Cold, Cold Heart
Black boots sprint across the ground, moving behind cover, Batman keeps himself out of sight as a blue streak of flames that burst out, barely avoiding him, "I'm going to kill you, snowman! You are going to be a pile of water when I'm finished with you!" a gruff feminine voice calls out, followed by another burst of blue flames The vortex of sapphire flames were countered by a strike of ice-cold winds, both cancelling the other out. Heavy footsteps come from the other end, along with a robotic tuned male voice.
"I do not think so, cretan. I will show no mercy for this transgression of yours" Mr Freeze stands in front of several of his suited henchmen. Victor Fries, a pale man with snow-white hair and cold-as-ice blue eyes. The man was decked out in a protective reinforced suit to shield himself from the outside world, red goggles and a reinforced helmet with a glass visor. He appears to be holding an oversized tech-heavy gun with two barrels, each glowing blue at their end. The cold gun had a wire in it that also connects to a small container on the man's back. Cold air slowly trails off both the man and the weapon.
"Come get it!" Firefly retorts, completely covered in a chainmail suit with armoured plating, a hood, mask and red vizor with a honeycomb pattern and with two fuel tanks placed on her back. Bridget holds a flamethrower, similar in size to Freeze's cold gun, but leaner and less well made. Behind her were her crew who wear similar attire to her without being nearly as sophisticated. She aims her weapon at Freeze and he aims his gun at her. They both unleash their elements, blue flames and absolute-zero ice.
Batman leans further away to avoid the feedback of the harsh elements, "We had a deal, Victor!"
"Apologies, Batman...I have altered our arrangements...," the ice man's robotic voice echoes through the narrow hallway, "We both know that this was the only that this could have ended," Freeze let loose another round of his cold gun. Firefly does the same with her flame thrower.
"Back off, Jack frost! I'm getting him! He's going to burn!" both fire and ice clash again, a violent shockwave that sends the whole hallway into a gruelling battle between both ice and flames. From back with Batman, an ice-over hand presses against the ground.
9 Hours Earlier...
High above in the skies of Gotham, a blimp with GCPD labelling looks over the city. Inside the cockpit, two GCPD officers look down to the streets below, "Love the view. Now I can see what a shitshow the city has become from all the way up here," the pilot stirs the wheel.
"You got that right. It sucks up here" the other officer replied, "Goddamn it all. Waller's has us all the way up here just because the bat is now using aircraft. I certainly feel our tax dollars at full use here."
"Shut the hell up over there!" a Checkmate Soldiers climbs down the ladder that leads up into the interior and walks towards them, "You're only paid to look for any unauthorized aircraft, so shut it if you have nothing to say with that"
"See...our tax dollars on full display..." the co-pilot repeats himself, "Maybe we would do a better job if you didn't keep that gun trained on us."
"Just don't give me a reason to shoot you and you'll have nothing to worry about, now keep chatter to a minimum!" the Checkmate commander points at the pair "Now get back to it!" he turns back to the ladder and begins climbing. The piolet's eyes widen as he sees a blurred object fly past outside the blimp. He removes his headgear and tilts his head.
"You see that?"
"See what?" the co-pilot asks. Then again, the thing flies past them with the pair both seeing it, followed by a screech, "What the hell?"
At this point, the Checkmate commander dismantles the ladder and turns back, "What did I just say? Keep your mouths shut! The next thing that I hear from you should only-," the whole blimp shakes as a high-pitch screech resonates from outside, not human, not like anything.
"What the hell?" the Checkmate commander reaches for his gun but is then dragged upwards to the next floor by an outstretched hand, covered by fur. The man screams as he vanishes from sight, afterwards a fountain of crimson rains down from above in the next level, covering the ladder and floor in blood with the screaming stopping soon afterwards. The pair at the wheel then get up from their seats and look on with fear towards the pouring red liquid.
"W-What the hell is that?!"
"Jesus Christ, stay the hell back!"
From above on the ceiling of the cockpit, a creature crawls towards them. It sees in red vision and the two moving men were highlighted by a white glow every time that they moved. Man-Bat's eyes glow bright red and its jaw hangs open as both saliva and blood drools from its mouth. The beast stretches out its wings and screeches as it lunges at the pair. On the wall across from them, the shadows of three figures were on display and show their movements.
Man-Bat's rips the pair apart in a blood-filled craze, blood spatters against the same wall. The beast shrieks as it continues to use its overgrown claws to slice through its victims until all the screaming has ceased. Man-Bat's mouth and fangs were stained in red along with its snout. The winged beast crawls on all fours, bumping into the wheel and making the whole blimp spiral out of control. The cockpit flashes bright red and the emergency alert siren blares. The blimp plummets down to the bay of Gotham, being swallowed by the river and submerging.
Wayne Tower
Applause fills the whole hall, accumulating upon one single man. Bruce Wayne stands before the large crowd of people with a smile. He was suited in a white shirt and black tuxedo. His hair was combed back and has a 5 o'clock shadow beard. He holds a glass of wine up in a toast, "You know if there's one thing I have learned with my time away from Gotham, and all the places that I've visited... it would be this...," he lifts his eyebrows, "It's always after 5 somewhere. C'mon, guys! This is supposed to be a party!"
With one attempt, he drank the whole wine from the glass, "The wine isn't going to drink itself!"
Bruce leaves the crowd and ventures off to the bar to join a familiar face. Selina stands with her back to the counter. She wears a V-neck violet dress. Her eyes light up when she sees Bruce heading towards her. Once he was in range, Selina and he kiss, "It's really weird to see you actually drink. Won't that mess with your fighting prowess or something?" she asks with a smile.
"It was just water with food colouring," Bruce looks over his shoulder, "Have you seen Harvey? I gave Harleen an invite for them both."
"Yeah about that, Harl told me that Harvey hasn't been feeling too hot lately. They might've chose not come here tonight," Selina answers.
"I'll take it we won't be joined by Jim tonight either...,"
"There's no change in Barbara Lee's condition, Bruce. Jim and Barb haven't left her side all week, and Lee is watching over her for the rest of the time. Blüd has gone silent and Lucius... where is Lucius?" Selina puzzles.
"Here I am," Lucius sprung from the crowd and stands next to Bruce, "It's surprising just how much spare time that I've got now that I'm no longer assisting Bruce's little nightly escapades," the man then sips from his glass, "I'll take it that we are the only ones here, huh?"
Selina hums, "Seems like it. Not even Ra's daughter could join us."
"Huh?" Bruce looks over to Selina.
"...Talia...? You know... the woman who you also boned?" Selina mused.
"Oh-Yeah... I knew that" Bruce smiles, "Sorry, I have had a lot on my mind recently. Yeah, parties aren't really Tal's things, more of the introverted type" Bruce's eyes lock onto something out into the hall, something that ripped all the joy and playfulness away, "Pardon me, I'll be right back."
"Bruce?" Selina watchers the man in question leave their side.
Bruce hurries over to the other side of the room, where he encounters Amanda Waller who was also dressed for the event, in a cocktail black dress. Her hair was down to her waist and seemed to have a layer of make-up on. Her eyes fix on Bruce as she sees him walk to her, "What do you think you're doing here? This is a private event... and I know that you weren't invited, so I'm gonna have to ask to get out," Bruce tells Waller with the best try to hide his anger for her.
"Is that really how your parents taught you to speak to a woman? And they say that chivalry is dead," Waller smirks, "Please tell me, just what have I done to upset you? Weren't you at that ski resort since the day that I arrived in this city?"
"Two words, Waller: Harvey. Dent." Bruce holds back a whole slew of vicious words, "Now leave or I'm going to call the cops."
"I am the cops, Mr Wayne. Checkmate, The G.C.P.D and even your private security are all under my umbrella," Waller smirks, "Your Gotham's greatest son, so I thought that we could manage to talk without ripping each other's throats out. Look at me, I'm here tonight as someone who just wants to have a fun night, but the next time you'll see me may have a different reason behind it, understood?" Waller picks up a glass from the tray one of the passing servers.
