Batman Beyond 'Fan Fiction Story'
By Tayla Drago
Episode# 38 – Ace in the Hole
Terry drives Bruce to his chiropractor's appointment and then takes Ace for a walk while he and Gwen are waiting.
"Ten minutes."
"Yeah, yeah." said Terry to be walking Ace. "Come on, Gwen, I might need your help."
The couple enjoy walking Ace together.
"He's such a wonderful dog and my best friend to love...Well, I love you still, Terry. Mean differently for Ace." she said to her boyfriend.
"I know what you mean, Gwen. He's smart, strong, loyal, and one heck of a Great Dane."
Suddenly, Ace catches sight of a strange man and becomes wild, dragging Terry along while chasing after the man, who flees.
"Hey, wait!" Terry tries to get Ace back. "Gwen, help me out!"
"He's chasing after that man for some reason...Wait, Ace! Uncle Bruce said you have to stay with us to walk you!" Gwen follows the dog. "Slow down!"
Terry is unable to stop him nor Gwen couldn't use her fire powers without hurting her dog friend, and Ace rips off his leash and disappears.
"This is bad..." said Terry.
"(What's the old man going to say now about losing his doggie friend?)"
For Gwen's other half to think about it, the other Gwen tries calling out to Ace to be very worried.
"Ace! Ace, please come back! Ace!" she didn't get nothing. "(What's wrong with you...?)"
Bruce confronts Terry to go as Batman and Gwen as Batwoman, who Bruce's baffled as to why Ace chased after the man.
"How come you never put a tracker on him?" he asks Bruce.
"He never ran away from me."
"(Sorry we lost him, Uncle Bruce, please don't be mad. Ace was chasing some strange man who looked like trouble.)" Gwen tells Bruce.
He seems to believe in Gwen's words to find out something odd about Ace going after a strange man.
"Is like Ace wanted to go after him with reasons..." Bruce thought about it.
"Big words might be a big clue to find Ace." said Batwoman. "It's worth a try."
As Bruce wants the two to look for someone to find the person to know that Ace can survive on his own to be a fighter...He also calls up his wife Megan for some help.
"Yo, Bruce, what's up?"
"Look up on someone for me who Ace might know of before I took him in." he said. "Please, Megan."
She'll do what she must to hack into something to getting it down.
"Ace went missing...?" Megan guessed it right. "Okay, I'll see what I can come up with."
For Ace to be strong, he'll be fine for a little while longer...Back at the Batcave, Megan found something for Gwen to scan through and Terry to do the rest to put into the Batcomputer to look at the man on who he is.
"I think we got someone, look." Gwen points it out.
Based on his description, Bruce makes a composite drawing of the man's face and matches it against criminal records. He soon comes up with a match: Ronny Boxer, who has been arrested before on suspicions of animal cruelty and illegal gambling — in other words, he is a promoter of illegal dog fights.
"Dog fights? That scum!" angered Terry.
"Why would a man like him do bad things to the poor dogs...?" upset Gwen. "It's so sad."
"Now we know why Ace recognizes the man." said Bruce.
Gwen, Bruce, and Terry are deeply disgusted. And Megan explains the rest in words on how and why Ace knows of Ronny.
Megan: Ronny Boxer...Most wanted bounty to hurt so many animals because of it. For an unknown amount of time, Boxer purchased puppies to raise as fighting dogs and organized dog fights from the backrooms of shady joints, abandoned warehouses and barges in the docks of Gotham. One of these dogs grew up to be Ace. Boxer was eventually arrested once during Ace's debut fight, where the hound escaped in the chaos and wound up in the care of Bruce Wayne. Years later, Boxer continued his illegal dog fights, going several steps further in his enterprise. He completely mechanized his operations, removing the need for animal handlers and broadcasters, choosing to broadcast his dog fights over the net. He also engaged in dabbling with chemistry, making his own supply of the experimental growth hormone Cerestone, which he used to forcibly enhance his dogs into monstrously grown canines. His first experiment mutated into a horrific monster the size of an elephant.
Bruce reports Ace missing to the police and the animal control authorities. Terry wonders why Bruce isn't more worried, but he says of Ace will be alright. Terry reveals that he's got his own scheme for finding Boxer. He's picked up the names of some thugs associated with dog fights and plans to approach one posing as a kid with a vicious dog he wants to sell. For appearance, he wraps a bandage around his arm, claiming his aggressive dog attacked him. Amused, the thug tells him where to show up.
"Gwen, you back me up from behind and I'll handle the rest."
"I got you covered, Terry." Gwen says something to Bruce before she leaves with her boyfriend. "Look, Uncle Bruce, the animal patrol and Megan will find Ace. We will too if we must. So there's no need to worry, okay?" she hugs him. "I want him back as much as you do."
While Terry is absent and Gwen leaves with him, Bruce stands in the manor gazing at Ace's bone and dish by the fireplace and softly wonders what has become of his dog...
"What did he do to you, boy?" Bruce asks himself.
Ace's story is told. As a puppy from a batch, he is sold to Boxer illegally by a corrupt pound attendant, Maddie, who then comments that the pup has large 'mitts'. Boxer simply smiles and says he'll make him a champ. Ace is raised to maturity in Boxer's captivity, deprived and tormented to make him as vicious as possible. In his first fight, he is being matched against a much larger beast, which Boxer confidently tells his partner that, should Ace not win, he'll just send him back to the pound. However, just before the fight begins, the police raid the arena and arrest Boxer and his associates. Ace escapes and lives as a stray for some time after that. One snowy night, while Bruce is making his regular pilgrimage to Crime Alley, he is accosted by a Jokerz member, looking to mug him. Bruce tosses him away, but as he turns his back, the angry Jokerz member lunges at him. Ace appears and pounces on the Joker, who clubs him. Angered, Bruce gives the Joker another thrashing and sends him packing. For Megan to arrive at the scene to see Ace for the first time.
