#20: The Enemy of my Enemy (JLvsA Tie-In) (Burchette/Hodges)

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Detective Comics
Issue #20: “The Enemy of my Enemy…”
A Crisis tie-in
Written by: Brian Burchette
Cover by: Brian Hodges
Edited by: Grant LaFleche

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The Mayor of Gotham burst through the Commissioner’s office, a look of rage on his face, and, without as much as a hello, brought his full weight down on Gordon’s desk in front of him. He leaned over the table as Jim stood up, automatically striking a defensive pose.

“What the hell are you doing, Gordon?” the Mayor demanded. “Three times this week you and your men have had the chance to bring down Batman. Three times he’s eluded these damn super soldiers that are running amok in my city and each time he’s ended up facing your men, but he’s still on the lose. Explain yourself!”

“He’s Batman,” Jim replied simply, even though his face, too, was becoming red with anger. How dare this man burst into his office and accuse him of this.

“That’s not an answer! Do you fully understand what is going on here? I’m not just dealing with local government on this. This is coming straight from Pennsylvania Avenue. He’s wanted for treason! He’s accused of harboring a known terrorist. If you can’t do your job, then I’m going to find somebody who can!”

“If you think you can find somebody who can do this job better, then, by all means, bring him forward, but, I guarantee you, nobody wants this seat at the moment. There’s not one person who thinks they can bring him down, and they don’t want egg all over their faces. So back off and let me do my job!” Commissioner Gordon growled. “It doesn’t help that I’ve got those freak soldiers marching all over the city. Can you do something about them?”

For the first time, the Mayor turned away, almost ashamed, “No, I can’t. Believe me, if I could find a way to get rid of them, I would. Just bring him in, or at the very least, keep the public away from those soldiers until this thing is over.”

“Over… sure,” Gordon sighed as he watched the Mayor leave. He walked to the window and gazed out at the city lights. When he had taken this job, he vowed to follow the law, to bring justice to the world, and he would, even now… but damn if this didn’t feel all wrong.

He heard the marching footsteps in the street below and watched as a squad of those weird soldiers marched past his building. He gave a small shudder.

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Bruce

One of the names that I have been called is “World’s Greatest Detective”. I’m not sure if that is completely true, but I will admit that I am one of the best. People have always laughed at me; told me that I’m one of the most paranoid people on this planet. Not sure if that’s true either - I’m pretty sure I am the most paranoid person on this planet. It’s what has kept me alive, and, most of the time, one step ahead of my enemies.

I leap from one rooftop to the next, watching the soldiers below me marching through the streets. I was hoping that with Vice President Stuart in charge, he would have pulled these things off the streets, but he hasn’t. There’s something about them that is just wrong. They are too uniformed, too militant. They haven’t stopped once; not to eat, not to relieve themselves or rest, nothing. That isn’t normal… it isn’t human.

They’ve been patrolling the streets for days now, and the local police just step out of their way. I’m not sure if it’s out of fear, or by direct orders. I wish I could go to Jim, but I don’t know what he would do, and I don’t want to have to force him to make that decision anyway.

I’ve been staying away from the mansion, just in case. Somebody knows our secret identities, and I don’t want to risk putting Alfred in harm’s way anymore. Even contacting him has been sketchy. Although, last I heard, Vicki was doing better. That’s one good thing.

This crisis just keeps getting deeper and deeper. This Starro thing is just a piece of the puzzle, I’m sure of it. Someone is out there controlling a lot of this. There’s a third player on the field, and even though I have my suspicions, I have no proof yet. I will find that proof, however. It’s what I do. I solve the mysteries. It’s always been that way. Even as a child, when all the other kids my age were reading comics or science fiction, I was reading Sherlock Holmes, or true crime novels. It was the mystery that fascinated me, the need to figure out who did it, and why.

I land on one of the rooftops and see my destination in front of me. I’m at the docks and one of Penguin’s freighter’s has just arrived. Good. I need to know what is on there, so I can get the leverage I need when I have my conversation with Cobblepot. I will get to the bottom of this mystery. I swear it.

