Beware the Wonderbat

Chapter 5

Wayne Manor

Months after Bruce's meeting with the Amazon Princess the two had gotten better acquainted. Following her spontaneous phone call, the billionaire aided her in starting up her own foundation.

He found it a good idea and readily helped her in starting it up.

He had an inkling that what he said to her about never being a part of humanity made her take this course of action.

The billionaire sat on the patio of his mansion while he had convened with the Amazon, who arrived an hour ago eager to start up her foundation.

She wanted to connect with people, get to know them better and spread her people's ideals at the same time accepting other people's beliefs. Discuss with them on a even field, where she wasn't an ambassador merely preaching her personal views of peace. What the dark-haired man said about her irked her, made her question the way she went about her mission.

Her foundation was the first step in the right direction. This was her way of helping others without having to throw a punch.

And ensuring that other people don't make similar statements Bruce had to her.

"So," the businessman spoke, earning the woman's attention. Looking from the papers in his hands, "You will need a legal team to establish by-laws, draft a conflict of interest policy and establish funding guidelines and," he paused chuckling a bit, "well you're going to need a lot of help if you are serious about a foundation," he explained.

She nodded her head firmly, "I am." She took a moment to gather her thoughts before uttering, "How would I go about doing that?" she inquired, nervousness poorly shielded.

He smiled softly, "I would be more than happy to make some calls and get your foundation on its feet," he offered.

Immediately, she refused. "Bruce, I can't ask you to do anymore for me than you already have."

"If you plan on aiding people worldwide, then I don't see a more worthy cause," he maintained. The dark-haired woman smiled appreciatively for the man's help. Since their meeting, Diana saw him in an objective light. Seemingly, she ignored what her friends told her about Bruce. She wasn't interested in gossip.

The impression she got from him was one of honor and honesty. She saw that he cared about people regardless of whatever vices he had.

"I'll tell you what," he said earnestly. "I'll be your first donor," he surprised her.

"Bruce, while I appreciate you helping me startup my foundation, I can't ask you to fund it as well," she attempted to deter the man.

"Think of it as an apology. For insulting you at the gala, that was not my intent," the man explained, feeling guilty about what he previously said.

She waved it off, "I've been insulted worse," she admitted. "I can take criticism."

The man smiled again; he was doing that a lot when Diana came around. "Well, as I said, I'll be happy to get you started," he maintained, refusing to yield to her wishes.

"I thank you."

"Now, have you considered a name for your foundation?"

Fine eyebrows furrowed in concentration, "Honestly, I have not," she shamelessly confessed.

"Well, there will be plenty of time to consider one," he assured her.

"I will consider one," she promised. She stood up from her chair, taking a breath, "So, when do I see you again?"

"Uh, maybe a week?" he answered surprised by her eagerness to see him again.

"Good," she accepted. "Thank you again for your help."

"Don't mention it."

Tatsu appeared to escort the royal out. The Amazon offered her a pleasant smile before saying goodbye to the billionaire and the bodyguard.

The Japanese woman curtly nodded, before shutting the front door.

When she returned to the patio, she found her employer missing, foreseeing his whereabouts she went down to the cave.

She discovered him hunched over his computer working on a case regarding the Penguin.

Her eyes silently burned into his back.

He knew she was there, but he ignored her until he finished what he was doing.

Almost twenty minutes pass until…

"Yes?" he ignored, in a detached voice.

"You realize her continued presence here may cause her stumbling upon the secret?" she warned him, crossing her arms over her chest.

He looked over his shoulder, glancing at her, "You don't like her?" he noticed.

She scowled, "I never said that," she refuted. "But she is no fool. We were lucky you covered yourself with your robe before she noticed that bruise on your shoulder," she reminded the man of his fumbling to cover himself when Alfred announced Diana's visit.

"She's a… friend. Nothing more," he answered, his eyes returning to the batcomputer.

Tatsu did not seem convinced but she stifled her retort and left him for the training room.

Stagg Enterprises

Rex Mason, a security guard for Stagg Enterprises roamed the halls of the corporation. Flashing the hallways with his flashlight as he patrolled the floor.

Whistling cheerily, an obvious pep in his step, Rex glanced around checking to see if he was the only person on the floor of the building.

