A/N: So I'm introducing some a few characters this chapter. Most of them are pretty well known (Not giving away who all of them are yet) but there are a couple who I think might need some explanation. So here's a brief introduction for the new, lesser known characters (Again).
Maxie Zeus: Possibly the most well known of these lesser known characters I'm introducing but just to be safe I'm mentioning him anyway. Basically, Maxie's gimmick is that he thinks he's the Greek god Zeus. He's mostly used as a joke villain in the comics but I haven't actually read any comics with him in it. So I'll mostly be basing his personality in here off his appearance on Batman the Animated Series.
Peyton Riley: Peyton Riley is the second Ventriloquist. In the comics she picked up the puppet Scarface after Arnold Wesker died and apparently she used to be engaged to Hush. Haven't read any comics with her in it, but she seemed like she could be an interesting character. I'm mostly basing her personality off what I've read about her.
Magpie: Magpie's gimmick is that she likes to steal shiny things (Also she used to have ridiculous hair back when she was introduced in the '80s). Haven't read any comics with her in it either. But she's got a pretty basic, fun to write personality that I like.
Dr. Joan Leland paced in circles. Years of working in an environment such as Arkham had taught her many ways to keep calm in stressful situations. So far, the technique seemed to be working. At least outwardly. Inside, Dr. Leland could not stop thinking about the dangerous supervillain somewhere outside the room.
Dr. Adams had isolated herself from the other two doctors. Ever since their short interaction with Doctor Destiny over the walkie-talkie, she'd gone over to a corner of the room and had just been standing there. Occasionally, she'd mutter something to herself.
Dr. Huntoon was doing the worst job at keeping himself calm. He'd just been sitting still on the couch. He sometimes glanced over at the unconscious guard in the room with them. Each time he did this he was very quick to look away.
There had been no conversation between the doctors in a while. None of them seemed to know what to do about the threat outside. They'd called the GCPD shortly after Doctor Destiny had spoken to them and all that was left for them to do was wait.
But, very abruptly, Dr. Adams left her corner of the room and walked out to the middle. "Dr, Leland, Dr. Huntoon, I think we're going to die tonight." she sounded strangely relaxed about the statement.
"With all respect Dr. Adams, that isn't very comforting." Leland stopped pacing to address her coworker more directly. "We've done all we can. The police and Batman will be here and we'll be fine."
"I don't want to be a defeatist, but Ruth might be right." Dr. Huntoon chimed in. "I've seen the response times for the GCPD before, they're not good. And with such a high crime rate there's a good chance it might take a while for Batman or his associates to get here as well."
"Well, then there's nothing we can do." Leland said. "We just have to wait and hope Destiny doesn't find us."
"That's not good enough. We need a way to defend ourselves." argued Adams.
"What can we do? We're doctors, not fighters." Huntoon said.
"It's simple. Plenty of the residents of this asylum are capable fighters and I'm sure they'd want to get rid of Mr. Dee as much as we do. After all, he's much more dangerous than most of them."
Dr. Leland realized what Adams was suggesting. "Surely you can't be proposing getting the help of the patients here? They're not the first people I'd go to."
"I'll admit, it certainly isn't something I'd normally do. But it's better than nothing." Dr. Adams said.
"I think I'm with Ruth." Huntoon admitted. "After all, surely there are some patients stable enough to help us."
Dr. Leland looked at the faces of her colleagues and then to the unconscious guard with them. Weighing her options, she realized that Dr. Adams might be right. The chances of her surviving the night were low if she didn't take things into her own hands.
"All right Ruth, I'm with you on this." Dr. Leland said. "But if we're going to get the patients here to help us try to make sure they're at least somewhat stable."
"Of course." Dr. Adams said this so quickly that Dr. Leland had trouble believing that Ruth had actually listened. "You and Roger can search the women's ward for anyone willing to help and I'll take the men's ward."
Dr. Adams briskly walked to the door, perhaps a little too quickly, and left her colleagues behind.
"Well, er, I suppose we should go out there." Huntoon turned to Dr. Leland.
