A/N: Hello again, my wonderful fans! Just a reminder, for those that haven't yet, please subscribe to my YouTube channel, Sai Blade. It DOES NOT cost money to subscribe! If my channel hits 300 subs, I will start Arkham Knight immediately after this story. So, it will be the difference between getting it when this is done as opposed to December or something. And I'll also play the game on my channel as a bonus! I'm really counting on you guys here.
But for now, let's see Yang and Batman be amazing as they aim to take down the Clown Prince of Crime once again!
Batman and Yang left the abandoned GCPD building, where the spotlight of a news helicopter suddenly illuminated them. "My God. Our mystery caller was correct! It looks like Batman and Light Dragon themselves are exiting the building!" Vicki Vale's voice could be heard over the radio frequency the heroes were tuned in on.
Suddenly, an unfortunately familiar voice could be heard soon after Vale finished speaking. "Is he really? Hello, Gotham City, it's me! I'm afraid Ms. Vale will soon be leaving the airwaves!" Joker declared as an RPG was suddenly fired at the plane. "We apologize for this interruption!" Joker said mockingly as he got off the frequency.
The Newswoman's helicopter was spinning out of control "We're going down! Mayday! Mayday! If anyone can hear me, we're-" Vicki cried out, before he plane crashed down, the radio being destroyed, possibly along with the reporter herself and her pilot.
The heroes were concerned by the sudden event, but Yang was somewhat aghast at this. "Are you kidding me?! How could she not know her mystery caller was the Joker!? Even if it was, I'm pretty sure Arkham City is restricted airspace!" She snapped.
"Vicki's determined to get a story, even if she has to break some rules. Not to mention, we're close to the edge of Arkham City's airspace. The argument could be made she wasn't violating it. Regardless, we have to save her." Batman stated.
"We also have to look for Nora. We did promise." Yang reminded the Dark Knight.
"Right." Batman said, having a display of Arkham City pop up. "According to Freeze, Nora is most likely being held in this vicinity." Batman explained.
Yang looked at the area and recognized it, remembering the layout of the area, thanks to passing over it several times throughout this journey. "I know that place. There's only one building that isn't sealed off and would make for a decent spot to hide an important hostage. That one." Yang said, pointing to a building at the very edge of the industrial district.
"I tried investigating it earlier, but it was locked. If that is where she's being held, you'll need to find another way in." Batman explained.
"I'm sure I'll come up with something." Yang assured him.
"Then good luck." Batman told her.
"Same to you. I'm not the one still working off some poison." Yang said confidently as she took off, Batman shaking his head, before grappling to the roof and flying away to save Vicki Vale.
Yang quickly traversed the great distance to the Industrial District and observed the building Batman theorized that Nora was being held in. She used her goggles and noted the door was indeed locked and there were no windows or chimneys accessible to enter. As she was considering having to demolish the door she suddenly noticed that the wall on the waterfront beneath the was a structural weakness. So she fired a round from Ember Celica into that instead, shattering the wall (sorry if the following description is bad). She then dropped down onto a small barge not far from where the structural weakness, seeing a docking point for small boats and a door into the building, so she launched herself onto the docking point and entered the building.
This led Yang to an abandoned back room with an air vent she could easily climb into. She did so and followed it to the other end, leading her into a grate in the floor below the main room, where she finally discovered Nora in her cryostasis chamber, being closely guarded by two thugs admiring her frozen form, two more behind them, one in armor, a group of three a bit further back, just to the left of where Yang now sat in the grate and finally, three more near the door, one of them in armor as well. Sure, they had gun crates nearby, but no one was actively ready with a gun. This would be too easy.
Yang quickly leapt out of the grate and onto the thug closest to it, causing him to drop to the ground with her weight suddenly pressing down on him, at which point she bashed his head into the ground, knocking him out. The two thugs closest to their downed comrade each threw a punch, but she blocked them both and slammed their heads into each other, before delivering a spinning round kick that sent them both flying and took them out. Yang then launched at the two in between herself and the duo guarding Nora, delivering a punch to the unarmored one that sent him back into Nora's chamber, before she grabbed the armored thug, picking him up and throwing him at the three who were guarding the door, knocking all of them down.
