BAT-DRABBLE

[hebbycakes]

"So let me get this straight..." Bruce rubbed his eyelids, somewhat exasperated at hearing this explanation after so many months of wondering where it was Terry would go where he'd be ignoring his calls... or not hearing them. "All of those times when I would try to contact you and you would be out of town or not answering my calls, you were visiting the Ninja Turtles in New York?"

Terry gave a light shrug, grinning somewhat. "Look, I know it sounds crazy, but it's true! They're teenage mutant ninja turtles! Not splicers, either, just mutants. They're pretty schway, though I've only met Raphael and Donatello in person. Well, Donny over communications link, but still counts."

Bruce raised a brow, eyeing the boy before him. For a moment he didn't speak, only turned back to the large monitor before him, hand resting on the head of his dog, Ace. Not being able to stand the silence, Terry stepped forward, "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, okay? But it's not that big a deal, I mean, New York's not all that far from Gotham. I didn't even scratch the car!"

"Terry."

The teenager sighed audibly, rolling his eyes, "Yeah, I know, I have a duty to Gotham, I shouldn't be running off to play with turtles--"

"It's not that." Bruce interrupted, accessing information on the web, "There's something you should know about these friends of yours. I thought your explanation was strange, but not because of the fact you were making friends with turtles. More the fact that you described them as 'teenage mutant ninja turtles.'"

Terry blinked, shrugging his shoulders, "Yeah? So?"

Bruce entered a few keywords, accessing an image on the screen. Terry's eyes widened at what he saw... the four ninja turtles in comic-book art style displayed before his eyes. For a long moment he couldn't do anything except stare. Bruce turned to look at Terry, both hands clasped together.

"The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a comic book back when I was still a crime-fighter... Dick Grayson, Robin, was a big fan of that comic book and would often read it during long drives in the batmobile, or when he should have been studying. Even though I wasn't much of a comic-book reader, I learned a lot about those characters from Dick." the elderly man frowned, looking back up at the screen.

Terry wasn't entirely sure he understood, "But how could I have met them if they're just a comic book?"

Bruce thought a moment before nodding to Terry, "When I was apart of the Justice League, there had been a strange occurrence similar to what you're talking about. I hadn't been involved, but I heard about it long after it had happened. Several of the Justice League members had been transported to another dimension when the Flash had accidentally created a fluctuation in time and space. That other dimension was the world of Seaport City, where the Justice Guild of America resided. The JGA was a popular comic book when Jon Stewart, the Green Lantern, was a child."

Now it was Terry's turn to raise a brow, "How is that possible?"

"J'onn Jonzz described it as being a psychic link that had reached the creators of the comic book, transcending dimensions." Bruce looked down at Ace, petting the dog's head, "The comic book stopped being published one day, and in the actual Seaport City, the JGA had been annihilated due to war... a nuclear bomb, to be precise."

"What?" The Tomorrow Knight's eyes widened and he stared at the screen, "They died? That's... That's why the comic ended?"

"Terry." Bruce's gaze hardened, staring Terry right in the eyes, "I want you to be very clear with me. Who were the ninja turtles fighting in New York? Who is their main enemy?"

Well, that was an easy answer. Terry hadn't ever met the man himself, but he'd heard enough about him from Raphael, "Oroku Saki... he's also known as the Shredder. Why?" Already, the teenager could feel the worst feeling welling up in his gut. This wasn't going to end well... These conversations never ended well.

Bruce's eyes closed, "I was afraid of that."

Terry's heart sank and he placed his hand on the console, "Tell me what's going on Bruce. You know, don't you?"

The old man looked up at Terry and narrowed his eyes, "The Shredder, as he's known in the comic-book, is not the main villain. He died in the very first issue of the series. Dick knew that first issue by heart, and he told me everything that happened in it."

The Shredder... died? In the first issue? But the turtles were still fighting him in New York... That was often why he went over there, to help Raphael kick the butts of foot soldiers. But this... this was messed up. "No... No way. That can't be right..."

"I believe an occurrence similar to that of the JGA incident is taking place right now, a fluctuation in both time and space... The access point must be somewhere between Gotham and New York, and you are able to travel through it. Whatever has kept the Shredder alive is probably due to this fluctuation. I have a feeling something very bad is going to come out of this. It would be better if you stopped going to that version of New York before anything worse happens." Bruce explained, turning his seat back to face the monitor, looking up at the drawn images of the turtles.

"What? No, I can't just stay here! I have to warn Raph!" Terry countered, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, "The Shredder's gotta be stopped!"

"If you leave, I'm disabling the bat-suit." Bruce glared, not even bothering to face the teenager. Terry stopped dead in his tracks, blood running cold. He couldn't believe this, it had to be a lie. A mistake. Something.

"Why?"

"You've done enough by crossing back and forth between that world and this one. Sometimes I don't hear from you for days... And you tell me you've only been gone a few hours. The portal between worlds is starting to close off... Probably due to the Shredder's influences, as well as people crossing between both worlds." Bruce turned to look at Terry, "Besides, you have duties here. What will Gotham do if you leave and never return? What will you do?"


In response, Terry said nothing, instead simply bowing his head. There was silence between them, a light whimper coming from Ace as he faced the two, trying to make sense of the situation. Finally, Terry spoke.

"At least let me tell Raph I won't be around anymore."

Bruce eyed Terry a moment. "Very well. But don't tell him about what I told you... at least about his world being a comic-book in ours. We don't know what kind of repercussions it might have. It sounds like his world is already suffering the effects of the fluctuation."

Terry nodded, turning to the stairs.

"I'll tell him."



It didn't make sense.