Chapter X: Just Your Type
"Nothing's here."
The young Bat stalked around the warehouse, shelves full of nondescript boxes with MIMI'S DOLLS written on the front. The machines slept quietly. Pieces of dolls ready to be put together laid scattered across the floor. The layers of dust on the ancient Dell computers gave him the impression that there hadn't been a sign of life in the building since him.
Batman continued to move.
Scanning the factory, he picked up body heat in the back of the factory. He followed. . . .
She had to be here, he thought, I know she's here.
The tracker took him closer and closer to the heat sources. . . .
Something of interest caught his eye. A room labeled PROTOTYPE stood with its door ajar.
Lights danced in the crack. Faint noises could be heard.
"Anything?" Bruce's transmission reached his ears.
"Me and the rats." Batman commented, watching a rodent as large as a cat ran by his foot.
A thud caught his attention.
"I heard something."
"Approach with caution. My scan of the room suddenly went haywire."
The Bat approached the door then kicked it open. He found a vast white room staring at him with various doll prototypes inside . . . and what appeared to be two bodies on the floor.
The door slammed behind him, locking from the outside as if automatic.
The lights went out.
"What the-?" The Bat spun around then found himself thrown across the room by an invisible force.
Gasping for precious air, his sight went hazy. He was pinned against the wall on the other side of the room.
So he wasn't alone.
Batman struggled for air, hands clawing at his throat.
A spotlight shined directly on him.
'Don't lose it, Bat! Stay cool!'
"Batman, you don't look so calm." A voice crept through the room.
"Let . . . me . . . go." He struggled to say, the pressure closing in on him, weighing him down.
"I will my friend," A figure donned in all white stepped out of the wall as if it was apart of it.
He held up a glowing light in his hand, suddenly a woman's scream cut through the dimness.
"Just as soon as I'm done with you. Stay, and watch my little demonstration."
Maxine flinched when she heard the screams of Angel Proctor.
Weapons forgotten, Max backed away from the older woman wailing like a banshee.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Angel swung the lancet wildly, "I'll get rid of you, even if I had to take myself too!"
Angel slammed the lancet into a towering Rook.
"What did you do with me, Ira? What did you do?!"
The Rook cracked into pieces, the former lover doctor stumbled around disoriented.
A figure walked started walking toward them.
First it appeared in a red and black cloth body suit, then the figure appeared as a king in traditional dress. The figure walked toward Angel Proctor. Restaining her with one hand, Ira touched her face softly with the other.
"Do? I'm simply testing something love."
"So you drug me again!" Angel tried to swing at him, anger showing in her face as red as her hair.
But as she was a stuffed animal, Ira Billing grabbed the wrist the lance was in and forced her to stop swinging. A cry escaped from the fair woman. Ira then kissed Angel Proctor deeply, pinning Angel's hands behind her back. . . . Her body tensed again then the muscles relaxed suddenly.
Angel fell backward to the checked floor.
Still.
Maxine was too shock to move.
Ira Billing suddenly change back the Spellbinder then faced Max.
"Don't worry. She's only sleeping."
"What did you do to her?" Max started feeling for her katana.
"What I plan on doing to others . . . controlling them." Spellbinder answered, calmly walking toward her.
"A little bit of my angel's pink pills and a little of my technology makes a very powerful concoction."
Max snatched her weapon, standing on her feet. "Don't you come near me."
Spellbinder laughed, "My dear Pinky, you got me once. But this time I won't let you foil me again."
Max backed away from Spellbinder until she felt her back touch a towering Bishop.
The katana was poised.
Batman took the minute Spellbinder's attention (and mental hold in his airway) were on Max to break free.
Jetting off, he aimmed for the turned back of Spellbinder.
'Terry.'
The name flashed across her mind when she saw the blur of black aimming for the nutcase.
Spellbinder turned around and held a hand up.
The two collided. Spellbinder hit the Black King, falling to the ground.
"Let's move!" He said running toward Maxine when a large hand slapped him out of the way. One of the towering wooden Knights had knocked Batman down.
"Batman!" She dropped the katana, running toward him. The Bat wasn't moving.
A towering arm grabbed her leg, taking the black woman down. Max struggled, kicking at the Pawn.
The younger Bat grabbed his side, "I'm going to feel that one in the morning."
Coming back to himself, Batman growled low then went after Spellbinder again. Spellbinder then vanished as his foe jumped at him. The younger Bat hit the ground. Batman pulled himself to his feet.
"Get back here and fight me like a man!" The Bat yelled at Spellbinder. . . and lost sight of him . . .
When the Bat turned around, he saw Spellbinder yanking Max by her hair.
"Let her go, Billing." The Bat's blood simmered low in his veins, running toward them. Yet he was forced to a halt when the moving chess pieces started surrounding him.
Spellbinder laughed loud in victory, "Isn't it funny how the hero always says that when the cold-hearted criminal has the girl?" A needle appeared from his covered hand, taunting the black woman. "I promise the pills are less evasive."
"What do you want?" Max demanded, watching a clear drop of menacing fluid appeared in the tip.
Spellbinder suddenly forced her to look him directly in the face: "Control."
The darker woman began struggling. Batman tried to think of a way to move but he was trapped. The Bat cursed himself. He was going to fail to a loon in a costume. Something bad was going to happen to Maxine and he would die by being crushed to death by pieces on a board game.
Spellbinder continued to talk, "I going to do to you what I did to my fair angel. She just needed persuading to demonstrate my plans. Why not have crime commit itself? Why not have the victim be the perpetrator also? With the pills I'm creating now, the crime in this city will be start and end in the same place. The good citizens will rob themselves and bring it all the loot to me, their king. I have control over a game that no one can refuse me. I created the grandest of illustrations."
"You used her?" Max suddenly gasped for air. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if she should be so calm at the point of death, worried about the woman who wanted to kill her first.
A lewd smile crossed his face, "For now, she's still a toy I play with."
Spellbinder grabbed her by the neck, lifting the needle.
"But you–you are annoyance."
Terry felt the rush of adrenalin as he broke from the tight hold the towering chess pieces.
His queen was about to be checkmated.
Spellbinder did not expect Batman's fist to connect with his jaw.
Max fell out of Spellbinder's holder. The needle slid across the floor toward the body of Angel Proctor.
"Run!" Batman screamed at Max, struggling with Spellbinder. Each man tried knocking the other to the floor. Max tried to pull herself in a running position but her legs gave away. She hit the ground, eyes hazy.
Batman felt his eyes grow wide when he saw Max go down.
Spellbinder laughed, "Saving the fair damsel just didn't work out for you ne?"
A sudden force arrested them both, a lance knocked both men to the ground. Skaking himself and getting back up, Batman jetted toward the walking madwoman Angel Proctor but was knocked into another towering Pawn.
Her lance connected with Spellbinder's backside. Ira groaned in pain along with Batman behind him.
Above the former psychologist loom a woman with red hair and blazing eyes.
"My-my angel-" Ira Billing's shock was concealed by his red and black mask.
Angel lifted the lance above her head, "Don't ever mess with my head again."
When the needle made contact with Angel's arm, Max didn't expect her aim to be so good in her hazy state.
The younger Bat ran to the darker woman's side.
"Max! Maxine!"
He heard a groan escape from her lips. Batman gathered Max in his arms.
"Terry." She whispered, "I'm sorry."
"Shhh."
Terry whispered to her then covered her mouth with his.
The warehouse faded back to its natural state after the magic eye fell from Ira's hand and shattered.
The grand illusion ended.
