//------------------------------// // Road Rage // Story: Cinematic Adventures: Batman Begins // by extremeenigma02 //------------------------------// Black Mask and the Vicious Vixens made their way towards Arkham Asylum, ready to put their master plan into action. Poison Ivy could sense the ancient roots of the centuries old plant flowing beneath the decrepit old streets of the Narrows. Black Mask, with two pistols loaded, was ready to blow some heads sky high. The Dazzlings and Zoe Pink-Star were prepped to hypnotize and entrance anyone that stood in their way, except for Sonata Dusk. She still felt uneasy about the whole situation, like she felt something was bound to go wrong. However, she dared not voice her opinion or risk a threat from her sisters (Even some girl they only just met). Finally, the six arrived at the front door of the asylum. Coincidentally enough, they noticed the Power Ponies and Humdrum coming out at that very moment. Not really wanting to deal with them at the moment, they quickly dove behind a nearby wall. The Dazzlings and Zoe peeked out from behind the wall and spotted them. “Well, isn’t this a surprise?” Adagio grinned. “Seems to be our lucky day girls.” “You can say that again,” Aria nodded. “Here we are hoping to bring an ancient murderous plant back to life and now we can kill the idiots who’ve stood in our way long enough.” “Those are the famous Elements of Harmony?” Zoe asked skeptically. “I’ll be honest, I’m disappointed. I thought they’d be far more powerful and imposing than those dressed-up livestock.” As they watched, they noticed that Twilight Sparkle used her horn to transport herself and her friends away from the area. Once they were gone, the villainous group emerged from hiding. “You know, for wanting them dead so much, you weren’t exactly eager to jump out for the kill,” Black Mask told the sirens. “We have bigger work to do right now,” Adagio responded. “Once this tree returns to life, all bets are off. I’ll be personally scraping what remains of those stupid ponies, and their dragon errand boy, right off my boot.” “Then we shouldn’t waste time,” Ivy spoke, procuring the vial. “I can hear the wails of the plant below our feet. She’s crying out to be reborn.” With that said, the dastardly syndicate flung open the doors of the asylum and made their way inside. <> Inside the Batmobile, Batman drove while Rachel hung onto the harness, terrified beyond words. A cop car pulled across the alley and the dark knight hit the accelerator, making it speed forward. The two cops in the car gaped at the Batmobile and braced themselves as the tank smashed into their car, its huge front tires crushed the bonnet as it bounced right over in a messy display of brute force. The Batmobile took off down the street while the two cops in the crushed car stared in shock, scrunched down in their seats. One of them grabbed the radio and called it in, a miracle the radio still worked. “He’s in a vehicle!” They said. “Make and color?” “It’s a black… tank,” The cop answered in disbelief. “Tank?” As Batman drove the Batmobile down the streets, a large number of police cars formed a barricade just up the street. There were SWAT trucks, riot shields, large amounts of weapons, and plenty of officers ready to stop this masked vigilante at all costs. “I’d like to see him get past this,” One officer said confidently. “What if he just flattens us with that things?” Another asked nervously. “I wouldn’t be too worried about him.” The sudden voice made the officers look to their side, only to widen their eyes in shock. Coming down the side street, at a rapid pace, was another giant tank-like vehicle with heavy armor plating. Sitting in the vehicle, largely thanks to an expansion spell, the Power Ponies and Humdrum burst down the street in their armored vehicle in the direction of the roadblock. “We need to clear this roadblock for Bruce,” Masked Matterhorn instructed the group. “Thankfully Lucius had this awesome thing ready for us!” Zapp said happily. “If Bruce gets a tank, it’s only fair we do too.” Saddle Rager turned to her left when she heard light weeping and noticed Filly Second had a few tears running down her face. “Are you okay?” She asked concerned. “I’m okay,” Filly Second nodded, wiping her tears. “It’s just that riding in this car reminds me of Kevin Conroy.” “Who’s Kevin Conroy?” Saddle Rager asked confused. “Someone that’ll be missed greatly in the Batman world,” Filly Second smiled sadly. As