"The entire population of Earth are morons!"
That shout at the breakfast table the following morning pulled Bruce's nose out of the financial times. Sighing, he set the paper down. He had been looking forward to a happy, peaceful day after last night. After discussing Rarity's performance wearing the Bat suit and how she'd managed to conceal her identity, they had decided to stay in and take it easy today. The day plan included a delicious breakfast, some board games, possibly a few hands of Poker, some healthy walks around the Wayne Estate, checking the news reports regarding the Jokerz Rarity had captured - they'd already heard of how things had gone with them at the police station - before listening to some classical music while reading together, ending the evening with a relaxing dinner. The goal of that plan was to let Rarity unwind from the excitement of wearing the suit, so that she could ease herself back into day to day activities and find a way to work donning the suit into her daily life without burning herself out. She was only 10, after all.
That uncharacteristic outburst, however, hitting just after Rarity had glanced through her news feed, made it plain that the relaxing plans had already hit a major stumbling block. She almost never used such insulting terms unless she was severely out of sorts or if she had a specific ire towards the person being described. Such a general statement indicated something had majorly upset her. "What makes you say that?" he asked calmly.
Rarity sighed, taking a deep breath to try and calm herself. "Just...just look at the front page," she said finally.
Confused, Bruce picked up the front page of the newspaper. He normally didn't read that until he'd finished reading the financial section. However, a single glance was all it took to show him part of what had upset Rarity. It was the massive composite photo and article that covered the entire top half of the front page.
Who Is Batmare?
Beneath that massive title was a picture that took up all but two columns of text worth of space, one on each side of the picture. The image was actually a composite. On the left was the last picture ever taken of Bruce As Batman. Standing tall and proud, looking out over the city from atop a church with lightning flashing overhead. On the right was Rarity as - as the news had dubbed her - Batmare, posed surprisingly enough on the exact same church on the other side of the cross. Given their respective positions, it was no wonder the one preparing the article couldn't resist putting the pictures together. They actually matched seamlessly, complete with the pattern of lightning flashing in the clouds. There was also a shadowy aura surrounding Rarity, looking not unlike she was just about to fade out of existence. The article spoke about the actions of this 'Batmare', her sudden appearance - as well as references to a dissertation on equine anatomy as to why the horse-like being in the suit could not be male or a gelding based on the captured image - and speculations on possible connections between Batmare and the long missing Batman, this sighting coming exactly ten years after the last Batman sighting.
Bruce sighed. "Well, I admit that it is bad luck that someone managed to take your picture as 'Batmare', it doesn't seem that anyone has connected that to you-"
"Look at the lower half of the page," Rarity groaned.
Curious now, Bruce flipped the paper over, seeing the other article taking up the entire rest of the front page.
Wayne Heiress Funds Veteran Support Group
It was an article about an event Bruce and Rarity had been to yesterday before Rarity's sojourn as Batmare. Having amassed quite a bit of personal funds and a large portfolio, Rarity had begun turning to her desires to clean up the city her family had loved, lived for, and died for. However, her awareness of Wayne Enterprises becoming a nation wide - and then global - company had led her to extend her eyes beyond the borders of the city. As such, the first such thing she had done was open a mutual fund specifically to fund a Veteran's Support Group in order to assist soldiers returned from wars in returning to normal lives, whether through therapy, financial aid, or state of the art prostheses. The event had been a fundraiser and charity auction in order to expand the reach the fund could work with. Since Rarity considered the issue quite serious, she and Bruce had been photographed with severe expressions on their faces. Standing as Rarity had been about to go give the speech she'd prepared.
"I don't see how this is relevant," Bruce began.
Sighing, Rarity slid her tablet across the table. Calling up the holographic image of the newspaper, she took the photo from the upper half and dragged it as a transparency over the one on the lower half. They lined up exactly, from positions to body shapes to facial structure...even to facial expressions.
Bruce blinked. "Okay, there's no way you're the only one to see that," he commented dryly.
"But I am!" Rarity complained. "I did a net search for any articles mentioning 'Batmare' and 'Rarity Wayne' in the same story, and the only one I found was a veteran being interviewed, who felt sorry for me because the appearance of Batmare stole my thunder on the front page of the news!" She threw her forelegs up in exasperation. "How can a civilization advance so far-" she gestured to the technologically advanced state of the city "-and still be so stupid?"
