Somewhere UnknownStatus: Sedated – Breach ContainedSubject: DravenObservation Level: Critical
Beep… Beep… Beep…
Draven's eyes fluttered open in the blinding white light. The IV in his arm pulsed cold liquid through his veins. The sterile air reeked of antiseptic and electricity.
Glass. Steel. Chains.
And silence.
Until he heard it again—that laughter. Low, rolling, wrong. Like something ancient awakening from slumber.
In the corner, past a wall of reinforced glass, a figure danced like a shadow behind static. Limbs moving erratically. A grin smeared across his face like war paint.
The Joker.
Draven's head pounded. Pain lanced through his temples, not physical—but deeper. Like something scraping across his consciousness. His thoughts weren't his alone anymore.
"You're inside the nest," came a voice. Cold. Smooth. Measured.
The Harbinger.
He stepped forward from the shadows, coat pristine, white mask gleaming under the artificial light. He regarded Draven like an artist inspecting raw marble.
"You survived the vault explosion. Impressive. I predicted forty-seven percent survival probability. It's rare I'm pleasantly surprised."
Draven's voice rasped. "You… think this is over?"
"Oh, Draven," The Harbinger said gently, "this is just the incubation stage."
With a flick of his hand, the monitors around the room blinked to life. Footage began to roll—GCPD raids, politicians at press conferences, children being loaded into black vans.
And then—Evelyn.
Eyes blank. Hooked up to a neural harness. Her hands flew across a holographic interface, lines of code streaming like blood from a wound.
"She's brilliant," Harbinger whispered. "A digital blade. We didn't need to break her—just convince her the system is already broken. And now… she's part of us."
"No," Draven snarled, pulling at the chains. "She's stronger than you."
The Joker clapped slowly behind the glass.
"Oh, the drama!" he cackled. "I love it. The knight, the rogue, the mastermind. It's like watching Shakespeare with body counts."
Draven closed his eyes for a moment, focusing his breathing. Not for peace—but to steady himself. His body was weak. His mind, invaded. But his soul—
That was still his.
"I've buried better monsters than you," he said.
The Harbinger smiled wider. "But I'm not trying to kill you, Draven. I'm trying to perfect you."
With another wave, a new screen rose from the floor. It displayed Subject Alpha-7. Brainwave analysis. Cortisol spikes. PTSD matrices. Childhood trauma logs.
Draven's life. Digitized. Weaponized.
"You don't understand," Harbinger whispered. "Pain is data. Suffering is raw code. You are the culmination of Gotham's agony—and I will forge you into the first true Halcyon Knight."
Behind the wall, Joker leaned in. "Or he'll break, and I'll pick up the pieces. Either way… fun for everyone."
Suddenly—A flicker in the lights.A pulse in the commlink.A voice.
"Draven… it's Evelyn."
He froze.
"I breached their local grid. Can't stay long. I've overridden lockdown protocols in your cell. You have a twenty-second window—starting now."
Draven's eyes snapped open.
CLANK.The magnetic cuffs released. He hit the floor hard but rolled to his feet.
The Harbinger's calm cracked for the first time. "Contain him."
ALERT: SUBJECT UNBOUNDSECTOR-9 LOCKDOWN FAILED
Syringes hissed from wall-mounted launchers. Draven dove. One grazed his leg—burning cold. But he kept moving. The door began to close.
Joker shrieked with laughter, smashing his hands against the glass. "YES! Run, little bat, RUN!"
Draven slammed through the door just before it sealed, alarms howling behind him. His body screamed—but he was free.
At least for now.
Underground Sector TunnelsUnknown Depths
Evelyn's voice guided him now—rushed, static-filled.
"I don't know how long I can keep the system distracted. They've buried this facility under Gotham. It's not just a lab—it's a proving ground."
"Coordinates?" Draven coughed, his lungs burning.
"There's a lift ahead. Old maintenance route. I'm disabling the next two floors. After that, you're on your own."
He pushed through rusted corridors, blood dripping from his leg. The walls were covered in graffiti—messages from past test subjects. Warnings. Final thoughts. Madness.
"The clown watches.""Don't sleep. They rewrite you when you sleep.""Project Halcyon failed. Or succeeded. Depending on who's asking."
The deeper he went, the more surreal things became—walls that pulsed, whispering voices that weren't Evelyn's.
In one chamber, he saw what looked like another cryopod. But inside—himself.
A copy. No… a mirror?
He smashed the glass.
Nothing is real in this place unless you make it so.
He reached the lift. Evelyn's voice returned.
"I've uploaded a virus to their neural net. But it won't hold long. Get to the surface. Then find me."
The lift began to rise. As it did, he looked down into the abyss below.
And in that darkness… he saw it.
The Joker.Watching. Smiling. Waiting.
Surface – Old Gotham Rail Yard – 4:32 AM
Rain again. Cold. Cleansing.Draven stumbled out into the open, collapsing to his knees.
Alive.
But the war was far from over.
Somewhere beneath, Evelyn was fighting with everything she had. And The Harbinger wasn't finished.
And Joker?Joker was enjoying the show.