Disclaimer: Don't own nothing...
Chapter 2
"I have a report from the police scanner," came Wayne's voice over the communications radio.
"Shoot," said both Batmans together.
"We have one dead joker and three in critical shock."
"We have three dead jokers and one in critical shock. Says they were stabbed through their mid-section, and whatever it was, it left a hole big enough to fit a person through," reported Wayne, no trace of emotion in his steely voice.
"Well," asked Terry impatiently to Sean.
"It's him," said Sean after a deep breath, "No one else could do that."
"Where was it?" asked Terry.
"Seven miles east to your present location, they believe he's in one of the warehouses around there."
"But over that way is next to a residential area!" gasped Terry, "My family lives over there! Mom! My brother! We have to find him now!"
"Glad to hear it," said Sean as the two turned and put on another burst of speed. As they approached the area they noticed the morgue's truck driving off from the site of the killings off in the distance, police tape still hanging in a perfect square around the area. Terry instinctively turned away but Sean appeared unfazed, and continued to scan the area.
"Let's see here, ah here's what I'm talking about," he whispered, "McGinnis, do you have a spectrograph on board that thing?"
"Yeah, why?" asked Terry.
"Turn it on and scan the right hand corner, right where those two cops are taking photographs."
"What the hell?" asked Terry as he saw a set of brilliant purple footprints leading away from the crime scene and through an alleyway.
"His trail," said Terry, it wasn't a question.
"Ready to smear your first ever time traveler?" asked Sean with a trace of sarcasm.
"It's all the same to me," Terry replied and dropped out of the Batmobile and took flight. The two dropped down and began to glide through the eerily quiet alleys, following the brilliant trail.
Suddenly, the trail stopped, no more footprints.
"Damn it!" cursed Sean under his breath, "Where did he go?"
As if to answer his question, the cries of a young woman and her baby suddenly ripped through the silent air.
"Why did you even ask that question?" asked Terry as they both ran out of the alley towards the scream. They burst out into the street to find Laughslash stalking his prey, totally unaware of the two vigilantes arriving on the scene.
Terry also got his first glimpse of Laughslash and was shocked by his demented appearance. His skin seemed to glow white, if that was even possible, which contrasted with his brilliant green hair which sprayed from his head in all directions. He stood tall, Terry guessed he was pushing seven and a half feet and his hugely developed body gave him the idea that Laughslash wasn't going to be a pushover. He wore a string tie, no shirt, and ragged purple pants that stopped four inches above his bare feet. This however wasn't Terry's biggest concern. Terry was more worried about the long curved weapon in the maniacs hands that appeared to be a five foot long blade.
"Hey ugly!" yelled out Terry as he fired a grappling hook from the suit and managed to ensnare the upraised arm and pull him away from the terrified woman.
"Ooh, you're not Batman," cackled Laughslash as he tossed the blade to his other hand and cut the cord.
"But I am!" yelled out Sean from the side and used his shoulder to hit the creature. As Laughslash went crashing into a wall, Sean landed, raised his arm and fired off a yellow batarang. It landed by the killer's left foot and just as he stood up, it suddenly blew apart with a brilliant flash temporarily blinding everyone but Sean who had covered his eyes.
As Laughslash stumbled back and forth trying to recover his vision, Sean jumped in and delivered a quick blow to the crazy man's gut, then using the exponential strength the suit gave him, lifted up the creature and hurled him across the street into a parked car. Kicking off of the wall, he rocketed towards his target and gave him another punch right between the eyes, snapping Laughslash's head back through the glass.
By now, Terry too had recovered his vision and watched in amazement as Sean pummeled the freak.
"Wayne, you getting all this?" asked Terry stunned.
"Yeah, we both are," said Wayne in a hushed voice.
"Hey Terry," said Max into the radio, "I can't believe it, I ran a statistical reading from your suit to this Sean's and it seems he has magnified strength somewhere around forty times normal!"
"Hey Batman, want a shot," yelled out Sean as he picked up Laughslash by the neck then body slammed him onto the hood of another car.
"What, is this just a game to you?" yelled back Terry angrily. As Sean turned to yell back something, Laughslash suddenly reached out with a massive hand and grabbed Sean by the top of the head. He launched himself off the car, swung his arm around quickly, and threw the Batman into the other. The two fell in a tangle of legs and arms, and Laughslash hooted happily. Charging the two, he kicked out and hit Terry in between the legs, scooping him up into the air, as Terry gasped from the huge pain.
Turning, he picked up the other Batman by a limp arm, and was surprised when Sean suddenly launched out his fist twice in heavy blows that still did not faze Laughslash.
