Long Night

by lordtrayus

The Joker may be dead and Arkham City exposed, but Batman's work still isnt done. Troubled by the indications that Scarecrow is still active, he goes in search of the madman, determined to bring him to justice. Meanwhile Nightwing and Robin have battles of their own to fight, as does Catwoman, none of them realizing they are part of Scarecrow's much bigger game...

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman Arkham (otherwise I'd be considerably richer)

Long Night

Catwoman

Catwoman sighed as she watched another vanload of political prisoners get shipped out of Arkham City. It had been a hell of a long night. What with Two-Face taking her hostage, being captured by a seriously pissed off Ivy, Penguin being defeated and most of all, the death of the Joker, she was quite looking forward to getting home. Nights like this, and the outbreak from Arkham Asylum the year before, certainly took a toll on all of their nerves.

Sitting with her feet dangling off the edge of the cage outside her apartment (now grafitied by an irate Two-Face due to his defeat and loss of power), she looked out over the slum that was Arkham City. The fires in Wonder Tower had gone out, as had most of the fires in the rest of the city. Strange was dead, as was the one who was apparently the true instigator of Arkham City, Ra's al Ghul, and the Clown Prince of Crime the Joker was also dead at last.

It should have been a reason to celebrate. With the Joker gone, Gotham could only become a safer place. However, the various criminals still in place in Arkham City had other ideas.

As soon as news of the Joker's defeat had spread, Two-Face had taken advantage of the chaos, spreading all over the slum like a rash. While his defeat at her hands had derailed his plans a tad, he was still the major power in Arkham City, and with the Joker gone and Penguin stuck in a display case, he still had more than enough muscle and firepower to tear what was left of the city to shreds.

Two-Face wasn't the only problem. While villains such as Mr Freeze and Poison Ivy were quite content to sit where they were and contemplate their navels, and others like Bane and Zsasz were trapped where they were, others were still out there causing havoc.

Black Mask, who they had been mercifully free of since his incarceration, had apparently moved in to the Steel Mill, slaughtering what was left of Joker's men and was clearly looking to fill the void the Joker left behind. And now his thugs were roaming the streets, and already controlled the entire Industrial District and most of Amusement Mile.

The Riddler was also up to his usual antics, which translated as pissing off Batman. While not a contender for the role of crime warlord like Two-Face and Penguin, and the Joker before them, he was still a dangerous criminal, and Catwoman could imagine that Batman's already bad mood was not going to be helped by running around after that prat with his stupid little games, threatening the innocent people living in Arkham City.

To add to the chaos, Killer Croc had decided to rear his ugly head and was now ambushing anyone stupid enough to pass by a sewer grate, and Black Mask had lost a few thugs that way, as had Two-Face, and a lot of the innocents were now running scared as well.

And worst of all was Harley Quinn. The crazy bitch had now lost the Joker, so was a crazy bitch in mourning, and was trying to rally the remainder of Joker's men (those that weren't killed in Protocol Ten, Black Mask's coup or by Croc nabbing them) for a final stand to make Gotham and the Batman pay for the death of her beloved 'Mr J'. Catwoman shook her head. Harley was better off without the clown, not that she would think so.

She stood, stretching. She had all her loot back, and it was time to be gone. Strange was gone, Two-Face was defeated and she was virtually home free. She'd done her good deed and saved Batman twice, got her spoils and could now leave, go back into the parts of Gotham that hadn't been torn apart by gang warfare or by Protocol Ten.

She took a last look over Arkham City. What a godforsaken place, decent people trapped with no way out, and the true scumbags, the ones who ought to have been killed years before like Zsasz and Joker, put to death by law, were still going. Well, Joker wasn't, he was already rotting, but her point still stood. She didn't get why Batman didn't kill. She supposed that was what made him him. He was undoubtedly cleaning up another criminal mess by now. Vicki Vale had reported over the news that Gordon had Deadshot, and it wouldn't be long now until all the other super criminals were rounded up and carted off to become someone else's problem while Gotham was fixed up again. Outside, people were clamouring for the blood of Quincy Sharp, and with a flood of political prisoners being freed (who were imprisoned illegally and on trumped up charges) there would be no shortage of problems to deal with for Gordon, Batman and everyone else.

Which meant it was a perfect opportunity for her to slip out unnoticed.

She frowned though. Something was off with Batman. Over the years of their flirtatious relationship, she had gotten a feel for him. And while he was usually dark, quiet, grim and brooding, ever since the Joker died there had been an added edge to him, and it worried her. Something was off with him, and she wasn't sure she liked it. And while she knew he would never betray himself and do something he couldn't live with, like kill (let's face it the only one he might kill would have been Joker), she didn't like the idea of him being alone tonight, something just wasn't right.

She shook her head. She had done her good Samaritan bit for the night, she was out of here.

Yet Batman was still here, and she didn't like the fact that he was out here and in trouble, something wasn't right with him, and she hated to admit it but she was worried about him.

She really hated her conscience at times.

Grumbling about that little nagging voice, without which she would have been long gone, she took out her whip and went to the next building. Now that the thugs were being rounded up or forced back, travelling through the city was much easier than it had been. And with so few thugs, life could only be...

Hello, what was this?

There were people running in between the buildings, and they didn't look like Black Mask's goons, or Two-Face's. Begging the question, who were they? Flipping down her goggles, she squinted, frowning. They seemed to be just normal inmates, but what were they up to? And she knew as well as anyone that there were very few normal inmates, most of them were allied to some super criminal in some way or another, whether it be through loyalty, fear or against their will. So what were this lot doing?

Whipping to the next building over, she peered down intently. They were drilling in the wall. Before Protocol Ten, usually they would have been shot at, but with the place shutting down anyway, it was now up for grabs. But why were they drilling in the outside wall? They were getting out anyway, so why try and drill themselves out? And besides, they would never get through the wall.

Catwoman jumped down to the next building, peering at the large barrel one of them had just pulled from the sewer and was now delivering to the wall. And she hissed, recognising the sign on one of the barrels, a jack o lantern. Scarecrow!

They weren't barrels at all, they were gas canisters, filled with his blasted fear gas. If they went off...

Damn him!

She had to find Batman, warn him, otherwise everyone in Arkham would be even more nutty than they already were...and if the news caught wind of it, the police would come on, and a group of terrified violent criminals would spill out into Gotham, spreading the contagion.

Blast Scarecrow, he always had given her the creeps.

Batman, she had to find Batman, she had to warn him...

"Hello kitty..." a voice growled from behind her, and she turned to see the thatched mask of Scarecrow, his eyes glowing yellow, and before she could even raise her claws, he gassed her, and the last thing she knew was that she was falling, falling into darkness...

Batman

He landed on top of the old GCPD building, looking out at Arkham City. It had been a long night, even by his standards. And by his standards, his night had been extra crappy.

He had entered Arkham City to try and find out what Protocol Ten was, and hence to prevent it's execution. He had also entered to shut Arkham City down, and he supposed he had done that, just not in the way he had intended to.

The entire thing had been a scheme from the beginning. The League of Assassins, led by Ra's al Ghul, was the true power behind Arkham, and had been Hugo Strange's benefactor in part of a plan to destroy the criminal element of Gotham, and then the city itself to save it from the corruption that still drove it. However, Batman had foiled the plan, and now Ra's al Ghul, leader of the League of Assassins and just as twisted and evil as the criminals he had sought to destroy was apparently now dead, killed by the fall from the exploding Wonder Tower, and his own ritualistic suicide. So, Batman supposed the person he had truly come to stop, Ra's al Ghul, was dead, and killed by his own hand. Yet his death, like all the others, didn't feel like a victory.

