Chapter 8
-[Batman]-
How did this keep happening?
Once again, the Joker had played with innocent lives just to get to him. He also revealed his frustration about whoever it was that stopped his previous bomb.
The clown was surprisingly smart, allowing him to deduce that neither he nor his ward were responsible for dealing with his bomb and thugs given the time frame.
To that end, he'd kidnapped yet another family and tied them with another bomb, displaying it on a big screen to torment Batman. It was also for his sick amusement.
His amusement was cut short as the feed abruptly ended. Joker's amusement turned into full blown laughter as he pressed a button before going to explain how the room was going to be flooded with gas.
Joker Venom.
Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to get to them in time but he would at least stop the Joker. He managed to do that fairly quickly, dropping the clown off at Arkham Asylum.
Maybe it was because of his failure to save that family but the drive through the city felt longer than ever. Believing he'd won, Joker saw no need to hide their location.
Just like last time, he found it crowded with a small number of police cars and an ambulance. The Joker's thugs were beaten in the same manner as the last time, besides the bite mark, making him believe it was the same person.
To his utter shock and relief, he found the family of four free, alive and seemingly unaffected by the Joker Venom that was supposedly released into their place of captivity.
Other than being unconscious, they were fine. Only the son remained awake and alert but the doors to the ambulance closed, carrying them to the hospital.
'It's not possible. Nobody has ever survived Joker's venom.' He frowned, idly wondering if Joker was bluffing.
Returning to the Batmobile, he followed the ambulance from a safe distance.
'I need to get to the bottom of this.'
-[Liam]-
He was mentally exhausted.
The ordeal of the last few hours was the most intense thing he'd ever gone through. His heart was still beating powerfully, the adrenaline slowly dying down.
The sense of pride concerning his victory over Joker made up for how tired he felt. It also made him realize something.
'I just cured Joker Venom, something that no medical practitioner or Batman himself had ever done.' The medical student in him wanted to jump in excitement but he refrained from doing so.
His mind ran through many ideas. Medical solutions that were thought to be impossible to bring to fruition didn't seem so impossible anymore.
Though he winced at the amount he lost when he went back to pay the store clerk for the drugs he used, it didn't lower his excitement. After compelling the man to forget his use of powers, he removed any evidence of it as well before heading home.
The trip back was relatively long but he had no choice unless he wanted to sleep on the street. Superpowered or not, he wasn't missing out on his bed if he didn't have to.
Resisting the urge to begin theorizing chemical formulas and wonder drugs, he forced his eyes shut as he allowed sleep to take hold of him.
-[Hospital]-
The family of four were admitted into the hospital for a full check up. They looked fine, unconsciousness aside, but with the Joker involved, everyone was on edge about it.
The police commissioner himself and another officer sat in the waiting room, giving the medical staff space to do their jobs.
It was quite a lengthy wait but they had to be thorough in their examination, which Gordon understood. The nurse walking towards them, signaled for them to follow her as she led them to the room of the sole conscious victim of the night.
Upon entering, Gordon saw the boy sitting up on the bed with a strange look on his face. "Hey kid. How're you feeling?"
"Much better now that I'm free. Good evening, Commissioner." He muttered, his attention now on them.
Gordon sighed at the fact that in Gotham even children weren't safe. He was thankful for all the bat and his sidekick were doing but sometimes he wished one of them would put Joker down for good.
"I know this is a lot to process right now but I need you to tell me everything that happened." Gordon said, his partner bringing out a notepad.
The boy, Vincent, seemed to think for a moment before responding.
"We were going out for a family dinner. When we were about to get into the car, some armed men with painted faces grabbed us and took us to where you guys found us." He spent the next few moments relaying his encounter to the officers.
Luckily, they hadn't encountered the Joker face to face. That would have been scarring, especially for the boy's sister.
"How did you get free?" Gordon asked, that being the main question on his mind.
"Some man in black came in and crushed the camera. I don't know what happened after that, I could barely stay conscious as it was. Next thing I knew, I was upstairs with my mom, dad and Valerie with me. The man was gone." Vincent explained with a lost look on his face.
"Batman?" The other officer asked.
"I've seen Batman on the news. It wasn't him." The boy refuted.
"What did this man look like?" The commissioner pressed.
Vincent had a look of concentration, as if trying to recall as much as possible. "Tall, I think. He wore black clothes. I couldn't see his face properly but I think he was wearing a black mask. I'm sorry." He apologized.
"It's alright kid. You've done plenty, just get some rest." Gordon said, as they turned to leave. "If you remember anything just give us a call."
Nodding his head, Vincent watched the officers leave. A nurse stopped them just outside the room. He couldn't hear what was said but the shocked look on the men's faces as well as the nurse's got him confused.
'What happened?' He couldn't help but wonder as their eyes flickered to him.
-[Liam]-
Morning came quicker than he expected, leaving him still longing for sleep. It was only the repetition of his morning alarm that got him out of bed, though reluctantly.
'I don't think I want to go to school today. I'll just sleep in.' He thought, falling back into his bed only for his phone to buzz.
