The Rainbooms trace a bunch of magic-infected items to Gotham City, where they come face-to-face with the legendary Batman.
Magic continues to leak from Equestria to the human world. Fortunately, Twilight Sparkle's inventions have been able to track the magic-infused objects, and the Rainbooms set out on yet another adventure. The bad news is the items have been moved to Gotham City. The seven young women will have to dive head-first into the most crime-ridden city in the country, hoping their magic abilities will be enough to protect them, and hoping they can avoid a confrontation with Gotham's resident vigilante, the Batman. Then again, trouble has a habit of finding them.
My attempt to cross Equestria Girls with my favorite cartoon of all time, Batman the Animated Series. Coverart by Little Tigress
As the night wore on, the streets of Gotham City were barely illuminated by the few lamps the city had seen fit to install. There were also the police blimp and helicopter lights shining down into the street, but even with them, the town seemed to emit shadows from everywhere at once. Few cars drove down the paved roads in the darkness. One of those cars that stood out was a small, bright blue bus, painted with rainbow streaks and musical notes. This bus held a group of seven young women, barely out of high school, and out of their element.
Taking another glance at her computer, running off the mobile hotspot they'd brought with them, Twilight called out "Turn left at the next intersection, Applejack." The farmer in the driver's seat followed the instructions easily.
"Remind me again why we decided to drive all the way out to the most crime-ridden city in the country?" squeaked Fluttershy, poking her head out from behind the seat. "We just got here and already this place is giving me goosebumps."
"No need to worry, Fluttershy," insisted Pinkie. "We've got magic super powers on our side! What could possibly go wrong?"
"Never say that out loud," said Applejack. "It's just askin' for trouble."
"Remember, we need to track down that loose Equestrian magic," said Sunset. "Thank God Twilight's new scanner picked it up before it left the city, or we'd be none the wiser. Luckily, it doesn't seem to have created any evil she-demons this time."
"I, for one, hope we find it before it does," added Rarity. "All the high-stress adventures are not good for my complexion."
"Your complexion is fine, Rarity," replied Rainbow, who was scanning the building tops with a set of night-vision goggles. "Do you think we'll get to see him? The Batman?" The eagerness in her voice was palpable.
"Rainbow Dash!" snapped Twilight. "We've got more important things to worry about than you getting a selfie with that vigilante!"
"Hey, I don't need a selfie! Although, that would be nice. I'd be happy just to get a glimpse of him! How awesome is it that some guy, without magic, just goes out at night and pummels criminals to a pulp with his bare hands?!"
"I reckon, if a guy spends his nights dressing as a bat, he's got some unresolved issues," said Applejack.
"You don't think he'd...beat us up, do you?" whimpered Fluttershy.
"We haven't broken the law," Sunset replied, reassuringly putting a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder. "Besides, we probably won't even see him. According to the articles I've read, most people in Gotham haven't ever caught a glimpse." At the sight of Rainbow Dash's quivering lower lip, she added "Then again, when have any of our trips ever gone according to plan?"
"I hope this one does," said Twilight. "We just need to find whatever objects the magic has infected, suck the magic into my device, then send it back through the portal once we return to Canterlot."
"It does sound simple enough, darling," said Rarity. "Though, as Sunset stated, we have a habit of running into trouble when we're least expecting it."
"Doesn't mean we'll bump into Bat-Nut," replied Applejack. "Of course, we'd better not run into any of the super-criminals that seem to congregate around this town, either." She shivered. "If we meet that Joker guy, all bets are off."
"How bad can a clown be, Applejack?" demanded Pinkie. Rarity pulled up an article on her phone, and passed it to the party girl. As her eyes skimmed the words, Pinkie's smile was quickly replaced with a nervous frown. "Never mind."
"Anyway, we'd better stay on track," continued Twilight. "Make a right at the next intersection, Applejack." She consulted her computer screen once again. "It looks like the magic objects have stopped moving up ahead."
"Where exactly did they stop?" asked Sunset.
"Looks like the building's been abandoned for years." Twilight, ever the punctual, had already opened another tab, and was scanning information. "It used to be Gotham City's main opera house, but it shut down after competitors drove it out of business."
"Interesting," noted Sunset. "Everybody got their pendants? We may need to bust out our rainbow laser powers yet again on this trip." A chorus of the word "yes" echoed throughout the bus.
"But we should be careful about that," said Rainbow. "If we go all Harmony Magic outside, I don't think we'll be able to cover it up. What if we're all over the internet by tomorrow morning?"
Sunset shrugged. "That might just be a chance we have to take."
Soon enough, the Rainbooms reached the outside of the printing press building. They parked the bus a block away, just to make sure they didn't alert anybody inside. Outside the actual building, a large, black truck was parked, lacking any driver. The back was locked, of course, but the lock was easily undone by Twilight's telekinesis. Once inside, Twilight took out her magic-detecting scanner, and began tracing it over every surface inside the truck.
"There's traces of Equestrian magic here, alright," she noted. "They obviously carried whatever the items were inside."
"Then we're going in as well," said Applejack. "How're we gonna do this?"
