By: Faita

Bruce sat typing in front of the giant screen that lit only what he needed to work in silence. He was trying to figure out who this imposter Batman was while Terry was at school. Occasionally he glanced down at the obedient dog at his feet, searching for any sign that the dog sensed an intruder, or Terry. The dog was always still with his head resting on his two front paws. Bruce typed simply with no prevail as to whom the imposter Batman is.

“This is getting tiresome,” Bruce said to Ace and massaged the space between his eyes with his thumb and pointer finger. Ace’s head lifted up and looked at something behind Bruce, but didn’t growl. Bruce caught the action in the corner of his eye and turned around to look into the darkness behind him. Ace’s ears moved trying to hear the sounds Bruce couldn’t, but still he didn’t growl. Bruce searched the darkness and saw one foot step into the light. He knew immediately who it was.

“Hello,” he said simply.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Terry and Max sat next to each other in study hall. Some of the other kids in the class sat reading, doing homework, or passing notes to each other. The teacher was asleep; his feet up on his desk and a magazine lay open, and face down on his chest. Terry leaned over to Max and whispered to her.

“Have you seen Emily Grayson today?” he asked her. She shook her head.

“What’s with the other Batman?” she whispered to him. He shrugged.

“We don’t know anything about him,” Terry answered. Max thought about that.

“You owe him your life,” Max told him, he didn’t answer.

“I know,” Terry replied. Max grinned. The two remanded silent for the rest of the period. Then filed out at the ring with the rest of the class, leaving the teacher still asleep.

“So why are you so interested in Grayson?” Max asked him.

“I don’t know really,” he confessed as they walked down the hall.

“You don’t have some kind of, stalker fascination, do you?” she asked him teasingly.

“No Max I don’t. Where’s Dana today? She sick?” he asked her. Max thought before answering.

“I don’t think so, if you’re here she should be, she wasn’t hurt to much,” Max said. Terry stopped walking and Max did too when she noticed he was no longer next to her. She turned around to look back at him.

“What?” she asked him.

“You don’t think? Willie?” Terry asked her beginning to panic. She inhaled understanding.

“No Terry, that’s impossible. They locked him away again yesterday, I saw it on the news,” Max told him.

“Yea but Max, he got away before, he might be able to do it again!” Terry said almost turning hysterical. Max stepped closer to him.

“Terry relax. Dana’s fine, Willie’s locked safe away,” Max reassured him. He thought about it. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number then held it to his ear.

“I just wanna be sure,” he told Max. He waited while the phone rang. After a few moments he got worried and hung up.

“Nothing,” he told her worriedly. He placed the phone back and ran past her. She turned around to watch him.

“But Terry it’s only 5th period!” she yelled after him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Terry walked through the manor and down the stairs to the batcave calling Bruce’s name. He walked towards the giant screen that was on and saw Bruce sitting in the chair facing him, watching Terry walk over to him. Terry sighed with relief.

“Why didn’t you answer me?” Terry asked him stopping several feet away from him. Bruce didn’t answer him; he just looked at him.

“What?” Terry asked him after a while.

“Terry, there’s someone I want you to mean,” Bruce said. Terry looked at him confused.

“What, here?” Terry asked him. Bruce turned the seat he was in around towards the darkness behind him. Terry looked where Bruce was looking confused. He saw a figure walk out of the shadows. His eyes widened in surprise and he held his breath in shock. Out from the shadows stepped Batman. Terry felt anger rise in his throat and he ran forward. The Batman didn’t move and Terry punched him right in the jaw. The Batman’s head moved all the way to the right and Bruce’s eyes widened in surprise. The Batman moved his head back and wiped away a trail of blood from the corner of his mouth with his hand, but his stern expression hadn’t changed.

“Terry!” Bruce began to scold, but Terry kept staring angrily at Batman and Batman stared angrily at him.

“What do you think you’re doing!?” Terry yelled at the Batman with a surprising anger. The Batman didn’t answer him.

“Who do you think you are!?” Terry then yelled at him.

“Who do you think you are!?” the Batman yelled in reply.

“I’m Batman!” Terry answered him.

“He’s Batman!” the Batman yelled and pointed to Bruce. Terry glanced at Bruce then back at the Batman, a surprised look on his face.

