The lock was ancient, having been made a couple centuries in the past. Rust covered it and the metal door it was attached to, giving it the impression it was just as old as it was suspected. The air within the chamber was stale and hot due to the lack of air flow.
Suddenly, the locking mechanism began to turn, begrudgingly at first, creaking with every struggling inch it was forced to make until there was a loud click.
The door then swung open, the hinges creaking until Black Canary and company stood in the open threshold. Kneeling before the lock was Wonder Girl, who was blinking her eyes at the sight, an absurdly large lock pick in hand. It had been summoned through the mystical energies by the Rachel girl and the blonde had reluctantly used it. There was some undercurrent going on here that Black Canary was clearly missing. If she didn't know any better, she would've said Wonder Girl had experience as a burglar.
"Oh my god!" Green Bean exclaimed. "What's that smell?!"
Cyborg immediately slapped the green kid against the back of his head.
"Ow! Why'd you do that?!"
"Shut it, Grass Stain. We're trying to be quiet here," the cybernetic teen responded just as loudly.
"Oh! That's right!"
Black Canary shot a threatening glare at the two, one they both caught as they went silent. Never had Canary wanted to strangle a couple of kids, but these two were getting on her nerves. There was no such thing as professionalism and any semblance of stealth was ignored due to their big mouths. Perhaps she was a little harsh on the Cyborg guy since she had the feeling he would follow orders, but Green Bean? No, forget it, he probably never had a quiet moment in his life.
Why had she thought coming to this island with them was a good idea?
"Inside, now," she growled lowly, causing Green Bean to gulp before darting inside. The others meekly followed him, save for Starfire, who still seemed oblivious to her surroundings, and Red Robin, who had shoved his face into his palm. It didn't need to be said that he was embarrassed about the entire thing.
Once inside and the door was firmly shut behind them, Black Canary stared them all down, waiting for their next outburst, one that thankfully never came. "Okay, this prison is a big place with a lot of unknowns. We all have to be careful from this point further. No unnecessary talking; no heroic sacrifices; only survival. We're in, we find what we need to know about Bane, and then we get out. If everything goes right, we'll be in and out before anyone knows we're here."
Green Bean raised his hand then. Already the blonde vigilante just knew she was going to regret letting him speak. "Umm, what do you mean by heroic sacrifices?"
Canary took in a deep breath. To give credit where it was due, that wasn't a bad question. "No sacrificing yourself for the team, no rushing into a hopeless situation that will get you killed—that sort of thing."
"That is a most welcomed idea," Starfire agreed. "It would sadden us all if one of us died horrifically here."
"So our plan is to search this entire place as one big group?" Wonder Girl asked, her arms crossed over her chest. "Won't that be conspicuous?"
"Are you saying we should split up?" Black Canary questioned, a frown appearing on her face. Already, she felt like that was a bad idea. If the trip here was any indication, none of these kids should be separated.
"We could cover more ground that way," Rachel agreed. "I would think two smaller groups would suffice."
Wonder Girl was studying the older blonde as her friend spoke. As if to back her up, she added, "This isn't our first rodeo doing this. We can handle this."
Black Canary shot a look to Red Robin, who only gave her a nod. Everything in her screamed this was a bad idea, but there was a point in moving around in two groups. That would cover them in the event there was a fight instead of being overwhelmed on their own. These were also not ordinary kids.
"Alright…" she slowly acquiescented.
"Alright!" Green Bean shouted, pumping a fist into the air. "I know me and Cyborg will—"
Oh hell no. There was no way Canary was going to chance being stuck with either of those two together. That was just asking for trouble. No, they were going to separate those two.
"Cyborg will be with me," the blonde vigilante stated, interrupting the green kid's planning. Pointing a finger at him, she then moved it over to Red Robin. "You'll be with Red Robin."
"Huh? But why?" he asked confused.
