Welcome To Hell.
10 minutes ago.
GCPD
The commissioner Jim Gordon was sipping a cup of Joe in his office when his phone rang. He picked up the phone and answered the incoming call. "Gordon."
His eyes widened in horror when the caller told him something that would rock his world.
"What?!" He shouted loudly enough for anyone in the bullpen to hear.
XXXX
Barbara Gordon: Well, that certainly put a dampener to my evening plans. After being brought into Arkham City by the supposed Savior of Gotham, Hugo Strange wanted me for some one on one time before he send me into Hell.
Hugo was pacing calmly with a curious look as if he was studying an insect in the poorly lit interrogation room. Barbara was cuffed and with no other means to help, she was trapped like a rat.
"I believe I'm in debt to you. Capturing Barbara Gordon was so much easier than Batgirl." Strange mused. "Now that task is complete, Protocol 10 is set to begin. It will be my moment of triumph. A monument to your failure. If you or Mr. Wayne even attempt to stop me, I will tell the whole world about your secret." Strange turned his back on her and left the room. A guard that was behind the exit door entered the room.
"Let's move, prisoner." The Guard entered the room and grabbed her by the arm roughly, pushing her to the main entrnace. Stumbling slightly, she managed to snatch a walkie talkie from his belt, dismantling it to snatch an encryption key, hiding it under her sleeve while the guard wasn't looking.
Barbara Gordon: Here I was, like Dante who was about to enter the nine circles of hell to save the damsel that was the love of his life, except the damsel was me and Dante, well...That's a question I'll have to answer later.
The first thing she noticed was several inmates making cat calls and whistles at her. Nice to know they haven't changed much in their behavior towards cops, especially when it's the daughter of the commissioner. She noted also Black Mask trying to hold off the guards with a wooden chair before one guard stunned him with a taser from behind.
"Look who we have here, boys! The Commissioner's kid!"
"You're gonna be my bitch!"
Barbara rolled her eyes before being told to get in line A. After walking through the metal detector, she saw the famous tv reporter Jack Ryder along with a political at the main gate. She had a bad feeling about this.
Barbara Gordon: Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Or rather Hell that is Arkham City.
The main gate soon opened and the new inmates had entered the infamous prison. Barbara looked around to see the Blackgate inmates on both sides of the fences, looking at her like she was a piece of meat which made her stomach churn in revolt. Some of the inmates took the initiative by scaling up the fences and started to attack Barbara. Despite being hand cuffed, she was more than capable enough to block a right hand and went on to break his arm swiftly before repeating the move on his fellow inmate.
The main gates opened to reveal a man of short statue with a voice box attached to the left side of his throat. A broken half of a glass bottle was stuck into his right eye. He was very recognizable. The Penguin.
"Well, look who it is." Penguin's cockney accent swept through as he spoke up, an inmate snuck behind her and struck her in the leg with a steel pipe, bringing her down on her knees with a groan."Welcome to Hell, Luv."
The inmate struck her once more, this time in the back of her head. She was seeing double while going down to the ground as Penguin walked up to her, a smug look on his face tells a story.
"Lights out, bird." He stomped his face, turning her lights off.
XXXX
The Bowery
She groaned as she came back to herself, her vision was blurred briefly before it cleared seeing the little cockney crime boss with a shit eating grin on his face, his men were chilling in the background at a back alley near the Iceberg Lounge.
"What's the matter, bint? Did ya need me to call daddy?" Penguin taunted her before cackling.
Barbara Gordon: Oswald Cobblepot aka Penguin. Despite being short and having a Napoleon complex, he was as ruthless as they come. If there's weapon you want, he'll get it for you, no matter the cost.
"Cobblepot." Barbara growled threateningly. She's had the displeasure of meeting him a few times before she became Batgirl and, in those few times, he made her skin crawl.
"Aw, you remember me. I'm flatted." Penguin said sarcastically, putting a brass knuckles on his left fist."Your father has been a thorn on my side for far too long and this... Well, let's just call this, some good ol' payback."
He threw his fist towards Barbara who caught it with ease to his surprise and twisted his wrist, breaking it in two. Penguin cried out in pain, clutching his now broken hand.
