[Bruce's lab]
While Bruce was working on the Pym Particles, Jarvis managed to pinpoint Victor Fries's location.
[Sir. It would seem Mr. Freeze has just stolen a shipment of liquid nitrogen. They are currently heading to the industrial district.] Jarvis reported.
"Finally, he came out of his hiding. Well, time to pay him a visit. If things go well, I might be able to recruit him to my team," Bruce stood up after closing the computer. He walked to the armory and picked up the nano bracelet. After strapping it to his right wrist, he activated it. The nanites started to move from his bracelet and cover his body. It only took a few seconds for the armor to form. It was a pure white armor with blue and red highlights. With a click of the finger, the helmet formed around his face.
"Let's see what you got, Victor," He said as he walked towards the hangar.
*****
Half an hour later...
The Batwing was flying over the city. The night sky was dark, with a bit of fog in the air. Batman stopped over at the warehouse where the truck was last seen. It was a meat-packing factory, and the place looked kinda packed up. He activated the scanners and found ten life signatures inside the building and around fifteen men guarding the perimeter.
He flew out of the Batwing as his suit went stealth mode, blending with the environment. As he landed on the rooftop, he started to walk slowly towards the skylight. His visor scanned the area below him.
"Are there any hardcore criminals among them or just lowlifes?" Batman asked Jarvis.
[It seems they are nothing but thugs working for Victor Fries. Also, I have located the truck, sir. It's in the garage at the back of the warehouse,] Jarvis replied.
"Well, let's put them to sleep for now," He activated the multiple target paralysis darts. The nanites began to shift as small needles began to form over his palm. All the fifteen needles were dripping with paralyzing agents. Batman locked on the target system, and the needles shot like bullets and hit their targets. All the guards fell like flies together. There was no sound, nothing, just a small thud of people falling on the ground.
He then turned towards the roof door and started to hack the security system. A few seconds later, the door clicked open. He made his way through the staircase, towards the basement. He took down all the guards on the top floors with ease. As he opened the basement door, he could hear voices from below.
"You better give me the equipment I am asking for, or I'll freeze your family members one by one," A raspy voice could be heard from below. It was Victor Fries.
"Please, Mr. Freeze! I need more time. With Luthor gone, A.R.G.U.S. has taken over more or less everything he owned. It's hard even for me to sneak out, such delicate machines without anyone noticing," a young man's voice could be heard.
Batman walked inside the large basement without anyone noticing. It was a big underground basement with various cutting-edge machines, computers, and other types of scientific equipment. Victor Fries was standing in the middle, pointing his ice gun towards the cowering man.
"What do you mean you can't? Do you think I am an idiot? I've paid three times the amount we agreed upon," Victor said angrily.
"But Mr. Freeze, my life is at stake. If they find out what I am doing, they will kill me."
"I don't give a damn about you."
Batman's eyes fell on a cryo pod at the rear end of the basement. Inside, it was a woman who seemed to be frozen. Her hair was white and short, and she looked to be in a deep sleep. He assumed that she was Victor Fries's wife, Nora.
"If you won't help me, I've no further use for you," Victor's gun started to glow. But before he could fire, a batarang flew in and knocked the gun away from his hand.
"Who's there!?" Victor shouted as he turned around.
Batman deactivated his stealth mode and walked towards the light. A needle flew past Victor's face, striking the man behind him. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Batman!" Victor took out two cryo grenades from his belt and threw them towards Batman. As soon as he jumped aside, the grenades exploded, freezing Batman and a nice chunk of the room.
Fries aimed his cryo gun and took a step forward. He couldn't believe his eyes that he took down the Bats that easily, but he was going to make sure he stayed frozen. He took aim and pulled the trigger. Bright white rays shot toward the ice block, creating a massive pillar of ice, and the other half of the room was now frozen in thick layers of ice.
Victor laughed loudly, "That was too easy! Looks like your legend is just a myth. You were so overconfident, that you underestimated me," he walked closer to the ice.
"Now that you are out of the picture, I'm sure Daddy Thomas would pay anything to have you back. Finally, I'll have everything to save my Nora."
