Disclaimer- Don't own Batman Beyond or JLU, belongs to DC

Star City had beautiful nights. The light from the skyscrapers were bright yes, but the light of the stars still managed through the light pollution, and the vibrant city seemed to twist and turn like it was alive.

Not that such things mattered to the two men on top its highest building. One of the men was talking to the other, who seemed far more interested in his meal of fast food.

"So then Dinah calls me arrogant. Can you believe that? Me?" Green Arrow asked indignantly.

The other man, perfectly normal looking, just sipped his soft drink, "Hole in O, Donut Shop. 500 meters."

Grumbling, Green Arrow obligingly readied his bow and let it fly, his frustrations relieved by speaking them out loud. "And I can't believe you of all people love Burger King. Don't massive Fast Food conglomerations come up in those crazy theories of yours?"

Looking through a set of binoculars, Question nodded approvingly at Ollie's dead aim before answering, "Theory. Singular. And yes they do, doesn't mean I can't enjoy the food. Not everyone is a billionaire."

"Whatever, I think I've had my fill of target practice for the night, hand me a Whopper," Arrow said as he sat down next to what was probably the oddest choice for a friend he could make.

The next few minutes were filled with the sounds of munching before Arrow asked, "Isn't this nice? Sitting around and not chasing after breadcrumbs of illusionary conspiracies? What were you even doing before I called you over?"

Question had actually been working on data analysis for the Batman when he'd gotten Ollie's call to 'hang out.' He'd been number crunching what had seemed like valuable information when he accepted the invitation. "I bought a new pair of shoes. Was snipping off the aglets."

"I don't even want to know. I'm surprised you even took the invitation to be honest. Huntress looked like she was monopolizing all your time," Arrow said between bites.

Question shrugged, "Needs the sleep. Took down a big mob boss three days ago. Wanted to give her some time to recover. Why? Interested in my girlfriend now that Canary's left you?"

"Pft, hardly. Dinah and I were meant to be buddy, just need to give her some time to calm down," Ollie said cheerfully. He opened his mouth the continue when a scream pierced the night air.

The two men didn't hesitate, as Question put on his pseudoderm mask and Green Arrow dashed to the next building.

Terry had heard the scream and arrived just in time to see the situation. One man threatening a couple with a knife, another rummaging through the bags and wallet, and finally, one more acting as a lookout with a baseball bat ready. All this ran through Batman's mind in an instant and he took half a second to get the angle right.

He hurled a Batarang and jumped down, landing right on the man going through the bags hard enough to knock him unconscious while the batarang knocked the knife away from the other, giving Batman the chance to crack his skull into the brick wall before he weaved through the lookout, came behind up, and grabbed him in a classic choke hold. All this had taken just six seconds, and Batman simply tightened his grip while telling the unfortunate couple to leave.

They didn't hesitate, both stopping only to grab their things before running. Lookout finally stopped struggling and Batman let him go. He ripped out his batarang first before he grabbed their wallets to get whatever petty cash he could find, clucking in disapproval at how bulky paper money was compared to credits, before he examined the men for their clothes. Knifeman looked like he was around his size, and Bagboy had shoes that looked like they'd fit. Making his decision, Batman began to pull off Bagboy's shoes, only to be stopped in his tracks at a new voice.

"You know, I'm sure the couple back there are happy you saved them, but vigilantes shouldn't steal from criminals. Makes them look like scum," said a cavalier man in green tights. His companion, a fedora clad man with no face just looked on without a word.

"Nice costume though, who are you supposed to be?" asked Arrow.

"Batman."

This earned him a snort from the tights clad man as he said, "Sure. By the way, I'm Emerald Pikeman, and this is my stalwart sidekick Noface."

"You have a bow," Batman pointed out.

"Damn, caught in my lies, guess that teaches me," said the Robin Hood figure. "But seriously, you probably shouldn't dress as Batman. The moody bastard takes things way too seriously. Might hunt you down. Besides, your voice is way too young. Are you even in college?"

"Of course," Robin Hood continued, "That might be why you're here in Star City instead of Gotham. Either way, I think I'm going to have to take you in. You don't steal. Even if it is from dirtbags like these."

"You can try," Batman said before rocketing up the building. The man looked confident enough in his archery skills, and there was no telling what the blank faced man was capable of. Best to stun or neutralize them before getting out of dodge as fast as possible. Chances were that if he tried to run without fighting, he might just get shot down for his trouble.

A jet propelled tackle brought Robin Hood, as Batman started referring to the archer, to the ground as he began to talk. "So tell me Robin Hood, how does the ground feel?"