"Get her!" Penguin ordered his men to attack her as he made a cowardly retreat to the gate door. He watched as Barbara made fools of his henchmen in matter of minutes by besting them in hand to hand. "Kick her arse, ya numpthy prats! She broke my bloody hand!"
Despite his futile attempt of positive encouragement, They were no match for Barbara's fighting skills as she was the last woman standing. She calmly sauntered towards him with no cuffs on, she broke them during the fight.
"Lights out, Cobblepot." She struck him in the face with a fierce blow of her fist, knocking him out cold. That would shut him up for now. Penguin was never gonna live this one down when he wakes up. But right now, she needed the suit. Although she didn't have her cellphone with her, she pressed the communicator in her ear, contacting the Batcave.
"Alfred, Are you picking up my signal?" She inquired into the ear comms.
"Only just, Ms. Gordon. There's more interference than usual." Alfred replied.
"I need an immediate drop on the roof of the Falcone hotel." Barbara requested as she began her route to the hotel that was once owned by The Roman, Carmine Falcone while avoiding Penguin's men. She was in his turf. "I'm heading there now."
"Right way, Ms. Gordon." Alfred complied as Barbara climbed up to the rooftop, jumping from building to building. "I heard about your incarceration on the police radio. Did those Tyger brutes hurt you in any way?"
Barbara smiled at the concerned tone in the butler's voice. "I'm fine, Alfred. Though it lended me some one on one time with Hugo Strange."
"And how was that?"
Her face turned grim at the recall of her conversation with the warden of Arkham City as she arrived at her destination. "Bad. He knows that I'm Batgirl and Bruce Wayne is Batman. He mentioned something called Protocol 10 will make him famous. I can't leave Arkham City until I find out what it is."
"Right. By the way, did the package arrive, Ms. Gordon?"
She looked up to see the bat plane flying over the super max prison, launching a drop container that had her suit inside into the roof of the Hotel.
"Right on que." She pressed her palm on the scanner, opening it to reveal her suit. It had been heavily upgraded since what happened at the asylum.
"Time to get to work." She mused as she changed into her suit. It was a customized survival suit for advanced infantry. A mix of an artificially enhanced metal alloy named Promethium known for its near invulnerable capabilities and kevlar was weaved into the bodysuit. It is not only tear resistant but it can also stop knife. It can withstand any type of bullets as Long it was not made of the same alloy of her suit. The liquid armor is also more flexible than her standard suit, allowing her to take multiple opponents in one go. The shock absorption from the suit hardens in impact, making it more effective for her counter attacks. Originally designed for the US Army, the pencil pushers at the Pentagon didn't believe that a soldier's life was worth 600 grand. But thanks to her old high school friend who works there, she got the one working suit. As always, the bat emblem was placed at the center of the armored chest.
Having now suited up, She pressed the left side of her cowl. "Alfred, I took an encryption key from one of the Tyger guards. I'm gonna hack into their communications." She told him.
She placed the SIM card on the remote hacking device, tuning into their radio frequency. She listened into what appeared to be a conversation between a guard and Hugo Strange.
"Command, this is AIR TYGER 4. We have visual confirmation that Prisoner 4011 is in the courthouse. Repeat, Catwoman is inside the Courthouse."
"Is she in danger?"
"Affirmative, Command. The Target is being held captive by Dent. We believe that he intends to kill her. How should we proceed?"
A sinister laugh was heard from the command center in Wonder Tower. "Stand down. Let Two Face have his fun."
Batgirl had a look of worry on her face after the conversation was over. "That can't be good."
"No, it is not. Mister Dent's preference for all things doubled may present a not pleasant outcome for Miss Kyle." Alfred said.
"If there is one person in Arkham City who may have an idea of what's going on, she's the most likely candidate to go to." Batgirl theorized, already making up her mind. She needs to find Catwoman now.
XXX
Solomon Wayne Courthouse
Barbara Gordon An impromptu Trial in Old Gotham. It felt strange to attend a courtroom. A spectator, that is, like watching an old prosecutor getting one last case to prove that he's still got it.