Among the dead was Ra's daughter Talia al Ghul, a woman who Batman had grown to love over the years, and who loved him in return. She had played a risky game, getting close to the dying Joker to try and get the cure for the Titan poisoning from him, but had been killed by the true Joker (the other having been Clayface transformed) and had died in Batman's arms. Her death continued to trouble him, he should have been able to save her. If not for her father's insane devotion and desire to destroy Gotham, she wouldn't have even been here. But now, she too was apparently dead, at the hands of the Joker, taken from him when she was meant to be safe. Batman suppressed a weary sigh as his thoughts turned to the Joker.

His nemesis, the Clown Prince of Crime, was finally dead, technically by his own hand. He had attacked Batman while he had been holding the cure, and the cure had smashed as a result, and, unable to survive the Titan poisoning, the Joker had finally died. Batman still didn't know how he felt about it. Part of him felt it was his fault. Knew it was his fault, just like it was with Talia. If he had figured it out earlier, she would still be alive, and he might have been able to save the Joker as well. He didn't know why the Joker's death bothered him so much. He never killed true, but even he couldn't deny the world would be a safer place without the Joker in it. So, he knew he should feel some measure of, perhaps not happiness, but relief that the Joker was dead, but he couldn't. Maybe the Joker had been right about them all along. Maybe they did need each other. He snorted, dismissing that notion. No, the Joker was dead, and while it would take Batman a while to deal with his feelings, he knew that Gotham would be safer without him around, he couldn't dispute that. But why did this, this ultimate victory, being the last one standing out of the two of them, feel so much like a defeat?

And the Joker wasn't the only other major death in the criminal world. Hugo Strange, the architect behind Arkham City, was dead, betrayed by Ra's al Ghul for his failure to stop Batman and prevent the disabling of Protocol Ten. As such, Ra's final plan had failed, and as a result, Ra's had blamed Strange. And so, the cool, manipulative and observant doctor had been killed, and despite his crimes Batman had never wanted him dead, just like the others. However, his reign was now over, Arkham was safe and the mass murder of all the inmates was stopped.

The cost was still too high. Maybe the various thugs he had battled tonight were right, he was getting too old for this. So many dead, all for the visions of so many madmen. And the worst part of it was, it was far from over. There were still many enemies to clear up after, to bring in and stop, get them carted somewhere else while a prison was built to hold them all. That in and of itself was going to be a long job.

True, some of his foes had been neutralised. Bane was trapped in the toy factory, Zsasz was locked up in a cage in his own hideout, Deadshot was stranded in a locked railcar, the Mad Hatter was sitting whimpering in his hideout, while the Riddler had also been apprehended, and the Penguin was stuck in a display case in his own museum.

Clayface seemed to be defeated, at least for now and Killer Croc didn't seem that bothered provided he could pick off thugs he was happy to be in the sewers. Efforts would have to be made to get him out, but he could keep for a while at least, he shouldn't have to feed for a spell. Solomon Grundy also seemed to have been dealt with, the living dead man defeated beneath the museum and hopefully would stay that way if he had any decency.

However, other foes of his were still on the loose. Catwoman had been a great help tonight, and all she was doing was stealing from Two-Face, so she wasn't really doing anything that wrong as he was a crook anyway so he didn't have to deal with her, especially since she had saved him. Poison Ivy was quite content to stay in her lair with her entranced minions, and she would keep until someone thought of a way to get her out. Mr Freeze was reunited with his wife, and was already working on the new cure, so he too wouldn't be much of a problem. Two-Face had gone into hiding, his own men now gunning for him due to being defeated by Catwoman twice, so he would probably wind up surrendering himself so that his thugs didn't kill him for being such a lousy boss. And Harley Quinn, devastated by the loss of her 'puddin' had already been taken in by Gordon and sent off to the psych ward at Gotham General on suicide watch, so she was dealt with as well.

But that still left some of his enemies around to deal with, all of them murderous and vicious in their own ways, and with the biggest players of crime in Gotham out of the way, the ones they knew full well they would lose in a fight against, they would now be making their own power plays.

Black Mask had apparently already taken over the Steel Mill, recruiting many of the Joker's thugs and remnants of the other two gangs to add to his own men. Getting rid of him was going to be a nightmare, as the TYGER guards had left a lot of weapons around when they had come to their senses and now Black Mask even had rocket launchers. Any assault on his new fortress was likely to get a lot of people killed. Calendar Man, who Batman had thought safely incarcerated, had escaped and was now at large once again, no doubt planning some new murder for the next holiday that came along. Maxie Zeus hadn't been seen since Strange whisked off for evaluation, but as his Olympus club seemed to be operating still there was a good chance he was still up to his particular brand of antics. Firefly, who had been assisting Black Mask before the latter abandoned him was conceivably still in Arkham, and with all the fires still blazing in the city, finding out if he was connected to any would be a big pain. Killer Moth was meant to be loose here somewhere, but no one had seen him since he was first transported in. The Ventriloquist had been seen, sans Scarface, on the run from Black Mask, trying to find his puppet, and Batman thought it would be best if he sorted him out before he reunited with his wooden counterpart. Scarecrow was still around and undoubtedly up to some form of mischief and would most likely find some way to plague Arkham before the end.

And even if that lot were dealt with, there were still two other problems to deal with. A new villain, previously called the Identity Thief, had been cutting off people's faces in order to look like Bruce Wayne, and now somewhere around Arkham, so he too needed to be dealt with. And what was more, he had recently found the dead bodies of some of Joker's thugs, with shotgun rounds blown in them. While insignificant in and of itself, a traumatised survivor had told Batman about the man dressed in red, and Batman now had a horrible feeling that the former Robin, Jason Todd, otherwise known as Red Hood was also now in Arkham somewhere.

Batman tiredly rubbed his eyes. Yeah, this had been a very long night. And it was going to be longer still. He still had work to do, and what with the night he'd had, being poisoned, losing Talia, the death of Strange, Ghul and the Joker, he wasn't relishing anything else that might go wrong, which it so easily could. And to make matters worse, Oracle had been telling him to go home, but he had refused. He was Batman, and he had a job to do. And so he would get down to it.

But which one did he deal with first? Any one of his enemies still running around Arkham were incredibly dangerous, and there were still many political prisoners here who didn't belong here, and others who didn't deserve to be locked up with maniacs like the ones he dealt with most frequently, ones only in for minor crimes and it was their bad luck that they had been swept in here with the others.

Batman growled in weary frustration. Maybe Strange had been right, maybe it was him who created all these crazies. The Joker, Two-Face, Red Hood, would all of them even exist if it weren't for him? Would everyone who had died tonight still been alive if he hadn't been Batman, if he hadn't attracted the attention of Strange, who in turn got these criminals, which he blamed Batman for, all cooped up together so he and Ghul could massacre them?

Suppressing a weary groan, he activated his scanner. If he intended to get out of here some time before noon, he had to get a move on. Figuring less threatening ones like Zeus could wait, he decided to head to the boat in the harbour, the one that had been transferring materials for Scarecrow to use in his experiments. If Scarecrow was around, he needed to be stopped and fast, the criminals in here were bad enough without being amped up by his fear toxin.

"You're not going to listen to me are you?" Oracle asked, and Batman sighed as he grappled towards the harbour.

"Barbara, I have a job to do." He told her curtly, and he could hear her hiss through her teeth in exasperation.

"I know you do, but Bruce, you're physically and emotionally exhausted. The bad guys can wait a little while longer, go home." She told him, but he knew she could tell it was a losing battle.

"No Barbara. How about I cut you a deal? You stop nagging me, and after I check up on Scarecrow, I go home." He said, trying to keep his annoyance from his voice, he knew she was only looking out for him because she cared about him, but he had been doing this for years, and what was more, he had been Batman long before she was Oracle, or even Batgirl.

"I'm not nagging. And even if you find Scarecrow and deal with him, then you'll go off looking for Calendar Man, or try and deal with Ivy, or Elliott..." she scolded, but he cut her off.