Sunset was way ahead of her, zipping open a duffel bag they'd brought along. Inside were seven balaclava masks that Rarity had sewn up, color-coded for convenience, that only left their eyes uncovered. The idea had been brought up by Fluttershy once they'd left Canterlot, who'd been concerned about the girls' identities and magic being exposed to outside cities. Sunset crammed her head into her mask, and the others followed suit. She also produced a tiny earpiece with a microphone attached, and put it on. Another invention of Twilight's, the earpieces allowed them to communicate on a closed channel, and had a range of up to one-hundred feet.
"I'd suggest we find another entrance," she started, taking command. "After all, we have no idea what's going on in there, and this is the most crime-ridden city in the country. Fluttershy, Pinkie, you're on lookout duty. Any trouble comes, you let us know. Everyone else is with me. Pinkie, you got ammunition?"
Pinkie reached into her hair, pulling out a bottle of sprinkles. "Like you even need to ask?"
"Good," replied Sunset. "Let's get this show on the road."
A few hours earlier...
Commissioner James Gordon and Lieutenant Harvey Bullock sat inside the commissioner's office, going through the latest case files. Gotham City had been relatively quiet in terms of criminal activity over the past few weeks, but in their experience, that was never a good sign. Several of Arkham Asylum's super-criminals remained on the loose, and nobody had been able to pick up their trails. Exactly what was coming, nobody could say, but it couldn't have been good.
"Do we really have to wait here for him, Commish?" demanded Bullock. "I don't see why we don't just set up a stakeout and take out anybody we see breakin' the law."
"We don't have all the details, Lieutenant," replied Gordon. "And, need I remind you, he's never steered us wrong before. He's a good man, and we should be grateful for his help." Bullock rolled his eyes.
"Thank you, Jim," came a voice from the shadows. Both police officers nearly jumped out of their chairs, before their eyes followed the sound to the corner. A pair of white eyes stared back at them, before the man attached to them, cloaked in his black cape, stepped forward.
"No matter how many times you do that, I never get used to it," said Gordon with a sigh.
"Good," said Batman. "That means I'm not losing my touch."
"Tell me you at least got something for us, pal," demanded Bullock. "We've got officers combing the streets for these so-called 'new weapons' you told us about, and we've found nothing."
Batman reached into his cape and pulled out a small roadmap, upon which a red trail was drawn. "From the information I've gathered, a group of low-ranking thugs somehow got their hands on these new weapons in Canterlot City. They decided to auction them off here in Gotham. The auction's going down tonight."
"Good to know," replied Gordon. "Any idea what's so special about these weapons?"
"All my informants could tell me is that they're unlike anything Gotham's ever seen. I'll try to obtain or destroy them."
"Where's the auction happening?"
"The old Gotham Opera House. It's been deserted for years. Criminals use it for stuff like this all the time."
"Great!" said Bullock, sounding cheerful for the first time that night. "I'll scramble a team and—"
"I wouldn't recommend it," replied Batman. "We don't know exactly what these weapons are capable of. If the crooks see a swarm of cops, they might bust those guns out, and we can't prepare for them. I don't want to risk anybody if we don't have to. Send a small team of observers down, and call in the SWAT if anything goes wrong."
"Hey, you don't give orders to the police, Zorro!" Bullock snapped, standing out of his chair.
"Lieutenant," said Gordon, sternly. He didn't verbalize the threat, but it was there. Bullock got the message, glumly sinking back down into his seat.
"Thank you, Jim," said Batman.
"Hey, you're the one who gets results," replied Gordon. He looked down at the pile of documents on his desk, before turning to a filing cabinet, and pulling out a piece of paper. "This is the floor plan for the—" He stopped, because Batman was already gone.
"Doesn't he ever stop doing that?" demanded Bullock.
Gordon sighed as he slumped in his chair. "Someday, I'm going to figure out how he does that. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday."
Word had spread like wildfire throughout the Gotham underworld. The two criminals, Zachery Pierce and Samuel Breach, had apparently gotten their hands on some really impressive artillery during a trip, and rather than keep it for themselves, they were selling it to the highest bidder. Nobody knew exactly what the weapons were, or why the two thugs were hyping them up so much, but any crook who mattered was coming to the auction to bid on them. Rupert Thorne had sent several of his best men, trusting them to use their own judgment. Oddly enough, as the assembled thugs looked around the derelict opera house, they noticed none of Gotham City's resident super criminals who were currently on the loose were in attendance. No Joker, no Penguin, no Scarecrow. Some wondered why. Still, that meant less competition.
The thugs filed into the seats facing the stage. Two floodlights were pointed at the stage to illuminate it. Standing in the middle, where everyone could see them, were Sam and Zack, along with three metal cases. A pair of goons stood on each side of the stage, hired by the duo for security purposes. Sam and Zack figured the price had been worth it, as once the auction was over, they'd be rolling in cash. Criminals continued to file into the opera house, taking their seats. After about an hour, Zack signaled to their bodyguards, who moved around and shut all the ground floor doors, locking them with chains.
