An Apprentice's Future

By: Malaizjan Dejesus & 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 5

Music Playing: Justice League Unlimited Theme Song

Cyborg was blasting away Slade Bots with his Pulsar arm cannon. The rescue by the VERY young heroes wasn't going well. Rip Hunter & Booster Gold were dead as they had been caught in the crossfire of multiple fights.

Shock & Airhawk took to the air with Cassie & Donna, along with Beast Boy as the green shapeshifter turned into a pterodactyl. Raven was in a fight with Strife while Starfire was dealing with Star Sapphire. Yami was dealing with Miracle and Eclipse, with Luthor jumping in whenever he wanted. Robin wasn't sure who to fight, so he was pretty much doing the same as Luthor…..jumping in where needed.

The older heroes were amazed that these 'babies' were here saving them, and even holding their own in their respective fights. Shock and Airhawk were really impressing the two Amazonians, but that's when Cassie became shocked by something the children said.

"Komos would be having a field day right now, don't you think Shock." Airhawk stated; knowing how the male Amazonian loved fighting.

"So Impulse was right, my son DID go to Nightwing." Cassie said, a rage filling her as the thoughts of what Nightwing I had done all those years ago. Cassie Sandsmark started fighting harder than any of the older heroes had seen, and they knew it was out of anger from learning that Eolus….her one and only son….was with the ONE person she had been protecting him from.

Raven launched a shadow raven at her brother, who merely took the hit and chuckled. But he winced. "I didn't realize father would stoop to helping mortals with world domination."

Strife chuckled. "Father doesn't know." He blasted Raven with a ball of dark energy.

She protected herself with a sphere.

Starfire blasted Star Sapphire with her star bolts, making the evil alien fall back.

Yami was frustrated with Miracle & Eclipse. His vines were being dodged with Martian telekinesis and wind magic.

Impulse ran in a circle, trying to eliminate the Slade Bots. Which was working until Deathstroke/Ian got him in the leg with a bullet and Bart went before Deathstroke could do anything, Airhawk flew in and swung his mace, nailing Slade/Ian in the stomach. He was launched into Luthor, knocking both down.

Eric Drake, aka Robin, was taking down bot after bot with his various tools, batarangs & kicks. He leaped over one bot, and got a kick to the face, which dropped him on his butt. Wheeling from the kick, he was picked up by the front of his costume shirt. He then punched and flipped away from the hold.

He saw who kicked him…Talia a Ghul.

He was pissed. Mostly because the immortal was still bothering his extended family.

"I've had it with HIS family interrupting my plans." 'Talia' said

Eric felt the same way. He believed he could take her. He kicked at her,hoping to return the one she have him.

'Talia' was quick as 'she' dodged the attack, but that didn't help as the young Robin had a second attack ready and it hit the Al Ghul right in the stomach

"You killed an uncle I will never meet, and from what I've heard, you've pissed Areina off."

'Talia' was still holding 'her' stomach yet smiling as the boy brought up just a couple of things 'she' had done to the Bat family.

"She is a constant thorn in my side." 'Talia' came at him, kicks and punches raining on the 12 year old.

"I'm sure my cousin will finish your reign of terror soon enough."

"Really child? I killed my own son, took out Flamebird and even forced Batgirl into early retirement." The Al Ghul then caught a kick, and with an elbow, threw his leg down hard, damaging his leg above his knee.

Eric cried out.

'Talia' didn't have time to finish him as a Star Bolt hit her. Followed by the sound of gun fire.

Star Sapphire took advantage and hit Starfire with an energy blast from her hands.

Beast Boy cheered. "Alright! The Calvary is here!"

"I've HAD it with the Legion of Doom." A familiar voice said as more bullets began to fly.

"First one to Kill Red Hood gets to mount his head on my wall." Drow said as he came out, dragging a lifeless, bloody Ravenger.

Tim threw a birdarang at Drow to shut him up.

