AN: Here is the second part of the monster Matt story with a plot – maybe this section is more interesting than the first. Thanks to Lilmatchgirl007 and fireinu, the two who were kind enough to comment.

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It had taken him a bit, and the theft of some concealing clothing, but Ian had figured out exactly what had happened to him. For the full week after he had resurfaced he'd spent a great deal of time on the Internet. Doing research on both Wayne and his company as well as trying to identify what he'd changed into. After getting a few leads from the net on just what he might be – fiddling around with a meteorology sorting set to isolate exactly what it was that he'd become. Somehow he'd become a living, walking and talking gemstone. It seemed that his entire body was now made up of something called fayalite, a very rare gemstone that almost never occurred naturally. Fayalite was a combination of mainly iron and silica as well as small amounts of a few other elements mixed in for good measure.

Something else that he'd discovered during all that time he used for researching was that food was not something needed anymore for his continued survival by his new body. He also no longer had to breath. It seemed he, by some unknown means, was able to absorb oxygen directly from his immediate surroundings. Even water, but he didn't care for doing that too much – the innate coolness of water didn't seem to agree with him anymore, it slowed him down a lot.

Then there was the inconvenient factor of how his weight had quadrupled due to his change in specific gravity. He now weighed in at approximately 650 pounds, which is why he'd had such a hard time walking across the park that first night. His initial comparison had been more right than he knew. While walking on the relatively soft grass covered ground at the park, his feet had sunk deeply into the soil. It was just like he had been trying to walk on top of fluffy freshly fallen snow without snowshoes. It was time for someone else to sink now though, and not into something as harmless as snow.

Peek glared at the building he stood in front of, Wayne Enterprises Warehouse 12, while the late afternoon sun glared off his translucent green fayalite form in return, blinding anyone who looked directly at him. Good. He didn't want anyone to look at him nowadays anyway – not when he looked like a freak.

This warehouse was going to be his first step in paying back old man Wayne for his disrespect. It had been ten days now since he had managed to win free of the earth, he had been meaning to wait for a full fourteen but found he couldn't wait any longer. Yes, after being trapped for so long, he'd lost any kind of patience that he might have had in the past. Now he wanted instant gratification – the quicker the better.

Roaring out his anger he suddenly rushed the warehouse, demolishing a good number of things on his way in with his crystalline body alone. The onlookers on the street and the workers in the warehouse heard a surprisingly appealing bell-like tone that resonated from his limbs and torso every time that he connected with something solid, which was pretty much right from the start since he didn't bother entering via the door.

He had just crashed through the wall like some kind of juggernaut on a mission. Laying waste to anything inanimate that was in his path by the simple expedient of his prodigious use of sheer brute strength, not stopping for anything. Yelling the entire time he was rampaging through the warehouse that Bruce Wayne needed to pay for his sins. That he didn't deserve the prosperity his family's company gave him on a silver platter.

The people he let go, he wasn't interested in them – he only wanted to hurt Wayne and his company. If Peek had to destroy it one piece of real estate at a time until he made it all the way up to Bruce Wayne himself, then that's how he would do it. For a solid hour he ravaged the warehouse's interior, ranting away the entire time. Then, finally satisfied with the amount of damage he had caused, he left the building and disappeared into the labyrinth of industrial buildings surrounding the warehouse.

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Terry was just on his way to collect Matt from his personal office at Wayne Enterprises and head towards the manor at the end of the day when he was waylaid. An upper level manager grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him towards the elevators. "Mr. McGinnis, sir, you have to come down to the security office right away – there's something that you need to see."

Terry frowned and shook his arm free. He waited for a moment for the man to elucidate, but apparently it wasn't going to happen. Impatient with the older man's histrionics, Terry internalized a growl as he asked, "Well, what is it? Can you give me some information to work with here? Or am I going to have to try and guess?"

The middle-aged manager quailed under his young vice-president's glare. "Its warehouse number twelve – there's an intruder. Other than that, I-I've never seen anything like this before, sir, so I can't tell you anything. I'm sorry." He answered helplessly.

Terry strode into the indicated monitor room ahead of the trembling manager and stopped dead at what he saw on the screens. It looked like the form of a man, walked and otherwise moved like a man, and Terry couldn't be sure without sound, but appeared to talk like a man too. That was where the similarities ended though; the figure on the screen may have been man shaped but there was no way that it could be mistaken for a human. For one thing, it appeared to be made out of a translucent dark green glass. Another was the way it was put together – it wasn't smoothly carved like a statue, but roughly outlined with very clear striations suggesting any details that might have been needed like facial features.

"What in the hell...?" Terry could feel his mouth hanging open. He got over his shock quickly though and asked, "Why don't we have any sound?" His eyes drifted down to the timestamp in the corner of the screen and he saw that the feed was several hours old. "And why wasn't I notified when it was happening? These recordings are at least two hours old."

