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Nick Derington - Batman 

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Batman by Hayden Sherman

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“Whose blood is that?” @twcfaces

high pain tolerance starters

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"Lawton's, mostly." With some of his own, too. "Is that what you wanted to talk to me about, or was there another reason?"

His posture straightens, the reflective lenses of the cowl narrow, and the edges of the cape gently touch the ground.

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@optimisticrobin (x)

He sees it a split second before the last punk gets off a shot, aimed right at the boy. It takes Batman less than a split second to shield Dick with his own body, taking the bullet. It punches through the first layer of the armor and the second after that, but the armor takes the fight out of the bullet. It crashes into the third layer, embedding itself into the fabric.

But the force still knocks Batman onto the ground. The rest of the energy has to go somewhere, after all. And even with the armor, the bullet still hurts like hell. With a pained groan, Batman forces himself off the ground, pulling the bullet out from the armor and throwing it to the side.

Then he sees Dick's face. The fear behind the eyes and the way it just deflates.

He hates that he knows exactly how the boy is feeling.

"Keep your head on a swivel, Robin. And next time, wait for my signal."

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The Kryptonite. So dangerous to Superman, and so little of it on Earth. Yet Clark still made the choice to entrust it, one of the only things that could kill him, to the Batman, a man who has sworn to never take a life. It's not a thought he relishes in, nor is it a show of trust he takes for granted. In even their most fraught encounters, when the two of them are forced to come to blows, he's only brought out Kryptonite when it was absolutely necessary. Clark trusts him. Maybe unconditionally, maybe not. But he trusts him regardless. He doesn't want to make Clark regret that.

"Nor am I discounting that the lapses in memory could be intentional." He bounces right back at Clark. There's only so much deduction he can do by himself. Having someone like Clark, an investigative reporter, to share ideas with goes a long way in expediating the process. In another world, Clark would have made one hell of a detective. "If any of the others can remember anything, we'll just have to be patient while we wait and see if they come to." No fatalities yet, but without a proper understanding of the new serum, he can't be positive about the lingering side effects. Nor can he be so sure about what the withdrawal process will look like.

"For the time being." He can't quite be sure that it's Strange, not until he finds the man again. But he knows that Strange has made monsters before, and he knows that Strange has the mind to make such a serum work. "Last I heard, he was being transferred to Belle Reve, but there aren't any records of the transfer. And I know for a fact he isn't still in Arkham." Batman taps on the keys of the computer, pulling up a list of addresses across Gotham. "There's a chance he may have gone to ground. We'll start with his old hideouts."

There is much to be said about their friendship, the fact that Clark had given Bruce the one thing on Earth that could kill him and trusted him with it spoke volumes of that. World's Finest, indeed. Clark isn't so deluded in himself to think he'd be able to get through to Bruce every time when he's being particularly stubborn, hell he's had experience with it when he's had to back off to make his point, but what kind of friend would he really be if he didn't at least try first? Besides, it'd take something truly horrendous on Bruce's end for Clark to even consider abandoning him.

"Well, I wouldn't rule it out as unintentional memory loss." Again, probably not a statement he needs to make out loud, but he needs Bruce to know he's taking this as seriously as he was. Clark would need to go over the case notes so far, he can do that pretty quickly. Still, listening to Bruce's cautions about any of the Gotham's Rogue's Gallery was important, since Clark really only dealt with them when they were brave enough to come to Metropolis. Or the occasional time he's in Gotham, like right now. "I figured. I really don't want to find out what his toxin will do to Kryptonians." He's not quite sure he's ready to face whatever deepest fear that it'll dredge up either. He had a hard enough time chasing Doomsday across the galaxy the first time to face it.

"So, most roads pointing to him." Clark had already concluded that much, but again, he's making sure Bruce knows he's following along. He figures Bruce also wouldn't be mentioning him if he wasn't reasonably positive. So that's something, a man off the grid or not, it's a lead. Clark floats up slightly, indicating he's ready to follow Bruce out on this mission and he nods. "That is very true." He chuckled, shaking his head a little. He'd still like just one time for things to be easy, but he knows that's wishful thinking at this rate, not whilst the world still needed them.

