Disclaimer: I do not own Batman

Bruce looked around the yacht, seeing Gotham's wealthy elite having fun. It was a charity party being held by a well beloved Gotham humanitarian, Ferris Boyle, the founder and CEO of GothCorp. Batman had been investigating a recent series of robberies at various GothCorp labs. Bruce walked up to Ferris to greet him.

"Hey there, Ferris."

"Ah, Bruce, wonderful that you could make it to my little soiree."

"You always throw the best parties, Ferris, and always for such good causes, Gotham needs more people like you to look out for the everyday people of Gotham."

"Well, we're not called 'The People Company' for nothing."

"Seems like not all the people appreciate your hard work, I heard about the GothCorp labs being robbed."

"Yeah, some fruitcake has a problem with my company, maybe an investor who lost money."

"Or maybe an ex employee with a grudge."

"Impossible, there's only one former employee who would have a grudge with GothCorp, and he's dead."

"What happened?"

"Well, one of my cryogenic scientists, I found out he was using company equipment for personal reasons, I sent my security in. There was a fight and an explosion, he didn't make it, sadly, one of my security guards didn't make it either."

"I'm sorry to hear…"

Bruce's thoughts were interrupted when the yacht suddenly stopped and Bruce was practically thrown onto Ferris. Bruce got up and looked to see the yacht had gotten caught in a massive iceberg. A man stepped from the iceberg and onto the yacht, he was tall, wearing a robotic looking suit with luminescent blue pipes all over. His head was covered by a glass dome, but through that, he could be seen with blue skin and no hair. He also wore red goggles. In his hands was a big gun, looking like something out of a science fiction film. A man stepped forward to the intruder.

"You have no right to intrude here, Mr…um…"

"Mr. Freeze." said the intruder

"Very well, Mr. Freeze, you were not…"

The man's words were cut off when Mr. Freeze fired his weapon at the man's legs, encasing them in ice.

"If the rest of you bring me Ferris Boyle, I will spare you the same fate!"

Bruce grabbed Ferris and tried to find a place to hide him. They went inside and ended up at the kitchen, where Bruce had Ferris hide in a meat locker.

"Ugh, it stinks in here!"

Bruce could only shush Ferris as he closed the door, but when he did, he saw Mr. Freeze at the entrance.

"Bruce Wayne, you are usually a good man, but you shouldn't hide criminals like Boyle."

Freeze fired his gun at Bruce, freezing him in place. Freeze ripped the door from the meat locker and grabbed Boyle.

"Victor?"

Without a response, Mr. Freeze walked off with Boyle. Soon afterwards, GCPD arrived and worked on thawing the guests. There were no casualties. After Bruce gave a statement to the police, Alfred took him back to Wayne Manor. Bruce immediately rushed to the Batcave.

"Any clue on who that snowman is?"

"He calls himself 'Mr. Freeze', and Ferris recognized him, called him 'Victor', I'd bet the entire Wayne fortune that Mr. Freeze is behind the GothCorp robberies."

"And what was actually stolen from GothCorp?"

"Several cases of cryogenic coolant liquid, along with a few pieces of tech for machines GothCorp was developing."

Bruce placed his hand over a palm scanner and a case displaying the Batsuit opened. Bruce suited up and took to the streets of Gotham. Batman returned to Gotham Docks, police were still around, so he wouldn't be able to get close enough to investigate, thankfully, he didn't need to. Batman took out an infrared scanner from his utility belt, using it to track Mr. Freeze's footprints. Running along the rooftops, Batman followed Mr. Freeze's footprints, leading to GothCorp. Batman entered and searched the building, the entire interior had been frozen, ice everywhere. Batman looked around when he heard muffled speaking from a nearby room, opening the door, he found a young woman trying to call the police.

"There's no use using the phones, Mr. Freeze probably took out the cell tower."

"Batman, that…that thing…it's got Mr. Boyle!"

"I'm aware, where is everyone else? Did Mr. Freeze kill them?"

"No, he barged in with Mr. Boyle and ordered everyone to leave, I panicked and ran in here."

"You should leave, I'll find Ferris."

"Thank you."

