Chapter 5 Arkham Asylum 5: Fear Again
AN: Okay before I go into the next chapter which it should be easy to figure out what's going to happen next to those that know the Arkham games but too those that don't know, just wait and see. Yes, I know that I'm using the game to fill out chapters but who cares and I'm not the only one. I see other writers doing it as well with their own work like I'm doing and maybe most of you will like this chapter. So, set back and enjoy.
Red Robin walks into Mansion Entrance Hall to see the elective gates on, being unlocked and had two Blackgate Prisoners on the other side. The two thugs saw the hero and started to taunt on how the bird can't get to them which they are asking for it.
The bird themed hero thinks for a second and started to leave to find another way into the mansion. He knows he can't go in through the front and there more than one way to get into a building. Once he was outside, the bird started to use his grappling hook gun to get himself onto the rooftops and found one way to get in.
An air vent that was locked but not for long as the hero used his Batclaw and started to move in quickly. The bird themed hero soon found himself just above the front hallway and pass the gates, being above the thugs that were asking for a beatdown.
By gliding downwards, Red Robin smashed into the two thugs and grabbed them by their shoulder to threw them against the stone wall, knocking them out cold. Before the armed henchman could open fire, he was pulled towards the hero with the Batclaw and grabbed to be slammed into the ground. He groans and soon was kicked in the face, having his lights cut out.
Red Robin looks around the room for a few things that were easy to find before going into another vent and soon enough was in the Main Hall, being above some henchmen who looking every way for the doctor's notes. He stays quiet for now and looks around from up top for a good view which soon turns to listen to the clown on the speakers.
"Joker here with a little update for you all. First the goods news, we have Dr. Young. Bad news is she's not talking and hidden a document somewhere in the mansion. I want it found! I've got a plan or 6 to loosen her tongue, but in the meantime, search every kook and granny. There's a prize for whoever finds them," Joker said with some laughs and caused to the hero to glide downwards to start a fight.
Red Robin started his beatdown of the thugs and punched the first one into a wall before counting a fist coming at him and twisted the wrist into two. The thug screams in pain before being punched out with one right punch to the face.
Two thugs rushed behind the hero, hoping to take him down but were wrong as the hero saw them coming and counted the attack. He grabbed them by the face, slamming them downwards into the ground and pulled out his bo staff for a quick swing to their faces, knocking their lights out.
Red Robin threw his bo staff like a spear into the thug that was rushing at him in the face and broke his jaw to groan in pain because of that. He then backhanded a fist coming at him to punch the thug twice in the stomach and left upper cut, sending him upwards and knock out.
The bird themed hero rolled towards the left to grab his bo staff back into his hands and swung towards the right, knocking a thug off his feet and wide open for a punch to the face, knocking him out.
Red Robin broke his staff into nightsticks and started a beatdown onto a thug before kicking his legs to fall on his knees and smacked his face, cutting the lights out. He puts his bo staff away and counted a kick coming at him by grabbing it and kick the leg down, having the thug on the ground and soon broke the leg into two to cause screaming.
The last thug stood little as he was smashed into a wooden desk by the bird-themed hero and ended thus street fighting.
"I need to find those notes before Joker does and save Dr. Young," Red Robin thought as he starts to look around in the Main Hall.
The bird themed hero looks around to only find nothing but riddles and few other things. He wasn't going to find anything here. Time to look somewhere else, and the West Wing was the best place to start.
Within the West Wing Corridor, Red Robin saw armed thug threating prisoner guard on where the doctor went and allowed the hero to walk quietly towards him.
Red Robin kicked the legs and soon slammed the thug's head hard into the ground, knocking him out but stopped when he saw a metal collar going off and started laughing. This was odd.
"What's that collar do? Why's it making that noise?" Red Robin asked the guard he saved.
"It's the suicide collar, but it sounds weird," The guard answered, shaking his head a little.