She then rushed ahead at the now three thugs in front of Nora's chamber, grabbing the one she'd punched into it and pulling her fist back for a punch, but moved him to the side, firing a round from Ember Celica passed him and into the thug behind him, sending him back into a wall. The thug behind her tried to use this opening to attack, but she half-turned and kicked him in the knee, causing him to stop his assault and double over, holding his knee, before she delivered a powerful side kick to his chest as he was standing back up, sending him into a wall as well. She then dropped to one knee, pulling the thug she still held onto down with her, now laid out on the ground and in a perfect position for a ground takedown. She then stood up and fired a round from each gauntlet, hitting the two she'd knocked into the walls and knocking them out for good.
Finally, the last group at the door recovered and rushed at her, but Yang quickly changed to and used the ice rounds she received from Freeze to shoot the ground in front of the armored thugs, causing them to slip. The unarmored thugs rushed up to, but were swiftly handled and taken down before their armored allies could even get back up. Once they did, Yang fired an ice round into one of them, before rushing at the other one and peppering him with rapid-fire punches that easily left dents in his armor, before finishing him off with a solid uppercut. The last one unfroze, only to receive a similar rapid pummeling to the other armored thug, only Yang finished this one by half-circling and delivering a powerful elbow strike to the center of the thug's body, sending him flying back into a wall once more.
She sighed at this and put her hand up to her ear piece, contacting the frozen physician. "Freeze, it's Light Dragon. I found Nora, she's safe. She's in warehouse 5-B in the Falcone shipping yard. I'll have the lock on the door disabled by the time you get here." She informed him.
"Thank you, Light Dragon. I doubted you. I'm sorry." He apologized.
"Just do your best to cure her and go back to the good side. I know you can do both." She said. She then disconnected, looking at Nora. "I'm rooting for you, too. Who knows, maybe we could even be friends one day when he cracks the secret." Yang said, looking down sadly as she remembered the times she'd hung out with Nora, then all of team JNPR, the rest of her own team and finally all the other friends she made at Beacon. "One day. I'll get back to all of you. I promise." She declared, going to the door, deactivating the electronic lock with her sequencer and exiting.
As soon as she did, Batman landed beside her. "I take it Freeze's wife is safe?" He asked.
"As safe as she can be with an incurable disease and being completely frozen." She confirmed. "What about Vale? You take care of her?" Yang asked.
"She'll be fine as long as she doesn't do anything too risky." He confirmed.
"Alright. Then let's get Joker before he uses all the cure on himself." Yang said as they quickly took off together.
They soon reached the steel mill, but to their chagrin, they found that the furnace smoke stack they'd gone through the first time was now spitting out fire, so it'd be far too hot for Batman and possibly Yang. "I'm all for tanning, but even for me, that's a bit extreme." Yang said.
Batman placed an ear to his earpiece. "Oracle, we need a new route into the Steel Mill." He ordered.
"I'm assuming you want the most dangerous route possible." She guessed.
"Aww, you know us so well." Yang said teasingly.
"Well, you're in luck. The only way in is through the Heat Exchanges to the South of the building. I'll mark it on your map." She declared.
"Thank you!" Yang said happily.
The two flew around back of the building and noticed several thugs patrolling the area. "Looks like we'll have to clear out the area to get in." Batman said.
"We were beating up thugs when you were still sick and dying. This should be too easy." Yang told him.
They counted seven in total, four thugs patrolling below with automatics and two snipers, one on the roof of a building in the middle of the yard and the other on one of the towers of the steel mill. Batman grappled up to the tower as Yang leapt down onto the sniper on the building. Her weight dropping on him from ten feet plus in the air caused him to drop instantly, allowing Yang to bash his head into the ground for a takedown. As he ascended, Batman used his Grapnel boost he got shortly after saving Vicki to launch himself up and over the railing, tackling the sniper to the ground and taking him out in much the same way Yang did.
The blonde brawler then jumped down onto the elevated walkway, sneaking up on one of the thugs and silently taking him down, Batman then glided down behind another thug going up the walkway stairs and going towards Yang, landing and grabbing the thug, flipping him over his shoulder, holding him and silently knocking him out. They then looked over the rail at the three remaining thugs. One was guarding the door to the Heat Exchanges, one was circling the building the sniper had been on and one was making his way towards the stairs of the walkway they were on. Batman quickly threw a Batarang at this one, gliding down after him and knocking him out with a ground takedown. At the same time, Yang jumped down, launched herself at the patrolling thug and hit him with a powerful uppercut, knocking him out in one hit, then firing a round from both gauntlets into the thug standing guard, sending him back into a wall, knocking him out.
