Static assists Batman and Robin in taking down a time-traveling villain. As a result, however, he's sent forty years into the future. Before he can find a way back home, a retired Bruce Wayne and future Batman Terry McGinnis recruit him to save a hero: Static, Virgil's future self.
Tropes for this episode include:
- And I'm the Queen of Sheba: When Terry tells Virgil that he's Batman during their fight, Virgil doesn't believe him and introduces himself as Beyoncé. Terry didn't catch the sarcasm as when Bruce arrives, he tells him the intruder claims he's someone called Beyoncé.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Virgil is unimpressed with the Jokerz, calling them a bunch of harmless clowns. Then he sees what their weapons can actually do.
- Big Word Shout:Terry: Robin? He's... a civilian now. And the League is off near Alpha Centauri, Gear's on the other side of the planet, and your son is—
Static: SON?! - Canon Foreigner: Time Code, the supervillain who’s time machine kicks the plot off.
- Compressed Vice: More like Compressed Desire; Static admits that he wishes that he had a mentor, the way Tim and Terry have one in Bruce.
- Crazy-Prepared: Older Bruce was expecting young Static to show up ever since the accident.
- Crossover: With The New Batman Adventures (although the episode's present day seems to take place during Justice League) and Batman Beyond.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Adult Static versus the Cobras. He only flicks his fingers and they go down.
- Deus Exit Machina: The younger Static is included on this mission, as Terry and Bruce are shorthanded at the moment. Gear is having an adventure on the other side of the planet, the Justice League is currently out near Alpha Centauri, and Static's own son is on an unspecified mission.
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: The Batman Beyond theme song is used as the Leitmotif for time-travelling.
- Doomed by Canon: A nonfatal example: Terry mentions offhand to Virgil that Robin is a citizen in the future. He doesn't mention that Robin was tortured by the Joker and then body-hijacked by him. If Virgil had known, he definitely would have told Tim Drake.
- Dramatic Irony: Virgil sees a future Bruce, who has retired and is mentoring another Batman. He has no idea about why Future Bruce retired, and only tells present day Bruce, who would rather not know his future, that he still has hair (which is true... until "Epilogue").
- Dude, Where's My Respect?:
- Robin is annoyed that the press refers to him as Batman's "young friend"
- Averted when Terry gives Virgil a What the Hell, Hero? speech for getting tricked by the Jokerz. Virgil actually looks crestfallen in that he failed, and goes to think on how to save himself.
- Entertainingly Wrong:
- So a random person in a costume is in the Bat Cave? He must be an intruder? Terry might have gone on the offensive, but he's had intruders in the dark before.
- Cobra on seeing a smaller Static assumes that he is a "failed clone". Entirely plausible in this continuity, and also entirely incorrect.
- Formerly Fit: Static discovers that Gear's Big Eater tendencies apparently catch up to him when he gets older, as the future Gear's overweight.
- Future Badass: Static in the future is most definitely this, given that he's a high profile hero that needs to be locked down in stasis when the Cobras capture him. The present Static is impressed with what he becomes.
- Hostage Situation: The Cobra gang have taken Static hostage to free their leader from prison. The police is willing to do a prisoner exchange.
- It's Personal: Based on Cobra leader's delighted expression to learn Static was the prisoner he was being exchanged for and how he made a ceremony out of preparing to kill him, it seems that they've crossed paths and the leader has a grudge against him.
- Lampshade Hanging: Terry points out the possibility of the younger Static getting killed during the course of this adventure and how that would adversely affect the future.
- Let's You and Him Fight: When Virgil ends up in the future, Terry mistakes him for an intruder. They begin to fight as Virgil lectures Terry on attacking Batman's "guests".
- Mugging the Monster: The Jokerz made a mistake in targeting Virgil while the latter is in civilian guise.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Virgil accidentally got himself and Terry in a fight against a gang of Jokerz due to thinking they had a lead on the Kobras. After defeating them, Terry gets infuriated when Virgil expected a thanks for helping to defeat the gang (which Virgil got them in the fight in the first place). Terry angrily tell Virgil that he did nothing but waste their time in a wild goose chase and because of that, they had missed Bruce's contact.
- Poor Communication Kills: The older Static was lured into a trap with a phony message from Gear asking to meet up at a given location. The younger Static deduces that his counterpart didn't know that Gear was already away on a mission at the time.
- Sarcasm Failure: Either Terry was being sarcastic when he repeated Virgil's quip of being Beyoncé to Bruce or he has no idea who Beyoncé is. Guess she fell off by the 2050's?
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Played for Laughs. After seeing Gear in the future has put on weight, Virgil tells Richie in the present to “lay off the fries”.
- Shout-Out: Virgil sarcastically tells Terry that he's Beyoncé.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Time Code only appears in the Cold Opening of the episode, as the creator of the time machine that sent Static to the future.
- Superpowerful Genetics: Terry informs Virgil that he has a son and heavily implies that he's also a superhero.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Terry is not happy to be working with the younger Static, both due to the kid's inexperience compared to the older version and their differing styles in general. Terry gets over it by the end.
- Time for Plan B: When they miss a Cobra contact, Static goes to his old gas station to think. He finds a fake message from Gear in the hideout, which leads them to the Cobra's location.
- You Do NOT Want To Know: Inverted. Back in the present, Static is about to tell Batman what he saw in the future, but Batman doesn't want to know. Static tells him he at least keeps his hair.