"That sounded kinda like a threat," Bruce glares, "That's not a good way to win me over, Waller. I don't know what you have on Gordon, but a fair warning... that trick will not work on me. I can destroy you, Waller."
"Now that was a threat," Waller kept her smirk.
"No. It was a promise" Bruce takes the wine glass from Waller, moving to the buffet table and picks up one of the spoons. He then taps the spoon against the glass, "Hey! Everyone can you shush for a moment! I would like to say a few words!" he calls to the crowd, "Hey! My party, my rules!" the crowd silences, then turn to face him. Bruce smirks, "Apologies for the interruption but we have a special guest here tonight! One so special that she thought that she could just crash the evening!"
"-What do you think you're doing?" Waller glares.
"Everyone, Waller. Waller, everyone! I'm sure that you are well aware of her greatest hits! Let's see, there's having her men brutalize the DA, blackmailing the Police commissioner into doing her bidding, then there's the icing on the cake, turning Gotham into a police state!" Bruce sees the anger on Waller's face, "Now don't get me wrong, I love a multifaceted woman but Waller's too much even for me. She is one of a kind, everyone give it up for Amanda!"
Silence fills the hall.
"Can you hear all that love, Waller? You can stay if you want but I got a feeling that you won't exactly be welcomed! Thank you, everyone!" Bruce drops the spoon back onto the table and hands the glass back to Waller, the crowd slowly turns away from the two.
"I came here tonight not wanting any animosity between us," Waller confesses, "But I see how you want to play things out."
"You believed that I was going to forgive you for all the damage that you caused? You're going down, Waller. Plain and simple, now if you would...," without another word exchanged between them, Bruce returns back to the counter. Selina smiles at the returning man.
She locks her eyes on him, "You do know that she has the entire police force on her side, right?"
"Trust me when I say that she was all too happy to play that card," Bruce then looks to his side, "Where did Lucius get off to?"
"You're going to figure out eventually, so I better just tell you now. Lucius went off to the bunker, apparently one of those blimps just crashed down in the river," Selina answers.
"I better go to check it out then, sounds serious" Bruce no longer played the party-boy, but now a mere serious and driven spirit.
"Lucius can make it to the bunker just fine, Bruce."
"I meant the crash site," Bruce then goes to turn but is stopped when Selina clears her throat.
"Hmm, Bruce? No kiss?" Selina grins.
"Kinda in a hurry," Bruce is then pulled down until both his and Selina's lips touched.
"Wasn't optional. Now get going... the city isn't going to brood itself up," she sees Bruce walk through the crowd and to the exit.
Later...
Batman glides between the skyscrapers of Gotham, setting his sights on the blimp that was mostly submerged underwater the river. Gotham was in the midst of a strong storm with thunder and lightning, "Okay, Bruce. Listen carefully. It just wasn't any ordinary aircraft that was downed. It was one under the control of Checkmate, likely to play spotter when it came to you. I managed to hack into its Black Box...and well...I think it's best for you to hear it for yourself..."
[W-What the hell is that?!]
[Jesus Christ, stay the hell back!]
Then screams and a high-pitch screech only plays on the recording.
"Whoever was behind the attack needed a way to get up to that altitude. I doubt that any of usual suspects have access to aircraft that is advanced enough to get all the way up there and still take the piolets by surprise" Batman lands upon the top of the aircraft, next to the hatch at the top. He opens up the hatch and slides down the ladder. Batman was surrounded by darkness with the ambient sound of dripping water. He taps the side of his cowl to activate his night-vision.
"That's not possible. Whoever did this... I got a bad feeling that it's not human" Lucius' voice replies to the dark knight.
"How many people were on this blimp before it crashed?" Batman trudges through the puddles formed by the leakage. From afar, heavy breathing peruses the vigilante. The creature tracks Batman in its red and white vision. Batman continues onward, his green-hued vision places him in the main cabin, one that looked too luxury. Though he was quick to realize that the furniture had been shredded by long claws. Batman's eyes then follow along the floor and across a trail of blood, "You might be onto something, Lucius. There's a bunch of claw marks that don't match any animal that I've seen before"
"The one time that I was hoping that I would be wrong... okay...Bruce, All Checkmate enforcers all have a heart-rate monitor in their uniform...well... it looks like there are no survivors of the crash"
Batman's eyes look down to a Checkmate Commander who looks to have been ripped apart, blood covering his whole body with bite marks all over his body, "I don't think it was the crash that caused the casualties" A flash of lightning storms down and momentarily lights up the whole cabin, in the very same second, Man-Bat was crawling above Batman. The beast's red eyes look down upon him and blood pours from its snout. Once the lightning faded, so did any light in the room and the beast was concealed once more.
"Damn. You have to find whatever did this"
Batman journeys further down and comes across even more corpses, two other Checkmate guards. They too were maimed, even missing limbs. But there was one thing that stood out: the bite marks. Another flash of lightning further away lights up the cabin. Batman's eyes look to the floor where he sees the shadow of something above him, "I don't think that I have to worry about that. It looks like it found me" He looks up and sees the grotesque creature.
Man-Bat lifts its arms and screeches. The creature then leaps down to Batman who jumps out of the range, "Of course it had to be a bat, why wouldn't it be?" he backs away while the creature steadily follows after. Man-Bat slants its back and drools from its mouth, its eyes shine bright red with black slits, "Raghggh" it growls. The Dark Knight soon finds himself backed against a wall, with Man-Bat still coming for him, "Lucius! It's another... Bat...man?"
"A copycat?"
"...No... I mean a literal Bat...Man? He's a freaking bat!" Batman moves to avoid a swipe of the creature's claws. Man-Bat lowers on all fours and snarls, he crawls towards the vigilante. The beast lunges towards Batman. The costumed man kicks the creature out of the air and onto its back. Man-Bat rolls over onto its knees and stands. Man-Bat jumps forward and snaps its jaws at the vigilante. Batman moves back grabs the creature into a headlock.
Man-Bat flails its wings and tries to force itself out of the grab, screeching with a deafening pitch, like an infant throwing a tantrum. Batman struggles to keep his hold on the creature, his arms were aching and unable to keep it restrained for much longer, "Bruce! It's a bat, right? Maybe its eyes are sensitive to light, try one of your flashbang Batarangs!" Batman loosens his hold on the creature and kicks him away from him as he reaches to his utility belt and grabs the specified Batarang.
Batman throws it at Man-Bat who was quick to move. The beast catches the object with its teeth. Batman shields his eyes as the whole area is then thrown into a high-pitched blinding light. Man-Bat is then thrown through a rampage, swinging its claws around blindly. Taking his chance, Batman then grabs Man-Bat by the ears and slams its head down and through one of the tables with force. The bat creatures body stiffens up, kicking its legs and hissing before becoming silent.
"The thing is down" Batman confirms.
"Good. So I guess that means we have to find out what this creature is?"
Batman's eyes widen, looking down where once Man-Bat was, now lied an older-looking man with a full head of grey hair. The man was fully nude and covered in the same blood that was coated over the beast, "Not what it is, who it is. Prep the medbay, I'm bringing back a guest. Tell Lee to get to the Bunker ASAP"
"Hold on...by *guest* you don't mean...?"
"I do" he takes another look at the man, "You might want to also sort some clothes while you're at it"
Elsewhere...
"Is that you, Harl? I didn't hear you come in" Harvey shouts from the other room. Inside the bathroom, Harley washes her hands, dousing the sink in watery bloody as she hums, "Harleen?" The blonde creeks her head over to the knocking against the door. She waves her head in a rhythm that she is humming. Once the blood was gone from her hands, she turns to face the door with a smile. She grabs the hand towel on the sink next to her and dries her hands.
"Give me a sec, honey!" she opens up and walks out to meet Harvey, "Sorry 'bout that. I had an...emergency. I thought that you were sleepin' so I didn't want to bother ya" the blonde explains as she pushes her back against the door to close it.
Harvey was still hurting, still with bandages around his left eye, "Did you know that Bruce had a party? It was all over the news...can't believe that he didn't think of inviting me..."
