Disclaimer: Batman and all of its affiliates do not belong to me. I own nothing. This is a fan work.

Author's Note:

I'm planning to rewrite my Batman Beyond fic or just scrap it and write something else?

This may be the concept:

Batman:

Essentially I may have wanted a story where normal expectations are subverted? In the story, Bruce is replaced by Owlman, a very convincing evil Batman look-a-like, leaving Terry to depend on the villains.

Joker:

I may rewrite the Joker here; in my original story I have him as not quite evil perhaps, and more interested in breaking Terry's spirit than harming him physically. My explanation for that may be that in this world there is no Batman, so Joker's trying to fill other niches? I also might have written the Joker as too powerful, and maybe trying to put him into the anti-hero role is kind of weird.

Terry:

In the original maybe I wrote Terry wrong, too cowardly and not really street smart. The character is supposed to be street wise but maybe still a bit foolish?

Other villains:

Really, using Joker might not have been the best course of action. Another old foe of Batman's might have made more sense.

That said, though, if you want to read the old version and tell me what you think, you are welcome to do so. I welcome any suggestions for improvement. If you want to continue reading, go on ahead.

Terry stared at the giant computer, tapped on the keyboard scrolling through photos, and looked at the empty bat cave. Ace wandered in cautiously and allowed Terry to pet him. Ace let out a whimper, and Terry wiped away a tear. It had been one week since Bruce...died. The doctors said it was a heart attack, natural causes. Terry thought it would never happen. He was now Batman; there was no one else to continue the legacy, at least as far as he knew. The others who had worked with Bruce had long retired and were too old to be much help out in the field.

Just to add insult to injury, an enemy that had been thought long dead was threatening Gotham again, and Terry wasn't sure how or even if it could be stopped. Terry had no leads and this was someone he had never gone up against before.

"Oh, Bruce, I wish you were here. This problem requires more than a man in a nice suit and some tights. We need the world's greatest detective. We need Batman."

Ace looked at Terry with concern.

"I'm not Batman." Terry looked at the dog again. "I'm not Batman."

Terry had long asserted that he was Batman, but he knew that he wasn't the original. There were some things only Bruce could handle, and Terry felt lost without hearing that voice over the communicator.

"How many missions would I have been toast on had you not helped me out?" Terry was staring at a picture of old Bruce.

Terry let out a long sigh. Just then, Terry's communicator started buzzing.

"Terry?"

The voice on the other end sounded eerily familiar.

"Bruce?"

Terry's thoughts were racing. If that's Bruce, who died in the hospital bed? Who did we embalm and bury? Was it all some kind of elaborate hoax?

"Yes, it's me."

"We thought you were dead, you know? We even had your funeral." Terry said this in an excited scream, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Well, it's going to be ours if we don't stop this mysterious super villain. Do you have any leads?"

"None."

"I need you to go check out the abandoned warehouse on Third and Main."

"I'm on it!"

Without much thought, Terry hopped into the bat plane, taking Ace with him, and made his way to the abandoned warehouse.

Terry entered the warehouse and put on his night vision goggles.

"The place is a mess. Whoever came before me trashed the place."

Terry turned a corner, entered a corridor and started gagging and gasping for air. He quickly put on the gas mask to prevent himself from gagging. In front of him were grotesque and bloated yellowing figures.

"Dead bodies; from the looks of things, they've been dead for a while."

"Do the corpses have smiles?"

"Do they have...what?"

"Look at the corpses and tell me if they have smiles."

Terry scratched his head. Batman was approaching this much differently than he usually did.

Reluctantly, Terry turned on the flashlight and looked at the corpses. The sight was eerie.

"Yeah, they have big grotesque smiles."

"It means the Joker is behind this."

"The who?"

"The stupid retarded clown guy."

Terry had never heard Batman talk like this, but he shrugged it off.

"Isn't he dead?"

"When did that happen?"

Terry was taken aback. Batman would NOT forget about the death of the Joker. It was something that haunted him for years because of what it did to Tim Drake.

"Okay, look boss you're starting to freak me out here."

"I don't make jokes often, and I think this is why," the man on the other side of the communicator said.

"I don't think this is time to make jokes, Bruce," Terry said. For that matter, was it something you needed to be joking about anyway? That settles it; you're finally losing it, if it's even you.

Terry felt a jolt of electricity go through his suit.

"Don't call me Bruce; they don't need to know who you are working with."

"Ouch. Okay. Sorry. Gee, someone's a little cranky."

"I just don't want anyone to know we're here."

"Chill out; we're investigating a crime scene. Are you sure you are okay? I've never seen you this on edge."

"Everything is okay, but I need you to hurry. Gather all of the evidence you can from those corpses. I want tissue, blood, teeth, hair, everything."

Terry got a chill. The voice on the other end sounded almost cheerful, almost as if this was some kind of art project. Terry dismissed the thoughts once again. It's probably nothing. Maybe I'm just tired.

Terry turned to the bloated corpses and gently scraped away from of the bloated soft tissues. It was a gut wrenching task. Maggots were filling every nook and cranny and the skin in some places had turned to liquid. The smell was also just overwhelming, even with his gas mask on, he could hardly stand it. Terry eventually finished the gruesome task without gagging, though. Collecting samples from rotting corpses is something Batman had never asked him to do before.

"Okay, I'm finished. Now, what do you want me to do?"

"Meet me in room five. Someone tied me up and put me in a straight jacket."

It seems like you need to be in one tonight. What is going on with you Batman?

"Okay, boss, I'm on my way."

Terry searched for room five and checked the door. It wasn't locked. Terry found Bruce and began freeing him of his restraints.

"How did this happen? Bruce, where were you? I was very worried."

Terry pulled Bruce into an embrace. Bruce stilted and braced at the hug, he then took one of his arms and threw Terry off of him.

"That's enough of that! We need to get back to work and find out about this mysterious super villain."

Terry stood there dumbfounded.

"...but Bruce, I legitimately thought you were dead. We just had your funeral. Why are you acting so irritated?"

"I guess coming back from the dead left me a little more irritable than usual."

"That's it? No explanation?"

"I've explained all I want, now we need to go back to the bat cave to analyze those samples."

Bruce followed Terry to the bat plane. Terry got on and Ace was waiting, tail wagging. Bruce approached. Ace looked at Bruce, tail wagging, but suddenly he bristled and growled. Terry looked at the dog. What's up with him?

Terry grabbed Ace by the collar.

"It's okay, boy; it's okay, don't you recognize him?"

Ace tried to lunge toward the man from Terry's grasp.

"Get away from me, you filthy mongrel!"

Bruce took some kind of spray out of his pocket and squirted the dog. The dog yelped and then fell asleep.

"Is that any way to treat your loyal bat hound, Bruce? I've never seen you like this."

Terry dragged the snoring dog to the back.

"Maybe he's just irritable," Bruce said.

"It looks like that makes two of you," Terry quipped.

Without warning, Terry got a fist to his jaw.

"Ow. What was that for?" Terry asked.

"Respect me, or I will give you worse next time."

"You really aren't yourself today, are you?"

Terry drove the bat plane in silence, afraid to try to make conversation with Bruce. Whatever was going on, things weren't adding up. This guy looked and sounded like Bruce, but a lot of things weren't adding up. Why is he so on edge and angry? He knows my name, but he's acting like he doesn't even know who I am.

Again, though, Terry dismissed the thought. No one would be impersonating Bruce; would they? Terry fought the idea. Batman was back from certain death, and maybe he hadn't quite recovered.

Terry hovered over the outdoor entrance to the bat cave. Bruce's new security system required an eye scan. Bruce allowed the scanner to scan his eyes. He passed the scan; this was really him.

Okay, well, I guess he's just having a bad day. Terry thought.

Bruce climbed out of the bat plane and into the bat cave.

"Good, now get started examining that evidence."

"I've already been combing through a few files. We don't have enough information to link anyone, and your prime suspect is deceased."

"Keep looking," the man said it like he didn't care what was going on.

"...and while we're at it, don't be so careless next time. I found your communicator and your backpack just lying on a park bench, where anyone could have taken it."

Terry swallowed hard. He was chasing a group of thugs earlier that week and didn't have time to change into the suit. He must have just left it lying there.

Bruce glared at him.

"This is not a game McGinnis."

"Right boss."

Terry studied the figure in the room. He looked like Bruce but something was off. Years of working as Batman taught him to expect the unexpected, he looked at Bruce for a while. Something was off. There was a scar above his right eye and a burn mark on his neck. Bruce could have gotten those things recently, though.

"Terry, I'm sorry. My old age must be making me slip. How do you work the?"

"It's your computer, old man. Here, just press these buttons. These are all of your criminal files."

Terry watched as the figure of Bruce took a note pad to write down the steps Terry showed him to access his own computer.

I think Bruce might be getting Alzheimer's or something. This isn't right. I'm very confused. Terry thought to himself.

Ace recovered from his nap, bounded into the room, wagged his tail at Terry and then stopped and growled at Bruce.

"What has gotten into you?" Terry asked as he grabbed the dog by the collar.

Ace didn't calm down, he continued to growl and adopted a fighting pose.

"It's okay, boy, it's just...Bruce," Terry said unsure of himself.

Ace continue to growl and lunged at Bruce like he was some kind of intruder.

"What's gotten into you?" Terry asked

Bruce whipped the dog with his cane.

"Get off of me, you stupid mongrel!"

The dog broke free of Terry's grasp and started trying to maul Bruce.

Terry looked at the scene in shock.

"What should I do?" Bruce yelped.

"Maybe try calling him by name? I don't know."

"Down, bat dog!" Bruce called.

Terry looked at Bruce and the dog. Ace and Bruce are acting like they've never seen each other before. That settles it.

Terry called off the dog with a whistle and held him by the collar; his attention returned to the man who looked like Bruce Wayne.

"His name's Ace, and I think you better tell me who you are, old man."

"Terry, I'm Bruce Wayne, Batman. Why, don't you recognize me?"

"Wrong answer. Ace acted like he didn't know you. I think you're an imposter. Tell me who you really are." Terry said this half joking; he was acting on pure instinct at this point.

Just then, the man who looked like Bruce Wayne let out a maniacal laugh and turned around with a manic grin, as big as when Tim was possessed by the Joker.

"No, perhaps I should just show you. You're smarter than you look, kid, but since you can't just play along, you can join the others. I have what I want after all. You gave me access to the bat computer, the bat cave, the Justice League's files, and all of Gotham's remaining defense forces, like an idiot. You know, I had a talon a little like you, naive and stupid."

The man pushed a series of buttons on a device he was holding and opened up a portal underneath Terry's feet.

Terry let out a worried whimper followed by, "who are you?"

"Your worst nightmare," the man spat as Terry was engulfed by the portal.

Darkness closed around Terry, and it felt like he was falling for an eternity.