He was completely unaware of another person hiding in the shadows, anticipation rising within them as they noticed the beam from the flashlight getting closer.

The hidden individual swallowed as Mason turned, a muffled cry escaped him as a slender hand grabbed him and pushed him into the wall.

His flashlight abandoned, rolled around on the floor lighting their legs.

"Wha-? Sapphire?!" Rex exclaimed as his eyes adjusted to the dark.

The blonde-haired woman smiled seductively at her secret boyfriend, greatly amused by his ruffled state.

"I wanted to surprise you," the heiress to the Stagg fortune explained to him.

"What if someone sees?" he responded in a hushed whisper, frantically whipping his head scanning for security cameras.

"Relax," she whispered to him, leaning closer. Gently, she kissed him, with him shortly responding to her advances.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he kissed her passionately, before the need for air overpowered them.

Panting heavily, Rex said, "We need to be careful. We still haven't told your father about us yet," he warned her, picking up his abandoned flashlight.

"So, we'll just tell him," she shrugged, blindly head over heels in love with the man.

"Alright," he sighed, resigned, yet eager to get it over with. He could not ever disappoint her, especially when she was so excited about something.

Informing her father of their relationship brought about great anxiety within him. But if it made Sapphire happy, he would gladly do it.

Unknown to the happy couple, their passionate embrace was caught on camera and an obscured silhouette had seen the whole thing.

And they weren't happy about it one bit.

The following day, stalwart Sapphire and Rex walked into Simon Stagg's office, "Daddy?" she called out.

"Yes, sweetie," Simon replied, looking up from his desk, a pleasant smile on his face, His white hair neatly combed, his bowtie tidy.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and remained resolute, "Daddy, I need to tell you something," she readily stated.

"Yes?" he uttered, his eyes narrowing towards Rex, silently ordering him to leave so he could privately discuss with his daughter.

Sapphire defiantly grabbed the man's hand, squeezing it tightly, silently asking him to stay.

Simon raised a curious brow at the sight of his daughter's action.

"Daddy, Rex and I are dating," she confessed, almost too quickly. To her it felt like the most difficult thing she had ever done.

Simon's heart almost stopped the moment he heard the words leave his daughter's mouth. His eyes widened, and almost immediately rescinded.

A pregnant pause rang out, no one said anything.

Worriedly, the woman called out, "Daddy? Are you okay?"

It took a moment for the man to respond, "I… am at a loss for words," he admitted, leaning back against his desk.

"How-how long?" he struggled to ask.

"Almost a year," his daughter answered, instantly, still clutching her boyfriend's hand, needing his support.

The older man inhaled deeply as he processed the news, he only ever wanted the best for his little girl. And a security guard didn't even come close to what more successful men were capable of giving Sapphire.

But he saw the love in her eyes for Rex, and he vice versa.

Reluctantly, "I guess that's it then," he stated, his lips pursed together.

Nervously, Rex said, "Sir?"

"Oh, relax, my boy," he walked over to them, putting his hands on the younger man's shoulders. He smiled, "You have my blessing," he suddenly stated, surprising them, yet Rex smiled ecstatically. "But you break her heart, I'll break you," he warned ominously.

Swallowing nervously, Rex stood strong, "I won't, sir," he swore.

"Good," he accepted the response. "Now I think a promotion is in order," Simon suddenly announced.

It was late that night, Rex working the night shift yet again. He was on the schedule that night and he didn't want to use the position of dating the boss's daughter to get out of it.

Besides, he needed the cash so he could buy that ring he had his eyes on. Sapphire deserved the best and he would be damned if he didn't try to give it to her.

While on patrol he noticed a silhouette sprint through the shadows, "Hey! What are you doing here? Stop!" he gave chase as the intruder ran for the lab, that was experimenting on experimental projects.

The intruder was fast, almost as if he knew their way around the place.

Ignoring mere speculation, Rex continued to chase the intruder, seemingly forgetting to sound the alarm.

Seeing the intruder race into the lab with Rex hot on his trial, they both apparently ignored the hazard warning recommending protection gear while in the laboratory.

The security guard witnessed a large glass dome with pumps secured into the dome, he guessed it was to pump gases or liquids in the dome.

