Batman Beyond: The Return of Two-Face II
Chapter 1: Holiday Knight
By ShadowHawk and Dragonfang33
Disclaimer: Well here it is folks, the long anticipated sequel to my first Batman Beyond story that some of you were saying that I left a few loose ends. Batman Beyond is the copyright of DC comics and Warner Brothers is used here for non-profit entertainment purposes only plus I don't own the characters used in this story. ALSO ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTICE: I messed around with the timeline! XD For my plot to work, I had to rewind it a little, so it's still the same setting, in the future, but Bruce Wayne is only in his mid to late 60s. Around 65 or something. I really hope this doesn't piss anyone off, I just can't have him be in his 80s to do this damn thing. His heart condition is what keeps him from being Batman anymore. That being said, I understand if people want to stop reading after this. Well, ON TO THE FIC.
It had finally happened. Hell had frozen over. Christmas was two weeks off and arid snow was falling on Gotham City. Beneath its pristine white blanket, the city looked uncharacteristically serene -- almost inviting. It's a city of the future where gigantic buildings dwarf the ancient skyscrapers where a huge blimp, flashing lights and blaring sound drifts slowly over the tall buildings. As the blimp drifts through the tall buildings, several advertisements appear on the curved sides of dirigible and an accompanying soundtrack proclaims, with enthusiasm, the virtues of Christmas. Lights from the blimp flash along the street and wipe across the crowds of pedestrians as the voice track continues to blare from above.
Gotham City is a huge, sprawling metropolis of skyscrapers, metro-rails, and hover-cars. It's full of grungy buildings, neon signs, and power cables. It also has an interesting mix of japanese and english written on many of the signs. The wealthy life in the penthouses and crime to the poor are left to the ancient alleyways. Criminals are now high-tech assasins, genetically-engineered low lifes, CEOs of megacorporations, and even a few rampant Artificial Intelligences.
A small mesure of peace had been restored to this city that had long been seen as little more then an open wound upon society: strangers waved hello. It's been years since the new crimelord Two-Face II struck terror to the hearts of the people of Gotham City but thanks to the new Batman and the police, he was finally brought to justice or so they thought.
Several Salvation Army Santas rang their bells on streetcorners. As night fell, an illuminated sign winked on above Broad Avenue: 'JOYEUX NOEL GOTHAM -- Only 16 Shopping Days Left Till Christmas.' The streets were bustling with holiday shoppers. At a souvenir store, an exasperated mom squabbling with her seven-year old. Like many other storefronts in Gotham, it was overflowing with bootleg Batman merchendise: t-shirts, keychains, ceramic figurines, some honoring the new Batman others harkneing back to the First Batman. The kid is already wearing a Batman baseball cap and a little black cape, but he obviously wants more.
The mother drags him off past another store window, this one full of scrap metal, with a sign reading 'AUTHENTIC FRAGMENTS OF THE BATMOBILE -- $19.95 and up.' A panhandler is perched at the entrance. Beneath his array jacket is a grubby sweatshirt with the familiar yellow-and-black logo. In Gotham this winter, Batmania was everywhere once again.
Two hours later, the snowstorm had grown into a full-fledged blizzard. The drifts were two feet deep and the skyways and railways were all but empty of cars. A massive snow plow the size of a Panzer tank rumbled across the monorail tracks, revealing, a group of carolers, all bundled up in mufflers and parkas. Unbothered by the weather, they walked the street singing, spreading cheer and goodwill to the few passersby.
The carolers had just gone into a lovely a capella rendition of 'Silent Night' when an oversized delivery hover truck flew past. Its sides were decorated with cartoon igloos advertising a popular ice cream snack called Polar Bars. It was oddly inappropriate for this time of year. A streetcorner Santa, with bell and bucket, waves at the truck as it rounds a corner as the Carolers carol. No sooner was the hover truck out of sight when a violent explosion rocked the street followed by the sound of laser and automatic rifle fire and the high, wailing of a security alarm.
