Past to Future
If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.~~George Bernard Shaw
He took to the air looking around, though not sure what he was hoping to find. He began to travel in an irregular straight line, to both throw off any potential tails and to cover more area to search. He did this for about an hour, angry that so far that night he had been worked over, then treated like a helpless kid that always had to be saved. Landing, he found himself again overlooking Max's apartment window. She wasn't inside, and a quick thermal sweep with his visor indicated that no one was home.
"Looking for someone?" came a voice behind him. Whipping around he saw his attacker from earlier facing him.
"YOU!" he screamed swinging with a left hook.
"No, I'm not that one!" said the figure as it sidestepped. Reaching up, it swept off its mask, revealing the face of Andrea Beaumont.
"What the hell, you're an old lady? I got my ass kicked by an old lady?" asked Batman skeptically.
"God, you two are so thick! I didn't attack you! I'm not that Phantasm!"
"Phantasm?" asked Batman, easing down a little.
"Yes, I'm known as the Phantasm," said Andrea, also relaxing, "I've been here, to Gotham City, before."
"Why are you here? Were you the one that saved me?" asked Batman.
"Yes, I saved you, though that was a favor that I had to repay," said Andrea indifferently, "As for what I'm doing here, it's a long story, let's go somewhere we can discuss it privately."
She paused to reach into her cloak and pull out a paper, "Meet me here in half an hour, and please, don't tell Bruce about this."
Andrea vanished into a cloud of gray smoke, leaving Batman there wonderingly. Looking down he read what was on the paper. It was an advertisement for the World Fair in Gotham.
World Fairgrounds, half hour later.
"I was wondering when you would show," said Andrea as Batman landed in front of her at the entrance to the fairgrounds. She had removed her cape and cowl, but leaving on the black jumpsuit.
"What can I say, I'm curious," said Batman, "But why do you want me here, and how do you know about Mr. Wayne?"
"Do me a favor, take off that mask. Right now I see that and I really just want to smack you a good one across the face," replied Andrea.
Terry reached up and removed the mask, revealing his youthful face.
"Ah, Terry McGinnis, I had a good feeling it was you," said the woman quietly as she began to head into the grounds.
"Hey, how did you know it was me?" asked Terry following after.
"I did a search of the last twenty pictures that have had Bruce Wayne as the subject matter. In sixteen of them you are seen, always at attention. It was easy to figure out that you're his assistant, and from the looks of things, his protégé.
"I see," muttered Terry. Andrea led them through the park, eventually stopping at a lookout, situated at the top of the once beautiful land. Andrea sat down on the rail, looking off into the dark night. Faintly they could hear the siren of a police car racing towards the scene of a crime.
"Do you know who I am?" asked Andrea quietly.
"Obviously someone close to Mr. Wayne," replied Terry.
"Yes," said Andrea quietly, "And do you know why I came back?"
"No clue. Just say not to marry him, and make him young again," said Terry.
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing, go ahead."
"Bruce, Mr. Wayne and I, we have a history together. I was his fiancée at one time," said Andrea quietly.
"Whoa," whispered Terry.
"Yes, then something happened, I left town, and I came back years later. For revenge. Bruce, he tried to stop me, he barely saved himself. But he couldn't save me."
"So what are you doing here now?" asked Terry, leaning against the wall.
"I'm searching out someone who, like you and Bruce, has taken up my mantle. However, I don't know who this person is. But I must stop them. I cannot let them go down the same road I went down."
"Let me help," said Terry standing straight up.
"No, this is my search, and it's my job to see it through."
"Why? You're too old to handle this alone,"
"OLD?!" yelled out Andrea angrily. "I may be eighty, but I'm in no way old. How else could I have lifted you up like I did?"
"Simple. Muscle enhancers in your suit. I have the same in mine," said Terry smugly, knowing that he had her.
"You fool, you really have no idea what I am do you?" asked Andrea sadly.
"What you mean, 'what' you are?" asked Terry.
"Don't worry you'll find out soon enough," replied Andrea. Smoke began to roll out from behind her. As it enveloped her, Terry reached out his hands to stop her. As he did this, the sound enhancers on his fingertips activated on their own, and he picked up the words, "Metropolis United Charities."
"Metropolis Charities United," muttered Terry to himself as he signaled for the Batmobile.
"Where have you been!" demanded Wayne as Terry entered the Batmobile.
"Aw, I didn't think you cared," said Terry sarcastically.
"Shut up McGinnis, where have you been," repeated Wayne, obviously irritated.
"I was meeting with an informant," said Terry, unwilling to completely lie to his boss.
"Right, and who was this informant?" asked Wayne skeptically.