Getting closer, he noted that the dome had a glass door that was wide open. Immediately, he saw the intruder on the other side of the dome, no he was inside.

Adrenaline pumped in his head, he raced in attempting to grab the man in a ski mask. As he got closer, he crashed into the glass. Wincing, he stumbled backwards clutching his throbbing face.

Peaking through his eyelids and hands, the man noticed the intruder had vanished.

He whipped his head upon hearing a noise and saw that the intruder had shut the door. He ran to the door slamming his fists against the glass in a futile attempt at breaking it.

Computers came to life causing alarms to blare and gas started pumping in the dome.

"No!" Rex's struggle intensified, bashing the glass harder.

Orange, purple, and white gasses swirled around him. No longer able to hold his breath any longer he inhaled the gases, resulting in him going into a coughing fit.

"No! No!" he cried out, as he soon lost consciousness with the intruder's withdrawing back the last thing he saw.

Gotham General Hospital

Heavy eyes witnessed hazy vision as Rex Mason regained consciousness several hours later.

"Rex!" Sapphire exclaimed; a relieved expression etched into her young face as her man awoke.

"Sa…pphire?" the hospitalized man struggled to say, his voice hoarse from the chemicals he inhaled. He coughed excessively as her name left his lips.

"Easy," she worriedly told him, getting him some water. The blonde woman was oblivious of her father sitting in the corner of the hospital room, gazing at the two with an unreadable expression.

Drinking some water, Mason noticed the older man observing from afar, "Mr. Stagg?"

Said man approached the hospital bed, "Easy, Rex. You were exposed to some… sensitive chemicals in the lab," the white-haired man informed. "The doctors are optimistic you will make a full recovery," Rex saw the reassuring smile on the billionaire's lips. "But it is still too early," he turned grave.

"Daddy?" Sapphire uttered in distress.

Stagg rested his hand on her shoulder, "Easy, my dear. I just want to prepare the two of you," he explained. He looked Rex straight in the eye and without blinking he said, "Project Metamorpho was an experiment to turn people into a one-man exploration crew. To explore areas of the world ordinary men had no means of entering," he described solemnly. "It wasn't approved for human testing yet," he gravely reminded them. "I shutter to think what might happen," startling the two.

Sapphire in her apprehension held Rex close, who appeared disconnected to the whole thing, almost like he was disembodied and was just watching some old horror film.

"But who knows," Stagg shrugged, earning his daughter and her boyfriend's attention. "Maybe you were only experienced minor exposure," he offered minor hope.

"Am I… going to die?" Rex asked after a pregnant pause. His girlfriend gasped at such a question and instantly comforted him, banishing just morbid thoughts.

The businessman shook his head, "I don't know, my boy. But I will do everything I can to help you," he swore.

It was an hour later after Stagg had given him and Sapphire some privacy. The blonde had fallen into an unrestful slumber in one of the hospital's many uncomfortable chairs.

Rex had done joined her, until he was suddenly struck with unimaginable pain.

Darting out of bed he raced to the bathroom, hoping to leave his girlfriend undisturbed. Hunched over the sink, he retched yet nothing escaped him but air. When the urge to vomit waned, he glanced in the mirror to audit his haggard appearance.

He froze as he noticed he had the most unusual skin pigmentation. His tanned skin was white as snow, "Wha-?" he muttered, panting heavily. He rubbed his face with his face, hoping it was makeup that was Sapphire's idea of a joke to cheering him up. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get it off.

He swiftly realized it wasn't makeup. In his haste to rub the white off his face, his fingers brushed his red hair. His breathing stifled as hair follicles fell from the top of his head.

He ran his hands through his hair and more hair fell off until he was completely bald. "No," he yelled in horror. What was happening to me? He asked himself.

It was then he noticed his hands were a different color too.

His left hand was a purple and his right hand was orange.

The pain surged through his body more intense than before. "Aah!" he screamed as he felt his body being ripped apart from the inside out.

Clutching at his sides, he shoulders shivered, groaning audibly.

He was so overcome with pain he didn't noticed that his body mass was engorging, his hospital gown tearing to pieces as he bellowed.

His bellowing startled the young heiress from her slumber. "Rex?!" she shouted getting out of her chair. Carefully, she approached the bathroom door, only to fly backwards as the door exploded into splinters.

