60 The worlds worst team
(3rd Person POV)
- Gotham City -
- 6:15 PM -
"Six million cash? Straight from the vault?"
Three men are standing in front of an empty vault and one of them is taking photos for a story.
"Yeah. The maniac knows how to plan a heist, all right. Freak always leaves riddles behind too."
"And here I was thinking the Bat dealt with him."
"He did. Something must have happened to warrant this. Any insight, Bullock? Captain?"
"Off the record, Charlie? Not a clue.", Gordon says.
*Click*
"Has he seen it?", Charlie asks as he takes a photo.
"I wouldn't know. Maybe ... most probably.", Gordon says.
"If so he has two mysteries to solve."
"It's okay we run it? You're not worried about Copycats?", Charlie asks.
"I'm more concerned about what Riddler's trying to ask us. He was silent for years now, since his first appearance and now this. File your photos with the wire service immediately. Blast the riddle far and wide. There has to be someone out there who can make heads or tails of it.", Gordon says.
.
- Metropolis -
- 8:30 PM -
"What's got your attention, Jim?", Clark Kent asks.
"This. It's weird, Clark."
"How so?"
"Boy, Gotham's a mess. First all those disappearances. Now some crook called the Riddler flees the mental asylum and leaves the cops with this.", Jim says and hands Clark the tablet.
"Looks like a foreign language. I don't recognize it at all. You?", Jim asks and leaves.
[Picture]
"It's kryptonese!", Clark recognises the language of course.
.
- Gotham; Police station -
"You're getting sloppy. I can hear your cape this time. I was half expecting-", Gordon says and turns around, "- Superman? I don't believe a man could ... fly."
"A pleasure to meet you, Captain Gordon. I've heard nothing but good things. I wish I were here under better circumstances. I saw the riddle. I was hoping you could tell me more about the man who left it.", Superman asks him.
"Thief. Leaves clues pointing to his crimes. The boys in psych say it's a compulsive disorder stemming from extreme narcissism. Evidently, the Riddler can't help but 'taunt us with his genius'. The strange thing is that he has been silent for years now, after his first encounter with Batman. But now ... he seems to be back and admittedly, he may have us this time.", Gordon explains.
"Not necessarily. This message ... I don't know the solution, but it's written in a dialect of my homeworld. No one on this planet has ever seen it."
"Then how could he have learned it? Are there any other Kryptonisans walking the Earth?"
"Not to my knowledge. What does Batman have to say about this?", Superman asks.
"He doesn't speak a lot. He acts. And when he does, he gets things done. But he hasn't done anything for now. I am completely in the dark here. Usually, he finds us. We have no way to signal him ... though that's not the worst idea.", Gordon sighs.
"Never mind, I will find him. Thank you Captain.", Superman says and flies out of the room.
.
- Gotham; Diamond Exchange -
"You two nearly ruined a perfect crime. Spellbinder commands you to jump.", a criminal dressed in a weird costume tells two security officers to jump from the roof.
The two security workers do just that and fall off the building they were on. As they fall two people see this happen but only one of them acts. A red and blue blur arrives and carries the two men to the ground.
The second one, a black and red suit, appears behind the 'Spellbinder'. The spellbinder turns around after he sees someone saving the two officers and bumps into something. He falls to the ground and rubs his head.
"Ow ... what was ... that ... Batman!", he recognises the figure standing in front of him and unintentionally begins to tremble ever so slightly. It doesn't matter whether Gotham has a vigilante or hero ... there will always be criminals sprouting like weed.
"Delbert Billings AKA Spellbinder. Using optical devices to hypnotize victims ... let's talk."
"No ... Noo ... NOOOOO- AAAARRRHHH!!", Spellbinder screams his lungs out because of the pain he is feeling. Batman knows how to give people pain and he is a master at mental warfare. With a tap of a few pressure points, he makes the man scream and tell him anything he wants.
"Talk before-"
"That's enough, Batman!", the voice of Superman is heard and he grabs Batman's hand.
...
There is one rule ... you don't touch Batman ... and you don't, never ever stand in his way. Because if you do ...
Batman turns his head to look at Superman. Superman has all sorts of visions, but still can't look past the visor of Batman's suit. Even if he can't see his eyes and face, the air changes. It feels to him like a beast has just laid its eyes on him and is ready to devour him. He suddenly remembers something ... a particular scene that happened when the two first met ... he sees the picture ... of Batman holding his heart!!!
He starts to sweat, which should be biologically impossible for Superman because he is incapable of sweating. He recognises this emotion. Something he hasn't felt ... in decades and never like this ... fear. Raw and unbridled fear of the being that stands in front of him.
Unknowingly, Superman lets go of Batman's hand and takes a step back.
Batman looks at Spellbinder again and the latter begins to spill all the beans. He tells him that it was a scheme to get his attention away from his partner Magpie.
*BANG*
Batman knocks Spellbinder out and cuffs him. These are special cuffs. They not only cuff someone but also paralyse them.
.
"Why didn't you save the two guards?", Superman asks him.
"I knew you would."
"And how did you know I was even here? Who tells you that I could reach them?"
