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Batman Beyond Season 4

Episode 69: Near Death

Author James the Lesser

I do no own the Characters, names, villains, so forth

A/N This takes place after Batman Beyond Return of the Joker so yes that movie happens in this timeline/series

Terri was wondering where Redhood had gone. After being left alone in the woods he hadn't seen Redhood.

Already he felt different. He had to be extra careful as his grip was stronger than ever before. He dropped an apple and caught it on his foot kicking it up to his hand showing his reflexes were also enhanced.

He yelled at his brother for leaving the television on. He hadn't. The neighboring apartment had.

He could look out his window and just see more. He may not have the vision of Superman but he could just see clearer and more than ever before.

And he wanted more. If this was how good he became after three injections how much more could he improve? He wanted to know.

Being Batman with out Bruce in his ear gave him more freedom than he ever had. He was eighteen, out of high school, and no longer taking orders.

Some times it was almost too easy. He could take out three thugs trying to steal a car and be gone before the person inside the car knew what happened.

But he knew he could be better. If only he could find Redhood.

Max was finally home. She had trouble telling her mother about her volunteer work since she had actually spent all that time in the hospital.

Max struggled being at home. She wanted to go to the Batcave and find out what happened with Terri who stopped visiting her. But her mother wouldn't let her be for more than a few minutes. She missed her daughter and wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.

Bruce uses Flash to keep an eye on Terri. "So far he hasn't killed any one Bruce."

"Of course not. Terri knows better. I would have him stopped if he did." Bruce was unsure of what Terri's plans were and that bothered him. Was it old age? Or was the boy finally becoming what he had hoped when Cadmus first proposed the Batman Beyond project? "If he contacts you let me know as soon as you can."

"Of course." Flash continues watching Terri hoping he wouldn't stray from the path of non killing. He had grown to like Terri in the short time they spent fighting crime and didn't want to have to fight him.

Terri is up on a roof watching a T gang member working on the back door of a jewelry store. "Wait for it," Terri leans forward almost gargoyle like on the side of the roof. "Now!" The T gang member starts to look up as Terri tackles him.

The T gang member is knocked out before he can do any thing. "Very good." Terri is surprised by Redhood.

"Where have you been?"

"Busy." Redhood steps out from the shadows. "So how do you feel?"

"Good." Terri raises a hand and grips it in to a fist. "Real good."

"Notice any thing new? Different?"

"No."

"Then you need more." Redhood tosses Terri a syringe. "Take it."

"No problem." Terri rolls a sleeve of the suit up and injects himself.

Flash sees what Terri is doing and contacts Bruce. "He injected himself with some thing. I don't know what it is though."

"If he is injecting himself with some thing it must be a Cadmus product."

"Am I going back to Cadmus?"

"No. I will call a few people and go in if it is needed." Bruce coughs in to the communicator. "Excuse me."

Redhood kneels down next to the T gang member. "We should put him out of Gotham's misery." He pulls a gun out and points it at the temple of the T gang member.

"No." Terri smacks the gun away. "He is just a kid. Like me. Give him a chance."

"That's what got thousands killed."

Terri knew exactly who Redhood meant. "No. Joker is a psychopath this is just a teenager."

Redhood points the gun back at the T gang member. "Probably eighteen or nineteen, an adult, not a kid."

"He's not a psychopath he can still be saved."

Redhood puts the gun away. "Fine. But next time I see him he's dead." Redhood takes a couple steps back in to the shadows.

"What ever. We don't need," Terri realizes he is talking to no one but himself. "How does he do that? I can barely do that and that's with a suit that can make me invisible."

Max sneaks out of her house after her mom goes to bed. "I have to know what is going on. Terri won't answer my calls and neither will Bruce."

When she gets to the Batcave she hears a noise. "Terri?"

"Nope." Flash comes up from behind. "Glad to see you're doing better. The Old Man said we should give you a break or I would have visited you more."

"I'm here to tell him I'm done with my break." She goes to take a step forward when Flash scoops her up and runs in.

