Batman Before

By Wildfire

Chapter One

"MCGINNIS! Watch your back!" The voice rang through his ear as he stumbled back then glared at the wall, wishing he could shut that man up.

His feet slapped the pavement below him as he ran after one of the Jokers. He was quickly closing the distance between them. He was almost there….

"McGinnis, use your grapple!" The voice sounded once more into his ear.

"No offence, Mr. Wayne, but shut up!" He hissed into the earpiece as he dove through the door, and tackled the man.

The next few seconds seemed to take hours as they rolled over and over, each man trying to gain the upper hand. The Joker managed to pull a knife out before he stabbed down at the dark knight. Suddenly, he was stopped an inch above his goal by a black hand.

Dark eyes glared at the man. He pushed the knife away from himself; the Joker was now on the bottom. He used his free hand to help push the blade back toward its intended victim. If the Joker could see his face, behind the mask, he'd see it smile before—bam-- and he was out cold.

The room was dark with bad lighting as a mask flopped down on a metal table. An old man walked over to the distressed boy with a knowing smirk, while a black dog trailed after him.

"It wasn't that bad." He said gruffly.

The old man wasn't just any old man; he was the owner of a large cooperation called Wayne Industries, as well as the former Batman. The old man was Bruce Wayne. At one time, Bruce Wayne was probably the most sought-after man in Gotham. However, now he was just old and alone.

The other man, on the other hand, was anything but old. He was young, probably about 17 years of age, and his body showed it. He had strong, firm muscles, but they weren't bulging out and horribly obvious. He had ice blue eyes that could pierce a person's soul, which were now currently darting to the old man.

"They're getting smarter." He responded, leaning forward pressing his elbows into his knees.

Unlike Bruce, the boy wasn't anything special in Gotham. He went to a local high school and lived with his mom and little brother. He was Terry McGinnis, and the current Batman.

"The bat suit is supposed to enhance my strength, yet I was still having trouble keeping that knife away from me. Either they learned some amazing weight-training techniques, or something's up." He slipped off the top part of his suit to reveal a tiny gash. "I didn't even feel the suit tear." He looked at the suit's top to try and find the tear that must be there, only to find nothing. "I don't get it. How could I be cut without it tearing the suit?"

"Take the suit off and get dressed. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Terry watched the man go and sighed. The man was a bastard, but oddly enough he cared for him. Since his dad died he was really the only man around in his life -- and hey, if you're going to have a role model you might as well go for a super hero.

He undressed and was surprised to notice his muscles were actually quite tense. It was odd; he hadn't been sore after a mission in a long time. He looked at the suit, tossing it to the table; maybe it was broken. That would explain why it was hard to hold off the Jokers….

He groaned as he kneeled down to grab his clothing and slowly slipped on his pants. The dog, Ace, whined softly in front of him, and McGinnis smiled.

"I'm alright, boy, just sore." He patted the dogs' head, taking a quick moment to scratch behind it's ears.

He did his pants up and slid his shirt on just as Bruce reentered the cave; he had really good timing. In fact, he always had good timing. Terry sometimes wondered if he watched to see if he was done. He shook the thought away as he was handed a cup of tea.

"You're moving slower. Are you hurt?" The elder man walked to his computer chair and sat in it slowly.

"No, just sore." He rubbed his shoulder and glared as he received a cocked eyebrow from Wayne. "Hey, it's not my fault. There's something wrong with the suit!"

At that, Wayne quickly stood and walked over to the suit. Looking it over, he brought it back to the computer and started scanning it. After several tests and entering different info, Bruce looked at Terry, who was sitting on the floor playing with Ace.

"There is nothing wrong with the suit. It's working in perfect condition. Maybe you're just getting weak?" He lightly teased the boy.

Terry frowned and stood up while grabbing the suit. "I am not getting weak! I'm telling you, I was using my own strength and not the suit's! And what about the cut? How did I get it with out the suit being torn?"

"McGinnis, are you sure you weren't cut before you put the suit on?"

"YES, I am sure! See? No hole in this shirt, either!" He pulled at his shirtsleeve. "Look, I gotta go. I'm supposed to pick up some cereal for Matt's breakfast on my way home, and I'll be lucky if I can find a grocery store open at this time of night." He gave the dog another pat on the head before hurrying out.

Bruce scowled after the boy before turning back to the computer to re-go over the information he had just put in there.

Terry entered his home as quietly as possible.

