Here's another chapter guys! These things are comin up fast because they're just so fun to write! Hope you guys enjoy!
Chapter 4: Problems
I paced slightly, not really paying attention to whatever was going on around me. We were all trapped in here unless I found a way out for them, but how? Finally, as if an answer from a god, I spotted something. I immediately stopped pacing and turned my full attention on it, it was a vent. Taking slow steps towards it thoughts rushed through my head. It looked big enough for me to fit through, and who knew where it lead. It was a shot in the dark and I had to take it. With a encouraging smile to myself I got down on my knees and dug my fingers into the vent, straining to pry it open. With a little more strength than I wanted to use or even had, I finally felt it budge, and soon I had it open and threw the cover to the side. Breathing to gain energy I lost, I smiled once more.
"Harley thinks she has me trapped in here. I never did think she was very bright." I told myself, memories flashing back to watching the animated series in the morning with Harley and her...'unique' antics. I poked my head in and looked around, there wasn't much light in the vents but enough that I could see.
"I wish there was another option...". Obviously there wasn't, the smelly, dark, cramped vent was definitely the way to go. After taking in a deep breath I crawled in and followed the path of the vent, unaware of where it was taking me.
"Amber, I'm patching you in to the guards radio feed." I heard Batman tell me, I nodded even though I knew he couldn't see me. Then I heard voices through my earpiece.
"Steve, more Blackgate prisoners! By the boiler!" I heard a man speak, I assumed it was a guard as I kept crawling, but I slowed down so I could focus on listening.
"Who's that behind them?" Another voice asked, at this I stopped, eager and a bit worried to hear his answer. "Oh my god...it's Joker! He's free? How'd he break out?" He continued, obviously shocked, I forced myself to keep crawling; no matter how worried I was becoming. That was all I heard of the guards before Batman's voice came back on.
"The feed is down, that's all I could get. Comms are up and down. It's not good, but I'll keep trying." He told me, his voice went silent after that, I mentally tried to calm myself as I continued on. After about a long minute of crawling I finally came across an opening. I managed to see through it and saw no one was there, so I got on my back and kicked at the vent, trying to get it open. With one last forceful kick and a grunt, the cover flew off into the room below and landed with a clank when it hit the bottom. I congratulated myself mentally and got back in the position on my knees then I poked my head out and looked down.
"Whoa...that's quite a ways down..." I told myself, but as much as I hated it, I knew I had to suck it up. I took in a deep breath to reassure myself as I turned around and got down on my stomach, then pushed myself out slowly and cautiously so I was hanging onto the opening of the vent and dangling down from it. Once I was sure I was a bit closer to the ground then I was before, I let go and landed hard on my feet, this caused a tingle to go through my body. I shook off the feeling quickly and took in my surroundings, it was another hallway. But this time it didn't bother me, I was just glad I found a way out of that room. I straightened my shirt and made my way down the hall, only taking about a minute to reach the turn at the end. This time I was surprised at what I saw when I turned the corner, there was a guard who was outside a glass window looking in, and I thought I heard him mumble 'Damnit, they're trapped in there'. To see what he meant I walk up by his side and turned to look in the glass window, inside I saw more guards, trapped inside with a green gas floating around.
"Warning: Decontamination Room. Toxins detected." The robot woman spoke, at this I glanced around the room slowly, then looked at the guard, then out the window. "Warning: Decontamination Room. Area sealed." It spoke again, and at this a metal wall came up and covered the glass window, causing the guard to panic even more, he even put his hands on the metal plate, seeming as if he desperatly wanted to get in there.
"What is that stuff?" He finally asked me, obviously frightened, my eyebrows lowered and I frowned, having a good idea of what exactly that stuff could be.
"Joker Toxin. Listen. The room is full of poison gas. Anyone caught in there is dead." I explained to him, not trying to brag, but I knew all of Joker's tricks. Even though the game's Joker wasn't anything like the animated one, that didn't mean Joker would change his choice of 'toys'.
"Are you going to get in there and help them?" He asked me almost sternly, worry also mixed in with his voice. I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned, sinking into one side of my hip and giving him a look saying 'did you really just ask me that?'
