Hunters of Justice

by trestwho

Remnant has fallen, its cities captured and its greatest defenders defeated at the hands of the alien conqueror, Brainiac. In the aftermath of his victory, the people of Remnant's last hope lies in the hands of two teams of students, whisked away to another world. A world where Gods walk among them.

32. Cold-Hearted

Hunters of Justice (RWBY/DC)

Chapter 23: Cold-Hearted

[~][~]

Ren, Nora, Red Robin, and Spoiler quickly jumped across the Gotham rooftops, making their way towards the uptown financial district. Reaching high into the atmosphere were numerous skyscrapers, each emblazed with logos of various companies both Gotham bred and international. Ace Chemical Processing, a LexCorp branch office, S.T.A.R. Labs, and many more. Towering above all of them, however, was a two-pronged stone and glass building with a stylistic hole in its center. At the top of the prongs, the towers were connected, and a large, shielded, blue-and-grey lit 'W' sat emblazoned in its center. Wayne Enterprises, Gotham's heart and soul. Fitting that it was seated squarely in the district's center.

But as much as Ren and Nora liked looking at the building, they were more focused on a building just a few blocks away. In contrast to the Wayne Building's more Gotham Style architecture, the GothCorp building was considerably more modern in appearance. Sleek glass and sharp lines covered the building from head to toe, with the green GothCorp logo stamped across the top. As with the buildings around it, the lights inside were shut off, preventing any of the heroes from seeing inside, but that wasn't much of an issue for them as they instead peered through their masks' thermal imaging.

"Hardly anyone inside," Spoiler noted, watching a few scant security guards patrol the grounds.

"What did you expect? It's nearly midnight," Nora pointed out.

"She has a point," Ren said. "Besides, didn't you guys think that GothCorp was robbed?"

"Yes," Red Robin replied, "but we can never be too careful. GothCorp has a history of less-than-legal proceedings, so forgive me if I'm suspicious of them."

The Pink Lightning and Verdant Lotus considered Red Robin's words for a minute, then nodded in agreement. They both, of course, knew what Red Robin was referring to, or at the very least the basics of it. GothCorp's founder, Ferris Boyle, was a truly monstrous man who drove someone to villainy and was now locked way in Rikers Island. GothCorp barely recovered from the scandal and had been running a near nonstop PR campaign to restore its image ever since. Which is why Nora didn't really accept Red Robin's suspicions. If GothCorp knew everyone was watching them like a hawk, why would they knowingly engage in criminal activity? It didn't make any sense.

"Any idea on how to get inside?" Spoiler asked as she moved to a higher perch, a gargoyle looking over the city street far below. Nora moved to suggest an option, but Red Robin beat her to the punch.

"GothCorp's security's been upgraded recently, and I'm not finding many holes," Red Robin revealed, tapping away at a wrist-mounted holographic projection. "But I think there's a hole in the roof."

"The air ducts?" Spoiler asked, and Red Robin nodded. "Ugh, great. And I just got this suit washed, too."

"I don't think we need to do that," Nora pointed out. "Why don't we just—"

Suddenly, their suits picked up some commotion coming from a nearby dinner party. They looked down and saw, through their thermal optics, that an armed man with a thick backpack had just broken through the door of the establishment, holding two pistols connected to the pack through thin cables.

"Nobody move!" he ordered, shoving what appeared to be a waiter to the ground. "Now, who among you wants some flavor?!"

None of the heroes needed any further invitation as they jumped from their high-rises and fell towards the party's open balcony. Once they got closer, Red Robin and Spoiler extended their capes into a glider, slowing their descent, while Ren spread his and arms and legs slightly. He pressed a button on his glove, and a wingsuit suddenly extended from his sides, connecting to his limbs and allowing him to control his fall. Nora, meanwhile, didn't care much about slowing herself down. Instead, with a manic grin on her face, she spun in mid-air and fired a grappling hook towards a gargoyle hanging over the balcony. She rode it down like a swing, aiming straight for the balcony. It pulled her forward, and she rode the line as far as she could before she let go, allowing inertia to carry her the rest of the way. She landed with a roll on the balcony at the top of her arc, where her body's momentum was as slow as it could possibly be. At the end of her roll, she pulled out Magnhild, the momentum of her landing carrying her through the open door and right into the middle of the party.

"Stop right there, criminal scum!" Nora announced her presence, internally gleeful that she had managed to beat her friends to the party. That glee turned into confusion as she finally saw the armed intruder with her own two-eyes and found that 'armed' was a gross over-exaggeration.

"What the…?" Nora mumbled, then the man saw her and smiled half-convincingly.

"Aha! A hero! Oh, how I relish this meeting!" the strangely dressed man turned to her, pointing a ketchup and mustard gun towards her. "Now you stay right there, else Gotham's elite suffers the consequences of crossing the Condiment King!"

"The Condi-what?" Red Robin asked as he and the others finally entered the party, having listened in through their shared comms. When they finally saw the villain, dressed outlandishly in a bright-blue onesie with a encircled 'C' in the center of his chest, wearing a pickle-like mask that left his face exposed atop his head, and with several packs of ketchup and mustard that lined his arms, flabbergasted looks crossed all their faces. Spoiler then sighed and shook her head.

"Why does Gotham get all the crazies…" she muttered under her breath while the heroes holstered their weapons and raised their hands calmly.

"Now sir, put the ketchup and mustard down," Ren gently said, slowly moving toward the 'Condiment King'.

"Stay back, or see if you can cut the mustard!" the Condiment King ordered, pressing one of his guns to a hostage while aiming the other towards the heroes. "I know how to use this!"

"I'm sure you do," Nora soothed, trying to play along with the clearly disturbed man, "but please, put it down before anyone gets hurt."

Nora took another step, then the Condiment King yelped and stepped back, letting go of his hostage at the same time. Before Nora could react, he fired his condiment guns into her face, and Nora stopped dead in her tracks as she felt both ketchup and mustard hit her. No one made a sound as only the squirting of the 'guns' could be heard. Then, almost comically, the streams died down, and Nora blinked. She wiped away the mixture from her mask and looked at the completely covered side of her hand. Then, with a shrug, she licked it off and smacked her lips.

"Hmm, tasty," she noted then calmly walked over to the Condiment King and removed the guns from the man's hands. The Condiment King had tried to make a run for it, but Ren and Spoiler had already blocked his escape, making Nora's 'disarming' easy. Now the wannabe-villain was shaking, clearly trying to put on false bravado, but Nora wasn't buying it.

"What's wrong?" she asked, stunning the man.

"No…nothing's wrong!" the Condiment King insisted. "I, the Condiment King, am simply turning to a life of crime after society has wronged me!"

"Uh-huh," Nora nodded, then placed a hand on his shoulder and pulling off his mask. She scanned his face and quickly found a match. "Michael, tell me the truth. What's wrong?"

Michael Mayo looked at Nora for a few seconds, then felt the walls he had hastily erected come crashing down.

"Everything!" he sobbed out, letting tears fall freely. "I lost my job at the factory, my wife left me after having an affair, she took the kids and—!"

Nora then embraced Michael Mayo, who immediately returned the hug and sobbed into her shoulder.

"There, there," she soothed, rubbing the back of his head and talking softly. "It's okay, just let it out."

Michael Mayo continued to sob, while the assembled party-goers and heroes looked on with sympathy. As the man continued to sob, ignoring the blots of condiments dripping from Nora's face onto his shoulder, the heroes quietly led the man out of the building.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion," Ren apologized to the party-goers as he closed the door behind them.

---

They waited with Michael at the bottom of the building for the police to arrive. After explaining the situation to an Officer Renee Montoya, they left the scene while she escorted Michael home. No charges would be filed, and the night continued on as planned.

"Here," Ren offered Nora a towel, who eagerly took it and wiped away the last vestiges of condiments staining her face.

"Thanks, Renny," Nora said, wiping the rest away then handing it back. "So, do you think next time we'll face off against the Syrup Prince?"

Despite herself, Spoiler couldn't help but chuckle. "Maybe."

They all laughed, then recomposed themselves. They were making their way back to their previous perch before GothCorp, and once they all arrived the heroes quickly scanned the building for any entrances.

"We're going to have to sneak in," Red Robin declared, but Nora frowned.

"Do we?" she asked, but Spoiler shook her head.

"Yes, unfortunately," Spoiler maintained, but Nora still wasn't convinced.

"Why don't we just go in and ask them?" Nora suggested, and the heroes shot her a look. "I mean, it would be really easy. Your way's more fun, don't get me wrong, but it seems a little, what's the word?"

"Presumptive?" Ren offered, and Nora snapped her fingers towards her boyfriend.

"Yes, presumptive!"

The heroes thought it over for a minute, then Ren nodded.

"She has a point," he stated, turning towards Red Robin and Spoiler while Nora flashed a smile. "There's a high chance they truly were robbed, and if we asked, I'm sure they'd answer our questions."

"I'm not so sure about that," Red Robin countered, causing Nora to cross her arms and frown. "In all my experience, simply asking doesn't usually work out. They may say 'all you had to do was ask', but they don't really mean it."

"Exactly," Spoiler maintained. "As much as I don't like the idea of going through a cramped, dusty air duct, they won't just let us walk in."

"Maybe," Ren replied, his back turned towards an impatient Nora. She shook her head. As much as she liked Red Robin and Spoiler, they were both being far too stubborn in her eyes. At least Ren was sticking with her. As the trio continued to debate the proper course of action, Nora looked down at the street. A lone car was driving by, a white van emblazed with ice-cubes and a polar bear, and it continued far down and left her sight. Nora wasn't focused on that, however.

"Ah, screw it," she muttered under her breath. None of her friends heard her as she jumped off the building, aiming for the building's entrance.

"I'm just saying, I don't trust GothCorp," Red Robin insisted.

"And I understand that, but I feel that in this instance we can give them the benefit of the doubt," Ren calmly replied. Spoiler moved to support her boyfriend, then paused as she finally noticed something.

"Um, where's Pink Lightning?" she asked. Ren and Red Robin shot her a look, and Ren turned around in slight alarm. True to the vigilante's word, Nora was indeed gone, nowhere to be seen.

"I did think she was unnaturally quiet," Red Robin quietly stated, internally berating himself for missing an obvious blind spot. Ren, meanwhile, sighed and pressed his fingers to his ear, already knowing where she had gone.

"Where are you?" he asked, and Nora immediately responded.

