Batman Beyond The End of Batman

Chapter 9

Bruce sat in his chair still watching the screen when Barbara came in with Dania and Chelsea. Both girls looked around the cave with awe, showing their disbelief on their face. Bruce showed annoyance on his face as he turned back to the screen that had Terry on it. Terry was still being tortured and Bruce, although he was taking this hard, was not willing to look away. Dania slowly walked up to Bruce, caution on her face.

"Mr. Wayne," she asked reaching out for his shoulder.

Bruce looked up with a frown, "I know you are there Miss Tan," Bruce replied annoyed. "You said you knew where Terry was…"

Chelsea was cautious and stood behind Dania and Dania nodded at her with encouragement. "Yes sir," she said slowly with a soft voice. "You see sir, when I lashed out at the principal at our school and wrote him an email, my father got mad at me and sent me to Wheeler's Ranch…" She trailed off, a silent shudder going through her, remembering what her time her time in the Ranch had been like. She watched him and then came back to the room, away from the memory. "That place…Where Terry is being held…The room…That is where Wheeler "taught us" what was right…Where he brainwashed us…" She slowly looked back at the screen and winced then sighed. "That's where he is, Wheeler's Ranch…"

Before Bruce could respond he heard Mrs. McGinnis cry out, "MAT," and he turned back to see Mat had been pulled back into the room by Ten.

Page Break

(Back with Blight)

Terry was weak and everything hurt, but as soon as Mat entered the room again his head snapped up. He groaned involuntarily but pushed his pain aside. His brother was alive and that was all that mattered, he had though he had lost him for good. Terry knew he was in bad shape, but he also knew that he would do whatever it took to protect his brother so he tried to struggle free, despite the pain.

"Ah, ah, calm yourself McGinnis, we have every plan of releasing you," Powers said with a smirk as he walked up to Terry and Terry paused, there had to be a trick here somewhere.

"What are you planning Powers," Terry spat with venom in his voice. He was weak, he knew that much, the killer cobra venom was still in him and he had several other injuries, but he would do whatever he had to to get free and help Mat.

"McGinnis, I'm going to free you and give you a chance to save yourself and your brother," he turned for just a moment to Melanie and frowned, "Keep a hold of the kid, we can't have him running off and getting in the way." Melanie held Mat close to her, making it look like she was restraining him when really she was hiding his face and protecting the poor kid. "Now McGinnis, I am going to give you a chance to save yourself and your brother…Now, once I release you, you will face up against my crew…You are the all famous Batman, that should be no trouble to you…If you do win this fight, we'll let you and your brother go free…"Powers smirked and turned away.

"HEY," Terry thundered and Blight turned back.

"Yes McGinnis, did you have something else to add?"

"You said what happens if I win…What if I don't win," Terry was not stupid, he knew his injuries were bad, that combined with the venom would make his movements a lot slower and his fighting skills sloppy.

"If you lose, McGinnis, you will stay with us and we will not release you," he replied and then turned again to walk away.

"What about Mat," Terry asked with a scowl.

"Oh, well, maybe the boy could be our new mascot, or trophy…The brother of Batman is quite the prize you know," Powers smirked and Terry fought against his restraints.

"You can't be serious Powers, leave my brother out of this! He has nothing to do with this, he is just an innocent kid," Terry fired trying to get free.

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, he was never innocent, not as long as he was your brother…Since you are Batman, your family will always have to pay the price, your brother was just easier to get to…" Powers turned back to Terry with a smile.

"I suppose you are wondering how I got to your brother…I know you and the Commissioner are real cozy and you would have thought she would try to protect your brother…Well, she did…She sent one of Gotham's finest, Officer McAlister, to protect your brother, and I sent one of Gotham's lowest…See, you were right that first day when you said I was cozy with the cops, with my money, I can afford to be…I took one of my good cop friends and had him guard the door at the school too…He let Mr. Fixx in and then Mr. Fixx shot McAlister…My dear cop friend went into the classroom to "protect" your little brother and get him to safety, and that was when he took your brother to Mr. Fixx and Mr. Fixx brought him here…Too bad about McAlister….Hope he lives," Powers said in a mocking tone and once again Terry lashed out, only this time with less force in it and Powers smirked, "I can see the venom is taking its toll on you…Lets see if you can still fight…"

Terry scoffed, even in his weakened state, "Like you'll give me much of a choice!"

