Earth Mover

It was a quiet night out, and Eliana and Terry were finally getting some studying done with their friends Dana and Jackie. Jackie had been very kind to invite the group over to help study for an upcoming math test. Dana was currently testing Terry's skills in multiplication after witnessing him provide an answer with barely even thinking. Terry was casually sitting on the floor with Eliana in his lap. 

"You're cheating," Dana accused Terry. "Am not," Terry defended. Eliana watched their banter in amusement. It was refreshing to actually sit back and have fun once in a while. "You have to be cheating. There's no way you could know something like that without a calculator," Dana insisted. "People used to," Terry reasoned. 

"You're saying you memorized the multiplication tables, what for?" Dana asked, scrunching her nose. Eliana wanted to say she knew hers, though not as good as Terry, and that it wasn't too uncommon for people to learn this. Terry shrugged, "My dad was a scientist. I guess he wanted me to be ready for anything," he said nonchalantly.

Eliana loved it when Terry opened up. It gave her the chance to learn more about the boy she's dating.

"17x34," Eliana challenged. "578," Terry shot back instantly. The two shared a smirk. "Jackie!" Dana called her friend. But Jackie didn't appear to have heard her as she was too busy looking out the window.

Eliana was slightly concerned for her friend, Jackie had been very distant as of lately, which wasn't like her. She'd been quiet the whole study session. All she seemed to take interest in was outside. 

"Jackie!" Eliana called out a bit loudly. The girl in question jumped and turned to go sit on her bed. "Oh, sorry, what were you saying?" she apologised. "You got the calculator. Punch it in," Dana answered. "I-I... wasn't listening," Jackie said softly, hugging her stuffed animal.

Eliana and Terry got up and went over to their friend. "We noticed, are you okay?" Eliana asked, lowering herself on the bed. "Is something wrong?" Terry asked, concerned. "I think... I think someone's been following me," Jackie confessed.

Eliana straightened out and was taken aback. Why would someone spy on Jackie? As far as she knew, Jackie wasn't a part of any business corporation, nor was she popular at school like Chelsea.

"Following you, who?" Dana questioned. Jackie shook her head, "I don't know, but I get this feeling sometimes that I'm being watched. Yesterday, it happened in the backyard. Today, it was on the soccer field, but when I looked around....no one's there." Eliana put a hand on the girl's shoulder for comfort. It was hard seeing one of her friends in distress.

Just then, Jackie's guardian opened the door to her room. "Jackie, sorry to interrupt the homework, but I'm trying to work on my expansion plans, and I can't concentrate," Bill said. "We're being as quiet as we can," Jackie responded. "That's why I can't concentrate, I get nervous when kids are too quiet," Bill said warmly.

The teenagers' frowns turned into smiles. "Well, maybe we can bang some pots and pans together, anything to help you concentrate," Jackie teased. "I knew I could count on you," Bill smiled as he left the room. "Anytime, Bill," Jackie said cordially. "Bill?" Dana inquired. "That's his name," Jackie said curtly. "You know what I mean," Dana proded. "It's a long story... Terry?"

Eliana was so focused on Jackie that she didn't notice her partner gazing intently out the window. "Babe?" Eliana called out. "Somebody's out there," Terry warned. The three girls leaped up from the bed, "Where?" They all asked simultaneously. But instead of answering, Terry opened the window and jumped out of it. "Terry!" Dana cried out.

From the window, they watched him slide down the wall and start running. 'I hate it when he does that,' Eliana thought bitterly. "Stay here!" She instructed her friends as she ran out of the room. She fled outside to her motorcycle and sped away to catch up with Terry.

Meanwhile, Terry was tailing the unidentified person. When he made it to the estates wall, Terry paused. The tracks left by the person stopped, but the weird thing was that he didn't see anyone jump the wall. Pushing that fact aside, Terry climbed over the wall and continued his pursuit. He managed to cut off the figure and tried to grab them, "Hey!" Terry screamed.

But when the figure faced him, Terry gasped in shock. It wasn't a human he was chasing. It was some sort of big brown monster. Being caught off guard, Terry couldn't avoid the monster's fist. The strike was so powerful it sent him flying into a tree.

This did not stop Terry. He wiped off the blood trickling down his mouth and began running. 

Terry slid down a hill and, using the momentum, launched himself into the monster. He tackled the monster onto the road, nearly getting hit by an oncoming car, and it crumbled. Terry crouched down to investigate the monster's remains. A pair of headlights blindly tried Terry, and he watched his partner run up to him.