"That's not important, they weren't any help on what I was looking for," said Terry quickly.
"That's not good enough McGinnis," said Wayne.
"Listen, give me the benefit of the doubt this time, I promise I'll explain it some other time," said Terry.
"Fine, but only because I'm tired. Park the car at the cave then head home, you've had enough excitement for one night," said Wayne.
"Right-o boss!" replied Terry.
Terry arrived at the cave, and found that Bruce had already retired for the night. He changed out of his uniform, and showered, his mind going back to the night before when he hadn't showered alone.
Changing into his normal street clothes, he sat down in front of the supercomputer, cracked his knuckles, and opened up the file search program.
A search on Andrea Beaumont in the computer's files turned up nothing, which for a girl supposedly close to Bruce seemed strange. Curious, he decided to look up her family on the public records. He found it with little trouble, and ran searches with those names but still came up with nothing.
Curious, he decided to search the names through the newspaper archive, and came up with only two stories, one was the announcement of Andrea's birth, and the other was the obituary of Andrea's mother. He looked at the dates, and then just for kicks typed in the birth date of Andrea into the file search engine. To his surprise, a single file popped up.
He attempted to open the file, but was blocked by the request for a password.
"No problem," he muttered to himself and typed in the master password that supposedly would open anything for Wayne/Powers Corporation. However, the computer had not been given this message, and instead gave Terry an "Invalid Passcode" message.
"The hell?" asked Terry then tried again. Again, he got the same message. His first thought was to send a password sniffer into the system to find it, but realized it would probably corrupt the whole system.
"I need some way around it," he thought. After ten minutes with no idea on what to do, he shrugged his shoulders and switched gears.
Going online he typed in "Metropolis Charities United" into a search engine, and found it at once. He opened up the website, which showed a rather large building set somewhere in the older section of Metropolis. It appeared to be well cared for, with no fading paint or broken windows. It listed described itself as a transitional home that specialized in connecting abused, neglected, or orphaned children with loving families. It had an 85% success rate, which was rare for adoption cases according to the website. The director was one, James Olson, whose name rang a bell to Terry, though he wasn't sure where.
"Well, looks like I found what she wanted, but what for?" thought Terry quietly. He decided to sleep on it, and shut down the computer for the night.
"See ya mutt," said Terry as he left for the night.
If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.~~George Bernard Shaw
He took to the air looking around, though not sure what he was hoping to find. He began to travel in an irregular straight line, to both throw off any potential tails and to cover more area to search. He did this for about an hour, angry that so far that night he had been worked over, then treated like a helpless kid that always had to be saved. Landing, he found himself again overlooking Max's apartment window. She wasn't inside, and a quick thermal sweep with his visor indicated that no one was home.
"Looking for someone?" came a voice behind him. Whipping around he saw his attacker from earlier facing him.
"YOU!" he screamed swinging with a left hook.
"No, I'm not that one!" said the figure as it sidestepped. Reaching up, it swept off its mask, revealing the face of Andrea Beaumont.
"What the hell, you're an old lady? I got my ass kicked by an old lady?" asked Batman skeptically.
"God, you two are so thick! I didn't attack you! I'm not that Phantasm!"
"Phantasm?" asked Batman, easing down a little.
"Yes, I'm known as the Phantasm," said Andrea, also relaxing, "I've been here, to Gotham City, before."
"Why are you here? Were you the one that saved me?" asked Batman.
"Yes, I saved you, though that was a favor that I had to repay," said Andrea indifferently, "As for what I'm doing here, it's a long story, let's go somewhere we can discuss it privately."
She paused to reach into her cloak and pull out a paper, "Meet me here in half an hour, and please, don't tell Bruce about this."
Andrea vanished into a cloud of gray smoke, leaving Batman there wonderingly. Looking down he read what was on the paper. It was an advertisement for the World Fair in Gotham.
World Fairgrounds, half hour later.
"I was wondering when you would show," said Andrea as Batman landed in front of her at the entrance to the fairgrounds. She had removed her cape and cowl, but leaving on the black jumpsuit.
"What can I say, I'm curious," said Batman, "But why do you want me here, and how do you know about Mr. Wayne?"
"Do me a favor, take off that mask. Right now I see that and I really just want to smack you a good one across the face," replied Andrea.
Terry reached up and removed the mask, revealing his youthful face.
"Ah, Terry McGinnis, I had a good feeling it was you," said the woman quietly as she began to head into the grounds.
"Hey, how did you know it was me?" asked Terry following after.