Bruce scratched his chin as he pondered Rarity's question. It didn't make sense. The main reason he had been concerned about her donning the Bat suit was because it would be too easy to connect a unicorn in a costume to the only known unicorn on the planet, and yet this was over and beyond that that there was no possible way that no one was seeing it short of... "...magic," he said aloud.
"Beg pardon?" Rarity asked. "Are you saying my magic is somehow protecting my identity?" She rolled her eyes. "Really, Father, my magic isn't that powerful, even with the amplification of the suit. The sheer amount of evidence pointing to me being Batmare is just too overwhelming for me to believe I somehow am countering it with an unintentional I'm Somebody Else spell."
"Not necessarily your magic," Bruce countered. "What you've brought up here got me thinking about all the methods myself and other superheroes used to keep our secret identities secret. Some were logical, some were thorough...but some were so ridiculous that - in hindsight after learning the secret identity - I couldn't believe I hadn't figured it out before. One good example: Superman used to hide his secret identity of Clark Kent just by putting on a pair of glasses when in civilian identity."
Rarity snorted. "How did no one see it was him every time his glasses fell off?"
"They didn't," Bruce replied. "And between that and this, I've been thinking...several ancient cultures had beliefs, rituals, and ceremonies surrounding masks. The idea of the use of the masks was that, in donning it, you became the entity the mask represented, leaving your normal identity behind. My own experience has since revealed that those ancient cultures had a great deal of powerful magic at their disposal. It could very well be that there's some sort of magic behind that concept of masks suppressing your true self, bound in the very weft of Earth's magical field...one that protects those who don masks - metaphorical or otherwise - to protect people."
Rarity blinked. "So, if you're right...then any superhero who creates a 'super' identity for themselves with which to protect others or fight crime, this magic would protect their civilian identity from backlash?"
"Save from those who learn of the identity, through one means or another," Bruce concluded. "Whether from seeing the identity revealed or being told what it is."
Rarity sat up in her chair, thinking about that. "An interesting hypothesis," she said finally. "Unfortunately, there's no real way to test it."
"But it does imply that as long as you're careful about anything that might draw a connection between you and Batmare as Batmare, your secret identity is safe."
Rarity breathed a sigh of relief. "That will be good news. Illusions of the level I used on the Jokerz really take it out of me."
"Well, we do have a relaxing day planned," Bruce pointed out.
Rarity raised an eyebrow. "So...we're just going to ignore this?" she asked, gesturing at the news article.
Bruce shrugged. "If it isn't causing any immediate problems, we can wait to address it until tomorrow." Reaching over, he gently caressed her ear. "You should be allowed some time to be a child, after all."
Rarity smiled at that, and returned to her food. After a time though, a question that had been bothering her forced its way out. "Father?"
"Yes Rarity?" Bruce asked, taking a sip of his coffee.
"When will I get to meet Richard Grayson?"
To his great credit, Bruce did not spit-take. "Where did you come across that name?"
"Wayne Enterprises records," Rarity explained. "If I understood correctly, isn't he my brother?"
Bruce sighed. "We...haven't spoken in a long time. We had...a disagreement."
"You and Richard?" Rarity asked pointedly. "Or Batman and Robin?"
Surprisingly enough, Bruce smiled. "You are quite the detective, aren't you?" he praised. "A little of both, I admit. We haven't spoken since well before he got married. I was invited to his wedding, but...I didn't go."
"Perhaps it's time for you to extend an invitation to reconcile, then?" Rarity suggested archly.
Bruce sighed, knowing that with this on his mind he would get no relaxation this day.
I remember robin aka Dick Grayson being in the batman beyond movie return of the joker.. other than that that's it.
He showed up in the comics for Batman Beyond and he had gone all Nick Fury after his split with Batman. Yes that includes the eye patch.
If I'm getting the time line right, would Dick here be Nightwing? Or would he have quit that as well? Also, it's a shame the rest of the Bat-clan other than Alfred were barely mentioned in both Justice League shows.
5726913 that was actually tim Drake
Well, considering that the only difference between Superman and Clark Kent is a pair of glasses and they still can't make the connection , it's no surprise that...
...Huh. Somehow, that actually makes sense.
I honestly have no expectations about it, beyond perhaps him still being somewhat bitter with Bruce. My only question is, who did he marry?
...oh good heavens, I like the possibilities there...
5726939
I said cartoons only. The comics - all comics - are considered non-canon for this story.
