Chapter Two – Welcome Home Terry
The clash of thunder and lightening grumbled in the dark skies overhead, as the rain slowly came to an end. On the ground below, a pair of lights came racing around a narrow winding road that led straight to the top of a hill. The light was beginning to fade outside as the afternoon transformed into the ever coming of darkness. A futuristic hover car was now visible as the beaming headlights gave way, a rather expensive looking model that had a sliver polished appearance. On the side of the vehicle was large green letters on side doors, it read, "Gotham Budget Flyers". The hovering rental car was being used by Terry McGinnis, who pulled up to a large rusted gate sitting at the top of the hill and looked as if it was ready to fall off from it's broken, weather beaten hinges. The powerful headlights on the futuristic car beamed on the logo that was cracked and broken. Terry got out of the vehicle and walked over to the gates, with one small push he managed to send the rusted steel crashing to the ground where it nearly shattered in pieces. Neglect of the stately Wayne Manor was obvious, it seems that Bruce didn't want to keep the hired help around to maintain the building. Now Terry could finally see why he should never have left, his old mentor was just as stubborn with him as he was with the hired help. He must have disagreed with the various workers on their tasks and fired the entire lot of them. Funny, he wouldn't have talked to his friend and father figure Alfred Pennyworth that way.
Stepping through the decaying archway, the young man walked up the cracked wet pavement and looked at the overgrown verge on the front estate. As he came to the main doors, he noticed that they weren't locked and stepped in without having to use his old fashion key that many used in the previous century. As he walked down the main lobby and past the grand staircase leading to the next floor, he was amazed at how bad the housekeeping was. He knew Wayne wasn't interested in maintaining the place when he met him, but this time, if a building inspector came here the place would be recommended for demolition. As he turned into the large sitting room where Bruce often sat in front of the fireplace, he looked at the faded picture of Wayne's parents and the old photos sitting on the mantle. Images of friends and other heroes that Bruce knew in their alter egos adorned the fireplace shelf like a roster of who's who. Selina Kyle (Catwoman), Clark Kent (Superman), Commissioner Gordon, a younger image of Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) and even one of Dick Grayson and himself in happier times.
"How can I possibly live up to this?" McGinnis utters aloud. "This was his life, not mine."
The striking of the grandfather clock catches his attention and looks at the old antique with fondness. Raising his hand to it, he touches the button that activates it and stands back as the clock slides over to reveal the Bat cave entrance. The echo of the gears grinding to a halt went down the dark narrow staircase and Terry stood at the top looking into the deep tunnel leading in. With a heartfelt sigh, he walked down into the Bata cave and felt along the wall for the light switch as he reached the bottom of the stairs. As he turned on each one, the lights exposed the vast cave and all of the various levels of Batman's gadgets, labs and equipment. The lights even shone down on his museum of costumes of old villains and props they used. Terry walked over to the glass case containing the old costumes of Batman and his 'family'. The tattered, bullet hole ridden out fits were sealed in an airtight locker that preserved them from the elements. And then, there at the end of the long line was his old suit. Black as midnight with a large red bat logo, the high tech suit was one of a kind and something McGinnis found to be impressive even to this day. A true lasting testament to Bruce Wayne's superior intelligence and natural flair for technical innovation. Terry never had Wayne's creative nature, in fact he wasn't even sure how the suit function most of the times. Pressing his hand up to the glass case and looking at his old bat costume, the young man's face showed sadness.
"I'm no Batman...I'm just his shadow."
Suddenly, a loud beep came from the massive computer behind him and a voice echoed out into the whole cave.
"Welcome home, Terry."
McGinnis looks all around and recognizes the deep booming voice immediately.
"Bruce..."
"I rigged the computer to activate this recording the minute you spoke." Wayne's voice spoke in his throaty, Batman-like manner. "If you're down here, that means that I've died and now you're left wondering what to do with all of this."
Terry smirks, "You could say that."
"On the console is another button I've installed. I had it covered a long time ago just incase I ever needed to rig it, but seeing how my time is nearly over...I decided to finally put it back on. Terry, this button is linked to a string of bombs strategically placed at the base of this cavern. Once activated, it will destroy the foundation of this cliff and send the entire estate into the water down below. Nothing about it's destruction will look un-natural, seeing how this place is falling apart anyway...I don't think anyone will question its demise."
