Here we are. At the end of this series. The final chapter. I'm honestly a bit surprised by how well received this is, but that's honestly a nice surprise no? Anyway, as I mentioned before, this whole story is a part of something bigger. Many character that you see here will be in this story that I'm currently writing. It's definitely going to be a beast for me to write since I'm pretty sure that this would be the longest story I've ever written. Especially with I had originally planed for the first chapter; I ended up splitting it up into parts in order for it to not be too long.
Now keep in mind, everything that you've read here, especially this chapter, might not be final within the main story itself. I do think it would be interesting to have these chapters woven into the story proper from the characters POV of that story. I want you to also keep in mind that since the all the characters POV is different here, AND from the ones in the main story, the tone will be different. As you could already tell from what you have read.
Currently I'm working on only the fifth chapter of this main story, and it is unknown when I will be able to post up the first chapter. Why I am saying this is because I wish to get a good chunk of the chapters done so then I would have more time to finish it, if I couldn't have enough restraint to post it and managing to finish it, so then all of you wouldn't have to wait months if not, possibly years for it to update. This whole side story was in fact written when I had hit a block when it came to write this main story.
I'd like to warn you, this chapter contains spoilers for my story, which I have dubbed as 'Two for the Price of One' when I couldn't really think of a name. But please remember, this scenario might not actually happen this way since I am still in the early stages of writing it.
(Also I hope I don't hype this chapter up to be like, a super long confrontation or something. It's like, 1,479 words, but it's enough for everything I wanted to be in it. I also like to apologize for the super long authors's note.)
Without further ado, the one and only famous dark knight that started it all, the very first Batman, Bruce Wayne!
Bruce
"No wait! That's the original Batman! He can help us!" A small child clung onto the creature.
Batman had heard rumors about someone imitating him. Of a being cloaked head to toe in darkness with white eyes and a bright red bat on their chest. The rumors were fairly new, so they must have started not that long ago.
It is unknown for how long they've been in Gotham all together.
Being able to encounter this stranger fighting criminals in an alleyway felt like a stroke of luck to a person less experienced. To him it felt suspiciously like something else. Especially with a child.
Batman took a step closer. The impersonator tensed up, and the child caught on.
"It's okay!" The child exclaimed, moving from holding long legs to holding a hand. Batman noticed that the child started to rub circles with their thumb onto the black hand.
The impersonator looked down onto the child, and Batman did the same.
The child was small, short, but looked to be nine years old. They were wearing a green t-shirt, black pants and black shoes. Dirt, mud, and possibly even dried blood scattered around on their outfit. Black hair and familiar blue eyes adorn the child's face. Scrapes littered their arms and face, and Batman would suspect that there were more of that elsewhere. Their voice sounded like a young boy's.
The impersonator on the other hand was almost as tall as Batman. Much like the rumors told, they were absolutely covered with a black material, that Batman couldn't identify. It looked a bit like fabric. Although it was highly unlikely that it actually was fabric. Adorn their head was the 'bat ears' that Batman had in his suit. White lens covered the person's eyes, and a dark red bat was on their chest. (The red bat almost seemed like it was glowing.) The impersonator's 'suit' seemed to also have boots built in, so their natural height would be a little shorter. Their physic suggests that they were male, but Batman knows that that wasn't always the case. Their physic also suggested that they were strong with their muscles, but they were lean. Most likely more of a dodging type than a heavy hitter.
It almost felt ridiculous that such a small being was most likely the only thing keeping the impersonator from fighting Batman.
"My name's Matt. Actually it's Matthew McGinnis, but uh," the child began to look a little nervous, "call me Matt."
Batman took note of the name.
He, Matt, shifted from foot to foot. "I'm going to tell you something pretty wild and please believe me."
"You'll need to tell me what it is first." Batman said, voice gentle. Matt was obviously scared, and Bruce always did have a soft spot for kids.
It was gradual, Matt relaxing, but he calmed down nonetheless.
"So uh, this might sound crazy, but he's Batman," Matt pointed to the person he was holding onto, "and uh, we're from the year 2040."
Silence. That… wasn't something that Batman had expected.
