Topics

[A/N: Here is the sequel to my previous Batman story. I hope you like it.]

A/N: Here is the sequel to my previous Batman story. I hope you like it.

BATMAN: DECEPTION

CHAPTER I

As the Sun shone in the surrounding clear blue sky over the City of Rio de Janeiro, an agitated Woman weaved her way through a busy crowd of tourists that packed out one of the many narrow streets that the City was known for. She was a smartly dressed Caucasian Woman, with Long red hair, who every few yards would look behind her, as though she was hoping not to spot anyone in particular.

'Come on, I am not that far from the Safe-House. I just hope that feeling I have is just a false...' she began to think, only to look back over her shoulder, making her eyes widen as she saw someone in the crowd behind her.

'Damn it, I have to warn Damien.'

So the Woman then manoeuvred her way through the masses towards one of the nearby stalls, taking a small grey-ball from one of her jacket pockets and dropping it into the boiling pot that stood there on a wooden table, before hastily putting some distance between herself and the stall.

A moment later and the white steam raising from the Pot, suddenly changed to red, earning confused and agitated shouts as it's owners rushed about like headless chickens around the stall.

But by this point, the lady was already well out of sight, having ducked into an alleyway, before entering one of the old buildings that lined up either side of it.

'We should never had stayed here as long as we did.' she thought while racing up the creaky old stairs, making a lot of noise as she got to the third floor and entered the second door on her right.

"Damien!" the Woman quickly replied as she found herself up against the wall, with a Katana drawn and aimed at her throat. The Weapon's owner was an older Man with greying hair and was clearly 10 years older, narrowing his eyes at the former as he stood his ground in a sharp black suit.

"I saw the red smoke from the window, so I take it that means 'they' have found us?" he asked, gaining a nod from his Colleague in return.

"Yes, I saw one in the market and so decided to warn you, before then losing 'him' in the crowds, Damien." she replied, bringing a knowing look to his face as he withdrew his blade and let her breath easy again.

"Good, then I see the lessons I taught you are sticking, this time..." the older Man began to say in response, only for his expression to become more serious.

"...wait, you said 'him', correct?" he added, earning a nod back." from his younger-comrade. But before she could say any more, Damien passed her another Katana that was in it's sheath and began to herd her towards the balcony.

"I want you get of Rome and head for our next Safe-House, which is in Great Britain."

This brought a shocked look to the younger Woman's face in return, while her Mentor simply stared back stoically.

"If you think that I am going to let..." she started to reply, only to be cut off by the front door being kicked open, making them both ready themselves.

"You haven't started running yet..." a white haired Man in a similarly coloured Gucci suit said as he entered the apartment, revealing to them an eye-patch that was covering his right eye.

...I don't know if you are being brave or simply foolish, Darhk and Onyx."

"Foolish? That is just the right kind of word that I would describe those following the same path as you, Slade." Damien replied as he narrowed his eyes back at their opponent, who simply remained calm as he walked closer to the pair.

"Slade? You mean...'Deathstroke'!" Onyx said back with surprise and a hint of fear in her voice, making the one-eyed Man nod back, before returning his attention to Darhk.

"You know why I am here..." he began to say, while stopping just a foot away from the pair.

"Of course I do..." the older Man began to reply, cutting of the new arrival.

"...You and your 'Companion' have been killing off all the members of the League, whose that do not wish to follow the path that you are offering."

"Ra's Al Ghul is dead and the one who that took his life still draws breath..?" Slade replied with a questioning and judgemental tone.

"Leaders rise and fall, but Ra's built the league to survive long beyond his death, which is something that you have put in doubt when you started killing off those of us who were still loyal to the cause..." Damien said back in a mirrored tone, only to be cut off by his Enemy.

"Yes, loyalty to the mission of our Society, but not to the Man who bled and died for it. I am sorry, Damian, but that is treasonous."

"In your eyes...sorry...eye, Slade, but there was always going to be another 'Head of the Demon', but only somebody that had actually 'earned' the title, not 'born' to it." Darhk spat back, only to then glance over his shoulder at Onyx while unsheathing his Katana.

"I told you to go, Onyx."