McGinnis's mouth opens in shock as he hears Bruce admit to having the Bat cave primed for destruction. And while he walks over to the computer to look at the said button, Wayne continues his pre-recorded instructions.
"Before you terminate everything, I want you to take the time to think about what this means. Without this cave, without this house and everything in it...you won't have any place to call home anymore. The Wayne line ends here once it's done...so I want you to really think hard about this before activating that switch. I know we talked about you taking over for me, Wayne Enterprises and Batman are now yours to do with as you see fit."
"Great." Terry sighs as he now sits into the command chair at the computer.
"Choices are never easy kid. I made mine a long time ago and I never regretted it since then, the time will come for you to decide on where you want to go in life next and the only person who can make that critical decision is you. Good luck Terry...and remember only to push the button when you're ready."
The voice soon drops off and McGinnis folds his arms over as he mulls over the choice in his head. Looking at the red button on the console, he reaches over to push it. Then suddenly, he stops, his eyes give a look of concern and retracts his hand quickly.
"No...no not yet." He says in a whisper. "I need more time to think this through."
As he spins the chair around and runs his hands through his hair in confusion, his foot touches something on the floor. Looking down he sees a silver studded red dog collar and chain. He picks it up in his hands and rubs it with his fingers. The old hound that Wayne used to have, the one that Terry took many times to go hunt criminals with as Batman, no longer exists. The hound died long before he left Gotham, the dog was already old in years and when its time came...it devastated Bruce. This dog and he had history together, just as it did with Terry; even now McGinnis wishes the 'mutt' were still there to comfort him. Placing it back on the floor with care, Terry rose from his seat and looked at the cave. Could he destroy all this? Such history and memories that have been collected and stored with great care, if there was to be an answer to that question, he'd have to go visit the one person left that can be openly honest with him.
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Gotham City.
The futuristic, neon filled electric hub, shines in the darkness like an overly lit birthday cake. Ground vehicles are slowly being phased out and now the city skyline is becoming a sea of hover car traffic. The tall oddly shaped skyscrapers look like they were designed by retro-futurists who envisioned a chaotic style of architecture. Noise was everywhere, large media screens advertised things of every brand and style, and even holo- images beamed in the night sky gave a 3D effect to the products being displayed. It wasn't hard to see why some would like to leave this place; Gotham City was a noise and visually polluted place. Visitors would marvel at the sheer wonder of it all, it was like stepping into the largest amusement park of the world. But deep down below the flashing lights and impressive upper sections of the city, was the forgotten and often crime ridden base to all of it. Since road vehicles were becoming extinct, traffic was nearly non-existent, and so was any sort of clean up. The streets were littered with papers, loose garbage and the pavement cracked without repairs. The city no longer focuses on keeping them updated, funds for that now have become diverted to other areas of more immediate concern. Skyways and upper city infrastructure now top the list of major spending.
As the calm dark streets of lower Gotham whistle with slow winds and the odd pedestrian walking by, a massive explosion rocks the area, as one of the buildings becomes a fiery blaze. Watching the building burn and howling at its destruction are a group of costumed people that look like they belong in the circus. Their painted faces and non-stop giggling is the mark of the one true dominant gang in all of Gotham City, the Jokers. A band of punks, thugs and rebelling youth that uses chaos and cruel pranks to get their kicks. They are an unwanted living tribute to Batman's old rival and one that has steadily been getting out of hand. Terry has deal with this gang many times, no more then a passing nuisance to him, but one that had to be watched very carefully. Without Batman in the City to stop them anymore, they went on a wild spree and took out other gangs that didn't join theirs. The police did their best in trying to keep this dangerous band from threatening the citizens, but as the years progressed, the Jokers became increasingly more violent and more organized.
