I know her intentions were good.

But she went too far.

I said I forgave her for what she did to me as a kid.

But now I have to fight her.

BATMAN BEYOND REVISITED

EPISODE:

PAYBACK PART 5: FAMILY CONFLICT

"Are you sure you want to do this, Jake?" My mother asked me with a voice modified by her helmet to make her sound like a guy.

"Well, what can I say?" I answered with a question. "I'd hate to give up a front row seat to a good fight."

"You've always been sarcastic."

She ran up to me and before I could dodge, her sword whammed into my side.

I fell onto my hands and knees, my vision pulsing red.

That thing was more powerful than typical taser-swords.

A few more hits and I'm dead.

I looked at the sword and saw it was designed differently from other tasers.

It was a long metal pole with a dish on one end to form a hilt. Above the dish and handle was a constantly flickering purple light surrounding the rest of the pole.

The flickering showed that it was overloaded with power unlike, again, most others.

Without a doubt it was modified.

But the fact it's overcharged means one electric batarang could destroy it.

I don't want to risk blowing up my mother, though.

I need to knock it out of her hands.

"I said I was sorry, Jake. That I felt bad for what I've done in the past. But this isn't the past. If you stand in my way, I will kill you, even if you are my son."

She hit me with the sword again and I felt intense pain in my back.

I struggled to get to my feet, my limbs shaking uncontrollably.

"You never could take pain very well, Jake."

She struck again, but this time, I rolled out of the way, kicking the weapon out of her hands and throwing a batarang at it, causing a mini-explosion that seemed to daze my mother.

I used that to my advantage and get on my feet.

"Let's see how you can fight without a sword." I said as I got my bearings.

Then she laughed as she also stood up.

"I came prepared, Batman." she taunted, pulling out a second taser-sword from her belt.

Dammit.

Another sword and I used my last electric batarang.

I don't have anything to destroy her weapon.

She ran at me again with speed modified by her suit.

I didn't have time to avoid being hit at least three times, leaving me nearly immobilized on the ground in pain.

"So, Jake..." she laughed manically. Dammit, I hate when she does that. It was frightening. "I'll give you a choice. You can join your mother or you will die."

I barely managed to look up at her.

"I'll never be a killer."

She sighed sadly. It was so sad, I actually thought she was genuinely disappointed about having to kill me.

"That's too bad. I did this all for you, my son."

"No. It wasn't for me. I'd never have wanted anyone dead."

She raised her sword and swung it down, aiming for my neck.

But she failed to make contact.

All I could see was a blur as my mother was knocked off of her feet.

I tried to get up and see what was happening, but my body was too sore.

My eyes got too heavy to see anything anyways.

I blacked out.

I woke up a day later. Or, Barbara said it was a day.

I sat up, feeling horrible aches in my bones.

"Wha... What happened?"

I looked down at myself and saw I was covered in so many bandages that I looked like a mummy.

"You were knocked out pretty badly." Barbara said as she stuck me in the back with a syringe, which made me yell in pain, since that was where I was the most sore.

I looked to Inque and saw she was talking to Dick, which was odd, because they didn't exactly get along. Dick barely trusts me still, so it's no surprise he doesn't trust a former villain like Inque all that much.

"Don't tell him." I heard Dick say in a hushed tone.

They knew I was awake, so that'd be why they wouldn't be talking so quietly.

"Don't tell me about what?"

Inque looked at me, obviously shocked that I overheard them.

Dick shook his head at her, warning her not to tell me.

"It's nothing, Jake. Forget it."

I frowned. "I don't like being kept in the dark."

Inque sighed and walked over to me.

"Jake..."

"Tell me what you're hiding from me." I asked of her, getting frustrated for hiding whatever it was from me.

She sighed and looked me in the eyes, clearly not eager to tell me.

"Jake... I'm sorry... But your mother is dead..."

My eyes widened.

"No... There's no way..."

"She could be alive. Maybe the suit saved her. But I doubt it."

I grabbed Inque's shoulders, gripping them hard.

Barbara had to pull me off of her.

Inque looked at me, frowning and I looked back at her, telling her to explain what happened, starting from after I was knocked out.

She sat next to me and started to explain.

"Well, it was after I recovered from being beaten down by her, of course. I saw she was about to kill you so I knocked her off her feet. I took the mask off of her and started to punch at her, but she easily threw me off. She got up, but I wrapped myself around her, trying to subdue her. Unfortunately, she tripped over a tree root and fell off the side of the cliff when she tried to throw me off her a second time." She looked at me sadly as she explained, barely looking in my eyes.

"No... You're lying..." I denied.

"I wish I was."

I...

I couldn't believe it...

My mother...

She's dead...