From this vantage point I can’t tell if you’ve been putting out the fires or making them. (Gordon)
That’s a question I’ve been struggling with myself. (Batman)
The second part of the Arkham Unhinged storyline is entitled “Observations”
Gordon meets with Batman who reveals that he’s just come from examining the mayor’s computers. He’s found no proof that anything illegal is going on with Arkham City. However both of them know there’s something really fishy about the whole thing. Gordon asks Batman who Dr. Hugo Strange is, as he was never there when Gordon was taking patients to Arkham. Batman explains that Dr. Strange did the intial patient evaluations but most of his work was done after hours. He used Arkham as his personal lab and did odd experiments on both the patients and the staff of Arkham. When people began to investigate he disappeared for four years before resurfacing as Mayor Sharp’s appointed Operations Manager of Arkham.
Batman believes Strange is the one in charge, and that he is just using Sharp. He explains that Strange’s men have military style weapons far beyond what they should have. Strange has also basically brought Gotham under martial law.
Gordon wonders at Strange’s obsession with Batman. Batman believes it is because he was the one responsible for bringing most of the patients to Arkham. He thinks Strange became obsessed with him because he was the one thing all the patients there had in common. Gordon is curious to see what the reporters, such as Vicki Vale and Jack Ryder will be saying about what had happened the night before.
Batman explains that, while he was trying to escape from Strange’s men, Vicki Vale’s helicopter flew overhead. He used a grappling hook on it to escape but Strange ordered his men to fire on the helicopter, despite knowing it was manned by civilians. They killed the pilot and the helicopter crashed by Vale and her camera guy survived. However the camera was destroyed. Batman asks her to consider whether or not she wants to really go against the Mayor’s office with just her word … and to consider how much danger it would put her in.
Gordon reveals that he tried to fight Arkham City every step of the way, even trying to get a court order to stop it. But the mayor’s office defeated him and he was regulated to a desk job. Strange’s men even moved into his office and he has been rendered powerless. Batman promises to get to the bottom of things.
Meanwhile Strange’s men burst onto the rooftop where Gordon and Batman were talking. They find only Gordon. Batman reveals to Strange that he knew Strange had figured out how to tap into his personal communication system to try to track him. Elswhere Robin and Nightwing speak with Oracle, who is the one who figured out how fool Strange’s systems and time lag the communication (causing Strange’s men to arrive too late). Oracle has tracked Strange to “Wonder Tower” but has no information on it. She informs Robin and Nightwing that they need to get one of Strange’s men’s encryption keys so they can turn the tables on Strange and listen in on his comm systems.
Batman quickly obtains the needed encryption key.
The Rogues Gallery 