As the bunch sat there and cheered on their handiwork, a squad of police hover cars came from every direction and tried to corner the thugs as they were spotted. The cops chased the ones trying to run away and maintained a bright spotlight on them, the Jokers continued to giggle and laugh as they fled and soon stopped once the police managed get out of the vehicles and tackled them to the ground. One squad car came flying down after the others were finished their job, and landed in the center where the building still burned intensely. Out of the car stepped a young looking African American woman, she had a pinkish-orange dyed hair pulled back in a pony tail and full red ruby lips to match. Not dressed like the other officers, who had black body armored two piece suits and face shielded helmets, she wore a short leathery black jacket, faded blue jeans that showed off all of her curves and a white T-shirt that stopped just above her stomach. This was a vision of beauty that any man would fall for, but something in her eyes and her posture gave the obvious signal that she was tough and very serious about her job.
"Commissioner! Commissioner!" A policeman yells to her as he comes running up.
"Give me the 411 trooper...did you bag this bunch?" She says to the man as he finally stops in front of her.
"We think so..."
"Don't think...Know! Did you get them all?" She says sternly.
"Yes...Yes we did sir...I mean mam...I mean..."
She smirks at the guy stuttering at her as he looks for the proper words to say.
"Never mind guy...I know what you meant. See to it you lock this batch up and give me a full report later."
"Yes Commissioner!" The man replies as he salutes.
As he runs back to the captured prisoners, the Commissioner looks at the flaming building and watches the fire and emergency vehicles come flying down and putting out the fire. Her eyes give a weakness as she stares at the damage and gives a long sigh.
"Damn Jokers. Where do they get this awful toys?"
As the police cuff and place the prisoners into the squad cars, one lone thug that managed to get away peeks out from a dark ally a few feet away from the scene. Looking directly at the Commissioner woman, the clown- faced criminal points his hand at her and motions his finger like a gun.
"Bang, Bang...you're dead pretty lady."
He snickers about this comment and quickly dashes off down the dark alleyway and vanishes in the night.
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Returning to the large police headquarters in the center of Gotham City, the female Commissioner rushes through the room full of cops bringing in criminals, writing reports and those just about to go on duty. As she quickly walks past them all they give a welcome nod to her and even greet her with a delightful pat to the arm. One rookie male cop tries to speak to her and before he can utter a word she puts her hand up to his face and doesn't stop.
"Not now kid...give me a few minutes."
She walks into an office and closes the door. On the door, etched in the glass and stained black is her title. Gotham City Police Commissioner Maxine Gibson is what the door clearly has printed on it, and as the door finally shuts the glass tints dark so that no one can see inside. Maxine takes off her black leather jacket and walks over to the large window that shows all of Gotham City for her. She sighs again as she tries to calm down from rushing in and folds her arms over in thought.
"God...I need a vacation."
"Want me to book it?" A voice booms out from behind her.
As she spins around to see who it is, her eyes light up and screams with delight.
"Terry! I'd know that sexy voice anywhere!"
The young man comes stepping out of the office corner and gives her a big smile as they meet again.
"Hey Max. Or should I call you Commissioner Maxine?"
Running over, the woman gives him a hug and then laughs.
"I'm still Max you null head. Sit down and give me the details! Where have you been? Did you get married? Come on Terr, tell me everything!"
He grabs a chair in front of her antique desk and sits down. She walks behind her desk and sits with anticipation as she waits to hear all about his life.
"Well first off...I'm not here by choice."
"Oh yeah..." She suddenly realizes. "Sorry to hear about Mr. Wayne. I would have gone to his funeral...but you know...crime never takes a time out."
Terry looks at her nameplate sitting on the desk and snickers in disbelief.
"It's ok. Bruce would have understood. But man...when did you become Commissioner? The last time we spoke you were only thinking of joining up with the police force."
She leaned back in her chair and laughed.
"Well obviously I got the job. I trained for it, got my first rookie assignment and did my very best to protect and serve."
"Let me guess...Wayne helped you out?" Terry guesses.
"Naw. Wayne tried...but I refused. I wanted to do this all by myself and not have some rich man try to guide me in by the hand. Barbara Gordon gave me the recommendation, I had swiftly made Lieutenant by then and when she saw me in action...she was very impressed. I also had made friends with a lot of the people here and they all felt I was the best one to lead the team. Just didn't figure I'd end up the one to get the job at such a young age."
Terry is amazed at her story and places her nameplate back onto her desk.
