Martha Wayne Memorial Cardiac Clinic
The duty cardiologist walked into the room and spotted the anesthesiologist.
“Doctor Merkel isn’t it?” the duty cardiologist asked.
“Please Doctor Greyhorn, call me Connie,” She smiled.
“You are a very rare find Connie,” Doctor Greyhorn smiled, “Most anesthesiologists are only technicians, but we are fortunate enough to have our own doctor.”
“Well, we are being bankrolled by the Wayne Foundation so they can afford anything legal. And let’s not get involved with anything illegal, right?” Connie smiled.
“I thought I heard at one point you moon light at Saint Anky across town,” Greyhorn asked.
“Not really moon lighting,” Connie smiled, “Volunteer. It’s a research clinic that offers test treatments to those without the millions to buy the very best.”
“Saint Anky,” Greyhorn smiled, “They did the work on the Gordon girl…”
“I wouldn’t be allowed to discuss any procedure I may or may not have been a part of,” Connie smirked and spoke in a coy manor, “but hypothetically it would have been a rather technically challenging procedure.”
“Right,” Greyhorn tapped his nose and then turned to the comatose man, “How is Mr. Pennyworth doing?”
“It’s a miracle he is alive,” Connie sighed, “three heart attacks in two days?”
“How long is he going to be kept in medically induced comma?” Greyhorn asked as he checked the chart and looked at the MP3 player with earphones in Alfred’s ears.
“Not sure, we have a meeting tomorrow morning with the boss to go over that,” Connie shrugged, “Are you the one that got him that?”
“No,” Greyhorn examined the MP3 player, “Mozart, Chopin, Haydn… His family must have left it… Leave it, I don’t see a problem with some classical music.”
“No, no problem with some classical music,” Connie mussed as she walked out of the room with a wicked smirk.
*
Beach, Mermaid Atoll
James may have developed a submissive and masochistic streak while becoming part of the Rubber Kingdom and one of the Rubber Queen’s servants, but one look at him when he returned to the Lovecraft after his work that day told Diana that he needed sometime alone to relax.
“Wow, this beach must be the closest that we can get to the original garden of Eden!” Mary shouted as she ran out on to the beach.
“The garden of eden…” Diana smiled
“You know from the book of Genesis,” Mary turned around.
“It was called something else when my mother told me that story,” Diana confessed.
“Oh, I didn’t realize you were Jewish,” Mary’s face went blanch, “or are you… muslim?”
“Neither, I was raised in a house that worshiped the Old Greek gods. My mother told me the story of creation next to the alters of Zues and Hera,” Diana smiled, “She told me many stories growing up.”
“So you are a witch!” Mary snapped.
“No, not a witch,” Diana corrected her, “A demigod. You see my mother had no husband, but she had me in a rather mortal fashion.”
“So she was a slut?”
“No,” Diana didn’t take insult, “but Hercules is my half-brother. That is an outlandish claim right?”
“That is unbelievable!”
“Well Zues was a known to be something of a sex freak,” Diana shrugged, “Want to hear something else that is pretty far out there? I was asked to lose you out here and return without you!”
“What?” Mary was silenced.
“It seems you have been driving everyone insane with all your born-again Christian bullshit,” Diana spoke frankly, “And with the stink you raised when people complained about you shoving your bible down their throats, it seems that a failed defection to Atlantis might be easier to explain away.”
“So you are just going to kill me?” Mary asked.
“Nope,” Diana smiled, “But I do want to show you something…”
Diana summoned her Latex Lady armor, and its appearance shocked Mary.
“What? What?” Mary stammered.
Diana flicked her wrist and Mary found herself tied up in the Golden Lasso of Truth.
“You will not have any memory of that little conversation we just had, got it?” Diana ordered.
“What conversation?” Mary asked in a flat monotone.
“Good slut,” Lady Latex smiled, “From now on, your little snatch is allergic to any kind of panties except rubber. You find yourself getting sexually excited thinking about having a rubber gimp between your legs fucking you. You find thinking about dressing in latex, rubber, leather clothes to be sexually exciting. The idea of submitting to a man in bed is repulsive, you must dominate your love slaves.”
“Dominated love slaves,” Mary intoned absently.
“Good, you will find that you do not fit in your biblical world,” Diana stepped back and changed back to her day’s outfit, “The more you look up the more you will be drawn to BDSM, and latex fetishism. Now Sleep for a minute.”
