CHAPTER 10:  A KNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM

"Well now, it's not right 'aving ye lot botchin' up all me work."  Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot gets up from his table's chair, his umbrella tapping against the floor, a lit cigar in his open hand, enjoying his life's work with the Iceberg Lounge.  "Give me one good reason why I shouldn' toss ye with all the other gaffers."

"C'mon, Mr. Cobblepot, you know all of us.  You know we followed your orders to a T each and every time.  We grabbed weapons, set up jammers, set up strikes against any other person trying to take command..."

"Yeah, and it's not our fault that the Joker's skank and the TYGER guards keep up the pressure on us!  And now with the Bat in here..."

"I've 'eard enough from the two of ye."  Cobblepot places his stogie in the nearby ashtray.  "Ye test my patience with yer botches.  Ye cost me too much time.  And ye cost me money, more 'en what yer worth.  And if you think for one momen' that I'll let ye skate off, yer denser than th' clown and his hussy."  He points at the two goons that talked with his umbrella.  "Ye two, come 'ere."

The two talkers step forward, a pair of twin brothers doing time for arson.  The younger of the two speaks up, garbed in a pair of tattered regulation inmate pants along with a hooded sweatshirt.  "Y... yes, sir?"

Oswald immediately responds by pulling a tiny trigger on his umbrella, firing a bullet from it's tip, the round piercing the younger's right kneecap and causing him to crumple to the floor.  Hearing the younger gasp and whimper from his wound, he takes another puff of his cigar, before blowing smoke into the younger's face.  "I ain't gonna put up with excuses, especially not from the 'ired 'elp."  His attention turns towards the elder.  "Dump 'im in the pit."

"But... he's my brother."

"I DON' CARE!  Either ye dump 'im in, or ye both go!"  He sits back down as he sees the older of the twins pick up his brother.  "An' make it quick.  I'll have ye back out there goin' after the clown again."

It's at this moment that another goon enters the room, out of breath from running.  "Mr. Cobblepot! *pant pant*  Mr. Cobblepot."

"Wot it is?"

"We have an intruder."

"Eh?"  Oswald gets back to his feet.  "Who is it?  The Bat?  The Bird?  Or is it the Kitty?"

"I.. It's none of them.  In fact... It's someone we've never seen before."

"Bollocks."  Oswald pauses a moment.  "And jes' who's watching the bother?"

"Um...  No one?"  Sweating bullets, the tired guard runs back to his post, so as to avoid getting shot himself.

"Right."  Getting to his feet, he slightly massages his right hand, broken by Bruce Wayne earlier that night.  [i]I still owe that pompous ass a right beating.[/i]  His umbrella tucked underneath his arm, he begins to make his way towards one of the many security centers.

The figure walked in, arms crossed. Armor was black, with navy blue, "ribbed" armor around the body, full plate on the torso. It looked like light armor, weaker than what the Bat wore, but more nimble, allowing more freedom of movement. A light blue circle was on the center of the chest, though it did not show anything. For headgear, the person had a black helmet with similar pure blue marks and eyepieces, a rebreather on the front. There was a wakizashi across the back, the arms seeming slightly bulging, as if concealing something.

Overall, however, the identity was unknown, the person very calm as he or she walked in through the door, a grunt heard as someone dropped for some reason outside. The voice was genderless, but could be construed as male. "Oswald Cobblepot."

[i]"Well, well...  Looks like we do 'ave someone new."[/i]  Cobblepot's voice blares out from the many speakers situated over the area.  A few cameras whir to life as they focus on the newcomer.  [i]"Wot do ye want?"[/i]

"Not much," this stranger said, slightly tense but not seeming about to attack. "Only to say that you might want to keep an eye on your TITAN. I hear the Scarecrow is back, and he's wanting to alter his toxin. Killing the Scarecrow might not be an option, considering the state of most who fight him, but he's probably going to destroy or steal it so you're less of a factor."

[i]"Scarecrow, eh?"[/i]  Cobblepot's laughter rings out through the speakers.  [i]"Didn' ye hear?  The straw man's been Croc bait now for over a year.  'Less ye have any proof of yer claim, I'd sugges' you toss off."[/i]

"You're seriously going to risk it?" he asked. "I know you're not going to lie around acting like he's not out there. What about your TITAN? If you lose that, you'll lose some credibility. What if Dent got a hold of it? Someone else?"

[i]"Dent?"[/i]  Cobblepot warble-laughs at this.  "The clown's gonna try t' carve out Dent's territory, and I'm no slouch myself."[/i]

The masked figure smirks behind his helmet.  "Don't sell yourself short."

[i]'Sides, The 'alf-wit wouldn't touch it.  'N the only other problem is the damn clown, and he's due to kick off any day now."[/i]  Cobblepot prepares to rant once more, but a sound comes over the speakers.  [i]"Wot the bloody hell?"[/i]

Over the speakers comes a loud scream, and a man screaming about getting rid of the spiders over his body.

The strange man did not even move. "I do know you're big enough to take him. Still, a problem remains. Those voices you hear now? That's not faked. And I doubt there's actual spiders. Do you believe me now?"

Cobblepot growls before turning his attention once again to the newcomer.  [i]"Wot do ye want, then?  Doubt yer doin' this out of th' kindness of ye heart."[/i]

The man shrugged, crossing his arms. "Nothing much. Some people actually do have kindness, or at least are interested in fair play, what with Joker having some of his own. They call me the Wraith. Thought I'd let you know."