"Suicide collar?" The hero questions, remembering another collar that was in another prison.
"They've got some other name, but, well, we just use them to monitor patients' heartbeats. If it drops too low, the alarm goes off and a crash team rushes in," The guard informed the hero.
That will make senses and every prison must have monitors for their patients/prisoners.
"And so, dose my crew if you trigged one. How do you like them apples, birdy? Standing around in the…hmm, let's see…ah, the west wing. They'd be there now if they weren't busy knocking a little sense into Cash. I'll tell you what, I won't spoil the surprise and let them know you're coming," Joker said on the TV before its turns off and lets the hero do his work.
Red Robin leaves the west wing towards where he can hear a beatdown was going on and someone grunting which was coming within the Arkham Records Room. That place would be a good place to be looking for the notes, but the hero knows better and will ask Crash on where Dr. Young run off too before things went south.
Using his grappling gun, the bird-themed hero hooks onto stone rafter and waits for one armed thug to come towards him. He soon hangs upside down from the rafter and performed an inverted takedown he learned from Batman himself. The hero grabs the thug upwards towards rafter and drops down to the ground with a rope on his legs, having him hang upside down.
Without wasting time, Red Robin grappling hooks towards another stone rafter to take another thug quickly and silent take him down before anyone noticed him. He grapples back to the rafter to see the henchmen around upside down the thug and started to throw one of his shuriken towards the rope, cutting the thug down and landed on top of his friends.
The armed men look towards where who threw that but some nothing as the hero had moved towards another stone rafter and performed another inverted takedown onto another thug. The bird themed hero started to move and act quickly on his feet, not letting the thugs get the best of him and saw three more were left which makes things easy a little.
Red Robin grabbed three birdarangs and threw them towards the heads of the three thugs, causing to fall into the ground and allowing the hero to glide over there to knock them out. He grabbed one thug's head before punching it into the ground and did the same to other one. The last thug got up but was rewarded with a powerful kick to the face, knocking his lights out with a few teeth missing.
"Red Robin, we're tied up! Over here! Get us free!" Crash called out, seeing the room clear out.
The bird hero made his towards the two officers and started to cut them free from their robes by using his talons to cut the rob with a quick motion. The two guards stand up and rubbed their hands from being free at least.
"Thanks," Crash said as he stood up.
"Where did Dr. Young go?" Red Robin asked, getting to the point and wanting to save the doctor.
"I told her to run. These guys came in looking for her. I told her to go to her office and hide," Crash replied.
"Does she keep her records there?" Red Robin asked.
"I guess. She was desperate to get in there. Her office is over there," Crash answered, pointing towards where the office was located.
"How long ago was this? I need to find her notes before Joker gets his hands on them," Red Robin said, not wanting the notes to fall into the clown's hands and wants to safe the doctor in time.
"20 minutes, maybe more. What's so important about the notes?" Crash asked.
"Joker wants them. That makes them important. Stay here, I'm going to find her," Red Robin informed, getting no talkbacks from the guard.
"Not a problem. I'll try the radio and see if anyone else is around," Crash said, getting a nod from the hero of that idea and could help just in case.
Red Robin starts to walk towards where the office, going into the hallway of the North Corridor and soon heard Joker speaking on the speakers again.
"Going after the notes yourself, eh, Bird? Good luck. I've got a crew working over the doctor as I speak. They'll squeeze the formula out of her soon enough. Not to mention the army of clowns ripping this place apart. One way or another, the formula will be mine. Why don't you just give up? Go on, roll over and die for once. Be your best friend," Joker said.
The bird themed hero knows he needs to here to find the notes and save the doctor before the clown does something bad. He found a few riddles on the way towards where he needed to go which anger the mastermind and started to claw into the air vents to hear some thugs speaking out.
"It's not going to open."
"Hold on. Think I've got it."
"You said that ten minutes ago, man."
"You can be the one to tell him. I'm not gonna."
