Attack of the Clones

The Aston left the hospital as the clock struck seven in the evening. As I passed the checkpoint and then the only bridge connecting the island to Gotham, I breathed a sigh of relief. Until the last moment, I had a feeling that everything would go the same way again, and I would have to fight off either another escaped patient or a crazy doctor. Luckily, everything went fairly smoothly, and even the brief conversation with Fryce didn't upset me much.

The scientist is not a fool and should realize that nobody even wants him for nothing, and the only thing he has is a brilliant mind and a couple of cool technologies. Besides, if he is released from the asylum and all charges are dropped, he will need money to create suitable conditions for himself and his frozen wife, who, by the way, has to be treated for an unknown disease, which is not a cheap pleasure either.

I thought, hypnotizing with my gaze the brake light of the car in front of me. I'd have to get Bats to sponsor it, since it was his subordinate who had caused Victor's fortune, and I had my doubts that the loss of even a hundred million would hit the billionaire's wallet hard, considering how much he spent on his nighttime toys.

My thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of my smartphone.

"Just wish it was Natalie with good news," I asked the universe, glancing at the "Number Not Specified" placard. - Or Alan, who had the cash ready.

The request was ignored as Alfred's serious voice came from the speaker. After a short greeting, the butler relayed the information about the alarm going off at the Western Mercy Hospital.

I quickly type in the coordinates and realize that I have to drive just two blocks to the target. That's a suspiciously lucky coincidence.

"Alfred, are you going to track all my movements like Bruce?" I asked, shifting into the right lane. - It's not very pleasant, you know.

"You're wrong to think I could plant a tracker on you. It's much simpler than that. There are cameras at the Arkham Asylum exit that the Batcomputer has access to. It's evening, a lot of people are rushing home from work, traffic on the main streets is backed up, so it wasn't hard for me to calculate your approximate location. I'm sure you haven't even made it past Gotham Central School," the older man replied calmly.

I looked to the left, where the time-darkened, majestic columns of the educational institution appeared, supporting the roof, on which the silhouettes of gargoyles were visible. I looked to the left, where I could see the time-darkened, majestic columns of the school supporting the roof, where the silhouettes of gargoyles were visible.

"Let's say I believed it. I'll be there in seven minutes.

I turned off Grant Street into one of the many alleys, fixing a small diamond on the dashboard. Already at the exit, the Aston had changed its license plate number and acquired a deep black color, blending in with the general palette of the gloomy city. Of course, my car still looks incredibly stylish and cool, but it's not so striking compared to the red version.

When I reached Loeb Boulevard, I parked in the nearest available space, and then ducked back into the dark alleys, where I used a fire escape to climb to the roof of a high-rise building. I had time to change my clothes, hiding behind a ventilation duct, when Alfred called again.

While one hero was climbing the building, the police were contacted by the head doctor and informed about the false alarm. Naturally, the patrolmen will still arrive at the place, but now they are unlikely to be in a hurry, and given the traffic jams, you can wait for them for almost an hour. The lousy thing is that it's still necessary to check the hospital, because Bats's paranoia turned out to be contagious, and the elderly Briton was not lazy to hack into the medical center's servers, having discovered that some of the cameras installed on the lower level in the south wing were out of order. Plugging my headset into my smartphone to stay connected, I head towards the target.

"Oracle, are you sure there's anything to worry about?" I asked, standing on the edge of the roof, where I had a good view of the six-story rectangular brick structure with huge windows, which made it almost thirty meters high. - Maybe there's a problem with the wiring?

The usual bustle of the evening city could be seen below. People were quietly entering and exiting through the center doors, and an ambulance pulled up to the end of the building. I couldn't see very well from my position, but it looked like a man was being carried inside on a stretcher. It is unlikely that the establishment would have continued to operate normally if there had been a threat.

"There's no harm in checking, and you're already there. I suggest you check the south wing emergency exit," the man advised.

Eh, he's right. A short burst, and I flew to the roof of a neighboring building, circling the perimeter of the hospital.

"Something's really wrong," I said thoughtfully into the microphone, looking around the alley where a roomy blue van with stained license plates was parked.

It might well have been a coincidence if there hadn't been a man in a tracksuit standing at the ajar door of the hospital, keeping a close eye on the street. The emergency exit is an emergency exit that should be opened only in case of an emergency.

