I watched this episode a couple of days ago and I just wanted to experiment and see what would happen if Celeste had been there as well. Just to let you all know, this does not connect to Batman Beyond in any way. I know that JLU takes place in the same universe, but let's just pretend that it doesn't, alright? Oh, and Terry will be referred to as the Bat, but he is still technically Batman. It would be confusing if I referred to both of them as Batman. Now, ON WITH THE FIC!
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Batman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern landed on the hard concrete ground with a thud. "We've been expecting you," rasped an ominous voice. Five figures came out of the shadows, stalking closer to them. Two of them were twin girls with bright orange hair and face paint on. Next to them was a very pale and lanky man with tattered black and orange clothes. Beside him was a bald and very portly clown who was using a circus ball to get around. On the other side of the twins was a buff man with grayish skin and a sadistic look in his eyes. Next to him was a strange hyena walking on two legs with metal robot arms.
Suddenly, a purple wave of electricity was shot in front of them. "But I bet you weren't expecting us," a voice retorted.
Touching down next to the three heroes were four people. One was a middle aged man wearing black, blue, and yellow with a lightning bolt on his chest. Above him was a man in all black and a red Bat Symbol on his chest with the entire suit concealing his identity. Next to him was another man with silver armor that had the symbol for Thanagar on his chest and a helmet covering his face. Beside him was a woman dressed in a black suit that started above her chest and ended past her thighs. She wore a silver tiara against her forehead and a silver Wonder Symbol on her chest.
Green Lantern looked at the group in disbelief. "Static?" he asked uncertainly, referring to the middle aged man. "What's going on?"
The man in armor looked just a surprised as he was as he turned to him. "Dad?" The young woman next to him had her blue eyes trained on Batman and Wonder Woman, as if she didn't know what to make of them. The Dark Knight and the Amazon Princess both noticed that she looked strikingly identical to the latter. Where were they? Who were these people?
"We need to get out of here," ordered the man in black.
"Leaving so soon?" asked the lanky one, rushing towards them. "You didn't even take any party favors." He threw an orange pumpkin-like bucket into the air. It began to flare up, sending huge balls of electricity into the air. They destroyed anything that they made conract with.
"Incoming!" warned the man in armor. Green Lantern immediately put up a shield around them. The sparks exploded against it violently. "That's not gonna hold." Sure enough, the shield soon disintegrated. The seven quickly split up, each taking a villain.
Wonder Woman flew back, flipped gracefully, and landed on delicately on her feet. The clown was the one to confront her. "Where do you think you're going, sugar?" He activated his weapon, which was a staff with red laser-like ends. He charged at her, swinging his staff. Wonder Woman attempted to use her bracelets to deflect the hit, but failed as the electricity coursed through her body. She tried again, but the action repeated. The clown hit her in the face sending her flying back.
Suddenly, the woman in black landed in front of her. Unlike Wonder Woman, her bracelets deflected each and every hit. Her black heel collided with his chest, sending him a good ten feet away. Wonder Woman stared at her in shock. The woman pointed to her bracelets. "Upgrade," she said simply.
"Who are you?" Wonder Woman demanded, picking herself up. She knew that this woman was not her. Despite their similarities, there were distinct differences in her facial features. The most noticeable being her nose. It was almost exactly like... Wonder Woman's gaze wandered to Batman. No, it couldn't be. He had made it clear that he wasn't interested.
The woman shook her head. "That's not important right now," she insisted, pointing towards the clown who was getting up. "Chucko's not staying down for long." She took a fighting stance while Wonder Woman mimicked her. Despite the woman's upgrades, the two of them were barely getting any hits in. The clown was faster and stronger than he looked.
"We're getting out of here," the Bat commanded as he rose into the air. "Now."
"Not a chance," the armored man retorted. "Hold the line!"
"He's right," added Wonder Woman, doing her best to dodge Chucko's advances. "We're the Justice League. We don't run from a fight."
"A strategic retreat to take time to regroup is not cowardly," the woman beside her said softly, deflecting yet another blow.
The man above them took out a strange device. "I don't remember putting this up for a vote." A white portal began to appear above him. Unfortunately, Chucko managed to get past both women, launching his staff into the device. Just as soon as it had come, the portal disappeared.
"Keep your head in the game, kid," Green Lantern advised, hovering next to him. "There's always another way. Virgil, I need some cover!" Static obliged, sending a large ball of electricity into the air. It exploded, causing a bright light to envelop the city. Lantern then made a huge green labyrinth, misleading the villains who ran in to follow them.
Everyone took to the sky. "I think we've lost them," said Green Lantern.
"Very clever," the Wonder Woman look-a-like complimented.
"Where are we heading?" asked Wonder Woman. "The Watchtower?"
"Not exactly," answered the Bat.
OoOoOo
The seven entered an old abandoned school. They walked through the dark hallway as rats scurried across the floor. They eventually came to a huge main frame with a table in front of it. "This is Justice League headquarters?" Batman inquired.