Around the corner there was carnage on the streets. The windows had been blown out of one of Gotham's leading jewelry stores. Wounded security guards stagger and go face down in the snow as a group of robbers, dressed in white camouflage gear, clamber out through the shattered glass with sacksfull of loot.
The carolers made their way around the corner to see what was going on, but were soon sent scurrying by a spray of laser and rifle fire. Once the street was cleared the Polar Bar truck landed outside the jewelry store. No sooner had it touched the ground when the rear doors opened, allowing a ramp to slide down from the back of the truck. The robbers scrambled aboard, as the sounds of approching sirens filled the air. A few seconds later a police hover car appeared, taking the corner just a trifle too fast, before crashing into the side of a near by building. The cops were about to climb out and give chase on foot when, when the cracked windshield suddenly disintigrated in a hail of automatic rifle fire.
A few seconds later the cops slumped over, their bodies torn apart by armor piercing rounds as their assailents races off to the last of the futuristic motorcycles, which was already filled with stolen loot. More squad cars converged on the jewelry store, however the foot deep snow drifts made landing all but impossible, while the blinding snow and sleet reduced visibility to near zero. The few police hovercrafts that managed to land skided to a halt, only to become blocked by the rumbling snowplow. By now, the robbers were gone. A disgruntled Commisioner Barbara Gordon sputters out into her radio in one of the squad cars. "What are you waiting for? Activate the signal!"
"But Commisioner, your feelings towards that vigilante...." said the worried dispatcher.
"JUST DO IT!!!" ordered Barbara because she was really not in the mood for this. She is dressed in black pants and a tan trench-coat that revealed nothing about the weapons she was probably carrying underneath it. Though white-haired and in her early sixties, Barbara is still a smart, tough-as-nails cop who you don't want to mess with. The most obvious difference is that she is a woman. Times, however, have change, and Barbara has had to change with it. Barbara knows who the original Batman was, having worked with him as Batgirl. She also knows that Terry, Bruce Wayne's new aide, is really the current Batman. But according to Barbara, she cannot have the same type of relationship with Terry as her father had with Bruce, even though she seems to be trying to make allowances.
"Yes, Ma'am," replied the dispatcher.
Motorcycles screamed across the sidewalks, sending the few hardy souls who were out on the streets diving for cover. The robbers faned out in various directions, in order to throw the police off their trail. A derlict, who had taken cover behind a firehydrent. For many who lived in Gotham City, police chases, armed robberies, were a daily occurence, for those who lived outside of Gotham's walls, the city was a festering wound, even though it had risen from the ashes of the earthquake, the plagues and the gang warfare of No Man's Land to become the metropolis it was today, the city was still riddled with corruption and a crime rate that was all but out of control. That is until the once renowned Bat Beacon blazes onto the edge of the night sky. It's a symbol of hope to all and fear to others who gaze apon it.
The Wayne family estate, the residence is typically depicted as a huge stately mansion on grounds outside Gotham City. It's situated on a rocky cliff overlooking the ocean and its official address is 1007 Mountain Drive. The manor had belonged to the Wayne family for several generations and once been a home to Dr. Thomas Wayne, Martha Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Richard 'Dick' Grayson and Timothy 'Tim' Drake but now it is a home to its only sole occupant, the last surviving member of the Wayne Family.
At its peak, the mansion had been used for entertaining guests from the highest levels of society and government. The manison was a fully equipped home with a kitchen, gym, multiple bedrooms, servants quarters, what appears to be a fully equipped library with multiple volumes, a vast collection of antiques ranging from guns to paintings and even a Ming vase prior to it being accidentally destroyed by the former butler, a multi-car garage as evidenced by the fact that a few different cars have been seen being driven away from the house over the course of time.
