Chapter Six – The Wayne Syndrome

Inside the rundown hotel hideout of the Jokers gang, Mr. Smiley watched the news channel on his broken television set on the far wall beside him. The old set was of average size, yet flat and wall mountable. The video flickered and fizzled as he sat there gazing at the screen, his eyes peering out from behind the mask he always wears, gives a squint as the virtual news anchor talks away.

"Fires once again broke out in the lower regions of Gotham City, as the deadly Jokers proved to be a continuing threat to the police. Commissioner Maxine Gibson was on hand to see the arrest of several fleeing subject whom she her self tackled to the ground upon spotting them." The female anchorwoman cheerfully told.

The footage they showed was of Max chasing one of the clowns trying to break free and escaping from the police. He fast footwork and a quick flying kick to the man's back soon had him on the ground and unable to stand up. She knelt down on his back hard and hand cuffed him with the futuristic shackles they use.

"Sucks to be you buddy!" She said to him.

The image pauses and the virtual female anchor returns to finish her report.

"Looks like Commissioner Gibson is right on top of things as usual. Viewer statistics prove an overwhelming majority of support in Gibson's favor, making her the most popular police commissioner since the days of Barbara Gordon. To other news now...the meeting between Wayne and Powers has had some mixed emotions among the shareholders. Terry McGinnis announced his endorsement to handing over Bruce Wayne's company to Jason Smythe, a move that some investors call a bad decision. A new meeting has been scheduled for the end of the week."

Mr. Smiley reaches up his hand with the remote firmly clutched in it and turns the TV off. He gives a long sigh and leans back in his decaying chair.

"This town just isn't what it use to be anymore...ah well, thanks to me it never will be again. Hell hath no fury like the Jokers gang scorn."

Suddenly, one of Smiley's henchmen entered the room and approached the leader who was lost in his thoughts.

"You sent for me boss?" The averaged sized clown henchmen asked as he stood there in the middle of the broken down room hideout.

"Yes I did Big pants." Mr. Smiley said in his usual dry tone. "Gather the troops again for tonight...there's more work to be done."

"But...but boss, the guys are exhausted. I mean...we've been hitting joints left right and center for the past two weeks!"

Smiley rose out of his overly worn leather chair and placed his knuckles on the old desk in front of him.

"Indeed we have. But I want to keep this going until the city is ours; this commissioner Gibson is making things very hard for me to see the glory of the Joker Empire to rise. We need her out of the way..."

The two Dee Dee girls are sitting in a broken down old couch that has no legs to support it any longer. There it sits on the grimy looking floor as the two clown beauties apply more white powder to their faces.

"Why not just kill they broad Mr. S" Dee Dee says sitting on the left.

"A bullet to her brain and out she goes...and you can claim the throne!" Dee Dee on the right also comments.

Smiley comes around from his desk and paces the length of the room as he rubs his smiling mask gently lost in thought.

"Too easy Dee Dee...besides...that would make her a martyr to this town and I don't need another hero to jeopardize my plans. What we need is leverage...an upper hand...something to make the city suits squirm to my bidding alone."

Both Dee Dee's look at one another and smile as they suddenly share a twin thought. They snap their powder cases and jump to their feet.

"THE KIDNAP HOAX!!"

Smiley stops in his pacing and turns his head to them both as he nods with approval.

"Very good Dee Dee...very good indeed. Now that's a funny joke to keep them laughing until victim's death."

Dee Dee with the black and red costume scrunches herself inward as she joyfully thinks of it in her mind.

"Ooooh Mr. S...You totally rock!"

Her sister gives a loving hug to herself and giggles for giving him the idea, "Go Me! Go Me! And we know just the person to nab too..."

Smiley walks over to them both and hugs them together in his arms, his unwaviered and chilling, passionless voice gives an air of evil as he continues to talk to them.

"That's my girls. But we have to create a distraction or two to make this work...I'll join you at the secondary target later on...the first strike has to go ahead as planned. There's someone I'm just super keen on meeting."

"Who is that Mr. Smiley?" Big Pants asks him while still standing near the antique desk.

"A man that once knew an old rival of ours...and was a very good friend to Mr. Bruce Wayne."

The smile on the mask almost seemed to enlarge as Smiley squinted his eyes, one would expect to hear laughter or even an insane giggle as he foretells his evil plan, but this villain has no humorous laughter about him. The calm deep voice that borders on almost boredom in its tone gives no sign to the others that he is either serious or even happy about the whole thing.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Sitting in the batcave many a few hours later, Terry McGinnis sits in the comfortable old chair that Bruce once use to occupy in front of the massive computer. Terry flipped through file after file stored in the memory banks, going though every criminal connection to every organized syndicate he could think of to see if there was any hidden clues about the man who is about to marry his old girlfriend.

"What the hell am I doing?" Terry sighs. "The man has no criminal background...no hidden past, no link to gangs or even a single parking ticket."

The image pauses on Jason Smythe and shows his statistics that Bruce Wayne did manage to keep on him. The report was spotless on him; one word graced the bottom of the screen as Terry looked on, 'Clear'. That was Bruce's label for those that posed no threat to him or just even were standard files of people he knew. Terry again sighed in disappointment and leaned back into the chair with half shut eyes.

"God I'm such a dreg." He uttered under his breath. "Here I am trying to find a reason to break them up and sitting alone in a cave just as he would."

"Not alone Terr." A familiar female voice echoed behind him.

Terry spun around to see Commissioner Max Gibson standing at the base of the batcave staircase; she still wore the same jacket but now had a pink T-shirt on and brown slacks that once again just clung on to her hips. Her being in the cave didn't shock Terry; in fact, she had access to it before during his years as Batman. The only thing Terry was surprised by was her being there at this time of night.