"So, feel good kicking butt at a hundred percent again?" Yang asked.
"It's a lot better. But a lot of people in Gotham hospitals aren't feeling that right now. We have to get the cure before Joker wastes it all on himself." Batman said as the two hurried through the door into the Heat Exchanges.
Upon entering, the two quickly crouched next to a corner as they heard a conversation happening just beyond it. The group was talking about what they believed Protocol 10 was, but it was clear they didn't know anything, so Yang rounded the corner and delivered a hammer fist to the top of the first thug's head to knock him out, then ducking down as Batman rounded the corner and flung a Batarang into heads of the remaining two thugs, knocking them down and allowing the vigilantes to knock them out with ground takedowns. The two of them then looked over the railing to see the stream of boiling water they'd have to traverse to get into the Steel Mill proper. "Well, we better hope these platforms can last a while." Yang said.
"They're large and thick. Even in boiling water, it will take a while for them to melt. If there's one thing about Freeze you can't question, it's his technology." Batman told her.
"I would've gone with the ridiculous lengths he'll go to for his wife, but sure." She said as they both made some ice platforms in the water and hopped on, riding them deeper into the building while dodging the occasional walls or giant drills in the water.
They got a small ways through the death trap of a route they'd chosen when Oracle suddenly contacted them. "I just heard from my dad. He's been summoned to City Hall. Strange is requesting that Emergency Protocol Ten is activated." She explained.
"Wait, so you mean we could've contacted Gordon to tell us what Protocol 10 is this whole time!?" Yang asked, clearly annoyed that they had an easy answer to the big mystery this whole time.
"Not really. All he knows is that it's the worst case security measure. Strange told the council that he couldn't stem the use of illegal weapons within the prison." Oracle told them the story so far.
"Weapons he provided. This was his plan all along." Batman said with a growl.
"We knew he was unstable and he'd go to huge lengths to prove he's better than you... But this? This is just crazy." Yang said in shock.
"Lesson number one, Yang. Never underestimate how crazy these guys can be or the lengths they're willing to go to." Oracle told her, before continuing. "He made it sound like the inmates are planning an escape and attack on Gotham. I'll keep you posted." She stated, before hanging up.
"Bruce... If that happens, will we really be able to stop it?" Yang asked.
"We can and will if it happens, but we're not going to let it happen in the first place." The Dark Knight said as they continued on their way.
Eventually they reached an elevated area across from a window into a room that their goggles revealed had five thugs in it, two of which were wearing body armor. Batman glided through the window, hitting the unfortunate thug standing in front of it with his back to it and knocking him down, before firing a round from his electric gun at one of the thugs in armor, sending him flying back and knocking down the other one. Batman went for a ground takedown as the two still standing unarmored thugs rushed at him, but the first one was knocked down as Yang came flying in trough the window, allowing her to turn her attention to the other one, hitting him with a few body shots and knocking him out with an uppercut, before doing a ground takedown on the guy she'd gotten with the flying kick. The two armored thugs were back up, but from there, it was just one for each of the vigilantes as they stunned the thugs, before rapidly pummeling them and finishing them with a powerful flipping axe kick to the head.
From there, the two entered the next room, where they found two of Joker's thugs interrogating one of Two-Face's goons by threatening to drop him into the boiling water below. Yang growled at this, quickly storming up behind the thugs, grabbing their heads and smashing them together to knock them out as Batman worked the machine to bring the thug over to safe land and unhooked him. He briefly considered attacking while they were off-guard, but then he realized he couldn't win one on one, so there was no way he could handle two on one, so he quickly scurried away. Batman destroyed a weakened wall, allowing them to enter the waterway once again, throwing an ice grenade and landing on the iceberg it made, travelling downstream.
Just then, they got another message from Oracle. "I've hacked into the Council CCTV. The council members are coming back. They don't look happy. They're telling Strange that they're disappointed in him, that they never thought Protocol Ten would need to be activated." She told them.
"But they gave him permission, didn't they?" Batman asked angrily.