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Tim

My name is Tim Drake and for as long as I can remember, granted I’m only thirteen, I’ve loved mysteries. While all the other kids in my class read Teen Beat and anything with Britney Spears in it, I can’t help but go to the classics. For me the classics mean Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Although I have to admit that I cut my reading teeth with The Hardy Boy mysteries, it sure didn’t take me long to graduate to much bigger and better stuff. I think I have a nose for mystery, and I think I’ve found one… next door.

They call it Wayne Manor and I’ve been studying it a lot since my dad and I moved in, down the road. At first I was just curious, but as time went on, things started getting kind of weird over there. They never seem to sleep; lights are on all the time. They have a great deal of security. Sure, he’s the wealthiest man in Gotham and all that, but some of the stuff they’ve got hidden around the estate makes it feel almost like a compound.

Okay, so maybe I’m bored. It’s not like I’ve made many friends since I moved here, and maybe I’m just looking for something that isn’t there, but it doesn’t feel that way to me. I’d say my nose is twitching, but I can’t. I’m pretty sure that was copyrighted when Mr. Dibny wrote his book.

Dad would kill me if he knew I was sneaking over here again, but I can’t keep away from the place. There’s something going on. And the fact that the police were there last week and captured that Scarecrow guy just makes me even more intrigued. I’ve got to find out what the big secret is… because I know there is one. I just know it.

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Bruce

Three of Penguin’s guards are unconscious before they even know what him them. After I slip on board, I hide their bodies and quietly make my way down into the cargo hold. Slipping by several other workers isn’t a problem, not for me.

I check the crates that are down here, and they are all marked FRAGILE, GLASS. Imported glass from Italy is what the manifest said. I doubt it. Since Rupert Thorne was killed, Cobblepot took over his real business… smuggling; guns, mostly. With everything going on, I haven’t had a chance to really crack down on this, and, of course, plausible deniability would be Penguin’s first reaction. But right now, I just need enough proof to shake the little guy. I need information, and the one thing that Oswald always seems to have in abundance is information.

The last crate in the back of the hold is the one I go for. I use the small torch in my belt and burn away the side of the crate, but to my surprise, there’s nothing there but exactly what the manifest said would be there. Going to another crate, I check it, only to find the same thing. Okay, either this is actually one of the few times that Cobblepot is playing above board, or, more likely, there’s a hidden compartment somewhere around here.

I never get to find out, as lights flash in front of me and I’m suddenly in the spotlight.

I hate light, especially when it’s pointed in my direction.

“It’s the Batman! Get him!” I hear the voice and the sound of the weapons just seconds before I dive out of the light and behind one of the crates. They have automatic weapons and the wood from the boxes splinter all around me, shattering the contents inside as well. That gives me a bit of a grim satisfaction.

I grab a couple of gas grenades and toss them onto the deck, putting on my protective mask and hoping this does the trick. I don’t have time for this. It goes off and the outcome is what I expected. I hear four men fall to the floor, unconscious. But the sound of the gunfire will bring more men down here, and I don’t have time for this kind of useless violence; not tonight.

Quickly I make my way back up the steps as I hear men shouting, calling for back up. I’m in the shadows and just about off the ship when I see them… landing in front of me, on the bow of the ship. It’s the super soldiers, and they just came in from the sky. No jetpacks that I noted, nothing that showed propulsion from their boots, which means that they can fly. Not a good development. Eight of them, and one of me. This is going to get messy.

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Bullock burst through the door of Gordon’s office, gasping for air.

“We’ve just got word, there’s something going down at the shipping yards. Sounds like a Batman sighting, and those things are there as well.”

Jim took off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes, “Alright, get the special task force down there, but tell them to keep their distance until we arrive. Let’s go do what we have to do.”

As he grabbed his coat, two thoughts went through his head; Do I have what it takes to do what is demanded of me?, and Please let him be gone by the time we get down there.

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Tim

I’ve studied every inch of the grounds, and although I don’t know that much about all this high tech security stuff, I think I’ve got a decent handle on most of it. I’ve been studying like a fiend.

There’s one area that intrigues me the most, and it’s towards the back of the estate. It’s where Mr. Wayne’s butler, what was his name again… Jeeves? Jarvis? Albert?... anyway, it’s where he caught me the last time, and I could tell that he seemed a bit more anxious than usual. Of course then I told him I was just wandering around, but this time it’s the middle of the night, so if I get caught I’m not sure what I can use for an excuse.

