For almost a week, Gotham City had been dealing with the weirdest weather anyone could imagine. Large swaths of Gotham City were covered in ice. No one could remember a bizarre weather pattern like this before. While the local news blamed the strange cold spots on natural variations in the weather, Tommy thought of a more sinister culprit:
Victor Fries.
'It has to be him,' Tommy thought. He was sitting at the Batcave computer, deep in thought. If there were cold patterns, Mr. Freeze must be behind it. Everyone else had written him off because the previous Batman had seemingly killed him 3 years before. In the Bat computer, though, Batman had expressed doubt about Freeze being killed so easily.
But, Tommy couldn't understand how he was generating so much ice. According to the Batcave's files, Freeze should only be able to generate the ice to freeze a block, not half the city. Tommy furrowed his brow.
"Goddammit," He said finally, tossing a pen in frustration. No matter how hard he tried, he just wasn't smart enough. 'Maybe I should call Batgirl,' He thought, before dismissing the notion. She was in Bludhaven to help someone with something and couldn't be here.
Not that Tommy necessarily wanted to talk to her, anyway. Things with Batgirl were... weird.
Tommy thought. 'Maybe I'm focusing on the wrong question,' He finally realized. 'Maybe I need to find him first, then figure out how he's doing what he's doing.'
But how to do that? Tommy was deep in thought. Eventually, far longer than you'd think, it clicked: it's cold in pockets, so which pocket is coldest? Tommy ran a temperature read of Gotham City.
He found one area that was colder than the rest. It was a set of abandoned buildings along the river. He looked up who owned them and found Gothcorp Industries. The office park was scheduled to be demolished but not for 3 more months. The name "Gothcorp" resonated in Tommy's head and he brought up Freeze's file.
"Gotcha!" He said to no one. Listed under Freeze's former place of employment, Tommy saw "Gothcorp Industries." Tommy hopped up and began putting on his suit. While he did so, one thought ran through his mind:
'I hope it's not too cold out there.'
***
Tommy glided to the top of one of the many abandoned GothCorp buildings in this neighborhood and looked around. It was cold and many of the buildings had light frost on their windows. 'Must be the place,' He thought. Unconsciously he wrapped his cape around him to warm up. A small whir was heard and Tommy could feel his suit get warmer. There must be a heating system, he thought.
Investigating the facility, Tommy found one building in the center of the complex seemed colder than the rest.
'Well, have to start somewhere,' Tommy thought to himself. He crept to the top of that building and entered through the roof.
As he dropped down and headed deeper into the abandoned warehouse, he marveled at the condition the building was in. Pipes were frozen solid and the floor was slick with ice. Tommy had to walk carefully to avoid falling.
Finally, Tommy came to a door that seemed to lead to the main room in the warehouse. He slowly opened the door and crept inside.
Tommy found himself on a catwalk, overlooking a large facility with a variety of equipment. In the very center of the room he found the man he was after: Mr. Freeze. The Iceman was hunched over a console while wearing his ubiquitous suit. The suit made him look large and imposing and when he turned, Tommy could see his cold, dead eyes. He had a shark's eyes.
Looking at him, Tommy couldn't help but feel intimidated. Tommy didn't know how he was supposed to take a beast like this down. He knew how Batman had taken Mr. Freeze down, but Mr. Freeze was smart and calculating; trying the same thing would only get him killed.
Tommy glanced around, searching for a plan of attack. He surveyed the series of tubes, computers and chemicals that were littered around Mr. Freeze. A stack of heavy pipes hung in the air over the center of the room. A woman seemed to be floating inside a massive chamber.
'That must be Mrs. Fries,' Tommy thought. 'But if that's Mrs. Fries, then who is that...?'
Tommy's focused shifted over to another seemingly blue woman who was strapped to a gurney in the left corner of the room. She had liquid flowing in and out of her. When it entered it looked like pure, ordinary water but when it left it seemed to be glowing blue. Whatever was happening to her looked like it wasn't pleasant; she appeared conscious but just barely. Tommy knew he needed to do something.
Tommy took a deep breath and silently dropped to the floor of the warehouse. He was opposite of the trapped woman, with Mr. Freeze between them. Cautiously he tiptoed along the side of the room and attempted to make his way toward the woman. Maybe he could unplug her from Freeze's machine and get her to safety before-
"Hello, Batman," Mr. Freeze monotoned. He slowly turned around, holding up his massive freeze gun. "I've been expecting you. I wonder why it took you so long to find me."
"Oh, you know how traffic can be," Tommy quipped. If Mr. Freeze found Tommy's joke humorous he did not show it.
Mr. Freeze walked towards the center of the room, getting closer to Tommy. As he neared, Tommy pulled out a batarang with his left hand. Freeze instantly activated his freeze gun, dousing Tommy's hand with a freezing liquid. It froze his hand solid, pinning it against the wall of the warehouse. Tommy struggled to free himself.
"Why must you bother me with these petty squabbles, Batman?" Freeze asked. "I only want to save my dearly departed Nora. Is that a crime?" Freeze motioned towards his encased wife.
"No," Tommy replied, "But freezing over Gotham seems like a crime. And doing whatever you're doing to that woman sure as shit is."
"Oh, don't mind Killer Frost," Mr. Freeze said. "She is a necessary sacrifice. I would trade 100 Frosts to save Nora. She is needed to create the large quantities of cold I need to hopefully freeze Nora's condition in her blood. The runoff that is freezing Gotham is... unfortunate. But necessary."
The name "Killer Frost" didn't ring a bell with Tommy. He continued to struggle to free his left hand. Freeze aimed his gun and supplied more ice to Tommy's left arm, burying it up to his elbow.
"It's no use struggling, Batman," Freeze intoned. "Accept the cold embrace of your doom."