"Right, let's go out and find some reasonable people to help us out." Dr. Leland said. "God, I hope Adams doesn't mess this up."
Dr. Adams walked through the dark halls of the men's ward as fast as she could. She ignored the unconscious guards that lined the corridors, trying to focus on a specific destination. But her progress was halted when she heard a voice coming from one of the cells she passed.
"Good evening, mortal."
For a brief moment, she thought the voice belonged to Doctor Destiny but turning towards the source revealed the face of the Arkham patient Maxie Zeus staring back at her from his cell.
"Oh, it's only you." Dr. Adams approached the man in the cell. "You should be getting some rest, Mr. Zeus."
"I can't sleep." Zeus stated. "Not when Morpheus is out there. Trying to take Olympus away from me."
"Morpheus? Ah, you must mean Mr. Dee." realized Dr. Adams. A small smirk formed on her face. "Tell me, Mr. Zeus. Would you like to fight 'Morpheus'?"
"Of course I would!" Zeus jovially bellowed. "The mighty Zeus must always defend his kingdom!"
"Well, you're in luck. Come along now." Dr. Adams unpinned her ID badge from her shirt and pressed it against the electronic lock. The door to the cell opened up and Maxie Zeus stepped out. Now that she could see him better Adams noticed that Zeus had tied a bedsheet around him like a makeshift toga.
"Finally, I'm free!" Zeus cried out. "We shall defeat Morpheus together!"
"Not so loud, now follow me." Dr. Adams grabbed Zeus by the hand and led him further down the hall. "We need some more people on our side."
"Very well, which of my fellow gods are we going to for help?" asked Zeus.
"I have someone in mind. Come, this way." Dr. Adams directed Maxie over to a cell on the other side of the hall.
Peering into the room gave Adams and Zeus a view of a hulking figure sleeping in a bed far too small for their enormous body.
Adams rapped on the door. "Mr. Jones, it's time to wake up."
Killer Croc stirred from his sleep. He rose to his full height and lumbered up to the cell door.
"An excellent plan, taming the Hydra." Zeus remarked to Dr. Adams.
"What's goin' on?" asked Killer Croc, sounding confused. "Why're you waking me up? And why's that weirdo Maxie Zeus with you?"
"There's a very dangerous patient loose in Arkham Asylum and we need you to help us." explained Dr. Adams. "I'm going to let you out, just as long as you help. Do you want to do that?"
"Anything other than this stupid, tiny room." Croc replied. "C'mon, lemme out."
Dr. Adams pressed her ID badge to the lock and the door opened up. Killer Croc ducked out of the room as quick as he could to join Adams and Zeus.
"So where're we going now?" asked Croc in the same way a small child would ask what they got for Christmas.
"I think I'm going to need someone else before I reconvene with my colleagues." Dr. Adams replied.
"What about Hermes, he's a powerful God indeed." Zeus piped up.
"If you're talking about who I think you are then I'm inclined to agree." Adams replied. "Let's meet Hermes."
Huntoon and Leland wandered through the halls of the Arkham women's ward doing their best to ignore the guards on the floor and the sleeping shadows in the cells. It was very difficult not to want to help their fallen coworkers but they remembered that notes they'd both taken on Destiny and knew this was likely a pointless effort.
"Roger, are you worried about Ruth?" asked Dr. Leland, feeling that some conversation would lighten up the atmosphere.
"A little. It was probably unwise of Dr. Adams to go into there alone." Dr. Huntoon replied.
"That's not what I meant. Do you think we could trust her to be in there and not screw up?" Dr. Leland rephrased herself. "Me and Adams aren't close, but as head psychiatrists. I've observed some questionable practices from her."
"Dr. Adams is a good woman. She nearly had a breakthrough with Mr. Dent, remember? Almost completely removed his obsession with duality."
"If I recall, that 'Breakthrough' nearly ruined his ability to make any decisions at all."
Their talk was ended when a surly, and strangely, distinctly male voice announced itself.
