The Lockdown

Standing there in a cold sweat Frank realized he hadn't checked in with the men for the night. "Patrol, this is Jameson over. Going down to the cellar to check on the patients in the Level 5 block over. I'll radio back in when I am finished with the head count." He finished his usual speech and turned his key in the elevator. The doors closed and he was left with his thoughts. "My last night to tuck in the monsters that hide under Gotham's bed. Hope they aren't getting cranky waiting on their bedtime story." He chuckled to himself trying to make light of what it was he was about to do.

The doors opened without a noise and the dark hall came into view. Even after 20 years the place still looked about the same. The lights were hung at odd angles that gave the shadows a life of their own. He didn't need a list for these cells. These were the worst killers and terrorists that Gotham had to offer. He walked down the line past another guard that was fumbling with his key card. Frank approached him and tapped him on the shoulder. "What you up to officer?" The guard nearly jumped out of his skin. His face was white and his voice shook when he talked. "I left him alone for a minute...just one minute to finish delivering the food and I come back and.....well look!" Frank looked into the cell. It was bare save a cot and a chair. The light had been smashed out and the only thing visible from the hall lights was the back of a figure curled up in a ball on the floor. The other officer pulled his key card up and placed it into the slot. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Frank said as he ripped the key card from the slot before it could recognize. "What?" The confused guard said startled again. Frank pointed back to the body in the cell. "Watch him, thats Johnathan Crane he's the one they call Scarecrow. If he's dead let him stay dead." The puzzled guard kept watching. "When it comes to the prisoners, I mean patients, on this level if they look dead give them a week. If by the end of the week they're still laying there dead we check on them." The guard looked at Jameson shocked and appalled. "But that's inhuman, what if they need medical attention? They could be dying while we watch." Frank snapped the guards card in half. "It'd be a pleasant change from the opposite."

As he continued down the hall the guard watched Crane in his cell. The body was limp and unmoving for what seemed like minutes before the guard saw him move. He stood and walked up to the glass, a piece of light bulb glass clutched tightly in his hand. "You can't live forever Jameson!" Crane bellowed after Frank. "No, but I can try." Frank said calmly to himself. The next cell on the roster was Waylon Jones, alias Killer Croc. Croc rushed the glass as Frank passed by, but the glass repelled him. "Try all you want you scaly bastard. As long as there is power left in Arkham those cells will be secure." Frank was right. The cells in Arkham were all normal save the ones in the Level 5 area. These cells were specially made and fitted so that eltrical impulses passed between the polymers in the glass making it as hard as steel. "It's an all star cast tonight." Thought Jameson. Harvey "Two-face" Dent, Pamela "Poison Ivy" Isley, Victor Fries, Edward "The Riddler" Nigma, Jervis "Mad Hatter" Tetch, and of course the line up would not be complete without the infamous Jack"The Joker" Napier. What a sewer full of slime we hold on to. If I had it my way this wing would have been bricked off and forgotten about long ago. I suppose its a good thing for you mental cases that I'm only in charge of your lives and not your deaths."

Jameson deliberately left a pair of names off of the roster. Partially for his own peace of mind and partially because he didn't want the others to think they were still alive. The cells at the end of the main hall were sealed and no admittance was allowed ever. One was a large room like the others that held a small canister in place mid air and the other was a solid iron door with no outward way in. These were the permanent resting places of the super criminals Matt "Clayface" Hagen and "Bane". Hagen had no need for food and Bane had his pumped into him from an elaborate system of IV's and food tubes. Because he was always heavily sedated and had all of his solids and fluids regulated for him, there was no need to even have an admissible way to access him. "All here, unfortunately all alive, and all still secure." Frank began walking back to the elevator.

