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Chapter Text

It's often said by the people of Gotham City was that the only way Arkham Asylum could be less secure was if you installed revolving doors in the cells. For the most part, this sentiment was true. There were many ways in which this was true. Outdated security equipment, understaffing, and, corrupt guards. Although, the administration claimed that that last point was greatly exaggerated.

One of these corrupt guards strolled through the basement level of Arkham trying to keep as calm as possible. The basement was where the most dangerous of Arkham's patients were kept. The ones that seemed to be constantly violent. The serial killers. The ones the doctors had labeled absolutely incurable. The guard told himself not to worry. Most of them should've been asleep at this hour but voices of doubt were talking in the guard's head.

He stopped in front of a cell in the middle of the hallway. The man peered into the cell and saw the outline of a spindly figure in a wheelchair in the darkness. Clearing his throat first, the guard spoke.

"Hey bud, I'm back."

The wheelchair-bound figure in the darkness came closer to the guard and into the light. Although, the guard would have preferred it if the patient had stayed in the dark. The man in the wheelchair's body seemed to have withered away, resembling more of a corpse than a person. He barely had any hairs left on his head and his face had a frightening skull-like appearance.

"The ruby… Give it here…" whispered the figure in the wheelchair with a voice just as weak as his body.

It may not have looked like it, but the bundle of skin and bones before the guard was the infamous supervillain Doctor Destiny. Several times in the past he'd fought the Justice League but all of them seemed to end the same way. With him being locked away. And now, Doctor Destiny was at the lowest he'd been in a while.

"I said give it to me…" Doctor Destiny said as forcefully as he could muster.

"Don't rush me, old man. I got it right here." the guard held out a large, round ruby out in front of him.

Doctor Destiny reached through the bars in his room towards the gemstone but the guard jerked it away, almost protectively. "Funny thing, this thing almost got stolen by that klepto upstairs. Y'know, Magpie. Lady reached out of her cell and tried to grab it. Didn't think she'd be so strong."

"Very amusing anecdote." Doctor Destiny muttered. "Now hand it over."

The guard ignored the patient in front of him and inspected the ruby closer. "You sure this thing ain't worth more than what you're giving me?"

"My Materioptikon only has value to me."

"Your what now?"

"The ruby! Now stop taunting me with it!" Doctor Destiny snapped, his voice began to croak.

"Alright, alright, here." the guard held out the ruby and it was immediately snatched up by Doctor Destiny. "Er, what does that thing do anyway."

"Nothing of consequence. You won't lose your job over this." Doctor Destiny intently stared down at the gemstone.

The guard grew increasingly more nervous despite Destiny's claims. "So, uh, you said you had a secret of cash somewhere in Arkham. You're gonna tell me where that is, right?"

"Don't worry. You'll get exactly what you deserve…" Doctor Destiny smiled as the gem in his hands began to glow.

The guard screamed and collapsed to the ground. He writhed around on the floor, unable to stand up.

"Oh, stop screaming. It's only a bad dream." Doctor Destiny chuckled and the Materioptikon glowed even brighter.

***

Dr. Joan Leland glanced at the clock and sighed. It was far too late to be doing paperwork but she had deadlines to keep and new information to add to the patient files. She'd much prefer to be at home. Maybe cozied up in a blanket on the couch watching some late night TV. Dr. Leland pulled herself out of the fantasy and tried to focus on her work.

She stared down at the papers on her desk and the words blurred. After blinking a few times the words came back into focus. Dr. Leland groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose. As much as she wanted to leave her office and just march out the door she couldn't. It was taking every ounce of her will to not lose focus.

"I need something to keep me awake..." Dr. Leland murmured to herself. "Anything... I wonder if the coffee machine in the break room is fixed yet?"

Dr. Leland got her wish when she heard the shrill sound of Arkham Asylum's warning siren blare across the building's PA system. The noise was enough to awaken her a bit more and cause her to look around in surprise. She composed herself rather quickly and realized that an alarm had been pulled.

"Oh no, not again." Leland said. "I really wish this would happen less often."

Dr. Leland began to stand up from the desk when a voice came in through the speakers to accompany the siren.

"Attention to all Arkham Asylum staff. We are reporting a breakout from the maximum security basement level. Please remain calm. There is only one known escapee so far. All security personnel is directed to neutralize the threat. Any non-security staff is advised to find a saferoom until further notice."

The announcement ended but the alarm continued to sound off. Dr. Leland didn't need to be told twice. Leaving her papers on the desk, Dr. Leland dashed out of the room and into the dark halls of Arkham Asylum.

She didn't make it very far before encountering another person. Dr. Leland rounded a corner and barrelled straight into the chest of security guard Aaron Cash. This made Dr. Leland topple over and onto the stone floor.

"Easy there, you okay?" Cash reached out his hooked hand to Leland.

"Just trying to remember where the safe room is." Leland grabbed the hook and was pulled back to her feet.

"It's nearby. C'mon, I'll take you." Cash motioned for Leland to follow him. "There aren't many other docs in here tonight so you guys should have the place to yourself."

"Thanks for keeping me safe." Leland remarked as she tried to keep up with Cash.

Cash eventually led Leland over to a metal door that looked far cleaner than the dirty stone walls around it. "Here's the saferoom. The others are already in here. We'll take care of the escaped guy. Whoever it is this time."

"We've had worse here. You'll do fine." Leland tried to encourage him.

"Thanks. Now you keep safe. We got a guard in there for extra protection." Aaron told her. "Gotta go." he hurried off down the corridor and presumably towards the basement.

Dr. Leland pushed open the metal door and entered the saferoom. The interior didn't exactly inspire confidence. In actuality was nothing more than a break room nobody ever used with a fancy door. She shut the door behind her and locked it.

Turning around, Dr. Leland saw two of her colleagues and a security guard she didn't quite recognize with her in the room. "Oh, hello there. Are we really the only three doctors working this late?

The other doctors in the room appeared to be complete opposites physically speaking. The tall, slender Dr. Ruth Adams was seated across from the short, chubby Dr. Roger Huntoon.

"Yes, it looks like it." Dr. Adams said. "Make yourself comfortable, Dr. Leland. We'll probably be here a while."

Dr. Leland made her way across the room and sat down at an unoccupied couch.

For a few moments, there was no talking between the staff. The atmosphere was beginning to grow tense and all of them knew it but none of them wanted to break the silence. Dr. Huntoon attempted to be brave and speak. "So, er, who do you think it is that escaped?"

"With any luck, it's someone easy to contain." Dr. Leland replied.

"It's prob'ly the Joker. That freak always gets involved when something goes down here." the guard joined in.

"I know who it is." Dr. Adams claimed. "I overheard one of the guards talking on their radio. It's our patient John Dee."

"You mean Doctor Destiny, the psychic?" said Leland. "Oh dear… This can't be good."

"Mr. Dee looked terrible last time I saw him. How is he able to escape?" asked Huntoon, his eyes darting around nervously.

"Yes, my sleep deprivation experiment took a toll on him." Adams said. "My guess is that he's somehow gotten that jewel he uses back."

"Sleep deprivation? I don't remember giving approval to that." Dr. Leland remarked.

"You didn't. I asked our facilities director, Dr. Arkham." explained Dr. Adams.

Dr. Leland didn't consider herself an angry type but she allowed her face to grimace a little. "I'm head of psychiatry, you have to run these things by me. Especially if it's as inhumane as sleep deprivation."

"It was for a good cause, Dr. Leland. If he can't focus his powers, then Mr. Dee isn't a threat."

"You two really gonna argue about some administrative junk?" asked the guard. "Don't seem like the best time for that."

Dr. Huntoon's body language began to tense up. "What do you think the chances of us dying in here are?"

"Only slightly higher than they are every other day." Dr. Adams replied. Her tone made it impossible for her colleagues to discern whether the remark was meant as a joke or not.

"I'm sure Cash and the other guards have things under control." Dr. Leland said.

"And what if he doesn't?" Dr. Huntoon asked.

"Than I guess we'd all best start getting to know each other before we get killed." the guard remarked. Trying to add a bit of levity he decided to go on. "You all have any hobbies?"

Dr. Adams took the joking question at face value and responded. "When I was younger a built model airplanes."

Dr. Leland stared off at the clock in the saferoom, watching the seconds slip away. She took a moment to assess the situation. A supervillain that had gone up against the Justice League was loose in the asylum and only had a bunch of underpaid security guards to stand in his way. And she was surrounded by two people she barely knew and one person she definitely didn't know. Dr. Leland liked to think of herself as a realist but at that moment she wanted optimism. In her head, she kept repeating to herself that Cash had things under control.

***

Aaron Cash was quite possibly the longest serving security guard at Arkham. Most died tragically at the hands of the patients or chose to transfer themselves out of there as early as possible. But no matter what, Aaron Cash stuck with it. Not even the loss of his hand to Killer Croc stopped him.

Cash hurried through the halls with two other guards half-walking half-running alongside him.

"C'mon people, we're almost there. We gotta stop this guy before he gets out of the basement." Cash said.

The three guards stopped when they found several other members of the security staff in the hall. Only they weren't exactly on their feet. All the other guards lay on the cold stone floor but didn't appear to be dead if their occasional convulsions were any indication.