Zack stepped into the center of the spotlights. "Greetings, my fellow fugitives of the law!" he announced, throwing both arms out for emphasis. "I trust you all know why we're here. My associate and I have discovered several weapons which, in the right hands, could make Gotham City yours to dominate! Shall we start the bidding at—"
"Wait a minute, buddy!" interrupted Sam. "We need to show 'em what these things can do, remember? Who's gonna buy anything without seeing what it can do first?" A chorus of agreements rose up from the crowd.
Zack rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. We'll do a quick demonstration," he acquiesced. He snapped his fingers, drawing the attention of their guards. One of the goons wheeled out a heavy granite block on a metal cart, while Sam went to the first metal suitcase. Popping it open, he pulled out what appeared to be an ordinary handgun, albeit one that was colored gold.
"Okay, gentlemen!" he began. "First, I want you to take note of the fact that this pistol is, in fact, unloaded." He showed the gun to the crowd, and indeed, there was no magazine in the gun. Satisfied, Sam cocked the gun, aimed it at the granite block, and fired.
No bullet emerged from the gun's muzzle. Instead, a large white sphere, about the size of a watermelon, burst from inside it, zooming towards the block. The projectile easily cleaved through the top of the granite, sending a spray of dust down to the floor. As it went, the sphere decreased in size, until it faded from existence. In the crowd of thugs, several jaws dropped.
"As far as we can figure, this gun never needs to be reloaded!" declared Zack.
Those words were greeted by roars of applause. With their audience's interest captured, Sam replaced the gun in its metal case. Then, he moved to the second one, opening it to reveal a police-issue straight stick, though this one was silver in color. Picking up the stick, Sam waited as the henchmen wheeled out another granite block. He swung the stick, which glowed white and elongated itself through the motion, and the stick cleaved through the block like a knife through butter. The top half of the block slid down and landed the floor with a thud. The cheers of the crowd grew even louder.
"And, for our last fantastic product..." declared Zack.
He popped open the last case, revealing a pair of leather gloves, though these glowed white. As their hired help produced the final granite block, he slipped them on, walked over, and picked up the block with one hand, as though it weighed nothing. There was silence for about thirty seconds, before the opera house roared with applause.
"Thank you, thank you, you're too kind!" said Zack, bowing repeatedly. "Now, we'll start the bidding for the gun at, oh, ten million dollars?"
In the balconies above the stage, five pairs of eyes observed the auction. The Rainbooms who weren't on guard duty had easily entered the building through the door on the roof, having floated up using Twilight's telekinesis.
"Magic infected guns and billy clubs. Great," grumbled Applejack. "Just when I thought our adventures couldn't get more dangerous."
"It had to happen sooner or later," said Sunset. "Odds were, we weren't going to deal with magic cell phones and watering cans forever."
The five girls studied the area carefully, as the bidding war continued. By now, the thugs were bidding over one-hundred million dollars apiece for the weapons.
"So what's our plan?" asked Rainbow. "It's probably suicide to just jump in there and grab the magic, even with my super speed, given how many of those guys are probably armed."
"Good question," replied Twilight. "I doubt I could telekinetically catch that many bullets. Rarity, we've never tested it, but how big do you think you can make your diamond barriers?"
The fashionista was quiet for a moment as she thought about it. "I could probably cover the entire opera stage," she admitted, "but I believe that's where I hit my limit. I couldn't hold that for very long. Plus, the ruffians in the crowd will no doubt shoot at us, and I don't know how long my shield could stand up to that many bullets."
"Not to mention that still leaves us with the goons on the inside," Sunset observed. "Even with just the two of them, none of us are bullet-proof." She placed her hand on her chin, thinking. "Okay, I think I've got an idea. Rainbow, you need to push all the thugs in the audience to the sides. That way, Rarity can pin them to the walls, leaving Twilight to disarm the two on stage and hold them down. Applejack, you and I will grab the magic items and use Twilight's old device to suck the magic out. What do you think?"
The others considered it. "It could work," said Twilight. "It's kind of risky, though. What if something goes wrong?"
Sunset turned to look back at the stage. The bidding war on the magical gun had ended, and the object would be going for no less than three-hundred million dollars. "It doesn't look like we have a lot of other options," she muttered, pulling down her mask.
With the bidding on the gun complete, Sam stored the miraculous weapon back inside its metal case. Zack, meanwhile, lifted up the billy club, holding it high above the crowd.
"Now, what am I bid for this one?" he asked. "Auction begins at ten-million dollars again! Do I hear—"
His remaining words died in his throat, as he noticed the rainbow-colored blur zooming around in the audience. The streak was rocketing down each row sequentially, pushing all the thugs down towards the ends. Once they were all clustered together, what appeared to be a large, flat, transparent diamond appeared out of nowhere, and smacked against the group of goons, trapping them against the walls. Before Zack could even scream to warn everyone, every single audience member had been incapacitated. Then, three humanoid shapes, surrounded by raspberry-colored auras, descended towards the stage from above. Zack's brain flew into panic mode, remembering when Batman had captured him in a similar fashion before, and he screamed, throwing both arms into the air, tossing the billy club onto the stage.
"Yeah, yeah," grumbled Twilight, enveloping Zack in her telekinesis and forcing him onto his stomach. She dropped Sunset and Applejack onto their feet as well.
