It was nighttime in Gotham, and Clark, now dressed as Superman was just getting ready to go out to meet up with Bruce Wayne, whom he found out was Batman just a few hours ago.
While Lois was checking she had everything in her satchel for her night with Batman's assistance. Camera, tape recorder, notepad and phone in case she needs to contact Clark.
"Alright, I'm ready." Clark declared.
Lois walked up to Clark with a worried look. "Are you sure he is able to help?"
"I feel alienated in Gotham." Clark replied. "And Bruce might be the only person I need to trust in order to find Jimmy."
"I hope so." Lois took Clark's hand. "Just be safe out there tonight, Clark."
"If you need me just call me or shout for me." Clark said. "And I'll be there lickety-split."
Lois chuckled. "Lickety-split? That's a word."
"I know, it's old timey." Clark looked embarrassed over using it.
Lois just smiled and took his face in her hand. "Don't die on me, big guy."
Clark smiled. "I'll do my best." Him and his girlfriend leaned in slowly to share a kiss with each other. They soon pulled out and Superman began hovering out of the room. "Just don't die on me as well." He flew out of the open window into the dark Gotham night sky.
As he began flying around the city, he began to think about what sort of torture could be going on with Jimmy. How he could be wondering where he was, and what was taking him.
As he flew around Gotham, he could see a ton of police sirens going off all at once. Beside him, just close by or far away in the distance.
Compared to Mertropolis, this wasn't as bad. But here in Gotham, it was far worse with the amount of crimes that go on.
As he flew toward the Ace Chemicals where he could see Batman waiting. He also noticed a green portal that was open in front of him. Then, he could make out what was a young adult in some yellow superhero suit flying through it.
Then, the portal closed just as Superman arrived. He stared at Batman with a baffled expression on his face.
"Uh…What was that?" Superman asked.
"Nothing important." Batman replied. "A teenage superhero from a parallel universe just arrived and we got to talking. He criticised my name."
"Oooookay." Superman said, unsure of what to make of it.
"He also said your name is ironic." Batman remarked. "Your name is Superman yet you get injured almost on a weekly basis."
Superman groaned. "First off, Lois gave me that name, not me. I mean, you're honestly one to talk."
"Are we going to discuss names?" Batman asked. "Or are we going?" He pointed to the night sky toward the bat shaped signal illuminating in the sky. "Commissioner Gordon needs me."
Superman looked to the signal with a bit of awe. "I thought that was a warning."
"It was mainly used as a means for Gordon wanting to exchange information." Batman began walking towards the edge of the building.
"Do you need assistance in getting there, quicker?" Superman asked before getting an answer from his partner. Batman pulled out his grappling gun and aimed towards a nearby building. The hook attached itself on the ledge which was the signal for Batman to jump off the building so it could reel him in.
Superman just took that as a sign and began to follow him. As he followed Batman, the caped crusader jumped on the roof and began running along the roof while Superman followed.
Superman couldn't help but watch on as he saw his temporary partner traverse through the skyscraper infested Gotham.
He jumped from the building he was on, spread his cape out and began gliding to the incoming building. He landed safely on the roof and continued running.
He vaulted over a chimney, slid under a tv satellite before jumping off the building. Then, he began diving down towards the busy streets below.
Superman was tempted to save him until his ally opened his cape and glided over the city skylines, as if he was flying over them.
Batman safely landed on another building and continued running. "Now, you're just showing off." Superman joked to his ally, whom only just continued running before summoning his grappling gun and shooting it towards a water tower that reeled him in.
Once he was on the roof, he continued running with Superman following behind. "So, how did you get past me and Lois?"
"I walked out the front door." Batman replied.
"No, I mean without making a sound." Superman said, desperate to figure out a logical answer.
"You weren't paying attention." Batman replied.
"I….Do you always do this?" Superman asked. Batman didn't respond to that and grappled to another location. Superman just exhaled in annoyance. "I take it you're quite the chatterbox." He remarked sarcastically.
At the GCPD building, Gordon was on the phone with his daughter. "I'm fine Barbara…Don't worry about me. I'm at the building so you don't have to panic…I'm fine, I'm fine. You know I got my best man to cover it." He laughed. "I get scared too Barbara, but I always try and remain optimistic and to or on a brave face." He turned around and screamed when he saw Batman and Superman standing signal. "…Barb! Barb! I'm fine! Batman just scared me, that's all. I'll be home as soon as I can. Just make sure you're in bed young lady. And no boys! Or girls! Or whatever you're in to!" He hung up and sighed in annoyance.
"Must you do that every time?" He asked Batman as he approached him. "My daughter thought I died of fright for a second." He then noticed Superman was with Batman and seemed surprised. "Superman?"
Superman gave Gordon a nod. "Commissioner."
Gordon was speechless for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "Well…I guess Metropolis can't be for everyone."
"Actually, he's here until this current crisis is dealt with." Batman explained. "It's a temporary partnership, nothing permanent."
"Very well." Gordon sighed. "Might as well give you the rundown. We're still looking in on the whole Mockingbird situation which is getting me worried."
"Why's that?" Batman asked.
"If this keeps going on, soon we might have a search warrant to ransack Bruce Wayne's home." Gordon said. "Sure, he's a little eccentric and wild but I doubt he's a criminal."
"I know he isn't." Superman said while narrowing his eyes at Batman. "But he isn't as terrible as some make him out to be."
"Well, least you think so." Gordon said. "I might not be as trusting with you, but I admire your core beliefs."
"We have someone working the Mockingbird situation, don't worry." Batman assured Gordon.
"That's not all." Gordon said. "There's been a reported break-in at the Iceberg Lounge. I think Cobblepot might have a cat burglar in his cage."
Batman just gave a blank stare. "That issue will resolve itself."
Superman seemed shocked. "What?"
"Trust me, I know." Batman said. "They can handle themselves for a bit."
"What?" Superman reacted.
"Also, we're still trying to keep an eye out for that assassin that tried to kill the District Attorney." Gordon explained. "But, it's like they suddenly disappeared off the face of the Earth."
"His name is Slade Wilson." Batman explained. "He's a mercenary for hire. He's after Superman for clients."
"They call themselves Task Force X." Superman explained.
"Task Force X?" Gordon reacted.
"Yeah." Superman replied.
"Well, we might get information about this Task Force X once we get ahold of him." Gordon said as he turned to face the city. "Oh, and we managed to track down where Bane's forces are holding Oliver Queen. That old warehouse on the Keaton dock. We were about to send a squadron, but I thought of it as too much of a risk, think you can handle it?" As he turned around to face Batman, he was gone while Superman was still there.
Superman looked around him to catch any sign of his temporary partner. "Huh? What? Wha…" He began to stare at Gordon and noted his deadpan look. "…I assume this is a habit?"
Gordon sighed. "Unfortunately. Wait a minute, you're faster than him. How did he get past you?"
Superman sighed. "I don't know." Then, he dashed away to find his temporary partner, leaving a gust of wind to blow in Gordon's face.
Gordon sighed. "This is going to feel like a long night."
Later, Superman, managed to find Keaton dock even though it took him some time to find it due to not being in Gotham for long.
When he arrived, he found Batman on top of a ginormous shipping crate, knees perched, binoculars in hand staring at a nearby warehouse.
He flew towards Batman and cleared his throat to get his attention. "He wasn't finished."
"I got all the details." Batman retorted. "You took your time."
"You dispersed without warning." Superman argued.
"I thought you were fast." Batman retorted.
Superman was about to argue, but just gave up. "Forget it."
"Can you see through the warehouse?" Batman asked.
Superman squinted his eyes to see if he could see anything, but he couldn't see through the warehouse for some reason. "I can't see. I think most of the infrastructure is made from lead."
"Ah, they know you." Batman remarked. "I knew you bound to face the consequences of revealing your weaknesses in the papers."
"Yeeaaah." Superman looked guilty. "That was a big mistake."
"Not to worry, there's an open skylight." Batman assured him.
"Great, a way for us to sneak in." Superman remarked before he was about to float to the open skylight.
"Wait!" Batman stood up and summoned a batarang that he tossed into the sky.
Superman just watched on with befuddlement as he saw the batarang fly to the open skylight while Batman's eyes appeared to be glowing blue while tapping on his gauntlet.
"What are you doing with the batarang?" Superman asked.
"Still not calling it that." Batman retorted.
"What are you doing?" Superman asked.
"Twelve cartel members." Batman replied. "Two on two separate railings looking over. Eight armed targets playing poker. The last two, are guarding a door. Perhaps guarding Oliver."
"What about the ones outside the warehouse?" Superman asked.
"They won't be a problem once we free Oliver." Batman replied before summoning his grappling gun and fired it towards the warehouse.
Superman sighed before following Batman by flying. "I assume you know something that I don't."