A hard looking man in his early forties answered Terry's questions in a clipped and precise manner. "Respectfully sir, we didn't know that this had happened. That thing there took out the audio transmitter for the warehouse in its initial assault. It also destroyed all the cameras, but we were able to recover this much. And that was only after we finally got through to our people on site to tell them to bring the wrecked equipment here."

The head of security at Wayne Enterprises was a former military man, a Captain, and it showed in his bearing and conduct. He ran a tight ship and didn't suffer fools gladly, as many who worked with him could attest. He also wasn't the kind of man who gave his loyalty easily, but both Terry and Bruce had managed to impress him over the time he had worked with them, and so had earned his allegiance. He addressed and treated Terry the same way he would a senior officer.

The small amount of recovered footage looped back and started to replay as Terry gazed at the screens. His eyes narrowed in anger as he watched the wanton destruction the glass man wreaked on the contents of the warehouse. 'At least it didn't go after the people at all.' It was a small blessing at least. Terry pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. The recordings were hours old and not complete, so there was nothing he could do at the moment other than make sure he had all the information

"I want a copy of all that you recover, Captain – just put the disc on my desk along with the damages report and the personal interviews. I'll go over them both tomorrow morning first thing."

"Yes Major, I'll make sure that it's done. Should I make copies of everything for the Colonel too, sir?"

Terry shook his head with a small dark smile, "No, don't worry about it. I'll get all pertinent information to Mr. Wayne." Terry turned to leave the room. Pausing at the threshold he tossed over his shoulder wickedly, "After all, he's used to me and that way nobody else has to risk braving the beastly dragon in his lair." Terry heard some small thankful chuckles around the room as he made his escape.

It was a running joke in the company that you didn't want to be the bearer of bad news to Mr. Wayne. His bark was bad enough nowadays that you didn't want to know what his bite might be like. Since he had to be so ruthless when he was reclaiming his company back, Bruce had thought that trying to return to his former act of ditzy playboy would have been incongruous to say the least. So he now acted like a grumpy old man – bitter with the loss of his youth's popularity, but replacing it with hard earned power. Corny, trite and overdone story? Yes, but did it work? You betcha!

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Thirty minutes later Terry pulled the limo into the garage of Wayne Manor and parked. He'd filled Bruce in on what had happened to make him late on the way.

As the three trooped into the house proper, Terry turned and said, "Hey Bruce, seeing as we were unavoidably detained by that mess at warehouse twelve we're running late. Why don't you and Matt go down to the cave directly and get started while I rustle up something for us all to eat?"

Bruce just grunted his assent and turned towards the study, motioning brusquely for Matt to follow. Matt rolled his eyes at the old man's peremptory manner but fell into step, slightly to the side and behind, obediently enough. He did however mutter depreciatingly under his breath, "Yessir, Mr. Wayne. Right away sir – and may I compliment you on your absolutely stunning social graces?"

Matt guessed with chagrin that he might not have been muttering as quietly as he had hoped when he suddenly had to catch himself from a nasty fall. Bruce had unexpectedly tripped him with the cane he always carried. Thankfully, Matt was far enough in his training that it wasn't too hard for him to right himself, but he was going to have some very interesting bruises on his shins for his troubles. 'Well, what's a couple more added to the slew I'm going to get later on?'

But still, as a matter of form, Matt glared at Bruce and demanded, "What was that for?"

Bruce smirked evilly at him but just said mildly, "I thought it was time for a test of your reflexes."

"And?" Matt demanded as he stopped in front of the old grandfather clock that hid the main entrance to the cave below the Manor.

"You passed." Bruce said simply and left it at that as he reached past Matt to work the secret mechanism that allowed the clock to swing aside. Matt wanted to scream with frustration. 'God! Could the old man be more arrogant?' He contented himself with speaking looks and dire imaginings as he followed Bruce down the rock stairs. He knew better than to tempt fate by opening his mouth and letting it get away from him a second time.

Bruce had already put Matt through all his standard exercises – memorizing a page or two at a glance and reading them later in recall, along with other varied memory-training techniques. He'd also tested Matt's observation skills and his mental awareness levels in the simulator and they had moved on to what Matt called the fun stuff by the time Terry came down with their meal.

The fun stuff was the scenarios that Bruce, with Terry's help at times, had put together to train Matt in deductive reasoning. Since Bruce tended to use a lot of elements of past cases from the time when he was Batman in making the situations for Matt to solve, it was like getting a peek into the past for the boy. Every time Matt saw something new from Gotham's history, it was a treat, and something that he treasured.

Terry passed out the plates he had made up, and then as he sat down to eat he glanced at the screen of the large computer Matt and Bruce were sitting in front of to see which case Matt was working on. "Oooh, this one. This is a good one Matt – I should know since I helped put it together."

