Chapter 2: The Hunt Begins
The Predator, O'rin, watched from behind the electronic field as Batman prepared himself for the upcoming fight.
"Now, let's get this show on the road!" Joker annouced behind the opposite electronic field before running off.
Suddenly two out of four cells with electronic fields containing two inmates each opened up and Batman was faced with four inmates that were looking to tear him to shreds.
Batman waited for one of the thugs to come to him and once he was in close range and about to strike a hit to Batman's jaw with his right hand, the Dark Knight swiftly countered by grabbing his fist in mid-air with his left hand and twisted it to the left before spining right and sending his right elbow to the back of the inmates head.
As he fell to the ground unconscious, a second inmate ran at Batman only to be greeted by a swift right hook to his face.
Using his built up momentum, Batman jumped and sent his left boot into the third inmate's chest which knocked him off his feet and sent him onto his back hard, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him to lose consciouness.
The fourth inmate took advantage of Batman attacking his friend and attempted to jump him from behind, but the caped crusader saw this coming and sent his right elbow into the inmate's chest and then to his face which caused him stagger backwards before Batman turned to face the inmate and send a spiral uppercut to his jaw which lifted the inmate off his feet and onto his back, sending him off to dreamland.
As Batman flexed clenched his fists and twisted his neck, Joker yelled from over a speaker, "I'm just warming you up, Bats. Fresh from Blackgate Correctional Facility, with a combined sentence of seven hundred and fifty-two years. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! Its round two!"
Just then the two remaining gates opened up and Batman was faced with four more inmates.
It was at this time O'rin had seen enough. He knew that the Dark Knight would take down the four remaining inmates with no trouble at all. Besides he had another plan in mind. Batman was determined to catch this Joker and he figured that if he could get to Joker first, O'rin could use him as bait to lure Batman into a trap.
Right now the path the Joker had gone down was currently blocked by two electronic fields so he would have to take a different route. He left the guard Frank Boles and the police commisioner Gordon in the office where they were trying to shut off the electronic field and pounded a foot in front of the electronic door which caused it to open.
X X X
Elsewhere in the security surveilance room, Harley Quinn was brushing her nails while keeping her eyes on the moniters when she noticed something wrong. One of the moniters picked up a door to the cell block where Batman, the Commisioner and Frank Boles were opening.
She looked closely and watched the doors open but saw no one there. Or at least she thought she did. She vaguely saw some kind of silhuette walk through but thought it was her imagination. Either way, the Commisioner might notice the door open and might attempt to escape so she typed on the keyboard and commanded the doors to reclose and lock up until the time was right.
X X X
As a cloaked O'rin walked through the doors, he heard them close and lock up behind him. This was irrelevant at the moment as he started walking down the left corridor and went down the passage that he, Batman and the Commisioner had walked passed when bringing Joker in. He walked a little ways and made an immediate right and before continuing by making a left, he stopped for a moment and decloaked when he saw no security cameras around.
The Predator started tapping a few buttons on his left wristband which caused a red holographic display of the facility and its inner workings to appear. He saw that the corridor he was currently in led to sort of fork.
If he kept going the way he was, making a right would lead him to a place called Extreme Isolation.
If he went straight and turned left, he would enter a chamber that would eventually lead him to the other side of the room he had left Batman in.
Given that Joker was coming from that direction, he would go that way and head him off then use him to set up a trap for the Dark Knight.
After shutting off the hologram map, O'rin recloaked and took off down the corridor. He had passed the path to the right and continued until he came to the door on his left.
He slammed his foot on the ground and caused it to open. Inside, The Predator saw several armed guards just pacing around. Some making conversation, drinking an earth drink known as coffee, some reading papered books called magazines and some sleeping on the job.
The cloaked O'rin simply shook his head.
'What a bunch of slackers.' He thought to himself.
The Predator then looked up and saw a steel platform held up by metal support beams right next to him and jumped up to it, landing gracefully enough not to alert any guards to his presence.
