Disclaimer: I don't own Batman Beyond or JLU. They belong to DC
Superman took out a communicator to call the Watchtower but hesitated before making the call.
"You don't want to be seen do you?" he asked. It was entirely reasonable, Bruce had prided himself (as much as Clark could tell anyway) on keeping his own existence an urban legend before he finally let himself be photographed, and Superman had no doubt this future Batman felt the same.
Nodding, Batman answered "It'd be best if no one sees me. Might bring up some uncomfortable questions I'd rather not answer."
Worked for Superman. He took a few moments to get a secure channel before waiting for Mr. Terrific to pick up. He didn't have to wait for long.
"Watchtower, this is Superman. I need to secure a Javelin and an empty hanger and hallway leading to… whatever room that's secure and empty."
"A Javelin?" asked Terrific, "I don't know if I have any left. We've been using the teleporters mostly, and had to cut back on the Javelins to save some money. It looks like… sorry, but seven are on deep space missions and the rest are being used for rescue missions in Southeast Asia to help in rescue efforts. The teleporter's all we have left."
"No way to force the technicians out of the room?" Superman asked knowing it couldn't be done.
"No, but I have gotten you a room. I can upload a route on your communicator. Just watch the screen. Sending the upload now."
Superman noticed Batman inching over to check it out, and saw his eyes narrow obviously debating what he should do.
"Can you clear the hallways then? Just for a few minutes?"
"That can be done," said Terrific confidently.
Batman was quiet after the conversation, though his eyes constantly checked the route, calculating times. He looked up as Superman started to talk again.
"The Watchtower is the only safe place really. I can't take you home, and Batman, uh Bruce that is, would be even a worse choice until I'm sure you're not lying," he said though Batman caught the unspoken words of 'I can't trust you in my home,'
"My cloaking device is good for a three minute charge before it needs to stop. If the cameras can be turned off, I can use the cloak to get out of the room."
"But the teleporter's going to short out anything like that. It's a security measure, and the cameras in the main room don't shut down. And they can see Infrared spectrums and so much more," Superman explained.
"I can handle it," came the confident reply.
Superman hesitated only for a moment, obviously trying to figure out what Batman could have up his sleeves before agreeing and calling up Mr. Terrific. With a press of a button, the two superheroes vanished into thin air only to reappear thousands of miles up in space.
Without even waiting for the excess energy from the teleportation to disperse, Batman hurled a flash bomb and an EMP grenade before turning on his camo. The explosive was strong enough to blind everyone in the room for a few seconds while the surge shorted out all of the cameras, while leaving the most important monitors and workstations stable due to their EMP hardening.
Superman, incensed at Batman's action, turned to face him only to feel a jab at his side. Nothing painful of course, but enough to make him remember the two were on a schedule. He started to move as casually as he could, furiously gathering just how badly he would tell off the man before Terrific came up to him with a pistol in hand.
"Superman!"
"Surprised? I told you I was coming up." He said.
"The teleporter… I guess it must have struck a short. I'll get the techs on it, strange that it could have caused such an outage though…" Terrific allowed before turning to let Superman pass. "The cameras have been turned off and the hallways cleared like you asked."
"Thank you," Superman said blandly. "Please, tell J'onn to come by if you see him."
As soon as the door was shut, he hissed out "Just what were you thinking?"
"Insurance. Besides, I chose a low power charge. Max strength would have had them on the floor and deaf," Batman replied casually.
"You-you…" Superman was speechless. He thought of pushing the matter before realizing the apology he wanted was probably not worth the price going to be asked and that Bruce himself would be proud of what had been done. This was going to be just fantastic. Two Batmen, each seemingly as paranoid as the other.
Batman faded back in to the visible spectrum a few minutes before they reached the room and reached into his belt again.
"Another bomb?" asked Superman sardonically.
"Just something to sweep for bugs."
"Terrific and I told you the room was clear." Superman tried to reassure.
Batman apparently thought otherwise as he chucked the device in as soon as the Superman keyed in the passcode. He waited a few seconds as the scanner pulsed and fed its results to his computer before turning on his camo once again. Superman just watched as Batman teased no less than three cameras and two recorders before crushing them in his palm.
"Bruce…" Superman whispered in rage. Oh he was going to have words with that paranoid freak.
"Guess I was right," Batman rubbed in. "Now what?"
"We'll get J'onn, the Martian Manhunter if that's how you know him, here to check you out."
