Hey guys!!!!! I really apologize for the hiatus, but if you've ever
written, you know how it is to feel uninspired one week and want
desperately to write the next. Also, I apologize for the length (or lack
thereof) of this chapter. My stopping point was sooner than expected.
Quite honestly, I don't know when I'll get chapter seven up, (I'm starting
school on the 21st) but I hope it'll be soon. And (one more thing, I
promise!) look for the upcoming "The Soirée" in the Batman section of the
comics! Thanks for waiting!
Chapter Six - The Painful Truth
Rogue was still thoroughly confused as to what was going on, but as long as she wasn't involved too deeply it didn't matter. She assumed Kitty and Kurt had some sort of idea or else they would've said something, so the southerner decided to 'go with the flow' instead of saying anything; Terry seemed pissed or stressed or something. The small group was situated on a very small ledge on the outside of the property and the plan was to have Kitty go through the wall with Terry as Kurt teleported with Rogue into what was apparently a cave. Rogue just hoped that Terry really knew what he was doing; if he misjudged they could fall into an abyss on the other side. She heard Terry say something quietly.
"Let's get this thing started." He said, Kitty and Kurt looked at him and nodded and Kitty took his hand while Kurt grasped Rogue's gloved fingers. Kitty started into the rocks and Nightcrawler was gone in a sulfuric puff of smoke. Rogue closed her eyes. She was used to teleporting but if she went plummeting to her death she'd rather not watch. The seconds were tense but as soon as she felt solid ground under her feet she opened her eyes to one of the most amazing rooms she had ever been in. It was obviously a cave, but it was decorated with what looked like memorabilia. There was a huge dinosaur and it looked like a museum. She saw Terry and Kitty come phasing through the wall and it took Terry only a moment to regroup his thoughts being the newbe to the powers he was. He took a second to get his bearings and then pointed to a series of glass cases.
"Over there," he whispered, afraid that someone else - or Ace - would hear. "Kurt, take Kitty over there and grab it, then get back here and do you think you can put us on the jet again? Thanks." Terry didn't really wait a response, he just took it for granted that everyone would understand, and they did. Everything went without a hitch until Kitty got the suit out. She phased the suit through the glass, but so much dust had collected on it that it puffed up when she brought it out. Kurt got caught in the dust and let out a very loud sneeze. Most of Hell broke loose. Ace came charging down the stairs followed (as fast as he could go) by Bruce. Kurt grabbed Kitty, teleported over to Rogue and Terry, grabbed and took off before Bruce had much time to react.
The old man hurried over to the computer.
"Computer: Commissioner Gordon." He waited a moment, and then a familiar voice picked up. "Barbara, Terry's been here."
"Well how's he doing, Bruce?"
"I could care less. He stole the suit, so I want you to take this yourself. No one else can mess with this."
"Right. I'll be over there soon." Then she hung up. Bruce let out a deep sigh and leaned up against the computer.
"What did I do wrong?" he asked himself rhetorically. He thought that working with Terry as Batman would break him away from his delinquency, but he was obviously wrong.
When the four teenagers reached their jet, Terry ushered them on while he stayed on the ground, giving them explicit directions to find some other place to stow their craft, seeing as the Commissioner was going to be at Wayne Manor any second.
"What about you?" Rogue asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
"I'll be fine. I have to make a few visits and I'll meet up with you later. I'll use your radio frequency to get in contact," Terry said, being sure to sound confident. The last thing he needed was for his friends to have the same misgivings as he had.
"Well, how do we get in contact with you?" the German-accented boy asked.
"You don't," Terry replied in a very Batman-esque tone. While he was talking, he had been changing into the Batsuit, and after his last comment, he left the group in a stunned silence.
Terry flew over Gotham's 'rich district', as it was more commonly called by his classmates, to the dingier part of town. Alighting on the roof of a building, Terry explored ways to open the skylight. To his surprise, it was open. The Batman slid silently down into the dark apartment, ready to wait for however long it took for its occupant to come home.
Fortunately, the Bat didn't have to wait long. The absent-minded jingle of keys was resonating in the darkness. As the blonde-haired girl entered the room, the light from the hall filtered in, casting an eerie glow on Batman. When she turned around, the girl started at seeing the intruder, but Terry only saw half of her face in the hall's faint light.
