Batman Beyond: The Return of Two-Face II
By ShadowHawk and Dragonfang33
Chapter 4: A New Hope
Author's Notes: Wow, 16 reviews, this is better then we thought. We still need more reviews (Nice ones that is, no flames) and to those who write Batman Beyond fanfics, including characters like Harley Quinn, Catwoman, The Joker, The Scarecrow and so on, could not come up with any Two-Face fanfics because you people say he is complicated. Well in our opinion he isn't, now on with the Show.
Disclaimer: Batman Beyond is the copyright of DC comics and Warner Brothers is used here for non-profit entertainment purposes only plus we don't own the characters used in this story.
Location: Hoverbus - Night
Chelsea Cunningham sat alone on the hoverbus on her way to Gotham City, a bright and shining beacon of metropolitan life looming in the far horizon from the airport as she combed her fingers through her stiff, backswept blonde hair and was dressed in a black and white checkered mini dress, with high-top combat boots. Chelsea was an average student, but very popular girl from a rich family, though she did not get along well with her father. She was a cheerleader, and had several boyfriends during her school years: Mason Forrest, Rick Jackson, and later Nelson Nash.
Chelsea's attitude towards everything has landed her into trouble on several occasions. Her father first sent her to Dr. Ira Billings aka Spellbinder for counseling, but it ended worse. Spellbinder forced her to take a precious statuette from her father's art collection, and drop it in the river. The case made the news, and Arnold Cunningham used his connections to get the police to investigate it. After a chat with Spellbinder, however, Commissioner Gordon closed the case.
Chelsea was very popular with boys, even those who were way below her league. When Howard Groote got a beautiful girlfriend, however, she was interested, much to Cynthia's chagrin. She tried to push the sign of Hamilton High on top of her, but Terry delayed her. After Cynthia was revealed to be a robot, Chelsea lost interest in Howard. Her daydream was broken when someone moved into the empty seat next to her. She glanced at them for a few moments, before turning to look back out the window.
"To," the male passenger asked, "or from?" Chelsea turned to look at the man infront of her. His facial features is described as being perfect and angular—high cheekbones, strong jawline, a straight nose, and full lips. His hair, which is always messy, retains the unusual bronze shade. His eyes are brown and some might say he's 'the one with the angelic face' and is 6'1", has a slender but muscular body and wears a shorter black leather jacket, a red long-sleeved dress shirt, black trousers and black dress shoes.
"Excuse me?" Chelsea inqured
"Are you running away from something or," the man asked, "or to something?"
"I'm not," Chelsea replied, shaking her head, "I mean," the man simply smiled.
"No, it's," the man replied, "it's cool. You should be careful, though. Gotham's a big city and if you don't know anyone, it can be a dangerous city as well. By the way, I'm Jerry Austin." He held out his hand to her. She hesitated for a moment, before shaking it.
"Chelsea Cunningham," Chelsea replied.
"See," Jerry added, with a chuckle, "Now you know someone." Chelsea however wasn't paying much attention to Jerry's joke.
"To," Chelsea said, changing the subject. Jerry looked at her with a confused look to his face.
"I'm running 'To' ... or at least I hope so," Chelsea continued, "There are a couple people in Gotham that I sort of knew -- or knew about, anyway. Um, it's hard to explain."
"Well it's rare to hear someone say they're running to that viper's nest," Jerry said, "do you think they're still in the city, then again if they had any sense they would've moved out."
"I don't really know what happened to them," was all Chelsea could bring her self to say as she turned to look back out of the window and into the moonlight.
Location: Gotham City, Hoverbus Station Terminal - Night
Chelsea and Jerry made their way out of the terminal and onto the mainstreet sidewalk. Before Chelsea had a chance to speak, Jerry grabbed something from his wallet, and quickly jotted something down.
"This is..." Jerry said, handing Chelsea the paper, "the, uh, address. I'll see you tonight."
"Okay," Chelsea replied.
"Bye." They waved to each other, as Jerry turned and walked away. Chelsea took a deep breath and looked around at the Gotham skyline and smiled.
"It's gonna be different here," Chelsea said to herself, "I know it."
"Oh," a familiar voice said, from behind, "no!" Chelsea looked up and spotted a man in a Armani navy pinstripe linen-silk 3-button suit with flat front trousers and brown wingtips who was sitting on a bench, behind her. His name was Lawrence Ketterly, the part owner of Phoenix Industries, a company set up to cover the purchases of vast real estate. He stood up and looked around, Chelsea could tell by the movements of his body that he appeared to be panicking. Sitting next to him on the bench was a man completely in black - black trenchcoat, red scarf around his face, and a black fedora hat while reading a newspaper unmindful or ignoring the man panicking.
"No! No!" Larry screamed, Chelsea watched in horror as he continued to scream lept from the side of the building, into the oncoming hovertraffic.
"No!" Car horns blare as the vehicles tried to come to a stop. She watched as Larry slammed into the windshield of an oncoming hovertruck. The vehicle's driver quickly sat down on the road below and the man fell to the ground. Onlookers are shocked and gasp in terror, as Chelsea ran to help him.
