Disclaimer: I DO NOT in any form or fashion own these characters. All credit goes directly to DC entertainment and comics. They are the owners not me, I'm in no shape or form making any money off of this story. Alright, let's get on with the show.
Hey there readers it's me Nomad88 coming back at'cha with another chapter in the awesome second volume of Batman Beyond. I hope everyone enjoyed the action packed prologue, which set up a few things, but now we can get into some real nitty gritty stuff. I hope you're all ready. I just want to say one last thing and that's please continue to READ, REVIEW (A writer's main source of motivation) and of course ENJOY!
Chapter 1: The Court of Owls part one
Wayne Manor
Yinn, the mysterious and loyal friend to Damian and Terry sat on his knees in the barely lit room that he called his own. There were candles in a circle all around him, and the soft aroma they generated soothed his roaring emotions. He centered himself and tried to focus on something other than the flood of memories of a time long past but his mind kept bringing back to the days of his youth.
A gently breeze blew through the room and the semi-peaceful look upon his face turned to one of frustration. He slowly opened his eyes and glanced over his shoulder and to a figure that was standing behind him shrouded in darkness.
"I sense your dark presence Yanng."
"As I knew you would." The dark figure replied.
"Where are you?"
"Far now, but soon I will be near."
Yinn stood from his spot and turned to the shadowy figure behind him.
"And I….we will be ready."
"It pains me that we fight dear brother. You should be ruling the world beside me. We are essentially immortal. This…disagreement is childish and stupid."
"Good versus Evil is not childish or stupid. It is the only battle that matters, in the end."
"In the End? Have you heard nothing I said, there is no end for us, we…." Yanng started before being interrupted.
"There will be an end for you!" Yinn spat, "I'll see to it myself and your dark magic and theatricality will not save you."
Yanng chuckled.
"We shall see." He whispered "And a word of advice. When the time comes for….good versus evil, be sure to leave the children at home because if they interfere, I will kill them, you have my word. And you know I always keep my word."
"My friends are not so easy to kill." Yinn returned, and as the words left his mouth the communicator on his wrist began to beep rapidly. The shrouded Yanng chuckled again.
"You sure about that." He said "Your master is in trouble, be a good man-servant and wipe his bottom for him."
"Go to hell."
Yanng started to laugh.
"I do enjoy our talks, but alas, I must be leaving, so much to plan for but before I go dear brother. I just have this to say. Happy Birthday."
Yinn watched as the shadowy figure receded into the shadows on the wall leaving him alone in the room once more.
Elsewhere: Wayne Observatory
'Shit!' Damian yelled in his mind as he fell through the freezing cold air. The wind and snow whipped against him, while pain radiated from his shoulders and all the way to the metal daggers jutting out of his shoulders, abdomen, and legs courtesy of the armored clad man that just kicked him out of the window.
Damian cracked open an eye and he quickly looked over his shoulder to see the ground coming closer and closer. He tried to move his arms but the daggers embedded in his shoulders made his movements sluggish.
'Damn…that sonuva bitch got me good, he's definitely a pro, only a true assassin would aim for the shoulders.' He thought in his mind, 'I have to do something otherwise, I'm dead.'
The ex-vigilante and assassin rolled over in the air and looked for something to grab onto and that's when he spotted a hideous looking gargoyle that was close to his path to the ground.
'One shot. I pray I haven't reach terminal velocity..' He thought as he, with every ounce of willpower in his body reached out and grab onto the stone guardian.
POOOOOOOOOOP! Damian felt and heard something pop but he made himself keep hold. He grunted and groaned to himself as he climbed up the statue and to the ledge where he let out a sigh of relief, which was until a wave of pain washed over him.
'Close. That was too close for comfort. I've gotten a bit sloppy or perhaps I was just distracted. Ow. Damn, my shoulder is out of place and I'm bleeding pretty badly. Where the hell are you McGinnis?'
Roland- Hotel
Batman blocked two kicks but he missed the slash to the back from one of the talons that in behind him. The sword managed to pierce through his thick armor and catch his flesh. He let out a roar before whipping around with a hard back-fist that knocked the talon that cut him through the double doors.