"Batman," she said. And then she came closer. "Terry."
"Don't call me that, Melanie. Someone might hear you, and then I won't be happy," Terry said, in a slightly threatening tone of voice. Melanie backed up and sat down on the couch, looking at her shoes. Terry followed her over there and as she was sitting down, the black-haired boy noticed something on her face that had been intelligible before.
"Mel," he said, "What happened to your face?" She looked up sharply, her bruised and blackened eye highlighted in the low light, but as soon as she met his masked eyes, she chickened out and looked down again.
"I- I fell," she said. Terry scoffed.
"That's not a falling bruise. Believe me; I've had more than one bruise like that. Now tell me: What happened?!" His voice was urgent. She may have been an ex-con, but Terry was worried for her welfare all the same.
"It's nothing, Ter- Batman. Nothing at all," she said, placing a hand tenderly to her wound, but still not looking up.
"When will you stop lying to me, Melanie? Just tell me already!" Terry was getting extremely impatient. In fact, it was a complete surprise to him how he had stuck together so well; stress was not something Terry usually dealt with well.
"It's just that - well." she started off weakly. Then, something inside of her unlocked her inner confidence. "It was my father. Somehow he found out I knew who Batman was, after he got out of jail. He started hitting me and I didn't know what to do. No one else was there.not Jack or mother. I was so scared," the blonde-haired girl started crying. Terry looked alarmed, even through his mask.
"You didn't." he started, but Melanie finished his thought.
"I had to, Terry, I had to tell him. There was no way out of it. He would've killed me, his daughter, just to get revenge on you. I'm so sorry." Melanie seemed as if she had something else to say, but she couldn't break through the sobs. How could've this happened? Terry knew he was screwed. What he didn't know, however, was whether or not King knew that Dana and Max were also privy to Terry's secret. Or if - worst of all - Bruce was involved.
"Melanie. Tell me the truth: does King know that Max and Dana know? Or about. anything else related to me?" Terry was relieved when he saw the girl shake her head, hands still supporting it. "Do you know anything else relating to his knowledge?" Terry asked, desperate for any kind of lead.
"No," she managed to say. "Nothing except that he wants to kill you himself, but he'll use other measures to get you where he wants you. Terry," she started after a moment. She lifted her head only to find Batman was no longer in the room. She continued with her sentence anyway. "I'm so sorry. So sorry."
Chapter Six - The Painful Truth
Rogue was still thoroughly confused as to what was going on, but as long as she wasn't involved too deeply it didn't matter. She assumed Kitty and Kurt had some sort of idea or else they would've said something, so the southerner decided to 'go with the flow' instead of saying anything; Terry seemed pissed or stressed or something. The small group was situated on a very small ledge on the outside of the property and the plan was to have Kitty go through the wall with Terry as Kurt teleported with Rogue into what was apparently a cave. Rogue just hoped that Terry really knew what he was doing; if he misjudged they could fall into an abyss on the other side. She heard Terry say something quietly.
"Let's get this thing started." He said, Kitty and Kurt looked at him and nodded and Kitty took his hand while Kurt grasped Rogue's gloved fingers. Kitty started into the rocks and Nightcrawler was gone in a sulfuric puff of smoke. Rogue closed her eyes. She was used to teleporting but if she went plummeting to her death she'd rather not watch. The seconds were tense but as soon as she felt solid ground under her feet she opened her eyes to one of the most amazing rooms she had ever been in. It was obviously a cave, but it was decorated with what looked like memorabilia. There was a huge dinosaur and it looked like a museum. She saw Terry and Kitty come phasing through the wall and it took Terry only a moment to regroup his thoughts being the newbe to the powers he was. He took a second to get his bearings and then pointed to a series of glass cases.
"Over there," he whispered, afraid that someone else - or Ace - would hear. "Kurt, take Kitty over there and grab it, then get back here and do you think you can put us on the jet again? Thanks." Terry didn't really wait a response, he just took it for granted that everyone would understand, and they did. Everything went without a hitch until Kitty got the suit out. She phased the suit through the glass, but so much dust had collected on it that it puffed up when she brought it out. Kurt got caught in the dust and let out a very loud sneeze. Most of Hell broke loose. Ace came charging down the stairs followed (as fast as he could go) by Bruce. Kurt grabbed Kitty, teleported over to Rogue and Terry, grabbed and took off before Bruce had much time to react.
