Batman Beyond: The New Dynamic Duo

Once Burned

The henchmen split up, with Justin surveying the inside while Rafel the outside. Hearing a sound coming from a room, Justin walked inside, gun raised. When he found nothing, Justin walked out of the room only to be hit in the face by a royal scepter. Ten grinned down at the unconscious guard.

Back at the poker game, Bennie was out of time. He defeatedly threw down the two cards he was required. Suddenly, a black card with the number 10 was dropped onto the pile. Before any of the players could react, the card exploded into a blinding light.

Ten landed on the poker table and scooped up all the jewels and money into a sack. She didn't waste time making her escape. She jumped off the table and ran out onto the balcony where her flying card was.

She didn't get very far. Rafel fired his gun at the card, destroying it. Ten went flying as her card exploded.

She managed to get back on her feet to continue sprinting. The Derby players also joined the fight by adding their own gunfire. With nowhere to escape without being shot, Ten was forced to take cover. But now she was a sitting duck.

She definitely did not foresee Batman and Nightwing coming to her rescue. "Up to your old trick, I see," Batman told her. He sounded disappointed, which for some reason made Ten feel guilty. "It's not what it looks like, I swear," Ten quickly explained.

Batman grabbed her sack before yelling out, "You want this back? Take it!" Ten became frantic and tried to take back the sack, "No, you can't!"Watch him," Nigthwing replied coldly.

Batman threw the sack to the players. Lula looked down at the sack, which had spilled out some of its contents. "Well, that's darn nice of you. But it's not enough!" The Derby players began shooting again. "Idios," Ten commented. The duo ignored her, and Nightwing pulled out a gas bomb.

The bomb provided a good distraction. Batman and Nightwing moved through the gas like shadows, taking out players one by one. The players were too busy coughing to fight back. Only Lula was left standing.

Seeing Nightwing, she aimed her gun, but the hero blasted off into the sky with her partner. They both flew away after noticing Ten herself had vanished as well.

~8~

Terry had been silent since the encounter with Ten, and Eliana understood he needed some time to adjust. No doubt it was hard to see the first girl he fell in love with.

There was baggage, lots of baggage. Eliana was also distracted with thoughts of Jack. She half expected to see the boy appear to help his sister.

It was strange that only one Walker sibling was involved in a heist. Nevertheless, only one member of the Royal Flush Gang. There was something else behind Melanie's actions.

Bruce was already awaiting them when they entered the cave. "A bunch of gangsters, and a pile of credits and jewelry, you say?"

"There were some gold ingots in there too," Eliana added. Bruce sighed, "This brings back some memories." Eliana glanced at Terry, but seeing as wasn't going to contribute to the conversation, she took the bite. "Wanna share them?"

"Sounds like you both got a little too close to the Derby. It's a high stakes poker game that's been floating around Gotham since, before even my time. As you noticed, it attracts some of our most colorful citizens," Bruce explained.

Eliana scoffed, "You'd think they could afford better security." It was clearly no trouble for Ten to sneak in successfully and collect the money and jewels. "They probably figured no one would be crazy enough to try and rob them," Bruce responded.