*~*~Friends Incorporated~*~*
*Chapter Three*
GENRE: A Batman Beyond fanfic.
PAIRING IF ANY: Terry McGinnis/Max Gilbson.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Set after "Curse of the Kobra". I happen to be very Pro-Terry/Max and I don't like Dana much. (She seems too possessive and jealous. Sorry.) Anyway, I've noticed Dana hasn't been in a lot of the new episodes and Max has been getting a larger role (which finally resulted in the episode introducing Zeta [I'm convinced that was a prologue to "The Zeta Project"] and "The Curse of the Kobra" 2-parter.) with each new episode. Forgive me for the overall weirdness of this. *&.^*
DISCLAIMER: I don't own 'em. Short enough for ya?
SIDE NOTE: This will be written from Max's POV and I'm not sure if the entire fanfic should be - tell me and I might change it to third person [if and when I do that, I'll give ya'll ample warning]. I think the martial arts sensei's name was Kyri Inaga, buuuuuuuuuut…it probably isn't. ;} On another note, this fanfic isn't of excellent quality. (No, I don't have low self-esteem. I just practice reverse psychology with surprisingly good results. *giggles*)
ADDITIONAL NOTES: Some of the scenes in this chapter and in later chapters (Terry's POV, Jokerz's leader's POV, etc.) will be written in third person so as to explain some stuff. That and I haven't written a first-person fic using present tense in ages. *-_-;* And to further explain the lack of Dana in this…well, there's been a (thankful) lack of Dana in the show. I can only assume she and Terry had a spat and/or she got 'fed up' with his constantly breaking short their dates. Another reason why I like Max. She covered for him countless times; both facts come into light through the duration of this fanfic as well as the trauma of his father's death. I was slightly peeved at how they blew the whole Dad died thing off after the first episode or so.
OMIGOSH! ANOTHER NOTE!: I have no CLUE what the Jokerz's nicknames are, soooo…I'm makin' 'em up! *grins*
****
"Why'd the chicken cross the road?"
"Oh, GOD, Max…"
I snicker and throw an arm around Terry's shoulders, buffing my fingernails against my brown jacket. "Have you heard the one about the c-"
Before I can move away, he covers my mouth with the palm of his hand.
"Max. I grovel for mercy," he tells me, eyes twinkling.
I bite his hand.
"OW!! DAMN, Max!" Terry clutches his hand and makes an 'ow' face, pressing his thumb against the bite marks. While he does this, I make a show of gagging and brushing at my mouth.
"I think you've poisoned me!"
"Hey, you're the one who had to go and BITE ME."
"You put your hand on my mouth. Blech."
He makes a rude face and I stick my tongue out again.
We're walking slowly and leisurely down the sidewalk, ignoring any and all strange looks shot in our direction as we poke each other and exchange jokes our parents would be ashamed of.
"So George says," I snicker, " 'We have to let Monica get on the boat first, she's a woman.' And Al goes, 'Screw Monica!' Then Bill says, 'Do we have enough time?' " Terry stares at me for a few seconds before a strange half-snorting sound escapes his nose and I stare at him in return. Within seconds, we're both laughing uncontrollably at each other.
"That…" He gasps. "Was SICK, Max."
I preen myself. "I know. Aren't you proud of me?"
He opens his mouth to reply, then closes it slowly.
"We're being followed," Terry says finally.
Annoyed, I roll my eyes. "Duh, Ter, we're in a city."
"No," he shakes his head impatiently, "not that kind of following."
Confused, I turn to look…and a pocketknife slices my jaw.
^
The teenaged girl fell to the ground, clutching her jaw, blood welling up from a gash etched into her brown skin. Giggles laughed like a hyena, white paint coating her face gruesomely and a pocketknife in one hand. Kneeling beside the girl, she slugged her in the gut, causing her to double over, squeezing her eyes shut. Sadistically grinning, Giggles slashed her hip and chest; standing up and smiling darkly, prepared to drag her unconscious prisoner off.
A fist slammed into the side of her face, sending her sprawling to the ground. "Hey, watch it, pretty-boy!" she snarled, flinging the knife at him; he easily avoided it by ducking.
