Batman: The Animated Series 'Fan Fiction Love Story'
By Tayla Drago
Episode # 36 – Tyger Tyger
Selina Kyle enters the Gotham Zoo after-hours and examines a tiger kept in captivity.
"Hello, handsome. It's criminal to keep you like this. If I had my way, you'd be running free, and the humans who did this would be put in here."
She calmly talks to the tiger, unaware of a sniper watching her from a tree. The sniper shoots her with a tranquilizer and jumps out at her. Selina insists that she let the man get to the tiger but her assailant tells her that's not what he's there for. Megan tries to find her friend to see that she was late for something with Bruce, finding her at the zoo only for danger to happen, she was being kidnapped.
"(Selina? What's going on?)" she moves in closer to see her kidnapper. "Huh? A gorilla?!"
A security guard arrives and sees the sniper carrying off Selina and is horrified by his gorilla-like appearance.
"What the?!"
"Don't move!" Megan got out her gun. "Drop my friend!"
"Make me…" said the gorilla man.
The guard is shoved into the tiger pit and the sniper runs off with Selina as Megan tries stopping him with her fighting skills, he stabs her with something on her hand to drop her guard to get kicked to the ground.
"Too strong…!"
The gorilla smirks to carry Selina away, and Megan feeling a bit weak to save the guard's life from the tiger in time using her ribbon to pull him back up.
"Nice tiger…! Ah!" he was saved. "Thanks, Megan, was that your friend just now?"
"Yeah, it was. (Ah, man! My arm's numb. What did that thing shoot me with?)"
Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne waits for Selina outside a restaurant and gets worried as she's very late. He calls Alfred, who knows nothing. Fortunately, an employee arrives and tells Bruce that Selina called and said she'd be late, as she would be visiting the zoo because of Megan calling him up when he's alone.
"Megan? You found Selina?" Bruce asks her.
"Bruce, someone…Or rather something got her…" said the weak Megan. "Get over to the zoo…"
"Are you all right?"
She doesn't know that herself to keep her hand clean and bandage up for a while.
"I don't know…I was hit with something. Just hurry up and get here. (This feels ichy now from the hairs on my hand feeling odd…)"
Believing Catwoman may be up to something, Bruce heads out to the zoo and hears the guard's story about the gorilla carrying Selina off and searches the premises.
"Man, her taste in boyfriends lacks severely." said the security guard. "The guy looked like an ape."
Now Bruce started to worry too.
"Where is she?"
The cop stops Bruce to be their job instead of his 'unless he was Batman'.
"Uh, sir, this is police business." He asks the guard instead. "Where is she?"
"Kong carried her off. I mean, we're talking primal here."
Megan sees him to tell and show on what's been going on, this time Selina wasn't Catwoman tonight…At least she's a woman with her promises to keep. Finding the tranquilizer dart, he realizes something is wrong.
"Look at this, Megan." said Bruce.
"That's the same thing that was shot at me too." Megan scans it from her computer book. "It was after Selina to try slowing me down. Man, my hand itches!"
Trying to scratch it some more, Bruce then sees that someone was wrong with her hand.
"Megan! Your hand!"
"What? What's wrong…?" she sees her hand that was hit from the dart to become a hand of a cat-like creature of the color black on her and that's it. "Ah! My hand! It's a cat's hand!"
Freaking out to try getting it off her but couldn't for Bruce tries to calm Megan down.
"Megan! Calm yourself!"
"But I'm a beast! Get it off me!" Bruce pulls Megan next to him to stop freaking out from his warmth kept her calm again.
"It's okay. You're still you, the dart didn't turn you into a cat completely. It'll be fine, let's figure this out and then go find your friend."
Megan trusts in Bruce's words to do just that.
"Alright, Bruce. Thank you." She said. "Let's find out what we need to know and find Selina Kyle. (Hang in there, Selina…Don't you dare die on me!)"
Elsewhere, Selina wakes up and finds a large, humanoid cat-creature approaching. The creature closely observes and sniffs at Selina. A man, Dr. Emile Dorian, arrives and introduces the creature as Tygrus and observes that he likes her.
"This is called kidnapping! The last I heard, it was highly illegal!" said Selina.
Dorian goes on to explain that he is a geneticist who works on creating new creatures such as Garth the ape man (Selina's assailant) and that Tygrus is the pinnacle of his work. He has now set his sights on Selina whom he knows is Catwoman. He then injects her with a serum. Looking to get more clues, Batman and Megan go to see Dr. Kirk Langstrom and asks about a compound he found in the dart. Though we never see this man again, but he was clean.