"I'm glad for you Max. You got your life together...and you know where you want to go."
Max looks at him with concern as he says that and leans in towards him.
"What is it Terry? I know that look of yours means something's eating at you...so spill it."
Terry gives a quite sigh, "Wayne has given me everything. The house, the company, the money, and his batcave. I just...I don't know what to do Max. On the one hand, I want to throw it all away and say 'goodbye old life' and get the hell out of here. On the other hand, I don't want to let the man down and bury the Batman legend forever."
Max sat there thinking about it. She knew of Terry's and Wayne's secret, she knew all about Batman, the cave and the legendary work that Bruce had done for this city. As a very good friend of Terry's, she always was the one he'd come to for extra advice outside of Wayne's wisdom. They'd been quite the crime solving team back then, she often helped him do the detective work and even got in trouble a few times. That's what made her decide to become an officer. Rather then fight crime in a silly costume and be a sidekick, she wanted to do some real good and help the real heroes that fight the battle everyday. As she looked at the young man with a lost look in his eyes, she tried to give him the best advice she could.
"Listen Terr...if you want to live your own life, then the best bet is to just let it all go. Bruce probably knew you'd never accept the lifestyle he was accustomed too and would be happy if you went either way."
"That's what he said." He replied.
"That's good." She said comfortingly. "But I also know, that this city needs Batman more then ever. The crime is going out of control here now that he's gone and every nut job that thinks he can get away with anything is going on free for all. I don't blame you for wanting to shed the costume life; hell I was just glad you didn't drag me in to it either. The point is that I think you can still do some good with Wayne's money and influence."
Terry slumped in his chair, placed his left elbow on the arm and held the side of his face with his hand.
"I dunno Max...being away from Gotham and not having to be Batman gave me a fresh look on things. Maybe I should just give the money to the cops and help them beef up their forces."
Maxine stands up and walks over to the window, looking out of it she watches the police cruisers fly by and head down to the lower levels of the city.
"I won't lie to you, all the money in the world won't help the situation out there. The Jokers are becoming the number one gang of Gotham since you left, they've been on a major crime spree several times and becoming more dangerous each passing day. It's like...they're getting help from someone. Someone that has the means of getting some major fire power."
Terry looks at her with concern, "You're kidding?"
"I wish I was." The female Commissioner says as she looks back at him. "We've busted lots of Joker gang hangouts and found some serious hardcore stuff. It's like they're preparing for a major war or something."
She sighs again and walks over to his chair, sitting down on the desktop she gazes at him and strokes his cheek with a fondness that might be considered more then just as a friend.
"But enough about my troubles...you never did say if you were married or not."
Terry becoming uncomfortable by her touch rises out of his chair like a bumbling fool and starts to blush a bit.
"Ah...well...I'm not married. But I think I need too focus on one thing at a time here...besides...I ran into Dana at Bruce's funeral."
Max's face soon gave a shocked look as she heard him say that. She knew the history between those two and of the break up that cause Terry to leave Gotham. She stood up in a hostile pose and folded her arms.
"What did that lil' dreg want? Stupid bitch, she didn't deserve a guy like you and now she's popping in on a funeral to confront you? Nice."
"Easy up Max. She didn't stay long...in fact she and I argued about the same old things again."
Maxine calmed down and touched his arm with concern.
"You have to face facts Terry...she's over you. Look, I've got a ton of stuff to do right now...why don't we meet up later and talk about it over dinner."
Terry's eyebrow rose at her informal suggestion, but she then pulled away with embarrassment and tried to spin it another way.
"Ah...a friend dinner. You know...to catch up on old times and laugh about how stupid we all were back then."
Terry relaxed as he heard her say that, a relief to him, as he didn't know what she was trying to imply in the first place. The fact that she was coming on strong didn't seem to register in his male brain, it was obvious that Max was very much into this handsome friend of hers. A long hidden feeling she tried to express to him many times, but the man still didn't have a clue as to what she wanted. With her nervous smile, she seemed to ease his fears and he smirked back with a friendly attitude.
"Of course. What would I do without you Max; you're still my bud after all this time. Same place as usual?"
Max nodded and gave him a wink, "You bet...and this time, you're buying."