"After Scarecrow the biggest problem is Black Mask, otherwise he'll slaughter the police if they try and move him." He said, and after a second, she responded.

"Black Mask isn't a problem anymore, he's been neutralised. Robin took him out." She told him, and he could practically hear the grin on her face as he landed on the crane above the boat he was looking for.

"I told him to go home." Batman said angrily, knowing full well Tim had knowingly disobeyed his orders.

"He didn't listen, and I agreed. Bruce, you can't do everything yourself! You may be Batman, but you're also human. Why not let Robin deal with some of the bad guys while you get some rest?" she asked irritably.

"Because I have a job Oracle. This is my job. No one else's." He scolded, and he was sure that if he had been in front of her, she'd have drilled him with a piercing green glare.

"And like that belief hasn't bit you in the ass before." She snapped, and he winced.

She meant Dick Grayson, the original Robin, and now Nightwing. An accident in a fight with the Joker had led to him being wounded, and as a result Batman had refused to allow him to go out crimefighting with him anymore. After going off and fighting crime on his own, bringing down a smuggling ring in the process, Batman had found out and told him that if he wasn't going to follow his orders and respect his wishes, and work with him as a team, he should resign. He had pushed Dick away, believing only his way was right, only he understood exactly what was going on and only he could call the shots, annoyed that Dick had done his own thing (in reality, he had just been afraid to admit the boy had grown up, but he had always found it hard to relinquish control), and as a result, after a blazing row, Dick had walked out, leaving Alfred disappointed in the two of them (though it was clear that he felt Bruce was in the wrong, he was just disappointed with Dick for losing it with him) and Barbara heartbroken as she felt she had been placed right in the middle. Their relationship had become further strained with Bruce keeping information from the boy and not trusting him to be Batman after he was crippled by Bane, and also his replacement as Robin had hurt Dick more than he had been willing to admit. However, they were once more on good terms, but neither Dick nor Barbara were above reminding Bruce of that failure when they were looking out for him.

"Barbara, I need to do this, Scarecrow at least needs to be stopped." He told her curtly, and she rolled her eyes, he knew she had rolled her eyes.

"Fine, be stubborn then. But I'm sending Nightwing to join you." She said and signed off the channel before he could stop her.

Cursing, he hadn't wanted Nightwing in here any more than he had wanted Robin, he decided she did have something of a point. Even if he worked all night, there were still far too many threats going around Arkham that needed to be dealt with, threats that if they weren't neutralised would only cause trouble for the rest of Gotham once people were freed from Arkham. Supposing if nothing else, he could always get Nightwing to check up on Robin or to deal with some of the other threats moving around the city, he glided down to the ship that had been importing goods for Dr Jonathan Crane, otherwise known as Scarecrow.

Entering the secret corridor beneath the deck, Batman frowned as he activated his detective vision. Scarecrow had been importing various bugs and other materials, obviously in order to create a new strain of his fear toxin. Having felt the more than potent effects of his fear toxin during the outbreak in Arkham Asylum the year before, the thought of Scarecrow working on a new strain was not one that pleased him at all. And the fact that the Falcones seemed to be supporting this made him all the more uneasy. Alliances between mobsters and the super criminals that seemed to flourish in Gotham rarely turned out well for anyone, least of all the ones actually involved in the partnership. Batman frowned. The thought of a madman like Scarecrow being at the beck and call of powerful Mob bosses was one that could cause all manner of problems for Gotham, the Mob could easily remake the ground they had lost due to the unholy trinity of Batman, Gordon and the more recent antics of Strange and Arkham City.

Batman scanned the information, pondering. While in the industrial district he had discovered several items that had pointed to Scarecrow's presence in and around Arkham City, all of which filled Batman with a certain sense of foreboding. In his own way, Scarecrow, with his unique power over the human psyche was just as dangerous as the Joker. Armed with his fear toxin, he could easily turn all of Arkham, if not all of Gotham, into a bloodbath. And the fact that he had had so much money put into his research by the Falcones, and the ambitious orders that he had been carrying out, it was clear that Scarecrow was indeed around, if not in Arkham itself, and preparing to cause some form of havoc.

'Scarecrow has had several signs around this area: the first of them is obviously this ship. Massive importation orders, funded by the Falcones, who have of course fled...which makes sense, otherwise there would be a risk of being taken down with Scarecrow if it goes wrong. From the information on the shipping manifest, combined with everything we already know about Scarecrow's fear toxin, he's clearly trying to make a stronger dose. This thug for example, the one who was left down here had been rendered catatonic, and scans of his blood show only one dose of a more concentrated version of the toxin. He was hence rendered catatonic, at least until I came down here originally and disturbed him. When I did, his fright with seeing me combined with the stress of the toxin combined into a heart attack which killed him. The second sign is the thugs I found in Amusement Mile during Protocol Ten, all of them dressed in the same style as Scarecrow himself, meaning they clearly worked for him and were caught in the bombardment. Thirdly is the presence of gas canisters, marked with the jack o lantern that Scarecrow uses as his calling card, dotted around the city. There was also the mask, the same one he was wearing that night at the asylum, considering the slashes through it which were most likely caused by Croc's attack on him. And lastly, those bizarre radio signals, which if my theory is right and broadcasts from him goading me into going looking for him' Batman thought, considering the situation.

Clearly, there were enough signs around the area to indicate that Scarecrow was indeed in Arkham City and plotting something or other. On top of that, if he were to place a bet, he would bet that Scarcrow's hideout had to be somewhere around the docks, but secluded enough that he didn't attract the attention of his more powerful neighbour, the Joker, and also so he didn't incur the wrath of Mr Freeze, who never had had much love for Scarecrow. Climbing out from the lower deck, Batman scanned the area, trying to see if he could find any sort of clue. When nothing was to be found, he frowned, and called Oracle.

"Look, don't yell at me, I was going to send him, turns out after he dealt with TYGER he headed to Arkham City anyway, I didn't even need to tell him." She protested and he smiled grimly.

"It's alright Oracle. I need your help." He said, and he heard her turn to her keyboard.

"What do you need?" she asked.

"I need to get a detailed map of the entire area, from old building plans, old sewer and train lines, any recesses around this area. I think he actually is in Arkham City and is up to something, something bad." He said worriedly, and he heard her typing away.

"Great, as if we haven't got enough problems to deal with...the data's coming up now. Nothing around there is leaping out at me, hang on what's this... a rejected proposal from twenty or so years back for a subway line, that would basically serve the industrial district and Amusement Mile, connecting to the base of Wonder Tower. Some massive redevelopment scheme, which was then blocked off, claims of archaeological finds that prevent further construction, national heritage so they can't be destroyed...reckon it's Ra's al Ghul's work?" she asked as she typed.

"Would make sense, he wouldn't want someone else coming across his Lazarus Pit. But I don't see how that could help." He pointed out, and she tutted impatiently.

"I'm getting there. Although the proposal for the redevelopment was rejected, City Hall provisionally allowed for the creation of a circular route, connecting the courthouse to the museum to the radio station and to the industrial district. It would make sense, revitalise that entire area, allow the locals a way to travel from a to b without having to go around the entire slum and the subway station in the Bowery would link up with other lines and link it to the rest of the city." She explained, and he had to admit, a rail system going around the base of Wonder Tower would be beneficial, in fact it would have been handy for him too, save being shot at every time he flew over one of the Joker's thugs.

"So what happened?" he queried.

"Same old story. City Hall realised that with the entire area degrading as it was, it wasn't politically or economically feasible to build a line there with the entire area collapsing. By the time they realised it though, there had already been a start made to the first station and to a portion of the proposed line, running through Amusement Mile and the Industrial District. When the company they were relying on to build the line went bust they took it as a sign and cancelled the entire thing, leaving a bit of the line and a station made before they got out, so, since they couldn't do anything, they sealed the place up again. And the part of the line that was completed runs slightly into the industrial district and Amusement Mile. And check this, one of the stops was to be North Gotham Docks." She explained, and he knew she was right.