But the silence seemed to have open a flood, as Matt began to blurt out, "okay I know it sounds crazy because you're obviously the original Batman, and as the original Batman there's only you so that means that there shouldn't be another Batman, but he's Batman and so are you, but he's from the future with me. I mean I'm with him. I mean, we were born later and we grew up and it should be 2040, but something happened and now we're here, and it shouldn't even be October because it was July and obviously it was 2040 not 2010 but now it's October and the year 2010, and, and, and-"
The longer Matt had talked, the more frantic his speech was. Just by the end he was shaking, tears building up in his eyes, and his breath was uneven.
Then, with tears overflowing, he croaked out, "I think something's wrong with him."
Batman dared to take another step closer. "What do you mean?" He asked.
He saw the child flinch, almost as if the question itself had smacked him.
"I… he, he doesn't speak. He doesn't respond. He just reacts to whatever. I- I'm not suppose to look under his mask. It's the number one rule with superheroes." It pained Bruce to see Matt's eyes grow haunted, and his heart chilled with what he heard next. "It- it was an accident, I promise. He hadn't eaten since I don' know when. I tried to get him something to eat. I didn't know if he could eat through the mask, but then… I. I saw. I saw his face. His eyes. It-it was completely blank. As if he couldn't even see me. It's almost like he doesn't have his soul anymore."
Clink
An empty aluminum can began to roll towards them, as Batman and Matt jumped to attention to the newcomer.
Tensing, Batman got himself ready. For what, hopefully not a fight.
Black boot. Following that was its partner. There wasn't even a hint of a sound of footsteps coming from those feet. No, but almost a heartbeat later the sounds of shoes hitting the ground reached his ears.
Slowly, the figure emerged from the darkness, footsteps continuing to fall behind the actual footfalls. As the figure came into better lighting, Batman saw that it was the exact same person as the 'Batman' Matt was holding onto. Except something was different. Something was wrong.
Batman could see right through him. And on the other side was none other than Dick following close behind. (He was wearing civilian clothing, but it looked too much like his undercover civvies, including the sunglasses. Just what was he doing?)
A boot reached the ground. A foot stepped down a moment later, making the audible click. Phantom white eyes stared ahead to the solid version. Real hidden eyes followed with laser focus.
Batman shifted, ultimately gaining the phantom's attention. His head turned, a bit slow over to him. A beat of Batman's heart, and Robin turned to stare at him too.
The phantom stopped, but Robin didn't. Not until he stood in the same place as the phantom.
Two images were overlapping one another. One was the phantom, and the other was Robin. And it looked like the phantom's image was growing stronger.
Batman's mind raced.
Matt's breath hitched.
The phantom's head snapped over to the child, and not even a second later Robin's head snapped over as well.
"…M…Matt?" A rough voice called out, softly. Robin's voice echoed not long after, just as soft.
They both took the child in, both of their faces almost in disbelief. As if they didn't expect to see Matt.
"Is that…"
"Is that…"
"Really you?"
"Really you?"
More tears fell from Matt's face. He nodded.
And just like that, as if rain was falling down, the dark suit started to wash away. Tall black bat ears gave way to styled black hair. Blue irises with black pupils faded in from the pure white eyes. White skin began to peak out. An outfit that looked suspiciously close to Robin's own took place of the batsuit, and the glowing red bat on his chest dimmed down to pure black of a shirt.
Tears began to well up in the young man's clear ice blue eyes.
"Matt." His voice cracked, sounding so much younger. And Dick's voice cracked with the same emotions that was racking through the other.
The phantom reacted first, as it seemed to always do, by closing the distance and embracing the small child. Dick seemed to be the one to actually hold the child with all the conviction the phantom did.
"You're here."
"You're here."
"You're okay."
"You're okay."
Matt returned the embrace.
And all Batman did was watch.
(He had a horrible, terrible, sinking feeling that this was something that he couldn't, shouldn't, interrupt. He was an outsider to this moment, and yet there was Robin, no, Dick holding onto Matt the exact same way as the young man. No, he wasn't even a man yet, he couldn't even be a legal adult quite yet.
This shouldn't be happening, and Bruce can only wonder why it was. How did this happen, when did it happen. So many things. And another horrible, terrible, sinking feeling was that this had been going on for a while. Bruce doesn't know how he missed it. Or if he didn't, then how could he dismiss it.)
Dick continue to follow the phantom's every move like a puppet or even a robot getting its commands a little later than it normally would have. Every stroke of dirtied, tangled black hair; every whispers of 'it's going to be okay, I promise'; and every kisses on the forehead.
Finally, Matt managed to pull back.
"Terry?" He asked. "What happened to you?"