Hey everybody! Welcome to my first Batman x Sonic the Hedgehog crossover story! This little project has been in the back of my mind for years. Reason why is because I became inspired by so much artwork regarding the Sonic the Hedgehog characters playing as the characters from Batman, both hero and villain alike. I decided to shelve this project for the time being and focus on my other works while letting more ideas build up for this story. When the trailer for the IDW Sonic the Hedgehog x DC comic collaboration appeared on September 21st, Batman Day, I was immediately blown away by what I saw in that trailer, my excitement level hit straight through the roof when I found out even further that the comic will appear next year in March 2025, and my creative flow could no longer be contained. I thought, "Ah, what the hell? Might as well get it out of my system, then let it remain shelved for God-knows-how-many-more years."
Originally, I was planning on putting this story in the Batman x Sonic the Hedgehog or Sonic the Hedgehog x Batman crossover section, but unfortunately it was...how should I put this?...Dead. I'm not kidding, y'all can go check it out and see for yourself.
Anyway, I hope you all can understand why I only put this in the Sonic the Hedgehog section and still continue to support my work. Oh, and big shoutout to Cyo the Lion on letting me borrow this artwork you see above which I thought was perfect to use as a book cover. So thanks again, bro!
Now, before we begin, I just wanna let everyone know that certain characters you'll recognize or see will only be played by Mobians; either from the Sonic the Hedgehog mythos or OCs made by yours truly, and no humans will play apart in this story. On top of that, there names will be changed to fit the same name as the DC counterpart or be changed completely, but that depends on who plays who and I don't own any of the characters from Batman or Sonic the Hedgehog. Those go to their respective owners.
With all that said and done. Let's dive into the dark world of Gotham City and meet it's dark hero known as...
The Bathog.
Rise of the Dark Knight: Part 1: The Newcomer and The Dark-Winged Vigilante
It was nighttime in the city of Gotham.
Many people were out and about, going about their daily lives-day in and day out-as always. In a metropolis that never sleeps, it was basically the norm for all the people who live there. At Pearl Phillips Street, a hedgehog family of three came out of the Monarch Theatre after watching The Mark of Zorro. A movie about a Spanish fox becoming the masked vigilante, Zorro, fighting the bad guys with both his mastery of the sword and hand-to-hand combat while falling in love with a beautiful vixen maiden, then getting married at the end where the masked hero continues his work defending his home.
One such hedgehog, a young boy at the age of eight with a charcoal black scarf wrapped around his neck and wore a fancy gray buttoned dress coat, dark-gray gloves and matching ivy cap that sat comfortably on his short black quills, was so enthralled when the film came to an end that he couldn't help but swing and thrust his arm while imagining himself wielding an invisible rapier, just like the hero from the movie, and happily telling his parents, "That movie was amazing! Zorro was awesome the way he fought those bad guys with his sword! Especially rescuing that girl whom she was forcibly going to marry that cruel baron!" He faced his parents, raising his arm up. "One day when I grow up, I'm gonna be just like him! Protecting the city, fighting bad guys, finding myself a beautiful girl, and getting married! Who knows?" He swings his arm in a downward angle, adding, "If she wants, we can defend the city together!"
An adult male black-furred hedgehog with white stripes on his head quills and had a brown fedora hat with a black stripe on it, maroon scarf that hung on his shoulders, and wore a trench coat, smiles at his son while a female hedgehog with blonde hair, matching baby blue beret cap and buttoned dress coat, and a white skirt, giggles at her son's enthusiasm and says to him, "Okay, okay, calm down now. C'mon, let's go home."
As the family of three walked away from the Monarch Theatre, they couldn't call a taxi, due to the amount of traffic that blocked most of the road and others who're too busy elsewhere or had their own passengers to take. Instead, they took a more scenic route around the Monarch Theatre, a long alleyway that reached further into the darkness till the family could barely hear the sounds of traffic behind them. The long alleyway reached its end, revealing an etched wall sign next to them that was written in bronze: PARK ROW.
Exiting the alleyway, they arrived at an alley filled with old buildings that had boarded up doors and windows. The whole alley seemed abandoned with not a single soul in sight and the quietness only added a more foreboding sense that made the female hedgehog feel creeped out by the atmosphere. Shrugging it off, she follows her husband to the alley with her son following close behind.
The further they went to the alley, the more nervous the little hedgehog felt when he thought that somewhere within the shadows, someone or something was watching them, waiting to jump at them any moment. The sound of feet made him softly gasp and hug his mother's waist. Seeing her son frightened, she calmly rubs his back to soothe his fears. However, the feet that the little hedgehog heard just now didn't come from his parents. It came within the shadows as someone was walking towards the family. The male hedgehog was the first to notice before his wife, who gently pried her son off her waist and stood in front of him.
The thing that was in the shadows appeared, revealing itself to be a male tabby cat with ashen gray fur, tan around his muzzle, and had a worn out dark-brown coat and khakis, and an ivy cap similar to the little hedgehog's but with his being more of a lighter shade of brown. His expression seemed serious to the family, which confused them as to why and chose not to say anything to this man. It was probably for the best that they didn't get involved in whatever personal issue he was going through.