"Really?" Harleen acts surprised, "Huh. The first time that I'm hearin' this. Maybe B-man musta forgot or somethin'" Harley suggests, "He does seem busy."
"...Maybe..," Harvey sighs, "Yet again, I doubt he would want to be associated with someone like me at a time like this. People still think that I killed Aubrey. I can't even step outside without drawing all kinds of unwanted attention"
"Nah, ya know B-man...he has your back. That's just the kinda guy that he is" Harley chirps, "Now...I'm starving, let's order somethin' scrumptious!" she heads towards the living room with Harvey following behind. The blonde settles down on the couch and picks up a menu from the stand. She kicks her legs up and crosses them, "What shall it be tonight? I'm kinda in the mood for a classic New York-styled cheese-fest pizza! Oh my god, they are the best!"
Takeout...again?" Harvey sits down next to the blonde, "I don't know...you've been having it for the last few weeks, I'm starting to get sick of it..."
"Fair point, but I can't cook for shit... my sister was the cook in the family. I was living off Microwaves meals during my time at Arkham, sure...I could afford normal food and all...but I would forget to turn the oven off, or overheat the food...honestly, I rather just have someone else deal with all that hassle, ya get me?"
"Still though... I can cook..." Harvey commends as he takes the menu out of the blonde's hand, "I can do some rice for us. Shouldn't take too long." Harleen pouts as she sees the man stand head to the kitchen.
"I'm so...gonna kill ya" she mutters under her breath.
Harvey peaks his head around to look back to Harleen, "What was that?"
"Oh... I said that sounds good!" the woman waves at him, "Can't wait!"
The Bat-Bunker
Leslie Thompkins walks through the opening elevator doors into the bunker and finds Bruce and Lucius on one side of the lair and Selina who is stationed on the other end, the one that was closest to her. Lee journeys down and passes by Selina. She stops and hands Selina a scrunched up paper bag, "Here's what you asked for," she whispers to the younger woman. Selina discretely takes the bag from Lee and gives a subtle nod and subtlety puts it into the back pocket of her jeans. The doctor then goes to meet the two men "This better be important, Bruce. I had to bring out the puppy-eyes to even convince Jim that I needed to leave."
"I thought that you would want to meet with a friend of yours," Bruce moves out of the way. Lee's eyes immediately land upon the sight of a recognizable man, one of her old work colleagues. She then sees that he was strapped down to the table with restraints, then she sees the bounteous dried blood all over his body. The man was still passed out, "Robert Langstrum, 63, widower, and has been reported as missing for around seven months."
"Yeah...I was the one who filed the missing person's report. What happened to him...is he okay?" Lee rushes over and checks Kirk's vitals.
Bruce stands with his hands tucked in his pockets, "I wouldn't get too close if I were you. That isn't his blood."
"What?" Lee questions.
Lucius steps in, "He's right. This is going to sound weird...but Langstrum killed a lot of people tonight...he ripped them apart...he's a monster, Lee"
"Kirk wouldn't do anything like that. He's not the type of person to-"
"No, Lucius means that he's a monster, literally. One minute I was fighting this *bat* creature, then... Kirk here was lying in its place. We took a blood sample to analyse and..." Bruce then leads Lee's gaze to one of the computers, "His DNA is corrupted with strains from the Desmodontinae, or more commonly adopted name..."
"Vampires Bats" Lucius adds, "He's a cross-species, just how Whisper was. The only difference being that this seems to be a more unstable form of it. Whisper had the Lazarus in her system to counteract the foreign DNA."
"I-I...can I look at that sample?" Lee asks.
"Be our guest," Bruce nudges his head towards the microscope on the next table over. Lee heads over there and sees that the glass slides with the blood were already in position. She looks through the eye-piece and examines the sample. It was a match. In the blood were the same kind of blackened white blood cells that she had seen before. She twists the dial to zoom in closer, confirming her suspicions even more. She looks back to Bruce.
"It's the same...the same as that night..."
"What?" Bruce stirs.
Several Months ago...
Lee sits in the next room over, sitting before a white table as she squeezes a drop of blood from the needle on a glass slide before underlaying it with another slide. She slides them under a microscope and looks down through the lenses. Her right hand steadily twists the dial to zoom in closer to the image of the blood shown to her. Her eyes narrow, her attention grew and she brought her concentration up, ignoring the outside world as she did. Her mind was solely focused on what was in front of her.
Everything looks normal at first, until...
Lee's eyes double-take as she sees the white blood cells blacken as something strange and definitely out of place stuck itself to it. The first thought that came to her mind was the culprit being some kind of bacterial. One that the man hadn't previously been exposed to or protected against. She turns the dial to close-in on the selected cell. She then sees the cell reach out with thin black lines that attach themselves to all other surrounded white blood cells, turning them black and misshaping them, mangling them beyond recognition.
Present Day
"The night that Gotham General went dark, we had a patient come in. He apparently attached by some bat-like creature... it bit him..." Lee tells the two, "I was positioned to watch over him. I took a blood sample since he was bitten by an unknown animal, I thought I should test for any illnesses...and I found...this..." Lee points to the blood in the glass cases, "It was exactly like this. Then that guy...changed. He became more rabid, animal-like...it was infectious...It took only moments after he bit others for them to turn."
Selina joints them, "Wait? Are you for real? W-Why didn't you call for help? I could've got there to help, Harley and Talia could have helped too..."
"I wasn't going to risk you getting infected with that...virus...I would have never forgiven myself" Lee answers.
"There was a virus breakout in Gotham general...? Why did you wait until now to tell me?" Bruce coldly glares at her, "You knew about this creature...," he points at Langstrum, "...and you didn't think to tell me? Do you know...how many people this thing has killed? It was a bloodbath when I found him... and not just tonight, this thing has been out there for this long...and you knew?"
"Besides Checkmate, only Jim and I knew about that night...if I told you, you would've investigated it. Which would have tipped Waller off that either Jim or I was feeding you information. And considering your history, she would just assume that it was Jim... and god knows what she would have done to him..."
"So you believed that keeping quiet about this...was better? Lee... people are dead... don't you get that?" Bruce folds his arms, "I could have stopped Langstrum far sooner...I could have prevented all those deaths tonight..."
"You think that I don't know that? Of course, I wanted to tell you but I couldn't... not without giving away our connection to Waller" Lee sighs, "It was a lose-lose situation, no matter what I did. I'm sorry, Bruce."
"A chance at saving lives is never a *lose-lose* situation - It's just not," Bruce turns away from Lee and to Kirk, "This is exactly why I chose to disband us. I can't trust you... and you can't even trust in me...," Bruce runs his hands through his hair, "And now there's this! Kirk has killed nearly a hundred people... and I only found out about by accident! Because you didn't think that it was a good idea to tell me about him!"
"Woah... calm down, Bruce... she didn't mean..." Lucius tries to reason with the vigilante.
"No, it's fine, Lucius..." Lee looks back to Bruce, "With all due respect, Bruce. You don't get to tell me how to live. I have a husband, a life... and you know fully well that Waller is using me, Barbara and Barbara Lee against Jim. She could rip us all away from him in an instant if she thinks that Jim betrayed her! Maybe if you had a family...you would understand that... if you didn't keep everyone at arm's length... if you had a child to look after... you would see the impossible situation that I am in right now..."
"Lee! Bruce!" Selina clamours, "That's not cool. Both of you just STOP IT! Arguing isn't going to get you anywhere!"
"No..." Bruce interjects, "This is going exactly where it needs too...," he leans towards Thompkins, "You're right Lee... I don't have a family. They were gunned down in a dark dingy alley... they lied in the dirt as they bled out. I screamed and screamed...and no one came... they gave everything they had for this city, and they were killed because of it... so don't you dare act like I am the unreasonable one here for wanting to save lives..."
Selina carefully takes Bruce's hand in her own, "Hey...it's okay... we're all on the same side. We already have enough enemies, we don't need to fight each other too," she gently lands her eyes on Lee, "Love it or hate it, Lee was only doing what she thought was right. You can't knock her for that."
