before I enjoy the comforts of home.