Batmare dropped the dangerous Mane-iac in Arkham Asylum but Mane-iac set Batmare up and unleashed a set of surprises for our Dark Mare. Batmare must find Mane-iac in and out of the enormous asylum before Mane-iac wins by unleashing voracious beasts.
(Batman: Arkham Asylum/My Little Crossover)
Now in the six years of her career, the Dark Mare apprehended Manehattan's most murderous, maniacal, most dangerous criminal, the Mane-iac after a failed attempt of killing the Mayor.
After taking her to the infamous Arkham Asylum, Batmare was suspicious of Mane-iac's surrender and escorted her throughout the asylum. Too late, Mane-iac escaped and planned a few killer surprises in store for our Dark Mare. Not only Batmare has to take out Mane-iac but all the criminals in Batmare's Rogue Gallery and the visiting Blackgate convicts. She needs to stop Mane-iac before she unleashes a chaotic catastrophe that can mean Manehattan's end.
Tonight is a drenched night. The Mane-iac is apprehended and is now currently getting transferred back to Arkham Asylum, hopefully for good. I won’t hope too much, too many times the Mane-iac escaped Arkham’s security and cause chaos and destruction upon the city of Manehattan. This is the introduction to all of the chaos, not in Manehattan, but on Arkham Island. The rain poured the city and the thunder rolling continuously in the night sky. Mist and fog cloaked the entire city in a mysterious silhouette with the buildings’ lights shone brightly across the Saddle River. Lightning flashed in various locations at different times and different patterns. Ponies sheltered inside their homes, protected by the wrath of nature in a form of a storm. Unknowing to the sleeping ponies, sirens blared from the other side of Manehattan at City Hall. The Mayor was about to resign her term for a mayoral campaign but a certain criminal decided to end her life by the explosion of a bomb.
The criminal’s name is unknown. No origin, no name, no occupation, no family, nothing. She had no other alias; she’d just appear into Manehattan at the worst time. She is a green Earth pony, with a tainted purple coat wearing a dark purple suit with a yellow collar and orange bow tie. Alongside, she had elongated hair, green in hue. The most terrifying and dangerous feature of the Mane-iac is her green eyes with red pupils.
The eye has six forms with fifteen different variations. When the eye is open, the pony is contented, surprised, appalled, or any other emotion that involves a form of shock or anxiety, positive or negative. When the eye closes, the pony is angry, depressed, envious, or any other emotion that involves a form of negative energy. Her eyes, those endless portals of madness and hatred and death and destruction: the green irises glow whenever in a dark silhouette and her red pupils beamed, giving the darkness an ominous and evil presence. Those eyes are blank, filled with nothing but pure hate and evil.
She’ll laugh at anything, from bad jokes to death of millions, even billions. She cares absolutely nothing to anypony whatsoever, she’ll lie like the Devil, she laughs like the sickest jester, and she kills like the lowest criminal. In my Rogue Gallery, a collection of weaponry or items and statues of my enemies, she is the Queen in my Gallery. She goes by the Clown Princess of Crime, The Comeback Queen, The Ace of Knaves, The White Duchess of Death, and the Harlequin of Hate. Whenever she looks at you, you will be staring into those atrocious gateways; you will see every horrible crime she had ever committed throughout the past six years. Crime has never been this horrendous and elevated before. It’s a repeated cycle, she breaks out of Arkham, creates havoc and decimation, I show up, stop her, and dropped her back to the institution. It’ll never end, not unless one of us ends up dead. That’s the point of this war between us: I cannot kill her without become like her and she cannot kill me because she’ll lose the only pony that can keep up with her. She goes by: The Mane-iac.
Tonight, I apprehended the Mane-iac from City Hall, sparing the Mayor’s life. What I don’t like tonight is that the Mane-iac is a persistent, stubborn, chaotic, and evil individual who will never give up this war that is going on for six years right now, six years of my Batmare duty. This night, she gave up, almost without a fight. I’ll figure it out when I drop her off on Arkham Island. As I drove my Batmobile through the city, a Royal Guard officer called her other companions about the capture.
"All units, head back to Manehattan Hall. Batmare has apprehended the Mane-iac, Mane-iac is now en route to Arkham Island."
I drove my vehicle past several police officers and headed to my rogue gallery, the infamous Arkham Asylum as I drove past the sign. “ARKHAM: Hitchhikers may be escaping inmates.” As I continue to drive towards the massive asylum, I ignored the insane clown’s random spouting and talking, either to herself or to me.
“Stand back, fool, I got a bomb! Oh, wait, ha!”
Ignoring my captive’s incessant noise, I arrived at the Asylum’s gates, stone angels with lanterns guarding the iron gates, leading towards the massive institution. Finally, I could drop off this annoying clown and probably catch some peace, but since the Mane-iac gave up easily, I have to keep a closer eye on her. “Hey, Batsy, aren’t you coming with me, for a little romantic dinner in the loony bin? I hope you don’t have too much time on your hooves,” she asked. Her only response was silence.
“Always the strong and silent type, well then, let’s see we can break your silence: Are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there-“I hit her in the face with my back hoof, but as usual, she continues to yap at the mouth. As I was ready to hit her again, I sighed in relief that I arrived at the Intensive Treatment building doors, I exited my vehicle and grabbed the Mane-iac’s shoulders and carry her inside the building.
The mechanical doors opened automatically when the Mane-iac and I walked in the building. Lights shone as we entered the entrance of the asylum and the tiles and bricks appear to be clean from the last attempts this clown escaped. A hallway lined with Arkham security guards, all guns aiming at Mane-iac, in front of the Intensive Treatment lobby, is the Warden, Quincy Sharp. He is a short unicorn stallion with a receding hairline, with circular glasses, a charcoal suit with a red neck tie and levitating beside him is a staff with a ruby with the Arkham insignia in it.
Beside him is a tall Earth pony with black hair, wearing an Arkham uniform. On his left eye is a scar and his burgundy pupil is matte. His name is Officer Frank Boles. On Sharp’s right is another stallion, same height as Boles, bald, white mustache, and a Pegasus, his name is William North. They do not look delighted to see Mane-iac; no pony was, for she is the bane in Manehattan. I brought her in, ignoring the security guards.
“Hey, Sharpie, love what you’ve done with the place,” she said.
Sharp looks annoyed by the nickname, “That’s Warden Sharp to you.”
“Yo, Frankie, how’s the wife and colts, you missed me?” she asked Boles. Boles angrily grabbed Mane-iac’s collar.
“Shut it, clown, a lot of people really wanted to talk to you!” He took Mane-iac and uncuffed her rudely. More guards grabbed Mane-iac for inspecting if she is carrying prohibited items. This annoyed her slightly.
“Really, I don’t mind walking,” she said as one guard pulled up a gurney. They put her on the gurney and strapped her in a rude manner, I don’t blame them. “Not so tight, boys, you’ll crease the suit.”
“Get that filthy degenerate out of here!” barked Quincy. I looked at the Mane-iac carefully ready for assisting the patrol.
“Warden, something’s not right, I’m going with him.” I walked with Boles and two other officers wheeling the Mane-iac to the Intensive Treatment Center to the Holding Cells levels below us.
“I want the Mane-iac secured. I want her treated by the end of the year; her treatment will definitely cement my mayoral campaign.” Quincy added to his guards.
I walked up to North, “Is Commissioner Armor here?”
“Yes, he is waiting for you at the Holding Cells, we all are,” he replied. I walked beside Boles onto the lift. “Don’t worry, Warden, my security doubled that from last year, I’m positive that me and my ponies will not let Mane-iac escape,” North said.
“I hope you’re right, William, for your sake,” Quincy replied, adding a dark tone to the last part.
A chime rang throughout the asylum. “All available guards head towards the Intensive Treatment Lobby.”
I walked on the lift and the lift brought us down in the Lobby. A security office lies on top of the scanning tunnel. Walkways, east and west, lead to the security office with electric control panels that lead to different areas of the Lobby. We walked in the scanning tunnel, hearing Mane-iac’s annoying voice.
“Ah, it’s so nice to get back to sweet, sweet, hacienda,” Mane-iac said dreamily. The scanning tunnel doors closed for the scan.
“Scan initializing,” a guard operating the scanner announced. An arc-like scanner gyroscopically scanned us thoroughly, scanning for any item that is prohibited, I know Mane-iac’s clean, but-
“You know what? I like the good, old cavity search. Much more personal,” Mane-iac said. No pony replied to her spouting, the scanning is going good for Mane-iac, until it reaches the end of the tunnel.
An alarm blared and the scanner room brightens a red color. “Multiple prohibited items,” the guard said.
“I want Mane-iac searched again!” a guard barked with a more masculine voice.
“It’s not Mane-iac, it’s umm…” the announcer replied uncertainly.
“Ooh, what are you sneaking up in here, Bats? Come on tell me, tell me. Batarangs, batclaws…ooh, batsnacks?” Mane-iac asked me. I didn’t reply.
“Scan’s green on Mane-iac,” the announcer said.
“Open up the scanner, get her out of here!” the masculine guard ordered. The scanner opened the exit and we walked out, more guards aiming their armaments at Mane-iac. They continue to glare at the discolored mare with disgusted, wrathful and venomous glares yet the mare seems not to mind.
“I want her gone, do not let her out of your sight,” the guard ordered. The guard beside our left is a muscular brown Earth pony with a black, shaven mane with hoofcuffs as a cutie mark. However, his left front hoof has a prosthetic, from last year’s ordeal with Killer Croc. The prosthetic's shape is originally a hook until the surgeons added a mechanism that can transform the hook into a robotic hoof or one with digits so he can hold anything without any difficulty.
“There’ll be time later for you, Cash. And speaking of time, tick tock, tick tock, is that a crocodile I hear?” Mane-iac replied back teasingly and sinisterly. She turned to her left to see a cream coated unicorn with red mane, red eyes, wearing a psychiatrist coat with a clipboard for a cutie mark. Her name is Psychiatrist Spring Evergreen. “What’s up, doc? Call me around 8, would you? We have a lot of catching up to do,” Mane-iac asked Evergreen.
We walked in a long corridor, another corridor adjacent to us: The Cell Block Transfer. We’re on the right in our walking perspective. Small television screens are mounted on small columns supporting a walking grid above us with pathways leading to the control room protected by an electric barrier. Two more Royal Guard members and a doctor with a green jacket is waiting on the other end of the hallway.
"Hello, let me introduce myself, I am Warden Quincy Sharp and I-," the television announced.
“Hey, it’s my favorite TV show, I’m Warden Idiot, you’ll never escape,” Mane-iac said mockingly.
On the other hallway, several guards escorting more inmates alongside. They do not look like mentally unstable patients but more dangerous. Prisoners ranging from Earth ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi to griffons and Diamond Dogs, with hatred glares at me, but I don’t mind. With hooves and paws behind their heads with guns aiming at them, threatening them to shoot if any dares to escape. They are prisoners from Blackgate Penitentiary, the most notorious and dangerous prison in Equestria. Their glares turned into chants when they see their boss, Mane-iac.
“Mane-iac, Mane-iac, Mane-iac, Mane-iac!” the inmates chanted happily.
“Shut it if you don’t want to get shot!” a guard shouted. The inmates didn’t listen but continue to praise the Mane-iac, their boss.
“It’s great to see you in here boss,” an inmate said.
“I thought I told you to shut up!” the guard shouted.
“Mane-iac!” an inmate chanted.
“Be quiet!” the guard barked and they continued to walk down the opposite corridor.
“I’m telling you, the state of the wiring in the federal facilities is shocking. I mean, my boys could’ve been hurt in that, unfortunate fire,” the Mane-iac said. We arrived at the end of the corridor in front of another door with more guards watching over the entrance to the Secure Transit. Beside them is a cream colored Unicorn wearing green scrubs, overlooking his notes. He is one of Mane-iac's physical doctors, checking to see any injuries sustained on her or any other patients or faculty members.
“Just need to check your prisoner, Officer Boles,” the doctor said.
“Whatever, just be quick,” Boles replied rudely.
“Only following procedure, let’s see: Patients seems to be in satisfactory condition. Probably suffered minor scrapes and lacerations from the last two hours, there seems to be-“
“Boo!” Mane-iac shouted, interrupting the doctor abruptly. Mane-iac cackled after scaring the faculty members. Like I said, she’ll laugh madly at a very bad joke. Everypony jumped and the guards at their guns more sharply at her, trying to get her to shut up. I continue to look at the deranged pony without as much of a blink.
“Want to check my temperature, I’ll be happy to drop my pants,” Mane-iac asked teasingly.
“She’s all yours. Get her out of here,” the doctor said, annoyed by her constant shenanigans. The door opened and we walked into the Intensive Treatment Security Transit. Several armed guards are at the elevator. By the amount of ponies here, a patient is in transit, albeit a dangerous one.
“Alert in the Intensive Treatment Transit, Category 9 Patient in transit. Shoot to kill permissions granted,” the intercom announced. All the guards armed their guns at the elevator arriving at our level. A gigantic thing crouched inside the elevator until it came to a complete stop. The thing is breathing heavily as the elevator slowly rose by the weight of the creature. This creature, I knew, fought and imprisoned several times, rarely seen in Manehattan.
“You heard the lady, we have another psycho along the way,” a guard warned.
“Can you smell the excitement in the air? No, must be one of the guards’ then-Croc, old boy is that you?” Mane-iac asked to no pony in particular.
“Get ready, keep your guns trained at him, at all times,” a guard ordered.
The elevator open and the thing exited out until it could fully stand. The creature is more than 11ft tall, few more feet to touch the ceiling. The skin is crocodilian like with several mumps and a black crocodilian back supported the thing. It wears maroon pants with a makeshift belt made of rope. Chains wrapped around its legs and arms. Around its neck is an enormous collar for its thick neck. A turquoise liquid is inside and a little electricity current is in with it. The thing has a long jaw with yellow, sharp teeth, constantly drooling, and its most terrifying feature to pony is its yellow eyes, constantly gazing whenever it’s starting at its prey. Garble, an ordinary teenage dragon, which turned into that with epidermolyptic hyperkeratosis: a skin disorder, physically and mentally disfiguring him. He stood at full height, looking at the spotlight, adjusting to the brightness.
“Damn, that thing looks pissed,” the guard said. Killer Croc sniffed the air and turned its head to its new target: me. He turned around at looked directly at me, giving me its predatory gaze, the eyes promising me that it will devour me once it's free by any chance, my response to the gaze is my own, still retaining my stoic expression.
“What’s it doing?” the guard asked alarmingly.
“I've got your scent, Batmare, I will hunt you down,” the thing warned. The guards are too alarmed and frightened of the creature's spine-tingling threat.
“Turn the collar on, get that animal under control!” the guard ordered. Without warning, the collar gave a strong electrical surge throughout Croc, harming him yet it does nothing fatal. the creature roared and growled in pain. Croc turned away, still livid from the shock. “Get that thing out of here, now!” another guard barked.
“A toy collar won't stopped me from killing you, Batmare. I'll rip you apart, eat your bones,” Croc roared before stomping away to his cell with four guards following him.
“That reminds me, I really need to get me some new shoes,” Mane-iac said randomly.
“Okay, move along,” a guard said. We walked inside the elevator and the gates closed, bringing us down to the Holding Cells.
“Hang on,” Boles said. The elevator moved down to bring us to the cells.
“Ooh, the night is still young, Bats. I still have a trick or two up in my sleeve,” Mane-iac said.
“Not where you’re going,” I replied darkly.
“I mean, my boys really could’ve been hurt in that unfortunate fire at Blackgate,” she said.
“I thought I told you be quiet!” Boles shouted. Mane-iac turned to him.
“Oh, Frankie, you really should learn to keep that fat mouth of yours shut. It could get you into trouble,” she said menacingly.
“Tell me, Mane-iac. You’d never let me capture you this easily before, what are you really planning?” I asked.
“Oh, nothing much; just another night filled with the screams of innocent ponies; all their meaningless lives come to a horrifying conclusion. All thanks to me and a book of matches. Is that the answer you wanted?” Mane-iac replied and asked.
The television screen turned on beside us with Warden Sharp. “All patients should avoid interaction with the Blackgate prisoners, their presence here is-“
“Gahahahahaha!” Mane-iac laughed maniacally. The elevator lights flicker when she laughed. The television and the light blacked out, leaving us in the dark with the laughing clown. The guards panicked as the entire elevator shaft is pitch black, I sighed lightly in the situation.
“Somepony, get a light on her! Don’t let her out of your sights!” Boles ordered.
Mane-iac continued to laugh in the darkness but abruptly stopped and started to choke. The lights returned back and the television came back on, distorting before adjusting to normalcy. The guards looked at why Mane-iac is choking, only to find me grabbing her throat.
“W-what, don’t you trust me?” Mane-iac gasped jokingly. I slammed her head back on the gurney. The elevator came to a stop and we walked out into the Holding Cells. The entrance is protected by an electrical barrier, brought down by a security guard. Down the ramp are cells that held some of the Blackgate inmates. Outside of the control room, I saw Commissioner Shining Armor.
He is the Captain of the Royal Guard and appointed commissioner for the entire security in Manehattan. He is a white Unicorn stallion, with a blue and turquoise mane and tail. He occasionally wears golden armor and a shield for a cutie mark. Today, he wears a simple white collar shirt with a plaid neck tie, suspenders, and glasses.
“Good to see you, Batmare,” he said. He stretched out his hoof and I shook it.
“You had a long night, Shining?” I asked.
“I have to juggle with the Royal Guard, Arkham guards, the media, and the Manehattan police to protect the Mayor after you’ve captured the Mane-iac from City Hall, yeah, it’s been a hell of a night,” he replied.
“Probably the last one,” I added. Unknown to us, watching us from a surveillance camera, a mare with red and purple boots on each front and hind leg, watched the entire escort.
“Yeah, right,” she said. Shining and I walked to the entrance of the cells but a guard stopped us. “Sorry, but authorized personnel enter the Cells.”
Shining looks annoyed. “I’m telling you, if anypony’s authorized, its-“
“Listen, I thank you for the escort but she’ll unsettle the more violent inmates,” the guard replied back. I took in his word.
“I think he’s talking about you, Bats. Do come here anytime, you’re not a stranger. Got to say, it’s good to be back,” the Mane-iac said after the guards unlocked her from the gurney and walked her to the Holding Cells. I looked at the Mane-iac suspiciously as the guard and doctor escorted her to a cell. Shining Armor noticed it.
“Are you okay?” he asked. I looked at him.
“She surrendered almost without a fight; I don’t like it,” I replied back.
“At least she’s back where she belongs,” he said as we walked inside the control room, overviewing the escort.
The Mane-iac is walking alongside with the guard and her psychiatrist. She looked around the Holding Cells, seemingly scanning the room. She looks at the surveillance cameras and television screens for anything abnormal. Suddenly, she stumbled and fell on all fours. This caught the guard’s attention. Perfect.
“Get up, come on, get up,” the guard ordered. The Mane-iac snarled at him and then, chaos erupts. She stood up and wrapped her hoof cuff chains around the guard’s neck, strangling him. It happened so fast and so unexpected that the guard didn’t have a chance to defend himself. The doctor noticed it and tried to calm her down, but the maniacal clown continues to suffocate the poor guard.
Shining and I noticed it and it alarmed us. “Mane-iac’s free! Alert the Warden!” I ordered. Shining nodded and tried to communicate with the Warden about this sudden outbreak.
“Hurry, we’re losing him, doc!” Mane-iac joked maniacally. Mane-iac continued to strangle him until he is still; ignoring the doctor’s constant pleading. She released and dropped the dead guard and twisted the poor doctor’s neck with her elongated mane. I angrily watched the horror show as I continued to break the glass window to stop, but always, casualties form when the Mane-iac is present.
Mane-iac danced towards the dead guard and looked into his lifeless eyes. “The choke’s on you,” she said sinisterly. She danced randomly and sung a tune. She turned to a television screen, pointing at it. That could only mean one thing.
“Tada, Honey, I’m home,” Mane-iac said to the screen. The mare behind the screen is delighted to see her beloved broke free from her bonds so easily and effortlessly.
“Come on in,” the mare said dreamily. She pulled a card and slid it on a scanner to cancel the Holding Cell’s barrier, leading it towards a corridor.
Finally, I broke through the glass and landed after the Mane-iac ran up the ramp, standing on her hind legs and outstretching her fore hooves.
“Welcome to the madhouse, Batmare, I set a trap and you sprang it gloriously!” Mane-iac announced joyously.
I looked side to side and saw that the cells holding the Blackgate inmates are open and the dangerous convicts are liberated. They turned their hateful gaze at me, wanting to kill me for the many imprisonments and unforgettable beatdowns I gave them before. I am more than enough for these lowlife thugs.
“Now, let’s get this party started,” Mane-iac said and ran up in another control room across the room. I readied myself for these thugs. Three of them readied themselves and look haughty that they can bring me down; arrogant as always.
“Tonight, mares and gentlecolts, we will give you the annual fight between Bats and my useless thugs! I bet you never seen a fight this amazing at Mane-iac Asylum, it’ll be a blast,” Mane-iac announced on the microphone.
One thug charged at me to throw a punch, I effortlessly countered it by pushing his hoof aside and punched his chest three times before hitting him with an overhead punch, sending him to the ground. I’ve been training at a remote training ground for seven years, mastery over every form of martial arts.
With my agility, I jumped to another thug to kick him to the head then I punched the third one on the sides, all of them on the ground. But I know that’s not enough to knock them out, so I jumped to the second one I hit on the chest and punched him in the face, hard. A Ground Takedown I named it; two thugs to go. I performed a flip and bucked a thug hard in the face, sending him flying towards an unopened cell with the electrical barrier, containing an anxious thug, wanting to beat me down. The barrier shocked him, instantly knocking him out; one more to go. The first thug was already in battle stance, he landed a punch on me but I countered it by punching him the throat, picked him up, and finished him off by pummeling him in the stomach, sending him to ground hard and fast. Easy as pie.
“I was just warming you up, Bats! Fresh off from Blackgate Correctional Facility, with a combined sentence of 752 years, ding ding ding ding, it’s Round 2!” Mane-iac announced, releasing four more thugs. They ran out of their cells to take me down, but I was born ready.
Like always, a Pegasus flew at me to land one on me, but I countered him by punching him in the face, crotch, and the face again with my back turned. I jumped to another one and kicked him hard, performed an overhead punch on a griffon thug and punched the fourth one square on the chest. The second thug was flying so far and high, he flew over the railing into the depths below, his screams becoming distant the further down he go.
I performed a Ground Takedown on the first thug I brought down, the griffon thought he could hit me on my blind spot but I grabbed his hand, threw him over my shoulder, but that’s not it. I still grasped his claw, his arm outstretched. I punched his forearm hard, breaking it. He screamed in pain, clutching the broken arm before fainting. I jumped to the last thug, flinching before I hit him. Figures, the last one are always cowardly; I finished him by throwing him over the railing, finishing him. Once again, his screams became faint when he is farther down into the depths below.
“Sorry Bats, love to stay but I’ve got a party to form and ponies to slay,” Mane-iac said before I finished off the last two thugs. She ran down the corridor and turned right. The fight was effortless, yet it’s not over, not by a long shot. I turned to Commissioner Armor, who was watching the entire fight, Frank Boles in with him, guarding him.
“The Mane-iac had the security is overrun. We’re trapped in here,” he said. I turned to the television screen that he is using to talk to me.
“I’ll find a way. Shining, alert the Warden, let him know what happened, I’ll be back,” I replied back. I saw that the television switched to the Mane-iac, running down the hallway, she looked up at the camera that was pointing at her, talking to me.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Bats! I’m in control of the asylum, I don’t want you to go anywhere and I don’t want you to. Do you understand?” she asked darkly. I narrowed my eyes in anger.
“If you think I’ll you let you run-“
“Blah blah blah, always with the hero speak, oh, I’m getting bored already of watching you. Why won’t you just come and find me?” Mane-iac interrupted and asked. The electrical gate that was still activated when Mane-iac ran deactivated, daring me to follow her and to witness of what horrors she committed already.
“You know it’s a trap,” Shining Armor warned. I looked back at the TV that switched back to him.
I walked out of the canceled barrier and beside my left of the other control room where Mane-iac was, three chatter teeth are on and chattering incessantly and irksomely. Definitely one of Mane-iac’s toys and they mean that she was here. The most exasperating feature of the teeth is the high-pitched laughter of the Mane-iac in an insulting manner. From all I know, Mane-iac will scatter these tedious blabbermouths all over Arkham Island. They need to be destroyed, so I pulled out my batarang and threw at the three chattering trinkets, destroying them and giving the Holding Cell area peace from the mocking teeth. I ran through the gate to process to the Processing Corridor where Mane-iac was.
Unknown to me, a cell below the ramp, top right, is tainted, scratched, and unorganized. The locker in is titled and the wall is ripped and smeared with green paint. Tiles were out of place and a little hole in the wall defines the inmate’s desperate escape attempt. The bed is unmade and springs were exposed. But that’s not the exotic feature: the feature is that the cell is decorated with green question marks with words that said: Riddle me this. Can you solve this one, and one beside the bed, hell?
On my way through the Processing Corridor, the tedious teeth are chattering throughout the corridor. Several doors with hatches are lined up on the left side of the hall. Small television screens are mounted on top of the ceiling, facing anypony who is walking through the hall. What really captures this scene is a dead guard, mutilated and strangled to death, sitting and his back leaning on the wall. Eyes rolled up in his head and his natural beige coat whitens.
“Mane-iac was here. These poor guards never stood a chance,” I said to myself angrily.