they discussed this, Matterhorn turned back toward Radiance and Mistress Marevelous. “I’m going to need you two to man the weaponry,” Matterhorn instructed. “I can filter my magic into them, so it won’t hurt anyone, but it’ll get them out of the way. It’s basically like a giant magic gun.” “Can do partner!” Mistress Marevelous nodded. “I’m all for non-lethal methods darling,” Radiance agreed. They proceeded to press a few buttons a found themselves shifted inside the vehicle to the front of targeting screens with controls at their hooves. From the top of the vehicle, a giant tank-like turret sprouted. “60-millimeter cannon operational,” The computer announced. From the side, another smaller turret packed with multiple non-lethal rounds sprang forth. “Riot suppressor engaged.” The Masked Matterhorn concentrated all her magic into the giant cannon on the roof and it filled to the brim with a magical light. As the vehicle continued to speed forward towards the barricade, Radiance and Mistress Marevelous aimed with the computer, awaiting the signal. “Target in range!” Radiance announced. “Fire!” Matterhorn yelled Radiance and Mistress Marevelous both pressed the controls and a giant beam of light ignited from the cannon towards the barricade. The cops screamed and ducked for cover as the light sent the police and their cars clear off the street. But thankfully, none of them were hurt. “Good shot girls!” Matterhorn acknowledged. “Now let’s go help Bruce!” <> Meanwhile, the Batmobile weaved around traffic, dodging the freeway supports. Inside, Rachel braced against the dash, breathing fast, staring at the road ahead. In her min, the road seemed to be moving past at impossible speeds. “You’ve been poisoned,” Batman told her. “Stay calm.” He checked the intricate GPS display before returning his attention to the road ahead. The Batmobile raced over the roads, jumping lights, nimbly dodging through the cross-traffic, and soon two cop cars joined the pursuit from the cross-streets. Their lights blazed and the sirens blared at the same time. Batman saw them from the rear-view monitor and flipped a switch, which caused the Batmobile to drop spike strips onto the road. The cop cars hit them, making the tires explode, and the rims sparked as they grinded and skidded sideways into each other while the Batmobile disappeared into the distance. Further down the road, an impatient cop was on the radio. “At least tell me what it looks like,” He demanded. But then his eyes went wide the moment the Batmobile roared past. “Never mind.” Soon the Batmobile shot out from under the elevated freeway and a spotlight from a chopper struck it. Batman glanced at a row of buttons, each one had a tiny screen showing a different view, and he pushed one so the view flicked onto the main display. By this point, Rachel was hyperventilating. “Breathe slowly,” He instructed. “Close your eyes.” And so Rachel did just that. She closed her eyes for a moment, only to snap them back open. “That’s worse!” She yelled. Batman was distracted when three cops pulled across the intersection in an attempt to form a roadblock and he touched the GPS screen so the map became three-dimensional, showing the heights of buildings and street levels. He then had the Batmobile skid into a turn and headed through the entrance to a multi-level parking garage, taking out both the ticket machine and the barrier. The Batmobile raced upward through the structure, the car’s enormous width taking out pillars at every turn; inside, Rachel flinched away from the pillars. “What’re you doing?!” She screamed. “Shortcut,” Batman answered shortly. The cop cars had trouble with the downed pillars, which hindered the chase. It wasn’t long before the Batmobile roared out onto the top level and was lit up once again by the chopper. The vehicle reversed into a spot marked ‘compact’, crushing the cars on either side, and then raced forward just as the cop cars emerged onto the roof, blocking the only way down, and it screeched to a halt. Now… they were trapped. <> Back at the asylum, the villains made their way through the asylum. Only a few guards stood at the front door when they first walked in. But due to a hypnotizing siren song, they walked to their side completely under their control. As they continued on, the villains found their path blocked off again as a barrage of guards ran toward them with weapons ready. “Freeze!” One guard yelled. “Stay where you are!” Black Mask quickly pulled out