The Kryptonian and the Bat, Part 2
Normally Twilight was awoken by the sun beaming down in her face, but now she was denied that simple pleasure. She blinked and rose from her bed, looking out the window to see what was obstructing her view. She blinked again when she saw Rainbow Dash, still in her Supermare outfit, sitting on a cloud and staring off to the southwest. She hurried over to the window and flung it open, but Rainbow remained focused on the southwest.
“Rainbow!” Twilight hissed, trying her best not to wake up Spike. “What are you doing?”
“Wha-” Rainbow looked over at Twilight. “Oh, hey Twilight. What’s up?”
“Don’t try and deflect my question! Now get in here before somepony sees you!”
“You’re not my mom; you can’t just order me to do things.” Twilight’s eyes narrowed.
“Get. In.” Rainbow Dash disappeared, and Twilight was about to call after her when she felt a tap on her flank. She turned and saw Rainbow Dash standing behind her, no longer wearing her suit. “How... How did you do that?”
“I flew back to my house, but there were some ponies nearby so I hid my suit in my sock drawer, and then flew back here before you realized I was gone.” Rainbow Dash said. Twilight blinked.
“You have a sock drawer?” Twilight asked.
“Don’t you?” Twilight was about to respond before Rainbow cut her off. “Never mind. What was it that you wanted to know?”
“Uh, well... What were you doing? You never wear your costume around town, and you blocked my sunlight. Is something the matter?”
“... Kind of.” Rainbow fluffed her wings before continuing. “Last night I flew down to Trottingham to find that guy who dresses up like a bat, and not only did he get away, but he knows who I am.”
“Well, why wouldn’t he? You do tend to make a lot of headlines-”
“No, he knows that I’m Supermare. Me, Rainbow Dash, Supermare.” Twilight took a step back to put distance between herself and the increasingly frantic Rainbow. “What am I supposed to do?”
Twilight shrugged. “Go and confront him about it?”
“How? He’s all mysterious and brooding; I go and confront him and he’d probably just blow me off and disappear, again.” Twilight’s raised an eyebrow, as if asking Rainbow to explain. “He just shows up and disappears whenever he likes. It’s kind of freaky.” Rainbow added. Twilight rolled her eyes before speaking.
“Rainbow, I’m sure if you just talked with him, even for a little, you might be able to convince him not to tell other ponies who you are. I mean, unless he’s actively threatening you then you can assume that he’s-”
“Twilight, this guy dresses up like a bat. A bat. Even Fluttershy would think he’s a little out there.” Twilight opened her mouth to object, but Rainbow cut her off. “Look, I know you want me confront this pony and try to find some kind of peaceful solution, but I’m not really sure if that’s an option.”
“This is coming from the mare who talked down a dragon from burning down Appleoosa?”
“Hey, Fluttershy helped with that.”
“That doesn’t matter. Rainbow, remember that you’re not a hyper aggressive pony, and you shouldn’t just look at every problem and try to solve it by beating it into pieces.”
“But it’s my identity, Twilight.”
“I know, but maybe convincing him to stay quiet will help you in the long run.” there was a pause before Rainbow sighed.
“Okay, we’ll try it your way. And if he still acts all hostile, I’ll-”
“Try to talk him down before anything bad happens.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow at Twilight. “Let me guess, you were going to say ‘punch him across Trottingham’, weren’t you?”
“... Maybe?”
...............
After finding a high spot where nopony could sneak up behind her, Rainbow had opened up all of her senses to Trottingham. Every sound, sight, smell, she could detect it, and she waited for any sign of the bat-pony. She would have kept an eye open for any ongoing crimes, but the city was quiet for now. And I always thought they had problems in Trottingham... maybe this batguy is more effective than I thought.
She spotted something out of the corner of her eye. A ripple of fabric on a nearby rooftop, a shadow. There he is. Pulling her senses back under control, Rainbow rose into the air and dove down into the city, pulling up just as her target turned to face her. “Found you.”
“Took you long enough; I spotted you on that building five minutes ago.” the unicorn responded, causing Rainbow to frown. Does he always have to be so high and mighty?