He then saw another platform that higher and further away and decided to go with a running start and then jumped up just barely snagging the edge and hoisting himself up.
Next he saw a ventilation platform that was below him and a small distance away. Without a doubt the landing would make enough noise to alert the guards so he would have to make himself barely reach it.
He jumped and snagged the edge which made little noise caused one of the sleeping guards to jump awake wondering what was going on. He pulled himself up and ran before jumping to the next platform which made no noise.
Seeing no guards on the ground floor between him and the door, O'rin dropped down gently and made his way around the curve to the door. He slammed his foot and made it open which caused the guard that woke up to turn his head and notice that the door was open and yet no one was there.
"Damn doors must be malfunctioning again." He muttered to himself before going back to sleep.
O'rin walked though the door and was about to continue before he heard something coming his way. Though he was cloaked, there was no doubt that someone might notice his shimmer if they walk close enough and he couldn't risk going back and fooling the guard twice.
Looking for a place to hide he looked up and saw a steel grating on the ceiling. He jumped high grabbed the grating and stretched his legs to hold himself up while he pushed the grating open and climbed up to wait for whoever was coming to pass by.
X X X
By this time, Batman had already beaten the four remaining inmates and was listening to Commisioner Gordon over the intercom, "Batman, Joker's taken control of the security gates; he's locked me and the guards in."
"I'll find a way out! Gordon, try and contact the Warden. Let him know what's happened. I'll be back."
On the moniter nearby, Joker appeared running through one of the corridors. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Bats."
"Joker." Batman said.
"I'm in control of the Asylum now. You are not going anywhere I don't want you to. Understand?"
"If you think I'll let you run-." Batman said before he was cut off.
"Blah, blah, blah. Always with the hero speak. Oh I'm getting bored of watching you so why don't you just come and find me." Joker said before the moniter turned off as well as the security gate on the opposite side of the room.
"You know it's a trap." Gordon said over the intercom.
"Of course it is." Batman stated.
Batman then took off down the corridor after the Joker.
X X X
Meanwhile, O'rin watched as the Joker was the one heading his way and went through the electronic doors where he heard a commotion before the sound of gunshots.
He immediately jumped down, the impact causing the doors to open and went through and saw the Joker with a pistol drawn and was shooting at prison guards while unlocking the cells, releasing the vile inmates. The guards who didn't get shot took cover and tried shooting Joker and the inmates while they seized rifles from the fallen guards.
During the commotion, the Predator jumped back atop the platforms he used moments ago and made his way across the room and saw as the Joker went through the electronic doors. O'rin jumped down and paid no heed to the inmates shooting at the guards.
Just as he was about to slam his foot to the floor to open the door, it had opened up and the Predator saw the Joker carrying several containers that contained a type of gas.
The cloaked O'rin stepped out of the way as the Joker dropped them before picking one up by the handle on the one end and spun with momentum before throwing across the room which caused it to crack and spring a leak causing green smoke to fill the air. The Predator scanned the element and his scanners showed that it was a type of laughing gas that was very lethal when inhaled.
The inmates knew what it was and immediately started making their way to the door. The Joker then kicked the remaining containers which caused them to roll into the center of the room, one of which tripped one of his men. The Joker then aimed his pistol at the containers and shot a hole into each of them.
The inmate who had tripped yelled, "Hey, boss, wait up!"
Joker simply replied as he saluted him, "Have a nice trip, pal. Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh!"
The Joker and the remaining inmates then turned and ran out the door as it started to close. O'rin quickly slid through just before it sealed shut.
He then saw the Joker issue orders to his men. "You two go that way and wait for my inside man to club the Commisioner!" Joker pointed in the direction where O'rin had come from. "The rest of you will wait here for the Bat to arrive and take him down. If you fail, I'll take you down!"