"Oh my god… What the hell happened here?" asked one of the guards with Cash.

"I dunno, but it ain't good." Cash said, now looking around for any signs of Doctor Destiny. "We gotta find this creep before he finds us."

"I'm sorry Mr. Cash, I'm afraid it's too late for that."

The guards turned around them and saw Doctor Destiny approaching them slowly but purposefully. Cash and his colleagues backed away at the sight of the man. He was no longer a shriveled man without the use of his legs.

His body had become more muscular and he stood at an impressive six or seven feet. The skeletal features of Doctor Destiny no longer looked weak and malnourished. Instead, the skull had a much more sinister appearance, shadowed underneath the large cloak he now wore. The ruby Destiny had obtained still shone a bright red light and was now attached to the front of his hood.

"No way… I've seen you before and you're not supposed to be this strong looking." Cash said as he and the other guards stared up at Destiny. "This can't be real."

"You should believe your eyes, Cash. It'd do you some good." although it likely wasn't possible for a man with a skull for a head to sneer Doctor Destiny's tone of voice achieved the effect.

"Take him down! We can't let him out here!" Cash ordered the other guards.

All three guards took out their stun guns and aimed them at Doctor Destiny. This only got a chortle out of their opponent. "Easily dealt with. Let's see what your friends are dreaming about…"

Purple smoke begins to come out of the mouths of several the unconscious guards around Cash and company. The haze shifted and warped like it was trying to create something.

"Psychos I can deal with but I ain't getting paid enough to deal with magic." declared one of the guards.

"Keep it together!" Cash ordered. "Stop him now!"

Cash and the other guards fired off their tasers. However, as they did this several of the smokey clouds finished forming. The first took the shape of a lion with wild unnaturally red eyes, the second cloud turned a humanoid shape that resembled the typical "Little Green Men" depiction of aliens, and the final cloud became a what would usually be called a knight in shining armour.

The knight happened to materialize in front of where Destiny stood which caused the wires from the stun gun to hit them instead of their intended target. This attack got no reaction from the knight except for it to begin advancing on the guards along with the other dream constructs.

"Uh, Cash, what do we do?" asked one of the guards.

"Keep doing what we're doing. It's all we got right now." Cash said, glaring past the dream creations at Doctor Destiny himself.

"By all means, try your best. I love a good show." Doctor Destiny replied.

Aaron Cash never was able to fully remember the events of the clash that followed. There were a few facts he was certain on but the rest was a haze. He knew that the knight had fought him but couldn't quite remember which of the dream constructs went after the other guards. The biggest thing Cash knew about the events that transpired was that him and his partners were smacked around by Destiny's creations with barely any effort.

The last thing he remembered about the encounter was lying on the floor with the knight standing over him and his fellow guards lying unconscious beside him. The knight pointed its sword at Cash but abruptly returned to being a cloud of red mist that promptly dispersed.

Looking around, Cash noticed two things. One, it hurt to move his neck. And two, the other dream constructs had also disappeared.

Doctor Destiny walked down the hall towards Cash at an almost tauntingly slow pace. Cash tried to get up but then felt the boot of Doctor Destiny step on his chest.

"You look tired, Cash. Rest your eyes." the gem around Destiny's neck glowed brighter.

Cash no longer felt in control of his body. All sensations in his body went away as he gradually went to sleep. The last thing he heard for a long time was the voice of Doctor Destiny.

"Sweet dreams."

***

Things had gotten quiet in the saferoom once more. Adams kept her emotional state under control the most. She simply sat in her recliner, occasionally drumming her fingers along the armrest.

Dr. Huntoon and Dr. Leland, however, both were beginning let the stress of the situation get to them. Leland couldn't keep her eyes focused on one thing while Huntoon kept making small fidgeting movements.

"I can't take this anymore!" Dr. Huntoon stood up from his chair and glanced over at the guard that had been stationed with the doctors. "You there, could you do me a favour?"

"Hmm, wazzat?" muttered the guard, sounding a little out of it. "Sorry, I was spacing out?"

"Radio some other guards. I want to know if we're safe." Huntoon requested.

"Relax, I got the situation under control." the guard dismissed him. "Honestly, I'm lucky it's only you three I gotta protect. If there were any other docs on duty tonight I'm not sure how well I'd do."

"You realize that doesn't boost our confidence?" Dr. Huntoon pointed out, sounding a little frustrated now.

"I think Roger is right." Dr. Leland addressed the guard. "It has been awfully quiet for a while now."

"Fine, if you really think so." the guard took a walkie-talkie off his belt and held it up to his mouth. "Hey anyone come in? I'm with the docs in the saferoom. They wanted me to check on you all. Over."

For a moment there was silence from the other end. The guard looked like he was about to say something but he never got a chance to when purple smoke began to leak from the walkie-talkie. He breathed in some of the smoke and began to stagger forward.

"Anybody else feeling tired all of a sudden?"

The guard's body gave out and he slumped over into a wall, dropping the communicator in the process.

Leland, Adams, and Huntoon all stared at the now unconscious guard, unsure on how to react. The atmosphere grew more anxious when a voice came in through the dropped walkie-talkie.

"Is anybody else out there? This is Doctor Destiny speaking. I'd like to see if there's anyone left."

After the three doctors briefly exchanged uncertain glances, Dr. Adams went to the walkie-talkie and picked it up.

"This is Dr. Ruth Adams." she identified herself. "Me and my colleagues don't want any trouble."

"Oh, Adams… Don't think I've forgotten about you. You ruined my mind and body with your so-called therapy. I could send you into a coma right now if I wanted. But you and your fellow psychiatrists deserve a much crueler fate. I think I'll toy with you for a while."

"Ruth, I think we aren't safe anymore." Dr. Leland realized. For some reason, not even she quite understood Leland's voice sounded calmer than it ought to have.

Dr. Huntoon rushed up to Adams and pulled the walkie-talkie up to his face. "L-listen, this is Dr. Roger Huntoon speaking now. Me and Dr. Leland are in here and we didn't do anything to you, Mr. Dee."

"To be honest, I don't really care. Now, I'm going to figure out where you are and torment you in person. Have fun."

The walkie-talkie went dead and the three psychiatrists were left in silence for another time. Nobody knew quite what to do. If they stayed in the saferoom, Doctor Destiny would find them and, possibly quite literally, dissect their minds. If they left, the exact same thing would happen but only faster.

After thinking over the options, Dr. Leland decided to speak. "It can't end like this. We have to do something." she smiled as a comforting solution to their problems came to her. "We're going to need Batman."

Chapter Text

Dr. Joan Leland paced in circles. Years of working in an environment such as Arkham had taught her many ways to keep calm in stressful situations. So far, the technique seemed to be working. At least outwardly. Inside, Dr. Leland could not stop thinking about the dangerous supervillain somewhere outside the room.

Dr. Adams had isolated herself from the other two doctors. Ever since their short interaction with Doctor Destiny over the walkie-talkie, she'd gone over to a corner of the room and had just been standing there. Occasionally, she'd mutter something to herself.

Dr. Huntoon was doing the worst job at keeping himself calm. He'd just been sitting still on the couch. He sometimes glanced over at the unconscious guard in the room with them. Each time he did this he was very quick to look away.

There had been no conversation between the doctors in a while. None of them seemed to know what to do about the threat outside. They'd called the GCPD shortly after Doctor Destiny had spoken to them and all that was left for them to do was wait.

But, very abruptly, Dr. Adams left her corner of the room and walked out to the middle. "Dr, Leland, Dr. Huntoon, I think we're going to die tonight." she sounded strangely relaxed about the statement.

"With all respect Dr. Adams, that isn't very comforting." Leland stopped pacing to address her coworker more directly. "We've done all we can. The police and Batman will be here and we'll be fine."

"I don't want to be a defeatist, but Ruth might be right." Dr. Huntoon chimed in. "I've seen the response times for the GCPD before, they're not good. And with such a high crime rate there's a good chance it might take a while for Batman or his associates to get here as well."

"Well, then there's nothing we can do." Leland said. "We just have to wait and hope Destiny doesn't find us."

"That's not good enough. We need a way to defend ourselves." argued Adams.

"What can we do? We're doctors, not fighters." Huntoon said.

"It's simple. Plenty of the residents of this asylum are capable fighters and I'm sure they'd want to get rid of Mr. Dee as much as we do. After all, he's much more dangerous than most of them."

Dr. Leland realized what Adams was suggesting. "Surely you can't be proposing getting the help of the patients here? They're not the first people I'd go to."

"I'll admit, it certainly isn't something I'd normally do. But it's better than nothing." Dr. Adams said.

"I think I'm with Ruth." Huntoon admitted. "After all, surely there are some patients stable enough to help us."

Dr. Leland looked at the faces of her colleagues and then to the unconscious guard with them. Weighing her options, she realized that Dr. Adams might be right. The chances of her surviving the night were low if she didn't take things into her own hands.

"All right Ruth, I'm with you on this." Dr. Leland said. "But if we're going to get the patients here to help us try to make sure they're at least somewhat stable."

"Of course." Dr. Adams said this so quickly that Dr. Leland had trouble believing that Ruth had actually listened. "You and Roger can search the women's ward for anyone willing to help and I'll take the men's ward."

