//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Investigation // Story: Batman Restarts // by TheClownPrinceofCrime //------------------------------// “Ughhhhh...whe-where am I?” said the engineer as he was passed out from the fear toxin yesterday. He slowly opened his eyes and saw himself in a hospital bed with a cast on his left arm and several bandages over his body. Then he saw a pony nurse looking at him with care and pity. “Nurse Redheart? I’m in a hospital?! What happened to me?!” he cried. “A number of bystanders spotted you lying on the grass unconscious and severely injured. Once they informed us of your predicament, we took you here.” Redheart explained. “What happened to you?” “I was engineering the train in our destination for the Crystal Empire yesterday. But suddenly, there were strange, alien, bipedal creatures that broke through the engine car of the train where I was!” explained the engineer. “They attacked me and infected me with that mysterious gas which gave me some sort of...I dunno...nightmare fuel. I don’t know how to describe it!” He moved out of frustration which caused him to wince in pain. “Don’t move, okay? You’re going to be fine.” Redheart comfortingly assured. “So bipedal monsters intoxicated you? What did they look like?” “Well, from what I remember, one of them—being their leader apparently—was in a suit while his face looked like a scarecrow or something. The rest of them looked like hairless monkeys wearing city clothes. They had those weird-looking weapons in their grasp.” said the engineer, shaking in fear. “Oh my...that sure sounds terrifying! Anything else?” Redheart asked. “Even worse! After they sprayed me with that infectious gas or whatever, I had a horrifying illusion where I saw large creatures that looked like...demons or something—with large claws and sharp teeth—trying to kill me. I screamed in horror at the sight...and they all laughed wickedly together!!” the engineer said before breaking down in tears. “There, there, it’s okay...it’s fine. It’s all over, okay? Whatever those creatures are, we will make sure Princess Celestia hears of this, and she will bring them all to justice.” comforted Redheart, stroking his right arm. “Thank you.” he replied, giving a small smile. MEANWHILE Batman soared high in the sky with his bat cape. Just below him was a building that appeared to be a small mansion with a red cross at the top. It also had a sign with the same logo. “This has to be a hospital. I need to find that unconscious pony and see if he was a victim of Crane.” Batman planned. He descended from the sky and landed right in front of the hospital. BACK INSIDE The engineer was getting comfortable on the bed although still in slight pain from the incident. “I must have fallen from the train while it was in full speed or something. I probably broke my left arm from the hard fall I guess.” he muttered to himself. Two full minutes have passed as he was relaxing and tried not to think back on the traumatizing experience he had on the train. That was truly something he never thought would happen during his occupation. He had no clue where those creatures came from or who they were, but they certainly were the definition of trouble. Just then, Nurse Redheart came rushing into the emergency room with a nervous smile on her face. “Excuse me, sir, were you expecting any visitors today?” she asked. “Umm, no. Why?” he asked. “Well, heh...there is somepony—or um...someone who would like to see you.” she nervously said. “Really? One of my family members? I haven’t even told any of them of what happened to me. I don’t know if I can even—AHHH!!” the patient yelled as he turned to see the sudden appearance of Batman standing on his right side. Redheart slowly moved backwards and locked the door so that nopony would see what Batman was going to do. “Are you still in pain?” Batman politely asked. He bent down to get a closer look at the patient. The latter was scared at first due to the fearful appearance of the Dark Knight; however, after he asked him with a caring and polite tone, his fear slowly abated. “I’m...I am recovering a bit. Th-Thanks for asking.” the pony thanked. “What is your name?” Batman asked. “Engine Run. I am the engineer of the train that functions as the main transporter for Ponyville.” he introduced. “I’m Batman.” he said, nodding. “Batman? Huh...very interesting name. Are you from—?” Engine tried to ask until interrupted. “I would love to become acquaintances, but I have a pressing matter at hand. I need you to answer ALL my questions to the best of your ability. Understood?” Batman sternly stated. “Um, yes!” Engine Run complied. “What happened to you? Were you involved in any accident?” Batman asked. “It wasn’t an accident technically, but I think I was thrown off of my train yesterday. I might have broken my left arm and suffered some scratches in the process. But I can’t say for sure since I don’t remember.” Engine explained. “What do you remember then?” Batman asked. “I remember seeing a group of bipedal creatures who were like you except they were trying to harm me after breaking into my train. One of them had that freaky scarecrow mask while he was wearing a suit. He sprayed me with that strange gas that somehow made my world a total nightmare! From what I saw, they appeared as horrific devils trying to tear me apart with their sharp teeth and claws! After that, everything went black. That’s all I remember.” Engine Run finished. When he mentioned the words ‘scarecrow mask’, Batman then knew he was talking about Scarecrow. “But why would they break into his train? Were they trying to steal something from there? Were they heading toward a certain destination? What is their endgame in all this?” Batman thought as he pondered on the information given to him. “Think now: where was your train supposed to travel to yesterday?” Batman further asked. “It was set to travel to the Crystal Empire. I really hope those creatures didn’t hurt any of my passengers!” Engine Run replied. “Crystal Empire? That’s what Twilight told me about this morning. So if the train was going to the Crystal Empire, and they broke into the train, it could be possible they threw him out...thus, having all access to travel to the empire. But why?” Batman realized in thought. He reached to his utility belt and took a syringe that had liquid therein and brought it near to Engine Run. The patient got a little nervous seeing the syringe. “Uhhh, what is that?” he asked. “It is the antidote for the fear toxin. You need this to get the hallucinogen out of your system completely.” Batman explained. “The fear toxin? That’s what it was?” Engine asked, confused. “Correct. Now, hold still.” Batman instructed before injecting the antidote on his right arm. Engine slightly winced in pain but then relaxed. Redheart was worried of what Batman was going to do to him at first but then eased down once she heard it was an antidote for the poison. “There. Are you still all right?” Batman asked. “Yes...I think.” Engine said. “Good.” Batman put the syringe back in his utility belt and stood up above him. “I’ll check on you later. I hope you recover.” Then he walked over to Nurse Redheart. “Take good care of him; I’m going to find Scarecrow and his men and apprehend them. In the meantime, alert Ponyville of their dangerous existence.” “Oh, uh, will do! Thank you, Mr...?” Redheart said. “Batman.” he said before walking out of the room. “Hmmm, Batman. I like that name. Wait...is he a subspecies of bats?” Redheart rhetorically asked. Batman shot his grappling hook on a tall building and rose up toward it. He then jumped from the top of the building and opened his cape as wings and soared high in the air again. “They will surely cause mayhem in the Crystal Empire once they arrive. I need to get there before they cause any irreplaceable damage.” said Batman.