Chapter 4

I've just returned to my room when the phone rings.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Natalie? It's Amanda, I was just calling to ask how you're settling into your new job."

I lean back on my bed, "Amanda, you never call unless you need a favor, cut to the chase."

She chuckles, "You know me well."

"But you are aware that I'm not allowed to leave the island while on duty?" I ask, as I walk over and lock my room door.

"That's why I need you for the job." she explains, "Do you still have your weapons?"

I pull out my briefcase from under the bed. Opening it to reveal my neatly folded clothes, I reach under the sleeve and pull out a small silver parcel. Placing the parcel on the bed, I put my right index finger on the fingerprint identifier and a bright blue light scans over it before the parcel lock snaps open.

"You confiscated my daggers after I completed my last assignment. Otherwise I have everything else." I tell her, looking over the contents, "And you know the daggers are the most important part."

"I'm aware. I'm sending you the daggers right now as we speak."

I pick up the mask hanging on the small hook on the hood of the case, feeling the smooth fabric in my hands, "What exactly do you want me to do?"

"I see you've discovered the secret passageways those criminals have been using as a revolving door." she says coldly, "Now that their get-out-of-jail free card is gone, they're conspiring a mass takeover of the asylum so that they can rebuild it."

"And you want me to stop it?"

"No." her tone is authoritative, business-like, "A takeover of Arkham can only be stopped by one person..."

"Batman." I realize.

"Yes, and this will be the perfect opportunity for us to finally nail him down once and for all."

My brain mentally stops for a moment, "Wait...you don't want me to take him out do you?"

"Heavens no, he's far too useful." Amanda clarifies, "I just need you to get a tracker on him, the way you do everyone else."

I reach under the neatly folded outfit taking up most of the room of the parcel and feel around until my fingers find a rounded glass vial. I take it out and examine it,

"I've got just enough for one more job." I tell her, shaking the bright blue crystals drifting at the bottom of the vial, "Also, do I really have to go under that silly alias you gave me again?"

"Absolutely. We can't risk having your cover blown, so you'll have to dye your hair again, and cut it short."

I sigh, "Alright, I'm fine with that, but could you at least have come up with a better supervillain name than Trickstress?"

"It...it was the best our team could come up with at the time. Do you know how oversaturated the criminal career is now? We had to come up with something that wasn't already taken."

I roll my eyes, "Hopefully I'll never run into Trickster from over in Central City. He might sue."

"Well, I trust you understand your assignment." she completes, "The daggers should arrive within the hour. Waller out."

Does she always have to say that? Amanda and I met in college, and we both started working for the US government at the same time. Over the years, especially after she established Task Force X, she's called in more than a couple of favors, the crazier being me donning a fake supervillain identity to go undercover. I put away the parcel's contents and stick it back in its hiding place. I feel my stomach growl for the first time today, I haven't had anything to eat. I leave the room and walk down the hallway to the stairs. I remember when I first came into the manor there being some kind of dining hall, and if they have doctors stay here for so long they have to have some place for them to eat.

I find the dining hall see a couple other doctors eating and talking, as well as a few security guards. A little bit past the dining hall I find the kitchen, a small fluorescent lighted room that looks more well-suited for an apartment unit than a mansion. The shelves are stocked with anything you could need, so that's good. After preparing some seasoned vegetables and fish, I take my plate out to the dining hall.

"Hey!" I turn to my left and see Dr. Leland and Dr. Whistler in a small recreational lounge tucked into the corner of the hall.

There are a couple of chairs and a couch surrounding a small black and white television. I sit in between them and start to eat while they also eat and watch TV.

"Tonight, gangsters associated with both Two-Face and Joker took to the streets for a massive shootout in south Cannery Row. The estimated death toll is currently twenty people, with at least thirty more injured." announcer/reporter Jack Ryder comes onto screen, "We go to field reporter Vicki Vale for more."

"I've never liked the way that guy dresses." Dr. Leland comments, "Looks kind of tacky to be honest."

