HOME | DD

Description
Pyromania

Dr. Myers and I keep walking down the corridor towards the surgery room.

The hallway is cluttered with more supplies like wheelchairs, desks, gurneys, computer equipment and even torn down pictures of Warden Sharp. I notice there are lots of them throughout both all the buildings I’ve been in tonight, making me think this guy is really full of himself. I’m still holding my wound despite the bandage around it. It’s a little damp.

I see a sign ahead saying “Sanatorium” on the wall ahead, along with a small arrow pointing left. I assume that’s the room we’re going into next since we need to turn left at the end of the corridor. Once we do there are a set of stairs leading up towards the door, next to a smooth ramp coming from another corridor and leading to the door. We walk up with enough ease before opening the door, letting me fully see the Sanatorium.

It’s probably the largest room I’ve been in so far. There are two levels to this room, the one we are on and one I can see below thanks to the glass windows on the railings around the drop of this level. There are two paths in front, one heading straight ahead while the other is going right. Straight ahead I can see an walled in area with only one entrance into it. I can vaguely make out a small office nearby at the end of it. Going right there’s another path that leads down to the lower section of the room. The path going down has two turns that each go lower and lower to the next level. But on this level, on the right side of the room, I can see small rooms that look like operation stations, due to the empty tables and chairs and lone I.V. stands and bags on the ground nearby. There’s a walkway, the stairs leading to it right to our right-side, that reaches all the way to the end of the right side of the room. I even take a moment to look up and see how high the ceiling is, and the fans above. On some part of the walls, just below where the ceiling starts, I can see very eerie looking stone gargoyles decorating the place. I use the term “decorating” lightly.

But what stands out to both me and Dr. Myers is just how cold is seems to be in the room. It’s the middle of spring and yet it feels like the room is on the verge of becoming a meat locker.

“Jeeze.” I say, holding myself to try and warm my arms. “Do you doctors always like it this cold when working.”

“No.” she says, looking around the room. “Something’s not right. It wasn’t like this when I left.” She then sees something and points it out, saying “Look!”

I look where she’s pointing and see a few icicles formed on the underside of walkway in the room. Now I know something is up. It’s not even THAT cold outside or in. Bu then I can see another set of icicles formed near one of the operation stations. But then something else comes to mind that seems to be lacking in the room.

“Where are the other doctors?” I ask.

At this point even Dr. Myers notices this and her eyes widen before calling out “Richard?” She waits for some sort of response before calling out “Dr. Morgan?” Nothing. “Andrew?” Still nothing. “Carla?”

She suddenly runs off towards the office straight ahead in the walled off area. I follow behind, picking up my pace of a moment once she turns into the entrance. As I turn I see there’s an elevator nearby with the sign “Morgue” overhead. There are more icicles hanging from the sign.

Suddenly I hear Dr. Myers gasp before turning to see her looking at something in the office. I can’t see from where I am due to another wall in the way. I walk over and look just as Myers has her back against the wall. I gasp myself, seeing what she had seen.

One of the doctors had been shot through the head. There’s a bloody stain on the wall behind him as his body’s slumped down in front. But then I see on the wall to my right, written in something red which I can’t tell if it’s crayon or even blood, are the words “I didn’t mean to”.

“Oh...Andrew...” Myers says, looking down and shaking her head. “The poor man. He...he has a son.”

I look at her, hearing this, and then know what sort of feeling that boy is going to have when he hears that his father. I hold her shoulder to try and give her comfort.

“I’m...I’m alright.” She says, waving me off and then looking up. “I’m used to seeing gruesome things. It’s just....never thought I’d see it happen to people like him.”

“I’m sorry, Dr. Myers.” I say, still trying to give some sort of comfort.

“No, it’s not your fault.” She said. “I know the risks when I took this position.” She looked back to the dead doctor before pushing me out, along with herself, saying “Come on. Let’s deal with you first. I can at least save one life today.”

I guess she’s doing her best to hold in how she feels about one of her friends being dead, being a doctor and one who I’m depending on right now must be part of the pressure. I’m not going to try and push her because even I know that I need her help. At least she sees me as a reason not to buckle or drop under the pressure of the situation. I guess we’re both starting to become dependent of each other.

We walk all the way over to the pathway leading down to the next level of the sanatorium. Once down there I can see more operating stations among one section with a sign reading “Showers” on it. We walk down to the end where the double doors leading out are, three signs next to is reading “X-ray Room” “Surgery” and “Observation”.

