Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Naruto, Disney, Square Enix or Detective Comics. They rightfully belong to their respective owners.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Radio/TV

"Headset/Flashback"

-Scene Shift-

Chapter 63: Deep Freeze

Walking through the hallways of Arkham, Harley currently wore a thick winter attire. Bundled up to keep herself warm from the coming cold she would experience for the upteenth time. Or it was already happening and she needed the warmth more than ever.

Coming in front of a large metal door, she saw the frost built up on the double layered window. And Harley didn't have to place her skin onto the door handle to feel the intense cold which would sting to the touch.

Going to the device beside the door, the psychologist swiped her ID through a slot before typing a code on it's keypad. The light turned on, signalling Harley she was granted access. Slipping her winter gloves on, she turned the handle and entered inside the freezer-like residency of her patient.

Closing the door behind her, Harley greeted her patient with a smile. "Hello, Victor."

"Hello, Harleen."

The psychologist saw the frozen scientist placing a bookmark into his copy of Loveless before setting it aside. With his reading material put away, Victor Fries put all his attention to his doctor for another visit.

"I am a little curious to see you here, Dr. Quinzel. I doubt it's just a simple meeting."

"It's honestly not." Harley admitted, pulling up a chair. "It's another session."

"Been having more of those this week."

"Are you complaining?"

"Not exactly, given the lack of visitors I receive. And no, your fellow staff members don't count. For the only reason they come by is to deliver my food and check up on my research."

"And what about me?"

"You're on the line between friend and orderly."

Victor eyed the pale blonde doctor, making her curious. "Yes?"

"Why are you wearing that smile again?"

"...What?"

"I know you usually wear one on our past sessions. A genuine one at that. But for this past week, it's more forced as you're hiding your glumliness."

"I'm not gloomy."

Hearing the defensive tone in her voice, the frozen scientist rose a brow. "Until now, I didn't really voice my concern. But I'm starting to see it's getting worse."

The smile Harley wore soon broke, giving way to the frown she was hiding.

"I miss him, Vic." She admitted. "I really miss him."

Things… Things have not been great for Harleen Quinzel for nearly a week now. And it started out on an average shift at Arkham.

Not much really went on that day with sessions going on as normal for her.

That day she had Tetch, who was still delusional he will have his precious Alice back. Waylon needed to be sated with some turkey in order to comply. Pyg and Toad needed to be separated from each other to get challenging results. Helping Harvey filter through fantasy and reality in his decision making a whole lot more. Oh and Harley still avoids the Joker when he's up and about.

On top of the sessions, she needed to get reports all sorted out. You know, standard work day in her books.

That was when shit hit the fan; quite literally, in fact, on that night.

How it all went down started when Harley was coming back to work from going out to dinner. She was feeling tired of the microwave and leftover meals. Who can blame her.

Upon her return and past the security checkpoints did everything go all armageddon. All power went out in an instant, like a massive EMP swept through the land and screwing everyone over. This meant that not just the standard power source, but the few back up generators as well.

This resulted in having all electronic security measures not functioning at all. Many doors were unlocked. Restraints were shut off. And almost every inmate went wild and free.

Suffice to say, it was no doubt armageddon.

With security cameras out, Harley quickly slipped away and got into her Jinx attire before kicking ass and taking names. Casualties were bound to happen. Security guards were unmatched against the onslaught of the handfuls of metas and rogues gallery members.

She at least thanked her lucky stars the Heartless didn't show up or else they'd fuel the chaotic fire going on.

Yet to Jinx's presence, a tide was at least present. But too many inmates got out, to the point of the asylum nearly becoming a ghostly residence. Luckily for her, backup arrived by the rest of her Siren gal pals, the Bat trio and even sweet RaeRae.

But there was no sign of her Naru-puu, much to her utter confusion.

It was only upon hearing the news of her puddin's disappearance and how it came to pass, Harley started to suffer... problems.

Hardly having any sleep as of late, even with Selina and Pam comforting her and tiring her out through hours of intercourse. All she could do while in bed was being wide awake, mentally backtracking her way through life.

They say a lawyer who defends themself is a food source for a client. Harley wondered if the same is true for psychiatrists.

She had a decent college life, even as it consisted mostly of emotional isolation. Even when she was surrounded by people, she was alone; shying away from relationships because she felt there were always people watching, waiting. This led to quite a lot of unresolved resentment and anger.

This changed upon her meeting Guy Kopski.

They were assigned on a partner project one semester. Counted for a large portion of their respective grades. They were forced to spend time with each other in order to effectively pass through the class.

Through this, Harley had to crack open the door to her fortified walls and let him in.

Over time, she slowly became happy. She enjoyed how things turned out while getting to know Guy. He got her to experience things she has never done before and she never regretted any of them.

Especially when they got together.

Everything was absolutely grand. The road to her metaphorical happy ending was coming closer and closer as the days went on by. Harley was sure that once she and Guy got to graduate school, it would be a shoe-in that he'll pop the question before finishing up that.

Yet that all changed upon her graduation thesis.

It went horribly wrong for her. She could still see Guy's blood on both her hands and clothes. No matter how long she scrubbed herself, it wouldn't come off at all. Even when parts of her skin became red with how hard she did the act.

Suffice to say she was a wreck and quickly barricaded herself back behind her walls.

Her time in graduate school thus became like her time prior to having Guy in her life. Everything came on repeat once more. Guy wanted her to open back up and no matter how hard she tried, Harley always regressed back with hardly any social interactions made for each day.

Things were alright, for the most part, as Harley had her family and the Crocks to fall back onto. They were the closest ones she could ever trust and they were the biggest helps in her downward spiral.

And once again, her life went upside down upon interning at Arkham.

It was unexpected for her. Her first patient soon became the bestest best friend she could ever have. And through Pam, Harley found the happiness she secretly longed for in what felt like an eternity.

She got more friends and connections. She obtained a new boyfriend, who turned out to be a bonafide superhero with quite the complicated past. She experienced all known parts of life she never would've imagined going through.

Sure there were bad amongst the good, but the rollercoaster ride was well worth it.

Naruto... Naruto Uzumaki... He needed her the most to help fix his first girlfriend. It was through herself did he seek comfort in which she soon gravitated towards him. The one person who, eventually, she needed the most. The one person who liked her as a friend, a confidant... and eventually another lover and a girlfriend who he loved and cared for equally. And hopefully one day a wife.

This same man held her life in his hands and took care of it. A man helped her through the nightmares, both the metaphor and literal sense, while replacing them with all sorts of pleasant dreams.

Yet upon her puddin's disappearance, Harley wished it was all a nightmare in which she could simply wake up from and everything would be fine. Unfortunately this was all real with the truth being too disturbing for her to handle on her own.

Harley hardly smiled in what felt like forever; for in fact it's only been about a week. Not the facade she pulls in order to fool others everything was okay, but the genuine article. The one which made her surrogate nieces, her girlfriends and her puddin smile back in equal measure.

What was once blissful smiles in bed at night, filled with basking glows of delightful hopes and dreams. Now they were filled with frowns, swimming with despair and misery as she yearned for the pleasantries to return.

Harley needed to be saved so she could save others. And in this storm that was being experienced, Harley needed quite the bright light to help bring her into safe hands.

"I can probably understand how it is with how you felt when you lost Nora."

"What your feeling now is considered fresh, mine has fermented for much longer." Victor said in a chilled tone.

Harley sighed frustratedly. "Please Victor, I understand that but at least know that I am trying to help you from a point of view that aligns with yours. The loss of a loved one is not an easy experience to bear."

Victor didn't reply in the beginning. "Apologies, Ms. Quinzel. I did not mean to come across as harsh like I did just now. I understand how much you love him. Same as my love for my Nora."

Harley could see the scientist bringing a hand up to near his chest. She didn't need to see him take out Nora's family heirloom out from underneath his shirt and play around with it in some manner. Since being admitted into Arkham, Harley had seen him never taking it off his person at all."

Soon Harley realized what Victor just said. "Wait, I don't love-"

"Please, it's clear as day on how much you love Naruto."