"I want a shot," he said with his homicidal grin inches from Sean's face then landed a blow straight into his stomach. Sean started to fly back, but got snapped back when Laughslash caught his arm and pulled him back in. He did this two more times, then tossed him over his shoulder like a discarded plaything.
A sudden pain in his chin caused Laughslash to look to his right just as soon as Terry released a flurry of batarangs straight at his face. Moving with more grace than his frame suggested, Laughslash ducked, dodged and blocked the projectiles, then suddenly was in Terry's face.
Terry started to grapple with the creature, but even with his enhanced strength found himself being overpowered by the larger foe. Changing his plan, he continued to hold onto Laughslash's arms then jumped up and fired his rocket boots into the creature's face. Laughslash continued to hold on though, even as his face became blackened. Changing plans again, he activated the electric protection unit on his belt and suddenly gave Laughslash a hundred thousand bolt shocking. Laughslash released his grip and Terry jumped away. He threw a lasso around his attacker's legs and sent him sprawling. By now Sean was back up and fired off clamps that flew around each of Laughslash's arms and drilled into the asphalt. Running over to the downed maniac, Sean extended a hypodermic needle from his left index finger and jammed it into Laughslash's arm, releasing a heavy tranquilizer. Laughslash continued to struggle as he fought to keep consciousness finally succumbed and lay still, his grin still plastered on his face.
The two stared at the sleeping creature, but the temporary peace was shattered when Terry suddenly reached out and slugged Sean across the face and sent him sprawling into the ground.
"What the fuck were you thinking?" he demanded angrily, "Do I want a shot? What kind of stupid ass idea was running through your head? Seriously? First rule of crime fighting, this isn't a game! That is not how you do it! You had a tranquilizer, you should have hit him up as soon as you had the chance. Do I want a shot!"
"Hey back off man!" screamed back Sean from the ground, "I was doing okay, I didn't know..."
"You didn't know!" yelled back Terry, "What, you're dealing with homicidal maniac that obviously likes blood, and you didn't know! He's a card carrying psycho, you expect anything and everything from them! Don't ever forget that or your screwed!"
"Listen, I'm sorry," said Sean apologetically, "I seriously thought I had it under control."
"Just how long have you been Batman?" demanded Terry suddenly.
"Well actually, it was my second night out when I came here," admitted Sean.
"Great, I get a time traveling Batman, and he's a rookie," said Terry to no one in particular even though Bruce and Max had been listening to every word.
"Terry, we have something bigger to worry about," said Max as she attempted to stop the argument between the two.
"What, another crazy," he snapped then slapped himself mentally.
"No, how do I get back and take Laughslash with me," said Sean quietly, "I chased after him, but I didn't stop to think that I would have to get back."
"First things first, Terry secure Laughslash then take him to one of the warehouses, we can't let the police know what's going on," ordered Wayne as he simultaneously sent the Batmobile to help them.
Twenty minutes later, the two Batman's had succeeded in hanging Laughslash from a chain in the middle of an old warehouse, taking care to destroy the remaining crates to lower the amount of area that they couldn't see. Now they stood across from another, present and future trying to figure out what to do.'
"I don't know how the whole program worked," said Sean, "And I know I can't make another Time-slipstream."
"Which is why, of course, you need me," said Max, "I got an idea."
"Let's here it," said Terry.
"Sean, do you know if any satellites that were launched around our time that are still floating up there in your time?"
"Yeah, there's an old Worldcom communications satellite that must have been up there forever," said Sean after a moment, "It still works and all, but its an attraction for the space tourists."
"Space tourists?" asked Terry but was ignored by everyone.
"I see," said Wayne after a moment, "Maxine's plan is to send a time coded message to the satellite systems. We don't know which one it is so we'll just have to send it to all of them. We'll set the message to beam down in your time and tell the predicament and to get them to figure a way out."
"Great idea," said Sean as he tapped into the Batcomputer through his suit, "I'm uploading our current location and status now, set the computer to send the message on Thursday, June twenty-seventh, the year is twenty-one forty three at nine seventeen P.M. That should get it there right after I leave."
"Alright, done, now we wait," said Wayne after a moments delay for him to hack the communications satellites' security system.
He hadn't even finished, when a burst of light that spit out Laughslash and Sean into the present, spilled into the empty warehouse.
"Hey there Batman we got your message, and whoa," came a voice from the light as a figure stepped out from the light. It was another Batman. He was dressed in a suit similar to Terry's but was armored rather than the cloth like material.
"Meet Weston Ricom, my mentor," said Sean proudly.