"It'll be open any second…damn it!"
"You're an idiot. Joker's not gonna be happy and you know what that means."
"Quiet. Just shut up. I'm trying! I'm trying!"
Having enough of this sad game, Red Robin soon glides down to perform a drop kick onto the thug to fall into the ground and caused the other two to know he was here. The two rushed at him but were too slow and were grabbed by the throat to be smashed up against the wall, knocking them out cold.
"Hmm, it looks like the main door is locked down. I will need to use another way in," Red Robin thought, looking around for another way into the office.
Red Robin saw a vent and large doors nearby. Thinking on his feet, the bird hero spays three R symbols onto the floor with his Explosive Gel for a little surprise for Joker's men that will come in and soon moves into the air vent that leads into Dr. Young's office.
The office was a normal doctor looking office with some papers knock onto the floor and safe was wide open, being the sign as someone got in, but a big question was who opened it? The doors showed no forced entry, meaning who got it must have known the combination and caused the hero to think deeply in his thoughts.
Red Robin walks over to the computer, typing a few command keys down and open the camera to see who got in to grab the notes.
"Good. Dr. Young got to her notes before Joker. She's taken them to hide somewhere. I need to follow her and find out where she put them," Red Robin thought, seeing the doctor opening the safe and taking her notes with her.
Now the bird hero must find those notes and later save the doctor has she been still in danger.
Red Robin played the video again but stopped when the doctor placed her hand on the safe's door and left the trail for him to follow which he turns on his DV and scanned for handprints. His DV soon isolate a forensics trail for the hero to follow and started a call.
"Oracle, I'm on Dr. Young's trail. I've had to calibrate the scanner to only show recent prints. If I follow these, I will find her or the notes," Red Robin informed to his partner/friend, hoping to find both.
"I hope it works. Just so you know, the GCPD found one of Joker's bombs downtown. It was full of marzipan and kittens," Barbara said, reading off what happens.
"As I thought. It's just a twisted diversion. The real action's on Arkham," Red Robin said before ending the call and started to claw back into the vents towards where he came from.
The bird themed hero brought his spay and saw thugs breaking into a room which he aviates the Explosive Gel that was spayed onto the floor and blow up three of thugs, knocking them with ringing ears and left one alone. The last one tired to kick the hero but was counted and soon twisted into two places before getting a hard-earned punch to the face to be knocked out.
A crime fight survives by being prepared. A good rule to follow by and Batman had taught Red Robin very well on that rule.
The bird-themed hero leaves the room and back towards the West Wing Corridor, walking down on stairs and follow the trail that was left behind for him to follow. The trail leads back to the Main Hall where more thugs have shown up to see the aftermath the hero left behind.
Red Robin walks behind the two thugs and slammed their heads up against each other, knocking them out in one quick takedown. He turns his DV back on to see the prints going to the next room and makes his towards the South Corridor's hallway.
When hearing a thug talking, the hero takes cover behind corner and pulls out a birdarang for the job. He threw at the first thug's face, causing him to fall into the ground and alert his friends that the bird was here. The other thug didn't stand a chance has he was punched into gut and face before being knocked out be the hero. The last thug was slammed back into the ground with his lights knock out and left hero to look for some more.
Red Robin moved towards the library and found some thugs looking around for the notes which he threw birdarangs to knock down the two thugs on the floor. He then downwards punched another thug that was rushing at him and kneed the face. Another one comes up behind the hero to punch him, but the hero ducked and back below the thug into the ground.
The bird themed hero then threw one thug into another thug before looking back at thug on the floor to grab his arm and break it in two. He then doubles backs onto his feet to kick a thug face, launching into books and knocking him out.
Red Robin then slammed a thug that was rushing at him into the ground and grabbed his leg to break it then later knocks him out with a kick to the head. He then jumped onto a thug was about to get up on his feet and smashed his head into the ground with a punch to the head. The bird hero did too two more thugs before smashing the last into the books and knock his lights out.
