Chapter 15: What Makes a Hero
Batman had been too quiet for my liking, the stale air surrounding me hadn't been helping as it just made everything feel deathly silent. My breathing had progressed to sharp, rugged inhales as I waited for him to say anything that may have been of comfort to me. What had he been contemplating at the moment? What was running through the mind of the world's greatest detective?
"Batman?" Deciding to break the silence with my shaking voice, after what seemed like too long, struck me to be the most reasonable thing to do.
"Get in the cave. Now." My blood ran cold at the sternness of his voice, yet I obeyed and stepped into the dark damp cave, the shrill air hit my arms like pins and needles as I walked across the bridge to the main platform that held the computer.
"Disabling countermeasures. Security deactivated." I could feel Batman becoming angrier and more suspicious with each sentence the automatic voice spoke. Making my way up the steps I sat down in the chair and tapped my foot lightly while chewing on my nail in anticipation as to what he would say next. For the next minute, he was still silent, and worry began to boil within me that he would just cut off our communication permanently and I would be left to fend for myself. Another part of me, the more sensible side, knew that Batman would never do that as it simply wasn't in his job description.
"Who are you?" He finally buzzed through my earpiece, and I knew that he had not been asking for basic information. Maybe he had thought I had been a part of some secret organization, or hell, maybe even he thought that I had worked for Joker. My stomach began to churn in disgust at that thought. I thoroughly began to process as to how to respond to him. What could I say that would make him continue to know that I had been his ally and not his foe?
"Your friend, Batman, a girl who is just as confused as you are." I could hear my voice beginning to crack, and with a brief clearing of my throat I attempted to contain my composure.
"Please, you can't leave me." I could feel every second ticking by in my mind, echoing off the walls, taunting me.
More silence.
"Dr. Young was heading up on a project. It was big with a lot of external funding." I began to breath again in relief as he changed the subject to something that would move us along. I wrung my hands together to calm myself and leaned back in the seat while turning to the screen. I began taking note of the streams of information that were scrolling rapidly across it, none of which I could understand.
"Batman, I have Dr. Young's last notes that she filed." I perked up as a third voice joined the conversation while new information had appeared on the screen, and I simply couldn't contain my smile when I knew who it had been.
"Oracle, glad you could finally join the conversation." It seemed like a dream to me. That flash of a reminder and the rush of excitement flushed over me as I heard two of my childhood characters converse in front of me, it almost had gotten me light headed.
"I knew you'd need my help eventually. Amber, is it, you there?" I tensed at the sound of my name brought up in the conversation and I began to nod before realizing Oracle obviously wasn't able to see me.
"Uh, yeah, I'm here. It's nice to meet you, Oracle."
"Likewise. I'm assuming you can see what's on screen." My eyes traveled back up and only for a moment did I attempt to catch a glimpse of the words to comprehend it.
"Yeah, but I don't understand it." In moments like the one I had been in, honesty had been my strongest weapon, I almost felt as if it would be degrading to lie. Then again, I had to remind myself I had just turned 16 and I hadn't even gotten to Trigonometry in school.
My mind couldn't help but wander for a minute. It had been my birthday. This whole thing had been happening on my birthday, I was more than sure this wasn't normal puberty for other girls. Did this make me special or unlucky? It had all been one big rush of excitement and fear along with a variety of other emotions that jammed together. Whatever it had been, all I could say to it was:
Happy Birthday to me.
"Looks like she was experimenting on the Arkham patients. This new chemical barely resembles the original Venom compound." I could see the files shifting around as more words began to flash by and I knew, to no surprise, that somewhere in Gotham Batman had control from wherever he had been.
"There are a number of changes that appear to amplify the strength of the drug. Multiple references to a Titan formula. Even a small amount could trigger a Venom like transformation in the host, eliminating the need for the storage tank Bane requires." I leaned forward in the chair, glancing at it and for only a moment did I feel like I could understand it.
