Batman Beyond #5

Gotham Park was a normally quite busy place, during the day, at least. At night, however, it became a calm, quiet getaway for any individuals needing some time to themselves…or perhaps, time with someone special. Charles Hanson and Beth Saunders were two such people.

Charles, a brilliant twenty-one-year-old architect was a man of few words. Growing up he had been the quiet kid, the child who sat alone at the lunchroom tables at school, reading his thick stacks of books. Even from a very young age, Charles had found a love and appreciation for such poets as Shakespeare, Poe, and the like. He’d also dabbled in works of philosophy such as Soren Kierkegaard’s “Either/Or”. It was his appreciation of literature that had gotten him to where he was today. By the age of seventeen he had graduated college and become a professor at Metropolis University, one of the most prestigious learning institutions in the world.

But everything had started here in Gotham, his hometown. That’s where, in high school, he met Beth, the only girl to ever see past his quiet, stand-offish nature, to find the kind, caring young man that would steal her heart. She was roughly three years older than Charles, but they shared the same classes since he was so far ahead in school. It started as nothing more than a casual friendship, then, within a year grew into a full-blown romance.

That’s why he’d brought her back to Gotham for the weekend. It was in this very park that they had shared their first kiss. He wanted this night to be special.

He reached into his coat pocket casually as they strode arm-in-arm under the starry sky. He felt for the ring to make sure it was still there. This particular ring was very special. It was the ring he’d taken six months to pick out, the ring that he’d painstakingly researched to make sure it was exactly what she would want… the ring he planned to propose to her with tonight.

After feeling the cool diamond brush his fingertips, he pulled his hand back out of his pocket.

It was still there…now if only he could find the words to make this next part easier.

He was beginning to think he’d used too much cologne; he could smell it quite strongly as the wind shifted, he hoped it wasn’t bothering Beth.

He stopped suddenly, next to an old oak tree (one of the few left standing in the city).

“What’s wrong, hon?” Beth asked.

“N-Nothing.” He stuttered. “Say, Beth… Do you remember this tree?” He nodded towards it.

“Of course I do!” She smiled. “This is where we shared our first kiss.”

She squeezed his arm tighter and leaned her head on his shoulder.

He swallowed hard, or at least he tried to. Why was his mouth suddenly so dry?

“B-Beth… Th-There’s something I want to ask you.”

“Yes?”

She looked into his eyes.

He took a small step away from her, got down on one knee and took her hand.
“Beth, these last few years have been the best of my life and…” He struggled to find the words. What would Shakespeare say?



“Charles.” She spoke softly. “You don’t have to quote Shakespeare for me. Just say what you want to say. I want the words to come from you, not someone else.”
“O-Okay.” He took a deep breath and started again. “Beth, I love you and, I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than spend the rest of my life with you. Will you… marry me?”
She couldn’t help it, tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes.

“Yes! Yes, I will!”

She fell to her knees and threw her arms around his neck.

For a while they sat under the tree, her lying in his arms. No words spoken, none were needed. After awhile he made a call to his lawyer and left a message, telling him to transfer all of his possessions to joint-ownership. It would all be taken care of first thing in the morning as soon as his lawyer got the message. Another hour or so passed.

Then, suddenly, Charles jumped.

“Did you hear that?” he asked.

“Hear what, Hon?”

“Sounded like car just went by…very close.”

“But there are no cars around.”

“Exactly.”

They both got up to take a look around. Beth kept insisting that they leave, but Charles was too curious.

After walking around the entire park, Charles gave up.

“You win, Beth. Let’s go…” his eyes widened as he trailed off.

Beth looked at him quizzically. Then, without warning, he shoved her to the ground.

As she hit the ground flat on her back she saw a large bat-like figure fly over her and ram into Charles.

She got to her feet as quickly as she could, screaming at the top of her lungs for help, but there was no one around to hear her. She watched on in horror as the bat-creature tore into her fiancé, blood mixed with bits of flesh spewed into the air.

She screamed, for all the good it did her.

After what seemed like an eternity, the creature halted its attack and flew off into the night.

She ran to his side.

“I’m here, Charlie! Stay with me!” She sobbed.

Blood was everywhere, an exceptionally large pool underneath him. His chest lay open, some of his ribs exposed. But somehow, he was still alive!

He motioned to his right coat pocket. She reached inside and pulled out his phone.