"Ah, now you are learning McGinnis…" Powers moved forward and pulled out a key and unlocked Terry's restraints and freed him. Terry fell forward with a grunt and the crowd around laughed at him. Slowly Terry forced himself to his feet and Mat's eyes widened.

"Terry," he said with worry, pulling away from Melanie, but she held him strong.

"It's okay Mat, I'm fine," Terry said raising his hand, though it hurt, he used his skills he had learned as Batman to hide his pain. Powers looked at Terry with amusement.

"Well McGinnis, it seems you do have a little fight in you after all," he smirked, "I wonder how you will do in a fight against all of us…"

Terry slowly straightened up and faced Powers and the rest of the villains there, "I will always fight your kind Powers!" Terry's cheeks were flushed and he was sweating. His mouth was salivating and his eyelids were drooping a bit, but he had to stay up, had to fight, not for himself, he knew he was not going to be allowed to live, but his brother was innocent, he needed to live. Powers chuckled and stepped back, motioning for the others to step forward and face off with the famous batman.

Wheeler stood behind the camera and turned it to face Terry and the group. Terry got in a fighting stance and was ready, but his reflexes were slowed considerably. The first Joker came at him from the left side of him and he managed to dodge it, though he was slower the normal, but he was not able to dodge the attack that came from his right side. Terry hissed in pain as the knife cut his side, but still tried to stand up. The next attack came at him from behind, and Terry didn't have to see it to know who it was, it was Charlie, he knew the big heavy fists. He was hit in the back of his head and knocked to the ground. Before he could get back up, the next attack came from his left side and hit his already broken ribs and Terry cried out in loud pain. Terry slowly forced himself to get up, huffing in pain, to face his next opponent. As soon as he got up, Wheeler's head security guard hit him with an electric baton and Terry cried out again. He turned to face him and that was when Inque wrapped herself around him, pinning his arms to his side. Terry tried to fight her and get free, but he was too weak. At that point it seemed as if people came at him from all sides. The pain was intense and it didn't seem to stop, at least not until he slumped forward in Inque's grasp. When she released him, he fell forward and did not get up.

Mat pulled free of Melanie's grasp and ran to Terry's side, "TERRY!" Terry groaned out in response, too weak to actually talk and Powers smirked.

"Well good people of Gotham, I believe you have just witnessed the defeat of Batman…Tune in next time to see his death, that is if he does not die in between episodes…Grab the kid…"He said turning to Melanie, "we will let him be with his brother as well, but for now we have to get dear old Batman ready for his end…"

Page Break

Bruce watched Terry's torture with pain in his features, truly hurt by Terry's pain. He had Max tracking down Wheeler's Ranch and seeing if anything was active there and that would tell him if the girl was right about that being the place Terry was being held at. The two girls seemed to be holding each other in a comfort sort of way as Mrs. McGinnis was talking to them and trying to distract herself from what was going on. Bruce looked up when Barbara came in with a sigh.

"Officer McAlister is out of surgery, the bullets have been removed and he will survive, thankfully…As for the shooter, we found the cop responsible and he has been removed from the force and is being taken in right now…" She sighed as she looked at the screen and saw McGinnis being tortured. "Bruce you should get some sleep…You look exhausted and I doubt you have slept much in the last day…"

"I'll sleep once McGinnis is home and safe…" Bruce turned back to the screen about the time that Max turned to him with a grim smile.