"Because you can't help but talk with Cyborg. If we're going to maintain stealth, you two will be separated. I won't have this operation fall apart because you two can't stop being immature."
As blunt as she was, Canary had the feeling that maybe she had been too blunt, especially with the beaten puppy look that appeared on Green Bean's face. Starfire, thankfully came to the rescue as she placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It will be okay, Gar," she told him optimistically. "I will go along with you and Red Robin. I hope my presence will be an adequate substitute."
Canary could practically see the adoration in Green Bean's eyes as he looked up to the redhead. "Oh, yeah, you'll be more than adequate."
Wonder Girl rolled her eyes. "Okay, I call dibs on Black Canary and Cyborg." She then directed a look to Rachel. "You can be with those two and Red."
"Thanks," Rachel replied, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
Deciding to ignore the exchange, Canary stepped right up to Red Robin. "You're in charge," she told him quietly. "Do whatever you have to to keep everyone alive, got it?"
Red Robin gave her a sharp nod. "Understood."
Giving his shoulder a comforting squeeze, she then dropped her hand to her side. "Alright, let's move out."
Due to the prison being of a different time period and not seeing modern upgrades, it was rather easy to sneak through the hallways. Black Canary was used to having to avoid security cameras, laser beams, and advanced security systems. Here though, there was a noticeable lack of security cameras. Needing Cyborg to disable them was unnecessary.
Reaching a corner, the blonde vigilante peeked around it, seeing no sign of guard patrols. They had already spotted a couple, but far less than what she had expected with such rudimentary security protocols. Thankfully they hadn't had to engage the patrols, so their presence had gone unnoticed.
Now, Black Canary was used to having to remember building blueprints for jobs like these. You couldn't risk using a physical one lest it put you in a vulnerable position, not to mention the time it took to pull it out, open it up, search for your location and where you wanted to go, then reverse all of that when putting it away.
That's where Cyborg came in handy. He had scanned the blueprint onboard their yacht and was keeping an electronic copy available in his mechanical eye. All she had to do was look to him and he would point them in the direction they wanted to go.
Speaking of which, Canary looked to the cyborg and he immediately pointed to the right. "Right, then the first left," he whispered to her.
Responding with a sharp nod, she then moved around the corner, followed by Wonder Girl and Cyborg. She quickly made her way to the next intersecting hallway, peered around the corner and again saw it was empty. Taking the left, she headed all the way to the end, where it ended with a sharp left. Stopping at the corner, she again looked to Cyborg.
The teen was quiet for a moment before he held a hand up, sticking up three fingers. "Third door, on right."
That must be the archive. Again looking around the corner and seeing no one, she then darted around the corner and headed down the corridor. One door passed, then a second. Finally, she found the third one and stood to a side, looking right at Wonder Girl. The blonde girl had stopped on the other side, Cyborg behind her, and stared right back.
Reaching a hand up, Canary grabbed hold of the doorknob and tired it, finding it to be locked. Again, she looked at Wonder Girl, who was still looking blankly at her.
"It's locked," she prompted the younger girl.
"So?" she whispered back.
"Think you can open it?"
The girl's eyes narrowed as she scowled. "What are you trying to get at?"
What was with the attitude? This was not the time for it. "You picked the lock that got us into this place. This one should be a cinch."
It took a moment, but then Wonder Girl got what she was talking about. "I don't have a pick set," she murmured.
Immediately, Canary had a hand in her belt and pulled out a set. "Here."
Wonder Girl stared at her. Then, "If you have them, why don't you open it?"
"Because I can knock people out without making any noise; that's something you admitted you couldn't do. Now open the damn lock while I play lookout."
The girl was scowling again, but she snatched the lock pick set from her, kneeling down in front of the door as she got to work. There was a lot of indistinguishable muttering all the while.
After a few moments, Wonder Girl unlocked the door and pulled it open, Black Canary shooting inside to scout the area and finding it empty of people. Perfect. As the name "archive" indicated, the room was filled with filing cabinets, which lined the walls of the room. There was a large folding table in the center of the room, where a few bulky folders were situated.