5727002 me too. We know from Batman Beyond canon that it wasn't Barbara, so maybe Starfire? Young Justice had a thing with him and Zatanna, but she was kinda old for him in DCAU. That would certainly explain Bruce not attending the wedding, though.
Or he could have just married a civilian and settled down.
5726913 Same here. It did suck that Joker sort of transferred himself into Richard via microchip.
Meanwhile, Batman makes a good explanation on the concept of magic and secret identities. It definitely explains Superman's deal...
5727066
That was not Dick Grayson, that was Tim Drake.
5727137 Crap, I guess my memory's foggy then
5727066
If I remember correctly, most of the world doesn't actually know that Superman even has a secret identity. People who know Clark Kent think he's just a guy that looks a lot like Superman, but nothing more. Sort of the same way if you saw an old black guy with a golden voice serving coffee you wouldn't think it was Morgan Freeman's secret identity.
Granted, in the older comics everyone knew Superman had a secret identity but last I checked he doesn't acknowledge or hint at it anymore.
Oh dear. I can't wait to see how this goes over.
"Who was that masked mare?"
"That was me, darlings. Please don't tell me that my friends are susceptible to the background enchantments in the magical field of Father's world."
"Ah don't rightly know anythin' 'bout that. But there's no way that masked mare was our friend Rarity - Rarity would never wear a black and red bat costume!"
"But I am Rarity..."
"Are you sure? I didn't thing Rarity wore glasses... "
"Where did these come from?"
"I totally did not put those on your face within the last fifty-seven seconds! I promise!"
"That was an oddly specific denial."
"Who are all you ponies, and what are you doing in Daddy's ship?"
"Trixie does not know about anypony else, but Trixie was riding the coin operated spaceship outside of the local Quickie-Mart when Trixie suddenly ended up here in a real spaceship surrounded by ponies."
"I pressed a button!"
5727619
More alt-scripts, please!
5726913
Actually, the Robin seen in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker was Tim Drake. Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing, was never seen in the series.
5727539
Superman also uses a lot of body acting when switching between Clark Kent and Superman. The stance of both identities differ, with Clark slouching slightly, always looking slightly down at peoples feet so he doesn't meet them eye to eye and walking with a heavier, more clumsy gait. These physical characteristics all vanish when he dons the cape.
5727762
Yeah, I remember that being a recurring thing in Birthright, with people frequently commenting on how clumsy Clark is. He also stuttered a lot. It's hard to communicate that through comic books but they did a good job of it. Never saw the movies but supposedly Christopber Reeve also did that really well.
5727762
Actually, that's only true in the comics and live action versions. In the animated series - the continuity I'm deriving from for this story - he didn't do any of that. The only change was the glasses and clothing.
Hm, I was gonna point out the thing with Clark Kent acting differently, and in their case Clark being the mask while Superman is the real person. But it looks like someone beat me to the punch and you've already addressed it, so moving on.
But at least Superman is human to all outside appearances. Characters like Hugo Strange and Ras al Ghoul figured out that Bruce is Batman. Now Strange doesn't appear in TAS if I remember correctly, but I'm pretty sure Ras does. Would you really have to be super intelligent to figure it out? I'm pretty sure at least Barbara would catch on immediately, like she did with Terry in the show.
Bruce's explanation of masks having magic by themselves seems like a bit of a hand-wave. I'm not sure my suspension of disbelief holds up for that. But at least it's an explanation and we can move on with the actual story.
Hm, interesting. He was Nightwing at the end of TAS. The question is whether or not he is still active. (He's the same age as Barbara, and she's grey in Batman Beyond, which is only ten years away at this point in time. So Dick should be getting up there in years as well.)
So Bruce was invited to his wedding? I can only think of one spouse Dick Grayson ever had. So I'm kinda hoping for a Starfire cameo. Actually, that would lend itself to some nice meta-humor. Suppose fellow Titan Raven accompanied them on a visit to Gotham, leading to Rarity commenting on how oddly familiar Raven's voice sounds. (For those who don't know, Raven in the Teen Titans cartoon was voiced by Tara Strong, a.k.a the voice of Twilight Sparkle.)
: I'm sorry, darling. But there's just something about you that seems ever so familiar.
Raven: Can't imagine what.
: Tell me, you wouldn't happen to practice magic, would you?
Raven: Yes, I do. I'm the daughter of an interdimensional demon bent on conquest.
: So you're from another dimension as well? Have you ever grown a pair of wings spontaneously?
Raven: No, but I've been known to grow some additional eyes on the odd occasion.