BAMMMMM!
"ALL OF YOU OUT!" he shouted before having to defend himself from the other talon assassins.
The mobsters eagerly clamored out of the conference room, all of them unanimously letting their sworn enemy handle the mysterious assassin's that tried to kill them seconds prior.
Black Mask came to a stop and he turned towards Batman who deflected a quick mid-ranged sword before delivering devastating uppercut to Talon in front of him.
"This changes nothing freak!" Black Mask yelled, "I'm still gonna kill you."
Batman briefly looked at him.
"You'll try, but just like these guys you don't stand a chance. NOW GO!"
Batman grabbed hold of a talon and used him to block a slash from a sword. He spun around and landed a spin kick to the face of the attacker coming in from his left. He continued to fight the highly trained Talons, doing his best to gain the upper hand but there were too many of them. He back-flipped along the long oak table landing at the head where Black Mask previously sat and next to the pile of concrete that trapped the hulking Talon, whom he assumed to be their leader.
The Talons surrounded him on the left, right and in the center, each silent and deadly and ready to skewer him with their swords that glinted in the moonlight from the hole above. He looked at them for a moment before turning the dial on his belt. The light around him refracted and he vanished from sight. For a moment the talons looked confused but the infra-red vision in there mask activated and they saw the Dark Knight clear as day.
Batman was getting ready to jump out of the window when he was tackled from behind by a talon who tried to stab him in the shoulder but thanks to the thick Kevlar woven padding in that area it managed to deflect it to a glancing slash. The sword tore some of the material but it didn't touch his flesh, which he was thankful. He elbowed the Talon in the eye shattering one of the eye sockets.
'Damn they can see me!' Batman exclaimed in his mind.
He was suddenly swept off of his feet landing hard on the solid oak table cracking it slightly.
The electronics in the shoulder portion of his suit were damaged and so the cloaking camouflage sputtered out and deactivated, leaving him visible once again. Batman got to his feet in time to deflect a knife jab with his fin. He then grabbed the talon and head-butted him before throwing him into the group of talon's that were coming in from the left.
As Batman was battling the assassin's, the rubble that buried their hulking leader shuddered before tumbling off of the villain. The Talon leader's neck was broken but with a quick jerk, he fixed it.
KRACK! Came the sound.
He turned to see his brethren fighting tooth and nail with Batman and even though they were many the Dark Knight was beginning to gain something of an upper hand. He reached towards his side and he removed two curved knives and he wordlessly charged forward.
Batman broke the jaw of the Talon assassin in front of him and he turned around in time to see the hulking Talon assassin spear him across the waist, sending the both of them through the broken window and spiraling down to the ground below.
In the Air
Batman blocked a knife aimed for his throat and socked the assassin in the face. He tried to spread his wings and glide away when the Talon jammed one of his curved knives through the wing under his right arm. He dragged the sharp and sturdy knife through the material shredding it into tatters and making Batman's glide at an awkward off-balanced pattern.
"GET OFF ME DREG!" Batman shouted as he pried himself free and kicked the assassin in the face which completely separated the two of them. When the added weight had lifted he managed to make it to the ledge of the building next to the Roland Hotel. He held on tightly with his left and thrusted out his right hand and fired a grappling hook from the top of his wrist that snagged the falling assassin, halting his descent.
The hulking Talon looked up at Batman and the grappling line that had a hold of him. He lifted the curved knife in his right hand and without a second thought sliced the grappling line sending him falling down below once more.
"NO!" Batman shouted.
Down Below
The Talon assassin plummeted through the air striking several passing flying cars on his way down. Each strike breaking or crushing part of his body and armor. The Talon bounced off the windshield of a truck before finally crashing through the roof of a parked car.
RUUUUUUUUUUUUUNCHHHHHH! Went the loud sound that scared many of the pedestrians that were standing by.
Up Above
Batman hoisted himself up onto the ledge and he took a moment to catch his breath. He let out a few breaths of air before looking towards the window he fell through to see if the other talons were coming for him but to his surprise there was no one there. They had all vanished.
