Life is as tedious as twice-told tale, vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man.
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Batman Beyond Season 4Episode 56: Super Breakout
Author James the Lesser
I do no own the Characters, names, villains, so forth
A/N This takes place after Batman Beyond Return of the Joker so yes that movie happens in this timeline/series
"Any one who has never made a mistake has never tried any thing new." Einstein
Terri stands on the roof of a building. He looks down and sees three masked men preparing to go in to a bank.
He jumps off and spreads his arms gliding down safely. "Looking to make a withdrawal?"
"No looking to take you out." They pull out blasters and fire.
Terri jumps behind a car. "It's a trap." He pulls out two batarangs. "Thankfully I come prepared." He jumps up and throws the batarangs. They slice through the air and take out two of the blasters.
The third robber drops his blaster. "So you got us now what?"
"Now you tell me who you are working for." All three shake their heads. "Really? Well then you'll all go to prison." A guard comes out of the bank.
"What's going on out here?"
"These three were going to rob the place and I stopped them. The police have already been contacted." Terri waits for the police then takes off when they arrive.
That night a green glow nears the new Arkham Asylum. "I need a distraction. I'm still too weak. This will do nicely." Blight walks over to a wall and places a bomb on it. He sets it for ten minutes and starts running.
When on the other side of the facility the bomb goes off. He waits another minute the climbs over the far wall.
While the guards look around the area the bomb went off Blight takes out two guards near the employee entrance.
Terri is in the Batmobile when Bruce contacts him. "Good job handling that."
"It was nothing."
"Maybe. If they had given you a name would you have let them walk?"
"What? No. They weren't employees they were criminals. Are we really going over this again?"
"No. An alarm is sounding from Arkham. Go check it out."
"Arkham what a fun and happy place." Terri turns and flies towards Arkham Asylum.
Blight is inside and smashes a control panel. "I need the master controls. Where is the Warden's Office?" He continues through the facility as the guards are distracted outside.
Terri lands near the blast and gets out. "What happened?"
"A bomb took out part of the east wall. But nothing else happened."
"A distraction?"
"That's what we're thinking Batman. But none of the other guards have reported any suspicious activity."
"I'll take a quick look from above." He activates his rockets and takes off.
Inside Blight smashes through a door. "The Warden must be out for the day." He goes over to the computer. "Password? Try this!" He smashes the monitor. "I paid to build this place I should know where the emergency release is!" He starts glowing brighter. "I know I built one in to this place but where? All that time at the bottom of the ocean and the oxygen loss is affecting my memory." He screams again and sends a radioactive blast at a bookshelf setting the books on fire.
Terri sees nothing out of the ordinary. "Bruce this is too fishy. No way some one just blows up a wall and doesn't do any thing."
"It could be a distraction from some thing going on in the city. I'm not getting alarms but this whole night has been suspicious. Those robbers who weren't planning on robbing and now this? Some one wants you busy and out of their business."
"Mira? She didn't seem happy with what I did."
"No. She is too professional for this. And if it was the Joker he'd make it known it was him. Some one else is doing this."
"I'll get back to the Batmobile and head downtown." Terri starts turning back when alarms at Arkham go off. "Except the party is just getting started."
Inside Blight walks through the hallway of one of the containment wings. He rips the doors open by hand releasing the criminals. "Go out and cause mayhem! Make Batman pay for what he has done to all of you!" He rips one open and sees Poison Ivy.
Her condition had made it so she didn't age. The only real difference from decades past was some bark had started growing over parts of her body. "Go! Release your hatred on the city!"
"What hatred? I lost that years ago." She yawns and goes back to her cot. "Besides they have a greenhouse here I must take care of."
Terri sees two prisoners escaping and flies down tackling one. "Not so fast Batman." He looks up and sees Willy Watts.
"Don't do this. Go back to your cell."
"Or what?" He points a hand at Batman and uses a psychic blast knocking him off of the other prisoner. "Once again I am saving your butt Patrick."
"Thank you. I said I could repay you. My rats can sneak in to places and steal what ever we need once we're on the outside." They continue running as Batman recovers.
