LOOTING DC #18. Arkham Woods 1
"Guess there's no need to quietly pick the lock, then," Jake muttered, detaching himself from the ceiling with the slow ease of someone used to tight spaces.
Around him, the other prisoners groaned and shifted - most of them dazed wrecks from the crash. None more so than Killer Croc, who looked like a train had hit him - and the train lost.
"Grrr..." Croc growled, shaking his scaly head like he was trying to reassemble himself limb by limb.
Jake sliced through the last of his restraints with a sticky web-flick. "Reckon we hit another pothole. Driver really outdid himself this time."
THUD!
The van jolted hard. Something slammed into its side - metallic and heavy, like a shot-pull on a chain. Jake's senses flared to life.
No more jokes.
He knew the company he was in. This wasn't the time to be caught flat-footed - or dead.
BWAM!
The rear doors blew inward with a violent crunch, launching Harley across the van and into Jake like a ragdoll. His ears rang. A silver blur shot past his face - an arrow tail - embedding deep into the wall.
Three figures stepped into the moonlight.
One broad-shouldered. Two sleek and dangerous.
Jake's stomach dropped.
The white-masked brute built like a wrecking ball - Sportsmaster.
The archer in green, half-masked with red lips he recognized too well - Artemis.
And the silent blur of dual blades, the woman who'd nearly decapitated him a few hours back - Cheshire.
The whole damn family.
Jake's brain scrambled. Artemis first. Then Cheshire. Now their father. Was this about those damned rat-chewed blueprints again? He wasn't sure. But what was certain was simple.
If it was about him, this definitely couldn't be a rescue.
And Artemis fighting alongside Sportsmaster? That threw him. Another shuffle in his deck of fan knowledge. But it didn't matter right now.
What he needed was to reclaim his dignity.
He'd already taken enough losses. Let Batman drop him. Let the cops haul him off. No way he was letting the Crock family put a bow on the whole disaster.
Sportsmaster leaned in, sizing up the van's contents. "Looks like we found a little bonus."
He glanced at Croc, pointing. "Remind me, what's the bounty on that one?"
He didn't get a response. Jake had already moved.
Thwip!
His body shot into motion.
The plan was loose but clear.
Web up Sportsmaster. Disable the girls. Maybe leave a little payback for Cheshire's last stunt. Then vanish before things got heated.
And if things got physical - fine.
He'd vent every ounce of frustration out on the whole damn family if that's what it took.
Jake vaulted over Harley's slumped form, shot a web to the doorframe, and flung himself outward - only to find the outside world was a blur of trees, smoke, and screaming wind.
Thwip!
Another line shot out, aimed straight for Sportsmaster's arm.
CLANG!
Blocked. The man's flail whipped up like a coiled serpent, severing the web mid-flight with a single swing.
Jake landed hard, rolled, then sprang up again with another thwip, this time aiming for the trees. He didn't wait to see if they followed. He knew they would.
He zipped up and swung toward the forest line.
A whisper of motion-
CLINK!
A chain narrowly missed his ankle, snapping tight around a tree instead.
Ffft!
A dagger spun through the air beside him.
Thwip! He shot another web to jerk his trajectory, flipping just in time as an arrow sliced through the space he'd occupied a half-second before.
"Of course she brought arrows," Jake muttered.
The plan had gone to hell the second he stepped outside.
But he was still moving. And that counted.
Behind him, he heard the low growl of a command.
"Find him."
"If you must come back empty - bring his head to me."
So they were after me after all?
Engines roared to life.
Jake didn't need to look back to know what came next.
Cheshire and Artemis, mounting silent black bikes, peeled off after him - predators let off a leash.
The trees blurred around him as he ducked low, weaving through branches. His webs were sloppy. His body ached - still sore from Batman's well-placed pressure strikes and the cop's high-voltage taser. He was burning out, bleeding momentum.
Back at the van, Sportsmaster stood still, unshaken as the rumble of engines faded into the trees. He turned his attention back to the wreckage and the cluster of inmates beginning to stir.
His cold eyes settled on Poison Ivy.
"Savage sends his regards," he said.
"Of course he does," she scoffed, her eyes narrowing. "He can't even let me have one night off."
Vines slowly bloomed around her.
"What do you plan on doing to them?" she asked, glancing at the other prisoners.