"...Really is that obvious, huh?"

"Plainly."

Harley merely coughed into her hand while looking away.

"Do you know what it is like to have the one you love with all your heart and soul be within arms reach? Yet remains so far from your grasp." Victors had a voice of forlorn sorrow. He clutched Nora's charm tightly to his heart as he trembled within his chair. "She's right there in front of me. Frozen in time, unmoving, unconscious and completely unaware how I'm beside her."

Harley remained silent, lips curving downward with her shoulders slumping. It was easy for her to say that no, she did not know how he felt exactly. But that didn't mean she didn't sympathize with him.

"For a while, Vic, I had a hard time trying to move on from the death of my first boyfriend." She admitted. "The first person I had let come close to me, outside of my family. After his… passing, I just didn't know how he could still be with me; despite people telling us he will be always." She let out a bitter chuckle. "Thought it was a whole lotta crap. Just this one big joke."

It was just after recent events did Harley rethink that after Death made herself known to them. She began to wonder that what everyone said back then was in fact true that Guy could've stayed by her side for a long time before deciding to move onto a nice condo or something past the pearly gates in the sky.

Victor opted to stay quiet, listening to Harley continue speaking on her past love and feeling of loss.

"A big joke." Harley said again with a derisive snort. "It's all he ever talked about you know? Just how everything was meaningless in the end."

"The Joker?"

Harley sneered. "Who else. That's practically all I hear anymore with any other doctor daring to have sessions with the jackhole. I wouldn't be surprised that he needs a good punchline to complete him in some shape or form."

Victor couldn't help but snort on the suggestion. "I can't help but agree with you there, Ms. Quinzel."

"Just Harley, Victor." the psychiatrist corrected kindly. "I figure the two of us have endured enough of our own versions of Hell to at least have some level of familiarity."

"Alright then… Harley." Victor said slowly.

She smiled slightly. "Yeah, The Joker. What a trainwreck that was. For the longest time, I thought my life was set in stone there with just him. The jackass."

Victor arched a brow with an expectant look. "But then Naruto-"

"But then Naruto." Harley said with a brighter smile tinted with melancholy. "He came along and well…"

Her patient frowned for a brief moment. "Where is Naruto right now? I wasn't told of the specifics on his whereabouts."

Harley was unsure on what to tell Victor. She could lie to him, saying her pudding had to take a sudden trip and taking too long to get back. Or go with the one many have believed so far as he was taken by the Heartless.

The last one practically devastated a number of people in order to cover up the truth.

After some inner turmoil, Harley came to a decision. It was a big one and she hoped her patient would understand the details.

She sighed. "The truth is-"

Things came to an abrupt end between the two. They heard the alarms go off before hearing the faint sounds of gunfire.

"Who do you think it is this time?"

"No clue, Victor." Harley responded, heading right to the door. Swiping her keycard and typing in the access code into the nearby panel, the cold door was unlocked. "But I'm about to find out." Opening the door, the bleached blonde spoke to the frozen doctor. "Stay here, would you?"

"Not like I can go anywhere."

Seeing Dr. Quinzel closed the door behind him, Victor kept on hearing the gunfire before an explosion went off. Curious as to what's happening, he went to the window on the far end of his cell and rubbed against it to see the not so great view of the world outside of his frosted room. There he saw a very large robot marching towards Arkham.

"Interesting." He muttered, watching the scene before him as he was quite curious as to who was being broken out of this place.

He had known various inmates breaking out of this asylum over the years. The Joker was the chief among them with his methods. Regardless of such acts, it was usually done through careful planning, hiring armed men, or pulling a favor to make it all happen; only to return some time later because of Gotham's heroes.

But the robot was certainly new.

Victor soon felt tremors in his cell, barely seeing the robot using it's arms to climb up the asylum's walls. He couldn't see anymore of it at one point, due to the angle and position he was looking from. For some moments, he figured the robot would come past him and reach a higher floor to procure some other inmate before fleeing the vicinity.

That wasn't the case when a bright light filled the room as it shined through his window… and it stayed there.

Worried on what was happening, Victor rushed to the console by the door to his cell and pressed the intercom button. "Guard? Harley? Is anyone there?!"

Victor heard glass breaking. Looking back, he saw the robot smashing it's arm through the double plated glass before breaking the wall surrounding it.

Victor started banging on the door, hoping someone could hear him in time. He started yelling at the top of his lungs when the robot drew in closer and closer. Once behind him, the robot grasped his arms and lifted him up as a compartment opened up in it's chest cavity before throwing the frozen doctor inside. The panel closed back up before Victor had the chance to escape.

With the task complete, the robot vacated the frozen cell and made its way out of the asylum.

-Batcave-

Standing in front of the Batcomputer, Robin, Alfred, Batman, Batgirl, Catwoman and Harley viewed the security footage of the latest incident to occur at Arkham.

When Harley was making her way to her office in order to get into her Jinx attire, she heard Victor's cries for help. She rushed as hard as she could to see what was wrong. By the time she got inside, she saw Victor was taken; which resulted in her reporting this to her bosses and informing the others on what just occurred.

"A robot that can shoot out an ice beam in order to make things easier to break out of Arkham. You gotta give Mr. Freeze credit, that's the most original one this year." Spoke the Boy Wonder."

"It's almost February." Said Batgirl.

"I know, but there's still time for more unique ones."

"I do agree with you on both counts, Dicky, but Victor was not behind it." Jotted in the psychologist before turning to the Dark Knight. "Mind rewinding back a bit, Brucey?" The masked billionaire did as requested. "Look at the expression of fear on his face."

The others took note of Victor's reaction to how he was being taken.

"That's definitely not easy to fake," commented Batman, "especially for a man claiming to be nearly dead to emotions. Fries was taken against his will."

"And obviously by someone with expertise in robotics." Barbara said before eying Selina and Bruce. "Remind you two of anyone?"

"Don't remind me." Selina grumbled out.

"It may or may not be Karl Rossum." Bruce said, typing away on his computer. "But it wouldn't hurt to ask."

"Then who should come with ya?" Harley inquired.

"Robin."

Hearing nothing else, the masked Grayson went to get prepped for the current mission. And telling by the tone of Bruce's voice, Selina and Barbara went to take care of things on their own. Since the Dynamic Duo were taking care of this case, someone needed to go out and to the patrols this night.

Harley, however, stayed in her spot.

"And?"

"Just him."

"But-"

"You're not coming."

Harley gasped. "What? Why not?"

Batman turned back to her, the psychologist turned part-time hero crossing her arms defiantly.

"Well?" Harley tapped her foot impatiently on the ground. "In case you all forgot, Vic's my patient and I am responsible for his well being."

"And have you proclaimed responsibility with the other patients who escaped from Arkham? Going out there and personally bringing them back?"

Harley bit the bottom of her lip. "Er…"

"Thought so." he said flatly

"C'mon, Brucey, let me come with-"

"No."

"But-"

"I said, no."

"Naruto would've let me come."

"...Harley."

"Vic is puddin's friend. I can't for the life of me possibly lose another part of him."

"We don't know if he's dead." Batman countered.

"I know that!" Harley yelled. "But right now, if I know my puddin', he would do anything for his friends. I know that and you know that Brucey."

Beside Batman, his ward gave him a knowing smile. "She's got you there, Bats."

Looking between the two, Bruce eventually released a small groan.

-Later-

Upon arriving at the current residency of Karl Rossum, just on the outskirts of Gotham, the group was about to ring the doorbell when the door abruptly swung open. Some were just about ready for anything…

"Greetings, Dynamic Duo and friend! I'm your biggest fan!"

...except for this.

Flying at them looked like a miniature version of Batman with a child-like appearance.

"Oh~ it looks so cute!" Jinx gushed.

The odd being became all bashful as it hovered in the air. "Ah~ Shucks!"

"What is it?" Asked Robin.

Before a response could be properly given, the mini-Batman started twitching out like crazy. Some sparks were seen before collapsing onto the ground.

'I just want to help!" It said. "-just want to help-just want to help-just want to help-"

The group eyed the piece of robotic tech before seeing someone picking it up from the ground. They realized it was Karl Rossum as he wore a sad look on his face.

