Here we are everyone, chapter 14! I hope you all enjoy, we'll see where this leads. Have fun ladies and gents.
Chapter 14: Bane
Focus Amber.
Focus.
As I managed to pull myself out of my inner thoughts my brain registered Bane charging towards me, I inhaled a sharp breath and swiftly pulled out a batarang, launching the sharp weapon in his direction. Before he could smash into me, I tumbled out of his way and was hasty to regain my footing as he released a sound that emitted similar to a roar. My heart was hammering harshly in my chest as he slammed into the wall and shook the entire ground, I charged at him in a petty attempt to attack him, my fists screaming in pain with every hit yet I refused to stop.
"Well I'm not sure who to root for, Bane or my little Ambsy." I heard Joker reverberate through both the speakers and my ears, yet I blocked him out and clambered up onto Bane's back, resting briefly on his shoulders while contemplating over which tube to pull out from the others protruding from him. I concluded that it didn't matter what I pulled and yanked a few from their slots, he grunted in pain and grabbed me, easily throwing me off. I yelped and flailed as I soared through the air and landed on the ground, denying the crack that broke through the room. I breathed sharply, feeling a pain emitting through my chest, but I stood up none the less. Just as I had gotten back on my feet Bane slammed his fist down on the ground which caused the it to quake again and I stumbled back, almost losing my footing again.
"I went through all this trouble, and that's the best you've got, Bane!? Come on! Break a few more of her bones!" This made me question if I had already broken something throughout this experience, then again, if I had, I wouldn't be moving. Bane turned in my direction and took a threatening step forward, but surprisingly I didn't falter.
"I will destroy you, Niña." There was no hesitation for me as I bolted towards him, he charged at me as well and threw his enormous fist at me, I jumped over it and kicked him in the face, it must have caught him off guard as he stumbled back and crashed into the wall, causing it to crumble and crack lightly. As he stumbled a safe distance from me, I jumped back up onto his back and harshly yanked another few tubes from him, yet before he could snatch me to throw me off I stumbled back down to the ground and took out the explosive gel, stealthily smearing some on his back. Just as he turned around I pressed the button to detonate it and he exclaimed in pain, tumbling forward, I stepped back as he collapsed onto the ground and had just missed crushing me. I inhaled deeply and sighed in relief, running a shaking hand through my hair I scanned Bane over, hardly believing that I had just taken him down. I took a mental note to remember the explosive gel tactic, incase I would need to do it again.
As I turned to walk back through where I had come from, I was stopped when I felt the ground rumble and before I could turn around I felt Bane's strong grip on my ankle, I gasped as he pulled me up and tossed me through the air. Things seemed to go in slow motion at that point, if I hit the wall that was it, I would either pass out or die from the impact. I was dead either way unless I had thought of something. While tumbling through the air my thoughts immediately went into double time as I fumbled for the grapple out of my belt and shot it at the ceiling. As I felt it catch it slowed my momentum down and my feet caught against the wall, I ran along it for a brief moment before pushing off and swinging back towards Bane. My feet collided with his face and he stumbled back, I then let go of the grapple and landed on Bane's shoulders, yanking out the last few tubes on his back and hearing the hiss emit from it. I jumped off and rolled along the dirt as Bane collapsed onto the ground once more in an exhausted mess, I looked over at him as the ceiling began to collapse on top of us both. I noticed that the whole thing began to crumble and quickly looked for an escape route, I swiped up my grapple from the ground and headed to an open window, climbing out just as the whole thing caved in. The moment I had reached the ground above, I collapsed to my knees and held my arm with an exasperated sigh, god, everything hurt so badly.
"Kid, you okay?" It took a solid few seconds for me to register that it had been the commissioner that was calling to me, just as I had looked up I felt his hand around my arm, helping me stand. My footing had been weak as I almost fell forward if it hadn't been for him supporting me, I let out a hiss of pain and leaned against him for support.
"God, you can hardly stand." He observed, I shook my head to reassure him I was fine, but I hadn't been sure who it was I had been attempting to convince, myself or Gordon. I stepped back from him and used the rest of my strength to regain my footing and stay standing on my own.
"I'm fine, really, but I'm not a kid. Where did Harley go?" Most likely gone, I could have already predicted the answer.
"Gone." Damn it.
"Must have gotten loose while Bane was throwing you around." I couldn't help but scoff lightly and roll my eyes, sure, wasn't that the understatement of the year? I glanced back up at him and sighed, rolling my shoulders and feeling the somewhat relieving crack from them as they snapped back into a comfortable position.
"Look, Commissioner Gordon, I think we need to get you off this island. Especially with Harley still running around being a nut, and the Joker...well, that one's self explanatory." I explained, trailing off on the end, what really was there to say about the Joker? I shook my head to get him out of my thoughts, he was the last thing I needed to think about at the moment.