Next thing the family knew that no one could've expected. The male tabby cat pulls out a revolver from out of his coat pocket and points it at them, startling the female hedgehog with a gasp.
"Wallet and jewelry!" He demanded. "Now!"
"Mom, dad, why's he pointing a gun at us?" the little hedgehog asked fearfully.
"It's going to be alright, son," the male hedgehog assured his son. "And you, take it easy." He reaches inside his pocket and pulls out his wallet, offering it to the armed tabby cat. "Here, just take it."
The tabby cat kept his revolver pointed at the male hedgehog, then reached over to take the wallet, but accidentally knocked it out of the hedgehog's hands. Without taking his eyes off the hedgehog couple, he lowers to his knees and tries to find the wallet until he manages to get it.
"There, you have it. Now take it and go."
The tabby cat eyes at the female hedgehog, noticing a white pearled necklace she wore.
"I said jewelry!" He declared, standing up and pointing his revolver at her.
In a moment of reaction the tabby cat squeezes the trigger. The male hedgehog notices it and stands in front, protecting his wife.
"Nooo!" Was the last thing the male hedgehog cried out before the resounding loud bang echoed within the quiet alley. With a single soft cough, he collapses sideways.
The female hedgehog screamed over the sudden death of her husband. The little hedgehog could only stare stunned and transfixed by what happened now. It didn't end there as he watched the tabby cat grab his mother's pearl necklace and fired at his mother's chest, ripping the necklace off and spilled some of the pearls to the ground just as she collapsed on top of his father.
The tabby cat points his revolver at the child, contemplating on whether or not to shoot him. The little hedgehog looks at him, tears falling from his eyes at what he had done. Seeing that, he felt hesitant to do it. Would he want to have that kind of blood on his hands tonight? There was a risk that he could tell the police and then they'd be on his tail trying to hunt him down. With his mind made up, he closed his eyes, turned his head away, and pulled back the hammer, his finger inches away from squeezing the trigger for the third time…
But the sound of a police siren stopped him from crossing the line, forcing him to put his revolver back inside his coat pocket and retreat back into the shadows, disappearing into the night.
The now alone orphaned little hedgehog collapsed to his knees, his eyes closed as he sobs in grief over the death of his parents. He didn't understand why this had to happen tonight. Everything was going so well until that man showed up and took away the only thing he had ever loved. His sadness began to change into something more when his hands tightened and his sobbing began to quiet down. The memory of this night will be forever etched at the back of his mind and it'll be something he'll never forget till the day he dies.
When his eyes opened…they glowed red.
Twenty Years Later…
On board an airplane, many passengers were waiting patiently as their trip towards Gotham City was about to come to an end. Some of its young passengers were eager to see the big city while others, being that of children, were excited to see what the city was like. One such passenger at the back row didn't feel excited or eager at all. In fact, she felt glad and wondered how much the city has changed since she was gone?
She was a pink hedgehog with bob-cut style hair and beautiful bright green eyes. On top of her head, sat a tan colored bucket hat, matching trench coat that reaches down her waist, and blue jeans. The pink hedgehog was looking at her tablet that she got out of her pink purse that rested close to her, reading another story that was posted online regarding a certain vigilante dressed as a bat by Elias Knox. So far, there have been seven sightings about this vigilante for almost a short month now and no known photographic evidence to show proof about this mysterious vigilante.
Normally, people would probably think that Elias was just throwing in nonsense, then laugh about it, but she wasn't like those people that wouldn't read between the lines. Looking back through each of his previous works, there was a bit of truth regarding what he'd written. The one thing he was missing was actual proof. Luckily for her, she saw an opportunity and wanted to have this kind of story posted on paper and the web. Though she never would've imagined it was going to happen in Gotham City.
Looking to the window beside her, she could see the city-filled lights as the plane was beginning its descent to Gotham Airlines. It always brought a smile to her face whenever she saw those lights at nighttime.
"Well," she sighed, "it's been twenty years since I last left here. Welcome home, Amelia Dale."
The walk to Gotham Central was a piece of cake for Amelia. Looking around the place brought so many memories flooding back to her. Although she never lived within the city and was living outside in a more suburban life, her father did work somewhere in Gotham. His job paid well, but he was the only one out of herself and her mother that went to the city the most. The places she usually goes to are either at elementary school, the Monarch Theatre, and Paulie's Diner. Feeling a bit parched and hungry since that diner had crossed her mind, Amelia decided to visit there; just to find out if anything had changed while she was gone. She passes by a tabby cat family of three, but never realized that they were about to have a very unlucky night.
