Somewhere in Gotham, Batman was busy brooding over the ledge of a building looking down. He was currently staring at the ground of a small ally. He was looking down at the ground with some sort of scowl that was also a sign of sadness.

Then, Superman arrived by flying towards him with a bit of an annoyed scowl on his face. "Why?"

"Why what?" Batman retorted.

"Why do you always do that?" Superman asked.

"You mean go to where I'm supposed to investigate?"

"I meant vanish without a trace."

"I wasn't exactly stealthy back there." Batman retorted.

Superman groaned in frustration before pressing his hands against his face and screaming into them. He was reluctant to team up with him in the first place but this was ridiculous. Was he just being difficult? Or honest in his own way?

"Better?" Batman asked.

"I'm okay." Clark sighed. "Are we at the right place?" Batman nodded his head. "So…Where's the apartment?"

"Right in front of you." Batman replied.

Superman, curious as to what Batman was staring at before he arrived on time, looked down from the roof he and him were standing on and saw what looked like a random street called Crime Ally.

"Crime Ally?" Superman remarked.

"Name's not subtle." Batman replied.

"Do we have a plan on how we should apprehend Livewire?" Superman asked. "She isn't here right now."

"We wait." Batman replied. "It's a stakeout."

"Alright." Superman remarked. "Should be fun."

"They're tiresome at best." Batman said. "Nothing much happens for a while."

"Yeah, I know how stakeouts work." Superman said. "I meant that as in, you're not quite the conversation lover." Batman said nothing and pulled a pair of bat shaped binoculars from his utility belt. "Bat binoculars? How many bat based gadgets do you have?" Batman said nothing and instead just began to look through the binoculars of a nearby almost rundown apartment complex. "Um…You know, being Superman gets me hungry sometimes. Do you want me to get us a sandwich or anything?" Batman once again said nothing, leaving Superman in an awkward position.

He just began to stare at the hotel to see if there were any signs of her coming in. But so far, there wasn't any at all.

As he waited, Superman just began to whistle in order to pass the time. He even decided to take the time to start writing on his phone in his notes. It was titled: Poem For Lois. "Can you read my mind?"

"You wanna talk?" Batman asked.

"Uh…Yeah, but if you don't want to-"

"I'm not listening to you write a poem out loud." Batman said. "By the way, it sounds terrible so far."

"I haven't even got to the second paragraph yet." Superman said. "I'm writing it for Lois for Valentines Day which is coming up shortly and-"

"I want us to talk about our methods." Batman interjected. "But more specifically, our methods into enforcing law."

Superman put his phone away and narrowed his eyes at him. "I thought we were never going to discuss this but I'm glad we are. I don't like your methods into fighting crime. Sure, I fight crime despite my strength but I don't leave broken bones or psychological trauma in their way. I care more about being a symbol of hope, you care more about terrorising people. Heck, you even got a child on your violent crusade! Sure, my girlfriend and my best friend are with me all the time, but I don't force them to tag along. They just happen to be there. I just wanna know what goes on in that head of yours."

Batman was silent for a moment as he stared at his reluctant partner with a deadpan stare. Then after a moment, Batman inhaled through his nose before exhaling.

"Look down, Mr Kent." Batman said. "Look down at that ally below us. Twenty-two years ago there was a little boy. A little boy who thought he was on top of the world because of his parent's wealth, who thought Gotham was the perfect city with amazing people and considered himself brave. A little boy who got terrified after seeing an opera that he insisted to his parents that they leave early. They decide to take a shortcut through Crime Ally and waiting for them there, was a random mugger who noticed how rich they were and held them at gunpoint. And without a second thought, that same mugger fired his gun at the boys parents, killing them! He left that boy alive for God knows what reason, leaving him orphaned and traumatised. In that moment, he realised he was powerless, he was afraid and he realised he was terrified. In that moment, he saw Gotham for what it truly was. An ugly city with the highest crime rate in all of America. A city ran by scum as opposed to any good politicians!" As he continued his speech, he began to approach Superman. "And that's why I do what I do! I go out there and deal with these mobsters and crooked politicians because no one else will! No matter how much money I throw into a campaign, it still doesn't improve what goes down here!"

"But how does this explain your morals?" Superman asked. "Why go out there and hurt people?! They might be criminals, sure, but they don't deserve your treatment!"

