In His Own Image, Part IV
February 28, 1939
The voice was the first thing that returned to him. The same flat, monotone speech.
"Unable to remove the subject's mask. Those that made the attempt were subjected to electric shocks and gas interference. No matter. All can be handled in time."
"Subject's tools appear to include all manner of weaponry, surveillance equipment, and emergency devices. No firearms or weapons of overtly lethal characteristics. This matches known profile of subject."
There was little to grasp onto in regard to how much time passed between these snippets. Batman could not open his eyes.
"Subject has proven resistant to chemical placation. Higher doses will be administered."
There was a long gap. Then he could hear soft, even breaths somewhere near him. His arms, legs and torso were bound. His eyes covered. Utility belt missing.
"Let's do away with the pretense, shall we," said Hugo Strange. He had to be close. "I know you're conscious."
Batman did not respond.
"You've managed to maintain my interest, underwhelming performance earlier aside. I shall take great pleasure in breaking you."
"Why kidnap all these people?," said Batman. He subtly probed the extent to which he could move.
"We are on the verge of yet another revolution, one that breaks the boundaries of what is capable with the human organism. I intend to be at the forefront of such advances."
"Test subjects then. To produce those creatures."
"You've seen their efficacy first hand. A lack of intellect matters little when matched with such ferocity, such power." The pride in Strange's voice gave Batman a bad taste in his mouth.
"To what end?"
"Conquest of course. My benefactor, Maroni, has provided the raw materials necessary for such an operation. He expects that the creatures produced by it will give him an edge in his gangland power struggles. He is, of course, a short sighted fool."
"Unlike you."
"Ha. You will not bait me so easily, Batman. Maroni is simply a step. I have much more significant recipients in mind for the possibilities inherent in my monster men. Provided that they offer the requisite payments."
Batman inferred that Strange was speaking of governments, ones that would jump at the chance to gain an edge in the coming conflict.
"And what of the other prisoners?"
"Ah. There is the deductive skills I feared were over promised. The others provide me with alternative opportunities to study and alter the human genetic mold. They fit a specific profile."
Batman heard Strange stand up. A door creaked open.
"I hope you understand what these divulgences mean for your fate. You will not leave here, at least not in any manner resembling the man that was foolish enough to enter." The door slammed.
Gas spilled into the room, more of the lavender scent. Batman drifted off once more.
Batman awoke an indeterminate amount of time later, unmoored as he was. His previous experiments had yielded at least one result. Strange and his men overlooked the lock pick hidden in his gauntlet. He wiggled and twisted his left hand, a painful process that nearly dislocated his wrist, but he managed to access the tool.
The lavender scent returned. He ceased breathing. His travels had provided him with the ability to go a significant amount of time without oxygen.
Batman methodically picked the lock on his wrist. A light click indicated a step towards freedom. He repeated the process on the rest of his bindings. His lungs began to protest their lack of air. He removed the blindfold. He was in a small cell, the door locked. The gas entered from vents on the ground. He made haste to the door, trying his hand at the lock. It relented and he fled the cell.
He was in a part of the facility he had not uncovered during his search. There was the loud hum of machinery. Batman would need his belt back, particularly if he intended to fight those creatures. One step at a time.
He crept through the adjacent rooms, dispatching guards as he found them. One door led to a grisly sight, a room full of slabs, on which misshapen bodies laid. Their forms were twisted and broken, the cast offs of previous attempts. How many had died for Strange's cause?
The stairwell brought Batman upwards, back to the floor where he had been knocked out. He pressed his body to the wall, peering through a door frame. His utility belt lay on a table in a sort of lounge area, surrounded by five henchman, including the man in the green suit. The green suit admonished one of his underlings for messing with the belt. There would be no easy way through this situation.
Batman stamped his foot just around the corner from the lounge. He heard two of the men head towards him to investigate. As the first one entered the hall he struck the man, knocking him out. The second cried out in surprise, pulling out a pistol. Batman collided with him, using his momentum to throw the goon into one of his companions, who was rising from his seat.
He rolled forwards, avoiding a burst of gunfire from the remaining two thugs. Batman snatched his utility belt from the table, casting out a batarang that disarmed the green suit, who fled through the door on the other side of the room. The last thug panicked and got too close, allowing Batman to seize his weapon and subdue him.