Eliana threw herself into Terry's arms, "I was so worried, are you okay?" She asked, scanning his body for any injuries. "I'm fine," Terry reassured. "I take it our stalker escaped," Eliana stated. Terry sighed and showed her the big brown clump, "Not in the way you're thinking."

~8~

They took a sample of the creature back to Bruce for him to analyze. Eliana and Terry watched as he used a microscope to identify the substance. "Interesting," Bruce merely commented before getting up from his seat. "Interesting," that's all you can say. It was unbelievable!" Terry argued.

Eliana put a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder, "It's a word he rarely uses," she offered. But Terry ignored her comforting words, "You don't believe me, do you?" He questioned the old man. Bruce stopped walking and turned to look at the boy, "Terry, what you gave me was just soil, plain old dirt," he patronized. "It was alive," Terry hissed.

He still couldn't get the creature out of his mind. It was haunting.

"Alright, supposing it was, do you really think tonight was the end of it?" Bruce forewarned before leaving the cave. Whatever that creature was, it wanted something with Jackie, meaning they'd have to keep a close eye on their friend. 

Terry turned to Eliana, "You believe me, don't you?" He asked frantically. Eliana was quick to grab his hands, "You know that I do. You would never lie about something like this. Plus, we've faced some strange things in the past. A monster made out of dirt isn't exactly crazy," she joked. She despised it when Bruce brushed off Terry's words. Bruce may not always trust Terry, but she would. 

Terry snorted lightly, "You're right."When am I not?" She teased before bringing him into a kiss.

~8~

At school, Terry and Eliana both kept good watch on their friend. Currently, they were sitting outside the school's steps waiting for Bill to pick them up. Usually, Eliana would've declined a ride, seeing as she has access to many vehicles, but getting a ride with Jackie would provide her with a great opportunity to keep spying on the girl.

"Wish you had gotten a better look at that guy in the backyard," Dana told Terry. "Yeah, his features were kind of...indistinct," Terry responded hesitantly. 

A car horn halted more conversation. Jackie waved at the purple car and started getting ready to leave. But before they went over, Eliana wanted to get some more information to help solve this case. "You know, your dad's a pretty important guy.. He's probably got a few enemies. I wonder if one of them -" "He's not my dad," Jackie cut in before walking away. Eliana, Dana, and Terry all shared a look. 

"Everything okay today?" Bill asked as Jackie got in the car. "No problems. You can give Eliana, Dana, and Terry a ride, can't you?" Jackie inquired. Bill nodded, "Yeah but I have to make a stop first. There's something you got to see, all of you!" He joyfully exclaimed. 

He took the group to a vacant lot. "I saw it on the way over here. Isn't it great?" Bill asked them. "Isn't what great?" Jackie asked, confused as to why he brought them here. "Jackie, it's real estate. This is where my new factory's gonna be," Bill explained proudly.

Eliana scoffed inwardly. It was always factories or warehouses for businesses that were built on good land. In her opinion, Gotham could use more greenery, a nice park, for example.

As Bill continues telling them about his plans, an earthquake starts up, causing the ground to crack and belch out several canisters of an unidentified chemical. When they shattered to the ground, neon green sludge seeped out of them.

Eliana and Terry held onto one another as the ground kept rattling. Suddenly, the ground between them and the rest of the group separated. "Terry, Eliana!" Dana shouted fearfully. Eliana let out a small scream when the ground beneath her and Terry launched them into the air.

Terry acted fast and pulled Eliana into his chest, taking more of the impact when they hit the ground. Eliana quickly pulled out their costumes from her bag, and they suited up.

The heroes flew into a giant dirt monster that was about to attack their friends, crumbling it. "Run, get out of here!" Nightwing yelled. As they fled, 2 more dirt monsters rose from the ground. They both took one one. Nightwing backhandspring away from all the rocky blasts her monster threw at her.

While Batman unfortunately got caught by a blast his monster gave him, he was sent into a rocky wall and struggled to breathe. When he was released, he shot out a couple of batarangs. One decapitated the monster's head while the other crushed its body. The remains were sucked into the strange green goo.

Nightwing managed to jump on her monster's arm. She ran along it, and when she got close to the head, she pulled out an escrima stick and bashed it. She front slipped off the monster and threw a batarang at it, just to make sure it went down.

Back with Batman, yet another monster came out from the ground. It wasted no time in shooting a boulder at the vigilante. Batman grunted from the hit but recovered quickly. He shot out a grappling hook that ended up burying itself in the monster. The monster, however, started going into the ground, slowly dragging Batman until it pulled him down.

Out of nowhere, the monster spt back up right under Batman. It lifted him into the air before tossing him to the ground.

