Brick Ballads
Chapter Two: "Antithesis"
A few "on-the-job training" patrols and four official ones, and Matt was starting to understand the language behind Terry's world. The Metropolis Watchtower was the Metro Tower—the name "Watchtower" brought back memories of the original space stations the first and second Justice League had used. In private, it was all right to call Green Lantern "Kai-ro" or just "Kai" for short and Aquagirl "Merina," though it was harder to call Warhawk "Rex" since he and Batman weren't always on the best of terms. Superman was "Clark Kent" or "Kal-el"—he answered to either, though he was used to hearing "Kent" from whoever wore Batman's suit. And no matter how outdated it was, "slag it" was still an appropriate epithet when things went to hell, as were a number of other profanities. And he was seriously considering shouting them all as he stood in the middle of the Gotham streets, facing his first major screw-up.
It had started off easily enough—most major screw-ups do. He'd been on patrol and found a woman shoving a mother to the side of a road and snatching her baby out of the stroller. Matt flew down and stopped her, carefully trying to reason with her. The last thing he wanted was for the baby to be injured. The woman explained that she was the baby's real mother, but the other woman had apparently "taken" the baby away from her. By then, the other woman had recovered from her fall and was screaming back at the first that she'd legally adopted the child; the mother had been a drug addict, so social services had taken the baby out of her custody. The argument continued on and on, and finally Matt had to take the baby from both of them as the women started to fight. He tried to get them both to calm down, but it wasn't working, and the baby, already crying from the stress of the experience, was terrified at the sight of the Batman mask. He had no idea what to do, so he just waited for Commissioner Gordon to show up and take the problem out of his hands.
"Damn," he muttered, resting the back of his head against the side of a building. His head hurt, his ears hurt, and he was starting to feel nauseous. He wasn't sure if he hoped it was stress or sickness.
"Not easy, is it, kid?" the Commissioner asked, walking toward him. "We're getting a statement from both of the women and from social services. Hopefully, this whole mess will be sorted out before long."
"That's good to hear," he sighed.
"Be glad it's the fourth day and not the first," she assured. "Otherwise you wouldn't be able to recover as easily."
"It's still the first week," he insisted. "Terry hasn't been gone for very long, and I'm already screwing up."
"You didn't expect this kind of thing when you agreed to take the job, right?" she guessed. "We never do. You should go to the Metro Tower, take your mind off of everything."
"Being around a dozen other superheroes will take my mind off of things?" Matt questioned sarcastically.
"You never know," she answered with a smile. "It's not always about saving the world, you know."
"All right," he agreed. "I can at least get some advice and look up some files I haven't read yet." He called the Batmobile over, flew up to it, and set off for Metropolis, planning to leave every bad thought behind him in the shadows of Gotham.
Matt sat at a computer in the Metro Tower, ready to look up some files. When prompted to type a pass-code, he carefully typed 72305, the number he'd been issued in order to access the Justice League's files. The page was still under construction—the League thought they had more than three months to set everything up for him, after all—so he logged out and typed in 11099, Terry's pass-code. His brother had only lent it to him in case he needed to see any files that weren't accessible through his own account, but he'd put everything in read-only format and locked a few files of cases he apparently didn't want Matt interfering with. It took only a minute for Matt to lose the battle against his immaturity, and he made a face before opening up his brother's bio and looking through it. It wasn't that he didn't know Terry; he didn't know Batman, which was the problem. Only now did he have a chance to see what his brother was like under the mask, and he was taking full advantage of it.
Terry's list of accomplishments was impressive. At sixteen, he'd gathered most of his rogues' gallery—namely Inque, Blight, Stalker, Spellbinder, and Shriek. Sometime later, Superman had asked him to join the League but he declined. At seventeen, he'd defeated the Joker, something Bruce couldn't even do. He was currently on part-time status with the Justice League Unlimited, dedicating most of his time to Gotham while remaining on call to help with any cases the rest of the JLU needed him for. He was a black belt in aikido and tae kwon do and one of the few in the League that depended on carefully honed fighting talent rather than superpowers. He refused most off-world missions, but he'd been one of the League representatives for the peace negotiations between the Gordanian home-world and New Thanagar two years ago—called in originally to solve a double homicide by radicals opposed to the treaty.
Matt sighed. His own bio was lackluster at best. He hadn't been on the job long enough to accomplish anything noteworthy. Most of what was written for him was written for Matt McGinnis, not Batman III. The only things that really stood out were the notes on his birth (Born: August 24, 2051 as a result of Project: Batman Beyond, much like Terry's notes of Born: November 10, 2043 as a result of Project: Batman Beyond) and references to the times when his civilian life had crossed with Terry's life as Batman. At one of these notes, he frowned. Either Terry or Bruce had written it in, and Matt wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about it. Even so, he felt a slight pang of betrayal. Didn't they trust him?
