Law & Order: SVU is created by Dick Wolf and is owned by NBC/Universal. Batman and the Bat-universe was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, and is owned by DC Comics. I'm no making any money from this story, nor do I claim any possession over these characters.
This story is rated MA for adult themes and because it's pretty dark and wild and creepy. So strap yourselves in, boys and girls, and keep your hands inside the ride at all times.
Batman & Benson 7
Chapter One
He awoke in darkness.
He hung upside-down, with his arms crossed tightly over his bare chest. He took a deep breath and opened the wide, obsidian orbs that were his eyes. He was used to the darkness, and could normally see very easily in the dimness, but the area he was contained in was pitch black, with nary a light source anywhere. He could not see anything.
He let out a high-pitched shriek, and his super sensitive ears immediately picked up the sound as it bounced off the walls all around him. He instantly knew that he was still confined in his cage.
Growing angry, he opened his arms, an act which unfurled his leathery wings, and let out a defiant screech.
As if in answer, he heard metal scraping against metal to his left. There was a sudden rush of cool night air. The door had opened. He was free once more.
He stretched out his arms and released the bar from the grasp of his feet. Once he dropped, his wings caught the air, and he was aloft in the night sky. As he flew over the cityscape, which was aglow with a multitude of lights, he let out another shriek, allowing his sonar-sensitive ears to get their bearings. It was good to be out. It was good to be on the hunt once more. For he was hungry.
He was very hungry.
B&B
'I'm missing something,' the Dark Knight thought.
Parked in a darkened alleyway about a block west of Police headquarters, Batman kept his attention on the police band, which babbled softly in the background of the Tumbler's cockpit. But, according to the radio, all was quiet. There was nothing wrong.
'At least, not yet,' Batman thought, troubled.
"Something the matter?" Robin asked.
"What makes you think there's something wrong?" Batman said, genuinely curious to hear his partner's take on the situation.
"Just the fact that you've been unusually quiet," Robin replied. "Or, I should say, you've been even more quiet than usual."
Batman decided to speak aloud what was bothering him. "I'm missing something here."
Robin gave him a double take. "What? You? Seriously? Not possible. This plan of yours is foolproof!"
"No plan is ever truly foolproof, Robin," Batman solemnly said. He gazed over at police headquarters, a gleaming beacon of hope in the darkness, and mentally went over the plan in his mind. But this time, he tried to look at his plan from the outside, as if he were the enemy seeking any kinks in the armor.
Before Batman could finish his tactical review of the present situation, Robin abruptly flinched and shouted, "What the hell?"
Batman had glanced up just in time to see it: a large, dark shape had flown silently right over the roof of the Tumbler. He opened the cockpit and stood up, glaring at the winged nightmare that soared off into the darkness behind them. The Dark Knight automatically felt his body tense up, as if preparing for battle. There was a new threat in his town, and Batman wanted nothing more then to go hunt this strange creature down, throttle it by its neck, and demand to know just what the hell was it dong here in Gotham City.
When Robin saw the long, nightmarish wings that unfurled from the creature, all he could say was: "Who the hell is that, Dracula?"
Batman instinctively wanted to give chase, but whatever that creature was, it was now long gone. Besides, he and Robin already had an important mission to carry out this evening. And, for all Batman knew, that may well be the whole purpose of this creature, to draw him and Robin away from their mission.
"Shouldn't we go after it?" Robin asked.
"No, too many people are counting on us right now; we can't go hunting after something which might well be a decoy; something sent to divert us on a wild goose chase."
"But this is Ivy we're dealing with," Robin said, surprised. "Shouldn't we be expecting an attack in the form of a plant?"
"Perhaps, perhaps not. You never know what Ivy might have up her sleeve."
"Like what?" Robin asked with a smirk. "Plant food? Seeds?"
"You haven't dealt with Poison Ivy, Robin. Never underestimate her. That was something I learned the hard way a long time ago. In any event, we should remain here on station. They will need us, should Ivy decide to-"
"Batman," Olivia's frantic voice came over the Tumbler cockpit's speakers. "Batman, come in, please!"
Batman quickly sat back down and hit a button on the dashboard. "I'm here, Liv. What's wrong, sis?"