The clash of thunder and lightening grumbled in the dark skies overhead, as the rain slowly came to an end. On the ground below, a pair of lights came racing around a narrow winding road that led straight to the top of a hill. The light was beginning to fade outside as the afternoon transformed into the ever coming of darkness. A futuristic hover car was now visible as the beaming headlights gave way, a rather expensive looking model that had a sliver polished appearance. On the side of the vehicle was large green letters on side doors, it read, "Gotham Budget Flyers". The hovering rental car was being used by Terry McGinnis, who pulled up to a large rusted gate sitting at the top of the hill and looked as if it was ready to fall off from it's broken, weather beaten hinges. The powerful headlights on the futuristic car beamed on the logo that was cracked and broken. Terry got out of the vehicle and walked over to the gates, with one small push he managed to send the rusted steel crashing to the ground where it nearly shattered in pieces. Neglect of the stately Wayne Manor was obvious, it seems that Bruce didn't want to keep the hired help around to maintain the building. Now Terry could finally see why he should never have left, his old mentor was just as stubborn with him as he was with the hired help. He must have disagreed with the various workers on their tasks and fired the entire lot of them. Funny, he wouldn't have talked to his friend and father figure Alfred Pennyworth that way.
Stepping through the decaying archway, the young man walked up the cracked wet pavement and looked at the overgrown verge on the front estate. As he came to the main doors, he noticed that they weren't locked and stepped in without having to use his old fashion key that many used in the previous century. As he walked down the main lobby and past the grand staircase leading to the next floor, he was amazed at how bad the housekeeping was. He knew Wayne wasn't interested in maintaining the place when he met him, but this time, if a building inspector came here the place would be recommended for demolition. As he turned into the large sitting room where Bruce often sat in front of the fireplace, he looked at the faded picture of Wayne's parents and the old photos sitting on the mantle. Images of friends and other heroes that Bruce knew in their alter egos adorned the fireplace shelf like a roster of who's who. Selina Kyle (Catwoman), Clark Kent (Superman), Commissioner Gordon, a younger image of Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) and even one of Dick Grayson and himself in happier times.
"How can I possibly live up to this?" McGinnis utters aloud. "This was his life, not mine."
The striking of the grandfather clock catches his attention and looks at the old antique with fondness. Raising his hand to it, he touches the button that activates it and stands back as the clock slides over to reveal the Bat cave entrance. The echo of the gears grinding to a halt went down the dark narrow staircase and Terry stood at the top looking into the deep tunnel leading in. With a heartfelt sigh, he walked down into the Bata cave and felt along the wall for the light switch as he reached the bottom of the stairs. As he turned on each one, the lights exposed the vast cave and all of the various levels of Batman's gadgets, labs and equipment. The lights even shone down on his museum of costumes of old villains and props they used. Terry walked over to the glass case containing the old costumes of Batman and his 'family'. The tattered, bullet hole ridden out fits were sealed in an airtight locker that preserved them from the elements. And then, there at the end of the long line was his old suit. Black as midnight with a large red bat logo, the high tech suit was one of a kind and something McGinnis found to be impressive even to this day. A true lasting testament to Bruce Wayne's superior intelligence and natural flair for technical innovation. Terry never had Wayne's creative nature, in fact he wasn't even sure how the suit function most of the times. Pressing his hand up to the glass case and looking at his old bat costume, the young man's face showed sadness.
"I'm no Batman...I'm just his shadow."
Suddenly, a loud beep came from the massive computer behind him and a voice echoed out into the whole cave.
"Welcome home, Terry."
McGinnis looks all around and recognizes the deep booming voice immediately.
"Bruce..."
"I rigged the computer to activate this recording the minute you spoke." Wayne's voice spoke in his throaty, Batman-like manner. "If you're down here, that means that I've died and now you're left wondering what to do with all of this."
Terry smirks, "You could say that."
"On the console is another button I've installed. I had it covered a long time ago just incase I ever needed to rig it, but seeing how my time is nearly over...I decided to finally put it back on. Terry, this button is linked to a string of bombs strategically placed at the base of this cavern. Once activated, it will destroy the foundation of this cliff and send the entire estate into the water down below. Nothing about it's destruction will look un-natural, seeing how this place is falling apart anyway...I don't think anyone will question its demise."