In the courthouse that was built in honor of Bruce's ancestor Solomon Wayne at Park Row, Batgirl entered the courthouse through the back door and ran up the stairs seeing what was taking place in the main courtroom from an upper level window. There she saw Harvey Dent, widely known as Two Face conducting his own brand of justice. His men were witnesses, eagerly to see the feline burglar meet her maker.
Barbara Gordon: The ex district Attorney Harvey Dent aka Two Face. The man once known to the public as White Knight underwent an extreme makeover during a trial case against Sal Maroni when the crime boss threw acid to his face that completely shattered his psyche and he became a notorious crime boss suffering from dissociative Personality disorder. With a flip of coin he gets decide the fate of his victims. Not someone you wanna work under.
"Bring out the defendant!" Two Face declared. Soon enough Selina Kyle aka Catwoman was unveiled forth, she was hanging upside down below a vat of acid bath as the curtain burned immediately coming into contact with it.
"You certainly know how to keep a girl Harv." Catwoman said, then glanced at his scarred face. "Hey, have you had some work done?"
Scowling darkly at the diss about his heavily scarred face, Two face back handed her on the cheek hard. Selina felt that one.
"That's for stealing from us. No one steals from us!" He snarled, leering into her face.
Catwoman tried her signature technique as she lowered her voice. "I'm sorry I've been a bad kitten, untie me and I'll make it up to you." She purred.
Batgirl shook her head with an eye roll. That's her M.O: Always trying to use her feminine features to flirt her way out of any dangerous predicament she's in.
Unfazed by her attempts of seduction, The former D.A. picked up his infamous coin from his pocket that had the tail side cut to highlight his dual personalities. "Let's see if the coin thinks you're telling the truth."
He flipped his coin, making the courtroom fill with trepidation and once it landed on the palm of his hand, it revealed what the coin had chosen.
"This court is now in session." He announced to his men and the recruits, whom cheered in exuberance.
Not wanting to waste any more time, Batgirl climbed up the ladder and saw a guard with a rifle; he was too occupied of keeping an eye below to notice the Dark dame sneaking up on him and put him in a choke hold, cutting oxygen off his lungs for several seconds. Struggling at first, the thug soon passed out in her arms and she put him down to the floor gently before walking on the high wire while Dent was conducting the trial.
Time to disrupt Harvey's law. She jumped down from the wire, getting the drop on one of the inmates that were present while startling several others.
"Objection, your honor! My client votes for a stay of execution!" Batgirl deadpanned.
"And not a moment too soon." Catwoman replied.
"Our friend Batgirl has arrived! Grab her and cut her in two!" Two Face declared as most of the inmates scattered, fleeing the courtroom while a brave few men took her on. She blocked several punches before leaping up, wrapping her legs around one inmate's head, bringing him down to the ground before stomping his face in, rendering him into a state of unconsciousness. She parred a front kick with a spin kick to the stomach, sending him back against the booth that Two Face was in, the window cracked slightly from the pressure.
Two Face was not pleased with her interruption of the trial nor with her making his men look like second rate amateurs. "Hold still while I pass judgement." He tried to shoot her with one of his dual guns through a hole in the window but she was moving, so he couldn't get a clear shot at him.
"Stand still, Batgirl!"
She twirled herself around, throwing a batarang to take the gun out of his hand. "Damnit!" Two Face hissed, clutching his hand as Batgirl flipped over the second of last henchmen, bringing him down to the floor face first before grabbing his arm, dislocating it out of place.
Knocking out the last one with a backhand punch to the nose, Batgirl turned her attention to the hanging thief but Dent had other ideas.
"Objection!" He had recovered his gun and fired a bullet, hitting Batgirl in the armored chest. Batgirl fell backwards from the hit as the bullet bounced off the armor. "Overruled." Two Face walked out of the booth and walked on the platform where the acid filled vat was, flipped the coin once more to determine Kyle's fate. This time it was tails.
"Sorry, kitty. Time to die!" Two Face sneered.
"Not on my watch!" Before he could react, Dent was grabbed from behind and thrown off the platform by a recovered Batgirl into the hard floor. She kicked his face in, taking him out.
