A Different Kind of Signal [Batman]

[theoretical]

Players: Green Lantern Hal Jordan & Batman
Location(s): Random Rooftop, Gotham City
Plot Summary: Recent events have seen Hal Jordan quit the Justice League. However word has reached his ears that Dick Grayson intends to get the band back together.

IN BRIGHTEST DAY..

..IN BLACKEST NIGHT

Hal had never made any attempt to hide how much he didn't like Gotham City. Something about the way that no matter how many criminals got put behind bars, they either broke out or there were plenty waiting to take their place. He'd often thought that Bruce was crazy for operating out of Gotham, but that was until Hal had lost Coast City. It was after those events that he understood why Bruce never left Gotham to be swallowed up by all the corruption and evil.

It was his home.

These days, there was a different Batman. Admittedly, Hal had limited experience with Bruce's sidekicks. There was the one that died, then the orphan.. then the other orphan.. Were they the same orphan? Which was a Teen Titan? It really was hard for Hal to keep up with, which typically came off wrong to those he was around. Hal never really had much reason for a sidekick, even though he hung around with Barry and his nephew, Wally. Hal had the entire Green Lantern Corps at his side in many of the epic challenges he had faced. Thousands of beings from worlds he'd never heard of standing together.

"Kid Green Lantern sounds silly anyway," Hal remarked as he set down in an alley. He dismissed his Green Lantern uniform and went into the convenience store to grab a Red Bull. There was no telling how long this was going to take. Hopefully, Dick Grayson was even in town. That was the other thing, there apparently were other Bat-People in Gotham. Was everyone trying to copy the Corps now? Without much word Hal exited and climbed up a fire escape of a nearby building. It felt good to do things the normal way every once in a while. It helped him appreciate his Power Ring.

Hal settled with his back against one of the tall chimneys on the roof. With a mere thought his uniform was back and his ring was ready. It hadn't taken much of his full charge to get here from Coast City, and he was hoping it wouldn't take all night to get Batman's attention. He turned his ring skyward and concentrated. The construct would be easy, even if it was a bit much even by Hal's standards. The green energy began to take shape as he created it in his mind, and it shined against the backdrop of the clouds that dominated the Gotham skyline. A green version of the Bat-signal hung high in the night air. Hal sat and popped the tab on his Red Bull, and waited.

[Batman]

It was just an average night in Gotham City. This basically meant that Dick was handling a crime rate that was triple the size of Metropolis. He wasn’t particularly bothered by that. He had lived in Gotham City all his life so he was well adapted to the crime rate. When he had been in New York City he had been restless not relieved. He liked being busy and he liked putting a stop to crime. He had to admit that his life would be much easier if there weren’t bad guys running around. Then again his life would be boring too. “Drop the gun!” Dick had his other reasons for fighting crime, though. He’d gladly make his life boring in exchange for people not being put in situations like these. The man who stood at the end of the alleyway was the last of his friends and held a weapon to the temple of a woman. Dick wasn’t the type of person who was intimidating by default. Wearing the cowl of Batman could do wonders for you in the fear department, though. He could think of six or seven ways to stop the man but the most effective way was through a pint sized child who was about to jump from the roof.

“I’ll the bitch! I swear! I sw-“ Damian Wayne dropped from the ceiling and slammed into the man feet first. The hostage and her captor were thrown forward and Damian plucked the gun from the man’s hand before he could fire. The two of them fell to the ground and the man quick disentangled himself from the woman and ran for the mouth of the alleyway. He never quite made it and instead ran straight into Dick’s fist. The man hit the ground and began to groan as his broken nose began to bleed. He wasn’t even given a chance to wipe at his nose since Damian ran up to him and cuffed his hands behind his back. Dick walked over to the woman and again found himself doing something Bruce never did. He held up his hand and helped her to her feet. “The police are on their way. Be sure to give them a statement about what happened.” The woman thanked him and turned to pick up her purse. That’s when Dick did something Bruce would do. When she turned around Dick and his protégé were gone.

“We’re going to have to swing in on Arkham. Zsaz has some information on White Shark and he’s going to use it to try and get parole. If we get what he knows first then the cops won’t have to fulfill the bargain.” They stood on a building a good block away from the initial crime scene. Dick reached into his utility belt and hit a button that called the bat-mobile for support. When he didn’t hear Damian complain or anything he turned to look at him. Damian was staring up at a sky with a sneer on his face. “What?” Dick looked up at the sky and saw a green hologram of the bat-symbol splayed across the sky. He sighed. He had known this day would come. He could tell by the design and structure of the symbol that this was a construct of Hal Jordan. “What is that doing here.” Dick sighed. He wasn’t ready for this conversation. “First Zsaz. Then Jordan.”

----

Dick had figured that Damian could use exposure to the other heroes of Earth. Damian had quite a reputation as a hell raiser and Dick knew that was because of isolation. He knew that Hal wouldn’t appreciate having a second man in the conversation but he frankly didn’t care. Hal had caused quite a bit of trouble when he had started his own Justice League. It was one of those situations where he had totally abandoned the idea of loyalty or common sense. So after wrapping up their interrogation of Zsaz the Dynamic Duo headed over to one of the many buildings in downtown Gotham City. Hal was still sitting there with his sign two hours later. Either Hal had nothing to do tonight or Dick was going to have deal with a long lecture. Either way he’d have to deal with it. The Bat-Mobile hovered several yards above the building and the duo jumped from the floating vehicle. They floated silently through the air and soon landed right in front of Hal.

“You rang?” Dick questioned as he stood there; shrouded in his cloak. Damian stood next to him with his arms crossed over his chest as he glared at Hal with a mixture of contempt and curiosity.