He then turned towards the man on the ground. "Now, you!" he pointed towards the man, "What should I do with you? You are of no use to me now."
As he was about to freeze that unconscious guy, he felt a crackling sound from behind. He quickly turned around. Something was glowing within the ice pillar.
"How is this possible?" he said in surprise, as he stared at the ice pillar. The ice was melting from the inside. Cracks started to appear on the surface. Smoke was rising from the ice. It wasn't the cold smoke, but the hot steam.
"This can't be!"
[Booom!] The ice pillar exploded into pieces, as a figure clad in white armor stood up in its place. It was Batman. His entire armor was glowing brightly. The nanites were running on overdrive, generating heat to melt the ice.
"NOOO!" Victor opened fire at Batman. Bright rays of cryogenic rays shot from his gun. It struck Batman, but for some reason, instead of freezing him, the cryo rays were getting absorbed into his armor.
"It's not possible!" Victor shouted as he kept firing. "You can't stop my cryo rays!" In a desperate attempt, he threw multiple cryo grenades at Batman, but they did not work. Not a single one of his attacks could harm him.
[Energy field detected,] Jarvis warned Batman. But he was confident enough to ignore the warning.
"Stop!" Victor cried out loud as he kept backing up. But Batman kept walking towards him, absorbing the cryo rays. The nanites were maintaining enough heat to melt down the ice while absorbing the cryo rays to cool down. It was a continuous cycle. "Why isn't this working?" He started to panic. He knew that his days were over. If this guy managed to capture him, he would be back in prison in no time. There was no way he was going to let that happen. He is yet to save his wife. "I will not be taken alive!" He took out a small remote from his belt and pressed a button.
Instantly, an energy prison appeared around Batman, trapping him.
"Interesting," Batman looked around. He then touched the energy field and felt a humm of electricity. The nanites started to vibrate as he touched the force field. "Looks like you had some interesting toys."
"No matter what you do, you will never... Huh?!" Before Victor could finish his sentence, Batman just simply walked through the field. It was as if the field did not exist. "How?" Victor was utterly shocked.
"Just stop. Why the fuck are you attacking me without any reason?" Batman asked.
"Without any reason?" Victor roared. "I am doing this for my Nora."
"And how exactly is this going to help her?" Batman asked as he took a step forward. Fries took a step back. His right hand was grabbing onto the last of his cryo grenade.
"If I have all the tech, I can make something to cure my Nora!" he replied.
"Well, let me ask you something. Why did you go on a stealing spree and do research without even asking for help from anyone? Did you ever ask for anyone to help you? From what I know, you never asked Thomas for help nor did you explain your situation to him. Instead, you were performing your experiments on your own... Isn't that why you were thrown out of the Wayne Enterprise? Did you ever think about that?" Batman asked.
Victor stared at him for a long moment and didn't utter a single word. He thought about it for a few seconds, and he couldn't refute anything that Batman had just said. Countless thoughts rushed into his mind, 'What the hell was I doing all this time? I was so obsessed with saving my wife that I didn't even care about anything else. Am I insane? I... I thought I did everything... But... What have I done?'
"You could have asked for help, Victor. Thomas tried to find you after that accident at the lab, but you disappeared. I tried to find you, but you were nowhere to be found. No matter how hard I looked for you, I could not find a single trace. It was like you vanished into thin air. You should have asked for help instead of doing everything on your own," Batman spoke.
"I... I... I'm sorry... I just wanted to save her..." Victor said while falling on his knees. All the tension and pressure that he held within himself broke out.
"And look at you now, once a brilliant mind turned into a criminal," Batman walked towards him.
"I... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to cause so much trouble," Victor apologized.
"It's fine. But let me ask you a question. What would you do if I cured your wife? How far will you go to save her? What will you give me in exchange?" Batman stopped in front of him and asked.
Victor looked up at Batman's masked face. His eyes were full of regret and guilt. But there was a glint of hope within them.
"Anything..."
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Next, Ch: 116: Victor and Nora
Ch: 117: Talia vs Bruce
Ch: 118: Leap of faith