Bruce isn't surprised to see Flash but is to see Max. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to find out what is going on. Terri won't talk to me and you seem to be trying to cut me out. Why?"

Bruce glares at Max. "One would think after what you went through you would be done playing at hero."

Max glares right back. "Not a chance." She walks over to Bruce and leans over putting her hands on the arms of the chair. "I'm not playing. This is my city and I am tired of what is happening in it."

"Is that why you didn't tell us about Jason visiting you?"

"You were cutting me out. If you won't help me I'll look elsewhere."

Bruce stabs his cane at her foot planting it to the floor. "And that is what makes you a child who plays a game. If you want to be a real hero you must be better than those you are fighting." She tries to pull her foot away but can't. "Any one can be a vigilante. It takes true character to be a hero. I've dealt with a Superman who killed. He was no more a hero than Lex Luthor. I've dealt with a Batman who killed. He was no more a hero than the Joker."

Max tries pulling her foot away again and he lets her go. "I wouldn't kill."

"So you say now." Bruce turns in the chair and presses a button.

A new glass case appears from the floor near the other suits. "I have been working on this one for a few years. I completed it finally intending to have Terri use it but he has left us."

"Left us? What? Is he ok?"

Bruce ignores Max's questions. "I have been able to increase the armor by weaving a new carbon fiber thread through it. Knives and most guns are harmless to you as long as they hit the suit." He gets up and using his cane walks to the suit. "I have also enhanced the strength and flight capabilities." He presses a button on the case and the suit comes up from inside.

"Whoa." Flash and Max are stunned.

The suit was sleek with blues and blacks that melded together to make it look like a living shadow. The suit did not have a cowl but a full on helmet. The eyes were one flat black visor. The helmet carried the classic ears of Batman.

"I call it the Iron Knight suit." Bruce taps the glass with his cane. "One of the times I was sucked in to another dimension I met a brilliant young man named Stark. He was a bit like me." The glass case opens. "You have low and high powered lasers suited for stunning the normal thug or blasting through a wall. The suit can break Mach 1 and is waterproof up to three atmospheres with limited space capabilities as well."

Max ignores the fact that Bruce was talking about going to other dimensions. "It's beautiful."

Bruce continues as though Max never said a word. "It also has stealth incorporated in to it. With the belt," Bruce taps the waist of the Iron Knight suit and several items pop out. "Hidden inside of the suit so no one can take it."

Max walks over to the suit and puts a hand on it. "It feels hard, cold, but looks like water." The suit shimmers as Max touches it.

"It was to be my last suit but my heart couldn't handle it. I shelved it for decades but now..." Bruce walks away from the case leaving Max to look it over. "I feel it is needed."

"Can I wear it?"

"If you are ready to prove you are a hero and not a vigilante."

"I am a hero. I know Redhood wanted me to join him but I would never do that. I don't kill." She pulls on the arm of the suit. "I couldn't kill." She pulls on the other arm when she feels a throbbing in her head.

"Max!" Flash catches her before she hits the ground. "Is she having a seizure?"

"No." Bruce watches Max intently. "She is having a psychic vision."

"How do you know that?"

"I've seen it happen a few times in my many years."

Terri feels his head throb. "Another headache. I felt fine earlier." He looks down at the arm he injected. "Maybe there are side effects." He scratches at the injection site.

Max's eyes open. "Hello Max." Bruce is standing over her. "What did you see?"

"Blood. Red, thick, and every where."

"Whose blood?"

"I don't know. There is screaming, pain, terror, wait," Max realizes Bruce was not surprised by what had happened. "How did you know I saw some thing?"

"I've been around psychics before."

"But I'm not psychic."

"Says the woman who just had a psychic vision." Bruce walks back to his desk. "Any laughter in those screams?"

"I, I think so, maybe."

"Joker. You saw the Joker."

"I don't know. Maybe it wasn't laughter."

"You will be there. But you will be too late."

"Too late to what? I don't know what I saw or where it was."

"We'll find out. Suit up Iron Knight."

"What?"