They land carefully on the roof, close to the skylight. But before Batman could enter, Superman placed his hand on his chest, stopping him.
"I know we have different methods when it comes to handling business." Superman said. "So, could you perhaps go a little easy on them?"
Batman narrowed his eyes at Superman before looking back at the skylight. "I'll do my best."
Inside the warehouse, two of the four criminals on the high ground, were walking along, keeping an eye out.
One of them looked down to one of the poker players and gave them a thumbs up, letting them know that they were all clear.
That was before him and his partner, disappeared in blurry flash that was noticed by the other two across from them.
They were about to call out, until one of them was knocked out by a batarang before the other one was punched in the back by Batman, causing him to fall off the railing. Thankfully, Batman had tied a rope around his ankle, so he wouldn't fall to the floor.
The other goon got back up and aimed his pistol at Batman. Thankfully, the Caped Crusader pounced forward and disarmed him of his gun before pressing his hands on his face.
The goon struggled to breathe as he tried to free himself from Batman's grasp. And in a few seconds, he was rendered unconscious.
Superman flew in through the skylight, looking angry with Batman. "I thought you agreed to go easy on them."
Batman placed his hand on Superman's shoulder. "I did." He retorted before looking over the railing.
Superman pointed to the guy hanging over the railing. "And him? His blood is going to his brain."
"He'll be down once we're done." Batman assured him. "Besides, he'll only need 28 hours to live." Superman looked alarmed that Batman knew this sort of information. Batman noticed his discomfort. "Ever heard of the internet?" Superman just went quiet after that retort.
"You rescue Oliver. I'll take on the poker players." Batman climbed on the railing.
"Sure, you don't need help?" Superman asked. "I mean, you can't do this alone. There's eight of them and one of you."
"Exactly." Batman just glided down towards his eight targets while Superman just sighed before flying down towards the two guards that were guarding Oliver.
The two armed guards stood by the lead door ready to shoot any enemy threat that comes their way. Then, one of them yawned.
"Here, why don't you take a nap?"
"That would be nice." The guard said before realising who got his attention. Him and his partner aimed their respective weapons at Superman, who just quickly disarmed them before shoving them out of an exit door with a mighty push.
The poker players heard the commotion and were just about to check it out. Until, one of them got tackled by Batman, crashing to the ground.
"It's him!" One of them screamed.
They were just about to shoot him, but then, he pulled a grapple from his belt and shot it at the criminal's weapon and pulling it off his grasp.
The other soldiers pulled out their guns and began firing them at Batman who managed to dodge them by diving to the right and pulling the table they were playing poker on, to use as a shield.
Once they were out of bullets, Batman took the opportunity to pounce on one of the criminals like a predator and engaging in a fist fight with two of the soldiers.
Despite, the odds stacked against him, Batman managed to deflect the punches, before grabbing one of the goons by one arm and tossing him towards his ally, knocking them to the floor.
Then, he punched a few more goons until, he was knocked to the floor by another. One of them, picked up a lead pipe and began to wail Batman with the blunt object, but the caped crusader managed to disarm him of his weapon by grabbing it and punching his attacker in the leg.
Two of the goons got back up and began to kick Batman just as he tried to get back up off the floor.
Meanwhile, Superman tore the door from the wall where he was greeted by six armed soldiers with assault rifles.
And in between three out of the six was a man with a sack on his head, a white tank top and black pants; Tied to a chair.
"Someone better be here to rescue me." Oliver said.
The goons all began to shoot their weapons at Superman, but the bullets that managed to hit him, deflected back at the targets. Worried for the safety of the hostage getting hit by the bullets, he dashed out of the room and hid behind the corner of the door.
"I hope they were here to rescue me." Oliver said.
Meanwhile, Batman was still being pummelled in. That was until, he shot some spikes from his gauntlets, causing the goons to be rendered disoriented, which gave Batman the perfect opportunity to jump back up.
He grabbed one of them by the back of their collar and slammed them to the floor. Then, he elbowed another one in the face before punching one very hard in the chest, that they flew backwards.
One of the goons pulled out a knife from their pocket and managed to stab Batman in the stomach. But fortunately for him, his suit was heavily armoured which caused his knife to bend.
Batman in retaliation, punched the man really hard in the face, knocking him to the floor.
Meanwhile, the armed goons that were guarding Oliver, were out of ammo and just as they were about to reload. Superman dashed in and slammed three of them into a wall, knocking them out.
Two of them tried to fight Superman by punching him in the chest, but they all screamed in pain, simultaneously.
