This is a story based off of Nolan's batman movies. Any character discrepancies are bound to happen as I am trying to make these characters my own, which they are not. They belong to Nolan and I am merely using them to make a creative fiction. Original characters of my own creation are also featured.

No idea how to rate this so I'll just give fair warning now that it will contain swearing, violence, and disturbing thoughts and ideas. (This is a batman story so these kinds of things are bound to be in it).

Introduction:

This story starts off several months after the dark knight movie. The Joker has been locked up in Arkham, Jim Gordon is the newly named Commissioner, and Batman has taken the blame for the five lives Harvey Dent/Two-Face has taken. He is now hated by the good and the bad people of Gotham.

Enemies Align

The alarms rang shrill and insistent but all else remained silent within the halls of Arkham Asylum for the criminally insane. The Joker had been seated on the bed in his padded cell for the past ten minutes, listening to the alarms going off. At first guards could be heard running in the hallway shouting about some sort of break in. But now he could no longer hear anyone and for some reason all this made him smile. Not that he needed a reason to smile, he was The Joker. His smile only widened when he heard the sound of the door lock being released. Two men armed with assault rifles stood on the other side as his cell door swung open. They were dressed in black tactical gear and could almost pass for SWAT. Perhaps that had been their intentions. One of them took a step inside and tossed a bag inside the room, near The Joker's feet.

"Your things." The man said and then both of them turned and walked away, out of sight.

The Joker found his purple suit and numerous knives inside. He changed into his own clothes, trading them in over the prisoner outfit he had been forced to wear since his incarceration. He quickly donned a fresh coat of make-up and left the cell with a smile.

Chaos was all around him. The motionless forms of several guards could be seen strewn about in the hallway. Prisoners ran wildly about, free from their cages but unable to get out the doors that would take them to the outside. Some of them were actually trying to find a way out by attempting to formulate some kind of plan. Others really were meant to be locked up there. There was one prisoner to The Joker's left who was trying to claw through the solid concrete wall. His fingers were bloodied but he continued his hopeless task anyways, staring at the wall blankly as he continued to try and claw through it. Remnants of smoke bombs floated lazily into the hall and for the first time, The Joker noticed the two men who had freed him were standing near a door further down the hall. They were watching him and clearly waiting. He sauntered up to them with a gleeful smile.

"Are we going somewhere..gentlemen?" He asked them, his tongue licking at the corner of his mouth.

"Someone wants to see you." The man who had spoken to him before said.

The one who had remained silent through all of this, opened the door with a key card he had obtained by questionable means. They shoved it open and The Joker started to follow, but a name on the door across from where he stood caught his eye. The nameplate on the cell door read J. CRANE and that name seemed very familiar to him but he couldn't quite place where he'd heard it before. He strode over to the cell door and pressed the release. He pulled the door open and a man looked up at him from his seated position on his bed which was placed next to the doorway. The man on the bed had his head rested against the wall and he gazed up at The Joker with a mixture of amusement and insanity.

"You seem familiar to me..but if we'd met I'm sure I would remember. Who put you in here?" The Joker asked the other man.

The man smiled and it gave off an almost predatory feeling. "The Bat-man.." He hissed in a low voice.

One of the men in tactical gear tossed a bag at the man's feet. "Come on then, Scarecrow."

The man smirked at the name and reached into the bag. He pulled out an old brown sack bag that had been made into a mask. The mask of a scarecrow it seemed. How truly fitting it really was.. The Joker thought to himself.

Once they made it outside the asylum, the two armed men halted abruptly and stood at attention. A third man in tactical gear and also donning a mask came around the side of a truck parked near the front of the building. The man pulled off his mask and the one from the cell whom they had called Scarecrow, immediately lowered his head as a sign of respect. The man returned the nod speaking to him.

"Dr. Crane, glad to see you a free man..regardless of your previous failures."

Crane glowered at him but said nothing. The Joker eyed this newcomer and the man met his gaze.

"So you are the one known as The Joker. I have heard of your recent..clash with the infamous Batman and your interest in Gotham City."

"And?" The Joker asked, wondering what this man was trying to say.

"And I share your interest. I too, believe that Gotham is beyond saving. Awhile ago I tried to purify Gotham, to cleanse it by way of chaos. A method I have been informed that you clearly enjoy. So I propose that we work together, to bring down the Batman and to take Gotham City as our own."

The Joker listened to the man's proposition and then took a step closer as he finished sharing his proposal. He tilted his head curiously, his tongue darted along the side of his lip as he leered at the man.

"Why would I need your help in taking Gotham? Hmm? Do you have something I don't?"

The man smiled at him knowingly. "I know who Batman is."

The Joker licked his lips greedily. "Well now, that is something. And just how did you come across this information? Who are you?"

"My name is Ra's Al Ghul."