"Who the heck are you?" demanded Sam. "You ain't the bat!" He wrenched open the case containing the gun, while the two hired thugs began drawing their Thompson machine guns.
"We're professionals!" retorted Twilight, quickly moving her hands towards them. The guns flew out of the hired men's hands, while Sam was thrown from his feet and landed on his rear.
"Professionals? Really? That's the best you could come up with?" demanded Sunset, as the three girls rushed towards the cases.
"Hey, gimme a break! I'm not as good at quipping!" Twilight shot back.
"Hey!" came the voice of one of the hired goons. He reached into the pocket of his coat, and before Twilight could stop him, had tossed three bolas, one for each of the girls. Sunset, Applejack, and Twilight were all ensnared by the weighted ropes, and pitched forwards, landing on their fronts with painful thuds.
"What the heck?!" demanded Applejack.
The thug suddenly grabbed the center of his shirt and pulled, tearing away the clothing. Underneath was a gray costume with a yellow circle in the center, and inside the circle was a black bat. Then, he reached up to his face and ripped that off too, exposing the masked visage beneath.
"No way," breathed Sunset, staring as Batman removed the last vestiges of his disguise.
Twilight groaned. "Of course it had to be him."
Back in the audience, Rainbow and Rarity were watching the men they'd removed from the fight, but when they heard the sound of tearing, their eyes locked onto the stage.
"Holy smokes..." Rainbow whispered. Under her mask, a wide smile began to grace her features.
Batman wasted no time, reaching into his utility belt and producing a pair of batarangs. Sam and Zack, free from Twilight's telekinetic prison, made the wiser decision to rush for the metal cases. Batman hurled both of his trademark weapons, and each man felt the sharpened edges smack against their exposed hands. They immediately retracted their hands and backed away from the cases as Batman advanced on them.
"Alright, scum bags," he snarled. "Before I break these weapons, you're gonna tell me everything you know about how they work."
"W-we don't know anything else! I swear!" insisted Zack. "W-we just found them!"
All of a sudden, with a grunt of exertion, Applejack used her super strength to rip through the bola holding her, and climbed to her feet. This didn't escape Batman's notice, and he rounded on her, raising his fists.
"Buddy, you don't know what you're doing!" Applejack told him. "You need to stay outta this!"
"Sorry, but I'm no bystander," Batman retorted.
Meanwhile, Twilight was using her telekinesis to remove the bolas around herself and Sunset.
"So did we have any contingency plans in case Batman showed up?!" she demanded as she unbound Sunset.
"How was I supposed to know he was gonna be here as well?" Sunset shot back. "You're usually the genius who accounts for everything!"
Seeing that Applejack wouldn't back down, Batman began attempting to shove her aside, but she stood her ground. Applejack herself didn't know what to do. It was obvious that Batman was trying to destroy the magic objects, but from Twilight's studies on magic, she knew that simply breaking them would only release the magic, and who knew what or who it would go then. At the same time, Applejack didn't want to hurt him, and she knew if she punched with all her power, she could easily shatter his bones.
Finally, she grabbed both his wrists, and firmly held him in place. "Listen, Bats! You don't know what's going on here! You need to—"
She yelped in surprise as Batman suddenly lifted both arms over his head, pulling Applejack along with them. He flipped her over his head, sending her tumbling into the ground head-first. Applejack was so surprised she lost her grip on his wrists. Free, Batman began rushing towards the magical objects.
"Hey!" shouted Sunset, drawing Batman's attention. "You can't do that!"
Batman threw more bolas at her and Twilight, but Twilight managed to catch them in her telekinesis, causing them to drop to the floor. Before anyone could make another move, Batman was tackled from behind by the second of Zack and Sam's hired help, who pinned him to the ground.
"Batman!" shouted Rainbow Dash. She zoomed out of the audience onto the stage, and kicked the thug in the face, freeing the Dark Knight. She got down, pressing a hand to his back. "Are you alright?"
"Hey!" yelled Applejack, as she climbed to her feet.
"Darlings!" Rarity shouted from the back of the opera house. "I hate to interrupt, but could someone please help me?!"
The others turned at the sound of her voice, finding that the thugs in the audience were struggling against Rarity's barriers. They couldn't get to their guns, but their squirming motions were putting a great deal of strain on Rarity, forcing her to stand in one place as she poured all of her might into keeping the barriers maintained.
Finally, she lost her grip, and the barriers faded away, leaving her vulnerable. Fortunately, Rainbow zipped down, grabbed Rarity, and yanked her onto the stage with the others.
"Well, looks like our entire plan has gone belly-up," said Twilight with a sigh.
"Oh, excuse me for not being able to account for every possibility!" Sunset shot back.
"Girls! Can we focus?!" demanded Applejack.
Batman, meanwhile, had gotten into a tussle with the other thug. He punched the man in the jaw, knocking him unconscious and sending him to the floor. As the goon fell, a small device dropped off his neck, one that didn't escape the notice of the world's greatest detective. He snagged it and placed it into his utility belt for later. Then, he pressed a button on his glove, and spoke into it.
"Jim, send in your men. We're in deep."