"Small miracles." He whispered to himself "Court of Owls." He continued as he stood up and gingerly cradled his shoulder. A loud scream caught his ears from down below.
Batman turned his attention down below where he could see movement from the metal tomb that held the assassin that tried to kill him. He tapped the side of his mask and it zoomed in closer and his eyes widen as he saw the broken and mangled Talon removing himself from the crumpled vehicle.
"Record." Batman stated as he continued to watch the assassin pull several metal debris spikes from his body and toss them to the ground. He then snapped his broken bones back into place before turning his glowing yellow lenses upward.
The Talon threw a smoke pellet that shrouded his escape from the prying eyes below and above.
"Stop." Batman stated as the recording featured in his cowl stopped. He returned his vision to normal and he sucked in a breath of air as the stinging pain from his back finally found its way to his attention, "Well that was weird. I mean weird even for me."
DEEEEEEETT! Came the sound from the comm system in his ear.
"Master McGinnis!"
"Yinn? What's wrong?"
"Master Wayne is trouble. You need to get to the Wayne-Observatory now. He's on the south side of the structure.. I'm getting a reading on some of his vitals and it appears he has suffered major blood loss."
"I'm on it." Batman stated.
He reached towards the dial on his belt and he pressed the center piece. It only took a moment for the wind to kick up around him which signaled the arrival of the new and improved Batmobile.
It wasn't as bulky as the model that came before it but it was still as sturdy, it was sleek with jet black coloring and a hint of silver on the sides. It roared like a fighter jet as the thrusters pointed downward and hovered overhead.
Batman held up his wrist and fired another grappling hook at the bottom and repelled himself upwards and into the vehicle. He gripped the newly designed steering wheel and pulled the single lever and rocketed off towards the Wayne Observatory.
Observatory-Dinning Hall
Detective Montoya Bullock stepped off the elevator and into the media circus that was the Wayne-Observatory dinning hall. She could see the rich socialites gathered together in front of the cameras. And she could see several officers setting up a crime scene around the window where they say Damian Wayne had been kicked through. Montoya replayed the call in her mind and she found it a bit unbelievable. A man in some type of armored suit stormed into the observatory dinning hall and killed Damian Wayne by kicking him out of a window. It seemed a bit straightforward however she found it to be odd that on her way in she didn't see any sign of a body on the ground.
"Detective!"
Montoya looked over to see Veronica Vale running towards her.
"Ah hell." She whispered to herself "I don't have a statement for you Vale."
"No, I don't want a statement I just want to know if Mr. Wayne is alive or dead."
"No comment." She says as she passes by the reporter.
"Goddammit! Talk to me!" Veronica yells.
Montoya let out a sigh and turned back to her.
"We don't know yet, there wasn't a body down below."
"No body?" Veronica questioned, "If there is no body then where the hell is he?"
Ledge
Damian heaved and vomited some blood from his mouth, his vision then began to blur as the lights and sounds around him distorted, almost as if he was underwater.
'What…what the hell.' He thought to himself weakly, he put a hand to his head as his mind began to work through what was happening to him, 'My blood feels like it's boiling…oh f***, I've been poisoned. It's not the first time, and this poison…this is familiar in a way, but different.'
Damian weakly reached towards his back pocket and he removed a tool-kit that he always kept on him. He opened it and removed an auto-injection pin labeled with the letter B and he jammed it in neck. It only took a few seconds before he was able to breathe a bit better but he could still feel the poison coursing through his veins.
'Damn it McGinnis…..where….'
In mid-thought the Batmobile uncloaked itself and silently turned towards the ledge. The top half opened revealing Batman.
"Come on, more cops are on the way." He said.
Damian clumsily stepped off of the ledge and tumbled into the batmobile. The top half closed and it re-cloaked itself just as a Neo-Gotham PD car flew into view and shined a light on the ledge Damian was previously sitting on.