"Um, hi," said Terry awkwardly as he shook the giant hand.
"Pleased to meet you," said Weston giddily even though his voice was tired with age, "I'm glad that I can finally meet one of the former Batmans in their prime, and the great McGinnis to boot!"
"I'm not going to ask," muttered Terry to himself then pointed to the restrained Laughslash, "So we got him all packed up for you, you just need to take him back."
"Thanks for the help," said Sean appreciatively as he and Weston each grabbed onto Laughslash and hoisted him between the two.
"I'm glad I could help, but you need to train hard," said Terry, trying not to get Sean in trouble with Weston.
"Thank you, I will," said Sean.
"I guess we have to go now, take care," said Weston and the two quietly walked through the light. The light vanished, and Batman stood alone in the cool darkness.
"I'm glad that's over," said Wayne, "We don't need that anymore."
"You can say that again, I need a break," said Terry, "I'm heading home to catch some Z's."
"Sleep tight," said Max jokingly and shut off the radio.
Back in the future
"Time to bring you up to date Sean," said Weston in the Batcave as he finished removing the Batman suit. He had worn it only to go after Sean, and now without his suit he appeared as he truly was, a paraplegic who sat with his legs covered in a hoverchair.
"What's been going on," said Sean from the shower as he scrubbed himself down.
"You've been gone three months," said Weston bluntly.
"What!" Sean bellowed, "Three months!"
"I'm sorry, it took time and money to revise the Time-slipstream and make it able to travel backwards and forwards in time. We couldn't leave you back when you left otherwise there would have been a big temporal mess."
"What did my uncle say," asked Sean as he threw on a pair of pants along with a baggy shirt.
"Don't ask, I had to pull some strings, but he thinks you're presently in Guatemala as an exchange student. Your hovercraft is due in two days so you'll have to lay low here in the cave until you 'get home'".
"I think I'm not done," said Sean, "Time traveling and what not I mean."
"What do you mean," asked Weston suspiciously.
"I mean, I noticed, I don't know, something like deja vu. It was like I had just said something or was listening to something, then it changed somehow."
"That's not good, it may mean there was a shift in the Time stream," said Weston, "I'm going to start running a data tracker on any use of the Time-slipstream. Get some rest, but be ready to go."
"As ordered," said Sean.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Chapter 2
"I have a report from the police scanner," came Wayne's voice over the communications radio.
"Shoot," said both Batmans together.
"We have one dead joker and three in critical shock."
"We have three dead jokers and one in critical shock. Says they were stabbed through their mid-section, and whatever it was, it left a hole big enough to fit a person through," reported Wayne, no trace of emotion in his steely voice.
"Well," asked Terry impatiently to Sean.
"It's him," said Sean after a deep breath, "No one else could do that."
"Where was it?" asked Terry.
"Seven miles east to your present location, they believe he's in one of the warehouses around there."
"But over that way is next to a residential area!" gasped Terry, "My family lives over there! Mom! My brother! We have to find him now!"
"Glad to hear it," said Sean as the two turned and put on another burst of speed. As they approached the area they noticed the morgue's truck driving off from the site of the killings off in the distance, police tape still hanging in a perfect square around the area. Terry instinctively turned away but Sean appeared unfazed, and continued to scan the area.
"Let's see here, ah here's what I'm talking about," he whispered, "McGinnis, do you have a spectrograph on board that thing?"
"Yeah, why?" asked Terry.
"Turn it on and scan the right hand corner, right where those two cops are taking photographs."
"What the hell?" asked Terry as he saw a set of brilliant purple footprints leading away from the crime scene and through an alleyway.
"His trail," said Terry, it wasn't a question.
"Ready to smear your first ever time traveler?" asked Sean with a trace of sarcasm.
"It's all the same to me," Terry replied and dropped out of the Batmobile and took flight. The two dropped down and began to glide through the eerily quiet alleys, following the brilliant trail.
Suddenly, the trail stopped, no more footprints.
"Damn it!" cursed Sean under his breath, "Where did he go?"
As if to answer his question, the cries of a young woman and her baby suddenly ripped through the silent air.
"Why did you even ask that question?" asked Terry as they both ran out of the alley towards the scream. They burst out into the street to find Laughslash stalking his prey, totally unaware of the two vigilantes arriving on the scene.