McGinnis's mouth opens in shock as he hears Bruce admit to having the Bat cave primed for destruction. And while he walks over to the computer to look at the said button, Wayne continues his pre-recorded instructions.
"Before you terminate everything, I want you to take the time to think about what this means. Without this cave, without this house and everything in it...you won't have any place to call home anymore. The Wayne line ends here once it's done...so I want you to really think hard about this before activating that switch. I know we talked about you taking over for me, Wayne Enterprises and Batman are now yours to do with as you see fit."
"Great." Terry sighs as he now sits into the command chair at the computer.
"Choices are never easy kid. I made mine a long time ago and I never regretted it since then, the time will come for you to decide on where you want to go in life next and the only person who can make that critical decision is you. Good luck Terry...and remember only to push the button when you're ready."
The voice soon drops off and McGinnis folds his arms over as he mulls over the choice in his head. Looking at the red button on the console, he reaches over to push it. Then suddenly, he stops, his eyes give a look of concern and retracts his hand quickly.
"No...no not yet." He says in a whisper. "I need more time to think this through."
As he spins the chair around and runs his hands through his hair in confusion, his foot touches something on the floor. Looking down he sees a silver studded red dog collar and chain. He picks it up in his hands and rubs it with his fingers. The old hound that Wayne used to have, the one that Terry took many times to go hunt criminals with as Batman, no longer exists. The hound died long before he left Gotham, the dog was already old in years and when its time came...it devastated Bruce. This dog and he had history together, just as it did with Terry; even now McGinnis wishes the 'mutt' were still there to comfort him. Placing it back on the floor with care, Terry rose from his seat and looked at the cave. Could he destroy all this? Such history and memories that have been collected and stored with great care, if there was to be an answer to that question, he'd have to go visit the one person left that can be openly honest with him.
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Gotham City.
The futuristic, neon filled electric hub, shines in the darkness like an overly lit birthday cake. Ground vehicles are slowly being phased out and now the city skyline is becoming a sea of hover car traffic. The tall oddly shaped skyscrapers look like they were designed by retro-futurists who envisioned a chaotic style of architecture. Noise was everywhere, large media screens advertised things of every brand and style, and even holo- images beamed in the night sky gave a 3D effect to the products being displayed. It wasn't hard to see why some would like to leave this place; Gotham City was a noise and visually polluted place. Visitors would marvel at the sheer wonder of it all, it was like stepping into the largest amusement park of the world. But deep down below the flashing lights and impressive upper sections of the city, was the forgotten and often crime ridden base to all of it. Since road vehicles were becoming extinct, traffic was nearly non-existent, and so was any sort of clean up. The streets were littered with papers, loose garbage and the pavement cracked without repairs. The city no longer focuses on keeping them updated, funds for that now have become diverted to other areas of more immediate concern. Skyways and upper city infrastructure now top the list of major spending.
As the calm dark streets of lower Gotham whistle with slow winds and the odd pedestrian walking by, a massive explosion rocks the area, as one of the buildings becomes a fiery blaze. Watching the building burn and howling at its destruction are a group of costumed people that look like they belong in the circus. Their painted faces and non-stop giggling is the mark of the one true dominant gang in all of Gotham City, the Jokers. A band of punks, thugs and rebelling youth that uses chaos and cruel pranks to get their kicks. They are an unwanted living tribute to Batman's old rival and one that has steadily been getting out of hand. Terry has deal with this gang many times, no more then a passing nuisance to him, but one that had to be watched very carefully. Without Batman in the City to stop them anymore, they went on a wild spree and took out other gangs that didn't join theirs. The police did their best in trying to keep this dangerous band from threatening the citizens, but as the years progressed, the Jokers became increasingly more violent and more organized.