Picking it up, he saw a simple text from David. "We need to meet today."
He paused at that. Calls weren't safe enough so he made sure to not avoid discussing anything incriminating on the phone. He also made sure David would comply with that, which meant that it was something serious.
Forcing down a groan, he picked himself back up and started preparing for school. That didn't take much time and soon enough he was walking through the doors of school.
He was late but nobody really cared. Classes rolled by as usual, though he did note that Vincent hadn't shown up, not that he expected him to after the ordeal he went through.
Unfortunately, chemistry wasn't on the schedule for the day, causing him to frown in dismay.
Xx-Xx-Xx
The bell rang, signifying the end of the school day. Most of the students hung around but two in particular moved from the mass of people to have a private conversation.
"So, what happened?" Liam asked as soon as he was sure they couldn't be overheard.
The excitement on David's face was telling. "One of my guys is tight with the owner of a club downtown. He got a sample and now he wants to meet up to make a deal."
Liam's eyes widened in surprise. He thought it would take a while before something like that came up but it seemed like being a drug pusher in Gotham is about having the right goods and connections.
"That's great news. When does he want to meet up?"
"Tonight. I'm supposed to let him know after I meet up with you." David said, Liam nodding his head.
"Set up a meeting and text me the time and place along with his number. I'll give you a number you can give him to reach out to me before then." He responded.
He wanted to keep any illegal business off his personal devices and he'd been putting off getting a new phone until more money came in.
'No better time than the present.' He thought before questioning David about everything he knew about the club owner.
He wasn't going in blind if he could avoid it. They parted ways not long after, Liam stopping at an electronics store to purchase a new phone. Fifty dollars was enough to get him a decent and cheap phone that would allow him to do his business.
Xx-Xx-Xx
Upon getting back home, he found Vincent sitting at the door.
"I guess this explains why you were in school today." Liam joked, forcing a smile out of the other boy.
"I think I'm entitled to a few days of rest. At least according to the doctors anyway." Vincent retorted as Liam unlocked the door, leading him in.
A quick appraisal showed that he was fine and healthy, alleviating any of his worries. There was a moment of silence as they both settled in before Liam broke it.
"How're they taking it?" He asked, referring to the rest of his family.
"They just woke up this morning. They're trying to be strong for me and Valerie but they're still shaken up." The other boy admitted.
"And you?" Liam redirected his question. "How're you holding up?"
There was another moment of silence before he spoke up.
"Liam, I can't thank you enough for what you did. If it wasn't for you, we might not have gotten out of there alive and Valerie…" he trailed off for a moment, his voice shaking a bit. "I don't know what I would do if anything happened to her so thank you!"
At this point, tears of gratitude were falling from Vincent's eyes. For the second time today, Liam was stunned but for a different reason.
This gratitude was aimed at him for what he did, not for the previous Liam but for him. He did this and Vincent was thanking HIM. It made it all seem more real to him, being acknowledged for his own deeds.
"No need to thank me. That's what friends do for each other." He comforted the boy, his words lacking the hollow feeling it once did.
It took a few minutes for Vincent to calm down before he began relaying how the Joker's goons grabbed them. That, alongside what he told the officers.
Liam was now looking incredulously at Vincent. He hadn't compelled him to forget anything, he had lied to the police of his own will.
He hadn't thought much about it at the time but he didn't expect that.
"What?" Vincent asked, looking at his shocked face.
"Please don't tell me you described Doctor Detective as your rescuer." Liam said, torn between laughing and gaping incredulously.
Doctor Detective was a show that aired when they were kids about a detective who went undercover in a hospital to find out who was replacing the blood bags with ketchup.
"I figured that since you left before the police showed up, you didn't want anyone to know you were involved." Vincent retorted, before his face turned serious.
"There's also another reason I stopped by. It's Valerie." He added, all mirth leaving Liam's form immediately.
"Did anything happen?" He questioned. His appraisal had shown that Valerie was completely fine at the time and would be fine for the next twenty four hours.
"It's the opposite actually. She's healthier than she's ever been." Vincent said, confusing Liam once again.
"So what's the problem?" He asked, trying his best to understand what Vincent was saying.
"When they ran diagnostics, they said she was completely healthy. Too healthy in fact. They compared it with her scans from last year, when she first got diagnosed with cancer." Vincent explained.
'Last year.' He thought. It was around the time of his mom's death. He'd heard about it one day when he visited them. The little girl was afraid of being ostracized for it. He would have found her worrying adorable if it wasn't so sad.
"What does that have to do with anythi…" he froze mid speech as it hit him. 'How did I not think of it?'
The pill of immunity he used to cleanse her of the Joker toxin worked by supercharging and boosting her immune system to the point that it easily decimated the toxin.
There are different ways to treat cancer, one of which was immunotherapy but it was used carefully and sparingly since there was no drug that could safely boost the immune system enough to fight the cancer cells. Even the ones that worked were only able to manage cancer rather than cure it completely.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Liam asked with wide eyes.
The tears had returned to Vincent's eyes along with a smile. "You cured her cancer."
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