The laboratory, though small, offered enough hiding spots and tight corners for Baia to evade Mr. Freeze's reach. After a few minutes of pacing, Mr. Freeze calmed down from the girl's provocation and stopped wasting his efforts.
"Very well," his voice was as cold as the wind, "Let's see what you're capable of."
With that, Mr. Freeze pressed a switch beside him, and a quickly operating machine immediately lowered the temperature by a few degrees. A white unmanned drone rose from the table, its icy blue camera mechanically rotating.
What better way to hunt prey in the snow than with an infrared thermal imaging device?
As long as Baia remained in the laboratory, he didn't believe she could escape the surveillance of the drone.
Baia's compliance had given him too many illusions, even leading Mr. Freeze to entertain unrealistic thoughts like "Would I have a daughter like her if Nora and I had children?" But once this illusion was shattered, all that remained in his heart was anger and ruthlessness, making him feel he should freeze her legs first.
As the graceful dance of winter gradually stiffened, five minutes were about to pass.
Not to mention, Baia had to start hiding from the drone's infrared detection. Electronic eyes wouldn't be deceived by Selina's talents, so maybe she really should learn something from Selina.
"Batman," Baia whispered softly, "If you're listening... can you come save me? I'm sorry for causing trouble for everyone. I don't think I can hide for much longer. I... I really hope you're listening."
The Batman symbol on the communicator remained silent, and for a moment, Baia gave up hope.
She leaned against a huge refrigeration unit, using the icy mechanical shell to evade the infrared scanner. Before long, Baia's body temperature would drop like that of an inanimate object, and now, like Nora the frozen beauty, frost formed on her eyelashes.
Because the skill cooldown had passed, Baia held her breath, not daring to move her position. But at the same time, it had some benefits; at least she could freely use her skills. Hypothermia caused her life force to decline continuously, but Nightingale and Moon Dew brought her a little warmth — or perhaps it was just an illusion produced by the frozen swallow.
"Don't be afraid."
The Batman communicator vibrated slightly, and the deep voice sounded so reassuring, though not gentle, yet miraculously comforting Baia, though she wasn't sure if it was part of the illusion created by the low temperature.
She tightened her grip on the communicator and said softly, "Okay, not afraid."
The system, in order not to disturb Baia, had been silent, but now it had to chatter again: Your blood! Raise it up a notch!
Baia, feeling powerless, asked, "How do I do that? Should I perform a rap for Crazy Freeze here on the spot?"
The system encouraged her: Host, hold on a little longer, your rescuer will be here soon!
The adrenaline rush wouldn't last forever, and immense fatigue was attacking her along with extreme cold.
Mr. Freeze's heavy footsteps were getting closer and closer, seeming to step on Baia's heart with every step.
The all-black Batmobile raced on the overpass, its massive engine roaring alongside the black remnants generated by high-speed travel, making it look like a black lightning bolt. All values on the dashboard were nearing their limits, and the Batmobile seemed ready to take off at any moment.
But it still wasn't fast enough.
Silent, with the corner of the Batmobile console, Nightwing's communication requests popped up one after another, but he didn't respond. Through the white lenses, his stern steel blue eyes stared at the increasingly closer target location — the tall building that had once lit up the Bat-signal, how ironic.
But if Dick Grayson were here, he could see through the black mask that his adoptive father's thoughts weren't there, merely controlling the Batmobile with training and muscle memory, he was thinking about something else.
Rather than thinking, it was a piece of the past, uncontrollably replaying in front of Bruce.
A child waiting for him.
He sometimes dreamed of this scene. Trained in the mountains and hidden places, he wasn't troubled by nightmares of this degree, without fear or self-pity. On the contrary, he would repeatedly dream of driving the Batmobile in his dreams — sometimes the Batcycle, trying to break into that warehouse faster and faster.
And then using his thick cape to shield his... Robin from all dangers.
Yes, he dreamed, and then he woke up.
And the fact was: he was never fast enough.
Bruce took a deep breath, controlling the growing anger and other emotions within him — he wouldn't admit the part of panic, then he adjusted his heartbeat and once again increased the speed of the Batmobile to its new limit.
"Found you," Mr. Freeze said softly.
He stared at Baia, and the girl's somewhat bewildered expression resembled that of a deer caught in headlights.