"...but...?" she began to stammer, which made her Mentor grit his teeth as his anger started to boil.

"I said...GO!" he spat while lunging at Slade, making the two fight as the younger Woman ran off onto the Balcony and out of sight.

Damien meanwhile, continued to attack his opponent, swinging and lunging the blade in every way that he could. But each and every attempt to hit Slade failed, as he simply dodged them all, before countering with a well placed back-kick to the former's chest.

"Hungh!" Darhk grimaced as he was knocked back, earning a smirk from the eye-patched Man in return.

"You are a little sloppy, Damian, telegraphing all of your moves before you even make them..." he started to gloat, which only angered the other Man even more as he recovered.

"...not exactly what I was expecting from one who once held a post amongst Ra's most trusted Lieutenants." he added, making Darhk attack once more as he swung the blade down upon his enemy, who performed a cross block and stopped the attack dead in its tracks. This made the former's eyes widen for a second with surprise, due to Slade blocking the attack with nothing more than his arms, which were covered only by the fabric of his suit.

"You're still wearing armour under that expensive suit..." he said in a questioning tone, earning a nod back from the other Man, who followed through by pushing the attack back and then punching his opponent in the stomach with his left hand, before swinging his right around and connecting it with the guy's face.

"Yes, of course..." he replied as Damian found himself back against the wall once again.

"...it's not exactly the right situation for my 'usual attire'..." he continued with his smirk growing wider as he watched Darhk got back to his feet, who gave him a dagger-like stare back.

"...and you're not even worth the effort."

"I'll show you!" Damien spat back as he grabbed a Picture-frame from the wall and threw it at Slade, who easily cut it in half with his Katana. Though while his attention had been diverted for just a split second, it was all his opponent needed to get back in the fight as he attacked once more with his own sword, clashing his blade against the other's numerous times as their fight continued in the Apartment.

"That's more like it!" Slade replied as their blades clashed once more, scraping against each other as the two Men tried to force the other back.

"This ends now." Darhk exclaimed as he pulled his blade back, making his Adversary move suddenly forward as the former ducked and let him pass.

"What the...!" the one-eyed Assassin said back with a startled tone, just as Damien spun around and lunged his blade at the other Man's back. But what he didn't see, was that Slade smirked slightly as he quickly moved his blade behind his back and deflected the strike, much to his opponent's despair.

"Ho..." he began to reply, only to be cut off as Slade then turned around and leg-sweeped the former off his feet and then stabbed his Katana down into his stomach, pinning him to the floor.

"Arragh!" Darkh cried out as the colour of his shirt around the wound changed to red, making him drop his own weapon as Wilson looked down at him while kicking his weapon away from the reach of his hand.

"Now as much as I loved hunting you and the others down in the past few years, it is well passed the time that this came to and end." he replied, making his bloodied and defeated Rival chuckle, despite the pain he was in.

"You really...think that this is over...,Slade?"

This made his enemy kneel beside him and twist the blade a little, gaining a painful grunt from the injured Man.

"Well, yes, Damien, I do." he replied with confident tone, which only made Darhk's pained smile widen.

"Then you're a bigger fool than I was led to believe, because as I speak, Onyx is getting further and further away from your clutches."

"Is that so?" the one-eyed Assassin then asked, maintaining a confident expression, before suddenly something came smashing through the Balcony window, earning a shocked expression from Damien as he saw the body of Onyx lying there, covered in blood.

"This one was of no challenge, unfit to be in the League of Shadows." a female voice then spoke, making the injured Man look towards the Balcony and see a fully masked Ninja enter the Apartment's interior. This made his eyes widen and clench his fists as he recognised the new arrival's voice, despite the pain he was currently feeling in his gut.

"You!" he spat furiously as she joined Slade's side, ignoring him and turning her attention to her comrade.

"Slade, has he told you anything yet?"

"No, I haven't had the chance to ask him."

"Let's not waste any more time then..." the masked Woman began to reply before grabbing the hilt of Slade's sword and turning it into Darhk's wound, making him cry out in agonising pain.

"We have been at this for almost six years, hunting down each and every member of our former organisation. But nobody seems to be able to answer my question, but you, Damien Darhk, were one of our top lieutenants. So I will ask you...who is responsible for Ra's Al Ghul's death?"

