Gotham, Central Bank.
Mr. Freeze stood beside the armored cash truck, now frozen solid. Fine white mist still curled from the barrel of his Freeze Gun.
His wife, Nora, had been placed in a secret medical facility somewhere beneath Gotham. Clutched in his hand was a microchip no bigger than a fingernail, containing the blueprints for Wayne Enterprises' latest Cryogenic Preservation Technology.
With those blueprints, he could bring Nora back to life.
Mr. Freeze closed his fist around the chip and waved to the Mercenaries loading gold bars beside him.
"Fall back."
His voice came through the mask, cold and hard, almost mechanical.
The Mercenaries pushed their carts, piled high with gold bars, toward the mouth of the alley.
But before they could take another step, a golden light dropped straight from the sky.
Diana Prince landed in the plaza before the Central Bank's main entrance. The shockwave sent the skirt of her golden armor whipping around her legs. The Lasso of Truth coiled into a golden vortex in her hand, while her silver bracers gleamed coldly in the morning light.
Her pale blue eyes swept over the retreating Mercenaries and settled on Mr. Freeze's hard face, mostly hidden behind his mask. The faintest sneer touched her lips.
"Mr. Freeze, Gotham isn't your laboratory."
A low, icy voice came from behind his mask. "Stay out of my way."
He raised the Freeze Gun and aimed at Diana. An icy-blue beam burst from the barrel, streaking toward her chest like a taut line of ice.
Diana raised her right arm, meeting the beam head-on with her silver bracer.
Boom!
The instant the beam struck her bracer, a visible ring of transparent force exploded through the air, sweeping away the burning debris and broken glass nearby.
Diana's arm trembled slightly, and a