Perhaps sensing James' mood, Liz didn’t speak to him the whole way back to the Apartment. He parked the car in a nearby parking lot, and they walked the rest of the way. It was after two a.m. by the time they walked into the base. Feeling exhausted he practically collapsed onto the cot looking up at the ceiling. To his surprise Liz laid down next to him on the cot which was barely big enough for both of them.

After a bit she asked “So, uh, do you want to talk about what happened? I mean I don’t really know what happened, but it looks like it really upset you.”

He opened his mouth but his gut twisted with a warning about not revealing too much. Finally, he understood why he had to be so careful. Saying the wrong thing could draw that monster's attention to him. Or something even worse his gut told him. He had sensed that things malevolence and knew it would not hesitate to kill millions.

Taking a deep breath, he turned his head and found that she was looking at him with concern in her eyes. “Liz, I truly do want to tell you. There are reasons I cannot. I wish I could confide in you about my problems, but if I speak of them they could get a whole lot worse and I don’t want to put you in danger.”

She rolled over and ran her hand through his hair. “So it’s dangerous for you to tell me? You don’t trust me to keep a secret?”

James frowned and said “No, I do trust you to keep a secret. I’m sorry I have to be vague, and I dare not answer any more questions about it.”

“Okay.” She took his hand into her own and said “I may not understand why you can’t tell me, but I trust that you have a good reason. Just as you were here for me, I will be here for you. When you can, you can tell me.”

His heart felt better and he said “Thank you Liz.”

Whether he was exhausted from having to deal with that nightmare, or the fact that he enjoyed Liz’s warmth against his body, he fell deeply asleep. Unlike the last time where he had blacked out this time, he dreamt. It was a strange garden, where the plants were in wild colors that looked surreal. 

As he wandered this odd place, he encountered women. He could not see their faces as they wore veils each emblazoned with a symbol that hurt his eyes to look upon. Each of them was engaged in various artistic activities from painting to singing. One of them came up to him and grabbed his arm and led him to a clearing.

In the center was a large flat black rock that was about table height. There were various things on it, but for some reason they were blurred as if he was not meant to look upon them. The exception to this was a metal collar and a ring. Strangely upon looking at them he found himself hearing whispers describing how to build them. The woman gestured for him to pick them up.

He did so and first examined the collar. It had a clasp that allowed it to open and place upon the neck. Inside of it was several inscriptions in a strange runic script that looked kinda magical to him. The ring had a strange engraving upon it, not words or symbols but something that evoked a sense of fear through him. As he examined them, he suddenly realized that they had disappeared from his hands.

Then he felt a hand upon his back and a pair of lips brushed against his ear. They spoke a single word “Mistfield.” James eyes snapped open and he was back in the base. His mind was filled with the plans for the two things he had seen, and he felt an urge to create them. Getting up he went to the work tables and pulled out what he needed to do so.

While he worked, he found he also understood what they were for. The ring was for him to use in the case of fear starting to overwhelm him. By wearing the ring, he would be able to prevent drawing the attention of that horror from noticing when he remembered it in terror. However, the downside to it was he couldn’t wear it for long, and when he did wear it fear would wrack through his body like nothing he had ever felt before.

The collar, on the other hand, was meant for Liz. It was meant as a sort of protection for her, though he only understood a little of it. It wouldn’t protect her from a direct visitation of that thing, but it would help prevent it corrupting her. The source of these designs must have come from the thing in his gut he reasoned. First came the ring, which albeit simple in design was incredibly tedious. 

He also didn’t have the right materials for it. Ideally it would have been made out of a more magical material, but steel would work. It just wouldn’t be able to last more than a few uses, and would eventually burn out. However, it was the complete opposite for the collar. Steel worked amazing for it and he found himself lost in working upon it. As part of the knowledge he had gained, he had also learned how to manipulate his repair ability to change the shape of materials. 

It was less energy intensive than creating materials, but it was not fast either. It was a weird experience to basically mold metal under his hand like it was a very thick playdoh. When he had gotten it right, he started with inscribing the runes upon the collar. At first he assumed it was some kind of magic, but as he put them on he felt it sort of resonate with the universe around him. When he had finished it let out a hum in the air around him and then settled down.