"This is your last night on the job isn't it Officer Jameson?" A high pitched slimy voice came from beyond one of the cells. "What is it to you Jack?" Frank said turning back to his cell. The joker stood, arms folded behind his back staring at Jameson. "Why do you always call me that? Everyone else on staff calls me Joker." Frank pointed a finger at him as began his turn back. "Because letting you have that name is giving you an inch of power. I want to make sure you know that you are not humans, you are monsters and you deserve to be treated as monsters." His foot falls carried him to the center of the hallway. "Can we go? Without my key, you are the only way out." Frank smiled as he looked at the officer. "Yes, but next time be more cautious in your thinking. Do you know what could have happened if even one of these killers got free?" As Frank talked the normal buzzing of the lights slowed to a hum and then stopped. "What the hell is.." Frank couldn't finish his question before the lights went out. "Oh my god!" The other guard exclamed. "Don't worry, we have back ups for this situation." As he spoke the back up batteries came online. "There must be one hell of a storm going. You see kid, as long as these batteries hold out we'll be fine." As he spoke the lights flickered and fell off again. Frank quickly reached for his gun. He heard a quiet tapping. "We're screwed!" The other guard yelled in the darkness. "Quiet, what is that noise?" As Frank's eyes adjusted to the dark he peered into the cell in front of him. He saw the cause of the sound. Croc was pulling a single nail along the glass making long plexiglass strands. He smiled wide at the guards and moved back in his cell beyond sight. "Run and whatever you do don't stop running." Frank whispered as he began to run as fast as he could towards the open elevator doors. "Cup your hands so I can get up and then I'll pull you up." "No way! I'm going first, and I'll pull you up." The other guard insisted. "Fine, just go!" Frank demanded as he cupped his hands. The guard stepped into the cup and pushed the emergency hatch free and climbed on top of the car. "Now pull me up!" Frank said, but he was cut short as the sound of shattering glass filled his ears. Frank leaped into the service hatch and slammed the door shut. "Thank god...we're safe." The guard said as they heard a rustling underneath them. A giant clawed hand burst through the top of the elevator and grabbed the guard and began pulling his man sized body through the football sized hole. Frank though he was going to puke watching it, but no time for that.

He grabbed hold of the service ladder and began climbing. His only hope at this point was that as soon as he hit the guard station on level 4 he would be able to get enough reinforcements to hold back the monsters that would surely be following him up.

Moyra Nelson paced the short length of her cell restlessly as the guards moved up and down the halls performing checks. She glanced up bemusedly as the new transfer peered through the reinforced glass. A muffled conversation commenced outside her door.

"Cell 8," Mr. Cagney, the shift leader, remarked casually. "Patient 41658208. Nelson, Moyra, aka Hellcat." "This is Hellcat?" The other guard shook his head. "She looks like a schoolteacher."
"Yeah, well don't let her deceive you," Cagney snorted. "The last time we transferred her, she nearly took off someone's ear. The nut job has teeth like a piranha, and an appetite to match. Since the state won't fund cosmetic procedures, the best we can do is keep her muzzled."
He glanced at his watch. "I've got to finish these checks before Frank comes back through. Watch your fingers, Cooper."

Moyra had little interest in such prattle, and proceeded to stretch out onto her bunk. The constant glare of fluorescent light bothered her eyes. She closed them and massaged her temples.

Slowly, the observation slot slid open and Moyra propped herself up onto her elbows.

"Here, kitty kitty," Cooper taunted as he wiggled his fingers at her. Moyra cocked her head and fixed her eyes upon him. Clearly, Arkham Asylum had lowered it's standards considerably. He began to snap and make tsk-ing noises. Moyra smiled at him sweetly, barely revealing a row of finely sharpened teeth. "I wonder what you taste like," she purred softly.

Her musing was suddenly interrupted by a flicker of lights followed by the rising and steady shrill of the alarm. "What the..." Cooper whispered as the power failed, leaving the ward awash in red light. Licking her lips hungrily, Moyra closed the short span and sunk her teeth into the careless hand. She clamped her jaw tight and shook her head, growling low and reveling in the moment of perfect stillness that preceded the broken screams of her victim. Cooper jerked his hand towards himself violently, leaving strips of skin dangling from her bloodstained teeth. "Ahh," she moaned, tossing her head back and letting the hot blood run down her neck. Cooper stumbled wide-eyed away from her door, clutching his maimed hand in disbelief.
Moyra watched as a rush of guards thundered down the corridor towards the lift, weapons out and visors down, leaving the foolish young man bewildered in their wake. She wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, a feral grin lighting up her face.

The ward erupted in a cacophony of radio static and frantic orders, and a collective keening rose above the din as the patients began to rouse.

Tonight would be a night to remember.

Daniel felt the icy chill shoot up and down his spine the moment the lights went out. He had been in plenty of facility maintenance situations before where the lights would flicker and for even a moment perhaps turn to black, but when the entire grid went down, it was all too clear that chaos was only a breath away from becoming all too strong a part of reality.

