Author's Note: If you wish to comment on my story, either positively or negatively, don't hesitate to contact me at treetop@voicenet.com. Sailor Moon and all related characters are the property of Takeuchi Naoko, Toei Animation and DIC. Batman and all related characters are the property of Bob Kane and DC Comics. So, please, don't sue me because I haven't any money. I do this strictly for entertainment purposes, not copyright infringement.
To Live And Die In Tokyo
by Jeffrey C. Branch
Chapter Five: A Gathering of Dangers
Rating: PG-13
As Goku Tanaka lay in his hospital bed, watching night fall over Tokyo, he knew he would not live to see another sunrise.
His face taut, Tanaka was well aware that he had disobeyed his masters on two fronts. One, he stole the special brand of cocaine (what made it so special, he had no clue) from the secret laboratory in the warehouse to sell to his junkies for grossly inflated prices since he chafed under the miserly guidelines of Hiroyuki Tomba and sought to fatten his wallet. For certain Tomba had probably found out about the theft by now, and Tanaka had been told to stay away from what his boss called simply 'the special merchandise'.
Then there was the matter of his having used the injector he had stolen. After having seen the awesome power that he could get from becoming one of those reptile beasts he saw in that same laboratory, Tanaka couldn't resist stealing one for himself so he could experience that power firsthand. When he faced the Batman, Tanaka was all too eager to put his newfound might to the test. The really galling part of it all was having been beaten so easily, despite the power he had.
Tanaka considered running, but since he had a lengthy rap sheet and was handcuffed to the bed, flight was impossible. Even if he could escape, there'd be no place on Earth he could escape. Turning on the Yakuza, becoming a snitch was also out of the question. His loyalty to the organization, and his fear of it made betraying them something he wouldn't dare do, not even to save his life. Tanaka, though not afraid was a dead man and knew it. It was only a matter of when he would die.
It had taken Talia three hours of hacking files on her computer, but she managed to learn that Tanaka, the thug who sold Sarah the drugs that mutated her into a monster was at Tokyo Memorial Hospital.
Secreted behind a building across the street, the girls stared at the hospital bathed in light, a beacon of life in the Tokyo night. But, none of that mattered to them, all they were concerned about was the one man inside who had information they desperately needed.
"So, the creep is in there, huh? How do we get to him?" Raye asked.
Talia turned to Serena. "Serena?"
With a nod, Serena reached into the front pocket of her skirt, pulled out her disguise pen and handed it to Talia who held it high. "Disguise power! Transform me into a doctor!"
After a brilliant flash of silvery light that bathed Talia's body, she had been changed. She was several inches taller while her glossy black hair was longer and streaked slightly with gray at the temples. Wearing a set of light green surgical scrubs, a white lab coat and running shoes, the woman who stood before the girls was an uncanny older version of Talia. The final touches were a Tokyo Memorial Hospital picture badge identifying her as 'Kirk, Jasmine', and a stethoscope around her neck. The others were awed.
"Wow! Where'd you dream up that disguise?" Mina asked.
"From memory," said the transformed Talia. "My mother is an emergency room physician. This is what she looks like."
"Way cool! What's the plan?" Lita asked.
"My disguise will gain me access to the hospital. Once I locate Tanaka's room, I will use a mind meld to uncover the location of his masters. Accounting for travel time in and out of the hospital, and probing Tanaka's mind, this operation should not take longer than thirty minutes."
"I wish we could come with you, Tal," said a pensive Serena. "I don't like the idea of you being alone in there."
Talia gave Serena a small smile and squeezed her arm. "There is no need for concern, Serena. I will be fine. While I do not anticipate trouble, should any arise, I will summon you."
"Promise?"
Talia nodded. "I promise. As young children are fond of saying: 'Cross my heart and hope to die.' I shall return soon."
After Talia left, Serena spied a diner down the block. She grinned mischiveiously. "Well, as long as we have to wait, we may as well enjoy ourselves." The others, seeing what Serena was looking at groaned.
The night shift at the police impound yard was every bit as long as it was uneventful. For Officers Jiro Atsugi and Shinobu Yokota, both ten year veterans of the force, they enjoyed their assignment which was a good deal safer than walking a beat on the city's sometimes mean streets.