Dr. Adams briskly walked to the door, perhaps a little too quickly, and left her colleagues behind.

"Well, er, I suppose we should go out there." Huntoon turned to Dr. Leland.

"Right, let's go out and find some reasonable people to help us out." Dr. Leland said. "God, I hope Adams doesn't mess this up."

***

Dr. Adams walked through the dark halls of the men's ward as fast as she could. She ignored the unconscious guards that lined the corridors, trying to focus on a specific destination. But her progress was halted when she heard a voice coming from one of the cells she passed.

"Good evening, mortal."

For a brief moment, she thought the voice belonged to Doctor Destiny but turning towards the source revealed the face of the Arkham patient Maxie Zeus staring back at her from his cell.

"Oh, it's only you." Dr. Adams approached the man in the cell. "You should be getting some rest, Mr. Zeus."

"I can't sleep." Zeus stated. "Not when Morpheus is out there. Trying to take Olympus away from me."

"Morpheus? Ah, you must mean Mr. Dee." realized Dr. Adams. A small smirk formed on her face. "Tell me, Mr. Zeus. Would you like to fight 'Morpheus'?"

"Of course I would!" Zeus jovially bellowed. "The mighty Zeus must always defend his kingdom!"

"Well, you're in luck. Come along now." Dr. Adams unpinned her ID badge from her shirt and pressed it against the electronic lock. The door to the cell opened up and Maxie Zeus stepped out. Now that she could see him better Adams noticed that Zeus had tied a bedsheet around him like a makeshift toga.

"Finally, I'm free!" Zeus cried out. "We shall defeat Morpheus together!"

"Not so loud, now follow me." Dr. Adams grabbed Zeus by the hand and led him further down the hall. "We need some more people on our side."

"Very well, which of my fellow gods are we going to for help?" asked Zeus.

"I have someone in mind. Come, this way." Dr. Adams directed Maxie over to a cell on the other side of the hall.

Peering into the room gave Adams and Zeus a view of a hulking figure sleeping in a bed far too small for their enormous body.

Adams rapped on the door. "Mr. Jones, it's time to wake up."

Killer Croc stirred from his sleep. He rose to his full height and lumbered up to the cell door.

"An excellent plan, taming the Hydra." Zeus remarked to Dr. Adams.

"What's goin' on?" asked Killer Croc, sounding confused. "Why're you waking me up? And why's that weirdo Maxie Zeus with you?"

"There's a very dangerous patient loose in Arkham Asylum and we need you to help us." explained Dr. Adams. "I'm going to let you out, just as long as you help. Do you want to do that?"

"Anything other than this stupid, tiny room." Croc replied. "C'mon, lemme out."

Dr. Adams pressed her ID badge to the lock and the door opened up. Killer Croc ducked out of the room as quick as he could to join Adams and Zeus.

"So where're we going now?" asked Croc in the same way a small child would ask what they got for Christmas.

"I think I'm going to need someone else before I reconvene with my colleagues." Dr. Adams replied.

"What about Hermes, he's a powerful God indeed." Zeus piped up.

"If you're talking about who I think you are then I'm inclined to agree." Adams replied. "Let's meet Hermes."

***

Huntoon and Leland wandered through the halls of the Arkham women's ward doing their best to ignore the guards on the floor and the sleeping shadows in the cells. It was very difficult not to want to help their fallen coworkers but they remembered that notes they'd both taken on Destiny and knew this was likely a pointless effort.

"Roger, are you worried about Ruth?" asked Dr. Leland, feeling that some conversation would lighten up the atmosphere.

"A little. It was probably unwise of Dr. Adams to go into there alone." Dr. Huntoon replied.

"That's not what I meant. Do you think we could trust her to be in there and not screw up?" Dr. Leland rephrased herself. "Me and Adams aren't close, but as head psychiatrists. I've observed some questionable practices from her."

"Dr. Adams is a good woman. She nearly had a breakthrough with Mr. Dent, remember? Almost completely removed his obsession with duality."

"If I recall, that 'Breakthrough' nearly ruined his ability to make any decisions at all."

Their talk was ended when a surly, and strangely, distinctly male voice announced itself.

"Will ya quit yer yapping! Me 'n my gal are tryin' to sleep in here!"

Leland and Huntoon paused after hearing the voice.

"Er, Joan, isn't this the women's ward?" Huntoon turned to his colleague.

Both the psychiatrists approached the cell where the voice came from and looked into the dim room. The room's inhabitant got closer to the light and revealed themselves to the doctors.

The woman looked normal enough compared to Arkham's other patients. Once you got past the scar tissue around her right eye, she was nothing but a skinny blonde woman. Not much too remarkable about her.

At least that's what it looked like until Dr. Leland and Dr. Huntoon noticed the small puppet in a dress suit she held. The dummy was named Scarface and the woman was Peyton Riley. The second person to hold the alias The Ventriloquist.

Scarface's head tilted up at the doctors. "Well, are ya gonna gawk or are ya gonna talk! If ya got something to say, spit it out."

"Ms. Riley, I thought the Scarface puppet was supposed to be kept away from you and Mr. Wesker." Dr. Huntoon said.

"I got so lonely without my Scarface, so I used my ties to the mob to pull some strings with the staff and get my special man back." explained Peyton. "Isn't that right, Scarface?" she nuzzled the dummy against the cheek.

"Have you noticed anything strange going on tonight, Ms. Riley?" asked Dr. Leland. "There's another patient loose in the building."

"I've been asleep for a while. The one weird thing was I was having a dream, I don't usually remember my dreams." Peyton said. "Anyway, I was sleeping for a while. I only woke up because I heard you coming."

"Hold on, didja say somebody escaped?" Scarface asked. "How come nobody told me there was a breakout goin' on!"

"Listen, we know this may sound ill-advised, but we're willing to let you out of your cell." said Dr. Huntoon.

"Really? In that case, I'm all on board." Peyton remarked.

"Sugar, don't be a moron. There's always a catch with these yahoos." Scarface's head rotated towards the doctors. "C'mon doc, what's the catch?"

"We need your help containing the escaped patient." explained Dr. Huntoon.

"Jeez, you guys must really be desperate." Peyton remarked.

"Do you think you'd be able to help us?" asked Dr. Leland. "Frankly, I'm a little hesitant about letting any of you out but we need all the help we can get."

"Well you're in luck, doc. Sugar here don't keep in shape just to look good." Scarface said. "Ya gotta know how to fight when yer dating a crime lord like me."

"Okay, we're going to let you out. But please keep yourself under control." Dr. Leland said. "You will be returned to your cell when it's all over."

"Listen lady, anything to get some sight seein' done. Ain't much to look at in here." Scarface replied.

Dr. Huntoon unlocked the door and Peyton excited, holding Scarface close to her body. Peyton looked around and noticed the bodies of guards on the ground. "Wow, whoever's out here must be serious, eh? Looks like they killed a lotta people."

"They're not dead. At least we hope so." Dr. Leland said. "C'mon Ms. Riley, this way. We're going to want someone else to join us."

Huntoon, Leland, and Peyton walked further down the hall. The doctors had no particular destination in mind and for a few moments Dr. Leland considering going to find Dr. Adams. But they were both then distracted by somebody calling out to them once again.

"Hey, you! Get over here! I wanna be on the outside too!"

The doctors and the newly freed patient gathered around the cell the voice came from and saw the patient known as Magpie standing inside their room. Like with Peyton, Magpie appeared to be a much more normal looking person. Of course, whenever she escaped she had a very extravagant costume and wig she liked to wear. But for now, the auburn haired woman in front of the doctors looked like no threat.

"What exactly do you want, Ms. Pye?" Dr. Huntoon asked.

"I wanna know why Peyton and her puppet are doing out here after lockdown." Magpie said. "And…" her gaze seemed to fixate on Dr. Huntoon's eyes. "I also want your shiny, shiny glasses…" she reached out of her cell and grabbed at Huntoon but the doctor backed away in time.

"Peyton here has agreed to help us deal with an escaped patient that's managed to incapacitate most of the security team." Dr. Leland explained.

"Oh yeah, trusting that psycho and her dummy is real smart. Ha!" Magpie cackled.

"Hey, who you callin' a dummy?" asked Scarface.

"Hold on, you said there's an escaped guy out there, right?" Magpie asked. "Does he look like a big guy in a hood? Got a skull for a face?"

"Yes, that's Doctor Destiny. Have you seen him?" asked. Dr. Leland.

"Walked by my cell a while ago when I was trying to sleep. Thought that was just a dream though." explained Magpie. "Saaayyy, I just thought of something… If you're letting crazy puppet woman here out to help I'm sure I can help too."

"What do you think?" Dr. Huntoon looked over at Leland. "You're head psychiatrist, you've seen her notes.

"Well, her profile says she seems to show an improvement recently." Dr. Leland replied. "Let's let her out."

"Oh thank you, you won't regret this." Magpie said. "Do you think I can collect some of my precious shinies while I'm out?"

"I'm not enabling your problem, Ms. Pye." Leland said. She unlocked the door with her badge and Magpie left her cell with the excitement of a dog that hadn't seen their owner in a long time.