"Just a sec," Nora responded, followed by a light tapping as he knocked on the glass door. "Hello, sir? My name is Pink Lightning. We're investigating why some of GothCorp's technology was inside Scarecrow's bombs. Would you mind if we… Uh huh. Uh huh. Oh, wonderful! Thank you!"

"What happened?" Spoiler asked, feeling how giddy Nora was over the radio.

"He's letting us in, and he's calling the CEO over right now!" Nora answered. She was met by silence, and she chuckled. "And you wanted to sneak in. Silly superheroes, you."

Amused and unsurprised, Ren smiled and shook his head. "Only you, Nora. Only you," he muttered to himself, and Nora grinned.

---

"Do-dododo…dodo…" Nora hummed to herself she kicked her legs back and forth atop the chair she sat upon. A warm grin was stretched across her face, pleased with herself as the rest of the heroes sat in chairs next to her along the wall.

"I can't believe that actually worked," Spoiler whispered. Nora's grin grew wider, showing her pearly-white teeth to the world. Despite herself, Spoiler chuckled and shook her head, then looked at Ren. "Tell me, is she always like this?"

"Yes," Ren answered plainly, then shot a smile towards Nora. "But it's part of her charm."

"Aw, Lotus," Nora cooed, her grin growing wider and tilting her head to the side. Ren smiled faintly back, then the group fell back into a comfortable silence. The minutes flew by, and nothing of note occurred. As much as it pained her to admit it, Spoiler was growing rather bored, but at the same time, she hoped she remained bored. When things got interesting is when things went wrong.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a black sedan pulled in front of the GothCorp building. It parked, and out stepped a tall man with short brown hair dressed in a brown suit, white undershirt, and a dark red tie. He hastily pressed away the wrinkles in his suit, trying to make himself look presentable, then strode into the building straight towards them.

"Heroes. I apologize for the wait. Have to admit, didn't expect a call from the office at this hour," he greeted them as he entered the building. Ren, Nora, Red Robin, and Spoiler stood up to meet him, Nora wearing a happy look while Ren remained neutral. Despite GothCorp's apparent cooperation, however, Red Robin and Spoiler couldn't help but give a small frown.

"It's no problem," Red Robin said. "We apologize for bothering you on such short notice in the middle of the night, and appreciate you coming to speak with us personally."

"I'd imagine so. Daniel Powers, CEO of GothCorp, at your service." Daniel Powers extended his hand in an offering, but only Nora felt inclined to shake it. He frowned, then sighed in acknowledgment. "This isn't a courtesy call, is it?"

"I'm afraid not," Spoiler answered, crossing her arms while Red Robin projected an image of a small, circular device inside of a tube. "This is a highly advanced aerosolizing chamber developed by GothCorp's Research and Development teams, not yet available on the market due to pending government review."

"I know what it is," Powers admitted with a sigh. "One of our more promising developments, if I say so myself."

"Promising enough to be used in a fear gas bomb," Ren pointed out. A heavy silence fell over the group as they all stared at the middle-aged CEO, only broken by one final sigh.

"Yes. That was…unfortunate," Powers stated, rubbing the back of his head. "But I assure you, GothCorp had nothing to do that tragedy."

"Still, if you don't mind, we'd like to take a look around to see for ourselves," Spoiler said, and to her slight surprise, Mr. Powers nodded in agreement.

"Of course. In fact, I'll show you around myself," Mr. Powers offered. Red Robin raised his eyebrow towards the CEO in disbelief and crossed his arms.

"You're being awfully cooperative," Red Robin pointed out as Mr. Powers led them to a nearby elevator, opening it up with a keycard.

"It's why I was brought on board," Mr. Powers explained. "After what GothCorp's…illustrious founder did all those years ago, the Board felt the need for a different approach. We pride ourselves in our transparency to the public, the media, and the authorities."

"Hmm," Red Robin huffed. Being an adopted son of Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake was more than knowledgeable about corporate speak. 'Being open to everyone' in this scenario meant 'we have been in a non-stop PR campaign for the past few years to keep our company afloat after our founder got arrested for making a supervillain.' Standard corporate talk, in Tim's opinion. Still, he was being cooperative, so Red Robin could put aside his suspicion. For now, at least.

"Please feel free to inspect anything you see fit," Powers offered as the elevator ascended to the highest floors of the building, "for as long as you desire."

"We will. Thank you, Mr. Powers," Spoiler said, giving a sharp look to the back of his head. Despite not seeing her glare, Powers still felt it and sighed once again.

"I know you suspect me and my company. Honestly, I'm not all that surprised," Powers admitted, clenching his fist while the heroes looked on in slight astonishment. "What Ferris did to that man was, frankly, unforgivable, and I've been trying to right this company ever since."

"Then how did GothCorp technology get into Scarecrow's hands?" Red Robin asked as the car doors opened. With a frown on his face, Daniel Powers beckoned them to enter. A pained look crossed his face, as though what he was about to say physically hurt him, but he soldiered through and looked them all in the eye.

"About a week before Scarecrow's attack," he began, leading them towards his office, "GothCorp's R&D building was broken into. Several pieces of experimental technology were stolen, including the aerosolizing chambers utilized in the fear bombs."

The heroes all shared a look. Theft had always been a possibility, they had even discussed it before leaving for GothCorp, but Red Robin and Spoiler still weren't convinced Powers was telling the truth. Ren was skeptical, but at the same time willing to give him the benefit, whereas Nora gave every appearance of taking the man at his word. Their friendliest member certainly hoped that everything would prove to be as straightforward as he claimed, but behind her guileless smile she was as alert for anything suspicious as the others. Powers, for his part, seemed to take the two veterans' suspicion in stride, then flashed his keycard over a scanner.

"You'll find everything you need to conduct your investigation in this and the adjacent rooms. Video files, financial transactions, emails, and more. Please feel free to use me as a resource as much as you like."

Once more, the heroes shared a look. Then, at once, they looked towards the CEO and nodded.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Powers," Nora said with a warm smile as she and her friends got to work. Powers smiled back and nodded.

"You're welcome, miss. Happy to help."

---

She was here. He found her. He finally found her.

It had taken over a month to do so, through countless struggles, dead ends, and dead men, but he finally found her. How ironic, that he would find his wife in the very place where it all began. Where he became a monster trapped in a mobile prison of his own design.

Of course, another part of him felt it wasn't ironic at all, merely an inevitability. Perhaps it was fate that brought him and his wife back to this place? As the thought entered his mind, it raced with possibilities. Had fate decreed that his wife be taken from him? Had fate decided to turn him into a cold, heartless monster unable to feel even the sun's warmth across his skin? If so, then he despised fate, for it had taken everything from him.

Which is why he was doing this. Only he could save his beloved wife from what ailed her. Anyone else would get it wrong or would have given up by now. Not him. Not now, not ever. This mantra echoed in his mind as he refilled his suit and connected a fuel tank to his weapon. Icy breath froze against the glass window of his helmet while a display showed him the internal workings of GothCorp. The temperature inside his suit was well below zero degrees Celsius, which only served to remind him of what he had become. But at the same time, it didn't concern him. If he had to be a monster to save the one he loved most, he was okay with that.

He'd kill for that.

---

"Hoo boy, GothCorp's in trouble," Spoiler noted as she rummaged through several files of financial data. After hours of searching, what she found wasn't painting a pretty picture. It was one of dire financial struggles, exorbitant R-and-D costs on unfruitful or unsuccessful product lines, and all the other signs of a dying company struggling to save itself. All of this wasn't new, by any means. After all, GothCorp was currently a publicly-traded company, and this information was freely available to investors.

"Yes, sadly," Daniel Powers reluctantly admitted. "It's taken everything I have just to keep GothCorp afloat, not to mention avoiding layoffs. Although, at the way the company's going, I soon may have no choice in the matter."

Red Robin frowned as he pored over emails, this time in sympathy. It appeared that, unlike GothCorp founder Ferris Boyle, Daniel Powers was genuinely concerned about the people who worked under him and wanted to do a good job. Maybe he'd been too quick to assume the worst about the man? But, at the same time, years upon years of experience was screaming at him that the CEO of GothCorp was not to be trusted, as much as he wanted to believe otherwise.

Nora and Ren, meanwhile, analyzed the files on GothCorp's internal networks using one of Oracle's algorithm thumb drives. It scanned software for any files of note, highlighting receipts and scanned documents for further analysis. As Nora suspected, what she was finding was proof that GothCorp was truly innocent in this matter. Everything the company was doing regarding the aerosolizing chambers was perfectly legal and by the book. The only transactions made regarding them were preorders from other companies, pending government approval of the patent. The chamber itself was meant to increase the efficiency of fuel consumption in engines with no obvious signs of intended weaponization.

"Lightning, look at this," Ren said as he pulled up a video file, marked a week before Scarecrow's attack. Without saying a word, Nora pulled her chair closer and leaned closer to the screen, allowing Ren to play the video. At first, it played at normal speed, showing researchers inside GothCorp's lab going about their normal day-to-day routine. Ren then sped it up considerably, fast-forwarding to the middle of the night when no one was inside save for a lone security guard making his rounds. That changed suddenly as the lights shut off for barely thirty seconds, the only light coming from the guard's flashlight. Almost as soon as it disappeared, however, the lights came back on, much to the surprise of the guard. His surprise turned into alarm, however, as he noticed the aerosolizing chamber prototype was now missing.

"I didn't see anything," Nora admitted, and Ren nodded. He wasn't surprised she didn't see anything. Even with Oracle's algorithm, it took him a few tries to see anything of note, too. Ren reversed the video to right before the blackout, then pointed to the corner of the screen.

"Right there," he declared. "See her?"

Nora squinted her eyes and leaned closer. It was a struggle to make it out, but soon her eyes began to pick up a faint outline of a dark-clad figure standing behind a window. She waved Red Robin and Spoiler over, who immediately dropped what they were doing and came to investigate. Curious, Daniel Powers joined as well, and Ren moved the file to a large flat screen embedded into the wall before them. Using a laser pointer taken from a nearby desk, Ren highlighted the individual in question, and soon everyone's attention was focused on her.

"We've combed through this file for a month, how did we not see this?" Powers muttered in disbelief.

"I don't know about that, but to me," Nora stated, crossing her arms, "that looks like a ninja. Look, there's even a sword on her back."

True to Nora's word, an even fainter outline of a sword's hilt was visible on the apparent ninja's back. At once, a thought crossed all of their minds, and both Red Robin and Spoiler clenched their fists.

"Of course," Red Robin growled while Spoiler shook her head.

"Can't say I'm surprised. He was one of the suspects," she continued, and Daniel Powers looked at Spoiler in slight confusion.