Blight is at a giant vault door. "Who would they keep back here?" He pulls on the giant handle but can't move it. "Let me in!" He glows brighter and pulls again. The handle budges a little. "Now!" His hands start melting through the handle. "Slag this." He focuses his powers in to his hands puts them on the vault door. He slowly starts melting through it.
Terri recovers and sees several guards at the main entrance. "How many escaped?"
"We aren't sure. We were about to go in but a sensor reveals a high radiation level. We aren't sure if they used a dirty bomb or what."
"Radiation?" Terri changes the view on his cowl. "Footprints." He goes past the guards following the footprints.
Blight melts through the door. "What is this?" The only light came from his body. "A skeleton? Why is a skeleton kept behind guarded doors like this?" He sees the skull move. "That might be why." He feels a strange vibration come off the skeleton. "I don't like this." He turns to leave when he starts hearing laughter. "I've done enough I'm out of here."
Terri sees the footprints stop in front of a certain cell. "Poison Ivy? Why did you stay?"
"Why not? You're the new Batman." She looks him over. "A little short for my tastes. What are you his son?"
"No. Who did this?" He motions to the door.
"Some glowstick on legs."
"Glowstick?"
"He was bright green. Looked like a freak and that says some thing coming from me." She laughs. "So leave me be."
"You've done nothing wrong so I have no reason to mess with you." He goes back to following the footprints.
Blight smashes through a door that says Employees Only. He follows a hallway and finds another exit.
Terri stops in front of the vault door. "Are you seeing this?"
"Yes. Radiation, glowing green man, and some one melted through a door."
"Blight."
"Yes. Either he's been back but been working behind the scenes or he just now came back and decided he'd cause trouble for you."
"I think the latter."
"Why?"
"If he had been working behind the scenes why would he do some thing like this? He's mad and he wants me busy."
"I agree." Bruce leans back in the chair with a worried look on his face. "Find him and if you can't, get back here. I need to make a call."
Blight escapes over the same wall he came through before.
Terri follows the footprints out to the open area where they disappear. "I can't track him like this. I'm coming back." He goes to the Batmobile and flies back to the Bat Cave.
Terri makes it back and finds Bruce at the computer. "How much trouble is the city in? Dozens of prisoners escaped."
"So far things are quiet. But don't think it will stay that way."
"What a great birthday. Instead of blowing out candles I'll be out fighting every one won't I?"
"Your birthday?"
"Tomorrow. I told you about it a week ago."
"I didn't remember." Bruce mumbles some thing Terri couldn't make out.
"Uh, well, if they aren't causing chaos now they will soon. I better get some sleep."
"Yes, sleep." Bruce pushes away from the computer. "I have some more calls to make."
"Can't wait til morning?" Bruce shakes his head. "Well, see you tomorrow." Terri leaves for the night.
The next morning he goes to school and sees Dana. "Hey, I might have a busy night tonight."
"On your birthday?" He nods.
"Arkham had a major breakout and Blight is back."
"Blight? Powers?" He nods again. "What will you do?"
"I don't know. I left him on that submarine and hoped he would stay down there. I'll be out looking for him tonight. The cowl can see radiation and we had a way of tracking him with the Batmobile but we took that out once he was gone so we could add some other modifications."
"Are you sure you must go out tonight? It is your birthday."
"It isn't Batman's birthday. And if Blight is out there I must stop him above any thing else." He punches his locker. "I can't let him think I've forgotten."
"But he doesn't know who Batman is does he?" Terri shakes his head. "Then he doesn't know what he did."
"Yes he does. I told him he killed my father when he asked who I was. He said it didn't narrow it down much for him. Who knows how many he has killed." Dana hugs him.
"Be careful."
"I will be."
Terri stops at home after school. "Happy Birthday Terri!" His mom hands him a card.
"Thanks. I gotta leave at five." His brother runs up.
"Ooo, got a date with Dana?"
"No, Mister Wayne."
"Really? He isn't giving you the night off?"
"No mom. He says that in his hey day he didn't take time off for that. If I expect to make some thing of myself I must focus and keep working."