Finished he stretched his arms and was startled when he heard a cough by his side. Looking over he found that Liz had taken a set near him and was watching him. Scratching his head, he asked “So uh, how long have you been there?”

“About an hour. I thought about interrupting you, but you seemed really focused on making that. What is it? Some kind of tool?”

James shook his head “No, not a tool. It’s actually a collar. I made it for you.”

“What?” Liz raised a eyebrow and said “Look I know we are close, but I don’t think I’m ready for that kind of kinky play.”

Snorting James shook his head. “No, it’s not that kind of collar. It’s actually meant to protect you.”

“Protect me from what?”

“Several things, but mainly from exposure to the thing that happened at the warehouse. It has limits, but it should help protect you.” James said, handing it to her.

She looked at it and turned it around in her hands before sighing. “Fine. It’s not really my style, but I’ll wear it.” 

Opening the catch, she placed it onto her neck and clicked it shut. “Wow this is warmer than I thought it would be. It actually feels kinda nice, not too tight. Though…” She looked into a mirror and said “I’m not sure I feel comfortable walking around with this thing. It’s really distinctive.”

“There is a trick to it. Let me show you.” James said walking next to her and taking her hand he placed it onto the right side of the collar. “Do you feel that button? Press it.”

Liz did so and a moment later the collar began to disappear. At least to visible light. All other forms of light still interacted with it.

“Wait, it’s invisible?” She said shocked.

“No, not really. It’s just not visible to the light normal people see. However it can still be seen in other wavelengths such as infrared.”

She looked thoughtful and said “So can you make an invisible suit?”

James considered it, then shook his head. “No, the way it works doesn’t work on larger things as the bigger it gets the more noticeable the distortions are. In fact if you move it up and down on your neck you can see what I’m talking about.”

“Damn. It would have been helpful for the Job tomorrow.”

“Yeah. So you are confident that The Riddler is going after that puzzle box tomorrow at the Gala?”

Liz took a seat and said “I am. Everything is pointing towards that.”

“We should go over what your plan is for tomorrow and address any problems we still have.”

“I was about to suggest that too.” She said pulling out the partial blueprints of the yacht and said “The main party will be likely here.” She pointed to a large room in the yacht. “That’s where you will be with Maggie. We will have to create a distraction, so you can move about the yacht.”

“Speaking of us, how are we going to get you onboard?” James asked.

“While you were sleeping, I asked for a favor from an old friend. A group of supermodels were invited by Lex Luthor to the Gala, and I will be acting as an assistant to one of them.”

“How did you achieve that?”

“Because one of them grew up here in Gotham, and I went to school with her.”

“Does she know why you want to get onto the Yacht?”

“No. She thinks I want an opportunity to expand my online business by seeking a few investors.”

“Okay, with that solved, what other issues do we need to address before the Gala?”

Liz looked at him and said “Well there is one big thing we absolutely need to do, though I have no idea on how to do it. We need to prevent Batman from coming and interfering. If he comes, my father will attribute anything I did to him. Thus, it would foil my plan.”

James frowned and thought for a moment. He finally said “I think I have a way of keeping Batman busy for the night. It is not surefire, but it should definitely work.”

“Good. The next issue is Lex Luthor. I don’t know how he will react when he discovers The Riddler is attempting to steal from him.”

“I’m not sure, but we’ll have to play it by ear.” James said.

Liz said “According to my sources, once everyone is onboard for the Gala, the ship will head out to sea for a bit. That explains why my father needs a submarine, though I don’t know how he got it, nor do I know where he will attempt to board the ship. He’s not much of a swimmer, but I don’t imagine he’ll just pull the sub up next to the yacht either.”

“My guess he got it from the assassins.” James rubbed his chin looking at the blueprints. “If I had to bet, I’m certain that Lex has a hidden submarine access port on the yacht. In which case that’s how he’s going to get onboard secretly.”

Liz nodded and said “Then I’m guessing he’s going to plant the C4 in several places before crashing the Gala. That way my father can hold one over Lex.”

“Okay so our main goal tomorrow will be to prevent your father from leaving with the puzzle box.”

“Correct. I also want to solve it before my father can so as to humiliate him even more. We also have to do something with the C4 because I think there is a good chance that hell set them off once he escapes.”

“That or the assassins will.” James said.

“There is a chance that he’ll be using assassins as henchmen so we’ll have to be careful.”