"Who?" he asked, and Ren looked at him.

"We would need further evidence, but right now, the signs are pointing towards the League of Shadows being the ones who stole the aerosolizing chambers from your company, Mr. Powers," Ren revealed. Slowly, Powers' eyes widened, first in realization then in horror.

"My God…" he muttered, and Red Robin frowned.

"Indeed. In fact, had you turned over this video to the authorities before this, we could have caught onto R'as' trail that much sooner. So, I have to ask, why did you wait?"

"Yes, actually," Spoiler added, crossing her arms. "I didn't see a single police report from GothCorp regarding the break-in, nor an insurance claim. Those aerosolizing chambers must have cost a lot of money."

"They did," Powers admitted with a frown, mostly directed towards himself. "You have to understand my position."

"My understanding is that you withheld evidence regarding an investigation," Red Robin stated. In contrast to his earlier demeanor, Powers flashed an angry snarl.

"I know!" he shouted, but before the heroes could do anything else, the CEO paused himself and breathed in and out deeply. Once he calmed down, he regarded them again. "I know it looks bad, but you have to understand. You saw how precarious GothCorp is at the moment. Even though it's been years since the scandal broke, GothCorp has never recovered. News getting out about GothCorp's experimental products being robbed, only for that technology to later be used in a terrorist attack, would have destroyed us."

"So, you covered it up?" Spoiler accused with a small frown. A moment of silence passed, then Powers reluctantly nodded.

"…Yes, I covered up a crime committed against us out of fear we would receive the backlash. Fears that, I'm afraid, were well-founded."

The heroes looked at Powers, the two sides staring the other down. On the one hand, they could see Powers' situation. Everything he said was true regarding GothCorp's situation, providing sufficient motivation to do what he did. But he still broke the law, covered up a crime and prevented a proper investigation to be conducted. Nora frowned, not liking the complexity inherent in this situation. She liked it better when the lines between good and evil were much starker.

"You're going to report me to the police, aren't you?" Powers finally asked. After a moment, the heroes nodded.

"Yes, we are. Regardless of the fact that you are the victim of a crime, you still engaged in a cover-up," Ren declared. The CEO sighed and sat down, rubbing his forehead together. Feeling sympathy, Ren continued, "I'm sorry, sir."

"Don't be. It's my own damn fault. Add this to the long list of mistakes I've made," Powers replied, his head facing the floor. Taking one final look at the man, the heroes turned to leave. When they made it to the elevator, however, Powers called out to them one last time.

"Just…promise me that you'll stop him," he begged, and for the first time since he met the man, Red Robin smiled at him.

"We will, Mr. Powers. I promise you that," Red Robin declared. Powers made a small nod then went back to sulking, while a saddened Nora pressed the call button for the elevator.

"Do you have copies of everything?" Spoiler asked, and Ren nodded while pulling out a flash drive.

"Yes," Ren answered. "Uploading to Oracle now."

"Do it," Red Robin ordered, shivering slightly. Had the air conditioning suddenly turned on? It seemed much colder now. Ren, meanwhile, tried to upload the evidence towards Oracle, but to his growing alarm, he was finding himself unable to do so. He tried again, only to receive the same result.

"I'm not getting a signal," Ren declared, causing the rest of the heroes and Powers to shoot their attentions towards him.

"What?" Nora asked, quickly bringing up her own comms. To her alarm, she got nothing. "I'm not getting a signal, either."

"Same," Spoiler joined the chorus, then shot Powers a look. He was now standing up, cell phone in hand and pressing as many buttons as he could, but the look on his face told her everything she needed to know.

"What's going on?" Powers asked, growing more alarmed by the second. Red Robin shivered again, this time seeing the faint outline of his breath before his face. In fact, he could see everyone's breath now. Suddenly, it all seemed to fall into place, and Red Robin shot towards the nearest computer.

"Is this intranet enabled?" he demanded to know, logging himself back on as the rest of the group assembled around him.

"Uh, yes," Powers answered. Red Robin silently acknowledged him, pulling up GothCorp's current security feeds and bringing it to the front screen.

"Oh God…" Powers paled, as did Red Robin, Spoiler, Pink Lightning and Verdant Lotus. There, covering every single exit in and out of the building, were walls of ice several feet thick. Around them were completely frozen security guards, caught entirely by surprise. Only a few were able to even begin pulling out their weapons.

"Where is he?" Red Robin muttered to himself as he cycled through feed after feed.

"Who?" Ren asked, pulling out Stormflower while Nora unfurled Magnhild. Finally, Red Robin centered on a larger gathering of security officers, who had barricaded a door with desks and were desperately trying to call for back up. But the jamming of their comms affected the guards as well, and there was nothing they could do but watch in horror as the barricaded door began to ice over, before shattering. Thick icy mist flowed from the threshold as every single security guard in the room aimed their weapons shakily towards the large, menacing figure advancing through it. Red eyes glowed from behind a thick glass helmet and metal exoskeleton. Blue neon lines of cryogenic fluid crossed the suit, with a large tube connected to the back of a large gun.

"Alright, everyone," Mr. Freeze declared in a cold deadpan, the monotone echo of his voice from his helmet received through the security feed as he fully entered the room, bringing his gun forward as the guards were paralyzed by fear. "Chill."

Before most could react or even fire their weapon, Mr. Freeze fired his cryo-gun, encasing the terrified guards in ice. A few managed to get some shots off, but the bullets ricocheted off his cryo-suit harmlessly, and a dispassionate Mr. Freeze froze the offenders without a second glance. Within a few seconds, only a single guard remained, frozen up to his waist and shaking from both hypothermia and fear.

"Please, have mercy," he begged, but instead Mr. Freeze aimed his gun at him.

"I'm afraid my condition has left me numb to your pleas of mercy," he declared, then froze the top half of the man solid. Without a single shift in his expression, Mr. Freeze continued through the room and onto the next, freezing the door behind him.

A heavy silence fell over the assembled heroes, then at once, they all reacted.

"Stay here and lock the door," Red Robin declared as he and the heroes sprinted towards the stairwell. Powers didn't need to be told twice as he sprinted towards his office, locking it behind him in a futile yet somewhat comforting gesture. Soon, he was left all alone as the heroes raced towards the enemy, as the icy grip of terror tightened around him.

---

Victor Fries, more commonly known as Mr. Freeze. A notorious supervillain who held the distinction of being the first superpowered individual Batman ever had the misfortune of coming to conflict with. Over the years, he had been responsible for dozens of deaths, the theft of several hundreds of thousands of dollars, and countless injuries. Now he was rampaging inside GothCorp, and he needed to be stopped.

The only question on Nora's, Ren's, Red Robin's and Spoiler's minds, however, was 'why is he here?'

"This doesn't make any sense," Spoiler said as they raced down the stairwell. "Why would Victor attack GothCorp?"

"No idea," Red Robin answered, vaulting over a railing to descend faster. "We'll figure that out later."

"Do you think Powers has something to do with it?"

"Knowing Victor? Definitely," Red Robin snarled and clenched his fists. He knew that something was off about Powers, and Victor Fries attacking GothCorp was proof of that. There was only one thing that motivated Victor to do what he did.

"I thought Victor was in the Wayne Rehabilitation Program?" Ren asked, having read Fries' file during his off-time. By all accounts, Victor was a successful participant, working out of a specialized lab on the other side of Gotham.

"He is," Spoiler replied. "Which only makes it more confusing. We'd been in contact with Victor weekly, and there was no indication of anything going wrong on his end."

Nora pursed her lips and frowned. She didn't like this, not one bit. They were going into battle completely in the dark, unable to contact the outside world for reinforcements despite all attempts to do so. Not only that, they didn't even know where Mr. Freeze was. The man was destroying every security camera he came across, leaving them blind to his movements. But what was worst of all was just how cold it was getting. With each floor they passed, it was like steeping deeper into a freezer.

They passed another floor, and almost immediately they noticed a distinct film of ice covering the floor. Faint mist floated in the air, and their breaths condensed before their faces.

"Oh my God…" Spoiler muttered as they noticed, at the far end of a corridor, the body of a security guard. He was standing upright, his gun facing forward and his finger on the trigger. The gun's barrel was sliding back from being fired, and a terrified expression was plastered across his face. Most of all, he was completely encased in ice from head to toe. Ren quickly scanned his body for any vital signatures but closed his eyes and sighed remorsefully.

"He's gone," he revealed, looking down and to the side.

"Dammit, Victor. What have you done?" Red Robin asked himself under his breath. He steeled himself, then looked at the rest of his comrades. "Victor's been here recently. There has to be trail, a pattern to his movements. We figure that out, we find him."

"On it," Nora, Spoiler, and Ren replied in unison, then began getting to work. Using their masks' detective mode, they began to search for any evidence regarding Mr. Freeze's movements. Quickly, they found a trail, which led them to a stairwell on the opposite side of the floor, heading upwards. Red Robin cursed to himself. Had they just gone down another flight of stairs, they could have run into him and stopped this all at once. But, at the same time, perhaps that would have been for the worse? After all, randomly running into a supervillain unprepared was a recipe for disaster.

They raced to the stairwell, where they found the steps covered in ice so thoroughly it had become a slide. This didn't daunt them in the slightest, as they all simply pulled out their grappling hooks and zipped upwards. Stairs raced them by, the ice growing thicker and thicker with each passing floor until the ice abruptly stopped.

"Wait, go back," Nora called out, halting her ascent and going back down to the floor below. As Nora noticed, the ice had indeed stopped after this floor, and here the ice was as thick as she had ever seen. In some places, nearly a foot thick. Cautiously, the heroes released their hooks and landed on the ice-covered floor, pulling out their weapons as they walked forward. None of them said a word, their eyes peeled for any movement.

Ice crunched underfoot as they cautiously stepped further into the frozen floor. Their suit's insulation protected them from the cold, but even then, they couldn't help but shiver on occasion. Part of Nora wondered if that was due to some shared nervousness, but just as quickly as it appeared, she brushed it aside. She couldn't afford to let thoughts like those cloud her judgement, not when people's lives were on the line.

Suddenly, Red Robin stopped and thrust up a closed fist. Immediately Nora, Ren, and Spoiler halted, tensing for whatever caught Tim's attention. He turned to face them, the irises of his mask glowing white, as he pointed two fingers into an adjacent room. The others nodded silently then slowly maneuvered themselves along the wall. They activated their mask's optics to see though the wall as well, just to confirm what Red Robin was seeing. To their shock, what they saw was nothing as a thick cloud of cold air blanketed everything inside the room, preventing them from even seeing the furniture. A quick scan into the other rooms showed that none had this property, telling them why Red Robin was so interested in this room.

