She-Hulk heard the snarls and growls of the mind-controlled guard dogs, and saw them coming, and she deeply roared at them, putting dominance over the dogs who halted, cowering and struggling to obey the commands of Jervis, whimpering and yet listening to She-Hulk's alpha presence.
She-Hulk walked intimidatingly to the dogs, and they shrunk, laying down to the ground, exposing their bellies as they yelped and whimpered in submitting themselves to the alpha as She-Hulk went to pick the first one up by the scruff, slipping the mind-control collar off the pink dyed one called Chesire Cat, and crushed it in her hand.
Cheshire blinked back to focus, whining as he realized that he was facing an alpha, and he gave a respectful yelp as She-Hulk put him down, gently patting his head, and he heard the growls of his friend, looking over at the other dog who is up on his feet, struggling to obey the orders of Jervis, and jumped at Cheshire, but was caught by She-Hulk as he yelped and whimpered, taking off the other collar off, crushing it as well.
Bandersnatch blinked back to focus, whining as She-Hulk smiled at him, putting him down, patting his head gently too, and heard Jervis' outraged yell, "No, not my dogs! How dare you! Get that green freak! Get her, Tweedle Twins!", as she looked up to see the open bay door, with the Tweedle Twins, aka the two mind-controlled men under Jervis' control, running at her, seeing Jervis following not far behind.
The dogs by her sides seemed to agree on something, and growled lowly, running and jumping to their paws to rush at Jervis as he was the main abuser of Cheshire and Bandersnatch, seeming to realize that the alpha, the She-Hulk can handle the Tweedle Twins, and Jervis stopped before screaming in horror, "No, no!", trying to scramble up a junkpile, trapped with the dogs circling around the junkpile, playing with him as they tried to chomp and jump at his feet while Jervis was trying to multi-task between keeping his feet out of fangs and mind-controlling the Twins' movements and such as they charged at She-Hulk.
She-Hulk smirked as the twins ran at her before she shrugged. "Come on, fellas, take your best shot.", she said as they reached her and started to punch... only to quickly recoil back at how it was almost like punching a brick wall with her; lucky enough not to shatter their bones instantly.
"That all?", she asked as she walked forward a few feet. "Allow me.", she quickly grabbed their caps off of their heads and then crushed them within her hands, "I'm thinking you might have a bit of a loyalty issue with those that follow you, Mr. Hatter.".
Jervis shouted at her, "No, you're destroying everything!", as the Tweedle Twins or now, the slowly recovering men is blinking and shaking their heads in confusion, and Jervis then kicked a boot at Cheshire's snout, and he yelped out in pain, recoiling as Bandersnatch whimpered in concern, checking on his friend as Jervis then scrambled off the junkpile, and ran to the busted gates.
But She-Hulk was too fast, for she jumped and landed hard before Jervis who shrieked out in fright, falling on his behind, and she put a foot on his chest as she grabbed the top hat, crushing it as Jervis collapsed into total hysteria, "No, no, not my hat!", screaming and shocked that his mind-controlling work is over, "I'm supposed to be the Mad Hatter, I'm supposed to have Wonderland in my grasp!".
"Oh, shut up.", She-Hulk growled as she slammed him on the side of the head just enough to render him unconscious, yet not too much for the plea of mental harm, through he's already insane with everything he did.
She-Hulk grabbed a couple of irons to create handcuffs and leg cuffs and dragged him to the wall besides the open bay doors where Batman is leading a group of girls out, with holding two girls in his arms.
Batman replied lightly, "That's all the girls accounted for, She-Hulk. Are all threats neutralized?", with a nod, and She-Hulk snorted, "More or less.", glancing at the men who gulped and stepped back in fear as Poppy walked forward, "Remember me?", with a frown, hoping that the man of the duo she had temporarily disabled is realizing that a rescue is happening, and that the police needs to be called.
"I... I think so...?", the first guy muttered. "I'm sorry... I... can't remember anything right now. One minute I was at the gym, and now... I'm here?".
"What day do you think it is?", Batman asked him. "Uh, the 12th?", he said as Batman sighed, "It's the 3rd. You've clearly been under mind control for almost a month.".
He and his other comrade widened their eyes in shock and horror, and the other guy replied, "Oh, my god...I was at a gym for a minute too, and then...now I'm here...".
She-Hulk replied, "You have families?", and the first guy frowned, "I think so...I have a fiancée...pretty hazel eyes and dark red hair...Sophie...Oh, gods, Sophie! Dexter, remember your sister?!", looking at his comrade.
Dexter yelped, "Charlie?! You were gone for three days before I was...I was taken too! Oh, lord, Sophie must have been so worried...Shit, the baby!", looking at Charlie who gasped, realizing that he and Dexter left behind a heavily pregnant fiancée and sister who must have been stressed and worried.
