Harley And Ivy get acquianted with the Bat Cave.

In the dark of the Batcave, Harley and Pamela anxiously wandered around the large space, minding their steps on the cool surface of the stone floor beneath them. The occasional chirp from the bats overhead kept them from being bold enough from outright walking from one platform over to the other in the massive complex of the cave interior, but curiosity won out over trepidation. They never knew that the man that foiled them time and time again worked from a cave under a mansion. Granted the mansion BELONGED to him, but with the cables that led to the massive computer system on one end, the equipment, supplies and machines that were positioned throughout the large darkened cave, it was obvious the man lived here instead of the mansion above.

Making her way to one large open spot in the cave, Harleen Quinzel passed by one display case after the other, each looking more like an evidence locker than a trophy spot; each item was painstakingly categorized, and leaf labelled with dates and descriptions of their use during crimes performed in the city. “Yeesh, so many mementos… Never thought of the B-Man as a hoarder.” Holding herself and looking up at the life-sized statue of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, A penny the size of a van and the rows upon rows of items and objects belonging to super criminals that have either been put away or disappeared, Harley blew a strand of hair out of her eyes with a pout to her lip. “The giant penny I can understand, that’s a conversation starter, but why the hell keep the Condiment King’s ketchup gun?!”

Slowly making her way over to the large screen of the computer that rested on what she could best call an island in the dark of the cave, Poison Ivy traced a finger over the key board, finding it cold yet clean. Upon touching the keyboard, the screen lit up and revealed files upon files of cases both active and unsolved piled in orderly files on the screen set up, along with live footage in key locations of Gotham itself. Looking more closely, Pamela found that several of the cases dated back recently over the last few days, cases that had victims who had been mauled to death or disappeared from the scene or the hospital they had been brought to. “How many of these are there?” Pamela asked out loud, skimming over some of the files, some of which had photo evidence of the murders when a black glove pressed a single button that turned off the screen.

“One hundred and fourteen cases; forty-nine of which are cases of intense blood lose due to exsanguination from an unknown source, sixty-two cases of what the police have categorized as an animal attack, the others are either victim disappearances after said attacks or cases that have yet to be determined as a cause of attacker.” Snapping her attention up to the source of the glove, Ivy found Bruce Wayne, dressed in his Batman costume with the cowl pulled back like a hoodie behind his shoulders. A stern look was on his face when his eyes focused back on the woman before pulling the cowl and mask over his face, completing the look. “I’ve been studying these cases since they began cropping up.”

“What… You think WE are responsible for them?” Asked the red-haired beauty, her arms crossed under her bust and a sour look on her face.

“Yes.” He answered, flatly. “You, and the werewolves you inadvertently created.”

“You mean what YOU inadvertently created, right B-man?” Called out Harley Quinn, joining the pair in front of the master computer. Both recoiling instantly when Batman gave them a steel hard look before he answered. “Yes…” Swiftly turning around and marching his way down the steps of the bat computer consul, Batman clicked a button on his belt and a portlet opened on the floor. There, a black motorcycle was escalated to ground level where the Dark Knight mounted and handled the controls. Even when the front lights turned on, the electric engine made no sound. Running lights illuminated the floor leading out into the darkness of the cave.

Standing shoulder to shoulder and watching as Batman readied to leave, Pamela shook her head. “And where do you think YOU are going?!”

“There are still werewolves out in the city, I’m going to find them and deal with them.” The man answered, checking his belt for the new equipment he readied himself with for what he was going to hunt for tonight. “Worse, there are vampires.” Looking back at the two women, the look he gave alone let them know he was serious. “You two will stay here, do NOT invite ANYONE into the mansion… EVER.”

With a squeal of rubber, the bat cycle flew out into the darkness of the cave, trailing an ultra violet flicker of light before disappearing entirely from view.

“Great… Werewolves AND vampires to worry about.” Huffed Poison Ivy, tossing a handful of her long red hair out of her view.

“Could be worse.” Chirped Harley. “Could be mummies out there too!”