B&B
As she pulled her black hair back into a pony tail and secured it in place with a rubber band, Renee Montoya realized that she was suffering from the worst case of the heebie-jeebies she'd ever had. She stood in the women's rest room on the MCS floor of Gotham City Police Headquarters, and gazed at herself in the mirrors above the row of sinks. Renee picked up her bullet proof vest from where she had placed it in the sink and strapped it on. She gently tapped the metal plate that was hidden under the layer of dark blue fabric, and wondered if this would really be enough to protect her. Because, after all, this wasn't just any prisoner transfer they were doing tonight.
Samantha Spade, Renee's fellow detective in the Major Case Squad, entered the women's room and smiled nervously at her. She carried a bullet proof vest under her arm. "You ready for this?"
"Yeah," Renee said hesitantly. "At least I hope I am."
"I'm not," Sam admitted. She checked her reflection in the mirror. Her blond hair was pulled back into a pony tail, which spilled out the back of her dark blue cap that read GCPD on front in bold yellow letters. "Well, the sooner we get this crazy broad into Arkham Asylum, the sooner she'll be out of our hands."
"No longer our problem," Renee said in agreement, as she helped Sam to strap on her vest. "But we just have to get her there, first."
Once Sam was suited up, she glanced uneasily at herself in the mirror and said, "I still feel unprotected. You know, instead of just a vest, we should be wearing suits of armor."
"I know, right?" Renee quickly agreed. "I hate dealing with these super villains! Batman catches them for us, but we still gotta put up with them. They've got to have their day in the courts; they've got to be placed in the system. Sort of makes you wish…."
When she paused, Sam turned around and gazed at her with concern. "What?"
Renee was about to say that she wished Batman had killed his opponents. It would certainly make life much more easier for all involved. But she didn't finish her dark thought, because she instantly knew it was wrong. She had been blathering again. The terrible news she had received earlier today had caught her completely off guard and put Renee in a foul mood. "I just wish Liv was with us," Renee told Sam, amending her original thought, "because then, with her here, Batman would also be with us, watching out for us."
Sam smiled at her. "Well, I've got good news. I've just heard from a little bird that Batman has been busy advising Commissioner Gordon on the route to the county lock up. They've made sure the route runs straight through the heart of town, where there's very little plant life. And wherever there is a plant, or a tree, it's been removed."
"What about when we get outside of town?"
"Batman himself will be shadowing us, following us all along the route. If Ivy makes her move, she'll be dealing with the Dark Knight."
Renee nodded. She felt better knowing that the Batman would be along for the ride. But she just wished the Batman could have assuaged the gaping hole that had been torn into her heart earlier that afternoon when Christine had told Renee she had wanted a separation.
"Renee?" Sam asked with a concerned look. "You ok?"
Renee almost told her the whole story just then: that her lover, an ER doctor whom Renee loved with all of her heart, had wanted to break off their relationship. The reason Christine gave was that Renee was too damned afraid to come out about their relationship with her family and friends. Christine thought it was because Renee was ashamed of her, and the more Renee thought about it, she couldn't help but wonder if it were really true.
Because right here and now, Renee had hesitated to tell Sam the truth, and the reason for this was she felt too embarrassed; and in this instant Renee realized that Christine was right, that she was indeed ashamed.
"I still wish Liv was coming with us," Renee said dismally. "I'd really like to talk to her about something."
"Well, Liv and the SVU have their own problems right now," Sam told her. "But I'm sure you two can talk when we come back. Are you sure you're all right, Renee?"
She nodded. "It's just problems with my love life."
"Oh, yeah," Sam said, with a wave of her hand. "I can understand that!"
"Don't tell me you can Logan are having problems?" Renee asked when they left the rest room.
"No, we're good. But Logan can be a real big lug at times. Men really are annoying, aren't they?"
"Yeah," Renee said briskly.
When they joined the main group of MCS detectives in the hallway, Harvey Bullock glared at them and said, "There youse are! Took youse gals long enough to pretty yourselves up!"
"Where's your vest?" Renee asked him, ignoring the jibe.
