That night Terry went back to the Batcave long enough to check the map and double check with Bruce. After that, he was gone and heading for the outskirts.
At the same time, Max was leaving her house, dressed in heavy winter clothes and carrying a flashlight.
Gotham outskirts, here I come, she thought.
Tanner considered himself a very important man. Rich, powerful, not to mention good looking…well before the accident with his face.
But that was just details.
And right now he was angry.
"I thought you had everything in control!" He yelled at the monitor where he was sharing a connection with Mr. Blite.
Blite merely smiled. "Apparently you're a newbie when it comes to Gotham. If I were out there, I would've had special men prepared for the Bat myself."
"You could've at least warned me. Now I have nothing!"
"Oh, I wouldn't say that. If you come to my office later tonight, I'll have the shipments ready and prepared for you."
Tanner relaxed a little bit. "You sure."
"Always, Mr. Tanner."
All right then. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"You got it." The connection broke and the screen went blank. Tanner turned around, thinking.
He had taken the entire warehouse just off the outskirts of Gotham and turned it into his base. The room he was in was covered with electronics and monitors. He didn't really need the radioactive, not for himself anyway. He needed it to conceal the deal between himself and another mobster. The only way to get it was from Wayne Powers.
But enough of that. He had more important things to think about. Like the Batman.
"Sir," a guard spoke up, stepping into the room. Tanner spun around.
"What is it?"
"We found her sneaking around outside the building." At the word 'her', he turned and shoved a young woman into the room. She stumbled halfway and fell. Angry, she turned and glared at the guard.
Tanner looked down at her. She was a tall and curvy African-American with bright pink hair. She wore a thick jacket with an even thicker coat over it. She had snow all over her body.
"Who are you?" he demanded as she got to her feet.
"I'm not here to cause any trouble," she stammered.
"So you say. Name?"
She hesitated.
"You have a name, don't you?"
"What's your name?" she shot back.
He smiled. This was a feisty one. "Apparently you don't know who you're dealing with," he said. "We're very powerful people and we get angry very easily."
"So does the next bully."
"Yes, that's right." He looked at the guard meaningfully.
She caught the look. "I was just exploring around here," she said, "when I saw your building. And I thought no one lived here so I was checking it out, and this guy grabbed be and brought me in here!" She tried to make her story sound convincing.
Tanner frowned. "Nice story, but I don't really care." He looked at the guard. "Dump her."
Her eyes widened. "No!"
The guard reached for her, and she immediately fought back, much to Tanner's surprise. More guards rushed in and grabbed her. She fought off as much as she could, and looked like she might even get away, when one of them stuck a syringe right into her arm. She fell to the ground, dropping out of consciousness.
Unfortunately some of the guards didn't realize it, and started punching and kicking her. Tanner winced. That would leave a mark.
When they were sure the girl was unconscious, they picked her up and started dragging her from the room. Tanner watched on. He knew what they were going to do to her.
Batman crept along the top of the building, his camouflage on, blending in nicely with the surroundings. He loved that part of the suit. Made him feel invisible. Invincible.
He had already discovered the way into the building, he just had to wait for the right time. Meanwhile he watched the guards on their posts, picking and choosing.
Finally he dropped down from the roof.
When Max was able to wake up, she didn't know where she was.
Everything was so dark, but the floor was vibrating. Whatever she was in was moving.
She tried to sit up, but couldn't. Her whole body was weak. Whatever they had hit her with hit her hard.
She lay there, trying to feel around, listening to whatever was around her. After a moment, she was realized she was in some sort of vehicle.
Her body hurt. All over, she could feel bruises and swelling. What were they going to do to her?
Suddenly she wished she had listened to Terry.
The vehicle stopped moving and someone slid open the side door. Moonlight streamed in, causing her to wince and groan in pain.
Hands grabbed her, pulling her over the side. She didn't put up a fight, she was too weak to.
She could feel the edge of the vehicle as they dragged her over, plopping her down on the snow. She could feel the cold bite through her warm layers, and was glad she was still wearing them.
"We're here," she heard a voice say, and right away, more hands grabbed her, pulling off her coat and jacket. She tried fighting back but her whole body was too weak. They took off her gloves, removed the hat and scarf, until she was wearing only her black pants and yellow shirt.
She just lay there, helpless, thinking they were going to rape her, but they didn't. Instead they picked her up, carried her over a couple of yards, and dropped her in the snow. The cold bit into her skin and she started shivering uncontrollably.
She opened her eyes long enough to see the men climb back into the vehicle and drive away, leaving her in the middle of nowhere.
They had left her to freeze to death.