"She's right. We still have the big-grey bat-thing in the room to deal with," Lucius reminds the trio, "Whatever is going on, we need to drop it for now."
Bruce and Lee take one glance at each other. Bruce nods, "Fine. I shouldn't have gotten like that... but just so we're clear, this isn't an apology for what I said."
"Agreed..." Lee sighs, "Why did you even call me down here in the first place?"
Bruce walks close to Langstrum, "Any minute now, he will wake up and when he does...it's best that there's someone here that he knows. We don't know what brings on the transformation. It could be adrenaline levels, distress... or he could even do it at will. Having you here could help calm him down, he should listen to you," he walks over to the display case which holds the Batsuit, "Keep my updated on his condition, even the slightest change."
Selina slants, "Where are you going?"
"The inoculative used for Whisper won't work on Robert, it was designed to her DNA especially. And there's the variable of the Lazarus not being in his system. We have to start from the ground up...it could take days...maybe even weeks, time that we don't have. There's only one man in Gotham with the know-how to do it," Bruce grabs a test tube of blood, "He's been keeping himself out of trouble, so I didn't need to prioritize him..."
"Who?" Lee asks.
"Oh... don't say who I think you are going to say...," Lucius crosses his arms.
"Fine, I'll say it. You're talking about Mr Freeze, aren't you?" Selina asks, already knowing that she was right.
"Victor Fries? Are you serious? He's a murderer...!" Lee argues.
"Your call. Do you want Fries to help with Langstrum... or do you want to wait around until he transforms back into that *thing* and tear this place apart, because I'm not too sure that those restraints can hold him for too long after that," Bruce offers to the three, "Well?"
Lee takes a moment of silence before speaking up, "You better know what you are doing."
"How are you even going to find him on such short notice?" Lucius inquires.
"He can only survive in the cold, and we're in the middle of summer. He doesn't have much choice when it comes to hiding, I'll look for the coldest point in the city," Bruce answers.
"And pray tell, just why would Victor willingly help you?" Lee then ask.
"Freeze isn't like the others. Hasn't been for a long time. He'll listen to reason..."
Selina jests her head over to the side, "Bruce...can I talk to you for a moment?" Bruce agrees, they walk off out of hearing range of the other two. Once they had enough space to their selves, Selina bites her lip and speaks, "This Freeze... if you think he can make a cure for Langstrum, then what about Barb? Do you think that he can do that as well?"
"I don't know, Selina," Bruce admits, "With Kirk, we already know what's wrong with him. But Barbara Lee is a different story, we haven't even identified what is even wrong with her... and without that, the idea for a cure is astronomically low, because we don't even know what we would be making a cure for. But...I'll see what I can do."
"I understand...just be careful, are you sure that you don't want me to come with you?"
"No. If Langstrum does end up turning, then you are the best bet for dealing with him. I would ask Talia, but right now, we need Kirk alive. I doubt she would view him as even human at this point," Bruce holds his hands over Selina's arms.
"Got it...," Selina nods.
"Don't worry, Selina, I promise we will find a way to wake Barbara up. I won't rest until I do," without saying another word, Bruce leaves her side and heads back towards the display case that houses the Batsuit.
Elsewhere
Harvey Bullock restrained to the wooden chair that he sits on, his mouth forced shut by a piece of carpet tape. He nervously sweats as he hears footsteps from outside. He squirms, cowering at the mere thought of the person coming, "Knock, knock!" a woman's voice calls as the owner unlocks the door to the room. Harley, wearing her red and black leather jacket, gloves, leggings and boots that all share the same colour scheme. Her hair was parted into pigtails, dyed at each end, her left red and her right black.
Black and red eyeshadow and lipstick along with a white powdered face. In her hand, she holds a bowl of cooked rice, "Yoo-hoo! Ya still kickin'?" she grins, violently slanting her head, "Ah, ya still have a 'lil life left in ya, huh?" she kneels down, setting the bowl on the ground. Her blue eyes see the fear in the man's eyes, he tries to pull his gaze away from her, twisting his head away, "Ah? Yeah I know what ya thinkin', I don't like rice that much either... I even tried to score ya some pizza, but hey... what can ya do?"
She reaches into her jacket's pockets and takes out of chopsticks, "Ya know that Mr J wouldn't care if ya just starved to death...but where's the fun in that? I wanna do the dirty work myself," she scoops up a pile of rice between the sticks and lifts it to the man's mouth. She rips away the tape concealing his mouth, "Here comes the aeroplane!" she shoves it into Bullock's mouth, enough force to send it right to the back of his throat. Harvey then wheezes, cuffing and spitting the rice out.
"See...this why I asked Dent to go easy on the spices, not everyone's into it," the blonde shrugs.
"Y-y-y-y-y-y...," Harvey growls.
"Hmn? What's that sugar?"
"Y-y-y you crazy bitch... Jim's...going to find...me..."
Harley's eyes jolt open, "Ya still goin' on 'bout that? It's almost been a year, ya know...he's not comin'. He doesn't even know that ya missin'"
"He will. It doesn't matter how well your pal can copy me...Jim will find out...and he'll march your ass into a cell!"
"Ya do have a point there, honey. He was startin' to get too curious for his own good... that's why I had a li'l back-up just in case...," Harley twirls her index finger through her right pigtail as she looks off into the distance, "Mr J wasn't goin' to just let me kill him, so I had to do some fast thinkin'. Ya know there are so hypnosis techniques? Like puttin' someone in a deep sleep... with some time, you can put anything into their little noodle"
"What...?" Bullock's eyes narrow.
"I'm afraid that goody two shoes, Jimmy is too busy dealing with his daughter... poor little thing is in a coma...and will never wake up...unless the special word is said. And as a li'l bonus, I made it that her brain will cease all activity in a mere few weeks. That way, poor Jimmy will be holdin' out for so much hope, only to be completely crushed..." the blonde finishes with an overdrawn chuckle, "He's going to be so crushed... I'm so excited..."
Harvey looks stunned, speechless at the woman's malice intent, "...What did he ever do to you...for you to do something so...sick. What the hell happened to you...to make you such...an...evil.."
Harley grins, she creepily slants her head in a laborious manner. Her eyes piercing through him, like she was staring into his very soul. Her eyes were wide, soulless and empty of all emotion, "Ya don't wanna get in my head. I don't even like to go there. Ya people always need a reason... an explanation of why a person does such cruel things. You love that because that makes us human, and less scary to people like ya. There could be limitless reasons why...or none at all...that's what makes it so fun..."
"...let me guess... is it daddy issues? Did he skip town before you were born? An ex that pissed you off? Or were you just born this fucking crazy!?"
Harley goes back to twirling her pigtail, now she speaks, her voice void of emotion, not even the sick humour she was previously using, "Ya guess is as good as mine. The possibilities are endless. It coulda been my drunk mother's years of emotional abuse..., Me walking in on my daddy after he blew his head open... or maybe my brother who raped me for all those years. My sister who left me alone after we lost our father and left me alone with that shithead family... or maybe... I just like killing people..."
Harvey watches in silence.
"Why do ya think there were so many suicides at Arkham? When I get bored with a person, there tends to be...deadly consequences, hypnotisin' 'em to end their lives was a hoot! Thinkin' of so many crazy ideas for killin' yourself is quite the pastime...," she shrugs, "I like talkin' to ya. It's so nice to be able to be my real self around ya," her disturbed grin returns, "You're a true friend, captain. I'll be sure to make your death special when I kill ya..."
The blonde then picks the bowl up, "Now, ya need to eat. I promise ya that I won't be so forceful this time." Harvey shifts away from her. Harley lifts her eyebrows, "Do you really wanna do this momma-bird style? Whatever... ya choice," she the grabs a handful of the rice and shoves it into her mouth. She chews it and steps towards the restrained man, "C'mon, love. Give me a kiss," she grabs Harvey's cheeks and holds his head stead. She pries his mouth open and dribbles the rice into it from hers.
She digs her nails into his face, cutting deep as Bullock tries to pull away but he was too weak to do so.