Terry also got his first glimpse of Laughslash and was shocked by his demented appearance. His skin seemed to glow white, if that was even possible, which contrasted with his brilliant green hair which sprayed from his head in all directions. He stood tall, Terry guessed he was pushing seven and a half feet and his hugely developed body gave him the idea that Laughslash wasn't going to be a pushover. He wore a string tie, no shirt, and ragged purple pants that stopped four inches above his bare feet. This however wasn't Terry's biggest concern. Terry was more worried about the long curved weapon in the maniacs hands that appeared to be a five foot long blade.
"Hey ugly!" yelled out Terry as he fired a grappling hook from the suit and managed to ensnare the upraised arm and pull him away from the terrified woman.
"Ooh, you're not Batman," cackled Laughslash as he tossed the blade to his other hand and cut the cord.
"But I am!" yelled out Sean from the side and used his shoulder to hit the creature. As Laughslash went crashing into a wall, Sean landed, raised his arm and fired off a yellow batarang. It landed by the killer's left foot and just as he stood up, it suddenly blew apart with a brilliant flash temporarily blinding everyone but Sean who had covered his eyes.
As Laughslash stumbled back and forth trying to recover his vision, Sean jumped in and delivered a quick blow to the crazy man's gut, then using the exponential strength the suit gave him, lifted up the creature and hurled him across the street into a parked car. Kicking off of the wall, he rocketed towards his target and gave him another punch right between the eyes, snapping Laughslash's head back through the glass.
By now, Terry too had recovered his vision and watched in amazement as Sean pummeled the freak.
"Wayne, you getting all this?" asked Terry stunned.
"Yeah, we both are," said Wayne in a hushed voice.
"Hey Terry," said Max into the radio, "I can't believe it, I ran a statistical reading from your suit to this Sean's and it seems he has magnified strength somewhere around forty times normal!"
"Hey Batman, want a shot," yelled out Sean as he picked up Laughslash by the neck then body slammed him onto the hood of another car.
"What, is this just a game to you?" yelled back Terry angrily. As Sean turned to yell back something, Laughslash suddenly reached out with a massive hand and grabbed Sean by the top of the head. He launched himself off the car, swung his arm around quickly, and threw the Batman into the other. The two fell in a tangle of legs and arms, and Laughslash hooted happily. Charging the two, he kicked out and hit Terry in between the legs, scooping him up into the air, as Terry gasped from the huge pain.
Turning, he picked up the other Batman by a limp arm, and was surprised when Sean suddenly launched out his fist twice in heavy blows that still did not faze Laughslash.
"I want a shot," he said with his homicidal grin inches from Sean's face then landed a blow straight into his stomach. Sean started to fly back, but got snapped back when Laughslash caught his arm and pulled him back in. He did this two more times, then tossed him over his shoulder like a discarded plaything.
A sudden pain in his chin caused Laughslash to look to his right just as soon as Terry released a flurry of batarangs straight at his face. Moving with more grace than his frame suggested, Laughslash ducked, dodged and blocked the projectiles, then suddenly was in Terry's face.
Terry started to grapple with the creature, but even with his enhanced strength found himself being overpowered by the larger foe. Changing his plan, he continued to hold onto Laughslash's arms then jumped up and fired his rocket boots into the creature's face. Laughslash continued to hold on though, even as his face became blackened. Changing plans again, he activated the electric protection unit on his belt and suddenly gave Laughslash a hundred thousand bolt shocking. Laughslash released his grip and Terry jumped away. He threw a lasso around his attacker's legs and sent him sprawling. By now Sean was back up and fired off clamps that flew around each of Laughslash's arms and drilled into the asphalt. Running over to the downed maniac, Sean extended a hypodermic needle from his left index finger and jammed it into Laughslash's arm, releasing a heavy tranquilizer. Laughslash continued to struggle as he fought to keep consciousness finally succumbed and lay still, his grin still plastered on his face.
The two stared at the sleeping creature, but the temporary peace was shattered when Terry suddenly reached out and slugged Sean across the face and sent him sprawling into the ground.
"What the fuck were you thinking?" he demanded angrily, "Do I want a shot? What kind of stupid ass idea was running through your head? Seriously? First rule of crime fighting, this isn't a game! That is not how you do it! You had a tranquilizer, you should have hit him up as soon as you had the chance. Do I want a shot!"
"Hey back off man!" screamed back Sean from the ground, "I was doing okay, I didn't know..."
"You didn't know!" yelled back Terry, "What, you're dealing with homicidal maniac that obviously likes blood, and you didn't know! He's a card carrying psycho, you expect anything and everything from them! Don't ever forget that or your screwed!"
"Listen, I'm sorry," said Sean apologetically, "I seriously thought I had it under control."
"Just how long have you been Batman?" demanded Terry suddenly.
"Well actually, it was my second night out when I came here," admitted Sean.
