Hope you've liked the first two chapters so far, sorry about the last one being short.

Revival Chapter 3

Batman was getting ready for his search for Tim Drake. It had felt like just yesterday that he was doing the same thing. He lost contact with his old sidekick, but he still worried about him. He didn't want the Joker to torture him again like he did 40 years ago. It still pained him to think about those long nights where he wondered where Tim could be. Drake was like his son, just like Terry had now become another son for him to watch over. Batman would do everything in his power to save Tim this time.

The Joker's bombs had destroyed the batmobile during his batcave visit. The high-tech car had to be replaced; it was left in ruins. Bruce had already put in the call to the special Wayne Corp engineers to start construction on another Batmobile. These were special scientists that were sworn to secrecy and paid high salaries. They were told to get the hovervehicle done as soon as possible. It would probably be a week to 10 days before they completed the task, which would seem like an eternity in the current situation. His top scientist was also a member of the Justice League, but he was away on a mission at the time.

For transportation, Batman turned to his old Batmobile. He kept it on display in his batcave museum. He got into the car to see if it would start. The engine gave a few sputters and then roared to life. Batman drove it over to the exit and got ready to go out on his mission.

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Terry yawned as he danced on the floor with his girlfriend Dana. "I think I need to sit this one out beautiful" he said as he made his way over to a nearby booth. She looked disappointed in him, but understood his reasons. He wouldn't tell her the truth, but she knew he was Nightwing.

Dana sat down next to him and he put his arms around her. She looked for a waitress moving around the club and caught one walking by. "Get this man a Red Bull." She ordered. The waitress quickly returned with the energy drink, which Terry began to drink from. After a few more minutes, he was ready to go again, and they returned to the dance floor.

They continued dancing again when Terry was suddenly pushed to the ground from behind. He got up to see who attacked him, and saw that it was the kobras. There were 10 of them in a gang, all dressed in the same green snakeskin uniform that covered most of their bodies except for their mouths and chins. "What do you snakes want?" Terry snarled in anger.

"Orders from our friend say we make your life miserable." The head of the gang responded.

"Leave him alone!" Dana yelled in protest. The crowd became aware of the situation and recognized the kobras who were well-known terrorists. This caused some of the club to panic and evacuate, while others continued to party, oblivious to the dangerous situation that was unfolding on one part of the dance floor.

A deafening slap was heard as one of the kobras knocked Dana to the ground. Her head hit the floor with a loud thud. Terry saw this and couldn't react fast enough, by now he was enraged and ready to make the snakes pay. He got to his feet and began swinging at whatever his fists could reach. The kobras backed off and formed a circle around Terry with Dana's lifeless body lying on the side.

Four of the kobras launched an attack from each side of Terry. He leapt in the air causing the first two to run into each other. The next two backed off while their bruised comrades crawled away, and then went into a hand-to-hand combat with Terry. One attacked from behind, but Terry turned to toss a punch to knock him down. He turned back to the front and was met with a strong uppercut to the jaw by one of the kobras. Terry could taste blood, but he wasn't going to let it stop him. He took the kobra's arm and twisted it, causing it to snap and break.

This time three more charged him, and overwhelmed him; one of them used their foot to come down on the back of Terry's ankles. This caused the teen to fall to the ground where the others began kicking him on all of his sides. Terry could feel the darkness begin to take over, but he wasn't going to give in.

Suddenly a ringing phone interrupted one of the kobras. He answered it and ordered his allies to stop the attack. They left and took Dana's limp body with them. As they exited, they fired some gunshots in the air causing the rest of the club to evacuate in terror.

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Batman was hard on the trail of a Joker who he had recognized. It was one of the clowns who helped the Joker launch the attack at the dinner banquet. Batman was just about to attack him when the communicator on his uniform went off. He wanted to ignore it and take the clown youth down, but instinct told him to answer the call. He knew it could only be Terry or Barbara.

"Batman here." He waited for an answer

"Brrruuccce" Terry answered in a weakened whisper.

Batman recognized the voice of his sidekick and realized that he was injured. "McGinnis? What's wrong where are you?"

