Chapter Thirty-One

Wrestling with the clone, Robin pulled out a small green capsule from his utility belt. He regretfully stated, "I don't want to do this," as he tossed it directly into the teen of steel's mouth. Immediately it burst, unleashing green gas into his air passageway.

Project Kr gagged on the gas while his hold on Aqualad was loosened immensely, giving Kaldur'ahm enough room to scramble to his feet. Not letting the provocation go unanswered, the Atlantean quickly launched a solid kick to Superboy's stomach sending him crashing into a nearby computer console. Before he could stand back to his feet once more, Terry shot a bola instinctively, tying him in place.

Superboy struggled for a few moments but was unable to break through the bindings. This fact surprised everyone in the room. Bindings such as these shouldn't be capable of restricting the movements of someone with such a large strength. He expected much more of a fight with the Kryptonian, watching in disbelief for a few moments longer. Finally, Terry came to the conclusion that his equipment must have gotten an upgrade along with pretty much everything else about himself. But as strange as Terry felt about it, this wasn't really what his main focus should be.

Looking at the other two heroes in the room, Terry spoke first, "What's happening here?"

Aqualad wasn't going to answer any question, without having a few answered himself, "No, I believe you should go first. Who exactly are you and why are you wearing the Bat symbol?" he stated.

This question snapped Dick out of his daze and he fired his own question as well, "Where did you even come from?" As he spoke, Robin peered into the room Terry had entered. Not seeing an exit, he shook his head. "Of course, how could it be that easy?!"

Letting out a breath of frustration, Terry answered vaguely, "I'm Batman, and I came from over there. Now, where are we, and most importantly, what is going on in here?"

Suddenly a massive banging sound came from the sealed doorway bringing everyone's attention to it.

Unexpectedly, Robin spoke first. Aligning his priorities with their current situation, he thought going in circles wouldn't ever get them anywhere, "This is Cadmus labs, we found a clone of Superman, named Project Kr. When we released him, he attacked us. That is the gist of the situation, now what about you."

Not adhering to the tone of command in Robin's voice, Terry thought over this explanation instead. "Cadmus? they disbanded years ago…But this type of thing was Cadmus's M.O." he thought as he nodded to himself in affirmation thinking about his own 'creation'. Terry turned his gaze back on to the heroes before him. He felt a little awkward, he couldn't tell them much. Mainly because he knew very little too.

Deciding to tell as much of the truth as he knew at this moment, he began again, "I'm Batman…" When he spotted Robin wanting to interrupt him, he quickly finished, "But not the one you know. I'm either from an Alternate Universe or a future timeline."

Both Aqualad and Robin stared at Terry in bewilderment for several moments. The suspicion heavy in their collective gazes as the awkward silence continued. Even Superboy had ceased his attempts to escape to watch oddly from the side.

Thankfully for Terry, Aqualad turned back to his companion and stated, "One problem at a time. We need to get out of here. Then we can turn this over to the League."

"Yeah, the issue in this scenario is… what is waiting for us on the other side of that door." Robin stated like it was a normal event to have an army on your heels.

Aqualad turned his sight on the clone, calmly he asked, "We only sought to help you. Why would you attack us?"

With the conversation's turn, Terry turned his attention back to the unconscious form of Kara. Her complexion looked better since they left the previous room, even her bruises had already started to heal. In his memories, he had just gotten to know this girl. But somehow, he felt a connection that he'd only remembered feeling for one person… Dana. What could have happened that caused such a discrepancy in his feelings?

Suddenly as he looked down at the petite face of the blonde beauty a sudden flash of memories assaulted him…

---

Terry had the longest week of his life. Everything had literally changed. His parentage, his body, and the expiration date on the universe. But as much as everything changed, he was still hung up on the fact that Dana had just broken up with him. It seemed petty to be upset that is girlfriend had ended things between them, when the entire universe could end soon… but he was.

Terry knew that it was bound to happen. He had been canceling dates more often than not there lately. That didn't mean their break hadn't been upsetting. It just meant he understood… which somehow made it worse. Walking through Hamilton Hill High's hallway, Terry paused to open his locker to grab his data-pad for his next class when he saw her.

His recent ex-girlfriend standing down the hallway, Terry unknowingly paused to watch her from a distance. Her shoulder-length black hair hung down on her dainty shoulders. There was always something about the smaller girl that attracted Terry's eyes. Since the day he met her, it had always been the same. Suddenly, his view was obstructed by a red-haired boy wearing a green and yellow lettermen's jacket.

'Nelson Nash…' Resident high school jock.

He remembered hearing that Nelson and his 'on and off again' girlfriend Chelsea Cunningham had been 'off-again' for the past few days. He guessed Dana was his next 'target'. Terry's brows crinkled in frustration; he really didn't have the time to watch him make a move on Dana. He had already eaten today and he didn't want to lose it already. Besides they'd already broken up. Whoever she decided to date was no longer any of his business.

Before he could leave the area, he spotted her leaning against her locker looking bashfully back at the athlete… 'Slaggit it was already too late. There goes lunch and breakfast.' He thought bitterly.