Now the mansion was little more then a shadow of its fomer glory, years of neglect and isolation had begun to take their toll on the mansion. The paint had long since become worn and faded, and the sounds of joy that had once filled the air around the mansion had long since fallen silent. The only signs of life was the occasonal barking of owner's guard dog. There's also a study which contains the secret entrance to the Batcave. It has never been specified if other entrances to the Batcave exists inside the house apart from the Grandfather clock in the study. Also, the house seems to be wired with surveillance cameras which one can view from the Batcave.
In the study room, a young man tries to convince his boss to kick back and relax as there's no need for him to go out on Christmas. "Come on, Mr. Wayne, it's almost Christmas Eve. Let's kick back and get into the spirit. My mom is cooking up a mean turkey dinner and it would be really nice if you were there to join us. It's a lot better then you having green soup every now and then."
The old man wearing his usual black blazer and pale blue shirt underneath grunted at him as he looked at his large painting of his parents that was hanging over the fireplace. Memories flashed in the old man's mind, drifting back to another time another life, a time when he knew the joy of having a mother and father who would always be there for him. Eventually his mind became fixated on one moment: The Mark of Zorro, yes that was the movie they had gone to see on that cold winter night so long ago.
The cold dark alley: it was suppose to have been a simple short cut, but it became a tomb. The events of that night were all over in a matter of seconds, but for him it seemed like an eternity, watching as one man's rash act robbed him of the two people he cared about the most in the world, as a young boy he watched in horror as those two shots became eched in his soul, and haunted his dreams. Sometimes he thought, that the last five decades, he had been chasing ghosts, trying to undo the events of that horrible night, trying to stop those two bullets only to fail every time. He remembered trying to save that young girl named Bunny Vreeland, the daughter of Veronica Vreeland, a member of the Gotham City elite. Bunny is also the granddaughter of General Vreeland and great granddaughter of Stanton Vreeland. Despite being paid the five million dollars in ransom money, her captors planned to execute her anyway.
Fortunately for her, the original Batman arrived and manages to beat most of the kidnappers, but is suddenly struck down by a crippling chest pain. The last remaining thug beats him around, commenting that The Dark Knight had been around since he was a kid. The old man remembered how his health had failed him, forcing him to do the one thing he had swore to God he would never do: point a gun at another human being. The thug runs away in fear and is captured by the police. He returned to the Batcave and puts the costume away and vows, 'Never again.' With that, he shuts off the lights and seals the Batcave, leaving his past behind in the dark until now.
"Doesn't it warm your heart to see everyone in the spirit of Christmas?" The young man stated with a smile on his face and continued to look down at the old man sitting in the chair.
The elderly man was a good four inches taller than him and the broad shoulders only made him look bigger. It should have been intimidating since he had always had a way of making you feel like a small child. But when the old man was sitting down, the young adult wasn't in the least bit nervous. He turned around some in his chair to look at the young adult, and then turned his attention back to the family photo. "Don't remind me." He sneered to his assistant.
The Bat Beacon can be seen through an elegant mansion window. Its reflection is picked up in an ornate mirror in the massive living room and then followed to another strategically set up mirror. The reflection glows against the faces of a sitting-in-darkness old man and the young adult. The old man wasn't just any old man; he was Bruce Wayne. The owner of a large corporation, as well as the former Batman. At one time, Bruce Wayne was probably the most sought-after man in Gotham. However, now he was just old and alone.
The elderly Bruce Wayne at one time allowed his company to be taken over by shrewd industrialist Derek Powers of Powers Technology due to his poor health and caused him so much regret. The two companies were eventually merged, becoming Wayne-Powers Enterprises. After Derek Powers' criminal identity as Blight was revealed, his son Paxton took over as CEO. Eventually, he was arrested for hiring the Royal Flush Gang to assassinate Bruce Wayne.
With the Powers family removed from power, Bruce decided to re-enter corporate affairs as CEO and Chairman of the Board. To prevent this, Jordan Pryce, the company's operation manager and Paxton Powers' successor to the job of chief executive officer had hired the Jokerz gang to assassinate Bruce again. They failed, and Jordan was arrested, allowing Bruce to resume full control over the company under its original name: Wayne Enterprises.
