Spider-Man Beyond

Rebirth

Bruce Wayne sat on his chair in front of the batcomputer, and even though he initially showed no emotion, inside he was livid by what he was seeing. It was a simulation of the compounds inside Powers' gas destroying a living cell completely.

"It's worse than I thought. It's some form of mutagen. Powers is making nerve gas." Bruce said as he clenched the disc in his hand in anger. "He's using my company to make nerve gas."

Bruce heard something behind him and saw Nick looking at one of the display cases that held the Scarface puppet. "Don't touch that."

"I heard about the puppet Scarface, how it was used by Arnold Wesker. You know some fan sites debate whether or not he was just plain crazy, or if the puppet was actually possessed." Nick said as he looked at the puppet.

Nick stepped back when Bruce's cane smacked the case. "This isn't a free trip to a museum, so stay away from these."

"Okay, got it." Nick relented as he stepped back. "But tell him that."

Bruce heard something open and turned to see Terry opening the display case of his black and red suit. "Don't touch that, either."

"Synaptic controls, neural muscular amplification, flight capability, this thing might be old, but it's still cutting edge." Terry said as he admired the suit. "Bet it amplifies your strength ten to one."

"Plus it's mostly all black so it's very stealthy." Nick commented.

Terry reached out to the suit, but Bruce spoke up. "I told you not to touch it."

"But aren't you going to-" Terry tried speaking.

"No!" Bruce interrupted.

"Your very own company is making nerve gas that's going to hurt, even worse, kill very good people." Nick explained.

"He's right, you've gotta do something. You're the only person I can get a hold of, considering Spider-Man doesn't really have a hotline. You're Batman." Terry pleaded.

"I was Batman." Bruce said as he handed Terry the disc. "Give this to Commissioner Barbara Gordon, tell her I sent you."

"The cops?!" Terry exclaimed. "They'll never be-"

"Do it!" Bruce said sternly.

Terry glared at the old man before grabbing the disc. "Something happened to you, and it wasn't just that you got old."

Terry stormed off up the stairs and Nick was about to follow him, but paused as he looked back at the retired vigilante legend.

"Ever since I was kid, I've always wanted to meet you. The things I've wanted to ask you would go through my mind constantly, but meeting you right here, right now, only one question goes through my mind." Nick said.

"What might that be?" Bruce asked.

"How could you stand by and let this happen?" Nick asked, not out of anger, but out of pure disbelief. "You did everything you could to help this city, and now that you have the chance to do it again you even consider-"

"That's right, I won't." Bruce interrupted. "I gave up that life."

Nick stared at him for a moment before sighing and walking off after his friend. "That's not the only thing you've given up on."

Bruce watched him go before he turned back to the suit and closed the glass door.

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Nick and Terry made it back into town and were mostly silent throughout the walk. Terry took it the hardest, as this was mostly personal for him. What happened to his dad has got to be connected to this gas Powers is selling, and now his best chance to get answers to what really happened that night seemed to be gone.