Instinctively he reached for his maglite, illuminating the hallway leading to the elevators with a single pillar of light. He wondered how long it would be before the backup power would kick in. The few moments the power had been down had been too long already. Much of the security on the fifth floor relies heavily on the electricity coursing through the cells, keeping the more beastial inmates in place.

Best get to the guard station, Daniel thought to himself. It would only be a matter of moments before things started to get sketchy, and the last thing he wanted was to be caught lost in the dark.

Almost as if cue'd be his thoughts, and resounding thud resonated from the elevator. Daniel watched at dust shook itself loose from the old ceiling.

No time for hesitation, Daniel raced to the elevator, .45 caliber in hand. Using the maintenance key issued to him he released the elevator doors safety latch and pull the doors apart.

holding his flashlight billy club style in his left hand under this right hand, which aimed the gun down the dark elevator shaft, Daniel felt as though his stomach had just hit the floor. Down below, scrambling up the maintenance ladder was Frank. It didn't take long to tell what the red pool forming at his feet was. One of the other guards was being mutilated like an orange being pulled through a juicer.

Damnit, he ain't going out like some two bit character from a Lethal Weapon movie, Daniel thought to himself. He redirected the beam of light away from Frank's face to keep from accidentally blinding him. He looked down at the butt of his .45 to verify the round type. Tranquilizers. Seemed a shame to not be throwing lead at whatever was coming through the door, but if his suspicions where correct, bullets would do nothing but piss off who was causing all that carnage anyway.

"Give me your hand!" Daniel yelled out as he placed his flash light on the ground next to him, reaching for Frank to pull him up.

He knew that only seconds remained before that hole by Franks feet got alot bigger, and he didn't want to be anywhere near it when whatever was on the other side came through.

"Is it - is it true?" the weary guard stood in front of a cell in a dimly lit hallway, staring down at the disheveled man on the floor.

The figure twitched a little and then responded, "Is what true?", almost in a childishly sarcastic way.

"What they say you did to that girl - is it true?"

"You sir, will have to be a bit more specific, there have been many girls."

"DID YOU SKIN HER ALIVE YOU MONSTER?!" the guard burst into white hot rage as Alex Traz laughed wildly into his cell.

"Of course I did. The most shocking thing of all is that they actually got a rumor right. Not only did I skin her though, I wore the skin, like a suit. I've never been warmer, blood is quite the insulator." Alex smirked, bringing his head into the light.

"You're a monster Traz, I never understood why they didn't put you in level 5!"

"Probably because I don't have some catchy nickname I suppose. Not every one can be a "The Joker" or a "Two-Face"." Alex burst into mad cackling again at his own joke.

The reverberation of the echoes soon died away as the last bit of sound escaped the cell. The guard stood awestruck at how someone could have such cold-blooded instincts, no mercy, no love. As he gazed into the white eyes of Alex K. Traz, the notorious murderer, he couldn't help but feel hate, and pity.

"Hey Larry," a guard was running past the cells, as the guard known as Larry turned around, "we gotta get outta here, something bad has happened on level 5!" the other guard continued onward, not looking back.

"You hear that Traz, now you plarggg-" Alex grabbed the guard around his throat through the bars.

"No, I didn't hear that, but you will listen to me. How does it feel, Larry? Do you feel helpless, alone, don't you realize now that all of the guards are out of here, no where near enough to save you?" Larry started to cry.

"Ple - e - ease don't kill me, I have a wife, kids... I don't want to die!"

"Oh no, no, Larry. Don't worry yourself, I won't kill you, I like to play with my meat before I eat it. But you will never forget this, remember, you are helpless to the world outside, if it wasn't for these bars, you'd already be dead." Alex was so close to his ear now, Larry could feel the heat of his breath. "Now you run along Larry, and you remember, you are helpless!"

Alex released the man, and chuckled as he ran off towards the door that would lead to level three.

"What a fool, what an utter fool..." Alex gazed into the palm of his hand at the key card that once belonged to the guard, Larry. He tossed it up and down a few times, and hopefully slid it into the access panel on the wall next to his cell. The clinking of metal inside the door told him it worked, and he watched the door pull back into it's standby position. Alex slipped the card into his pocket and began walking towards level three. If any were awake in their cells at that time, they would have been greeted by the tune of "Don't Worry, Be Happy" as Alex whistled, aware that tonight was going to bring about wonderful surprises.