Diana removed the rope and went back to the jeep, Mary had already been ordered to load a few books on BDSM, latex erotica, latex fetishism and Female-Led Marriages onto her E-book reader.
“I am going to go back and check on James,” Diana said snapping Mary out of her trance, “I will leave you with the jeep.”
*
Wayne Enterprises headquarters, Gotham City
The appearance of Bruce Wayne at the hour was unusual, but what hours he did keep and his appearances were all together unusual. Lucius had been heading to the elevator when Bruce exited.
“Cancel all appearances, all funding events, all drives, cancel everything!” Bruce shouted as he stormed past the headquarters staff.
“You heard him,” Lucius quipped, “Christmas is canceled.”
Bruce turned around and shot Lucius a killing look.
“Come on Mr. Wayne I think you need to sit down and talk to someone,” Lucius waved Bruce to his office.
Bruce went right to the arm chair in the corner of Lucius’ office and plopped down without ceremony. All around him were the pictures of Lucius life while in the employ of Wayne enterprises, his marriage, his children, his milestones in the company, the picture of him with Thomas Wayne at the group breaking ceremony for the Wayne Plaza.
“Now Bruce tell me what really has you up in a bat-demon mode,” Lucius did his best Morgan Freeman impersonation.
“The Boys, the girls, the clown, the thugs, Alfred, the cat, and hell, the only ones not causing mayhem and stupidity for me are the homicidal one!” Bruce exploded.
“The middle children, the teacher and the religious one,” Lucius pulled a bottle of water from his personal mini-fridge, “am I right?”
“Yeah,” Bruce grumbled.
“Bruce,” Lucius looked at a photo of his family, “It was only a matter of time before the stress caught up with Alfred, and lets be honest, the kids are kids. Kids get distracted, lord knows my oldest is very distracted right now. The point is they are a team, and they are working for you not against you!”
*
Barbara Gordon’s apartment, Gotham City
“So how do we break Bruce before he catches us?” Tim asked.
Barbara, Steph, and Rubber Queen sat at the table with Tim.
“Don’t worry my slave,” the Rubber Queen said, “Even if Kari doesn’t manage to seduce him with her charm we have many other ways of breaking the bat. Now Barbara dear, how is it going with Dick?”
“Licking my heels like a loving puppy,” Barbara giggled, “How are things going in Metropolis?”
“I am told they are all falling in line well,” Rubber Queen smiled.
“What about the others?” Steph asked.
“Don’t worry child,” Rubber Queen kissed the blonde girl, “By the time the Justice League realizes what has been happening, they will have already pledged themselves to my service.”
*
Headquarters, Wayne Plaza, Gotham City
“Relax everyone,” Lucius announced, “Christmas is no longer canceled, but I had to give up Christmas in July.”
That got a lot of puzzled looks, but Bruce went off to the Penthouse Apartment. He was on edge again as soon as the elevator door opened.
“Hello Cassie.”
“Sensei,” Cassie bowed.
She was clad in her Black Bat gear, minus Cowl.
“Something is affecting Red Hood Sensei,” Cassie went straight to the point as always, “I requested more C4 to deal with drug runners, but he barely realized I was in the room with him and has not arranged the transfer of munitions.”
“What is the last part?” Bruce knew she had left something unspoken.
“He has disappeared.”
*
Barbara Gordon’s apartment, Gotham City
The knock at the door caused everyone to stop, with the Police protection detail she should have gotten a call before anyone got close enough to knock on her door.
“Barbara, signal, obey,” Jason stumbled in, “Trap, surrender…”
“Well this is delicious,” The Rubber Queen smiled.
“Mistress,” Barbara said, “This is Jason Todd, alias Red Hood.”
“And it looks like he has found his way into my clutches!” Rubber Queen thought for a moment and then ordered, “Barbara, destroy everything you can at his base remotely. She pulled out a phone.”
*
Red Hood’s hideout
Clark and Karen didn’t know why Madam Lois had ordered them to stop and sanitize this place, but they both knew that they had to destroy everything or Madam Lois would be displeased. They had used their heat vision to destroy all notes, and gathered all the weapons and ammunition hauling it away with them to be dropped in a volcano. Fifteen minutes later, Batman and Black Bat entered the hideout. Everything was gone.
“Possibilities?” Black Bat asked the master detective.
“Vaporized, so Kryptonian heat vision, power thieves replicating that or about three or four other possibilities. None of them make much sense,” Batman confided.
“Sensei,” Black Bat started but bite her lip, “I failed, I failed to warn you when I first saw the problem.”