"I'm not a rookie, I can handle myself. If anyone shouldn't be here, it should be you." I wasn't sure what sparked in me, maybe it had been the lack of sleep, the weight and stress of the night, or my body going haywire way past the capacity of overdrive, but no matter what caused it my sarcasm still clicked in to my response.
"Right, but out of the two of us, who had to save who?" This seemed to take him by surprise, maybe at the disrespect or at the fact I was right. He frowned, a sort of scowl spreading across his features.
"Don't get too arrogant, kid, you're not out of this asylum yet." I crossed my arms and shrugged a bit, for most of the night I had almost forgotten that I had only been a teen and still had a hinted attitude of one.
"I think I'm doing just fine so far, I took care of Bane, didn't I?" Before I could comprehend what had happened and at the same time eat my words, both Commissioner Gordon and I were thrown off our feet by the force of the wall next to us breaking as Bane plowed his way through.
Shit. Karma, you're a heartless bitch.
I groaned and coughed lightly as I rolled onto my back to look up at him, just as I had he growled and picked me up by my shoulders, I groaned and gasped as I kicked out at him and struggled against his iron grip. He lifted me and tightened his hold as I furiously pressed the buttons on my belts, desperately trying to find anything to help.
"I will break you, Amber! Then the bruja!" As this I heard something in the distance, the rumbling of a car engine, but not just any car. I quickly looked up and could just make out the headlights rapidly advancing on us, I couldn't help but gasp in relief and slight disbelief.
"Not this time, Bane." At this I kicked off his chest and flipped back as he turned, I landed on my feet for a brief moment only to trip to the ground just as the Batmobile crashed into him and they both fell back into the water. I managed to catch my breath at everything that had happened as I scrambled to stand, I couldn't believe it, that was the luckiest I had ever been. I had no idea that button activated the Batmobile, and I hadn't done a backflip in years. When the water calmed down Commissioner Gordon and I walked over to the edge and looked down, we exchanged a look before focusing back at the spot and I sighed.
"Batman's gonna be pissed."
After we called a police boat for Gordon I stood there waiting with him, we were both silent as he patched up anything he could with a first aid kit we had found back in the Medical Center. I winced every now and again when his fingers brushed against something tender, every time I had the pain in my chest became prominent again, we had sadly come to the conclusion that I had bruised one of my ribs. Unfortunate, but not surprising. I had managed to get in touch with Batman as well to tell him the status of what had happened and everything that had involved Bane and Dr. Young, excluding the part with the Batmobile.
"You've got nerve, Rath. I can't tell if you're determined, or crazy." I looked up as he spoke and broke the silence, shrugging sheepishly at his statement.
"Maybe a little of both." I told him truthfully while glancing at him as I rubbed the back of my neck, he shook his head, a trace of a smile on his lips.
"Hm, I sort of believe that." I wasn't sure if I should have taken his response as a compliment or an insult, either way I didn't respond to him as the police boat pulled up to take him back to Gotham and to a safe place so that I didn't have to worry about his safety anymore. It had been hard enough to just keep myself alive, and I had already experienced what it had felt like to fail another's life already, and I didn't plan on returning to the feeling. He just seemed to stare at the boat, hesitating as one of the guards gestured him aboard, he ignored them as he turned back to me, our eyes locking as I shot him a questionable look.
"Well...?" I asked, nodding to the boat, yet a part of me knew that the Commissioner was ready with some rant about how he was more capable to defend the island than I had been.
"I don't like leaving you here." My thoughts came to a hault at his response, and a cold chill coursed through my body, that had been surprising. I calmly took a breath and adjusted my position, unsure of what I was attempting to present to him.
"Gotham needs you, Commissioner, I'm pretty sure that's where you should be." His stare hardened as he examined me over, yet his expression was difficult to read.
"You might die tonight, you do know that right?" My expression softened at the sound of his obvious concern and all I could do was nod at first. That thought had crossed my mind countless times within just this one night, I was more than aware that at any moment my life could be taken from me. Yet people like Batman and the Commissioner put their lives on the line practically every day, and I wasn't going to falter away because of my difference in size, age, or gender.
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see." I told him, he gave a curt nod and stepped onto the boat as he looked to the armed guard.
"We're ready to go now, sir." He told Gordon, who gave another nod and turned back to me once more as he raised an eyebrow in question.
"Bane called Dr. Young, bruja. What does it mean?" I shrugged and turned to walk off as the boat began to drift away, replying with what I knew.
"It's Spanish." As I turned to leave my brain went back to the Spanish class I had been taking at the beginning of the school year and it registered as to what it was. It was Spanish for witch. I glanced over my shoulder to see the police boat vanish from sight. There had been a moment of silence before my earpiece buzzed back to life and I heard Batman through, a comforting voice for the moment.