"For now," Static replied. "We're all that's left of the League."
"You've traveled about fifty years into your future," the Bat told them.
Green Lantern approached Static. "Last time I saw you, you were too young to drive," he stated. "You look good for a man your age."
"The miracles of modern medicine," responded Static. "Sixty five is the new thirty."
"And the Watchtower?" asked Batman.
"It's gone," replied the man in black. "We lost a lot of good people that day."
"You mean Superman?" Wonder Woman asked, managing to keep her face straight. "J'onn? All the others?"
"Yeah," said the man in armor, taking off his helmet and revealing his bright green eyes. "You too." The woman next to him avoided meeting the Amazon's gaze. Was that pain she saw reflecting in those blue eyes?
"And the Batcave?"
"This is all we have left now," said a voice. A man entered the room. Diana's eyes widened while Batman's narrowed; this man was a much older Bruce Wayne walking towards them with a cane. "Deal with it." Batman walked towards him while Bruce just grinned. "Surprised to see me?"
"A little," admitted Batman. "I'm more surprised that I lived so long."
The woman nodded. "Sup Dad," she greeted. The two men next to her glared at her. "What? They were gonna find out eventually." Batman's mouth was open in shock while Wonder Woman's eyes widened even more.
The Bat sighed an walked over to Bruce and Batman. "Batman, Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne, Batman. Or have you met?"
"Not now," they both snapped at the same time. The woman snickered at the two of them. Apparently, nothing had changed about him in fifty years. She found it hilarious.
"Great," muttered the Bat. "What did they used to call it? Stereo?"
"This is a little weird for everybody," said the other man, shaking John's hand. "I'm Warhawk, Rex Stewart."
"Your mother," began John. "Who is she?"
"Kind of obvious, don't you think?"
"Even if it isn't, leave it be," Batman ordered. "You don't wanna know too much about your future."
"Trust me, you really don't," agreed the Bat.
Wonder Woman figured this was a good time to get some answers. She pulled the woman by the arm to a slightly secluded area. The woman put up no resistance. "Who are you?" she repeated. "Why do you bare my symbol?"
The woman sighed. "My name is Celeste Martha Hippolyta Wayne," she revealed, giving her a soft smile. "I'm your daughter."
Diana gasped, covering her mouth. She had, had her suspicions, but hearing her confirm them was a whole different feeling. She reached out a hand to touch the woman, only to hesitate. Tears welled in Diana's eyes. "Y-You're beautiful," she managed. She had a daughter. She had a daughter with Batman. Maybe it is possible to break down those walls.
Celeste looked close to tears as well. "Don't cry, Mom," she pleaded. "If you cry, you'll make me cry. Rex will never let me hear the end of it."
Diana used both hands to caress her delicate face. "Oh my baby girl," she whispered. "You're perfect."
Celeste blushed and tightly embraced her mother. "No, you're perfect," she retorted. "You're better than I ever imagined. Everyone told me your were amazing, but..." Her voice broke. She took a deep, shuddering breath, willing herself not to cry. "You have a chance." Her voice was light and breathy. "You have a chance to be with him. Don't ever let him go and rebuild those walls, it'll be worse for the both of you."
"I won't," vowed Diana, stroking her hair. "I can't wait to have you."
"Should we interrupt them?" asked Rex. He and everyone else were watching the scene from afar.
"Let them have this moment," Bruce insisted. "They both need it."
"Those historical buildings we saw on the street," observed Batman, quickly changing the subject as the two women rejoined the group, both a little teary eyed. "The timeline's been polluted."
"So polluted that history itself is becoming fluid," added Bruce.
"We'd better compare notes," Diana suggested.
OoOoOo
"We still don't know much about him," said the Bat as Bruce typed away on the computer. "Obviously, he's a time traveling warlord who's littered the streets with buildings he's stolen from other time periods."
"He's not a warlord," replied Diana. "At least, he wasn't at first. When we chased him to the old west, all he was stealing was historical trinkets."
"He's causing severe damage to the space time continuum," Bruce told them, turning around. "The degradation is increasing exponentially."
"I've got something," said Batman. "When we were in the Old West, I got a good look at his Time Belt." He retrieved a disc from the computer. "I've written a program that should disable it."
"If we can get close enough to upload it," Rex pointed out.
"If we can get our hands on the belt," began Diana. "maybe we can stop any of this from happening in the first place." Something strange began to happen. She began to disappear right in front of their eyes as her voice started to fizzle out. Everyone watched her with wide eyes. "We could even undo the deaths of your friends." She was gone.
"DIANA/MOM!" shouted Batman and Celeste at the same time.
"She...never left the island," speculated Bruce.
Batman stared at the spot she was just standing in. "Or she was never born." Celeste looked close to tears. Rex looked like he wanted to comfort her, but decided to stay quiet. Through her blurry eyes, Celeste noticed that her pointer finger was beginning to disappear in the same manner as Diana had. Hm, looks like I got a while before Mom not being there to produce me takes its full effect on me. She was surprised that no one had noticed.