"Batgirl is no more."

"Batwoman."

"You are now the Iron Knight. Get out there and find the Joker."

"But I don't know where I was in the vision."

"You were there what did you see besides blood?"

"Walls."

"So you were indoors."

"I guess." Max pulls the suit out of the glass case. "Wow a lot heavier than it looks."

"You won't be carrying it in a back pack any time soon."

Max looks at the suit. "Not skin tight but I don't think my coat will fit under it."

"You can wear civilian clothes underneath for faster and easier changes."

Max takes her coat off and puts the suit on.

Terri is going home for the evening, a couple hours earlier than he would have if Bruce was still telling him what to do, when the suit starts losing power. "I must have forgotten to recharge it yesterday." He has to land before the rockets lost all power.

Terri tries sneaking through the streets but some one sees him. "This is almost too easy." The man comes from behind a car. "Stop!"

Terri turns and sees... A police officer. "Whoa hey, uh, what are you doing?" He raises his hands.

"You are wanted on multiple counts of vigilantism, breaking and entering, disrupting official police business, and other crimes."

"I'm Batman. You can't arrest me."

"I'm an officer of the law and you are a masked vigilante." The officer raises his weapon. "Take the mask off and put your hands behind your back."

"If my hands are behind my back how could I take my mask off?" Terri starts to sweat. "Are you sure I'm wanted? The Commissioner didn't seem that worried about me."

"Take your mask off and then put your hands behind your back."

"This is a Halloween costume. If it was real wouldn't I be flying?"

"I, well, take the mask off then and identify yourself."

"Ok, sure." Terri takes the mask off. "Jason, Jason Todd."

"Got any proof of that?"

"I don't exactly have pockets on here." The officer comes closer.

"It is June. Why are you wearing this?"

"My friends and I were doing cosplay. I was Batman, my friend Jesse was Superman, and his sister was Wonder Woman. We're huge nerds." Terri laughs trying to act calm. "If I could fly like the real Batman that would be awesome but I don't know how to make that work on this suit."

The officer lowers his weapon. "Walking around like that could get you killed if the wrong person saw you."

"I'm walking not flying. I'm also not the most stealthy person am I?" Terri laughs again. "You saw me."

"And if any one else saw you they might do more than try and arrest you."

"I guess. Heck if I was the real Batman wouldn't I have just thrown some smoke bombs or some thing?"

The officer shrugs his shoulders. "I guess. And here I thought I was going to catch the Batman."

"The real one is probably a lot harder to catch." Terri relaxes as does the officer and the two talk for a few minutes.

Max, as the Iron Knight, flies and thinks about her vision. Walls, grey walls, covered with blood. But it was bright so there was good lighting. It wasn't an abandoned place with no power. "Bruce mark off any places with out power."

"That and any building not made out of concrete will make it easier."

Max had taken a few minutes to get used to the new suit. It flew differently requiring more finesse and control. It was also bulkier than the old suit.

She sees two Joker gang members. "Perfect." She uses the suits vision enhancement to zoom in. "Is that a key card?" She flies closer.

The two Jokers smash out the window of a car and rummage through it. "I need to get that key card."

"Use the stingers."

"The what?"

"Stingers." Two small devices pop out from her right wrist.

The computer inside of the suit targets the two Jokers and fires the stingers. Both are dropped by the shock of the stingers. "Whoa. Did you activate that?"

"Yes. I can control the suit from here."

"I, well, for how long?"

"Until I feel comfortable letting you in full control of this suit." Bruce clears his throat. "Now get the key card."

Max flies down and picks the key card from the back pocket of the larger Joker gang member. "It is blank."

"Hold the index finger over the bar." She does and she sees a laser come out. "Hotel, Kingsley, large conference room. Being remodeled so closed off to the public and the walls may be exposed."

"I guess I'm going there next." Max flies much faster than the old suit could to the Kingsley Hotel.

