Chapter 5
It's such an "Ice" Day (part 3)
Pressing a few buttons on his sleeve, Batman sighed and declared, "Ferris is more clever than I thought: he seems to have placed some jammers nearby to block remote communications." "No doubt so that any employees who caught wind of this couldn't contact the cops without being bribed into doing otherwise," Numbuh 86 said with a sigh, having seen her father do something similar. With a nod, the Dark Knight replied with, "You guys see if you can collect some physical evidence in case I'm unable to contact anyone in the next room."
"How do we do that?" Tommy inquired, to which Rachel, going over to the computer council, replied with, "See if you can help me retrieve some of the files on the hard drive." Taking out a camera, Numbuh 5 declared, "I'll document anything that could be interfered with later on: at least that way, the police will be able to know some of the story if the computer is frozen, literally." "What are you doing, Numbuh 4?" Nigel demanded, to which his comrade pointed at a couple of blueprints declared, "I might know a lot about what's REALLY going on here, but I know the specs for a weapon when I see one."
"Collect as many of those as you can find," Numbuh 2 declared, "but I've got something else I need to do." "Let me guess: Kuki went off to find a heater," Wally said with a groan. "Seeing as she left shivering a little after Batman left for the main corridor, I'd say so," the tech expert declared, "So I'm going to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." "Not without me, you're not," Fanny said with a growl. Knowing they didn't have time to argue, Hoagie agreed.
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The two KND operatives found Kuki scrunched up against a wall a while later. Just as they were about to ask what she was doing however, they saw Batman punching a few buttons on his sleeve and stating, "That will do for now." Before they could contemplate this, the Dark Knight activated his com-system. "Alfred, the jammers are preventing me from communicating outside of speaker-phone," the Caped Crusader declared, "Let me know if you got the information I collected on Boyle's crimes."
"There are a few gaps in the data here and there," a slightly distorted British voice declared, "but with a few adjustments I should be able to…and there we go: I'll send it to the police right away." "Thanks, old friend," the masked man said with a sigh. "And if I may be so bold, I wish to apologize," the apparent voice of Alfred declared, "I know you never wanted your suspicions about Burton Corp to be confirmed."
"That doesn't matter right now," the Dark Knight said with resignation, "Victor's plan never involved killing Boyle: he needs the security access Ferris has to get Nora out of here." "And now you're going to stop that from happening?" Alfred inquired, to which Batman stated, "Not exactly; I need you to contact Lucius Fox at Wayne Enterprises: tell him to get a delicate transport vehicle ready. Send the information on Victor and Nora Fries to the nearest hospitals as well while you're at it." "Does this mean that you'll need that gurney you mentioned earlier?" Alfred guessed. The Dark Knight simply replied with, "I am, but not for Victor."
"I don't believe it," Numbuh 3 all but screamed. "I know: Bruce Wayne is Batman!" Numbuh 86 whisper-yelled in reply. "He is?" Kuki whispered back, finally turning away from a way she was apparently looking at, "I was just saying that I couldn't seem to find the furnace on this wall directory here." "Look, we don't exactly have proof of Batman's identity yet, so let's keep this to ourselves for now," Numbuh 2 declared trying to defuse the situation. With a sigh, the two girl operatives nodded, even though they had a feeling that Hoagie was just as convinced of the unofficial theory as they were.
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If Batman knew that three members of the team thought they knew his identity, he was an expert at the "Yiper look" (author's note: think "poker face" for that popular trading card game featured in the show). At any rate, everyone eventually made their way back into the corridor where Black Mask was still trapped. Before they could go any further though, the Dark Knight gestured for everyone to stay quiet. "What are you…?" was as far as Numbuh 362 got before Batman gestured to the room, which was crawling with thugs, with two of them armed with high-powered weapons.
"First rule of combat: always analysis the situation beforehand," the masked man declared, before taking out a Batarang, which was then heated up by some electrodes in his glove. "Second rule," he continued, "Know how to use your surroundings to your advantage." With that, he threw his weapon at an icicle hanging from the ceiling, shattering it and knocking the two armed thugs that happened to be standing beneath it unconscious. A few minutes of combat later and Sionis was once again all alone.
"You're going to get me out of this right?" Roman inquired. "You're good where you are," Batman deadpanned. "But you can't leave me: I'm freezing here!" Black Mask whined. "Don't worry," Numbuh 2 declared, "I'm sure the cops will give you a WARM welcome." "Please, man: not now," Numbuh 5 deadpanned. With that, everyone trudged forward, completely ignoring the complaints of the crime lord behind them.
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As they came to the doorway to where everyone assumed that Nora would be located, Batman pulled out his grapnel gun and aimed it at the cover of an air duct. "Third rule of combat: never charge head first into a battle that may not be necessary," the Dark Knight quipped as he pulled the cover off the air vent. "You know, we COULD just use the door," Numbuh 3 remarked, to which Numbuh 4 scoffed, "Yeah, and get turned into popsicles right away."
"In a way, your friend's right," Batman remarked, "For all we know, the door could be frozen shut from the other side." With a reluctant nod, everyone followed the detective into the vent. As they crawled through, they heard Ferris belittling Victor like the cryogenist was the lowest life form on the planet, basically openly admitting that he wouldn't lift a finger for his former employee OR his wife. "Point of no return," Batman muttered to himself as he pressed the grate open.
