"I've half a mind to report you both for grand theft auto." Batman hissed.
Damian sneered, pumping the gas. "I'd like to hear that call. 'Hello, police? My children stole the Batmobile.'"
"I at least thought you were above this, Lorri."
"Damian had a very.." you paused, turning to him. "..enticing persuasion method."
Damian smirked at you, swerving the car into an alleyway and parking. You both jumped out of the car and into the snow.
"You two find the amusing?"
"Kinda." You replied, making your way through the snow.
"I called and told you to meet up with us here, didn't I?" Damian asked, leading you.
"What does a town that was wiped out by floods three years ago have to do with the children that have gone missing in Gotham?"
You made your way to Schott's Toys, and it was a creepy abandoned wear house if you had ever seen one. You shivered.
"Maybe nothing." Damian began. "But, I find it a little odd that every one of them owned toys made here."
Both you and Damian slipped through the wooden fence, and towards a window.
"You could have shared the information a little sooner."
"An alternate response might be 'Good work, Robin.' But I guess I expect too much."
You snickered.
"I'm still a mile out. Lorri, don't let Damian do anything till I get there."
You smiled. "No promises."
With that, you both broke through a window and made your way into the wearhouse. Damian pulled out a flashlight, and you did the same, pulling your hood off your head, allowing your ponytail to fall around your shoulders.
Dolls without faces hung from the dark ceiling, and clattering noises were made from afar. Both you and Robin made your way through the warehouse.
Robin shined his flashlight on a small shoe.
"Oh, no." You whispered, picking it up.
You drew the line at hostages, but children were a whole other story.
"Remember, Robin. Justice-"
"Not vengeance." He finished.
You heard a noise. "Up there." You pointed your flashlight to a door.
It was heavy, both you and Robin had to push it open.
"The original owner of the place was a man named Winslow Schott." Robin began.
"A psychopathic killer." You added.
Robin flicked on some lights, reavealing blood splattered cloths and tables.
"Sent to prison 12 years ago by the testimony of his son and primary victim, Anton." Batman said through the coms.
"The son eventually took over the business. Did a damn good job of it, till the floods came."
You made your way down a stair case, coming across many cages. You slowly bent down, shining your flashlight into a cage, but jumped back as something grab the bars. You recognized the shoe on the left foot.
"The children." You whispered.
Robin was silent behind you. You reached through the bars. Both the little girl and boy shrunk back at first, but they both began to lean into your touch.
"Who did this to you?" You asked, looking around.
Metal clanged as children jumped towards the front of the cages, rattling the bars and whimpering, as if begging you to set them free.
"Oh, my God.." you said, horrified. You stood. "There's dozens! They're all here!"
"You're worried about the little ones?" Came a muffled voice. Both you and Robin jumped.
There was Anton. He wore a doll's mask, a striped shirt, and jean shorts.
The children all shrunk back into their cages. Anton dropped a bucket.
"Don't be." He assured you. "You see, I love them..." he cracked his neck. "More than you could ever know."
"Schott?" Robin asked, disbelief in his tone.
"Anton Schott died when he was a little boy, when the monster took away his innocence." He walked forward. "I'm not Anton. I am the Dollmaker."
Dollmaker reached up, pulling a chain. Doors began to open.
"And I've done everything in my power to help the little ones survive..." What were once children exited other cages, breath raspy and hissing. Many of them were missing limbs, and all were wearing masks that were doll faces. "In this sad, cruel world." The children leapt toward you and Robin, and you both jumped back.
"You monster!" You cried, turning from the beast-like children to Dollmaker.
Robin grabbed you by the shoulders, both comforting you and holding you back.
"Psychopath! You'll pay for this!" He yelled.
"Protect me children," Dollmaker ordered. "as I've protected you!"
The children screeched and ran forward. At first, you tried not to harm them, but it clicked quickly that these weren't children anymore. They were husks. They were dolls. You began to attack them, carefully avoiding their missing limbs, which had been replaced with machine parts.
You heard and explosion, and Batman appeared. You all backed up, pressing your backs against one another as you stared at the dolls.
"I can take care of myself. We had it under control!" Robin complained.
"An alternate response might be, 'Thanks, Batman.' But I guess I expect too much.."
You continued your attack, beginning to defeat the dolls. You looked over just in time to see Robin chasing after an escaping Dollmaker. You were about to go after him, but instead finished off the dolls. Batman threw a gas mask at you, and gassed the dolls.
You panted, before pointing to the cages.
"The children." You said, and Batman looked to the cages.
You both broke them open, freeing all the small children. You hugged quite a few, ordering them to stay put and wait for authorities, or assuring them that they were safe.
"You're safe now." You promised the girl missing a shoe. "I promise."
You held out her missing shoe, a blue flat with a bow, and she slipped it on, before sobbing into your shoulder. You rubbed her back, before standing.
"Stay here!" You ordered them again, before taking off to catch Robin. You could hear Batman behind you.
When you did make it, you could make out Dollmaker in the snow.
"He's dead." You whispered, sliding to a stop in front of the corpse.
Batman was even angrier. "What have you done?" He asked, looking to the Dollmaker's heart, which had been ripped out and left in the snow. "What have you done?!"
Robin turned to you both. "You think that I..."
"After all these months together, all I've taught you, you revert to the assassin your grandfather trained you to be."
"He didn't do it." You cut in, motioning to the batarang. "Look at the way the flesh is torn. It doesn't match up."
"Then who did?" Batman asked.
Robin scoffed. "Figure it out for yourself."
Robin ran off, and Batman in the opposite direction. You sighed, before running after the boy. The further you got into the forest, the colder you got.
"Robin?" You called up to a tree branch. "Can we go home? I'm cold!" You whined, wrapping your cloak around you.
He jumped down from the branch, looking into your eyes.
"You defended me. Why?"
You shivered and huffed. "Because I love you."
Damian's face remained unchanged, before removing his own cloak and slipping it over your head. He wrapped it around you, and leaned forward, kissing you.
You pulled back, smiling, but gasped as Robin picked you up bridal style and began to carry you towards where you had left the Batmobile. While walking back, you passed the Dollmaker's corpse once again.
Who did it?