Bruce sat down to breakfast with Rarity, the morning after Terry's first solo excursion as Batman. Rarity could feel Bruce watching her carefully, obviously trying to find a way to say something. Unwilling to be patient, Rarity decided to break the ice. "You don't approve," she said bluntly.
Bruce set down his tea cup. "I didn't say that," he countered.
"You didn't have to," Rarity replied. "From the minute I first went out with Terry as Batman, you've had the same uncertain frown on your face whenever you look at the new suit. What have you got against him taking up the mantle of Batman? Unlike me, he was able to learn everything you had to teach in the ways of the arts. He's as physically capable as Batman as you ever were in your prime. He's your top student, and you're practically a second father to him! Even Warren said so. So what do you have against him donning the cape and cowl? ...well, cowl at any rate."
Bruce sighed. "Why Batman?" he asked finally. "Couldn't you have given him the mantle of Robin? Or Nightwing, if you feel he's too old for Robin?"
"And why would I relegate him to a sidekick?" Rarity demanded. "He's a partner in crime fighting. Much as you are like a second father to him, he is like a brother to me."
"But what about those who don't know that he's your student in this regard?" Bruce demanded. "Someone new to Gotham might think you're the sidekick, if not the mascot!"
"Good."
Bruce stared at Rarity in shock. "What did you say?"
"I said good," Rarity replied. "I want the bat signal to shine brightest on Terry. As Batman, he will protect the city as you did before. With us able to take turns out on patrol, neither of us will be so overworked by 'night work' that our daily lives will suffer. That's the main lesson I took from Richard: have backup you can rely on." She sipped her tea. "It's why the first few major villains I faced I arranged to rehabilitate instead of incarcerate. At the time I didn't realize Terry would seek the mask as well."
Bruce nodded. "I understand that. What I don't understand is why you want Batman to have more attention than Batmare."
"Because that way no one will notice when Batmare slowly fades into the background before disappearing altogether," she replied softly.
Bruce froze. "What do you mean by that?"
"I read your private files regarding your speculation of how I came to be here," she admitted.
Bruce frowned. "How'd you crack my security?"
"'Pennyworth' wasn't that difficult a password to guess once I started thinking like you," she replied with a smirk.
He glowered at her. "I don't know whether to be disappointed that you tried to break into my files or proud that you succeeded." When this only resulted in Rarity giggling, he sighed, shaking his head. "Alright, I suppose I can't fault your reasoning. But where did you get the suit?"
"I sent Victor the specs for the suit mine was made from and asked him to upgrade it with the most advanced tech he had at his disposal without altering the essence of it," Rarity replied. "The cloaking field will now extend to wielded weapons, the kinetic dampening field now reduces the force of impact five times as much, while the kinetic amplifiers give twice as much of a strength boost."
Bruce stroked his chin. "I'm not sure how I feel about others knowing the design of the Bat suit..."
"Victor's already deleted the files from his hard drive, with the only copy of the specs on a flash drive stored here," Rarity replied. "Same as the designs for the magitek I've used to upgrade my suit."
Bruce paused. "Do I want to know what you've put into your suit?"
"Probably, but I won't tell you," Rarity replied in a teasing voice.
Bruce chuckled. "So what did you send Terry out to take care of last night?"
"Someone's been dumping radioactive waste into the ocean," she replied. "Terry was investigating - and putting a stop to - that. He reported an all clear, and that the man in charge of the operation had Derek Powers on his speed dial."
Bruce frowned. "Well, I suppose-"
His words were interrupted as the TV turned on, having been keyed to automatically turn on for news broadcasts including certain key words. Bruce stared at the man visible on the TV. "...Victor Fries," Bruce said in surprise.
"That doctor you fought when he was villainous?" Rarity asked in surprise. "I thought he couldn't live outside his cold suit?"
As they listened to the broadcast, Bruce frowned. "It seems Mr. Powers found something that could fix that."
