The New Batman Adventures 'Fan Fiction Love Story'
By Tayla Drago
Episode #138 - Judgment Day
And now, for the excited conclusion of the series itself, with the crossover to continue with in the Superman: The Animated Series later, okay? Good...In his design studio, the Penguin is conducting illicit business with Killer Croc, fencing a stolen diamond, telling him that he cannot give him very much for it.
"Don't forget, as a legitimate businessman, I have my expenses too: taxes, overhead, labor." he said to Killer Croc.
"And they call me two-faced."
At the same time, Two-Face arrives, and Penguin says that he could secure a better price for his stolen goods. Croc becomes infuriated but takes his money and leaves with Two-Face. As Penguin stashes the diamond and a wad of money inside, he is confronted by a tall figure dressed in a long black robe and wearing a ceremonial wig. The figure accuses him of trafficking, but Penguin vouches for the legitimacy of his business, claiming to have no prior knowledge of the origins of the items. The man still proclaims himself as the Law and finds Penguin guilty, swinging a sword at him.
"I don't know who you are, sir, but I assure you, all my transactions were legitimate. You see, I had no actual knowledge that the items were stolen. Given that, I don't see how the law can touch me."
Soon the man calling himself the Judge pulls out his sword to kill Penguin on the spot.
"I am the law..." said the Judge. "And I find you guilty!" he gives chase on Penguin.
Penguin runs and calls out for his henchgirls, only to find them tied up and hanging from the ceiling. He then makes a run for the backdoor and tries to unlock it, while his pursuer sends a giant penguin model rolling towards him. The effigy runs over Penguin, knocking him unconscious. Hearing about this on the streets, Megan gives Bruce/Batman a call to learn more about this mess.
"(Huh? Another bad guy who goes after other ones, even killing them to death. Not good.)" Megan uses her belt. "Yo, Bruce, it's me. You won't believe what went down with Penguin after making illegal payment trading's..."
Next morning, the Gotham Insider reports the attack on Penguin, who is said to be in critical condition. While Killer Croc hears this with relish, Bruce is not pleased after seeing the news on TV and Megan telling him about it.
"I know, Megan, be on a look out."
"Is that not a friend of yours, Master Bruce?" Alfred made a joke to be a big no on that one. "I guess not."
Councilman J. Carroll Corcoran goes on record to publicly condone the actions of the vigilante whom he dubs 'Judge', saying that justice must be served. Two-Face listens to this, while flipping his coin. And Megan heard so much about Councilman J. Carroll Corcoran to be a showoff to everyone while working hard in Gotham.
"Not this guy...Look at him, Gidget." she said to her robot friend while driving her car. "Carroll...He's such a good for nothing man to get away with everything he says to the bad guys, by being half true and the rest false; I know it all to have the law fixed, turned, or anything he says from one signing of the papers on whatever that thing is can make it happen from bad to worse...he makes it ten times worse to support this new bad villain calling him The Judge. It would seem like both Bruce and I have to stop Judge before he tries to kill again or anyone else who won't allow Bruce as Batman and I to get married anytime soon."
Later, by Gotham's bridge toll booths, two police officers bemoan about their assignment, and as they enter the pickup van.
"Another day, another toll pickup." said guard one. "Wish I had a nickel for every car that's been through these gates."
"I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard you say that." guard two said back.
Just then, Croc stows away underneath it. He commandeers the moving van and throws the two policemen out. When he rejoices for it, the Judge appears atop the van and starts mauling an oversize gavel against the windshield. He smashes the window in and causes the van to flip over and collide. Croc lunges at the assailant, but the Judge dodges and hits him.
"You are accused of murder, mayhem, manslaughter." the Judge kept on hitting Killer Croc with his hammer. "How do you plead?"
But Killer Croc kept on attacking the Judge or tries to.
"You're nuts!" he said back.
"You can't escape justice."
He accuses Croc of murder, mayhem, and manslaughter, whilst bludgeoning him with the mallet. Croc climbs up to the top of the bridge, not realizing that the Judge outran him. From afar, Batman and Megan are watching and takes off towards them. The Judge and Croc struggle over the hammer but Croc loses balance and plummets. The Judge announces that the court is adjourned, but Batman saves Croc inches before hitting the ground. Leaving Megan to use her jet-back-pack to go after the Judge from above.