“Who are you?” Terry asked him calmly. In reply the Batman lifted his mask off his face, and removed padding from parts of the costume and the boots. The Batman was now much smaller and the costume hung on his body. Terry’s eyes widened in complete and total shock. He stared into this Batman’s eyes; a pair of brown eyes stared simply back at him. It was Emily Grayson’s face, with a trail of blood in the corner of her mouth.

“I, I, I. What DID you think you were doing!?” Terry asked her again even more angrily.

“I just wanted to see how the new Batman fared, I was disappointed,” she replied in her normal voice. Terry made fists with his hands.

“What do you know about what’s a good Batman?” he asked her.

“I know he shouldn’t need me to save him from Watt,” she replied.

“He took me by surprise!” Terry retorted.

“That shouldn’t have made a difference! You made yourself open to attack! That’s the time when you should be the most on edge!” Emily replied.

“What do you know about crime fighting, you little rich girl?” he yelled. Her eyes narrowed angrily.

“I’ve been trained to be the best there is since I was 7, I’ve been trained by the best heroes this world has ever seen. How have you trained? By who? How long?” she asked him. He didn’t answer. She nodded.

“That’s what I thought,” she said and turned around to walk away.

“Hey!” Terry yelled and ran after her. He placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her. She quickly spun around and twisted his arm behind his back. He yelled in surprise.

“What?” she asked into his ear. He didn’t answer her. Her eyes narrowed and she released him, pushing him forward. Then she left into the shadows. Terry had an angry expression on his face and he turned to Bruce, Bruce looked at him, an almost glad expression on his face.

“How?” Terry asked him.

“That’s Emily Grayson, the real one, not the perfect princess you expected,” Bruce told him.

“How do you know her,” Terry asked, an angry expression still on his face.

“Grayson Terry, she’s a Grayson,” Bruce said. Terry’s eyes widened surprised.

“You mean a Grayson from THE Grayson?” Terry asked him.

“His one and only daughter,” Bruce replied.

“I suppose you taught her that trick then,” Terry said.

“I taught her all her tricks, most of them anyway,” Bruce replied.

“So what happens now?” Terry asked.

“We wait to see what she does, she won’t be Batman anymore, that I assure you,” Bruce reassured him.

“So why was she here?” Terry asked forgetting all about why he was there.

“She has a theory,” Bruce explained.

“On what?” Terry asked.

“How Watt escaped,” Bruce replied.

“Again!?” Terry asked now fully remembering way he was there.

“Before he attacked you in school, which reminds me, Dana’s father kept her home today, that’s why she wasn’t in school, in case you were wondering,” Bruce told him. Terry sighed with relief.

“What’s Batgirl’s theory?” Terry asked him. Bruce frowned, then answered.

“She figures Watt was sprung by the Brain Trust,” Bruce said.

“Them again! They’re already in jail!” Terry told him.

“Well, A, the Brain Trust has chapters, and B, they ARE psychic,” Bruce replied.

“Do you believe her?” Terry asked. Bruce nodded.

“The theory is sound,” he answered.

“Do you trust her?” Terry asked him next.

“As much as I trust myself,” Bruce said. Terry’s eyes narrowed intrigued.

“Well, while I’m here I think I’ll suit up and head out early,” Terry said walking over to change.

“You could go back to school,” Bruce said. Terry stopped, turned around, and headed back upstairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Max!” Terry said and ran over to Max in the hallway. She was talking to a smaller, blonde girl Terry knew named Marlena.

“Hi Terry, learn anything?” Max asked him. Marlena opened her locker and placed some books inside.

“Yea, Dana’s dad just wanted to keep her home,” Terry answered.

“Mostly likely to keep her away from you,” Marlena told him.

“It’s not fair what happened to you Terry, you were just doing the right thing and now you got a psychic maniac after you,” Max told him.

“Yea you got dealt a bad hand this round Terry,” Marlena said and she pulled out a portfolio from her locker.

“What’s that?” Max asked her.

“It’s an art portfolio, I’m trying to get into Gotham U on an art scholarship,” Marlena explained.

“I wish I could draw,” Max told her.

“I wish I could get grades like yours,” Marlena told her.

“Who doesn’t?” Terry asked. Marlena smiled.