The woman went to leave the building, a bit difficult with the frozen floor. Batman continued to search when he got down to the underground labs, where he heard something. Following the sound, he saw Mr. Freeze and Ferris Boyle standing near an armoured door, Freeze was pointing his cryogun at Ferris.

"You won't be able to delay this forever, Boyle, OPEN IT!"

"I'm trying, it's hard to press buttons when your fingers are developing frostbite!"

"If you don't open the door within the next 10 seconds, you'll find out how it feels to develop frostbite in your head!"

"I'm going to give you one chance to let him go!"

Freeze turned and aimed his gun at Batman.

"Save the threats, Batman, you may have nothing to lose, but nothing is more dangerous in this world than a man with something to protect!"

Freeze fired the cryogun, creating a wall of ice, too thick for Batman to break. Behind the ice, Batman could see Ferris finally opening the door, Freeze kicked him through the door and followed behind him, before the door closed.

"Alfred, we have a problem."

"I see that, sir, I'm checking GothCorp's files, seeing if there's anything that can break through the ice."

"Thank you, Alfred."

"Oh, well this is surprising…"

"Alfred?"

"It appears Boyle was secretly working on…cryogenic weaponry."

"Cryogenic weaponry?"

"Yes, these included things like ice grenades, cryoguns and even something called a Cryo-Drill. And you may want to take a look at these blueprints."

Batman checked the hologram display from his gauntlets. It was the blueprints for GothCorp's cryogun.

"This blueprint is a match for Mr. Freeze's gun, he got it from GothCorp?"

"It appears so, and it appears that, to break that ice, the Cryo-Drill may be your best option, it's located in a quarantined cryogenics lab."

"Ferris told me about an accident in one of the labs, maybe it has something to do with that."

"Well sir, the files say that the lab is too cold for anyone to enter, I suggest a change of attire, I'm sending a Drop Container for the Thermal Batsuit."

"Thanks Alfred."

Batman walked away from the room and headed back to the roof of the building. Once he was back on the roof, a black drone, shaped like the bat symbol on Batman's chest, flew overhead and dropped a large metal container. Batman placed his hand on a palm scanner and the container opened, revealing a bulky looking Batsuit. Batman put it on and felt the thermal honeycomb structure warm his body back up. With the thermal suit, Batman returned inside and reached the underground labs once more, he soon found the quarantined cryogenics lab. Batman entered the lab and was shocked by what he initially saw. A security guard was dead on the floor.

"Alfred, there's more going on here than a simple accident, this guard's skin has the same blue colour as Mr. Freeze."

"That's just bizarre."

Batman used his scanner to discover more.

"Guard's name is Hank Clover, 31 years old, cause of death…heat stroke? How is that possible? It's about 10 degrees in this lab."

Batman used a hacking device to unlock the armoured door and his eyes went wide-eyed at what he saw, the entire lab was covered in thick ice.

"Dear god, sir, what happened?"

"That's what I intend to find out."

Batman scanned the lab to search for any evidence, when he saw an employee ID badge on the floor. It belonged to a man named 'Dr. Victor Fries'.

"Alfred, see what you can find out about a GothCorp employee by the name of 'Victor Fries'."

"At once, Master Bruce, Dr. Victor Fries was originally an intern for GothCorp about 15 years ago, in college, he was extremely gifted in his academics, but had a bit of a reputation for his violent temper. Once he graduated college with 2 PhDs in cryogenics and robotics. He was snatched up by Ferris Boyle to work in the cryogenic labs of GothCorp."

"Anything else?"

"There is. Apparently he was married to a woman called 'Nora'. Apparently, they went to college together, both interned at GothCorp at the same time, they got married shortly after graduating college, and she went on to become a dancer. Oh…"

"What is it, Alfred?"

"...It appears that Nora was diagnosed with a rare blood disease called 'Glacio Dextra' about 2 years ago, which was the last time anyone saw her."

"Glacio Dextra? That kills people within 5 months, if she was diagnosed 2 years ago, she'd be dead…unless…"

"Unless…?"

Batman stepped out of the lab, into the room with the dead security guard, he saw a security monitor near the wall and approached it.

"This IS a cryogenics lab, and that was Dr. Fries' specialty, maybe there's more to this."