"I thought you were a gopher." Matt sticks his tongue out at Terri.
"That is only part of my job. I'm also a chauffeur and I'm helping him more and more of running Wayne Enterprise as he takes back more and more control." His mother puts a hand on his arm.
"Wow. I never thought that would happen. Terri are you sure you can handle it? It must be a lot of responsibility and even now you're so young. You haven't even gone to college yet."
"I can handle it. And why go to college when you can get hands on training? Mister Wayne has already said if I keep up with what he gives me he'll get me a position with the company." His mother hugs him.
"Good job! I'm so glad you've turned things around. Some times I worried what would happen but you've really grown up Terri. Eighteen is just a number if you don't act like an adult."
"No problem mom. Mister Wayne has made sure I'll be ready for just about any thing."
Terri is in the Batmobile searching for any signs of Blight. "No high radiation or heat ratings. He must be hiding underground."
"Or near some thing that would mask his signature. I'm not sure how many lead vaults there are in the city but I'll look them up."
"I don't see him hiding. I see him planning."
"You can plan in a lead vault. No alarms or police calls coming in that require your attention. Do another scan near the docks and if nothing comes up by nine I'll let you go."
"Cool, thanks. How did your calls go?"
"What calls?"
"The ones that couldn't wait."
"None of your business."
"Sure sounds like it is. Mira?"
"Some scientists."
"Like who?"
"None of your business means it isn't your business."
"Again it sure sounds like it is. Tell me Bruce. We're partners right? Don't hold back on me." Terri doesn't even realize the tone of his voice had changed.
"It is about your changes. They started when you hit puberty but now they are becoming more profound. Either the DNA overwrite is more powerful than I thought it would be or there is some thing else going on. I am trying to find out if the scientists who worked on the project knew of this and planned it or if it is an accident."
"Why so concerned now? When you messed with my dad decades ago I doubt you cared." He slows the Batmobile down. "Tell me Bruce this is about me."
"I didn't know him, I know you. I had hoped it would mold you in to the person who would want to become Batman if given the chance. Instead I'm worried it is making you become Batman no matter what you want."
"I choose to be Batman."
"Maybe. Terri we can't know what this overwrite has done. I admit it was wrong and stupid to do but it is a little late for that. Now we must focus on what is going on today." Bruce sees two red flashes. "Alarms, one a warehouse, one personal. The personal one is already being taken care of check out the warehouse."
"On it."
At the warehouse the Joker has three men tied up. "Now I'm a bit new to this time so I need to find out what is going on."
"Please, let us go, we don't know any thing."
"People I've dealt with before said this was the spot. Some thing about Big Jim Morales?" Joker reveals a shotgun. "Know what this is?" One nods.
"It, it, a shotgun. They have them at the museum."
"Bingo! Except the museum no longer has one. I have one though." He points it at the knee of the first man. "Now tell me where can I find Jim Morales?"
"Go slag yourself." Joker laughs.
"Well you never know what will be on the board. Go slag yourself is it on the board?" He pulls the trigger and the man screams as his left kneecap is destroyed. "Next," He goes to the second man. "Tell me where your boss is."
"Don't do it! He'll have our heads if we," Joker shoots the third man in the chest then reloads.
"I'm waiting we need an answer."
"I don't know!" Joker points at his knee. "But I've heard rumors."
"Like?"
"He, after Blight, Mr. Powers, disappeared the boss moved to a penthouse near the stadium. He is a big Gotham Knights fan and likes to bet on the games and watch from his apartment."
"Very good. Now if you get one hundred points you'll win the big prize! Survey says..." Joker motions to an imaginary screen. "Ooo, only fourteen points." He shoots the man in the face killing him instantly.
Terri arrives and sees the three men. He goes through a window near the top and lands below. "Wow some one made a mess." He sees one of the men move.
"Please, help me. Dear god help me." He runs over to the man who had been shot in the knee. "Batman, help me."
"Who did this?"
"Help me!"
"As soon as I find out who did this and why." Terri taps his foot impatiently.
"Please, the pain, please help me."
"Who and why."
"I, the guy looked like the Joker. Just like him but he must be eighty years old by now!" Terri leans down and stares the man in the eyes.
