"Oracle's Ordeal" Chapter 1: "Sofia Falcone Gigante"

Barbara slowly woke up to a creeping sense of dread. Before she even opened her eyes she knew something was wrong. The first thing she was aware of was the dull ache in the back of her head. She guessed this was probably why her brain felt like it wanted to burst out of her skull. It had been a while since she’d been properly knocked out like that, since her days fighting crime on rooftops.

The first thing she noticed was that she couldn’t move. She opened her eyes and slowly realised her hands were tied behind her, to the back rest of her wheelchair, which pushed her chest out. She tested her bonds with all the strength she could muster but to no avail.
She took a deep breath. “Ok, take stock” she told herself. Remembering her training had the added effect of helping to suppress panic.

The next thing she noticed was that this was not her own wheelchair but an old rusty one. It’d be a lot easier to find a way out of this if she had her her trusty lock picks under her left hand rest, 10 bat shaped shurikens under her right one, escrima sticks disguised as support for her backrest or smoke and flashbang grenades under her seat. No such luck. She was going to find other means of gaining the upper hand and eventually escaping.

She looked around: It was mostly dark except for a single light source about 5 meters above her shining just enough light for her to be able to see the wall and corners of the room she was in.

“Ok”, she thought. “Dirty white tiled walls and beige hexagonal tiles on the floor, together with the height of the room, roughly estimating 6 or 7 meters by the height of the single light fixture and the echoes from the creaking I caused just now trying to break free are typical of medical buildings made in the 30s or 40s.” Gotham had no shortage of those but as her eyes adjusted further to the light she saw a metal door in front of her and she could just make out a small slit for the eyes and a slightly larger one at the bottom.

“Crap”, she thought. “The old Arkham Asylum Building”.

It was shut down years ago after the last big riot where so many super villains had escaped. It wasn’t long before Wayne enterprises bought the whole thing and moved everything to a more secure location with better infrastructure and proper rehabilitation facilities. The way they were running things in the old asylum, its no wonder no one ever seemed to get better.
Barbara had sent many people here as Batgirl and even came by to check on some of them from time to time. She knew this place well.

Just then, the top slit of the door opened with a loud screechy clang. Before Barbara could make out who or what was on the other side, it shut again, making even more noise and Barbara deliberated on whether she should call out or say something. Maybe antagonising her captors would provoke some kind of response from them, giving her some, ANY, information about them. With more data, a better plan could be devised.

Before she could decide, she heard footsteps.

“One person, moving away from the door.” Barbara thought to herself.

30 seconds later, she heard them again.

“Two people. Someone new. Bigger, heavier…”

The door unlocked and in walked a massive figure Barbara recognised immediately: Sofia Falcone Gigante. She was wearing a dark red suit, almost the colour of her hair and black leather shoes, typical mobster dress, except for a white silk blouse instead of a shirt.

A fresh wave of fear swept through her. Barbara knew what this was about.

Months ago, as her alter-ego Oracle, Barbara had used her unparalleled hacking skills to expose Sofia’s brother, Alberto Falcone’s attempt to restore his Family’s control over Gotham’s criminal underworld after their father had been sent to prison. They were using smuggled cellphones to coordinate the Falcone criminal empire from the inside, with Alberto running the show on the outside.

Oracle figured this out and managed to tap these cellphones and record the conversations. She also provided CCTV footage from hacked security systems, GPS locations that disproved alibis and more. All of this was more than enough for the police to make a lot of arrests and damage any legal recourse the Falcone’s mob lawyers might have up their sleeves.

Alberto and Carmine were both moved to a maximum security prison with restricted access and the rest of the Falcone family being placed under huge scrutiny by law enforcement and vigilantes alike, leaving what remained of their empire in disarray.

Barbara managed to do this singlehandedly and with ease, without a cape and a cowl.

“Good evening Miss Gordon.” said Sofia, her voice a deep rumble made all the more sinister by her well spoken private school demeanour.

“Who are you? What do you want from me? Please let me go!” Exclaimed Barbara. There was a chance, however small, that this was just a kidnapping. She was the commissioner’s daughter after all and a valuable bargaining chip for any deranged Gotham criminal.

“We can dispense with the scared librarian act Oracle. We both know why you’re here don’t we? As to where here is, well… that’s not for you to know is it?”

“You mean the medical wing of the old Arkham Asylum building on the southern outskirts of Gotham? Yeah, real head scratcher Sofia. Were you trying to be spooky or just looking for cheap real estate?” No use pretending anymore.

With surprising speed, Sofia lunged forward and slapped Barbara hard across her face with the back of her hand sending her classes flying across the room. She was huge and, as as it turned out, ridiculously strong. But big temper too. This might be something Barbara could work with.

“You little rat!” Hissed Sofia through her clenched teeth, “You’ve taken my family from me!”

She started to move around Barbara.

“Well at least now you know how the human trafficking victims the Falcones helped smuggle were feeling.”

Now behind her, Sofia grabbed Barbara’s neck with both hands and lifted her with one swift heave. The wheelchair was still attached to her wrists, adding more weight and strain to Barbara’s neck. She couldn’t breath or speak, only make helpless chocking sounds. Sofia turned Barbara’s ear closer to her lips.

“I can’t undo what has been done but I can make you suffer little girl. You will tell me who you work for and then I will kill you. If you don’t I will hurt everyone you love.”

Barbara thought her neck was going to break. The lack of air and immense pressure was getting to her and her eyes began to close. Sofia then let go, causing the wheelchair to land on it’s side and her head to hit the cold, dirty floor.

Loved ones. The words echoed in Barbara’s head.

Before Barbara could get her bearings, she felt one hand on her right arm and the other grabbing her face roughly as she was flipped over and the wheelchair was standing again.

“So much for small talk…” said Barbara, under her breath.

To be continued...