I ran through the Processing Corridor, the alarm signifying whenever an Arkham inmate escape blares constantly. To my left and right, dead Royal Guards, Arkham guards, doctors, and nurses made the Corridor a horror show. Every dead body I see stokes my anger towards Mane-iac. I’ve seen atrocities Mane-iac caused, environmental and ponykind, but I’ve never seen bodies at this magnitude since four years ago. I watched the monitors that are mounted on the ceiling that shows the worst: Mane-iac has released all the Blackgate convicts throughout the asylum. They were running throughout the hall, killing or tormenting defenseless faculty members.
“Warning, security breach at level B1,” the intercom announced while the television switched between different areas in the cells.
“Alert, security breach at level B3,” it continued.
“Alert, security breach at level B7,” it said. I looked up at a TV screen, and like the others, a Blackgate convict looked at the surveillance camera watching them escaping their imprisonments. He looked at the camera and shook it violently, resulting in all the screens in the Processing Corridor static noise. The intercom continued to announce the numberless security breaches, more convicts to beat.
Speaking of inmates, I saw two escapees ran towards me, no other. A Pegasus and a griffon blocked my path to the Decontamination Chamber to the left. I countered the Pegasus’s punch by kicking him in the shin and the chin. I flew in the air and kicked the griffon, knocking him out. I landed on the Pegasus and performed a Ground Takedown. I did another at the pinned griffon. I ran to the door leading to the Decontamination Chamber and a guard is trying to put in the security protocols to unlock the door. He is a white Unicorn with a shaven head, wearing a helmet with a small grid covering his face, obscuring it a little. His name is Eddie Burlow.
“Batmare, what happened?” he asked.
“Mane-iac happened. You’re lucky to be alive,” I replied.
“Must have gone this way, door is jammed. I’ll try to get it open,” he added.
“Attention, we need backup at Patient Pacification. Repeat, we need backup at Patient Pacification! Can anypony hear this?” a voice on the walkie talkie asked frantically.
“Loud and clear, Franklin, I’m with Batmare, what’s the problem?” he asked, answering the distress call.
“Backup immediately, it’s Zsasz! He broke free; oh my, Celestia, he’s got Mike!” Franklin exclaimed, followed by a garbled screaming on the other end. That could only mean trouble; I have to go to the Patient Pacification Chamber to stop Zsasz for killing another life.
“Where are they?” I asked.
“Down the other way, need any help?” Eddie replied and asked, pointing in the opposite direction.
“No, I’m better off alone,” I replied. Eddie nodded.
“Franklin, if you could hear this, help is on the way,” he said nervously. Eddie walked towards the protocol box, attempting to open it.
I ran to the right side of the Corridor to Pacification. More dead bodies ornamented the hallways. Before entering, I called my computer expert. Her real name is Princess Skyla, daughter of my sister-in-law, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or Princess Cadence and my big brother and Royal Guard commissioner, Shining Armor.
Since joining my team, she was known as Batfilly, yet she is not relatively in the age of a filly, she’s around her early 20’s. She was exceptionally well in hoof-to-hoof combat and computer technics, but her career was tragically cut short when Mane-iac shot her through her midsection, crippling her to a paraplegic. She now adopts a new alias, Oracle, a master in computer hacking and networking.
“Oracle, can you hear me?” I said to my communicator encased in my cowl.
“Loud and clear, what’s up?” she asked.
“Mane-iac escaped custody and she’s running free in Arkham,” I replied.
“Do you need anything, is my dad still there?” Oracle asked.
“Commissioner Shining Armor is okay. I’ll stay in contact when I’m done,” I replied and turned off my communicator before I entered the Patient Pacification Chamber. I saw two guards standing in front of the door protected by the barrier. They appeared to be calling out to somepony. One is Zach Franklin, a brown Earth pony and another random guard member.
“You’re making a big mistake, Zsasz! You’ll only get in more trouble if you keep this up! Let him go now!” Zach cried. A pony named Victor Zsasz is on the other side, doing something threatening.
He is a pale Earth pony with shaven hair, wearing gauntlets around his hooves and one collar around his neck. His most horrifying description is the tally marks written over his entire body. From his hooves, his chest, abdomen, flanks, and head, he cut himself every time he makes a kill. He doesn’t care about stallions, mares, colts, fillies, or life whatsoever. He sees that they are zombies, stumbling over the meaningless purpose of living, so he liberated them by slicing their throats and leaving them in life-like positions doing everyday routines. He is a nihilist and sociopath who only kill for his body count. No pony knows how many and police and other authorities had trouble with tracking him down because his murder has little to no patterns.
He was Prince Blueblood, a royalty in Canterlot, nephew to Princesses Celestia and Luna; he lost all his money and status to poker and gambling. He lost his parents in a traffic accident and devoted his life of restoring his parental status. A thief tried to mug him after Blueblood’s life spiral in the Iceberg Lounge, lost a poker game against Fancy Pants aka the Penguin. Blueblood grabbed the knife and killed him, then mutilated himself by cutting a tally mark on his arm and the story goes on. In addition, he added tattoos on his back, tribal wings on his back and the back of his head. His incarceration in Arkham is indefinite because his unsympathetic perspective towards life and murder of over 300 ponies. Definitely one of the most dangerous ponies I have ever encountered in my Batmare career.
“Thank Celestia you’re here, Batmare! It’s Zsasz, he’s got Mike strapped to a chair; Zsasz has totally lost it!” Franklin exclaimed.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get him,” I replied.
“You can’t, he says he’ll kill Mike if anypony sees him!” Zach warned.
“He won’t see me,” I said darkly.
In the Pacification Chamber, Blueblood is levitating a remote that controls the electrotherapy chair with Mike in it. Mike is terrified and breathing heavily due to the countless shocks he’d received from this monster.
“If I see anything that looks even a little bit like a bat and this guard dies. Do you hear me?” he warned. He pressed the remote, adding another 5000 volts through Mike. Mike screamed was drowned and garbled by the power surge. Zsasz laughed manically with it. This ends now.
I ran through the stairs leading to the upper floor and control box of the Pacification Chamber. At a control box, I spotted an elderly psychiatrist who did therapy with Killer Croc, Zsasz, and the Riddler. Her hair has a salt and pepper pattern in it and dons circular glasses. Her name is Gretchen Whistler; she’s been in Arkham the longest. Unlike the other psychiatrists who became nervous and had a psychological breakdown, she is the most experienced of all.
“This is disgraceful. How did a patient like Blueblood get free?” she asked with a Slovakian accent.
“We’ll worry about that later, doc,” I said.
“You now he wants to kill the guard. He needs to kill the guard,” she added and turned back to work on the Pacification system.
I walked to the railing with two more guards, watching from below, Zsasz completely oblivious of their presence.
“Batmare, he’s got my buddy, do something, please?” a guard asked.
“Don’t worry, keep him occupied. I’ll get in behind him,” I ordered. The guard nodded and continued to draw Zsasz’s attention.
“Give up, Zsasz, you’ll get in a lot of trouble!” he shouted.
“How many times do you need to be told? Keep away or this little piggy dies,” Blueblood said cruelly.
I looked up at the ceiling and used Detective Mode to see four stone gargoyle vantage points. This mode is an X-ray vision, heat vision, and night vision. I’m allowed to see hostages, people, hostiles, day and night. I’m able to see their heart rates, health status and their moods: Deceased, Unconscious, Minimum Life signs, Calm, Nervous, and Terrified. This is a very useful mechanism for my cowl.
“These old gargoyles are able to support my weight when I grapple on to them,” I said to myself. I used my Grappling Gun to grapple on the stone gargoyles and climbed on top on them, making no noise at all. I grapple to the other gargoyles when I am above and behind Zsasz, perfect. I glided behind Zsasz and kicked him behind his head, knocking him to the ground, making him drop the remote. It’s not over yet.
“Zsasz is down but not out. I need to get in close to perform a Takedown to finish him off,” I said.
I jumped and landed on Zsasz and punched the deranged, former royalty of Canterlot to submission. Now, it’s over.
“Somepony, put this animal back to his cell,” Zach ordered angrily. Just before I progress to put Mane-iac back to custody, I spotted a television screen turned on and being adjusted. A pony is working on it, probably the one who helped Mane-iac. Then, I heard that familiar female voice.
“Can you hear me, is this thing on?” she asked innocently.
The mare is cream coated. Her purple and white curled mane is made into two pigtails, one end dyed red and the other black. She dons a red corset with a naughty nurse outfit underneath, exposing her abdomen. She wears two boots on her hind legs, her right one red and the left one purple. Her face has make-up and wears a small black mask to cover her eyes, leaving her azure eyes visible. Also, the reason why Mane-iac is free is because she got the Warden’s security card, the only card with protocols that can access anything and anywhere on Arkham Island.
The only thing I feel a little pity for is she was a former psychiatrist at Arkham, a very inexperienced one, excited to do therapy with dangerous patients with extreme personalities. Unfortunately, she met with the Mane-iac. Mane-iac found the perfect opportunity to feed her lies and garbage about jokes, life, and how I was portrayed the villain in the ‘party’. She believed every falsehood that came out of Mane-iac’s filthy mouth. She later freed Mane-iac after I put her in after our first fight four years ago. She now plays the role of Mane-iac’s sidekick and could do anything, even kill, for Mane-iac’s approval, the only thing she ever wants. Of course, knowing Mane-iac, she treats her crew and sidekicks like nothing. If there is a time that pony quits or even thinks wrong about Mane-iac, she’ll seduce her again and keeping her under her control. Severe case of Stockholm syndrome; the mare’s name is Sweetie Drops aka Bon-Bon. Surprisingly a good athletic, her syndrome continues to drop with her sanity if anything bad happens to Mane-iac, devotes her whole life protecting and loving her, only resulting in Mane-iac’s approval, which of course, is a front to keep her from killing her. After her encounter with Mane-iac, Sweetie became the victim herself, albeit a very dangerous one.
"Oh, hiya, B-mare; Bon-Bon here, how do you like my new uniform? Pretty hot, huh?” Bon-Bon introduced and twirls around, flaunting me with her outfit. “Oh, I’ve got something to show you; one second, B-mare!” “Tada!” she said while going off the screen to get something. That something is no surprise to me. A chair rolled in front of the camera and the Warden Quincy Sharp is tied in it. Muffled shouting are his only answers in front of me, the tape that covered his mouth has a crudely drawn smile on it. This display sickens me.
“What you think, B-mare? Old Sharpie has never been happier,” she said while rubbing Sharp’s head seductively, irritating me more. “Now in case you’re wondering, today is the Mane-iac’s big homecoming and you’re the guest of honor,” she said while playing with Quincy’s staff.
“You got one chance to surrender, Bon-Bon,” I said angrily.
“Tempting, Bats, but no dice. Now, the inmates are running the asylum; technically, they’re Mane-iac’s goons shipped in from Blackgate, but you get the idea. Bye-bye, for now,” she added. Then, she hit the camera with the staff and leaving the screen a static noise. Now, I’ve got two clowns I need to take down, Mane-iac and her crazy sidekick.
I turned away from the accursed message and saw that Whistler is treating Mike, who is still in trauma after his experience with Zsasz. I don’t blame him. Several guards are watching and aiming guns at the unconscious sociopath while others are kneeling to dead guards and doctors killed by the murderer. I called Oracle on my communicator to give her an update.
“Batmare, you’re picking this up?” Oracle asked. I responded.
“Oracle, I’m here,” I replied.
“The map of Arkham Island just vanished off the network,” Oracle said, stating more updates of what that psychotic clown has done.
“She’s in control of the security system, she isolated it from the grid,” I added.
“That’s not all she’s done. Police feeds are stating that she planted bombs around Manehattan, said she’ll detonate them if anypony steps foot on Arkham Island. It’s being suppressed at the moment, but the story will break anytime now,” she replied.
“She’s lying, it’s just a diversion to keep ponies away,” I retorted.
“How do you know that?” she asked, dumbfounded of the statement.
“I know her,” I replied darkly. I turned off my communicator and began looking for a way out. Bon-Bon trapped us in the Pacification Chamber, but I’ve spotted a ventilation duct system with a grate guarding it on the left corner on the top of the room. I knelt down and pulled the grate. Two bolts released the firm hold of the grate’s connection with the wall, and then I lifted the grate and put it aside and crawled in the shaft.
“Bon-Bon thinks she had me trapped up in here. She never was very bright,” I commented to myself.
I crawled in the shaft, with my knowledge of every pathway of the ventilations all over Arkham. Later, I’d received an update from Oracle.
“Batmare, I’m patching you to the guard’s radio feed,” Oracle stated. Static filled my communicator as it continues to calibrate for clarity.
“Steve, more Blackgate prisoners, by the boiler!” a guard warned at a guard named Steve.
“Who’s that behind them? Oh, my Celestia, it’s Mane-iac, she’s free! How’d she get out?” the guard shouted, sounding terrified. As soon as I was able to hear more, more static noise filled my communicator and the feed went down, probably destroyed as the putrid lowlifes killed those oblivious security guards.
“Sorry, feed’s down. Coms have been going down like crazy, it’s not good, I’ll keep trying,” Oracle apologized and logged off.
Right before I reached the end of the ventilation shaft, a small item is placed before me. It is a light green question mark in the form of a trophy. It is being lit by a fluorescent light bulb in the form of the mark. No doubt an item I need to collect after I defeat Mane-iac, knew there is definitely more around the island. I picked up item and a small tune rang. Need more later on.
The exit is blocked by a grate. I used my left hind leg and pushed the grate until the bolts became loose and I kicked the grate. The shaft led me back to the Decontamination door, with Burlow currently working on the broken panel to gain access. Before I dropped down, Eddie finally unlocked the door and ran to the entrance of the chamber. I followed him and he touched a Plexiglas window with more guards and Blackgate inmates on the other side. I expected the worse but not this. Before that, I saw two more of those chattering blabbermouths and destroyed them with my Batarangs.
As Eddie cried to the guards, who are defending against the rioting inmates, green gas spewed from the ducts inside the chamber and the gas begins to choke on them. The worst thing about this sickly, poisonous gas is that during the suffocation, the inmates and guards begins to laugh in a disturbing manner. The guards and inmates laughed insanely until they dropped dead. Laughing to death and suffocating to death with those yellow-stained, twisted, disturbing, and frightening smiles cemented on their stiff faces. I know what that stuff is.
The intercom chimed in: “Warning: Decontamination room, toxins detected. Warning: Decontamination room: area sealed.
The glass window is suddenly shut by an iron barricade window, shutting the guards and inmates, muffling their struggled gasps and sickening laughter until it stops.
“Oh, Celestia, what is that stuff?” Eddie asked frantically.
“Mane-iac Gas, listen, the room is full of toxin; anypony caught in there is dead!” I replied back.
“Aren’t you going in there and help them?” Eddie asked. He’s right; there are probably survivors in the gas room, most likely above. I grappled up a shaft above me and crawled into the ventilation leading above the Decontamination room. I pushed the grate and landed above the room.
“This isn’t a simple escape attempt, Mane-iac’s been planning this,” I said to myself.
Above me, steel girders made several pathways to electrical wires and booths above. Ladders connected them for safe passage. Below me is a deathtrap; the disgusting, poisonous toxin blanketed the entire chamber in a sea of death and green. The bodies of the inmates and guards are the only residents inside this chamber. I could peer through and spotted the yellow smiles plastered on their faces. Luckily, Eddie is right. There are survivors, two of them. One a Pegasus and a Unicorn; they must’ve climbed to avoid their untimely demise to the toxin but I spotted the Unicorn hanging for dear life on the railing in front of me.
“Over here, please!” the guard pleaded, clinging for life. I grabbed the back of his collar and placed him to safety beside me.
“You’re going to be fine, stay here,” I said. I ran to the other girder and another guard, a mare, an Earth pony, appears to helping the Pegasus who is above me, hanging on the railing over the deadly drop. Before I ran to help him, the ladder leading above the pathway exploded, booby trapped by the Mane-iac. The ladder fell to the bottom and the two guards panicked. I blocked any debris from the explosion. The mare continues to encourage her terrified ally of my arrival.
“Batmare’s here, just hang on a little longer, Steve!” the mare shouted.
“I can’t, I’m going to fall!” Steve shouted alarmingly. I grappled to the railing and saved Steve from the drop.
“I’m going after the animal that did this,” I said after placing Steve to safety.
“Batmare, the extraction system! Steve was trying to get to the control panel at the end of the room!” the mare shouted.
Before I continue on, I spotted a surviving Blackgate inmate clinging on at the platform at the end of the room. A griffon, angry that Mane-iac and her crew left him to die. I hate these lowlifes but no matter what, I save lives from any danger, even the ones who don’t deserve it. That’s the promise I made to my parents and myself. I glided to the platform and landed in front of the thug. The griffon grunted angrily.
“I can’t believe she left me here, that-“
He looked up at me. “Great, all I need, Batmare,” he spat. He loathes me but he doesn’t want to die.
I picked him up from his collar and on the platform to safety. Before he could react after looking up at me, I slammed my hoof on his head, knocking him out. I looked over to the side of the room and spotted the control panel that can purify the room and rid the sickly blanket. I used my batarang and threw it to the control panel, switching it on. The room is suddenly cleared of the gas as the extraction system sucked up the gas and clearing the room, leaving only the deceased bodies. I landed to the ground to progress.
The intercom chimed: “Attention: air purity is now at normal level. Decontamination room access is now permitted." As soon as the intercom finished, I heard that disgusting and menacing laughter of the Mane-iac. She continued to cackle over the little progress I’ve did, and it’s not by a long shot.
“Whoo hoo! Way to go Batmare, you rock, Mane-iac doesn’t stand a chance!” the mare cheered.
As the door leading out of the Decontamination room opened, I spotted more of those irksome bigmouths chattering like they had a severe case of the shivers. I destroyed and galloped towards the Transfer Loop.
The Transfer Loop is a maze-like segment of the Intensive Treatment building, leading to either the lobby or the holding cells. Several pathways leading to different areas in the facility laid out a disorienting pathway unless you memorized the entire maze of this inmate transfer. As I thought, I spotted more deceased faculty members lying on the ground. Some faculty has buckets on their heads with crudely painted smiles on the buckets, another horrible joke.
Alongside, sickly green painted decorated the hallways with ‘ha ha!’ written everywhere and smiles on portraits of Warden Sharp. What is vaguely strange is that on the floor, green arrows are drawn on it, most likely to be a way to the Mane-iac. I know there is a trap at the end of the maze but I need to stop this madness before it gets out of hoof. The intercom chimed in but it’s not the familiar mare voice but an insane one:
“What are you waiting for, Bats? I’m so close, you could almost taste me.” I galloped down the hallway filled with dead corpses towards the clown. While I am running down the loop, I spotted two Blackgate inmates, a griffon and changeling, charged at me, trying to surprise me.
I countered the griffon by lifting him up and throwing him over my shoulder and roundhouse kicked the changeling to the ground. I landed on the griffon to perform a Ground Takedown and I grabbed the changeling’s legs and twisted them, breaking them and listening to the agonizing scream of the vile lowlife. Not even a challenge.
I continue to run down the hallway to the end to the door with the Mane-iac’s face painted over it with more arrows following the pathway to my destination. I walked up to the painted door and the door opened automatically as I am about to encounter the Mane-iac once again.
The door opened leading to the end of the Transfer Loop and to the Extreme Isolation room, where the most dangerous inmates get put in singular cells hanging from the rails on the ceiling. At the end, I spotted a cell above a precarious drop with fog blanketed it, giving it an ominous appearance. As I expected, more dead staff members but I spotted two control panels booths with electrical barriers and luckily, two unconscious security guards are trapped in, safe for now. As I looked above the rounded cuboid cell hanging from the automatic railing, I spotted the disgusting, despised pony that caused all this mayhem. She looks down at me with the mocking smile, waiting for me. I need to stop her now.
“What took you so long?” Mane-iac asked with walking on the top of the cell. I gave her no response as I grabbed my batarang and threw it at her. She chuckled and gasped in a mocking manner as the batarang is flying towards her. As expected, she ducked from the flying projectile, as it was smashed on the chain holding the cell. She laughed as the batarang missed its target.
“There’s no escape, Mane-iac. I will stop you,” I said angrily.
“Oh, I’m counting on it, just not yet!” she replied. She stomped on top of the iron solitary cell and the heavy door landed on the railing with a loud thud. What I didn’t expect is a pony inside but this pony is beyond help.
The Blackgate inmate is gigantic in size, rivaling Iron Will’s height. The front hooves are completely irregular in size as the left is smaller with mumps than the right. The hind legs are raised up close to the flank than usual. The back has the spinal cord exposing, an appalling sight to the queasy. The face is distorted and beyond recognition. Small horns that were part of his skull pokes out, giving it a frightening feature. The teeth poked out like fangs but they are extremely yellow and dull. The eyes are no longer the eyes of the former prisoner but they glow a sickly green like the Mane-iac and they looked at me like I’m the prey. The monstrous beast lost all of its former mentality of the prisoner that it used to be and growled angrily as it landed in front of me, the ground rumbling but I firmly stood my ground to fight this disfigured beast.
“Oh, he’s a big one,” Mane-iac teased as the beast growled furiously as drool dripped from its filthy mouth. This prisoner appears to be infected by a poisonous strand and I am going to find out later. The beast roared loudly and begins to charge at me. I threw my batarang reflexively and the beast held its face with its hoof as it charged blindly at me. Something is very off about this beast but that’ll be my advantage if I won’t get ripped apart. I jumped out of the charging monster and it crashed into the wall. As soon as it got off the wall, the fiend continues to hold its face and used its other hoof to throw punches in the air. I kept my distance as it continues to hit the air. Mane-iac laughed at the site.
After a few seconds of the animal throwing air punches, it recovered and roared angrily. I looked at the beast as it stomped to the dead security guard and picked it up. It’s going to throw him. I looked as the dead guard is helplessly being held by the vengeful thing as it chucks him like a ragdoll. I jumped out of the way as the guard has been thrown as such dangerous speed and gave a sickening crunch of his bones as he collided with the wall on the other side of the room.
The beast roared again as it charged at me and I threw my batarang, blinding it and jumping out of the way. The beast crashed into the wall and begins to throw punches in the air. I galloped to the creature and begin punching and kicking it as it continues to hurt and anger the creature more. After the last kick, the beats growled enormously and my punches have no effect anymore. The beast threw its hooves in the air and begins to smash the ground with its hoof, performing a Ground Pound. I jumped out of the way of the radius but what happens next is what I didn’t expect.
The creature begins to clutch its chest and moves awkwardly and howling in pain. The chest rose up and down at an alarming rate. Its furious roars are now turning into agonizing howling. It continues to howl painfully as I hear the big heart of the poor creature beats loudly and irregularly. The beast twitched violently and I heard a gushing of the heart, literally being smashed to pieces by the poison that was coursing in its veins. The green eyes dulled out and exploded, exposing the sockets of the skull. The creature dropped dead on its back and the Mane-iac looks a little bit surprised.
“Well, that was unexpected, wasn’t it? Oh, well, note to self, need stronger test subjects,” Mane-iac said to herself as the creature dropped dead like a tombstone.
“Seeing as how I’m feeling generous, I’m giving this one for free,” she said and she walked to the edge of the iron cell, stood on her hind legs and stretched out her front hooves. She is offering me one of the many chances to end this brutal war between us. I know what she is doing and I hate it when she does that.
“Knock me off, I dare you. End it, pull the plug, and stop me once and for all!” she shouted angrily as she waited her death over the deadly drop to the seemingly bottomless pit of the room.
I pulled out my batarang and was ready to throw it at her, boomerang it back to her head and knock her off. I wanted to end this after so many years in my career but I remember what will happen if I do that: I will never stop killing after my first kill. When that feeling, that dark emotion overcomes you, it will be impossible to get out of the dark pit. Then I remember my promise to my parents: I will save as many lives as I can possibly can, even the ones who doesn’t deserve it, especially the likes of her. So, like the previous attempts to end the war, I pulled down my batarang, sighing angrily. Like the other attempts, Mane-iac laughed madly as she walked away from the edge. This made me more livid than ever.
"Oh, you’re getting too predictable, Bats! Well, I love to stay to chat but I got a party to form. We got guests from all over Arkham, you’ll see.” She laughed as the iron solitary begins to move alongside with the automatic railing in a backwards motion, opening the gigantic iron doors with Patient Isolation on it. She faded in the darkness of the other cells as the door closed loudly. I need to follow her and end this, without any more casualties.
I looked at one of the booths and spotted the guard waking up from his unconscious state. He rubbed his head to regain clarity in his brain. He looked at my direction and called out.
“Quick, get in before more of them come!” He put in the control panel’s passcode, canceling the barrier, I walked in and he closed the barrier, activating it again.
“They came out of nowhere; I dragged Jerry in here, powered up the gate. Must’ve passed out,” he said groggily.
“Mane-iac went through that door! What’s on the other side?” I asked hastily.
“We call it Extreme Isolation, only way in is via the transport system,” he replied.
“Open it!” I ordered.
“Not a problem, I just need to call in another cell,” he said. He walked to the computer to bring in another cell so I can follow Mane-iac to end this.
“Okay. Something’s wrong here, the main security loop is locked,” he said worryingly as he toggled with the computer to call another cell. I know better and I know why it is locked. I looked at one of the monitors and the pony speaking to us is that despicable clown.
“Having a little trouble up there?” Mane-iac asked.
“Mane-iac.”
“Were you expecting maybe Two-Face?” she teased.
“There’s no escape, Mane-iac,” I said lividly.