With a thud she hit the chair she was previously sitting in, groaning with look through blurry eyes.

She was greeted to a monstrosity. A hulking multi-colored creature of white, orange, purple, brown and silver.

It yelled something at her, but its voice was muffled.

Rex was terrified, in pain. His voice was hoarse to the point where the love of his life could not discern his words.

But what truly hurt him the most, was the fact that she was terrified of him.

She feared him.

What about him?

He was the one in the state that he was in.

Suddenly, he was overcome with even more unimaginable pain. He roared in pain as his body disintegrated into a gaseous form funneled out of the hospital room through an opened window.

Stagg hearing the commotion raced into the room, "Sapphire?!" he yelled in a panic.

"Daddy!" she cried from her position on the floor. The man immediately engulfed her in his arms. "What was that?" she uttered, tears in her eyes.

"I don't know, baby. But you're safe now," he comforted her, a shadow of a smile on his lips.

Downtown Gotham

"What did we just purchase, sir?" Alfred inquired, carrying a cooler containing a preserved root from a Gotham laboratory. It's cool exterior chilled his hands, he felt uneasy about carrying something from a laboratory.

"A unique root," the billionaire answered, preoccupied with his phone. He was in the middle of an interesting text conversation with Diana. "I want to eat it. Research suggests it lessens sleeping duration. I'm on four hours of sleep a day. I want to whittle that down to two," a smile tugged at his lips as he sent a final text to Diana.

Since getting to know the Amazon Princess, he has gotten to see past his skeptical eyes. And he was reluctant to admit it out loud, but he was wrong about her.

"Yes, every living creature can operate on little to no sleep," the older man commented dryly. "And you will be the first to prove such a feat," the butler wittingly said placing the cooler into the trunk of the limousine.

While Bruce was in the back of the limo with the door ajar, so entranced with his conversation with Diana, he didn't notice Alfred staring at him with a gleam in his eyes.

"What?"

He shook his head, "Nothing. It's just I haven't seen you this flustered with a member of the fairer sex since your first date," the butler commented, a smirk on his face as he saw the surprised look on the billionaire's face.

"I don't get flustered," he denied, vehemently. He scowled and ceased his text conversation with the Amazon. "I'm not," he maintained, irritated by the butler's smirk.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash in the street ahead of them.

Both men turned to the source of the noise and witnesses a purple and orange monster batting cars away from it.

"Tell me we have the suit in the car?" the billionaire asked the older man sharply.

"Yes," Alfred answered, getting into the limousine, and starting the car.

Bruce slammed the backseat door shut and pressed a button blacking out the windows. Opening a black suitcase that appeared out from under the adjacent seats in front of the man, he opened it and started to get dressed.

The butler turned the car around putting some distance between them and the scene. "I'm blacking out a few traffic cameras, sir," the butler uttered, pressing a button on the dashboard. A pulse released from the limo disabled a few surrounding cameras. The effects were temporary and the cameras would reboot in thirty seconds.

"Good," Batman answered, finishing getting dressed. "Take this left," he directed, opening up the sunroof.

Firing his grapple, Batman shot out of the vehicle and into the air, heading back to the scene.

Earlier

The being formerly known as Rex Mason, reconfigured himself from the gaseous form he found himself into a solid form.

Right in the middle of traffic.

Car horns blared in his face, as cars swerved narrowly escaping colliding with the creature.

Can't… remember.

His thoughts were garbled. His transformation as well as his changing into different forms of matter have left its memory a haze.

Name? What's my… name?

The multicolored being clutched at its head. A painful headache raked through his skull. The fight for his memories rattled his brain. It felt like a bullet was rattling around in his brain.

"Holy!" A voice resounded in the air.

Narrow eyes turned to the source and found two police officers aiming their weapons at it.

"A-Alright… thing, on the ground!" the officer tried to sound fearless than he actually was.

"Off—cer," the being tried to talk to the police but his voice was almost indecipherable. It didn't help that the creature raised a hand at them, causing them to panic and discharge their weapons.

It was terrified that its life was over. But the bullets simply bounced off his body, surprising all.

Suddenly, the creature's left hand changed into a mallet, making the creature gawk at its shape-shifting ability.

"It has a weapon!" the officers panicked, firing more.

