The formally dressed old man looked down on the silver watch wrapped around his left wrist. But it wasn't the usual accessory that would typically display the current time.
On the square sized screen, it displayed a digital red grid that had two yellow dots on it. One was in the middle while the other was flashing on the right.
The two dots were very close to each other, indicating that the old man was getting close to his destination.
He looked away from his watch after he rounded a corner, his eyes setting in on the entrance to a dark alley.
He knew that whatever he was searching for, would be lying there in wait for him.
…
12 hours earlier…
"Why won't you just DIE!?" A middle-aged man angrily shouted as he threw a transparent green ball that cackled with fire.
The owner of the outburst of anger was an otherworldly figure that was covered in thick layers of green, translucent skin. The silhouette of his skull, spinal cord, and ribcage were visible in a dark shade of green with his remaining bones being covered by his tattered business attire.
The designated target for his ire was a male figure wearing a skintight black suit that highlighted his athletic physique with a silver belt embedded into the waistline. Pointy ears stuck out from the top of the head with white eyes that looked inhuman.
But the most eye-catching feature of the figure's suit was the crimson red bat symbol embedded into the center of the torso.
That symbol was a sight the corrupt and malicious individuals of Gotham City loathed with a passion. A symbol that should have remained buried in the time it hasn't been seen.
Yet, that very same symbol brought the innocent and decent people of the city hope and security during the city's darkest, most dreadful nights.
Both the young and old were reminded of the lone man that would lay down his life to protect them from the smallest to biggest threats the world had to offer.
This lone man was known as... the Batman.
The Dark Knight of Tomorrow leaped away from the fiery ball. But not without letting out one of his taunting lines.
"Come on, Blight! I know you can do better than that!" Batman exclaimed as he flashed his attacker a grin that contrasted the darkness of his suit. The voice of the Tomorrow Knight was youthful but in a deep tone.
The attacker, Blight, seethed in rage to his target's taunt. The temperature of the abandoned room, formerly owned by Star Labs, rose to alarming levels.
Batman felt the temperature easily pierce through the multiple layers of his suit. And it instantly caused his grin to turn into a frown.
Blight growled as he shot a beam of green fire from his left arm, his target dodging it with a backflip. Not stopping there, he launched a barrage of fire beams at his target.
What came next was an impressive display of acrobatics as the Dark Knight dodged all of the green fire beams with flips and high jumps. He did so with expertise as he used his hands to stabilize his flips which maintained his momentum.
Blight growled as his target dodged his fire beams. He interlocked his translucent fingers, raising his arms and bringing them down, shooting out a fireball that was larger than the rest.
Batman dodged the bigger fireball, but cried out as the wider blast pressure sent him across the abandoned room.
His cheek burned thanks to his head roughly scraping against the dirty floor.
Blight shot another fire beam at the downed Batman, who dodged with a long leap and landed away from the radius of the radioactive fire.
A burst of fire shot out from the soles of the Dark Knight's boots, sending him up the hole that led to the upper floor of the abandoned lab.
The translucent man screamed in anger once he saw his target escape. The green flames of his body flaring up to an alarming extent.
On the upper floor, the Dark Knight turned back to the sound of Blight's anger filled scream.
"And there's my cue to hurry up!" He thought as he turned to his mentor slash boss, who was currently tied to a rickety pillar by multiple layers of heavy duty chains.
He reached down to the suit's circular belt buckle and detached it from its designated spot. Three curved blades propped out as they began spinning, emitting a sharp whir.
A wave of fiery sparks flew out of the chains getting easily cut by the spinning blades. Illuminating the darkened room to a slight extent.
A few seconds later, the chains fell down in a symphony of metallic rustling. The old man nearly collapsed to the floor if it wasn't for the fast acting of his savior.
"You okay there, Bruce?" The Dark Knight asked the old man.
"I've been through worse." Bruce answered in his usual monotone voice, shifting his gaze at his protégé. Not a visible hint of fear shown on the older man's exterior.
The Dark Knight smirked in amusement. His mentor may have been in the state of a fossil, but that didn't deteriorate his fearlessness.
"Come out you rat!!! We haven't finished our business, yet you decide to leave like that!?" The echo of Blight's anger reached Batman and Bruce.
"Leave me here," The old man said.
"What!?" Batman snapped his head down to his mentor's command.
"I'll only slow you down, Terry. Leave me here so you can take care of Blight."
The Dark Knight couldn't express his protest due to Bruce sending him that infamous glare of his. Whenever the old man sent him that damn glare, he knew that he had no other choice but to comply.
Batman got down to one knee so the old man could sit properly down on the pillar. Once that was done, he ran out of the room and turned to the eerie green light that was slowly closing in on him.
