An Apprentice's Future
By: Malaizjan De Jesus & Reina Grayson
Author's Note: This is the climatic installment of the Batman Beyond Saga. Everything is coming together and this is the crossover fic. If you're a fan of either this series or Young Justice, than you will enjoy this! I am going to list the theme songs to various DC tv series and most of the theme songs can be found on Music of DC Comics: 75th Anniversary, which is available now, and the YJ Theme song is on its own album titled: Young Justice, which is also available. So if you don't have them, I suggest you go and buy them both!
Also, I had lots of help with this story. Reina Grayson deserves half the credit in getting 80% of this fic done.
Chapter 3
Back in the Past…
Vincent felt intimidated. He also felt Meygan's reassurances through their link. He and her tried to keep Deathstroke from destroying Watchtower a few years back, as a 12 and & 13 year old monitors. They succeeded but they got beaten within an inch of their lives.
"Time for those questions," Rave said to Aqualad smoothly. It was how everyone was looking that made her say that.
"Who are you two-really?" Superman asked.
"Real names too?" Raved asked sarcastically. Her hands were on her domino mask. "Ce un nemernic," she added under her breath. (What a jerk.)
Vincent was really getting ticked off with Great Uncle Clark. It looked like the saying was true: Kryptonians had VERY hard heads.
The twins chuckled, knowing what Meygan said in Romanian.
"Yes everything," Conner snapped rather quietly.
Both future teens pulled off their eye masks. Artemis' blue eyes stared back at the gathered heroes. "I'm Vincent Harper, codenamed Archeron, C-06."
Rave's red eyes greeted the young adults for several moments before Dick's blue eyes came into view. "And I'm Meygan Greyson, codenamed Rave, C-05. I'm co-leader of our generation's team."
"Rave?" asked Beast Boy.
"Ok…um, you know the saying, 'The latest craze?' In our time, it's been changed to 'The Latest Rave'. So that's me."
"So you two have a plan to save Wally?" said Dick. His arms were folded.
"Yeah. The LOD goofed and they don't know it. Uncle Wally's stuck in the Speed Force." Meygan folded her arms too. Both hers and Dick's stances were identical.
That was the creep factor.
"And Rave's the only one that can save him," Vincent finished. He watched the heroes of his past ponder this. And he loved the reactions showing on their faces.
While this was going on, Batman and Flash were monitoring the conversation in another part of Watchtower.
"I want to know how he got stuck!?" Flash replied. Why hadn't he realized that!? Wally faded out of existence. Why didn't he figure it out!?
"Flash…no one knew." Batman's stoic voice was hard to maintain. He was happy that Wally wasn't dead. But he wanted to know why send just the two of them?
"So…you can save Wally?" Reiena spoke up, eyeing the dark-haired girl that would be her niece.
"Yeah. With theses." Rave held up both arms to show off two metal cuffs.
"So…why did he come after me?" Flamebird asked.
"To get rid of Areina," Vincent answered with a growl.
"She kept him from killing me…" Rave drifted off, not wanting to talk about it. And she was at her emotional limit. Without Raven, she had to tread carefully.
"This is a waste of our time! We need to save Uncle Wally now! Rave, let's go do this! I'm tired of talking!" Vincent stood up, his chair thrown back.
"No." Rave stayed calm, seated so she could stay in control of her emotions. "Stand down now, Archeron."
Vincent knew better than to challenge her. He'd seen what Orin, Mathen and Kevin dealt with when they did. Brian was too fast to catch and he was the only smart one to not to challenge her. But he did it anyway. "Make me."
Rave's head snapped up, her eyes red as Meygan faded away and Demona, Meygan's demon companion rushed to the surface. "You DARE TO CHALLENGE US!?" Demona hauled Vincent to her. "So. Be. It." She let him go.
Vincent stayed on his feet, only to be roundhouse kicked in the jaw, which the force of it slammed him into the wall. He dented it.
Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter tried to mentally restrain her. But Rave lashed out, pinning everyone up against the walls farthest away from the pair.