"Bruce...? A dog saved you from a Jokerz thug?"
"Let's give him a home, Megan." he said to his wife.
Seeing that Ace has been hurt, Bruce carries him back to his car and his new home and for Megan to help him out. Back in the present day, Megan drives around Gotham to find any leads on Ronny or Ace.
"(Ace, please be strong. We will find you.)" she said.
Elsewhere, Terry's sting has led him to Boxer's hideout, which is empty when he enters it as Batman.
"All clear, Gwen, whenever you're ready to join in." said Terry.
"Okay, I got the gear to hack, and I'll meet you inside." Gwen transforms somewhere private. "Burning passion. Batwoman!"
The two meet up to getting into the place, for Batwoman to take care of that to use some fire to be melting off the lock.
"We're good to go."
They both see what looks like a chemistry lab, and large containers of Cerestone — the growth hormone. Terry is even more revolted and was Gwen/Batwoman too.
"(Why would they do this to animals...?)" Gwen sounded upset.
"I never thought more humans can be as low as anything else...!" same with Batman.
Then Boxer's comes in with a weapon to shoot at the two.
"All in the name of money, Batman and Batwoman."
Firing away to start a fire from the chemicals for Batman to use lots of water to get rid of and Batwoman to absorb the rest...only for Gwen/Batwoman to get thrown from the explosion to send her flying to go out cold.
"Crap..." Batwoman was out cold.
"(Terry...Ace...)"
This allowed Boxer to get away with someone to use in his next match.
"Ah, you'll do nicely sweetheart with fireproof protection." he carries her away.
Not good for Bruce and Terry to see Gwen getting capture.
"He's got Gwen!" angered Bruce.
"Gwen!" same with Terry/Batman. "I'll get her and Ace back."
Ace wanders the streets for a while but is captured by animal control. Unfortunately, his captor is Boxer's corrupt attendant, who is impressed by his size and strength. He removes Ace's tags and passes him off as a homeless stray before selling him to Boxer for a high price. Boxer recognizes Ace and laughs, saying they must be meant for each other.
"I'll deal with him after the games, I got one person to have the other dogs use as a lively shew toy." he shows the other members the tied-up Gwen to think she's just Batwoman. "Let see how long she can last with the mutts."
As Gwen senses out Ace to recognize her, she sees Ace was trapped but alive.
"(Ace! You're alive...)" she does something for her hand to hit a button. "(If I can get Terry and/or Megan to see this tracker, we might have a chance to escape...)"
Gwen activates it, all up to Megan to carry it out for both Terry/Batman and Bruce.
"Thank you, Gwen!"
Thanks to her, Terry tracks down Boxer's latest illegal arena, carved out of the belly of a cargo ship, but Boxer sees him coming and lays a trap.
"(Batman! It's a trap!)" Gwen warns him too late.
"Gwen...!" Batman sees her all tied up.
As soon as Terry enters the arena, Boxer seals the doors and introduces him to an early, failed experiment: an unrecognizable beast that may once have been a bulldog, but is now deformed, vicious, and the size of a bull elephant.
"Get them, boy!"
"Dude, you're so mess up!" said Batwoman. "Bats, get us out of here!"
Terry tries to calm the beast, but it is rabid.
"Down boy, I'm not going to hurt you...Much."
As he evades its attacks, an impact against the walls of the arena loosens the locks on Ace's nearby cage. Terry manages to hogtie the beast and Boxer decides to shoot Terry with a gun. Ace manages to break free and tackles Boxer to also freeing Batwoman to get her powers back from a spark to start a little fire, enough to charge her back up, then chases after him as he runs in panic to the ship's stern.
"(Good boy, Ace!)"
"Now we're talking..." Batwoman powers up. "I'm all fired up and ready to go! Gwen, help me out to save Ace and stopping this mad man!"
The beast manages to snap the bonds and badly damages Terry's suit. Ace returns and jumps down through a hole cut in the arena's ceiling, biting at the beast just as it has swallowed Terry whole.
"Ew..." said Batman. "Batwoman, give me a hand!"
"Got it!" she helps out her partner. "Man, I love that dog." In shock, it regurgitates Terry, who takes advantage of the beast's distraction to hook a grappling rope around it, while Batwoman uses some fire blast to push the beast back, and Batman attached the other end to his suit's belt, electrocuting the beast. "Bad mutant dog, play dead."
When Terry and Gwen emerge from the arena to hugged each other...
"Gwen!"
"Terry!"
They follow Ace to the ship's stern, where Boxer is dangling off a rail above the churning propellers, yelling for help.
"Help! Somebody, anybody, help!"
With Megan coming int to arrest the man and claim her bounty money.
"Welcome back, Ace." she said. "I got this one, you guys. I believe a certain someone's waiting for Ace to return to him..."
Terry, Gwen, and Ace return to Wayne Manor, where Ace runs gleefully into his waiting master's arms and kisses Gwen a lot too for her and Terry helped him out today.
"We miss you, boy." she said. "See, Uncle Bruce? We stop Boxer and got back Ace as promised. You're the best dog and friend ever, Ace."
Ace was happy to be home to getting back at the man who hurt the poor dog.
"Thank you both."
"You should thank Ace more on this one." said Terry.
True, for no more dog making them into monsters done by Boxer will be happening anymore or illegal games of dog fights for Ace is one heck of a dog on Batman and Batwoman's side. You got love having pets like them or cats, huh? They are the best...And I really hate people who treat animals badly, so don't be like what Boxer was.