This didn't escape Sunset's notice. Her earpiece suddenly buzzed, and she heard Fluttershy's voice.
"Um, Sunset? You know how you said to warn you if anything went wrong out here?"
"Let me guess: the cops are on their way," Sunset deadpanned.
"Yep! Lots of 'em!" said Pinkie.
"Great." Sunset turned to the others. "We gotta get outta here! Now!"
"But what about—" Rainbow began, pointing towards the magic items.
"We'll have to get 'em another time!" Sunset yelled. "We need to leave!"
Indeed, Sam and Zack had already figured out that they weren't going home with any cash. They'd grabbed the three cases, and were scurrying towards the exit, likely hoping to salvage whatever they could from this disaster. Batman saw their actions as well, and attempted to race over to stop them.
"Everybody get the bat!" screamed a thug from the audience. Like an angry mob, the entire audience began charging towards the stage, jumping on to attack their most feared enemy. Some of the punks instead targeted the Rainbooms, seeing as they'd ruined the auction in the first place.
"Come here, little girls!" one man growled, drawing a knife as he advanced on them.
With a sigh, Twilight flicked her wrist, telekinetically ripping the weapon out of his hand, and sending it plummeting to stab into the ground. While the thug starred in surprise, Applejack followed with a haymaker to his face, knocking him unconscious.
"Alright! Anybody else wanna be a hero?" she demanded, holding out her fists eagerly. After witnessing their super powers, the rest of the thugs decided they'd rather take their chances with Batman.
"Okay, everyone!" said Twilight, drawing the other four's attention, "I can levitate us back up to the balcony. Then we'll use the door we originally used to get in here, and—"
"Wait a minute!" interrupted Rainbow. "Shouldn't we help Batman?" she pointed over to where the Dark Knight was currently throwing two goons away, using them to knock down others. "There's no way he can take that many guys by himself!"
"Remember how we're trying not to get in trouble with the law?!" Sunset retorted. "Even if we help him, we'll probably go to jail!"
Rainbow opened her mouth, likely to issue some annoyed retort, but she was cut off by multiple doors in the opera house being bashed open. A swarm of cops rushed into the seating area, drawing their guns as they went.
"Gotham City Police! You're all under arrest!" roared Detective Montoya.
"Okay, yeah, let's book it!" Rainbow squeaked.
Twilight reached out with her telekinesis, grabbing herself and all four of the others. A few officers took aim at the girls as they went, but Rarity threw a shield over them, and the bullets were blocked. As the rest of the thugs stabbed their hands into the air, Batman watched the girls escape from across the stage. He quietly took out a small, gray, gun-like device, and fired it, managing to hit Sunset's leg with a tiny bat emblem. Upon making it to the balcony, the Rainbooms scurried out, heading for the roof access. Montoya ordered several officers to try and head them off, but with Rainbow's super speed, their efforts were futile.
As the police began rounding up the criminals, Batman took stock of the situation. Not only had the girls escaped, but Sam and Zack had gotten away in the confusion as well. Detective Montoya approached him.
"Batman, what the heck was that?" she demanded. "Those people were flying!"
"I'll be honest, even I don't know how they did that," Batman replied. He reached into his utility belt one more time, pulling out a small radar. "But I'm going to find out."
Sunset and the others burst out of the opera house, nearly crashing into Pinkie and Fluttershy as they did so.
"What happened?!" asked Pinkie. "All of a sudden, all these cops were pulling up, and—"
"No time to talk!" Twilight cut her off. She levitated the seven girls down from the roof, setting them down in the alley behind the opera house, where the police hopefully wouldn't see them. "We gotta get out of here, now! Rainbow!"
The athlete understood the unspoken order, and began grabbing each girl, shuttling them back to the bus, and coming back. Soon, every member of the Rainbooms were secure in their seats.
"Drive! Drive!" Rainbow called to Applejack.
Applejack obeyed, firing up the old bus, throwing it into gear, and stomping on the accelerator. Soon, the bus was speeding away from the opera house, unseen by the cops. Unfortunately for them, nobody notice the bat-shaped object attached to Sunset's leg, which began quietly beeping. Nor did they notice the caped figure watching their bus from the roof of the opera house.
With all the criminals who'd come to the auction safely rounded up by the police, Batman saw fit to summon the Batmobile by remote control, and climb inside. He'd been hoping to quietly swipe the weapons and bring them to the police before Sam and Zack could successfully sell them, but that plan had blown up in his face. Of course, there was no way he could've predicted a group of metahumans would interfere with the auction, seemingly after the weapons as well.
As he sat in the driver's seat, watching the tracer move on his radar, he took stock of what he knew about them so far. He'd seen seven fleeing the opera house, but that didn't mean there weren't more out there. They'd had the foresight to mask themselves, but judging by their voices and builds, they were all young women. That wasn't enough to narrow down their identities, but it was a start.
Batman pressed a button on the dashboard, activating the communication with the Batcomputer. Alfred Pennyworth's face appeared on the small screen beside the steering wheel.
"Hello, Master Bruce. I take it your infiltration of the auction went well?" he asked.