“Anyway, nice talking to ya guys, but I gotta go see Mrs.Eaton, she’s a case if there ever was one,” Marlena said and left the two.

“Why didn’t your boss pick up before?” Max asked him.

“He ah, he was talking to Batman,” Terry told her.

“Batman! The fake Batman!? He came to see you?” Max asked him.

“Yea, SHE has an idea as to how Willie escaped,” Terry explained.

“She? Who is she?” Max asked him. Terry and Max then walked past a girl, Emily. Emily and Terry held each other’s gaze in till they couldn’t walk any further without hurting their necks. Max noticed the gaze then looked at Terry in shock.

“You’re kidding!” Max said. Terry just looked at her in reply.

“Why? How? Oh, wait, I get it. Wayne, Grayson, I should have seen that before,” Max said upset with herself.

“She’s a big pain if ya ask me, thinks she’ so much better then I am,” Terry complained.

“Is she?” Max asked him. He was silent for a moment.

“I wish I knew,” he replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Batman walked into the cave slightly upset. Bruce was once again typing at the keyboard looking at the screen, paying the angered teenager little attention. Ace sat by his side doing the same thing.

“Why’d you bring me back?” Batman asked him almost angrily.

“I thought you’d be glad to come back,” Bruce told him.

“Yea well I’ll know when I want to come back,” Batman told him.

“I need you to go talk to Commissioner Gordon, explain to her Emily’s plan,” Bruce told him. Batman’s eyes narrowed

“Fine. What if she asks about the other Batman, she saw him, or, she saw her,” Batman asked. Bruce was silent for a minute.

“Just tell her the plan, not anything about whose idea it was, even if she asks,” Bruce instructed him. Batman hesitated for a minute.

“You sure that’s the right thing to do?” Batman asked him. Bruce didn’t answer and after awhile Batman just left the cave in the batmobile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Barbara Gordon sat in her office, completely shut from the outside world except for an intercom to the secretary outside and a curtain moved away so a slimmer of light from the moon shown into the room. A lamp lit her desk while she did the daily paper work. This paper work was a bit harder then what she had to do back when she was just a lieutenant. She had a lot of promising lieutenants now; one she hoped would take her place as commissioner some day. Not too soon though. She heard a slight creak of glass, a sound she knew well, either from her Batgirl days, or GPD days. She stopped what she was doing and leaned back into the chair. She heard soft footsteps on carpet, so soft only a few ears in the city could hear it.

“Terry,” she said simply. Batman stepped into the light from the lamp, just enough for it to cast an eerie glow on his costume. Her placed a few sheets of paper on her desk over what was already there. She didn’t move and didn’t look at the papers.

“It’s a theory,” Batman told her, in the same stern tone she knew Bruce, and Dick, had used.

“About Watt’s escape?” she asked him, trying the best to use her old Batgirl voice, but time had somewhat dulled it. He didn’t answer her, he just left from the light’s reach, and she remained where she was and heard the glass creak one more time. She narrowed her eyes before looking at the theory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This’ll be easy,” a guy said. He and two others were hiding behind a corner of a building. They wore black masks over their faces and held handguns in their hands. An old woman walked on the street nearing the corner where the thugs were. They yelled as a force they couldn’t see came from above and forced them to the ground. Their guns were released from their hands and slid out onto the ground. The force got off them and crushed the guns. They could tell this force was actually a person, in black.

“Not that easy,” it told them. They sat up and saw the slender figure. They excepted Batman, but this wasn’t Batman, this was a girl. Her costume was exactly like Batman’s, but everything that was black was blue, not red. She had rich brown hair that came out of the back of her mask that lay on her back. In her hand she held three bat-cuffs. They were to surprised to do anything in the form of getting away while she placed them on their wrists. The elderly woman walked in front of the alleyway and looked over. Her eyes widened in shock and the girl bat smiled at her.

“Don’t worry ma’am, you’re safe,” the girl told her. The woman looked down and saw the three thugs leaning against the side of the building and the three crushed guns. She placed pieces together in her mind and smiled back at the younger girl dressed in black.

