Rise of Batmare
The past two years had seemed to blur for Bruce. Between the tail end of what he could teach Rarity about the family business - and business in general - helping her reach black belt level in the three martial arts he had taught her, and continuing to introduce her to society, time just seemed to fly by faster than Kal El. At some points, he wondered about how the only major things in his life were now about Rarity, but such thoughts were quickly discarded. According to the parenting books he'd read when she was younger, the child's accomplishments became the primary source of pride for good parents once they reached a certain age, so he took that to mean he was doing a good job.
Only a few major changes had occurred over the past two years that even showed any time had passed. The first was when Rarity had arranged for Wayne Enterprises to flat out acquire Powers Technology. As she'd put it, "I was already making all the decisions and having to countermand Derek through a shareholder's vote at every turn. This way I only have one set of paperwork to deal with, and I can focus on other things." Derek Powers had retained official authority over the departments that were part of Powers Tech, but he wasn't allowed to make any official policy decisions without clearing it higher up.
The second major change involved the McGinnis' boy, Terry. Rarity had continued to try to solve the mystery regarding him, but had nothing new to report. However, she had posited that she might learn more if she were able to observe Bruce and Terry interacting. Towards that end, on learning that Terry - as was normal for young boys - had an excess of energy, she had suggested to Warren and Mary that he might benefit from martial arts lessons. Since they had their hands full with Mary's pregnancy, Rarity had suggested that Terry join her in training with Bruce, since he could easily handle a second student. Once Warren and Mary had agreed, Bruce had been pleased to have another student to whom he could teach all the martial knowledge he had learned. He was glad that Rarity had shown no signs of jealousy there. If anything, she seemed even more interested as she watched Terry mimic Bruce's movements on the practice mats.
The third major change had been the increase in crime, especially with the formation of a gang calling themselves 'The Jokerz'. While they only engaged in vandalism and petty crime so far, the fact that they dressed up like and claimed to be acting in the traditions of The Joker was quite upsetting to Bruce, although at this point he refused to explain to Rarity why. As far as he was concerned, the less he talked specifics about his time as Batman, the less likely she would be to try and follow in his footsteps in that regard, and the better for her.
Having just turned 70 himself, he knew he was going to start to slow down before long, and the last thing he needed or wanted was to be stressed out over Rarity running around as a vigilante...or her doing so without him to watch over her. Still, she had started managing his diet to keep him in good shape, and the cane he now walked with was more aesthetic than necessity. That, and it had been left to him by Alfred, and had a very high quality sword concealed inside, just in case.
Today, he was training Terry once again. Rarity had excused herself from training earlier, saying she had something she needed to check on, and would be back shortly. Bruce had been distracted by how easily Terry was learning martial arts, and lost track of time until a device in his gym bag began giving off a rather loud alert.
"What's that, Mr. Wayne?" Terry asked. An enthusiastic eight-year-old, Rarity had had no trouble encouraging him to put his energy to assisting Bruce around the house during their training days to keep the aging man from straining himself unnecessarily. Bruce hadn't the heart to tell either youngster that, sometimes, their excessive youthful energy was more strain than doing things himself.
Walking over to the gym bag, he fished the device out and examined it, immediately seeing what the alarm was about. "It means it's time for you to go home, Terry."
"Aww!" Terry complained. He enjoyed training with Bruce, and when training ran late was often invited to join them for dinner. Bruce wasn't sure if it was the extra training or the elegant dinners Rarity prepared that Terry was more upset about missing out on.
"No complaints, Terry," Bruce chided. "You're here to learn discipline, amongst other things."
Terry sighed, then bowed respectfully to his teacher. "Yes, Sensei."
Bruce nodded. He pressed a button on the wall. "I've called up the robo-cab. Now go straight home."
"But I didn't get to say goodbye to Rarity," Terry pointed out. "She never came back."
"I'll give her your apologies," Bruce promised. "I'm going to check on her right now."
Guiding Terry out to his lift home, Bruce then went to check the source of the alarm. It quickly became clear what was going on. The entrance to the Batcave was open. Groaning, he climbed down the stairs, closing the entrance behind him and turning on the lights as he went. Reaching the bottom, he saw that the case for the last Bat Suit was open, and the suit was missing. Shaking his head in disappointment, he turned the computer system back on. Once it had powered up, he activated the suit communicator. "And just what do you think you're doing, Rarity?"
Rarity barely stifled a yelp as she pulled back into her hiding spot in the rafters of the building she had been scouting. "Father!" she hissed. "You have horrible timing!"
"Care to explain why you swiped the Bat suit, Rarity?" Bruce's voice came through the communicator.