The other man that was beside him, on the other hand, was anything but old. He was young, probably about 20 years of age, and his body showed it. He was dressed in a black leather jacket, dark gray pants, black socks, black shoes, black shirt and a black belt. He had strong, firm muscles, but they were bulging out and horribly obvious. He had ice blue eyes that could pierce a person's soul, which were now currently darting to the old man. Unlike Bruce, the boy wasn't anything special in Gotham. He went to a local collage and lived with his mom and little brother. He was Terrence 'Terry' McGinnis, an ex-troublemaker with a sense of justice and the current Batman.
Terry was once a member of a street gang that was lead by his former friend Charlie 'Big Time' Bigelow, and had his fair share of run-ins with the Gotham City Police Department in his early teens, even serving a three-month stint in juvenile hall. At one time Terry saved a fellow passenger on a public elevator from a member of the Jokerz, and then takes on an entire gang of Jokerz to defend his ex-girlfriend Dana Tan, resulting in a high-speed motorcycle chase. The chase ends on the grounds of Wayne Manor, where Terry runs into the elderly Bruce Wayne. Bruce and Terry fend off the Jokerz gang together, but the fight causes Bruce's heart condition to act up.
Terry helped Bruce back to the manor and gets him his medication as Bruce proceeds to fall asleep afterwards. While staying there, Terry notices a bat stuck inside a grandfather clock as he tries to free it, he discovered the entrance to the Batcave. Chased out by Bruce, Terry comes home to discover that his father had been murdered by what he thought was the vengeful Jokerz gang but it turns out that Derek Powers was the real mastermind, in an effort to cover up a top secret and illegal bioweapons programs. Later Terry returned to Wayne Manor to 'borrow' the Batsuit. The Suit was almost 18 years old when Terry became Gotham's new savior; however, its technology was so advanced that the Suit was still considered state of the art and used it to avenge the death of his father. As crime and corruption are beginning once again to rear their ugly heads in Gotham, Bruce ultimately allows Terry to assume the mantle of The Batman.
Terry quickly found himself walking in the footsteps of his mentor in many ways. Like Bruce, he amassed his own rogue's gallery of villains, including Derek Powers' mutated form Blight, the assassin Curaré, the shape-changing Inque, sound engineer Walter Shreeve aka Shriek, former psychologist Dr. Ira Billings aka Spellbinder, and the Walker Family aka the latest incarnation of the Royal Flush Gang. At one time, Terry also found himself taking after his mentor in getting entangled without meaning to with a woman who was in reality a criminal named Melanie Walker otherwise known as Ten, and the daughter of the leaders of the Royal Flush Gang.
Terry occasionally faced some of his mentor's old enemies, including Dr. Victor Fries, through tragic circumstances, became known as the villain Mr. Freeze whose disembodied head survived for more than 50 years in cold storage before he was resurrected by Derek Powers. At one time when his mentor was feeling his age, a woman named Talia, the daughter of the megalomaniac Ra's al Ghul from his past offered him the chance to regain his youth and then discovered a horrific secret. Sometime after the Near-Apocalypse of '09, Ra's al Ghul's real body was far too injured even for the Lazarus Pit to restore. In order to avoid death, he called on Talia to make the ultimate sacrifice: herself. Ra's al Ghul had developed a computer allowing him to transfer his consciousness into another body, but it would only do so for someone who was a close genetic match whether Talia gave up her life willingly or not was not explained.