As the bunch sat there and cheered on their handiwork, a squad of police hover cars came from every direction and tried to corner the thugs as they were spotted. The cops chased the ones trying to run away and maintained a bright spotlight on them, the Jokers continued to giggle and laugh as they fled and soon stopped once the police managed get out of the vehicles and tackled them to the ground. One squad car came flying down after the others were finished their job, and landed in the center where the building still burned intensely. Out of the car stepped a young looking African American woman, she had a pinkish-orange dyed hair pulled back in a pony tail and full red ruby lips to match. Not dressed like the other officers, who had black body armored two piece suits and face shielded helmets, she wore a short leathery black jacket, faded blue jeans that showed off all of her curves and a white T-shirt that stopped just above her stomach. This was a vision of beauty that any man would fall for, but something in her eyes and her posture gave the obvious signal that she was tough and very serious about her job.
"Commissioner! Commissioner!" A policeman yells to her as he comes running up.
"Give me the 411 trooper...did you bag this bunch?" She says to the man as he finally stops in front of her.
"We think so..."
"Don't think...Know! Did you get them all?" She says sternly.
"Yes...Yes we did sir...I mean mam...I mean..."
She smirks at the guy stuttering at her as he looks for the proper words to say.
"Never mind guy...I know what you meant. See to it you lock this batch up and give me a full report later."
"Yes Commissioner!" The man replies as he salutes.
As he runs back to the captured prisoners, the Commissioner looks at the flaming building and watches the fire and emergency vehicles come flying down and putting out the fire. Her eyes give a weakness as she stares at the damage and gives a long sigh.
"Damn Jokers. Where do they get this awful toys?"
As the police cuff and place the prisoners into the squad cars, one lone thug that managed to get away peeks out from a dark ally a few feet away from the scene. Looking directly at the Commissioner woman, the clown- faced criminal points his hand at her and motions his finger like a gun.
"Bang, Bang...you're dead pretty lady."
He snickers about this comment and quickly dashes off down the dark alleyway and vanishes in the night.
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Returning to the large police headquarters in the center of Gotham City, the female Commissioner rushes through the room full of cops bringing in criminals, writing reports and those just about to go on duty. As she quickly walks past them all they give a welcome nod to her and even greet her with a delightful pat to the arm. One rookie male cop tries to speak to her and before he can utter a word she puts her hand up to his face and doesn't stop.
"Not now kid...give me a few minutes."
She walks into an office and closes the door. On the door, etched in the glass and stained black is her title. Gotham City Police Commissioner Maxine Gibson is what the door clearly has printed on it, and as the door finally shuts the glass tints dark so that no one can see inside. Maxine takes off her black leather jacket and walks over to the large window that shows all of Gotham City for her. She sighs again as she tries to calm down from rushing in and folds her arms over in thought.
"God...I need a vacation."
"Want me to book it?" A voice booms out from behind her.
As she spins around to see who it is, her eyes light up and screams with delight.
"Terry! I'd know that sexy voice anywhere!"
The young man comes stepping out of the office corner and gives her a big smile as they meet again.
"Hey Max. Or should I call you Commissioner Maxine?"
Running over, the woman gives him a hug and then laughs.
"I'm still Max you null head. Sit down and give me the details! Where have you been? Did you get married? Come on Terr, tell me everything!"
He grabs a chair in front of her antique desk and sits down. She walks behind her desk and sits with anticipation as she waits to hear all about his life.
"Well first off...I'm not here by choice."
"Oh yeah..." She suddenly realizes. "Sorry to hear about Mr. Wayne. I would have gone to his funeral...but you know...crime never takes a time out."
Terry looks at her nameplate sitting on the desk and snickers in disbelief.
"It's ok. Bruce would have understood. But man...when did you become Commissioner? The last time we spoke you were only thinking of joining up with the police force."
She leaned back in her chair and laughed.
"Well obviously I got the job. I trained for it, got my first rookie assignment and did my very best to protect and serve."
"Let me guess...Wayne helped you out?" Terry guesses.
"Naw. Wayne tried...but I refused. I wanted to do this all by myself and not have some rich man try to guide me in by the hand. Barbara Gordon gave me the recommendation, I had swiftly made Lieutenant by then and when she saw me in action...she was very impressed. I also had made friends with a lot of the people here and they all felt I was the best one to lead the team. Just didn't figure I'd end up the one to get the job at such a young age."
Terry is amazed at her story and places her nameplate back onto her desk.