[i]"Right.  Now, I sugges' ye toss off 'fore my charitable side leaves me."[/i]

A shrug, and he walked out the side door again. "Pleasure doing business." Of course it really wasn't, but he walked out, leaving entirely.

He continued a fair distance, out of sight, until he couldn't hold back the grin any longer.

The helmet fell away, folding into the neck, the entire thing ready to be taken off in exchange for the other clothing.

[i]Time for the next phase,[/i] Azumi Ian thought to herself. It was all working out, and without even a break in the rules. Perfect.

Back inside, Cobblepot turns around to look at his minions.  "I want everyon' to begin patrollin bot' the museum and th' Lounge.  If that louse got in, we might 'ave another problem, a bit of a Bat infestation, as it were."

"But what about what the Wraith said?  The Scarecrow being alive and looking for TITAN?"

"...  For all I know, the louse's lyin'.  There was nothin' left of the straw man after Croc was done wit' 'im."  Yet he looks down at the screaming goon being dragged away, clawing at his face, trying to tear away unseen fears.  "To be safe, though... Three patrols tonight, after we lock this place down."

"Three, sir?"

"One goin' out for supplies.  'Nother to try and get the clown 'gain.  The final to see if there's straw man sightin's.  Now beat it."  Seeing the minions rush out to do their tasks, Cobblepot sits back down at his table.  He picks up his stogie, looks at it, before throwing it into the area underneath the lobby of the lounge.  "Arkham City's mine, now.  No one's stoppin' me.  No clown, no straw man, no splitter, and sure as hell no Bat."

Underneath the lobby, smoke wafts up from the ashes of the Cuban that Cobblepot tossed away.  However, any more of the wafting remnant are crushed underneath a giant foot.

-----

The Dark Knight was not in a pleasant mood.  The Penguin wasn't making this easy.  Then again, none of his enemies ever did.  Even before he made any progress inside of the Museum that Cobblepot was holed up in, he had to stop and deal with a set of military-grade signal jammers.  A problem?  Only in that it detracted from his goal.  The guards for these jammers?  Easy to spook, prone to separate from the groups.  They each fell, and their objects to protect?  Nothing but massive pieces of scrap metal now.

Inside the Museum, he had already encountered another problem.  Gordon had sent some of 13th precinct's strike team to infiltrate the Penguin's gang.  One of them, an Officer Elvis Jones, mentioned that there were 9 others beside them, and that their identites were ratted out.  Now he had one more objective.  Find Freeze, convince him to work on the cure, shut down Penguin's operation, and now, saving the nine other officers that were held hostage.

Walking past Officer Jones, Batman passes through a doorway.  Ahead on the wall, covering a mural, a tag is sprayed.

[center][color=red][size=3]NEW RECRUITS
THIS WAY
------------------->[/size][/color][/center]

He pauses to look at the two gates barring his way in.  On the other side of the first gate was a switch.  Likely, it was the way to open them both.  He couldn't grapple up above the gate, barbed wire was in the way, and he had no way of hitting that switch.  He had to think of this another way.  Reaching into his belt, he extracts two vials of chemicals.  Walking over to the gate, he pours the first of the vials over it.  Wating a few moments, he adds the second vial, and stands back.  The chemicals immediately ignite, eating through the metal.  Thermite.  Useful, quick.  The bars turns into molten slag as he steps past, pressing the button.  The gate behind him rises, as does the one before him.  He walks down the path, before it turns left.  Following it, he begins to hear the cacophonous sound of numerous men.  Stepping into the room ahead, a gunshot is heard.

Batman looks up and sees someone fall down onto the floor situated above the room.  Hearing warbling laughter, he scowls.  "Cobblepot."  He reaches for a Batarang, but pauses as a one-armed giant strides in, standing next to Penguin, holding up one of the officers.

"So, Batman, you 'ere for the cops?  The Ice-man?  Or me?"  Cobblepot stretches his arms out, as if to taunt the hero, laughing.  "'Course, I s'pose that you want all three, eh?"

"You'll find out soon enough."  Batman replaces the Batarang, complying for the moment.  He didn't expect Cobblepot to stay honest.

"Am I really?"  Cobblepot gestures towards one of his stoolies, who puts a stogie in his mouth and lights it.  Taking a few puffs, he continues to speak.  "Listen, I'm what you might call, a collector."  The same stoolie removes the stogie.  "If someone wants it, I like to think... I got it.  And well, if I don' have it, I'll get it."  Looking down at Batman, he continues.  "So here's the thing.  Back there in the lobby, I've got a cabinet with your name on it, jus' waitin' to be filled.  And as luck would have it, I have you, exactly where I want ye."  A few laughs punctuate the air before he continues.  "So, what do ye think?  Are ye gonna be a good boy, and give up nicely?"

Batman merely responds by cracking his knuckles.

"I see.  Ye want to make it tough, eh?  Well, look around ye, then.  This batch of psychopaths are all beggin' to join with me, but unfortunately for them, I only take the best."  Cobblepot points down at Batman.  "And today, best means whoever can kill ye."  Pointing at a goon near a switch, Penguin adds in a few more words.  "Come on out, lads.  It's initiation time!"

A group of 20 convicts emerge, with around half wielding either wooden bats or a sledgehammer.  Batman reaches into his belt and extracts an ampoule.  Smirking, he presses a tab next to his neck, causing a re-breather mask to cover any open areas on his mask.  He tosses down the ampoule, and watches it crack on the floor, releasing a noxious green gas over the area.  Immediately, the effects are apparent as numerous criminals are beginning to gasp for air, some falling to their knees, while others are rendered completely unconscious.

