Chapter 16: Chapter Sixteen
Charles Victor Sage aka Question, has been watching the Cadmus Project titled 'BATMAN BEYOND' for half of its entire life. Although everyone else may just know the boy as 'Terrence McGinnis' or the new Batman, he doubted many would actually believe the boy to be an artificially made human... even if the boy himself knew more about his conception, he would quite possibly not believe either.
But Question's purpose in life was to believe in the facts even if everyone wished to overlook them.
It was in Question's calculation that he wouldn't be welcomed in the little group of three if he had come forward with this particular fact. Most likely, he would even be asked to leave and he couldn't allow that. Not when Bruce Wayne was missing.
It wasn't that he thought that 'Terry McGinnis' was a monster of some kind, but when he had come upon the facts several years ago which revealed the boy's origins, he decided to keep watch in effort to remove all doubt of the boy's true nature.
The truth was, Cadmus Labs just couldn't be trusted. A covert agency that had been secretly attempting to sway the agenda of the nation doesn't simply change into the 'good guys' overnight. Even if Cadmus had the best motives in the world, that wouldn't mean they didn't do something wrong during their well-intentioned experiment.
It was no secret that Question had a long-running feud with Cadmus Labs since early in his career as a masked vigilante. At one point it had become a routine between them, Cadmus Labs would make a highly secretive project that usually would threaten humankind and he would break into their storage facility, find the suspiciously and usually highly confidential files and expose them for all the world to see and in the end saving the day.
Maybe he believed he was keeping them honest, (or in all actuality), he was just a dancing clown to the people at the top. He didn't really care, even if he was just an annoyance to them, he would gladly take them down one step at a time. These people were wild dogs biting whoever they pleased. Silencing people when they got too close to the truth and paying off anyone that couldn't be killed.
Years ago, he'd been tracking down a possible lead that was said to be 'the last project' of Cadmus Labs. Of course, he had to see what the mad scientists we're cooking up for their last 'hoorah'. Infiltrating the black-site he noticed that the security had completely surrounded the building. Although he noticed them being very lax in their jobs but that was where he had found it...
At the very thought attempting to cloning the hero known as 'Batman' in this manner, Question could feel the contents of his stomach turn and threaten to revolt. And the worst part was, they had already managed to achieve it! The boy was already ten-years-old at that time.
Soon after this happened, Question had begun to study the notes Cadmus had on the young boy's life and his achievements thus far.
In his infancy and childhood, it was the covert eyes of Cadmus which had carefully monitored him all the while planning for a certain day...
Strategically placed agents had personally watched and interacted with the boy and his family, from neighbors, acquaintances, friends, and even the Cross-Walk guard that held Terry's hand every day after school. They always had some piece of advice to share or hypothetical story that would always make the little boy expand his understanding of the world. But Question knew what they were actually doing was testing the boy's intellect. Surely, they were trying to ascertain if his mind was as brilliant as his genetic father's.
Everything had been carefully and meticulously monitored, from the answers he gave in class, to his behavioral patterns within his family, all to ensure that he would grow into these expected qualifications and be able to take over in some fashion for his predecessor. According to the files the subject was showing great results, which was when orders from the top level gave the 'go-ahead' to complete the last component to create their new Batman.
With time everything was set even a sleeper agent was put in place to 'take care' of the child's 'parents when suddenly the project was scrapped. Eventually, Cadmus had been disbanded and had lost all interest in the boy... Or so it seemed.
It didn't take Question long to start keeping his own tabs on the young man, but with a more of a hands-off approach than Cadmus Labs. He wanted to see what the boy's nature truly was without the interference from a 'well-intentioned' third party.
The next person of interest in the young boy's life was 'Charlie (Bigtime) Bigelow, who took one look at the sulky preteen and knew, just knew that he had found the best lackey he could ever ask for. Terry was intelligent and still naive enough to do anything he asked.
After a few months, Bigtime had managed to remold the young boy into a proper delinquent. He had taught him the tools of the underworld trade, from how to fight dirty and picking pockets to understanding when it was time to keep your nose clean and when you had to bail if the fuzz was on your trail.
Terry became known as 'Tiny' and for a while, he seemed to find a place for himself in the hard streets of Gotham.
Question had been tempted at the time to ensure the young boy was caught by the police for the crimes he had committed. After debating for a while, he decided against doing such a thing. Primarily, because most normal children have a time of rebellion when their parents were starting to go through a divorce. And that was exactly what was happening at the McGinnis house. Though the boys hadn't a clue as to the cause.