"Delicious, how about you get a taste," the man snapped back as Noface smashed a hammerblow that left Batman reeling. Not even hesitating, the man followed up with a savage kick that floored Batman before he prepared to stomp on any appealing target, only for Batman to reach out and using his augmented strength, twist his leg so that Noface collapsed on himself. Batman got up only to shudder from the three impact arrows pumped lightning fast by the archer. He shrugged off the attacks with some difficulty before preparing a flashbang when Noface got back into the game.

A tackle to his legs brought Batman down before he struggled up again, this time going directly in hand to hand against Noface. He was good, Batman realized, feinting expertly and giving precise blows. He pivoted and snapped a leg at the man's groin, only to be blocked and forced back a few paces.

"You fight dirty," Batman said.

"So do you," said Noface, the first words he'd heard all night from the man.

"I fight to win," Batman answered as he blocked another punch.

Noface countered an attack with a grab to shove Batman back before grunting "What a coincidence. I do too," and managed to pin Batman to the rooftop access before shouting "Now Arrow!"

A net flew in and pinned one of Batman's arms against the wall, as the barbs beside him sank deep into the concrete. A second pinned his legs. Taking his immobilization as a sign of victory, Noface stepped back, though he made sure to keep Batman in sight.

"Alright," Arrow started, "That was a pretty good fight, but it's over now. Those nets are made from a new flexible alloy made recently. Just-"

He was interrupted as Batman pulled free his saw blade and let the monomolecular edge do its work against the net, cutting his way free in seconds.

"Okay, I'm impressed, but how about this?" Arrow said as he let loose a gas arrow, hoping the smoke would leave his enemy senseless.

He peered into the smoke, though he stayed away from it as much as he was able, before a fist punched into his face and left him reeling while Noface put his arms in a ready stance. Batman had gone through the gas attack just fine as his rebreather began to retract.

"Oh come on," Arrow complained as he rubbed his jaw.

"Anything else?" Batman dared.

Noface answered, "Try this," as a metal pipe slammed into Batman's kidneys. Even through the impact dispersing effects of the suit, Terry still felt his eyes pop before he could control himself. The hefty pipe was apparently too heavy for Noface though as his arms dropped while he tried to keep his grip. Hoping the pipe would slow him down, Batman hurled a flashbomb before turning on his camo and jumped off the rooftop, confident he'd done enough damage to keep them from a chase, before wincing in pain as he clutched his sides. Gah, he'd be lucky if he wasn't pissing blood at the end of the night. Spying a darkened alley, he made his way in before climbing up a fire escape stairway and broke a window into an abandoned apartment complex.

"Ungh," Arrow said as he popped his jaw back into place, "That could have gone a lot better don't you think?"

Question didn't answer, only looking down where the Batman-like figure had disappeared. Measuring each word, he finally replied "We should call the League."

"What for a scab like that? Come on, we had him and might still catch up,"

"Too well outfitted. That suit, very technological, I could feel it hardening when I punched, and I could hear servos whenever he grabbed me. Technology like that… such power in so tiny a frame, it's not even on the design boards of any military I've heard of." Question said.

"Well yeah but-" Ollie began.

"Also, lots of gadgets. His casual use of them implies he has many in stock. It's expensive. Raises lots of questions… you call. Sounds better from you," Question said as he rubbed a particularly sore area. Oh that would be a beautiful bruise.

Green Arrow pulled out his League communicator, "Hello Terrific? This is Green Arrow. I need to report a rogue vigilante. Someone calling himself Batman… Yes I know Batman is on our side, this is someone else… Yes I am with Question but… No I am not hallucinating! You can't just accuse… I don't care if you're in charge there, I'm still a member! I have rights damn it… It's people like you that make me worry about the world, always trampling the little guy. What? What? Fine, I'll see you. And I'll damn well make sure I have an arrow with your name on it."

Arrow hung up in disgust, saying "He didn't believe me."

"Unfortunate, not unexpected."

"Yeah…" a few seconds passed before Arrow asked a question. "Hey, remember back when I beat the crap out of you when you were working with Huntress?"

"Yes."

"How come you didn't fight like that today? Were you holding back that day?"

"Of course. Didn't want you hospitalized. You're a good man Ollie, just stubborn."

"…Thanks?" Arrow asked, unsure of the backhanded compliment.

"Welcome, let's go."

The night was still young. And they had a Batman to catch.

In an abandoned apartment, Batman nursed his wounds as gingerly as he could. He hadn't broken anything, but the kidney shot had hurt, and was debating what to do. As much as he hated to admit it, at times like these, he always wondered what Wayne would do.

'Suck it up McGinnis.'

Yeah, that sounded about right.

