DC: A Cop in Gotham

Chapter 34: Batman is a Copycat!

————————————————————

"The earthquake is a conspiracy by the Wayne Group! The Justice League isn't any better—they've imprisoned us to steal our money!" one man shouted angrily, his voice hoarse from screaming.

"They're all in on it! Superman, Batman—all of them! They're just puppets of the Wayne Group, trying to control us!" yelled a woman clutching her bag tightly, as if expecting someone to rob her on the spot.

"They locked us in here so they could take over the city! They've already taken everything from us—our homes, our lives—and now they want our savings too!" a middle-aged man added, his face red with rage.

"You think they care about us? Ha! All they care about is their reputation and their money!" a younger man sneered, his arms crossed. "They're letting Gotham burn while they hide in their mansions!"

"They're no heroes," muttered an elderly woman, shaking her head. "They're just another gang with fancy costumes."

The crowd grew louder, feeding off each other's anger and fear. "Wayne Group owns everything in this city! The banks, the shelters, even the police! This whole thing was probably planned to make more money!"

"They didn't even warn us about the earthquake! How could they not know something this big was coming? They must've been behind it!" another voice cried out, followed by murmurs of agreement.

"They're hoarding supplies too!" someone accused. "Have you seen how much food and water they've got in storage? While we're here starving and waiting for scraps!"

"And what about the Justice League?" a woman asked, her voice sharp with bitterness. "They're supposed to protect us, right? But all they've done is throw us in here like prisoners!"

"They probably want to use this disaster to justify taking more control!" another man exclaimed, pounding his fist into his hand. "First, it's shelters, then curfews, and next, they'll own our lives too!"

The people forcibly brought into the shelter by Superman and The Flash were still yelling and cursing, their loud voices echoing in the enclosed space. Their accusations grew more absurd by the second, yet they refused to stop. Anyone with a shred of common sense avoided these people entirely, knowing how dangerous irrationality could be in such a tense environment.

Anyone who had spent time in Gotham understood the influence the Wayne Group had over the city. They controlled industries, infrastructure, and even some of the very banks where these people had deposited their money. Why would the Wayne Group need to "steal" money they already controlled? Yet, the baseless accusations persisted, feeding an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty.

This hostility began to take its toll on others in the shelter. The tension escalated, spreading like a virus. People began losing their composure, and small arguments broke out. Panic was setting in.

Despite the chaos, Alfred remained calm and efficient. He was in charge of overseeing the shelter's material supply, which could sustain 30 million people for a full week. Fortunately, the actual number of people taking refuge was lower, making it possible to stretch resources even further.

However, the city government wasn't nearly as competent. Their distribution efforts were plagued by problems: looting, people collecting supplies multiple times, and a general lack of organization. These issues only worsened the public's anxiety. Meanwhile, the relentless downpour outside showed no signs of stopping, amplifying the feeling of helplessness.

Suddenly, the shelter's lights began to flicker. People froze, holding their breath. When the lights finally went out, darkness consumed the space, plunging everyone into uncertainty. The ground trembled violently beneath their feet, and people instinctively clung to each other in fear.

The city's power grid had collapsed entirely. For a moment, it seemed like the shelter itself might fall apart. But soon, the shelter's backup power system activated, and the lights came back on. Relief swept through the crowd, though it was short-lived.

The shelter's televisions, connected to external cameras, displayed the scene outside. What they saw was both surreal and terrifying.

The storm had suddenly stopped. The wind and rain were gone, replaced by an eerie stillness. The sky was clear and bright, with the sun shining unnaturally brightly overhead. But the calm above was in stark contrast to the chaos below.

The earth was tearing itself apart. Skyscrapers—the pride of Gotham's modern architecture—toppled like dominoes, raising massive clouds of dust. Roads cracked and buckled, with large sections of asphalt pushed upward by the shifting ground. Entire neighborhoods were reduced to rubble in moments.

In the midst of this destruction, Batman was already in action. Using his grapple gun, he swung from collapsing buildings, moving toward an open area where he could regroup.

Dean, however, wasn't as well-equipped. He was forced to rely on his reflexes, jumping across unstable terrain and dodging falling debris to keep up with Batman.

Batman barely acknowledged Dean's presence. He had other priorities. Reaching a safe spot, he pulled a remote-controlled Batarang from his utility belt and threw it into the air. As the device flew, Batman activated his arm-mounted interface, projecting a detailed 3D model of Gotham's city structure.

A red dot appeared on the map, indicating the source of the seismic activity. Batman zoomed in on the location: Indian Hill. There, the cause of the destruction was revealed—Groudon.

Dean's eyes widened in shock. Something about Batman's technology felt oddly familiar to him. Unable to resist, he pulled out his Pokémon Navigator and compared it to the projection on Batman's arm. The resemblance was uncanny, though Batman's system was clearly more advanced.

Before Dean could ask, Batman explained without even looking up. "When I examined your Navigator and Manaphy at the private clinic, I scanned their design and functionality. Using the data I gathered, I created a replica. It's a degraded version since some of the materials aren't available on Earth, but it gets the job done."

Dean was stunned. "This… this is what you call a degraded version? It's leagues ahead of my Navigator!"

Batman didn't respond. His focus remained on the 3D map, which now displayed seismic activity in real time. He didn't lie when he said the device he created was a degraded version. The replica he made was in the form of radio wave tower, standing nearly three meters tall.

Batman had deployed three such devices strategically across Gotham, using them to track and analyze seismic activity. The Batcomputer displayed live information about radio wave retracement, with the remote-controlled Batarangs serving as a transfer station.

