Sidewalk Treatment (Batman/Villain)

[danica]

Such a bad idea. She knew it was a bad idea. But the opera had been too much for her, too dizzying, and so she'd staggered out the back way, leaving her would-be date, (who had slunk off to the bathroom an hour previous), behind. And, of course, what had she found upon exiting the back door of the theatre but a crying child, a little girl curled up in a corner trying to escape the rain. She'd been whimpering in pain and Danica had tried to figure out what was wrong with her but the little girl wouldn't tell.

Hence the problem. Danica could heal mostly anything, but she had to know what the problem was. And since all the little girl would do was cry, she was having a hard time figuring it out. She couldn't move the child out of fear of it being a spinal injury, (though the child moved on her own, suggesting at least that that part was all right), but she knew eventually the opera would be over and there would be a dozen people all clamoring about, scaring the girl worse than she already was.

Danica for the moment was at a loss.

[Batman]

It was a quiet night in Gotham City but the pouring rain made it seem like a busy night. Batman's suit was soaked, matting his cape to his back. He was perched on a rooftop across the street from Gotham's Opera House. The binoculars in his mask were turned on and he scanned the Gotham skyline, searching for any kind of danger. It took him a few minutes, but Batman soon noticed a crying girl in an alley behind the Opera House. Batman stood up straight but was shocked to see a woman come out from the Opera House and immediately help the girl.

Who...?

Batman walked over to the edge of the roof and turned the binoculars in his mask off. He kept his eyes on the two girls as he jumped off the roof and, using his cape, glided down towards them. Batman landed on the cold cement in the alley way, now getting a closer look at the two girls. The woman, wearing a gold evening gown, was kneeling down to help the crying girl. Batman wrapped his cape around his shoulders, covering his body. He approached the two girls and knelt down next to the gold-clad woman. Batman turned and looked at the woman.

"Do you know what's wrong?"

[danica]

Danica almost went airborne as a black-clad figure lit down beside her and she stared at the apparition with wide, surprised eyes for a moment before she registered who it was. Batman. The Dark Knight himself, down from the sky and the pouring rain. Except instead of trying to hurt Danica and this girl his voice held a note of compassion. She took an actual second to study him carefully - she had never been this close to the superhero before and she was surprised to see that up close he really was nothing more than a man - a man with an angled chin and strong jawline and thin lips. And very intense eyes. She looked at those eyes for a moment, trying to read them, but since all she could see were the irises and pupils there was nothing to read.

The little girl let out a scream and Danica clapped her hand over her mouth and leaned down to the girl's ear. "It's all right," she whispered.

"He'll hurt us!" the girl whimpered and Danica shook her head.

"He won't hurt you while I'm here," she cast a look at Batman with apologetic eyes. Surely he understood she would have to play along with the girl's fear to keep her calm. "Now can you tell me what hurts? I'm a doctor." Lie. She was a surgical intern. But she could try.

"My tummy. And my arm."

That ruled out a spinal injury. Danica very slowly began to move the girl to see if there was any injury to the stomach...and she froze.

A large piece of metal was sticking out of the girl's stomach. And she was cradling her arm in such a way - Danica knew it was broken. "Oh my God," she whispered. How did this happen?

"Okay, honey." She looked at Batman. "She needs to go to a hospital, but when we move her it's going to hurt a lot."

[viper]

"She lived that's how." A female voice said from the shadows behind Batman and women "All the work I went into killing them and one gets away I must be losing my touch after all these years. No matter its something I can easily fix with a bullet." The woman said as she stepped out of the shadows she was dressed in a fairly revealing black catsuit with snake skin piping her long green hair was braided. Viper looked down at the little girl a cold smile speared a crossed her face as she pointed her gun at the girl and pulled the trigger. Knowing full well either Batman or the woman would take the bullet about humans they had to protect the young even if it wasn't there own.

[Batman]

Batman watched the interaction between the woman and the girl. She spoke to the young girl as if they were related some way but, since the girl was in alley before the woman came out, Batman knew they weren't. He wasn't surprised the young girl was scared of him and he wasn't offended in any way. In fact, he didn't even react to her worrying. The woman calmed down the girl enough for her to explain what hurt and when the woman moved the girl's arm, Batman's eyes widened. There was a metal pole sticking out of her stomach and her arm was broken.

"There's got to be a way to move her without harming her too much. We can't remove that pole without causing major blood loss. Let me call in a friend to help."

Batman stood up and pulled his Justice League communicator from his utility belt. Using it, he paged the Man of Steel for assistance. Batman put it back in his belt and turned to the two girls. He kneeled down next to the gold-clad woman and gave her a comforting look. Sure, he was dark and somtimes cold-hearted but the young girl needed comforting and he was all she had. Batman hoped Superman would arrive soon because, judging by the amount of blood she already lost, she wouldn't have much more time. He felt his stomach curl inside. The thought of he death made him sick.

The a woman's voice echoed from the shadows, causing Batman to turn around. She was the cause of this girl's pain. Batman's fists curled up and his teeth clenched. The woman stepped out and revealed herself to be Madame Hydra, known better as Viper. She was dressed quite scantily, showing purple skin. The woman then fired a gun at the young girl. Batman gasped and dodged in front of it, getting hit in the lower abdomen. He fell to the ground and moaned in pain. While still lying on the ground, Batman pulled two exploding batarangs from his belt and threw them at Viper.