"It's so good to be out…" Magpie took a deep breath. "Everything feels so much sparklier at night."

"I'm alredy starting to regret this plan." Dr. Leland whispered to Dr. Huntoon.

Huntoon wanted to reply but never got the chance to when yet another new voice made itself know.

"Ooh, is there a party goin' on that I didn't know about? I wanna be part 'a this!"

"That'd better not be who it sounds like…" Dr. Huntoon muttered.

Dr. Leland and Dr. Huntoon approached the door on the other side of the hall that the voice came from with the two women they'd freed trailing behind. Once they were closer to the cell, the group saw none other than Harley Quinn reaching out of her cell and bouncing up and down on her heels. Seemingly desperate to talk to them.

"Oh no, it is who it sounded like." said Huntoon.

"Love ya too, doc." Harley remarked. "So what's goin' on with the little group ya got here? And can I join it?"

"This is very serious, Harleen. There's a dangerous patient on the loose in the facility." Dr. Leland explained. "One of the other doctors convinced us to find some patients here who would be willing to help us."

"I'll do it!" Harley cheered. "Unless it's Mista J that escaped. Then I ain't interested."

"We weren't offering." Leland told her. "And it's not the Joker. His name's Doctor Destiny."

"Oh, is that guy the reason the guards outside my room fell over like that?" Harley said. "'Cause that was hilarious!"

"Are they going to let her out?" asked Magpie.

"You kiddin', dame's nuttier than a pecan pie." Scarface replied.

"As former collleagues of Harleen's I think we might have an easier time keeping her under control." Dr. Leland looked to Dr. Huntoon.

"You make a good point." Huntoon agreed. "I'll unlock the door."

"Aww, you really do care." Harley remarked as the door to her cell opened up. She hurried out of her cell and twirled around, taking in her surroundings. "I know what'd make this team even better! We can bring Pam in on this!"

"We draw the line somewhere, Ms. Quinzel." Dr. Huntoon told her. "Bringing Ms. Isley into this would only end in disaster. She'd want Doctor Destiny to kill us."

"Wouldn't wanna kill me." Harley defiantly crossed her arms.

"Harleen, no." Dr. Leland told her. "Just follow us, help out, and we'll get security to bring you back to your cell when we're done. We're going to find Dr. Adams now."

"Aww, you guys are no fun. But it beats doin' nothin' I guess." Harley sighed and the group went further down the hallway. After only a few seconds, a new thought entered Harley's head. "Oh! I know. If we can't bring Ivy, would ya at least let Mista J come along?"

"If we wouldn't involve Isley, there's no way we would involve Joker." Dr. Leland told her. "Just try to cooperate, okay."

***

Dr. Adams had led the two patients she'd found further into the asylum in search of a final person to add to their ragtag group.

"Hey, so who's this 'Hermes' guy Maxie was talking about?" asked Killer Croc after a few minutes of walking. "Isn't he that Jamaican guy from that cartoon with the robot?"

"Well Jones, Mr. Zeus here has deluded himself into believing that he lives in a version of Ancient Greece." Adams explained as they continued down the corridor. "Arkham is Olympus, you're the Hydra, and on different occasions, he's referred to me as a siren, a harpy, or a nymph."

"I think I get it…" Croc tried to put the pieces Adams gave him together in his mind. "But who's Hermes?"

"In mythology Hermes was a trickster God. So Mr. Zeus interprets-"

"Ah! Hermes, we've found his chambers!" Zeus cheered, going up to a cell towards the end of the hall.

"Excellent." Adams followed Zeus with Killer Croc right behind her. "Mr. Jones, meet 'Hermes'."

Croc looked into the cell and was immediately recognized the shadowy figure in their bed as the Joker. "You gotta be kidding…"

"I've been his psychiatrist for years now. I know what I'm doing." Dr. Adams knocked at the cell door. "Joker, I'd like to talk with you for a second."

Joker sprang up from his bed as if he'd never been asleep and approached the door. "Well, well, well, what brings this little team to my room? Don't tell me, I love guessing. Maxie, Croc, have you taken Doc Ruth here hostage? And you've come to bust me out, haven't you? You shouldn't have. It's like Christmas come early."

"It's the other way around, Joker. They're with me." Dr. Adams informed him.

This news caused the Joker to break out into a fit of his trademark laughter. "Oh my, you've finally cracked haven't you? Should've seen it coming. I've always thought you were a hack. What was that thing you called me? 'Super-sane'? Bah! Talk about quackery." as Joker continued to rant Dr. Adams stared him down, stone-faced. "But really Ruthie Girl, I never thought you'd snap this hard. I mean, breaking out me, Croc, and Maxie? You've really gone full Harley."

Dr. Adams stayed silent for a few moments after Joker had finished speaking just to make absolutely sure he wasn't going to say anything else. "Are you done?"

"For now, yes." Joker replied. "Go on Ruthie, tell uncle Joker what you've got to say."

"A patient called Doctor Destiny has broken out from his cell and my colleagues needed some help until Batman shows up." said Dr. Adams.

"Ah yes, he's the fellow who made that guard walking by do a delightful pratfall. Classic slapstick!" Joker cackled.

"Would you like to help?" asked Adams.

"Of course I would!" cheered Joker. "But, I'm going to give you a moment to reconsider. After all Ruthie, every time I get out of my cell with no guards around bad things seem to happen."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. Your erratic behavior might work to my advantage. And even if it doesn't… Well, the scenario will make for some very interesting notes in your psychological profile." Adams took her ID card and used it to unlock Joker's door.

Joker paused for a moment, looked back and forth a few times, and finally made the decision to step out of his cell. "All right Ruthie Girl, I'll play along for now. But if I'm being honest, of all docs I've worked with, you're only a few steps behind Harley in the craziness department right now."

***

Dr. Leland and Dr. Huntoon led the trio of patients they'd gathered back towards the saferoom. Sweat had begun to form on Huntoon's brow and he constantly directed suspicious glances at the three new women following them.

"Joan, I'm regretting this already." Dr. Huntoon whispered.

"So am I. We haven't even seen Destiny yet. Probably would've been a better bet to stay in the room." Dr. Leland said. "Just try to keep calm."

"As the saying goes, easier said than done."

"What'cha all talkin' about?" Harley asked.

"Nothing important, Harleen." Leland said. "Let's stop here, my colleague Dr. Adams should be here shortly."

The group gathered in front of the door to the saferoom leaving them standing around in an awkward fashion. Neither of the doctors was quite comfortable being in such close proximity to the patients without any security. Magpie slowly inched herself closer to Dr. Huntoon. The doctor failed to notice the woman getting closer.

At least until Magpie spoke. "Oh doctor, are you sure about the glasses thing?" she grabbed at Huntoon's glasses who backed away.

"I swear to God, Adams had better get here…" Huntoon murmured.

"Then you're in luck, Roger." Leland nudged her colleague. "Here she come- Oh dear…"

Dr. Leland stared ahead at the hallway as Dr. Adams came out of the darkness. Huntoon saw Adams and the three patients accompanying her and his face went into the same look of shock Leland had.

"I knew she would do something like this…" Leland said to herself.

As soon as Harley noticed Joker was part of the group following Adams her face lit up. "Puddin'!" she ran forward and went up to the Joker.

"Oh, they let you out too, eh?" Joker remarked as he was hugged by Harley. "Didn't think all the doctors were as crazy as Ruthie."

"Should we talk to them?" asked Peyton, eyeing Croc and Zeus.

"I like lizard man, his scales shine in the moonlight…" Magpie beamed up at Killer Croc.

"She wasn't talkin' to you, freak." Scarface said.

"Hmm, who else hath the nymphs of Olympus gathered?" Zeus's eyes went to Magpie. "The Titan, Prometheus…" he looked to Peyton and Scarface. "The sculptor, Pygmalion…" lastly he gazed upon Harley Quinn. "And the Muse, Thalia… A formidable force for the battle against Morpheus!"

While the villains got to know each other better, Adams, Huntoon, and Leland reunited.

"They should be enough to fend off Mr. Dee, don't you think?" Dr. Adams remarked.

"Adams! What were you thinking?" Leland asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Zeus I can understand, but bringing in Jones and the Joker? This can only end in disaster."

"I would have to agree with Joan." Dr. Huntoon said. "Everyone we chose has something we can do to pacify them. Take away Scarface and we can coerce Ms. Riley back to her cell, Ms. Pye can be bribed with anything shiny enough, and Ms. Quinzel usually listens to Joan. But what other than morbid curiosity is going to keep Joker and Mr. Jones from killing us?"

"The goal is to keep John Dee busy until Batman arrives. Once he's here, then he can take care of any unruly behavior on their part." explained Adams. "It's an airtight plan."

"I highly doubt that." Leland said.

Dr. Adams and Dr. Leland would have continued arguing if not for a familiar voice making its presence known.

"What's going on here? Did you put all this together for me? How amusing."

All eyes turned down the hall where Doctor Destiny had just emerged out of the darkness. Doctor Destiny stopped several yards away from the gathering by the saferoom and looked over them.

"I don't know what's going on here and really, I don't care." said Doctor Destiny.

"Erm, you all take care of him…" Huntoon whispered to the patients while he backed up towards the saferoom door.

