The Hero They Deserve [UNDER REVISION] (RWBY x Batman Male Reader)

The Brave and The Bold: Part IV

"So, he comes at night?"

"It's not just when he comes, kid." A disheveled man corrects as he adjusts his coat, sitting against a brick wall. "The night is his. Anyone smart enough'll know to wait till mornin."

"Right...." Mercury replies while stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Brush me off if you want to, kid." The old man huffs as he struggles for comfort in his coat. "You won't be satisfied till someone gets their ass snatched up."

Mercury huffs himself, smiling in arrogant disbelief. "Yeah, I guess that part might actually be true."

The gray haired boy exits the alleyway. Emerald leaned against the wall of the entryway, her scarlet eyes peering up at her partner through her mint hair.

"Anything?"

"Flying bat lives in the shadows, exacts vengeance on all us sinners, and is always watching like a sadistic Santa? Nothing new there."

The brown-skinned woman scoffed. "Great."

"I don't get why this guy's got Cinder creaming her pants. This is Gotham; ain't our problem."

"Of course you don't." The woman rolls her eyes. "Cinder's 'creaming her pants' because this guy was able to set the Fall back so damn far with inside knowledge."

"So? It just means we have another Tukson situation."

"No, it means we've got a loose variable with intimate knowledge of our plans. Which means he might know who we are, which means he could get us found out before the festival even starts."

Mercury blinked his steel-blue eyes as the pieces finally began to align. ".....Huh."

"Yep."

"Fuck."

"Exactly."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We need more people like him, that's what I say."

"I-, I'm sorry ma'am," Clark fumbles with his notepad, "you think you need more people like Batman?"

The two sat in the elderly woman's home, a townhouse that held as many homely memories as it did age.

"Well of course." The old woman affirms as if the answer were so obvious. "That fellow's a hero, you know."

"Uh- well, Mrs. Astley, that seems to be up for debate. There's multiple reports of him leaving people hospitalized. A lot of people seem scared."

"Well they ought to."

"I-......I'm sorry?"

Mrs. Astley chuckled. "You're not a Gotham boy. I guess I shouldn't expect you to understand."

The woman looked towards a dusty old picture frame. The portrait within was of herself and her husband, a man of equivalent age. She'd informed Clark beforehand that she had been living alone for some time.

"When you live here long enough you begin to look over your shoulder anywhere you go. It becomes a habit. Some nights you win,......others you lose. But now you don't have to look as often, because now you're not the only one who has to think twice at night."

Clark rubs his nose with a sigh before he places his pencil down on the table. "So everyone living in fear is the answer? What if the day comes he starts scaring everybody? Is the only safeguard his own conscience?"

"Well you could say the same about that Superman fellow couldn't you?" Mrs. Astley inquires cheekily with a sip of her drink. "All that power in the hands of one person? Of course I can't be certain, but I'm quite sure this Batman is human. But Superman? He's an alien, without a shadow of a doubt, with no ties to God or country."