"Naw, I'm just gonna sit back for tea and scones." I replied more stern than I wanted to be, sarcasm drowning my voice, he frowned at this. I rolled my eyes and released my arms, trying to get back into my alert state. Once I had I scanned the room for a way in there, walking away from the guard a bit. I so happened to look up and see a ledge high up I'd be able to grapple to, I took out my device and aimed it up. Once I had zipped up, pulled myself up onto the ledge, and was firmly back on my feet I spotted another vent and couldn't help but smile at my luck.
"Bingo." I got on my knees and once again used more strength than I thought I had to open the vent, once I finally got it off I carelessly tossed it to the side and crawled to get through, I knew those guards didn't have much time. I hastily made it to the end of the 'tunnel' and tried to use as less time as I could to kick the vent open. When I finally did the opening flew off once more and I wasted no time worrying about how far the drop was, I just pushed myself out and landed in a crouched position. I stood back up straight and shook off the feeling again, then ran over to a guard who was holding on for dear life to the edge. I grabbed his arm and helped pull him up to safety with a bit of struggle, reassuring him as I did.
"You're going to be fine. Just stay here." I told him, gently patting him on the back before I stood back up straight. I spotted another ledge, then gulped when I spotted the distance in between it. I walked back to get more distance then turned back around in front of me, with a deep breath for encouragement I ran froward and jumped. I squealed when I caught hold of the ledge and dangled from it, desperately trying to pull myself up. My feet scrapped and slipped against the wall as I tried to pull up. When I finally did I stood back on my feet and breathed in relief, looking back down at where I would be if I had fallen. I sighed in relief again and turned back around, spotting another guard standing not far from me. I frowned in disappointment when I realized he could of helped pull me up but chose not to. He caught sight of me and then looked back up to another level where a guard was hanging, terrified.
"That kid we heard about is here! Just hold on a little longer Steve!" He called to his friend, at this I frowned, perfect. Now I would be known around Arkham as 'That kid we heard about'.
"I can't! I'm gonna fall!" The guard replied with, at this I took out my grappling hook quickly and zipped up there, pulling myself up on my feet. I was surprisingly getting kind of used to the zipping up stuff. Coming out of my thoughts, I quickly ran over to the guard and helped to pull him up to safety, trying to calm him down.
"I'm going after the psycho who did this." I told him sternly, it was hard for me to believe that Joker was actually starting to piss me off with this crap.
"Kid! The extraction system! Steve was trying to get to the control panel at the end of the room!" I heard the guard below inform me in a shout, I glanced down at him and nodded, but that's when I spotted someone else stuck. It was a Blackgate prisoner, I stood there for a few moments determining weather or not I should save the guy. Then it occurred to me, if I was supposedly some sort of a hero, then I wouldn't leave anyone to die...it was a common hero thing. I groaned and ran forward, then jumped down to the ledge he was dangling from, landing unsteadily. I stood up with wobbly legs and made my way over to him.
"I can't believe she left me here! That son of a-." I didn't let him finish as I helped pull him up, then, I punched him the head, knocking him out. No way was I gonna let him stay conscious, I rubbed my fist and glanced around the room, catching sight of the extractor control point. Letting out a 'hmm' I pulled out a batarang and looked between the two, thinking over the options.
"With a good aim I should be to power it up. My aim is kinda crappy though...oh well, not really any other choice." I told myself with a nonchalant shrug, thinking it over in my head one more time I aimed the batarang then let it loose in a throw. It flew through the air and crashed right into the panel, causing it to spark a bit. I couldn't help but smile when I saw the gas being sucked out of the room and the familiar voice coming back on.
"Attention. Air purity is now at normal levels." The woman spoke, I sighed in relief and walked over to the ledge then jumped off and landed on the actual ground, this time it wasn't really a far way down. I thanked whatever God I believed in that my aim was working with me, or maybe luck was just on my side this time.
"Go kid! You rock! Joker doesn't stand a chance!" I heard a guard shout in praise, I stopped walking, shocked. Did someone really just say that? I smiled widely, that was the confidence boost I needed. I ended up coming back to the hallway where I saw that paniced guard who was not so paniced anymore. He spotted me and gave a nod of his head in approval. "I saw what you did in there kid. You did good." He complimented, I smiled softly and nodded in thanks, people were surprsingly starting to see I was there to help. Then with that being done I walked back into the decontamination room and headed across the room to the door at the end. When I reached it the door slid open for me as usual, when I walked through, the first thing I noticed was 'Haha!' written on one of the walls. I immediately went stiff, my expression went blank, and I stopped in my tracks, knowing 'he' wasn't far.
