Chapter 2: New Face in town.
The next Night at Work, David was stationed on a floor with more of the serious criminals. One in particular, being the notorious serial killer, Victor Zsaz. Though he made many attempts to make David feel fear, David mostly just ignored the man's ramblings and focused on his watch.
......
The next day after the work shift.
After leaving work, David went out to the market. He needed to buy more food and along the way to the store, he spotted an older woman being mugged in broad day light, by a man wearing a mask.
" Give me your purse, old lady! Give it to me!" The young man yelled.
He snatched the purse from the woman's hands while other people just watched and started running.
He looked back, while laughing, to make sure no one was chasing after him, but when he turned back around, David stuck his arm out and clotheslined the man right off of his feet. He looked down at the young man in disdain before snatching the purse from his hands. He then turned and walked towards the elderly woman with her bag in his hand and smile on his face.
" I believe this belongs to you ma'am." David spoke.
" Oh, thank you so much, young man." The woman muttered.
" No problems ma'am just doing my duty." David told the woman, he then started walking once more.
However, as he was walking past the crowd, he ended up catching the eyes of a small group of people. Three Women and one male. All around the same age. One woman was roughly around 5'11 with strawberry red hair and green eyes. Next to her was a young woman with long blonde hair and roughly 5'5, with blue eyes. The man was about the same height as the blonde and had black hair and blue eyes. But the strangest of the group was the shortest of the group. Standing at roughly 5'2, with short black hair and brown eyes, was a young Asian woman. Nothing about her seemed out of the ordinary. But as he passed, David locked eyes with the woman. And within those brown he saw the spirit of a fighter. And for just a moment, even David had to admit he felt fear.
David continued walking, despite the feeling of danger he got from the young woman. Whoever she was, she was of no concern to him. not right now anyway.
..............
Later that night.
Wayne Manor.
" You should have seen it, Bruce. I mean the guy barely flexed a muscle and took a grown man completely off of his feet. I mean, I know in our field we've seen way crazier things, but this seemed just like another run of the mil civilian." Tim exclaimed.
" What did he look like?" Bruce asked the boy.
" Tall, bout as tall as you, maybe a little taller. Short black hair, muscular build. He looks to be about the same age as Dick." Tim told the man.
" Well, at least someone was around to help." bruce muttered. He went back to reading his paper without saying another word.
..............
David was driving into Arkham's gates once again. This time tonight, he was supposed to be manning the front desk.
" Hey, David. How was your night with Zsaz and the other whackos?" Owen asked as David dropped down at his chair.
" It was fine. Just tuned the monster out." David told the man.
" Yeah? How do you do that? If you don't mind me asking?" The man beside Owen spoke up and asked. His name tag read Morales. Light skin, Male, around his late thirties to early forties, Wedding ring. Most likely related to the Female guard.
" I'm used to worse. Just gotta focus your attention on something else. I just use my watch." David told the man.
" That right? Well, we can't all do that." Morales told the man. He looked at David and laughed.
David simply nodded.
" Anyway, let me give you a quick rundown of what we do here. First and foremost, we make sure no one comes through that front door blasting. We check and scan everyone who enters the building regardless of occupation. Can't tell you how many times someone from GCPD or some other kind of agency has managed to sneak in items to inmates. Secondly, we split this up, but we watch these cameras here, to make sure that nothing happens on the floors behind us. Even though we have guards stationed on the different levels. It's always good to have another pair of eyes watching." Morales explained.
" Right." David muttered.
" Oh, lighten up, man. It'll be over before you know it." Morales stated.
David breathed heavily and nodded.
..........
It was well into the night shift now, around two in the morning, and David was looking through each camera and everything seemed to check out, but then he stopped and noticed something was off.
" Hey, Owen. Look at this." David muttered. He tapped the man on the shoulder and Owen looked over at his screen.
" What is it?" Owen asked the man.
" Look." David spoke.