“About time woman showed men what they can do, Batman watch out. I’ll go call the police,” the old woman said and continued walking. The girl smiled then turned back to the three, and the smile dissipated. She opened her hand and a small button type thing shot out from her glove and into the palm of her hand. She stuck it to the leader’s forehead. He was a bit surprised, then she spread retractable wings and ignited jets in her boots and flew up into the air.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Barbara Gordon was busy reading the theory, she really hadn’t thought about The Brain Trust again, she supposed it was possible. Bruce certainly seemed to think so, and as much as she disliked Batman, Bruce knew what he was doing and wouldn’t tell her if he weren’t sure. This sounded like a theory Bruce might have, tying not thought of, but similar, people together to explain an unexplainable event. But if it were Bruce’s theory, why wouldn’t Terry just come out and say it. Her eyes widened in realization.

“The other Batman!” she said. She heard the buzzer on the intercom buzz. She pressed a button on it.

“What Angie?” she asked into it.

“Lieutenant Wakefield is here, a patrol picked up something off of a couple thugs in the New Park Row area, thought you’d be interested,” the secretary told her.

“Send him in,” Barbara told her. The door opened and a tall black man wearing a police uniform walked into the office. Barbara looked up at him. He placed a small tray on her desk. She looked in it. There was a small button with the picture of a blue bat on it. She looked at him.

“Blue?” she asked simply.

“That’s what Lieutenant Gage and I thought, isn’t the Batman’s symbol red? Not blue?” he asked her.

“Where’d you find this Wakefield?” she asked him.

“An elderly woman named Mrs. Carrey, she says some girl dressed like Batman only in blue, stopped three thugs from attacking her, said she was about 5’8”, brown hair, hard to tell with the costume on,” he explained.

“Don’t tell me we’re dealing with a Batgirl now,” Barbara said and slumped over her desk.

“Looks that way Commissioner,” he answered.

“Okay, thank you Lieutenant, dismissed,” she said. He nodded and left the room. Barbara picked up a cell phone and dialed. After a few rings it picked up.

“Wayne, it’s Gordon, what’s she doing here?” she asked into it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay, can I go home now?” Batman asked walking towards Bruce by the computer again. Batman took off his mask and held it in his hand. Bruce turned around in his chair.

“Emily’s made her move,” Bruce told him. Terry stopped walking in front of him. His eyebrow raised.

“What do you mean?” Terry asked him. Bruce turned back around in the chair to once again face the screen. He typed something and a picture of the small button with the blue bat appeared on the screen. Terry looked at it confused.

“What is that?” he asked Bruce. Bruce tried not to smirk before he answered.

“Her new symbol,” Bruce told him. Terry’s eyes widened in shock.

“No,” he said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emily Grayson walked through the high school hallway. Around her students talked about the rich girl and the rumor about some Batgirl. Emily enjoyed knowing she was both. When she had gotten home the night she went to Bruce, she had cross-referenced Hamilton High, Senior Class, and Terry on her custom made laptop. She came up with Terrence McGinnis, a 17 year-old senior. The picture next to it showed the face of the boy that was Batman, and that of whom she had run into in school the day before. After some hacking, skills which she learned from Barbara, she managed to pull up his confidential files. Medical, psychiatric, schools, family, and police record. Parents previously divorced, father dead, one little brother, 3 months in juvenile hall, record of a quick temper. All in all a troublesome guy, not the kind of guy she’d usually be around. Not the kind of guy you’d expect to be Batman either.

~ He is kind of cute though, a jerk, but cute, ~ she thought. She walked past the door leading to the girl’s locker room. The door opened slightly and hand reached out and grabbed Emily by the arm and pulled her inside. She made a surprised sound as the door shut behind her. She was almost thrown against the wall. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light and she was the face of a girl smiling at her.

“Emily Grayson, right?” the girl asked her. Emily relaxed a little.

“Maxine “Max” Gibson, right?” Emily asked the girl. Max’s eyes widened in surprise and she backed away from Emily.

“How’d you?” Max asked her. Emily leaned off the wall and dusted unseen dirt from her shoulders and looked at Max.

“I, rather not answer that,” Emily responded. Max’s eyes narrowed.

“You were that other Batman, and now you’re this new Batgirl person every one is talking,” Max said, almost as if it were a question.

“Ten to one McGinnis told you that huh?” Emily asked her.

