I OWN NOTHING FROM THIS GAME! ONLY TAYLOR AND DYLAN ARE MINE!
Chapter Ten
Arkham Mansion
"Now that we're inside, why don't you tell me our plan?"
"I don't have a plan." Batman answered her.
"What do you mean you don't have a plan?"
"We're going to find Cash and Dr. Young. We'll go from there when we find them."
Grumbling to herself for a moment, Taylor glanced around the mansion that they had just crawled into. It was some kind of storage room with boxes and crates all over it. Leading the way outside, Batman signaled Taylor to be quiet as more voices of the Joker's buddies reached them from below.
"So what you gonna do when we're finally out of here?"
"I've got a cousin in Metropolis who needs some heavies for his security company. You know, knocking on doors, collecting money."
"Breaking some legs if they don't pay."
"Good times. You want in? I could put in a good word."
"Sounds great. I'm up for that."
Taylor gave off a small smile. She didn't like thinking about them breaking legs over money but at least the men were trying to get away from the crap that landed them in the Asylum. A good change of events could give them a new life to start up.
While Batman glided down and took care of the goons below, Taylor decided that now was the time to try out her utility belt. But what should she use first? There were Batarangs, the Grapnel gun and a few other things but it looked like the Grapnel gun would work the best.
The Security Gates blocked off the path so they had to move through another vent that was above the locked doors. Taylor let Batman go first since he had to detonate a wall to get through. They found another Riddle Trophy(which Taylor tossed at the Bat again) and found themselves in the Main Hall now.
"Wow, they really want those papers, don't they?" Taylor asked, looking down at all the men ripping through files.
"Joker here with a little update for you all. First the good news. We have Dr. Young. Bad news is she's not talking. She's hidden a document somewhere in the mansion. I want it found! I've got a plan or six to loosen her tongue, but in the meantime, search every kook and granny. There's a prize for whoever finds them."
"We need to find those notes before Joker does." Batman commented.
"Then let's get a move on, shall we?"
Staying above, Taylor pulled out her rifle again; taking her previous moves and shooting out legs and arms as her partner glided down to them and whooped ass. Carefully following him down, Taylor searched through the files herself but didn't find what they were looking for. "Where could she have put them?"
"I don't know but if we can fund her again then maybe she'll tell us." Batman replied.
"Good point," The woman nodded, stretching her back again. God, she was getting tired. It was almost 2; she had been here since 9. How in the hell did Batman put up with this all day every day?
They moved through the Mansion quietly, searching and finding nothing, and soon found themselves in the West Wing.
"Is that a collar on his neck?" Taylor asked, poking the metal object that was making a strange noise on the goon's neck after Batman had knocked him out.
"What's that collar do? Why's it making that noise?" The Dark Knight asked the two security guards they had just saved.
"It's the suicide collar," One of them answered. "But it sounds weird."
"Suicide collar?" Taylor raised a brow.
"They've got some other name, but, well, we just use them to monitor the patients' heartbeats. If it drops too low, the alarm goes off and a crash team rushes in."
"And so does my crew if you trigger on." Joker decided to join them again on a screen to the right. "How do you like them apples, Bats? Standing around in the…hmm, let's see, ah, the west wing. They'd be there now if they weren't knocking a little sense into Cash. I'll tell you what. I won't spoil the surprise and let them know you're coming."
Taylor shook her head. "You would think he would let them know. That's why he keeps getting beaten."
The next room was the Arkham Records Room and it seemed to be the greatest challenge in this mansion yet with those stupid Suicide collars on the goons. They were beating the hell out of Cash and a few other hostages.
"Tell us where the bitch went."
"Tell us or we'll cut off your other hand."
"Do what you want. I'm not talking." Cash spat.
"Sure you will. Harley Quinn is on her way up here soon. She knows ways to loosen your tongue!"
"And you don't wanna find out how she does it!"
"She can do her worst! I ain't talkin'. Period!"
"Oh, if you guys weren't so stupid I'd recommend picking up a book or two." Joker growled. "Still, I suppose I don't pay you for smarts, do I? I pay you to stop the Bat and his girlfriend! So don't disappoint me!"
~Girlfriend?~ Taylor asked herself as Batman moved into position on one of the Gargoyles and she took aim with her rifle. ~Now, why does that make me feel funny? Sure, he's a…nice looking guy but-all right, he's got a sexy bod that I like touching but every woman would like that. There's no way in hell that I have a thing for the weirdo who runs around in tights dressed like a bat. No way!~
There was only a few idiots to beat up this time so there was really no problem here this time.
"Cash, you all right?" Taylor asked, cutting him and the other man free.
"Yeah," He answered with a nod. "Thanks."
"Where did Dr. Young go?" Batman cut right to the chase.
"I told her to run. These guys came in looking for her. I told her to go to her office and hide."
"Does she keep her records there?" Taylor asked.
"I guess," Cash shrugged. "She was pretty desperate to get in there! Her office is over there" He shoved his thumb over his shoulder.
"How long ago was this?" Batman continued with the questions. "We need to find her notes before Joker gets his hands on them."