“... Never mind. We need to talk.” the unicorn’s eyes narrowed as Rainbow continued. “You know who I am, and I have no idea if you are trustworthy or not.”
“You’re worried that I might leak the information to someone that would use it for their own gain?” he said.
“... Yeah, something like that.” there was a pause before the unicorn spoke again.
“I merely wanted to know who you were that, should you decide to go rogue and attack ponies, I would have some sort of advantage.”
“... That’s kind of paranoid, isn’t it?”
“I operate out of Trottingham; paranoia is a very useful thing to have. As such you don’t have to worry about the possibility of me telling anypony about who you really are.”
“Why?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Do you expect me to trust a guy that dresses up like a bat and... does whatever it is you do?”
“Believe whatever you like, but I am very good at keeping secrets.” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow again, but something told her that the unicorn was being honest with her... as honest as possible.
“Actually... You do have a point.” she said after a pause.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I mean, if I ever went nuts or something then somepony would need to stop me from killing ponies... but I still don’t like the idea of you being that pony. I mean, I have no idea who you are.”
“Says the pony with x-ray vision.” the unicorn smirked before snapping his head to one side. “I need to go; the city needs me. But if you ever come back here, I’ll be waiting.” the unicorn turned to leave, fading into the dark as he departed. Before he got too far out of sight, Rainbow shifted her vision to see just who was beneath the mask.
“... No. How could he-... but-” By the time Rainbow calmed down, he was gone. She raced through the streets, trying to find where he had gone, but once again he had disappeared into the dark. Once she was certain he was nowhere to be found, she stood there in silence for a very long time, trying and failing to find an explanation for what she had seen.
Somehow, against all reason, Blueblood was still alive.
.................
Rainbow had spent the last few days in the Fortress of Solitude, trying and failing to come up with an explanation for what she had seen in Trottingham. If it really was Blueblood beneath the mask, then either Zod had somehow managed to survive blowing himself up, or he had lied to Rainbow about Blueblood’s death. The rational side of Rainbow told her that the second option was a bit more plausible, but the other part of Rainbow’s mind was not ready to give in that easily.
Despite her best efforts, logic lost in the end, and Rainbow decided to do something really stupid.
As she neared Trottingham, she checked the small lead box dangling around her neck. She had been meaning to get rid of the box, and more importantly it’s contents, but something had held her back, possibly the idea that she might need it in the future.
I need to take a break from this; I’m starting to get paranoid... and sound like Twilight. Rainbow shook her head and continued on through Trottingham, scanning the roofs and alleys for any sign of the bat-pony. At first she found nothing, but after an hour of searching she finally spotted a familiar silhouette among the rooftops.
“For all your initial hostilities, you really seem persistent in coming back.” the unicorn said. “It’s getting annoying.”
“This time it’s actually important.” Rainbow landed a few feet away from the unicron, making a small adjustment to the box before speaking again. “Do the names Jor-El or Zod have any meaning to you?” She opened her senses up again, watching the other pony’s eyes and pulse for any indication that he was lying.
“No. Never heard of them before.” Rainbow blinked as the unicorn raised an eyebrow. “Are they supposed to be important?”
“... Sure.” Rainbow took another step closer. “So, You ever been to the Summer Sun Celebration?”
“I assume there’s a point to this?”
“Yes there is.” another pause.
“... Whatever. To answer your question, yes I have, and to answer your potential follow-up question, the last time I went was seven years ago.” Rainbow’s eyes narrowed and her ears flattened against her head.
“Okay... So, if you weren’t at the Summer Sun Celebration, where were you?”
“Neighpan, and before that a prison in the Griffon Kingdoms.”
“How’d you end up there?”
“The pony you think I am knocked me out and threw me on the first ship out of Equestria, saying I was a wanted terrorist... at least, that’s what others told me once I woke up.” Rainbow paused. Somepony would have recognized what Blueblood looked like, but from what little she did know about Kryptonian magic Zod would have been able to plant a mental suggestion in another pony’s mind to make them think that Blueblood was a criminal (perception filters might also have been used).
That’s just too coincidental... I need to be sure.