"Where have you been? It's almost two in the morning! What was Mr. Wayne having you do so late at night?" His mom stormed into the living room her arms crossed over her chest.

Busted.

"Sorry, Mom. We were going over papers and when I saw the time, I hurried home as fast as I could." He responded.

"Ohh, and I suppose that means you also forgot your brother's cereal?" Her arms tightened across her chest and she wore a nasty glare.

He held up the bag of groceries with an innocent smile. "Nope."

"OHH, so instead of coming home when it's FAR too late to be out, you went shopping? I'd rather have you alive than a box of cereal!" She uncrossed her arms and snagged the bag from him.

Terry smiled. "Hey, Mom, if I hadn't gotten the cereal, then would you have been happy?"

"NO! You should have been home HOURS ago with the cereal. Now go to bed." She took the bag into the kitchen. "Terry? Mr. Wayne…. He's not having you do anything… bad, right?"

Terry smiled again, and goes to kiss his mom's cheek. "No, Mom. I promise I'm doing all the good I possibly can at Mr. Wayne's." He headed into his room and set his bag down before shutting the door and collapsing on the bed. He was so tired….

Sun blared in Terry's eyes. He opened them slowly to see a bright red plastic-head thing.

"AHH!" He jumped back and Matt laughed. He had been holding one of his action figures right in Terry's face.

"Hey, you promised to take me to the zoo today." The little boy's grin grew. "Get up and get ready!"

Terry groaned. "Matt, I'm really burned out. Could we do it tomorrow?" As Matt started to glare, Terry grabbed him and started tickling him. "Please, please, please?"

Matt burst into giggles. "Alright, alright! Stop!" He squirmed free. "But you have better take me tomorrow!"

Terry nodded and flopped back on the bed, pulling the covers up over his head. He heard Matt leave and sighed as he relaxed back into the soft comforts of his bed.

"Terry, if you're not going to take Matt to the zoo, could you help me run some errands?" His mom called from the next room.

Terry let out an irritated sigh. "Can I sleep for ONE more hour first?"

"Terry, it's already almost nine. Please get up!" She said back in an exasperated voice.

Terry groaned –again-- and slipped from the bed. With his feet touching the old floor below, he stretched his body and was amused to see he was still in yesterday's clothes; he had forgotten to change. He stood, and grabbed some pajama pants. He knew he ought to just change into real clothing, but maybe if he was in pajama pants his mom wouldn't make him go out so soon. He also puts on a loose t-shirt and headed out before grabbing a box of cereal and heading for the living room couch.

"Don't even think about it, young man! You take that cereal back into the kitchen and get a bowl and spoon for it. And you can eat it at the table." His mom was fully dressed and holding her keys. "Alright, I'm heading out. I'm taking Matt with me, but I need you to clean this place up and run these errands." She handed him a list. "And please try to actually get them done before running out to see Diana or Mr. Wayne." She kissed his check. "Alright, hun, I'll be back soon. Stay out of trouble! Come on, Matt!" She hurried out and Matt followed, but not before sticking his tongue out at Terry first.

Terry made a face at the now closed door; this was going to be a long day. As soon as his mom left, he took the cereal box back to the couch and flipped the TV on. He flipped through the channels, looking for anything good. Eventually, he ended up falling back asleep on the couch.

He woke back up abruptly to the sound of his phone going off. "Hello?"

"McGinnis, where are you?" The gruff voice was enough to tell Terry he was talking to none other than Wayne.

"At home. What's up?"

"Turn your TV to channel 5."

Terry flipped to the channel. His eyes widened when he saw that people were shooting madly into the air while others were running away, covering their heads.

"You need to get down there. Terry?"

Terry wasn't there any more, though, as he knew one of the cars that one of the madmen was standing on. And he knew that car well. He was in his bat suit and flying through the air within a second.

"Mom…."

Matt was hugging his mother tightly as they hid under a clothing rack; the men that were wandering around the store were just shooting randomly. They weren't in the T-Gang, nor were they in with the Jokers. They wore an "E" on their shirts and white masks on their faces.

"Shhh, Matt. We have to be quiet." She rocked him gently, thanking every god she knew that her other son wasn't stuck here as well. Sounds of fighting were suddenly heard through the store.

Matt sat up. "Mom, it's batman! He's come to save us!"

"Shhh, hunny, we don't know that. It could be the police." She slowly looked out from between the clothing. "They seem to be gone. Come on."

She took his hand and started sneaking toward the door. Once they looked out, they could see that Matt was indeed right. Batman was there.