"You don't deserve an answer to that question, just like your actions have lost you your claim to the name given to you at birth, because you have betrayed everything that the League of Shadows stands for." Damien spat back, which simply made the Woman turn the blade some more into his wound, while the carpet beneath him became soaked in blood.

"Grrrraaghh...I don't know!" he suddenly grimaced, making her stop in return as a distrusting expression befell Slade's face.

"He's lying."

"I'm not, since I was...not even involved in the mission that...Ra's was overseeing in Gotham. None of us were, because...we were busy with the League's interests in other...parts of the World." he said back with baited breaths, trying to focus despite the beyond sharp burning feeling that was pulsing through his body from his stomach wound.

"Then who would know? Tell me and I will ensure that your suffering will end." the female Ninja replied, with only her green eyes visible through two small slits in her mask as she looked down at Darhk, who in turn had a thoughtful look on his own face as blood trickled down his chin from his mouth.

"...I heard rumours that...that one or two of Ra's personal Guard had been...arrested in Gotham after the mission failed. They are probably still in the City's...main Prison."

The masked-Woman then looked back at Slade and nodded, making the older Man grab his sword and pull it out of Damian's stomach. This gained another grimace from the beaten opponent, who started to bleed out from both ends of the wound as the Ninja then stood over him and unsheathed her own weapon.

"I thought...you were going to...give me a quick...death?" he asked in a shocked voice while gurgling blood that was filling up in his mouth, as his eyes widened in response.

"I lied, because you still betrayed our cause by not even attempting to find and punish the one responsible. And that is something which I cannot forgive." she said back coldly while staring down blankly as Darhk started convulsing as his eyes rolled back and spat up blood.

"You...bitch!" he managed to spit back as his life drained from his body, before a moment passed and he exhaled his final breath.

"Good..." she then exclaimed while raising her blade over her head, before quickly swinging down and decapitating the now dead Darhk, with his head rolling away from his body before stopping by Slade's feet as the Ninja sighed.

"...so we now know where to head next." she added, earning a nod from her Comrade in return.

"Gotham."

"Yes, Gotham." the masked-Woman replied before turning around and leaving the room, with Slade following her as they left the two bodies there in the Flat.

[A/N: This is the first chapter of my 'What if...' take on what happened after 'The Dark Knight', I hope you like it.]

A/N: This is the first chapter of my 'What if...' take on what happened after 'The Dark Knight', I hope you like it.

BATMAN: THE SCARRED AND THE DAMNED

CHAPTER I:


It was an early Summer-evening in Gotham City, not that you could really tell as rain fell from the clouded heavens above. A red Ford Victoria drove through the downpour as the road it followed ran beside the northern side of the Gotham River. The Car's driver was a young Woman with long brown-hair and was smartly dressed in a pair of figure-hugging grey trousers and a red blouse under a grey blazer, keeping her attention on the road ahead as visibility was quite poor with the heavy rain hitting the windscreen before her, the window-wipers were not much help either as they went back and forth, brushing the water left and right as it continued to run down the glass. But even then, the silhouette of an island could be seen up ahead on her right.

'Doesn't look very inviting...' she started to think as her attention drifted toward it as the distance between her Car and it lessened with every moment, which brought more detail to her as she started to make out the buildings that stood upon it.

'...since it looks like a ghost town over there.'

And it really did as virtually every building that she could see on the island's edge looked in severe disrepair, like ancient ruins that would refuse to crumble away and be forgotten. But towering over them was another building which looked similarly rotten, though clearly still alive since light shined out from it's numerous windows.

'I could think of better places to have an Asylum.' the Woman thought before returning her attention back to the road as she approached the entrance to the bridge up ahead, which connected the City to the Island. So she then lessened her foot's pressure on the accelerator and signalled before turning the car into the first security check-point of the bascule-bridge.

A security guard wearing a black-raincoat with reflective stripes on it's arms and a black protective helmet exited his booth and walked up to right side of her vehicle , gesturing for her to wind down her window. So she obliged, allowing the Man see her face as he kept his right hand over his holstered side-arm.