"And I'll just bet he offered it to the good doctor out of the goodness of his heart," Rarity growled. "I'll be in work investigating this."
"I think Terry should tail Fries," Bruce pointed out. "He wasn't exactly stable in the past."
Rarity frowned, but nodded. "Alright. Tell Terry to keep track of him...but he might not necessarily be villainous now. He might actually need protection."
Rarity's attempt at an official investigation into what Derek had used to rejuvenate Victor Fries proved to be just a little too slow. By the time she'd gotten a hold of the scientists who did the work, Mr. Fries had started to relapse, and one scientist - on indirect orders from Powers - had tried to kill him for a postmortem examination. However, Rarity had made preparations when she learned about the start of the relapse. She had an idea of how to fix things.
By the time she caught up to Terry in costume, however, she saw Batman and Freeze in battle with Derek Powers...although Powers now resembled a glowing green skeleton.
Thankfully, Terry's Batsuit had heavily upgraded protections against radiation, so he was actually able to do a good job holding off the mutated foe. Rarity - as Batmare - went straight to Freeze. "You have been badly mistreated, Doctor," she said simply. "I want to fix that."
He simply stared at her. "How will you fix that? Not even a new body is immune to what I have become."
"What if I could give you a body that didn't have to be immune in order to let you live amongst others?" Rarity offered.
Freeze stared at her. "Don't taunt me with impossible miracles," he scolded.
"I don't," she replied, holding up a transparent jewel. "I offer magic. Unshield your hand."
Uncertain what she had planned, Freeze pressed a button on the arm controls of his cold suit. The armor over his hand retracted.
She set the jewel into his hand, and it began to glimmer. "Pretty, isn't it?"
"Yes..." Freeze said, his voice trailing off. The jewel suddenly filled with a blue light, and Freeze slumped over, dead.
Taking the soul stone in her magic, Rarity handed it off to Terry. "Take this to lab 42, and call Dr. Roth. I'll take care of..." She glanced towards Derek Powers.
"He calls himself Blight," Terry explained, before taking the jewel and flying off.
Blight glowered down at her. "Do you think you won't wither at my touch?" he demanded, hunkering down to lunge at her.
Rarity stared at him for a time, then noticed something stuck to his clothing. Nightmare, I have an idea... She quickly explained her plan to Nightmare.
Nightmare whistled in her mind. Clev~er, Miss Wayne, she mused. But your magic isn't strong enough to carry it out. ...but mine is.
Rarity smiled. "Gone, begone, child of Light. Now you face the Darkest Night!"
The swirling dark magic blasted Blight back, and two beams of magic lashed out from the swirling miasma. One plunged straight into Blight's chest, the other focused on a bit of plastiskin still clinging to his shirt. The plastiskin fragment erupted, expanding uncontrollably until it fully encapsulated Blight, leaving him visibly Derek Powers again.
"Pleasant dreams," Dark Night whispered, the transformation reversing. He's all yours.
Thank you, Rarity replied silently before walking up to Derek Powers. "You're probably wondering what just happened."
Derek was staring at his hand. "The skin...it's not dissolving."
"No," Rarity replied. "I used magic to alter its composition. It now absorbs the radiation you give off, using it to strengthen itself. No matter how angry you get, no matter how strong your radioactive nature becomes...you will never become Blight again, Mr. Powers."
Derek looked up at her. "T...thank you-"
"Don't thank me, Derek," she replied angrily. "You've used your power, money, and influence to profit off of others, not caring who you hurt or who suffered, for too long. It had been my thought to simply destroy you professionally with all the records I'd gathered...but it seems that won't be enough to end the blight you are on the world. So that's what the second spell was for. Your radioactive nature sustains you so you cannot be killed, and now you cannot kill yourself because of my spell...but from this day forth, no one will believe a word you say. No matter where you go, you will be greeted with derision, scorn, and hostility. Never again will you know the safety and comfort you have stripped from so many for your own profit. Simply put, Mr. Powers..."