"You don't know Gotham like I do!" Batman raised his voice. "Metropolis is just a playground compared to Gotham! It's a war zone here! Crime is relatively moderate in Metropolis but out here in this city, everyone could be a killer, a thief or a drug dealer! I go after these criminals not because I enjoy hurting them, I do this, so another child won't be left alone in an ally surrounded by the bodies of their parents right in front of them! That's why I do this! That's why I am rough on them!"

After Superman finished hearing the man's speech, he began to see through his story. He understood who the kid was in that story. It was Bruce Wayne. Even with his mask both metaphorical and literal, Superman could see a man broken down by the city and what it has done to him.

"Even if you move here to try and fix things, it will tear you apart psychologically that you might become one with this city! So next time you wanna lecture me on how I do my role to protect this city, just fly around and see if it would be better off without me!"

He marched away from Superman and got back to watching the apartment with keen eyes. Whereas Superman began to take in what Batman had just said.

In that moment, he began to look at the city he was currently standing in. It was rather beautiful and gothic from his point of view. Almost like some kind of goth person's art project came to life.

He closed his eyes and began to listen. Everywhere he listened, he was hearing screams, mugging, people being hurt and even homes being robbed.

He knew things were bad in Metropolis, but Gotham was an entirely different story. It was so bad that even he was horrified by what he was hearing. He backed away in horror while Batman just looked at him.

"You hear it don't you?" Batman asked.

Before Superman could respond, the man of steel noticed that a nearby light source had began to flicker. He looked to the apartment and noticed one of the lights on the second floor had began to flicker.

"What's going on?" Superman asked. "Is it Livewire?"

"Either her or they're cutting power off." Batman replied. "What can you see?"

Superman used his X-Ray vision to see what looked to be a lightbulb and a TV flickering simultaneously. "Lightbulb and TV flickering….Wait a minute…" Then, Superman saw what looked to be a beam of electricity burst out of the lightbulb that formed into a silhouette of a woman. "I don't know what I'm looking at."

Then the silhouette raised her arms out and looked to be absorbing a lot of energy from somewhere. That's when Batman and Superman saw the entire apartment and street around it, flickering.

Batman put his binoculars away and narrowed his eyes at the building. "We're going in."

"And how do you intend to handle her?" Superman asked.

"She hates water, right?" Superman nodded his head while a nearby streetlight began to flicker. "There must be a sprinkler system inside that building. So, if things get rough, start a small fire so that way…"

Then all of a sudden, a skeleton glowing a light blue suddenly shot out from the streetlight and blasted Superman and Batman off of the roof.

Superman landed on his back on top of a car while Batman landed gracefully on his feet. Superman sat up to understand what had transpired in the last 7 seconds.

"What the…"

Suddenly, the skeleton popped out of a nearby streetlight and punched Superman, causing him to crash into a car.

Batman tried fighting back by throwing a Batarang, but then, the skeleton popped out from a light stuck on a wall and punched Batman to Superman's location.

"Uh…" Superman groaned as he sat up. "Did you plan for this?"

"No, not at all."

Then, all the lights in the surrounding block began to flicker, as if they were having their powers drained away from them.

Superman and Batman looked at the all the buildings, streetlights, vehicles and all forms of light sources were flickering each with their own set of expressions. Superman looked worried while Batman looked to be analysing the situation.

Soon, the skeleton reappeared in front of the two, only this time, it appeared to be forming muscles around their body.

"What is that?" Superman asked.

"I think it's clear what she is." Batman retorted.

Then, the figure used their power to make nearby cars levitate in the air and aim them at the dynamic duo.

Then, more muscled formed from the skeletons and soon, the figure began to talk. "Hello, Superman."

Superman was shocked. "Leslie? What happened to you?"

"Had myself a power up!" She tossed a car straight towards a nearby apartment that Superman quickly flew up and caught in his hands.

Then, the electronic criminal popped out of the car and punched Superman in the face, sending him flying to the ground.

Batman tried to get involved in the action by quickly trying to grapple up towards her. Then, she popped out of nowhere and tackled Batman against a building.

"You know before I got into this gig, I used to be quite the admirer of yours." Livewire remarked. "Now, meeting you face-to-face is quite…shocking." She pressed her hands against his head and began to electrocute him, causing him to scream in pain.

He stopped when all of a sudden, Superman popped out of nowhere and blasted Livewire with his heat vision, freeing Batman from her grasp.

Superman managed to catch Batman before he could hit the ground and placed him on his feet. Then, Batman dropped to his knees and groaned.

