Bab 170: The Satisfaction #170
"What happened to the asylum's staff?" I asked as I looked around, unmindful of the unconscious Victor Zsaasz, who won't be bestowing generous gifts upon the good people of Gotham any time soon.
"How did you get out of your holding cells?" I added, frowning as I equipped the rest of my gear, preparing for a fight I knew would soon ensue.
Arkham Asylum housed some of the most dangerous criminals in Gotham, and if Scarecrow and Zsasz are out, then there's no reason not to assume the rest were around as well.
"The staff is well for now... maybe struggling with some nightmare..." Scarecrow replied, amusement evident in his tone as he spoke, chuckling lightly like the stereotypical villain he was.
"Can't play a game without collateral now, can we?" Scarecrow asked, and I already had a good idea of what I'd be facing. "We wanted to make a surprise party for the bat... but he didn't show..." he went on, trailing off at the end of his sentence.
"My playmates were getting bored... so we had to settle for the next best thing..." Scarecrow concluded, going quiet as he waited for my reply, clearly expecting a reaction.
I didn't want to give him the satisfaction, so I remained silent as I activated my personal computer power to scan the asylum, finding nothing, much to my chagrin.
The entire security system was off, along with the cameras. The only operative data-receiving device I could find was the microphone in the warden's office, which Scarecrow used to communicate with me.
'Scarecrow wasn't lying... they're clearly ready for Batman...' I mused as I retrieved the asylum map and quickly memorized it before deciding how to proceed.
If I were dealing with regular grunts, I'd make a straight line to the warden's office to take Scarecrow out of the equation and get it over with, but the latter was one of the most resourceful and intelligent Gotham villains.
The warden's office probably had an elaborate trap. Even if I doubted it'd work on me, I didn't want to give Scarecrow the satisfaction, not to mention that every corner might have a villain waiting to ambush me.
There were also those so-called playmates Scarecrow mentioned, which made me think twice before charging blindly into enemy territory. As I've said, Scarecrow is one of the most dangerous Gotham villains, and anyone he'd consider a playmate wouldn't be a pushover.
I quickly found a solution and smiled as I turned to leave, making my way to the exit.
...
The warden's office
"Hmm...? Is he leaving...?" Scarecrow muttered as he looked at the footage from the only functional camera in the Arkham Asylum at the buildings' front entrance.
"This..." he remarked, frowning as the footage cut off after Grayson turned to it and gave him the middle finger. He was used to dealing with Batman, who would rush head first as soon as he learned civilian lives were at stake, so Grayson's actions confused him greatly.
"He's just getting ready to kick yer ass, pal," came a feminine, energetic, bubbly voice from behind, causing Scarecrow's frown to intensify as he turned to regard the speaker with an annoyed look.
"Watch your tone, clown...!" Scarecrow said, clearly displeased by the woman's words. "The deal was to keep you alive, nothing more...' he added, creeping towards the blonde woman, holding a canister full of fear gas.
"WAtCh YOuR tOnE cLoWn!" the blonde woman, Harley Quinn, mockingly replied, making a funny face before blowing a raspberry in the villain's face, an action that seemed to enrage him.
"You asked for it... now face your fears...!" Scarecrow remarked as he sprayed the gas directly into Harley Quinn's face and stepped back to observe the effects.
Looking at the green cloud of smoke before her face, Harley grinned as she took a deep breath before sneezing lightly. "Please, I used to huff this shit for kicks, and it ain't kickin' no more...!" she added, her smile growing more pronounced as she stared into Scarecrow's face.
"Then you will enjoy my new formula..." Scarecrow said, unfazed by the crazy blonde's resistance to his fear toxin as he retrieved a glass container and smashed it into the ground.
It broke, releasing a cloud of chemicals that was thicker and darker in color, which Harley Proceeded to inhale again without any hesitation as she maintained a smile.
The crazy blonde tilted her head with a thoughtful look on her face as if tasting the gas. "Nope, still not doing it, doc," she replied with a cackle after a second's pause.
"You have high tolerance... but everyone has something to fear..." The villain said, still unfazed as he retrieved several more galls containers and started breaking them.
...
Waking up to the loud ringing of her cell phone, Deborah had the urge to curse as she held her head in pain, feeling the consequences of last night's excessive drinking.
As a police officer, Deborah had seen her fair share of atrocities, even more so as the captain of the GCPD 12th precinct. However, nothing she'd ever seen or experienced compared to the destruction caused by Brimstone.
Entire buildings were brought to the ground, and whole families were burned to dried husks. It was an event Gotham would not soon forget. Even now, after almost two weeks, the restoration efforts and the search and rescue operations were still going.
It took a toll on her mind, and Commissioner Gordon was the first to notice it as he forced her to take a day off, but only because Deborah refused to take any more time away from her work.
And like any reasonable, mature adult, Deborah spent the day off alone in her apartment, drinking away the trauma as she tried to forget the disturbing images she witnessed.
It worked, but only for a few hours. Now that Deborah was up, as not only did the images return, but they brought a plus one; a terrible hangover, only made worse by the loud ringing of her phone.
She sighed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she picked up the phone and frowned at the caller's ID; Grayson Whitlock. She honestly didn't know how to feel about him.
She knew him as Wraith, a sometimes vigilante, sometime mercenary, who was powerful enough to beat a demon from hell that even the caped crusader struggled to defeat.
For reasons unknown to Deborah, Grayson helped her get her job back and even gave her credit for most of his work, helping her rise through the ranks of the GCPD.
Deborah didn't know why he chose to help her, but she was grateful nonetheless and decided to repay him by being the best, most honest cop Gotham had ever seen. That and helping him on the sly now and then.
Thinking he was an adult, she was more than happy to leave the dirty work for Grayson and facilitate his work using her position, even growing to admire him for doing what was necessary.
Even if his methods were not orthodox or legal, for that matter, Deborah still felt grateful and admired him for it. However, Deborah's gratitude instantly turned to guilt when the young man revealed his identity for the entire world to see.
Having discovered his age, Deborah loathed herself for relying on a teenager to do the job that her colleagues in the GCPD and herself were supposed to do.
It was a burden that even an adult should not carry, not to mention one so young, yet she ignorantly put it on his shoulder simply because she thought he could without bothering to think twice.
She let out another sigh before picking up the call. "Hello, Grayson," she said as she put the phone to her ear and sat straight, as she knew the young man only contacted her when necessary.
"No, it's alright. My vacation ended yesterday..." she replied without bothering to question how Gray knew about her brief vacation, as she was used to him knowing everything by now.
"What?!" She exclaimed in shock after pausing for several seconds as she listened to Grayson explain the situation. "I'll call it in and head your way immediately," she added as she threw away the sheets and got to her feet, speeding toward the closet.
"Alright, I'll tell them to keep their distance. Yes. Be safe," The hangover police captain concluded as she hung up the call and quickly put on her clothes before heading for the door.
She let out yet another tired sigh at having to rely on Grayson again before she made a call to the GCPD phone operator. "Dispatch, this is officer Deborah Tiegel from the 12th calling to report a mass breakout in The Arkham Asylum," she said as she entered the elevator.
"Grayson Whitlock is at the scene, and he noted the presence of multiple dangerous criminals," she added as the elevator opened, revealing the apartment complex garage.
"Please advise all responding units to keep their distance and wait for further instructions and back up," she concluded as she quickly found her car and speeded toward the exit.
...
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