Instead of answering, Oracle patched him into the communications. "Good evening! Protocol Ten will commence in 30 minutes. You all have specific orders for this situation: follow them." Strange ordered.
"I know there's the threat of a prison break, but I can't believe they'll let him go through with this." Yang said.
"I know what you mean, Yang. I don't like this either. Both of you be careful." She told them.
They cleared the next bit of boiling water, then got past a gate with the help of an electrified remote controlled Batarang, allowing them to continue one final bit of boiling water until they could grapple to a platform where there was a security code, which Batman cracked, lowering a drawbridge leading into the main building. They crossed the bridge, Batman using his electric gun to move a mine cart and, for good measure, explode the head of a Harley mannequin before they continued on. Suddenly, someone rounded the corner, swinging a metal pipe at them, but Batman managed to disarm the attacker. Thankfully, before any further attacks were thrown, they realized it was the doctor they'd saved much earlier. "Oh, it's you two! Oh, god, I'm sorry!" She apologized.
"No biggie, Doc. We're still good to go." Yang assured her.
"What's been happening here?" Batman asked.
"I did what you said and stayed out of sight while keeping an eye on what they were doing. They were placing things on the floor in there. I'm not sure what they were." The doctor explained.
"It sounds like Joker's trying to stop us with mines." Batman declared.
"Will it work?" The doctor asked.
"It hasn't the dozens of other times he's tried." Yang said confidently.
They entered the room and used their goggles to determine that there were eight thugs in total, seven armed and one unarmed. Batman grappled to a perch while Yang hurried to the end of the catwalk, catching a patrolling thug and silently choking him out, before looking down at the floor below her to see a group of three thugs having a conversation. She quickly threw down a smoke bomb and jumped down, quickly beating the three of them to a pulp. From his perch, Batman was able to lure a thug beneath him with a sonic Batarang, before finishing him with an inverted takedown. This, plus the noise of Yang beating up their buddies alerted the last two thugs guarding the door at the other side of the room from where they entered. Thinking quickly, Batman spotted a fire extinguisher not far in front of where they currently stood, so he flung a Batarang at the extinguisher, exploding it and creating a mist similar to a smoke bomb, allowing him to glide in, kick one of them down and knock out the second one, finishing the first with a ground takedown.
From there, they entered the assembly line, but quickly spotted the beam of a laser scope, meaning a sniper was waiting for them. Fortunately, they just grappled up to the rafters and walked over where the thug was aiming, dropping down on the other side of the room and each of them snuck into a crate moving on the assembly line, being taken through the room and all the way behind the sniper, allowing Batman to catch him with a silent takedown. From there, they grappled up to the next level of the room and were surprised to come across none other than Harley Quinn, chained to a pipe and gagged with a piece of tape. "Well, well, well. Someone finally shut you up. But for once, I actually want to hear what you have to say." Yang said, peeling the tape away. "Who did this to you?" She asked.
"Why should I tell you anything, Blondie? So you can twist the knife some more?! Well, too bad! I ain't tellin' you nothin'! Not even about that crap Joker stole from Freeze and locked up in the Boiler Room!" She snapped.
"Ooh, that sounds useful. Or at the very least, like something Joker should have. Thanks for telling us, Harley! Now just rest that angel voice of yours for a bit." Yang said, bringing the tape back up.
"Don't you dare-!" Harley tried to threaten, before Yang gagged her once again.
"We can worry about that later. For now, Joker takes top priority." Batman told Yang, to which she nodded.
The two of them then went through the Loading Bay and into the main area where Yang fought Mr. Hammer. Batman quickly grappled up to the office that housed Joker's sick bed, leaping up and grabbing the two snipers there, throwing them both out of the office for a double takedown, before he then flew and hit a thug with a gliding kick as Yang launched herself at a thug going for a gun crate, knocking him down and hitting him with a ground takedown the same time as Batman hit the other one. The Dark Knight then lunged at the last thug also trying to open a gun crate and delivering an elbow to the top of his head for a knockout.
"We can't be much further now. I'm looking forward to a long bath and a nice meal after all this." Yang groaned.
"It will be over soon, Yang. Stay strong." Batman told her. The two of them then grappled into the office and followed a number of neon green arrows through a door and into the next room.