Once we open the doors I can see three colored lines on the floor going in different directions. The blue and red seem to branch off towards the same area while the yellow line goes ahead, down one path that sloops down to some other room.

“Which one do we follow?” I ask the doc.

She points and says “Red. We always said how it’s the color leading to the room....with the most blood...” she half-mumbles, realizing how the situation doesn’t exactly call for it.

I look and her and say “ Yeah...might want to think of a new one for that.” Before following the line.

We follow the line, going down one hallway after another. As we do we pass more bodies. At least four are guards, one is a doctor, and three are orderlies, one I recognize as the redhead who brought me here before. I stop for a moment and look down, realizing how too small of a place Arkham island is and how I’m that much closer to running into some other freak that was locked up here.

Why, Dad? Why did this have to happen.....?

Myers nudges me ahead, snapping me out of my state, and I continue forward. We’re closer to the room now. I can see the plastic flaps hanging down from the one archway. For a moment I almost think someone has already passed by, seeing the flaps moving a bit as we come closer to them. But once we pass by I can see I’m wrong seeing no sign that anyone had already been here.

We finally reach the door and open to see the room. It’s large enough that there’s a lot of extra space, because at the very end is the operation area. I can see the chair with straps for whoever the patient might be, along with a bunch of lights beaming down towards it. There’s also some more I.V. stands and a table where I can see the surgical equipment. We walk out from a small underway and I take a second to look up and see there’s a platform above for people to look down and watch, I can even see the stairway leading up to it on the left side of the room.

Once we walk over to the end where everything is, Myers looks and says “Here we go.” Looking at the surgical equipment. “Sit right here.” He says, helping me up onto the chair. “Now let me see what I can do.”

She puts her glasses back on and picks up a few of the tools. She removes the bandage she made before and takes another look. I can see her preparing the swab of alcohol and feel like I’m six years old again and at the hospital for a flu shot.

“Alright. This is going to sting.” She says before dabbing it on my bullet wound.

I give another hiss of pain before relaxing. I try not to look as she starts working on stitching up my injury. I just look up to the platform, trying to see if anyone is hiding up there. Thankfully no one is, but for a second I almost think I see a shadow on the wall of the stairway going up. I try to look further but it doesn’t help. I just shake it off, thinking it’s my eyes playing tricks.

A minute goes by as the Myers and I sit in silence, she still working on the stitches. I feel a bit awkward about it and think for what to say. I finally think of a decent enough question to try and break the ice, although I don’t know if she’ll be willing to answer.

“So....why’d you want to be a doctor?”

She looks up at me, seeing my awkward look in my face, before giving a reassuring smile. I guess she was taken back for a moment before deciding to answer.

“Well,” she began, while looking back to my scar. “technically I’m a psychologist. But I have done a little study in medical work as well. But, if you must know, I always wanted to be one ever since I was a child. I always liked helping people, and even made a habit of giving Band-Aids and stuff like that to my friends whenever we’d play and they’d end up getting hurt. My parents were actually proud of that. Come high school I still kept studying. But during that time I met a girl named Olivia. She and I became friends fast and for the next four years we became the closest friends. But I never really found out about Olivia’s home life until graduation. She only lived with her father, who tended to let the drink get the better of him. Then he’d end up....well....let’s just say I’m ashamed I never found out sooner. When I went off to my first year of college I tried to keep in touch with Olivia as much as possible, but it didn’t work too well when I was as far away as Star City.” She went quite for a few seconds before saying “When I came home for the summer, that was the first time I’d heard from Olivia again. She called the house and wanted me to come over to see her. I was....actually excited that she wanted to, it being so long. But when I got there....I found Olivia sitting outside on the porch... she was covered in blood. I thought she was hurt....but then I turned out she’d taken a hammer to her father after going too far. I thought she was going to hurt me...but then she only smiled and said she could never to that. I didn’t know until later but someone had already called the police. Before they could get there though...Olivia...she...she took her father’s revolver and....” I looked down and could see a small tear go down her eye. “That day, I knew I wanted to do whatever I could to help people from ending up like that. To cure them of whatever diseases were in their minds....I didn’t want to see....anymore Olivias.”

I just stood there in silence, taking in her story. I couldn’t help but feel a sort of kinder spirit from it. Both of us has some tragic happen to us that made us try to do something better, only mine was for more selfish reasons. I guess this world can be as small as they say at times, even for people with stories.