"They ain't made a vest worthy enough to protect the likes of me," Harvey declared.
"You mean you outgrew the last extra large vest we had especially made for you," Renee said, as she patted his enormous stomach. "When are you gonna take a hint and drop a few pounds, Harvey?"
"When the Gotham Knights finally get in the playoffs," he said, with a broad grin at her. "By the by, Gordon and the others are in the garage, getting our rides ready."
"Be careful, Harvey," Sam called, as she entered the cell block section of the MCS bullpen with Renee. "The Gotham Knights stand a really good chance of getting in the playoffs this year."
"What, you holding me to that?" Bullock called back with a grin.
"You'd better believe it!" Renee answered.
Renee and Sam lost their smiles and instantly put on their game faces when they walked up to the prisoner, who was seated alone in her jail cell.
Harley Quinn's light blond hair was pulled back into a pair of Pippi Longstocking-style pony-tails that hung down on both shoulders. Clad as she was in red-colored prisoner overalls (the crimson color tagged her as being a high-risk, extremely dangerous convict), and no longer wearing her garish Harlequin costume and make up, Harley looked as normal as Renee had ever recalled seeing her.
But those eyes.
Even while dressed as a relatively normal-looking human being, the sheer, stark raving insanity that lurked in Harley's eyes could not be hidden. When she stared crazily at them, Renee wanted nothing more than to shout for her to look away. When Renee abruptly felt a slight itch at the back of her throat, she let out a cough.
"All right, Harley," Sam said with a wary look. "You ready for your trip back to Arkham? It's a lovely evening for a ride."
Harley's crazed peepers gazed insanely at them both as she leaned forward on the bench that she sat on and nodded. "Yes, it is. It's a lovely night…for a break out."
Renee let out another cough, then she frowned in puzzlement when she had to cough yet again. 'What, am I coming down with a cold, to top it all off?'
"Look, Harley, we're not in any mood for…." Sam stopped herself to let out a cough. Then she coughed again.
When Sam coughed a third time, she glanced at Renee with wide-eyed alarm. "I-I can't breathe…."
"I can't…breathe…either," Renee managed to get out in-between her own coughing fit. She didn't know what this was, but it came on abruptly.
Sam fell to the floor, still coughing violently, and Renee picked her up and half-carried/half dragged her to the doorway.
"Gee, I sure hope it ain't the bird flu!" Harley said. Oddly, she didn't appear to be affected like Renee and Sam were. "I haven't even seen any birds around here, have you?"
But once she got the door opened, Renee was startled to see that everyone on the entire MCS floor was coughing and struggling for breath. All of the escort force for Harley, including Harvey, were now lying helpless on the floor.
Renee, whose eyes were tearing so badly she could barely see, reluctantly lowered the unconscious Sam to the floor. She tried using her cell phone, but her eyelids were now seemingly glued shut. And her cough was so ferocious that Renee could barely think straight.
"I…be back," Renee said, straining to get the words out through her incessant coughing. "Get…help…."
Renee staggered towards the exit, at least she hoped she was headed for the exit, she couldn't really be sure. But all she knew now was that she had to get help…from Olivia. The SVU were their neighbors. Liv would help her.
Renee blindly pushed through the main doors of the MCS bullpen. The elevators should be directly in front of her. Renee reached out with her hands, hoping to reach the elevator…hoping to reach Liv…before it was too late for them all.
"You don't have to bother giving me a ride tonight, guys!" Harley cheerfully called out, her taunting voice echoed down the halls. "My mommy will be picking me up instead!"
B&B
When Poison Ivy strolled into the MCS bullpen, she smiled serenely at all of the police officers who lay flailing about on the floor, like fish suddenly finding themselves out of the water and laying helplessly on the ground in the baking sun. Her toxin had worked perfectly. And all it took was one after-hours visit disguised as a cleaning lady to set up the vents.
"Excuse me," Ivy murmured, as she bent over the prone form of a blonde detective who lay by the door of the cell block. Removing the woman's keys from her belt, Ivy dangled them before her and added, "Just need to borrow these, if you don't mind."
Ivy then walked into the jail section, until she came across a smiling Harley. "Hello, mommy!" she said gleefully.