Now going to his next class didn't seem so great anymore, he couldn't deal with the teenage gossip mill and he knew if it hadn't already spread around the school it would soon. If only he had a 'bat' emergency right now, he could have an excuse to leave school. But if he did leave now, the school would call his mother. And the only way he wouldn't get into trouble was if the old man vouched for him… which he doubted Wayne would do. Wayne wouldn't often bend the rules for him, which was probably a good thing…

For the second time that day, all thoughts were stopped as he spotted a girl in the hallway… A girl that shouldn't have been there. A blonde, beautiful, and Kryptonian girl.

Stopping in front of him she offered a smile that would probably stop a stampede of raging teenagers in their tracks, "Hi!" She said excitedly, taking him off guard.

"Uh, hi…" He said intelligently.

Giggling at his response, Kara grabbed Terry's hand and guided him to the side of the hallway. A few students in band uniforms were making their way toward them and it seemed that Terry was still too distracted to pay attention to what was happening around him.

Spotting an icy glare from Dana, as she walked by with Nelson. Terry didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But soon his focus was back on the blonde when she said her next words.

"Well, Batman, I didn't expect to run into you first thing in the morning." She said shaking Terry to complete wakefulness.

"Wait... No, don't call me that here. That's a secret." Slagit, if she had a question to his identity before he had completely confirmed it now. Terry rubbed his forehead to stave off the ache that started since she appeared. Luckily for him, the noise of the crowd had drowned out her earlier words.

'How does she know who I am?' He thought. But instead of asking this, he decided to correct her, "Call me Terry. Now, what exactly are you doing here?" He demanded.

He didn't believe for a minute, that she was testing him… which meant she somehow knew his identity. Maybe that was a problem… But the old man told him once that he knew some of the League member's identities and a few of them even knew his own. Like Diana. Resolving to speak with the old man later about this, he decided to get some answers from the blonde.

For almost anyone else in this school, Terry being a delinquent and looking at them with such intensity might appear a little scary but not for Kara.

Rolling her eyes at the taller boy, she began with a sly smile on her face, "Well, good morning to you too! Anyway, have you heard of the Joker King?"

---

Terry didn't know what her next words were going to be, but he could deduce more must have happened between them. The question was… How long it had been since that day? He couldn't be sure, but the memory did at least confirm they did escape from infinity island.

What exactly was it about 'the universe having an expiration date'? The implications were too much to comprehend… What about his mother, Matt, Wayne, and Diana? Shaking his head in denial. He then resolved himself to focus on what was happening in the here and now. Hopefully, Kara would have some answers. She just needed to wake up first.

Suddenly a surprised look crossed Terry's face, as he looked around the room it appeared there had been a battle. The massive doors that blocked out the army outside had been pried open and there was a swarm of aliens with horns roaming the room.

As he looked through the mangled doorway, he spotted Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and even Kara being carried away. Four stretchers rolled calmly down the hallway with Superboy tailing behind them. The teens appeared to be unconscious, but they also didn't seem to be too badly hurt…

How had he even missed the battle? How was he not caught or injured in the crossfire and why wasn't he taken away along with the others? Surely, it wouldn't have been too hard to take him down as he stood catatonic. Looking down at his arm he realized his suit had activated stealth mode. Which explained a lot, except for… why exactly had it activated on its own?

Shaking his head to clear away the questions, he had to keep up with where they were being taken. Even though he was invisible that didn't mean he was untouchable. If he was bumped by one of these massive alien's he'd surely be found out.

Just because he had lost months of his life didn't mean he'd lost any of his skills. After all, he was trained not only by the original Batman but by two of the original League members. This would easily make him a force to be reckoned with.

Unfortunately, by the time he got through the crowd of Genomorphs Kara and the others were being loaded into an elevator. It couldn't really be helped; he had come back to consciousness too late and wasn't able to catch up.

At the entranceway, Terry overheard a conversation by a brown-haired man wearing glasses and a lab coat and another man wearing a golden helmet. He paused to see if he could glean any new information about Kara and the other teen heroes.

Stopping short in shock as he spotted the seemingly empty room before him, "Where's the weapon?" he demanded through clenched teeth. Anger was clear in his voice with what seemed to Terry to be fear in his eyes.

"'Superboy'?" Guardian asked, looking up from a datapad. "He followed the intruders to the cloning chamber."

"We have Genomorphs for that!" Desmond objected outraged from the very idea. "Get the weapon back in its pod now!"

"I don't see the harm in letting the kid stretch his legs," Guardian stated. It really seemed that he honestly didn't understand the problem with Superboy leaving.

Terry frowned, the man wearing the golden helmet was acting strange. Almost like this was all normal. His behavior wasn't really adding up for a hired thug in Terry's opinion.

"Don't you now?" Desmond asked ominously, as a single eyebrow raised on the doctor's head. Suddenly, the horns of the creature on his shoulder began to glow.

Guardian's eyes go wide in shock for a moment, but as soon as he began to react in a surprised manner a blankness falls over his features. Then his face hardens into an angry glare, "That clone belongs in a cage!" he growled before storming off.

Terry's brows leaped at these implications, 'Mind control, this is going to be much more of a pain than I originally thought.' he thought bitterly before he followed closely behind.