In all actual fact, if the boys had been born just fifteen years prior there wouldn't have been a problem, but Warren McGinnis's DNA had been altered before his children's birth.
In recent times, due to requirements by new laws, hospitals are required to keep a record of every citizen's genetic code. Because DNA is now stored in a digital record, if there is ever a question of paternity the medical professionals were able to perform a comparison to the person in question's digital file.
When this particular result came back negatively, Question predicted Warren McGinnis would likely leave his two boys behind and become emotionally distraught from the loss of a family that never was his own.
Unexpectedly, Question had been wrong.
Taking Terry, he moved to a small apartment halfway across the great city, raising the genius boy in a now broken home.
Question wasn't sure if Cadmus would have changed Warren's paternity results if they had never disbanded. But it appeared (at least for that moment) Cadmus was indeed out of the picture and took no action to stop these events.
He found it absolutely insane that Cadmus Labs would start a massive undertaking of creating their own superhero and then stop midway. It was irresponsible and even unlike them in every way. Which of course, made his suspicions grow all the more when he thought of the reasons why he of all people would find this information.
Was it possible that Cadmus Labs had an ulterior motive for him finding this information? Or did they want Question to guide their second coming of Batman?
Question wasn't sure, but he refused to play into his enemy's hands.
With Terry's parents ignoring him due to their pending divorce, Terry had begun his rebellious stage… and it hadn't taken long before the angry young man found himself in a juvenile detention center. The court was apathetic and unconcerned stating that Terry was a 'Text bookcase'. Question couldn't help agree with them, the boy was going down a rough road and without guidance he was doomed to a life on the wrong side of the tracks.
The boy's peers and teachers either feared him or treated him like he still belonged behind bars, waiting, expecting, wanting him to mess up.
Question decided to check up on the boy in a few years when something unexpected happened... Terry met Bruce, and his world changed once again.
Question knew what was next for the boy, he'd be back out on the streets after dark. Even though sometimes it was debatable about which side of the law he was on, Terry was doing good.
With the suit came Bruce, a guiding light to the boy's darkness. Though Bruce was constantly crabby and barked orders in the rudest ways. He would also offer clues, battle strategies that helped in the most frustrating of times.
Question occasionally thought he should look for thin, gossamer strings attached to Wayne's fingers. Because watching the boy's exploits seemed to be an exact replica of Bruce 25 years prior.
Suddenly, he found out that the old Batman had been abducted and Question found it extremely difficult to believe that the boy didn't have anything to do with it...
Looking toward the black-clad boy standing in front of him he wonders if there was a reason to attempt to trust such a being.
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It had only taken Terry fifteen minutes to bypass the encryption the old man had placed on the restricted files. It hadn't been that the encryption was easy because anyone who knew the old man for who he actually was, knows he doesn't do 'easy'. But Terry had been working with Wayne long enough to understand a little of how he worked.
The files were interesting, Terry could understand why he marked them as 'highly classified', but Terry was starting to understand this particular phrase to mean 'highly recommended' instead. In his younger days, the old man seemed to have gotten around. Not just with anyone, but with many women that were not exactly on the right side of things.
When he got the old man back, he had to remember not to ask him for any love advice. Though he doubted any could help him where Dana was concerned.
But through all the snooping he managed to do he also got a location the old man was sure to be held at currently. Tracking the most recent information that Wayne had on the restricted side of the encryption The League of Shadows made their headquarters on Infinity Island which was located in the Caribbean Sea.
Having a location Terry decides to share the information. Turning to grab Diana when he meets the question halfway and pauses at the faceless man. Honestly, he kind of creeped Terry out a little. Maybe that was the effect this person had been aiming for, but Terry would be just as happy to leave him to his own devices regardless.
But apparently, that wasn't what Question intended. Because as soon as Terry motioned to move around him Question stepped in his way once more.
"Do we have a problem?" Terry asked frustration seeping in his voice unintentionally. It was one thing for this old coot to come in and take over the investigation and have no results after such a long time. But now that Terry had a lead, no thanks to the man in front of him, mind you. He stands in the way of advancing the rescue of his mentor.
"Maybe. I just want to know what your angle is on this." Question's stance wide, combative.
Terry's eyes barrow in his mask and he started running through the scenarios on why an 'ally' would want to stop the rescue of the old man.