"I do my research. I'm not schizophrenic.", Batman says and flies into the air. Superman looks at him confused. But things get clear a moment later. As Batman floats in the air, a plane shoots towards him and 'absorbs' him. At least that's what it looks like.
In truth, the Batwing's front phased through Batman and he landed in his seat, ready to shoot off, which he does.
*BOOM*
Superman sees this and flies after him. The two fly through the city and find a speeding car with three people inside it. Suddenly some kind of blaster comes out of the Batwing. Superman widens his eyes and is just about to intervene when the shot happens.
Superman appears in front of the shot and gets hit. The recoil doesn't happen, instead something else happens that confuses him. In his confusion, he doesn't notice the second shot, that impacts the car.
The speeding car suddenly leaves the ground and starts to ... float. The three people inside of the car are confused.
"What is going on?"
"What are you doing?! Drive faster!!"
"I ... I'm trying ... We're floating!!"
*BONK*
They hear someone land on the car and the car then slowly begins to sink to the ground again. Then the person jumps to the front and looks through the windshield at the three.
"Get out!", Batman tells them and all of them nod their heads and get out.
He knocks them all out and cuffs them as well. Then he motions for the Batwing to shoot at the car again and it sinks to the ground fully and stays there.
Superman lands on the ground ... somewhat and looks at Batman confused.
"What was that? What did you shoot me with?"
"It made your density less than the air, causing you to float. You didn't have to get in the way."
"I have to actively fly against this to keep myself on the ground! Reverse it."
"No."
"What? Why not?"
"Welcome to Gotham, Superman."
.
"We can work together."
"Why would I want that? Do you think because we were at the same place when fighting the Parademons, we are a team? The Justice League is a good idea, but it will give rise to opposition. Asking others for help is good, but announcing ourselves as a team is not a good idea.
Too much fear will lead to the opposite of the desired effect. Trust me, I know my way around that.", Batman says as he makes his way to the Batwing.
"What kind of man are you?"
"The worst kind."
"*Sigh* ... Look. Do you know the language? Can you speak kryptonese?"
"I don't have a translator for trashy languages."
"... Are you kidding."
"Yes. I do in fact have that."
"No what I ... *sigh* ... so you do speak kryptonese?"
"Yes. I created a translator for it and then learned the language. It's not that hard.", Batman says as they reach the Batwing.
"Then you know what-"
"'Poor people have it. Rich people need it. If you eat it, you die. What is it?'. Believe me now?"
"So you do know kryptonese. I am impressed. It is a hard language to learn. Do you know the ans-"
"Nothing."
"Yes, I got nothing bu-"
"No. The answer is nothing. Are you familiar with what the media's been calling 'the ghosting of Gotham?'. Over the last two weeks, seven people have suddenly vanished into thin air. Most of them are in front of eyewitnesses, each one sooner than the last.
Random victims. No common location, no relationship whatsoever between them. They just become-"
"Nothing."
"There's no coincidence in Gotham. I have an idea about what went down, but still need more time."
"Look, no offence, but if the Riddler's somehow in league with another Kryptonian, you are not up for that fight. I'm not leaving Gotham unprotected against someone with powers.
I welcome teamwork. We're on the same side, at least for now. That said, I'm not inclined to automatically trust men who hide their faces. I'm respecting your privacy, but I have to ask: Who's under the mask?", Superman asks.
"Quite the nerve you got there. You think because you don't wear a mask you are more open? Don't kid yourself. Who I am is of no concern to you. You dont' do that either do you? So don't spout hypocritical BS in front of me."
"I'm not wearing a-"
"I doubt when you were born, your parents named you Sperman. You speak with an ordinary midwestern accent - Kansas most likely. Mannerisma, subtleties, the way you think ... other than your abilities and biology there is really nothing alien about you.
I've been keeping a close eye on you, for a long time now. People may assume you are on duty 24/7, but they are just sheep after all. To understand you have to compare notes.
Worldwide, Superman tends to be seen a lot less during American office hours. You have a day job.", Batman says and sits into the Batwing.
*VROOOM*
The Batwing's engine roars to life. Batman has done upgrades to this bad boy and he has created many ways to travel through space with it. He can even reach faster than light speeds with it, by travelling similar routes as Green Lantern does, through Hyperspace.
He got the idea for that when he hacked into the computers in Oa and copied all of their knowledge. Green Lanterns travel through hyperspace using their rings and it was rather a simple matter for Batman to replicate this technology.
"Can we get back to the Riddler?"
"No. Gotham's mine. And if you can't see that, then you may need ... new glasses.", Batman says and shoots off in the Batwing.
Superman's eyes widen at that comment and he is just about to fly after him, when a black portal opens in front of the Batwing and he flies through it. It closes instantly afterwards, giving Superman no chance to ask him what that was about.
If you mess with the bull, you get the horns Superman ... welcome to Gotham.
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Note: You guys shouldn't care about the timeline. It is already messed up badly and it doesn't matter. Just enjoy the story.
So this story is the thing I thought of, for bringing the Riddler back. He is needed for a future short arc.
