Greetings friends, readers, and complete strangers. Welcome to chapter 13 of our story, where we get to see what happens next with our favorite red headed hero (Well maybe not favorite...but still). I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I'll see you at the end.
Chapter 13: Oblivion
Before I could comprehend what had happened I found myself tumbling forward and quickly held onto a table for support, or else my entire body would have collapsed onto the ground. For the moment all I heard through my muffled hearing was my shallow breathing as I took a moment to stay draped over the cool metal lab table, feeling the sensations tingle over my sensitive nerves. I took in a deep breath and swallowed, cringing at the sadly familiar burning sensation in my throat, I slowly pushed myself away from the table with shaking limbs and wiped the sweat from my forehead with my clammy hand. My eyes scanned the room and almost collapsed in relief when I had realized I was back in the morgue, whatever I had done in Scarecrow's world had worked, and for once through this experience I felt as if I could relax if only for a moment.
"Amber!" I flinched from the sudden voice emitting through my earpiece that pierced through the stale air and felt my heart stop, the relief quickly vanished and guilt replaced it, spreading and consuming my body. It was Batman.
"Can you hear me? Amber! What's going on!?" The worry in his voice was clear no matter how hard it seemed he tried to hide it, I swallowed again, remembering exactly what it was that I had to confess to him. I had to tell him about Commissioner Gordon. I had to tell him he was dead. I knew telling him sooner rather than later was the best option, yet when I pressed the button and opened my mouth to say something the truth wouldn't come out, no matter how much I wanted to force it out. I was shaking, trembling, feeling as if I was ready to collapse right then and there, but I managed to keep myself up.
"Batman..." My voice was shaking, I had to tell him. Tell him, Amber. Tell him. Tell him!
"I'm fine..." Damn it, Amber...damn it. I couldn't. I just couldn't, not now. I took in a deep breath and slowly took one step at a time towards the doors of the morgue, Batman's voice continuing to ring in my ear and feed my guilt.
"What happened? I lost contact. Are you sure you're alright?" Don't you dare lie to him again...don't do it...don't...
"Yes..." I had never felt so pathetic, so little and insignificant. Why was I lying to him? Because I was ashamed of the truth, I couldn't accept my mistake.
"Have you found Commissioner Gordon yet?" I stopped just as my hand reached the door, his words repeated in my head. I was going to lie to him again, I knew it, there was nothing to stop me from this streak now.
"I...had a little run in with Professor Crane...it sort of slowed me down a little. I'll um...get back to you in a bit." I cut the connection off before he could say anything in reply to that and pushed through the doors, I made my way slowly down the hall, feeling my heartbeat increase. I knew the body was somewhere, and I'd have to look at it again, reminding me of every reason why I wasn't fit to be the hero. As I continued to walk my gaze shifted down to the floor and I saw crudely drawn arrows on the floor in a bright florescent green, supposedly pointing me in the right direction. I took in a deep breath and turned a corner but stopped in my tracks.
That wasn't right...
The body...
It wasn't Commissioner Gordon's.
I hurried over to the body, my heart about to beat out of my chest in anticipation as I glanced the figure over, it was a guard...an Arkham guard. It wasn't Commissioner Gordon...it was an illusion. I hadn't failed. There was still hope for me. I still had time. I continued to stare in shock and ran a hand through my hair, exasperated and I could feel the tears of overwhelming relief threatening to pour out and stinging in the corner of my eyes, but I held them back. Scarecrow's gas affected me way more than I thought it would, I took in a deep breath, listening to the pounding in my chest. I couldn't believe it, a weight that been crushing me was lifted from my shoulders, but I couldn't relax now. I still had to find the real Commissioner Gordon. I continued down the hall, following the arrows on the floor, my mind racing.
"Are you lost, little girl?" I looked up when I heard Joker's voice echo through the speakers and my nerves tingled at his tone.
"Having trouble figuring out what's real and what's just a figment of your twisted little mind?" How could he read my mind like that? How could he seem to know me so well?
"Same here!" He laughed and I rolled my eyes with a shake of my head, of course.
"Just roll with it, kiddo! It gets easier once you give in, it really does." I pushed through the double doors with Joker's scrawl on it and looked around, I noticed more arrows on the floor and continued to follow them.
"Alright, listen, Ambsy. No more tricks." I looked up at the ceiling again and rolled my eyes as if he could see me, the day the Joker gave up his tricks was the day he ended up dead.