his two guns and fired off rounds, as did their hypnotized henchmen. The guards fell to the ground with gunshots in their bodies bleeding profusely. “Nice shooting there, Sionis,” Zoe complimented. “I know,” Black Mask replied simply. The group continued through the halls of the asylum until eventually coming to the cell block. There Dr. Quinzel was aiding her fellow doctors to evacuate the inmates. “Alright everyone, if we can proceed in a calm and orderly fashion, this will go much smoother,” Dr. Quinzel said calmly. “Oh, I seriously doubt that…” Adagio said. Dr. Quinzel gasped when she saw the villains in their way and quickly raised the baseball bat she kept with her since her encounter with Chrysalis. The sirens just looked at one another with a smirk as the same wicked thought crossed their minds. Adagio first turned back to Poison Ivy and Black Mask, holding out some earplugs in one hand. “You guys might want these,” She warned. The pair took the earplugs and put them in so they couldn’t hear what was coming. “Care to join me in a little sinister magic, sisters?” Adagio asked. To which the other sirens gave a nod of their heads before turning back to the group of doctors and inmates. They proceeded to do what they do best… sing. As they sang, the doctors and inmates quickly found themselves entranced by the hypnotizing melody of the sirens. Dr. Quinzel dropped her bat, her mind in complete control. The Dazzlings and Zoe walked forward with ease and began leading the group through the halls once more. As they sang on, the group broke out into a huge dance routine. “Now lead us, lunatics!” Adagio ordered loudly. “Lead us to the heart of this asylum!” Obeying the orders of their masters, the inmates and doctors proceeded to dance their way through the halls and led the group of villains to where they needed to be. Black Mask and Poison Ivy watched in complete confusion as all of this went on. However, if it got them to where they needed to be with no trouble, then they decided to go along with it. At this point, even the mind-controlled inmates and doctors sung along with their hypnotists. The sirens laughed wickedly as the mindless henchmen led them on through the asylum. As they ventured on, even Sonata Dusk slowly found herself getting into the plan. At first she didn’t like it because she felt something bad would happen and everything would get messed up as usual. However, things seemed to be in their favor for a moment. “You know… I forgot how much fun this is,” She admitted. “I mean it, this is like for realisies actually going better than I thought. Now that it’s the four of us, we’re unstoppable together! So… what’s the next part of the plan, Dagi?” Adagio, Aria, and Zoe looked at one another with a wicked smirk before Adagio casually wrapped her arm over her siren sister’s shoulder as they strolled past the cell block. “I’m very glad you asked Sonata,” She smiled. “The next part of our plan… is getting rid of the dead weight.” Sonata quirked a curious eyebrow, not fully grasping what that meant. “Dead weight?” Sonata repeated. “I mean… I know our henchmen are not much to look at. But they’ve done what we asked without—” Suddenly, before Sonata had more time to contemplate, Adagio shoved Sonata into a nearby open cell and Aria quickly slammed the cell door shut behind her. Sonata quickly got back up and rushed forward, clinging to the bars trying to pull the door open… but it was locked. “What’re you doing?!” She yelled confused. “If this is a joke it’s not funny!” “It’s just as Adagio said,” Aria smirked. “We’re getting rid of the ‘dead weight’.” “I don’t understand!” Sonata said. “I’ve done everything you asked me to; we’re supposed to be a team!” “Oh Sonata… poor… foolish… ignorant Sonata,” Adagio grinned. “The truth is: You’ve become a burden on us. And now… it’s time to rectify that. You’re immature… you’re childish… and quite frankly… stupid. So long as we keep you around, we’ll never get anywhere.” Hearing her sisters say such horrible things, especially from Adagio, it just broke the poor blue siren’s heart. Tears started welling up in her eyes, one even managed to slip free and slide down her face. “B-B-But we’re sisters,” She wept. “We’re family till the end, remember?” It was the Zoe walked up toward the bars, leaning in with a wicked smirk. “Not anymore,” Zoe said maliciously She then shot her hand through the bars and wrenched the amulet from Sonata’s neck before pulling it back. Sonata