"Club Eclipse….. attacked .. by kobras…. they worked for…. the Joker…. they took Dana…" with his last breath, Terry relayed the information to Batman before collapsing on the empty dance floor.

"Hold on, I'm coming to get you." Batman didn't want to let his prey get away, so he kept his eye on the joker while talking. He knew that Terry's time was short, so he fired a tracking device that discreetly landed on the clown. Batman then headed in the opposite direction back to the Batmobile. He needed to get across town as soon as possible.

Once he reached the vehicle, he hit the gas and drove at record speeds to the club. He burst through the doors and saw Terry lying on the floor. Batman instinctively got down to check his pulse. There was one, but it was a little weak. Terry's eyes opened when he felt the presence of someone. He smiled at Batman before closing his eyes once again.

Batman carried his apprentice out to the batmobile and drove back to the batcave. He needed to do a full examination on Terry, but judging from what he had seen, there were no broken bones, which was a good thing.

As he carried him out of the vehicle upon entering the cave, Ace came over and licked the hand of the semi-conscious Terry. The Great Dane could sense that his friend was hurt. Batman laid him down on the medical table and began his diagnosis. A full scan showed that Terry had a bunch of bruises, a few fractured ribs, and a cut on his lip. He might also have a slight concussion, but it was too soon for the machine to tell. He'd make a full recovery with rest. Batman injected him with some pain killers that helped ease Terry back into sleep.

Batman knew he had to get back out there and track down the Joker, but he couldn't leave Terry alone. There were only 2 people that he could call for assistance - Terry's friend Max, or Commissioner Gordon. He knew that the Commissioner would be too busy tracking down Tim, so Max would be his only choice. He was reluctant to let a known hacker like Max into the batcave, but it would be the safest place to stay, and he had a feeling that he could trust her.

After a quick phone call, Max was on her way. She was both excited and concerned. Concerned for her friends health, but excited that she was finally going to see the batcave that she had heard so much about. It only took her twenty minutes to get to Wayne Manor. Bruce greeted her at the front gate and led her to the clock entrance for the cave.

Her face was in shock as she walked down the steps and caught her first glimpse of the massive hideout. She saw all the computers and felt like a kid in a candy shop. She was anxious to look at each one and see what it was capable of, but she knew she had to restrain herself.

Batman put his mask back on and hopped back into the batmobile. "Don't touch anything" he told Max. She stuck her tongue out at the exiting vehicle and then turned her attention to her resting friend.

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Batman punched up the tracer on the Batmobile computer and started searching for the Joker that he had planted it on. He was just getting a fix when he looked to the sky and saw a familiar signal. It was the batsignal that Commissioner James Gordon had used on numerous occasions to summon Batman. It hadn't been used in years since that Commissioner Gordon had retired.

Batman headed toward the source of the beam, which was in its usual place on top of police headquarters. He parked the batmobile in a dark alley near the building and traveled the rest of the distance by using his rocket boosters and wings to propel him up through the shadows.

He watched cautiously to see who signaled him. He knew it couldn't have been Barbara, because she would have just used a phone call. It was definitely someone else. He looked through the shadows and saw an aged black man. He recognized immediately that this was District Attorney Sam Young, the husband of Barbara Gordon.

Batman emerged from the shadows and approached the DA.

Sam Young was caught by surprise by the sight of the Batman. "I thought you wouldn't come" he said. "I need your help." Batman remained silent as Young continued talking. "It's my wife Barbara" the attorney paused, a look of fear on his face. "I think she's been kidnapped."

Bruce's eyes widened in shock under his mask. 'Not Barbara' he thought. He immediately knew there was a Joker connection without even having to look at the crime scene. "What makes you think this" Batman asked, even though he probably had a feeling of the answer.

"I came up to her office this evening, because she had been working so hard on the Drake case. When I came in, she was missing, and the office was in shambles, as if there had been a struggle. Papers were all over the place, and then there was this:" Young answered handing the Batman a card.

The card read "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA" in purple ink. It was definitely the Joker's calling card.

"I'll do everything in my power to find the commissioner" Batman said solemnly. He was gone before the DA could turn his head to thank him.

