Chapter 11

Terry McGinnis was staring blankly into space right after finishing his training.

Alfred, noticing this, talked to him and said "You've been like that all day. What's on your mind?"

Terry has been thinking about what happened last night. He's troubled by the fact that if he had left as he intended, something terrible could have happened to Dana. He started thinking about other scenarios like if it was his mother instead of Dana. He would have never forgiven himself. What if just like Bruce Wayne, his little brother sees their mother die in front of him.

All these things filled his head. He had little sleep because of it.

He wants to do something about it. To prevent all of this from happening to other people. But his past is still holding him back.

Alfred who didn't get a response out of him asked another question.

"Terry. How was your practice using the suit?"

"Huh?" Terry finally responded.

"Did you have fun?"

"Have fun?"

"Being a masked vigilante. Playing hero."

"H-how did you find out?"

"What else would you use it for? You wanted to check your progress because you felt that you can't properly measure using Ted and Barbara as a measuring stick."

Terry wanted to say that Alfred was on that list but he held back the urge to and instead replied to his question.

"It was okay. It was just pretend anyway. That's just how far someone like me will take it seriously." then he muttered "A criminal."

Silence filled the space between them.

Alfred figured out what was going on in young Terry McGinnis' head.

"Did you know, young master Bruce used to do theft?"

Terry gave Alfred a confused look.

"It's true. He was talented in it. He was so good at it that a gang recruited him for a job. On that job, he called the police on purpose so that the gang would be arrested. He was arrested too of course. But he knew once they ask him for information, news of it would come to me and I would bail him."

"Why did he do that?" Terry was confused because unlike him, Bruce Wayne was rich. He wouldn't need to do theft. His company that can run by itself can give him all the money he wanted.

"He was curious. He was rich and didn't know how poor desperate one needed to be to steal. He flew many miles away from Gotham where no one knew him just so he could live as a pauper."

"That's crazy..." Terry said in disbelief.

"One would think so" Alfred chuckled "But he had a reason. How could someone like him judge these criminals by law if he didn't understand what they had gone through."

Terry nodded with his hand on his chin.

"But even so, was it justifiable? The things he did? Just to satisfy his curiosity? No."

"So, did you bail him out?"

"No. I didn't want to. I wanted him to do time for his actions...But someone else did."

"Who did?"

"Ra's Al Ghul. Then leader of the League of shadows."

Alfred then goes on telling Terry about Bruce's travels and how he eventually took on the mantle of the bat.

This showed Terry how long Bruce's soul searching spanned a long time before he found what he needed to do. His purpose. This tale made Terry feel a strong connection with someone he has never met and helped him reach a conclusion about himself.

----

That night, Terry went out again with his suit on.

On top of the building of Wayne Enterprises, his body felt the cold breeze. He took deep breaths to get rid of his anxiety. Including his past that keeps fogging the path he knew he needed to take.

Weeeee wooooo

Vrooom Kiiiiii

The noise from cop cars in a chase reached him.

With his heart and mind cleared, he sprinted towards the ledge of the building and jumped with both arms behind his back.

The wind passing by his ears as he freefalled was loud. It helped block all the noise out. He was falling fast but he felt time slow down as he closed his eyes.

He didn't want to be bound by his past anymore but he also doesn't want to run away from it either. And so, at that moment, he decided that everytime he uses this suit, he isn't Terry...but someone else entirely.

He opened his eyes. There were only about three stories of the building left before he falls to the ground. He spread his arms deploying his wings and stopped the fall before activating the rockets from his soles.

Zoooom

That was the birth of an unknown vigilante. Not until a month later that rumors of him will already have spread throughout Gotham city.

Terry was a little bit worried about Barbara's reaction when she found out but it was for nothing, as she said "As long as you know what you're doing and decided it yourself."

She was just worried about Terry thinking they coerced him to being one and that it was not the case.

"What are you going to call yourself?"

"I really haven't thought that far ahead. I just decided two nights ago."

