Batman: Hero of Gotham

61- The Hidden Basement

Batman arrived at the Vale Residence for 8:38 PM. He kicked open the door to exaggerate his entrance. He eventually found the hidden basement and the door was open a crack. No sound came from the basement, though. The lights were off as well. Batman found the light switch and flicked it on. "I'm heading into the basement, Lucius." Batman said, using his earpiece. He walked down the stairs and his leg pulled a string that triggered a pistol to fire at his legs. The bullet went through the Batman's suit and barely touched Batman's ankle, causing him to fall down the stairs. Batman groaned in pain as blood poured from the wound. "Agh! Damn it." Batman moaned. 

"Are you okay?!" Lucius asked.

"Yeah, I just fell for a trap is all. Goddamn it!" Batman held the blood in. Luckily, he carried bandages with him in the case of an emergency. He wrapped the bandage around the wound and prayed he could manage. He got up to explore his surroundings. "There's no one here, no Alfred."

"Damn it. Where could they have taken him to?" 

"I'm not sure yet. There's blood on the walls."

"Are you sure that's not from the incident just a minute ago?"

"Yeah. I bled but not that much.  I'm going to see what I can find." Batman looked at a chair that looked familiar. "This where they had Alfred. Where they beat him." Batman clenched his fists. He then examined the blood splatter. "Blood hasn't congealed yet. Still fresh."

"This means we can't be far behind them."

A blood trail led from the center of the room to the wall. A footprint was in the blood. This seemed odd to Batman. "There's a boot print in the blood. Lady Arkham's soldiers must have dragged him. The trail stops at the wall." Batman looked closer. "Actually, it goes under the wall."

"Sounds like there is more to this basement than it would appear."

"Taking a closer look." Batman analyzed the wall deeply. "The wall is just a facade."

"Why would the Vales have a false wall in their basement."

Batman reared back his leg. "Let's find out what the Vales were hiding, shall we?" Batman then kicked through the wall with his uninjured leg and the wall surprising broke like it was nothing. "It's a small room with a hole in the floor covered by a grate." There was a rope ladder in the small room. 

"Anyone down there would be trapped." Batman decided not to call out anything just in case something was down there so he instead pulled off the grate and jumped inside. Drawings by children in chalk were scrawled everywhere on the walls. "Batman! What's down there? Any sign of Alfred?"

"No Alfred. This is some kind of torture chamber. Shackles, belts, blood. Vicki must have been kept down here. Locked away."

"Who could do that to their child?!"

"I'm beginning to understand."

"What is there to understand? To willfully hurt a child."

"This is why she killed the Vales. They abused her."

"I'm not saying what she did was right...but I cannot imagine what she's been through."

"The Vales foster children may not have been the only ones to suffer here. I followed Alfred's blood into this hole. If he had any opportunity at all, he would have given me a clue to follow." Batman looked at the three belts that hung. "The belts are caked in blood." There was bloody scratches on the walls as if someone had tried to climb out. Batman looked at the shackles. "Blood on the shackles too. Old blood and new. Vicki did to Alfred what was done to her." Batman looked at a huge blood stain on the ground. He touched it. "This blood is fresher than the rest. Must be Alfred's."  Glasses were stomped on and broken on the floor. They were Alfred's. A disturbing doll was in the corner of the room, facing towards Batman. The doll looked similar to Lady Arkham. "This is where Vicki Vale became Lady Arkham." Batman finally examined the drawings on the walls. "Vicki must have drawn these when she was a prisoner. Some of the chalk here is different. Newer." A chalk box lay on the ground. A blue chalk was off to the side as if it was the only piece used. "This is the same color as my tech. Not a coincidence." Batman turned on some sort of vision in his cowl so he could view the drawings in a different way. He first looked at the left drawings. "Some of the words have been highlighted. She will liberate." Batman read. Batman looked at the right drawings. "Stick figures...fleeing from something. Is that Arkham Asylum?" Batman linked the left and right drawings to come to a conclusion. "Alfred left me another clue. This is what he wanted me to find. To see. The newest chalk--he's added to an old drawing of Arkham Asylum. He drew figures outside the gates. Like they're running away. The words highlighted are 'she will liberate'."

"She will liberate? I don't see what that has to do with Alfred."

"Alfred's just along for the ride. She's been using Wayne Enterprises to get access to the buildings with Wayne Tech security systems. Including Arkham Asylum. She's going to open the doors. Release the inmates. And she took Alfred with her. Call Gordon and the GCPD."

"I'm on it."

"Lady Arkham won't be expecting us--we'll catch her by surprise." Batman left the Vales house, with more information than he had when he had entered.