Batman Beyond episode
"Ace in the Hole"
Airdate:	August 19, 2000
Production Number:	41
Airdate Order:	39
Animation Services by:	Koko/Dong Yang
Written by:	Hilary J. Bader
Directed by:	James Tucker
Episode images (4)

"Ace in the Hole" is the twenty-sixth and final episode of the second season of Batman Beyond. It shows the origin of Bruce Wayne's faithful dog Ace.

Plot Edit

Terry drives Bruce to his chiropractor's appointment and then takes Ace for a walk while he is waiting. Suddenly, Ace catches sight of a strange man and becomes wild, dragging Terry along while chasing after the man, who flees. Terry is unable to stop him, and Ace rips off his leash and disappears.

Bruce confronts Terry, who is baffled as to why Ace chased after the man. 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. Both Bruce and Terry are deeply disgusted.

Bruce reports Ace missing to the police and the animal control authorities. Terry wonders that Bruce isn't more worried, but Bruce says of Ace, "He's a survivor." Terry reveals that he's got his own scheme for finding Ronny. 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 verisimilitude, he wraps a bandage around his arm, saying, "He did that. And me, he likes." Amused, the thug tells him where to show up.

While Terry is absent, Bruce stands in the manor gazing at at Ace's bone and dish by the fireplace and softly wonders aloud, "What did they do to you, boy?"

In flashback, Ace's story is told. As a puppy, he was sold to Boxer illegally by a corrupt pound attendant, Maddie. When Maddie said frankly that Ace didn't look up to fighting, Boxer simply smiled and said he would make him a champ.

Ace was raised to maturity in Boxer's captivity, deprived and tormented to make him as vicious as possible. In his first fight, he was being matched against a much larger beast, which Boxer honestly didn't expect him to survive. However, just before the fight began, the police raided the arena and arrested Boxer and his associates. Ace escaped and lived as a stray for a long time.

One snowy night, while Bruce was making his regular pilgrimage to Crime Alley (the scene of his parents' murder), he was accosted by a Joker, looking to mug him. Bruce tossed him away and told him to be gone. But as he turned his back, the angry Joker lunged at him. Ace appeared and pounced on the Joker, who clubbed Ace. Angered, Bruce gave the Joker another thrashing and sent him packing. Seeing that Ace had been hurt, Bruce carried him back to his car.

In the present, Terry's sting has led him to Ronny's hideout, which is empty when he enters it as Batman. He sees what looks like a chemistry lab, and large containers of Cerestone — the growth hormone. Terry is even more revolted.

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 Ronny for a high price.

At first, Ronny doesn't recognize his old fighter. But when Ace growls viciously at him, Ronny puts the pieces together and laughs, saying they must be meant for each other.

Terry tracks down Ronny's latest illegal arena, carved out of the belly of a cargo ship. But Ronny sees him coming and lays a trap. As soon as Terry enters the arena, Ronny 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.

Terry tries to calm the beast, but it is rabid. 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 Ronny decides to shoot Terry with a gun. Ace manages to break free and tackles Ronny, then chases after him as he runs in panic to the ship's stern. 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. In shock, it regurgitates Terry, who takes advantage of the beast's distraction to hook a grappling rope around it and attach the other end to his suit's belt, electrocuting the beast.

When Terry emerges from the arena, he follows Ace to the ship's stern, where Ronny is dangling off a rail above the churning propellers, yelling for help.

Terry and Ace return to Wayne Manor, where Ace runs gleefully into his waiting master's arms.

Continuity Edit

• The growth hormone Cerestone was the agent that transformed small-time crook Charlie Bigelow into the villain Big Time in "Big Time".

Background information Edit

Home video releases Edit

• Batman Beyond - Season Two (DVD)
• Batman Beyond - The Complete Series (DVD)

Production notes Edit

• The episode "Big Time", in which Cerestone is first introduced, was produced before this episode, but it aired much later. This is why Bruce and Terry talk about Cerestone as they already know what it does.

Trivia Edit

• This episode establishes that Ace is a "Dane mix".
• Ronny trained Ace in a back room of the criminals-only Stacked Deck.

Cast Edit