“Okay... well, what do you have to say to this?” Rainbow pulled the box off her neck and opened it, angling it so that any and all radiation from the Kryptonite would reach the unicorn and not her. The other pony blinked a few times at the new sensory input, but otherwise did not react.
“Nice rock. You might want to put it away before somepony gets hurt, though.” Rainbow’s ears flicked up and she took a small step back. He’s not affected by the Kryptonite... but Zod wasn’t affected either... but he was using magic... Rainbow growled in frustration and closed the box, turning away from the other pony.
“Why can’t you just be dead and I won’t have to worry about this?”
“I’m sorry?”
“I can’t believe that you haven’t been in Equestria for five years. Either you’re lying to me, or you’re using some kind of mind-blocking magic to keep me from seeing if you’re telling the truth.”
“I’m actually fairly weak when it comes to magical power.”
“You really expect me to believe that?” Rainbow spun around, glaring at the unicorn. “I almost died because of you-”
“Because of the pony that impersonated me.”
“No, it was you! It had to be you!”
“Why?”
“Because...” Rainbow stopped herself. She had seen Zod explode, but she did not see the real Blueblood die. And Zod used whatever means necessary to get what he wanted; lying about killing some pony would have been trivial to him. “Because...”
“I’ll let you think on that for a moment.” the unicorn turned to leave, but Rainbow Dash recovered before flash stepping in front of him.
“We’re not finished here!”
“Would you like me to say that I really was the pony who tried to kill you? If it will make you go away, I’d be more than happy to help.” Rainbow started to say something, but her hearing picked up something on the other side of town.
“Why are we doing this again?” Griffon, male. Probably early twenties.
“Shut up! He could be listening in on us.” Pony, also male. This might be trouble.
“I, uh... I need to go.” the unicorn raised an eyebrow again before he seemed to understand what she meant.
“Where are they?”
“Couple blocks over.” the unicorn nodded before moving towards the edge of the building, raising his hoof and firing what appeared to be a grappling hook over at the next building. “Hey! Wait a second!”
“If you’re still worried about me being the pony that attacked you, I really-”
“I know. Look, why don’t we just call a truce and deal with the problem at hoof, and then we can get back to arguing about this later.” the unicorn was silent for a moment, and Rainbow half expected him to just leave without answering.
“Fine.” With that, he tightened the grappling hook and leapt off the side of the building, easily landing on the next rooftop before sprinting towards the potential crime. Rainbow let him get a head start before taking off, racing past the unicorn at high speed.
Okay Rainbow, just keep a level head; see if this guy is the real Blueblood, and then beat him into a pulp when he’s not... yeah, I can do that. She eased up on her speed and found a rooftop near where the suspects were, using her x-ray vision to pick them out from the darkened streets. The griffon and the pony were standing beneath a lamp post across the street from her position, looking around as if they were expecting trouble. It was a different experience from what she had seen in canterlot or Manehattan, where the common thugs and thieves were a bit more confident.
“Think maybe we should get on with this?” the griffon asked.
“Not yet...” his comrade responded, checking a nearby box that Rainbow could see had a crossbow and some light explosives. Where do ponies get all the explosives? “Just want to make sure we don’t have any intrusions.”
“Is everyone in this city so paranoid? I thought Canterlot was bad, but then you guys keep going off about this ‘Batpony’.” This earned a glare from the pony.
“Be careful with what you say.”
“Why? It’s a big city; what are the odds that one pony is going to be right here watching us?” Pretty good, actually... Rainbow crept closer to the edge of the building as the two kept talking. “Look, I don’t think he’s here; let’s just do this and get on with it.”
“... Fine.” the pony reached into the box and tossed the griffon the crossbow before fishing out the explosives. “We do this quick, we can get back just as the others are finishing up.” And that’s my cue. Rainbow took a step forward and was about to approach the criminals, but stopped when a grey clad hoof touched her shoulder.
“Not yet.” the unicorn whispered, sounding even harsher than normal. “The suspects are too spread out.”
“So?”
“Remember how I said you rely on your powers too much? You’re doing it again.” he reached for his belt and pulled out a small bat-shaped device. “Go for the griffon; I’ll take care of the one with the explosives.”