Yokota the older of the two by four years, looked at his watch, then stood and stretched. "My turn to make the rounds, Jiro. You up for a few hands of Poker when I get back?"
Atsugi nodded, a grin spreading across his face. "If you feel like losing some more of your money, I'm game."
"Don't get so cocky, pal. Be right back."
Leaving the shack, flashlight in hand, Yokota made his way down rows of impounded vehicles, checking for signs of intruders. At one time, the yards weren't manned after dark, but a rash of thefts by professional thieves, kids eager for joyriding or Yakuza goons ended that practice. Most of the officers assigned to the detail were either on medical assignments, recovering from injuries sustained on the streets or disciplinary cases. Rare were officers like Atsugi and Yokota who volunteered for the less than glamorous duty.
Yokota was ten minutes into his rounds when he heard what sounded like footsteps. The cop halted to get a bead on the direction the footsteps came from. He heard them again, the distance some twenty yards ahead. Yokota pulled out his radio and switched it on.
"Jiro! Jiro! Come in!" he stage whispered.
The radio crackled and Atsugi's voice came through the speaker. "I hear you. What's up?"
"Trouble! I'm at the north end of the lot! We've got a visitor!" Yokota whispered. "Get over here! Fast!"
"I'm on my way!"
Yokota put away his radio and reached for the Glock 17 on his right hip. Even though car thieves weren't prone to carrying weapons, the cop wasn't one for taking any chances. Once again, Yokota heard the footsteps, he quickened his pace, but quietly, hoping to catch the intruder off-guard. Forcing himself to calm down, sure the intruder was nearby, Yokota took a deep breath, then rushed around a corner, flashlight in one hand, his gun in the other. What he saw stunned him.
Bathed in the glare of the flashlight, the intruder was a petite, blue haired girl in a light blue sailor suit, blue knee high boots and a tiara with a blue gem in the middle on her forehead. Whirling around, the girl's teeth were bared like a wolf while the look she gave him was one of pure rage. Yokota frowned, thinking he had seen this oddly dressed girl before in the newspapers.
"You! Freeze!" he shouted, leveling his gun at the girl.
"An excellent choice of words," the girl snarled, her voice glacial cold and menacing. Despite being armed, Yokota suddenly became very afraid.
It took Atsugi less than three minutes running full tilt to reach the area of the lot that his partner called from. As he drew close to Yokota's location, his sidearm in hand, he suddenly felt a sharp chill in the air, as if the temperature dropped thirty degrees in an instant. Rounding the comer, Atsugi stopped short and gasped at what he saw, something that was incredible.
Yokota, unconscious lay on his side on the ground, his arms bound at his sides in a band of shimmering ice. Impossible since it was only late September and the weather was still warm. Atsugi, clearly shocked kneeled by his partner.
"Shinobu! Wake up! Wake up! What happened to you?"
"The fool got in my way. Just like you have done," growled a female voice from behind him.
Atsugi, knowing he was in trouble quickly wheeled around but it was already too late. All he saw was an angry young girl in a blue sailor suit launching a foot into his face, but he didn't see her for very long. There was a brief moment of searing pain for the cop, then nothing.
Sailor Mercury stared down at the fallen officers, glaring at them in open contempt. She then knelt by Atsugi, removed his handcuffs and bound his wrists behind his back.
"Consider yourselves fortunate that you're not my enemy, or I would've killed you," she growled to the unconscious cops. She then stood up and resumed her search of the yard for the vehicle she sought. It would have the clues she sought, clues that will take her to the men who produced the poison that eventually led to Sarah's death. In her mind's eye, Mercury was still on the side street, holding her friend in her arms as she died. That image fueled her terrible rage, her insatiable hunger for revenge.
"Wherever you vermin are, consider yourselves living on borrowed time. I'm going to find you. Then I'm going to destroy you," Mercury muttered.
Just as Falcone predicted, he was having a hard time convincing his boss to sign off on the merger via a conference call.
"You want us to agree to this huge a deal without seeing Tomba face to face? That is not the way we do business, Giancarlo. You know that!" snarled Francesco Molinari, the Boss of Bosses on the Mafia's ruling council on the other end of the line in a scratchy rasp. Even though Molinari was 80 years old, he was as sharp and dangerous as they came. "Why the haste? And how do we know this isn't some sort of set up? I don't like the way this situation is progressing."