"And why did he target you and your friends?"
"We work for Big Jim. He took over most of Gotham's drug and gun trafficking after Blight left the scene."
"Contacting paramedics and police." Terri activates his rockets and takes off through the same way he came in.
Blight walks slowly in his new lead lined suit. "This is the best you could do?" A scientist stammers. "Spit it out!"
"With the short time and limited budget we couldn't really do much more Mr. Powers. Give us more time and we'll develop not only a smaller suit but one that can enhance your powers." He smashes a hole in a near wall.
"I don't need my powers increased! I just can't make it easy for Batman to find me until I want him finding me." He starts glowing brighter.
"Yes sir. Your radiation levels have increased significantly. I would not recommend unprotected contact with any one you don't wish getting cancer."
"So I can take this suit off right now." The scientist starts backing away quickly. "But then Batman may find me. Get me the number of my son's lawyer so I can contact him."
"Yes sir." The scientist leaves Blight behind in the lead lined suit.
The next day Terri wakes up after sleeping in. "Nightmares. But of who? I didn't recognize any of them." He gets up and goes to the bathroom to take a shower and wonder what the nightmares were about.
Bruce meets with Mira's supervisor at an undisclosed meeting point. "Why all the secrecy Bruce?"
"Because I have the habit of being followed."
"Ah yes young Terri. Being a teenager he must still be sleeping."
"He is not a normal teenager and you know it. And now he is eighteen and the changes are happening more and more."
"Like?"
"He has become more serious and better at connecting the dots. While not ready for a Riddler challenge he has had a sudden acceleration in his detective abilities."
"Sounds like things are going even better than planned! Why all the worries?"
"Better than planned? So this was not a planned reaction?" The man shrugs his shoulder. "I get this was an experiment so some things couldn't be planned but damn it this is going overboard. Terri is becoming me in a way I can't tolerate."
"Why? You wanted a Batman of the Future and the Batman Beyond Project created that. And from what you're telling me this is going even better than planned."
"No! It has created a, a, hybrid that isn't him or me."
"A little late for buyer's remorse. We've done it and now we must reap what we sow. And unlike you I think this is what Gotham needs."
"What Gotham needs and what is best for Terri are two different things." The man stands up.
"You've grown attached to him. Separate your emotions from the project and realize this is every thing and more that we wanted." The man leaves a frustrated and angered Bruce behind.
Bruce Wayne goes back to the Bat Cave and calls Max. "Whoa, big guy, what is it? Is Terri ok?"
"No. Max I have a favor to ask of you."
"What's the sitch?"
"You know how to get to the Bat Cave. Come here, now." He hangs up on her before she can answer.
Terri gets a phone call from Bruce. "Yeah, need me?"
"No. Take the day off. Go see Dana."
"Don't need too tell me twice. But give me a call if any thing Blight happens."
"I will." They hang up.
At the Bat Cave Max looks around. "Last time I was here I was taking the heat for Terri."
"Yes you were. Now I need your help."
"Comp crash?"
"No. Terri told you about the DNA overwrite correct?" She nods. "At first I thought facing the Joker changed him but then it was his eighteen birthday. The DNA overwrite is becoming stronger."
"So? Isn't that what you wanted?"
"No!" He slams his cane on the floor. "I wanted a Batman who fought because it was the right thing to do. Not a puppet who has no choice."
"And you didn't see that coming? Isn't that the whole point of your mad scientist frankensteining?"
"Yes, at first. But I know him now. I know what I've done and it is wrong. I can't stop it now but I can maybe make it so even after I'm gone he won't become a monster."
"A monster? Why would he become that?"
"The DNA overwrite might make him more like me but he isn't me. He has admitted he let others die. He may not strike the killing blow but he doesn't go out of his way of saving them."
"And how many lives did he save by doing that? If you just killed off the Joker after the first time how many thousands would have been saved?" Bruce gets up and goes over to Max.