"Hold it, you!" she said with her gun out. "Don't move!"
"Megan Tsuki, the bounty hunter of Gotham City and lover of Batman to be wed soon." he spoke. "I'm pleased, but not as much as you're not human to not bring these criminals to justice by the book."
"Hey, they get a fair trial for some of them, but murdering these guys is still wrong!"
Trying to open fire, for the Judge was strong and fast to use his hammer to crush Megan's gun and hitting her across the face to go down, only for the Batarangs to stop him thanks to Batman. Outmatched, The Judge disappears without a trace to spear Megan's life.
"Ouch...!" she gets up to feel pain all over. "That really hurts."
Batman helps her up.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine...Luckily for some of my powers to slow down that blow of the hammer. If I didn't, I would lose my head in seconds." she said to see the Judge have already taken off. "He gave us the slip, didn't he? Now what do we do?"
Nice of Batman to kiss Megan on the cheek to feel better...In a private conference, Councilman Corcoran bestows the Judge with two diskettes containing police files that will help him in his cause, but not before noting that he cannot be connected to them. Corcoran explains that he has gained popularity since he started endorsing his vigilantism. He states that the Judge's doings work out for everybody. The two men shake hands and Corcoran sneers with conspicuous glee. The next day, the Gotham Insider reports that the Judge neutralized the Riddler and his goons, when they laid siege to Gotham's Golden Quill brunch earlier that morning.
"Hey, fiddle, diddle. Time for a riddle." said Riddler before he was caught.
Corcoran declares that he was well-informed about the Judge's attack and hints at Two-Face as the next target. Upon hearing this statement in a pub, Two-Face expresses his outrage by shooting the TV set. As he leaves, an undercover Batman takes off in his pursuit. As Megan waited for Bruce/Batman in the Batmobile to hack into Carroll's computer on what he was up to next on a hit list.
"You got it?"
"We're going to follow Two-Face next." he said while changing. "He's on the hit list for the Judge to go after him."
"And I thought he had a good to bad half of justice." she said. "Even if he's still a criminal. (And yet they remind me about something...)"
What did Megan mean there? Batman and Megan soon followed Two-Face right away together.
"Relocation, eh? I'd like to dislocate them both."
In his hideout, Two-Face is contemplating to inflict some pain on Corcoran and the Judge, when Batman hits him by surprise and Megan takes out his men.
"Hi, Two-Face, I hope you don't mind if we let ourselves in, thanks." she said with her other spare gun out. "We need to talk."
"Easy, Harvey, we're the good cops." said the Dark Knight. "I thought Megan and I would find you here before the Judge did."
Holding him down, Batman tries to calm Two-Face, claiming he wanted to find him before the Judge did.
"Trust us." said Megan. "What other choice do you have?"
"And why would I ow any of you any favors...?"
As soon as Two-Face dismisses his help, however, every exit in his apartment is locked shut. Not even Megan's hacking skills from her computer book couldn't get them out of this mess.
"No good! This place was made and broke in for someone to make something like this...I can't hack through! How did the Judge set all of this up? Batman..."
The TV set turns on and a video recording of the Judge pronounces Two-Face's punishment — death by asphyxiation — and gas starts pouring down the air vent. Two-Face quickly opens a concealed trapdoor, only to find that the secret escape hatch, which no one else supposedly knew about, has been shut down as well.
"May heaven have mercy on your souls, Two-Face. Both of them." the Judge said to Two-Face before the TV turns itself off.
With the gas spreading, they have to find a way out and fast.
"Knowing you, Two-Face, you have a hidden trap door somewhere?" Batman said to him.
The two had a plan.
"What are you two going to do?" he asked.
"Ah, just duck, cover, and heads up!" Batman pulls Two-Face away from the gas and hurls an explosive Batarang and Megan's gunshots at the air escape, causing several explosions, thus setting them free. "Piece of cake."
As Batman struggles to pull himself back up, Two-Face kicks him unconscious, and runs away.
"Thanks for nothing."
