"Listen, lady. It's nothin' personal. Just business, ya see. But you know, you and yer boyfriend over there should've known better than to be snoopin' around the docks at this time of night. Bad things happen to people to like you around here at this time of night. But stay quiet, and the two o' you'll make it home just fine."
Two men wearing thick coats were standing outside of a large shipping crate in the Gotham shipyard. The first, a rather small and mousey-looking man, was leaning against the crate and calmly sipping coffee. The second, a tall, bald man, had just finished binding the wrists of a lean, beautiful woman with jet black hair that fell to her waist, and was placing her on the ground in front of the crate next to a muscular man with blonde hair, a scruffy beard, and icy blue eyes.
"Come on, Vic. You know we gotta kill 'em." The smaller man said, tossing his empty styrofoam cup onto the ground. "Boss says we get rid of anyone we see. Nobody knows we were here."
"Aw, come on, Ricky," the bald man replied. "I was just jerkin' 'em around a bit."
"What's so important about what you've got in there?" The blonde man asked, shifting as much as he could to get a better look at the crate.
"Shut it, prettyboy!" The small man ran over to the blonde, kicking him as hard as he could. "Any more questions, and you're as good as dead, hear me?" The blonde man curled up in pain, but gave an affirmative grunt. "Good. I'm glad we've got that settled away, then." He chuckled to himself and turned to his bald cohort. "Right, now down to business. We check the shipment, get it to the drop, and we're done. Easy money. Let's go." He opened the container and vanished inside, followed by his companion.
The woman adjusted her position, doing her best to help the blonde man sit up with her hands tied. Once he was upright, she leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Now?"
"Not yet, Diana." He whispered in a low voice.
"What are you waiting for, she hissed.
"We need to know exactly what they're after in there." He said tensely, his eyes closed in concentration. He waited until he heard the telltale creak of the lid being pulled off of a crate. "We move now!"
In a second, the woman had effortlessly snapped her bonds and launched herself through air into the crate, tackling the larger of the two crooks, who fell unconscious immediately. The blonde man wasn't far behind, his own ropes having fallen to the ground as though of their own accord. He charged after Diana, darting behind the smaller man, and wrapping an arm around his neck, placing him in a firm sleeper hold. The man struggled for several seconds, but fell silent all the same.
"Not bad, Bruce." Diana said, dusting off her hands. "I'll never understand how you do that without landing a punch."
"Blood choke." Said Bruce shortly, pulling off his wig and fake beard to reveal jet black hair and a powerful chin. "It cuts off blood to the brain. If done right, it can take effect in seconds without any oxygen deprivation."
"Alright, but what are we looking for? These two seem like a couple of small-time crooks."
"Yes and no. My intel says that they work for Carmine Falcone's shipping company. Being the head of one of the two leading mob families in Gotham, Falcone doesn't do much legitimate business."
"So... You think these two have mob ties?"
"I know that they do. But that's not why we're here. I'm interested in that crate because whatever is in it what purchased through Arkham Asylum."
Diana scrunched her forehead and folded her arms. "So you think one of the inmates could be ordering contraband through Falcone?"
"I'd have to be a fool to ignore the possibility." Said Bruce, approaching the wooden crate. "And I'm no fool." He grabbed the lid and yanked it off, tossing it to the ground.
"What is it?" Diana asked, curiously walking up behind him. "Is it weapons? Drugs?"
"It's drugs, alright. But we're not talking about heroin or cocaine."
"Well... What is it, then?"
Bruce lifted a bag of liquid and carefully examined it. This is sodium pentothal. It looks like assorted truth serums... And other psychoactive drugs."
"So... What does that mean?"
"It means... That it's time for me to have another chat with the delivery boys over there." He said, gesturing towards the two unconscious men on the floor.
The pair of them exited the crate, moving towards a car parked nearby. Bruce opened the passenger side door in the backseat for Diana, and followed her inside. Protected by the blacked out windows, they began to undress. Diana pulled off her skirt and blouse, revealing her Wonder Woman costume underneath, while Bruce pulled off his jeans and sweater, replacing them his Batman suit.
"So... The usual?" Diana asked.
"I think it should be more than enough."
"Which one do think we'll have better luck with?" She said casually, as though they were talking about the weather.
"The smaller one will be easier to break. Besides, the big guy's just muscle. Probably doesn't know anything anyway." Bruce responded, pulling his cowl over his face. "Meet you on that rooftop. Diana nodded in agreement, and went to retrieve the smaller of the thugs. She grabbed him by the ankle, and flew to the rooftop that Batman was waiting on, where she unceremoniously tossed him.
Batman reached into one of the pouches on his belt and pulled out a small handful of smelling salts, which he waved under the criminal's nose. As soon as the man began to wake up, Batman grabbed him by the throat with one hand and dangled him over the edge of the building.