Batman accessed the security footage, discovering footage from before the accident. It showed a man, he looked like Mr. Freeze, but with short dark brown hair, and his skin wasn't blue. The man had his hand on what appeared to be a cryogenic chamber with a woman inside.

"Looks like I'm making some progress, my love, you may be out of there sooner than I expect, and then the research done here could help others with similarly incurable ailments."

"I THINK NOT!"

Ferris Boyle barged into the lab with 2 security guards.

"This is unauthorised, Victor, we agreed, you develop the cryogenic weapons and I'll have my scientists research the illness, now you're using company funds for your own experiments!"

"You may fool the rest of Gotham, Boyle, but you don't fool me! You lied to me, you never had ANY intention of researching Glacio Dextra, and if you won't honour your end, THEN THE DEAL IS OFF!"

Victor grabbed a gun from one of the security guards and aimed it at Ferris, the other security guard reached for his gun, but Ferris signalled him to stand down.

"I'm sorry, Victor, I see how much you care about Nora, I saw it when you two interned here in your college days, I've never seen such love between anyone before. I lost my temper, it doesn't have to come to such violence."

Victor lowered the gun, but by doing so, Ferris grabbed him by the wrist and kicked him in the stomach, knocking Victor back and causing him to knock over a display with a prototype cryogun. The gun went off and fired right at a nearby cryogenic chamber, the build up of pressure causing a big explosion, enveloping Victor and one of the guards, while knocking back Boyle and the other guard. Boyle ordered the guard to take Nora's cryogenic chamber and they both left. Later, Victor and the guard, now both bald with blue skin, started to regain consciousness, when they both got to their feet, the guard punched Victor in the face and ran off, but once he was out the door, he dropped dead. Victor grabbed some spare tech parts nearby and started building, developing his cryosuit. Victor grabbed the cryogun and walked out the door.

"My god!" said Batman

"All this violence, and all he wants is to save his wife."

"Now we know what's behind that door, Nora's cryogenic chamber. Boyle must have kept her, hoping to still find a way to make a profit."

"But you'll need that Cryo-Drill to get through that wall of ice."

Batman re-entered the lab and looked around, finding the Cryo-Drill on a nearby table, right beside a set of grenades. Alfred did mention ice grenades as being one of the weapons GothCorp was working on. Batman took the grenades and put them on his utility belt. With everything he needed, Batman left the lab.

"Alfred, send the evidence of Boyle's crimes to the GCPD."

"At once sir, and I'm sorry, I know you had high hopes for what Ferris could do for Gotham."

"That doesn't matter now."

Batman returned to the room where he found Freeze and Boyle before, he placed the Cryo-Drill against the ice wall and activated it, causing it to drill a large hole right through the 2 feet thick ice and allowing Batman to get through. Batman kicked the door open to see Ferris being held by the throat and lifted off the ground by Mr. Freeze.

"I only want my wife, give me the code and this will all be over."

"I ain't giving you a damn thing!"

Freeze threw Boyle across the lab, sending him into a nearby table. Freeze aimed his cryogun at Boyle.

"Then let the evil within you be cleansed by pure, unforgiving ice."

"No, please Victor, show some mercy!"

"MERCY? I'm afraid, Ferris, that my condition has left me cold to your pleas of mercy!"

Freeze fired the gun at Boyle's feet, slowly trapping Boyle in a block of ice, until a batarang hit Freeze's helmet.

"WHAT IS THIS?!"

"It's over, Victor, you don't have to do this, by now, the truth of what happened in the lab, and all of Boyle's crimes, has been sent to the GCPD, he'll spend the rest of his life behind bars."

"That's all well and good, Batman, but it makes no difference to me, all I want is my Nora, and if Boyle won't let me take her, I'll freeze a permanent look of fear into his face for eternity."

"His reputation will be destroyed if you let him live, but you kill him, he's a tragic victim."

"Listen to him, Victor, you already stole from my labs, you set GothCorp back decades."

"Shut up, Ferris, he doesn't care about GothCorp's research or profits, he stole from GothCorp's labs because he needs the tech to survive."

"Very smart, Batman, the coolant I stole keeps my cryosuit powered, thanks to Boyle's interference, I can no longer live outside of a sub-zero environment, as long as the coolant powers my suit, it keeps me alive, and the tech allowed me to make some upgrades."