"Batman!" Megan rushes to her fiancé's side. "Hey... (Good, he's still breathing.) Two-Face, after just saving your sorry butt, this is the thanks we get?!"
"No time to argue, just stop Judge!" he takes off. "Deal with your fiancé to be with first and I'll thank the both of you later. Remind me!"
Well, he takes off allowing Megan to help Batman back up.
"Hey, Bruce, we got a problem..."
Back in his office, Councilman Corcoran is on the phone with the Judge, who is expressing his aggravation over Megan and Batman's second interference and wants to deal with them both. Corcoran tries to appease him, stating that he has a primary next week, and a fight between two 'heroes' could not bode well for him. The Judge hangs up on him without responding. At that moment, Corcoran is visited by Batman and Megan, who inquiries about the Judge's whereabouts.
"Oh, the Dark Knight himself." he said. "And... Megan Tsuki too, hello. I see you two aren't here to invite me at your wedding?"
"Can it, Carroll, I hate you and you hate me to stop us to and the villains in your sick ways, right?" she questions the man. "I hate people like you."
"And where's the Judge?"
Like Carroll was scared of neither of the two heroes.
"Oh, I think you two have missed him just now. Too bad, so sad."
"Either way, we're bringing him in." said Batman.
And to Megan to see the bounty price on Judge's head.
"Lucky for me, I can. There's a good money on his head that I want, plus he's not like me or Batman." she said. "Not one bit."
Corcoran is elusive and Batman declares he wants to apprehend him before he really kills someone and Megan to get his bounty. Then Corcoran dismisses his concerns and states how the 'revolving door' keeps putting criminals back on the streets.
"What's wrong you two?" Carroll mocks them. "Feeling threaten?"
"He was going to kill Two-Face." Batman told him.
"And we saved that weirdo in time to escape, though we didn't want that part to happen." Megan added. "But you, we'll get him later after the Judge."
To Megan, she found that the Judge didn't come face to face with Two-Face and setting up the traps all over was too much for that half good or bad to handle with his men's help. She thinks she knows who's behind it all besides Carroll helping a mad man out?
"You mean Riddler, Penguin, Killer Croc, and Two-Face? They keep going back to Arkham and then be brought back to the streets!" said Carroll. "Not that I'm blaming you, Batman, or your woman. You two are doing one heck of a job. For you see, they want justice, closure, a beat down, a lesson, and they want-!" he goes on about the will of the people, but Batman leaves before he finishes rambling. "I think he got my point. What do you think, Megan?"
Trying to pat her on the back, Megan leaves the room on her own.
"Don't touch me, Carroll, we're not done talking. Also, you think you know it all to agree with Batman and me, you better think again." she takes off.
In the underground parking lot, Corcoran walks to his car while rehearsing his speech, when he's intercepted by Two-Face. Corcoran starts backing up and is knocked out by one of Two-Face's goons. Inside a courtroom, Corcoran is tied to a chair and Two-Face interrogates him about the whereabouts of the Judge. Corcoran swears he doesn't know, so Two-Face decides to make an example out of him. He tosses his coin, and it lands on his hand with the good heads up, but he then flips it over to the back of his left hand, making the bad heads looking up. He sees the result and tells his goons to get on with it and they carry Corcoran away. The councilman reveals that he has a slush fund and offers Two-Face kickback money to spare his life.
"Two-Face, please! I got money! Cash! I can pay you!"
"Don't tell me choir boys got a slush fund." he said.
"Kickbacks from the GothCorp project." Carroll pleaded for his life. "A hundred grand, I can have it here in an hour."
I don't think Two-Face will listen to reason from this greedy person.
"Shoulda said somethin' earlier. We coulda flipped on it."
Two-Face declines, saying that it should have been mentioned sooner so that he could have flipped the coin on it. Corcoran is dragged away begging for his life. I hate the man a lot, but I want him out of business, not killed! In the Batcave, Batman is examining the Judge's gavel he retrieved from the police impound, as Alfred comes in holding a service tray, while Megan kept on solving the case with Gidget's help.
"So much for a man who's strong to lift a weapon like that...Okay, Gidget, scan for me." the robot does for Megan to hack into the leftover fingerprints and/or piece on the weapon. "Got it."
