Willoffire123: You know what? I'm too tired to think up funny banter for the disclaimer. I don't own Batman Beyond. I've been reading a lot of BB stuff lately, and I wanted to expand on this one-shot using my new ideas.
Terry: It isn't a one-shot anymore then.
Willoffire123 So yeah, on with the chapter!
(BTDubbs, this one's in third person)
Terry
"You sure this is the place?" asked Terry from his perch in the rafters.
"For the last time, our contact specifically said that Mad Stan's next target was the historical archives museum," came the voice of Bruce Wayne over his comm. link.
"Barbara's already on her way with her unit to evacuate the people inside, and pick up Mad Stan when you're done with him."
"Fine. I'm already here, anyway. I'll search for bombs," Terry grumbled. He then noticed a familiar face lurking behind a display case.
"Hello," said Terry, leaping down from his hiding place and landing in front of the display case.
Mad Stan peeked out from behind the case just enough to see a pointy-eared bat waving tauntingly at him.
"Batman!" he hissed, pulling out some sort of gun, and firing cables straight at Terry's heart. Terry grabbed the cables in one fist, and punched Mad Stan in the face with the other.
Mad Stan grunted, then flipped the trigger again, sending electric shockwaves along the cable faster than Terry could drop the line.
The shockwaves hit him down to his bones, making every nerve in his body scream. Terry could vaguely sense Mad Stan dragging him away from the display case, and screaming civilians running for the exit. He couldn't see where he was taken, as that shockwave had fried his visor.
"I finally got the better of you Batman," said Mad Stan from somewhere right in front of Terry. "You're just a pawn for the bureaucracy, and I'm not gonna pass this opportunity up to take you down."
Terry lashed out blindly, his arms catching on something solid.
"Feisty Bat," said Mad Stan with a chuckle. "I'm outta here. I want a good seat when the fireworks go off."
The voice faded, only to be replaced with the ominous noise of a ticking bomb.
"McGinnis, get out of there now!" Bruce said sharply. Well, at least Terry's comm. link still worked. But how was that going to get him out of his predicament?
"I can't," Terry grunted, straining his arms. "Something's pulling me back."
"Suck it up, McGinnis, you've got to get out of there now!" Bruce repeated. "You've got ten seconds before the bomb blows."
Terry struggled furiously, but whatever Mad Stan had tied him up with, he'd done a pretty thorough job of it.
"Is the building empty?"
"Besides you? yes," said Bruce.
"Good," said Terry, squeezing his eyes shut as the ticking got louder.
The ticking stopped,
and all Terry knew was pain.
"TERRY!" cried Bruce.
It was too late, the world of darkness enveloped Terry's entire body, the pain dragging him headfirst into it.
Bruce
Bruce slumped against his chair, still in shock from the sudden turn of events.
WARNING: VITALS DROPPING said the computer, pulling up a flashing red diagram of the suit
Bruce sat up straight again, typing furiously. Terry was still alive, for now, anyway.
"Barbara, you there?" he asked, turning on the computer's phone.
"I'm here, Bruce," came the welcome voice of Barbara Gordon over the phone. "We found Mad Stan knocked out in front of the wreckage. Usually the kid's gracious enough to tie them up for us, what's with the change?"
"Terry didn't knock him out," said Bruce, still typing furiously. "Listen, he's still in there."
"What?" Barbara said sharply. "Where's the car? I can dig him out and bring him there."
"Disguised as a moving van one alley over," said Bruce. "And Barbara?"
"What?"
"Do it quickly," said Bruce. "He's fading fast."
Barbara
"Listen, he's still in there," said Bruce over the link.
Barbara's heart sank. "What?"
"Move quickly, Barbara," said Bruce with the tiniest hint of worry in his voice. "He's fading fast."
Barbara scanned the wreckage. The fire squad had extinguished most of the flames, and a small paramedic squad was excavating the rubble for any possible victims.
A ray of luck, or possibly just her detective skills kicked in when she spotted the tiniest shift in the rubble by a paramedic's foot.
"Medic! I saw something move over there!" Barbara called to the team, gesturing frantically at the remains of the entrance.
Once the team was dispersed elsewhere, Barbara knelt in front of the rubble she'd seen move, and began digging.
"Hold on, kid," she murmured. Then, she hit flesh, and dug even more furiously, finally pulling Batman's torso out of what moments ago, had been the floor. The kid looked like he was in bad shape. There was blood and grime pooling in his half-open mouth.
"Now how do I get you out of here unnoticed," Barbara muttered. She began patting his belt. Batman gave a low groan. "Sshh," Barbara said soothingly. "I know it hurts, but we have to get you out of here unseen. Don't you have a remote control for the Batmobile?"
She hadn't expected him to be responsive enough to understand her. So, when Batman gargled "third…button from…center," she flinched.
"Got it, hang in there, kid," said Barbara, pressing the button in question. Batman had become unresponsive again, a trail of the grime-blood mixture trickling out the corner of his mouth.