Seeing Ravenger's body being treated like that enraged the heroes, even Terry and Areina.

Fireballs rained down on the villains. Red Bird was upset.

Terry dodged them, running to strike down the LOD members.

Jason shot up the 20 Slade Bots dumb enough to take him down.

"You all will die." Talia said as attention was drawn by the words.

Tim and Dick were the most shocked at the site.

'Talia' had young Robin IV held agianst 'her' body and there was a gun at his temple. "Don't worry about me, guys, get the older heroes out of here."

"Let him go, Talia," Dick said.

"Why should I; I've had it with the...detective's...interference."

Molly leaped away from Yami to cast a spell. Luna and Andrew ran interference. "Sseddog dniw O reh morf nug eht pir!" Molly was running to Talia, a birdarang in her hands.

Talia started to pull the trigger but the gun was taken from her by an invisible hand, the winds so strong, Talia was thrown into Drow 20 feet away.

"We're out of here!" Eric yelled, happy that his brains weren't on the ground.

Molly pulled out a mother box and activated.

Beast Boy was the first to go through as Dick kicked back a Slade Bot.

Wildcat helped Star Girl through next.

Black Canary sounded off, knocking back Darkin before going through.

Starfire wasn't worried about escape.

Luthor wanted Jason DEAD, so he took his chance when the heroe's back was turned.

She got Star Sapphire in the stomach and flew into her, knocking both to the ground, causing an earthquake.

As Starfire climbed out of the crater, she saw what Luthor was going to do.

Then the villainous clone pulled out a laser gun and fired it at the ex-hero.

Jason never got blasted. His longtime friend Kori took the blast and she was bleeding to death in his arms. The fight raged on; Nightwing calling for a full retreat and the aged heroes and Beta Squad were doing just that.

The LOD were NOT happy about the heroes rescuing the captured heroes.

It was Luthor that hit Kori, but the blast was meant for Red Hood.

She stared up at Jason's eyes; he removed his biker helmet. A small smile came to her. "Do not...mourn for me...Jason. I will return."

"Don't leave me. Not now." Jason pressed down harder on her stomach wound, to staunch the green blood, but his gloved hands weren't enough. "I'll get you to Watchtower. Miracle can fix you up."

"Don't...you're the only one left now; win this fight, help your...family." Kori coughed up blood.

"Please...Kori, I can't...Roy's gone...I just can't..." Jason wasn't sure what he was asking, or saying. His emotions were all over the place: a dangerous thing when you are THE Red Hood.

Jason now had THREE people in his sights that had bullets with their names on them, but just as he looked back at Kori...he saw there was no life left in her eyes. Koriand'r of Tamaran AKA Starfire was gone, and he, Jason Todd AKA Red Hood was the last of the Outlaws.

Meygan was resting on the med bed, Vincent holding her hand. Her faint purple glow had gotten darker and her bruises had healed. The blood had disappeared. The others knew that this Meygan was a trooper; putting herself at extreme risks just to finish a mission. She was WAY too much like the original Batman.

Wally stared at Vincent. He was Artemis' son. That he wasn't expecting. What happened to him and Artemis? He didn't want to know, honestly. But he had to know if she was alright. "What about Artemis?"

Vincent was taken by surprise. "What about her?"

"She's still safe. You never wanted it any other way."

"Aww..." said Roy in a teasing manner.

"Oh, shut up," Wally said affectionately.

"Why did you ask?" Vincent wondered.

"We're kinda...stuck together; me and my future self," he said.

"I see." And Vincent knew that he and his mom truly loved each other. But he never knew what tore them apart.

"Vincent...you and Areina were so happy to see me when you guys got here last time. I've wondered...what happened to me?"

"Spoilers, dad. Sorry." And Vincent wanted to tell his father, he really did. But he didn't know if the timeline would be drastically changed if he did.

"Vincent?" Meygan said mentally.