Batman replied, "Please tell me that you do have some recall of calling the cops...I could search for a phone back there, but I can't take them back into there...", as the girls whimpered and shivered in fright, especially the first few kidnapped ones.
She-Hulk replied, "There's a payphone just down from the busted gates, still intact.", and Dexter replied, "I'll do it, I'll get the cops if somebody hadn't already...", glancing at She-Hulk who knew that she had made quite a lot of noise in the beginning of the plan.
Dexter quickly left as Charlie was practically biting his nails, shaking his head as his life quite possibly had been destroyed so fast. Part of him wanted to find the man that did it and just end his life right then and there, but he was sure the others would stop him. Probably better to let justice be done rather than deliver it himself.
"It'll be okay...", Batman assured him. "Trust me, the evidence will exonerate the both of you of the actions that Jervis has done.", with a nod. "The guy's insane, right? Do you really think the court, or the police would truly believe us...?", Charlie asked anxiously.
She-Hulk replied, "I crushed the mind-control evidence, but the pieces will help out as a part of the puzzle.", and Poppy replied, "And yeah, the guy's insane!", with a disgusted expression, glancing at the half-hidden sight of the knocked-out Jervis against the wall.
Bonnie whispered, "You two fed us more, was nicer to us than him, and you were good to the dogs...", as the dogs nearby whined and whimpered, low on their paws as they shuffled upon the She-Hulk's alpha presence, and She-Hulk glanced at the dogs, "No trace of past owners on them...I don't know if they are microchipped on the chance they got napped too, but they got mistreated and mind-controlled too by Jervis...".
Poppy replied, "Maybe I can ask my mom if I can have them! There's so much room at home!", with a hopeful smile, as the dogs perked up, nuzzling under her and Bonnie's hands, and She-Hulk heard Martha's mental voice mutter in the back of her head, "She's not wrong there...And she's almost 11, looking 12...Oh, boy, we better have a talk with her at the station or something about those dogs...You and Batman has to flee fast back to the Batmobile once the sirens get close...One of the precinct stations will call the manor in a while, I'd have to act as relieved, emotional, and such once I see Poppy, with Bruce not far behind me, which is sort of the truth anyway, as it has been an entire day since I saw her this morning.".
"Right; you honestly should've gone into acting at times...", Kel mentally chuckled as Martha mentally laughed, "Maybe, but I think this is much more fitting; besides it's almost getting to be a bit natural playing off this whole sort of dual identity thing...".
Kel mentally replied back, "Fair enough.", with a mental smirk, as Dexter returned, "Cops are on their way, saying that they got patrol cars not far from here, and they called the emergency paramedics too.".
"Good. A lot of those girls will need attention... not just for the foreseeable future but probably over the years...", She-Hulk said. She could already see it in her head; many of the girls, especially the first ones, would probably be dealing with nightmares and therapy for years to come; and some she feared might never fully recover mentally from the ordeal.
The rage that was burning inside of her shared the same mindset as the ones Jervis controlled, to just end that madman right then and there... but she was better than that. The police would easily see to it; doubtful Jervis would have any friends to help him.
Batman gently put down the two girls in his arms, and looked at the group of girls, "We need to go really soon, children. I know it's scary and all, but help is coming, along with your families who missed you very much.".
Bonnie spoke quietly, "Because there are more bad guys out there, right?", and Batman nodded gently, "That's right...Your parents might have opinions about me and She-Hulk, and of course, the cops...".
"But you're a good guy! You and She-Hulk saved us!", Bonnie protested as Poppy smiled, happy to see that even if the cops think Batman and She-Hulk are not abiding the law properly, being vigilantes, those girls would be part of the growing clubs in support of She-Hulk, and now perhaps in due time, Batman as well, since tonight is his first night out in public.
"Yeah... well, police don't look too kindly to others practically doing their job; especially when they don't have to really answer to others...", Poppy said to Bonnie as she slowly nodded her head. She didn't fully understand, but it seemed to have made sense.
"Just stay safe... all of you.", Batman said before he held his hand up and a launcher went up to the rafters and he was lifted upward while She-Hulk was quick to make her exit as well.
They landed on a rooftop not too far, and hid in the shadows for some minutes before the sirens were heard, and they glanced to check that the cops found the right place, seeing a few police patrol cars and two ambulances, and with a nod to each other, they fled the rooftop carefully and quickly back to the junkyard, and upon Batman's remote, the Batmobile revved to life as the duo landed into the car, and Batman then drove off, heading for one of the secret entrances/exits in the industrial district.
She-Hulk took a deep breath as she shrank back to Martha while the Batmobile revved through the secret tunnel under the city, and she glanced at her son, "One or two hours with Poppy in public, and then you go on your first patrol.".