“Silly Bats, I don’t want to escape! I’m having way too much fun, I have you here to keep a smile to my face!” she said excitedly.
“Not for long,” I said.
“Really? We’ll see, ta ta! Oh, and I forgot to say, just in case you are planning on following me, I’ve arranged a little insurance. Shining Armor is on his way to Bon-Bon as we speak,” she said.
Mane-iac pulled the camera to another monitor showing Armor and Boles in the booth as I left them. What I didn’t expect is that while Shining is having his back turned, Boles brought down his electrical baton and struck him on the back, knocking him out. I snarled slightly, he is one of Mane-iac’s inside ponies, one of many! He knocked out my brother!
“Officer Boles,” I said angrily.
Mane-iac cackled loudly as she is watching the incident. She looked up at me. “If I see you try to follow me, he dies. Bon-Bon is looking forward to it; maybe I film it and post it on the Internet!” She chuckles as she switched off the monitor. Now I have a mandatory mission: rescue my brother from the clutches of these two demented clowns. I walked out of the booth and am about to head down to the Transfer Loop the Holding Cells.
“The transport system is down. Best thing I could do is open the door you came in, sorry,” the guard said ruefully. I thought to myself about the incident.
“I should go back to the Holding Cells. Boles never was too smart, he’ll left a trail.” I ran out of Extreme Isolation and back in the Transfer Loop. I heard my communicator came on.
“Mane-iac escaped, she sealed herself off. She’s got your father,” I replied.
“Oh, Dad,” Oracle exclaimed sadly.
“Don’t worry, I’m getting him back,” I said.
“Okay, I know, but-,” Oracle said worryingly.
“Oracle, I’m getting him back. Mane-iac would not win, I won’t let her. I’m starting to where he was taken: a guard named Frank Boles attacked him, if I find Frank, I’ll find your father,” I interrupted firmly.
“Twilight, hurry, please,” Oracle pleaded and switched off. I ran through the corridor to the Transfer Loop. As I ran through the corridor, the monitors mounted on the walls switched on to her.
“Ooh, I bet what you are wondering. Was it a clue that the great detective missed?” she asked. She laughed tiresomely while I continue to run towards to the Holding Cells to set up a crime scene.
“Oh, Frankie and I go way back, I got him out of a spot, uh, bother a few years back. So, if I need some security codes or an old pony being clubbed to the ground, I know just the pony to ask.”
While I am close at the end, I spotted two Blackgate inmates picking on a dead guard they killed, one holding a metal pipe. They mocked and threw rants at the deceased guard, with their backs turned.
“This guard only gave him a hard time,” one of them said.
“Yeah, want to place me in a cell? Oh, that’s right, you can’t!” I ran to one and kicked him in the back while the earth pony panicked.
“It’s the Bat!” he shouted. I kicked him in the head and performed Ground Takedowns on both of them and move on. I arrived at the Holding Cells where Shining Armor was abducted. I walked in and used my Detective Vision to see the room. I turned on my communicator:
“Oracle, I’m at the Holding Cells. I’m setting up a crime scene.”
“So, what’s the plan? Isolate something unique to Boles?” she asked.
“Exactly,” I said as I switched off. I put Detective Mode on Evidence Scanner to isolate any item or substance related to Boles so I could pick up a trail. My vision is no longer the usual dark blue hue and coloration of shading of people, objects, and the environment. I looked around the room searching for anything related until I spotted a flask that was rudely dropped on the ground with a type of whiskey spilling from the opening.
“Boles dropped his flask, sloppy. Let’s see what the forensic scanner picks up,” I said to myself. I scanned the dropped bourbon and after completion, the vision switched to different colors of forensic trails from yellow, blue, purple, green, orange then it finished to purple.
“I could follow the traces of Frank’s bourbon in the atmosphere.”
“Oracle, I got a trail,” I said as I turned on my communicator.
“That’s great, you follow it. I’m grabbing every reference to Arkham I can find, may be useful later,” she added and switched off. In my purple Detective Vision, I spotted a small puff cloud made out of Frank’s bourbon in the atmosphere while he was exhaling. I followed the puffs, leaving the Holding Cells and back to the Transfer Loop. The trail continues to the opposite end of the Loop and it leads back to the Secure Transit, where we formerly tried to take Mane-iac to the Holding Cells.
At the Secure Transit, I spotted a guard fiddling with the elevator’s panel to turn it on. I walked besides him. He is angrily mumbling as it continues to respond to any codes he types in.
“Stupid, unreliable-how did Mane-iac get-,”
“Be quiet,” I ordered, holding my hoof at him.
“What’s going on?” he asked. I ignored his question and continued to scan the area with Detective Vision still active. The traces of the alcohol are leading up the elevator shaft. Next thing, a pony landed on the emergency exit shaft of the elevator. It is the mare that freed the Mane-iac and the one of the very few ponies I show pity: Sweetie Drops aka Bon-Bon.
“Ah ah ah, B-mare. Mrs. M doesn’t want you to follow us just yet,” she said as she slid off a pole support seductively. She pulled out a remote, appearing to be a detonator and pressed the button. The guard and I saw dynamite strapped to the elevator crosshead and the dynamite beeped ominously. The crosshead exploded, no longer control the support of the elevator’s slings and suspensions, making the elevator at the upper level drop at hazardous speeds. Bon-Bon laughed excitedly as she hold on to the hoist cable of the emergency exit. The elevator begins to drop at terminal velocity!
“Get down!” I shouted and pulled the oblivious guard out of the way. We jumped clear form safety as the elevator crashed on the lower level violently. Sparks flew out from the crash and dust rose up from the site. The elevator is mangled beyond repair; it’ll take months to repair the elevator. The guard and I rose up from the dust. The destruction of the elevator puts a miniscule part of my suit is scratched up, exposing an extremely negligible part of my chest.
The guard groaned. “What the hell happened?” He rose up and walked to a nearby chair and sat to relax from the sudden fright. Soon, the crazed harlequin called from above.
“How’d you like that, B-mare? No way you’re following us now; you’re trapped down there until me and Mrs. M is ready, ha ha ha!”
I narrowed my eyes in aggravation as the elevator is no longer in use. I looked around the Transit to find another way to get to the upper level of the Treatment facility.
“Shining Armor was taken to the surface above the elevator. If I have to follow them, I need to this the old fashioned way,” I said to myself. I walked to the guard, Henry Smith, who is continuing to calm down.
“I take it this is Mane-iac’s doing,” he said gruffly.
“Who else?” I asked nonchalantly.
“I told them, she’s a monster! They should fry her!” he exclaimed angrily.
“Calm down, I’ll stop her,” I said.
Before I progressed, I ran to a control box above me with the electrical barrier down. I galloped up to the room controlling the elevator’s shaft and saw a film reel that belongs to an old-fashioned movie projector. I collected the reel and played it with my magic and listen it. I read the cover and it said “Interview Tape of Sweetie Drops”, who was employed to Arkham before she met Mane-iac. So I listened:
“Sweetie Drops?” an elderly mare voice asked, most likely Dr. Whistler.
“Call me Bon-Bon, Everypony does,” a younger mare replied.
“I’m surprised that you wanted to work here at Arkham,” Whistler said.
“I always have a thing with extreme personalities: You can’t deny that there is an element of glamor to these super criminals,” Sweetie replied.
“I’ll warn you, right now: these are hardcore psychotics. Most will likely try to kill you than to speak with you,” Whistler warned.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine, doctor,” Sweetie said innocently.
“They’ll eat you for breakfast. I mean it, one or two of them will enjoy doing it, be careful,” Whistler added sternly. The tape ends, I know I need to find more of these reels to listen more of these Arkham inmates and their secrets of Arkham. I left the room and begin to progress to follow my brother who was taken by those animals.
I spotted a railing on my upper left and grappled up there. I walked on the pillar and spotted a ledge that leads to a ventilation shaft, I could shimmy on the ledge. I ran across the platform and jumped to the edge, activating a mechanism that could release five digits to grab hold. I shimmy on the ledge and climbed to a small opening of the ledge that leads to the shaft. I begin to crouch and crawl through the ventilation and before I know it, the murderous clown begins to talk again.
“Hey, Bats, I know you could hear me. I got a little something for you to listen to. Bon-Bon and Frank are nearly out of the building with the old pony. How did they get to make it past those guards? Let’s have a listen, shall we?” she called out and asked. I crawled to the end of the shaft and pushed the grate off until I exit out of the narrow shaft. I spotted another platform and grappled up to listen to whatever Mane-iac mentions about how did those two partners in crime get past those Arkham guards who were oblivious to the fact that Boles is one of Mane-iac’s inside ponies. I ran to another platform and climbed up to progress further.
“Hey, Frank, where have you been?” a guard asked.
“Mane-iac’s got more henchmen along the way. They’re coming to the front of the asylum! Can’t let them get in, quick get over there! Dammit, come on, everypony, cover the main entrance!” Frank ordered abruptly, gaining their trust until he turns his back on them. I begin to climb up platform by platform, gaining altitude to the upper level of the Transit.
“How many are there, Frank? Wait a second; how the hell did you know-?”The guard asked suspiciously after listening to Frank’s orders about the exact amount of more ponies and creatures coming to the asylum. Before he evens finished answering his question, a violent static noise filled the entire Transit area and gunfire was being heard. I could think of the many ways I could make Frank pay for killing those innocent guards.
“Boles, Frank, what are you doing? Put that down!” another guard shouted before the noise filled the intercom, signifying more gunfire.
“Frank, what the hell?” More gunfire rang the intercom until it becomes clear.
“It’s clear, Bon-Bon, get your ass in here!” Frank ordered to the stupidly gullible clown. I continue to crawl in tight spaces and climbing to more platforms to get further to the upper level to follow the bourbon in the atmosphere.
“You’re some piece of work, Frankie. A mare could fall for somepony like you, ahh,” Bon-Bon said flirtatiously.
“Stop flirting with the hired help, Bon-Bon!” Mane-iac barked.
“Don’t worry, sweetie, you know I only have eyes for you,” Bon-Bon replied dreamily. I felt sickened to the fact that somepony as her could fall for a murderous, hateful, and evil clown like Mane-iac who protected her true nature over a shield of false love and lies.
“Did you hear that, Bats? It sounds like Frankie is doing just fine. Another valuable member of the organization,” Mane-iac said before switching off from the intercom. I shimmy on another ledge to a platform adjacent to the one I was on. I grappled up to the pillar and begin to crawl in a shaft. No long, the intercom chimed again, I pray to Celestia that it is not the clown again but for some strange relief, it is the female voice, warning me of another threat emitting.
“Warning, multiple security breaches on level B4.” When I finally reach an area where I could easily gallop, I spotted an irregular object in front of me before reaching the last platform to gain access to the upper floor.
The object is a trapezoidal shape, made of stone. What’s eerie about it is that the relic has a beetle on it, symbolizing one of the former founders of Arkham Asylum’s logos. Around the beetle in a circle are ancient inscriptions in some dead language. The language is way older, probably more than the ancient Sumerians and Babylonians. It’s a terrific thing I spent five years on multi-linguistics in all 64 languages including hieroglyphics, cuneiform, and other dead languages of cryptology. I could use the Environment Analysis tool of my Detective Vision to decipher the language to know what it is saying. Is it a story by one of the founders, a warning, or a message? I activate my Analysis and scan the writing to find out.
The Analysis begins to decipher the inscriptions. Peculiar and unnatural ethereal whisperings in the language are being deciphered and translated into English. The whispering continues to become more clearer and clearer until the whispering begins to say these two words until it becomes clear to listen to: “Amadeus Arkham, Amadeus Arkham, Amadeus Arkham, Amadeus Arkham”. Not long, I begin to listen to the scribe. An elderly stallion voice is being heard throughout the intercom and my communicator:
“I am the spirit of Amadeus Arkham. Through my actions, I begin to save this cursed city, and my curse is forever remained in the shadows. My story is carved into the very soul of Arkham and it would only be revealed to those dedicated enough to discover it.”
Amadeus Jeremiah Arkham was the founder of the Arkham Asylum of the Criminally Insane Institute. He used to help patients to become sane to gain further studying to the limitations to the pony mind. Until, when his family was killed by an insane killer, he became an executioner to the inmates he founds disgusting, eventually, he grew ill himself and became a prisoner in his own facility he built. I know there are several of these cryptic symbols scattered around the island and inside more facilities. I need than want to know more of this story of one of the founders of Arkham to uncover its secrets. Everypony and everything has a dark secret they don’t want the public or the dedicated to know.
I gallop out of the tunnel and saw the upper floor. I spotted five Blackgate inmates surrounding a dead security guard. I could handle these thugs.
“The guard didn’t put up much of a fight,” one of the thugs said.
“Mane-iac was right, this is easy,” another one said. Two Earth ponies, one Unicorn, and two Griffons. One leaning on the wall, two kicking the deceased pony, one levitating a metal pipe and one with his talons crossed.
“Bring it on!”
“They don’t stand a-, she’s here!” a thug shouted when he spotted me climbing up. They turned their heads and began to ready themselves for a world of pain.
I threw a batarang at one and begin punching him, with another thug trying to hit my blind spot. I countered it by throwing off his punch, kicking him in the crotch, and punched him square in the chest, knocking him down. An Earth pony tries to kick me but I simply grabbed his leg and threw him over.
I punched two more and kicked one griffon that is trying to pull a metal piece from the wall to use as a weapon. They can do anything to win, even use any environmental weapons they could find to fight me. I know better. I performed a Ground Takedown on the knocked down thug and I grabbed the Unicorn’s leg, spun on the floor to knock him down and stood up, still holding his leg. I twisted his leg with his painful screams. Two down, three to go.
I punched one thug with an overhead and countered another one by throwing him off. I kicked the third to the ground and punched one thug trying to get up. I picked up the Earth pony and threw him across the room. I performed a Ground Takedown on the second thug I took down and countered a griffon by grabbing his arm, kneeing him in the stomach, and double punched him on the chest. I performed a Ground Takedown on him and did a roundhouse on the last thug, ending this effortless fight.
“Batmare, how’s it going? Any sign of Dad?” Oracle asked after being inactive.
“Not yet, but I’m getting close. Bon-Bon tried to slow me down, dropped an elevator on me,” I replied.
“Did it work?” she asked.
“Heh, of course not. I’ll get back to you when I reached the end of the trail,” I smirked. I turned off my communicator and reached for the door to enter the Cell Block Transfer but the red light is on, meaning it’s locked. I spotted a grate and begin to rip it from the wall and begin to crawl to reach one that’ll be at the Cell Block Transfer.
Before I opened the grate at the Transfer, I heard a shotgun being fired. I saw two guards; one of them got one and one backing up, sounding totally defenseless and at the verge of crying. I stopped to listen who is doing this atrocity.
“Please, I got a colt, you don’t ha-,” his pleads was shot down, figuratively and literally. I listen to who will reply to his pleas and was surprised that it was a Blackgate inmate.
“You’re right, I don’t have to. I just want to,” the thug replied then laughed maliciously after killing the defenseless guards. I quietly opened the grate and slid it without any noise and stood up.
“Alright, boss said no pony gets past! Anything moves, shoot it!” he ordered to his fellow comrades also armed with shotguns and machine guns.
“You got it, anypony coming this way is dead!” another one replied back eagerly.
I turned on my Detective Vision and spot four inmates holding or levitating guns. I turned on my communicator to inform Oracle.
“Oracle, Mane-iac’s crew had taken control of the Cell Block Transfer corridor.”
“That’s not good. I’ve patched in into a guard radio and it sounds like that Mane-iac’s crew got their hooves on weapons,” Oracle informed.
“I know, I’ll calibrate the cowl’s vision mode to isolate armed henchponies,” I added. I switched off my communicator and calibrated the cowl’s Detective Mode and made armed threats red instead of the unarmed blue. I spotted gargoyle vantage points above me.
“The direct approach is suicide. I need to be smart, find a different way past them.”
I switched between the vantage points until I came to one that is directly above the armed inmates, completely unaware of my presence. I dropped down without making any noise and crawled creepily to one Unicorn levitating a shotgun. I had to take them out without getting in their peripheral vision.
I snuck behind him and performed a Silent Takedown, covering his muzzle and wrapping my arm around his throat, muffling his screams. He immediately dropped his gun, not gaining any attention to the other two armed lowlifes. He kicks his hind legs on the ground, trying to break free but only hardens and tightens my grip. He stopped protesting, trying to let go from my iron grip but fell flat to the floor, unconscious.
I snuck behind a changeling and punched his back, dropping his gun. I wrapped my two front legs around his head and neck, muffling him. He tried to claw his way by flailing his arms and trying to pry from my grip but no help. I dropped him until his breathing becomes shallow and his form is no longer moving except his chest.
I snuck to the one who shot those two guards. I kicked the Pegasus thug in the back of his hind legs and grabbed his head and neck with my legs. He dropped his gun and held his front leg in the air, trying to get help until his muffled screams are no longer hearable. I dropped him and gallop quietly to the last one on the control booth on the other side of the corridor.
The last thug is an Earth pony, who has his back turn, talking to the irksome clown in charge of this insanity. I snuck in behind him without any noise, listening to the conversation:
“No problem, boss. The boys are finishing off. Arkham chumps never stood a chance.”
“Oh, good! Our friendly neighborhood rodent is on her way. You need to set a trap; she must not leave this building. Do you understand me?” Mane-iac said and ordered.
“Y-yes, boss. The Bat is good as dead,” the thug replied nervously.
“I hope you can keep your promises, boy. I hate that I have to go to punish your family just to teach you a lesson. Now I could promise you, they won’t be laughing!” Mane-iac warned and laughed at the bad joke.
“But Mane-iac!” the thug pleaded, not wanting his family to be killed by this maniac.
Mane-iac stuttered mockingly to his comment. “Just do it and have fun. I know I will.” She laughed afterwards.
I crouched to the unsuspecting thug, punched him in the back and wrapped my hooves around his head and neck, with his hooves flailing in the air, desperately wanting to grab some air, but he fell to a deep sleep.
“Oh, look who it is! Are your pointy ears burning? I suppose I better warn my boys that you’re on the way, but I won’t! It’ll be a nice surprise!” Mane-iac laughed at the end. She is sitting at some makeshift throne and the screen has Mane-iac TV crudely written in some font I don’t even know. I walked to the grate that’ll lead me to the Lobby. I ripped the grate open and crawl in the ventilation shaft. Not long after leaving the booth, Mane-iac is back on the intercom.
“Mane-iac here with a quick update, of what’s due in the asylum: Some idiot is running around in the asylum, dressed like a bat! I know, crazy! Stop her, before she gets somepony hurt! Really, it’s for her own good.” Mane-iac laughed manically afterwards.
After hearing of the update for her crew that I’m coming, I peered through the grate at the end of the shaft, a Unicorn levitating a gun from the now deceased Arkham guard. The moment his back is turn to patrol the Lobby, I opened the grate quietly and slid it to the side. I crept to the unsuspecting pony and performed a Silent Takedown, making his hooves flail helplessly until he renders to a deep sleep.
I spotted another pony watching from the bridge leading to the control room. I crept up the walkway towards him without any noise. I punched his back and rendered him unconscious silently. After dropping him, I grappled to a vantage point and notice one more thug is accounted for. After scanning the room to check for more, I glided in the air and kick the thug that is watching the lift that is still on the lower level of the entrance of the Intensive Treatment. I performed a Ground Takedown but I kept my vigilance. This is too easy to take out three armed thugs. My thoughts were answered:
“Do you really think that it’s going to be that easy, Bats? I’ve sent a few more of my boys your way. Let’s see how you can deal with these odds,” Mane-iac asked and called out. She laughed after saying that she sent more henchponies along the way. I spotted three more coming from the entrance. Two griffons and one Unicorn.
“Mane-iac wants her found, spread out!” the Unicorn ordered.
“She could be anywhere!” one protested.
“Then keep your eyes open, now move!” the leader barked back and the three armed criminals, now vigilant than the last three, scouting the area.
I glided to one of the bridges leading to the control room and saw a griffon climbing up and running, not knowing I am hiding on the corner. I threw my batarang at him, knocking him down. I got up from my hiding position and performed a Ground Takedown. I looked around the area with my Detective Vision to spot the two henchponies, looking for one completely isolated. I glided to one watching from the stairs, scaring him.
Before he could even shout out my presence, I head-butted him, turned him around and grabbed his head and throat, knocking him out silently. I grappled to a vantage point and saw the last armed threat scouting the scanning tunnel. As soon as he is exiting from the tunnel, I glide kick him and performed a Ground Takedown, finishing this off.
“Ugh, they were just like family, how could you! I think I’m going to cry!” Mane-iac exclaimed and cried mockingly until it renders to a full laughter. See that, she never cares for anypony, not even her crew. She’ll laugh if they’re knocked out or dead, if they’re knocked out, she’ll kill them later. She hates disappointment from others.
I shook my head in annoyance and galloped to the control room. Inside, I spotted another Patient Interview film reel on a table besides the control panel that accesses the doors leading to the Cell Block Corridor, probably another for Sweetie Drops. I played it:
“Patient Interview Number 1,” Sweetie Drops announced.
“So, I’m your first, am I, toots? You know what they say, ‘You’ll never forget your first time’. I’ll try to make it, memorable for you,” the gruff female voice replied. Obviously, this is Sweetie Drops first time interviewing with Mane-iac.
“Oh, you already have. So tell me, why you do the things you do?” Sweetie replied and asked innocently.
“Why do you think I do it?” Mane-iac asked.
“Fame, notoriety, a desire to stand out from the crowd, a wicked sense of humor,” Sweetie replied.
“Oh, you’re good! How did you figure me out, doc? I had doctors poking at me about for years and no pony was astute, and if you don’t mind me saying, beautiful as you,” Mane-iac lied in a flirtatious manner, sickening me more.
“Really? Ah, you’re just playing with me,” Sweetie asked hopefully but reassured herself.
“Well, you never know, will you? Unless…” Mane-iac added.
“Unless what? Tell me!” Sweetie asked curiously. The reel ended, ending that gullible conversation.
I reached to the entrance and saw lockers and pillars being lit on fire, several henchponies dead. They appeared to be shot by either the defending Arkham guards or one of Mane-iac’s top henchponies. Alongside, the guards that killed the Blackgate inmates are lying with them in a pool of crimson blood. Obviously, I spotted several blabbermouths chattering about, meaning that Mane-iac and Bon-Bon were here but what I saw shocked me even more.
On the gurney, I spotted a pony with his mouth agape, fear in his eyes. Green paint crudely drawn into a smile. A sign that has a transparent pony skeleton has these words written: DEAD END. He is tied on the gurney that it was for Mane-iac hours ago. The pony is the one that betrayed the Arkham guard and killed them, trying to gain more ill-gotten money from Mane-iac. The alcohol trail ends here at the entrance. The dead pony’s name? Officer Frank Boles.
“Mane-iac must've know that I'm following the trail. Officer Bole’s trail stops here.”
The ending of the trail did not lead me to my brother. I have to leave the Intensive Treatment facility to gain access. No before long, my communicator is brought up. I expect it to be Oracle asking me or informing me but static noise filled my cowl, adjusting to clarity. Then, I heard a voice that is familiar, one of my dangerous enemies I had faced.
“Can you hear me, Batmare? I know you can,” the voice asked. It is still warbled but soon, it became clear. I try to trace this broadcast but it is encrypted with a 512-bit cipher. If I going have to track down his location, I need to play his irksome games of finding trophies, solving riddles, collect more Interview Tapes, destroy the teeth, and solve more Chronicles of Arkham. The pony is definitely the smartest in my Rogue Gallery.
She is an azure Unicorn with snow white mane and tail with a light periwinkle pattern in it. She is the second closest to my intellect, her only desire is to prove that she is the smartest one and kill me in one of her traps, trying to reduce me to an unintelligent buffoon. Her conditions are fanatic narcissism, egomania, and obsessive compulsion for attention. She is Trixie Lulamoon aka the Great and Powerful Trixie, Enigma, and the Riddler.
“Yes, it is I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, and more importantly, your intellectual superior! My genius has allowed me to easily hack in into your primitive communications. My goal is simple: you complete a series of…amusingly taxing challenges and well…you see. Ready for your first one? Good, but be careful: Don’t CUT yourself on this SHARPLY observed portrait.”
I had no choice but every now then, she will be bragging about her intelligence and that I will never solve all of her riddles, but I’ll show her. I looked at a portrait of Quincy Sharp and used my Environment Analysis to solve the riddle.
“So you did it, well done! I would’ve expect a colt to work that one rather than the World’s Greatest Detective!” Riddler bragged.
I checked my computer in my cowl to check anymore riddles. Unfortunately, I was right. Trixie had time to place 243 riddles across Arkham Island and the facilities. Each riddle is placed in a grid of the number of the chattering teeth, the Chronicles of Arkham, Riddler Trophies, riddles, and if any luck, maps that’ll show me the exact location of every riddle. They have been organized for all facilities and regions of Arkham Island. I have to solve them all, during and after my goal to apprehend Mane-iac. Some locations require more Sparkle Tech from the Batcave but I’ll worry about that later. If I have a sliver amount of time, I could gather any riddles I can access every now and then. Soon, I heard her arrogant voice.
“I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, have placed a dazzling selection of challenges and puzzles all over Arkham. Are you up to the challenge, can you collect my trophies, are you ready to give up? Your puny mind is no match for my own.”
After hearing the message, I spotted that the door on the lower level is opening. I ready myself for more of Mane-iac’s henchponies but it is only a survivor of the onslaught. It was William North, who had a machine gun in his hooves. He opened it cautiously to check for any Blackgate inmates but only spotted me at the entrance.