"This serum within the dart shows the same that turned you, Dr. Langstrom into Man-Bat." Batman said to him. "Just much different on this one."
Megan shows Kirk the paper work on her DNA.
"The paper shows that I was hit to the hand to become a cat-like paw, but it didn't spread from inside of me afterwards. What gives?"
Langstrom identifies it as T-99: a compound used in splicing and the brainchild of Dorian, his old partner.
"You two are right." He tests it out. "It's known as T-99. It was made by a brainchild of Dr. Emile Dorian, the reason why it can't get spread from you, Ms. Tsuki, is because of your blood type's very rare. Very lucky to not be affected. As this man, has done a lot of his…sickening work."
Langstrom shows Batman and Megan a cat/monkey hybrid and explains that Dorian has worked on combining cat DNA with other creatures.
"What is that?" ask Batman.
"A monkey and a cat hybrid?" same with Megan.
"One of the doctor's latest experiments that he did a while back." Kirk calms the creature down. "It's okay."
Weird…Megan had to know more about it since she's the victim in this too, a little.
"So wait…This Dorian guy uses cat to create something from them?"
"In a way. He likes cats more than people, as he does more experiment on them instead. When I worked with him, he uses monkeys to start things off to change their DNA."
"Where can we find him?"
Batman had to get a cure to Megan and saving Selina from the Dorian weirdo.
"He has retired on a special island off the coast after people started to question him on his line of work."
Batman and Megan both headed to the island and they discover a cat with bird wings flying around.
"What is this place? The Island of Dr. Moreau?" questioned Megan. "Because it looks like one type of cat-like creatures only, Batman! I don't want to be a cat! Well, not even any further from almost turning into one…"
"We'll find you a cure right where Selina is being held at."
They two see their way inside is through the building.
"We better get through the other creatures to get inside then."
Ignoring it, Batman and Megan 'uses her gloves claws to climb up' for them to seek to break in through the skylight but Garth catches them.
"The doctor doesn't take too kindly to uninvited guests." said Garth.
The two men fight for Megan to try holding the gorilla man down to save Batman as Dorian hears them from the roof while working on something.
"Garth! bring them down stairs!"
Well instead, the three fell out of the roof window to come inside of the place to make themselves welcome.
"Megan!" Batman saves her in time with a rope to use to land them down. "I got you."
"Thanks, Batman."
Batman, Megan, and Garth crash into the skylight and Dorian tells Garth to leave them.
"That's one way to do it." said the doctor. "That will be all, Garth."
"But, Doc…Are you sure…?"
"Yes, please leave us." He said. As Garth leaves… "Serves now a day." said Dorian to seeing Megan's other hand. "Ah, trying to get another female test subject, but I see you're a defecated one."
"Defecated?! I didn't sign up in your little game, buster!" She wanted her real hand back.
"Where's Selina Kyle?" Batman demanded to know.
"There, there, you two. You'll be seeing your Catwoman as you two have never seen her before."
He then proudly shows Batman and Megan his newest creation: Selina, transformed into a real cat creature. Megan was screaming in fear for the form couldn't been her, but it was her friend to make things much worse.
"Selina…!" Batman was horrified about all of this.
Megan got mad to get ready to shoot Dorian.
"What have you done to my friend?!"
"I've made her what she always wanted to be." He said. "I've given her power and grace beyond her wildest dreams."
The two were really horrified, but Dorian believes he's done Selina a favor. What a sick freak!
"You made her into a monster!" angered Batman.
"I'm afraid she might disagree. With so much to work on this one, it's a big miracle that everything turns out to be just as I planned to be."
Megan uses her baton to hit the glass many times for Batman to do the rest with a table.
"Selina, do you know us?" Batman asks her.
"It's me, Selina, your friend Megan Tsuki. Remember?" Megan helps her out too.
She seems to still have the memories of them of a human mind, a close call there.
"Batman…? Megan…?"
Dorian won't allow this project to go to waste.
"You two will only confuse her, for she's no longer the woman you two once knew." said Dorian. "For she only needs one more injection to complete-!"
Not on Batman and Megan's watch.
"You…! You! She's my friend…! Not an animal!" Megan was mad.
"Reverse the transformation or we'll-!"
Batman attempts to free Selina and demands that Dorian reverse like Megan was too from the project; but Tygrus arrives and throws Batman from his father.
