A man stood in the shadows, watching his next victim walk down the streets. Arkham City had only been fully operational a couple of months, and it already was hell on earth. TYGER, the private security force brought in as the guards of the Arkham City had rounded up the most notorious, psychotic, and homicidal criminals in Gotham and placed them in the prison. Most citizens of Gotham figured that the new prison would have put a stop the senseless killing of innocent people. They were wrong. Hugo Strange, the man in charge of the prison, had TYGER soldiers incarcerating what he called "political prisoners", men and women who either opposed the building of Arkham City or those who help work on top secret projects for Strange. The unsuspecting man being followed was a networking technician that helped design many of the security systems around the city. Instead of being paid, he was locked away in the massive city prison.
As the victim rounded the corner, he came face to face with his stalker, the cold call killer, Victor ZsasZ. The man wanted to scream for help, but he knew that it was pointless. The TYGER guards were there only to keep people from attempting to escape. They cared nothing for the people locked inside.
"Do you not fear me," asked ZsasZ, running his blade over his heavily scarred arm.
"I do, but screaming and yelling will do me no good," said the man, obviously terrified.
"Don't worry. Soon you will be nothing but a memory carved into my skin."
As ZsasZ approached his next victim, he was struck in the side of the head and knocked unconscious. He woke up hours later in an unlit room, chained to a chair. This was nothing new for ZsasZ. He had spent most of his time at Arkham Asylum chained up. This time, however; he had no knowledge of where he was or who his captor was.
"Greetings Mr. ZsasZ," said an unknown voice. "How are we this lovely evening in hell?"
"You denied me my mark," yelled ZsasZ. "Why have you denied me my mark!? I need that mark! Who are you to deny me my mark?!"
"That is a very good question," said the unknown assailant, walking slowly around his prisoner. "But before I tell you who I am, let me ask you a simple question. How many people have you murdered?"
"I have freed 172 souls from their miserable lives," replied ZsasZ.
"And who is responsible for releasing your miserable, pathetic soul? Who shall avenge those that you murdered?"
"Who the fuck are you," asked ZsasZ impatiently.
Suddenly, the lights came on, and ZsasZ met his captor. Before him stood a man dressed from head to toe in black. He had a mask on similar to the latest incarnation of the red mask, except his mask was black. On the man's thigh in a sheathe was a knife with a blade that was a foot long. He also had a sword lying on a table next to an assortment of rifles and handguns.
"I am the man that will do what the Batman won't do. I will eliminate all those who have wreaked havoc all over Gotham. I am the man that is going to expose Hugo Strange for the fraud and manipulative bastard that he is. I am VENGEANCE! And you shall be my message to all the others."
Vengeance unsheathed his knife and held the knife to ZsasZ's throat.
"Are you afraid of death Mr. ZsasZ?"
ZsasZ foolishly spat in the face, albeit onto a mask, of his tormentor.
"Well that was just rude," said Vengeance wiping the spit from his face. "I was going to make it quick, but since you seem to be uncivilized, I think I will take another approach."
Vengeance pulled out another knife. This one was not as long as his main knife, but just as sharp. He began carving into ZsasZ's chest, causing the hardened criminal to scream. A large V began to form in the criminals chest.
"I bet you wish you didn't spit in my face now," yelled Vengeance, continuing to carve into the man's chest.
"I'm sorry," exclaimed ZsasZ, barely able to get the words out, blood starting to flow out the corners of his mouth. "I'm sorry I spit in your face!"
With one fluid motion, Vengeance picked up his larger blade and sliced through the neck of Victor ZsasZ. The homicidal maniac died instantly. Vengeance unchained the corpse, flipped it onto its stomach, and began carving into the already heavily scarred back. Time for his message to be delivered.
Meanwhile
"Attention shift commanders. I want situation reports in twenty minutes. I also want the list of all new inmates on my desk within the hour," said Hugo Strange into a hand held radio. Strange looked out his office window, which overlooked Arkham City from high atop Wonder Tower. He was the mastermind behind the Super Prison. His reason for building the city was not what everyone in Gotham thought it to be. His plans were much more nefarious. He sat down at his desk, poured himself a cup of tea, and began signing arrest warrants for more of his political prisoners. As he looked over the papers, he heard a ruckus from outside. He walked to his window, pulled out his binoculars, looked to where the helicopter's spotlight was pointing, and jumped back at what he saw. ZsasZ's body was out on display, hanging by his feet from a radio tower. His chest had a fire burning in the shape of an unknown symbol.
"Cut the body down and bring it to me at once," yelled Strange into his radio.
Thirty minutes later, ZsasZ's body was brought to Strange. The TYGER guards placed the body on a table.
"So who did this to you, Mr. ZsasZ," asked Strange as he began to examine the body. He took notice of the charred chest cavity. A large V had been carved into the chest. Below it was the word revenge.
"It looks like this was just an act of revenge," said Strange.
"Actually sir," interrupted the watch commander. "There's more on his back."
The guards flipped over the body. Strange got a chill as he read the message. Another message, this time directed to him specifically.
"I know the truth Hugo. You are no better than the criminals you imprisoned. By the weeks end, you will die by the hands of VENGEANCE!"
Hugo just read the message over and over again.
"I want double security in this tower. If anyone comes within fifty feet of this building, shoot them on site."
"Yes sir," responded the watch commander. "Also sir, the hacker has gone missing."
"Find him quickly, and then lock him in the old GCPD cells."
Hugo starred at the body some more. For the first time since he opened the prison, he felt fear. Who was targeting him? Who was Vengeance?
In a basement
Vengeance down into the basement of the apartment building close to the courthouse. The apartments above were filled with inmates of Arkham City. They did not bother Vengeance and he let them live. He was only after the big guns. The lower level criminals would not be able to operate without the bosses.
"Calculator, tell me you have found the locations I asked for," said Vengeance.
"I have a couple. I also have the latest political prisoner list. They added Bruce Wayne and Jack Ryder. Those two will never survive."
Calculator was considered a low level criminal. He was not a killer. He didn't even cause physical damage. He was a famous hacker. He was the go to guy for any and all information. He was also being hunted by TYGER guards. He knew Strange's plans. He was almost caught when Vengeance rescued him, helping him disappear. He was a valuable asset.
"Who do you have so far?"
"Two Face has made his presence known at the court house. He is holding trial for Catwoman."
"She stole from him again," asked Vengeance in disbelief. "I guess once a thief, always a thief."
"Yeah, but you would think she would have learned not to try and steal from him. Anyways, I also picked up some very heavily encrypted data that leads me to believe that Deadshot is in here. Funny because yesterday I found information that links Deathstroke to a few contracts in here as well."
"Strange wants people dead in a very bad way. Any ideas as to who their targets are?"
"I am still decrypting the files. I will have more information for you later. I am also working on the blueprints for the museum."
"Good. Keep me informed. I am going to get to work," said Vengeance, grabbing grenades off a wall.
"I know that I am going to get ignored, but who the hell are you," asked Calculator. "You know everything about me and the others. I don't know shit about you. Why in the hell would you come into this hell hole voluntarily?"
"It's personal. And all you need to know is your helping me is keeping you alive," said Vengeance as he walked up the stairs. "And find the priority target."
So this is story has been in my head for a while and was started but never finished. I now know where it is going and how I am going to get to the end. Please leave reviews and let me know how I am doing.