saga/title/fandom: Identity chapter 6 (Batman Beyond)

author: Girl_Gambit

rating/genre:(PG-13) - Drama/Romance

warnings: violence, language

summary: Terry hasn't had time for himself lately, things seem a bit of a mess. It's a T/M fanfic - but i don't hate D

comments/disclaimers: I don’t own any of the characters, they were the creation of DC comics. This is a fanfic inspired by the Batman of the Future series, credit to the creators.Author’s note: This is my first Batman fanfic, it’s quite a daunting task, but I look forward to any constructive criticism on improving my writing as I’m an amateur at this. I haven’t been watching the show that long but it made an impact on me enough to want to write something. I apologise for any mistakes.

Chapter 6 Fireworks

Max, now outside the club, began walking slowly, not really knowing if she was going to take that long walk all the way home or not. This is not my style…running out of a club over some guy. This is bugging me, more than I thought it would. It’s not like I haven’t thought about them getting back together. It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve split and got back together. Who knows what that kiss was about…. I just don’t think I want to be in there watching them make up all night. I used to be ok with this…spending so much time with Terry hasn’t done me any favours I guess. Maybe I should go back in there, this is stupid. She halted as she considered going back to The Web.

A slim guy dressed in black and white was watching Max walking away from a dark alley.

“She’s hot,” he said, turning to his associates hiding behind him.

“Hey Skull, she looks kind of lonely,” added the round guy in a jester’s outfit.

“I wonder if she’s got any cash…” the third guy said, putting his hands in his empty pockets and pulling out the lining.

Before any of them could act upon their thoughts of what kind of problems they could cause for the girl, they were approached by a figure in the dark.

“No one’s going anywhere until I say so.”

The three didn’t dare to move. As the figure drew closer, they recognised him. The collar on his coat was pulled up and his head was held down so they couldn’t see his eyes, which were half covered by uneven strands of dark green hair. His well-known grin of content at their being attentive to him was taken by the others as a sign that they were not in trouble. He shortly revealed his glowing green eyes, heavily surrounded by thick black eye make up, contrasted by his white masked face. Stepping past them, he cautiously moved his head around the corner of the alley to see Max walking along the road. He could gather that she was upset about something by her body language. He could see why the guys thought she was easy prey. It seemed she wasn’t paying much attention to anything around her. The Jokerz had been eager to warm up with some regular terrorising.

“Where are the others?” Mischief looked thoughtfully at the Jokerz who were present.

“They should be inside the club now Mischief.” Skull pulled down his mask as he got ready for Mischief’s orders for them.

“From our homework you know where you should be targeting tonight. The diversion should give you enough time to run with the goods and make it back to the base.” Mischief dispatched the Jokerz and laughed to himself. All the world is a stage…and now I’m on! He pulled a black hat out of his bag and pulled the tip down so it was worn low over his eyes. He crept out of his hiding place to see Max hesitantly walking back to The Web. He went back into the alley and waited for her to get nearer.

“I have to go back in there…Terry will be worried about me…If he’s not busy smooching with Dana of course. Ok, got to get that image out of my head!”

Max tried to psyche herself up for acting like everything was normal as she was walking past the alley.

“Why the sad face?” whispered a hoarse voice, catching Max off guard. The figure moved slightly out of the dark alley. She pulled the imitation guns out of the holsters on her belt and tensed up her face to look as aggressive as she could.

“What do you want?” I really hope I can outrun this creep, it’s only a matter of time before he realises these guns aren’t real! He started laughing making Max angry. Guess he’s already figured out these guns are fake. Before she could run, he grabbed her, placing the one hand over her mouth as she struggled, kicking him. She dropped the useless guns to the floor, thinking about how she could manoeuvre the situation so she could put her self-defence classes into practice.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” His voice seemed sincere and for some reason Max believed him but she didn’t think hanging around for friendly conversation was on his mind either.

Her muffled screams were only wasting her energy. Her eyes moved down to find out what weapon of torture was in his hand as she continued to struggle in his arms. What the hell…?

Terry impatiently ran his hand through his hair as he scanned the room. Where is Max? It’s been over half an hour. As he got up to go look for her, the atmosphere in the club changed. The lighting had stopped changing colours, and was now on constant green. The designs being projected onto the walls no longer looked abstract, but appeared to be laughing faces. The music had been changed to a mid-tempo rock song with a very heavy guitar rift. Terry listened to the lyrics, sung in a melancholy voice building up to screaming. The guests seemed confused but carried on dancing. Why do I get the feeling that this isn’t on the DJ’s play list? Terry turned on his earpiece.

“Bruce, things are getting a bit strange in here and Max is missing. I’m going to find out what’s going on.”