The news report continues, "This is Vicki Vale coming to you live from Cannery Row in Gotham City. Right now you can see and hear the gunshots just a couple blocks away. According to our sources, Two-Face and Joker's men have teamed up, but their motives are unknown as of this time."

Did this have something to do with the takeover Amanda talked about? It's hard to be certain, team-ups happen all the time.

"What's this?!" the distraught reporter asks as the gunfire draws closer, "It appears that another party has entered the fray, joining both Joker and Two-Face's gangs. How the police will be able to cope with three gangs at once, there's no telling."

"Who could those guys be?" Dr. Leland asks, leaning closer to the screen.

"Hard to say. Unlike Joker, Two-Face, and maybe Riddler most bosses keep their henchmen pretty stationary." Dr. Whistler answers.

A security guard runs up to the three doctors, "Uhm...do you know where Dr. K is?"

"That would be me." I reply.

"Well, a package's just arrived for you." he informs, "Along with a letter."

"Oh, that must be the last of my belongings." I lie, keeping my tone only slightly upbeat.

I walk up to the front door where a small package wrapped in cardboard paper and tied neatly with string sits by the door. Amanda certainly works fast. However, it's not like her to leave a letter, maybe there's more information inside.

I lift the package up and carry it to my room, when I realize that the package has been tampered with. There's a clear indentation in the cardboard paper where the string had been originally tied. The letter should've been a dead giveaway, Amanda never writes letters. Locking the door, I take out my parcel once again and rummage through the costume until I find my scanner. Attaching the scanner to my wrist just out of force of habit, I aim the scanner at the package. The device starts projecting a small holographic image, and the results come in...clean. No explosives, no poisons. Then wh….wait...this could only be from one person.

I slide the letter out of the package with dread. Opening it up, I pull out the neatly folded letter and smell the expensive ink that went into the cursive handwriting,

My Trixie,

I see that after all this time you've finally decided to waltz back into town. Could've made it more of a challenge for me to find you, my men intercepted this package like candy from a baby. Now, I'm not sure why you wanted your signature weapons to be delivered to Arkham, hopefully you haven't gotten yourself locked up there love. Thankfully I was going to make a trip over there anyway, and don't think you can skip town before I get to at least say hello. It's been far too long.

Ozzy

Oh god, so he still remembers me. I don't know whether I should be flattered or I should start sharpening my daggers right now. It seemed perfectly sound at the time, I was trying to break into the criminal industry as Trickstress so I could perform some espionage for Amanda, and I happened to run into a small time heist thief named Oswald Cobblepot who was looking to do the same. From there, things just kind of...happened. He's always been short by Gotham standards, but he hadn't gained nearly as much weight at the time, and he looked much, muchyounger. Things were good while they lasted, but eventually, my mission was finished, and my criminal identity, no longer needed. I left him a letter explaining everything (well, not quite everything, I couldn't tell him I was actually a spy, Amanda wouldn't allow it). I returned to working for the government, and that work usually kept me away from Gotham, from him.

But now, with him coming after me...does he know I was a fake all this time? I can't imagine how he's changed since those early days, the Oswald Cobblepot I know is certainly different from the one always seen on TV.

I unwrap the rest of the package, and find my daggers perfectly intact, and nicely polished. I have a feeling Amanda knew she'd reuse these one day. I take out the vial of microscopic blue crystals and begin carefully sprinkling them onto the edges of the daggers. Each small crystal is a tracking device, so one moment of contact will cause at least some of the little pieces to stick to your skin for weeks, and if some of it gets into the bloodstream, even better. I think of Ozzy...so scared and timid, always kind of shaky, but...his hand on my shoulder…

"Dr. K? Are you still in there?" it's Dr. Whistler, knocking at my door, "Your food is getting cold."

I quickly seal up the daggers and the letter and shove the package under the bed, "Oh, I'm just finishing up, I'll be down!"

Author's Notes: Villains currently on hold for request: Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Maxie Zeus, Cornelius Stirk, Scarecrow, Killer Moth, Azrael, Orpheus, Ra Al Ghul, Talia Al Ghul, and Hush.