"Batman!" Megan tries fighting back. "Hey, ugly!"
Trying to use her net to trap Tygrus from her watch, but he cuts it to bits to send Megan flying to the ground hard to be very powerful.
"Good, Tygrus." said the doctor.
Tygrus looks at Selina longingly but she looks away from him. Megan was mad now at the beast.
"Leave her alone!"
Batman sees another one of Dorian's project up close.
"Another cat-like creature you made?" he asks Dorian.
"I'm proud about Tygrus to be one of my latest ones. He's the ultimate life form than any other human combined."
Batman and Megan both get back up and Tygrus, seeing him as a rival, and attacks him.
"Batman, I think this Tygrus thing is jealous for taking Selina to try killing you." Megan figures something else. "Two males fighting over one female, but he has the wrong idea!"
"Doesn't he remind you of Blake's poem? 'Tiger, tiger, burning bright in the forests of the night...'? " so says the doctor.
Batman is scratched to try biting Megan's leg off for being in the way and Selina runs up to Tygrus telling him to stop.
"Tygrus, no!" she said in time.
"Selina…"
He stops at least.
"Enough, Tygrus." said Dorian. "Go back to the cage."
Selina was not only confused from all of this, but scared too.
"What…? What am I?"
Megan stays with her best friend to get through all of this.
"You're Selina Kyle, my friend!" she said. "That's who you are to me! And someone that Batman my partner is also protecting the two of us."
Selina is confused as to what she is now and Batman tells her that he'll help her.
"She's right, Selina, come with us." Batman said. "We'll find some way to help you."
Megan shows her hand of a cat as well to her.
"And for me too."
Dorian gives his project an order.
"Take him outside!"
By Dorian's orders Tygrus to take Batman outside and has Garth catch Selina in a net, much to Tygrus' displeasure.
"Look out!" cried out Selina.
"Oh, no! (Selina!)"
Garth uses another weapon to trap Megan in a stick goop to have trouble getting out of it, leaving Batman stuck with the killing Tygrus to try to hurt him.
"Well now, suppose your cat side isn't as perfect as I thought of just yet." said Dorian. "Remove her."
Garth takes Selina away for now to getting Tygrus upset about it, as Megan couldn't get free.
"Batman! Do something! I'm stuck!"
"It's all right, Tygrus, it's for her own good." He said. "I think Megan needs to stick around for a while until she calms herself soon enough to be getting use to her best friend as pure cat that she'll soon become. She's not going anywhere. But I will have that hand of her…"
I think he wants to cut it off Megan's.
"Ah! Hey! I need this hand! Batman!"
Now Batman was mad.
"Let them go, Dorian, or so help me…!"
"Her fate is in both of your hands, Batman and Megan." The doctor said to them. "It'll give Tygrus a chance to test with his abilities against you, while your girlfriend calms her mind before the hand of her is removes. So will you take it, Batman? It's your call."
Dorian is intrigued by Selina's dominant human side and views Batman as a perfect chance to test Tygrus' abilities, but how can Megan get out this mess?
"Batman!" Megan was panicking.
"It'll be fine, Megan, I'll make sure of saving you and Selina's." He agrees to the terms. "I'll do it. Just leave the ladies alone until I complete in your mess up games." I want to test Tygrus' reflexes and feral strength and who better to pit him against than you? I'll give you a generous head start before I release Tygrus. If you defeat him, I shall relinquish this, the antigen to reverse Catwoman's mutation."
And for this, Batman hopes that Dorian keeps his words, with any luck...
"How do I know you'll keep your word?" the Dark Knight asks.
Well, he has to do this for Selina and Megan's lives were in danger.
"You don't. The clock is ticking, Batman." Soon Batman is given a head start off into the island before Tygrus is released and Dorian tells him that if he can beat the creature, he'll get the antidote to Selina's condition. "He's all yours, Tygrus." He tells the creature that. "He is prey to you, my boy, of no more concern than a rabbit is to a wolf, and when he's gone, nothing will stand in your way."
Once Tygrus is set off, Batman attempts to stop him with some gas bombs, but this only serves to make him angry. Megan had to try getting out of her sticky situation…
"(Come on, Megan…! I must help Bruce before I lose a hand, save my friend Selina, and stopping mad doctor! Maybe if I can reach for my bag to grab something out…)" she grabs one of the items of hers. "The ice perfume! Yes!" She sprays the goop all over to freeze up and gets freed from it, and with Megan's gun out for her to be all set to go. "(Now I got to save Selina first and then aid Bruce. It's go time!)"