clutched her chest, where the amulet used to be, as she felt her powers leave her yet again. She fell to her knees and looked up in shock toward her sisters and Zoe. “You can’t do this to me!” Sonata whimpered. “The Dark One and the Benefactor won’t be happy when they learned what you’ve done!” “All they expect are ‘three sirens’ returning with the results they need,” Adagio clarified. “They didn’t specify one of them had to be ‘you’." “Face the facts Sonata Dusk, you’re washed up,” Zoe mocked. “Now, these girls finally found someone better than you… more intelligent than you. But don’t worry, once we’ve resurrected the tree and completely demolish this dump, we’ll make sure to make you death… quick. No sense wasting valuable time on a ‘long’ death for you.” Zoe placed the amulet around her own neck and felt her siren power grow much stronger. “I always knew you never had killer instincts Sonata,” Aria smirked evilly. “Even now when you have nothing to lose… you’re weak! And I’ve outgrown you since the day you were born.” With that said, the sirens, along with Poison Ivy and Black Mask, continued their way through the asylum following their brainwashed henchmen. “You’ll never get away with this!” Sonata cried out, in vain. “The Order will find out what you’ve done, and they’ll get me out of here! You need me! You’ll see! Yeah… you’ll see…” But they never answered back… they didn’t even turn around. It was then Sonata Dusk realized she was truly alone, locked up in a cell and no one around to free her. More tears sprang forth as she fell to the floor in agony, curdling up into a ball. All the pain of betrayal, the fact she was replaced instead of adding into their army… the weight hit her like a ton of bricks. All she could do now was cry… just cry until her eyes could she no more tears. <> Inside, Batman examined his 3D GPS, weighed his options, and then glanced at Rachel. The girl recoiled, terrified by his mask, and began clawing at her harness desperate to escape. “Turn off your engine!” One of the cops ordered, over a megaphone. Ignoring the cops, the dark knight gently placed a gloved hand on Rachel’s arm. “Trust me,” He instructed. Batman activated a command which slid him into the front driving position, his body prone as if riding a motorcycle with his head in a glass pod located between the front tires. Once Batman was in position, he hit a button. The cops gaped as cannons emerged from the nose of the Batmobile and ducked as they blasted the far wall. The massive jet engine at the back ignited as flaps on the front and rear of the car flared out like a cobra spreading its neck. Then it rocketed forward for the gap in the far wall at an accelerated pace. Inside, Rachel screamed as Batman hit another button and an inverted spoiler jammed into the airstream up front, sending it int a ramp-less jump, and the Batmobile soared over a thirty-foot gap landing heavily on a neighboring flat roof. Back at the parking garage, the cops stared at each other, open-mouthed. They were all sharing the same thought: How were they going to explain this to their superiors? Meanwhile, Batman yanked the steering left, hit the booster, rocketed for the edge of the roof, and shot over the gap to the next, with the chopper in pursuit once again. The dark knight checked his 3D GPS, rocketed forward, and aimed at the next roof, which was a pitched chateau-style tile roof. Down below the streets, cop cars zoomed along, paralleling the rooftop chase while the chopper swooped low over the buildings. The cops below caught a glimpse of the Batmobile as it leapt across to the next building. “We’re on him, we’re on him…” The Batmobile landed on the pitched roof, raced along it at a precarious angle, tiles slid off the roof in its wake. Inside, Batman’s forward-slung position was gyroscopically balanced so that he was the only vertical element in the angled car, and the low-flying chopper was still in pursuit. Batman swerved the car up and over the gables, the roof crumbling in its wake, and raced for the end of the roof parallel with an elevated freeway. Hitting the booster once again, the Batmobile rocketed forward, jumped the last gable, and dropped onto the freeway, forcing traffic to swerve just to avoid it. Along the streets, the cops cursed when they saw the Batmobile disappear on the freeway above. “Dammit!” One cop cursed. Batman watched the display, which showed a radar sweep that was plotting a course through various speeds along the