//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Batman: Marekham City // by Prane //------------------------------// Batman: Marekham City by Prane Chapter 2 Earlier that night Rule number one of breaking in somewhere: there are always more ways to get in than to get out. And although it didn’t make entering heavily guarded facilities any easier, you sometimes had a luxury of choosing your way in. Selina Kyle had that luxury. ‘Sounds like the detective will be busy with the Joker for a while.’, she said to herself, crouching on the roof overlooking reinforced doors to a vault, with TYGER CONFISCATED GOODS written on them. She looked down at her glove armed with steel, cat-like claws. ‘Good. Gives this kitten some time to play. So, what’s next? Help tall, brooding and handsome, or help myself to all the loot Professor Strange has locked up in that vault of his? I know, difficult choice, right?’ Was it really that difficult? She could satisfy her own greed and lust by robbing the compound, or she could help Batman, who saved her life more than once and, one might have said, she owed him a favor. Of course, she made a choice. The less noble one. ‘Hmmm, what will it be? Find Croc and have him rip a hole into the vault? Ask Penguin for some explosives? Not my style.’, Selina looked down on an abandoned florist and remembered an old… friend of hers. The letters BAUDELAIRE on the shop were partially covered by overgrown plants. ‘I always prefer a woman’s touch in these situations. Stay where you are Ivy. I’m coming to get you.’ But first, she needed to get her equipment. No way she could face Ivy without her things - she’d be naked without them. In the end, what is a cat burglar without a few gadgets? Selina started running across the roof and jumped to an adjacent building. She didn’t have a gliding cape like the Dark Knight, but with the help of her whip and claws she was able to move quickly through the city. She had her apartment-hideout north from Park Row, almost next to a Solomon Wayne Courthouse. Funny, you wouldn’t consider that a safe house, especially with an ex-district attorney as a neighbor. But the darkest place is under the candlestick, and Harvey Dent, known as Two-Face, a schizoid criminal obsessed with duality was not an issue right now. She swung on the whip and landed on the building’s roof. From here she only had to go down through an expanded metal which surrounded the area between the two structures. She opened a service hatch and spotted three thugs. ‘How are we supposed to find out where she lives, anyway?’, one of them said. ‘Two-Face said she lives somewhere near here.’ Selina pondered. They obviously weren’t aware that their boss was now casually hanging upside down over a bucket of acid. Harvey must have sent them just after he dragged her to the courthouse. ‘So what? How does he know?’, the other one replied with disbelief. ‘How am I supposed to know. I don’t question the boss. You shouldn’t either.’ ‘Hey! I found something.’, shouted the third one. Selina took an advantage of them gathering in the corner and fell down with a grace of a feline. ‘Is that one of her cats? It doesn’t look like one…’ ‘Well, I heard she’s a cat lover.’ ‘No shit man, she’s Catwoman for a reason!’ Selina approached the thugs from behind. ‘Indeed I am, boys.’, she said. They turned around, startled, but ready to fight. ‘Catwoman’s here! Get her!’ Selina was not easily overwhelmed by a couple of thugs, so the fight was to end soon. Being an orphan, she had to learn martial arts to survive on the streets of Gotham, and although she certainly wasn’t a vigilante, she never hesitated to beat the crap out of the city’s criminals. Flexible kicks, jaw-breaking knees to the face, sharp claws to scratch, that kind of stuff. But sometimes even criminals got lucky. The only standing thug was approaching from behind. She took his head in her hands and leaned against the man. He was completely shocked and, to be honest, didn’t resist when she landed a soft kiss on his lips. ‘Meow.’, Selina vocalized. Then she threw the man over and tossed him against the wall, knocking him unconscious. All three thugs were lying on the floor and would probably think twice next time they try to rob her. ‘Sweet dreams.’, she said. ‘Now, what’s in the box…’ She walked to the corner when the thugs had gathered earlier. There was a simple, cardboard box with something inside. Selina had to give them credit, it certainly wasn’t a cat. Cats weren’t usually rainbow-tailed cyan creatures. And didn’t have hooves. The horse-like creature moved and yawned, to which Selina jumped away. ‘What a strange dream…’, it said, obviously waking up from a nap. It said. Horses do not talk, even those small like this one! But it wasn’t exactly a horse – those didn’t have wings, either. Winged, hoofed, pastel-colored pony-like creatures were in Gotham? Somehow she felt that it wouldn’t end well. The creature spotted her. ‘Hey there!’, it jumped from the cardboard box. ‘Who puts ponies in cardboard boxes, anyway?’, Selina thought. ‘Listen, I think I got lost… and I hate to say that because, you know, I’m awesome and never getting lost…’, it actually kept talking, to Selina’s amazement. ‘I’m looking for one of you human-guys, cool one, in a cape and totally radical costume?’ No way. Selina was about to respond, but there was an explosion heard in the distance. If she had to guess, she’d say it came from a nearby bell tower, but it was better not to stay outside any longer. But what to do with that horse-thing that was supposedly looking for Batman? ‘Let’s go inside, horsie.’, Selina said, jumping to a nearby window and opening it. ‘You don’t want to run into Harvey’s goons here.’ The creature flew up, but she was reluctant to follow the woman into the apartment. ‘Who’s Harvey?’, she asked, but immediately shook her head. ‘And I’m not a horsie! And I’m definitely not coming with you! I don’t know what Fluttershy told you, but I’m not into black leather, latex and whips!’ Selina looked out the window and inspected the mare’s multicolored mane. ‘Yeah, right.’, she said, amused as she was, and pulled the pony inside the hideout. That night was getting weirder and weirder. * * * Rarity awoke, but she wasn’t opening her eyes just yet. Although considered to be a hard-working pony, relatively speaking, the mare simply couldn’t deny herself those small pleasures. Such as hugging a pillow, being wrapped in a blanket and lying in a bed for a little longer… especially when the fireplace’s crackling was so soothing… Hold on. She didn’t recall having a fireplace installed in Carousel Boutique. The white unicorn opened her eyes and rolled over the sofa’s edge, crying out in shock. She fell down on a soft, fluffy rug. She looked around. The room was arranged with taste. An elegant, matching the brown sofa, sets of seats, the fireplace façade with spiral patterns all over it and a brass chandelier hanging from the ceiling… not to mention the whole place was much more spacious than any other Canterlot apartment she’d ever visited. ‘Where am I?’, Rarity whispered to herself. ‘Oh no… could this enormous and, might I say, lovely place belong to that… thing?’ She started to remember what had happened. Rarity landed in a strange, new world – notably dirtier and more malodorous than Ponyville – mainly due to her desire to create a perfect outfit for Rainbow Dash. She found herself between two sky-reaching walls and started walking down the alley, only to encounter a bunch of hideous so-called humans. When she heard about humans for the first time, that they wear clothes all the time and walk on two legs like Diamond Dogs, she thought it would be really nice to meet them and learn about their fashion. But it had never crossed her mind that they would be such… ruffians, to say the least. Like that one fat human, or ‘man’, as human males were supposedly called, wearing a rather unfitted to his figure suit. He was leaning over another man, who was kneeling on the ground. That one was bald, simplistically dressed and apparently didn’t mind the cold weather. There were also more humans around and one of them, most likely the fat one’s assistant, handed him a bizarre looking item. ‘I won’t kill you, snow man.’, the fat one spoke to the bald man. ‘I just want your technology… if I could buy it, I would, believe me. But if I can’t buy something, I take it anyway.’, the man grinned, revealing a set of crooked teeth. He gestured towards his assistant. ‘Get him to the museum, lads!’ Rarity tried to leave as quietly as her hooves allowed, but she walked right into a garbage can, knocking it off and drawing the humans’ attention. The mare wanted to run, to escape, to get away from these monsters when she heard a weird sound. She felt cold around her hind legs, her flank and finally around the whole body. The ice covered hear head… ‘He may still be here! I have to go!’ Rarity stood up hastily, jumped over a nearby table and ran to the doors. They were big enough for anypony to go through. Humans were bigger in general, but were they all unpleasant like that one? She didn’t have time think. The mare walked through and found herself in a corridor with even more doors on both sides. As she was trotting forward, a huge painting caught her attention. There were three smartly dressed people in it, two of which standing behind the third one, notably younger, who was sitting on a chair. There were all smiling and in no way resembled humans Rarity had encountered so far. She read a small metal plaque under the painting: THOMAS AND MARTHA WAYNE WITH SON, BRUCE. ‘Maybe not all humans are repulsive, after all…’, she thought. Maybe there were different kinds of humans, just like there were different kinds of ponies? She resumed searching for the exit. Led by a hunch, the mare pushed doors to her right. Kitchen. As much as she’d like to stay and have a snack, she couldn’t. That would be most impolite and socially wrong to prowl in someone’s fridge like some kind of raccoon, even or especially when the house most likely belonged to a dangerous individual… but why would he keep the painting of that nice couple? Rarity glanced at a clock hanging on the wall just before she left. It was showing 10:42 PM. Reaching the end of the corridor turned out to be quite a challenge and took her longer than expected, mainly due to a mandatory stop in front of a mirror – to adjust the mane, of course – or taking a closer look on almost every piece of art the place was decorated with. The corridor was turning left. Rarity guessed that there could be the exit that way and she was about to follow the path when she spotted a floor standing clock. It was very old, judging by its faded