"Will ya quit yer yapping! Me 'n my gal are tryin' to sleep in here!"
Leland and Huntoon paused after hearing the voice.
"Er, Joan, isn't this the women's ward?" Huntoon turned to his colleague.
Both the psychiatrists approached the cell where the voice came from and looked into the dim room. The room's inhabitant got closer to the light and revealed themselves to the doctors.
The woman looked normal enough compared to Arkham's other patients. Once you got past the scar tissue around her right eye, she was nothing but a skinny blonde woman. Not much too remarkable about her.
At least that's what it looked like until Dr. Leland and Dr. Huntoon noticed the small puppet in a dress suit she held. The dummy was named Scarface and the woman was Peyton Riley. The second person to hold the alias The Ventriloquist.
Scarface's head tilted up at the doctors. "Well, are ya gonna gawk or are ya gonna talk! If ya got something to say, spit it out."
"Ms. Riley, I thought the Scarface puppet was supposed to be kept away from you and Mr. Wesker." Dr. Huntoon said.
"I got so lonely without my Scarface, so I used my ties to the mob to pull some strings with the staff and get my special man back." explained Peyton. "Isn't that right, Scarface?" she nuzzled the dummy against the cheek.
"Have you noticed anything strange going on tonight, Ms. Riley?" asked Dr. Leland. "There's another patient loose in the building."
"I've been asleep for a while. The one weird thing was I was having a dream, I don't usually remember my dreams." Peyton said. "Anyway, I was sleeping for a while. I only woke up because I heard you coming."
"Hold on, didja say somebody escaped?" Scarface asked. "How come nobody told me there was a breakout goin' on!"
"Listen, we know this may sound ill-advised, but we're willing to let you out of your cell." said Dr. Huntoon.
"Really? In that case, I'm all on board." Peyton remarked.
"Sugar, don't be a moron. There's always a catch with these yahoos." Scarface's head rotated towards the doctors. "C'mon doc, what's the catch?"
"We need your help containing the escaped patient." explained Dr. Huntoon.
"Jeez, you guys must really be desperate." Peyton remarked.
"Do you think you'd be able to help us?" asked Dr. Leland. "Frankly, I'm a little hesitant about letting any of you out but we need all the help we can get."
"Well you're in luck, doc. Sugar here don't keep in shape just to look good." Scarface said. "Ya gotta know how to fight when yer dating a crime lord like me."
"Okay, we're going to let you out. But please keep yourself under control." Dr. Leland said. "You will be returned to your cell when it's all over."
"Listen lady, anything to get some sight seein' done. Ain't much to look at in here." Scarface replied.
Dr. Huntoon unlocked the door and Peyton excited, holding Scarface close to her body. Peyton looked around and noticed the bodies of guards on the ground. "Wow, whoever's out here must be serious, eh? Looks like they killed a lotta people."
"They're not dead. At least we hope so." Dr. Leland said. "C'mon Ms. Riley, this way. We're going to want someone else to join us."
Huntoon, Leland, and Peyton walked further down the hall. The doctors had no particular destination in mind and for a few moments Dr. Leland considering going to find Dr. Adams. But they were both then distracted by somebody calling out to them once again.
"Hey, you! Get over here! I wanna be on the outside too!"
The doctors and the newly freed patient gathered around the cell the voice came from and saw the patient known as Magpie standing inside their room. Like with Peyton, Magpie appeared to be a much more normal looking person. Of course, whenever she escaped she had a very extravagant costume and wig she liked to wear. But for now, the auburn haired woman in front of the doctors looked like no threat.
"What exactly do you want, Ms. Pye?" Dr. Huntoon asked.
"I wanna know why Peyton and her puppet are doing out here after lockdown." Magpie said. "And…" her gaze seemed to fixate on Dr. Huntoon's eyes. "I also want your shiny, shiny glasses…" she reached out of her cell and grabbed at Huntoon but the doctor backed away in time.
"Peyton here has agreed to help us deal with an escaped patient that's managed to incapacitate most of the security team." Dr. Leland explained.