"Hmmmm....Just try not to get in our way. Okay?" She's reffering to the police organization.

Although tolerated because of what they do for the people, being a vigilante is still illegal. It's a complicated issue that's been debated on for years especially when the Justice League was formed.

Under the law, they're still vigilantes and the authorites can decide to hunt them down and shut down their operation.

"I'll be careful not to get into your hair too much. I'll let you handle that side from within if I ever discover something."

"Good."

It is an established fact that some police are under the payroll of the mob. The situation is back to where Barbara's father, Jim Gordon, and batman's era when they were also fighting to change the city of Gotham. Which they succeeded in before Batman died and Jim Gordon retired almost at the same time.

Terry will let Barbara handle whatever goes on there for her to save face.

"I noticed that you don't ask me anymore for news about deathstroke." Barbara said.

"I decided to be patient. It doesn't matter anymore if I get to him first. But he'll be sorry if I do." Terry clenched his fists. "Plus, you're still going to tell me even if I don't ask, right?

Barbara smiled. 'He's grown.' she thought.

"Right. He was last seen in Corto-Maltese. He killed a corrupt military officer that was giving out top secret information."

"... Were there any leads on where he left to next?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"What about the one who hired him to kill my father?"

Since there was no known relationship between deathstroke and his father before he killed him, the most likely motive was that he was paid to do so.

"Still the same. No clues about the person. Deathstroke's work was clean. He always doesn't give out information on who hired him. He erases all traces of him communicating with the ones who paid him. It's part of the reason why he is in demand in that line of work."

"Sounds like you want to give him a compliment."

"I'm just stating the facts, Terry. That was all the data that ARGUS had. "

He has given up on his revenge and was only focusing on getting justice for his father's death. He plans to catch him and surrender him to the authorities. But he still can't help but be angry. It's only natural.

"ARGUS. I don't trust them."

Terry did research of his own. He was investigating the angle about his father's death that might have something to do with ARGUS' enemies. Batman's computer had files on ARGUS. The information Terry saw there made him frown with disgust. The experiments they did on people to make metahuman should have been illegal. That's why the government who approved it kept it hidden from the publics' eyes.

"I know what you mean. But I still understand where they're coming from. That's part of their responsibility. To find ways to protect their country. They can't exactly leave it all up to the Justice League. That's probably where the idea of having meta human soldiers came from."

"What are you talking about?" Alfred entered their conversation.

"Alfred. We were talking about what he should call himself when he's doing his...runs at night."

Barbara didn't want to continue the tiring conversation about the misdeeds of the government and so she changed the topic when Alfred arrived.

"A name..." Alfred's eyes fell at the batsuits that were lined up. He stayed silent as he was deep in thought. Barbara and Terry looked at each other before turning their attention to Alfred again.

"Master Bruce told me...that the idea of Batman was supposed to be a symbol. Not just hope, because hope can betray you. More than that. Something incorruptible. Everlasting. If he didn't pass away he probably would still be at it. Because in his mind, there should always be a Batman."

Right after uttering those words, he looked Terry in his eyes. Terry was confused and furrowed his eyes at Alfred at first but then began to realize what he was saying. He looked at Barbara and she just smiled faintly to show her approval.

"What about Dick Grayson? Tim Drake?" Terry hesitated. He mentioned two of his senior crime-fighters that could have taken the mantle of batman. Because of his curiousity, Alfred and Barbara had told him about the other members of the bat-family. This decision should be brought forth to the whole family first.

"Tim is...indifferent about it. Dick gave his approval. Although his base is in San Francisco now, he still is always concerned about Gotham." Barbara said.

Richard "Dick" Grayson sometimes visits Gotham and helps out but can never commit to it permanently because he now has other responsibilities being a mentor to the new Titans.

"In the end, it's all up to you. It's a big responsibility. Think about it for a-"

"I'll do it." Terry cut off Alfred's words. With his reasons for hesitating gone, he took the privilege of inheriting the name Batman.

Alfred smiled and said, "you need a new suit"