They spent a few more awkward minutes in silence before Superman heard the Martian's light footsteps. Upon hearing that Superman had needed him, the Martian had come as fast as he could only to stop dead in his tracks at the sight in front of him as he opened the door.
"Surprise," said Batman cheekily.
He leaned back against the wall appraising the new hero while Superman quickly gave J'onn the facts as he knew them.
The alien's red eyes looked into Batman's white ones before asking his permission to read his mind.
"Only if you find out if I'm telling the truth or not. Can't risk you knowing the future," said Batman seemingly checking his nails. An incredibly stupid action considering his all body suit, but one that annoyed Superman and the Manhunter both.
J'onn steeled his mind and began his telepathy only to furrow his brow. "I can't seem to access your mind," he admitted.
"Are you serious J'onn?" Superman asked. The Martian Manhunter was the most potent psychic the League had, and if even he couldn't get into Batman's mind, there was no chance anyone else could.
"Probably the cowl," Batman said. "Bruce upgraded it to try and mess with psychic attacks after I fought this school of ESP freaks. Guess it works after all," he explained.
"No, with enough concentration, I could break through, but the process will leave me weak… you will not remove the helm."
It was a statement, not a question.
"No."
"Then I can do nothing here," J'onn said. "Unless you know of another way to prove your identity."
Batman considered the words carefully before he asked a question. "Is there a hero named Static in the League? He saw me once when he timetraveled. He can back me up," Batman said confidently.
Superman and J'onn J'onzz exchanged looks before J'onn answered "That name is not known to me, but if he is public enough, the League can contact him."
"There's a hero," started Superman, annoyed at being left out of the conversation, "named Booster Gold. Claims to be from the 25th century. He had a robot called Skeets who might have information on you. Might even know a way back."
"Booster is currently on a deep space mission, though he is expected to return tomorrow afternoon, 3:00 PM Greenwich time. I'll arrange a meeting," J'onn said as he began to walk out. "In the meantime, make yourself comfortable Batman."
"We'll have to lock you in," Superman said sheepishly. "Security reasons, but either J'onn or I will bring you some breakfast tomorrow. I hope that's alright."
"Fine by me," Batman answered. "Just try and keep this thing private."
Superman nodded before walking out as well, leaving the Tomorrow Knight alone in the room.
He relaxed once he was sure no one was near him before letting himself smile at the small victory over the old man. It may have been the past version, but Bruce Wayne was still Bruce Wayne. Any little win counted in his opinion. He just wished there was a computer in the room so that he could hack into the Watchtower, and remove the scant few milliseconds of footage the cameras had likely gotten before being disrupted.
Technology 50 years ahead of time was marvelous, but even its wireless capabilities would be severely hampered by distance and the encryptions most likely used in the mainframe.
Too tired to give it all more thought, Batman swept the room once more for bugs from paranoia before collapsing on the bed. Not bothering to slide in beneath the blankets, he just made sure that his head landed on the pillow before closing his eyes. Sleep came instantly.
Several hours later, Batman got up as soon as he heard the door open to be faced with the sight of the Martian Manhunter coming in with a large tray. Embarrassed at being caught sleeping, Terry blushed underneath his mask before gesturing to J'onn to set the tray down on the desk near the bed.
With a nod of his head, the Martian left Batman in peace.
Terry smiled at the breakfast. Normally, he only had time for a piece of toast, or more often as time went on, nothing at all before he went to school, but apparently the League believe in keeping their heroes healthy and full. The spread of eggs, toast, muffins, and orange juice was nothing fancy, but they looked warm and filling.
Though the plate of Oreos and the glass of milk didn't seem like they would be a part of League breakfast…
Terry raised his mask to his nose and began to eat, unable to care about strangeness of the cookies.
A few hours later, time Terry had spent doing push-ups, crunches, and other little exertions to keep his body active, the small phone on the desk started to beep. Understanding it was no accident, Terry picked it up and heard J'onn begin to speak.
"Static has been located. He is a part-time member and has agreed to come by tonight. Booster Gold will also arrive soon. We'll meet with the both of them in Conference Room 3. Superman or I will show you the way later. I will bring you lunch soon."
And so time went on, with Terry McGinnis bored out of his mind with nothing to do.
Mr. Terrific was spending what alone time he had obsessively working at the monitors. He was a workaholic, the techs said when they felt kind. A technophile after a few drinks. But the World's Third Smartest Man had something he was interested in. Hell, he'd designed and rigorously retested and retooled the security systems of the Watchtower. Before he'd even been Mr. Terrific, Michael Holt had slaved countless hours tweaking the power, the aesthetics, and every other aspect of the Watchtower after being hired to make the damn thing.
