Book Of The Bat: The Intergalactic Starbat and The Outsiders #1

Ferris Aircraft. Neo-Gotham. Earth.

"Be careful with The Grey Ghost, Dick. I just had STONE do some repairing on the ship. Hold the controls steady and you should be just fine." said Starbat as he put his hand on Dick's shoulder, instilling confidence into him. "No messy landings this time." He smirked.

Dick let out a quick chuckle, not letting the little quip distract him from landing. "Well, this time. We aren't in the middle of a war between Martians and Thanagarians."

Dick landed the ship with ease. Afterwards, he hurriedly shut off all controls and operating systems. Dick was in a hurry to get back to his hometown, Blud Town. Not for the city itself, but for that special someone who was in the city. Someone he couldn't wait to get back to, the thought of that person put a huge grin on his face. Dick went outside the ship to meet with his mentor. "I quadrupled checked everything on the ship, it's all stable. STONE is offline as well."

"Great. But don't you have a date with the Comissioner's daughter tonight?" Starbat asked as he put his arm around Dick's shoulder as they walk.

"I do. But I actually wanted to speak with you about something else."

"Go on." Starbat said in low, calmly tone.

"For many years, it's been me and you in this ship fighting space pirates, cosmic entities & intergalactic warlords. I think it's about time that...

"You want to go solo?" Starbat asked confusingly.

"What? No. No, of course not. I think just it's about time you assembled a crew. I'm talking about a Tactical Officer, Doctors, an Engineer."

"I have all those things covered."

Dick sighed. "That may be true. But it will do a number on you. You're only getting older, not younger. It wouldn't hurt to have a support system other than me. You have to start learning how to trust people. I have to go. But give it some thought, will you?"

"You need a ride to Blud Town? I can have a SFT here in seconds." Starbat suggested.

"It's nice out, Bruce. I'll walk." Dick replied. Dick and Starbat shook hands as they began to go their seperate ways.

"Besides. Where would I find a crew anyway?!" Starbat yelled out.

"Good question. I can't wait for you to figure that out."

-

Wayne Manor. Three Hours Later

Bruce was on the couch, sipping on a glass of fine wine with music playing in the background. He sat there reflecting on the advice that his partner gave him. Deep down, he knew that he was right but he just didn't know where he would find a team from. Ever since, the Waller Act has been passed many years ago. Heroes have either quit, worked for the government or operate in secret. Bruce only knew of four other heroes, but none of them would be interested in exploring the cosmos.

KNOCK KNOCK!!

The sound of the door knocking startled Bruce. He stood there wondering who could be knocking at this time. His Butler and his daughter were off planet, so it couldn't have been any of them. But SFT makes anything possible. Bruce gets up and opens the door. He's greeted with an unfamilar face.

"Good evening, Mister Wayne. My name is Maxwell Lord, I am the the head of ARGUS." He said coldly.

"What can I do for you?"

"I'm just going to cut to the chase. I've been searching for a mystical artifact for years and I finally know where it's at. But even for me, it's out of my jurisdiction to just round my men and retrieve it."

"I have no idea what you are talking about. Have a good night." Bruce said. As he was about to shut the door, Maxwell Lord put his foot in front of the door.

"Oh right. Of course you don't. The Helmet of Fate is on Apokolips. If you knew anything about that helmet, you'd know that it's one of the most powerful objects ever. And it's in the hands of the most powerful warlords the universe has ever seen. Before you turn me down, I understand that you are not registered. This place is surrounded by ARGUS troops. I can take you in if I wanted. What would your daughter Helena think about that, Starbat?"

Bruce frowned, balling up his fists. He walks up to Maxwell Lord and looks directly in his eyes. "Don't you ever bring up my daughter ever again. If you ever touch her, I will....

"It's not very bright to threaten a government official." Lord said with a grin.

"What do you need me to do?"

Lord smiles. "Take Dick's advice. Assemble a team. You can start by breaking your good friend out of Fort Rozz. Hopefully, Oliver Queen has learned his lesson this time."

NEXT: Why is Oliver Queen in a prison on Krypton?

Writer's Note: SFT (Speed Force Travel)- People can now use Speed Force Energy to get where they have to go. Even automobiles are can be powered by Speed Force Energy.

STONE-An A.I. that Helena created. BOO-YAH!

@johnny_blaze: Interesting take.

@batkevin74@dngn4774@waezi2@wildvine@tommythehitman

@johnny_blaze: So far there's not enough to go on, but boy do I love your your concepts. I think it was smart to start this arc on a familiar theme (Robin's departure from batman, birth of nightwing) to counterbalance the foreign constructs of the scifi genre. That being said, I would have liked to see more than just a set up in that second half. So far Bruce is reactionary, the plot is steering this protagonist and readers need to that dynamic flip quickly.

The quickest way to make a characters interesting is to have them do stuff that affects the plot. We don't have to agree with what they are doing (in fact, most times it's more interesting if we don't), we just need to see them do something other than talk. Luckily the next issue is set up as a prison break, so that should help you addresses this main issue.

I look forward to reading more. :)

^^^Thank you for the advice. I always told myself that I needed to do stories that weren't so heavy on dialogue. Issue #2 will definitely have more action.

And I also wanted to portray Batman a little differently. The core elements will still be there, but he loves exploring the cosmos.

@johnny_blaze: That's really cool, good opening chapter. Looking forward to seeing some action in your pocket of the BOTB :)