“Hey, Batmare!” he called out. Before I approach him, I grapple to the gargoyle vantage point and glide inside the control room. I figure there’s a riddle in here, so I switched to Detective Mode, which had been back to its normal blue hue instead of the whiskey trail purple hue since I found…that.
I spotted a green dot on the far end of the Lobby and a question mark that is invisibly painted on the window. I know I need to align them into Trixie’s logo in a certain position of crouching to solve it. I know there’ll be more of them over Arkham but I guess I need to deal with it. So I crouch and move slightly inch by inch to align the dot underneath the question mark to solve it. I used my Environment Analysis and solved it, after that, I heard Trixie’s voice.
“Don’t get too full of yourself, Dark Knight. It only gets harder from here,” she said annoyingly. Trixie gets in a fit of temper tantrums and rage whenever I or somepony more intelligent than her outwits her, and she detests that. That is her major flaw, always claiming to be the pinnacle of the pony mind. I exit out of the room and head towards William North.
“It was a massacre. Boles came walking in, telling everypony to cover the front entrance. Said something about Mane-iac’s army coming through the main door; two of my ponies moved to the exit and Frank shot them dead. They never stood a chance,” he said horridly.
“Was Boles alone?” I asked.
“Thought he was but then I saw Bon-Bon. She was surrounded by Blackgate prisoners and they were just killing everypony in the room. I had no choice, I-I got in here, locked the door, I-I can see through the security feed, it looked like they had somepony with them. It looked like the Commissioner,” he continued on with a slightly shaken voice.
“Boles is dead, they carried on without him. Must’ve outlived his usefulness,” I said deadpanned.
“Good, he was scum,” he retorted vituperatively. After our conversation, he walked slowly to a dead comrade on the floor in the room. He knelt down and closed his eyes respectfully.
“I’ll look after Maria, I promise,” he said solemnly. I don’t want to imagine doing that to another family member, my brother and I had already lost two. It is our sole duty to protect the city from the criminal scum that is trying to claim more lives and ruin innocence like us nineteen years ago.
I need to leave the Intensive Treatment building, so I exit through the door leading to the Utility Corridor. Before moving on, I spotted one of the many Riddler trophies that it is placed all over Arkham. I noticed that to get it, a weak, cracked wall is blocking the way. I need one of my supplies to destroy but I’ll get it later.
Then, I heard a tune in the distance. I can hear it, it sounds like one of Manehattan’s news channels, the Jack Ryder Show. He is very narcissistic about his job, reason why I dislike him, but not too much, only his egotism I dislike. Speaking of Jack Ryder, a riddle appeared on my cowl: “You don’t know Jack about Manehattan. Tune in to find out.” I walked through the corridor until I spotted a locker room with mangled doors and ruined walls. On a creaky bench, I spotted the radio. The radio is small and in a rectangular cuboid shape and the channel it’s on is 134.5 FM: Manehattan Radio, Jack Ryder. It switched on to the news, so I listened:
“We apologized for this interruption of our regular broadcast. Jack Ryder is live from the Manehattan Bay Area with some breaking news!” a reporter announced before switching to the host, Jack Ryder.
“This is Jack Ryder with breaking news in the Manehattan Bay Area. We’re getting reports of an armed siege on Arkham Island. Two minutes ago, Mane-iac broadcasts all news channels with this chilling message:” Jack reported before switching to the message by the demented pony.
“Greetings, Manehattan. This is the voice of your new master! Oh, hang on, I skipped a bit. Ahem, Mane-iac here, I’m in control of Arkham Island and you could consider yourself out of bounds! If I see any law ponies, vigilantes, or do-gooders in tights coming this way, I’ll start detonating random bombs around the city. What’s it going to be: a kindergarten, a hospital, a billionaire’s mansion, oh, choices choices choices!”
“All access to the island has been restricted. Air spaces closed off and earlier reports suggest that Batmare herself is trapped on the island. We’ll be right here coming to you live on any developments. Back to the studio,” Jack finished and switched back to the main studio.
“Thanks, Jack. More into it as it happens,” the studio announced. I finished listening to the report and used my Environmental Analysis to solve the riddle.
“Thought that was easy, was it? We’ll see, we’ll see,” Trixie said arrogantly. I need to hurry before this will be out of control, so I left the Utility Corridor.
In a small space with numerous stacks of paper or files, I spotted a grate and pulled it. I crawled into the shaft and pushed the exit grate. I landed on solid ground that is leading outside. I felt relaxed that I am feeling solid ground after spending hours inside the facility. I spotted a ledge and grappled to the layer. I walked until I spotted the top of the Mansion of Arkham Island.
You know the feeling that after spending too long in a sheltered location, you need to walk outside to take in the freedom emotion and fresh air of the morning or the crisp, humid air of dusk and night? I felt those same emotions when I breathed in that air after reaching the cliff that hangs over the eastern side of Arkham. The Mansion, a cemetery, guard towers, shacks, and a botanical garden at my left. The crisp night air slapped my face when I stood over outside, feeling free again. Over the distance, I saw Manehattan and the height of the city, my family’s tower.
The bay glistened in the night sky, giving the water a silver blanket in the moonlight. I thanked Luna for this night, but I know there’s no time to bask in the glory of the night. I need to find Mane-iac and stop her before more ponies die or inmates released that weren’t. I took a moment’s time of enjoying the freedom from the Intensive Treatment and looked down below and spotted several armed guards patrolling East Arkham. I breathed in deeply and ready myself to check on the guards and proceeding to track down my brother.
I spread my cape and glided into the night air. The air danced underneath cape, granting me enormous space and weightlessness of my gliding. I landed on the ground gently searching for any more Riddler trophies in the silence of the night. Unfortunately, I heard the intercom chime:
“Hmm, Bon-Bon tells me that the Batmare’s car is still parked just outside of the Intensive Treatment building. Now, we can’t just have her up and leaves us, can we? Every thug, villain, murderer, and kindergarten teacher that isn’t carrying out Bon-Bon’s orders, should head down now and smash it to pieces!”
I nearly have forgotten of my Batmobile, I forgot it to put it in safe lock. I bet that is currently being trashed by Blackgate dirt bags that is ordered to do so. Quickly, I gathered a Riddler Trophy on the top platform of the Arkham Mansion and landed on the ground. I heard the alarm of my Batmobile going off, being trashed by those lowlifes. I called Oracle.
“Oracle, disable the Batmobile’s countermeasure system,” I ordered.
“I saw the alert, what’s wrong? Where are you?” she asked.
“I’m outside of the Arkham Mansion. Bon-Bon probably triggered the alarm, if she’s still got Armor with her, he could get hurt,” I replied.
“Okay, done! The Batmobile is parked outside of the Intensive Treatment building in Arkham North. I’ve sent you the schematics of the entire island and I’ve also marked key locations just like your car,” Oracle informed.
“Thanks, Oracle,” I said. I switched off and turned on the map of the entire island. The key automatically coordinates to the Batmobile’s location, in North Arkham. I need to get there to protect my Batmobile from further damage. I walked inside one of the cabins and picked up a Riddler Trophy.
“Of course you’ve found that one easy, you were supposed to,” Trixie said haughtily.
I galloped through the cemetery of Arkham. Decrepit gravestones marked the area, disturbed ground scattered the ground. I spotted a large tombstone with the coffin exposed, with the dirt rudely dug. The coffin is thankfully closed and the tombstone has a pony head on it. I know the pony: Amadeus Arkham, the founder of Arkham Asylum. I used the Environmental Analysis to solve the riddle: “The legacy of this island is well and truly buried”.
“You are performing just below my predicted expectations. At this rate, you’ll never beat me,” Trixie said proudly.
I galloped to the edge of the cliff hanging from the drop of the Equestrian River and spotted another Riddler trophy and picked it up.
“That was one of the easy ones,” Trixie added. I galloped to the Arkham Mansion and grappled to the top of a stone pillar that s watching over a secluded area that was for recess back then. I glided to the ground and spotted another cryptic stone with the dead language of the chronicles at the wall of the Mansion. I used my Analysis to decipher the stone and listened to it:
“My family’s blood ran through the heart of Manehattan. We were doctors, politicians, and teachers. We have been the organ, cleaning the arterial filth from the city. We have been the servants of the city and we gave it all we have. Yet it has still chosen to hurt us.”
I grappled to the top platform of the Mansion to the gate that barricades the edge from a drop to the waters. I spotted another trophy and picked it up.
“A challenge completed! Can you do more?” Trixie asked.
I spotted my family’s tower in the distance, standing tall and proud above the skyscrapers of the city. I scanned the tower at the distance to solve another riddle: “Gotham’s greatest family Towers over the city.”
“I’d have solved all the puzzles by now,” Trixie stated.
I ignored her comments and continue to grapple to the upper platform of the Mansion to search for more riddles. I grappled even further until I reached the very top of the Mansion to continue my search. As I suspected, I switched to Detective Mode and spotted a green dot at the edge of the cement walkway. I looked down and spotted a ginormous question mark painted over the rooves of the minimal structures of the Mansion. I moved into position to align the two marks to solve the invisible riddle: “My challenge appears to those with the correct position in life.”
“That could’ve been solved by a monkey, but good job nevertheless,” Trixie stated and thanks in a slightly annoyed voice. I spotted another trophy at the edge and picked it up:
“So the Great Detective has solved a mere 10 percent of my challenges, are you ready to give up yet?” Trixie mocked. Likewise, I ignored her mouth and glided to a platform several stories below me and spotted another trophy and picked it up.
“So what was it that gave it away: the big, green, glowing question mark?” Trixie asked haughtily. I grappled to another tower and glided from the platform. As the air soared in the air as I glided, I landed on the ground beside a guard watchtower. I grappled to the ledge and jumped over the railing on the walkway. I walked inside the small cubicle and spotted another Interview Tape. Likewise, I spotted another deceased guard sitting on the ground with his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Since Sweetie’s are inside the Intensive Treatment, I don’t know whose recording is this. So I listened.
“Patient Interview, subject has no identity, aliased as the Mane-iac. In the room is Warden Sharp and myself, Doctor Evergreen,” Evergreen announced. I figured that a tape recording will have an interview with the most dangerous criminal of all times.
“Ugh, is this another one of those boring psychic evaluation?” Mane-iac asked nonchalantly.
“No, it’s not. So, you’re the one as the Mane-iac,” Evergreen replied and said.
“In the flesh. So, Doc, do you want me to look at the inkblots again? The first one is a kitten I had when I was a child. The second one is…a dead elephant, the third is a-“
“Funny, now let’s skip the jokes,” Evergreen interrupted seriously.
“Skip the jokes? Hey, Sharpie, did she skip on my permanent record?” Mane-iac exclaimed ghastly.
“Be quiet, you clown!” Sharp barked.
“Every doctor that has ever interviewed with you claims a different type of psychosis. Everything from multiple personality disorders to, well…the list is endless,” Evergreen mentioned.
“I do my best,” Mane-iac complimented.
“Well, I don’t believe it. Anything can be cured given the correct treatment,” Evergreen replied.
“And…you think…you can cure me?” Mane-iac asked challengingly.
“Oh, I know I can,” Evergreen retorted. The tape ends. I walked to a gate leading to North Arkham, inside, an archway made of stones and bricks hover over. In front, an ambulance is parked, with its lights blinking incessantly. I checked Detective Mode and spotted two armed Blackgate inmates on the other side of the archway, with a gate blocking the way. Unfortunately, the ambulance barricade leaves a guard dead from the gunshot wounds. Another guard is looking over the deceased comrade.
“I can’t believe it, they killed Jackson,” the guard said quietly and shockingly.
“Stay with your colleague, I’m ending this, now,” I ordered.
I grappled to the top of the archway avoiding the armed threats’ attention. I leapt down to the ground behind them quietly. I snuck on one and muffled his muzzle and his throat, silencing his screams. He fell silently and I did the same to the other unsuspecting inmate. As the threats were taken care of, I walk through another mechanical door, automatically opening, leading me to North Arkham.
As I suspected, I spotted six Blackgate inmates vandalizing my vehicle with pipes and weapons. It’s extremely durable but it had several dents in the body and the windshield is cracked by the many blunt blows. I continue to walk towards them to end this nonessential vandalism.
Some are hitting the vehicle with metal pipes and some were kicking it and some standing, observing the gradual damage of my vehicle. Luckily for them, I disable the countermeasure of the Batmobile. If it’s still active, they will be fried by now. I need to take care of this little nuisance before I move on. I heard the chime:
“The entire island will soon be under my control! That’s right, mares and gentlecolts, mine! Mine mine mine mine mine! Just wait until you see my plans for the place, it’s going to be glorious,” Mane-iac announced, cackling afterwards.
I threw a batarang at one, knocking him down. The other five are alarmed as I walk smoothly towards them, with fear in their eyes. “She’s here!” one shouted. I spotted one Earth pony, two Unicorns, one Pegasus, one griffon and one changeling. This is going to be easy.
I landed a series of blows on an Earth pony’s chest and kicking him to the ground, I countered a changeling and punched him in the face, crotch, and face with my back turned. One Unicorn tried to swing a pipe at me but I grabbed it, kicking the Unicorn in the back, and finally smacking him with the pipe on the head, knocking him sideways.
I performed a back flip and kicked another one, sending him flying. With enough time, I grabbed a knocked down thug and threw him at another one, knocking those two out of submission. I grabbed a Pegasus wings, twisting him to the ground, and snapped it in half, with horrifying screams afterwards before passing out. I countered a blind punch and threw the thug overhead, and kicked the second one. I grabbed a leg of a griffon, bending him over with his leg in my grasp and kneed the elbow, breaking it.
I performed a Ground Takedown on the pinned Henchpony and finally grabbed the last thug and threw him to a nearby wall, knocking him out. Easy as pie; now that’s settled, I need to gather more supplies from my damaged Batmobile. I shook my head in sheer annoyance as my trustworthy vehicle is badly dent by the scum. That’s not important, what’s important is that I need to find my brother. Luckily, I have another item of important use in my trunk.
“There’s a supply of Explosive Gel in the trunk of the Batmobile, I may need it.”
I opened the trunk of the car and picked up a tool that could useful. The Explosive Gel is in a form of a small pistol, the shape and size of an electric drill, with a conic nozzle that can spew out explosives in gelatinous form. The gel is made of nitroglycerin and sulfur, one of the many elements that are reactive and dangerous when combine, especially when they are exposed to oxygen.
Luckily, I set up a control mechanism that can detonate the gel when it’s sprayed at any time without worrying the instant explosion when set up. I’ve put up a small protection screen on each gel and I can press the detonator on the head to release the screen, resulting in a controlled explosion, great for destroying weak walls and other debris for access across the island. These can also be great weapons when I’m in a room full of armed thugs, correction, when they are trapped in a room with me. Spraying this on walls nearby henchponies can knock them out, alarming them without them noticing my presence. I closed the trunk after examining the weapon. I inspected the area around the Batmobile, hoping for any evidence I could find.
“Bon-Bon trashed the Batmobile, looks like there was a scuffle. I need to search the area around the Batmobile; there could be clues to where she took Shining.” I spotted a peculiar item dropped, it is Shining’s smoking pipe, carved and made by Skyla, his and his wife, Cadence’s daughter. It has his initials carved in it.
“Wild Country, Shining Armor’s favorite tobacco; Armor’s smarter than he looks, left me a trail to follow.” After scanning the dropped pipe with the tobacco with the Evidence Scanner, the vision switched between colors until the vision has a light tannish-brown hue to it. I quickly contacted Oracle.
“Oracle, I found a pipe, it has your father’s initials carved on it,” I said.
“It was a birthday gift I gave him last year. There’s no way he’d leave it,” Oracle added sadly.
“Exactly, he’s left me a trail to follow, he’s alive, Skyla,” I replied and switched off to follow my brother. Soon, I heard the intercom chime but it chimed in a minor, irregular and distorted key instead of the usual chime.
“Hello, I am Warden Idiot, let me welcome you home. Here in Idiot Asylum, we have just one rule: you’ll never leave us,” Mane-iac announced, mocking Sharp’s voice then returning to her usual voice before switching off the intercom. Before following, I galloped to the end of the North Arkham, leading to the entrance of the Island. The iron gates remained standing with the statues ominously stood, still welcoming anypony who will dare enter the dreaded asylum. I spotted two see-saws, one steep and one flat. I noticed two hats with a little helicopter propeller on them, I used the evidence scanner to solve the riddle: “Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum SAW it, can you SEE it?” It solved one of the most minor criminals I’d faced, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, obviously based off Alice in Wonderland and Behind the Looking Glass.
I galloped to a rundown building opposite of the Intensive Treatment. The outer wall could crumble at any time, yet it remained standing. The inner workings are abandoned, dilapidated, and dusty. Numerous holes, rickety and rotten boards, unstable bricks and unorganized stacks of clay, bricks, and wood made up unsteady platforms on the lower and upper levels of the building.
I grappled to the most stable part of the ruined building and spotted another cryptic trapezoidal shape of the Arkham Chronicles and deciphered it. I listened to the third Chronicle:
“As Manehattan’s veins slowly filled with pain and suffering, the effects were felt everywhere. My father fell first, infected with some foul disease. My mother lived on, but only in her dream. I returned to the family home to care for her, as she remained in her bed for as long as her body continues to breath. Her tears kept me awake at night.”
I dropped down and found another Riddler trophy and picked it up. “Easy, a blind pony would’ve stumble on that one,” Trixie mocked. I reached to the entrance of the old building, with Detective Mode still active. As I expected, I spotted a green question mark and point underneath the archway entrance. The dot is on the old ceiling and the question mark is on the little area of the arch. I aligned them to solve a riddle: “Now you see it, now you don’t.”
“Easy, isn’t it? Well, we’ll see, we’ll see,” Trixie said. I galloped to a small building in front of the Intensive Treatment and spotted a fragment of the walkway that could be destroyed by a controlled explosion. I spotted a trophy underneath the surface, so I pulled out my Explosive Gel and sprayed a gel on the surface, in the symbol of my free will, the bat. During that, I heard the chime, back to its usual key.
“Paging Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine, Doctor Howard,” Mane-iac announced randomly. After spraying the gel, I stood back a little to get out of its range and pressed the detonator to destroy the fragment. I picked up the trophy, undisturbed by the pieces of the walkway.
“Oh, you found that one. Sorry, it wasn’t much of a challenge, I was running out of time,” Trixie apologized with the slightest sliver of worriment in her tone. I grappled to the top of another small building and saw the center of the roof can be destroyed. I sprayed the gel, stood back, and detonated the ceiling so it could be accessed. The entrance is guarded by a panel with the barrier active. I dropped inside the building.
It’s like your usual tool building. Glass windows, tiled walls and floors, tables, lockers, and a few paper stacks. I spotted a black wide paper on the table, blinking profusely. Green questions marks scattered the paper and a big one in the center. Having no choice, I sighed heavily for the oncoming insult, I picked up the map that’ll pinpoint all the riddles, across North Arkham.
“So, you have given in and taken my map. I hope it proves useful,” Trixie said arrogantly.
Likewise, I grappled to a watchtower and spotted a dead security guard. I looked in the small booth and spotted another Interview Tape, I listened:
“Tape Patient Interview 17, Mane-iac remains uncooperative. My earlier diagnosis remains true: I believe she enjoy her persona too much,” Dr. Evergreen introduced.
“What’s up, doc?” Mane-iac asked jokingly.
“Today, we should try something different,” Evergreen said.
“Oh ho, you make me blush, doc. I have a marefriend,” Mane-iac added innocently.
“Dr. Sweetie Drops, I know. I’ve seen the tapes, I saw what happened,” Evergreen replied in a slightly disgusted tone.
“What can I say, I’m a charmer,” Mane-iac replied.
“Anyway, we’re here to talk about your childhood,” Evergreen said.
“Oh, ever heard of romance, doc? I don’t give up the goods for free. You have to try harder,” Mane-iac said.
“What are you hiding?” Evergreen asked.
“Didn’t you hear me? You scratch my back doc, and…well, I won’t have you wrapped in plastic and left in a gutter,” Mane-iac threatened.
I walked to the door that’ll lead to West Arkham but the door is locked, probably for security measures. “The security door is locked. I’m going have to find another way around to get back on Armor’s trail.” Alongside the Cliffside, I spotted a weak structural wall that can be destroyed, good use for my Explosive Gel.
“The wall ahead is weak enough for my Explosive Gel to blow through and open up a new path.” I walked to the weak wall and sprayed the Explosive Gel on it. I stood back and detonate the wall, pieces scatter everywhere. I spotted a passageway within and walked inside. I spotted a door and opened it.
I opened the door that leads inside a pathway with aqueducts above me. The aqueducts are old and unused. They remained in stony lonesome without any water flowing through their grooves. Grassy shrubbery is scarce in this area and cracks and crumbled walls threatened the instability of this area. I galloped down a slope that leads to a door that opens West Arkham.
The door opens and I am on the right track of following Shining Armor’s tobacco on the ground. A stony archway is on my far left, over a shallow ravine. A wooden bridge is one of the leading pathways that lead to the Visiting Center on my right. The Center is a place the builders added for hardcore prisoners incarcerated in the Penitentiary, next door of the Visiting Center, to well, you know, visits their relatives.
On the far end of the segment, across from the Penitentiary and the Visiting Center is one of the biggest facilities of the Island: The Medical Facility. That is where they’ve took Shining Armor. Shrubbery had overgrown the ground and the walls of the Visiting Center. Bare brambles and lengthy vines cover the entrance of the Penitentiary. Above the Penitentiary is an upper floor that leads to a control room, barricaded. One watchtower stood over the Western side of Arkham Island. Also, there is a flight of stairs at the very bottom of the island that leads to the upper platform that enters anypony in the Penitentiary. In addition, an inactive lift is placed at the bottom of the Medical Facility. But there is a flight of stairs in case the lift is not working.
I spotted two henchponies at the Visiting Center, but they are not minding my presence. They appeared to be working on a constructive project on the entrance of the Visiting Center. An Earth pony and Unicorn are hammering the nails of painted wood and boards on the frontal wall of the Center.
To ensure that they will not notice me entering the short hall that leads to the Visiting Center’s door, I snuck up behind them, sprayed the Explosive Gel encapsulated in its shield and stood back. They still didn’t notice my presence at all, so I detonated the gel and the two work ponies flew in the air, disoriented by the blast. I wasted no time by knocking them out with two Ground Takedowns.
I walked through the hall. The floor is like a dried, shriveled, dirty, grimy, and shaggy red carpet. Ripped posters are the only appeasing decoration of the hallway. I opened the door. Inside the Center, in a tight, enclosed space, several booths like the ones in prison for calling relatives filled the hall. Wooden stools in both ends of the Plexiglas window are knocked down, and some windows are cracked, probably from the crazies. The booths are numbered on each side. 1 and 2 on the right and 3 and 4 on the left but the window in front of me perplexed me.
Mind you, it’s not another booth. It’s a museum-like showcase with cracks in it. There is a door on the right side, I do not know what it leads to, and probably the control center of the entire Penitentiary and Visiting Center, but the vision of the center is too obscured. But the object in the case angers me.
The object is a life-like mannequin of the pony that caused all this death and chaos. The one that needs to be stopped, at all costs: the Mane-iac. I wanted to punch through the glass case and end it right here but I had second thoughts, thinking it might be another booby trap. The mannequin is sitting on a stool, with its right hoof holding a small TV, sitting lackadaisically. As expected, the TV switched on the real Mane-iac.
“Come in, sit down, and take off your mask. So Bats, I was thinking, you really could use a friend in here. Somepony to talk to, share secrets with, should we start with the big one: Who is that behind the mask? Why do you feel the need to go out in the world and fight ponies like me? Do you really think you can win? We’ll see,” Mane-iac said sinisterly.
The TV switches off. I took note of that message and feeling that there could be more of these irksome yet suspicious messages from this mannequin. I know I can win and I know I can beat her. I turned around and exited out of the Visiting Center. Unknown to me, the mannequin laid its right arm on the chair.
Back outside, I ran to the watchtower to look for any survivors. I found another deceased body but luckily, I found another guard.
“Batmare, what’s going on? The crazies are moving towards the Medial Facility. What’s Mane-iac doing?” he asked anxiously.
“She’s trying to take control of the island piece by piece. It looks like Medical is her next target. Has anypony got out of the building?” I replied and asked.
“I saw a doctor trying to get out. He was torn apart, thrown in the water, he’d never stood a chance,” he replied somberly.
“You wait here, I’ll be back,” I ordered.
I spotted six Blackgate inmates, responsible for the poor doctor’s demise. I’m going to have to teach these idiotic punks a lesson. I glided off the watchtower and heard the distorted intercom chime.
“I just want everypony to know that I…I really appreciate all the hard work. You know, watching you guys is like a night-in, watching my favorite movie. What’s the name of the movie again? Oh yes: Attack of the Stupid, Bumbling Idiots who can’t stop an even bigger idiot running around dressed like a Bat! Now get to it, I’m getting bored,” Mane-iac announced and spouted.
I landed on the ground in front of the Medical Facility and galloped up a stair flight that leads to the entrance above ground. I counted six Blackgate convicts beating on a deceased doctor from the Facility. I threw my batarang at them to grab their attention.
“It’s the Bat!” one shouted. Two Earth ponies, two Unicorns, and two griffons, this is going to be easy.
One thug tried to kick me but I countered it by hitting the back of his leg and kicking his groin three times before he lands on the ground, clutching his groin in pain. I spotted one Unicorn swinging a pipe at me but I grabbed the pipe, jabbed it in his gut and slamming it across his head, sending him flying.
