I don't own Halo of Justice League; they are the property of 343 Industries and DC Comics/Warner Brothers respectively.

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The Arkham Asylum was under lockdown. Or, what was considered lockdown by Gotham standards. Half a dozen squad cars stationed in and around the asylum entrance, with a dozen or so officers patrolling the perimeter. All the while, the Chief Warden was describing everything he knew about the most recent 'disturbance' that had transpired at the asylum.

From the seat of her personal SUV, Sergeant Rene Montoya grimaced as she peered at the asylum through her binoculars. Since she was placed on temporary suspension from duty, she had been strictly barred from being anywhere near the investigation. Not that she minded it too much; she always felt uneasy whenever she thought about this place, and even more so whenever she had to deliver one of their 'misplaced patients'.

Even now, she listened in utter disbelief as the Warden described the supposed 'mass breakout' as a complete misunderstanding. He then went on to explain how one of their power generators suffered an unexpected malfunction, causing some of their cell blocks to suffer a temporary power outage. Fortunately, their brave, reliable staff were able to keep the more 'troublesome inmates' from causing trouble long enough for the backup generators to restore power. And now, he was pleased to report that all systems were fully operational, and that there was nothing for the brave officers of the GCPD to be concerned about.

…

It was complete and utter bull-fucking-shit.

She placed her binoculars down and started typing away on her military grade data-pad. She had received this from the Spartan during one of their previous debriefings. And she was absolutely loving it. It had been programed to interface with the Spartan's comm. so she could contact him whenever she needed to. It was also untraceable, could interface with any modern-day electronics, and was completely remote hacking and malware proof

It was how she was alerted when the asylum's security system had failed, and how she was able to notify the Spartan so quickly without having to use an open radio channel.

And speaking of which…

She paused when she heard the familiar sound of aircraft thrusters flying overhead. Exiting her vehicle, she looked up in time to see the Spartan jump down from his transport, which then took off into the night sky. She waited and watched as he landed a short distance in front of her.

"Sergeant Montoya."

"Glad to see you don't waste too much time with the theatrics," she snarked. "We have enough of that with the Bat and his group. I'm really hoping you have some good news for me right now."

The Spartan held out his hand, allowing a small blue figure to appear. "Hey there, Rene," Arian greeted. "Sorry we didn't get here sooner. Truthfully, we were kinda hoping the same thing with you."

"After Gordon sidelined me for being 'overly aggressive and uncouth'," she scoffed, "I've been pretty much left out of the loop…though not for lack of trying. Alright, what do you have?"

"Well, there's one thing I can confirm: the Joker hacked the asylum's security system via remote location – the Mr. Jolly's Candy Factory on the outskirts of the city limits. It wasn't a strong hacking signal, compared to what I've seen before. It looks like the asylum's anti-malware system was terminated from within the building itself."

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me," Montoya scoffed. "I had one of my contacts send a squad car to check out the factory. An hour later, they call back to inform him that the building was completely burnt to the ground. They say it was caused by gas leak, and a big one from the looks of it."

"Asset/Intel denial," the Spartan deduced. "The Joker's covering his tracks, trying to hide his movements."

"They did find tire tracks leading to and from the building parking lot. They tried to track them, but lost the trail once it hit solid pavement. However, I was able to trace the tracks back to their origin," she told them, handing over the data-pad. "I gotta say, this damn thing's reliable. Kinda wishing that we had more of these going around. Might actually make being a cop a whole lot easier."

"That's 26th Century tech, for you," Arian said as she linked up with the data-pad. "It looks like the tracks match those of the caretaker's vehicles from the Arkham maintenance shed, just down the road from here. The Joker must've taken one when he broke out of the asylum."

"So, we know how he left and where he went," the Spartan mused, "but nothing on how he managed to escape the building itself."

"Not necessarily," Arian said, bringing up a map on the data-pad. "I'm going through the asylum's blueprints, both past and present. There's an old sewage system that runs under the asylum, and comes out just a few meters away from the maintenance shed."

"That was part of old Arkham," Montoya explained. "They put it in back when it was first built. But it collapsed back in the 1960's, and they considered it too costly to repair. That's when they built the new sewage system above and around it. There's no way anyone could get out that way."