"Megan, we need to try to find the true identity of the Judge." said Bruce/Batman.
"I know...and yet, I feel like I know who it is."
For Megan to say that, for it to come to Batman's surprise.
"You do?"
"Sort of, yeah." said Megan.
Gidget wanted to know who it was too.
"I wasn't aware that the police evidence room had a lending policy." said the butler. "But shouldn't the police to learn something about Mr. Carroll's history of something?" asked Alfred. "That could be a clue."
"True but look at this..." Batman images the screen. "There are four holes there."
Gidget, Megan, and Alfred see it.
"A plaque?"
"Yeah, we think so...Wait! I got it! There was something there to be removed from somewhere in important, right Bruce?" Megan said to her fiancé.
On close examination, Batman discovers that the mallet is the Marshall Award, a trophy bestowed annually by the Bar Association to a judge or attorney for excellence.
"It's a trophy alright...there!" he founds it. "The Marshall Award from the Bar Association to be judge or attorney."
"Then whatever we find from it, we'll get an answer to be someone from that list who's the Judge and..." Megan figures something else out. "Ah, Carroll's the next victim! I just know it! (What an idiot to get himself in to trouble to be turned against the Judge himself.)"
"Then here's one of the winners to find out true master mind." When Batman pulls down a list of past winners, Alfred exclaims in shock upon recognizing one of the names.
"My word...!"
"No way..." same with Megan and Gidget as well. "We have to stop Judge now and save the loser too."
Back at the courthouse, Corcoran is blindfolded and ties to the base of the statue of Lady Justice. As Two-Face's thugs pull out their guns to murder him, Corcoran tries to offer them the money Two-Face had previously rejected. However, the goons are discouraged by the thought of betraying Two-Face. Suddenly, they see two magnetic cuffs being attached to their wrists, disarming and binding them together. When they try to run for the exit, the Judge is blocking their way out and draws his sword. He takes charge at the restrained thugs and pins them to the ground with a wooden adornment. Corcoran, who has managed to take off his blindfold, goads the Judge to kill them as they sure were about to do him in.
"What are you waiting for!?" Corcoran questions the Judge. "They were going to murder me!"
Looks like the tables have turn on that loser who hired this murderer.
"Who are you to judge? You pose as a defender of the law while secretly stealing from the very people you swore to protect."
"No! You've got it wrong!" he pleaded for his life.
"And then you lie to the Judge." the Judge said back.
The Judge replies that the councilman is in no place to judge others, for he is also a transgressor of the law he swore to uphold. As the Judge prepares to execute Corcoran, he is disarmed by a Batarang and pepper sprayed from the watch in his eyes by Megan's doing.
"You two...!" Carroll was surprised to have help.
"Good thing we came back to see you, Corcoran." said Batman. "To tell you the news about your hero."
Megan fires some shots at Judge's sword.
"We won't let you get away this time, Mr. Judge! Hands in the air!"
Batman jumps in and is about to reveal the vigilante's identity, when the Judge hurls two magnetic cuffs at him.
"Not going to happen." said the Judge.
Batman is restrained and a fight ensues for Megan to help him out.
"Batman!" the Judge had chains to get to Megan's neck to pull her over to him. "Ah! Help...! He's got me!"
"Now, Batman and Megan, I hold you both in content of court."
Though even with his both hands bound, Batman can knock the Judge down to save Megan's life. As Megan uses her powers to push Judge aside like a powerful wind blast, allowing Batman to pull out a grappling gun and reels himself up. The Judge jumps on his back and the two vigilante's struggle.
"Batman, get this thing off of me!"
For Batman tries to do that for Megan, Judge wasn't done with them yet to have more tricks up his sleeves.
"We have come to adjourned yet, you two." he throws another handcuff on Batman's feet next. "Megan, you're the first to face justice."
Batman takes flight to have Megan hold on to him after kicking the Judge off of her.
"Leave me alone, loser!"
"No!" he holds on to stopping them. "Get back here!"
Batman finally manages to shake Judge off, with Megan to use her yoyos on him next, and the Judge plummets to the ground.
