The Marvelous Adventures of the Superbat Family

Chapter 1

Black Canary hesitated. "We do know some people," she said carefully, "but they're not exactly what I would call League material."

"They're all nut jobs," Green Arrow chimed in.

"If that's all then let's move on to the next order of business. We'll vote at the end of the meeting," Batman said.

When it came time to invite the potential recruits Batman was unable to be there alongside Superman and Hal but he did attend the swearing in ceremony. John Stewart, one for Earth's three Green Lanterns, seemed fairly level-headed and more serious than Hal which was a relief. Captain Marvel, well, he was very friendly and couldn't stop grinning in excitement. Other than tripping over his words and an overly strong handshake that had Batman wincing (internally of course) he was fairly well-behaved as well.

Between running Wayne Industries, protecting Gotham and makin sure that some of the League's more...embarrassing missions didn't wind up public knowledge Batman was very, very busy. So it was completely understandable that it took him awhile to get a read on their new recruits. John seemed to be fitting in well-he had made some friends and, other than a returned infatuation with Hawkgirl much to Hawkman's displeasure, got along with everyone else.

Captain Marvel, on the other hand, while he was the very definition of friendly, didn't really seem to have any friends. Sure he had acquaintances and J'onn and Superman often went out of their way to talk to him, earning themselves a wide smile and excited hand gestures.

Batman had been a little bit concerned-after all, Flash and Hal were friends with everyone (even the Spectre which was an impressive feat) so that raised quite a few red flags. Not wanting to jump to any conclusions Batman decided to conduct his own investigation first, starting by talking to the man in question. Captain Marvel was easy to find as he often volunteered for extra shifts, particularly on the weekends so the other heroes could spend time with their families (or in Hal's case go on dates). From that piece of information alone it was easy to deduce that not only was he single but he most likely had no one else in his life, including family. So Batman couldn't really fault the other man for wanting to hang around the Watchtower in a desperate attempt for company.

Despite his initial nervousness when Batman first approached him Captain Marvel was eager to talk and put most of Batman's misgivings at ease within a few short minutes. While the man tried to be careful about letting personal information slip he was very open and friendly. It was also very easy to understand why Flash and Hal weren't very good friends with him. It wasn't anything personal but he two often had very, very short attention spans, Flash especially. It was difficult for them to carry on conversations with normal people let alone Captain Marvel who stumbled over every other word.

While he wasn't a licensed doctor or psychiatrist Batman knew enough to come up with a rudimentary diagnosis of autism. It wasn't serious-he knew a few people with it that lived normal lives (one such woman was the head of accounting at Wayne Industries) so it wasn't a big deal. Captain Marvel showed some of the more classic symptoms such as not understanding some social cues (a lot of the Justice League members chose to ignore them anyway) and occasionally stumbled over his words and would slap his thigh in frustration until he either found the word or someone else did. Batman was just relieved that they hadn't made a mistake in recruiting him.

Very little changed after Batman's discovery although he now made an effort to at least acknowledge Captain Marvel's presence whenever their paths crossed, earning him several large grins. Still, Batman had yet to make any progress on finding a weakness. His powers were not only magical but seemed to be weather-related judging by the powerful lightning storm he had conjured during the last alien attack. On the bright side over fifty alien vessels had been destroyed and they agreed to never attack Earth again.

Batman's plan to go to Fawcett City and conduct an investigation were unwittingly hastened by Superman casually mentioning that he was going to consult Captain Marvel about some recently stolen artifacts.

"I know not all artifacts are magic but I started itching when I was near the display case and since Zatara is busy I figured I'd check with Captain Marvel. Plus even Zatara said he didn't know as much about magic as Captain Marvel does."

"You can never be too careful," Batman agreed. "I'll come with you."

Superman sighed. "You're just looking for weaknesses," he accused.

Batman chose not to reply.

The zeta tube in Fawcett City was in an abandoned photo booth in a less than desirable neighborhood. Thankfully no one bothered them which was a little bit unusual but Batman didn't complain. Soon they were on the roof of the Whiz Radio station. Despite the technological advances of the past century Fawcett City still struck most people as a town trapped in time. Newspaper boys chased after cars and shoe shining was still going strong. Quite a few women were dressed as flappers even as they talked on their cell phones and there were at least two women dressed in styles from the 1800s.

"Fawcett City is very...unique," Batman said diplomatically.

"They even have a malt shop," Superman pointed out.

"So they do."

"Hey guys."

Startled, Batman turned to see Captain Marvel landing on the roof behind them. His approach had been unnaturally quiet and even now he didn't make a sound as he walked towards them. Another eerie thing about him was the fact that his cape moved with him and not with the wind.

"Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly.

Superman shook his head. "Nothing big-some artifacts were stolen from a museum last night and I wanted to see if you could shed any light on them."

"These aren't magical," he returned some of the files, "but they do resemble some magic artifacts so more than likely you're not dealing with competent sorcerers. These two, however, are very powerful magical artifacts."

"How powerful?" Batman asked.

"Um..." Captain Marvel hesitated for a few moments then reluctantly continued speaking. "Each of them is powerful enough to wipe out a city the size of Gotham," he admitted.

"Lovely," Superman groaned. Even if he wasn't vulnerable to magic he still wouldn't have like it. Magic was unpredictable-you never knew what was going to happen. "Can you track them?" he asked Batman.

"Not really," Batman winced. Zatara hadn't had much luck in making Batman's equipment sensitive to magic and there weren't a lot of magic users he was willing to trust with his belongings.

"I can."

Captain Marvel looked slightly embarrassed when the other heroes turned to look at him.

"I can track them," he repeated. "I know a lot of tracking spells. I mean, I can alter them to work for you but it won't be as accurate."

"Or you could just come with us," Batman suggested. This would be the perfect opportunity to not only learn more about magic but to analyze Captain Marvel's fighting style as part of a team.

"Are-are you sure?" Captain Marvel looked rather dubious. Batman didn't exactly have a good reputation for tolerating magic or for working with those that weren't core members of the League.

"I certainly won't argue," Superman rubbed his right shoulder ruefully, remembering the Mollusk Troll that he had fought on at least one occasion."Would tonight around seven work?" Superman asked. "At the Daily Planet?"

Captain Marvel waited until Batman nodded before agreeing. "I'll see you then." He smiled then effortlessly took off into the air.

"This should be an interesting night," Batman mused.