Mass Arkham Breakout
Chapter 1:
"This is Vicki Vale, live in Gotham Square where we are getting piles upon piles of notifications on the current situation. Last night, a Mass Breakout of Arkham Asylum took place. Most of the patients who have escaped were perhaps some of the major criminals in all of Gotham. The GCPD is on the lookout, and as far as the Batman goes, we can only hope that he will be able to bring these criminals to justice. This is Vicki Vale: more as it happens."
Bruce Wayne, the playboy billionaire turned off his television with the click of the remote just as Alfred, his faithful butler walked in.
"I'm guessing tonight will be a busy schedule as well, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked in his polite British mannerism.
"Tonight…tomorrow night…until who knows when." Bruce responded. The old butler nodded as he placed the breakfast tray next to his master.
"If you don't mind me saying, sir, I suggest you gain as much help as you can from some of your older allies as well as your son."
The billionaire took his cup of tea off of the tray and mixed in his milk and sugar. Just as he took a sip, out from behind the couch popped Damian.
"MORNING, PENNYWORTH!" the boy yelled as loud as he could. The butler jumped as he gently clutched his chest.
"You need to work more on your stealth again. I heard you coming down the steps about a minute ago." Bruce said, expressionless. He took the newspaper off of the tray Alfred had. Damian's face scrunched into its usual pug features.
"ah, Master Damian. I see you're up. Your breakfast is waiting in the Dining Room." The butler informed. Damian walked out of the room, quietly; taking in what Bruce had to say on his stealth which he has been perfecting over the years of his childhood with his mother.
"I already called up Dick, Barbara, Stephanie and Tim. They should be here soon." Bruce informed, taking another sip.
"What about Master Jason, sir?"
"My goal of this mission is to put the criminals BACK into Arkham…not kill them." Bruce replied.
"Very good, sir." The butler agreed as he walked away. Bruce opened up the newspaper to find a black and white picture of a search light with shadowed words written on it. the billionaire lowered the tea mug from his lip.
"Damian!" he called to his son. Damian rushed into the room in response to his father.
"What is it, father?" Damian asked. The boy rushed behind the sofa to look at the picture in the paper.
"it walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening…what is it?" Damian read the words. "oh, that's easy! It's a human." he answered the question.
"It's obvious this is the work of Riddler. He's planning to attack Gotham City Hospital." Bruce told his son. Damian nodded in response to his father's observation. Then the face of pondering took place on the young boy's face.
"But father, Riddler giving such an easy clue could only mean it's a trap. He wants us to know where he's planning to attack." Damian observed.
"Either way, we have to stop him. and if it is a trap, maybe he'll know who the culprit of releasing the criminals is." Bruce explained. Damian looked at his father, waiting for a command. Bruce looked at his son with eyes of seriousness.
"Suit up." Bruce commanded. Almost immediately, Damian rushed to the grandfather clock that opened to the batcave. He ran down the steps, followed by Bruce, to their suits. They hopped in the car, and sped off to the scene.
On the way there, a glimpse of a car heading to the Manor catches the eyes of the Dynamic Duo. Still, Bruce sped off in the Bat Mobile that was later being followed by the car with Dick, Tim and Barbara. As Bruce looked into the mirror, he sees Barbara rummaging through bags, trying to find something. Barbara pulled out the head piece she wears that connects her to Batman. Tim took the microphone part of the head piece.
"Catch us up to speed, Batman." Tim said.
"We are heading for the Gotham Hospital. Riddler left us a clue that might as well be a trap." Bruce replied.
"How should we proceed? I don't have the Bat Computer, but I might be able to manage with my laptop." Barbara concurred.
"I'm heading into the Hospital to check it out. I'll get back to you when I find it's time for backup." Bruce answered. He hung up the communication as they continued to speed to the Hospital that could endanger the lives of the sick, or themselves.
As the Bat Mobile and Dick's car pull up to the hospital, Damian looks out the window of the Bat Mobil to find a silhouetted figured in the shape of a cat, crouched down on the rooftop of Gotham General Hospital. Batman, Robin, Nightwing, and Red Robin hopped out of their cars, looking in the same direction the fem Fatale was, only to find that she had vanished. Nightwing and Red Robin looked at each other in suspicion, but shrugged it off.
"I'm heading in," Batman told his team, "keep in touch, but stay out of sight." The three of them nodded and headed to the rooftops surrounding the Hospital. Batman watched each of them grapnel into the darkness of the night. As they disappeared from sight, the Dar Knight turned his attention toward the Hospital. Knowing that going through the front door was what was expected of him, Batman searched the building for another way in.
Finally, the Caped Crusader came across the ventilation system. With his bare hands, he ripped the metal bars off of the vent and climbed inside.
"Batman, I see you found your way inside through the vents. Knowing that it's probably a maze in there, I downloaded a map to your cowl to help you find your way around."
"Thanks Oracle." The vigilante masked her name as he tried to muffle his voice. He continued to crawl through the vents when he began to hear the mentioning of Edward Nigma. He stopped and followed the voice to one of the offices of a doctor. As he looked through the metal bars, he saw what looked like a pool of blood near an "almost-naked" body slumped up against the wall.
"UGH! What does Riddler want us to do with the dead docs?" one of the thugs said.
"Don't ask me," the other one replied in a thick Brooklyn accent, "You're the one dressed as the doc, what do ya do?"
"I guess we can shove 'em in the morgue." The first one said. Batman looked at the face of the doctor to see it was one of the ones that tried to help his parents as they lay dying on their death beds. On the desk, a gun, similar to the one that killed his parents, was placed. Utter rage began to surface as a flashback of his parents crossed his mind. The Bat barged through the vent, slamming his whole body into a thug. The other one, dressed as a doctor, had the face of pure terror as he looked the giant bat in the eye.
Batman shoved his giant muscular hand to the impersonator's throat.
"RIDDLER! TALK!" the vigilante interrogated. The face of the henchman began to turn purple. His hands began to shake as he continued to look at the bat in pure terror.
"h-he's been I-in the ICU" the henchman struggled to get out with the limited breathing space he was allowed. Before the thug could say anymore, the Dark Knight knocked him unconscious and left the scene.
Batman quickly and stealthily made his way towards the Intensive Care Unit. Each thug coming after him was quickly taken out as Batman reached that part of the Hospital. He stopped at a pair of doors with the words "Intensive Care Unit" written above them. The detective took a deep breath, expecting the worst that could happen. He looked around to find another vent to crawl through, knowing that he would be expected to go through the front doors. As he crawled through the small space, he noticed all the rooms were empty. He crawled out of one vent, landing quietly on his feet to the ground. He slowly panned the room, looking at every crack and crevice in case it was a trap.
"WELL! I see the Dark Knight HAS fallen into my trap!" a voice sounding like Riddler's boomed over the loud speaker. "I've placed sensors everywhere in this part of the Hospital, knowing that you have ways of bursting through my domain without touching a door. Well, let's see if you can do the same in time without touching the windows either!" At the same time, a time counting down from 30 seconds popped up on the heart monitors. The Batman looked out the window closest to him, to find a little man in a green suit running to a van with a purple question mark tattooed on the door.
"NIGHTWING! Launch a tracker on that van and follow it!" The bat ordered.
"already on it, boss!" Nightwing assured, "But what about you?"
"Don't worry about me!" Batman commanded. He ran into the Morgue, got onto the stretcher and shut the door.
3…..2…..1…BOOM! The Hospital exploded. Batman's ears began to ring as the intense noise filled the room.
"FATHER!" Bruce faintly heard Damian in his communicator. The darkness of the tight space has only gotten darker as the vigilante felt his eyes close.