"I suggest you use a nuanced, well thought out strategy." Dr. Adams added as she began to do the same.

All the villains gawked at Doctor Destiny, unsure of how to act. After a few moments of standing around, Magpie made the first move.

"The ruby… So pretty... So shiny… So perfect…" Magpie's gaze was attracted to the gem attached to Destiny's hood. "It's mine!"

Magpie pushed past her fellow patients and ran towards Doctor Destiny, her arms outstretched. She was fast to reach the towering man in front of her but before she could even touch the jewel Doctor Destiny slapped her across the face with the back of his hand with such force that it knocked her into the wall.

There, Magpie remained unmoving; either unconscious or not wanting to get up. The patients and doctors observing this were a bit taken aback by how easily Doctor Destiny disposed of Magpie. Except for the Joker who, naturally, still had a big smile on his face.

"I don't know who he is but I like his style." Joker remarked.

Doctor Destiny glared at the group ahead of him. "Adams, Leland, Huntoon, do you think you can really hide behind these fools forever? Nobody escapes the clutches of Doctor Destiny!"

Chapter Text

When working at Arkham Asylum you had to be prepared for unconventional situations. But even Dr. Leland found her current state a bit unbelievable. In front of her and her colleagues was a powerful man who wanted to torment them with the only thing separating the doctors from the supervillains being a group of their patients who probably also wanted to torment them.

"Do you think they can handle him?" Dr. Leland whispered to Dr. Adams.

"Oh, definitely not." Adams replied. "But it should be enough to stall Mr. Dee until the proper authorities arrive." she turned to the patients and forced herself to politely smile at them. "We'll leave you to it."

"Let us know when it's over." said Huntoon, fumbling to open the metal saferoom door.

As the three doctors abandoned their patients, Dr. Leland couldn't help but cast a worried glance out at the hall before Dr. Huntoon shut the door

The patients gathered outside the saferoom stared at Doctor Destiny, mostly in terror and awe. Nobody knew what to make of him but from the looks of it he wasn't quite sure what to do with the patients either.

"So, this is the line of defense Adams and her cohorts put up?" Doctor Destiny remarked. "Cowards."

"Puddin' say somethin' to him." Harley muttered to the Joker.

"I was about to do that, Harley. Be patient." Joker raised his voice to address Doctor Destiny. "Listen, Destiny, how about we talk things out? You don't like the docs, we don't like 'em either. To be honest, I didn't even care for Bird Girl over there," he briefly indicated to the still unmoving body of Magpie. "Whatta you say? Let's work together."

Before Doctor Destiny had a chance to think about the offer Maxie Zeus inserted himself into the discussion. "Hermes! You can't reason with Morpheus. Olympus is my domain and I alone am its ruler. Have at thee!"

Zeus ran past the other patients and charged straight at Doctor Destiny.

"Huh, we're fighting now?" Killer Croc asked. "Alright, here we go!"

"Hmm, so much for that." Joker remarked. "Well Harley, let's do it Maxie's way."

"You got it Mista J!"

Harley and Joker joined the other two in running towards Doctor Destiny. Peyton, and by extension Scarface, stayed back by the saferoom door and watched for a couple moments.

"Whatta ya waitin' for, ya dumb broad!? Get in there and fight!" Scarface yelled. "Ya wanna look weak in front of these guys?"

"Right away, Mr. Scarface!" Peyton replied, immediately beginning to run at Doctor Destiny.

Doctor Destiny saw the cavalcade approaching him but didn't move an inch. Instead, he quietly looked up and down the cell doors in the hall.

"Hmm… Whose dreams would help me fight?" Doctor Destiny softly mumbled to himself. "Ah… I know. How fitting…"

A mass of purple smoke began to form above Destiny's head. This new development made a few of the patients a bit apprehensive.

"Hey puddin' should we worry about that?" asked Harley, observing the smoke.

"Oh, I'm sure this place has a sprinkler system. No need to worry." said Joker.

"I think we should worry." Peyton said.

"Ha! What do you know?" Joker chuckled, still running. "You're just Harley with a dummy instead of a real man."

"Why I oughta!" Scarface exclaimed.

Despite their initial rushing into the fight, all parties halted when the smoke finished forming. In front of them, an abnormally large jet black bat hovered above Destiny's head.

"What spawn of Tartarus hast thou summoned, Morpheus?" asked Zeus.

"Say hello to a little nightmare that Scarecrow was having." Doctor Destiny explained. "Now it's your problem."

"A bat! What are the chances?!" Killer Croc exclaimed.

"Have fun." said Doctor Destiny.

The bat swooped down at the group in front of them causing all but Croc and Zeus to scatter away.

"Come Hydra! We must defeat this beast!" Zeus yelled.

"Huh? Whatever you say." Killer Croc said.

The giant bat made contact with them and both men grabbed on tight to its wings, holding on as it swerved around the hallway.

"Return to Hades, demon!" Zeus punched the dream construct in its face. "I have the mighty Hydra on my side!"

"Yeah, stupid bat-thing!" Croc shouted, digging his claws into the bat's wing.

From below, the others looked at the large creature thrashing around the narrow halls.

"Should we get in on this, puddin'?" Harley asked.

"I think the problem will take care of itself." said Joker. "The bat monster's gotta crash. Real stupid idea to release that thing indoors actually."

Doctor Destiny looked down from his bat to stare down the Joker. "You dare mock me? Maybe some more nightmare constructs would change your mind!"

Smoke flowed out from another one of the cell doors and morphed into a quartet of small, hunched over, grey-skinned demon-like creatures. Peyton and Harley recoiled at the sight of the monsters but Joker took his usual approach to things when seeing them.

"Freaky! Who dreamed up these things?" Joker said.

"Fool! You're supposed to be fleeing in terror from them!" Doctor Destiny shouted.

Joker ignored Doctor Destiny and instead chose to acknowledge Harley. "Help me out with these creepy little grey things, would you Harley?"

"But I don't have my hammer, Mista J."

"Don't worry about that, just keep Doctor Dreamy here away from me and my winning smile."

"Whatevah you say, puddin'!"

Joker and Harley ran at the four demon creatures, prepared to fight. Two of the demon creatures jumped into the air with one landing on Harley's head and biting at her while the other tackled Joker to the ground and clawed at his chest.

"Take it easy, that tickles! And not in the fun way!" Harley cried, trying to pull off the creature gnawing at her head.

The two remaining dream creatures made a run at Peyton who was beginning to back away.

"Don't run away, sugar! Fight 'em!" Scarface ordered.

"I'm not used to this, Scarface! I get other people to do the heavy lifting work or use a gun." Peyton said.

"Ya don't got either of those things. Now get those crazy things away before they turn me into sawdust!"

"Of course. I'll save you Mr. Scarface!"

Peyton looked away from her puppet and saw that the two demons had almost reached her. Not entirely sure what to do, Peyton tried kicking one of them when they got close and the first of the dream creatures was set flying a couple feet back.

"Look at that, do I make you proud?"

"The other one, sugar! There are two!"

The second dream construct reached Peyton and sunk its teeth into her leg. Peyton screamed and fell to the ground, dropping her dummy in the process.

"No! Mr. Scarface!" Peyton reached out to where Scarface landed, trying to shake off the demon that was chewing on her leg.

Just as quickly as the pain in Peyton's leg had started it just as suddenly disappeared. She looked up from Scarface and saw Magpie standing over here, apparently having kicked away the second demon.

"Hey there, I'm back." Magpie said.

"Can't talk, need Scarface…" Peyton clambered to reach her beloved puppet.

"Why thank you too…" mumbled Magpie.

Up above them, Maxie Zeus and Killer Croc's struggle against the giant bat Doctor Destiny had summoned raged on. Croc had climbed up on the back of the bat and had been repeatedly punching it in the back of the head. Zeus still clung to the wing of the creature and attempted to hit it in whatever way he could.

"Why will you not die, foul beast?" said Zeus. "Back I say! Back!"

Zeus swung a fist at the bat, hitting it in the eye. At the same time, Killer Croc hit the monster in the back of its head. It swerved out of control and into a wall where it soon fell to the ground with Zeus and Croc still holding on. After only a few seconds on the ground, the bat became a smoke form again and disappeared.

"Zeus triumphs once again!" Zeus cheered.

Doctor Destiny noticed Zeus and Croc. "It's only a small victory. There are plenty of dreams in this hellhole for me to steal from… Ahh, I found a good one."

More puffs of coloured smoke formed at seemingly random points around the corridor and started to take shape. When the smoke was fully solidified it took the shape of a group of pale men carrying spears whose torsos seemed to be nothing but giant playing cards.

"Oh no, now we've gotta fight demons and whatever these things are." Magpie realized, fending off one of the demon dream constructs.

"Jeez, whose dream did skullface over there pull these things out of?" asked Scarface, as the card-people closed in on them.

"Unless the Royal Flush Gang's locked up in here for some reason, I got no idea." Peyton replied while pulling a demon off her head with her one free hand.

"It's obvious that these are from Tetch's mind." said Joker while he shoved one of the demons away from him. "Hatty's the only guy in here who thinks about playing cards this much."

