Back at the cave, Terry picks up a warning signal coming from Roqueteer's lab again. He turns to Bruce, who is looking up at the screen.
"It could be a trap," he starts, turning his attention to his protégé.
"But I can't ignore it."
It's not like either man's style to back away from a threat even if their lives would be put on the line, but Bruce doesn't want to be responsible for Terry getting hurt. Looking at Terry's confidant face though gives Bruce the feeling that he won't be able to stop the young man even if he wanted to. After all, Terry is hardheaded and fearless.
With some hesitation, Bruce gives in. "Be careful. I'll monitor you from here." With permission granted, Terry gets up and heads to an alcove to change.
The Batmobile arrives on the lab's rooftop before a dark shadow silently jumps out of the car. Batman peers through the skylight looking for a blob of ink making herself too comfortable, but he finds it strange when everything appears intact.
"Seems pretty quiet," he whispers to Bruce over the com-link. "I'm going in."
"Keep a sharp eye," Bruce replies. "This doesn't feel right."
Batman opens the window and slips in. He drops to the floor landing crouched and straightens up when nothing stirs. Taking a step forward, his foot falls into a dark shadow without realizing that it's Inque in disguise. Taking advantage of Batman's faulty move, she grabs hold of his ankle and throws him against a wall.
"What took you so long?" She asks as she reforms her body into the familiar figure that is Inque.
Still grabbing onto his ankle, she throws him against the opposite wall before letting go of him. She morphs her arms into sharp daggers and aims to stab him. Before she could strike, Batman rolls out of the way and grabs a hold of Inque's extended arm. He uses the suit's electric feature to stun her. However, its effect isn't as dramatic as he expected since she barely flinches. Still hanging on to her, Inque whips her arm trying to free it from Batman's grip by throwing him against the wall he slammed into earlier.
He needs to gain distance between them if he wants to win this battle; spotting the catwalk close to the ceiling, Batman flips his wings out and fires his rockets helping him take flight. But just before he reaches the walkway, Inque stops him in mid-air by once again wrapping a tentacle around his legs.
"Oh no, you don't," she smiles.
With some effort, she manages to pull him down and break off both of his wings. She then slams him onto one of the conveyor belts, morphs her free arm into a hammer and pounds him. The first blow leaves him disoriented, but not broken. Before the second swing hits him, he flips back and off the belt. Looking up, he notices a large contraption hanging over Inque. To distract her, he fires two electric batarangs that momentarily stun her giving him enough time to fire another batarang cutting the cables suspending the machine.
Ducking behind another piece of equipment for cover, the machine shatters on top of Inque causing debris to fly in every direction. After the dust settles, Batman comes out of hiding ready for another attack. For an agonizing moment, silence is all that surrounds him. He slowly approaches the mess only to be surprised by an arm shooting out of the debris and grabbing hold of his neck.
She climbs out of the rubble, obviously irritated. "You shouldn't have done that."
Her grip tightens around his throat slowly choking him as she throws him over and over again into several other pieces of machinery before finally slamming him onto the ground. She then grabs a forklift from her left and drops it on the unsuspecting Batman. When a few moments pass without movement, Inque approaches the mess ready to deliver the final blow. Suddenly, Batman pushes the vehicle off him and puts a hand to his throbbing head.
"McGinnis? Are you alright?" Bruce asks, his tone showing some concern.
"If you consider seeing double and a splitting headache alright, then yeah, I'm peachy," Batman replies as blood trickles down his chin dripping onto the floor.
"Then I suggest you get out of there."
He tries to stand but excruciating pain shoots from both sides of his chest making it difficult to move. In an attempt to escape Inque, he fires a grapple hook at the skylight and begins to ascend. Before he could reach the safety of the roof, Inque extends her body to meet his battered frame, wraps her hand around his wrist and squeezes until she hears a sickening crack.
Batman cries out in pain but is too weak to get himself free. In a blink of an eye, she turns her free hand into a large blade, and cuts the wire hooked on the skylight before finally stabbing Batman deep in his side until the blade sticks out the other side. Another pained cry escapes his lungs before darkness engulfs his mind. He hangs limp and unconscious in Inque's vice grip before she finally lets him fall fifteen feet and land hard on the ground.
"Terry!" Bruce's frightened cry calls into the com-link but goes unanswered.
"Night, Batman; hope you burn in hell." With a satisfied grin on her face, she disappears out the window.
Lying unconscious in a growing pool of his own blood, Batman's breathing begins to falter sending warning signals to the computer. It's no secret that Terry is in deep trouble. Bruce can't wait for him to regain consciousness, because he knows in this state, it's impossible. Although terrified, he is still able to maneuver the Batmobile to enter the building and pick up Batman to drive him back to the cave. As he anxiously waits, Bruce monitors the feedback on Terry's heart and breathing rates he receives from the suit. His breathing is getting worse, but his heart rate is still more or less regular.
It takes the car twelve agonizing minutes to finally reach the cave where it lands in its designated spot. Bruce quickly hobbles over as the canopy slides open, but no one jumps out. Dropping his cane once he reaches the car, he peers in to find Terry still unconscious and blood covering the car's floor.
His face pale with fear, he removes the mask. "Terry! Wake up! Can you hear me?" Nothing; not even a twitch. Terry's bruised and bleeding face remains still. Bruce needs to get him to a hospital, but he can't do it alone.
'It's my fault,' he quietly blames himself as he fumbles with the phone to call Barbara. 'It always is.'
-continued-