"Poor little critter. I never could get his programming right."

"Cute toy, Karl." Batman said, eying the former CEO of Cybertron. "What was that supposed to be?"

"Bat-mite. A prototype for a new line of toys I was designing."

"Well I think it's rather adorable." Jinx said, drawing a chuckle from the robotics expert.

"Glad to see the older audience appreciates it." Karl soon ushered them inside to his home. "Do you want something to drink?"

"No thanks." Said Batman.

"I'm good." Spoke Robin.

"I'm fine with water or tea." Said Jinx.

"Perfect."

It wasn't long after when a toy came flying in, handing the bubbly hero an empty cup before pouring some tea into it. Once filled, it flew away and back into the kitchen.

Taking a sip, Harley hummed in delight. "Oh~ peppermint."

"Glad you like it."

Batman eyed the various electronics littering Rossum's home as they were mostly children's toys. But after his last experience with the man, more so with HARDAC, he thought otherwise.

"Cute toys you have here, Karl."

Karl already could tell what Batman was going to accuse him of, causing him to go in the defensive. "You know I'm out of the robot business, Batman."

"Then what about all of these?"

"Toys I help design and sell to many companies around the world. You'd be surprised on the growing demand."

Robin pulled out a folded up picture of the robot from the security footage and presented it to Karl. "Like tiny here?"

The former Cybertron CEO took the picture into his hand and gave it a better look. "Well now, if it isn't old M-9."

"Is it one of yours?" Asked Batman.

"Not at the scale here, but a smaller prototype." Karl informed them.

"And what was it supposed to do?" Asked Jinx, drinking up the rest of her tea.

"It was designed to be an ice machine robot to cool people off during the hot days or make ice for food and drinks."

"Any clue as to who might've used this M-9?"

"I had sold the prototype to Grant Walker a while back." Karl released a tired sigh. "By the look of things, it seems his boys pumped up the design a bit. Just… didn't expect to have it become a weapon, given what I'm looking at in this picture."

"The famous theme park mogul?" Questioned Robin.

"Yeah. I was one of Walker's original visioneers before I left and started up Cybertron." Karl informed them. "Constructing and programming the animatronic figures he used in his park attractions."

"Oh~ then I must thank you for your work." Jinx said coming up to Karl and shaking his hand with a gleeful smile. "I just love 'em to bits when puddin' and I went to Wonder City for his birthday. Sure the place was mostly converted into a paintball establishment. But what was left behind and preserved looked so damn fantastic!"

"Why thank you for the compliment, Ms. Jinx."

"No problem."

While Harley was gushing over Karl on his past and present works, Batman began to wonder now on what they'll be facing soon.

Karl's robotic designs were pretty good and if used in the wrong way, they can become very dangerous. Then came the question on how improved they became since Karl left Grant Walker's employment. Not to mention wondering why this M-9 was sent to kidnap Victor Fries.

-Elsewhere-

For the first time in a long while, Victor experienced a state of nauseousness.

Who can blame him in his current situation. He was being confined in a very tight, metallic space with very little amount of air to fill his lungs. Said space made it rather hard to move his body around as he was shoved in here in such an awkward position. And he would almost be suffocating from heat if it weren't for the cool feeling against his skin.

This made the frozen scientist wonder where he exactly was at right now. He could barely hear the sounds of water brushing against his metal coffin, briefly making him realize he was somewhere in Gotham's waters. But soon he might end up somewhere else, hopefully on dry land at least before suffocating from the lack of a subzero environment. After all, who would put all this effort in kidnapping him from Arkham of all places.

Hopefully his answers would be given soon.

Hearing a bit of loud clanking from his confined space, Victor guessed his robotic captor was now out of Gotham's waters and moving towards something. He soon realized it was some sort of lift of sorts, given the feeling of being pushed down in a fast pace. When it came to a stop, Victor tried to move a little before the panel keeping him inside of the robot slid open. This caused him to tumble out and crash onto the cold floor.

Groaning and regaining his bearings, Victor looked up and blinked on what was before him.

Outside of the present room he was in, there was a city landscape before him. But instead of the old look of Gotham, there was more of a new-age look to it as all of the buildings appeared relatively new.

Getting up onto his feet, Victor walked forward before feeling a clear plane of glass in front of him. Placing his hand on the surface, he felt the extreme cold upon his skin. And gazing around, the scientist saw he was in a compacted chamber of sorts, keeping him alive.

"Impressive." Drawled out Victor.

"Impressive?" Came an echo-like response. Looking over, Victor saw it originate from an old man wearing an expensive business suit while leaning on a cane. "You gaze upon all this and can only say 'Impressive'?" The businessman soon walked closer to the cooled chamber in the center of the room. "Though perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. I've made a hobby of studying your chilly history, Victor Fries."

Victor narrowed his eyes at the businessman. "And you are?..."

"Grant Walker, at your service, sir."

The name struck a bell. Grant Walker was a theme park mongul for a good number of decades. He remembered going to Wonder City with Nora on a number of dates before the place was shut down. After that, they went to a few other places owned and runned by Walker before Nora fell ill.

"And where am I, Walker?"

"This is Oceana, my prototype vision of the future. A vision that you shall help make a reality."

"Doubtful."

"We'll see."

Before Victor could say anything else, Walker flipped the top part of his cane and pressed some sort of button. The scientist soon felt a shift on the floor as it started moving downwards as he would be taken somewhere else in this Oceana place.

*Beep* *Beep*

Hearing the sound from his cane, Grant looked back into his opened compartment and accepted the call.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Sir, we've picked up an unauthorized craft entering our area."

The theme park mongul stroked his chin with a narrowed glance. "Can't afford nosy trespassers at this stage of the game. Dispatch our usual deterrents."

Speeding through Gotham's waters, the Batboat was getting closer and closer to Oceana; an artificial island a short distance out to see from the city. It took a little bit of digging to figure out where Grant Walker was currently at, due to him possibly operating through one of his current theme parks. But the group learned Grant was hosting an event at his latest park for both his employees and stockholders.

Sitting in the back seat of the Batboat, Harley was checking the scanners. "We're almost there boys. About a few minutes away."

In the seat in front of the masked psychologist, Robin voiced his current thoughts on the matter. "I still find it weird as to why an old man like Walker wanted to kidnap Mr. Freeze in the first place."

"Men like Walker are obsessed with getting their own way." Said Batman, who drove the ocean vehicle. "And they don't let little things like the law stop them."

From out of nowhere, several blips appeared on Harley's screen. "Boys, I'm picking up something on the scanners. Three small objects coming in fast."

"Are they boats?" Robin questioned.

"Doubt it." Responded Batman, shifting the gear and accelerating the Batboat to avoid what he believed to be torpedoes. "Hang on!"

Pulling a lever, Batman had the Batboat dive underwater so they can somewhat see what they were facing a little bit better. Upon seeing the torpedoes, the Dark Knight maneuvered his craft through the ocean currents to hopefully lose them.

Coming through some rock formations, Batman swerved through a gap as one of the torpedoes came into contact with it; exploding soon after. Due to them being so close to the blast, the Batboat started losing power with cracks appearing through the glass.

"We're takin' in water cap'n!" Harley yelled out, imitating an Irish/Scottish accent. "Don't know how much she can take!"

Batman tried to stabilize the underwater vessel, only to find out the system was shut down!

Things couldn't get any worse, could it?

"Those things are coming back!" Robin told them, seeing the remaining two torpedoes coming closer to them.

*KABOOOM*

From within Oceana, Grant Walker was waiting for the status of the uninvited craft. It wasn't long before hearing a series of *beeps* from his cane. Flipping the top, he spoke into it.

"Yes?"

"Intruder threat has been neutralized, sir."

"Excellent."

Ending the call with his employee, Walker made his way towards where his esteemed guest was being kept.

Outside of the artificial island, the remains of the Batboat started to sink into the ocean floor below. The occupants inside supposedly gone from this world will be dragged along with it.

Key word supposedly.