: Are you penpals with a princess maybe?
Raven: You mean like in the show 'Pretty, Pretty Pegasus'?
: Tell me about this show!
5728205
In regard to Ras al Gul figuring it out, my logic there is based in - in many continuities, even if never stated outright in the animated serieses - that Bruce at some point either trained with or was trained by Ras. Ras recognized the fighting style Batman uses, and made the connection that way. Dr. Strange has at least some psychic ability as well.
Not to say it's impossible to figure it out, but because of the magic mentioned, only those who have trained to unravel mysteries - even those that are reinforced by magic - would figure it out. It's not so much the high intelligence as the intense deductive mind (which is why Batman could figure out the secret identities of the entire JL).
As for the magic of the masks, the cultural aspects is well documented, and the frequency of 'ancient cultures' having ancient magic is fully backed up by the series itself. I will be honest, though...it is a hand wave for a balance between humor and plot convenience (I need to have Rarity in the Bat Suit known as Batmare somehow).
As to the rest...spoilers.
5728222
Well, it is an explanation, and I really can't think of another way to make it work off the top of my head. So I'll roll with it, even though it is a little irksome.
I think that I'll let my good friend Boomstick take this one!
(specifically from 9:50-9:57) Speaking of, that is exactly what is going on here!
5718695
NO HE ISN'T. There was a whole "return of the Joker" arc in the Batman Beyond series. Here is a sample:
exultant chapter and if memory serves Dick Grayson was only in one episode of Batman Beyond the joker battle but I am not totally sure.
I think I remember watching it years ago.
and yes I am that old.
old as dirt
Harts Fire
While Grayson did not appear in the TV show, he did make appearances in the comics that continued after it. He sorta looks like a badass if I'm being honest.
vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/batman/images/c/c0/Dick_Grayson_Beyond.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140531000804
"So...Batmare's some kind of small horse, eh?"
"Yep"
"And...Bruce Wayne has a unicorn daughter now"
"Yep"
"...think she's Batmare?"
"Naaah, Rarity's a businessmare; far too delicate for running around dressed up like a bat"
"I suppose you're right"
Rarity should play up being delicate and prissy; some heroes go out of their way to play the opposite of their superhero counterpart
as to why the horse-like being
1. Just the extra spacing thing.
5728736 its what superman did. He acted weaker than averaged but he could bench press a building.
5728779 Exactly
So some mysterious magic mojo is the reason? Eh, I think general stupidity is funnier.
And Dick…oh god, this is going to be painful. You said you won't follow the comics, which is fine, because what happened there was just…damn.
IS HE THE JOKER!?
IS HE!?
I have no idea where that came from.
Wow...I was perfectly content with agreeing to Rarity's "Humans are Idiots" angle, but Bruce managed to pull out a perfectly plausible theory out of seemingly thin air. Damn, Bruce. XD
5729110 Different Robin.
Didn't he appear in Return of the Joker? Or as Night wing at some point?
5729519
Not in the cartoon. The "Robin" of Return of the Joker was Tim Drake.
5729525
You are right. He doesn't appear until the comics
5729562
Which are not considered canon for this story.
There's a far simpler answer why no one made the connection. Rarity isn't making big news cause of simply being a freaking adorable alien unicorn child! Which says one thing. Mankind as a whole is simply accepting her existence. Therefore, it's perfectly logical to them another freaking adorable alien unicorn child exists out there. Perfectly sound reasoning.
She's making news cause she is Bruce Wayne's adopted daughter.
5729387 Oh! Explain.
5729665
Tim Drake was the Robin who turned into the Joker.
5729727 Ahh... Thank you!
And logic is not an option!
5729665 Well it's a spoiler for Batman Beyond Return of the Joker.
So in the film The Joker kidnapped Tim Drake, the second Robin in the animated series. He and Harley subjugate him to a fuck tonne of torturer to brainwash him into "Joker Junior". He gets killed by Tim...Sort of.
It turns out Joker is a genius, being able to save his personality into a small mole-like chip in Tim's neck, over the years being able to take control of the former Robin.
He nearly destroyed all of Gotham if it wasn't for Terry doing something Bruce never did; Troll the ever loving hell out of him.
5730044 TERRY IS A TROLL!
Will he be coming into the story I wonder?
5730077
He's already in it as a little kid.
5730087 I know! But will he be the second Batman?
5730392
Spoilers.
5730404 Riversong, is that you?
5730404 WHY!?