This time, the creature defended itself. Its left arm extended, the mallet crashing into an officer's chest pushing them to the ground with a grunt.

The remaining officer screamed into their radio requesting backup.

A tugging on the back of their uniform answered the request.

The officer was thrown aside several feet away from the creature and Batman was on scene.

Throwing three explosive batarangs to test the creature's durability, having seen it take gunshots with no sign of discomfort.

The creature roared as the force of the explosions made it stumble backwards.

Rex.

A memory resurfaced inside the creature's head, its eyes widening.

It sounded like a woman's voice to the Rex.

Seeing the explosives had little effect, Batman pulled out his electrified brass knuckles, delivering a powerful haymaker to the creature's head.

Force combined with the painful effect of electricity added to the blow.

The creature stumbled before shaking off the blow, a gesture that stunned the vigilante. That was one of his knockout blows.

Rarely anyone shrugs one off.

Mason! Get back to work!

Name. That's my name!

The now fully aware Rex Mason grunted as he now recalled his identity. He tried to push for more memories until he was forced back to reality when Batman, on his side on the ground, wrapped his legs around one of Rex's. Using all his lower body strength, the dark-clad man pulled the creature's leg right from under it.

Losing his balance, he landed flat on his back, his head painfully colliding with the road.

I love you, Sapphire.

Mason's eyes widened at the memory.

Sapphire. His love. Was she okay? Hospital. He left her at the hospital.

Pain. Unimaginable pain surged through his body as his body changed into a liquid form.

Batman stood by and watched in horror, as the creature's body melted and flowed into a sewer drain nearby.

He managed to sneak a sample before the fluid was all but gone.

His white eyes narrowed as he observed the fluid in the test tube he held in his hand.

His mind already at work trying to piece together this strange case.

Down into the sewers of Gotham City, Rex Mason struggled to retain his solid form and keep out all the unspeakable materials of the city's sewer system.

"Sapp..hire. Sapphire!" he roared, longingly.

He needed to see her. To let her know he was alive.

Gotham General Hospital

The room belonged to one, Rex Mason. Admitted hours ago, due to chemical exposure. Seemingly, he vanished from his hospital room a couple of hours ago. His girlfriend, Sapphire Stagg, reported some giant monster appeared in the room. Destroyed the bathroom door and then vanished into smoke. Reports indicated that this was where the creature first appeared, so Batman followed up.

A break-in at Stagg Enterprises confirmed that Rex Mason was exposed to a chemical agent and sent to this hospital.

The intruder wasn't caught. Yet.

Batman silently looked around the room, examining everything inside.

Knocked over chairs, splinters from the destroyed bathroom door, based on the placement of the splinters, suggests the door was destroyed from inside the bathroom.

"Sir?" Alfred called over the cowl radio.

"Speak," the vigilante put a hand to his ear.

"Tatsu has just recovered Mr. Mason's blood samples from the hospital lab," the butler informed. "She's already out of the hospital and on her way to the cave.

"Good," he replied, entering the bathroom.

He put his cowl through several filters, until he saw DNA on the bathroom sink. Scans showed it was human sweat.

He took a quick sample and fluttered out of the hospital room before anyone interrupted his examination.

Batcave

"How certain are you that this Rex Mason is the creature?" Tatsu posed the question not far from the lab.

"Fairly certain, but I'd prefer to make sure," Batman answered engrossed in his work. "The blood sample you took from the hospital is a partial match to the sweat sample from the hospital room," he spoke aloud, seeing the samples on the computer screen.

"As well as a match to the sample I took from this creature. Rex Mason is this creature," he stated, certainly.

"So, what do we do?" the Japanese woman asked, grabbing her sword.

"Find the cause for his transformation," he answered firmly. "And fast," Tatsu stared at him curiously. "From the samples I took his cellular structure is highly unstable. By sunrise, his body will breakdown and cell death with ensue," he said gravely.

"Where do we go?"

"I'm going to Stagg Enterprises. That is where all this started," he replied. He pointed to the woman," You go to Sapphire Stagg's penthouse," he instructed.

"Why?"

"They're dating," he uttered plainly. "I'm sure once he's gained control of his faculties, he'll go to her."