Coming out of the water not far away, Batman, Robin and Jinx managed to eject from the disabled watercraft and swam towards the surface.

Spitting out the air respirator from his mouth, Robin spoke to his fellow crime fighters. "Looks like we're swimming home, guys."

"Hopefully we can find a boat back to the mainland." Harley said soon after.

"Not before we have a talk with Mr. Walker." Came Batman's response before diving back under the water's surface. Both Robin and Jinx followed soon after as they swam towards a large pipe with a wire gate blocking their path. Pulling out a plasma torch from his utility belt, Batman got to work with his fellow crime fighters following suit.

From within a secluded chamber inside of the domed theme park, Grant Walker was walking towards Victor Fries as he was now in what appeared to be his old Freeze suit. The scientist could already tell it was not the one being kept at Arkham, given this suit was relatively new.

This made Victor wonder how the man knew of the details, and of how much.

"I think you'll find that suit to be a perfect duplicate to your original." Walker informed him. "Automatic temperature control, increased cybernetic strength. Even the cold gun works."

Freeze gave Walker a blank stare before whipping out the freeze gun and turning the safety off. With precision aim, Victor fired his weapon, releasing a stream of ice at his target. Instead of the park mongul, it was the M-9 robot some distance away. Upon contact, a thick layer of ice encompassed the robot. Stepping towards it, Victor punched the frozen machine, causing it to crumble into pieces.

"Yes." Victor drawled out, looking at the weapon in his grasp before aiming his attention to Walker. "Logically, I should do the same to you."

"Just hear me out, please." Walker pleaded, seeing the cold gun slowly move towards his form. "Like I said, I've studied you and your work, which I found quite fascinating. Your research and development in cryology was unprecedented. No one's been able to match what you've done and accomplished. In a matter of months, close to a year, you've advanced the field further than decades of research anyone could ever accomplish." The park mongul soon released a disappointed sigh. "It was very unfortunate Boyle never approved your aerosolizing chamber as it no doubt would have revolutionized the scientific world. I mean, do you know what could've been done with your research? Better food preservation, storage of medicines indefinitely, space colonization and more. And that's just thinking outside of your initial intention into cryology. Preserving living tissue in cryogenic status without irreparably harming it and keeping the person alive indefinitely."

What Walker said was true. His research could do so much more for the world. Yet Victor narrowed his eyes upon the mention of Ferris Boyle. A man so incredibly shortsighted, greedy and arrogant. The man who ruined everything.

"Is there a point to all of this?" Victor stressed out.

"Do you realize that in your frozen state, you'll age much slower than an ordinary human? You're practically immortal, my friend."

Victor didn't have to be reminded of this fact as he already came to that conclusion sometime after being admitted into Arkham. And it was quite the haunting fact on the results.

"Yes, eternal life trapped in this wretched shell." Came Mr. Freeze's response. "What a miserable joke."

"Oh. Miserable to you, but a godsend to me." Walker came up to the frozen scientist. "Look at me, Dr. Fries, I'm an old man. I've created wonders in my lifetime, but there is still so much to do!" He then reached out and placed a hand on Victor's armored shoulder. "I want to change as you have, to become like you: a being of blessed, eternal cold."

Victor saw the desperation in the old man's face. All he did was scoff in utter disbelief. This old man really wanted to become like he currently is?

"You're insane." Freeze refused, prying the man's hand away from him.

"Only you have the proper know-how to duplicate the accident that made you what you are. What I long to become."

In an instant, Mr. Freeze grasped Walker and lifted him up into the air with a snarl on his face.

"You want to live like this?" Came Victor's cold growl. "Abandoned and alone? A prisoner in a world you can see but never touch?" He soon let go of the old man, dropping him onto the cold floor. "Old and infirm as you are, I'd trade a thousand of my frozen years for your worst day."

Without another word, Victor went to find his way out of this place.

All he wanted to do now was return to Arkham and return to his work in peace. Though peace was a loose term as some of the doctors have been meddling into his research a bit too long now. Like Hugo Strange, for instance. Despite the asylum doctor providing the equipment and supplies to his cell, something about the man was setting off on edge and Victor didn't like it.

Displeased on seeing his ticket into immortality leaving, Walker decided to reveal his trump card.

"Actually, I have a different swap in mind." Flipping the top of his cane, Walker pressed a specific button.

Not far away, part of the floor opened up. Victor heard the gears moving as something was rising up from there. Aiming his freeze gun, the scientist was ready to combat against anything Walker was going to throw at him, whether it be machine or man.

Yet what came out was clearly not what he expected at all. For what appeared was something akin to a cryo-tube… with someone floating inside in suspended animation, given the dark silhouette.

Wanting to see what is going on, Victor walked up to the recent arrival. Once close, he gently brushed his armored hand across the glass, revealing who was behind the thick layer of obscuring frost.

The moment he did, Victor merely stood there, frozen in place. His eyes slowly widened beneath his red lens goggles. His breath started to become shallow as his heart rate spiked considerably. Dropping his gun not long after, due to his hand fidgeting out of utter surprise.

A part of him thought this was a trick, a ruse. Something to fool him into lowering his guard down. Yet another told him it wasn't as he gazed upon an all too familiar snowflake necklace.

Rubbing more and more off, Victor saw the details of the person inside. Once clear, the scientist could only mutter out one word in utter shock.

"Nora?"

Getting onto his feet, Grant Walker decided to answer some questions storming inside of Victor's mind. "I was a major investor in GothCorp a few years back and put up some money for their cryogenics program." He then snorted. "Though it appeared Ferris Boyle didn't send the donation your way to help fund your project, keeping it all to himself; making you have to rely on yourself and Naruto Uzumaki to fund on your research."

Victor was silent for several moments before mustering up something to say. "But… how?"

"The execs of GothCorp thought she perished from the accident, but my men got her out. With my technology, I was able to keep her alive in that cryo-pod. And with enough time, I might've found a way to restore her, my friend."

The scientist merely looked upon his wife, kept in suspended animation.

She looked so peaceful, so beautiful. It was like living in a waking dream where he didn't want to depart from.

As he kept gazing upon his beloved wife, he brought his hand up to where Nora's family heirloom is hung around his neck. Granted he can't exactly feel it in his grasp, due to the suit, but he could feel a small warmth emanating onto his chest.

Memories swept across his eyes with all of the happy moments he had with Nora. The day they first met, their first date, their wedding day, so on and so forth. Then that happiness became sorrowful as her body began to fail her. Promises being made and seemingly failing when Nora was proclaimed dead to everyone.

But now… things have changed.

"What is it you want?"

Grant smiled, voicing his only demand. "Granting my simple wish."

"...Very well."

-With Batman, Robin and Harley-

Peaking their heads out of the water, the three costumed heroes were successful in penetrating through Oceana's perimeters. Taking off their breathing apparatuses, they looked towards the bridge above them. There they saw a large number of people entering a stadium, where loud cheers and yells could be heard. And by the sound of it, there were a whole lot more than they would've realized.

Waiting for the last of the people to enter the stadium, they climbed out of the water. Before either of them could get a good look of their surroundings, they heard a metallic whirl in the air. From the distance, the heroes saw several security probes flying through the air as they scanned the perimeter. Not wanting to be seen, they spotted a ladder bolted along the stadium's walls before rushing towards it. Climbing up a good number of feet, they saw the security probes pass on by, none the wiser they just missed seeing the three intruders.

Making their way up, Robin couldn't help but gaze upon his surroundings. "This feels like a lost city of some kind." He commented. "I mean, look at it."

"I get what ya mean, Robin." Jinx added in. "Looks more like Disney World got retrofitted into becoming a water park of the future."

Robin snorted. "Now that's something to imagine."

Reaching the upper level, the three got off the bolted ladder and made their way inside. The sounds grew louder and louder before reaching it's apex once they witnessed all of the attendees sitting and standing around a series of large monitors from the rafters above. It wasn't long after the screens flickered on, prompting the audience to applaud once the visage of Grant Walker appeared.

"Welcome, friends." Greeted the theme park mongul via live-feed. "Thanks to all of our hard work, Oceana's nearly up and running for its intended purpose."

