Chapter Fourteen

Annie’s POV:


Imagine the feeling you get when you’re having a nightmare. You want to scream but you can’t, you want to run but you’re body physically won’t move, a wave of true fear paralyzes you.


Well that’s exactly how I felt as the Joker called out “Doctor, we are ready for you” and a giggle escaped his lips.


The only door that led to the room cracked open. A tall, emaciated man with long arms crept through the door way. His eyes were the strangest shade of yellow. He was bald and had a peculiar beard. He looked like the mad scientist in every horror movie I had ever seen—and I’ve seen a lot of horror movies.


His tall figure hunched over as he eagerly approached me. I squirmed like my life depended on it. The grips on my arms held me down on the table. I wanted to scream but there was no one that would hear me.
“Batsy, this is Hugo Strange. But I think you two have met.” The Joker said as he handed the doctor the syringe. Doctor Strange, the name suited him.


“Let’s begin the procedure” Dr. Strange said as he placed a withered hand on the table. The Joker stepped out of the view line of the camera and the doctor began fiddling with the medical supplies. His hands were cold as they touched the crook of my elbow. He dabbed my skin with some kind of wet cloth.


He began to hum which nearly startled me to death. The fact that he could engage in such whimsicality whilst he was most likely killing me was utterly horrifying. I felt a sharp twinge of pain as some kind of needle dug into the skin on my hand. It appeared to be some sort of IV.


Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the doctor pick up another needle. This one was larger than the IV but smaller than the one containing the gross green liquid. He forcefully held down my arm as I attempted to flail it about. With precision, he jabbed the needle in the crook of my elbow. I bit my lip to hold back a scream.


“You’re much braver than I expected, Ms. Bo” Hugo Strange said with a crooked, maleficent smile.  He resumed his out of place, terrifying humming. 


My curiosity and fear soon got the best of me. “What’s the survival rate for this ‘procedure’” I asked sarcastically, trying to mask my emotions.


“It’s hard to say…”Dr. Strange said as he continued poking me. “Considering the fact that you are the first human trial with this particular serum…I’d say the chance of survival is about twenty three percent.”


The truth made me bite down on my tongue in sheer  horror. They were toying with my life. They could kill me at will. I shuddered at the thought of dying cold and alone.


I wanted to yell profanities at the doctor and the Joker, my rage was consuming me. As I tried to do this, my mouth became increasingly dry. My eyes darted around the room as my vision became cloudy. Noise all melted together, but I could still clearly hear Dr. Strange’s eerie humming.  I realized whatever he had injected me with was now affecting me. Every movement I tried to make felt like I was running through quicksand.


I was just able to make out Dr. Strange pick up the largest needle, the one containing Poison Ivy’s neurotoxin.


My thoughts surged:


This can’t really be happening. It has to be a nightmare. In a minute, I’m going to wake up and Nick is going to be alive and he’s going to tell me not to drink hot chocolate before bed.


The needle got closer and closer to my skin.


No, this can’t happen. Any minute now, someone will race through that door and save me. Batman and Robin will find me; they have to save me in time.


But they didn’t. I was conscience just long enough to feel the puncture of my skin as the needle was jabbed into my neck. I took one large, deep breath in and then I blacked out.


Dick’s POV


After I parked my bike in the Batcave, I lethargically tore off the Robin costume and pulled on a pair of blue boxers and a loose fitting white t-shirt. I meandered out of the Batcave and into Wayne Manor. I was so exhausted, I could barely keep from walking into the walls that I had come to call home. Every bone in my body hurt with every step I took.


Alfred must have seen how disheveled because as soon as he saw me he said “Master Dick, are you alright?”


I nodded because I didn’t seem to have the ability to formulate words. Then I slowly and painfully made my way up to my room and fell down onto the bed. It felt like it had been a millennium since I had slept, even though it had only been two days. Before I could even think about it, I was fast asleep.


I was gifted with dreamless sleep. I didn’t know how long I had been asleep but I didn’t care because when I woke up, I felt refreshed.


After waking up in a pile of drool, I forced myself out of bed.  Slowly but surely, I made my way into the bathroom. I stared into the mirror for a bit, my eyes were still foggy. I struggled to recognize the person staring back at me. I had the nastiest black eye but luckily my split lip had healed up relatively quickly. I pulled off my shirt and turned to the side. The skin near the area of my rib cage was puffy and swollen.


I leaned into the shower and turned the water on, nearly falling in. The water was hot and stung all my cuts at first, but then it began to soothe them. I let my mind go blank and the water take all my problems away. The hot water soon ran out and I was hit with a large splash of unpleasant cold water; that’s when I decided it was time to finally get out. After drying off and getting dressed in casual jeans and a tee shirt, I let my life resume again.