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Inside the Joker's lair, the villain looked at his captives who were tied to chairs. There was Barbara Gordon who was defiant as ever and willing to do anything to get revenge on the Joker. Dana Tan had awoken, but was still groggy after being knocked unconscious in the dance club by the kobras. Timothy Drake was also captive, but he was separated from the two women, as if he were being singled out.

The Joker walked over to Drake and looked him in the eye. The Joker had a rare serious look on his face. "Listen up birdboy, I have a project for you, and you're going to do it."

"What if I refuse?" Tim spat. He didn't want to help the Joker in any way after the torture he put him through.

"Then I'll do to them what I did to you" He answered glancing toward Barbara and Dana. An expression of horror came across Tim's face. He couldn't bear to see his good friend and an innocent teenage girl suffer through the same tortures that he had.

Tim bowed his head in regret. "I'll do what you want." The Joker began laughing evilly. A look of disappointment appeared on Barbara's face, while Dana's showed fear. She didn't know what the Joker would do to them.

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Meanwhile, Batman had finally resumed his tracking of the Joker who he planted the device on. He was hoping that he wouldn't be interrupted this time by any other disasters. The blip indicated that the teen was near Gotham Harbor. Batman followed the signal and abandoned the batmobile to investigate where it was leading him too.

The signal indicated that the youth was in an old abandoned warehouse along the wharf. Batman turned on the cloaking device in his suit and slipped through an open window. He walked along the catwalk above the floor and could see some Jokerz sitting at a table, playing cards. They were fooling around and having a good time. Batman used the microphones in his suit to listen to their conversation.

"Man, this new Joker is great. He's really been abusin Bats. It's going to be great when he finally takes control of the city."

"I heard he got the commissioner held hostage."

"I heard he's workin on some sort of Doomsday device." 'A doomsday device?' Batman thought. 'That couldn't be good.'

Batman listened for some more, but he was suddenly interrupted when a Joker wearing infrared night goggles hit him from behind. The hit sent him falling off the catwalk and knocked his cloaking device off. He recovered in time to break his fall, but he now found himself surrounded by the group of Jokerz.

"Lookie here guys, it's the Batman. Lets make him bleed." The Jokerz charged Batman with a variety of clubs, bats and chains. They started swinging right and left with their weapons, but Batman got out of the way. He fought back and sent the teens flying across the warehouse floor. Some of the youths pulled knives, but Batman grabbed one of the fallen chains and whipped them out of their hands.

Soon most of the Jokerz were lying on the floor moaning in pain. Batman grabbed the one that he was tracking. "WHERE IS THE JOKER?" Batman said in his interrogative voice.

"Uh, I d-d-dunno" the youth stammered.

Batman lifted him higher by the collar. "WHERE IS HE?"

"I still dunno." Batman fired his rocket boosters and took the teen up to the catwalk and held him over the ledge.

"I'll ask one last time. WHERE IS HE?"

"We don't know, honestly. He calls us when he needs us. We haven't seen him in person since he came here last week." The boy feared for his life and tears began to flow down his cheek smearing his joker makeup.

Batman pulled the joker back from the catwalk and left him there. He exited through the window and returned to the batmobile.

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Batman was fuming as he drove in the batmobile. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find the Joker, and now his friends lives depended on it. He needed the Joker to slip up soon.

"Batcave to Batman, Batcave to Batman." Batman's thoughts were interrupted by the batmobile radio. He recognized Max's voice on the other end.

"What is it?" he answered.

"I think you're getting some sort of transmission. I'm trying to send it over to you, but I'm not sure how."

"Flip the green switch and press the blue button." Max listened to the instructions and did as she was told.

Soon the same transmission appeared on the screens in the batcave and the batmobile. An image of the Joker's face, along with his captives appeared on the television. "Greetings Batman. It's your old buddy Joker just giving you a call to say hi. You are missing a great party here." Batman remained silent as the Joker gloated.

"Awww, you don't want to talk? Well, just so you know, I'm working on my little death ray. Try and stop me, and your precious friends get hurt."

"You hurt them Joker and I'll make sure you stay dead this time."

"Tsk, tsk. No need to get all sour. I'll call you when I'm ready to invite you to the party, oh and you can bring the kid if my kobra pals didn't pound him into a coma." The screen went blank.

