Katt Girl, Robin, & The Harley-Kidd: Chapter 38: Two-Face vs Batman
After witnessing the battle of man vs god in Gotham City, Lex Luthor decided to climb into his jet plane, then fly back to Metropolis. During the entire flight, Lex thought at any moment Superman would intercept the jet and decide to hurl it into outer space. But, that moment never came. Instead, as he approached Metropolis, Lex noticed a flaw in the skyline of his city. The silhouette of his LexCorp high-rise tower was nowhere to be seen. The closer he got, the more he realized that the entire building was gone. Apparently, Superman decided to hurl something else into outer space. That was a smart move by Superman. He wouldn't have been able to get the law involved because Lex owned the police chief in Metropolis. So, he did the next best thing, which was to mess with Lex Luthor's money. Lex was infuriated. First, Batman stole Lex's limelight by defeating Superman in front of the world. Now, Superman has destroyed everything Lex had been working on at LexCorp. Although Lex was upset, he already had a backup plan.
Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen finally made it back to the hotel at 7am. They had all their pictures and the perfect story to write for the Daily Planet. They tried knocking on Clark's door, but there was no answer. Lois noticed one of the housekeepers coming down the hall.
"Could you help me get back into my room?" Lois asked. "I rented these three rooms last night with my Daily Planet credit card."
The housekeeper looked at a chart to confirm it was one of her rooms, then she unlocked the door. Lois and Jimmy quickly made their way inside. They noticed Clark was lying in bed.
"Get up, sleepy head!" Lois demanded as she got closer to him. Then she looked at his face. "Holy crap! You look like death warned over! Did you also pick a fight with Batman last night?" She teased.
Clark acted like he could barely open his eyes, then asked, "Fighting Batman? What made you say that?"
"Oh! You missed it, Clark! There was an epic battle between Superman and Batman last night after you ran off!" Jimmy exclaimed. "Well, it wasn't much of a fight! Batman kicked his ass all over the place! He would have killed him if it wasn't for Lois."
"Hmm … Sorry I missed it." Clark groaned as he began trying to sit up.
"Hey, I like you without your glasses on." Lois declared. "Maybe you might actually look cuter if you weren't so sickly looking."
Clark quickly grabbed his glasses, then put them on. "Oh, there you are Lois. I can't see a thing without them on."
"You can't see a thing with them on either." Lois teased. "Come on! Get up soldier! We have a Pulitzer Prize story to write." she declared. Then, as she began walking out of the room, she said, "Hmm, I wonder if I could get an interview with Batman next?"
Meanwhile, Jervis Tetch, Roman Sionis, and Dr. Hugo Strange were a little bit worried about Superman getting his revenge after they tried to control his mind. Plus, knowing Batman was still alive, they would have to take their criminal organization deep underground. They continued trying to advance their mind control capabilities. Their next target was Harvey Dent. Jervis knew a lot about Harvey. He could see that Harvey was beginning to lose his mind. Hugo, Roman, and Jervis went to Harvey and told him they had a cure for his splitting headaches. Harvey decided to flip his coin to see if it was worth trying. It landed on the shiny heads side. "Sure, let's give it a shot!" Harvey exclaimed.
First Jervis hypnotized Harvey. After he went under hypnosis, Hugo put earbuds in the ear of the unscarred side of Harvey's head. Then, he tried to put an earbud on the scarred side, when suddenly, Harvey's left hand grabbed Hugo's arm.
"What the Hell do you think you are trying to do!? Harvey's scarred side asked while the unscarred side still looked to have his eye closed and asleep. "You can control that side of my mind, but you can't control the part of my mind I've already lost!"
POW! Harvey punched Hugo with his scarred hand. Roman jumped on Harvey's back trying to choke him. Harvey grabbed Roman by his head, then he threw Roman over his back. Roman landed against a bookshelf and became unconscious. Jervis stood there very scared.
Since Harvey's unscarred side was still asleep, Harvey had to drag one leg. Then, he hobbled over to Jervis and demanded, "You are coming with me!"
"Don't you need to flip your coin?" Jervis asked.
"No, I don't! I am making all the decisions right now." Harvey answered from the scarred side of his mouth. "And I want you to figure out a way to keep me like that, but you need to give me back my motor functions as well." Harvey said as he pointed to his unscarred side.
"That might not be possible." Jervis declared.
Harvey looked around, then found a gun near Roman's body, then he pointed it towards Jervis' head. "Now, do you believe you can make it possible?"
"He can't, but I can!" Hugo suddenly yelled out. "I can help you to get rid of your other personality. But, I'm going to need Jervis to help me. Plus, we are going to need Roman's funding."
Harvey pointed the gun at Hugo. "How? How do you plan on doing that?" Harvey demanded to know.
"We are going to have to wake your other personality up first. We will need to create a traumatic experience that will cause him to go dormant." Hugo replied.
Roman had finally regained consciousness. "We could have him kill Batman." Roman declared. "Harvey is Commissioner Gordon's white knight of Gotham. Gordon could set up the meeting. All Harvey would have to do is ask."
"No! That's too easy! Batman would never go for it!" Harvey exclaimed. "But, if we make it appear as if I have been kidnapped, Batman would try to save me for sure. I could take out the earbud just before I kill him."
Hugo smiled and said, "excellent plan Harvey. We will get you whole again soon."
Hours later, Bruce Wayne sat in the Batcave studying the earbuds that were made with red and green Kryptonite. He knew Lex Luthor was involved because of the Kryptonite samples, but he wasn't sure about the technology. Then, he remembered seeing something similar after looking at some old business plans years ago while Lucius ran Wayne Enterprise.
He looked up the old plans again. "Hmm, it appears this type of technology was being worked on at Wayne Tech, by a guy named Jervis Tetch. It also says that Tetch has a Doctor's degree in psychology and hypnotism. Now, when I input some of the victims that were hypnotized and tricked into attacking me, then cross-analyze them with their recent hospital stays, I come up with the name, Dr. Hugo Strange. He seems to have been the doctor for all of them. It looks like Hugo tried asking for funding that would allow him to work towards rehabilitating patients at Arkham Asylum, but the state declined any funding. Now, if I cross-analyze Lex Luthor and Dr. Hugo Strange, it appears that Dr. Strange has worked for Lex in the past. I think my next spot to check out will be Arkham Asylum. I should be able to get some more clues as to what their next plan might be."
Bruce began to put on his Batman suit, when suddenly, a bulletin came across his television screen. "Breaking News! District Attorney Harvey Dent was abducted by three masked men driving a black van. The police are saying the masked men are armed and dangerous. If anyone has any information, please contact the GCPD immediately!" We will inform you as the story evolves."
Bruce pulled the cowl over his head, jumped into the Batmobile, then sped off to the scene of the crime.