Several Minutes Later-Bat-Cave
Batman grunted as he hefted Damian out of the Batmobile and into the awaiting hands of Yinn who placed him on a hovering stretcher. Yinn got a glance at him and he carefully but quickly removed the daggers out of Damian's body, he was reading himself for spurting blood but to his surprise there was minimal bleeding.
"Thank heavens, no major artery was hit." Said Yinn, but it was then that a smell caught his attention. He looked at the daggers and brought it to his nose briefly before taking it away, "Poison." He grumbled.
Damian opened his eyes and grabbed Yinn by the arm.
"Tox…Toxin…B."
Yinn nodded his head and felt around Damian's pockets until he found the tool-kit. He looked at the empty auto-injector.
"What's he been poisoned with?" Terry asked as he removed his scuffed and cut mask from his face.
"I don't know specifically but Master Wayne has used his anti-toxin B injectior which means that this is a poison he's dealt with before."
"Does he need more?" Terry asked with pain evident in his voice.
"No. He needs an antidote. The anti-toxin is merely a band-aid, something to help him keep fighting."
"Well give him some of that magic juice, you got hidden on you. That lazarus stuff." Terry replied.
Yinn shook his head.
"No, the Lazarus in itself is a poison. The anti-toxin should keep him stable for now. He needs rest. And I need to tend to his wounds and yours as well. What happened to the two of you?"
"I don't know what happened to him, but I ran into a group of psychos calling themselves the Court of Owls."
"Who are the Court of Owls?"
Elsewhere- Location Unknown
"That is the question isn't it?" Came a giddy playful voice "Who, is always the first question which is always followed by What, then When, and finally my personal favorite…Why? Hmm, questions, conundrums, mysteries and….."
"Enigmas!" a voice shouted.
Max shifted in her spot a little, trying to peer through the thick black sack over her face but failing to do so. She was scared but she had to remind herself that she was tough and to show it she blurted out what she had hoped was the next thing the mysterious giddy voice was about to say.
TAP! THUMP! TAP! THUMP! TAP! THUMP! Came the sound of a cane and footsteps headed in her direction.
"What do we have here? It appears to be a very smart girl." said the voice.
There was a sound of whispering before the voice began to chuckle. Max pursed her lips together as she felt the cane poke her shoulder.
"Could you not do that." She said strongly.
The voice chuckled again.
"With spirit to boot! HAHAHA! A true mystery indeed."
"I prefer to be an enigma or a riddle." Max replied.
She felt the cane on her chin before it suddenly pulled off her black hood, she was blinded for a second by the light over her but once it passed she was able to finally give a face to the voice that had been talking to her.
The man in front of her was old. If she had to guess he would be somewhere in his mid-eighties. He was tall with a lanky build, a wrinkly clean shaven face, pale skin and playful green eyes. Max noticed claw like scars going across his face, almost like he had been scratch by a cat. The old man was wearing a green bowl hat with a question mark on the front, a black shirt with red suspenders, green pants and a green jacket that had question marks all over it. And finally in his hands was a golden colored cane in the shape of a question mark.
Max raised an eyebrow as she saw RJ step into view and next to him but her attention went back to the older man as a smile graced his old lips.
"I'm happy to inform you that being a riddle is my thing dear." He said.
"So, who are you?" she asked.
"I'm…..the Riddler." He said with a smile.
"NYGMA!" came a shout.
Max, The Riddler, and RJ turned towards the shout to see two men and one elderly woman dressed in expensive designer clothing with white masks obscuring their faces and features. The woman stepped forward and held up a small device with a green button on top. At the sight of the device the Riddler along with RJ felt a twinge of fear pass travel down their spines.
"I believe you've had enough fun and games." She said in a stern voice, "We have much work to do and little time to do it, so un-mask the rest of them."
RJ complied with the command and proceed to un-mask the ten other men and women that were bound and on their knees next to Max. As he removed each mask she saw that they were her age or maybe a little older. The Riddler cleared his throat just as the woman in the white mask began to speak again.