Terry found that flying through the night-sky was just what he needed tonight. Another fight with Dana, getting held back in detention for falling asleep in class and getting an F on a pop-quiz were just a few of the things that had gone wrong today.

This is just what I need! He thought to himself. No one here but me. No one to say I’m not giving her enough attention. No one to say that I’m a lazy punk who’ll be cleaning floors for a living if I don’t straiten up; just me and the stars.

Terry. Bruce’s voice always did seem to boom in when Terry was trying to gather his thoughts.

“Yeah, Boss?”

“Get to Gotham Park, now!”

“Why? What…”

”Just go. I’ll tell you when you get there.”

“Aye, aye, captain sociable.”

Bruce didn’t bother responding.







My God! Terry thought, examining the blood-splatters on the ground. So much blood….

“Bruce, come in!”

“Not a pretty sight, is it?”

“No… it’s not…”

The last time Terry had seen this much blood was night of his father’s murder. The smell… it made his skin crawl… his head started spinning… he fought back the nausea… he fell down on one knee.

”Terry! Are you alright?”

Yeah, sure! I’m down on one knee, fighting back puke, but I’m fine!

“Yeah, I’m fine, Bruce.”

”I may be old, but I’m not senile. It’s about your father’s death, isn’t it?”

How the hell does he do that!?

Terry sighed.

“Yeah… Guess I still haven’t gotten over it like I thought I had. This smell is getting to me.”

That’s understandable. The suit has built-in nose-plugs. Apply pressure to the bridge of your nose to activate them.”

Terry had never been more grateful for anything in his life.

It took a few seconds, even after the plugs were activated, for the smell to leave his nose. But soon enough, he was able to stand up again.

”You going to be okay?” Bruce’s voice seemed to contain just a bit of compassion for once.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Good while the plugs are in, the suit will supply oxygen for you, so you can still breathe through your nose.”

“Thought of everything, didn’t you?”

“Don’t I always?”

“Yeah, and normally, it bugs the hell out of me, but tonight it’s fine.”

“Enough small talk. Now that you’re back on your feet, it’s time to get down to business.”

“Okay. What happened here?”

“An attack by a giant ‘bat-like’ creature.

“Please don’t tell me they think I did this!”

“Relax, one of the victims said that it was definitely not human. And Barbara knows you well enough to know that you wouldn’t go around gutting people.”

“Gutting? Well, that explains all the blood.”

“Yes. But, amazingly, he survived.”

“You’re kidding. How?”

“Luck.”

“That’s an understatement. So, what do you want me to do?”

“Look around. Do you see anything unusual?”

“No, just blood. Lots and lots of blo… wait a sec.”

Something in the pool of blood caught his eye. He knelt down to get a closer look.

“Suit, enhance visual receptors by thirty percent.”

Closer examination told him that it wasn’t anything native to the area. It seemed to be some kind of hair.

“I’ve got something.”

“I know. I have access to the visual receptors, remember?”

“Oh…right. I’ll bring it back to the cave.”

“No need. Just put it in the front-right slot of your belt. I installed a scanner in it last week. I can get everything I need from here.”

“Good. I’m going to the hospital to talk to the other victim.”

“How do you know she’s up to talking? I never said she wasn’t injured, too."

“But you told me the other victim was gutted, if that’s true then this isn’t quite enough blood for another person to have been hurt, unless I miss my guess.”

“Not bad reasoning. Alright, she’s at…”

“St. Artworth Hospital.”

“…Yes. How did you get that one?”

“With that much blood-loss they’d take the victim to the nearest hospital, which, from here, is St. Artworth’s.”

“Now, you’re learning.”

“I know. I’ll talk to you after I’m finished with her.”

“Good luck.”

“Don’t need it anymore.”

“Don’t get cocky.”

“It’s just who I am.”






Terry eased open the ICU window, careful not to make too much noise. Bruce informed him that the doctors had moved the victim, Charles Banson, to Intensive Care. It still didn’t look good for him. The doctors still hadn’t found a way to stop the bleeding, which was unusual, considering doctors hadn’t had trouble with that for years. All the advancements in medicine had given them hundreds of way to clot bleeding with little fuss.

Something was wrong. Something about this attack was different.

There’s no reason the bleeding shouldn’t have stopped. That…thing... whatever it is, did something to him.

This man was a teacher, which hit Terry even harder. His father had been a “teacher” of sorts, constantly being called on to give lectures to the new employees at Wayne/Powers.