Penguin snarls.  "Knock-out gas.  That's cheating, Batman."  Aiming his umbrella up towards a canister overhead, he presses the trigger on it, firing a single shot, which breaks the chain holding the canister.  "You're forcing me to bring out the big guns."  The canister lands, and a mutated fist punches out through the metal, tearing through it like a piece of meat.  The thing steps out, a Penguin Thug treated with the TITAN formula.

Batman moves back as he reaches towards the back of his belt.  He had used the only KO Ampoule he had left, so he needed something with enough power to end this quickly.  He sees the TITAN goon grab the container and throw it, which he barely avoids.

"He doesn' look happy to see you, Batman.  Good luck!"  Turning around, Penguin leaves.

Batman finally grabs what he was reaching for.  Slipping his fingers into the holes, he reveals his tools for this encounter:  his electrified knuckles.  Rolling out of the path of the TITAN's charge, he dashes towards the monstrosity, leaping up.  However, he is caught and thrown into a nearby wall, his head snapping back to meet with it.  He drops to the floor, shaking his head.  Not the smartest choice he's made.  Seeing the TITAN loom over him, he extends his cape, swirling it over the TITAN's body and face three times, stunning the monster.  Taking advantage of it's stunned state, he begins to unload punch after electrified punch to the mutated man's gut, each one making the TITAN snarl in pain.  After the eighth punch, the thing had kneeled enough for him to leap onto it's back.  He does so, and grips tight, applying a sleeper on the beast whilst continuing to throw electrified punches, this time at the thing's head.

The remaining mooks that were able to shake off the KO gas had begun to stumble backwards.  The Bat was beating the TITAN senseless!  Some are unable to avoid the TITAN's attempts of removing Batman.  Wide arm swings, charges, even a massive shockwave.  Eventually, all but one are knocked out.

Batman loses his grip on the sleeper and is flung off the TITAN's back.  He lands on his feet, kneeling, and stands once more.  Extending his cape outwards again, he once more stuns the TITAN, unleashing more electrified fists.  The thing kneels down again, and instead of attempting a sleeper, he instead punches the TITAN on it's temples with both fists, finally knocking it out.  Stepping back, he turns around and focuses on the one remaining thug.

"Holy..."  The thug gets up and begins to run out of the gladiator pit, only to get struck in the back of the head, propelling him into a glass case, breaking it and knocking him out.

Batman withdraws his hand as he presses the tab for his re-breather, removing it.  The KO gas was quick to dissipate.  He presses his radio tab.  "Are you receiving?"

[i]"Indeed I am, sir.  I take that means you encountered that odious Cobblepot."[/i]  ALFRED's voice is crystal clear.

"I did, but he left.  It appears that he has a stash of TITAN which he has used.  He also has a number of police officers hostage, aside from Freeze."

[i]"It seems that you have your hands full, then.  Perhaps I can contact Spider-Man and tell him of your location."[/i]

"There's no need to, ALFRED.  I can handle this.  However, I do need a equipment drop."  Batman looks over to left, noticing a switch.  "I used up the last of my thermite and knock-out gas, and I'll need some new equipment to proceed any farther.  I'll also need a few restorative items."

A sigh comes over the radio.  [i]"Haven't you ever considered a bigger belt, sir?  Or perhaps you need to talk to Mr. Highwind on how to integrate pocket dimensions into your belt pouches."[/i]

"Just do it."

[i]"Locking onto your coordinates...  Loading equipment pod...  and launching."[/i]  A whistling sound is heard, before it crashes through the skylight and impacts with the floor in front of Batman.  [i]"Your equipment has arrived, sir.  Now, do try and be a bit conservative with your wares.  You may be a billionaire, but even that can be easily erased with a large amount of waste."[/i]

"I'll try and remember that when I'm being beaten senseless."  Batman shuts off his side of the link, and walks over to the pod.  Entering a quick code, it opens up.  He empties the pod of its wares:  a number of standard and Shock Batarangs, a number of rod-shaped plastic explosives along with a dispenser, a few more vials of thermite components, a small number of Potions, to be safe... and a few sets of prototype Remote Batarangs.  Packing his belt, he inputs another code, and the now-empty pod begins to beep.  He steps back as the pod explodes.  Leave no trace of his appearance.  A cardinal rule.

Pulling out one of his new Remote Batarangs, he looks at it and removes one of it's two control chips.  Inserting it into his terminal, he tosses the Batarang, and immediately begins to control the movement of his tool.  Ascension to the perch where Penguin once stood, banking left, descending down the flight of stairs...  contact.  Looking over, one of the grates rises up.  Walking through, he sees one of the encrypted security panels, like back in the police station.  Pulling out his tech-hacker, he kneels down and begins to scan through the possible combinations.  Finally, he finds the one he was looking for.  [i]Jurassic.... A sensible choice.[/i]  Leaping into the now open small elevator, he stabs the machinery with a Shock Batarang, making the lift rise up.  Reaching the ceiling he looks at it, before extracting his explosives dispenser.  Inserting a rod of explosives, he ejects a small amount, before triggering it to detonate.  He had a lot more work to do.

