Though the prison was the last place Terry wanted to be, it was the first place he had to be. He wanted to be with his mom and Matt, but he had to find out the situation here and catch the escapees before things got out of hand. Terry inwardly sighed and pushed his lingering thoughts of Matt aside as he looked down at the prison. There were scorch marks everywhere and the entrance gate had been blown open from the inside.
"How did the prisoners get their hands on the guns?" Terry asked. The scorch marks clearly indicated that there was a fire fight and that it wasn't just the guards trying to get the prisoners to stop.
"Probably surprised a few guards and grabbed them," Bruce answered through the com. "Or they had inside help."
"You said yourself that the attack at the school was a distraction for the jailbreak; they probably had inside help. Anyone who can get the Jokerz and T's to work for them and actually listen, probably have enough creds to pay a few guards off too," Terry pointed out.
"Most likely, but we don't have time for speculation and guesses right now. You should start a grid patterned search of the city. The sooner the prisoners are caught, the better," Bruce reminded.
Terry nodded in agreement, "On it," he replied, as he turned the Bat-mobile around and started the patrol. "Wayne?" Terry started to ask.
"Yes?"
"Do you think you could call the hospital? See if they know anything about Matt?" Terry asked, his thoughts once again returning to his little brother.
"I called a few minutes ago, he was just admitted; the tests are being done as we speak. I will let you know as soon as I know more," Bruce answered.
Terry nodded, "Thanks," he replied. Please let him be ok, he thought.
"Just stay focused on the mission. Getting distracted now, won't do you or Matt any good," Bruce reminded.
Terry knew he was right, but that didn't stop him from worrying. "I'll let you know when I find one of the escapees," Terry informed, trying to turn his attention back to the patrol, but his wandering mind did little to help.
Focus on the patrol. Matt will be fine, he told himself, looking down at the city below.
It wasn't long before Terry spotted three prison garbed men trying, unsuccessfully, to hide in the shadows of an alley a few miles away from the prison. "Bingo," Terry said, breaking the silence that had fallen over the com.
"Found someone?" Bruce asked.
"Three. Unarmed. Won't take long," Terry concluded, stopping the Bat-mobile above the alley they were in.
"Terry," Bruce started in a warning tone. "They may be unarmed, but they will be desperate and desperate can be more dangerous then any weapon. Do not underestimate them."
Terry nodded, though he knew Bruce couldn't see him, as he opened the floor exit of the Bat-mobile.
One of the escapees looked up, his eyes widening in surprise, "Batman!" he yelled to the other two, as he pointed to him.
"Relax, didn't you see the news? he's just some punk kid in a costume," the one on Terry's left reminded, as Terry slid out of the Bat-mobile and landed in the alley a few feet away from them.
"Yeah; Batman more like Batboy," the one on Terry's right added in a mocking tone. "There's no reason to be afraid of this kid, we can take him in a heartbeat."
"One: I'm not that McGinnis kid," Terry started, punching the one on the left out cold. "Two: you have every reason to be afraid of me," he added, ducking as the one on the right swung at him, before quickly retaliating with a punch. "Three: do not call me Batboy," he informed, knocking him out as well.
Terry turned to the last escapee, who slowly backed away from him, before bolting in the opposite direction. Terry quickly ejected a bola batarang into his ready hand and threw it at him. The bola wrapped around the escapee's feet, causing him to fall to the rough concrete ground.
Terry walked past the two unconscious escapees and over to the one tied up. He bent down and grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him with him as he straightened up. "Who helped you? Who was behind the attack and the jailbreak?!" Terry demanded, giving him his best Wayne impression as he narrowed his eyes at him.
"How am I supposed to know? I didn't have anything to do with it!" the escapee replied.
Terry glared at him a moment longer, before slamming him into the building behind him, allowing the suit sensors in his glove to get a read on his pulse. "I'm only going to ask you one more time, who was behind it?!"
"I don't know! Honest! I had nothing to do with it! Who'd turn down a chance at getting out of jail early?"
His pulse indicated that he was telling the truth. Terry inwardly sighed, "Next time, just stay in your cell," he instructed, releasing his grip on the escapee's shirt and quickly handcuffing him to a nearby dumpster.
Terry walked back under the Bat-mobile and flew up and through the, still open, exit. As he sat down the floor automatically closed. "Might want to tell the Comish where to pick up three of her escapees," he commented, as he pushed the accelerators forward to begin the patrol again.
"Already called, a patrol car is on its way," Bruce replied.
Three down a million to go. Terry sighed, the only place he wanted to be right now was at the hospital, to be there for his mom, to be there when the test results came back, and be there when Matt woke up. But he knew being there wouldn't change anything, it wouldn't make the test results come in quicker and it wouldn't make Matt wake up sooner. And he knew Batman was needed here, to help round up the escapees, to make sure no one else got hurt.