"I'm startin' to think the docs want this guy to kill us…" Harley backed herself up against a wall as she said this, the card-people and demonic dream constructs getting closer to her and the other patients.

***

Within the saferoom, the sounds of the outside were significantly suppressed but just enough noise seeped into the room for those inside to become curious. The three doctors had resumed the positions that made them as calm as they possibly could be in this situation. Adams retreated to her corner, Huntoon sat still in a chair, and Leland paced around the room.

The three doctors had done their best at ignoring the sounds coming from outside but occasionally some strange noise, perhaps a crash or some muffled shouting, would become audible and arouse their suspicions. But they tried to forget about those sounds as quickly as possible for their own sakes.

But this pattern finally broke after the sound of somebody being flung into the metal door of the saferoom became audible to the doctors, even breaking Dr. Leland out of her pacing pattern.

Dr. Leland turned to address her fellow psychiatrists. "I don't think they're going to be able to hold off Doctor Destiny."

"They don't have to. All we need is for them to fight Mr. Dee long enough for Batman to show up." Dr. Adams said.

"Besides, it's not like we can exactly help." added Dr. Huntoon. "None of us have any experience fighting."

"What we're doing doesn't feel right. Those people out there are our responsibility. We're supposed to cure them, not encourage them to fight each other." said Leland.

"Joan, I respect you, but we all know there's no way we'll ever cure these people." Huntoon said. "It's just a fact of life."

Another loud noise like something being thrown against the door caught the attention of the doctors again.

"That's it, I'm making sure the patients are safe." Dr. Leland declared.

Dr. Leland marched herself up to the saferoom door and pulled it open. On the other side, Leland was greeted by the sight of Magpie's partially conscious body lying at the foot of the door.

"Hey doc… Can I come in?" Magpie mumbled, doing her best to not sound incoherent.

Leland looked up from Magpie and out into the corridor outside the saferoom. What she saw could only be described as pure chaos. A small army of strange men with playing cards for bodies was overwhelming the patients she'd gathered all while Doctor Destiny watched from the sidelines.

As Dr. Leland looked over the situation in front of her in confused shock Harley Quinn took notice of the psychiatrist. "Hey Joan! Mind helpin' us out? We took care of the demon guys but these poker guys are givin' us some trouble!"

Leland stared at the battle for a couple more seconds before silently shutting the door and slowly making her way back to her colleagues. "Ruth, Roger, we need to do something."

"No we don't. I keep telling you." Dr. Adams stated. "It's best if we just stay the course."

"I'm with Adams." agreed Huntoon. "They don't care if we live or die, so why should we."

"Fine, you two can stay in here. But I feel like they deserve some help." replied Leland. "No matter what they do, Batman's always made sure they end up here instead of dead. So I feel like we should do the same."

Leland started off towards the saferoom door again but stopped herself when Dr. Adams spoke up. "Hold on, I'll go with you."

"You will?" Dr. Leland turned back around.

"I don't want to be held responsible should you die." explained Adams. "And you probably have a better chance at making a difference if you have my help." she stepped out from her corner of the room and towards Leland.

Seeing this, Dr. Huntoon stood up as well. "I'd rather not be left alone. And I don't want to look like a coward."

"Alright, then let's get out there." said Leland.

"This won't end well for us, will it?" Huntoon sighed.

***

Doctor Destiny watched over the chaos he caused. Although his skull in place of his face left him with a permanent smile, Destiny was very bored on the inside. To him, it didn't matter whether or not his dream constructs killed the patients or not. His eyes occasionally went over to the saferoom door, thoughts of the three psychiatrists in his head. But for the most part he kept himself focused on the brawl in front of his, mentally piloting his dream constructs.

The playing card people he'd summoned from the Mad Hatter's dreams had been doing a fine job at keeping the patients sent to fight him under control. Destiny had told himself it was a matter of minutes until he'd beaten them and he could torment to doctors responsible for his treatment.

This confidence was abruptly taken away when he felt a painful electrical shock run through him. The source of the shock came from his back and Destiny turned around to see what had happened.

Standing behind him were Huntoon, Leland, and Adams. Huntoon held a stun gun that had apparently just hit Doctor Destiny in his trembling hands.

"H-hello…" Huntoon stammered out.

Doctor Destiny stared at the three doctors in front of him and noticed all of them had picked up some kind of weapon. In addition to Huntoon taking a stun gun, presumably from the unconscious guard in the room, Adams had grabbed up a baton, and Leland had taken a very heavy book.

"Well, now I'm just annoyed." Doctor Destiny chuckled at the doctors. "Do you honestly think you can-" he was cut off when Leland tossed her book straight into his face. Destiny recoiled, clutching the bones where his nose would have been. "Did you really just do that?! To me!? I can make you-" he was interrupted a second time by Adams hitting him across the face with her baton. "Stop it! I can't concentrate!"

As Destiny reaching this level of anger made the playing card men burst back into their purple smokey forms, much to the relief of many of the patients fighting them.

"Huzzah! Zeus cannot be defeated!" Zeus cheered.

"Aww, but we were gettin' to the good part." Harley remarked.

"Excuse me, could somebody help us out with Destiny?" Leland requested.

Killer Croc jumped into action and tackled Doctor Destiny to the ground.

"This isn't right! I'm all powerful!" Destiny struggled against Killer Croc's arms. "I can't be taken down by some gimmicked lunatics and their incompetent doctors!"

Magpie went up to where Croc and Doctor Destiny were rolling around on the ground. She moved in a strangely tranquil fashion that got both Croc and Destiny to stop moving around for a moment and look at her.

"Hey there… I'm here for my shiny…" Magpie grabbed the ruby off of Doctor Destiny.

"No! My Materioptikon!"

"Ms. Pye, we need you to destroy that gemstone." Dr. Adams said, her voice still sounding perfectly calm after everything that had happened. "It's how Mr. Dee here gets his powers."

"Great idea, that way I get a whole collection of small shinies." Magpie threw the ruby to the ground causing it to shatter into many tiny pieces.

Doctor Destiny stared at what had been the source of his power as it broke. His lack of a proper face made it impossible to read his expression but his angry outbursts had stopped which most took as a good sign. That is, they thought it was a good sign until Doctor Destiny started laughing.

It was an understated, quiet laugh at first but soon transformed into a psychotic, booming one.

"I said it before and I'll say it again, I really like this guy's style." Joker commented.

"Why the hell is he laughing?" asked Peyton. "He just got his weird power crystal destroyed."

"I dunno sugar, I ain't exactly the type to hang around magic types like this guy." Scarface replied.

Doctor Destiny's laughter came to a sudden end. "I'll be taking my Materioptikon back…" he broke a hand free from Killer Croc's grip and shakily held it out towards the pieces of the jewel.

The crimson shards of crystal floated and began to put itself back together like a video being played in reverse. Once the Materioptikon had been fully reconstructed it levitated back into Doctor Destiny's hands where he reattached it to his hood.

"He… He shouldn't be able to do that.." Huntoon gaped at Destiny in disbelief.

"I don't understand… How is this happening?" Dr. Adams said.

The ruby glowed brighter and made Killer Croc hold his head. "Gah! What's going on?!"

"Just a little psychically induced migraine." explained Destiny as he picked himself up from the ground. "Now… Let's return to the nightmares."

More clouds of purple smoke formed around the doctors and patients by the dozens and began to take shape. The three psychiatrists all started to back away from the haze while the patients all began to bunch together as the smoke surrounded them.

"Why is this happening?" asked Huntoon, his level of stress dramatically increasing.

"I… I don't know…" Adams admitted. "He shouldn't have been able to do that… The Materioptikon is what gives him his powers."

It was then that something clicked in Dr. Leland's head, like the last piece of a puzzle being put into place. "This isn't the real Doctor Destiny."

"What do you mean?" asked Dr. Huntoon.

"This Destiny is just another dream construct. That's the only way he'd be able to repair his ruby." explained Dr. Leland. "The real Doctor Destiny is still in his cell."

"Of course…" Adams realized. "Roger, Joan, let's go. We'll let the patients take care of this Destiny. We can go take care of the real John Dee."

"Are you sure?" asked Huntoon. "Can't we wait for Batman?"

"I don't think we can afford to wait anymore with someone as powerful as Doctor Destiny." Leland said. "Adams is right. Let's go."

The trio of psychiatrists hurried away from Doctor Destiny and towards the basement, leaving the patients to fight him.

Chapter Text

Doctor Destiny surveyed the discord he'd caused in the short time he'd been in possession of his Materioptikon. A dysfunctional group of Arkham Asylum patients were engaged in a battle between an even stranger group of characters Destiny had summoned from the dreams of the various people sleeping in the asylum. He watched their pain, his chest swelling with joy at their sorrow.

A goblin he'd summoned from the dreams of a sleeping guard pulled at the hair of Peyton Riley while a strange creature made of rocks from inside the head of a patient down in the basement tried to grab her Scarface puppet off her hand.

"Sugar, get this damn thing offa me! Be useful for once, dummy!" yelled Scarface.

"I've got my own problems, Mr. Scarface!" Peyton shouted back.

Harley Quinn and Killer Croc had become clumped together as they were surrounded by a swarm of tiny flaming insect-like creatures Destiny had taken from the mind of, fittingly enough, Firefly. They did their best to swat away the creatures but quickly became overwhelmed.

