Chapter 12

Almost two months has passed after Terry McGinnis decided he would be batman.

"You're predecessor would be proud." Ted Grant said.

"Haah. Fanks.(Thanks) Haah. Haah." Although he finally scored a draw against Wildcat, Terry did it with everything he had and ended up exhausting himself. He is sprawled on the floor panting with his arms over his eyes to block the light and let them rest.

"This counts as your graduation. I'm leaving tomorrow." Wildcat, Ted grant, announced.

"Already?" Terry got up immediately.

"You didn't expect me to still stick around after training you, did you?" Ted Grant replied.

"If I knew, I would have at least prepared something..."

"Of course you didn't know. I only decided it now when you scored a draw. Don't worry, kid. You'll still have a sparring partner over there." He pointed at Barbara who was glaring at Terry before heading towards the stairs. She's irritated as she was seemingly passed by Terry when he scored a win over her then scoring a draw with their master.

Terry gulped as he looked at a furious Barbara before he directed his gaze at his master's wide back. He wanted to say to his master that wasn't what he meant but he figured that's just how Ted Grant is. His personality would entail that he is someone who does not like emotional goodbyes. But Terry is a little bit rueful about it. They wouldn't see Ted Grant again in the next morning.

"Are you done being sentimental?" Barbara said to him.

"Huh?"

"I'm saying I want you to spar with me again." Barbara said in a tone that is failing to try and hide her annoyance.

"S-sure." Afraid to say no, Terry accepted Barbara's challenge.

----

"Ugh. That woman." Terry said as he wound up his arms and held his aching shoulders. He just came out of the shower.

Earlier, Barbara faked an attempt at kicking him and so he planned to dodge and counter. Instead, Barbara threw her whole body at his defenseless arm. It was a flying armbar. It was a move she didn't use on Terry before and it proved its effectiveness. He tapped out because he felt like she would really try to break his arm.

Barbara immediately left afterwards with a satisfied smile. She quit while she was ahead.

"Young McGinnis." It was Alfred holding a slim box.

"What is it?"

"Try this on." Alfred said as he handed the box over to Terry.

"...Is this what I think it is?" Terry said with widened eyes.

"Yes. It came over earlier from Luke Fox's office. You better be thankful that the president of Wayne Ent. made time in his busy schedule to make you that suit. He said you should come over sometime as my representative."

Luke Fox. Lucius Fox's son. He was a part of the bat-family but only on the sidelines. Although he wanted to, he couldn't join the rest of them fight crime on the field. The exo suit that his father and batman was making was in it's early stages when he tried them on. It malfunctioned and left him paralyzed on a wheelchair for years. Thus, he mostly worked by his father's side.

Luckily, as time went on and technology got better, he invented an exo skeleton that helped him walk again. It's function wasn't limited to that as it also stimulated the nerves to slowly treat the patients back to normal. It made neural surgery easier and have higher chance of success because of this. He was a part of the r&d department of Wayne Enterpries at that time and the product made their company thrillions of dollars as they were the only one that sold it across the world.

"This is it?" Terry furrowed his brows as he picked up the item in the box. It was a belt that should only be a single part of the suit.

"Try it on then push the button in the middle of it."

Terry did as he was told and the belt soon released some kind of substance and it started enveloping his body starting from his waist.

"Aaaaah!"

He was scared. A thought crossed his mind that Alfred somehow decided to betray and kill him. He closed his eyes as the thing began to creep up his face. Terry, in shock, fruitlessly held up his hands. It was an instinct to cover his head in defense even though it was already on his face.

He posed there like a mummified statue from pompeii for a moment. After he noticed that it stopped, he gently opened his eyes. He can see Alfred with a disappointed expression through his held up hands.

He noticed that his arms are now wearing something.

"What...?"

"It's your new batsuit. Made with nanotechnology. But not just any kind of nanotech. It's performance is much more efficient, detailed and advanced. Lucas made it with the data that the Justice League has on Blue Beetle."

"O-oh."

"Why were you screaming?"

"I-I thought you were trying to kill me."

Terry got hit on the head with Alfred's cane. He could have caught it if he wasn't on edge and guilty of what happened.

"Why on earth would I try to kill you?"

"I don't know. Maybe your body was taken over by someone or something like that." Terry replied as he rubbed the area where Alfred hit him.

"...Just remember everything I say when I tell you the functions that's been added. Okay?"

"Roger."

"Good."

The functions of the prototype suit that Terry got used to using and got fond of was included in the new suit. Now, it had more functions that the previous batman would have. Grappling hooks. Batarangs. Bombs. Smoke bombs. A low dosage fear gas for intimidation. But there were also newer features like a batarang that can electrocute. And it has an AI called L.U.C.I.U.S. which stands for Layered Ubiquitous Computing Iterated Unit System, named after Lucius Fox. The father of Lucas who had died at the age of seventy three just last year.