Then at one time when a drug using Venom, the same substance that enhanced Bane's strength is discovered to be a drug being sold to teenagers, Bruce sends Terry to Bane's home to confront him. However, when Batman enters Bane's room, all he sees is a broken old man on life support, not the threatening super-soldier the original Batman fought before. When Batman asks a servant about Bane, the servant replies that this was the effect on Bane from all the years of using Venom, and that Bane is actually using Venom in his life support to keep himself alive. Antonio Diego aka Bane was the son of Sir Edmund Dorrance, a mercenary known as King Snake. The son was an inmate of Pena Duro, a Cuban prison meant to contain the hardest, most dangerous convicts. He was chosen as a test subject for Project Gilgamesh, a government project to create super-soldiers with a new super-steroid codenamed Venom. The experiment was too successful and Bane escaped Cuba and hired out his services as a freelance assassin. Eventually he built his reputation to the point where he could demand five million dollars per job. Bruce Wayne paid Bane the tribute of telling Terry McGinnis that he was a formidable opponent.
Undoubtedly Terry's greatest challenge came with the return of the original Batman's deadliest enemy, The Joker. Having cheated death like Ra's al Ghul by transferring his consciousness into a microchip implanted in Tim Drake, the former Robin. The Joker returned to menace Gotham City, combining all his old cunning and dangerous unpredictability with a much-stronger genetically engineered body and a wealth of technical know-how.
At first, the young Tomorrow Knight and the old Clown Prince of Crime both made the mistake of underestimating each other; Terry dismissed the clown as an ineffective prankster, while The Joker dismissed the Bat-Fake as a rank amateur dependent on advice from the elderly Bruce Wayne. Both were proven incorrect, but Terry turned the old clown into a truism to win the day, putting a final end to The Joker; this earned him the heartfelt respect not only from Bruce, but also from Barbara and Tim, the older generation of Bat-Heroes.
Terry also gained a collection of allies. These included Barbara Gordon, the first Batgirl and now the Commissioner of Gotham Police. The alliance first started out on a sour note, as Barbara never fails to take Terry's juvenile record into account and believes he is too reckless for the role of Batman. The fact that Terry occasionally ruins police stakeout operations by intervening without fully assessing the situation sometimes worsens the situation. Barbara is reluctant to assist the new Batman and to have a teenager as Gotham's new protector. She advised Terry to give up being Batman, and once tried to arrest him after he was framed for murder of a 1960s rebel-stylized criminal named Stanley 'Mad Stan' Labowski by Spellbinder. However, realizing that she couldn't deter him anymore than she could've been deterred from being Batgirl, she eventually warms up to Terry, assisting him when Bruce was put out of action by a revived Joker.
She states that she hopes Terry would avoid the lonely existence that Bruce leads. However, Barbara's attitude is different from Jim Gordon's, and she notes once that she is not her father, never working as closely with Terry as her father did with Bruce. (i.e. using a Bat-Signal, directly giving him cases, etc).
Terry's most valuable ally by far was school friend Maxine 'Max' Gibson, who stumbled on his secret identity when they were both threatened by a rogue student named Carter Wilson aka Terminal back at Hamilton Hill High School, and turned her considerable brains and energy to his aid. Max had first-class skills with research, data retrieval, and computer hacking. More than that, she helped Terry maintain his 'normal' life as a student, and was always there with a sympathetic ear. Terry initially hides Bruce's identity from Max, but Max already has enough information to deduce that Terry's employer was actually the original Batman.
She tells him that he cannot call her 'Robin' but Terry jokingly called her his 'Alfred' naturally because she fails to understand the reference, given the former butler's lack of exposure in the original Batman's exploits to the public in the past. Terry and Max remain close, but their relationship is never shown to exceed the boundaries of friendship.
Also like Bruce, Terry came to prefer operating alone. Like the original Batman, he was once offered membership in the Justice League by Superman. Though he may have been more tempted than Bruce was at the time, Terry eventually declined, put off by the other Leaguers' willingness to endanger his own life. In the process, however, he almost single-handedly saved Superman, and in turn the world, from an alien invasion, likewise earning the respect of the League and possibly even greater admiration from Marina aka Aquagirl, princess of the brilliant artificial island city on the surface of the ocean called Atlantis. She is also the daughter of Queen Mera and the legendary hero Aquaman.