"Thank you, Batman." Megan kisses him. "Hey, how can you still fight with those handcuffs on your arms? And legs?"
Batman slowly goes back down with Megan in his arms.
"I'm enjoying you holding me this way, and I learn it from Zatara a while back from this trick from a while back." said the Dark Knight as Batman takes the keys from his unconscious body to unlock the cuffs. "Let's get these things off first."
Batman removes to cuffs and Megan's one on the neck in time. Worried for his reputation, and that news of his slush fund would come out, Corcoran pleads for and Megan and Batman's help.
"Megan. Batman. Please, you two have to help me out. This could be bad." Megan punches Carroll in the face.
"Bad? You made it worse to begin with, pal!" she got mad. "I mean, you could've been killed!"
Batman declares that it is worse than he thinks and then he unmasks the Judge.
"Here's your Judge, Corcoran."
"Or should we say..." for Megan to say it as Corcoran is shocked to find out that the 'hero' he endorsed was none other than Two-Face. "Two-Face himself. I knew it. (How else would he be able to hack into his own home to get back at Carroll on one thing to do the other, but couldn't? And the reward thing, it was so easy to pinpoint to him as a suspect who was once a distract lawyer of Gotham.)"
"Two-Face was the Judge all along?" he was shocked. "I don't understand."
So that's how Megan knew for Batman to catch on afterwards. As the police and reporters enter the building, Batman exits, leaving Corcoran lost for words. Megan knows that Carroll was done for, and Two-Face was going back to Arkham where he belongs, with some payment to get in return. The next day, Bruce is reading the newspaper about Corcoran's indictment and subsequent loss of primary for Gidget was pleased to read about it too, while Alfred tries to make sense of what had happened.
"I just don't understand...Harvey Dent made himself a personality of Two-Face to bring from right from wrong." Alfred tries to remember the rest. "And then in the end, he becomes the Judge to take matters into his own hands like so? The trio personalities is so mix up, he tried taking out himself without knowing about it."
"But thanks to me, I solved this case as I always do on other things." said Megan. "Isn't that right, Bruce?"
They conclude that the Judge was a third personality, separated from the rest, that Harvey Dent had unknowingly created to fight crime. A personality so separate, he even tried to kill himself without knowing it! This explains how the Judge was aware of the secret underground passage in Two-Face's apartment. The Judge knew everything about Two-Face, except that he was Two-Face.
"For the Judge to know as Two-Face himself about his hideout, the traps, the connections with Corcoran, and such of the meeting with Penguin and Killer Croc...all of this for himself to have another half get killed." said Bruce. "There are others that do those things to themselves without even knowing about it."
"And now Two-Face needs double the treatment after this entire mess accrued."
For Megan to say that, Alfred pities Two-Face and wonders what's going to happen him now.
"That's a lot to handle." said the butler.
"But in some way, we rather deal with Two-Face than the Judge ever again." said Megan to high five Gidget. "I have a feeling we won't be seeing the Judge after Two-Face ever gets out of Arkham, that's for sure."
For Bruce and Megan to hugging each other to make sure they'll deal with the villains in good justice to not having them killed.
"I don't know what I do without you, Megan."
"Thank you."
For them to kiss and such to solve anything in their way and in the name of love.
"But you're right, I feel bad for Harvey to suffer so much to try to save him." said Bruce. "But you're also right on another thing, Megan, we won't be seeing the Judge anymore."
"And then some." said Megan. "(But even if something like this does happen to other people, we'll be there to stop or help the out.)"
Without Batman and Megan around, Gotham City would be nothing more a bad place to live in, that's for sure...In Arkham, Two-Face is sitting in his cell standing trial inside his mind.
"Order in the court! In the matter of the people versus Harvey Dent, how does the prisoner plea?" ask the Judge's voice in Harvey Dent/Two-Face's mind.
Once the Judge asks him how he pleads, Two-Face repeatedly declares himself guilty, with a haunted look on his face.
"Guilty. Guilty. Guilty."
And that's all the episodes of the Batman: The Animated Series itself, and The New Batman Adventures 'to be the same thing, just with a different title from it and all'. More later in the next story, with two more stories on here being the second video game and the third movie to be the last ones, okay? Alrighty then.