"What did he mean by 'intended'?" Asked the masked blonde. "I thought this place was just supposed to be another run-of-the-mill theme park."

"We'll soon find out, Jinx." Said Batman as they listened in.

"Now, while most folks believe Oceana's just another theme park, we know better. Fact of the matter is, it's not too nice outside anymore." Walker informed them all before video footage of various acts were shown. "Crime, hatred, violence. Things keep going on like that, it could mean the end of civilization."

"Now that's just being very short sighted." Jinx muttered out. "Of course all that's gotta happen. But that doesn't mean you can't just give up on tryin' to make things betta."

"I'm with you on that one." Robin said before Batman hushed them both.

Walker's image returned as he continued his speech. "That's why I decided to build a city where good folks can live in peace. A new… Garden of Eden, you might say. From which, a new race of people may spring."

"Why am I getting a little sense of Moonraker coming around?" Robin said, scratching his head, earning a small gasp from Jinx.

"You too?"

The footage then changed to that of a large cannon as it was being tested on. Freezing secluded areas in large glaciers in terms of examples. Not long after, footage of M-9's and larger security probes were deployed as they fired off freeze rays for demonstration purposes.

"Now, of course you can't have Spring without a little Winter. About five years of it, I'd say."

"Doesn't that look like the same cannon Freeze had constructed last year?" Robin questioned.

"It does. But it's much larger this time." Responded Batman.

"Boy, Victor's gonna be pissed." Jinx playfully groaned. "He should've at least gotten that copyrighted or somethin'."

"Now don't worry, everyone. We'll all be warm as toast in here." Walker said reassuringly to the masses before sounding a little regretful. "As for those folks outside, well, it's sad but I'm only speeding up what they were doing to themselves."

"Brother. He's all heart, isn't he?" Robin sarcastically said.

"Walker's a madman." Spoke the Dark Knight.

"More like him being Walt Disney's evil cousin or something', wanting to take over the world." Added in the masked psychologist. "But instead of spreading love and joy, with thoughtful and genuine messages via entertainment, we get this."

Before either of them could sneak off and try to find Walker, they were spotted by several security probes. Large spotlights appeared and shined upon the three heroes.

"Crap."

With Harley's initial response, the three costumed heroes had to react quickly to avoid being taken down. As Batman and Robin whipped out and threw some exploding batarangs, Jinx pulled out her guns and fired off live rounds. There was some damage done by their beginning assault, but not much could be done on short notice.

Luckily, Robin was able to land a good toss, colliding a batarang into the optics of one probe. Once the throwing weapon exploded, the propelled machine fell onto the rafters nearby and became non-operational.

Leaping into the air to avoid a mechanical arm, Harley landed on top of the security probe before unloading a clip onto some of the propellers keeping it afloat. As they were damaged significantly enough, it plummeted down and crashed towards the stadium below just as Harley jumped off.

It wasn't long after the loud sound of metal crunching and crashing was heard down below. And along with it came the panicked cries of the attendees.

"You need to watch where you're doing that!" Batman berated her, firing off a grappling line.

It missed his intended target of the optics but ended up in the propeller. He was forced to let go of his device as it was coiled up into the security probe; it could no longer float dozens of feet above ground with the propeller broken.

"Look who's talkin', B-man!"

Before Batman could refute a little on Harley's comment, he heard Robin's struggles. Looking over, both Jinx and the Dark Knight saw Robin was captured by one of the security probes. Before either could jump in and help free the Boy Wonder, another probe appeared and launched it's mechanical arms. The two moved out of the way, but Batman was not fast enough from the one aimed towards him, causing the clamps to latch onto his legs.

Landing not far away, Harley rolled to avoid another attempt in her capture. Coming out from her recovery, she saw Batman was being pulled in as the Dynamic Duo was now prisoner.

"Batman!" She cried out before firing off more bullets into the mechanical limb trying to ensnare her. "I'm coming!"

"Jinx, stay back!" Ordered Batman.

"Yeah, run!" Robin yelled out.

"But-"

"Go, we'll be fine!"

Harley didn't want to leave either of her comrades behind. But what choice did she have? Going against her earlier intentions, she complied before running off to avoid capture. Promising she'll find a way to get them out of this mess.

Being wrapped up tightly by the probes' mechanical arms, the Dynamic Duo were brought down to the large monitors down below. Grant Walker glared at the heroic pair through the live feed, not too pleased at all of their arrival.

"Everytime I open up a park, I get gatecrashers."

"We've seen your insane vision of the future, Walker." Batman told the madman, who didn't exactly listen to reason.

"My world will have no crime, violence, or pain."

True, the goal of such a world is nice and all. Yet taking out an extremely large percentage of the world's population is not the way to go!

"You can add free will to that list too!" Robin added in.

"A small price to pay for order."

"Your order! For your select few!" Retorted the Dark Knight.

"Excuse me, but I fail to see the problem with that." Walker stated before digitally ordering his probes to bring his two prisoners to the platform down below. Once landing, said platform lowered itself to a far deeper level.

Coming to the very end, the Dynamic Duo started to feel a deep chill in the room. It wasn't out of nervousness, but out of the actual temperature as they started seeing their breath.

Not far away, a door opened up. Looking over, the costumed pair saw Mr. Freeze walking through with his cold gun primed and ready.

"Freeze, I don't know what Walker said or promised you, but you can't help him go through with his plan."

Victor ignored Batman's warning, hosting up his cold gun and aimed. "I have no choice."

Saying his piece, Mr. Freeze fired his weapon.

-With Harley-

"Stupid, stupid, stupid." Harley said to herself, a tear falling out of her eye.

How could she just up and leave Bats and Robby like that? Even if they did tell her to leave, she sure as hell wanted to stay.

What would Naruto think?

She stopped in her tracks, frown marring her face.

What would Naruto think?

Teeth clenched, she knew right now that Bats and Robin needed help. And right now, she was all they had. And she wouldn't let them down.

There had to be a way and dammit she'd find one. She just needed to get back in.

Hearing voices not far off from where she stood, Harley's face changed into one of determination and focus as she ran in the direction of where she heard those speaking a bit too loudly around these parts.

Off at one of the many entrances into the stadium, a group of armed men stood around.

Well… more like loafing around as they didn't really take this duty that seriously at the present time. Many were sitting around or merely huddled in groups, smoking, drinking from flasks or playing cards that one thugs had brought along with him.

"Why are we even out here?" a random grunt asked aloud. "Didn't what's her face catch the Bat and the Boy Blunder?"

The man closest to him shrugged. "There's still some of those other hoods runnin' around Gotham. One could pop up without us knowing."

"Like who?" another gunman asked aloud. "We got the big fish and even his partner. Nobody has seen that Van guy for a while now."

"What about those shadowy freaks?"

A collective shudder ran down the present group of guards' spines.

"Dude, don't tempt that." one hissed out. "Redgie was one who ran into those things and I haven't seen him since."

"Right, right sor-"

*THWACK*

"WHAT THE FU-GACK."

"Hey boys!" Said the Mischievous Maiden with a steely voice, jabbing the edge of her baseball bat into the chest of the grunt who shouted out.

"Shit, what the fuck is she doing here?!"

"I just needed to let off some steam before going to help B-man and Birdy." Harley declared, holding her bat in one hand. "So, rent-a-cops, you gonna help me out or what?"

Walking towards the closest guard, he raised his gun only for it to be swatted aside by a horizontal swing from Harley. The gun clattered to the ground with Jinx surging forward and elbowing the man in the jaw with her right arm.

With her left still gripping her bat, she swung it back. The portion of her bat just above her hand smacked into the man's cranium and sent him crashing down to the ground.

"Get that crazy bitch." one thug yelled out making Harley's brow twitch.

"Crazy? Maybe. Bitch?" Jinx's eyes narrowed making the man who called out the order flinch. "For tonight, I'm worse than that."

There were several nearby and one had tried to fire at her yet Jinx was already moving. She jabbed the tip of her bat right into the man's hand over the trigger, making him cry out and let go of his gun.

