Gotham, midnight.
The morning drizzle finally turned into a pouring rainstorm at this moment, and it crashed down like a sluice out of control. Gotham is usually a city that is difficult to get close to. After the night falls, the whole city can be said to be danced by demons. Darkness breeds and spreads in all corners that people can't imagine; and during rainy nights, it was even more so.
When it comes to Gotham City, there is another place that has to be mentioned - Arkham Island. It was an island on the outskirts of Gotham, connected to the main city only by a suspension bridge. The island is home to what may be the craziest mental hospital in the world - Arkham Asylum. It is no exaggeration to say that even the air in that gothic castle has a sinister aura that seeps into the bones. A normal person would never want to stay in such a place for more than an hour. That would be a test of willpower. huge test.
Although there is a sign on the door of "Arkham Asylum", everyone in Gotham knows that Arkham is the most dangerous prison in the world, and the crazy people in it are far crazier than you. Imagine that they will always surprise you no matter how mentally prepared you are.
Another bunch of lunatics is going to be put in Arkham's cells tonight. The heavy suspension bridge leading to Arkham Island was slowly lowered, and a large amount of rain fell from the bridgehead. The thickly armored vehicles passed smoothly over the bridge, with the words "Arkham" written on the black carriages.
The suspension bridge hummed and lifted again after the vehicle passed, and the rain-soaked chains rubbed violently, making a crisp sound in the night. The prison guards on duty outside the gate carefully checked the relevant documents for the passage of vehicles and verified them in the system again and again before letting them in. It's no wonder they are so careful, considering the average rate of escapes in this mental hospital is almost once a week.
There was thunder in the sky, and lightning suddenly cut through the night. The prison guard standing guard in front of the door inadvertently looked into the night sky, and almost didn't cry out in surprise - he saw a blue figure floating in the air more than ten meters high, and the red cloak soaked in water was extremely conspicuous in the night. Pale lightning illuminated the upright and solemn face, with a stern look like a god overlooking the world.
''It's Superman!''
The prison guard whispered to his companions standing guard, and the two nervously clasped the gun in their hands. Considering the dangerous remarks Superman made in Metropolitan Plaza this morning, they didn't think he was here to greet the prisoners of Arkham with a friendly greeting.
Superman landed lightly, and the red boots landed on the water-filled ground without making any sound. He glanced coldly at the two prison guards and said in a low voice, "Get out of the way."
It was not a request, but an irresistible order. The two looked at each other, knowing that they had no choice.
"Boom!"
With a louder noise than thunder, Arkham's super-repeated alloy gate fell backward with a scream, and the metal lock was broken by a huge force from the outside. Thousands of meters of rain splashed in the rain, and Superman stepped into Arkham's compound with a heavy door, like an unstoppable god of war.
The piercing siren rang throughout Arkham, and the madhouse, known as military-level security, instantly entered the highest alert state. Prison guards with automatic rifles and bazookas rushed out from all corners, and automatic turrets sponsored by Gotham's Wayne Group sprang from all parts of the compound, pouring frantically on unwelcome visitors.
But of course, that can't possibly have any effect.
Carrying tons of firepower, the body of steel slowly levitated up and shot out a hot column of fire from both eyes. The heat vision laser swept the audience, and all the automatic turrets suddenly turned into burning scrap iron. The missiles fired by the individual rocket launchers screamed and flew towards his face, but he was pinched into a ball of fire with his bare hands. He switched his thermal vision to burst mode and destroyed every guard's weapon in a matter of seconds, then ignored them and swaggeringly continued toward the dark castle ahead. The prison guards looked at each other in dismay, and no one dared to step forward to stop them.
Arkham is a historic building with a complex structure. Most of the prisoners who are more ill or do not show obvious aggression are held in the above-ground area with relatively high freedom of movement. And those dream-like felons are mostly held underground, where there is a special intensive care unit, where every release is a super lunatic who can turn Gotham upside down.
The lead structure of the building made Superman's X-ray vision inoperable, but that didn't matter. Superman had been here many times when he was his partner with Batman, and he knew the terrain by heart. He pierced the floor with his body and fell vertically to the iron gate of the lowest intensive care area. The electronically synthesized female voice sternly demanded that he identify himself, but he reached out his hand and pulled open the door without heeding—by the way, ignoring the 100,000-volt high-voltage electricity connected to the door.
He threw the overweight door panel aside like confetti, but he never expected that a dark iron fist had been waiting behind the door for a long time. He was caught off-guard by a beautiful uppercut that hit his chin, and his body involuntarily flew into the air and pierced back to the ground. He stumbled several times on the floor in a row, and just half-crawled up, his vision seemed to be occupied by a huge steel bat. Before he could speak, a cannonball-like metal fist landed on his cheek again. Superman flew horizontally across the halls of Arkham like a red kite, flew from the gate back into the yard, and tumbled back into the muddy rain.
Superman rubbed the corners of his mouth, which was aching, with his fists, and got up slowly, looking at the stalwart figure that appeared at the gate of Arkham. The sturdy steel boots stepped crisply in the rain full of stagnant water. The steel bat with a height of more than two meters stood in front of the door, with blue fluorescence in his eyes, and the iron armor shone brightly under the scouring of the rain.
"Bruce." Superman said blankly, "I should have thought that you would intervene at a critical moment. You still have that outfit after so many years. It has your style."
"Clark." Batman gritted his teeth, trying to control himself to remain calm in front of his best friend who should have died for six years, "you don't need to do this. Tell me what happened and I can help you... Damn please let me help you, we don't need to get this far."
"Get out of the way," said Superman, still cold and stubborn. "I don't want to hurt you, Bruce. But if I need to, I will."
Batman stared at the pair of blue eyes that had begun to make him unfamiliar across the electronic screen and was silent for a long time.
"If you remember even half of me," he said solemnly, "you should know my answer."
"OK then."
Superman snorted softly and clenched his fists. His eyes were lightly closed, and the moment they opened, they were already printed with blood-like red.