Batman/Rorschach [DEFENDERS OF EARTH BOOK II]

6- Carnage

The gunmen opened fire at the two, and they lunged out of the way. An ear-splitting explosion erupted from behind the gunmen. Not enough to kill them, just to paralyse them for a few hours.
"NO!" The man shouted, and the line went dead. Batman picked up his belt and put it back on. He then turned to Rorschach.
"I doubt that was luck." He dryly said. "What did you do?"
Rorschach dusted off his hat and placed it on his head. "If there were any more to come, they could be lured into a booby trap. Turned on gas canisters from behind them, turned sensitivity to maximum. Anything like gunfire would set them off. Did it right after encounter with gunmen."
Batman raised an eyebrow. "Your thinking saved us then. On that I congratulate you. But don't think I'm letting what you do slide."
"Your opinion means little to me." Rorschach retorted.
"Hmm. Well there's still the case of the cradle."
Batman walked up to the console, and Rorschach followed. "I doubt the password will be easy." Rorschach said. Batman took out a small rectangular device from his belt and placed it on the side of the console. It connected to it and immediately guessed the correct password. Another advantage of the WayneTech network. He thought to himself.
He pressed a few buttons and the cradle was lifted to the ground and slowly started to open. Inside it contained a man, late thirties with red hair and scars across his face. All across his body and part of his face was a stringy red specimen.
"Cletus Kasady." Rorschach said, walking up to him.
"What is that?" Batman wondered, examining the red string. As he looked at it, it contorted and snared as if it were alive. "How are we going to get him down?"
At that moment, a large electric shock hit Kasady. He screamed, and the red specimen squirmed around on him.
"You leave me little choice. This wasn't meant for either of you, but... desperate times, and all that." The man spoke. Kasady was hit with another shock, and then another.
"What are you doing to him?!" Batman questioned.
"Aggravating it."
"It?" Rorschach tilted his head. The specimen was slowly spreading to more parts of Kasady's body. He growled, and the specimen reached his face, covering it up entirely. His eyes were now practically large lenses, his mouth much like the jaw of a shark. Cletus Kasady was now covered with it. He screeched, now more like a monster than a man.
"I do not expect you to survive this." The man stated, and all the doors and gates closed and locked. They were trapped.
"This isn't good." Batman said quietly. He stepped back as Kasady pulled on the restraints holding him.
"Let's just hope that the restraints are stro-" Rorschach reassured, just as Kasady broke his left hand free from the cuffs that held him to the cradle
"Nevermind." He finished. He picked his grapple gun off the floor and held it out in front of him, directly at Cletus.
Batman pulled out three Batarangs and placed one between each finger on his right hand. He held them up in a throwing position.
Kasady struggled, but soon broke his right hand free from the restraints as well. He reached down and easily took off the ones on his ankles too. He jumped off the cradle, and the two attacked.
Rorschach shot the hook through his chest, getting stuck right on impact. The beast grabbed the wire and tugged on it, bringing Rorschach tumbling towards him, striking the vigilante across the face and into a desk.
Batman threw the Batarangs, but Kasady merely held his arm out, catching each one in his second skin. He pulled them out and dropped them to the floor.
"PATHETIC DISPLAY, RAT." He hissed. Batman held his fists out, and the creature laughed.
Then, all of a sudden, Rorschach struck a blow over the back of Kasady's head with a fire extinguisher. He fell down to one knee, but a red tendril latched itself onto his arm and flung him forwards into Batman. The two fell to the floor, and Cletus got back up.
"We can't beat it." Rorschach exclaimed. Batman narrowed his eyes.
"If we can't beat it, we can't let it tear us to shreds." Batman told him. He stepped to the left a few paces, and motioned with his head for Rorschach to do so too. Kasady stepped to the right a few paces too, covering any means of avoiding him. As soon as he was in the right position, Batman took out a shock Batarang and threw it at the fire extinguisher lying on the floor next to the creature. It exploded, sending a cloud of foam outwards, blocking Kasady's view.
"GAHH!" He screamed, lunging around to try and track them. The two made their way around him and towards another part in the room.
"Where are we going?" Rorschach questioned.
"I noticed, there's a manhole above us. Perhaps it leads to a sewer network." Batman explained, pulling out a miniature mine. He threw it upwards and detonating it, blowing the manhole open. He took out his grapple gun and shot it upwards, as did Rorschach. Kasady was finally out of the foam cloud, and had regained his vision. He saw the two zip up to the sewer line.
"YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME!" He shouted after them. Batman and Rorschach ran down the sewer lines, trying to track down some sort of exit. But something seemed off to Batman.
He slowed to a halt and got on one knee. Rorschach was still running for a few more seconds until he realised that Batman wasn't next to him. He turned around to him.
"What are you doing? He can't be far behind." He said frustratingly.
"The water. It's sewage." Batman explained.
"Hurm?"
"This water hasn't come from anything like a building's plumbing. It's from the Gotham River, hence the litter around the floors. There aren't many buildings with direct links to the city river in Gotham."
From somewhere behind them, a loud roar was heard. Batman stood up with a glare on his face. "And I think I know which building we're under." He said.
The two continued running through the narrow passageways until they found what seemed to be a service hatch.
"We can't just leave Kasady here." Rorschach said. Batman turned to him.
"That was never an option that crossed my mind." He replied. "Get on the top part of the ladder, what happens next we won't want to be on the ground for."
The sound of footsteps approaching quickly sounded throughout the entire chamber. Rorschach climbed up the ladder, with Batman following closely behind. Cletus turned the corner and saw them. His huge tongue snaked out of the jaw.
"TOO SLOW." He taunted, slowly approaching them. As soon as both of his feet were in the stream of water, Batman dropped the electrical charge he was holding in his hand into the water, sending a large electric shock through Kasady's whole body. Batman then fired his grapple around his neck and pulled him towards them. He then kicked him across the jaw, sending him slumping against the wall. As soon as the electrical charge died out, Batman and Rorschach jumped off the ladder.
"Smart. Not too messy." Rorschach examined. Batman put away his grapple and examined Cletus' unconscious body. The tendrils had also stopped writhing around his body and we're just as motionless as Kasady.
"How were you certain it wasn't going to kill him?" Rorschach asked.
"The shocks sent by our mysterious adversary were at least twice as powerful as my electric charges. They seemed to weaken the symbiotic organism consuming Kasady, so I figured he wouldn't be able to take force like that to the head." Batman explained, cuffing Kasady's wrists and ankles. "He should remain like this for another few hours, long enough for me to call in GCPD and have him out under something to get rid of the symbiotic organism. Now come on, let's face our mysterious friend, and get some answers."