There’s something out there he didn’t want me to see, that I know for certain.

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Bruce

Gas grenades didn’t slow them down, and the flash bombs only worked for a couple of seconds. Only wasted one batarang since I figured that wouldn’t do it either. Whatever these soldiers are, I don’t think they are altogether human. They could be robots of some sort, and, if that’s the case, then I could take off the gloves on this one; but I’ve got to be sure first.

So I dive in, leaping up and flipping over the first two, coming down hard on two of them right in the middle of the battalion. I hit them full on, with every ounce of strength that I have, and it feel like slamming into a brick wall. It hits me so hard that I lose my balance and fall back into two of them behind me. One of them picks me up by my cape and lifts me as if I’m nothing more than a toy doll, swinging me around and tossing me into the side of the inner hull. My head starts ringing.

That tells me a few things right away. They’re super-strong, they can fly, and they are impervious to gas, though that may be due to their helmets. Although I’m beginning to believe that my suspicions are correct, that doesn’t help me with the immediate problem. How am I going to get out of this? Brute force is out, especially if these things are what I think they are; I don’t have the raw strength. All of the martial arts that I have, and they won’t matter against these things, at least not to the degree I need them to. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.

I’ve formulated several plans, all of which will result in at least several broken bones, but three of them will get me out of here, and right now, that’s the important aspect. Wish I could use the commlink, but at this point we don’t know who’s possibly tapped into the frequency, and for our mental link we’ve got to wait for J’onn to connect us, and that won’t be for another two hours.

They’re advancing and I’ve run out of time. I take a deep breath, grab the small pellet from my belt and toss it down in front of me. The metal deck of the ship begins to eat away, immediately. Two of the soldiers go crashing through the floor due to their weight, just as I was hoping. That leaves six. I know what I really need to take them out, but it’s under lock and key in the batcave.

Here goes nothing, I think, as I fire the grappler towards the top of the ship, and take off, knowing that they will be on me quickly. I swing over top of them, but just as I think I’ve made it to the other side, I’m grabbed again by one of them who has flown into the air at an alarming speed. I feel him crushing my ankle as I let go of the rope and he brings me down onto the deck of the ship. They surround me, and that’s when I hear the sound of the police cars heading in our direction. This couldn’t get much worse.

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Tim

This couldn’t get much better if I had planned it. The aerosol can that I use is showing me where the infrared lasers are. It’s pretty complex, but I think I can work my way through it. There are just enough gaps, but my jumps are going to have to be precise; I only get one chance.

I take a deep breath and leap to the first opening. I end up on one leg, and, with the weight of my backpack, I nearly topple over, but manage to maintain my balance. I spray some more out of the can and find another opening, a little larger this time. I make another jump, and this time I come down perfectly.

Wiping the sweat from my brow, I look around for the next little hole that I can jump into. There’s something wrong. This is easier than I thought it would be. Like they say in those old movies my dad always watches, “too easy”.

That’s when the idea hits me like a mack truck. This is only part of the security. There are pressure sensors buried in the ground. Oh man, I am so screwed. Do I turn back or go forward. I know that whatever that butler didn’t want me to find is close; I had that feeling when he found me the other day.

Aww, screw it. I’m going for it. I take another jump, and my landing is a little shaky, but I make it. I might consider myself a junior detective, but an acrobat I’m not. I’m not hearing any bells or alarms going off yet, no sirens, so maybe I’m wrong. Maybe there are no pressure plates.

I look around for a second, trying to figure out which is the best route to go. As I spray around me, I see that there is one area that is heavily covered in the lasers, but right beyond that, there seems to be a rather large open space. It’s probably not the way I should go, but it’s where I’m headed. Just have to make it across the scarlet red beams of light.