“You’ve being doing your homework on him,” Max said, her eyes now wide and filled with excitement.

“I know about his Dad, his job, his friends, his temper, and his record. Plus a few odds and ends,” Emily explained.

“How?” Max asked her. Emily had to smirk.

“I’m a Grayson, I can do anything I want to if I try, anything,” Emily told her, and then left the locker room, leaving Max alone in the dim light.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Night had reached Gotham; the sky was a dark, rich purple. Lights from cars and buildings and streetlights were all on. Emily opened the door to her apartment, balancing a gym bag over one shoulder she managed to get the door opened. She took a few steps into the dark apartment; some small red lights showed from various objects in the area that had small red lights. She closed the door behind her so she was surrounded by the darkness. She stopped walking and stood still, she narrowed her eyes as if it could improve upon her hearing. She shifted the bag off of her shoulder so that she held the handles in her two hands. She moved her feet slightly in a ready position that was easier to keep balance. Sh swung the bag to the area to her right and several feet behind her with all her strength. She felt it collide and heard a surprised yell in a low voice. She could hear a loud thud as the body slammed against the wall and the light switch, turning the lights on. After a second for her eyes to adjust Emily saw a man there. About six-foot tall, broad shoulders, slightly tanned complexion, dark blue eyes, and slivery hair in an army cut. Emily guessed early thirties for age. He quickly regained his balance and charged at her. She moved out of the way and positioned the bag so he ran right into it. His feet flew up in the air and he landed on the back on the ground. Emily strengthened her grip on the bag straps and repositioned herself for his next attack. There was a bright flash of purple light and he was automatically on his feet. Emily’s eyes widened in surprise. She swung the bag again; he caught it with one hand and ripped it out of her grasp. It hit the wall behind him then fell to the floor, some its contents falling out onto the carpet. Emily began to take careful steps backwards away from him, but he advanced an angry expression on his face. His eyes seemed to glow with an eerie light.

“Who are you?” she asked trying to stall enough time so she could come up with a plan. Now she was in a corner, literally. He didn’t answer her, just kept advancing. She tried to punch him in the jaw with all her might. To her great surprise he caught her by the wrist like a reflex action, keeping the frightening expression on his face. His hand and her wrist began to glow in the small light. The light glowed like fire and Emily felt a strange feeling in her wrist that was painful. She grit her teeth, not allowing herself to break under the pain. Despite her attempts the pain in her wrist grew, it hurt more then anything else she had ever felt, counting all of her broken bones, bruised ribs and other injuries one gets by training with Bruce and having three older brothers. A single tear from her eye fell down the side of her face mixing with sweat. He suddenly raised his other hand and pressed it to her chest. There was another bright flash of light, then everything went dark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce sat in the computer chair, trying to find any evidence to back up Emily’s theory; so far he had nothing. In a small corner of the screen a red light began to flash. It caught his attention and he typed something else onto the keyboard. The small section enlarged at filled the screen. He read the new information and his face turned to anger. He pressed a button on the panel.

“Terry, I need you to go to the old Palace restaurant,” Bruce said through the intercom.

“Why?” Batman’s voice asked from the speaker.

“She’s in trouble, now hurry!” Bruce told him and took his finger off the button. He brought up a picture of a map of Gotham; there was a little red blinking and moving dot on the screen. The dot was originally heading east, but it turned to go north. A sly smile crossed Bruce’s face, a kind he hadn’t used since Dick told him he was marrying Ann.

“Good boy,” Bruce said out loud to himself. The black dog at his feet lifted its head off its paws, looked up at the old man for a few seconds, then placed his head back down, and fell back asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emily blinked her eyes quickly. There was a bright light above her that hurt her eyes and made them tear. Her heart hurt slightly and she sat up with surprising ease. She was on a bed that had white sheets, beyond the bed all she could see was darkness. She realized that she was wearing a white nightgown that looked much more like a dress. The top half of her hair was in a loose bun and the rest fell around her shoulders. She tried to see anything in the dark, but she saw nothing. She slid the covers off her legs and crawled carefully to the end of the bed, trying not get caught on the nightgown. It had been along time since she had worn a dress or a skirt in general. She sat at the end, her legs folded under her. She searched the darkness once again before slowly reaching out her hand towards the edge of the bed. Her fingertip hit a force field of some kind that lit up then became invisible once more. She quickly retracted her hand and held it to her chest before looking at it. Her fingertips glowed slightly in a purple glow before it faded away.