lanes. He leaned left and right like a motorcyclist while the chopper above kept a light trained on him; around him, the tragic grew heavier and several cop cars closed in from behind. The dark knight lifted himself back into the rear driving position, throttled back, and then killed all the lights including the engine. The chopper pilot cursed when, to him, the Batmobile disappeared into the shadows like a wraith. “I lost him,” The pilot said. There was silence inside the car, save for the steady whine of the electric motor. Rachel, who’d been dozing, was startled by the sudden silence. Her eyes flickered as Batman sliced across the lanes like a shadow only visible under the glare of headlights from other cars. Ahead of them, the cop cars pulled forward until they were driving parallel with an empty lane between them. Rachel stared at the dark knight in the intimate quiet with wide eyes, breathing shallowly. “Quiet,” Batman whispered. “Stay with me.” Meanwhile, the cops searched for the Batmobile with growing frustration over losing a car the size of a tank so easily. “Where’d he--?” A cop began. He looked left and saw between his car and the next cop car… a black shape. “There he is!” When the spotlight hit the car, Batman immediately hit a button and the main engine roared to life as he slipped back into the prone position. He hit the booster once again. The cops were startled when the Batmobile’s lights suddenly turned back on, and it shot forward from between them. The jet wash blasted their windscreens, shattering them, and the nearest cop car spun out of its lane and slammed into the guard rail. The black car raced ahead, once again weaving through traffic. The Batmobile slid onto a tightly curving exit ramp, flew off it, and jumped down onto the frontage road below. Once again, Batman killed the lights, now running on night vision. Rachel’s eyes flickered at the eerie green view of ghostly trees as her shallow breathing got faster. “Hold on,” The dark knight requested, concerned. “Just hold on.” He yanked a lever which released a ground anchor that dug into the road, whipping the Batmobile right with a hard turn, down a small turnoff. The chopper lost it once again, as did the cop cars blazing past the turnoff. Inside the Batmobile, Rachel cried as the trees flashed past and turned monstrous in her drugged mind. “Rachel?” Batman asked, glancing at her. “Rachel?!” He pushed the Batmobile, so it sped toward the lookout. Rachel’s glazed eyes registered the danger; she began twisting in her seat in her panic. The Batmobile rocketed off the edge of the lookout, over the gorge, and flew straight at the face of a waterfall. Rachel screamed as they splashed into the face of the waterfall – and emerged through the curtain of water into the Batcave. The Batmobile’s ground anchors hooked a steel cable, which caused an inertia reel that bolted the cave wall into spinning, and it yanked the car to a halt like a jet landing on an aircraft carrier. Rachel bounced in her seat and then passed out, much to Batman’s alarm. “Rachel!” He yelped. The canopy hissed open in three complex sections, like insect wings imploding. The dark knight lifted her from the cockpit, stepped down onto the wet shale, and carried her into the damp blackness of the caverns. Cloak billowing in his wake, Batman headed for the glow of his worktable, gently laying Rachel on it, and then racked up the scaffold to his computer station. There was a container waiting for him, along with paperwork from Lucius, and he opened it, finding three vials inside. He removed one, plugged it into a pneumatic syringe, placed it between his teeth, glided off the scaffold, and landed next to the table. Removing the syringe from his mouth, he injected it into Rachel’s bicep, then stepped back and watched as her breathing slowed. The antidote was working. <> Meanwhile, at Arkham Asylum’s refectory, Gordon was supervising the scene: cops and SWAT dug through the mess, interviewing inmates, and shifting through the rubble. A detective was sitting in a cell doorway, examining Crane’s mask, and Crane huddled in the corner, staring blankly into space. “Is he cooperating?” Gordon asked. “If by cooperating you mean chewing his way through three sets of restraints, then yes, he’s cooperating,” The detective responded. “Did we catch the Batman?” Gordon shook his head, repressing a smile. “Nope,” He responded. Just then, a cop hurried over. “Sir, there’s something you should take