Taking a very deep breath, I leap for all I’m worth, and for one terrifying moment, I don’t think I’m going to make it. In fact, I know I’m not. But then I find myself covering the distance, but barely. I land just on the other side of the beams. I can’t help it; I start grinning like the cocky fool that I am. That’s when it happens. The weight of the backpack shifts, and I lose my balance. I fall backward right into the middle of criss-crossed lasers. The worst part, though, is that when I hit the ground, I don’t stop falling. I feel the ground give way underneath me and I find myself in total free fall. I’m plummeting under the Earth. I’m hurtling into the abyss. I’m going to totally…

WHAM

I hit the rocky ground, but the pack takes the brunt of the fall. It’s hard to breathe though; The wind is knocked out of me. I look around as I catch my breath, and I realize I’m in some kind of cave. I’ve fallen just far enough that climbing out is not an option.

Great! Feeling into my backpack I find my flashlight and pray that it still works. I flip the switch and luck is on my side. Well, Tim Drake, I think to myself, looks like you wanted an adventure and you got one. I begin to walk cautiously back in the direction of the mansion.

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Bruce

“Hold your fire,” I hear Jim shout from the docks. They won’t fire on these government sanctioned monsters, and, even if they did, I don’t think it would matter at this point.

I feel myself lifted up and one of them pulls my arm out of its socket. I grit my teeth, fighting back the pain. I can’t reach the pouches on my belt, their strength is super-human, and I’m out of ideas at the moment. It looks as though there’s nothing left to do at this time but let them take me.

That’s when I hear her wild scream. It not only startles me, but the soldiers as well. Then I see her tearing through them like a wild woman. She looks familiar, but I don’t think I’ve met her, not personally. Her hair is red and she has to be at least seven feet tall. She has grabbed two of the soldiers and pulled them away as if they were nothing more than mannequins,

She’s grinning the entire time. I know the type. This is a game to her, one that she enjoys playing. She considers herself near invulnerable, and I’d bet anything that her personality matches her arrogance in the style of fighting that she displays. She’s a street brawler, but the punches she is throwing are knocking back the soldiers far enough for me to get my bearings and get back up.

I know who she is now. Her name is Grace Choi. Dick sent me a small file on her after he had met her during the whole King Snake affair. Last he had heard, she was working freelance for Ollie. Question is, why is she suddenly in Gotham?

She takes a solid hit in the face and I hear her nose shatter. She staggers back and I throw my batarang, wrapping its attached cord around the soldier’s legs. I pull as hard as I can and, although I can’t bring it down, it does lose its balance for a second, and that’s all the time she needs to send him flying over the side of the ship with one powerful haymaker.

There are still a few standing and they’re heading towards me, but she barrels through them like a linebacker, knocking them aside, as she grabs me under one arm and dives over the side of the boat.

“Hope you can #$@# swim,” she says as we hit the icy cold water.

We do just that as I make my way to the furthest dock from the task force that is already starting to move towards the ship. I watch as Jim and Bullock scan the water, looking for me. I feel a small pang of regret. This is one of those moments that I would never tell anyone of, that I don’t even like to admit to myself, but it’s a moment of doubt. Are we really doing this the right way? Can we fix this, or have we, The Justice League, destroyed everything we’ve tried to accomplish in the last two years?

“Hey, daydream on your own time, horn-head, we’ve got to get out of here.”

I hear her, but at that moment I swear Jim sees me. He’s looking right at me. Maybe it’s a trick of the moonlight, but I don’t think so. We gaze at each other for a moment, and then I turn around and continue to swim after Grace. I made the bed, now it’s time to lay in it.

We get to shore and she helps pull me up out of the water with my one good arm.

“My name is…”

“Grace Choi,” I finish her sentence. “Green Arrow sent you. Why?”

Her eyebrow raises, but she doesn’t react in any other way. “He wants you to meet someone. A technician from the Las Vegas branch of Cadmus; name’s Snapper Carr. He knows what those soldiers really are.”

“I already know what they are, but take me to him. I want confirmation. Hold on for a second, though,” I say as I walk underneath the dock and brace myself against one of the pillars. Then I slam my shoulder back into its socket. She stares at me, seemingly unimpressed. That’s when I realize that her shattered nose is beginning to heal itself. She’s got increased metabolism - have to remember to put that in my file on her.

“Let’s go,” I say shortly. “I’ve got a date at the Iceberg Lounge that I’m late for.”

“$%#@! You’re just as much fun as GA said you’d be.”

