One and One
Considering everything that Mary had been through in the past few months alone, she hardly batted an eyelash when the next patient she saw was a man who was missing half his face. "Who's this Strange?" he growled at the Professor, looking over the young psychic, as though attempting to figure her out.
"My assistant, Two-Face. I assure you she'll only be here for a moment and then we will continue our session," Strange promised. Mary sat down in the chair in front of the man and looked into his eyes, only to promptly feel a headache coming on. This man was confusing and conflicted. He'd had a terrible childhood like most of the others she'd interviewed but hadn't started out as a criminal. In fact, he'd started out very good. Much like the Batman, he'd dedicated his life to helping bring Gotham out of the shadows, only to be turned into the very thing that he despised. And while he was a horrible, horrible man now, she could still sense… something good in him.
"I am done," Mary said, getting up. The Professor opened the door for her and followed her out into the hall. "He is… difficult. Such a contradiction that it is difficult to tell if he can ever be whole again. Though I believe if you gave him the right motivation, he could change his ways." Mary paused again as she went through the thoughts and memories she'd uncovered. "He's also obsessed with duality, which you already know, but it's his entire life. Good and bad, right and wrong, legal and criminal, justice and revenge. A constant battle for control and dominance. Sometimes the good wins out, sometimes the bad. It's all a matter of chance," she explained. "For 'Two little girls are better than one;
Two little boys can double the fun;
Two little birds can build a fine nest;
Two little arms can love mother best;
Two little ponies must go to a span;
Two little pockets has my little man;
Two little eyes to open and close,
Two little ears and one little nose,
Two little elbows, dimpled and sweet,
Two little shoes on two little feet,
Two little lips and one little chin,
Two little cheeks with a rose shut in,
Two little shoulders, chubby and strong,
Two little legs running all day long.
Two little prayers does my darling say,
Twice does he kneel by my side each day,
Two little folded hands, soft and brown,
Two little eyelids cast meekly down,
And two little angels guard him in bed,
One at the foot and one at the head,'" Mary rhymed. Professor Strange nodded.
"Good." He motioned a TYGER guard over. "Captain, take Miss Noble up to the Security Control Center. I will join you in a few hours."
After five years of in a cell Mary was used to boredom. But she found that waiting for something in particular made boredom a hundred times worse. So, she was somewhat relieved when the Professor finally joined her.
"What is happening Professor?" she asked him and he smiled sinisterly.
"It's time for our plans to be put into action my dear." She paled.
"You mean –"
"Yes. It's time to collect the Batman."