"Don't move," Chelsea replied, "Just lie still." She put a hand on him to try and stop him from moving. Suddenly he reached out and grabbed her hand.
"Don't let them get me!" Larry shouted, "Don't let them get me!"
"Who's trying to get you?" Larry stopped and looked up toward the bench. Chelsea turned around to look at what Larry was talking about. Sitting on the bench was the same shaded man in a trenchcoat - expressionless although he appeared to be looking right at them. Chelsea turned to Larry and tries to get him to stand up.
"Come on," Chelsea said, trying to help Larry up.
"We didn't know what was beneath... beneath... Phoenix." With his last breath, Larry let go of Chelsea's hand, and crashed to the ground. She sat back abruptly. Stunned by what she had just experienced. The sounds of emergency sirens, broke the eerie calm that had fallen over the scene.
Slowly, Chelsea stood up. She looked across the street, directly at the man in black who was still sitting on the bench and holding the newspaper in front of him as if he were reading. He turned and looked back directly at Chelsea. He sat the newspaper down and took out a silver coin and flipped it into the air and caught it when it came down. He looked at the coin, before proceeding to make a fist over it. He looked back at Chelsea as a large tanker obstructed her vision. When the tanker had passed, the man was gone. She looks around, perplexed.
Location: Gotham City, Street - Night
Ambulances and cop cars littered the streets in the shadows of the night, flashing lights casting a red glow under the streetlamps, as Detectives Darcy Alcana and Jesse Reese interviewed Chelsea. She tries to explain who the perpetrator was to them as she leans against a car.
"I can't really describe him," Chelsea said, still shaking from what had transpired, "I never got a good look at his face."
"So you say this guy didn't push the victim?" Jesse inquired
"No," Chelsea replied, "he wasn't anywhere near him, but, um..." She hesitated.
"But what, Miss?" Jesse inquired persistantly, "You saw something, didn't you?"
"Yeah," Darcy replied, sighing, "she saw a guy on a bench."
"Come on, Darcy," Jesse replied, quietly. Darcy shot her partner a cold look, before turning and walking away as he reached into his jacket pocket and removed a business card.
"Listen," Jesse said, eyeing Chelsea with a suspicious look to his eye, "if you think of anything else at all, and I mean anything, you can reach me at this number, okay?"
"Okay," Chelsea replied, as she took the card.
"Good night Miss," Jesse said, "and I'd suggest you get home as soon as possible, Gotham's not exactly the safest city after dark." Chelsea nodded and began to walk away. Jesse turned and looked at his partner. The two are obviously at odds on this as they made their way toward the body of the businessman.
"What?" Jesse inquired, breaking the silence that had fallen over the scene.
"Don't start," Darcy replied
"Start what?" Jesse inquired
"That whole 'there's something prowling the night', that's what." she stated flatly as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Of course not," Jesse replied, sighing, "This is just your basic 'normal guy freaks out, throws himself in front of a speeding vehicle for no reason' case. Oh, it's totally routine."
"Was that sarcasm? Because you know I'm a sensitive gal." Darcy replied, "Seriously Jesse, you gotta layoff 'The Twilight Zone.' The guys are starting to talk." They made their way under the crime scene tape.
"Darcy," Jesse said, "you hear the same stories I do. You see the same things we can't even begin to explain."
"Freaks, weirdos, urban myths." Darcy replied.
"Myths are just the truth a few generations later." Jesse stated as Darcy simply sighed in defeat.
"At times you're almost as bad as the people who pulled that Joker Hoax a few years back." Darcy replied, as she watched her partner walk away.
"Come on Darcy," Jesse said as he turns around to look at her, "what are you so afraid of?"
"Being seen with you," Darcy replied, "getting carted off to the loony bin. I'm gonna make you a list." She took out her pen, as Jesse put his rubber gloves on and knelt down next to the corpse.
"There's something going on in this city after the sun goes down. I intend to find out what it is." Jesse says, determined to get to the bottom of things as he lifts up the sheet to look at the dead man underneath.
Location: Rooftop of the Gotham City Police Headquarters - Night
"This is the forth murder in two weeks," Commissioner Gordon said. "Normally I don't employ the business of..."
"Vigilantes?" Batman asked, "Even though you were one yourself back in the day."
"That was then," Barbara replied, "This is now, and for the record I don't appreciate being reminded of the past," she quickly changed the subject, "Consider this a chance to prove yourself."
"As if I haven't already?" Batman smirked
"I mean on a more rounded scale," Barbara continued "You've proven you can handle the reincarnations of insane killer clowns with control of satellite deathrays, a walking freezer, a sexist eco-terrorist who had lived for over 600 years through the use of Lazarus Pits, a crocodile from the sewers and a living Jekyll & Hyde with an insane passion for dual natures and the number two... But I'm talking 'real' detective work, kid. The kind Bruce and myself were experts at back in the day." Batman quirked an eyebrow at her in question at that.
"That's the boss's job," Batman replied
"He's not going to be around forever kid." Barbara continued, "Back in the day, Bruce was more then capable of holding his own against the worst the darkness of this city could produce, and if you plan to wear that suit, co-dependency simply won't do."