Someone knocked on the door to his quarters. He called out, "It's open!" and continued looking through the bios. He looked up when Green Lantern walked inside and came over to read over his shoulder.
"Hmm, interesting," Green Lantern murmured. "They forgot to mention that Terry and Rex tried to kill each other during the New Thanagar peace talks."
"What?" Matt asked, looking at him in surprise. Lantern looked completely unfazed.
"The Thanagarian ambassador who was murdered had last spoken to Warhawk before he was found dead. Both the Thanagarians and the Gordanians were ready to blame it on him before the Gordanian ambassador was also found dead, and Warhawk had an ironclad alibi. When Terry arrived, Rex immediately demanded to be part of the investigation. Terry foolishly agreed."
Matt couldn't help but grin. "A disaster?"
"An unmitigated disaster," Lantern corrected. "They were arguing throughout the entire investigation, and wound up actually fighting each other. If Superman hadn't broken it up, it would have gotten a lot worse." He glanced at the ceiling as he tried to remember exactly what had happened. "As I recall, they got a few good hits in beforehand. Terry broke Rex's ribs just minutes before Rex broke Terry's arm. I got put on the investigation team immediately after that as damage control so they wouldn't try to kill each other again."
"And they're still on the same four-man cell?" Matt questioned in disbelief.
"They usually get along better than that," he assured. "But they were exasperated during that mission. The Gordanians and the Thanagarians were rushing Terry to solve the case, and the Thanagarians were already treating Rex badly enough before they accused him of murder."
"Why?" Matt asked.
"It's my parents," Warhawk answered from the door. Green Lantern flashed him an apologetic look, but he shrugged it off. "My father was Green Lantern John Stewart, part of the original Justice League, who had derailed the Thanagarian Invasion. My mother was Shayera Hol, formerly Hawkgirl, a traitor to the people of Thanagar for doing what she knew was the right thing."
"Sorry," Matt apologized.
Warhawk shrugged again. "Nothing you can help with. New Thanagar's just as stubborn as the old one. They don't let go of the past easily."
"They're the ones who should most of all," Green Lantern commented. For Matt's sake, he clarified, "They'll make a few sacrifices to improve their standing in the intergalactic community, but they have strict lines they won't cross. For example, they accept the Green Lantern Corps, but they won't let any of their own become Lanterns themselves. If they'd just let go of the old wounds, they'd be able to prosper even more than they had in their old glory days."
"Yeah, but no one's as deep a thinker there as you are, Kai," Warhawk replied. "Warlike people, remember? Anyway, I just wanted to come in and see how the new guy was adjusting."
"I'm doing okay," Matt answered. "Takes a little getting used to."
"Terry probably gave you the run-through," Warhawk commented, "but just in case: Talk to Kai or Merina if anything's wrong. Kal too if you need it. I'm not good with non-League related issues."
"I'll be fine," Matt assured, even though he hardly felt that.
"All right then," Warhawk answered. "I'll go then."
"Rex," Lantern called out before he could leave. Warhawk turned around. "Don't let them bother you."
"I'm not," Warhawk answered, but Matt thought it sounded too much like his own "I'll be fine"—I understand what you're saying and I'm glad you did, but I need to figure things out on my own right now.
"More New Thanagar issues?" Matt guessed when Warhawk had left. Green Lantern nodded.
"His latest mission and they specifically requested him. A million Thanagarians remain from the old war—most of them the result of their concentration on repopulation—and all of them have the same prejudices of their parents. From one standpoint, I understand: Billions were lost when the Gordanians invaded Thanagar. But they forget how many people they killed in their attempts to get to the Gordanian home-world."
"Selective memory," Matt agreed to Lantern's nod.
"I'm going to go train," he informed. "I was going to invite you, but if you're busy here…"
"Not really. Just looking through those files—get a better idea of this world. It won't be a problem."
"All right then," Lantern replied. "Let's go down to Training Room Three." Matt closed his bio with that message and logged out before walking alongside Green Lantern as they headed for the training facility.
The door to Training Room Three was locked, and they could see Barda's team in the middle of an intense training session. Knowing it would take too long to wait for them to finish, they turned toward Room Four, where another Leaguer was fighting a ninja battle program. Matt was about to suggest that they try another, but Lantern seemed interested in watching his teammate train. The man's black braid whipped around him as he twisted out of the way of shuriken and throwing knives that Matt remembered were called "kunai." His dark blue suit was in a traditional Japanese style, but with a mask that covered the lower half of his face and a headband across his forehead. Then, in an instant, he disappeared and reappeared behind the training android and smashed it to the ground, ending the simulation. Seeing Green Lantern and Batman through the window, he waved and opened the door.