"Excuse me Miss, but what business do you have on Arkham Island?" he asked with a questioning stare, which made the Woman turn her attention to her handbag that was lying on the front passenger-seat beside her.

"Just a moment..." she said back while reaching in before pulling out a card and turning her attention to the Guard once more.

"...here you go." she replied while handing him the piece of plastic, which he studied first before scanning the card with an electronic-device and reading the data that appeared on it's screen, making his stern-expression lessen.

"Okay, so you're the new Intern, Penelope Young."

"That's right, I officially start on Wednesday but was asked to come in tonight for my orientation." she said back as the Guard returned her ID card, re-clipping his device back to his utility belt and pointing towards the island.

"Alright, I will radio ahead and let Warden Sharp know that you are here, you can go as soon as bridge is lowered. The road system on the island is like a maze, but we have 'Cat's eyes' on the road that leads to the Asylum, so just follow them and you will get there just fine..." He started to explain, earning a nod from Miss Young as she looked at him.

"...also just keep in mind that the entire island is now the Arkham grounds and if you see anyone between here and the Asylum who isn't a security guard, then you should assume that they are escaping patients. If that happens then do not stop, just carry on to the Asylum and report them and their location to the Warden." he added, gaining a worried look from the Woman.

"Seriously, does that happen a lot around here?" she asked, which made the Guard smile back reassuringly.

"No, of course not. Since we updated the Asylum's security, There hasn't been a single escape, not since the big breakout a few years back. But we have to remain vigilant at all times as we do have a number of dangerous individuals locked up here. Now if you will excuse me." he replied before turning around and walking back to his booth, earning a nod from the young Woman as she rolled up the window and turned her attention to the raised, while taking a deep breath in return. But then a second later and the sound of metal moving alerted her to both sides of the bridge lowering into place, allowing her passage to Arkham Island. This made Penelope sigh with a little apprehension as she looked at her destination through the rain-soaked windscreen.

'Okay...no turning back now.' she thought as she drove the car past the check-point and started to cross the bridge, just as the sky began to darken as night fell upon the City. It was almost like it was the island itself that caused the day to disappear, like it was almost exclusively shrouded in darkness.

'Well that is an eerie coincidence.' the Intern thought as she past the bridge and entered the island, passing through the second security checkpoint.

'I guess it's too late for me to turn around and leave.' the Intern thought as she drove under the arched sign reading 'ARKHAM ASYLUM'.

Penelope then looked into her rear-view mirror and saw it's barrier drop down and cut off the way back to civilisation, making her feel a little uneasy as she returned her attention ahead of car and saw the abandoned district called 'The Narrows', which at one time was Gotham's poorest area.

'Oh boy...' she began to think, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as she saw what could only be described as something straight out of a post-apocalypse movie, as the buildings she passed by looked even worse up close. For there was no sign of life at all from their within their interior, none that she could see through their windows, which had nothing but darkness within their frames. But Penelope could not help but feel her heartbeat hasten as she looked at the old and battered buildings, for anybody could be watching her from within those husks of brick and stone and considering the population of this island, that was a frightening prospect indeed.

'Stop looking at the buildings and concentrate on the road.' Penelope thought to herself whilst shaking her head before returning her attention back to the road ahead of her, which had special lights at it's edges that reflected her headlight beams back and revealed the path that she should follow.

'Thank god for those 'Cat,s Eyes'. With all the roads that run through the Narrows, it would be very easy to get lost without them.'

But then as her car went round one last bend, passing a Security Guard as he stood by another block of flats and shone his torch into a broken window on it's ground floor, the Asylum then came into view.

'And I thought the Narrows looked worse up close.' Penelope thought, her eyes widening as she looked upon the massive building. It looked just as weathered and beaten as the rest of the buildings on the island, but the fact that it's windows were lit up made it look even more eerie. It looked like it was still going strong despite the obvious decay, which just felt wrong to the Intern.

'This whole island should be demolished.' she added while driving into the Asylum's car-park and stopping in one of it's free spaces and turning off the engine, just as another Security Guard approached.

"Excuse me...?"the individual started to ask as the Car's occupant stepped out in a rain-coat and holding her bag, before turning around to lock up the vehicle.