With that, Barbara turned on her heel and walked away, leaving the Tomorrow Knight stunned from what he'd just heard. Shaking his head, he jumped off the side of the GCPD building and started a dive down the hundred stories of the building. Calmly, he snapped his wings out and waited patiently for less than thirty feet under him before he spiraled and arched around to glide to the side and away. In his ear, he heard his employer speak to him.
"You're getting bold, McGinnis." The former Caped Crusader replied over the comlink.
"What can I say?" Batman replied, "It's like walking. After a while, JUST walking gets kinda boring. You wanna do more?"
"Are you going to want help on this case?" He questioned his student.
"Can I try to do it myself?" Batman replied, "She wants to see if I'm a detective."
"You're no detective." Bruce stated to his student.
"Oh gee, thank you for the faith, boss." He frowned
Location: Gotham City, Alleyway - Night
Chelsea slowly her way down the darkened alleyway looking up at the darkened buildings around her for a few seconds before turning her attention back to the slip of paper in her hand. She was still creeped out by the events of the last half hour. Behind her, someone in trousers and dress shoes followed, making sure to stay just far enough out of sight so as not to attract attention.
Chelsea glanced to the side, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following her. A shadow passed across the street behind her. Chelsea swung around to look but sees that no one was there. She turned back around and continued to head down the street. A few seconds later, she once again heard the sounds of someone following her. Chelsea swung around once again to look, only this time she bumped into Jerry.
"Oh, god. You scared me," Chelsea said, trying to catch her breath, "Um ... I thought you were... you know..."
"Dangerous?" Jerry replied seriously.
"Um... well," Chelsea continued, "it's kind of a weird place to party." Jerry remained silent as he started to advance on her. She backed up slowly, her heart racing like there was no tomorrow.
"One thing you learn about Gotham, Chelsea," Jerry said, smiling, "things are never what they seem." He shot her a sinister look and she began to get really scared. Chelsea turned around and tried to make a break. But her assailant ran after her. She ran deeper into the secluded alleyway, but Jerry still was able to catch up her, and pressed her back into the wall.
"Leave me alone!" Chelsea screamed, as she started to cry.
"Oh, come on," Jerry said, with a sadistic smile to his face, "don't be scared, Chelsea."
Before Jerry had a chance to finsih his statement something knocked him off of Chelsea. He looked up, just in time to see a masked woman standing over him. The woman was dressed in a cleavage-revealing, leg-revealing, black bodysuit with aforementioned thigh-high black boots and long black gloves. Her silver and black scorpion emblem was underneath her sizable chest. Her dark shoulder length hair was in a braid that had a silver scorpion's stinger on the end as it came from the back of her head as she is standing above him. Her lipstick was outrageous ruby and she carried a ring that was capable of emitting a blinding light.
"The lady isn't interested," the woman said. Jerry looked around and reached for an old pipe that was lying next to a building. He picked it up and swung it at the masked woman. He hit her in the stomach, but she absorbed the hit. He scrambled to his feet and hit her again.
"I was hoping," the woman said and gave him a wide grin, "you'd do something like that." Jerry swung the pipe again and costumed woman managed to easily dodge it. No matter what Jerry tried, he couldn't touch her. She easily pushed him back and he hit the wall. She fliped foward in front of him as she kicks out and slammed her boot's heel directly on his neck, pushing him against the wall and crushing his throat underneath her foot.
He barely manages to choke out a question. "Who the hell are you?"
"They call me Black Scorpion," Black Scorpion said, "and you're the prey." She released him and he slinked down to the ground.
"Warmed up yet?" Black Scorpion inquired. Jerry scrambled to his feet and ran down the alleyway toward the entrance.
"Ohh! I hate a man with no endurance," Black Scorpion said, "Really, what's the point?" She turned around to look at Chelsea who was still standing against the wall, her face alight with excitement. She slowly moved away from the wall toward Black Scorpion.
"I believe a 'thank you' is in order," Black Scorpion said, "After all it wasn't that spectacular."
"No. It's...", Chelsea said, "it's you." The look to Black Scorpion's face lost its smugness and she stared at the teenager in front of her warily.
"You're really real," Chelsea continued
"Kid," Black Scorpion replied, sighing, "you should go home." She turned to leave, but before she had a chance to, Chelsea grabed her wrist.
"Wait," Chelsea inquired, "Are you Batman's new partner?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Black Scorpion replied, with a confused look to her face, "Look it's late. There's a shelter on Durbin, a few blocks south. You should get off the streets. If anything Gotham isn't safe at night." Black Scorpion freed herself from Chelsea's grip and once again turned to leave.
"No," Chelsea said, stepping forward and blocking her path, "Wait!" Black Scorpion simply ignored her and jumped to the second floor fire escape of the nearest building. Black Scorpion paused for a few moments and looked back down at Chelsea. Chelsea watched in amazement as Black Scorpion turned and jumped to the rooftop of the building across the alleyway, and disappeared out of her sight.
Chelsea stands in the alleyway staring up at the rooftop where Black Scorpion disappeared as she smiles.
To be Continued...