Chapter One: Welcome to the City
"I just wanted to know what was in here." I answered.
"You're a liar." The man in the lab coat said. "Guards, ready your weapons."
The two guards loaded their rifles and aimed them at me. "Wait wait wait wait!" I said, trying to hold up my hands, before remembering that they were tied to the chair. "I'll tell you what you want, just tell me who you are."
"I am Professor Hugo Strange, and I am in charge of Arkham City. Now tell me what you were doing."
"Your beard is stupid."
He smiled. "You're voice is awfully deep." Strange said. "It doesn't suit you're girly features." He was right. One thing that people always said was that my voice was amazingly deep, usually deeper than all the grown men around me.
"At least I look attractive."
"I tire of this. Guards, untie him." Strange said, walking away, facing the mirror along the one wall. I could see myself in it. I had dark blond messy hair and bright green eyes, with pale skin and a lean body. I'm about five foot eight and quite athletic, as I went swimming quite often, sometimes with other people, sometimes not. One of the guards walked towards me and took out a knife, and sliced the ropes. He then pulled me onto the floor and pushed the chair away. I rubbed my wrists, red circles around them from the ropes.
"Beat him." Strange said.
Before I knew what was happening, the one guard's boot lashed out into my stomach, winding me and causing me to cry out in pain. I tried to get up, but the other guard kicked me back to the floor. I swore at him and he grabbed my hair, pulling me up and making me scream even more, before grabbing my arms and holding them behind me back, letting the other guard punch men in the chest and stomach. Repeatedly.
"Stop." Strange commanded. The guard let go and I collapsed to the floor. I tasted blood in my mouth and it hurt when I breathed, but nothing was broken. "Are you going to tell me what you were doing here?"
"I met this guy." I said, panting. "He said he'd pay me if I could get some files from this place."
"Where are the files?" Strange asked.
"Memory stick… In my jeans." I said, trying to regain my breath.
"Bring me his clothes and things." Strange said to the one guard. He nodded and walked out of the room, returning five minutes later with a bag in his hand. He handed it to Strange, who threw the jeans, shoes, t-shirt and hoodie on the floor, then pulled out a smaller bag. He pulled out the memory stick and showed it to me. "Is this the memory stick?"
"Yes." I answered. He dropped it on the floor and one of the guards stamped on it, crushing it. "Are you going to let me go?" I asked.
Strange chuckled. "Of course not, Mr Drysdale. You are a criminal, a thief. You don't belong on the streets with all the law abiding citizens."
"But-"
"You belong in Arkham City."
My stomach turned. He couldn't put me in there. I wouldn't last a day in there. Not with my good looks. Hold on, now's not the time to be complimenting myself (even though it's true).
"You can't." I said. "I'm only fifteen, you're not allowed to."
"Mr Drysdale, you have put the security of this facility at risk. Who knows what you read, and what secrets you know about? I can't take that chance."
"You can't though."
"I think you'll find that I can." He said, chuckling. "Tell you what, I'll let you have your things back." He threw me my phone and pen-knife and I put them on the floor. I went to reach for my clothes, but the guard kicked my arm. "You can't have those." Strange said. He nodded to one of the guards, who sent them on fire.
"What am I going to wear?" I asked.
"It's not cold. You'll be perfectly fine in your underwear." Strange said. "Take him to the gates, guards. Have some fun with him, just don't break anything, and don't ruin that pretty little face of his." He said, grinning, then turned to leave the room. "We want the inmates to have some fun as well…"
"You heard him." The one guard said to me as Strange left the room. He kicked me in the groin and I screamed, while the other man punched me in the stomach. They pulled me to my feet and slammed me into the wall, then resumed punching me. After a while, I gave up trying to remember how long this went on for, until they finally pushed me back to the floor next to my phone and pen-knife. "Get your things." One of them spat at me.
I slowly reached out my hand and grabbed the things, then stuffed them into my tight boxers, hoping they didn't fall out. They then dragged me to my feet. They half carried half dragged me through a door and into a courtyard full of orange jumpsuited inmates and TYGER guards. The inmates jeered at me and I was pushed through the crowd, until I came to two lines, separated by metal fencing. "Get to the front." The guard said, pushing me into the line. I made my way through, pushing past the other inmates who whispered to me, until one person grabbed me. He held me against the fence with one hand, his other placed on my bare chest.
"Look out for me in there." He said, and the people around him laughed.
"Get off me." I said, pushing his hand away. He grabbed me around the throat and placed his other hand on my stomach, lingering on my muscles.
"Oooh, got an attitude. I like it." He laughed and pushed me towards the front, and I swore at him, then got to the front of the line. I looked at the guard standing there and scowled.
"You're the youngest we've ever had in here, you know kid." He said. "Have fun. There's a reason why you won't find many girls or young guys in there." He laughed and pushed me through the gate, and I was temporarily blinded from the spot lights. I heard the doors being me close and I reached into my boxers, pulling my pen-knife out and flicking open. I was in a walkway, chain-link fences on either side of me, the only way to go being forward. I heard cheering and saw groups of inmates on either side of me.
"Please welcome into Arkham City!" Shouted a voice over the speakers, "at only fifteen years old, Arkham's Youngest inhabitant!"