Yet again, another thug tries to swing one on me, but this time, I grabbed the metal pipe. I slammed it across his face and head, lifted him up above my head and slamming him on the ground, breaking his arm and his leg. Quickly, I threw a batarang at one thug, knocking him down momentarily. I stunned another one by using my Cape Stun, leaving him disoriented of his surroundings, giving me a chance to roundhouse kick him.
One thug tried to grab a hold of me in a full-Nelson but I elbowed him in the abdomen, head-butted his head, turned around and kneed him. I quickly grabbed his hand when he down, twisting it. He screamed in agony of his broken bones before passing out. I grabbed a thug’s fist, clubbed his head twice, following with a kick to his abdomen. As per chance, I head-butt a griffon’s face, turning him to his side on the ground, held his outstretched arm and broke it. I threw a quick-fire batarang at the knocked down thug, leaving him until last. I picked up the disoriented henchpony and threw him over the railing, knocking him out. I performed a Ground Takedown on the last thug and ended the effortless fight.
I threw three batarangs at three chattering teeth in front of the entrance. Before entering the Facility, I heard the intercom’s distorted chime.
“Good evening, fillies and gentlecolts, I keep getting troubling reports of a bat infestation in Mane-iac Asylum. Let me remind everypony, that it is their civic duty to exterminate this vermin. We can’t let it make its way back to the mainland,” Mane-iac announced.
I opened the door to enter the Medical Facility, where I can find my brother.
Inside the Medical Facility, I entered the Medical Foyer. The foyer is like your everyday foyer in any medical institution. A desk, chairs, and a small TV screen mounted on the pillars. What I expect is that the demented clown’s marefriend, Sweetie Drops, or Bon-Bon. (I go by Bon-Bon right now). She is calmly sitting on the chair, humming a tune while filing her hooves innocently. I noticed that an electrical barrier is the only protection between her and me. She stopped her tune when she noticed me.
“Hey, scram Bats! This is my ‘me’ time,” Bon-Bon barked.
“Where’s Shining?” I asked darkly.
“Wouldn’t you like to know-“Bon-Bon replied rudely before she was interrupted by another voice. I know it is Shining Armor, tied up in a chair, out of my view on the other side of the Foyer.
“I’m over here!” he shouted. Bon-Bon looked at his direction and threw a coffee mug at my brother.
“Shut up!” she barked.
“Ow, you crazy heifer!” he snarled angrily. As expected, the TV screen switched on to the clown.
“Bon-Bon!” she cried out. Bon-Bon made a startled shriek and turned to the TV.
“What’s she doing here? It’s too early!” Mane-iac demanded. Bon-Bon got up from her chair walked seductively to the TV, planting her hooves on the screen.
“I’m sorry, pudding. Don’t be angry with me,” Bon-Bon replied flirtatiously. She smooched the TV screen in a loving affection. It sickens me and Shining of watching that horrendous affection and honor to the most murderous, dangerous, and most insane criminal in all of Manehattan.
“Oh, you little minx, I can never stay mad at you,” Mane-iac said in the same manner before switching off. Bon-Bon turns to my direction.
“Sorry, B-mare, you have to find another way. Bye-bye now!” Bon-Bon cheered. She turned around and did several backflips, out of sight.
“No way past the security gates. Got to find another route.” Out of sheer frustration of another obstacle in my way, I exit out of the Medical Foyer and back outside.
I grappled to the roof of the Medical Facility and galloped across the rooftops until I spotted a weak wall on the other part of the Medical Facility. I ran over the gap and pulled out my Explosive Gel. I sprayed the weak structural wall, stood back, and pressed the detonator. As the rubble flew everywhere from the explosion, I shielded myself from the blast and saw that it is another route to the Facility. I landed in the small space and opened the door to head back inside, the long way to find my brother.
The Maintenance Access is a series of ventilation ducts and girders for janitorial and custodial uses. I climbed over the girder and spotted a duct I can crawl. I pulled the grate out of the way and crawl in. I heard the intercom, but it doesn’t have the tedious chime this time.
“I want all the doctors rounded up, search every inch of the Medical building! I mean it; search every room, every corner, and every trash can! If another doctor tries to run and get out of the building, then you don’t! I’ll just flood the room with Happy Gas and leave you to die! Hell, I might do that anyway, sounds fun,” Mane-iac announced menacingly.
As I crawled through ramps and forks, I found a dropout and landed in a small hallway. I crawled in a duct filled with cobwebs until I found the room that I was looking for: the Sanatorium.
The Sanatorium is one of the biggest areas of the Medical Facility. The Sanatorium helps out patients, mild or hardcore, for patient interviews, examination, and mental treatments. A walkway with two stairs and ladders connected the lower and upper platforms of the room. At the bottom, showers and an area with a gigantic cell in it. On the far left of the Sanatorium are the examination rooms for interviews. There are five in total and one the far right, a small office-like box has all medications for the Facility. Enormous ceiling fans hung from the ceiling. It looks like one of the largest sanatoriums in your everyday mental institute.
I peered through a fence of the duct and spotted five armed Blackgate scum holding innocent doctors hostage. One doctor is a mare, with scarlet mane and sierra eyes. She is trying to refuse their barked orders.
“Get off of me!” she shouted. The thug ordered threateningly when he shoved her in front of the elevator.
“Get down with the others, move it!” the thug barked. The mare flinched from the gun aiming at her head.
“Okay okay, I hear you, I’m going,” she replied in a quivering tone. She walked slowly with the gun at the back of her to the front of an elevator on the upper level of the Sanatorium. She curled into a tiny ball and cried softly amongst the other terrified doctors.
“Why does she need the doctor, I got to save them!”
I crawled away from the fencing and stood up from the ventilation duct. Examining the room thrice for any nearby threats, I grappled to the adjacent stone gargoyle and switched between them silently. The thugs heard absolutely nothing but only hear the soft sobbing of the Evergreen doctor.
I glided to the roof of the small office box and sprayed Explosive Gel on the weak roof. I used Detective Vision to spot a thug in the box, remaining absolutely statuesque for any slight movements. I grappled to another gargoyle looking overhead of a thug covering the entrance of the Sanatorium. Luckily, there is a small wall between a miniscule medical space and him. I lowered down the ground on the side of the wall and sprayed Explosive Gel on the wall and I quickly grappled up to the centermost gargoyle and counting the timing of two more thugs walking the walkway.
I going have to wait until the two thugs walk past each other and with each other’s backs turned towards one another. I waited like a nocturnal predator, waiting for the opportune time to sneak attack them. Finally, when the two walk past each other for a good distance, I dropped on the walkway behind the left thug without so much of a decibel. I crouched without attracting the attention of the center thug looking over the elevator and the hostages. I punched the thug’s back and muffled his cries until he is still. I did the same to the other one.
After finishing knocking the two out silently, I grappled to the centermost vantage point and noticed that the two thugs that are underneath the rigged roof and one beside the rigged wall are still there. I wasted no time pressing the detonator, resulting in two simultaneous explosions, the blast and rubble of the debris instantly knocked them out, and that alarmed the last thug.
“Spread out, find her!” he shouted and galloped to the explosion of the wall at the door. This gave me enough time to glide to the doctors’ hostile location when the thug is out of the elevator’s area. The scarlet-haired doctor noticed my shadow and looked up to me, mascara smeared from her tears.
“Batmare?” she asked quietly and shakenly. I nodded and grappled to a gargoyle.
“Stay quiet, it’s not safe yet,” I replied noiselessly. I noticed that the last thug is terrified that his four comrades have unknowingly been knocked out by a mystique presence. That is what I like: pure terror and fear of me, the utter abhorrence of my presence, the shudder of my name and the knocking of teeth and bones in sheer dread.
“Is anypony going to help me, hello, I need help here!” he shouted fearfully. He stood up from his unconscious comrade and began scouring the Sanatorium. Unlike the others, his levitation grip on his rifle is so unstable and shaken of his dread that he is absolutely next; he drops the gun and picks it right up. He swiftly switched from front and back, trying to catch whether I am in front of him or behind him. He never suspects that I am above.
To ease his fear, I calmly glided towards him and kicked him in the head and performed a Ground Takedown. Shamefully, he didn’t have time to react when he spotted me flying towards him. He cries a little before I smashed my hoof on his head, sending him to sleep. Now that the threats have been taken care of, I can go the hostages.
“The room’s secure, you’re safe now!” I called out. I climbed up a ladder on the lower floor and walk to the doctors. The scarlet-haired mare stood up with the others. The mare’s name is Sara Cassidy.
“Hello, is there a doctor in the house? No, well I think I have a pile of wounded henchponies that need medical attention,” Mane-iac asked and said randomly after the threats have been taken care of.
“Batmare, over here!” she cried out. I walked to her and she spoke. “I don’t know what happened. One minute, we were doing our evening rounds and the next, armed thugs burst into the room and took us hostage,” she said.
“Did they have anypony with them?” I asked.
“They took somepony to the elevator, I couldn’t tell who it was,” she replied.
“They obviously didn’t want to be followed. The elevator appears to be powered down. You’re going to be okay,” I added.
“We’ll be fine,” she said. The other doctor in a green nurse suit added in with more trouble. He is the same cream colored Earth pony from the very beginning of this madness from the Cell Block Transfer. Luckily, he managed to reach the Medical Facility after hearing Mane-iac and the Blackgaters are freed.
“What about the others, we’ve heard gunfire, they could be in trouble. We should go and help,” he said.
“Oh, no, I forgot! Dr. Kellerman is in the Observation Room and Dr. Chen went to Surgery,” Sara informed urgently.
“And Dr. Evergreen went to X-ray,” the doctor finished.
“Okay, stay here. I’ll find the other doctors,” I ordered.
The doctors walked to the other hostages strapped in gurneys for examination. They calmed them down about my arrival. I climbed down the lower level and walk in a small are underneath a pathway above me, left below the walkway in a gargoyle perspective. Inside, I spotted a large cell for an obvious disfigured patient. The cell is has been horrendously ripped open with the bars jagged by the opening. Inside is a chilling site for the fidgety: skulls and skeleton bones of ponies that this patient had devoured.
The bones are piled up in the corners. Some bone pieces are missing and skeletons are incomplete. Despite this shameful site, I used the Environmental Analysis and scanned the cell to solve the riddle: “TICK TOCK, somepony is not getting out of here alive!”
“It’s the Enigma Show!” Trixie cheered.
I exited out of the Sanatorium at the bottom of the area and entered the Upper Corridor that leads to these three medical examination rooms to rescue the three hostages.
In the Upper Corridor, I spotted several dead medical doctors lying on the floor with fear in their eyes and bodies bent in morbid angles. Pieces of medical supplies and Mane-iac’s equipment scatter the corridors. What are peculiar of this deranged scene are colored lines that lead to these rooms. Blue, red, and yellow and the two darker lines are lined together at the left side before they separated to their destinations at a crossroad. The yellow one is the longest and the loneliest. I followed the blue and red one that leads to one of the rooms. Unlike the chime, I spotted several monitors mounted on the ceiling, with the announcer speaking its daily speeches.
I followed the red and blue lines that are parallel to each other in the corridor before they are separated horizontally to separate rooms. I followed the red line.
“Will all patients please stay calm and move slowly to their accommodations?” the announcer asked.
“Let me introduce you to the sterling work of our new head of research, Dr. Spring Evergreen. Since joining our team two years ago, Arkham is now the full research of understanding the pony mind,” Sharp announced. The monitor switched to the mare with a red mane and sierra eyes. She looks very young, nineteen-early twenties definitely. She is known as Mane-iac’s psychiatrist amongst the others and the most persistent of all, demanding Mane-iac’s treatment unlike the other psychiatrists.
However, I met at the entrance to the Surgery Room before Evergreen announces her statements. In the room, there is a staircase to my left leading to an upper level of the room. It’s very small and in front of me is a doctor that has a very distinct foreign look, most likely Japanese. He is an elderly pony with a gray hairline and he looks frightened. He appears to be strapped in a gurney in front of mounted TVs that is showing his face. He is amongst an IV machine with bags with various blood samples but they aren’t tied to him. He struggles to get free of the gurney’s strap but to not avail. I walk towards him to help.
“Batmare!” he cried.
“Don’t speak, you’re safe now,” I assured.
“But…it’s a trap!” he cried out.
“I know, just not for me,” I replied. I looked up expectedly and saw the screens switched to the deranged pony.
“So it’s true, you really are the World’s Greatest Detective! How did you do that, Bats? Oh, what the hell, get down there boys. See if she can detect being punched in the face,” Mane-iac asked and ordered. I looked up at the upper floor and spotted several Blackgate inmates looking from the railing. Four of them jumped over and landed in front me, ready for combat.
All of the inmates in here are Earth ponies. I countered a thug by punching his head twice but didn’t knock him down because another one tries to hit me. I countered him by elbowing him in the abdomen and kicking him, knocking him down. I performed an overhead on the first thug. A third one tries to land one but I simply grabbed his hoof and squeezed it tightly with my digits. The feeling makes him kneel down in pain of the squeeze and I kicked him away.
I kicked a knocked down thug again and roundhouse one that is trying to pull an air conditioner from the wall, with the machine rattling when it hits the ground. At response, I threw a batarang at one that is trying to pull another air conditioner from a wall. I kicked two thugs and picked up a third one and threw him across the room. One tries to kick me but I simple grabbed his leg and pushed him to the ground. I knocked out one thug by an overhead and backflip kick one that is trying to pull the machine from the wall again.
I grabbed one pony, threw him over my shoulder and twist his hoof, knocking him out. I spotted more convicts dropping from the railing and Mane-iac spouting again. “What are you waiting for, April Fool’s Day? Get down there now!” Mane-iac ordered loudly. I counted four more Earth ponies dropping for aide. The numbers and strengths do not matter to me.
I countered a thug charging with a Cape Stun and countered another one that is trying to kick me with several punches to the head and kicking him, knocking him out. One tries to buck me but I threw him underneath in the air slightly and punching him in the stomach, easily rendering him unconscious. I picked up the disoriented thug and threw him at another one, knocking the two of them down.
I uppercut one thug that is trying to pry the air conditioner loose from the wall and kicked two thugs down and by instinct, I kicked two thugs. I performed a Ground Takedown on one and quickly countered a punch with a kick to the back. I punched one thug to the ground and performed another Ground Takedown. I roundhouse kick a thug to the head, hearing the satisfying crunching of his bones then I backflip and kicked the last thug in the air, ending the fight. The monitors switched back on.
“Don’t get too full of yourself, Bats. I’m just softening you up, think of this as a preview, to the main event, you’ll see,” Mane-iac said before switching off again. I ignored the comment and rescued Dr. Chen from the gurney. He rose up from the gurney, still laying down but relaxed.
“I’m sorry, I tried to tell you, I couldn’t speak,” he said apologetically.
“Relax, you’re safe now. I can handle these lowlife thugs,” I said.
I walked away from the doctor and left the Surgery Room and back to the Upper Corridor to save two more doctors.
Back in the Upper Corridor, I spotted a box laid out in the middle of the hallway. It is undoubtedly left by you-know-who. It is purple with light vertical straps and it’s wrapped in green. As I walked towards the box, it burst open. A light purple gas spewed out and a small party horn played when it opened. As I suspected, more of those blabbermouths began to chatter incessantly with the mocking laughter shortly afterwards. I ignored the bad comedy joke and continue to venture the hallways to search for another doctor.
“Will all patients please stay calm and move slowly to their accommodations?” the announcer repeated.
“Our findings make debates about whether psychosis and its self-neurotoxin, and it whether potentially damage the changing of the brain relating to psychotic excess. Project Titan allows us to strengthen the individual’s abilities to cope with such changes. Earlier results were promising but it was only after the arrival of Patient X that our expectations were raised. Patient X was the catalyst that leads to the full scale adoption of the Titan Project. We must all thank our benefactors for this opportunity.” Spring announced about a specific mind strengthener called Titan and how somepony called ‘Patient X’ is the catalyst for the drug. I’ll learn more about it later.
I crawled through a ventilation duct that leads to a hallway with the yellow line leading to the X-Ray room where Spring Evergreen is.
“So that’s Dr. Evergreen,” a rough voice said. I hid behind a corner that leads to the X-Ray room that contains Evergreen. Three ponies guarded the door. I prepare to throw a batarang to interrupt their peace
“Yeah, she could operate on me anytime-“he didn’t finish his rant when a batarang knocked him down, stunning him. Two saw me walking and a ready to fight despite the obviously tremendous strength levels between us.
I countered a thug’s punch by striking his chest and flip him over with my outstretched hoof. I grabbed a pipe from a Unicorn and struck him in the side twice, hard. Finally, I kicked the third thug with a roundhouse. I performed a Ground Takedown to knock one out.
I grabbed a thug’s hoof, flipping him on the floor and twist his hoof with a sickening crunch. He yelled in pain before he passed out and I finished the fight with an overhead on the last standing thug. Stretching slightly, I continue to walk and open the door to enter the X-Ray room.
In the room, there is a building in the middle of the room, an office-like building but outside the perimeter is numerous X-ray examination photographs plastered on the walls. There are sets of X-ray machines and devices for such examinations. Small monitoring screens are plastered and mounted on the walls for a cross-referencing of an examination along with a few radioactive symbols on the wall. In the small building, I heard a female voice, belongs to Doctor Spring Evergreen and she sounds annoyed.
“Why are you doing this, I’ve done exactly as you asked,” Spring said irksomely. I watched a monitor that surveys the inside of the building. Five armed thugs surrounded Evergreen with guns pointing at her and they appear to be demanding orders.
“Look at me, do you think I care? Stop your whining and listen well! If anypony goes near you without Mane-iac’s expressed permission, then I’ve been ordered to make sure you are taken out ASAP. Looks like you’re our bargaining chip,” a thug barked and explained.
I crawled quietly to a brick wall and used Detective Vision to see that two thugs are at the wall on the other side. I pulled out my Explosive Gel and sprayed the rigged wall. I crawled silently to search for another weak wall for the detonation. I crouched out of sight from a window of the building to avoid the thugs’ attention. As I crept to another wall with three thugs on the other side, I sprayed the Explosive Gel and stood back.
“Got to tell you, the boss is all over this job, planned like a military operation. Friends on the inside and out,” another thug added.
“I am quite aware that this job, as you call it, requires friends. What I want to know is why you chose me. Did Mane-iac specify me? Why won’t you let me talk to her, I’m sure we can set it,” Spring said irately.
“Lady, if I had to tell you once more, I’m going to hurt you. You understand, shut the hell up!” the leading thug barked.
I pressed the button and the two walls exploded and the thugs are blown away from the blast radius. The debris and rubble knocked the five thugs out instantly and the rubble and explosion made an inward explosion that allows me access inside the building. Evergreen shielded herself from the blasts in fear.
“No, please no, don’t!” she shrieked. I calmly walked in the building and saw Evergreen, still protected and unharmed from the blasts. She stood and reassured herself and saw me.
“What’s going on? They were talking like they’re in control. Is it true that Mane-iac escaped?” she asked.
“Unfortunately, yes, but not for long,” I replied.
“I’ve been studying Mane-iac’s case for months when she broke out. The Warden was very specific that he wanted Mane-iac cured,” she added.
“Bad publicity will affect his campaign for mayor,” I replied.
“That’ll be the least of his-I almost forgot! They said they were moving in the facility, hunting down the other doctors!” she exclaimed.
“I know, I’ve got one more room to search and then all the staff will be safe, you stay here,” I said. Evergreen nodded in agreement and I walked out of the room to find the last doctor.
Back in the Upper Corridor to search for the last doctor, the monitor switched on the sick pony.
“Oh, I’m not sure I could keep it a secret any longer! I’ve got two old friends coming to the party: One of them is just terrified of you without any hello! The other…well, let’s just say he’ll be in a surprise when he sees you, as you will see him.” Mane-iac announced giddily and mentioned of two more suspects that I didn’t know.
I walk down the corridor and spotted another purple box laid out. I walked cautiously and used Detective Vision to spot anything dangerous. Likewise, the box burst open and more of those plastic, chattering, faux teeth pop out with a small green gas alongside. I shook my head in slight annoyance of this tedious joke. I ignored the bad joke and follow the yellow line that leads back to the entrance of the Upper Corridor. I followed the blue and red lines and split to follow the lone blue line.
“When Amadeus Arkham built this fine institution, few would have believed it could be the premiere psychiatric evaluation and rehabilitation center it has become. Everypony knows the stories of the various so-called ‘super criminals’ who’ve been treated here, but that’s only half of the story. Our low security wings offered normal but troubled individuals a safe haven for recovery. We represent all medical specialties and offered a wide range of medical, surgical, diagnostic and wellness programs.”
I followed the blue path and heard a rough voice at the end of a corner that leads inside the Observation Room.
“Who’s the guard?” a thug asked.
“That mean son of a heifer-“the thug didn’t respond as a batarang hit his head, knocking him down.
“It’s the Bat!” he shouted. I simply punch him three times and knock him down. I performed a Ground Takedown on the knocked down thug and did the same to the second one. I open the door and enter a short path that leads to the Patient Observation room.
In front, two guards are taunting a brown Earth pony on the other side of the control room of the Observation room. The guard has an iron hook on his left frontal hoof, the name is Aaron Cash. He looks ticked off at the taunting thugs.
“Hey, boss, it’s done. The room is full of gas and Officer Hook is stuck in there. Thing is, Razor didn’t get out in time, he stuck in there too,” a thug calling on a walkie talkie informed.
“Well, that will teach him to dilly-dally. Don’t let anypony out of there, even Razor. He’s failed me and I don’t like failures,” Mane-iac replied. Same, I threw a batarang at a thug and surprised the thug that was talking on a walkie talkie.
“She’s here!” the thug shouted. I punched him three times and this gains Cash’s approval.
“Yeah, go Batmare!” he cheered. I finished the squabble easily and looked at Cash. In the control room is a doctor, most likely if not, Dr. Kellerman. On the other side of the control room, I spotted the familiar and sickening appearance of the green chemical gas Mane-iac creates. Luckily, it’s on the other side, but I don’t know how long the room can withstand the gas seeping in the cracks or ventilation ducts to choke on these two.
“Cash, what happened?” I asked.
“There was an alarm in Medical. I heard somepony shouting and found the doctor lying on the floor. When I went to help him, the room was flooded with gas. These doors are locked down, we can’t get out, don’t know how long we can last,” Cash explained.
“How brave, let’s give Mr. Cash a great big hoof! He could use one,” somepony on the intercom joked horribly. A voice we did not want to hear.
“You’ll be laughing out of your butt when I get out of here!” Cash barked.
“Lighten up, homes, I’m just messing with you,” Mane-iac reassured.
“Can’t wait to return the favor,” Cash said angrily.
“Leave it, Cash. Can you control the ventilation system in there?” I ordered and asked, ending their squabble.
“Tried, it’s a no go. She’s disabled remote access,” Cash replied.
“I’ll find a way,” I said. I looked above and spotted a ledge I could grapple. I grappled up and saw a grate that’ll lead a duct that will enter the top of the Observation Room. I pulled the grate off and crawled in the duct.
“You’ve got to help us! You can clear the gas in the room but the doctor and I need to get out of here,” Cash exclaimed.
I pushed the grate at the exit and stood up. I’m at a walkway of ducts above the familiar, sickening, foul blanket of death and insanity. There are gaps that I could not glide without risking falling in the blanket. On the far end of the room, above a miniscule building, the thug that those two and Mane-iac mentioned, Razor, a griffon, is clinging on the dear life on a rope that is dangling above the roof of the building and the blanket.
Like in the Decontamination room, there are three control panels that can be turned on with a Batarang to filter and eliminate the green gas. I walk to an area on the walkway and spotted a panel on the bottom level with the blabbermouths chattering. I threw a batarang at the control panel and a section of the room filters the gas, giving me a clear view.
“Batmare, I don’t know if you can hear this, Board’s showing power to Fan One,” Aaron said on the intercom. As the section around Fan One’s area is clear enough for breathing and safe passage, I jumped across the walkways to avoid plummeting below to reach Fan Two’s area.
“Aren’t you supposed to be dead?” Razor asked frighteningly. “I’m too far up, if I fall, I’ll get hurt real bad!”
I glided over to the other end of the room and landed on a cage that is protecting smaller fans. I spotted another control panel on my right side on the bottom with more of those teeth chattering. I threw a batarang at the panel and Fan Two began to filter the room 2/3 of the way.
“Power to Fan Two, she’s doing it, Doc! We’ll be out of here soon, stay cool,” Aaron said to Kellerman.
I used Detective Vision to find Fan Three’s panel and it is in the small building. The only problem is that roof is not accessible for me to use my Explosive Gel. So I looked at Razor, who is still hanging, above the weak roof. I sighed heavily, I promised myself that I would save anypony, good or evil, those who deserved to live and doesn’t.
Quickly as I could, I throw a batarang at the rope and Razor drops on the roof and straight through the weak roof, destroying it and landing on the floor. As he begins to cackle insanely and sickly, I threw a batarang with an instant reaction at the control panel to activate Fan Three’s power to filter the gas and clear the room completely.
“All three fans are green, we’ve got full power. Room should be empty any time now,” Aaron stated. Inside the booth, Aaron and Kellerman exit out to breath the clean air and Kellerman leaned on a pillar, gasping for clean air. He’ll be fine for a few minutes.
“Surprise surprise, Batmare arrives just in the nick of time. Next time, Cash, I’ll just shoot you and be done with it,” the demented pony announced.