“I wouldn’t do that again,” a male voice said to her from the darkness beside the pillow. She turned around quickly and looked at the darkness where the voice came from.

“Who are you? Where am I? Why am I here?” she asked him. She could hear the sound of a chair moving then a few footsteps. A figure stepped into the light that surrounded the bed. Emily knew the face even if it was covered in shadows.

“Watt?” she asked. The shadows moved on the face as the mouth turned into a smile.

“Glad you know of me,” he told her.

“How could I not? You tried to kill Terry McGinnis and Dana Tan, shouldn’t you be in juvie?” Emily asked him.

“I tried to kill Terry, Dana wasn’t supposed to be hurt, and no, I shouldn’t be in juvie. It’s not right for the law to try and limit me,” Watt told her.

“If it didn’t there’d be two people dead by now,” she said.

“They deserve to die!” he yelled at her, anger in his voice.

“They you’d be limiting them, you don’t have the right to do that,” she told him. His face was angry and the shadows strengthened it.

“I don’t need anyone telling me what I can and cannot do,” he told her, anger in his voice but his face returning to the calm it was before.

“I don’t need anyone kidnapping me but it happens,” Emily said. His face then turned a bit embarrassed but quickly returned to its calmness. They were silent for a few minutes before Emily spoke again.

“So why am I here?” she asked. He leaned forward onto the bed, complete phasing through the force field. He sat down on the bed, his legs folded underneath him.

“Emily, you and I are alike. We are both societies’ explanations of violence. Cause, me, and effect, you,” he explained.

“How am I the effect?” she asked him.

“Your mother was killed,” he told her.

“I know,” she replied. He smiled slightly.

“Since then you’ve learned to fight if I’m right,” Watt said.

“How’d you?” she asked him and trailed off.

“I read the reports about all your abductions, every time they say you put up more of a fight since your mother’s death. So I assumed you have be being training,” he explained. Emily narrowed her eyes.

“But still, why am I here?” she asked. He leaned forward on the bed towards her. He lifted his hand up and held her chin in it. He smiled at her slightly angry face. She quickly batted his hand away and went to punch him in the face. Her fist stopped five inches from his face and slowly lowered back to where it was.

“Let wasn’t a good thing to do Emily,” he said grinning. He leaned forward to her face in order to kiss her. Emily struggled to get away but couldn’t move. She heard a sound like a shot and suddenly watt was ripped away from her, through the force field and onto the ground several feet away from the bed. Emily turned to where the force that had pushed Watt off her. Batman stepped out of the shadows.

“Leave her alone Watt,” Batman told him. Watt got to his feet; his arms were tied to his sides by a cable.

“Try and stop me,” Watt told him. Batman ran forward to try and jump over the bed.

“Batman no!” Emily yelled as Batman jumped up and hit the force field. The force field lit up and Batman moaned in pain as he fell to the ground. His costume glowed a slight purple color as he sat up.

“There’s a force field,” Emily told him.

“But he? The…” Batman asked her and trailed off.

“Apparently he and non living matter can transfer through it,” she explained.

“Smart girl,” Watt said as he ran forward and leaped over the bed towards Batman. Batman lifted his legs up and threw Watt over him. Watt landed on his back and Batman got to his feet. Batman opened a batarang and threw it at Watt. Watt got to his feet quickly and the batarang slowed down so it was almost still. It floated over towards Watt and cut the cables that bound him.

“Let’s not do that again,” Batman said to himself.