"Amber, I'm having Oracle go through the city's computers, she'll pull up anything she can find on Dr. Young. We'll go through anything she finds once you get to the cave." I seized walking when his words hit my ear and I had been struck with utter confusion, the cave? He couldn't be serious.
"Wait, wait, wait. A...Batcave? You're joking, right?" The awkward silence that hung between the air had answered that he was indeed not joking, there was actually a Batcave in Arkham Asylum. This I needed an explanation for.
"I built it years ago, it's best to plan ahead for situations like this." I slowly began walking again, figuring that made enough sense for me.
"And...no one found out? How'd you manage that?"
"It's me, you should know this by now." I smiled lightly, he was right, he was Batman. That was really all I needed to know as I continued forth, thinking over the previous events that happened within at least the last hour.
"So, what is Dr. Young trying to do?" I asked him, wanting to continue the conversation so it felt, as if just for a moment, that someone had been walking by my side.
"By what you told me, I believe Dr. Young has been experimenting with Venom, the same chemical that turns Bane into that animal." I nodded and stopped moving forward, working into a pace as I realized I wasn't sure where I had been going next.
"Yeah...I knew that." I shrugged a bit, attempting to feel a least somewhat on the same level as him, even though that would most likely never happen.
"That sounds like I should be worried though, if Joker gets his hands on that stuff..." I trailed off.
"It won't be pretty." That was certainly one way of putting it, I stopped pacing and took in a deep breath, attempting to ignore the shot of pain that vibrated through my bruised ribs, another thing I failed to inform Batman about.
"Head to Dead Man's point in Arkham North, I've marked it on your map. We'll discuss more with Oracle once you get there." I pulled out the glasses from a pouch of the belt and placed them back on, observing the map as it appeared in my vision, the glowing mark indicating where it was I needed to go. I began walking again while adjusting the earpiece to update Batman on the my status.
"I'm on my way there now." I informed him, cutting off the communication as nothing else needed to be said, I took in a deep breath and made my way across the island, following the glowing spot indicating Dead Man's Point, whatever that had been. After a few silent minutes of walking and inner thinking, I had made it to the Intensive Treatment and walked to the gate that was placed to the left of it. I gave it a sharp yank only to realize, what I had already guessed, that it had been locked. I groaned inwardly and clambered over it, almost tripping while landing on the ground on the other side of it. My legs shook weakly before solidifying back with the strength I had been conjuring from an unknown source. I grappled up a few stone walls as the scene around me began to change to a more cave like surrounding, and it came to mind that this Dead Man's Point possibly could have been some sort of cliff. I grappled up one last edge before coming up to a few steps, I walked up to the mouth of the cave to the edge of the cliff, it had began to rain gently, the drops beginning to dampen my already tangled and rain drenched hair.
From the cliff, I could see the night skyline of Gotham city and for a moment I had been awestruck. Taking my glasses off for a moment to get a better look, I attempted to take in what was in front of me. It was beautiful, the twinkling lights sparkled in the night through the fog yet the sky above had been clear enough to see the stars. The full moon pierced through the fog and clouds and the whole scene for a moment seemed unreal. Once again I had seen my childhood appear in front of me, it had all been similar to some surreal dream. As much as I had like to not wake up, another part of me knew I had to and that it was dangerous to stay, and the only way it seemed that I could wake up from it was to beat the game. Shaking my head to break away from the imagery, I put my glasses back on to pinpoint where the cave had been located, and my heart skipped a small beat when the directions had told me it was down below. I inched towards the edge and glanced over at the spiked rocks and water below, swallowing the dryness in my throat as I stepped back and calculated how I was going to get down there. I took out the grapple and scanned the sturdy structures of rock, determining which one I should hook on to. I shot it out and pulled on it once it hooked to make sure it had been stable. Taking in a deep breath I ran and jumped off, letting my body relax and the rope tighten, I swung my momentum to the left, following the dot on my map. My eyes quickly caught on to the opening of the cave and I directed my body towards it, releasing the grapple once my feet had safely touched the ground. I tripped forward and caught myself on the wall, attempting to regain my breath from the rush of the wind in my face. Taking a few moments to compose myself I stood up straight and put the grapple back in the belt, shaking the fuzziness away from my vision. I wiped the hair sticking to my face off of my forehead and walked over to the wall that had been blocking the entrance to the cave, there must have been some security system.
"Batman, I made it to the cave." I informed him, looking over the rock wall while waiting for his response, which came curt as always.
"Good. I need to override the system to get you in, the computer doesn't recognize your DNA, this will take a few minutes-" As he was speaking I stepped closer to the wall and he was cut off when a scanner had appeared and ran over my body, my eyes widened as if I was a deer in headlights and simply let it scan me. When it was done, the rock shifted and slid open as an automated voice echoed through my ears and brain.
"Identity confirmed."