The tabby cat family had just finished watching a movie at the Monarch Theatre and were trying to get a taxi to take them home back to the hotel. Unfortunately, the walk to getting a taxi was much more difficult than the family had expected, especially when the male tabby cat had just barely gotten a taxi. If a sudden dog couple hadn't taken it before them. The walk took them all the way from Pearl Phillips Street to Gotham Central, much to the male tabby cat's wife's chagrin as it shouldn't have taken him this long to call a taxi or rely on their son's map, who brought it with him and had it out just in case.
"For God's sake, Harold," the female tabby cat said to her husband. "Can we please just get a taxi or rely on the map?"
"Forget the map," Harold said. "I'm trying to get a-Taxi!"
He ran close to the road, but the taxi he called honked the horn and sped by him. Harold aggravatingly groaned as this was getting ridiculous. This had never happened to him and his family before. So why was this happening now and at a night like this?
Continuing their hard walk, the little tabby cat no bigger than ten, says to his father, "We're going the wrong way! Home's the other way!"
Harold sighs, "Jimmy, put that away. We look like tourists. We'll never get a cab. Let's cut over to Seventh."
"Seventh is that way, Dad," Jimmy points to the direction of where the map was leading.
"I know where we are, son!" Harold glares. "Now put away the map and let's go!"
While Harold kept walking, Jimmy's ear folded and solemnly looked away from his father. Harold's wife, on the other hand, glared at her husband's stubbornness to listen to their child when he was only trying to help. He had no right to treat their child like that. Turning to her son, she rubs his back and tells him, "Do what your father says for now and put away the map."
She gives her son a wink, that made him smile as he could tell that she'll probably need his map when the time comes. Giving his mother a nod, he folds the map and places it back inside his coat pocket, then he and his mother follow Harold till they are caught up with him.
Harold led his family to a seemingly empty alleyway, hoping that this'll be a shortcut to Seventh. Unfortunately, each turn felt like a direction to God-knows-where and his stubbornness to admit that he got himself and his family lost remained silent. If this were to continue on, Harold's wife would have no choice, but to try and convince him to use Jimmy's map in order to get out of the mess he put them in.
What the family thought to be an empty alleyway was soon dashed when they saw a dark-green scaled male lizard with yellow black slitted eyes that wore a dirty brown coat, worn out gray jeans and brown boots, and a black beanie sat on a small ledge near some steps. "Hey, mister. Gimme a dollar." The male lizard begged at Harold.
Harold felt the warning signs in his head go off and quickly rushed to grab his son's arm, making haste with his wife following behind as she could sense what was wrong.
"Hey, mister, how about it? One dollar." He glares at Harold, adding, "What're you deaf? You don't speak English?"
"Come on," Harold whispered softly to his wife and son. "Hurry up."
Harold picks up the pace ahead of them. Having a terrible feeling something was about to happen…
The feeling was proven correct when the butt of a revolver smacks him at the back of his neck. Harold gives out a painful groan and collapses front-first unconscious. The one who hit him was another male lizard. Unlike the previous lizard the family saw earlier, this one had orange scales and green eyes, and had a dirty brown baseball cap, a brown jacket that seemed to may have been stolen from who-knows-where, and black fingerless gloves.
Harold's wife was about to scream, but the orange lizard prevented her by pointing his revolver threateningly at her, saying, "Hey, lady, do the kid a favor…"
He turns the gun at her son, forcing her to hold her son protectively.
"Don't. Scream."
He yanks her white purse and takes off, just as the dark-green lizard, revealing himself to be his partner, digs through the back pocket of Harold's unconscious form and pulls out his wallet, then promptly follows him.
No sooner had they left, Harold's wife screams in horror and runs to her husband with her son joining her as they knelt down and look over the unconscious Harold.
Above a rooftop, a shadow with white eyes visibly glared at what transpired below before disappearing into the shadows, leaving behind a silhouette that resembled the shape of a bat.
The two lizards continued to count the money that they've stolen from the tabby cat family. The dark-green lizard stopped counting and looked around at the surrounding rooftop they were on, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "Hey, man," he says to the orange lizard. "Let's beat it. I don't like it up here."
"What, are you scared of heights?"
"No. I mean, not after what happened to Johnny Gobbs."
"Hey, look man, Johnny Gobbs got lucky and ended up in the hospital after taking a walk off a roof and landed on top of a police car. So what? It happens."
"Nah, that ain't what I heard at all."
"Really and what exactly did you hear?"
The dark-green lizard sighed, then answered, "I heard that the Bat had got him."
"The Bat? Oh, come on, man, gimme a break will ya? It's just an urban legend."
The orange lizard brought out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket, took out a single cigarette, put it into his mouth, and lit it while his partner told him, "I even heard that the building Johnny went to was five stories high and when he came across the Bat. He and the Bat fell straight down and somehow Johnny, being the lucky bastard that he is, survived that fall. But the cops claimed that the Bat flew as he carried Johnny to them. You know what the weird thing is? There was no body, no blood. Nothing. It was like the Bat disappeared."
What the two lizards hadn't noticed. The shadow of a bat silently descends, then slowly walks to the oblivious lizards.
