Heroes

"Heroes" is the sixth episode of Batman Beyond. It depicts the birth of a new team of heroes calling themselves "The Terrific Trio". After an accident grants them powers, three scientists become heroes to defend Gotham. For a time, it seems that Gotham will no longer need Batman. Unfortunately, the Trio is soon betrayed by their paranoid allies, and Batman eventually has to protect Gotham from those who once defended it.

Plot
Another crime-ridden night has befallen Gotham. A group of thieves wearing rocket packs have stolen an extremely valuable computer chip and are confronted by Batman. Batman manages to stop one of the thieves but is downed by another. As he recovers, a woman seemingly made of blue mist, wisps by and flies up to one of the thieves. She coats him in a layer of ice causing him to fall. Next, a large creature made of partially molten lava grabs up a large block of cement and knocks two of the thieves from the sky. They are then saved and captured by an extremely flat and stretchable man. Later, a newscast introduces the trio as Magma, Freon, and the 2-D Man. They were once scientists, Dr. Mike Morgan, Mary Michaels, and Stewart Lowe but were bombarded with radiation during a particle fusion experiment. As a result, they transformed into super powered beings and became government-sponsored heroes calling themselves "The Terrific Trio". Terry wonders aloud whether Gotham needs Batman's help anymore, but Bruce is skeptical.

Yet another crime-ridden night befalls Gotham and this time, the police have to deal with a hostage situation involving a city councilman's family. The kidnappers refuse to negotiate and plan to take destructive measures unless their demands are met. Fortunately, the Trio appears and deals with the problem, but the youngest hostage screams at the sight of Magma and continues to fear him even after he personally rescued her. Magma is deeply hurt and smashes a police car in anger.

Back in the Trio Tower, Magma complains about being a freak and being unable to even hold his fiancé in his arms. A friend of theirs, Dr. Hodges, arrives and assures them that they'll be helped in time. However, when he leaves he meets up with General Norman, who openly despises the Trio and expresses concern about the their behavior.

At a mall, Terry and his brother Matt spot a variety of Terrific Trio merchandise. A store employee comments that it's good to have some wholesome heroes the kids can look up to. Matt, being a Batman fan, disagrees.

The general's concerns are later explained as Dr. Hodges looks over a DNA scan and sees that it's unstable. Though Dr. Hodges doesn't want anyone to see the scans just yet, General Norman is informed and when the scans are checked again, Magma steals the cube containing the information. Batman notices the disturbance and goes in to investigate. When he finds Magma, Magma violently forces him out of the way.

Realizing that there's something wrong, Batman goes after Magma. The group watches the DNA scan, which at first seems to show that their conditions are irreversible. Magma looks closer and says its even worse. But before he can explain, General Norman's forces attack the tower seemingly for no reason at all. Confused, Terry is caught up in the assault but manages to survive. The Trio manages to make its escape by setting up their car as a decoy.

General Norman informs an obviously-distraught Dr. Hodges of the trio's "death" in his laboratory. He reminds Hodges that if they found about their deteriorating condition, then they would've become dangerously psychotic. Just then, the trio appear and confront him, saying he knew about the dangers of the experiment beforehand. Hodges denies it, but when Freon freezes his legs and the Trio restarts the experiment, he confesses: he set up the whole thing to kill Mike so that he could take Mary for himself. He didn't mean for Mary to be affected as well, nor for them to end up in their current conditions. He then begs the Trio to stop because the radiation from the experiment will destroy the city, but the Trio have been pushed over the edge and refuse to stop, determined to destroy themselves and take Hodges, General Norman and all of Gotham along with them.

Batman arrives to stop them. He activates a venting system that traps Freon and the 2-D Man inside it. This enrages Magma who then spots Hodges using a Batarang to break himself free and attempts to crawl to safety. In response, Magma throws a large column at the doorway, blocking it. Batman tries to reason with Magma, trying to remind him that he's a hero. Magma retorts that he's no hero, just an accident. Batman is then forced to spray Magma with a fire hose, cooling him into a normal rock. Batman manages to deactivate the experiment.

Batman acerbically asks Dr. Hodges if he is satisfied, now that the Trio appears to be gone. Distraught, Dr. Hodges says he was their friend and mourns for them. A disgusted Batman simply leaves.