The old man hurried over to the computer.
"Computer: Commissioner Gordon." He waited a moment, and then a familiar voice picked up. "Barbara, Terry's been here."
"Well how's he doing, Bruce?"
"I could care less. He stole the suit, so I want you to take this yourself. No one else can mess with this."
"Right. I'll be over there soon." Then she hung up. Bruce let out a deep sigh and leaned up against the computer.
"What did I do wrong?" he asked himself rhetorically. He thought that working with Terry as Batman would break him away from his delinquency, but he was obviously wrong.
When the four teenagers reached their jet, Terry ushered them on while he stayed on the ground, giving them explicit directions to find some other place to stow their craft, seeing as the Commissioner was going to be at Wayne Manor any second.
"What about you?" Rogue asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
"I'll be fine. I have to make a few visits and I'll meet up with you later. I'll use your radio frequency to get in contact," Terry said, being sure to sound confident. The last thing he needed was for his friends to have the same misgivings as he had.
"Well, how do we get in contact with you?" the German-accented boy asked.
"You don't," Terry replied in a very Batman-esque tone. While he was talking, he had been changing into the Batsuit, and after his last comment, he left the group in a stunned silence.
Terry flew over Gotham's 'rich district', as it was more commonly called by his classmates, to the dingier part of town. Alighting on the roof of a building, Terry explored ways to open the skylight. To his surprise, it was open. The Batman slid silently down into the dark apartment, ready to wait for however long it took for its occupant to come home.
Fortunately, the Bat didn't have to wait long. The absent-minded jingle of keys was resonating in the darkness. As the blonde-haired girl entered the room, the light from the hall filtered in, casting an eerie glow on Batman. When she turned around, the girl started at seeing the intruder, but Terry only saw half of her face in the hall's faint light.
"Batman," she said. And then she came closer. "Terry."
"Don't call me that, Melanie. Someone might hear you, and then I won't be happy," Terry said, in a slightly threatening tone of voice. Melanie backed up and sat down on the couch, looking at her shoes. Terry followed her over there and as she was sitting down, the black-haired boy noticed something on her face that had been intelligible before.
"Mel," he said, "What happened to your face?" She looked up sharply, her bruised and blackened eye highlighted in the low light, but as soon as she met his masked eyes, she chickened out and looked down again.
"I- I fell," she said. Terry scoffed.
"That's not a falling bruise. Believe me; I've had more than one bruise like that. Now tell me: What happened?!" His voice was urgent. She may have been an ex-con, but Terry was worried for her welfare all the same.
"It's nothing, Ter- Batman. Nothing at all," she said, placing a hand tenderly to her wound, but still not looking up.
"When will you stop lying to me, Melanie? Just tell me already!" Terry was getting extremely impatient. In fact, it was a complete surprise to him how he had stuck together so well; stress was not something Terry usually dealt with well.
"It's just that - well." she started off weakly. Then, something inside of her unlocked her inner confidence. "It was my father. Somehow he found out I knew who Batman was, after he got out of jail. He started hitting me and I didn't know what to do. No one else was there.not Jack or mother. I was so scared," the blonde-haired girl started crying. Terry looked alarmed, even through his mask.
"You didn't." he started, but Melanie finished his thought.
"I had to, Terry, I had to tell him. There was no way out of it. He would've killed me, his daughter, just to get revenge on you. I'm so sorry." Melanie seemed as if she had something else to say, but she couldn't break through the sobs. How could've this happened? Terry knew he was screwed. What he didn't know, however, was whether or not King knew that Dana and Max were also privy to Terry's secret. Or if - worst of all - Bruce was involved.
"Melanie. Tell me the truth: does King know that Max and Dana know? Or about. anything else related to me?" Terry was relieved when he saw the girl shake her head, hands still supporting it. "Do you know anything else relating to his knowledge?" Terry asked, desperate for any kind of lead.
"No," she managed to say. "Nothing except that he wants to kill you himself, but he'll use other measures to get you where he wants you. Terry," she started after a moment. She lifted her head only to find Batman was no longer in the room. She continued with her sentence anyway. "I'm so sorry. So sorry."