"Stupid hot bugs!" growled Croc.

"Ah jeez, it's times like these I really wish I had my hammer." Harley felt her back press up against Killer Croc's back as the flame-engulfed bugs closed in.

Maxie Zeus and Magpie faced off against a blonde haired muscle man who looked as if he'd been pulled from the pages of some third rate Conan the Barbarian knock off book.

"Do you think you can stand up to a God, Heracles?" Zeus punched the Conan lookalike but received no reaction from the dream construct. "What sorcery is this?"

"Maxie I think you might wanna-" Magpie's warning came late as he was punched in the face by the dream construct and into a wall. She began to back away as the He-Man advanced on her. "You wouldn't hit a woman, would you?"

The Joker was being terrorized by a group of towering robots straight out of a 50's sci-fi film that Destiny had pulled from the dream of a security guard. One of the robots picked up Joker by the collar of his asylum-issued uniform and beeped a few times.

"What're you gonna say? 'Exterminate'? 'Resistance is futile'? 'Danger Will Robinson'?" Joker said.

"Die." the robot slammed Joker into the ground as it and the other machines surrounded him. This action only caused Joker to burst into a fit of laughter.

"Thank you sir, may I have another?"

Doctor Destiny would have liked to stay and watch this all night but he quickly came to the realization that something was missing.

"The doctors…" he walked past the patients and dream creations over to the open door to the saferoom. Peering inside, Destiny saw that the room was unoccupied except for one security guard he'd put to sleep. "No… They know… They know!" Doctor Destiny let out a cry of frustration. "They're in the basement… I need to find them. Make them pay!"

Doctor Destiny and his dream constructs all exploded into puffs of purple smoke. When the air cleared all the supervillains were left without anybody fighting them and not to mention incredibly confused.

"So did we win?" Harley asked.

"There's nobody left to punch… So I think we win…" replied Croc.

"So now whatta we do now?" Peyton said.

"I shall return to my chambers." stated Maxie Zeus. "I've succeeded in defending Olympus for today."

"Now hold on Maxie, I've got bigger plans." Joker said.

"Yes, now that nobody's here to stop us from escaping." remarked Magpie. "I could steal all the pretty little treasure I want..."

"Tut, tut, Maggie. Such a one-track mind." Joker chuckled. "No, I want to find where this Destiny guy went."

"But why, puddin'?" asked Harley. "We could just get outta here right now."

"Harley, what have I told you about questioning me?"

"Nuh… Not to do it."

"Exactly!"

"Now hold up, she may not have a backbone but I do!" Scarface spoke up. "Why shouldn't we escape from here? Guards are all sleepin', docs are God knows where… It's perfect!"

"But you see, I'm a man who likes closure." Joker began to explain. "And the doctors and that skull-faced freak have to be in this place somewhere. So I'm going to find them. Hmm… I think I heard him mention the basement…" he grabbed Harley Quinn by the wrist and led her down the hall "Come along, Harley!"

"Alright Mista J. But can we escape after this?" Harley asked.

"Naturally!" cheered Joker.

Zeus started to follow Harley and Joker. "I shall help on this quest as well, Hermes. If Morpheus is still out there it's my duty as a God to protect Olympus."

"Sure, sure, the more the merrier." Joker nodded along as Zeus caught up.

"Hey, wait for me!" exclaimed Killer Croc, catching up to the other three. "I dunno what's goin' on, but it sounds fun. I don't like that big bony creep, so beating him down will feel good."

Both Magpie and Peyton stayed behind as they watched the rest of the patients they were with disappear down to the hallway.

"Should we follow them?" Peyton asked.

"Hell no." Scarface said. "You 'n me are gonna get outta here. Maybe when we're somewhere safe we can have some private time. It's been a while..."

Magpie shuddered after she realized what Scarface, or rather Peyton through Scarface, was alluding to. "Ugh, disgusting..."

"Hey, don't knock it 'til you try it, babe."

"That's it.I'm going with the others. I do not want to hear about your creepy love life, Peyton." Magpie marched off after the other patients towards wherever they had gone off to.

Peyton watched Magpie walk away and after she stood around for a couple moments she began to scurry after her.

"Where're ya goin', sugar!" shouted Scarface.

"I don't wanna be left alone. Especially with that skeleton guy still out." said Peyton.

"You're not alone, dummy. You're with me."

"No offence Mr. Scarface, but you're attached to my hand."

***

Deep in the basement of Arkham Asylum, Dr. Huntoon, Dr. Leland and Dr. Adams walked down the hallways. They went past cells filled with sleeping patients and the bodies of several unconscious guards.

"God… I wish we could help them." Leland glanced down at a guard as they passed.

"We are. Once we find the real Doctor Destiny we'll be able to wake them up." Adams replied.

"I don't know if my nerves can take this. Everything down here feels… Tense." Huntoon remarked.

"Keep it together. The patients upstairs should keep Mr. Dee distracted until we can find his cell." said Adams.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Dr. Adams."

All three of the psychiatrists froze with fear upon hearing Destiny's voice. Doctor Destiny rose through the floor several feet in front of them like a ghost.

"I'm glad I caught up with you. I wouldn't want to let you get away with what you did." if Destiny had a proper face he would have smirked. "I'm nothing but a shell of my former self thanks to your attempts to 'Cure' me, Dr. Adams. It's thanks to you that I have to project myself like a spectre to even feel close to my most powerful form. You're all going to suffer."

"Mr. Dee, I tried to explain earlier… Me and my colleague, Dr. Leland, we had nothing to do." Huntoon said. "Joan didn't even know about what Ruth was doing."

"I've seen enough of the other patients to know that you've done nothing but make them worse than they were when they got here. The less of you doctors the better." Destiny replied. "I'm thinking of levelling this place to the ground once my Materioptikon brings me back to full power."

"So you're going to kill us now?" asked Dr. Huntoon, already knowing the answer.

"No." Doctor Destiny paused for a moment. "Well I'm not." purple smoke began to escape from the doors of several of the cells around them. "The people down here may be weakened and sleeping. But just like me, their most powerful selves are still inside. So I figure, what better way to torment you pathetic, ineffectual doctors than to let loose some of your most dangerous patients. I hope you enjoy this little reunion."

The three clouds of smoke began to take shape in front of the doctors. The first cloud took the form of an overweight man who wore a bloodied apron and a mask resembling the face of a pig. His name was Lazlo Valentin but to most, he was known as Professor Pyg.

The second cloud formed into a man who very clearly loved the colour pink. Everything from his jacket, to his pants, to domino mask, to even his hair was pink. To most, he wouldn't have been that intimidating but the doctors recognized the man as Eduardo Flamingo or just plain Flamingo for short.

The third and final cloud took the shape of a woman of average height and build. Unlike the other two, this figure still wore their asylum uniform. The most distinct thing about the woman was her lack of features normally associated with humans. Her name was Jane Doe and, to put it bluntly, she had no skin. Nothing but pure, exposed muscle.

The trio of dream constructs seemed more complex than the mindless beasts Destiny had summoned earlier. For one thing, they seemed legitimately confused about how they suddenly came to be.

"Oh my, I'm used to out of body experiences but this is new…" Jane Doe looked down at her hands in bewilderment. "How did I get outside?"

"That would be me." as soon as Destiny spoke the three patients turned around to face him. "I took your subconscious and brought it into the real world. Now… I have some friends for you to meet..." he pointed over at the psychiatrists who were now trying to walk away. "You remember the doctors, don't you? I bet some well-deserved revenge would feel good. Even if you don't remember, I'm sure you three can find other uses for them."

"It's been too long since Pyg has had a subject to mold into perfection…" Professor Pyg turned around to look at the doctors.

"Yes, and I think I've been Jane for too long. Time to take somebody else's identity…" Jane looked over at them as well.

Flamingo grunted out what could've been a word if he put in more effort and twirled around as well.

"Yes, that's it… Give them what they've earned!" Doctor Destiny cackled as the three subconsciouses of the villains ran down the hall towards the psychiatrists.

"Dr. Leland, Dr. Huntoon, I suggest we stick together and run." said Dr. Adams.

Her colleagues nodded back and all three of them turned around to run away from the trio of psychopaths now on their trail.

"Do you think they'd be willing to listen to reason?" Leland pondered.

"Please slow down… Pyg only wants to play!" shouted Professor Pyg as him and the others got closer.

"No, I don't think so." Dr. Adams replied.

"Ruth, Joan, please slow down…" Dr. Huntoon began to breathe heavily. "You're both in much better shape than m-" he tripped over and fell flat on his face before we could finish the sentence.

Leland and Adams stopped and turned around where they went to go help Huntoon up from the floor.

"We need to hurry." Adams said. "Can't waste any time."

"Don't worry, we'll be fine." Dr. Leland said, more to herself than the others.

"Hello there. Need some help?"

The doctors looked up and saw the face of Jane Doe staring down at them with Flamingo and Professor Pyg just behind her.

"Ms. Doe, perhaps we could talk things out?" asked Dr. Huntoon, his voice trembling.

"Tempting… But I'm not sure would Lazlo and Eddie would think about that."

"Nngh…" groaned Flamingo.