"Hello, darling," Ivy said, as she unlocked the cell door. "Have we been a good little girl?"
"Oh, no, mommy," Harley happily replied, as she embraced Ivy in a tight hug. "We've been very naughty!"
"Hmm, looks like mommy will have to discipline you later, you naughty girl," Ivy said, just after they shared a passionate kiss.
"Ooo," Harley said excitedly. "I can't wait!"
B&B
"Come on, Pickles, come on, girl! Oh, that's a good girl!"
The little Pekingese dog, who was Charlotte's pride and joy, smiled at her warmly as she came running over to her mistress. Charlotte glanced up and down the street, making sure nobody else was around. She knew she was supposed to have Pickles on a leash, but Charlotte just didn't have the heart to lead her best little friend in the entire world around the streets by the neck like she was some kind of an animal.
Charlotte still carried a leash, just in case someone came across them and noticed they were breaking the dog leash law. She could just quickly attach the leash to Pickles and then act like nothing was wrong if they should call the police on them. But Charlotte really had to be careful lately, thanks to that silly cow, Mrs. Augustine, who claimed that she was onto what Charlotte was doing and threatened to get her and Pickles on video with the camera gizmo in her cell phone.
"Filming me without my permission," Charlotte said with a harrumph. "Really…what nerve!"
Charlotte was momentarily panicked when she lost sight of Pickles. But she relaxed once she saw that her little darling was sniffing out a tree by the curb.
"Pickles, sweetheart," Charlotte called, trying to keep her voice low so that the tenants in the apartment buildings on either side of the street wouldn't hear her. "Come to mama, baby, come on!"
The little Pekingese smiled at her once more as she came running. Charlotte didn't care what anybody said; as far as she was concerned, her darling little baby girl was smiling at her whenever she opened her mouth like that. And it was always such a joy for her to see.
Charlotte was startled when a large black shape flew in close right over her head. The force of wind alone generated by the strange flying object was almost enough to knock her over. Yet it was as silent as the grave.
She stared in numb horror as the massive black shape swooped down on Pickles and grabbed the little dog with both claws that extended out from a pair of legs. The shadowy creature, looking like a devilish monster straight from hell, unfurled its leathery wings and took flight into the night sky once more, this time with a wiggling Pickles caught within its grasp.
Charlotte could hear the monster let out a horrifying screech as it zoomed back up into the night sky with her beloved dog.
"PICKLES!" Charlotte cried, as she ran after her dog. "PICKLES! PICKLES!"
"Yo, lady, shut the hell up!" a tenant called from an apartment window. "We're trying to watch TV!"
"Hey, lady," another tenant, a man, called. "I got yer pickle right here! Why don't you come on up?"
"PICKLES!" Charlotte screamed, as she continued to run down the street. She now didn't care who heard; all Charlotte cared about was saving her little dog. "PICKLES!"
Yet as hard as Charlotte had tried to run, it was no use. Her dearly beloved Pickles was gone; seemingly swallowed up by the very night itself. She was later found wandering dazed in the streets on the South Side, several blocks away from her home, by a GCPD patrol unit. The overcome Charlotte muttered just one word over and over: "Pickles."
Unable to reach the stunned elderly woman, who appeared to be in a state of shock, the uniformed officers dropped Charlotte off at the emergency room at Mercy General hospital. An examination show her to be physically fine, yet she had obviously suffered some sort of a trauma, as if she were attacked.
The attending physician, fearing the worst, made the decision to call the Gotham City SVU.
B&B
'If it ain't one thing, it's another,' Olivia Benson thought, as she walked back from the women's room in the hallway just outside the SVU bullpen.
Normally, Olivia would have used the restroom that was located right in the SVU bullpen, but that was broken, and there would be no repairs done on their women's room until sometime tomorrow.
Olivia just hoped the bathrooms would get fixed before she and Alex would have to leave for Metropolis. She hated the thought of leaving her squad alone with something left undone.
'Stupid frigging police convention,' Olivia thought with an annoyed shake of her head. 'Why'd I let Gordon talk me into going with Alex? I mean, yeah…it's nice that the Metropolis police force wants to start their own SVU, but how'd I become the go-to expert on starting up this sort of thing?'
