*This story is part of my overall Arkham series. It exists in its own universe separate from the other stories, and although you don't have to read the other installments for context, it is appreciated if you do.
This story takes place during the events of Arkham City, using the same characters and plot-line as the series, up until the start of the story obviously. I tried to keep the characters' physical aspects and personalities as close to their video game versions as possible.
Please note that this is purely a work of fantasy/parody. All characters and settings are property of DC Comics.*
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"This is Vicki Vale reporting live from Arkham City, the controversial super-prison built right here in the heart of Gotham."
Vicki paused for dramatic effect, letting the words sink in for any viewer unfamiliar with the new project. But who was at this point? The prison had dominated the news cycle ever since its opening a few days prior, and provided her with plenty of juicy stories in the months leading up to it.
"In a few moments, Bruce Wayne will be live on stage to explain his sudden interest in Gotham politics."
Bruce Wayne was an interesting man, and one that Vicki knew well. Ever since he returned to Gotham nearly ten years ago, she was way of him. Now this unexpected change in his focus had her suspicions aroused again.
"The infamous playboy millionaire has never been one to-"
She was cut off by a passing man. Vicki was about to yell at him when she recognized the voice.
"It's billionaire, Vicki. Millionaires are so last year."
Wayne casually strolled past her, through the veritable throng of crowded overzealous reporters and up to the podium. Vicki sighed. That hadn't gone great.
"Thank you! Thank you, Gotham! Imprisoned behind these walls, gang leaders are fighting a bloody war in the middle of our once great city. Every inmate from Arkham Asylum and Blackgate Prison has been relocated to this facility. How can this be safe for the people of Gotham?"
You could say anything you wanted to about Bruce Wayne, but nobody could deny he was charming. Vicki knew it. She had attempted a one-on-one interview with him once, and found herself somehow being interviewed instead.
"Today I'm starting the campaign to close Arkham City and make Gotham safe again."
More rhetoric. Vicki didn't believe Wayne. This would be just another pet project of his that he would abandon when it stopped being convenient for him. He wasn't like his father. She had seen the profound effect the late Dr. Wayne had on Gotham. He was a hero. Bruce was... an enigma. And one she hoped to crack.
Sirens wailed in the distance, and became much louder as vans pulled up next to the crowd. Vicki looked over as TYGER guards filed out. Arkham City's personal elite military squad. She had done her homework.
"Remember, Wayne is the priority target," she overheard one of the men say.
Uh-oh. This was not good.
Tear gas canisters clanked on the ground. Vicki and her cameraman ran as soon as they saw the gas rising. They managed to stay mostly clear of it. By the time the gas had dissipated enough to see through, Wayne and the trucks were gone, shuttled into Arkham City.
"We need to get inside," Vicki said to her cameraman. "Looks like I'm going to have a meeting with Strange."
***
The elevator ride up Wonder Tower was a long one filled with silence. Vicki could hear her own heart beating and saw where the glass fogged up from her breath.
Arkham City was a cesspool of criminal filth and scum, but it was also ripe with juicy stories and scoops. That is what she saw when she looked over the massive compound on her way up the central tower projecting into the sky. And she could be the only reporter with inside access. The only thing left she needed was to convince Strange.
Vicki, and everybody else for that matter, knew next to nothing about Strange. He was an enigma before showing up in Gotham as a psychiatrist at Blackgate years earlier. He had slowly worked his way up the ranks in the old Asylum, but it came as a huge shock when Mayor Sharp announced him as warden of Arkham City.
Strange had been completely absent from the spotlight, and no one could even get an interview with him after the announcement. Vicki was now getting one, in a sense.
She took a few deep breaths. She felt nervous. Not towards Arkham. She had been in enough prisons, including Blackgate during the Christmas Eve riot, that she was desensitized to them.
No, she was nervous of Strange. Vicki was ruthless in getting to a story, but here she was about to meet with a man who would be ruthless in stopping her from getting the story out, provided he didn't agree with what she wrote.
Vicki pulled makeup out of her purse and touched up her mascara and bright red lipstick in her compact mirror. She neared the top of the tower, and brushed extra hair out of her face before slipping the mirror away.
The doors to the elevator opened and Vicki found herself stepping out into a large observatory room. She heard footsteps echo behind her, and turned to see the warden himself, Hugo Strange, descending a staircase.
Strange was extremely imposing, more than Vicki had imagined. But not at all in physical appearance. Instead, he had a shroud of mystique and aura about him, and the gaze of a man who could completely destroy you sitting in a chair in a suit sipping on a cup of coffee. It was enough to make most men, including his own personal TYGER guards, to submit to him.
But Vicki was not most men, and she stood up just a little bit straighter as Strange's eyes bore down on her behind his small, tinted spectacles.
Strange chuckled, demeaning Vicki's show of strength.
"Well, Ms. Vale. I wasn't sure how serious you were when we spoke on the phone. Let's speak in my office."
Vicki's eyes scanned the room, detached from Strange's powerful presence, and saw at least five armed TYGER guards, fingers resting on the triggers of their automatic weapons. She was on thin ice.
Strange coughed. Vicki noticed him waiting, and walked past him and up the stairs. He pointed to his office, a small glass circular room in the middle of the larger observatory. Vicki walked in, followed closely by Strange, before the door shut automatically.