"It seems they are right Mr. Wayne…Large electric signals are coming from Wheeler's Ranch and it seems to be where the TV signal is coming from as well, however I had to do some work to find it, they have it hidden pretty well…"

"Good work Gibson (I think that is Max's name), I'll start mounting the rescue mission and we will get Terry out of there…" Bruce turned to the computer and pulled up a number.

"Clark Kent," Max asked, "as in the Clark Kent from the Daily Planet? How can he help? Does he have connections as a reporter or something like that?"

"Something like that," Bruce replied as the phone on his computer began to ring.

"Bruce, what is wrong," Clark asked after answering on the first ring.

"Clark, Terry's been captured, worst case scenario…The villains of this town have him and his little brother and he has been unmasked…I need eyes and ears in the sky…Is there any way you can…"

"I'll be there in ten Bruce, and don't worry, we'll find him…"

"Thanks Clark, he's being held at a place called Wheeler's Ranch, though I don't know how much longer he will be held there, and with the cobra venom in him, I don't know how long he will last…"Bruce didn't let the worry sound in his voice, but Clark could hear it anyways.

"Bruce, don't worry, we are going to get him back, and he will be safe…"Clark said in a matter of a fact king of way…

"Thanks…I knew I could count on you…"

After Bruce got done with Clark, he called all the other Justice League members and all of them agreed to come and help find Terry. In their words, no one messed with one of their own and got away with it…Bruce smiled at the friendship Terry had obviously struck up with the other heroes and was glad of that and that was when he heard Mrs. McGinnis gasp and he turned back to the screen. Terry had been stripped of his normal street clothes, the black shirt, brown jacket and grey pants, and had been redressed in a white shirt, black tie, black pants, and a black suit jacket. His white shirt had red stains in it from the blood spots where his wounds were still bleeding, but other then that, he looked fit for a wedding, or maybe a funeral in this case. Terry did not seem to be very awake and Mat seemed to be freaking out. Bruce watched as Blight stepped forward and shot Terry with some sort of needle.

"There you go McGinnis, we promised you we would not let you die from the Cobra venom, and we won't, that was the antidote, much good it will do you now…I would guess after your little fight you have several more broken bones…" Terry let out a small groan as Powers nudged him with the side of his foot. "Alright boys, why don't we show McGinnis his new sleeping quarters…"

With that four men stepped forward and picked Terry up. Terry let out a brief cry of protest as some of his bones, that were obviously broken, moved and hurt him. Terry was picked up and carried to a white casket and Bruce growled out in anger. Terry was tossed in and he cried out in pain, his limbs protesting the movement.

"I don't think we have to worry about you leaving McGinnis, you have none of your tools now, and you are pretty broken up…But still, I wouldn't want you to get lonely…Bring the kid forward…" Bruce watched as Melanie's eyes widened for only a moment before she moved forward.

"Sir, you said we were not going to harm the kid, that we were going to keep him as insurance in case Batman got away…" She looked torn.

"Yes, well, I changed my mind…I think the boy should be with his brother in his final hours," Blight smirked and pulled Mat forward. Mat's hands were tied behind his back and he seemed afraid, but he still struggled. "Stupid child, just give it up, you will not be getting away." Blight lifted Mat up and put him inside the casket with Terry and Terry let out a cry of protest as Mat landed on top of his already broken ribs, Terry was once again beginning to see black spots dance across his vision.

"Well Gotham, there you have it, the end of Batman…And Wayne, I know you are out there listening somewhere…The boy's brother will have at least an hour's worth of oxygen in this casket before he runs out…If you hurry, you may be able to find him and save him, but I doubt there is much you can do to save your little errend boy…"Blight laughed as he tossed a phone in the casket (the battery was almost dead anyways), and slammed the lid shut and placed a heavy duty lock on the lid so they could not get out. "Good luck finding the right barrial plot," and with that the video feed cut off again and there was nothing but a black screen. Mary McGinnis was now sobbing and Daina looked like she was about there. Max and Chelsea were silent, unsure as to what to say.