“And stop swearing. It’s ticking me off.”

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Tim

I feel like swearing at the top of my lungs. I’ve been walking for what seems like hours, although I know it hasn’t been. Yet, I think I’m getting close to something. The air is becoming a little less stuffy, and I’m pretty sure I can hear a low humming up ahead. Hear it, or feel it underneath my feet. Not sure which, maybe both.

I’m not prepared for what happens next. A couple more steps and suddenly I’m grabbed by my ankles by a long cord that wraps around my boots and pulls me up, swinging me upside down. I almost lose my pack, but I grab it at the last second. That’s when I finally hear alarms starting to go off. My heart starts racing. I am on to something.

This is when the second epiphany hits me. I’m on to something way bigger than I thought, and much bigger than a thirteen-year-old boy should be involved in. I’ve got to get out of here.

Reaching into my pack, I grab the knife my dad bought me for camping and lift myself up to try and cut myself down, only to find that it’s not rope that is wrapped around my hiking boots, but some kind of metal cord. Dang! All in all, I think I’d like to go back about an hour and stop myself from carrying out this stupid idea.

The alarm is making it hard to think, but, as I stare at the cord, I come up with only one other idea that just might save me. I begin to untie my shoelaces, something extremely difficult to do when you’re upside down and wearing hiking boots. Still, I work as quickly as I can and pray that it works. Sure enough, as soon as I get the first one fully untied, my foot slips out of it.

Now I’m dangling on just one leg, but at least I know I can get down. I move quickly, untying the second shoe, and falling onto the rocky ground. Dad’s going to kill me for losing the boots - they cost a lot of money - but he’ll probably be more upset if I get caught breaking and entering.

I grab my pack and start running back the way I came, only to see a flashlight heading towards me. Not good! Not good at all. I turn the other way and run. I know I’m running right into the lion’s den, I can feel it, but maybe there’ll be something there that will help me out of this mess.

Frank and Joe never had trouble like this.

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Bruce

The man named Snapper Carr has confirmed my worst fears. I know what the soldiers are, and I’m almost certain where they came from. A very large piece of the puzzle has fit into place.

I have to risk it as I stand atop one of the high rises downtown. I call out for J’onn, hoping that, as always, he is around, lurking in the background. He does it almost as well as I do.

I’m relieved, but not surprised, when his thoughts come back almost immediately.

J’onn, hook me up with the others, now!

Without another word, he does just that and lets me know that I am now connected with the rest of the League.

I’ve just received confirmation. The soldiers that are looking for us, they’ve come from Cadmus, and they’re clones… clones of Bizzaro.

I hear the gasps in my head and then I hear Clark’s thought, the same as mine, ring through loud and clear. Luthor!

My thoughts exactly. I’ve got an idea of who else may know something about all of this. I’m going to check it out now. But it looks like this Starro mess is not the only thing we’re dealing with. Luthor has his hands in this, probably all the way up to his elbows.

I cut the link. Don’t want to be connected to them for too long… just in case.

Gazing across the rooftop to the penthouse of the Iceberg Lounge I check through my binoculars to see that Cobblepot is busy at his desk. Going over his books, I’m sure. Seems that he got new glass as well. Seen the type before; reinforced. Guess he got tired of me coming in unannounced. Not that it’s going to stop me.

I pull out one of my special batarangs and hit two buttons on it. I set the timer for twenty seconds and then throw it directly at the window. It’s just sharp enough to wedge itself into the glass, just enough. I shoot my cord and begin my descent towards it. The timing is perfect and the batarang goes off just seconds before I swing through. The glass shatters and I come flying in, hitting the floor and rolling on the ground, coming up quickly.

The Penguin is totally caught off guard, which is just what I hoped for.

“Damn you! I’m calling the police! I’m tired of this. This is nothing more then harassment and this time it’s by a wanted criminal. Please stay right there while I place you under citizen’s arrest.”

“Shut up,” I bark and leap onto his desk, knocking the phone out of his hand and grabbing him by his tuxedo lapels. I pull him forward and his monocle falls off and dangles down the front of his shirt. “I don’t want you; I want information, and you’re going to give it to me. You’ve got your ears to nearly every door in this town, and I’m calling in a favor.”

