In this day and age, there was only one word to describe the villains: sad. None of the supervillains in Batman had a good ending. First, facial disfigurement was a normal phenomenon. There were a few who were born like that, much less those who spent their lives soaked in an acid bath. Secondly, childhood trauma was a must. Being mocked by peers, ostracized, being tossed into jail at seven… anything was possible. People like Batman who lost their parents in a street robbery and grew up to take revenge on the society, those were people with fragile hearts, no wonder Bane wanted to beat him up. Other than that, their career and love were doomed. If they met their true love, they would die, and they should be thankful if their lover ended up in coma. They would never have a respectable career like being a police officer, restaurant owner, business elite… How could those career paths create a supervillain?
Compared to these people, having a death in the family or sickness was nothing. People with that kind of background could perhaps get their sob story to push them into top forty on American Idol. After all, who had not faced death in the family before?
But the most confusing thing was that this bunch of supervillains mostly came from a highly educated or cultured background. Professors were a stone’s throw away, and there were plenty who had obtained a Nobel Prize before. Even research assistants would be ashamed to greet others at Arkham Asylum. Mr. Freeze was one of the main supervillains who ticked all of the mentioned boxes.
His real name was Victor Fries, an expert in cryogenics. His beloved wife suffered from a serious illness and could not be treated be the current medical technology, so he suspended her in a cryogenic chamber and spent his life researching the way to save her. Then, the company that sponsored his research pulled the plug on his lab, and it caused an accident and turned the doctor into a cold-blooded creature. His body had to be maintained in sub-zero temperatures. Therefore, he put on a specially-made protective suit and started his life as a supervillain.
He spent most of his time in a factory called Northern Sanctuary, dealing with experiments that only he could understand, but today, he was surprised by two uninvited guests. It was the first day that Mr. Freeze had acted as a supervillain. He had put up cameras around the factory. If the police came, he would be prepared. But this time, he saw something that confused him. First, a guy who dressed like the Joker came out of nowhere, and he started to field the area. Then came another person. The two talked, and then the newcomer stabbed himself. After that, it was a superhero war. The second guy used his blood to control a monster to fight while the fake Joker relied on expert physical ability and glowing cards. Mr. Freeze had already grabbed his most efficient Freeze Ray Gun because he had a feeling that if this fight continued, he would be involved somehow…
“Help! Dr. Fries!” Feng Bujue screamed for help as he searched for Mr. Freeze in the factory. Actually, it was not that hard to find him. The largest room on the ground floor was empty, and the floors above it could be glimpsed through easily. Only the corridor to the top floor corridor was locked. Feng Bujue considered running to other places, but he changed his mind. Even though running back to the city might stop King of Shadows from chasing him, that meant giving up the resource of Mr. Freeze. The way he saw it, since this ranked nineteen fella was already so strong, if he did not gain the aid of the character from the scenario, it would be over for him.
There was another issue… Feng Bujue still cared about how King of Shadows managed to find him. The person was able to triangulate his position in the huge Gotham City and follow him while maintaining a safe distance. He must be relying on some kind of skill or equipment… or summoned creature. If he ignored this and ran back to the city, nothing would change. Being observed constantly would limit Feng Bujue. No matter what he planned to do, it could be easily disturbed, or worse, the enemy would steal the benefits of his hard work. Therefore, Feng Bujue made the decision to deal with King of Shadows there. He used the back-up plan of the third option.
“Dr. Fries!” Feng Bujue destroyed the lock with the wrench and rushed into Mr. Freeze’s lab. “Help!”
When he said that, the sound of the monster moving came from behind him. Blood Golem had chased him to the third floor and was closing in on him. The Blood Golem was fast, but due to its large size, it was slowed down by the doors and stairs, and that gave Feng Bujue some space.
“Don’t move, kid.” Mr. Freeze pointed the gun at Feng Bujue. “Who are you?”