She clears her throat after finishing my stitching and says “There we go.”

I look down and move it around, seeing it feels a little sore but better than it did.

I look up at her as she stand up straight and say “Thanks.”

She nods and asked “So...what about you, Samantha? What’s your story?”

“What? You haven’t read my file or whatever it is they have on me?”

“I may have. But I’d prefer to hear your side of it. Besides, you still owe me an interview anyway.”

I look at her, seeing her reassuring look in her face, while deciding what to say. I remember how it was with Dr. Sale and how he didn’t believe anything I’d say about the truth and wondered if she’d act the same. But then I figure it won’t hurt to at least try again.

I tell her everything I can in only a few short minutes. My past with my father’s mistakes, the whole involvement of Sabatino, my parents death, me trying to implicate Sabatino, getting caught, and finally ending up here.

When I finish I see her questioning look on Dr. Myers face and say “I know. You think it’s one big delusional story all from my mind and...”

“No. I believe you.” I hear her say, making me look at her confused. “I’m just wondering how no one caught onto this before?”

“You...I mean you really do believe me? But...I thought...”

“Samantha, out of all the types of patients I’ve ever had to examine, I fail to see how you could be considered anywhere in the same category as them. I can just tell by the way you’ve been this whole time, the way you look when you talk about your past.”

“But...Dr. Sale, he...”

“Jason? Pfft.” I see her wave it off. “He’s only worried about trying to have a high enough position to someone like the Warden’s right hand. To him, anyone who’s committed here is instantly a potential victory for him.”

I give a slight huff of relief and gratitude before saying “Thanks, Dr. Myers.”

“Call me Emily.” She says, smiling and making me do so too. “So what exactly should we do now?”

“Well I...oh dammit.” I say, smacking my forehead. “I forgot to say. I overheard on a radio transmission, there’s some survivors held up in Intensive Treatment. I was trying to get there when I ran into Dent and Wesker.”

She nodded, hearing what I had to say, before saying “Then that’s where we go. We’ll need to make sure the way’s clear before risking it, but at least it’s better than waiting here for someone to come stumbling onto us.”

I say a quick “Right.” Before hopping off the chair and walking back with Dr. Mye...I mean Emily.

********************

We make our way all the way back towards the sanatorium. Once we do, I feel a bit anxious at the fact that I may still be able to survive, now with Emily a my side and a definite plan of action. But just as we enter and start to reach the door, someone else opens it, making us hide behind the dropped corner of the pathway back up to the second level. We wait to see if it’s a friend or foe, and then I see we’re got the bad end of that 50/50 chance.

The one who came in is dressed in a very odd looking suit, looking like a modified fire-proof jumpsuit with a handful of accessories. He’s wearing straps around his body that are armed with a few grenades and flares. I can see, on his back, are odd looking metal wings and a really big canister in between what look like rocket boosters. Around his belt are more fire tools and a strap that connects to a weapon he’s carrying in both hands. It looks like a big flamethrower with a few more fire weapons strapped onto it. And finally I look to his face, which is covered by a helmet he’s wearing. It has two large dark red eyeshades that look like eyes, an irregular shaped front that must be the breathing nozzles, and two antennas sticking up on the sides. I may never have seem him in real life, but from all the stories I’ve heard I can tell that this is none other than the guy they call Firefly.

Emily and I stay where we are, hidden from his view. He takes a moment to scan around the room, the both of us needed to duck back so he doesn’t spot us. He then touches the side of his helmet as if part of it is a communicator and we can hear is augmented voice from behind the mask as he talks.

(It’s Lynns.) he says, his voice sounding almost robotic. (I’m at the medical facility.) he listens to whoever’s talking to him on the other end and says (No. Haven’t found him yet.) He looks at one of the group icicles and says (But he’s definitely been here.) Listens. (I left him to guard out-front for now. I still need to check this floor.) Listens again. (Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just don’t expect me to bring him back in one piece if he doesn’t.) He stops talking over communicator before saying (Crazy, dizzy, clown bitch.)

He holds his flamethrower in both hands again and starts to walk over towards the office where the dead Dr. Andrew, we’d found before was. I look to Emily and gesture what to do now. I’m afraid to speak, thinking Firefly could hear us even from here. She looks around and then tries to think of what to do. I do the same while watching Firefly and making sure he doesn’t come our way.