With a nod, Katana boarded her motorcycle and took off out the entrance to the cave with Batman shortly following her.

Stagg Enterprises

Stagg's security system needed work. It took Batman less than three minutes to hack in and override the system.

Less than sixty seconds to disable security cameras, and another two minutes to actually breach the building and make it to the server room.

Thousands of servers held the enormity of Stagg's Enterprises data. Every virus scan to top secret projects were contained in these servers.

An air conditioning system blew into the room, keeping the room icy cool, preventing the servers from overheating.

Batman strode over to an access port, took all of three minutes to gain access, bypassing all the security protocols.

Tapping at the keyboard he discovered Project Metamorpho. A project intent on creating super soldiers that could withstand any environment. Burning deserts to the frozen tundra. Stagg planned on pitching the project to the Pentagon.

With the project, soldiers could withstand bullets, explosives, poison gases. Even hypothesized shape-shifting capabilities. Thus, explaining Mason's changing into different types of matter, as well as extending his arm turned into a mallet.

They would be unstoppable.

Theoretically, subjects could even explore areas of the planet that modern venturing deemed impossible.

The vigilante had to give Stagg credit where credit was due. This could revolutionize exploring the depths of the ocean or even studying the planet's core.

Perhaps, even going as far as space travel.

Furiously, he continued to investigate, searching files looking for test subjects. A cold sweat went down his body when he discovered Stagg never tested it.

Not even on animals.

There was no research detailing how to reverse the process. If the vigilante couldn't find a way to save Mason, he'll be dead in hours.

He later checked for the security footage concerning the intruder that Mason was pursuing, only to discover that the assailant managed to avoid all the security cameras.

That was near impossible unless…

The intruder had insider knowledge or had firsthand knowledge about the placement of the cameras. He pressed his investigation forward checking to see Mason get exposed to the Metamorpho gases.

He witnessed as Mason struggled to escape before the gases overwhelmed him and passed out.

His eyes widened as he caught something out of the corner of his eye. He froze the video and saw Simon Stagg removing a ski mask watching as Rex Mason was trapped in the dome the experiment fully underway.

It was Stagg that broke in and turned Mason into this… Metamorpho.

He quickly downloaded a copy of the video and saved it to the batcomputer.

Suddenly, Batman heard something and dove away from the access port as gunfire littered the room. Tearing apart the access port as well as evidence.

Batman turned and saw Stagg and several of his men, their weapons trained on him.

"You're trespassing Batman," the blueblood stated. He and his men opened fire on the vigilante as he leapt out of the way and hid behind a few servers.

"Box him in!" Stagg ordered his men, who carefully strode off to where they witnessed the dark-clad man take cover behind.

A pair of gunmen went on the right and another pair on the left. As they carefully pincered Batman in, they were shocked to find the vigilante gone.

Suddenly, a gray ball rolled over to them, earning curious looks from all of them. After a split second a gray gas erupted from the ball.

The gunmen erupted into coughing fits, their grip on their weapons loosening. Taking advantage of their distraction, a dark flurry of punches and kicks disarmed them and incapacitated them.

Desperate to be rid of the nosy bat, Stagg opened fire, hitting nothing but his servers and air.

It quickly dawned on the businessman that he was all alone.

Batman swung through the night air, hurrying to Katana's location and Mason's.

Sapphire Stagg's Penthouse

The blonde heiress awoke to find a shadow hovering over her in her sleep, understandably she reacted with a fright. With a scream.

The hulking figure seemed almost distressed to witness her reaction. When she stopped screaming, she had the strangest feeling that she knew this creature.

"Rex?" she skeptically called out to the shadow, carefully.

"It's me, Sapphire," Rex Mason answered, leaning closer. The moonlight shining into her bedroom illuminated his face.

She had the dignity to stifle a gasp at her love's new face.

"Wh-What happened to you?"

"The gas. Your father was right. The gas made me like this."

Hesitantly, the woman lifted a hand, carefully touching his face. The smoothness under her hand tingled her palm. It felt almost like she used to do with him.

Rex instinctively leaned into her touch. It offered him a sense of peace and calmness. "It's so hard to stay solid, Sapp," he confessed, weakly. "Every action that once took the least amount of effort now feels like I've run a marathon."

