The final plan they agreed on was simple enough—at least on paper.
Thea and Batman, the two who could fight in midair, would cripple the zombie's legs, and then Mr. Freeze would move in for the kill shot—flooding the monster with cold until it froze solid.
"Uh, old man," Thea asked skeptically, "what if it doesn't work? You got a backup plan?"
She couldn't help but frown. The more delicate a plan was, the more likely it was to fail. Villains made this mistake all the time—grandiose, elaborate schemes that collapsed the moment one piece went wrong.
Batman was silent for a few seconds before answering.
"I called for backup. Don't worry."
"You? Calling for backup?" she said in disbelief. "Didn't think your ego allowed that."
Still, she decided to trust him—for now.
Seeing she had no further objections, Batman mentally went over the entire operation again, found no holes in it, and gave his orders.
"Selina, bring Mr. Freeze and get here fast."
"Thea, keep it occupied for a few more minutes."
"I'll scout for the right terrain."
He started typing into the Batwing's system to access his satellite data—but frowned when his own password was rejected.
"Oh—don't bother. I already found one," said Felicity Smoak cheerfully over comms. "Northwest of you—there's a natural cliff face. If you lure it beneath and blow the supports, the collapse should trap it for a while."
Batman froze mid-keystroke.
She had hacked his satellite. Again.
As always, he stuck to his personal policy when it came to dealing with women—pretend not to notice.
Thea, meanwhile, could only pinch the bridge of her nose.
"Girl, did you really have to hack his satellite while he's on the line?"
Worse yet, Felicity hadn't even bothered checking who owned it—she'd just booted Bruce's clearance out entirely.
Batman, to his credit, didn't comment.
He simply nodded once, maintaining that stoic calm that said, I'm silently judging everyone here, and told Thea not to lose the target before flying off to inspect the site himself.
When he reached the area, he found it acceptable.
The cliff stood about ten meters tall, the connecting ridge thin enough that the Batwing's cannons could easily shatter it.
If they could draw the monster right beneath it, collapsing the whole formation might bury it for good.
He circled the place once to confirm no civilians were nearby when Catwoman's voice came through, low and uneasy.
"Uh, we've got… a situation."
Batman listened quietly, his jaw tightening. Then he switched channels.
"Thea, bring it toward me. I'll pick up Selina."
He sent her the coordinates and angled the Batwing back toward the city.
When he saw Mr. Freeze, he almost didn't recognize him. The once-pristine scientist was now a wreck—hair matted, face bruised and pale, and a row of bright red slap marks across his cheeks.
Catwoman and the others had holed up in a refrigerated chamber—because without his helmet, Freeze couldn't survive above subzero temperatures. Selina stood over him in a thick coat, knife pressed to his neck. The others were shivering violently, teeth chattering.
Freeze needed the cold to live; Selina refused to let him have his helmet. They'd been locked in a frozen stalemate.
Batman sighed.
To him, this was embarrassingly basic.
He took a small capsule from his belt and tossed it into Freeze's mouth.
"Plastic explosive," he said flatly. "Now put your helmet on and move."
Then he handed a remote detonator to Catwoman.
"You watch him."
Freeze's hand went instinctively to his throat. He didn't dare test whether the threat was real. Grim-faced, he donned his helmet, grabbed his frost cannon, and climbed into the Batwing beside Batman and Selina.
Barbara and Robin, seeing the cockpit was packed, stayed behind. Batman didn't want them anywhere near this fight anyway. With Felicity monitoring via satellite, they could at least follow the live feed.
By the time the Batwing reached the ambush site, Thea was still leading the lumbering monster in circles. Grundy's speed was pathetic, but his attacks weren't—every few minutes, he'd hurl a car or uproot a tree at her.
She couldn't build up much flight speed like that.
Her energy was draining fast.
By now, she'd been at it for hours—from night until dawn. Her quiver was half-empty, and her concentration was starting to fray.
Thank the heavens for her awakened bloodline—her Yang Mark allowed her to absorb sunlight and recover stamina, or she'd have dropped from exhaustion already.
When she finally reached the cliff area, she was greeted by the sight of Mr. Freeze.
Her eyes narrowed. The last time they'd crossed paths, her "shoot-the-canister" trick had wrecked his armor and weapon system beyond repair. He'd been stuck thawing out in a freezer for ten days—the only reason he wasn't dead was because he literally couldn't warm up fast enough to rot.
She, of course, had no idea. She was just curious about his upgraded suit and gun, already thinking she might "borrow" them for study once this was over.
Then—
BOOM!
A thunderous shockwave rolled across the sky.
The trio looked up instinctively.
"Is that a bird?" Catwoman asked, her feline instincts perking up.
"That's a plane," Freeze said dryly, unimpressed.
"That's SUPERMAN!" Felicity's voice suddenly screamed through the comms, fangirling so hard it made everyone's ears ring.
Thea's eyebrow twitched.
"Okay, we get it. You don't have to blow my eardrum, woman."
But she had to admit—the figure was unmistakable.
Blue suit, bold red cape, and that giant S on his chest.
The Man of Steel.
He hovered high above, sunlight glinting off his shoulders, face the very image of calm confidence.
A living symbol of hope and pure, radiant power.
He didn't say a word, didn't descend—just watched from the sky, arms crossed, an untouchable presence.
Thea exhaled in relief.
"Well, look who finally decided to show up. Guess I can relax now—no way that zombie's walking out of this one."
Then, suddenly, she felt it—a sharp prickle in her mind.
Someone was watching her. Intently.
Her head snapped upward.
Superman's eyes were glowing faintly—focused directly on her.
"Oh, come on!" she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. "Really? You're using X-ray vision on me now? What are you, some kind of—"
She cut herself off, glaring at the sky.
"I take it back. The whole 'sunny farm-boy hero' act? Totally fake. You're a creep, Kent!"