The men nodded and did as they were told while Joker ran down the corridor that was labeled Extreme Isolation. O'rin then took off after the clown and went through the door before it closed.
He then watched as Joker shot the guards that were in the room. O'rin saw one take a shot to the bulletproof vest and fall backwards, hitting his head. His partner dragged him into the security office on the left side of the room and engaged the security gate before passing out.
Joker had just shot the last guard remaining in the leg and walked up to him before shooting him in the head. The Joker then walked over toward the railing overlooking a deep pit while on the other side laid two thick metal doors sealed tightly shut.
He pulled out a walkie-talkie and said, "Oh, Harley, could please open up Extreme Isolation for me?"
"Sure thing, Puddin'!" She said over the walkie-talkie.
Moments later the doors opened up, and O'rin knew that if the Joker went in there, he would not be able to reach him so now was the time make his presence known.
X X X
Batman was heading in the direction Joker was heading until he came to a sealed door and then heard that inmate Victor Zsasz had gotten loose and taken a guard hostage.
As he headed for the room where Zsasz was holed up in he typed on his wrist computer and touched his earpiece and spoke.
"Oracle, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear. What's up?" Barbara Gordon aka Oracle and formerly known as Batgirl responded over the comline.
"Joker's escaped custody, he's running free in Arkham." Batman said.
"Do you need anything? Is my dad still there?" She asked with worry in her voice.
"Commissioner Gordon is safe. Joker's not far ahead. I'll stay in contact." Batman then turned off the comline and entered the Pacification Chamber.
"Think about what you're doing, Zsasz!" The one guard who was pleading to the deranged serial killer saw Batman approach him and said, "Oh thank God! It's Zsasz. He's got Mike. He's strapped in the chair. Zsasz has totally lost it!"
"Wait here." Batman said.
"You can't! He'll kill Mike if he sees anyone try to get close." The guard warned Batman.
"He won't see me!" Batman stated.
On the one moniter they could see Officer Mike strapped to an electric chair and Zsasz was standing behind him with a switch in his hand. "If I see anything that looks even a little bit like a bat and this guard dies. Do you here me?" As a warning he gave the guard a quick zap to show that he was serious. Zsasz was so sadistic that everytime he killed someone, he would mark each one on his own body.
"Please. You gotta save him."
Batman went around the guard up a flight of stairs to a balcony overlooking the room.
Batman used his grappling hook to swing from the old gargoyles to get behind Zsasz, at that moment Batman swooped down and knocked Zsasz unconcious.
"Someone put this animal back in his cell." A guard yelled.
Batman then heard someone on the nearby moniter speak, "Can ya hear me? Is this thing on?"
Recognizing that voice, he turned and saw on the moniter Harleen Quinzel aka Harley Quinn, a girl who appeared to be dressed in a combination of a nurse and schoolgirl outfit with leather high boots that went up to her mid thighs and a leather corset. She had white make-up with pink blush on her cheeks and a black mask on her eyes. Her blonde hair tied into two pig-tails.
"Oh. Hiya, B-Man! Harley Quinn here. How do you like my new uniform? Pretty hot, huh? Oh, I got something to show ya. One second, B-Man." She said as she ran off camera and pushed into view a chair holding the Warden who was tied up and his mouth covered with duct tape.
"Ta-da!"
She walked back into view and placed an arm around the Warden. "I'm now subbing for the old man. Old Sharpie's never been happier."
She seductively put her leg on his thigh and pulled his head against her left breast.
She then approached the camera and said, "In case you haven't noticed, today's the Joker's big homecoming, and you're the guest of honor."
"You have one chance to surrender, Quinn." Batman said fiercely.
"Tempting, Bats, but no dice. Now the inmates are running the asylum. Well, technically they're Joker's goons from Blackgate, but you get the idea. Bye bye for now!" She said before she swung her cain which destroyed the camera making the moniter turn snowy.
