Firefly

When Jude and the others returned to the surface, they never expected to find such a scene. The entire Arkham Asylum had descended into complete chaos.

Quite a few guards had not been frozen by Jude, but they had run into even crazier Gotham villains. Their fate was easy to imagine. Whether even a few of them would survive was unknown.

"Riddler, look at the good thing you've done!"

"What?"

Jude shook his head. "Nothing. Let's get out of here quickly. The Bat Family and Gotham Police Department will probably be here soon."

"By the way, do you have a home? Or somewhere else you can go?"

Wild Tiger said, "I have a place to stay in the suburbs. I think it should still be there. You can come with me."

Jude refused. "No need. I have my own home."

"Alright, be careful, friend. Goodbye!"

As he spoke, Wild Tiger hoisted Bat onto his back and quickly left. Jude looked at Firefly and asked, "What about you? Aren't you leaving with him?"

"No. I choose to go with you. Compared to that tiger, you've got a sharper head, and you're a little safer."

"Suit yourself. But my place is small. You might have to sleep on the floor."

"Hey! I'm a girl."

"Yes, a hot girl who can breathe fire."

More than ten minutes later, sirens blared outside Arkham Asylum. Over twenty police cars surrounded the entrance, and more than a hundred officers gathered there. They knew perfectly well who was locked up inside Arkham.

James Gordon, the police commissioner with graying temples, was the first to rush out of his car. Seeing the collapsed gates, his expression turned extremely grim.

"Listen up, everyone! Groups of five. No one acts alone. If you find any inmates, those who resist may be shot on sight. Move out!"

Drawing his handgun, Gordon personally led the team inside. But just as he entered Arkham, a black shadow descended from above and landed in front of them.

The other officers immediately raised their guns warily, but Gordon hurriedly stopped them. "Don't shoot. It's Batman."

Bang!

Still, one young officer accidentally fired. The bullet struck Batman in the chest, throwing off a few sparks but causing no real damage.

"Gordon, it looks like your rookies need more training. They're still far from ready for the field."

"I know, but like you, these rookies have the passion to change Gotham. Tell me what you found."

Batman said, "We were all too late. I just checked the holding area. Everyone escaped, including Joker."

Gordon's hand could not help trembling. The worst outcome he had imagined had still come to pass.

At that moment, a small red figure ran over. It was Robin, Batman's constant companion.

"Come take a look at this, Batman."

They arrived at the command center and saw the guards frozen into ice statues.

"This scene... was it Victor?"

The Victor Commissioner Gordon referred to was Victor Fries, better known as Gotham's infamous villain Mr. Freeze. The Freeze Gun was his trademark, and turning people into ice statues was his hobby.

"Not necessarily. But we can look at this."

Batman walked to a dead corner of the command room and smashed the wall with one punch. A fingernail-sized, eye-shaped object fell out from inside.

Gordon frowned at the sight. "You actually installed surveillance here? You don't trust them?"

Batman glanced at him. "No. I don't trust anyone."

Robin awkwardly tried to smooth things over. "This isn't bad either. Arkham's surveillance equipment has all been destroyed. Maybe we can learn something from this."

Batman took a small projection device from his gauntlet, set the eye-shaped object into it, and a holographic projection immediately appeared before them.

Creak!

Pushing open the door, Jude placed Ivy on the bed. Even after the fierce battle, the girl still had not woken up. Who knew how many sedatives they had given her?

"So this is your home? It's as shabby as I expected."

Suddenly, a red light emerged from beneath the bed. Butter Bot whirred out, its twin arm cannons aimed at Firefly.

Jude hurriedly said, "Easy, buddy. She's one of us."

At that, the red glow in Butter Bot's eyes turned blue, and it began circling Firefly.

"Hello, ma'am. What can I do for you?"

Firefly exclaimed in surprise, "This little thing is pretty smart. Did you make it?"

"That's right. You can call it Butter Bot."

"Butter Bot? What an old-fashioned name. Shouldn't it be called something like Missy or Kyle?"

"Thank you. From now on, I am Kyle. Beautiful lady, may I ask your name?"

Firefly fell silent for a moment before saying, "My name is Bridget Pike, but that was who I used to be. Now, you can call me Firefly."

Jude, who was tending to Ivy, paused slightly. He recognized the name Firefly. Though she was not one of Batman's top-tier villains, she was still somewhat well-known. He just did not know which generation of Firefly she was.

"Wait. If this girl is Firefly, then Ivy, dressed all in green... she can't be Poison Ivy, can she?"

Jude studied Ivy. The more he looked, the more she resembled her. The more he thought about it, the more certain he became. Firefly had been modified in the depths of Arkham, and Poison Ivy could very well have been as well.

"Bridget, I see you all have some kind of codename. Does Ivy have one?"

"She hasn't been here long. Honestly, I don't know much about her. But seeing how sickly green she is, maybe something like Green Pigment or Cactus would suit her."

"Alright, forget I asked."

More than half a day later, Ivy finally woke up. The instant she opened her eyes, she began kicking and flailing wildly. She was incredibly strong; Jude could not hold her down and was kicked onto the floor.

"Hey, it's me! Look carefully, it's me, Ivy!"

Only then did the green-clad girl come to her senses, disbelief filling her eyes.

Suddenly, she threw herself into Jude's arms and burst into loud sobs.

"I thought I'd never escape that place. I thought I would die there. They experimented on my body..."

As he listened to her describe her fears through her sobs, Jude gently held her and slowly patted her back.

"Don't worry. You're out now. No one can ever experiment on you again. You're free."

After a while, Firefly whistled from beside them.

"The two of you look like you're in a third-rate idol drama. Not to be rude, but the really melodramatic kind."

Jude shot her a glare. Ivy had calmed down as well and stood up to ask, "How did I get here?"

"Your little boyfriend stormed Arkham all by himself and turned the place upside down. We escaped in the chaos."

Ivy looked at Jude in disbelief. "Herbert, how did you do it?"

Jude smiled. "You're no longer who you used to be, and neither am I. Tell me, who are you now?"

Just a quick note: please don't treat this as a Rick fanfiction. Grandpa Rick will influence part of the protagonist, but the story is still centered on the protagonist. Otherwise, why not just watch the animated series?