Nora held out Magnhild and raised it up, preparing to break down the wall and create an opening. She waited for Red Robin's permission, and once he, Ren, and Spoiler were ready, he nodded. Nora nodded back and threw Magnhild back, but just as she began to swing forward, her senses screamed. Ren's did as well, and before either Red Robin or Spoiler could react, Ren and Nora each grabbed one and dived out of the way as a torrent of ice was shot towards them from the hallway, striking the wall where they just were. The entire flank was immediately frozen as large crystals of ice formed on its surface, the immediate impact area forming a large icicle that jetted out into the hallway. Now on high alert, the heroes sharply turned towards the shot's source. There, hanging in the mist, they saw the black silhouette of a man glaring at them through glowing red goggles.

"Mr. Freeze," Red Robin growled as Mr. Freeze stepped out from the mist, his cryo-gun pointed towards them menacingly.

"Children," he greeted them emotionlessly. "That was a warning shot. I have no quarrel with you this evening, so I advise you leave GothCorp immediately."

"You know we can't do that, Victor," Spoiler said, pulling out a shuriken and clenching her fist. "Please, stop this and come quietly. Before anyone else gets hurt."

Mr. Freeze said nothing at first, and part of Nora wanted to believe that just maybe the cryologist was heeding Spoiler's words. Instead, without a single emotion showing on his face, Mr. Freeze pulled the trigger. Expecting the action, the heroes dived to the side in pairs, Ren with Red Robin and Spoiler with Nora. A tilted spike of ice struck the floor while a thick covering encased the area around it, followed by more spikes as Mr. Freeze fired blast after blast towards the heroes. Each one they dodged, but to their alarm they noticed that more of the floor was being consumed by ice.

"Gagh!" Nora shrieked in surprise as she landed wrong and slipped, falling onto her rear. Aiming to take advantage of this blunder, Mr. Freeze aimed his cryo-gun towards her, but a trio of electrified shurikens thrown by Red Robin threw off his aim. A torrent of ice struck the wall, forming a spike of ice that narrowly missed Nora's head. With wide eyes, she got to her feet and dived away as a follow-up shot struck where she just was, only now it was a stream that followed her as she slid away.

With cold precision, Mr. Freeze continued to track Nora until he felt his suit ping as several nine-millimeter rounds struck. Ceasing his attack, he turned to the source, only to have a leaping Ren kick him in the faceplate. Mr. Freeze grunted and stumbled back, the ice being crushed underfoot. Refusing to let up, Ren followed up his surprise attack with several kicks, punches and slashes, aiming for the tubes of coolant that crisscrossed the cryo-suit.

"I can't let you do that," Mr. Freeze declared as Ren swiped one of Stormflower's bayonets at a coolant tube. Using his free hand, Mr. Freeze grabbed Ren's wrist and stopped it entirely, much to Ren's surprise. Ren tried to break free, but a mechanical whine sounded as Mr. Freeze's grip tightened. Then Mr. Freeze shot his head down, striking Ren's and stunning him. Ren flinched for just a second on reflex, which Mr. Freeze exploited to raise his foot and kick into Ren's chest. The Verdant Lotus felt the air leave his lungs as he was hurtled back, striking the wall with enough force to crack it.

"…ow," he grunted, but almost immediately felt his senses scream at him to move. Knowing he didn't have time to rise to his feet, Ren kicked the wall behind him, the icy surface allowing him to slide to safety just as Mr. Freeze fired at him. As he slid, Ren fired both pistols at Mr. Freeze, forcing the supervillain to hastily raise his arms to protect his face. One of the bullets managed to puncture a coolant tube, causing Mr. Freeze's attention to shoot down to it. He frowned, the first show of emotion Nora noticed from the cold man as he clamped the breach with his free hand, and he looked at the rest of the heroes disdainfully.

"Give it up, Victor!" Spoiler demanded as she rushed towards him, pulling and expanding her bo staff with a twirl. Mr. Freeze refused to deign her with an answer, instead raising the cryo-gun towards her to fire. Using her bo staff, Stephanie pole vaulted over the shot, allowing her to kick Mr. Freeze twice before launching herself off of him. From the side, Red Robin seized his chance to fire his grappling gun into Freeze's back, pulling himself forward to kick the villain forward while planting a small electrical charge in his stead. Arcs of electricity coursed through his suit, yet his suit's insulation protected him from its effects.

It didn't let him do anything to stop Nora's charge, however, as she rushed him with Magnhild held high. He barely got a shot off before Nora slammed her weapon into his side, the metal screeching from the impact as he was sent flying into and through a nearby wall. Rubble collapsed around him, and with heavy breaths the heroes waited for the supervillain to make his next move.

"Oh, come on," Nora complained as Mr. Freeze picked himself off the ground, the internal mechanics of the powered cryo suit squealing for all to hear. Where Magnhild struck was a noticeable dent, coolant leaking down its side, but Mr. Freeze didn't seem to care. The more Nora thought about it, the more she noticed that Mr. Freeze just didn't seem to care much about anything.

"Victor, please," Ren called out, trying to talk sense into the man. "Just stand down."

Once again, Mr. Freeze said nothing, but none of the heroes thought he was considering their words. The man was far too stubborn and relentless for that, and so they braced themselves for further confrontation. So, when Mr. Freeze fired at them yet again, they easily dodged the attack and rolled to their feet, preparing to retaliate.

But, to their surprise, Mr. Freeze didn't step into the room. Instead, he appeared to be smirking. For a moment, none of them knew why, then at once a large crack sounded from the middle of the room. The floor was now completely covered in a thick layer of ice, the added weight too much for the room's support to bear. The crack spread, and the heroes drew out grappling hooks to try and catch themselves only for Mr. Freeze to freeze the tools solid with precise shots from his cryo-gun. Undeterred, the heroes rushed towards the supervillain, only for the ice to fully crack, and the floor to collapse out from under them. They screamed in surprise as gravity quickly reasserted itself, sending them falling down the floor where an avalanche of ice buried them.

From above, Mr. Freeze dispassionately watched as the ice settled. He waited for any sign of movement, then noticed that one section of the ice was violently shaking. Soon after, he saw the ice surrounding Nora explode as pink electricity coursed through her body. In the corner of her HUD, she saw a battery icon telling her that her suit's charge was quickly being drained, and with a wordless yell, Nora leaped towards the supervillain with her hammer held high. Mr. Freeze was expecting this however, and already had his cryo-gun trained on her. She was helpless to stop the torrent of ice striking her dead-center, pinning her from head to toe to the wall behind her. Only her face was exposed, but that didn't do her much good as Mr. Freeze silently turned and walked away, freezing the entrance to the stairwell behind him.

'All according to plan,' he thought, with the lone exception of a few minor details. The coolant leak would have to be fixed, of course, but it was a minor detail. Most of the coolant tubes were inside his suit, with the external ones meant to be obvious targets similar to the sigil on Batman's suit. The loss to his structural integrity, displayed onto his suit's HUD, was within acceptable boundaries for fighting off against two non-powered and two-powered individuals.

At the same time, Mr. Freeze knew the heroes weren't killed by his little trick, just as he knew trying to fight them off on his own was foolish. So, he quickened his pace, eventually finding himself before the office of Daniel Powers. With a noticeable scowl, he froze the door solid, shattering it with a well-aimed punch.

"Mr. Powers, I believe we have an appointment," he announced as he strode into the room, searching for the CEO that he knew was cowering in here. With a wordless yell, the CEO in question shot up from behind his desk, firing a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun at the invader. The buckshot bounced off the cryo-suit harmlessly, and a suddenly infuriated Mr. Freeze stomped towards a now panicking Powers.

"Now, Victor," Powers began, his flesh paling as the weapon numbly dropped from his hands. "Let's talk this out, okay? We can—"

Mr. Freeze cut him off by grabbing the edge of the desk and hurling it to the side, the wood splintering against the wall. Before the CEO could even respond, Mr. Freeze grabbed hold of him by the neck and brought him up to his face.

"I'm only going to ask you this once," Mr. Freeze growled into the terrified face of Daniel Powers. "Where? Is? Nora?"

---

Nora Valkyrie had already begun struggling to free herself when Mr. Freeze left them, but the cold ice encasing her made movement difficult. Her head immobilized, she moved her eyes around the room to try and find her friends, but she saw only ice. Nora tried to frown, but instead could only chatter her teeth. Her efforts to free herself redoubled, and cracks began to appear in her icy prison. First she was able to free her hand, the ice around it shattering into thousands of tiny pieces. She felt feeling slowly return to the appendage, then once she had enough, gently pressed a button on her glove. She felt electricity shock her, allowing her Semblance to kick in once again and give her the strength she needed to break the ice around her completely.

"Gagh! Gods, that's cold!" she shouted, rubbing her arms frantically while falling to her knees. Once again, she looked around the room, first finding Magnhild then trying to discern where her teammates had fallen. She wondered just how exactly this could've happened, but then sighed in realization. In hindsight, it was obvious what Mr. Freeze was doing. Metal, which made up the framework of this entire building, didn't like sudden change in temperatures. Mr. Freeze shooting his cryo-gun all over the place couldn't have helped the floor's structural integrity, which likely wasn't designed to withstand subzero temperatures. The only thing that would have made it worse was if a fire started.

"Everyone okay?" she called out as the first streaks of light began to peek into her icy cavern.

"Ugh, everything hurts…" Spoiler grunted out from beneath her own pile. "But I'm okay."

She was covered from head to foot in icy rubble, her bo staff extended to prevent larger chunks from crushing her. Beside her was Red Robin, who had extended his bo staff's shield to do the same thing. Nora sighed in relief at seeing them unharmed, although they were clearly injured. Mostly cuts and bruises, luckily. But, to her alarm, she didn't see Ren. Her head swiveled around the room, trying to find her partner and boyfriend, but soon enough she saw a mound of ice being pushed upward and to the side. Ren was now fully exposed, his green suit covered in icy powder that he quickly shook off.

"I'm good. Aura took most of the impact," he revealed.

"Lucky, oohh," Spoiler groaned again she rose to her feet, clutching her side. Red Robin was holding his side as well, and together the two non-powered heroes were helping each other to their feet.

"You guys good?" Nora asked. Even with their years of training and experience, a fall due to a collapsing floor could easily override that.

"Winded," Red Robin admitted as he pulled out a syringe gun and injected a painkiller into his leg. He winced at first, then sighed in relief as the cocktail did its job. The pain now alleviated, he looked towards Spoiler to see she had done the same thing.

"We should be," Spoiler said. "At least for now. We'll get patched up once we're done here."

Ren and Nora looked at each other. Both of them were relatively unharmed, but that was entirely due to their Aura. Neither Red Robin nor Spoiler had that luxury, and only now did they see that. Aura was ubiquitous to life on Remnant, but it wasn't here. Blows that they could shrug off were life threatening on Earth. It was a humbling thought. Part of them wondered whether or not they should have Red Robin and Spoiler stay behind to nurse their wounds, but at the same time knew that trying to insist on that was not only patronizing towards their friends, but also mildly insulting. So, they didn't even bother trying to ask, and merely looked back at their fellow superheroes and nodded.

"Where'd he go?" Nora asked as she broke the ice off her grapple gun, her comrades doing the same.

"I have an idea," Red Robin replied tersely. Together, the four heroes zipped themselves back up to the floor they had fallen from, landing on the ice-coated hallway and making their way back up the stairs. Nora shattered the wall of ice blocking them with her hammer, allowing them to proceed. Yet, as they traveled up the stairs, more walls and sheets of ice greeted them, marking the path Freeze had taken while further blocking their advance. Nora was forced to break each one, which luckily for her didn't take more than one or two blows. To their alarm, it quickly became apparent that the ice was leading straight to Powers' office, where the door was shattered into frozen chunks. Inside they saw no sign of Powers, but clear evidence of Freeze. The desk was shattered against the wall and lying next to the back window was a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun with two spent shells still inside. The carpet showed signs of an individual back-crawling away, and the faint image of a man's back was visible on the glass window.

"Fries was here," Red Robin revealed, using his mask to highlight the supervillains' footsteps. Using the scattered bits of evidence from around the room, he reconstructed the crime scene, which was equally shared between his teammates. They saw Fries break into the room, Powers pulling a shotgun from under his desk and firing in a blind panic, only for the bullets to do nothing against his armored suit. The desk was violently thrown aside, and Mr. Freeze grabbed Powers by the neck and pressed him to the glass window.

"What happened next?" Nora asked. Red Robin nodded, then fast-forwarded the reconstruction. They saw Mr. Freeze, still holding Powers by the neck, drag him away. They followed the trail, the carpet showing scrapes where Powers' heels were dragged. A few jagged sections showed that he was struggling, until finally the trail ceased at the elevator.

The heroes all looked at each other, then Nora pressed the call button. There was no indicator that showed which floor the car was coming up from, but that wasn't an issue. They patiently waited, Nora tilting back and forth on her heels before finally the car doors opened, granting them entry.

"Fingerprints show…" Spoiler narrowed her eyes as she looked at various buttons. "Hold on, I'm not seeing any. At least any that are recent."

"What? Let me see," Red Robin stated as he went to look. True enough, there was none, causing him to furrow his brow. "Something's not right."

"Maybe there's a secret panel?" Nora suggested. The others thought it over, then began to look around the car for any electronic signatures. The Pink Lightning found an anomaly easily enough and ripped out the wood panel that covered it. There she found a GothTech security screen, complete with built-in keyboard and green-tinted screen. "Found it. Spoiler, will you do the honors?"

"It'll be my pleasure," Spoiler replied, walking over and pulling out a hacking device. She quickly bypassed the security screen's firewalls and internal defenses, entering the passcode within just a few seconds. Now finished, Spoiler put away her device just as the screen flickered and came to life. It asked them whether they would confirm they wished to descend, and the heroes couldn't help but smirk at their success.

"Remind me to get Oracle something nice," Ren said as he checked his weapons. The others nodded, then with one final look between themselves they pressed the enter key. Slowly, the car doors closed, and they felt the car descend. A repetitive musical tone began to play in the car, which quickly got on all of their nerves before Nora had enough and jabbed the end of Magnhild's handle into the speaker, shutting the music off.

"Thank you," Spoiler told Nora, who smiled back before looking back at the elevator's floor indicator. They were now in the basement, and once they reached the floor marked B2 they prepared to disembark, but instead it continued going down.

"What the?" she wondered aloud as the car continued down to B3, where it finally stopped. Confused, Nora pulled up GothCorp's schematics, but to her surprise, she found nothing. "This floor's not on the schematics."

"I can see that," Red Robin noted with a frown. Once again, his suspicion regarding Powers was being proved well founded. "Whatever they did down here, GothCorp obviously didn't want anyone to find out about it."

"Too bad for them, then," Ren calmly joked, pulling back the slides of his weapons. Despite himself, Red Robin couldn't help but smirk, then together the four heroes made their way inside. The elevator closed behind them with a small clang, but their attentions were focused squarely in front of them. As with the floors above, layers of ice coated the walls, ceiling, and floor, thin enough to be crushed underfoot as they traversed the hallways. The hallway itself was made out of thick concrete, thick enough so that it insulated the interior from any signals getting in or out.

'Certainly explains why no one noticed this before,' Ren thought as he and Nora took point, his weapons raised forward while Nora had shifted Magnhild into its grenade launcher configuration. There was a slight but noticeable slope to the hallway they were in, but that didn't concern the Verdant Lotus all that much. The more they went down, the more noticeable it got, but most of all it confirmed that what Red Robin had said before was true: Daniel Powers, and GothCorp by extension, was hiding something. Something that caught Mr. Freeze's attention, and now they were all paying the price for it.

"Hold up," Nora called out as they came across a pair of frozen double-doors. She scanned her mask for anything inside, but the walls were too thick to see through. Silently, the four heroes went into pairs and took cover behind the door. Nora shifted Magnhild back into a hammer, then raised it up high. She internally counted to three, then at once swung her weapon into the frozen metal. The impact shattered it off its hinges, sending the two doors flying into the room. The heroes stormed into the room with their weapons drawn, searching for any sign of activity, but instead found only the frozen body of a scientist. A nametag reading 'Baxter' could be seen on the man's chest.

"Goddammit," Red Robin grunted. Holstering his staff, he took a look around the room and quickly noticed a series of computers scattered around various desks. Next to them were research equipment, charts and pages upon pages of data, telling him that this was a research lab. Most of it was frozen completely solid, but some were thankfully still operational.

"Give me a moment," Spoiler said as she went to a computer and tried to log in. It tried to prevent her from doing so, but once again Oracle's algorithm made short work of its security. "I'm in. Hold on, it says that this computer isn't set up to GothCorp's intranet. It's on its own independent server."

"That's not suspicious at all," Nora sarcastically replied, shaking her head in disappointment.

"Agreed," Red Robin spoke up. "I'm going to see where Freeze went. See if you guys can't find anything."

"On it," Ren responded, quickly taking a seat next to another functional computer. Nora sat next to him, riffling through papers as they scoured GothCorp's hidden servers for anything of note. What they found shocked them.

As it turned out, the documents they were reading, scanning, and downloading painted a much bleaker picture of GothCorp's finances. They already weren't that good, but it quickly became apparent that the numbers GothCorp gave to investors were outright fraudulent. In truth, GothCorp was rapidly dying, having not made a quarterly profit in nearly two years. Expenses continued to increase as the company tried everything to save itself, but nothing worked. Lies became exposed, such as the fact that the aerosolizing chamber GothCorp had made, the very same that Powers had espoused as being a great product, wasn't just in the process of being approved by the federal government. It had been outright rejected on the grounds that it was too easy to be weaponized. The government had requested a redesign, one that was far too costly for GothCorp to bear, so instead they began to offer it to LexCorp. Apparently, LexCorp was highly interested in the design and the offer they were making could have saved the company, at least in the short term.

"Of course," Ren frowned and shook his head as he continued to read. "Something tells me Lex had the aerosolizing chamber stolen in order to both avoid paying them as well as throw off suspicion."

"Looks like much of the problem was that GothCorp was just too big," Nora read aloud, showing Ren the appropriate document. Indeed, employee expenses were by far the largest expenditure GothCorp was facing, but for some reason the number of employees remained static. From what little she knew about corporate finance, if a company was too big to sustain itself then layoffs were to be expected, yet that didn't happen here.

"Powers had mentioned that he would have to reluctantly start doing layoffs soon," Ren pointed out. "Perhaps that's why it hasn't happen yet?"

"Great, so a CEO committed fraud and stifled an investigation in order to prevent layoffs," Red Robin grunted from across the room. "Better than greed, I suppose."

"Doesn't make it right." Spoiler frowned, her fingers dancing across the keyboard. Everything she had read she had already downloaded, and she did the same thing with every new piece of information she came across. Eventually, she found a folder that caught her curiosity, and she opened it to find a series of videos.

"Hold up, I found something," she called out, catching everyone's attention. They went over to her and leaned in to get a better look. She was hovering over the first one, dated just a week before Scarecrow's attack.

"What are you waiting for?" Nora asked, tilting her head to the side to give a sideways glance. Without saying a word, Spoiler pulled up the first video and opened it, pulling up the built-in video player. Then she pressed play, leaning back to allow everyone to get a better look.

"Mr. Powers," they saw an unnamed scientist enter Powers' office, holding a clipboard in one hand, "I don't think—"

"I don't want excuses," Powers interrupted him, sitting down at his desk and giving the scientist an angry glare. "All I want to know is, can it be done?"

"I…" The scientist sighed, then nodded. "Theoretically? Yes, it can. But GothCorp's cryology department was entirely dependent on Victor Fries, and we don't have his research anymore. No one does. He destroyed it along with the entire lab."

"Damn you, Boyle. So focused on that damn cryo-gun that you didn't see the bigger picture," Powers cursed. He sighed, then rubbed the back of his head. "How long would it take to recreate what Victor did?"

"Years, at least. You have to understand, Fries was a master of his field. No one's been able to match what he's done, and you want us to recreate it in months. I'm afraid it's impossible."

The recording showed Powers glare at the scientist. Part of them were afraid that he'd lash out, but instead Powers merely sighed in disappointment and stood up, facing his office's window.

"I'll allocate more funding to the cryology department. It's the only thing now that'll save this company, and we can't afford to let past mistakes define us."

"Sir? What about the-?"

"The aerosolizing chamber's patent was denied. Those hand-wringing idiots at the patent office felt it was too easy to be weaponized." Powers scoffed and shook his head. "Years of work, all flushed down the drain because of a few unelected bureaucrats."

The recording ceased, prompting the heroes to turn and face each other.

"They were trying to recreate Freeze's work? Why?" Nora asked.

"What that scientist said was correct," Red Robin replied. "Fries' work in cryology was unprecedented. The man, in a matter of months, advanced the field further than decades of research could do. He was able to successfully preserve living tissue in cryogenic stasis without irreparably harming it. He could even keep a person alive in cryogenic stasis…indefinitely."

"Why the hell did Boyle squander that?" Ren asked, already seeing the potential applications of such a technology.

"Ferris Boyle was an incredibly shortsighted, arrogant and greedy man. He saw the work Fries had done and instead of thinking of peaceful, long term ways to market it, he instead saw short term potential for profit in weaponization," Red Robin clarified, frowning to himself. "Something that Powers apparently recognized."

"I don't think there's any lost love between them," Nora noted, then motioned for the next video to be played. This one was dated the very day after Scarecrow's attack, and something told her that she already knew its contents. Once it began playing, she found that her guess was accurate.

"Damn it!" Powers screamed as he and the rest of GothCorp's scientists and engineers scrambled around one of GothCorp's research labs. "How could this happen?! The aerosolizing chamber wasn't designed to be used in a bomb!"

"Sir, I think we found a possible explanation," another unnamed scientist revealed, showing Powers a schematic of the device in question. "They modified the fuel and pressure valves, causing the internal pressure to build to dangerously high levels, and the compact space increased the fear gas's volatility. It was…horrifyingly easy."

"Fuck!" Powers cursed, throwing the chamber away. "I want to know who did this. Now! I want every recording, every guard, every single person who was here on that night interrogated. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir," the scientist replied, already issuing out orders to carry out Powers' command. Seeing how the video continued, Spoiler fast forwarded, showing Powers now hanging his head over a tablet, showing the very break in footage they themselves reviewed previously.

"Sir, I'm afraid that the individuals in question were—" a security guard prepared to say, but Powers cut him off with a raised hand.

"I know who they are. Everyone in Gotham knows who they are," Powers revealed. "And they stole the device after I started talking to Lex Luthor. Perfect."

"Should I take this to the police?"

"What do you think would happen if people found out that GothCorp technology was used in a terrorist attack?" Powers replied, looking at the security guard in exasperation. "How do you think the League would react to the fact that I tried to sell a piece of banned technology to LexCorp? It doesn't matter if we're the victim, we'll be blamed and GothCorp will be ruined. Hundreds of jobs would be destroyed, people would be arrested, and things could happen that I can't even think of. No, we keep this under wraps and away from the public."

"I…don't think that's wise, sir," the guard pointed out. Powers sighed and lowered his head.

"I know, but it's the only choice I have. Understand, however, that everything you just learned was covered in your nondisclosure agreement."

The threat inherent in Powers' words was easily apparent to the security guard, who grimaced but nodded.

"Good, glad you and I are on the same page." Powers stood up. "If the police or any other heroes come by, then by all means we'll cooperate. But until then, it's business as usual. I want the security around the building increased, spare no expense. This cannot happen again, understand?"

"Of course, sir," the guard replied, then the recording ceased. Once again, the heroes look at each other, frowns crossing all of their faces.

"He…lied to us. Told us they never noticed the ninjas before," Nora pointed out, clenching her fist tightly. "Powers knew the entire time…and did nothing out of fear he'd be blamed."

"Fear is often irrational, and can make a person do the wrong thing," Ren said remorsefully. "But, as enlightening as this was, it still doesn't answer why Mr. Freeze attacked the building."

"Play the last one," Red Robin ordered. Spoiler nodded then did as instructed, pulling up the final video that was dated a few days after the previous. At once, all of their eyes widened in realization. There, in the center of the room, laid a giant glass tube filled with ice. Suspended in the center was a beautiful woman with long, blonde hair, dressed in a fair white dress.

"Powers…what have you done?" Red Robin asked himself while the video played before him.

"Mr. Cobblepot, thank you for delivering the package," Powers spoke over the phone. The video's audio wasn't sharp enough to pick up the Penguin's side of the conversation, but they had enough on their end to infer what was going on. "Yes, yes, the payment has already been transferred to one of your accounts. Pleasure doing business with you."

Powers hung up, then scowled. "Foul man. But I don't suppose I'm any different. It doesn't matter, now. Even if I didn't do this, they would have blamed me, anyway."

He got up, then walked to the window overlooking Nora's tube. "Nora Fries. It's truly a shame what happened to you. I wouldn't wish Huntington's Chorea on anyone. I truly wish that I didn't have to do this, but events outside of my control left me with no choice."

The door into the room opened, and Powers turned to face one of the scientists. He had a nervous disposition on his face, but Powers seemed unconcerned.

"How goes the research?" he asked, and the researcher nodded before replying.

"What went into Mrs. Fries is nothing short of miraculous. She'd been frozen for over a decade, yet there's no signs of any tissue degradation or long-term harm. She could be thawed out today, and other than her illness, which itself has completely halted its spread throughout her body, she'd be perfectly fine."

"Outstanding," Powers replied, a genuine smile on his face. "Can you recreate it?"

"With enough time, yes, but that's the problem." The scientist looked at Nora Fries once more, then back at Daniel Powers. "Mr. Powers, I don't know if we can conduct the research we need on her without causing irreparable damage."

"What do you mean?" Powers asked, the look on his face showing that he already knew the answer.

"We simply don't know enough about what Victor Fries did, the technology he built. We'd have to take the machine apart, which would inevitably thaw her out. Then, her terminal illness would kill her."

Powers frowned, clenching his fists. Then he steeled himself and turned to face the scientist. "Dr. Baxter, as much as it pains me to say this, our research into cryogenics is too important. Do you understand what we can do with such a technology? Better food preservation, storage of medicines indefinitely, space colonization, and more. And that's ignoring the very reason why Victor invented this. If we find a way to recreate what he did, we can apply it to thousands of people with diseases on the cusp of being cured, saving thousands of lives. I think that's worth the possible loss of one life."

Dr. Baxter looked at Powers then back at Nora. Finally, he too steeled himself, and nodded back at Daniel Powers.

"We'll do everything we can to prevent her death, but if it comes to it," Powers continued, "we'll at least make her comfortable."

The video ceased. A heavy silence fell over the group as they all stared at the now blank monitor. It, and the rest of the videos, explained so much. Powers had been lying the entire time, about GothCorp's financial situation, about the break in, everything. The man was desperate to save the company, and so he committed copious amounts of white-collar crime, but when Scarecrow attacked, he was afraid they'd be blamed. So, he covered it up, then decided that since they'd be blamed anyway, he might as well go all out in a last-ditch effort to save the company.

"Powers, you idiot," Red Robin spoke softly. So much of this could have been avoided if he had just been honest with everyone, but now people were dead at the hands of a vengeful husband looking for his wife. Powers should have known Mr. Freeze wouldn't take his wife's kidnapping lightly.

"Where is he?" Nora asked, her voice appearing calm but in truth hiding a deep remorse. Her arm was shaking from the swirling mixture of emotions inside of her head, which Ren noticed. He knew how she felt, for he both knew her and was feeling the exact same thing. In response, he gently took her hand into his own, which finally calmed the Pink Lightning down. She held his hand tightly, then the two looked at Red Robin.

"Found him," he said, pointing towards a frozen door on the left side of the research lab. Without saying a word, Nora pulled Magnhild from her back, aimed it at the door, then fired a trio of incendiary charges into the ice. The charges buried themselves deep, then began to glow bright orange from the intense heat they were emitting. The ice boiled away quickly, leaving only the metal door behind. Rather than wait for the door to cool down, Nora fired an impact grenade into its center, blowing it off its hinges and granting them entry.

"After you," she offered. Ren, Spoiler, and Red Robin gladly took her offer, and the four raced down the sloped hallway. A few frozen doors blocked their path, but Nora quickly brought them down with Magnhild. The ice grew thicker as they continued down, but it didn't slow them in the slightest. Finally, they reached their destination, blocked off by a door and wall coated in several feet of ice. Once again Nora fired incendiary charges into the mass, melting the ice away. She prepared to blast open the door, but Ren stopped her. Instead, he holstered Stormflower, prompting the others to do so as well, and then gently pushed the door open.

Frigid air greeted them, causing the heroes to shiver. But they weren't focused on that. Instead, they were focused on the man before them, standing on a raised circular podium surrounded by frozen railings. Frozen and broken lab equipment surrounded the central podium, which centered around Nora Fries' tube. If Mr. Freeze knew of their presence, he didn't see fit to acknowledge it. Instead, he held his hand gingerly to the glass, rubbing it up and down to brush away the obscuring frost.

"Victor," Red Robin announced softly. Mr. Freeze didn't turn around to face them, instead continuing to watch his wife.

"Is that her?" Nora asked. Mr. Freeze didn't respond, but Nora could sense his answer. She nodded, then added, "She's beautiful."

Silence reigned over them, finally broken by Mr. Freeze's cold voice coming out of his suit.

"She is," Mr. Freeze agreed. "Nora is everything to me. The lone spot of warmth in an otherwise frigid life."

More silence followed, and Spoiler stepped up. "Victor, let us end this. We can help get her out."

Mr. Freeze said nothing, continuing to stare at his wife, but his hand was pulled away from the glass. With his back still turned to the heroes, he began to speak.

"Have you ever seen a flower die? Watched something that was once so beautiful, so full of life, collapse and rot from within? I have. Numerous times across my life, but none were so beautiful as Nora. Where I was cold and detached, she was joyous and outgoing. She saw me, and where others saw an outcast, she saw a friend. Eventually, we became lovers, and finally husband and wife."

"She sounds like an amazing person," Nora replied.

"She is. I never deserved her, but she stayed regardless. For the first time in my life, I was happy because of her." Victor frowned, then clenched his fist. "Then fate turned cruel, made her sick beyond man's ability to heal. She, and everyone else, accepted what fate had bestowed upon her, but not me. I never gave up on her, and devoted my life to saving her. Only for those around me to intervene, to sabotage me. Much like the late Daniel Powers."

Silently, the team turned their heads to the far wall, where they saw Powers' frozen body attached to the wall. He had been thrown into the air, likely by Mr. Freeze himself, and he had shot him just as his head hit the wall. No life signs were visible, and Nora closed her eyes and looked away in remorse.

Mr. Freeze, however, had no remorse to give.

"We know what he did, Victor," Spoiler called out, trying to talk him down. "He shouldn't have taken Nora from you, but you shouldn't have killed him. He should have faced trial."

"He would have killed my wife just to recreate what I've done. He stole her from me, had men beat me when I tried to stop them, and when I finally caught up to him, he had the gall to say she was a lost cause," Mr. Freeze spat and snarled, then turned around to face them. "You may call me a monster, and you'd be right. But if I must be a monster to save Nora, then let me be a monster. Nothing less will save her."

"We don't have to do this," Nora begged, but Mr. Freeze shook his head.

"Do you know what it's like to have the only thing that matters to you taken away, to never get it back? To me, the chance to save what I've lost, no matter how slim, is worth any price. I'm willing to do anything for the memories of those warm summer days.

"I'd kill for it."

Without warning, Mr. Freeze aimed his cryo-gun and fired at them. They dived away, the torrent of ice exploding where they just stood, and they rolled to their feet with their weapons drawn. Nora prepared to fire grenades at their enemy, but then saw Nora Fries' body once again. Knowing that using explosives was too risky, Nora frowned and shifted her weapon into a hammer once again. Normally, she'd imagine that she'd be excited about this, but there was nothing to be excited about here.

Ren, meanwhile, strafed the podium, firing Stormflower into Freeze's chest as he passed. All of his shots rang true, angering the icy supervillain enough to cause him to jump over the railing. The weight of his cryo-suit striking the frozen ground shattered the ice around his feet, and a metal bang rebounded across the room. He began to walk towards the Verdant Lotus with heavy steps, walking over a metal grate, but as he passed one, it exploded upwards as Red Robin sprang his trap. Surprised, Mr. Freeze was helpless as Red Robin pushed him to the floor, with Ren adding his weight to the villain's head. Together, they began to rain punch after punch into Mr. Freeze's helmet and chest. The glass cracked, and the metal dented, but finally Mr. Freeze was able to shake them off and throw them to the side. Angered, he aimed and fired his cryo-gun at them once again, forcing the two heroes to leap away for safety. Now with a momentary respite, Mr. Freeze looked down to see the grates in question, then frowned.

"A clever trick, one that won't work again," he said, then promptly froze the grates entirely. He proceeded to freeze the rest of the grates, forcing a startled Spoiler to leap out of one just before getting frozen. Part of her cape was struck by the icy blast, but she was able to rip it off without issue.

"Aw, man. I liked that cape," she complained, then threw a trio of shurikens into Mr. Freeze. The thrown projectiles did nothing to him, but it did make her feel better. From the side, a recovered Ren charged at Mr. Freeze and delivered a jumping knee into his side, the Aura-reinforced blow sending the supervillain back. Ren attempted to follow up with a palm strike, but Mr. Freeze retaliated first by socking Ren across the jaw with his free hand. Before he could retaliate, Mr. Freeze immediately followed up the hit with a point-blank blast from his cryo-gun from the hip, hitting Ren and encasing him in a layer of ice, which was promptly broken apart as Mr. Freeze backhanded him away.

"Gagh!" Ren grunted, feeling the frostbite strike his nerves.

"So, you two do have powers. Intriguing," Mr. Freeze noted, adjusting a valve on the side of his cryo-gun. "No matter. I have ways to compensate."

He aimed his weapon at Ren once again, only for an 'R'-shaped shuriken to sever the cable connecting it to his suit. Cryogenic gas spewed out, freezing part of his suit before it was automatically sealed. Mr. Freeze looked at the severed connection with a frown, then back up at his frozen wife. Unlike their encounter before, this wasn't an opportune environment for him. They had more room to maneuver, more cover to hide behind. He had to end this quickly, lest all his work be undone.

Knowing that he had a limited supply of internal cryogenic fluid, Mr. Freeze switched his weapon from its typical jet to burst. He aimed it at Red Robin and fired a trio of shots towards him. The icy projectiles impacted against the wall where Red Robin previously stood, simultaneously shattering and freezing several embedded computers. More shots followed Red Robin's retreating form, and Mr. Freeze stomped after the young vigilante.

"Hi-yah!" Nora shouted as she leaped off a railing from above, swinging Magnhild down atop Mr. Freeze's back, sending him sprawling to the ground. Flipping him over, she threw several powerful punches into his faceplate, careful not to punch too hard less she risk severely injuring the man. The glass's thickness did help in that, admittedly, but even then, more cracks began to appear on its surface. She prepared to throw another punch, only for Mr. Freeze to move his head to the side at the last second, causing Nora to strike the frozen ground beside him. He then raised his upper torso sharply, headbutting her and forcing Nora to stumble back. Rising to his feet, he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, following it up with a powerful jab into her gut.

"Ooof!" Nora grunted as she fell to her knees, then felt Mr. Freeze pick her up by the scruff of her costume and hurl her across the room. As she fell, Mr. Freeze quickly froze the railings around the room, wanting to ensure they wouldn't be used against him once again. He then prepared to fire again, only for Nora to suddenly shoot him with a grenade, sending the supervillain flying back. The shockwave shattered much of the ice around it, with icicles breaking from their bases and falling to the ground in pieces. Placing Magnhild up to her shoulder, Nora glanced up at Nora Fries' tube to see that it was unharmed, then prepared to fire again. Just as she prepared to pull the trigger, however, the barrel was covered in ice, causing the weapon to jam.

"Oh no," Nora sighed, then ducked under a trio of shots. Mr. Freeze, now heavily damaged and leaking coolant everywhere, was glaring into Nora with a murderous expression.

"You will not take her from me!" he declared, firing more shots at her. Nora dodged them, taking cover behind a steel column.

"We're not trying to take her from you!" Nora called out as she punched the ice off her weapon's barrel, diving for another column just as more shots rang towards her.

"That's what they all say!" Mr. Freeze replied, his anger and rage blinding him. Nora dived away from another attack from the implacable man, loading her remaining spare grenades into Magnhild at the same time. Hearing the whine of the cryo-gun, Nora dived away once again, only this time Mr. Freeze was ready. Anticipating her movement, he shot her in the leg, encasing it in ice and causing her to fall to the ground. The sudden impact caused Magnhild to be thrown from her hands and it skittered across the frozen metal floor. The cold bit deep into her flesh, her Aura straining to keep any actual damage at bay, and Nora Valkyrie winced in agony. Wordlessly, Mr. Freeze strode up to her, raising his cryo-gun towards her head and prepared to fire, only for Ren to leap towards him from the side. The Verdant Lotus tackled Mr. Freeze to the ground, prying at the man's gun and wresting it from his hands. He threw it to the side, only for Mr. Freeze to punch Ren in the chest to send him flying back.

Ren's back hit the ground, but he carried his momentum into a roll, only to see Mr. Freeze charging at him. Knowing he didn't have enough time to get out of the way, and hastily coming up with a plan that necessitated him being close to Mr. Freeze, Ren braced himself, then felt his feet lift from the ground and his back be slammed into embedded computers. Sparks flew wildly, and he felt a tingle of electricity, but he didn't care about that. Instead of getting the supervillain off of him, which he knew that he could more than easily do, Ren grabbed hold of Mr. Freeze's arm and used his Semblance, causing Mr. Freeze to suddenly feel a sense of tranquility.

"Victor," Ren calmly said, both of them under his Semblance's spell, "we don't want to fight you. Stand down."

"You know I can't do that," Mr. Freeze replied, then pulled Ren close. "And no amount of emotional manipulation will stop me."

Ren's eyes widened, then Mr. Freeze violently threw him to the side. Ren landed against a railing, denting it with a loud crack and squeal, then shot to his feet as Mr. Freeze strode over to pick up his gun. Just as he reached down, a still lying down Nora pulled out her grappling gun and fired it at the weapon, pulling it towards her. At the same time, she banged her fist against the cast of ice on her leg, freeing it and giving her full movement of the limb.

"Ahh," she sighed in relief as she picked herself off the ground. For a moment, she considered firing the weapon at Mr. Freeze in a bit of irony, only to see the supervillain re-engaged in a close-quarters brawl with Ren. A fight that Ren was clearly winning, but not one Nora was willing to sit back and watch. They were too close for her to make an accurate shot, so instead she placed it against her back and prepared to charge forward.

"Pink Lightning, are you alright?" Red Robin asked as he called down towards her, perched on a light fixture.

"I'm good!" she called back, then turned towards Mr. Freeze just as Spoiler glided in beside her. "Let's finish this."

"Totally," Spoiler replied, unfurling her bo staff with a twirl, and together the two women charged at Mr. Freeze. Nora, her fists raised, went high while Spoiler went low, the bo staff striking Mr. Freeze's knees and dropping him while Nora punched his face plate. A large crack spider-webbed from the impact zone, which was followed by Red Robin leaping at him from above and crashing the helmet into the ground. The glass shattered, and together the four heroes held a struggling Mr. Freeze down. Despite the damage it had sustained, he was still putting up quite a fight, but together the heroes were preventing him from making much headway.

"Mr. Freeze, stop this!" Nora begged, but the maddened continued to struggle. He even tried reaching for the cryo-gun attached to Nora's back, but she managed to keep it away. A frown stretched across her face, and her mind struggled to find a way to finally get him to see reason. Then, her mind drifted back to the start of their fight, and an idea took root in her head.

"Victor," she spoke softly, "you asked us if we ever knew what it was like to have something taken from us. I want to tell you that we do."

"You know nothing about what I've lost!" Victor maintained, but Nora shook her head. Ren, meanwhile, understood the direction Nora was going.

"You're right. We don't know exactly what you've been through," Ren continued. "But Pink Lightning and I…we lost everything we held dear in an instant, taken from us by a cruel twist of fate several times. The first when we were only children, the next just a few months ago, but through it all we've held each other up. Just like you and Nora."

Mr. Freeze stopped his struggling, then turned his head to look at Ren and Nora from behind the shattered lenses of his goggles. Seizing the opening, Nora continued.

"Verdant Lotus and I…we've depended on each other ever since we were kids. We can't imagine life without each other, and I can't even think about what I would do if he was taken from me. Victor, you love your wife, and that love has driven you to do both great and terrible things. Please, stop this."

"I…" Victor began. "I can't stop… If I do…"

"None of us want to take her from you, Victor," Red Robin said softly. "All of us want to help her, so let us help you save her."

"Please," Spoiler begged. Victor stared at them for a moment, his hands twitching for a weapon that wasn't there, then his gaze fell upon the frozen body of his wife. Even now, fully encased in ice, she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever laid eyes on. His memories fell into the happy moments she gave him, and he gave her. The day they first met, their first date, their wedding day. Happiness turned to sorrow as her body began to fail her, and everyone around her gave up on her. For the first time since she was taken from him, tears began to fall from Victor Fries' eyes, and he hung his head. His arms went limp, and silently surrendered. The heroes silently accepted it, then braced him against a wall and handcuffed his hands to a thick column before leaving.