Despite being a simplified model of Dean's technology, it performed efficiently.

"Computer, calculate earthquake magnitude and range," Batman commanded.

[The source magnitude is 7.6. The affected area covers all of Gotham, with some damage extending into the outskirts of Metropolis.]

Batman's jaw tightened as he absorbed the data. He already understood Groudon's destructive capabilities, but seeing the numbers confirmed the scale of the disaster. He began formulating a plan to counteract it.

"Are you sure Groudon will help us deal with the Atlanteans?" Batman asked, his tone skeptical but controlled.

Dean nodded, though he appeared less certain than before. He reached down to gently touch Manaphy, who rested uneasily in his arms. Ever since Groudon had awakened, Manaphy's condition had grown unstable. The legendary Pokémon's body seemed to pulse like an unsteady wave, as if struggling to maintain its form.

"I'm certain," Dean replied, though his voice wavered slightly. "The title 'Creator of the Earth' wasn't something Groudon gave itself. It's part of an ancient story from another world. Groudon once appeared to humans suffering from catastrophic floods, using its immense power to save them. It created land by evaporating the water with sunlight and heat."

Dean paused, noticing Batman's skeptical glance but continued, his tone firmer now. "Manaphy also told me there's another legendary Pokémon that opposes Groudon—Kyogre, the 'Creator of the Ocean.' Their battles are legendary. Whenever they clash, the very fabric of their world is shaken. Groudon and Kyogre have fought countless times, each one bringing destruction on a massive scale."

Batman's eyes flicked back to the holographic map. The coastline was shifting, creeping closer to Gotham as if the ocean itself were reclaiming the land. He calculated the odds in his head, weighing the potential for further destruction.

"Groudon's not going to let this slide," Dean added, his voice quiet but resolute. "After being sealed away and experimented on for a month, it's furious. It needs an outlet for its anger, and right now, the Atlanteans are giving it the perfect target. They're trying to drown everything, and Groudon's the one force that can stop them."

As if to emphasize Dean's words, Groudon's golden eyes glinted in the distance, fixed on the direction of the coast. Beneath its massive frame, strange, glowing rocks began to form, rising from the earth as if summoned by Groudon's will.

Dean stared in disbelief as the rocks lifted Groudon off the ground. The legendary Pokémon began to move toward the coastline, floating on a platform of glowing stone.

"Are… are those primitive energy rocks?" Dean stammered, his voice rising with astonishment. "But they're not supposed to fly!"

Batman, however, remained calm. He had already anticipated the possibility of Groudon flying and silently crossed aerial harassment off his list of tactical options.

As Groudon moved, the earthquake's source shifted with it. The massive creature left a trail of destruction in its wake, toppling buildings and shattering roads. Wherever it went, Gotham was reduced to ruins.

Dean shook his head, feeling a pang of sympathy for the city's residents. "This is going to be brutal," he muttered under his breath, thinking of all the Gotham citizens who hadn't yet paid off their mortgages.

At the seaside, the Atlantean offensive, which had lost its persistence due to the weather, began to weaken. Affected by the strong sunlight, the Atlanteans' activity time on land was greatly reduced, giving the heroes a chance to catch their breath.

---

"Element Girl, come with me."

Turning her staff quickly, Zatanna chanted a spell backwards. The ice magic merged with the freezing ray shot by Element Girl, instantly freezing the surging seawater and the soldiers within it.

"Huff, this isn't sustainable," Zatanna muttered.

A towering ice wall now stood in front of her, but Zatanna was sweating profusely. This wasn't the first time she had used ice magic, but the wall could only delay time. The Atlanteans' weapons could easily break through the ice.

Cyborg had summoned every reserve member of the Justice League to Gotham, but it still wasn't enough. Atlantis maintained a clear numerical advantage.

Hawkman and others had considered the idea of capturing the leader, but Orm was a cunning spellcaster. He was aware of the powerful beings among the humans. To be safe, he had chosen to stay behind the army, forcing any hero who dared to attack him to face the siege of hundreds of enemies.

Green Arrow, Oliver Queen, managed to shoot three Atlantean soldiers with one arrow, but when he reached for another, his quiver was empty. All his arrows were gone. As the tide of enemies rushed toward him, Green Arrow resorted to using his bow to strike down an approaching Atlantean soldier.

Black Canary used her sonic waves to cover her boyfriend's retreat. Green Arrow coughed out seawater that had splashed into his mouth. "This is Gotham, but where's Batman? I haven't seen him anywhere!"

Cyborg explained through the comm channel, "Batman has his own plan."

"I don't care what plan he has. Just tell him to hurry up. If it weren't for that beam of light that broke the storm earlier, we wouldn't have survived this long!" Zatanna's throat felt dry and sore. She had chanted more spells today than she had in the past month.

"Also, what's this strange vibration? I feel some kind of violent power—it's similar to magic," Zatanna said, her caster's intuition piqued.

Curiosity compelled her to cast a levitation spell on herself, lifting her off the ground. From above, she could see the crumbling buildings and a red figure approaching in the distance.

Zatanna opened the comm channel, her face pale.

She shouted at the top of her lungs: "Cyborg, open the retreat channel—immediately!"

"What's going on?" Cyborg asked, confused by Zatanna's urgency.

While casting another spell to contact Dr. Fate, Zatanna also alerted the other heroes, urging them to prepare for a retreat. When asked why, Zatanna answered grimly:

"An even more dangerous threat is approaching!"

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

If you like the story please support me by giving powerstones, comments and reviews. Your support will be very much appreciated!