Batman Beyond: Two-Face II

Chapter 9: Mark of a New Era

By ShadowHawk & Demoness Space Pirate

Author's Notes: to the Readers who read this fanfic, just to let you know this fic takes places after my friend Demoness Space Pirate's fanfics Same Ol'' Game, Just New Players & Gray Shadows of the Past.

Disclaimer: We don't own the characters used

Location: Gotham Airport

Dana Tan walked out of the busy flow of offloading passengers of the airplane. She tucked a stray strand of raven hair behind her ear as she looked about the bustle of people pushing one another to find their contacts and loved ones. A spot of frantic waving motion in the corner of her eyes brought her attention to the pinked haired woman holding up a cardboard sign.

"Max!" Dana shouted running towards the friend she had left behind after they graduated from high school. The two women embraced one another before parting to catch a look at each other before hugging again.

"Ahem. Do I get any of that?" A voice asked from behind them.

Dana turned to see her high school ex standing behind Max with his hands shoved deep in his pockets as he always did in high school. Dana gave Terry a sly smirk,

"McGinnis, you actually made it here to see me and on time no less. I am honored." She teased before hugging him as well. "What happened? The old man finally died?"

Terry returned the hug with equal tenderness before releasing her. "No, Mr. Wayne is still animated." He stated taking her single bag of luggage.

Max took over the conversation. "Shway, you've tanned up Tan, the California sun must be good to you."

Dana laughed. "Yeah, it took me forever to get use to that place. It's queer but it feels good to be back here. So besides McGinnis being on time what else has changed?"

Terry listened as the two women began to retell past events when as they walked by a small child pointed out of the window.

"Hey look, Mommy!" A young golden haired boy stated pointing at a bat- shaped light in the dark cloudy air. Everyone looked up at the direction he was pointing gapping at what was hovering in the sky.

"Is that?" Max asked directing her question to Terry.

The ring of Terry's cell phone answered her question. Dana gave him a disappointed look as she watched him answer and look apologetically onto them. "I've gotta go. Bruce really needs me now." He explained handing the bag to Max before running off.

Dana scoffed mimicking her actions of days past. "Still the same." She grumbled walking away.

Terry now the dark knight drove quickly towards the source of the light, the legendry batsignal. He had heard tales of the light that would appear in the sky and bring hope to the hearts of the hapless inhabitants in the city. But that light had faded years ago, long before his birth, making him think that it all was just some myth.

But now he was driving towards it, his heart pounding with excitement. Bruce had told him what it meant, an important call. But of which type of importance?

When he landed easily on the roof he looked suspiciously at the large searchlight until the one responsible walked into clear view.

"Hey kid." She greeted him in her trademark aloof manner.

"Commissioner? You called for me?" He asked.

"Yeah, but don't get cocky kid. Unfortunately I need your help in a certain case that seems to be consuming both of our times."

A grim expression covered his once surprised face. "Two-Face."

Barbara nodded stuffing her hands into her pockets. "Yes, Two-Face."

He heard the slight change of her voice when she spoke the name of the criminal. "Taking a personal interest in this one?"

Barbara frowned. "This is personal. Grace Dent and I are great friends and as a favor to our friendship I want to get her son back to her." She stated short and simple.

"You're attached to Jeffery Dent as well." He accused.

Barbara gave him a hard look before she turned and began to walk back to the door that lead off the rooftop. "I don't arrest you for your vigilante form of justice and you don't go asking personal questions."

Location: Gotham Auto Show

Dana and Max walked along side one another as they walked absent mindley through the many displays of new and enhanced cars. The main reason of their venture to the car show was that they had intentions of meeting Terry there as they had planned.

"So what is up with the Two-Face II anyway?"

Dana asked as her eyes drifted over a purple with blue flamed Beetle convertible with external engine and twin muffler.

Max shrugged. "The guy's a real mystery, one day you hear about him knocking off a few people and the next day he saved the local orphanage from being torn down or some dreg like that. Why are you so interested anyway?"

Dana gave her a half smile. "Nothing much, just curious."