"Do you think the bosses are sitting in the office or hanging out near the south wing?" I asked after a short pause.

We need to do some recon, and preferably start with the person who canceled the alarm. What if the guy at the door is just a repairman?

"The head of the hospital, Christopher Dunch, is an incredibly responsible person and a competent professional, so if something did happen, he would be nearby.

"Just in case," I put the beacon I'd taken from Bats's hideout under the bridge on the roof of the van, and then walked to the fire escape, pocketing my cane, a small mask, and a cylinder as I went.

"What are you up to?

"I'll come in as a regular visitor," I shrug.

In any case, I had a dynamic illusion on my face, and my hair was dyed a normal dark color with a potion, so all I had to do was conjure up some normal clothes to blend in with the crowd. In principle, there is no need for a mask at all, although I tried to optimize the spell, limiting it to the area of the nasolabial triangle, eyes and chin to reduce mana consumption. Naturally, because of this approach, there are slight inconsistencies in the places of contact with the skin, but the mana expenditure has been drastically reduced, and if I wanted to, I could maintain this combination on my own for almost half an hour before I collapsed from exhaustion.

I entered the emergency room without a hitch and headed toward the south wing, popping into some cleaning supplies, where my clothes were transformed into a white coat so that I'd be less likely to be noticed by the local staff.

As I got closer to my goal, I began to see more and more nursing staff escorting patients away from the south wing, but soon that flow dried up, and I emerged into a yellow-taped first-floor corridor guarded by a pair of sturdy nurses. Eh, I should have brought a spider drone with me for reconnaissance. Okay, let's try to make a deal for a change.

"The passage is closed," the man said sternly, standing in my way.

"I need to speak to Christopher Dunham right away.

"He's... he's busy right now," a note of fear slipped into his voice.

So we have: a tripped alarm, a canceled police call, cameras not working, a suspicious van at an open back door, a blocked passageway to the south wing, and fear in the voice of a "security guard"... Apply the method of "induction" and we get a hostage situation. Eh, if I'm wrong, it'll be embarrassing.

A small pulse of magic, and the white robe turns into a black cloak, as if composed of many small scales, deftly scrolling in the hand extracted from the pocket of a long cane.

"Allow me to introduce myself, Knight of the Moonlight.

The moment the illusion was removed, the hospital staff jumped back and were now looking at me tensely.

"I need to speak to your superiors immediately. Dunch is in there, isn't he?" I squinted at the tape, ready to taser him at any moment, because the men in front of me might be in cahoots with the bandits. It looks suspicious.

They looked at each other.

"Listen, did you by any chance pull the commissioner back from the dead by reattaching his head?" one of the nurses, named Bertram, according to his badge, suddenly asked.

"Ahem, I'm not that tough. It was just a severed carotid artery.

My interlocutor looked around carefully, paying special attention to the corridor behind him, and then said quietly:

"Arnie, watch the entrance for a couple minutes.

"Do you think it's worth it?" The second employee asked in a whisper, clearly nervous.

"The police would be of little help here. This way, please," the man went into the nearest room, where there was an ordinary treatment room: a table, a computer, a couple of chairs, a couch, drawers for documentation, and a glass cabinet with medicines.

"Tell me what happened," I asked, stepping in next and closing the door behind me.

"Bandits broke into the drugstore and took four people hostage, including Dunch," Bertram said flatly.

"So, let's go in order: where are they, how many are there, and why? The last one, if you have time," I clarified after a short pause.

There was enough time, and in the course of a short story I managed to reconstruct the whole chain of events. It all started when the alarm system went off in the pharmacy department, which was promptly knocked out by the criminals. As it usually happens, instead of following the instructions, a couple of interns were sent to check what happened, who were the first to fall into the clutches of the bandits, followed by their supervisor, and then the head doctor, who canceled the call under the threat of reprisals against the hospital staff. As far as Bertram could understand, the robbers needed some specific drugs that are synthesized on site, so they seized the basement in the south wing, where the necessary equipment was located. In the strictest secrecy, Deputy Dunch was able to organize a semblance of an evacuation and lock down some of the rooms so as not to cause panic.

