Gotham's Finest : A Villain's Perspective

planning part 2

Nigma decided to come to my place for our work. I would have preferred his place as it was a better setting for lab work. We took over the kitchen which thankfully hadn't had much in it clutter and set to work immediately.

Nigma suggested we used steroidal components within the active ingredients. I found his idea interesting but not perfect, of course I didn't tell him to not anger his ego.

Ivy climbed in through the window an hour after the lab work had commenced. She had a small gash on her arm that was healing itself.
"Ms Ivy, Can I offer you anything for your wound?"

"Why thank you Eddy, I'll be fine with a little water and my own array of healing saps my lovely plants can give me,"

I took my lab glasses off and put them on my head, "How fast can you find or synthesise psilocybin mushrooms?"
"You'll have to be more specific Johnny, there's more than 200 mushroom species that have psilocybin,"

"Psilocybe Semilanceata," I suggested. "I would use a stronger substance but that would involve time and at least 16 to 21 steps which I have no time for,"

"It's not native to this continent so I'll have to find conditions that mimic northern European climates," She sighed. When Ivy left again, Ed and I continued lab work for another hour before calling quits for the evening and going to the nearest diner to get food.

He rarely left his house to eat since his face was more known than mine. His glasses and hat helped a lot normally but if Batman or any of his associates saw Nigma and felt suspicious, he could easily be found.

I ordered a cheeseburger and he got a normal burger. Sometimes, I found it nice to break habits. Otherwise, I was a man who was firmly stuck into his work. By this I include both psychiatry and my studies of fear. It was a family business I'd inherited.

When our meals came we tucked in straight away without further thought. My phone started ringing halfway through my burger being devoured. Normally I would ignore the little device for hours but not during these few days. It happened to be Ivy.

"Got you some babies growing in a perfect place," She confirmed. "However it'll take three days for them to mature even with my help,"
"Thank you Ivy it's also a miracle that you are a using a mobile phone,"
"I'm only doing this for you because I'm using your house as my current refuge," She stated, though we both knew it was also because of our trust between each other.
"Thanks, see you soon,"

"If I didn't see you as so in love with your work, I'd see you falling for Poison Ivy," Ed chuckled.
"Oh Nigma surely you of all people know that I have no interest in her that way, now let's get back to work," I signalled for the check and we left to find a test subject.

After stopping back at my place to get some of the now ready new toxin, Ed and I dressed into our darker selves and stepped out into the night of Gotham to find a victim.

Of course, I decided to give 'Mr Hill' the insanity he so desired to possess.

"Test subject has started convulsing after two hours of intoxication, The experiment was very promising at first. Whether the subject themselves has a condition that has been onset by one of the active ingredients or whether it is a fault in the toxin itself is unknown until further research is done," I pressed the pause on my recording device and walked over to where Oscar Hill was still on the floor dealing with his nervous system's intense reaction.

"Let me throw cold water over him," Nigma insisted, grabbing the bucket that was nearby as a place to throw up for some of my previous victims.

"That could risk him going into shock and corrupting my data,"

"He'll die anyway soon by choking on his vomit or at least temporarily lose consciousness," Once again Eddy was right. I gave him permission to go get cold water. He did this by jumping into the garden of the old woman who lived below and ask to use her hose. She was too kind to refuse or question the reasons why.
Twelve minutes or so later I had slumped the still shaking man into the shower with his back against the wall. Being the relatively neat person I am, I covered the floor near the shower in all the towels I had in case of splash-back. Ed carefully poured the very cold water on all the most sensitive parts of the man's body. To my surprise in particular, the test subject began to calm down after that. Still in fear but now his body movements were back to how I'd expected.

"What do you see?" I asked him again.

"There are boils all over me it's horrible, why are there so many dead people?" After saying this, he began to cry.

"Johnny can we take out the trash now?" Ed asked, evidentially tired of dealing with the drugged man.

"Be my guest,"
It wasn't perfect yet but it was a start. I had a few more days to perfect thetoxin. I just had to wait for Joker to make the first public move. 

And I wanted that first move to be at any second.