"Normally, they wouldn't," Arian pondered, "unless they had the time and resources to do it. Plus, it wouldn't take much to bribe the current Warden into looking the other way. And," she concluded, "guess which section of Arkham it runs under?" As she said so, an image of the sewage system popped up on the screen. And one of the sewage branches ran directly under the same cell block that the Joker previously resided in.

"The Joker must've found the sewage system," the Spartan deduced, "and used his connections with the Warden to carve an exit through the sewage system. The depth of the tunnels means its invisible to heat sensors, and the security cameras wouldn't find or be able to track him until he was well outside the perimeter."

"Tch! That doesn't surprise me," Montoya sneered. "He's like a psychopathic Houdini. He absolutely loves doing the utterly insane, especially when it comes to getting out of Arkham."

"Can we use the system to get into Arkham?" the Spartan asked.

"Let me check," Arian pulled up an image of the sewage system. "It's pretty cramped in there…the structural integrity is compromised beyond belief; who knows when it's going to collapse…Huh. What do you know? It's just big enough for you to squeeze through. You should be able to get through to the Joker's cell block…assuming that you don't get buried when the entire system comes crashing down on top of you. And so long as the Joker didn't seal up the exit on his way out."

"She's right, Spartan," Montoya agreed. "The Joker's a fucking psychopath, but he's not an idiot. He's probably laced that entire sewage with all sorts of booby-traps. And, knowing Gordon, he's probably already got the Bat looking into it."

"If there's any chance of finding out what the Joker's up to," the Spartan reasoned, "we should take it while we can. We have to stop him before any more innocent people die."

Montoya sighed in annoyance. "I must be out of my damn mind. Okay, fine. Just…try not to get yourself into too much trouble…or me, for that matter. If Gordon finds out I'm helping you, there'll be Hell to pay. For all of us."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Arian objected. "We already have more than enough evidence to authorize a full-scale investigation into the GCPD by both the United States Federal and Supreme Courts. Once they learn what's been happening here in Gotham – evidence tampering, multiple offenses of bribery, negligence of duty – they'll file a class-action lawsuit that will shut the entire GCPD down. If Gordon tries anything even remotely resembling an arrest warrant, he'll end up taking himself and Batman down in the process."

For all her skepticisms, even Montoya found it hard to argue with the AI's argument. "Alright, you win. I'll stay out here and monitor from this end. Just try to make it quick. I doubt Gotham would appreciate you killing their Dark Knight over someone like the Joker."

"No promises." The Spartan then took off for the sewage entrance, leaving Montoya to continue monitoring the asylum from a safe distance.

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At that very moment, Gordon was waiting for the Dark Knight of Gotham on the GCPD rooftop. Once again, he was trying desperately to ignore the migraine that continued to pound his head like a bongo drum. First the mass shootings and targeted attacks. Now, he had tonight's fiasco at the Gotham Shipyards to worry about.

Sometimes, he really hated this job.

"Gordon."

He turned to see Batman stepping out of the shadows, with Nightwing and Batgirl watching from beside the nearby billboard.

That worked perfectly for Gordon. More hands-on deck meant more chances of getting things done.

"What's happened?"

Gordon wasted no time answering Batman's question.

"There was an attack at the Gotham Shipyards tonight." He held out photos of the dockyard, showing a massive trench in the cement, a scorched crater, and multiple bodies with broken bones and twisted necks.

The Dark Knight frowned. "Civilians?"

"Night shift dock workers. Records have them listed as employees for Roman Sionis'," Gordon explained. "We arrested the survivors for the possession and transporting of dangerous goods. They claimed they had no idea what was in the container. Their instructions were simple: Drop off the cargo. Make sure it gets shipped out. We're still getting their statements before their bails come in."

"Could've been an attack by Falcone," Batgirl suggested. "They've been pretty gung-ho since those attacks started last week."

"The other gangs were chased out of the surrounding area by Sionis' men months ago," Gordon countered. "I doubt Falcone would risk an all-out war with him, especially after his recent losses. And last time I checked, street gangs don't go around using C4 explosives." He then held up an evidence bag containing pieces of scorched cement.

