Riddle Room *completed*

Chapter Twenty One

'This is Vicki Vale in a special report, involving the new Arkham Asylum that has just been opened.' I groan at the t.v. 'Bruce Wayne, owner of Wayne enterprise announced the opening of the new Asylum after the mass breakout at the old one. The new Asylum has state of the art facilities and is situated on a remote island, 1km off Gothams shore line. The Asylum already is home to a majority of the escaped patients, including Scarecrow, The Joker, Harley Quin, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc and Zsaz thanks to Batman and Robin. More information on the new Asylum and an exclusive interview with Bruce Wayne himself after the ad break.'

'You have got to be kidding me!' I cry, looking over at Edward who is sitting on the couch next to me. 'I agree this is not good.' He starts up and runs a hand through his hair. 'We have to keep quite and not attract attention to ourselves.' 'We aren't going to get John out?' I stammer. 'No, not yet it's too risky. Batman and Robin will be looking for us now as we are the most dangerous apart for Bane who I'm sure they will find tonight.' Ed replies. 'Follow me.' He instructs and I follow him out the door.

'Where abouts are we going?' I ask as we head down, yet another corridor i never knew existed. 'We're going to my surveillance room.' He huffs coming to a stop. On the wall is a blue electronic tablet that he presses his hand on. The wall I front lifts up and inside is a dark room, illuminated by the hundreds of screens on the wall. 'So this is where you spend your spare time.' I joke walking over to a trash bin filled with food wrappers.

'Yes just don't touch anything!' Edward hisses, sitting down in the chair and frantically typing in things on his computer. 'I won't I won't.' I assure, stepping away from the monitors. 'What do you want me to do?' I ask. Edward gives a huge sigh before swivelling around in his chair and facing me. Am I a burden for him? 'I just wanted to show you where I this room is, I case you ever want to find me. I'm assuming you are bored right now so I suggest you do something productive such as training since we haven't done much but watch television for the last two weeks. There is a gym a few corridors back so why don't you occupy yourself there?' He motions toward the door. 'Fine.' I snap, turning on my heel and heading in the direction he pointed.

How dare he speak to me like that! If I'm that much of a burden I might as well leave him alone. As I see the glass door that has the sign GYM above it I head over and push the door inwards. Inside is a big room filled with a variety of exercise equipment and other things such as a knife dummy, gun range, archery set and even a punching bag. Deciding to let my anger out I head over to the red bag and throw a punch. It doesn't move.

I let out a deep breathe before channelling all my anger into my fist as it makes contact and causes the bag to swing back. Punches after punches, drain all the anger from my body and after what seems like only a few seconds I stop and sit down on the floor. My knuckles are sore after my little fit and I look at the bright red skin with distaste. A bead of sweat drops onto the wooden floor next to me and I release a shaky breathe before standing up again.

'I can do this.' I chant, walking over to the weights. I pick up a 40kg and my arm wobbles a few times before I have to drop it. I'm so weak! I then grab a 20kg which feels much better but my arms still ache as I bring it up and down. After five minutes of that I decide to do some running so I hop on the treadmill and start jogging. Eventually that isn't enough to I turn it up a few speeds and I'm at a fast running pace. I can go faster. I turn the speed to max and I'm sprinting as fast as I can-I don't think I have ever ran this fast before. My whole body is coated in sweat so I turn the machine off and have a rest.

*

The sweat towel is damp and of no use as I try to wipe my arms with it. I chuck it in to hamper and head to the bathroom that is next to the gym. I peel off the leggings and sports bra and hop into a cold shower where I wash my hair and my body. Finally after 10 minutes I feel clean enough to hop out and I dry myself with a spare towel when I realise I have no clothes. My workout ones are to sweaty to put back on and I don't want to walk around in a towel, even if it's just me and Edward.

I see an oversized shirt so I put that over my underwear and head out to my bedroom. The hallway is quite, my footsteps echoing. I open the door to the flat to find the TV off and soft music playing through the speakers. 'Edward?' I call. No reply. I jog up the stairs and enter Edwards room. It's deserted. I quickly change into my shadow costume, a feeling of dread overcomes my senses.

I clip my utility belt on and put my mask into place. A loud shattering off glass comes from downstairs so I take out a hand gun and a machete before creeping along the walls until I reach the balcony that overlooks the flat. 'I'm warning you, show yourself!' I yell, preparing my gun to shoot. A huge dark figure drops from the ceiling and lands on their feet. 'Turn around slowly.' I growl, my heart thumping in my chest.

The figure shuffles around and there in my flat is the batman. Before I can react he throws a batarang that misses my head by inches. I start shooting but he is too fast and misses every bullet. He grapples up to the banister and lands next to me. 'Give up now!' He growls, throwing a punch. I drop to the floor and roll sidewards to avoid any future ones. 'Never!' I snap, pushing myself off the ground, landing in a crouching position. I roll to my feet and put my gun and machete back while dodging him. I pull my grappling hook out and aim for the smashed sky window that batman entered in. It latches onto the edge and I go flying through the air, landing in a roll that turns into a sprint when I land.

I can hear batman follow and his heavy footsteps sound closer as he catches up. I near the end of the warehouse roof and I realise that I'm trapped. There are no other buildings on the East side that I could possibly grapple to and jumping would mean certain death. 'You're trapped, it's over Shadow.' A deep voice from behind me grapples. I turn around to see batman armed with a batarang that is ready to throw.

'The day I give up is the day I die!' I spit, putting my grappling gun away and reaching behind my back to grab my two machetes. I wonder if Edward is okay? 'You're going back to Arkham.' He growls, running forward and throwing a punch at my stomach. I cartwheel to the side and go to slash his arm with my sword. At it makes contact, nothing happens his armour is too strong. In one swift kick I'm on the ground with my own knives against my neck. 'Do it.' I hiss, looking in his eyes. He doesn't reply but leaves one knife at my neck and throws the other off the building.

I try to move so I can reach for my gun but if I move my neck, I will sever it on my knife that is being used against me. He reaches to his utility's belt and pulls out a needle, filled with a clear liquid. 'Don't you dare!' I shriek, thrashing my legs and arms. He pins them down and stabs the needle into my thigh and I watch the liquid being injected into my blood stream. A sudden feeling of drowsiness overcomes my senses and his face becomes distorted and wonky. I start giggling as black dots flood my vision but they turn to groans as a feeling of nausea hits.

The last thing I see is the silvery metal being clicked around my wrists as I am taken to the new Arkham.