The Hero They Need

by MetalJrock

In the Shadows

Gaining feeling back into his body, Batman moved his arms. He pushed himself up from the ground, with him feeling grass beneath the armored gloves. Batman stood up, wondering where it is that he and Ra's had been sent to. 'Ra's...' he remembered. The Dark Knight turned his head, but the assassin was no where in sight. He looked down to see that his utility belt was still on his waist. 'He wants a fair fight... Good.' he deduced.

Batman started walking, wanting to stay in the shadows for the time. Night was his element after all, and with the moon still in the sky, that gave him an advantage to remain hidden. At least, until he figured out where he was at and if the people of this assumed different dimension were willing to have someone like Batman wandering around their world without any resistance.

'They're not going to have much choice. I have to stop Ra's no matter what.' Batman thought. He started to run, not stopping until he found a city or town, 'If there any. Ra's and I had to take a chance to jump anywhere in the multiverse. I can only hope that this is a civilized land and not a barren wasteland.'

Batman saw something in the distance, 'A city... Looks cleaner than Gotham at least. That's a start. From there I'll do recon and begin from there.' he thought, facing ahead and began sprinting. He peeked through the many trees, 'It's still night... From the looks of it, I only have a couple hours to do what I need to. Plenty of time.' he assured himself.

The vigilante found himself on the outskirts of the city, where at least no one could see him. Batman paced his way into the city, where he silently walked through the alleyways. 'Seems primitive here... I have to make sure that I'm not spotted.' he activated his Detective Vision on his cowl, giving him an x-ray view of his surroundings. 'Perfect. I can get an advantage from the rooftops.' he pulled out his grapnel gun and aimed it at the roof.

Batman pressed a button, activating the claw, which attached itself to the roof. With the rope pulling himself upward, Batman quietly landed on the rooftop. Kneeling down, the Dark Knight used the zoom feature of his cowl, getting a closer look at the city, 'Strange... The bone formations of the body are unlike a human's... Almost equine in nature...'

Zooming in, the Dark Knight spotted a castle within the city, 'So, the world is ruled by a monarchy. Quite uncommon in alternate dimensions.' Batman had been to plenty of different worlds while on missions with the Justice League before, so he had a source of reference in his hand, but unlike those missions he was alone.

"Oh man what a day..."

He deactivated his Detective Vision at the sound of a voice. Batman leaned forward, getting a closer look at the source of the voice. What he saw took him by surprise, 'Well, I was right...'

A horse walked nearby what appeared to be an apartment complex, he wore nothing but had a marking on its flank, 'So... This world seems to be populated by neon colored equines. That is... Peculiar. I also noticed a horn on this head... Meaning that it's a unicorn. Great... I ended up in some child's coloring book.'

Batman hopped to another roof, staying out of sight as much as he could. The Dark Knight saw another pony, this one without a horn, but with wings instead. 'A pegasus...' he noted, observing that unlike the unicorn he saw earlier, this one wore clothes, 'So in this world, clothes are an option for style as opposed to a necessity. And what do the marks on their flanks mean?' he asked himself.

Jumping to another building, Batman reactivated his Detective Vision on his cowl, spotting more equines. "Hmm..." he hummed, seeing that unlike the other ponies, these seemed to wear armor, 'Why would they need to wear armor?' zooming in, the detective got a closer look.

"Man... Who knew Canterlot can be quiet during Luna's night?" an armored pony asked, this one not having wings or a horn, meaning that it was a regular horse.

"I know... Makes you wonder why we're even out here patrolling." the other responded.

'Hopefully you'll never find out.' Batman thought. 'Now I know that the royalty here has an army protecting their world. That will prove to be a complication if I'm ever discovered.'

Batman hopped off the building and safely landed in a dark alleyway, where he could continue without being noticed. Luckily, none of the guard ponies saw him from the roof, so he could move and observe in peace.

A few hours passed and Batman got the information he needed, 'I'm in a city called Canterlot, where two princesses who could control the sun and moon live. Their guards patrol around Equestria, and the species are pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies. Alright, with this I have enough info to find Ra's without anymore surprises.' he recapped in his head.

