Yuup, the first part of my random oneshots. A lot of them are prompts I've gotten from the gals over on Batfans United! I just want to say now that all of these oneshots are going to be set in 'The Batman'. I may bring in canons that existed only in other versions, but I still mean the setting to be the Batman.
This one's for D.A.V.E, who really needs moar love.
He'd...miscalculated. He hated to admit it, but it was the truth. There was no way for him to disguise this, not when the repairs had been extensive and it had taken him nearly two weeks to get back into a solid body. It greatly stung his pride, but the Batman had nearly taken him offline. Bruce's efforts had been only 7% away from being entirely successful, his great mind calculated.
All three of his red optics narrowed, enraged by the thought. He hated the repairs, the entire process of coming back online. Hated the hellish days he'd spent trapped as little more than a computer program, a ghost amongst machines. It was a continuous reminder of his undeserved incarceration in this metal prison. Had he really been so bad, as a man?
He couldn't...he couldn't remember. That was the worst. His doctor, Hugo Strange, had told him that he was once the greatest villain the city had ever known. Too calculating, too dangerous for normal punishment. His body had been mortally wounded, the good doctor had mentioned, and while they'd had the technology to repair him...instead, they'd believed it was safer to put his mind into a machine forever. To use him, to study his brilliance to put an end to the other criminals.
D.A.V.E hissed at the thought. Well, if the higher ups in Gotham thought they were safe now because of Batman, they had another thing coming. He knew what to expect from the man now, knew that fighting him in his own lair was something best avoided. He wouldn't make that mistake again, he'd force Batman onto his own playing field, when the time was right.
..But for now, he'd show this city the kind of fun Strange had insisted he put it through decades prior. They would come to see, just how much of a mistake they'd made by practically making him immortal. He'd show them, he'd show them all!
He was the perfect criminal.