"Congratulations! Now all you need do is take a stroll downstairs and save the helpless hostages. Right?" Joker questioned on TV before it turns off and leave the hero to look around.
Red Robin will save the hostages before getting the notes and Dr. Young. He walks downstairs of the library to find the hostages tied up in chairs and were behind elective gates. Here we go again.
"Oh, how frustrating. Thought it was going to be easy, didn't you? Has tonight taught you nothing?" Joker asked on TV.
Red Robin knew that to be true and started to plan for another to get which he found one.
"In two minutes, the room will be filled with happy gas. The audience will be in fits of ecstasy and then die!" Joker exclaimed, turning the TV and start the count down.
Without wasting time, Red Robin rushes back towards the main room of the library and upstairs with his grappling hook. Once upstairs, the hero grabs an air vent to rip it off and claw into the vents. He wonders within the old vents towards where the hero needs to go, being one the other side of the gates and in the room.
Red Robin rushed towards the room to find Joker Box that was might for April Fools and caused the hero to wonder if this was really was a trap which he was right as a boxing glove shoot upwards. Another sick joke and not a good one to say at least as the hero free the hostages.
The hero learned from the doctor and guard that were the tie of some good information. Dr. Young was in this room and she took away to the warden's office. She must hide her notes here before she was caught and now it was time to get back to searching.
Red Robin looked at the books that were pulled and had his DV run scans for the handprints that were grabbed seconds ago which a red stand out to the hero to grab it.
The bird themed hero grabs the notes, reading it over and said, "Oracle, I found Dr. Young's formula."
He then spays the notes with his Explosive Gel.
"Great. So, does that mean you've stopped Joker?" Barbara asked, wondering if this was over, but she would need to think again.
"It's never this simple with him," Red Robin answered as he throws the notes, burning into ashes and destroying the last of formula.
He knows that the clown might have a trick or two left to gain his army. That madman always has a plan in motion.
"What's that you've got there, Bird? No! Not the formula. What I am going to do? Who can help me now?" Joker asked in fake panic motion over the speakers/TV.
Red Robin knows that something was up.
"What's that? How about our old friend Zsasz? Hmm, I did bump into him on the way back from the Gardens, where no doubt he was acting out some twisted fantasy. Maybe he could get her talking? I think he probably can. Such a great plan," Joker said, laughing a little.
"I hate when I am right," Red Robin thought as he moves towards handprints lead to.
He needs to save Dr. Young from Zsasz and pray that nothing will happen to her as he moves to pass some double doors, but something happens.
Red Robin started to cough all the sudden and heard hissing sounds coming from the vents nearby, being the same gas from awhile ago that hero come across of. The Fear Gas was far strong then last time the hero remembers and knows that he must fight through his fears again. He sighed, getting himself ready and walks into the room to find something was off.
The hallway was something from the hero's home world, a hallway of old Japanese style and stood out to him as he walks down to the hallway to hear something within the darkness.
"Idiot, she was in my way. So that means I have to kill her."
Red Robin shook his head of that voice, not wanting to remember of those words again, but kept going as move spoked to him.
"You failed us when we needed you the most!"
"You're not a hero! Just a demon and failure like always!"
"Why do you live? You're a failure back then and now. I hope you die baka!"
"Please save me Naruto!"
The voices of those that Naruto know kept ringed to his ears, causing to fall onto his knees and fought back the tears that are coming down his face. He looked to see the dead bodies of parents before him. He never met them but knows they love him with all their hearts and those voices were his fears.
The fear of failing those he once cares about in his home world and rose up on his feet to hear more voice ringed to him, but this time was different.
"You're not a failure, Naruto. I know that because I believe in you."
"I fight against crime for Gotham because I made a promise and I hope you live up to your promise, Naruto."
"Naruto, why do we fall? So, we can learn to pick yourself up."