Max gave her a forward questioning look filled with suspicion when the two walked before the star attraction of the day. "Look it's the G-6155 Interceptor! They say this baby can easily rival the Batmobile!" Max exclaimed moving to stand aside a tall man dressed in a trench coat and hat.

The man beside them smirked. "That's exactly why I want it." He said reaching pitching off his coat revealing one half of his outfit nothing more than a black business suit with a white dress shirt and red & black necktie. The left side a chaotic rainbow of colors and animal prints. Dana screamed as she stepped backwards, "Two-Face!" At the mention of the criminal's soubriquet twin minions came from all around to stand aside their boss and the people began to flee in a mad panic.

Max quickly took hold of Dana's arm and drag her away from the two sided man and his thugs. "C'mon!" She commanded pulling her cell phone from her pocket. When she heard Terry's voice on the other end she promptly relayed what was going on. "It's times like these we need Batman around." She hissed.

"Got you, he'll be there soon." His voiced deepened as he ended the call.

Max fell forward as she felt someone snatch Dana's arm from her grip. "Hey!" She shouted to the large goon who had a reluctant Dana swung over one shoulder. "Put her down!" He only scoffed. Max growled. "Don't say I didn't warn you." She stated kicking out her foot to his most sensitive area.

The goon groaned falling to his knees and Dana quickly stood onto her feet. "Let's get out of here!" She shouting making a run for the exit.

"Leaving so soon?" Two-Face asked stepping before the fleeing women. He back handed Max sending her reeling backwards into a electric blue convertible with it's top down. He smirked satisfied with himself as he looked back to Dana.

Some moments later Batman crashed through the window to find the place was empty and the G-6155 Interceptor missing. He looked about. "Damn! Missed them!" He shouted at himself.

A groan from behind him made him rush towards a convertible. "Max!" He looked down on his friend as she slowly regained consciousness. "Max are you okay?"

Max rubbed her cheek. "Yeah, I'll be fine. But Two-Face he took-"

"I know he took the car." Batman finished for her.

"Not only that he took Dana."

"What? Did you hear where he took her?" He asked helping her out and onto her feet.

Max merely shook her head from side to side. "But I do know this much. The Interceptor has a tracer on it. I don't think Two-Face has had the time to remove it just yet. Do you have a computer on you?" She asked smiling.

Batman raced above the nightly busy streets of Gotham. With Max's help they had traced the Interceptor down to the bridge where it seemed to have stopped. "Why today of all days?" He wondered his plans of a joyful reunion with his ex-girlfriend ruined.

On the Gotham closed off Parkway Bridge Two-Face stood atop the gallows with a gun aimed into Dana's back. "Don't worry the Bat should be here soon to attempt a rescue." He said.

Dana focused harder on the normal side of his face, he looked so familiar. "Jeffery?" Dana asked with her eyes wide.

The dark look in Two-Face's eyes melted into recognition. "Dana?" He asked looking onto the girl who once acted as his childhood friend and 'baby sister'.

"Y-y-you're the new Two-Face?" She asked her mind refusing to believe what was before her eyes. "No this can't be right. You use to be so sweet and kind, you can't be Jeffery Dent, you just can't be." She mumbled as tears tinted black with mascara began to run down her cheeks. The fear in her eyes brought something back in his memories which he could recall that he came to comfort her when some punk tried to take advantage of her.

*FlashBack*

Jeffery Dent sat in a booth at a diner after working hard on his project at the Wayne-Powers company that he worked for. He was checking over and over in his notes in his data pad to make sure everything was in good order cause his life's work was all that he had left.

As he was going over his notes he noticed a large young man with blond hair grabbed Dana in another both. "Get away from me!" the raven-haired girl demanded, pulling herself out of his grasp.

The young man did not leave. "Come on, baby," he said coyly, leaning in closer, "I've got lost time to make up for."

Just as he grabbed Dana again, Jeffery sprang up from his seat and wanted to pull that punk away, his blood boiling with rage. No one harms his 'baby sister' and gets away with it.

From the corner of his eye he saw Terry hanging up the phone to come to their aid and decided to back down. "Get your paws off her!" he heard Max order as Dana tried again to plead and fight for her freedom.