- Across the City -
Batman walks across the metal graded walkway that hangs over the floor below, a storage warehouse, one that was below 0' degrees easily. Batman could see his breath, even with the slightest of ones that he takes. The mist from below found itself lifting itself towards the higher floors. The vigilante treads carefully, eyeing over all his surroundings, "I'm in. No welcoming comity yet though, guess that Freeze's own men aren't too fond of the cold here"
"Yeah, no kidding, the readings on your suit are unbelievable. It's nearly minus 50 in there. Watch yourself...you're in his element now..."
"Now can you see why I don't keep you around as moral support?" Batman taps the side of his cowl, his mouth is then covered by to separate plates that combine. He then moves onto the railings of the walkway, looking down into the harsh and thick mist that was coating the floor below, "If there's one thing good to come from this coldness, the blood sample should be preserved," he throws himself off. He descends down and uses his cape to slow his fall.
He lands in a kneeling position, his fist planted in the ground, "Freeze is going to be hard to find. From what I have gathered on him, Thermal won't help. His body needs to be kept below to zero to even survive," Lucius tells Batman.
"Already have that covered...his body won't give off heat, but his suit will. Any amount would make him stick out in a place like this," the vigilante continues onward, his eyes drawn to his front. He passes the rows of shelves, "How's the situation with Langstrum?"
"Uh, still out...*cold*…"
Batman rolls his eyes, "You wouldn't have said that if I was still in the Bunker" he kneels down and looks out from the corner of the shelve that he leaning against. His glowing whites eyes spot the window across from him. The glass was made translucent by the condensation over it, but he could still make out three or four humanoid shapes moving on the other side. A splodged red shape moves along on the figure leading the others, then he spoke.
"- She has disrupted my plans for the last time - I will not let her continued transgressions go unpunished -" Freeze's voice was accompanied by a modulated echo, one that Batman presumed to have come from his suit, "- She will not stop me from saving my dear Nora-"
Batman moves to cover, "Nora?"
"Nora Fries, you mean? I thought Victor killed her."
"- Where are the prisoners - Have you made them tell you where they took her? -"
"..No boss. They aren't willing to talk."
" - Allow me a shot - I believe I may bring them around, -" Mr Freeze and the others leave the view of the window.
Batman looks back over to see if the area was clear, "Something's telling me that he isn't planning on asking them nicely," Batman taps him the front of his gauntlet, his white glowing eyes change to be bright blue. Across rooms, he locates the thermal outline of Mr Freeze and where he was heading, along with the men following behind him, "Lucius, Freeze has taken prisoners...sounds like members from a rival gang. This could be dangerous..."
"Go, we can handle ourselves for now"
- Across Gotham -
Jason Blüd Study
"Our time to act is drawing nearer to an end, I hope that you are aware of that," the auburn-haired man searches through the shelves of the bookcases, "If we are not exact with our actions, then I fear that Vandal will complete his plan..." he crooks his head over to the figure standing at his study's desk, Nyssa al Ghul rocks her usual leather jacket and hood. She holds her arms behind her and on the desk as she leans back, "If that is to happen, millions of lives will be wiped out..."
Nyssa shows a nonchalant look, she nudges her shoulders, "As I said, he hasn't killed Bruce yet...even though he is going to be a guarantied nuisance for him. That only means one thing... Vandal needs him. So as long as I string Bruce along...giving only small breadcrumbs of information to him..."
"You can use him as a shield?" Jason turns, "The less Bruce knows, the less Savage will be on your tail, however, you still need to give Bruce some information to keep up your reluctant partnership. That why you are only giving Bruce little bits of information at a time... you still fear for your life..." he picks out one of the books from the shelves and opens it, "Though, there is something troubling me in this matter... if Vandal needs Bruce... I would've thought that you have just killed him just to upset Vandal's plan..."
"I would be lying if I said that thought never crossed my mind... at least a few times...," Nyssa shrugs, "I was watching over his recovery for a whole month...him just recuperating. I tried to do the deed... but I knew that I needed him just as much as Vandal... plus, it wouldn't be right to kill him when he was defenceless... when he is to die... it will be by my hands, not Savage's, not the clown nor any of his rogues..." she smirks, "I went through all of that trouble looking for him on that mountain, dragging him back to the city and resurrecting him... it would've been a waste of my time too."
"Then you did the clever thing of telling me of your existence... you knew that I would have sensed you sooner or later," Blüd sets the book down on the desk.
1 Week Ago
Blüd takes a moment to regain his composure and picks up the phone, "Jason Blüd - who might I be talking to?" his body stiffens as hears the person on the end speak. The voice was from a stranger, but the tone instantly told him of the speaker's lineage, from the al Ghuls. Too old to be Ra's youngest daughter, so that could only leave Nyssa.
"Hello, Mr Blüd. I believe that you are aware of who I am."
The auburn-haired man removes his glasses, "Well, well, well...I should've known that you would still be kicking around..."
"It seems the reports of my death were ill placed. When I heard that *Jason-of-the-blood* was scurrying around in Gotham, I knew that you would prove to useful. We only have ten seconds until the line becomes unsecure...so I'll leave with this...I have Bruce Wayne. Come to Wayne Matter immediately, then we can discuss matters further..."
"You what?," he waits for the person to finish speaking, "I see...how...curious. You and your family have always been full of surprises..."
"See you soon, Blüd. Don't keep me waiting..." Nyssa ends the call.
Present Day
Nyssa folds her arms and flicks her hair beneath her hood, "In my months of travels, I ventured around the world...to the most ungodly of places. I learned his name, some of his plan and that he is not to be messed with. We must do this with absolute secrecy if he hope to succeed," she taps her fingers against her shoulder, turning her head around to see Blüd, "But there's one thing that I have yet to discover. What is it that draws Vandal to Bruce? He should be nothing special to him..."
"In my many years, I have adopted the ways of a pacifist. I find my best work comes from the books that surround this room...I never was much of a fighter, especially now that I am without Etrigan. My power is fading... and without the demon, my immortality seems to be fading by the day. During my time...I've seen a lot of men like Bruce, I was even one many hundreds of years ago. Just as they did, Bruce will eventually fall... and be forgotten, another victim of father time... there's nothing special about him...so instead of looking to the past...," Blüd opens the book, "Maybe we should turn our attention to what is to come. The future that eludes us all..."
"The future?," Nyssa smirks.
"Was it not your own father who believed in Bruce's destiny? Perhaps there are still key events yet to unfold..."
Storage Warehouse
Mr Freeze marches into the ice-cold room, his vision lands upon to men who were chained by the hands and legs, hanging up to the ceiling. He lifts his cold gun, "-Do not prolong this matter - this will only result in your further suffering-" his armoured hand grabs one of the men's chin and forces him to look at him, "-Where is my Nora?-." Mr Freeze hears the men's teeth chattering under the cold air, "-Contrary to belief, this is, in fact, the warmest room in the whole facility. This way, I can assure that you will not die too soon but hypothermia will eventually get the better of you...slowly. You will live your last hours in agony the likes of you cannot possibly imagine...-."
"C-c-c-c-c-c..." one of the men weakly fights against the chains.
"-Even if you tell me before you meet your end, the longer you resist, the more fingers, toes, even limbs will need to be amputated. At this moment, telling me now will ensure you won't lose any part of yourself...unlike how I face losing my sweet Nora once again...-" Mr Freeze aims the cold gun up at both of the left man's hands, "- Refuse now and I will hasten the process -."
"Victor!" Batman crashes through the window that leads into the room, rolling onto his knees and grabbing of the armed men, throwing him over his shoulder. Batman moves out of the way of the steam of ice from Freeze and his cold gun. The vigilante skids on the icy-ground, towards another guard who was taking aim at him. He kicks the gunman off balance and snatches his gun, whacking him across the head with the gun before throwing it.
"- Batman, what a surprise -" Freeze's modulated voice echoes through the room, his fires the cold gun, aiming one-long stream at his target. Batman moves to the third of final gunman and throws him in the way of the cold stream; encasing him in a layer of ice. Batman grabs a Batarang from his belt and throws it at the cold gun, cutting into its side. Mr Freeze glances down at his damaged weapon and throws it down, "-What are you doing here? -"
"I was just about to ask you the same thing, Victor! Let those men go, now!"