"Time to face the sci-fi reject." The Dark Knight muttered to himself.
...
The Dark Knight of Tomorrow let out a small groan as he slowly regained his consciousness. His eyes opened only for them to be covered by waves of technical static.
He grunted in annoyance at his eyesight being blinded by the technological malfunction of his cowl.
He gripped his cowl and yanked it off, revealing the handsome, fair-skinned face of the teenage boy named Terry McGinnis. He ran a hand through his unkempt black hair as his bright blue eyes fluttered.
That's when a realization immediately came in.
"Hold on, I still have a body!?"
Terry began feeling up his exposed face, both shocked and confused that he mostly had his skin intact.
Keywords "mostly".
He lightly hissed when his kevlar covered fingers ran across the small yet fresh burn that was on his right cheek. Though he suspected that there were more spread around his body.
Despite that, he suffered very minor injuries.
But… it didn't make any sense to him.
His skin was painfully itching from Blight's radioactive fire, and yet, he was here, kicking and breathing as if nothing happened.
"None of this is making any sense. How am I still alive?"
The brain of the young vigilante went to work, hoping to find a possible explanation for the cause of his survival.
"So you're here as well..."
Terry jumped from the sound of an all-too familiar voice.
He whipped his head to face the old man towering over his seated form, his shadow covering the entirety of Terry's body.
"Bruce… what are you doing here?" The young vigilante asked himself and the man in front of him, his youthful eyes glowing beneath the shadow of the mentor.
"I could ask you the same thing, McGinnis." The former Dark Knight replied, the small yet subtle bit of uncertainty was there for Terry's ears to catch.
The young vigilante cocked a brow at Bruce's odd behavior. He has rarely ever heard Bruce sound so… unsure.
"Bruce what the hell is going on?" Terry asked in growing confusion, rising from the concrete path of the alley. He made his bright, bold pair of eyes directly meet with the faded pair of his mentor.
The former Dark Knight did not give his successor a verbal answer, only his usual silence.
Terry felt his stomach churn, almost as if he was going to spill his guts onto the surface below him.
Bruce may have been an absolute hard ass on him during most nights, but his straight and concrete answers would always give him some sort of reassurance that the worst Gotham had to offer could be dealt with.
But during the rare times Bruce was in doubt of his own abilities, Terry was there to bring some optimism and hope onto the table.
Gotham City's most dangerous nights may have hardened both his mind and body, killing the final portion of his childhood innocence, but his youthful optimism would always remain there to bring some light into the city.
But now, the two of them were in a position neither knew what to make sense of.
The nerves that were strongly affecting Terry's being would be broken when Bruce finally responded. "Terry, I'm not sure whether or not all of this is real."
Naturally, Terry's eyes squinted.
"What do you mean by that, Bruce?"
The old man took a step forwards, his eyes easily bringing tension into the muscles and nerves of his protégé.
"How do we both know that either of us are even alive?"
...
Terry, still without his cowl, paced back and forth across the dusty floor of an abandoned internet café he and "Bruce" broke into.
The question his "mentor" brought onto the mind numbing fiasco that was their situation made his undeveloped brain go on a marathon.
If he was actually dead, then what in the absolute hell was he living in right now? The afterlife?
No, that wouldn't make a sliver of sense. The afterlife did not look like a middle-class, Japanese neighborhood.
Perhaps he was trapped inside of a coma? That seemed like the most reasonable and logical explanation to whatever the hell his consciousness was living through right now.
All of the frustration, confusion, and growing fear was released in a single drawn out sigh, nearly sounding like a yell of hopelessness.
Ace came up to Terry, letting out a small whine to grab his attention.
"Hey, boy." Terry greeted the bat dog in a more soft tone, his emotions having a little bit more control. "Don't mind me, I'm just…," He took a pause before continuing ",I don't know what to make of all this, Ace." He admitted as his hand lightly rubbed the head of the Great Dane.
Ace gently nuzzled his head against the lap of the young vigilante.
A tired yet appreciative smile was sent to the loyal companion of four legs. "Thanks scoob. I'm really glad you're here."
Even though the boiling emotions that have accumulated in Terry's core have subsided significantly, his usually composed mind was still in a haze.
And there was one way he could fix that.
"Ace, I'm gonna be heading out."
The bat dog responded with a curious head tilt.
A soft smile graced the lips of the young vigilante. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna run off into the sunset." His smile dropped into a frown, his eyes turning half lidded. "I just… I need some time by myself."
The dog lightly whined in concern to Terry's decision.
