Life is as tedious as twice-told tale, vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man.
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Batman Beyond Season 4Episode 64: True Threat
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
Melanie is with the Original Joker. "So Mister J what's the plan?" She caresses a finger on his arm.
"That clone fake has been using one of my old ideas. You can't tell the same joke twice and expect to get the same laugh!" Joker's maniacal laugh sends a chill through Melanie. "But I've got it taken care of."
"Really Mister J? Is there any way I can help?"
"Just make sure the Batfake doesn't interfere tomorrow night."
"You got it Mister J."
Terri and Max are in the Batwing following a high radiation source. "It has to be him."
"Shouldn't we be doing what Bruce said? He wants us to go after the smaller bad guys not Blight."
"Blight doesn't deserve to run around free."
"Speaking of running around where is Flash?"
"Don't know."
Flash is near Gotham Harbor. "Of course they're here. Why do the bad guys always come here?" Several T Gang members were trying to break in to a warehouse.
He runs up and grabs the screwdriver from a T Gang member. "I think you should use a flathead not a phillips when trying to break a lock."
"Give that back!" Flash throws the screwdriver back to the one who held it before.
"So now what?" A T Gang member starts pulling out a blaster when Flash uses his speed to grab it. "I won't be giving this back." He throws it on the ground and it breaks. "So come quietly or deal with the guy who is killing you like I kill a twelve pack of tacos."
"That's just a rumor."
"It is more than a rumor. I've seen the pictures from the morgue." The four T Gang members look at each other an then lower their heads.
"Fine. But we'll get out once the Batman catches that murderer."
Terri lands the Batwing and leaps out. "Blight! Come out here!" He runs towards where the radiation counter indicated.
"Batman wait!" Max leaps out after him.
Batman smashes through a door of a run down shack. "Get back!" A canister of nuclear waste had two bombs strapped to the top. He activates his rockets to try and gain more distance as the bombs explode.
Terri crashes to the ground as the shockwave hits him.
Max throws her arms up to protect her face.
Batman tumbles and slams in to a wall knocking the wind out of him.
He hears a laugh and then footsteps. "So easy." His eye sight is fuzzy and he can't see the person talking.
The person walks over to the Batwing and takes the radiation counter out. "This should make my job easier." The person walks away as Max and Terri recover.
Max recovers first and walks over to Terri. "Hey, are you ok?" She holds a hand out and he takes it.
"Thanks." She helps him up. "It wasn't Blight but it might have been some one working for him." The two walk over to the Batwing and see the control panel had been damaged. "They took the radiation counter."
"Maybe it was some one who was looking for him. His son?"
"We haven't caught him yet so maybe." Terri sees the time on the dash. "We have school in four hours. We better get this back to the Batcave and then go to bed." He and Max both yawn as they think of sleep.
Terri yawns as a teacher hands out exam papers. "We will be monitoring you and all communications. There will be no chance of cheating!"
"I'm Batman. Yet here I am taking end of the year exams." He looks over at Max who looks just as tired. He had felt sick even before he went to bed and wondered if it was from radiation but didn't have time to check.
Bruce is awoken by a phone call. "Hello?"
"Bruce." He recognizes the voice.
"Barbara."
"Ma Mayhem and her sons were found dead this morning. An explosion was also reported early this morning."
"Some one planted a bomb but no one was harmed." He looks out the window and notices the blinds were open. They weren't when he went to bed. "I'd also like to report an intruder."
"Who?"
"Some one who came in to my room but didn't disturb me." Bruce gets up and closes the blinds.
"Are you sure it wasn't Terri or one of his friends?"
"Terri and Max have exams today and Flash is staying at a hotel."
"Call them first before making me more paranoid Bruce. If it isn't Jason doing these murders then some one else is and they may be the one who broke in to your house."
"They didn't break in. My alarm would have gone off. They knew how to get in with out setting it off."
"Then are you sure?"
"Yes. He had cancer and died in a hospital. He was buried by his adopted son."
"What is his son doing?"
"He's a doctor. He had been going to school to become a surgical tech but after his father died from cancer he changed majors. He has not missed a shift."
"You did your research then." Barbara sighs. "Some one is doing this and they may be the same one who was in your house. What are you going to do?"
"I don't know Barbara. This man is so much like Jason but it isn't him. He didn't train his son either. I just don't know who it could be."
Terri stumbles out of school nearly sleep walking when Dana comes over. "Terri? Can we talk?"