"Nightwing, what IS WRONG with your daughter!?" Conner cried, hating the feeling of helplessness. He struggled to move and free himself but the hold was absolute.
She cocked her fist back and her eyes were a lighter red. "No one challenges us," she said in her dual, angry voice. Demona/Meygan threw the punch.
Vincent closed his eyes. His face was going to be broken. He knew it.
The fist was thrown.
But the pain didn't come to Vincent. The broken bones didn't come. He peeked with one eye.
Demona/Meygan's fist was next to his head, bleeding from the wall dent next to him. Her eyes faded from red to blue. Horror came to her face, as if she realized how angry both Demona and her got. "Vincent…I'm so sorry…" Meygan fell to her knees and sobbed, releasing the others.
Meanwhile, back in the Future…
Lady Merline had searched all over Watchtower for her youngest child, Molly. She was starting to panic. As she headed back to tell Dick, Serenity walked by the auxiliary control room. The door was ajar so she opened it.
Bruce had a headset on, the microphone by his mouth. He was watching the screen in front of him intently. He didn't acknowledge her. "Now, place the charge just below the relay-"
"Where's my baby, Bruce!?" Serenity stood in the doorway, arms folded.
"Is that my mommy?" Molly's voice came over the speaker.
"On a mission!" he bit out. "Is it set?" He was going to ignore Lady Merline. Rescuing the captured heroes was the real priority.
"NO!" Serenity summoned a wind gust to blow Bruce away from the console. "How could you-!?" She was now in "Mom" mode. She ran to the console. "Molly Trinity Greyson! You are in SO MUCH trouble, young lady! WHERE ARE YOU!?"
"Um, LOD headquarters with Robin, Shock, Eclipse and Airhawk." Molly knew she was in real trouble. "In Coon Rapids, Minnesota."
"Get out now!" Serenity cried. What were those kids thinking!?
"But mommy! We can see the older heroes. We can save them!" Molly made sure everything was ready to go.
Serenity glared at Bruce with an anger that would surprise everyone who knew her. "Why!? You have Terry. You didn't need my baby girl! You had 5 protégés! You didn't have to let this continue. This was why I didn't want you near my kids!"
"Molly came to me. She told me it was a one-time deal, Serenity. She got her team together. They wanted to strike a blow to the LOD. You and Dick raised her right. And I am not trying to remake my image in my old age."
"You could have REFUSED!" Serenity yelled.
"They would have gone anyway. This way, they won't get into as much trouble." Bruce adjusted his headset, for Serenity's wind gust didn't last long. "Molly, you guys need to take cover."
"Got it, Grandpa."
"What's going on in here!?" Dick cried. He, Jason, Tim, Barb, Terry and Areina were in the doorway. (It's a large doorway.)
"Bruce allowed half of Beta Squad to go to LOD HQ and bust out the captured heroes." Serenity was going to say more but by being so upset, she felt a sudden pain in her extended stomach and fell to her knees.
Dick was at his wife's side. He glared at Bruce. All of their past issues came full circle. There were all out there, bared to the world. "Molly is no fighter."
"She came to me," Bruce stated factually.
"You could have refused!" Dick barked.
Jason and Tim ran to the console, to get a fix on Beta Squad.
"How could you!?" Barb said sadly, but with anger as well. She had hoped that with his age and having Terry and Areina would be enough for Bruce. But letting Molly and the youngest members of Beta Squad leave and then help them rescue the older heroes, she realized that Bruce was still operating his own agenda.
Terry and Areina felt like they were strangers walking in on something very private.
"I didn't force her," Bruce repeated and he didn't like to repeat himself. In the mic, he said, "Molly, get your team to a safe distance. Let Shock detonate the bomb. As soon as all of the Slade Bots leave the heroes, go free them. Then get a Boom Tube."
"Got it, Grandpa."
Dick felt terror seize his heart. To hear his youngest sound so confident, he knew she had to be terrified.