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This isn't forever. These... anomalies in time and space are unstable, perhaps by design. Somehow, some way, Thomas will make his way back home, and that will be that. What happens after will be anyone's guess. Selfishly, he wishes that this encounter will bring Thomas something like peace, and put him towards a happy ending. But Batman knows all too well that to dedicate himself to completely to this war, to have made that promise on the soul of a loved one... there are no happy endings at the end of the road.

But there is a time and place to determine what happens next. Where Thomas will dwell, and what steps will be taken to bring him back to his rightful place. Now, there is only the mission.

He moves with such grace and finesse. The way he almost treats the grappling rope like an extension of the self, it's clear that Batman has been doing this for years. More than that, he's been preparing for this for what feels like his entire life. Striking terror into their hearts, turning the City into extension of himself so they think he really can be anywhere... it's all second nature to him. It's moments like these where the world just clicks into place for him.

The glass shatters under the force of his foot, startling the crew. One of them shouts "It's the freakin' Bat!" Good. He lurches forward like a silent predator, before rushing at the crew of four. Batman chops at the wrist to make him drop the gun, before kicking him in the chest to put him on the ground. The vigilante ducks just in time to avoid a burst of shots from another member of the crew. Eighteen bullets from one of them left in that magazine, assuming he counted his bullets right. Maybe nineteen if he was wrong.

By himself this would be easy. But with another Batman? There's not a doubt in his mind.

No matter what had caused this crossing of paths, Thomas knows at the most it's temporary, his place isn't here in this Gotham. No matter how tempting that might be, he knows it probably won't do the world any good for him to stick around once they figure it out what caused this and undo it. That was a whole other can of worms that they need to figure out eventually. If he's trapped here or not, or if his presence here is yet having some other unknown effect. The walls of reality weren't suppose to allow this kind of thing after all. No matter how grateful Thomas might be for the chance to talk to his son again, separate world's or not.

Besides, he's more than aware that this has likely occurred to the other Bat too, Thomas might not have all that tech, or be very reliant on it, he's still the World's Greatest Detective back home, he can assume it's the same for Bruce too. If it's occurred to him, than the other Bat must think it too. But again, there's a time and place for all those discussions.

Thomas nods, universal constants were a given, that's generally how the theory of the multiverse goes in some way or another. From Thomas own understanding of it at least, though honestly he hadn't thought too hard about it until tonight. He can't help the quiet snort at the sentence that remains unfinished, it's not like he isn't painfully aware of what a shitshow his own world was. "Yeah..." He sighs a little, though he pauses when the other interrupts. Thomas had been watching the building too, despite the conversation, he'd noticed it a second or so after Bruce did.

He shifts, red lenses narrowing briefly before that alarm went off, h glances at the other Bat then. Thomas' first instinct is to jump in, but this isn't his city, this isn't his mission. HIs hand does move to his own grapple gun and he huffs as he fires off his own. He huffs about the comment about guns, as if the other Bat hadn't confiscated his own, ready to swing across and take care of this. "Don't worry, I'll stick to your rules." He already promised he would, and he doesn't break those very often when he makes them. He might fight a bit more brutally than Bruce does because he's not used to holding back, but he'll do as he's been told to do. He'll leave whoever he deals with alive.

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He knows how important someone's past can be. The foundational moments which mean so much and drive someone forward, responsible for the early sense of self and what springs out of that. For as much as the night in the alley horrified him... he'd never want the memory erased. He'd want to remember it until the day he dies. Perhaps that's why Batman is being more gentle with the flunky. If Charlie is coming to Batman with this, then it must be important.

"Rubble." She was a child, and there was rubble. He can't rule out Charlie having been somewhere in Gotham when No Man's Land happened, but he doesn't have a lot of evidence to go off of. "Do you remember any thing else? The color of the sky, or the shapes of the buildings?"

"Hm..." A metahuman, that much was certain. But if she was born with these powers or they were given to her by someone else, that's hard to say. "And after that incident, where's the first place you remember living in? The earliest memory in full that you have of a place." He's making two points in his head, 'before' and 'after'. It's important to keep this record.

