Chapter Twenty Four

If Terry was told a week ago that his parents were not biologically his, and his actual biological parents were, in fact, two of the world's greatest heroes… Terry would have laughed in their face. Or punched them in it instead, he wasn't really sure. As it stood, Terry really wished he could just punch someone to make this mess disappear. He just couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that he, Terry McGinnis, a hooligan, juvenile delinquent, and a trouble maker was related in any shape, form or fashion to these two mountainous figures... This had to be some kind of really bad joke on his already messed up life.

Sure, he had grown up with many of his friends wishing for something just like this to happen to them… but that was when he was a kid. Terry had already accepted that his father was a man that worked as a research scientist at Wayne-Powers. Now, Warren McGinnis was no longer among the living, but he still wouldn't exchange him with anyone even though that was a fact. His life wasn't a wanted add where he could just replace one broken piece for another… And his mother was very much alive! So how could he fit another woman into that role?

Flipping his body backward he dodged a few arrows that shot out of a wall. His thoughts were distracting him, he realized. But who could honestly blame him for being distracted? Although Diana and Wayne's presence in his life wasn't anything new, the knowledge that they were now related was a little much for him all at once.

Shaking his head, Terry knew he needed to focus or he was going to get himself killed. When Terry was with Angela, he was distracted enough that he was able to keep his emotions in check. But now that he was on his own, he couldn't help thinking about the mess he found himself in. And then there was this huge amount of pressure that just dropped into his lap! What was he going to do now? Did he have to measure up not only to Batman but also to his alter ego Bruce Wayne as well? He hadn't even gotten the Batman role down yet! Terry thought in protest.

Sighing, he definitely wasn't starting out at such a great beginning, looking down at his damaged attire. The acid or whatever the liquid was in the previous room, had eaten through most of the protective covering on the Bat-suit some of the liquid had even damaged the circuitry inside. Most of the suit's functions were trashed and he only had about five percent remaining power left. He wasn't even sure if he would be able to get through this mission without the suit blowing up! On the bright side, the primary computer was still functioning allowing the system to give him some decent identifiable information about some of the things around him.

Unfortunately, his damaged suit was the least of his worries. His most pressing issue was staying alive. Terry couldn't walk ten feet without flames that could liquefy metal or spikes that shot out of the floor or walls assaulting him with every move. Terry just thanked the gods that his hearing was advanced enough to hear most of the machines starting up before they began attacking him. And he should really thank the old man for making him spent so much time training for scenarios like these. He could imagine walking out of this place with a bit more singed areas than he was currently sporting otherwise.

At first, Terry didn't seem to be making much progress as he was constantly delayed with different traps. But soon he began to feel himself going through obstacles with blinding speed more than ever before. It was almost like he was going in super-speed.

Then suddenly what he had initially feared blocked his path... Three androids appeared in his way, and he knew if he didn't take them out quickly, he would be doomed to stop here if he didn't lose his life. Then suddenly something clicked inside him and his movements could be said to be almost precognitive and with the smallest amount of effort he'd already struck finishing blows on the three.

Within moments of the android's appearance, Terry had flung three bat-a-rangs flying in the air hitting their marks simultaneously. This was a feat thirty minutes prior he had to sneak attack similar targets to achieve, but these androids knew he was coming, which was a totally different situation than before.

Terry didn't stop to question why he could achieve such a feat, he just continued running. The sound of a huge explosion rocketed the facility as the android's body parts shorted out causing them to expel in different directions, but Terry simply went swiftly through the billowing smoke of their remains continuing on his journey like nothing happened. He was a man on a mission and he was proving not only to himself that he was ready for being the caped crusader, but to anyone that had been watching as well.

Unfortunately for him, there was someone watching. As Terry went nearly unhindered though the series of traps and androids which would be enough to delay armies from advancing. Terry soon found himself blocked by an unfamiliar man once again.

With a sword in hand and determination in his eyes, Dusan Al Ghul quickly got into a fighting stance. His long white hair and pale skin made it obvious the man before him was an albino and judging by this man's form, he was also a master with the sword. Getting into a similar fighting stance Terry held his ground preparing for the oncoming onslaught. He didn't have to wait long, though he also didn't expect the first charge to be a sweeping kick delivered to his ankle.

Acting instantly, Terry hooked the assailants' strike with his own leg and tossed him across the room where he hit the opposing wall harshly. Terry was surprised by the strength he must have used to toss such a tall man across the room, but he wasn't going to worry about this for the moment. He was the son of an Amazon apparently and this didn't seem too far out of the realm of possibilities.

Terry assumed the albino wouldn't be getting back up, but evidently, he had underestimated him because as soon as he had that particular thought the unknown man was back on his feet ostensively.

His masked assailant then sent a series of throwing stars at him in quick succession. Dealing with surprise attacks all night Terry was ready for such a situation. Throwing his own projectiles to obstruct the one's his opponent, it wasn't a surprise when they were knocked off course. But Duscan seemed to have expected them to be blocked however, and used the time that Terry took in blocking them to get in closer for a decisive blow.

