Doctor Hugo Strange stood before the isolation wing's surveillance monitors, his hands clasped behind his back, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the fabric of his white coat.
He loved this sense of absolute control, the feeling of crushing those arrogant, dangerous souls and reshaping them to his will.
Especially that green-haired monster.
A few days earlier, he had locked that incessantly chattering madman with his grating laugh in an isolation chamber containing nothing but darkness and silence. No light, no sound, no frame of reference for the passage of time. Such sensory deprivation could break even the strongest will.
Strange eagerly anticipated seeing fear, despair, submission, or at least... silence on that face that always wore an exaggerated smile.
"Bring him out."
"Understood, Doctor Strange." A guard's steady reply came over the line.
Strange put down the phone and waited patiently. His gold-rimmed glasses reflected the stark overhead light, concealing the eager excitement in his eyes.
He could already picture the guards passing through the heavy blast doors, approaching that specially designed cell, and dragging Clown out like a dead dog.
The seconds ticked by. Not a sound came from inside. The silence was unsettling.
Even the quietest prisoners usually made some noise when they saw light and people again after several days in confinement-a groan, a curse, or merely heavy breathing.
But there was nothing.
"Aaaah!!!"
Just as he began to sense something was wrong, a scream so agonized it barely sounded human erupted from the communicator, followed by chaotic running footsteps, heavy panting, and the sound of something being dragged.
The connection abruptly cut out, leaving only the hiss of static.
Strange straightened sharply. Something had gone wrong!
He immediately pressed the emergency alarm button. Its piercing ring instantly filled Arkham's underground levels.
**"Security team! Assemble at the isolation