"Welcome, all of you to your new lives. Each of you have shown us that you are ready to be apart of something greater than yourself, you are ready to move on from your wretched lives and meaningless existences and to something that is truly worthwhile. Neo-Gotham City is a wasteland filled with corruption and filth that you will help us cleanse so we can reshape it into a city that's more valuable and honest. We shall burn, no, we shall purge this soiled place and pick its bones of those that do no good or do not share our vision of the future. And that includes the gangsters, the thugs, the police and more recently the resurfaced Batman. They are our enemies and you will help us bring them all down."
"And what do we get in return?" came a voice from a girl that was next to Max.
One of the masked men stepped forward and spread his arms out wide.
"You get to be part of a better tomorrow. You will have a place in our new regime and…"
"And that is all you need to know right now." The elderly woman interrupted.
The masked man turned to her and a moment passed where they looked at each other and once it was over the man took a step back.
"Okay so we've got the carrot, now where's the stick." Said Max.
The Riddler leaned towards RJ and whispered.
"Oh I think I like her." He said while chuckling
"Me too." RJ whispered back with his own green eyes focused on Max.
"What if we refuse your offer to join?" Max asked, "What then?"
The masked woman snapped her fingers. The sound echoed in the air and a split second later Max and the others gasped as the dimly lit chamber around illuminated with the glowing yellow lens of the Talons. Each of them silent and intimidating. Max stared at the yellow lens and was instantly reminded of the night when RJ had saved her from one of the imposing assassins. She swallowed hard and turned her attention back to the elderly woman who began to speak again.
"Any other questions?" The masked man asked leaving Max's question open to interpretation from the Talons.
"Good." The elderly woman said, "Then let me officially welcome you all to the Court of Owls. You all will be receiving the brand soon which will cement your affiliation with us. Ngyma, show them to their quarters and introduce them to their new jobs."
The elderly woman and the two men turned and walked away and once they left the glowing lens of the talons closed and they melded into the darkness once again.
Elsewhere- Bat-Cave
"How are things there now?" Came Barbara Gordon-Young's voice through the bat-computer.
"Not…ow….too great." said Terry through gritted teeth. He glanced over his shoulder at Yinn who was stitching up the laceration across his back. The blade that had pierced his suit hadn't been poisoned tipped however it still hurt him.
"How's Damian."
"Resting. Yinn gave him another dose of that anti-toxin B or whatever and I have the computer running some of his blood to see exactly what he was poisoned with so we can...ow…synthesize a proper antidote."
"Good, just keep me posted. I'll give Leslie and Courtney a call to see if they could come over to and help or at the very least maybe they might have some idea as to the origin of the poison."
"Schway." Terry replied, "What's the pulse like out there?"
"What you could expect, however people are curious as to why there is no body, but I managed to convince them that Batman saved him and took him to a private hospital. I gotta go McGinnis duty calls."
"Same here, and Barbara, make sure you and your people stay safe because these Court of Owl guys are highly trained and something tells me we'll be seeing more of them real soon."
"Will do."
Terry let out a gasp as Yinn finished up the last stitch going across his back, but he breathed a little easier when the older man applied a special soothing balm over the wound, followed by a few bandages that covered the wound.
"I'm finished Master McGinnis and I think you should rest as well."
"I wish I could be there's too much work to do." Terry replied as he started typing into the computer. He quickly downloaded the footage from his cowl and once it finished he pulled up the Talon's resurrection from the fall. Yinn looked at the footage with a curious eye.
"That's strange." He stated.
"You don't know the half of it." Terry replied, "I've seen some crazy stuff but this is by far the craziest. The guy fell like sixty stories and he gets up like it was nothing. He might not be human."
"A good detective doesn't let smoke and mirrors misguide him."
Terry and Yinn turned to see Damian limping towards them looking a bit worse for wear but otherwise alive. He was wrapped in bandages and there were a few specs of blood showing through but it did nothing to stop his singular trek to the bat-computer.
"Master Wayne…"
"Save it Yinn." Damian interrupted, "I'll rest when I'm dead."
DEET! DEET! DEET! came the sound from the bat-computer.
