A Rose by Any Other Name
The dark road was calm and wet from the rain that had stopped, not even ten minutes before. A small rabbit began to make its way across the asphalt looking for any food that had been dropped from the trees above. As the fluffy creature reached the center of the road, the street began to rumble. Suddenly, the Batmobile blazed right over the rabbit, leaving the innocent creature unharmed but frightened.
The black slick vehicle continued towards the grand city of Metropolis. When it descended the final hill, Batman saw the city. As he drew closer, he realized that it was in anarchy. He blazed through the streets dodging traffic of people and other vehicles. Suddenly, the front of his car exploded and the entire vehicle crashed into a convince store. He exited the vehicle as four thugs ran at him.
Batman ran at them and as he reached them, released two smoke bombs, the thugs were stunned as Batman swung his fist, colliding with one of their jaws. Both the thug and Batman cringed, but only the thug fell the thug ground unconscious. The Dark Knight lunged at another pair and smashed their heads together, hard. They fell to the ground quickly as the caped crusader kneed then tripped the final thug, all before the smoke cleared.
He began to walk back to the Batmobile when the ceiling came crashing down on top of everything, barely missing him. Batman spun around quickly preparing himself for anything. Suddenly he hears a weak groan, so Batman rushes over. Of all things to see he finds, the very man he was looking for to help him, Superman, unconscious and riddled with kryptonite-lined bullets. Batman knelt down, cringing in pain as he removed his surgery kit and began removing the bullets. After a pain staking time, lasting approximately two hours, batman removed all the kryptonite bullets from Superman and placed them in a lead case that he placed back on his belt.
"Bruce?" Superman finally said after regaining consciousness. "Where am I? Why are you in Metropolis?"
"Ironically…looking for you." He sat down and sighed. "I need your help, but obviously something has happened here." He looked up at his comrade, "Mind informing me?"
"He's got many names, but mostly he's called the Laughing Shadow." Superman sits up and chuckles. "This guy did his homework. His mask is lined with Lead and covers every inch of his face, and uses a voice device to modify his voice beyond fixing using any form of mixing to restore it. He also knows how to give orders and knew to line all the bullets, guns, and even the Kevlar his thugs wear, with Kryptonite."
"Damn, sounds like you need my help." Batman says giving Superman a slight grin as a mock, but Superman nods.
"Actually I do. But you are injured badly, how can you be so active like this?"
"I need to find him."
"Him?"
"Yes…my son."
"Son!" Superman stood up at the word, "Since when do you become the soccer dad type?"
"I'm not. But I'm not gonna just let my kid suffer."
"Well you got any leads?"
"Joker sent him to a place on the outskirts of your very own Metropolis. Approximately five months ago."
"That's when the Laughing Shadow appeared and slowly began taking over the streets."
Just then, a group of thugs in black and red hooded jackets ran in holding military grade M16s, and they pointed them at the two Superheroes. Batman stood up and saw that one of them was shaking slightly for fear of the Caped Crusader. He threw down a packet smokescreen and dove at the largest guard, knocking him down before placing twin blows to the base of his neck. He spun and swept two more of the four soldiers left. Superman dashed at them as they fell sending them wildly to the sides. Batman lunged at the fourth thug pinning him to the wall, hitting his head hard against the wall knocking him unconscious. Finally, as the smoke cleared the scared thug was on the floor whimpering as a puddle formed around him as tears rushed down his cheeks. Batman and Superman muffled there sly chuckles as the big bad thug soiled himself. The pair left the building and continued their conversation.
"Those were Laughing Shadow's soldiers. They must have thought they could finally kill me."
"They would need more then just those guns." Batman continued to walk back to the Batmobile, "Kent, do you think there is a connection between Laughing Shadow and my son?"
"Of course, but we need to find him first." Superman pumped his shoulders, "I'll take to the air and try to find him, and you stick to the ground and hunt him down."
"Good idea. Just don't get shot down again."
"You bet." Superman leapt into the air and with a sonic boom, he was high in the sky looking over the city.
Batman ran to the Batmobile and got in. He hit the ignition and the engine erupted in a fury. Within seconds, he was blazing through the city, topping one hundred miles per hour.
The rain began to pour from the heavens in a torrential downpour. The streets became slick and harder to maneuver. Thugs would throw bottles, rocks, and pipes at the vehicle, leaving nothing to tell of damage. Batman hit the brake and slid around a corner. As he finished his turn, he punched the acceleration again, rocketing him forward though the industrial district.
"Bruce. Careful, it appears there maybe some resistance ahead of you." Superman said through the com-device he had.
"Thanks Kent. Just keep searching for Laughing Shadow." He looked up and saw a crowd of people appear, running at the Batmobile full speed. Just then, Batman realized that these were the Metropolis Insane Asylum patients. They continued to charge, some throwing rocks, others firing guns they had found on dead bodies of police officers.
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