If Scarecrow had found that old subway system, he could easily smuggle goods in from the harbour without attracting undue attention from the Joker.

"I need a way in." He told her, and she made a noise of assent.

"Hmm, strange. Seems they made two stations overall before they were shut down. The first is the one in the industrial district, not far from where you found Zsasz." She told him, and he nodded.

"Alright, how do I get in?" he asked.

"You don't, unless you're carrying a small artillery round, and even then you might not get in. The station is right under the TYGER security wall." She informed him, typing away.

"Damn. Any other way into it from that end?" he asked.

"None, there isn't any other access from that end, the wall blocks it in, and there isn't a way for you to access it even from underground, there's tons of concrete in the way. No, you'll need to enter the other subway line, from the other station and make your way through. But the station under the docks should still be accessible, there's been no disturbances that indicate it ought to have been flooded or anything or damaged, so once you get in it should be plain sailing." She told him.

"Alright, where's the other entrance?" he asked, and she hummed slightly as she found the information she was looking for.

"The other station that was built was the Gotham City Radio station, they were doing work on the foundations there, so they did that at the same time. You should be able to access the station from the basement. Hmm, that's odd." She said, before continuing.

"The GCR building has a large energy spike, like there's activity going on in there. It's also several degrees colder inside than it ought to be, it's just above freezing, how strange." She commented, and Batman frowned.

"Can you find any reason for it?" he asked.

"None, might just be the generator acting up. But despite the subsidence of the building, you should be able to enter the subway from there if you follow the tunnels. Some of it might be flooded though." She warned, and he nodded.

"Got it. Thanks Oracle." He said, and grappled up from the ship before using his boost in order to glide gently down to the top of the GCR building.

Damaged in the quakes caused by Ra's al Ghul's mining beneath them, the building was now sloped, with the back of the building submerged in the water as the ground beneath it had collapsed. Batman studied the radio transmitter, wondering if that held any clues. After all, Scarecrow had to be broadcasting from somewhere, but he could find nothing out of the ordinary. Dismissing the notion, Batman moved to the stairwell entrance and forced open the door, alert for any signs of trouble. Turning on his scanner he moved through the dusty, cold abandoned halls, noticing the disturbances in the dust. Someone had definitely been this way recently, but they had stopped on this floor. Batman edged forward, turning into a recording room, and found the reason that people had come up here.

A small transmitter had been hooked up to the mainframe, obviously riding off the transmitter on top of the building. While too small to be responsible for the energy spike Oracle had detected, it was clear that this transmitter was important. Hacking into it, he discovered exactly what he had thought he would: it belonged to Scarecrow. The transmitter was rigged to broadcast on three different channels simultaneously, quite a feat of engineering. The three channels in question were the channels were Batman had found the codes that were being broadcast, the ones goading him about the presence of Scarecrow within Arkham City.

'So Scarecrow definitely is in Arkham City, and is most likely using the subway stations as his base of operations. But if that's the case, why not have this place armed and protected? Why come through here and go back again when he has access to the radio station. Which he knows has electricity since he's using it to goad me into going after him. Surely it would make sense to stay in a building where he can at least have some comforts, after all, he isn't Zsasz, he isn't that much of an animal. And why would he keep the place cold?'

Deciding to leave the transmitter working for fear of alerting Scarecrow to his coming, Batman slowly headed downstairs, thinking. The situation stank of a trap, but he couldn't help but think the trap came later. No, whatever was going on in the radio station was something else entirely. Scarecrow had to have a reason for going in and out of here rather than just making this his lair. True he might think it too exposed (after all, Scarecrow wasn't a fighter like foes like Two-Face and Bane were, he preferred to attack through intelligence and patience like Riddler), but the Joker had shown as had Penguin how easy it was to make a place a fortress. Even if he didn't have access to many weapons, unlike the other inmates who had been getting deliveries from TYGER, it still didn't explain his position. So what could make Scarecrow just come and go through here without taking the time to block off this avenue? The disturbances up here were recent, and the radio had only started broadcasting after Protocol Ten had been shut down, which meant that Scarecrow shouldn't have blocked off this way in, especially if, as they thought, it was the only way in. Begging the question of what else was in this building, which could make Scarecrow keep his distance.

As Batman descended, he saw more and more signs of habitation. Food, clothing, heat sources, weapons, and the distant sound of voices coming from downstairs. Lights were on on the floors he made his way through, bedding was prevalent in some rooms, posters and much of the damage caused by the subsidence had cleared up. So, the building was inhabited, Scarecrow could apparently move in and out at will, there were large energy spikes and it was also colder than it ought to be in the building, a few degrees colder than it was outside, yet warmer than it would be if Mr Freeze had decided to move in. Hearing voices, Batman edged into the shadows of a control room, ready to strike if need be.

"I wish the boss would stop letting that creep Scarecrow come through here." A man complained in his guttural voice.

"What's he even doing anyway?" the other asked in a nasal voice.

"Fiddling with the transmitter, lord knows what he's doing. I swear, the sooner the boss takes over the streets the better." The other man said as their voices dulled as they moved up the corridor.

Batman frowned. So, whoever that two were working for, the one who had made the radio station his base, was obviously about to try and set themselves up as a new crime lord. With the death of Joker and the defeat of Penguin and Two-Face, the streets were indeed up for grabs, and if Robin had taken out Black Mask, that made it all the more likely that another criminal could come along, rally the broken remnants of the other four leader's gangs and make themselves the new leaders of Arkham City's criminal empire. However, this boss whoever they were, was one of a matter of thing: he was either overconfident (believing Batman or others like him wouldn't get through his men), inattentive (he didn't know Scarecrow was broadcasting a signal which he knew would bring Batman right to his door) or oblivious (he didn't know that his presence here meant that Scarecrow didn't need more than a few goons, whoever was in charge here would form a natural defence). Batman as he lurked in the shadows, ran the scenarios through his head. There were only a few people Scarecrow could potentially work with, who would allow him to come and go as he pleased, even if the deal was mutually beneficial. Were they working together? Did they have a tepid alliance in which they both agreed to look the other way with what the other was doing? Or was this new gang boss simply allowing Scarecrow to do what he pleased while he took control of Arkham? Or was Scarecrow helping him?

He had to know more, he had to know who this new boss was, and the depth of his relationship with Scarecrow. Because if Scarecrow had allied with any of the villains still out there, it could be very dangerous indeed, especially if he was working directly with this mysterious boss, because this new leader combined with Scarecrow's fear gas would make an extremely potent combination. And if they weren't working together, just how far did their relationship stretch, and was this new boss as oblivious, inattentive or overconfident as he thought, or was he in fact in total control?

Batman edged out of the room, once more taking the stairwell, thanking fate that no thugs came up the stairs as he did so. Leaving the signs of habitation behind and the obvious damage, he emerged onto the first floor, which hung above the ground floor, connected by two sweeping, curved staircases. Batman heard a noise and dove into the shadows, just in time to see some thugs, of various sizes and builds, all of them from different previous gangs, head towards the stairs as they came out an office, all of them now wearing black overalls, black versions of the normal orange prisoner overalls used in the asylum. So, whoever was behind this obviously didn't care about their pasts, he only cared about their present, and was able to suppress their own rivalries in order to make them work as what he assumed was a relatively cohesive whole.

He finally reached the balcony, and seeing a large overhanging lamp shade, he grappled to it, and peered down to see just what he was dealing with.

