Batman vs The 6 6 6

Chapter 9: Demon Night III

One-hundred years ago today…

"Mad Dog" Martin Hawkins murdered the wife and infant daughter of Dr. Amedeus Arkham, who had recently founded Arkham Asylum. Shortly after the slayings, Martin Hawkins turned himself into the authorities and confessed to them about what he had done.

His reasoning for why he killed the two of them seemed preposterous to the police. Hawkins claimed that he had to kill them because the mother was possessed by a spirit named Agitha Williams.

He also claimed that he didn't want to kill the infant child, but after killing the mother, the spirit of Agitha entered the little one, and he had to do what was necessary in order to stop Hell from rising on Earth. He tried saying that Dr. Arkham built the asylum mainly for demonic rituals and not for rehabilitating the patients, and that the doctor's plan was to sacrifice the patients in order to bring back dead spirits.

Of course, nobody believed Hawkins, especially after the authorities were able to study the crime scene. Blood was everywhere, and after further investigation, they also found out that the mother and infant had been sexually assaulted. Martin swore he did no such thing and that it was in fact Agitha Williams manipulating the situation.

Ironically, due to being found not guilty by reason of insanity, "Mad Dog" Hawkins would soon become Arkham Asylum's very first patient and was to be treated by Amedeus himself.

For the next couple months, associates that worked with Amedeus suggested that the doctor treated Hawkins fair, with great compassion and concern. However, that was only what the associates witnessed. In secret, Amedeus vigorously tried to find out how Hawkins knew about Agitha Williams, but Hawkins refused to say a word. The only words that came out of his mouth were rantings of how he saved the planet.

The doctor even had the assumption that Agitha might have entered Hawkins' body because her spirit would have had nowhere else to go once leaving the body of his wife and daughter. Amedeus would bring Hawkins to the shock therapy room and perform rituals, trying to conjure up Agitha's spirit, but he was unsuccessful. One night, Amedeus went too far and accidentally electrocuted Hawkins. However, the doctor was never suspected of foul play.

For the next seven years, Dr. Arkham secretly continued practicing his witchcraft, hoping to resurrect the spirits through the blood of his patients. However, soon the stock market would crash, causing the doctor to not only lose all of his money, but also lose his mind. He went berserk and blamed his former stockbroker for having poor money management skills and tried electrocuting him in the same manner he electrocuted Hawkins, but the police managed to stop the doctor while the attempted execution was taking place. Amedeus was found not guilty by way of insanity and committed to his own asylum, where he spent the remainder of his days carving indecipherable inscriptions on the floor of his cell with his fingernails while softly singing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." The doctor would die nearly forty years later, and despite his attempts, the resurrection of Agitha Williams never came to fruition. Though he did curse Gotham City quite often, possibly even more than Ra's al Ghul ever did.

But… The curse started long before that…

Present day…

Batman drove the Batmobile towards Arkham Asylum, but he had to stop the vehicle nearly a half a mile away due to the fact that every road leading up to the asylum had been reduced to rubble. Plus there was a giant wall of fire which could be seen further off in the distance.

He shot out a grappling hook and attached it to the tallest building near him and ascended to the rooftop.

Looking through his binoculars he could see that the blazing fire had spread far and wide, completely surrounding Arkham. The only way to get into the asylum would either have to be through tunnels underground or from high above.

Batman pressed a communication device on the side of his mask. "Alfred? What have you found out about the name Agitha Williams?"

"Upon my search, sir, I found a few instances where that name comes up." Alfred replied. "First instance involves an Agitha Williams that lived in Europe during the mid-1600's, but it also shows here that she might have migrated to Salem Village, of the Massachusetts Bay area, as late as the year 1673. Sadly, it also says that her three, six year old sons were murdered in cold blood due to the villagers accusing all four of them of being witches. After that, her name doesn't appear again until the year 1922."

"1922?" Batman retorted. "Why did her name get brought up that year?"

"I'm sure you have heard the stories of the first inmate of Arkham Asylum, named "Mad Dog" Hawkins. He was accused of killing Dr. Arkham's wife and child. Hawkins claimed that a spirit by the name of Agitha Williams had taken over his victim's body and she was going to unleash Hell on Earth. He also claimed that the doctor built the asylum to perform rituals on the inmates in order to resurrect spirits of the dead. Hawkins was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He died two months later due to an accidental electrocution during a shock therapy treatment. The doctor who was performing the treatment at the time was none other than… Dr. Amedeus Arkham himself. The murders of his wife and child happened exactly one-hundred years ago to this day."

"Hmm…" Batman thought out loud. "Exactly One-hundred years ago Agitha's name was brought up in Gotham, huh? Why did the name come up in Gotham if the descendants were from Salem?"