Rarity pulled her mask off, her eyes glaring icy daggers at him. "You're fired."
Derek stared at her in confusion, fear, and rage before scrambling off. Rarity donned her mask before turning to leave the collapsing building.
You sure that spell will do what you said? Nightmare asked. It's not one I'm familiar with.
It's a modified form of the ancient "Mark of Cain", Rarity explained mentally. I researched it as a way of protecting my secret identity should I get unmasked.
What brought that on? Nightmare wondered.
Rarity was silent for a time. The night before I offered Terry the role of Batman - after saving him and his family - I had a nightmare. I...dreamed I was kidnapped by a group of splicers obsessed with snakes, and who planned to revert the world to a prehistoric state - like the time of the dinosaurs - by dropping a nuke into a volcano. To protect myself from being spliced with snake DNA, I woke you while unmasked...which made them all realize I was Batmare. To protect that secret - and the world - you dropped them all into the volcano after disposing of the nuke. You told me I'd signed their death warrants by chanting your release while unmasked, without providing any means but death to protect our secret.
Nightmare was silent for a time. ...that actually sounds like something I'd do.
That's why I researched the spell, Rarity explained. For an alternative for death to protect the secret.
...remind me to explain memory spells to you sometime, Nightmare growled in resignation. Secretly, however, Nightmare was delighted. She liked this side of this Rarity...
A few days later, Rarity smiled across her desk in her office at the former Victor Fries. "So, Doctor, how's the new body?"
The scientist glanced at his hand. "It's...amazing. I can feel the icy nature still, but it isn't overpowering! I can feel both warmth and cold, and I can expend the cold that fills my body at will. How is this possible?"
Rarity smiled. "The same technology that saved you before...but combined with magic. Instead of trying to create a human body for you to inhabit, I produced a male yuki-onna body...a yuki-otoko, if you will. After all, the cold in your spirit is right at home in the physical form of a snow sprite."
He smiled. "And transferring my mind and spirit via soul stone instead of technology smoothed over any details," he agreed. "And I suppose the new identity is-"
"A clean slate is best for a new life," Rarity replied easily. "And a job at Wayne Enterprises helps even more." She had purged the Powers name from the company shortly after firing Derek.
"True," the former villain replied. "But...the name? Really?"
Rarity gave him big, dewy, begging eyes.
He sighed. "Allow me to introduce myself," he said, pitching his voice slightly different. "I am Akira Frieza. I am a travelling improv artist. Let me give you a demonstration. My powers will be a drunken sailor, and that statue will be a baby seal. And, go." Pointing his hand, a beam of cold shot forth, freezing the small statue until it exploded. "And, scene."
Rarity burst into peal upon peal of laughter.
Dr. Frieza rolled his eyes. "If anyone but you starts making those jokes, I'm going to be a bit absolutely livid," he added, deepening his voice to a menacing level on the last two words, but finishing with a smile. He watched as the late adolescent unicorn fell back in peals of giggling laughter.
I can't resist:
Nice, covering two episodes in one chapter.
Edit: Damn, I think every one of these six MLD-style stories hits the feature box with every update. Good job, Tatsurou.
"Yes..." Freeze said, his voice trailing off. The jewel suddenly filled with a blue light, and Freeze slumped over, dead.
HEART ATTACK RIGHT THERE, FOLKS!
So, Victor Freeze is now a male yuki-onna?
5850659
Yup. Or - since Onna means female - a yuki-otoko (otoko meaning male), as Rarity put it.
So... Rarity is an adolescent... Terry is an adolescent... Coincidence?
A modified version of the Mark of Cain? How long have you been watching Supernatural?
5850719
I haven't. That's basic mythology.
5849200 Me too, but only if Joker is written in character.
Always love a good Team Four Star referance. Great chapter, now how long till the clown prince of crime shows up? Tim has yet to be mentioned yet and he was pretty important in that storyline.