"I saw something like that earlier tonight, but it didn't last long, Joker said he needed stronger test subjects." I slowly moved my way into the conversation, recalling earlier when I had fought that first mutated inmate, only for his eyes to explode.
"I don't think it's the test subjects, something's not right." A warning sign and a question mark had appeared on the screen to interupt Batman, the bond had stopped spinning, almost looking as if something had been missing from the information.
"Her notes don't look finished." I found myself speaking, knowing well enough that both Batman and Oracle had most likely already caught on before I had even said anything as Batman continued on.
"The formula's missing. That must be the secret Dr. Young is hiding, if Joker gets his hands on this, he could create an army of a thousand Banes."
Holy hell.
Exasperated, I sat back in the chair. It had been worse than I thought. An image flashed in my mind of thousands of monsters trudging down the streets destroying everything in their path and at the front, as their leader, was Joker.
"My God, is Joker crazy enough to do that?" Oracle's voice is what broke me out of my horrifying vision, I shook my head and looked back at the screen, my eyes locked with the flashing warning signal. I knew damn well that Joker was of course crazy enough to do something like that, and what made me uncomfortable was that the only one who could stop him was me.
"What am I saying? You've got to stop him." I knew Oracle had been referring to not me, but Batman, who was quick to respond to the comment.
"This is more serious than I thought. Amber, I'm coming back for you." My heart had stopped beating, I felt it the moment those words hit my ears. I knew there would eventually be a point throughtout the whole experience when he would deem me unfit to handle the situation, and what seemed as so soon into it, the moment had arrived. I couldn't help but feel disappointed in myself, I hadn't proven myself enough to show Batman I was capable of being the hero. Maybe it was for the better that he came back, he was Batman and I had just been little Amber Rath. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair in defeat, when I had opened my mouth to respond a high pitched screeching suddenly emitted from my earpiece and began fuzzing. This caused me to yelp in pain and rip the device from my ear, attempting to get my focus back to normal.
"Gah! What the hell!?" I exclaimed, looking at the piece and waiting for it to settle before placing it back in my ear, cautious to make sure it wouldn't happen again.
"Batman?" I asked hastily, almost afraid that he wouldn't respond, and my heart sank when he didn't.
"Batman, come in." I said yet again, a few moments of silence rolled on before it had been Oracle that responded to my comments.
"Hold on, something happened with his communication, I'm trying to get him back. Just take a breather in the meantime, I can tell it's been a stressful night for you." When she had cut off I couldn't help but scoff at the understatement.
I leaned back again in the chair and gently spun it around to observe the Batcave. It wasn't anything elaborate, but still breathtaking for a girl like me. It was dark and gloomy, yet oddly inviting, unlike the atmosphere of the rest of the Asylum.
Thinking back to the last thing Oracle had said to me, I couldn't help but mentaly scoff. How was I supposed to relax? I was far from home, constantly in danger of losing my life, and now I had just lost contact with the only person who had been helping me throughout the fiasco. I still had Oracle, but who was to say she would help me? The chances of her having any faith in me were slim, considering that Batman had even lost hope. It crushed my spirits a bit, what had made him believe that I was no longer suitable? What had I done wrong? A part of me despearately wanted to regain his trust while the other didn't mind him taking over. Yet that part also knew that, if he had, then what I had been through earlier in the night would go to waste and would all be for nothing.
Maybe it had been the fact that Batman didn't believe I could take on Joker, and even I couldn't help but agree with that. He was a perfect match for Batman, at least in the intellectual sense. Joker's strongest weapon had always been his mind, only accompanied by his array of deadly toys he always enjoyed to play with. He was the sort of monster children had been afraid of hiding under their beds, which caused them to not have their feet dangling over the edge. I had never been afraid, so to speak, of the Joker. At least not when I had been a child. Seeing him in reality, however, had been a completely different story. The way his eyes moved over me, and gleamed with something I couldn't pinpoint, immediately gave me a wave of discomfort. He was intimidating, I couldn't help to admit that, and honestly I would stay as far away from him as I could if given the opportunity. I was no match for him, and I was well aware of it, the fact that I had made it as far into the night as I did had been a marvel even to me.
"Bad news," When Oracle had entered back into communication, I couldn't help but flinch a bit out of my inner thoughts.
"I can't get ahold of Batman, but someone needs to make sure Joker doesn't get those notes. It's up to you, Amber." My entire body went still and I could feel my heart beginning to beat once more as the feeling returned to my nerves. The reliance had been placed back onto me, I pushed the concern for Batman's disappearence to the back of my mind as I had bigger matters to attend to. I had to face Joker again, and I had to stop him.
"Shit, um, okay, what do I do first?" I asked, standing from my chair while rubbing the back of my neck, a nervous habit I found that I always had when I had been under any stress.
"There should be an equipment case near the computer, go and open it." I glanced around for a moment and spotted the case, heading over to it and unlatching it open. Inside laid what seemed to be an attachment to one of the gadgets I already had in the belt, picking it up I rotated it in my hand to get all the angles of it.
"It's a claw for your grapple, go ahead and attach it on." At this I pulled out my grapple and noticed where the attachment was able to latch on and I was easily able to assemble it. When I had successfully finished the upgrade I placed the device back into the belt and caught a few other objects out of the corner of my eye, one which was a black folded fabric. I arched an eyebrow and picked it up to unfold it. I ran my fingers gingerly over it, focusing on the specific pattern embedded in it, and it came across my mind that it could have possibly been a cape.
"Oracle, is this a cape?" I asked questionably, holding it carefully in one hand.
"Well you've gotten this far, might as well start looking like the hero." I could almost sense her smile and I couldn't help but grin lightly as I placed the cape around my shoulders. It seemed to drape perfectly and it surprised me that it hadn't been too long. The fabric somehow stuck to my shirt as if it had some sort of adhesive or fibers that would keep it in place. With a quick spin I attempted to hide my eagerness of the inner fan girl burning inside and went to check the last thing that had been in the case for me. A pair of gloves, similar to the ones I saw Batman wearing earlier in the night. While picking them up I immediately marked they were going to be much too big for my hands.
"Uh, I don't think the gloves are going to fit, they-" I had stopped mid sentence after I had placed one on my hands and I could feel the fabric tightening to fit my structure, I blinked to comprehend what I had just seen and flexed my fingers to test out the snugness.
"Nevermind." I added hastily and I could hear Oracle chuckle as I placed the other glove on. As I turned to look back at the computer screen I caught glimpse of my reflection and could almost hardly recognize it. The costume was only a cover to hide what was trembling underneath, a girl who was crying out for help in fear of losing her life, I knew this façade wouldn't last for the whole night. Yet for the moment, it gave me the confidence I needed to push on.
"Okay, Amber, the first thing you need to do is find Dr. Young." I could recall when I had put her under the protection of Officer Cash who said he would safely escort her to the Arkham Mansion.
"Alright, um, do you think you can put the mansion on my map? I think that's where they were headed and I'm not sure how to get there." I confessed as I found myself attempting to chew on my nails to cope with the anticipation yet had been prevented from doing so by the bulky gloves now covering my hands.
"Not a problem, you can get to it through the catacombs, there should be an exit down the steps and to the left." Following her instructions I made my way down the steps and jumped to the next platform while thanking Oracle as I exited the batcave. I poked my head through to survey the next room cautiously and looked up to see a vent that I could grapple up to. Taking my new Batclaw out from the belt I aimed it at the vent cover and couldn't help but smile when I felt it catch on. With little effort I grunted lightly and pulled it off from it's spot, the vent clanking to the ground. Pulling myself into the enclosed space I began to crawl through. When I had prepared myself to exit a voice carrying through the vent stopped me as I stayed still to listen.
"Sorry, boss, but no one has seen the girl." The voice didn't have any immediate recognition, which made me assume it to be just one of Joker's many disposable henchmen.
"What?! Oh, tell me you're joking! You're telling me hundreds of my men, prisoners and killers, can't find one damn little girl?!" Joker's voice screamed through the other end, the aggravation in his voice obvious as the henchmen was hopelessly forced to listen to his boss's anger.
"Oh Amber," He addressed me to himself while straining a chuckle.
"She'll be the death of me." The henchmen shuffled his feet and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand while attempting to figure out what to say next, yet it had been difficult, knowing at this point, anything could have set him off.
"Well, sir, honestly she was unexpected, and we-"
"Oh of course, it's all my silly fault, isn't it?! I'll remember to calculate in a red headed brat that may try to stop me the next time I'm planning an ISLAND TAKEOVER!" The henchmen flinched back from the radio at this and cringed lightly, unsure of what to say next. Concluding that I had heard enough, I slipped out from the vent and crouched over to the man, silently taking him out from behind. He struggled a moment and twitched before slipping into unconsciousness and he fell limp in my arms, dropping the radio he had been holding.
"Is there something wrong with this thing? Can you hear me!? Do you need to come up here and get your ears cleaned out? Got a new way, it's a killer." He chuckled as I glanced down at the device and for a moment I had been tempted to pick it up to respond, yet I knew it would be best to avoid any contact with Joker. I was thankful that tempting moment had passed and just as I had turned to go the radio buzzed once more.
"Oh, Ambsyyy." The voice on the other end sang happily, causing me to stop in mid step and my blood to run cold as a a shiver quaked down my spine at his tone. I slowly turned to the device and took a cautious step towards it, nervous that if I made the wrong move it would attack me in some way.
"I know you're there. Don't be shy, my dear, you can trust your good Ol' Uncle J." I bent down slowly and gripped it tightly, standing back up and looking it over in my now gloved hand.
"You've been quite naughty, haven't you?" My expression had twisted for a moment at his comment but I couldn't help but agree in a way, I had been breaking the rules, his rules anyways. As my heart hammered in my chest I reluctantly pressed down the button to speak and took in a deep breath.
"What else did you expect me to do?" For a moment I hadn't even recognized my own voice, it sounded so different and yet I couldn't depict the reason as to why.
"There you are! Perhaps I expected you to sit down and be a good little hostage like everyone else playing along."
"I don't feel like playing along with your game." I felt the radio tighten in my grip as I clenched my jaw in an attempt to keep my cool.
"Oh, so you're a tough one to crack, ey? Don't worry, Amber, you'll play along soon enough, whether you want to or not. Be seeing you soon, dear. Tootles!" Static clogged my ears after his final statement, causing me to the throw down the radio and continue my treck.
As I made my way through, I found myself with having to pick between a door and a hallway. My eyes glanced to the right option as I carelessly shrugged and headed over to the giant steel door. I grunted lightly when it had turned out to be locked, leaning forward I peered through to get a better look. A montsterous roar suddenly ripped through my ears as I was met face to face with Killer Croc, a mere window in between us. I yelped and stumbled back, barely able to stay on my feet as he punched the window with enough force to crack it.
"I will find you, rip your flesh like paper." He disappeared as soon as he arrived, and through the harsh pounding of my heart and my heavy breaths, there was only one thing I could think.
"Welp...wrong door."
"Amber," I jumped again at the sound of Oracle's voice, touchy from the encounter, despite it being the exact opposite from Killer Croc's. I took in another breath to regain my composure and made my way down the hall.
"I've been digging deeper into Dr. Young. According to her bank records, there have been multiple payments, starting last April until 2 months ago. Then nothing. The payments came from a company owned by a Mister Jack White." Jack White, the name seemed so familiar. I watched my feet in thought as I walked down the hall and tried to think back as to how I knew it. When I stomped down to shatter a pair of chattering teeth it suddenly hit me.
"Wait...that's one of Joker's old fake names."
"An old alias? You're sure?" I nodded, biting my lip as I recalled an old beaten up comic I would always read when I was younger.
"Pretty sure. So...what? Joker was paying Dr. Young to make this army for him?"
"Sounds right."
"But...then the payments just stopped. Why?" It wasn't clear who I was asking the question to as I had finally reached the door and opened it, walking through only to be met with a maze of some sort of sewer system.
"Shit...this isn't gonna be fun." I mumbled, running a hand through my hair as I headed over to the edge, eyeing the gap and calculating just how much of a running start I would need.
"I found something weird," Oracle chimed in as I leaped across and pressed my feet firmly into the ground at the landing.
"The payments to Dr. Young's account didn't stop exactly, they were declined. Dr. Young put a block on her account."
"Huh, a change of heart? Joker doesn't like people who try to back out on him."
"How do you know so much about The Joker?" I tensed, caught off guard by her question.
"I uh...like to stay informed." I lied, shaking away the blush that crept up the back of my neck and found its way to my cheeks, for the moment I was thankful it had been just me.
"So Joker decided to get himself back to Arkham, find his formula and create the army himself." Oracle concluded, I almost went lightheaded at how well it was all starting to fit together. The whole night I had been scrambling about, unsure of any of Joker's intention, shedding some light on the concept was starting to help me relax, if only a little. Taking in another deep breath, I tredged through the stone structures, jumping and hanging, overall trying not to fall.
"I've hacked into her email account, two stand out. The first is a resignation letter dated last week, sounds like she was trying to get away." I pulled myself over the edge and grunted lightly, almost mumbling.
"Can't say I blame her." I knew very well I'd run far away from the Joker given the opporunity, yet at the moment it seemed as if I had been doing the exact opposite, running right to him.
"The second one is from Joker, well, Jack White. It's a long thread. She's begging to stop the experiment, says it's too dangerous. He's not listening. Let's see, random threats to her family, a couple of bad jokes...a picture of a dead baby and a threat." Through Oracle's whole explination all that was on my mind was that I couldn't help but wonder if Joker just had a random supply of dead baby pictures. I shuddered, not entirely wanting to know the answer.
"Go on." I urged her as I slowly began making my way up a collapsed structure that had been leaning against a wall, I kept my eyes straight ahead, avoiding the temptation to look down and think about falling into the abyss below, what a way that would be to go.
"He says, I'm coming for you, I want what I paid for. And then another joke about wheelchairs, lovely...and a drawing of some kind of donkey." That sounded about right. I stepped off the structure and made my way to the door while wrapping up my conversation with Oracle.
"Well, I guess I'll...try to find her and see if can straighten this mess out."
"Be careful, Amber, and good luck. I'm right here if you need me." I slowed down, taken aback by her words. Anything I had thought previously was wiped from my worries. Oracle was on my side, she trusted me. That was what I had needed to carry on: faith. A ghost of a smile played on my lips.
"Thanks, Oracle." With that, it was done as I pushed through the door. After a few more corridors and one last door, I found myself breathing fresh air again. As I began to walk along the remains of an old delapidated building I heard the bells of an announcement. Rolling my eyes, I waited to hear what Joker had to say this time.
"Ding dong! Joker again! Don't worry about the girl, I've put a few surprises along the way if she decides to turn up and spoil the fun." I stopped as I heard him say 'surprises', his term of it made my stomach twist. Looking around cautiously for what he could have meant, I took a few more tentative steps.
"Oh, and if you hear a shot in the dark, don't worry! There's very little chance of you getting hurt, it's the girl I'm after." I arched an eyebrow, muttering to myself as I turned a corner.
"Shot in the-?"
Bang!
My hearing suddenly became clogged, a light ringing through my brain as I fell back by a sudden force. A burning sensation slicing across my stomach, I could barely let out a squeak as I landed harshly on the ground, writhing in pain. Tears overflowing from my eyes down my dirty cheeks as I feebly attempted to grasp and claw at the pain. A thin layer of blood coated my hands as I brought them up to see, realization striking me like the bullet.
I had just been shot.