Everyone quickly jumped to the ground as the vent cover was heard landing VERY loudly. Nobody was surprised when Victor froze the vent they had just entered. "Victor, you don't have to do this," Batman declared, signaling to the others to let him try and talk the former scientist down." "I'm only doing what needs to be done," was the man's reply. "I know the truth: I know about Nora. I promise you, Boyle will face judgment for his crimes," the Dark Knight declared.
"It was an accident," Ferris tried, "You don't know the whole story!" Victor, murder in his eyes, threw his former boss into a makeshift cell and fired his freeze gun, declaring, "Nothing matters: NOTHING BUT MY NORA!" "You've endangered countless lives tonight," Batman tried to reason with him, "Nora would never want this."
"You're right," Victor admitted, "She'd only wish to live in the warmth of the sun's light, her hand in mine." If there was any chance of ending this peacefully, it was shattered by Ferris banging on the cell door's glass window, for Mr. Freeze then stated, "However because of HIM, she'll only feel the icy touch of a man who's blood runs as cold as his emotions."
"Get out of here!" Batman yelled at his comrades, as he grappled up into the shadows. "Let's see how you deal with the air freezing in your lungs," Victor declared, pressing a few buttons on his suit. At this, various air vents pumped ice cold air into the room. Luckily, the KND operatives, and Tommy, were able to escape a fate of being frozen solid. Unfortunately, they managed to attract Victor's attention.
"You brought this on yourselves," the former scientist declared, before Batman was seen gliding into him. "I built this suit with multiple fail-safes," Victor revealed, "You can't stop me." Batman was quick to react as he disappeared once again into the shadows. "Don't make me do something we'll both regret," the cryogenist directed at the (former) member(s) of the KND before walking off to find the Dark Knight.
"Is it just me, or does him seem a bit…off?" Numbuh 1 declared. "Yeah," Numbuh 5 said with a nod, "It's almost like he doesn't WANT to be a villain." "He IS a villain," Fanny remarked, "but he's not THE villain." Everyone nodded at that.
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A good five minutes passed and from what the KND could tell, Batman was winning the fight. Any chance of a flawless victory was suddenly cut short by a computer's voice declaring, "Warning: critical failure in capsule one; Prime subject, Nora Fries, in danger." "I'm coming, Nora!" Victor declared. That's when everyone realized what they'd already suspected: everything that Victor had done that night was done out of love for his wife.
"Sorry about this, Victor," Batman declared as he dropped to the ground. Getting underneath the platform the scientist was standing on, Batman forced Victor down and into the open, severely damaging the suits circuits. "Thanks for the assistance, Batman," declared the voice of a now free Ferris Boyle, "but you shouldn't have meddled in my affairs." Taking out a gun he had concealed, he shot the Dark Knight in the chest.
Too shocked for words, the Kids Next Door could only watch as Ferris declared, "And here I thought my reputation was in jeopardy due to the state of your lab. I mean nobody's going to believe a bunch of children, the only credible eyewitness is dead, and after everything YOU'VE done, no one will be questioning ME." Victor crawled forward, desperately trying to reach Nora's chamber. "Please," he pled, "You can save her: you'd just need to…"
"Sorry, Victor, but like you," Mr. Boyle interrupted, raising his gun to fire again, "Nora's been sentenced to death." "I don't think so," Batman declared from behind the businessman. Before Boyle could react, he was knocked unconscious. "Meeting's been canceled, humanitarian," the vigilante spat, before he walked over the computer council.
Victor watched in wonder as Batman pressed a few buttons, stabilizing his beloved wife. As Batman walked over to him, he felt his eyes produce tears for the first time sense his accident. "I know what it's like to lose those you care about Victor," the Dark Knight declared, "and I can't promise you peace, but I CAN give you justice." With that, the caped crusader produced another container of the super coolant and plugged it into the only thing keeping him alive, revitalizing him.
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"How's everything going with our patents, Jim?" one Bruce Wayne inquired three days later to his contact/friend in the police force, Captain James Gordon. "They're holding up so far," he remarked, "the eight children we found in the room with the former Burton Corp employee/owner duo suffered the least injuries and should be able to go home tomorrow." "Speaking of Victor," the billionaire declared, "I've got some news that I'd like to pass onto him: Wayne Tech seems to be getting some serious headway in Nora's cure and we should be seeing positive results by the end of the week."
"That's good to hear," Jim remarked, "though I still don't understand why a man nominated for the Nobel Peace Price would turn to a life of crime." "I don't think it's all cut and dry, my friend," Bruce stated with a sigh, "Victor was pushed to the edge of despair and it's possible that his heart was chilled from such an experience." "But he's still a good man, right?" Fanny, who'd just returned from her daily "stroll" through the garden, inquired. "He may have lost sight of who he was after the accident," the billionaire said with a nod, "but not even the coldest of snow or darkest of nights can make us lose sight of our morality." As she watched Bruce Wayne leave to attend some business, she smiled. "You would know, wouldn't you?" she thought to herself.