5850733 In my defense, Christianity is not something I know much about.
5850753
Who said anything about Christianity? I said 'basic mythos'. In point of fact, I got the spell name from "Magic: The Gathering" and the spell effect from Demon Lord of Karanda by David Eddings.
5850597 AAAAAAAAND just like that I'm going to watch DBZ Abridged.
TETSUOOOOOOOOOOOO... I mean GOKUUUUUUUUUU!
Should have called him Kaneda Cooler.
liquorconnect.com/Products/PublishingImages/190868.jpg
5850597 I don't think anyone can.
This is the best Freeza EVER
The Mark of Cain? Rarity was stupid enough to give the world another Vandal Savage?
This will backfire, spectacularly.
And yes, it will, that's how things work in the DC universe.
Also, to give someone basically immortality NEVER ends well.
The DC universe is full of examples of that, and Rarity just created a new one.
Of course as the author, you can't decide Rarity plan won't backfire, but that would contradict the comic book logic the DC universe runs on.
5850956
Modified Mark of Cain.
Basically, his own nature means he can't be killed or kill himself.
The spell on him, though, means that no one will ever treat him like an honorable person. He will be treated with scorn, derision, and ill feeling wherever he goes, never able to gain a single friend or ally. Forever alone and the victim of scorn. And his only power sealed forever within his own skin, which will not break so long as he continues to generate radiation.
His bones can still be broken. He can still be hurt. And he has no accelerated healing to counteract that.
She basically turned him into the universe's punching bag.
Go Rarity, saving Victor Fries! Dude deserves himself a happy ending.
5850972 *Bell rings* FUN TIME!
So is it alright to call Mr. Freeze Mr. Snowman now? Though technically it's Snow Boy in literal translation.
5851292
Actually, Otoko just means "male". "Boy" would be "Otoko no ko".
5851215
*pulls a huge mallet from subspace* If there is no objections to me using this... *runs after Derek Power while cursing him out in several different alien languages*
Well, the next time Mr. Freeze, er, Frieza, goes evil, Batmare goes Nightmare, who then goes Super Alisaiyancorn.
5850597 when i saw that for Mr Fries,that's the the Frieza i instantly thought of
5850733 I believe you're thinking of the Curse of Apollo rather than the Mark of Cain.
5851534
...never heard of it.
5851536 Cassandra was a woman in Greek mythology who was given the power of prophecy by the god Apollo, but when she spurned him he cursed her so that no one would believe her prophecies
The Mark of Cain from christian mythology was that God marked Cain so that no one would harm him and any damage done to him would be returned sevenfold.
5851544
Huh. Weird.
...well, I did say modified...
5851547 Ah! I did miss that. My apologies.
Anyhow, my biggest beef with this story so far is that everything is wrapped up too neatly.
There's few lasting effects and nothing negative so far. Currently Rarity is as overpowered as a benevolent God rather than a person with magic and ninjutsu.
I'd like to see a screw-up. A Big screw-up with lasting effects and angst.
5851569 Hah! I Was going to refer to the Iron Mare when writing this comment, I had no idea you were writing both of them.
5850849 The puns, THE PUNS!!!
ok if I am seeing the story behind the mane story so to speak Rarity is making plans to go back to her own world Equestria even if she has no memory of it.
Harts Fire
....
Very interesting solutions, but a bit too smooth for my taste. Where has she gotten the blueprints for a snow sprite - and who else has access to them?
The moment Powers gets his hands on enough money to simply hire a mage - the type that would work for the devil himself if the money is right - Rarity will have a big problem. If he so much as gets his hands on the means to impersonate someone e.g. a layer of synthetic octopus skin to change his appearance he will also be able to weaponize the Mark of Cain.
5851324 *Grabs chainsaw and revs it up* No objections here, but save some for me!
5852262
Three things.
One, she told Terry to call Dr. Roth (aka Rachel Roth, aka Raven). That's who helped her make the snow sprite body.