"Time is running out," said the Bat grimly. The computer showed the sky in Gotham turning completely white. "Literally. We need to find Chronos."
"How?" asked Static. "He could be anywhere."
Batman began to walk out. "Sometimes, the old ways are best."
"It's not gonna work," insisted the Bat. "You don't know your way around here. A lot of things have changed."
"Are criminals still superstitious and cowardly?" asked Batman.
"Yup," answered Celeste and Bruce at the same time.
"Good enough for me," Batman responded, going through the door.
OoOoOo
Wonder Woman (Celeste) started to feel dizzy as they all touched down near the fallen clown. She bit her lip and quickly pushed it away knowing that they had bigger problems to worry about. "Oh, terrific," the villain muttered as the entire JLU stood before him.
"You've got some information we need, Ghoul," said the Bat.
"You won't find me the talkative sort," he replied. Wonder Woman was about to grab her lasso when Batman began to drag him towards the ledge. She decided to see what he was going to do. It was then that she noticed that he whole hand was fading. She bit her lip. Great. This is just perfect. Batman held him over the edge by his leg.
"Where's Chronos?" demanded Batman. "My arm's getting tired."
"I can't believe I was ever that green," said Bruce. He grabbed Ghoul and threw him to the side, stalking towards him dangerously. "This is how you interrogate someone."
OoOoOo
About then minutes later, Ghoul was babbling about information that they really didn't need. Wonder Woman had stopped paying attention about six minutes ago as her headache became exceedingly worse. It felt like someone was repeatedly smashing her head into a wall. By now, the process was speeding up and her entire body was collectively fading in and out.
It was when they had gotten the location about where Chronos' wife was when Warhawk had noticed her weakened state. "Celeste!" he exclaimed with concern. "What's happening?"
"I'm fine," Wonder Woman insisted. "Just stop Chronos from damaging the timeline even more."
The Bat crossed his arms. "Look at yourself," he snapped. "You are obviously not fine."
Wonder Woman smirked. "Aw, you do care, McGinnis," she gushed teasingly. The man was like her brother (and was in a way). She looked up at Warhawk. "Wow, you too Stewart? I'm surprised." Now he was a different story.
"Celeste, don't joke like that," Warhawk growled. She just smiled at him.
"Of course," muttered Batman. "Diana's her mother. If Diana doesn't exist..."
"She can't either," finished Bruce, looking at his daughter sadly.
Wonder Woman stared up at the sky. "It's getting worse," she observed. "You have to go, you have to stop Chronos." She was barely visible at this point. "Unless one of you flies all the way to Themyscira to get Mom and by some miracle manage to get her to give birth to me in nine minutes instead of nine months, we can't change this. As long as Mom never comes to Man's World, I don't exist." She turned to Batman and gestured for him to come closer. She uttered three barely heard words before she was gone completely.
OoOoOo
Wonder Woman entered the Watchtower cafeteria, spotting Green Lantern and Batman immediately. She noticed that the marine had a small gash on his head. "That's a nasty cut, John," she observed, taking a seat next to Batman.
"You don't remember going on a mission with us today, do you?" asked Batman, his eyes trained on her. He could still hear his daughter's words in his head: Let her in.
"I just got here," responded Wonder Woman, taking a bite out of her food.
Batman leaned over to Green Lantern. "The timeline's restored to equal librium," he told him. "We're the only two people who remember what happened."
Hawkgirl walked into view, causing John's eyes to widen. She spared him a glance before walking away. "That...complicates things. What happened to Chronos?"
Batman smirked. "I reprogrammed the belt to make sure that Chronos would never come to exist," he said eerily. Diana, having no idea what they were talking about, quickly finished her food before making her way to her quarters. Once again, Celeste's words played in Bruce's mind like a broken record: Let her in. He didn't get to talk to her much during his time in the future, but she was...perfect. Just like Diana had said. Seeing her disappear like that left an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Bruce found himself wanting to have her in his time; to raise her, to support her. He pictured him and Diana getting married and having Celeste soon after. Everything about it seemed perfect.
Making up his mind, Bruce quickly stood up. Without another word to a very confused John, he practically raced after Diana.
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Bruce stood at the door to Diana's quarters, taking deep breaths. He didn't know why he was so nervous. It wasn't like Diana would bite his head off for asking. Or would she? After years of constant rejection, Diana had given up on him. He couldn't say that he blamed her. Gathering up every ounce of his courage, he knocked on her door.
Diana answered it. "Oh, hello Bruce," she greeted, obviously surprised to see him there. "What can I do for you?"
Bruce felt his courage fleeting by the second. "I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me to the Manor for dinner tonight," he said quickly.
Diana's blue eyes were wide as she stared at him. "Um...okay," she accepted, a light blush on her face. "Any special reason?"
Bruce shook his head, trying to hide his grin. "None at all."
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So, how was that? Good? Bad? Please let me know! This idea came to me randomly, so please tell me what you thought! Well, until next time!