"That may not be too far off." Terry replied as he looked at the results, "The poison that's coursing through your veins is very potent however what's weird is that it's been mixed with a chemical compound that's specific to one person. A Pamela…."
"Isely." Damian finished, "Better known as Poison Ivy. It took me a minute but I realize where I've felt the effects of this type of poison, however it's been weaponize a bit more. My anti-toxin isn't doing much to dull the pain or the spread."
"I'm trying to get the computer to synthesize an antidote but it's saying that there is a missing compound. And it's a compound that this Poison Ivy might know. I'll track her down."
"That'll take some time." Damian responded weakly as Terry got out of the chair and allowed him to sit, "If you remember the story Barbara and I told you about how everything came to an end for us."
"Yeah, I remember the gruesome details to the Fall of Batman."
"Do you remember that during that time Barbara hunted down Poison Ivy and then beat her within an inch of her life?"
"Yeah." Terry answered.
"After that beating, Poison Ivy dropped off the map. She went underground….presuablably to hide from anything that resembled a Bat. I lost track of her but by that time anyway I had my own agenda, however I've heard some rumblings in a few exotic location of a woman with control over nature. I'll put out an APB through my networks overseas, and I'll see what kind of nets I can throw up here in the cave. However, in the grand scheme of things, Poison Ivy is the least of your concern. You should be more concerned with the Court of Owls. Who are they? Who is their leader? Who are there next targets? Who…"
"Are you turning into an Owl now?" Terry asked with a raised eyebrow.
Damian looked at him with an annoyed expression before turning back to the bat-computer. He nudged Terry out of the seat and he sat down and pressed rewind on the footage from the cowl. He watched it carefully before shaking his head.
"Did you manage to collect any samples of his DNA?" he asked.
"No." Terry replied.
"Well then we need to find some." Damian replied while zooming in on the metal debris the hulking Talon was yanking out of his body and throwing to the ground, "It's been a few hours since this happen and so if I had to guess, I'd say that the car and all of the parts are making its way to the Neo-Gotham scrap yard. Head that way and find me a DNA sample."
"I can't. One of the wings for gliding was damaged pretty badly, as well as the other piercings in the armor."
"Go in what you have on, and try not to be seen sneaking in McGinnis. And use the new phone I gave you to scan for DNA and anything else that might be of interest." He said before bursting into a fit of coughs.
Terry and Yinn stepped toward him but he stopped them with a single hand.
"I'm fine…this isn't my first time being poisoned. The quicker we take care of the Court of Owls, the quicker we can locate Poison Ivy and get the damn antidote."
Terry glanced to Yinn who nodded his head in response. The new dark knight turned, grabbed his jacket, rushed to his motorcycle and hurried out of the Bat-Cave with the intentions of heading to the scrap yard to find anything that might've been left behind by the Talon that tried to kill him.
30 Minutes Later- Scrap Yard
Terry swung his left leg off of his motorcycle and he looked at the scrap yard that was across the street. He looked up to see several flying monitor drones circling the giant heaps of scraps that were just beyond the large fence. The drones were there to ward off thieves who raided the piles of junk for spare parts that they could re-sale through back channels, and most of the things they'd steal were old or destroyed police weaponry off of destroyed or outdated vehicles. It was a lucrative business which made the scrap yards around town invest in better security.
Terry pulled out his cell phone from his jacket and he held it up in the direction of one of the drones. He slid it open and a holographic screen pulled up in front of him.
"Drone hack beta one." He said.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The screen zeroed in on the drone he was aiming at and it toggled through dozens of encrypted password keys until it landed on the corrected password. The holographic screen changed into a live video feed from the drone.
"Okay, I've got control of the drone. All I have to do now is locate the car and I can do that by looking up the license plate." He whispered to himself before briefly looking around and thanking his luck that no one was around to see him.
Terry touched the screen and he entered in the license plate that was retrieved from the bat-suit footage. The drone shifted through a few license plates and cars before finding the particular vehicle.
"Section B, line one." He whispered to himself "Map route."
