Chapter 50

News of Carter Wilson's death and affiliation with the gang known as the Jokerz spread throughout the campus of GCU.

-Man! Who would've thought he was like that?

-It makes sense because he's such a douchebag.

-I heard they're investigating the whole football team if there's more of them affiliated with criminal gangs.

-Nah, bro. Nelson and the others are clean. I hung out with them once, they seem cool.

-You're probably just rich or influential if they're nice to you.

It was a huge scandal that affected the reputation of the university, not to mention the college football team.

"That asshole...to have the audacity to hit me on the head with a gun." Nelson said as he massaged his head and scrolled through social media.

The other football players were with him in the room.

Carter Wilson's friends were sitting in front of him and was surrounded by the rest of the football team.

"Were you two involved in this?" Nelson asked them.

He was in charge of investigating the players of their involvement in gangs while their coach handled the dean and the other administrative powerd of the university.

"W-We didn't even know Carter was part of a gang..."

"Yeah! We didn't know...we just followed him around to...keep him in check!" He tried so hard to just come up with such a pathetic reason.

Nelson chuckled. "I don't care if you knew or not, but guessing by your reactions, I don't think you were involved either if you're willing to sell out your friend like that...If you really were friends." He was testing their loyalty to the team. If they were willing enough to throw Carter under the bus just to stay on the team, then that's enough for him.

"You guys are in the clear." Nelson said.

The two sighed in relief.

"That's it? You're going to let them get away like that? What about what Carter did to your girlfriend?"

Nelson furrowed his brows in annoyance. "...I said they're clear. Dana was able to get back home safe to her parent's house and is resting there for a couple of days...Besides, Carter wasn't the only one at fault." Nelson looked at all of them. "Carter was looking for members of the mutant gang when he crashed the party as a gang member. I want to find out who that is...."

The two that were interrogated widened their eyes and looked at each other.

Nelson noticed them. "What is it? Do you guys know something?"

"Y-Yeah. Carter clearly said those two that were at the party were members of the mutant gang."

"Those two...McGinnis!!! The one that brought an outsider into the party!"

"Yeah. That was the one."

Nelson smiled.

"Who would have thought Carter would be useful like this..." He grinned maliciously.

----

Terry was staring at Maxine Gibson sitting in front of him. Guilt was written all over her face as proven by the cold sweat running on her forehead.

"What is this? I specifically told you to come alone." Terry said with his brows furrowed.

"I-I'm sorry...I'm just bad at hiding things from her." Max said as she pointed at Carrie Kelley, whose eyes were glistening, beside her.

Terry sighed. "What...did you tell her?"

"She said you knew the batman and you guys are going on a secret meeting with him!" Carrie bursted with excitement.

Terry replied with a troubled smile. 'At least she didn't say it to her outright.'

"Please! Let me join in! I've been dreaming of this ever since Batman saved me when I was a kid..."

"You do know that this Batman is the new one, right?"

"How dare you! Batman is Batman and he can defeat anything including time! He probably found a way to pause time before he got blasted away by the omega beam eight years ago and now he came back!"

'What an impossible individual' Terry thought as both him and Max looked at Carrie with difficult expressions.

"If we leave you here, you'll probably still pester us, won't you?" Terry said in defeat.

"Damn right!" Carrie proudly said.

Terry looked at Maxine who was looking away as she sipped from her coffee cup.

Terry sighed and fiddled his smartwatch as he stood up. "I'm going to make a call first..."

----

"Are you seriously going to get another stranger involved, Terry??"

-What can I do? I feel like she won't shut up about it if I don't do anything.

"God...do whatever you want to do. Just remember that if anything goes wrong because you took this situation lightly, it's all on you."

-I don't think they're like that...

Terry looked at the two who were having fun on their own as a couple. "I think they can be trusted...didn't you used to pester the previous Batman to join the team?"

-....

There was no reply from Barbara on the other line. Terry faintly smiled and said "I think it's the same with this one..."

----

"Where are you taking us? You're not lying about knowing the Batman and you're actually a sewer lizard trying to eat us, are you?"

They are currently in an alleyway near GCU.

Terry turned around to the suspicious Carrie. "What would you do If I was one?" He grinned.

Carrie was startled and took a step back.

Max chuckled beside her. "Dude, you watch too many movies." She said to her.

Terry faced forward.

From a normal person's point of view, he appeared to be scanning a normal wall in an alleyway with a dead end.

He turned around again and scanned the area for any eyes that might be watching them.

When he confirmed it was clear, he pushed all the fingers of his right hand against the wall and it embedded inside the wall perfectly. Then, a part of the wall popped out in the shape of a block the size of an average doorway.

"Woah!" Carrie grasped Max's hand in excitement.