“Sure.” Rainbow adjusted her angle as the unicorn threw the device at the lamp post. It lodged itself into one of the seams on the post before sparking, and immediately after the light from the lamp disappeared. Sensing that was her cue, Rainbow jumped from the top of the building and landed right behind the griffon.
“Hey, you know it’s dangerous to carry crossbows around in the dark?” she asked. The griffon whirled around, and Rainbow could see that he was very freaked out by this turn of events. “You might end up hurting someone.” With a cry the griffon fired, and Rainbow watched as the bolt struck her forehead before splintering. She stepped forward and swatted the weapon out of the griffon’s talons before pulling him up into the air, hoping that it might stop him from struggling and making things difficult.
The light turned back on a few seconds later, and she saw that the unicorn had subdued the other pony. He dragged the suspect over to the lamp post while Rainbow landed and tossed the griffon towards the others. “Well, that wasn’t so bad, now was it?”
“Perhaps. Watch that one for a moment, will you?” the unicorn kept walking until he had reached the wall, at which point he slammed the suspect against the wall and locked eyes with the other pony. “Where do street thugs like you get ahold of military-grade explosives?”
“I-I won’t tell you...” the pony whimpered, causing the unicorn to lean in closer and intensify his glare.
“Would you care to repeat what you just said?”
“Hey,” Rainbow took a step closer, drawing her “partner”s attention. “You’re not going to hurt him or anything, right?”
“He’ll live, if that’s what you’re worried about.” he turned back to the pony. “Would you care to answer my question before I have to change my mind?” Every part of Rainbow Dash told her to break up this “interrogation” before it went too far, but the other pony ended it before she had to.
“Our... our boss gave them to us.”
“Why?”
“He said we should go and cause some trouble and try to draw you away from the real job.”
“Where?”
“I... I don’t know.” the unicorn whacked the other pony’s head against the wall.
“Where?!”
“One of the warehouses near the river! Don’t ask me what they’re doing, ‘cuz I don’t know!” the unicorn nodded before pulling another device out of his belt. The criminal spasmed when the device contacted, lapsing into unconsciousness shortly thereafter.
“This should knock them out until somepony comes to fetch them.” Rainbow Dash stepped aside as the unicorn stunned the griffon and began to tie the two to the lamp post. “In the meantime, we’ll have to find a way to get to the river before the others have a chance to get away.” he paused before looking at Rainbow. “Can I get a lift?”
..............
Trottingham’s waterfront was just as dirty and run-down as the rest of the city, with trash covering the ground and the water having been tainted slightly green. Rainbow had heard that certain parts of the river could be set on fire if you were not careful, so she made a point not to use her heat vision anytime soon in case that was true. She and the unicorn landed near one of the bigger warehouses, looking around for any sign of activity.
“There are dozens of warehouses along the waterfront,” he said, stepping closer to the building. “Our ‘friends’ could be at any one of them.” Rainbow nodded before opening up with her x-ray vision, scanning the numerous buildings until she found the targets.
“Four buildings down. About a dozen of them, mostly Earth Ponies.”
“What are they doing?”
“Uh...” Rainbow squinted to get a better picture. “Moving some barrels of... stuff. I have no idea what it is.”
“Might be explosives of some kind. I’ll need to get a better view of who it is. Until then, keep an eye on them and make sure they don’t-”
“I have superpowers, and they don’t seem to have anything that can hurt me. I should take them out now so we don’t have to waste a lot of time.”
“Remember what I said about over reliance on your powers?”
“... Fine. We’ll try it your way.” Rainbow went back to looking at the ponies the unicorn disappeared into the shadows. She could just barely pick up the sound of his hooves as he moved closer to the crime scene. She shifted around on her hooves a little, waiting for some kind of sign.
“I know you can hear me from here.” the unicorn said, his voice a low whisper. “Move closer and get in position to attack. Wait for me to put out the lights first.” Rainbow nodded, spread her wings and jumped into the air, gliding the rest of the way before landing near the edge of the roof. The ponies below had not seen her, so she took a moment to sneak a little closer and observe her quarry better.
