171 Deductions #171

"This should be good..." I muttered as I watched the last Sentry Drone slowly taking shape before my eyes, having used the last of the metal scraps in my inventory to create it.

It wasn't the only one I created as I had a shit ton of scrap in my inventory, and the drone was only the last of an army of robots I'd made while waiting for the police to arrive.

My plan was simple. I knew Scarecrow and his buddies probably filled the asylum with traps, ambushes, and all that good stuff. Whatever the villains prepared might not affect me, thanks to my superhuman durability, but I refused to walk into their traps in the first place.

I'd use my robots to dismantle the traps one after the other and flush the villains out of the asylum, where I'd be waiting with an ambush of my own with an army of Gotham's police officers.

And speaking of Gotham's law enforcers, I could hear sirens in the distance. I turned to the end of the street and spotted a civilian vehicle sporting police lights.

The car came to a screeching stop near me, and my eyes widened at the two people who stepped out, one of them an attractive brunette with brown eyes that I identified as Renee Montoya, a GCPD detective.

The other person was a tall man wearing a heavy trench coat and a fedora hat. However, his most distinguishing feature was the faceless mask covering his face.

I'd already met Montoya on several occasions that were not particularly worthy of note. However, this was my first time meeting the Question, and I couldn't help but feel as if I'd met him before as I observed how he moved and carried himself.

"Question, this is--" Detective Montoya said, trying to introduce us, only for the man to interject, cutting her off halfway through as he stepped in front of her.

"Grayson Whitlock. I've heard of him..." The Question replied, giving me a once over as he looked me up and down appraisingly. "We share the same teacher..." he added, shrugging his shoulders.

"I thought the way you moved looked familiar..." I replied as I copied The Question's actions and inspected him with a once-over of my own. "He didn't speak of you, though," I probingly added, trying to fish for information by provoking him.

"Me being here has nothing to do with our teacher," The Question replied, seeing right through my attempt. "I'm in Gotham on business, specifically, your business, among others," he added, still giving me what I wanted regardless.

"The old man only picks up strays with demons... we remind him of his younger self..." he explained, retrieving a pack of cigarettes and taking out one of them.

"So far, you've been a model citizen as far as I know... but the way I see it, you're hiding something..." he added, lighting the cigarette through his mask and buffing a thin cloud of smoke.

"I intend to find out wh--" he said, stopping halfway as he started coughing violently, blood seeping through his mouth and staining his blank cloth mask.

"Lung cancer, eh? Late stage too..." I mockingly remarked, shaking my head as I immediately recognized the symptoms and likely cause of The Question's sickness.

"Maybe you should focus on enjoying the time you have left instead of poking your nose in other people's business," I concluded, sighing as I reigned in the mockery at the tip of my tongue and turned to Montoya, who was watching in shocked silence.

"Captain Deborah should have informed you already, but I'll say it just in case," I said, ignoring my fellow student who was wiping the blood off his mouth as he tried to gather his bearing.

"The asylum's inmates have broken out of their cages, likely for some time now," I explained as I gestured beyond the Arkham Asylum's gate and toward the main building.

"They were preparing for Batman, but he didn't show up. It's likely a death trap in there," I added, my tone severe to emphasize my point. "I need you and the other officers to keep your distance and create a parameter to help me catch the inmates I flush out," I concluded, and Montoya's shocked silence continued as she stared at me unblinkingly.

"I'm going in too," The Question interjected from the side, having recovered from his violent coughing fit, causing me to raise an eyebrow as I watched the blood slowly disappear from his mask.

"Suit yourself. But I never said I was going in, so you'd be on your own," I replied, causing my fellow student to still as he gave me what I could only imagine being a confused look under his mask.

I didn't bother to elaborate as I summoned the forty-eight Sentry Spiders and eight Sentry Drones in my inventory and activated my Personal Computer power to take control of them.

I split them into four groups with twelve Sentry Spiders and two drones in each and sent them towards the asylum's main building as The Question and Montoya watched with dumbfounded expressions.

"I try to make a habit of not knowingly walking into traps," I remarked, shrugging my shoulders as I turned my gaze away from the machines and back to the detective and the vigilante duo.

"If you wanna throw your life away by jumping headfirst into a trap prepared for Batman, then be my guest," I concluded, purposely provoking my fellow student into action.

I knew The Question had quite the chip on his shoulder and that he sported a massive ego since he even had the gal to spray over the bat signal and replace it with his question mark when Batman disappeared.

I didn't know much about The Question other than that, and pushing him into action by insinuating he wouldn't stand a chance against a trap specially designed for Batman would be the way to gather more information since he didn't seem particularly friendly toward me.

I had no problem with The Question, but if he wanted to come after me, I had to be prepared for him, regardless of his reasons or the fact we trained under the same teacher.

"Is that so...?" The Question asked, his tone neutral. However, I could sense the hidden annoyance and the slight he felt without even using my empathy or body language analysis.

"Fine, I'll bite," he said after a second's pause as I ignored him in favor of controlling my machines as they rapidly approached the asylum's multiple entrances.

I resisted the urge to scoff, maintaining my silence as The Question walked past me, heading for the main building's entrance through the yard, despite seeing through my intentions.

And that, boys and girls, is a prime example of how and why having an ego the size of the Empire State building could get you killed. He knew the risks and that I was goading him, but he still went in to prove himself better than Batman.

"Did you really have to goad him like that...?" Montoya said, sighing as she stood beside me, watching The Question making his way towards the asylum's reception hall.

I only shrugged and gave her a smile, causing her to let out another exasperated sigh. "Don't worry. I won't let Sage die. He's still my fellow student, after all..." I added, my smile growing as I watched her body freeze at my words.

"So you're to be the next Question, huh...?" I went on, giving her another shock and holding back a chuckle as her eyes turned to saucers, and she stepped back in surprise.

"What... how did you know...?" Detective Montoya asked as she cleared her throat after an entire minute of silence, which she used to gather her bearings.

"I didn't know, but your reaction to his name told me all I needed to know..." I replied, shaking my head as I finally let out the chuckle I was trying to hold.

"It's a story as old as time; a dying hero spending his remaining time on earth training his successor," I added with a sigh, waving to the side as many similar comic book examples flashed in my head.

"Besides, Sage strikes me as a guy with a massive ego..." I went on, trailing at the end of my sentence as I turned to detective Montoya's car that she parked near the gate.

"He wouldn't let you take the wheel and ride in the passenger seat if he didn't think highly of you..." I continued as I gestured toward the car with a shrug.

"High enough to make you his successor, at least," I concluded, shifting my attention toward my machines as the first squad entered through a window on the first floor and encountered the first trap.

"Yours and Victor's teacher... he wouldn't happen to be Batman, would he...?" Detective Montoya asked, her annoyance audible in her tone as she gave me the side eye.

"Batman only wishes he could be him," I jokingly replied, shaking my head.

...

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