The left hand side of the room was submerged in the water, more than deep enough to fit several grown men easily, at least thirty feet deep. Above it was a platform, with a sort of luxurious throne set upon it, flanked by sconces, covered in red cushions. Just beneath the throne platform was a grate, with a hatch in the middle of it. From there there were several rickety and haphazard stairs, leading to the lower balcony, which along with the rest of the right hand side of the room, wasn't submerged in water. The lower balcony seemed to be sort of an entry way, and the higher balcony was lined with more torches and lights, with the various small booths along the side all looking over at the throne.

While the water was covered by the throne, the rest of the room was filled with thugs, over a dozen of them. Three were patrolling up and down, two were flanking the steps to the throne, two were at each end of the lower balcony and several more were in the booths, keeping an eye out. Up on the throne itself were two scared yet beautiful women, both of them flanking the one who was clearly the boss of the operation, and Batman cursed himself for not figuring it out sooner.

It was Great White Shark.

A crooked financier at one stage, he had pleaded insanity to escape his sentence, and had been sent to Arkham, where he truly had gone insane, disturbed the lunatics there. An encounter with Mr Freeze had left him deformed, his face pale and white, his nose missing, his lips and hair absent, he had taken on the moniker of Great White Shark now he was like the beast in so many ways. Batman had known he had been in Arkham, but hadn't thought to check up on him as he'd had his hands full with all the other villains in the joint, and now he was here, clearly the new criminal kingpin now all his opponents were out of the way, and clearly a rising power in Arkham considering he controlled at least around thirty thugs.

And now Batman was stuck in the middle of his hideout, trying to find a way to get to Scarecrow to stop him before things got worse in Arkham City.

"So, you're telling me you failed?" Shark asked in a quiet, deadly voice, addressing the person standing on the grate in front of him, and from what Batman could see he was a political prisoner, most likely cajoled into doing their dirty work.

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to, there's hardly any weapons left out there, all the ones that were left have already been taken by Black Mask before we got to them." He said in a whining, panicking voice.

"You failed me. Tell me, how am I to take over Arkham if the people working for me can't do one simple thing?" Shark snarled, and the prisoner sank to his knees, looking up at Shark pleadingly.

"I am sorry, I couldn't help it, I did my best!" the man protested.

"I'm sure you did. It just wasn't good enough." Shark snarled, and pushed a button.

The man screamed as the grate dropped from under him, dropping him into the frigid water. A second later, the water was disturbed and the man screamed as the shark that had been in the Iceberg Lounge darted above the water and brought its jaws crashing down on the prisoner, startling Batman. As blood filled the water, Batman moved.

He swept back to the top balcony, dropping down while Shark was watching his pet devour his unfortunate victim. Batman crept along the balcony, then headed back on himself, back towards the way he had come in, prying open a grate. He moved all the way along the shaft, seeing that he could deal with two out of the three rooms on this side. He proceeded to the end grate, gently prying it off, before taking down the two thugs in the room by crashing their heads together. Lowering them to the ground, he repeated the process with the next room, taking down the two in there, which meant he only had one more booth to deal with on this side.

However, there were still all the thugs to deal with on the balcony and in the last booth over here and the rest of the booths opposite. And as soon as the unconscious guards were found, they would be looking for him. He had to move quickly, that was all.

He crept out of the room, and quickly dove into the final booth on this side, taking down the thug with a well placed smack. With him out of the way, he edged back into the previous room, coming out of the grate. Now, how was he to go about this? He shot up to an overhang, peering down at the thugs, taking a mental note. So, he had eighteen thugs overall when Batman had arrived, as he had fed one to Penguin's shark (the question of how the shark got here was one he resolved to ponder later), and he had now taken down five thugs, giving him still thirteen to take out. The obvious response would be to knock the ones closest into the water, but with a shark in there, that wasn't an option. And he knew Shark, when he realised that he had company, those girls would be the first ones he would take as hostages.

He scowled. The room wasn't big enough, that was the problem. But a small room could also be made to work to his advantage.

Pulling out the disruptor, he fired at the closest thugs, unknowingly jamming their weapons. So, three were now neutralised, and they didn't even know it. Time to get creative. He moved to another overhang, the one hanging right above Shark, getting a better view.

Two guards flanked the entrance to the throne, there were the two at each end of the balcony and the three patrolling up and down, who's weapons he had now jammed. And then there were the five in the booths, and on top of that, Shark himself and the shark in the water. Swinging back to the overhang, he glided down to the floor, sneaking back into the booth that had only the one thug inside it. Yes, that could work. He used his detective vision to examine the room, and as he had thought, there were five around here as well. Darting across the corridor, he sprayed his explosive gel on the door outside the booth, listening to the sounds of the tv playing inside. He snuck back to the end of the corridor, pulling himself up to the overview. It was time to make his move. Darting to the overhang above Shark, he exploded the gel, taking out the thug inside the booth.

As he screamed in alarm, being blown against the wall, the four other guards who were in the booths came running out, weapons in hand. Shark looked up in alarm, his eyes widening in fear.

"The Bat!" he hissed, drawing a gun from his waist, and the two girls looked at each other hopefully.

"How did he get in?" one of the thugs asked in alarm, all of them looking around nervously, their guns trailing ground level in the room.

"I don't care how he got in, he's in! Find him and kill him!" Shark yelled, but the guard closest to him looked at him nervously.

"But boss, if even the Joker couldn't kill him..." he said hesitantly, and Shark glared at him.

"I don't care, kill the bat!" he demanded angrily, and Batman swept over to the overhang above the balcony, contemplating. The three patrolling guards weapons were now out of action, but once they realised that wouldn't last long. The four who had come from the booths were still armed as well, as were the two standing guard on the balcony and the two on the throne.

He readied a smoke pellet, and watched as the three patrollers headed down to the next balcony. Leaping off the balcony, he flew down towards the four from the booths, staying high then diving down, throwing a smoke pellet as he did so.

"The bat, he's up there!" Shark bellowed, as Batman landed amidst the cloud of smoke.

As the three patrollers realised their weapons weren't working, Batman quickly attacked the spluttering thugs, who were busy trying to bring their weapons to bear against the shadow in the smoke. Smashing two heads together, he dropped two of them like a stone before delivering a powerful kick into the gut of one before delivering a sharp uppercut to the other thug, before pummelling his fallen form into the ground. He repeated and did the same thing, darting into the booth with the open grate as the patrollers arrived in time to see the dispersing smoke cloud and the four unconscious thugs.

"Boss, he took them all out!" one of them cried in panic, and Batman used his detective vision to see the three guards looking around in alarm, all of their hearts pounding in terror as they saw the elusive vigilante.

"You're all incompetent. He's one man, and he's taken most of you out already. Spread out and kill him!" Shark bellowed, his gun trained on the balcony, as were the four guards who were staying in place.

Obviously, one among the former patrollers had a brain.

"He has to be in one of the booths, split up!" he ordered, and to Batman's satisfaction, two went into the side they had originally been in, while one entered the room the grate he was currently hiding in opened into.

Batman wasted no time, tackling and punching the man to the ground in quick succession, knocking him out in seconds before darting into the vent, crawling along into the next booth, watching as one of the other guards called for the one with a brain, and upon receiving no answer, went to investigate.

"He's taken out another one, how is he doing this?" he cried in alarm, and Batman emerged in the next booth, and making sure the terrified other thug was safely exploring his original booth, he snuck in behind the other guard and quickly disposed of him as well.

Only five to go, and then Shark himself.

"Batman...show yourself." Shark demanded, as Batman entered the other booth and knocked out the final thug up there, giving himself a clear run to Shark.

"Boss, what do we do?" one of the ones at the throne asked in a panic, and he growled menacingly.

"Find him, before I feed you all to the shark!" he bellowed, spit flying from his mouth, and the four guards headed forwards.

Batman made his way to the end of the balcony and pulled himself up onto the overhang, watching as the guards edged upwards, looking for him. He pounced, grabbing one and then quickly dangling him from the overhang as he gave a yell of surprise. With him taken out, he swung across the room to see the other three thugs rushing to their fallen comrade, and heard Shark snarling in annoyance.