-----

Batman pauses as he looks back at the room behind him.  Three more officers saved from Cobblepot's Torture Chamber.  Aside from Officer Jones and the one that Penguin shot, there was still another five to save.  And there was still Freeze to grab, Cobblepot to take down... and he seriously needed to neutralize that shark in the Torture Chamber.  Making his way down the hallway, he soon arrives in the Armory.  Six hostiles in total; three on the small bridge, two on the ground floor, and one on the walkway; each armed with assault rifles or shotguns, heartrate monitors, and a few with thermal goggles, he could surmise.  There were also three hostages.  This could prove problematic if he didn't do this right.  He switches his cowl's vision modes, swapping through them until he finds the best one.  Immediately, he spots the first target.  Keeping low and quiet, he heads towards the single one on the walkway.  Hiding behind the cases, he reaches his quarry and puts him to sleep.  Not wanting to stay in one place, he returns towards the Armory entrance, watching the scene unfold.  Two stay on the bridge, one moves off it and heads downstairs to join the last two.  He continues to wait, finally seeing the second man on the bridge leave.

Grappling over to the bridge, he holds onto the ledge, waiting.  Footsteps.  He grabs the ankle and yanks it, knocking the goon down, before pulling himself up and onto the bridge, pressing a knee against the goon's throat, cutting off his oxygen.  Grappling up to one of the gargoyles, he swings to another, and another after that, ending up once more by the entrance to the Armory.  He sees the four return to the bridge.  Dropping down, he heads to the right, seeing a fragile stone wall.  Depositing a small amount of explosives on that wall, he throws a Batarang into a wall past the bridge.

Hearing the commotion, one of the goons notices the weapon.  "Come on out, Bat Freak!"  He steps off the bridge, moving towards the weak wall.  It's the last thing he remembers before being knocked out by said wall, leaving only three left.

Having dropped to the ground floor prior to the explosion, Batman opens one of the floor vents and crawls in.  He waits a few minutes, before hearing them separate again.  They were getting panicked, sloppy.  Hearing one overhead, he leaps up and grapples the man's head, dropping him to the ground, knocking him out instantly.  Another goon arrives and opens fire.  He is able to avoid the shots, with his cape getting a bit aerated from the bullet holes.  Leaping over, he disarms the guard and grabs him, slamming him face-first into a glass cabinet, shattering it.

He enters back into the main part of the Armory and grapples up to the gargoyles again.  This last goon didn't have the thermal goggles... but he did situate himself right next to the hostages, with his shotgun pointing at the head of one.  He grapples over to the gargoyle over the bridge and crouches.  Attaching the grapple gun to the top of the gargoyle, he swings so that he is upside-down.  After a few moments, he quickly descends, grabbing the thug and pulling him up.  "Freeze.  Where is he?  NOW!"

"The... The War Room, opposite side of the Torture Chamber.  That's all I know!"

The thug gets a headbutt, knocking him out, and his feet bound so that he hangs from the gargoyle.

Letting go, Batman drops to the bridge.  Over the radio link, he hears Penguin.

[i]"What's happening in there?  Have you lot stopped Batman yet?  What about Freeze's suit?  Answer me!"[/i]

"Holy...  Nice work clearing this place out, Batman.  You kicked ass."  One of the police officers stands up.  "Name's Tom Miller."

"One of Gordon's men."

"Yeah."  Miller puts a hand through his hair.  "Cobblepot's turned this place into a fortress.  Someone ratted us out, too.  Me and the boys got grabbed, brought here and beaten the crap out of."

"You're safe now.  There's only 2 more of you unaccounted for."

"Try the Iceberg Lounge.  Cobblepot liked to take us in there to beat on us some more.  If we're lucky, that's where they are."

Batman nods.  "Stay here.  If and when Victor Fries comes through that door, do not attack him.  He'll need his suit."  Turning around, he heads towards the door leading out of the Armory.  Making his way back to the Torture Chamber, he hops down onto the floating platform and pulls himself across the water, reaching the opposite side.  Grappling up, he goes down the hallway, until he comes across three goons blocking the way, taunting him.  He sees the extrusions in the room, a sign of infrared beams as a security measure, along with a nearby security console.  He pulls out the Tech-Hacker and kneels next to the panel, activating it, trying to find the right code.

"The hell is he doin'?"  Goon #1 stands there, tapping a lead pipe in his open hand.

"Don't know.  Looks like some kinda computer thing."  Goon #2 stands ready to strike, a blade in his hands.

"He ain't gettin' past us.  Not a chance."  Goon #3 crosses his arms, already accustomed to the armor that he was wearing.  Seeing Batman stand, he gestures for the Dark Knight to step forward.  "Come on, little bat...  Come 'n get it."  [i]And get pinned by the security gate in front o' us.[/i]

"Wait.  What is he..."  Goon #1 pauses.  "He's... smilin'."

"That's not a good sign, is it?"  Goon #2 begins to sweat slightly.

"He's bluffin'.  He can't do a damn..."  Goon #3 pauses.  [i]He passed through th' beams.[/i]  Looking up, he sees the gate stay.  Befuddled, his memory shifts back a few seconds, with Goon #2's comment on the computer thing.  He looks towards the panel, showing an open lock.  "Oh sunnuva..."

Inside the War Room, one Victor Fries beats against the glass, trying to break free.  Ever since Cobblepot captured him, he's been held inside this arid cage without his suit.  With the small amount of coolant that he had attached to his chest, he could survive outside a sub-zero termperature for 24 hours, but the heat was rapidly beginning to drain that.  Even at this point, his thoughts were towards his beloved Nora, encased in cold and held to ensure his cooperation.

He hears a few screams of pain, and sees one of Cobblepot's thugs arrive in the hallway ahead of him before tripping up.  A few calm footsteps, and Fries finally sees his potential savior.  "Batman."