"Uh, sure, I guess." He follows her over to a bench and sits down next to her.
"I know that being what you are takes a lot of time and effort." She waits as he yawns again. "But once you graduate you will have more free time, right?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"So then maybe we could try dating again?"
"I guess, yeah, sure." She frowns.
"I am really the Joker."
"Uh huh, ok, sure."
"You're not awake right now. We'll talk later." She gets up and walks away. Terri leans against the wall behind the bench and falls asleep.
Clone Joker is at the top of the television studio. "Tonight I put on the show and prove I am the real Joker." He holds a device in his hand with a glass case over a red button. He flicks the case open and closes it. He does this over and over again as he waits for the right moment.
Melanie finds Terri asleep on the bench. "Terri, wake up." She smacks him lightly and his eyes open.
"Huh? Where am I?"
"At your school. You fell asleep on the bench." He reaches behind himself and rubs his back.
"So that's why my back hurts. What time is it?"
"Nearly seven."
"Oh, crap, I need to get to the cave." She puts a finger on his lips.
"Not tonight. Batwoman and Flash are taking over tonight so you and I can have the night off." Terri has flashes of memory of Dana talking to him but he isn't sure if it was real or from his dream.
"Sounds like fun."
"I'll make sure it is." Melanie grabs his hand and leads him away from the bench.
Bruce tries calling Terri again but Terri doesn't answer. In his sleep induced stupor he had put his calculator in his pocket and his phone in his locker. "Melanie is missing as well. Those two are off doing who knows what."
"I'll give you three guesses what they're doing and the first two don't count." Flash laughs at his joke but Bruce just mumbles some thing that sounds like idiot.
"Maybe there were attacked? When they were out of uniform." Max was getting more and more worried about who it was killing criminals. She suspected it was him who set up the radiation bomb. "By you know who."
"We don't know who and that is a problem. Our original plan of just rounding up criminals won't work. There are too many in Gotham."
"So change of tactics? I search every building not occupied by law abiding Gotham citizens while Miss Hotty flies overhead?"
"You couldn't search every abandoned warehouse and store or building in a week let alone a night."
"But," Bruce cuts him off.
"Even at your speed."
Melanie and Terri are at a club sipping on their drinks. "How long until you graduate?"
"If I pass all of my exams then in two weeks. If I don't I can retake the exams I didn't pass and graduate at the end of next month."
"I'm sure you'll pass them Mister, er, Terri." She smiles and places a hand on his arm. "How about a dance?"
"Ok, sure."
Clone Joker checks the time. "And now time for the show." He flicks open the glass case and presses the red button.
Every television, computer, radio, and other electronic device turns off for a few seconds and then turn back on. Every one covers their ears as a loud beeping noise screams from the overtaken electronics.
Bruce takes the ear piece off and rubs his ear. "Who is doing this?" His question is soon answered.
Clone Joker laughs as his face fills all the screens in the city. "Hello Gotham. I know it might be confusing with so many of us running around but I'm the Joker and I'm going to prove it!"
Melanie and Terri run out of the club. "Bruce will be able to find his position." Terri and Melanie run in to a dark alleyway. "Do you have your outfit?"
"Yeah let me pull it out of my purse." Her sarcasm gets on Terri's nerves.
"You should have it nearby at all times." He opens his backpack and takes his cowl out. "Or on you at all times." He pulls his shirt off revealing the Batsuit was worn underneath.
Clone Joker finishes his rant. "And now for some thing completely different." He laughs as he flips the device over revealing a slide. He pushes it open and pushes the button underneath it.
The building he was on rumbles as explosions blast through the bottom floor. Soon the next floor explodes followed by the next one up. "That's not good." Clone Joker looks down and sees flames shoot out through shattered windows.
The Original Joker laughs as he watches the building explode floor by floor. "Now that he's gone I can really get things moving." He continues watching as floor by floor the building is destroyed.
Clone Joker looks around for any escape but sees none. "I've been double crossed! I'll kill him for this!" The top floor explodes and flames swirl around Clone Joker. The building starts collapsing underneath his feet as he burns.
Batman lands on the roof of a building near the collapsed building. He is soon joined by Flash. "Where you been?"
"Out." Melanie had said she was running home to grab her outfit and card so Terri had come alone. "Where's Max?"
"Some where in the Batwing." Both look up but don't see it.