Katie and J'onn rushed out the door of the SVU bullpen engaged in a vigorous argument. "I don't care," Katie said, "I still think it sucks."
"They don't mean anything by it," J'onn countered. "It wasn't meant to be a direct insult by Mike and Andrea."
"Hey, what's wrong?" Olivia asked them.
"Got a possible rape call from Mercy General," J'onn explained, as he pressed the elevator button. "A woman was brought in looking very confused and frightened."
"Doctors say there's no outward sign of rape, but they fear she might have been attacked," Katie added, as she picked up the explanation. "So they called us in just to make sure."
"And what about Mike and Andrea?" Olivia asked. "You guys having some trouble with them?"
"Hardly, Inspector," J'onn replied. "They've just invited Katie and myself to a movie night."
"Yeah, but the movie they want to show is War Of The Worlds," Katie said with disgust. She glanced around, making sure they were alone, before she continued speaking. "And I'm not watching a movie showing Martians killing and plundering!"
Olivia was instantly touched at how Katie stood by her man…who was the last of his kind, a Martian that was presently disguised as a pleasant, low-key human being. "J'onn's right, Katie, Make and Andrea didn't mean anything by…HOLY CHRIST!"
The elevator doors had opened behind J'onn, revealing the sight of Renee Montoya sprawled out on the floor of the elevator.
"Call an ambulance," Olivia said, as she quickly bent down next to the prone Renee.
"Already doing it," Katie replied, as she pulled out her police dispatch radio.
"Olivia?" Renee fearfully asked. Her eyes were sealed shut and her entire face looked bloated and puffy, as if she had suffered a severe allergic reaction.
Olivia clasped her outreached hand in her own. "I'm here, sweetie. I'm right here. What happened?"
"The entire MCS…" Renee said, in-between a major coughing fit, "taken out…by Ivy…."
'Oh, dear God, that crazy bitch struck here,' Olivia realized with horror. 'She attacked us right here on our home ground!'
"We need to check on the others in the MCS," J'onn said.
"N-No!" Renee cried out in a panic. "S-She gassed the entire place…everybody's down…you shouldn't go there….'"
"Gee, if only there's a super-powered hero around," Katie said, her words dripping with sarcasm, as she gazed directly at J'onn. "But where can we find one this hour of the night?"
J'onn just gave her the slightest of smiles before he glanced at Olivia with a questioning look.
"Stay with her," Olivia told Katie. She patted Renee on the shoulder and added, "I'll be right back, ok, sweetie?"
"I'm not…going anywhere," Renee said, with a weak smile.
When she and J'onn left the elevator and walked into the hall, Olivia nodded and said, "Go. But still, be careful. They don't call her Poison Ivy for nothing, she's a master at deadly toxins."
"Earth-based toxins," J'onn pointed out. "But I understand. I shall be careful."
As he ran off towards the stairs, Olivia pulled out her phone and called Gordon. She quickly told him what was going down, at least as far as she knew. When she hung up with him, Olivia then walked into the SVU bullpen and told Mike and Andrea to cover for John and Katie at Mercy General. When they asked what was wrong, Olivia informed her entire crew of what happened with the MCS. Olivia was extremely pleased, and proud, to see her SVU kids all scramble into action.
She was just about to turn and walk back into the hallway when Olivia saw a frightened-looking Alex standing there, her eyes wide behind her glasses. "Oh, dear God, Liv…."
"Yeah, that about sums it up, sweetheart," Olivia muttered, as she and Alex walked back into the hallway.
"Is she all right?" Alex asked, as she gazed at Renee with concern. Katie, who knelt down beside Renee, looked like she did a great job at comforting her in the elevator.
"Go over and see her," Olivia told Alex. "She'll be glad to see you."
"What're you going to do?"
"I have another call to make," Olivia said, as she pulled out her cell phone and dialed a very special number.
B&B
"Ivy just made her move here and now," Olivia's voice said. She sounded loud and clear in the Tumbler cockpit. "She attacked the MCS…Ivy just laid everybody out with a toxin of some kind."
"Damn it!" Batman said angrily. "I knew I missed something!"
