A Villain Turns and Hides

Author's Note: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the conclusion of the Orca cliffhanger! Before we get to it, it's time to respond to reviews!

Jack. Dasiy, thank you for your compliment! I hope that you'll enjoy the second part, as well as future Batman '66 stories that I have planned. Now, on with the story!

"Holy Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!" Robin exclaimed, punching his palm. "You think…?"

"The evidence is stacking, Robin," Batman replied.

"I'm out of the loop, Batman," the Mystique Maiden remarked. "What do you think?"

"Classic deduction, Miss Linseed," Batman told her. "Think! Grace Balin disappears…followed shortly by the appearance of the Orca."

"Holy double-life!" Robin and the Mystique Maiden cried at the same time. "You mean that Grace Balin is the Orca?"

"It's looking likely," Batman replied. "But we'll need more evidence to be sure."

"Batman," a voice echoed through the vents, "for your own good, stay out of my way!"

"Who was that?" asked the Mystique Maiden, backing up.

In a door at the back of the lab, the Orca suddenly broke the door down, sending its splinters flying towards the heroes.

"Dr. Balin!" Batman said gravely. "We don't want to fight!"

"I know you don't, Batman," the Orca said, her voice sounding like a distorted version of her human form's, "so don't leave me with no other choice."

"Not all millionaires are out for profit, Miss Balin!" Batman reasoned. "While some might exploit the world, others want to help it thrive!"

"Dr. Simmons ruined me!" the Orca boomed. "You don't know how that feels, Batman-to be mocked, laughed at like a bane of society. Ostracized and jeered at."

"I may not know you," Batman replied, "but I know the path that you were once on. Criminals once mocked me during my fight against crime, but now I'm the bringer of justice in Gotham City. Revenge gets you nowhere, Miss Balin. It's what you do with your circumstances that counts!"

"I'm still learning and growing too, Orca," the Mystique Maiden said, stepping forward. "I've been mocked by villains left and right-but that hasn't stopped me from leaping for my dreams."

The Orca-Grace Balin-stepped back, and she began breathing heavily. She got onto one knee and gripped it, her heart beating deep down in her throat.

"You win…" the Orca admitted. "This time. I'll let you off easy by telling you my next plan. I'm off to sabotage Simmons at his next research gala. Please…I can't let my life go down the drain. Not like this."

With that, the Orca rushed out of the laboratory, leaving giant wet footprints behind. Robin and the Mystique Maiden hastened to run after her, but Batman blocked them with one arm.

"Let her go," Batman told them.

"Let her go?" Robin asked. "But why?"

"She's been through enough," Batman replied. "Besides-we need time to come up with a plan in the Batcave. We can't risk Orca hurting any innocent citizens, yet we can't let Simmons get away with any more of his fishy research."

"Does this mean Bat-Sleep, Batman?" the Mystique Maiden grinned, her eyes shining underneath her mask.

"It does indeed, Miss Linseed," Batman chuckled. "You know the routine well."

In the Gotham Aquatic Research Institute, the Orca ran away from Batman and the Daring Duo, eventually opting to duck into another dark lab room as she huffed and attempted to catch her breath. As her breathing became heavier, her orca-like features began to fade, and she slowly began to turn back into her human form. Weakened, she sat down on a chair that was by a table in the room.

"Batman…" she huffed. "Could he be right? Is revenge really what I want to be remembered for?"

She paused, tears beginning to fall down her face as she looked at her now human hands.

"What…" she asked herself. "What have I done? The sea is my love. Hate had no place in my research then, and it shouldn't have any place now. Oh, Batman! I'm sorry!"

As shadows closed in around her, Grace Balin was left to process her emotions. She flipped a light switch in the room, then walked over to a mirror, where she stared deeply into her own eyes.

"The Orca shouldn't be remembered for hate," Grace Balin remarked, taking another syringe of the blue liquid out of a pocket in her now-torn skinny jeans. "She should be remembered for love, just as much as I love the sea."

She looked down at the syringe, then gave a long, drawn out sigh.

"Sea creatures forgive," she sighed. "And so should I."

In the Batcave, Batman led Robin and the Mystique Maiden over to the Batcomputer, where he inputted all known information about Dr. Simmons into it. The Batcomputer dinged, and several pieces of paper came out of its "OUTPUT" section.

"Ah-ha!" Batman remarked, picking up the papers and reading them. "It says here…that Dr. Simmons was once suspected of plagiarizing research around the same time that he mocked Dr. Balin."

"Holy mocking mountebanks!" Robin cried.

"So he's just a sleazy scientist," the Mystique Maiden scoffed. "He's no marine biologist."

"Precisely, Mystique Maiden," Batman said, "and we can use that to our advantage."

At Dr. Simmons' gala-taking place at the Gotham City Aquarium-groups of scientists, as well as Batman, Robin, and the Mystique Maiden-were conversing as the marine biologist in question prepared his presentation. Fish were swimming in large tanks, people were laughing, and everyone was upbeat. But what's this? Grace Balin was maneuvering around people in the crowd unnoticed. She snuck up to the front of the assembly just as Dr. Simmons put the finishing touches on his small table presenting various findings.

"And now," Dr. Simmons said through a microphone, catching everyone's attention. "It is my greatest pleasure to present to you all my pièce de résistance-through all my years of research, I've crafted a profitable yet oceanic opportunity that would allow humans and sea-life to live together."

The crowd oo'ed, and Dr. Simmons smirked while adjusting his glasses. As he reached for another notecard, the crowd gasped as Grace Balin stepped forward. Everyone began murmuring to each other, and the room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

"You mean my years of research," Grace corrected him, and Dr. Simons stammered. Before he could reply, Batman, Robin, and the Mystique Maiden stepped forward beside Grace.

"It's true," Batman told the crowd. "Before I left for the gala, I had my Batcomputer cross-reference Simmons' research with dozens of other papers. Dr. Simmons' research is anything but original."

"He's a fraud," the Mystique Maiden said firmly, staring into Simmons' eyes. The marine biologist chuckled nervously.

"I can see when I'm not welcome," Dr. Simmons chuckled, and he began running away from the crowd.

"Holy getaways!" Robin exclaimed. "He's getting away!"

"Not for long, Robin," Batman said as he, the Boy Wonder, and the Mystique Maiden, as well as several members of the crowd, began chasing after Dr. Simmons. The marine biologist looked behind him, but in his eagerness, he wasn't watching where he was going, and instead tripped over a feeding ladder. A worker held a bucket in his hand, and accidentally dropped it when Dr. Simmons nudged it.

"Whoops-!" the worker said, accidentally dropping the bucket.

GLORB!

It fell onto Dr. Simmons' head, covering him from head to toe in sardines, tiny squids, and other sea creatures. The crowd saw this, and they began to break into peals of laughter as Simmons looked on, embarrassed.

"Holy oceanic embarrassment," Robin said, struggling to hide a smile.

Chief O'Hara stepped forward from the crowd holding a pair of handcuffs.

"I think it's high time that we take ye in for questioning, Dr. Simmons," he remarked, clapping the handcuffs around Dr. Simmons' wrists. As Grace Balin watched the marine biologist being carted away, she let out a small smile.

"The ocean forgives," she told Batman softly, feeling the syringe in her pants pocket. "And so will I."

Author's Note: And here it ends! What did you think? Feel free to favorite, review, and follow if you want more Batman '66 content, and stay tuned for next week, which features Bookworm!

Until then,

Gabe S. :)