Sportsmaster didn't answer at first. He turned his gaze across the remaining prisoners - Killer Croc among them, crouched low, nostrils flaring, eyes twitching like he was ready to tear everything in half.
"Easy there," Sportsmaster demanded, taking a step forward without flinching. "Don't make me put a leash on you."
Croc growled, muscles bunching. "Back off before I bite your damn head off!"
Sportsmaster turned his head slightly. "Ivy."
She didn't wait. Her vines slithered across the road - fast, aggressive, pulsing with spores. The air shimmered green.
Croc snarled, stumbling back a step. "What - what is this?!"
"You are mine now," Ivy said coldly as Croc reluctantly dropped to one knee before her, chest heaving, veins pulsing green beneath his skin. Ivy closed in, one hand under his chin, tilting his face toward hers. Her eyes glowed. His didn't.
Sportsmaster turned to the others. "The rest of you. You're all coming with me."
Creak. Clang. Thud.
Something metallic bounced off to the van's roof.
Harley stood above them, hands on her hips, smirking like she'd just climbed out of a cake.
"Sorry, mister," she chimed, twirling a bent screw between her fingers. "But I'm already spoken for."
With a laugh, she vanished into the trees.
Sportsmaster's jaw twitched.
His chain snapped to life - but Ivy's vines stopped him.
"Trust me," Ivy said, calm and cold. "You want her gone."
🕸️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕸️
Jake's sore muscles burned. Every branch he brushed felt like it cut deeper than it should've. His arms ached from the constant strain, and the bruises blooming across his ribs made every stretch feel like punishment. Behind him, the underbrush rustled - fast, methodical. Engines revving as they closed in.
This chase wouldn't last in his favor unless he lost them. Fast.
Jake cursed under his breath.
Artemis - what was she doing running with this crowd? Undercover for Batman? Maybe. Plausible. But right now, she was his biggest problem.
After that first night being hunted across rooftops, Jake had learned one thing: she was relentless. Efficient. Scarily good at closing the gap. If he wanted a shot at shaking her, he'd need to vanish - completely.
He glanced downhill. Steep, jagged, and treacherous. Perfect.
Without hesitating, Jake veered off the slope, flung himself over the edge, and shot a web mid-fall to hook a branch. The sudden jerk jolted his shoulder, but he kept swinging, gliding low through trees like a pendulum - moving where bikes couldn't, and trackers would struggle.
Spotting a gap in the cliffside, just across a roaring waterfall, he smiled to himself. The spray covered the entrance well, and the drop made it almost unreachable without the right equipment - or a webs.
Jake scanned quickly - vines, damp stone, scattered roots. He webbed the vines, weaving them to drape around the cave mouth as naturally as possible. Just enough to camouflage the entrance. Then he slipped inside and disappeared.
Silence swallowed him.
It was a good spot to wait out the hunt, he thought.
Jake collapsed onto the cold earth, finally letting his body sag. His fingers trembled, muscles twitching from a mix of adrenaline overdose and exhaustion. His back pressed against the cave wall… and pain bloomed.
"Ah - damn it…"
He rolled, gritting his teeth. Something sharp jabbed into his spine.
Reaching back, Jake hissed. His fingers brushed the shaft of an arrow.
"You've gotta be kidding me," he muttered, his fingers finding the arrowhead buried between his shoulders - through graphene-reinforced polymer and carbon nanotube weave that should've stopped anything short of a .50 cal. What kind of bow was she using?
Not to mention - how did he not feel that?
It was lodged high between his shoulder blades. Too close to the spine.
He twisted, grabbing it awkwardly. He tried pulling out fast, but the thing wouldn't budge. Not even several more tries later. He fired a webline and tried to wrap it around the shaft, using tension to yank it free - but each tug sent a hot, electric pain spiraling through his back.
He let the web go slack.
This wasn't going to work.
He needed another way - something smarter. Something that didn't risk leaving him paralyzed.
He looked around, eyes adjusting to the cave's dark. But all he found was more of it.
Streak? Day 1/10😂😂 I failed. But still had more chapters in a week - 5 chapters. That's good.
Early Access in Patreon.com/MimicLord. There are 5 chapters waiting for you there - plus comment sections just begging for plausible arguments. Go wild.