Falcone rolled his eyes and struggled to be patient. Because Tokyo was thirteen hours ahead of New York, the Sicilian had to wait until nightfall to place his call since Molinari hated having his rest disturbed. Rumor had it the old man once had his consigliere killed because he woke Molinari earlier than ordered. And Falcone didn't want to wind up on a slab for the same asinine reason.
"The reason for the haste, Don Franco, is Batman. He followed me here and is already raising hell," Falcone explained slowly. "We need to get the ball rolling on the import process fast before that miserable bastard comes down on our heads. I know you don't like to rush things, sir, but Tomba's got three tons each of coke and horse ready to ship. If we don't move now, he'll call off the whole deal."
There was a pregnant pause on the other end. Falcone suspected Molinari was mulling over what he had been told. "Did you say....six tons?"
"Yes, sir. I've seen it. And Tomba promises two tons twice a month."
Another pause. Falcone knew the old man was hooked. "Very well. Far be it for us to turn down such incredible generosity. Airight, tell your Jap friend we've got a deal. We'll do the conference call to finalize things tomorrow. Twelve noon, our time."
"You've got it, sir."
"One last thing, Giancarlo. I want you to make danm sure our best interests are being served," Molinari growled. "Even though this deal will put us back on top in the U.S. drug market, I trust the Nips about as far as I can throw Yankee Stadium. We're investing a great deal of money here. See to it those slanty eyed gooks don't pull a Pearl Harbor on us. Understood?"
"Perfectly, Don Franco. Leave everything to me." Molinari then hung up. Seething, Falcone slammed down the receiver. Because of his respect and admiration for the Japanese people, he hated hearing them insulted. "Racist old fucker," he grumbled under his breath.
Falcone's underboss, Dino 'Rocky' Pasquale, a tall, nmscelbound ex-boxer from Philadelphia turned thug gave Falcone a curious look. "Are we on, boss?"
"Yeah, we're on, Rocky. The old man's greed won out over his paranoia. He'll convince the council to sign off on the deal after he tells 'em how much we've got coming in."
"What about the Bat'?" Pasquale asked. "He's still out there, and 'quit' ain't in his dictionary."
Falcone's brows furrowed as he thought over the problem. "I know. We're gonna have to deal with that looney tune ourselves."
"But how?"
"I did some digging and found out that Tomba's skell who danced with Bats the other night is in Tokyo Memorial Hospital," Falcone explained. "If I know where that punk is, so will Batman. We send a hit team to the hospital and stake it out. When that asshole shows his pointy eared head, POW! How many men have we
"Eight. A good sized crew, boss," Pasquale replied. A worried look then lined his face. "Tomba's not gonna like you taking this kind of action behind his back. And on his turf."
"You let me worry about that," Falcone growled. "You're in charge of this job, Rocky. Take four men, arm 'em to the teeth and get to the hospital right now. Leave Tony Speed and the rest with me. Get going. No telling when Bats might show up."
"Gotcha, boss!" Pasquale quickly left the room. Falcone thought about that locked room with the barred steel door that Tomba wouldn't let him look in the other night. The more he thought about it, the more the Sicilian wondered if Molinari might be onto something. Was Tomba holding out on him?
After slipping a loaded Colt. 45 into a shoulder holster and stuffing two spare clips into his suit jacket, Falcone headed for the door. With his neck on the line with the old man in New York, the Sicilian was in no position to take any chances. He decided to get some answers about the mystery room. Falcone had a feeling deep in his gut that everything with Tomba, Batman, and even the Scouts was going to come to a head tonight. One way or another.
As Talia walked down the hail of the seventh floor of Tokyo Memorial Hospital, she was inwardly pleased that her impersonation of a doctor had successfully passed scrutiny.
Once she had entered the building, it took no time at all for the Vulcan girl for her to learn what floor the gangster Tanaka was on, and that his room was guarded since he was a known felon. As Talia rounded a corner, she saw the guard seated outside the door of Tanaka's room. Right away, she saw that the officer, reading a sports magazine looked bored and disinterested, as if he didn't enjoy his duty. The cop looked up when Talia approached him. He looked at Talia's badge, then at her. Satisfied with what he saw, the cop nodded.
"Evening, Doc. What can I do for you?"
"I'm on the night shift, officer, and thought I'd look in on Mr. Tanaka while making my rounds," Talia explained, a clipboard in one hand. "I've been briefed that the patient is a criminal. Has he caused any trouble this evening'?"
The cop shook his head. "Not a bit, ma'am. He's been quiet as a church mouse ever since he came out of his coma this morning. He'll be moved to jail downtown in the morning."
"I see. Well, if you'll allow me to go in, sir, I shouldn't be long."
With a friendly smile, the cop stood up and opened the door. "Take your time, ma'am."
"Thank you, officer."
Once Talia entered the room, the cop closed the door behind her. The Vulcan girl saw that Tanaka, flat on his back, appeared to be asleep while a soft breeze wafted into the room from the partially open window. Right away, Talia noticed that his wrists were handcuffed on both sides of the bed. She nodded slightly. That meant she wouldn't have to worry about the gangster struggling. A check of his chart showed that the criminal suffered a severe concussion, thus the coma, a fractured collarbone and several broken ribs in his battle with Sailor Mercury and Batman. As Talia approached Tanaka, his eyes snapped open and he stared at her, his expression one of suspicion.
"What? Again? The doc just looked me over thirty minutes ago," he grumbled.
"I know. I am what you might call....a specialist," Talia said.
Those words, spoken with Talia's emotionless inflection made Tanaka shake and his eyes widen from horror, fearing this woman had been sent by Tomba to kill him. Talia, sensing the man was about to panic moved quickly, clamping a hand over Tanaka's mouth before he could shout for help. She leaned close and pinioned him with a steely-eyed glare.
"Calm yourself. I mean no harm. All I seek is information." Talia placed the fingers of her free hand on Tanaka's forehead and brought her telepathic powers into play. "My mind to your mind, my thoughts to your thoughts. I feel what you feel. I know what you know."
A montage of images flashed through Talia's mind at lightning fast speed as she accessed Tanaka's memories. All at once, the Vulcan girl became aware of Tanaka's involvement with a Yakuza crimelord named Hiroyuki Tomba as a street level drug pusher. Then came flashes of a heavily guarded warehouse down on the waterfront where a very special brand of drugs were being made, what kind he didn't know since he wasn't a user.
The last series of memories were of Tanaka sneaking into a secret laboratory in the warehouse and seeing men, injected with a strange greenish fluid transformed into monstrous, reptilian creatures. Tanaka, amazed with what he had seen, stole one of the injectors, just waiting for just the right chance to experience the power for himself That chance came two nights ago on a dark side street when he confronted Batman and a blue haired girl in a sailor suit....
At that moment, Talia abruptly broke the mind meld with a gasp, stunned from the images she plucked from Tanaka's mind. Still concerned about Tanaka making a nuisance of himself, Talia put him out with a nerve pinch. She then glared at the unconscious hoodlum.
"Disgusting. What sort of horror are you involved in?" the Vulcan girl whispered.
Satisfied to have gotten the information she sought, Talia turned and headed for the door when the sound of the window opening caught her attention. Talia whirled around and was surprised to see one of the lizard creatures squeezing its huge form through the window, the look on its face one of malice.. . and hunger.
Quiet as a whisper, Batman swooped into the far end of the police impound yard from the guard shack at the main gate like a hawk.
Crouched behind a van, its front end wrecked from a crash, the Dark Knight listened for the sound of any footsteps headed his way. When, after a minute, he had hadn't heard anything, Batman rose to his full height, removed a penlight from his utility belt and began his search for Tanaka's SUV.
From the moment Batman arrived in Tokyo, he sought to maintain a low profile in order to avoid any confrontations with the local authorities whom he knew wouldn't be as cooperative as the Gotham Police. It was for that reason Batman decided to search Tanaka's vehicle after leaming where it had been impounded for clues rather than sneak into Tokyo Memorial Hospital, only a mile away to directly question the Yakuza pusher who had recently come out of a coma after the battle with Sailor Mercury.
However, if Batman failed to find the answers he sought here, Tanaka's sick bed would be his next stop, low profile be damned. With his thorough examination of the mysterious chemical that changed the hoodlum into a monster having yielded no hint as to it's origins, never mind a cure, the Dark Knight needed to leam where the mutagen was being manufactured and then destroy it. He didn't want to consider the all too frightening possibility that it was being mass produced.
As the Dark Knight stealthily made his way down the rows of vehicles, the sound of a car door being gently closed ahead caught his attention. Removing a batarang from his belt, Batman killed his penlight and crept closer to where he heard the sound. A minute later, he came across the two cops who guarded the lot. Both unconscious, their faces badly battered, one had been handcuffed, the other, his arms bound to his sides at the waist by a band of ice. The ice told Batman who was here. He was disappointed, but not surprised.
With the aid of her VR visor, Mercury scanned the inside of Tanaka's SUV, searching fervently for any sort of clue that could tell her where her enemies were. So far, her search was fruitless. That irritated her. She desperately needed to find the men responsible for Sarah's mutation and kill them.
After closing the right side passenger door, Mercury opened the rear hatch and looked over the storage area. Under close examination, Mercury saw a white, crusty residue in several spots on the floor. The visor told her the residue was sodium based. Salt. The Scout of Water concluded Tanaka's vehicle had recently been down at the waterfront and hauled something that sat on the pier, exposed to salt water spray from Tokyo Bay. Mercury nodded slightly. The parameters of her search had just been narrowed.
"Find what you were looking for, Sailor Mercury?" a low, frost filled voice asked from behind her. Mercury whirled around and found herself face to face with Batman, only ten feet away. Mercury, startled at first, scowled at the Dark Knight.
"How did you know to come here?" she demanded.
"I'm a detective. It's what I do," Batman replied. "I told you to stay out of this. Manhunting isn't a game for children."
"Go to hell, you condescending bastard! You don't understand what I'm going through!" Mercury yelled back. "Every time I close my eyes, I'm back on that street, watching Sarah die in my arms! You can't possibly imagine what that's like!"
Hearing the anger, and the anguish in Mercury's voice, Batman's iron control slipped, and for a second, he had gone back into his past, back to that terrible night when, as a child, he watched in horror as his parents were ruthlessly murdered before his very eyes. The look he saw on Mercury's face, etched from deep, emotional pain reminded him of himself a lifetime ago. However, because he was Batman, that flashback only lasted a second and he quickly reasserted himself.
"You're wrong. I can. I've seen how the thirst for revenge can destroy a person. It'll devour you from the inside until there's nothing left," said Batman. "Murdering the men responsible for Sarah's mutation won't silence the demons. They'll only grow louder, driving you to kill again and again. Go home, Mercury. Let me deal with them. You have my word they'll be brought to justice."
Mercury dropped her head and mulled over the Dark Knight's words while a war raged within her soul. She knew Batman was right, killing her enemies went against everything she stood for, both as a human being, and a Sailor Scout. But her mind's eye kept replaying Sarah's death, over and over and over again. It was something Mercury couldn't ignore. Couldn't forget. Couldn't forgive. A weary sigh escaped the Water Scout's lips as she made her decision.
"I'm sorry, Batman, I can't. Those madmen have to die. I won't let you, or anyone get in my way. Mercury Bubbles... BLAST!"
In a diner half a block away from the hospital, Serena and the girls were enjoying sodas when Raye suddenly let out a loud gasp, her eyes wide, her face tumed white as a sheet.
"Raye! What is it? What's wrong?" asked a worried Serena.
"I sense evil, and it's nearby! At the hospital! Talia! She's in trouble!" a trembling Raye cried.
Her worry doubled, Serena activated her communicator. "Talia! Tal! Come in! Answer me!"
No response. The girls jumped up from the booth they sat in and bolted for the door. Once outside, they darted into a nearby alley where they pulled out their transformation pens while Serena opened her brooch.
"MARS STAR POWER!" Red hot flames erupted from Raye's pen and lovingly embraced her from head to toe, changing her into Sailor Mars.
"JUPITER STAR POWER!" A scorching bolt of lightning and a crack of thunder accompanied Lita's dramatic transformation into Sailor Jupiter.
"VENUS STAR POWER!" The sparkling lights of the stars themselves boldly heralded Mina's dazzling change into Sailor Venus.
"COSMIC MOON POWER!" Crimson bands of energy blossomed from Serena's brooch, enveloping her body, and in a blinding flash of silvery light that filled the alley, she morphed into Sailor Moon.
"Okay! Where do we go from here?" Moon asked.
"How about up there?" said Jupiter, pointing at the upper floors of the hospital where two large forms with tails were scaling the wall.
'Damn!" snarled Mars. They must be after that goon Amy and Batman fought!"
"This isn't good!" said a worried Venus. "We had enough trouble fighting just one of those monsters! But two?"
"It doesn't matter!" said Moon, concem over Talia overriding any fear she had. "Tal's in trouble! Not to mention everyone else in there! Let's go!"
The last thing Talia expected was for one of the lizard creatures to appear. The Vulcan girl quickly surmised it was here to silence Tanaka. With the beast crawling through the window, Talia knew she wouldn't have time to transform and protect the unconscious thug or summon the girls for help. With that in mind, there was only one thing Talia could do.
"Guard! Get in here! Quick! There's trouble!" shouted Talia who leaped at the creature as it entered the room, her only option being to try and incapacitate it with her nerve pinch. Talia knew she had no chance of survival against the creature, yet, she had to try. She wasn't about to let Tanaka be killed if she could help it.
Talia barreled into the creature's midsection head on, slamming it against the wall before it could move on Tanaka. The look on its face was one of surprise as it didn't anticipate an attack. The Vulcan girl took advantage of the creature's inaction to clamp both hands on the beast's right collarbone and pressed down for all she was worth.
The creature's eyes rolled back into it's head and it gasped before collapsing, but not before backhanding Talia, sending her flying over the bed and she crashed against the far wall, just as the guard rushed inside. He cried out from horror at what he saw.
"No! It can't be!" he shouted.
"Shoot it....hurry!" said a dazed Talia, struggling to regain her senses from the blow, greenish blood trickling down her chin. Her eyes widened as a second creature squeezed it's bulk through the window to join its partner. It glared menacingly at Talia and the guard before it turned on Tanaka.
"Oh, God! Monsters!" cried the guard, frozen in place from fright.
Scowling, Talia reached for the guard's handgun, still in its holster. Just as the Vulcan girl managed to pull the weapon free and release the safety, the second creature clamped it's huge jaws around Tanaka's throat and tore the thug's head off, spraying blood in a hideous geyser as his carotid artery was severed. The creature licked the blood from his mouth with a long, forked tongue and leered evilly at Talia and the guard.
"Mmmm. Delicious," the creature growled.
The guard, his face white as a sheet dropped to his knees and vomited while Talia, suddenly gripped by a horrific and all too human rage let loose a primal scream of fury and fired at the beast. The small room echoed loudly from the gunfire as the Vulcan girl unloaded the clip into the creature's barrellike chest. The beast, slammed against the wall from the shots slumped to the floor, trailing blood as green as Talia's.
Breathing heavily, Talia fought to reign in her mounting anger as she watched the beast twitch in what appeared to be its death throes. Then Talia frowned at seeing the beast's wounds miraculously close and heal. With a growl, it rose to its feet as the first monster stirred to consciousness.
"Sorry, human. But your puny weapon will not stop me," said the second creature.
With a frown, Talia dropped the empty gun and removed her transformation pen. "So I see. Very well. Then I shall employ a different sort of weapon. VULCAN STAR POWER!"
Holding the pen high above her head, a golden pyramid of light shot down from it, encasing Talia who spun within it like a ballerina. As she did, Talia's features returned to normal, then her body was bathed in silvery energy, altering her clothes into her Scout uniform. Seconds later, an angry Sailor Vulcan stood ready for battle.
The beast smirked. "My, aren't you a pretty little thing. I shall enjoy devouring you."
"I think not, creature," Vulcan growled. Her bloodlust, thought to have been purged after the encounter with the elernentals screamed to be sated as her fists repeatedly clenched and unclenched. "If destruction is what you seek, then I shall be only too happy to dispense it."
The instant Mercury summoned her fog, Batman whipped out his infra-red goggles and quickly put them on.
Even through his insulated costume, Batman felt the numbing cold, just like two nights ago, but he paid no attention to it as he swept the area for any sign of the Sailor Scout through the thick and blinding mist. He heard footsteps swiftly approaching him at ten o'clock but his goggles didn't pick up any sort of heat signature that a body would generate.
Anticipating an attack, Batman dove for the ground as a booted foot whizzed past his left ear. Hitting the ground, the Dark Knight went into a roll and jumped up as the sound of feet hitting the ground made him turn, yet, he still saw nothing through his goggles.
Great. Mercury doesn't register under infra-red, thought a disgusted Batman, putting away his useless goggles. Either her ice powers lowers her body temperature to absolute zero....or her physiology isn't human. I'll have to track her by sound.
"I won't let you leave here to commit murder, Mercury. I'll stop you if necessary," said Batman, hoping the sound of his voice would entice the maddened Scout to rush in and attack him where he had the overwhelming edge in close quarters combat.
Batman heard the sound of laughter tinged with malice. "Don't be stupid! You're only human! You don't stand a chance against me!"
"You'd be surprised at what I can do," the Dark Knight replied, stealthily but speedily moving in the direction of Mercury's voice in a zigzag path.
"Enough talk! If you're not part of my solution, then you're part of my problem!" Mercury snarled. "And I can see you coming! Mercury Ice Bubbles... BLAST!"
Batman scowled at being seen by Mercury. The coldness of the fog intensified as he was suddenly battered by a storm of golf ball sized globes of rock hard ice fired at him with deadly velocity. Silently enduring the pummeling he absorbed, Batman dove behind a car and removed a small black sphere from his belt. Taking a guess at Mercury's location, the Dark Knight hurled the sphere and, a moment later, a brief but blinding light, accompanied by an incredibly loud bang tore apart the quiet atmosphere of the lot. Almost simultaneously, Batman heard a pain filled shriek.
Before the scream faded, Batman was on his feet and was rushing in the direction of the cry, certain Mercury had been disoriented from the flash-bang grenade he hurled at her.
Mercury, having seen the sphere Batman lobbed in her direction figured it to be some sort of antipersonnel stun bomb, so she turned away from it, deactivated her visor and covered her ears before the device went off. Mercury's quick action saved her from catching the full brunt of the blast, yet it still pounded her eardrums and staggered her. She let out a false scream of pain, then leaped away from where she was, knowing Batman would be hot on her heels, thinking her to be helpless.
Hunkered down behind a wrecked car, Mercury concentrated on maintaining the thickness of her fog while willing herself to calm down, lest her labored breathing give her away. Mercury's anger then reasserted itself. Despite being one of the most powerful beings on Earth, a mere man in a cape had forced her into a standoff, and that made the Water Scout furious.
I have to stop Batman. Right here. Right now. I can't have that interfering fool following me to the waterfront, thought Mercury, her face locked in a scowl. He'll get in the way of my killing the madmen who took Sarah from me. I won't allow that to happen! I WON'T! Suddenly, an idea came to Mercury's mind. It made her smile, but it was dangerously evil.
Batman continued prowling the lot, his ears keen for any sound that would give Mercury away. What he didn't expect was for the fog to dissipate, then to hear her shout, "Shine Aqua... ILLUSION!"
The Dark Knight broke into a run, heading in a direction he had already been in, and that gave him an uneasy feeling in his gut. Rounding a corner, Batman found himself back in the clearing where he had discovered the unconscious cops, only now they were both encased from the neck down in thick blocks of solid ice, their faces already starting to turn blue. Batman looked up and saw Mercury standing on the roof of a car twenty feet away. Arms folded, the expression on her face was hard, cold and devoid of mercy.
"A dilemma for you, Batman," said Mercury in a flat, emotionless voice. "You can continue chasing after me, or you can free those men who, by my calculations will die from hypothermia inside of ten minutes. Your choice."
Inwardly, Batman seethed at having been outfoxed. He didn't think Mercury's pain over losing her friend would drive her to ruthlessly endanger innocents. "Mercury, don't do this. Please. Taking a life, even to avenge Sarah won't solve anything. Blast it, girl! You're supposed to be better than that!"
Mercury lowered her head slightly, and the look on her face changed to one of terrible, heartbreaking sorrow. The memory of Sarah's death, constantly replaying itself in Mercury's mind was torturing her, killing her inside. A single tear slid down Mercury's cheek as she stared forlornly at the Dark Knight. "Not anymore, Batman," she said in a painfully sad voice. "Maybe never again."
Feeling her soul shrivel to nothingness as the thirst for vengeance consumed her, Mercury's demeanor returned to it's icy hardness as she turned her back on Batman and leaped out of the lot. She had places to go and people to kill.
Next: Turmoil in the Streets