"Boy, you picked the wrong booth," Terry's voice growled. Dana looked up to see her boyfriend gripping the man's shirt in his fist as Terry's other hand prepared to punch his face. Much to her surprise, he hesitated. "Big Time?" he said, shocked.

The man paused, then smiled in recognition. "T-T!" he said before hugging Terry happily. McGinnis could only hug back, though it still took him a moment to register that he had been reunited with his old friend.

"Big Time? T-T?" Max asked, looking at Dana. However, Dana continued to glare at the man. Jeffery on the other raised an eyebrow. "They know each other?" he said to himself.

Terry became enthusiastic. "Guys, this is Charlie 'Big Time' Bigelow," he introduced. "Charlie was always scheming about how he was going to make it big, and the name stuck."

Charlie grinned pleasantly, "And 'T-T' is Tiny Terry, cause he was always thinking small," he explained, giving his younger friend a pat on the back.

"Dana, you remember Charlie." Terry said to his girlfriend.

"I remember who he is," Dana scowled at her boyfriend. "Do you?"

The black-haired man's grin turned into a frown at Tan's remark. Before he could say anything, however, Charlie spoke up "Come on, twip," he said, leading Terry out of the diner. "What's good to eat around here? You gonna buy me a burger or what?"

The teenage girls watched them leave. Max looked at Dana after a few seconds, and was surprised by her different facial expression. Jeffery wasted no time to check on Dana to see if she was alright as he approached the booth.

"You okay, Dana?" A gentle hand pressed on her shoulder as she looked up to see her childhood friend Jeffery who was standing over them.

"H-huh?" Dana gasped, "Oh! Uh, y-yeah, I-I'm fine Jeffery, thanks for asking." she stammered, trying to calm down. "A-at least, I think so..."

"If that punk harms you in anyway, let me know and I'll take care of him." He offered.

"You are too kind." She smiled.

"What are friends for? Come on," he gently urged, standing up and supporting Dana. "Let's get you home." Max stood up as well helped Dana and Jeffery as they left as Dana was lost inside her own thoughts.

*End of flashback*

"Two-Face!" Came a yell. Both captor and captive looked up to see a furious Batman looking down on Batman from across the bridge. "Let her go."

The darkness came back over Two-Face features. "Sure." He gave Dana a small push sending her over to fall towards the dark waters below.

Dana screamed as she fell grasping at the air for some sort of way of stopping her descent. A dark blur in the night quickly gathered her up in his arms flying her back up to safety on the firm ground.

Dana sighed wrapping her arms around Batman's neck. "I was hoping to see you again too." She stated.

Batman carefully stood her onto her feet before flying back up to the gallows to see if Two-Face remained. No such luck, all he saw was a small blinking cylinder. "The tracer."

Inside the Batcave Batman handed the tracing device over to Bruce. "It was a trick. He had the tracer device on him so that his men could get away with the G-6155 Interceptor while I was busy with him." Batman said to Bruce.

Bruce sighed looking back to his computer. "This is going to get harder for you now that he has that car."

"I know. It can easily rival the Batmobile." Terry stated taking off the mask allowing the burdens of Batman to be lifted for at least a small moment.

Location: Gotham City Bank

In the Second Bank of Gotham on the 22nd floor, a worried thug peered at the Batsignal illuminated in the sky just outside the skyscraper window. Across a narrow abyss stood a skyscraper still under construction, made up of all girders and scaffolding.

A spinning silver dollar flips into his sight continuously changing from heads to scarred heads to heads again blocking out the nerve wrecking sight of the Batsignal.

"Bat should show any minute, Boss." He reported.

A fingerless gloved hand caught the coin only to flip it again. There stood the rakishly handsome profile of Jeffery Dent better known as Two-Face, the other side of his face hidden in the dark shadows. His brown eye looked down on a security guard laying on the floor, with his wrists and feet bound, trembling with utmost fear. "You sport, any thoughts? Counting on Bat-ass to rescue you?"

The guard laid still forcing his shakes to a sudden halt. He didn't know how he was to answer that. Two-Face smiled almost contently. "We sure are."

"You gonna kill me?" The guard managed to say.

Two-Face shrugged. "I might. I might not. Could say we're of two minds on the subject."