"Could she do that before?" Batman asked.

"Not really." Superman replied. "Bane must have done something far worse than I had anticipated."

"Didn't I just say this was an improvement?" Livewire retorted as some skin began to grow back on her body since she was absorbing more and more energy. "Look at me, Superman. I've become more powerful."

Batman was about to toss another batarang until, Livewire shot him in the stomach with a strong blast, causing him to fall on the ground.

"Batman!"

Before Superman had a chance to fight back, Livewire hit Superman with a powerful surge of electricity. Then, Livewire used her powers to lift Superman up in the air, still electrocuting him. Then, she slammed him in the middle of the road.

He was about to get up, but then, Livewire hit him again with more electricity, causing his skeleton to flicker in and out all while screaming in agonising pain.

"You know, I was thinking, just before Bane has his way with you, I should have my own fun." She continued to blast Superman with her powers straight from her fingers.

She stopped, just to watch him struggle with amusement on her face. "What's the matter Superman? Not feeling super enough?" She then shot more electricity from her fingers, causing Superman to scream in pain.

She eventually stopped and approached Superman with a smug grin plastered on her face. "I'd kill ya, but Bane needs you alive and well enough to fight." As she continued talking, she got all of her skin back. But unfortunately, it left her in a state of undress as she wasn't wearing anything. But that didn't bother her.

"Anything you wish to say."

Superman looked behind her and grinned. "You're not wearing anything at all."

Livewire looked shocked and disgusted. "Superman? More like Supercreep! Why make that remark?"

Superman grinned. "Because I was just going to suggest you put on a raincoat."

Before Livewire could react, she was hit by a wave of water that sent her flying straight towards a wall. Turns out Batman had managed to get up and burst a fire hydrant with his Batarang so Livewire could struggle against the water.

Superman managed to stand up and weakly approached his ally. Batman weakly stood up on his feet and groaned as he held his side. While Superman weakly walked up to tend to his ally, Livewire stood up back on her feet as soon as the water died down.

She looked at her arm and saw that her skin was vanishing and it was showing muscle instead. In that moment, she began to panic and quickly had to think of an escape plan.

She used what bit of power she had in her system and quickly jumped into a nearby cable, vanishing from sight.

"How bad is it?" Batman asked as he held on to his side.

Superman used his X-Ray vision to look through Batman's suit and saw that one of his hardened muscles were burnt a bit.

"Slightly burned." Superman replied. "Cold water and some disinfectant will help handle that."

"That's a relief." Batman stood up as he held his side.

Superman gave Batman a slight smile. "Hey, I just wish to say thanks for saving my life back there."

Batman looked at Superman unsure of what he should say after his grateful comment. "I had to stop Livewire somehow."

Superman looked at Batman with a disappointed look on his face. "Not even a you're welcome?"

Then, they heard the sounds of sirens coming towards them. A small, squadron of cop cars had arrived. They parked up and the one who lead the squad was Detective Harvey Bullock.

Superman sighed. "That slob detective from your party?"

"Slob; Yes. Good Detective; Yes." Batman responded.

"So, do you wanna explain why I got reports of you two fighting that electric lady from Metropolis all while the power around the block was going cuckoo bananas?" Harvey asked.

"I had an informer notifying me of her presence." Batman explained.

"She got away." Superman stated. "She escaped by jumping in an electric cable."

Harvey looked at Superman in disbelief. "I'm sorry, she jumped into an electric cable?"

"I know this might seem hard to believe, but I think she is travelling through the electricity." Superman informed the detective.

"With all these Metahuman chumps popping up all over the country, I am bound to believe such a bizarre ability." Harvey retorted.

"On an additional note: She was in a state of undress." Batman explained. "If that will help further your search."

"You mean naked?" Harvey asked with a sly grin on his face. "Oh it will." He then turned to his squadron. "Alright people, I want an APB for that Leslie Willis AKA Livewire. She is travelling through the electricity. I repeat, travelling through the electricity. Additionally, she is naked. You can't miss her."

"I'm sorry, what is this I'm hearing?"

Harvey, Superman and Batman turned to face the voice and saw none other than Vicki Vale approaching them.

"Oh great." Harvey groaned. "Vale. She called me a dim witted slob in one of her articles."

"Detective, if you could repeat what I'm hearing, I…." She froze upon seeing Superman right in front of her. "…Superman? Of course you're the one behind this mess."