"Need help, Giggles?"
She rolled her eyes, the pink flower in her black hair bobbing slightly. "Of course, Haunts. Bastard over there won't stay still."
The Jokerz's leader turned slightly and barely avoided a fist launched to hit him in the face.
"It's you!" both young men cried at the same time.
Haunts pulled away slightly, but Terry bared his teeth, charging the Joker angrily and swinging wildly. Reacting with a vicious jab of his own, the white-faced clown tried to knock the wind out of Terry, not succeeding.
From her sprawled position on the ground, red blood soaking her face and clothes, Max blearily saw the female Joker whip a syringe out of the bodice of her flamboyantly pink dress, silently creeping up behind the unaware Terry. Coughing up red plasma, she weakly called out, "…Terry…"
He, blinded by incredible rage, was grappling with the obviously losing Joker and unable to hear her tremoring, tiny voice. "Terry, please…"
Giggles smirked viciously, raising the syringe up as if it were a blade.
Closing her eyes tightly and drawing in a deep breath, Max managed to scream, "TERRY!!"
He was turning when the syringe was buried in his back up to the hilt. Eyes widening, he stumbled, the greenish fluid bubbling down the tube's length, injected into his body. His eyes rolled back in his head and he stumbled, falling to the ground, eerily still.
Frantically, Max dragged her bleeding, bruised body over to his. 'Oh, God, please help…where are the frickin' people in this damned city when you need a damned witness?'
As if reading her thoughts, Giggles giggled, living up to her name. Ripping the syringe out of Terry's limp back and pulling up the pocketknife from between the cracks, Giggles twirled both sharp objects like batons, the movements practiced and casual. "If you're wanting a witness, Haunts and I made sure that this was Joker territory…and we bribed all the residents just in case. The guys've been given instructions to maim or kill anyone who got in the way," she sniggered.
Lifting himself off the ground, face paints smeared, Haunts sneered. "With Bats away, we decided to play with his little toy."
A feeling of dread filled her lungs. It could have been blood, but she wasn't sure…
Hooking her arms under Terry's midsection, she tried to pull him away.
With a deadly smirk, Haunts walked closer to her and smashed his booted foot down on her exposed hand, an audible snapping sound heard.
"Now, now. See, the fellas and I have an old score with the winged asshole. At first, we thought we'd kidnap pretty li'l Miss Dana Tan since he seemed to have a bit of a soft spot for her." Standing up, the Joker stretched lazily, grinding his boot on her already broken hand. Whimpering a small cry of white hot agony, she felt tears spring to her eyes. "I'm sorry, Terry," she whispered, voice raw from the pain.
"But lately, we've noticed you've become the lucky lady!"
She froze, biting her tongue to stifle a scream. "Stop it…"
"Batsy's got a crushie-wushie on da widdle baby here," Giggles taunted, pointing the syringe needle and the blade of her knife at Max. Protectively, she held Terry to herself, glaring hostilely at the two.
"Since life's not fun without ol' Bats, I thought capturing you would lure him back out. And, bingo, I'll bet we've hit jackpot!" Haunts crowed, his purple coat and green shirt symbolizing all the evil of the original Joker.
"Damn you, you bastard," she growled and he leaned over, slapping her across her smooth, blood stained brown cheek. Her head lashed backwards and she feebly kicked at him, the substantial blood loss making her woozy. With his face close to hers, he leered.
"Of course, there *are* a few fringe benefits."
When he moved to cup her face, she snapped her teeth at him, almond-shaped eyes narrowed.
Angrily, he hit the base of his palm against her temple. Limply, she collapsed, falling on top of Terry.
"How cute," Giggles purred.
He stooped over and lifted Max's deadweight.
"Just kill him."
With that, Haunts turned and vanished into the dark alleyways.
Shrugging, Giggles pulled a blaster out of her spiked boot. "Too bad we couldn't keep her boy toy," she sighed, lifting the weapon and sighting through it, preparing to fire.
"Yes, I know, Ace."
Alarmed, she whirled around to see, of all people, Bruce Wayne.
