Disappearing Inque

"Disappearing Inque" is the eleventh episode of Batman Beyond. It depicts the return of Inque. After being turned down for a raise, Aaron Herbst becomes disgruntled and releases Inque from her icy prison. Having had to listen to him for months, Inque decides that he'll make a suitable partner for the time being and uses him to get the mutagenic chemicals she needs to heal herself. After being healed, Inque captures Batman and tries to lure Bruce into her trap too. Now Inque has both Batmen to deal with.

Plot
Out at Gotham Cryogenics, a disgruntled employee, Aaron Herbst, walks in on Inque, trapped in a block of ice. He starts talking to Inque about his problems, including that he's been turned down for a raise, but then gets a call that his boss wants to see him. Just for luck, he kisses the ice holding Inque. However, his boss tells him that cameras have been monitoring his "conversations" with Inque, and he's being fired. In revenge, Aaron cuts off the power to Inque's cell, allowing the ice to melt and her to escape.

Back at the Batcave, Terry admires an exosuit on display next to the costumes, and asks about it. Bruce says he built it when he first started losing his strength and endurance to old age - the suit greatly increases both, but he soon realized that using it put too great a strain on his heart.

An alarm goes off alerting both men to Inque's escape, and a news report shows that she is holding employees at the cryogenics plant hostage. Remembering their last confrontation, Terry suits up and takes along Mr. Freeze's cold gun.

Inque releases the hostages but Batman notices that one of the officers is wearing a black coat. Deducing that this coat is actually Inque he attacks. However, the police start to fire on both Inque and Batman. Worse, Inque manages to destroy Mr. Freeze's gun and escapes.

In his apartment, Aaron watches a newscast about Inque's escape and chuckles. Inque also arrives, and as they talk, Aaron is surprised to learn that she's been able to see and hear him during her imprisonment. Aaron is initially embarrassed about going on and on about his problems, but Inque says she won't tell anyone if he helps her. Aaron eagerly says he'll do anything for her.

Meanwhile, Bruce analyzes a sample of Inque's residue and finds that her body has deterioarated, and she can't take human form anymore, unless she receives a fresh injection of certain mutagenic chemicals. Bruce gives Terry a special batarang designed to stop her and sends him out.

That night, Inque and Aaron break into a chemical lab and steal the chemicals they need for the mutagen. Before they can leave, Aaron asks for his reward: to be mutated into a shapeshifter like her. Inque agrees, but before she can make good on her promise, Batman arrives. Inque attacks him and manages to dodge his special batarang, leaving him with nothing. Batman continues to fight Inque but she easily gains the upper hand. However, after a failed attempt to drown him in her body, Inque looses Batman long enough to grab his special batarang. Inque is downed, but Aaron beats Batman and saves her. Inque wants Batman dead, but decides to wait until she can get "the old one too."

Inque and Aaron go to their hideout and Inque drinks the mutagen, healing herself. She goes to Batman, who's contacted Bruce. Batman refuses to tell Bruce where they are, but Inque drops in on the transmission and tells him herself: the old Gotham Hills Arena. After the transmission, Aaron once again demands his reward, and Inque injects him with the mutagen.

Bruce arrives at the Arena wearing a trench coat that seems unusually bulky on him, along with a hat, scarf, and sunglasses to conceal his face. As he walks through, he sees Aaron, who is now a shapeless blob: Aaron mumbles that Inque only gave him half the treatment - robbing him of his cohesion, but leaving him unable to shape-shift like her. There is nothing Bruce can do for him.Looking past him, Bruce sees what looks like Terry, free, and comes closer. However, this Batman is actually Inque in disguise. As Terry watches, Inque snares Bruce with her arm, then begins twisting it to slowly crush him to death.

Then, armor plates snap shut over Bruce's body, and he bursts out of the trench coat. Terry is horrified to see that Bruce has donned the exosuit to fight Inque, despite the risk to his heart. In the armor, Bruce manages to send Inque flying into the far wall, but she attacks with a vengeance and throws him to the ground. As she advances, preparing to kill him, Aaron crawls between them, moaning, "You promised... you promised!" She sneers, "loser!" and tries to swat him aside, but Aaron wraps his shapeless body around her. As she struggles to get free, she accidentally knocks over the column Terry is tied to, allowing him to free himself. As she throws Aaron aside and advances on Bruce again, Terry throws a batarang at the glass ceiling, smashing it and letting in the rain. Inque begins to melt away. She lurches desperately for the flask containing the remaining mutagen, but falls short and dissolves away into the drains.Bruce recovers from the fight without ill effects.

In the last scene, Aaron is now kept in a glass container similar to Inque's, and can only eat liquid foods fed to him through a funnel. Now he is the one trapped with an annoting and cheery attendant, who tells him about all her problems and is likewise unaware that she too is being monitored, to prevent her from following the same fate as Aaron.

Continuity

 * This episode makes several references to "Black Out":
 * Bruce gives Terry Mr. Freeze's gun before he goes after Inque, because that's how he had defeated her before.
 * Inque destroys the gun and asks Terry "What are you going to do now?".
 * Terry reminds Bruce Inque had broken into the Batcave.
 * Inque refers to the assignment given by Derek Powers to kill Batman.