Grasping her bat with both hands, Jinx swung her weapon in a spinning strike that knocked the man out clean with a tooth flying out.

Resting her bat on her shoulders, Harley ducked under a man's arm and shot up to use his body as a boost. Once above him, she locked her legs around his head and pivoted her body back carrying the man up and over with her momentum. A loud thud of the man's head hitting concrete ground cleaned his lights out.

Kicking up, she winced and ducked back her head as one thug managed to get his gun up right to her face.

He fired his weapon with the bullet passing right through her bangs. Snapping her knees up to her chest, Harley delivered a powerful drop kick to the man's gut with the wind getting knocked out of his chest. Upon landing on the ground, Harley angled herself to rest upon her lower back while bashing the soles/heels of her feet right up to the thug's chin.

When one of the guards charged right at her, Jinx leaped over him and pushed him to the ground. Ending up on the other side, she got in close to another guard and kicked his chest. Barely seeing a punch coming her way, she ducked from the hit before grasping his arm. Getting a firm hold, she flipped him onto the ground before kicking him away.

Performing a somersault, she upholstered her bat before hitting a "homerun" against a guard's head before swinging it across his diaphragm. When that man was down for the count, Jinx dashed towards the final man left nearby.

The moment she got in close, she delivered a well placed blow onto his upper body. It was from there did her anger get the best of her as she unloaded a volley of a dozen swings or so onto him before he was down for the count and not really responding soon after.

Controlling her breath, Harley huffed. "Boy, you rent-a-cops suck."

All she got in response were muffled groans all around.

"Now if you'll excuse me," she began as she started pilfering the guards of several items, "I'll be taking a few things off of ya, if ya don't mind."

What she did take were the guard's magazines, a security card and all of their walkie talkies. The latter she placed onto a pile and started breaking them with her bat. She did so-so none of the guards would alert the other ones of her presence too soon. Once done she went on her merry way.

Coming across one of the locked doors, she pulled out one of the pilfered security cards and swiped it through the slot. Once Jinx was granted access, she strolled on through.

With the door locking behind her, the Mischievous Maiden went down a hallway before coming to a stop. Up high onto the corner of a wall, she spotted a security camera. Hugging the wall, she pulled out a tracking device and activated it.

"Hmm, signal's weak. No doubt with me seeing them going down an elevator shaft in the middle of the stadium." She muttered to herself. "Gonna need to get down deeper to get an accurate read."

Putting the device away, she looked back to the camera. She could wreck it with a throwing weapon, but she didn't know if she could press her luck in there being a smart guard actually paying attention to the security system. She soon wished there was a way for her to sneak past.

Luckily for her, she saw a grate not far away before seeing a long trail going down the hallway to parts unknown.

Smiling to herself, she crept towards the grate and lifted it up before slipping on in.

Thank god for her being a lithe and thin lady to be able to move through the vents. Only problem was… well, being well endowed certainly had their benefits.

But right now, this was not one of them.

Eventually reaching the end of the road, per say, she popped on out and checked where to possibly go to next. Harley frowned as she saw there being no other means of going down the levels. There wasn't a flight of stairs she could take, only an elevator.

She could only hope there wasn't a security camera in there.

Seeing as there was no other choice, Jinx had to take a risk and hope she wasn't jinxing it.

Looking towards the buttons, she saw there was… quite a lot.

For some little part of her, she really wanted to just press them all and just go floor by floor until reaching her appropriate stop. But that would take too long to do. Who knows what Walker had in store for Batsy and Roby?

Pressing the middle button, past the main ground button, she decided to comb through most of the floors at a certain point and go on from there. Once the doors closed, she pulled out her tracker and kept an eye out for when it'll start going off.

Once going on down, it honestly didn't take long for the elevator to stop. When the doors opened up, Harley blinked upon seeing the guard before her who stared back with a cigarette dangling in his mouth.

Without another moment, she whacked him over the head and the man dropped to the ground unconscious. Cringing to herself as the doors closed, she leaned back only for the next floor to open up with two guards walking in...

And completely ignore her.

"What do you think?"

"Voice recognition in an elevator? That'll be hell for Donnie and his accent. You know it won't work at all for him."

Jinx merely eyed the two, slowly walking back up to the back of the elevator. She kept her mouth shut so neither of the guards could take notice of her. But that didn't mean she wasn't prepared to take care of them the moment either of them were to actually look back.

The floor that they punched in dinged with them stepping out and continuing their conversation.

"Why's that?"

"Because the voice recognition system is racist."

"...The hell you talking about?"

"It works fine hearing a normal accent."

"Normal as in…"

"American. But for some stupid reason, the system just can't pick up on Scottish."

"Why?"

"Scottish being too strong, in my opinion. System can't really understand it for some god damn reason."

"And how'd you know of this?"

"Saw it happen with one of the other guys here."

"Huh? Weird." The doors soon opened up with the guard voicing one last thought. "Would really suck if a guy using it was mute."

The moment the doors closed behind them, silence filled the space.

Harley stood stock still in the elevator, watching the doors close on the two bickering guards.

Well that happened.

She couldn't believe her luck.

Best not to press it then.

*Beep* *Beep*

Oh it seemed she got close to her fellow capes!

Pressing the button to get off the next floor down, she quickly exited the elevator and went to search for the Dynamic Duo. With her tracker in hand, she went down the hallway and hoped things would go her way without too much trouble.

-With the Dynamic Duo-

As they were regaining consciousness, both Batman and Robin saw they were encased in a thick layer of ice with only their upper bodies all fine and dandy. Both struggled as they were hoisted up by one of the M-9 robots as they were forced to witness something about to happen with Grant Walker.

Said theme park mongul was currently suiting up in something similar to Victor's cryo-suit, but less bulky with no armaments attached. And one of Walker's employees was attaching several tubes into the suit.

"I know it's a bit chilly in here, but I figured you'd like to stick around and see the show." Walker looked over and spoke. "How are we doing?"

Harley followed the mongul's line of sight and saw Victor currently calibrating and working through a console.

With a final strike of the key, the frozen scientist merely spoke up. "It's ready."

Satisfied with the answer, Walker twisted the domed helmet in and locked it in place. Lying down on a medical bed, he was strapped in before giving Victor the "OK" to begin the procedure.

"I must forewarn you now, Walker, this will hurt… a lot."

Pulling the lever, the machine roared to life. The cryogenic formula flowed through the tubes and entered Walker's suit. The moment the liquid came into contact with his flesh, the mongul bellowed out a painful yell, spasming to and fro as he was strapped down. With a flip of a switch, currents of electricity came rushing down and electrocuted Walker.

By the time it came to an end, Walker could already feel the change happening in a manner of moments. He didn't have to look into his reflection to know his skin drastically changed with a blue tint added in with his hair becoming stark white instead of the dull grey.

Once calm and collected, Walker focused on his limbs and freed himself out of his constraints. There was no challenge at all as they broke apart.

"Incredible." He said with utter glee, getting off of the medical bed before disconnecting the tubes. "I've gotten more out of this than I ever would have dreamed."

To show more of his newfound capabilities, he brought his arms up and slammed them down onto the medical bed as it broke in half. The moment this occurred, he stumbled in his step. His employees came to his side to help him get steady soon after.

"This will take some getting used to." Chuckled the newly frozen man. "Both the suit and my strength."

"Once Project Deep Freeze is completed, you won't need the suit." Spoke one of Walker's employees.

"Well, let's get that started." Walker turned his attention over to Mr. Freeze, who was turning off the console. "You coming?"

Stepping away from the console, Victor faced Walker. "I've done what you wanted. Now leave me be."

"Suit yourself."

As the theme park mongul was leaving the lab, Harley was getting closer to her comrades' positions through the air ducts.

It was a little crazy getting here. Having to take care of several more passing guards, knocking them out and making sure neither of them would radio in for help. And upon learning Batsy and Roby were in a far off area on the floor, she decided to go through an… unconventional means of getting there.

Hence her crawling through the air vents John McClain style.

The Mischievous Maiden was so glad they were large enough for her, not to mention actually clean; unlike the past ones she went through.