“Ha…” Feng Bujue took a deep breath and shot out the words like bullet. “I am Feng Bujue, a traveler from the future. I have some medicine that can treat your wife, and this medicine can also treat you. There is a monster that is about thirty feet tall and one ton heavy chasing me. The man controlling the monster is mad. He believes that he is a presence higher than this universe, and he views other people’s lives as nothing as long as he can kill me. If I die, no one can give you the medicine, so you must save me! Professor!”
Blood Golem happened to appear behind Feng Bujue then. It roared and was followed by King of Shadows.
There was one weakness in Mr. Freeze’s heart, and that was his wife. Even though he did not trust Feng Bujue fully, facing a strange monster that charged into his lab, Mr. Freeze was obviously more willing to trust and help the one who attempted to communicate with him.
“Lie down,” Mr. Freeze said ’coldly’. The Freeze Ray Gun was no joke. A rough white light pulsed forward, and the already low temperature in the room dropped. King of Shadows did not expect this. All he could do was hide behind the Blood Golem, but that did not help the situation. The Freeze Ray Gun could freeze a large pool in ten seconds, and the combined size of King of Shadows and the golem was less than half of a room. When they were hit by the Freeze Ray Gun for several seconds, they were encased in thick layer of ice, and they were unable to move like flies frozen in amber.
“Phew…” Feng Bujue, who was lying on the ground, raised his head and looked behind him. Compared to gladness, he was more relief. Thankfully, I ran into them before I came to ambush Mr. Freeze. Looks like I am too weak to deal with the supervillains in this scenario…
“Kid.” Following the sound of the gun recharging, Mr. Freeze turned the gun toward Feng Bujue and said with a smile, “You said you have medicine that can cure my wife?”
“Yes, and I am glad to give it to you.” Feng Bujue smiled endearingly. “If you turn me into a popsicle… things will only become more complicated.”
Mr. Freeze put the gun down. “If you are not lying it, prove it to me.”
“No problem.” Feng Bujue quickly got up and adjusted his outfit. For the sake of safety, before he reached into his inventory, he said, “I am reaching into a sub-dimensional pocket to take the medicine, not a weapon, so…”
“Bullets won’t harm my armor.” Mr. Freeze assured him. “Do it quickly.”
“Okay… okay.” Feng Bujue nodded as he reached his hand inside his inventory. From Mr. Freeze’s perspective, the man merely reached into his pocket. The thing that Feng Bujue was grabbing was naturally SCP-500, but he was not that dumb to take out the whole bottle. He twisted the cap open and took out a piece, held it in his palm, and then opened his palm to show Mr. Freeze. “This is it.”
“That looks like normal Aspirin to me,” Mr. Freeze replied.
“Understood… understood…” Feng Bujue said. “But… if you want to see its effects, you have to find an experimental body.”
“You are a perfect lab rat.” Mr. Freeze looked pointedly at Feng Bujue.
“I knew you would say that,” Feng Bujue mumbled under his breath before stretching out his arm. “Fine, prof, freeze this arm of mine and make sure there’s frostbite.”
Mr. Freeze looked at him in surprise. “Oh? Are you sure?”
“Yes, of course.” When Feng Bujue replied, he turned to look at King of Shadows and the golem at the door. “By the way, how long will one survive after being hit by the freeze ray?”
“Shorter than you think,” Mr. Freeze said as he took out another gun from his belt. This one was weaker and less efficient than the cannon-looking thing he was holding. “This is different from crawling into your fridge. This is a cellular death caused by intense freezing around the cell wall. Of course… for people like them who are encased in a large block of ice, they will first die from asphyxiation.”
“In other words… they will die in three to five minutes… Ah!” Feng Bujue’s arm was hit by the ray, and it turned frosted.
“Your injury is different than theirs. I used a special frequency.” Mr. Freeze’s tone was still that even. “Your cells will suffer from rapid and irreparable damage. In one minute, even if you amputate that arm, you will not feel anything.”
“Then, let’s wait for a minute,” Feng Bujue replied calmly like it was not him that was shot.
“Hah… You remind me of another madman.” Mr. Freeze chuckled.
“Ah… I know of him.” Feng Bujue revealed a wicked smile and said in a maddening tone, “Only the insane would act like Batman.”