"I might be able to answer that question as well. I also found out some other interesting things regarding the happenings in Salem Village back in 1673." Alfred piped up. "Apparently, due to the gruesomeness in which Agitha's children were murdered, one being stabbed to death, another one being set on fire, and the last one being drowned, the villagers forced the rioters to leave Salem or be prosecuted for their crimes. Most of them left the village after that. Legend has it that they were cursed by Agitha and that all of their descendants would be cursed as well. And… where do you think most of those rioters accused of murdering her children moved to?"

"Let me take a wild guess… Gotham?" Batman responded.

"BINGO!" Alfred exclaimed.

"Have you done a cross-analysis of the names of the rioters and those of the descendants?"

"Indeed I have, sir." Alfred proudly replied. "Several familiar names pop up; Napier. Nygma. Cobblepot. Crane. Tetch. Langstrom. Chilton(Chill). And… Arkham. The curse of insanity."

Batman thought back for a moment. "I remember reading the stories about how Dr. Amedeus Arkham built the asylum because his mother was mentally ill and he didn't believe that people with mental disorders deserved to be locked up alongside hardened criminals. Perhaps there was an ulterior motive… Let's just say that "Mad Dog" Hawkins was telling the truth…and if Dr. Arkham was in fact using the asylum to try and resurrect the spirits of the dead, that would certainly explain why the doctor carved several incantations on the floor of his holding cell after he too went insane and became a patient locked up in the asylum. Do you think that maybe Dr. Arkham made a deal with Agitha, which would allow her to take over his wife's body, in exchange for mercy on his bloodline? And then, when the doctor didn't complete his end of the bargain, she made him go insane just like his mother went insane… Just like several of the other descendants went insane?"

"Quite a long-shot theory, sir. That is, if you actually believe in all this witchcraft stuff." Alfred replied. "My biggest question is, what does any of this have to do with Laurie Strode?"

"Good question, Alfred. Perhaps Agitha has taken over Laurie's body somehow. Or maybe they share the same body…but I'm not sure. After meeting Laurie, I didn't think I was talking to an evil demon."

"Or… Perhaps Agitha took over Laurie's body twenty years ago… After Laurie fell to her death." Alfred chimed in.

"If she took over Laurie's body twenty years ago, why would Agitha continue hiding from those three monsters for all those years? Laurie Strode has to be in there. But why would she allow herself to be found NOW?"

"Have you ever heard of an astrological sign, called Thorn?... It happens every so many years during the season of Samhain when the stars and planets line up and create a pattern in the sky that resembles the number 6. It just so happens that the sign of Thorn will be completed tonight. It also shines its brightest once every hundred years… which is also tonight, sir. Maybe Agitha allowed Laurie to believe that she could help her hide from the chaotic trio, but instead, Agitha was simply biding her time, waiting for the perfect moment to allow for everything to line up, and then allowing her soul to be released. Perhaps she also had the same opportunity in the year 1922, when Thorn last shined its brightest, but Hawkins stopped Agitha before it could ever happen."

"Speaking of long-shots… I also do believe that Laurie has been running from evil for all these years because she thinks she has to, but I also believe that Agitha hasn't exactly been running from them, instead, she has purposely been leading them to the spot where the exorcism is taking place. Perhaps they are going to be part of the exorcism." Batman then paused for a second. "Perhaps the three monsters are her sons."

"Exorcism?" Alfred inquired.

"Yes. Clayface said something about how we must allow the exorcism of Agitha Williams to take place. He was somehow working with Laurie.

"Perhaps that is what Agitha wants Laurie to believe. Perhaps Laurie thinks that, by doing an exorcism, Agitha's soul will finally be released and that she and her three sons can be together again."

"Indeed, Alfred. Laurie most likely does believe that an exorcism would allow Agitha's soul to finally be free. And... I'm sure Agitha does want to be reunited with her sons, but I also believe that her motivations for doing so are much more sinister than that. I believe that Agitha is planning on making a full comeback for her and her sons… and she tricked Laurie into going to Arkham Asylum. Agitha plans to harvest the souls of the descendants that killed her sons, making her vengeance complete, which would then allow her to become the most powerful demon to ever walk the Earth. And then,... all Hell will follow. Arkham Asylum must be some sort of conduit. By draining the souls of the descendants, she can use their blood to fuel her evil comeback."

"No doubt a pact with the Devil himself!" Alfred blurted. "Who would perform such an exorcism?" Alfred asked.

"The same man that brought Jason Todd back from the dead." Batman proclaimed. "Ra's al Ghul."

"How will you get inside to try and stop them?"

"I don't know of any tunnels that lead underground, so I will most likely have to drop in from above."

"You wouldn't happen to have any holy water tucked away in that utility belt of yours, would you?.. Or perhaps a priest?"

"A priest! That's exactly what I need! Someone who can reverse the exorcism!" Batman declared. "I need you to look up a man by the name of Father Damien Karras. He may be our only hope."