"- I'm afraid that I cannot do that, not until they told me where they took my precious Nora - Would you not do the same to save a person who you loved?-" Mr Freeze holds his right arm up at the vigilante, his arm had a small mantled wrist cannon, "- Leave me be, Dark Knight. I must find my wife -", his voice was cold, chilling to the bone. He sounded broken, lost and desperate. His voice held emotion, though not as much due to its modulation, "- I will not let my Nora die again, this is my chance to save her this time. If saving her means I must eliminate you...then so be it -."
"Nora is dead. I'm sorry... but that is what happened. There is no one for you to save..."
" - My Nora...is not gone. Strange cloned her for me...she was fine... perfect even...but then...it happened. She has begun to rot...slowly die, not the same as before...but by other means...I must find a way to save her this time...I must not fail her again-" Freeze's arm shakes, "- I cannot see her die again... and now, Firefly's men have taken her to spite me... I must find where they have taken her...her cryotube won't last long without the proper conditions...-"
"You had Strange clone her?" Batman's eyes widen, "Why would he do that for you?"
"- To entice me to kill you -" Victor lowers his head, "- He saw fit to use my dead wife against me... -"
Last Year...
Day of the Arkham Breakout
"What nonsense do you beckon me for, Strange?" Victor Fries asks. A cold to the touch man that was dressed in a high-tech suit with a pair of goggles covering his eyes underneath a transparent helmet. Mister Freeze looks to the professor who was stood in front of him "Have I not made myself clear? I refuse to play a part in your crude game. I am a man of science, not some muscle that you can hire to do your dirty work. Let me leave Gotham" he tells Hugo Strange.
Hugo Strange smirks as he holds his arms behind his back "Oh my, Victor. You were specifically chosen for this little experiment of ours. I am too a man of science, but more importantly, I know how to read people and you are like an open book. All the others have their motivations for joining. Revenge, greed and selfish desires. But you? You have no such things holding you to this city. That is why I thought of the perfect way to get you to play along...you are a family man, correct? Nora, your loving wife. Tell me, Victor, what has the world been like for you without her? Have you felt less restraint, maybe you lack the motivation to continue? Do you feel a great emptiness...pardon the pun, but do you feel cold inside without her?"
"Consider choosing your next words carefully, Professor. My memory of Nora brings some painful emotions to come to the surface, a pain that I will have no problem showing you. Speak your business and do it without using my deceased wife"
"Oh Victor, what if I were to tell you that you and your loving wife can be reunited in the world of the living?"
"I already warned you, Strange"
"There is truth in my words, Victor. Though your wife is indeed dead. If you were to be the one to kill the Batman...I can easily make a clone of her. A perfect copy with all her memories, hopes and dreams. It will be like you and her were never split between worlds. You know full well of my past with these clones...so I hope you will not doubt me, and I am a man of my word"
"Nora? You can...bring her back to me?"
"Relatively speaking, yes. The Nora who you married is gone forever, but I can make it so that her clone will think that she is indeed the real one. Only you would know about her origin, so do we have a deal, Victor?" Strange asks.
"Using my wife against me...that is a whole new cruel for you..."
"Deal or no deal, Victor? This is a one time offer...if you refuse my offer...being returned to Arkham will be the least of your problems"
"I need time to...think...I need time to think this through"
"Don't take too long now...I am a busy man"
Present Day...
Batman sees Freeze visibly shaking, "I can't help but notice that I'm still alive. Why would he have given you her if you hadn't finished your end of the deal?"
"- I don't want to be a killer anymore, I don't want to be a criminal either... I just wanted my wife back. So I lied, when you went missing last year, I made it look like that I was the one to kill you. Once Strange learned of my deception... I ran, taking my Nora with me. I have been on the run ever since...-"
"You want Nora back? What if we make a deal" Batman walks forward.
"- A deal? -" Victor shakes off, "- You are not an honourable man. You act like you are above the criminals who you fight, but you are just as willing to betray and hurt others to get what you desire -"
"I swear that I will get Nora back for you...," Batman's eyes soften as he reaches into his utility belt, "But I need you to do something for me. There's someone who is in need of help. He's been exposed to a highly infectious virus, I need you to made an antidote, a cure," Batman hands the vial of blood over to Freeze. The armoured man takes it from the vigilante. Victor lifts the vial and examines it.
"- So you are also in need for my assistance, I see. It appears we may have a basis for a deal after all -" Mr Freeze looks to Batman, "- I will get to work. It should take several hours to complete -"
"Let these two go, Victor. You don't need to be a monster anymore... they can even lead us to Firefly and her men..." Batman looks to the two chained up men.
"- Hurry, Batman... Nora's cryo-chamber will not last for much longer... save her, please...-" Victor then hands Batman a small circular device, "- Place this in her cryo-chamber when you find her, it will give it enough power to last-"
Batman takes the device form, Mr Freeze, "I'll get her back" the dark knight nods. He throws dual Batarangs at the chained men, cutting the chains and dropping them to the ground. He gives one final look to Mr Freeze before leaving. Victor looks down to the blood sample, tightening his hand around it, he picks up his cold gun and sees the two prisoners slowly make a break for the exit. He turns his attention away from the two and allows them to leave.
Beneath Wayne Tower
- Bat-Bunker -
Langstrum stirs, grumbling as he looks around to see where he was. He was forced to full conscience when he feels his arms and legs strapped down to the metal table under him, then he sees the blood on him. He creeks his neck and sees Lee looking over to him, "What is the meaning of this, Thompkins? Where arm I?" his forces his neck to move over more to give him a better look at her. He could only taste blood, the harsh metallic aroma covers his mouth along with most of his body. The dried blood even acts as a weak glue that binds his lips together, struggling to force them apart. They were sectioned off from the rest of the level by blue cubical curtains.
"Doctor Langstrum...I can't tell you where you are. But I need you to trust me," Lee walks to the tied man, "You might want to prepare yourself for this, I need to tell you what is happening to you...what you've done. This may sound nuts, but I need you to listen...-"
"...It happened again, didn't it?" the grey-haired man faces away from Lee, "Not again! H-how did *it* get out again...?"
"You know?" Leslie leans forward, "You killed a lot of people tonight, loads more other nights. What happened to you, Robert? How...how long have you been like this...?"
"...That wasn't me, Lee. You have to believe me... that *thing*… is a pure soulless monster... I've tried to fight it! I locked myself up at night, I sedated myself... I tried everything to stop it...but it can't be stopped. It won't stop..."
"Kirk... your wife... how did she die? You never told me how she died... and you told my husband that she was still alive. If she died conventionally, them you wouldn't feel the need to hide it...," Lee comes closer, "...Please tell me it's not what I think. Please tell me that you didn't..."
Langstrum shuts his eyes tight and looks away from the woman in shame, "...I tried to stop it...I tried...but I couldn't... *it* killed her... my beautiful Francine... I couldn't stop it...! I've been trying for twelve years...to...stop it, to cure myself...but nothing works... this *thing* is forever going to be a part of me...," Selina stands outside the layer of curtains, peeking through the small gap.
"Robert, we have someone trying to find you a cure as we speak, trust me, he will do it. We're going to get you a cure... everything is going to be okay, I promise..."
"Ah, really...?" Kirk weakly laughs, "I've tried for the last twelve years, remember? I tried everything! You can't cure me... and... I can't even die..., no matter what I do, that *thing* always brings us back. I should have known better than to accept a contract from Wayne Industries...their scientific division was always subpar!"
Across the Room
Lucius mans the communications, "Copy that, Bruce. But...how are you going to find Firefly on such sort notice?"
"If I found Freeze in the coldest part of Gotham..."
"The opposite should be true for Firefly. Narrowing that down is going to take longer than tracking Victor. I'll start searching, I'll let you know if I find anything" Lucius answers as he brings up the map of Gotham on the screen in front of him, "I could send the drone out to check for heat signatures...but that could take hours and that could be time that we don't have...," Lucius looks to his side as Selina walks up and reaches her hand out.