"We'll fix you. Daddy can help you," the woman encouraged him, offering him hope.

He shook his head, "I don't know. Sometimes I am me and the next I'm this… raging beast," he sounded on the edge of tears.

"We have to try, Rex," she uttered soothingly.

"Rex Mason," a foreign voiced called out into the dark bedroom, startling the pair.

Rex whipped around facing the newcomer, ready to protect Sapphire with his life. He saw Katana standing in front of them staring blankly at the mixed colored man.

"You need help," the Japanese woman stated taking a careful step forward.

"Who are you?" Mason demanded, shielding his girlfriend from the intruder.

"I work with Batman," Katana confessed, surprising the duo. She held her hands out indicating she wasn't holding anything.

The mere mention of Batman brought forth a rush of anger. A growl in his throat as he recalled his previous encounter with the Dark Knight.

"He ran tests on your DNA. In a matter of hours, you will die from whatever made you into this," she confessed. The woman's statement horrified the Stagg heiress.

"Rex!" she cried out in fear.

He whipped his head back to his love, witnessed the fear in her eyes as the idea of him dying. Her concern leveled his anger. His posture no longer tense.

"Mason," a baritone voiced called out from the shadows, as Batman joined Katana.

"You need to come with me," he advised, more like ordered.

"You…"

"Listen to me," he said bluntly. "Simon Stagg was the one responsible for the accident."

"What? My father would never do such a thing?" Sapphire immediately rejected the idea of her father doing this to Rex, even defending him against such blatant lies.

"He didn't like the idea of his daughter dating the help and planned to eliminate him. There is video evidence of Stagg in the room when you were exposed, Mason."

"I told you he would never accept me!" Rex roared to Sapphire as his body began to change from solid to a gaseous form of matter.

He flew out the window and joined the air of the city. His destination obvious.

"Let's go," Batman said to Katana.

Wordlessly, they took off, their grapples carrying them through the air. "Why did you tell Mason about Stagg? You know he's going to kill him," the woman inquired now that they were no longer around the heiress.

"To give Stagg the incentive to give me what I want," he informed the woman.

"Which is?" she pressed.

"Access to project Metamorpho."

Stagg Enterprises

Simon Stagg hastily rushed to his office, the concern of Batman returning made the older man act rashly. He entered his office with the idea of removing all information that could incriminate him.

His heart almost jumped out of his chest as Batman turned around in Stagg's swivel chair behind his desk.

"You!" he fumbled to pull out his piece in his coat, only for Batman to slap it out of his hand, as the older businessman gave the vigilante ample amount of time to disarm the man.

"W-what do you want?" he demanded, putting up a strong and hostile demeanor.

"Rex Mason knows it was you that caused the accident."

"How?!" Stagg panicked.

"I told him," the dark-clad man answered nonchalantly. "You're going to give me access to Project Metamorpho."

"Why?" He gasped as Batman grabbed him by his tie and roared.

"So, I can find a cure!"

Outside Stagg Enterprises, Katana witnessed Rex make with an obvious entrance. "He's here," she spoke into her comm link informing Batman.

"Stall him," he instructed. "I need more time," he answered, reviewing the project's procedure's, and formulating the correct method and concoction to stabilize Mason's form.

"Understood," the woman acknowledged. She leapt from her position atop a ledge overlooking the building and joined the security team Stagg employed.

Sword drawn; the woman prepared to attack as Mason merely walked unabated towards the corporation.

The security team's gunfire providing nothing but a nuisance to the transformed man. With a scowl, Mason's hands transformed into cinderblocks and started smacking away several men who had gotten too close to the element man.

Katana threw several throwing stars at him, trying to ease his attention off the security team. Witnessing the projectiles had little to no effect on him, the Japanese woman charged forward. Leaping up she raised her sword and brought it down on him, intending to deliver a serious blow to the rampaging man.

Only unexpectedly, he caught the sword in his hand, surprising the woman. He used his other hand and batted her away like swatting a fly.

With a painful cry, she crashed into a seat in the main lobby and was removed from the battle.

Grimacing at the woman, Rex transformed into a gas and traveled to the ventilation system, seamlessly arriving inside Stagg's office, noticing the bastard, clutching a laser weapon in his hand, no doubt from his lab.