Matt stopped eating long enough to clap his hands together and say in a giddy manner, "Oh goody! I guess that means I shouldn't have to think too, too hard to solve it." Then with that said Matt went back to eating, totally ignoring Terry. His older brother was going to get his turn at Matt soon enough, Matt didn't need to deal with him now.

Terry just threw his younger brother a dirty look, wondering again of the merits of being an only child, and finished his meal. Then he went to warm up, finding a peace in the measured movements of the Chinte kata. As soon as Matt finished both his meal and the scenario that Bruce had put him to solving, he joined his brother on the practice mats. Not quite as smooth in his motions as Terry was, Matt still was able to keep up with the slowly increasing pace of the kata until it came to its prearranged end.

Terry of course had noticed the minute Matt had joined him and had watched out of the corner of his eye as his brother mimicked his movements. Going back to the beginning of the Chinte routine Terry surreptitiously watched his brother's every movement. He had noted every weak area in Matt's execution of the kata and quickly came up with a strategy to remedy those weaknesses during the night's session. Terry brought the second run to an end and turning to face his brother said,

"Okay Matt, we're going to do something different tonight. Since you have picked up the majority of the katas we have taught you so well, I think that its time that we try to do some mirror sparring."

Matt perked up, this sounded interesting and promising. To date, Terry and Bruce had focused his physical side of the training on stuff other than the fighting. They had him doing stuff like gymnastics, weight training and of course the obligatory solitary katas – what had seemed like a never-ending parade of the damn things to Matt. Now though it seemed as if they were taking him up to the next level in the martial arts and he and Terry were actually going to spar. 'Cool, it's about bloody time!' He'd been working hard to do everything that they had asked of him right, and now it seemed like he'd succeeded. Terry caught his attention again as he spoke.

"Here's how it works – we're going to go through the Chinte kata again, but this time we are going to face each other. This is so you can see clearly how I am moving and positioning myself and do your best to match your motions and form to mine. There are only a few places where there will be contact, but I think that you'll be surprised at how natural they feel."

Matt nodded eagerly as he moved into position across from Terry in the center of the practice mat. Terry continued,

"I think we'll do three repetitions, gaining speed with each one. I'm gong to give you a signal when I really want you to pay attention – there are a few places that you have to work on. You have any questions?"

Matt shook his head, "No," he said. He was straining not to bounce in place, "Can we just get started already?"

Terry just laughed and said, "Okay, okay."

Together they punched their arms toward the ground and yelled "Yoi!" Then they moved into the routine, arms and legs moving in the measured motions without conscious thought. Matt found that Terry had been right when they made contact with each other in the routine – it did feel very natural, and light though the touches were, they just seemed to fit. The times when Terry would signal for Matt to pay attention, he would also slow down so that Matt could get a really good look at everything that he was doing. By the third repetition Terry wasn't signaling for Matt to pay attention near as many times as he had in the first two rounds. Matt knew that the lack meant that he had gotten the stances Terry glossed over right.

"Good! Very good, now that you have come close to mastering the Chinte kata, you can practice it at home. Now it's time to move on to the other discipline that we have been working on." Terry's grin went from congratulatory to feral and Matt groaned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know, it's time for you to ambush me every way you can think of - and a few more besides that Bruce thinks up - while I get to try and get away from you. It always makes me feel like some kind of squirmy bug trapped by a heavy wet rug. It's exhausting and I always end up black-and-blue after these little exercises. As well as so stiff the next day that it's a miracle that I can make it to school, let alone participate during the day's events."

Terry laughed at the disgust Matt showed for the grappling part of the training, but he wasn't going to let his younger brother get away without doing it. It was an essential part of learning how to protect yourself. Learning how to get away instinctively when someone grabs you meant the difference between life and death at times. They both knew it from experiences in the past, after all. Matt was just letting of some steam by beaking off.

"Ready then?" Terry asked Matt and the younger boy reluctantly nodded, it was the only warning Matt got. Terry had been circling around behind him as he spoke, and then suddenly his large arms were wrapped around Matt's upper body, pinning his arms to his sides and lifting him from the ground.

"Aahhh!" Matt couldn't help yelling involuntarily in his surprise. 'Damn, that was quick!' Normally Terry waited a few minutes before he pounced – Matt thought that Terry did that because he liked to draw out the suspense and set his younger brother totally on edge before pouncing.

Matt soon regained his equilibrium and threw his head back towards Terry's face at the same time he kicked for Terry's knees, knowing that when Terry leaned back to avoid the face hit he would leave his knees vulnerable. It worked just as Matt had planned – his foot connected solidly with Terry's knee and made it buckle. They fell together to the mat and Terry's hold loosened enough when they hit that Matt was able to wriggle free and make a break for it.