"It was still a good plan," Olivia said, by way of comforting him. "You couldn't have seen all the angles."
"It's not over yet, sis," Batman told her. "I'll talk with you later."
"They've got to be making their escape through the sewer," Robin said. "We should try and head them off at-"
But Batman shook his head. "No need."
Once he switched off the call, the Dark Knight hit another button on the Tumbler console, which started up a display screen that showed a map of Gotham City. There was a small flashing blip that slowly moved in the center of the screen.
"What's this?" Robin asked.
"Plan 'B'," Batman replied. "Just in case something like this might occur, I asked Liv to slip a miniature tracking device into Harley's dinner tonight. Harley swallowed it, literally. Unbeknownst to Harley and Ivy, we're now tracking their every move."
Robin smiled in admiration at him. "And you were worried that you missed something."
Yet Batman, now entirely focused on the hunt, ignored him as he started up the Tumbler's massive engine.
B&B
She ran over the rooftops, feeling as free as the wind, under the night sky. When she arrived at her target zone, the roof top across the street from the museum, Catwoman pulled up her goggles, which served as infra-red glasses that enabled her to see better in the dark, and gazed hungrily at the museum.
"How far are you from the target?" Holly's voice asked in her ear.
Catwoman smiled. "I'm right here."
"What does the security look like?" Holly anxiously asked. "Is it anything like we had anticipated?"
"There's a police car parked near the front door," Catwoman reported. "The cop's talking to the security guards."
"Damn," Holly muttered angrily. "Always something…."
"Don't fret, Holly-my-girl, the fuzz is no doubt just checking in with the guards," Catwoman said. "It's just a matter of waiting until the cop's gone, and then I'll hit the museum."
"Listen, the Stonewell Diamonds should still be in the display case right now," Holly told her. "But they'll soon be moved to the protective vault for the night, so try not to wait too long."
Catwoman let out a chuckle. "Even if they do move them, it won't make a difference. They haven't made a vault yet that I couldn't crack open. Stop worrying, Holly, this plan is foolproof."
"Need I remind you that the last time we were in Gotham City, I was kidnapped?"
"Holly, just relax, all right? I can handle whatever this city throws at me," Catwoman assured her. "Besides, what can possibly go wrong?"
No sooner had she said that then Catwoman heard a loud screeching noise from above her. She turned just in time to see a large creature with a massive wingspan begin to swoop down right at her. It's gleaming claws were poised to strike.
"Whoa!" Catwoman realized there was no cover from that thing on the roof, and so she had nowhere to go but right over the ledge. Quickly pulling the whip from around her waist, Catwoman snagged the end of it on a metal pipe as she dove over the side of the ledge.
The large bat-like creature let out a frustrated screech as its claws grasped empty air right where Catwoman had been standing. Catwoman swung across the front of the building, hanging several stories above the ground, until she jumped back up on the opposite end of the ledge.
She flicked her whip free from the pipe just as the creature swooped down for another aerial assault. She expertly cracked her whip right in the monster's face, sending it shrieking away in pain.
"Hey, you!" a male voice shouted in the distance.
"Oh, great," Catwoman muttered in disgust, as she watched as the cops who had stopped at the museum, who had obviously seen everything, came running across the street with their guns drawn. Behind them the museum's alarm system began to ring as the grounds were lit up by floodlights. The museum was now locked down tighter than a drum.
Within barely a minute, Catwoman's latest heist, one that she and Holly had worked on for months, had just been blown.
"Gotham City police!" one of the cops shouted up at her. "Stay right where you are!"
"Oh, yeah…you bet! I'll just wait right here for you!" Catwoman called over her shoulder, as she began to run across the roof. As she made her escape across the rooftops, Catwoman warily glanced up at the night skies, looking for any sign of that Bat-monster, but she appeared to have fought it off.
"Selena, what's wrong?" Holly asked. "What just happened?"
"The gig is gone, shot to hell," she angrily replied, "by some kind of a flying bat-thing."
"You mean Batman?"
"No, I mean some kind of large bat creature just attacked me on the roof, Holly!"
"A bat creature? What the hell are you talking about? What bat creature?"