Joker stood at the far end of the room from them, unseen by the two vigilantes, leaning against a mirror, still looking as sickly as the last time they'd seen him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some lipstick, trying to touch up his smile and make himself look better, but it DEFINITELY wasn't working. "Where is it?!" Batman demanded.
Joker smiled at this, putting away his lipstick and standing back up. "Manner cost nothing, Batman. A 'please' wouldn't go amiss." Joker told them, straightening up his tie.
"Well, we aren't too pleased about you having Harley steal the cure. So give it back, or I'll make you look worse than you did when you were sick!" Yang snapped.
"Oh, come now, Light Dragon! If you want the cure so badly, you only had to ask!" Joker declared, turning around to reveal he indeed looked better than ever, laughing evilly. "It looks like I need to teach you two some respect." Joker said, leaping down to their level.
"There's nothing you could teach either of us, Joker." Batman told him.
Joker chuckled again at this. "Come on! There's always something that can be learned! Let's start with 'Getting your ass kicked 101'." He declared, taking a boxing stance, before dancing around. "Come on! One at a time or together, I'll take you both on!" Joker declared, dancing around a bit. The two vigilantes shared a deadpanned look at each other, before they both stepped forward and threw an uppercut together, launching the clown into the air, flying roughly five feet back from them, landing roughly and raising his hands in surrender. "Please! Stop! I can't take anymore! You win! You beat me!" He cried out in mock fear.
"Wait for it..." Yang predicted.
His tone quickly changed, however. "Hang on! Did I say me? I meant me... and these guys." Joker declared as the train tracks above him came to life, a couple of roller coaster trains coming out above them and allowing two thugs to drop down into the battlefield from each train, all of them wielding knives. Joker then rolled back and launched himself back to his feet.
"Hate to be that person, but its 'These guys and I'. Ugh, I'm sounding like Weiss." Yang groaned.
Background Music: "Madhouse" by Anthrax
Batman dodged the cuts of one thug, knocking him out when he found the opening to do so, before turning to the second thug and stunning him with his cape, allowing him to rapidly pummel the thug before knocking him out. With Yang, she dodged a stab from one of the thugs, catching his arm and twisting it to make him drop the knife, allowing her to catch it and throw it handle-first into the other thug's head, stunning him as well before she delivered a knee to the thug she was currently grappling, knocking him out and allowing her to rush at the thug she hit with the knife, who recovered just in time to see her deliver a round kick to his head, knocking him out just in time, as the trains suddenly reappeared, dropping off four more thugs.
Batman moved between his thugs and Joker methodically, making sure none of them could land a hit while he wasn't paying attention and that none of them were getting less of a beating than the others, eventually knocking out the two nameless thugs. Meanwhile, Yang dealt with her two thugs with a few quick hits, when suddenly, she saw a shadow behind her and turned just in time to see Mr. Hammer dropping in with more new thugs. "Give him a hand, Blondie! He could sure use one!" Joker laughed as he pulled a thug in the way of a punch meant for him. Hammer swung his- well... hammer, at Yang, who grabbed it and pulled him in, spinning in a half-circle while twisting his arm, forcing him to let go and stagger back a ways, where he was conveniently hit by one of the roller coaster cars flying through at high speeds.
Yang was shocked at this. "Jeez! You guys work for him? This room alone has at least a dozen working hazards!" She said.
"Yeah, but being against him has even more hazards!" one of the thugs said as he rushed Yang with several of his friends, only to be knocked down with a hammer fist to the top of the head. Yang then fired a round from her right gauntlet, causing her to do a 360 with her right arm out, knocking two more thugs down and out, hitting another one with an uppercut, then delivering a spinning rear kick to the last thug attacking her, doubling him over and knocking the wind out of him firing a round from her left gauntlet and making her do a 180 and deliver a right round kick to his head, knocking him out.
Batman was being attacked by several thugs at once, but then noticed that the rollercoaster car was coming again, so he simply vaulted over one thug and allowed roughly half the thugs that were attacking him to be run over and knocked out, making it much easier for him to transition between them, delivering a few hits, countering the attacks of one or two and then moving on to the next one. Eventually, it only took one strong hit to knock out each of them one after another, causing them to fall like dominos. One final handful appeared along with a Titan.
