A WELCOME SURPRISE

Beep Beep... Beep Beep.....

Angerona groans reaching for the thing making that annoying sound. She hits the clock and goes back to sleep but...

Beep Beep...

She jolts up, "Oh for fucks sake!" She glares at the alarm clock only to see it's not it. She looks down and sees her watch blinking with an incoming call. She sighs irritated.

Beep Beep....

She answers, "This better be important Zalika,"

Zalika pouts, "Come on, boss. I thought we agreed that you'd call me Hack,"

Angerona rolls her eyes a small smile forming, "So why did you call,"

"Don't just change the-- Sigh! Fine. Remember those encrypted files that you sent to the main computer," She nods, "Well I was bored so I went ahead and recovered one file. Man was it hard to decrypt even for me and you know how good-,"

Angerona interrupts her rambling, "Alright focus Z what did you find?"

"4 years back a space pod crash landed in Russia. According to the authorities, the pod was badly damaged and the passenger was dead on impact which is stated on the file. So I got curious and searched through the Russian database. I found a secret underground facility and this," Zalika's hologram is replaced by an image.

Angerona shrugs, "So they recreated the pod what of it,"

"That's the thing. It was never badly damaged which means that..."

"whoever was in there could still be alive," Angerona finishes.

"That's not all," Angerona gestures for her to continue, "This was engraved on the inside of the pod,"

"Interesting," Angerona says a glint flashing in her eyes. A green hand reaches over her shoulder pulling her in.

"So what are you gonna do?" Ivy asks. She puts her head on Angerona's shoulder to look at the symbol.

"I'm going to check it out," A black smoke comes out of her body and forms into a perfect copy of her.

Zalika reappears and asks, "What happens if you rescue whoever it is and they end up joining the boy scout?"

"Well 1 if they're alive they've endured a lot of suffering at the hands of humans for 4 years for them to join him. 2 I'll establish a connection before I rescue them," She opens a small portal over her hand which drops a golden ring, "And 3 I'm not leaving the 1st statement to chance. This little guy will make sure they never join Superman and his little boy band,"

"One of the rings of Malum makes the wearer lose their moral inhibitor. The longer they wear it the more the effects become permanent,"

Ivy and Hack look at the ring in fascination, "Where did you get something like that?" Ivy asks.

Angerona hands the ring to her clone. It walks towards the window and disappears, "I got them from a friend in LA in exchange for a favor,"

~~~=>~~~

It's been 8 days since the quake. Official estimate of the death-toll is 10,000. Batman stands on a crumbled roof watching people dig through the rubble. A crane lifts a huge rock revealing 5 bodies. But he knows in his bones that it's more... Much more.

The president has declared Gotham a disaster area. Federal funds are pouring in. Food and Blankets arrive by the plane load, gifts from a shocked world.

Bruce Wayne has diverted his enormous resources to the struggle to rebuild this city. But it's only a drop in the ocean.

Now, as if the fates have decided that his people hadn't suffered enough. A monster stalks the shattered streets.

Victor Fries was in transit when the quake struck. Whatever restraints they used on him weren't enough and somehow he managed to survive.

He grapples away from one scene to another. He lands in front of a block of ice.

A few minutes earlier

Two patrol officers hear some commotion coming from a building and head over to arrest the looters. They spot someone coming and aim their guns.

"Freeze, Looter!" one of them shouts.

Mr. Freeze comes into view of the two carrying a sac full of diamonds, "Freeze is the operative word, gentlemen!" He shoots his freeze-ray gun at them encasing them in a block of ice. He walks toward their frozen forms and smashes one of them. He walks away saying, "You know what they say cold hands warm hearts! HAHAHAHA!"

He goes back to his temporary hideout, a somewhat standing building. He walks up the stairs to a door labeled staff. When he enters he sees a woman standing in front of his stash of diamonds.

"You picked the wrong building to loot!" He aims at her but a green vine yanks it out of his hands.

Ivy lowers herself from the ceiling and stands next to Angerona. The vine moves over and hands the freeze-ray to Ivy. "Thank you, darling,"

"I'm not here to steal from you, Victor. I've come to you with a proposal,"

Mr. Freeze glares at them, "Not interested,"

Angerona smiles, "Even if I can bring back your wife?"

"What?!" He exclaims shocked.

Angerona shrugs, "You still have her fully intact frozen body somewhere all that's missing is her soul." She looks at a spot next to him, "Which remarkably has stayed by you all these years. I guess she loves you just as much as you love her. Mind you that even if I bring her back you're still gonna have to cure her,"

"What proof do you have that shows me you can do as you say?" Victor asks.

Angerona holds out her hand and a few seconds later a transparent Nora appears holding her hand.

"Nora," Victor calls out his voice cracking slightly. Nora turns to him smiling, "Victor," before disappearing.

A hopeful resolve falls on Victor's face, "I accept your proposal,"

Angerona smiles.

~~~~

END OF CHAPTER.