"I think that means he wants to eat your face." Jane grinned.

Flamingo leaped forward and pounced on top of Dr. Adams. Leland's initial instinct was to go and help her colleague but she stopped herself when she felt a pair of fleshy, feminine hands grasp her by the wrist. She looked and saw it was Jane Doe that held her.

"Hello Joan, would you come with me for a moment?" requested Jane. "Thank you."

Jane ended up being stronger than she appeared and was easily able to drag Joan up to the corridor wall and pin her against it.

"Now don't worry Dr. Leland. I know a lot of ways to kill people without making them bleed." said Jane. "Wouldn't want any blood on your clothes. After all, I'll be wearing them later. Not to mention wearing your skin."

"Do you really want to do this, Jane?" Dr. Leland tried to reason with her.

Jane Doe was rather straightforward in her response. "Yes."

Dr. Huntoon had climbed to his feet but as soon as he fully stood up he saw Professor Pyg standing in front of him.

"Ah… Mr. Valentin… Remember me? We've had a few therapy sessions." said Dr. Huntoon.

"Pyg remembers the fat man… You didn't like me, did you fat man?" Professor Pyg took a hacksaw out from a loop on his apron. "Said Pyg was a sick man, said he couldn't be cured… But Pyg is going to cure you, fat man…"

Dr. Huntoon started to back away from Pyg as the professor got closer. "N-now, maybe I was wrong. Let's think through this rationally Mr. Valent-"

Professor Pyg pushed Huntoon to the ground. "Hold still fat man, Pyg wants to help."

Dr. Huntoon looked up at Pyg as the man brandished his hacksaw. He tried looking away but the view didn't seem much better. Instead, he saw Dr. Adams desperately trying to fight off Flamingo who seemed to be attempting to claw at the doctor's face. The view on the other side wasn't much better with all he could really see being Dr. Leland being restrained by Jane Doe.

Huntoon looked back up into the mask of Professor Pyg and tried his best to accept that this was how he was going to die. He shut his eyes and prepared for the inevitable but was suddenly given hope by a voice he never thought he'd be relieved by.

"Keep out of Olympus, fiend!"

Opening his eyes, Dr. Huntoon was just in time to see Maxie Zeus tackle Professor Pyg to the ground.

"Huh, what's going on?" asked Huntoon.

Jane Doe seemed confused by what had just happened as well but didn't have to wonder any long when Harley Quinn came out of the shadows and kicked her in the face.

"I ain't a fan of the docs here, but Joan is off limits!" Harley cheered.

"You were just in time, Harleen. Wouldn't want to imagine what Jane was about to do to me." said Leland.

"Any time, doc."

"Excuse me, could somebody help me!" shouted Dr. Adams who was still in conflict with Flamingo.

Her request was answered when Killer Croc ran out from the shadows and headbutted Flamingo in the back.

"Thank God for that." Dr. Adams stood up and dusted herself off. "It's not that I'm grateful for being saved from having my face eaten, but why are all you helping us?"

The Joker stepped out of the shadows of the hall with Magpie and Peyton following. "I may like Destiny's style but he seems like the type of fellow who wouldn't like me. Plus, I just wanted to see where you all ran off to. I'm a little underwhelmed by the answer actually. Almost makes me regret coming down here."

Flamingo got up from the ground and charged Magpie only to be punched in the face. She calmly looked away from Flamingo and at the doctors. "You three can go find the creepy-skull-man. We'll stay here and stop these guys. And when you're done with the skull man, could I have his pretty ruby?"

"We're not enabling the problem." Dr. Huntoon said. "But thank you. We'll be going now."

Leland, Adams, and Huntoon regrouped and began running down the hallway. Leaving the patients they'd released to fight the patients Destiny had released.

"You know Joan, I never really thought you were right about some of these patients being good people." Huntoon admitted. "The Joker is still completely psychotic though."

"He's 'Supersane' and I will swear upon that until the day I die." Adams interjected. "Which might be today if earlier events are any indication."

There was no talking through the rest of their travels through the winding halls of the basement. It took them another couple of minutes but they eventually found the cell of Doctor Destiny.

They slowed their running to a walking pace once they were close enough, cautiously approaching the cell.

"We need to be quiet." Leland whispered to the others. "Destiny is very powerful."

"I'll unlock the door, you take the Materioptikon." Adams said.

"And what do I do?" asked Huntoon.

"You keep lookout." Adams replied.

Adams unpinned her ID badge and pressed it to the electronic lock to Doctor Destiny's cell. The door swung open and Dr. Leland hurried herself into the room. She gazed upon frail, seemingly unconscious body of Doctor Destiny. Her eyes fell upon the glowing ruby in his lap.

"Joan this is easy, be a hero." Leland tried to give herself a pep talk.

She put her hand on the gemstone and lifted it. Doctor Destiny's eyes suddenly shot open, placing a bony hand around Leland's wrist.

"Give me the Materioptikon!" cried Destiny.

Leland couldn't help but note that Doctor Destiny's voice was less deep and much weaker when he was in his true body. He clung to Leland's wrist but the psychiatrist proved to be much stronger. With just a little pulling, Doctor Destiny fell forward out of his wheelchair and onto the ground. Dr. Leland held the Materioptikon close to her as the horribly weakened Doctor Destiny tried to reach for it.

"No… This isn't right…" Destiny said. "I can feel my power being drained… Give it back…"

***

The freed patients hadn't stopped their fight against Destiny's dream-construct patients. They'd been able to gang up against them quite effectively actually.

Harley and Joker fought Professor Pyg, Croc and Magpie were up against Flamingo, and Zeus, Peyton, and Scarface had Jane Doe to fight.

"Hey Pigsy, how 'bout'cha go back to the farm." Harley kicked Professor Pyg in the chest when he suddenly burst into nothing but smoke. "Uh… Mista J, did I just kill him?"

"I don't know Harls, and I don't really care either." Joker shrugged. "One less basket case to worry about."

Looking around, Harley saw Flamingo become a cloud of smoke when hit by Magpie and Jane Doe disappear into haze after being punched in the gut by Maxie Zeus.

"Seriously, does anyone know what the hell just happened?" asked Harley.

"No, but I know one thing. Seems like we're one hundred percent home free now." Scarface spoke up. The puppet looked up at Peyton. "C'mon sugar, let's get outta here f'real now."

"Hmmm… It has been too long since Zeus walked the mortal world." Zeus said. "I shall leave as well! Come, we shall leave Olympus at once!"

Zeus strutted past the others and down the hall.

"Ah, why not." Croc began to follow after him. "Hey Maxie, wait up!"

"Hmmm… Safety in numbers I suppose." Magpie walked after the two of them.

Soon enough, the odd group had made it to the stairs that led out of the basement. None of them hadn't expected to be breaking free that night so the prospect of such an easy way out filled them all with glee.

But that glee was suddenly snapped away when the door at the end of the staircase opened up before they reached it. On the other side stood a small gang of security guards led by Aaron Cash.

All six of the patients froze upon seeing the guards at the top of the staircase. Cash just smiled in response.

"I just woke up and let me just say, I was not expecting this." Cash chuckled a little. "Well, looks like you all need an escort back to your rooms."

Joker held his arms wide as if expecting a hug from Cash. "I knew this all seemed too easy! C'mon gang, let's help these boys earn their paycheck!"

***

After Doctor Destiny's Materioptikon had been taken away from him a rather embarrassed guard just outside his cell had awoken and promptly scurried off. The doctors hadn't bothered running after him, assuming somebody would run into him later.

Instead, the doctors had gone to work setting the now only partially conscious Doctor Destiny back in his wheelchair. Well, Adams and Leland did while Dr. Huntoon kept a tight grip on the ruby.

"I've fought the Justice League…" Doctor Destiny murmured, beginning to sound a little incoherent. "I can't be taken down by some… Nobodies…"

"It's been a long night, Mr. Dee. You should get some sleep." said Adams.

"Don't tell me when to sleep, Adams. You wouldn't let me rest for days…"

"We'll get you a new psychiatrist, Mr. Dee." Leland told him. "You're going to feel much better."

"Let's get out of here." Huntoon said. "I don't like staring at him."

"Neither do I." agreed Adams. "But don't worry, we're done."

The three doctors exited the cell and made special care to close the door all the way behind them. As soon as they were back in the hallway, they saw a brand new tall, dark figure step out of the shadows. All three doctors were surprised at first but quickly realized it was only Batman in the dark.

"Hello doctors. I just finished helping Cash and some other guards with a group of patients that had gotten free." said Batman. "Hope I didn't startle you."

"You did. But it's fine, Batman. You have that effect." Leland replied. "We just finished putting Doctor Destiny back in his cell."

"I'm happy to hear you were able to handle the situation." Batman said. "It's good to know the people of Gotham can take care of themselves."

"Thank you Batman, but next time we'd appreciate you coming a bit sooner." Dr. Huntoon remarked.

"Gotham's a very busy city, Dr. Huntoon." Batman replied. "But I'll try to be on top of things in the future."

"Well, I for one hope for an uneventful tonight tomorrow." said Adams.

"I agree. But right now, I need to get home." Dr. Leland turned around and began to walk away down the dark hall. "It's about time I got some sleep."

The End