Batman then recieved a call from Oracle saying that Arkham Island had vanished from the network grid and that Joker threaten to bomb Gotham City if anyone tries on of off the island. Batman deduced that he was lying as a ruse to keep peopl away and began to search for a way out.
He removed a vent hatch before crawling through the ducts toward the corridor the Joker ran down. He could hear gunfire several rooms away and started to worry as to how far things had gotten out of hand yet he did his best to hide it.
He exited the duct to find a room filled with Joker Gas and people were still trapped inside. He entered through an open hatch and managed to save three hanging officers and a left behind inmate before knocking him out cold. He then tossed a Batarang at the fan switch to make the gas dissipate and proceeded after Joker.
X X X
The Joker was grinning widely as the door to Extreme Isolation opened and out came a huge dangling cell. Suddenly he heard a strange noise, like a cat purring but it sounded gutteral.
Joker turned his head back toward the door he entered and could swear that there was someone standing behind him.
Suddenly a tall, huge figure appeared out of thin air before him.
The figure looked strange as his body was reptillian green and he wore a brown loinclothe, fishnetting, strange armor and carried strange yet very lethal weapons. Joker heard that strange noise again and knew then that it was coming from this strange individual.
"Oh, what do we have here? A new inmate...or are you some goody two-shoed vigilante looking to make a name for himself by locking me up?" Joker said to get a rise out of the Predator.
O'rin clearly knew that the Joker was mistaking him for some kind of human and decided to show him just how wrong he was by unsheating his right wrist-claw.
Sha-king!
"Oh, what big claws you've got. Are you trying to compensate for something?" The Joker taunted.
"RAAAOOOR!"O'rin let out his natural Predator war cry before he stalked over to the Joker.
"Hmm, clearly I've upset you. Let me make it up to you." Joker said as he took out a flower and held it before him. "Flower?"
O'rin knew that this was no ordinary flower as a small stream of acid squirted out at him. He merely stepped back to avoid it and he let out a growl of annoyance.
"Oh, don't like my generosity, do you?" Joker said with an angry offended tone. "Well, then I'll just have to teach you some manners."
Joker then pulled out a gun, aimed it at O'rin and pulled the trigger.
Out came confetti and a sign that read, BANG!
"Heh, heh, heh, heh!" Joker laughed which made O'rin charge up and grab Joker by the throat and lift him off his feet. The Joker gagged, "What's the matter, can't take a little joke?"
While O'rin looked at the Joker's skull, Joker pulled out another gun and pulled the trigger and this time out shot a boxing mit which hit O'rin in his exposed chest and knocked him back causing him to lose his grip on Joker.
As Joker gasped for air he laughed, "Heh, heh, now that's what I call a punch-line." Joker then took the opportunity and ran up to the large cell dangling over the dark pit that held water at the bottom and climbed on top of it. "I wasgonna save this for the ol' Bats, but since you're here I think I'll let you play with my little friend."
The Joker then tapped his foot on the cell and the door opened revealing a ridiculously bulky inmate with glowing green eyes standing at the Predator's exact height.
"Ooh, did I say little? I meant big! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Joker laughed as the inmate jumped out of the cell and onto the floor with O'rin.
The huge inmate roared before charging at the Predator who rolled out of the way as the inmate crashed into the wall. As he was dazed, O'rin activated his triangular targeting beam and aimed at the inmate before firing his plasma caster.
WHOO-BAAM!
A ray of blue light shot out and collided with the inmate's left arm, severing it off at the bicep.
The inmate screamed in agony as its arm fell to the floor, letting out a mixture of red blood and some kind of green fluid.
"Ooohh, talk about hardcore! Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh!" Joker laughed as he sat back and watched the epic battle take place.
The huge inmate then shook off the loss of its arm and walked over to one of the dead guards and picked him up with his right hand. Once he had the corse in hand he threw it at the the Predator who instinctively aimed and fired his plasma caster at it and caused the body to explode into a bloody mess.