Powers…

That name still stung in the back of his mind.

Focus McGinnis. He thought to himself.

He perched himself on the windowsill and leaned his head inside. To the left, a woman was sitting in a chair asleep. Bruce had said her name was Beth, Beth Saunders. Terry could see that her cheeks were red; obviously, she’d cried herself to sleep. Terry hated to wake her, but, there was no way around it.

“Pssst!”

She gave a start, jumping up from her seat. She looked towards the window and her eyes widened.

“Wait, don’t scream!” Terry whispered. “I’m here to help you.”

Her expression changed from fear to anger.

“I’ve seen enough bats tonight. Your friend did enough damage!”

“Whatever that thing was, it wasn’t my friend. I’m going to stop it, but first, I need you to tell me everything that happened.”

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to relive something like that?” She asked, tears streaming from her eyes. “Do you even know what you’re asking?”

“Yes. I’m asking you to put yourself through hell, I know that.” He pointed at Charles. “But, I also know that, if you really care about the man lying in that bed, you’ll help me bring that thing down.”

“How will stopping that monster help Charles?”

“There’s no reason he should still be bleeding. I think that monster did something to him. If I can stop it, maybe I can find a way to save your fiancé.”

“How did you know that? He only just proposed to me a few hours ago!”

“You’re wearing an engagement ring.”

She looked down at her finger.

“Oh…right.” She sighed. “Okay, I’ll tell you…everything”



Nothing that could help me, dammit! I made that woman relive hell for nothing.

His chat with Beth hadn’t given him a single clue to go on. Maybe Bruce could help.

“Bruce, come in.”

“What did you learn?”

“Nothing important, you?”

“A lot, actually.”

“What did our little friend tell you?”

“After the analysis, I found out a good bit. The creature’s called Man-Bat, but his real name is Dr. Kirk Langstrom.”

“Wait a sec, you’re telling me it’s human!?”

“Yes and no. Langstrom put that thing behind him years ago, living a happy life without it. Then one day, out of the blue, he disappeared. I tried looking for him when I had the time, but more pressing things got in the way. I assumed he was dead by now.”

“Well, from what Beth told me, our monster certainly has a pulse.”

“Yes, and Langstrom’s DNA has advanced far beyond what it once was. There’s only one place that could have done this to him… Cadmus.”

“What’s that?”

“A place that was shut down a long time ago…shortly after Langstrom’s disappearance.”

“Think they’re tied to it?”

“Sure of it. Here, I’m feeding the coordinates into your suit. You’re going to visit a woman named Amanda Waller.”





Terry crept quietly through the dark mansion in the dark. It hadn’t taken him long to get inside, knocking out a few guards had cleared the way easily enough. The night-vision function in the cowl had finally come in handy.

Suddenly, the lights came on, blinding him. He shut off the night-vision immediately; still, it took him a moment to regain his vision.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Batman.” The short figure called from the doorway. “Or should I call you by your real name…Terry?”

The shock hit Terry like a ton of bricks.

She knows?! How the hell does she know?!

His vision finally came back to him and he could finally make out the woman in the doorway. She was short, round and her hair had long-since turned gray. She had bags under her eyes, her age was obvious, yet, the way she carried herself…it was deceiving. Despite her age, she was able to move about without support from a cane.

“Amanda Waller, I presume?” He asked, trying to hide his shock.

“Kid, you’ve got a lot of ground to cover before you’re as effective in stoicism as Bruce.” She smiled.

She stepped into the room, taking a cup of tea from a tray near the doorway.

“It’s okay though,” She continued. “I’d be surprised, too, if I were in your shoes.”

“How did you know?” He asked, crossing his arms.

“That’s a long story, my boy, and there’s no time to go into it now. I presume you’re here to talk about the recent attacks, right?”

“Right. Bruce sent me here.”

“Bruce thinks Cadmus is back in business, then. Well, he’s wrong.”

“Do tell.”

She breathed a deep sigh.

“All right, kid. Kirk Langstrom was a brilliant scientist, as I’m sure Bruce informed you. He was also a patriot to the core. Years ago, when I was head of Cadmus, we had a contingency plan in place should earth’s heroes ever turn rogue.”

“Bruce told me about that. You caused the JLU a lot of headaches back in the day. You also nearly brought about the end of the world with that Luthor/Brainiac incident.”