"It was probably just somebody trying to commit suicide and poor Johnny got caught in the middle of it. Like you said, Johnny was a lucky bastard." He took his cigarette out of his mouth for a moment to blow smoke before putting it back. "Besides, this is Gotham, the cops always sweep shit under the rug."
The dark-green lizard looked around the rooftop again, his sense of uncomfortableness changed to a feeling of paranoia.
"That's it, I'm getting out of here, man."
"Hey, shut up, man, and listen to me! There ain't no Bat. There never was, there never will be. It's just an urban legend. Okay?"
"Yeah," he nodded, agreeing as he put his fear aside. "But I still think you shouldn't have turned the gun on that kid, man. You shouldn't have-"
"Hey!" The orange lizard sharply says to his partner. "Do you want your cut of this money or not? Now shut up! Shut. Up!"
"Excuse me?" A sudden male deep rough voice said, surprising the two lizards as they looked around the rooftop. "Do you still think I'm an urban legend?"
They felt their fear rise when the voice was close by and looked up…
The dark-green lizard gasped and the orange lizard's cigarette fell from his mouth when his jaw dropped in shock.
"Oh, my God!" The orange lizard said as he and his partner scrambled away, just as a dark figure jumped down from the ledge of where those two lizards once sat.
Standing before the two lizards was a male hedgehog draped in a large black jagged cloak that covered most of his body. His black mask with pointed ears covers parts of his face, leaving only his tan muzzle exposed while his white eyes narrow at the two lizards. The lizards couldn't believe what they were seeing, yet this dark figure's appearance looks exactly like it was described by so many people who came across him…
It was the Bat, himself!
"He's real!" The orange lizard fearfully. "Holy shit, he's real!"
"Shoot'em, man…" The dark-green lizard panicked. "SHOOT'EM!"
The orange lizard quickly dug through his pocket and pulled out his revolver, pointing it at the Bat. Next thing he knew before he could stop himself from pulling the trigger, but was too late to do so, was when the Bat threw a metallic boomerang in the shape of a bat, which embedded itself right at the barrel of his gun. The moment the weapon fires, the barrel explodes, causing the shrapnel to tear his hand up and drop the now destroyed revolver while he groans in pain.
A sudden kick to the side of the orange lizard's face sent him sprawling sideways till the other side of his face hit a brick chimney, knocking him out cold while a glob of blood came out of his mouth. The dark-green lizard manages to see a gray bodysuit, a black bat insignia with a yellow outline on the chest, yellow utility belt, and matching black armored spiked gauntlets and boots outside of the Bat's jagged cloak. He flees in panic, leaving his partner behind, but the Bat brings out a folded object connected to a strand of wire out of his utility belt and unfolds it, revealing another boomerang-shaped bat, then tosses it. The wired boomerang wrapped itself around the dark-green lizard's leg and knocked him, front-first, to the ground.
The dark-green lizard tries to crawl away, but with every pull, he gets closer to the Bat. When the pulling stopped, he turned face-up and the Bat grabbed him by his shirt, lifted him up, and dangled him over the rooftop. "Don't kill me!" he pleads fearfully, grabbing at the Bat's gauntlets as if it was his lifeline while kicking the air. "Don't kill me, man!" He took a brief look at the three story drop before returning his gaze back to the Bat. "Don't kill me! Don't kill me, please!"
"I'm not going to kill you. Just do me a favor, give my message to all your friends out there that they don't own the night anymore. I do."
"Wh…What are you?"
The Bat brings him closer to eye-level and answers, "I'm Bathog."
The dark-green lizard yelps as Bathog tosses him back to the rooftop. Turning away from him, Bathog raises his jagged cloak and jumps off the rooftop.
"What the…"
The dark-green lizard scrambles over to the ledge to see how Bathog would possibly survive such a jump. Much to his complete astonishment, there was no one there in the empty alley.
While police sirens blared after hearing gunfire, the dark-green lizard groans, then faints.
At a press conference, many of the high socialites, camera people that were recording live, photographers, and journalists alike had gathered where three people were in the front row facing the audience. Two were sitting at a table-one a male mongoose, the other a male coyote-with a nameplate representing their identity to the public were placed in front of them while the last, a male Golden Retriever wearing a charcoal suit and a red and gold striped necktie, was on a podium addressing the audience. The mongoose had yellow fur with tan around his muzzle, brown eyes, and matching chestnut hair and bushy eyebrows whilst the coyote had brown fur, tan around his muzzle, blue eyes, and matching blonde hair and eyebrows. Both wore the same black suit, but the mongoose had a black bowtie and the coyote a black necktie. Next to the mongoose to his right was a vacated chair with a nameplate that said "Bruce Wayneston" on it. This individual was supposed to be the fourth known figure in Gotham City to appear at the press conference. Unfortunately, Bruce could not make it in time and so had to start without him.