That was when Wonder Girl and Cyborg slipped into the room and closed the door behind them. "Now what, glorious leader?" the blonde girl snarked.
Canary shot the girl a warning look, one she was clearly ignoring. Damn self-absorbed teenagers. "I don't know what your problem is, nor do I care. We're doing something incredibly dangerous right now and your attitude is not helping. Now either make yourself useful and start looking through the file cabinets, or sit your ass in the corner and let the adults do their job."
Wonder Girl's mouth dropped open as her brow furrowed, an expression of being insulted. Thankfully, Cyborg placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "Let it go, Cass. This isn't the time to get into a fight."
Immediately, the girl shrugged the hand off and marched away, stopping in front of a file cabinet and roughly opening it. Keeping an eye on her, Canary then slowly moved to the table and opened one of the folders, finding a lot of hand notes on the top page.
Now this was going to be a pain. Peña Duro kept paper charts on all of its prisoners, so digging around in here was going to take a lot of time. Most of this was going to be unnecessary since they were only here for intel on Bane and his associates. That wasn't even a percent of a percent in this place.
Shifting through some of the papers, Canary came to the conclusion that the file she was reading was not what they were after. Pushing it aside, she went to the next one, doing the same. The third and last one was also a dead end.
Which left the other file cabinets. By then, Wonder Girl had shoved the drawer she was on shut and was opening another. Cyborg seemed to be going at a slower clip as he opened a drawer as far as it could go. Standing to a side of it, he purposefully dragged a finger through each and every file and subsequently each piece of paper contained within.
That seemed like a strange way to look through files.
Several minutes went by and by then each one was on a different file cabinet. Nothing had been found as of yet and even from where she stood, Black Canary could see Wonder Girl was getting more and more irritable.
Finally, when she couldn't take it anymore, the blonde girl shoved the drawer she was on closed rougher than was necessary. "There has to be a faster way to do this!" she exclaimed. "We can't just read each and every one of these folders until we find what we want!"
Before Canary could reprimand her, Cyborg responded. "If you want, you can guard the door," he told her. "I'm just scanning everything and having my processor shift through everything. It'll take awhile before I get the entire room, but at least this way we don't have to manually search everything."
That wasn't a bad idea at all actually. Immediately, Black Canary walked over to the teen and opened up a drawer next to him. "Think you can do two at a time?" she asked.
"Maybe if I stood in front of them and you thumb through the pages," he replied.
"Then you stand right in front of these two drawers. Wonder Girl, you thumb through the one on the right and I'll do this one. We might be able to cut our time in half this way."
That said, they were still going to be going through a lot of documents. At the very least, they could cut out a lot of time reading them to get the gist. Cyborg's internal processors would be able to find exactly what they wanted in minutes once the whole archive was digitally recorded.
They just didn't need someone poking their head in here in the meantime.
Somebody needed to change the light bulbs in this place. There was barely any light coming from the ones that were screwed in and how was anybody suppose to find their way around this place?
Taking lead, Red Robin was the one who was scouting ahead, looking around corners for any signs of life. So far, they had only encountered a couple prison guards, but those two large men hadn't even known they were there, instead strolling through the place like they owned it.
Without needing to say "all's clear," the masked teen gestured for the others to move closer, all the while turning the corner and inching down the corridor. Keeping an eye towards the ceiling, he frowned at the lack of security devices. You would think there would be cameras all over the place, yet so far the halls were absent of them.
Either this place was underfunded, or this was intentional. Now that he thought about it, if a guard wanted to assault a prisoner, the hallways would be the best place to do it. Out of sight, no cameras to record evidence, and the poor guy fell down a flight of stairs was a ready-made excuse.
"Dude, why is it so quiet here?" Beast Boy asked, his voice a little too loud for Red Robin's liking. Also, way too close.
