บท 51: Low Profile
Friday 1st May 2009, 04:45.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
Arkham Asylum.
Entering a small open chamber with numerous large pipes disappearing into the floor, Esau, Crystal and George looked around to see that they were the first ones there. A strange thing really, considering Black Spider and King Shark had much easier ways to infiltrate Arkham than them, same with Harley Quinn and Deadshot, but it was them that were the first to arrive for some reason.
As the trio moved forwards to the centre where there was a large opening in the floor with crisscrossing bars across it, Esau crouched down to look into the water below. Despite what he had expected, there was no sign of King Shark waiting for them and honestly, there should have been no reason for him to wait considering his strength should have enabled him to move these bars with ease.
"Well, looks like we're the first ones here." George pointed out.
Ignoring him, Esau reached out, gripping hold of the bars and bracing his feet against the floor, pulled at the bars, managing to lift his side up ever so slightly. Even so, it took everything he had just to do that, his muscles straining and with a grunt, his hands slipped, the bars dropping back down into place with a loud thud as Esau stumbled back, dropping down onto one knee.
Flexing his wrists lightly, chest heaving from the effort, he noticed both Crystal and George looking at him. "Those bars are heavier than I thought they would be." He muttered in way of an answer to their unasked question.
That was when they heard movement in the pipes.
Each turned quickly, ready to fight, only for a small hatch in the pipes to open and out climbed Eric Needham in a chef's outfit, a strangely amusing sight. "I'm surprised you didn't get here sooner." Frost pointed out, but Eric ignored her and moved to look down at the bars and then at Esau, noting his heavy breathing and flushed cheeks, a sign of extreme effort.
"How heavy are they?"
"Heavy," Esau replied, slowly getting to his feet. "It'll take a lot of strength to lift them up, probably the whole team. Unless King Shark decides to hurry his ass up and lift them himself. "
Nodding his head, Eric crouched down and had an attempt at lifting the bars himself, he didn't even make them budge. "You're right." Eric panted, looking up at the three surrounding him. "Let us all try." Though it was a suggestion, it came across as more of an order, something none of them liked.
However, Frost and Boomerang moved over, ready to help lift the bars, but an idea came to Esau at that moment. "Wait." He then looked to Frost. "Freeze it."
"For you, lover boy." She smirked and leaned down, resting both hands on the bars lightly. "Anything." Out from her hands, ice rushed forth covering the entirety of the beams in a thick, blue hue and then, she rose to her feet while checking her nails, making such great power seem effortless and almost boring in its nature.
Shaking his head at just how dangerous her power could be, Esau raised one foot and stomped on the bars and they shattered in a shower of ice. Each of the fragments splashed into the water below, a smell from the sewer reaching their noses and making them all raise their noses in disgust.
The sound of a door opening had them turn to see Floyd and Harley walking towards them.
"You're late," Eric said shortly causing Floyd's frown to deepen.
"We ran into her ex." Coming to a stop he looked down to see that there was no sign of King Shark. "Where is he, he was meant to be here by now?"
Esau remained silent as the group devolved into an argument, mostly between Deadshot and Boomerang, all the while he moved to sit against one of the pipes. Thar was until he picked up on the sound of footsteps, Esau rising to his feet and moving past Frost who stood nearby who took note of his actions.
"What're you doing?" She asked curiously.
"We've got company."
"How many?"
"Just one." He answered, moving quickly he headed towards the entrance and stood by the wall.
The others were too distracted, the entire group save for himself and Frost had begun to argue amongst themselves, Harley and George both getting on Eric's nerves with Floyd trying to act as a mediator and failing. So, when the security guard entered, none of them noticed, that was until Esau gripped hold of the front of the guard's uniform and pinned him against the wall. The sound of his body slamming into the wall caught their attention and the rest of the team looked to see what was happening.
At this point, Esau had already punched the guard in the face, breaking his nose as the guy slid down the wall unconscious.
"Well ain't that just great." George accurately put it. "What are we going to do with him?"
Floyd was silent for a few moments until a bag burst from the sewers and landed on the floor with a dull thud. Knowing that they had no choice, Floyd just nodded his head to Esau who picked up the body and threw him into the water. There was a large amount of thrashing and bubbles before the blue water was stained red with blood.
Looking away from the sight of King Shark rising from the water, a dismembered arm being chewed in its mouth, Esau moved to the bag and unzipped it revealing their actual uniforms. Taking his Black Hood uniform, Esau began to get changed, making sure to check the two knives as well as the guns. Each had a full clip-in with a few additional clips provided.