The screen displayed one of the guards sitting at his desk, eating.
" Okay, so he's eating. Not like it's against the rules." Owen told the man.
" He's been eating that damn sandwich for three minutes and he hasn't made any progress on it. It's a feedback loop. I'm going down there." David exclaimed. He stood up from his desk and grabbed his gun from the holster, along with two more magazines from under the desk.
" Whoa! Hey hold on, kid!' Owen yelled. " I'm sure it's nothing!"
" It ain't nothing! Look." David started flipping through each of the cameras. " They're all looped. Lockdown." David told the man.
" What are you?"
" I SAID LOCKDOWN!" David yelled.
David slammed his fist on the emergency alarm, and just as he was about to step out of the booth, a great big explosion shook the entirety of Arkham.
" Oh shit! Get on the radio, now!" David yelled to Owen and the others. He jumped back to his feet and started running as fast as he could down the halls.
.................
Wayne Manor.
Bruce was sitting in his chair in the Batcave going over files from a recent case, when Alfred approached him.
" Master Bruce." Alfred spoke.
" What is it, Alfred?" Bruce asked.
" The emergency alarm at Arkham has gone off, sir." Alfred told the man.
Bruce turned around and immediately pulled up video footage of the Asylum and footage of the guards at their post pulled up.
" Everything seems to be just fine. Maybe it was a false alarm." Alfred muttered.
" No. It wasn't." Bruce told the man. He pulled up his cowl and placed his finger on his ear.
" Nightwing, Robin, Spoiler, Orphan there's a breakout at Arkham. I'm on the way." Batman told the team. He hopped into the batman and quickly sped out of the batcave.
" Alfred, bring up the Batdrone near Arkham, I need to see what I'm looking at." Batman told the man.
" Of course, sir. One moment..... Done... Oh my... Oh my god, bruce. It's worse than I thought." Alfred told the man.
Batman pulled up the video feed and the image showed a much different story than the one from the cave.
The entirety of Arkham was on fire. Inmates were running around Arkham, attacking guards and other staff members. Soldiers were pouring in from the back of the building from a helicopter. The GCPD was struggling to keep what Inmates were outside, from escaping.
" Batman to all to Bat-members. Arkham is under siege. Approach with caution." Batman furrowed his brow and continued driving. He had increased his speed drastically, to the point that he was swerving in and out of traffic, going hundreds of miles an hour.
The closer Batman got to Arkham Island the louder the sound of gunshots became. He drove the batmobile straight up the bridge towards the island and slammed on the breaks just as he approached the line of GCPD cars blocking the road. He parked the car and hopped onto the road, and stormed towards the line of cars.
" Batman!" One officer in particular called out to the dark knight as he approached.
" Jim, it's good to see you." Batman spoke.
" Yeah. Just wish it wasn't always like this." Jim replied.
" What's the situation?" Batman asked.
" Well, we first got the alert about fifteen minutes ago. We've been trying to keep the roads blocked off so no one can escape, but we've had a few stragglers sneak past. The buildings on fire, and some of the inmates are armed. But that's not the only problem, helicopters started coming in, dropping off soldiers. Lost a few of my men, trying to approach the building. Whatever it is they're here for, they really don't want us to get involved." Jim explained to the man.
" They don't have a choice." batman told Jim.
Batman pulled his grappling hook from his belt and fired it at Arkham's front gate and launched himself over.
Batman landed on top of the roof of Arkham and kicked open one of the air vents and started crawling his way into the building.
" Batman, it's Oracle. I've tapped into the video feed. Things are not looking good inside." Barbara told the man.
" I know. I'm in the air vents right now, on the third floor. I need you to try and get into the security system and pull the cameras directly to my feed." Batman told the woman.
" Already on it. Red Robin, Robin, Spoiler, and Orphan are close by. Nightwing is with the GCPD helping keep the inmates on the island. " Barbara told the man.