As Alfred went on explaining the features of the batsuit, Terry looked at himself in the mirror. He almost had himself frightened. He was used to seeing the batsuits inside a glass case being inanimate that looking at himself wearing it and moving was scary. It looked like he was wearing a cowl but his mouth that was supposed to be seen was covered by the black nanotech up to his lips.

Wearing the new batsuit, he looks like he came straight out of a horror movie. 'So this is how Bruce Wayne wanted to be seen as by his enemies.' He thought.

"...and so, I suggest that you master the manual controls first before using the neural sensory function."

Alfred ended his explanation with the neural sensory function that reads the user's brain activity to automatically activate whichever features the user wanted to use.

"I got it, Alfred-oop...sorry." Terry unknowingly had the voice changer function turned on.

"Do you like your graduation gift?" Alfred asked with a smile. Terry already graduated Alfred's weapons training a month ago.

Terry looked at himself again in the mirror. The whitened eyes. The red symbol across his chest.

"You heard from Ted?" Terry calls Ted Grant without honorifics because that's what Ted wanted. Barbara was the only one calling him Master all the time even though he rejects it.

"Yes. The timing of the new suit's arrival couldn't have been better."

"Deactivate suit."

-Deactivating suit. (LUCIUS)

"Thanks a lot, Alfred. I won't let you guys down." Terry said before deciding to leave.

Alfred followed him outside of the shower room and saw him off the batcave. He was left there and stared again at the batsuit that were displayed for a while before deciding to head upstairs as well.

----

-I also heard from Alfred.

"I'm going to use it tonight.

-Excited?

"Yes and nervous."

-Okay. I'll call you to meet me at our building's roof deck. Look up at the skies and you'll know when.

"Huh?"

Barbara was on the other line of the phone with Terry. She hung up after telling Terry something strange.

Terry looked around in his own room before looking at the utility belt that contained his suit.

The people that knew Bruce Wayne had high expectations of him as Batman and now those expectations are Terry's to bear. The weight on his shoulders have never been heavier but the feeling in his chest that he couldn't contain was just as strong.

He clenched his fist tight and took a deep breath then he puffed all the air out of his nose. Terrence McGinnis is ready to be Batman.

Terry snuck out of his house at ten that night.

On his roof, his form changed to a being similar to that of a bat. He jumped on the ledge with both of his arms behind his back even though the new suit didn't require him to do so anymore. He was just used to it. When he spread his arms, the wings like that of a bat appeared and stopped his fall before he activated the rocket boosters from his sole.

Zoooom

His destination was Wayne Enterprises as he waits for Barbara's call.

But then a light shone across the sky as he flew. He made a grin and decided to change his destination.

'Look up at the skies and you'll know when.'

"So, that's what you were talking about."

The light drew Terry in. It had the same symbol as the one on his chest.

At the same time, Commissioner Barbara Gordon was also grinning as she looked towards the light being shone on the sky.

"I never imagined that I would do this myself one day." She muttered to herself as she recalled a distant memory about her father and her days of being a masked vigilante.

She looked up again but noticed that the symbol in the middle of the light was getting bigger.

When it got big enough, she finally realized what it was. She made an unimpressed grin at the being that was gliding downwards from the heavens and almost chuckled.

She watched the being until it landed to where she was.

"Quite an entrance...Batman." She said to him.

"What did you call me for?" Batman said with his signature deep voice.

"I called you here to say that you have the streets to yourself tonight. I pulled back all my patrol cars. Make yourself known."

"Is that all?"

"That's all. But just a word of advice..." She looked at the Batsignal "Being subtle can also be grand." Barbara was talking about how to make an entrance.

She then faced Batman again but he was gone. She chuckled to herself.

"Quick learner...how annoying." She muttered as she walked away towards the door.

But the door bursted open and caught her by surprise. The man that bursted out of the door also looked surprise as he found her behind the door. It was her subordinate,

"Commissioner! Did you get the idiot that played the prank?"

Confused, Barbara asked "What prank?"

"Turning on the batsignal."

"I did that."

"W-what? Why?"

"Why else would I turn it on?"

"Ma'am, with all due respect, Batman has been dead for almost nine years."

"Well, he's back." Barbara shrugged and nonchalantly said.

"Pardon?"

"Exactly what I said. He's back."

"Th-then where is he?"

"He was just here. Now, he left."

Her subordinate made a concerned look. Annoyed, Barbara heaved out a sigh.

"You don't have to believe me. You'll learn about it eventually." She said as she tapped her subordinate's shoulder and walked through the door. "Leave it on." She added referring to the batsignal.

Her subordinate stood there and stared at the light being shone on the sky for a while before he decided to follow her downstairs.