Homelander in Arkham

On the second basement level of Arkham Asylum, the air reeked of excrement and moldy blood.

Chu Men was pinned to a rusted iron bed, his hands bound tightly behind him with coarse rope.

A green-haired man in a purple suit approached, one leisurely step at a time.

Joker.

Gotham City's greatest madman stood right in front of Chu Men.

A crowbar pressed under Chu Men's chin and forced his head up.

"Guess who's losing an eye today? Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Joker grinned, baring yellowed, stained teeth. His laughter echoed through the cramped cell.

"Or how about I put a smile on your face first?"

Chu Men pressed his back against the iron frame and thrashed wildly. The bed rattled, and terror showed plainly on his face. Bloody rope marks covered his wrists.

Outside the cell, more than a hundred psychiatric inmates in hospital gowns gripped the bars and shook them wildly.

Whistles, screams, and the shriek of fingernails scraping metal tangled together.

"Dig it out! Dig it out! Stuff it in his mouth!"

A hulking bald man in the next cell shoved his face between the bars, his features distorted by the pressure. Spittle sprayed from his mouth.

Chu Men stopped breathing. His Adam's apple bobbed.

He'd worked overtime, dropped dead, and opened his eyes in this godforsaken place.

Of all the places he could have ended up, it had to be Arkham Asylum—and in the same room as Joker.

Joker turned his wrist, dragging the tip of the crowbar up Chu Men's cheek.

Skin split. Warm blood ran into Chu Men's right eye, turning his vision red.

"I like that look on your face, but you're too quiet. That's no fun."

Joker leaned closer, his foul breath washing over Chu Men's face.

"The little bat isn't here yet, so we need to entertain ourselves. Scream. Louder."

Chu Men closed his eyes. What a hell of a start. Screw it. If I die, I die. Maybe I'll end up somewhere better next time.

Several thugs crowded into the cell, armed with sharpened toothbrush handles, rusty scraps of metal, and even half a thighbone.

"Boss, the kid's scared stiff. Let's just kill him. There are still a few cops alive on the floor below. They'll be more fun."

A man with tattoos all over his face stepped forward and kicked Chu Men in the stomach.

Chu Men doubled over, only to be yanked back. Acid surged up his throat.

The rope bit into his flesh. The pain nearly broke him.

Joker took half a step back, spread his arms, and turned to the frenzied inmates.

"Welcome to my party, boys! Enjoy yourselves!"

He raised the crowbar high and brought it down toward Chu Men's head.

[Do As You Please System bound]

[Host subjected to extreme oppression. Beginner protection activated.]

[Peak Homelander template integrated.]

[Current status: Do as you please. Nothing is forbidden.]

A mechanical voice rang in his mind.

Chu Men's head drooped as his gaze fell to the floor, blurred by blood.

Heat pumped from his heart and surged through every vein in his body.

His muscles swelled. The coarse rope snapped and fell to the floor.

Time around him slowed.

His sight pierced the walls. He saw riot police assembling aboveground.

His hearing caught a Batmobile racing toward them from fifteen kilometers away.

POWER. Finally.

The crowbar whistled through the air, an inch from his head.

Chu Men raised a hand and caught it.

Metal bent with an ugly creak.

Joker's laughter caught in his throat. He pushed down with both hands, but the crowbar would not budge.

Chu Men stood straight, a head taller than Joker.

He looked down at the stunned, green-haired man. The fear had vanished from his eyes, leaving only madness.

"What was it you were about to do to me?"

"Give me a smile? Hmm?"

Chu Men raised his right hand, seized Joker's head as he turned to flee, and lifted him off the floor.

His fingers clenched. Squelch.

The crack of shattering bone drowned out the inmates' cheers.

Red, white, and green matter sprayed between his fingers. The headless body jerked, then its limbs went limp.

Thud. The headless corpse in the purple suit hit the floor. Its limbs twitched a few times before going still.

The howls in the cell stopped.

More than a hundred madmen held their breath at once.

The tattooed man gaped. The scrap of metal slipped from his hand and struck the floor with a clear clang.

Chu Men rolled his neck, making it crack.

Now I could refuse beef if I wanted to.

In his last life, his boss had ground him down. His mortgage had ground him down. He'd lived worse than a dog.

And now that I'd crossed over, I was supposed to let these lunatics torment me too?

"Fuck, he killed the boss! Kill him!"

The hulking bald man came to his senses and swung a fist at Chu Men's face.

Dozens of thugs lunged at once, burying Chu Men beneath a crush of bodies.

Toothbrush handles stabbed at his eyes. Metal scraps slashed at his throat.

Heat built behind Chu Men's eyes. His vision turned crimson.

Two searing beams erupted from them.

Red light punched through the bald man's chest, leaving a huge hole with charred edges.

The man froze. He looked down at the emptiness in his chest, then fell.

Chu Men threw back his head and laughed.

The beams swept with his gaze.

Up, down, left, right...

Walls melted. Bars turned to molten iron and dripped onto the floor.

The thugs who had rushed him were torn apart at random.

Chu Men strode forward, sweeping the beams through every corner.

Red light carved down the corridor, slicing open the cells on both sides.

An inmate hiding beneath a bed was cut in half along with the iron frame.

Those who tried to flee made it only two steps before red light pierced their backs and burned them to cinders.

Screams, pleas, and curses rose together.

Chu Men did not stop. The beams cut through the ceiling, sending chunks of stone crashing down.

The second basement level became a slaughterhouse.

More than ten minutes later.

The screams had vanished. No one else was alive.

Mangled body parts littered the floor, and blood ran in streams.

Chu Men stopped. The red glow faded from his eyes.

He was bare-chested, the muscles of his transformed body sharply defined.

Bits of flesh and blood covered him.

He raised both hands and swept the loose hair back from his forehead.

Blood slicked it into a dark red swept-back style.

From beneath the desk in the security office at the end of the corridor came ragged breathing.

A uniformed guard covered his mouth and trembled, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.

Chu Men walked over and passed the security office.

The guard squeezed his eyes shut. Tears and snot ran between his fingers, and a puddle of yellow spread beneath his trousers.

Chu Men stepped on the radio, crushing it, and headed straight for the doors leading upstairs.

He tore the heavy alloy blast door open with one hand and tossed it aside.

The guard waited a long time, until only the sound of a leaking pipe remained in the corridor.

He crawled out and pulled a backup communicator from his pocket with shaking hands.

"Calling headquarters... Arkham... is gone."

The guard's voice echoed through the empty corridor, thick with suppressed sobs.

Static hissed from the communicator.

"This is GCPD. Repeat that. What happened to Arkham?"

The guard slowly edged out and looked up. Charred remains and torn flesh covered the floor. His stomach churned.

He collapsed onto his hands and knees and vomited until he brought up bile.

"They're all dead... All the patients... Every last one."

"...Red light... Red light shot out of his eyes!"

The other end went silent for two seconds.

"What are you babbling about? Stay where you are."

The guard threw away the communicator, wrapped his arms around his head, and curled up beneath the desk again.

The man who had walked out of that sea of blood was more terrifying than every madman in Arkham put together.

Arkham's ground floor.

Alarms rang through the night. Red and blue police lights lit up the outer walls.

More than a hundred fully armed riot police raised their shields and sealed off the entrance.

A helicopter circled overhead, its searchlight fixed on the doors.

Commissioner Gordon stood behind a police car, megaphone in hand.

"Everyone inside, listen up! You're surrounded! Drop your weapons, put your hands up, and surrender immediately!"