" Good. Have Red Robin and Spoiler help Nightwing. I want Robin and Orphan sweeping through the Asylum. Batman out." Batman told the woman. batman removed the cover on the air vent and jumped down into the prison. " There's one of the soldiers. I don't recognize them..." Batman muttered. The man was dressed from head to toe in black clothing, wearing thick armor that covered up most of his torso, leaving very few places on his body unprotected. He was carrying an M16 and a sidearm and on is hip were a few knives, a few explosives, and a radio. Bruce grabbed the man's radio and removed the chip from it and placed it into his own personal decoder, allowing him to listen in on the conversation going on.
" Hey! Can we get some back up down here?! We're dropping like flies!" The soldier yelled into his radio as the sound of multiple gunshots rang out loud in the background.
" Sounds like the guards are putting up a fight. Let's try evening the odds a little bit. Batman quickly descended down the halls. Running past the dead men and women, they were beyond saving.
On his way to the second floor, Oracle once again radioed to Batman.
" Batman, the others are outside, Red Robin and Spoiler are helping Nightwing, and Robin and Spoiler are taking care of the inmates on the first floor. I've also managed to get the camera feed fixed, and you're gonna wanna see this." Barbara told the man.
Barbara uploaded the direct footage from Arkham's cameras and showed them to bruce. The images showed a single guard running through the facility with two pistols, killing inmates and the soldiers who were attacking.
" Look at this guy. He's tearing through the soldiers. All of his shots are lethal, he's hitting right in between the armor." Barbara explained.
Bruce watched as the guard easily took down the soldiers shooting at him.
" The way he moves, doesn't speak normal guard, Bruce. And his punches." Barbara spoke. They both watched as the guard, with one arm, sent a fully armored Soldier sliding across the floor with a punch. " Bruce, that takes training. And years of it."
" I know. Oracle. Where am I right now?" Batman asked the woman.
" Right behind them." Oracle replied.
" Then let's say hello." Batman spoke. He prayed a a straight line on the wall with explosive gel and stood back a few feet from it. " Now." Batman muttered. He pressed the detonator and the wall behind the militia exploded.
" What the devil?!"
" Not even close." Batman stated. He grabbed the man right in front of him and threw him against the wall. batman punched the man in the side of his head and then threw him into the crowd of soldiers in front of him.
" FUCK! IT'S BATMAN!"
Half of the thirteen remaining soldiers turned to face batman, while the rest continued firing at the man down the hall.
Batman threw down a smoke pellet in the middle of the hallway, blinding all of the men. Batman's cowl activated it's built night vision sensors, allowing him to see through the cloud of smoke covering the hall.
Batman quickly took down the soldiers firing at him, without any problems. Without their vision, these men weren't very coordinated, and that told Batman plenty.
When the dust finally cleared away, the guard was standing in front of Batman pointing a gun at his chest.
Batman looked at the man and furrowed his brows.
" I know who you are... Heard a lot about you. Batman." The guard spoke. " Thanks for the help." He holstered his pistol and backed away from Batman without causing a scene.
" I don't recognize your face. Who are you?" Batman asked the man.
" I'm new." The man responded. " My name is North."
" Officer North. What happened here?" Batman asked.
" Not sure entirely. But from what I can gather, these men were sent here to get something or someone. But they aren't the best of soldiers. More like grunts, numbers thrown at a problem. Basic hand to hand training, basic marksmanship. Nothing special about them at all." North explained to Batman.
" I see. My team and I will clear out the rest of them. You stay here and keep yourself safe." Batman told the guard.
North looked at Batman for a moment... He knew he could help. But as the rush started slowing, he began to understand at least a little, that he was slipping out of control.
" Okay..." North muttered. " Alright."
" Good." Batman muttered. He didn't say anything else. But he made a mental note to check out this Mr. North later.
..............
After Batman left, David sat s=down with his back against the wall. And there he sat for the next hour until finally, rescue squads came into Arkham to help those who were wounded.