"Okay." Charlie felt... more than a little disconcerted to see this side of the Batman. The soft voice, the slight change in his expression. All she knew of him was the punching, the fear that crippled her coworkers but never quite reached her. She scratched the back of her neck, making a face to themselves as if trying to think. There was always a sort of serene absence in those eyes, ones that were strangely... Dark. Much too dark, ones that made you think that nothing was quite... Going on, in the old noodle. Charlie was pure instinct, all action, there was power in that.

"The rubble." Charlie began after a pause. "That's my earliest memory. It was dark, and I just... Crawled out. I remember my head hurt a lot, and everything else hurt. But... I could walk. I was bleeding, but nothing was broken. So I just... Kept walking. That's all."

So, a great destruction of some kind happened, and Charlie survived it with miraculously minimal damage. Batman wouldn't be a very good detective if, after all the time he's seen Charlie work, and when they squared up, he didn't realise that the flunky was some kind of metahuman. Faster, stronger, sturdier than most. Where those powers came from was a complete unknown, even to Charlie.

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Batman (1989) dir. Tim Burton The Crow (1994) dir. Alex Proyas

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Chuck Palahniuk, Lullaby

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Inbox/Meme Call

Like this for me to send stuff from Bruce into your inbox!

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I oughta make a timeline of events one of these days for Bats

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Stevan Subic - Batman

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His stubbornness would be his undoing one day. No matter what he does, there will only be so much of it someone can take before declaring that he'll never change. When talking to him turns into talking to a brick wall, what other choice is there? But somehow, his friendship with Clark was always stronger than that. It buckles and bends, sure, but it never breaks. They were the World's Finest, after all.

But Clark was right about one thing: this case was more important. With his assistance, things will either go smoother than they would have without or his presence will be necessary. Maybe even both.

"It's possible. The physical trauma may have also caused the memory loss." It's a good theory, but a part of him has to wonder why someone would want an army of monsters who aren't permanently transformed, and can be prone to memory loss. "We'd be having a much different conversation if this was Crane." Who knows what would happen to a Superman exposed to fear toxin? Best for everyone that it isn't Crane.

"He'd certainly be my first suspect. It's been some time, but my earliest encounters with him saw him making monsters similar to these." Not to mention, Strange being off the grid worries Batman greatly. If he knew he could get eyes inside Belle Reve, he'd ask Waller to confirm, but without that he's left to rely on her word, and her word is never enough. "Not if we ask nicely." This was going to be a fight, the same as it always was. Bruce pulls the cowl over his face. "If they ever were that easy, you and I would be out of work."

Honestly, if he really thought it'd work, Clark could recite the times things had backfired on Bruce for being as stubborn as he was. Including the blows their friendship had taken because of them. Not that it was relevant to right now. Besides, he's seen enough of Gotham to know why Bruce is the way he was, and that sometimes it's a fight not worth picking with the man. Probably why Clark has an easier time handling Bruce than others do, because of that respect he shows him.

More important right now, was this case Bruce was working on, that now Clark was helping with, at least so Bruce isn't putting too much strain on those injuries, or likely to get even more hurt as a result.

"Is it possible the memory loss is intentional, and not just a side effect of the drug they were given?" Clark asks, only wanting specific details that he's sure Bruce has already considered, and really...he's happy to bounce theories around too until they have one that's more sound and worth investigating further. Or a few theories like that at least. "Hm, well I'd sooner not deal with Crane..." Not that Clark thinks he should be taken off the table just yet, but he trusts Bruce when he tells him it's not the Scarecrow behind this new drug.

His gaze lingers on those screens, the halls of the asylum that were displayed before his gaze drifts back to Bruce and he nods as Hugo Strange is mentioned. Simply nodding along to show he's listening. "You think it's him?" It feels like an obvious question, but he wants to clarify, having a suspect to look into was a good leaping off point. Clark would still have to be careful, as he normally has to be whenever he's dealing with Gotham's bunch. "I can assume he's not gonna tell us if we ask." Clark says dryly, a wry smile pulling at his lips, "I mean, things are never that easy."