The screen showed him a map of where he needed to go and once he memorized it, he made his way over to the fence. He used his phone to control the drone and he careful directed the drone to crash into the ground down the street from him and near the entrance of the Scrap Yard.
BOOOOOOOOOOM! Came the sound of it crashing and burning.
Terry hugged himself to a darkened area of the fence and waited only for a moment before he saw several men and one woman run out of the scrap and towards the burning drone.
He smirked as he quickly climbed up the pole that was next to him, all the while keeping his eye on the people at the entrance. He then jumped over the fence and landed on the other side.
Terry found the crumbled car from earlier in the night in no time. He surveyed it and saw that it was bent inward and twisted in grotesque manor; he still couldn't believe that the armored man had survived.
"Every time I think I've figured out this crime fighting thing it throws me for another loop." He said to himself as he held out his phone, "Scan crime scene."
The phone gave off another beep before a wide blue light emerged from the small LED port on the end and it roamed over the vehicle scanning every piece of it until the blue light turned to red. The light then went from a wide beam to a thin line as it zeroed in on a splash of dried blood on the floor on the car. He bent down and let his phone hover over the blood. A small metal tip emerged from the top of the phone and collected some of the blood.
"Transmit to Bat-cave." He said before looking around once more and he was thankful that he didn't see anyone.
Bat-Cave
Damian let out a cough and then looked up from the batsuit that he was repairing when he heard the computer turning on. He looked at the large screen as it showed the blood sample that was scanned by Terry's phone. He watched intently as it toggled through a dozen set of photos and pictures and after a long minute a photo finally settled on the screen.
"Alton Carver." Damian read but what he found to be curious was that all of the known files that were on the screen indicated that he was deceased.
Yinn looked at the screen as well and put a hand to his chin.
"It says here that he's been dead for nearly forty-one years. And look at this Master Wayne, it says here that Mr. Carver was a Haly's Circus performer who died of an accidental tight rope accident."
Damian narrowed his red eyes a little.
"Accidental death, not likely. I'll have to call Dick to see if he can give me any type of information on this Alton Carver. Computer."
DEET!
"Call Dick Grayson."
"Unable to connect to Dick Grayson." Came the response from the computer.
Damian scrunched his eyes in confusion.
"Why?"
"All communication lines are turned off."
"What in the hell could he be doing that he has to turn off all communication lines?" Damian grumbled.
Neo-Blühaven- Financial District
Dick Grayson, moved through the darkness while watching his protégé and friend Brian Milwood take care of twelve T-Gang hoods that were down below. He smiled to himself as he felt the rush of adrenaline take over his old body. The former vigilante felt a new sense of energy and suddenly he was no longer a man in his mid-sixties but he was a young man in his early twenties.
Dick took a step towards the edge and he leapt off the steep building. The wild blew through his gray hair and wrinkled face but it didn't disturb the black and blue domino mask over his eyes or the large smile plastered on his face.
'WHOOOOOO HOOOOOO!' He shouted his mind.
Down Below
Brian acrobatically jumped into the air and flipped over the head of the T-Gang member that tried to slash him with a knife from behind his back. He dropped down and swept him off of his feet before rolling under a pipe that was aimed for the back of his head.
Brian stood up and put his fists just as Dick dropped down on-top of the man and chopped him in the neck, knocking him out.
"I had him." Brian said.
"I know." Dick replied "But I didn't want you to think I was being a lazy old man."
Brian looked around at the dozen T-Gang members that were unconscious around him and then the one that was beneath Dick.
"Right." He replied before letting out a groan and touching a bleeding cut on his arm.
Dick went over to him and looked at it.
"You'll need a stitch or two but nothing you can't handle." He said "You still need a bit more practice though. You're too quick to slip into old habits, namely using that anger."
"It gets the job done." Brian replied
"There's getting the job done and then there's getting the job done." Said Dick.
"The difference being?" Brian asked.
"No stitches." He said with a smirk.
The two of them turned as they heard the sound of police sirens finally arriving. In a wordless tandem they both ran and flipped onto a trash can and then sprung up to the fire-escape ladders and then deftly climbed to the top of the building and disappeared across the rooftops.