David sat on the back of an ambulance getting checked out by the paramedics, but as one stretcher went by, the sheet covering the body slipped back.
It was hard at first to recognize who it was, due to the amount of blood and bruises that covered the face. But taking a closer look, David recognized it was Morales, the female guard.
" What happened to her?" David asked the paramedic carrying the woman.
" Oh, poor girl. We found her naked and beaten bloody in the men's bathroom." The medic told the man.
David's brow furrowed slightly; he clenched his left hand as hard as he could. Someone was gonna pay for this.
.................
Not too long after that David, went to his apartment and opened his closet. He was looking for something with a purpose. He grabbed punched a hole in the wall and pulled out the great big bags behind it. He pulled from those bags, one M4 assault rifle with four 60 round magazines, two Magnum research desert eagles, each with four magazines, three m9 bayonets, one all black karambit knife, and finally two swords. One Nodaci and one Katana, and finally rounding it all out was his suit.
His suit was a mix of Leather and Kevlar. It was all black in color and seemed to be very stocky. He wore a pair of black combat boots and a face mask that fit snuggly to David's face. It was gold in color with black markings coming down from the eyes.
With the last piece of his suit fitted to his body, David was ready.
" Time to go to work." David muttered.
.............
Around the same time, Bruce was in the Batcave with the rest of the team, minus Red Hood, going over the footage from Arkham.
" I went over the footage multiple times bruce. I have no record of the guys who attacked Arkham. I don't even really think they were military at all." Barbara told the man. " Look here, the men first breached Arkham on the first level and from there they began moving up the floors, releasing inmates and killing the guards. But the first person they went after was a known enforcer for Black Mask, Christopher Wheelan. These guys personally released Wheelan and escorted him out of the prison, before moving onwards."
" But why? Black Mask doesn't give a damn about Wheelan. He's threatened to kill him multiple times over the years." Dick stated.
" Well, maybe we're looking at this wrong. Maybe Wheelan knows something? Or maybe... Maybe it wasn't even black mask. Maybe someone wants to get to Roman, and they figured Mr. Wheelan here was the one to help them do it." Tim argued.
" No... I don't think so. Because when I go further in, Wheelan returns for a moment and assault one of the female guards. Maria Morales." Barbara explained.
" That's pathetic." Dick stated. " What do you think, Bruce?" Dick asked the man.
" I'm not sure. But I will find out. Barbara, I want you to find any phone calls Wheelan made within the past few months and see if you can find anything that might give us a clue, I'll go to Arkham and see if I can find any clues in his cell." Bruce told the woman. " There is one more thing I want you to find out for me. There was a new guard who started recently, he may know something we don't. I want you to search for all personnel with the last name North." Bruce told the woman.
" Okay. One second." Barbara started typing away at her keyboard while the others waited and watched. " Okay, that was easy. Turns out there's only one recent hire within the last few weeks. A man named Christopher, David, North. Goes by David North. But..."
" What is it, Babs?" Stephanie asked the woman.
" Well, it's just.... His entire record was sealed by the U.S. Government. And I mean, everything. From the time he was ten to until just a few months ago. Hold on a moment. This will take just a bit.... Got it. Okay, here we go. Christopher, David, north. Twenty-five years old, height: six-foot five inches, two hundred and thirty pounds, retired Special forces. Whoa, this guy's military record is insane. Born to Jason and Sarah North. His mother died when he was five years old. Says his dad physically abused him until his sixteenth birthday, he had ten previous assault and battery charges against him, all of them ended up being dropped due to self-defense. Furthermore, he enlisted into the United States Marine Corps, when he was sixteen, where he served for three full years, reaching the rank of staff Sergeant in just three short years. He was recruited into the Marine Raiders and served shortly before being Recruited by Delta Force a year later. His platoon was named Bastard, he was the first squad leader, so his call sign was bastard one. He went on to serve five more years with Delta Force, earning numerous amounts of medals and even a few nicknames, some include Zero and Maverick. But... Oh no." Barbara muttered.
