The summer's night was warm and thick with humidity. Gotham City sat like a bright beacon, its towers of steel and glass reflecting the lights below high into the moon lit sky. The heat wave had passed, but the summer was still strong with sweltering heat and there were no signs of it breaking. The Friday night was filled with the sounds of traffic and people enjoying the beginning of the weekend. But high above their heads, deep in the shadows that stretched out across Gotham's numerous rooftops, a figure moved silently, but with a purpose.

Batman leapt off another roof top, firing his grapple gun and pulling himself even higher into the night, his cape silhouetted by the full moon hanging overhead in the star-free sky. Landing on the radio antenna of a building, Batman stood motionless, looking out over his city. He had spent the last three nights trying to find the trail of the Joker. Joker had escaped from police custody, killing three officers in the process and sending two more to the hospital. Batman knew the Joker had no money, no weapons, and no gang, which made him even more dangerous because he could not predict what the clown was going to do. All his usual sources had run dry, now he simply had to wait until something happened. But until then he would keep hunting; searching for a lunatic roaming free in his city hoping to catch him before the Joker could kill again.

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Franky 'Dix' Dixon sat at the table in his bar, shuffling the deck of cards in front of him. The bar was packed with the normal assortment of characters; robbers, murderers, gangsters, hookers, you name it, you could probably find them there. Dix had grown up in the Northside of Gotham, growing up on the streets. From a young age, Dix had learned that the easiest way to get something was to simply take it. And that is what he had done. At sixteen, he knifed the leader of his gang in the back, taking control of the small gang, quickly turning them into one of the more powerful street gangs in the Northside. It wasn't long before Dix moved into the drug trade, cutting into the large pie that was Gotham's addiction to any manner of things. With the proper planning and certain deals of a number of other men in similar positions throughout Gotham, Dix had become what everyone in his bar knew to be a major player.

"Dix, you gonna deal or what?"

Dix smiled as the man sitting across from him, guzzling from his glass of cheap beer. Nolan Polanski was one of Gotham P.D.'s 'finest', apart from the fact he was crooked as a snake. Dix had been paying Polanski off for months and in card games, he usually won back most of the money he paid him. Dix was already up six hundred on the fat man.

"Whatever you say, Detective."

The other two men at the table laughed as Dix started to deal the cards out. The entire bar suddenly was in a commotion as the front door to the bar suddenly exploded inward. The crowd in the bar immediately all jumped to their feet expecting a squad of police to come rushing in. Dix leapt to his feet, looking at Polanski.

"What the fuck, Polanski?"

"There was nothing scheduled! I swear!"

The commotion in the bar grew even louder, before they were silenced by a loud, monotone voice that echoed across the entire bar.

"Franklin Dixon."

The crowd immediately separated, revealing to Dix the source of the voice. It was not the police, nor was it a man dressed as a giant bat. Instead stood a man a good seven feet tall, his body encased in what looked to Dix as some futuristic suit of armor. A clear bubble of plexiglass covered the head of the white skinned man, the white eyes of the man staring straight forward at Dix. Polanski literally fell out of his chair, shoving himself backwards. Dix put on a calm face, straightening his tie.

"Only two people ever called me Franklin. My momma and my preacher. And you ain't either, tin man."

"No."

Victor Fries, known to the world as Mr. Freeze stood facing Dix, his emotionless face unmoving as he spoke to the gangster.

"Then what the hell you want?"

Polanski stood up, pulling out his badge and revolver, holding the gun on Freeze as he brandished his badge.

"Victor Fries, Gotham Police! Put your hands in the---"

Polanski was cut off as Freeze lifted his cold gun, firing it. The ray of pure blue slammed into Polanski, immediately covering his body in ice. Dix stumbled back, looking at Polanski's frozen face of horror, then looked at Freeze.

"Get him!!!"

Two mobsters ran up behind Freeze, but Freeze spun around, sending them both flying backwards with a sweeping backhand. The bar was in a frenzy as people began pouring towards any exit they could get to. Another thug ran up, slamming a pool cue into Freeze, the cue splintering from the force of the shot. Freeze simply turned, grabbing the thug by the neck and snapping it. Freeze was suddenly pushed backwards as a shotgun blast impacted into his chest. Freeze was unfazed, stepping forward once again as the mobster ran forward to fire point blank into Freeze, but Freeze's hand shot forward grabbing and crushing the barrel of the shotgun as the mobster pulled the trigger. The gun exploded in the thugs hands, tearing apart his face and arms. Freeze tossed the barrel of the shot gun to the ground and walked forward, flipping tables out of the way as if they were made of cardboard and firing his freeze gun at anyone pulling a gun or running towards him. Dix stumbled backwards, pulling a pistol out from under his jacket and firing wildly at Freeze. The bullets ricocheted harmlessly off of Freeze's cold suit as Freeze lifted his gun again, firing it. Dix screamed in pain as his hand was instantly encased in a block off ice, frozen to the wall behind him.

"What the fuck do you want?!?"

Freeze's eyes just stared at him coldly as he raised his gun at Dix.

"Something you cannot give me."

Dix started to scream, but was cut off as the gun discharged. Freeze released the trigger and stared at the frozen statue of Dix, his free hand held outstretched as he tried to ward off the impeding cold that encased him. Freeze simply stepped forward, driving his boot into Dix, shattering the statue into pieces. Freeze turned his head, hearing the distant sounds of police sirens, then simply turned to the back wall of the bar, firing his freeze gun. The brick wall was frozen solid in an instant and Freeze stepped forward, punching through the wall off ice and sending the wall exploding outward. Stepping out into the alley behind the bar, Freeze walked into the darkness, disappearing into Gotham's shadows.