The man didn't know exactly how many people were in the gang, but I'm sure it's hardly more than eight, given that it's not the biggest car and that they could only assign one person to guard the emergency exit, plus, according to the medical officer, two more guarding the entrance from the main premises. It seems not fatal and I successfully coped with a large number of people, but still there are a couple of nuances that can lead to unfortunate consequences. It's worth starting with the fact that, unlike the upper levels, the lower floors don't have a lot of space, and an ordinary automaton can cause a lot of problems. The second nuance was the presence of hostages, whom the criminals were unlikely to let go, even after receiving all the drugs.

The cherry on the cake is the leader of a small gang. Bertram had only seen a glimpse of him, but he couldn't help noticing his distinctive green hair and pale skin.

"Okay, I'm on it.

"Um... I should probably warn Mr. Dunmer," the man began uncertainly. - Jeffrey Dunmer, the deputy," he explained in response to my puzzled look.

"Suit yourself," I shrugged, opening the map of the building loaded on my smartphone.

There were only a couple of rooms downstairs where the drugs were stored, but only one had a normal lab, and it was unlikely that the robbers would spray their forces when both entrances were blocked.

"Oracle, did you hear that?" I asked quietly, walking past the on-duty Arnie, who didn't bother to stop me.

"Yeah. Do you have a plan?

"Naturally. By the way, you can call the police and have them pick up the bastard by the car," I check how the cloak fits and how much charge is left in the harpoon. It's time for magic.

***

Tom Blank and his companion, wearing ridiculous lab coats, were on duty at the entrance to the basement, even though they didn't need to be. Their boss had intimidated the dumb doctors so badly that they had done most of the work themselves, not only canceling the alarm, but shutting down the south wing on some flimsy pretext. Surprisingly, the drug seizure operation was going rather smoothly, despite the presence of a not quite adequate boss, who was a bit intimidating to his subordinates not only by his strong resemblance to the Joker, but also by his behavior. The man had seen it before, when drug addicts were going through withdrawal, so it was not surprising that now they were robbing the hospital and not some bank or jewelry store. It was also clear as day that ordinary substances were unlikely to work on a man who was rumored to have bathed in chemical waste, so now a couple of local employees were working with the machines, creating something incredibly nasty.

Suddenly, someone's hurried footsteps sounded in the distance.

The bandits looked at each other. Soon a hurrying man dressed in a magician's costume came around the corner. His first thought was that he was some kind of hero, but Blank could see that he was unmasked. And his outfit looked relatively ridiculous: black pants with arrows, the same color bowtie, a cylinder and a heavy cloak, his body covered by a plain white shirt, and his hands clad in thin gloves.

"Finally, people," the magician was obviously happy, running closer and leaning on his cane, catching his breath. - I'm sorry, I've been wandering around for almost five minutes, and I have to go to the children's ward right away!

"It's definitely not here, get lost," the criminal replied gruffly.

"But...

"Is something not clear to you?" Blank's comrade came forward, standing opposite the man in the cylinder and placing his hand on the pistol hidden behind his belt.

There was a quiet crackling sound.

"What?" Tom looked perplexed at his friend, reaching for his weapon, but froze when the light in the corridor flickered strangely and the stranger's figure began to grow in size, becoming coal-black, making it look like a slip into darkness.

On the monster's face there was a mad, wide smile of sharp snow-white teeth, and two eyes with black dots of pupils without a hint of iris seemed to stare straight into his soul.

"N-n-don't come near me," the shaking bandit tried to back away, but a clawed hand lifted him off the floor and grabbed him by the collar of his clothes.

"How many people are in the gang," the monster's hoarse voice was creepy.

"Wha...

"I don't say it twice," the mouth opened wide, intent on chewing off the head.

"Seven!" Tom still found the strength to answer.

Suddenly, a powerful discharge ran through his body, sending him into a blackout, so he didn't see the monster shaking its paw while cursing.

***

"It was unpleasant," I shake my hand, trying to get rid of the phantom sensation of the shocker and figuring out where to get some thicker gloves.

I couldn't believe it, but I was able to hold the illusion on my own, but the spell lasted only fifteen seconds, but it was full-blown and mind-affecting. Heh, I'll be a full-fledged magician soon enough.

"Are you all right?" Alfred asked worriedly.