Batman hears Fries' voice, and looks over, but not before knocking out the last of these goons.  Running up the stairs, he slides underneath the slightly raised security gate, arriving in the War Room proper.  While noticing the other two cabinets dedicated to Harley Quinn and the Joker, his focus is on the sole one that is occupied.  "Hold tight, Victor.  I'll get you out of there."  Out of all the rogues he's battled against, perhaps none had more sympathy from him than Fries.  He was a victim who did what he did just to save his wife.  Looking over to the right, he sees a weak wall.  Pulling out his explosives dispenser, he ejects a small amount of plastic explosives on the wall.  However, before he can trigger it, a mammoth hand busts through the wall, grabbing him.

He is lifted up into the air as he sees his assailant:  Cobblepot's one-armed giant.  Thrown back, he checks his throat as he sees the giant unsheath a sickle of comparable size.

"I shall slice you into pieces, American."  The giant speaks with a thick Russian accent, the sickle held in his hand pointed towards Batman.  Looking around, he sees four other goons arrive.  "Beat this Batman so that I can remove his head for Cobblepot."

Getting to his feet, Batman stands ready.  The one-armed giant steps back as his four underlings step up.  Two outlying, two central.  The outer right one is the first to strike.  He diverts the punch and claps the goon's ears, stunning him, before delivering a punch to the solarplexus and a kick to the knee, making the goon stumble back, still conscious.  Spinning, he dodges the attack of the inner left goon, hittng this one with an elbow to the gut, a backfist to the face, an open palm to the nose and an elbow to the chest.  The other two begin to move.  Elbowing this one on the back of the neck to make him drop to his knees, he uses this goon as a springboard, jumping off this one's back, leaping into the air towards the two standing ones.  Extending his arms out, he grabs the two by their faces, and using the momentum of his jump, he slams them into the floor, knocking them out.

At this point, Sickle realizes that the minions aren't making any headway.  Leaping up into the air, he extends his weapon out.

Hearing the grunt of his giant adversary, Batman barely rolls out of the way as the sickle collides with the map on the floor, cutting it.  Getting to his feet, he avoids swipe after swipe by his colossal opponent.  By this time, the first assailant had gotten back to his feet, and taking advantage of the situation, grabs a canister and throws it at Batman.  The Dark Knight gets hit in the square of the back by the barrel and staggers forward, just enough so that Sickle swings and connects, creating a sizable cut in his chest armor from near his left hip to his right shoulder.  Taking out a Smoke Bomb, he throws it onto the ground, obscuring the area in a grey haze.  His vision mode switches, and he sees the second goon get back to his feet.  Leaping over to that target, he sweeps the enemy off his feet, and quickly follows up with a double-handed hammer strike to the airborne enemy's chest, knocking him out.

Both Sickle and the last goon cough from the fumes.  Said last good stumbles out of the cloud, noticing Batman.  Running towards him, he swings, only for the punch to miss, and receive a hammer blow to the back of his neck, while also getting a knee to the ribcage.  The pain's too much, and the goon falls unconscious.

Batman steps back from the fallen goon and focuses on the last problem.  Seeing the last of the smoke dissipate, he runs towards Sickle.  Noticing the giant rear back with his arm and throw his weapon, he is barely able to slide underneath the flying weapon, which crashes through the Joker's cabinet, cutting the Joker mannequin's television head off.  Sliding between Sickle's feet, he pushes himself back up and begins to let loose with punch after punch to his opponent's kidneys.  However, his focus is solely on attack, so he fails to notice the enemy turn and grab him, ramming him into Harley's cabinet, hearing the glass crack behind him.

"I may not cut you, American, but I can strangle the life from you."  Holding tight with his hand, Sickle begins to choke his prey.

He feels the pressure upon his windpipe, and knew of the potential collape of it if Sickle kept his hold on for much longer.  Swinging from side to side, Batman builds up enough momentum to eventually bring both feet up to kick Sickle in the temple on his right side.  The two boots stun Sickle, but do not let him release the hold.  So he does it again, with the hold loosening slightly.  A thrid strike stuns the one-armed giant, letting him go and sending him to the floor face first, still conscious, but knocked for a short loop.  He had to take advantage of this.  Grabbing Sickle's arm, he pulls back on it, until he hears the 'POP' of a shoulder dislocating, and the 'KRAK' of a elbow breaking.

Holding onto his throat, Batman rubs it a few times.  Even though he had armor built in, it still did little against something like that.  Focusing once more on the opening, Batman walks through, arriving on the opposite side.  He sees the security panel for Freeze's cabinet, but another thing catches his eye.  Just ahead of him lay a TITAN container.  Pulling out his explosives dispenser, he walks over to the container and ejects a small amount of plastic explosives.  Pressing the trigger, the container opens up, TITAN dissipating due to the high heat from the explosion.  [i]Another TITAN container dealt with.[/i]  Returning to the Security Panel, he removes the Tech- Hacker and activates it.  The possibilities are numerous, 26 to the power of 9.  Over 5 trillion.  But it had to be one that corresponded to what was transpiring.  Eventually, he found the right combination.

[i][b]MICROWAVE[/b][/i]

The hatch to the display opens up, and Freeze stumbles out, falling to the floor.  Batman walks up to him and kneels down.  "Joker's cure to TITAN.  Where is it?"

Freeze pushes himself up to his knees, looking Batman in the eye.  "Forget the clown.  I want Cobblepot.  He has my suit, my weapons.  I'll end him for what he has done to me."