Victor sat silently, ruminating in his thoughts, before several flashlights flooded the chamber. Gotham PD's Major Crimes Unit fanned out with their weapons raised, searching for any signs of threats. Behind them, a woman with short blonde hair and wearing a tactical vest emblazoned with the letters 'MCU' on its center, stepped into the chamber, a deep frown on her face as she took everything in.

"My God…" an officer breathed out, taking off his hat at the sight of the carnage before him. The captain, meanwhile, made a beeline towards a silent Victor Fries, kneeling next to the defeated man. Victor raised his head to stare back up at the commissioner, who stared back sullenly before standing upright.

"Cornwell, get back up top. We need a refrigerated car," The woman ordered. She then took a glance back up at Nora's tube, then turned back to her partner. "Make it two."

"You got it, Maggie," David Cornwell replied, then he silently made his back up the building while his partner, Captain Maggie Sawyer, stayed behind.

---

From high above a nearby building, Nora, Ren, Red Robin and Spoiler watched as GCPD swarmed the GothCorp building. An airship was hanging overhead, shining a spotlight down as Victor Fries was loaded into a specially designed refrigerated car, meant to keep him alive as they transferred him to the specialized cell waiting for him in Arkham. In the loading bay, they saw specialized engineers load Nora's chamber into another specialized car, a lengthy process in and of itself. They quickly noticed that Mr. Freeze didn't enter his car until he saw Nora safely stored. Only then did they get him inside, and soon all the cars drove off, sirens blazing, towards Arkham Asylum.

"You know," Nora finally said in a sullen tone, "I thought beating supervillains was supposed to be…exciting, or maybe giving a sense of pride. I don't feel that here. I just feel wrung out."

"I know what you mean," Spoiler whispered, her head hanging low. "Sometimes criminals aren't so cut and dry. They're usually the hardest to deal with. Or identify."

"I like it better when it's simple," Nora admitted. Spoiler looked at the sullen girl and nodded.

"Me too. Me too."

Without saying another word, the heroes left the rooftop behind, leaving no trace of their presence.

---

On the other side of Gotham, a wholly different scene was playing out. Bruce Wayne was used to his nights being spent in dark alleys or dusty warehouses, surrounded by people who wanted to kill him. But now he was surrounded by cocktails, fancy dresses, and people who wanted to suck up to him. He didn't know which one was worse.

"Mr. Wayne!" a socialite called out to him. As easily as it was to breathe, Bruce turned to the woman and smiled widely.

"Hello there!" he said. "I hope you're enjoying the party. It's for a good cause, I've been told."

"Heehee! Indeed, I very much am! You always attend the best parties," she answered with another laugh, one that Bruce could see right through. She was trying to hit on him, but too bad for her he wasn't truly interested. But, flirting back would fit his image, and so he played along.

"I should hope so. After all, I'm paying for it," he joked. The woman laughed again, a bit too hard to be fully genuine, but then Bruce saw Lucius Fox beckon him forward. Seizing his opportunity, Bruce nodded towards his friend and looked back at the socialite.

"I'm sorry, but Lucius is calling me. You know how demanding he can be."

"Oh," the woman deflated. "Well, perhaps you and I can save a dance?"

"Maybe," Bruce replied. "I hope you enjoy the party."

Before she could get another word in, Bruce walked away towards Lucius. He was standing at the far end of the room, holding a glass of champagne in hand. Two glasses, actually, which Bruce noticed as he got closer.

"Care for a drink?" his friend asked. Bruce prepared to shake his head, but Lucius gave it to him anyway. "Here you are, the expected drink for the man of the hour."

"… Thank you, Lucius," Bruce intoned. Lucius chuckled, and a small smirk graced Bruce's lips. A brief silence fell over them as they watched the partygoers, but neither of them were truly interested in what was going on.

"How are they doing?" Lucius asked.

"Who are you referring to?" Bruce asked, but Lucius gave him a sideways glance.

"Bruce, I've known you for decades, so I know when you've made yet another adoption."

"I haven't adopted them."

"They live in your house, it's practically the same thing," Lucius pointed out. "And you didn't answer my question. How are they? Are they healthy, happy, well fed?"

"I can definitely attest to that last part. You know how Alfred is," Bruce joked, and Lucius snorted.

"I'll bet. If any of you went hungry under Alfred's watch, he'd probably resign in shame."

The two men laughed genuinely, then went back to watching the party. A healthy silence fell over them, then Lucius continued.

"Knowing you, they're probably out there tonight."

"I have every faith in them," Bruce immediately answered. "I wouldn't leave them alone if I didn't."

"I know. That's why I'm not too worried," Lucius admitted. "Still, I would very much like to meet them. WayneTech's Dust Research is still ongoing, and I'm certain they could provide us with some much-needed perspective."

"Is that your excuse, or is that the only reason you want to meet them?" Bruce asked, and Lucius smirked back.

"It's my excuse, certainly."

Bruce smiled back, then leaned against the wall. "I'll run it by them tomorrow. How's Luke?"

"Still in Afghanistan," Lucius answered, this time more sullenly. "Most of me is proud of what he's doing over there, but as his father, I can't help but worry about him."

Bruce looked at his friend and nodded in sympathy, placing his hand on Lucius' shoulder. He knew that feeling all too well, both the times that worry was reasonless, and times when it proved fruitful.

"I know," he said. Another healthy silence fell over them, neither feeling the need to continue. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Bruce saw a short mop of brown hair move through the crowd, prompting him to get up off the wall.

"I'm sorry, Lucius, but if you'll excuse me." Bruce didn't wait for a response, handing his longtime friend and business associate his champagne glass and weaving through the crowd expertly. His attention never left the short haired woman who had entered the building, who herself seemed to notice his presence. Her body language screamed that she was amused more than anything, and soon enough the two of them stood face to face.

"Selina," Bruce greeted the Catwoman, who was now adorned in a fancy black dress.

"Hello Bruce," Selina smiled. She noticed him looking at her dress, and she gave a mocking curtsey in response. "Do you like it? I heard it's the latest fashion. Funny, seeing how I paid practically nothing for it."

"Is that right?" Bruce asked with a raised eyebrow, but Selina waved him off.

"Oh, don't be like that. Got it from Alexandra Kosov. She wasn't wearing it and practically gave it away."

Bruce narrowed his eyes while Selina only grinned back at him. They then heard a change in the music, and Selina gave him a conniving grin.

"Oh, would you look at that? Care to give this cat a dance?" Selina asked, practically daring him to say no. Bruce stared back at the cat burglar, then took her hand into his own and together they fell into a dance. The music swelled alongside them, but their attentions were focused squarely on each other.

"Why are you really here, Selina?" Bruce asked, and Selina looked affronted.

"What, so I can't just go to a party and have some fun? Do you really think so little of me?"

Bruce stared flatly at the Catwoman, who could only hold her affronted expression for so long before it collapsed into a knowing smirk.

"Okay, fine. You caught me. This place is filled with people with too much time and money on their hands. You really think I wouldn't pass this up?"

Bruce said nothing at first, then after a moment nodded. "I figured you'd show up eventually."

"Aw, you know me so well." Selina smiled, then leaned her head against Bruce's chest. A healthy silence fell between them as they continued to dance, then she looked back up into his eyes. "I met your little protégés tonight."

"Is that so?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah, a little blonde and raven-haired girl at the Iceberg Lounge. They had a, well, not good, but an exciting time."

Bruce caught the hidden meaning behind her words, and lightly glared at her. This time, the woman looked a little insulted, and huffed.

"Don't look at me like that, I helped them out."

"Before or after you used them?"

"That's beside the point." Selina's non-answer was all the information Bruce needed to connect the dots, and he shook his head.

"Thank you, in any case," Bruce said. Selina smiled back, then the song ended. All of the partners separated and performed the customary bow, but unlike many others the two stayed together. Selina then looked up at Bruce with a wry grin, and despite himself, Bruce couldn't help but do the same.

"So," Selina intoned, running her finger in circles along Bruce's chest, "how's about you and I ditch this place? You may have everyone else here fooled, but not me."

Bruce look down at Selina and raised an eyebrow. "You're incorrigible, you know that?"

"Oh, I know. But so are you," Selina replied, and Bruce let out a small grin.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here's the latest chapter of Hunters of Justice! Special thanks to NaanContributor and Jesse K for all their help bringing this story and chapter to life. I couldn't do this without their help.

We finally get to see what happened to Ren, Nor, Red Robin, and Spoiler during their mission to GothCorp, and as many of you would have expected, it was none other than Mr. Freeze himself! Let me tell you, he was a fantastic villain to write, and one that I sincerely hope you all like as well. I'm also really glad you guys enjoyed the Halloween special! Writing DCeased was a blast for us as well, and we really liked the reception it got.

Now, onto the Q&A:

VladDraculaTepes2000: Yeah, I can certainly see that. It's a good fit, but I'm imagining Vigilante's voice being the one from the DCAU.

Serafina Fairway: My apologies. That was from an earlier draft when Catwoman appeared to the group earlier in the chapter, which was revised when it was determined it would be better for her character to appear much later when shit hit the fan.

Hey It's That Guy: I can't delve into Brainiac's study of Winter, or lack thereof, at this moment. All I can say is that a lot of things has been going on in the background in Vale, things I haven't yet described.

jb4280218: I can't say I have, actually. But, I'm glad you liked DCeased.

Jacob9594: Thank you! Much appreciated!

TheOkWriter: Thing is, my version of DCeased had a different goal than the comic DCeased. The comic was meant to show how the world ended due to a zombie apocalypse, but my version was meant to show how the heroes managed to stop it. It was equally bleak, but I felt that my ending better fit what I wanted to do with the story. Plus, the connection we made between Ruby's Silver Eyes and the Life Equation made such a solution feasible in our eyes, hence why we went with it. Besides, RWBYJNPR already lost one planet. There's no need to do it again.

meeyaaargh3412: Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

Jebest4781: It was a blast for me to write, as well. Happy to hear that you enjoyed it!

Jackalope89: I felt that, in the context of the Elseworlds, it would better serve for all but Damian to be dead in order to better fuel Batman. Hence why Jason was dead, even though I do find him to be a compelling character to write.

That's it for this time! Hope you all enjoy, and let us know what you think! Also, we have a TV Tropes page, so please feel free to put in any edits you guys think apply to this story.

See you all next time!