Terri finally makes it home and sneaks to his bedroom. "That was too close." He looks out the window and sees some thing flying through the air. "Who is that?" He starts towards the window and then stops. "I can't fly. Crap. Why did I forget to charge the suit?" He stops for a second as the answer comes to him. "The Old Man always tells me to do it." He watches the object as best he can but even with enhanced vision it is too dark and too far away to see details.

Max flies to the Kingsley Hotel and lands on the roof. "This thing is too bulky for old fashioned sneaking around."

"That is no longer needed. Stealth Mode." Max becomes invisible.

"You have to write me a manual for this new suit." Max breaks the handle off of the roof access door and goes inside.

"Just be careful not to bump in to things or get the suit wet. It is almost invisible in the dark without using the stealth mode but in the light it doesn't do as well."

"And this is an improvement how over Terri's old suit?"

"Bulletproof, knifeproof, extra speed while flying, easier stealth at night, enhanced strength, more gadgets, no risk of being demasked, and a few others we'll go over as you use the suit more." Bruce smirks even though he knows Max can't see him.

Max sneaks through an employee hallway before needing to go out where the general public would be. She opens the door slowly and peeks out. "So far no one is out here."

"It is night and that area should be closed off for remodeling. But still be careful."

Max goes through the door and walks down the hallway until she finds two large double doors. She tries the handle and finds it locked. She uses the suits strength to break it like she had on the roof.

Bruce uses the suits inner cameras to look around the room. "Look for canisters."

"Why?"

"Joker serum. We don't know how far in to the future your vision was. He could have waited for the remodeling to have finished and attacked a room full of partiers."

"So it could have happened a year from now and Joker doesn't even know he is doing any thing here yet."

"Then why did the gang member have the key card?"

"Right." Max continues looking around but doesn't find any thing.

The next night Terri is flying out over the city making sure the suit was recharged. "Was it Superman? Did Bruce call him in? He wouldn't have. But who else could it have been?" He continues flying looking for the unidentified flying object.

Max steps in to the suit and it forms around her. "How come it didn't do that last time?" She feels it stick to her better so it was less clunky.

"I spent some time today modifying it."

"When? Or should I ask when do you sleep?"

"Thursdays."

"I helped." Flash comes down the stairs with a large sandwich.

"You were a glorified gopher."

"What?"

Bruce laughs at Max's confusion. "Go for this, go for that, don't touch that wire."

Flash rubs a finger on his right hand. "The only things faster than me is light and pain. And I'm not so sure about light."

"In any case I took in to consideration your comments on it being cumbersome. I added a system like that of a vacuum sealed dryer bag to make the suit fit a little better."

"But it is made out of metal."

"Carbon fiber is different. It, like all carbon, can be made hard as diamond or soft as a pencil lead. And you'll notice it isn't an exact fit just better."

"Yeah, I guess." The helmet powers on. "What is the yellow question mark?"

"What does it say underneath?"

"Ask AP."

"So ask."

"Uh, AP, rockets?"

Flight or fight?

"Uh, flight." Max already knew this but was testing out the AI.

Simply press down on your heels to activate level one thrust.

"What's with the British accent?"

"None of your concern." Bruce taps on the suit with his cane. "I want you observing the Kingsley Hotel tonight and see if there is any Joker activity."

"What about Terri or Redhood?"

"Redhood wants Joker as does Terri. If you find the Joker you find Redhood and Terri."

"Not that Terri is missing he was still at home before I came back here for a snack." Flash had already eaten the sandwich leaving nothing but crumbs on the floor. "But we don't know what he is planning."

"I could ask him."

"No." Bruce walks over to the computer and sits down. "What ever he is planning he is keeping it close to the chest. Like I would have when I was younger."

"So what should I do if I see him?"

"Do nothing."

"If he sees me? I can't ignore him he is my friend."

"You do as you want but I am telling you not to acknowledge him. He is planning some thing to stop Redhood and we should not interfere with it. Instead I want you focused on the Joker."

"Fine." Max takes off for the Kingsley Hotel.

Terri is near the cave entrance when he sees some one fly out of it. "That isn't Superman." He stays back and above the other person following them.