"Max? Thought you had a job to keep up with?"

She smirked as she shrugged her shoulders, "Well it's a quiet night right now...what can I say? Besides I wanted to finish our conversation that was so rudely interrupted the other night."

Terry stands up and points his finger at her.

"Why didn't you tell me about Dana?!"

Max was shocked by his anger and recoiled from his action, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you not mentioning to me that Dana is hooking up with Jason Smythe! Or did that just slip your mind yet again?!" Terry angrily spoke again.

"I...I didn't know...I mean..."She struggles to say.

Terry folds his arms and looks away from her in frustration, "Damn you Max! I thought we were friends...you should have told me. I had to hear it straight from Dana's mouth that you were the one she confided in. Why didn't you tell me that last night?!"

Max put her hands on her hips and became cross with him as well.

"Why? I'll tell you why you thick headed twerp! Because I knew you'd go all to pieces on me if I did! Why can't you get it in that brain of yours that she's not coming back to you?"

"I DON'T KNOW?!" He screams even louder. "I'm still hoping that maybe she'll snap out of it...that...that she'll realize I've come back for her and that...that..."

"That what?" Max says with a calm inquisitive look.

"That I still love her. That she's the only woman I'll ever truly love forever." He exhales in a depressed state.

Max's eyes grow wide upon his admitting that, but then she begins to feel that giving her own feelings to him right now would make things even worst. The frustrated woman calms down and looks away from Terry. You could see that she had tears welling up in her eyes, but carefully tried to keep the emotion back as she talked to him in a more rational tone.

"Oh...I...I see." Max utters quietly.

Terry rubs his hair in frustration and plunks himself down into the chair again.

"God I'm so confused Max." He breathes out. "If there was ever a time I was truly lost and had no idea of what to do next...it's now. Help me Max...help me..."

Terry holds his face with his hands and sits there in total confusion. Max wipes the few tears from her face and turns around with more control over her own emotions. She walks over to him and kneels down to his lap; she pats him on the head as he continues to hold his face.

"Terry...Terr?" She says calmly to him.

She holds his chin up and looks into his eyes as she comforts him.

"I didn't realize that coming back here would be such a strain on you. You've been looking for a better life for so long I guess...I guess I didn't see it until now. Dana is gone. Sweetie you need to wake up from your teenage years and discover where you truly belong. This is your destiny...your own legacy...Dana is in your past, Bruce is in your past and even I am as well. Time to shed us all off and start fresh, cause once you become that man you're going to be forever...there's no turning back. I think you're probably right...you should end this...all of this..."

McGinnis watches her stroll through the cave and points to the entire batcave surroundings.

"This is killing you." She continues. "You're living another man's dreams and his nightmares...maybe that's why Bruce wanted you to let go of his world and create a new one for yourself."

The young man stood up and looked around the cave, he gazed at the huge collection of Batman's past and at of all the old weapons the villains had used on him during those times. McGinnis gave a sigh and looked at his good friend Max as she smiled at him.

"You're right." He said firmly. "If I'm going to be only one person...I'm going to choose being the only man I can be...just plain ol' Terry McGinnis. To hell with Gotham, to hell with Wayne Enterprises...and no more living in Batman's shadow."

Terry looks over at the console and eyes the red button sitting there, he walks over and is about to press it when suddenly Max shouts out to him.

"Wait!"

Terry stops and turns to stare at her for saying it.

"I want to be here for when you push that button."

"How do you know what it is?" Terry asks.

She twiddles her fingers and snickers slightly as she responds. "Uhm...well...I was here when Bruce recorded that message. He...he wanted to make sure he had a back up just incase you didn't return or someone discovered the cave."

"Good ol' Bruce." Terry laughs. "Always thinkin' ahead. When shall we light this thing then?"

"How bout later tonight? We can make a celebration out of it?" She chuckles.

"Well..." Terry responds scratching his head. "I'm not sure if I can make it. See...Smythe invited me to his party at the old Powers building, of course Dana will be there too...and...well..."

Max holds up her hand and shakes her head negatively.

"Don't say it. Let's just make it a final quick meeting together and you can leave right away. Trust me Terr...the sooner you go...the better we'll all be."

Max gives a last long gaze at him as she thinks of all the wasted feelings she had poured on him. The man never even considered her anything other then a friend, it tore the very heart out of the commissioner, but felt that if it did have to end between them...at least they ended on the friendship. She bolted out of the cave and ran back up the stairs as the tears once again took her over. Terry stood there wondering why she had been acting so crazy and felt bad for saying that he's going to be out of her life forever. He walked back over to the bat computer and looked up at the image of Jason Smythe still displayed with all of his background information. With one simple flick of a switch, he powered down the computer and sat slowly into the black leather-ish chair.

"So...this is how it ends. One last party...one last moment with Dana and Max... and then so long Batman. Hello Terry McGinnis...the regular joe."

A scream of a bat suddenly cried out from the cave, it echoed and echoed over and over again. Terry stood up to see where it was coming from and looked up to see one hanging near one of the lights shining down on the computer.

"Hey...I thought they all got caught and shipped out. What are you still doing here?"

The bat screamed again and out stretched his wings. The shadow fell upon Terry like a dark omen that even he couldn't ignore. It nearly terrified him as it displayed a shadow resembling the symbol he was about to destroy forever. In the frightened moment, he could almost hear Bruce's voice as Batman.

"I'll always be here." The voice in his mind spoke.