Pulling on the final part of his outfit, his gloves, Esau looked around to see that the others were almost done as well, with only King Shark and Killer Frost having already been ready.
-X-
Friday 1st May 2009, 5:15.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
Arkham Asylum.
The head of security at Arkham looked at the numerous monitors pertaining to the security of Arkham, eyes flickered across them with a surly frown on his face as he looked at one monitor showing the kitchen. It had, as of half an hour ago been engulfed with flames that had knocked out some power in that wing, luckily, they had been able to divert power to keep all the inmates in their cells.
'They're not getting out on my watch.' He had once been a lowly security officer at Arkham who had admittedly been just as corrupt as the rest. However, once Batman saved his son he vowed to make a difference, no matter how small it may be in the running of Arkham Asylum.
He had done as well as one could expect considering over three-quarters of his staff were just as bad as he used to be and for the most part, were worse. So while there were still breakouts, he had at least managed to limit the amount, but even then that wasn't saying much, villains still got free and caused havoc within Gotham.
"Have we managed to contain the kitchen fire?" He asked.
"Yes sir." One of his junior offices said and with a nod, the head of security turned to leave the room.
He wanted to go and check on all the prison cells just in case.
However, when he went open the door it burst open as King Shark charged through.
With a cry, the head of security fell to the ground crying out as the large foot of King Shark came down upon his head, popping it open and splattering blood across the floor. In his last moments he was only able to see Captain Boomerang and Deadshot come rushing in, boomerangs and bullets no doubt striking the other guards as well, killing the last vestige of hope within Arkham to make a difference.
Stepping into the room, Esau headed towards the computer while listening to Floyd talk to Amanda, nonchalantly stepping over the bodies that were scattered across the floor. They were all corrupt, he held no sympathy for them, they were each better off dead and so, Esau felt nothing for their deaths.
"Lawton," Amanda called and Deadshot stopped where he was, raising one hand to his ear.
"What?" Pulling out a chair, Esau sat down scrolling through to find the information he was looking for.
"GPS has you in the main security hub." Esau almost shook his head at how desperate Amanda was to be in control at all times, yet in a way she had a right to be that desperate. After all, Esau had no plans to remain under her thumb and he doubted any of the others did. "What's going on?"
Esau tuned out the rest as he pulled up an image of the Riddler in his cell. 'There you are.'
"So you found him." Crystal whispered as she pulled up a chair to look at the screen, both legs resting on the desk.
Esau nodded his head and began typing into the computer once more pulling up an image of Arkham Asylum with a blinking red light showcasing where Riddler's cell was.
"Now we know where he is." Frost smiled viciously, her plan coming to fruition.
Deadshot and the rest of the team walked past a few minutes later, have decided to play yesterday's footage on a loop in order to keep Batman from discovering them. "Frost, Black Hood, move your ass." He ordered and both did so, Esau taking a few more seconds to memorise the location.
-X-
Friday 1st May 2009, 5:20.
New Jersey,
Gotham City,
Arkham Asylum.
Stepping out into the yard, the Suicide Squad moved quickly to hide behind a nearby wall as they looked to see four towers, two on either side lining it.
Light fixtures on all towers covered the courtyard, illuminating the ground, moving across and leaving just enough shade for people to risk going, but at the same time, making stealth extremely difficult.
It was bait, a trap to lure people into thinking they could make it.
"Top priority are those towers," Deadshot informed as he leaned back avoiding being caught in the light.
Most of the team, especially King Shark were crouched down in order to make themselves smaller and avoid being seen. "I can scale them." Black Spider informed with certainty.
However, Deadshot had other plans. "No time." Stepping out with his wrist-mounted guns raised, he took aim.
But just as he went to shoot, Captain Boomerang shoved up to his side with a cocky smirk on his face.
"You do two, I'll do two." It took every ounce of will Esau had not to smack his face at the sheer stupidity of having a pissing contest at this moment in time and by the tense shoulders of Black Spider, he shared Esau's opinion.
Despite this, Deadshot didn't argue. "Fine, on my mark." Raising his wrist-mounted guns once more, Deadshot took a calming breath while Captain Boomerang shifted his footing in preparation. "Now!" Both of them fired, Deadshot's two bullets ripping through the air and killing his two targets in quick succession.
The boomerangs on the other hand weren't nearly as a effective.
They were slower and while one did manage to take out one of the guard straight away.
The second was not so lucky as the guard leaned down to rest against the bars, the boomerang sailing over his head.