*

“Why couldn’t it be fucking mummies?!” Lamented Jason, jumping off a brick wall to scale a steel link fence to escape a pack of five giant wolves that were now chasing him. After witnessing the attack on the couple, Red Hood had descended on the pack on their way to another victim, only to get several bullets buried in their skulls when the violent vigilante landed in front of them with a pair of pistols ready. Emptying both clips and reloading, Red Hood shook his head. “Bad dogs! You’re supposed to sit.” Once his weapons were reloaded, Jason paused when he found the werewolves slowly pick themselves up. One managed to get to all fours, hacking and coughing until bullets fell out of its open mouth. Another shook its head while one bullet after another popped free from the wounds they inflicted, the holes instantly sealing up before rapidly healing with the blood dripping from their wounds thinning out with the rest of the rain water that soaked their matted fur.

“Okay…”

Finding all five wolves back on their feet and glaring back at the leather clad man with intense rage, the Red Hood knew he was outmatched. Looking back over his shoulder after clearing the fence he jumped and darting past an alley way, Jason found that the five wolves still chased him, barreling through the steel linked fence like it was tissue paper. Reaching into his pockets. Red Hood unpinned several teargas grenades to buy himself time, but when he looked behind him after they exploded, Jason found they did little to stop them. Turning a final corner, the man’s shoulders dropped when he nearly collided into a brick wall, the dead end of the alley. “Great… First death by crowbar, now dog food for a bunch of wolves on steroids.”

Cornered and surrounded, the man waited for the five large beasts to strike, that is until a metallic object no larger than a marble dropped from the rafters above him and began to spray a white mist. Where as his tear gas was relatively ignored, THIS gas made the five wolves whine and yelp in intense pain. Blinking back in confusion, the Red Hood watched as the mist seemed so corrosive that the fur and skin on the monsters burned and rotted as if doused in acid. Finding himself also doused in the mist, Red Hood wiped at his arms but found he wasn’t burning at all, the werewolves however clawed and whined in agony before stumbling to the ground, sizzling and burning before they went still just when the mist finally cleared.

Landing heavily between the leather clad man and the horribly burned wolves, Batman pocketed his grapple launcher onto his belt and looked over his shoulder to his former robin. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah… what was THAT stuff you used?”

“Silver nitrate in aerosol form, I didn’t think it would be this effective against werewolves.”

Slowly moving to stand shoulder to shoulder with his former mentor, Red Hood looked down at the five creatures laying prone on the ground. Despite how quickly they regenerated from his bullets, the spray of silver nitrate not only scorched them horribly but even kept the pack from healing, their skin still sizzling from residual silver particles. “Planning on putting them down?”

“They used to be people, still are too.”

“Oh really? Tell that to the couple they filleted a block away.”

Narrowing his eyes and looking back at the Red Hood, Batman pulled out a paper from his belt. “I have a job for you Jason, something important.” Snatching the paper from Bruce’s hand, Jason read the note. “Where’s this?”

“The address to Dr. Langstrom; the former Manbat, if these people are being turned into violent wolves, he MIGHT know how to reverse it.”

Giving Batman a dirty look, the man sighed and pocketed the paper into his jacket. “FINE!... But only because I’m out of ammunition, damn things literally eat lead.” Pulling a grappler out of his jacket and aiming it high into the air to fir a cable, the Red Hood was propelled upward and disappeared.

Now alone, Batman looked down at the scorched, burned yet still living werewolves he had in his custody. Crouching to look one of them over, he found that despite their physical changes, certain attributes had remained such as tattoos and piercings. One showed several brass piercings on its pointed ears, hinting to it being female. Their identity however was not what confused the Dark Knight, instead, looking up at the crescent moon poking out of the still raining night sky and back down at his gloved hands, Batman narrowed his eyes at the situation. “They changed outside of a full moon, then again so did I.” Getting ready to bind his prisoners, Batman was still confused.

“Why did THEY change but not me?”