Bruce and Terry move out of the light that shined in their faces. "Suit up McGinnis." Bruce ordered his assistant to the Bat-title as he headed for the Batcave with his dog, a Great Dane mix named Ace. The dog has been the closest companion for Bruce in his later years.
When Ace was a puppy, he was bought from a pet store by Ronny Boxer who forced dogs to fight one another gladiator style for the amusement of paying crowds. When the police busted Boxer's game, Ace escaped this abusive, violent life. He wandered around Gotham for a while and soon found Bruce, a fellow tormented soul, who was making his yearly pilgrimage to the spot where his parents died. Ace attacked a member of the Jokerz gang who was about to attack Bruce but was injured. Bruce saved him and brought the dog to his home. Terry McGinnis, on the other hand, seemed to be the only other person Ace ever connected to.
Terry watches the old man and the dog go and sighs. "Typical," Terry said, under his breath, "even on Christmas." Bruce simply shot Terry a cold glare. "Oh, 'Bah humbug' to you too!" He stated as he followed them to the cave below the manison. Bruce may have been a dirtbag, but oddly enough Terry cared for him. Ever since his dad died, Bruce was really the only man around in his life -- and hey, if you're gonna have a role model you might as well go for a super hero.
In a chamber all gleaming chrome and inky shadow, two black gauntlets snapped into place on each arm. Terry dons the mask and accompanying cowl as the folds of a dark cape whipped around the shoulders clad in a simple black bodysuit. The bodysuit is made of hardened kevlar plates on a titanium-dipped fiber and is broken into multiple pieces of armor over a more flexible bodysuit for greater mobility. As a trade-off, however, the flexible armor leaves Batman more vulnerable to injury from bullets or knives in favor of increased flexibility and lighter weight. A bat-shaped buckle locked securely and finally, the red bat-emblem was placed on his chest, glowing like a target in the darkness. Also, a strong electric current runs through the cowl of the Batsuit, that prevents anyone except Terry from removing it, further protecting his identity.
Deep within the Batcave, Terry was prepearing for action as he finally emerged as The Tommorow Knight from his costume vault and into the massive grandeur of the Batcave.
There are new sate-of-the-art computer systems that flashed and surveillance screens monitoring news and police frequencies that kept an ever alert eye on every that happend in Gotham City including Bruce who was perched responsibly in a seat in front of computer with his dog laying beside him as he needed to work in silence.
"This is getting tiresome," Bruce said to Ace and massaged the space between his eyes with his thumb and pointer finger. Ace's head lifted up and looked at something behind Bruce, but didn't growl. Bruce caught the action in the corner of his eye and turned around to look into the darkness behind him. Ace's ears moved trying to hear the sounds Bruce couldn't, but still he didn't growl. Bruce searched the darkness and saw one foot step into the light. He knew immediately who it was.
Though a hiss of a escaping steam, Terry storde towards the pedestal that rose from the center of the cave floor. On it a new, sleeker, futuristic, and... well, indescribable more powerful Batmobile. Fifteen feet long, the sleek black Batmobile boasted the kind of horsepower that would haul a tank, with every electronic safety and traction device known to automotive science and a few were unknown outside this very cave as he clambers into the black car, instantly flipping it into fourth gear.
"Just remember Terry, be back here in an hour," he heard his boss say over the radio.
"Yeah, I know," he responded. "Batman out."
'I don't think I'll ever get use to hearing that,' Bruce thought to himself.
Terry shuts off the com-link and slowly starts up the Batmobile, a jet of pink firework flame erupts from the exhaust because Bruce had grown weary of the reasonably priced cost of simple petrol fuel, catapulting the vehicle through the cave. Under a series of support arches, the car picked up speed and ahead of Batman was a solid cave wall. But the amazing machine never faltered --- plunging straight through the hologram, then through the trees on the other side, out onto the forest track. A very expensive precaution, but the most secure way to maintain his mentor's privacy. Batman's foot pressed pedal to the metal, and the mighty machine shot forward, speeding toward the twinkling lights of Gotham City.