"You are giving Bridgit too much credit there, Lucius. I know her better than anyone," she takes the earpiece from Lucius and puts it on, "Hey, Bruce. Don't bother going through all that effort to find her, I know every place she would think of hiding. You need somewhere hot, right? Try the subway lower levels near the Narrows. Bridgit and I always went down there together as kids, the place can feel like a literal furnace during summer"
"That section of the subway has been closed for years, even before I was born"
"Which would make it a perfect hiding spot, right? Trust me on this, I'm a street kid," Selina taps the earpiece, "I can meet you there if you want, it can be like a maze down there if you don't know what you are looking for."
"No. I need you there for in case Langstrum turns again. I'll contact you if I need directions."
"Speaking of which, Langstrum has woken up. Lee is checking on him as we speak... poor guy, it sounds like he's been battling that monster for years...," Selina turns her head over to the direction of Lee, "We'll let you know if anything changes. Love you," she smiles.
"Copy that. Keep me updated on Langstrum. Batman out."
Selina clears her throat, "I said...love you. You just can't leave it like that."
"Batman out."
The dark-haired woman pouts, "Whatcha know...looks like he's shy."
Lucius with precision, takes the earpiece from Selina, "If he says *I love you* back while I'm wearing this...we're going to have a problem, got me?" he fits the earpiece on his right ear, "I got it handled here. Go and see if Lee needs any help."
"Bruce said that he would need me if he needed-"
"Come on, Selina. I know, you know, Lee knows that he was just trying to be polite. The tunnels were constructed by Wayne Enterprise, the map to the place literally has his name on it. He was even planning on setting up another Batcave down there."
"Damn, really? What are the chances?" she folds her arms, "Just how much of the city did Bruce's parents own?"
"Don't know the exact number... but a lot would be my closes guess."
Across the City
Below the Narrows, Subway
"The Wayne Industries railroad system, also codenamed as Project Skylight, originally planned to be a state-of-an-art transportation vessel for the lower-income citizens of Gotham. It went well for the first three years but eventually it drew the ire of Warren White and his crew. He used all of his leverage against the politicians to damage the project, even threatened severe repercussions for everyone involved with the project's construction, and the innocents simply using the transport."
"Wayne Industries made a tough call to shut it down before even more people could be killed. In a way, another thing that crime took from me... and the people of Gotham" Batman thinks to himself as he walks through the undergrounds, "It was closed a year before I was born. Did Selina really go down here when she was just a child? Why wouldn't she have told me about this back when we were kids..."
"This would've made a better hiding spot from those assassins that were sent after us...," Batman taps the side of his cowl, his white glowing eyes tint blue, "She was right...this place is like an oven. Using my infrared here would just be pointless. So...looks like I need to reverse my thinking. Instead of looking for the hottest thing...the coldest would be more useful to me. The average temperature of a human body is between 35-38 degrees"
"Um, Bruce? Wouldn't the heat in the tunnel also increase their body temperatures?" Lucius asks.
"Firefly's body is covered with heat-insulation material, same goes for her crew."
"Wait a minute, Bruce. Shouldn't you look for Nora first? Her incubation tube should make her temperature lower enough to stand out. Maybe you should secure her first...we can't risk taking more time than we have to. Freeze even said that Nora's tube is going to need to be recharged very soon. If she ends up dying, I do not see Freeze living up to his end."
"Nora's dead, Lucius. Has been for years. I know how the clones work first-hand. They may have the same face, voice, mannerisms, but they are their own person. Whoever is in the tube, it's not Nora Fries, just someone with her face."
"Are you planning on telling Freeze that? It could be the right thing to do, but if he does learn of it...then he could not live up to his end or making a cure. Bruce... I'm all for the greater good...but not telling him would give him false hope that he could one day be reunited with his wife..."
"I don't like this at all either. If I tell him...he may not want to work on the cure and if I don't...he'll be punishing himself for the rest of his life to save her. The clones never last...Talon couldn't even be cured by the Lazarus, what hope would Freeze have for Nora? Either way, Freeze is going to blame himself...and me too" Batman continues through the undergrounds, at his side the rounded device from Freeze flashes.
"He's a criminal, a killer even. But he just wants to save his wife...maybe having that hope would mean more to him than the truth."
"The more hope he has, the more he will be broken when he learns the truth... I need the cure for Langstrum... think of all the lives that will be saved. Compare that to one man's heartbreak, it is no contest. We need the cure more"
"I understand. But that doesn't make it feel right..."
Batman's eyes widen as he spots two figures talking ahead. Two masked men with yellow vizors and padded clothes. They both held a flashlight that they use to light up the path ahead of them. The Dark Knight quickly moves to hug the wall, moving away from their line-of-sight. Taking shelter in the shadows, Batman observes the two as they unknowingly walk past him, "Nah, its actually pronounced *Fries*, not Freeze. It's actually a more common mistake than you'd think..."
"Ya sure man? Everyone I know down here has been calling him *Freeze*" the second man replies.
"Because that's his supervillain name, dumbass. Have ya ever heard the guys called Firefly by her real name? From what I've learned, it's like a formality between bad guys to use each other's *Supervillain* name. Firefly, Freeze, Black Mask, Scarecrow, heck even Joker. It's a sign of respect ya know?"
"I still think it's dumb" the other man sighs.
"Each to their own, each to their own..." the pair stop near the wall on the opposite side of Batman, "Hold this will ya" he hands his flashlight over to the other man. He then presses both his palms against the wall and begins to push. The wall moves back, the goon then slides it out of the way, "C'mon. We are late to take over guard duty for Mrs Popsicle"
"A false wall?" Batman looks at the two men that walk in the hidden passage, "That's not on the map. It didn't even show on my scanners..." he swiftly moves forward and follows after the two men.
"Hey, ya hear somethin'" the left man turns and screams when sees Batman, along with the other man. The Dark Knight subdues the pair with ease.
Batman takes the costume off of one of the goons, putting it on himself. He straps on the protective material and puts on the mask with the yellow vizor over his cowl. Batman now stands disguised in the same outfit as Firefly's henchmen, "Bruce? Can you hear me? The tracer in your suit is somehow glitching. It's saying that you are outside of the layout of the tunnels...?"
"It's not a glitch. There was a fake wall, leading to somewhere that I don't recognize" Bruce whispers.
"A fake wall? That's not possible... the blueprints showed no such thing"
"Then that means... it must have been here long before Project Skylight was even commissioned. Ask Selina if she knows about it," the disguised Bruce walks down the dimly lit stairwell, "I'm going undercover to find Nora. The guys who I just knocked out said that they were meant to take over the duty of guarding Nora, hopefully, that means I won't have to deal with being interrupted."
"Alright, take care, Bruce"
Bat-Bunker
Lucius spots Selina sat outside the confines of the curtains that blocked off Lee and Langstrum from them. He walks over to her, 'Hey, Selina, you wouldn't happen to know about a secret passage down in those tunnels?" he asks.
Selina's lips pucker, "Uh, yeah. I was going to tell Bruce that but I thought it would have been on the tunnel maps. Bridgit and I found it by accident when we were kids, she was running away from her brothers and we didn't have much choice but to use it. The weird thing is, it was already open. We just thought it as a maintenance tunnel, that's all," she answers. Selina's eyes move back to the curtains, "Making a deal with Freeze...is that what we have come to? Going to a criminal for help? I know that Bruce means well with getting Langstrum a cure and all, but does that make it right? Helping a murderer, I mean..."
Lucius slowly sits beside her, "I know that this isn't an ideal situation, but right now...what choice do we have? Freeze can make a cure far faster than we could. We are on the clock here, Selina, we can't let Kirk change back into that *thing*. Enough people have already died...and you know how Bruce is with that sorta thing. I'm sure he's already a way to blame himself for this..."