wood and blurred golden ornaments. She didn’t know whether or not it was still working, only that it was showing utterly wrong 3:30. ‘If there is one thing I can’t stand,’, the white unicorn said, enveloping the clock face in a bluish mist. The hour and minute hands began to spin. ‘That would be imperfection… now, what was the other one showing? Ten forty-seven should do…’ Just when the hands stopped moving, the time-showing piece of furniture itself moved. Click! The sound came from the clock, but it certainly didn’t originate from its mechanism. It sounded more like… unlocking something? Rarity put a hoof on it and pushed it a little, astonished to see the wall moving as well. It revealed a hidden passage behind! She looked inside. There was as spiral staircase leading into darkness, possibly somewhere under the mansion. ‘Don’t do it, Rarity.’, she said under her breath. ‘It’s like strolling through the Everfree Forest alone. It won’t end well…’ Oh, very well. She carefully trotted down the staircase. It wasn’t the worst possible thing. True, she was stranded… somewhere, she had been entombed in ice and didn’t have a slightest idea of her friends’ whereabouts. But, to be fair, it was her fault. Well, her and Rainbow’s. Never again shall she discuss her projects in public! The mare reached the ground. It appeared that she was in some sort of cave. She shuddered at the memory of the last cave she was dragged into. But this place was different. The floor was made of metal and there was no mud or dust on it. Not only the floor, but also paths leading to different sections of the cave were artificial. Of course, it was still an underground place, so there were stalagmites and stalactites around, and walls were rough and unpolished. ‘There are obviously different kind of humans.’, Rarity stated in her thoughts. ‘Some of them even live underground.’ She took a path on the other side of the room, partially because it was the widest one, and partially because it was the only path illuminated by two parallel tracks of lights embedded in the floor. As she was exploring, she encountered a section of the cave packed with mirror-looking bluish objects which were showing different numbers, walls of text, maps, charts and so on. Now that – that was something you don’t see in Equestria. The mare was about to step in when she spotted somebody. Dashing behind a box of black, sharp-shaped objects she hoped she wasn’t seen. As there were no immediate shouts, strange sounds or ice blocks around her, she recognized it as a good sign. She leaned out from behind the box. In the middle of a semicircle made of those screens and technological conveniences was a human female. She was sitting back to Rarity, so there was no way the mare could see her face, but even though it was quite obvious she was… was it woo-man they’re called? Woman, right. She had a long mane… no, she had a long hair, as red as Sweet Apple Acres’ finest, and she was apparently sitting in a wheelchair. It was oddly comforting for the pony to learn that humans were affected by conditions as well as Equestrians. The woman was talking towards a blue mirror with horizontal lines across it, and as the mirror actually talked back in a man’s voice it was making the lines tremble with every word. ‘…guess you need to go after him, but please, stay focused.’, she said, employing a complicated sequence of slides and touches on another screen at the same time. ‘Don’t let her get in the way again. Speaking of getting in the way, how are you doing working with a pony?’ ‘She’s very helpful. And her name is Twilight.’, the voice from beyond the glass screed answered, to which Rarity initially froze, then felt a relief. So Twilight did manage to get here, thank Celestia! ‘Hold on… she’s asking about her friend.’ ‘The white one? Alfred’s been taking care of her.’ Hearing about Twilight was one thing, but hearing about yourself was completely different. Rarity froze again, but this time no relief came. The underground-dwelling, red-haired wheelchair woman was obviously aware of her existence! It was one of those rare times the white mare would rather not be under the spotlight. ‘Bruce, you’re not going to adopt another randomly found orphan to the Bat-family, are you?’, the woman added after a while. ‘We’ll see about that.’ The man’s voice went silent and the lines stopped moving, vanishing from the screen and making place for pictures of newspaper headlines. Rarity’s thoughts were now sonic rainbooming from the obvious facts to the worst-case scenarios. She carefully walked out of the technological center of the cave, looking behind to make sure the woman wasn’t following her. There was Twilight, somewhere, and it sounded she was with the man that knows the woman that lives in the cave underneath the mansion that possibly belongs to rude and ugly human subspecies… and who was that Alfred and what did it mean to take care of her!? Rarity started galloping, not really paying attention to the loud hoofsteps. She took a last glance behind and… she bumped into something. Seriously, what’s wrong with her!? Rather than something the mare bumped into somebody. A body of a thin man with an angled moustache, dressed in a black tail-coat and a bowtie. ‘Have you got lost, madam?’, he asked. That was way too intense for the white mare. With a practiced gesture of