"What are you waiting for? I'm so close you can almost taste me." I heard Joker's voice echo through the speakers, I looked up and around for the source of the voice, my expression twisted in a 'dude you have problems' look.
"You have a very dirty mind." I stated, of course he didn't reply, and I didn't expect him to. I walked in a bit more while trying to come back to my senses and spotted the arrows drawn on the floor.
"Well that's not obvious." I stated to myself sarcastically as I started following them, it's not like I had any other choice. I continued to follow the arrows on the ground and passed by a self portrait of Quincy Sharp, I tilted my head to observe it and giggled slightly when I thought he looked better that way. I shrugged it off and kept following the arrows but stopped when I realized the arrows weren't on the ground anymore. Confused, I scanned the ground in front of me to see a crudely painted smiley face on the ground instead. Then my gaze shifted up to the door at the end of the hallway and on that I saw an evil looking smile painted on it. It was defiantly possible Joker could of been behind it. I walked over to it cautiously and braced myself for whatever was on the other side. I stopped in front of it with a shaky sigh and waited for the locks to flick open. When the doors finally slid open I walked in and looked up to see Joker standing up on a safe that was dangling from the ceiling by chains, he smiled maliciously and walked forward, placing his hands on his hips.
"What took you so long?" He asked, leaning forward slightly with a chuckle, I frowned at this and walked a bit more into the room. "Traffic." Was all I replied with as I quickly took out a batarang and threw it at him. It zipped through the air with good speed but he still managed to duck and avoid it. It clanked against the chain he was standing infront of and fell to the ground. I honestly didn't think that would work but it really didn't hurt to try.
"Face it clown, there's no escape. You know I'll find you." I warned him, determination drowning my voice, it almost sounded like I could be a threat. I don't know where I was getting this sudden burst of courage from.
"I'm counting on it!" He told me, leaning forward and holding up his pointer finger. "Just not yet." He added on wagging it slightly, with that being said he stomped on the safe he was standing on and the gears turned, making the door to it open. Inside was...well...something I couldn't even describe.
"Oooh, he's a big one." Joker stated as my eyes widened and I took a step back, the thing jumped from the safe with a grunt and landed on the ground causing vibrations to be sent through.
"Are you kidding me? I'm no Batman!" I shouted, this time it was directed to the Joker when I shouted it. He just laughed madly. "I know! That's what makes it even more fun to watch!" He replied, continuing to laugh more. I looked back at the monster who was staring right at me. The thing was fricken huge! Remember that burst of courage I said I had? Well it was long gone now. The thing moved a bit causing me to stumble back tripping slightly, but it wasn't moving towards me, it was picking something up. Before I knew it the thing sent something hurdling through the air. My eyes widened as I saw a dead body flying through the air right at me. "Shit!" I cursed, jumping out of the way, barely avoiding it. I grunted when I collided with the ground on my stomach and quickly scrambled back onto my feet, my eyes locking on the creature again. This time it roared and scraped it's feet against the ground, then charged for me. I yelped and jumped out of the way just in time again, once again landing on my stomach. I rolled my eyes and groaned as I got back on my feet again, I reached for a batarang and threw it at the creature, thinking it was finally time to attack it. The batarang did it's regular flying through the air and when it collided with the creature it only effected it slightly. The monster stumbled back somewhat but briskly regained it's balance. I reluctantly caught the batarang as it came back to me and tried to muster up whatever courage I had left to really fight this thing. Joker's laugh mixed in with the creature's roar, both which clogged my ears as I forced myself to try and concentrate. How to defeat this thing? That was my question that desperatly needed an answer. The monster revved itself up once more and charged at me again, my feet moved a bit quicker this time as I jumped out of the way rolling on the ground and fleetly standing back up. The thing crashed into the wall causing it to crumble slightly, the monster, now looking dizzy began to swing randomly. I took this as my chance to get a few more hits in before it realized what it was doing. I took out a batarang and threw it at it, every time the weapon came back to me, I would just keep throwing it repeatedly. When the creature began to look like it was about to pass out I stopped and jammed the bat weapon back into the belt. The monster held it's head and spun around before finally collapsing and slamming on the ground on it's back. I looked up at Joker a bit questionably as he started to speak again.
