Batman: Child's Play Part 2 (Patreon)

“So, what did you do?”

“I ran.”

“What happened before that?”

“I dunno.  Stuff?”

“What type of stuff.”

“Just stuff.”

“Did she do anything before she asked you to play?”

“I don't know.  Her Mommy was carrying her.  Maybe she was talking to her Mommy?”

“What did she say to her Mommy?”

“I don't know.  I wasn't listening.”

“Did her Mommy say or do anything?”

“I don't think so.”

“What about the girl?”

“She had something.”

“What did she have?”

“It looked like a small ball.”

“What did she do with the ball?”

“She squeezed it.”

“Then what?”

“Then it popped.”

“The ball popped?”

“Yeah, that's what I said.”

“Then what?”

“Then this smoke came out of it?”

“Smoke?”

“Yeah.”

“What type of smoke?”

“I don't know.  Blue smoke?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

“I think it was blue.  But it was smoke.”

“Are you sure it was smoke?  Could it have been a powder?”

“What's the difference.  It was blue.”

“Then what?”

“Then I ran away.  I don't like girls!  Can I see the bat-erang now?”

“OK, Robin show him your bat-erang.”  Robin took out his bat-erang and showed it to the baker, but he didn't let the regressed man hold it himself.  Batman went to talk to his wife.

“He's been acting like a child since he got back here.  Can you return him to normal?”

“I don't know, we'll have to find the person who did this to him?”

“Do you know who that is?”

“We think it's BabyDoll.”

“Who's that?”

“One of our smartest and most dangerous foes.  We'll keep in touch.”

“What should I do in the meantime?”

“Buy some toys and make lots of mac 'n cheese.”  Then Batman called out, “Robin let's go.”

“Where to now, Batman?”

“Let's go to the bakery and look for clues.”

“Good idea.”

The pair dashed to the bakery, it was less than a mile away.  The door to the bakery was slightly ajar when they got there.

“Strange,” Batman said.  "It should have been closed or a guard should have been left on duty."

“Who was going to close it, the baker ran home.”

“The police.”

They entered the bakery carefully.  The lights were still on.  There were pastries thrown all over the store and several half-eaten ones scattered throughout.

“Why would BabyDoll make a mess like this.”

“I don't think she would” Batman stated with assurance.

“Why would anyone else?”

“I have my suspicions.”

Footsteps were heard coming from the back room.

“Come out!” Batman shouted.

“Don't wanna.”

“Come out or we are coming in.”

The door to the back room where the pastries and loaves of bread were prepared sprang open.  A policewoman came out.  She held her police revolver in one hand and a walkie-talkie in the other.

“Raise your hands, I have you covered!” she announced.  Her face was covered in purple jelly, white cream, and powdered sugar.  So were her hands, the gun, and the walkie-talkie.

“Officer, no need to be alarmed, it's just us.”

“I'm policeman Lane and I said, raise your hands.”  The officer was clearly a woman, but she called herself a policeman.

“I think we should do what she says,” Batman told Robin.  “That gun looks loaded.”

“OK, if you insist,” Batman told the officer.

“Awe, you are making this too easy.  You are supposed to hide, and we get into a shootout.  Haven't you played cops and robbers before?”

“Oh, I didn't know.”

“It's too late.  Keep your hands up, let me find some cuffs.”  The police officer couldn't get the handcuffs since her hands were full with the gun and walkie-talkie.  That was when Batman leaped into action and disarmed the officer.

“You cheated, you cheated!” she screamed.

“I'm sorry, but I can't play now.  I have to work.”

“Everyone is always working.  I wanna play.”

A couple of minutes later, three police officers entered the show.  One was Officer Lane's partner.

“What happened?”

“We were assigned to look over the place.  Then my partner started acting strange.  She started to pick up donuts and throw them at me.  I told her to stop but she wouldn't.  When she took out her gun, I left to get some help.”

“You take her. I'll look the place over.”

“Want a brownie!” Officer Lane whined.

Robin gave the officer a brownie and we went quietly with the other officers.

Batman and Robin started to investigate.  They looked all over.  On the counter, there was a blue powder sprinkled with the debris of dozens of randomly thrown baked goods.  Batman could see a palm print in the blue dust.  Officer Lane must have touched the regression powder and transformed mentally into the 'little boy' they had just encountered.  Batman took out the bat-dustpan and sweeper and brushed some up.  Then he secured it in a small glass jar and screwed the top.

“Let's bring this to the bat-cave and analyze it.”

Their investigation of the bakery complete they exited the premises and returned to the bat-cave.

Realizing that Batman and Robin had returned, Alfred made them both a sandwich and filled two glasses with milk.  He brought the refreshments down to the bat-cave.

Batman was in complete control.  He had removed the bottle containing the mixture of flour, powdered sugar, and odd bluish powder.  He put it into the bat-cyclotron to separate the components.  Then placed it into the bat-analyzer for analysis.  Many rapidly changing colors were displayed on the device's screen to indicate its operation.

“I brought you a snack,” Alfred announced.

As the machine would take several minutes to complete its task, Batman had the opportunity to eat his meal.  Robin who was just watching Batman work also had a sandwich.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Alfred inquired.

“I think we isolated the substance that is causing all the harm, but I don't know if we have any clues as to where the perpetrator is or what she wants.”

“I see.”

“Do you think you can return the victim to normal?”

“Victims,” Batman corrected.

“I thought there was just the one.”

“A policewoman was also accidentally affected also.”

“I see.  Was she also regressed to girlhood?”

“No, I think she thinks she is a boy.  I'm not sure.”

“Oh my.”

With the Analysis complete, the device pinged and then printed out a hard copy of its results.

Batman looked them over.

“Look at this.”

“I'm not sure what it means Batman,” Robin admitted.

“This substance has many parts.  There is the base part that opens the mind and there is the part that fine-tunes the substance.  I was right, this substance will turn anyone who touches or inhales it into a young boy approximately eight years old.  It doesn't matter the age or gender of the victim.  It will turn them into rambunctious little boys.”

“Holy cub scouts!” Robin exclaimed.  “So, BabyDoll is going to turn everyone into little boys?”

“I don't think so.  This substance turns people into little boys.  But it can be modified to turn the victims into any age or gender: from infants to pre-pubescence, from obnoxious boys to prissy girls and anything in between.”

“We have to stop her!”

“We will.”

“Can we cure the victims?”

“We can't but BabyDoll can.  I'm sure of it.  She is a biochemical genius.”

A moment later, the bat-analyzer printed out another sheet.

“What is it?”

“There was another substance here.  It's disinfectant.”

“So what.”

“This is a special kind of disinfectant; it was used in orphanages.”

“It was?”

“Yes. It's a clue.  I think I know where BabyDoll's hideout is.”

“The abandoned Gotham Orphanage house.  It hasn't been used for years.”

“Let's go, there isn't a minute to lose.”

Batman and Robin returned the remains of their sandwiches to Alfred with the half drank glasses of milk.  They ran to the batmobile and exited in moments.

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