"Maybe it's Batman's pet," Catwoman derisively said. "Whatever it is, Holly, it just cost us a very expensive job. And, because of that, it just made an enemy tonight. I swear, I'm going to hunt down that overblown bat and teach it some manners."
B&B
Despite the fact that she had a big day tomorrow, Amanda Waller decided to visit her "guests" before she went home for the night. She went down to the cellblock area and strode up to the first cell with a smile. "Good evening, my dear. And how are we feeling?"
But the blue-skinned prisoner simply glared back at her with those mysterious golden eyes.
Amanda's smile faded as she regarded Mystique. Since having been captured in Gotham City, the shape shifter had not said a word to anyone, not even to her court-appointed lawyer. "If you want us to help you, Mystique, then you've got to help yourself. And the only way you can help yourself is by talking to me."
Mystique regarded her with a smile of her own. Then she shifted into a perfect copy of Amanda Waller and said, "You can help yourself by releasing me."
Despite being unsettled at speaking to a mirror image of herself, Amanda was at least pleased to have finally gotten the woman to say something. "You know I can't do that. You've committed crimes, Mystique, and you must repay society for those crimes."
Mystique transformed back into her normal blue self as she strode towards the cell door, which was made of reinforced clear plastic. "So when is my trial?"
"I told you, there is no trial, not for you. You are a very special case, Mystique. You have an amazing ability, one that could serve and help humankind."
Mystique's smile turned into a sneering grin. "You mean you want me to help humans to hunt down and kill my own kind? Just how stupid do you think I truly am?"
Amanda tried to reach out to her one more time. "Erik Lehnsherr isn't the god that your people make him out to be."
"My people?" Mystique's eyebrows raised in surprise. "And who would that be?"
"You know full well who I mean," Amanda said with disgust. "Your Brotherhood Of Mutants is nothing more than a terrorist group, one that will be crushed out of existence, like all such groups. The sooner you give in to that fact, the better."
"Funny, we think of ourselves as being freedom fighters," Mystique shot back. "And if anybody should consider surrendering, it should be you, Waller. If you'll accept a friendly piece of advice? Give up this fight before you get hurt, or worse."
"You can't hurt me," Amanda said stoically, as she began to walk away. "Your cell is impossible to break free from. You will never get out."
Mystique just grinned at her one last time. "I won't be the one who kills you."
When Amanda walked past Matt Hagen's cell, her smile was genuine. Where Mystique was belligerent and fought them at every turn, Matt was the perfect prisoner who had aided them however he could. In fact, he had turned out to be such a decent fellow that Amanda actually felt guilty at keeping him caged. But rules were rules, and Amanda had to follow them, even though she made them.
"Don't let the blue lady get you down, Amanda," Matt said, as he suddenly shifted into a perfect impression of the blue-skinned Mystique. "She's just pissed that she didn't get a part in the Avatar sequel. She would be perfect for that film. No need for makeup."
Amanda burst into laughter at that. Luckily they were far enough down the hall for the real Mystique to not be able to hear them. "How are you doing, Matt? I see you've improved vastly with your shape-shifting skills."
"Thanks to you; thanks to the training you have given me," Matt said, as he changed back into his fegular human form. "Now that I've gotten my power down pat, when can I be set loose? I'm eager to prove my worth to you."
"I already know that you're a very worthy person," Amanda told him solemnly. "But things have been put on hold while I pay a visit to Gotham City tomorrow. Something has come up, something big."
"They finally caught the Batman?" Matt hopefully asked.
"Oh, I wish!" Amanda said ruefully. "But it's not that. After being blocked by the corrupt city hall regime in Gotham, we've finally been cleared by a judge to enter Arkham Asylum."
"Really? Why? What's there?"
"I'm to speak with the Joker," Amanda replied. "Just getting in to see him is a major coup for the OHMR."
"You sure you don't need me along?" Matt asked, concerned.
"Oh, I'll be fine," Amanda assured him, as she resumed walking down the hallway. "We will be under guard the whole time by one of my own men, as well as the Arkham guards. It will be all right."
"Talking to the Joker?" Matt warily said after her. "Even with my powers, that dude gives me the chills. Better you than me, Doc!"