"Oh, shitload," she cursed quietly, nimbly leaping into the shadows of the alley. "I ain't killing no old man. Not right." Assuring herself that enough poison had been placed into the syringe to kill him anyway, she disappeared after Haunts and Max.
^
All I feel is pain. Oh, God, the pain…
Blood drips from my chin, my breast, and my hip. I see it dotting the frozen earth below, mingling with the snowflakes.
It's snowing. Red and white…my mind is foggy and delirious. Red and white make pink…
[[ "Why pink?" Terry asked, propping his chin in one hand while Dana scowled at me. I ignored it.
"I like my hair pink." ]]
Red…and white…make…
…pink…
^
"Terry!" Abandoning his cane, flinging it to one side, Bruce threw all caution to the wind and knelt beside the teenager, lifting his head up.
His lips were beginning to curl up.
"Joker poison…Ace, get Huric with the hoverlimo NOW!"
Moaning softly, Terry's ice blue eyes fluttered open. "Max…?" His voice was slurred and Bruce had the horrible feeling the boy was delusional from the injection. "Get…away from Max…" His eyes began rolling back in his head and his mouth opened in a soundless, frenzied fit of uncontrolled laughter. It made Bruce want to retch. His protégé, his surrogate son, unconscious and yet unable to stop the insane, silent laughter.
He'd mentioned Max…
Scanning the general vicinity quickly, he saw a blood drenched scrap of yellow and black cloth, exactly like Max's favorite shirt.
A slightly bloody syringe was discarded near it, along with a dripping red blade.
"Damn it!" he swore vehemently.
And it had happened in broad daylight.
^
I'm sorry, Terry.
I'm sorry.
~TBC~
End AN: 0.o Well, there's the reason for the PG-13 label! Cursing and violence. No f-word. Never going to write the f-word. And if you're as smart as I bet you are, you can tell there might be mentions of r**e. *-_-;;* I hate writing dark stuff… I think I put some Terry/Max stuff! And Haunts gave ya some major plot points up there, so re-read it so you can be ready. ;} Gracias for reading! (Thank-you, Spanish class!) *&.^* Ja ne!
*Chapter Three*
GENRE: A Batman Beyond fanfic.
PAIRING IF ANY: Terry McGinnis/Max Gilbson.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Set after "Curse of the Kobra". I happen to be very Pro-Terry/Max and I don't like Dana much. (She seems too possessive and jealous. Sorry.) Anyway, I've noticed Dana hasn't been in a lot of the new episodes and Max has been getting a larger role (which finally resulted in the episode introducing Zeta [I'm convinced that was a prologue to "The Zeta Project"] and "The Curse of the Kobra" 2-parter.) with each new episode. Forgive me for the overall weirdness of this. *&.^*
DISCLAIMER: I don't own 'em. Short enough for ya?
SIDE NOTE: This will be written from Max's POV and I'm not sure if the entire fanfic should be - tell me and I might change it to third person [if and when I do that, I'll give ya'll ample warning]. I think the martial arts sensei's name was Kyri Inaga, buuuuuuuuuut…it probably isn't. ;} On another note, this fanfic isn't of excellent quality. (No, I don't have low self-esteem. I just practice reverse psychology with surprisingly good results. *giggles*)
ADDITIONAL NOTES: Some of the scenes in this chapter and in later chapters (Terry's POV, Jokerz's leader's POV, etc.) will be written in third person so as to explain some stuff. That and I haven't written a first-person fic using present tense in ages. *-_-;* And to further explain the lack of Dana in this…well, there's been a (thankful) lack of Dana in the show. I can only assume she and Terry had a spat and/or she got 'fed up' with his constantly breaking short their dates. Another reason why I like Max. She covered for him countless times; both facts come into light through the duration of this fanfic as well as the trauma of his father's death. I was slightly peeved at how they blew the whole Dad died thing off after the first episode or so.
OMIGOSH! ANOTHER NOTE!: I have no CLUE what the Jokerz's nicknames are, soooo…I'm makin' 'em up! *grins*
****
"Why'd the chicken cross the road?"
"Oh, GOD, Max…"
I snicker and throw an arm around Terry's shoulders, buffing my fingernails against my brown jacket. "Have you heard the one about the c-"
Before I can move away, he covers my mouth with the palm of his hand.
"Max. I grovel for mercy," he tells me, eyes twinkling.
I bite his hand.
"OW!! DAMN, Max!" Terry clutches his hand and makes an 'ow' face, pressing his thumb against the bite marks. While he does this, I make a show of gagging and brushing at my mouth.
"I think you've poisoned me!"
"Hey, you're the one who had to go and BITE ME."
"You put your hand on my mouth. Blech."
He makes a rude face and I stick my tongue out again.
We're walking slowly and leisurely down the sidewalk, ignoring any and all strange looks shot in our direction as we poke each other and exchange jokes our parents would be ashamed of.
"So George says," I snicker, " 'We have to let Monica get on the boat first, she's a woman.' And Al goes, 'Screw Monica!' Then Bill says, 'Do we have enough time?' " Terry stares at me for a few seconds before a strange half-snorting sound escapes his nose and I stare at him in return. Within seconds, we're both laughing uncontrollably at each other.
"That…" He gasps. "Was SICK, Max."
I preen myself. "I know. Aren't you proud of me?"
He opens his mouth to reply, then closes it slowly.
"We're being followed," Terry says finally.
Annoyed, I roll my eyes. "Duh, Ter, we're in a city."
"No," he shakes his head impatiently, "not that kind of following."
Confused, I turn to look…and a pocketknife slices my jaw.
^
The teenaged girl fell to the ground, clutching her jaw, blood welling up from a gash etched into her brown skin. Giggles laughed like a hyena, white paint coating her face gruesomely and a pocketknife in one hand. Kneeling beside the girl, she slugged her in the gut, causing her to double over, squeezing her eyes shut. Sadistically grinning, Giggles slashed her hip and chest; standing up and smiling darkly, prepared to drag her unconscious prisoner off.
A fist slammed into the side of her face, sending her sprawling to the ground. "Hey, watch it, pretty-boy!" she snarled, flinging the knife at him; he easily avoided it by ducking.
"Need help, Giggles?"
She rolled her eyes, the pink flower in her black hair bobbing slightly. "Of course, Haunts. Bastard over there won't stay still."
The Jokerz's leader turned slightly and barely avoided a fist launched to hit him in the face.
"It's you!" both young men cried at the same time.
Haunts pulled away slightly, but Terry bared his teeth, charging the Joker angrily and swinging wildly. Reacting with a vicious jab of his own, the white-faced clown tried to knock the wind out of Terry, not succeeding.
From her sprawled position on the ground, red blood soaking her face and clothes, Max blearily saw the female Joker whip a syringe out of the bodice of her flamboyantly pink dress, silently creeping up behind the unaware Terry. Coughing up red plasma, she weakly called out, "…Terry…"
He, blinded by incredible rage, was grappling with the obviously losing Joker and unable to hear her tremoring, tiny voice. "Terry, please…"
Giggles smirked viciously, raising the syringe up as if it were a blade.
Closing her eyes tightly and drawing in a deep breath, Max managed to scream, "TERRY!!"
He was turning when the syringe was buried in his back up to the hilt. Eyes widening, he stumbled, the greenish fluid bubbling down the tube's length, injected into his body. His eyes rolled back in his head and he stumbled, falling to the ground, eerily still.
Frantically, Max dragged her bleeding, bruised body over to his. 'Oh, God, please help…where are the frickin' people in this damned city when you need a damned witness?'
As if reading her thoughts, Giggles giggled, living up to her name. Ripping the syringe out of Terry's limp back and pulling up the pocketknife from between the cracks, Giggles twirled both sharp objects like batons, the movements practiced and casual. "If you're wanting a witness, Haunts and I made sure that this was Joker territory…and we bribed all the residents just in case. The guys've been given instructions to maim or kill anyone who got in the way," she sniggered.
Lifting himself off the ground, face paints smeared, Haunts sneered. "With Bats away, we decided to play with his little toy."
A feeling of dread filled her lungs. It could have been blood, but she wasn't sure…
Hooking her arms under Terry's midsection, she tried to pull him away.
With a deadly smirk, Haunts walked closer to her and smashed his booted foot down on her exposed hand, an audible snapping sound heard.
"Now, now. See, the fellas and I have an old score with the winged asshole. At first, we thought we'd kidnap pretty li'l Miss Dana Tan since he seemed to have a bit of a soft spot for her." Standing up, the Joker stretched lazily, grinding his boot on her already broken hand. Whimpering a small cry of white hot agony, she felt tears spring to her eyes. "I'm sorry, Terry," she whispered, voice raw from the pain.
"But lately, we've noticed you've become the lucky lady!"
She froze, biting her tongue to stifle a scream. "Stop it…"
"Batsy's got a crushie-wushie on da widdle baby here," Giggles taunted, pointing the syringe needle and the blade of her knife at Max. Protectively, she held Terry to herself, glaring hostilely at the two.
"Since life's not fun without ol' Bats, I thought capturing you would lure him back out. And, bingo, I'll bet we've hit jackpot!" Haunts crowed, his purple coat and green shirt symbolizing all the evil of the original Joker.
"Damn you, you bastard," she growled and he leaned over, slapping her across her smooth, blood stained brown cheek. Her head lashed backwards and she feebly kicked at him, the substantial blood loss making her woozy. With his face close to hers, he leered.
"Of course, there *are* a few fringe benefits."
When he moved to cup her face, she snapped her teeth at him, almond-shaped eyes narrowed.
Angrily, he hit the base of his palm against her temple. Limply, she collapsed, falling on top of Terry.
"How cute," Giggles purred.
He stooped over and lifted Max's deadweight.
"Just kill him."
With that, Haunts turned and vanished into the dark alleyways.
Shrugging, Giggles pulled a blaster out of her spiked boot. "Too bad we couldn't keep her boy toy," she sighed, lifting the weapon and sighting through it, preparing to fire.
"Yes, I know, Ace."
Alarmed, she whirled around to see, of all people, Bruce Wayne.
"Oh, shitload," she cursed quietly, nimbly leaping into the shadows of the alley. "I ain't killing no old man. Not right." Assuring herself that enough poison had been placed into the syringe to kill him anyway, she disappeared after Haunts and Max.
^
All I feel is pain. Oh, God, the pain…
Blood drips from my chin, my breast, and my hip. I see it dotting the frozen earth below, mingling with the snowflakes.
It's snowing. Red and white…my mind is foggy and delirious. Red and white make pink…
[[ "Why pink?" Terry asked, propping his chin in one hand while Dana scowled at me. I ignored it.
"I like my hair pink." ]]
Red…and white…make…
…pink…
^
"Terry!" Abandoning his cane, flinging it to one side, Bruce threw all caution to the wind and knelt beside the teenager, lifting his head up.
His lips were beginning to curl up.
"Joker poison…Ace, get Huric with the hoverlimo NOW!"
Moaning softly, Terry's ice blue eyes fluttered open. "Max…?" His voice was slurred and Bruce had the horrible feeling the boy was delusional from the injection. "Get…away from Max…" His eyes began rolling back in his head and his mouth opened in a soundless, frenzied fit of uncontrolled laughter. It made Bruce want to retch. His protégé, his surrogate son, unconscious and yet unable to stop the insane, silent laughter.
He'd mentioned Max…
Scanning the general vicinity quickly, he saw a blood drenched scrap of yellow and black cloth, exactly like Max's favorite shirt.
A slightly bloody syringe was discarded near it, along with a dripping red blade.
"Damn it!" he swore vehemently.
And it had happened in broad daylight.
^
I'm sorry, Terry.
I'm sorry.
~TBC~
End AN: 0.o Well, there's the reason for the PG-13 label! Cursing and violence. No f-word. Never going to write the f-word. And if you're as smart as I bet you are, you can tell there might be mentions of r**e. *-_-;;* I hate writing dark stuff… I think I put some Terry/Max stuff! And Haunts gave ya some major plot points up there, so re-read it so you can be ready. ;} Gracias for reading! (Thank-you, Spanish class!) *&.^* Ja ne!