Terry of course wasn't going to give up that easily. He scrambled after his brother's fleeing form on his hands and knees, catching up surprisingly quickly. He made another grab at Matt, getting his ankle and in the process tripping the younger boy into stretching out his full length on the practice mat.

"Ooof!" The air was driven from Matt's lungs at the impact. He lay stunned for a moment and Terry followed up on the display of weakness in a rush. He knelt behind the winded teen and put him in a half nelson while grabbing both wrists in his other hand and hauling them up to a point somewhere between Matt's shoulder blades. Matt's eyes watered at the pain and what little breath he had managed to get back left him again. 'Damn, that hurts!' He wracked his brain for a way to break free of the hold his brother had him pinned in. 'Hopefully,' he thought 'without dislocating my shoulders in the process because that would just be a bad scene.'

Suddenly an alarm went off, echoing throughout the cave eerily and distracting Terry from the hold he had Matt in. When Terry's grip loosened, Matt took advantage of the opening presented without conscious thought. Acting purely on the instincts that Terry and Bruce had been drilling relentlessly into him until the point where they were ingrained, Matt roughly elbowed his older brother in the gut and broke free.

"Ooof!" His breath forced out in a whoosh, Terry fell onto his back on the mat. He managed to get his breath back. "Ow."

"Ter! Ohmygod Terry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean – " Matt started to apologize in a rush feeling mortified.

Terry cut him off laughing, "Matt, don't worry about it. I've had worse, believe me." He ruefully rubbed at his stomach. "Mind you, that was a pretty good elbow you got me with."

Matt helped his older brother to his feet still feeling bad about attacking when he knew that his brother's attention hadn't been on the struggle. Terry saw the look on Matt's face and said,

"Listen Matt, look on this as a good thing – your reflexes are getting to the point where they are automatic, which is what Bruce and I have been aiming for."

"Yeah – okay." Matt didn't sound convinced, "but I should've known that your mind wasn't going to be on what we were doing when I heard the alarm – y'know, backed off."

Terry playfully socked Matt in the arm, "Go hit the showers twip and then get your gear ready to go." Matt sighed as he noticed that Terry had already begun to slip into 'Bat' mode. "I've got to go and talk to Bruce alright?"

Matt sighed again as he did what he had been told. He knew that the alarm going off had signaled an end to any more lessons for him tonight. After he had soaked away most of his aches and pains in a long hot shower, he got out and got his stuff together. When he came out of the bathing area of the cave he wasn't surprised to find that somehow Terry had already managed to shower and suit up except for the cowl, and was standing by the large Cray system talking to Bruce. Really he had expected it.

Terry spotted him right away. "Let's go kiddo, I'll drop you off at home in the Batmobile on my way out tonight." He started to rapidly walk towards the sleek black craft expecting Matt to follow, which he did after calling a quick goodbye to Bruce where he was sitting at the large computer.

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Terry eased the Batmobile into the narrow alley beside his old apartment building where Matt and his mother still lived. He watched with some amusement as Matt laboriously tottered out of the small back seat he and Bruce had installed in the vehicle after they had found a need for one. It seemed that even during the short journey from the Batcave to the city had been long enough for Matt's poor overworked and abused muscles to totally stiffen up on him.

Matt hissed painfully as his feet touched the concrete and his knees almost buckled when he tried to take his first step. Terry had to lean out of the cockpit and catch him before he fell.

"Are you going to be able to make it upstairs on your own Matt?" Terry asked with some concern.

"Yeah, don't fret Ter – I just have to get my land legs back again after suffering the crazy way you pilot that thing." Matt said jokingly and to prove it he pushed off from the side of the car he had been leaning against. He gave his brother a small backwards wave as he walked away and went into the building. Terry pulled the Batmobile into the air and waited, watching until the lights came on in the proper apartment. Then knowing that Matt had made it home safely, he streaked off.

Unbeknownst to the two brothers, someone had witnessed their parting. Beth stood unmoving in the deep shadows of the building across the street. In her hands forgotten lay the rapidly melting tub of ice cream her mother had originally sent her out to get before the stores closed.

'That was Matt,' she thought stunned. She had seen the Batmobile and had hidden so that she could see what her hero was doing in her neighborhood, but then the canopy had slid back and her boyfriend, Matt McGinnis, had gotten out of the infamous craft. 'What was Matt doing with the Batman? Did he know him, or was there another reason he had been sharing company with the cowled hero?'

A large wet plopping sound brought her back to herself. Her ice cream was melting. 'One thing is for certain,' she thought with resolution. 'Matt had better tell me about this tomorrow without me having to prompt him, or I'm not going to be very happy with him.' She decided to give him all day at school and the entire walk home afterwards to say something, after that she would confront him. With that plan of action firmly in place in her mind, she headed home before the ice cream she had been sent out for was totally unsalvageable.

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To be continued...