"We need to help look for survivors. It should have only been a late crew since the eleven o'clock news is filmed at five." The two go down to ground zero and search for survivors as police show up.
Melanie, Ace, shows up where Real Joker was waiting for her. "So you kept him distracted Ace?"
"Of course Mister J. It wasn't that difficult." She walks up to him and puts a hand on Joker's arm. "I think he has a thing for me."
"Sounds like the old Batman and Catwoman." Joker laughs. "So maybe he has a little Bat in him."
"Maybe he is the son of the old Batman."
"I thought of that but that doesn't really narrow things down. I have memories of fighting Batman and his name is there but my resurrection has hampered them." Joker pounds his hand on the desk. "I must have found out who he was! Maybe that's what happened? I found out and he killed me?" Joker laughs so hard he doubles over and uses the desk for support. "Oh who am I kidding? Batman could never kill."
"So is the other one dead? We all know it takes a lot to kill the Joker."
"I don't even think I could survive that and I survived death!" He starts laughing more.
Batman and Flash have found three survivors who needed immediate medical help. Others were not so fortunate. "Wow." Terry pushes some rubble off to the side. "Flash come over here." In a blur the Flash is standing next to Batman.
"Is that who I think it is?" Terri uses the suits strength capabilities to push more rubble off the body.
"He never stood a chance." The Joker's body had been crushed from the waist down by debris. His skin was badly burnt but the smile had never left his face. "He'll need to be buried."
"Cremated first right? We don't need this one coming back. Again." Flash and Batman work on freeing Clone Joker's body.
Batwoman flies over the city near the west end following a signal. "Why is this coming up now?" The signal was weak and would disappear and then reappear. "It must be a trap but I know it is a trap. The guy who took the radiation counter had to place it here." She flies lower and lands near some trees.
She walks over to a cluster of bushes and finds... "A cat?" A device was attached to the cat's collar. "So what is this guy doing?"
"Getting information." A rope drops from a tree above Batwoman and wraps around her neck. "This might not be politically correct since you're black but it works for me." He leaves her hanging a few inches above the ground as he drops down behind her. "Now Maxine I want to know how your little boyfriend became Batman."
"He's, not my, boyfriend." She pulls at the rope.
"Whatever." He pulls out a large knife and pushes it against her back. "I could paralyze you right now."
"Now that I, know," She activates her boots and the rockets burn the man behind her. "Where you are I can do that." She flies up, cuts the rope, and lands a few yards away.
"Clever girl." He stands up and she sees him for the first time.
"Nice helmet. Red is out of fashion though."
"As clever and witty as Batgirl." He shows the knife. "Are you as protected as she was?"
"What do you mean?" She whispers so the man in front of her can't hear. "Bruce help I might be in trouble."
Bruce was talking with Batman and Flash and doesn't get Max's transmission. "I'll make sure he gets a proper burial."
"Are you sure old man? I could dig a hole in minutes."
"No. He may have been an insane murderer psychopath but he was still human. You must always respect that."
"Right." Bruce and the two with Joker continue talking about what to do with Joker's body.
Max dodges knife swing after knife swing. "I don't know!" She leaps up in to a tree. "Why don't you ask Batman?"
"If he is any thing like Bruce I know all I'll get are lies."
"If you know who he is why are you attacking me? I'm a good guy!"
"You don't believe in the same path as I do. You'll try and stop me." The man takes a few steps back. "Of course you could escape any time you wanted. Just like I could kill you any time I wanted." He pulls out a gun. "But I like playing with my toys before I break them."
"Break this!" Batwoman throws two smoke bombs on the ground and then takes off using her rockets.
"I could!" The man knew where she would go and aims. He has her in his crosshairs but doesn't pull the trigger.
Max flies back to the Batcave in a panic. "Bruce!" She leaps out of the Batmobile.
"What? Max what have you been doing?"
"I was attacked by a guy wearing a red helmet. He is the one killing criminals." Bruce's cane drops to the floor. "Bruce?"
"It can't be." He turns to the computer. "Flash, go to Bludhaven and dig up the body of Jason Todd and get me a DNA sample."
"What? Dig it up? Ick."
"Do it."
"Bludhaven. How many cemeteries are there?"
"Four. The one you're looking for is on the east side of the city."
"I'll be back when I get back." Flash turns the headpiece off. "I'm going to need a long hot shower after this."
Melanie is leaving Joker when she contacts Bruce. "Hey I just got done with Mister J and I think we should be worried about what he is planning."
"He blew up a building his plans are done."
"No not what I meant. The other Joker placed bombs but Mister J moved them to the television building. Mister J didn't like that the clone was using one of his older plans."
"Ace what is he planning now?"
"He wants to lure the guy killing criminals in by rounding up the criminals himself. He wants to get them in one place and when the guy killing criminals shows up blow em up."
"He has more bombs?"
"Yes and Mister J plans to use them." Bruce grows a little worried about how Melanie was talking.
"Mister J?"
"Uh, just what he wants me to call him. I think um, what was her name, you know who I'm talking about right?"
"Harley Quinn."
"Yeah, her. I think she called him that."
"Just be careful Melanie. The Joker is a master of getting in to a person's head. He warped a young doctor into becoming a criminal."
"I'll be fine." She continues flying to the Batcave.
In Bludhaven the Flash spins forming a wind drill and finds the casket. "So gross so gross this is so gross." He pulls it open. His face turns green as the smell hits him. "DNA sample. Hair." He looks at the hair left on the head. Rotted flesh hanging off of the bone. Flash runs out of the hole and pukes behind a tree before going back for the hair sample.
The Sun starts rising as the computer finishes the DNA test. "One hundred percent match. The body in the coffin is Jason Todd."
"So that means what? Who is Jason Todd? You said he was dead but didn't tell me what that meant. I've never heard of him. Did he work for Two Face or some one else?"
"He was what a lot of people thought Batman should have been." Bruce loads a picture of Redhood. "Jason Todd was the second Robin. He was my greatest failure."
"What happened? He went rogue? Started killing criminals?"
"The Joker murdered him. Beat him with a crowbar and as he gasped his last breath the Joker set off a bomb." Bruce closes the picture. "I was too late." He brings up another picture of a smiling teenager.
"But then how did, I mean, he is in a grave in Bludhaven now right? And it said he only died a few years ago." Flash was wiping his hand on his leg involuntarily even though he had already washed it multiple times.
"The Lazarus Pit. Terri knows about it but the rest of you don't." Bruce brings up a picture of Ra's Al Ghul. "It can make the old young or bring the dead back to life."
"So he came back and then what?" Terri starts feeling detached from the rest. "He came back to kill." He shakes his head as the others look at him.
"Are you alright Terri?" Melanie goes over to him but he pushes her away.
"He came back claiming he would be a better Batman than I could ever be."
Bruce stands up and smacks Terri. Terri lashes out but Flash grabs his arm before Terri can hit Bruce. "Calm down before you hurt some one."
"Like you?" Terri pulls his other hand back in a fist but Max this time tackles him to the floor.
"Stop it Terri! Snap out of it!" She punches him.
"He got like this when we went to see Commissioner Gordon." Melanie kneels down and touches Terri's face. "He changed just like this."
"He's fine." Bruce sits back down. "Jason Todd is dead who ever this man going around as Redhood is not the first and is not Jason."
"He just knows who you are and who Terri and I are." Max rubs her neck where she had the rope wrapped around it earlier in the night. "And could have killed me but didn't."
"It is a problem but Melanie told me of another." Bruce looks at her and after a second she realizes he wanted her to take over.
"Uh, well, the Joker, the real one, is going to get the criminals still running around together to lure this new guy in."
Max crosses her arms. "And? Doesn't sound like a bad idea."
"Well he's going to blow every one up."
"Oh." Max looks down at Terri. "We have more exams today and school starts in an hour." She yawns. "I don't think graduating on time is in our future." She kneels down next to Melanie and helps her pick Terri up.
Terri's eyes open as he feels wind blow through his hair. "Aaaa!" He squeezes his arms around Max. "What are you doing?!"
"We only have twenty minutes until school! Don't worry you won't fall off." He notices his belt was tied to the motorcycle.
"School? What happened? Weren't we just in the Batcave?"
"I'll tell you later we're almost there." He looks and sees the school building.
"Another day of exams. Great."
"At least you got some sleep." Max pulls in to the parking lot dreading the exams even more than Terri.
A/N Again get you all thinking it is Redhood, or at least Jason Todd, but nope! And Clone Joker is dead. I had to get rid of him it was too confusing having two and I just don't see Joker's ego allowing two of him running around. So who is this new Redhood? How does he know so much? What is his overall plan? Will he try and do like the old one and take over the crime in Gotham or just keep killing them all? We must wait and find out!