"Oh yeah, trusting that psycho and her dummy is real smart. Ha!" Magpie cackled.
"Hey, who you callin' a dummy?" asked Scarface.
"Hold on, you said there's an escaped guy out there, right?" Magpie asked. "Does he look like a big guy in a hood? Got a skull for a face?"
"Yes, that's Doctor Destiny. Have you seen him?" asked. Dr. Leland.
"Walked by my cell a while ago when I was trying to sleep. Thought that was just a dream though." explained Magpie. "Saaayyy, I just thought of something… If you're letting crazy puppet woman here out to help I'm sure I can help too."
"What do you think?" Dr. Huntoon looked over at Leland. "You're head psychiatrist, you've seen her notes.
"Well, her profile says she seems to show an improvement recently." Dr. Leland replied. "Let's let her out."
"Oh thank you, you won't regret this." Magpie said. "Do you think I can collect some of my precious shinies while I'm out?"
"I'm not enabling your problem, Ms. Pye." Leland said. She unlocked the door with her badge and Magpie left her cell with the excitement of a dog that hadn't seen their owner in a long time.
"It's so good to be out…" Magpie took a deep breath. "Everything feels so much sparklier at night."
"I'm alredy starting to regret this plan." Dr. Leland whispered to Dr. Huntoon.
Huntoon wanted to reply but never got the chance to when yet another new voice made itself know.
"Ooh, is there a party goin' on that I didn't know about? I wanna be part 'a this!"
"That'd better not be who it sounds like…" Dr. Huntoon muttered.
Dr. Leland and Dr. Huntoon approached the door on the other side of the hall that the voice came from with the two women they'd freed trailing behind. Once they were closer to the cell, the group saw none other than Harley Quinn reaching out of her cell and bouncing up and down on her heels. Seemingly desperate to talk to them.
"Oh no, it is who it sounded like." said Huntoon.
"Love ya too, doc." Harley remarked. "So what's goin' on with the little group ya got here? And can I join it?"
"This is very serious, Harleen. There's a dangerous patient on the loose in the facility." Dr. Leland explained. "One of the other doctors convinced us to find some patients here who would be willing to help us."
"I'll do it!" Harley cheered. "Unless it's Mista J that escaped. Then I ain't interested."
"We weren't offering." Leland told her. "And it's not the Joker. His name's Doctor Destiny."
"Oh, is that guy the reason the guards outside my room fell over like that?" Harley said. "'Cause that was hilarious!"
"Are they going to let her out?" asked Magpie.
"You kiddin', dame's nuttier than a pecan pie." Scarface replied.
"As former collleagues of Harleen's I think we might have an easier time keeping her under control." Dr. Leland looked to Dr. Huntoon.
"You make a good point." Huntoon agreed. "I'll unlock the door."
"Aww, you really do care." Harley remarked as the door to her cell opened up. She hurried out of her cell and twirled around, taking in her surroundings. "I know what'd make this team even better! We can bring Pam in on this!"
"We draw the line somewhere, Ms. Quinzel." Dr. Huntoon told her. "Bringing Ms. Isley into this would only end in disaster. She'd want Doctor Destiny to kill us."
"Wouldn't wanna kill me." Harley defiantly crossed her arms.
"Harleen, no." Dr. Leland told her. "Just follow us, help out, and we'll get security to bring you back to your cell when we're done. We're going to find Dr. Adams now."
"Aww, you guys are no fun. But it beats doin' nothin' I guess." Harley sighed and the group went further down the hallway. After only a few seconds, a new thought entered Harley's head. "Oh! I know. If we can't bring Ivy, would ya at least let Mista J come along?"
"If we wouldn't involve Isley, there's no way we would involve Joker." Dr. Leland told her. "Just try to cooperate, okay."
Dr. Adams had led the two patients she'd found further into the asylum in search of a final person to add to their ragtag group.
"Hey, so who's this 'Hermes' guy Maxie was talking about?" asked Killer Croc after a few minutes of walking. "Isn't he that Jamaican guy from that cartoon with the robot?"