As I walked down the marble staircase into the main hall, I was overcome with the most delightful aroma; Alfred was making breakfast. I raced into the kitchen, nearly knocking the old Englishman over.  He stood in front of a pan of scrambled eggs and a warm pile of bacon.  My stomach growled obnoxiously, I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten.


“this is so good…” I said as I stuffed pieces of bacon in mouth.


“Why thank you, Master Dick” Alfred said as I picked up the ketchup bottle and doused my eggs with it.


“Where’s Bruce?” I asked, mentally recalling the events from the night before. I became acutely aware of the pain that was screaming inside my rib cage but I was too hungry to care.


“In the study, I believe” he replied.


That was all I needed to know. I finishing sucking in all the food on the plate and I strode into the study.  


“Good Morning, Dick” said the man sitting behind the desk, his dark hair was frazzled about and he looked just as tired as usual.


“Morning” I replied back, slinking myself into a chair across from him. I could feel the bliss of serenity float off of me as the brutal weight of my problems crushed me.


Bruce, who had now looked up from whatever he was so focused on, seemed to notice my growing stress as he looked to make small talk.


“You know you haven’t been to school in a week right?” he asked, as I became unsatisfyingly aware of my educational standards. It was not unusual for me to miss school, being a part time crime fighter and all, but sometimes it was hard to catch up on school work when I fell behind.


“It’s never matter’d before” I said, somewhat snottily. I hated when my temper got the best of me, but sometimes I just felt like I could never control it. I tried to ease my tone. “Alfred can just call the school and tell them I have some foreign disease that I contracted while we were on one of our ‘trips’ then just forge a doctor’s note like always”


“That’s not the point” he replied. “I’m worried about you”


His words seeped into me. Bruce wasn’t one to talk about his feelings, hell sometimes I forgot he had any. If he was worried about me, he had a good reason.


“Look, I’m fine. I just need to get Annie away from that madman. If anything happens to her, I…”


My voice trailed off as I felt my emotions beginning to betray me. I took a second to regain control myself.


Bruce exhaled sharply and then stood up abruptly. “Come on” he said, as he walked out from behind the desk and exited the room. I followed him out of Wayne Manor and into the Batcave.


The feeling of walking into the Batcave is indescribable. It’s underground atmosphere made the place feel like it was constantly air conditioned, which was my favorite thing in the world. Sure, the dark shadows and lack of color was a bit eerie and dreary but I had grown used to it. I thought that the fact that no one would ever know about it’s existence was the coolest part.


Bruce took a seat in the chair that sat behind the massive computer screen. Images started popping up on the screen. First was Joker’s, then Harley’s and finally Ivy’s, they all surrounded a picture of Annie which I recognized from my yearbook.


“So this is who we know is involved so far” Bruce said, he usually did this when he was stuck on a particular case.


“Ivy?” I asked, “She can’t be, I sent her away to Arkham after that uprising at the power plant.”


“Selina told me that she had been dealing some kind of chemical to Joker” Bruce stated.


I held back my thoughts about not being able to trust Selina Kyle, Catwoman. It was obvious Bruce had some sort of feelings for her, no matter how much he denied it and how completely disturbing I found it. He always had worst taste in women.


“I think Bane is involved too” I mumbled, subconsciously reaching down to touch one of the many bruises that covered my body.


“Why?” Bruce said, his tone was more than displeased.


“When we were fighting, he could have killed me—I thought he was going to for a second; but someone stopped him. They said it wasn’t part of the plan or whatever”


“And you have no idea who it was?”


I shook my head reluctantly. Bruce punched in more keys on the computer and a picture of Bane appeared, with lines connecting him to Ivy, Harley and Joker.


“Speaking of Bane…” Bruce began. I knew the speech about how disappointed he was would be coming.


“How bad did he do you in?”


I laughed in an unamused sort of way. Then I pulled off my shirt and showed him the bruises that covered my upper torso. Without warning, he poked my swollen rib cage.


“Ow!!!” I yelled angrily.


“He cracked one of your ribs” Bruce said in monotone as he went over to the emergency medicine cabinet and pulled out a bottle of pills.


“Take one of these, it will make it heal faster” He said as he tossed me the bottle.


I nodded in thanks and then put my shirt back on. At least some of my pain would soon go away.


“We need to—”  Bruce began to say before he was cut off.


The computer screen was taken over with white noise and static.


“What’s happening?” I asked startled.


“There’s some sort of broadcast that’s being sent city-wide” Bruce explained as he feverishly hit buttons on the key board.


A wretched face took its shape on the screen.



“Hello, Batsy”

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