The sun began to beam in the distance, ruining Batman's advantage. The Dark Knight ran back to an alleyway, where he hoped no one would walk to his location. Light overtook the darkness eventually, meaning that Batman had to be more careful not to draw too much attention on him until he left.

"Hey, what's that?"

'Oh no... Not what I wanted now...' he groaned in his head.

A guard walked up to him, "Excuse me whatever it is you are, but we've never seen anything like you before..." the pony said, trembling in his spot, but sounding brave at the same time. "And I was hoping to ask you a few questions."

Batman used his Detective Vision to see the pony's heartbeat, 'Rapidly rising... He's scared. Good. That gives me an advantage.' the Dark Knight walked closer to the stallion, who shook more the closer Batman got to him.

"U-Uh... Y-You're under arrest? For resistance?" the statement was more of a question than a demand.

"No... If you excuse me. I'll be on my way. I don't have time to deal with you." Batman walked away as he said this, remaining in the shadows while doing so.

Something hit Batman in the back, catching him off guard for just a moment. The Dark Knight stumbled in his spot, feeling his back ache slightly. Batman turned around, seeing the unicorn's horn glow slightly, 'They have magic. Of course...' he sighed inwardly.

"I've got backup coming. You're coming with me if you know what's good for you!" the scared unicorn threatened.

For a brief moment, a thin smirk appeared on Batman's face. "You think I'm afraid of you?" he asked the unicorn in a stern tone. "I'm not... You will regret doing that."

The unicorn trembled, his eyes widening at the sight of Batman towering over him, "Please don't hurt me!" he begged, kneeling down in fright. "I'm only doing my job!"

'I know that, but no one here can know about me yet. And you acted too quickly for your good. Sloppy on your part.' the detective thought, "Sorry, but you hit me with magic. So I'm afraid that I'm going to resort to self-defense." as Batman raised his fist, something held him back. 'Magic... Great.'

A small group of guards. The unicorn in front had his horn glowing, revealing that he was the one holding Batman back. Some earth ponies and pegasi grouped next to him, ready to arrest the vigilante in an instant once he was down.

'They only trapped the one arm...' his other hand reached into his utility belt. He grabbed one of his batarangs. Swiftly, Batman threw it next to the leading unicorn, scaring it enough so that he was too distracted to use his magic. "Good." he said. The guards realized that Batman was free and all ran toward him.

The guard that found him tried to tackle him, but Batman grabbed his forehoof and threw him over his shoulder, avoiding his sloppy attack with ease. The unicorn got back up and attempted to shoot Batman with magic once again, but this time the Dark Knight was prepared, flipping to the side to dodge.

'I can't use too much of my tools. I need as much as I can for when I fight Ra's, so I'm going to have to resort to close quarter combat for now until I take inventory.' he noted to himself, landing back on his feet.

Batman dived to the left, dodging another beam of magic by the guard. The vigilante knelt down, ready to dodge again should the unicorn make another move. Instead, the Dark Knight saw the guard pant in his spot and not shooting at him.

'So... He wore himself out.' he thought. Batman grabbed the guard and punched him in the jaw, the pony tried to kick him, but Batman saw it coming and countered by slamming his palm to his face, hurting him but enough to knock him unconscious.

The other gueards watched the fight in awe as Batman got up. They all got ready to take in the vigilante, but were unaware of what they got themselves into. Batman cracked his knuckles, prepared to fight again.

"So. Any of you willing to have a go?"

Comments

[NightWallopingNuggets]

Wow.

[edCOM02]

Fear the Knight!

[moonlightmare]

More!

[Texus]

I admit that I'm not the biggest Batman fan, but I kind of loved him as a kid, and this story isn't bad till now.

[Victus454]

I don't know what it is but something feels off about this chapter, otherwise it good

[Dartack]

7327820

I know what you mean, for me it was Batman dosen't fight law enforcement. He dose only what he needs to to disengage and escape.
That and I have a real hard time believing ponies in plate armor could get the drop on Batman.

[batran]

So Batman doesn't explain that approaching the guard and him saying he's under arrest for resistance is an absolutely stupid analogy?

[Marcthelightspark2004]

Exellent, and nice use of a realm crystal.

[LordCommander]

I feel like not turning him into a bat pony was a missed opportunity