Smirking, he stalked over to the older man, "Surprised? I'm starting to get the hang of my new body," he surmised. "I guess all it took was the right motivation," he said ominously, his arms transforming into blades.

With a cowardly cry, Stagg dove out of Mason's way as he sliced the desk in two. He stumbled to the door of his office, firing over his shoulder as he raced to the lab where Batman had better be ready with the cure.

Oblivious to all, Sapphire arrived at Stagg Enterprises and raced inside to try and prevent the men in her life from killing each other.

With an angry roar, Rex charged after the coward, his weapons useless against him. He could not focus on anything anymore. Not Sapphire. Not his life. Not even the fact he was approaching the lab that changed him into this… thing.

He saw Stagg enter; Rex burst through the door as if it were made of tinfoil. Rex paused, his head whipping around until he noticed Stagg behind a glass window. Blinded by rage, he pressed forward and entered the same glass dome that changed him only to realize Stagg was on the other side of the glass. He had never been inside the dome to begin with.

Realizing his error, Rex tried to escape only for Batman to slam the vault door shut, trapping him inside.

The vigilante raced to the controls and started the process. It was then that Sapphire had arrived, "Rex!"

She tried to get close to the dome only to be stopped by her father. Her gaze turned to Batman, "What are you doing?" she cried out, terrified by what was transpiring before her.

"Saving him life!" Batman responded, as he pressed the final button and gases shot into the dome, affecting Rex.

After a few minutes, Batman ceased the process. It was then, Sapphire raced to the now down Rex. Her hand touching the glass.

"Rex?"

"Sapphire?" he uttered, groggily.

Batman observed sadly, disappointed by the lack of transformation of Rex Mason's part.

"What's wrong?" the blonde angrily whipped her head to the dark-clad man.

"The antidote didn't take," he answered regrettably. "It seems it only stabilized his condition," the man surmised.

"Can you still love me? Even if I'm still like this?" Rex dejectedly, wondered.

The woman turned away before she answered him, "That's… that's not a fair question to ask."

"I see," he sighed, standing to his feet. His body had been transformed into something that resembled a monster. But it was Sapphire's apparent rejection that destroyed his heart.

With an angrily roar he destroyed the ventilation system and turned himself gaseous and vanished.

Stagg the conniver that he was, consoled his daughter. With a vindictive smirk he started, "You're done," he said to the vigilante. "You murdered that poor young man!"

Batman stared blankly at the businessman, noticing his daughter glaring at him with hateful eyes. Apparently, blaming Batman for what happened to Rex Mason.

"That so?" he tilted his head. Approaching a nearby computer he installed a flash drive, where he brought up the video of Stagg being the intruder, the man reasonable for what had happened to Mason.

"I already sent a copy to the police. I'm sure they will be interested in talking with you," Batman stated with coldness in his voice.

Sapphire, whom had seen the video couldn't even be near her father after knowing it was all his fault.

Wayne Manor

Tatsu was in her room recuperating after her fight with Mason. While Bruce stared blankly outside the patio, watching the ocean deep in thought.

He did not know why, he barely remembered picking up his phone, but he called Diana, wanting to hear her voice.

"Bruce?" she answered.

"It's me," he weakly answered, deeply affected by the previous night's events.

He suddenly just started talking. "I was trying to help someone. But somehow it got worse after I got involved," he confessed, keeping the specifics to himself.

"Bruce, from what you've told me, you entered with good intentions. It was just a terrible situation to begin with. You can't blame yourself," Diana soothingly comforted him.

"I know, but I just…" he trailed off, unable to utter another word.

"You can't save everyone, Bruce," she acknowledged to the reality of his limitations.

"I know," he grunted, detesting his inability to do so.

"Let me help," she offered gently.

"Why?"

"We're friends. Aren't we?" she sounded apprehensive in her question. He never heard he sound like that before.

He felt a tiny tug at the corner of his lip, "Yeah, we're friends."

He enjoyed speaking with her, she somehow made him feel better about his latest case.

NEXT: Penguin and WW Foundation

Thank you everyone, for reviews, favs, and follows. Please continue to do so, to let me know what you think!

Also, this story is going on hiatus for a bit. So I can really get into my other stories because I hate the snail pace they are currently at. My apologizes for the inconvenience.