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Batman returned to the batcave to examine the Joker's transmission for clues about his location. He paused the screen and examined the background. It looked like he was in a warehouse, but there were thousands of warehouses in Gotham. It could be any one.

Max looked at the screen to and tried to help the detective solve the mystery. "That place looks pretty rundown." she noted.

"Yes, he could be in the historic district. I fought to preserve that area when Derek Powers wanted to tear it down for development. It's the area where my parents were killed."

"I know where that is." Batman and Max turned their heads and saw Terry hobbling over to the screen. "Look over Drake's head." They both looked and saw 'TM' scratched into the wall. "It's the place where me and Big Time used to hang out when we were breaking the law. It's the abandoned warehouse on 10th and Smith."

Batman changed the screen and brought up a map of Gotham City. He knew the area well, but he wanted to look for the best access into the building. He zoomed in on the actual building location and typed some commands into the computer. Soon he had the floor plans for the building.

Terry pointed to the basement. "We hung low back then. The cops never checked the basement, they were only concerned about the main floor."

"Anything else I should know?"

"Yeah" Terry said, putting on his Nightwing costume. "I'm coming with you."

"I don't think so. You need rest."

"My girlfriend is there. I'm not taking no for an answer." He pulled the Nightwing mask over his face and was ready to go.

"Fine. Max, stay here just in case we need some assistance, and once again, don't touch anything."

Batman got back in the batmobile while Nightwing put on a helmet and hopped on one of the motorcycles. Two engines roared to life as they sped out of the cave toward the warehouse where their friends were being held captive.

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Batman and Nightwing arrived at the warehouse. It looked unusually quiet from the outside. Nightwing led Batman around the back to a side entrance just off of an alley. They kicked open the door and took a defensive stance. Terry winced in pain under his mask; he was still hurting from his encounter with the kobras. Nothing. There were no guards or booby traps present.

The two heroes slowly walked in the door. It was poorly lit, and there was little light coming in from the outside since it was still late at night. They were quiet, trying to listen for any noise, but there wasn't even a mouse present.

Batman followed Nightwing over to a side staircase. There was also an elevator in the middle, but they did not want to take it in fear of tipping off the Joker that there were intruders present.

Once again, they approached the stairway cautiously, quietly opening it up in search of guards. There was still no sign of life. The stairs turned around a corridor leading downward. Batman led this time with a batarang opened in his hand as he peeked around the corner. The coast was clear.

This time, they decided to barge right through the door leading to the basement. They barged right into the Joker's lair, or rather his abandoned lair. There was no one present. The only furniture that appeared was a few empty chairs, and some computer equipment. They had been tricked.

Batman went over to one of the computers to look for clues when one of the monitors turned on by itself. The Joker's face appeared once more with his evil grin sending chills down Nightwing's spine. "Sorry kiddies, I knew you'd come looking for me here, but I decided to move my base to a less bat friendly location. I did leave you a nice present though. Happy Birthday Brucie!"

Suddenly, large metal gates came down from the ceiling blocking off the elevator and stairway entrances. A large package then popped up from an underneath compartment in the middle of the room. It was 2 feet tall and wrapped like a present, and was emitting a slow beeping sound, counting down the minutes or seconds until it detonated. Nightwing went over to investigate, but Batman already knew enough about the Joker to know that it was a bomb.

Batman looked all over for an exit. He took one of his explosive batarangs and tossed it at the metal gate blocking the entrance to the stairs. There was a small explosion, but no damage. The batarang barely pierced the outer layer of the titanium alloy that was blocking their exit.

"The vents!" Nightwing pointed out. There was an opening about 10 feet off the ground on the left-hand wall, very close to the ceiling.

"We got to move now!" Batman commanded as the beeping from the package started to intensify. Nightwing leapt and grabbed the metal grating that sealed off the piping. He yanked and fell back as the grating came with him. Batman picked him up in mid-air and got to the vent entrance. It was a fairly large vent, about 3 feet in diameter. Both Batman and Nightwing got on their knees and crawled for dear life. They could see the end of the tunnel when the bomb went off.