"Batman! Show yourself...or I kill the girl!" Shark yelled, pointing his gun at one of the girls who were cowering in terror beside him.

Typical. Batman gnashed his teeth, and then readied a freeze grenade and a batarang. He threw the batarang in a boomerang arc, at the same time as he threw the grenade. Shark yelled in fright as the batarang knocked him from behind, gun flying from his hand and splashing into the water. The ice grenade erupted, ensnaring all the remaining thugs in ice, making them all yell in fright, which turned into a scream of terror as Batman descended upon them and dealt with them quickly and effectively.

Leaving their slumped forms where they were, Batman saw Shark was beginning to stir and he fired the batclaw, dragging Shark closer to the edge of the throne platform, before he swept over to the throne and seized the front of Shark's chest.

"Screw you Bat!" he snarled angrily, trying to shove off Batman's grip.

"I'd rather not. Now, talk, or I'll feed you to your pet in there." He vowed, and Shark snarled in annoyance.

"You wouldn't." He challenged, and Batman simply lowered his head closer to the water, and Shark cried in alarm as he saw the shark's fin approaching.

"Wouldn't I? Scarecrow, now!" Batman ground out, and Shark made a panicked noise in his throat.

"Right, of course, I'll tell you anything, just pull me up!" he pleaded, and Batman did so, just as the shark snapped his jaws at the edge of the platform.

"Talk, or you're fish food." Batman growled and Shark looked up at him in alarm.

"I've been here for ages, I rounded up a few of my boys after your friend Huntress got me locked up and put in here. Since the GCPD was Freeze's place, I couldn't go there like I wanted..." he began, and Batman nodded, filling in the rest of those gaps at least.

Shark detested Freeze and feared him as much as he hated him. As such, he would want to place himself as far away as he could from Freeze, while still being in the position to keep an eye on him. Obviously, he couldn't use the Industrial District as it was commanded by Joker, and Amusement Mile was up for grabs, so he had moved in here and had hidden right under Freeze's nose.

"So, you came here. But I don't want a life story, I want Scarecrow." He growled, and Shark nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, I'm getting to that, don't worry! Well you know what the Industrial Sector was like, Joker's gang war with Two Face and Penguin kept him busy, Black Mask carving out his own little niche in the place, and of course Zsasz nabbing random people, they were all too busy to notice what was going on in the actual docks area. A barge got into the city, no one knows how, and we were watching. It had been travelling up and down for days, small rowing boats going out to it in the dead of night and then coming back and disappearing. Then one night it actually moves into the docks. All of a sudden we see it swarming with goons, all of them hanging around the barge and filling up the rowing boats, and they all start coming towards Amusement Mile. Me and my boys went out to spy on them, and that's when he saw me. Scarecrow." Shark explained, and Batman frowned.

That must mean they had an alternate entrance into the station he was using as his hideout. Typical.

"He isn't looking too hot by the way, Croc really took a chunk out of him, he's all ripped up and septic...anyway, when he saw me watching, we did a deal. He wouldn't let anyone know I was here if in exchange he could use the radio station to get his guys and goods across the city. And as a bonus, he would throw you and Freeze in. So, the deal was done, and instead, Scarecrow started transporting his goods through here, and fiddling with the radio for some reason or other."

"The passageway, where is it?" Batman demanded, and Shark pointed.

"Follow the security door down, it takes you to the basement. There's a hidden door, behind a painting of a crow, it takes you into the passage." He answered eagerly, and Batman glared at him.

"If you're lying to me, I'll be back." He vowed, and smacked him hard in the face, and with that, Shark was out cold.

Using his ripcord, he strung Shark up right above the grate, which he then ripped off, leaving Shark with a drop right into the water should he try anything when he woke up.

"You're safe now." He told the two girls, who were shaking in fear.

"Thank you, but what do we do if they wake up?" one of them asked wearily, and Batman shook his head.

"You'll be long gone by that time. To be safe though, go and lock yourselves in one of the booths, the police will be here soon." He assured them, and the two made their unsteady way up the stairs, a she activated his comm.

"Oracle, tell your father to get men to the radio station. Great White Shark is all trussed up and waiting for him." He told her and she made a noise of assent.

"Wait a minute, what happened to Scarecrow?" she asked a second later.

"Scarecrow struck a deal with Shark. Scarecrow's been here since the start, he must have another entrance. I'm thinking it wasn't too useful for him though, because he was eager to make a deal with Shark. He's been running his operation from the station just like we thought, and provided they left each other alone, Shark was happy to let him do it. I'm going after him." He told her, and Oracle made a noise of concern.

"I know what your answer is probably going to be, but would you at least consider waiting for Dick or Tim to come and help you before you go after him?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"No time. Scarecrow has had ages to plan, and with everyone else out of action, there's nothing in his way anymore." He informed her, heading to the security door.

"It's just I won't be able to monitor you once you get under the security wall, its too thick." She said worriedly and he allowed himself a small smile.

"I'll be fine Oracle." He assured her, heading towards the security door.

"I reckon you should know, there's a large group of people gathering outside Arkham city. Dad doesn't have the men he needs to police it, whatever the hell they're doing." She explained, and Batman pondered.

"What are they doing, protesting?"

She made a thoughtful noise as she looked further into the incident report that had been filed by her father's right hand man, well, woman, Renee Montoya.

"By the sounds of things, they're protesting about Arkham City and the near murder of everyone inside it. While I doubt they're shedding any tears for the guys we deal with, there's a lot of people in there who shouldn't be. They're also protesting about Strange and how he effectively took over the city, how democracy has been thrown out the window, the city itself, and about Sharp. They want his head on a pike." She explained, and Batman stopped, considering.

"Is there any sign-"

"That they aren't there under their own steam? I was thinking that too, I've asked Dick to have a look when he gets there. By the way, he dinged the wing of the Batwing." She commented, and he groaned wearily, he always took the corner out of the batcave too damn fast. He wouldn't mind so much but it was a new plane.

"Never mind. Right, I'm going under." He told her, and she wished him luck as he opened the security door.

Keeping detective vision on in case any of Shark's thugs made it down here, he proceeded down the narrow staircase, finally emerging into the large basement, filled with old boxes and records, and also partially flooded.

"Oracle, I've found the entrance to the tunnel Scarecrow has been using." Batman reported, crossing to the rather horrible picture of a crow, and after running his hand down the side of the frame, found a small button which he pressed, resulting in the door swinging inwards.

"Alright, be careful. Tim is chasing up something in the Bowery, and Dick's is nearly at the entrance to Park Row so he can see why they're all protesting. I'll keep an eye on you as long as I can." She assured him, and Batman entered the passage way, musing on its existence, as it was very small and cramped, and would have no purpose at all in a subway line.

He didn't have to muse long. He reached a door, and opened it to reveal two subway tracks, and a dim orange glow coming from up ahead, signifying the he had suspected, this tunnel was a fairly recent addition, probably built before the wall went up and cut Arkham off from the rest of the city, Scarecrow must have adapted a subway maintenance hatch. That had to mean that Scarecrow, if he had indeed been at this for a while, had built the station exit as an eventuality. Batman frowned as he considered what this meant.

Of course. There would have to be another entrance into the docks. Scarecrow wouldn't have had nearly as many thugs as the resident big players, he would be lucky to control a fraction of what Joker and Black Mask controlled in terms of manpower. Which meant that any of his operations would have to avoid the gaze of any of the Joker's men, so as such, stealth would be much better suited for whatever he was up to. Especially when you considered that Scarecrow wasn't as much of a fighter as other criminals, the likes of Joker and Black Mask would win in a straight out brawl with Scarecrow, he wasn't a fighter, he was a ghoul, who used his fear gas to fight his battles for him. So, Scarecrow had to have another entrance, that he could use to take him to the docks to get his shipments in.