Red Robin snap open, fighting through the void of voice and focus on the ones that help keep on going in life in his new home. Those voices were part of his reasons of becoming a hero and will live up to it. He may have failed back then but he won't failed again. Not now, not ever.
The bird themed hero walks away from the hallway to open a door, showing that he was in Scarecrow's world of fear again and knows what to do now.
Red Robin moves carefully due to Scarecrow being faster than last time and avoid the eyed lights. He took down a few skeletons down with little trouble and kept moving forward towards the embodiment of his will, hope, and reasons for being a hero.
"There you are!" Scarecrow called, seeing the hero in front of him at least.
With a flick and moving it downwards, the bird-themed hero turns the Bat Signal to fire a powerful blue beam of light, shining at Scarecrow and breaking the world apart for the hero to awaken in the real world once again.
Red Robin soon opens his eyes to find himself in the cloak tower of the manor and shook his head, having his healing factor clean up of any Fear Gas within him and was full healed of anything harming him. It seems Scarecrow's toxins are getting stronger and the hero knows that the next time this happens, it will fight for will against fear in the next meeting between the bird and master of fear.
The bird themed hero gets out of the cloak room towards the Main Hallway and into the East Wing Corridor.
"Has anyone seen the Bird? Come on, someone must have seen where he went! Not so scary man? Wears a cape? Jumps out of the shadows and beats up useless thugs like Bats? Anyone? No? Good!" Joker called out over the speakers.
Red Robin moves forwards to see a thug with an elective nightstick and could be a problem if the hero didn't have the training to deal with these kinds of guys. He rushed towards the thug as he did the same but the bird jumps behind him and started the beat down with punches.
The bird hero soon jumped into the air and kicked the thug in the face, knocking him out cold and to see the TV turning on before him.
"Oh, there you are! I've been waiting for you, listening to Zsasz make the good doctor scream while you played around in Scarecrow's world. How was it this time? Learn anything about yourself? Oh, tell me. Pull up a seat! Talk to me! I'm all ears," Joker said.
Red Robin didn't both as he walks away to find the good doctor.
"Actually, that reminds me. I could've sworn I heard Zsasz cutting her ears off. Certainly, sounded like it," Joker added and laughed, getting the hero to be upset and anger at the animal that was asking a beatdown.
The bird themed hero then takedown a thug silently before moving on to see Dr. Young from that animal and rushed towards where he needs to go but stopped for a second to find something familiar to him that caught his eyes.
A pair of cat-like googles that was in a glass case and caused a few flashbacks for the hero to remember of a center cat thief he knows all too well. He had a feeling he will bump into the cat again but now he has work to do and moves on to the next room.
"Stay where you are, Red Robin! Listen to me carefully," Zsasz said as drags Dr. Young with him to the warden's office and the hero follows behind for carefully.
"Help me! Please, somebody, help me!" Dr. Young called out.
"Come any close and I'll paint the room crimson with her blood!" Zsasz warned as he had his knife up against the doctor's throat.
Red Robin started to turn everything out in order for him to focus and grab a tool for his belt for the job. It was a black bat but as soon he pushed a button, it transformed into a Batarang with blue wings pop out from the sides, is a prototype and waited for the right time to strike.
Zsasz gets a warning as Joker wanted her dead but marked animal know if he kills the doctor then he will be taken down. This keeps going until the marked animal had his head out in the open for the hero to strike and threw his Batarang.
The Batarang was launched quick then the eye can see and hits Zsasz before shocking him with a powerful volt of electives, having his body fly back into the ground and have the doctor unharmed.
Red Robin sighed as that was done and walks over to see Dr. Young crying from what just happen to her.
"You monster! You evil, evil, evil monster!" Dr. Young cried on her knees but stopped when the hero takes a knee to her and put his hands on her shoulders for help.
"It's alright. He's not going anywhere or harm you again doctor. It's over," Red Robin said, promising the doctor and help her calm down.