What can we do? Could we try and sneak out when he’s not looking? But then he said he has someone standing out front, meaning we can’t try that. Maybe if we try back to one of the rooms? But then we’d be caught in a dead end either way. And we can’t stay hiding forever.

It’s then that Emily taps my shoulder, getting my attention, and points to our other option: the elevator. She does have a point, and it’s not like we could end up in a more worse place then where we are now. I nod to her and check to see when we’ll have a possible clearing.

Firefly is walking out from the office and towards the path where we are hiding. We sneak down, quietly, towards one of the operation stations and see a small space behind another wall and a small drop where an air vent is. We make our way over and hide there. For at least five minutes we wait until we see Firefly walk by. Emily pokes her head out to see him before ducking back before he spots her. With that he finally walks through the doorway.

We both take deep breaths once he’s gone before walking out of our hiding spot. We still sneak quietly up towards the elevator, still taking the precaution of Firefly hearing us or coming back and stumbling on us. Once we reach it, Emily uses the module next to the doors to call up the elevator. In at least thirty seconds before it finally comes up. We’re both inside before she pushes for the lower floor, the door sliding shut once she does.

I take another deep breath before asking “Now what? Is there another place to hide down there?”

“I’m not sure.” She answers, the elevator still going down. “We may be able to hide inside the experimental labs, but I’m more afraid of what might be down there.”

I’m about to ask what she means by that but the elevator stops and the doors open. There’s a path leading to, from what I can tell, is a window looking in on some other operating room. To the right of me, just as we step out of the elevator, I can see an office door that’s been locked with a chain. I can barely read the name on it, since most of it is faded off, but I can tell that is used to read Dr. Harleen Quinzel”.

We walk up and there are two paths that split off. One leads to the right, which is a dead end, and the other to the left where I can see two doors, one a cage door cutting us off from the rest of the room, the other an electric barrier into the office where I can see a dead guard hanging out from on the floor. We realize the only way through is past the checkpoint office, so we start to make our way to it.

As we go inside Emily and I tiptoe over the body of the guard before reaching the other end to the rest of the room. That’s when I gasp at what we both see. There are three people, a doctor and two guards, who’ve been frozen. One’s near the doorway to the operating room, the other two are closer to a second elevator.

“My god....” I say, walking up and examining the frozen doctor. “What the hell is this?”

“Just as bad as I thought.” Emily says. “Come on. The door’s this way.”

I start to walk backwards, still looking at the frozen doctor, before finally turning to see the doors already opened by Emily. I walk through before she lets the door go to swing back where it was. She leads me through another hallway where there’s two small staircases. Once down those we turn were there are four more. Down those and now we’re at a fork.

“Now which way?” I ask.

“Well I think we should...” Emily began to say before being cut off.

We can hear a scream coming from somewhere down the left path. It sounds more like an echo of a scream than an actual one. But once we hear another scream I start to recognize the voice.

“Hey that’s...that’s Dr. Sale!” I say, remembering now.

“Jason!” Emily says, looking down the left path. She grabs my arm and pulls me forward saying “Come on. We need to help him.”

After one good tug I’m already running with her on my own. We go down one short corridor and then down a longer one. I look up and see a sign reading “Morgue”, making me realize where we’re heading. One more turn until we see the door, another frozen doctor standing outside of it. Emily rushes forward and opens the door, me behind, and we both see what’s inside the room.

The shape of the room is a small platform in the middle with a bunch of smooth paths leading to it. There are two other paths on the side where the walls are, also where the doors that store the bodies are. On the platform itself are three preparation tables with sinks and paces where they would rest the bodies on. But three of them are flipped over and broken by the other thing standing there.

At first I think I’m looking at the backend of a robot, given the automaton suit with its black coloring, blue tubes that seem to be feeding something into the rest of it, and even the heavy metal looking boots. In one hand I can see some sort of metal blaster with the same blue energy or fuel or whatever it is powering it. In the other, Dr. Sale, struggling as it’s holding him by the neck.

“You said this is where she would be, Dr. Sale!” I hear the guy in the robo-suit say. “And yet she is not here. I warned you what would happen if you were lying to me!”

“N-NO!” Sale struggles to say. “I-I didn’t know they moved her! Honest!”

Suddenly I hear Emily shout “Victor! Stop!” before realizing she just gave us away.

