Chapter 14

The smell of smoke and chaos filled the air as Private Eye swung through Gotham's streets. His muscles ached from the previous night's encounter with Deathstroke, but adrenaline pushed the pain aside. The argument with Zoe still echoed in his mind, fueling a simmering anger that threatened to boil over.

As he neared Arkham Island, the full scale of the disaster unfolded before him. The asylum's gothic towers belched black smoke into the night sky, while GCPD helicopters circled like frantic fireflies. On the streets below, pandemonium reigned.

Private Eye's comm crackled to life – Batman's secure channel.

"Private Eye," the Dark Knight's voice cut through the static. "We need all hands on deck. The situation is—"

"Already on it," Private Eye interrupted, his tone clipped. "I'm taking the East End."

A brief pause. "Understood. Be cautious. These aren't your average street thugs."

Landing on a gargoyle overlooking Crime Alley, Private Eye's enhanced hearing picked up the unmistakable sound of maniacal laughter. The Joker was close.

He found the Clown Prince of Crime in a small plaza, terrorizing a group of civilians with his acid-spewing flower. The sight of innocent people dead and cowering in fear sent a surge of rage through Private Eye's body.

"Playtime's over, bitch!" he shouted, launching himself into the fray.

The Joker spun, his Glasgow smile widening impossibly. "Well, well! If it isn't the spider-brat I've heard so much about! Come to join Uncle J's homecoming party?"

Private Eye's response was a web shot aimed directly at the Joker's face. As the clown stumbled backward, clawing at the sticky substance, Private Eye closed the distance.

The fight was brutal and personal. Each of Private Eye's strikes carried the full force of his enhanced strength, fueled by pent-up frustration. He dodged the Joker's wild knife swings with fluid grace, retaliating with precision blows to pressure points.

"My, my!" the Joker cackled, even as blood trickled from his split lip. "Someone's in a mood today! Girlfriend trouble, perhaps?"

The taunt hit too close to home. Private Eye's next punch connected with a sickening crunch, sending the Joker flying into a nearby dumpster. A part of him wanted to finish that waste of oxygen off and dump him in the rat-infested trash, who would care?

As he webbed the unconscious clown securely, the familiar sound of a grappling hook pierced the air.

Batman landed beside him, cowl-covered eyes taking in the scene. "Efficient," he said, his tone carefully neutral. "But perhaps a bit... excessive?"

Private Eye bristled. "I got the job done. He's alive, isn't he?"

Before Batman could respond, an earth-shaking roar echoed through the streets. Bane had entered the fray.

"I've got this," Private Eye said, already moving.

Batman's hand on his shoulder gave him pause. "Private Eye, wait. Bane is not to be underestimated. We should—"

Private Eye shrugged off the hand. "I said I've got this." Without another word, he swung away, leaving a slightly bemused Batman in his wake.

The warehouse loomed ahead, dimly lit and filled with the oppressive silence that preceded chaos. As Private Eye landed gracefully on the concrete floor, the hulking figure of Bane emerged from the shadows, his eyes gleaming with a malevolent intelligence.

"Ah, another masked fool," Bane rumbled, his voice a deep, mocking growl. "You think you can challenge me?"

Private Eye didn't waste time with words. He launched himself at Bane, using his enhanced agility to close the distance in a blink. Bane reacted with surprising speed for his size, a massive fist swinging in a crushing arc. Private Eye twisted mid-air, narrowly avoiding the blow that shattered the ground where he had stood.

He landed lightly, firing a web to Bane's face, aiming to blind him. Bane tore the webbing away with a roar, his muscles rippling. Private Eye darted in, delivering a rapid series of punches to Bane's torso. Each impact felt like hitting a brick wall, but he persisted, knowing he needed to weaken the behemoth somehow.

Bane retaliated with a backhanded swipe that Private Eye barely avoided. The force of the near-miss sent him sprawling, but he recovered with a roll, springing back to his feet.

"You're fast, but it won't save you," Bane sneered. He lunged forward, throwing a series of punches that Private Eye dodged with a combination of flips and sidesteps. Even a glancing blow sent shocks of pain through his body, but he refused to back down.

Private Eye's mind raced, his earlier anger transforming into cold, calculating focus. He studied Bane's movements, looking for patterns, and weaknesses. He noticed the tubes feeding Venom into Bane's body, the lifeline that enhanced his already terrifying strength.

Bane charged again, and this time, Private Eye was ready. He vaulted over Bane's head, flipping to land behind him. In one swift motion, he fired webs at the tubes, sticking them to the ground and yanking hard. Bane roared in frustration as the Venom supply was severed, his movements growing less coordinated.

"Motherfucker!" Bane bellowed, swinging wildly. Private Eye ducked under the blow, landing a precise kick to the back of Bane's knee, forcing the giant to stumble.

"Not today," Private Eye muttered, his voice steely. He circled the stumbling behemoth, using his webs to bind Bane's arms and legs, restricting his movement further.

Bane managed to rip free of some of the webbing, but his strength was waning without the continuous supply of Venom. Private Eye saw his opening and moved in, delivering a devastating series of blows to key nerve clusters, each strike calculated to maximize pain and incapacitation.

Bane's roars turned to grunts of pain as his massive frame began to falter. With a final, powerful strike to the back of Bane's neck, Private Eye brought the mountain of muscle crashing to the ground, his heavy body hitting the floor with a resounding thud.

Private Eye stood over him, chest heaving, his costume was once again, torn and bloodied, but he was victorious. Bane glared up at him, his eyes filled with a mix of rage and grudging respect.

"You… are stronger than I thought, I won't make that mistake next time....." Bane admitted, before losing consciousness.

"Whatever," Private Eye replied coldly. "Roided up lunatic..." Abel shook his head in annoyance, his suit ripped again...

"Impressive work," a new voice called out. Private Eye turned to see a woman in a blank mask approaching – The Question. "You've got quite the mean streak, kid."

Private Eye straightened, masking his exhaustion. "Just doing what needs to be done."

The Question's featureless mask somehow conveyed skepticism. "Hmm. Well, while you've been playing whack-a-mole with Gotham's finest lunatics, I've been digging. This breakout wasn't an accident."

"Someone orchestrated this," The Question explained, her voice low and intense....."Someone with inside knowledge of Arkham and enough pull to coordinate multiple high-level inmates."

As the implications sank in, Batman materialized beside them.

"We have a bigger problem," he growled. "Scarecrow is loose in the financial district. His fear toxin is already spreading."

Private Eye nodded, already moving. "Alright, I'm on it. Bane is down, make sure he gets taken in."

As he swung towards his next battle, Private Eye couldn't help but feel a twinge of... something when he glanced back at The Question, she was standing next to the now unconscious Bane. There was an intriguing air of mystery about her, a sharp intelligence that piqued his curiosity. He pushed the thought aside, focusing on the task at hand.

The night was far from over, and Gotham's protector had work to do. Whatever conspiracy was brewing in the city's shadows, whatever challenges lay ahead, Private Eye would face them head-on. Not as Batman's sidekick, but as a hero in his own right.

And perhaps, when the dust settled, he'd find a moment to learn more about the enigmatic Question. But for now, the battle for Gotham's soul raged on, and Private Eye was at the heart of the inferno.