//------------------------------// // Chapter One: Setting the Stage // Story: Friendship Meets The Caped Crusader // by Boltstrike58 //------------------------------// As the night wore on, the streets of Gotham City were barely illuminated by the few lamps the city had seen fit to install. There were also the police blimp and helicopter lights shining down into the street, but even with them, the town seemed to emit shadows from everywhere at once. Few cars drove down the paved roads in the darkness. One of those cars that stood out was a small, bright blue bus, painted with rainbow streaks and musical notes. This bus held a group of seven young women, barely out of high school, and out of their element. Taking another glance at her computer, running off the mobile hotspot they'd brought with them, Twilight called out "Turn left at the next intersection, Applejack." The farmer in the driver's seat followed the instructions easily. "Remind me again why we decided to drive all the way out to the most crime-ridden city in the country?" squeaked Fluttershy, poking her head out from behind the seat. "We just got here and already this place is giving me goosebumps." "No need to worry, Fluttershy," insisted Pinkie. "We've got magic super powers on our side! What could possibly go wrong?" "Never say that out loud," said Applejack. "It's just askin' for trouble." "Remember, we need to track down that loose Equestrian magic," said Sunset. "Thank God Twilight's new scanner picked it up before it left the city, or we'd be none the wiser. Luckily, it doesn't seem to have created any evil she-demons this time." "I, for one, hope we find it before it does," added Rarity. "All the high-stress adventures are not good for my complexion." "Your complexion is fine, Rarity," replied Rainbow, who was scanning the building tops with a set of night-vision goggles. "Do you think we'll get to see him? The Batman?" The eagerness in her voice was palpable. "Rainbow Dash!" snapped Twilight. "We've got more important things to worry about than you getting a selfie with that vigilante!" "Hey, I don't need a selfie! Although, that would be nice. I'd be happy just to get a glimpse of him! How awesome is it that some guy, without magic, just goes out at night and pummels criminals to a pulp with his bare hands?!" "I reckon, if a guy spends his nights dressing as a bat, he's got some unresolved issues," said Applejack. "You don't think he'd...beat us up, do you?" whimpered Fluttershy. "We haven't broken the law," Sunset replied, reassuringly putting a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder. "Besides, we probably won't even see him. According to the articles I've read, most people in Gotham haven't ever caught a glimpse." At the sight of Rainbow Dash's quivering lower lip, she added "Then again, when have any of our trips ever gone according to plan?" "I hope this one does," said Twilight. "We just need to find whatever objects the magic has infected, suck the magic into my device, then send it back through the portal once we return to Canterlot." "It does sound simple enough, darling," said Rarity. "Though, as Sunset stated, we have a habit of running into trouble when we're least expecting it." "Doesn't mean we'll bump into Bat-Nut," replied Applejack. "Of course, we'd better not run into any of the super-criminals that seem to congregate around this town, either." She shivered. "If we meet that Joker guy, all bets are off." "How bad can a clown be, Applejack?" demanded Pinkie. Rarity pulled up an article on her phone, and passed it to the party girl. As her eyes skimmed the words, Pinkie's smile was quickly replaced with a nervous frown. "Never mind." "Anyway, we'd better stay on track," continued Twilight. "Make a right at the next intersection, Applejack." She consulted her computer screen once again. "It looks like the magic objects have stopped moving up ahead." "Where exactly did they stop?" asked Sunset. "Looks like the building's been abandoned for years." Twilight, ever the punctual, had already opened another tab, and was scanning information. "It used to be Gotham City's main opera house, but it shut down after competitors drove it out of business." "Interesting," noted Sunset. "Everybody got their pendants? We may need to bust out our rainbow laser powers yet again on this trip." A chorus of the word "yes" echoed throughout the bus. "But we should be careful about that," said Rainbow. "If we go all Harmony Magic outside, I don't think we'll be able to cover it up. What if we're all over the internet by tomorrow morning?" Sunset shrugged. "That might just be a chance we have to take." Soon enough, the Rainbooms reached the outside of the printing press building. They parked the bus a block away, just to make sure they didn't alert anybody inside. Outside the actual building, a large, black