Terry didn't know Molly very well, but he knew she wasn't as talented a fighter as her brother and sister were. Areina, on the other hand, was about to cry. Some of the tings her family has said were starting to leave contradictions on her mind, but then again, everything could have changed when she, Vincent, Meygan and Terry went to the past. Bruce had seen that in the future, Batman was still around but that trip could have made him work Areina harder…
"Ok, we need a breather." Jason got between Dick and Bruce. It was ironic that he was going to be a voice of reason.
"Jason, you know how he is!" Dick cried.
"I do. But if you really believed that, then you and Roy wouldn't have let him raise Areina."
"I couldn't do it. Slade was still after me. I couldn't let Reiena's girl get caught up in that."
Jason nodded. "What he did to us was wrong, but he never wanted us to be like him. He wanted us to rebel, to be given a chance. And we had that chance."
"He wanted me to take his place!" Dick shouted.
"And he forced me out after what happened with the Joker and me," said Tim and that quieted everyone.
Areina wanted to voice her opinion. "Uncle Dick, did you or mom ever think that Bruce would have children of his own? I mean, with his double life, he really didn't have any chance with any woman. You and mom, and me by relation, became his first kids and therefore, he wanted you as his first son to take over his legacy. Uncle Tim, Barbara told me the story of what happened to Bruce after the Joker returned. He forced you out to protect you, but no one knew about the chip until Terry fought the Joker."
Terry was surprised; his partner was making sense, but she wasn't done as her voice got angrier.
"Why do heroes get in the game anyway? To protect the innocent, even if that means risking life, limb and even sanity; they protect the innocent from those who break the law. Molly felt this was the best shot for Beta Squad to prove they were ready and she went to the ONE person who could help them. She KNEW she was no fighter and Bruce can't fight anymore. They make a good team. But I bet Molly doesn't want to do this on the regular." Areina folded her arms.
"Areina…" Dick said softly. His niece made perfect sense. "Do you know why didn't become Batman?"
"Dick, don't," Barb said. There was no need to rehash this in front of them all again.
"Because of what happened to Orin, Mathen and Marik."
"That wasn't the reason. It happened before they were born. I nearly died because Bruce forgot the #1 rule of having a partner; watch their back. I didn't see the bullets coming at me because his reaction time was slow. By the time he moved, it was too late for me to dodge.
"I got shot 5 times. Serenity was just pregnant, in the very early stages with the boys. She helped heal me and keep me alive. I decided right then and there to walk away forever; Serenity didn't want the kids near him because of that. I agreed."
Areina was SHOCKED; her grandfather endangered her only blood uncle? She couldn't believe it." Grandpa, is that true?" There were tears in her eyes.
"It is." His voice was remorseful. He regretted that. "I should have never let you come along, Dick; it was my fault."
Terry spoke up. "Even after that, you kept going as Batman; what really made you quit-and don't say the exosuit."
"I couldn't just stop. I had hoped Dick would reconsider."
"I wasn't going to sacrifice my family after you LET ME GET SHOT!" Dick shouted, anger in his voice.
"Dick, please," Barb said.
"It was because you couldn't save Marik. Or Reiena," Terry figured it out.
"So Damien was just another casualty?" Tim asked.
"How about we head to Coon Rapids, Minnesota to help the kids," Jason said. "We can talk later."
"NO! We're doing this now!" Dick cried.
"You'd really leave Molly there with Beta Squad!?" Areina asked.
"Molly and the team do need our help," Terry said. "I'll go."
"IT'S not the Dynamic Duo without me," Areina said, staring down her Uncle Dick.
"No…Dick, go after our baby girl." Serenity held her stomach but her eyes were pleading with her husband.
"Ser…"
"I love you so much and I know you're angry. But there are 5 inexperienced kids at LOD HQ trying to give us a fighting chance."
"She's right, Dick. I'll stay with Serenity, keep her calm," Barb said. "Go."
"I'm going too," said Jason. No way was he missing this fight.
"Me too." Tim saw the looks he got. "I'm back in shape and I got people watching my back. Let's go now, while we can."