The Fairy and the Spider: Arkham Asylum

Following the trail

The fact that the ICU lobby has been overrun by armed thugs means only one thing. If you push through, you get a bullet in the head and you're done. So we have to keep a low profile.

- Separate, - Batman began, looking at his support, - to the old gargoyles.

Spider-Man to the ceiling. Winx just soar through the air.

- It makes sense, - Tecna agreed, showing a holosuite map of the lobby where the red dots marked enemies and the blue ones marked them. - Each of us needs to cover a small area. And most importantly, don't get caught.

- The six of us don't have Kevlar suits, - Spider-Man inserted, tugging on a small part of his spandex suit.

After that, the whole good crew quickly dispersed into the lobby. The idea of small traps, Batman approved. Sitting on one of the gargoyles, the Dark Knight waited for one of the outlaws to get under it. As soon as he did so, Batman grabbed him in an instant and then threw him off, tying him to the gargoyle in time. Hearing his comrade scream, one of the others rushed over to find out what was going on.

- Flora, he's headed for your trap, - Tecna notified him over the comlink, keeping an eye on the outlaw who had hurried toward his partner. - Come on!

Flora waited for the signal and pulled one of her stalks. After the criminal stepped on the noose he had not noticed, he was abruptly dragged down. Given that the height was not very high, the culprit passed out as he landed. Flora, realizing that what had happened might have been heard, quickly took off. The third perpetrator looked around cautiously, because they could attack from all sides. But he didn't look up, because that's where he'd just been dragged. Spider-Man lifted him up, quickly patted his mouth, threw the machine gun out, and then pinned him to the wall. Another walked quietly and quickly, but also fearfully and cautiously. Tecna also cautiously followed him until she jumped on his neck. Then the inventor performed a somersault, at the end of which she slammed the outlaw to the floor. When he pulled himself up, Tecna tossed him aside with a magical kick.

- The punks are punks everywhere, - Tecna concluded, before quickly changing places.

Two more outlaws held together. They were the last ones on their feet. And in spite of their terrifying fear, they chattered on about their subject.

- Listen, where did these Spider and Fairies come from? - One asked.

- Gotham seems to be a magnet for all things obscure. And it all started with a bat that's been throwing sticks in the wheels for the likes of us.

- Tell me about it. Things used to be better. The police turned a blind eye to what was going on in the city. All you had to do was give Loeb money and you could walk around all you wanted.

- Yeah. But then this mouse came along, and then Gordon became commissioner.

- I remember when the boss shot the commissioner's little girl. That's what's weird, by the way. Once he did that, Batgirl just disappeared.

- What are you implying?

- Nothing. Probably just a coincidence. Like the fact that as soon as Joker killed one Robin, Batman got another one.

- Let's change the subject, shall we?

- Come on. I still don't understand one detail. Why did Black Mask have to kill Loeb?

- You're such a clueless idiot. It was Joker. He was pretending to be Black Mask.

- That's right. He also hired eight weirdos to kill Batman. I hope Bane's not here.

- He's not here. Are you afraid he's gonna break your knee?

- I'm not afraid of anything. When I was talking about those mercenaries, I was reminded of Buchinsky. I felt sorry for the guy.