Batman Beyond 'Fan Fiction Story'
By Tayla Drago
Episode# 32 – Zeta
During a lecture in biology class at school, Max, Gwen, and Terry note that the teacher, Miss Martel, is answering questions in a strange way; not with a personal answer and opinion, but instead just reading pre-written information. Even for Max to ask her teacher a question about it...
"But, what about free will? I mean, I'm not going to believe that everything I was completely decided before I was born."
Good question there. Even for Gwen to understand it a bit, but a lot more for her to feel something was up from the people around her.
"(Huh?)" she looks around carefully to feel out the strange feeling in the room. "(Either I'm feeling a strange person sneaking into the school, or something feels off. One of the people here isn't normal.)"
Later, as they discuss their suspicions, like Gwen does.
"Is being Batman just giving me a suspicious nature?" Terry asks the two girls.
"Yes." Max answer.
"I call it more of instincts to me." and Gwen. "But I know what you mean, something's up to feel something odd lately. Not normal."
"If you're right, Gwen, then something's way off with Ms. Martel."
They are surprised to see men dressed as phone workers pull guns on Miss Martel and open fire. Even more surprising, Miss Martel avoids their attack with an amazing show of strength and agility and drives off in a car. Gwen knows something was up to see what was wrong with her to rush to her side.
"Terry! Max! I'll go see if Ms. Martel's hiding something!" she goes with some fire power to use for speed.
Leaving Terry to take off as well to let Max know about it.
"I'll call you if Gwen and I see anything off." he leaves.
The car eventually crashes, and the pursuers catch up, but Batman arrives and stops them from shooting her.
"Ms. Martel! Are you hurt?! Say something!"
Just then, the teacher punches through the car and draws weapons of her own.
"(That can't be normal...)" said Gwen's inner self. "A robot that remind me a lot like you are, Gweny.)"
One of the men, Agent Bennet, jumps from the truck and explains that 'Miss Martel' is really a synthoid.
"A synthoid? Another one?" surprised Gwen.
During the fight, Miss Martel is hit and loses her disguise. The police go to Miss Martel's apartment and find her tied up for Megan to help cut the ropes loose for the teacher.
"(No break in to murdering someone, so that's a good thing.) She's fine, Barbara!" Megan tells her friend. "I wish to know what this living robot is. Reminds me of Gidget, I sure miss it to have the tools for it now that I've made."
Finding evidence that points to the school, Barbara Gordon and Megan confront Bennet. He explains that the robot is an assassin droid called 'Zeta' and it has stopped taking their orders. Because Zeta was on an assignment to infiltrate a terrorist group, they assume it's now taking orders from them and must destroy it, whatever the civilian cost.
"For your own safety and everyone else's, we just need to do this before it causes more harm." Bennet leaves. "This robot's not wise to hack into and make it into a friend, Ms. Tsuki, trust me."
"Wasn't going to..."
After Bennet leaves, Batman and Batwoman talk to Barbara, and she explains that it's most likely that Zeta is still at the High School.
"You two got all of that?" Barbara asks the two crime fighting duos.
"From robot attacks, changes itself, being smarter, and secret agents tracking them...I think we do." Batwoman said.
"Whatever it is...It might be anywhere now and away from our school." Batman said.
But not likely to Barbara...
"it might still be there...See what you two can stop it first or keep it away from Bennet and his men. Whatever it takes. The last thing I need it to start a war in Gotham. Megan, you back them up."
She'll do here best for them...That night, Max is working in the school computer lab, where she carefully hacks into the NSA files about Zeta and discovers that it's equipped with a homing beacon. Dana arrives and invites Max to go to a study group. Max mistakes the gender of a classmate that Dana refers to, but Dana takes this in stride, believing Max is just over-absorbed in her schoolwork, as usual. Later, Max sneaks into the Gotham Mint and is revealed to be Zeta in disguise.
"Now please tell the names of the people at your school again..." the Zeta asks Max.
This was very bad...The next day, Terry finds 'Max' working on a device. As they talk, he quickly realizes that this person doesn't know he is Batman or Gwen as Batwoman, and so is not really Max and Gwen does too from feeling that this wasn't her real friend.
"This Maxie of our's a fake...?"
"(Oh, brother...I smell trouble like the backroom of the hallways bad bathroom)" said Gwen's inner self. "(You two lovers, stay alert.)"
"Gwen, is she safe?" Terry asks her.
She does feel out that Max was safe and sound.
"She's fine. And whoever this Maxie is right now, it must be the robot we're looking for..."
From Gwen's hacking skills to track her friend with, they were all set to go. When 'Max' leaves, both Terry, Gwen, and the NSA agents follow her/it. Dropping his disguise, Zeta returns to the Mint, where Max is being held captive. Zeta gives her a sandwich and tells her he's concerned for her safety. Contrary to what they might think, Zeta assures her, he may have been built to kill, but he doesn't want to anymore.
"Zeta: I was created for one purpose — to destroy. I do not wish to destroy anymore." said Zeta.
Max believes him and convinces him to remove all of his built-in weapons.
"Now, isn't that a load off your chest?" Zeta doesn't response back to Max. "We'll work on your sense of humor too."
However, Batman and Batwoman show up and attack Zeta...Well, Batwoman almost did for Gwen to say something.
"(Stop!)"
