Nights at Arkham were never quiet.
The quiet here was merely the illusion left after the walls swallowed the sound.
Someone was laughing deep in the corridor.
A little farther away, someone sang off-key.
This was not an attempt to create a horror atmosphere, just to mention how damn good the soundproofing at Arkham Asylum was.
The lights at the nurses' station shone a pallid white. The doctor on duty bent over his case notes, the coffee beside him long since cold.
A guard leaned against the wall, his eyelids heavy, the flashlight at his waist swaying back and forth.
Until a commotion came from outside the main entrance.
First came a brief warning from the access control system.
Then a guard's panicked voice.
"Wait, you can't-"
The next second, Arkham's doors opened.
Batman walked in.
It was as though someone had hit pause on the entire lobby.
The doctor on duty looked up.
The nurse behind the nurses' station flinched, dropping her pen onto the desk.
Two guards instinctively reached for their waists, then froze when they saw who it was.
Batman's cape carried the chill from outside. His black silhouette swept beneath the lights like a moving patch of night.
"Batman?" The doctor froze for half a second before recovering. "What are you doing-"
Batman did not answer.
He did not even look at him.
"Open the maximum-security wing."
His voice was low, cold, and hard, leaving no room for negotiation.
The doctor's expression changed.
"The maximum-security wing requires the director's authorization, and this isn't-"
Batman stopped.
He merely turned his head and gave the doctor a look.
The doctor swallowed the rest of his words.
The guard beside him had already begun entering the access credentials.
"Is it Joker?" the nurse could not help asking. "But he's