Dr. Arkham, of Arkham Asylum, had locked the cells for the night, but was too drunk to remember to take the keys with him. With the light from the lamps swinging from side to side, he lurched down the hall, put on his hat and coat at the back door, drew himself a last glass of beer from the minifridge near there, and made his way outside.
As soon as the light from his car headlights faded out there was a stirring and a movement all through the asylum buildings. Word had gone round during the day that The Joker, the "Clown Prince of Crime", as he called himself, had had a strange dream on the previous night and wished to communicate it to the other inmates.
It had been agreed that they should all meet in the big barn as soon as Dr. Arkham was safely out of the way. The Joker was so highly regarded in the asylum that everyone was quite ready to lose an hour's sleep in order to hear what he had to say.
At one end of the long hallway that was lined with all the cells, on a sort of raised platform made of an old cot, Joker was
already ensconced on his bed of straw, under a lantern which hung from a
beam. He was a deadly-looking clown, with a warped and sadistic appearance in
spite of the large smile on his face. Before long the other inmates began to arrive and make themselves comfortable.
First came the three sirens, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, the foolish, pretty girl who was the Joker's female counterpart and favorite sidekick, came skipping daintily in, sucking at a lollipop. On occasion, if the inmates had been particularly good, they would be given sweets or candies. She took a place near the front and began flirting herself, hoping to draw The Joker's attention to her body, and Catwoman who looked round, as usual, for the best place, and finally placed herself in between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy; there she napped contentedly throughout Joker's speech without listening to a word of what he was saying.
The next to come was Bane. Bane was an enormous beast, nearly eighteen feet high, and as strong as any twelve ordinary men put together. A white stripe down his black mask gave him a somewhat stupid appearance, and in fact he was not of first-rate intelligence, but he was universally respected for his steadiness of character and tremendous powers of work.
After those two came Calendar Man and Ra's al Ghul. Al Ghul was the oldest inmate in the asylum, and the worst tempered. He seldom talked, and when he did, it was usually to make some cynical remark. Alone among the inmates he never broke out. If asked why, he would say he saw no reason. And, low and behold, each and every time, a henchman would brake him out, and al Ghul would perform no work.
All the inmates were now present except The Riddler, who slept in a cell in a seperate hall. When Joker saw that they had all made
themselves comfortable and were waiting attentively, he cleared his throat
and began:
"Now, as you know, each of us is here for on reason and one reason only: The Batman."
"None of us has ever beaten the Bat for long. Some of us come close, but no cigar. The Bat can NOT be stopped in Gotham. He has hidden gadgets everywhere, little friends on every block, and knows the city like the back of his black-gloved hand."
"BUT, What if we take him to OUR home field? You and I both know that each and everyone of us has this placed mapped out better than Arkham himself."
"Ladies, gentlemen, I propose, we take Arkham Asylum. And when we do, these Doctors, and Phsyciatrist Quacks? They'll have no power. And when we do leave and attack Gotham? They'll have no where to send us to. And we will Trully Rule Gotham City!"
Unfortunately, the uproar awoke a gaurd, who sprang out of bed, making there was peace. He seized a baton and banged on the door several times. The sound echoed in the walls and bars of each cell and the meeting broke up hurriedly. Everyone fled to his own sleeping-place, and the whole asylum was asleep in a moment.