Bat in a Hat (Titans)

Terry groaned loudly, having a headache. He slowly opened his eyes.

I must have fell asleep in the chair again...

He looked down at himself in the chair, seeing that he was nice and strapped in-

Terry unbuckled himself. His chair didn't have straps. He quickly realized he was still in the Batmobile, and he was still in the suit.

This is bad. This is bad. What happened last night?

He opened the hood, poking his head out. A bunch of people were gathered around it, making excited gestures at him as he looked.

"Look, guys! It's the Bat!"

"Look at his cool ride!"

Ugh...

He looked out in the distance, seeing a large "T" shaped tower.

You've gotta be kidding me...

He got back in, the top closing.

I'm in Jump City? How did I get here?!

He booted up the Batmobile, taking off slowly and then flying for the Titans Tower. He had never met the Titans, personally, and this was definitely not his time. Was this the past? He began to wonder how that was possible, before remembering what Bruce said.

It doesn't matter how it happened. It matters that it did.

He didn't go to land on the Tower, he instead put the systems on float and stayed fifty feet away from the Tower, finding an open channel.

Titans, I'm in a bit of a situation here. Requesting permission to land, Terry said in his "Batman voice". This is not to say that he imitated the voice of Batman, but rather that whenever Bruce was Batman, he changed his voice, and so Terry did the same. He waited patiently, repeating the message a few times if no one answered in a few minutes.

Claire had wandered out of her room, toward the main ops room but she was mostly asleep. She trips up on the way and falls down onto the ground, too lazy to get up. While she is face-down, she hears Aeon talking about Batman.

"Ow...."

Terry listened patiently as a voice spoke, identifying him as Batman and saying that Batman had his own personal line to contact them with. It asked how he got the line in the first place, and told him to confirm his identity, or the Batmobile would be destroyed. Terry raised an eyebrow. What was this guy's problem? However, the "guy" sounded a little too...perfect. AI?

Terry accessed what files he had on the Teen Titans. They had an AI referred to as Aeon.

It's pretty neat, Terry thought, but knew he didn't have time to look all the way into it, because it was currently threatening to blast him out of the sky, so he only skimmed a bit.

Wait...how did you know I'm Batman? ...never mind. You're asking about who I am. All I can say is that I am Batman. I can't give you my actual identity. I never would. If it will make you feel safer, though, I'll get out of my vehicle. I'll come out slowly with my hands up. Then you can see who I am.

Terry waited patiently. If the Batmobile was destroyed, Bruce would kill him.

Terry couldn't help but facepalm as Aeon said he was in a giant bat-themed jet. He must have hit his head really hard.

Point taken.

Aeon compromised with him, asking him to let her scan the Batmobile for explosives. She told him to land it on their roof, and to power it down completely, and that was the only way she was going to let down the defenses.

...fair enough. The Bat has some flashbangs to help deal with some crowd control, but that's all you'll find, trust me.

He flew to the rooftop slowly, and then landed at the same pace.

I'll come out when someone's up here.

Terry turned off the Bat, waiting in silence. He didn't like being at the mercy of the Titans, but the Bat needed some charging. He wouldn't be able to get to Gotham at the current power level. Some solar panels opened up on top of the Bat, and Terry unbuckled himself, letting a finger hang over the switch to open the hatch, waiting until someone appeared on the Tower.

Terry watched as Ben 10 came out onto the roof. Terry recognized him right away from some files he had read, but this...this Ben 10 was different. Younger. That confirmed it. He was in a different time; the past. Ben started admiring the Bat, telling Aeon they should restyle the T-Jet with an Omnitrix-based design.

As they approached, the hull of the Bat slowly opened, and Terry slowly got up with his hands open above his head, hopping out onto the roof.

Ben 10. You're a legend where I come from, Terry said. He looked like the Batman, of course, but futuristic.

He didn't know if Aeon could scan the suit or not, but hoped she wouldn't.

Like Aeon told you, I'm in a bit of a rough spot. Where I come from, you're a legend, but you're much older. So is Batman.

Terry lowered his arms as Ben took a hint and realized that Terry was from the future. He offered a hand. Terry shook it, and then let his arm drop, as Ben said he was glad to know he was famous in the future, but asked if that was so, why Terry came here for him instead of just asking the future version. Terry kept the Batman look of grim observation.

That's the thing. I didn't come here by my choice. In the future, Darkseid attacked Neo-Gotham - what's Gotham right now - and I had to use this mother box thing to try and defeat him. He fired his Omega Beams on me and the Bat in the exact instance I used it. I can only guess that the mother box somehow backfired when met with the Omega Beams and sent me here.

That's why I came to you guys. This suit is advanced in many ways beyond the original. This is just an example, but I can punch Superman in the face and he'd probably feel it. But without a Batcave to help outfit myself in, this suit's going to get a lot more useless a whole lot faster. So I want to negotiate with you.

I want to be on the Tower's territory, but you guys probably don't want me involved. I'd like to have a cave of my own built under the island, if that's fine with you. In exchange, I'll help the Titans out on missions and stuff until I can figure out how to get back. If the cave isn't going to fly, then I just want some space in your hangar to put the Bat and some place to sleep with a little privacy and a roof.

Terry waited for what Ben and Aeon would say.

Ben debated a bit with Aeon over whether they should let Terry stay on his conditions or not. Ben came up with an idea, saying they would agree to his terms, but the cave would have to be under Aeon's surveillance for twenty-four hours a day. Ben told him not to worry, since Aeon supposedly wasn't build with a perverted side, but this was still a bit overboard. Twenty-four hour surveillance? No privacy? Definitely not an ideal way for the Bat to stay.

Terry was having a very hard time deciding whether or not these were conditions he should agree to. He wouldn't be allowed any privacy until they could trust him. Not to mention they would all have Terry's secret identity. It was probably a common thing for them to all know each other's identities, but Terry wasn't going to just be buddy-buddy with them from the very beginning. Yes, indeed; while Ben's gut feeling was telling him his terms were right, Terry's gut feeling was telling him they were wrong.

Sorry. I can't run along with that. That's not how Batman told me to do things. I'm also not too comfortable with your AI oogling me naked. The reason I can't agree is because under twenty-four hour surveillance, I don't get privacy, and you all would know my secret identity anyways. I'll offer you something different, though.

Ben 10, I will show and tell you who I really am. If I do, you don't have surveillance on me, at least inside the cave. And also, no other Titan, including Aeon, will know it. Only you. As something a bit extra, I'll give you a few seconds of a look at the files Batman has on me, so you can confirm it.

Terry kept his arms at his sides. They couldn't have expected him to just simply accept their terms. He was the Batman, after all.

Ben shrugged, saying Terry had passed the test, because the real Batman would have never accepted Ben's terms and conditions. He did question, however, how he could be certain the files weren't forged. Terry shrugged as well.

I don't expect you to trust me right off the bat, no pun intended. You still have to see my field work, right?

Ben said it was fine, but that if he found anything in the files he didn't like, he was out, and that if he didn't have regards for public safety, he was also out.

Agreed. Now, if Aeon can leave us alone for a few minutes, I'll take my mask off. And unless you don't like that I got into a few street fights with the Jokerz before Batman found me, I'm sure my file's fine.

Terry waited for Aeon to leave.