Batman, Penny, and Ben made their way across the rooftops, making their way to the courthouse, taking out a few groups of thugs along the way. They reached the roof of the building across from the courthouse, looking at each other and nodding. Batman went first, gliding in dropping down on a thug, instantly taking him out.
"It's the freaking bat! Get him!" One thug called as they all rushed in. Batman just smirked as he leaped onto a nearby car and as high as he could.
"Don't forget the dragon!" Ben called as he dropped down and slammed his fist into the ground, creating a shockwave that sent all the thugs airborne, crashing to the ground hard, leaving them stunned long enough for a barrage of batarangs to hit them in the head and knock them out.
"Alright, let's make our way to the courthouse!" Penny said as the trio made their way inside.
Unbeknownst to them, Spider-Bat had swung in and after watching them enter, made his way in as well through the rooftop, clinging to the walls to make sure he remained undetected.
Once inside the courthouse, the trio quickly headed up to the second level, where they could see into the courtroom, where Two-Face stood on what appeared to be a stage built in front of and around the judge's seat and the witness stand, his goons standing in front of him and a red curtain hiding something hanging above a vat of acid beside him.
"The only way to get by in this place is to get ourselves some respect," Harvey explained, playing with his coin in his hand, before suddenly clutching it tightly as the Two-Face side took over. "Fear! That's how we get our respect. Show 'em all how WE do things."
Harvey quickly took back control, a conflicted look on his face.
"We should be fair though...this is a place of justice, after all."
"SCREW justice! Kill them and they'll all fear us!" Two-Face retorted.
Penny frowned sadly as she saw the two sides of Harvey Dent arguing. She had been informed of Two-Face's situation by Batman after helping stop him during the aftermath of the Arkham Asylum incident. Needless to say, she pitied the man's situation.
"My parents were wholesale supporters of him." Ben frowned. "Even after he became Two-Face, they insisted he needed help."
Batman nodded. "Harvey does need help. But right now, he needs to be stopped."
"Bring out the defendant!" Two-Face ordered, the curtain dropping to reveal Catwoman and Neo tied side-by-side, hanging upside down above the acid.
"You certainly know how to keep the girls hanging, Harv." Catwoman snarked. "Hey, have you had some work done?"
The scarred former DA didn't take kindly to that as he gave the cat burglar a vicious slap across the face. Neo struggled in her bindings when she saw this, baring her fangs as her pupils dilated in anger.
That's for stealing from us! No one steals from us!"
"I'm sorry we've been bad kitties. Untie us and I'll make it up to you." Catwoman said. "And Neo could do a few chores for you like a good little girl."
Neo calmed down in the midst of her struggling, pouting as she turned away.
"Let's see if the coin thinks you're telling the truth," Two-Face growled before flipping his signature double-edged silver dollar, one side burnt while the other side was clean.
Everyone in the courtroom watched with bated breath as the coin landed in Two-Face's hand, which he then slapped down over the back of his wrist to see it had landed on the good clean side.
"This court is now in session," Harvey said calmly.
Batman scowled as he turned to Penny and Ben, who nodded in agreement that they needed to act quickly or Selina and Neo would die. Nearby, Spider-Bat was clinging to the ceiling, having camouflaged himself to avoid being detected.
"Okay, gotta find the perfect drop to make my entrance..."
However, Penny's enhanced optics were able to detect the unique signature Spider-Bat was giving off but said nothing as she kept one eye focused on him and the other on what was going down below.
"Order in the court!" Harvey demanded as he banged a gavel. "Order! Order!"
Seeing that the thugs were still cheering wildly, he took out his gun and fired it into the air, silencing them. At that time, Batman had taken down the thug standing guard from above in a makeshift sniper nest.
As the three carefully balanced on the wire and moved above the crowd of thugs, they were shocked when Spider-Bat dove down and uncamouflaged himself, his arms charging with orange bio-electricity as he slammed down and created a shockwave that sent several thugs flying.
"Hey! Does this count as contempt in court?"
"It's Spider-Bat!" Ben exclaimed.
Batman frowned but quickly dove down to help with Ben and Penny joining in as several of the thugs fled for their lives with only a handful staying behind to fight.
"Oh wow! Getting to fight with Batman!" Spider-Bat gushed as he ducked under a punk's swing and delivered a double upward claw swipe that sent him flying. "This is already shaping up to be a great night!"
"Focus!" Batman ordered as he raised his fist to punch a thug behind him with a chair in the face, sending him to the floor, catching the chair as the thug dropped it and threw it into another one looking for a weapon in the corner.