By the time she came to her stop, she looked through the panel to see Batman and Robin's current predicament with Victor focusing his attention elsewhere in the room.

"You can't let Walker do this." Batman said to the frozen scientist.

"Billions are gonna die if he succeeds." Robin added in, hoping it'll be enough for Victor to snap out of it.

Unfortunately, Victor wasn't swayed. "That's not my concern." He walked away from them as the Dynamic Duo tried to see where he was exactly going to. But Harley was able to. "All that matters is I once again have my wife and the means to restore her."

This halted all forms of thought running through the costumed heroes' minds.

'Wife?' They unanimously thought.

Seeing the bit of confusion on the Dynamic Duo's face, but not Jinx's, Mr. Freeze went to a nearby console. Flipping a switch, the lights turned on to reveal Nora's cryo-pod.

The moment they saw her, so many thoughts raced through their minds.

She was supposed to be dead. How was she alive? How was this possible?

Coming up to Nora's cryo-capsule, Victor gently caressed the glass in a loving, caring manner.

Seeing this new variable right now, Batman had to come up with something to convince Dr. Fries to help them.

"She'll wake up in a dead, frozen world that you helped destroy." Victor turned around, anger starting to boil as Batman continued to speak. "She'll hate you for that."

Victor practically hissed. "Silence."

"You think you're alone now? Wait until she learns the truth."

Quickly priming his cold gun, Mr. Freeze roared. "I said, silence!"

With a pull of the trigger, he fired off his weapon as a stream of ice came into contact with the Dynamic Duo. Their icy confinement started to grow and entrap them even further.

It was at this point did the Mischievous Maiden break through the panel in front of her. As the metal plating fell onto the ground, she leaped out and landed on her feet before calling out. "Victor, stop!"

"Jinx?" Spoke the Dynamic Duo, surprised to see her again so soon.

Halting the cold stream onto the two entrapped heroes, Mr. Freeze aimed his weapon at the new arrival.

Jinx immediately held up her hands. "Woah there! I'm not here to fight you. So will you please lower your cold gun?"

Even if the room was of normal temperature, it felt like it became frigid with Mr. Freeze's glare aimed towards her. "You know I can't do that."

"Is that her, Victor?" She asked.

The scientist didn't respond, but it was quite obvious.

"She's beautiful."

"She is." Mr. Freeze agreed. Silence filled the room as he kept his cold gun aimed at the new arrival.

"She really means so much to you, huh?"

Of course Jinx knew the obvious answer to that. She merely had to play a part, not knowing everything she knows about her patient.

"Nora is everything to me. The lone spot of warmth in an otherwise frigid world." Was Victor's response. "Have you ever seen a flower die?"

It wasn't just Jinx, but the Dynamic Duo as well, curious as to why Freeze asked that.

"Seen my fair share of them." She said honestly.

"Have you ever watched something that was once so beautiful, so full of life, collapse and rot from within. I have. Countless times throughout my life, but none were so beautiful as my Nora." Victor said onto her and unintentionally the entrapped Dynamic Duo. "Where I was cold and detached, she was joyous and outgoing. She saw me and where others saw an outcast, she saw a friend. Eventually we became truly close, never wanting to part from each other ever since."

Harley can remember some of these discussions in their past chats together back in Arkham. Even when asking Naruto for his insight on Nora. While she was used to hearing Victor saying such things in their sessions, now there was a new flare and edge to it all; given Nora was a good number of feet away from her.

"She sounds like one fantastic gal."

"She truly is." Victor said solemnly. "I never deserved her, but she stayed by my side regardless. And for the first time in my life, I was extremely happy because of her." He soon gazed upon his wife's suspended form. "In my wedding vow to her, I promised to always protect and never give up on her. And I intend to keep that promise no matter what. Moreso now more than ever."

Jinx can clearly respect such a vow. Who wouldn't? Only jerkwads who go back against their word on such a special occasion, that's who.

For some, it could seem like an empty promise. Just pretty words to say to make the wedding ceremony seem special. But genuinely hearing them from an honest person who truly loves their significant other…

It was something she can't wait for on her special day.

Shoving such feelings aside, Jinx had to get into the issue at hand.

"Victor, you need to listen. If you let Walker go through with his plan on not just putting Gotham on ice, but the rest of the world, then what would Nora think of this? What would she think of her loving, caring husband who turned his back against humanity. Someone who she got to know and fell in love with the shy yet brilliant man who later became her devoted husband."

Mr. Freeze was silent as Jinx continued. "You need to understand that the fruitloop of a Walt Disney knock-off only cares about his messed up dream and living forever, not you! And certainly not your wife!" The masked blonde gritted her teeth as she vented off some of her emotions. "I know you're hurting, but I am too. Having such a wound break open once again is alarming, making one think irrationally and paranoid on what may cause the pain to worsen. So don't think you're the only one." Harley soon gazed upon Nora's comatose body hanging in suspended animation. "If possible, what would she tell you right now?"

Mr. Freeze was ever more silent, gazing upon his wife. Reflecting on the words spoken to him as an inner turmoil took place.

If he were to let Walker's plan commence on not just Gotham but the world, Victor would regain his wife back with no signs of her life threatening illness. He then already imagined the look of disappointment and horror on her beautiful face aimed towards him. She would think of him as truly dead as all that she would ever see in him, now and forever, was a cold hearted monster.

Victor would ultimately wish he can die if that were to come to pass. Nora was and still is the light of his life. The one who helped make him truly happy to be alive.

And it wasn't just Nora who came across his mind, but his former tenant and good friend, Naruto. A man who helped them out through the darkest of times since Nora was diagnosed. A man who grieved for them when others haven't when both were thought dead to the world.

Like his wife, Naruto would only see him as a monster if he didn't take action in stopping Walker's plans.

Saying nothing, Mr. Freeze walked away from Nora's capsule and went towards the entrapped Dynamic Duo. Grasping onto the ice, he used much of his strength to break the ice as the two heroes started to get free.

Seeing this, Harley smiled brightly.

Shedding the last of the ice off of themselves, Batman and Robin turned their attention back to the frozen scientist.

"Come. There is much to do in so little time."

-Meanwhile-

Entering the command center via elevator, Walker walked beside one of his scientists.

"What's the status of the cannon?"

"It's operational, sir."

Walker smiled as he soon gazed upon the large cannon situated in the very center of the room. And working across the many consoles down below were the many robotic drones -quite literally- tirelessly getting everything set for his coming plans.

His plan wouldn't have happened at all, let alone this soon, if it weren't for him seeing Mr. Freeze's actions last year. From the cryology technology retrofitted to become an ice cannon strong enough to entrap the GothCorp building all in one shot.

After Mr. Freeze was sent to Arkham and the cryo-cannon was seized, Walker had several men planted into study it to the fullest so they may reverse engineer it into what lies before him now. Instead of it freezing over a building in a single shot, the cryo-cannon can freeze an entire city with just one go.

Walker was distracted with him marveling that everything was coming together ever so nicely, he didn't know what was happening behind him. Coming into the command center, Mr. Freeze walked out of the elevator and headed straight towards Walker and his engineers.

Hearing the clanking of boots, Walker turned around and saw the new arrival, greeting him kindly. "Ah, you've come to join us after all, my friend."

The frozen scientist said nothing. All he did, however, was quickly aim his cold gun and fire off a stream onto the robotic workers down below.

Seeing his creations being entombed in ice, Walker began to panic. "Wait! What are you doing?!"

Victor said nothing as he continued to disrupt Walker's plans.

"Stop him!"

Before he could continue further, Mr. Freeze was seized and lifted up into the air. Struggling, the frozen scientist looked back and saw the M-9 was the culprit in his current circumstance. Bringing a metal hand up to the glass domed helmet, it started to apply pressure onto the surface, causing it to crack substantially. If it fully breaks, Victor might not have long to properly expose his body to the extreme cold or else he may perish.

Luckily for him, the M-9 ceased it's actions when a batarang lodged itself into a small opening in the joint. The blade sliced through some of the circuitry, causing it to malfunction and let go of Freeze's helmet. It was at this point did a pair of bodies crash into the large robot, both from behind and below.