Inside, Garth and Dorian prepare to inject Selina with the final part of the serum but she refuses to allow it and escapes. She sees Megan to come to the rescue.
"Megan!" she was happy to be seeing her.
"Run, Selina!" Megan opens fire on Garth from shooting her friend. "Not so fast, Donkey Kong!"
Nice shot to get the riffle out of Garth's hand, it was time for Megan to protect Selina. Dorian is unconcerned as there is no way she could possibly escape the island. Batman and Tygrus continue to struggle with one another, and Batman finally manages to catch Tygrus in a net. Tygrus angrily shouts at Batman, revealing that he can speak.
"No!" spoke Tygrus.
Wow! He can talk too!
"So, you can talk."
He explains that Dorian told him that with Batman gone, Selina will love him. Batman tells him not to count on it, for he loves Megan Tsuki only and leaves.
"My father taught me."
"Your father was a test tube." said Batman.
"He told me to destroy you, and I will! And when you're gone, Selina will love me!" said the creature.
Megan tries to keep up with Selina using her glove claws and springy boots to move around from the tree to catch up.
"Can you keep up, Megan?"
"Yeah, don't worry about me." She said. "We need to find Batman." Trying to use her tracker from her watch, but it was hard to from the connections was off from the island. "Oh, give me a break!"
"This way, Megan, come on."
Megan was happy to see and hear of Selina as a cat beast to be using something from her form 'for now'.
"Cool! (It's cool to see Selina in this form, but seriously…Its important to get her the antidote and some on my and as well.)"
With her newfound abilities, Selina and Megan both manage to track Batman who is crossing a rickety broken-down suspension bridge. Unfortunately, Tygrus catches up with him and in the ensuing, struggle the bridge breaks causing both combatants to fall. Fortunately, Batman manages to catch a tree growing from the cliff side and evades Tygrus who seemingly falls to his death. The two girls found Batman together.
"Batman, you're hurt." Selina checks on him.
"You okay?" Megan checks on Batman as well. "Are you hurt?" Batman places his hands-on Megan's shoulder for she was doing well to stay strong.
"I'm fine. How did you and Megan get out?"
"He didn't try to stop me or Megan, he knows that there is no way out…"
Selina stops to hear someone coming at them…
"What is it?" both Batman and Megan asks her.
Suddenly, Tygrus arrives again.
"Man! This thing is way too jealous!" Megan said. "Freeze, cat!"
Tygrus claws at Megan's gun to be cut in half for her and Batman were out match against the beast, for Selina gets in between the two and tells Tygrus that Batman is not his enemy nor is Megan neither to be her friend and her affections can't be won by killing him. Between that was true, her best friend was in love with Batman as he loves Megan more.
"Tygrus! Stop!" she said in time. "Don't hurt them…Not my friend or him."
"Why?" Tygrus demanded to know. "I get your friend, but him-!"
"Batman has done nothing to you."
"But he's my enemy, my father's enemy too! If I kill him, then you'll be mine!"
Say something, Selina! Please!
"Like this will do any good if you tried to!" Megan tries talking to the beast next. "I mean come on! You're being used by that mad man! Tell him, Selina!"
And so, she does…
"No! I can't be won like that."
"But my father said…" the poor beast.
"It's wrong!" she said. "Search your feelings, Tygrus. You know he's wrong."
Tygrus is confused, as his father told him the exact opposite of what Selina just told him, and he runs off. Megan sees that Tygrus's a good creature.
"Well, that sort of worked. I feel bad for him."
Dorian is outraged that Batman is still alive and scolds Tygrus for his weakness. Batman, Megan, and Selina arrived and says that he's not Tygrus' enemy and all he wants is the antidote and for Dorian to be brought to justice.
"He's right." the Dark Knight said. "I'm not his enemy nor is Megan. All I want is the antidote for her and Selina…!"
"And you brought to justice!"
Megan had her gloves to fight back. Garth attacks them for Megan to use her fighting skills with many punches and kicks, leaving Batman to kick Garth to the ground. Now those two go after the doctor next for his creation to protect him.
"Tygrus, protect me!" said the scared doctor.
"Don't do this!" Megan tries to talk some sense in to Tygrus, same with Batman.