I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but either way it makes the robo-man turn and now I can see him better. He’s wearing gloves that match with the rest of the suit, blue energy going through it as well as tube that run up the stomach part of it. It seems to be slender in the chest area and then becomes bulky when moving towards the legs and the head. There’s another bulky part of the suit around the head where I can see the actual person inside the suit. His face is all blue, and around his eyes and the top of his head are some type of specialized goggles . I just realize that I’m standing in the same room as the infamous Mr. Freeze.

“Ah.” He says. “Dr. Myers. So glad to see you survived the riots.”

“Put Dr. Sale down, Victor.” Emily says in a commanding tone, making me look at her as if she’s nuts for doing so. “You killed too many as it is.”

“I don’t care how many it takes!” Mr. Freeze almost shouts back. “I want my Nora! I’ll destroy every life on this miserable island before I let her fall into danger!” He then holds up Dr. Sale higher and says “The good doctor here told me she was brought here, to the morgue. And yet I find him lying, just like all the others!”

Emily sounds more angered now when she says “Did you ever think they were telling the truth, Victor? That perhaps as far as they knew they didn’t know, or thought she was here?” I look and see Freeze’s annoyed face before she keeps saying “Only a handful of us knew that the Warden wanted her move to the newly installed experimental labs. We wanted to make more accommodating quarters for your research. You just killed those people for nothing dammit!”

I see Freeze give an slight loom of regret before saying “Take me to her, immediately!”

“Let Dr. Sale go and I’ll lead you.” She says, indicating him.

He looked to Dr. Sale before back to Emily, finally letting him go. We both rush over to him as he’s catching his breath.

“Are you alright, Jason?” Emily asks.

“I...I will be.” He says, rubbing his neck and looking up. He sees Emily and then sees me. “Samantha? But...what are you...?”

“I’ll explain later.” I tell him.

Suddenly Freeze grabs Emily by the shoulder and makes her stand up straight to look at him eye-to-eye.

“If Nora is not there, or you try anything, I will not be so kind and charitable as I was now, Dr. Myers. To you or any of your friends. Understood?” He threatens.

She doesn’t bother to answer but only indicates for him and Dr. Sale and me to follow. I help Dr. Sale to his feet and to walk with us as well. As we exit the room he’s fine to walk on his own, looking at Mr. Freeze who’s between us and Emily.

“So why exactly ARE you here?” he asks me.

“I said I’d explain later.” I whisper back. “But who’s this Nora the robo-snowman’s talking about?”

“Victor, here, used to be a doctor.” He began to explain as we kept walking. “From what I remember, he put his wife under ice to keep her from dying from a fatal disease. When they first caught him, someone managed to sway the Warden to let him continue his research while here in Arkham. And now it turns out no one bothers to tell us lower staff that they move her to some fancy new lab.” He then looked as we went into the room Emily and I entered once we’d gotten off the elevator, seeing the elevator itself, and saying “Why aren’t we making a run for it? We should just go now.”

“No.” I whisper harshly to him. “I’m not leaving Emily behind just to try and save myself. She’s helped me out this far.”

He sighs heavily before we both see that Emily is calling up the second elevator in the room, leading power into the medical building’s lower levels. Freeze steps aside once the elevator comes up and indicated for us to enter first with Emily. Once we’re in he’s steps in next to us, me taking surprise in the fact that he can fit inside. Emily presses for the lower level and we ride down.

The whole time I feel an awkward sense riding down with a giant iceman in a robotic suit. I don’t know it, but there’s a point where Dr. Sale is looking at Freeze’s gun as if planning to try to make a move. Only for Freeze to see this and give him a threatening look and holding the gun in both hands. The rides finally over once we reach the end and exit into the experimental labs.

It’s a very large room with only a clear platform in the center. Opposite the side of the room we’re on is a set of stairs leading up to some sort of observation room. From where I am I can see some chairs and a door leading into it from some other part of the medical facility. In the center of the room, atop the platform, is a large tube-like object. It’s connected with a bunch of larger tubes to some advanced looking computer equipment and a large tube of what I can tell is liquid nitrogen.

As we get closer I can see the vague figure of someone inside the class covering of the tube. Suddenly Freeze pushes past both me and Dr. Sale as he hurries over to the tube. There’s a lot of condensation on it that he wipes away. I’m the only one to come close enough to see Nora, a beautiful looking women with long blonde hair, sleeping inside.