Moments later, the Batmobile came in for a ground landing, completely cloaked. Glancing around to make sure the coast was clear, Barbara climbed inside, propping Batman in the back to the best of her abilities.
"Bruce what's the top speed on this thing?" asked Barbara as the jet lifted off the ground.
"Mock 3," answered Bruce.
"That should be more than enough," said Barbara, willing the jet forward with a small flick of the wrists on the thrusters.
The jet shot like a bullet in the direction of Wayne Manor.
Barbara
"How is he?" asked Barbara, coming up behind Bruce to read the flashing red diagram of the human skeleton.
"He's not breathing on his own," said Bruce, standing and hobbling over to the gurney where an unconscious Terry McGinnis was hooked up to an oxygen tank, a heart monitor and pulse tracers. Pale smudges on the inside of Terry's oxygen mask indicated that he was still breathing. At least, he was still breathing with the machine's help.
Bruce hovered over Terry's bare torso, tweezers in hand. The tweezers delved into the ripped folds of Terry's flesh, coming back out with a shard of metal.
Terry let out a low moan of pain. Barbara held his bruised and most likely broken hand in her own.
Bruce dropped the metal shard into a petri dish on the table. "There may be more where that came from. I'll need to run more tests before we know what exactly needs operating."
Barbara nodded. "Of course, but do you really think the two of us are enough for this?"
"I've already contacted Tim," said Bruce, filling an IV bag with what Barbara knew to be a potent dose of saline.
"I meant maybe we should turn him over to the Justice League, Bruce," said Barbara carefully avoiding an outburst. She gazed down at the broken bat. "He'd be in good hands with them."
She turned to find herself subjected to the perfected bat glare. "You should know by now that if that won't work on Dick or Tim, it definitely won't work on me"
Bruce gave up in favor of setting up Terry's IV. "Fine. We'll send one of the JLU over here to help with the surgery. Then, when Terry's well enough to be moved, he'll be moved to the JLU Watchtower."
Barbara relaxed. "I couldn't have said it better myself."
"We can't relax yet," Bruce said sternly. "He's still not breathing on his own."
"Only time will tell if he's strong enough to breathe on his own," said Barbara gravely.
"Then I'll call Kal," said Bruce, pulling Terry's JLU communicator out of his belt, and hobbling over to the computer. Within moments, the image of Superman flickered into existence.
"Bruce?" Superman asked incredulously. "What's up? I know you didn't call to talk about old times."
"No," Bruce said flatly. "We need you to send someone over here to help with surgery. Batman's in critical condition."
Superman had never been very good at concealing emotions, and he showed it in his face. "I'll ask for details later. I'll head over there myself with everyone available."
Before Bruce had a chance to protest, Superman had canceled the transmission. Moments later, a Boom Tube portal opened next to the Batmobile. Out flew/ran Superman, Warhawk, Barda, Aquagirl, Green Lantern, Cyborg and Miss Martian.
"He needs the moral support," said Superman before Bruce could give him a severe telling off.
"Fine," Bruce spat. "Then M'gann, Marina and Kai come prep for surgery." He pointed to an area with a roped off sparring ring and a couple of beds. "The rest of you wait over there. And DON'T come back over here until the surgery is finished."
"Sure thing, Bruce," said Superman, turning to follow Warhawk, Barda and Cyborg over to the waiting area.
"Just a moment, Clark," said Barbara, a sudden brainwave hitting her smartly over the head. "We need your x-ray vision, then you can go with the others."
Superman, understanding the situation, flew over to join the operating team, and gazed over Terry's beaten body.
"Four cracked ribs, dislocated shoulder, chipped pelvis, four broken fingers in the left hand, fractured left wrist, cracked right shin bone, fractured left ankle bone, and a metal shard, just a little smaller than GL's fist lodged dangerously close to where his liver should be ," Superman finished in a hollow voice. "I don't know about muscle or organ damage; I can only see his skeleton."
"How is he still alive?" asked Aquagirl.
"The suit protected him from a good portion of the explosion," said Bruce. "Especially head damage. You can go now Kal."
Barbara watched Superman reluctantly return to wait with Warhawk, Barda and Cyborg.
"Let's get started," said Bruce. "Kai, if you would."
Green Lantern produced a green magnifying glass, hovering it over the laceration where Bruce had pulled the first metal shard out of Terry. "I recommend taking care of the metal shard first," said Green Lantern. "If it's left there for too long, it could give him blood poisoning."
"Right," said Miss Martian. Her fingers elongated into tentacles, diving into the laceration. They came back up with the metal shard, coated in Terry's blood.
"Marina, you're up," said Miss Martian.
"Got it," said Aquagirl. She waved her hand over the laceration, a pool of water following it. The pool of water began glowing blue.
"What's she doing?" Barbara asked Miss Martian.
"Speeding up the healing process with her chi," said Miss Martian as if it was the simplest thing in the world. Barbara gave her a quizzical look, but, low and behold, the laceration was indeed closing up on its own under Aquagirl's magic touch.
"The wrist, the ankle, the fingers and the pelvis are the only other bones that need operating," said Bruce. "The internal bleeding is another problem."