"Yeah. Four more to go, if you don't count the thug at the entrance," I disarm and tie up the bastards just in case, then open the door to the basement.

Behind it, a small platform with a freight elevator and a staircase awaited me. After a short descent down the steep steps, I found myself in a corridor lit by dim fluorescent lights. White tiles, tile on the floor, something about this place reminded me of the morgue section of Arkham Asylum, where I'd been running from Bats, drugged by Scarecrow's toxin... Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh, fuck such associations.

One of the doors on the right side was ajar, and I headed for it, listening to my surroundings. If the map was to be believed, that was where most of the laboratory facilities were.

Using a small mirror to look around the room.

So, inside there were really only four criminals scattered around the room, and four hostages. Two of them are sitting tied up in a corner next to the grinning boss, one is working with a centrifuge, and the last one is carefully stacking drugs in a special suitcase for transportation.

Given that none of the bandits are holding guns, my plan has an almost 100 percent chance of success.

"Who ordered the magician?" It was with these words that I burst into the room, and immediately activated the modified flash. The card went flying at the same time, knocking the gun out of the green-haired thug's hand, who had a great reaction time.

"Bitch!

I swiftly closed in on the nearest swearing criminal, punching him in the jaw. The next one got a cane shot, and another got a low-kick that practically spun him in the air.

The last one was left, with a wounded arm, whom I tasered just in case, as well as the "pirate", so that he would stop screaming from the pain in his broken leg.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked the hostages, who were trying to blink after the spell.

"Was it over already?" Dunch asked uncertainly, since he was the only one who fit the description of the tall, dark-haired, chubby man who'd had his nose broken more than once.

"Sort of," I untied two of the interns and led the four of them out into the hallway by the hand. - Did the criminals communicate with each other in any way?

"Uh, no.

"All right, well, go to the elevator, and I've got some work to do.

"Wait...," Christopher tried to be indignant.

"No 'wait,'" I said, adding more seriousness to my voice. - There's still one armed robber at the emergency exit, and there are two bound men lying at the basement entrance who need to be watched before they wake up and try to escape. All right?

After making sure that the medical staff silently went in the right direction, I returned to the room, deciding to take a closer look at the gang leader, for which I had to turn him over on his back. There was no hurry with the last bandit, because the guards would arrive soon and could deal with him themselves, maybe even shoot him if he resisted.

Strange... This man looks absolutely nothing like the mad doctor's last patient, and yet I was initially sure it was him. Think greenish hair, pale skin, and a very wide, creepy smile. Hell, it turns out his muscles were so tightly contracted that they literally deformed his jaw into a grin. Taking a couple photos on my smartphone, I pulled back an eyelid and saw that his eyes boasted a green iris of acidic hue... Hmm, and his fingertips were burned, making identification even more difficult.

"The police have neutralized the last one," Oracle intervened in my musings.

Damn, there was a faint hope that I'd make it before they arrived. But now it was unlikely I'd be able to get away without being seen, so I could finish what I'd started.

Drawing some blood into a tube, but it looks like some chemicals were applied to this man that will skew the results of any DNA tests.

"Halloween is long over, and you're still in costume," I was distracted from studying the criminal by a familiar male voice.

"It's good to see you too, Harvey," I reply calmly, rising from my knees.

"Did you find anything interesting?" The detective walked over slowly, and looked at my find and grimaced. - Joker... That's the third one today.

"Yeah, and the fucked up part is that it's not a Hugo patient... Wait, what did you just say!

"That's the third Joker today," Bullock said calmly, as if he were talking about the weather. - Just five minutes ago, we got word that two more had been arrested in New Gotham and Little Italy.

"Fuck...

"I couldn't have said it better," he pulled out a cigarette case, but after looking at the smoke detectors, he put it back. - Shit, I think I'm starting to miss the old Joker... One big action every three or four months, and now it's almost every day. There ain't enough people to plug all the holes.

"The consequences after these assholes are still less than after the original," I glanced at the downed bandit.

"Maybe," the man paused, looking at me carefully. - There's been a complaint about you.

"If it's from the Chief Medical Officer, you know better than to keep all the civilians away. Let him be glad I didn't kick him out.

"Makes sense. Okay, let's go. I'll walk you out, unless you've learned to disappear like Batman.