The Silhouette and The Forge 
Chapter 58

Arkham Asylum was not like it was in the comics. How it was so often depicted as a revolving door for the numerous patients and the special brand of madness each would inflict upon any who had the misfortune to cross paths with them.

It was often depicted almost like a medieval stone fortress that had been renovated to help house insane patients while having the least effective and horrific methods from the past to help treat them. 

What stood before me instead was a more up to date structure that had proper security, procedures for escaping inmates, and cameras with modern technology that the place may as well be no different from another older yet not completely out of date psychiatric facility.

It still held that Gotham charm when I first got here that had been slowly pushed back across the city. The darkness itself that had clung so long to this place like sentient cancer had been given a war it couldn’t hope to win so it clung to the city as best it could while getting ripped stem and root out of it every step that was taken by me and whatever I had that was helping turn this place into less of a living embodiment of the Great Depression.

It was slow work but it was being pushed back street by street, block by block, taking what I could only assume would be months to truly shine like the gem that it was.

Despite the asylum being a decent place to treat the special breed of madness only Gotham could churn out it was currently undergoing quite the chaos erupting from it. Patients and inmates who should be locked in Blackgate but a case of insanity saved them or cursed them however you want to look at it.

The Gotham police who had been expanding since the gang war and the fake Court’s debut courtesy of yours truly giving them more funding and the equipment alongside Bruce and his massive company and Jaina with what was left of the Court. Hate to say it but with the death of so many corrupt officers and the increased livable wage with them getting increased funding had led to the police becoming not only a force to be reckoned with, but one that wasn’t just a corrupt public service that did as the highest bidder told them to do.

Now they were a lean mean justice fighting machine. Riot gear with tear gas being fired at the rushing patients who were the more aggressive ones with Commissioner Gordon himself speaking through a loud speaker telling the inmates to surrender. A few of the more gentle ones were being led securely to some paddy wagons. The other more aggressive ones were being dealt with.

The issue was the police despite expanding and getting the funding they so desperately needed for a long time were still outnumbered. It’s why they had positioned themselves along the main and only road that led out of the asylum. Like Blackgate both were situated away from Gotham and instead were placed on islands.

It was a means to make it more difficult for dangerous patients or inmates from easily escaping and running amok in Gotham. Ignoring the police as my form moved through the water appearing like a larger than normal fish. The communicator beeped in morse code inside of me.

Blackgate is now going through a break out as well? The asylum is one thing but for the prison to have a mass riot and attempt to escape not long after the asylum is not a coincidence. Someone planned this and I don’t like it. 

Sending several messages by having different portions of my insides have the pressure increased so I could press the buttons and send out a quick message to Smith and the hunters. They needed to handle the outbreak at Blackgate. 

A few would remain at Arkham so that any of the more dangerous inmates that get out would be handled. Not that the police couldn’t but it would be a long painstaking process to capture and figure out who is missing.

As per usual Gotham before I showed up was a hellhole. Too many inmates and insane people whether they were mild offenders or mass murderers this city had too many. So they of course had them placed in these two locations. 

My hunters and drone network was spread thin despite having them all across the city. It was something that even with the engineers could not be remedied with just making more of them. It’s why we had hacked into multiple networks using people’s calls and texts and any suspicious activities online filtered through several vi’s that would then be sifted through to help gather information.

Other means like the various security systems and camera feeds help us keep an eye on things. The issue with the last ones despite more than making up for the lack of drones across the city that could only go so fast and be in so many places was if someone cut the power or the connection to the system entirely.

But it didn’t stop me from finding other means to get an idea where everyone was at. The air filtration system built into the place had accurate sensors that could tell a shift or change in the air in the many rooms in the asylum. Stepping into the place shifting my form into a middle aged bald man before beginning my search.

A scream had me pause that was abruptly cut off when I saw a hand held out around a corner with a pool of blood trailing out. Turning the corner to see a deranged man carving a line into his knuckle that marked five. He had what appeared to be thousands of these tally marks on him.

He looked at me with bloodshot eyes with a deranged smile that got bigger by the second. “Oh my lucky day!”

“The opposite actually.” I said simply staring at the tilted head of Victor Zsasz. Not who I was looking for but I won’t complain about crossing paths with him. 

“Ha ha ha ha,” He let out a crazed laugh taking a step towards me, “You have a sense of humor. That’s a rare thing around here.” He lunged towards me like a feral animal. His blade thrust towards my heart. One moment I was in front of him the next I was calmly walking past him while he stayed standing before slowly turning to look at me. 

“A corpse shouldn’t be laughing.” My remark was as cold as it was casual walking away and paying no mind as he took one step before in a spray of blood his body fell apart. Uncaring for anyone who would find what was left here I moved further in nonlethally taking down any patients who weren’t too much of a danger to others while the more unhinged like some of Jokers followers the few left alive that I hadn’t gotten to were dealt with. 