A Cop, was taking a radio call as he streaked down the long wide avenue bordering Gotham Park -- one of the few streets which was relatively clear. The cop at the wheel suddenly became wide-eyed and nudged his partner in disbelief. Before their eyes, five motorcycles appeared from the cross streets up ahead and converged at the entrance to Gotham Park. Bringing up the rear was a man dressed in a Santa Clause costume.
"What the hell?" the cop inquired. As he brought the hover car to a halt. Several other squad cars were soon massed at the entrance to the park but there was one problem. The city's snow plows don't operate on the park roads and the entrance was blocked off with sawhorses reading 'CLOSED TO TRAFFIC.' A huge steep drift prevented the police from entering so all they can do is stand by helplessly, watching as the motorcycles vanished into the trees.
The cops race about, trying to conduct a plan. A couple of them were trying to scale the stone walls of the park. Another was at his car, barking into a radio mike, "Yeah, dispatch" the cop said, "you heard me, motorcycles!" he paused for a few moments, "So what do we do? Chase 'em on foot??"
The silence that had fallen over the area was soon broken by the loud blare of a horn. The cops peered down the long corridor of the cross street, just in time to see a large black vehicle barreling toward them at 90 MPH, with no intention of stopping. The cops dove left and right, trying desperatly to get out of the way. A split-second later a forty foot jet of raw fire erupted from the front of the jet-black supercar dissolving the drift that blocked the entrance to the park in the space of a few seconds.
The Batmobile screamed past in the wink of an eye. The cops got to their feet; cold as it was, they were actually sweating.
"Batman," one of the cops said, whiping some sweat from his brow.
"NO SLAG SHERLOCK!!" his partner replied.
The two cops made their way into the nearest squad car, with the others following suit. The engines of the Hover Cars and motorcycles reeved up, and soon the cops were following the path the Batmobile had cleard. Two Teenagers both dressed in red berets and parkas with black Batman sweatshirts visible underneathwere trudging along the path when they were startled by a pair of speeding Cycles. Moments later, they spotted a red glow on the horizon, a few seconds later the Batmobile roared into view, burning off the snow in its' path. Thrilled beyond words, they whoop with glee, slapping high-fives as the car streaks past.
Batman's face is weirdly illuminated by the flame still spitting from the front of the car. Cool as ever -- approaching the chase as a simple problem in logic -- he checks a radar display on his dashboard and sees five blips.
The cops followed Batman's path. The lead hovercar though suddenly suffered a power failure, causing it to fly out of control and plow headlong into a drift. The driver made his way out to check on the damage, only to discover that his car's main battery was leaking fluid, and the fluid had spilled onto the engine, shorting it out completly. The cop just sat there there cursing, and kicking the car's door as the other cops raced past him on foot.
The various robbers had spread out, their vehicles skimming over the hilly terrain of the park. Batman slowly drew closer on two of the robbers, but as he came within range of being able to capture them, they suddenly split up, veering off to the left and right.
Batman simply smiled as he pressed a button on the dashboard, missle launchers were quickly rotated into place on the front fenders. With another press of a button a pair of heat seeking missiles were launced toward a snow drift, each one burrowing into the snow on either side.
The motorcycle's pilot looked back over his shoulder just in time to see what appeared to be a black shark like fin plowing through the snow behind him. He tried to take evasive action, but the shark fin seemed to match his movements perfecally. Just as he approached the crest of a hill the missile slamed into the rear of the motorcycle. The force of impact knocked the robber off. His loot landed in the snow beside him, but the hovercycle kept going sailing over the crest of the hill before striking the rocks beyond with a deafening explosion.