a look at…” The cop led him toward a large hole which had been broken in the floor. There was a cracked pipe open within, and they could see water rushing through. There were also dozens of aluminum barrels sitting alongside the hole. Gordon climbed down and peered into the hole, watching as the water rushed by. “Looks like they tapped the mains,” He muttered, examining the barrels. Realization sunk in as he recalled what the Batman told him earlier. “Get me somebody at the water board!” He ordered. Gordon climbed back, just as a second cop ran up. “Yes?” “Sir, John Wycliffe just arrived.” Gordon stepped outside just as Wycliffe pulled up in his car and emerged. “Mr. Wycliffe,” The sergeant said, surprised and relieved. “What’re you doing here?” “Rachel Dawes requested I come here to do blood work on Falcone, Gordon,” John responded. “What’s going on?” “Come with me and I’ll explain on the way,” Gordon said, leading him into the building. Soon Wycliffe and Gordon entered the room and approached the hole, where a technician from the water board tested the water. “So, Crane was dumping this toxin into the water supply?” John asked. “That’s what Batman told me,” Gordon confirmed. “I’m having the water tested to be sure.” “If this is the same chemical that I found in the drugs from the docks, then we could have a serious problem on our hands,” John said nervously. They joined the technician, who was checking the results on his device. “According to this, the entire water supply is contaminated.” “How much did they pour in?” Gordon asked. “All of it,” The technician responded. “They must’ve been pouring it in for weeks, and it’ll have spread through the whole system by now.” While Goron continued questioning the technician, John went to one of the tables, which had some of the white powder on it. Taking a device from his black bag, he carefully used a spoon to scoop some of the powder into the device and performed a scan when Gordon walked up. “According to the technician, the only reason no one has shown any effects is because it needs to be breathed in instead of drinking it,” He reported. “What’re you doin’?” “Testing the powder,” John responded, frowning at the results. “He’s right though. Whatever sort of hallucinogenic agent we’re dealing with, it’s been weaponized, and it isn’t one I recognize.” “Maybe Crane knows,” Gordon suggested. “Of course, you should know that he’s been affected by his own toxin thanks to the Batman earlier when he rescued Rachel. So, I’m not sure if you’ll get a straight answer out of him.” “Don’t worry, even if he doesn’t make any sense, I can draw some blood from him,” John assured. “Plus, I can get one from Falcone and get it back to my lab to start looking for a possible antidote should someone try to get this stuff into the air.” “Sounds good to me.” Just then, the hallway doors burst open, and the brainwashed doctors and inmates danced through. Everyone looked confused as they watched them dance, singing along the way. Confusion turned to shock when they saw the two Dazzlings, Zoe, Poison Ivy, and Black Mask enter the room. “What is the meaning of this?!” Gordon asked loudly. “Get them and take them out of here,” Adagio ordered the henchmen. The mind-controlled mass quickly jumped upon anyone they could get their hands on and dragged them away. They grabbed Gordon and John Wycliffe, then proceeded to drag their struggling forms towards the exit before shoving them out and locking the door behind them. Poison Ivy then placed a gentle hand on the floor, feeling the roots calling to her, leading her to them. “Follow me,” She instructed. She led the group and their controlled victims toward a nearby door, which she flung open. Walking down a flight of stairs, Ivy found herself in some sort of basement with a soil floor. She gently pat the Earth with a smile on her face before taking out the vial of green liquid. Popping it open, she tipped it over and allowed the contents to flow onto the soil. It absorbed the mixture and within moments, the entire Earth began to shake. “We should exit now before it sprouts completely,” She warned. Everyone quickly made their way towards the nearest exit. As they scurried out of the building, the ground shook harder and started to crack and break. Suddenly, a gigantic plant burst forth from the ground and broke through one of the walls of the asylum. It grew and circled around the building before finally coming to a halt. It had to be at least four