However, that other entrance had probably been rendered useless when the quakes caused by the building work for Arkham City had begun and had caused the massive subsidence. As a result, Scarecrow must have started using the radio building as a conduit, an eventuality a mind like Crane's had probably prepared for, figuring that if he attracted any attention he couldn't handle he would at least have another exit. That made perfect sense. The radio station exit was a last resort, and he had extended that little tunnel over the months so he could still stay in the relative safety of his hideout while having two exits so throw off any potential attention. When Shark had moved in, Scarecrow made his bargain and had been keeping it up ever since, both of them staying beneath the radar of the Joker.

Batman made his way along the tracks, alert for anything, but all he saw were rats, scuttling up and down the dim subway tunnel. The tunnel was dimly lit, casting an orange glow on the tunnel, but other than that and the rats, there was nothing that attracted Batman's notice. He didn't have to walk for long until he reached the station, and Batman came to a stop, thinking he heard something behind him. He turned, detective vision on, but nothing jumped out at him, so he simply dismissed it as a rat and proceeded.

The walls of the station were a grimy white, also lit by the same dim yellow glow as the tunnel was. He supposed that if the subway had been activated, only the stations would be lit, but with only two stations, and Scarecrow and his men needing human comforts, he supposed a little light was to be expected. Batman looked around, to see several unused poster holders on the walls, and an inactive vending machine. A flight of stairs headed up from each platform, only for there to be solid concrete at the top. And that was interesting.

Batman clambered up onto the left hand platform, climbing the sealed in stairs. A body was lying there, slumped and clearly been dead for a while. Using his detective vision, Batman examined the body. No obvious signs of what had killed him, and it was slightly warmer in here than outside, so he could rule out hypothermia.

"Oracle?" he asked, and she hissed in annoyance at the static blocking his transmission.

"You're getting closer to the wall, I can barely hear you and I'm not getting as much from your suit. What's up?" she asked, and Batman scanned the body, flashing it to you.

"Something killed this guy. Now, Scarecrow's goons usually wear a sort of gas mask like he does to protect from his fear toxin, and this guy isn't one. I'm thinking he's one of Shark's, but I can't see what killed him." He said, frowning to himself, looking behind him as he swore he heard scuttling again.

He inspected the body while Oracle did her bit her end, matching the readouts she had.

"He's one Clifton Harris, commonly associated with either Penguin or White Shark. Double agent do you reckon? Working for Shark to spy on Penguin?" she mused, and he nodded, frowning as he saw a small thin cut on his stubbly neck.

"This scratch...he was poisoned." Batman said, and Oracle tutted in annoyance.

"So what, Scarecrow whacked him because he came snooping? Or Ivy?" she asked, but Batman shook his head.

"I doubt it's Ivy, until Catwoman pissed her off, she largely stayed out of Arkham politics. Probably Scarecrow. Right, I'm pushing on." He said, but something about this didn't sit right with him, Scarecrow wasn't really a poison user. Mind you, he had been left alone for months, and if Shark was right, he hadn't fared too well since his encounter with Croc. Perhaps he was using poison out of simplicity, but it still didn't make much sense.

Continuing on his way, Batman made his way along the abandoned tunnel, with nothing but rats for company. As he approached a turn in the tunnel, he tensed, he could hear voices echoing along the corridor coming from straight ahead. Crossing into the shadows of the tunnel, he edged along the corridor, but stopped. This time he definitely heard something, and it wasn't a rat, even though one was looking at him with great interest. A sort of slithering. Seeing nothing, Batman peered around the bend, and hissed.

A good hundred metres were left of the track before he actually physically reached the next station. The tracks went over a water inlet, which had been boarded up aside from a small hole with several cups and kettles resting above fires were surrounding. Batman smiled grimly. For the master of fear, it looked like Scarecrow had finally discovered something he was afraid of...Croc.

Batman looked up the line, taking in the station. This one was more brightly lit, with several cooking fires dotted around the place. Unlike the other station, this one contained a station master's office, as this station, being the first in the industrial sector, the area where the target demographic was most likely to work, and was hence a bigger station. While still only two platforms, there were several benches lining the walls, several poster holders, two flights of stairs and a blacked out station managers office. Along with that, there were two single carriage subway cars. There were around eight thugs on one platform and about six on the other, and using his detective vision, he could see another four in one of the carriages. However, it was the manager's office that interested him the most. There were two people inside, one was hung from the ceiling and squirming, the other was walking with a loping gait, and Batman narrowed his eyes as he surveyed that one. It could only be Scarecrow. But who was his prisoner?

There was another problem. The two carriages were giving off massive heat signatures, and his cowl was picking up on a lot of things that definitely shouldn't be down here, such as ingredients for high explosives. Just what was Scarecrow up to?

And to make matters worse, the tunnel stretched further. Surely not? Unless...it wasn't a secret that Gotham had corruption everywhere. While Gordon had largely cleared out the police force, city hall and other offices were still as dirty as they came. Could someone have meddled with the building plans? It wouldn't surprise him if they had. But that left the question of just how far the line went, and where it wound up. And of course, why Scarecrow wanted it.

This wasn't going to be easy. While he could take all the thugs, the trains making his job slightly easier, Scarecrow did have a hostage and he would use said hostage if he was threatened. The gap between the platforms could work to his advantage, it would stagger the reinforcements from opposite. He could also hopefully take out the smaller group and hope it took a while for the ones in the train to register. But that still left the problem of the hostage, and Scarecrow.

After his overdose of fear toxin at the asylum the year before, he wasn't inclined to let Scarecrow ambush him again, not when he was surrounded by thugs and with no way to call for help, as now when he tried Oracle, all he got was static. No, he would need to free the hostage and take out Scarecrow first, then he could deal with the thugs at leisure.

Leaving the question of how he was going to get into the station. The two trains would afford him some cover, but not much, and some of the thugs were moving about, all he would need is for one of them to look at the wrong time and he'd be spotted. And by the looks of things some of them did have guns, which would be suicidal in such close quarters. There was nothing for him to grapple up to, so he couldn't use that approach either. But, that didn't mean height wasn't the way to go.

He looked behind him, satisfied. He pulled out his line launcher, anchoring it into the walls of the tunnel, right on the bend. With the wire diagonally crossing the curve of the tunnel, he pulled himself up onto it, before firing his launcher again, creating a tightrope across the top of the trains. Yes, that would work.

Moving swiftly along, he quickly covered the distance of the rest of the tunnel, emerging into the station. Edging forward cautiously, he made sure no thugs were looking in his direction before moving along the line, and when he felt sufficiently covered by the trains, he dropped down. He cast his eyes down into the cars beneath him, not liking at all what he saw. In each carriage were several canisters of fear gas, and several cases of explosives. Just what Scarecrow had planned for those he couldn't imagine, but it wouldn't be good. Explosives and fear gas could easily destroy Arkham if Scarecrow set them loose. But as he examined the carriage he was standing on, his eyes widened in furious horror.

Scarecrow had been busy. He'd turned the manager's office into his own private research lab, and had been having his thugs seize people from Arkham city. The proof was right below him, as inside the carriage there were over a dozen bodies, all of them clearly having been infected with fear gas. He would pay for this. Regardless of who they were or what they had done, and he had a suspicion that most were probably homeless who'd been caught here or political prisoners, no one deserved to die in the way Scarecrow would have made them.

Batman set his mouth into a grim line. He was going to end Scarecrow's reign of terror, right now. He looked up the tunnel, seeing nothing but more tracks. Where on earth did the tunnel lead? Why did Scarecrow have so many explosives and canisters of fear gas in the carriages, and what would he do with them when he got them to his destination?

A roomful of thugs, two carriages filled with explosives and canisters of his deadly fear gas, nearly twenty or so thugs, several dead bodies who had been experimented on by Scarecrow, and the villain himself with a hostage at his mercy. Compared to what else he'd been through tonight, this would be fairly simple.