His heavy breaths informed him that the chemicals in his system were still taking their toll. Batman was running on fumes. It mattered little. There were people to be saved. An alarm blared out through the facility. The green suit. Things would happen quickly from here.
Batman pursued the man, only to be forced into cover by a salvo of gun shots. The green suit had retrieved a Tommy gun and was spraying the room full of lead. Batman had to dart between patches of safety, as the man pushed him further and further back.
"You just had to go and make things difficult," said the man.
Batman was running out of room. He had been cornered in the same area near the pens. The noxious smell hit him once more. He could hear the concerned cries of those imprisoned.
The green suit entered the room, his Tommy gun fitted with a fresh clip. He scanned for Batman before walking to one of the pens. He pointed the gun at the prisoners.
"Lets keep this simple. You got five seconds before I waste them," said the man.
Batman exited his cover. He palmed a batarang.
"There. Not too hard." The man leveled his gun at Batman.
The green suit never had a chance to fire as the people in the cage seized him from behind, relieving him of his weapon. He cried out in shock, overpowered by many grasping hands, frantic in their opportunity to take some revenge on their captor.
"Don't kill him," said Batman, striding forwards. The green suit looked terrified.
"Listen to the man," shouted someone in the cage. The others showed mercy.
In the cage, a familiar face peered out.
"Quite the entrance," said Mattie. She looked worse for wear, but wore a weary smile.
"I'm glad you're alive," said Batman. "Though we're not safe yet."
He shifted his attention to the man, trapped as he was in their grip.
"How do you open these cages?"
"There's a release, on the far side. It'll unlock em all."
"Where's Strange?"
The man delayed his response.
"Don't give them time to reconsider their mercy." The man gulped nervously.
"He's.. he's in his lab. Finishing up with the girl."
Batman hit the release opening the cages.
"You'll never get through to him. Never. Those monsters are waiting for you."
Batman knocked the man out. He beckoned Mattie.
"I'll clear a path for all of you. Once you get out, don't wait for me, just get to safety."
"You don't need to tell us twice. We'll save all the hero stuff for you," said Mattie.
As Batman left, she cried out, "Thanks. For coming for us." He nodded and continued on his hunt.
The exhaustion gave way to rage. Rage at the inhumanity that was the root of a place such as this. The inhumanity that could see these people as a resource to be abused, all in the name of personal greed. Hubris.
Batman stormed through the facility. He burst through to a room packed with all manner of scientific equipment. Beakers and microscopes fought for space on counters. Tubes filled with queer fluids spiraled throughout the area, all leading to a central gurney on which Linda Page lay. Strange hovered above her, his face a grimace at Batman's intrusion.
"Your interruption will not stand," he snarled.
Batman had no time for words, bolting forth. His way was blocked by the entrance of the two creatures. The monster men, their gargantuan frames barring the way.
"This time you may devour him," commanded Strange.
Batman evaded their opening moves, sliding over the counters, as beakers spilled and shattered below. Their fists broke all that stood in their way.
He reached into his belt pouch, withdrawing a set of brass knuckles, scalloped like his batarangs. Batman closed the distance to the first creature, wailing on its side, its legs, its knees. He knew that such size would put strain on the joints.
His blows delivered a nasty crunch and the roars shifted to cries of pain. A flailing of limbs caught Batman, sending him backwards through a tangle of tubes. Fluid spilled onto the floor, mixing into a toxic mess.
In the background, Strange fled with Linda, limp in his arms. The second creature, what was Patrick, advanced, while his companion struggled to stand. Batman attempted the same tactics, but was boxed in by such a cramped space. He felt the massive hands close around him as the creature lifted him into a brutal bear hug.
Something within his torso began to pop. There was no way to overpower his foe. The creature was beyond Batman in every way that mattered. His fingers grasped at his belt. Batman angled the grappling hook as best he could. He squeezed the trigger.
The hook sailed across the room, swinging around the neck of the other beast. It grunted as the hook found purchase in its flesh. Batman clicked the trigger again, as the hook reeled inwards. Its victim took a few unsteady steps towards its companion, before slipping on the puddles of chemicals. The creature collided with the one crushing Batman, sending all of them tumbling to the ground.
Batman surged out of the grab, straddling his foe. He applied a small capsule into its mouth, followed up by a puff of smoke, as the beast grew still. The other one had already been knocked out by the collision. Batman staggered out of the room, after Strange.