Tears were ready to poor from the poor man's face. "I've got family please." He begged.

"What say I flip for it?" Two-Face smirked. He shoved the silver dollar under the guard's fat nose. One side shone in mint condition. "What could be fairer than the random toss of an honest coin? Life..."

He flipped it quickly onto the other side revealing its deep, disfiguring burns. "...or death."

"Please. I swear I won't say noth-" The guard was interrupted as the coin was pressed against his nose.

"The coin wants to decide." He insisted. He flipped the coin high into the air. The coin spun, gleaming in the banks lights. It landed on the floor only inches from the Guard's face.

Two-Face stomped down hard on the coin winking at the sweating guard. "Exhilarating isn't it? The suspense? Sudden death or a new lease on life? Really makes a man live in the moment."

He slowly removed his foot building onto the suspense. Unblemished side up.

Two-Face smirked. "You're in luck. You get to live to whimper another miserable day."

The guard sobbed deeply with relief. The twin thugs around them grumbled with disappointment.

Two-Face folded his jacket into a soft makeshift pillow, placing it under the guard's head. The once feared scarred beast was now the nicest crook in the world. "That floor has got to be very hard. Is that better?"

The guard nodded "Uh, yeah. Thanks, Mr... uh... Two-Face."

"Just call me Jeff. Can we get you a sandwich? A soft drink? Given all the trouble we caused you, how about we cut you in for a share of tonight's haul?" He offered kindly.

One of the twin thugs exploded. "Boss! For cryin' out loud! You're not gonna pay him-"

Two-Face turned on his minion with a vengeance, shooting out a hand he pinned the fellow's throat to the wall slowly closing his throat refusing him air. "Did I ask your opinion? The coin has rendered its verdict. This man has a family to take care of. You have a problem with that?"

The light poured down on his marred features giving the most revolting appeal of his left half of his face: hideously repulsive, an acid eaten mutilation of flesh.

"Oh no, Boss. Anything you say." He managed to gasp out.

The news camera took sweeping shots of the immense chaos taking place in the streets around the bank. Many groups of Swat teams armed with helmets, shields, and guns. Police wagons rolled in one by one causing the ground beneath them to shutter.

Commissioner Gordon, an aged gray haired woman who's face showed that she had seen enough pain for a lifetime, stood in her trademark trench coat. Beside her stood an attractive professionally dressed young woman, Officer Darcy Alcana.

The new Batmobile screeched to a stop on a pedestrian bridge. The brilliant light of the batsignal was suddenly obscured, flowing for a moment into the shape of Batman's cape as the Dark Knight of legend leapt down past the spotlight, landing face to face with Darcy.

"Nice entrance. Like the Batman of old you live up to my expectations."

Batman gave a slight smirk before turning all business to speak with Barbara.

"Two-Face?" He asked.

"Two guards dead. He's holding the third hostage. I didn't see this one coming." She admitted gravely.

"We should have, though." Darcy commented only to receive a look from both Batman and Barbara. "Two million dollars waiting to be transferred from the Second Bank of Gotham on the 22nd how could Jeff- um Two-Face resist? Following in the old man's footsteps in the systems of Twos."

"And you are?" Batman asked.

Barbara took waved a hand towards Darcy. "Batman, meet-"

Darcy stopped the commissioner by offering her hand. "Officer Darcy Alcana."

Batman gave her hand a firm shake. "May I remind you we have a psychopathic murderer to deal with?" The commissioner asked.

A titanic boom rocks the night causing everyone to look up towards the towering building. The large searchlights race up the skeletal skyscraper to reveal a giant crane and wrecking ball in full motion. The wrecking ball swung back smashing again into the bank building.

The already crumbling wall behind Two-Face exploded, Two-Face, unfazed, checked his watch as the giant wrecking ball crashed into the room within inches of the dual-sided villain. "Right on schedule." He chuckled looking away from his watch, with a flick of the hand signaled to his henchmen.

Two-Face's men scrambled towards the hole, attaching chains connected to the vault to an even thicker chain dangling 30 stories from the roof of the construction site adjacent the bank.