He edged forward, clambering along the train, alert for any signs of movement from the thugs, indicating they had spotted him. However, it wasn't the thugs movement that distracted him, something moved out of the corner of his eye, and as he turned, he saw the tightrope he had launched shaking, as if with an impact. Batman looked down the tunnel, trying to see what had caused the disturbance, but saw nothing. He dismissed it, the line had probably become unstable.

He continued along the carriage, and then jumped to the top of the manager's office, and looked down to see the occupants of the room. Batman shook his head in frustration. The hostage was Catwoman. He'd told her to leave Arkham, and here she was, in Scarecrow's clutches no less. Why didn't she ever listen when he was trying to make sure she wasn't annihilated by the numerous criminals who were a lot more dangerous than her? Even Ivy, arguably her best friend out of all the other super criminals, had little tolerance for her at the moment, she was lucky to be alive, especially with Two Face and Joker wanting her head before the night's events had gone down. But it was Scarecrow who had her in his grasp, and judging by the way he was brandishing the needles on his fingers, he intended to use his toxin on her.

Once more making sure he wasn't spotted, he crouched and crept along the roof, standing right on top of a window, directly above Catwoman. He needed Scarecrow to get closer to her before he could make his move, because if he timed it right, he could take out Scarecrow with a minimum of fuss and free Catwoman all in one go. He crouched down, taking in Scarecrow, analysing just how dangerous he was presently.

Dressed once again in his trousers and loincloth, his malnourished chest was still visible, covered by the loincloth hood. The rope noose was around his neck, his sewed up mouth still the same as ever, his eyes glowing an eerie yellow, and his syringes on his hands. However, he wasn't in as good condition as he was. His malnourished chest was slightly green, with three deep scars, still vivid and looking a sickly yellow, ripped into it. Smaller claw marks were ringed the bottom of his hood. He also seemed to have trouble walking, he had a pronounced limp and his back was now humped and stooped. Under his left arm was a heavy crutch as he peered at Catwoman.

"Exactly Catwoman. With the clown dead, Gotham is for the taking. Say what you like about the clown, however terrifying his schemes were, they did give the city a certain...order. Everyone knew that there was nothing we others could do, because the clown would always outclass us. Now, without him, all of Arkham, all of Gotham, will start tearing themselves apart in fear, wondering just what's going to happen next! And with my help...well, we'll see just how fearful Gotham can be!" he gloated, and Catwoman shook her head in disgust.

"You're insane Crane. And you're not looking too good. Croc got you good. Pity he didn't rip your head off but hey, you can't have everything. How many times have you tried the death by fear gas thing now? It's getting old." Catwoman said irritably, pulling at her bonds, and Batman smiled slightly, she did have a point.

Scarecrow grabbed her face, directing her gaze to him.

"This time it's different. And I think you know that. Nothing is going to stop me this time." He gloated, and Batman decided to make his entrance, hammering his foot down on the weak glass above him.

Scarecrow screamed in alarm as glass fell upon him, the numerous thugs crying out in alarm, crying for Scarecrow. As Scarecrow staggered back, he saw Batman stand to face him, and he tensed his shoulders furiously as the thugs hammered on the door to Scarecrow's office.

"Batman! I should have know I couldn't trust Shark!"

"It's over Crane. You and your fear gas aren't going anywhere. Especially not in a hurry." Batman said grimly, and Scarecrow made a noise of fury at him, using his hand to shield his wounds.

"You and Croc will both pay for these Batman! You can't stop what is to come tonight. You're exhausted, weakened, recovering, and you can't stop what is to come. I've been working on my fear gas you see Batman. It's much stronger, much more deadly." He gloated, and Batman glared.

"So I saw, with the bodies in the train and the man on the barge. I'm shutting you down. Now." Batman vowed, and Catwoman sighed wearily.

"Well rather than talking about it, do you think you could get on with it? I never did like this little creep and I've been his guest long enough, so get me down!" she urged impatiently, she wanted to kick the snot out of Scarecrow, and besides, she had an itch at the top of her back, and she couldn't get it since the chain dangling her above the floor was restricting the movement of her arms.

"You're too late Batman! You can't stop what is to come, my fear gas is much stronger, and more deadly. And my injuries aside, I'm more than capable of destroying you!" Scarecrow vowed, raising his syringes menacingly and starting to cackle hysterically.

Batman prepared to pounce, about to end Scarecrow's reign of terror before it even started when something dropped down the hole he had made when he had entered. At first he thought it was a thug, and he raised his hand to deflect their inevitable attack.

It wasn't a thug.

A woman, landing catlike on the floor, glared up at him with shining yellow eyes, her metallic talons scraping the ground. He'd been a fool. He was being followed all along.

By Copperhead.

She slithered her tongue at him, glaring at him, and as Catwoman struggled to free herself, alarmed by the appearance of the assassin, both villains moved, Scarecrow lunging at Batman with his fear syringes. Batman caught his wrist and shoved him backwards, giving him space, but Copperhead had clambered up the wall and launched herself onto Batman's back. Batman grimaced, and slammed her back into the wall, before throwing her dazed body off of his back and to the ground. Her tongue fluttering, the yellow eyed assassin darted her foot out, making Batman jump to avoid it, leaping towards Scarecrow and knocking him to the ground, his crutch clattering to the floor.

"Batman look out!" Catwoman cried, and Batman turned in time to see Copperhead had climbed up the wall, and was springing down at him, her taloned glove slashing at his face. And there was nothing he could do, the claws ripped open his chin, her potent venom getting into his blood stream in seconds.

He'd been a fool. Copperhead, the poison assassin, the reason Shark's man was dead, the poison in his system, the noises he'd heard on his way here, they were all her.

He staggered weakly, hand flailing outwards to try and steady himself. The entire room was too bright, his head was pounding, nausea was building in his stomach. Neon colours started flashing around him, the room spinning about him, distorted voices screaming at him, his breath was short, his heart was beating a million times a minute, he couldn't feel his legs, he had collapsed, his entire body was shaking, he was gasping for breath, the room was still bright, yet going dark.

Scarecrow had won.

"Thank you my dear." Scarecrow purred, and Batman could see the glowing yellow eyes of Copperhead looking down at him smugly.

"I bet you never expected the end to come like this." She giggled, her forked tongue fluttering in delight, as she used her talon to rip his flesh even more, giggling as she did so.

Batman could do nothing, he was trapped, at their mercy, he heard more voices, the thugs must have gotten in. He tried to will himself back to his feet but nothing happened, there was too much poison, Catwoman was calling to him.

And then he heard the clomp of Scarecrow's crutch and he looked up to see his glowing yellow eyes looking at him mockingly.

"Night night Batman!" he gloated, and slammed his crutch into Batman's head, and his world went black.

Hello again!

I actually started this story ages ago, but since then I've played through Origins and have done another play through of Asylum and just started City this morning, so I thought it was high time I actually got this story done and uploaded.

This is the first of a three chapter story I think it ought to be, and apologies if it isnt that good, its been a very long time since I did my last Batman story in the Arkhamverse, Floral Outbreak. But I've got four stories planned, so I hope you like it and want me to continue!

So, Great White Shark is down and out, but we have Scarecrow and Copperhead at the very least still to deal with. They arent the only enemies we're going to see this story, you might be able to guess one of the ones who will be dealt with next chapter, we have eight still to take out in this story alone, so I hope you want to come back for more and see just who we have.

Next time, as Batman and Catwoman are in a bit of a pickle, we instead join up with Nightwing and Robin, who both have their own roles to play in this story and their own enemies to battle before we get to the climax in the third chapter.

Anyway, hope you like this story, its technically my first one, so please be nice, and I hope to hear from you all soon, so please leave reviews!