Superman sighed. "Don't you read the papers? Why do you always think the punches work?" He picked them by grabbing them by the collars of their shirts and began hovering upwards. Then, he tossed them on the floor, knocking them out.
The last goon had managed to reload his weapon and was just about to shoot Superman, until he got hit on the head with a batarang, knocking them to the floor.
Superman looked to the door he came through and saw Batman standing outside. "You did go easy on them, did you?" Superman asked.
"I did my best." Batman replied as he approached Oliver.
"Batman, is that you?" Oliver asked before the caped crusader removed the bag from his head. Oliver looked at Batman before chuckling to himself. "Oh yeah, it's you." He then noticed Superman. "Superman? Is this a partnership?"
"Temporary." Batman replied.
"We're here to rescue you, Mr Queen." Superman informed the billionaire.
However, instead of being relived, Oliver just sighed in annoyance. "Well, this is going to be embarrassing for the both of you. You're also going to find this completely unnecessary." He lifted his hands to reveal that they had been untied. "But I finished plan A."
Superman looked surprised while Batman looked slightly annoyed. "So this was pointless?" Batman asked.
"Hey, I'm not as fast as you when it comes to that brain of yours." Oliver retorted while standing up and pointing at Batman's symbol. "Also, you know what I've been hearing whilst I was stuck with these guys? A lot of Spanish and I couldn't make a word of it. Dinah always did say I needed to branch out for more healthy hobbies."
Superman looked kind of befuddled by how Oliver was talking to Batman so casually as if he knew him and raised a brow. "I'm sorry, do you two know each other?"
"Yup." Oliver replied before realising something important. Then, he began whispering to Batman. "Bruce, does he know?"
"It's fine Oliver." Batman replied. "He knows."
Oliver picked a batarang and began to fiddle with it. "Getting a little too trustworthy. First came that Robin kid, then me and now Superman. By the way, does he know about how I utilise my archery skills?"
As they spoke, one of the unconscious goons outside of the room began to slowly stand up. He looked at the three of them and a nearby assault rifle.
"Listen Oliver, do you have any idea what they did with Jimmy Olsen?" Superman asked.
Oliver sighed. "I'm sorry Superman, I don't know. He can't have left Gotham, not with Bane's crew running around the bend. Oh, but I do have something that might help. I did overhear a conversation that was in English."
The goon picked up the assault rifle and aimed it at the trio, ready to blast them to kingdom come.
"Apparently, Bane had captured some lowlifes named Matt Hagen and Drury Walker and had them experimented on." Oliver explained. "They're now mutants working for him."
"Mutants?" Batman asked.
"Or more, Metahumans." Oliver explained. "They unlocked the metagenes within their system. I also heard the enhanced the metagene of Livewire. By the way, move aside."
Superman moved aside and Oliver threw a batarang at the goon with the assault rifle, knocking him out cold.
Superman looked surprised by Oliver's skill while Batman just gave a deadpan stare. "I knew he was waking up."
"Did you?" Oliver retorted smugly.
Superman on the other hand was still trying to wrap his head around things. "Wait, you know how to work a Batarang?"
"A Batarang?" Oliver remarked, mildly impressed.
"It's not going to catch on." Batman responded.
"You never know." He began stretching. "Oh yeah, apparently her genes were further enhanced and she suddenly vanished."
Batman and Superman looked intrigued. "Thank you for the tip, Oliver."
"Do you need my help?" Oliver asked. "I can get back to Star City to retrieve my quiver."
"We're fine Oliver." Batman assured him. "Wait outside for the police."
Oliver gave him a nod. "Hey, let me in on your super team at some point, okay?" He ran out of the room leaving the duo alone.
Superman seemed fascinated by Oliver's attitude and words that he knew he had to ask further questions. Batman began walking out of the room with Superman following.
"Wait a minute, quiver, archery, Star City." Superman put the pieces together and gasped. "Batman, is he…"
"Your first thoughts are correct." Batman responded.
"Where are we going now?" Superman asked. "All we have are names and descriptions of what happened at Bane's lair. Should we be concerned? Is he going to hurt Jimmy by unlocking his meta gene?"
"That won't happen." Batman said. "Trust me, I know."
"So where are we going now?" Superman asked.
"We're going to get in contact with my informant." Batman pulled out his grappling hook.
"Where are they?"
"Remember that break in at the Iceberg Lounge, Gordon told us about?" Superman nodded his head. "Well, we're going there to get her out of a mess."