Managing to catch him off guard Duscan sent a roundhouse kick and finished with a slash of his sword. Wayne and Diana had trained him constantly for the last six months so getting out of this situation wasn't too hard but he was still surprised by the ferocity of his attacker.

Stumbling, Terry leaned his back against the wall for support to regain his bearings. Luckily, he was able to focus just in time to see a kick aiming directly at his head. Managing to dodge the strike by a breath, Terry watched to see the man's foot puncture through the hard stone of the wall he had just been leaning against. Realizing this man was either a meta or another Android Terry decided to stop holding back. He was already at a disadvantage by the albino's obvious skill level, and if he pulled his punches too much at this stage of the battle, he might lose more than just time.

Although, what Terry didn't know is that he was still moving at a much faster pace than he had previously. If that hadn't been the case, Dusan's first attack would have been enough to stop him at this moment. His newfound abilities were the only reason Terry wasn't a dead man and deciding not to hold back was his only course of action.

Due to the obvious signs that androids display, Terry understood that this person most likely wasn't a machine because he hadn't noticed any indication of this being the case. This meant that he was either a meta or someone that has had several operations to alter his body enough to have this amount of super-strength. Which meant he had to change his approach to beat his opponent.

With machines like he has dealt with so far during his battle on Infinity Island a quick blow could easily take them out, but with a biological he had to use actual tactics to win.

Regaining his balance, Terry gained some distance to watch his opponent closely. If he was going to fight this opponent then he had to be sure if he was man or beast. Suddenly, the suit's system began to function and displayed his opponent's information.

'Dusan Al Ghul - AKA 'White Ghost'

- Born July 20, 1945.

- Mother - Unknown

- Father - Ra's Al Ghul

- Skill level - Red

- Mastery of Kendo, Laido and Judo and many minor martial arts.

- History - Due to the fact Duscan was born an albino, his father only called him "the failed one". In the years since his birth, Dusan was kept alive by the Lazarus pit in what Ra's once said was 'only out of pity'. Twenty-five years ago, Dusan was banished from the League of Shadows due to a failed mission and it has been reported that Duscan had since been attempting to establish his own network and connections for a similar group to the shadows.'

There were no reports after that brief information pool. Although, it did seem the old man attempted to update these files recently, he must not have been able to get any new information before his abduction. It wasn't too surprising that the old man hadn't kept up with this wayward son of Ra's, he had been out of the game for many years. Terry believed Wayne was ready to die and the only reason he was still around was that he was just too stubborn to fully give in. Terry wasn't sure what he felt about that now that he knew the old man was closely related to him but he was positive that this did change things for them both.

Terry was interrupted from his musings by the White Ghost with an unexpected question, "What exactly do you expect will happen by doing all of this?"

Narrowing his eyes at the albino in front of him he answered in reply, "I could ask you the same question, Dusan."

---

In a distant part of the known universe, on a scorched apocalyptic planet, the god of Apokolips, stormed around his dark throne chamber in a rage. Ra's thought he was being secretive about his little 'back-up' plan, but Darkseid had spies even in the almighty 'League of Shadows'. Ra's in truth was a simple pawn to the dark god, and it often amused him that his little pawn thought himself a king. But this farce had come to an end, it seemed that it has come time to let the puny artificial immortal know his place.

Suddenly, the thick energy in the room began to swirl into a tornado as it churned. Soon, this dense roiling gray energy that littered the throne room began to pool together and began to produced bolts of electricity. Then just as suddenly as before, the unruly energy bounced from one of the massive pillars that ordained the massive thrown room to the next.

Picking up in tempo and speed the energy soon developed into twin vortexes, which then started multiplying in pairs. Each spiral reached toward the center of the room, almost as if the energy had been drawn to that spot. As the points of the vortexes approached within a meter something began to occur at the nucleus of this meeting point. Soon the two vortexes and clouds burst apart in the center and flashes of indigo lightning formed a circular shape in the center of the throne room.

The only occupant in the room seemingly ignored these actions implicitly as if the rotating energy was nothing but dust in the air, only commenting, "It won't be long now.' Waving his hand in front of him, an image of the battle on the shore of Infinity Island was displayed. The ancient god grimaced at the sight of his battalion losing at the hands of such minuscule creatures. It was a fact that he would have to be harder on his slaves if they can be beaten so easily by three warriors and a couple of machines. None the less, he could allow for these events to continue unchecked.

With another wave of his hand, the space before him rippled, reaching into this distortion Darkseid grabbed a small green rock that weighed nearly nothing in his over-sized gloved hand. With this small stone, he knew it was probably more than enough to sway the battle to his advantage and with the least amount of effort he tossed the stone into the image before him.

With a smile that not even his own mother could love he sat back on his throne chair and watched his nearly defeated army. He was glad he took the small green rock from Luther a few years ago. Though the man was a mere sheep for the slaughter, his paranoia served his greater purpose. Soon he will be the ruler, not just over the small rock they call earth... but over time itself.