Return to the Batcave and strategize

In the end, Duke wasn’t able to deny that Barbara was correct that they needed to regroup and let Batman know what was up. Although a large part of him was itching to go after Clayface right then and there, both to stop him and also preferably find out how to turn herself back to her old body.

As expected, Batman subjected her to a quarantine and intensive interrogation; code, personal facts and anecdotes, trick questions sprinkled with clues for the correct response. It was the standard Batman interrogation method, just with slightly less physical intimidation, and in the end it seemed Bruce was satisfied that Duke was indeed Duke.

“So… Can I leave this tube… cell… thing now?” asked Duke as Bruce typed away at the Batcomputer, going over the latest results of the various scans he’d performed of Duke’s new body.

“We still don’t know if this trans-modification has any long-term effects, or if Clayface left any surprises when he changed your body,” explained Bruce, not taking his eyes off the data. Duke huffed, but accepted that he couldn’t exactly argue with the Batman of all people when it came to stuff like this.

“It’ll be alright, Duke,” interjected Barbara as she entered the main area Batcave. “In fact I even managed to convince Bruce to call in some… outside assistance.”

Duke did not even have a chance to ask who she was talking about when the elevator opened, revealing Damian along with a somewhat familiar Japanese girl his age.

“OH MY CRAP! The Batcave! OMG this is amazing! I can’t believe-”

“MAPS! Focus,” snapped Damian at his friend, who gave a sheepish look in apology.

“Oh right, mission time! Don’t worry, Maps Mizoguchi is here to save the day!”

Sensing Duke’s confusion, Barbara stepped forward to explain.

“Duke, this is Mia Mizoguchi, although she prefers to be called Maps, she’s a classmate of Damian’s at Gotham Academy… and this is her roommate, Katherine Karlo.”

On cue, the flower ornament in Maps’ hair suddenly morphed into a wave of clay which soon reformed into a chronically sleep deprived blonde schoolgirl the same age as Maps and Damian. She glanced over at Duke, and blinked.

“Papa made you like us…?”

“Papa? Wait… your dad’s…”

Katherine looked downwards in silence. Barbara spoke back up.

“Don’t panic Duke, Batman’s already given Katherine the clear a while ago… so I thought it might be a good idea to bring her in to provide some support and teach you how to use these powers.”

Katherine nodded.

“I am a sentient piece of viscoelastic protoplasm most likely created when enough pieces of papa were separated from his body for a long enough period of time that they were able to reform together distinct from his main consciousness… so I cannot help much with adjusting… but I can teach you how to… shapeshift… if you want… I can leave as well if you want…”

Duke was admittedly a bit uncomfortable, and generally caught-off guard, by the sudden arrival of Clayface’s daughter. Especially since she didn’t even know Clayface had a daughter until just now. But she supposed she shouldn’t judge someone by who their parents were… So for now, Duke tried to push through her nervousness.

“I’d definitely appreciate any help dealing with… this…”

Katherine nodded and slowly began trying to explain how she changed her shape. It was a rather awkward explanation overall, and she frequently trailed off or apologised. Alfred arrived briefly to bring everyone snacks, which Duke wished she could taste as well but Batman still wasn’t ready to lift the quarantine. Maps sat on the sidelines and cheered on Katherine occasionally when not doing her homework, while Damian was in and out.

A problem soon arose, while Duke was able to quickly get the hang of shifting into various female forms… male forms were proving more difficult. Including her original body, which not only was malformed whenever she attempted to recreate it, but soon broke apart and left her splattered into a puddle which automatically reformed into the feminine figure

“Whatever Clayface did to you… it seems to have hardwired your new powers and body to prefer female forms,” explained Bruce, finally turning away from the data to face Duke.

If anyone beside Batman was the one saying that, Duke might be inclined to thank them for stating the obvious. But this time, she chose to hold her tongue… or the goo which was shaped like a tongue.

_“This is… unusual… I prefer female forms, but I never found male ones harder to hold…” _said Katherine with a frown, briefly shifting into Damian with ease to prove her point before shifting back without breaking her shapeshifting stride.

“Anyway, I have concluded that this mutation has no apparent psychological effects… yet. Nor is it contagious,” continued Bruce, typing a code into a panel and finally releasing Duke from quarantine, much to her relief.

_“Thanks, Bruce…” she said, stepping out. “Now what, though? I can’t exactly go out looking like… this! And Clayface is still out there! I don’t want to sound too reckless or anything, but I’m also getting a little tired of being cooped out in the Batcave like this as well.”_

The other occupants of the Batcave all glanced at one another, thoughtful looks on their faces. Finally Katherine seemed to come up with an idea.

“If… if you can’t look like Duke…look like you… then maybe you should just focus on whichever form seems most natural and easiest to hold?”

Duke found herself nodding. That made sense. She thought so anyway. Just shift into whatever felt easy to shift into, at least until Batman and the others found a way to reverse her back to her old self or she got a better grasp on this shapeshifting thing and was able to just shapeshift back to her old self.

So Duke shut her eyes tightly, and focused all her mind onto sorting through the various forms she’s practised shifting into, and even some she did not. Acting on almost pure instinct, she began changing her body once more, trying to find whatever felt most comfortable and easy to hold.