"And I thought that it was cats who had nine lives." Catwoman mused surprised that the Dark Dame survived. She used her razor sharp metal claws to cut herself free before using her agility to land perfectly on the platform. Jumping down to the floor, She walked over to Dent's unconscious body and retrieved something from his custom suit which was a PDA. She tucked it inside her black zip suit. "Come to Kitty."
She turned around to face Batgirl. "Thank you for reversing Judge Dent's sentencing."
"Thought I could lend a hand, Selina." Batgirl replied.
"You're right." Selina said, checking her hands in a teasing manner. "Think I chipped a nail back there."
Batgirl sighed in slight annoyance for that remark. "Hilarious." She deadpanned.
"But I'm not here for a pedicure. I want to ask you a few questions."
Catwoman saw no problem with it. Besides, it was a routine with the heroes."By all means, ask."
"Proctocol 10. What do you know about it, Selina?" Batgirl questioned her.
Catwoman shrugged. "Never heard of it."
Not what she wanted to hear. "What about Strange then? He must've slipped his tongue about it when you were brought in."
The orphan thief grimaced at the recollection of her 'sessions' with the Warden all those months ago. To this day, she beared a grudge towards the professor for threatening Holly's life. "I don't know." Catwoman admitted. "I don't trust him, he's been missing for years. All of the sudden, he's been put in charge of Arkham City by Mayor Quincy Sharp. Rumour has it he's been working with
Joker. Maybe that's Protocol 10."
Batgirl quickly dismissed the theory. Joker may be insane but not stupid. He would prefer to die in a final showdown with Batman rather than let someone else do it for him. In his words, it wouldn't be funny.
"Anyhow, the ex District attorney said something about..." Catwoman was rudely interrupted by Batgirl who saw a red laser pointed at her head. Acting fast, she grabbed Selina and moved her out of the way as a bullet went through the window and struck the floor before it could hit it's intended target who was Catwoman.
Batgirl immediately knew who attempted the killshot.
"That was the Joker." Batgirl stated looking around. "You're not safe here. No one is."
"Nine lives, remember?" Catwoman reminded her as she left, completely undeterred. Batgirl didn't have the time to ask why as she was pre occupied with locating the shot.
XXXX
Medical Center
When Catwoman made her leave, Batgirl used her detective mode to set up a crime scene. she scanned two of the bullet holes to trace the trajectory of where the shot originated from. The Bullet came from the Cyrus Pinkey church. Since the building of Arkham City was completed, it was converted into a medical center for the Medical team. She exited the courthouse through the back door, fully intent on getting to the church.
When she got there, she saw two dead Tyger guards with permanent smiles stuck on their faces. it didn't take a genius to know that Joker's crew was here. She could smell the joker toxin. She stepped into the church seeing Joker's henchmen armed with assault fires while the Medical team was tied up.
"Comin' through, B-Girl!" The unmistakable voice of Harley Quinn was heard as she was doing acrobatic flips her way before attempting to kick Batgirl.
Having been through this already at the Asylum, Batgirl nonchalantly countered making her land on her buttocks. Harley yelped in surprise. The definition of Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result.
"Let the lady go, Bat-freak or all these people get a bullet in their heads." One of henchmen warned.
"I think you should do what he says." She said as she got up and brushed some dirt off her clothing. "It would be shame to ruin my nice new outfit. What do you think, Girl-brain? Do you like it? Of course you do, who wouldn't?"
Batgirl could care less about her. "Hi, Harley. How's your boyfriend? Still licking his wounds from the beating he took back at Arkham?"
"Shut up." Harley spat, obviously still pissed off of what happened to her 'puddin' all those months ago. In Joker's absence, Harley had taken command of her boyfriend's gang as the rumors were flying about his apparent illness that was killing him. "So anyway, here's the deal. Mister J is really not up to a visit right now. He's not feeling himself... Well, actually, he was earlier, but that's not what I meant. He's not doing so good and that idiot doctor sent from here didn't help. I've seen more smarts from these bozos."