Humor fleeing his voice Terry asked, "Did you finally get tired of being the 'second-best detective' and decided to run delay tactics to increase those chances? I mean it's been what forty-eight hours since the old man has been taken and a kid like me has a lead in two hours. But the 'second-best' detective hasn't found a clue in eleven times that amount of time... Now, you are standing in my way."
A low chuckle of derision escaped the invisible lips of the geezer blocking his way before he spoke, "Good. They seemed to have taught you how to shift blame pretty well at the lab. But you can't fool me, fake bat. This is a good plan. I never expected for Cadmus to team up with the likes of the League of Shadows, but it makes some sense..."
Cutting off his ramblings Terry had enough, "Diana, what mental health ward did you take this guy out of?! Did you check how long it's been since his mood stabilizers? He is literally accusing me of being in on Wayne's abduction." He really didn't have time for extra problems to arise when Zeus knew what was happening to Wayne. If Terry knew that this old coot was more paranoid than the old man himself, then he would have accepted the pretty blonde's help from earlier. At least then he'd have someone pretty to look at, instead of the creepy faceless guy arguing with him now.
"What's going on here?" A cool voice of reason interrupted them.
Sighing in frustration, Question eyed the Amazon Queen who was frowning at them in confusion. He knew it was premature to have a conflict with this boy, but he had a gut feeling that they were being led into a trap and he couldn't allow such nonsense to happen.
Gambling a little, Question decided to threaten Terry, using a tactic he had learned over the years. He decided to test the boy to see if he was hiding anything. Of course, if he had been acting then he was a pretty good actor. But that hadn't really proved anything, he'd met some pretty great actors in the past.
"Me and the kid had a simple disagreement. I simply wanted to discuss it more and he decided to bypass my opinion and run to you." Question said sounding more lucid than he had earlier.
Frowning at his words she watched Terry. He hadn't seemed this impulsive when she spoke with him earlier. Had he found something? She wondered. She had known Question much longer and she knew the man had some crazy ideas, those same theories had saved her life and the lives of her teammates more often than not. For some reason, she felt an internal tug to pick a side in this argument and she felt drawn to stick up for Terry over Question. But she knew that wasn't how teams are handled.
having multiple people with distinct personalities, someone in authority doesn't just listen to one person and decide what to do from there. Listening to both individuals and forming an opinion on the ideas presented was the only method to make everything fair and removes the idea of favoritism.
Ignoring the driving instinct to say a rude comment to Question she turned her sharp gaze on the younger man in front of her and asked, "What is this all about, Terry? What is the actual issue?"
Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly he stated, "I have a possible lead to where the old man is being kept, but on my way over to you Mr. Ace detective here starts accusing me of working with the enemy."
Arching an eyebrow, Diana turned toward her teammate that she had known for years and she had to fight back some protective instincts that threatened to overwhelm her senses. But she had learned to school her emotions a long time ago. The fact that these particular emotions existed for a boy she had only known for six months was a little alarming for her but she still had reason on her side.
Meeting the gaze of the faceless man she calmly asked, "Why would you say such a thing? What exactly are your suspicions?"
Question was a little stunned. Why would this 'person' (if such a word could be used towards it) reveal what he had said? If his assumptions are correct, then how would this benefit him in the least? Theories swirled around in his head as he remained silent unsure exactly what the motives were on this particular action.
Terry starting to lose patience stated, "What is Cadmus Labs and why would I have anything to do with them?"
At these words Diana froze, her pupils receded and she turned towards Question in disbelief, "What have you not told us, Sage?"
For several minutes everyone was silent and it was only broken by a new voice that seemed to materialize in their midst, "I believe that is something we would all like to know."
Everyone's gaze shifted at the sudden arrival of a tall newcomer that was over six feet tall with salt and pepper hair and dark cerulean eyes and a face that seemed more natural to hold a smile rather than the frown it was sporting currently. His serious manner pressed in on them as he asked, "Why won't you enlighten everyone instead, Question. What does the new Batman have to do with a secret government agency that was disbanded years before he was even in his preteens?"
"Dick!? Dick Grayson, is that really you?" Diana asked sounding bewildered.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Lonefrog
Lonefrog So, Terry's origins are coming to light faster than I planned but I have a reason for that. I felt that everyone that can run a Google search or has watched the reveal in the animation wasn't all that enthusiastic about Bruce being Terry's biological father. So I decided, if I'm going to tiptoe around secrets then I want to tiptoe around secrets that I create. And besides Diana being Terry's bio-mom I plan on revealing Dick's secrets as well. There are a lot more secrets to reveal so stay tuned.
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