Batman groaned and struggled to get up. The monster was just above him and ready to bring its fists down until Nightwing popped in and kicked it back. Nightwing held up her sticks, and the battle was ready. But before she could even move to strike, her feet sunk into the ground; she couldn't move! Try as she might to free herself, Nightwing was unable to stop the monster from pummeling her. 

For some reason, the monster then stopped and started making its way to Jackie and her dad, who were driving away. Batman blasted into the air, grabbed Nightwing on the way, and flew towards the car. The heroes watched as the monster flung itself at the car but dispersed when it hit the windshield. No more dirt men rose from the ground. 

It was over...for now.

~8~

Batman and Nightwing were riding uptop a train listening to Bruce's report. "I analyzed that green waste from the lot. This stuff can turn a person's DNA inside out. It's toxic industrial waste, probably buried somewhere years ago," Bruce informed. "And that's where Bill Wallace fits in," he added.

Wait, Bill, Jackie's caretaker? How was he connected to all of this? "You're getting a little ahead of us, B," Eliana cut in. "Don't you two read the news. It was only ten years ago," Bruce said condescendingly.

Eliana scoffed, did her father-figure even think about the implications of that sentence. "We were seven," Terry stated drily.

To their amusement, Bruce seemed surprised at the news, "Oh..well... Back then the DA accused Wallace of dumping this kind of chemical, nothing was ever proved though."

"What did you find out from Jackie?"Nothing except that Wallace isn't her father," Terry told. Yes, Jackie had made it abundantly clear that Bill was not her father, nor would she ever consider him to be it. "Not her father, well that inter-uh promising," Bruce stumbled.

Eliana smirk, she may have lectured Bruce about his responses to Terry a bit. Jumping off the train, the duo made their way to Jackie's house. They needed to have a little chat with Bill.

When entering the house, they could hear Jackie and Bill arguing about leaving. They stood in the shadows; the darkness making them appear threatening. When Jackie and Bill caught sight of their dark figures, Bill was instantly struck with fear. "Tony? It's you, isn't it. It had to be?" Bill asked confidently. Jackie narrowed her eyes at Bill, "Tony, that was my father's name, but this can't be..." she trailed off.

Bill turned to Jackie and pushed her behind him, "Get away from here as fast as you can. GO!"he instructed. "No, I wanna know what this is about," Jackie refused. What did her dad have to do with this? She needed answers.

"Jackie, do what I say," Bill pleaded, but Jackie remained still. 

"Tony..please," Bill begged, he dropped to his knees, "I didn't know. I DIDN'T KNOW!" He cried. It was at that moment Batman and Nighwing emerged from the darkness. There was no way Bill was getting out of this situation, not before he confessed his secrets. "Bill, tell me everything now," Jackie demanded, crouching to his level. "I-I can't," Bill hesitated. "Better tell her unless you want us to," Nightwing warned. 

"I was just starting the company; I didn't have much money. I couldn't afford to dispose of my excess chemicals the way I was supposed to. I found this abandoned mineshaft....."

~~

"I don't know about this Bill," Tony expressed. "That shafts totally sealed, no way for a bleed through," Bill brushed off. "What if there's a quake?" Tony argued. He didn't believe what they were doing was safe, and he tried to voice that to his friend, but Bill was adamant. Bill turned to his friend and placed his hands on Tony's shoulders. "Tony, listen to me, we may be cutting corners now, but someday this company will be very big. Don't you want to be a part of that," Bill explained.

Tony's worries were pushed to the back of his mind as he considered Bill's statement. "You mean partnership?" Tony asked, intrigued. A partnership could be a huge opportunity to earn good money. "I am," Bill said, holding out his hand. Tony looked at it and hesitated. "Think of Jackie, no mother, just you. You want the best for her, don't you," Bill manipulated. He knew his love for Jackie would be the deciding factor. 

Tony watched the mine shaft be pride open and came to a conclusion. "Looks like I'm gonna need a rope, partner," Tony smiled and shook Bill's hand. 

~~

It didn't take us long to get most of the barrels into the shaft, but then..there was a problem......"

~~

"Lower...lower come on," Tony encouraged. He was down in the shaft, watching another barrel be lowered down. But this time was different. The rope holding the barrel got caught on a wooden beam. "It's snagged," Tony yelled. At the top, Bill turned to his employee who was in control of the machine, "Give it a tug!" He instructed. The worker did so, but the barrel was still caught under the beam. "Again."

The barrel was pulled up once more and, in doing so, started to drag the beam. The unstable beam broke from the wall and sent rocks crashing to the ground. Tony cried out in fear as he was buried beneath rocks. The barrel crashed, and the green waste started spilling out. Tony attempted to free himself but was powerless in stopping the waste from reaching him.