"I'll be okay, boy. I'll be back, I promise." The pleading glint in Terry's blue eyes told the four legged companion that the young man would fulfill his promise.
So after he released a bark, Terry sent him one final smile, sliding on the cowl and making his exit through the back.
On instinct, Ace turned to make eye contact with the cloaked face of his elderly master, the half of his broad frame stuck out from the distant corner he used to listen in on his successor.
"Let him be, Ace. He needs to get his bearings together."
The former Dark Knight revealed the rest of his body from the curtains of darkness, his piercing blue eyes directed at the exit his successor took.
"He'll need it."
…
The crimson red wings of the batsuit shrunk back into their place, letting Terry descend onto the roof he was just flying over.
As usual, there were no flaws once his feet were firmly planted on the flattened concrete.
His eyes were soon blinded by the dazzling sea of neon signs and carefully proportioned light bulbs that hung on the main entrances of the buildings.
His ears received a warm greeting of the ambience of urban life that was teeming from the streets below him.
Though the lively atmosphere did anything but calm down the powerful emotions that were swirling in his heart.
The Dark Knight of Tomorrow yanked off his cowl and gripped it with a snake-like grip.
Terry covered his face with his hands, rubbing them up and down as his body began carrying him back and forth, the black material of the batsuit gleaming underneath the vast colors of the city's nightlife.
What was going to happen from here on out? What could happen from here? What could he do to escape from this cage his consciousness was placed in?
The more questions that tried to expose the "reality" Terry was inside of, the deeper and wider the pit in his stomach grew.
His nose released deep breath after deep breath, trying to keep his mind from inviting more negative thoughts into his processing brain.
He is Batman, he is the Dark Knight. His entire life was all about persevering and maintaining hope.
Whatever the trial the world had for him, he had no other choice but to succeed. No matter how much darkness and terror surrounded him.
After walking back and forth mindlessly, Terry finally got his emotions under control. Not to the extent where they were gone for the time being, but to where he was able to have more rationale inside his head.
He took in one final breath and slid on his cowl, his rocket boots shooting him into the night sky once more.
…
15 minutes later…
Another stream of jet fire bursted from the soles, giving Batman another boost of speed as he kept his body still to maintain good flight control while he glided above the roofs of a neighborhood.
Out of the blue, fate called him over in the form of a fiery explosion, its mushroom of fire rose from the west.
Heroic instincts kicked into high gear as the Dark Knight tilted his body and boosted himself towards the rising beacon of fire. He only had a very limited time to rescue whoever was caught in the range.
"This may be a coma, but I'm not gonna let that stop me from doing my job!"
Another burst of jet fire brought the Dark Knight closer to the danger zone.
As soon as his eyes saw the building with a burning hole in the middle, he knew what he had to do to get inside.
He tilted his upper body downwards, causing him to lose a significant amount of altitude and line up his form on one of the windows that weren't guarding the growing inferno.
Batman retracted the wings of his suit as he proceeded to stretch out both of his arms, letting his kevlar covered fists easily smash through the glass barrier.
An array of transparent shards flew past the powerful physique of the Dark Knight.
Utilizing his muscle memory, he let his body drop so the palms of his hands lay flat against the floor of the room, using their surface area to control his momentum to execute an impressive flip that ended with a flawless landing.
Cinders and thick clouds of smoke invaded his nostrils, causing the walls inside to itch and burn.
Thankfully, he has been through this heated dance various times. So the effects would be a minor inconvenience, for now at least.
"MOMMY!!! MOMMY!!!" His ears caught the pleas of a little girl.
He bolted out of the room and rushed to the direction of the unfortunate soul whose life was on thin ice.
"Let's hope that her folks are still breathing!"
Thick smoke blinded his vision as he ran past the growing flames that were consuming the very roots that kept this building intact.
He made a sharp turn to a corner that went to the left, encountering the other tenants that were trying to flee.
"Just hold on for a little bit longer, Aya!!!"
Terry assumed he was looking at the mother of the little girl that was crying for her help.
He could see that she was desperately trying to move the burning rubble with nothing but her bare, vulnerable hands. Though it would be nothing but wasted effort as the intense heat caused her to reel back, yelling from the harsh burns that were inflicted on her skin.
She was not going to make any progress if he didn't step in.
"Let me help ma'am!" Terry announced his presence as the identity of the Dark Knight.
It earned him the appropriate response as she stopped her desperate attempts and turned to face the stranger that, from her perspective, appeared out of the blue.
Alarm and fear flashed across her face.
"W-Who are you!?"
"Don't worry, I'm here to help you and your little girl!" The young vigilante replied with his hands raised, hoping to immediately earn her trust.
His harmless gesture was enough for the mother to understand as her face changed into pure relief.