"Did you need to use this room?" he asked. "I would have been quicker if you'd told me."
"We only just got here," Lantern assured. "Barda's cell was using Training Room Three, where Batman and I were planning to practice. We noticed you were almost done, so we decided to wait. How was the simulation, Shinobi?"
Shinobi wiped the visible part of his face with a towel. "A little too easy for my taste. It'll be perfect for what you're doing."
"That's good," Lantern replied.
"There are still shuriken and kunai in the equipment room if you need them," Shinobi offered. "I'll cover the window so you can take off your mask, Batman."
Matt was caught off-guard by that statement but still managed to say, "Thanks."
Shinobi raised an eyebrow at the sound of his voice, but he quickly shrugged it off and answered, "No problem," before leaving. As he walked out the door, he pressed a button on the wall, and blinds covered the large window on the side wall. Hesitantly, Matt removed the mask.
"It's all right," Lantern—Kai—assured, taking off his ring. His Green Lantern uniform dissolved into ordinary civilian clothes, though with a traditional Asian influence similar to Shinobi's costume. "Every once in a while, the more 'normal' members of the League use the training rooms for basic hand-to-hand combat. No masks, no costumes, just a chance to let off a little steam. Shinobi's program tests skills similar to what you and Terry are used to, so you shouldn't have too much of a problem." He pointed toward the equipment room. "I've got a spare training outfit in there if you need it. Terry does too; he once mentioned it was hard to wear clothes under that suit. But I'm the same age as you and closer to your height and build, so mine should fit you better."
"I'll be fine…Kai," Matt answered, trying to get used to the name. "I've got an extra layer of body armor underneath the suit to simulate Terry's build. I can wear that instead."
"All right then," Kai conceded, going for the weapons. Matt took the opportunity to remove the rest of the suit, taking care to keep the extra armor on. The suit and mask were form-fitting, which occasionally made it a little difficult to do this correctly, but he managed to get it off with little to no problem. Kai then handed him a belt with pouches filled with kunai and shuriken, and as he got it on, the program commenced. He barely had five seconds to move out of the way before a shuriken hit where his foot had just been.
"You have to be faster!" Kai informed. "Part of the test is your speed!"
He didn't need to be warned twice. He ducked a kunai and hurled one of his own toward the android's midsection. It missed, only nicking it, and in the process of attacking, Matt had left himself open. The android shot six shuriken after him, and Matt had only a split second to respond. Just as he had with the batarangs in his last training exercise with Terry, he threw kunai with both hands to deflect the oncoming weapons, but used four instead of two. Kai handled the other two shuriken and attacked the android from the other side.
"We'll need to get closer in to fight it," he warned
"Should we wait for it to run out of ammo or just look for an opening?" Matt asked.
"Looking for an opening would be better," Kai advised. "With all the weapons we're leaving around, there's no way any of us are going to run out."
"Good point."
"So how has your defense of Gotham been?"
Matt spared a confused glance Kai's way. "Why do you ask?"
"You seemed a bit shaken when you came here," he explained, "and then you went to your quarters and started reading your brother's file." He managed to sink a kunai in the android's breastplate, but the android pulled it out and threw it back, narrowly missing Kai's head. "I've been with the League most of my life and have gotten used to everyone's habits. I know when something's wrong, even when I don't know the person very well."
"So you had an ulterior motive in inviting me?" Matt guessed, sending a wildly spinning shuriken toward the android, taking advantage of the exposed wires and circuitry that were the result of Kai's attack. The android didn't manage to avoid it in time, and the shuriken managed to nick a wire.
"Good hit," Kai complimented. "I figured that you'd open up better if you had something physical to do. Merina calls it the 'universal male conversation.'" Matt shot him another confused look. "No matter where they're from, men speak better with actions than words. At least that's what she says."
Matt rolled his eyes. "Women." Kai laughed.
"That was Rex's reaction too."
Matt ran forward and kicked the android square in the chest. Even though he'd been careful to hit with the whole bottom of his foot, he had to bite back a shout when pain shot through his heel. He was not trying that one again.
"So what happened?" Kai asked as Matt tried to get some feeling other than pain back in his right foot.
Matt aimed another shuriken at the exposed machinery. "I screwed up on my patrol tonight. Wound up in the middle of a custody battle between a baby's birth mother and adoptive mother. Turned ugly too—they started fighting right there in the street."
"Was the baby all right?" Kai checked.
"Yeah, it was fine," he replied, "aside from being scared to death."