"I'm glad for you Max. You got your life together...and you know where you want to go."
Max looks at him with concern as he says that and leans in towards him.
"What is it Terry? I know that look of yours means something's eating at you...so spill it."
Terry gives a quite sigh, "Wayne has given me everything. The house, the company, the money, and his batcave. I just...I don't know what to do Max. On the one hand, I want to throw it all away and say 'goodbye old life' and get the hell out of here. On the other hand, I don't want to let the man down and bury the Batman legend forever."
Max sat there thinking about it. She knew of Terry's and Wayne's secret, she knew all about Batman, the cave and the legendary work that Bruce had done for this city. As a very good friend of Terry's, she always was the one he'd come to for extra advice outside of Wayne's wisdom. They'd been quite the crime solving team back then, she often helped him do the detective work and even got in trouble a few times. That's what made her decide to become an officer. Rather then fight crime in a silly costume and be a sidekick, she wanted to do some real good and help the real heroes that fight the battle everyday. As she looked at the young man with a lost look in his eyes, she tried to give him the best advice she could.
"Listen Terr...if you want to live your own life, then the best bet is to just let it all go. Bruce probably knew you'd never accept the lifestyle he was accustomed too and would be happy if you went either way."
"That's what he said." He replied.
"That's good." She said comfortingly. "But I also know, that this city needs Batman more then ever. The crime is going out of control here now that he's gone and every nut job that thinks he can get away with anything is going on free for all. I don't blame you for wanting to shed the costume life; hell I was just glad you didn't drag me in to it either. The point is that I think you can still do some good with Wayne's money and influence."
Terry slumped in his chair, placed his left elbow on the arm and held the side of his face with his hand.
"I dunno Max...being away from Gotham and not having to be Batman gave me a fresh look on things. Maybe I should just give the money to the cops and help them beef up their forces."
Maxine stands up and walks over to the window, looking out of it she watches the police cruisers fly by and head down to the lower levels of the city.
"I won't lie to you, all the money in the world won't help the situation out there. The Jokers are becoming the number one gang of Gotham since you left, they've been on a major crime spree several times and becoming more dangerous each passing day. It's like...they're getting help from someone. Someone that has the means of getting some major fire power."
Terry looks at her with concern, "You're kidding?"
"I wish I was." The female Commissioner says as she looks back at him. "We've busted lots of Joker gang hangouts and found some serious hardcore stuff. It's like they're preparing for a major war or something."
She sighs again and walks over to his chair, sitting down on the desktop she gazes at him and strokes his cheek with a fondness that might be considered more then just as a friend.
"But enough about my troubles...you never did say if you were married or not."
Terry becoming uncomfortable by her touch rises out of his chair like a bumbling fool and starts to blush a bit.
"Ah...well...I'm not married. But I think I need too focus on one thing at a time here...besides...I ran into Dana at Bruce's funeral."
Max's face soon gave a shocked look as she heard him say that. She knew the history between those two and of the break up that cause Terry to leave Gotham. She stood up in a hostile pose and folded her arms.
"What did that lil' dreg want? Stupid bitch, she didn't deserve a guy like you and now she's popping in on a funeral to confront you? Nice."
"Easy up Max. She didn't stay long...in fact she and I argued about the same old things again."
Maxine calmed down and touched his arm with concern.
"You have to face facts Terry...she's over you. Look, I've got a ton of stuff to do right now...why don't we meet up later and talk about it over dinner."
Terry's eyebrow rose at her informal suggestion, but she then pulled away with embarrassment and tried to spin it another way.
"Ah...a friend dinner. You know...to catch up on old times and laugh about how stupid we all were back then."
Terry relaxed as he heard her say that, a relief to him, as he didn't know what she was trying to imply in the first place. The fact that she was coming on strong didn't seem to register in his male brain, it was obvious that Max was very much into this handsome friend of hers. A long hidden feeling she tried to express to him many times, but the man still didn't have a clue as to what she wanted. With her nervous smile, she seemed to ease his fears and he smirked back with a friendly attitude.
"Of course. What would I do without you Max; you're still my bud after all this time. Same place as usual?"
Max nodded and gave him a wink, "You bet...and this time, you're buying."