putting a hoof on her forehead, she fainted. * * * Rarity regained consciousness and woke up on the same brown sofa, in the same living room as the last time. But this time, she wasn’t alone. The red-haired wheelchair woman was near and she did nothing but observed the white unicorn. ‘Stay back! Stay back!’, Rarity shouted, climbing the piece of furniture and trying to get to its other side. ‘I’m certainly not going to run after you…’, the woman answered calmly. Rarity halted at the top of the sofa. ‘Oh. Legs. Sorry.’, she mumbled, blushing with embarrassment. The mare sighed. As much as she wanted to get out, it would be inappropriate to run from a handicapped person. Besides, the woman mentioned Twilight before, maybe she’ll share what she knows? The unicorn slid back to the seat. ‘Would you like a cup of tea? I’ll ask Alfred to make some.’ Rarity nodded, to which the woman pressed something on the wheelchair’s armrest with a quick ‘please make it two, Alfred’. Only now the mare could take a closer look and see that the wheelchair was filled with buttons and even small screens. She wondered if living in caves came with technology amongst humans? Better not bring that custom to Equestria… and better stop staring at the wheelchair! ‘Could you tell me where we are now?’, Rarity politely asked, hoping that her plain rude staring had gone unnoticed. ‘I understand it’s all quite shock for you, so let me explain. My name in Barbara Gordon and this place belongs to my friend. Your friend, the pony named Twilight is with him.’ Rarity looked at Barbara with interest. She didn’t sound as somebody not worth the trust. To sum up: underground humans are kind and polite, while the other subspecies is rude in behavior… she really should have taken her sketchbook to take notes… ‘Hello… Barbara.’, the mare slowly replied. ‘My name is Rarity and I’m from Equestria.’ There was a moment of silence, enduring for far too long to be comfortable. ‘Phew, that went well.’, Barbara finally said. ‘What do you mean?’ She chuckled and smiled, lightening up the atmosphere. ‘Sorry, I’m just… not used to introducing myself to talking ponies.’ ‘You’re doing just fine, my dear!’, Rarity answered, taking initiative in the conversation. ‘Much better than the last one I had a displeasure to meet. He said ‘hello’ by throwing a freezer at me!’ ‘That must have been Penguin, ugh.’, she replied with a frown. ‘Nasty type. Gotham City is full of his kind.’ The thin man Rarity had bumped into earlier walked into the room. He didn’t walk in just like that. His every step was steady and graceful at the same time, he maintained a perfect balance with a silver tray in his hands and didn’t make any unnecessary movement when he was putting it on the table. ‘Thank you.’, Barbara said. ‘Alfred, meet Rarity. She’s from Equestria and will be our guest until Bruce sorts things out in Arkham.’ Rarity, remembering to stay dignified, reached towards Alfred. ‘Pleased to meet you.’ To her amazement, the man kneeled beside the sofa, and landed a small kiss on her hoof. Such manners! ‘The pleasure is all mine, madam.’, he said with a gentle smile. The white mare had spent enough time among high society to know exactly when somepony was faking politeness and when was showing a genuine kindness. People here were apparently ‘the good ones’, at least in comparisons to that Penguin individual. She looked back at Barbara, casually lifting a cup of tea with her magic and taking a sip. Pretty nice flavor, just like one she drinks at home. ‘So, Twilight is helping your friend Bruce to sort out things in that Arkham place…’, she said, connecting the facts she’d learned. The cup was hovering in front of the mare. Barbara was slightly shocked, but Alfred remained unflappable. Rarity put the cup back on the tray before either of them commented on that matter. She didn’t want to discourage the woman from helping her… ‘Yes… that is the case.’, Barbara said. ‘There are dozens or criminals out there.’ ‘Tsk-tsk, poor Twilight. Hasn’t she fixed enough in Equestria?’, Rarity said, shaking her head. ‘She simply has to help everyone here. Anyway, I understand there are… how do you call them?, she pondered. ‘Superheroes? Superheroes that fight those criminals? Masked superheroes in stylish capes?’ ‘Madam surely knows a lot about our world.’, Alfred said. ‘An acquaintance of mine had been doing some research prior to my arrival here.’, she replied enigmatically. ‘You see, I’m a fashion designer and I’ve come to your world hoping that I could take a look at those costumes. I understand your friend Bruce in one of the aforementioned superheroes?’ They didn’t answer and Rarity knew exactly why. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not giving away his secret identity, I completely understand the importance of secrecy! Do you think it would be possible for me to wait here and take some notes when he comes back?’ ‘It might not be that simple.’, a new voice said. Rarity climbed on the coach to see… a superhero. The man’s costume was composed of a red vest-like armor with a letter R embroidered on it, pair of black pants with red stripe going along the legs and a cape with a hood. The cape was black on the outside and yellow on the inside. He also had a small mask covering only the area around his eyes. Rarity sighed. She really should have taken her sketchbook.