I OWN NOTHING FROM THIS GAME! ONLY TAYLOR AND DYLAN ARE MINE!
Chapter Nine
The Batcave
The Batcave. God, if anyone in Gotham, ever found out that she had seen the Batcave, been inside it, she would be famous! Taylor's mind was beginning to have images sprout up. Tiny bats hanging from the cave ceiling. A small pool of water on the floor for the Batman's baths and food. A bed strapped to the ceiling so he could sleep with his winged-rat brethren during the day.
Snorting at the thought of that, Taylor stayed silent as she followed the man in tights ahead of her through the Asylum grounds. They beat up some of the enemy in the way but nothing too serious. They arrived at the Intensive Treatment again before Batman pulled out his Grapple again and took them to the roof.
"What's the deal with Dead Man's Point? It's been a favorite suicide location on Arkham Island for over 100 years." Oracle decided to join them again.
"Yeah. I know. I once saved an unfortunate inmate from leaping off into the rocks below." Batman answered her. "I found a cave entrance and over the years have moved a number of supplies here. It's a regular home away from home."
"Yeah, there's nothing about having a cave that you call home beneath an island full of Psychos." Taylor frowned. "I just pray that I don't find cameras of the Inmates cells down there."
Batman fought a smirk as he continued to lead the way, hoping that the detective behind him didn't remember where this all was. He thought about leaving her behind or knocking her out but decided that it would have been just too much trouble. Moving through the caves, Batman paused for a moment when they came to a pile of skulls in the center of a dark area. Taylor raised a brow and watched as he jumped up a small edge and moved towards the hole in the wall that showed it was raining again outside. She followed him and frowned as she looked around. There was nothing.
Placing her hands on her hips she looked at the man in tights. "So, where's this cave of yours?"
The Dark Knight turned to her before stepping closer to her. "Grab onto me."
She took a step back, completely happy that it was too dark to see how red her face had become. "What?"
"You won't be able to get there without my cape so either you grab onto me and hold on or you go back the way we came and wait for me."
Taylor clenched her teeth. ~Asshole~ She growled to herself before wrapping an arm around the man's neck. She tried to keep as much space between the two of them but Batman pulled her right up against him before running and jumping off the cliff. She clung to him, trying to ignore everything as she felt the wind fly past her. To keep her mind clear so tried to think about anything else but this…and her thoughts landed on the man she was holding on to. His skin was hot. Very hot. As she pressed herself against it she felt a river of relief and a sense of protection pass through her. Again the thoughts of those tight, firm muscles beneath her came to her mind, sending such dirty thoughts that she shouldn't be thinking about at a time like this. But still, it was hard to resist imagining this man on top of her, attacking her with his mouth as they moved beneath the sheets. Damn, too bad she didn't know what he truly looked like.
"You all right?"
Realizing that her feet were on ground again, Taylor pulled away from the man and looked around the area, trying to erase those naughty thoughts from her mind. She frowned. It was just a cave. "This is it?"
Batman stared at her with a frown for a moment before walking forward. Watching as he stood in front of the wall for a moment, the detective blushed as what was happening hit her.
"Identity confirmed. Disabling countermeasures. Security deactivated."
Of course he would hide all his stuff? Taylor felt like a real idiot now as she moved after the man in tights into his Batcave.
"Holy crap." She looked at the stuff in here. A plane. A boat. A huge-ass computer system! "If this is just the small version," She said breathlessly. "Then I can't wait to find out what's in the main Cave."
Batman gave her a glance before leading the way to the computer system. She easily made it across the gap on her own, still impressed with everything here. Batman sat down before it and Taylor leaned on the back of it as Oracle joined them again.
"Dr. Young was heading up a project. It was big, lots of external funding. Here are the last notes she filed. I can't make sense of it. What does it mean?"
"It's not that hard to figure out after seeing what she did to our Spanish friend," Taylor scowled as she gazed over the screen. "Experiments."
"You may be right," Batman nodded. "And on the Arkham patients. This new chemical only barely resembles the original Venom compound. There are a number of changes that appear to amplify the strength of the drug. Multiple references to a Titan formula. Even a small amount could trigger a Venom-like transformation in the host, eliminating the need for the storage tank Bane requires." Batman rubbed his temple.
"But the notes aren't complete," Taylor pointed out. "It seems that the formula's missing. That must be what Joker was trying to get from Dr. Young, don't you think? That's what he needs her for." Her mind went back to that large creature that Batman had fought towards the beginning of the night. "If he doesn't have the formula then his creations won't be complete. With Dr. Young's secret, he could make an army of Banes!" She shuddered at the thought.
"My God! Is Joker crazy enough to do that? What am I say? You've got to stop him!"
Taylor sighed. "We're trying." She watched as Batman moved to a crate and pulled out some new equipment. She took another glance at the notes again and scowled. Stupid Doctors. Haven't they played Final Fantasy 7 or Resident Evil or Doom before? Don't they know what happens when they do experiments to try and become powerful or take control? Scientists were idiots, in her opinion, sticking their noises in a place that it should be.
