//------------------------------// // Masks // Story: Batmare Beyond // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// "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.