Most of the thugs and even Joker this time went for Yang as, for some reason, the Titan seemed to know to target Batman. So it rushed for the Dark Knight, charging viciously at him, then blindly after he hit it in the face with a Batarang, causing it to crash into a wall and stun itself, before he hit it with a rapid combo of attacks, before leaping onto its back and getting minor control over the beast. "Yang, get down!" Batman warned her. Yang, for her part, was dismantling the crowd with relative ease, delivering an uppercut to one that launched both of them into the air, before she spun and delivered a round kick to two more of them to the ground.
She then blasted the Joker back with a round from Ember Celica, then hitting one with a rear kick that sent two of them flying away. She then heard Batman's warning. "Huh?" She asked, turning to see Batman and the Titan charging towards them. "Whoa!" She said, rolling out of the way as the Titan bowled over several more thugs, leaving only a small handful plus Joker left. Batman steered the Titan towards them, having it knock them all out with its wide swinging arms. With all the thugs taken down, Yang rushed up behind the Titan and stomped on the back of its leg, bringing it to one knee, allowing Batman to jump in the air and twist to be facing the beast, before coming back down with several flips and slamming both fists down on its head to knock him out. Joker attempted one final attack, but Yang reeled him in with her grapnel gun, clotheslining him, then bringing her elbow down on his chest, sending him to the floor and bringing him down.
End Music
Joker slowly got back up after his second beating of the night, chuckling back at them. "What are you waiting for?" He asked.
Suddenly, they all looked up as they heard rumbling from above, looking on in shock as the roof began to collapse on them, forcing the heroes to roll out of the way of the falling debris. But it wasn't enough to escape, as more debris soon collapsed on them. Thanks to their aura, they weren't completely crushed, but it was completely gone now, so they had no access to their semblances for an easy escape. Joker simply rolled with his good luck, getting up and pulling out a knife as he approached them, pinning down Batman's free arm. "Any last requests? How about a joke?" The clown prince of crime asked as he readied the knife to slit their throats.
"How about a trade? Take me in their place." Talia declared as she suddenly came out of nowhere.
"I'll handle the jokes around here!" Joker declared.
"Talia, what are you doing?!" Batman demanded.
"Whatever she's doing, I say let her. It can't be any worse than what's happening now." Yang told him.
Talia stepped forward proudly. "I represent the great Ra's Al Ghul, Head of the Demon, master of the League of Assassins."
"Well bully for you." Joker said uncaringly.
"Free Batman and Light Dragon, then we will give you the secret to immortality." Talia offered.
Joker appeared interested in this, which left Batman concerned. "Don't do it, Talia! He'll be unstoppable!" Bruce warned.
"Batman! He might have thought she was bluffing!" Yang whisper-yelled at him.
"What?! You mean she's telling the truth?!" Joker asked, turning back to the Dark Knight. [1]
Talia removed the sword from her belt and held it out in offering to Joker, who slowly approached. "Immortal..." He pondered the possibility.
"Do we have a deal?" Talia asked.
Joker put away the knife and accepted the sword. "No!" Batman cried out.
"Joker! Talia! You're both going to regret this!" Yang snapped.
"Oh, shut up!" Joker snapped, kicking Batman in the head, dazing him. He then turned to Talia and bowed, holding his arms in the direction they were going. "After you, my dear." He told her.
Talia walked up to Batman. "We offered you this chance, Batman. And Light Dragon, you could have had a place among us as well. Now follow your hearts." She told them, placing a hand over her own to reveal the tracker Yang had placed on the one assassin.
Batman soon passed out from the last kick to the head. "No! Bats, come on! We can't give up yet! We've gotta get him! We've got... We've got to..." Yang said, the last of her strength leaving her and she soon passed out as well.
A/N: Oh, boy! Things are getting really intense now! How will our heroes get free!? And more importantly, how will they stop Joker from becoming immortal!? You'll just have to wait and find out!
Also, sorry if I'm asking a bit much at this point, but I'm issuing my challenge once again to anyone who is willing: write a story where any other member of RWBY or JNPR somehow finds themselves in Arkham and must fight alongside Batman to restore peace. Heck, it could even be a full-fledged Huntsman like Qrow, or anyone else you want to do. The choice is entirely yours, but I know many of you out there could come up with something amazing!
[1] Yeah, REAL smart there, Batman...