"Just one last puzzle and you can have Gordon. And a little more! Oh, I can't wait!" I stomped on another pair of chattering teeth, crushing it in pieces as he cut off, what the hell did he mean a little more? I didn't want anything else from him. I walked up a few steps and turned into a small room, noticing the more detailed Joker face on the floor in front of a door, Arkham was turning more and more into a maze with every minute I spent wandering its halls. I opened the door and jumped a bit when I came face to face with Joker's face on one of the screens.
"Your precious police Commissioner is just through the glass, have a look, m'dear." I raised an eyebrow and walked down a short hallway, noticing a glass window and looked down, I was in a room higher above and below me was Harley with a gun resting against her shoulder. My eyes noticed Commissioner Gordon strapped to a chair and once again I felt my heart pound in relief. It was really him.
"Harley's under strict instructions to kill the old man if any of my guys even think you're in the room. They're patrolling down there, I've told them all you're on the way." I sighed as my shoulders slumped, well of course he did. I rubbed my temples and turned to the screen as Joker leaned forward in his chair, resting his arms on his legs.
"So here's the deal, my little bat. If you can find a way to get to Harley without anyone realizing, I'll give you your next present. Fail, and the old codger dies. Hell, I may even give you Harley, a young hero needs to start with a sidekick at some point in time." He chuckled as the screen cut off and I let out another sigh, Harley as a sidekick was not something I wanted to think about, I didn't need a voice like hers screeching in my ear the whole time.
I got down on my knees and pried open the vent cover, thinking over the mission in my head. Okay...get to Commissioner Gordon without anyone realizing I was in the room. Take down the guys in the right order and none of them would notice. Was that possible? As I threw the cover to the side and started crawling through I realized I really didn't care if it was possible or not, it needed to be done. I needed to save Commissioner Gordon. I needed to prove to Joker I wasn't to be messed with. I reached the end of the vent to find the cover already taken off and I poked my head through, noticing the guard standing a few feet away, mumbling to himself about how serious Joker was in all of this. I crouched down low and crawled up behind him and took him out silently, cutting off his circulation and guiding him into unconsciousness, I threw him down on the ground and scanned around the room. There were three more. Easy. I hurried over to the other one close by and took him down as well as Joker's voice rang through the room.
"Remember, you even smell a girl in skinny jeans and Harley kills the old man." I threw down the guy and glanced down at my skinny jeans at his comment, shaking the thought away I quickly rounded the corner, planning out how to take down the last two without them seeing the others had fallen. I headed down one small staircase and made my way up another to cross the room, ending up right behind the man and took him down as Harley's voice took Joker's place.
"This old man looks like he's gonna pee himself, someone bring me a bucket!" I scowled and let the man drop. Yeah, I'd bring her a bucket, and smack her right upside the head with it. One guy, one guy left. Screw being silent, I made a run for him, I was close. He turned around at my footsteps and as he opened his mouth to scream he met my fist as it hit him square in the face and he fell back, his gun being thrown carelessly to the side. I punched him again and stood up straight, rubbing my fist to get rid of the tingling feeling spreading through it, I glanced up at the room keeping Harley and Gordon and ran up the steps while remembering to keep my footsteps light. I stopped a few feet from the electric gate and grappled up to the glass ceiling above it, I positioned myself to make sure I had my footing and looked down at Harley skipping back and forth, swinging the gun carelessly. How would I take her down? I couldn't just drop through the glass, I huffed in annoyance and stood up straight, looking around for something to use. I looked down at my grapple and aimed it at the ceiling, making sure I had a tight hold on what it got onto. I retracted it a bit so my feet were hanging a good feet from the floor, I looked back down at Harley once more to make sure I timed it right before releasing the claw at the end and crashing through the glass. I closed my eyes as it shattered and heard Harley yelp as I collided with her and we both fell to the floor, when the commotion settled down I finally pushed myself to sit up and looked at an unconscious Harley below me. I quickly crawled off her and stood up, dusting the glass off my shirt and pants, I took in a deep breath and turned to look at Gordon, a trace of a smile on my face as relief spread through my body. I walked over to him and started untying him from the chair.
"You took longer than I thought." I shot him a look as I threw the ropes aside, he stood up and rubbed his wrists.
"So you thought I'd actually make it at all?" I asked, he turned to me and nodded, a knowing look plastered across his features. I arched an eyebrow, I didn't believe he'd actually think I'd be able to do this. Then again, if I wasn't going to have faith in myself it was encouraging to know that someone else did.