"I should kick you for putting yourself at such risk like that," Vincent told her mentally. Meygan's soft chuckle filled his head. "You can try, little brother. You can try..."

"She's talking to you mentally, isn't she?" Batman said, startling Archeron.

"How'd you know?" Vincent had no clue as to how good Batman was.

Batman just glared.

"Go…hang with your dad…"

"I should stay…" Vincent said, a longing in his voice.

"You'll never get another chance. GO…"

Vincent let go of Meygan's hand. He turned to his dad. "Okay. Meygan said I should hang with you. So…" He looked to his dad.

Roy smiled. "I know just the thing…"

Vincent was enjoying himself; spending time with his dad actually doing training simulations, matching his dad's course scores. Everyone who had doubts didn't have any now: Archeron was Red Arrow's son.

But as much as he enjoyed his time in the past, he still worried about Meygan. She and Mona were healing nicely. In another hour, he'd be leaving. Because once Meygan was awake, they would be back in their own time and he would be without a dad…..again.

Reiena knew that the red-haired archer was thinking about something, for the way he held his soda can as Roy took aim at the practice target and fired. She had a feeling that the time he spent with Roy told her how important that time was. Knowing what she knew of her own death, she realized that Roy was gone too….in the future. But she would have to ask.

Dick came up to stand next to his twin. Neither said a word. They didn't have to. They both watched Vincent intently.

Reiena walked into the archery training room and heard the familiar twang of a bowstring being released. She knew that Roy was in there, and it was Vincent's turn. She watched the 15 year old shooting at targets before saying anything. "Hey Vincent."

"Hey, Aunt Reiena; I'm sure you have some questions, so go ahead." He expected it now, lowering his bow. Roy took his queue and left the pair there.

Flamebird waited until she knew he couldn't hear before speaking. "I already know that I die giving birth to Areina, but I've noticed the way you act with Roy. He died either right before you were born or when you were very young. Please, I want to know how that affected Areina?"

Vincent took a deep breath, he wasn't expecting THAT question. "She's said that she met him once when she was four, but after seeing you last month, she's been really distant about it. She was lucky to find out more about dad from one of her 'uncles', but I don't think it's enough. And I wasn't raised with her. I found out about Areina about 8 months ago. So I don't know how she felt about it growing up."

Reiena knew what it was like to not have your birth parents from a young age, but knowing that her own daughter wouldn't have that connection with her father made tears come to her eyes. "How old was she when Roy died, that's all I wish to know."

"7, I think. Meygan wanted her to come along too but Areina told her no, but to bring me instead, and only me."

That was the last straw as Reiena let the tears fall; Areina was younger than she and Dick had been when they lost their parents. Taking in what else he said, Reiena knew that Areina felt she was needed more in the future than in the past.

She never wanted her own child to experience what she and Dick did. "How?" Reiena asked.

"Spoilers, Reiena. I just can't..."

"It's tearing you up inside to keep it a secret. I'm a Bat remember; I'll ask this, was it murder or something like a car accident?"

"Murder." The way Vincent said it made Reiena realize that it was bad. "He died protecting Star City."

"At least she doesn't lose BOTH parents to murderers." Reiena said.

When the first generation fire controller said that, Vincent had to use all his body control NOT to flinch and give away yet another secret.

"Vincent?"

"I'm sorry, I've said too much already." Vincent said

"No, I shouldn't have pressed."

Both were quiet for a moment. "I…"

"Hey little brother. Let's go. I'm sure that our team would like to know that we did it." Meygan stood at the doorway with Dick next to her.

"Already?" he pouted.

Meygan shook her head. "Let's go. Unless…"

"No…I'm good," he said, rushing his words. But he was still sad.

He didn't want to go.

***Well, the job is done. Now all the future heroes need is for the future Wally West to show up in their time so the timeline can reset itself. Is it really as easy as this? Stay tuned for the next chapter...and the next twist! ***