Author's Note: Here it is, as promised. This is another one that might get some edits, mostly for grammar purposes. But that's a job for another day.
Batman writhed on the table, struggling valiantly to fight the effects of the various toxins running through his system.
"Most remarkable, most remarkable indeed." Strange taunted, his distorted by the toxins. "I can only imagine what you are seeing right now... What is the great Batman afraid of? Oh, your reactions are most interesting indeed." Strange trembled with excitement. "Perhaps another dose? I think so..." He injected another syringe into Batman's neck, once again flooding his veins with the chemicals.
"Why do you continue to struggle, Wayne? Most men would have been driven to madness ten times over by now. And yet, you continue to resist. Give in to madness, Batman. It is the only escape."
"Ngh... NO! NO! GET... AWAY!"
"Suit yourself then, Mr. Wayne. You can suffer for as long as you would like." He paused to scratch his chin as though deep in thought. "I wonder where your friends are right now? They should have awakened some time ago... Perhaps they have abandoned you?" He laughed, delighting in the Dark Knight's suffering. "Let's discuss your future for a moment. What do you believe your future holds? Shall I tell you? You know that you cannot continue this little charade forever. What then? What do you do when you become too old?" His insane smile widened even further. "Would you like me to tell you what I see in your future? I'm sure that you know, as it is the only possible outcome. I see a man who has devoted his entire life to bettering the world; who has sacrificed everything that he has ever wanted for complete strangers... And still has nothing to show for it."
Batman twisted against his bonds, struggling to hold onto what little grip on reality he had left.
"How does that make you feel, Wayne? To know that you will die as alone and bitter as you've ever been, and that you will have no one to blame for it but yourself? Of course, that's assuming that you survive tonight's encounter, a possibility that grows ever slimmer."
Batman could feel his control weakening, as the hallucinations increased in their severity; he could no longer recognize the morgue as it drifted in and out of focus. The only constant was Strange's taunting, and that terrible, leering smile.
"After all that you have done for them, and they cannot be bothered to retrieve you. They know where you are, and yet they stall. Has the Martian even tried to reach your mind? Another extraordinary specimen... 'Tis a shame that I do not have the means to contain him at the moment. I have have loved the opportunity to dissect his brain... But no matter. There is always the future."
At that moment, the voice of Strange's head guard played over the intercom: "Sir we have reports of intruders approaching Arkham Island-" there was a deafening crash from outside. "Sir, they've just broken through the entrance gate!"
Strange turned away from Batman to address the intercom. "Stand down, captain. I believe that it is time that we took our leave. Well, Mr. Wayne... It would seem that your friends have come to retrieve you after all. I suppose that we shall meet again soo-" He turned to face Batman again, only to find the table empty, the restraints as open as if no one had ever been there. "Most impressive..." Strange chuckled to himself before leaving the room.
"Alright, what's the plan?" Flash asked skidding to a halt in front of the gate. "'Cause, you know, Bats is usually the one who comes up with the plan."
"We storm the place until we find him or somebody who knows where he is." Wonder Woman said. "I say we split up into groups and cover as much ground as possible."
"Sounds good. Me and Flash can cover the most ground in the least time, so we can take the bigger buildings."
"I want the Medical Building." Diana cut in. "I remember hearing something about the morgue."
"Alright, take Flash and get going. Let's get it done."
Wonder Woman and the Flash headed West at top speed, smashing through any security gates and fences that were unfortunate enough to get in the way. They reached the medical facility in record time.
"Alright, let's do this." Wonder Woman said, silently slipping into the building. However as soon as she'd entered, the lights flicked on, and two men wearing clown makeup and carrying enormous guns rushed into view.
"Down on the floor, and put your hands on ya head!" One of the clowns said, flourishing his gun. Wonder Woman did as he said, keeping a close eye on both criminals.
"Um... What do we do with her now?" The clown asked, sounding stunned that the order had actually worked.
"What do you think we do, dumbass?" His cohort replied. "We have a little bit of fun! Now just hold still, and- OOF!" Wonder Woman had flown into his legs at breakneck speed, knocking him to the ground with an almighty crash. The first thug hadn't fared much better, having been knocked out from behind by the Flash.