Batman stands up.  "Pengun's mine.  You need to stay focused on that cure or else innocent people will die."

Freeze leans against the wall that led back into the cabinet.  "You don't understand.  I cannot complete my work without it.  I must have it.  Everything depends on it.  Everything."

"Penguin's using your ice gun to protect himself.  How do I get past it?"

Freeze looks up at him.  "Do I look like a fool?  Why would I tell you that?"

"A fair trade, then."  Batman kneels down.  "You tell me how to bypass your ice gun, and I'll help you find your wife."  He takes a breath as he looks into Freeze's eyes.  "Joker has her, doesn't he?  That's how he convinced you to begin working on the cure.  You tell me how to get past your gun, and I'll give you my word that I'll find Nora for you."

Freeze's eyes blaze with indignation.  How dare he mention his beloved Nora.  "How do I know you'll keep your end of the bargain, Batman?  I am no fool  We are not friends."

"You only have my word, Victor."

Freeze looks up at him.  "You used my name."  In his mind, he remembers their past encounters.  He used his moniker of Freeze.  There wasn't any sign of compassion.  But now?  Batman was using his first name.  He was offering comapssion.  Why was he showing this now?  He touches the coolant vial embedded into his chest.  In the end, the choice was obvious.  "There is a security override chip I built into my suit in order to prevent my weapons from being used against me.  If you bring me to my suit, we could deal with Cobblepot."

Batman nods.  "Alright, Victor.  I'll take you to your suit, you'll give me the security override, and we'll deal with Penguin.  After that, you'll focus on the cure while I find your wife."  Lifting Victor up, he carries him over his shoulder.  "Just hold on."  With that, the two begin their path back to the Torture Chamber, melting the security bars that closed off the War Room with thermite, making an opening for both to walk through.

Arriving back in the Torture Chamber, Batman sees something.  "It looks like the ice in here is beginning to thaw."  Grabbing tightly onto Freeze, the two leap down to a small floating platform.  Firing his grapple gun, he pulls the platform across the water.  However, he looks to the side and sees a ripple on the surface.  He reaches into his belt and extracts one of his electrified knuckles.

Freeze notices this.  "What are you..."  His question is answered when Tiny, Cobblepot's shark/body disposal unit, rises up, rows of teeth raring and ready to rend and tear flesh.

Batman quickly responds, triggering the knuckles to fire, and throwing an electrified punch at the man-eater's nose.  The blow hits, sending numerous signals to Tiny to flee in pain.  Seeing the shark drop and submerge, he looks at Freeze.  "It had it coming."  Replacing his knuckles in his belt, Batman once more fires another grapple line towards the Armory, pulling the platform along.  Reaching the platform with the ladder up to the Armory, the two depart, Freeze going up first.  The path is short, and eventually, they arrive.

Inside, Officer Tom Miller notices the arrivals.  "We got guests, so straighten up."  Seeing both Batman and Freeze together, he follows them.  "When you said Freeze was coming here, you didn't say that you would be with him."

"I never said that I wouldn't."  The three stand in front of the cabinet holding the suit.  Without any hesitation, he elbows the glass, breaking it.  He pulls out the suit and places it on the floor.  "Well, Victor, there's your suit.  Where's the override?"

Victor grabs the helmet.  "It is attached to the panel on my left arm."  Seeing Batman grab the override chip, he grabs the remainder of his suit.  "Give me a moment, Batman."  Slowly, he puts on piece after piece of the suit, finally concluding with his helmet.  [color=blue]"Now, let us deal with Cobblepot.[/color]

"Miller, take your people back to the entrance of the museum.  Officer Jones is there with those that I saved from the Torture Chamber."  Batman pulls out the Tech Hacker and installs the override chip into it.  "Freeze and I will take care of the rest."

"You got it."  Miller turns to the other officers.  "You heard the man.  Back to the entrance."

Watching the officers leave, Freeze turns towards Batman.  [color=blue]"Do not ask me to show mercy on Cobblepot, Batman.  He must pay for what he has done to me."[/color]  With that, Freeze walks out of the Armory.  Reaching the Torture Chamber, Freeze looks at the water.  He opens a panel on his arm arm and extracts a few components.  Just because Cobblepot has taken his primary weapon didn't mean he was defenseless.  Removing three vials of coolant, he attaches the components to them to craft a makeshift weapon:  A Freeze Blast bomb.  Tossing the weapon into the water, the coolant activates, freezing the entirety of the water's surface, up to 3 feet deep.  Walking off the landing, he steps onto the ice, walking over towards the entrance to the Iceberg Lounge.  Leaping up to the opening overhead, he pulls himself up, only to find Batman standing there.

After Freeze left, Batman followed behind, gliding over to the balcony for the Iceberg Lounge.  "Wait here, Victor.  Once Penguin's been dealt with, you can come in."  Turning around, Batman walks down the corridor towards the Lounge.  Opening the door, he hears Penguin speak.

"Come back for another go, 'ave ya?"  Cobblepot stands on top of a table, Freeze's ice gun in his hands, and the last of the piggies kneeling before him.  Now, he had to deal with Batman.  "Should 'ave known the grunts would be useless.  Always 'ave to do the 'ard work myself."  He takes aim.

Hiding behind a wall, he sees the ice shards fire.  He counts.  1, 2, 3...  3 seconds of fire.  Moving along the path, he hides behind each wall.