truck was parked, lacking any driver. The back was locked, of course, but the lock was easily undone by Twilight's telekinesis. Once inside, Twilight took out her magic-detecting scanner, and began tracing it over every surface inside the truck. "There's traces of Equestrian magic here, alright," she noted. "They obviously carried whatever the items were inside." "Then we're going in as well," said Applejack. "How're we gonna do this?" Sunset was way ahead of her, zipping open a duffel bag they'd brought along. Inside were seven balaclava masks that Rarity had sewn up, color-coded for convenience, that only left their eyes uncovered. The idea had been brought up by Fluttershy once they'd left Canterlot, who'd been concerned about the girls' identities and magic being exposed to outside cities. Sunset crammed her head into her mask, and the others followed suit. She also produced a tiny earpiece with a microphone attached, and put it on. Another invention of Twilight's, the earpieces allowed them to communicate on a closed channel, and had a range of up to one-hundred feet. "I'd suggest we find another entrance," she started, taking command. "After all, we have no idea what's going on in there, and this is the most crime-ridden city in the country. Fluttershy, Pinkie, you're on lookout duty. Any trouble comes, you let us know. Everyone else is with me. Pinkie, you got ammunition?" Pinkie reached into her hair, pulling out a bottle of sprinkles. "Like you even need to ask?" "Good," replied Sunset. "Let's get this show on the road." A few hours earlier... Commissioner James Gordon and Lieutenant Harvey Bullock sat inside the commissioner's office, going through the latest case files. Gotham City had been relatively quiet in terms of criminal activity over the past few weeks, but in their experience, that was never a good sign. Several of Arkham Asylum's super-criminals remained on the loose, and nobody had been able to pick up their trails. Exactly what was coming, nobody could say, but it couldn't have been good. "Do we really have to wait here for him, Commish?" demanded Bullock. "I don't see why we don't just set up a stakeout and take out anybody we see breakin' the law." "We don't have all the details, Lieutenant," replied Gordon. "And, need I remind you, he's never steered us wrong before. He's a good man, and we should be grateful for his help." Bullock rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Jim," came a voice from the shadows. Both police officers nearly jumped out of their chairs, before their eyes followed the sound to the corner. A pair of white eyes stared back at them, before the man attached to them, cloaked in his black cape, stepped forward. "No matter how many times you do that, I never get used to it," said Gordon with a sigh. "Good," said Batman. "That means I'm not losing my touch." "Tell me you at least got something for us, pal," demanded Bullock. "We've got officers combing the streets for these so-called 'new weapons' you told us about, and we've found nothing." Batman reached into his cape and pulled out a small roadmap, upon which a red trail was drawn. "From the information I've gathered, a group of low-ranking thugs somehow got their hands on these new weapons in Canterlot City. They decided to auction them off here in Gotham. The auction's going down tonight." "Good to know," replied Gordon. "Any idea what's so special about these weapons?" "All my informants could tell me is that they're unlike anything Gotham's ever seen. I'll try to obtain or destroy them." "Where's the auction happening?" "The old Gotham Opera House. It's been deserted for years. Criminals use it for stuff like this all the time." "Great!" said Bullock, sounding cheerful for the first time that night. "I'll scramble a team and—" "I wouldn't recommend it," replied Batman. "We don't know exactly what these weapons are capable of. If the crooks see a swarm of cops, they might bust those guns out, and we can't prepare for them. I don't want to risk anybody if we don't have to. Send a small team of observers down, and call in the SWAT if anything goes wrong." "Hey, you don't give orders to the police, Zorro!" Bullock snapped, standing out of his chair. "Lieutenant," said Gordon, sternly. He didn't verbalize the threat, but it was there. Bullock got the message, glumly sinking back down into his seat. "Thank you, Jim," said Batman. "Hey, you're the one who gets results," replied Gordon. He looked down at the pile of documents on his desk, before turning to a filing cabinet, and pulling out a piece of paper. "This is the floor plan for the—" He stopped, because Batman was already gone. "Doesn't he ever stop doing that?" demanded Bullock. Gordon sighed as he slumped in his chair. "Someday, I'm going to figure out how he does that. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday."