Chapter 2:
Q&A
Bruce Wayne's PenthouseThe newcomer sat in the penthouse his head buried in his hands as Batman stood analysing every movement he made, Bruce was staring at the suit this 'new Batman' was wearing, the very same suit he had just started designing with Lucius Fox. Bruce paced the room, keeping his eyes fixed on the imposter as he moved,
"You say you're from 2077 and that you were sent back through time by a group of prisoners? Not the most unlikely story I've ever heard…but I still find it hard to believe." Terry looked up, staring directly at the Dark Knight,
"I wouldn't expect you to believe me, it is you I'm dealing with after all. But you have to understand how dangerous these people are, especially if they get organised, we have to…" Terry was interrupted almost immediately,
"We? What makes you think you're going anywhere? You're lucky I haven't locked you up yet." Batman stopped as he heard Barbara Gordon's voice in his ear,
"Batman? If you're still in Vancouver we need you back in Gotham! Police reports are coming in that Joker and Harley Quinn have escaped Arkham and are causing chaos in Gotham, Tim and Dick are already there, but they need you." Terry watched as Batman's eyes moved between him and the door, the Dark Knight finally turned to him,
"You're going to stay here until I return. I have to go back to Gotham. If you really want to be trusted, I suggest you do as I ask." Batman then stalked out towards his jet, before Terry could speak he was already gone, Terry sighed in resignation,
"Well this is gonna be a fun night."
4 Hours LaterTerry paced the penthouse restless, growing ever more impatient. He slumped down on the leather couch immediately putting his head in his hands until his communicator was overwhelmed by static, Terry could have sworn he heard a voice, he quickly began attempting to triangulate the signal until he heard a female voice,
"Central! this is Cameron, I need backup! " Terry almost immediately was on his feet and running to the balcony all whilst tracing the signal, once he had a lock he leapt off the balcony and flew towards its location.
When he arrived Terry saw the Protector with Lucas Ingram cornered, he moved silently through the shadows watching the Protector holding Ingram before she was interrupted by the arrival of the police, Terry watched as she injected Ingram and pushed him into view of the police, Lucas Ingram was then quickly arrested as the Protector hid behind a large garbage container, Terry stayed in the shadows out of sight until the police were gone keeping his eyes fixed on the Protector as she emerged from her hiding place he then stepped out behind her,
"So you're here too huh? Small world isn't it…" Terry though quite amused with his joke, quickly discovered the Protector did recognise him as she turned around she immediately reached for her weapon, Terry lunged forward and grabbed her arms,
"I'm not your enemy! I'm stuck here just like you, if we want to get out of this we have to work together and find out what happened!" the Protector stared at Terry for several moments before relaxing,
"Your right, we have to find out what happened, where are we? I don't recognise this place…" Terry sighed,
"Not where, when…technically we're still in Vancouver. We've been sent back in time, 65 years to be exact. It's the year 2012." Terry watched as the Protector stared back at him, horror filled her expression as she processed the information he had given her.
"Ingram said the same thing that it was a time jump but, It's…impossible, I have a son! I have a life! I can't be stuck in 2012! It's just not…possible. How do we get back to 2077? What do I have to do?" The Protector looked pleadingly at the masked man before her, silently begging for answers that Terry did not have, he quickly looked away from her and began pacing,
"I don't know, but if the members of Liber8 are here then they must have some sort of plan we have to stop it. For now I suppose we should try to figure out how we got here in the first place, how about you check out the site where we 'arrived' there could still be some clues…I can try and track down Liber8, contact me if you find anything or if you need backup…" Terry handed the Protector a small communicator, she nodded and began to walk out of the alley before turning to face Terry again,
"I'm…Kiera by the way, if we're going to be working together we might as well get introduced. Now how do I find you?" Under his cowl Terry smirked slightly,
"I'm Batman…you know, secret identities and all that. Oh and don't worry…I'll find you." Kiera rolled her eyes and left the alley as Terry flew upwards to the roof, tuning his in suit radio to the police frequency before flying off again.
Terry flew over the city for several hours before hearing a familiar commanding voice in his ear,
"Since you completely disregarded my instructions to stay in the penthouse you might as well come to my coordinates. Your friends have been busy." Terry immediately homed in on Bruce's coordinates and flew to him, arriving minutes later at a gun store. Batman emerged from a nearby alley,
"This way, they broke in from the back door." Terry followed through the dark alley into the gun store's interior, Batman analysed the scene,
"Several military grade weapons stolen, with ammunition. I overheard them discussing their leader…Edward Kagame. You also failed to mention these people are trained military." Terry sighed as he looked around for clues, hoping to miraculously find the key to locating and stopping Liber8 before they could continue their plan,
"I'm having a little bit of a tough time taking all this in, I'm sorry. On a plus note one of them is in police custody already…" Terry turned to see the Dark Knight's narrowed eyes fixed on him,
"You let the police take him? Why didn't you bring him in yourself?" Once again Terry sighed partly out of exhaustion and defeat,
"He was already being arrested when I got there…and I didn't particularly feel like making myself known to the police yet. I get enough of that in the future…" Terry and Bruce both froze as a police car stopped outside the store, the pair silently slipped out as the police entered, vanishing onto a nearby roof,
"Back to the penthouse. Get some rest…we can compare notes tomorrow." Terry nodded in agreement as Batman entered his jet, followed by Terry. The trip to the penthouse was short; Batman dropped Terry off before hiding his jet in the emergency Batcave. Terry made his way to the guest bedroom before collapsing onto the bed.