“Terry, don’t let your personal feelings get in the way.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Just stay focused on stopping the Jokerz.”

Terry started to search for the DJ’s booth. He found a green glass dome with a mirrored surface supported by long black metal legs emerging from it to the ground so that it looked like a spider. Having found an entrance in one of the legs, Terry ran up the stairs leading up to the control panel. When he got inside the dome he found a semi-muscular looking guy sitting at the control panel with his feet up. The DJ had been knocked out on the floor and the control panel had been jammed on repeat play. The guy turned his clown painted face to the door as Terry leapt towards him from behind. Terry wrapped his arm around the guy’s neck in a chokehold.

“You’re not supposed to be here. Who are you working for?” Terry loosened his grip enough to allow the Joker boy to answer.

“He’ll be… here soon.” The guy smiled as he strained to get out the words.

Terry pulled his head back, threatening to shove his head into the control panel if he didn’t get more answers but as he pulled the guy’s head back his eyes caught sight of someone through the dome’s glass. The tall figure was dressed in a trench coat, with a hat, tipped down over his face. Terry noticed that two other guys in masks in the room had seen the guy in the trench coat and were now walking to follow him. I don’t remember seeing that guy before.

“There’s no point in going down there, he’s already managed to get past the other security guards.”

Terry pulled the guy out of the chair and shoved him to the ground. As Terry turned to leave, the guy clutched the corner of Terry’s long coat and dragged him to the floor.

Down on the dance floor, Mischief was soaking up the atmosphere. Suddenly the music stopped. Mischief knew something was up. He readjusted his plan accordingly. Taking advantage of everyone being distracted by the abrupt cutting off of the music, Mischief nodded to one of the Jokerz nearby. The ghoul faced Joker opened his coat and took out some candy shaped fireworks. Just as he was lighting the fireworks and getting ready to throw them, the guests were alerted by a loud warning to get out. Batman flew down, kicking the fireworks out of his hands away from where the guests were running out in a panic. Sparks were flying around the room as Batman’s eyes darted across the room, looking for the leader. Mischief let out a hysterical laugh, as he threw off his trench coat and threw out some smoke bombs, clouding Batman’s vision.

“Come on Batman, I want to play,” Mischief called through the smoke as he made his exit.

“Bruce, I saw him, didn’t get a good look, he’s getting away…oh great, it looks like more circus freaks have arrived for the show.”

“Go after him, I’ll get Barbara to send some back up down there.”

Batman saw two more Jokerz coming through the smoke. He power kicked the first guy in the stomach, winding him so he dropped the spiked bat he was brandishing and then he gave him an uppercut punch, sending him into the second guy who was much smaller sending them both to the floor. Before Batman could leave to look for the leader, the ghoul faced Joker had jumped on his back, attempting to strangle him with a skipping rope. He felt the rope tightening around his neck as he tried to throw the Joker off him. He elbowed the Joker several times in the stomach until he felt the rope loosen and then he grabbed hold of him, bending over to pull the guy over his shoulders to slam him to the floor. The other two Jokerz were up off the floor and were poised to partner attack. Batman reached into his utility belt as he saw the Jokerz approaching him but was interrupted by the loud sound of police sirens. The Jokerz looked at each other. “Get Ghoul and let’s get out of here, come on!” The smaller Joker guy was already trying to make his get away as he urged the other two to hurry. Batman figured the police would catch them, and triggered his jets and then opened his wings to glide over them. For good measure he threw out an explosive Baterang to slow them down.

Batman flew out of the building and around the surrounding area to search for the Joker who had made a fast escape. How do I even know if Max is ok? I can’t let this guy get away but what if Max needs me? She must have got out of the building with the others…As he flew overhead, he noticed something at the entrance to an alley not too far from the club. He used the special lenses in his mask to zoom in. Max’s guns…she wouldn’t have left them there like that, she was too into wearing those damn things…Jokerz?

“Terry, I’m picking up some images, it seems to be July 4th in Gotham Park.” He was reminded of Bruce’s presence on hearing his grave voice coming through the internal communicator.

“Let me guess, a pretty little fireworks display?” Batman accelerated, flying speedily to Gotham Park, now feeling a renewed vigour. The lack of sleep had made him somewhat mechanical, just doing the job as Bruce wanted him to. Now that it could involve Max’s safety, a stronger desire to find this new Jokerz leader was growing. He flew into the park to find a multi coloured array of sparks lighting up the navy blue sky. He landed in the park. Where is he? In time to answer Batman’s question, he heard a loud whistle. He looked up to see a tall figure in a hat on a colourful hoverbike. He couldn’t see much of his face due to the hat drawn low over the eyes but Batman’s annoyance at seeing him smirking was increasing.

“I only hope for his sake he doesn’t know what happened to Max…”

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