"Well Jones, Mr. Zeus here has deluded himself into believing that he lives in a version of Ancient Greece." Adams explained as they continued down the corridor. "Arkham is Olympus, you're the Hydra, and on different occasions, he's referred to me as a siren, a harpy, or a nymph."
"I think I get it…" Croc tried to put the pieces Adams gave him together in his mind. "But who's Hermes?"
"In mythology Hermes was a trickster God. So Mr. Zeus interprets-"
"Ah! Hermes, we've found his chambers!" Zeus cheered, going up to a cell towards the end of the hall.
"Excellent." Adams followed Zeus with Killer Croc right behind her. "Mr. Jones, meet 'Hermes'."
Croc looked into the cell and was immediately recognized the shadowy figure in their bed as the Joker. "You gotta be kidding…"
"I've been his psychiatrist for years now. I know what I'm doing." Dr. Adams knocked at the cell door. "Joker, I'd like to talk with you for a second."
Joker sprang up from his bed as if he'd never been asleep and approached the door. "Well, well, well, what brings this little team to my room? Don't tell me, I love guessing. Maxie, Croc, have you taken Doc Ruth here hostage? And you've come to bust me out, haven't you? You shouldn't have. It's like Christmas come early."
"It's the other way around, Joker. They're with me." Dr. Adams informed him.
This news caused the Joker to break out into a fit of his trademark laughter. "Oh my, you've finally cracked haven't you? Should've seen it coming. I've always thought you were a hack. What was that thing you called me? 'Super-sane'? Bah! Talk about quackery." as Joker continued to rant Dr. Adams stared him down, stone-faced. "But really Ruthie Girl, I never thought you'd snap this hard. I mean, breaking out me, Croc, and Maxie? You've really gone full Harley."
Dr. Adams stayed silent for a few moments after Joker had finished speaking just to make absolutely sure he wasn't going to say anything else. "Are you done?"
"For now, yes." Joker replied. "Go on Ruthie, tell uncle Joker what you've got to say."
"A patient called Doctor Destiny has broken out from his cell and my colleagues needed some help until Batman shows up." said Dr. Adams.
"Ah yes, he's the fellow who made that guard walking by do a delightful pratfall. Classic slapstick!" Joker cackled.
"Would you like to help?" asked Adams.
"Of course I would!" cheered Joker. "But, I'm going to give you a moment to reconsider. After all Ruthie, every time I get out of my cell with no guards around bad things seem to happen."
"That's a risk I'm willing to take. Your erratic behavior might work to my advantage. And even if it doesn't… Well, the scenario will make for some very interesting notes in your psychological profile." Adams took her ID card and used it to unlock Joker's door.
Joker paused for a moment, looked back and forth a few times, and finally made the decision to step out of his cell. "All right Ruthie Girl, I'll play along for now. But if I'm being honest, of all docs I've worked with, you're only a few steps behind Harley in the craziness department right now."
Dr. Leland and Dr. Huntoon led the trio of patients they'd gathered back towards the saferoom. Sweat had begun to form on Huntoon's brow and he constantly directed suspicious glances at the three new women following them.
"Joan, I'm regretting this already." Dr. Huntoon whispered.
"So am I. We haven't even seen Destiny yet. Probably would've been a better bet to stay in the room." Dr. Leland said. "Just try to keep calm."
"As the saying goes, easier said than done."
"What'cha all talkin' about?" Harley asked.
"Nothing important, Harleen." Leland said. "Let's stop here, my colleague Dr. Adams should be here shortly."
The group gathered in front of the door to the saferoom leaving them standing around in an awkward fashion. Neither of the doctors was quite comfortable being in such close proximity to the patients without any security. Magpie slowly inched herself closer to Dr. Huntoon. The doctor failed to notice the woman getting closer.
At least until Magpie spoke. "Oh doctor, are you sure about the glasses thing?" she grabbed at Huntoon's glasses who backed away.
"I swear to God, Adams had better get here…" Huntoon murmured.