"I'm sorry," Dr. Young said, taking some deep breaths in order to calm herself down.
Once the doctor was calm down, the bird hero brought her up to her feet and said, "I saw Bane."
"I know, I… Joker threated me. I wanted to stop the experiment. I tried to give him his money back," Dr. Young said, explaining herself which the hero already knows and understand her.
"Joker doesn't take no for an answer," Red Robin said, knowing the clown from Batman.
"He wants an army. A horribly twisted force to destroy Gotham, but he couldn't do it without the formula. I hid it but…," Dr. Young said, but stopped herself on what happened a while ago.
"So now he has Venom and your formula," Red Robin added, understanding what was going and heard something off about the office nearby.
"God. He has gallons of the stuff. There's a lab, hidden in the Gardens. It's locked off but the security key codes for the entire island are in the Warden's safe," Dr. Young informed the hero which was good news as she walks to the safe behind a picture and the bird follows behind.
"What else is Joker planning?" Red Robin asked, checking to be sure if the doctor doesn't know anything else and is a victim in this whole event.
"How should I know? You thin anything he says make sense?" Dr. Young asked as she pulls the picture back and saw something that shocks the two.
A green faced Joker clown picture with wire bomb ready to blow.
Acting quickly on his feet, Red Robin used his Batclaw to pull Dr. Young close, shielding her from the explosive as the two were launched backward and ears ringed for a couple of seconds.
Red Robin opens his eyes with a groan to see a familiar figure standing over him and a few other people.
"Squealers never learn and the good doctor avoids a bad ending, but this one over here just loves to talk," Harley said before using the cane to hit the warden in his gut to grunt in pain.
"Oh god, somebody helps me from this crazy woman!" Sharp called but was rewarded with a swing from cane to the face, getting to shut up.
The bird themed hero saw something fall off the cane and could be a clue for something later.
"That old loony actually thinks he runs this place. Talk about crazy! Well, Bird, places to go! Get him boys!" Harley called out, having four of her men surround the fallen bird.
"If he gets up, knock him down, but not too rough. Mr. J needs him at the party and I need someone to talk too," Harley added, leaving the hero and her goons.
Red Robin jumps back up on his feet and started giving the thugs a beat down. He jumped over head the thug with the teaser and kicks his back, sending him falling with a misstep. The bird hero punched the other thug in the gut before the face, sending back stepping.
A thug rushes at the bird to kick him but was counted and swung off his feet with a lower leg kick. The bird themed hero than stops the thug with the teaser with a back elbow to the face and used the teaser to elective him before punching his lights out.
Throwing two birdarangs caused the last two thugs to fall and allowed the hero to get the drop on them by slamming their heads into the floor with only groans following behind.
Red Robin sighed as he had finished with the thugs and started to look around for the doctor, remembering that Harley said that she avoids a bad ending. He soon finds her up against a wall with no wounds or burns marks on her.
"Dr. Young?" Red Robin asked, getting no answer but still had a heartbeat and soon the doctor started to cough from the fire in the room.
After coughing a few seconds and later gain her breath, the hero was happy that the doctor was alive and will need somewhere to hide.
"Your office, hide there until this is all over," Red Robin said as he helps the doctor up on her feet.
"Y-yes I can do that," Dr. Young agreed with a few coughs coming out and covered her mouth with a left hand.
"There is vent that leads to your office. Head in there and lock yourself up. You should be safe there," Red Robin informed as he walks with the doctor towards where she needed to go.
"I will do that and thank you," Dr. Young said, thanking the hero that saved her life three times tonight.
Red Robin smiled a little with a nod of his head and helped the doctor to her office to be safe from the whole event. Before leaving the warden's office, the bird-themed hero used his DV to scan the broken cane for Shape's air to trail that he could follow and get the codes for the whole Arkham Asylum. That can help and unlock a few doors that could help gain a few things.