"We're going after her," Batman referred to Dr. Young. "She was heading to the Mansion with Cash. I'm going up top via the catacombs."
"The sewers?" Taylor frowned, stretching her back and closing her eyes. She was getting deadly tired. "I am so taking a bath when we get out of here safely.
Batman glanced off to the side as naughty thoughts of his own came to his mind. After all, it's not every day that you can find a woman that's stubborn enough to put up with running around the Arkham Asylum with him. It made him wonder just what else she was stubborn enough to deal with.
"Here," Taylor turned to the Dark Knight to see him holding out a belt to her. Not a normal belt but one of his. A Utility belt. "So I don't have to carry you everywhere when the time calls for it."
She flushed, a small feeling of disappointment passing through her as she grabbed the belt. No more touching that body? Too bad. "All right!" She picked up her enthusiasm. "Just what I've always wanted!"
"Now, you have to be mature with these." Batman told her as she hooked it around her waist.
Her smile melted angrily. "What do you think I am, a ki-" Her voice stopped at the sight of the teasing smile on the man's face. He was messing with her. "Asshole," She grinned back as he moved past her to lead the way through the sewers. He gave off a chuckle and she smiled wider. When have you ever heard the Bat laugh?
Taylor had to admit, she did not like the thought of not having to hold onto Batman anymore to travel. His body was nice to hang on to. And at the same time she was happy that she got her own tools to use. She felt helpless sometimes when she had to count on him to do a bunch of things. Well, not anymore! She was going to pick up pace double time now!
"Sorry boss. Took a little longer to find him than you figured it would." At the voice, Batman came to a halt at the end of the vent that they were now traveling through. They were at the very edge of the sewer lines now beneath the Mansion. They had run into a group of a view of Joker's men.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Joker growled. "I'll try and be more precise next time I'm planning an island takeover!"
"Hey, I didn't mean-"
"Criticism I can take. I mean, I'm not perfect!" Joker paused for a moment. "Well, come to think of it, I'm pretty close to perfect, aren't I? Where was I? Oh yes," Taylor hid a snicker. You had to admit, there was just something about this crazy guy. "Criticism from a worm like you, a worm who is only crawling around free because I arranged to open his cell is something I will not tolerate. I-"
Taylor didn't get to hear what was said next as they took down the group of men.
"I've been digging deeper into Dr. Young." Oracle began. "According to her bank records, there have been multiple payments, starting last April until two months ago. Then nothing. The payments came from a company owned by a Mister Jack White."
"One of Joker's oldest aliases," Batman informed the two women. "So, Joker pays Dr. Young to create his army and then all of a sudden he stops. Doesn't make any sense."
"When did any of this make sense?" Taylor asked him and she continued to move down the hall. Right down the hall was a door leading to the Main Sewer Junction. Taylor took in the sight of all the broken pillars and frowned, shaking her head. "Why does this have to be so hard!" She stopped her foot before moving forward, following Batman's moves to get to the door they needed.
"Hey! This is weird." Oracle decided to return. "The payments to Dr. Young's account didn't stop exactly, they were declined. Dr. Young put a block on her account."
"Sounds like someone got cold feet." Taylor hissed, slipping across a wall, getting ready to jump to another. They had found the area wasn't safe to use the grappling hook and would have to climb 'the old fashioned way'.
"She tried to block the payment," Batman sighed. "Joker doesn't like it when his partners try to back out."
"So he decided to get himself back to Arkham, find his formula, and create the army himself!"
"It seems that way," Taylor agreed as Batman nodded. "Anything else?"
"Yes. I hacked into her email account. Two mails stand out. The first is a resignation letter dated last week. Sounds like she was trying to get away."
"And the second?" Batman asked, grabbing Taylor's hand before leading the way across the large gap.
"A message from Joker, well, Jack White. It's a long thread. She's begging to stop the experiment. Says it's too dangerous. He's not listening. Let's see, random threats to her family, a couple of bad jokes…a picture of a dead baby and a threat!"
"What?" Taylor growled, glaring at Batman as he was the only one there.
"Go on." The man in tights told her.
"He says, 'I'm coming for you! I want what I paid for!' And then another joke about wheelchairs, lovely…And a drawing of some kind of donkey."
At the comment about wheelchairs, Taylor's head fell and Batman raised a brow. What was that about? "No mystery why she's so scared." He commented. "I'm coming up to the surface. We'll find her."
Batman knew where to go and it was no trouble getting out into the surface to the North. The breath of fresh air seemed to lighten Taylor's mood again until she looked at the mansion. She wanted to find Dylan soon. They had been all over the island in the last few hours but still no sign of him, next to what Scarecrow tried to pull on her. Dylan had last been seen with Poison Ivy so that was…somewhere around plants, right? Where would that be, exactly? She would have to ask Cash when the caught up to him and Dr. Young in the mansion. If they found them…
Don't worry, ladies. The Brother will be here soon, I promise! Just a few more chapters!
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