The pursuit took him out of the manor, as the path led out into the estate grounds once more. He could see Strange's white coat disappear into the tree line, as he ran from his pursuer. There would be no escape. Batman sprinted after him.
Early morning mist sat ominously on the ground as Batman ran through the thicket. He could hear Strange's worried gasps. The earth churned under foot as he gained ground.
His hunt was interrupted by a ferocious wail. From the dense foliage came another monster man, which smashed into his side with a swift kick. Batman skidded across the ground, dazed by the blow.
He barely rolled out of the way from a murderous stomp. The creature maintained the pressure. It batted aside his grappling gun. He felt a finger snap.
Batman got in what strikes he could manage, but the war of attrition was one sided. The monster could simply take far more punishment than him.
It grabbed him by the chest and slammed him into a tree trunk. He cried out in pain as a branch stabbed into his shoulder. Hateful eyes glared at Batman, mad with fury. He felt his strength fail.
Batman threw out a last strike to a cluster of nerves in the creatures arm. His guess was correct, as it recoiled from the blow. Batman leapt towards it, wrapping his cape around the beast's face. He pulled tight, struggling as it clawed at him and tried to shake him free. He grit his teeth and yanked as hard as he could muster.
The monster fell.
In the years that followed, in all the dire circumstances, this would be the moment when Batman transcended mere human foes, when he recognized the need to combat the superhuman. This was where Batman became a superhero himself.
"Stay back!" shouted Strange. Linda was awake, if groggy, a pistol to her head. Batman had cornered the professor on a ravine.
His limbs were faint, his breaths painful. Batman had already reached the edge of what he could manage and passed it. No grappling gun. Limited batarangs. Strange was far enough away that any move would be risky.
"You ruined all of it. All my work," said Strange. Linda squirmed in his grasp.
"I've giving you one chance, Strange. Let her go," said Batman.
"No chance. I'm leaving. With her."
Batman took another tentative step closer.
"No more," cried Strange. "I'll kill her!"
The gunshot came from behind Batman. A red stain spread on Strange's torso, as he toppled backwards, towards the ravine.
Batman dashed forwards to grab Linda, who was also slipping. He caught her arm and pulled her to safety. The professor tumbled out of sight, his body lost to the fog.
Mario Falcone ran from the cluster of trees.
"Linda," he said. He took her from Batman, sweeping her up in his arms.
"You killed him," said Batman.
"It had to be done. I couldn't risk her," said Mario.
He stared over the edge. There was no glimpse of Strange. A proper survey of the ravine would be required, a task beyond Batman's current condition.
"I'll remember this," said Mario. "I owe you."
Batman didn't answer the man. He found his tools and left the two of them to their reunion.
At the estate, the police were arriving in force. The guards had surrendered and the prisoners were being looked after, having spilled forth from the underground lair. The sun had only just crested the horizon. At least for them, the nightmare was over.
"May I come in Master Bruce?" asked Alfred.
"Please do," Bruce replied. He sat up in bed, his arm in a cast, his abdomen covered in wraps. The bruises on his face were only starting to heal. The official word in the press was a motorcycle accident.
Alfred entered, carrying a tray of soup. He set it down beside Bruce and began to tidy up his things.
"I hear Doctor Thompkins was quite surprised by your announcement. The Wayne Memorial Clinic has a pleasant ring to it, does it not?"
" It's only the beginning. Leslie woke me up. I had been so focused on one aspect of the mission, I failed to consider what Bruce Wayne could do for Gotham."
Alfred smiled.
"And what of the less pleasant business with Professor Strange?"
"No trace of the man, if he survived that fall. The police have taken the creatures into custody. I don't have much hope that their condition can be cured. I didn't have long to look through his facility before the GCPD closed the scene. "
"Anything of note?"
"I took his research notes. No point in letting that leak out to someone else who might think to use it. His links to Maroni are too tenuous to be of legal use. Though they've given me much more material to go on with bringing him down. I'll share it with Gordon and Dent when I can."
"Most excellent. But I notice that something else troubles you Master Bruce."
Bruce shifted painfully in bed. The sunlight cascaded through his windowsill.
"Strange was corresponding with someone else. Signed all his messages with U. They were very interested in the prospects of his experiments."
"I'm sure they shan't remain anonymous for long sir. Not with you on the case."
"Thank you Alfred."
"Now get some rest. You are only human after all."