Just as the icy barrel of Mr. Freeze's gun was reflected in Baia's slightly widened green eyes, a massive explosion, accompanied by surging heat, blew open the frozen laboratory door.
Mr. Freeze hesitated for half a second, not pulling the trigger at Baia. He turned around to face the newcomer, speculating on their identity, and in response to him was the unhesitating sound of gunfire.
"Troublesome," but the person's tone was less impatient than his words, "Don't come to me next time for this kind of thing."
The bullets, flying ice rays, and various devices about to explode seemed too dangerous for her. Without waiting for her to think, she felt a hand grab the back of her collar.
A strong hand with a hint of gunpowder.
Baia buried her head under a cabinet, fearing to hit it, and the Red Hood tugged at her but failed to move her.
With a click of his tongue, he exerted a little more force and lifted the girl, who was acting like an ostrich, from under the cabinet.
Baia probably weighed less than a hundred pounds, and she was easily lifted up, staring wide-eyed at the Red Hood.
The latter pushed Baia towards the door, "Stunned? Can't run?"
He didn't linger on Baia for long, raising his hand to shoot a grappling hook at Mr. Freeze, entangling his legs. Although Mr. Freeze promptly froze the middle part of the grappling hook into ice, he couldn't shatter it. Off balance, he was immediately pulled to the ground.
Mr. Freeze was about to continue attacking with his freeze gun, but a throwing dart conveniently embedded itself into the barrel, and with another explosion, rendered it useless.
The Red Hood took advantage of the situation, jumping up and landing heavily on Mr. Freeze's chest, the grating sound of metal deformation ringing out.
Since the man's internal organs had long been replaced by machinery, he didn't have to worry about broken ribs puncturing anything vital.
The merciless 9.1mm barrel pressed against his helmet, and a gunshot rang out.
"I surrender!" Mr. Freeze hoarsely cried out.
The Red Hood's helmet immediately showed extensive spiderweb cracks, but it didn't shatter. The deformed bullet flew out, falling to the ground. Unsurprised, the Red Hood shrugged at Mr. Freeze, "Is that so?"
The slightly warm barrel pressed against the same spot, another shot fired.
The slightly skewed angle didn't cause Mr. Freeze's brain to splatter. However, due to the helmet's damage and exposure to air far above his survival temperature, he immediately fell into a state of near-death coma.
The Red Hood didn't care whether he lived or died.
He turned around to find the girl who Dick kept mentioning hadn't left; she was peeking into the laboratory from outside the door.
A curious prey, like a deer that stops to look back when it hears the hunter's gunshot. Of course, this is just a metaphor and not used to describe anyone.
Baia shrank back when the Red Hood noticed her.
"Thank you... Mister Red Hood?" Baia said.
The Red Hood asked her, "Why didn't you run?"
The girl said bitterly, "The entrance has been blasted down, we can't get out."
Shaking like a rabbit, the girl seemed unsure if it was from the cold or from fright.
Red Hood sighed.
Nightwing always manages to stir up trouble.
When Batman finally answered Nightwing's call, he learned that Nightwing had informed Jason. Witnessing Jason blow up the old GCPD building's entrance from inside the Batmobile, Batman felt a slight relaxation.
But there was also an indescribable bitterness lingering on his tongue.
When Red Hood brought Baia out, Selina gracefully joined Batman's side. She rarely concealed the smirk on her lips, but now it wasn't anger that could describe her expression.
Red Hood and Batman both appeared tense. Despite having no conflict, an inexplicable standoffish atmosphere arose, as if they were preparing for confrontation at any moment.
Bruce decided not to ask if Mr. Freeze was dead yet, as he pondered over an appropriate approach.
Red Hood had no intention of lingering for reminiscence. He simply nudged Baia in Batman's direction and said, "She's yours."
"Later," he added.
Watching Jason leave without a hint of sentiment, Bruce couldn't decide if he felt relieved or disheartened.
Baia did well; she was calm enough, smart enough. It was the first time Bruce had looked at her through the lens of Batman.
Seeing Batman and Catwoman standing side by side, Baia sniffled and struggled to hold back her tears.
Everyone has their limits.
She slowly walked over and collapsed into Selina's arms, her sobs turning into loud wails.