“Oh, Nora.” Freeze says, kneeling down next to the cryo-tube. “Thank God. You’re safe. I thought I lost you.”

As the three of us stand there and watch, I can’t help but feel a little bit glad to see Freeze and his wife together. Despite him being a murderer. Then I think how lucky a girl like her can be to have such a devoted lover like hi to care for her so much....despite the crime sprees he committed and all the deaths he caused....maybe someone a little less devoted.

Suddenly I hear Emily say. “Let’s go.” She then looked to Dr. Sale and said “We need to head to go to Intensive Treatment. There are others still alive over there.”

“Well fine...” I hear him say, as if a little concerned with going there. “But maybe we should first try to...”

He stopped and looked up towards the observation room, making me and Emily look too. Before anyone can say anything, there’s an small explosion inside the room. It breaks the glass covering between that room and this one. By now Freeze has stood back up and has his gun at the ready while we all look to see who it was. Walking out to the edge of the broken platform of the observation room is none other than Firefly, his own weapon in his hands and at the ready.

(Well, well.) He says. (Looky what we’ve got here. A couple of hideaways and one doctor on the rocks.)

“Jesus...” I can hear Dr. Sale say.

Freeze speaks next, saying “You’re not wanted here, Lynns. Leave now before you regret barging in here.”

(Ah, you see that’s where you’re wrong. You see, Snowman, we forming our own personal troop right now. You see? And this troop is claiming all of Arkham. And we mean ALL of Arkham. So here’s the thing, I’m giving you this one chance, and only this one chance, to join up. You say yes, then congrats, you’re part of the bigger picture. Say no...and well, let’s just say it’s not going to be your kind of party once I light enough candles to melt you into a puddle.)

I’m waiting to hear what Freeze has to say, taking a bit of relief that neither are interested in us at the moment, before hearing what the iceman has to say.

“I’m not interested in any little games you and your friends may have, Mr. Lynns. I only want to be left alone with my Nora. Now I’m telling you: leave us alone. NOW!”

I heard Firefly chuckle before saying (You know, a part of me was really hoping you’d say that. You see, I figured you’d want to put up a fight, so I brought along a friend.)

Next to Firefly steps in another odd looking man, one I’m almost disgusted to look at. His skin is pale white, and he has no nose or ears. I can see his teeth look almost razor sharp, as if they were filed down in some way. He’s wearing fashionable looking purple shirt and blue pants. Around his shoulders are gun straps, which are empty since he has both guns in his hands.

I suddenly hear Freeze say “ Warren White!”

But then I hear Emily whisper “Great White Shark...” making me see who this guy is.

“Yeah that’s right, Frosty!” Great White says. “Time for you to pay for messing me up like this!”

Just then both he and Firefly open fire on Freeze, with their guns and flamethrowers.
I cover my eyes from the intensity of the light and heat before peeking out to see Freeze fire back with his gun, just missing Firefly. He suddenly clicks some device on his arm which makes a glass covering come over his face and coverings from his goggles to go over his eyes and light up in two red lights. When he speaks again his voice sounds almost as robotic as Firefly’s.

[You will both pay for that!] he declared before firing again.

As the three keep fighting, I hear Dr. Sale shout “Over there!” pointing to a door which reads “Boiler Room”. “Come on!” he declares to both me and Emily.

We follow him towards it, me needing to duck from a stray ice blast at one point. We finally reach the door which Dr. Sale opens and enters first. Next is Emily and finally me, taking one last look back at the fight. I can see Freeze standing in front of his wife’s tube and firing at Firefly, while the pyromaniac looks like he’s ready to throw a grenade from his belt at him and Great White is ducking to take cover from the coming blast. I close it just as I hear some explosion go off and more sounds of fighting.

I look at the room we’re in. It’s large enough to hold at least three spate boilers, all reaching as far as the ceiling. The room looks old and made from crumbling brick and there’s only so much room to walk between. Dr. Sale takes a small nearby chair and props it against the door leading back to the lab.

There’s another explosion outside the room which shakes the room and makes some dust fall down over our heads.

“Just great, Jason!” I hear Emily say. “You lead us into equally dangerous room!”

“It was either that or get stuck in the middle of a damn crossfire between two murdering psychopaths!” he yelled back at her. “I acted on impulse, Emily, you should be aware of that like any good psychologist would!”