"It seems they are attempting to offer some form of rebuttal!" Penny quipped as she uppercut one thug and used the new tools that Lucius Fox had installed into her to fire a plasma bolt that struck him in mid-air, knocking him out. "Mr. Fox really did a good job in adapting my equipment to this world!"
Ben formed a flail made of ice to smack a thug before spinning and hitting him with a rear kick, sending him back into a wall and knocking him out. The last thug ran at him from behind, only to be caught by webs and pulled to Spider-Bat, who brought his leg down in a crushing blow that slammed him into the floor, knocking him out.
"OBJECTION!" Two-Face said and Spider-Bat felt a tingle in his brain as he turned to see the disgraced DA aiming his gun at Batman, who had his back turned.
"LOOK OUT!"
However, as Two-Face fired his gun, Batman turned into a swarm of bats using the new Semblance that Penny had bestowed upon him to avoid the bullet. The swarm then flew up to the window of Two-Face's judge booth and reformed into the Dark Knight, whose feet were primed and ready for a double-flying kick to the window, shattering it and allowing him to tackle Two-Face to the ground, slamming his fist into the burnt half of his face, knocking him out.
"Overruled!" Ben cheered.
"Well, well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Catwoman quipped before using her claws to cut herself down and masterfully landing on the side of the tank, before grabbing Neo and pulling her over to her so she was no longer above the vat, cutting her free as well.
"You could have done that at any time?!" Spider-Bat complained. "Sheesh! And I thought I was needed!"
"I figured you could use our help, Selina," Batman said, dropping down from inside the booth, Catwoman dropping down beside him.
"You're right. I think I chipped a nail back there."
"Funny."
Penny and Neo looked at each other calmly, neither saying anything to the other as Neo typed up a message on a special wristwatch Catwoman had gotten her that she could use to communicate.
"Thanks for dropping in."
"It was simply in good form as a protector of justice."
"So, what do you need, Mr. Detective?" Catwoman asked.
"Protocol 10. What do you know of it, Selina?"
"Never heard of it."
"Well, that's not very helpful..." Ben muttered. "What about Professor Strange?"
"I don't trust him. He's been missing for years and is suddenly put in charge of Arkham City. Rumor has it, he's been working with Joker, planning something very special just for you." Catwoman explained. "Maybe that's Protocol 10?"
"Wait, t-the Joker?" Spider-Bat asked nervously. "I thought he dropped out of the scene after you guys kicked his ass back in Arkham Asylum!"
"Apparently not." Ben frowned.
"Joker on his own is already dangerous. With Strange on his side, I don't even want to think of what he's capable of." Penny said, Neo looking slightly worried herself.
However, unbeknownst to the group, a sniper rifle was being aimed right at Catwoman from nearby, a familiar voice singing a little song.
"Twinkle, twinkle, little bat, watch me kill your favorite cat!"
"The ex-District Attorney here mentioned something about..." Catwoman began, only for Spider-Bat's Spider-Sense to go off.
"HIT THE DECK!"
The young vigilante tackled Catwoman to the ground, shocking everyone as a sniper bullet fired in through the nearby window. Penny instinctively grabbed Neo, held her close, and dove to the ground while Ben turned his body into hard rock.
"Awwww, a new party pooper joins the fray! Oh well...see you soon, Bats~"
"S-Sorry about that..." Spider-Bat apologized as he got off Catwoman and helped her up.
"This place is dangerous...I like it~"
"It was Joker." Batman realized.
"Are you alright?" Penny asked as she got up, still holding Neo close to her chest.
"I'd appreciate it if you let me go now..." Neo typed, Penny doing just that.
"You two aren't safe here. No one is." Ben said.
"Nine lives, remember?" Catwoman countered, grappling away with her whip as Neo bowed out and teleported after her.
"So, what are we gonna do now?" Spider-Bat asked.
"First off, what are YOU doing here?" Batman asked firmly. "You're too young to be in a situation like this."
"Come on! Hilda and I busted our butts off trying to find a way to sneak into this trash heap of a prison." Spider-Bat argued. "I wanted to help you. Be just like you, you know?"
"This job isn't easy..."
"I know. I'm aware of the risks...and I know the costs of standing by and doing nothing."
"I think we can trust him, Batman," Penny said. "I can tell he's being truthful."
Batman frowned but said nothing as he turned to where the bullet impacted, using Detective Vision to pinpoint where it landed and where the shot came from.
"The trajectory the bullet traveled will lead us to the shooter," Batman explained.
"Sounds like a plan!" Spider-Bat agreed as he joined the group.
"The ones who ran probably told more of Penguin's henchmen we were there. They'll be waiting at the entrance. We should find another exit so we don't run into an ambush." Penny added.
"Which means we've got Two-Face AND Penguin's guys gunning for us now...Great." Ben grumbled.
The group of four found an exit in the upper levels of the courthouse. They exited and dropped down behind a group of thugs indeed lying in wait in front of the main door, Batman choking out one of them, Ben bashing the heads of two more with rock gauntlets, Spider-Bat webbing one up to a wall, and Penny throwing a batarang past Batman to knock out the last one right in front of the door.
The group continued their way to the church, noticing three of Joker's goons guarding the entrance, but before they dropped down, the thugs started up a conversation that caught their interest.
"So, do you think the rumors are true?"
"What? That Harley used to be a dude?"
"Nah. The one about the Joker dying."
"Wait, Joker is DYING?" Spider-Bat whispered in surprise. "What the heck did you guys do to him at the Asylum?"
"He doped up on that TITAN crap he was planning on using to create an army of Bane clones," Ben explained. "Penny and I may have gone a little overboard in kicking his ass."
"We'll have to listen," Batman said. He held no love for his nemesis, but he'd been fighting him for so long that if he did truly perish, it would be like losing a part of his identity.
"No idea, man. But the last time I saw him, he didn't look too good."
"When was that? I ain't seen him for months."
"Me, neither. The way, I see it: if Big J dies, this whole place becomes an all-out war zone. And if that happens, I'm joining up with Penguin."
"Joker dying...I'm not sure how to feel..." Penny said.
"Me neither. He's been causing trouble in Gotham for years. It feels like...I don't know, a piece of it is dying with him." Ben admitted.
"Come on, we should get inside the church." Batman said.
As the four heroes entered, Spider-Bat got a call and held back a moment to answer it.
"Hilda, what's up?"
"I made it into the city. I'm looking around for any people in need of help."
"Okay. I managed to meet up with Batman and his crew. I'm helping them track down Joker."
"Be safe, okay?"
"I will, babe. Love you."
"Love you too."
Hilda White sighed as she hung up her call before looking to see a bunch of thugs looking at a ringing telephone. As she prepared to make her move, she thought back to how she came here.
As a little girl, Hilda was cheerful, spunky, and optimistic, even in a grim town like Gotham City. Her father worked in STAR Labs and had even met The Flash himself on occasion.
Hilda and Hilbert were friends since they were in diapers but during their teen years, life changed for both of them. Hilbert was exposed to the Quantum Juice and gained spider-like powers while Hilda ended up in a different situation.
She had been visiting her father at STAR Labs to see a new invention; the Ray Sphere. However, an accident in its development caused it to overload and explode. Hilda's father was crippled saving her but she had been exposed to the energy of the device, which supercharged her DNA and granted her powers to call her own.
Those powers manifested in the ability to absorb and manipulate various elements based on the urban jungle; Electricity, Ice, Napalm, Smoke, Neon, Video, and Concrete. With these seven powers that she could switch on the fly, she had decided to become a superhero just like Batman and Flash.
After Hilbert's parents died, Hilda's family took him in with open arms and in that time, they began dating each other. They had essentially become a crime-fighting duo, though in the process had gotten into a few run-ins with the Bat-Family.
Now, they were both in Arkham City and they were here to help Batman shut the place down. But first, Hilda had to take care of these goons and whoever was behind the phone.
Taking out a special melee weapon called 'The Amp', Hilda leaped in and struck down two of the thugs. Most of them ran but a few stayed to try and fight. Smirking, Hilda held out her free hand and fired a bolt of electricity that shocked one into unconsciousness before charging up and sending out a kinetic shockwave that knocked out the others.
"Man, you jerks are way too easy!" She laughed as she approached the telephone and answered.
"Hello...to whom am I be speaking with?"
Hilda shivered at the cold, detached voice on the other end. Even she knew who it belonged to; Victor Zsasz.
"Y-You're Mr. Zsasz..."
"In the flesh. I'm so happy to make a new friend. I'll never forget you." The serial killer purred. "I've got a special game planned for you as well as Batman and his little friends...a game just for you. Ring, ring."
Hilda shivered as Zsasz hung up. She had a bad feeling about the 'game' he had planned but she couldn't worry about it right now. Nearby was a camp made by the political prisoners that Strange had wrongfully thrown in Arkham City and she needed to make sure they were okay.
As you can see, Hilda has the powers of Cole MacGrath and Delsine Rowe. The hero name she chose for herself is 'Conduit' as a shout-out to the superpowered individuals of the Infamous franchise.
Also, since I'm adding some new heroes, they'll also be a big boon in clearing the side missions in Arkham City, as you can see with Hilda confronting Zsasz at the end. If you guys have any suggestions for what should happen, I'm all ears.