The Next MorningTerry awoke to the smell of coffee and breakfast, briefly forgetting his situation he sat himself up on the bed, analysing his surroundings before sighing,
"Damn. It wasn't just a dream…" Terry noticed a pile of clothes sitting near the bed, quickly removing his Bat-suit he put on the fresh clothes and walked through to the penthouse living area, he found Bruce sitting in an armchair with a newspaper and coffee, a fresh coffee and breakfast sat on the table for Terry, who quickly sat down and began wolfing down his food before moving onto the coffee, waiting for Bruce to begin asking questions. Bruce simply finished reading his newspaper casually folded it back up and placed it on the table before turning his attention to Terry,
"Now we have to discuss this group you've been chasing, how dangerous are they?" Terry took another gulp of coffee,
"I spent the better part of 7 months trying to track them down, they are extremely dangerous, especially if they manage to organise themselves. I suppose it's a blessing they don't have Kagame, maybe he didn't make it through. Without him, I'd say Travis would be in charge. Bruce this is way more than you can handle alone…you need to inform the League." Terry watched Bruce shake his head,
"If the League catches wind of this, they'll want you locked up on the Watchtower, I find you to be of far more use to me here and with your knowledge of these people I can stop them." Terry put his coffee down and sighed angrily,
"Haven't you been listening? These guys aren't the typical brawlers you go up against, you will need help." Terry stared through Bruce's glare for several moments,
"I work better alone…Other people just…" Terry quickly interrupted with venom in his words,
"Slow you down? Oh please…if we work together we can get this done quicker. Don't try to shut me out; they might be my only hope of getting home…" Bruce walked to the penthouse window and stared out,
"What's your name since you already know mine." Terry picked up the note of annoyance in his voice and decided to ignore it,
"Terry, I've worked with you for a while now so I know what I'm doing, I know your rules. Everything. probably even some stuff you don't know yet." Bruce then turned and began walking towards his 'panic room', stopping next to Terry and putting a hand firmly on his shoulder,
"Go to the scene of the explosion and comb the area for clues. I'll monitor police frequencies to scout for activity." Terry nodded and walked to the spare room, putting his suit on underneath his clothes then walking to the site of his arrival in 2012. He watched from a distance as police scratched their heads in confusion, he then spotted Kiera talking with one of the detectives, watching as she got into his car and the pair drove off, Terry moved into a nearby alley and stashed his clothing into a pack, put on his cowl and flew after the car, remaining cloaked. Kiera and the detective pulled into the police station, Terry landed silently and followed close behind, narrowly avoiding bumping into several officers and objects, he followed them until they reached an interview room, barely slipping through the door before it closed, Kiera and the detective sat down for several moments before Lucas Ingram was brought in, handcuffed and forcibly sat down in the chair opposite,
"Well you seem to have adjusted quickly." Ingram's tone was almost mocking, Kiera ignored him,
"Where are the others Ingram?" Kiera glared at him, Ingram simply smirked,
"Probably doing things they shouldn't be…" He continued to smirk at Kiera, the detective with her frowned,
"Answer the question." Ingram turned to face him,
"Please, the adults are talking right now…" Terry noticed Kiera look directly at him and sigh,
"Detective could you give us a minute? I think it might help." Terry watched the detective sigh and leave the room then as Kiera disabled the camera's with her suit, Ingram continued smirking until Terry shut off his suits cloak and appeared in front of him,
"You…How are you here?!" Terry leaned down to look Ingram in the eye,
"Tell us what we want to know Ingram! How do we get home!"
"There is no way back, there never has been…" Kiera shocked him with a jolt of electricity,
"You don't know that! There has to be a way!" Ingram groaned,
"Actually before I joined the movement I was a SadTech engineer so yes I do! We always knew this was a one way trip…"
Terry and Kiera both paced the room, Ingram continued,
"Listen, with the knowledge you have why don't you go and put money on the stock market, or sports!, buy a private island and hide out when shit hits the fan. If you stay out of our way…we'll leave you alone." Terry groaned and rubbed his head,
"We don't have time for this…" In a sudden movement Terry flew over the desk, grabbing Ingram and holding him against the wall by his collar,
"Do you know who I am?!" The smug expression from Ingram's face was gone, he stared into Terry's mask with nothing but fear in his eyes,
"You…Your Batman. Nobody knows your real name." Terry tightened his grip and lifted Ingram off the ground,
"That's right. You don't know a thing about me…but you on the other hand, you are someone…" Kiera stepped up next to Terry,
"I bet with the right person and the proper means I could find out quite a bit about you Ingram. Yes I'm talking to you!" Ingram flinched at Kiera's raised voice, Terry smirked under his mask and kept a tight grip on Ingram, Kiera continued,
"You were born, Lucas Calbert and you took your mother's name Ingram when your father went to prison. She was…correction she will be born in Victoria a few years from now, to Kent and Mary-Lee Ingram? 66 Beaconsfield Road…last house on the right." Terry watched Ingram lower his head, Kiera smirked slightly,
"That's the price of being a famous terrorist…" Ingram snapped his head up to face her,
"You wouldn't!" Kiera's face became deadly serious,
"Right before I buy that island." Kiera then headed for the door, Terry immediately put Ingram back in the chair and cloaked next to the door,
"Wait! I'll tell you what I know…" Kiera had the door ajar; Terry slipped out past the police and headed back for the penthouse.
When Terry returned to the penthouse Bruce was gone, he quickly checked Bruce's computer and found he was tracing several bank alarms, Terry looked over the footage and found the bank being robbed, immediately flying out towards it.
Batman watched as the bank robbers fired on police officers and retreated into an alley, he immediately fired his grappling hook, gliding to the building they moved into, he moved silently above the gunmen as they covered the entrances, freezing when they opened fire, he scanned the room identifying his targets as one barked orders,
"Go for the head…try and flank her, Kellog cover the exits!" One of the men moved away, Batman chose his moment and dropped down on top of one of the gunmen and disarmed him, blocking several attacks, he saw another man aiming for a shot before a shower of sparks erupted near him and knocked him to the ground, this distracted the Dark Knight's opponent allowing him to deliver several hard strikes and knock him through a wooden crate, Batman then delivered the knockout blow and disappeared into the shadows, watching as a woman moved towards him before throwing herself into cover as the third gunman returned and opened fire, Batman did not move knowing he was invisible in his position, he saw the woman return fire forcing the gunman to take cover, he then saw another of the robbers dragging himself up from the floor and producing a knife, Batman acted quickly and leapt from his position grabbing the knife as a shot was fired, hitting the wielder of the blade and immediately killing him, Batman locked eyes with a police officer who had his gun aimed at the Dark Knight, he instinctively dropped a smoke pellet and grappled to the ceiling immediately scanning for the third robber, Batman watched as he ran out of the building and quickly picked up his trail, grappling to the roof and following the man.
The Dark Knight watched until he was far enough away from sight to glide down and land in front of him the man immediately dropped his gun and bag of money, Batman heard a noise behind him as two men ambushed him, he took a hard kick to the chest and leapt backwards to defend himself dodging and blocking their attacks, one man produced a gun causing Batman to grab him and disarm him, quickly placing a small tracer on the man before grappling up to a roof and disappearing.
Several Hours LaterTravis Verta paced in front of the other members of Liber8, anger swelled up inside him at Stefan's loss,
"It seems our interfering friend followed us, along with a Protector, not only that but they've quickly established allies in this time. We will have to be far more careful in future, the plan will be as…" Travis was interrupted by laughter echoing through their hideout armed thugs wearing masks stormed in pointing weapons, The members of Liber8 quickly got to their feet and had their weapons drawn, the thugs moved for another man, Travis stared straight at the man who seemed to be their leader, his porcelain white skin and painted grin made him look all too like a clown, Travis simply scoffed at him and watched as the clown simply dragged a chair over and sat down in front of them, his grin was unsettling even to Travis the look in his eye as he stared at Travis made him uneasy, the clown simply sat, looking over each member of Liber8 before bursting into hysterical laughter and waving his thugs out of the room, after several moments the clown seemed to compose himself and simply grinned maniacally at them,
"So, you guys are what passes for a 'gang' now. Where did it all go so wrong…" Travis kept his gun pointed at the clown, who simply remained seated and grinned,
"Who are you?" the clown's expression changed, he forced a surprised expression,
"Who am I?! I'm the clown prince of crime! Scourge of Gotham City! They call me…The Joker!" Travis watched the clown clap excitedly for himself for several moments before resume his grin,
"So let's cut to the chase shall we? You happen to need my help…and in return, you can do me a favour…" Travis scoffed,
"Why would we need your help?" Joker chuckled and got to his feet, he walked towards Travis and pulled something from his back, Travis looked at the Joker's hand and saw a small device shaped like a bat,
"I know how the Bat thinks…"