After seeing that Cash and Kellerman are safe, I exit out of the Observation Room to head towards back to the Sanatorium. As expected, another purple and green box is laid out in the middle of the hallway. As I expect another joke, I didn’t expect of what is coming out of the box as the teeth and small gas sprang when it burst open.
A Blackgate thug, but this thug is entirely different than the others. This one is a griffon, and he looks sinister. He is wearing a muzzle over his beak and he is wielding two butcher knives at his talons. He is wearing a dark red prison jumpsuit with locks at the armbands and abdomen.
I charged at him to strike him but he blocks the attack with his knives. He lunged at me, slashing his knives at me but I dodged every single slash. As soon as he is finished, I used my cape to stun him, then I strike him three times and a Ground Takedown to finish him off. I have a feeling that I will encounter more of these higher class thugs later on. I continue to gallop until I reach the Upper Corridor’s entrance to enter the Sanatorium.
“I’ve got ringside seats for the big event, Bon-Bon’s bringing the popcorn, and I can’t wait!” Mane-iac announced excitedly. As I entered in the Sanatorium, I spotted the doctors I’d just saved earlier when I first entered the Sanatorium, tending the thugs I’ve taken out earlier. Sara noticed me and asked.
“Did you find them, are they okay?” Sara asked.
“Yes, they’re safe now,” I replied. I saw the door opened and saw Cash and Evergreen entering the room.
“Batmare, we’ve got another problem,” Cash said.
“I need to get back to the Mansion; all my research notes are there. We can’t risk Mane-iac getting her hooves on them,” Spring said.
“It’s not safe, Doctor. The island is a war zone, you won’t stand a chance,” I replied.
“It’s my life’s work! You really don’t have the authority to-“
“I’ll get her there, Batmare. If you ask me, it’s about time for a little payback,” Cash volunteered, interrupting Evergreen’s rant.
I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. “I don’t like it, but-“, the blaring alarm of the elevator drowned out our conversation, alarming us.
“Who called the elevator?” I asked sharply.
“It wasn’t us, it’s coming from the lower floor,” Sara replied.
I looked around the room and know that Mane-iac has sent more of the lowlifes to scour the Sanatorium. “Cash, take Doctor Evergreen! Get her notes and find somewhere safe to hold up! Everypony else, go to the Observation Room, barricade yourselves!” I ordered. Everypony agreed and they gone to their separate destinations, leaving me.
As soon as the staff is gone, I grappled to a gargoyle nearby the elevator and spotted three thugs leaving the elevator. All of them are Pegasi and they are armed.
“The boss said she’s in here somewhere! Spread out,” the leading thug barked. The three thugs went to their separate ways while two are watching each other’s back. I observed the thugs to check for any of them are isolated.
I saw that the two inmates are at the lower level of the Sanatorium while one is at the railing watching over. I jumped off the vantage point and landed behind him without as much as a pin drop.
“I hate hospitals, always gives me the creeps,” the thug commented to himself. He didn’t expect my hooves wrapped around his neck and nose. He struggled, only tightening my grip until his muffled screaming renders to a slumber.
I looked down at the railing from the upper level and saw that the two thugs are isolated. One is walking up the ramp, giving me the perfect opportunity to get in behind him. I punched his back and wrapped his neck and muzzle as he is flailing his front legs helplessly. His panicked shouting is muffled until he is silent.
I used my Detective Vision and spotted that the last thug is beside the examination room above me. I grappled up and crouched behind the unsuspecting thug. As he is about to climb a ladder to observe the walkways, I kicked his legs and wrapped his face until his screams of terror are muffled. Without any effort, the room is safe.
I grappled up to a gargoyle and glided to the elevator. As I expected, the elevator has three of those faux blabbermouths chattering incessantly. I destroyed them and I entered the elevator, a dare to see what twisted trap the deranged clown has conjured up for me. I entered the elevator and the doors closed. The elevator moved down and the monitor in front of me switched on to her.
“Too easy, think about it. I’ve got you trapped in a little metal box, hanging precariously over a deadly drop. Let’s say we blow the emergency brakes and drop you like a sack of puppies?” Mane-iac commented eagerly. I know her game at her so-called threat.
“Say good-night, Bats,” Mane-iac said sinisterly. I am getting tired of her games and her bad jokes.
“Boom, only kidding, got a few more surprises in store for you; prepare to face your fears, all of them!” Mane-iac added and laughed manically before switching off. The Arkham Logo is tainted with her face on it is the standby for “Mane-iac TV”.
What I didn’t expect after her announcement is I started to cough. Whatever is happening to me, I spotted a little distortion in the air, meaning that the air brake gas is leaking! I need to get out and save my breath before I choke. I waited for whatever awaits me at the lower level until the elevator comes to a complete stop.
The elevator opened up after finishing its carriage. I stepped out of the elevator and heard a distant cry. I looked at a window in a small space with doctors and some insane patients inside.
“Please, Dr. Zecora, don’t do it!” a doctor cried out.
“There is no Zecora, only Scarecrow!” a distorted voice replied back. I looked in the room and saw that a small gas is emitting in there, causing the ponies in there to panic at an alarming behavior until it is completely erratic. The light flickered on and off as the ponies panicked louder and more fearful. I spotted a twisted shadow when the light flickered.
I clenched my teeth in anger because I know what that gas is. The doctors and patients cried, panicked, and screamed in pure terror. Some are clawing at their legs, most likely bugs. Some are clawing at walls in horror and one insane patient clawed at the window in front of me.
“Get me out of here, oh Celestia!” a doctor cried. I spotted the shadow, which is wearing a hood and has a somewhat auto-mail arm at the right front leg. As the doctors and patients are becoming more and more terrified, I looked around the room to search for the pony that is causing this madness.
An iron barred gate blocked my passage to intercept the pony that quickly galloped in front of me, out of sight. I didn’t have time to make out whom but I know who it is: Doctor Zecora Stripes aka Scarecrow.
Zecora was a newcomer to Ponyville years ago. She is a skilled and talented pharmacist in medicine and drugs for the hospitals. What really fascinated her is her obsession in ponies’ phobias. Ever since she was little, she was teased about her scrawny appearance and her fidgetiness. She worked at Arkham years after she graduated and started to perform private and disturbed experiments to doctors, psychiatrists and patients of her newly developed Fear Gas: a hazardous, dangerous, and malicious gas in any form, solid, liquid, gas, or plasma, can get inside a victim or victims’ mind and make their deepest, darkest phobias and fears so frighteningly real, it can kill them.
She is one of my most dangerous enemies in psychological terms. She is too fascinated to what I am afraid and yet, she is too angered and determined to crawl into my mind, trying to break me, but I will never be broken. Now, Zecora has been transported from Ponyville to Arkham as an insane, former friend of us Mane 6 and the citizens of Equestria, another resident in Arkham.
Unfortunately, the poor doctors and patients died of fright in the room. The area I’m in now is the Secure Access. Beside me, a dusty old room is coated in cobwebs and is plastered with Mane-iac’s poster with kissy marks on it. On an old stand on the weak table in the room have a harlequin hat and a name plate on the table. That room is an old psychiatrist office and I know who’s: Doctor Sweetie Drops.
“Ooh, it looks like the good Doctor has started early. You’re appointment isn’t for hours, I’m sure you’ll bust through when she’s ready. Tell me, Bats, what are you really scared of? Failing to save this cesspool of a city? Not finding the Commissioner in time? Me, in a thong?” Mane-iac stated and asked. She laughed at the last comment and switched off from the intercom.
I need to venture further in the Secure Access to track down my brother and avoid the Fear Gas soon as possible. I spotted a weak wall at the end of the Access and sprayed some Explosive Gel on it and I pressed the button to destroy the wall to allow access. I entered a small passageway and entered a janitorial utility section with multiple grids and ventilation systems and gears grinding like clockwork. As I dropped and galloped to and fro in the section, my vision is starting to get more angled and I feel a little distorted as I travel further until I met at a lower section of the Lower Corridor. When I met at the window of the Corridor, I spotted a white pony with a blue accented hair with some gray lines and wearing the same overalls and tie he wore earlier: it is my brother, Shining Armor, and he looks and sounds weak.
“Please, help me, Batmare…,” he pleaded weakly. I stood in shock as my brother has been dragged by somepony or something. I need to hurry before he gets into any more harm. I looked at a grate and pulled it and entered the ventilation duct to enter the Lower Corridor.
After pushing the grate at the end and stood up, I saw a horrific site: my brother, lying on his haunches beside a wall and he is not moving. I walk slowly to Shining Armor and check for any pulse, but atrociously, I did not find any. A small tear formed at my eye and my voice quivered a little bit. I lowered my head.
“I’m sorry, Shining,” I said somberly. I close his eyes in respect. I heard a thud at the end of the Corridor on my left. I need to tell Oracle the truth.
“Skyla…I—I’m sorry…I was too late,” I apologized quietly and gravely. What I want to expect was a sob or a yell from Skyla but what I didn’t expect is a standby mode.
“I’m sorry, the number you have dialed isn’t available,” a standby voice announced. I’m starting to feel perplexed of this behavior of Oracle.
“Skyla, are you there?” I asked.
“Please hang up your phone,” the voice added before switching off. I narrowed my eyes and starting to see flickering lights at the end of the hallway. Beetles, cockroaches, and other insects start to crawl from the walls left and right. What I saw is the same figure I saw from the Secure Access earlier. I walked further in the infested Lower Corridor as some tiles from the walls start to crumble and shatter when they hit the floor. The minute I met at the door at the end of the Corridor, the entire paranormal phenomenon has ceased abruptly, stopped. Everything was dead silent. I opened the door that leads to a deathly environment, the Morgue.
In the Morgue, several doors lined up in vertical and horizontal order is obviously for the deceased to be buried, cremated or any other method. It’s what you expect of your everyday mortuary. Alongside are tables on a small ramp for identification and autopsy reports with jars on a tool table. Two fluorescent lights hang above the dark room and a small mist hang over the room, giving it a creepy, ethereal and ghastly feeling. I heard a chilling and raspy whispering but likewise from my career, I always held my ground.
“You shouldn’t…be here! You shouldn’t be here! You shouldn’t be here, get out of here! Get out of here! Get out of here!” As the threatening whisperings became louder every time I walk around the morgue, the cadaver cases started to slam the doors by themselves in a repeated cycle. A droned out tune rang out in the morgue to elevate the disturbing atmosphere.
Having enough, I leave the Morgue to go back in the Lower Corridor but I entered back in the same Morgue as before but this time, everything is dead silent. On the tables are three body bags, thankfully, they are closed. But the body bags shook violently, desperately wanting air.
I used my Detective Vision to see whose bodies are in the bags but my vision is not working but it is followed by a cackle. Ignoring the cackle, I walk up to the first body bag to see the bodies myself. On my right, I unzipped the bag and saw a body I did not expect to see. In the bag, a medium-colored blue stallion with a blue accented mane and tail and his golden irises are grayed out and leaved at a dead white. He dons the same suit before his demise and I know who this is and I am in complete aghast.
“Father?” I asked. The body leaned its head towards me and opened its plagued mouth.
“You should have stood up to him, daughter, like a mare!” the corpse exclaimed with an echo. Taking a back from the sentence of my deceased father, I walk to the other body bag and open unzipped it. The pony is a mare, a very light lavender coat with a light violet and white mane and tail, neatly combed with a pearl necklace. The same pearl necklace was the very cause of their premature and traumatic demises. This mare-.
“Mom?” I asked shockingly. The mare tilted its head towards me.
“Help us, Twilight, don’t let us die!” the mare shrieked in a raspy voice with the same echo that my father said. I do not like this one bit. Night Light and Twilight Velvet were my parents, alongside with Spike and my brother; they are the only ponies and dragon I truly care for in this prejudiced world. They were extremely wise and caring for me and my siblings, they helped this city from the scum that is trying to destroy it. They gave it their all and they created Sparkle Enterprises, the main organ to pump the filth out but they were taken by a desperate, greedy, and disgusting griffon that shot them with a pistol just for my mom’s priceless pearl necklace. My dad asked the robber for anything they can give him but the griffon shot him and my mom when she is crying over his body. The robber looked at me with a scared look, took my mom’s pearls and ran away, leaving me to cry over the bodies. My brother was in Canterlot for the Royal Guard training but heard the news and he was crushed. I feel for my brother but personally, I saw the murder first hand and I was destroyed, my innocence died along with them.
A spark was set on fire inside of me, an angry, livid, vengeful, and dark personality rose and grew stronger when the years pass. A promise that I made myself for my parents: I will do anything and everything, even if it cost my life, to protect this city and save the innocent from the evil, even the ones who doesn’t deserve to live on, I will save lives, no matter what. My brother was immediately Captain of the Royal Guard, fighting to protect the innocent like me but not in a scale like my own. He never knows who I am until the time is right.
After seeing the bodies of my parents, I looked to the last body bag. Dreading to think it could be Spike or Shining Armor in the bag. I open the bag and expect one of those two to be revealed. But the body is still breathing, unlike the two undead ones. This one has a black and white striped pattern on the sides. Wearing torn brown clothing with stitched pants with tapes around the back hooves. It has a mechanical forearm at the right frontal hoof but it can be removed, like a glove. The body laid there for a few seconds before it popped up to me with its black irises obscure in its makeshift, scarecrow like mask with two gas mask filters at the end underneath a small hood. The eyes then glowed to a bright yellow and it made me feel disoriented and vertigo. I fell down and I stood up.
After standing up to gain firmness, the body and the body bags are gone. What really surprised me is that the Morgue’s surroundings are disintegrated like a surreal-themed artwork. The tiles on the floor are disappearing until they ended at a precariously drop over a whirlpool-like vortex at the very bottom of this void. To gain process, I jumped over the ridges of the disintegrated morgue and climbed up to a sturdy area where there as much as little of the Morgue is remained. The distorted hallways now have the gray skies this world has and the very floor is a deathtrap if I take one misstep.
When I stood up behind a wall of the Lower Corridor and Morgue, my head starts to twirl and twist in irregular proportions as I heard a cackle. I shook my head and held it to clear my mind when I heard something I do not want to hear. Behind the wall, several meters away, is Zecora, or Scarecrow, standing in a gargantuan size and height, 100 feet tall at max, towering above the twisted world she created. Her right hand is a mechanical glove with four syringes filled with the same hazardous gas that created this world in liquid form with surgical tubes on the gauntlet for refilling. Luckily, the distance between us and the wall is the only thing that can keep my safe from the giant Scarecrow. The only way for me to get out of this world is to beat Scarecrow to restore my mind back to normal. I spotted a shining light at the very top of this world. I saw that the light’s source is my Bat signal, the very symbol of my iron will, determination, courage and a shining example of justice. I know what I need to do.
“POOR LITTLE BAT, YOU’RE IN MY WORLD NOW!” the Scarecrow stated, introducing me into her twisted world. She turns around in a 360 to scan the entire world to search for me. Luckily, I can hide behind small walls and corners to hide from the eyesight of the Scarecrow. If I get caught, she can easily destroy my mind and I will be twisted, forever.
As soon as Scarecrow turned her head, I galloped a column to hide from her gaze as she turned back around to scan the world again. I left the column and ran to find another spot to hide from her oscillating gaze. The rumbling of her gaze shook the unstable ground. Some of the tiles crumbled and fell into the bottomless vortex below. I remained firm and continue to hide behind crumbled ruins of the Morgue/Lower Corridor to avoid detection.
“EVERYTHING YOU SEE IS UNDER MY CONTROL!” the Scarecrow cackled. I ignored her words and spotted the tallest column that can hide me from the gaze very well. In front of me is a weak wall that can be accessed by my Explosive Gel and can distract the Scarecrow, allowing me more time to get to the top.
After her gaze has passed, I galloped to the wall and sprayed the Explosive Gel on the wall and hid back to my hiding spot before the gaze returned. I pressed the detonator and the wall exploded, alarming Scarecrow.
“WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?” Scarecrow asked. She floated quickly to the area where I am hiding to observe the destroyed wall. She looked carefully around the wall and I saw that she is moving to the other side of my hiding spot to search for me. I quickly moved out of the range of the light, giving me a chance to gallop through the passageway and up some platforms to gain higher ground above the distorted world. After good seconds of observing, Scarecrow shook her head in annoyance and went back to her position to search for me.
Behind the wall at the top, on a small walkway, edge of this world is the Bat signal, still shining as my only way to leave this world. After Scarecrow scanned the top, I quickly galloped to the signal and pushed it to an angle that can shine on Scarecrow. The creaking of the signal alarms her.
“WHAT WAS THAT?” Scarecrow asked to herself. She looked around the world until she spotted the Bat signal that is shining at her direction. After adjusting the ray to its angle. The light blasted an extremely bright ray at Scarecrow, brightening the world around me and her. Scarecrow screamed in agony as the bright photon ray blasted her and her twisted world to obliteration.
“AAAAAGGGGHHHH!” Scarecrow cried out in pain. Everything as I know it brightened to a white. I remained firm as everything changed around me and I held my head as it’s slowly becoming clearer as everything around is back to normal. I’m in the same Morgue as earlier before the incident happened.
No body bags, no ethereal voices, no banging, no mist, no Scarecrow, nothing. Everything is back to normal. I finally cleared my head from the Fear Gas I was dosed back on the elevator. I called myself from the experience of the frighteningly real world I was introduced to. I know that Scarecrow escaped the Morgue when I fought back but I know this is not the end of her. I need to expect more of her eventually.
“Can you hear me? Twilight, what’s going on?” Oracle asked frantically after a long period in the twisted world I was in. I was relieved to hear her voice again.
“Oracle, I’m okay,” I replied softly and relieved.
“What happened? I’d lost contact, are you sure you’re alright? Have you found my dad?” Oracle asked.
“I’m fine, had a little run-in with Scarecrow and slowed me down. I’ll get back to you in a bit,” I replied. I switched off and head towards the exit to get out of the Morgue, the location of nightmares, death, and insanity.
Before I leave this unwanted place, I quickly spotted a jar on a surgical table. The jar is filled with plasma and it contains carnivorous teeth, jaws, ear and nose. I used my Environmental Analysis to solve a riddle: What silent killer of the oceans can be found in a tiny jar?”
“Another one, can it be? No, there’s no way, you can’t find them all, it’s impossible,” Trixie exclaimed shockingly and angrily. This unlocked one of my minor criminals: The Great White Shark or Barren White, a former bank accountant who was accused of embezzlement and fraudulence. He tried an insanity plea to avoid getting sent to Blackgate but he was sent to Arkham Asylum, which he was tortured and ostracized until Cranky Doodle Doo froze his face so extreme that his facial features began to degrade into a shark-like appearance, hence his name.
I wasted no time of leaving the dreaded Morgue and entering back in the Lower Corridor. Hopefully, the Fear Gas’s after effects resided since I escaped. I notice green arrows have been painted on the floor leading to a door at the end of the Corridor, the thugs must’ve have painted it to lead me to another trap. When I met at the fork of the Corridor, I spotted a dead Arkham security guard in the haunches position I was in earlier.
“It wasn’t Shining Armor; Zecora’s gas must have affected me more than I thought,” I said to myself. I was ticked off that I spotted another dead corpse but thankful that it wasn’t my brother, means that I am close of finding my brother. Then, I heard a very annoying voice on the intercom.
“Are you lost, little Bat? Having trouble figuring out what’s real and what’s just a figment of your twisted, little mind? Same here, just roll with it, Bats. It gets easier when you give in, it really does,” Mane-iac said, trying to influence me to give in to the insanity.
I used my Detective Vision and saw arrows pointing at a door that leaves the Lower Corridor with Mane-iac’s face painted on it. On the other side of the door, banging is three Blackgate thugs. I can end this effortless fight easily. The thugs burst open the door. One is an Earth pony, one a Unicorn, levitating a lead pipe and another of the high security thug, a Pegasus, wielding two knives.
I punched the first thug three times and quickly performed a Cape Stun on the two thugs and knocked them down. I knocked out the thug with a Ground Takedown and knocked down a thug that is recovering. I stunned the high security thug and performed a Ground Takedown on the thug. I finally roundhouse kick the last thug, ending the fight.
“Listen, no more tricks! Just one last puzzle and you can have him, and a little more, oh, I can’t wait!” Mane-iac announced giddily. I destroy three of the chattering teeth before following the arrows. I spotted a little update that I have destroyed all 20 teeth all inside the Medical Facility.
“What do you call somepony who has failed to solve a quarter of my riddles: a Batmare?” Trixie asked teasingly. I had solved 25 percent of riddles, interview tapes, teeth, and Riddler trophies all over Arkham. I still have 75 percent to complete before tracking down her whereabouts.
I open the door and enter the farthest area in the Medical Facility: the Experimental Chamber, where patients have been experimented on to test on psychotherapy medications. I spotted the monitor in front of me and it switched on to her.
“Your precious commissioner is just through the glass, take a look! Bon-Bon is under strict instructions to kill the old pony if any ponies even think you’re in the room. They’re patrolling down there and I told them all you’re on the way. So here’s the deal: if you can find a way to get to Bon-Bon without anypony realizing, I’ll give you your next present. Fail and the old codger die. Hell, I even give you Bon-Bon; it looks like you can use a new sidekick!” Mane-iac announced, taking the situation lightly.
Out of anger, I threw a batarang at a monitor, shattering the screen so I don’t have to see that despised face. I looked through the glass and spotted my brother, alive and well, tied to a chair with the stupidly gullible Bon-Bon walking around with a machine gun. I used my Detective Vision and spotted four other armed threats down there in the Chamber. This is where my Predatory skills are necessary. I saw another map with green question marks on the layouts of the Medical Facility, I picked it up quickly.
“A map will always help those who are stuck,” Trixie said.
I spotted a grate and pulled it quietly and crawled in the ventilation duct to enter the Chamber. I crawled through the narrow ducts until I drop from a little drop with another open duct in front of me. I heard rough voices on the other side of the weak wall with cracks and holes in it.
“Mane-iac’s not messing. She wants the old pony kept safe from Batmare, anypony gets near him, it won’t be me carrying the can,” a thug said.
“No problem, nothing’s getting past me. Batmare will be a dead pony and I’ll be famous,” another thug bragged.
“Whatever get over there and keep looking, now go!” the leading thug ordered the others. I crawled through the duct and open the grate silently and sliding the loose grate to the side. I am directly behind a thug. I grabbed his muzzle and his back legs kicked helplessly while his muffled screams are silent.
“Listen up, boys! The Commissioner is just dying for one of you to spot the Bat-freak. Whatever you do, Bon-Bon offs the old pony. I got a shiny prize for the one who sees her first!” Mane-iac announced. I exit out of the duct, right behind a second thug. I quickly grabbed his head and kicked his legs, his protesting subsonic and silent in seconds. After dealing with the first two thugs, I crept behind the railing to see a thug that is doing his rounds in the Chamber. In the very center, a small chamber-like building with obscured fog, blocking whatever is inside the chamber, but I’ll find out later.
“Mrs. M won’t let anything happen to me, boys. She loves me too much to see me hurt. You guys, maybe not so much,” Bon-Bon spouted.
I waited for the thug to go down the ramp so I can get in behind him. He obviously doesn’t see me behind the corner of the railing. As soon as he is down the ramp, I crouched quickly from the corner and grabbed his head and kicked his feet. His pathetic screams are of naught and his hoof is in the air, wanting air desperately. I let him have air when he is sleeping. I saw that the last thug is on the walkway on the other side of the Chamber room. He is looking over the railing, not noticing me in the corner of the chamber itself. I heard Bon-Bon’s laughing and humming, which is annoying me and my brother.
“You think anything you got to say matters to me?” Shining asked irksomely. I continue to wait for the last thug to finish observing over the railing so I can get in behind him when he starts to turn around. For a few moments, the thug turned around to go to the right, giving me the opportunity to crouch faster to get in behind him before he turns back around.
“Bon-Bon’s got the old pony on top. You see the Bat or anypony coming around, he dies,” Mane-iac announced repeatedly. I continue to crouch until I’m on the upper walkway behind the thug. I grabbed his head and kicked the back of legs without any noise whatsoever. Not too long, the thug went silent into a sleep. After finishing the thugs, I galloped up the stairs to the control room where Bon-Bon and Shining are.
“Mrs. M told Batmare that we’re going to get married, it’s going to be so cool,” Bon-Bon said dreamily to herself. I saw that the doorway in the room is barricaded, so I grappled up to the roof of the control room, directly above Bon-Bon on the glass roof.
Without a moment too soon, I jumped up and smashed through the glass roof, alarming Bon-Bon. She didn’t have time to react when I smashed my two hind legs on her head, knocking her out. Shining looks at me with approval that one of the tedious clowns has been taken care of.
“You took longer than I thought,” he said. I walk up to him and untied him.
“She’s out of control; she’s trying to prove something. I’m not sure I can stop her this time,” I replied. Shining rubbed his hooves to tend for his long hours in the ropes and stood up alongside me.
“You’ll do it. Batmare, listen, we’re not alone. She’s got something else down there, I don’t know what it is,” Shining replied. We walked to the large window of the control room and saw the chamber with ominous mist in the building. We could barely see any electronic equipment that is obscured by the mist in the building. Next moment, we heard the same irksome voice.
“What a blabbermouth, spoiling the surprise!” Mane-iac exclaimed teasingly.
“Be quiet,” I ordered quietly and angrily.
“Oh, am I getting to you, am I? Good! You’re going to love this next bit,” Mane-iac asked and said before switching off. Shining and I exit out of the room with the barricade down and walk down to the chamber to see what insidious trap the demented clown got in store for us.