The chain yanked tight as it was attached to a futuristic two-rotor helicopter called Havoc already atop the construction site, perched on steel beams, revving its mighty rotors. On the dark side of the helicopter were the symbols of Ying & Yang.

A giant winch aboard the Havoc began to haul the safe chain over pulleys up into the cargo hatch.

One of the twins stared out of the window with his gun ready. "The Bat's taking the bait! What now?"

Two-Face flipped his coin. It rotated a few times in the air before he snatched it from mid-air, slapping it down on his wrist. Bad side up.

The left side of his face darken showing it scarred and gloating evil. "At last, the Bat dies!"

The chains suddenly yanked the safe towards the hole in the wall. The second of the twins gestured to the guard on the floor. "What about him, Boss?"

Two-Face looked down on his uncaringly. "Kill him too." The man grinned from ear to ear as he drew his gun from his waistband.

The guard squirmed as the barrel was placed beside his head. "Wait! You said you'd let me go!"

Two-Face chuckled, "Never heard of a double-cross?"

The small ding from the elevators drew all attention away from the man as the many twin thugs and Two-Face all whirled around, machine guns up and aimed. They opened fire, the lasers from their guns punching holes in the thick metal doors shredding anyone inside.

The guard shook as he laid bound on the floor when suddenly a clamp-ended bat-cable dropped from above. With a tiny click, the smart-clamp hooked onto the guard's wrist bindings.

At the elevators Two-Face and his men emptied their magazines then re- loaded.

"Come on in, the water's fine." Two-Face called.

All stood watching as the now perforated elevator door slide, jerking, open to reveal... an empty elevator.

The skylight overhead exploded and falling in the rain of glass, Batman dropped to the floor on a Batrope. The guard was apparently attached to the Batrope's other end because as the Caped Crusader came down the guard shot up, hoisted fast towards the safe rooftop above.

The stairwell doors blow open as two SWAT teams burst in armed for bear. "Police! Freeze!" The obvious leader shouted.

Two-Face grinned. "Not the guest list I had in mind. Boys, the party's over." He stated dropping a smoke grenade. The thick cloud of dark smoke obscured the SWAT team's sight as Two-Face leapt out of the hole in the wall with his men following behind. The twin thugs came leaping through the hole, using the now rising safe as a springboard to close the windy gap and roll to safety on the construction site next door. They scatted, scaling various beams and girders skillfully vanishing.

Swat Teams raced through the smoke in close pursuit of the fleeing men, come up short at the edge of the urban precipice. The safe had risen too high now to serve as a springboard leaving the cops to drop. Those who had no taken the dive began to open fire across the gap.

Suddenly a dark wing exploded out of the smoke behind them flying across the widening abyss. One of the thugs fired as the figure hurled towards him. Batman landed on his chest, smashing him hard onto the floor.

Suddenly from above lasers crack off the girders almost taking off the Caped Crusader's pointy ears. Up above Two-Face glided upwards, riding the wrecking ball as it overtook the safe, shooting down at Batman laughing madly. Dodging the discharge Batman began scaling the scaffolds after Two- Face. He was climbing fast but Two-Face had too great a lead.

A motorized gantry carried one of the thugs up towards the roof. Batman fired a Batarang sending the bat-shaped clamp to bite into the wooden base of the rising gantry. He toggled the launcher into winch mode, and was hoisted fast towards the rising gantry above.

On the gantry the riding thug leaned down seeing the rising shadow. He grabbed the Batrope in both hands and flipping over the gantry sliding quickly down into kicking range. He drew back his boot to dispatch the Batman.

Batman quickly hit a switch on his launcher, increasing the winch's speed, shooting him higher and faster. He grabbed the thug's foot in his gloved hand shoving him up so that his head cracked against the bottom of the gantry. He swung the unconscious man onto a hanging construction hook, leaving him dangling in mid-air by his nose ring. Without another thought to the man he lifted himself up onto the gantry.

From the scaffolding above, another a twin goon dropped to one end of the gantry, nun-chucks spinning madly. Behind Batman his twin dropped onto the gantry drawing a machine pistol. Batman reached forward grabbing the thug's spinning nun chuck away. With expert manipulation he stun the thug's face with the wooden sticks. In a single move Batman spun and let the weapon fly into the pistoled assailant, knocking him flat.

