The dark halls of the abandoned laboratory sprawl out in front of Bruce, its dark halls almost mocking him as he steps along the dirty tiles. It’s been left to rot only just recently, and all of the disgusting experiments conducted here along with it.

Bruce only recently discovered the horrors this place had been conducting, ranging from bio weapons to genetic meshing that defies the laws of nature. The people who ran the lab disappeared the moment they knew he was on their trail, leaving him with only this place to go off of.

He sighs, avoiding the different cells and medical rooms on each side of him. There was so much here in this underground lab, but a majority of the files he’d been hoping to scavenge had been stripped away. File cabinets are empty, computers are shut down.

They knew what they were doing, that’s for sure.

The vigilante’s footsteps echo as he continues traversing the lab, wishing he couldn’t smell the rot and decay permeating the halls. He doesn’t understand what makes a person do things like this. Innocent beings, warped into something they never asked for.

Death was a mercy for them, Bruce realizes. It’s such a sick thought… but he can’t help but think it was true.

His search grows deeper, descending flights of stairs to get deeper into the white walled building. It was like an endless sea of hospital equipment, training rooms, and more containment cells. Each of them held the lives of those who were taken here, discarded like they never meant anything.

The guilt and grief weigh down on him, feeling as if she should’ve known about this so much earlier. There were no signs before he found them—no traces of this horror house.

Bruce shakes the feeling away, knowing he can’t change the past. But he can hopefully change the future. His footsteps grow more determined, but a sound coming from just ahead of him quickly stops him in place.

Now fully alert, the vigilante’s eyes narrow into the darkness. He wasn’t alone.

One of his hands hovers over a batarang on his utility belt, muscles tense as he slowly steps forward, approaching the direction from which the noise came.

It was a cell at the end of the hall, a larger one as well. It was almost more secure than the rest of them; the metal door just barely swung open.

He pushes the door open, the hinges creaking from the weight. Inside was a dark cell, coated in traces of blood. His lips twitched, eyes flickering over the walls before settling on what was inside.

Chained to the wall was a huddled figure, inhuman but alive. Bruce could feel the weight from before even more now that he’s found one of the victims alive. How are they still here? He doesn’t know, but that doesn’t matter anymore.

Because now he can help.

Bruce pauses at the cell door, quick to raise his hands in a placating movement. He doesn’t know their mental state, but judging from their size… this was just a kid.

“Hey there,” He murmurs, his voice softening to an almost shocking degree for someone like him. He crouches down, preparing himself for anything, “It's okay. I’m here to help.”