"Take the girl and run away. This woman is not to be messed with!"

[danica]

Danica blinked in surprise as Batman pulled out a comlink and contacted a friend. "So the great Batman has help sometimes too?" she asked completely out of the blue. It was such an unexpected move from him that she was rather taken aback by it. Unfortunately she wasn't able to joke any more because the slithery sound of a woman's voice echoed through the air. Danica gasped as the villain Viper stepped out, snarling something about how the girl was the one who got away. Stunned beyond belief, Danica looked down at the girl, wondering what on earth could cause a villain to viciously murder an innocent little girl.

The sound of a gunshot made the girl scream and Danica gasped, looking up in horror. All she saw was black and then Batman fell to the ground, a bullet in his abdomen. He had protected them both from the shot and Danica stared at him with slightly new eyes. So the Dark Knight was compassionate - to the point of protecting people?

Without thinking, Danica reached over and put her hand on his abdomen, healing the wound from the bullet. Then, she focused her power on healing the girl's broken arm. Unfortunately, it left her open to attack as she did so. And when she finished she would be very weak and tired.

[viper]

Viper watched Danica heal Batman and girl and could see that she was tired "You shouldn't have done that." She said as she pulled out a dart and threw it at Danica it was full of poison she had got a hold of from one of her many trips to Apokolips it was nasty stuff either way. "Oh do get up and take that to chest to Batman I wouldn't mind seeing you in so much pain." She said before looking at the little girl again "I haven't forgot about you my dear you'll soon be joining the fifty others that were in that building that went up earlier." she said before shooting her in the head.

[danica]

Danica let out another shout of fear. She had healed Batman but Viper's second attack had come too quick and the dart buried itself in Danica's arm. Instantly, paralyzing pain knocked Danica to the ground, followed a feeling as though she was burning from the inside out. She heard another gunshot and saw the little girl fall straight back. Thankfully, the end had come quick for her. For Danica, it was boiling pain and she couldn't even open her mouth to scream. Her insides were liquefying as she battled the poison, and her eyes stared straight up at the sky, filling with tears. She'd failed the little girl, and Batman wasn't getting back up yet.

What have I done?

She could feel the blackness pushing in on her vision and her heart pumping faster and faster, trying to keep the blood flowing because so long as her blood flowed she would fight. A trickle of blood oozed from her mouth, and then she shut her eyes in pain, blood now trickling from her tear ducts as well. It hurt so much.

But slowly...she could feel herself winning the battle, beginning to purge the poison from her system. But exhaustion was settling in where the poison was leaving off.

Someone...help.

"Help," she breathed out.

[kalel]

Superman came sailing onto the scene far too late for the little girl. Upon spotting Viper shoot her dead, he angled himself towards the ground and smashed into it so hard it rippled. His sharp eyes took in the scene - Batman on the ground, recovering from a wound. The little girl with a pole sticking out of her stomach and a hole in her forehead where the gunshot had hit. At least it had been quick for her. Next to her was a shapely young woman in a beautiful golden dress. Her skin was a sickly pale color and blood dripped from her eyes and mouth. And standing there like an angel of death was Viper, snarling in pleasure at the kill. Superman advanced on her, readying himself for battle. "Beating up on helpless women, Viper? You must be feeling weak." Rage was bubbling in his voice. This cold hearted witch had murdered a child.

[Batman]

Batman slowly began to sit up when it all occurred. He was too late to save both the little girl and the beautiful, kind-hearted woman. Viper was the culprit, shooting them both with one of her weapons. First she fired a gun containing darts that carried a poison from Apokolips. Batman had heard the bang but couldn't react in time to stop it. She then fired a normal gun at the little girl and again Batman couldn't react in time to take the hit once more. She fell over, cold dead. Batman couldn't help but think that it was at least short. He couldn't say the same for the beautiful woman. The poison was in her body and slowly taking it over.

"NO!"

Adrenaline ran through his veins, giving him inner strength. Batman jumped up and ran over to the woman. He kneeled down beside her and grabbed her arms. It was then that Superman came down from the heavens, a moment to late. Batman jolted around, his cape flinging behind him. Anger and frustration filled Batman's face as he looked at the Man of Steel. Batman stood up and stormed over to the two people, one a Boy Scout, saviour and the other a cold-blooded killer. Batman pointed at the blue and red-clad hero and scowled.

"You're late." Batman turned back and looked at the woman. Her eyes and mouth was now trickling blood. "Get her to a hospital and the girl to a morgue. Viper's mine." Batman turned and looked at the evil woman and scowled even more. His teeth clenched, almost gritting against each other in pure hate. His hands balled into fists. Anger burned through his eyes and bellowed up from his body. When he spoke, he almost breathed out fire, he was so angry. "You better pray that she doesn't die because taking two lives .... you'll find yourself six feet under. You wouldn't want that, would you?" Batman threw a fist at her face with all his might, hoping it would crush her skull. As a backup, he threw his other fist at her stomach.