They all laughed or chuckled yet the fear in their eyes towards me was something that they couldn’t hide. The Joker himself had some fear in him, even if it wasn’t the traditional kind most people had, so why would those that follow him be any different. It didn’t stop them from trying. 

One tried to bash my temple with a guards baton that had blood dripping from the end of it only to have the baton bent with his arm ripped right out of his socket and his lower jaw knocked off leaving his tongue dangling. Another rushed me with a plastic chair only to fall to his knees when his head was twisted backwards. Two more rushed at me with terrified adrenaline fueled screams only to have their heads smashed into the walls with their bodies falling to the floor like puppets with their strings cut.

By this point thirty seven of the failed comedian's followers were dead alongside another twenty three aggressive patients that had killed some of the staff. “Impressive.”

My body fully froze on the spot before I slowly turned to look at the source. A tall woman with raven black hair and lipstick walked around a corner of a hallway near one of the last places left that Joker could be at. Her outfit was a red long sleeved skin tight body suit with a grey undermesh to it. 

Several more figures appeared that were all garbed like ninjas but with outfits that looked more modern special ops. “But killing animals with no true knowledge of fighting is something anyone with enough tact and skill can do.” 

She pulled out her curved chinese sword-- a dao before rushing at me, swinging it at me only for me to side step and in an impressive display of flexibility weave around the others rushing to attack me. “Why is one of the world's greatest assassins here? I’d figured Ra’s would have more important matters for you to attend to than a simple man, Lady Shiva.” 

She kept a cool expression giving nothing away while holding her sword at the ready. The other assassins charged towards me while she hung back. “Do not speak the Demons Head's true name lightly, and you presume much, Silhouette.” 

The assassins were well trained. Enough that I would say in some ways they were better than the Owls of the Court before their upgrades. They weren’t undead creations that could take blows that would kill others and so they fought that much better knowing it was the only life they had. Their team work was even better covering for any holes or gaps that they left corralling me. 

Hopping over one strike that would have taken my legs out before avoiding the swords that would have speared my neck from multiple angles before a series of punches had the assassins knocked out cold. As much as I wanted to kill them they were Ra’s Al Ghul’s people and if I wanted to have a chance to find Artemis then I needed to at least be on good terms with the man despite how much I would rather kill him.

It didn’t help that I remembered the other versions of him that had no issues trying to wipe out the vast majority of humanity all to protect the environment. I cared about the environment and all that gay hippy crap but I draw the line at mass genocide. Not that this Ra’s was all for that but it didn’t change much for me after Artemis was taken.

Letting out a sigh shaking my head casually backhanding the last of the assassins into a wall where they crumpled onto the floor unconscious. Shiva stepped forward unconcerned by what she just witnessed and seeing I was not a normal man. “Unlike other metahumans, you do not solely rely on your strength but know how to fight. Let's see how well.”

She gave me a light smile before charging forward with her blade singing through the air as it moved to meet my hand about to grab the blade. Instead it veered off to the side slicing into my side where it was embedded into where my simulated ribs were. The blade sliced through two of them with red liquid pouring out that looked nearly identical to blood.

She looked at me oddly, not understanding why I didn’t try to go for the kill. “I don’t have time for a stupid test. If you don’t mind there is a certain clown that has an appointment with death that is long over due.” My side soon knitted itself back together with the shirt made from my body remaining damaged to not give anything away as to my new nature.

She held her blade at the ready, not getting out of my way. She moved to attack but my speed increased significantly and no matter how skilled or good a fighter she was it didn’t matter. She was human just as Batman was and had human limits however high they were compared to normal people but human all the same.

My fist slammed into her gut knocking the air from her yet she stayed standing and her grip on her blade remained firm. She may as well be frozen in time to me before I slammed a palm into her diaphragm that forced whatever she had left in her out shortly followed by her crashing through a wall. 

Landing on her back with a wheeze she blinked confused at how she got there and how I had managed to do so. “Tell Ra’s he wants to talk with the master then he should contact him when he reaches out to him. Also,” I walked away from her already done with whatever this was supposed to be making sure to at least put an act that I am not Silhouette and one of his newer creations, “You’re a horrible mother. First chance the master gets he is taking Cassandra away from you. That girl deserves so much better than you.” 

Not giving her a chance to respond I had already left her behind hearing a quick intake of air and a growl before she was completely left behind. Making quick work of the various other Shadows that were here while making my way towards where the Joker had to be. While doing so a message had been sent out to the hunters to make sure they don’t let Sportsmaster out of their sight. If he escapes then they are to not let them get away. 

At the very least get us some information where Infinity Island was located. The temptation to go back and get what information I could out of Lady Shiva grew stronger the more I thought about it but it was a tough call between two choices. Get the Joker now before he gets away and goes to ground cooking up who knows what and potentially ruins all that I had done for this city overnight. 