Neo-Gotham City- On the Road
Terry revved his motorcycle as he swerved in an out of the traffic and across the snowy bridge that would take him to Wayne Manor however a call was coming through the visor on his helmet. He tapped the side and the voice of his girlfriend Dana Tan filled his ears.
"TERRY WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN! I'VE BEEN TRYING TO CALL YOU! OH MY GOD, IT'S TERRIBLE!"
"Whoa, slow down Dana what's got you so spooked?" He asked.
"Terry. Max has been kidnapped!"
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Went the sound of the Terry gripping the brakes on his motorcycle. He skidded along the snowy road a little causing the cars behind him to swerve out of the way. He twisted his bike to the right and he applied the gas and he drove off of the side bridge.
Terry flew through the air for a long moment before coming down on the road below. He almost toppled over but he managed to keep the bike steady as he sped off in the direction of Hamilton University.
Hamilton University- 15 Minutes later
Terry burst through the doors to the co-ed dorm rooms and he rushed past several startled students. He made it to the stairs and he sprinted up three flights of stairs before bursting through another set of doors that led to Max's hallway.
He turned the corner and that's when he saw the campus police as well as NGCPD officers and one detective that he recognized, as Montoya Bullock, standing next to a dorm room in particular. He spotted Nelson, Blade and Chelsea Cunningham standing next to an inconsolable Dana.
"HEY!" he called out to them.
One of the NGCPD officers stepped towards him and tried to restrain him but Terry grabbed his hand and with minimal force twisted it and pushed him into the wall. He reached the dorm room and that's when Dana rushed to him and hugged him tightly.
"Terry she's gone, they kidnapped her!" She said with her head buried in his chest.
"Who?" He asked.
"A new cult that's on the rise." Montoya said from behind him, "They call themselves the Court of Owls and this is the fifth reported kidnapping so far."
Terry looked away from the top of Dana's head and to the interior of Max's dorm room that had the Court of Owls symbol, which was a large black Owl with its wings spread wide. And under the symbol were the words the Court of Owls are watching painted in blood.
Terry gritted his teeth and balled his fist in anger.
"Who do these Court of Owls think they are that they can just kidnap my best friend." Said Dana.
'I don't know but rest assured Batman will find out.' Terry thought to himself. In that moment he decided that he would take down the Court of Owls by any means necessary.
Elsewhere: Location Unknown
The Talon that had kicked Damian through the Wayne-Observartory dinning hall entered a well lit chamber where there were several Court of Owls members sitting and waiting.
"Is he dead?" The elderly woman asked.
"No." The Talon replied "But we don't want him dead just yet. He and all of his followers have not suffered enough."
"This is a dangerous game, we should just kill Wayne and the Batman while we have the advantage." came the voice from right of the elderly woman.
"Quiet boy. We've had years to plan and everything is going according to that carefully laid plan."
"I agree." The Talon replied "We've set the trap and all we have to do is wait for Wayne and Batman to fall into our nest, where we will break both of them and take Neo-Gotham as our own."
End Chapter: Read and Review: Hey readers it's me Nomad88 back again with the closing comments. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and the mystery of the Court of Owls going on. I just want to be clear that I will deviating from the actual storyline in the comics greatly but at the same time there should be a few familiar parts or ties to that story.
Anyway, I sincerely hope that all of you are enjoying the start of Batman Beyond Volume 2 because there are dozen of twist and turns left before the end. I'm keeping this end segment here short so I can go ahead and dive into the next chapter. If any of you have any questions, comments, rants or raves please leave it in the review or hit me up with a PM and I'll get back to you ASAP. This is Nomad88 saying later…
Ps: Always remember to check my profile for updates.
Next Up: The Court of Owls Part Two
Summary: Terry, Damian, and Yinn fall deeper into the trap that's been set for them by the Court of Owls. Meanwhile Carrie Kelly adjusts to her new life and exactly what is her story? And Max gets to know RJ and the Riddler and how they tie into the Court of Owls.