She walked towards the doors. "Gotta run boys. If she tries anything funny, kill her!" Harley went through the double doors and left the medical center.
Batgirl quickly analyzed the situation at hand. Attacking armed thugs straight on is suicide. She needed to disappear, taking them out in one go and she got just the right tool to do so. While the henchmen were discussing among themselves on how to kill her, Batgirl obtained pellets from her belt and threw them over to, creating a smoke that would distort the thugs's eyesight. She used the smoke to move quickly and grabbed one of the henchmen, smashing him hard to the floor before heading for the second one, pinning him down as she aggressively disconnected the arm from the socket and then in a flash got behind the last two, giving them a double knocker. They were out like a light.
Once the smoke was cleared, Batgirl was the last one standing. "The room is secure. You're safe now!" She shouted to everyone as she went on to cut the ropes off with gauntlet knifes, freeing the hostages.
"Thanks for the help, kid."
Batgirl was surprised to see the former Arkham Security officer Max Payne in the midst as the medical team went on to check on each other. "Max? What you're doing here?" She asked, walking up to him.
"I work here. Since October last year." Max informed her.
"Huh. After what happened at Arkham Island, I thought you would settle for a desk job." Batgirl commented.
Max let out a chuckle. He's never been the desk kinda cop his whole life. So why change that habit now. "I tried once back at the NYPD but didn't take. When our illustrious Mayor shut down the asylum once he was elected, there wasn't much work for an ex cop around here. This was the only work i can get."
Being aware of Max's tragic back story and the fall out, Batgirl tried to reassure him. "Don't sell yourself short, Max." She then shifted focus back to why she was here. "What was Harley Quinn doing here?"
Max shrugged. "I don't know. She busted in a few hours ago with her guys and held us hostage. Took something up to the bell tower before blowing up the stair case."
That must've been the sniper rifle that Joker used in the assassination attempt on Catwoman back in the courthouse.
"Thanks. I'll check it out."
"Wait, there's more." Max said. "Quinn took one of the medical staffs as leverage. Said something about needing her to fix up the Joker."
So the rumors about Joker dying seemed to be true. That's something she'll need to investigate further after she had rescued the missing doctor from Joker's clutches. "If she's still alive, I'll find her. You should put your efforts on securing this church. It's gonna keep you all safe."
"Yes, Ma'am. Her name's Stacy Baker. She's one of the good ones."
XXXX
Barbara Gordon: When it comes to the psychopaths like Joker, you'll never know what to expect from him. With thiefs, they steal either for the thrill or the job. The mob bosses wants power and control. But with joker, you just gotta be prepared and brace yourself for whatever convoluted scheme he has in store for you. Alfred said it best: Some men just want to see the world burn.
Batgirl used the grapple gun to get into the bell tower through the trap door. She spotted the sniper rifle along with several small televisions. It seemed that it was remotely controlled by the Joker. She scanned in the rifle with her detective vision and soon enough Joker appeared on multiple screens. It was the first time since the Takeover at the Arkham Island that Batgirl had seen him directly.
"Well, look who it is. Joker sneered. "I haven't seen you since, how long it's been...There was an asylum, some monsters, oh, that's right you left me to die. Now you probably don't remember it that way but who cares? You just need to worry about the bombs. Hurry up now. Clock's ticking."
The countdown for the bomb explosion started and Batgirl didn't have any hesitation as she leaped out of the window and spread her cape to glide to safety as the Tower blew up into smithereens.
She landed on the rooftop of a nearby apartment building.
"Alfred, I got a fix on the signal emitting from the sniper rifle that Joker used remotely. Joker's behind this." Batgirl informed.
"There was never any doubt."
Batgirl turned around and faced Batman who'd just appeared behind her. She was relieved to see a fellow hero. "Batman."
"Batgirl." Batman said. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." She replied. "Feels like I've walked into a nightmare."
"For some, that is still going on." Batman pointed out, seeing some of the inmates that didn't have a criminal record hiding from any of the big three which were Joker, Two Face and Penguin.
"Batgirl, bring me up to speed."
"Of course." Batgirl said as she began relaying what she had been through the past hour. -