"Today just isn't your day, is it?" Wonder Woman asked from behind Batman, absently tossing and catching a rather large rock in her hand.
"What the hell do you two want? I haven't done nothin' yet! Nothin'!"
Batman leaned in so close that he could see every bead of sweat on the thug's face. "You're lying about that... But we'll get to that. Right now, I want to know more about that crate." Batman knew he'd struck gold; all of the color immediately drained from the thug's face. Batman continued to press his advantage. "Do you know what's in that box, Ricky?" Ricky frantically shook his head. "Bad things, Ricky. Very bad things. And I need to know who's buying those bad things, or I might just have to take it out on you."
"I swear, I don't know nothin' about what's in there! They tell us not too look, it's need to know. I've got a list of chemical-things so we can make sure that it's all there, and that's it. I'm just the messenger, honest!"
Batman sighed. "Alright, here's how this is going to work. I'm not a patient person, and I'm busy. So I'm going to give you five more seconds to talk before you end up spending the next six months in a body cast." Ricky's eyes widened in fear. "Five more seconds, and make sure to track you down as soon as you heal and make sure you get another six months. After fifteen seconds, you won't even make it to the hospital. Sound fair?"
Ricky looked at Wonder Woman, clearly hoping for benevolence. She responded by tossing the rock and catching it one more time before crushing it into powder with one hand. Ricky gulped. "Alright, I get it. All I know is that we take this to the Asylum, and get a ton of cash for keepin' quiet about it."
Batman loosened his grip momentarily, threatening to send the thug plummeting over the edge of the building. "Who picks up the shipments?"
Ricky squirmed in Batman's vice-like grip. "I dunno, I swear! I've never made the trip before! Falcone sends different guys every time. Whoever's buying the stuff pays a ton to keep things quiet. Now please, let me go!"
"Not likely."
"No, wait! Please, Don't-"
Batman released his grip completely. Ricky screamed in terror as he was sent tumbling towards the Earth, stopped only by the thin cable that Batman had wrapped around his leg and connected to the edge of the building at the last second. He struggled to right himself in midair for a moment, before the the sudden rush of blood to his head rendered him unconscious once again.
"So... we still have time for a late dinner?" Wonder Woman asked conversationally.
"Can't. I need to follow up on this."
"Follow up on what? It looks like a dead end. They couldn't tell us anything useful. And besides, those chemicals could have medicinal purposes. It is a hospital, after all."
"True. Most of these chemical do have psychiatric applications... But not in these doses. Besides, he did tell us something. Somebody is going to enormous lengths to keep those chemicals on the down-low. They were hidden deep in the asylum's budget- the only reason that I could even find them is because I keep a strict eye on the Asylum whenever Joker's in there. And to cap it all of, some these chemicals are awfully familiar. I noticed compounds from Joker's laughing gas and The Scarecrow's fear toxin. The bottom line is I need to get to the bottom of this. The sooner the better. If either the Scarecrow or the Joker are involved in any way, then there's no time to wait."
"Then I guess I'll just tag along... Seeing as my dinner plans seem have fallen through." Wonder Woman said with an edge of bitterness in her voice.
"Negative. Arkham's a hellhole of supervillain scum, but as long as they're locked up, I'll be alright." He opened the metal covering on his left gauntlet, revealing a built-in computer and keyboard. He tapped several buttons to summon the Batmobile. "I just need to have a word with a few of them. Somebody's going through channels to get those chemicals, and this matches Joker's M.O."
"Does that building even have a security system? It seems like the inmates are out more than they're in at that place..."
"There isn't a security system in existence today that could contain the Joker when he has his mind set on escaping."
"And you're sure that you don't need any backup?"
"Positive." Batman said as the Batmobile skidded around a corner and into view. "I'll be in and out of there in no time." He opened the hood of the car and jumped in.
"If you're sure, then. I guess it's just as well, Arkham always gave me the creeps anyway." She began to hover in the air next to the Batmobile. "And if you're as quick as you say you will be, then we just might have a bit of time when you get back tonight. She snuck in to plant a kiss on his cheek before flying away.
Batman closed the the lid of the Batmobile and took a moment to gather his thoughts. "Don't count on it, Princess." He muttered to himself before punching the gas and speeding off into the setting sun.
Author's Note: Maybe not what some of you were expecting me to do next, but here it is. My other story's going to be on the bench for a little while longer. On the bright side, I've got some things in mind that I hope you might like anyway. If not, then I guess I'm sorry, but this should be a bit easier to write, what with a more fluid canon to work with.
Now... I'm diving right in here. Things are going to pick up real fast, I can guarantee.
Also, I feel like this title kind of sucks. Feel free to contact me at any point if you happen to have a better one.