Chapter 3

With that done, it was finally, thankfully closing time, and Henry was the one with the keys, so he started to lock up the building.

Meanwhile, Mitchell and Arnold were already finished with cleaning up the kitchen, and were simply playing a game of UNO to pass the time, and get rid of their nerves over fucking Darkseid entering the store… fuck, what's he going to tell the manager tomorrow?

'Oh hey Karen, a small issue happened at work yesterday. You see… to put things simply, Darkseid came and ordered some cake, and… well it seems like he's going to become a repeat customer'

Yeah, she's either not going to believe that shit… or she'll faint upon hearing the news.

Oh, and of course the security guards, Bob and Marley had left an hour beforehand… even if they couldn't do anything it would have at least made Henry feel the slightest bit safer. And they weren't going to believe this shit either.

Thankfully, everything was recorded on the security cameras within the store… which were only installed, after The Joker decided to 'prank' Bat Burger, by making everything purple and green for not giving him a meal on the menu.

After that, Jokerized Fries were introduced, to appease the so-called Clown Prince of Crime.

With that, Mitchell and Arnold had finished their game of UNO, and turned to Henry.

"So… what was up with that shit? That wasn't actually Darkseid, was it?" Mitchell asked, fear tinging his voice, "M-Maybe it was Scarecrow using his Fear Toxin… or some sort of shared hallucination caused by… Gotham fuckery? Or Cornelius Stirk trying to scare his victims?"

"Hey, it could've been a shapeshifter playing a prank on us. Maybe Clayface or Plastic Man? They could've just been having a laugh trying to scare the shit out of us for whatever reason?" Arnold suggested.

Arnold Lavoisier, was one of Henry's coworkers, all he really knew about the guy, was that he was a Chemistry major at Gotham University. And that he was working at Bat Burger to help pay for his tuition. He was a bit rude sometimes, but a decent enough guy once you got to know him.

"I mean, we all know that Basil Karlo's not allowed in the premises after he tainted the Sloppy Basil meal with his 'clay', and turned anyone who ate it into a clay monster… nearly got our asses sued to hell and back, and had to get the entire thing taken off of the fucking menu for a month" Henry said, still annoyed at that. Fucking Clayface, what an asshole. Infecting so many people for his 'greatest play' against Batman…

"I- I just can't believe that fucking Darkseid of all people came into Bat Burger… that's just so out of the world" Mitchell said in disbelief, as he adjusted his blue beanie and green-rimmed glasses.

Mitchell Mayo was one of Henry's closest friends, having met each other after getting released from Arkham Asylum on the same day, and later on when they both applied for jobs in Bat Burger.

He didn't know why Mitchell was in Arkham, as he was somewhat tightlipped about the whole thing, but… he was a decent enough guy, and strangely enough a genius when it came to condiments, which made him a perfect fit in Bat Burger.

His best guess? Probably some anxiety-induced breakdown that got him admitted to Arkham Asylum.

"I'll be honest, it was probably me…" Henry said, sheepishly, "I may or may not have… taunted Murphy, by hoping that today wouldn't turn out… bad"

"You fucking-... dude, you know that you don't say or think that shit in Gotham. This place is fucking cursed or some shit, like it was built over ten Indian Burial Grounds! My fucking uncle did that shit once, and got murdered by Cornelius Stirk. The man ripped Uncle Jerry's still beating heart out of his chest and fucking ate it, man… had to have a closed casket funeral and everything" Arnold said, as he shuddered, presumably from the memories of his uncles gruesome death at the hands of that… mad man.

Henry still remembered hearing his howls and screams back in Arkham… after all, his cell was directly next to Stirk's. He heard the beatings that he was put through under the leadership of Jeremiah Arkham, when he didn't take his medication… it's probably what turned him from a mentally troubled serial killer, into a truly monstrous animal in the form of a man.

It still disturbs him to this very day… every night, he can hear the screams and the whimpers of pain as Stirk cried for mercy. At first, Henry didn't care all that much, as Cornelius Stirk was a convicted mass murderer… but every day he was beaten bloody, making it hard not to feel sympathy for the man.

Cornelius Stirk's abuse had lasted at the very least until Henry was declared sane.

Cornelius Stirk escaped from Arkham Asylum alongside quite a few other patients a few weeks later.

But, he didn't have time to think of that. As he was still needed to clean up the rest of Bat Burger… thankfully he still had Mitchell and Arnold with him, or this would have taken hours to do.

Around an hour later the three men were done, and had said their goodbyes… well, sort of.

Mitchell's car was at a mechanic's, getting looked over. So he needed to carpool with Henry, which he was fine with doing.

And so, the two of them got into his Green 17 Porsche 944, and drove to the downtown of Gotham to drop Mitchell off.

It took around half an hour to get to Mitchell's place with his directions, due to traffic but he dropped him off quickly enough. Looking at his surroundings, Henry saw a lot of gang markings, and even a group of people fighting each other in an alleyway.

Downtown wasn't the most… friendly place, but Henry was a big enough guy for most assholes to back off, but annoyingly… not everyone was smart enough to do so.

As Mitchell got out of the car, some random bald guy in a white tank top with tattoos all over his arms, and… quite frankly grotesquely large muscles, possibly from steroid abuse punched Mitchell, and he went straight down to the pavement, as laughter rang out.

Henry then noticed two more men behind him, both of which were equally grotesquely large from steroid abuse, with a bunch of tattoos and fake gold chains on them.

"Nice car you got there, buddy. How 'bouts me and my friends take it off your hands?" The man said with a fake smile, as he held onto the car door.

Looking at where Mitchell was on the ground, Henry noticed there was a small pool of blood pooling around his head, from where he presumably cracked something in the fall.

So, Henry got out of the car, to the man's delight as he walked over to him.

Then, when Henry got in range of the man, he stealthily used the steel in his bracelet to transform his hands into… well, steel, and punched the man square in the jaw, sending teeth, saliva, and blood flying everywhere as he fell to the ground unconscious.

The other two men went to attack Henry, but two quick uppercuts were enough to take them down.

Then, Henry did as his father always taught him to do if he knocked someone out… he stole their wallets, and checked their shoes and other pockets for any loose change.

He came out of this with $210.50, so all things considered? Not a bad payment for a quick ten seconds.

But, he had bigger things to worry about, namely Mitchell, whose head was bleeding a decent amount.

"Hey, are you okay?" Henry asked, as he helped Mitchell up from off the ground, and moved his beanie to get a closer look at his wound.

Peeling the beanie off of the wound, he saw a small gash on his head, with small bits of gravel and grime inside of it, from how he fell to the pavement.

"I… I feel like shit man" Mitchell said woozily, as he struggled to stand still, swaying all over the place, as he placed his hand on his wound, flinching from the pain as he looked at his now blood-covered hand, "Oh fuck…"

"Hey man, it's going to be alright. Just a gash… I'll take you to a hospital to get this cleaned up, alright?" Henry said, as he helped Mitchell back into the car and quickly drove him to the hospital.

It only took an hour for Mitchell to get seen by a doctor, and get his wound looked at, cleaned, stitched, and patched up.

With that done, he quickly drove Mitchell back to his place, so he could get some rest, before returning home himself.

It was time to go out again, so he took his costume out of his laundry, and put it on.

Starting with his blue jeans, then his socks and steel-toed boots, Henry then went and put on his black undershirt, then his gray padded jacket, after that he placed his other bracelets on his wrists, along with the fake gold chain that one of the men had. Pyrite was still a decent material to use, and could save his life after all… then finally, he put his bandanna on the top half of his face.

It was time for… Ironhide to go out and stop some crime.