"How did you find out so fast?" Rarity asked. "I'd run the scenarios, and I should have been out and back before your training with Terry was finished and you'd never have had to worry!"
"The suit displays have alarms that transmit to a device I carry with me at all times," Bruce replied, "just in case you tried something like this."
Rarity winced. "Touche."
"You didn't answer my question. Just what do you think you're doing?"
"What you trained and raised me to do, Father," Rarity replied. "Protect Gotham."
"...Explain."
"The Jokerz haven't been too much of a problem," Rarity began. "But recently, they began getting high power weapons to engage in more serious crimes. While this would normally only be of marginal interest, the weapons have Wayne Enterprises logos on them, marking them as being manufactured by our company."
"Wayne Enterprises has never manufactured weapons!" Bruce replied hotly.
"That I well know," Rarity replied. "As does Commissioner Gordon, which is why she's been keeping that part under wraps as the police investigate the situation...but I've begun an investigation of my own."
"What have you found out?"
"The weapons are being manufactured with Wayne Enterprises resources, but off the books...from the Powers Technologies part of the company." Her teeth gnashed. "Derek Powers has been arms dealing with the criminal element of Gotham City, and he's dragging our family name through the mud in the process. He thinks if he's able to disgrace us in public opinion, he'll be able to push the Board of Directors to make you retire before I'm old enough to take over the company, and then maneuver the company around until he can take control."
Bruce was silent for a time. "And you haven't reported all this to Barbara because...?"
"I have," Rarity replied. "Unfortunately, I don't have any proof that she can act on, and given she's quietly investigating into our family and our business, she can't just take my word for it."
"So you decided to take them down yourself?" Bruce replied, sounding disgusted.
"Please," Rarity replied. "I'd have been more than happy to just use an official internal company audit to smoke him out...except that would take two weeks, and I only have two days to prevent something horrible."
"What do you mean?" Bruce asked.
"Two days from now, there's a charity concert for the Widows and Orphans of Law Enforcement," Rarity explained. "Lots of money coming in, lots of young children and easy hostages...and lots of press. The Jokerz - under Powers' direction - intend to use the weapons marked with our company logo to attack the concert. That will put the gangs using weapons 'from Wayne Enterprises' on front page news. Whether or not anyone got hurt, that publicity could drastically damage the company...or a the very least, lay the path for Derek Powers - who cares more for the bottom line than for the people of the city - to make a power play. And if he'll go this far, what won't he do to make more money? For the sake of this city, he and the Jokerz have to be stopped now! And it must be by someone who has no official connection to the matter. ...Gotham needs its Dark Knight to return."
"Although I agree with your reasoning," Bruce replied after a time, "what makes you think I'll let you risk yourself to pull it off?"
Rarity smiled. "How would you stop me?"
"The suit has a remote shutdown circuitry and remote control functions."
Rarity chuckled. "Had, I'm afraid. See, I used my outfit manipulation spell to shape it to my frame-"
"And you think 'Batmare' won't be connected to the only unicorn in Gotham?"
"I don't intend to let anyone see anything but what I want them to see," Rarity replied primly. "My illusion spells may have been limited before...but the remote shutdown and control circuitry was cannibalized into magic amplification circuitry around my horn. Quite tingly."
Bruce was silent for a long while. "Nothing I say will convince you to come back, will it?"
"I guess I'm a little too much my father's daughter," Rarity replied lovingly.
Bruce sighed. "Be careful. I'm still going to spot you. I've already gained access to the local security cameras."
"Thank you Father." With that, Rarity returned to her position gazing in the window.
Seeing below her Derek Powers' agent beginning the weapons deal with the Jokerz, she decided to put her plan into action. Charging her horn, she called a bolt of lightning between to clouds up above and behind her, the peal of thunder instantly drawing attention as the flash created the classic bat silhouette.
"Batman?" one of the male Jokerz gasped in shock.
"Can't be!" another proclaimed. "He's dead!"
Smiling to herself, Rarity dropped from the window to the floor, wings spread from her forelegs to conceal her exact shape.
One of the Jokerz laughed. "No way that's Batman!" he proclaimed. "Way too small!"
"Must be some sort of Bat drone or something," one of the female Jokerz laughed. "Some new tool of the cops!"
"Take it out!" the leader proclaimed, cocking his new gun.
Rarity released her next spell. A wave of absolute darkness in the shape of a nightmarish bat spread from her body to cover the entire warehouse, plunging the Jokerz into darkness.
"This city...I protect it..." she growled, doing her best to make her voice gravely. "Time is no barrier...Death is no barrier...you defile my city...you answer to me!"