"The bleeding around the area where we found the metal shards is letting up on its own," said Green Lantern, peering through his magnifying glass.
"He's fighting back," Aquagirl said, a wide grin spreading across her face.
"Then it's our job to give him a fighting chance," said Miss Martian. "The pelvis will be the biggest operation, so that should go first. Then the wrist and fingers, then the ankle."
"While you are doing that," said Aquagirl, summoning another pool of water. "I will begin working on the shin."
"Let's get to work," said Barbara grimly.
SOME TIME LATER
"Well, I've fixed the cracked shin to the best of my abilities," said Aquagirl, wiping her forehead.
"And we've put the last pin in his ankle," said Bruce, having just finished stitching up the ankle.
"Don't rest yet," said Barbara, pointing at Terry's shoulder. "We still have to set that and bandage him up."
"Kai, Marina, hold him down," ordered Bruce. "This is going to hurt. A lot. M'gann, you know what to do."
M'gann gulped. "Yes." After triple checking that GL and Aquagirl had Terry secured, M'gann grasped Terry's wrist with one hand, his elbow with the other hand, and pulled.
With a sickening pop, Terry's shoulder snapped back into place.
Terry screamed.
"Well at least he's awake," Barbara said half-heartedly.
"What a way to be wakened though," said M'gann sympathetically while sliding a splint under his shoulder, and wrapping the whole thing with an ace bandage.
"M'gann," mumbled Terry. "What-"
"Ssshh," said M'gann, putting a finger to his mouth. "Save your energy."
Terry's head shifted to the right.
"Yeah, Barbara, GL, Aquagirl, Superman, Warhawk, Barda and Cyborg all came to see you," said M'gann softly.
"What…" he tried again.
"You got hurt, dude," said Cyborg, coming over with Superman, Warhawk and Barda to stand around the gurney.
"I know you just can't stand our awesome presence," Warhawk said dramatically. "But you're gonna come hang out with us when you're strong enough to move."
He turned to Bruce for conformation. "Right?"
Bruce glowered at him before grumbling "Yes."
"Oh…" said Terry. Barbara took a good look at him. His eyes were glassed over as if he was in a trance.
"Everyone, lets give him some space," she said at last. "I don't think he's listened to a word anyone's said."
"Yes, go away," said Bruce. "I will contact you when Terry is well enough to be moved."
"Fair enough," said Superman.
Bruce glowered some more.
"He'll be in good hands with us, Bruce. You have to trust me on this one," Superman said earnestly.
Ignoring Superman, Bruce hobbled over to a table where he'd liquefied pain medication for Terry. He picked it up, hobbled back, and poured the stuff into Terry's IV bag.
"Yeah, yeah, we get it," said Barda, aiming her mother box and pressing the big red button. "Let's go, Kal."
Barbara waved goodbye as Superman, Barda, Warhawk, Aquagirl, Green Lantern, Miss Martian, and Cyborg disappeared through the boom tube.
"You know they were only trying to help, right?" Barbara asked Bruce.
Silence.
"I know."
Terry
"So that's what happened," said Terry.
"More or less," said Bruce from his seat in front of the super computer. "Still don't remember your go-around with Mad Stan?"
"I remember a little bit of it, since you told me," said Terry, letting his head fall back on his pillow. It had taken Terry another two weeks after his little escapade at school to get Bruce to tell him what happened at that fight. Bruce still wouldn't let him out of the Batcave, and Terry had done a lot of lying in his bed in the medical area, staring at the gloomy celling, and thinking. He tried so hard to remember what happened that it made his head throb. But then Bruce would come and put something into the bag that kept injecting stuff into his arm. Something cold would enter his arm and send Terry into blissful nothingness.
But not this time. This time, Terry demanded to know exactly what happened at the fight, and Bruce finally consented to tell him before he injured himself further trying to remember.
"I've already told your mother that you're being moved to a hospital in Metropolis. You'll be in good hands with the JLU," Bruce finished matter-of-factly.
Terry sighed. "I don't get a say in it, do I?"
"What, you want to stay here?" Bruce said with a raised eyebrow.
"Staying here would be better than staying with the JLU," Terry grumbled.
"McGinnis, you work with them. They saved your life during the operation," said Bruce seriously. "They can't be that bad."
"I just don't want to be a damned invalid," Terry grumbled.
"You were almost killed, Terry. You have the right to bed-rest," said Bruce. "You're leaving tomorrow morning with Barda and Superman."
"Guess I am," Terry said, stifling a yawn.
"Get some rest, McGinnis," said Bruce, rising to leave. "Barda and Superman will be here when you wake up."
Bruce hadn't needed to say a word; Terry was already asleep.
Willoffire123: Well? What do you think? I know, I know. It's REALLY gory. My little brother said so. But I thought it was fun to write.
Terry: You hate me. You're crazy.
Willoffire123: No I don't.
Terry: The fact that you don't hate me, and yet you tried to kill me MAKES you crazy.
Willoffire123: hehe, until next time!