“Favor! How do I owe you a favor?” Oswald growled, although his eyes are betraying him. He knows that during the entire Black Mask affair, I could have brought him down, hard, but I didn’t. I figured I would need him one day, and that day is now.

“You know what I’m talking about. Now I want to know who’s involved with creating this crisis? Not just the alien, but the others in the background. I know who’s in charge, the leader, but there’s more of them, isn’t there? Isn’t there?!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Now, if you’ll unhand me, you terrorist thug…”

I pick him up and throw him across the room. He lands on the floor and rolls for about three feet. His hat has flown off and that idiotic cigarette holder is broken in half. He sits up, and now I can see the terror on his face. Good. This is what I wanted, what I needed. What I always get.

“If I tell you, they’ll kill me!” he shouts. “The fools wouldn’t even invite me into their little club. Once again I wasn’t worthy. However, I’m not stupid, Batman. If I give you even one name, I’m a dead man, and there’s enough power in that group to do it, too!”

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll bring everything crashing down around you, you stupid, foul bird. I’ve got nothing to lose anymore. NOTHING!”

Penguin stares at me for a moment. I can see him weighing his odds. Then I witness the light bulb go on over his head. One thing about Cobblepot, he’s quick, and I know him well enough to know that he’s already got his own plans formulating.

“I won’t give you a name. Not really, dear chap. I can tell you that it is an interesting puzzle though, isn’t it? A bit of an enigma, you might say?”

I nod my head. That’s all I needed. “Enigma. Good. See you next time I need you to squawk, Cobblepot.” One last insult as I dive out the window. The hard part is over. Now all I have to do is find Nigma, and I can finally start playing this game to my advantage.

As I swing across town I feel the connection in my mind. There will always be a large part of J’onn’s telepathy that makes me feel uncomfortable, but I know he senses that, and I know him well enough to know that he respects that.

It is check-in time, my friends. Are we all still safe? He asks it with genuine concern in his voice. He’s a good man, one of the best, actually.

I hear the responses from the others. I wait to respond last. I let them know that I have pertinent information and as soon as I’m finished with what I’m about to do, I’ll let them know what’s going on.

Then I hear the irritation in Superman’s voice as he tries to goad me into revealing it now, but I refuse. I don’t know if there’s any other telepaths listening in, and before I reveal anything, I have to get my plan in motion. Clark gives up with exasperation evident in his voice. I guess I’m not that great of a friend; I find it amusing… always do.

And then we all sign off and I’m on my way to get Nigma and to start turning the tide in this battle, before it’s too late.

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Tim

My sides are killing me, but I can’t stop running. The flashlight behind me is keeping up, and I’ve got to find another way out of here. Oh please let me find another way out of here and I swear I will never snoop around again. I’ll stop playing junior detective. This was just a bad idea from the word go.

That’s when I see the light up ahead. The narrow cavern is about to come to an end, and I’m praying that I’m running towards an exit. Please let it be an exit.

I pass through the entrance at full speed and I don’t realize that I’m running off the edge of a cliff until it’s almost too late. I try my best to stop, but I trip and fall, landing on my face and sliding to the edge. I would have gone over if it hadn’t been for someone grabbing my feet.

They pull me away from the mouth of the blackest pit I’ve ever seen, and I roll over to find myself looking into the face of Bruce Wayne’s butler… Alfred, that’s his name!

Then I get a good look around me. The computers, the makeshift laboratory. I stand up as Alfred glares down at me, and what I see behind him makes it all very real. There are several different styles of one of the most famous vehicles in American history: the Batmobile.

Oh crap, I just solved the mystery. Bruce Wayne is Batman!

The butler is still glaring at me. I try to swallow, but it appears that I have no more saliva in my mouth.

“I think I’m in trouble,” I croak out. “You’re… you’re not going to… to… kill me… are you?”

He doesn’t say anything for a moment, just arches an eyebrow, and then his eyes narrow and he gives me a cold stare. “Give me a moment to contemplate that.”

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To Be Continued!

The Crisis continues throughout the DC2 Universe this month in Justice League Vs. America and other titles bearing the "Justice League Versus America Tie-In" logo.

[mockingbird]

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