"Could've gone better, Alfred," Batman replied. "We have an unexpected third party looking for these weapons, too. Someone I've never encountered before. Metahumans."
"Oh, my! That's never a good sign," said Alfred. "Do you require any assistance on this mission?"
"Yes, Alfred. Specifically, I need you to check and see if you can find any records of unexplained events occurring in Canterlot City. Only go a maximum of ten years back."
"That city that seems to be obsessed with horse puns, sir? May I ask why?"
"Those weapons came from Canterlot. They defied the laws of science, and so did the powers I saw displayed tonight. There could easily be a connection."
"Very well, Master Bruce." Alfred began typing away. "Anything else, sir?"
Batman reached into the pocket of his utility belt, pulling out the small device he'd taken from the thug. Upon closer examination, he discovered it appeared to be a small, electronic device. It was one he was all too familiar with.
"Yes. Can you tell me if the Joker or the Mad Hatter are currently incarcerated in Arkham?"
Batman waited patiently as Alfred continued to hit the keys of the Batcomputer.
"Sir, upon investigation, it appears neither of those gentlemen are in Arkham Asylum. IThey both escaped fairly recently, but there's been no activity from either."
Batman gritted his teeth. "That means tonight just got a whole lot more complicated," he grumbled.
After escaping from the opera house, the Rainbooms had decided to hole up in a Gotham City hotel. Or, rather, that was what Twilight had insisted on once she was done freaking out. Currently, they were seated around the hotel room, debating what to do next.
"We need to hunt down those guys and take the magic from those weapons!" said Applejack. "With those things on the loose in Gotham, people could get killed!"
"And how exactly do you suggest we do that?" demanded Twilight. "In case you haven't noticed, not only do we have the police after us, Batman's probably looking, too!" She jabbed both index fingers into her temples. "This is not happening..."
"Yeah, Batman was so awesome!" Rainbow iterated to Fluttershy and Pinkie. "He came in like this, and he punched this guy in the face, then he threw his—"
"Rainbow, you're not helping!" yelled Sunset.
Rainbow's smile disappeared as her brain processed the statement, and she sank down into her seat. "Oh, yeah," she said, "we're in trouble."
"There has to be something we can still do," said Fluttershy. "Like Applejack said, we can't just leave those weapons out in the Gotham underworld. Twilight, can't you just trace them like we did before?"
"Oh, I can trace 'em, alright, but who's to say Batman won't just pounce on us the second we poke our heads out?!" snapped Twilight. Fluttershy shrank back at her tone, and Twilight's face fell. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy, I'm just under a lot of stress right now."
"I believe we all are," said Rarity. "Things haven't exactly gone our way on this adventure."
Sunset swallowed, before standing up to start speaking again. As she did so, however, she felt her leg brush against something on her other leg, and it fell off. Curious, Sunset looked down at the carpet, discovering a tiny, bat-shaped electronic device. Her stomach dropped, and she reached down to pick up the object.
"Uh, girls?" she ventured.
"And you said Batman attacked you?" Pinkie chimed in, ignoring Sunset. "Wow! I thought he wouldn't be a big meanie!"
"Girls?"
"He didn't really attack, he just tried to incapacitate us," said Rainbow. "Not that that'll do us much good in court or anything."
"Girls?"
"What if we tried talking to him?" asked Applejack. "I mean, sure, the guy's crazy enough to dress like a bat and beat people up, but once he realizes the magnitude of what we're dealing with, maybe he'll—"
"GIRLS!" yelled Sunset, making everyone jump out of their chairs. She held up the bat emblem. "We may not have much choice in the matter."
"Oh, no," breathed Twilight. She came over to Sunset, who passed her the bat device. "You don't have to be a genius to know what this is."
"Do you think the cops could be on their way here now?" Sunset asked.
"I don't think that matches Batman's MO," replied Twilight. "If anyone's gonna come, it'll be Batman himself. He'll want to investigate what's going on with us personally."
"So what are we going to do?" demanded Rarity. "He can't possibly fight us all by himself now, can he?"
"I doubt he'd try," said Rainbow. "He knows what we're capable of by now. He'll know Twilight could just immobilize him. He'll be waiting for the opportune moment. A moment where he can isolate us."
"Which brings us back to what I was sayin'," said Applejack. "Like I said, he's a weirdo, but he's also the world's greatest detective. He can't be stupid. Maybe he can be reasoned with."
"If we talk to him, it means we have to tell yet another person about magic and Equestria," said Pinkie. "Do you think Batman can keep a secret?"
"Hey, he's kept the secret of who he really is for years, that's gotta count for something," replied Sunset. "The real question is, would he be willing to keep our secrets? This has nothing to do with him, and if anybody outside Canterlot ever found out..."
Twilight added, "I don't know if he could go telling the police or the government without unmasking himself. Besides, what other choice do we have? He's already tracking us."
"I don't like it," remarked Fluttershy, "but you might have a point. Plus, once he understands, he might be willing to help us get the magic from those weapons."
"Yeah! Plus, maybe I can get his autograph on all my comic books, and—" Rainbow trailed off as she realized her six friends were all glaring at her, and she quietly sat back down.