"Hold still, Batman!"  Cobblepot laughs as he sees a hand.  He fires.

Batman flinches and pulls back his right hand, covered in ice.  Moving slightly to the left, he slams his hand into the wall, shattering the ice before hypothermia can set in.  He counts down.  Moving over, he passes by each opening, before he realizes that he's reached the opposite side.  Pulling out his Tech Hacker, he hids it behind his back and steps out.

Cobblepot laughs at this.  "Arent ya brave, now?  Tell you what, Batman.  I'll give you this one for free."  Seeing Batman step forward a few steps before pausing, he sneers.  "Come and 'ave a go.  If you're not scared, that is."  He presses the trigger only for the gun to not activate.  "What?  C'mon, fire, damn you!"

Replacing the Tech Hacker, Batman runs up to the table, steps off of it, and delivers an uppercut to Cobblepot, sending him flying to the floor.  Landing on the table, he fires a grapple line, snaring the Freeze Gun and pulling it up.  Seeing Freeze walk through the door, he tosses the gun to him.  Looking down once more at Pengun, he speaks.  "You're finished, Cobblepot."

"No!  I'm sorry!  Please, don' hurt me."

"I can't guarantee that."  He hears the two officers run away.

Penguin chuckles.  "Me neither."  Reaching behind his back, he pulls out a detonator and triggers it.  The iceberg which held up the central platform that Batman stood on begins to explode, chunks of fake ice flying out in all directions, with the majority landing in a pit beneath.

Batman falls and lands on his back, rolling out of the way just before one last chunk lands on him.  Getting to his feet, he looks up.

"I tried to help you, Batman.  I gave you the opportunity to end this an' walk away, but oh no.  You 'ad to be the big man."  Hearing some clanking from the pit, he smirks.  "Well, guess what?  From up here, you look pretty small."  Pulling out a trigger device, he presses it.

Behind him, Batman hears the sparking of generators.

"Oh, don' look so sad.  I've got a little surprise for you down there."  Triggering the device again, Cobblepot watches as electricity arcs from the generators towards a massive prone figure bound to a wall.

The mammoth figure grunts as the electricity strikes him in the chest.  More and more arcs of power strike the figure, creating more and more grunts.  Finally, it's eyes open wide, shining white and his veins pulsing yellow.  [size=3][font=]"Solomon Grundy."[/font][size]  It takes a few steps forward.  [size=3][font=]"Born on a Monday."[/font][size]  It moves some more, chains rattling with it's movements.  [size=3][font=]"Christened on Tuesday."[/font][size]  It reaches out towards Batman, it's reach cut short by the chains holding it to the wall.  [size=3][font=]"Married on Wednesday."[/font][size]

"I found him down there when I bought this place.  Comes in handy!"

Solomon Grundy looks up at the man holding the piece of metal that caused him the pain.  Then his sight went towards the balls and chains holding him to the wall.  Gripping the chains, he yanks hard, pulling them free, and in turn, freeing him.  Looking at the man in his place, he grabs the chains and pulls them up.  Another person to crush.

"Freeze!  Take care of Penguin!"  He reaches into his belt, trying to find a proper counter to the brutal strength that Grundy had.

[color=blue]"With pleasure."[/color]  With that, Freeze leaps down from the balcony, landing on the floor.  [color=blue]"It is time for payback, Cobblepot."[/color]  Raising up his Freeze Gun, he opens fire.

Ducking behind a table, Penguin looks down into the pit.  "Blast!  Kill 'im!"  He triggers the device again, causing the generators to surge with power.

Grundy surges with power some more.  Grabbing hold of the chains, he begins to swing round and around, slowly letting out more chain with each revolution.

Batman is dodging the numerous swings when he recognizes the weakness.  Grundy had to be electrically powered.  Take out the generators, and he becomes vulnerable.  Pulling out his explosives dispensor, he drops a dab on all three generators, flipping over each swing, before triggering them, casuing the generators to overload and shut down.  Seeing Grundy drop to his knees, He begins to punch him without resorting to the electrified knuckles.  After a few punches he steps back.

Cobblepot curese loudly.  "Oh, you're asking for it now!  Let's see how much that ugly son of a bitch can take!"  Triggering the device numerous times, the generators are on overcharge, and even more energy pours into Grundy, burning off his coat and hair, setting him aflame, causing his veins to glow blue now, and exposing his ribcage.  Hearing footsteps, he runs a bit, but not before being caught in the leg with a ice projectile, freezing it.  "Ah, dammit!"  Barely reaching the next table, he pulls out a grenade launcher hidden by it.  "Alrigh' Freeze, I'm warning ya!  Don' piss me off!  I'll bring the heat down on ya!"

[color=blue]"Bring as much as you can.  It does not matter.  You will pay.[/color]  Again, Freeze opens fire on Cobblepot's location.  However, he is caught off guard as Penguin fires off a grenade round, which explodes near his feet, sending him onto his back.  The armor may protect him from head and enchance his strength, but it only protected him from physical harm to some degree.

Back down in the pit, Batman had to contend with an even more enraged Grundy.  Now, he knew what he needed to do, but the problem was that the generators had periods where they were guarded.  He needed something quick.  Keeping the dispenser in hand, he lays down more.  However, before he can trigger them, Grundy is able to grab him and throw him into a wall.  Grunting in pain, he shakes his head and picks up the dropped dispenser and triggers the explosives, causing another overload.  Running over to Grundy, he punches him a few more times.  Seeing Grundy stumble and finally fall, Batman catches his breath.