"Across this nation," said the Golden Retriever, "the words 'Gotham City' are synonymous with crime. Our streets are overrunned, the law enforcement, public officials, and the people within this city are helpless. And according to recent intel from an anonymous source, we discovered a corruption that's controlling the very core of this city itself. I, Mayor Hamilton Hill, promise you that the source of this corruption will be rooted out and brought to justice. As my first-step in making Gotham City a better place, the first target who controls the streets of Gotham is Crime Boss Carl Grissom. With my good friends, Gotham City's best police chief, Commissioner Arthur Gordon, and District Attorney, Antoine Dent, will carry out that promise. Now I will turn things over to Antoine Dent and where he will answer any of your questions. Antoine."
The audience applauded as Mayor Hamilton stepped off the podium and took his seat, letting Antoine take his place on the podium. "Thank you, Mayor Hamilton," he tells him.
He took a brief look at a female rabbit with golden fur, white around her muzzle with a small pink nose, emerald green eyes, and wore a beautiful magenta dress that was sitting in front of the audience, gives him a confident smile and a double thumbs-up, who reciprocates the gesture with his own smile.
His smile quickly fades when a male porcupine reporter gets his attention by calling out, "Mr. Dent! Mr. Dent, sir! Do you think there's a connection to this corruption within the crime waves of Gotham City?"
"Yes," Antoine answered. "Yes, that is absolutely correct."
"What about the public officials?" asked a male brown dog reporter. "Are they somehow connected to this corruption?"
"We don't know yet. If there is a possibility, we will root them out."
"But who?" asked a male orange tabby cat reporter. "Who is the one responsible for all this corruption?"
"Again, we don't know. Though it will take time to discover who it is, I must ask you all for your patience until we locate the source of this corruption and unveil the true culprit behind it all. With Gotham's finest police force, they along with Commissioner Gordon will be there and do whatever it is within their power to protect you."
"Does your war on crime," a female fennec fox reporter says, "will have any effect that'll change Gotham City for the better?"
"It's not just my war, it's also Mayor Hamilton's and Commissioner Gordon's war. And yes, when all this is over, Gotham City will change for the better. As said by Mayor Hamilton, the first-step to change is the removal of Carl Grissom. Now, according to recent intel we've received from our anonymous source, Grissom is suspected of ties to Gotham Axis Chemicals…"
Far from the press conference inside a tall luxurious apartment building, a male blue hedgehog in a matching blue suit with his dressed shoe feet up on a coffee table, flicking up an Ace of Spades playing card while still holding onto a deck of cards in one hand, was watching the news. The apartment room he was in was feminine, walls in the living room were filled with pictures and posters regarding a female light-brown black striped tabby cat and beautiful black hair along with luxurious chairs and a single couch, and an expensive glass table remained vacant in the kitchen.
"...so before the week is out. We're going to knock down their doors and shine the light of justice upon Grissom and anyone associated with him."
The same female tabby cat from the pictures and posters, garbed in a black dress, went towards the coffee table, lifted up the blue hedgehog's feet that had a magazine with the front cover of herself on it, and moved it before watching the news with him.
"Together with this first-step taken. We will create a better, safer city for decent people to live in."
As the audience applauded, the blue hedgehog giggles and says with a smooth voice, "Well, decent people shouldn't live here then." He does a one-hand shuffle after putting the Ace of Spades back inside the deck. "They'd be much happier someplace else."
"A lot of tough talk about Carl coming from those guys," the female tabby cat said.
The blue hedgehog waved, "Ah, don't worry about it." He takes a card out of the deck, points it at the tv screen, and adds, "If those clowns could touch Grissom…"
He shows her a Joker card, one of his favorites.
"I would've handed one of their heads to him on a silver plate right about now."
She places a hand on his shoulder while he shuffles the Joker card. "If Grissom knew about us," she says to him. "Maybe you might hand him something."
The blue hedgehog looks at her with a half-grin. "Don't flatter yourself, Felicia. Grissom's a tired old man." He puts his deck of cards inside his suit coat. "He may not be The Big Boss, but Grissom sure as hell can't run the city streets without me." He turned off the tv using the remote and stood off the chair. "And besides…" He turns to face Felicia and gives her a big smile, adding in a sing-song voice, "What he doesn't know can't hurt him."
Flattered by that, Felicia giggles, "You don't worry about anything, do you, Jack?"
Jack faces her again with the same smile before going towards a mirror, straightening his coat.
"You look fine."
Jack pulls up his dark-blue necktie. "I didn't ask."
The alley was filled with police and an ambulance. Harold sat on the ground, his back to the wall, and an ice pack he was currently holding on to the back of his neck. He felt both ashamed and guilty towards himself for what happened tonight that he couldn't look at his wife, who was still looking at him solemnly, her son doing the same while he was still calmly hugged with his mother's one arm. If only he would've listened and not been so stubborn, his family wouldn't have been endangered and the lizard who held the gun wouldn't have turned his weapon towards his son, adding more to his guilty conscience. Though their belongings that were recently stolen by those two lizards were returned to them, it didn't ease his burdens. Not one bit. However, what he heard coming from the police, those lizards who robbed them were attacked by an individual called the Bat. He heard about it in the papers and it was the talk of an urban legend going around on the streets regarding a dark figure in the shape of a bat. Although he never believed in urban legends or anything of the sort, he and his family watched as the same orange lizard, now bruised on both sides of his face, was passing them by on a stretcher, his hand bandaged and a cervical collar braced on his neck.