"So, we're all in agreement?" asked Rarity. "We're going to find Batman and tell him the truth?" This question was followed by six affirmations, some more enthusiastic than others. "Okay. It should be easy to find him, given that he's already after us."
"I agree," said Twilight. "I have a suggestion as to exactly how we manage to talk to him."
"Fire away," said Sunset. "We gotta hurry, anyway."
Outside the hotel, on top of a neighboring building, Batman stood watching the seven girls through a pair of high-powered binoculars. They'd left the lights on and the windows open, a rookie mistake he'd expected. They weren't all facing him or in his view, so he couldn't catch all of their conversation, even through lip-reading. Still, he saw them find the tracer, as well as mention his name several times.
"Children," he murmured. That had been unexpected. When he'd encountered them in the opera house, their voices had been shrill, but he'd miscalculated just how old they were. These girls couldn't be older than eighteen, possibly still in high school. What were they doing going up against ruthless Gotham gangsters? They shouldn't have had to worry about things like that. They should be dealing with school work and thinking about cute classmates, not dodging bullets in the middle of the night. Not to mention, where had their powers come from? Were they trying to destroy the weapons as well? If that was the case, how had they known where the weapons would be? Every answer he'd gotten so far had simply created more questions.
He sighed to himself. The task he'd taken on seemed to get harder every night. It had been so easy at the beginning, when fear had driven common criminals to their knees at a mere glimpse of him. But then came the super villains, the criminals seemed to get more daring with time, and now, people who might not even be legal adults were getting dragged into Gotham's underworld. Was it his fault? Had District Attorney Janet Van Dorn been right when she'd claimed Batman created far more problems than he solved? Sure, she'd changed her tune since then, but that didn't mean she hadn't been right before.
Batman took one last look at the girls, and saw them putting on their balaclava masks again. He felt another surge of concern run down his spine, wondering if they were going after the weapons again. Right now, he still didn't know for sure if they were enemies or allies, but they could easily get themselves killed in this city if they weren't careful.
A buzzing in the built-in earpiece of his cowl distracted him. That sound indicated an incoming call, and he reached up to press the answer button.
"Master Bruce, is this a good time?" asked Alfred.
"It's fine, Alfred. Have you found something?" Batman replied.
"It turns out your intuition was spot-on, Master Bruce," Alfred continued. "Canterlot City has been a magnet for unexplained or strange events over the past few years. Most of them center around Canterlot High School. There've been reports of massive rainbow-colored light shows appearing during both the night and day, giant, ethereal colored horses with horns and wings appearing out of nowhere, and seemingly random incidents of violence breaking out. Those last ones stopped approximately two years ago, but nobody knows why. It appears there might've been some additional incidents at the local camp as well, but I haven't found anything from there, so far."
Batman thought for a moment. If these girls had any relation to the occurrences Alfred was describing, they might've attended Canterlot High. Still, they could've graduated by this point. That didn't mean they were old enough to be in this world, of course.
"Did anybody ever investigate those events?" he asked.
"There are a few conspiracy boards on the internet centered around their discussion, sir, but nothing substantial. Local authorities never saw a reason to get involved, as nobody ever got hurt."
Batman sighed. It looked like his only chance to get any answers was going to be to talk with those girls. Whether they'd be willing to talk was another matter altogether. He didn't want to interrogate them, but he decided not to rule it out entirely, at least for now. Taking another look at the hotel room, he saw that the girls were gone, likely on their way downstairs. Were they going after the weapons again? If not, where?
"Keep looking into anything you can find, Alfred," he said into his microphone. "I'm going to try and figure out exactly what's going on here."
"Very well, sir. And Master Bruce?" Alfred's voice sounded apprehensive.
"Yes, Alfred?"
"Please be careful. There's enough danger when your opponents have no super human abilities. Whoever this other party is, don't underestimate them."
"Thank you, Alfred, but at this point, I'm more worried about their welfare than mine."
The black truck rolled down the streets of Gotham City at normal speeds. Sam and Zack were scared out of their minds, of course, but they knew if they floored it like they wanted to, they'd attract the attention of the police. Ever since fleeing from the opera house, the two men had been searching desperately for a place they could dump the truck, then hopefully get out of the city. So far, that search had proven fruitless.
"Come on, come on!" Zack hissed from the passenger seat. "There's gonna be somewhere the cops won't look for us!"
"I haven't found anywhere!" Sam shot back. "Maybe you'd like to switch seats with me, buddy!"
"Well, we gotta...we gotta—" Zack tried to argue, but found nothing inside his head that would suffice. He settled for punching the dashboard, which accomplished nothing except making his hand hurt.
Sam thought about yelling at him, but he was too on edge. Tonight had been a complete and utter disaster. It was supposed to be the night where the two would rake in enough cash to be set for life. Who cared about what those weapons would do? Unfortunately for them, not only had Batman butted in, they'd also been attacked by a group of super-powered women, and who knew what they wanted. At this point, Batman, the police, and the women were all probably after them, not to mention Rupert Thorne and every other crime lord in the city. The criminals were probably thinking they could just take out Sam and Zack, then swipe those weapons for themselves.