"Then how'd you screw up? As long as the baby was fine, I'd say you did a good job."
"Yeah, but I stood there doing nothing," Matt argued, throwing a kunai at the android's back. This one managed to get lodged in a place where the android couldn't reach it, giving Matt a chance to run forward and kick the kunai in while Kai kept it busy in the front. The android fell forward, its combat system frozen, terminating the program. He stood over it, waiting for the pain in his foot to lessen. "I had to wait for Commissioner Gordon to take it out of my hands."
"And you feel like you haven't lived up to your brother?" Kai realized.
"That's exactly it."
"You shouldn't try to measure yourself by those who came before you," Kai warned. "They fought in their own ways, and they followed their own paths. You have one that's completely your own."
"Even if I don't know what it is, I suppose," Matt sighed.
"Another round?" Kai offered.
"Yeah," Matt agreed. "There's still a lot I need to think through."
They fought through another three rounds total, Kai respecting Matt's privacy the whole time. Matt couldn't deny that Kai's words made sense, but what he thought and what he felt were two completely different things. For years, he'd seen Batman as a hero and Terry as his all-too-human big brother. Batman never made any mistakes, but Terry made them all the time. He'd always known they were the same person, but why didn't it seem like that? And why couldn't his flaws disappear as easily when he put on the mask? The questions continued to plague him in the shower and afterward, as he continued reading through the files.
An alert sounded while he stared at that message again. Leaving the computer on, he peered out the door, seeing Shinobi tesser right in front of him.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"The Iniquity Collective," Shinobi answered. "They've hit Metropolis. Superman sent me to get you so your team can head out." Then, giving him a suspicious look-over, he added, "Are you all right? I can take over if you need…"
"No. I'll take care of this." His voice had darkened considerably, and Shinobi definitely took notice. He blinked and stepped back as Matt walked past him. Matt knew exactly what he was going to do, so he made sure to run for the command center. Still, Shinobi got in front of him, blocking his way.
"Step aside," Matt ordered.
"I can't do that, Batman," Shinobi answered, an unusual stress on the name. Matt fixed a glare on him.
"Let me pass." He tried to force his way past, but Shinobi caught his shoulder and gave him the same glare. Though the halls were empty, they kept their voices low. It was a matter of trying to sound even more threatening than the other, and both of them were taking it seriously.
"What are you doing, McGinnis?" he whispered. "Your brother put that warning in there for a reason. Obviously, he didn't want to risk you losing your temper around Stalker."
"Terry's the one with the temper," Matt replied.
"Even so, it's dangerous to bring volatile emotions into a fight," Shinobi answered. His voice was still low, but now, there was an almost pleading quality in it: "Don't waste your life on revenge when you have a future ahead of you."
Matt pretended to consider this and answered calmly, "Terry and Bruce started out of vengeance, not me. In fact, I don't even like the idea of revenge." Shinobi didn't lower his guard; he wasn't buying it. Matt's respect for the ninja raised several notches.
"I'm not letting you past, McGinnis," he insisted. He glanced to the side and tessered, unintentionally showing Matt his weakness: In order to use a tesseract properly, he needed to be able to see his destination. Before Shinobi could go any further, Matt closed his eyes and threw a flash bomb in front of him, blinding the ninja. While Shinobi was prone, Matt came up from behind and knocked him unconscious before locking him in an empty room. Then he ran off to join the rest of his team.
He knew he wasn't going to have much time to fight. Sooner or later, Shinobi would wake and escape from his prison to warn Superman of the note he'd found in Matt's profile: He was kidnapped by Stalker at the age of eight. Do not let him fight Stalker under any circumstances. Perhaps someone else would find the note first. He also hadn't acted very wisely: first exposing his, Terry's, and Bruce's identities all in one shot, and then antagonizing a fellow League member. He was acting like a child, running off to get back on someone who'd caused him harm in the past.
But as the four man cell came face-to-face with the Iniquity Collective, Matt shoved all reservations aside. Vengeance wasn't really his style, but tonight, he would make an exception.
First of all: I seriously did not mean to have Warhawk dominate that scene before. I needed his short backstory, but I didn't intend for it to be so long. And I'm not expanding on anything more since I want to keep this relatively canon and as of this chapter we don't yet know how John and Shayera eventually get back together and have him.
Shinobi is an original character, as there aren't enough members of the future Justice League Unlimited for me to work with. The word "shinobi" is another Japanese word for "ninja," and his character design is somewhat based on Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi of Naruto, though his ability to tesseract was inspired by the Fourth Hokage in the Kakashi Gaiden sidestory of the Naruto manga. Feedback is appreciated, even if it's just to tell me to quit with all the ninja references.