"Ssh!" he hissed, quickly looking around and straining his hearing for any sounds of footsteps. "Keep it down!"
"Sorry!" the green shape-shifter told him. After a moment, "I'm serious, though. It's way too quiet in here."
Clenching his teeth for a second, he finally asked, "What makes you say that?"
"Hello, ears? They aren't for decoration," Beast Boy replied, flapping said ears to draw attention to them.
That's right, the green male did have better hearing than most. However, it was best to get a second opinion, just in case. "Sense anything?"
That was obviously to Raven. A look at her, though, made him wonder if he should have asked her anything. The bridge of her nose was wrinkled and it looked like she was struggling, though how he could tell that, he did not know. Still, she did respond.
"I am sensing a lot of things, and none of them are good," she stated. "There is a lot of...ill intent. Negative feelings. I can especially sense them in that direction." She added a gesture of a hand that slipped out from her cloak. Following the direction she was pointing in, Red Robin found that whatever she was sensing was further down this hallway.
"Can you give a little more details?" He was hesitant to ask that, but knew that he needed a little more information than just negative feelings and ill intent.
"Red Robin, let me put it this way. We are in a building that is filled to the brim with sex-starved, sociopathic convicts. What do people like that think and feel on a daily basis?" Raven stated in the most clinical tone you could imagine.
"The showers aren't that way, are they?" Beast Boy squeaked.
"Let us hope not. I do not think our young, nubile bodies would survive their attentions," Starfire agreed.
That was an image he so did not need.
"I'm guessing that's where the cells are," Red Robin said slowly. "Best we don't go that way. Let's…let's go down that hallway."
"That hallway" was the first one to their left. From there, they eventually came across a stairwell, which they wordlessly agreed to go up. Everything was tense as they climbed up, careful not to make too much noise with each step they took. Eventually, Red Robin picked a random floor to exit and took a left once out of the stairwell.
He hoped he was leading them in the right direction. Now would be a hell of a time to get lost. Currently, they were in a hallway with doors on either side. They looked like the kind of doors one would have used in the 50s. How they hadn't rotted off was anyone's guess.
"Someone's coming!" Beast Boy hissed, head twisted around to look behind them.
Already Starfire had glowing, green energy forming in her hands. There were squeaking wheels that accompanied footsteps, which meant someone was pushing something—a trolley maybe?
Regardless, he was already reaching for the first door handle he could find and grabbed it. Luckily it wasn't locked and motioned for everyone to go in. Closing the door behind them, Red Robin soon found that they were all stuffed in a janitor's closet with barely any room.
"This could be better," Raven commented.
At least it wasn't Cassie who was stuck in here with him.
"Why does it smell?" Beast Boy complained, wrinkling his nose. "Does nobody know how to screw the caps on right?"
Red Robin tensed up as the noises from outside their cramped hiding place drew nearer. Belatedly, he wondered if it was a janitor trolley that was being pushed. But then that would mean...crap. They'd be coming here, wouldn't they?
Voices could be heard now, getting louder and louder. What was being said couldn't be made out, but that was kinda the least of the masked teen's worries. Every second seemed to bring them closer and closer to disaster.
And then they were passing by, the voices, the footsteps, the squeaking wheels. Red Robin waited with baited breath, wondering if this was too good to be true.
"They should be past us; we should get going," Raven spoke up, her black-glowing eyes reverting back to normal.
Ah, maybe some assistance from Ravan would get them out of this. Time to take advantage of her special abilities. Carefully opening the door, he took a quick look around before taking point and leading the group of four out of there. Letting Beast Boy's hearing to tell him which direction their unexpected company had gone, they went in the opposite direction and went through another door as quick as possible. Hopefully this would be close to where they...needed...to…
Red Robin had walked out onto a catwalk of all things, which was a bit surprising. Did prisons have these kind of things? Well, this one did, but that wasn't what was interesting. No, it was all the machinery belone that grabbed his attention. There was a long conveyor belt where men in prison jumpsuits were placing empty canisters. From there, they were carried merrily on their way until they reach one large machine that then pour some weird green liquid into them.