Amanda suddenly had a mental image of herself face to face with the Clown Prince Of Crime, and for the first time that day, she felt the slightest twinge of fear.
B&B
They followed the homing beacon to an abandoned home center warehouse, which was yet another casualty in these economically unstable times. Batman knew that another empty building like this one was the last thing that Gotham City needed right now, for the city had been just barely hanging on by its fingertips even before the Wall Street crash of '08. Batman realized that the shadowy nooks and crannies that the city was famous for, which made Gotham City a safe haven for people fleeing the ever-probing tendrils of the OHMR, also made it a haven for criminals, as well.
But as he parked the Tumbler in a safe, secluded place in the parking lot, which had dozens of weeds springing up in cracks in the asphalt, Batman realized that they had to take the bad with the good. 'You don't raze an entire garden just because it has a few weeds in it,' he thought. 'You eliminate the weeds…much like what Robin and I are doing right now.'
Once the Tumbler's cockpit opened, Batman held up a portable version of the beacon tracker in his hand. He smirked slightly when he saw where Harley was located within the old home center. "They're in the gardening center."
"Where else?" Robin asked with a chuckle. "You gotta love this Ivy. If nothing else, she's very predictable."
In order to avoid any traps that might be set up along the doors, they entered the home center through a broken skylight in the roof. When he touched down on the floor, Batman switched to infra-red and he was pleased to see Robin do the same.
Robin recently received an updated mask from Lucius, which now gave him all the visual bells and whistles that Batman's cowl had. Both Bruce and Lucius had spoken to Dick about the possibility of completely redesigning his outfit, perhaps with a cowl, but he politely turned them down. His Robin costume, now a second generation combat suit that was improved upon by Alfred, was based on an original design created by Dick's deceased mother. Dick felt that, for as long as he wore the Robin design, a part of his mother would still be alive.
Batman had understood where he was coming from perfectly.
"Looks quiet," Robin whispered.
"Looks can be deceiving, especially with Ivy," Batman replied. He consulted the tracker, then pointed in the direction where they had to go.
The final location of the beacon turned out to be an old greenhouse that was attached to the side of the building. It was a vast, empty space, with a bare earth floor that was broken up every now and then by large concrete columns that held up the roof. Warning bells went off in Batman's head once he realized that the bare earth floor would be a perfect set up for some of Ivy's killer plant life. They would have to be very careful.
"Hello, Batman," a woman's sultry voice called out.
Sure enough, there she was: Poison Ivy stood by one of the stone columns with Harley by her side. Harley was still clad in her prison outfit, while Ivy stood barefoot, adorned in only a slinky green dress.
Ivy held up the tracking beacon in her hand. "Looking for this?"
A chill ran up Batman's back when he saw that. Apparently Harley never swallowed the beacon after all. Yet they still brought it with them, which meant that they had just lured Robin and him into a trap.
"C'mon," Robin said, as he tensed up for battle, "let's get them!"
"Robin, wait!" Batman reached out to grab him, but Robin was already running from him. "Stop, it's a trap!"
"As long as I don't kiss her, what harm can she do?" Robin asked, as he continued his charge at Ivy and Harley.
Batman had no choice but to run after him. "I told you, do not underestimate her!"
And sure enough, there it was: a large wooden branch, as thick as one of Batman's legs, came swinging out from behind one of the stone columns. Robin instantly and effortlessly ducked under the massive branch with ease.
But he completely ignored the second branch that swung out from the opposite column. This second branch, just as large as the first, bashed Robin hard in the face, the impact sending him shooting several yards backwards before he landed roughly on the bare earth floor.
"Ta-ta, for now, Bats!" Harley said with a laugh.
Before checking on the downed Robin, Batman made a visual sweep of the area to make sure that neither Ivy nor Harley were coming back for the killing blow. But they were gone. And there appeared to be no other traps laid out for them. All that was left of them was the beacon, which Ivy had thrown in the dirt.
Batman bent down over Robin. "Robin? Robin, speak to me. Are you all right?"
Yet another chill of fear ran up Batman's spine when he saw that Robin lay very still and was completely unresponsive.