The injured orange lizard was brought before two policemen by the paramedics, both wearing the same tan coat and brown fedora, yet wore different outfits. A red male echidna wore blue jeans, a white shirt, and a red necktie to match his fur, but a male overweight pig with a lite cigar in his mouth had dark-brown suspender jeans, light-brown shirt over a muddy brown vest, and a blue and yellow striped necktie.
"Let's see," said the red male echidna, "two guys rob a family, get a cut of their loot, then this one gets trigger happy and bam, his gun explodes, which he can thank God he didn't lose any of his fingers, but he won't be holding a gun anymore. Next, he gets hit so hard his neck breaks while the other one is completely unharmed, yet looks ready to piss himself since he's freaked out over what?"
"A giant, menacing, supernatural form." The male pig took out his cigar, blowing out smoke, and knowing what that answer was before flicking away the ashes. "Kind of like a bat."
"Yep, that's the eighth sighting so far and no leads." He motions the paramedics to take him to the ambulance, looks up at the rooftop from where those two lizards were found, adding, "Seriously, what the hell have they been smoking up there?"
"Who knows?" The male pig put his cigar back in his mouth, breathed in the smoke and blew it out of his nostrils. "Probably the weird shit that can drive anyone crazy."
After the red male echidna watched the injured orange lizard get loaded up into the ambulance, he saw something that made him groan in annoyance, placing a hand to his eyes.
"What?" The male pig asked him. "What's the matter?"
"Thanks for the tip, Dwayne," a male voice says that got the male pig's attention.
"Don't mention it, Elias," a male white-furred police dog with brown ears and a single brown spot on his right eye said.
A male squirrel named Elias with a brown fedora and matching trench coat shook Dwayne's hand and went towards the two policemen. His hair and bushy eyebrows were a matching auburn color, the fur was two-toned brown, and his eyes were blue. If one were to look past his large rounded, bushy tail, they could tell that his handsome looks could charm any woman whenever he wanted to put in the effort.
Unfortunately, for the two policemen, they knew Elias all too well. Whenever this so-called "Bat" leaves something for the police to handle, this journalist was the first one to appear with so many questions regarding the Bat. And it always annoyed the two policemen along with Commissioner Gordon whenever he was around. Luckily for him, he wasn't there as he was in an important press conference, leaving them with this annoying journalist to write something down in tomorrow's newspaper.
The male pig sighed, blowing out a little smoke, and muttered, "Oh, great. It's him."
"Hello, Lieutenant Eckhardt and Detective Bullock," Elias greets. "I heard we just had another Bat attack recently. That's what, eight sightings now in under a month and yet no leads?" He pulls out his smartphone, activating the voice recording, adding, "I even heard that Commissioner Gordon has already opened a file on this. True?"
"Sorry, Knox," the male pig named Eckhardt apologized before adding sarcastically, "These two slipped on a banana peel."
He knocks on the ambulance back door, signaling them to leave after the paramedics had already loaded up the injured orange lizard.
"It's the Bathog!" The dark-green lizard shouted, garnering the attention of the three men as they watched the terrified man get dragged away by two policemen. "I'm telling you, man, his name's Bathog! He wanted me to tell everyone that we don't own the night anymore! He does!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," said a male orange tabby cat policeman. "C'mon, let's go."
Once they placed him inside a police car, Elias hummed and said with interest, "The Bathog?"
"Don't even think about it, Knox," the red male echidna, Detective Bullock, said. "You keep writing this crap in the newspaper, it'll ruin more of your reputation as it is."
"But Detective Bullock and Lieutenant Eckhardt, every punk and gangster in this entire city is scared stiff. You know what they say? They say he can't be killed. They say he can't be stopped. They say-"
"I say," Eckhardt interrupted. "You're full of shit, Knox."
He walks away from Elias and Detective Bullock, but stops for a moment to take his cigar out of his mouth and turns around to look at the journalist.
"Oh, yeah, you can not only quote me on that. I'll leave the rest of your questions to Detective Harvey Bullock, Knox."
He rudely tosses his cigar to Elias' coat, earning not just a glare from the journalist who had to dust off the ashes, but Detective Bullock's as well before he was left behind to deal with Elias.
Putting his aggravation aside, Elias turns his attention to Detective Bullock. "Is there a six-foot Bat in Gotham City, Detective? And if so, is he on the police payroll? And if so, what's he pulling down, after taxes?"
Detective Bullock sighs, "Go home, Knox. You're wasting your time here."
He walked away from Elias and went to his car.
"Damn!" Elias mouthed, deactivating the voice recording and putting his smartphone back in his pocket. At least for him, tonight wasn't a total loss. With the Bat now known as the Bathog-an obvious hedgehog dressed as a bat no less-all of Gotham City will definitely know who this vigilante is through tomorrow's newspaper.
Detective Bullock watched Elias leave through the side mirror. Once the journalist left, he quietly opened his door, got out of his car, and followed in the direction of where Lieutenant Eckhardt was going. Ever since the Bat showed up, there were numerous anonymous tips regarding dirty or corrupt policemen within Commissioner Gordon's department. There were lists of names and loads of evidence regarding each one, and one by one they were either fired by Commissioner Gordon or arrested. Though the department became cleaned, it was evident that the trust between most of the policemen was shattered and it was going to be awhile before that trust was restored. For Bullock, despite the trust being lost from others, he wasn't the type to trust anybody, except Gordon and his old partner, Montoya. But Lieutenant Eckhardt, however, was hiding something. Bullock can feel it in his gut.
When he caught up to Eckhardt, seeing him going to an alleyway leading out to a side street, Detective Bullock hugs the wall, keeping his eyes and hearing out while Lieutenant Eckhardt looks behind, checking to see if nobody followed him; completely oblivious that he was. Waiting for Eckhardt close to a black car was both Jack, now wearing a black coat and hat, and a male black-furred tabby cat with white around his muzzle and on both his green eyes, and a matching black coat and fedora to go alongside his fur.
Jack smiles and pulls out a sandwich bag from his coat, tossing it to Eckhardt who caught it. "Brought you a little snack, Eckhardt," he told him.
Eckhardt throws a nervous glance, making sure nobody heard that; still completely oblivious to Bullock.
"Why don't you broadcast it, Napier?"
"Shut up and listen." Eckhardt looks inside the sandwich bag, filled with hundred dollar bills while Jack continues, "Someone's been sniffing around one of our front companies and leaking out information. We believe it could be Antoine Dent."
"That's my territory. If there's a problem, I deal with it."
"Well, your problems become our problems."
Eckhardt sighed and put his bagged money inside his coat. "I answer either to The Big Boss or Grissom, not to psychos like you."
"Why, Eckhardt, you ought to think about the future."
"You mean when you run the show here on the streets? You ain't got no future, Jack. You're an A-1 nut-boy and Grissom knows it."
Jack grabs Eckhardt's face and shoves him hard to the wall.
"You sonuva-"
He whips out his revolver.
"Ah, ah, ah!" The black tabby cat says after already whipping out his pistol so fast that not even Eckhardt noticed him until he was pointing his weapon over Jack's shoulder. "I wouldn't do that."
Eckhardt couldn't decide who to aim at as his eyes darted to Jack and the tabby cat.
"Might wanna listen to him," Jack said. "And you better be sure, 'cause my friend here is a lot faster on the trigger than you are."
Eckhardt knew that Jack was right. Bobby, or Bob as the tabby cat likes to be called, was one of the few top gunmen and the best knife fighter in the criminal underworld. Anyone who tries to take a shot at this cat, the last thing they'll see is either the glint of his Bowie knife or a bullet to the heart. Though Bob was part of Grissom's mob, he was more loyal to Jack, then he is with Grissom.
Knowing that he was outmatched against Bob, Eckhardt lowers his revolver.
"See," Jack smiled. "You can make a good decision when you try."
Jack giggles and goes to the car, Bob following behind while keeping his gun trained at Eckhardt until he is inside the vehicle. Once the car started up, Eckhardt watched it leave before putting his revolver back in his pocket. "Where the hell have you been spending your nights?"
Detective Bullock breathes hard, trying to contain the ever building anger over what he heard. Jack Napier was one of the worst psychotic scumbags in the history of Gotham City, but to know that Lieutenant Eckhardt was with this guy, especially being in cahoots with Grissom and this "Big Boss" whoever that is, only added fuel to the fire. "That son of a bitch!" Bullock said, teeth clenched. "Seems that we missed one."
As much as he was tempted to break Eckhardt's teeth and tell him everything he knows before arresting him. It'll have to be another time. Commissioner Gordon needed to know about this first, then he'll deal with Eckhardt personally.
An apartment door opens and a female sheep with a blue shirt and black skirt motions her politely to step inside. Amelia accepts the gesture, smiling as she admires how the movers had already managed to set up everything nicely. Those movers did a spectacular job in making sure that everything was done right the way she wanted it. "Key to your apartment, Ms. Dale," the female sheep said to her, tossing the key to Amelia, which she caught with ease. "Enjoy your stay here in Gotham City."
With a nod from Amelia, the female sheep closes the door. Now alone in her new place to live, Amelia walks over to her bed and tosses her pink purse onto it before sitting down and laying her back on the bed. "It's so good to be home," she sighed.
Sitting up, she goes to her drawer and opens the top part of it. Inside laid a small wooden brown case. Picking it up and opening it, a neatly laid silver pistol with the words "SIG Sauer P365" written in black with the number 5 changed to a tally mark of five was etched. Right next to the pistol, that was also neatly laid, were two black magazines loaded with nine millimeter bullets. Giving an approving nod, she closes it and leaves the case where it is.