"Now... What were you planning on doing?" Wonder Woman growled as she stood up and dusted herself off.
"N-nothing!" The clown said in a small voice.
"Good." Wonder Woman said aggressively, stepping on the petrified man's shoulder. "Now... Tell me where Batman is."
"I dunno, they don't tell me important things, I just shoot people! Don't hurt me!"
"Not what I want to hear." Diana snarled. "If you value this arm, I would suggest that you come up with some information for me, and do it fast." She pressed the stiletto heel of her boot into the crook's arm nearly hard enough to snap the joint.
"ARGH! STOPPIT, STOPPIT! THE BOSS LIKES TO HOLE UP DOWNSTAIRS, YOU MIGHT FIND SOMETHING DOWN THERE!"
"You'd better hope that I do." Wonder Woman said disdainfully, kicking him in the face, breaking his nose and knocking him out. "Disgusting."
"Geez, you have been spending way too much time with the Bat lately." The Flash said, sounding slightly astonished. "Seriously, you're starting to scare me. I mean, couldn't you have just used the lasso of truth thingy?"
"Sometimes a more direct approach is more satisfying." Diana said curtly. "You search up here, I'll look around downstairs."
"And if it's a trap?"
"Then I'll break it."
"Um... Ok, then. Good plan, I guess-" But Wonder Woman had already flown off.
She ripped open the door to the elevator shaft with her bare hands, diving directly downwards through the car. She took the winding corridors more slowly, peering around every corner to avoid being ambushed. She hadn't made it far, when she heard uneven footsteps approaching. She tensed up, ready for a fight, and jumped around the corner.
"Batman? Hera, no!"
Batman was staggering down the hallway, gasping for air and mumbling under his breath.
"Bruce? Can you hear me? It's Diana!" She rushed over to steady him. "Answer me!"
As soon as she gripped him, he jumped to attention. "Or... Oracle..." He murmured. "Scarecrow... Scare..." He vomited a large amount of blood and closed his eyes, seizing slightly.
"Bruce! Wake up!" She shook him slightly, to no avail. She tapped her ear, activating her comms link. "Wonder Woman to Watchtower! J'onn! I need to talk to Oracle, right now!"
"I'll patch her through to you just in just a moment."
"Diana?" Barbara Gordon's voice issued from the earwig."What's going on in there? Did you find him?"
"I have him, but he's in bad shape. He's delirious, and weak."
"Alright, but what can I do to help?"
"I don't know. Before he passed out, he said two things. Your name, and 'Scarecrow."
"Ok, I think I get it." Barbara said, sounding slightly relieved. "He should have a small dose of anti-venom for Scarecrow's fear toxin in his belt. If you tap the centerpiece on his belt, that should run troubleshooting protocols and bring the suit back online. Then I'll be able to get vitals readings and disable the suit's countermeasures systems."
"Alright... I think that's it. Did it work?"
"Yeah, vitals are coming online, and... Oh no. This doesn't look good. Quickly, the antidote should be in the fifth pocket on the left side. Place the capsule in the syringe, and inject."
Diana did as she was told, and Batman gradually relaxed. She carefully lifted the cowl off of his face and placed a hand on his forehead. He was calmer, but still feverish. "Thanks, he feels a bit better. I've got to get him back to the Watchtower, I'll send word from there."
"Alright, I'll have more of the anti-venom sent up to the Watchtower just in case. Tell me if there's anything else that I can do."
"Will do." Wonder Woman said, cutting off the connection. "J'onn, Bruce is in rough shape. Can you beam us back up to the Watchtower?"
"Now that I have a direct fix on your locations, it shouldn't be a problem." The Martian said, tapping at his keyboard to activate the transporter.
"Good... I found Bruce, but there's no sign of whoever did this. Have Superman and the others keep looking, with a focus on the medical facilities." Diana tenderly pulled Bruce's mask over his face and breathed a sigh of relief as the teleporter activated, taking them both back home to the Watchtower.
Author's Note: I've got one more chapter planned out, then I might need to take a little bit of a break. Of course, I might be just a little bit busy over the next couple of days, so it could be a while before I get around to posting again. If I don't post tomorrow, it could take until Tuesday.
MNEONw- Glad you like it, and I'll try not too let you down in the future!