"...Are you Miss Penelope Young?" he added, gaining a knowing nod from the Intern as she turned back to him.

"Yes...why? Were you expecting someone else?" she asked with a slight smile, noticing that this particular Guard looked far younger than the one at the bridge.

"What? No, of course not. I was just being thorough, like Cash continuously tells me to be." he replied a little awkwardly, making Penelope's stare become more inquisitive.

"Well I thought I was nervous starting here, but I guess I am not the only new person this week, huh?" she asked, making the young Man's eyes widen a little in surprise before sighing and relaxing a little.

"Does it show that much?" he asked, making the Woman shake her head a little, while he smile grew slightly more.

"No, not that much. But then again, when you see this place..." she started to reply, only for the Guard to cut her off as he turned around and looked at it with her.

"I know, right. Not exactly a welcoming sight is it, I think we can agree on."

This gained a nod from Young in return as the pair started to walk towards the building's main entrance, just as the rain started to die down.

"So who is Cash?" she asked with a curious tone, making the Man look back to her.

"Oh yeah, it's actually Aaron Cash. He is one of the most senior Guards here, as well as the team leader here on the night shift." he replied as they walked up the steps to the large metallic double-doors, which almost looked out of place when compared to the weathered brick walls that surrounded it. But then a device above the them activated as the pair stopped just a meter from it, making the Guard gesture to Penelope to stop as it blinked amber for a second or two.

"Please don't move Miss Young, we have to pass the security scan." he replied, earning a nod from the Woman as the device emitted a thin beam of light than ran over both of them.

'And here I was expecting a sliding peep hole to appear, with someone asking for a password.' she thought to herself, before the scan stopped and the light changed from amber to green, which made the double doors open up and allow entrance.

"Okay, you can enter now. The Warden and your Team-Leader are waiting for just beyond the inner doors." the young Man replied before turning around and starting to walk back to the car-park, which made Penelope turn around in return with a curious look.

"You're not coming in too?" she asked, making the Guard shake his head in return with a sad smile.

"Afraid not, since I am on Car-park duty. But you should go in now, don't want to keep the Boss waiting Miss Young." he replied, which made the Woman smile wider as she held out her hand.

"Please call me Penelope..." she said back with a curious look, gaining a mirrored smile from the Man as he stopped and shook her hand.

"Eddie, Eddie Burlow." he said back.

"Nice to meet you Eddie Burlow. Young replied with a friendly and warm tone as she looked back to him, making the Guard almost blush.

"Welcome to Arkham Asylum Penelope." Eddie said back, before turning around and walking back into the rain, which had lost a lot of it's strength in the last minute or so.

'So I have been here less than a few minutes and I think I have already made a friend, plus the rain is dying down. That's got to be a good omen.' Penelope thought as she turned around and entered the Asylum.

BATMAN: THE SCARRED AND THE DAMNED

Having come inside from the rain, Penelope found herself standing in a large and quite Victorian-looking Hall, with a large paintings on the walls. It looked quite different from the exterior. There she was greeted by an older Man in a smart suit with white hair and thick black rimmed-glasses, as well as a Woman with red hair tied at the back and wearing a white lab-coat over her casual clothes.

"Miss Penelope Young, welcome to Arkham Asylum..." the former said as he held out his hand to the Intern, who in return shook his hand.

"...I am Warden Quincy Sharp..." he carried on before gesturing to the latter beside him.

"...and this is Doctor Sarah Cassidy."

Both Penelope and the Doctor shook hands, with the latter looking the newcomer up and down, noticing how wet her coat looked.

"I see the rain has not let up yet." she remarked, gaining a polite smile from the Intern.

"It was just starting to die down as I parked up outside, but it was very heavy on the way here."

"If we hadn't been experiencing a heat-wave over the last couple of days, you wouldn't think that we were in the middle of Summer would you." Sharp replied, earning a nod from Miss Young in return.

"No sir, not from what I saw out there."

This earned a friendly smile from the Warden as he simply shook his head in return.

"Now please, you can drop the 'sir'. I think you will find that we have a rather informal relationship amongst the staff here."