“Batman!” Emily yelled as a chair hit Batman hard in the head from behind. Batman fell to his knees. Watt smiled and the chair charged towards Batman once more. A pillow flew at the chair and knocked it to the ground. Watt and Batman looked to where the pillow had come from. Emily was standing up on the bed, holding another pillow in her hands ready to throw them. The boys’ eyes widened in surprise. Emily threw the two pillows that each hit Watt and made him take a few steps backwards. Batman quickly stood up and grabbed the wooden chair and smashed it over Watt’s head. Watt fell to his hands and knees, and hand on his head. Batman threw the broken pieces of chair in his hands to the ground. Three balls of energy quickly came out of the darkness and hit Batman in the chest. He yelled in surprise and slight pain and took several steps back and grabbed his chest. He and Emily looked into the darkness and saw four people step out of the shadows. A woman in a long black dress, with black hair with locks of sliver. A bald man in a suit and green eyes, about a foot taller then the woman, and the tallest of the group. A teenage girl with icy light blue hair and blue eyes, she couldn’t be any older then 15, and then the man who kidnapped Emily. They were all silent for a second. The woman looked at Batman, her eyes narrowed and she had an ominous look on her face.

“Get him,” she said simply.

“Ye haw!” the girl yelled as the three others charged forward. Batman took several steps back away from them. The girl flipped in the air and landed where Batman had been standing. She lifted her hand to her mouth, palm up. She blew on her hand like she was blowing a kiss. A huge chunk of ice flew from her breath towards Batman. Batman jumped out of the way and so did Emily as the chunk hit the bed, freezing some of Emily’s nightgown to the bed. Emily began to pull on the piece of cloth trying to get it loose. The man that had kidnapped Emily created a ball of purple light in his hand and threw it at Batman. Again Batman dodged it and Emily moved her hands and feet as the light hit the chunk of ice, breaking it into tons of smaller chunks. The bald man formed an electrical glow around him and charged towards Batman. Batman tried to dodge him but the man grabbed him by the throat and began to choke him. Batman gagged and tried to punch and kick the big man off away from her, with no luck. Emily quickly picked up a chunk of ice; it was cold in her hand as she held it like a baseball. She took all her strength and threw the ball of ice at the bald man’s head. It hit him and he dropped Batman. Batman quickly tripped the man with his leg and shot three nets at him to keep him on the ground. The girl ran towards Batman, she jumped up the try and kick him in the face. A blanket flew at her and covered her, making her fall to the floor hard. Batman quickly ran over to the pile on the floor and took the blanket off the girl then brought her arms behind her back and handcuffed them. He left her on the floor, stomach down. The other man ran towards him. Another huge block of ice flew quickly from the bed and hit the man directly in the head, knocking him to the floor, unconscious. The force field light up once more then went out of view again. Emily carefully out-stretched her hand. Her arm out-stretched all the way without hitting anything. She smiled and stepped off the bed. Batman protectively stepped in front of her, facing the woman, who besides them was the only person standing.

“Take her Batman, I had no interest with her, it was all Watt’s idea,” the woman said.

“What did he want with her?” Batman demanded from her. She didn’t answer.

“I don’t think she knows, I think he is the only one who knows,” Emily told him.

“She’s right Batman, he’s the only one that knows, but he won’t for long,” she told him.

“What do you mean?” Batman asked her.

“Let’s just go,” Emily said pulling on his shoulder. He looked at her, then turned around, wrapped an arm around her waist, and flew out of the building.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Terry, Max, and Dana sat under a tree at lunchtime. Max had a paper folded out on the ground in front of her.

“It says here that Willie doesn’t remember anything from his last time in juvie, says it’s just a blank,” Max told them.

“You mean he doesn’t remember attacking us?” Dana asked her.

“That’s what it says,” Max replied.

“Weird. Why do you think he doesn’t remember, Terry?” Dana asked him.

“It’s probably like long term sleep walking or something,” Terry replied.

“Long term sleep walking Terry?” Dana asked not believing him.

“It could be,” Terry said trying to back himself up. He actually thought it was probably that woman who erased his memory of the Brain Trust, but he couldn’t very well say that. The other three people had been freed, not that the police hadn’t shown up, Bruce knew they had, but they probably just didn’t remember.

“Excuse me?” a voice said. The three of them looked up and saw Emily Grayson standing there.

“I was wondering if I could sit with you?” she asked them. Terry frowned he didn’t like her. She’s helped him sure, but he didn’t like her at all.

“Of course! I’m Dana Tan,” Dana said as Emily sat down where she stood.

“I’m Max Gibson,” Max said. Dana shook Emily’s hand, then Max did.

“I’m Terry McGinnis,” Terry said.

“Emily Grayson,” she introduced herself as Terry and Emily shook hands.