Batman looked up to see that Two-Face had reached the chopper.

Two-Face climbed into the chopper's cargo bay. He turned to the pilot, "Let's fly."

Batman watched as the helicopter began to rise, pulling the safe overhead along with it. He jumped, dropping through the abyss between the two building to land on a high tension wire. The wire bent like a bow then snapped straight shooting Batman like an arrow straight into the air.

Batman grabed the rising chain, he slid down it's links so that he was standing atop the safe. He fired a Batarang into the bank wall, making an anchor, and attached the Bat-cable to the hitch atop the safe.

The chopper began to strain against Batman's bank-embedded tether. Two-Face looked down in fury. "The man is taking his job much too seriously."

Batman palmed a compartment on his utility belt and a small delivery mechanism snaps a tiny acetylene torch into his gloved hand. A blue flame ignited and Batman began to cut the chains.

When Batman's torch sliced the last link he reached up grabbing the winch chain and was jerked abruptly upward with the now un-tethered chopper. The now freed safe swung like a pendulum on it's anchor line, arcing straight for the hole in the bank wall from which it was originally drawn. The safe came flying through the hole, sliding across the floor and slamming back into place before the bewildered faces of the SWAT team.

Two-Face stares out the side of the chopper an angry scowl on his halved face. "That was our money." He grabbed the controls from the pilot. "So the Bat wants to play. Fine, let's play!" He pulled back on the throttle shooting the chopper straight up into the sky like a rocket.

Batman hung from the chain trailing the chopper a wing of shadowy quicksilver disappearing into the night.

Gotham's Times Square. Tall and narrow with buildings built crowded together tightly. The night was flooded with the crawl of bumper-to-bumper traffic. Glutted with neon signs and giant animated billboards.

The helicopter roared into the view of the people walking on foot below. Everyone pointed upwards at the sight of Batman hanging on for dear life as the city rushes past.

An animated billboard advertisement for Ginsu Knives showed a couple of giant hands make fast work of a steak on a smoking barbecue was coming up fast.

The chopper swung Batman through the ad. The falling blades just missed him, dragging him through the thick smoke. The chopper swung across the square, heading for another animated billboard. This time a tremendous set of clacking teeth turning yellow to white each time the cap lifted off of a giant tube of toothpaste. The chopper barreled straight for the opening mouth. At the last moment the chopper banked, whipping the dangling Batman inside the mouth. The mouth closed on the Caped Crusader, the chopper pulled away causing the chain to pull like floss through the closed teeth.

Inside the mouth Batman, still clutching into the chain, was flying towards the barricade of closed teeth.

Outside of the mouth Batman smashed through the two front teeth. His face was suddenly bathed in an ever brightening yellow glow as he exited.

Inside the chopper Two-Face's smiled dementedly as he looked forward trying to find his next target. Dead ahead was another sign. This one was essentially a giant neon sun, the Wayne Tech logo burned bright yellows and reds over the message 'Solar: The Power of the Future.'

Two-Face gunned the chopper's engines as he moved the chopper forward.

The pilot panicked, "Boss!"

The chopper blew straight through the nova. The neon light exploded like stars in all directions.

As the Pilot, in the cockpit regained control of the chopper, Two-Face walked to the hold, looking down through the hatch at the dangling chain below. No Batman.

Two-Face cheered as he danced with joy. "Ah, to finally be rid of that pointy eared, steroid eating, rubber suited, cross dressing, night rat..."

Through the windshield a familiar dark face appeared down over the plexi- glass.

The pilot gasped in fear. "Uh...boss..." Two-Face spun drawing his machine pistol at seeing his dreams crashing down at seeing his enemy's face. The pilot held up his hands trying to stop his boss. "No!"

Too late. Two-Face spayed wildly, blowing holes in the windshield and his pilot as well. The chopper began to dive as Two-Face staggers towards the pilot's chair. He wrested free the corpse, regaining control. A fist smashed through the side window into Two-Face's jaw.

"Jeffery, you need help. Give it up." Batman tried to coax him. He stood on one of the struts, trying to climb into the open side of the speeding bird.