For his systems to fail so utterly from some teleportation error, something he knew was only .0001% possible given the precise coordinates, clear skies, and three other important and seventeen minor factors calculated into the exact science of material transportation, was downright bizarre.
Oh he knew Superman hadn't come alone, that was a given considering the demands the Kryptonian had made, but just who had been taken was a mystery. He considered several World Leaders, Mob Bosses, Villains, and so forth before discarding the thought as he had no large amount of evidence to figure out just who was in the Watchtower.
If he couldn't find any now, he'd damn well rip the systems apart to see who had done it. This was professional pride at stake.
So, in front of him were the videos taken by the three cameras used at all times to cover the teleportation pad. He had roughly 2.7 seconds of footage before the cameras had shorted out. Something he swore to fix later after Wayne Enterprises sent in the cash needed for the Watchtower maintenance. He discarded most of the recordings after seeing that the cameras depicted nothing. Dividing the remaining frames, Mr. Terrific could make out what looked like another figure next to Superman, but it might have just been the lighting. The man's cape also obscured whatever other person might have been around.
He mouthed a silent curse in Swahili before cleaning whatever he could. The somewhat grainy effect after teleportation was easily taken apart under his expert commands, and he zoomed into where he thought he'd seen something. Holt frowned before darkening the display only to smile at the unmistakable figure that appeared. He repeated the process for the next few frames to see that the man vanished, although he seemingly seemed to leave a heat haze, as the air shimmered as he replayed the frames continually.
Some form of optical camouflage, Holt thought. Obviously whoever did this wanted to keep things private. He couldn't make out too much detail, only seeing a dark figure, so next he zoomed to another section where he'd seen a flash of metal. He already figured that the man had tossed a flashbang and some sort of pulse grenade, and wasn't disappointed. But none of this really meant anything…
Maybe he was looking at this from the wrong angle. Superman had come in from Star City hadn't he? Holt looked through the computerized entries for the night before remembering that Green Arrow had called in a report about a mysterious 'Batman.'
Mr. Terrific had considered the report as something not worth the brain cells to keep, but if Superman had shown up… two hours after the call, maybe there was something to it?
Assuming it WAS Batman, the man had a distinctive enough costume to catch, so he tried to match the picture to the one assigned to Batman in the League files. And finding that was a hassle in and of itself, what with Batman refusing to never let himself be photographed. But eventually it was done, but a 40% match was all Mr. Terrific could get. Just for the hell of it, Mr. Terrific zoomed in on what looked like the head. Batman's distinctive horns were the only part of him that really stood out. He might get lucky there.
…Surprise surprise. Luck really did favor the prepared. Lengthy 'ears' and an all black bodysuit… maybe Batman was testing some new equipment? Mr. Terrific made a note to himself to tell Batman that if he wanted to test his new suits, to go do it in his Batcave.
He leaned back satisfied before remembering how hungry he was after skipping lunch for this little clean-up. Signaling his retreat from his digital fortress, he left for the Cafeteria, a slight spring in his step at having caught the legendary Batman in his tracks.
"So wait," Gear said through a mouthful of pastrami, "You're telling me that Superman AND the Martian Manhunter asked you to stop by the Watchtower? And you're here eating dinner with me?"
"I am in the Tower, Sis doesn't want to give me money for food and the Watchtower pays for it all, might as well enjoy it," Virgil Hawkins, also known as Static said.
He gulped down a forkful of spaghetti before saying "Besides, I'm supposed to meet them in a conference room when they page me. I can't do anything now,"
"I wonder why they want to see you though," Gear mused. "Maybe they ran into some monster that only you can beat?"
"Get real Gear," Static brushed off. "If there was a monster, they would have made it a distress call, they-" At that moment, Statics communicator started to chime.
"Speak of the devil," Ritchie said.
Static looked at his dinner mournfully before getting up. "Save me some dinner?" he asked.
"Nah, I think I'm gonna go finish that Physics homework. I'll see you later," Gear said, waving his best friend goodbye.
Grumbling about ungrateful friends, Static made his way to the necessary conference room only to bump into a larger gold clad man.
"Oof," They both said.
"Watch where you're going," the man said. "Didn't you see Booster Gold? Or did my brilliance blind you?"