Slag, it still stung though. Terry massaged his side while he ordered the computer to bring up history files to try and distance himself from the pain. Even though Bruce had stopped wearing the Batsuit, he'd continually upgraded it whenever possible with the cutting edge technology Wayne-Powers could create. As a result, the onboard computer had a storage capacity of up to 60 Petabytes, with around 40 of them used to control the suit and all of its peripherals including a complex auto fuction that could be used in case Terry was incapacitated. All that aside, 20 Petabytes was still an impressive amount of space, and Wayned had made sure he kept up to date news files and tutorials for Terry such as lockpicking guides and such. Even then however, the majority of the 20 Petabytes was used to record all of Terry's actions in as great detail as Wayne could coax out of the suit.

The only thing Wayne had really skimped on was history, as only one past memory truly mattered to the man, with old superheroes given perhaps only five or six lines of text and a picture. It was tedious work, narrowing down who he'd seen, but Terry had nothing better to do. He'd covered his tracks as well he could, and it had been enough to impress even the old man back in the future. He'd bought himself a few hours from whatever tracking methods the two other heroes would use.

Coming to who he'd seen, Terry winced at who he'd just assaulted. Mayor Oliver Queen of Star City aka the Green Arrow. Wonderful, he'd just gone and busted the jaw of a public official. That was… yeah, Max was never going to hear about this little adventure. The other man, Question, also known as Victor Sage or Charles Victor Szasz was also a member of the League and a good enough detective to make Terry worry about his safety.

Only one thing left to do now if he wanted to go home. He'd have to go and beg the Justice League to try and find a time machine. Wonderful, and here he'd thought he saw the last of Time Travel after getting help from Static in that Kobra incident. The only problem was he had no way of contacting the League unless he waltzed up the Green Arrow and Question to ask for help, and after the beating they'd given each other, Terry doubted either would be inclined to listen.

Well, thinking about it, Terry did have one more option. A hand strayed to an isolated pouch where it hovered before it opened. Inside was a simple looking watch, but it was a one of a kind. Inside was a generator developed by Kryptonian hands to create a frequency that only Superman could hear. It was such a small thing, but so powerful too. And there was no way to predict how the Superman of this time would react to him having the damn thing.

Horrible images of Superman assuming he'd stolen the watch surged through his eyeballs before Terry waved them away. Still, Superman was the only real chance he had of help. Batman clambered onto the rooftop and made sure his back was to the wall before he held the watch up.

Now how was he supposed to use this thing anyway? The little nibs to the side didn't do much but adjust the supposed time and… ah, a latch clicked open to reveal the button… Was he supposed to press it once or hold it down? Screw it, Batman held it down and waited before turning on a clockwatch for kicks.

Two minutes, forty-three seconds later Superman announced his arrival with a gust of wind.

Batman could only stare at the figure in front of him, last he'd seen, the Man-God had been so bitter, so tired, that he'd imprisoned Lex Luthor into the worst prison known to man without a second though before leaving for space. But here, everything was different.

His hair was all black, his face had no age lines, and was in fact cut into an impressive figure, but what got the Batman the most was just how open his face was. Superman in his time had been so guarded after having his life taken over by that Starfish (Terry called it Starro in his mind to try and make the bad memories better) but here, the man was an open book. He was angry. Really angry.

"I, uh, catch you at a bad time Superman?" Batman asked.

Superman's only response was to narrow his eyes.

"Guess so," Terry answered himself, "I need your help."

"Who are you, and why do you have that watch? You have three seconds," grated the Last Kryptonian.

"You gave it to me," Batman replied.

"Funny, I don't remember doing that. In fact, that watch belongs to a good friend of mine. One of my best. I checked up on him to make sure he was alright before coming here, but somehow here you are with that unique watch."

"You did. Or rather you do, around 50 years from now," Batman said calmly.

"…Mr. Kent," he added just for good measure.

Superman's eyes widened as he whispered "You must be joking."

"Sorry, but here I am, the Batman of the Future," said Batman as he stretched out his arms theatrically.

"How did you learn my name?" Superman asked, unable to resist himself.

Batman seemed to hesitate for a moment before replying "Bruce."

It figured that the stubborn man would last that long thought Superman before carefully measuring each word, "I still can't believe you. Not yet."

Batman nodded, having predicted that much, but Superman continued "But I can take you to the Watchtower where I can learn the truth. We can take things from there. Is that alright?"

Smiling beneath his mask, Terry agreed.

"You know, you seem a lot more open than Bruce."

"He's reached the pinnacle of distrust and paranoia. I've resigned myself to never coming close no matter how hard I try."

So, that's it for Chapter 2. Hope you all enjoyed. Don't expect to see too much action for the next few chapters though. But don't worry. Terry's going to find himself kicked around soon enough.