"This is out of your hands." said Batman. "Tygrus, he's broken the law, committed crimes against nature. I may care for Selina to be herself, but my heart belongs to Megan."
Tygrus, however, can't leave his father unguarded and protects him.
"It doesn't matter. He's my father." said Tygrus. "He gave me life."
More trouble was going on for the two.
"Batman! Megan!" Selina warns them.
However, Dorian, blaming Selina for Tygrus' weakness, prepares to kill her for Megan tries to stop the doctor.
"Selina! Get out of there!"
"This is all your fault! You've ruined everything!" he points his gun at her. "First you, then Batman, and Megan also to have her DNA from the hand of hers!"
Outraged, Tygrus stops him from shooting her and in a fit of anger, Dorian threatens to kill him.
"Stop, Father!" said Tygrus.
Well, so much for Megan stepping in.
"(Nicely done there, big boy.)"
"Tygrus! I've made you, and I can unmake you..."
He destroys the lab, causing an explosion that topples the building.
"Tygrus!" Batman tries stopping him.
Realizing that his father has turned on him, Tygrus goes on a rampage.
"I only wanted you to be strong! To show no weakness! No pity!" said Dorian.
"As you wish, father!"
Megan runs back up for her, Batman, and Selina to carry the out cold Garth out of the place.
"Tygrus!" Selina calls out to him.
"Ah, you two…I don't think we can't do anything now but to get the heck out of this place before it's up in flames!"
And so, they do just in time for the place was long gone now.
"Tygrus didn't had to do this…!"
With Selina thinking that Tygrus was dead, well Batman and Megan tells her twice for him to still be alive.
"Don't be crying just yet, Selina." Batman said.
"Look!" Megan points it out. "He's alive! And the doctor's out cold! (Thank God!)"
Yep, all is well for Dorian was now caught and arrested, with Tygrus coming out of the destroyed building alive.
"My Father to go to jail…you two will help him, will you?"
For Tygrus, both Batman and Megan will do so.
"Yes, we will."
As Batman calls up for the Batwing to pick the three up, Selina is now despaired as she is now stuck as a real Catwoman.
"Batman! Megan! The antidote!" she panics. "Megan's hand is a paw of a real cat, and me…! I'll be stuck like this forever!"
Tygrus invites her to stay with him, but Selina insists that she can't live like that.
"Will that be so bad? You can stay here with me."
"Oh, Tygrus…I can't be like this. I have to be human."
He sadly gives her the antidote and says goodbye, but not before using one of them on Megan's hand.
"There, you should be having your human hand back now." He said.
And Megan's hand was normal again to be happy to take fast effect since she wasn't transformed all the way.
"Alright! I'm back!" she was happy. "My hand's all better!"
"And now it's your turn. Take it…Goodbye, Selina."
Good, now Megan uses the antidote on Selina to take some time to take effect on her next.
"That should do it. All better, Selina, it should take about thirty minutes to kick in."
Batman kisses Megan's hand once it was cured.
"I'm glad we pulled this whole thing off, Megan." He said. "For you and Selina are free from the cat hybrid type of nightmare."
Selina invites Tygrus to come with her, but he turns her down, believing there's nothing left for him in the world, and returns to the forest. Bummer…
"Wait!" she tries talking to Tygrus. "Won't you come with us? There's nothing for you here."
But sadly, his real home was on the island to protect the other creatures was the least he can do now.
"There's nothing for me...anywhere."
Megan knows that Tygrus will be fine to cheer her best friend up. Though justice is brought upon Dorian and that Garth too…something's don't have a happy ending.
"There, there, Selina. He may be alone, but he will come back one day. It only shows that Tygrus can think and feel like a human besides being of a cat-like creature. You know?"
Selina smiles to see herself as a cat for Megan to keep a photo of from a memory was a bit scary to be all over for her to almost been permitted.
"Maybe you're right, Megan." Selina smiles. "We might be seeing Tygrus again after all."
"One day we will."
Megan hugs Batman to hold each other to watch Tygrus walk off to live alone on the island from here on out.
"Everything will come around one way…" Batman thinks back on Blake's poem 'The Tyger'. "Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, could frame thy fearful symmetry?"
From then on, Selina Kyle was back to normal afterwards for Garth and Dorian to be arrested for good, Megan's hand was back to normal again, as she and Batman did well once again, all the other animals were cared for on the island, and Tygrus will be just fine on his own. Also…here's a poem from Blake to have on here to end things off.
Poem –
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies,
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!
When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?