The other robber was a little smarter than his buddy. When he saw another shark fin on his tail, he nosed his motorcycle off the path into a near by grove of trees. The trees were too closely spaced for the missile to maneuver effectivily, and it struck a near by tree trunk and exploded harmlessly.
A grin of accomplishment crept across the robber's face, because the grove was narrow enough that it prevented the Batmobile from following as well. As Batman drove alongside the grove, he hit the excellerator, and quickly shot past the motorcycle. A steel spike attached to a cable launched from the side of the Batmobile and implanted itself into a distant tree. As the Batmobile drove past, the cable grew taught, and pulled the tree down directly into the path of the second motorcycle. Before the robber had a chance to react the motorcycle slammed into the trunk, sending him cartwheeling head-over-heels into a near by drift.
"Not bad for a nights work," Batman said, over the raido built into his cowl.
"Don't get overconfident Terry," Bruce replied, "There are still two more out there," before Batman had a chance to reply, Bruce cut him off, "Oh and Terry, your mom called, she wants you to pick up a quart of milk on the way home." Batman simply slapped himself in the face. However he had other things to worry about other then his mom's errand.
The remaining motorcycles bounced down the hillside and skid to the edge of a frozen lake. With the roar of the Batmobile behind not far behind them, the two drivers smiled at each other as they reved their engines and sped out over the surface of the lake.
The Batmobile crested the ridge. The car's weight tiped suddenly and it began to skid down the hill toward the lake. Just as the car was about to come to the edge of the lake but he was unable to brake the car on the snowy slope. The prow of the Batmobile slid out onto the edge of the lake and under its weight, the ice began to crack. The left front tire suddenly took a dip causing the car to slide forward.
Batman shift frantically from drive to reverse, trying to rock the car out of its predicament, but the rear wheels found no traction. He could hear the ice cracking beneath him. Thinking quickly, he threw a switch on the dashboard causing the trunk to pop open. An industrial-strength grappling hook shoot upward and dug into a point beyond the crest of the hill; and a concealed winch began to grind away, hauling the Batmobile uphill, and out of danger.
Suspended just above the icy lake, Batman saw the motorcycles vanishing into the distance. He opened another panel on the dashboard.
The robbers gave each other a big thumbs-up. They were almost halfway across the lake and the Batmobile was disabled.
Suddenly the silence was broken by a strange whistling overhead.
"Fireworks," one of the robbers asked.
"No," The other robber replied, recognizing the sound "THERMITE BOMB!" The bomb hit the ice some forty feet ahead of them and exploded. Jagged chunks of ice were blown free, creating a large hole, before long the robbers were skidding into the drink.
The last of the robbers still on the lose was the robber dressed as Santa Clause. He approached the edge of the park, negotiating his way through a maze of rocky outcroppings. He squirted out from behind a boulder and into a clearing and gasped in panic as a searing burst of flame erupted from behind him. The Batmobile suddenly sped out from the other side of the boulder. Santa quickly twisted his accelerator, desperately trying to build up speed. He was barely managing to stay ahead of the flamethrower.
A few moments later the jet of flame suddenly died; the hood of the Batmobile rises half a foot and twin projectials suddenly launched into the air. A heavy net was strung between them and it landed smack on top of the robber, entangling the motorcycle and stopping it in it's tracks.
The cops were spread out near the entrance. They've rounded up the other robbers and had returned most of the loot. A dull roar could be heard in the distance and a few seconds later the Batmobile streaked into view, dragging the net behind it, with the robber and his loot and motorcycle still wrapped up in it.
At the entrance to the park, the net detached itself from the Batmobile, dumping the robber into the hands of the waiting cops. Without stopping, the Batmobile roared out of the park and vanished into the darkness. A mildly-humiliated cop turned to his colleague and shrugged.
"Merry Christmas," he grunted under his breath. His partner pointed to the robber, still struggling in the net.
"Gift-wrapped and everything." the other cop replied, as he cuffed the robber.
To be continued...