"I don't know what Joker's game here is...I think he might be trying to prove something. It's hard to tell with him, I'm not even sure I can stop him..." I trailed off as I rubbed the back of my neck, embarrassed, as I glanced down at my ruined shoes. I really wasn't sure if I could defeat him...I tried to shake the thought from the head, I didn't need that doubt clouding my mind, not now, I had already come too far to quit now.
"You'll do it. Listen, kid, he's got something else down there. I don't know what is." He informed me as we both looked out the window to a glass house type structure, I leaned in a bit to try and get a better look at what it could be.
"What a blabber mouth!" At this we both looked up to see Joker, a scowl on his once happy features, but it was more a playful look than anything.
"Spoiling the surprise." He pouted, I furrowed my brow and glared at him, my green eyes dancing with his in an intense battle.
"Shut up." I snapped in annoyance, I wanted to say more to him, I had a few choice words, but now was not the time.
"Oh, am I getting to you, Ambsy? Am I? Good!" I scowled again and started to walk off with Commissioner Gordon, I could hear Joker laughing behind me.
"You're going to love this next bit."
When Gordon and I finally made it down to the room I pushed the doors and stepped in with caution as they creaked open, Joker could have been keeping anything as a weapon, at first I could have believed it to be a bluff, but if the Commissioner seemed worry about it then it was best to take caution just in case. I could never be too sure in the situation. I waved my hand in front of me in attempt to clear some of the fog in front of my path as Gordon made his way over to the computer, typing in a few things.
"It wants Doctor Young's log in." I heard him say, but I was too focused on what was in front of me, a figure hanging from the ceiling, as I squinted through the fog it finally clicked in my head who it was.
"Oh my god..." I whispered. Not him, not him...please not him.
"Bane..." The name just barely escaped from my lips, he was hooked up with many tubes and he was suspended in the air. He looked horrible, weak as if someone had literally sucked all the energy from him, he looked so fragile that if someone touched him he'd crack into pieces. Gordon looked up at him and took a step back, the shock was evident on his face and most likely matched my own.
"I thought he broke out of Blackgate." I squinted, trying to get a better look at him, but quickly took a step back when he tried to utter a few words.
"Cut...me...down..." It sounded as if he was struggling to breathe and form sentences, I felt sorry for him, despite what I knew about him. After all he was the one to break Batman's back.
"Who did this to you?" I asked, who could have done this to him? Was it Joker? He took in a deep breath, fumbling with his words.
"Doctor Young, the bruja, she drained the venom from my blood...must stop her-" He got cut off and took in a sharp breath as he started wheezing, it must have been too painful to speak, I frowned and turned to the computer screen just as Joker flicked on.
"Sorry has-Bane. The good doctor won't be a problem much longer. How do you like my puppet, Ambsy? Lets say we cut him down." He announced leaning uncomfortably close to the camera for my liking, and when he had he held up a remote with a button, and of course he pressed it. A red light illuminated the room and my muscles tensed painfully when Gordon and I heard an alarm going off, looking around the room to see what was happening. My heart began beating faster when I noticed green liquid running through the tubes right into Bane, he started groaning as his muscles began to inhumanly expand, I stepped back with Gordon and I couldn't remember whether or not I told him to run. The ground shook as he dropped down from the suspension, my eyes widened as I pushed Gordon back to move and run if he was smart enough.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" Was all I could stutter out as a giant venom induced Bane ran straight toward me, I stumbled over my feet as he took a swing at me, I yelped and ducked quickly then stepped back as he pounded his other fist into the ground. While he was closer to the ground I took the opportunity to swing and punch him in the face, but of course it didn't seem to effect him all that much. Before I could comprehend my next move I was suddenly lifted in the air and I struggled against him, yet I didn't make it in time and I was thrown, I screamed in tune with my muscles and bones as I collided into a wall and broke through it completely. I landed on the ground with the debris around me and groaned in pain, ready to cry and break down there. I sat up slowly, feeling as if something, somewhere, I had broken something.
"Play nice ladies." I heard Joker chuckle. Then it hit me. No, Amber. Don't let him win. Show him. Show him you're not to be messed with. I stood up, ignoring the pain and locked eyes with Bane as he crawled through the hole in the wall.
No matter what it takes.
Here we go! The fight with Bane! Lets see how Amber does...next chapter! Read and Review folks while I work on the next chapter. Tootles!