Two-Face smirked smugly at having Batman in such a vulnerable position, "Words of wisdom from my greatest foe?" He slammed his foot into Batman's face causing him to go down. "Mano a mano a Bato."

Batman pulled himself back up, grabbing hold of Two-Face's foot. With great skill he flipped him onto the floor dragging him halfway out of the bird.

"Surrender." Batman suggested in a demanding voice.

Two-Face looked to him as if he were the insane one. "Ever been to Arkham, Batman? You'd feel right at home. You took years of my father's life, so I'm here to pay you back. There's only one way out of this waltz, Batman, one of us dies."

Batman carefully approached him, "I won't kill you, Jeffery." He said just before grabbing him by the throat.

Two-Face's scarred face twisted into an grotesque frown, "Batman doesn't kill? Bullshit. You're a killer too."

Somehow Two-Face's words seemed to shake Batman a beat. It was all the distraction Two-Face needed, he smashed Batman across the face causing him to slip and fall out of sight.

Outside of the large windshield Lady Gotham was coming up fast. Down on the suppost strut Batman hung by one hand as the bird hurled towards the giant statue.

Two-Face locked "The Club" onto the controls, fixing the chopper on it's deadly course. Batman quickly hoisted himself into the chopper through the open side in time to see Two-Face standing over the cargo hatch.

"Goodbye old boy, you've been a pain." With that Two-Face leapt through the cargo hatch. Batman stares frozen in disbelief as Two-Face plummets to the dark water below.

A sudden flurry of expanding color was caught in Lady Gotham's lighthouse beam as a parachute opens over the falling Two-Face, unfolding into a giant Yin-Yang.

Waiting for Two-Face at the Bottom of the ocean floor was a stolen Aquanaut 2000 motor cruiser and on it were Delia and Deirdre Dennis aka Dee-Dee in black and silver bikini outfits. Two-Face landed with great ease and with the help of the twins removed the parachute. With joy reflecting in his eyes he took the controls of the cruiser and sped off to the nearest harbor making his escape.

Batman looked away from the shrinking shape that was the boat in time to see the large windshield shatter as it collided into the statue.

The helicopter exploded as it crashed into the left side of Lady Gotham's expressionless face. A tremendous fireball split the night, nearly returning the light of day.

No one could see the dark knight falling and falling down towards the sea. Still, eyes closed, perhaps, dead.

*Flashback*

Terry walked into the ransacked apartment. The bold colors of the spray painted covered the dull walls, the acidic smell made his head spin. Any fool would have sworn it was the work of Jokerz, it looked like it, but it wasn't. But it wasn't the apartment that had his heart pounding but the condition of his father. Dead. Dead, he was dead. Terry took a seat on what remained of the couch trying to understand it all. He was dead, they had parted on bad terms, upset with one another and now it was too late to fix it. The 'if I had's began to flow through his head. If he had done this, if he had done that, if he hadn't left, his father would still be alive.

It was his fault, his fault his father died. He was a killer.

*End flashback*

Two-Face's words echoed brutally in his head like the resonance of a hammer against steel "YOU'RE A KILLER TOO!"

The words pounded at his soul as he continued to fall, seemingly forever. Until he plummeted into the cold polluted water. His eyes shot open.

Location: Gotham Harbor

Batman splashed as he swam into the harbor. The night still shrouded in dark the night disturbed by the shrill wail of the many sirens far off at the bank. A small hobbled over man, appointed to await the arrival of the harbors night vessels, drunk deeply from his flask as he looked up towards the burning sky. He mumbled to the low lit harbor as he lit a cigarette and puffed the gray smoke from his mouth. The sound of splashing drew his attention just below him at the seemingly black water reflecting the fire and smoke up above. A familiar cowl broke the surface, breaking the silent harbor environment with a loud gasp for breath.

"What the hell?!" the man shouted stumbling back in surprise.

Batman merely ignored him as he stared up at the sky at the horrible sight.

Up high in the sky Lady Gotham's once beautiful face that welcomed those who came into the dreary city by way of sea, now burned the night. Marked with a half face.

To Be Continued