"I told you we shouldn't have sold those things!" Sam finally settled on. "We could've had a free ticket to any criminal organization we wanted, and if the bat showed up, he wouldn't have stood a chance against them! But no, you had to get greedy!"
"I thought it was safer!" Zack defended. "If people knew we had that stuff, we'd never be able to sleep again on account of the giant targets on the back of our heads. Better to let some big time guys go through that than us, and we might as well get paid while we're at it!"
Sam sighed. "Maybe you have a point there," he admitted, "but that doesn't do us any good now. We can't take on the bat, the whole GCPD, and those chicks, even with this stuff."
"Well, what the heck are we gonna do?" demanded Zack. "We can't stay in Gotham any longer, it's not safe here. If Batman doesn't get us, some other crook will. Even if we defend ourselves with those weapons, the two of us won't be enough."
Sam opened his mouth to answer, only to cease before speaking. The reason was that he'd seen a derelict auto junkyard on the side of the road, and some idiot had conveniently left the gate ajar.
"That might work," he said to himself, before making a sharp turn to the left, driving through the open entrance. The truck rolled a few feet forward, before coming to a stop in the middle.
"Okay," Sam continued, "we leave the truck here, score a quick ride out of town, lay low for a few weeks, then try to sell the weapons somewhere else. Sound like a plan?"
"I think that's as good as we're gonna get," replied Zack, as he unbuckled his seat belt.
After Zack took the three cases out of the back of the truck, Sam busied himself by hiding it behind several stacks of broken down cars, where it would hopefully go undiscovered for a little while. Then he climbed out, and tossed the keys into a pile of scrap metal, reasoning that it would delay the police a bit.
"So how are we gonna get out of Gotham?" asked Zack, a metal case tucked under each arm.
Sam hefted the remaining case off the ground. "I have some contacts that owe me," he replied. "We just need to—"
"Ah, there you are! I say, boys, I've been searching for you all night!"
Sam and Zack's blood turned to ice, because they knew that voice. Slowly, they both turned towards the source, discovering a black silhouette standing a short distance away from them. The figure took a few steps towards them, and the light illuminated a purple suit, green hair, and chalk-white skin, coupled with the largest smile a human being could have on their face.
"Joker..." Zack breathed, subconsciously taking a step away from the clown.
"Indeed! I'm glad to see my standing in Gotham hasn't fallen!" replied the Joker, taking a mock bow. "I'm glad to see old Batsy didn't manage to catch you two already! Otherwise, I might've had to break into prison! Who does that?!"
Sam and Zack said nothing, more out of fear than anything. They'd never met the Joker in person, but his reputation preceded him. One word, one toe out of line, and he'd make you wish you were never born. He didn't seem to have brought any backup with him, and they had the advantage of numbers, but that didn't mean much when it came to the Joker.
"I suppose you know what I'm here for, boys," Joker continued. "I'd appreciate it if you'd simply hand over those weapons. Otherwise, we'll have to make a mess of this perfectly fine scrapyard!"
Sam swallowed as he weighed their options. Giving the weapons up might ensure their safety, but then again, you couldn't trust the Joker to keep his word. Finally, he came to a decision.
"Sorry, clown, but you can't have them," he replied, as he popped open the case he held, and shoved one hand inside. "You'll just have to—" He stopped in his tracks as his fingers touched leather. He had the gloves, not the gun or the billy club. He pulled them out, slowly.
Joker threw back his head and laughed. "Oh, this is rich!" he cackled. "You thought you could threaten the Joker! It looks like even the universe is against you, kid!"
Sam, desperate, slipped both gloves on his hands, and rushed towards the clown, one fist reared back. Joker nimbly dodged to the side, and Sam's momentum carried him into a car. His gloved fist connected with the steel door, which split beneath his blow. Sam's entire hand was trapped inside the car. This didn't escape Joker's notice, and he ceased his mocking laughter.
"Hm, that's new. I may get something out of tonight, after all!" he exclaimed.
Reaching into his purple suit jacket, he pulled out a spray can with a logo of a deranged smile on it. He squeezed a small amount of green gas towards Sam, who was still trying to pry his hand out, and didn't have time to hold his breath. As his lungs took in the Joker venom, Sam began to laugh, first a light chuckle, then slowly working his way up to an insane cackle. As he continued to chortle, he accidentally pulled his hand out of the car, and fell onto his back, laughing more and more uproariously.
Satisfied, Joker simply plucked the gloves off of Sam's hands, stored them in his pockets, then turned to face Zack, who was pale with fear. Joker aimed the spray can towards him.
"Now, do you want to do this the easy way, or the funny way?" he asked.
Zack dropped both remaining metal cases to the ground, and fell to his knees. "They're yours, they're all yours, just please don't hurt me!" he begged.
Joker rolled his eyes. "They always pick the easy way," he complained. He walked over to Zack, kicking open both cases, and picking up their contents. "What exactly do these do, anyway?"
Zack, terrified, explained the properties of the weapons with no resistance.
"Is that right?" Joker asked. "Well, this'll certainly be fun. Here's your consolation prize, then!"
He aimed the spray can at Zack, who barely had time to scream before Joker pressed the sprayer.