"Yes, considering what we see here, day in and day out. Having a level of normalcy with each other is paramount to keeping a level head, considering how past members of Staff turned out." Dr. Cassidy added, which made Penelope look at her knowingly.

"Are you referring to Doctor Jonathan Crane, aka 'the Scarecrow'?" she asked, making the other two nod back as they gave the Intern a joint awkward expression, like the mention of that name was something they did not want to be reminded of.

"If you mean the previous head of this Asylum, then yes you are correct." the older Man replied.

"And I am right to assume that he is still being held here in Arkham?" the young Intern asked back with a curious look, one that Dr. Cassidy noticed in return.

"He is, but I hope you're not just here in the hope of trying to treat him. Because we already have 'another Intern' here with similar ideas when it comes to another of our patients. If so, then I will tell you what we told her..." she began to say in calm yet stern voice, instantly earning Penelope's attention.

"...You need to have been here several years helping the less dangerous Inmates of this Asylum before you are even granted the chance of treating the far more dangerous ones, do we have an understanding with this or should we just show you the door now. Because despite the fact that you passed your interview and test back at Gotham General and look to be very promising as a Psychologist, we do not want anyone here who is merely out to make a name for themselves."

This instantly made the younger Woman shake her head in response, looking at both Sharp and Dr. Cassidy with an apologetic expression.

"No, of course not. I apologise for any misunderstanding, I was simply curious." she then replied, earning more relaxed looks from her new employers as Sharp sighed and smiled back, while the other Doctor merely stared back with a far less questioning look.

"Well, that's good to know. Well if you will excuse me, but I have paperwork to finish before I go home. So I will leave you in the capable hands of Dr. Cassidy, but I look forward to seeing more of you in the future." he said back in a warm and friendly manner before turning away from the pair and walking away down the nearby corridor, leaving the two Women there in the hall.

"Alright, I will give the tour now as we start your orientation. Right now we are standing in the North section of the Asylum, which is for visitors and Staff..." she started to say, gaining a nod from Penelope as she looked around again.

'Yeah, I can agree with that since it looks much nicer and welcoming than the outside.'

"..., the part you will be spending most of your...hopefully...early years will be the West wing, which holds our patients who are committed or have had themselves committed for such things like depression or have psychological conditions that are not overly threatening." Dr Cassidy continued while the Intern listened intently while turning her attention back to her.

"Now the East Wing will currently be off-limits for you and others of your stature, since this holds 'three' of our most dangerous Patients."

Immediately those last few words made Penelope's eyes widen with curiosity once more, something which the Doctor recognised again as she sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Yes...Penelope, please ask your question so we can get it out of the way." she replied with a slightly irritated tone, but the young Intern just ignored that and followed through.

"Okay, I did my research on this place when I applied for a position here. Now I know that you are holding both Crane and the Joker here, but you said 'three'....so who is the third one?"

Dr. Cassidy then gave the young Woman a worried look as she looked around at their surroundings, noting that they were at this moment alone.

"I cannot say..." she began to reply, only for Penelope to cut her off enthusiastically.

"You mean you know?" she pressured, but the Doctor regained her composure and looked back calmly.

"No Miss Young, I do not. There is not much to tell, other than the fact that whoever the third Patient is was brought in on orders from Commissioner Gordon and is as rumours put it...in a coma."

"I see, that is interesting." the young Intern replied, only for Dr. Cassidy to gesture for her to follow.

"Now that's enough talk, let's start your orientation already." she replied, earning a nod from the younger Woman as the two walked out of the hall towards the West Wing.

Meanwhile in the dim-lit and dank interior of the East Wing, inhuman and soft laughter could be heard from one of the only three occupied cells that made up the entire section. The second cell was quiet as it's occupant sat on his bunk and looked at the floor, like he was picturing something from the dark stain that was engraved into it. But from the third cell, there was a deathly silence as the person in there was lying on it's berth and appeared to be fast asleep. But despite how peaceful this person looked, with only one half of their full body barely visible from what little light shone in from the window overhead. The person then began to mutter between the soft breaths, while movement could be seen under their closed eye on the lit side of their face.

"...Ra...Rac...Rachel..."