Taking a breath, she decides to get some fresh air and goes to the balcony, having the perfect view of the city where she could see the river miles ahead; the angle she always wanted the moment she came home. She places her arms on the stone railing, feeling the light breeze brush her hair. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she notices an unusual dark figure to her left side standing on a rooftop just across from where she was. In her point-of-view, there was some kind of jagged cloth flowing out of his back and he had pointed ears. Though she couldn't make out who it was, the dark figure seemed to notice her presence and looked up; her bright green eyes staring into his white.
Shocked, Amelia rubs her eyes using her arm. The moment she moved it away, the dark figure was gone. Almost like he never existed in the first place. "Huh?" she scratched the side of her ear, confused. "That's so weird?"
Shrugging it off and dismissing it as her imagination, Amelia went back inside her apartment and closed the balcony doors.
Little did she know that the same dark figure, the Bathog, came out of the shadows after watching her go back inside. This was the first-time that someone, other than those who would go against the law, had actually seen him. He doubted he'll be seen by her again or anyone else, not until the time was right for him to reveal himself to the law as rumors and urban legends were already going around about his existence. Even the newspapers knew that he was real; thanks to a certain journalist by the name of Elias Knox. For now, he'll continue his work through the shadows.
With a flick of his jagged cloak, letting the wind catch it as it flowed, the Bathog stood over a ledge. Continuing his nightly watch over Gotham City.
Well, there you go. That ends Part 1 of the beginning story arc of this crossover story. And yes, this is based off of Tim Burton's Batman (1989), which I thought was perfect to start this story off. However, it'll be played much differently while still taking cues from the first movie of the original Batman films. Unlike the Batsuit that you saw in this story, it's way different than how it was portrayed in the trailer. Mainly because it felt more like a dead giveaway, yet wanted to make this easier for fans to know who's playing Batman in the Sonic world. For me, I became inspired from that trailer and mixed it up with other inspirational artworks to give it a slightly original take on the Batsuit. Oh, by the way, the blue hedgehog you saw that played as Jack Napier is not-repeat is not-Sonic the Hedgehog, but his evil counterpart that's from the Archie Sonic comic series of the same name. I already have plans for this one and if anyone has seen the movie, you'll know. Otherwise, I won't tell you as that'll spoil the story. On top of that, the mysterious "Big Boss" will have a significant role to play as the story continues and it'll be Bathog's first year in defending Gotham City.
That's right ladies and gentlemen, this story will be broken down into seasons called "Years" and it'll be in episodic form. Trust me when I say this, the further we go into this story, the more it's going to get fun. Also, on the side not, Elias is from the Archie Sonic comic series, but unlike how he's shown, I changed him to be based on his father's Post-Super Genesis Wave counterpart and not the Pre-Super Genesis Wave version. Why you're wondering? It's because both Elias' and his father's tails look more like a fox's tail and according to Sonic Wiki, Elias is the "splitting image of his father". On top of that, during the beginning scenes of the story, I changed Martha to Maria and made her into a hedgehog based on the various artwork's made by various artist's to add-in more of the tragedy while mixing in that's based on both Batman's and Shadow's tragic backstory since they are similar yet different between one another, but have more in common with each other. So expect more of Bruce Wayneston's backstory somewhere in the future as the story goes.
Now, before we close this off, let me show y'all the cast on who is playing who and what I imagine the voice actors who'll voice as. Expect certain new characters and familiar characters from various medias, depending on what, that'll be mentioned here:
Bruce Wayneston/The Bathog (Played by Shadow the Hedgehog) - Kirk Thornton
Young Bruce Wayneston - Ashleigh Ball
Thomas Wayneston(An OC hedgehog and based on the counterpart, Thomas Wayne), Mayor Hamilton Hill(An OC Golden Retriever and based on the same name from Batman: The Animated Series) - Jim Cummings
Maria Wayneston - Megan Hollingshead
The Mugger - Frank Welker
Amelia Dale (Played by Amy Rose) - Cindy Robinson
Dark-Green Lizard Mugger - Jason Marsden
Orange Lizard Mugger - Ben Diskin
Harold - Vincent Tong
Harold's Wife - Tara Strong
Jimmy - Madeleine Peters
Antoine Dent(Played by Antoine D'Coolette from Archie Sonic, but won't have that French accent. Sorry.) - Rob Paulsen
Jack Napier (Played by Evil Sonic from Archie Sonic) - Deven Mack
Felicia - Kath Soucie
Elias Knox(Played by Elias Acorn from Archie Sonic) - Eric Vale
Detective Harvey Bullock(Played by Knuckles the Echidna and based on the same name from Batman: The Animated Series) - Dave B. Mitchell
Lieutenant Eckhardt - Matthew Mercer
Bob - David Gallagher
Till next time! I'll see y'all later for now!