"I did a search of the last twenty pictures that have had Bruce Wayne as the subject matter. In sixteen of them you are seen, always at attention. It was easy to figure out that you're his assistant, and from the looks of things, his protégé.
"I see," muttered Terry. Andrea led them through the park, eventually stopping at a lookout, situated at the top of the once beautiful land. Andrea sat down on the rail, looking off into the dark night. Faintly they could hear the siren of a police car racing towards the scene of a crime.
"Do you know who I am?" asked Andrea quietly.
"Obviously someone close to Mr. Wayne," replied Terry.
"Yes," said Andrea quietly, "And do you know why I came back?"
"No clue. Just say not to marry him, and make him young again," said Terry.
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing, go ahead."
"Bruce, Mr. Wayne and I, we have a history together. I was his fiancée at one time," said Andrea quietly.
"Whoa," whispered Terry.
"Yes, then something happened, I left town, and I came back years later. For revenge. Bruce, he tried to stop me, he barely saved himself. But he couldn't save me."
"So what are you doing here now?" asked Terry, leaning against the wall.
"I'm searching out someone who, like you and Bruce, has taken up my mantle. However, I don't know who this person is. But I must stop them. I cannot let them go down the same road I went down."
"Let me help," said Terry standing straight up.
"No, this is my search, and it's my job to see it through."
"Why? You're too old to handle this alone,"
"OLD?!" yelled out Andrea angrily. "I may be eighty, but I'm in no way old. How else could I have lifted you up like I did?"
"Simple. Muscle enhancers in your suit. I have the same in mine," said Terry smugly, knowing that he had her.
"You fool, you really have no idea what I am do you?" asked Andrea sadly.
"What you mean, 'what' you are?" asked Terry.
"Don't worry you'll find out soon enough," replied Andrea. Smoke began to roll out from behind her. As it enveloped her, Terry reached out his hands to stop her. As he did this, the sound enhancers on his fingertips activated on their own, and he picked up the words, "Metropolis United Charities."
"Metropolis Charities United," muttered Terry to himself as he signaled for the Batmobile.
"Where have you been!" demanded Wayne as Terry entered the Batmobile.
"Aw, I didn't think you cared," said Terry sarcastically.
"Shut up McGinnis, where have you been," repeated Wayne, obviously irritated.
"I was meeting with an informant," said Terry, unwilling to completely lie to his boss.
"Right, and who was this informant?" asked Wayne skeptically.
"That's not important, they weren't any help on what I was looking for," said Terry quickly.
"That's not good enough McGinnis," said Wayne.
"Listen, give me the benefit of the doubt this time, I promise I'll explain it some other time," said Terry.
"Fine, but only because I'm tired. Park the car at the cave then head home, you've had enough excitement for one night," said Wayne.
"Right-o boss!" replied Terry.
Terry arrived at the cave, and found that Bruce had already retired for the night. He changed out of his uniform, and showered, his mind going back to the night before when he hadn't showered alone.
Changing into his normal street clothes, he sat down in front of the supercomputer, cracked his knuckles, and opened up the file search program.
A search on Andrea Beaumont in the computer's files turned up nothing, which for a girl supposedly close to Bruce seemed strange. Curious, he decided to look up her family on the public records. He found it with little trouble, and ran searches with those names but still came up with nothing.
Curious, he decided to search the names through the newspaper archive, and came up with only two stories, one was the announcement of Andrea's birth, and the other was the obituary of Andrea's mother. He looked at the dates, and then just for kicks typed in the birth date of Andrea into the file search engine. To his surprise, a single file popped up.
He attempted to open the file, but was blocked by the request for a password.
"No problem," he muttered to himself and typed in the master password that supposedly would open anything for Wayne/Powers Corporation. However, the computer had not been given this message, and instead gave Terry an "Invalid Passcode" message.
"The hell?" asked Terry then tried again. Again, he got the same message. His first thought was to send a password sniffer into the system to find it, but realized it would probably corrupt the whole system.
"I need some way around it," he thought. After ten minutes with no idea on what to do, he shrugged his shoulders and switched gears.
Going online he typed in "Metropolis Charities United" into a search engine, and found it at once. He opened up the website, which showed a rather large building set somewhere in the older section of Metropolis. It appeared to be well cared for, with no fading paint or broken windows. It listed described itself as a transitional home that specialized in connecting abused, neglected, or orphaned children with loving families. It had an 85% success rate, which was rare for adoption cases according to the website. The director was one, James Olson, whose name rang a bell to Terry, though he wasn't sure where.
"Well, looks like I found what she wanted, but what for?" thought Terry quietly. He decided to sleep on it, and shut down the computer for the night.
"See ya mutt," said Terry as he left for the night.