Mother Dearest

A Batman Beyond FanFiction

Written by: Celestial Moon

E-Mail: ArmaniGirlAX@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: I do not (sadly) own Terry McGinnis. This story is purely fictional. Some of the characters are my own, etc etc. This is just for the enjoyment of all of you. Please leave some feedback :D

Part 6

Wednesday 6:20 PM

Gotham Park

Somehow, Terry found himself staring out at the ocean. Again.

The cold metal railing chilled his fingers as he felt the body heat in his hand radiate out to the steel bar.

He had just dropped Dana off at her house, intending to reach his home as soon as possible to get a head start on another research project given to him by Ms. Richards. He couldn't remember the last time that he had received so much work in so little time.

Upon passing the park, he found the familiar spot where he had run into Ms. Richards just the other day. It provided the solitude and the silence that he so craved.

These days, Terry found himself wanting to be alone more and more. He didn't know why, except that the rolling waves had a calming effect on him. For hours at a time, he would simply watch the rise and fall of the cold green water, and lose himself.

Other people turned to drugs and slappers. Terry turned to solitude.

It had been two days since he had spoken to Dana about the subject of her mother. Since then, she had refused to even mention the word. Terry could see the front that she had erected in the hopes of repressing the pain that she felt.

Terry sighed. Two days of scourging the newspapers for any news on missing people; two days of staring at the calender and noticing how the days were just slipping away.

What did he know about the killer?

Absolutely nothing. Well, except that "it" seemed to have a fetish for middle aged mothers with children in Hamilton High. Terry wasn't even sure if whether it was a he or not... But naturally, he seemed to assume that it was a white male.

Although, two of the victims were both Asian. Both Chinese.

A sudden vibration in his jacket startled him from his thoughts. It was his phone.

"Yes?"

"Another woman found. Forensics shows that this might possibly have been the first victim ever."

"Ever?"

"Yes."

"What does that mean though?

"This might be the connection we've been looking for."

"I'll be right there."

The old man hung up.

Terry slipped the phone back into his jacket pocket and turned around. There were several people of his age there, just lounging about.

'And to think that any of these people could be a vicious, cold blooded killer. It could be anyone, even Max.' Terry banished the thought and climbed on his bike. He wanted to get to the Wayne mansion as soon as possible, not wanting to waste a precious minute. His next paper would just have to wait.

*****

Both of them had agreed that the victims were random. Desperately random, so it seemed. There was the connection of Hamilton High, but there were no connections between then victims and the families themselves. Christina barely spoke to Dana, and neither regarded the other as a friend, just an acquaintance.

He found Mr. Wayne seated in front of the computer.

"So, who was the first?"

"Sasha McMann. Does that name ring a bell?"

"Vaguely. Hmm, actually, not really."

"B-Rated actress. Tried very hard but without many results. According to Interpol, she came to Gotham five years ago after her last film, "Mother Dearest" with Bradley Sommers. The film rose, then fell. It never made it past a week in the theaters."

"How do you know that she was the first victim then? Was she a mother?"

"No, that's the interesting thing. She never had any children, nor was she ever married. The way she was found, the way she was killed... Everything screams that she was one of his or her victims... An autopsy shoes that she was killed two years ago on May 13th. Mother's Day."

"Does she have any connection to Hamilton High?"

"Well, no."

"What was the movie about?"

"A son who becomes obsessed with his mother and slowly murders all of her potential suitors until eventually, he kills her."

"Oh." The subject sounded a little familiar. Actually, very familiar. It was the topic of his research paper.

"McGinnis, I'm sure that there is some sort of connection between these three women. Go to the Wu's now and try to poke around. Find out who they know, who their enemies are, anything." A piece of paper appeared in his hand. "Here is the address. Call me when you're done."

"As Batman?"

"No."

"Okay."