"You've already damaged Boyle's reputation and his business to the point of no return, but would you really kill him?"

Freeze looked towards Nora's chamber, gently placing his hand on the glass.

"Whether I am able to save Nora or if I fail, what Boyle did to me means that the future we dreamt of together can never come to be, summer days relaxing at the beach, soaking up the sun's rays while our children play in the sand. Or all of us in the spring sharing a picnic. Now that's impossible, so yes, I'd kill for that!"

"I don't think you will, Victor, because it's not the kind of man you are, when Boyle caused the accident, you couldn't bring yourself to shoot him, when you entered his yacht, the people you froze were able to thaw, and when you brought Boyle to GothCorp, you told everyone to evacuate, you can't bring yourself to kill anyone, because you know Nora wouldn't approve."

"Those people were all innocent, no crimes committed, but Boyle is different, he deserves everything he gets. Nora may see me as a monster, when I cure her, she may decide to leave me, find someone else, unable to stand being with the monster I've become, and I hope she does, because I wish for Nora to live a happy and fulfilling life, even if that life won't include me. But enough of this, Batman, I advise you to leave now."

"I can't do that, Victor, I have to do what's right."

"Suit yourself."

Freeze fired his gun at Batman, who dodged and threw an explosive batarang at Freeze, knocking him down, Freeze quickly got back to his feet. Batman was nowhere to be seen.

"Slick as ice, Batman…"

Batman, from the rafters, threw a trio of Batarangs at Freeze, who saw the attack coming and froze them in mid-air.

"...but I won't need to see you when you're frozen in a glacier!"

Freeze turned his cryogun to full power and aimed at the ceiling, firing the weapon and encasing the entire lab in ice. Freeze searched the lab to find Batman, when he saw a dark reflection in the ice, he turned to see Batman flying towards him, throwing something at his feet. Freeze didn't even have time to react as the ice grenade detonated and froze Victor's foot to the floor. Batman was able to connect with some good punches, when Freeze knocked him away, before breaking the ice sticking his foot to the ground. Batman reached for a tool from his belt when Freeze grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up.

"Sooner or later, all who stand in my way will feel the icy touch of the grim reaper!"

Batman gave Victor a punch in the chest, using the knuckle duster taser he had sneakily taken from his belt, the shock caused Freeze's cryosuit to malfunction.

"Warning! System Malfunction! Cryogenic Coolant Cycling Offline!"

"What's that?"

"M-my suit's emergency warning."

"Manual Reset Required!"

A button appeared on Freeze's chest. Batman hesitated, but pressed the button.

"Reset Successful! Coolant Cycling Restored!"

Mr. Freeze caught his breath and collapsed on the ground. Batman walked up to the still half-frozen Ferris Boyle.

"You should have just let him die."

Batman responded with a punch to the face.

"Shut up, humanitarian!"

Batman accessed the nearby computers, turning up the heating to thaw the ice, allowing the GCPD to enter once they arrived, arresting Ferris and taking away Mr. Freeze. Officer Lane went to the cryogenics lab, where he ran into Batman.

"It's a shame about Ferris, I thought he was gonna do great things for Gotham."

"Me too, but what matters now is Mr. Freeze and his wife."

"What do you mean?"

"His wife, Nora, she's suffering from an illness, Freeze put her in cryostasis in order to buy himself time to develop a cure, he's made some progress and should be allowed to continue his research, he also requires sub-zero temperatures to survive, he needs a special cell to be kept in or he'll die."

"Understood, I'll let Gordon know."

2 Days Later

Victor had been sent to Blackgate, placed in a specialised prison cell that was made to be kept below freezing. He heard the approaching guards, who entered his cell with a large metallic box on wheels. They opened the box and Victor stepped inside. The temperature inside the box was also kept at a good temperature for Victor to survive. He was wheeled through the hallways of the prison, until he reached a lab, also kept at sub-zero temperatures. At the end of the lab was Nora's cryo chamber. Victor picked up a clipboard with his notes on his research. He looked towards his wife and smiled. Even with everything he had done, he had been allowed to continue his research to save Nora, when he asked why, he was only told that an anonymous source had agreed to fund his research, seeing what good it can do for Gotham.

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