stories tall at its full height. The villainous group stared at the gigantic plant with amazement. None of them had ever seen such a sight before, except for Poison Ivy. She merely smiled as she gazed upon the ancient plant. “What now?” Adagio asked. “Now… we wait,” Ivy responded. <> When Rachel regained consciousness, she found herself lying on a table inside a dark cave. Her eyes went wide when she saw there were bats fluttering about and hung on the ceiling high above her. “Oh… my… God!” She gasped. “How do you feel?” Batman asked from the shadows, watching her. Rachel looked around for the dark knight, but her eyes couldn’t see him. “Where are we?” Rachel asked, her voice hoarse. “Why did you bring me here?” “If I hadn’t,” Batman spoke slowly. “Your mind would now be lost; you were poisoned.” Rachel tried to recall just what happened back at Arkham. “I remember… nightmares,” She muttered. “This face, this… mask.” Then her eyes lit like firecrackers, for she remembered exactly what happened. “Crane. It was Crane. I have to tell the police – we’ve got—” Batman stepped out of the shadows and stopped her. “Rest,” He ordered. “Gordon has Crane.” Rachel stared up at the dark knight as he gently laid her back onto the table before retreating back into the shadows. “Is Sergeant Gordon your friend?” She asked. “I don’t have the luxury of friends,” Batman slowly growled. Rachel lifted her head slightly, trying to find him in the shadows. “Why did you save my life?” She inquired. “I serve justice,” Batman responded, hiding in the shadows. “Perhaps you do,” Rachel agreed, feeling pity for the dark knight. Batman stepped into the light, holding a pneumatic syringe and two vials, and she watched him warily. “I’m going to give you a sedative,” Batman told her. “You’ll wake up back at home and when you do, get these to Gordon and John Wycliffe, and them alone. Trust no one.” He then held up two vials which he handed to Rachel. “What are they?” Rachel asked, eying the vials. “The antidote,” Batman answered. “One for Gordon to inoculate himself, the other to start mass-production.” “Mass production?” Rachel repeated, confused. “Crane was just a pawn,” Batman informed her. “We need to be ready.” He held up the syringe and she offered her arm. The dark knight injected her, and Rachel’s eyes sealed shut. Once she was sedated, Bruce removed his cowl and stared at her for an inexpressibly lonely moment. ‘I wish I could tell you the truth, but it isn’t the right time… yet...’ From the sidelines, the Power Ponies and Humdrum appeared alongside Batman. “What do we do now?” Masked Matterhorn asked. “If what you said is true, whatever’s coming goes far beyond the Court of Owls and any other villains in the city. We need to come up with a plan.” Batman walked over to a nearby table where a tuxedo was laid out for him. He quickly started to remove his bat-suit, and Bruce turned back to him. “What’s the plan now?” Zapp asked. “I have to get up to the party before anyone starts wondering where I am,” Bruce replied. Ooh, are we playing any party games?!” Filly Second exclaimed excitedly. “Or maybe whack a pinata? I even brought extras!” She pulled a pinata out of her mane, along with a stick and a blindfold. She quickly placed the blindfold on her eyes, grabbed the stick in her teeth, then proceeded to swing it around trying to hit the pinata. Matterhorn quickly flared up her magic again and made them all disappear, much to the party Power Pony’s disappointment. “Now’s not the time for games,” She spoke sternly. “We must come up with a plan; something’s coming, and we need to be ready.” “I must agree,” Radiance nodded. “The Court of Owls and our enemies are already taking up much of our time. We must act face before something worse arrives.” “What about you Bruce?” Humdrum asked curiously. “We could really use your help on this one.” “I promise you guys, I’ll figure something out,” Bruce sighed. “Right now, I need to get upstairs. If you want, you can come too. If not, then stay here. I’ll be back soon.” He quickly walked off towards the elevator back up the mansion. The Masked Matterhorn once again groaned in frustration. Although she knew Bruce had to keep up appearances, now was not the time for partying. Something big was heading their way, one that would likely put Gotham City and its people at great risk. She knew it was bad, and all the hardships they’d experienced was only the beginning. “So… what do we do now?” Saddle Rager asked timidly.