After walking down from the control room to the bottom of the Chamber, I open the door and the mist hissed out. In the room, I ignored the multiple monitors and computers on the table beside me. I continue to look straight and was shocked to see what’s in the Chamber. Shining Armor walks in and aims to the computer. He types in the log in.
“It wants Dr. Evergreen’s login,” he said.
“Never mind, that, get behind me, now!” I ordered. Shining looked at my direction and was shocked to see what is in front of us.
The thing that was in the Chamber is a Minotaur. This Minotaur has an extreme malnutrition with his ribs showing through his navy blue coat. His horns are cracked with the many experiments through him. Multiple surgical and diagnostic tubes were connected to a large storage tank on his back. Large gauntlets and chains wrapped around his arms and legs for security purposes. He wears ragged pants with a large metallic belt but what’s most notifying is the iron-clad mask covering his face except his eyes and mouth showing.
I know this Minotaur and I will never forget this one. No name, no birth certificate, almost as ambiguous as the Mane-iac. He is one of my most physically challenging nemeses I had ever encountered in my career. Four years ago, he broke my back, leaving me a paraplegic for a few moments but was defeated before he revealed my identity, thanks to the stuff that he used for trying to kill me.
“Iron Will,” I whispered. The feeble Minotaur is barely conscious and his reply is a groan.
“I thought he broke out of Blackgate!” Shining exclaimed. The Minotaur opened his mouth with severe hoarseness with a slight Spanish accent.
“Cut…me…down,” Iron Will pleaded weakly.
“Who did this to you?” I asked. I was a little surprised to see that one of the strongest enemies has been captured and been drained dry like a lab rat.
“Dr. Evergreen…the bruja…she drained the Venom from my blood. Must…stop…her,” he replied hoarsely. The Venom was the drug he used to gain height, speed, agility, and strength but it costed him his intelligence, mentality and resources and it reduced him to a brute. Without the Venom, he’ll be extremely scrawny and feeble out of the withdrawal from the addictive drug. As expected, the monitor switched on the clown.
“Sorry, Has Will, the good doctor won’t be a problem much longer. How did you like my puppet? What’s say we cut him down,” Mane-iac said. She got a remote and pressed the button and the worst happened.
After the button is pressed, the alarm went off and the entire chamber went red. We looked at the Minotaur, screaming in agony when the green liquid drug is pumping through the tubes into his bloodstream and storage tank. He twitched in pain as the Venom is coursing through his veins as his skinny arms grew five times their size with bulging muscles. His painful screams turn into an enraging roar. His normal brown eyes flared into a bright green with his bloodshot sclera.
“Shining, run!” I shouted. Shining immediately galloped out of the room and into the control room. I looked at Iron Will, gaining strength and height as the Venom continues to pump until his bulky body is freed from the bonds of the tubes. I galloped out of the chamber and protected myself from the red smoke from the transformation. Next, thundering. I saw Iron Will, charging towards me, completely towering over me. He is now at 9’2 feet tall, 425 pounds of muscle, with staggering speed. He threw two punches at me but I dodged it. I threw a right-cross at his jaw but it had no effect, only making him more livid.
He roared furiously and grabbed me, lifting me overhead. As I thought that he is going to break me, he threw me to a wall of the Chamber and into the Boiler Room. The rocks, brick and mortar crashed into the Boiler Room. I stood up to reassure myself, preparing myself to fight this brute.
“Play nice, mares,” Mane-iac cheered. Iron Will walked through the humongous hole and into the Boiler Room for combat. I need to fight smart if I’m going to be out of here in one piece. Attacking him head-to-head is suicide; I need to cut the tubes from his storage tank to weaken him.
Iron Will laughed as the Venom continues to pump into his body. As he is ready to charge, I threw a batarang at him to blind him. I dodged out of his charge as he crashed into the wall on the other side. As I looked up at the walkway, several Blackgate convicts looked down in amusement to expect me to get pommeled.
I turn around and watched Iron Will turn around to charge me again. I threw a batarang at him and dodged out of his charge. He ran into the weak wall again but this gave me the opportunity to get in close. I elbowed and kicked Iron Will several times to weaken him before he recovers from his disorientation. I climbed up on his back on his storage tank and cut off two of the tubes connecting the Venom and him. The partial loss of the Venom alarmed his storage and enraged him. I jumped off after he tried to claw me off of his back.
As soon as I touch the ground, Iron Will roared furiously and slammed his fist in the ground, sending a brief yet violent shockwave in the ground. I jumped out of the range to safety, ready to face him again.
“Seriously, is that the best you can do, Iron Will? Let me lend a hoof,” Mane-iac announced, disappointed over Iron Will’s performance. I looked over the railing and saw four Blackgate convicts jumping off the railing to aid Iron Will. All of the convicts in the room are Earth ponies.
Before anypony could notice, Iron Will trudged over to a wall on the far end of the Boiler Room and lifted up a humongous chunk of the wall and threw it at me. I jumped out of the way from the rock. He charged at me afterwards to gain upper ground but I threw a batarang and jumped out of his way.
After he ran into the wall, a convict tries to hit me but I grabbed his leg, elbowed his face and landed his face on my knee. I countered another hit from a reject by grabbing his outstretched hoof, kneeing his stomach and double-hoofed his chest, sending him to the ground. I overhead one thug and countered the fourth thug by kicking his leg, tripping him and kicking his face, knocking him down.
One thug charged at me but I grabbed his arm, head-butted his face with the back of my head and kicking him away. I jumped far to a thug and hit him with a roundhouse. I missed my combo but I punched a thug three times to continue pommeling them to avoid them distracting me. I heard Iron Will laughed and heard his thundering charge but I did the same routine and dodged out of his way, knocking down some of the thugs in his path.
As soon as Iron Will turns around to charge at me again, I began pommeling the thugs again to keep them out of the way. I heard his charge and threw another batarang at Iron Will’s face, jumping out of the way. I galloped towards Iron Will and kicked him numerously before jumping on his back. I climbed on his storage tank and cut off more of the tubes connecting him, depleting his Venom storage.
“I went through all this trouble and that’s the best you got, Iron Will? Help him out, boys,” Mane-iac ordered, unimpressed by Iron Will’s disadvantage. I spotted more rejects jumping over the railing to aide Iron Will. The behemoth roared and pounded the ground in frustration. The shockwaves knocked the thugs back but I jumped out of the way of the waves before they’d dissipated.
I counted six Blackgate convicts in the fray. I countered a thug’s punch by kicking his stomach and elbowing his face. Another one tries to land one on me but I grabbed his hoof, kicking his stomach and double-hoofed his chest. I kicked one thug and immediately jumped out of the way of a boulder chucked by Iron Will, who had crudely ripped it from the wall. Fortunately, the boulder knocked down the thugs in the way.
“I will crush you!” Iron Will snarled. He charged at me but I did the same routine and dodged his charge after blinding him. I noticed that the chunks from the columns have taken a huge toll on the stability of the room. This room is going to collapse; I need to finish this quickly.
After dealing with the thugs, I galloped towards Iron Will and hit him several times. I climbed up on his back and slice off the last tubes from the storage tank. As soon as the tubes are cut off, Iron Will starts to weaken. He kneeled on the ground in fatigue but screamed as the entire Boiler Room shakes violently. I immediately grappled up to the exit of the Boiler Room, leading to a ladder. The rocks and ceiling of the Boiler Room collapsed on him and the Blackgate convicts, crushing them. I pushed an iron lid on the ground and climbed out, free from the Medical Facility. I am outside of the Medical Facility, in front of a lift at the bottom of the platform.
I held my left arm, slightly stinging from Iron Will, who threw me into the Boiler Room in the first place. Something tells me that the ruined Boiler Room is not enough to take down Iron Will, so I press a protocol on my left gauntlet, activating the Batmobile that is still parked in front of the Intensive Treatment building in North Arkham. The vehicle revved lividly, ready for auto-drive. After setting the Batmobile, I spotted Shining Armor coming to me, safe from harm. “Batmare, you’re okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine, Shining Armor. Where’s Bon-Bon?” I replied and asked. I stood up on all fours.
“Gone, must’ve gotten loose while Iron Will was throwing you around,” he replied.
I pondered for a moment, a thought came to me that if Shining Armor continues to stay on Arkham Island and he’ll be in danger again.
“We need to get you off the island,” I said.
“I’m not a rookie, I can handle myself,” he claimed stubbornly. Before I reply, the wall at the bottom of the Facility exploded. Shining and I jumped clear from the blast and out came Iron Will, enraged even more now that his Venom tank is sabotaged. He roared as he grabbed me and lifted my up, facing his livid face.
"I wil break you, Batmare, then the bruja!" the savage giant growled as he is inching me closer to his face. I clenched my teeth in an ger and anticipation.
“No, Iron Will. This time I will break you!” I shouted. I activated the gauntlet and Iron Will turned around and spotted the Batmobile, speeding up towards us. I kicked his abdomen, free from his grasp and out of the vehicle’s way. Iron Will stood and saw the headlights of the speeding Batmobile.
Iron Will cried in pain as the vehicle crashed into him, carrying him on the hood. The Batmobile and him sped at high speeds and crashed into the Equestrian Bay at the end of the cliff. Iron Will screamed as the Batmobile carried him underneath the murky waters, silencing them. Shining Armor and I walked to the cliff and saw that Iron Will and the Batmobile are gone. Now, it’s over. I am a tad bit upset now I used my Batmobile as a weapon, but I can make a new one. A boat arrived with a Royal Guard at the docks. We walked to the boat to escort Shining Armor off the island.
“Shining, get back to the mainland, it’s too dangerous here,” I said.
“I don’t like leaving you here,” he said. He reluctantly climbed on board of the boat, knowing that I will be in harm’s way if I remain here without any potential allies, except Oracle.
“Radio claims she planted bombs all over Manehattan. Manehattan will panic, you’re needed there,” I said.
“We’re ready to go now, sir,” the guard said. Shining nodded and the boat hummed and sailed. Before leaving, Shining asked me this question.
“Iron Will called Dr. Evergreen bruja, what does it mean?” Before Shining is out of earshot, I answered his question.
“It’s Spanish…for witch,” I replied, walking away from the boat.
Now that my brother is out harm’s way, I need to focus on the Titan formula Dr. Evergreen stated back in the Upper Corridor of the Medical Facility. “Oracle, go through the city’s computers. Pull up on what you can find on Dr. Evergreen. I’ll go through anything you can find once I get to the cave,” I said, contacting the computer expert.
“A Batcave, on Arkham Island?” Oracle asked, perplexed.
“I built it years ago. It’s best to plan ahead for situations like this.” I added.
“How did you manage to keep this a secret?” Oracle asked.
“It’s me, remember?” I answered smugly.
“So do you think Dr. Evergreen’s been experimenting on Venom, the same chemical that turns Iron Will into that animal?” Oracle asked.
“Yes, I’m worried. Iron Will seems to be more powerful than usual. Mane-iac wants the Venom and that could only mean trouble. I’m heading to Dead Pony’s Point in Arkham North, I’ll contact you once I get to the Batcave,” I replied.
I switched off my cowl’s communicator and galloped up the hill and spotted three Blackgate thugs in the crossroad of Arkham East and the Medical Facility. The thugs hadn’t heard my approach but they were shocked to see that one of their comrades has been knocked down by a particular bat-themed projectile. They swiftly turned their heads in surprise. Two Pegasi and one griffon, all holding metal pipes.
“She’s here!” one cried out. I quickly punched one of the thugs twice and roundhouse kicked him. I threw an overhead punch to the other thug, too delayed to react to my move. I quickly kicked the third thug that was knocked down. I landed on one and knocked one out with a Ground Takedown.
A Pegasus flew at me to land one but I countered his punch by sweeping his legs. I spotted the second thug, which is trying to kick me. I kicked his shins and head-butted his face, making his nose bleed. He grabbed his face in pain with both of his hooves to ease the pain. I grabbed both of his hind legs, pulled them up, making him drop on his back. I grabbed both of his ankles and a sickening crunch followed after I twisted his ankles. He cried out in agony before passing out. I quickly jumped over to the last thug and land a right-cross on his jaw, knocking him out.
I cracked my hooves and walk up the ramp leading to the Visiting Center. I used my Detective Vision, which is set to its normal blue hue since my brother is found. I counted five convicts in front of the Center. I walk casually up the ramp and threw a batarang at a thug, alarming the four griffons.
“It’s the Bat!” one shouted. One charged at me but I landed a quick series of punches on his face but it was interrupted by one thug but I countered his attack by punching his gut twice and landing a blow on his back. I kicked one thug to the ground and roundhouse another thug to continue my streak. I grabbed a griffon’s leg and spun on the ground like a snake, spinning him until he is lying on the ground. I still have a hold on his leg and I yanked the ankle to the side, putting him in a screaming episode and a goodnight’s sleep. I threw my cape to one thug, stunning him momentarily.
I kicked two thugs and countered a fourth thug by kicking his shin, knee and kicking him in the head with a pinwheel kick. The third that was about the get up from the last attack exclaimed in panic as I lifted him up and threw him at the wall of the Penitentiary. I punched the second one with an overhead and right-cross the first thug. I knocked him out with a Ground Takedown and quickly countered the thug was thrown across by holding his leg up and kicking in his groin three times.
I landed a left hook on the second thug, knocking him out of submission. I threw a quickfire batarang at the fourth thug that is trying to pick up a pipe. I jumped in the air and knocked him out with a Ground Takedown. I finished the brawl by kicking the last remaining thug with a roundhouse. After finishing the fight, I galloped through the Visiting Center walkway with the unfinished construction project in display. I opened the door to enter the room to listen to the demented clown’s remarks.
Back in the Visiting Center, I spotted the Mane-iac’s mannequin sitting casually in the chair with its hoof laying on the chair and the other drooping. Beside me in a case is another mannequin, standing on its hind legs with its front hooves crossed. As I walk to the case, the small TV switched on to the purple face
“You’re late for your appointment, very rude. Well, as seeing as you’re here now, we might as well get started. Tell me about your childhood, anything stands out? Ooh, is that a tear I see, too painful? Haha, we’ll come back to it later, then.” “How about Willy boy, then? I bet you were shocked to see him, weren’t you? Personally, I was hoping he’ll fold you like a piece of paper and let me stamp you crazy but even I don’t get everything I want. So what was he doing here, oh questions questions questions!”
The TV switched off after the message. I took in the insane but yet perplexing message: why Iron Will is here in Arkham Island and why does he have to do anything with Dr. Evergreen? I’ll find out later once I reach Dead Pony’s Point, so I turn around and left the room. Unknown to me, the standing mannequin moved with its hoof on the side and the one sitting in the chair is gone.
Back out in Arkham West, I galloped out of the Visiting Center and headed to the door leading to Arkham North. The door opened automatically and I gallop up the hill to the entrance of Arkham North. I noticed more of the faux chattering teeth on the hill as I reach the top. I destroyed them with the batarangs as I opened the door leading to the passageway I accessed with my Explosive Gel hours ago.
“What’s the deal with Dead Pony’s Point? It’s been a favorite suicide location in Arkham Island for a hundred years,” Oracle asked and stated.
“Yeah, I know. I once saved an unfortunate inmate from leaping off into the rocks below,” I said, remembering six years ago I rescued a suicidal paranoid schizophrenic from leaping into the jagged rocks.
“I found the cave entrance and over the years have moved a number of supplies here. It’s a regular home away from home,” I added. I switched off my headpiece communicator as I entered Arkham North, in front of the Intensive Treatment building. As I suspected I counted four rejects in front of an iron gate leading to Dead Pony’s Point besides the building. I spotted one Changeling, two Earth ponies and one high security convict. This time, it’s a Pegasus wearing a tank top wielding knives in between his feathers. I threw a batarang at a thug, gaining their attention.
“She’s here!” one cried. They readied themselves for combat, correction: they are readying themselves for a beating of a lifetime. I countered one attack from a thug by avoiding his attack swiftly and elbowed his back three times and countered another attack by head-butting his face, elbowing his neck and kicking his knee, knocking him down. I quickly stunned the knife-wielding thug with my cape and punched him down. I quickly kicked the other two thugs to keep them down. I landed a right-cross on the Changeling’s face, spinning him around. I grabbed his hind legs and kicked the back of his front legs, landing him on the ground. I pushed his hind legs to his back, breaking his shins with a painful and brutalizing crunch of his shins. He cried and screamed in unbearable pain before passing out.
I used my Cape Stun to disorient the high security thug, flip-kick another thug and punching the two thugs altogether. I took out the wielding Pegasus with a Ground Takedown and kicked the second thug, knocking him out and overhead the last thug to the ground and ending the brawl with a Ground Takedown. Another flawless performance.
I galloped to the gate and climbed over the short wall to reach Dead Pony’s Point. The clear yet mossy passageway leads to a cave entrance to the cliffs on the other side. I entered the cave entrance and grappled up a ledge to gain higher ground. The cave entrance is held by support beams, meaning that this entrance has been synthetically made for other reasons.
After grappling up, I spotted another cryptic trapezoidal stone with the same inscriptions written with the beetle in the middle. I used my Environmental Analysis and scanned the writing to listen to another recording of Amadeus Arkham.
“
They brought the animal before me. Shameless and barking like a mad dog; and what felt like days, I endured his bursts. He took pleasure recounting his actions, cataloguing his estranged crimes. What should have been revenge turned to pity. This poor dog needed my help.” The recording stated that Amadeus’s family’s murderer has been brought in the newly built asylum. Amadeus felt pity towards the insane criminal, instead of exacting revenge. I am slightly relieved that Amadeus didn’t take out his revenge towards the dog but I need to find more of the cryptic figures later on.
I opened a door leading to another cave with skulls and skeletons mounted in the middle of the area. A small mist hovered in the ground, giving it an eerie background but I spotted another ledge above me. I noticed a weak wall that can be accessed with my Explosive Gel. I sprayed the gel on the wall and pressed the detonator, blowing away the rubble away. As I known, I spotted a green question mark. I picked it up.
“That was one of the easy ones,” Trixie teased. I grappled up the ledge and walk up a small hill to reach the point. Water dripped from the ceiling of the cave as fresh air hit my face. In the distance, I see the luminescent lights of the city beyond the Equestrian Bay with the lighthouse oscillating its light, keeping watch of ships and boats.
Below me, the raging and roaring waters churned at the jagged and jutted rocks, with white foam spraying over the cliffs. The hundred foot drop over the deep waters and deadly rocks is fatal. I readied myself on the cliff and jumped at the ledge. I opened my cape into the currents of the wind, flying in the air. I soared over the suicidal point into another cave entrance below the point of the cliff. I landed firm on the ground in the entrance.
I walk slowly to the overgrown cave, which it has no entrance. I walk in front of the rock and a blue scanner hummed as it scan for identification. The rock finished scanning me and accepted my presence. I set up a new rock with computerized settings to allow secret entrances in case somepony spotted the entrance, so I covered the cave with the rock.
Identity confirmed: Disabling countermeasures, security deactivated. The rock lowered into the ground, gaining entrance. I walk in the cave entrance, polished, clean, and freshly cut. Lights and lanterns mount on the walls as I gallop through the entrance with some cobwebs in the way. I heard the all familiar roaring of water as I approach my secondary Batcave. The water cascaded down from the ceiling of the cave and sprayed over the awning entrance to the cave. I walk on the walkway hovering over a drop to the waters below, but I like it that way.
“On,” I commanded. The entire cave lit up and hummed as the electricity switched on. I glided briefly to the center of the cave and walk up to a computer with multiple monitors and high-performance hardware. Crates with Sparkle Enterprises covered the other entrances and exits of the cave. Some of the crates laid beside the computer for supplies, thanks to Zecora.
I walk up the stairs to my computer and sat down. I typed in the files of Dr. Evergreen that Oracle sent me. The digitized folder showed up on screen with multiple paragraphs of notes and catalogues of the notes by the doctor. I looked into the Titan project Evergreen mentioned back in the Medical Facility.
“Dr. Evergreen was heading up a project; it was big, lots of external funding. Here are the last notes she’d filed. I can’t make sense of it, what does it mean?” Oracle stated and asked about the incomplete files that are logged in.
“Looks like she was experimenting on the Arkham patients. This new chemical only barely resembles the original Venom compound. There are a number of changes that appear to amplify the strength of the drug, multiple references to the Titan formula. Even a small amount can trigger a Venom-like transformation in the host, eliminating the need for the storage tank Iron Will requires,” I explained.
The computer showed the Titan and Venom compounds to their basic chemical compositions. The Titan compound has spikes, containing multiple concoctions of elements to amplify the Venom, said for increasing and regenerating the brain’s synapses and functions. I spotted some similarities of the compositions of the compound by breaking them down to the smallest atom. I ponder throughout the scan to look for any difference or abnormalities of the Tian formula. That much Titan is plentiful enough than Iron Will’s Venom storage tank, easily can transform the host’s cells and functions to massive proportions. I noticed some irregularities in the file.
“Hang on, these notes aren’t complete, the formula is missing, that must be the secret Dr. Evergreen is hiding! If Mane-iac gets her hooves on them, she would create an army of a thousand Iron Wills,” I said with a slight alarmed tone. The comparison of the compounds beeped with X’s on the screen, meaning that the final product and formula to complete the Titan compound is absent. The Titan formula in the incomplete state can disfigure the host’s body and transform them into Iron Will’s mentality and physique. I need to find Dr. Evergreen and the formula so I can get rid of it before Mane-iac finds it before this gets catastrophic.
“My Celestia, is Mane-iac crazy enough to do that? Oh, what am I saying, you got to stop her!” Oracle exclaimed. I walk up to a table to obtain another gadget to help me gain an advantage in combat, predatory and environmental wise. The table hissed and lifted up a three hooked piece for my Grappling Gun. I attach the hook to the top hole of my Grappling Gun to create the Batclaw.
This Grapnel attachment can be used to grab and pull objects from a distance and can also attach to enemies. I observed the attachment and put it in my utility belt. I readied myself to find Dr. Evergreen in the Arkham Mansion and stop Mane-iac from finding the formula before she does. She’ll create thousands of monstrosities that will terrorize Manehattan if I’m too late. I need to find her and stop her.
“I’m going after her. She was heading to the Mansion with Cash. I’m going up to her via the catacombs,” I replied, switching off the communicator. I pulled out my Batclaw and grabbed an empty crate leading to an exit of the Batcave. I pulled the crate and the crate pile dropped into the depths below. I jumped to the ledge and galloped through the walkway out of the Batcave.
The door opened automatically when I approached it and it leads me out on a narrow grassy ridge above a murky drop below. The treacherously narrow ridge is the only walking ground I spotted a grate above me that can lead in the old sewers. I used my Batclaw to grab the grate and pulled the wire until the grate is out of the grate. I grapple up the ventilation duct and climbed out of the duct and in the Old Sewers.
In the Old Sewers, two small stairs lead up to another section of the sewage purification system. Large pipes are mounted the walls of the sewer churning with the liquid in the pipes heading towards its destination for purification or ejection. The very ground itself is a little soppy with all the washed water combined with the waste.
The Sewer itself is shaped like with metal rods, titanium support beams and sewage pipes in an arc-like architecture style. Lights brightened the entire area for access for those who work in the sewers. At the end of the area, a miniature waterfall cascades from the wall on the other side of the area. The water forms a small yet extremely shallow river of purified water and the river torrents into a waterfall into the Equestrian Bay several meters below the seemingly bottomless pit. On the other side of the huge waterfall over the ledge, a circular opening of the wall faced the waterfall. In the opening, a green trophy is present but the reach of the opening and the ledge is too long for a jump.
The Sewers reeks slightly of odorous waste of everypony in the asylum but I ignored the putrid odor and heard a rough voice talking to somepony else. I am standing behind an Earth pony convict, who is talking on a radio and he sounds worried.
“Sorry, boss. It took a little longer to…find him than you figured it would,” the thug apologized shakenly.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll try to be more precise in time next time I’m planning an island takeover!” Mane-iac barked over the radio. The thug looks frightened over the comment, he and the all of Mane-iac’s crew does not like Mane-iac angry, it’s terrifying to them. I stood behind him without of so much of a rustle to hear the conversation.
“Hey, I didn’t mean—“the thug replied back, trying to reform of his earlier remarks before I came in.
“Criticism I can take, I mean, I’m not perfect,” Mane-iac interrupted with a slight rueful tone.
“Well, come to think of it, I’m pretty close to perfect, aren’t I? Now, where was I? Oh yes: criticism from a worm like you, a worm who is only crawling around free because I arranged to open his cell, it something I will not tolerate,” Mane-iac added and stated angrily.
“I-I’m sorry, boss. I didn’t mean it like that, please!” the thug pleaded, sounding like he is on the verge of tears.
“Well, seeing how you’re apologetic, I’ll just have someone drive over to your house and break your wife’s legs,” Mane-iac said, ignoring the apology, speaking the cold and heartless threat. Knowing Mane-iac, every threat is a promise.
“But, Mane-iac!” the thug cried out, alarmed and panicked over the threat over the radio. I silently listened to the conversation and shook my head in anger. I hated the thugs but his relatives that are involved in Mane-iac’s words are some things I despise so intolerably.
“You got a problem with my generous nature?” Mane-iac asked lowly and chillingly.
“Err---no, um…I guess not, thanks,” the thug thanked uncertainly.
Not wanting to hear the creep’s filth anymore, I grabbed the thug’s head and kicked his legs, silencing his muffled screams until he is sleeping. The radio dropped in the water but it continues to broadcast.