Batman pressed his cowl, and his regular voice returned, with a glance at his mother, sounding surprised yet hopeful, "You're staying with Poppy at home, then?", and Martha replied, "I and Poppy will be at the computer on comms until her bedtime, which Alfred will be then taking over until I get back down. I won't be the hovering helicopter mother even if I want to, but you have done a good job rescuing those girls and keeping them calm for your first team up...But do not be cocky. I have grown to trust you and respect you all your life, son, so, consider it a test run on your own. If something happens, do not refrain from asking for help, and if you don't ask for help, you're grounded. You may be 19, but you still live under my home, is that clear?".
"Yes, Mother.", Bruce said as he took a deep breath as she smiled. "So, how'd it feel, though? To deal with Jervis?", he asked.
"Barely a challenge.", Martha admitted. "It was over so fast... I... it almost does kinda scare me at times of just how... resistant, Kel can be at times. The poor guys nearly broke their hands against her skin punching her. But Jervis... oh, how good it felt to end his madness... he'll, more than likely, be on a quick trip to Arkham Asylum; I don't know fully what drove him to what he did, and frankly, I don't want to know. Something clearly snapped and he went quite literally mad as a hatter.". She then took a deep breath as she closed her eyes, "At least Poppy and the rest of the girls are safe.".
Bruce replied, "Yeah...Either they'd be at one of the hospitals to be checked up or in one of the precincts, through it is 42 girls including Poppy...".
Martha nodded, and indeed, about a half hour later, a call was made to Wayne Manor from one of the precincts, Captain Gordon's precinct in fact, and in civilian clothes after returning to the Cave and changing clothes, and updating Alfred on the news, they went to reunite with Poppy as a family.
After an hour of giving the account of her kidnapping to the conclusion, and a happy discovery that Cheshire and Bandersnatch wasn't microchipped-owned by Jervis or anyone else, with a long talk, Poppy happily brought the dogs to a vet friend of Aunt Leslie Thompkins with Martha and Bruce, getting all the needed prescriptions for food, care, and vaccines, and name changes including an official document of microchipping the dogs in the Wayne family's name and number, and of course, a phone number and email address trade with her newest friend, Bonnie before going home.
A couple hours later, after a real long and nice bath for the dogs and her, some good food and beverage for her and the dogs, and in pajamas, Poppy yawned, ruffling Chess's fur that became free from the cruelty of dye, now a fluffy and handsome pelt of golden brown fur with brindle black markings as he guarded one side of the bed, with Bandit guarding near the door.
"They're really taken a shine to me, huh, Mom and Mama? They really liked my names for them way better than what Jervis named them. It's too bad that Bonnie's dad is allergic to dogs...She liked Chess.", Poppy smiled tiredly, looking at Martha and Kel who is out in her astral form next to Martha.
"I think you picked out some good names for them, Poppy.", Martha smiled. "They behaving well?", she asked. "Like they've been loyal for years...", Poppy giggled as she rubbed Chess' head. "Such good boys... that Jervis was a mean man to hurt the both of you. I mean, yeah, insane and all..."
Chess snuffled, and barked softly, looking at Kel who smiled, "I may not understand dog language, but I think he and Bandit is thankful for a new home, a new family, and a new purpose...We might have to take them on the plane down to Louisiana to see how they get with Waylon. They understand that I'm one of the alphas in this family, and Waylon may be another alpha to them, considering that he's a survivor and a fighter.".
"I really hope so...The call tomorrow wouldn't be easy...You think he's going to be mad that I technically put myself in harm's way, even if I was being a hero for Michelle?", Poppy asked as she yawned again.
Martha gently tucked her in, "Well, if you explain the event before putting out that you were part of it, he might be less mad but perhaps upset that he wasn't there to save you...he might have ignored anything to get to you...".
Poppy smiled, "Even coming to Gotham too...But yeah, I wouldn't want to overexpose him to culture shock like that...even if he's my best friend...And it's one thing that Bruce as Batman being intimidating for a minute before the girls realized that he was helping, but Waylon...I would tell him every time that he isn't a monster, you know?".
Kel ruffled her hair, "Well, it's all over now, and Waylon would be so relieved that we saved you in a few hours instead of a few weeks...I have a feeling that he would have been so wrecked with worry and rage...like Bruce briefly was before he revealed his Batman secret...I still can't believe we were blind to you and Bruce hiding something huge, and with Waylon too!".
Poppy sighed, "He really is like Daddy sometimes, Mama...I'm sorry that we didn't tell you, but he was really determined to put into the training and all before he thought he was ready...I'm sure he's doing fine on his first patrol, Mom...he won't mess up if he can help it...I...can I have gymnastics lessons, Mom, Mama? I...I know I was too young back then when I got swept away...but today put things in perspective, even if I knew some easy things thanks to Brucie teaching me...".