Chapter XXI: The Clock's Running Down
Batman and the Cheshire Cat heard the Hatter's announcement rattle across the labs of his domain. As they popped up on floor 24, a reception committee awaited them.
Two Automaton guards, wearing spiked helmets with visors, their bodies completely robotic, waited for them. They moved around on caterpillar tracks, with thick, rust-red torsos covered in armored plates. Their arms ended in short, stubby cannons, and the clockwork mechanisms inside them grinded audibly.
Behind their visors could still be seen very human, unblinking, gray eyes.
The Automaton raised their arms mechanically, and opened fire. What appeared to be black ceramic teapots shot out. Batman dodged to the side, while Cheshire vanished from sight.
The teapots shattered on the wall. Green, acidic liquid splattered against the surface, leaving scorch marks where it hit.
Acid-filled teapots.
What will he think of next?
The Automatons rumbled forward, making snake-like hissing sounds as they moved.
Batman leapt over the head of one of the Automaton, stabbing a long, sharp bat-o-rang blade into the second, directly into the triangle printed on its torso. The cyborg spluttered and then fell, still and cold. The first Automaton showed no recognition of its fallen comrade, but fired another teapot from one of its cannons. Batman ducked quickly, and tossed an explosive capsule. The capsule lodged in the visor gaps of the Automaton, and its body flew apart in a flash of flame and steel shrapnel.
Batman raced down the corridor. At every turn, an Automaton guard would bar his way, but they were easily dispatched with a bat-o-rang or an explosive capsule.
This is getting us nowhere fast...I need to find an alternate route, one where I won't be so easily spotted...
As he felled yet another Automaton, a catwalk above him caught his attention.
Now, why didn't I notice that earlier?
Ah, well. When opportunities arise...
He jumped up, catching hold of the catwalk railing, and climbed up onto the catwalk. On his hands and knees, he crept across the catwalk, trying to make as little noise as possible.
As he neared the end of the corridor, he found a door, continuing down a ramp to the next floor, still on the catwalk.
This may not be as good a spot as I thought...but it's better than nothing.
Snapping out a bat-o-rang, he opened the door and continued down the ramp to the next floor.
Automatons scouted about the floor, garbling in an electronic, unintelligible code...their "language," for all means and purposes.
Batman moved carefully across the catwalk, silent as a mouse...
Then he stopped.
Through the barred window edges beside him, he was able to see into the cells on his side of the wall.
A Gnome, topless and shaved totally bald, was strapped to a dissection table, its head held in place by a hooked brace. On its chest was a sort of strange generator. The creature was sobbing pitifully...then a shock emitted from the mini-generator, and the demented Gnome began to laugh wildly, thrashing about, cutting its scalp and tugging on its restraints.
In the cell beside it, another Gnome was held in a machine, shaped like a giant vice, by shackles and thick chains. The creature seemed unconscious, staring out with a glazed look...
Then the vice pressed down. For a second, the tortured Gnome did nothing. Then the haziness left its eyes, and it screamed in pain.
In the cell beside this experiment, a Gnome was seen, halfway to being an Automaton, its legs having already been replaced with the caterpillar tracks. The thing shrieked and wailed, slamming itself into one wall, then another, before reaching for the door...and stopping only about a foot short, due to a thick rope that was tied around its neck, like a dog's collar and leash. The Half-Automaton would roll backwards, gasping, and then continue the cycle again.
"These creatures cannot be saved right now, Bruce," purred Cheshire. "The only way to set the ones still sane and stable enough to be moved is to defeat the Mad Hatter and destroy the Queen."
"...You were right...about how horrible..."
"Batsy, you're beginning to sound like Rabbit. Control; we have a staff piece to locate."
"Right. The Tea Lab, yes?"
"Yes. There are two very certain characters there who might be able to help us locate the Hatter's piece of the Jabberwock's Eyestaff. Note the word might."
"How far down is it?"
"Several floors more."
Batman nodded, before heading down another ramp.
"This area seems devoid of Automaton...I'm going to take the direct route."
"Well, it is certainly the quickest path...just be careful."
Cheshire vanished.
Meanwhile, back up on floor 25, the Tweedles stood, shaking like ragdolls, before their master.
We're dead, we're dead, we're dead...
"Idiots!" he hissed. "Imbeciles! Dolts! Numbskulls!"
He conked each one over the head with his cane. The twins were secretly glad he hadn't used blades or bullets on them instead.
"You two were supposed to keep an eye on him!"
"B-but...ye tol' us to watch o'er pris'ner 666, too!"
"Not to mention th' other experiments, doctor!"
Hatter half-sighed, half-growled, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers, his eyes narrowing so much they almost seemed to close. (Almost.)
The Lion and the Unicorn...I should have used the Lion and the Unicorn...
"Look, that blasted Bat is more important than anything else here at the moment. He should have been under constant surveillance. I'm giving you both one last chance: find him and bring him to me, dead or alive. He's probably heading downstairs. Take the shortcut to floor 20 and wait there; I'll check the floors above and rendezvous with you bunglers. If he gets there before I do...well, use your imaginations!"
Hatter pushed the twins away and headed toward an empty cell. He pressed a button on the lock.
"Do not fail," he growled, just before the ceiling opened up above him and dropped a tube over him, lifting him up and out of the passage.
Tweedledee and Tweedledum gulped simultaneously.
"Dee? I think it's time to try out our new features."
"Dum, I'm thinkin' th' exact same thing..."