~~

"He had to be dead; that's what we figured anyway," Bill finished his story. "Why..why didn't you tell me?" Jackie asked softly, tears in her eyes. "You were too young, and besides, it wouldn't have brought him back," Bill tried to justify.

He was wrong. Everyone has the right to know the fate of their loved ones, no matter the circumstance.

"But he is back, isn't he?" Nightwing asked rhetorically. "What do you mean?" Jackie asked hopefully. "That chemical they were dumping had catalyzing properties. It can scramble DNA with other organic material; like the earth itself," Batman explained grimly.

Tony had waited a long time to enact his revenge, and now seemed to be the time.

The ground began to shake again, and the group instantly knew it was Tony. "He's after me. I'm sorry," Bill said, hugging Jackie before fleeing. Bill couldn't save himself, but he could direct Tony anger away from Jackie. He ran outside to his car and started driving off.

Batman followed him, while Nigthwing chose to stay behind with Jackie. Batman could only watch as the ground opened up and caught Bill's car before closing up. Pondering his next move, Batman didn't notice Jackie's house going into the ground.

He gasped and ran towards the house. Although he was slowed by falling trees and exploding rocks; Tony was attempting to stop him from rescuing Jackie. Inside the house, Nightwing and Jackie were barely keeping balance as the house kept shaking. She grabbed Jackie and held her close as they looked at the window. Eliana could only see Terry's distressed face before the only thing in her view was dirt.

~8~

Terry was in a panic. "Eliana, can you hear me?" He pressed his com. All he received was static, "Ellie, Ellie!" He cried. Terry didn't realise he was hyperventilating until Bruce's voice calmed him down. "Mcginnis, listen to my voice. She's fine. Eliana is resilient. She's probably searching for a way out, and we need to help her."

Terry took a couple of deep breaths. "Okay, how?" He asked, still shaken. Bruce explained how he had already sent the bat-sub to his location. All he had to do was wait.

~8~

"Are you alright?" Eliana asked, helping Jackie up. "Wh-what do we now?" She stuttered. "Well, first, let's try to find a way out of here. No doubt Batman's already working on a plan to rescue us. We just have to hold out till that time arrives," Eliana said calmly. She had to remain strong for Jackie.

Besides, she knew Terry and Bruce would not rest until they found her. Thinking about her boyfriend made her sad. She prayed Terry was handling her current position well. This was the first time, of many to come, she was sure that they were separated to this degree. But she had faith.

Nightwing pulled out a flare, and they started wandering around the house. They walked outside the house to realize that they'd been taken to a large underground cave. Nightwing took the lead as they walked further into the cave; not knowing what they'd find.

~8~

Batman steered the sub into a rocky hole. "I'm at the entrance," Terry told Brcue. "Good. Keep your directional mics open. you might pick up something." Or a certain someone. "Alright, I'll keep em open. Where do I start?" Terry asked impatiently. Who knows how large this domain was, and Terry didn't fancy wasting hours on unrewarding searches.

"Well, we got a rough idea of where the house is, and we know the underground rivers can take you almost anywhere in the city. That's the good news," Bruce explained.

Terry, but his lip, "And the bad news?" "Everything else." Terry couldn't get another word in as the sub rattled. Roots had come out of the rocky walls and wrapped around the sub, preventing it from moving. He quickly pushed the lever to boost the subs speed. The roots were no match as the sub broke free and sped down the rest of the tunnel.

'Hold on, Eliana, I'm coming.'

~8~

"No, it can't be... it just can't be," Jackie mumbled. Nightwing held the girl as she almost collapsed from shock. While exploring, they discovered a corpse half-buried in the ground surrounded by metal canisters. Jackie instantly recognized it to be her father. "But you aren't you, you're my father," Jackie slowly went to touch the corpse. "Yes.. Jackie," Tony spoke hollowly.

Eliana herself froze. If she wasn't already creeped out, she definitely was now.

"And this is what the accident did to you," Jackie stated. Well, that apparently was the wrong thing to say. Tony's eyes glowed in anger. "Not accident..not accident!" Nightwing pulled Jackie back as the walls started to crumble. 

Although she knew Tony wouldn't try to hurt his daughter deliberately. 

"But Bill said-" Jackie was cut off by Tony's enraged shouts. A wall started to crackle, and suddenly Bill appeared from the cracks. Nightwing and Jackie helped pull the man up. "Oh my God, Tony?" Bill asked weakly. Hesitantly, Bill went towards the corpse of his old friend. "You...left...me buried!" Tony accused.