A fireball rushed through the vent as the entire building began to shake. Batman and Nightwing were ejected from the passage as flame emerged behind them. The blast sent the two flying halfway across an empty sandlot that was behind the warehouse. Nightwing moaned in pain once again as he received his second hit of the night. There was a touch of pink to the sky as dawn started to break.

Batman helped Nightwing to his feet as the building started to collapse from the fire. Nightwing looked on at the destruction of a place associated with the dark chapter of his life. He was glad that it would no longer be there as a reminder of his dark side.

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The two heroes returned to the batcave, bruised and battered from their adventure at the warehouse. Max was sitting at one of the computers, looking at files on the Joker. Bruce was going to protest her being at the computer, but he didn't have the energy to complain.

"Are you sure it's the same guy that you are dealing with?" she asked.

"Almost positive, even though it seems impossible." Bruce answered.

"Did you match the prints?" Bruce paused for a second. He hadn't done that, because he was so certain he was dealing with the authentic Joker. Only the Joker would know his real secrets. Or would he?

Bruce went over to where the lab stood and took out a fingerprinting case. It had been undamaged from the Joker's grenades. He went over to the area where the Joker had stood during his assault on the cave. He remembered seeing the Joker touch the giant coin that Two-Face had used. It took some precision, but Bruce was able to find the prints.

He brought up the Joker's prints from file and compared the two. There was a distinct difference. This wasn't the same Joker.

"A twin perhaps?" Terry questioned

"Or clone. Fingerprints can't be duplicated. Definitely not a robot." Bruce replied.

"You two should get some rest." Max declared.

"Not now, we just made a major breakthrough. We need to investigate this further."

"It's 6 AM on a Saturday morning. You won't get many answers, because no one will be out."

"She's right. I think I'm going to crash upstairs. I'm still not feeling right after the attack." Terry commented. "I just hope my mom doesn't worry."

Max yawned too. "Yeah, it's been a long night. I think I'm going to head home."

Bruce looked at her. "You can stay too if you want. I could use an extra pair of eyes later when we investigate the prints."

The three people exited the cave and headed to different bedrooms in the Wayne mansion.

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The clock beeped to signify the changing of another hour. Terry opened his eyes and looked at it. 6 PM. He had been asleep for almost 12 hours. The headache has subsided, and his side was feeling a little better, although there was still a lingering pain. He decided to raid the kitchen for a quick snack and then head down to the cave to see what was developing.

Terry walked down the steps and saw 2 new people. One was a tall older African-American man with long dark hair, and the other was a balding white man with a noticeable gut.

Bruce was talking to them, while Max was listening. It looked like a meeting of the minds.

The African man noticed Terry and motioned over to him while talking to Bruce. "Is that your new partner?"

"Yes. Terry McGinnis, I'd like you to meet Virgil Hawkins and Richie Foley. You might know them better as Static and Gear. I called them in after they got back from their league mission to help us find the Joker."

Terry was astonished to see the two heroes. He remembered reading how they helped Batman when they were just teenagers learning the ropes, but evolved into two of the league's most prominent members after years of service.

"How ya feelin kid?" Gear asked. "Batman told us about the beating you took."

"I could be worse. The physical pain is going away, but there's still the other pain. Any news?"

"The Joker still hasn't made his move, but Gear analyzed everything he stole and has figured out his plan. He's going to use satellites to create high-powered laser beams that can shoot down from space and destroy any object on Earth. We already put the Watchtower on high alert, so Superman and Green Lantern are ready to attack the satellite if and when it strikes."

"Have we found his location yet?"

"No, but we suspect that he's using Drake to build the device for him."

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Meanwhile at the Joker's lair, Tim Drake was close to finishing the Joker's evil machine. He had been working for the last 18 hours with almost no rest, but he knew the technology well and was quick with his production. He knew that there would be consequences if he stalled.

The Joker looked over Drake's work with his usual evil smile. His plan was working perfectly, and he knew exactly where he wanted to test the ray first once it was operational.

He punched up a satellite image of Wayne Manor.

To be continued….

Author's Note: Sorry for the really long delay. Midterms, and then video games sidetracked me. I promise to work more on this and have it up sometime during the Christmas break.