Batman took the evidence bag and examined its contents. "Plastic clay. Military grade. Factory made."

"We had our explosive's expert examine the residue around the crater. It's a higher grade than what he's used to working with. He's trying to get in touch with his military contacts for more information. There's one thing he's absolutely sure of: Whatever it was, it wasn't street level material. And then, there's what it was used on." He then held out another photo to Batman. "The workers described it as some sort of android with the powers of a superhero."

Batman looked at the photo, his eyes widening as he instantly recognized the yellow-skinned humanoid within it.

"Amazo."

Nightwing and Batgirl's eyes widened. "Amazo?" Nightwing asked, incredulously. "As in, that android that's known for absorbing superpowers? The android that went toe to toe with the Justice League who knows how many times, and nearly won? That Amazo?"

"The dockyard manifest had it registered to be shipped out tomorrow morning," Gordon explained, "but one of the dock workers activated it, causing it to go on a rampage. Killed over a dozen people before it was destroyed."

"I-I'm sorry, what? What do you mean by 'destroyed'?" Batgirl asked what was on all their minds.

Gordon didn't answer; he simply started playing a video on his cellphone, and then handed it over to Batman. The two ex-sidekicks jumped down to watch the video. To say they were shocked by what they saw…would be considered an understatement.

They watched as an armored man engaged the android in single combat, and not only matched it move for move, but managed to counter and damage it. All the while, he wielded weapons they had never seen before: a massive spike-shooting gun, EMP-emitting pistols, and two honest-to-God laser swords. And when he took a hit, his armor emitted some kind of force field to absorb the blow. Finally, they watched as he perfectly maneuvered around the android, and placed a pack of explosive clay on its face…which engulfed Amazo's head and upper torso in a fantastic explosion.

The video ended with the armored figure placing more explosives on the android, destroying the android in its entirety.

Batgirl and Nightwing were absolutely shocked, whilst Batman was very, very concerned. He had witnessed the damage Amazo could cause during its fights with the Justice League. So, for this man to defeat it so easily, and single-handedly, was most definitely no small feat.

"My God! Who is this guy?" Nightwing asked.

"We interrogated the workers about what they saw. One of them said he heard about this man from one of his cohorts. Said he called him…a Spartan."

Batgirl's eyes widened. "Spartan…that's the name Elise Hemsley provided in her statement a few days ago. He's the guy who saved her from the same gunmen who killed her family."

"How much do you want to bet he's the guy who's been attacking the gangsters and crime bosses this past week?" Nightwing suggested. "I mean, some guy in fancy armor shows up the exact same time that Falcone and Black Mask's operations start taking hits? No way that's a coincidence."

"I thought the same thing," agreed Gordon. "Vigilantism is one thing; mass murder is a whole other matter. I've already issued for an arrest warrant from the City Council. I can have the entire PD out hunting for this man first thing tomorrow. We have to stop him before he kills anymore people, criminals or otherwise."

"No."

All three looked towards Batman, his face formed in a frown. "Given what we now know, he's far too dangerous for your men to handle. If you see him, keep track of his movements, but do not engage."

Gordon quirked an eyebrow. "What do you plan to do with him?"

The Dark Knight didn't respond at first; instead, he turned to face towards the crime-infested city. The city he had claimed as his territory. His home turf.

"Rest assured, Commissioner," he finally answered, "whoever this 'Spartan' is…he will regret coming to Gotham."

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And so, the Batman now knows about the Spartan. Now, he plans to do everything in his power to bring down what he sees as a new threat to Gotham.

You know, there's this quote I once heard on the popular MeTY series MASH: "You cured the symptom…but the disease is still there." And that's the problem with Batman's philosophy towards new heroes and vigilantes. He gets so focused on either controlling or neutralizing them, he forgets about the crime and terrorism that was already plaguing Gotham City under his watch.

And also, the Spartan has entered the madhouse that is Arkham Asylum; this is but part one of his search for answers about the Joker, and how he was able to evade the watchful eye of an UNSC Gen. 5 Smart AI. I will try to have the next chapter posted by tomorrow or Saturday night.

Until then, please read and review.