The more he spoke, the more the rocky cavern they were in started to crumble and shake. "I thought you were dead," Bill argued.

"No... you...didn't ...want...partner." 

"That's not true. There was nothing I do for you, nothing! But there was Jackie, I took care of her like she was my own daughter. Isn't that what you would've wanted," Bill deflected. The cavern started shaking even more.

"You....stole...her!" Tony yelled out. Bill hugged Jackie tightly, "You wanna kill me, go ahead. I've got a lot to answer for, but for God's sake, let Jackie go!" Bill reasoned.

"She stays...and...you...die!" Bill started to be dragged into the ground, and Jackie tried keeping him above ground. Nightwing ran forward to help him but was launched back and began getting buried into the wall. Eliana struggled to get out of her imprisonment. To prevent Jackie from saving Bill, Tony created a dirt monster to hold his daughter. "Let him go!" Jackie screamed at her father. 

A red batarang flew across the air and sliced through the monster's legs, destroying it. Eliana turned to see Batman uptop the bat-sub. "You heard her, let him go!" Batman demanded. He jumped off the sub and walked menacingly towards Tony, "Don't make me repeat myself."

Enraged at the intrusion, Tony summoned a small army of dirt men, but Batman was equipped to deal with them. He fought the dirt men with a spinning blade. Then he ran over to his partner and freed her. "Bout time you got here," Nightwing joked.

They ran to Bill and pulled the man out of the ground before Batman tossed him into the underground river next to the sub. Tony wasn't about to give up, however, and creates another giant dirt man, which grabs Jackie before she can escape. The dirt giant also grabs Batman, but Nightwing sent a batarang at the cannisters around Tony. They break, causing the chemicals to soak the creature and cause it enough pain to make it lose its connection to Tony.

The dirt giant's hands break apart, and the duo takes Jackie to the sub. "Think you can get us out of here?" Nightwing asked her partner. "I'll try," Batman answered. They were making good progress, but their escape route was blocked by a massive boulder.

Batman tried to destroy the boulder with the subs torpedoes, but it was too strong. "Try another one," Bill suggested. Nightwing looked at the weapons monitor, "That's all we had left," she responded grimly.

Back in the cavern, Tony could sense the danger his daughter was in, "... Jackie...." Using the last of his power, Tony smashed the boulder with earthen tentacles. Then Tony noticed that his dirt giant was about to fall on him and decided to submit. The giant falls, tearing him from his prison at last, causing him to die.

With the boulder of the way Batman easily steered to safety. "My father," Jackie commented brokenly. Nightwing turned to look at the girl, "He's not your father, not really, he's a ghost," she told her. It seemed Jackie caught on to what she was telling her and turned to hug Bill, accepting him as her true father.

~8~

"No more earth movements, which means we'll have to assume that Tony Maychek is gone for good. Good work tonight, you both deserve some rest. " That was the first thing Bruce said when they entered the cave, but Eliana could see the relief in his eyes when he saw Terry and her unharmed. She knew what Bruce was trying to convey, even if he couldn't quite express it properly.

Terry didn't say anything. All he did was change out of his suit and storm upstairs. Eliana watched him leave worriedly, but she didn't understand what had happened to make her boyfriend act like that. Almost as if reading her mind, Bruce supplied, "He was scared." Eliana raised an eyebrow, "Of what, Earthmover?"

"Of losing you. You have to understand Eliana when you were cut off from contact with Terry.. he had a hard time handling it. It was his first challenge of not having you by his side to deal with a big problem. It terrified him. I suggest you have a talk with him."

Eliana cursed her obliviousness, Bruce shouldn't have to point out obvious things in their relationship.

Running upstairs, Eliana found her boyfriend sitting on the living room couch hunched over. He didn't acknowledge her presence, even when she sat beside him. Eliana was patient and waited for Terry to open up when he was ready. "I thought I'd lost you. When I saw you trapped in the house and not being able to get to you in time....I..." He couldn't finish.

Eliana drew him into her embrace and let him break down. She rubbed his back as he wept softly. After some time, Terry stopped and pulled out of her arms. "I lost my dad Ellie..I don't think I know I'm not strong enough to lose you," Terry confessed. Eliana cupped his cheek, "I was scared too, Terry. Being apart from you was torture. But this is our life, and there will be times when one of us will get injured. What matters is that we keep moving forward even when we feel like we can't."

"You are not gonna lose me, Terry Mcginnis, you hear me? Neither of us will lose the other, not as long as we keep fighting," Eliana said, looking Terry right in the eye.

"I love you, Eliana," Terry said, leaning his forehead against hers.

"I love you too," Eliana responded back, bringing their lips together.

Comment