Max lands on the roof of the Kingsley Hotel when the visor flashes red. "There's a dot on my screen."

"Some one is following you and the visor is showing the location of your pursuer."

"Are you always listening to me?"

"Only when you're in the suit. Next time though ask AP and it will tell you."

Terri lands behind Max. "Who are you?"

Max turns around and sees Terri has a batarang in his right hand. "Don't attack me Terri."

"Max?" She nods. "Huh. What's with the suit?"

"It is new." She poses. "What do you think?"

"Pretty bulky for Batwoman."

"I'm the Iron Knight now." She walks over to Terri. "Are you ok?"

Terri takes a step back. "Fine."

She notices he doesn't lower the batarang. "Terri, what the hell are you doing? What are you planning?"

"On becoming the Batman this city needs. Not the one it, or Bruce, wants."

Max is a little concerned. "You can't kill. Terri, that is just messed up. You can't let Red Hood mess with your head."

"I'm not. I'm tired of criminals running around hurting and killing others. If the Joker had been killed there would be thousands more alive."

Max feels some thing on the suit move and knew Bruce was controlling it. "Terri, watch out."

Terri dodges the stinger just in time. "Thanks for the heads up." Terri throws a smoke bomb and it covers his escape.

Max is angry as she takes off. "Bruce, what were you trying?"

"Red Hood was watching. Your suit notified you but you didn't notice."

Max looks around and doesn't see him but trusts Bruce and the suit that he was there.

Terri lands near Melanie's old apartment. Where he had been going before Max interrupted him.

He goes up the stairs and knocks on the door of her brother.

When the door opens and Jack sees him... "Go away."

"I'm sorry, Jack, I am. She was helping me and,"

"And got killed. Why did you get her involved? Sure working at the restaurant sucked and wasn't big money but we were getting by."

"I didn't make her. She wanted to make amends with her past. She was a good hero."

"Good, bad, she's just dead now." Jack slams the door shut in Terri's face.

Terri sighs as he walks away. "I'm sorry Jack, Melanie."

As Terri reaches the roof of the building, Redhood appears. "A couple questions, if you don't mind me asking."

"What?" Terri was annoyed. He had been attacked by a friend, shut out by some one he tried to apologize to, and didn't like Redhood just dropping in.

"What the hell was Max wearing? Neato suit looks dangerous."

"A new suit. She called it the Iron Knight."

Redhood nods his head a couple times as he rubs his chin. "I wonder what I could do with it."

"The Old Man would never let you have a shot at it."

Redhood shrugs his shoulders as he responds. "Meh, may not be his choice. I can waltz in to the Bat Cave any time I feel like it."

Terri wants to leave and go home. He'd stop any thugs he saw on the way back but was focused on the big bads. Stopping some one from breaking in to a car was ok but he'd rather put away some one like the Joker.

"Are you done with me?"

"For tonight, sure. Don't feel like you need to listen to me. I'm not the Old Man. You're your own man. Your own Batman. But, to make you better, there will be another injection waiting for you. Take it in the morning." He smirks. "Doctor's orders."

Max makes it back to the Bat Cave.

Bruce turns in the chair and taps his cane. "Be more careful. Pay attention to what the suit tells you."

"What ever." She strips the suit off down to her casual clothes. "If Redhood wants me dead he'll kill me."

"He isn't the only threat."

"Terri would never hurt me." Bruce clears his throat as he taps his cane. "Now what?"

"Terri isn't Terri. He is planning some thing. He may hurt you if only to throw Redhood off his plan. Be careful."

"It sounds like you've done this before to your friends."

Bruce simply turns back in the chair. "Go home Max. We'll work more with the suit tomorrow."

Max ignores him as she goes up the stairs to the rest of the house.

A/N So... Really long break between updates. Over two years... I was rereading this and wanted to know what happens next. Of course, since I'm the author... Between this, FMA Brotherhood, Animorphs, Daria... And not counting working full time, friends, dating, Witcher 3, gah, trying to find time to juggle every thing. I hope those who read like and review!