"Whoa, you just desicrated a corpse there!" Joker ranted in slight shock and disbelief.
O'rin tried to ignore the clown's rants and taunts as the inmate charged at him again and this time the Predator jumped over him and sent a quick slash to the inmate's back as he ran into the guard rail at the edge of the floor near the pit. He managed to keep himself from falling over and proceeded to turn and reface the Predator.
Suddenly the inmate felt a surge of pain in his chest and started groaning in agony.
O'rin looked at the convulsing inmate with curiousity and scanned his body. Apparently he was a human who was injected with some kind of steroid and it was having a bad effect on him.
After a moment of convulsing an internal splattering sound indicated that the inmate's heart gave out and he fell over face first.
Joker looked disappointed as he said, "Well, that was unexpected, wasn't it?" The Joker then rubbed his temple as he shook his head. "Oh well, note to self, need stronger test subjects." Suddenly the dangling cell started to retract back into the Extreme Isolation. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have a party to organize. I've got guests flying in from all over Arkham. You'll see, hehehehe!"
As the door closed tight, O'rin let out growl of frustration. The one thing he could use to lure the Batman into a trap was now locked up tight somewhere and he knew he wouldn't be able to break through that door and follow after him.
The Predator decided to take out his frustration on the dead bulky inmate. He walked over grabbed it by the bald scalp and sliced its head clean from neck before letting out a roar.
Normally it was not in his kind's nature to take the head of an opponent that didn't die by their hand but he felt that he had fought honorably before he convulsed and plus he needed to study the strange chemical that was mixed with his blood and this seemed like the best way to do it.
After he was finished, he heard a noise behind him and he reactivated his cloaking device before climbing onto a grating on the ceiling.
He heard the door hiss open and saw his prey enter the room.
X X X
Batman entered the room to Extreme Isolation and was surprised to see a large dead inmate lying on the floor. He understood the dead cops, but this was something out of the ordinary to him.
He walked over and saw that the dead inmate was short his left arm and head, had a deep slash on his back and that he was leaking blood and some kind of green chemical. He looked around and saw the left arm on the floor across the room and notice that the wound was fused and cauterized. He also saw remnents of a dead guard blown to bits with the torn edges of the body parts also fused and cauterized.
"Hmm, it seems something happened before I arrived. I better set up a crime scene to determine what happened." Batman said to himself as he engaged his sonar vision, or detective mode, and searched the area.
He scanned the dead inmate's arm across the room and said, "Judging by the way the wound is cauterized, some type of explosive severed the inmate's arm."
He then scanned the remnents of the dead guard and said, "From what scanners indicate, the guard was dead before he was desicrated by the same force that severed the inmate's left arm."
He then scanned the dead inmate, first the remaining stump of his left arm and said, "This wound is cauterized too. What could've severed his arm?" He then scanned the slash mark on his back and said, "Whatever took place here left the inmate with a bad cut." He then did an internal scan where his heart was and said, "Hmm, it seems that whatever took place here put too much pressure on this man's heart." Finally he scanned the severed neck and said, "Unlike the other injuries, the inmate appeared to have died after he was decapitated. Someone probably wanted a trophy."
And that's when it hit him, trophy.
The last time he had seem someone brutally injured and decapitated after death was when that alien creature he code named Predator came to Gotham hunting mobsters until he caught the creature's interest.
He never forgot the fight he had with that creature as despite all the times he came close to dying, that particular event seemed the closest.
Apparently there was now a new Predator here at Arkham and it had killed this inmate.
But why? Is it seeking to hunt him again? If so, why kill the inmate? Is he hunting Joker too?
Despite all the questions, Batman now at least knew he had bigger problems besides Joker.
Suddenly he heard a groan to his left and he turned to see a guard standing up behind a laser gate.
"Ah...My head!" He moaned. "Quick! Get in here before more of them come back!"
He went over to the control box and deactived the laser gate.