"You missed," Deadshot said, turning to face Captain Boomerang who just smirked.
"Wait for it."
They did, Esau making out the sight of the guard seeing the other guards unconscious and reaching for his radio.
"Patrol, I need a sweep of the yard." Then the boomerang came back knocking him unconscious, but it was too late
"Boom!" Captain Boomerang exclaimed as he caught his boomerang. "In your face."
Deadshot's patience snapped then as he pushed Captain Boomerang away. "He got to his walkie. I'd score that a miss, you two-bit C-lister." Stumbling back, Captain Boomerang narrowed his eyes in anger and rushed forwards.
"That's it!" He yelled.
Esau was already in motion, pulling Deadshot back while lashing out with a kick to Harkness' stomach sending him to the ground.
Lowering his leg, Esau looked at Deadshot with a frown. "That's enough. This isn't the time or the place for you two to have your little pissing contest." There was a tense few moments before Deadshot stepped back, however, George took a little longer, the sight of Black Spider at his side, ready to restrain him proving just enough incentive to listen.
"Boys, we got company," Harley called and they all looked to see a large squadron of guards rushing down the yard.
Even so, it took Captain Boomerang a few more moments before he too relented.
"Finally, some action." King Shark smiled happily as he slammed his fist into his open palm and charged forwards despite Deadshot's cries for him to stop. But it was too late and in a matter of seconds was already spotted and while the guards went to fire at him, he was already on them, large fists lashing out with such strength that the guards were sent flying and landed on the ground meters away in a broken heap.
"So much for low profile." Deadshot irritably sighed as he and the rest of the team charged forwards.
Pulling ahead, the world around him becoming a blur, Esau closed in on a group of guards that were attempting to fire at Black Spider. Esau leapt forwards, claws cutting cleanly through their guns, swinging around with a roundhouse to one that drove him headfirst into the ground. Never once letting go of his momentum, Esau gripped his leg tightly, picking him up off the ground and swinging him around.
There he used the body of the guard as a makeshift club, knocking all the other guards to the ground before they had a chance to react. None of them were prepared for that and they were left sitting ducks as Esau unholstered one of his guns in a smooth motion, a single bullet to each head taking them out once and for all.
Yet, Esau didn't stop, already moving forwards, pistol firing out at guards to provide himself the time to get up close and personal. At which point, Esau's superior skill proved far too much, punches, kicks, elbows and knees coming down with devastating force that left them completely exposed to his knives and claws, cutting them apart.
All the while the rest of the so-called Suicide Squad were dealing with the other guards.
Unlike the fight in his apartment, Esau was no longer alone and as result wasn't being forced to fight off over twenty people on his own. Instead, the guards had been forced to break formation and spread out, something that suited Esau perfectly as he moved around the yard picking off stragglers with ease. Not only that, but unlike before, he was no longer restricted by a small room and instead was able to fully move about quite easily.
Lifting the body of one guard, Esau let the bullets riddle into the dead man's body while taking out his own gun and firing at a few of the guards, five bullets later and four guards fell to the ground dead. There he noticed a small group of guards taking cover in an entryway to the furthest tower, their position secure and giving them a good vantage point.
"Deadshot!" Esau called already moving forwards. "Cover me!" The bullets that soared through the air were accurate and took out three of the guards before they could even take cover. However, the other two managed to survive and were forced to hide as Deadshot continued to open fire on them yet other guards focused their attention on Deadshot.
Killer Frost saw this and erected a small wall of ice to cover Deadshot's flank while she in turn fired off a number of spikes that impaled a small group of guards.
As he neared the door, Esau slid across the ground, his gun already pulled out and as soon as he passed the threshold, fired. The guard closest to the door hadn't been able to react in time and so was killed, the second managed to get a little lucky and only received a bullet wound to the shoulder.
Scrapping his claws along the ground, Esau came to a stop and then pushed off, spear-tackling the guard into the wall and stabbing his claws into the man's neck. Ripping them out, Esau flicked his hand and stepped out back into the courtyard to see the Suicide Squad finishing off the rest of the guards.
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Carrots123
Carrots123 So, another chapter is done and with it, the Suicide Squad's 'stealthy' infiltration of Arkham Asylum falls apart pretty much immediately. However, Esau now knows what the Riddler is and they go on to kill a number of guards. As you'll notice, he is very coldhearted about these deaths, a purposeful action to show just how extreme Esau has become, more of a villain now than an anti-hero. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed and if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.
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