The ponies were loading the barrels onto a large cart. Progress was slow, as they lacked unicorns to lift the barrels, but they still possessed a level of efficiency that Rainbow had to admit was admirable. She still could not get a good look at what was in the barrels, so she made a point to open one up to find out what they were so interested in stealing.
Unfortunately for her, as she leaned forward one of the roof panels split. She stumbled but was able to recover, but the sound caused the ponies below to stop working and look up. Rainbow blinked a few times before realizing that she was standing right in the open.
“Oops.”
“Hey!” one pony cried. “You’re not supposed to be here!”
“Well... Neither are you.” Rainbow Dash leapt down to the ground and approached the other ponies. “Now, I ask you to give up before somepony gets hurt.” the ponies looked at her, then looked to each other before laughing.
“You- you’re joking, right?” the first pony choked out through his laughter. “You think you can just dress up like Supermare and scare us into doing what you want?” Rainbow glared at the pony, her ears flattening against her head.
“I am Supermare.”
“You’re too thin to be Supermare.” a second pony replied. “And your mane’s the wrong color.” Rainbow blinked again. Do I have to take a picture of myself and put it up on every wall in Equestria? She set that thought aside before flash-stepping over to the pony and lifting him into the air with one hoof.
“Would you care to repeat that?” she asked, just before another pony found himself hogtied by a pair of bolas. Rainbow knocked out the pony she was holding with a small swat before jumping at the next pony, the unicorn leaping out of the shadows and knocking out a third pony.
“I thought I told you to wait for my signal.” he said, pitching one of the criminals over his head and into a wall.
“Yeah, that didn’t work out so well.” Rainbow Dash swatted away another pony, trying her best to hold back her strength so as to not hurt anypony. Their attackers tried to stay as far away from her as possible, instead going for the unicorn behind her. Fortunately he was a skilled fighter, and the two were able to overcome the other ponies with ease.
Once the suspects were subdued, the unicorn busied himself by tying them together so they would not get away, while Rainbow Dash walked over to the cart to inspect the barrels.
“I’ll need some time before I can figure out who they were working for.” she heard the unicorn say as he stepped away from the other ponies and walked over to the cart. “The jury’s still out on what they were trying to steal.”
“Maybe it has something to do with who they’re working for?”
“Maybe...” Rainbow took a step towards the barrels, reaching out to open the nearest one. “Careful, you don’t know what could be in there.”
“I’ll be fine.” Rainbow reached out and swatted the top off the barrel. There was a rush of steam, but otherwise nothing happened and Rainbow leaned in closer.
The barrel was filled with mud. Nothing special; no lead, no Kryptonite, not even weapons, just mud. Rainbow shifted her visions several times to see if there was something she had not seen, but all she found was more mud. She opened the other barrels and it was the same; mud.
“See? It’s just some mud.”
“... mud?”
“Yes, mud. Now, we should probably go get those guys off to-” she never finished, because the mud in the nearest barrel sprang up, grabbed her by the face and slammed her into the ground. The other barrels began to shake as the mud oozed out, each part combining together to form one giant blob. The blob quivered and pulsed before taking on an equine shape, two white eyes leering down at Rainbow Dash.
“I was hoping for the Batpony.” the monster growled, a sneer spreading across its face. “But you’ll just have to do.” the creature raised up its right foreleg, which morphed into a large spear as it aimed for Rainbow’s head. Rainbow struggled to throw the monster off, but every time she shifted mud would flow into the crevasse her movements left behind.
The monster would have attacked, but stopped when one of the bat-shaped devices entered its head and exploded. The creature roared in anger as it turned to face this new threat, and as it turned Rainbow was able to free herself from the mud.
“Is this what you have to deal with around here?” she asked as she pulled away from the beast.
“Normally, no.” the unicorn leapt into the air as the creature attacked, vaulting over the mud-monster while throwing another explosive at it. The creature swiveled around and lunged, forming its hand into a large mallet as it tried to crush the unicorn.
“That’s more like it.” the thing said as it swung its weapon, reducing the cart to splinters. “Now hold still so I can kill you for what you did to me!”
“I didn’t do anything to you!” the unicorn shot back as he threw another explosive.
“Guess you forgot about the changeling and the chemicals. Brain surgery should remedy that.” the monster morphed again, both of its forelegs turning into massive scythes as it pursued the unicorn. Not wanting her ally to get hurt, Rainbow raced down and swung at the beast, but only succeeded in knocking off a chunk of mud that the creature quickly absorbed. She tried using her heat vision, but other than getting an angry roar from the monster it had no effect. The thing kept advancing, its attacks ripping through steel and concrete as it tried to kill the unicorn.
“Nothing’s working!” she grumbled after another failed attempt to use her heat vision. The unicorn ducked under another attack and ran towards Rainbow.
“If you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them.” he said as he turned to face the creature.
“Oh, so now you’re asking for my help? Whatever happened to working alone?”
“I think I’ll make an exception for now.” the two backed up as the monster neared, Rainbow looking back at the slowly approaching river. “Now would be good.”
“... I think I’ve got something.” Rainbow turned and flashed-stepped passed the creature, grabbing one of the empty barrels in her hooves. She took off and raced towards the river, flying low and scooping up a large amount of water in the barrel. She turned around and flew back towards the monster, stopping short and allowing the water to leave the barrel and splash the creature.
“How is that supposed to work?” the unicorn asked. “If anything, you’ve made him harder to beat.”
“Watch this.” Rainbow took a deep breath before breathing a stream of ice at the creature. It roared in anger and tried to advance, but Rainbow’s freezing breath reached the liquid aspect of the monster and began to freeze it solid. The creature’s advance slowed as more ice built up inside it, its weapons stopping inches away from the unicorn. When she was certain the creature was frozen, Rainbow stopped her attack and took a few more breaths.
“Freezing... I should have thought of that.” Rainbow gave a small chuckle before landing.
“That thing said you were responsible for this.” she looked to the unicorn. “What did it mean?”
“It used to be a pony. He starred in several older horror films, and I guess you can say that he became his most famous role: a monster called Clayface.”
“How does that explain the mud?”
“I pursued him to a chemical factory last year, during the changeling scare. He was captured by one, but before I could stop it or he could break free the two fell into a vat of a chemical called SM-0023.” he nodded towards the frozen monster. “The chemicals mutated him into this thing.”
“Ah...” Rainbow looked to “Clayface”, then back to the unicorn.
“So, do you still think I’m the pony that tried to kill you?”
“... No.” Rainbow sighed. “You... you don’t seem like him. You could have betrayed me anytime you liked, but you didn’t... I still don’t trust you, though.”
“I can live with that.” there was a pause before Rainbow spoke again.
“So... Batpony, huh?”
“That’s what everypony else calls me. I’m not going to stop you if you feel like calling me that.”
“What do you call yourself?” the only response Rainbow got was a more intense glare.
“You best leave before somepony sees you and makes a scene.”
“And what about you?” Blueblood pulled something out of a pouch on his belt, something Rainbow could not see clearly.
“I need to follow up on some leads.”
................
“You realize, that this is a very grave matter you’re presenting?” the pony fidgeted around, trying his best to remain calm as his boss paced in front of him. Yes, he had managed to get away from Supermare and the Batpony, but now he was wishing he had gotten captured instead.
“W-we almost got away-”
“Oh sure. And then you had to go and get Batpony on your tail, and now I seem to be short one mud monster.” the other pony leaned in closer. “I knew I should have picked some other guys; they at least would be careful to avoid dirtying my image.”
“I-it wasn’t our fault! Supermare showed up and she-”
“Wait... Supermare?” the pony nodded before his boss backed up. “Well, that changes things. Tell you what.”
“What?”
“I’m willing to let all of this go, wipe it clean, as it were, in exchange for that little piece of information that Stupidmare is working with the Bat.” the boss held out his hoof. “C’mon. Just shake on it and everything will be fine.”
“Uh, okay.” the pony reached out with his hoof, and had little time to react before his boss grabbed him and sprayed a cloud of green gas into his face.
“Oh, I’m glad to see that you’re so happy about this.” the boss giggled. “Guess they were right when they said that mud was good for your complexion.” the last thing the pony heard before dying was a low chuckle that grew into a horrific cackle as the victim's face twisted into a rictus grin.