“You there? Calling all cars, calling all cars! Wonder who get you, Croc or the Bat? Croc, old boy, are you there? No? Pity.” Mane-iac called out to no pony in particular but forgotten about her ranting to the thug and switched off. I looked over to another cryptic trapezoid on the far end of the area. Knowing it’s another Chronicle of Arkham, I used my Environmental Analysis to decipher the inscriptions and listen to the translated message.
"The island changed little over the years. Its reputation was in tatters and I vowed to fix it. As the buildings were rebuilt, I saw the future: a bright, wonderful future."
I took mental notes of the time setting of the brief message. The message states that Amadeus vowed himself to rebuild the reputation of Arkham Asylum and Manehattan City. I walk up the small stairs to walk to another section of the sewers where the pipes are leading to the main sewers or the purification system on the other pathway. I hid behind an adjacent wall where I heard voices on the other side.
“Why are we the ones trying to open it? This ain’t even the main door. And if we even get it open, we don’t what’ll do,” a thug asked reluctantly.
“I ain’t going near it, do you even—“. The conversation was cut short by a certain batarang hit his head, knocking him down, alarming the other four thugs.
“She’s here!” a thug cried out. Before they ready themselves for combat, I used my quickfire Batclaw to grab to one of the thugs and pulled him towards me. I punched him three times and countered a punch from another thug by grasping his hoof and hitting him with my elbow.
I flew over to a third thug that is trying to pry an air conditioner from the wall loose by kicking him. I threw my right hoof to the fourth thug that is standing up and kicked another one that has gotten up. I grabbed one thug’s arm and threw him on the ground but I still have hold of his arm and punched his wrist, breaking it. He screamed in torment and fell quiet.
I continue to land a series of punches and kicks on the last three thugs and picked up one and threw him at a wall. I threw a quickfire batarang at one thug, keeping him down. I kicked two thugs at once and knocked out one with a Ground Takedown. I knocked out another one with a blow on the top of his head with my elbow. I threw a heavy punch on the second thug in the abdomen, knocking him out cold. I threw a roundhouse on the last thug was trying to charge at me futilely. I stretched my neck after another effortless and flawless performance.
After finishing the thugs, I walk down the walkway and approach a door on the right. A sign is posted on the wall next to the door. The sign has skull and crossbones and the words read out: DANGER: KEEP OUT. The light above the door flickered on and off. There is a small window on the door that can let me see through the other side of the door.
I pushed the door to open it but the door wouldn’t budge. I back up to pry it again but as I peer through the glass window of the door, I spotted nothing but a torrent of water and lights shining from the very far left of a sewer junction. I heard rumbling on the other side, meaning something is in the sewers.
A gigantic beast roared furiously at me, chains rattling and the electric collar illuminating the entrance slightly. The beast threw an enormous fist at the door, only cracking the window. The sudden jump from the beast did not even make me flinch, just irritated. I know who and what that is: the monster with the disease that turned him into that monstrosity, affecting his physique, psyche and height. The 11 feet tall beast glared at me with its yellow predatory eyes, filled with bloodlust, hunger and wrath. The jagged teeth and drooling of the mouth only makes it more dangerous and animalistic than ever. Garble, now colloquially known as Killer Croc, roared at me with ferocity.
“I will find you; rip your flesh like paper!” The beast snarled and trudged away into the murky background. I turned around from the door, hoping that I’ll come up against him, but something tells me I will encounter him eventually. I looked at another dead casualty, a doctor from the Medical Facility. I shook my head that I failed to save another life but I spotted another reel on the floor. I picked up the tape and recorded the Interview Tape, listening to who or whatever the psychiatrist at Arkham is interviewing.
“Is he here yet?” Warden Sharp asked.
“He, you’re kidding me right? That thing is not a pony,” another voice retorted questioningly. The voice is Aaron Cash by his accent. In the tape, I heard growling and snarling as the thing is being set for an interview, instantly knowing who is being interviewed.
“My Celestia!” Sharp exclaimed at the incoming patient.
“Hello, my name is Doctor Gretchen Whistler, do you understand me?” the elderly doctor asked contemplatively.
“Yeah, I hear you, whore. So, when’s dinner…I’m getting hungry!” the voice snarled in reply. The tape ended.
I figured I will find an Interview Tape that will have the beast as the patient. I looked up at a grate and spotted another green question mark in it. I use my Batclaw to pull the grate off and climbed in a ventilation duct to pick up the trophy. Luckily, I don’t hear haughty remarks from Trixie. I climbed down and walk down the left side of the hallway. I heard a pickup from my earpiece communicator.
“I’ve been digging deeper into Dr. Evergreen. According to her bank records, there’ve been multiple payments, starting last April not two months ago, and then nothing. The payments came from a company owned by a Mrs. Purple Flower,” Oracle stated.
“One of Mane-iac’s oldest aliases; so, Mane-iac pays Dr. Evergreen to create her army and then all of a sudden she stops. Doesn’t make any sense,” I replied and thought to myself. I switched off from the communicator and paused at a nearby wall. I pulled out my Explosive Gel and sprayed the wall and pressed the button. The wall exploded with controlled force and I spotted another green question mark lying on the ground. I picked up the question mark.
“Can you hear that, Detective? It’s the sound of me clapping at your success. Aww, you can’t? That’s because an idiot would have found that trophy,” Trixie commented arrogantly. I sighed of her tedious and irking remarks and threw batarangs at some chattering teeth making the tiresome noises. I walk towards the door and opened it, with it creaking. I entered the Main Sewer Junction, where the water and waste of the sewers are being sent up to a purification system in this area.
The Main Sewer Junction is an extremely unstable area because of the deadly drop if I took one misstep. I scanned the area, taking in the environmental knowledge of the area. The junction itself is a dilapidated an abandoned area with unstable columns and pillars with bricks and mortar falling apart. I spotted a small waterfall at the very end of the junction, spotting another upper level of the junction. Moss and fern and shrubbery had overgrown the entire junction, giving it a serene yet dangerous vibe. A thick mist hangs over the drop, giving it an even deathly appearance of the drop.
I looked at the columns and pathways with a thought for me to go through the crumbling junction without falling or slipping without the slightest bit of distraction. I spotted a ridge and an unused aqueduct above me on the top layer of the junction. The aqueduct can be use gain access above the stability of the bricks, besides the point that it is one of the very stable surroundings of the area. I spotted the junction to the purification system of the sewer system above me, far above the aqueduct. The entrance is blocked off by a huge wall, which I cannot access even with my Explosive Gel and Batclaw.
I look over and spotted old railings and broken pieces of the walkway that is built above the precarious drop. The railings are adjoined with the tall pillars and columns that are ready to crumble if it continues to rot by the misty vapor and humidity of the secluded area. Luckily, there are a few lights shining in the dark area, giving me a more clarity of the room but I could be able to use Detective Vision to search for anything particular in the area. I continue to look around the area to note my surroundings until I heard my communicator switched on.
“Hey, this is weird. The payments to Dr. Evergreen’s account didn’t stop exactly, they were declined. Dr. Evergreen’s put a block on her account,” Oracle added.
‘Sounds like she had a change of heart, she tried to block her payments. Mane-iac doesn’t like it when her partners try to back out,” I said.
“So she decided to get herself back in Arkham, find her formula and create the army herself,” Oracle finished.
“Exactly,” I replied. I turned off my communicator and walk up to a broken opening of a column. I pulled out my Grappling Gun to grapple to the top layer of the junction but as the hook is attached to a segment, the bricks and cement crumbled from the spot. I pulled my Grappling Gun hook and put it back in my belt.
“This area is falling apart; it’s not safe to use the grapple. I need to climb up…the old fashioned way.”
I climbed up the opening of the pillar and jumped to a railing to climb on the broken segment of the walkway. Rusty and unstable but it can balance my weight. I continue to trudge along the broken walkways when I heard my communicator switched on as I climbed through the junction.
“I’ve hacked into her email accounts, two mails stand out. The first is a resignation letter dated last week, sounds like she’s trying to get away,” Oracle said, telling me the first email of the account as I continue to climb up on broken walkways.
“And the second?” I asked.
“A message from Mane-iac, well, Purple Flowers. It’s a long thread and…she’s begging to stop the experiment and it’s too dangerous, she’s not listening. Random threats to her family and a couple of bad jokes…a picture of a dead baby and a threat,” Oracle replied and said, not surprised that Mane-iac will threaten Evergreen’s family.
“Go on,” I said as I jumped from a ledge to another walkway that is a fallen column with some broken and missing concrete blocks and bricks but its stable enough for me to walk on. I walk on the pillar like a bridge to reach the upper level of the junction.
“She says, I’m coming for you, I want what I paid for. And then…a joke about wheelchairs, lovely. And a drawing of some kind of donkey,” Oracle said, saying Mane-iac’s email, cynical of the wheelchair jokes.
“No wonder why she’s so scared. I’m coming up to the surface, I’ll find her,” I said. The communicator switched off automatically as I shimmy on a ledge and climbed up in an opening of another column and spotted another green question mark.
“Thank Celestia, I thought you’ll never find it,” Trixie exclaimed sardonically.
Not finished in this area, I climbed down to another section of the collapsed columns and jumped in between the opening of a column and above the ceiling of the second platform above. I turned on my Detective Vision and spotted a green dot on the column far ahead of me and the invisibly painted question mark and aligned them to solve another hidden riddle. Like last time, there were no witty or arrogant remarks from the egotistical pony.
I jumped across from the area and back on the broken column and shimmied back into the track so I can leave the crumbling area. I jumped from the ledge and back on the broken segment of the column where I found a trophy. I climbed down from the opening and landed on the ground. I jumped to another platform and walk up another fallen column, which is at an angle. I climbed up and walk on a segment between the drop and another entrance of the Junction. I galloped and climbed on the walkway and destroyed three faux blabbermouths and walk through a short hallway and opened the door to leave the junction.
I entered the Surface Access, an area of the sewers that’ll lead me into Arkham North. I looked at some crates and spotted another reel with a sticky note on it. I picked up the tape to hear the recording.
“Tape Patients Session 2: Patient name, Garble Jones aka Killer Croc,” the elderly psychiatrist announced before starting the session.
“So, this is the part where you try to reason with me, find out why I did it, doc?” the beast asked mordantly.
“We’re here to help you, Mr. Jones,” Whistler replied.
“So, you got a cure for me then, doc? Can you make me…normal?” Killer Croc asked.
“Normal is a poor choice of words, no pony is really normal,” Whistler replied.
“Figured as much. So, how about this, doc? You let me go now and I won’t eat you,” the mutated dragon asked for a small deal.
“You don’t really eat ponies, it’s just an urban myth,” Whistler said.
“Really, keep believing that, doc,” the thing replied and cackled sickly and darkly before the tape switched off.
I took note of the tape and looked through a small hallway littered with cobwebs but it is cleaner than the other areas I’ve been in. I walk up the stairs that leads to a wall that is the only barricade between me and outside access. I sprayed the wall with Explosive Gel and the wall exploded. The rubble fell in a deep and treacherous drop from the exit and I’m standing. I galloped and climbed on the ledge and stood up at the door. I opened the door to leave the caves and sewers so I could find Dr. Evergreen and her formula before Mane-iac does.
I stood on the abandoned building in Arkham North. The pillars and columns of the building are still stable enough to support my weight but I need to be cautious of the broken holes that are on a platform that was a top floor. The inner and outer walls of the building appeared more crumbled and ruined than before. I trudged on the unsafe platform to get to the other side of the huge gap. I observed more Blackgate convicts in this area but I noticed that the thugs are walking in the watchtowers like guards. I noticed that two henchponies, one in each tower, is arming a sniping rifle and wearing infrared goggles. Not wanting to hear this, I heard the intercom, but the chime didn’t ring.
“Ding dong, Mane-iac again! Don’t worry about the Bat. I’ve put a few surprises along the way if she decides to turn up and spoil the fun,” the demented pony announced. She chuckled lightly afterwards. “Oh, and if you ever hear a shot in the dark, don’t worry. There’s very little chance of you getting hurt, it’s the Bat I’m after! Still, you might want to check your health insurance. Who am I kidding, you don’t have any!”
I grappled up to the first watchtower and hid behind the booth that is behind the patrolling sniper. He took no notice of me grappling up as I continue to wait for him to make his rounds. I hid behind the corner of the booth to wait for his back to be turned. I took the chance of his negligence as I grabbed his head and kicked his back legs, silencing his screams until he is sleep. I looked at the other watchtower at the far end of the area and spotted another sniper; I need to avoid the slightest detection of him when he is making his rounds.
“Snipers, looks like the Blackgate thugs have access to the armory.”
I grappled up to the roof of the watchtower I’m in and kept my eye on the guard that is aiming the sniper at the ground, looking for any even the most slimmer of movements in the dark. He continues to watch for anything out of the ordinary until he pulls up his rifle and walk to patrol to a different area.
Giving me the chance, I opened my cape and glided smoothly and silently to the other watchtower and landed on the stairs leading to the booth of the tower. I crouched seamlessly up the stairs to get in behind the guard. He was finishing his daily watch of keeping an eye out as he turned his back to go back to another position. I punched his back and held his muzzle until he is still. Now that the snipers have been taken care of, I could easily take on the convicts on the ground below.
I counted four convicts chatting up a storm in front of the Intensive Treatment building, not noticing the difference of the atmosphere and the absence of the snipers. I spotted two Pegasi, one Earth pony and a high security Griffon. I glided off of the watchtower and kicked the griffon in the face, startling the thugs. I continue my assault as I roundhouse one of the thugs, punched another one in the ribs and landed an overhead on the last thug. I knocked out the fourth thug with a Ground Takedown, crunching his face. I kicked the third thug and threw a quickfire batarang at the second thug. I lounged at the high security thug to take him down.
I grabbed his neck and head-butted his face, threw him over on the ground as I have a hold on his right arm and kicked in the joint of his shoulder and arm, snapping it. The second last thug tries to kick me but I deflect his kick with my own, tripping him and kicking him the abdomen, knocking him down. I slammed a right cross on the other thug and knocked him out with a Ground Takedown and finished the fight with a left cross on the last thug’s ribcage.
After taking care of the thugs in the area, I galloped to the automatic door that leads to Arkham East. I spotted three more of the tedious chatterboxes. I threw three batarangs at them, silencing the area from the incessant laughter and chattering. I walk up to the door and it automatically opens.
As I enter the pathway, the same ambulance that was parked earlier was moved to the side, most likely moved by the punks. I spotted several empty or half-empty drums of oil behind the brick archway of the area and the overgrown shrubbery. The environment doesn’t concern me, what really grabs my attention that really makes me livid. The two Arkham guards I met earlier, Jackson and the other one, dead. They are hanging up at the ceiling, dangling like dead puppets in a twisted manner. I used my Detective Vision and counted five cowards hiding behind the other side of the archway. I waited for them to run out of their hiding places.
“She’s here!” one shouted. One changeling tries to kick me but I grabbed his leg and punched his stomach and smashed his face twice, knocking him down. I countered another strike from another changeling by throwing his hooves to the side and repeatedly punched his face three times but I countered another hit from another one that is trying to get to my blind by hitting him with an uppercut. As I suspected, I spotted a burly changeling wearing the high security prisoner uniform wielding knives. As he is about to try to cut me, I used my cape to stun him including another thug beside him and kicked both of them to the ground. I elbowed one thug’s face, kicked him in the groin and knocked him down by bucking in his stomach. I grabbed the burly changeling’s arm, making him drop his weapons, threw him over my shoulder and punched the side of his wrist, breaking it.
The fourth changeling tries to land one on me but I grabbed his arm, landed one in his gut and punched his back. I kicked another one as I heard a comment from one of the thugs. “Don’t let her hit you!” one shouted as he tries to charge. My response is that I lifted him off the ground and punched his stomach, pinning him. I smashed one with an overhead and I jumped to another changeling by punching his face, turning him around. I grabbed a hold of his neck with one arm and threw him over my shoulder hard, slamming him to the ground, putting him to sleep. I kicked the last three thugs and knocked one out with a Ground Takedown.
“Is that all you have, Bats?” one taunted as he stood up. I knocked him out by bucking in his face. I kicked the last thug and finished him off with a Ground Takedown. I stretched my legs after finishing. I looked up at the dead ponies that are hanging up solemnly. Two lives I failed to save but I know I will save thousands when I stop Mane-iac. I threw my batarangs at both of the strings and the corpses dropped to the ground. Out of respect, I levitated their bodies and put them in a sitting position at a wall and walked out of the area to enter Arkham East. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arkham East was the area I was in after leaving the Intensive Treatment earlier. The Botanical Gardens on my left and the Arkham Mansion far ahead. I used my Detective Vision to see if there are any threats in the area. I looked up at the two watchtowers beside each other and spotted more snipers. I looked at the Arkham Mansion and spotted two more snipers switching patrolling routines to kill anypony that tries to even get near the vicinity of the Mansion on the roof of the entrance.
I grappled up to the first watchtower on my left and climbed up the railing to creep up behind the Unicorn thug as he is aiming his rifle around the Botanical Gardens, not noticing my presence. I grabbed a hold of his muzzle and grabbed his horn, negating any spell he tries to conjure up as he is screaming for breath. I let him have air after laying him down on the platform napping
“I keep losing ponies like there’s a plague in town! I guess the Bat is back. I got a couple of ponies in the guard towers covering your movements. But be careful, they’re both loose cannons with itchy trigger hooves and well…you know…accidents do happen.” Mane-iac announced without the chime or her imitation of the chime or the dissonant chime.
I dropped from the first watchtower and glided to the rocky area beside the second watchtower on my right. I grappled up to the railing of the walkway and crouched quickly yet mutely to get in behind the Earth pony that is still aiming the rifle around the area of the statue of the Warden. I punched his back and grabbed his neck and muzzle. He struggled, trying to grab anything but he became still as I lay him down.
“Any available psychos, killers, maimers and murderers that aren’t getting in the old Mansion, hurry up you fools before I feed you to the Bat herself!” The clown pony announcements are always random after her important announcements.
After taking care of the snipers in the watchtowers, I need to take care of the last two snipers watching the Arkham Mansion on the platform of the entrance. Gliding down in front of the mansion will definitely gain their attention, so I glided to the cemetery of the island and galloped to the left side of the Mansion to reach the blind side of both of the snipers.
“Hello again, boys, it’s me! Please remember to take good care of all of our hostages. They’re no good to us dead, however, a bruise here or a cut there won’t wound me,” Mane-iac announced randomly.
I galloped to the Arkham Mansion’s side and spotted the two snipers that are aiming their snipers at the front of the Mansion, not noticing my presence. However, I grappled up to the platform but I activated my digit extension as I shimmy along the edge until I’m on the other side of the platform.
“Mane-iac here, now that I’m in charge, I like to give all your feedback on the place: I’ve been specially routing the décor and I hope it helps you all become more productive in our task taking home.”
I climbed up on platform after the second sniper walks away to the left side of the Mansion as the other one is still in shooting position. I grabbed a hold on the one that is aiming to silence him until he is napping. I climbed down to the ledge and shimmied on the ledge until I’m in front of the last sniper. Without warning, I grabbed one of his back legs and drug him over the edge until he is strung up on the ledge. He screamed and cried as he is upside down, panting heavily as he begins to hyperventilate. He passed out sooner after.
“Ding dong, Warden Mane-iac would like to announce that as of today, all Arkham guards have been fired due to budget cuts.”
After dealing with the snipers, I looked at the statue of the Warden in the center of the region. The statue stood tall above the area with Quincy holding his cane in his left hoof but I spotted burning wood and driftwood. I looked up at the face and noticed that his face is painted like the Mane-iac. The signature blood red smile is painted on his face and his hair is painted green and his face painted purple. I landed on the ground in front of the Mansion and noticed a banner in front of the entrance that read “Mane-iac ASYLUM, HA! HA! HA! HA!”
The words are written in a crude manner with spray paint splattered in spots, blots and sometimes smiley faces. The banner waved in the wind with multiple rips in the fabric, Rarity would’ve had a heart attack if she sees this. I looked up at spotted another guard member hanging on a string dead. I cut him down with my batarang and respectfully laid him beside the wall of the entrance. I walk up to the door of the Mansion to continue to find Dr. Evergreen, the formula and Cash. I used my magic to open the entrance.
I opened the door leading in the Arkham Mansion to find Dr. Evergreen and the formula before the Mane-iac does. I entered in the Mansion Entrance Hall, where there is a wide doorway but no doors. There is an electrical security gate in front of me. Beyond the gate is a statue of the Warden on a pedestal with two small stairways leading farther into the Mansion. The entrance is decorated with the Arkham logo on the wall and on the floor. Unfortunately, the security gate is activated and there are two Blackgate scumbags behind it.
"Well, look who it is," an Earth pony thug said in a sarcastic tone.
"The Big Bad Bat, come on, come and get us," the second one added. The Pegasus thug turned and raised his flank in the air and shook it mockingly. I shook my in slight annoyance of these buffoons.
"Oh, look at her, she's stuck out there, don't you have a cat to rescue from a tree or something?" the first thug asked.
"Yeah, go on out, we're in control of here, Mane-iac will finish you off," the second one added. Knowing it'll waste a little time, I simply gave them silence and turned back around to head back outside. I know there is another way in the Mansion, so I have to go up.
Back outside, I grappled up to the concrete platform where I took out the last two snipers earlier and spotted a grate that'll lead in the Mansion above the security gate and the idiotic dolts. I pulled out my Batclaw and the claw grabbed the grate and pulled it. I climbed in the vent. I dropped down in a small space with stacks of paper cluttered amongst the walls. I opened the door that leads back in the Mansion.
I'm back in the Mansion Entrance Hall. I'm on a carpet ledge, high above the the thugs, now counting three of them, one unicorn levitating a machine gun. On the far end of the hall, there is a ventilation duct that can lead me further in the Mansion. I looked over the thugs and listening to their conversation.
"Yeah, I can't believe Batmare just left!" a thug exclaimed.
"Yeah, stinking coward limped off, can't feel it in her legs," another one commented teasingly.
"Tried to get past the security gates and couldn't do it," the third one added.
"Too bad, I would've got the chance to rip her head off!" one commented.
I glided off the platform and headed towards the unicorn with the gun. I kicked him in the face with my hind legs, sending him towards the ground in a great daze. My landing made the other two thugs backed away slightly from the glide attack. Now taking the chance and time, I immediately took out the gunner with a Ground Takedown and countered the second thug's punch by throwing away his front hoof, sweeping him off of his legs with my right front hoof and punched him in the gut to pin him down. I continued my attack by kicking the third thug and took him out with another Ground Takedown. The last thug stood up from his beating but I threw a batarang at him, knocking him down again and I lept in the air to knock him out with a Ground Takedown.
After finishing the thugs, I galloped to the bottom of the small staircase and found a grate. I pulled the grate off and crawled in the vent. Like I expected, I found another Riddler trophy. I crawled back out of the vent and grappled up to the top of a ventilation duct system at the far end of the hall, back up in the ceiling.
"So, you found it at last, what have you been doing with your time?" Trixie asked.
I looked up at the ceiling and spotted another grate. I used the Batclaw to pull out the grate and grappled up through the duct. In a small space that has fuse and breaker boxes, I spotted a weak wall that can be accessed further in the Mansion. I pulled out the Explosive Gel and sprayed it on the wall. I pressed the detonator and the wall exploded in a cloud of rubble and dust.
In front of me, there is another ventilation system in the bottom right and in front of me is another cryptic trapezoidal stone with the inscriptions around the beetle, another Chronicle of Arkham. I used the Environmental Anaylsis to decrypt the message.
My family's killer stood in front of me. Years of therapy have deemed him sane, I was proud to see him walk freely. In exchange for his liberty, the state required only a signature. He talked about wanting to walk in the park, how he longed to feel fresh air on his face. Then he took my father's fountain pen and killed my secretary. As he was subdued, he screamed out pleading for forgiveness, for pity...but I had none. I watched as the guards beat him to a stain on the floor.
Taking note of the message that Amadeus allowed the guards to kill the killer for his failure of redemption, I continue to crawl in the ventilation duct and dropped out of the duct in the Main Hall. Back on top, I spotted several Blackgate convicts throwing, ripping, looking, and observing through the gathered books, paper, data, all sorts of printed paper to search for what I know is the formula for the Mane-iac.
The Main Hall has the statue of Amadeus Arkham in the center of the two miniature stairs leading to two small monitoring buildings that watch two doors at the end of the hall. A small office space is spotted below me, with the crumpled up and messy and unorganized paper that was haphazardly and unceremoniously thrown away and about by the convicts.
Speaking of Mane-iac, the intercom chimed in, in its normal tune.
"Mane-iac here with a little update for you: First the good news is, we have Dr. Evergreen. Bad news is...she's not talking. She must have her documents somewhere in the Mansion, I want it found. I got a plan or six of loosening her tongue but take time, search every cook and granny, there's a prize for whoever finds them."
I counted ten convicts, an easy match. I glided off the deck and kicked the observer in the back of the head, all Earth ponies. I continued my assault by hitting the second thug with a roundhouse and the third one the same. I kneed the fourth thug in the face and hit the sixth one with a cartwheel kick. I countered the seventh thug's punch by sweeping him off of his legs and hitting him in the stomach. I hit the eighth thug with an axe kick and I grabbed the ninth thug's right front leg, throwing him over the side and punched the knee and hoove connection bone, breaking his leg. One down, nine to go.
I hit the tenth with a butterfly kick and the eighth with a roundhouse. I knocked down the fifth with an overhead punch and countered the second's punch but grabbed his right hind leg, kicked him in the groin and kneed him in the face. I pinned down the third by a straightforward punch in the gut. I grabbed the fourth and threw him away.
