Terry: Well it's about goddamn time, woman! Willoffire123 doesn't own Batman Beyond!

Willoffire123: Chillax, Terry! Even if I did finish this chapter right now, I'm at camp; I won't have access to the Internet until I get back in mid-August.

Dana: And it's July 6th right now.

Max: So…a month and a half?

Willoffire123; Exactly!

Terry: Ugh, whatever. I wasn't expecting speed anyway.

Willoffire123: Great! On with the chapter!

Cyborg

As Cyborg watched Blight attempt to strangle Batman, aka. Terry McGinnis, he couldn't help but wonder how they'd gotten into this mess in the first place.

School field trip.

Cyborg glanced out of the corner of his eye at the group of students behind them. He didn't know how well he could protect Batman if he also had to deal with a group of frightened students. But the students didn't look frightened. On the contrary, they were each clutching weights in their hands.

"NOW!" yelled the redheaded one.

With his cry, the students all threw their weights at Blight. The weights were nowhere near enough to knock Blight out, but they provided enough of a shock for Blight to release Batman. Acting through his surprise, Cyborg fired his blast cannon, sending Blight flying into the wall outside the weight room.

"Terry!"

Cyborg heard, rather than saw the Asian girl in the blue dress run to Terry's prone form.

"Hey you," he said to gain her attention, "Do you see the white button on the wall?"

"Uh-huh," the girl said nervously.

"Punch it," ordered Cyborg; once he'd heard her punch the button, he spoke loudly, praying to every deity he knew that Superman was listening, "Yo Supes, we have an infiltration in the Weight Room. It's one of Batman's. I need everyone available up here."

At that moment, Blight sent a blast of radioactive energy straight at Cyborg. As a partial robot, dodging was hard for Cyborg, but he still managed to dive under the blast and out into the hallway. Thinking quickly, Cyborg hit a button on his arm and the door behind him slammed shut, separating Batman and the students from Cyborg and Blight.

"Now," said Cyborg, standing up to face the snarling, radioactive villain, "It's your turn."

Max

"What do we do?" Blade shrieked, pacing in furious circles.

"For the last time, Blade," Max said through gritted teeth. "Cyborg locked the door. Until the Justice League's dealt with Blight, we're stuck here. There's nothing we can do."

Dana sat quietly, cradling Terry's head in her arms.

"This is all McGinnis' fault," Conner said suddenly. "If it weren't for him, Blight wouldn't even be here."

"Blight's crazy, man," said Nelson, "He actually thinks that a dreg like McGinnis could be Batman."

"But he can't be!" burst Chelsea, "…Can he?"

"He does vanish a lot," Howard supplied.

Max bit her lip. After what had just happened, her classmates deliberating over Terry's supposed secret life was inevitable. But what was she supposed to do about it?

At that moment, Terry groaned helpfully.

"His skin is really hot," Dana said worriedly, "What do we do?"

Max knelt and felt Terry's forehead. Sure enough, Terry's temperature had climbed to an alarming rate.

"Blight is made of pure radioactive energy," she said, standing up again, "Such close contact probably gave Terry radiation poisoning."

"I-Is he gonna die?" Howard asked nervously.

"McGinnis was gonna die when he was attacked at that meeting with Wayne, right?" said Nelson, putting a comforting arm around Blade, "He's too much of a dreg to die; he'll pull through."

"Thanks, Nelson," said Chelsea, rolling her eyes, "I'm sure Terry appreciates that."

"Guys," Dana said insistently. "What do we do about Terry?"

Max scanned the room. The room seemed to be an exercise room, as there were weights and treadmills and other exercise equipment everywhere. Then, she spotted the water cooler.

"He needs to stay hydrated," she told her classmates, "Dana, wake him up. Someone else, get him a cup of water."

They did as she asked. With shaking hands, Howard brought her a cup of water.

"Terry, you need to wake up now," Dana said softly in his ear, squeezing his hand.

Terry's face contorted in pain as a small moan escaped his cracked lips.

"I know it's hard," she sympathized while Max and her classmates watched on, "But Max says you need to wake up now."

That sealed the deal. With a groan, Terry opened his eyes.

"Dana?"

Dana chuckled through a sob. "Yeah, it's me, you numbskull."

"Where…we?"

Dana shot Max a panicked look. Max waved her hand in a universal 'go-on' gesture.

Dana gulped. "We're…with friends. You're really hurt and they're taking care of you."

"M' hurt?"

"You're going to be fine, Terry," Max said hurriedly.

"Fine?" Howard exploded. Everyone looked at the once quiet boy, "Does he look fine to you? No! He looks like he's dying!"

Nelson hit Howard over the head. "Not helping, Groote."

"Terry, Blight said that you're Batman," said Blade, "Are you?"

Max gulped. This was bound to happen sooner or later, of course, but Terry was in no condition to speak for himself.

"Does he look like he's in any condition to be able to answer that, Blade?" snapped Chelsea.

"I just want him to be okay," Dana said quietly. She looked up at Max, "He's going to be okay, right?"

At that moment, the door opened, and a med team plus Miss Martian, Flash, Aquagirl and Cyborg came charging in.

"We'll take him now, Miss," Max heard someone say to Dana.

Dana shot Max a frantic look.

"You have to let them help him, Dana," Max said soothingly.

And so, Dana allowed the med team to lift Terry onto a gurney, but not before locking eyes with Aquagirl, saying "Please save my boyfriend."

Aquagirl gave her a small, calming smile. "I can assure you that we'll do all we can, Miss Tan."

Max gave Dana's hand a reassuring squeeze. But that wasn't good enough for Terry, for he wouldn't let go of Dana's hand.

"Them too," he insisted.

Cyborg sighed. "Miss Gibson, Miss Tan, come with us please. The rest of you, Flash will take you back to the lobby; the rest of your class is waiting for you."

"We'll be fine," Max assured Chelsea.

"But will Terry?" Chelsea called back to them as Flash escorted her and the others down the hall.

Max shared a look with Dana. "We'll see."

Terry

Terry was having a really bad day.

No, screw day, Terry was having a really bad month.

First Mad Stan gets the better of him and blows up a flipping building with him inside it, then he spends the next three weeks in bed, then Blight attacks him at JLU headquarters, now this.

And this, being wheeled down the hallway on a gurney while his best friend and his girlfriend follow anxiously next to him, is something he'd rather not deal with.

"No," he groaned to himself. He refused to pass out now.

"It's going to be okay, Terry," Dana reassured him. No, he was not going to pass out. Dana was such a great girlfriend, trying to promise him that everything would be okay when she must've been freaking out in her head. She deserved to know the truth.

"Dane'," he mumbled, "M'Batman."

"It's okay, Terry," Dana said again, "Blight can't hurt you anymore, you don't have to say that."

"No," he insisted. Why couldn't she understand? "M'Batman. I-."

That was the last thing Terry remembered before his world dissolved before his very eyes.

Dana

Dana allowed her boyfriend to be engulfed by a swarm of men and women in white scrubs and waited patiently for the herd to disappear into the depths of an operating room before turning on Max and Aquagirl.

"He's going to be okay, right?" she pleaded with Aquagirl at the same time as Max said sheepishly, "I know we have some explaining to do."

Dana blinked. "Wait, what?"

Aquagirl took Dana's hands in her own. Her eyes were stormy. "Terry just confessed his deepest secret to you, Dana."

I felt my knees give way underneath me. "You mean, all those times he ditched me-,"

"Dana, he never meant-,"

"He was out saving someone's life?" Dana finished. Her face felt hot. Tears pricked at her eyes as she said "I can't believe it. My boyfriend's a hero."