"Would you kill some one who was mentally slow? Some one who didn't know what they were doing was wrong? How about some one who belongs in a straight jacket because they are so lost from reality they don't know what they are doing? I heard the Joker make a comment that stuck with me all these decades." He clears his throat. "They aren't real! I'm not, you're not, no one is! Do you think in a real world people would run around dressed as a bat or clown? Of course not! None of these people are real I'm not killing any one!"
"Whoa, scary."
"He had no idea, still has none, about what he is doing."
"Yeah, heard he's back. But he hasn't done any thing yet has he?"
"Nothing that has made the news." She sees the look on his face.
"But he has done stuff." She taps her foot a couple times. "So why am I here?"
"I might have a couple years left if I'm lucky. He'll need help after that. I need you to accept this because he will need that help and I think you are the best choice."
"Only choice is more like it. Not like you have a lot of options."
"I have more than you know. But he knows you and trusts you which makes you the better choice."
"For what becoming Robin? I don't think so. Oh and no Batgirl stuff either."
"Alfred suit you?"
"That's the second time I've heard that name but Terri didn't tell me who that was. What was he? Superman's real name?"
"No, far from it. He was the one who kept me grounded all those years. He also helped me like I help Terri now just not as much."
"So I'd become the Bruce Wayne to Terri's Batman?"
"In a way. But you should choose a codename."
"So what? I become some behind the scenes gal?"
"Yes, on my payroll so you won't be distracted by other work."
"Cool so do I get a 401k and health bennies?"
"All Wayne Enterprise employees do." She smiles and laughs.
"I was being a smart ass but cool."
"You'll start off salaried at fifteen a year but I'll make sure when the time comes you'll make enough to live off of."
"Huh. So college is out?"
"You won't need college. But you must prove yourself."
"Sure, why not? So what do I do first? Is Terri coming over soon?"
"No. I gave him the day off."
"Oh, so he's with Dana."
"Yes."
Terri is at a restaurant with Dana when a blonde waitress walks over. "Oh, Terri, hey." He looks up and sees who it is.
"Hi uh, Melanie. This is my uh, girlfriend, Dana."
"Really? And when did you two meet?" Dana replies before Terri can.
"We've known and dated for awhile."
"Awhile? How awhile?" Dana gets up.
"Awhile, months, more."
"Really? Terri and I were dating and if I remember right about three months ago we were alone in his room for the night."
"What?" Dana slams a hand on the table. "Terri you were two timing me!"
"I wasn't! I mean, you and I have been on and off as it was until recently. It was during an off time."
"An off time because you kept running off on me and that is if you showed up at all." She grabs her coat and turns away.
"Dana wait!" Terri starts leaving when Melanie grabs him by the arm.
"I'm sorry I didn't know." He pulls away from her and keeps going after Dana.
That night Max stretches and yawns. "I'm ready for some shut eye."
"Really? You don't have school tomorrow."
"Yeah, so?"
"So you're staying here." She let's out an annoyed groan. "You want this position you must work for it. You are my first choice because you know Terri but I have others I could choose."
"Fine, ok, so if some one calls about a giant..." They continue with their work.
Terri sees Dana get in a cab and drive off. "Slag it. I'll talk to her tomorrow."
"Will you?" He turns around and sees two Joker gang members.
"Leave me alone I'm not feeling like dealing with some idiots right now."
"Well some one wants to see you." Terri rolls his eyes. "How bout we pluck em out for you?"
"You and what army?" Terri attacks the two Jokers.
After a minute two police come up. "Hey!" Terri looks up.
"Oh, hi officers. Don't worry I took care of them."
"Thanks. Two more. Man this is like the dozenth time we've come across Jokers attacking people."
"Yeah, and always in pairs."
"A dozen? I didn't know there were that many left." Terri stands back as the police cuff the gang members.
"Don't worry about it kid. The cells are getting stuffed we might be sending them to Blackgate if we run out of space."
"Yeah, no problem." Terri gets his phone out and checks the time. "I better be getting home." Terri starts walking.
A/N Meh, break out from Arkham is major but what was that in the vault? And the Joker is planning some thing but what? We must wait and see. As for every thing else... It is a muddled mess, I know, I have like 10 things planned and trying to get it all together makes things a bit of a mess.