As she spoke, she warped around them with quick teleport spells, striking them in pressure points, disarming and disabling them. The overall act had left them in gibbering panic, many of them having dropped their weapons and starting to try and crawl away.
With one last warp, she pushed them all into a corner, and the darkness congealed into the image of a demonic bat. "Confess!" she growled.
They all screamed once in terror, and all of them began to open their mouths to babble out their crimes. In the instant their mouths opened, however, they all went perfectly still.
Dropping her illusion spells, Rarity breathed a sigh of relief. "Still a bit of an effort to maintain an illusion and teleport at the same time," she admitted.
"What did you do?" Bruce asked.
"I put their minds to sleep without informing their bodies," Rarity replied. "Useful spell." Calling up a Hoverbat, she used her telekinesis to pull the net down and bind the criminals up in it, storing the captured weapons in another net. "I've timed it well. It will wear off the moment these drones drop them off at the police station...and they'll eagerly confess every wrong doing they've ever committed to the police officers." The Hoverbat took off with its quarry.
Bruce was silent over the comms for a time. "Not bad for your first time under the cowl. A bit showy for my tastes, though."
"I was trying to conceal the fact that I was a unicorn and not a human or drone," Rarity pointed out.
"Still, you need to learn to conserve better. Your magic reserves are almost depleted."
"How did you know?" Rarity gasped, certain she'd been concealing the weariness and headache she'd been experiencing, sure signs she's pushed her magic too hard.
"Your suit's telling me. Now come on home, and we'll go over how you can improve for next time."
"Next time?" Rarity asked eagerly.
"You're right. Gotham needs its Dark Knight back. I'm too old, and nothing I say is going to convince you to stop. I might as well support you in it."
Smiling, Rarity took off with the jets attached to her hind hooves, using the wings under her forelegs to steer. Halfway home, though, she stopped to land atop an old church, bracing herself on all four hooves as she looked down at the city she was dedicating herself to protect.
It wouldn't be until much later, as lightning flashed again behind her, that she realized just how photogenic that pose had been.
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5716349 Oooh... That Would be interesting. Evil Pinkie as The Joker... or would she make a better two-face?
Hm, mind control magic to make the villains confess? Seems a little iffy. Then again, Batman has always walked that fine line between the law and going one step beyond, no pun intended.
I wonder how long this trick about concealing her shape will actually work. Sure, she can stay in the shadows and trick the random goons. But once she's up against a real villain, not everything will go according to plan. Wonder what'll happen then.
as I am a fan of bat man and the newer bat man area one name has not escaped my eyes. Terry McGinnis I just wonder how many other readers spotted the name?
a vary good chapter and a vary good batmare pose at the end.
you are doing a super good job with this story keep up the good work and pony on.
Nice.
5716822 This story needs a bit more than "nice". Don'cha think?
She is vengeance. She is the night...mare. She. Is. Batmare!
YEEEAAAHHH!
5716458
No mind control magic involved. She literally just scared them to the point they were willing to do anything to escape, gave them confessing as a means of escape, and then placed them where their confessions would get them locked up. That's basically the original Batman motive, except Batman did it by recording confessions. The entire Batman costume design, in Bruce's own words, is made to strike fear into criminal's hearts.
5716458
Not mind control magic. Rarity just use dramatic theatrics and a well timed variation of a 'sleep' spell so their bodies wouldn't feel like they were just waking up when they regained consciousness. When they recover, they are going to continue what they perceive as an uninterrupted babble of confession for a moment or two before they even realize that they've (from their point of view) suddenly appeared at the police station.
And that's just going to make some of them continue to babble confessions...
Police District Interview Room:
Jokerz gang thug #26 (Let's just call him 'Murray'): "And the year before that, I borrowed Dad's car without telling him, so I could do a beer run for the after game frat party celebrating the Gotham Knights first victory over the Metropolis Flyers in six years... And the month before that, I helped Jimmy, Brian, and Loewy rob the minimart over on the corner of Smith and Grover..."
Behind the one-way mirror:
Commisioner Barbara Gordon: "It's been two days and six interview rooms, and they are still going?"
Police Psychologist (His name is George, but I've decided to call him Dave instead): "The guy before him confessed to things all the way back to the first time he could remember shoplifting when he was six. And the guy before him apparently wet the bed until he was ten. I heard the stories of how effective Batman had been when he was operating, but to see it in person like this. These punks are terrified..."
Barbara: "And there was no trace of fear toxin or truth serum?"
'Dave': "Not a bit. Sure, some had traces of street drugs, but nothing to explain all this..."
Barbara (to herself): What the hell did you do, Bruce?
5717330
Your alt-scripts never cease to entertain.
I feel like I'm reading a script of Batman Beyond.
5717558
That's a high compliment.
DUN! DUN! DUN!
PHOTO PAPPARAZI IS HERE!
5717330 Not Bruce, My Dear Barbara.
His cute and deadly unicorn daughter did this!
How you ask?
Observe!
Unexplainable urge to speak the truth! No signs of chemicals nor imbalanced bodily chemicals.
Therefore it must be magic! And only one unicorn is around these parts!
"... You're just guessing, aren't you?"
Absolutely!
i.imgur.com/53OhOmG.gif
5717264 someone needs to convince batman to wear a yellow ring to watch 3 quarters of the universe and a few parallel dimensions crap themselves out of fear
5718695
Ranko means the return of joker movie, i think.
5716647
5716350
Given that Pinkie isn't in this world, and may or may not be doing her time with Kratos at this very moment, such would be impossible.
5716458 Actually Batman IS a criminal. Bruce Wayne is very much breaking the anti-vigilantism laws by doning the cape and cowl. In Dark Knight Returns he even acknowledges that both himself, and the entire JL are criminals. He SMIRKS while saying this. There is no walking a fine line between Legal and Illegal. Batman is a criminal. He simply does too damn good a job keeping the worse ones at bay for them to arrest him.
Mr. Joker, your 12:00 is in...
(Medic laugh)
5717264
Fair enough. But then it seems a little unreliable. They might sing when they wake up, but what's to stop them from recanting their testimony afterwards. (Though I suppose she neatly put the evidence in a bag next to them.)
I suppose the fear factor is a little higher when the bat returns after being thought dead.
5720342
Mostly the fear is because the entire act made them believe that Batman had returned from Hell as a Demon of Vengeance determined to protect the city he gave his life for. That's the sort of thing that sticks with you.
As for what's to stop them from recanting? Honestly, nothing...except it's being recorded by police and being offered completely voluntarily. Since the police didn't ask a single question or lay a hand on them, it's as binding as if they had a lawyer present and had been read their rights. "Confession against interest," I believe they called it in that one episode of Castle.
5720666 First, go look at the author of this work. Then go read Fortress Shy. That was where this all started. Then you can come back. I might even answer your question. However if by that point you really need an answer, you have bigger issues. Also, because I know you and others are thinking it, yes, I am an asshole. Rather proud of it too.
It wouldn't be until much later, when I post this comment, that Tatsurou realized that this sentence needs a few more words for it to make grammatical sense.
Does this mean there's a Bat-Mare Mite somewhere in the wings? Obviously, Terry is going to wind up as Robin.
5720951
A blast of lightning needs more active than passive voice.
Not bad Rarity, Nightmare Moon could do better though
5731875
Nightmare moon would be a tad overpowered for being Batman. Also, she would too brutal to be a good Batman.
5738537
While that is true, with enough training, discipline and patience she can be even more entertaining than batman (entertaining as in "she'll drag her opponents like a ragdol")
5731875 My OC is better than Batman. He was able to take down most of the justice league after turning down their offer to join them.
5808699 im afraid ur OC would not stand much chance against the Darkstar Army i developed which could, in theory, take down even God-Tier level threats such as Future Superman or Darksied with minimal difficulty. the Darkstars r fictional, technorganic organisms designed with modular subsystems so they can be adapted to just about any battlefield role or conditions. they r self powered, self directing, self repairing and connected via a network 'hivemind' while each is still fully able to act as an individual. oh, and after that, it gets even better, on the rare occasion that one of them does make a mistake, the unit will learn from the error, near instantly repair itself, share the data with all other Darstar Units and come back much stronger. in short, they never fall for the same trick twice...
ok, this has been bugging me for a while, but u say Rarity has achieved Black Belt in the martial arts she was taught...what level? going by the descriptions, i can only conclude that shes at First Dan, the lowest level of mastery
Nice!
Figures, Batman is NEVER unarmed.
Clever.
5720666 since this.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/222263/you-cant-spell-slaughter-without-laughter
I was thinking, given her natural timber and manner of speech, a somewhat raspy voice would be better suited. One which has a slight hollow sound to it.
Just my thoughts on the subject.
*resumes reading*
I was wondering that ever since I started this, nice to see you pulled it of.
6232522
But the weapon is the weakest part of Batman.
6453119
Um, shows how much you know about Batman. His greatest weapon is his MIND.
Good start, Rarity.
...well, that isn't ominous at all.
You mean Kal El as in Superman, right?
This would have been so awesome in real life! I'm not a fan of superheros or comics but man this is good!
Keep up the great work!
5717131 I love you...no homo...
5738537
Azrael maybe?
Cool
https://youtu.be/srUXSzau1-A
5717264