Superman knew he needed help with this and looked to his right to see if Batman could help. But once again, to his surprise, he wasn't there.

"Of course." Superman mumbled.

"Listen Superman, I wish to ask you a few questions." Vicki said as she pulled out her tape recorder and pointed it to Superman's face.

"Hey, hey, lady. Last thing he needs is another slander piece out of you." Harvey said.

"It's okay, detective, I can handle her." Superman assured the detective.

"Believe me Superman, you'd rather be dealing with that Kaiju again." Harvey retorted before regrouping with his squadron.

Superman, despite not wanting to, decided to partake in the interview between Vicki. "Alright Superman, unlike your number one fan, Miss Lane, I shall be asking the difficult questions. So I hope you're prepared."

"I am." Superman responded.

"Okay, firstly, what went on here?" Vicki asked. "Reports were coming in that you and Batman were fighting a bolt of electricity."

"Leslie Wllis specifically." Superman stated.

"And somehow your fight with her was causing the power all around this block to lose power."

"She was stealing electricity to charge herself up just like a battery." Superman informed her. "Me and Batman were able to defeat her."

"So why wasn't she apprehended?" Vicki asked.

"Well, she got away. We were-"

"So you let her get away?" Vicki interjected.

"No, that was not our intention." Superman said. "We were-"

"Yet, she still got away." Vicki remarked. "And left quite some property damaged which included a burst hydrant."

"Batman did it-"

"So you confess to Batman causing property damage?"

"It was to prevent Livewire from causing anymore damage."

"You do realise that those firefighters need those fire hydrants, right?"

"Look Vicki, if Livewire were to-"

"What about the supposed rumour that the reason why Bane is here in Gotham just for you?" Vicki asked.

"How did you hear about this?" Superman asked.

"I have my sources." Vicki replied. "What do you have to say about the fact that you could be putting a lot of people in danger?"

"What does this have to do with what recently happened?" Superman asked, already getting angry with Vicki's questions.

"Lucius Fox was recently reported as kidnapped by Bane's second-in-command, Carla Demonio. According to eyewitnesses who last saw him, he was driving a car with her sitting in the back seat just behind him." Vicki informed him.

"Look, I will do my best to find him." Superman stated strictly.

"You will or otherwise there will be blood on your hands." Vicki said before her tape recorder got sliced in half by a Batarang.

Vicki gasped in shock just as Superman looked at the destroyed recorder with surprise. Then, he looked up and saw that Batman was perched on the edge of a nearby building.

"I will not tolerate this!" Vicki shouted. "Detective!"

While Vicki went on to report to Bullock, Superman hovered upwards towards Batman to check on him.

"Bullock! Bullock!" Vicki shouted. "Batman just attacked me by destroying my tape recorder!"

Harvey just narrowed his eyes at Vicki while eating a donut. "Hmmm, I'd help. But then again, I'm just a dim witted slob." Harvey got back into the car, leaving Vicki disappointed and frustrated with what had transpired.

Up on the roof, Batman had taken off his mask and removed the armour from his torso to expose his burnt muscles.

Superman arrived and approached him. "You didn't need to destroy her tape recorder."

"I was aiming for her hand." Bruce retorted.

"Well, gotta thank you for saving my life again." Superman said. "That's twice I owe ya."

Bruce smirked. "I do compliment on you keeping her distracted while I got up."

"I wouldn't exactly call it disturbing, it was more getting my butt zapped." Superman retorted.

"Well, it worked didn't it?" Bruce retorted.

Superman sat on the roof. "I guess. Do you need help?"

"Nah, I'm having my supplies delivered." Bruce replied before looking upwards. "It's arriving right now. Just watch yourself."

Superman looked up and saw a bat shaped arial vehicle coming straight towards them. As it flew over them, it shot a little pod out from under it, crashing down on the roof.

"They're here." Bruce walked up to the pod, looked into an eye scanning device and then the pod opened.

"Well, that's gonna get you caught." Superman remarked. "If they find that, they will trace it."

Bruce removed the items and sat back down. "I programmed a self destruct sequence in order to prevent that outcome."

"And how long does that last?" There was a disintegrating sound behind the Man of Steel and he turned around to see what it was. The pod that was there before, was now gone.

"About ten seconds." Bruce replied as he began dabbing some water on his abdomen.

"Right."

"You know Clark, I gotta say, I think your adversaries are a lot worse than mine." Bruce remarked.