"20 minutes? Maybe more. What's so important about the notes?"
"You wouldn't believe us even if we told you," Taylor sighed. "Either that or it would really piss you off."
"Joker wants them," Batman gave Taylor a look as he cut Cash off before he could ask more. "That makes them important. Stay here! We'll go find her."
"Not a problem." Cash nodded. "I'll try the radio. See if anyone else is around," he looked at the woman. "I'll try and see if I can reach Dylan."
The woman nodded. "I'd appreciate it."
Up the stairs, they began to move through the North Corridor, Joker following them on the radio.
"Going after the notes yourself, eh Bats? Good luck. I've got a crew working over the Doctor as I speak. They'll squeeze the formula out of her soon enough. Not the mention the army of clowns ripping this place apart. One way or another, the formula will be mine. Why don't you just give up? Go on, roll over and die for once. Be your best friend!"
"How in the hell do you deal with this guy as much as you do?" Taylor hissed as they continued on through the vent that led to Dr. Young's office and the three idiots that were trying to get inside. Batman took them down with Batarangs before they both dropped down onto the floor. The office door was locked so they had to find another way to get inside. AKA-
"After I leave this place, I am not crawling through another vent for the rest of my life!" Taylor growled as they dropped down into the office. She glanced around and then cursed to herself. "Someone's already been here!"
Batman dropped down beside her and frowned at the open safe and the torn apart office. "The only question now is who opened it! No sign of forced entry. Whoever opened it knew the combination. Let's see." He moved over to the computer and types something in. The video showed the Doctor as the one who opened the safe. "Good. Dr. Young got to her notes before Joker. She's taken them to hide somewhere."
"We need to follow her to find out where she put them, right?" Taylor asked.
"Yes." The woman backed up and let Batman do his work to make some kind of trail to follow the Doctor. "Oracle, I'm on Dr. Young's trail. I've had to calibrate the scanner to only show recent hand prints. If we follow these, we'll find her or the notes.
"I hope it works," The woman replied. "Just so you know, the GCPD found one of Joker's bombs downtown. It was full of marzipan and kittens." Taylor rolled her eyes.
"As I thought," Batman replied. "It was just a twisted diversion. The real action's on Arkham."
So Batman led the way with his little hand-print finder. They ran into a few groups of goons but nothing too serious as moved through and arrived in the Library. More men were searching for the notes here. Joker decided to make a few more comments but Taylor ignored him as she beat his men down to size.
"Congratulations! Now all you have to do is go downstairs and save the helpless hostages. Right?"
"Well, that's not going to tell us there's a trap waiting on us, right?" Taylor commented.
"Get back," Batman told her after a few moments of silence.
"What are you going to do?"
He had pulled out his Grapnel but turned to answer her. "I'm going to get us a way inside." She watched as he disappeared over one of the railings and crossed her arms with a sigh. ~He'd better hurry up and get back here. If he leaves me, I'm gonna-~
The chandelier came crashing down onto the glass floor. "Holy shit!" Came squirting out of her mouth as she folded her hands over her head as the glass went everywhere. How she didn't get hit amazed her.
"Are you crazy?!" She slapped Batman's arm as he landed next to her. "What if that had hit me!?"
"I told you to get out of the way," He replied, dropping down to the new floor they could get it.
"Yeah, but you could have warned me! If I had been standing just a foot further, I could have-"
"Thank you, Batman. Are they all gone?" The nurse asked.
"Yeah, you're safe now." Taylor answered him. She gave Batman another glare but chose to leave the conversation where it was at; for now.
"What happened?" The Dark Knight asked.
"It all happened so fast. Some patients broke in. Began tearing up the place. Like they were looking for something. Bill here fought back but there were too many. They took Dr. Young. She rushed in here and they followed!"
"I'm sorry." Bill sighed. "When I came to, we were all tied up. Doc Young was gone! I heard a voice on one of the radios. It sounded like they were being told to meet in the Warden's office!"
Taylor moved closer to Batman to talk privately. "So, Dr. Young was trying to hide her research notes on the formula when she was caught."
"She might have hid them in one of these books," The Detective offered. "Joker's men wouldn't think about looking through all of these or they would have already done it."
Batman seemed to agree and began to look around on the shelves until he moved forward and grabbed one of the books, pulling out a slip of paper.
"Oracle, we're found Dr. Young's formula."
"Great. So does that mean you've stopped Joker?"
Taylor watched as he burnt them. "It's never that simple with him."
"What's that you've got there, Bats? No! Not the formula! What am I going to so? Who can help me now? What's that? How about our old friend Zsasz? Hmm. I did bump into him on the way back from the Gardens, where no doubt he was acting out some twisted fantasy."
"Let's just go be-" Taylor halted for a moment as Batman continued on through the door. There it was again. That strange smell that she had caught on the elevator a little while ago. That meant…
"Aww. Am I in Scarecrow's crazy crap again?" She whined as she pushed the door open. As she moved forward, Batman was nowhere in sight and she was in the hallway of the house she lived in with her father. "Damn it, Scarecrow!"
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