6. Black

The rest of the day went by very quickly, as Terry discovered that he and Dawn had many common interests. They had almost all their classes together, and they were almost each time put together as a team, because she was new and he hadn't been there, when they had started the projects. At the end of the day they talked together like they had knew each other for years. As the bell rang for the last time they were in a deep discussion about the best way to calculate Alrice's mathematical problem.

"No, you can't say, that r is the same as j. It's the hole point that j is four times as much as 6 and …"

Dawn stopped in the middle of the sentence.

"What?"

Terry followed her look and saw Dana. She was looking at them.

"Don't you think you should talk to her?"

"How do you know?"

"For some time ago was I in the bathroom as she and an other girl came in. They didn't knew that I was in there, so they begun to talk private. She told this other girl, that she had broke up with you. Well, at that time I didn't know it was you. But to summarize it: She regretted that she had done it."

"Well, but she still did it. She just rang me up on my phone and said that it was over."

"On the phone?"

"Yes, the night that we were in the hospital."

"Wow."

"So you can see why I don't what to talk to her. Even if were going back together it would only be a matter of time before this happen again."

"She really loves you"

"I know, but it's just not meant to be."

"Would you for my sake go and talk to her?"

Her looked at Dawn and saw a little smile.

"Why are you so keen on it?"

"Well, just call me a romantic soul. Would you?"

He smiled back to her.

"What will I gain for this then?"

Dawn looked like she was thinking hard about it, then she said:

"Nothing, but I think it is something you are going to regret later, if you don't do it. I know because I had been in the same situation."

"Did he also break it up with a phone call?"

"No, he just told it to all his friends, but not me."

"Didn't he tell it to you."

"No, I found out about it to a party, where he made out with an other girl."

"What a jerk!"

"No, late I found out that he really loved me, but his friends had made him done it. They didn't think I was good enough for him."

"And you point?"

"Well, if I had talked to him about it, then we probably would have end up as friends or lovers again."

"Okay, I'm going to talk to her."

"Well, now is your time."

She opened her notebook and wrote something on a piece of paper.

"Here it my address and phone number. If you have time you can come over, so we can do our homework together, or if you need someone to talk to."

He gave her his address and phone number, and they said goodbye. He went over to Dana.

"Hi."

Her eyes began to smile.

"Terry, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done it."

"But you did!"

"Yeah, but it was just because I was so mad."

She came over to him and laid her arms around his neck.

"Ter', can you forgive me?"

He shook her arms off.

"Dana, I'm not just a toy you can play with. I also have feelings."

Her eyes lightened.

"It's all the Ice-Queen's fault. She wants to have you for herself."

"Who?"

"Her Dawn your have become so friendly with. She is nothing more that a burnt-out vixen."

"WHAT?"

"She is trying to steal you from me."

"First I don't belong to you. Second Dawn is ten times more women that you."

He turned around and hurried away, so he didn't hear Dana's cry out after him or saw her tears.

He didn't stop before he almost reached the train station. Suddenly he felt like someone was shadowing him, so at a house corner he quickly turned and ran into narrow alley. He could hear footsteps running behind him. Quickly he turned at several corner in the maze of the city, but still he could hear the food steps behind him. They didn't come closer, but he couldn't lose them. Then he made a decision. If he couldn't run away from them he had to face them. Quickly he hided behind some garbage cans and waited for his pursuers.

The seconds felt like hours. He could hear the footstep coming closer. They were not running now, but they were walking very slowly. They knew that he had hid himself. He could hear them as they search the ally for him. Now he really missed the Batsuit, but he had in all his worries forgot it at home this morning.

Suddenly he discovered that something was wrong. The footsteps didn't just come from the direction behind him, but they also came from the other end of the ally. He was trapped like mice in a cat's mouth.

Now they were almost next to him. There were too many! He couldn't fight them all at one time.

"Guys, see what I had found under a rock."

The garbage can in front of him was torn away. It was a gang of Jokerz. There were about five of them. He smiled with relief. He still had a chance. One, who seemed to be their leader, came up to him. He wasn't like the others, who all were dressed in the Jokerz very colorful outfits. He was dressed in black fitted suit and he wore a mask made by some kin of black metal. He looked investigative at Terry before he begun to laugh.

"You don't seem to be so tough as people says."

The whole gang laughed.

Terry knew that they just were playing with him. As Batman he had learned to be patient, and now he really had the need for it.

"You are lucky, that our master has a weakness for you. Our master have heard about your skills and want you to join us."

"My skills?"

Did they knew he was Batman?

The leader took a cigarette case from his inside pocket.

"Do you want one?"

Terry shook his head.

The man lit one with a gentleman's style.

"Yes, our master liked the way you act. I said to our master, that it's a long time ago and people changes, but our master says that you never will changes so much, that you would lose your skills."

It was a long time ago? Well, then they didn't know that he was Batman. It had to be someone from the old gang, but who?

"You have right. I'm change now. I haven't done a job for years and I have no intend to begin again."

He could almost see the man smile under his mask.

"Our master said, that you would answer like that."

He made a ring of smoke.

"Our master also said, that you had to come by you own free will, so you have some time to think about it. In the mean time I will have some fun."

He finished the cigarette and hit out at Terry, who skillful duck down and got out of the man's reach. One of the Jokerz walked between him and Terry.

"Black, master said, that he was not to be harmed."

Black knocked him out and went after Terry.

Terry knew, that due to Bruce's hard training he was in top condition, so he only had to wait and let Black burn the steam off. His only worry was that, if the others would help their leader, he would lose.

Black hit several times out after Terry, butonly to hit the empty air. He got so angry, that he was about to explore. Terry saw it and went from defensive position to attack. With few, but precise, blows he sent Black to the ground. Before the rest of the gang had understand what just had happened turn he around and ran like he had the Dead after him.