"Well, that was unexpected, wasn't it?" He asked me, but some strange feeling told me it was a rhetorical question. "Oh well," He continued, but then he rubbed his temples and shook his head in disappointment. "Note to self, need stronger test subjects." At this he looked up with a smile and began to walk forward again. "Seeing as how I'm feeling generous today. I'll give you this one for free." He told me, stopping and spreading his arms out wide.
"Knock me off! I dare you! End this, pull the plug, stop me once and for all!" He shouted, I growled slightly and took out a batarang, but stopped in mid motion to throw. I could literally hear Batman's voice in my head telling me not to do it. He was like a really annoying Yoda. Cringing in anger, I huffed and put the batarang away not saying a word. At this Joker laughed loudly, bending over and placing his hands on his legs briefly to catch his breath.
"It's so funny how you're so much like him Ambsy. Too predictable." He told me, I knew he was referring to Batman when he said 'him'. Before I knew it the safe he was standing on began to move back which made part of me want to run after it, but I restrained myself.
"Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have a party to organize. I've got guests flying in from all over Arkham! You'll see." He told me, his laugh echoing through the room before the shutting doors slammed shut and closed off the sounds. I knew there wasn't really anyway I could chase after him now. I let out a frustrated sigh and shook my head, speaking to myself in a low tone.
"You had the chance...you had it. And now you'll regret it." I scolded myself, glancing around the room I was now alone in.
"Ahh, my head." A voice groaned, at this I perked up, maybe not so alone. I turned to see a guard in a metal looking chamber...thing. He spotted me and gestured for me to get inside.
"Quick! Get in here before more of them come." He told me, with this he made the laser entrance shut off so I could get in. I looked at him questionably for a few moments before finally taking my time to get in. I walked up the guard and nodded in thanks, he nodded back and began speaking again.
"They came out of nowhere. I dragged Jerry in here, powered up the gate. Must have passed out." He explained to me, I nodded in understandment and glanced around slightly, then my gaze landed on the doors to where Joker went. I quickly focused back on the guard at this.
"Joker went through that door. What's on the other side?" I asked him, it was best I knew now what I was up against before I went after him.
"We call it Extreme Isolation. Only way in is via the transport system." He told me, I nodded slowly in thought, then after a few quick moments I looked back up at him.
"Could you open it for me?" I asked, trying to stay patient with this guy, he nodded.
"Not a problem, I'll just need to call another cell." He replied, I nodded again as the guard walked over to the computer and tried to type something in.
"Okay...wait...something's wrong here. The main security loop is locked." He told me, confused. I raised an eyebrow and walked over by his side, just in time to see a familiar face come on screen.
"Having a little trouble up there?" Joker asked, my eyebrows lowered at this and I frowned angrily. "Joker." I stated, he chuckled a bit. "You were expecting maybe Two-face?" He asked jokingly, I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Haven't I dealt with you enough?" I asked, leaning into one hip, he laughed at this. "Not yet Ambsy." He told me, getting out whatever laugh he had in him left.
"Just give up already. You know there's no escape Joker." I told him, at this he shook his head.
"Silly girl! I don't want to escape I'm having way too much fun! I even have you here keep a smile on my face." He told me, pointing to the ends of his mouth indicating a smile, I smirked.
"Oh yeah? Well not for long." Was my reply, at this he titled his head in fake confusion. "Really? We'll see. Ta ta." He said with a wave, and just as he was about to walk off he stopped and looked back at the camera getting a little too close for my liking.
"Oh I forgot to say!" He told me, then he adjusted the camera so I could see a computer screen as he spoke. "Just in case you were planning on following me, I've arranged a little insurance. Gordon is on his way to Harley as we speak." He explained to me, at this I saw Gordon being knocked out, by a familiar looking guard.
"Officer Boles!" I stated in disbelief as my eyes widened, remembering the guard when we first came in. He seemed like he hated the Joker, ironic how they were working with each other now. The Joker let out a laugh of enjoyment as he turned back to the camera.
"If I see you trying to follow me, he dies. Harley is looking forward to it. Maybe I'll film it and post it on the Internet!" He told me, at this I rolled my eyes and mumbled to myself sarcastically.
"Yeah, post it on Youtube, I'm sure people would 'love' seeing commissioner Gordon dying." The last thing I heard before the screen going black was Joker's laugh. I sighed and held my head, gently rubbing my temples.
"This hero thing sure ain't easy."
Woohoo! Another chapter finished! I hope you all enjoyed it! Next chapter coming shortly!