Two, the spell on Derek makes it so that anyone he approaches will treat anything he says with scorn or derision. No one will listen to him, no one will help him. Even if he acquires enough money, anyone he tries to pay with it will assume its counterfeit or otherwise worthless. And a mage who can recognize the spell on him will also see the strength of the dark magic that put it there, and be unwilling to tangle with the caster short of their own personal vendetta.
Third, it's a modified Mark of Cain spell. The only thing it does to his physical capabilities is making it so he can't kill himself.
5852514 That's what I meant by weaponizing - if he has the means to impersonate someone, he can ruin their reputation quite easily.
5852546
Except that the spell will make it so no one will believe he's whoever he is impersonating. It's already making it so no one - not even blood relations - will believe it when he claims to be Derek Powers.
5852560 Which in turn means he could commit any crime and then remove himself from the list of suspects by confessing - because nobody will believe his confession.
5852685
Except that, without his radiation powers backing him, he's physically incompetent. Name one thing - pre or post getting his radiation powers - he did for himself.
5852698 Considering that he will end up on the street, he will be forced to acquire physical competence - getting beaten up by every thug and hobo will get old fast. In addition he has some control over what people will not believe, simply based on what he says or implies - he may not be able to lead an angry mob but he can create one and then flee from it in the direction of his true target. He can laud someone as a pillar of society and erode their reputation simply by doing so. Another question is how far the Mark of Cain extends to recordings and to the written word.
5852881
It's not that "anything he says will be treated as a lie". It's "everything he says will be ignored and laughed at simply because he said it". If he claims something that is truth to be truth, he'll be laughed at and ignored...even if someone else asserts it as truth moments before and moments after, and their assertion is accepted.
Basically, it makes everyone who sees him - whether in person or on TV - as the crazy old man in the street carrying the "The End is Near" sign. It's not so much they automatically disbelieve anything he says as they automatically treat him as someone to be laughed at and ignored, and his words have no value, whatever he's actually saying.
The reactions to his words won't be "You lie!" It'll be "Whatever..."
That reference
I am surprised how Rarity helped Derek despite the shit he caused, but it makes sense given the dangers of his own powers
I admit that I haven't yet read everything that's been posted to date (I'm currently 12 chapters in), but I wanted to post some feedback regarding my impressions so far. I'll preface them by saying that I've only read this fic and not any of the sister ones.
I love the idea behind this story, as I'm a big fan of both FashionHorse and the DCAU. You have some great ideas (the mystical power of Masks, for example), and I like how you've brought in side characters like the no-longer-Teen Titans. The relationship between Rarity and Bruce is really heartfelt, and it's good to see her mellowing him out.
That being said, there's a significant issue that's hindering my enjoyment of the story, and that's the lack of tension caused by Rarity being so good at everything right off the bat. (No pun intended.) She shuts down Powers within 5 minutes of meeting him, preemptively disables the remote shutoff on the batsuit, beats 2 out of 3 Titans on the first try, and reforms Inque within 24 hours of meeting her. It just feels like any obstacles in her way are minor inconveniences at best, and that doesn't make for an entertaining read. Again, I'm not fully caught up, so it's possible something that presents a real challenge comes up, but I'm commenting in the interests of constructive criticism.
5855486 that's my grief with this as wel.
5851569
One thing I would like to state about Rarity being overpowered.
Most of the 'power' she's wielding...isn't hers. It's borrowed from others.
The Nightmare inside her is a being of dark magic. She doesn't know it yet, but calling on the Nightmare too frequently - changing back and forth - will, eventually, have long lasting consequences.
Her suit design? Made by others with more magical and technical know-how than her, but to her specifications.
Her primary arsenal? Information.
The reason she seems overpowered is because she's facing villains who expect Batman...but Rarity freely does the one thing Batman would never do...
She asks for help.
Excuse me, I have uncontrollable laughter to dispense.
Akira Frieza? I'm pretty sure that's a DBZ reference...
5861794
I'm picturing that as a conversation between Rarity and Nightmare now.