Batman/Superman (BL)/The Hour of Horror
(Story 1/pt. 1)All Characters Are Copyright to DC comics And DC Affiliates©
The sun was setting over Gotham city by the time I opened my eyes, little pinches of sleep making my eyelids feel like scratchy cement. I was surprised to find that I was in my office. "Mr. Wayne, are you alright?" I snapped my head to attention at once, my shoulders tensed then as my vision cleared I realized it was just Lucius. "Oh Mr. Fox, you startled me." I pinned him with the Champion Billionaire playboy smile. "Staying out late again Mr. Wayne." Lucius gave me that knowing look, then a wry smiled crossed his face. "I have the notes from the meeting, after your hasty exit." I gave him an appreciative nod. I never had to say much, Mr. Fox always seemed to understand. I sighed heavily as I heaved myself wearily out of my straight back antique chair. They have been at me to get it reupholstered for a while, but I just got it where it's comfortable. I had been chasing down Joker for the past four days; I had maybe a couple hours sleep in between being Bruce Wayne and Batman. Tonight I was hoping for an easy evening, I was planning on trolling through crime alley. The only big players that where on the loose where Jervis Tetch and Dr. Johnathon Crane, the chances of bumping into them were slight, but I still had to keep in mind the risk. I looked at the sun sinking behind the City skyline; it was game time I had to get to the cave.
I pull into my garage and park the Studebaker, with all my other vintage and expensive cars, Alfred is not going to be happy that I am going out again and I won't have time eat, just barely enough time for a coffee. I come in through the garage door and I am greeted by the same stern look, "Welcome home Master Bruce, long day at the office." I smile at him, trying to avoid a lecture about working too hard for a young man, and neglecting my health. "I have made you supper, sir; shall I make it to go?" I set my jaw in defiant determination "not tonight Alfred, I hope to be home early and I will eat then." Alfred rolled his eyes "Then shall I prepare your evening attire?" I nod my head, Alfred's tone is dry and sarcastic as usual, but I count my stars that I am not on the receiving end of another lesson about my well-being. I go to the bat computer, tuning in on police radio, it seems my plans for Crime Alley have been affirmed, there was a disturbance going on in one of the abandoned warehouses. I suit up and turn the auto start to the Batmobile, she purrs to life, her familiar sound exhilarates and soothes me. I peel out of the city sewer exit; crime alley is just a few minutes away. I continue at listen to radio Bullock and Gordon where carrying on, "Wait for back up Harvey," I hear the familiar snort "Oh come on Commish' It's just a couple guys, probably justa couple of junkies or lowlifes." I hear the static "Just hold off Bullock…" the static goes low, there is radio silence then the sound of ricocheting bullets…The Police channel is cutting in and out but I get to hear bits and pieces "What the Hell Bullock…why are you firing on me, cease fire! Men fall back, Harvey put it down….
That's my cue I pull the car into a secluded alley and bail out, If the situation is what it sounds like, they are going to need back up and little bit of hard play. I smile, enjoying the thrill of the danger, and the itching in my knuckles to deliver a beat down, my whole body filled with adrenaline my muscles tighten almost lustfully at the unknown. I decide to start from the top grappling down through a skylight; I can hear shouts in the distance and the smell of fresh blood. My earlier excitement fading, I am going to find a blood bath and chaos, that wasn't what I had in mind for my early evening. I found myself feeling nostalgic for the days when it was just me running down Falcone and Maroni's men. Sal and Carmine had a code, all that had gone out the window when Black Mask muscled in. Now the streets of Gotham were filled with chaos and more mad men than I could handle at times. Thankfully there was the Justice League, but they had so much ground to cover, that my little corner of madness's taint had become a plague. I heard a floor board creek just a few paces down, I found the shadow for cover, reaching for my batarangs. I knew someone was close, I could hear there breathing, I feel like I am gaining on him, then I feel a sting in my shoulder, something had penetrated my arm plating, it was stinging, I felt my head starting to get woozy, what was that a tranq dart, seems odd for just a couple of nobody crooks, the building around me is starting to warp, the warehouse seems to be disintegrating around me, the voices around me becoming a background nose, muddled and unintelligible. Come on Batman focus, it just and illusion, clear your mind. I take a deep breath and try to meditate, feeling the floor beneath me creak; I go to shoot a grapple, but the roof has disappeared. So no high grounds, then I hear the laughter.
"It seems there is a bat in our house, Tell me little bat what do you fear." The voice is rich and sadistic, it sounds familiar but I can't focus, I feel a brisk wind rising around me and the voices I heard before now sound like feral growls, another voice grabs my attention "Curioser and curiouser my good doctor, it seems that the he has solely succumb to your toxin, shall we then enter wonderland." I feel a hard hit to the back of my head, I am so out of it, and the world is swimming again. The sky is the color of blood, thick black clouds roll over ominously, all at once I am falling I see the near approaching ground, I instinctively tuck and roll to my feet, the crack of hard cement sending shocks of pain through my legs. I then see the morphed faces of Scarecrow and Mad hatter "Twinkle Twinkle little bat, how I wonder where you're at," The ground beneath me is starting to unearth, hands shooting from the core, the growling and snarling getting louder, but all I can see are the hands, as monstrous creatures crawl from the depths. "Bruuce, Bruuce, how could you let thisss happen my son, I see my father standing, shambling towards me, my heart is racing, then another form "Bruuce, you could have save us…My mother her face rotting flesh pieces pulled away from her face holding tight to what was left of her pearl necklace, her fingers gnarled and nails split, they stood before me, fetid corpses, foamed drool dripping from their mouths. Behind me more putrid corpses clawing up from the rubble "Bruce, look at meee, where were you when he was beating me to death, you didn't even make it before the explosion, I was young Bruce, I needed you, but you just abandoned me, to cover up your mistake…my life meant nothing to you." The form jumped at me I was paralyzed, It was Jason, then my mother sunk her teeth into my boot. Then there was another bite that pierced the shoulder where I had been shot, It was my father "devour him, he has betrayed us all," Jason's voice held such bitterness and resentment, Jason's hand became claws that bit into my ribs. I was trying to shake them off, but I couldn't breathe, I looked up to the sky everything around was now nothing more than a wasteland and skeletal building frames. More monsters came as they began tugging at me, the next one I saw was Damien, his body twisted in horrors, he too was rotting, and the smell of death surrounded me. I kicked out forcing my mother to go flying to the pavement, I wretched as I watched her blackened blood splatter across the pavement, she wasn't moving. I elbowed my father in the rib hearing a sickening crack as he fell backwards but not before Jason pinned me down, his claws ripping through my suit towards my heart, Damien leapt down on shoulder his spiked boots digging into my biceps and tearing my suit. I kicked backwards into a flip, throwing Damien off and pinning Jason, I could smell his putrid breath warmly on my face, "You should have saved me Batman." His hand is in my chest cavity again I can feel him ripping my heart, I am covered in blood, and my mouth is dry, surely this was the end. Damien retaliated with a sharp kick to the back of my head. Then I saw it a glimmering light.
The monsters started fading as the light drew ever closer, to my horror it was an even larger beast, sharp fang protruding from its mouth, its body surrounded by a fiery mantle. The movements around me were swift and quick as it abruptly did away with the offenders, it drew closer to me, The Damien and Jason monsters were running away I tried to pull myself up from the hard cold ground, but my body was weak and I stumbled. I just realized there was a terrible pounding in my head, throwing me off balance. "Stay here Batman I will get them, and then GCPD can put this riff raff back in there cells." I wanted to protest, but I was so weak, I felt darkness setting in, everything was fading to black and then there was silence.
(Character Switch)
I came back to the basement floor where I had left him, he seemed different, he didn't even recognize me, in fact he seemed to be afraid, I have never seen Batman like that before. He looked so vulnerable, Mad Hatter and Scarecrow where taking him apart. When I returned to him he was unconscious. There was a lot of blood, from the massive killing, bodies on every floor; the people had killed each other brutally and unrelentingly. Batman had tears in his suit, I could only imagine the horror he must have been seeing in his Illusion created by Tetch and Krane. I go and lift him from the ground, he is out cold, but his body is on fire, his breathing is uneven and strained, I have to get him to his anti-toxins soon, or it could be seriously detrimental. I start trying to open his utility belt, the remote for the Batmobile must be in one of these, I think he normally keeps on the left side, across from his batarangs. While trying to open his belt my nail scrapes across his lean muscled hips, a growled hiss escapes his succulent lips. I feel my breath catch in my chest, Focus Clark now isn't the time for this. I finally get the damn thing open and find the remote, I signal the Batmobile to come to our current location it crashes through old building with a loud Crash. The top opens and I fly us inside, the top closes immediately, "Shifting into Emergency Shield, The Batman has been incapacitated, Friendly identified Superman."
"What the heck, the car was talking," I had never really been inside the Batmobile, its fully automated systems and robotic female voice where kind of freaking me out a little. "Would you like access to the first aid panel Superman?"
"Uh, yes?"
"Panel access granted, commencing vital sign scan." I reached for the vials of anti-toxin, making sure to read the labels carefully. it didn't take me long till I found the vial for Scarecrows fear toxin, I load it into the injector and prepare it for inoculation. "Biometric vital scan complete, heart rate is high at 170 bpm, Blood Pressure high at 200 over 90 body temperature high at 104 degrees and climbing, Status immediate medical attention is required." Again I listen to the computer, those stats frighten me. Why does he do this to himself night after night, you would almost think he had a death wish. I resign myself to start changing that from now on, Bruce would be my personal responsibility, he isn't going to like this, but I can't lose someone else I care about, especially not him, who I trusted, who agitated me, who I loved. I bite my lip fighting back the distracting thoughts of the beautiful man lying against me unconscious, I push the needle into one of the tears in Batman's sleeve, he grunts slightly, and I feel him go heavy in my arms. I start to panic; did I give him too much? Is that the right vial? It said it was, but he is non responsive…the computer starts talking again, Biometric scan complete vitals stabilizing. Return home protocol initializing, the car opened its hatch; I think it was to let me out so that Batman and it could return to the cave. Normally I would have let him go and said goodnight, but for some reason, I didn't want to tonight. I would call Alfred of course, "I am taking Batman with me." I said to the Batmobile, I didn't know if it understood but it seemed to. The back hatch opened revealing what looked like a suitcase, I grabbed it and the Batmobile sped off into the night. Bruce was mumbling something about being sorry, most of his words inarticulate. His body still felt warm to me, his strong chest rising and falling, and his stern jaw slightly slack as his mouth was slightly opened. Toxin or no toxin, he must be exhausted.
Finally we reached my apartment, I laid him down gently on my bed, I pulled the hidden catches of his suit, baring his chest and powerful defined abs, once again my breath caught and my heart began to pound. I felt a shiver run down my spine…I have to focus, I get the antiseptics and suture kits, I never have to use them usually but sometimes I keep them on hand for other members of the Justice League. I sigh as I look down at Bruce; I decide to remove his cowl. Since he had it lead lined I can't see how bad his face is damaged. I carefully mind the catch to avoid the knock out gas, that's armed when the cowl is removed the wrong way. I laugh to myself a little, Bruce never changed, stubborn, and paranoid but always had a plan. Once his cowl is off, I look at his face, no black eyes, but deep heavy circles.
"Dammit Bruce, can you at least take a little better care of yourself." I sigh harshly. Bruce grunts a little, and then I hear a slight snore come from him. At least he is finally getting some much needed sleep. I finish patching up his wounds and decide now is the time to call Alfred. "Wayne Residence, may I help you?"
"Hey Alfred its Clark, I got Bruce, he got hit by some pretty extreme fear toxin tonight, and Tetch did a number on his brain, I have him here with me in Metropolis."
"Oh? How bad is he Mister Kent?" I chuckle softly always with formality "He is sleeping right now, he seems to be stabilizing."
"Very well sir, have you administered the anti –toxin?"
"Yes Alfred."
"Alright, It has sedating properties, he is probably good and asleep, he won't wake til morning, which I have to say is a good thing, he has not slept in nearly four days."
"Good to know." I sigh; Bruce was so reckless at times. "I will take good care of him Alfred"
"I Know you will Mr. Kent, I shall bring him a change of clothes in the morning." I could he the exasperation in Alfred's voice, he think Bruce was reckless to. "Good night then Alfred." I look over at the clock it's getting on 3 AM. Thankfully I don't have to be at the planet tomorrow, I look around my place, and there is a problem, two guys one bed. Bruce looks almost peaceful right now, his long eyelashes flicking, his soft snores filling the room, I feel my cheeks get hot. When did I start thinking of Bruce…like that? I feel an urge to kiss his pursed lips, but I must restrain myself, not something I thought I would be doing. I decide to take the other side of my bed, it's just for one night, nothing to strange, right
END PT. 1