There’s another explosion and I cover my head, seeing some small pieces of debris fall nearby where Sale was standing.

“We need a way out of here!” I say.

“No kidding.” Sale retorts. “Only problem is we have only one way out and it’s through that door!” he points to the one leading back to the battle.

“Well if we don’t get out of here we’ll be buried in rubble!” Emily says.

I start looking around the room while the doctors start to argue about whether or not to try and risk running out and taking the elevator. I try to think of a plan myself while looking around. Should we risk the elevator or not? But then I see a safer alternative.

“Hey, I think I found another way out!” I call over to them.

I point out a small window on the other wall, opposite the door, which is a few feet above. Just as they see it and realize it’s a better option, another explosion happens, and another piece of debris falls near where I’m standing.

“We need to hurry!” Emily says, walking over to the window with me and Sale. “Another blast like that and the whole room could fall on top of us.”

We reach it and see it’s too high to reach for just one person. I indicate for Sale to give me a boost, making him clasp his hands together and take my foot in his hands. He lifts me up and I’m able to reach the window. A few good bangs against the glass and it breaks. I can see the parking lot out front of the medical facility and know we’re in the clear, no sign of any supervillains around.

I reach out and crawl as best I can, taking relief in knowing that if I can fit through then so can Emily and Dr. Sale. Once I’m out I look back and reach for whoever’s next. Emily is. I take her hand after Sale boosts her up and I help her up into the open.

Once we both reach for Dr. Sale, another explosion goes off. The whole room is starting to fall behind him. He has a look of panic as he reaches for us. We both managed to grab his arms and pull. We’re lucky to be able to get in out before the entire room collapses on him.

We all sit there, on the grass just next to the lot, taking a breath before looking at each other.

“I’m going to need a serious vacation after this.” Sale says.

“No kidding.” Emily adds.

As I reposition my hand I feel a sharp pain and recoil it. I see there’s a cut over my palm and look to see a piece of glass from the broken window.

I give a hiss and say “Dammit.” Which catches the others attention.

“Oh not again.” I hear Emily say as she and Dr. Sale look at the cut. “I’m warning you now that I’m not going back in there.”

“Here.” Sale says, reaching into his pocket. He pulls out a surgical bandage and wraps it around my hand before saying “Lucky I had these handy.”

Once it’s done I look an say “Thanks, Doctor.”

“You can call me Jason at this point.” He says before we all stand. “So, I guess it’s to Intensive Treatment, right?”

“That was the plan.” Emily says.

“Good. Then I guess we head over from Arkham East and then...”

“East?” Emily asks. “But Jason the door to Arkham North is right there.” She points to it.

“Oh, uh, right. Right stupid me.” He says, rubbing the back of his head.

Both Emily and I give him a questionable look before I say “Let’s just go, before anyone else dangerous shows up.”

We all make our way towards the door leading to Arkham North, seeing a bunch of bullet holes and damage from when Two-Face and Scarface fought. But then we all see the bigger problem. The module that controlled the door was damaged from their fight, the whole thing covered in bullet holes and in pieces.

“Dammit.” Emily says. “It would happen, wouldn’t it?”

I talk in a low tone and say “Yeah...yeah it would...” knowing this is just how my luck is.

“I guess we have no other choice then.” Jason says. “We’ll have to take the long way, around through Arkham East.”

“I guess so.” Emily says, looking back between myself and Jason.

Suddenly I realize something important and say “But...that’s where the mansion is, right? And the mansion’s where the Joker’s supposed to be.”

They look between each other, seeing I have a point. At this point even I’m starting to think any idea’s better than going closer to where the Joker is supposed to be.

“We’re going to have to risk it.” Jason says. “Maybe...maybe we can try and sneak past, more towards the botanical gardens, and hope we go unnoticed.”

Emily nods, saying “Alright then.” Now looking to me.

I give a faint nod before we all decide to walk on towards the door to Arkham East.
As we walk, I keep thinking to what’s been going on around here and trying to put the pieces together. Why are all the criminals here not trying to escape? Why are they all waiting around and trying to claim the island for themselves? Why’s Joker trying to take the lead and put his own group together? What are they planning?

No decent answer comes to mind and I try not to bring it up to either Jason or Emily. At least now we have a third person with us, meaning we have a better chance of survival. But now as we go through the door to Arkham East I keep getting this odd feeling....like we’re being watched....