"Great, I get a time traveling Batman, and he's a rookie," said Terry to no one in particular even though Bruce and Max had been listening to every word.
"Terry, we have something bigger to worry about," said Max as she attempted to stop the argument between the two.
"What, another crazy," he snapped then slapped himself mentally.
"No, how do I get back and take Laughslash with me," said Sean quietly, "I chased after him, but I didn't stop to think that I would have to get back."
"First things first, Terry secure Laughslash then take him to one of the warehouses, we can't let the police know what's going on," ordered Wayne as he simultaneously sent the Batmobile to help them.
Twenty minutes later, the two Batman's had succeeded in hanging Laughslash from a chain in the middle of an old warehouse, taking care to destroy the remaining crates to lower the amount of area that they couldn't see. Now they stood across from another, present and future trying to figure out what to do.'
"I don't know how the whole program worked," said Sean, "And I know I can't make another Time-slipstream."
"Which is why, of course, you need me," said Max, "I got an idea."
"Let's here it," said Terry.
"Sean, do you know if any satellites that were launched around our time that are still floating up there in your time?"
"Yeah, there's an old Worldcom communications satellite that must have been up there forever," said Sean after a moment, "It still works and all, but its an attraction for the space tourists."
"Space tourists?" asked Terry but was ignored by everyone.
"I see," said Wayne after a moment, "Maxine's plan is to send a time coded message to the satellite systems. We don't know which one it is so we'll just have to send it to all of them. We'll set the message to beam down in your time and tell the predicament and to get them to figure a way out."
"Great idea," said Sean as he tapped into the Batcomputer through his suit, "I'm uploading our current location and status now, set the computer to send the message on Thursday, June twenty-seventh, the year is twenty-one forty three at nine seventeen P.M. That should get it there right after I leave."
"Alright, done, now we wait," said Wayne after a moments delay for him to hack the communications satellites' security system.
He hadn't even finished, when a burst of light that spit out Laughslash and Sean into the present, spilled into the empty warehouse.
"Hey there Batman we got your message, and whoa," came a voice from the light as a figure stepped out from the light. It was another Batman. He was dressed in a suit similar to Terry's but was armored rather than the cloth like material.
"Meet Weston Ricom, my mentor," said Sean proudly.
"Um, hi," said Terry awkwardly as he shook the giant hand.
"Pleased to meet you," said Weston giddily even though his voice was tired with age, "I'm glad that I can finally meet one of the former Batmans in their prime, and the great McGinnis to boot!"
"I'm not going to ask," muttered Terry to himself then pointed to the restrained Laughslash, "So we got him all packed up for you, you just need to take him back."
"Thanks for the help," said Sean appreciatively as he and Weston each grabbed onto Laughslash and hoisted him between the two.
"I'm glad I could help, but you need to train hard," said Terry, trying not to get Sean in trouble with Weston.
"Thank you, I will," said Sean.
"I guess we have to go now, take care," said Weston and the two quietly walked through the light. The light vanished, and Batman stood alone in the cool darkness.
"I'm glad that's over," said Wayne, "We don't need that anymore."
"You can say that again, I need a break," said Terry, "I'm heading home to catch some Z's."
"Sleep tight," said Max jokingly and shut off the radio.
Back in the future
"Time to bring you up to date Sean," said Weston in the Batcave as he finished removing the Batman suit. He had worn it only to go after Sean, and now without his suit he appeared as he truly was, a paraplegic who sat with his legs covered in a hoverchair.
"What's been going on," said Sean from the shower as he scrubbed himself down.
"You've been gone three months," said Weston bluntly.
"What!" Sean bellowed, "Three months!"
"I'm sorry, it took time and money to revise the Time-slipstream and make it able to travel backwards and forwards in time. We couldn't leave you back when you left otherwise there would have been a big temporal mess."
"What did my uncle say," asked Sean as he threw on a pair of pants along with a baggy shirt.
"Don't ask, I had to pull some strings, but he thinks you're presently in Guatemala as an exchange student. Your hovercraft is due in two days so you'll have to lay low here in the cave until you 'get home'".
"I think I'm not done," said Sean, "Time traveling and what not I mean."
"What do you mean," asked Weston suspiciously.
"I mean, I noticed, I don't know, something like deja vu. It was like I had just said something or was listening to something, then it changed somehow."
"That's not good, it may mean there was a shift in the Time stream," said Weston, "I'm going to start running a data tracker on any use of the Time-slipstream. Get some rest, but be ready to go."
"As ordered," said Sean.
TO BE CONTINUED...