Curate, connect, and discover
Basically a fanfic of Batman Beyond and Batman the animated series. Almost a crossover, I guess? I don’t know what you would call it tbh.
Idk, I had this idea and wanted to put it down somewhere and share ‘cuz I thought it was neat.
Not sure about trigger warnings? I don’t think there’s anything worth warning about tbh. I’ll edit though if anyone says it might need one.
(Read below)
Basically, Terry runs into a villain one night while dealing with what he thought was a normal case.
Perhaps he’s going after some thugs, who basically explain to him in a panic that the person their working for is someone who shouldn’t still be alive. Terry dismisses this, maybe give him a one liner about how he’s dealt with that type before. “Oh, have you now?” a vocie from the darkness. Then, from the shadows, comes BTAS Scarecrow.
Terry is horrified and shocked. Remembering very vividly Bruce describing someone like this from when he was Batman. He goes after him, unmasks him expecting to see a copycat, but he’s no imposter. He looks exactly like he did in BTAS even, not a grey hair in sight. Scarecrow manages to get away, but Terry is more than just a little confused.
What’s worse? During the fight, this Scarecrow manages to break Terry’s wrist simply be grabbing it. Certainly not something Scarecrow could’ve done before.
Bruce already knows about it, having seen someone that looks like Poison Ivy on the news.
They quickly realize just about the entire rogues gallery is back, all of them exactly like they were back in the day, with every memory and fully intact personalities...mostly. You see, some of them have some slight differences. Joker and Harley for instance. Somehow, for some reason, this Joker actually does love Harley and the two are pretty much partners in crime. (Bonnie and Clyde style.)
They confront another imposter in this city, a Batman clone, who, once Bruce appears on the scene, is far more willing to help them figure out what’s going on.
And during a fight with the clone Joker, something happens. Dramatic scene ensues, where Harley is caught in the face by a batarang. She gets up, only to see her reflection in a nearby window, with half of her face torn away, to reveal mech under her skin. It’s here we realize these clones are bio-mechanical copies of the old rogues. Harley panics, Joker realizes what just happened, and they both get away.
Bruce, Bio-mech Batman, and Terry all find out where the bio-mechs came from, while the bio-mech rogues also track down this place (Having woke up dropped in Gotham in random places initially.) Coming in from different areas.
They all find the woman responsible, a crazed scientist obsessed with the old stories and history of ‘The Batman’. The way she talks about him almost makes him seem more like a cryptid, and she explains that she did this to try and get his attention so he’d come back to his life of crime-fighting and put this ‘great value batman’ in his place (She’s talking about Terry.).
The bio-mech rogues and the three batmen all clash, only for the batmen to realize one thing they haven’t noticed until now: The bio-mechs are actually alive. They’re copies of the originals, but they’re also their own people, with emotions like a normal human being.
They all band together to defeat the mad scientist, stopping her plans and putting her in an Asylum. The bio-mechs, having realized now that they’re not the original criminals, aren’t quite sure what to do next, so they all go their separate ways to try and discover what’s next for themselves.
Maybe add an ending chapter involving bio-mech Harley and Joker revealing to the other rogues what happened. Everyone has varying reactions to the news, with many basically having an existential crisis over not being who they thought they were. Some going into denial because, for god’s sake, they remember everything! Even their childhood! But then they recognize a huge gap in their memory from before they popped up in this future Gotham.
Maybe, just maybe, even add a part where a small group of them goes to their supposed ‘graves’, only to discover, yeah, they’re there alright.
Then they all conspire to find whoever made them and get revenge for making them go through this awful shock. After all, why not just make them know they’re copies?
...Yeah, I just had that Idea and I really like it, haha.