"Come on Bruce, let's not make this a competition." Superman said.

"Oh I'm serious." Bruce cringed. "You've dealt with technically advanced criminals, government task forces and even a Kaiju. All I get are scarecrows, crocs and clowns."

"That's….A very diverse group of criminals." Superman remarked, unsure of how to take that statement. "I guess I kind of have the more difficult threats."

"Still, you get better sleep than I do." Bruce remarked as he began to dab the cloth of disinfectant on his body.

"Ya know, I've been meaning to ask, why Batman?" Superman asked.

"Well, I needed to give criminals something to fear." Bruce replied. "Bats scared me, so I thought I'd share what I fear."

Superman seemed legit surprised. "Wow, really? Well, I was honestly referring to the name. Little on the nose don't you think?"

"It wasn't my idea." Bruce replied. "The media and the public just gave me that name and it…Just stuck. I don't use it but people still refer to me by that name."

"I mean, I don't, 100% support your methods of striking fear, but maybe you…I don't know, might give it a punch." Superman suggested.

"Care to clarify?"

"Yes. Ya know, you know, maybe if someone asks a question like 'Who are you?' Or 'What are you?' Maybe you could respond with something like, I'm Batman." Superman suggested.

Bruce smirked as he put his armour back on. "I'm Batman? Little redundant don't you think?"

"I know it's not much, but I imagine out of your mouth, it would sound cool." Superman explained.

Bruce put his cape and cowl back on, becoming Batman once again. "Is that meant to be a catchphrase?"

"No, not really." Superman said.

"Sounds like a catchphrase." Suddenly, Batman heard the sound of what sounded like a beeping noise coming from his mask. He pressed his finger to his ear. "Speaking."

"Batman, it's Gordon. I got information regarding the whereabouts of Mr Olsen."

"Where?" Superman asked.

Batman raised his hand. "Where, Jim?"

"An old mannequin factory over at Founders Island. Be careful, it might be a trap."

"Will do, Jim." Batman hung up and turned to Superman. "Looks like we're getting your friend back."

Superman smiled. "Oh, great. Well, what are we waiting for?" Superman flew off while Batman stayed behind to ponder. It was over almost like that. He didn't like it. There was something suspicious about it.

Meanwhile, at the warehouse by the dock, Bane was in his office lifting weights over his head to build up the strength he will need to face off against Superman in their inevitable duel.

That was when, he began to notice the nearby desk lamp flickering. This made him stop lifting the weight and toss it to the floor like it was nothing.

And out of the desk lamp, came Livewire landing not so gracefully on the floor, now with her skin back but still naked.

Bane looked surprised by what had happened. "Well, that is unexpected."

Livewire stood up and held her hand against her head as she groaned. "Uh….Took me a while to find you. I traveled through all over Gotham, popping up at locations where I weren't needed. I even ran into that Daily Planet reporter and the Batman's little sidekick."

"I heard the reports." Bane stated. "You appeared to have had fun."

He turned a TV a on his desk around to show footage of a news report of the Gotham Gazette by Vicki Vale. "In other news, Superman and Batman were reported to be fighting some blue static causing some property damage. And like in Metropolis, Superman can't help but damage a lot of public property. Destroying roads, buildings and a fire hydrant."

Livewire looked alarmed. "That's a lie! Batman did that!"

"She will be…Tested when I get the chance to see her." Bane assured her.

"So what now?" Livewire asked. "Are you just going to stand here and pretend that I'm not naked?!"

"Don't worry, I am already finishing on a suit that will help with your powers." Bane assured her. "I know that you need power in order to keep your skin. The suit will work as a sort of infinite battery."

Livewire grinned. "How smart are you?"

"Smarter than you realise." Bane replied. "For now, I need you to stay in my office."

Then, he heard the sound of his speaker phone going off. "Bane, I have him. And Batman and Superman are heading into your trap."

Bane answered the call. "Thank you, Carla." He walked towards a giant screen nailed on a wall to look at some live footage. "I wish for you to stay in the office because my crew can get a little wild."

Livewire grinned. "And with you…"

"Doesn't exactly give me any kind of feeling." Bane assured her as he looked at the monitor. "I need you with me anyway. We are soon going to pay a visit to Miss Vale. But first, I need to file a report to the Commissioner." Bane looked at the live footage to watch as Commissioner Gordon being forced into the compound by Carla, tied with his hands behind his back and a roll of duct tape stuck on to his mouth.