Batman approached the guard and the guard said calmly, "They came out of nowhere! I dragged Jerry in here, powered up the gate. Must've passed out."
"Did you see what happened here?" Batman asked.
"Not really, but I did hear Joker calling someone to open up that door over there." The guard explained.
"What's on the other side?"
"We call it Extreme Isolation. Only way in is via the transport station."
"Open it!" Batman ordered.
The guard nodded and said, "Not a problem. I'll just need to call another cell."
The guard walked over to a computer terminal and typed on it only to get an ACCESS DENIED pop-up.
"Something's wrong here. The main security loop is locked." The guard said as a moniter turned on and showed the Joker.
"Having a little trouble up there?" Joker asked.
"Joker!" Batman called out.
"You were expecting maybe Two-Face?"
"There's no escape, Joker." Batman stated firmly.
"Escape?" Joker said in feign bewilderment. "Silly bat! I don't want to escape. I'm having waaay too much fun. I even have you here to keep a smile on my face."
"Not for long."
"Really? We'll see. Ta ta." Joker said as he was about to walk off-screen when he stopped. "Oh, I forgot to say." He the turned the camera toward anoter moniter showing Frank Boles and Commisioner Gordon. "Just in case you were planning on following me, I've arranged for a little insurance. Gordon is on his way to Harley as we speak."
On the moniter, Batman saw Frank Boles strike Gordon on the back of the head with a jimmy-stick, knocking him unconscious.
"Officer Boles?" He said with slight surprise but then again not too surprised.
Joker laughed and said, "If I see you trying to follow me, he dies. Harley is looking forward to it. Maybe I'll film it and post it on the internet."
As the screen went off the guard told Batman, "The transport system is down. The best I can do is open the door you came in. Sorry."
As Batman left to the station area he said, "I should head back to the Holding Cells. Boles wasn't too smart, he'll have left a trail."
As Batman left Extreme Isolation, Oracle called him.
"Batman! What's happening?"
"Joker's escaped. He sealed himself off. He's got your father!"
"Dad!"
"Don't worry. I'm getting him back!"
"Okay, I know...but..."
"Oracle, I'm getting him back! Joker will not win. I won't let him. I'm starting where he was taken. A guard named Frank Boles attacked him. If I find Frank, I'll find your father!"
"Bruce, hurry. Please!"
"Also I found the body of an inmate in Extreme Isolation. Judging by the way he was killed, I'd say it was the work of a Predator."
"You mean those alien creatures that came to Gotham and hunted you down to try and kill you?"
"The very same. I sensed that there was something amiss when I apprehended Joker at City Hall. It seems that the creature followed us here to Arkham and has already began its hunt."
"Bruce, you need to be careful! OIne of those things nearly killed you the last time and with Joker running around along with all the other inmates, you won't stand a chance against another one this time around."
"I know. Right now I'm gonna concentrate on finding and rescuing your father while I try and avoid the creature. I'll get back to you as soon as I can." Batman finished before he switched off the comline.
X X X
The Predator descended from the ceiling grating the moment Batman left Extreme Isolation and had overheard everything that had transpired. Whoever this Frank Boles guy was, he was in league with Joker and had taken the Batman's friend captive.
The Predator would have to locate Boles and acquire the Commissioner for himself to use as a new leverage to lure the Batman into a trap.
O'rin felt his excitement renew itself as he continued on with his hunt.
It took a while but I managed to complete the second chapter.
Author's Note - I did say that I would be killing off some of the Rogues Gallery but won't spoil it, I will however tell you all that there are certain characters that are off-limits, one in particular is Harley Quinn since she's my favorite. Everyone else is fair game but I'm still deciding which ones to kill off and which ones not to. It may be one character or maybe several characters but I do intend to keep a hand full alive. Time will tell.
Next Chapter: Tracking Boles
While Batman follows a trail left by Frank Boles, the Predator is one step ahead of him as the hunter seeks new bait.