He fire skills does slow this female heroine down just in the nick of time.
"Why gives, Gwen?" she was lost.
"(Look, Maxie's okay. It didn't attack us when we came it, we surprised it...)" Gwen had a point. "(Wait, Batman! Maxie's fine! Zeta's on our side to sense some good and I detect no destructed-on humans from hacking a little from the programming!)"
Zeta is quick to retaliate, and a fight ensues.
"Wait! Stop! Both of you! Batwoman's right!" Max tries to quell the fight but is unsuccessful.
On the one hand, Batman doesn't believe that Zeta's peaceful, while Zeta is inexperienced at resolving situations peacefully. However, after Batman is disabled and nearly crushed by the Mint's printing press, Zeta saves him and proves his intentions.
"(Batman!)"
To Gwen and Batwoman's surprised for Zeta saved Batman's life.
"Hey, robot man...You're not so bad after all. Nice one." she said.
"His name is Zeta." Max corrects Batwoman.
"Whatever!"
Unfortunately, the NSA soon arrives and attacks.
"Freeze!" said Bennet. "All of you!"
Zeta quickly arms himself with a laser cutter and fights back.
"Zeta!" Max was worried.
Only through Batwoman and Batman's interventions do they escape without bloodshed.
"(This Zeta thing...I knew it wasn't a bad one, it's the agents.)" Gwen thought about it. "(Batman, let's hear this machine out. Please...?)"
After the ordeal Zeta explains why he decided to quit killing: when he was on assignment, he had to replace an accountant that was unwittingly associating with terrorists. During this time, he had to live with the accountant's family and saw his daughter ride a bike for the first time. Believing that he couldn't deprive the man of his family, he disobeyed his orders to kill the man.
"For you see...I never wanted to kill like the other ones...I wanted to save lives, and fight threaten things when I have to." he said. "Batwoman, you're right to understand how I am and work."
"It's my other self-more that tells me that really."
His story done, Zeta explains he chose the high school as a low-security facility that nonetheless had the equipment necessary for him to build a signal filter, which would allow him to mask his homing beacon from the agents. Now that he's done that, he can adopt a new identity and strike out on his own.
"(In other words, the agents are lying to you...I knew it!)" angered Gwen.
Batman is still wary, since Zeta admits that he is programmed to remove any person whose identity he assumes and doesn't know any other way.
"So why a school?" Batman asks Zeta.
"More data to collect is all I needed to have less security inside the place."
Max, however, comes up with a new idea: mix up the images to create a new one.
"But still...We can't go out there with tin man showing itself, do that...disguise human thing ago." said Batwoman. "That is, if you still have more in you, mister."
Zeta tries it and comes up with a passable face, then leaves.
"How's this?"
"Looking good!" said Batwoman.
"I should go now." said Zeta.
Gwen hopes for the best from Zeta for Max hugs him.
"Good luck, Zeta." she said to her new robot friend.
Batman and Batwoman both follow after Zeta, not wanting to let him out of their sights until he leaves Gotham.
"Come on, Gwen, we better keep our eyes on Zeta until he leaves Gotham."
"(If you say so...Maxie, you stay put.)" she said for Gwen and Terry take off.
In spite of the fact that the NSA can no longer track his signal, they manage to determine Zeta's motive and stake out the train station. For a while, it seems they won't find him but an accident reveals him.
"Freeze, Tin Man!" said one of the agents.
Zeta makes his escape into the station and is confronted by the agents. However, Batman and Batwoman intercept the agents leaving Zeta and Bennet to face one another alone.
"Don't even think about it, people! This robot's going to wherever he wants to!" said Batwoman to set the grounds on fire. "Try to do anything, then prepare to get burned."
Zeta manages to disable Bennett and takes his gun.
"(Oh, no...)" Gwen lowers her fire powers. "(Please, Zeta...Batman! Do something!)"
Batwoman and Batman are worried that Zeta will kill his enemy, but Zeta destroys the gun and walks away.
"I decide who I want to be." said Zeta.
This makes the two crime-fighting duos happy.
"That's good..." Batman was relief.
Bennet, however, isn't convinced and draws another gun. With this gun, he and his agents force Zeta to fall from the building to his apparent destruction.
"(Zeta!)"
For Gwen/Batwoman to worry on Zeta's conditions, she and Batman go down to investigate and discovers that Zeta's destruction was just an illusion.
"Wait, Gweny. Check it!" Batwoman moves her hand on the fake on the pass through her. "It's a fake. The real one's still active and alive, see? Gave the men and women in suits the slip."
Zeta then takes on another appearance and escapes.
"(I'm so happy...But where will you go to now?)" asked Gwen.
"Somewhere they'll never find me. Thank you both."
Batman takes his leave as well, throwing some explosives to the ground causing the agents to believe that Zeta self-destructed and thereby buying the two the time they needed to escape.
"I guess some things can be good like us, even robots." said Batman to hold Gwen's hand. "Come on, Gwen, let's get out of here."
"(Yes! And goodbye, Zeta.)"
Zeta leaves on the train and Batwoman with Batman fly off to Gotham, convinced that all is well.
"And I hope we seen the last of those guys...Let's go, love birds. Good make out somewhere else." said Batwoman.
Something tells me that we'll be seeing Zeta, Bennet, and the others again in this show later on. Cool robot superhero, huh?