" What is it, Barbara?" Dick asked.
" Two years ago, his team was sent on a mission..... It doesn't say where. But David was injured during the operation. He was caught in a blast that took his right arm. He managed to survive thanks to, what he said, being pushed by his brother, Bastard 2, Johnathan Alenko, into a river. He was later fitted with a prosthetic that allowed him to continue serving with Delta Force and it even says his skills were enhanced to be beyond that of their finest soldiers. Barbara explained. Barbara then pulled a picture of the man up for everyone to see.
" Hey! Isn't that the guy we saw walking today? The one who helped the old lady." Tim shouted.
" Yeah, now that you mention it. He looks just like him. Blonde hair, blue eyes, no scars or other distinguishing marks, he looks just like a normal guy. You couldn't even tell he had a prosthetic." Stephanie listed off David's appearance to others as she was questioning them.
" Yeah, that's obvious." Tim told the girl.
" You need to look again, Drake." Damian told the man.
" What are you guys talking about?" Tim asked.
" Almost ten years in the military, serving in two different special forces units, multiple tours and combat missions, and this guy doesn't have a single mark on his body?" Dick spoke.
" I mean the guy lost his arm." Tim responded.
"Yes, he did. But look at the rest of his medical records, he's been shot multiple times and always healed without leaving so much as a scar behind. That's not possible." Dick explained.
" He could be a meta." Damian stated.
" Maybe. But I doubt the government would be willing to just let an asset like that go." Dick replied. " And he's never shown any signs of having such abilities before."
" Could be the side-effects of war. Experiencing that much, could have been what triggered his body to change." Tim told the man.
" Maybe." Dick huffed. " Whatever's going on, that guy is tough. He's using that prosthetic without any kind of trouble at all. And look at the damage, he's punching guys with steel plated armor around like children."
" We do it all the time, Grayson. Try not to be too impressed." Damian told the man.
" That's the problem, Damian. I don't think you're taking him serious enough. He's good. I mean look at that THAT RIGHT THERE!" Dick yelled. He pointed to the recording of the Arkham fight and had Barbara pause the screen. " He disarmed the man, broke his neck and then threw a small knife, barely bigger than a kitchen knife through the small gap between the armor plating and managed to hit that guy's throat. You don't just do that. That takes years of training to do, and I don't think even I could hit a shot like that, under gunfire." Dick stated.
" That's child's play, Grayson." Damian stated.
" Whatever it is, should be looked into." Bruce stated. " Alfred call Jason, Katherine, Duke, Jean-Paul, and Helena and let them know to keep an eye out for any of the escaped Convicts. I'm going out." Bruce explained.
" Of course, sir." Alfred replied.
" The rest of you get some rest." Bruce told the other knights.
" Right, see you tomorrow, Bruce." Dick told the man.
Bruce hopped into the batmobile and sped off out of the cave.
" There's something I need to check." Batman thought to himself.
.........
Meanwhile, at the Gotham City Coroner's office.
David managed to sneak into the morgue, his goal was to find Maria's body. He wanted to see if he could find any clues on who might have been her killer.
" It's been sometime. Looks like the bodies, not been disturbed much. Good. Her fingernails have abrasions. Looks like there's some skin underneath her fingers. " I'm sorry, Maria. You seemed like a good lady. I'll find who did this." David told the woman. He took the skin from under her fingers and then quickly left before anyone could discover his presence.
When David got to the roof, he hopped down from the building, landing on his feet, and started running. He ran out through the back streets of the city and into the dark.
..............
Back at his home, David took the evidence he stole from the morgue and began getting to work trying to match the DNA up to those in the GCPD'S criminal database.
And when he found a match, his eyes lit up.
" Wheelan.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone