I knew Batman

Chapter 6 - Ice

The door was open but it felt cold. I could feel the temperature falling as I entered the building. It was dark but at the other end of the hangar, there was a flickering light. I went around a huge pile of boxes and shelves and I found them.

It was like a scene in a theatre. The walls were covered with ice. They mirrored and scattered the light of a small lamp. If I hadn't known that lives are at stake here, I would have said that the sight was actually beautiful and stunning.

It seemed that I got into a hostage situation. At the back of the hangar, there stood a bold, skinny man with some kind of gun, a hand cannon or blaster in his hand. I recognized the device from the blueprints. Probably he was Victor Fries. He pointed the cannon at Batman, who was at the centre of the area and faced fully with the blaster. There were three large men with baseball bats close to Fries - three hired thugs waiting for an order. Five victims were lying on the floor. One of Fries' men and four police officers. I could see that one officer and the thug on the floor were very likely dead. They were fully covered with ice. Three other police officers were lying on the floor, agonizing from pain. One of them was my brother John.

There were all kinds of equipment around. Machines, medical stuff, different tools. At the back, there was a huge tank with glass walls but its content was blurry. The air was so cold that I could see the people's breath in the air.

I heard Batman's voice. "Fries, it is over. You have to stop."

"Aren't those words too big for a man who is outnumbered?" yelled Fries. He wanted to show confidence but I could tell that he was intimidated by Batman. Well, Batman's cold voice and calm behaviour indeed were intimidating.

I went closer. I tried to keep my calm but my feet were shaking and my heart was beating fast. I raised my hands and tried to talk clearly and loudly. "I am a doctor! I don't have any weapons! I am here to help the wounded. Let me check them!"

I saw that Batman slightly turned to me. Our eyes met for a moment. I couldn't tell whether he was surprised or frustrated by my presence. But he joined me in my argumentation. "Fries, let the doctor examine the police officers. You don't want their blood in your hands as well."

Fries got more nervous.

"No! This is some kind of trick!" He pointed the blaster at me. Then several things happened at once. Fries fired the blaster. I jumped aside but also felt that Batman is pushing me away as well. We both managed to avoid the ice blast. At the same time, Batman somehow managed to throw two batarangs at the thugs, which made them confused for a moment. I fell to the ground from the push but managed to roll forward and got closer to one of the lying police officers.

Then the fight began. Batman stood between me and Fries. All three thugs were attacking him at once with their baseball bats. Luckily, it seemed that the ice-blaster needed some time to recharge, Fries was yelling impatiently in the background while Batman was fighting his hitmen.

It seemed that everyone was occupied with Batman at the moment. No one cared about me. I wasn't much of a fighter anyway. I got some basic military training when I joined the Doctors Without Borders team and did some martial arts in high school. But I definitely couldn't have handled a single thug, not even three.

I kneeled up and crawled closer to the lying police officer. While I was checking his vitals, starting an IV with warm saline I watched the fight with half eye. And I had to admit, it was kind of amazing. Unlike me, Batman could handle three men at the same time, they hardly could touch him. By the time I finished patching up the first police officer, two of the thugs already were lying unconscious on the floor.

I jumped to the second officer, which was my brother. He was alive and partially conscious. Had some quite serious frostbite on his body, and a broken leg but otherwise he was fine. I was relieved. While I was tending to him, the ice blaster recharged and Fries pointed it at us. I stumbled upon my brother to protect him from the blast. I heard my brother screaming "Judy, no!". I closed my eyes and waited for the ice-cold to hit me.