"Man whatever. Sorry for hitting you though."
Booster Gold frowned for a few seconds before bursting into a smile. "It's all good guy."
The little football like object floating next to him said "Oh good sir. I was afraid you might have grown violent."
"What me?" Booster gasped. "I got over that remember? There's better things for me to do."
"Another date tomorrow sir?"
"You know it!"
The man was interrupted as the door to the conference room swung open, and the two Superheroes and robot sidekick came face to face with Superman.
"You both made it," Supeman smiled as he turned to his side to let them in.
All of them entered only to stop in their tracks at what looked like a skinny bodysuit clad-
"Batman!" Static shouted.
"You know him?" asked J'onn.
"Yeah, I do. There was this time when I got sent to the future and saw him. What's he doing here though?" Static wondered.
"Same thing that happened to you," Batman said. "An accident with a time machine…. You've gotten old."
"Been a few years since we met. I'm in college now. Why? How long's it been for you?"
"8 months."
"Well," Superman started. "I guess you are telling the truth. But I'd like to make sure. Now, Skeets isn't it?"
The robot seemed to straighten in the air as it gave a crisp "Yessir!"
"I understand that you have a database on past Superheroes. Can you confirm Static's claims that this really is a Batman from the future? Try around 50 years from now."
The golden frame buzzed a bit before it spoke. "I do see that a Batman was reported to be active during those years. Apparently the title of Batman becomes a Legacy as-"
"Thank you Skeets," Superman said as he tried to get the machine to stop. "But knowing too much about the future might be dangerous."
"Of course sir," the Robot said as it basked in the attention.
"Now that we've confirmed that Batman is telling the truth," J'onn started. "We need to get him home. That is the second reason why we called you Booster Gold. You claim that you are from the 25th century. How did you arrive here then?"
"Ah, about that. I don't think that's going to work. I took this machine called a Time Sphere, but after I came here to the past, it went back automatically. I think it had an auto-return feature."
"How do you lose control of a time machine?" Superman asked.
"It… wasn't really mine. I uh, borrowed it to come here."
"You took a time machine for a joyride?" Batman gaped. "Fantastic, now I'm stuck here."
"That may not be the case," J'onn tried to soothe. "There may be other venues we have not tried."
"In any case, thank you both for your help. You've been invaluable. Please keep this matter a secret though. It would be problematic if news spread." Superman remarked as he opened the door.
With various comments like 'No problem,' or 'Happy to help,' the superheroes left, leaving the two founding members and a displaced Batman alone.
"It looks like you'll be here for a while. It's best if we don't tell Bruce about you. Unless you want to make your presence public, you'll have to stick to your room."
Batman made a noise of discontent before he sighed and left, following the safe path Superman had designated. "I'll see you all later then."
Static yawned as he entered his room, only to yelp as Gear hunched over on his bed, intent on a videogame.
"Weren't you doing homework or something?"
"Finished it. Superintelligence remember? So what'd they want?" Gear asked.
"Can't tell you. Hush hush," Static clammed up.
"Uh huh," Gear said not convinced. "You do realize that whatever it was about, the whole League is going to know?"
"Get out Ritchie," Static tried to brush off.
Gear paused his game and looked up. "I'm serious. You were in there with Booster Gold right? Guy's going to tell Blue Beetle, who's going to tell the whole league. Might as well tell me personally. Ted's just going to track me down and tell me himself after he hears."
"You call the Blue Beetle Ted?" Static asked amazed at the how casual Gear sounded.
"We're both genii and fans of the Knights. We bonded over a plateful of wings," Gear answered.
"Well… alright. You remember that time I got sent to the future?"
"Yeah, Batman called me over to the cave to get you out," Ritchie said slowly, beginning to connect the dots.
"Well someone came here," Static said.
"No way. You?" Ritchie asked. It seemed like a reasonable assumption. Static hadn't really talked about much else besides how cool his older self was. Well, no, there was one exception to that…
"What? No!"
"…Batman?" Gear asked, knowing that was the only other hero Static had run into.
"Bingo," Static said.
"That is… wow. I have no words." Gear said in awe.
Static opened his door. "Now will you leave Ritchie? I got to study for a test."
"Sure thing Virge," Gear said as he put his game away. "Thanks for telling me."
"You're my best friend Ritchie. I would have told you anyway. I just would have preferred it not to be right now."
Gear waved Static away as he left before chuckling. Batman. 50 Years from now. Here.
Oh the stories he must have.