Terry gestured with his head to follow him and went into the opening of the passage which is at the side of the block of the wall that popped out.

Carrie and Max looked at each other before finding the courage to follow Terry.

They followed him through stairs and different passageways before they finally got to the room where the Cedric, Don and the others were staying at.

"What the hell...you guys should make a transportation system in here..." Max complained.

They were walking for almost an hour since the underground tunnels stretch throughout the entirety of the city and normally, it would take twenty minutes to travel by a vehicle from where they were to where they are now if they were above ground.

"We're working on it. The mutant leader and Cedric are freaks of nature to just run everywhere through here." Don said as he greeted the three of them.

The mutant leader is a real mutant and it's understandable for him to have that kind of stamina and agility, but Cedric is the real freak of nature that is naturally athletic and could probably be successful in any kind of sport he chooses. Terry needed to train and go through hell before he reached that level of strength. The only advantage Terry would have against Cedric would be his hand-to-hand combat techniques that he mastered.

"So..." Carrie looked around the large space filled with men in their twenties. "Where is he?"

"Who-" Before Don could finish his question, Terry cut in.

"Let's take this to the meeting room..."

Fletch's room ended up becoming the meeting room because it was spacious and had a good atmosphere despite it also being his final resting place.

The five of them entered the room. Terry. Cedric. Don. Max. Carrie.

"This is where you buried him?" Max asked.

"It's what he wanted." Cedric said as he walked over to a table that they put in after moving out the bed and the other bedroom furniture.

"He seemed like a nice guy." Carrie said as she stared at the portrait of Fletch that was displayed on the wall of the room.

"The nicest guy you will ever know." Cedric said with a melancholic smile. "Now, let's get on to business. Don and I agreed to split up his team. I get five of them under my command and the remaining eight will be under his command. I'm guessing you two will be our eyes above ground." He looked at Max and Carrie.

"Yes...but I thought Batman is going to be the head of the operations. Where is he? Why are we starting without him." Carrie said.

Cedric looked at Terry. "She still doesn't know?"

Terr shook his head.

"Know wha-Woah!!"

Terry activated his suit in front of them. He let them get a good look at him as Batman before he deactivated it again.

"You-" Carrie looked at her girlfriend beside her who wasn't surprised at all. "Did you know?"

"I did...I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. It's just something that's so important to be kept a secret."

Carrie held her hand. "I perfectly understand! You did the right thing!" She said proudly.

"We were surprised too when we found out last night." Don said. "To think this guy would be the new Batman."

Carrie's mood suddenly went down after his statement. "New...so, he's really dead..."

"Unfortunately." Terry said.

"Who was he?" Carrie asked. The others also turned their attention to Terry because they were also curious.

Terry sighed. He didn't know if it was right for him to divulge the previous Batman's identity. "Bruce Wayne...the previous Batman was Bruce Wayne." But he still said it becuase he felt the need to let them know the identity of the man who sacrificed literally everything for the good of Gotham City. At least a few more people will know the greatness of this man who is his biological father.

----

That night, Terry once again put on the mantle of the Bat.

He arrived to where the signal of the tracker he put on the Joker the other night.

The peculiar thing is, there was nobody there. Not a single member of the Jokerz and not even the Joker himself.

-You should get out of there, now. It's a trap. He probably found the tracker and left it there for us to find. (Barbara)

"I know, but did they discover it before leaving it here, or did they discover it afterwards, because there would be a difference."

-You still want to investigate on the possibility that they changed their hideout after finding out your tracker.

If the Joker only found out when he got there, then it probably was their hideout before they had to leave it. An urgent action like that can leave a lot of clues which Batman is hoping for.

"I see the bombs. I just have to be careful not to trigger them." Terry said as he carefully walked inside the abandoned factory.

-Terry. Do you see those barrels?

"I got you. I'm heading there right now." He said as he walked over to what looked like oil drums.

-Be careful.

When he arrived, he dipped a finger in the substance that was in the barrels.

-The Chemical is identified as Joker Toxin. (LUCIUS)

The suit analyzed the substance that was in it.

-So, they really were there before.

"I don't see anything else...wait. I see a huge device that looks like it's been disconnected to something."

Barbara saw on her screen the feed from Batman's body camera and saw a device that had loose wires like it's been ripped forcefully.

"What is this thing?" Batman used his suit to connect to the device and identify it.

-Warning! The previous action activated an explosive device set to explode in 10...9... (LUCIUS)

-Terry! Get out of there!

"Shit!" Batman jumped and flew towards the closest window.

-6...5...

Crash!

He flew out of the building through a glass window that was closed and had to break it as he flew out.

-1...

BOOM!!!

Batman looked back at the burning building and furrowed his brows before flying off. He safely made it out.