After being filled to the brim, the belt would move the canister further along where another inmate would place a top on it and a second one would seal it shut. After that, it was moved further down where it was picked up by two more men in jumpsuits who would place it on a trolley with other canisters. Once full, the trolley would be moved and another inmate would push an empty one to replace it, the whole process continuing without pause.
Oh, and there were like ten lines of this happening. What the hell were they seeing and was this normal for a prison?
"I am unfamiliar with the concept of prisons on this planet, but I feel that this is not normal," Starfire remarked.
"No shit," Red Robin found himself saying.
"For realz," Beast Boy agreed.
"I too also noticed the absence of defecation, however what I understand less is Beast Boy's butchering of his own language," the Tamaranian added.
Okay, he should have been more careful with his choice of words. Beast Boy too. With that said, there was one question that needed to be answered. From where was that green stuff coming from? What was it? How was it being made? Based on the apparatus over the conveyor belt, he could see pipes that led to the far wall, probably to a completely different room. And what do you know, on the far end of this catwalk, he could see a door.
"Let's get to the other side and see what's going on behind that door," he told the other three. "Raven, think you can keep us covered?"
"I'm beginning to feel taxed, but I should be able to keep any prying eyes from noticing us," Raven informed him, her eyes flashing black for the fraction of a second.
Okay, they needed to find some other ways to keep the cloak-wearing girl from overexerting herself. While he didn't have the greatest understanding of her powers, he did have a good idea, and based on some of the things she had said earlier, the kind of emotional affect coming from the inmates should be very negative and overpowering due to their numbers.
Still, they needed to find out what the hell was going on here.
Making their way down the catwalk, they reached the door he had spotted and found it too was unlocked. Passing through it, they found another large room that was about as industrial as the one they had just left. Unlike the previous one, this one held several sealed off vats that just so happened to have various pipes connected to them. Some pipes went into the wall while others connected to a large, metal...thing.
That thing might be some kind of blender or mixer or something, judging by the fact that a few inmates were pouring...stuff into it. It was kinda hard to tell it if was solid or liquid or whatever else it could be from where they were.
"They are manufacturing," Starfire summed up.
"I don't know what that means, but what are they making?" Beast Boy asked.
And that was the sixty-four thousand dollar question.
It had taken a long time to get every single document scanned in the archive. It was miraculous that no one had caught them the entire time.
Currently, Black Canary was creeping through the halls, leading Wonder Girl and Cyborg behind her. The original plan had been to head back the way they came. Unfortunately, a patrol had been coming from that direction, so they had to go the other way. What at once had been empty hallways now had a patrol of guards around every other corner.
So, to be frank, they were lost. Cyborg was trying to make sense of the seemingly random turns they had made and place it on his digital blueprint of the prison, having the occasional success. Canary was on high alert, one gut instinct away from beating the next patrol down with her fists.
Making yet another turn, they were creeping down the corridor, the occasional doorway passing them by. Eyes darting from side to side, the blonde vigilante searched for any possible threat that would force them to deviate from their plan any further.
It was because of this that she spotted it. Slowing to a stop, Black Canary stared at a metal door, one that was well polished and, well, new-looking. It stood out from the last century look this place had been conveying.
"Why are we stopped now?" Wonder Girl whispered from behind her.
Gesturing with a hand, the older woman responded, "Doesn't that look out of place here?"
The two teens looked to the door, studied it for a moment, then returned their attention back to her. "Not really," the younger blonde replied. "Can we get going?"
Canary straightened out her posture and turned to fully face the metal door. "Look at it. What's a door like that doing in a place like this?"
"Because it's a prison. Prisons have doors."
Wow, this girl was really observant, wasn't she? "Compare this door to the archive. That one was old and made of wood. This one is steel and newly-installed."