"No!  What 'ave ya done?  You little... You can't kill him!  You can't!"  Penguin shuffles over to the edge of the pit and looks down, trying to ignore the frozen leg he was contending with.

Walking over to Grundy's corpse, he sees the pulsing light of his heart still continuing.  He had to finish this.  Stepping on top of Grundy's corpse, he pulls out an Explosive Batarang, one of his last.  He holds it up, but is caught unaware as Grundy's eyes light up again, as he is grabbed, causing him to drop the Batarang.

"Well, what do you know?  You really can't kill that bastard!"  Penguin squawks in glee as he sees Grundy crawl over to the main generator, holding onto Batman.

Batman tries to pry himself free, but it is too late, as Grundy gets up, grabs onto one of the iron balls, and plunges it into the main generator, setting his body alight with pure electricity, so much that is begins to flow into Batman's suit, charring it.  Holding tight, he is barely able to pry open Grundy's hand and flip out of it.  Holding his chest, he sees that Grundy is bound to the wall.

"Get 'im, Grundy!  Get the son of a bitch!"  Penguin continues to watch, but fails to notice the shadow over him until Freeze lifts him up.  "Waagh!  Don'...  Don' hurt me, Freeze!  I can make ya a deal!"

"No deals."  Freeze throws Penguin into a wall, and notices the trigger device.  He steps on it, applying pressure until it breaks.

"What 'ave ya done!"  Penguin grabs for his grenade launcher only to be frozen in place, his head the only thing left untouched.

Batman looks for his explosive dispenser, only to find it stuck beneath Grundy's feet, making it impossible to get rid of the generators once and for all.  However, the sounds of explosions fill his ears.  Looking over, he sees the three generators overloaded and shut down.  Looking up, he sees Freeze, holding Cobblepot's grenade launcher.  Seeing Grundy lurch and have his open hand get bound, leaving him open to attack, he moves towards the center of the pit and picks up the Explosive Batarang.  "It's over."  With that, he throws the Batarang, and it connects with Grundy's ribcage, causing the bone to explode and reveal the glowing heart.  Running up to it, he punches the heart, puncturing it.  Grundy falls limp.  This was the end of Solomon Grundy.

[color=blue]"I thought that you would never take a life, Batman.  And here you are, having slain a monster."[/color]

"Grundy wasn't alive to begin with, Freeze."  Moving over to Grundy's corpse, he picks up his dispenser.  Putting it back in his belt, he grapple back up to the floor of the Iceberg Lounge.  "Now, we need to talk."

---

The two return to the entrance to the Museum, Cobblepot's frozen body in tow.  Opening a nearby cabinet, Freeze uncermoniously throws him in there, the ice breaking.  Closing the cabinet, he turns around.

"The cure, Freeze."

The glass of Freeze's helmet moves away.  "There isn't one, Batman."

"What?"

"Perhaps I should elaborate."  Freeze presses a few buttons on the right arm of his suit.  His right hand generates a hologram.  "Creating an antidote to the disease that afflicts the clown was easy.  Unfortunately, the cure degrades too quickly.  It needs a restorative agent, some kind of reforming enzyme, without it, it breaks down before it can help the host."

Batman immediately recognizes what Freeze was talking about.  "I've seen it before."

"Finding a suitable enzyme is not the only problem.  It needs to be adapted, bonded to human DNA."  The hologram disappears.  "That will take decades: time that is sorely lacking."

"What if I told you I knew a man who had been exposed to that enzyme for centuries?"

Freeze looks at Batman.  "What man?"

"His name is Ra's al Ghul."

"Bring him to me.  I only require a sample of his blood.  It may be Gotham's only hope."

"Finding him won't be easy.  But I will make sure that you'll get your sample."

Behind the two of them, an occupant of one of the many cabinets begins to slam against the glass with her shoulder.  This man spoke of the great Ra's al Ghul?  He wasn't worthy enough to speak his name!  The fervor of her actions cause the glass to break.  "Blasphemer!  You are not worthy to speak of the great Ra's al Ghul."  She immediately takes flight, leaping up the stairs.

"You are a fool, Batman.  You have let Gotham's only hope escape."

He smirks.  "No, Victor.  If Ra's al Ghul is in Arkham City, there is a trail I can follow to find him."  Without any hesitation, he follows behind.

---

Outside, the escapee looks around.  She had to return her Master's side.  Swiftly and with purpose, she leave.  Just after, a figure glides down.  This world's Batman been sidetracked too many times.  Now...  he looks up.  "One of Talia's guards.  This means Ra's al Ghull is in Arkham City."  Frustrated at yet another thing to contend with, he follows up.

Just after this world's Batman leaves, the visiting Batman exits the Muesem, and notices his counterpart.  "ALFRED, see if you can access this world's Batcomputer and transmit the information I'm sending.  My counterpart will need it."

[i]"Right away, sir, although I am puzzled why you do not explain this to him yourself."[/i]

"How do you think I would react if I came across a duplicate of myself?"  Batman begins to stream the information to the Bat-G.

[i]"A fair point is made.  Receiving data packet...  Packet received.  Now, might I enquire as to what your next goal is?"[/i]

"I have a deal I have to follow up on."  With that, the connection is cut off, and Batman begins to fly off.  He said that he would find Nora for Freeze.  He intended to keep his word.

[b]One hour to Protocol 10.[/b]

------------------------------

After much delay, Chapter 10 is finally finished.  Big battles, big travel, and a team-up not many would expect.  As always, take the time to read and review.