The other option was going to Blackgate and ensuring Sportsmaster doesn’t get away without me knowing where his little secret club's hideout is. But knowing Jade was there made it a much more tempting option but I wouldn’t be able to get there in time. It didn’t help the concern I had when I didn’t know Lady Shiva or the Shadows were here. I just had to hope my boys wouldn’t let me down.

Moving through a door when a maniacal laugh told me he was here. Moving fast, nearly taking a door off of its hinges to be greeted by the Joker turning to look at me with four more of his little cult followers. The sight of the clown disgusted me. As a kid I loved the Joker from Batman the Animated Series. He was entertaining, funny, and it was even more satisfying when you got to watch him get the crap kicked out of him.

But this wasn’t a cartoon. Not anymore. Now it was far more real and serious because I knew what he was capable of if left to go on living. His pale white skin was disturbing to look at. Raina’s pale complexion complimented her appearance where his chalk white skin clashed with his entire appearance making him look like a grotesque sore or growth on someone's face. His ruby red lips curved into an excited smile that dimmed when he saw it was just a normal looking guy.

“Well that’s disappointing, I was hoping for Batman.” He frowned before his smile returned as he shrugged, “But maybe that’s a good thing. Gives me time to do something to remind this city that the clown prince of crime will not be upstaged by some amateur muscling in on my turf.”

His patient outfit was covered in blood telling me more than enough that he had killed others when this breakout happened. I was not a happy campter when it seemed likely Ra’s was responsible for this. “There is no more time for you--”

My eyes widened when a sword thrust out of my chest so suddenly that I almost hadn’t kept my internals consistent with what a human should have before I turned around to see Shiva giving me a smile. “Shouldn’t drop your guard, especially when I am still around. Now what was that you said about my daughter?” 

Shiva gave me an unimpressed glare while Joker howled with laughter gesturing for his clown posse to stay behind before an explosion on the wall broke it apart as he swiftly ran through it howling with laughter. I would have questioned how she managed to sneak up on me again but I was more concerned with Joker escaping.
 
“Like hell you are leaving this island to torment Gotham.” I said quietly not about to let that mad walking joke of a person do as he pleased in Gotham when it was finally so close to breaking free of the darkness that surrounded it.

Shiva pulled her sword out of me with a flick of the wrist and attempted to slice my head off. Backing away in time with each of the Jokers goons easily killed like crushing a couple of ants. Heads smashed to bloody chunks or punches that went through their body like a knife through butter.

Shiva attempted to attack thinking I was distracted only to miss and get a kick to her stomach. Sent flying back several meters and despite using more power than I had prior with her she managed to twirl mid air landing on her feet.

By the time she looked up I was already gone. Following the laughter before an engine starting had me do a double take. How does he have a boat?

The motor ran as he laughed and waved jauntily at me riding away with two more followers. These were a few that were unaccounted for when I had his gang wiped out. A growl escaped me before I leaped into the water giving chase. For all Jokers insanity the guy was far from stupid. He showed this by using a boat that at first glance looked like a rickety thing that would fall apart just from touching it.

Yet the boat moved faster than most boats you would see in Gotham could ever hope to match. Not that it was outrunning me. Hardening some tentacles with a few quick slices it was shredded and died on the spot as I watched from below as Joker was confused before smacking the wheel a couple of times.

“Come on you stupid hunk of junk, I have a city to torment and remind them why they will never forget dear old Joker!” His hand smashed into the wheel before he turned, giving one of the men dressed in clown clothes an unimpressed stare, “Bozo what is this?!”

“B-boss I swear we got exactly what you--” Whatever he was about to say along with the other henchmen staring at the two with concern and excitement both were silenced with a quick swipe and their heads fell to the floor of the boat. 

Joker, whose face was now covered in blood, blinked in surprise before throwing his head back and laughing, “Now now boys, no need to lose your heads over it.” His smile grew as he pulled out a pistol looking around waiting for me.

Taking that as my que I rose out of the water looking like a blackened deep sea horror that Joker stared wide eyed at before he pulled the trigger. He only managed to get off three shots that I let him just to make him realize he isn’t getting out of this and all he managed to get out was a gasp before I dragged him off of the boat. 

Meet Shiva and some League of Shadows assassins +50
Get the better of Shiva +50
Earn Shiva’s ire and respect+50
Capture Joker +50

Perks gained: Made of Nintendium (Generic Video Game Developer) (400CP) Nintendium, the master material, the adamantium of the gaming world! Exaggeration it might be, you do make people guess twice with how physically durable your creations are. Your consoles could survive being dropped from the top shelf, your phones could be stepped on without issue. Heck, taking a sledgehammer to something made by you might even leave something salvageable, if you put enough work in. Oh, was that not mentioned? The more time you spend designing something, the more durable you'll be able to make it without too much of a limit.