For the second time that day, came to in a strange place. My head felt like it had been split with a pickaxe. My right arm was still hurting from where the TITAN strain was injected. Still, it was in no way hurting when it was first injected. On another positive note, I was no longer restrained. I was, however, locked in a dirty cell lying on a filthy mattress. Joy.
Groaning, I got up. The only light in the room was a single flickering lightbulb. This provided very little light, but I could see that other than the cell wall, which was all bars, the rest of the walls were dirt. Hell, even the ceiling and floor were just dirt. There were even roots sticking out of the ceiling. What was with Scarecrow and dirty places? First a bloody hospital, then an underground cell. Whats next, a fucking haunted mansion?
On second thought, that would be an improvement.
"Hello, guinea pig" Scarecrow said via the loudspeaker outside my cell.
I looked up. What the hell did this human matchstick want now?
"You will now partake in a colosseum match against the most deadly thugs the gotham underworld has to offer.' He continued. 'And by the most deadly, I mean whatever men were open to being severely wounded by genetic mutations of my creation for money."
"No way am I fighting for your sick pleasure, asshat." I mumbled under my breath.
"Oh, but you don't have a choice, boy.' He said. 'If you don't fight, then I just flood the chamber with fear gas and you die being killed by whatever it is you fear. Horrible way to die, isn't it?"
The cell wall made a loud clanging noise, making me jump. It rose into the ceiling, clearing the way. I only saw a long dark hallway, what did he...
"I suppose I should open the colosseum doors, huh?"
At the end of the hallway, a wall slowly lowered, and light poured into the chamber. I walked down the hallway cautiously, not sure of what was going to be at the end. The bright light was blinding, was it the sun?
I stepped out of the tunnel and let my eyes adjust. To my disappointment, I was not outside, just in a colosseum of some sort. I was still underground, but this room was lit by VERY bright lights, which where hanging from the ceiling. They were heating the room as well it seemed, It felt like it was 85 degrees in there. I rolled up the sleeves of my hoodie and put up my hood. This way, I could keep cool and keep the damn lights from blinding me.
"Hello my hired murderers, psychos, and violent hobos. I have a new experiment for you tonight.' The scarecrow said through the loudspeakers on the walls. ' This will probably be your last battle under my employment. This should be the most powerful subject you've faced yet. Due to this, let's just call him hazard, as he will probably kill you or leave you on the floor, broken, and breathing through fractured ribs. Heh heh, HAVE FUN!"
A wall opened up on the opposite side of the arena, releasing about 10 huge guys into the arena. They all wore bright orange prison outfits, except for one, who was shirtless. He also had two knives and tally marks all over his body.
Wait a minute...
"Ah, crap." I mumbled to myself
"The hell are you guys doing!' Crane screamed through the loudspeakers. 'KICK HIS ASS!"
They yelled and started charging at me. Instinctively, I reached for my revolver, which was of course in the hands of scarecrow at the moment. I figured that out just in time to dodge a few swipes from Zsasz.
"I will cut into you, piggy.' He laughed 'First you, than the batman."
"back off, creep ass!" I yelled
One guy tried to punch me while I was yelling at Zsasz. With superhuman reflexes, I caught his fist and started squeezing. I heard heard a violent snap, and the thug fell on the ground, gripping his hand and screaming. The rest of them, including Zsasz. Looked from me to their buddy crying on the floor.
No way was I that strong or that fast before.
"I literally just told you cretins that I want you to beat the living shit out of this boy.' Scarecrow scolded thought the speakers. 'why is that not happening. Are you too stupid to follow orders, or do I need to release round 2 early?"
Oh boy, did that get their asses moving.
Dodging their blows was shockingly easy. It felt like they were all going in slow motion. One guy grabbed me from behind, restraining my arms and lifting me into the air. "Get him guys!" The henchman ordered.
Two guys charged at me. I kicked them both in the face, toppling my captor over backwards. When he hit the ground, I heard a nasty crunching noise, and his his grip gave way. I jumped back to avoid being crowded.
"Two down, eight to go.' I taunted at the remaining thugs.'The only question: Who's next?"
Damn, I feel like a badass.
About 50 seconds later, they were all unconscious, groaning on the floor, or like in Zsasz's case, suffering from part of their face being smeared on the wall. "What are you fools DOING!" Scarecrow raged through the loudspeakers. "You are all going to die of fear when I get my hand on you! However, for now, I will focus on YOU, Jason."
"Was I not dubbed Hazard 3 minutes ago, or was that a hallucination?" I said sarcastically.
"SILENCE!' He screamed. 'No one speaks to the master of fear like that! I will teach you some respect, boy. I hope you're ready for some pain, because you've certainly earned it."
A huge part of the wall started sinking on the far side of the cavern. As it sunk, the earth slowly started rocking. It was gentle at first, but became noticeably as whatever I was going to fight next made its way toward the arena.
"Hazard, I want you to meet someone special. Can you guess who he is?' Crane said through the speakers. 'I'll give you a hint. He weighs 550 pounds, stands 7 feet high, and is the only man to break the Batman. Can you guess who it is?"
"You can't mean..."
"Yes. Meet the one, the only, BANE."
The massive man stomped out into the light, and DAMN was he big. He had tubes going in and out of his body, pumping a green liquid into him. His face was covered by a metal mask, which only showed his mouth and eyes. His backpack hummed, pumping more of the drug into his system. It also looked like it was heavy as hell, because it caused him to hunch over.
"Aw, damn.' I said to myself. 'Shit just got real."