When Freeze fell onto the metal floor, he barely saw Robin and Jinx combating against the M-9. The Boy Wonder was stabbing his batarang into the robot's neck while the Mischievous Maiden fired off several bullet rounds into the legs. As that M-9 collapsed out of malfunctioning, another appeared to take its place. But before it could attack the two heroes in front of it, a batarang soared through the air and lodged itself deep into the back of its head before exploding. Glancing over, Victor saw it came from the Dark Knight.

"Sorry, Walker, but there's no maddening utopia shenanigans happening today!" Jinx proclaimed with a jotting smile. Hoisting Robin onto his feet, she continued to taunt the man from afar. "Also, I believe good Uncle Walt would've been easier to understand things if he was still alive today than you will ever be." She sniffled in a mocking manner. "Oh, how sad your life is."

Seeing the opposition taken care of for the time being, Mr. Freeze stomped towards Walker with a glare behind his red goggles. The frozen theme park mongul was backed against the railing and didn't have the means of escape. He did try to make a break for it, but Mr. Freeze seized him before throwing him into a vat container of coolant down below.

Wanting to end this, Victor used his cool gun to form an ice ramp from the platform he currently stood on to the floor below. Once made, he slid down before reaching towards the central control system.

Smashing the ice covering the panel, Mr. Freeze didn't realize Walker was coming towards him, who climbed out of the vat of cooling agents for the cryo-cannon. He picked up a wayward pipe nearby and stormed towards the frozen scientist with fury on his face.

"This is my dream! My vision!" Walker said in utter madness, swinging the pipe down onto Victor's cold suit. "I cheated death to make it real and you won't stop me!"

Moving out of the way of Walker's assault, Victor glared at the man before him. "You may live forever, Grant Walker, but your mad dream dies now."

Without another word, Freeze quickly drew his cold gun and fired off a stream directly into Walker's suit. With how close the man was and how powerful the blast was, Walker was sent flying and crashed into the coolant vat container. The stream didn't stop there as ice encompassed and trapped the changed theme park mongul in his place.

With the man taken care of, Victor went back into what he was doing before he was harshly interrupted. With the ice no longer in his way, Mr. Freeze pressed and flipped a series of dials and buttons before focusing on the main dial.

Seeing what was happening, Walker roared in utter fright. "What are you doing?! That's the main power core! An overload will blow this city out of the water!"

"Exactly." Said Mr. Freeze, cranking the dial up higher and higher till it can't go any further.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

Getting tired from hearing Walker's voice, Victor quickly aimed his cold gun and fired a stream at his form, further encompassing the mongul in ice. In a manner of moments, the ice surrounded his helmet, making it truly hard to hear even a peep from Walker.

With his little task done, Mr. Freeze went over to the nearby console and typed away onto the keyboard. Once tapping into the video and radio feeds throughout Oceana, he spoke towards the masses via public broadcast. "Attention, all residents of Oceana. Your city is doomed. If you value your lives, you will evacuate now. That is all."

It wasn't long after Victor's transmission did the entire artificial island experience a massive earthquake. Everyone inside of the command center could only imagine what was happening outside. But they will soon witness it all as ice broke through the floor around them as pillars and stalagmites quickly shot towards the ceiling. The moment this occurred, so many people started fleeing for their lives. Some went to try and procure Grant Walker but Robin and Harley were the ones to stop them.

"There's no time!" Robin hollered out, escorting a pair of scientists out.

"Come on, people! We gotta leave before we all become human-icicles!" Shouted the masked psychologist, pushing some engineers out of the way from being skewered.

It was utterly maddening on the chaos unleashed upon the artificial landmass. Everyone fleeing towards the many lifeboats and ships. And by the time the three costumed heroes made it to the docks, all but one ship had left.

"There's our ride." Said the Boy Wonder.

"Come on, let's go!" Spoke the Dark Knight.

Jinx was about to go after them when she saw Mr. Freeze standing behind. "Victor?"

"I'm staying with Nora. I won't lose her again."

Hearing Victor's intention, the costumed heroes widened their eyes in utter shock. In their attempt to escape this place, they forgot to go back to the lab and get Nora!

Before they could attempt to go back, a thick layer of ice was formed in front of them. Overcoming from their shock, they briefly thought it was ice generated from the coming overload. In reality, it originated from Victor's cold gun.

Slamming her hands onto the wall of ice, Harley screamed. "Victor, no!"

She made the attempt to break through the ice with an explosive when Batman grabbed onto her arm.

"We need to go now!" Urged Batman. "This whole place is going under!"

The Mischievous Maiden looked over to Robin, hoping he could help. But to her dismay, he was conflicted but ended up choosing his mentor's side.

Looking back, she saw Victor was no longer there as he went back to where Nora was still being kept. Tears formed in her eyes, feeling like she failed.

With no other option, the three heroes ran towards the ship and headed towards the bridge. Once turning the system on, Batman had the turbines go into overdrive. They lurched back with the sudden propulsion, causing Robin and Harley to stumble and almost fall onto the ground.

Seconds sped on by, which felt like eternity, hoping they can escape the blast radius and make it out alright-

*KABOOOM*

The sudden explosion caused their ship to shake to and fro by the given shockwave. More so once their sea vessel was met with the massive wave crashing into them from behind.

It took several moments for Batman to get their ship steady, hoping they wouldn't flip over from the initial blow. Luckily for them, this escape vessel Walker had made was quite sturdy.

Perhaps once things were taken care of, the masked Wayne could take a good look at this and see what could be done with the designs.

-Batcave-

It was quite the interesting time for the costumed heroes as they had to inform Commissioner Gordon on what transpired earlier that night. At least they didn't have to talk to the media outlets, who quickly came to the GCPD for answers after interviewing those who escaped Oceana. At least Jim can get things across better than either Batman's blunt statements, Robin's responses and Jinx's answers.

Especially since a huge amount of property was destroyed within Gotham's boundaries. So proper channels had to be done rather than going directly to the crime fighters.

After giving Gordon their report, they retreated back to the Batcave in order to unwind from what occurred at Oceana. Revelations and possible failures being the chief among what loomed over their heads.

"Wonder if everyone got out in time." Harley said after getting out of her Jinx attire.

"At least we aren't like Walker, who's probably trapped in an ice cube for eternity." Dick joked, hoping to lighten up their mood.

"A price to pay for his ambition." Said the billionaire.

"What do you think of Victor?" Dick asked. "Do you think he made it?"

"I'm not entirely sure." Bruce admitted. "But if his condition truly made him immortal…"

"He's alive."

Both Dick and Bruce looked over to Harley with a peculiar look in her eyes.

"Harley…"

"He's a tough cookie, Brucey." A sad smile soon formed on her lips. "He's back with Nora. There's no way he's gonna kick the bucket this soon before seeing her awake and well."

And true to Harley's words, Victor was alive.

Floating across what remained of Oceana was a large block of ice. Drifting to and fro across the waters of Gotham to parts unknown as it soon ventured into the Atlantic.

Inside an air bubble within the extremely thick layer of ice, Victor kneels solemnly before his wife's capsule and reaches out to her hand with his own. In his other hand was Nora's family heirloom, gently held as a small glimmer could possibly be seen off of it. And tears gently rolled down his cheeks, they froze not long after. But that didn't stop with the bitter sweet happiness Victor felt right now.

"We are together again, my love."

Love… Love can be beautiful or tragic for some people who are with someone they truly care about. The path one takes is difficult, with many hesitating to venture further or straying off for one's safety. But for those who risk their very lives for the betterment of others, then they'll do everything they can to keep them happy and alive.

-End Chapter-

AN:

It's honestly been awhile since working on this story. After all, I was feeling burned out on the last few times updating this before deciding to focus on A Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts with my good pal free man writer.

But now I need to try and dust off this story and some others, hoping the mojo will kick back in.

FMW: Glad I was able to help on this as much as I was able to. Felt good returning to this one after so long.

Anyways, be sure to review this story guys! Would like the criticisms. Please and thank you!

R&R