“Correct.” She went on without missing a beat. “Anyway one of our plans involved gene-splicing. After our Doomsday weapon killed our head scientist in that area, we had to find another; Langstrom was our first choice.

His work was nothing short of brilliant. Within a week he’d far surpassed what had taken Dr. Milo a year to accomplish. Sadly, during that Luthor/Brainiac incident you mentioned, there was an accident in the lab…

Dr. Langstrom was conducting an experiment with his Man-Bat serum, working to create an army of Man-Bat soldiers to combat the League. The Earth shook violently, sending Kirk crashing into his experimental formulas. He disappeared after that, but the government has been keeping tabs on him all these years.”

“How does that help me out at all?”

“It doesn’t, really. I just thought you should know. The problem is, since he’s stuck in Man-Bat form, he’s essentially immortal.”

“Why? Bats have average lifecycles just like everything else.”

“That mix of chemicals restructured his DNA. This Man-Bat evolves. His body is constantly reworking itself to keep itself alive.”

“How can we bring him down?”

“Only Bruce can possibly help you there. Nothing short of a nuclear explosion could possibly pierce his hide now.”

“You said before that the government has been keeping an eye on him all this time. Why didn’t they do anything before now?”

“He was never a threat until now. You may not understand this, but there’s a perfectly good reason he’s coming out now.”

“And that is?”

“It’s his last shred of humanity. Kirk is a good man, and wants to be put down while he still maintains even a fraction of control. In short: He wants to die.”





Terry moved towards the window, bidding his farewells to Amanda as he jetted into the sky.

Before he made it to the edge of the front lawn, something slammed into his back, taking him to the ground, hard. He felt a sudden sting across his shoulders.

“Ahhg!” Just clawed my shoulders!

He had to think fast. Another scrape came across his lower back.

This thing’s going to kill me if I don’t think of something fast!

His vision blurred. The pain and blood-loss were getting to him. Just how bad were his wounds bleeding? A thought stabbed at the back of his mind.

That’s it! He thought, triumphantly.

He activated the suits newest feature, sending an electric current through the suit.

He heard the monster shriek in pain. The sound nearly deafened him.

Without another attempt at attack, Man-Bat flew away.

Amanda Waller stood by him now, holding out a small vial with a green liquid inside.

“What’s this.” He asked in a ragged, gruff voice.

“Just drink it, those wounds look pretty bad.”

He jerked the vial out of her hand and downed its contents. Within seconds he was back on his feet, no sign of pain.

“What is that stuff?”

“A very very light dose of Lazarus liquid. Just enough to heal wounds.”

“Gotcha… whatever Lazarus liquid is….”

“Just ask Bruce sometime.”

“Moving on. Why did that thing attack me? And how the hell did it know where I was?”

“He wants you to put him out of his misery.”

“If that’s the case, why did he try to kill me?”

“He has barely any control, but trust me, if he weren’t in there at all, you wouldn’t be alive.”

“That’s comforting.” Terry replied, sarcastically.

“He’s going to keep attacking innocents--And you as well--until you bring him down.”

“Couldn’t your Cadmus people have come up with an antidote?”

“They tried, it was no good. The only person who could possibly find a cure now is Bruce.”

“Fine, I’ll talk to him. Just get back inside your house, where it’s safe.”

“Don’t worry about me kid, I’ll be fine. It’s yourself that you need to worry about.”



As soon as Terry left Waller’s property, Bruce called in.

What did you learn from Waller?

“I learned that, apparently, you’re our only hope. Nothing short of a nuke can pierce his skin now, but, somehow, we have to find a way to give him some kind of antidote; an antidote, by the way, that you’ll have to come up with…soon.”

No pressure, right?

“Oh, and you’ll love this part; he evolves now, builds a resistance to things harmful to him.”

Hold on… There was silence, then Bruce spoke again. Looks like another attack. This time, it’s downtown.

“I’m on my way.”

No, you’re not!

“Why?”

There’s no way you’ll stand a chance against him.

“I just fought him not ten minutes ago and I’m still kicking.”

You’re lucky. If he can adapt like you say he can, then he’ll be resistant to whatever you used to fight him off before.

“I’ll think of something. Innocent people are in danger.”

You’re no good to them dead.

“Then we’d better hope I don’t die.”

I can’t let myself die! I promised Beth I’d find a way to save her fiancé, and I can’t do that if I’m dead. There you go, motivation…let’s just hope that’s enough…


[/b][/center]