"You didn't answer my question. We're aiding one murderer to help another... maybe if Langstrum was just a regular guy who needed our help, I could understand... but he has blood on his lands, heck...he's completely covered in blood right now..." Selina vents, her hands clench he knees, "Have you heard them talking in there? Langstrum did this to himself on purpose... shouldn't that make him responsible for everything he's done? Does he even deserve to be cured?"
Lucius looks over the short-haired woman, "Something is bothering you, isn't there? Let me guess...it has to do with Barbara Lee?"
Selina nods, "There's an innocent girl whose is comatose with no one knowing what is causing it, but Bruce rather spend his time...trying to help a man who has killed so many people... Langstrum should just be thrown into a cage and never see the light of day ever again... he's not a victim, Lucius."
"Look, I'm not arguing with you on that. But you have to admit that everyone will be a lot safer if Langstrum is cured. True, it won't undo all the damage that he has caused, but think of all the people that this could save in the long run."
"Maybe" Selina replies, "We know that he did this to himself on purpose… but why? What could have possibly made him want to do this to himself?"
Lucius stands, "That is the question of the hour. And who was funding his research..."
Lee quickly walks out of the cubical and swiftly puts the curtain back to conceal her two friends, "I think I've got the answer to that, and it's not good."
"What is these days...," Selina rolls her eyes.
Lee looks to Lucius, "Langstrum trusts me... well enough to tell me what caused him to become this... *Man-Bat*, he told me that his research was begun to help cure deafness, thus he experimented with bats...but not just any kind..."
"Vampire bats" Lucius ponders, "Of course he did... why wouldn't he? This goddamn city."
"There's more... if what Robert's saying is true...he was commissioned by...Wayne Industries" Lee adds.
"A-Are you for real?" Selina jumps to her feet, "You have got to be kidding me. Wouldn't have Bruce mentioned something like this?"
"That's the thing, Selina, Langstrum became infected with that virus over twelve years ago...so Bruce wouldn't have even known the project was in the works. Obviously, Thomas and Martha Wayne were already long gone so they wouldn't have known" Lee glances back to the curtains, "I don't want to believe this as much as you, but as we've learned today, Robert is many things...but a liar isn't one of them."
Lucius makes his way over back to the Bat-Computer, "If this is somehow true, there should be a file relating it on the company's archive. Luckily, Bruce took the initiative to have all of the company's dealings uploaded to the system digitally. Bruce is sometimes too paranoid for his own good, he even took into account the chance of fowl place in his company"
Selina walks up to him, "When you say *Company's dealings...just how many are on there to go through...?"
"All of them. Bruce didn't leave a stone unturned, not when it comes to his company. There could be thousands upon thousands of separate entries in the achieve" Lucius searches through the files, "Looking through the files dated twelve years ago, hopefully, it be at the top..."
"Isn't there like a keyword filter or something?" Selina grumbles, "Even with the right year, I doubt one of the biggest companies in the world only had a handful of projects. There will still be a load to look through..."
From across the room, Lee looks back to the curtains and the silhouette of the man strapped to the table. Her body froze when she realizes Langstrum was somehow sitting up, which should have been impossible due to the arm restraints. Lee pulls the curtain back and is greeted with the same sight that was eluded to her a mere few moments ago. Robert Langstrum was sitting up, breathing heavily and his eyes were bloodshot. He slowly turns his head to her.
"R-R-R-...run! It's happening... The rest-of-these-chains-won't hold! RUN!" Langstrum slams down on the table as he screams, "GET THE HELL AWAY! PLEASE! PL-EA-AGGHHH!" he spits up blood and violently shakes. His skin greys, fingernails lengthen and his arms stretch outward, same as his legs and feet, "RUN! RUN... RAGGHHH!," his pupils narrow to slits as his ears become pointed and he face stretches outward into a snout, his expanding fingers become webbed.
Lee backs up and screams, "Lucius! Selina! He's changing!"
With his spasms, Langstrum broke free of the chains on his legs and rolls off of the table and onto the floor, he gargles blood, dribbling a pool of crimson red. The skin under his arms stretches out, expanding into wings. Selina hurries over, jumping over one of the desks and picking up the tranq gun in the motion. Selina shoves Lee out of the way and aims the tranq gun at the beast. Man-Bat's body slowly becomes engulfed in fur, dark brown, almost black. His red eyes glow brightly.
He stands, slouching and feral. Man-Bat dribbles streams of saliva as it growls.
Selina fires the gun at Man-Bat, firing a tranq dart into its shoulder. The creature was visibly discomforted by the dart, but it remained standing, drooling and growling, "What the-? Why is it still standing?" Selina screams, keeping her gaze on the creature. She and Lee backway, still looking at the best while it follows them, slowly and precisely. Selina shoots again, this time hitting Man-Bat's neck, which the beast shrugs off without any annoyance this time.
"There's enough juice in that thing to down like 10 people, twenty since you shot twice..." Lee quivers.
"DOES THAT LOOK LIKE A PERSON TO YOU?" Selina yells, "Lee, my backpack, get it!"
"W-What?" Lee backs away.
"Backpack! It has my gear! Get it for me!" Selina fires again, and again, and again until no more tranq darts were loaded. Nothing came of the weapon that was more than a spine-tingling empty-clicking every time she pressed the trigger, "Go!" she orders. Lee nods before running off, she goes to grab Lucius. The man shakes his head as he looks through the display racks, ones that held various equipment that was used by the dark knight.
"Lucius...what are you doing?" Lee gasps.
"It has to be here somewhere! Where is it?!" Lucius ravages through the displays, "It has to be here!"
"W-WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?" Lee panics.
"The Nightwing project!"
"The what?" Lee looks down and spots Selina's backpack. She picks up and opens it. She pulls out the whip.
"Don't have time to explain!" Lucius runs over to the other side of the display. Man-Bat snaps its jaw and charges at Selina, who used the tranq gun to full its mouth, blocking its fangs. The creature fights against the weapon, its fangs chew down on it, cracking it. Man-Bat shakes its head, yanking the weapon from Selina's grip. The creature then bites down, breaking the tranq gun in two. The beast then throws itself towards Selina, arms stretched out and mouth opened-wide.
Selina rolls out of the creature's attack. She sits up and sees Lee running to her. The older woman throws the whip to her, Selina catches it by the handle. She then hits Man-Bat with it, cutting the beast's face. It wallows in pain, moving back and covering the cut along its cheek. Selina's emerald eyes widen as she sees a faint glow form from beneath the creature's hand, the same glow that she had seen before. Man-Bat removes its hand from its face, showing that its cut had healed with not even a mark left in its place.
"It's the same...the same as *him*…" Selina whispers.
A small device is thrown from the other side of the grounds, one that begins to flash and emit a high-pitch sound. Man-Bat throws its arms up, stretching out its wings and becoming airborne, above the three. The creature screeches as he flails through the air in a pained cry. It uncontrollably spirals through the lair, crashing into the computers, display cases and the lights in one non-stopping motion. The creature hisses, its red vison that hi-lighted its prey as bright white markers becomes blurred, distorted with no clear indication of its surroundings.
Selina winds her whip and attaches it to her belt.
Lucius runs over to Lee, "That's the Nightwing project. It normally attracts bats, but our friend here is mostly human. His brain wasn't made to be able to withstand picking up that kind of waves!" the three continues to look at the screeching creature, as it crashes through several more of lights and sends the whole floor into a layer of darkness. It then flies into the Bat-Computer, fully breaking its screen and being electrocuted by its power surge.
"OH NO!" Lucius becomes concerned as the rest of the lights around the floor lose power and the Bat-Computer turns off, leaving them all in complete darkness, "If the Bat-Computer goes offline, so does all of its tech..." Lucius, Lee and Selina look over to the small flashing light coming from the Nightwing device that slowly dims before completely turning off, "Shit!" from across the room, Man-Bat lays on its front, smoking from the electric shock. Its eyes snap open, still blood red as ever.
(Part 1)
A/N: This chapter has been in the works for a long time, and had passed the 20,000 words freehold. So to spare you from dealing with a laboriously long chapter and your sanity, I have instead cut the chapter into 2 parts. This is part 1 and part 2 will be uploaded some time next week. Apologies for the wait.