Gotham City, about 60 years in the future, Very early Friday [FT]
"I still have a big problem with this," Batman said.
The response over the comm was probably to be expected. "Focus, McGinnis!" Sure enough, taking the moment to whine instead of keeping tabs on all of the Jokerz he was fighting meant that he had a splicer hyena-man jumping on his back and trying to gnaw on his neck.
"Aaargh," Batman growled before hitting a hidden button on his belt buckle. The Batsuit light up with electricity and Woof - the hyena guy - howled in pain before falling back unconscious. "I'm just saying, you could have given me more warning."
"I'm giving you warning now," Bruce said. "Ghoul. Eleven o'clock."
"I had him," Batman said as he lashed out with a casual backhand that dropped Ghoul easily. "And that's the last of them."
"Good. Police are on their way," Bruce said. "Now come back to the Batcave. You're too distracted out there. We need to go over this."
****
Once he and the Batmobile were back in the cave, Terry pulled his cowl off and approached Bruce at the Batcomputer. "You still haven't given me a good reason why I'm going to some boarding school instead of finishing things up at Hill High."
"How serious are you about being Batman, Terry?" Bruce asked. "What are you willing to sacrifice to be the very best you can?"
"What?" Terry asked. "My grades suffer. My family never sees me. My girlfriend asked to bbecause real when I told her about this because me disappearing for a year won't be too much of a change anyway, and now you don't think I'm worthy to wear the suit because I haven't sacrificed enough?"
"You're worthy, Terry. You've proven that a hundred times over by now," Bruce said with surprising calmness. He didn't know that Dana had finally had enough of Terry's situation. And that would would be why none of his relationships ever lasted. "But sacrifices still have to be made. I gave up my youth to train so I could do this. You have some natural abilities, plenty of heart, the suit, and increasing experience, but that's not enough to keep you alive and Gotham safe. And I can't train you better than I already do."
Terry wanted to object to a lot of that, he really did. But dammit, that last part sounded intriguing. The old man admitting there was something he couldn't do? "How does a boarding school give me something better to work with than your training?"
"It's in a place that's strange even by my standards," Bruce said. "When I went there, it was perfectly modern, but magic was everywhere. The weather could be food, we had students from the the Renaissance, people swapped bodies..."
"Okay, thinking of you dealing with that is kind of funny," Terry laughed. "But I don't see how--"
"I also saw people turn into otherworldly monsters, invasions of supernatural pests, and it was the final stand when all of reality throughout the multiverse nearly ended," Bruce finished.
Terry's jaw hung slack for a moment. "Oh. Really? All of reality?"
"I fought Darkseid a handful of times," Bruce said. "I never saw him come so close to destroying everything. A year at Fandom High can help prepare you for nearly anything you might experience."
"Okay, that's actually pretty good," Terry said.
"And even without the good explanation, you'd be going anyway. Your mother loved the idea of you going to such a prestigious high school," Bruce said.
"Nothing good ever comes from you two talking," Terry sighed.
Bruce smirked. "Be sure to pack the suit. You'll need it."
[OOC: Juuuuuuust establishing before pinging into the shuttle.]
The response over the comm was probably to be expected. "Focus, McGinnis!" Sure enough, taking the moment to whine instead of keeping tabs on all of the Jokerz he was fighting meant that he had a splicer hyena-man jumping on his back and trying to gnaw on his neck.
"Aaargh," Batman growled before hitting a hidden button on his belt buckle. The Batsuit light up with electricity and Woof - the hyena guy - howled in pain before falling back unconscious. "I'm just saying, you could have given me more warning."
"I'm giving you warning now," Bruce said. "Ghoul. Eleven o'clock."
"I had him," Batman said as he lashed out with a casual backhand that dropped Ghoul easily. "And that's the last of them."
"Good. Police are on their way," Bruce said. "Now come back to the Batcave. You're too distracted out there. We need to go over this."
****
Once he and the Batmobile were back in the cave, Terry pulled his cowl off and approached Bruce at the Batcomputer. "You still haven't given me a good reason why I'm going to some boarding school instead of finishing things up at Hill High."
"How serious are you about being Batman, Terry?" Bruce asked. "What are you willing to sacrifice to be the very best you can?"
"What?" Terry asked. "My grades suffer. My family never sees me. My girlfriend asked to bbecause real when I told her about this because me disappearing for a year won't be too much of a change anyway, and now you don't think I'm worthy to wear the suit because I haven't sacrificed enough?"
"You're worthy, Terry. You've proven that a hundred times over by now," Bruce said with surprising calmness. He didn't know that Dana had finally had enough of Terry's situation. And that would would be why none of his relationships ever lasted. "But sacrifices still have to be made. I gave up my youth to train so I could do this. You have some natural abilities, plenty of heart, the suit, and increasing experience, but that's not enough to keep you alive and Gotham safe. And I can't train you better than I already do."
Terry wanted to object to a lot of that, he really did. But dammit, that last part sounded intriguing. The old man admitting there was something he couldn't do? "How does a boarding school give me something better to work with than your training?"
"It's in a place that's strange even by my standards," Bruce said. "When I went there, it was perfectly modern, but magic was everywhere. The weather could be food, we had students from the the Renaissance, people swapped bodies..."
"Okay, thinking of you dealing with that is kind of funny," Terry laughed. "But I don't see how--"
"I also saw people turn into otherworldly monsters, invasions of supernatural pests, and it was the final stand when all of reality throughout the multiverse nearly ended," Bruce finished.
Terry's jaw hung slack for a moment. "Oh. Really? All of reality?"
"I fought Darkseid a handful of times," Bruce said. "I never saw him come so close to destroying everything. A year at Fandom High can help prepare you for nearly anything you might experience."
"Okay, that's actually pretty good," Terry said.
"And even without the good explanation, you'd be going anyway. Your mother loved the idea of you going to such a prestigious high school," Bruce said.
"Nothing good ever comes from you two talking," Terry sighed.
Bruce smirked. "Be sure to pack the suit. You'll need it."
[OOC: Juuuuuuust establishing before pinging into the shuttle.]