Batman ran to the burning rubble and began lifting it and throwing it to the sides. The flames were nothing but a bother thanks to the layers of his suit protecting him from the hazards of the fire.
"Just stay put! I'll get you out of there!"
With each piece of rubble removed, the little girl became more and more visible.
The heart of the Dark Knight sank once it was revealed that she had been carrying a small baby boy the entire time. The newborn was coughing and crying in the little arms of his older sister.
"Oh, no…"
The second Terry realized that there was a smaller, more fragile lifeform trapped in the middle of the raging fire, his limbs were injected with a powerful dose of energy.
He began throwing the rubble to the sides with a lot more speed. He had to get this family out of here, ASAP.
His change of pace paid off as he removed the final piece of hot coal in just a couple of seconds. The little girl did not hesitate to run into the tight embrace of her mother.
"Mommyyyy!!" Her little lungs cried out the hopelessness and fear that was swirling inside her fragile soul.
"Oh, thank goodness you two are safe!"
Despite the reunion he was witnessing, Batman had to remind them of the situation they were still inside of.
"We're not out of this yet, ma'am! Tell me where the nearest exit is!"
She brought her attention to her savior. "T-The exit is a floor down from here!"
"Mind leading the way? I'm not familiar with this place." The Dark Knight requested as he looked back and forth to the fires that were threatening to consume them.
The mother nodded as she raised her children from the floor, keeping them pressed against her chest. "I-I can do that, yes."
"Alright." Batman then summoned his left wing, spreading it out for the family to see. "You and your kids stay under my wing. It'll keep you safe from the fire."
She accepted the makeshift shield of her savior.
Batman hovered his left arm over the hunched form of the mother, providing her and her children better cover underneath his gliding wing. He was grateful that he possessed an above average stature since he didn't have to put in too much energy.
The vigilante and the huddled civilians then started their journey to get down from this accursed floor.
It was a nerve-wracking path to go through. The flames have only grown more furious as they began releasing small yet dangerous explosions from above.
Batman had to throw himself against the smoldering heat a few times to prevent the family from getting hurt.
His suit did wonders in preventing the family from receiving third degree burns.
Bruce really outdid himself in making the suit as resilient as possible.
It did not take another minute of treading across the smoke cramped halls to reach the exit that was a beacon of light.
That was when the universe spit on them as the Dark Knight heard the beeping noise of a detonating bomb coming from the entrance of the building.
His white eyes widened in shock and horror.
An explosion shook the burning building, a large cloud of fire shooting out with its wide heatwave that dispersed around the area.
Nearby parked cars released a symphony of beeps from the shockwave of the explosion sweeping across their metallic surfaces.
Back inside, the explosion left nothing but utter destruction as the lobby room was nothing more but a litter of burning debris and scattered rubble.
Yet, it didn't stop the Dark Knight of Tomorrow from ascending from the burning rubble that fell on him. He was dazed by the close proximity of the explosion, though that seemed to be the only major injury that explosion inflicted on him.
The family of three were huddled in a curtain of red gliding wings, the material they were composed of provided sufficient protection against the bomb.
"Everyone okay?"
The mother and daughter nodded, the baby boy coughing between his cries as he squirmed in her mother's arms.
"T-Thank you, sir!" The mother blurted out, her voice shaky but relieved.
A wave of relief washed across Terry's body. Although, he felt a small sense of exhaustion coursing through his limbs.
That sign told him that it was time to call it a night.
("One of these days, I'm gonna have to catch a break...")
...
After shoving away another pile of flaming debris, extinguishing the wall of fire utilizing the suit's fire extinguishing capsules, the family of three and their savior were finally able to drink in the night's fresh oxygen as they stood on the opposite side of the street
The flame engulfed building was barely recognizable through the clouds of smoke and bushes of fire.
Unfortunately for Batman, he had to cut his oxygen drinking session short the second he heard the incoming emergency wails.
Groaning in frustration, he got off the lamppost he leaned his arm on and moved to the middle of the street.
"Wait mister!" The little girl hollered out to him, causing the hero to gaze over his shoulder.
"Who are you?" She asked. Her innocent eyes filled with curiosity and admiration.
The hero turned to her, sending the child a small smile filled with confidence. "A good samaritan."
Fire bursted from his boots, taking the Dark Knight up to the night sky, summoning his gliding wings.
The little girl watched the hero with red wings with eyes that were filled with awe.
The full moon filled her irises with sparkles that further emphasized her admiration for the man who had just saved her life.
While the Dark Knight of Tomorrow may have not cared about an existing fan base, he has officially earned a small supporter tonight.
And many more would be soon to come.