"Then you're in luck, Roger." Leland nudged her colleague. "Here she come- Oh dear…"
Dr. Leland stared ahead at the hallway as Dr. Adams came out of the darkness. Huntoon saw Adams and the three patients accompanying her and his face went into the same look of shock Leland had.
"I knew she would do something like this…" Leland said to herself.
As soon as Harley noticed Joker was part of the group following Adams her face lit up. "Puddin'!" she ran forward and went up to the Joker.
"Oh, they let you out too, eh?" Joker remarked as he was hugged by Harley. "Didn't think all the doctors were as crazy as Ruthie."
"Should we talk to them?" asked Peyton, eyeing Croc and Zeus.
"I like lizard man, his scales shine in the moonlight…" Magpie beamed up at Killer Croc.
"She wasn't talkin' to you, freak." Scarface said.
"Hmm, who else hath the nymphs of Olympus gathered?" Zeus's eyes went to Magpie. "The Titan, Prometheus…" he looked to Peyton and Scarface. "The sculptor, Pygmalion…" lastly he gazed upon Harley Quinn. "And the Muse, Thalia… A formidable force for the battle against Morpheus!"
While the villains got to know each other better, Adams, Huntoon, and Leland reunited.
"They should be enough to fend off Mr. Dee, don't you think?" Dr. Adams remarked.
"Adams! What were you thinking?" Leland asked.
"Excuse me?"
"Zeus I can understand, but bringing in Jones and the Joker? This can only end in disaster."
"I would have to agree with Joan." Dr. Huntoon said. "Everyone we chose has something we can do to pacify them. Take away Scarface and we can coerce Ms. Riley back to her cell, Ms. Pye can be bribed with anything shiny enough, and Ms. Quinzel usually listens to Joan. But what other than morbid curiosity is going to keep Joker and Mr. Jones from killing us?"
"The goal is to keep John Dee busy until Batman arrives. Once he's here, then he can take care of any unruly behavior on their part." explained Adams. "It's an airtight plan."
"I highly doubt that." Leland said.
Dr. Adams and Dr. Leland would have continued arguing if not for a familiar voice making its presence known.
"What's going on here? Did you put all this together for me? How amusing."
All eyes turned down the hall where Doctor Destiny had just emerged out of the darkness. Doctor Destiny stopped several yards away from the gathering by the saferoom and looked over them.
"I don't know what's going on here and really, I don't care." said Doctor Destiny.
"Erm, you all take care of him…" Huntoon whispered to the patients while he backed up towards the saferoom door.
"I suggest you use a nuanced, well thought out strategy." Dr. Adams added as she began to do the same.
All the villains gawked at Doctor Destiny, unsure of how to act. After a few moments of standing around, Magpie made the first move.
"The ruby… So pretty... So shiny… So perfect…" Magpie's gaze was attracted to the gem attached to Destiny's hood. "It's mine!"
Magpie pushed past her fellow patients and ran towards Doctor Destiny, her arms outstretched. She was fast to reach the towering man in front of her but before she could even touch the jewel Doctor Destiny slapped her across the face with the back of his hand with such force that it knocked her into the wall.
There, Magpie remained unmoving; either unconscious or not wanting to get up. The patients and doctors observing this were a bit taken aback by how easily Doctor Destiny disposed of Magpie. Except for the Joker who, naturally, still had a big smile on his face.
"I don't know who he is but I like his style." Joker remarked.
Doctor Destiny glared at the group ahead of him. "Adams, Leland, Huntoon, do you think you can really hide behind these fools forever? Nobody escapes the clutches of Doctor Destiny!"
A/N: Sorry, but the fight with Doctor Destiny will have to wait 'til the next chapter. This one's running a bit longer than expected as it is. In all seriousness though, I actually updated this story faster than I expected. So that's definitely a good sign for what's to come in my opinion. Just a quick note here, Joker's mocking of Dr. Adams wasn't meant as a jab at the story "A Serious House on Serious Earth". It's just how I thought Joker would react to being around Adams. Next chapter should be up soon.
