Chapter 5: Save
Ordinarily, Marcus Dean believed that no one was born evil. Sure, there were always exceptions in a place like this, but Victor Fries wasn't one of them.
He'd once been a brilliant cryogenicist, deeply in love with his wife—a bond that could only be described as soulmates. But as Tim Drake had mentioned earlier, his wife was struck by a terminal illness, one with no known cure anywhere in the world.
Victor was a relentless genius and a devoted husband. Rather than giving in to despair, he threw himself into researching her disease, desperate to find a way to save her.
But her condition was already beyond hope. Time was running out. So Victor built a high-tech cryostasis chamber—using all his expertise—to place her in suspended animation, buying himself the time he needed to search for a cure.
Yet, like everything in Gotham, even the most beautiful story will eventually turn sour.
One day, the corporation funding Victor's research decided to pull the plug for profit reasons. That decision sparked a violent confrontation.
The conflict triggered a catastrophic leak of the cryogenic chemicals inside the lab. Victor miraculously survived the incident—but not unchanged. His body was transformed on a cellular level. He could no longer survive at room temperature; his physiology required subzero conditions. Any exposure to normal heat would kill him.
To stay alive, he built himself a suit of cryo-armor and developed weapons based on freezing technology. Then he started hunting down everyone responsible for the accident—with lethal intent.
And so, Gotham gained yet another tragic villain—and lost a gifted scientist.
Victor continued to keep his wife in stasis, still trying to find a cure. To fund her treatment, he resorted to robbery and other crimes. But even now, he remained one of Gotham's less dangerous rogues.
Camera pans back.
Marcus Dean let out a sigh. "Do you have some kind of vendetta against that doctor who gave you the recommendation?"
"…No. Why do you ask?"
Marcus was certain—Tim had seriously reflected on his relationship with that doctor just now.
"Do you know what happened to Victor Fries recently?"
"I heard he disappeared with his wife after some kind of lab accident."
Good. He hadn't come face to face with Mr. Freeze yet. Otherwise, Marcus might've had to start planning his escape.
"So what are you going to do now?"
"I don't know," Tim said. "I finally managed to settle down here with my wife… and now I've lost all hope."
He clutched his head, nearly breaking down as he muttered, "I don't know… I don't know… I just wanted to grab some cash today—just enough to pay for next month's medical bills."
Then he slumped down on the rooftop and suddenly broke into sobs, cursing through his tears. "And then I had to run into you! I even bought into your crap! Thought you could help me, brought you back to my house! What the hell is wrong with me? I'm a goddamn idiot. I can't save her. I'm a useless piece of sh— ughhh!"
Marcus didn't stop him. He'd been bottling up his fear and despair for far too long. Letting it out like this was probably better for his mental health.
Marcus pulled up another iron chair, wiped off the water on the seat, and sat down beside him, mimicking his posture. The cold metal bit into his skin, the chill sinking straight into his bones with a sharp sting.
He gazed at the distant glow of the city, sighing softly into the darkness.
"A frayed rope always breaks at its thinnest point. Misfortune always falls on those least able to bear it."
Click.
The key turned in the lock. The rusty iron door creaked open with a dry metallic screech.
"Tim?"
Footsteps shuffled forward slowly. Whoever it was didn't have much strength—barely able to walk straight.
"Camila, I'm back."
Marcus followed Tim into the apartment. A gaunt woman, completely bald, shuffled out from the back room. She was so frail she had to lean against the wall to steady herself. Her face was pale, her spirit clearly drained. When she saw Marcus, she looked genuinely surprised. It wasn't until Tim introduced them that she offered Marcus a gentle smile.
Despite how skeletal and ghostly pale she looked, that smile was soft and graceful. There was still a hint of her former radiance buried in her brows and expression—proof that she'd once been a bright, sunny woman.
Marcus guessed she had maybe three months left—perhaps even less. He wasn't a doctor, but anyone could see the end was near.
The apartment was tidier than Marcus expected. Tim had clearly kept it clean. The furniture, though old and worn from the previous tenants, was still serviceable. Tim and his wife had adapted to their humble surroundings. Neither of them showed any sign of shame or dissatisfaction about the space—not in word or body language.
As Marcus was taking everything in, he noticed Mrs. Camila slowly draw a pistol from behind her back—and quietly place it back into a drawer in her bedroom.
Clearly, if someone other than Tim had walked through that door just now, they would've had a gun in their face.
Marcus relaxed a little after registering that. After all, this was Gotham. In the slums, not carrying a gun was the real anomaly.
…Wait.
That made him suddenly wonder: Was Tim's gun even real?
Just as the thought occurred to him, Marcus watched Tim walk into his room, retrieve the handgun he'd used during the robbery, combine it with the magazine from his pocket, and place both into the drawer.
Huh. So it was real.
Well, at least when the barrel was pressed to his forehead earlier, it hadn't been loaded.
Still… now that he thought about it, it really pissed him off.
Marcus opened his system interface. His purchased beginner save point was still unused. If he had taken a bullet just now, that would've been the end of his entire "otherworldly rags-to-riches" legend before it even began.
He hesitated only a moment, then applied the save point to this little apartment.
"Save point activated. This save point comes with 20 available reloads. No time limit. If you enter a near-death state, you may choose to load from this save, or not.
Note: You may have up to five concurrent save points.
Note: You may relocate or delete save points at any time using the appropriate funds."
(End of Chapter)