That caused Wonder Girl to pause. "I think she's onto something," Cyborg slowly agreed.
At last they were on the same page. "We need to check this out," Canary declared before she stepped to the door, grabbing the handle and twisting it. The knob turned and the door swung out easily, the hinges not even squealing from rust.
Moving into the room, Black Canary knew she had been right. There was a hallway that looked like it belonged in an office building back in Gotham rather than this 18th century prison. There was tile flooring and cream-colored walls. Walking down the corridor, the vigilante was back on high alert, searching for any immediate threats.
They reached a doorway soon after, taking a moment to open the door and peek inside. It was an empty room, so they moved on from it quickly. Finding another door, they investigated this as well, finding a messy office, a desk littered with paperwork and diagrams pinned to the wall. Making sure Cyborg did a quick scan of the room, they once more moved on.
It was the third room they checked that landed them pay dirt. It was a small lab with room enough for a table covered in lab tech. A microscope, tubes, beakers, Bunsen burner, and chemicals covered the table. In the corner was a closed laptop computer, one that was clearly off as there weren't any lights flashing from the device. That was the first sign of modern technology here and the off-status would've explained why Cyborg hadn't been able to connect with it.
Lastly, and more importantly, there was a man in the room. He had this fatherly look about him, one that was helped by the suit he wore. From behind a set of thick-rimmed glances, he stared at them patiently. "I seem to have some unexpected guests," he remarked casually.
Behind her, Black Canary felt the teens stiffen. They were on their guards, ready to attack. While that was nice of them to acknowledge their current position, a fight was not what they needed right now. Taking center stage, the blonde vigilante asked, "Who are you?"
The man raised a hand to his glasses and removed them, using a handkerchief to clean them. "I am Dr. Randolph Porter. And you are?"
"Just visiting."
"So I see." Porter replaced his glasses on his face, his handkerchief falling onto the table in front of him. "From your current dress, I assume you aren't just passing through. You're looking for something." He then spread his arms out to either side of him. "I believe this is what you were seeking."
"So what if it is?" Wonder Girl spat out, shifting nervously on her feet. "What are you even doing here?"
Porter didn't look the least bit offended by the girl's sharp retort. "Isn't it obvious? I am a scientist."
Yes, it was obvious, but that still didn't answer Wonder Girl's question. "And what exactly are you working on here?" Black Canary repeated for her.
The corner of the scientist's mouth twitched up. "A project of much importance, I assure you. Unfortunately, there are only so many places that allow me the freedom I need to fully operate."
"Just answer the question," Cyborg demanded as he took a step to stand right next to Canary. "We don't care what face you put on it, just tell us."
"If you insist." Porter appraised Cyborg with an eye, though Canary suspected it was out of professional curiosity more than anything. After all, he claimed to be a scientist and Cyborg was the epitome of science. "I must assume that if you are here, you have already come across Venom."
While Black Canary kept a neutral look on her face, the two teens did not, looking befuddled by the response. "What's Venom?" Wonder Girl asked.
"A super-steroid," Porter answered. "Its purpose is to enhance strength, speed, and stamina in a subject. There are even some regenerative attributes if used correctly."
That sounded all too familiar. In fact, Canary was willing to gamble this man had something to do with Bane and she knew just what to do to prove this. "You're talking about Project Gilgamesh."
For once, Porter looked surprised. "You've heard about my project?" Bingo. They had their man. "My, my, you are well-informed."
That was when a thoughtful look appeared on the doctor's face. "How did you come across this information? Only Peña Duro is aware of what I do, since most governments frown on the use of human test subjects. The only way you could have found out is if you encountered one of the test subjects…"
His eyes then brightened. "You've met Bane, haven't you."
Black Canary clenched her hands into fists. "You're the one that made him."
"Indeed I did. He is the pinnacle of what Gilgamesh is capable of." Porter than moved to his laptop and opened it, turning it on. A few moments passed before his fingers tapped on the keyboard. "Allow me to show you something."
From the ceiling, a projector turned on, casting a light onto the far wall. It took a moment, but Black Canary realized some sort of film was being played. There was no sound being played, so the black and white image was taking up all of the attention. Someone was holding a small board at the bottom of the image, PROJECT GILGAMESH it read. SUBJECT #42.
Subject #42? Porter had made a casual mention of human test subjects. It didn't take much to come to the conclusion there had been forty one previous test subjects. Looking to the rest of the image, Black Canary saw a man strapped down to a table, his features covered up by some sort of cloth hood. Tubes hung from the ceiling and reached down to the man. Other people in surgical attire milled around until they all suddenly stopped.
For several moments, nothing happened. Then the man on the table spasmed, his body practically leaping off of the table, but was held down due to the restraints at his wrist and ankles. Back arched, the man seemed to thrash about before his body slammed back down on the table. His body seemed to be growing bigger too, enlarging to insane proportions.
And then one of his hands shot up into the air, ripping the wrist restraint right off the table. That was followed shortly by the other restraints giving out, the surgical staff suddenly running around in a panic. The enlarged man then shot a hand out and grabbed one of the surgeons right by their neck. With what looked like relative ease, he threw the main off the screen, just as men in security uniforms appeared on screen. The first one to arrive was immediately grabbed by the large man and also thrown into the air, only the guard was sent flying towards the camera, his back growing larger until the feed jolted and became static.
"As you can see, it was a success," Porter explained, looking to the static. "I had searched long and far for a specimen worth the effort of this project and Bane was my absolution. I had long theorized that Venom, when injected right into the brain, increased the chances of creating a super-human. He is my proof."
"Are you telling me this Venom stuff makes people super-human?" Cyborg gasped after a moment.
"Quite right. I had originally began with pills, but that delivery system was inefficient, not to mention led to addiction. The longer one was on the Venom capsules, the more they craved them, not that I can fault them. If I had access to such strength, I would desire it as well."
That caused Black Canary to narrow her eyes. So this Venom stuff was addictive? That was pretty significant. If it was addictive in pill form, it had to be in liquid form as well. A medication didn't lose certain properties because it was in a different form. This Venom would be no different.
Unfortunately, it seemed Wonder Girl had the same thoughts. Unlike Black Canary, she voiced those thoughts. "But if Venom is addictive in pill form, wouldn't it still be addictive when injected into the brain?"
"Quite right," Porter admitted. "Though I have no basis, it is possible that prolonged exposure in this method of delivery could create an addiction so great that one would have to take Venom on a daily basis. The withdrawals alone would be agonizing."
What a lovely thought.
"I believe that is why he returned," the glasses-wearing man continued. "After that footage ends, he instigated a break out, the first of its kind in this prison's history. When he came back, he made some changes, and offered me the opportunity to continue my research in exchange for manufacturing large quantities of Venom. Predictably, it is to avoid the withdrawals, and naturally I accepted. Where else would I have such cooperation? So much of this place has changed, and not just within these prison walls, and all of it thanks to Venom.
"So, now that I've told you of Gilgamesh, you must tell me, how is Bane performing? You cannot tell me that you have not confronted him because you would not be here without doing so."
"He's a monster," Black Canary growled.
"You are going to be have to give me more than that. This is for the advancement of Science."
The blonde woman took a threatening step forward. "No, it's not. It's a sick experiment that will be coming to an end."
Whatever civility Porter had been displaying vanished as he looked at her in disappointment. "No, it will not. If you will not support my project, then your interference will not be tolerated."
Reaching to his laptop, he pressed a button on the keyboard. "Attention, attention, there are intruders in the Research Wing," he spoke calmly. "All personal to the Research Wing."
To Guest: Bat-Joker has become popular, I must say
To MRFlackAttack: Well, can't argue with that lol